The Montana legislature advanced a bill Wednesday (31 March) that would give the all-clear for entities to discriminate against LGBT+ people on the basis of “religious freedom”.
The Montana Religious Freedom Restoration Act, otherwise known as Senate Bill 215, is on track to head to the desk of Republican governor Greg Gianforte– and he’s already signalled his intent to sign it.
The bill, dubbed “dangerous” by activists, would enable service providers to deny queer residents certain goods and aid, from ordering a cake at a bakery to accessing PrEP. Supporters say this would increase legal protections for religious expression.
“The free exercise of religion [is] a fundamental right,” the proposed legislation states.
Such restrictions could soon become a reality after the House voted 61-39 to pass the legislation in its second hearing, The Montana Free Press reported.
Montana lieutenant governor, Kristen Juras, previously flagged the administration’s support of SB215, stressing that the bill is “not a license to discriminate against the LGBT [sic],” the newspaper previously reported.
But the proposals have deeply alarmed state and national advocacy groups.
Not only would the bill allow bakeries, bride salons and photo studios to decline to serve a queer person, it would also drastically curb access to healthcare, the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana warns on its website.
Religious workplaces could refuse contraceptives coverage on their healthcare plans, pharmacies could deny birth control subscriptions, therapists could turn away LGBT+ patients and authorities could reject providing security at Pride parades, activists claim.
According to Human Rights Campaign, a top advocacy group, the bill is “so sweeping and so dangerous that under it, LGBT+ Montanans could be denied access to PrEP and PEP and other life-saving medications by pharmacies”.
“Under this bill, businesses could refuse to comply with investigations into child labour laws.”
It comes just days after Montana’s Senate inched closer to banning trans athletes from taking part in high school and college sports, AP reported.
But in an attempt to forestall federal reprisal, lawmakers amended the proposal so it would automatically be voided if the Department of Education withholds federal education funding from the state if passed.
It comes after sprawling and historic executive order signed by president Joe Biden on his first day of office that prohibited discrimination on the basis of gender identity.
The County of Sonoma has arranged to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to adults 16 years and older who are homebound for a variety of medical reasons and have difficulty getting to a clinic. The County is working with Fox Home Health, which has established a mobile vaccine clinic for those who are homebound.
The County Department of Health Services is working to prioritize homebound individuals in collaboration with service providers, including in-home supportive services, hospice, North Bay Regional Center, Council on Aging and the Adult & Aging Division of Human Services.
The community can participate by reaching out to people they know who may be homebound to share information about the mobile clinic.
“We want to connect with those individuals who are homebound for medical reasons and let them know we will come to their home to vaccinate them against COVID-19,” said Dr. Urmila Shende, head of the County’s COVID-19 vaccination team, in a statement. “This is part of the County’s campaign to take care of our medically vulnerable residents and make sure they don’t slip between the cracks of the vaccine rollout.”
Medicare considers a person homebound if:
• He or she needs the help of another person or medical equipment such as crutches, a walker or a wheelchair to leave home, or their doctor believes that health or illness could get worse if they leave home.https://newsletter.pressdemocrat.com/framed/single?pid=41&hideImage=1&fid=6053
• And, it is difficult for the person to leave their home and they typically cannot do so.
Fox Home Health will screen homebound individuals for eligibility before providing vaccinations.
Homebound individuals who fit the criteria should call 565-4667 or email [email protected] for more information.
It was December 9, 2010. Joe Manchin, the former Democratic Governor of West Virginia, cast his first vote as a newly-sworn-in U.S. Senator. He voted against repealing the discriminatory, anti-LGBTQ “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
“As a Senator of just three weeks, I have not had the opportunity to visit and hear the full range of viewpoints from the citizens of West Virginia.”
That’s the same Joe Manchin who in 1982 had begun his political career as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates.
After nearly three decades of serving as a lawmaker, Secretary of State, and a governor, Senator Manchin felt he wasn’t sufficiently well-enough informed to do the right thing and vote to protect America’s LGBTQ service men and women.
Fast forward to today, when Joe Manchin has now been in public service for almost 40 years.
