It took just one day for Target to pull a screening U-turn Friday (13 November) after it removed a transphobic book off its digital shelves, prompting anti-trans users to pelt the American retail giant into submission.
Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughter, which is currently rated just two-and-a-half stars on Target’s website, has been fiercely upbraided by LGBT+ rights activists since its July 2020 release.×
Penned by renowned anti-trans journalist Abigail Shrier, a firebrand Wall Street Journal writer who has obsessively written about vastly debunked anti-trans theories, the book trumpets that being trans is a “contagion”, a “craze” and an “epidemic”.
While Target initially said it would remove the text, a torrent of anti-trans Twitter accounts, including Shrier, criticised the company for doing so, promoting Target to walk back and relist the book.
Twitter users sought to sound the alarm as to why Target was stocking a book that rails against a so-called “transgender epidemic sweeping the country”. The company, amid backlash, tweeted on Thursday (12 November): “Thank you so much for bringing this to our attention.
“We have removed this book from our assortment.”
Author Shrier quickly took aim at Target, tweeting that the company had made her “book disappear”, igniting countless anti-trans users to send incensed tweets and emails to Target.
Does it bother anyone that woke activists and spineless corporations now determine what Americans are allowed to read?” she added.
Target later tepidly responded to a tweet by a user with less than 1,000 followers and whose display picture is of a painting by Alex Grey. The user called on Target not to “submit to Stalinist thought policing”.
“We want to offer a broad assortment for our guests and are adding this book back to Target.com. We apologise for any confusion.”
Trans people in the US have themselves been reduced to political targets with increasing temerity by the Trump administration in the last four years, where the president’s officials have peeled back a roster of legal protections across countless federal departments and programs – defence, housing, health and education.
All the while, an actual epidemic – one of violence against trans people – continues to rip across the States, with 2020, monitoring groups warn, being the deadliest year for trans people since records began with 34 trans people murdered at the time of writing.
Nearly 1 in 10 transgender Americans are turning to nonprescription sources for gender-affirming hormones — including friends, relatives and internet pharmacies — according to a new study.
While the Affordable Care Act has extended health care to millions, many trans people are still uninsured or are denied coverage for transition-related care, including hormones and gender-affirming surgery.
According to the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, only 24 states explicitly require private insurance companies to cover gender-affirming treatment. And nine states, according to the fund, have explicit exclusions for trans-related coverage under Medicaid.
On Thursday, two West Virginia men denied hormone replacement therapy filed suit in federal court, challenging the blanket ban on gender-affirming care in state-funded health insurance plans, including Medicaid.
“Every time I go to someone who’s not my doctor, I get misgendered, I get uncomfortable questions. So if I’m not dying, I’m not going to the doctor.”
CECILIA GENTILI
It’s uninsured and underinsured individuals who are more likely to turn to alternative avenues to get hormones, according to Dr. Daphna Stroumsa, an OB-GYN with Michigan Medicine, and the lead author of the new report in Annals of Family Medicine.
“The lack of coverage is a combination of insurance companies being discriminatory in rejecting claims, and in creating excessive layers of [red tape] for something that is very straightforward and actually cost-effective,” Stroumsa told NBC News. “We know gender-affirming hormones immensely improve mental health and lower the risk of depression.”
Among the 27,715 study respondents who said they were interested in gender-affirming hormones, Stroumsa’s team found 15 percent were uninsured, and 21 percent of those with insurance said their claims were denied.
In all, more than 9 percent of the people in the study — 992 individuals — said they were taking nonprescription hormones.
Denied access to treatment, some individuals seeking to transition will use estrogen or testosterone prescribed to a friend, according to Stroumsa. Others will take birth control pills or buy medication off legally questionable internet pharmacies.
While the trend cut across demographics, turning to illicit hormone sources was slightly more pronounced among transgender women, as well as among younger respondents and biracial or multiracial individuals. There was no difference, however, based on education or economic level.
“It actually surprises me that [the number] is so low,” said Latinx trans advocate Cecilia Gentili, principal at Transgender Equity Consulting. “I’d expect it to be much higher.”
Cecilia Gentli.Courtesy Leah James
At the gender-affirming treatment clinic Gentili launched at New York City’s Apicha Community Health Center, demand always outweighed supply. “I started with nine clients, and by the end we had 650,” she said.
Transgender Americans face systemic barriers to care, and increased rates of unemployment and homelessness. Prior to the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies could deny coverage for transition-related treatments by labeling transgender identity a pre-existing condition.
The Trump administration has tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and, in June, revoked health care discrimination protections for transgender Americans. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, a court injunction currently keeps those protections intact.
“Despite the administration’s best efforts, the ACA hasn’t been undermined to date,” Stroumsa said. “And more people are covered under Medicaid.”
‘If I’m not dying, I’m not going to the doctor’
Insurance isn’t always the issue. Outside of large, urban areas such as New York, Miami and Los Angeles, the odds of finding a caregiver who is culturally competent about transgender health become exceedingly low.“That’s why many of us find other ways to procure HRT,” Gentili said. “If you’re going to be misgendered, insulted or mistreated by a doctor, and you can get your meds from India or Colombia, then f— the doctor. I understand it.”
