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Gary Carnivele
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What Justin Trudeau’s Win Means for the LGBT community
Justin Trudeau has won a second term as Canada’s prime minister and the country’s LGBT+ community have breathed a “sigh of relief”.
The win for the Liberal Party has kept Trudeau’s opponent Andrew Scheer, who is against marriage equality, out of the top seat at Parliament Hill.
Trudeau, battered by scandal across his campaign, will no longer retain a majority in Canada’s House of Commons but will keep enough seats to allow him to form a government, with support from two left-leaning parties.
His victory in 2015 touted him as a fresh-faced, shirtless jogging, LGBT+ rights championing politician.
Though his approval ratings have slumped since, his renewed term secures a generally positive four years ahead for the queer community.
What will a Liberal Party win mean for LGBT+ Canadians?
Several positive initiatives are now potentially in the pipeline as a result of Trudeau securing a minority government.
In its 2019 platform, the Liberal Party promised to spend $10 million a year over three years to help more LGBT+ organisations hire staff and expand services, according to Global News.
The party also pledged to end the ban on blood donation by men who have sex with men and promised to spend an additional $2 million a year for the pan-Canadian 24-7 mental health crisis hotline.
Additionally, the Liberals vowed to amend the Criminal Code to ban conversion therapy.
Moreover, Trudeau evoked his positive track record to his advantage during his campaigning, contrasting his pro-marriage equality stance with his opponent, Scheer.
The Conservative Party leader voted against several pro-LGBT+ bills in the past, as well as fiercely opposing same-sex marriage when it was first tabled in 2005.
Although, the lawmaker has since claimed to have u-turned on such homophobic views.
Nevertheless, several LGBT+ activists in Canada took to Twitter to share their thoughts on Trudeau’s return to office, with one calling it a “sigh of relief”:
Moreover, four LGBT+ MPs were elected into parliament. Two from the Liberal Party – Seamus O’Regan and and Rob Oliphant – as well as Conservative Eric Duncan and NDP member Randall Garrison.
But some activists took note that this is a decrease from the previous parliament – down by two – and that only one-third of those lawmakers elected are female.
Justin Trudeau’s LGBT+ rights history.
Trudeau has positioned himself as an ally throughout both of his campaigns and during his first premiership.
He became the first sitting prime minister to march in a Pride parade in 2016, and to raise the Pride flag in Parliament Hill.
Moreover, he appointed Randy Boissonnault as his special advisor on LGBT+ issues.
This year, he delivered a formal apology on behalf of the Canadian government to queer citizens who have been wronged by anti-LGBT+ federal legislation in the past.
Moreover, the Liberal government passed a law to permanently expunge criminal records linked to consensual sexual activity with same-sex partners.
The Trudeau administration also decreased the gay blood ban, introduced third gender options on government surveys and forms and even made the national anthem gender-neutral.
Furthermore, the government invested $2.9 million of funding into projects for the Canada’s LGBT+ population.
These projects have included awareness campaigns, advocacy initiatives and other interventions to prevent homophobia, biphobia and transphobia in the Canadian education system.
However, his September campaign was shadowed by scandal, as photographs and videos of a young Trudeau in blackface and brownface surged to the surface, as well as earlier accusations that he bullied his formal attorney general, an Indigenous woman.
These damning revelations took a toll on his voting percentages, but Trudeau’s win has nevertheless secured an overall progressive term ahead for LGBT+ Canadians, activists have argued.
Pete Buttigieg Surges into Third Place in Democratic Presidential Race in Key Poll
Pete Buttigieg has surged into third place in the key state of Iowa, according to polling.
The out South Bend mayor is proving surprisingly popular in the traditionally-conservative state, surpassing Bernie Sanders to make it into third place.
Pete Buttigieg is third in Iowa, ahead of Bernie Sanders.
According to the Suffolk University/USA Today poll, 13 percent of Iowans support Buttigieg, behind only Elizabeth Warren on 17 percent and Joe Biden on 18 percent in the crowded Democratic field.
