Saturday December 17 at 7 pm. Barbara Higbie & FriendsWinter Solstice Celebration at Occidental Center for the Arts. Grammy nominated, Bammy award winning pianist, singer-songwriter and fiddler Barbara Higbie was the first woman to be signed to Windham Hill Records, known for its many platinum selling Winter Solstice albums. Barbara and friends celebrate this year’s Winter Solstice, along with the release of her new album, with a high energy mix of seasonal and original music; also featuring Jami Sieber, Vicki Randle, Michaelle Goerlitz and Dewayne Pate. Join us for this special performance of amazing Windham Hill musicians in Occidental! Tickets are $35 General, $30 for OCA Members @ www.occidentalcenterforthearts.org; or at the door. OCA is wheelchair accessible. Fine refreshments for sale, Art Gallery open during intermission. Following current public health guidelines for optional indoor masking. Become an OCA Member and get discounted admission to all events. 3850 Doris Murphy Ct. Occidental, CA. 95465. OCA is a non profit performing and fine arts center staffed by volunteers.
Anti-LGBTSQ+ slurs have skyrocketed on Twitter, despite Elon Musk’s claims to the contrary, a new study has found.
The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), along with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and other groups, found that anti-LGBTQ+ remarks have risen by at least 1,458 times a day.
Additionally, offensive comments against Black people had risen to 3,876 times a day, according to reports from The New York Times.
“Elon Musk sent up the Bat Signal to every kind of racist, misogynist, and homophobe that Twitter was open for business,” CCDH chief executive Imran Ahmed said.
Despite this, Musk claimed that hate speech impressions were “down by a third from pre-spike levels” in a 24 November tweet showcasing a graph from a Twitter presentation.
However, aside from failing to report specific underlying numbers, many criticised Musk’s interpretations of the figures, with one asking how Musk is defining hate speech.
“The transphobia in my mentions is the worst it’s ever been,” one user said. “I guess that’s fine though, since you don’t consider that hate speech anymore.”
Another wrote: “Yeah, hate speech will go down when you stop considering hate speech to be hate speech.”
The Anti-Defamation League urged Musk to “dedicate resources” to policies that attempt to mitigate hate speech on the site, especially after the mass layoffs that the company experienced.
“His actions to date show that he is not committed to a transparent process where he incorporates the best practices we have learned from civil society groups,” ADL vice president Yael Eisenstat said.
“Instead, he has emboldened racists, homophobes, and antisemites.”
But things quickly became dire after Musk brought back several individuals who had been previously banned for posting hateful speech, including former president Donald Trump.
The influx of problematic content, along with the debacle surrounding Musk’s proposed Twitter verification model which caused abrupt chaos on the site before being shut down, prompted advertisers to reduce their spending on the platform.
This caused Twitter spokespeople to reassure advertisers in a Wednesday (30 November) statement reading: “Brand safety is only possible when human safety is the top priority.”
Transgender woman Shahere “Diamond” Jackson-McDonald was found shot to death in Philadelphia the morning of November 24, Thanksgiving Day.
Jackson-McDonald, 27, was discovered at her mother’s apartment in the Germantown neighborhood, Philadelphia’s NBC affiliate reports. She had been shot several times and was pronounced dead at the scene. It didn’t appear that anyone had forced their way into the apartment.
“We are here today to honor a promising life that was violently ended by a person or persons that Philadelphia Police and our office are working tirelessly to bring to justice, so that they can be held accountable for this crime and are not able to cause any further harm to others,” Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said at a press conference last week, according to the station. “We are here to say her name: Diamond Jackson-McDonald.”
“I just want the world to know that Diamond was my rock, my shoulder, my child whom I love with every inch of me of what I have left to give,” Linda Jackson, Jackson-McDonald’s mother, said at the press conference. “Whoever you are, you took away my gem, my Diamond, someone whom was all about her family and friends. You tore many hearts, and we will not rest until we get justice. I will not sleep until you are caught. You may not have to answer to me now, but you will have to answer to God. You reap what you sow.”
“It is devastating and heart-wrenching as we mourn the loss of yet another member of our LGBTQ family, Shahere ‘Diamond’ Jackson-McDonald,” said Celena Morrison, executive director of Philadelphia’s Office of LGBT Affairs, according to the Philly Voice. “Violence against transgender people — especially our trans siblings of color — continues to be an epidemic in this country, and it is unacceptable. My office is committed to ensuring that acts of discrimination, bigotry, and hatred are never tolerated in the city of Philadelphia, and we will not stop until all of us are safe and treated with respect and honor.”