These days, Gentili works with a “terrific” primary care provider, but if she needs treatment in off-hours, she said she thinks twice about going to urgent care.
“Every time I go to someone who’s not my doctor, I get misgendered, I get uncomfortable questions,” she said. “So if I’m not dying, I’m not going to the doctor.”
Taking hormones not prescribed by a medical professional comes with a variety of risks. Not only because they may not be checked for content, quality, formulation or dosing, but because treatment isn’t likely to be monitored.
Estrogen therapy has been linked to blood clots in the lungs and legs, increasing the risk of stroke and possible long-term risk of breast cancer.
A 2018 Kaiser Permanente study found transgender women on hormone therapy were twice as likely as cisgender men or women to have the blood clot condition venous thromboembolism, which can cause shortness of breath, chest pain, lightheadedness or even fainting.
Though the risks of testosterone have been less studied, it can cause the blood to thicken, increasing chances of stroke or heart attack if too high a dose is administered or the dosage increases too quickly.
“The risks are on several levels,” Stroumsa said. “Where are you getting this from? Are you using the best regimen for you? Are we guiding you? Everyone deserves to be able to talk to their physician about their treatment.”
Gentili knows firsthand what getting hormones through less-than-official-routes can be like.
“My mom used to send me hormones from Argentina,” she recalled. “One time they made a mistake and sent me testosterone by accident. And I shot testosterone twice — it was a horrible experience.”
Still, she understands why many go outside the system.
“We have to define risk. What risk means to a white, cis[gender] man is totally different than what it means to someone like me. As a trans woman of color, I’ve been navigating risk as long as I can remember. If I can take a pill without dealing with a doctor who’s going to make me miserable — who’s going to attack my mental health, who I am — it’s worth it.”
Overlooked cardiovascular risks
Even if patients have insurance and go to medical professionals for transition-related care, the risk factors may not be fully appreciated.
A separate report presented last week at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2020 conference found many transgender patients already receiving gender-affirming hormone therapy had unaddressed risks for cardiovascular disease, including high blood pressure, hypertension and high cholesterol.
“We get hyper-focused on the specific care they come for … and maybe we should spend more time looking at the larger picture of cardiovascular health,” said lead author Dr. Cecile Ferrando, director of the Cleveland Clinic Transgender Surgery and Medicine Program in Ohio. “There’s a big assessment on mental health before transition, but we’re not looking at the higher [heart-disease] risk.”
Of the 427 adults who sought care at the clinic’s Center for LGBTQ+ Care, nearly 7 percent had undiagnosed high blood pressure and more than 11 percent had undiagnosed high cholesterol. Their risk for stroke or heart attack in the next 10 years was significantly higher than that of cisgender Americans in the same age group.
Among those who had been previously diagnosed with cardiovascular conditions, many were not receiving recommended treatment. Thirty to 40 percent were smokers, another serious risk factor for heart disease.
“If you’re going to start someone on this treatment, you need to know their risks,” Ferrando said. “In general, marginalized groups that have less access to health care or who are stigmatized fall into higher risk groups.”
Unanswered questions linger
There’s been a boom in transgender health in recent years, and yet there are still many unanswered questions.
“Before trans health care was politicized, it was invisible,” Stroumsa said. “We have one or two robust studies on cardiovascular disease on trans women, but we don’t know the long-term risks, because we don’t have the data from people [on hormone replacement therapy] for 20, 30 or 40 years.” When her patients ask which is better — estrogen pills, injections or patches — Stroumsa said she has to tell them she doesn’t know.
“I can extrapolate from hormone we give cisgender women, but I owe them better answers,” she said.
Still, she added, when people get their hormones from unsanctioned sources, they miss out on a chance to interact with knowledgeable medical providers. “Access to hormones can be a doorway to better care on a range of issues, from overall wellness to HIV/STDs,” Stroumsa said.
Gentili would like to see all trans people go to licensed health care providers for their transition care, too. But, she added, it’s up to the medical community to bridge the divide.
“It’s a cycle: If you’re treated like s— by [by your doctors], you don’t go see them, and you start to treat yourself like s—,” she said. “But if you’re affirmed by your providers, you’ll not just go to the doctor you’ll follow up on referrals and tests and everything. You’ll engage with the medical community.”
I was diagnosed with HIV just shy of my 30th birthday. That day, everything changed. I was apprehensive about my prognosis, my treatment plan, and my ability to live a normal life.
Fortunately, medical advances have turned HIV from a certain death sentence into a manageable condition. Still, like all Americans who depend on complex medications to stay healthy, I worry about high drug prices, and this concern has only intensified amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Especially since some of the proposed “solutions” to high drug prices would put patients’ health at risk.
Just recently, the Trump administration announced that it would allow states to import prescription medications from Canada with the aim of saving money for consumers. Doing so, though, could expose millions of Americans to counterfeit drugs, while achieving little in the way of savings.
I’ve seen firsthand how importation schemes can put patients at risk.
Shortly after learning I was HIV-positive, I ordered my anti-retroviral drugs from an online Canadian pharmacy. For two months, I received medications via mail without ever wondering where they were sourced or whether they contained the active ingredients I needed to keep me alive.
