Mexico’s senate has voted to ban all conversion therapy that aims to alter sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression – putting the UK to shame.
On Tuesday (11 October), 69 lawmakers voted for the bill, with two against and 16 abstentions. It will now head to Mexico’s chamber of deputies for a final vote.
The vote has been years in the making, with the bill first introduced by senators from the parties Citizen Movement, Morena and the Green Party in October 2018.
LGBTQ+ human rights organisation Yaaj Mexico said in a press release: “The eyes of the world are today on this historic advance in human rights, hoping that it will become an international benchmark.”
The group said that conversion therapy’s “main victims are young LGBTQ+ people, causing irreparable damage to their mental health throughout their adult life and in the worst cases, driving them to suicide”.
“For the survivors of these practices who have raised their voices, making the political personal, this legislative advance it means the integral reparation of the damage that was once done to them.”
In its press release, Yaaj noted that if the bill passes in the chamber of deputies, Mexico would join countries around the world in legislating against the abhorrent practice, including Germany, Malta, Canada, Australia and Ecuador.
One country notably not mentioned was the UK.
The Conservative Party had been promising a UK conversion therapy ban since 2018, and last year finally produced a consultation document.
However, the consultation was littered with red flags, comparing affirmative medical treatment for trans kids to conversion therapy, providing religious exemptions, and even stating that adults could freely consent to conversion therapy.
The comprehensive report was welcomed by the LGBTQ+ community, centering survivors in all areas, and laying out key principles for legislating against conversion therapy.
These included a future ban which must cover any treatment, practice or effort that aims to change, suppress or eliminate a person’s sexual orientation, expression of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, and providing specific guidance on the experiences of LGBTQ+ people of colour – and survivors from minority ethnic faith groups.
A young gay man has been shot dead by the Taliban in Afghanistan because of his sexuality.
Hamed Sabouri, from Kabul, was killed in August, local activists have told PinkNews. He was just 22.
He was reportedly kidnapped by the Taliban and a video showing his murder sent to his family days later.
Bahar, another gay Afghan who knew the victim personally, told PinkNews Sabouri had dreams of becoming a doctor, but his hopes were stolen from him when the Taliban seized power in August 2021.
He described Hamed as a “shy” gay man with an infectious laugh.
“Life is hell for every LGBT Afghan,” Bahar said.
“Taliban terrorists are worse than wild animals.”
Bahar, who is a member of Afghanistan’s growing LGBTQ+ organisation the Behesht Collective, deleted all the pictures and videos he had of Sabouri on his phone after he learned of his murder.
Bahar lives in fear of being stopped and searched by the Taliban – he’s afraid that he would also be killed if they found out about his sexuality.
Since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021, PinkNews has spoken to a number of LGBTQ+ Afghans who have had their phones searched by the Taliban.
Many have resorted to deleting their social media accounts in a desperate bid to stay safe, while many others have crossed the border into Pakistan where they are less likely to be killed.
Taliban wants to ‘eradicate’ LGBTQ+ people
Nemat Sadat, an Afghan activist who is fighting to have LGBTQ+ people evacuated from the country, told PinkNews that Sabouri’s death is the result of inaction from western governments, many of which have failed to take in adequate numbers of fleeing Afghans.
“The death of Hamed Sabouri is further proof that the Taliban will not stop until they eradicate all gay people from Afghanistan,” he said.
“His execution was deliberate and outside of any legal framework. I don’t understand how people in good conscience around the world sit idle while the Taliban continue to rule with a total disregard for human life.”
Sabouri’s killing is just the latest blow to Afghanistan’s embattled LGBTQ+ community.
Since the Taliban seized power, reports have circulated about queer people being beaten, raped and murdered as the regime ramps up its persecution of those who fall foul of Sharia law.
Most recently, it was reported that the Taliban had started using the monkeypox outbreak to harass and detain LGBTQ+ people.
Anthony Rapp testified in federal court about an “incredibly frightening” encounter, in which Kevin Spacey allegedly climbed on top of him when he was a teen.
