Daily Archives: June 29, 2015
Arkansas County Clerk Resigns Over Marriage Equality
Arkansas County Clerk Resigns Over Marriage Equality
Cleburne County Clerk Dana Guffy will resign rather than issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Trudy Ring
Immigration Officials May Begin Considering Gender Identity When Housing Transgender Detainees
Immigration Officials May Begin Considering Gender Identity When Housing Transgender Detainees
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — Immigration authorities will consider housing transgender detainees based on the gender they identify with in the wake of criticism about detention conditions for the population, officials said on Monday.
Detention staff should consider transgender detainees’ preferences when making decisions about housing and clothing and what pronouns should be used, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in new guidelines for the treatment of transgender detainees.
The agency will start tracking data for transgender detainees, train detention staff and draft individual detention plans for transgender detainees to deal with issues ranging from hormone therapy to safety, said Andrew Lorenzen-Strait, ICE’s deputy assistant director of custody programs.
“ICE will allow for the placement of a transgender woman consistent with their gender identity, meaning that a transgender woman could be with biological females,” said Lorenzen-Strait, who was also appointed as a national coordinator for issues related to gay, lesbian and transgender detainees.
The move did little to quell criticism from advocates who have urged the agency to release more transgender immigration detainees, citing their increased risk of sexual assault in detention. Last week, a heckler interrupted President Barack Obama’s remarks at a gay pride event in Washington to protest the detention and deportation of gay, lesbian and transgender immigrants.
“This is all interesting on paper, to say the least, but we need to see how this actually plays out,” said Raffi Freedman-Gurspan, a policy adviser for the National Center for Transgender Equality. “We don’t think these folks should be in detention centers, period.”
The guidance comes three years after the Department of Justice issued similar rules for transgender inmates. But even now many jails and prisons aren’t following the rules and continue to house transgender inmates based on their genitalia or place them in solitary confinement purportedly for their protection, said Carl Takei, a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Prison Project.
“Most prisons and jails are still in the Dark Ages about these issues,” Takei said.
Getting the rules put into practice may be tough for immigration officials, who house most detainees at contract facilities, Takei said.
ICE currently has about 60 transgender detainees. About 25 are housed in a special unit in Santa Ana, California, for transgender women and gay men. The rest are housed in different facilities across the country, mostly with the general population and consistent with their biological sex, Lorenzen-Strait said.
The agency currently houses about 31,000 detainees a day, he said.
Under the latest guidance, the agency said officials should consider a host of factors before detaining an individual, including transgender identity.
Given the population’s small numbers and increased risk, transgender immigrants should be offered alternatives to detention, said Aaron Morris, legal director of Immigration Equality.
“When you’re thinking about who should absolutely be released, pregnant women, people with severe health problems, transgender individuals, there are certain populations that weigh so heavily in favor of release that it is dumbfounding the knee-jerk reaction is always to detain,” Morris said. “It’s not in anyone’s best interest.”
But immigration enforcement advocate Jessica Vaughan, who is director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, said she worries that gender identity could trump other factors, such as flight risk, when making decisions about detention.
“In practice, this could become a double standard for transgender individuals that seems unprecedented,” Vaughan wrote in an email.
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Jeremy Renner Doesn’t Care If You Think He’s Gay
Jeremy Renner Doesn’t Care If You Think He’s Gay
But as a general rule I don’t respond to questions about my personal life. I’m not going to try to prove what I am or am not. It’s silly, right? When you google yourself and the first thing that comes up is ‘Jeremy Renner gay,’ it’s like, ‘Oh, now you’ve arrived. You’re now a giant movie star.’ So I just had a big laugh about it. I don’t care, ultimately, if that’s what people want to think, read and care about. Fucking say whatever the hell you want about me. Look at where we’re at socially—leaps and bounds ahead of where we started. That’s an amazing thing. To suggest that it’s negative, that being gay is a terrible thing, a perversion or whatever—I just don’t get it. Don’t you wish we were in a world where we’re not shaming, judging and boxing people in?”
— Jeremy Renner asked about the rumors about his sexual oritentation in a wide-ranging interview with Playboy‘s Stephen Rebello
Jeremy Kinser
Gay Iconography: Five Favorite TV Same-Sex Weddings
Gay Iconography: Five Favorite TV Same-Sex Weddings
With the effects of Friday’s historic Supreme Court decision still reverberating throughout the world, everyone (including me) has got marriage on the brain. While there is still plenty of work to be done to ensure equality for the LGBTQ community, the momentous ruling is still an important milestone, fueled by decades of work from politicians, lawyers, activists and other members of the community.
Part of the accelerated momentum we’ve witnessed these last few years has also at least partially been the result of increased representation in the media. Even Vice President Joe Biden attributed shifting attitudes to a TV show.
In a 2012 interview, he said: “I take a look at when things really began to change, is when the social culture changes. I think Will and Grace probably did more to educate the American public than almost anything anybody’s ever done so far.”
Now that the Supreme Court has validated marriages throughout the country, let’s look back at just a few of our favorite same-sex TV weddings over the years.
In 1991, the Fox dramedy Roc aired the first same-sex wedding on prime time TV. Centered on the family of a trash collector in Baltimore, the episode featured the titular Roc’s uncle coming out as a gay man and then announcing his engagement to a white man.
Although Roseanne featured several LGBTQ-focused storylines during its run, one memorable moment was in 1995 when Roseanne threw a wedding for her former boss Leon (Martin Mull).
