Divas & Drinks: A Pride Event for Women happens June 24
Gary Carnivele
About Gary Carnivele
Posts by Gary Carnivele:
Supreme Court Backs Anti-Gay Catholic Agency In Philly Foster Care Case
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of faith-based foster agency Catholic Social Services in a case that has significant implications for LGBTQ foster parents as well as taxpayer-funded groups’ ability to discriminate against queer people or other faiths based on “religious freedom.”
The case centers around two local foster agencies that the city of Philadelphia found would not work with same-sex couples as foster parents in 2018. The city deemed this a violation of their anti-discrimination policies, and stopped referring foster kids to those agencies. One agency, Catholic Social Services, sued the city, saying it was violating its First Amendment rights and demanding the city continue working with it even as it turned away gay couples as foster parents.
In a decision released Thursday, the court held that Philadelphia’s refusal to contract with CSS violates the free exercise clause of the First Amendment, which protects a person’s right to freely exercise their religion. The ruling requires the city of Philadelphia to renew its contract with CSS.
Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the opinion of the court, writing that Philadelphia’s actions “burdened CSS’s religious exercise by forcing it either to curtail its mission or to certify same-sex couples as foster parents in violation of its religious beliefs.”
The court ruled that the nondiscrimination requirement in Philadelphia’s foster care contract doesn’t apply to the CSS case because that requirement permits discretionary exceptions.
“No matter the level of deference we extend to the City, the inclusion of a formal system of entirely discretionary exceptions … renders the contractual nondiscrimination requirement not generally applicable,” Roberts wrote.
The Supreme Court’s ruling has implications not only for queer foster parents in Philadelphia and beyond, but also for any taxpayer-funded group — including homeless shelters and food banks — to be able to also turn away queer people or people of other religions, claiming a right to “religious freedom.”
The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals previously upheld a lower court’s ruling in favor of the city, saying that the city’s nondiscrimination policy is a “neutral, generally applicable law, and the religious views of CSS do not entitle it to an exception from that policy.”
There are about 440,000 children in foster care across the U.S. In a brief supporting the city, the National Association of Social Workers, the Child Welfare League of America and other foster- and adoption-related nonprofits wrote that “a diversity of foster and adoptive families is needed to help ensure that all children find permanent, loving families” and that “gay and lesbian parents are essential partners in this effort.”
Two dozen U.S. senators and 148 U.S. House members — largely Democrats — warned in another brief that ruling in favor of the Catholic foster agency could “establish a broad right to religious exemptions from anti-discrimination laws” and would “undermine Congress’s ability to protect Americans from discriminatory practices.”
“This case is not only about the LGBTQ-parent families who could be turned away from foster care,” Leslie Cooper, deputy director for the ACLU’s LGBT & HIV Project, wrote in an opinion piece. (The ACLU represented the city in this case.) “If the court opens the door to discrimination based on a religious test, it would be devastating for millions of people who rely upon critical government services… people in need of taxpayer-funded services like homeless shelters or food banks could also be turned away because they are LGBTQ, Jewish, Mormon or otherwise don’t meet the provider’s religious criteria.”
Republican States Have Already Enacted 19 New Anti-Trans Laws This Year
State lawmakers across the country have introduced at least 171 pieces of legislation that target the rights of transgender people this year, according to a new legislative database compiled by the Progressive Caucus Action Fund, a grassroots group that opposes the bills.
At least 19 of the bills ― 13 that specifically target trans people and six more that could more broadly hurt LGBTQ rights ― have already become law.
“We’re only six months into 2021 and it’s already been a devastating year for protecting transgender people,” said Ricardo Pacheco, a researcher at the Progressive Caucus Action Fund who compiled the database. “The expectation that quite a few more of these will pass in the next few months.”
Republican lawmakers have introduced the vast majority of the bills, both in states the GOP controls and those where Democrats hold majorities. Ten states, all with Republican legislative majorities and governors, have enacted new anti-trans laws this year. Four other bills have passed through GOP legislatures but have been vetoed by governors.
The push for anti-trans laws has intensified as part of a broader Republican culture war against the basic and individual rights of women, Black people, immigrants and LGBTQ people. Right-wing lawmakers believe they can weaponize trans rights — and people’s very right to exist as trans — as a wedge issue. This has exhausted activists and had demonstrably negative mental health effects on members of the trans community, said Dr. Ruadhán Woods, a trans and queer organizer for Hometown Action, a group in Alabama that opposed an anti-trans bill that became law in that state.
“There’s just a lot of helpless feelings,” Woods told HuffPost. “People in our community really are looking for support and solidarity, and for representation in the government. And the fact that legislation is actively trying to essentially erase trans kids from being able to get support, and really criminalize existing … The morale is extremely low, even though the bar has been low for a long time.”
The aggressive nature of the GOP’s effort to restrict trans rights is on full display in the database, as are the ways that effort has changed. The so-called “bathroom bills” that were once in vogue as Republicans tried to block trans people from using restrooms and public facilities that correspond with their gender identity have largely given way to other types of legislation.
