Transparent Wins Back-to-Back at Emmy Awards; Highlights Issues Facing Transgender Community
Last night, the hit Amazon show Transparent won big at the 67th Emmy Awards.
HRC.org
Monthly Archives: September 2015
Jeffrey Tambor, Jill Soloway Salute Transgender Community in Emmy Award Speeches: WATCH
Jeffrey Tambor, Jill Soloway Salute Transgender Community in Emmy Award Speeches: WATCH
Jeffrey Tambor won Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for his role in Transparent as a trans parent, and Jill Soloway won Outstanding Directing for the same Amazon series. Both saluted the transgender community and Soloway pointed out the discrimination still faced by trans people across the country.
Said Soloway:
“Thank you to my Mapa Carrie for coming out, and coming to L.A. and coming here tonight. And something interesting about my Mapa Carrie. She could tomorrow, go and try to find an apartment and in 32 states it would be legal for the landlord to look her in the eye and say, ‘We don’t rent to trans people. We don’t have a trans tipping point yet — we have a trans civil rights problem, so go to TransEquality.org and vote to pass the Trans Equality Bill.”
RELATED: 2015 Emmy Awards Make History: FULL LIST, VIDEOS
Said Tambor:
“I’m so, so honored. You know I had a teacher who used to say, ‘when you act, you have to act as iffier life depends on it.’ And now I’ve been given the opportunity to act because people’s lives depend on it…Not to repeat myself, but to specifically repeat myself, I’d like to dedicate my performance and this award to the transgender community. Thank you for your patience, thank you for your courage, thank you for your stories, thank you for your inspiration, thank you for letting us be part of the change. God bless you.”
Watch their speeches:
The post Jeffrey Tambor, Jill Soloway Salute Transgender Community in Emmy Award Speeches: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.
Andy Towle
Jeffrey Tambor, Jill Soloway Salute Transgender Community in Emmy Award Speeches: WATCH
Stonewall Site to Honor LGBT History, America’s Struggle for Equality
Stonewall Site to Honor LGBT History, America’s Struggle for Equality
In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, the New York City Police Department raided the Stonewall Inn, a bar that served the LGBT community. What followed were six days of uprisings by hundreds of diverse individuals, demanding an end to police harassment, arrests and raids on LGBT establishments. This rebellion launched a civil rights movement that continues to this day, and in the more than 45 years since, the name “Stonewall” has become synonymous with the history of America’s struggle for LGBT civil rights and the fight for equality.
As a longtime advocate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights, over the years I have participated in many of the efforts to secure equal rights for all and have had a front-row seat to watch as our country made great strides towards that goal. However, while we celebrate these successes and look to the fights we still have ahead, we must remember and honor the hard work and bravery that have achieved those victories and shaped our country for the better.
That is why I and a broad coalition of elected officials, community members, advocates and Stonewall witnesses are urging President Obama to designate a national monument at the Stonewall site before the end of his term.
From the abolition of slavery with the Thirteenth Amendment to the enactment of women’s suffrage to the recent Supreme Court decisions in United States v. Windsor, which struck down the heart of the Defense of Marriage Act, and Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage, throughout the course of our nation’s history we have regularly redefined freedom. Just two decades ago these Supreme Court decisions for the LGBT community would have been nearly unimaginable.
In his second inaugural address, President Obama spoke about the star that guides our country — the premise that all of us are created equal — and how it guided our forebears through some of the most pivotal moments in our history: Seneca Falls, Selma, and, ultimately, Stonewall. What was unsaid but understood was that the expansions of freedom ultimately garnered by these moments and the movements they inspired resulted from impassioned stands by oppressed individuals standing together to demand equality.
As stewards of the freedoms that our predecessors struggled to obtain, we must protect and preserve the history of their battles so that future generations can be inspired to fight for liberties now considered impossible, much as those brave individuals at Stonewall once did. The National Park Service is charged with protecting and interpreting more than 400 national park sites, two-thirds of which are dedicated to cultural and historic significance, and they are working hard to incorporate LGBT stories into existing sites around the country.
However, today you can walk by the Stonewall site and hardly even know such an important movement started here.
We have been working with the National Park Conservation Association and a coalition of elected officials, organizations, and activists to change that. Our campaign to designate a Stonewall National Monument will leave a legacy that will endure for generations to come by achieving formal recognition of Stonewall’s place in our national history.
A Stonewall National Monument would be the first unit within the National Park system fully dedicated to LGBT Americans, and the creation of this site is integral to telling the civil rights story of our nation. We are pushing to ensure that all of the stories of the brave individuals who launched the movement — such as the transgender women of color like Marsha P. Johnson — are included in this history. Far too many times the story of Stonewall has omitted minorities, lesbians, and transgender people, many of whom were key actors in the rebellion and the early LGBT civil rights movement. It is vital that we preserve, protect and retell this history in its entirety, honoring all of the brave men and women who stood up for their rights.