Sanders, who has seen his left-wing support eroded by Warren, is in fourth on 9 percent, with no other candidate receiving above 3 percent in the poll.
The Iowa caucuses, set to take place on February 3, are traditionally the first event of the presidential primaries – marking the state as a key battleground for candidates hoping to show they have momentum.
Other polls over the past month have generally placed Buttigieg in fourth nationally, behind Biden, Warren and Sanders, just ahead of senator Kamala Harris and well clear of the remaining 2020 Democrats.
Buttigieg has unveiled a bold plan for LGBT+ rights.
Buttigieg recently revealed his ambitious LGBT+ policy platform, including pledges to update US passports to recognise non-binary people, ensure access to PrEP for everyone who needs it, and provide LGBTQ+ inclusive lessons and health education.
He said: “I will press for and sign the Equality Act into law as soon as it hits my desk, making anti-discrimination the law of the land.
“I will deliver quality health care that is affordable, accessible, and equitable for all Americans, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or race.
“My administration will put us on a path to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic—which disproportionately affects gay men and transgender women of color —by 2030, and ban the dangerous practice known as ‘conversion therapy’ once and for all.
“I will use more comprehensive strategies to end hate-based violence against LGBTQ+ people, especially black transgender women; increase access to housing for LGBTQ+ Americans; and strengthen protections for LGBTQ+ immigrants and refugees.”
Buttigieg also pledged to “conduct a thorough examination of unconstitutional religious exemption policies in the federal government, especially those deployed by the Trump administration to undermine the rights of LGBTQ+ people”.
Man Sues Gay Video Site for Selling his Private Information
A man is suing a gay porn site after he received “a barrage” of junk mail because he said it sold his information without written consent and violated his privacy rights.
Dennis Chiamulera is also seeking class action status on behalf of other subscribers to the site who he thinks are in a similar situation.ADVERTISING
He said his privacy rights were violated by the site, owned by TLA Entertainment Group, under the Video Privacy Protection Act and the New York Video Consumer Privacy Act
According to Out, the New York plaintiff is asking for $5 million for “wrongful disclosure of video tape rental or sales records”, including $2,500 in damages for every other plaintiff in the case if it gets class action status.
The lawsuit read: “Despite the sensitive nature of its videos, TLA sold, rented, exchanged, and/or otherwise disclosed personal information about Plaintiff’s video purchases and/or rentals to data aggregators, data appenders, data cooperatives, and list brokers, among others, which in turn disclosed his information to aggressive advertisers, nonprofit organisations, and other third-party companies.”
Chiamulera claims that the gay porn site’s “disclosure of Personal Viewing Information, and other personal, demographic, and lifestyle information is not only unlawful, but also dangerous because it allows for the targeting of particularly vulnerable members of society, including members of the LGBTQ community”.
The Manhattan Federal Court lawsuit alleges, according to the New York Post, that TLA Entertainment Group breaks down its subscribers by sexual orientation and which films they rent or buy.
The lawsuit stated: “In fact, almost any organisation could rent a list with the names and addresses of all gay TLA consumers who live in Texas; such a list would cost approximately $135 per thousand names listed.”
The court papers claimed that TLA “profits handsomely” from selling information, “at the expense of its consumers’ privacy and statutory rights.”
Elizabeth Warren is Demanding Special Treatment for Transgender Asylum Seekers
Presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren has called on the Trump administration to protect transgender asylum seekers, who allegedly suffer “rampant” abuse while in detention.
Along with her fellow senator Tammy Baldwin, the first out LGBT+ person elected to the US Senate, Elizabeth Warren wrote a letter urging the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to “immediately reverse policies” that harm transgender migrants seeking refuge in the US.
The senators state that the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy is particularly harmful to trans asylum seekers as it forces them to remain in countries where their gender identity puts them at risk.
They said the administration must allow trans asylum seekers entry into the US, warning of the danger in “placing their health and safety at risk while they wait – potentially for years – for their asylum claims to be processed”.
In one case cited by Warren and Baldwin, a transgender woman’s “finger was cut off by a cartel” while her application was intentionally delayed.