Tori Cooper, director of community engagement for the Human Rights Campaign’s Transgender Justice Initiative, released this statement: “Diamond was a beautiful gem who should still be with us today. All of us — allies and community members alike — grieve with her family and friends. Diamond’s life mattered. We stand with her family and call for justice for Diamond. The epidemic of violence we face as Black transgender women is driven by stigma and hate. And it’s all just because we wish to live our lives. All of us, including allies, have a responsibility to hold the people in our lives accountable for their words because ideologies of hate do in fact lead to violence. It must end.”
Jackson-McDonald’s family has known other tragedies, Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents reports. Twelve relatives — nine children and three adults — died in an apartment fire last January. Her brother died in August. And she was friends with another Black trans woman who died by violence, Dominique “Rem’mie” Fells, who was killed in Philadelphia in 2020.
“Diamond’s social media is filled with photos of her family and acknowledgment of their impact on her life,” Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents notes. “She celebrated birthdays, honored losses, loved her nieces and nephews, and just poured her heart into all of those relationships. She was fun-loving, bold, and determined. She deserved better than we gave her and that’s on all of us to bear.”
Philadelphia police advised anyone with information on Jackson-McDonald’s death to call 911 or submit a tip by calling (215) 686-TIPS (8477). There’s an option to leave tips anonymously.
Jackson-McDonald is at least the 37th trans, nonbinary, or gender-nonconforming person to die by violence in the U.S. this year. That total includes a trans man and a trans woman killed in the shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs November 19 as well as a trans woman, whose name has not been released, who was killed in Vallejo, Calif., last month. That is most likely an undercount, as many of these deaths go unreported or misreported, with victims deadnamed and misgendered. The nation saw a record 57 confirmed violent deaths among this population last year.
During heated arguments at the Supreme Court yesterday in the case of 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis – about a web designer who doesn’t want to make websites for same-sex couples – Justice Neil Gorsuch appeared angry and even suggested that a Colorado baker had been forced into a “reeducation training program” after he discriminated against a gay couple.
The case is about a web designer named Lori Smith, who says that Colorado’s anti-discrimination law might make her make websites for same-sex couples even though she wants to make them only for opposite-sex couples. Her complaint, which cites the Bible as well as caselaw, says that she “believes that God is calling her to promote and celebrate His design for marriage… between one man and one woman only.”
She is suing over the same law that Colorado baker Jack Phillips of Masterpiece Cakeshop violated several years ago when he refused to sell a cake to a same-sex couple because he believed they would serve it at a wedding, something he said was against his sincerely held religious beliefs.
In that case, Phillips was ordered to “additional remedial measures, including ‘comprehensive staff training on the Public Accommodations section,’” or training about the state’s anti-discrimination law.
Gorsuch called it a “reeducation program,” language likely used to reference internment camps set up by 20th-century dictatorships to silence dissent. States require training on the law in numerous cases, including education about road laws to get a driver’s license or parenting classes in child custody cases, and usually it’s not referred to as a “reeducation program.”
“Mr. Phillips did go through a reeducation training program, pursuant to Colorado law, did he not, Mr. [Colorado Solicitor General Eric] Olson?” Gorsuch asked.
“He went through a process that ensured he was familiar with…” Olson started to answer.
“It was a reeducation program, right?” Gorsuch pressed.
“It was not a ‘reeducation program,’” Olson said.
“What do you call it?” Gorsuch asked.
“It was a process to make sure he was familiar with Colorado law,” Olson said calmly.
“Some might be excused for calling that a ‘reeducation program,’” Gorsuch snapped back.
“Astounding that Gorsuch, a Supreme Court Justice, refers to Colorado giving courses on following civil rights law as ‘reeducation training,’” Adam Cohen of Lawyers for Good Government tweeted. “Like being taught not to discriminate against LGBTQ is the same as being sent to a gulag for protesting communism in the Soviet Union.”
Russian libraries are removing LGBTQ+-themed books from their shelves after the country’s President Vladimir Putin signed a law yesterday expanding the prohibition on LGBTQ+ “propaganda.”
The newly signed law effectively outlaws any public expression of LGBTQ+ life in Russia by banning “any action or the spreading of any information that is considered an attempt to promote homosexuality in public, online, or in films, books or advertising,” Reuters reported.
Four Moscow libraries have already taken action in the wake of the new law, according to Russian media. The libraries reportedly received a list of authors whose books they needed to make completely unavailable on shelves and online. The books include any with LGBTQ+ content, and based on another new law, any authors considered “foreign agents” or who criticize the war in Ukraine.
Putin first signed a law banning so-called “gay propaganda” in Russia in June 2013. The law ostensibly sought to “protect children” from any “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relationships,” as stated in the law’s text. The new law extends the restrictions to not just children but Russians of all ages.
The law has mostly been used to silence LGBTQ+ activist organizations, events, websites, and media, as well as to break up families and harass teachers. It has also been roundly condemned by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, the human rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, as well as civil rights activists around the world.
