Senator Scott Wiener, who co-authored the bill, said: “When people first interact with Toni, what they see is a very unassuming, low-key person who has a bit of an earth mother effect about her.
“People sometimes mistake that for weakness. But what they don’t see is right underneath that surface is pure steel.
(Facebook/Toni G. Atkins)
“She is tough as nails. But she has a huge heart.”
The non-binary recognition law Atkins wrote – which means that in addition to ‘F’ and ‘M’, Californians will be able to choose ‘X’ – is set to come into effect in 2019.
Until this law was passed, Californians wanting to change their gender on government documents had to submit a physician’s sworn statement that they had undertaken medical treatment.
Atkins spoke at the time about how the law would give a precious freedom to non-binary Californians.
“With Governor Brown’s signature on this bill, transgender and non-binary people will now be able to identify themselves as they are, not as who society tells them they should be,” she said.
An anti-gay pastor who based his campaign on opposing same-sex marriage has a strong lead in Costa Rica’s Presidential election.
The Central American country’s Presidential battle has been largely defined by a battle over same-sex marriage, with fringe evangelical Fabricio Alvarado Muñoz receiving a surge in support after running an aggressive anti-gay marriage campaign – besting a string of traditional candidates to make the run-off against centrist candidate Carlos Alvarado Quesada.
Alvarado Muñoz has vowed to withdraw Costa Rica from a pan-American human rights treaty that could require it to provide recognition to same-sex couples, while his opponent says the country should respect the human rights of LGBT people.
Fabricio Alvarado, presidential candidate of the National Restoration party (Photo by EZEQUIEL BECERRA/AFP/Getty Images)
Sponsored Content
Ahead of next month’s run-off election between the two candidates, polling suggests that Alvarado Muñoz has built a lead.
An Opol poll this week has Fabricio Alvarado Muñoz on 36.5 percent, while his rival Carlos Alvarado Quesada is on 27.7 percent of the vote.
CID Gallup poll found a smaller lead, with Alvarado Muñoz maintaining a 4.5 percent lead.
The key to the election will likely be voters who backed other candidates in other rounds, with a massive 35.8 percent still undecided or not planning to vote.
With less than two weeks until the April 1 election, however, the two candidates do not have long to make their pitches.
The court had found Costa Rica is in violation of its treaty obligations under the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR) by not providing marriage equality.
The human rights court has jurisdiction over 16 countries, and six of them – Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay – signed a statement welcoming the news.
While Alvarado Quesada has said that Costa Rica should accept the ruling and “advance the agenda of equality”, Alvarado Muñoz has pledged to revoke the treaty altogether rather than comply.
Costa Rican frontrunner presidential candidate, Fabricio Alvarado, of the National Restoration party (Photo by JORGE RENDON/AFP/Getty Images)
Following his strong performance in the first round, he declared the results a victory for the “traditional family”.
Get a Quick and Convenient Personal Loan up to $40,000
LendingClub | Need a Loan? Get a Low Rate!
Ad by Lending Club
The candidate said: “We propose the sovereignty of the family as the fundamental basis of society.”
“Costa Rica has sent a message to traditional parties – never again will they meddle with the family.”
Meanwhile, his rival Carlos Alvarado Quesada had stood firm over his commitment to human rights laws.
He said: “The Costa Rica of the 21st century requires a government that knows how to move forward with vigor, love, happiness (and) the agenda of equality.”
While there has been much pan-American solidarity around the court ruling, notably the US has shied away from pressing Costa Rica over the issue, and recently refused to take part in a statement welcoming the ruling.
The US was the only member of the Organization of American States (OAS) LGBTI Core Group that refused to sign on to a statement supporting the court’s opinion.
The seven nations that signed the statement are Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay.
Fabricio Alvarado, presidential candidate of the National Restoration party (Photo by EZEQUIEL BECERRA/AFP/Getty Images)
The statement says: “Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay, as members of the OAS LGBTI Core Group, welcome the Advisory Opinion of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights reiterating that sexual orientation and gender identity are protected categories under the American Convention on Human Rights and affirming that States have the responsibility to recognize, guarantee and protect the rights that derive from a family bond between persons of the same sex.