This year, Republicans are largely taking aim at trans students’ ability to play scholastic sports that correspond with their gender identity, a push that has largely targeted trans girls and women in high school and college. Lawmakers have introduced 76 bills aiming to limit trans people’s participation in sports, according to the database, and such bills make up roughly 45% of all anti-trans legislation introduced this year.
It’s clear that the anti-trans bills that are centered around sports really just want sports to be something that trans people don’t participate in.Ruadhán Woods, Hometown Action in Alabama organizer
Seven states with Republican legislatures ― Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Montana, Tennessee and West Virginia ― have enacted such laws. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) and Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) vetoed similar bills after they were passed by GOP legislatures. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) also vetoed a bill barring trans youth from playing school sports that match their gender identity — but later signed two executive orders doing just that.
Those bills have largely sought to vilify trans identity, and curtail the right of trans women and girls to play sports against cisgender athletes. Republicans have touted the laws as a way to protect women’s sports and Title IX, the federal law meant to guarantee equal access to education and sports participation for women. They have adopted the mantle even though many conservatives have long been skeptical of Title IX and efforts to bolster women’s equality in sports, and despite the fact that many GOP lawmakers have been unable to point to incidents of trans women and girls taking spots away from cisgender athletes.
Activists, education experts and health professionals have for years pointed to evidence that increasing sports participation could bolster mental health, self esteem and other health and education outcomes for trans youth. But no amount of pushback, data or discussion about trans athletes or their basic right to play sports has swayed Republicans.
“It’s clear that the anti-trans bills that are centered around sports really just want sports to be something that trans people don’t participate in,” Woods said from Alabama, where Gov. Kay Ivey (R) signed one such bill into law in April.
Legislation targeting trans peoples’ ability to access health care and treatment make up the second largest share of bills under consideration in state houses across the country. Republican lawmakers have introduced 51 such bills this year, according to the database.
Tennessee Republicans have passed at least two bills that are similar to the “bathroom bills” that many GOP states sought in recent years. One requires businesses that have multi-person bathrooms or locker rooms to post signs if they let trans people use bathrooms of their choice; another allows students and teachers to refuse to use such facilities at school if trans people are allowed to use them, and requires schools to provide those students and staff separate bathrooms to use.
Tennessee — which adopted a law barring trans youth from participating in sports — also passed a broader anti-LGBTQ law that requires schools to inform parents ahead of any classroom discussion about gender identity or sexual orientation, and allows parents to opt students out of any such class.
The Progressive Caucus Action Fund’s database includes the latter law in its count, along with others that have passed in Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota that more broadly restrict LGBTQ rights on religious freedom or free speech grounds. Oklahoma Republicans approved a new law that prohibits mandatory diversity training “regarding gender identity, sexual orientation, race stereotyping and sex stereotyping.” The broader laws, LGBTQ advocates say, provide an example of how the GOP’s culture war legislation can often target multiple groups at once, including LGBTQ people, Black people, Native Americans and women.
Most state legislative sessions have ended and more GOP proposals failed than passed, even in red states like Arizona, Kentucky, South Carolina and Texas. But it’s still possible that more anti-trans laws could pass in Ohio and other states where lawmakers are still in session.
The legislative onslaught has already had negative effects on trans youth: A common view among trans people, Woods said, was that they weren’t surprised by efforts to target their rights in Alabama and nationwide “because nobody cares about our community anyway, so we just have to care for each other.”
“That’s a very sad and tragic thing for most young people to have already embraced or come to understand,” Woods said. “So for me, it’s more than just fighting legislation. It’s really fighting for community members to be able to be represented and for our rights to be protected and upheld.”
Legal challenges could ultimately thwart some of the new laws. Last year, a federal court ruled that an Idaho law barring trans women and girls from participating in sports that match their gender identities was unconstitutional. The ruling is subject to an appeal that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard in early May.
Civil rights groups have already filed legal claims against several other new laws passed this year. Progressives and LGBTQ rights groups are also pushing Senate Democrats to pass the Equality Act, a bill that would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in public facilities, education, employment and other areas, and help preempt many of the new state laws.
Democrats in the House of Representatives passed the Equality Act in February, but prospects for the bill’s ultimate approval in the Senate, where it must overcome Republican opposition and the legislative filibuster, are dim.
“That’s where the next push needs to be,” Pacheco said. “It’s not necessarily just reacting to what states are doing, but it’s being proactive and it’s being preemptive by passing the Equality Act to make sure that LGBT youth and trans youth in our communities have those protections.”
But the nature of attacks on trans rights, Woods said, makes it clear that one piece of federal legislation won’t be enough. Efforts to curb those rights are likely to continue, and there’s no silver bullet argument or piece of legislation that can fully stop them when “the majority of people who are making these decisions are doing a really intentional job of not listening to the voices of the people who are most affected,” Woods said. So even if the Equality Act passes, there will “still be a lot of work to do” to create the cultural, social and political shifts necessary to fully protect trans people nationwide, and convince lawmakers and the public to see trans rights through the lens of basic human rights.
“We have people actively working against our community’s existence,” they said. “This is going to take some time and there is a lot of work left to do for people who insist on pushing trans identity and rights into a position of debate.”