These critics say the updated law will further endanger the lives of Russia’s LGBTQ+ population, which has already suffered increased harassment, violence, and hostility in recent years.
The new law comes as conservatives in the United States are advancing a similar push for schools to remove LGBTQ+ content from their libraries.
Across the country, parents and politicians are petitioning school boards and proposing laws to severely limit the type of content kids can access at school. In some states, laws have been proposed that would criminalize librarians and other school staff if they don’t remove certain books from the shelves.
Conservatives have claimed these books are inappropriate or even pornographic and that parents deserve more control over what their children can access, even though many people in these towns have argued that books with similar heterosexual scenes don’t face the same scrutiny. In many cases, their fights have been successful.
Jere Chang’s talented and gifted students in Atlanta, Georgia are growing up in a world very different from the one she grew up in.
When she was a student during the 1980s, she and her queer peers largely stayed closeted, trying to fit in to avoid being bullied or outed. There wasn’t much LGBTQ+ representation in the media. Instead, she constantly heard about how people like her were “abominations” who “live in sin.”
She worried that her own family might disown her if she ever came out, and she never imagined she’d be able to live authentically as a lesbian.
“We lived in fear yet strived to live our most authentic self,” she says, noting that many queers took refuge in Pride events or clubs and bars to express themselves freely.
But as she aged, the world changed around her: She saw more LGBTQ+ characters appearing in books, film, and TV, more transgender people embracing their identities, and more folks using language recognizing gender-neutral individuals.
She eventually came out to her mother — who said she’d love her no matter what — and gradually came out at work. She later married the woman she loves, something made possible nationwide by the 2015 Supreme Court decision. Now, they’re raising two great kids together.
So much has changed for the better for her and other queer people, and the upcoming generation gives her even more hope.
“I have faith that the young folks are creating a much more loving and accepting world,” she says.
“In turn,” she adds, “I believe that young folks can learn from the older generation because we can relate to their experiences of coming out and/or not feeling accepted.”
Chang knows that the brave generations of LGBTQ+ activists who rose up at Stonewall and elsewhere helped pave the way for herself and other queers to live openly and happily. But “there’s still much work to be done,” she notes, at home and abroad.
She observes that it’s dangerous to live as an out queer person in certain countries. In the U.S., her queer elders face financial, social, and health challenges as they enter their senior years. She encourages others to honor them by donating, volunteering, advocating, and educating on their behalf.
This humane kindness isn’t just evident in her classroom. It also shines through the short, funny videos she shares with over a million followers on social media.
She smiles warmly while poking gentle fun at common teachers’ experiences and her students’ clever observations. Her relaxed friendliness and glow make her seem like a supportive teacher, one who is both a testament to the generations who came before her and a possible inspiration to the generations who will follow.
“I hope to make a difference for the folks who changed the course of history,” she says.
“I hope the younger generation continues the fight to create an all-inclusive society,” she adds, “regardless of gender, love, and identity.”
In that world, no student would feel afraid of coming out. They might not need to come out in the first place — that’s a world Chang longs for, and she’s planting the seeds for its future growth.
The South Korean army has refused to recognise the death of a trans soldier as “on-duty” after protests.
A committee made the decision during a Thursday (1 December) meeting, where they classified trans soldier Byun Hee-soo’s case as a “general death”.
Byun, who is believed to be the first openly transgender soldier in South Korea, was found dead at her home in March 2021 after being discharged from the military a year prior.
After her death, family members and LGBTQ+ activists called for the military to categorise her death as “on-duty”.
But the nine-member panel opted to reject the category after finding that Byun’s death had no “significant causal connection” with her military service.
Activists have argued that the Gyeonggi province tank gunner had been significantly affected by her discharge in January 2020 after undergoing gender affirmation surgery and that it ultimately led to her death.
The “general death” category allows her family to receive financial support, which includes a funeral allowance and compensation.
Activist and prosecutor Seo Ji-hyun said that the country “could have saved” Byun before she died.
“We could have saved her… We just had to let her live life true to who she was,” she said.
South Korea’s Trans Liberation Front CEO Kim Wo-myeon said that, during her funeral, she felt that “something was wrong with the world”.
Additionally, members of a presidential committee on military deaths urged the South Korean defence minister to classify Byun’s case as “on-duty” death in April, according to Yonhap News.
Byun Hee Soo’s legal battle against her discharge
Byun Hee-soo attempted to challenge the discharge during a legal case, but passed away before a ruling could be made.
The Korea Herald revealed that, prior to her death, she had been urging for a continuation of the legal battle so that she could return to military service.
