#AM_Equality Tipsheet: November 17, 2017

EPIDEMIC OF VIOLENCE TARGETING TRANSGENDER PEOPLE WORSENS — 2017 DEADLIEST YEAR ON RECORD: Today, HRC and the Trans People of Color Coalition (TPOCC) released A Time to Act: Fatal Violence Against Transgender People in America in 2017, a heartbreaking report documenting the often deadly violence faced by  transgender people and exploring factors that have made this year the deadliest on record for the transgender community. “The epidemic of violence against transgender people is an urgent crisis that demands the nation’s immediate attention,” said HRC President Chad Griffin (@ChadHGriffin). “The unique and tragic stories featured in this report reflect the obstacles that many transgender Americans — especially trans women of color — face in their daily lives. It is crucial that we know these stories in order to combat the transphobia, misogyny and racism fueling this violence so that we can end this epidemic before it takes any more lives.” The report comes in advance of Monday’s Transgender Day of Remembrance, which honors transgender people who lost their lives during the previous year, and amidst reports of a surge in hate-based violence and harassment that began during Donald Trump’s campaign, and continues under the Trump-Pence administration. More from HRC and The Associated Press.

• Horrifying: A Detroit-area transgender man was shot early this morning during a robbery. More from WXYZ Detroit.

TRANSGENDER TRAILBLAZER GAVIN GRIMM TO ADDRESS CONFERENCE ON TRANS YOUTH HEALTH CARE: Grimm will speak at the groundbreaking Community In Action: Caring For Our Transgender Children and Youth Conference in Cincinnati on Saturday. “We’re excited to partner with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center for this first-of-its-kind conference for transgender young people, their families, social workers and medical professionals, and to hear from inspiring leaders like Gavin Grimm and Chris Seelbach,” said Ellen Kahn, Director of HRC’s Children Youth and Families Program. “Whether at home, at school or at their doctor’s office, every person has the right to feel safe and to be treated with dignity and respect.” Grimm is the inspiring teenager who took his fight to use the boy’s restroom in his Virginia school all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. More from HRC.

FEEL GOOD FRIDAY — MOTHER HEARS SON SING FOR FIRST TIME SINCE HIS TRANSITION: Joyce Arterberry drove five hours to see her transgender son, Tom Kennard, perform with the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus. “I had a hard time accepting it,” Arterberry told KQED’s Chloe Veltman (@chloeveltman). “I realized after awhile that I loved my child, and that I didn’t want to lose my child.” Read and listen to this beautiful reunion at NPR.

JURY CONVICTS MAN WHO TORTURED, KILLED GIRLFRIEND’S 8-YEAR-OLD SON BECAUSE HE THOUGHT THE CHILD WAS GAY: Isauro Aguirre admitted to the horrifying 2013 crime, and was found guilty of first-degree murder, with a special circumstance of torture. Prosecutors will begin presenting evidence in the penalty phase of the trial on Nov. 27. This development comes days after Giovanni Melton, a 14-year-old, was allegedly murdered by his father because Giovanni was gay. More from Los Angeles Times.

UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY UNANIMOUSLY PASSES OLYMPICS RESOLUTION THAT RETAINS NON-DISCRIMINATION LANGUAGE: The “Olympic Truce Resolution” includes a commitment that the Olympics will not discriminate — including on the basis of sexual orientation. Egypt and Russia had attempted to remove the language because it references sexual orientation, but they were blocked by the U.S. and other nations. More from HRC.

Intolerance has no place in the Olympics. Thank you @UN for upholding the #OlympicSpirit and its commitment to inclusion by maintaining non-discrimination principles. t.co/Edl6t2lQnA

— HumanRightsCampaign (@HRC) November 16, 2017

NEW VIDEO — LGBTQ MILITARY AND VETERANS JOIN HRC AND OTHER ADVOCATES CALLING ON TRUMP TO HONOR ALL TROOPS: HRC and Lambda Legal joined former Secretary of the Army Eric Fanning (@ericfanning) and LGBTQ service members and veterans to call on Trump to honor and support all who serve and have served, and to recognize trans military personnel who defend our country. #ProtectTransTroops Watch here.

• ABC’s Meghan Keneally (@mkeneally) and Jessica Hopper (@jesshop23) spoke to transgender service members and their families about how this ban is affecting them. More from ABC.

Trump’s discriminatory #transban must be stopped. We must support all who serve & have served our nation in the military. #TransWeek pic.twitter.com/jIV6Ho8upW

— HumanRightsCampaign (@HRC) November 16, 2017

MICH. LAWMAKERS PUSH FOR HATE CRIMES BILL IN WAKE OF ANTI-LGBTQ ATTACK: State Senator Steve Bieda joined Muskegon County Prosecutor D.J. Hilson to urge action on a measure that would add sexual orientation and gender identification to the state’s hate crime laws. Earlier this month, a Muskegon, Mich. LGBTQ young person was beaten because of his sexual orientation. More from Wood TV.

