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#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
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