강남순: “정의는 기다리지 않는다” | 2017 대선 동성애 논쟁을 보면서
매일매일 혐오의 시선과 차별적 제도들에 의하여 고통속에 있는 이들에게 끈기 있는 인내심을 가져야 한다고 하는 것은 참으로 아픈 일이다. 성소수자들에 대한 정의는 즉각적으로 이루어져야하기 때문이다. 그럼에도 불구하고, 현상태에 대한 절망과 좌절이 아니라, 이루어내야 할 정의를 향한 지속적이고 끈기 있는 희망의 끈을 부여잡아야 하는 것이다. 데리다의 말은 이 점에서 의미심장한 메시지를 우리에게 전하고 있다: “정의는 기다리지 않는다. . . 그렇기 때문에 정의는 언제나 ‘다가올 정의’이다 (Justice does not wait . . . But for this very reason, justice remains justice-to-come).”
Daily Archives: April 27, 2017
#ThrowbackThursday: Ellen DeGeneres Came Out 20 Years Ago
#ThrowbackThursday: Ellen DeGeneres Came Out 20 Years Ago
This week, we mark the 20th anniversary of Ellen DeGeneres coming out.
DeGeneres came out publicly on her TV show Ellen on April 30, 1997, in “The Puppy Episode.” The episode featured several big names, including Oprah Winfrey and Laura Dern, and a brief cameo by DeGeneres’ real-life mom and longtime HRC supporter Betty DeGeneres.
Ellen’s courageous decision to live openly and honestly– both on- and off-screen – was truly historic. Not long after coming out, DeGeneres was honored at HRC’s first-ever National Dinner with our National Civil Rights Award.
In her acceptance speech, she said:
“This hasn’t been an easy journey for me. I lived with a sense of shame for a long time. Every interview, I tried to dodge around that dreaded question, ‘Are you gay?’ My answer was always:
‘My private life is my private life.’ And it is. But my sexuality is as much a part of me as my skin color. I tried to justify why I should keep it hidden for as long as I could. I finally got to a point where living honestly and being proud of who I am was more important than fame. Ironically, my being honest made me more famous. So much for those who said it would hurt my career. I was willing to risk it all and I was rewarded for it. My life is better than it’s ever been – I found love and there’s nothing more important than that…
I feel so good knowing I’ve made a contribution – that’s my reward. I never wanted to be an activist – I just wanted to entertain people to make them feel good. But as I’ve witnessed the discrimination -the double standards- and heard the statistics of teen suicides-I’ve had to re-think that. If by standing up for what I think is right makes me an activist- I’m an activist.”
During DeGeneres’ coming out episode, HRC planned coming out house parties across the country and sponsored a TV commercial about anti-LGBTQ job discrimination. While the national ABC Network turned the ad down, citing its policy against “controversial issue advertising,” 65 ABC affiliates across the country accepted the ad and 12 refused. HRC ultimately aired the spot in 35 markets across the country, raising awareness around the issue of job discrimination against LGBTQ Americans.
Stay turned to HRC’s blog as we highlight Ellen DeGeneres and the historic impact she has made for LGBTQ people everywhere.
Coming out — whether it is as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or allied — is a deeply personal journey for every individual. For more resources on coming out, visit HRC’s Coming Out Center.
Gay Asylum-Seeker Is Stuck in Immigration Detention
Gay Asylum-Seeker Is Stuck in Immigration Detention
A gay, HIV-positive Russian man is afraid he might be deported back to his native country.
www.advocate.com/politics/2017/4/27/gay-asylum-seeker-stuck-immigration-detention
Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act Reintroduced in Congress
Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act Reintroduced in Congress
Today, Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) and Sens. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) reintroduced the Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act, which would require colleges and universities to have comprehensive anti-harassment policies that include LGBTQ young people.
Specifically, the legislation would require policies that prohibit harassment of enrolled students by other students, faculty, and staff based on actual or perceived race, color, national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or religion and would require colleges to distribute their anti-harassment policy to all students and employees, including prospective students and employees upon request. It would also explicitly prohibit behavior often referred to as cyberbullying.
Tyler Clementi, for whom the bill is named, was an 18 year-old freshman at Rutgers University in the fall of 2010. Without Clementi’s knowledge, his roommate streamed video footage on the internet of Clementi being intimate in his dorm room with another male. After his roommate attempted to stream another such interaction a few days later, Clementi ended his life.
After his death, Clementi’s parents founded the Tyler Clementi Foundation to combat bullying and harassment and to promote safe and inclusive environments for LGBTQ youth. Last July, Jane Clementi, Tyler’s mom, testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and implored the Committee to include the Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act in any reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.