Rapp, who is suing Spacey for $40 million in a civil trial over alleged sexual misconduct, described to the court on Friday (7 October) how he first became acquainted with Spacey as a teenager on the New York City theatre scene.
He testified that Spacey invited him to a party at the actor’s loft in 1986 when Rapp was 14 and the disgraced actor was 26.
Rapp, now 50, told jurors he decided to go because he was “honoured” to “join a colleague at a gathering” and was eager to show some independence from his mum.
The Star Trek: Discovery actor described feeling uncomfortable because he didn’t know the other guests, so he decided to go into a bedroom to watch TV. Rapp told jurors that Spacey later appeared in the doorway, seemingly intoxicated, and approached him.
“It felt very wrong,” Rapp said. “I didn’t want him to do it, and I had no reason that made any sense of why he would do it. I felt like a deer in headlights.”
Rapp testified that he was able to “wiggle” his way out from under Spacey and hide in a bathroom. Rapp recalled later running to the front door of the loft when Spacey stopped the teen and asked him: “Are you sure you want to leave?”
After the alleged encounter, Rapp said he contemplated how he would “recover from this incredibly upsetting and frightening experience” during his long walk home.
“I was this 14-year-old child, and I had no desire to have any kind of this experience in my life,” he said. “It was incredibly frightening and very alarming and totally antithetical to anything else that I had ever experienced.”
Kevin Spacey, now 63, has denied Rapp’s claims. His lawyer Jennifer Kelley claimed Rapp invented the incident as she said it resembled a scene in Precious Sons, a play that Rapp starred in at the time.
Kevin Spacey initially apologised on social media to Rapp for what he said “would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behaviour” but said he “honestly” didn’t “remember the encounter”. He has since denied the allegations.
Rapp is one of several individuals who have come forward with accusations of sexual misconduct against Spacey in recent years.
Rapp is expected to continue his testimony and then face cross-examination from Kevin Spacey’s lawyers when the civil trial resumes on Tuesday (11 October).
The drag show at a Tennessee pride festival will go on Saturday — but not in the way organizers had planned it.
After weeks of criticism, online threats from far-right groups and a legal complaint, the Jackson Pride Committee and the city of Jackson, which sits about 70 miles northeast of Memphis in Madison County, reached a compromise with state Republican representatives and community members who had complained about the pride festival’s drag show.
The annual pride festival was supposed to be held in the city’s public Conger Park, as it was in 2019 and 2021, but now it will be held indoors at the nearby Civic Center.
The drag performance was going to be an event open to all, but at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Jackson Pride organizers will have to clear out the Civic Center and then check IDs of those who want to re-enter to ensure drag show attendees are 18 or older.
Darin Hollingsworth, a Jackson Pride Committee member, said organizers were “horribly disappointed,” because they know local LGBTQ youths would have felt supported at the drag performance.
“We’re devastated, because we know that young people in their teens who are queer or questioning or supportive would love to see this, and parents could have brought them,” Hollingsworth said. “But we will be in contempt if we even allow parents to bring in their child, so we won’t.”
Hollingsworth said the pride event had been in the works for a year, and Jackson Pride had advertised it repeatedly. The event began to face backlash after a Sept. 17 Facebook post from Republican state Rep. Chris Todd.
“I continue to hear from Madison Countians APPALLED at the possibility of a drag queen show in Conger Park,” Todd said. “I share your shock and sentiment. If Mayor Conger or City officials have approved (allowed) this event, then they are clearly ignoring the law. I intend to see that the law is upheld!”
Todd also quoted a state law that bars “adult cabarets” from being within 1,000 feet of public parks, residences or places of worship.
Jackson Mayor Scott Conger held a meeting at City Hall on Sept. 26 that included Todd, Republican state Rep. Ed Jackson, attorneys for the state, members of the Jackson Pride Committee, officials from local churches, among other interested parties.
During the meeting, Todd said he had heard from concerned community members who didn’t want to see “this trash” in the community, according to a recording of the meeting shared with NBC News by the Jackson Pride Committee.