Hundreds of activists and immigration advocates took to the streets in New York City to demand an end to Salesforce and Amazon profiteering from immigrants detention camps (Erik McGregor/LightRocket/Getty)
Warren and Baldwin also drew attention to recent reports of “abuse and neglect of transgender migrants and asylum seekers”, both at the border and in US custody.
“While in detention, transgender migrants and asylum seekers are particularly vulnerable to sexual harassment, discrimination, and abuse,” the letter reads.
“The United States should protect individuals fleeing persecution and targeted violence, including persecution based on gender identity or expression — not subject them to further harm.”
ICE estimates that at least 111 transgender people are currently being held in US detention centres. Several trans women have reported the “rampant sexual harassment, discrimination and abuse” they commonly experience there.
Some trans women have accused ICE of housing them in barracks with heterosexual men where officers ordered them: “Walk like a man! You better sit like a man!”
They told of being forced to bathe and sleep in units with men who sexually harassed and threatened them. These men would intrude on them while they were in the shower, leering at them and offering to “help” them bathe. The women claim they were thrown into solitary if they complained.
In June this year, a trans asylum seeker named Johana Medina Leon died from dehydration and HIV-related complications after spending six weeks detained by ICE.
Another trans woman named Alejandra Barrera was refused treatment for a progressive medical condition, which if left untreated could cause severe complications or even death.
After a sustained advocacy campaign by her attorney and several non-profit organisations, she was finally released after 20 months – the longest period of detainment for a trans person ever at the facility.
Activists claim her experience is representative of the widespread mistreatment of all trans women in ICE custody.
Warren and Baldwin have requested a meeting with ICE and DHS “to update our offices on your efforts to address the harm to transgender migrants” before October 30.
LGBT and African American Homeless Youth at Huge Risk of Human Trafficking, Study Says
More than half of homeless young people in Atlanta, Georgia, have been victims of human trafficking and LGBT+ and African American youth are most at risk, according to a new study.
The Atlanta Youth Count 2018 study by Georgia State University sociology professor Eric Wright found that there were an estimated 3,372 homeless young people in Atlanta between the ages of 14 and 25.ADVERTISING
Human trafficking is defined in the report as “acquisition of people by improper means such as force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them either for sexual acts or labour services”.
Overall, 54 per cent of homeless youth had experienced some form of human trafficking in their lifetime, and 37 per cent had experienced it since becoming homeless.
African American, black and multiracial young people were at high risk of trafficking, as 56 per cent of homeless youth counted in the study were black or African American and 32 per cent were multiracial.
Looking just at LGB youth, these numbers increased. 61 per cent of lesbian, gay or bisexual homeless youth had experienced human trafficking in their lifetime and 44 per cent had been trafficked while homeless.
For trans and non-binary young people experiencing homelessness the figures jumped even more dramatically.
71 per cent had experienced trafficking during their lifetimes, and 65 per cent had been victims of it while homeless.
The report said cisgender young women are often seen as the main targets, but that is not the case.
The report states that LGBT+ homeless youth “require special attention in the provision of safe and secure services”, and that “gendered definitions of trafficking need to be expanded”.
It continues: “While cisgender female individuals are often conceptualised as the main targets of trafficking vulnerabilities, transgender respondents report significantly higher rates of trafficking than their cisgender counterparts (including both male and female cisgender respondents).
“The full spectrum of gender identity must be understood and accepted in order to fully serve transgender youth and effectively address the needs of trafficked youth.”
Of those surveyed between September and November 2018, seven per cent were trans or non-binary and 24 per cent identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual. Four per cent identified as an orientation other than LGB or straight.
This month, Tyler Perry said his new film studio will include a shelter for homeless LGBT+ young people and other marginalised groups.
