Happy Birthday America: A Short Killjoy Rant by a Trans Immigrant
Happy Birthday to a nation founded in 1776 on slavery, colonialism, imperialism and genocide!

239 years later, many of these principles still exist but in different forms, such as anti-black police brutality, the prison industrial complex and white xenophobic supremacy here and abroad masked as “spreading democracy.” This is a nation developed on stolen land by racist, sexist Europeans, the ancestors of citizens who now tell others to “go back to your own country.”

As we recite the Pledge of Allegiance and remind religious and spiritual minority communities that this is “one Nation under [a Christian] God,” remember that liberty and justice is reserved only for those who resemble the Founding Fathers. Remember that “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” as outlined in the Declaration of Independence are meant solely for the elite. Remember that the false myth of “all men are created equal” is a consistent ploy to distract the nation, marketing Equality and Assimilation to marginalized populations as more appealing than Liberation and Freedom. Remember that we’re “number one” in all the wrong ways…

Are we truly the “land of the free” when so many people living and working within our borders have little to no access to clean water, food, shelter, medical care, employment or other resources? Are all people free when black and brown bodies are still devalued, exploited, beaten and murdered daily without accountability or justice? Are we truly the “home of the brave” when so few are willing to stand in solidarity with oppressed communities and end the injustices plaguing our own nation? Are we brave when we turn our heads to high rates of sexual assault and battery against women and femmes, and ignore the widespread killings of trans women of color? Can one truly say the phrase “I’m proud to be American” without it holding similar cultural and historical weight as saying “I support the Confederate Flag?”

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Gay Wedding Advice for Gays and Straights

Now that marriage equality is the law of the land, a few questions must still be answered.

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Adam Sandel

www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/2015/07/04/gay-wedding-advice-gays-and-straights

US Supreme Court justices ‘rap’ about marriage equality

Still celebrating marriage rights in the US? Your enjoyment is now topped off with this video by See You Next Tuesday.

It’s a parody of the Sugarhill Gang’s Rapper’s Delight. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, aka The Notorious RGB, takes to the mic to explain why she and her ‘crew’ stood up for marriage equality.

‘I make gay marriage legal with my gavel at hand, all across the USA,’ the judge ‘raps.’

Hopefully all nine of the judges watch this, especially Justice Anthony Kennedy. He wrote the actual opinion! Where’s his video?

h/t: Huffington Post

The post US Supreme Court justices ‘rap’ about marriage equality appeared first on Gay Star News.

James Withers

www.gaystarnews.com/article/us-supreme-court-justices-rap-about-marriage-equality/

WATCH: Top LGBT Legal Experts Break Down SCOTUS Gay Marriage Ruling, Look Ahead

Three leading experts broke down the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges this week on Free Speech TV’s “Gay USA.”

Co-hosts Andy Humm and Ann Northrop were joined by Freedom To Marry’s Evan Wolfson, James Esseks of the ACLU’s LGBT & AIDS Project, and constitutional and civil rights attorney Joan Gibbs.

The intro features footage from outside the Supreme Court after the ruling, as well as photos of landmarks across the country that were lit up in rainbow colors in response. The 58-minute segment concludes with footage (shot by yours truly) from the wedding of Jack Evans and George Harris, a gay couple of 54 years who were the first to marry in Dallas.

In addition to their initial reactions to the ruling, Wolfson, Esseks and Gibbs discussed what it could mean for LGBT equality going forward.

“I went back to my office because I figured I needed to read the decision to be able to answer questions and so on,” Wolfson said. “Those who know me may be surprised, but I found myself crying. I was scrolling through the decision and each paragraph would trigger a memory of a conversation or a battle or the pioneers in the movement whom I’ve been talking to a lot in the last several months. …  And It was just so profoundly moving. I realized afterwards it was partly moving and partly relief.”

Esker said he was in the courtroom when Justice Anthony Kennedy read the decision.

“There was absolute collective relief, and lots of tears,” Esseks said. “I was crying, and the guy sitting next to me was balling. It was the culmination of decades of work.”

They also discussed how significant they believe the ruling is, from a legal standpoint, in the context of LGBT civil rights, and particularly nondiscrimination laws.

“This is heightened scrutiny, this is equal protection, it’s the command of the Constitution, and we need to go out and use it that way,” Wolfson said.

They touched on backlash over the ruling, such as the push for “religious liberty” carveouts for government officials and in public accommodations. Finally, they talked about the need for an LGBT-inclusive federal civil rights law.

“This is a high point if not the high point of our lives, and it’s important that we not let it stop here,” Wolfson said.

Watch it below.

The post WATCH: Top LGBT Legal Experts Break Down SCOTUS Gay Marriage Ruling, Look Ahead appeared first on Towleroad.

John Wright

WATCH: Top LGBT Legal Experts Break Down SCOTUS Gay Marriage Ruling, Look Ahead

The LGBTI rainbow flag could become an emoji soon

The Unicode Consortium is discussing adding a new flag to its multi-national assortment – but it’d belong to a community, not a nation.

The Consortium is a not-for-profit which develops digital languages around the world.

They started debating in June adding an LGBTI Rainbow flag to the emoji language, after the amendment in America which allows samesex couples to marry.

Ken Whistler, technical director at Unicode, said: ‘The claim that Twitter is including a rainbow flag would be taken into consideration by the Emoji Subcommittee [and is] a strong factor in favor of additions.’

But a debate surrounds the possible addition. A co-author at Unicode said the flag could create a ‘slippery slope’.

Mark Davis, co-author of Unicode Standard, said: ‘Because it would not be part of any sort of structured extension to the geopolitical-entity encoding mechanism […] it would provide no orderly path to encoding additional, similar flags for other social groups or causes.’

The Consortium are debating adding Welsh, English and Irish flags, too.

You can let Unicode know you want the rainbow flag emoji by emailing them here.

The post The LGBTI rainbow flag could become an emoji soon appeared first on Gay Star News.

Jack Flanagan

www.gaystarnews.com/article/the-lgbti-rainbow-flag-could-be-an-emoji/