But Darren Lykes, chair of the committee, said that he spoke with all of the drag performers and told them it would be a family-friendly event. He added that there had been drag performers in the park at the past two festivals. “Where was your outrage then?” he asked Todd.
“Well, I didn’t know about it,” Todd responded.
A member of Englewood Baptist Church also compared hosting the drag show in the park to people wearing blackface in a public place.
After the meeting, Hollingsworth said he became aware of threats in the form of online comments that mentioned both the anti-LGBTQ Westboro Baptist Church and the Proud Boys, a white nationalist group.
As a result, the Jackson Pride Committee decided to move the festival, including the drag show, into the Civic Center and to increase security measures by, among other things, having a metal detector. But changing the location didn’t satisfy Todd and some community members.
On Tuesday, state Reps. Todd and Jackson, along with 12 members of First United Methodist Church, filed a legal complaint against the city of Jackson in the Chancery Court for Madison County, claiming that holding the drag show in the Civic Center would violate state law.
“Plaintiffs who worship at First United Methodist Church will suffer imminent and irreparable injury if this injunction is not granted as an adult cabaret will be featured within 1,000 feet of their house of worship,” the complaint states. “Plaintiffs have a high probability of success on the merits, injury to the Plaintiffs will be substantial, while the injury to the Defendant is minimal as this Complaint does not seek to cancel the Jackson Pride event, but rather prevent the drag show from occurring, and the public interest will be best served by granting this injunction.”
The court scheduled a hearing on the complaint for Friday morning, but the Jackson Pride Committee decided to pursue a compromise under the legal counsel of the ACLU of Tennessee and city attorney Lewis Cobb. Under the agreement, Jackson Pride will have attendees exit the Civic Center at 7 p.m. and will check the IDs of everyone who goes back in for the drag show to ensure they are at least 18. Todd and the other complainants will also drop their lawsuit.
Some members of First United Methodist Church disagreed with the legal complaint. Adam Pulliam, a member of the church who didn’t join the complaint, said most members weren’t even made aware of it until it was filed and made public.
“I have been part of online discussion for four days with members, and there is general outrage,” he said in an email to NBC News. “This act is not a good representation of the feelings of many members of the church.”
Stella Yarbrough, the legal director for the ACLU of Tennessee, said the agreement will still allow Jackson Pride “to create a welcoming event that celebrates the diversity and expression of all community members.”
Cobb said that Jackson Pride would likely have won its case to hold the drag show outdoors without the age restriction had it decided to pursue litigation on First Amendment grounds, but it may have forced it to cancel or delay the event. He said he and Conger “were sort of caught between two competing interests and tried to see if we couldn’t get a resolution without having to have litigation.”
But while the ACLU of Tennessee framed the outcome as a compromise, Todd, in a statement posted to Facebook on Friday, claimed victory, saying the event is now being “properly restricted.”
“By taking the issue to court, we have succeeded in having the city and the group agree to several restrictions after challenging city leaders to answer questions about why they would allow our children to be exposed to this kind of outrageous adult performance,” he said. “By agreeing to the restrictions, they have effectively acknowledged that what they were promoting was way out of line.”
CORRECTION (Oct. 8, 2022, 3:44 p.m.): A previous version of this article misstated the name of the church whose member compared hosting the drag festival in the park to wearing blackface in public. It was a member of Englewood Baptist Church, not First United Methodist Church.
Once shunned as a political pariah for her extremist rhetoric, the Georgia congresswoman who spent her first term in the House stripped of institutional power by Democrats is being celebrated by Republicans and welcomed into the GOP fold. If Republicans win the House majority in the November election, Greene is poised to become an influential player shaping the GOP agenda, an agitator with clout.
This is the outlook for the Republican Party in the Trump era, the normalizing of once fringe figures into the highest ranks of political power. It’s a sign of the GOP’s rightward drift that Greene’s association with extremists and nationalists, violent rhetoric and remarks about Jewish people have found a home in elected office. Her proximity to Trump makes her a force that cannot be ignored by what’s left of her mainstream GOP colleagues.