“The Court’s Opinion constitutes a valuable contribution to the jurisprudence of the Inter-American Human Rights System, as it reminds States of their obligations regarding guaranteeing and protecting the rights of LGBTI persons across the region.
“Furthermore, the Court understood that a person’s full autonomy to establish a permanent and marital bond is derived from the principle of human dignity, and that such a bond deserves equal rights and protection regardless of the sexual orientation of the parties.
“Likewise, the Advisory Opinion reaffirms the rights of transgender people by affirming that the change of name, image adjustment, as well as the rectification of sex or gender references, in registers and in identity documents so that these are consistent with self-perceived gender identity, is a right protected by the American Convention. As a consequence, States are obliged to recognize, regulate and establish the appropriate procedures for such purposes.
“Without prejudice to the sovereign right of all States to adopt policies and legislation in a progressive manner and to evolve on this matter at their own pace, we agree with the Court’s view that lack of consensus on respecting the rights of certain groups that are characterized by their sexual orientation or their gender identity or expression cannot be considered a reason to deny or restrict their human rights or perpetuate historical or structural discrimination against them.
“The aforementioned members of the Core Group are optimistic that this Advisory Opinion will provide elements for States to drive legislative, administrative and public policy reforms through which progress is made in the protection and guarantee, under equal conditions, of the rights of LGBTI people.”
Guess who just managed to pull a best-selling book out of their hat? That’s right: it’s John Oliver and the staff of Last Week Tonight—specifically, writer Jill Twiss—whose picture book, the somewhat cumbersomely titled Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Presents A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, is, as of this writing, the No. 1 best-selling book on Amazon. It’s a sweet victory, made even sweeter by the book that’s currently down at fourth place: Marlon Bundo’s A Day in the Life of the Vice President, a picture book written by Mike Pence’s 24-year-old daughter, Charlotte, and illustrated by his wife, Second Lady Karen Pence.
Proceeds from Oliver’s book go to the Trevor Project and AIDS United. The audio version is narrated by Jim Parsons, John Lithgow, RuPaul, and Jesse Tyler Ferguson.
Albany FilmFest is excited and honored to be able to showcase the work of Bay Area women filmmakers for the second consecutive year, particularly in this moment when women filmmakers in Hollywood are speaking loud and clear. Once again, we are so impressed by the range of issues (gentrification and displacement, women construction workers in Burma, LGBT relationships, Down syndrome, and even the afterlife), genres, and breadth of these films and filmmakers. We look forward to discussion and audience interaction after the screening.
THE FINAL SHOW
Directed by Dana Nachman
Narrative Short
A woman who has lived a long life full of love and loss has to decide, based on all that she has learned, who to take along to eternity.
About the filmmaker: Dana Nachman
Dana Nachman is an award-winning filmmaker of both fiction and documentary films. Nachman’s 2018 feature documentary Pick of the Litter was sold within 48 hours of its premiere at the Slamdance festival and will be released later this year by IFC’s Sundance Selects label.
WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Directed by Pam Uzzell
Documentary Short
When artist Mildred Howard, daughter of legendary Berkeley activist Mable Howard, loses her South Berkeley home due to soaring rental prices, it costs Berkeley a piece of its history and its legacy. This story of an African American family illuminates both personal power to create possibilities in adversity, and the broader issue of gentrification and a housing crisis that threatens a community’s diversity.
About the filmmaker: Pam Uzzell
Pam Uzzell is a producer and editor specializing in documentaries and video content. Her documentary feature, Unearthing the Dream, featured on AETN, Arkansas’ public television network, won best documentary at the Arkansas Black Independent Film Festival, as well as an Indie Award of Merit. Video content clients are non-profits, local artists, community organizations, unions, art museums and more. Skills include Adobe Creative Suite, Avid, and FCPX.
SO MUCH YELLOW
Directed by Erica Milsom
Narrative Short
Inspired by true stories, the film explores the impressionistic nature of memories about institutionalization and loss in a family, particularly among siblings where one child has Down syndrome.
