For the month of June (I assume), when you type an LGBT-oriented work into Google’s search box, the box grows a rainbow. Neat-o.
Great News: UN Resolution
The United Nations Human Rights Council has adopted an historic resolution that seeks to give gays and lesbians rights equal to those enjoyed by heterosexuals. The resolution passed by a narrow margin and over the vigorous objections of African and Arab countries.
After a long debate, the critical vote was taken.
The overflow audience burst out into applause before the president of the U.N. Human Rights Council, Sihasak Phuangketkeow, had a chance to announce the results of the vote. A giant video screen showed the final tally was 23 votes in favor of ending discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexual and transsexual people, 19 against and three abstentions.
The Obama administration has been a staunch supporter of the resolution, and U.S. Ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe said the United States is thrilled by the outcome of what she called this simple but historic resolution.
Bold is mine, for emphasis. Oh yeah, that guy. Not only is he working for us on the domestic front, but he’s exporting some of our best ideas to the world. What a gift for Pride!
Go Milwaukee!
Chris Abele, Milwaukee’s County exec, announced his intention today to provide domestic partner health care coverage to Milwaukee county employees.
From Fair Wisconsin:
“County Executive Chris Abele’s announcement is a signal that Milwaukee County is once again moving forward under his bold and visionary leadership,” stated Katie Belanger, Executive Director of Fair Wisconsin. “Providing domestic partner health care coverage to county employees is an important step toward building a fair and inclusive work environment and a strong county government. We look forward to working closely with the County Executive and the Milwaukee County Board to make this proposal a reality.”
Should Milwaukee County begin providing domestic partner health care coverage, they will join a growing number of employers who already grant their employees these critical protections, including the State of Wisconsin, the City of Milwaukee and Marquette University, and top private sector employers like MillerCoors.
At least someone’s got cool leadership in the state of Wisconsin!
More Sissy Boys
The CNN Anderson Cooper special on “The Sissy Boy Experiment” continues to inspire blog posts in both the gay and trans blogosphere.
At Joe.My.God, an open thread features hundreds of comments from gay men about their gender non-conformity of childhood.
Meanwhile, on Mercedes Allen’s blog, Marti Abernathy clarifies that in fact, Ken Zucker of CAMH is still conducting reparative therapy on gender non-conforming children.
I highly recommend Rottnek’s Sissies & Tomboys
More soon too on the complicated interplay of transphobia, homophobia, & (what I like to call) gender panic.
White House Staff: It Gets Better
For Pride month, the White House launched an LGBTQ website. How amazing is that? It’s nice to know that we, as a country, occasionally still do something that shows some leadership. Nutty.
I’m not sure what it is about this “It Gets Better” featuring White House staff, but something really struck me about it. Maybe the cultural & racial diversity. Maybe that they are not all in the entertainment industry, or academia, or other “safe” places for LGBTQ people.
I find it remarkable.
Homeless LGBTQ Youth
Larkin Street Stories: Serving Homeless LGBTQ Youth is a three-part video series (approximately 6–9 minutes each) offering tips on best practices for providers serving lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth who are homeless.
In the videos, staff and youth from Larkin Street Youth Services in San Francisco discuss and share lessons learned regarding their approach to supporting LGBTQ youth who are homeless. The video series begins by introducing Toby, Loch and the youth from Larkin Street Youth Center. It describes the importance of being “present” for youth, and helping youth see their own strengths and resources. The youth talk about being rejected by their families due to their LGBTQ identity and leaving home as a result.
The Larkin Street staff provide tips on how to create a safe and welcoming space for LGBTQ youth, including how to handle hate speech. The final episode explores the importance of never making assumptions about a youth’s sexual identity or gender expression, allowing youth to self-identify, and empowering youth to reach their full potential despite the challenges they have faced.
The Revolution: Taylor Mac
Lawrence King was killed in 2008 and Taylor Mac performed this piece that same year – the very first year I taught Transgender Lives at Lawrence. Ever since then I’ve shown this video, but somehow failed to put it here.
I love this piece so much, and it’s so good to see Taylor Mac getting credit from the likes of PBS. He’s a very old friend of ours who acted with Betty in an era that seems like a lifetime or two ago now.
Don Lemon
Good for Don Lemon for coming out. I’m glad he’s talking about how being a gay black male is different than it is to be any other kind of male. It’s great to see more LGBTQ people of color stepping up.
Pam Spaulding of Pam’s House Blend has more on the story as it emerged, Lemon’s official statement, and The Grio has a nice piece on why Lemon’s coming out matters:
One thing I know for sure is that there are thousands of young people, black men specifically, who will see Don Lemon, an anchor for “the most trusted name in news” and be inspired. Hopefully, they will hate themselves a little less, love themselves a little more and the blows from the black church will not hit as hard.
Spaulding’s piece on skin color is essential reading, and provides good context for why Lemon’s coming out is vital.
Anti-Non-Discrimination, or Legal Discrimination
What the hell is going on in this country? While I find most of my students are surprised – and appalled – that there is no federal non-discrimination legislation that includes LGBTQs, states are now passing amendments to prevent any cities or towns in that state from passing any.
That is, states are passing legislation that makes it illegal to protect LGBTQ people from discrimination.
What?
Bill Headed to Vote in State Senate Would Gut Nashville’s Anti-LGBT Discrimination Ordinance
In a letter to Tennessee state Senators, TLDEF and the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition (TTPC) raised concerns about the constitutionality of a proposed bill that would make it unlawful for any city or town in the state to pass a law protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender Tennesseans from discrimination. If this sounds familiar, it should. We recently faced a similar bill in Montana.
Senate Bill 632 – which today passed the Senate State and Local Government Committee by a vote of 6-3 – would strike down local legal protections from discrimination for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Tennesseans, and would make it impossible to pass such protections in the future. It previously passed the House of Representatives (where it was known as House Bill 600) on April 25 by a vote of 73-24. It is expected to be voted upon in the full Senate shortly.
On April 5, 2011, the Nashville and Davidson County Metropolitan Council passed an anti-discrimination ordinance which bars the Nashville government from doing business with any entity that does not prohibit discrimination in employment against LGBT workers. Mayor Karl Dean signed it into law three days later. SB 632 was immediately rushed through the Tennessee House of Representatives by opponents of Nashville’s anti-discrimination ordinance. Their goal was to strike down Nashville’s ordinance and ensure that no city or town in Tennessee could ever enact a law protecting LGBT Tennesseans from discrimination again.
SB 632 is motivated by bias, which is a constitutionally impermissible basis for legislation. It would deprive LGBT Tennesseans of their right to participate in the political process and seek help from their local governments. It would turn lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Tennesseans into strangers to Tennessee’s government and would violate constitutional guarantees of equal protection under established United States Supreme Court precedent.
“Tennesseans have spoken through their local governments and have stated clearly that they want to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Tennesseans from discrimination,” said TLDEF executive director Michael Silverman. “Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Tennesseans want the same right to live and work free from discrimination that everyone else enjoys. It is unconstitutional for Tennessee to target them by taking away their right to pass local laws that protect them from the discrimination that they face in the cities and towns where they live,” he added. “Tennessee must treat all Tennesseans equally. It violates the Constitution when it closes its doors to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Tennesseans simply because some people do not like them.”
“This bill is blatantly discriminatory,” said TTPC President Dr. Marisa Richmond. “It is an attempt to deny basic rights to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Tennesseans and we hope that the Senate will defeat it when it comes up for a vote.”
I’m really starting to wonder if I live in the US anymore. This kind of thinking seems antithetical to what I was always taught was American.
We need a national ENDA, and we need one with teeth.