The Quitters: Glenn Houston & Stevie Coyle to Perform at Occidental Center for the Arts
Sunday October 27 @ 4 pm. Occidental Center for the Arts presents The Quitters: Glenn Houston & Stevie Coyle. Don’t miss this iconic Americana acoustic/electric guitar picking twosome (The Waybacks, Hearts On Fire, Houston Jones),who are perennial Strawberry Music Festival favorites, at our acoustic sweet spot! $20 Adv/$25 at door. Fine refreshments; Wheelchair accessible; Art Gallery open. www.occidentalcenterforthearts.org. 3850 Doris Murphy Ct. Occidental CA. 95465. 707-874-9392
Glenn Houston and Stevie Coyle: The Quitters
Football Players Chant ‘Sickening’ Anti-gay Slurs at Male Cheerleader
High school football players allegedly shouted homophobic slurs at a male cheerleader, aged just 14.
The incident on October 18 at Wilcox High School in Santa Clara, California, saw the teen targeted with homophobic chants from varsity football players, who branded him a “fag” for being part of the cheerleading squad.
According to local newspaper Mercury News, school officials asked the Santa Clara Police Department to investigate after the teen and another female cheerleader were threatened with violence.
The boy, who is not being named, is still attending school.
Father of cheerleader is ‘fearful for his safety’.
His father told the newspaper: “We are fearful for his safety — now more than ever
“Even after everything that happened, he went back [to the field] and faced it.
“He’s so courageous. He has a responsibility to his team and to the school. He’s out there to cheer the football team and this is what they do.”
The school said in a statement: “At Santa Clara Unified School District, we proactively work to create an environment that embraces diversity and we do not tolerate harassment or bullying of any kind.”
Thousands demand action after ‘sickening’ incident.
A petition in support of the bullied teen has attracted more than 2,800 supporters.
It states: “Despite the fact that the cheerleaders spend hours of their day cheering on various sports teams, these football members thought it appropriate to be cruel and harass a single cheerleader based on their biases and prejudice.
“While many people are aware of this incident, there is a slim chance much will be done to change this behaviour by tweeting/posting about it.
“The main purpose of this petition is to call the administration and football coaches to attention, so they can investigate this incident.ADVERTISING
“This sickening incident requires consequences, so it never happens to someone again. It would be greatly appreciated if you shared this.”
The Los Angeles Rams made history at the Super Bowl earlier this yearby including two male cheerleaders on the cheer squad.
Other NFL teams including the New England Patriots have since added male cheerleaders to their rosters, with a surge in men trying out at the top levels of the sport.
U.K.’s First Chick-fil-A to Close Following LGBTQ Protests
American fast-food chain Chick-fil-A recently ventured across the pond to the United Kingdom — but the controversial chicken restaurant won’t last long.
Soon after opening Oct. 10, Chick-fil-A’s restaurant at the Oracle Mall in Reading, a town in Berkshire, announced it will close after its six-month lease expires, according to the BBC, with the mall saying in a statement it was the “right thing to do.”
The suburban eatery faced protests from activists who took issue with the company’s track record on LGBTQ rights.
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Prior to the closure announcement, Reading Pride, a local LGBTQ advocacy group, said it was “staunchly opposed” to the restaurant opening in the U.K., “and certainly in Reading.”
“The chain’s ethos and moral stance goes completely against our values, and that of the U.K. as we are a progressive country that has legalized same sex marriage for some years, and continues to strive toward equality,” its statement read. “We respect everyone’s freedom to eat where they choose, however, we ask the LGBT+ community (including allies) to boycott the chain in Reading.”
Standing in solidarity with @Reading_Pride #GetTheChickOut
563:44 AM – Oct 19, 2019Twitter Ads info and privacy254 people are talking about this
Protesters gathered outside the chain Friday — but they had already won. A day before the protest, the BBC broke the news that the Chick-fil-A branch would only stay for six months. The chain claimed in a statement to The Washington Post, however, that it had only ever planned to be in Reading for six months.
“Chick-fil-A have subsequently stated they’d not planned to stay past 6 months, but what business would not stay if they were successful and profitable?” Martin Cooper, CEO of Reading Pride, said in an email to NBC News. “The point is, they’ve not been given the option to stay by the landlords, The Oracle.”