A young gay man, who fled to Israel to escape persecution in Palestine and was seeking asylum abroad, has been kidnapped and brutally murdered in the West Bank.
Ahmed Hacham Hamdi Abu Marakhia, 25, fled Palestine two years ago after his sexual orientation was revealed. He had been living in Israel after authorities acknowledged his life would be in danger if he returned to Palestine.
He was about to begin the process of seeking asylum abroad – potentially in Canada – at the time of his death.
Ahmed was killed Wednesday (5 October) in Hebron, a Palestinian city in the southern West Bank, Makoreported. A horrific video of his decapitated body lying on a roadside was circulated on Palestinian social networks.
Authorities have opened an investigation into Ahmed’s death, but his friends and activists in Israel believed the reason for his death was his sexual orientation.
Israeli Labour Party MK Ibtisam Mara’ana mourned Ahmed’s death in a message posted on social media.
“Ahmad, who stayed in an Israeli shelter due to his sexuality, was murdered by a vicious and twisted killer,” she wrote.
“In the next government, we intend to complete the Palestinian LGBT revolution.”
Tomer Aldubi – a volunteer in the Different House, an organisation that helps LGBTQ+ Palestinians find asylum abroad, and a journalist for Mako – told PinkNews Ahmed had left his hostel in Israel to travel to his job on Wednesday.
But he said Ahmed’s friends and people at the hostel became concerned later in the day when he “did not answer his calls”.
He said there were rumours that Ahmed was killed because the “video was already out”. He got a call from Ahmed’s social worker at about 11pm about the story because “people were 90 per cent sure it was him”.
Aldubi, who is also a theatre director, briefly met Ahmed when he produced a play titled Sharif about gay Palestinians fleeing from the West Bank to Israel. He described Ahmed as a “good person” who had built a community of friends.
“He came all the way from Tel Aviv with his best friend, and I talked with him,” Aldubi said. “I met him just once. He was very nice, very quiet – actually did not talk a lot.”
“He seemed to be intelligent, and it was only a brief discussion but I know that he had many friends here.”
Aldubi said Ahmed’s friends and Rita Petrenko, the CEO of the Different House, believed the 25-year-old had been kidnapped or forcibly taken back to Palestine.
He had been told by others that there was “no reason for [Ahmed] to go back independently” as he knew it was “dangerous for him back there”.
“All he wanted to do was eventually immigrate to another place,” Aldubi said. “He was on the list.”
“He was going to be the next one, according to Rita – who was in charge of his permit and visa bureaucracy with the Canadian authorities. He was waiting for that.”
LGBTQ+ Palestinians face direct opposition imposed by a conservative society, as well as the external conflict Palestinians face with Israel.
In Palestine, the state is fractured by war and diplomatic division so there is mixed legal recognition of LGBTQ+ lives. Being gay is illegal in the Gaza Strip, and sentences for male same-sex sexual activity can include a maximum penalty of ten years’ imprisonment.
Homosexuality is not illegal in the West Bank, but LGBTQ+ people face discrimination and violence in the region.
LGBTQ+ Palestinians can flee into neighbouring Israel, where support for queer rights is on the rise.
Activists told PinkNews that queer Palestinian people fear potential retribution from Palestinian authorities or their families while also facing discrimination while awaiting asylum abroad in Israel.
Aldubi explained many people in Israel “don’t want to work with them or to give them a job” because they “cannot hide” their Palestinian, Arab or LGBTQ+ identity.
“It’s very difficult for them,” he said.
“They prefer not to be in mixed cities or mixed places like Arab cities or Palestinian cities.”
“So they do go to places – to Tel Aviv or other communities – and it’s very dangerous for them. They succeed in managing or surviving, but it’s not easy. It’s very difficult.”
He added there were concerns the PA police will “close the investigation fairly fast” if they believe the reason he was killed was that he “insulted the family” due to his sexual orientation.