On the campaign trail Joe Biden indicated his top priority was passing the LGBTQ Equality Act, legislation that has been introduced into Congress in various forms since the 1970’s, even longer than the 73-year old Senator from West Virginia has been in politics. Biden said he wanted to sign the Equality Act into law in his first 100 days.
There are three things getting in the way of legislation that seven out of 10 Americans not only support, but think is already federal law: the filibuster, Republicans, and Joe Manchin. Ironically, Manchin, like Republicans, opposes killing the filibuster and opposes passing the Equality Act.
“A little more than two months into Biden’s term,” The Daily Beast reports, “Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has taken on the role of perpetual fly in the ointment of progressive legislation. The Equality Act is no exception.”
Make no mistake, Manchin is anti-LGBTQ. He opposes same-sex marriage (although agrees it is settled law) and echoing the massive conservative campaign against transgender people, opposes the Equality Act (in part) because, he claims, it does not provide “sufficient guidance to the local officials who will be responsible for implementing it, particularly with respect to students transitioning between genders in public schools.”
That is not the function of legislation, that is the function of the Dept. of Education, something Manchin certainly must know.
“In private, according to those familiar, Manchin has been equally skeptical this time around, citing a massive call-in campaign organized by conservative groups like the Heritage Foundation intended to sink the bill. Manchin told one co-sponsor of the Equality Act that the calls to his office were opposed to the legislation ‘a thousand to one.'”
The Beast calls getting 60 votes to pass the Equality Act without one of them being Manchin’s “functionally impossible, given the Senate’s current makeup.”
Lucas Wilson said he received conversion therapy from a student club called Band of Brothers at Liberty University from 2008 to 2012, when he was an undergraduate student.
Wilson, now 30, said when he visited campus prior to enrolling, he saw an ad for “struggling with same-sex attraction.”
“The biggest factor in why I chose Liberty was ultimately the conversion therapy program because I, in fact, believed that one could become straight,” Wilson said.
He is now one of 33 LGBTQ students who are suing the Department of Education in a class-action lawsuit filed Monday. The students allege that they faced discrimination at 25 federally funded Christian colleges and universities in 18 states.
Wilson said Liberty University is a “thoroughly homophobic institution” and that, in addition to offering conversion therapy in the form of a student club, he also had several classes that taught “the evils of the homosexual lifestyle.”
He said the conversion therapy group, and the culture at Liberty, “amplified and compounded feelings of self-hatred, feelings of shame and guilt and anxiety that ultimately took years to deconstruct.”
The Religious Exemption Accountability Project, or REAP, an organization that advocates for LGBTQ students at taxpayer-funded religious colleges and universities, filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Oregon on behalf of former and current students.
Liberty University has not responded to NBC News’ requests for comment. A spokesperson for the Department of Education said the Biden administration is “fully committed to equal education access for all students.”
The spokesperson added that President Joe Biden stated in an executive order earlier this month, “It is the policy of my Administration that all students should be guaranteed an educational environment free from discrimination on the basis of sex, including discrimination in the form of sexual harassment, which encompasses sexual violence, and including discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.”
Many Christian colleges and universities receive federal funding and are still allowed to enforce policies that, for example, prohibit same-sex relationships on campus. That’s because Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination, contains an exemption for religious entities.
The students’ lawsuit argues that the religious exemption is unconstitutional and that it allows the Department of Education “to breach its duty” to LGBTQ students at religious colleges and universities “where discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is codified in campus policies and openly practiced.”
The ultimate goal of the lawsuit is to strike down Title IX’s religious exemption.
Paul Southwick, the director of REAP, said the main premise of his argument is that the federal government is “not allowed to pass laws or take actions that target a politically unpopular group.”
“Here, what the religious exemption to Title IX is doing is, it really targets people based on sex, which includes sexual orientation and gender identity, for inferior treatment,” Southwick said.
His argument claims that the religious exemption is unconstitutional because it violates the due process and equal protection rights afforded to LGBTQ people and it violates the establishment clause because it “favors certain fundamentalist religious organizations and gives them preferential treatment above all other educational institutions, including religious educational institutions that have affirming beliefs about LGBTQ people.”