NEW REPORT ON LGBTQ YOUTH HOMELESSNESS: Missed Opportunities: National Estimates, issued by Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, found that LGBTQ young adults had a 120 percent higher risk of reporting homelessness compared to youth who identified as heterosexual and cisgender. More from HRC.

TRANS WOMAN SUES STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS FOR BEING HELD IN MALE PRISON FACILITY: The woman alleges she was sexually assaulted and verbally harassed, and requests that her proper name and pronouns be used, and that she be moved to a women’s facility. Said Jennifer L. Levi, director of the Transgender Rights Project at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, “In 2017, it is a total shame that this state — with so much broader policy recognizing the humanity of transgender people — doesn’t recognize that humanity in our correction system.” More from The Boston Globe.

MORMON APOSTLE DELIVERS SUPPORTIVE MESSAGE TO LGBTQ FAITHFUL: Church of Latter-Day Saints Apostle M. Russell Ballard, in a speech at Brigham Young University, said, “Any member has a place in God’s kingdom,” and that Mormon leaders and others  need to “listen to and understand what LGBT members are feeling and experiencing.” More from The Salt Lake Tribune.

BISEXUAL RAPPER LIL PEEP PASSES: The rapper, 21, came out as bisexual on Twitter earlier this year. More from The New York Times.

BISHOP AND ADVOCATE YAP KIM HAO PASSES: Reverend Yap Kim Hao, 88, was the first Asian bishop of the Methodist Church in Singapore and Malaysia, where he championed LGBTQ equality in the church. More from The Straits Times.

READING RAINBOW

The Guardian reports on an Islamic boarding school in Indonesia for the transgender community

Have news? Send us your news and tips at [email protected]. Click here to subscribe to #AM_Equality and follow @HRC for all the latest news. Thanks for reading!

www.hrc.org/blog/am-equality-tipsheet-november-17-2017?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Sneak peek: On set with the trans stars of Ryan Murphy’s highly anticipated “Pose”

www.glaad.org/blog/sneak-peek-set-trans-stars-ryan-murphys-highly-anticipated-pose

Ezra Miller speeds to sexy action stardom as The Flash in ‘Justice League’

www.queerty.com/ezra-miller-speeds-sexy-action-stardom-flash-justice-league-20171117?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Jared Kushner Failed to Disclose Wikileaks Emails, Details About Russian Contacts to Senate Investigators

Jared Kushner has held information back from the Senate Judiciary Committee concerning Wikileaks and Russian invitations and Senators Chuck Grassley and Dianne Feinstein are demanding it, the Washington Post reports:

In the letter, Grassley and Feinstein instruct Kushner’s team to turn over “several documents that are known to exist” because other witnesses in their probe already gave them to investigators. They include a series of “September 2016 email communications to Mr. Kushner concerning WikiLeaks,” which the committee leaders say Kushner then forwarded to another campaign official. Earlier this week, Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. revealed that he had had direct communication with WikiLeaks over private Twitter messages during the campaign.

Committee leaders said Kushner also withheld from the committee “documents concerning a ‘Russian backdoor overture and dinner invite’ ” that he had forwarded to other campaign officials. And they said Kushner had been made privy to “communications with Sergei Millian” — a Belarusan American businessman who claims close ties to the Trumps and was the source of salacious details in a dossier about the president’s 2013 trip to Moscow — but failed to turn those records over to investigators.

Last month it was reported that “Kushner ‘enriched himself’ by not revealing his ownership of a real estate tech business that raised millions of dollars while he served in the government.”

The post Jared Kushner Failed to Disclose Wikileaks Emails, Details About Russian Contacts to Senate Investigators appeared first on Towleroad.

Jared Kushner Failed to Disclose Wikileaks Emails, Details About Russian Contacts to Senate Investigators

Scottish Labour Leader Election Ends With Leftwinger Richard Leonard Playing Down Chances Of Victory
The fractious Scottish Labour leadership election has ended with leftwinger Richard Leonard’s campaign playing down his chances of pulling off a victory.

The poll closed at noon on Friday, with results due to be revealed on Saturday, after weeks of sometimes acrimonious spats between supporters of Leonard and those of rival Anas Sarwar.

At stake is not just the leadership of the party in Scotland, vacated by Kezia Dugdale this summer, but also a crucial seat on Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC).

During the race, Glasgow MSP Sarwar, seen as the more ‘centrist’ candidate, won the backing of big names such as current interim leader Jackie Baillie, Manchester and Liverpool Metro Mayors Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram and a swath of new party members.

Leonard, depicted as the more “pro-Corbyn” contender, won huge trade union backing and managed to sign up record numbers of union members to take part in the ballot.