About the filmmaker: Erica Milsom
A filmmaker working on both independent and commercial projects originating in the San Francisco Bay Area, Erica brings boundless curiosity and a streamlined narrative sensibility to all her work.
THE CONSTRUCT:
FEMALE LABORERS AND THE FIGHT FOR EQUALITY
Directed by Jalena Keane-Lee
Documentary Short
An exploration of gender inequality and rapid change in Burma through the eyes of a human rights activist and a young female day laborer.
About the filmmaker Jalena Keane-Lee
Jalena Keane-Lee is a filmmaker and the Co-Founder of Blue Peel Productions, an all-female video production team. Originally from Berkeley, California, Keane-Lee passionate about empowering women and girls around the world through innovating and engaging documentary and narrative film.
ENCUENTRO
Directed by Florencia Manóvil
Narrative Short
When Claudia meets another Latino women in bar, the encounter leaves her with a new perspective.
About the filmmaker Florencia Manóvil
Florencia Manóvil is a feminist filmmaker passionate about independent film, social justice, environmentalism, and queer identities.
Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Florencia moved to the U.S. at the age of 18 to pursue film studies, eventually settling in the San Francisco Bay Area after living in Boston and New York for several years. A translator and subtitler, writer, filmmaker and mother, Florencia is committed to bringing underrepresented communities to the screen, as well as showcasing Oakland and the Bay Area at large.
In his new memoir, The Rest of It: Hustlers, Cocaine, Depression, and Then Some, 1976-1988, Martin Duberman meditates on an era that, perhaps more than any other, proved pivotal for queer life, political, cultural, and otherwise. “Although most gay people did share the prescribed values and aspirations of mainstream culture,” Duberman writes, “a radical minority… firmly rejected the liberal view that our national institutions were basically sound and that a little tinkering here and there around the edges would make them better still.” As homosexuals serve openly in the military and get married from coast to coast, as the divide between mainstream gay and radical queer becomes a wider gulf, as activists and academics and business fags continue to enrage each other, reading Duberman’s reflection on the period that made this all possible seems one of the most personally and politically important readings one could take on.
Duberman is perhaps best known as a historical biographer. In his lustrous lifetime in letters, he has published quintessential biographies on fireside poet James Russell Lowell (1966), politician Charles Francis Adams (1968), arts patron Lincoln Kirstein (2008), and social activist Howard Zinn (2012). The crowning jewel of his biographical work, however, is the 1989 biography of actor-turned-radical-Black-Marxist Paul Robeson. In a New York Times review of the Robeson biography, critic John Patrick Diggins writes of Duberman’s sage ability, “his astute knowledge of dramaturgy and music, his feeling for character and its complexities and, not least, his understanding that love may express itself, as it did in Robeson’s romantic adventures, in defiance of conventional monogamy, [which] makes Mr. Duberman the ideal biographer of a man who was both prince and pariah.” Much of The Rest of It is devoted to Duberman’s writing of the Robeson biography, which seemed to change his life, and by proxy, the future of queer studies as an intersectional endeavor itself.
Such an endeavor, Duberman illustrates, is not always a harmonious balance. Of taking on the monumental Robeson biography during the 1980s, he explains how “the demands of scholarship (and of my hermit instincts) have always compromised my counter impulse to engage more consistently in direct political activism.” In the words of RuPaul, can I get an amen (from all my fellow queer scholars / writers / progressives)? Such a split self is exhausting, and exhaustion is central to Duberman’s memoir. His historian identity shines throughout The Rest of It, an exhaustive encyclopedic documentation of his own life — its loves and losses, from his mother to his lovers and friends — and of the gay movement itself, both in the streets and in the academy between 1976 and 1988.
The love child of Eve Sedgwick and Oscar Wilde, Duberman does not dumb down the complex era or issues of which he writes; rather, he asks us, his readers, to rise to the occasion. Moving swiftly from the analytical to the confessional mode, The Rest of It is comfortable in its innate inbetweenness, its queerness of form and tone. And thankfully, at a time of such cultural and personal darkness, this is a book also full of queer optimism. “It isn’t all pain and lamentation,” Duberman writes in the book’s preface, ultimately concluding, “at the end of the eighties I’d very much learned to count my many blessings, though, as I wrote one day in my diary, ‘I loathe the ungrateful bastard in me who manages so continually to lose sight of them.’” What a lesson we lucky academics might benefit from learning: that even in a world of political turmoil, we have jobs that allow us time to read and write and ponder. To teach the next generations of readers, writers, and thinkers.