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney to reintroduce LGBTQ-inclusive violent crime data bill
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, a New York Democrat, said Monday that he plans to reintroduce a bill aimed at improving sexual orientation and gender identity data collection in violent crimes and suicides.
The “LGBTQ Essential Data Act” would require law enforcement to include sexual orientation and gender identity information in the National Violent Death Reporting System — a database run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that documents violent deaths and suicides, and provides information about why they occurred.
“The epidemic of violence against transgender Americans — particularly transgender women of color — is only getting worse,” Maloney said in a statement provided in advance to NBC News.
Maloney introduced the bill in 2019, but it didn’t pass. Now, Democrats narrowly control Congress, making it more likely that it could.
If the bill is passed, President Joe Biden is expected to sign it, as inclusive data collection was listed as a priority in his plan to advance LGBTQ equality.
The reintroduction comes at a critical time: Fatal violence against transgender people is at a record high — but that’s only according to data from advocacy organizations. The federal government allows law enforcement agencies to voluntarily submit hate crime data, but it doesn’t require them to track anti-trans violence or anti-LGBTQ violence, generally.
Advocates say that’s a serious problem, especially now.
This year is on track to become the deadliest on record for trans people, with at least 28 trans and gender-nonconforming individuals killed so far, according to the Human Rights Campaign. At this time last year, at least 18 trans people had been killed, according to the group. Advocates say these estimates are likely low, as law enforcement often use trans people’s birth name, also known as their deadname, in reports of their deaths.
“HRC has been tracking the underreported data since 2013, and Congress still hasn’t acted to enable local law enforcement to do the same,” Maloney said in his statement. “My bill will help us collect the data necessary to fully support the LGBTQ community. I am proud to be introducing this legislation, which was marked by President Biden as a legislative priority, with broad support. I trust our new Democratic Majority will work to get this bill passed into law. We must act now and help save lives.”
Without comprehensive data, advocates say, it’s hard to know how pervasive anti-LGBTQ violence really is. It’s also difficult to take steps to prevent it, as government data collection is often used to guide funding and resource allocation.
Sam Brinton, vice president of advocacy and government affairs for The Trevor Project, an LGBTQ youth suicide prevention organization, said inclusive data collection “in life and in death” would help advocates “to better understand the scope of suicide and homicide among LGBTQ people and to respond more effectively with resources and policy solutions.”
“The Trevor Project is the largest suicide prevention organization for LGBTQ youth, yet we don’t know how many LGBTQ youth die by suicide each year because that data is simply not collected systematically,” Brinton said in a statement. “The LGBTQ Essential Data Act would help deliver much-needed data that we can use to prevent violent deaths and save young LGBTQ lives.”
A 2018 report from the Human Rights Campaign found that no state has a comprehensive law that requires all government-funded data collection efforts to include sexual orientation and gender identity data with other demographic data such as race, ethnicity and sex.
Four states — New York, California, Oregon and New Jersey — and Washington, D.C., have narrower laws that require LGBTQ-inclusive data collection in some areas other than hate crimes.
Twenty-one states and D.C. require law enforcement to collect and report data on hate crimes based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity, the report found.
In 2019, Los Angeles County became the first jurisdiction in the nation to pass a motion to train medical examiners and coroners to investigate the violent deaths of LGBTQ people and to collect mortality data on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Though all 50 states now report data through the National Violent Death Reporting System, 10 states face a two-year backlog, according to the Trevor Project. Maloney’s bill would authorize $25 million in funding to help the CDC expand data collection.
As NYC Pride nears, ban on police seen as support for trans, BIPOC attendees
NYC Pride announced last month that it would no longer allow corrections and law enforcement exhibitors to participate in NYC Pride events until 2025. The decision is in accordance with NYC Pride’s commitment to create safe spaces for marginalized LGBTQ groups including BIPOC and transgender individuals at their Pride festivities.
“Effective immediately, NYC Pride will ban corrections and law enforcement exhibitors at NYC Pride events until 2025. At that time their participation will be reviewed by the Community Relations and Diversity, Accessibility, and Inclusion committees, as well as the Executive Board,” reads NYC Pride’s statement. NYC Pride is scheduled for June 27.
To make sure that safety regulations are still adhered to at events, NYC Pride will “transition to providing increased community-based security and first responders, while simultaneously taking steps to reduce NYPD presence at events.”
Police officers being banned from participating in Pride parades and festivities is not an unfamiliar conversation to LGBTQ advocacy and activist groups in North America. In 2018, Capital Pride in D.C. announced that uniformed officers would not be allowed to march in the Pride parade. In 2019, Pride Toronto announced that uniformed police officers would not be permitted to attend any Pride Toronto events.
The announcement was preceded by a voting session that took place among Pride Toronto members. Global News, a Canadian news platform, reported a final result of 163-161, disallowing police participation in Pride Toronto events.
Global News also reports that Pride Toronto committed to using their $1.25 million federal grant to examine the LGBTQ community’s feelings regarding police, and to forge a way forward.
In solidarity with the #BlackLivesMatter movement, Vancouver Pride Society announced in 2020 that police officers were no longer welcome to march and exhibit during any of Vancouver Pride Society’s festivities.