Then my doctor intervened. She told me that drugs purchased through online storefronts are often adulterated or counterfeit—in fact, the global trade in fake medicines is a $30 billion-a-year business. Unknowingly, I had been rolling the dice with my health.
There are two types of counterfeit drugs. The first contains potentially deadly substances— everything from arsenic to antifreeze. The second contains few, if any, active ingredients. Though pills in the latter category don’t contain actual poisons, they can be deadly. Anti-retroviral drugs have to be taken exactly as prescribed; missing even a few doses can allow the virus to reemerge.
There is no mechanism in place to regulate the quality of drugs imported by American patients. A senior official at Health Canada explicitly told the U.S. surgeon general that her agency “does not assure that products being sold to U.S. citizens are safe, effective, and of high quality.” The FDA, meanwhile, plainly states that it “cannot ensure the safety and effectiveness of drugs that it has not approved.”
Moreover, drugs purportedly from Canada could come from anywhere. A 2017 study by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy found that three quarters of online pharmacies claiming to sell Canadian drugs actually sourced their products from places like India, Singapore, and Hong Kong, all major suppliers of counterfeits. Back in 2005, the FDA reported that only 15 percent of imported drugs marketed as Canadian actually originated in Canada. The other 85 percent came from “27 countries around the globe,” meaning that many likely didn’t go through rigorous quality control.
It’s relatively easy to get hoodwinked by online pharmacies that promise quality drugs at bargain prices. CanadaDrugs.com, for instance, started out in 2001 as a seemingly reputable online pharmacy. But soon it turned to distributors outside of Canada to secure medicines. In 2018, a U.S. court prosecuted and fined the company for selling fake cancer drugs to American doctors.
Counterfeiters have shown they are willing to prey on people living with all kinds of diseases, including HIV. In 2011, a British regulatory agency discovered that two fake HIV medications had infiltrated the market and were circulating among patients.
Opening the door to drug imports would allow that kind of thing to happen here, putting us all at risk. And it’s not even certain that legalizing importation would cut costs. The FDA acknowledges that it is “unable to estimate the cost savings” from President Trump’s new plan. Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb wrote that “when importation of foreign drugs is done under a regulated scheme, it really wouldn’t save money.”
Right now, Americans are anxious enough about our health. Let’s not add drug imports to our list of things to worry about.
Brandon M. Macsata has been living with HIV since 2002, and serves as CEO of the ADAP Advocacy Association, an organization that promotes the AIDS Drug Assistance Program and works to improve access to care.
As we move firmly into November, there’s no escaping the fact that holiday season 2020 is upon us – and with the election result and news of a vaccine breakthrough, it feels like we might feel OK about celebrating this year, after all.
Making that easier for us all, of course, is the annual influx of holiday viewing fare that has already begun showing up on our screens, right on cue, to help us get in the mood. For LGBTQ+ audiences, that has traditionally meant having to settle for getting our fix of seasonal spirit vicariously through stories about straight people – but giving us even more reason to celebrate, this time around, is a plethora of inclusive options in which, at long last, we get to see our queer romantic holiday fantasies played out without having to filter them through a heteronormative lens.
Probably the most significant of these new entries – from the standpoint of cultural politics, at least – is “The Christmas House,” which comes amid the heavy slate of holiday-themed romantic movies from the Hallmark Channel, and represents a seismic shift at the formerly conservative network by placing a loving same-sex couple at the center of its warm and fuzzy storyline. Starring out gay actor Jonathan Bennett (best known as high school heartthrob Aaron Samuels in 2004’s “Mean Girls”), it focuses on a gay couple trying to adopt their first child, and co-stars Robert Buckley, Ana Ayora, Treat Williams and Sharon Lawrence.
To recognize why “The Christmas House” (which premieres Nov. 22) is as meaningful as it is, it’s necessary to look back at Christmas 2019. A lot has happened since then, but if you prod your memory, you’ll likely recall the debacle that took place when Hallmark caved to pressure from right-wing homophobic activists (particularly the misleadingly named “One Million Moms,” a front for known hate group the American Family Association) and pulled several ads for the wedding planning website Zola over the inclusion of a lesbian couple. The backlash from the LGBTQ+ community and its advocates was swift and profound, and a week later the ads were reinstated, with Hallmark vowing to work with GLAAD on a plan to move forward with more inclusive programming. It was an unequivocal victory in the “culture wars,” made even more sweet by the context of a flagrantly anti-LGBTQ political administration and the false perception of legitimacy bestowed upon homophobic social attitudes that it enabled.
For proof that the climate had changed – even before last week’s election – one only has to look at the words of Michelle Vicary, executive vice president of programming for Hallmark, whose statement when “The Christmas House” was announced late last month as part of the network’s seasonal lineup opened by saying, “Our holiday table is bigger and more welcoming than ever.” It might have the ring of carefully manufactured corporate-speak, but that sentence still represents the culmination of a decades-long struggle – and while not every member of the LGBTQ+ crowd may be excited about being represented in the kind of feel-good fare that straight couples have been enjoying together since forever, we can all still look at the fact that it’s finally happening as an important milestone worthy of celebration – though it’s worth noting that One Million Moms has another homophobic petition circulating in protest of this one, too.