Regarding the religious exemption, the Department of Education spokesperson said the text of Title IX states it does not apply to “an educational institution which is controlled by a religious organization” where its application “would not be consistent with the religious tenets of such organization.”
Southwick’s constitutional argument is based on a number of cases, but he said one of the most important is Bob Jones University v. United States, which found in 1983 that Bob Jones University did not get to maintain its tax-exempt status due to an interracial dating ban — a policy the university claimed was based in its sincerely held religious beliefs.
The Supreme Court held in an 8-1 decision that limitations on religious liberty can be justified by an “overriding governmental interest” such as prohibiting racial discrimination. As a result, it found that “not all burdens on religion are unconstitutional.”
Southwick said mainstream LGBTQ organizations haven’t done enough to fight for LGBTQ students at religious colleges, and that’s because “when you talk about queer kids at Christian colleges, their responses are ‘What the hell are they doing there?’”
LGBTQ students often attend religious colleges for a host of reasons, but mainly because they’re born into fundamentalist Christian families, Southwick said.
“The natural consequence of that is that — gay or straight — a lot of them will end up at Christian colleges, and when they’re there, they’re treated inhumanely and subjected to these dangerous and abusive policies and practices,” he said.
Some of the plaintiffs claim they were denied admission to or expelled from religious colleges due to being LGBTQ. Others say their colleges have strict policies surrounding sexuality and purity.
“The general language that you’ll find in a lot of the policies is as follows: The schools prohibit homosexual conduct, homosexual relationships, transgender conduct, which they struggle with how to describe,” Southwick said. “And they prohibit same-sex marriages. So what that means is kids are getting engaged and hiding it because they’ll be expelled. Kids who are found out are being expelled. What it means is when a nonbinary or a trans student is dressing and grooming and using names and pronouns consistent with their gender identity, they’re punished.”
The student club that offers conversion therapy at Liberty University still exists, though now it’s called Armor Bearers, according to the school’s 2020 “Pathways Handbook,” which provides students with a “menu” of “educational opportunities” to choose from if they violate school policy.
Wilson said the lawsuit will help shed light on the policies at Liberty and other religious schools.
“We’re putting pressure on these schools to change how they treat their LGBTQ students, so for me, this is very important work,” he said. “It’s work that is long overdue.”
FFT Elects Two New Board Members Food For Thought is pleased to announce the addition of John Andrew Wesley, M.D., and Estelle H. Rogers to its Board of Directors. “Our board plays an important role in helping the agency provide food and nutrition services to people living with HIV, COVID-19 and other serious illnesses,” said Ron Karp, executive director of Food For Thought. “John Andrew and Estelle, who have both served as volunteers, have long been advocates for underserved communities in Sonoma County. Estelle, an accomplished attorney, has a keen mind and outstanding interpersonal skills and John Andrew has a medical background and extensive experience working with people living with HIV through his work with both Face to Face and Santa Rosa Community Health. We look forward to incorporating their insights into our client programs and are excited to have their help in raising Food For Thought’s visibility in the community.”
Click here to learn more about John Andrew and Estelle and FFT’s other board members.
John Andrew WesleyEstelle H Rogers
FFT’s Wellness Month Events in Coming in April!Join FFT’s Fundraising Team Today! FFT invites you to get moving while helping us provide nutritious food for our neighbors living with serious illnesses! This fun and engaging virtual fundraiser challenges you to get up go and do something active that you enjoy! Walking, running, hiking, cycling, skating or even swimming – you choose! Then ask your friends and family to donate to FFT in support of your fundraising effort. Simply click here to become a fundraiser.Healthy Greens Online Cooking Class Join FFT’s Registered Dietitian Nina Redman and Chef Ruth Lefkowitz for an online cooking demonstration on Wednesday, April 7th at 2 p.m. Our culinary team will be preparing a spring herb soup and a chicken, avocado and grapefruit salad. These recipes feature a variety of spring greens that you can mix and match. To sign up, please email [email protected]. A Zoom link and the recipes will be sent to you prior to the class. A suggested donation of $25 is requested. To donate, please click here.
