Monthly Archives: July 2015
A Failure to Listen
A Failure to Listen
This past week I was at the Netroots Nation 2015 conference. In the past, this has been one of my favorite progressive events, full of both energy and positivity. This year the theme was intersectionality within the LGBT movement.
I am forced to report that we are failing at it. Horribly.
This realization started with the second panel I attended, titled “We Are One: Overcoming the Shared Opposition of the LGBT and Reproductive Rights Movement.” The basics of where both movements stand are easy to see: LGBT rights are moving steadily forward, and reproductive rights are in rapid decline. The group of reproductive rights advocates on stage wasn’t so much a panel, as a plea for help.
“We marched for marriage. Where are you for us now?”
“Why are you declaring victory and going home? We’re getting hammered by the same people you just fought.”
“There were thousands of people at the marriage rally. We can only get a couple dozen for our rights.”
“Reproductive rights aren’t just a women’s issue. Queer women and trans men get, pregnant or raped too.”
While I know many transgender women, such as Cristan Williams, who recognize and fight for the intersection of all our rights to health care and bodily autonomy, the LGBT movement as a whole is not standing with many of the people who stood with us in the fight for marriage equality.
This is not a new phenomenon. Prominent transgender women such as Autumn Sandeen, Paula Neira and Allyson Robinson fought DADT and its aftermath relentlessly. Yet when DADT and DOMA were done, the number of staunch non-transgender (cisgender) allies who dedicated themselves to ending the medical ban on transgender service members was a very short list. The indefatigable Sue Fulton and the ever-passionate Fiona Dawson are among them.
More startling at NetRoots was how badly we’re doing on race as a progressive movement as a whole, and the LGBT community is no exception.
Publicly, it was shocking to me that Senator Bernie Sanders wasn’t prepared to talk about the issues seen as most urgent to the black community. I was beyond appalled that Governor O’Malley possessed so little cultural awareness that he actually used the phrase “All Lives Matter.” This is a catch phrase for conservatives who want to side step the deadly and disturbing intersection of race and police forces. I would expect snarky, entitled 20-something white bloggers who blog over at sites like The Federalist or The Blaze to use language like this, not a Democratic candidate for President at a conference full of progressives.
Further inside the conference, there were deep divisions as well. I was blown away that some white LGBT people objected to the fact that there was a Queer People of Color caucus, because the caucus only allowed queer people of color to attend.
Yes, you read that right.
The lowest point for me was at the equality caucus, where white, male, cisgender people were telling queer people of color that their experiences weren’t relevant to the discussion, then refusing to recognize their own privilege. I have rarely felt more uncomfortable, and it was certainly the most uncomfortable I have ever felt in a supposedly progressive, queer space.
That’s why when the people of color walked out, I followed. If this wasn’t a safe space for them, it wasn’t one I wanted to be in either.
It is the conceit of activists that if we just could get people in power to listen, and really hear, we could change hearts and minds and make progress happen. It is therefore ironic when we, as leading activists, are unable to open our own minds enough to listen to others when they try to tell us about injustices different from the ones we have experienced.
We somehow expect others to empathize with us enough to be called to action on our behalf, yet all too often lack the empathy and drive to answer other people’s calls to action. The magnificent few who do, who dedicate themselves to a cause not their own, are treated well by history.
Lingering social injustices in the United States make the entire fight for marriage equality seem pale in comparison. Women are losing the right to their own bodies, unarmed black people are murdered annually by an unaccountable militarized police force and transgender immigrants are raped with impunity in ICE custody. It feels like we’re too busy taking a victory lap to notice we’re failing at the intersectionality we’re paying lip service to.
It’s time to do unto others, as they did for us.
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South Korea takes down gay venue map website over ‘moral values’
South Korea takes down gay venue map website over ‘moral values’
The LGBTI community in South Korea are furious after the government has taken down a website outlining the gay-friendly venues across the country.
Korea Pink Map has been recently taken down by the Communication Standards Commission and they have yet to explain why.
When you go onto the page, whether you live in Korea or Kentucky, US, it sends you to a warning page that says it has been taken down due to ‘illegal’ activity.
Describing itself as the largest information-sharing website for regional gay businesses, it expressly banned anyone under the age of 19 from using the resource.
Jenny, a 39-year-old lesbian living in Seoul, spotted that it was down after seeing people talk about it on a LGBTI Korean Facebook page.
‘There are no laws against homosexuality in South Korea, so there is no reason to block a site that simply lists venues,’ she told Gay Star News.
‘It is utterly insane and clear discrimination. It is hard enough for gay people in Korea, so to have a resource like this removed by the Korean government is…well, it pisses me off.’
While Jenny said blocking sites is common, it most often happens with porn as that is illegal in South Korea.
But the Korea Pink Map wasn’t. The Youth Protection Act of 1997 states minors should not be exposed to the topic of homosexuality censoring LGBTI websites. This was challenged in court in 2004, removing sexual orientation as a category of harm.