Hallmark isn’t the only cable titan unveiling its first same-sex Christmas romance this year; the Lifetime Channel, similarly known for being a family-friendly seasonal juggernaut, is dropping “The Christmas Set-Up,” which stars two actors (Ben Lewis and Blake Lee) who are not only openly gay, but are an actual couple in real life. While the network last year aired “Twinkle All the Way,” which featured a same-sex kiss between two supporting characters, this time they are putting the gay love story front and center.
This one follows Hugo, a New York lawyer (Lewis), whose matchmaking mom (played by Fran Drescher) decides to set him up with Patrick (Lee), his old high school friend – and secret crush. According to the synopsis, things go smoothly between the two men at first, but they take a dramatic turn when (in true made-for-TV romance fashion) Hugo gets a promotion that comes with a relocation to London, forcing him to choose between his career and the man of his dreams. It also stars Ellen Wong (“G.L.O.W”) as Hugo’s best friend.
“The Christmas Set-Up” represents Lifetime’s efforts to bolster its own reputation for diversity and inclusion, in a Christmas lineup that also features the network’s first movie centered on an Asian-American family, “A Sugar & Spice Holiday.” In a statement made in September, when Lifetime’s holiday slate was announced, head of programming Amy Winter said, “The world we create on camera should reflect the world we live in.”
She went on to add, “Our hope with these inclusive films and others is that people will see themselves while enjoying universally relatable holiday romances.”
“The Christmas Set-Up” won’t drop until Dec. 12, but for fans of gay romance, it should be well worth the wait.
It’s laudable that these once-resistant cable networks have opened up their programming to include more diverse representation, of course; but while we have been waiting for them to get on board, we should not forget that streaming giants like Netflix and Hulu have already been leading the charge for quite some time. Both of them continue that tradition this season with LGBTQ-centric holiday offerings of their own.
While Netflix doesn’t have a specifically LGBTQ-centered title coming for the holiday season, it is bringing us “Dash & Lily,” based on the popular YA romance book series by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, which includes queer characters – not to mention the non-holiday-themed Ryan Murphy adaptation of the Broadway musical, “The Prom.”
Hulu, however, is putting LGBTQ love in the spotlight with “Happiest Season,” a romantic comedy from director Clea Duvall, who also co-wrote with Mary Holland.
Featuring two queer icons (Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis) in the leads, and yet another (Dan Levy) in prominent support, Duvall’s film revolves around girlfriends Abby (Stewart) and Harper (Davis), and Abby’s plan to propose at the annual Christmas dinner held at Harper’s family (Davis) home. When Abby arrives for the big night, she discovers that not only is Harper’s family ignorant of their relationship, they don’t even know that Harper is gay, prompting her to question how well she knows the person she’s planning on spending the rest of her life with.
That synopsis might give the impression that “Happiest Season” is more a soul-searching downer than you might want from holiday-themed romance, but official descriptions assure us that this latest lesbian-themed Hulu Original is “a holiday romantic comedy that hilariously captures the range of emotions tied to wanting your family’s acceptance, being true to yourself, and trying not to ruin Christmas.” And if you are enthusiastic to see the movie – which premieres Nov. 25 – you are in good company. Its star, Stewart, said in a statement: “I think I’ve wished to see a gay Christmas rom-com my whole life.”
Many would say – in this case, at least – that K-Stew speaks for us all.
John Auten-Schneider and David Auten-Schneider came out about their finances about two years after they started dating.
The conversation started while they were looking to buy land in Winter Park, Colorado, to build a weekend home. As they planned, they realized they couldn’t afford to buy land, purchase an existing home or even rent there.
Together, they had more than $50,000 in debt, even though they had more than 15 years of combined experience in financial services at the time.
“It kicked off a conversation of, ‘Why do we know so much and are doing so little?’” John said.
John and David Auten-Schneider on their wedding day. The couple married after more than 13 years together.Studio Lemus
The couple realized that growing up gay in communities that didn’t accept them played a part.
“We were using money to make ourselves feel better from the past,” said John, adding that it was also a tool to fit in once they did find the gay community.
Once they addressed those issues and envisioned the future they wanted — a comfortable retirement, means to travel and the ability to give back — they were able to pay off their debt and work toward other goals. They also established protections for each other, such as creating a trust and having health care proxy forms, to solidify their family.
It also brought about a career change. In 2015, the couple started Debt Free Guys, a personal finance site. A year later, they also launched Queer Money, a podcast about financial issues in the LGBTQ community.
They got married in 2017, after more than 13 years together. While they’d already taken steps to be recognized legally as partners, marriage brought further benefits such as tax breaks by filing jointly, survivor rights and access to spousal Social Security benefits if one were to die.
Having a handle on finances is important for LGBTQ individuals, as many start off behind their non-LGBTQ peers. Some may not have had supportive families and incur more debt for education, can face discrimination in the workplace, may need to protect financial assets from family and may experience higher costs associated with family building.
“Putting money aside is going to give you freedoms that a lot of folks don’t have, especially LGBTQ folks,” said John. “The more money you have for your own self and security, the more money and time and energy you can give back to the community.”
Marriage brings benefits and responsibilities
LGBTQ people also face a shifting legal landscape that can add steps in financial and family planning. It was legal to fire someone for being gay or transgender in some states until this year, and LGBTQ couples were only granted the right to legally marry in 2015.