Yoga at DeLoach Winery Join local yoga teacher Kelliann Reginato for a 75-minute class at picturesque DeLoach Vineyards on April 11th to benefit Food For Thought! Class will be multi-level and COVID-19 safety protocols will be in enforced. Standard ticket price is $30, with option to donate more if desired.
DeLoach will be offering two-for-one tastings to all participants, with proceeds for wine purchases donated to Food For Thought as well! Click here to register.
FFT’s Plant Start Sale Get ready to plant your 2021 garden at Food For Thought’s Wellness Month Plant Sale! Buy starts of diverse organic heirloom vegetable varieties, flowers and native plants. The sale runs during the weekend of April 24-25 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., in the Food For Thought parking lot at 6550 Railroad Ave. in Forestville. Support a great cause and take home some special plants! All proceeds benefit Food For Thought, serving thousands of Sonoma County residents living with serious illnesses with healthy food.
Spicy Chard Soup Enjoy a delicious bowl of Spicy Chard Soup this St. Patrick’s Day! This savory soup is a great way to get some nutritious leafy greens into your diet. It includes crushed caraway and cumin seeds and is accented by harissa or the hot sauce of your choice. Click here for the recipe.
Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, announced early 2022 endorsements of four Congressional incumbents in key 2022 battleground districts on Wednesday: Rep. John Garamendi (CA-03), Rep. Josh Harder (CA-10), Rep. Katie Porter (CA-45) and Rep. Mike Levin (CA-49). Protecting the four incumbents and winning back Congressional seats lost to anti-LGBTQ+ candidates in 2020 will be a top priority for the organization ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.
“Protecting our champions in Congress and expanding our pro-equality House majority are critical priorities for the LGBTQ+ community,” said Equality California Executive Director Rick Chavez Zbur. “Voters gave the Biden-Harris Administration a mandate in 2020: pass the Equality Act, reform our broken immigration system, advance racial justice and equity and expand access to quality, affirming healthcare. The Biden-Harris agenda is achievable, but only if we ensure they have pro-equality partners in Congress — and all four of these leaders have demonstrated their unwavering commitment to creating a world that is healthy, just and fully equal for all LGBTQ+ people.”
Candidate Reactions:
“I’m honored to be endorsed by Equality California—an organization that understands that we must have equal opportunity for all, do what we can to end discrimination, and remove barriers to opportunity,” said Rep. John Garamendi. “Throughout our country’s proud history, every generation has faced a national debate on civil rights issues. While these struggles have often been slow and arduous, as we have witnessed for more than two centuries, the trajectory of our society is toward more equality under the law. That’s why I support legislation like the Equality Act, which would update the Civil Rights Act to include LGBT Americans, specifically making it illegal to discriminate against them in the workplace, housing, and public accommodations. Thank you to Equality California for their endorsement. Together, we will work to end discrimination in our nation and create a more just and fair society.”
“No matter who you are or who you love, you deserve equal treatment under the law,” said Rep. Josh Harder. “I’m proud to stand with our LGBTQ neighbors and loved ones, and will keep fighting to make sure they are finally treated with the respect and equality they deserve.”
“Equality California has been a leader and a key partner as I advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, and I am thrilled to receive their early endorsement,” said Rep. Katie Porter. “Until every American, regardless of who they are or who they love, can live free from hate, discrimination, and violence, I’ll keep up the fight. I look forward to continuing to work with Equality California to build an equal and just future for all.”
“Equality California is one of the nation’s most effective organizations advancing the rights of the LGBTQ+ community and social justice,” said Rep. Mike Levin. “In the past two decades they have led the fight to pass over 150 bills and resolutions advancing human rights in the California legislature. I am deeply honored that they have recognized me as an ally and that they have endorsed my campaign for re-election to Congress.”
For a complete list of Equality California’s current endorsements, visit eqca.org/elections.