The movement for LGBT equality has made significant progress since 1969 yet still has more work ahead to bring full equality for all Americans. As we continue to fight for full equal rights, we must always remember where the movement began and how far we have come in the struggle for freedom. The dedication of a monument to Stonewall would place it alongside other historic sites of America’s civil rights journey, like Seneca Falls and Selma, and would provide federal recognition of the birthplace of the LGBT civil rights movement.
REP. JERROLD NADLER is a Democrat representing New York’s 10th Congressional District, which encompasses portions of Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Advocate Contributors
www.advocate.com/commentary/2015/9/21/stonewall-site-honor-lgbt-history-americas-struggle-equality
Former prison officer to be jailed after selling George Michael stories
Former prison officer to be jailed after selling George Michael stories
A former prison officer is to be jailed for selling George Michael’s time in prison to a tabloid newspaper.
Amanda Watts, a 43-year-old from Suffolk, has pleaded guilty to one count of misconduct in public office.
It was found that Watts had leaked details of the gay singer’s time in Highpoint Prison to The Sun for £2,000 ($3,100, €2,750).
Michael had served half of an eight-week sentence in prison after crashing his car into a shop while high on cannabis.
Watts will be formally sentenced next month but was told a ‘prison sentence is inevitable’.
‘You should understand the fact I’m bailing you until [16 October] is to enable you to make appropriate arrangements,’ Judge John Bevan QC said at The Old Bailey, according to the BBC.
Watts was arrested as part of Operation Elveden, a Metropolitan Police investigation into alleged inappropriate payments by journalists to police and other public officials.
The post Former prison officer to be jailed after selling George Michael stories appeared first on Gay Star News.
Joe Morgan
www.gaystarnews.com/article/former-prison-officer-to-be-jailed-after-selling-george-michael-stories/
PHOTOS: Connect The Dots On Kanye Lawton’s Rear-Facing Constellation
PHOTOS: Connect The Dots On Kanye Lawton’s Rear-Facing Constellation
Kayne Lawton can fill a brief, that’s for sure.
Below, he models Teamm8’s latest line, renewing our interest in astrology at the same time.
That’s a lot of man to squeeze into some tiny underwear, and we aren’t complaining one bit.
Photo Credit: teamm8
Underwear Expert
'Mimi's Family' Exhibit Showcases a Family in Transition
'Mimi's Family' Exhibit Showcases a Family in Transition
Dawn Ennis and Mitch Kellaway
www.advocate.com/transgender/2015/9/21/mimis-family-exhibit-showcases-family-transition
Straight men everywhere are kissing to show Kim Davis ‘love will always win’
Straight men everywhere are kissing to show Kim Davis ‘love will always win’
Straight men everywhere are kissing to show Kim Davis ‘love will always win.’
Two bearded buddies from Comedians in Public started the #KissesForKim campaign to send a message to the Kentucky clerk who has repeatedly refused to issue gay marriage licenses.
‘Dear Kim Davis, we want to let you know that no matter what you do, love will always win,’ Jericho Davidson and Michael Albanese say in the launch video.
‘What we want you to do is you’re watching this video is grab your closest friend, give him a kiss, take a photo or video, and upload it using #KissesForKim, to let Kim know that she cannot win.’
There are only two paths to chose in life LOVE or FEAR. We chose Love t.co/VTv80AKjsU #kissesforkim #KimDavis #burlyshow
— Jericho Davidson (@JerichoDavidson) September 17, 2015
‘There’s a lot of hate being thrown around,’ one of the video’s creators Matt Ott told the Huffington Post.
‘I think there’s a way to address people that you disagree with that can be civil. This is hopefully fun and civil.’ The internet then responded accordingly:
My roommates are bananas for #kissesforkim! Spread that love! pic.twitter.com/1KEb7OIcom
— Rachel Holland (@rachelope) September 18, 2015
I did this more because it was @AnthonyDeVito_ but yea social justice too. #kissesforkim pic.twitter.com/KeZV0nEOlh
— Grant Gordon (@gograntgordon) September 17, 2015
Here’s @KennyDeForest and I kissing to show our support for Kim Davis… or something #KissesForKim pic.twitter.com/qKElYPLn7o
— Boris Khaykin (@theBorisK) September 17, 2015
#KissesForKim pic.twitter.com/dStwMryjOo
— Jericho Davidson (@JerichoDavidson) September 18, 2015
#KissesForKim #threeway #kiss pic.twitter.com/1520k3wZdm
— Chad Edwards (@chadedwards) September 18, 2015
The post Straight men everywhere are kissing to show Kim Davis ‘love will always win’ appeared first on Gay Star News.