“When you’re married it’s a different set of structures for planning the major issues,” said certified planner Jennifer Hatch, president of Christopher Street Financial, which specializes in LGBTQ finance.
“By marrying someone you become their next of kin — that is very important if people have very little family or hostile family,” Hatch said.
Marriage also brings about certain responsibilities, because you’re bound to your partner legally said Hatch. If you’re not married there are things you should do to make sure you protect each other in the event of death, disability or divorce.
As unromantic as those things are, they’re important to plan for, Hatch said, especially for LGBTQ newlyweds that tend to be older than non-LGBTQ peers when they enter a marriage and bring in more assets and potentially children.
Hatch recommends couples have detailed plans for what should happen in the event of death or disability which include medical proxy forms and account access information. In the event of divorce, Hatch says that couples can draw up a pre- or post- nuptial agreement that spells out how assets should be divided and addresses spousal support.
Those documents basically say despite the law, this is how we’re going to manage the relationship, she said.
The price of parenthood is high
LGBTQ people also have a lot of planning to do around building families, which is on the rise in the community. Nearly 80 percent of LGBTQ people aged 18 to 35 are already parents or are thinking about having children, a 44 percent increase over older generations, according to a 2018 survey from Family Equality, a nonprofit organization that aims to advance the rights of LGBTQ families.
The path to parenthood can be costly and require careful planning as many LGBTQ families plan to expand through foster care, adoption and assisted reproduction technology, according to the survey.
Jess Venable-Novak and their partner, Dory, are in the middle of family planning. The couple married in a small wedding in November 2019 after starting the process of having a sibling for their 7-year-old daughter, Dottie.
“The few gifts we did get for getting married we put right into a savings account for a fertility journey,” said Venable-Novak, who is nonbinary and uses “they” pronouns. The couple has since put any extra money in the same account, such as their tax refund and Covid-19 stimulus checks. Their parents have also helped with expenses.
Jess Venable-Novak and their partner, Dory, have spent more than $15,000 so far in the process of getting pregnant with their second child – a sibling for daughter Dottie.Courtesy Jess Venable-Novak
So far, the Venable-Novaks have spent upwards of $15,000 out of pocket and are not yet pregnant.
“We weren’t anticipating spending this much money when we started,” said Venable-Novak, family engagement manager for Family Equality.
The original plan was for Dory, who will carry the baby, to get pregnant through a process called intrauterine insemination. But after five unsuccessful procedures that cost about $7,000, the family switched to in vitro fertilization, or IVF, which is more expensive.
There are other expenses that the family is saving for at the same time. The couple is working on putting away $6,000 so Dory can take 12 weeks off work after giving birth. Her job only guarantees five weeks of family medical leave with short-term disability pay and the couple is budgeting for legal fees and paperwork for second-parent adoption.
Even though the couple lives in Vermont, where they can both be listed on the baby’s birth certificate, Jess will have to legally adopt the baby to make sure they are recognized as a parent in other states.
They’re also balancing trying to get pregnant with other financial goals, including paying off credit card bills, student loan debt and looking to move.
Deciding to expand their family forced them to take a hard look at finances and talk about their goals, said Venable-Novak. “That was a moment of re-setting and reevaluating,” they said.
The benefits of being financially prepared
There are resources available to help LGBTQ people with financial planning and building a family. Many employers offer benefits for employees looking to create families, such as help with the adoption process, coverage for some fertility treatments or surrogacy fees and paid leave for both primary and secondary parents.
Others offer financial planning help, such as access to advisors or attorneys. John and David were able to see an attorney who helped them with legal documents before they were married by accessing a workplace benefit.
Same-sex couples can also forge their own path when it comes to money and family, as they generally don’t feel pressured to adhere to typical gender roles and are able to be on more equal footing when it comes to a relationship.
“You don’t have to imitate your parents and merge everything,” said Hatch, adding that she recommends a yours, mine and ours approach to finances. For many families, this means having a system that works for them and their unique needs.
Gay Rep. Ryan Fecteau is set to become speaker of the Maine House of Representatives.
Democrats nominated Fecteau as speaker Thursday, and because they hold a majority in the House, he is “all but assured” of election to the position when the House votes in December, the Portland Press Herald reports. He will be the first out member of the LGBTQ+ community to be Maine speaker and one of about two dozen to have held such leadership positions nationwide. Also, at age 28, he will be the youngest speaker of the House in Maine history.
“The speaker controls the flow of action on the floor, sets the agenda and can have sway over which bills are brought to a vote or not,” the Press Herald notes. The person in that role is often a prominent player in budget negotiations between the legislature and the governor, the paper adds.
Fecteau, who was just elected to a fourth term in the House, was the lead sponsor of Maine’s bill barring licensed professionals from subjecting minors to so-called conversion therapy, the discredited and harmful practice aimed at turning LGBTQ+ people straight or cisgender. The legislature passed it in 2019 and Gov. Janet Mills signed it into law.
The grandson of French-Canadian immigrants and the son of a single mother, Fecteau grew up in low-income housing and became the first member of his family to graduate from college. Public education was key in shaping his life, he told fellow lawmakers Thursday.