“The roots of Pride are in righteous anger, riot and uprising against police brutality. These riots against the violence of the police were led by Black and Brown trans women and queer people. The Stonewall Riots propelled gay movements from assimilationist tactics towards unapologetic Pride. These riots worked,” reads Vancouver Pride Society’s statement.
The organization also pledged to ensure public safety by participating in calls to defund the police and “commit to learning and convening community dialogues about what these alternative forms of managing public safety look like.”
Why ban the police? The decision from NYC Pride was simple: given the law enforcement’s history of police brutality in America, there is a need to ensure that BIPOC and transgender individuals who attend Pride events can do so comfortably, without feeling vulnerable at events meant to be safe havens that allow full, unabashed identity expression and manifestation.
“After many interactions between the police and LGBTQ community locally, [including] the passive aggressive moves between the NYPD and peaceful protestors in Washington Square Park last year, we have to look at the history,” said André Thomas, NYC Pride co-chair. “The ability to welcome Black, Brown, and trans Americans at our events is an even higher priority than for someone to be able to wear police uniform in a parade.”
It is no secret that BIPOC and transgender communities are some of the most vulnerable groups when it comes to interactions with corrections and law enforcement officers.
Mapping Police Violence reports that in 2020, Black people constituted 28% of those killed by the police despite only constituting 13% of the country’s population. The 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey also reports that Black transgender people were 50% more likely to report that their interactions with police officers as suspecting them of soliciting sex work and leading to an arrest. In addition, the Movement Advancement Project reports in a 2017 study that nearly 40% of incarcerated girls identify as LGB and 85-90% of incarcerated LGBTQ youth are LGBTQ youth of color.
With this in mind, NYC Pride’s goal is to make their events harm-and-fear-free for members of the LGBTQ community.
To supplement the absence of corrections and law enforcement officers at NYC Pride events, the organization will provide community-based security companies and first responders who will ensure that Pride events are secure and will also be on standby in case of emergencies.
As part of their training, the security companies are primed on how to deal with all kinds of situations including responding to an active shooter.
“Our staff has gone through active shooter training and everything it entails including what they’re wearing and how they’re identifiable to the community,” said Thomas. “We want to ensure people that even though the NYPD may be a block away, there is still security [present] to take care of your needs.”
A lot of NYC Pride’s information regarding security measures is currently being relayed through social media and reportage from various news sources.
“We tweeted about our meetings that we had with the NYPD to reinforce public safety after the initial news broke out of what’s been going on,” said Thomas.
Regarding whether NYC Pride will implement this year’s model for next year’s Pride, “[NYC Pride is] figuring out what works and what doesn’t,” said Thomas. “We’re trying to do things in a hybrid model with some limited in-person and some virtual events. We’re going to figure out what to keep and what to change, and this will influence the planning and processes that we do.”
As for future Prides, Thomas wants everyone to remember this: “It’s always someone’s first Pride, and so, you want to be able to give someone that special experience. So, for future Prides, we’ll be working on greater inclusivity and representation.”
Frameline45 SF International LGBTQ+ Film Fest Special Event FREE live screening; Q&A with filmmakers
When maverick Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Debra Chasnoff is diagnosed with stage-4 cancer, she faces down injustice as she always has – with her camera. With the help of her wife Nancy and their chosen family, she traces a journey through the twists and turns of the end of her life. What emerges is an emotionally raw, funny and profoundly intimate portrait of shifting relationships and identities — a story about hanging onto life, as you prepare to let it go.
The World Premiere of PROGNOSIS – notes on living will be held on June 19 in the Frameline45 San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival; followed by a special live Q&A with filmmakers (encore screening June 26).
PROGNOSIS – notes on living is a production of Citizen Film & Groundspark, is in English, and is not rated by the MPA.
ABOUT THE FILM
After being diagnosed with stage-4 breast cancer, documentary director Debra Chasnoff decides to make a film about what it’s like to navigate life with a potentially terminal illness. Accompanied by her wife Nancy, her adult sons, and her LGBTQ2SIA+ chosen family, Debra sets out to capture the physical and emotional rollercoaster of treatment. Underpinned by their decision to not hear the prognosis, Debra and Nancy reveal their most vulnerable moments, as Debra struggles to reconcile her professional identity of activist social justice documentary filmmaker with that of stage-4 cancer patient. Facing the overwhelming bureaucracy and logistics of being a cancer patient, they try everything possible to stall Debra’s slowly declining health, including alternative healing methods like meditation, cannabis treatments, qi gong movement and sound-healing practices. Through it all, they lovingly work toward their common goal—Debra’s survival. With Debra at the helm, their on-camera honesty and candor offer a level of emotional access that is difficult to achieve when mediated by a film crew. They bravely put themselves on display, hoping that their experience would help others.
