Serenity Hollis has become at least the 25th transgender person to be killed in the United States so far this year as anti-trans violence continues to escalate.
Hollis – who was originally from Orlando, Florida – was shot dead in Albany, Georgia on 8 May, according to the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBT+ non-profit. She was just 24 years old.
Compounding the tragedy, Serenity Hollis was repeatedly misgendered and deadnamed following her death by both local media and law enforcement authorities.
Police have not yet made an arrest in the case, which saw Hollis shot in the back and killed in the early hours of the morning on West Highland Avenue, Albany.
Local law enforcement authorities have confirmed that they are investigating Hollis’ death as a potential hate crime.
Robyn Osberry, Hollis’ mother, said: “The person that’s responsible has no idea what they took from us… I absolutely want to see that justice is served.”
Following the tragic news, Tori Cooper of the Human Rights Campaign said 2021 is on course to break the record for the highest number of trans or gender non-conforming people violently killed in a single year.
“We’re less than half way through the year and we’re already on track to break 2020’s devastating record for incidents of fatal violence against transgender and gender non-conforming people,” Cooper said.
“This outbreak of violence against transgender people, particularly Black trans women, must stop.”
Police have urged anybody with information on Hollis’ death to contact the Albany Police Department at 229 431-2100, or they can call Crime Stoppers on 229 436-TIPS.
The Human Rights Campaign recorded 44 deaths of trans and gender non-conforming people in 2020, the highest number ever in a single year.
As legislatures and governors in dozens of states across the country advance a record number of bills targeting transgender children, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a budget proposal on Friday that includes $3 million for the California Department of Education to develop an LGBTQ+ cultural competency training curriculum for public school teachers and staff [p. 54]. The funding was requested by Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, and the request was supported by the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus.
The budget allocation is a significant victory for the LGBTQ+ community and for Equality California, which has long advocated for such training, arguing that it is critical to ensuring teachers have the tools and training to support LGBTQ+ students, who face lower school completion rates, higher rates of depression and suicidal ideation and higher rates of youth homelessness. As many as four out of 10 youth experiencing homelessness in California identify as LGBTQ+.
“We’re thrilled that the governor has prioritized giving our public school teachers and staff the tools and training they need to support LGBTQ+ students,” said Equality California Executive Director Rick Chavez Zbur. “While states across the country are attacking transgender kids, Governor Newsom is working to ensure every child has a safe, supportive school and a shot at success.”
The California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers — the state’s two largest teachers unions — have strongly supported Equality California’s proposals to ensure public school teachers and staff have the tools and training they need to support LGBTQ+ students.
“Governor Newsom and Superintendent Thurmond have once again demonstrated their dedication to supporting LGBTQ+ students,” said California Federation fo Teachers President Jeff Freitas. “The proposed $3 million to fund the development of LGBTQ+ cultural competency trainings for educators and classified professionals will empower these school workers to have the tools they need to best support LGBTQ+ students. As the president of CFT, as a math teacher, and as a board member of Equality California, I applaud this effort.”
In 2018, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond — then a member of the California Assembly — passed legislation sponsored by Equality California to require school districts to provide teachers and staff with LGBTQ+ cultural competency training, but the bill was vetoed by Governor Jerry Brown. The following year, then-Assemblymember Todd Gloria — who now serves as mayor of San Diego — authored similar legislation sponsored by Thurmond and Equality California, but the training mandate was ultimately stripped from the bill due to lack of funding.
GLSEN’s 2019 National School Climate Survey found that 52.4% of students reported that their teachers or other school staff made homophobic remarks, and 66.7% of students reported that their teachers or other school staff spoke negatively about students’ gender expression. These remarks pose a risk of immediate harm to students’ well-being. These statistics also suggest that students may be learning anti-LGBTQ+ language and perspectives from school personnel, perpetuating the societal cycle of anti-LGBTQ+ stigma that feeds the negative health, economic, and other disparities that LGBTQ+ people experience.
Beyond remarks, a staggering 86.3% of LGBTQ+ students experienced harassment or assault based on their sexual orientation, gender expression, or other personal characteristics. Over half (56.6%) of these LGBTQ+ students never reported the harassment or assault to school staff for a variety of reasons, including a fear of escalation, a belief that school staff would not effectively intervene, shame, the involvement of school staff in the harassment or assault, or other concerns. When students did report incidents, 60.5% of them said that staff did nothing.