“I’m filled with hope and determination because when Democrats lead, people who are too often forgotten or left at the margins are seen, they are valued and given a fair shot,” he said, according to the Press Herald. “Policymakers like you saw value and gave families like mine a fair shot. I’m a Democrat because we believe in families like mine who come to Maine for a better life. We believe in people who may not look like us or speak the same language or practice the same religion.”
He is finishing a stint as assistant majority leader in the House, serving with Majority Leader Matt Moonen, also a gay man, making them “the first openly gay legislative leadership duo in U.S. history,” the Press Herald reports.
As speaker, he will succeed Sara Gideon, who ran for U.S. Senate against Republican incumbent Susan Collins but lost. “Working alongside him the past years allowed me to witness his natural leadership capabilities and his dedication to the people of Maine,” Gideon said regarding Fecteau. “I wish him every success as he takes on this new role.”
“Rep. Ryan Fecteau’s elevation to be Maine’s first out speaker of the House shatters a lavender ceiling in the Pine Tree State,” Elliot Imse, senior director of communications at the LGBTQ Victory Institute, told The Advocate via email. “During his past three terms, Rep. Fecteau has highlighted LGBTQ issues, leading the charge to ban conversion therapy in the state and providing a shining example of LGBTQ leadership for young people. We are excited to see what changes a qualified LGBTQ voice will make in this role and wish Speaker Fecteau the absolute best of luck during his term.”
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito delivered an unusually inflammatory public speech Thursday night, starkly warning about the threats he contends religious believers face from advocates for gay and abortion rights, as well as public officials responding to the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking to a virtual conference of conservative lawyers, the George W. Bush appointee made no direct comment on the recent election, the political crisis relating to President Donald Trump’s refusal to acknowledge his defeat or litigation on the issue pending at the Supreme Court.
However, Alito didn’t hold back on other controversial subjects, even suggesting that the pressure Christians face surrounding their religious beliefs is akin to the strictures the U.S. placed on Germany and Japan after World War II.
Alito abandoned any pretense of impartiality in his speech, a grievance-laden tirade against Democrats, the progressive movement, and the United States’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Alito’s targets included COVID-related restrictions, same-sex marriage, abortion, Plan B, the contraceptive mandate, LGBTQ non-discrimination laws, and five sitting Democratic senators.
Ironically, Alito began his pre-recorded address by condemning an effort by the U.S. Judicial Conference to forbid federal judges from being members of the Federalist Society. He then praised, by name, the four judges who spearheaded a successful effort to defeat the ban—or, as Alito put it, who “stood up to an attempt to hobble the debate that the Federalist Society fosters.”
A lesbian couple in India were allegedly forced apart by their families, who barged into their home and publicly beat one of them in front of their village.
The two women, who are both adults, were living happily in the Baghpat area of Uttar Pradesh in Northern India. On Sunday (8 November) the relatives of one of the women burst into their house and forcibly separated the pair, Times Now reports.
When one woman attempted to resist she was humiliated and beaten in the street, in full view of bystanders who filmed the scene and circulated the footage on social media.
She told local news that she and her partner had made a conscious decision to live together, and that they wanted to work in the field of education but were facing continuous resistance from their families over their relationship.
The lesbian couple had already notified the police of their situation and appealed for safety, she added, but the family took matters into their own hands.
“We had given a written complaint to the police to provide us protection,” she told The Times of India. “But before they could, Shreya’s [name changed] relatives came here and thrashed me publicly and even tore my clothes. And they took her away.”
A senior police official said that the authorities are looking into the matter.
Homosexual relations were decriminalised in India in 2018, but LGBT+ people still face an enormous amount of stigma, particularly in rural areas.
With same-sex marriage remaining a distant hope for queer Indians, some couples are legitimising their relationships by entering into a maitri karar, a type of “friendship contract”.
Unfortunately this didn’t deter the families of one lesbian couple in Gujarat, who persistently harassed the women after learning of their contract.
The couple were forced to file a high court lawsuit to gain protection when their plea for safety was ignored by police. The courts finally granted a protection order in August, giving the women the right to live together in peace.
Shevrin Jones feels good. In fact, he said, he feels great after easily winning election last week to become Florida’s first LGBTQ state senator.
Jones said the election of so many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people across the country this election cycle “is a direct pushback on the hatred and bigotry over the last four years,” citing the Trump administration’s rhetoric against immigrants, people of color and the LGBTQ community.
“This is a win for all of us,” said Jones, who previously served in the Florida House of Representatives.
Shevrin Jones.Greg Reed Photography
Jones was among a record number of openly LGBTQ candidates on general election ballots last week. The LGBTQ Victory Fund, a national organization that trains, supports and advocates for queer candidates, puts that number at approximately 574, and NBC News’ review of their data, state election results and local reports found that more than 220 of these candidates have already claimed victory, with dozens of contests yet to be called.
The fund estimated that in 2018, there were approximately 432 openly LGBTQ candidates on general election ballots, with 244 winning their races. This year, they expect the total number of wins to surpass this number.
While there is power in numbers, Andrew Reynolds, a Princeton researcher who has been studying LGBTQ political representation, cautioned against putting too much emphasis on overall numbers.