Debra Chasnoff and executive producer Carrie Lozano initiated the film project in 2015. The world-renowned UCSF Carol Franc Buck Breast Care Center granted Debra full access to filming her medical treatments. From there forward, Debra and an intimate circle of family and friends collectively recorded over 200 hours of footage. In a unique co-creation, filmmakers Carrie Lozano, Lidia Szajko, Joan Lefkowitz and Kate Stilley Steiner completed the film with her wife Nancy Otto and editor Mike Shen. The team progressively assumed the roles of co-caregivers as well as co-creators, determined to carry Debra through to her final act, and her film through to completion.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
Debra Chasnoff
Academy Award–winning documentary filmmaker Debra Chasnoff was a nationally recognized champion of using film as an organizing tool for social justice campaigns. A pioneering leader, she was at the forefront of the international movement working to create safe and welcoming schools and communities. Debra’s highly acclaimed documentaries addressing youth and bias issues, including the groundbreaking film It’s Elementary, are widely hailed by educators and advocates as among the best tools available today to help open up dialogue and activism around many of the most challenging issues affecting young people’s lives and school environments. Her first film, Choosing Children, explored the once unheard of idea that lesbians and gay men could become parents after coming out. She won the 1991 Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) for her film Deadly Deception: General Electric, Nuclear Weapons and Our Environment. She was also the founder of GroundSpark, and served the organization in a directing capacity from 1982 until her death in 2017.
Kate Stilley Steiner
Kate Stilley Steiner is a documentary filmmaking producer, director and editor. She also is a co-founder and co-director of Citizen Film, the documentary non-profit media organization she started in 2001 with Sam Ball and Sophie Constantinou. Her most recent producing credits include American Creed. The CPB-funded feature-length documentary premiered in 2018 in the PBS primetime core schedule and was one of 2018’s most widely carried documentaries. Debra Chasnoff’s long-time collaborator, Kate edited several films with her, including two in the Respect for All series. They also co-produced several titles together, including Let’s Get Real, It’s Still Elementary and One Wedding & a Revolution.
ABOUT OUR PARTNERS & CAMPAIGN
PROGNOSIS – notes on living, in partnership with Bay Area organizations the Koret Foundation, Breast Cancer Action, J-Sei, and San Francisco Village, as well as national organizations International End of Life Doula Association (INELDA), and SAGE(Advocacy & Services for LGBT Elders), will spark discussion around the often challenging topics of serious illness, end of life care, and death. The film is designed to invite audiences to consider their mortality and discover ways to live more fully in the present.
These 25 rainbow flag-waving corporations donated more than $10 million to anti-gay politicians in the last two years
This month, corporations are plastering their social media avatars with rainbows, sponsoring Pride parades, and declaring their unwavering commitment to the LGBTQ community. Many of these companies, however, are spending millions supporting the campaigns of anti-gay politicians at the federal and state level.
A Popular Information investigation found that 25 major corporations have spent more than $10 million since 2019 supporting members of Congress with a zero ratingon the latest Congressional scorecard produced by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the most prominent LGBTQ rights organization in the United States. These same corporations have also donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to state legislators who have sponsored anti-trans legislation this year.
Despite their extensive support for politicians undermining LGBTQ rights, all these corporations boast a 100% rating on the HRC’s 2020 Corporate Equality Index. Along with workplace policies, the Corporate Equality Index purports to measure corporations’ “public commitment to the LGBTQ community.” But HRC’s methodology excludes political donations, enabling corporations to craft a pro-LGBTQ image while bankrolling politicians that are undermining LGBTQ rights.
CVS Health, for example, received a perfect score from HRC and changed its Twitter avatar to a rainbow heart in June. The company tweeted that it was “proud to join more than 100 companies that have signed HRC’s Business Statement Opposing Anti-LGBTQ State Legislation.”CVS Health @CVSHealth#CVSHealth is proud to join more than 100 companies that have signed @HRC’s Business Statement Opposing Anti-LGBTQ State Legislation. We will continue to use our voice to promote inclusiveness and equal treatment for all. June 8th 20218 Retweets35 Likes
The HRC statement signed by CVS Health and other corporations said the companies were “deeply concerned by the bills being introduced in statehouses across the country that single out LGBTQ individuals — many specifically targeting transgender youth — for exclusion or differential treatment.” On its corporate website, CVS Health says that it is “proud of our long-standing commitment to eliminating discrimination in health care and health care coverage, including our commitment to support the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities.”
But, through its corporate PAC, CVS Health has recently supported the sponsors of anti-trans legislation in Texas, North Carolina, and Tennessee, including legislation that would criminalize providing gender-affirming medical care to adults and children.
In Texas, for example, CVS Health backed co-sponsors of SB1646, a bill that would “change the state’s child abuse law” to make it a crime for parents to allow their children to receive gender-affirming medical care. Under the bill, parents that allow their children to receive gender-affirming care could be subject to “the possible removal of the child from their home.” Doctors who provide such care could be “accused of child abuse, which would trigger a license investigation by the Texas Medical Board.”
CVS Health has recently donated to two co-sponsors of the legislation. The company donated $2,000 to Senator Dawn Buckingham (R) in April 2020 and $2,000 to Senator Bryan Hughes (R) in December 2019.
In North Carolina, CVS Health backed Senator Ralph Hise (R), the primary sponsor of S514, which The Advocate called “the most repressive anti-transgender health care bill in the nation.” The legislation would ban anyone under the age of 21 from receiving gender-affirming treatment, including reversible hormone therapy. It also requires government employees, including teachers, to report children who demonstrate “gender nonconformity” to their parents. (Republican Senate leader Phil Berger declined to allow a floor vote on the bill this session.)
