The State Department will now grant U.S. citizenship to children born abroad through in vitro fertilization, surrogacy and other assisted reproductive technologies, the agency said Tuesday. The Trump administration had denied citizenship to children born abroad to same-sex parents in several cases.
The State Department under Trump defended a long-standing policy that categorized children born abroad via surrogate as “out of wedlock” even when a couple was married. Several same-sex couples sued the agency for their children’s citizenship, but the State Department continued to enforce the policy.
Black LGBT+ school pupils are less likely to feel safe at school than their white peers, new research has found.
LGBT+ young people’s charity Just Like Us reported that just 52 per cent of Black queer students stated they felt safe in school on a daily basis in the past year, compared to 57 per cent of Asian pupils and 59 per cent of white respondents.
Black LGBT+ pupils were twice as likely as white peers to say they have never felt safe in school. Six per cent of Black respondents chose this answer, compared with three per cent of white pupils.
EO of Just Like Us Dominic Arnall told The Independent: “Our independent research devastatingly shows that Black LGBT+ young people are struggling significantly more than their peers when it comes to safety at school and tension at home, and this is having a huge impact on their mental health and wellbeing.”
The study spoke to almost 3,000 secondary school aged pupils from across the country, 1,140 of whom were LGBT+. It will form a part of a larger report on LGBT+ inclusion in education, which Just Like Us plans to publish in June 2021.
In February, Just Like Us also looked into the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Black LGBT+ young people, which found similarly concerning results. Over 60 per cent of Black queer youth said they worried on a daily basis, compared to 51 per cent of white LGBT+ youth.
The survey also found Black LGBT+ youth were more likely to struggle with depression, anxiety, panic attacks and addiction. Arnall called the results “devastating”.
UK Black Pride also recently announced a survey to find out more about the experiences of Black LGBT+ people and LGBT+ people of colour in the UK.
Lady Phyll, the co-founder of UK Black Pride said: “Our communities remain overlooked and underestimated, but it may be that the right people aren’t doing the asking. So we’re stepping up to ask what the communities we represent feel, need and find joy in.”
Tennessee governor Bill Lee has signed a bill which bans trans students from accessing bathrooms which align with their gender in public schools.
Governor Lee signed the bill, called the Tennessee Accommodations for All Children Act, on Friday (14 May). It requires public schools to ensure pupils have access to bathrooms designated for their sex, which it defines as “a person’s immutable biological sex as determined by anatomy and genetics existing at the time of birth”.
The bill adds: “A reasonable accommodation does not include access to a restroom or changing facility that is designated for use by members of the opposite sex while persons of the opposite sex are present or could be present.”
The repeated attacks on trans rights in Tennessee has prompted a widespread backlash from Americans, including Jennifer Pritzker, the world’s first and only out trans billionaire. Even the Log Cabin Republicanscalled the bill requiring businesses to post signs if trans people use their bathrooms “misguided”.
President of the Human Rights Campaign Alphonso David said in a public statement: “The state of Tennessee is quickly becoming a national leader for anti-LGBTQ legislation, as lawmakers would rather discriminate against LGBTQ youth than focus on real problems facing Tennesseans.
“I want to be clear: Gov. Lee’s shameful decision to sign this baseless and discriminatory bill into law will harm the health and well-being of trans students in Tennessee by creating daily degrading experiences for them at school.
“These ‘Slate of Hate’ bills are unjustifiable and must stop.”
HRC director Melodía Gutiérrez added: “[Tennessee’s elected leaders] have no regard for the damaging impact these bills have on the mental health of transgender students — who have been begging state leaders to leave them alone.”
A man was stabbed with an ice pick in a shocking assault on the New York City subway.
The 28-year-old victim was riding a northbound D train, commuting home to the Bronx, when he was attacked on 5 May, the New York Post reported.
Police said he was attacked after a man boarded the train and sat next to him. The victim moved from his seat because he felt uncomfortable. This action angered the assailant, and he reportedly yelled: “You’re a f****t.”
The victim yelled back: “Suck my d**k”.
Sources told the New York Post that the attacker then stabbed the victim with an ice pick in the stomach before fleeing the train at the West 155th and Eighth Avenue station.
The victim exited the subway at the 161st Street-Yankee Stadium station in the Bronx. He was taken to the Lincoln Medical Center where he is recovering from non-life-threatening injuries.