In the sex education guidelines introduced in March of this year, the government removed any mention of LGBTI people or relationships. While the draft of the guidelines in 2014 mentioned same-sex partnerships, religious groups pressured the Department of Education to change this.
Earlier this month, it was revealed Samsung and Google Play had taken down gay networking apps like Grindr and Jack’d due to ‘local moral values’.
Homosexuality is legal in South Korea. However all male citizens are drafted in to military service where being gay could lead you to being dishonorably discharged or spending a year in jail. This has been appealed to the constitutional court.
Gay Star News has contacted the Korea Communication Standards Commission and is awaiting a response.
The post South Korea takes down gay venue map website over ‘moral values’ appeared first on Gay Star News.
Joe Morgan
www.gaystarnews.com/article/south-korea-takes-down-gay-venue-map-website-over-moral-values/
How Everyone is Positively Impacted by The Equality Act
It’s Lady Gaga v. Naomi Campbell In “American Horror Story: Hotel”
It’s Lady Gaga v. Naomi Campbell In “American Horror Story: Hotel”
Supermodel of the world Naomi Campbell is coming to the already star-packed American Horror Story: Hotel as a rival of fellow fashion icon, Lady Gaga.
According to TV Line:
Campbell — who starts shooting next week — will play a fashion editor who pays the ultimate price for her critiques. In addition to Gaga, she will also have scenes with returning AHS alum Angela Bassett.
Ugh, all those cheekbones! How will we all survive?
Though creator Ryan Murphy promised this season of AHS would be “bloodier and grislier I think than anything that we’ve done before” this kind of plotting harkens back to the campfest of AHS: Coven. And those witches could dress.
But with designers “coming out of the woodwork” to dress the Lady, who will play an evil something or other involved in fashion, — and with Jessica Lange bowing out this season — the lqqks might be the real stars of the Hotel.
Les Fabian Brathwaite — stab across the room like Naomi Campbell
Les Fabian Brathwaite
Texas Supreme Court Disregards Rampant Forgery, Orders Houston To Place LGBT Protections On Ballot
Texas Supreme Court Disregards Rampant Forgery, Orders Houston To Place LGBT Protections On Ballot
Earlier we told you how Houston mayoral candidates are vigorously wooing LGBT support as voters prepare to replace term-limited Mayor Annise Parker, the first openly gay person elected to lead a major US city.
Now, the November municipal election has taken on much more LGBT significance, after the Texas Supreme Court ordered the City Council to repeal the recently passed Houston Equal Rights Ordinance or place it on the November ballot.
In a setback for LGBT equality, the court disregarded a district judge’s ruling that a petition to repeal the ordinance lacked enough valid signatures due in part to widespread forgery. The state’s highest court, made up of all Republicans, essentially determined that it doesn’t matter how many signatures on the petition were invalid, since the city secretary initially certified it.
Project Q Houston reports:
The state’s highest court also ordered the city to immediately halt enforcement of HERO, which prohibits discrimination against LGBT people in employment, housing, public accommodations, and city contracting.
“But what of the City Council’s complaints of forgery, false oaths, and the like?” the all-Republican court wrote in its 12-page per curiam opinion. “Although these issues were addressed at trial and are now pending before the court of appeals, we note that the City Secretary never claimed the referendum petition was plagued by forgery or perjury. Yet the City Council decided, of its own accord, not to act, disregarding the City Secretary’s certification that the petition had enough signatures.”
The court’s decision likely means a ballot fight over LGBT rights in the nation’s fourth-largest city, which was the last major metropolis in the US to pass LGBT protections.
More from The Houston Chronicle:
One of the plaintiffs, former Harris County Republican Party chief Jared Woodfill, called the ruling “a huge victory for the people of the city of Houston.” He called on Parker, the first openly gay leader of a major American city, to apologize to the public.
“This is all about the mayor and her personal agenda,” Woodfill said. “The actions she took were unlawful, and now the court has said the people are going to have an opportunity to vote, and that’s all we’ve asked for from day one. I think this mayor owes an apology to the people of the city of Houston.”
The post Texas Supreme Court Disregards Rampant Forgery, Orders Houston To Place LGBT Protections On Ballot appeared first on Towleroad.
John Wright
Texas Supreme Court Disregards Rampant Forgery, Orders Houston To Place LGBT Protections On Ballot
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Methodist Pastors Face Church Trial Over Support for Ex-Pastor's Marriage
Is It Ever Acceptable For The Media To 'Out' Someone?
Is It Ever Acceptable For The Media To 'Out' Someone?
Gawker is still reeling from the controversy surrounding a post, which has since been removed from the site, that revealed a male Condé Nast executive allegedly solicited a male escort on a business trip. Because the executive (who is married to a woman) was not a public figure, critics lashed out, classifying Gawker’s story as gay-shaming rather than journalism. But is outing ever acceptable? What about in the case of conservative politicians, whose private lives may color their public ones with hypocrisy?