Her family vowed to press ahead with the lawsuits, saying they would apply for a succession of the original case to “fulfil her dream [of serving the country as a transgender soldier] by winning the legal battle at all costs”.
The court eventually ruled in her favour on October 2021, saying that the army’s decision was “undoubtedly illegal and should be cancelled”.
The ruling added that it was “obvious that the decision should have been based on the premise that [Byun] was a woman”, as well as “various factors, such as special circumstances of the military, basic rights of trans people, and public opinions”.
Texas Family Project — an anti-LGBTQ organization that wants to stop “the Left” from “indoctrinating kids,” “confusing children about changing their gender,” and “undermining parents’ ability to protect their children’s innocence” — has launched Defend Our Kids Texas, a website where people can report live drag queen performances.
“Our mission is to expose attacks on our children’s innocence by uncovering and highlighting the left’s public displays of sexual degeneracy,” the website reads.
The site’s lead face is Sara Gonzalez, a host for the conservative broadcast Blaze TV. Gonzales has called drag performers “pedophiles,” directed her social media followers to shut down drag performances in the state, and lied about performances just to whip up public outrage against them.
“Gonzales is teaming up with Texas Family Project… to expose the depravity of the left and fight for sound public policy to Defend Texas Kids,” the site proclaims.
The site uses right-wing rhetoric characterizing drag shows as an effort to “sexualize children” or “groom” them for rape. Even the site’s name is provocative, as the only reason Texas parents would need to “defend” their kids would be if someone were threatening their safety.
Such claims of drag queens “threatening” kids have led armed protestors and violent threats to be deployed against venues hosting all-ages drag shows as well as against bookstores, libraries, and other venues hosting drag queen story hours. The rhetoric is especially concerning since a mass shooter recently killed five and injured 18 while attacking a Colorado Springs drag bar.
While appearing last month on the show of bigoted Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Gonzales called drag events a form of “child abuse.” She also shared a video of a drag performance in Texas where a queen lip-synched to a song with explicit sexual lyrics. Gonzales claimed the event was all-ages, but she lied.
According to Raw Story, the venue advertised the event online with a disclaimer stating, “If you would not allow your children to see a rated R movie or watch TV-MA programming, this is not the event for them.”
During her appearance on his show, Carlson said that drag shows are “sexualizing children” and are “a huge moral crime that nobody should accept.”
Gonzales also recently lead a protest against a transgender story time at Patchouli Joe’s, a bookstore in the university town of Denton, Texas. The bookstore hosted a transgender individual who read three children’s books about gender to commemorate the last day of National Transgender Awareness Week.
The Texas Family Project encouraged its followers to “protest against this disgusting attempt to normalize and celebrate… something that leaves kids physically disfigured, sterilized, and traumatized for the rest of their lives.” It also called the event “abusive.”
During the event, Gonzales stalked the bookstore’s aisles, recording video of the storytime. When a security officer kicked her out, she continued recording and screamed to the audience, “This is child abuse! Child abuse! You should all have your children taken from you.”
Supporters of the event invited armed guards from a local roller derby team and the Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club to protect its audience members. Gonzales identified these people as “antifa,” a word meaning anti-fascists. Police also attended to keep protestors from disturbing the book reading.
Two days after the event, Stein attended a Denton city council meeting and screamed about the bookstore “indoctrinating children to become transgender.”
Joseph Harding, 35, was indicted on six counts of wire fraud, money laundering, making false statements and other crimes, the U.S. attorney’s office for Northern Florida said in a release.
Harding, a Republican whose district is south of Gainesville, is accused of seeking Covid-relief loans from the Small Business Administration in 2020 for two companies, Vak Shack Inc. and Harding Farms, according to the indictment.
The indictment alleges that in applications to the agency, Harding said the companies had half a dozen employees and gross revenues from the previous year totaling more than $800,000.
The companies had no employees, and state records showed they had been dormant in the months before the applications were filed, the indictment says.
Harding sought more than $150,000 in loans and received roughly $45,000 in January and February 2021, according to the indictment.
Harding pleaded not guilty to the charges in court Wednesday, court records show. Neither he nor his lawyer immediately responded to requests for comment.
Harding, a home health care executive first elected in 2020, is known for having introduced a bill that prohibited classroom discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in the state’s primary schools.
Critics blasted the bill, describing it as an attack on the state’s LGBTQ community and saying it could open districts up to lawsuits from parents upset about any LGBTQ-related conversation.
“This bill goes way beyond the text on its page,” former Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, a Democrat who is gay,said in February. “It sends a terrible message to our youth that there is something so wrong, so inappropriate, so dangerous about this topic that we have to censor it from classroom instruction.”
Harding’s trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 11. He could face 20 years in prison for the fraud charges, 10 years for money laundering and five years for making false statement, the release says.