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Equality California is the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization. We bring the voices of LGBTQ people and allies to institutions of power in California and across the United States, striving to create a world that is healthy, just, and fully equal for all LGBTQ people. We advance civil rights and social justice by inspiring, advocating and mobilizing through an inclusive movement that works tirelessly on behalf of those we serve. www.eqca.org
The California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, the LGBTQ Caucus of the League of California Cities and Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, announced their opposition to the misguided and dangerous effort to recall Governor Gavin Newsom during a virtual press conference on Friday (Facebook, Download). Equality California Executive Director Rick Chavez Zbur, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, Legislative LGBTQ Caucus Chair Assemblymember Evan Low (D-Campbell), former Chair Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), Senator John Laird (D-Santa Cruz), Assemblymember Chris Ward (D-San Diego), Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, League of California Cities LGBTQ Caucus Board Member Palm Springs Mayor Pro Tem Lisa Middleton and BART Board Director Janice Li praised Governor Newsom’s long record of support for LGBTQ+ civil rights and his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, national economic downturn and devastating wildfires. The leaders also spoke to the risk that the partisan recall effort, led and funded by anti-LGBTQ+ and pro-Trump extremists, poses to LGBTQ+ Californians and the diverse communities to which LGBTQ+ people belong.
After the press conference, 60* LGBTQ+ elected officials throughout California (listed below) released the following joint statement opposing the recall effort:
“As LGBTQ+ Californians and elected leaders in our communities, we strongly oppose the misguided effort to recall Governor Gavin Newsom. This attempt to remove the Governor — led and funded by anti-LGBTQ+ and pro-Trump extremists — is the product of a coordinated disinformation campaign that will cost the state of California $100 million. Instead, this money should be used to support Californians as our state recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. The recall poses an especially grave threat to our LGBTQ+ community and the progress that California continues to make toward full, lived equality for all people.
“Throughout his career, Governor Newsom has been a dedicated ally of the LGBTQ+ community and an unyielding champion in our fight for civil rights and social justice. He stood with us at times when it was not politically popular, regardless of personal and professional risks, because he knew it was the right thing to do. He has taken bold, principled actions to advance marriage equality, expand access to life-saving HIV prevention medication, protect transgender Californians from discrimination, and ensure that California’s government reflects the diversity of our communities.
“Governor Newsom’s leadership has earned the trust of LGBTQ+ Californians, and our community stands ready to defeat a recall.”
The following officials signed the statement above:
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara
U.S. Representative Mark Takano
California Senator Susan Talamantes Eggman
California Senator John Laird
California Senator Scott Wiener
California Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes
California Assemblymember Evan Low
California Assemblymember Chris Ward
San Leandro Unified School District Board Trustee James Aguilar
San Leandro Vice Mayor Victor Aguilar
Berkeley Unified School District Board President Judy Appel
Signal Hill City Treasurer Larry Blunden
Los Angeles City Councilmember Mike Bonin
Anaheim City Councilmember Jordan Brandman
Former San Mateo County Harbor District Commissioner Sabrina Rose Brennan
El Monte Union High School District Board President Florencio Briones
Belvedere Mayor James Campbell
Pleasant Hill City Councilmember Ken Carlson
Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board Commissioner James Chang
San Francisco Treasurer José Cisneros
Redlands City Councilmember Denise Davis
Hacienda La Puente Unified School District Board Member Anthony A. Duarte
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Board Director Bevan Dufty
Oceanside Unified School District Trustee Eleanor Evans
Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority Director Shay Franco-Clausen
Los Angeles City Controller Ron S. Galperin
Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria
Former San Diego City Council President Georgette Gómez
Cathedral City Mayor Gregory Raymond
Sacramento Municipal Utility District Board Member Rosanna Herber
Pajaro Valley Unified School District Trustee Jennifer Holm
Palm Springs Mayor Christy Holstege
West Basin Municipal Water District Director Scott Houston
Palm Springs City Councilmember Geoff Kors
Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila J. Kuehl
Dublin City Councilmember Shawn Kumagai
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Board Director Janice Li
Monterey Park Mayor Pro Tem Henry Lo
Former Stockton Unified School District Board President Lange Luntao
San Francisco Supervisor Rafael Mandelman
Palm Springs Mayor Pro Tem Lisa Middleton
Encinitas City Councilmember Joe Mosca
College of Marin Board Trustee Stephanie O’Brien
San Leandro Unified School District Board Member Peter Oshinski
Oak Grove School District Board of Trustees Vice President Jorge Pacheco, Jr.
