2017 Day of Silence - Supporting our LGBT children

One of the pleasures of having this blog is the ability to amplify the issues of those in our community who deserve as much visibility as I can give them.

Such as our kids. Friday marks the annual GLSEN's Day of Silence in which high school students across America take a vow of silence to bring attention to how lgbt students are bullied . To me, this year is more poignant because of who-shall-not-be-named being our president and how he turned his back on our transgender kids while the religious right are busy portraying them as predators.

And I am glad to hear that this year's Day of Silence will culminate in an effort to urge state governors to push for full lgbt inclusive policies with an emphasis on protecting transgender youth.

More than ever, our lgbt, especially our transgender youth, need ways to make their faces be seen, their voices be heard, and to know that we have their backs.


Related post - 4 Facts about Day of Silence

'Magic Johnson talks about accepting his gay son, comedian whines that gays want their own bathrooms,' & other Thur midday news briefs

 

Magic Johnson (top photo) accepts his gay son. Lavell Crawford (bottom photo) is an example of the ignorance uttered when lgbt of colors have little to no visibility in the black  community.

Topping today's news briefs is a look at lgbts in the African-American community, positive and negative:

Magic Johnson Opens Up About His Son EJ Coming Out as Gay - A father and mother who accepts their gay son is a wonderful thing.

Comedian Lavell Crawford Says His Father Is Gay, But It's Still 'F**king Weird' and Now 'They Trying to Get Their Own Bathrooms' - Meanwhile, Lavell Crawford is a big bowl of stupid. Look what the Gay Mafia did to Tracey Morgan? Sorry but joking about beating up your gay child doesn't strike folks as funny, gay or otherwise. I'm not even GOING to touch the line about us supposedly wanting our own bathrooms. 

So basically this is what needs to be learned. It's all about who is being heard and seen in the black AND lgbt community, just like other communities. While I think Crawford is an idiot, before anyone starts going on a tangent about the supposed homophobia in the black community, answer this question. How many high profile lgbts of color do you see or hear, if any, in both the black AND gay communities. They are there, but are you paying attention to them? Or better yet, is there ANY focus on them. Yeah, yeah yeah. RuPaul, etc. BUT who else? And is there a diversity in the black lgbt voices and faces you see and hear? Not all of us are entertainers or singers. Some of us are community organizers, intellectuals, etc.  Also, before you ask the dreaded "how can blacks be oppressive when they were oppressed themselves" question, let me ask you a question. Why do you fail to acknowledge the fact that some people are both black and gay? We aren't talking about separate communities. Unfortunately, we are talking about two communities which, either overtly or covertly, will not recognize the fact that lgbts of color exist.  As long as neither community will acknowledge their commonality, i.e. lgbts of color, ignorance like Crawford spewed will be prevalent in the black community because there will be very few to challenge it. An lgbt of color doing this would have more resonance and credibility in the black community. Instead, white lgbts will wring their hands and speak ugly about the black community without realizing such thoughts and words only add to the problem.

Be prepared: Same-sex married couples are healthier than opposite-sex ones - I kinda like this article, but another part of me doesn't like it very much. Couple compatibility and health between gay couples and heterosexual couples shouldn't be seen as a competition. But here we are . . .  

Kremlin denies reports of ‘gay concentration camps’ in Chechnya - Russia in general persecutes the lgbt community. It's not like its going to acknowledge what's happening in Chechnya. 

 Sports Have Been An Anchor For This Transgender Teenager - I love this profile. 

 This is how you win a campaign against transphobia - I would say this is common sense, but you would be surprise how, in some situations, the simplest most accurate thing to do escapes people.