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.

Hate group spokesman's ramble bizarre ramble about gays and witches in DC

So while anti-lgbt hate group the Family Research Council is celebrating Neil Gorsuch becoming a SCOTUS judge, helping to cause all sorts of anti-transgender mayhem in Texas, and basically indulging in its usual attempts to make the lgbtq community second-class citizens under the guise of "religious liberty," one of its spokesman is going on a bizarre fact-free ramble about gays and witches populating DC.

From Right Wing Watch:

Earlier this month, Family Research Council senior fellow Robert Maginnis appeared on SkyWatchTV to discuss “the occult influence on D.C. elites.” Maginnis warned that even the most well-intentioned people who go to Washington, D.C. to work in public service are susceptible to the evil forces that he said dominate the city, citing both witchcraft and homosexuality. “If you look around Washington, you have Dupont Circle, famous for being the center of homosexuality in Washington, you have all sorts of activities down there that are pretty souring,” he said. “You have a lot of witchcraft. You have a lot of hedonism. You have all the issues that—when I think of Sodom and Gomorrah, I often think of Washington, D.C. in the same thought.”

Hey Robert, isn't your organization (Family Research Council) situated in DC and "have a lot of power" in the Trump Administration? Just asking.

'Inane ideas of masculinity are damaging to us all' & other Wed midday news briefs

 Twitter Hashtag Reveals Just How Damaging Expectations Of Masculinity Can Be - Interesting piece which resonated with me. There were and still are certain expectations of me as as male which are a drag. What am I? An uncaring, unfeeling commodity for someone's idea of bliss? Some uber masculine black "stud" reject from a 1970s blaxploitation movie?

 Why Russia’s Persecution of its LGBT Community Matters - Wonderful piece which speaks directly to why we should all be concerned about the gay purge in Chechnya.  
 

2nd Circuit (again) finds anti-gay discrimination legal under Title VII - We win again. I am seriously loving these under-the-radar but very crucial wins.  

Human rights groups slam NCAA for bringing tournament back to North Carolina - Oh for crying out loud, NCAA!  

Alabama Governor urged to reject bill protecting anti-LGBT adoption agencies - We can only hope . . .

Transgender students in TX speak out against SB6

With the religious right and their supporters attempting to overwhelm the conversation regarding transgender equality with their lies, anecdotes, and horror stories, it is crucial that a voice be given to transgender men, women, and especially transgender youth.

From GLAAD:

Students across Texas are voicing their grave concerns about Senate Bill 6 (SB6), a bill threatening harm to transgender people across the Lone Star State. Join the movement today at glaad.org/texas. SB6, which is similar to the widely-covered HB2 in North Carolina, bans local governments from enacting nondiscrimination ordinances that protect transgender people, or from requiring companies with city contracts from having similar protections. It also restricts restroom and locker room access for transgender people in government buildings, public schools and universities. 

GLAAD met with students on the ground at the University of Texas at Austin to discuss how the anti-transgender animus behind SB6 impacts their well-being as students, LGBTQ community members, or allies to their trans peers. The students also shared ways in which they are rallying support for those most targeted by SB6, like encouraging allies to safely accompany trans students to public facilities.

'Haley condemns Chechnya gay purge. Trump, Pence still silent' & other Tue midday news briefs

Haley

Nikki Haley highest U.S. official to respond to reported gay purge in Chechnya - Thank you, Ms. Haley. However, I would like to hear from others. Trump? Pence? Tillerson? Surely you can take time out of your schedules to condemn genocide.

If y'all need instruction, this is how you condemn the situation in Chechnya:

 Joe Biden condemns gay Chechnya arrests

International outrage over gay Chechnya arrests mounts

In other news:

 The ‘LGBT Trump Fallacy’ Exists Because The Media Created And Promoted It - Preach!! 

"Greenleaf" Makes Space On TV For Queer Black People In Church - Love this! Repeatedly! 

 Victims Of Bullying Don’t Need To Change, Bullies Do - Amen to that.  

Texas wants to allow contractors to issue marriage licenses over the phone - What's with Texas? Seriously?

Does 'religious liberty' include anti-lgbt harassment?

Could religious liberty laws allow clerks to verbally upbraid gays couples seeking marriage licenses?

From The New Civil Rights Movement (NCRM) comes news of a lawsuit which poses questions the lgbtq community should ask about potential "religious liberty" laws. Would these laws also give marriage clerks the right to verbally upbraid gays and lesbians seeking licenses under the guise of  "personally held religious beliefs?"

Amanda Abramovich and Samantha Brookover originally tried to marry in 2014, after their home state of West Virginia legalized same-sex marriage. At the time, the couple, high school sweethearts together now over six years, were denied a license in Gilmer County by a clerk who told them that they each needed an in-county driver's license in order to get a marriage license.

In February of 2016, seven months after the Obergefell decision that made same-sex marriage legal across the U.S., the couple applied for their marriage license a second time. According to a new lawsuit from Americans United, a religious freedom watchdog group, the couple was harassed over their marriage application.

County Deputy Clerk Debbie Allen allegedly harassed them for several minutes, calling their relationship an “abomination” and citing her religion as a reason for her objection to the couple. Another clerk allegedly joined in, calling the abuse Allen’s "religious right." Brookover’s mother called the office of County Clerk Jean Butcher to report the incident, but Butcher allegedly stood behind the actions of the deputy clerks.

"Allen launched into a tirade of harassment and disparagement. She slammed her paperwork down on her desk, screaming that the couple was an 'abomination' to God and that God would 'deal' with them," court documents claim. "Samantha was brought to tears.

According to The NCRM, Abramovich and Brookover  received their license but will be suing with the help of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. No doubt if anti-lgbt organizations get hold of this case, they will attempt to spin it into one of free speech. Granted, I don't think that such an argument is plausible but obeying rule of plausibility has never been the religious right's strong suit.