‘We don’t feel safe’
Eran Rosenzweig, an LGBTQ+ activist in Israel, told PinkNews that the news of Ahmed’s death was particularly devastating because he was “part of the gay community”.
“It’s much less traditional in the gay community in Israel than in other communities,” he said. “They [Palestinian and Arabic LGBTQ+ people] are a part of us.”
“There is solidarity between us. It’s very hurtful for us to know there are people, who are in Israel, that are facing violence – and it was such brutal violence.
“We don’t feel safe because we have attacks on gay clubs and people in mixed areas. There is a direct effect, and we don’t feel safe.”
Rosenzweig said LGBTQ+ Palestinians “are not safe here” in Israel because they are in constant fear of persecution from their families and the Palestinian Authority as they face lengthy wait times for asylum abroad.
“And now you see, it’s too late for them – it was too late for [Ahmed],” he said.
“I want the embassies in Israel and authorities in Europe, North Africa, America to notice them and to try to help give them refugee status to help save them.”
Human rights organizations and activists have condemned the continued victimization of LGBTQ and intersex people in Zambia.
Anti-LGBTQ and intersex sentiments have been gaining momentum in recent weeks, including Dr. Brian Sampa’s #banbeardtobeard campaign in relation to gay couples. Alick Banda, the archbishop of the Catholic Diocese of Lusaka, and other Zambian religious leaders have also echoed these sentiments.
“In the last 12 months, we have witnessed an increase in the number of incidents and events that promote LGBTQ tendencies contrary to the laws of Zambia and our Zambian culture. Additionally, there has been an increase in the number of incidents of sodomy where boys and men are raped by fellow boys and men with impunity,” said Banda on Sept. 25. “We have witnessed several cases of sodomy and homosexuality on the increase in our society much to the displeasure and disapproval of the general public. Unfortunately, the law enforcement agents and the president who took an oath to protect the Constitution seems to be paying a blind eye. The question that begs an answer is, is it by design or by default.”
Consensual same-sex sexual relations remain criminalized in Zambia.
The Global Interface Network, a global NGO that promotes safety and inclusion for all people of faith and especially for people who suffer discrimination because of their sexual orientation, criticized Banda’s comments.
“The statement by the archbishop has the potential to further escalate violence and we are deeply concerned for the wellbeing and safety of members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community in Zambia,” said the Global Interface Network in a statement it released on Sept. 26. “Religious leaders are the shepherds of their flocks and have a responsibility to provide guidance, care and support to the faith community. Although we understand that for the Archbishop of Lusaka, same sex sexualities and non-normative gender identities are unfamiliar, we do not believe that it is appropriate, especially in a context in which people are already marginalized and subjected to violence and discrimination, for the archbishop to put his stamp of approval on further violence.”
The Global Interface Network in its statement encouraged Banda and the country’s Catholic Church “to enter into a process of fellowship and discernment alongside 2SLGBTQIA+ people of faith and skilled dialogue facilitators in Zambia and to collectively grow in the mission to offer compassion, care and love to the most vulnerable.”
“The people of Zambia, just as it is the people of the African continent, deserve an opportunity to see humanity beyond heterosexuality,” it said. “That opportunity has the potential for a reclamation of the African people’s history of dealing with diversity, an opportunity of understanding beyond the common narrative of dehumanization.”
Mino, a Zambian LGBTQ and intersex activist, said Sampa has been sharing misleading information on his social media platforms that has influenced religious leaders and others across the country.
“The leader of this ban homosexuality movement has jumped from one cause to the other without success and unfortunately, this has seen him get heavy backing from people who share similar religious views. The whole thing has not been objective, the information he is disseminating is highly inaccurate, and full of untruths about 2SLGBTQIA+ persons. Sadly, the church and in a way the State has also jumped on this bandwagon,” said Mino.