Chula Vista City Councilmember and California Coastal Commission Chair Steve C. Padilla
San Carlos Mayor Laura Parmer-Lohan
Los Angeles County Assessor Jeff Prang
San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District Director Miles Prince
El Cerrito Mayor Pro Tem Gabriel Quinto
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Board Vice President Rebecca Saltzman
San Francisco Unified School District Commissioner Mark Sanchez
Cabrillo Community College District Trustee Adam Spickler
City College of San Francisco Trustee Tom Temprano
Marin Community College District Board of Trustees President Wanden Treanor
Los Angeles Community College District Trustee David Vela**
Palm Springs City Councilmember Dennis Woods
San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District Board President Thomas Wong
Fullerton City Councilmember Ahmad Zahra
Desert Healthcare District Director Dr. Les Zendle
*Number updated to reflect new total **Added March 18, 2021
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Equality California is the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization. We bring the voices of LGBTQ people and allies to institutions of power in California and across the United States, striving to create a world that is healthy, just, and fully equal for all LGBTQ people. We advance civil rights and social justice by inspiring, advocating and mobilizing through an inclusive movement that works tirelessly on behalf of those we serve. www.eqca.org
Mary Trump, who needled former President Trump during his re-election bid with allegations of racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic remarks in his family, has joined a political action committee that works to elect queer women to public office.
LPAC, a political organization dedicated to electing queer women to public office, on Friday announced Mary Trump, the niece of former President Trump and a lesbian, would join its board of directors.
“We will only create lasting and systemic change for progressive values if we increase the number of diverse players in power, and that includes LGBTQ women,” Mary Trump said in a statement. “I am so excited to work with LPAC to create more opportunity for these new leaders and to build alliances with other progressives across the country.”
Founded in 2012 as a political action committee intended to give queer women a greater voice in politics, LPAC endorses and supports candidates through direct investments and independent investment campaigns. LPAC has raised more than $6.3 million and endorsed more than 150 candidates, according to a statement.
LPAC supported Democratic Sens. Tammy Baldwin and Kyrsten Sinema in recent election cycles as well as Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. As of now, there are 11 openly LGBTQ members of Congress, including Baldwin and Sinema.
Laura Ricketts, a member contributor to the Democratic Party and LPAC board chair, credited Mary Trump with having “demonstrated thought[ful] leadership, media and political savvy over the last year as she has stormed the country with her insights and opinions.”
“We couldn’t be more excited to have her join us in building the power of our political action community and developing the next generation of LGBTQ women leaders,” Ricketts.
(Mary Trump and Laura Ricketts, co-owner of the Chicago Cubs, have something else in common aside from now both being board members of LPAC: They stand out as supporters of Democratic candidates in families that are overwhelmingly backers of the Republican Party.)
According to an article in Politico, Mary Trump joins LPAC as part of a broader effort to stay engaged in politics and recognition of the importance of LGBTQ voices.
“If it’s only men making decisions about women’s issues or straight people making decisions about LGBTQ issues, then that’s where we run into problems and we’ve seen this,” Mary Trump is quoted as saying.
Mary Trump is also working on a new book that would build on the success of an earlier tell-all book about the Trump family. The second book, “The Reckoning,” is set to examine “America’s national trauma, rooted in our history but dramatically exacerbated by the impact of current events and the Trump administration’s corrupt and immoral policies,” Politico reported.
Lisa Turner, executive director of LPAC, said in a statement Mary Trump would be a welcome addition to the organization as it pursue its “ambitious agenda for the next election cycle.”
“We can’t afford to accept the status quo,” Turner said. “We must organize across the country and develop new leaders to walk the corridors of power. That is our core mission. We are thrilled to have Mary’s help in doing so and invite all who are interested to join our effort.”
Three members of Congress have urged the U.S. Agency for International Development to use some of the money it received from the COVID-19 relief bill to support LGBTQ people around the world who the pandemic has made even more vulnerable.
U.S. Reps. Dina Titus (D-Nev.), Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) and David Cicilline (D-R.I.) in a letter they sent to Acting USAID Administrator Gloria Steele on March 24 note her agency received “approximately” $10 billion under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 that President Biden signed into law earlier this month.