The New York Post reported the violent attack is part of a recent rash of violence in the New York City subway system.
Another horrific attack happened on the same night – about five minutes after the stabbing – involving an off-duty Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) conductor.
Gerard Sykes, 52, was riding a northbound J train at the Crescent Street station when a man passing through train cars attacked him with a box cutter without warning, according to police.
The New York Post reported Sykes was stabbed in the left eye and ear and suffered from slashes on the forehead. He was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was scheduled for surgery.
The Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) Local 100 has called for New York governor Andrew Cuomo and US transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg to step in and provide more funding for police and additional safety measures for the MTA.
The union also released a video of Sykes’ aunt, Cassandra Sykes, pleading with New York City mayor Bill de Blasio to “do something” to protect the public.
Cassandra Sykes said it is not safe for transport workers or the public to ride on public transportation, and that she is “angry as hell”.
“Something needs to be done,” she said. “We cannot keep living like this day after day, worrying about our people that [are] getting up, coming to work for you. Do something. Please. We are begging you.”
The MTA told NBC New York that the spate of violent incidents is a “stark reminder of why the city needs to surge essential mental health services and police officers ASAP”.
The New York Police Department (NYPD) said it had added more than 600 officers underground. The department also said the MTA and union had been scarring riders with overreaction.
However, governor Cuomo admitted in a news conference on 3 May that he didn’t feel safe when he rides on the subway, according to NBC New York. He said: “I am smart. I am New York tough. Don’t lie to me and don’t play meMan as a fool.
The Santa Rosa City Council talked Tuesday about expanding safe overnight parking options for homeless people living in their vehicles.
At last count, more than 2,700 people were homeless in Sonoma County.
The Sonoma County Homeless Census & Survey 2020 sheds some light on this population. The information is based on a point-in-time count conducted on Feb. 28, 2020, and responses to a survey taken by 444 homeless people in the weeks that followed.
Here is a breakdown of Sonoma County’s homeless:
Homeless residents in Sonoma County: 2,745 (down from latest peak of 2,996 in 2018 following the 2017 firestorm)
Share who lived in the area before they became homeless: 88% (and nearly two-thirds of those who were homeless last year have lived here 10 years)https://newsletter.pressdemocrat.com/framed/single?pid=41&hideImage=1&fid=3520
Main drivers of local homelessness: Lost job (22%); alcohol or drug abuse (16%); domestic dispute (15%); fire (10%)
Share of the homeless population that regularly are without shelter: 62%
Top obstacles to permanent housing for the homeless population: Can’t afford rent (70%); no job/not enough income (50%); no money for moving costs (31%); no housing available (20%)
Share of local homeless residents with a disabling condition: 40% (defined by the federal government as a developmental disability, HIV/AIDS, or a long-term physical or mental impairment that affects ability to live independently)
President Biden recognized on Monday the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia & Biphobia, decrying the rising trend of authoritarianism on the global stage for continuing to “widen economic, social and safety gaps for LGBTQI+ people,” according to an advance copy of his statement obtained by the Washington Blade.
Biden criticizes authoritarian governments, as well as the coronavirus pandemic, for endangering LGBTQ people in the IDAHOTB statement and specifically enumerates violence against transgender people internationally as an ongoing issue.
“Despite this progress, both COVID-19 and rising authoritarianism around the world continue to widen economic, social, and safety gaps for LGBTQI+ people — and an epidemic of violence still rages, with a particular impact on the transgender community, specifically transgender women and girls of color,” Biden said. “Around the world, some 70 countries still criminalize same-sex relationships.”
Biden makes the statement as Russia and China are challenging democratic systems across the world and seeking to undermine the United States as a global leader and advocate for free market systems.
Meanwhile, other countries, such as Turkey and Venezuela, have shifted toward authoritarianism. According to Freedom House, which scores countries on their commitment to democratic systems, countries with aggregate score declines have outnumbered those with gains every year for the past 15 years.
Biden also enumerates in his statement his commitment to LGBTQ people at home, recognizing they lack basic protections in 25 states and renewing his call for passage of the Equality Act.
“My administration will always stand with the LGBTQI+ community,” Biden said. “Already, we have rolled back discriminatory polices targeting LGBTQI+ Americans, and we have made historic appointments of LGBTQI+ individuals to the highest levels of our government. We continue to implement my executive orders to advance equality and equity. And I continue to urge Congress to pass the Equality Act, which would confirm critical civil rights protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity for all Americans.”