“Nevertheless, despite the current situation facing the 2SLGBTQIA+ community in Zambia, it is my hope that this opens a balanced dialogue of issues of sexuality and gender,” added Mino. “People must have accurate information on who we are as people and begin to see us as human beings with lives, families, interests, jobs, struggles, just like any other person as currently the 2SLGBTQIA+ community has been reduced to being only sexual beings and cannot be seen beyond that.”
SECOND TUESDAY! In-person at Mgt Todd Senior Center 1560 Hill Road, NovatoHill Community Room, behind the main building / see site map below new people warmly welcomed! October 1112:30 to 1 pm brown bag1 to 2:30 pm discussion Topic: RESILIENCYpresented by Dana Pepp and the Marin Center for Independent Living
Fourth Tuesday! West Marin LGBT Senior Town HallComing to San Geronimo Valley CC We had a great first time out at our Fourth Tuesdayevent. There were twelve participants which included a West Marin community member we haven’t seen in quite awhile and a person new to Spahr who only learned about us through our event publicity there. We shared meaningful conversation, laughter, a sense of community and a commitment to spreading the word about our next gathering on October 25th. On the Fourth Tuesday of every month, The Spahr Center’s LGBTQ+ Senior Program will be hosting an event for West Marin LGBT seniors at the San Geronimo Valley Community Center. The Center has given us a big roomy space & we’ll have windows & doors open. We also encourage people to wear masks if you wish. Let’s be safe together!
UPCOMING EVENTSall events are free(more info below) October 2LGBTQIA+ Meetup **Mill Valley Plaza October 4LGBTQ & HIV+ Grief Support Group **at the Spahr Center (mostly-) & on zoomPlz email Nikki: [email protected] October 11Second Tuesdayat Mgt. Todd Senior Center, Novato Topic: Resiliency presented by Dana Pepp & MCILwatch for more details
*Social Committee event, RSVP required;to RSVP or get on their email list, write to them at[email protected];find a link to their calendar and flyers below ** See flyer below
To join the Spahr Senior Groupon ZoomMondays, 7 to 8 pm, &Thursdays, 12:30 to 2 pm,click the purple button below the Butterfly Heart or here:
New participants are warmly welcomed!If you’re zoom-challenged, let me know and I’ll work with you!
Topical Thursdays12:30 to 2 pm October 6Change & How We Handle ItIt’s said that the only constant is change. We often don’t have control over what those changes are that appear on our horizon. We do, however, have some control over how we respond to them. How do you respond to change? Let’s share our experience & wisdom as we face changes in our lives and our world around us.
Living Room Mondays7 to 8 pm We share with each other about how we’re doing and have unstructured conversations focused on listening from our hearts and deepening community.
Coronavirus Updates The Spahr Center has coronavirus rapid home test kits& masks and they are available for free in the office – 150 Nellen Avenue, Suite 100, Corte Madera 94925; 415/457-2487. The office is open 10 am – 3 pm weekdays. Only vaccinated people may come to the office and masks must be worn inside the building. Any staff person can direct you to the kits. This is a great resource we are pleased to offer, please don’t hesitate to get these kits! In order to keep track of new infections, the County asks that we report self-test resultshere. To see Marin County’s latest pandemic information, click here. The mask recommendations of the Mask Nerd– an aerosol scientist who studies mask effectiveness – are featured in this article and highly informative video. May we all be safe and well!
Community Notices
Social Security Opens to Survivors of Same-Sex Couples Who Could Not MarryThe Social Security Administration now allows lesbians and gay men to receive survivor’s benefits if we can show that we were in a committed relationship and would have married had that been possible. More information here.
The Spahr Center’s Food Pantryis open to seniors who need support in meeting their nutrition needs. We want to help! Items such as fresh meats, eggs and dairy, prepared meals, pasta, sauces, and canned goods are delivered weekly to people who sign up.
Contact The Spahr Center for more information: [email protected] or 415/457-2487Space for your Community Notice here. Email Bill with information at[email protected].