Matt Rodda, a member of Parliament for Reading, also praised the move in a tweet, saying he was “pleased” that the mall “listened” to activists.
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In the United States, Chick-fil-A has more than 2,400 restaurants across the country, but the chain frequently faces protests from LGBTQ activists over its record on gay rights. Before the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2015, Chick-fil-A lent support to organizations that worked to ban same-sex marriage and roll back LGBTQ rights.
Earlier this year, local activism foiled Chick-fil-A’s plans to open restaurants at airports in Buffalo, New York, and San Antonio. In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott responded by signing legislation dubbed the “Save Chick-fil-A” bill, which prohibits government entities from taking “adverse actions” against businesses or individuals because of their religious beliefs or moral convictions.
While Chick-fil-A did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment Monday regarding its Reading location, in a previous statement, the company claimed its “restaurants welcome and embrace all people, regardless of … sexual orientation or gender identity.”
Pride Flags Ignite Hope and Outrage in Utah, Where Youth Suicide Rate Soars
For the first time last June, residents in Heber City, Utah, saw their downtown adorned in rainbows.
Sky Elizabeth Smith, 15, remembered driving with her family through the tiny Rocky Mountain town in northern Utah where she grew up, and finding herself surrounded by dozens of rainbow banners on both sides of Main Street.
“It made me feel really, really happy,” she told NBC News.
Smith, a high school student who identifies as pansexual, attempted suicide last year after what she described as routine bullying from classmates. Some classmates, she recalled, told her that Jesus was going to return and kill anyone who is lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer.
When Smith’s mother, Elizabeth Gale Seiler, a day care worker and lifelong member of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as the Mormon Church, saw her daughter’s reaction to the banners, she was overcome with emotion.
“She looked at me, and she said, ‘I’m not alone here,’ and I just started to cry. In fact, I’m going to cry right now,” Seiler, 35, said. “It was the first time in this valley that she has felt accepted.”
A devastating trend
Youth suicide rates have tripled in Utah since 2007, according to the most recent data available from the Utah Department of Health. The problem is so severe that Republican Gov. Gary Herbert spearheaded a task force to combat the issue.
Nationwide, youth suicide skyrocketed 56 percent from 2007 to 2017, according to a newly released report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but it’s unclear what’s behind the increase. LGBTQ youth are almost five times as likely to attempt suicide compared to their heterosexual and cisgender peers, according to the Trevor Project, a national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ youth.
Many advocates believe LGBTQ youth represent a large portion of suicides in Utah, but because public health data do not track sexuality and gender identity, there is no data that confirms their suspicions, according to Hillary McDaniel, a manager for the Utah Pride Center, Utah’s largest LGBTQ organization.
“When someone dies by suicide, their family often knows by a note or just knowing them that that was the issue, because they were gay, or lesbian, or transgender, bisexual, and they didn’t have that support or were being bullied,” McDaniel said.
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Even as its suicide rates soar, Utah has managed to make some progress on LGBTQ issues, according to Samantha Allen, author of “Real Queer America: LGBT Stories From Red States.”
Ironically, Utah’s large population of Mormons, who represent about 61 percent of the state, have become increasingly lenient on the issue, Allen said, with more and more Mormon leaders showing a willingness to work with LGBTQ advocates.
“If you look at public opinion polling, Mormons fall somewhere between white evangelical Christians and mainline Protestants on LGBTQ issues,” Allen said. “So it means that Mormons aren’t going to be quite as hard-line as maybe religious folks in the Bible Belt and parts of the Deep South, but they aren’t going to quite go to West Coast levels of LGBTQ acceptance just yet.”
In 2015, the state’s Republican-dominated Legislature passed “the Utah compromise,” a law that made Utah the only solidly conservative state to pass some protections in housing and employment for LGBTQ people. Two years later, Utah became the first of eight conservative states to repeal a “No Homo Promo” law that prohibited discussing LGBTQ issues in schools. And after an attempt to ban conversion therapy failed in the Legislature, the state’s Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing issued a draft rule to prohibit therapists from practicing conversion therapy on minors. If Herbert adopts the rule without changes, Utah will become the 19th state and the first reliably conservative state to ban the practice.