Here Duberman humbly explores a life central to queer studies and activism in the United States. In fact, he may be one of the most important queers readers know little about. He almost always writes about others: in the many biographies, yes, but also his award-winning plays (most notably “In White America,” a 1964 play revived many times over, documenting the quest of racial equality from the nation’s founding to Little Rock Central High School in 1957, a play all-too-relevant today); novels (such as the recent Jews Queers Germans, a breathtaking chronicle of Germany’s homosexual elites between the late 19th century and the start of World War II); and edited collections (particularly the 1989 landmark collection Hidden from History: Reclaiming the Gay and Lesbian Past, an anthology collecting together writers who would become luminaries in the then nascent world of gay and lesbian studies, such as John D’Emilio, Esther Newton, and David Halperin). Just after the decade chronicled in The Rest of It, Duberman founded CUNY’s Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS) in 1991, “the first university-based research center in the United States dedicated to the study of historical, cultural, and political issues of vital concern to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals and communities.” His contribution to the activism of gay revolution in the academy is paramount; in fact, we may not have queer studies at all without him, a history all-too-often and sadly erased.
But here, Duberman turns that historicist’s eye upon himself, and to much success, for both chronicling his own life and changing the way many of us think, research, and write. “Although I was reinhabiting my historian’s role, I was doing it in a new way,” he looks back, “helping to foster a field of inquiry — gender and sexuality studies — of more than academic interest… [providing] the gay and feminist movements with fresh data for challenging old assumptions and stereotypes.” We queers are better off, better informed and better empowered, for Duberman’s astute, engaged lifetime of work. We are also better off for reading The Rest of It: Hustlers, Cocaine, Depression, and Then Some, 1976-1988, for understanding the beautifully written history of one man, yes, but in effect, a part of the history of us all.
LGBT activists made sure to give Vice President a nice hospitable Southern welcome on his trip to Savannah, Georgia this week – with a sea of rainbow flags.
The Veep, who has the worst record on LGBT rights of any US leader in US history, was in town for a visit and to take part in the annual St Patrick’s Day parade.
However, the local community banded together to make sure that everywhere he went, a rainbow flag went with him.
A group of protesters attended the St Pat’s parade route with rainbow flags, while even some local businesses decided to put up flags for the occasion.
Moon River Brewing Company, based in the centre of Savannah, was one of the companies that put up flags.
Owner John Pinkerton wrote: “Moon River Brewing Company is all dressed up for the unwelcome visit of the Prince of Darkness himself, Vice President Mike Pence. Please join me letting our leaders know that spending millions of our tax dollars on security for these kind of frivolous appearances.”
Addressing local leaders, he said: “Mayor Eddie DeLoach, despite my best efforts to reach you, or anybody else in your office, through numerous channels, you have failed to respond.
“How do you reconcile Pence’s long history of hateful policy and rhetoric toward African Americans, LGBT and women? Did you stop to consider the demographic of your own City?
“Let me remind you: Savannah is 55% African American. Women make up over 50% of the population, pretty much everywhere you go. And Savannah is probably (and thankfully) the gayist city in the southeast!”
According to LGBT activists, Pence spent less than an hour at the St Patrick’s Day festivities, pursued along the way by LGBT rights campaigners who “made sure there were rainbows in every photo op”.
Ahead of the event, Savannah Pride, First City Network, and Savannah LGBT Center issued a joint statement noting Pence’s record.
A group of protesters (Photo: Savannah Pride)
They wrote: “As members of Savannah’s LGBTQ community, we are troubled by our public officials’ welcoming of Vice President Mike Pence.
“Mr Pence has proved himself to be one of the most anti-LGBTQ political crusaders to serve in government. As governor of Indiana, he led a concerted effort to deny equality to LGBTQ people, opposing gay marriage and signing into law a bill that made it legal for businesses to turn away gay and lesbian customers.