“The really exciting thing about the election was not the increase — it was who is getting elected,” he said, pointing to victories by queer women, people of color and transgender candidates across the nation.
“You are seeing a different type of voice emerging,” Reynolds said.
Congressional firsts
Twenty-six openly LGBTQ candidates for U.S. Senate or House were on the November ballot — the most in U.S. history. Even with one gay incumbent’s House race yet to be called, LGBTQ representation in Congress will hit an all-time high next session.
Two nonincumbent LGBTQ victors, both progressive Democrats, easily won their races. If all incumbents win, as is expected, it will increase LGBTQ representation in the House to nine, from seven, with 11 total LGBTQ people in Congress.
Mondaire Jones, an attorney, and New York City Council member Ritchie Torres handily won their races for New York’s 17th and 15th Congressional Districts, respectively, becoming the first openly gay Black candidates elected to Congress.
“Mondaire and Ritchie have shattered a rainbow ceiling and will bring unique perspectives based on lived experiences never before represented in the U.S. Congress,” Annise Parker, president and CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, said in a statement. “As our nation grapples with racism, police brutality and a pandemic that disproportionately affects people of color and LGBTQ people, these are the voices that can pull us from the brink and toward a more united and fair society.”
Six of the seven LGBTQ representatives currently serving in the House, all Democrats, have already won re-election: David Cicilline of Rhode Island; Chris Pappas of New Hampshire; Mark Pocan of Wisconsin; Angie Craig of Minnesota; Mark Takano of California; and Sharice Davids of Kansas. The seventh, Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, was leading his Republican opponent by nearly 3 percentagepoints as of Thursday with 78 percent of votes in.
There are two LGBTQ U.S. senators — Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, both Democrats, neither of whom was up for re-election.
While an increase of two seats in the House is record-setting for LGBTQ representation in Congress, it was not the big boost advocates had hoped for. One particularly close race was the contest for Texas’ 23rd Congressional District, which out lesbian Gina Ortiz Jones lost by 3 percentage points.
“It’s all about turnout,” Don Haider-Markel, a political science professor at the University of Kansas, said. “Given the pattern over the whole night, I’m not surprised they didn’t make the inroads they thought they would. It looks like in 2020, Republicans were able to turn out their base in ways that blunted the gains Democrats, and LGBTQ candidates, could make.”
The LGBTQ Victory fund estimates that at least 90 percent of queer candidates on this year’s general election ballots were running as Democrats.
Historical state inroads
The picture is even brighter in state legislatures across the country, where a record-breaking number of more than 240 LGBTQ candidates were on the general election ballot. As of Thursday, at least 124 of these candidates had won their races, approximately three dozen of them nonincumbents. There are still a number of state legislative races with LGBTQ candidates that still have not yet been called.
“LGBTQ candidates made historic inroads in state legislatures across the country, winning in states and chambers where we never have before,” Parker said in a statement. “Trans candidates in particular had unprecedented victories, including electing our first trans state senator and almost doubling the number of trans state legislators. These down-ballot victories reflect where America stands on the inclusion of LGBTQ people in our nation’s politics and each one represents an important step forward on the march toward equality.”
Transgender activist Sarah McBride in Claymont, Del., Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020.Jason Minto / AP
Prior to Election Day, five states — Alaska, Delaware, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee — had never elected an openly LGBTQ state legislator.
Delaware leaves the list following the election wins of Sarah McBrideto the state Senate and Eric Morrison and Marie Pinkney to the state House. McBride’s win also makes her the first transgender person elected to any state Senate in the U.S.
Tennessee will also leave the list after electing its first two out state legislators — one on each side of the political aisle. Bisexual Democrat Torrey Harris and gay Republican Eddie Mannis both won seats in the state House.
Haider-Markel said Mannis’ victory is relatively unusual, as the “Republican Party has still not been that welcoming to LGBT folks.” However, Mannis will join several GOP lawmakers who won re-election last week, including Tom Hannegan of Missouri, Jason Elliot of South Carolina and Dan Zwonitzer of Wyoming, who has played a vital role in preventing the passage of anti-LGBTQ legislation in that state.
Alaska could join Delaware and Tennessee in making political history: Out lesbian Lyn Franks is in a race for a seat in the Alaska House of Representatives that is still too close to call.
“It’s really just a matter of time before you see LGBTQ representation in every state,” Haider-Markel said. “Every state has districts that are amenable to Democrats and therefore to LGBTQ candidates.”
He said LGBTQ candidates continue to win local offices and gain the political experience that allows them to run for higher office.
“The gap is really closing,” he said.
Historic wins for Black LGBTQ candidates
This year’s LGBTQ candidate pool was more racially diverse than ever. In addition to Torres and Jones in Congress in New York, many Black queer candidates had historic wins at the state level.
In Florida, along with Shevrin Jones in the Senate, Michele Rayner became the first Black queer woman elected to the Florida state House.
Parker said she hopes these wins “inspire more Black LGBTQ leaders to step up and run themselves.”
“The politics of division and hatred failed in this race and gave way to a government that is more representative of the people it serves,” she said in a statement.