However, in a statement released last week, the politically powerful Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opposed the proposed ban, stating that the rule would interfere with psychologists’ religious beliefs, and said the measure “does not account for important realities of gender identity in the development of children.”
Small towns divided
Not everyone in Heber City was pleased to see Main Street bedecked in rainbow banners. Like many small towns in Utah, the population is largely Mormon, and is divided over LGBTQ issues, according to Mayor Kelleen Potter.
On June 4, a day after the banners were installed, Heber City residents gathered for a City Council meeting to voice divided opinions over the flags, Potter said. Some threatened to tear them down, she added, while others were overjoyed.
“There were a lot of really tender stories of people contacting me, telling me they’ve grown up in Heber, some of the difficulty growing up as an LGBTQ person in that community, and how they never believed that they would see something like that,” Potter recalled.
In the following weeks, Potter fielded angry phone calls and emails from community members who felt the flags were inappropriate. She said some people saw them as an attempt by LGBTQ advocates to use city-owned property to send a “political” message, an idea she dismissed.
“There is no one advocating for any legislation, or anything,” she said of her city. “This is a civil rights issue. It’s just a message of love and inclusion. It’s good for our community.”
Allison Phillips Belnap, 46, a local real estate attorney, raised $3,553 through a GoFundMe campaign to purchase the rainbow banners for Heber City. Phillips Belnap left the Mormon Church in 2017 after coming out as a lesbian. As one who had attempted suicide, she said she purchased the banners because she wanted to show other members of the local LGBTQ community they were not alone.
After the flags were installed, residents began reaching out to Phillips Belnap on social media to say thanks. One message was from Elizabeth Gale Seiler, still distraught over her daughter Sky’s suicide attempt.
“I think that’s what makes it worth it,” Phillips Belnap said. “And it meant more to me than I ever would have anticipated starting out. I didn’t realize what a big effect it would have on individuals and the community.”
A similar debate erupted in St. George, a small desert town in Utah’s southwest corner, almost 300 miles from Heber City. During the early weeks of September, commuters there were greeted by rainbow banners on either side of St. George Boulevard, a main thoroughfare that cuts through the city center.
Pride of Southern Utah, an LGBTQ advocacy organization, paid for the banners, which were installed on about 30 lampposts along the boulevard. The group also installed banners in the towns of Cedar City and Hurricane.
Inspired by the banners in Heber City, Pride of Southern Utah raised more than $6,100 on GoFundMe to purchase the banners.
“Within 20 hours, we had more than twice as much as what we needed,” Stephen Lambert, director of Pride of Southern Utah, said. “It was very humbling.”
The group filed for a permit to install the banners, which were part of the group’s Pride Week celebration spanning a week in mid-September.
The banners set off waves of approval and outrage from residents of St. George. In an email circulated on social media, a councilwoman referred to the flags as “political statements,” igniting a debate over whether an ordinance surrounding public signage should be reevaluated.
Lambert refuted the idea that his group has political motivations.
“Pride of Southern Utah is not a political organization,” he said. “We are not out there trying to change policy. Our purpose is to be a support group for the LGBTQ+ community, to be a resource for them, to be a safe place for them. That’s all.”
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As the controversy mounted, city officials received at least two informal inquiries from groups interested in installing their own banners on the city-owned lampposts, according to St. George Mayor John Pike. Pike declined to specify the names of the organizations, but he said one was a white supremacist group and the other was interested in installing flags with President Donald Trump’s campaign slogan “Make America Great Again.”
St. George put a moratorium on applications for city lamppost banners until officials could revisit the city’s policy around what can be displayed on city-owned property, according to Pike.
The rainbow banners in Heber City prompted similar inquiries, according to Mayor Potter. She said at least one group inquired about installing anti-abortion banners on city-owned lampposts. While Heber City has not placed a moratorium on flags, Potter said the town will likely need to create an official policy that specifies what kinds of messages can be displayed on city-owned property.