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Equality California is the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization. We bring the voices of LGBTQ people and allies to institutions of power in California and across the United States, striving to create a world that is healthy, just, and fully equal for all LGBTQ people. We advance civil rights and social justice by inspiring, advocating and mobilizing through an inclusive movement that works tirelessly on behalf of those we serve. www.eqca.org
May 22 is Harvey Milk Day. Organized by the Harvey Milk Foundation, and officially marked by the city of San Francisco since 2009, the day commemorates the birthday of the famed gay rights activist and lawmaker, who was assassinated November 27, 1978.
Born in 1930, Milk was the first openly gay elected official in California. Born in New York state, Milk joined the US Navy as a young man. He then went into the financial services sector, but relocated to San Francisco in the early 1970s, after experiencing its free-love, counter-culture atmosphere.
He opened a camera store on Castro Street and began to become politically active. He was elected as a city supervisor in November 1977; His swearing-in made national headlines.
A year later, in November 1978, a disgruntled former supervisor, Dan White, turned up at City Hall with a gun and assassinated both Milk and Mayor George Moscone.
Milk’s like story was bought to the screen in 2008 in the movie, Milk. With a screenplay by Dustin Lance Black, it starred Sean Penn as Harvey Milk (both men won Oscars for their contribution to the movie). It’s as good a place to start as any for an insight into Milk’s life, death and legacy.
Over the years, San Francisco has commemorated Milk in several ways. Below are a few ways to remember him today.
You’ll find this mural on The Cafe at 18th and Castro – above Subway and next to the Chevron Station. It was unveiled in 2018. Painted by Paraguayan artist Oz Montania, the artwork was sponsored by Stolichnaya vodka, who also emblazoned it on a limited-edition vodka bottle. Proceeds from the sale of the vodka went to the Harvey Milk Foundation.
Harvey Milk stamp mural
A relatively new addition, this artwork by artist Jazz Fuller appeared in 2020 outside P.O. Plus (584 Castro). It features an image of Milk on a postage stamp, along with a quote from him: “Hope is never silent.” The mural appeared as part of a project by local artists to add color and decoration to storefronts during the pandemic.
Harvey Milk Plaza
Harvey Milk Plaza is a transit station at San Francisco’s Castro Muni Metro subway stop. You’ll find it in San Francisco’s Castro District, long-famed for being the center of LGBTQ life in the city.
The Castro Muni Metro station was opened in 1980, and its associated transit plaza was renamed in 1985. You can’t miss it: A giant rainbow flag flies above it and can be seen from far and wide. The plaza is due to undergo major redesign and redevelopment work over the coming years but its name will remain the same.
The camera store Harvey Milk ran in the 1970s was at 575 Castro Street. For the last 16 years, the store, which features a mural of Milk on the inside, was run by LGBTQ nonprofit HRC as a fundraising merchandise store. However, HRC departed in April 2021 after failing to renegotiate its lease with the landlord.
The owners have not indicated what will now happen to the store, with some local activists worried as to whether its history will be taken into account. For the time being, evidence of Milk’s occupancy can be found outside courtesy of a brass plaque to his memory, which covers Milk’s ashes.
The Harvey Milk display at San Francisco Airport (Photo: Courtesy of SFO)
In 2019, San Francisco Airport reopened its refurbished Terminal 1 and renamed it the Harvey Milk Terminal 1. It handles domestic flights from within the US. In March 2020, the terminal unveiled a permanent display highlighting images from Milk’s life.
Earlier this year, the Airport Commission announced it was commissioning a three-story mural from artists Craig Calderwood celebrating the legacy of Harvey Milk. It will be located in Terminal 1’s most trafficked intersection: the escalator atrium where passengers may access the AirTrain, Arrivals/Departures, and Baggage Claim/Ground Transportation. Below is an artist’s rendering of what it will look like. It’s not expected to be completed until mid-2024 at the earliest.
Away from his home city, the US Navy has renamed a ship after Milk, and he’s been the subject of biographies, a children’s book, and even a musical. In 2009, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Milk the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his contribution to the gay rights movement. In 2014, the US Postal Service issued a stamp honoring Milk.
A professor at Brigham Young University’s religion department is under fire for labelling a gay student with a Mormon term associated with an anti-Christ.