Read Biden’s full statement below:
Statement by President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. on International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia
May 17, 2021
Jill and I are proud to recognize the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia — the anniversary of the day in 1990 when the World Health Organization took the long overdue step of declassifying ‘homosexuality’ as a mental disorder.
So much has changed for the LGBTQI+ community since that day — not only in our laws, but in the hearts and minds of the American people. Courageous activists in America and around the world have championed progress, and won. Here at home, marriage equality and greater protections against hate crimes are the law of the land. Overseas, foreign governments, civil societies, and international organizations like the United Nations finally recognize that LGBTQI+ people are deserving of the full measure of dignity and equality.
Despite this progress, both COVID-19 and rising authoritarianism around the world continue to widen economic, social, and safety gaps for LGBTQI+ people — and an epidemic of violence still rages, with a particular impact on the transgender community, specifically transgender women and girls of color. Around the world, some 70 countries still criminalize same-sex relationships. And here at home, LGBTQI+ Americans still lack basic protection in 25 states, and they continue to face discrimination in housing, education, and public services.
My Administration will always stand with the LGBTQI+ community. Already, we have rolled back discriminatory polices targeting LGBTQI+ Americans, and we have made historic appointments of LGBTQI+ individuals to the highest levels of our government. We continue to implement my executive orders to advance equality and equity. And I continue to urge Congress to pass the Equality Act, which would confirm critical civil rights protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity for all Americans.
Everyone is entitled to dignity and equality, no matter who they are, whom they love, or how they identify — and we will continue to engage with allies and partners to advance the human rights of LGBTQI+ people here at home and in all corners of the world.
Black LGBTQ people face an increased risk of violence and harassment. A new app hopes to help change that.
David Johns, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, said Black queer and trans people have to worry about things “most people take for granted and don’t have to think about, like whether or not a barber or beautician is going to say something that might be homophobic, or you’re going to be denied access to a cake because a baker is going to hide their hate behind religion,” he said.
Knowing this, Johns said he has dreamed for years about creating a way for Black LGBTQ and same-gender-loving people to more easily find safe spaces.
That dream became Lavender Book, a web-based app launched Monday and created in collaboration with Out in Tech, a nonprofit for LGBTQ people who work in the technology sector.
Lavender Book’s key feature is a crowdsourced search engine that shows users safe and friendly establishments in different locations. Users can narrow down their search by the service they’re looking for and a list of attributes, such as gender-neutral restrooms, Black- or trans-owned, or LGBTQ-trained staff.
The app is based on the historic Green Book, which was a guide for Black road-trippers published during the Jim Crow era that mapped safe spaces for Black people.
“We know how much uncompensated labor goes into finding safe spaces,” Johns said. “Black LGBTQIA+ folk, and then [Black, Indigenous, and people of color] folks with intersectional identities thereafter, spent a lot of time making phone calls and leveraging community networks to identify places where the likelihood of us being victims of verbal harassment, bias, discrimination or violence associated with actual or assumed sexual identity and gender orientation or expression will happen.”
Some of that, Johns said, is informed by the disproportionate rates of violence against Black LGBTQ people. The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, a nonprofit dedicated to reducing violence against LGBTQ people, found in 2013 that people of color comprised the majority — 58 percent — of LGBTQ and HIV-affected people who reported hate violence to its member programs.
The report also found that Black LGBTQ and HIV-affected people were 1.4 times more likely to experience physical violence and two times more likely to experience threats and intimidation during incidents of hate violence.
Johns said the violence Black LGBTQ people face is nothing new. In the month of April alone, the National Black Justice Coalition reported on the deaths of at least seven trans women — all of them women of color, five of them Black. So far in May, three more trans women have been killed, all of them also women of color.
Since the start of 2021, at least 24 trans and gender nonconforming people have been killed, according to the Human Rights Campaign, putting the year on track to outpace the number of deaths in 2020, which HRC called “the most violent year on record” since the group began tracking anti-trans violence in 2013.
“For so many of us, the spaces we’re forced to move through and the world around us is not welcoming,” Johns said.