Hise’s view on trans issues was not a secret. He was a chief proponent of North Carolina’s infamous anti-trans “bathroom bill” in 2016, saying the legislation was necessary “to protect the citizens of the state of North Carolina.” Nevertheless, CVS Health donated $1000 to Hise in August 2020. The company also donated $750 to one of S514’s co-sponsors, Senator Joyce Krawiec (R), in January 2020.
Since 2019, CVS Health has also donated $259,000 to 54 members of Congress who received a zero rating in HRC’s Congressional scorecard for the 116th Congress. In the House, that meant voting against the Equality Act, which would “provide consistent and explicit non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people across key areas of life.”
Asked by Popular Information if it would continue to support politicians that sponsor anti-trans legislation or receive a zero on HRC’s Congressional Scorecard — or take any steps to align its political giving with its public statements about LGBTQ rights — CVS did not respond.
A spokesperson for HRC told Popular Information that “we don’t issue public comments about cases like this.” The press release for HRC’s latest Corporate Equality Index says the criteria “are reviewed annually and periodically change, raising the bar to reflect best practices for LGBTQ inclusion and to drive companies to improve upon their commitment to the community.” The criteria for the 2022 index, however, still will not take into account political donations.
Comcast and AT&T have each donated more than $1 million to anti-gay politicians in the last two years
In June, Comcast has been festooning its social media posts with rainbows. A tweet from its Xfinity subsidiary says that “Pride is the love we share. And with Xfinity, it’s Pride all year.”Xfinity @XfinityPride isn’t just a celebration in the month of June. It’s a moment, a promise, a journey, and an awakening. Pride is the love we share. And with Xfinity, it’s Pride all year. June 1st 202146 Retweets238 Likes
Because in-person Pride parades may be limited, Comcast has created “a virtual ‘Pride World,’ where we will feature events, Pride floats, Pride flags, and even a Pronoun Guide for employees.”
On Comcast’s corporate website, Yvette Miley, Senior Vice President of MSNBC and NBC News, says “Some people may think the LGBTQ rights journey is done and the struggle is over, but it isn‘t. Our job is to continuously educate.”
One thing you won’t learn on Comcast’s corporate website is that the company has donated more than $1.1 million to anti-LGBTQ politicians since 2019. This includes more than $30,000 to the sponsors of anti-trans legislation introduced this year in Florida and Texas.
Comcast, through its NBCUniversal corporate PAC, gave $2,000 since 2019 to Florida Representative Randy Fine (R), who co-sponsored legislation that would exclude trans girls from athletics in Florida schools. Fine asserted, without evidence, that trans girls, if they are allowed to compete, will “take scholarships away” from cis girls. (Trans girls have been participating in athletics in Florida schools for eight years and there is no evidence that ever happened.) The bill was recently signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis (R). Fine has been introducing legislation targeting trans people for many years and is quoted in the media misgendering trans people.
Comcast has also donated $1,095,500 to 149 members of Congress that received a zero in HRC’s latest Congressional Scorecard.
AT&T, the only company that has donated as much as Comcast to anti-LGBTQ politicians in the last two years, has also embraced the rainbow this month. “We can#TURNUPTHELOVE for LGBTQ+ youth together,” AT&T tweeted on June 5.
AT&T was also a signatory of the HRC letter opposing anti-LGBTQ state legislation introduced this year. Yet AT&T has donated more than $63,000 to state lawmakers sponsoring legislation that targets LGBTQ people, including LGBTQ youth.
Over the last two years, AT&T donated to the sponsors of anti-trans legislation in Arkansas ($12,950), Tennessee ($4,000), North Carolina ($5,000), Texas ($22,500), and Florida ($17,500).
Comcast and AT&T did not respond to a request for comment.
Other rainbow flag-waving corporations bankrolling anti-gay politicians
Walmart
This month, Walmart’s website features a “Pride & Joy” section where customers can purchase Pride-themed products. “Spark Love and Extinguish Hate” is displayed at the top of the page and, near the bottom, a quote from Donna Morris, Walmart’s Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer is featured:
We will continue to focus on inclusion for the LGBTQ+ community…I look forward to the work that we’ll do together to ensure all feel welcomed, appreciated, and supported to make an impact.
But since 2019, according to federal campaign finance reports, Walmart has donated at least $442,000 to 121 politicians who received a zero rating from HRC. Walmart also donated $43,000 to state legislators in Arkansas, North Carolina, and Texas pushing for anti-trans legislation. The majority of this amount, $30,000, went to 19 state lawmakers in Arkansas who helped pass a bill in April 2021 that outlawed gender-affirming treatment for trans youth. The bill was originally vetoed by the governor, but the veto was overridden by the legislature. Arkansas is now the first state in the country to ban medical care for trans youth.
Walmart did not respond to a request for comment.
UnitedHealth
At the beginning of the year, UnitedHealth Group published a press release boasting of its perfect Corporate Equality Index rating. “The 2021 [Corporate Equality Index] rating underscores UnitedHealth Group’s commitment to promoting an equitable and diverse environment that reflects our steadfast values, especially during these challenging times,” UnitedHealth Group’s Chief Talent Officer, Ryan Craig said.