Kim Jackson, Democratic candidate for Georgia State Senate District 41.Cindy M. Brown / Kim Jackson Campaign
In Georgia, out lesbian Kim Jackson made history when she won her race for state Senate, becoming the first LGBTQ person elected to that chamber.
Tiara Mack in Rhode Island and Marie Pinkney in Delaware also won their races, making major inroads for Black LGBTQ women across the U.S.
Jabari Brisport won his race and will become the first openly LGBTQ person of color elected to New York’s state Legislature.
Prior to Election Day, there were just 42 openly LGBTQ state legislators of color serving nationwide, only 13 of them Black.
Regarding the diversity of LGBTQ candidates, Haider-Markel said: “It’s the same pattern we are seeing with the Democratic Party writ large. Democrats are running the kinds of candidates that reflect the Democratic base, which is a very diverse base.”
In addition to McBride’s win in Delaware, Taylor Small won her race for the Vermont state House, becoming the first out transgender person ever elected to that state’s Legislature.
Stephanie Byers of Kansas won her election, becoming the first out transgender person ever elected to the Kansas state House and the first out trans person of color ever elected to a state legislature in the U.S.
Educator of the Year honoree Stephanie Byers accepts her award at the GLSEN 2018 Respect Awards at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York on May 21, 2018.Dia Dipasupil / Getty Images for GLSEN file
Incumbent transgender state legislators Lisa Bunker and Gerri Cannon in New Hampshire and Brianna Titone in Colorado, all won their races.
These victories take transgender representation at the state level from four to seven.
Danica Roem, who became the first openly transgender legislator anywhere in the country in 2017, congratulated the winners on social media.
“Before I ran in ’17, we had no out trans state legislators. In ’21, we’ll have 7,” she tweeted.
Mauree Turner won their race for the Oklahoma state House and became the first openly nonbinary person ever elected to a state legislature in the United States.
Joshua Query, running for re-election to the New Hampshire state House, will be the first openly gender-nonconforming person elected to a state legislature. Query did not run openly as gender-nonconforming when they first won in 2018.
Local milestones
At the local level, LGBTQ candidates achieved important milestones as well. Todd Gloria won his election for Mayor of San Diego, becoming the first out LGBTQ person elected mayor of that city.
Last month in Alaska, Austin Quinn-Davidson became the first openly LGBTQ mayor in Anchorage when the incumbent resigned.
Charmaine McGuffey will be the first LGBTQ person and first woman to serve as sheriff of Hamilton County, Ohio.Courtesy Charmaine McGuffey
While last week’s victories for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer candidates have increased representation across the U.S., just a fraction of a percent of the country’s roughly half million elected officials are LGBTQ, according to the LGBTQ Victory Fund.
On the federal level, LGBTQ representation in Congress stands higher, at about 1.7 percent, and that number is expected to increase to 2 percent in January once Mondaire Jones and Ritchie Torres are seated. At the state level, Reynolds of Princeton estimates the current percentage sits at 2.1 percent and will increase to 2.2 percent once all of this year’s election winners are seated — an increase he refers to not as a “rainbow wave” but as a rainbow “splash.”
With LGBTQ people making up an estimated 5 percent of the U.S. population, the Victory Fund estimates we would need to elect 22,000 more lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer elected officials to achieve “equitable representation.”
“I truly believe when we all have a seat at the table and everyone is represented,” Shevrin Jones said, “it makes our nation better.”
Legendary transgender perfomrer and singer Bambi Lake tragically passed away after being diagnosed with cancer, the Bay Area Reporter reports. Lake was 70.
Lake was a beloved performer in the Bay Area, and a mainstay in San Francisco’s queer underground scene. She was a sex worker, a porn actor, a cabaret artist, a songwriter, and a member of the legendary San Francisco theater group The Cockettes.
Lake’s friend, Birdie Bob Watt, called Lake a trailblazer. “She’s been inspirational to a lot of people as far as her ability to navigate her own path,” Watt said. “…In telling her story she gave a lot of other people power, as well as giving power to herself.”
In the 1990s, Lake co-authored a memoir titled The Unsinkable Bambi Lake with Alvin Orloff, the manager of Dog Eared Books Castro. Shealso released a solo album, Broadway Hostess, in 2005. Her show The Golden Age of Bambi Lake was a sold out hit at the popular nightclub Oasis.
In 2015, trans filmmaker Silas Howard made a short documentary about her, Sticks and Stones: Bambi Lake in 2014. Howard remembers her as being an unforgettable and unmatched figure in queer culture.
“An elusive and unstoppable force, Bambi lived for the stage, as it was one of the few places she was not only seen but revered for her talent and vulnerability,” Howard told Out. “She survived the AIDs pandemic, battles with houselessness and addiction, and lived to the age of 70s as a trans woman. A pioneer, an icon, a paradox, an overwhelming presence, a miracle to behold. She was fearlessly out as a trans woman when that term was not even in the popular lexicon.”
Howard also remembered her one-of-a-kind style. “She did it with a style which mixed DIY punk aesthetics with 1940s Hollywood glamour, a touch of Haute Couture and blatant sexuality,” he said. “She did it with a brash, confidence. In telling her story she gave a lot of other people power, as well as giving power to herself.”
Lake will be sorely missed, not just in San Francisco, but across the global LGBTQ+
