Tag Archive for "LGBT issues"

Posts Tagged LGBT issues

For queer and trans people of color, the NYPD is the literal fashion police

Ed. note: This is a guest post from Verónica Bayetti Flores. Verónica is the Assistant Director of the Civil Liberties and Public Policy program (CLPP) at Hampshire College. She has worked to increase access to contraception and abortion, fought for paid sick leave, demanded access to safe public space for queer youth of color, and helped to lead social justice efforts in Wisconsin, New York City, and Texas.

After a couple of weeks of almost all LGBTQ-related news focusing on marriage, I was relieved and pleasantly surprised to read a story in the New York Times about the ways that New York City’s stop-and-frisk policy affects transgender and gender non-conforming people of color:

The elasticity that officers in New York and elsewhere have been ...

By Chloe Angyal • 11 years ago

Trans allyship within GLAAD

Ed. note: I’m off this week. The wonderful Tobias Rodriguez is filling in for me. Tobias originally hails from Texas and now lives in New York where he works in social media at a reproductive health organization.

At the GLAAD media awards last week, and again this weekend on the Melissa Harris-Perry show, GLAAD announced that they are dropping their original acronym, the “Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation,” and becoming GLAAD, an LGBT media advocacy organization. In doing so, they hope to convey that the organization is evolving to become more trans* inclusive. Recently, GLAAD has been working with trans kids like Coy Mathis and Jazz (both of whom attended the GLAAD media awards) to demonstrate that it prioritizes trans issues in its advocacy ...

At ...

By Chloe Angyal • 11 years ago

BREAKING: Marriage equality passes in English House of Commons

Woo hoo! Next stop, House of Lords!

The BBC reports:

MPs have approved legislation for same-sex marriage in England and Wales, despite the opposition of dozens of Conservative MPs.

The Commons voted in favour of the The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, by 400 to 175, a majority of 225, at the end of a full day’s debate on the bill.

Prime Minister David Cameron has described the move as “an important step forward” that strengthens society.

Related: Get your shit together, Australia and America!

Woo hoo! Next stop, House of Lords!

The BBC reports:

MPs have approved legislation for same-sex marriage in England and Wales, despite the opposition of dozens of Conservative MPs.

The Commons voted in favour of ...

By Jos Truitt • 11 years ago

The dangers of a gender essentialist approach to sexual violence

In December, when controversy about the rape apologist org the Good Men Project was all over the feminist internets, I wrote about problems with the juvenile way of thinking about people in terms like “good” and “bad.” In that post, I briefly mentioned that to address the reality of sexual violence we need a more sharply nuanced conversation all around, including when it comes to gender. The post included this line:

Most men aren’t rapists; some women are rapists; some people who aren’t men or women have experiences with sexual violence.

Community member Red commented on the post, and I’ve been thinking about this response ever since:

Thank you. Thank you so much. I am genderqueer and was raped 4 years ago. ...

By Jos Truitt • 11 years ago

Mary Gonzalez will be the first out pansexual legislator in the US

There’s been a lot of talk about coming out lately, but what Mary Gonzalez did last week is a first. Gonzalez won the El Paso Democratic primary in May, and since there’s no challenger she’s set to become the representative from her district. And on Friday, she came out as pansexual in the Dallas Voice:

After coming out as bisexual at 21, Gonzalez said a few years later she started dating “gender-queer” and transgender people, and later identified as pan.

“As I started to recognize the gender spectrum and dated along the gender spectrum, I was searching for words that connected to that reality, for words that embraced the spectrum,” she said. “At the time I didn’t feel as ...

By zerlina • 11 years ago

Anti-gay bigot gets honorable mention in Darwin awards

This made my day. Anti-gay bigot Michael Leisner is pissed at General Mills. So pissed in fact, he wanted to set a poor box of Cheerios (yes, honey nut!) on fire just so you know how mad he is that General Mills supports marriage equality.

What transpires once Mr. Leisner begins his mini-bonfire of resistance is simply amazing. Leisner who hasn’t considered that a box made of paper and a torch to light it might be a wee bit of a fire hazard while standing on grass almost sets himself on fire. In a world where there is such injustice we can always watch this clip of Mr. Leisner and be comforted by the utter hilarity of his plight.

No, seriously it’s ...

This made my day. Anti-gay bigot Michael Leisner is pissed at General Mills. So pissed in fact, he wanted to set a poor box of Cheerios (yes, honey nut!) on fire just so you know how ...

By Chloe Angyal • 11 years ago

Anti-Romney, pro-LGBT campaign warns: Mitt gets worse

LGBT activists have started a new campaign warning voters about Mitt Romney’s record on LGBT issues when he was Governor of Massachusetts. In a neat play on “it gets better,” Mitt Gets Worse is drawing attention to just how much the LGBT community and the cause of LGBT equality stand to lose from a Romney presidency:

When Mitt Romney ran for the US Senate in 1994, he claimed he would be better on LGBT rights than Ted Kennedy. Today, Mitt is one of the most outspoken enemies of the LGBT community, and he’s campaigning for president on an extreme and inhumane platform.

As a politician, Mitt Romney has earned a reputation as a flip-flopper — changing his positions in whatever ...

By Vanessa • 11 years ago

Anderson Cooper: “The fact is, I’m gay.”

“The fact is, I’m gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn’t be any more happy, comfortable with myself, and proud.

I have always been very open and honest about this part of my life with my friends, my family, and my colleagues. In a perfect world, I don’t think it’s anyone else’s business, but I do think there is value in standing up and being counted. I’m not an activist, but I am a human being and I don’t give that up by being a journalist.”

We love you, Andy.

“The fact is, I’m gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn’t be any more happy, comfortable with myself, and proud.

I have always been very open and honest about this part of my ...