Rainbow flags vandalized
Throughout Utah this year, rainbow flags adorned more than city lampposts. From summer through fall, flags were staked in the front yards of hundreds of homes in urban and rural neighborhoods.
Behind the effort was Project Rainbow, a small Salt Lake City-based nonprofit.
For $15, Utahans could rent rainbow flags from Project Rainbow during the duration of their city’s Pride festivities, which took place at various times throughout the summer and fall. Volunteers from Project Rainbow traversed the state to stake flags in customers’ front yards on PVC poles.
This year, the group raised $17,000 for the Utah Pride Center in Salt Lake City, and several thousand more for smaller LGBTQ groups throughout the state, including Pride of Southern Utah, according to Lucas Horns, who founded Project Rainbow in 2017.
Horns, 25, a professional ballet dancer who lives in Salt Lake, said the group staked 1,400 flags in the city and hundreds more throughout Ogden, Logan, St. George and Provo — more than doubling the number from last year.
This Is How the Rainbow Flag Came to Be
Horns said Project Rainbow received backlash in response to the flags on social media, with some people accusing the group of “forcing their beliefs” on local communities. He estimated that about 10 percent of the flags Project Rainbow staked throughout Utah were stolen or vandalized.
“It’s sad that it’s been turned into a political symbol,” Horns said. “People have roped it into the dichotomy of our nation and I don’t think it has to be.”
Shally Sorensen, 46, a hair stylist who lives in St. George, came home one day in mid-September to see that her rainbow flag had disappeared from her property.
Sorensen, a mother of four, said she ordered the flag from Project Rainbow to show support for her nephew, who is gay. A few of her neighbors’ flags had also been thrown down or vandalized, she said.
“My girls and I, all of us cried, because we had a lot of sadness that week,” Sorensen, who has teenage daughters, said.
Days later, in an empty lot next to Sorensen’s house, a friend discovered a rainbow flag in a porta potty, soiled and partially burned. Instead of calling the police, Sorensen invited family and neighbors to her home to draw “messages of love” in colorful chalk on her driveway. About 40 to 50 people showed up, she said, including the local news media.
“It was beautiful to see that many people come together just to show love and support,” she said.
Sorensen washed the flag and put it back in her yard. Six days later, the flag vanished for the last time.
“I do know that I think there was a lot of good that came from all of this despite the yucky that came out,” Sorensen said. “It caused a lot of people to have conversations about what the flag means and that was really a good thing.”
‘Then came the flags’
Despite some backlash against the flags, advocates say Utah is warming to LGBTQ rights.
Mormon families are increasingly beginning to accept their LGBTQ children, according to Allen. Driving much of the change, she said, is Mormonism’s unique focus on family togetherness.
New Resource Center in Utah a Sanctuary for LGBTQ Mormons
In recent years, a burgeoning online network of Mormon mothers known as the “Mama Dragons” emerged to help parents in the Mormon community understand their LGBTQ kids. Founded in 2014, the group has grown to more than 3,000 members throughout the country.
“I think it’s really telling that Mama Dragons came out of Mormonism,” Allen said. “You have these amazing moms who decided they were going to be really vocal and stand by their kids.”
Both Potter, who has a gay son and a transgender daughter, and Elizabeth Gale Seiler are proud members of the group.
“They’ve really helped me with some struggles I have with balancing how to help Sky through the struggles she’s been having with the bullying situation,” Seiler said.
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Sky Elizabeth Smith has joined a newly formed a gay-straight alliance at her high school, and is doing much better, according to her mother.
“It’s been a real struggle,” Seiler said between tears. “But we make it through. She makes it through. She’s proud of who she is. She doesn’t hide who she is.”
Smith said the bullying she endured at school last year was “really bad.” One boy, she said, told her to “kill myself.”
“Then came the flags,” Smith said, recalling that day in June when she was surrounded by rainbow banners in downtown Heber City. “It just made me realize that there are people in this town and out there that actually care about us.”