Tag Archive for "LGBT rights"

Posts Tagged LGBT rights

Illinois celebrates marriage equality

Illinoians – this Washington, DC transplant included – are long at last able to celebrate the passage of a marriage equality law! Last night lawmakers approved the bill after (finally) getting enough House votes to move the bill through the Senate. Governor Pat Quinn intends to sign the bill into law to take effect June 1, 2014. This will make Illinois is the 15th state to allow same -sex marriages. I’m so jealous that I’m not home to celebrate with all of my queer Northside folks.

By Sesali B. • 10 years ago

Quick Hit: Vanderbilt Divinity School appoints black lesbian woman as dean

Despite some religious bigots that insist on invalidating the lives of LGBTQ folks; and others who do not think women should have leadership roles, queer women of color are righteously taking up space! Vanderbilt Divinity School appointed Emilie Townes as their newest dean.

Not only is she holding it down for queer people of color but she is also being described as a “pioneering scholar in the field of womanist theology.” This is super important work that acknowledges that religious doctrine is applicable for people living at different intersections.

PS – I swooned when she told her partner: “In many ways I am because we are.” How dreamy. Check it out below.

By Verónica Bayetti Flores • 10 years ago

Minnesota LGBT group supporting pro-marriage, anti-choice candidates

In news that is making me want to flip tables but isn’t particularly surprising, Minnesotans United for All Families (OH THE IRONY!), the state’s LGBT/marriage equality group, is using their PAC to support candidates that are anti-choice:

“We are truly saddened that the Minnesotans United PAC does not have our back when we need them,” said Sarah Jane Johnston, president of Minnesota National Organization for Women.

It’s the first sign of a fraying alliance among a once rock-solid coalition of 700 groups that Minnesotans United cobbled together to legalize same-sex marriage this year.

The shifting support could affect Minnesota’s legislative races and could have national implications. Same-sex marriage supporters have tried to convince uneasy legislators in other states that their vote ...

By Lori Adelman • 10 years ago

Charts of the Day: This is what cisprivilege looks like

The Transadvocate has put together a few illuminating if disheartening charts showing that trans folks are too frequently the subject of employer discrimination and unemployment, despite having more education than their cis counterparts.

Chart one, from a survey performed by the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, shows that transgender adults have consistently higher levels of education than the general population.

Yet, as you can see in the next two charts, this doesn’t translate into better employment opportunity or higher earnings, as transgender people face disproportionately high levels of workplace discrimination. More charts after the jump.

Chart one, from a survey ...

By Chloe Angyal • 10 years ago

Happy Freedom to Marry Day, Minnesota!

As of the very first minute of this morning, same sex couples can get married in the great state of Minnesota. Late last night, many gay couples gathered at Minneapolis City Hall, ready to get married as soon as it was legally possible. Here’s one such couple, Emily and Kristina Kritkausky.Mazel tov, Emily and Kristina, and mazel tov to the whole state of Minnesota. Feels good to be on the right side of history, doesn’t it?

It really sounds like it as a party in Minneapolis last night. Per the Star Tribune:

By 2 a.m. the scene inside and outside remained festive and untroubled. Food trucks lined up as newlyweds and other attendees ordered tacos and omelets ...

By Verónica Bayetti Flores • 10 years ago

Reproductive justice, marriage equality, and undocumented youth: The racial politics of movement success

As a queer, immigrant Latina and a woman of reproductive age, last week caused me to have basically all the feelings. Between Supreme Court decisions that heavily undercut the rights of communities of color and those that expand marriage rights for queer folks; between Texans rising up against a package of anti-choice measures and the Senate passing an immigration reform that includes millions for the militarization of the border while creating a path to citizenship for undocumented folks – it’s been a lot to process. But one of the upsides of living at these intersections is that the connections between everything become pretty clear, and I can’t help but see many ...

As a queer, immigrant Latina and a woman of reproductive age, last week caused me to have basically all the feelings. Between Supreme Court decisions that heavily undercut the rights of ...

By Katie Halper • 10 years ago

Lesbians hold wedding in front of Westboro Baptist Church

In a nightmare for all hateful bigots, two lesbians got married across the street from the hateful, bigoted Westboro Baptist Church, famous for protesting funerals and their oh-so-biblically inspired “God Hates Fags” signs. Kimberly Kidwell, a 31-year-old EMT, married Katie Short on the front lawn of the Equality House in Topeka Kansas, the rainbow-painted residence owned by Aaron Jackson, one of the founders of the charity Planting Peace. Jackson used Google Earth to find the location of of the Church. He noticed a “for sale” sign on the house across the street and decided to buy it. The website for the House says, “To combat [WBC’s] messages of hate and to support equality and anti-bullying initiatives in schools and in our ...

By Lori Adelman • 10 years ago

Waiting for a revolution: Tackling homophobia in Cuba and beyond

Ed note: This is a guest post by Kelly Castagnaro, Communications Director at the International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region (IPPF/WHR).

Only days before today, the International Day against Homophobia, a Russian man was beaten, mutilated, and murdered after revealing he was gay to two strangers. His death reminded me of the many other deaths and injustices that occur on a daily basis, the harsh discrimination that people endure on the basis of who they choose to love, and the fact that homosexuality was only removed from the list of mental illnesses by the World Health Organization in 1990. Most of all, the murder was a call to action, a reminder of the need to continue ...

Ed note: This is a guest post by Kelly Castagnaro, Communications Director at the International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region (IPPF/WHR).

Only days before today, the International Day against Homophobia, a Russian man was ...