Darren Wee
Here's Why We Need a Bisexual Awareness Week
Here's Why We Need a Bisexual Awareness Week
There is an epidemic of sexual violence against bisexual women, and it’s invisible.
Even most LGBT activists and sexual assault activists are unaware of the statistics that while straight women have a 17% chance of being raped and lesbian women have a 13% chance, bisexual women have a 46% chance of being raped. In other words, bisexual women are approximately three times more likely to be raped. Bisexual women also have higher rates of sexual assault, intimate partner abuse, and stalking, compared to both straight and lesbian women. In addition to this, bisexual women survivors have the lowest rates of social support when disclosing trauma, the highest rates of depression and PTSD after rape, and the most negative experiences when seeking help from formal support resources such as rape crisis centers, therapists, police, and medical professionals.
There are many complex reasons for this huge disparity in rates of violence, but the simplest reason is that bisexual women are hypersexualized, fetishized, and sexually objectified in our culture and media. Bisexual women are stereotyped as slutty, pretending to be bi for sexual attention, and always interested in sex (particularly threesomes). Basically, we are not viewed as people but as sexual objects, always eager to fulfill men’s pornographic fantasies. Our consent doesn’t matter, because our bisexual identity is perceived as automatic consent to anyone and everyone who might be interested in us.
Additionally, bisexual women can be victims of corrective rape, a hate crime in which someone is raped because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, usually in an attempt to “fix” them. Bi women are also more likely to end up in abusive relationships, in part because abusers are good at targeting vulnerable people who have poor social support, and also because abusers can use biphobia to threaten their partner, lower their self-esteem, or pressure them into sex against their will.
Biphobia also presents a huge barrier to receiving help in the aftermath of an assault — the stereotype that bi women are slutty liars, for example, may lead to friends and family to doubt a bi woman survivor when she comes forward. Biphobia also leads to social isolation and causes many support resources, such as sexual assault centers and counseling, to be unsafe for bi women. Bi women survivors who are marginalized in other ways face even further barriers to help — trans bi women, bi women of color, and disabled bi women survivors are some of the most vulnerable in our community.
If you find these numbers shocking, you are not alone. I was shocked too, when I learned these statistics a couple of years ago. I was even more surprised to learn that despite all of this, there are absolutely no rape recovery resources for bisexual women — no organizations, crisis centers, support groups, books, nothing. So last October, I started the Bi Women Support Network on tumblr. In less than a year, we have grown to nearly 2,500 followers, and we have mailed out care packages and Christmas cards, organized a Facebook support group and a pen pal program, published posts on biphobia and rape recovery, and answered countless questions from bi women survivors.
I am very proud of my work, but more needs to be done for this community. When three out of four bisexual women are sexual assault survivors, we need more than a tumblr funded by donations and managed by college students in their spare time. I have heard from far too many survivors that our blog is the best — and sometimes only — recovery resource they have. I am honored that we have been able to help these women, but I am heartbroken that their friends, family, and community have turned their backs on them.
It is time for the national dialogue on LGBT rights and equality to address the issue of sexual violence in our community. It is also time for the dialogue on sexual assault to address intersectionality and amplify the voices of marginalized survivors. During Bi Visibility Week, please do not allow this epidemic of sexual violence against bi women to remain invisible.
LINDSAY KIRKHAM is a Point Scholar and the founder of the Bi Women Support Network.
Lindsey Kirkham
www.advocate.com/commentary/2015/9/21/heres-why-we-need-bisexual-awareness-week
Argentina Lifts Ban On Gay Men Donating Blood
Argentina Lifts Ban On Gay Men Donating Blood
Argentina lifted its ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men earlier this week, following a more than decade-long campaign by LGBT advocacy groups pushing for blood donation equality in the country.
At a signing ceremony Wednesday, Health Minister Daniel Gollán said the policy change was “scientifically and technically accurate,” and based on “a medical approach that replaces that old concept of ‘risk groups.’”
Argentina can now “move toward a national blood system that is safe, caring and inclusive,” he said in a Tuesday statement, per Agence France-Presse.
The country joins a growing minority of nations that has abolished similar blood bans. In countries such as Chile, Mexico, Spain and Italy, blood donors are accessed on individual risk rather than sexual orientation.
LGBT rights groups have applauded Argentina’s decision. According to AFP, activists have been urging the government to lift the ban for 15 years.