But in an internal briefing note seen by HuffPost UK, Leonard’s campaign manager Simon Fletcher struck a decidedly downbeat note as he warned his lower profile and lower turnout among trade unionists had ensured the race was too close to call.

Fletcher also pointed out that the party membership was historically less radical in Scotland, having preferred Owen Smith to Corbyn in 2016.

Other insiders pointed out that the all-electronic ballot, the first of its kind, had deterred older members who were more used to putting a paper postal vote.

The “close of poll note” reads:

“We are not going to predict the outcome. From the outset we have not briefed our numbers or offered a prediction. We believe we have done everything possible in this campaign. Contrary to the presentation of Richard as the frontrunner, we have always believed that this is a massive stretch for a relatively less well-known candidate to deliver victory for a message of change. In the most recent leadership election in Scotland last summer, Owen Smith secured 53.2 per cent to Jeremy Corbyn’s 46.8 per cent amongst the members. In the 2014 leadership election Neil Findlay – who is supporting Richard Leonard in this election – secured 32.7 per cent of the membership compared to 60.4 per cent to Jim Murphy. Anas Sarwar began the campaign with a much higher-profile than Richard Leonard, and indeed is the former deputy leader of the Scottish Labour Party. To get to a point of being a serious challenger for the Scottish Labour leadership is a major achievement and marks a significant development in the political and policy direction of the Scottish Labour Party. In terms of the voting. –           Richard has a considerable amount of support amongst members who joined before, during and after the 2017 General Election; notably amongst the very many young people who are again joining the Labour Party. He has also shown that he can reach into previously existing members who are hungry for change in order to deliver electoral advance and connect with Labour’s political development at a UK level. This was reflected in the constituency party nominations. –           We believe that Anas has a strong showing amongst members who joined since the contest started. –           We know that affiliated supporters often have a lower turnout than members. So the question could well come down to the balance between the different degrees of turnout. Richard’s candidacy has shifted the terms of the framework in Scottish Labour, leading the whole debate in a more radical direction. The result remains to be seen, and we make no predictions.
During the race, Sarwar came under attack for his family firm’s employment practices and faced questions over a large influx of new party members signed up. He also faced criticism for sending his son to the private school.

The Leonard campaign also had to fend off claims that it had broken rules in signing up thousands of trade unionists to take part in the election.

In a statement, Sarwar paid tribute to the members and trade unionists who had voted for him or volunteered on his campaign.

“I am immensely proud of leading a positive campaign, which put forward new, radical, bold policy ideas, and never forgot who our real opponents are: the SNP and the Tories.

“Our campaign to put Labour values at the heart of Scotland’s future galvanised and motivated thousands who want our party to fight harder against a Tory Brexit, be bolder in our ambition to lift children out of poverty, and be more radical with tax powers.

“If elected leader, I will work tirelessly to return us to power so that Scotland has a government that works for the many, not the few.”

Leonard said in a separate statement that his campaign had “shifted the debate in Scottish Labour for good”.

“Now is the time for the party to come together to take the fight to the SNP and the Tories, for all of those people in all of those communities who need Labour back in power.”

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/scottish-labour-leader-election-closes-with-richard-leonard-camp-warning-of-low-union-turnout_uk_5a0ef1a5e4b045cf4370fc13

HRC & Trans People of Color Coalition Release Report on Violence Against the Transgender Community

Today, HRC Foundation and the Trans People of Color Coalition (TPOCC) released A Time to Act: Fatal Violence Against Transgender People in America in 2017, a heartbreaking report documenting the often deadly violence faced by transgender people and exploring factors that have made this year the deadliest on record for the transgender community.

The report comes in advance of Monday’s Transgender Day of Remembrance, which honors transgender people who lost their lives during the previous year, and amidst reports of a surge in hate-based violence and harassment that began during Donald Trump’s campaign, and continues under the Trump-Pence administration.

“The epidemic of violence against transgender people is an urgent crisis that demands the nation’s immediate attention,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “The unique and tragic stories featured in this report reflect the obstacles that many transgender Americans — especially trans women of color — face in their daily lives. It is crucial that we know these stories in order to combat the transphobia, misogyny and racism fueling this violence so that we can end this epidemic before it takes any more lives.”

Since the start of the year, at least 25 transgender people have been killed in the U.S., the most on record. Eighty-four percent were people of color, and 80 percent were women. Since January 2013, HRC has documented at least 102 transgender people who were victims of fatal violence; at least 87 were transgender people of color. And these disturbing numbers likely underreport deadly violence targeting transgender people, who may not be properly identified as transgender.

“Each of the stories featured in this report is unique, tragic and devastating,” said TPOCC Executive Director Kylar Broadus. “Unpacking these stories is a difficult but necessary process if we as a society want to protect the most vulnerable and address the root causes for their unjust and premature deaths.”

