Back To School for Non-Binary Youth
As kids across the country go back to school, HRC joined Emma and Zeam as they discussed issues transgender and non-binary kids go through at school, and how teachers and administrators can create a better environment for all students.
Australia’s High Court Says the Marriage Vote Must Go On
Activists attempted to challenge the legality of a national poll on same-sex marriage.
www.advocate.com/world/2017/9/07/australias-high-court-says-marriage-vote-must-go
Justice Department Supports Antigay Baker in Supreme Court Case
Trump’s Justice Department says the baker has a First Amendment right to turn away same-sex couples who want wedding cakes.
www.advocate.com/politics/2017/9/07/justice-department-supports-antigay-baker-supreme-court-case
Trump-Pence Administration Urges SCOTUS to Provide a License to Discriminate Against LGBTQ Americans
Today, the Human Rights Campaign released the following statement on the Trump-Pence Administration’s amicus brief in Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, a case involving a baker who in 2012 refused to provide a wedding cake for a same-sex couple:
“Once again, the Trump-Pence Administration has taken direct aim at our nation’s progress on LGBTQ equality, this time urging the Supreme Court to grant a potentially sweeping license to discriminate against same-sex couples,” said Sarah Warbelow, HRC’s Legal Director. “The discrimination endorsed by this administration in their amicus brief is the same form of bigotry Mike Pence signed into law in Indiana in 2015 and for which he was swiftly rebuked by a national backlash among America’s businesses. If adopted by the court, the Trump-Pence Administration’s arguments would threaten to gut many of our nation’s most sacred civil rights laws – not just for LGBTQ people, but also for women, people of color, religious minorities, and Americans of all backgrounds.”
Warbelow continued, “As has been the case throughout their eight months in office, Donald Trump, Mike Pence and Jeff Sessions are on the wrong side of both the law and history.”
Last year, the Colorado Supreme Court upheld a ruling by the Colorado Court of Appeals that bakery owner Jack Phillips cannot cite religious beliefs or free speech in order to discriminate against same-sex couples. The Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in the case this term.
Why Ellen Wasn’t Allowed to Say ‘We’
Those behind the scenes didn’t want her saying anything about being a lesbian, even long after she came out.
www.advocate.com/television/2017/9/07/why-ellen-wasnt-allowed-say-we
Priest tells mourners ‘all gays should be shot’ at memorial for woman who killed herself
Jay-Z’s Mom Explained How She Came Out to Him as Gay
Jay-Z’s mother Gloria Carter explained how she told her son she was gay in an interview on the D’USSE Friday podcast.
Earlier this year, Jay-Z released a song, “Smile”, with a rap that discussed his mother’s coming out. The track ended with Carter reciting a poem about “Living two lives, happy but not free.”
Said Carter on the podcast (transcript via NME):
“I just finally started telling [Jay] who I was. Besides your mother, this is the person that I am. This is the life that I live. So my son started actually tearing. ‘Cause he’s like, ‘That had to be a horrible life, ma’. I was like, ‘My life was never horrible. It was just different.’ So that made him want to do a song about it….I was never ashamed of me. In my family, it was something that was never discussed… I’m tired of all the mystery. I’m gonna give it to ‘em. I don’t have to worry about anybody wondering if I’m in the life or not, I’m gonna tell them. So now that I told you, what do you have to talk about? So now maybe you can focus on the phenomenal things I do, so focus on that… Now it’s time for me to be free.”
Listen to the podcast (excerpt above starts around 26 minutes):
Carter’s final verse in the song:
“Living in the shadow. Can you imagine what kind of life it is to live? In the shadows people see you as happy and free, because that’s what you want them to see. Living two lifes, happy but not free.You live in the shadows for fear of someone hurting your family or someone you love. The world is changing and they say it’s time to be free. But you live with the fear of just being me. Living in the shadow feels like the safe place to be. No harm for them, no harm for me. But life is short, and it’s time to be free. Love who you love, because life isn’t guaranteed.”
Photo: Jay-Z and his mother Gloria Carter by Joella Marano is licensed under (cc-by-SA 2.0)
The post Jay-Z’s Mom Explained How She Came Out to Him as Gay appeared first on Towleroad.
Sexual Assault Survivor Jordan Dashow Takes on DeVos over Title IX