HuffPost Live’s Marc Lamont Hill hosted a panel discussion on Wednesday about the ethics of publicly announcing someone else’s sexuality. The fundamental consideration, according to University of Minnesota media ethics professor Jane Kirtley, is weighing the benefits of outing against the pain it could cause in an individual’s life.
“The Society of Professional Journalists has an ethics code, and one of the things it says to do is to seek truth and report it,” Kirtley said. “But what it also says is that you’re supposed to minimize harm. And you think carefully about the good that’s going to be done versus the harm you’re going to cause.”
In the video above, Kirtley joins Gawker writer Rich Juzwiak and journalist Maria Bustillos to debate when outing an LGBT person is fair and when it isn’t.
Watch the full HuffPost Live discussion about the fallout of Gawker’s controversial story here.
Sign up here for Live Today, HuffPost Live’s new morning email that will let you know the newsmakers, celebrities and politicians joining us that day and give you the best clips from the day before!
Also on HuffPost:
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It’s stigma that’s dirty, not people with HIV
It’s stigma that’s dirty, not people with HIV
Matthew Hodson
I was at a party the other day and found myself chatting to a guy I’d not met before. He was in his early thirties, seemed smart, funny and was kind of cute looking.
Honestly, I’m not using this column to try to pick people up.
I only mention that he was cute because you’d think that someone like that would have no problem getting a date or meeting someone for sex – but this guy did.
In fact, he told me, he hadn’t had sex in 18 months, ever since he was diagnosed HIV-positive.
Like most people who receive a positive diagnosis, it had hit him pretty hard. Even today, when medication means that HIV shouldn’t have too much impact on your life-expectancy, hearing that you have HIV, probably the most stigmatized virus of the modern era, feels like you’ve been punched in the stomach… repeatedly.
I don’t like to generalize; I’m sure that there must be men who have been diagnosed and who are genuinely blasé about it, I’ve just never met one. And I’ve met and spoken to a lot of men who have been diagnosed positive.
This guy at the party had made the decision that he was going to be open about his status with his sexual partners.
He’d tried hooking up with people through the usual dating apps, at parties and in bars and clubs; each time he had been rejected. His confidence was now circling somewhere around the ocean floor. I wanted to give him a hug, to tell him that things would get better, but he wasn’t able to hear that right then.
This guy was trying to do the responsible thing by talking to his potential sexual partners about HIV – and he was being punished for it.
Other people with diagnosed HIV choose not to tell casual partners and risk being ‘uncovered’ and vilified. Sometimes those same casual encounters become serious relationships and the guy with HIV then has to choose the right moment to disclose to his partner, not knowing what reaction he may get.
Although the number of gay men living with HIV in the UK has only ever increased year on year, the number of gay men who believe that they know someone living with HIV has gone down.
The reluctance to disclose (and become subject to the judgments and rejection that people who are open about their HIV status will often encounter), coupled with the impact that treatment has had in preventing the visible symptoms of HIV, means that HIV is becoming increasingly invisible within our community.
It’s obvious that this is a problem for guys like this chap I was speaking to, who had become miserable and desperate about his life.
What is more, this is a problem for all of our communities, if we, as gay men, through our inaction, our disregard or our fear, drive people to such a place.
Where is the support? Where is the love?
But combatting stigma isn’t just about supporting our brothers who are living with HIV, it’s also vital for HIV prevention efforts.
When we become unable to talk about HIV, we are unable to have those important health related discussions that can prevent transmission.
When HIV is seen as the worst thing that can happen to a gay man, we are telling people with diagnosed HIV that there is no longer any need for them to take care of themselves, physically or emotionally.
When the dread of acquiring HIV becomes too great, gay men are less likely to test – and as a result will be late to access the treatment that will both extend their lives and make them less infectious to their sexual partners.
So much has changed since the 1980s. People with HIV live full, productive lives. We work hard, sometimes we play hard, and we’re subject to all the same stresses and strains as everyone else, plus a few more.
We are not doomed, we are not ‘unclean’, we are not predatory or dangerous, just because we are living with HIV.
Until we have a magic wand, a vaccine or a cure (and don’t hold your breath waiting for any of these) we will continue to see the number of people living with HIV in our communities increase.
If we are going to be successful in reducing the number of new infections, we need to do all those things that stigma hampers: testing, talking, honesty and openness.
If you hear people talking about people living with HIV as if they have lost their right to a fulfilling, happy love-life, challenge it. When you hear people gossip about people who are living with HIV, challenge them.
When people talk about HIV as if it were a matter of personal hygiene, or a moral judgment, remind them that HIV is just a virus.
Stigma doesn’t just hurt people living with HIV, it harms all of us.
Matthew Hodson (@Matthew_Hodson) is the Chief Executive of GMFA. This article is Matthew’s own opinion and not necessarily the view of GMFA as an organization. This article first appeared in FS Magazine. FS relies upon funds from the community. To support FS, visit www.gmfa.org.uk/donate, or, if you’re in the UK, text FSFS15 £5 to 70070 to donate £5 (or £10, if you can).
Main image: Ted Etyan via Creative Commons 2.0
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GSN Contributor
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