Shonda Rhimes’ TV series have been at the forefront of increasing diversity on television, including plenty of LGBTQ stories. From Callie and Arizona’s wedding on Grey’s Anatomy to the complicated relationship between James (Dan Bucatinsky) and Cyrus (Jeff Perry) on Scandal to the steamy scenes on How To Get Away With Murder, equality is always the law of the land in Shondaland.
One of the most influential couples in recent TV history has been Mitch (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and Cam (Eric Stonestreet) on the wildly successful prime time sitcom Modern Family. Their long-awaited nuptials took place over two episodes serving as the series’ fifth season finale. Nathan Lane received a Primetime Emmy nomination for his guest spot as their friend and wedding planner, Pepper.
For a show that’s highlighted so many LGBTQ stories, it wouldn’t have been enough for Glee to marry off just one of its same-sex couples. No, no. They went and married two! Brittany (Heather Morris) and Santana (Naya Rivera) were joined by Kurt (Chris Colfer) and Blaine (Darren Criss) in a double-rainbow of matrimony.
That’s only a few. There’s been more same-sex weddings on Brothers & Sisters, Six Feet Under, and lots more. What’s your favorite TV same-sex wedding?
The post Gay Iconography: Five Favorite TV Same-Sex Weddings appeared first on Towleroad.
Bobby Hankinson
Casamento Coletivo LGBT 27.06.15
New iPhone App Will Help Conduct The Largest LGBT Health Study Ever
New iPhone App Will Help Conduct The Largest LGBT Health Study Ever
The goal is to better understand the health of our understudied population without anyone having to leave the couch.
Dawn Ennis
www.advocate.com/health/2015/06/29/new-iphone-app-will-help-conduct-largest-lgbt-health-study-ever
Love Is Love as Last State Issues First Gay Marriage License
Love Is Love as Last State Issues First Gay Marriage License
Louisiana, the last state to issue a same-sex marriage license, was off to a romantic start this afternoon. The first license was issued to a couple who work for the Jefferson Parish Clerk of Court and have been watching for the state to comply with the Supreme Court’s Marriage Equality ruling. After being together for almost 40 years, Celeste Autin and Alesia LeBoeuf made history by obtaining the first same sex marriage license in Louisiana.
Following closely behind was the first couple to wed in New Orleans, after obtaining a marriage license from neighboring suburb Jefferson Parish. Michael Robins and Earl Benjamin proclaimed husband and husband “under the laws of this nation and the State of Louisiana.” “It’s great that it’s happening in a state that we both love, louisiana,” Robinson told the assembled press. The waiting period was waived by the judge, and the couple said their next destination is Disney World.
In honor of Marriage Equality making it to Louisiana, New Orleans native John Boutte soulfully sings Love is Love in a track (full disclosure) written and produced by my husband Jeff with Three Cranes Productions, part of the proceeds going to It Gets Better. Artwork by L. Steve Williams, Jr.
As NOLA.com music critic Alison Fensterstock suggests: “Lie down in a meadow and hold someone’s hand while you listen. ” Or throw some rice at Louisiana’s new wave of newlyweds.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
Some Texas Counties Still Not Issuing Marriage Licenses To Gay Couples – VIDEO
Some Texas Counties Still Not Issuing Marriage Licenses To Gay Couples – VIDEO
Three days after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of nationwide marriage equality, some Texas counties were still not issuing licenses to gay couples on Monday.
The Texas Tribune reports:
Several clerk’s offices — including those in Hill and Hood counties in North Central Texas, Bastrop and Burleson counties in Central Texas, Jackson County on the Gulf Coast and Odessa’s Ector County — said Monday they were awaiting forms or legal guidance or simply objected.
“I’m standing up for my religious liberty,” said Hood County Clerk Katie Lang, who said her office would not give out same-sex marriage licenses on religious grounds. “I do believe that marriage is for one man and one woman because it did derive from the Bible.”
“I could get fined and I could get sued,” she said, “but you could get sued for anything.”
Meanwhile, in response to Attorney General Ken Paxton’s opinion encouraging county clerks to refuse marriage licenses to same-sex couples, state Sen. Rodney Ellis (D-Houston) called on the U.S. Department of Justice to get involved.
From Ellis’ letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch:
Also Monday, marriage plaintiff Jim Obergefell joined Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin on the steps of the Texas Capitol for a press conference. From The Houston Chronicle:
Earlier Monday, gay rights activists gathered on the steps of the state Capitol also reacted to Paxton’s attempts to subvert the Supreme Court’s ruling, calling him irresponsible and reminding supporters their fight for equal rights was far from over.
“The theatrics of Texas Attorney General Paxton, who has blatantly encouraged state officials to defy the highest court in the land, is evidence of that very fact,” said Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin.
He added, “Over the course of this country’s great history, there have been elected officials who have found themselves on the wrong side of history when iust comes to implementing historic decisions. And I suspect, in this case, history will not be kind to the attorney general of this state.”
Watch MSNBC’s interview with Griffin and Obergefell from Austin below.
The post Some Texas Counties Still Not Issuing Marriage Licenses To Gay Couples – VIDEO appeared first on Towleroad.
John Wright
Some Texas Counties Still Not Issuing Marriage Licenses To Gay Couples – VIDEO
Dublin LGBTQ Pride Parade 2015