The Northbay LGBT+ Senior Social Committee has been consistently offering fun events to offset the boredom of the pandemic. Everyone born in any month will be celebrated in that month’s email – including your birthday if you’ll let them know when it rolls around! Please RSVP ahead of time as participation is limited to 20 people. They request that participants please be vaccinated and healthy. Watch here for their October calendar. To see their September calendar & flyers, click here. To sign up for their emails or register for events, clickhere.
Vivalon Resources for Seniors Whistlestop, now renamed Vivalon, offers many resources for us seniors, now listed in this easy-to-print one-page guide. Access to rides, food, classes, activities, resources, referrals, and more. Membership not required for most classes and services during the pandemic. Some in-person events are being planned. To get Vivalon’s listings, click here. They also provide access to resources including rides for older adults. Please note: there is a 3-week registration process for the ride program so register now if you think you may need rides in the future. Click here for their website. The Jackson Cafe has great specials, a roomy dining room, small tables and big round tables for groups. Open 11:30 to 1:45; $8 for members, $10 for guests, with takeout readily available. You can find their daily changing menu and more information here.
Building Community in the Midst of Sheltering-in-PlaceSee old friends and make new ones! Join us!The Spahr Center’s LGBT Senior Discussion Groupscontinue everyMonday, 7 to 8 pm& Thursday, 12:30 to 2 pm on zoom
To Join Group by Video using Computer, Smart Phone or TabletJust click this button at the start time, 6:55 pm Mondays / 12:25 pm Thursdays:Join GroupAlways the same link! Try it, it’s easy!
To Join Group by Phone CallIf you don’t have internet connections or prefer joining by phone,call the following number at the start time,6:55 pm Mondays / 12:25 pm Thursdays:1-669-900-6833The Meeting id is 820 7368 6606#(no participant id required)The password, if requested, is 135296#If you want to be called into the group by phone, notify Bill Blackburn at 415/450-5339
California Department of Aging ResourcesThe CDA has a website that is packed with information and resources relevant to the lives of seniors in our state. From Covid-19 updates to more general care for age-related health issues, access to legal assistance to getting home-delivered meals to help with housing, you may well find answers to your questions by clicking: here.
Adult and Aging Service’s Information and Assistance Line, providing information and referrals to the full range of services available to older adults, adults with disabilities and their family caregivers, has a new phone number and email address: 415/473-INFO (4636) 8:30 am to 4:30 pm weekdays[email protected]
Questions? Assistance? Suggestions? We have resources and volunteers for:grocery deliveryfood assistanceproviding weekly comfort calls to check in on youplus more!
Bill BlackburnLGBTQ+ Senior Program Manager[email protected]415/450-5339
Funding for this program, at least in part, is made available by the Older Americans Act, administered locally by the Marin Department of Health & Human Services, Aging & Adult Services.
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, a case that could determine the future of LGBTQ rights nationwide.
The case involves Lorie Smith, a Christian woman in Colorado who makes wedding announcement websites. Smith wanted to post a message on her professional website stating that she wouldn’t make websites for same-sex marriages because it would be against her faith.
ADVERTISING
When she found out that such a notice would violate Colorado’s anti-discrimination laws, she preemptively sued her state’s government, saying that the laws violated her First Amendment right to free speech. Her lawsuit sought to block enforcement of the law.
A district court ruled against Smith in 2019 saying that she lacked legal standing to oppose the law because the state hadn’t actually investigated her, and so she hadn’t been harmed by it – factors usually required in order for a person to claim legal standing to oppose a law.
She appealed to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, and it also ruled against her in a 2-1 ruling, stating that such laws are “essential” to maintaining “democratic ideals.”
Smith’s case sounds very similar to the 2018 Supreme Court case of Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, which involved a cake shop owner who refused to make a cake for a same-sex marriage because it violated his rights to free speech and religious freedom. Both Smith and the cake shop owner sued over the same law and both are legally represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian and anti-LGBTQ legal group. But Smith’s case differs in two key ways.
First, no same-sex couples actually asked Smith to design their website. So, the Supreme Court could agree with the district court’s decision that she lacks legal standing to challenge the law.