One of the beta-testers for the app and a member of NBJC’s Youth and Young Adult Action Council, Sage Grace Dolan-Sandrino, 20, said that as a Black and Latina queer and trans woman, “it is imperative to my survival that I know in what spaces I am safe.”
“Growing up in Washington, D.C., I became familiar with my safe spaces — where to eat, where to shop, and where NOT to,” she said. “Since moving to upstate New York for college, it has become incredibly aware to me that so many of the spaces are not safe. With the introduction of an app and program like this, I may have been able to avoid getting my car fixed by a Trump-supporting, white nationalist, gun-toting mechanic.”
She said that while using the app, she could “easily imagine the profound impact this could have on the safety of being queer in public.”
Peter Redmond, Out in Tech’s New York City chapter head and events producer, said the app is “for us, by us,” because it was built by a diverse team of engineers, product designers and UX designers.
He said he hopes the app grows to include not just businesses like restaurants, but also essential services like health care.
“I have found myself traveling to cities where I’m not exactly sure will I be welcomed in certain establishments, so I’ve definitely had to lean on services like this in the past,” he said. “So to have the Lavender Book now join all of these other services out there, I think it’s only going to just create a better experience for anybody that’s looking for services where they know they won’t be discriminated against.”
Teachers have begun to flee a private school in Kansas City, Missouri amid allegations that the school in question has begun to pressure faculty there to expel gay students.
At least three teachers will not return to Whitefield Academy, a self-described K-12 Christian School, next year allegedly owing to the school’s policy. Whitefield requires all faculty to sign on to a mission statement affirming “core principles.” Initial reports suggested that an amended mission statement would require all faculty to identify gay students at the school for removal.
Now Kansas City newspaper The Pitch reports that school administrators have denied the charges that Whitefield formally requires teachers to sign a statement agreeing to expel gay students. The school’s headmaster, Dr. Quentin Johnston, issued a statement to the press clarifying that the school’s mission statement all faculty must sign does not mention the removal of gay students.
“We have not asked our teachers to sign a statement or letter such as you describe,” Johnston said. “As in past years, we ask teachers and parents to understand and consent to the standards outlined in our Statement of Faith and core documents, which have not been altered in several years.”
Following news of the scandal reaching the press, Johnston also sent a similarly-worded statement home to parents of Whitefield students. In part, it read:
We firmly believe every person has been made in the image of God and should be treated with dignity, compassion and respect. In some cases, there are those who do not understand the biblical principles associated with our core beliefs. Such is the case this week when a news story made claims about our school that were neither accurate nor true.
The Board of Trustees and I want to make sure you, as parents, understand our policies and procedures. To be clear, we have not asked our teachers to sign a statement such as described in the news story. As in prior years, teachers have been asked to affirm their personal belief and agreement with our statement of faith and core documents.
We are also in the process of receiving faculty contracts for the next academic calendar year. As is normal in personnel matters, there are some faculty members who will not be returning, as well as new faculty joining our community in the fall.
Not all parents have accepted Johnston’s assurances, however. One anonymous parent told The Pitchthat while the mission statement itself may not condemn or target gay students, faculty understand they are to be singled out and removed.
“It’s been unspoken I suppose up until now, and now they’re now they’re formalizing that in a way that makes me really uncomfortable,” the parent says. “We know the suicide rates for kids that are not in affirming families. And when I think about those same kids going to school and knowing that every adult in that school has signed a piece of paper saying they are not welcome there, it just hurts my heart to think about.”
At the time of this writing, administrators at Whitefield Academy have not further commented on the school’s policy regarding LGBTQ students. The story is just the latest in a series of headlines about religious, private schools discriminating against queer students. Last year, a Christian school in Texas opted to expel a gay student under a similar onus. That discrimination also extends to secondary schools, with a number of high-profile Christian colleges and universities expelling gay students or worse, forcing them to attend conversion therapy.
The International LGBTQ+ Travel Association has published an online guide that allows travelers to explore which countries and regions around the world offer same-sex marriage. In addition to marriage equality, the guide also features an application that sources LGBTQ+ rights and protections in over 250 countries and regions around the world.
The application was developed in partnership with Destination Pride, a data-driven platform that reimagines the Pride flag as a dynamic bar graph, then uses it to visualize the world’s LGBTQ+ laws, rights and social sentiment. The platform, which was created by PFLAG Canada, brings together thousands of data points from around the globe—including marriage equality laws, census data and real-time social sentiment—to generate a Pride flag visualization for each destination.