But Popular Information found that UnitedHealth has donated at least $496,500 to 91 anti-LGBTQ federal lawmakers since 2019. The company has also donated at least $46,300 to anti-trans legislators in Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. This includes $2,000 to Tennessee State Representative Scott Cepicky (R), who co-sponsored a bill that requires businesses to post signs if they let trans people use their bathroom of choice. The bill, which was signed into law in May 2021, was heavily criticized by HRC for being discriminatory as well as “offensive and humiliating.”
Cepicky was also the primary sponsor of a bill that prohibited trans girls from participating in middle and high school sports. “When you look at sports and the fastest man in the world — Usain Bolt — if you put him next to the fastest women in the world it wouldn’t even be close,” said Cepicky in February 2021.
UnitedHealth Group did not respond to a request for comment.
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo touts that it has a “long-standing commitment to the LGBTQ community” and writes that its “support of pride reflects a historic and ongoing commitment to civic engagement and supporting communities.”
Last week, the company tweeted that Pride is a month of “celebration, reflection, visibility, and affirmation for the LGBTQ community.”
However, Wells Fargo has donated $124,500 to 48 anti-LGBTQ federal lawmakers since 2019. The company has also donated at least $17,500 to anti-trans state legislators in North Carolina and Texas.
This amount includes a $1,000 contribution to North Carolina Senator Joyce Krawiec (R), who has repeatedly shared anti-trans articles on social media that promote misinformation about trans people. One article Krawiec shared claimed “transgender movement has strong totalitarian overtones that Americans don’t fully understand.” Krawiec was one of seven senators in North Carolina who introduced the draconian bill to ban gender-affirming treatment for anyone younger than 21.
Wells Fargo did not respond to a request for comment.
Deloitte
In 2018, Deloitte published a letter expressing its support of the United Nations’ Standards of Conduct for Business, which aims to “tackle discrimination against lesbian, gay, bi, trans, and intersex (LGBTI) people.” On Deloitte’s “LGBTQ+ Inclusion” page, the company boasts that it’s proud to be a signatory and states that it focuses on allyship to further LGBTQ+ inclusion:
We believe the power of ‘allyship’ is a critical element of LGBT+ diversity, whereby our people support the rights and wellbeing of their LGBT+ colleagues. Allyship isn’t just passive support, but part of our everyday actions – visibly and vocally supporting LGBT+ people inside and outside of Deloitte.
This month, the company’s Pride 2021 campaign “focuses on the importance of…LGBT+ colleagues being seen and heard as their true authentic selves.”
Yet, since 2019, Deloitte has donated at least $662,000 to 103 federal lawmakers who received zeros from the HRC for failing to uphold and maintain LGBTQ rights. The company has also donated $3,000 to state legislators in Florida, North Carolina, and Texas supporting anti-trans legislation.
Deloitte did not respond to a request for comment.
The full list of companies that were analyzed by Popular Information is in the chart below. All of these companies received a perfect score on the 2020 HRC Corporate Equality Index.
Popular Information asked all of these companies if they would continue supporting politicians with anti-LGBTQ voting records or whether their stated commitment to LGBTQ rights will have any impact on future political giving. The following companies provided responses:
General Motors: “GM PAC contributes to candidates for a variety of reasons, with a focus on engaging policymakers who play a role in helping General Motors achieve our vision of an all-electric future. While GM PAC contributions do not represent an endorsement of the candidate or support for all the issues the candidate supports, we will continue to clearly communicate with policymakers GM’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.”
Google: “We have a long track record of strongly supporting the rights of all LGBTQ+ people, building inclusive products and features, providing support and benefits to our LGBTQ+ employees, and advocating consistently for policies that would protect LGBTQ+ individuals such as the Equality Act and all the way back to opposing California’s Proposition 8 in 2008. We have long contributed to candidates from across the political spectrum who work on technology policy, but we have always been very clear that such a contribution doesn’t mean that Google agrees with that candidate on every issue. In fact, we may disagree strongly on some issues.”
Amazon: “Amazon engages with policymakers and regulators on a wide range of issues that affect our business, customers, and employees. That does not mean we agree with any individual or political organization 100 percent of the time on every issue, and this includes legislation that discriminates or encourages discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community.”
Exxon Mobil: “We continually review all contributions. Past contributions do not indicate that ExxonMobil will contribute again in the future. We regularly contribute to efforts that support diversity and inclusion.”
Ford: “Ford proudly supports our LGBTQ+ colleagues and customers and the broader community, including through Fair and Equal Michigan’s efforts to amend the state’s civil rights law to protect the LGBTQ+ community. We’ve also led the industry with company policies that promote diversity, equity and inclusion. Contributions by our employee PAC are bipartisan and take into consideration many issues that are important to meeting the needs of our customers, our team and our company.
JPMorgan declined to comment. The rest of the companies did not respond to a request for comment.
National Museum of the American Indian celebrates Pride
National Museum of the American Indian celebrates Pride
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian will celebrate Pride month with an online panel featuring Indigenous youth on Thursday, June 17 at 4 p.m. Panelists will include Indigenous youth working in education, health, cultural heritage, and the arts.