Second, the Supreme Court only agreed to hear Smith’s free speech argument. That means the court’s final ruling won’t necessarily decide whether it’s legal for people to discriminate against LGBTQ people on religious grounds.
Rather, the central question in Smith’s case — according to her supporters — is whether states can use public accommodation and non-discrimination laws to compel business owners to create speech that they personally disagree with, such as a website that promotes a same-sex marriage when its creator would never promote such an event otherwise.
However, LGBTQ advocates say that the effects of this case will go far beyond free-speech, and could hollow out LGBTQ protections by essentially allowing any employee to deny service to LGBTQ people or those whose identities they disagree with.
Some amicus briefs filed to the court said that its nine justices should decide whether the First Amendment applies to goods and services that are uniquely expressive forms of speech, like creative works.
However, it might be difficult for the court to decide which works are “uniquely expressive” arts. After all, some might argue that medicine, teaching, or serving are all “arts,” potentially leaving the door open for medical providers, educators, and customer service workers to all discriminate against LGBTQ people.
Jennifer Pizer, acting chief legal officer of Lambda Legal, told The Los Angeles Blade, “This contrived idea that making custom goods, or offering a custom service, somehow tacitly conveys an endorsement of the person — if that were to be accepted, that would be a profound change in the law.”
“And the stakes are very high because there are no practical, obvious, principled ways to limit that kind of an exception, and if the law isn’t clear in this regard, then the people who are at risk of experiencing discrimination have no security, no effective protection by having non-discrimination laws, because at any moment, as one makes their way through the commercial marketplace, you don’t know whether a particular business person is going to refuse to serve you,” she added.
“It’s not too much to say an immeasurably huge amount is at stake,” Pizer said.
In its Masterpiece Cakeshop decision, the court ruled narrowly in favor of the cakeshop, saying that it hadn’t gotten a fair and impartial hearing in lower decisions and dodging the larger question about whether it should be legal to discriminate based on speech or religious grounds.
Considering the Supreme Court’s current 6-to-3 conservative majority, and its willingness last year to overturn the 40-year old right to an abortion, the court could declare a right to discriminate, effectively setting the fight for LGBTQ rights back several decades and ushering in a new generation of people willing to deny services to anyone they find morally objectionable.
Almost a decade after a Black gay man was beaten so severely that he lost sight in one eye, a judge has awarded him $4.5 million for the pain and suffering caused.
“It’s been nine years,” the victim, Taj Patterson, told The New York Daily News. “A lot of back and forth. A lot of legal scenarios I didn’t understand. It was a long process.”
ADVERTISING
In 2013, Patterson was walking in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, when he was attacked by a dozen men who were part of an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood watch group.
The men accused Patterson of vandalizing cars, even though they had not filed a police report and police found the claim of vandalism to be unfounded.
The men beat Patterson while saying, “Stay down, fa***t, stay the fuck down.” He was left blind in one eye.
As Patterson told it to McClatchy News, the neighborhood watch group had received reports that a Black person had been vandalizing cars, and “I guess they took it upon themselves to apprehend the first Black person they saw.”
“I was a 22-year-old kid going out for a friend’s birthday,” Patterson said. “I didn’t think my life would change so drastically so quickly.”
Several months later, five men were indicted. Charges were dismissed against two of them, and two of them pleaded guilty and got community service. One of their cases, that of Mayer Herskovic, went to trial in 2017, but the case fell apart when several eyewitnesses recanted their testimony.
The judge did end up convicting Herskovic, but the appeals court ultimately threw it out.
Patterson then filed a lawsuit against the NYPD and the city of New York for allegedly giving his attackers preferential treatment.
And now, he is finally receiving some justice. Judge Miriam Sunshine awarded Patterson $3 million for past pain and suffering and $1.5 million for future pain and suffering.
“There is no numerical value you can place on someone’s eyesight or their limbs or their body in general,” Patterson said, adding that he “was violated in a very major way.”
“With that said, I’m glad that it’s all over after almost a decade.”