The report explores many of the factors that can contribute to or facilitate fatal violence. In many instances, the violence is fueled by anti-LGBTQ prejudice, racism, too-easy access to guns and increasing political attacks on the transgender community at both the state and federal level. There are a number of actions lawmakers can take to address the violence, including enhancing law enforcement response and training; improving data collection and reporting; passing non-discrimination protections; and adopting common-sense gun violence protections.

Since the election of Donald Trump and Mike Pence, there has been a notable increase in the vitriol and anti-transgender rhetoric — from the top levels of government down through the rest of American society. Seventy percent of respondents to HRC’s post-2016 election youth survey reported witnessing bullying and harassment during or since the 2016 election, and almost half of LGBTQ youth said they have taken steps to hide who they are since the election. FBI data released earlier this week recorded an overall increase in hate crimes in 2016, including a rise in bias-motivated violence based on gender identity and sexual orientation.

Today’s release of A Time to Act: Fatal Violence Against Transgender People in America 2017 marks the conclusion of HRC’s commemoration of Transgender Awareness Week, which is dedicated to the progress and unfinished work in the fight for transgender equality. Earlier this week, HRC announced that more than 1,400 parents of transgender young people have signed a National Declaration of Rights in response to continued attacks on transgender equality. Throughout the week, HRC has been highlighting areas of focus and continued challenges for the transgender community, from workplace equality to access to inclusive and respectful health care.

On Monday, transgender people and their allies will gather in communities across the country to mark Transgender Day of Remembrance. For more information on Transgender Awareness Week and HRC’s work on transgender equality, visit: www.hrc.org/explore/topic/transgender.

www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-trans-people-of-color-coalition-release-report-on-violence-against-the?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

From the Ballrooms to the Big Time: Leiomy Maldonado

Renowned vogue superstar Leiomy Maldonado is more than just her hair toss.

www.advocate.com/current-issue/2017/11/17/ballrooms-big-time-leiomy-maldonado

Five Essentials For Your Hogmanay Party

Once the Christmas festivities are over, attention will quickly turn to New Year’s Eve. In Scotland, the celebrations are not just preserved for December 31st. Hogmanay lasts three to five days and involves street parties and fire festivals across the country.

While the origin of the word for this flamboyant celebration is still a little hazy, the traditions are strong and extremely fun.

If you want to celebrate Hogmanay in style, you need to add a few traditions to your party.

The Redding and Saining of the House

Cleaning rituals are part of every culture. Jewish tradition is to clean the kitchen for Passover, while Chinese families traditionally clean their homes right before New Year.

Similarly, as part of Hogmanay, the New Year is welcomed with a clean-up, as you will need to drive out the evil spirits before the year begins. When the cleaning is done, you’ll go through each room carrying a smoking juniper branch.

The smoke and the scent will chase away the bad stuff and help you start your year – and the party – without pestering evil spirits.

First-Footing for Future Fortunes

Hogmanay is closely associated with another fun tradition and that’s called the first-footing. The tradition is one in which the first person to enter your home after midnight on New Year’s Eve is supposed to bring gifts and a lump of coal.

Who the person is, is believed to affect your future fortunes, so choose carefully!

Traditional Hogmanay Foods

No party is a good party without some great food and drinks. Since Hogmanay is a huge Scottish festivity, the drink of choice is whisky. Serve it on its own or in cocktails – if it’s freezing cold, a hot toddy will be most welcome!

For food, you can’t have a proper Hogmanay without black bun. The fruitcake is garnished with raisins, almonds, cinnamon and black pepper. In fact, it’s often brought to parties as part of the first-footing ritual. You should also treat your guests to neeps and tatties, pairing this delicious potato and turnip dish with a steak pie.

Folk Music to Sing Along With

Music is an essential part of any party and Hogmanay is no different. You can respect the tradition by having a folk band play the best local tunes. The party must, of course, end with a rendition of Auld Lang Syne. This is the Hogmanay song, although no one really knows why!

At Freak Music we still have plenty of acts with availability for New Year’s Eve.

A Bonfire to Light Up the Night

Fire is a central part of Hogmanay and you should be looking to incorporate it into your party. You should have plenty of candles to add to the atmosphere of the party indoors, but outside, a bonfire would be the perfect addition, space and safety permitting!

If you can’t create a bonfire in the garden, you can always have big wooden logs lit up like candles for similar effect.

Celebrating Hogmanay in the traditional manner is the best way to welcome the New Year. What do you have planned for your party?

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/five-essentials-for-your-hogmanay-party_uk_5a0dc914e4b023a796fed49d

A Queer City Council Is Just the Beginning for Roaring Palm Springs

Everyone wants to be part of this hot spot’s latest reinvention.

www.advocate.com/current-issue/2017/11/17/queer-city-council-just-beginning-roaring-palm-springs