The topic of discussion will focus on how identity influences activism and panelists will participate in amplifying Two Spirit (people who identify as possessing both male and female spirits) and Native LGBTQ+ voices and issues.
Closed captioning for this program will be available in both English and Spanish, and registration is available online at the Smithsonian’s website.
Michigan Governor signs order blocks state funding of conversion therapy
Democratic Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order Monday that prohibits use of state funds for the practice of conversion therapy on minors.
Erin Knott, the Executive Director of Equality Michigan was present for the signing ceremony telling the Blade by phone afterwards, “Since Day 1, she has said she do what she could to stop this barbaric practise. She had worked with us in 2019 getting started on this issue but then the pandemic hit and other issues surrounding that [COVID19] in the state so it was delayed till now.”
Knott reflected that the Executive Order, 2021-3, prevents a discredited practise noting that, “it has been used on too many young people in our community to make them feel like there is something wrong with who they are. These children have been subjected to abusive and hateful practices when they should be held and loved.”
“Since day one, I have made it clear that hate has no home in Michigan,” said Whitmer. “My administration is committed to addressing the systemic barriers faced by young LGBTQ+ Michiganders so that our state is a place where they are able to reach their full potential. The actions we take today will serve as a starting point in protecting our LGBTQ+ youth from the damaging practice of conversion therapy and in ensuring that Michigan is a reflection of true inclusion.”
By signing the order, the governor said that she plans to ensure that taxpayer funding is only used for research-based medical and mental health practices. She has also asked the Michigan legislature to draft a ban on conversion therapy.
“As a pediatrician who works with LGBTQ+ adolescents, I have seen how patients thrive when they are able to be themselves and when their identities are supported,” Dr. Maureen Connolly, a pediatrician in Detroit who specializes in adolescent medicine and caring for the LGBTQ+ community told Detroit ABC News affiliate WZZM 13. “Conversion therapy is the exact opposite of what young people need and has been shown to have long-lasting negative effects including depression, self-harm and decreased self-esteem. I am grateful for this executive action and I know it will have a positive impact on the health of young people across Michigan.”
“LGBTQ youth are beautiful the way that they are and deserve to be loved and respected — not subjected to the dangerous and abusive practice of conversion therapy. Thank you to Governor Whitmer for taking action to protect LGBTQ youth,” said Sam Brinton, Vice President of Advocacy and Government Affairs for The Trevor Project. “While there is still much work to do in the Great Lake State, this is an amazing step forward that will help save young LGBTQ lives in Michigan.”
Research:
- According to The Trevor Project’s 2021 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health, 13% of LGBTQ youth reported being subjected to conversion therapy, with 83% reporting it occurred when they were under age 18. LGBTQ youth who were subjected to conversion therapy reported more than twice the rate of attempting suicide in the past year compared to those who were not.
- A peer-reviewed study by The Trevor Project, published in the American Journal of Public Health, found that LGBTQ youth who underwent conversion therapy were more than twice as likely to report having attempted suicide and more than 2.5 times as likely to report multiple suicide attempts in the past year.
Hungary’s parliament passes anti-LGBTQ law ahead of 2022 election
Hungary’s parliament passed legislation on Tuesday that bans the dissemination of content in schools deemed to promote homosexuality and transgender issues, amid strong criticism from human rights groups and opposition parties.
Hardline nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who faces an election next year, has grown increasingly radical on social policy, railing against LGBTQ people and immigrants in his self-styled illiberal regime, which has deeply divided Hungarians.
His Fidesz party, which promotes a Christian-conservative agenda, tacked the proposal banning school talks on LGBTQ issues to a separate, widely backed bill that strictly penalizes pedophilia, making it much harder for opponents to vote against it.
The move, which critics say wrongly conflates pedophilia with LGBTQ issues, triggered a mass rally outside parliament on Monday, while several rights groups have called on Fidesz to withdraw the bill.
Fidesz lawmakers overwhelmingly backed the legislation on Tuesday, while leftist opposition parties boycotted the vote.
Under amendments submitted to the bill last week, under-18s cannot be shown any content that encourages gender transition or homosexuality. This also applies to advertisements. The law sets up a list of organizations allowed to provide education about sex in schools.
Restrictions
Gay marriage is not recognized in Hungary and only heterosexual couples can legally adopt children. Orban’s government has redefined marriage as the union between one man and one woman in the constitution, and limited gay adoption.
Critics have drawn a parallel between the new legislation and Russia’s 2013 law that bans disseminating “propaganda on non-traditional sexual relations” among young Russians.
Poland’s conservative ruling party Law and Justice (PiS), Fidesz’s main ally in the European Union, has taken a similarly critical stance on LGBTQ issues. Budapest and Warsaw are at odds with the European Union over some of their conservative reforms.
The European Parliament’s rapporteur on the situation in Hungary, Greens lawmaker Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield, slammed the new law on Tuesday: “Using child protection as an excuse to target LGBTIQ people is damaging to all children in Hungary.”
Orban has won three successive election landslides since 2010, but opposition parties have now combined forces for the first time and caught up with Fidesz in opinion polls.