The Salt Lake Tribune reported Hank Smith, an assistant teaching professor, had been tweeting his thoughts on former parishioners being excommunicated from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
He was defending the church’s decision to oust Natasa Helfer, a sex therapist ousted after she publicly opposed church teachings on masturbation and pornography while supporting LGBT+ rights.
After Smith denounced several women who supported Helfer, Calvin Burke, an openly gay student at BYU and practising Mormon, jumped in to defend the women.
“On behalf of Mormonism, I apologize for Hank Smith,” he said.
In a now-deleted tweet from 23 April, Smith responded to a thread with Burke’s tweet by describing the LGBT+ student as “Korihor”.
In the Book of Mormon, Korihor is a false prophet and anti-Christ who claimed Christ did not exist. God punishes Korihor for his beliefs by making him mute, and a crowd tramples him to death.
Smith’s remarks sparked outcry which prompted him to delete the tweets and issue an apology. He wrote on Twitter: “I do need to apologise for calling Cal what I did. I deleted the reply. That was unjustified and unfair.
“My emotions got the better of me. I am very sorry.”
The Salt Lake City Tribune reported Burke has received public death threats and hate-filled messages after being targeted in Smith’s tweet. It reported Burke, who has since made his Twitter account private, posted that he wanted to “go to school in a place where I can feel safe”.
“And last night was confirmation, albeit brutal, that even with my testimony I am not safe or welcome here at BYU,” Burke wrote.
Carri Jenkins, a spokeswoman for BYU, told The Salt Lake City Tribune that the university has “processes to address personnel matters” but declined to comment on whether Smith’s actions were being reviewed through the process or if he would be punished. She said the incidents are “handled on a confidential basis”, and she “wouldn’t be able to comment on an individual situation”.
LGBT+ students have experienced a range of mistreatment by other students and faculty while attending BYU.
Students can be expelled for not adhering to the university’s honour code, and until last year, it specifically prohibited “homosexual behaviour”. But the university later confirmed its principles against same-sex relationship “remain the same”. The policy flip-flop was branded as “manipulative”, “cowardly”, “incredibly cruel” and one student wrote the university’s actions potentially put queer students in danger.
Last month, BYUtv, which is owned and operated by BYU, agreed to lift its “unwritten” ban on LGBT+ characters in TV shows after Canadian writers and producers publicly condemned the move.
Turkey’s media watchdog has issued a fine against a streaming service for airing an interview with trans actor and model Çağla Akalın.
The Turkish Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), the state agency which regulates and sanctions broadcasts, reprimanded Exxen for showing a programme where Akalın spoke about her life.
Akalın’s guest spot on the eleventh episode of talk show Katarsis, which originally aired 12 March, had been stripped from the platform completely at the behest of RTÜK.
In an interview with Oda TV, Akalın, who is the country’s first openly trans model, explained that after fans pointed out that the show had vanished from Exxen, she rang up the show’s host Görkem Çınar to ask why.
“Çınar told me that he just found out about the episode being removed and that he was saddened about it,” she said.
In the statement made, it was said that the platform was fined by RTÜK for the Katarsis broadcast, where I was a guest, and requested the removal of the broadcast.”
The 30-year-old star of Köpek trashed claims that her interview with Çınar was indecent or offensive enough to prompt punitive measures from the increasingly conservative RTÜK.
“If my past pains and tears deserve punishment, so be it,” she said. “My life is not one that would lead people astray or set an example.
“I didn’t try to impose my life on anyone. My life consists of things that would be lessons for the people, but we are not even allowed to say these anymore.”
The RTÜK, controlled by the ruling right-wing Justice and Development Party, otherwise known as the AK Parti, has increasingly used fines as a club to compel broadcasters to not air LGBT+ content at all.
A Turkish TV channel that aired The Normal Heart, the 2014 Ryan Murphy film that explored the AIDS crisis of 1980s New York, was slapped with a hefty fine by RTÜK. It said the movie was “damaging society’s sense of shame and forcing the limits of public morality”.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s state advertising watchdog launched its own chilling clampdown by claiming rainbows “negatively affect children’s mental health” – so rainbow merchandise must come with an 18+ warning as a result.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan even abandoned the landmark Instanbul Convention earlier this year because it “normalises homosexuality“, the Directorate of Communications, a state promotions agency, said.
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)