“I believe this bill will allow institutions of higher education to take a fresh look and reexamine their policies and procedures that are and are not in place,” Jane shared in her written testimony to the committee. “In addition this legislation is your opportunity to not only keep our own young adults safe but to also have a global influence. Book knowledge is important but the wisdom of empathy and compassion is priceless. Bullying does not magically disappear when someone turns 18. We must continue to provide safe and supportive learning environments for all students in all learning environments including higher education.”
HRC applauds Senators Murray and Baldwin and Representative Pocan for their unwavering support for LGBTQ young people. We will continue to work with them and all of our champions on Capitol Hill to pass this legislation.
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The cast of “Fire Island” gets properly schooled by two longtime locals
The cast of “Fire Island” gets properly schooled by two longtime locals
“This is so great…”
A Spacecraft Just Flew Between Saturn and its Rings for the First Time — and There are Pictures
A Spacecraft Just Flew Between Saturn and its Rings for the First Time — and There are Pictures
NASA’s Cassini is approaching its final days NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute Three shots of Saturn’s atmosphere taken by Cassini NASA’s 20-year Cassini mission is finally coming to a close. After years of orbiting around the Saturn system and collecting some stellar scientific data, the spacecraft is on a path of certain destruction: on Sunday, the probe officially…
The post A Spacecraft Just Flew Between Saturn and its Rings for the First Time — and There are Pictures appeared first on Towleroad.
A Spacecraft Just Flew Between Saturn and its Rings for the First Time — and There are Pictures
100 DAYS: HRC Launches Timeline of Trump’s Unprecedented Attacks on LGBTQ Community
100 DAYS: HRC Launches Timeline of Trump’s Unprecedented Attacks on LGBTQ Community
HRC launched a website — HRC.org/Trump — chronicling the Trump Administration’s unprecedented attacks against the LGBTQ community. The timeline, which will continue to be updated, spotlights efforts to undermine the LGBTQ community from rescinding guidelines protecting transgender students, to appointing Jeff Sessions to the nation’s highest law enforcement post, to threatening a “license to discriminate” Executive Order and erasing LGBTQ people in federal data gathering — as well as how the community is fighting back.
“Since the moment he walked into the Oval Office, Donald Trump has attacked our progress and undermined the rights of countless Americans,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “After promising to be a president for all Americans, Trump has stacked his cabinet with anti-LGBTQ officials, rescinded protections for transgender students, pushed a Muslim ban and draconian deportation orders, and is reportedly considering a license to discriminate order. But instead of dividing us, Donald Trump has united us. Never before have Americans been more eager to participate, to advocate and to fight back. And today, HRC and our grassroots army are harnessing the full power of our democracy to protect our progress and resist Donald Trump’s attacks.”
In the run up to the 100 day mark, HRC is also launching a social campaign spotlighting 100 Messages of Hope that highlight how people have come together — and to encourage people to post their own messages.
Since Inauguration Day, HRC members and supporters have logged hundreds of thousands of calls, emails and meetings with members of Congress to rally for the Affordable Care Act, to fight Trump’s nomination of anti-LGBTQ Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch and other appointees, to lobby for the Equality Act and more. HRC has also mobilized tens of thousands of supporters for protests outside the White House to #ProtectTransKids and join grassroots rallies across the nation — including the Women’s March and Save Our Care events.
Some of Trump’s most disgraceful actions targeting the LGBTQ community include:
- Rolling back Title IX guidance detailing critical school protections for transgender students;
- Appointing and nominating anti-LGBTQ extremists to all levels of government; including Jeff Sessions, Tom Price, Ben Carson, Mark Green, Roger Severino, and many others;
- Nominating anti-LGBTQ judge, Neil Gorsuch, to a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court of the United States;
- Erasing LGBTQ data collection from federal surveys;
- Scrubbing all mentions of LGBTQ issues from the White House website only hours into his administration;
- Signing an executive order stating policy to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — landmark legislation that provides access to healthcare for millions of LGBTQ people;
- Leaking a draft of his plan to grant a taxpayer-funded license to discriminate against the LGBTQ community;
- Signing a cruel executive order blocking all Syrian refugees and prohibiting nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S
Anti-LGBT Alabama Jurist Roy Moore Running for U.S. Senate
Anti-LGBT Alabama Jurist Roy Moore Running for U.S. Senate
Moore enters a crowded Republican field seeking to succeed Jeff Sessions
www.advocate.com/politics/2017/4/27/anti-lgbt-alabama-jurist-roy-moore-running-us-senate
Blogger’s brilliant answer to teaching tolerance in schools: ban all LGBTQ groups!
Blogger’s brilliant answer to teaching tolerance in schools: ban all LGBTQ groups!
Naturally, being a conservative, white, heterosexual male living under threat of having his privilege stripped away, Peter Heck finds pro-LGBTQ groups very threatening.