Currently, just 29 countries recognize same-sex marriage. More than 70 countries currently have laws that allow for the punishment of same-sex activity between consenting adults, including more than 10 that allow for those ‘crimes’ to be punished with the death penalty.
This is the latest IGLTA resource to help LGBTQ+ travelers explore the world more safely, and to provide tourism professionals with easily accessible information on LGBTQ+ rights and protections to better serve their clients. The content complements IGLTA’s other site offerings, which include tips on finding LGBTQ+ welcoming tourism businesses around the world.
“IGLTA has been working for nearly 40 years to make travel safe and welcoming for the LGBTQ+ community,” said IGLTA President/CEO John Tanzella. “So on this International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, which draws attention to the discrimination experienced by LGBTQ+ people around the world, we wanted to make a contribution to improving awareness of LGBTQ+ rights within our global community of travelers and industry professionals.”
Companies and organizations that join IGLTA agree to a code of conduct and will not discriminate on sex, race, color, religion, national origin, age, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.
About 17 May: The date was chosen as the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia to commemorate the World Health Organization’s 1990 decision to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder.
About IGLTA
The International LGBTQ+ Travel Association is the global leader in advancing LGBTQ+ travel and a proud Affiliate Member of the United Nations World Tourism Organization. IGLTA’s mission is to provide information and resources for LGBTQ+ travelers and expand LGBTQ+ tourism globally by demonstrating its significant social and economic impact. IGLTA membership includes LGBTQ+ and LGBTQ+ welcoming accommodations, destinations, service providers, travel agents, tour operators, events and travel media in 80 countries. The philanthropic IGLTA Foundation empowers LGBTQ+ welcoming travel businesses globally through leadership, research and education. For more information: iglta.org, igltaconvention.org or iglta.org/foundation and follow us on Facebook @IGLTA, @IGLTABusiness or @IGLTAFoundation, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram @iglta.
The White House announced Thursday that President Joe Biden has nominated Catherine Lhamon to serve as the Assistant Secretary of the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education.
Lhamon currently serves as a Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council for Racial Justice and Equity at the White House, where she manages the President’s equity policy portfolio. She is a former attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, (ACLU) and served as chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights from 2017 to 2021.
She has also served as Legal Affairs Secretary to California Governor Gavin Newsom.
Her portfolio at Education, where she previously served in the same position under former President Barack Obama, will include LGBTQ rights, sexual misconduct and racial discrimination in the nation’s K-12 schools, universities and colleges. Lhamon was Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the Department of Education, to which President Obama nominated her and the Senate confirmed her in 2013.
“I am thrilled that President Biden is nominating Catherine Lhamon to serve as Assistant Secretary of the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education. Catherine has devoted her career to ensuring equity is at the core of all her work,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement released by his office Thursday.
“She has a strong record of fighting for communities of color and underserved communities, whether as the current Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council, the former chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, or as a civil rights educator at Georgetown University. We are thrilled to have Catherine serving as Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights and know she will continue to fight for fairness, equity, and justice for all of America’s students.”
Lhamon has also litigated civil rights cases at National Center for Youth Law, Public Counsel Law Center, and the ACLU Foundation of Southern California. Lhamon taught federal civil rights appeals at Georgetown University Law Center in the Appellate Litigation Program and clerked for the Honorable William A. Norris on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
“Catherine Lhamon is the right choice to lead the Department of Education’s civil rights division at such a critical time for the country and the agency. There is much work to do in order to roll back the harmful policies and legacies of Betsy DeVos, from her attacks on transgender students to her unconscionable revocation of discriminatory discipline guidance and rewrite of Title IX rules,” Adele Kimmel, Director of the Students’ Civil Rights Project at Public Justice told the Blade in an email.
“During her previous tenure in the same job, Catherine embraced equality, enforced Title IX and ensured students had an ally inside the federal government. She will do so again, and the Senate should move to quickly confirm her so she can begin the work of restoring the Department’s commitment to protecting the civil rights and dignity of students and implementing the Biden Administration’s pledge to undo the damage that DeVos has done,” Kimmel added.
Born in Virginia and raised in California, Lhamon graduated from Amherst College and Yale Law School. Lhamon and her husband and two daughters are transitioning between California and Maryland.