“We write to you to request that particular attention be paid in your deployment of these additional funds to reach the most vulnerable populations,” reads the letter. “From the devastating experience of the first year of this pandemic, we know that traditionally marginalized communities including LGBTQI+, people with disabilities, and racial minorities are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.”
The letter notes the pandemic “has exacerbated the inequalities and vulnerabilities that LGBTQI+ people in particular face worldwide.”
“Amidst ongoing lockdowns, many LGBTQI+ people have lost their livelihoods, are at increased risk for gender-based violence, food insecurity, and homelessness, and face even greater barriers to services, including access to sexual and reproductive health care,” it reads. “In some countries, those in the LGBTQI+ community have been scapegoated and falsely charged for spreading COVID-19, while other governments have used COVID-19 lock down measures as an excuse to violate the human rights of LGBTQI+ people and other vulnerable groups. LGBTQI+ people have also been excluded from many relief efforts due to binary gendered approaches to distribution, as well as a reliance on unsafe spaces for LGBTQI+ people, non-inclusive definitions of ‘family,’ and discrimination by relief workers.”
Transgender activists in Latin America have criticized gender-based rules that officials in Panama, Colombia and Peru implemented in order to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Activists in South Korea formed a task force to fight anti-LGBTQ discrimination related to the pandemic. The letter that Titus, Castro and Cicilline sent to Steele notes OutRight Action International in April 2020 launched a fund to help vulnerable LGBTQ communities during the pandemic.
“As COVID-19 has demonstrated, current structures and systems of relief have allowed LGBTQI+ people to fall through the cracks, and it is only with long-term, comprehensive, sustainable measures that those in the LGBTQI+ community will not face disproportionate impacts in the face of disaster and crisis,” reads the letter. “Unfortunately, of all the supplemental COVID-19 relief funding administered by USAID, zero was allocated for LGBTQI+ organizations or populations.”
Biden last month issued a memorandum that committed the U.S. to promoting LGBTQ rights abroad.
A USAID spokesperson confirmed to the Washington Blade the agency has received the letter.
Sonoma County Pride is Back!,Beyond The Rainbow – Thriving, Reviving, and Surviving
After a challenging year of cancellations and lockdowns, this year’s Sonoma County Pride celebration returns with hope and positivity! This annual event will include a month-long series of COVID-19 aware micro-events in varied venues throughout Sonoma County. The events will offer activities for all ages and abilities. This year’s theme, “Beyond the Rainbow: Surviving, Reviving, and Thriving”, takes inspiration from THE WIZARD OF OZ to offer renewal and support to the LGBTQ community. Sonoma County Pride’s Secretary Cheryl Kabanuck puts the beloved film’s lessons into perspective. “There’s no place like home being back together with our community. Courage leads us here, knowledge is how we survive and heart is what keeps us together.”Since the worldwide pandemic forced the cancellation of 2020 Pride events everywhere, it was important to find a unifying theme to recognize we’re not all in the same space mentally and emotionally. The past year has been incredibly challenging for everyone, and each of us faced different struggles. The focus for Sonoma County Pride 2021 is on the mental, physical and emotional health and wellness of community members. Vice President @Grace Villafuer emphasizes, “While some of us are reviving and thriving, some of us are still focused on surviving. Wherever we are on our journey, we hope Sonoma County Pride 2021 will offer each of us a feeling of community, pride, and peace. We strive to not only reach our unique rainbows – our dreams and inner strengths, but we look to go Beyond the Rainbow!”According to Director of Logistics Brian Rogers, “Those of us who survived this surreal year gained new respect and meaning for the prime lesson Dorothy learned in Oz: ‘There’s no place like home.’ Now that we have nearly SURVIVED the pandemic, let’s embrace that hopeful spirit as we REVIVE together and support one another so we can once again THRIVE.”Christopher Kren-Mora, President of Sonoma Pride, promises a different but exciting series of events to bring the community back together in a spirit of celebration. “It won’t be a single weekend this year, but a month of fun, hope, and renewal that we’ve all been hoping for.” The calendar of upcoming Sonoma County Pride events will be published as dates and venues are confirmed.