“It is a great joy to be able to take this step toward equality and non-discrimination in one of the last realms that explicitly excluded us from the full enjoyment of our rights,” Esteban Paulon, president of the Argentine Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgender, said in a statement.
Blood donation bans against men who have had sex with men (MSM) are said to exist in about 50 countries, including the United States. Such bans came into prominence at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic amid fear — and a lack of understanding — about the virus. As HIV testing has become increasingly accurate and innovative, activists have criticized the exclusion as being both ethically and scientifically unjustifiable.
Several countries, including the U.S., France, Germany and Belgium, have begun talks about possibly revising their policies.
Earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration proposed lifting the ban in the U.S. — at least partially. Under revised FDA guidelines, gay and bisexual men in America would be allowed to donate blood, but only if they’ve abstained from sex for a year.
Blood donation equality advocates lauded the FDA announcement. However, many argued that the change does not go far enough.
David Stacy, government affairs director at the Human Rights Campaign, said the proposal was “a step in the right direction,” but added that it “falls far short of a fully acceptable solution because it continues to stigmatize gay and bisexual men.”
The American Red Cross, the American Association of Blood Banks and the American Medical Association are among the organizations that have called for the abolishment of the blood ban in the U.S.
In 2013, 86 members of Congress wrote to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to press the agency to reevaluate the outdated policty.
“We have seen vast advances in blood screening technology, blood donation policy changes in other countries allowing MSM to donate, and opposition from our nation’s blood banks who have called the current ban ‘medically and scientifically unwarranted.’’ the letter said. “Our current policies turn away healthy, willing donors, even when we face serious blood shortages.”
In the wake of Argentina’s policy shift, several netizens have taken to Twitter to express the hope that their home countries will sit up and take notice.
Jared Polis (D-Colo.) was one of those who weighed in on the decision, tweeting to the FDA: “Hope you’re watching.”
Argentina has ended their ban on gay men donating blood; hope you’re watching @US_FDA
t.co/QODb01us2Q— Jared Polis (@jaredpolis) September 17, 2015
I’d love to #BleedForEngland but @NHSEngland won’t have my blood. If Argentina can do it, why not us?
— Rob Francisco (@livingprocess) September 20, 2015
If Argentina can #EndTheBan then I’m pretty sure Canada can too! t.co/ITVjo5p6nk @CCDITweets
— Dan Culic (@DanCulic) September 17, 2015
The U.K. and Canada both have restrictions on blood donations by gay and bisexual men. In the U.K., men have to wait at least a year after having sex with another man before giving blood. In Canada, the wait is five years.
Earlier on HuffPost:
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Tennessee lawmakers file bill to nullify gay marriage in state
Tennessee lawmakers file bill to nullify gay marriage in state
Two Republican lawmakers have filed a bill to nullify the Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage in Tennessee.
The Tennessee Natural Marriage Defense Act was introduced in both the state house and senate on Thursday (17 September).
‘Natural marriage between one man and one woman as recognized by the people of Tennessee remains the law in Tennessee, regardless of any court decision to the contrary,’ it states.
‘Any court decision purporting to strike down natural marriage, including Obergefell v Hodges, is unauthoritative, void, and of no effect.’
The bill’s authors, Rep Mark Pody and Sen Mae Beavers, were cheered as they addressed a ‘religious freedom’ rally held outside the state capitol on the same day they filed the bill.
‘Marriage is between a man and a woman in Tennessee,’ Pody yelled.
‘We’re going to tell the attorney-general, he will defend marriage in Tennessee as it is written on our constitution,’ said Beavers, referring to a state ban on gay marriage that was overwhelmingly passed by voters in 2006.
However, the Tennessean newspaper noted that it’s unlikely the bill would be found constitutional if passed.
‘This is futile, costly, and chaotic,’ Chris Sanders, executive director of the Tennessee Equality Project told WSMV-TV.
‘Because I’ll tell you, couples who want to get married will not take no for an answer.’
Jim Obergefell, the plaintiff in the Supreme Court gay marriage case, responded to the bill on Twitter:
Get over it. You lost. Move on to other things that would make life better for your citizens. All citizens. t.co/Orm5MVm4OI
— Jim Obergefell (@JimObergefell) September 18, 2015
Tennessee lawmakers have already introduced the Tennessee Pastor Protection Act to ‘protect’ clergy from being ‘forced’ to officiate gay weddings, even though there is nothing in the Supreme Court ruling that does so.
The General Assembly will vote on the bill after it reconvenes in January.
The post Tennessee lawmakers file bill to nullify gay marriage in state appeared first on Gay Star News.
Darren Wee
www.gaystarnews.com/article/tennessee-lawmakers-file-bill-to-nullify-gay-marriage-in-state/