“As a member of Congress, he voted against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, co-sponsored a bill to define marriage between a man and woman, and sought to cut off HIV funding to organizations that did not encourage the reprehensible practice of gay ‘conversion therapy’.
(Photo: Savannah Pride)
“These attacks have continued with at least two dozen actions by the current administration against LGBT people, including those serving in our armed forces.
“Ordinarily, there is no place for his brand of discrimination in Savannah. However, this weekend, he will feel right at home at the largest St Patrick’s Day Parade in America that discriminates against LGBTQ organizations.
“We Savannahians are proud of our diversity, so we welcome Vice President Pence to join our interracial gay families raising adopted children, trans service members proudly defending their country, queer artists inspiring creativity, immigrant students dreaming of a bright future with a same-sex spouse, and the many other faces of the Hostess City that will be proudly lining the streets this weekend.”
The Vice President banned media from the meeting with Mr Varadkar, after the leader said he would be raising LGBT rights.
Ever the diplomat, Mr Varadkar did not detail exactly what was said afterwards – but did reveal that Pence had offered to host him and his partner in future.
A general view of atmosphere at Family Equality Council’s Impact Awards at The Globe Theatre at Universal Studios on March 17, 2018 in Universal City, California. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Family Equality Council)
The importance of visibility and vulnerability dominated the 2018 Family Equality Council’s Impact Awards Gala Saturday night, March 17, at Universal Studios Globe Theatre. This year’s ceremony honored interior designers Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent, stars of the TLC show Nate and Jeremiah by Design and Johnson & Johnson’s Care with Pride Initiative, now in its seventh year.
“It’s more important than ever that we celebrate those who use their platform to advocate for our right to form our families, and protect our children from discrimination. Loving families like Nate and Jeremiah’s and high impact programs like Care for Pride are exactly what we need to remind our country that love wins and to remind America what real family values look like,” Family Equity Council CEO Stan J. Sloan told the Los Angeles Blade.
UNIVERSAL CITY, CA – MARCH 17: Jeremiah Brent, Nate Berkus and Armie Hammer attend Family Equality Council’s Impact Awards at The Globe Theatre at Universal Studios on March 17, 2018 in Universal City, California. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Family Equality Council)
Brent told the Los Angeles Blade that he and Berkus “believe in opening up the doors and letting people know that we love the way you love…everything about us is the same, and as cliché as the saying is, love is love.” The couple didn’t set out to be role models when creating their show, he added, but simply wanted to “be honest and vulnerable” and to expose young LGBTQ viewers to a gay couple on television.
“Call Me By Your Name” actor Armie Hammer presented the couple with the Murray-Reese Family Award, describing them as having “a perfect house…and a perfect life,” adding, “there’s not a better couple in the world to receive this award.”
Berkus and Brent were repeatedly interrupted with rousing applause accepting the honor. “Both of us have always believed that visibility and vulnerability are the birthplaces of real transformation,” said Brent.
They lamented that LGBTQ history has been dominated by a societal expectation of shame, and shared that in their show, “through the exercise of design, we break down barriers and normalize the way our family exists to people in the middle of the country who may not know a family with two dads at the heart and at the helm,” said Berkus.
Visibly emotional, Brent ended the speech by mentioning the couple’s young daughter, Poppy, and telling her, “This room is full of people that care.”
Actress/singer Olivia Holt introduced the Johnson & Johnson honoree, saying the Care with Pride Initiative celebrates the LGBTQ community through social media, participation in Pride events and by donating $1 to an LGBTQ advocacy organization for every photo shared through their Create a Photo app.
UNIVERSAL CITY, CA – MARCH 17: Reed Harris II attends Family Equality Council’s Impact Awards at The Globe Theatre at Universal Studios on March 17, 2018 in Universal City, California. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Family Equality Council)
“A brand that stands for something is two times as powerful as one that doesn’t,” said Reed Harris II, accepting the award on behalf of the organization. He also shared an anecdote about an employee’s son coming out and thanked the parents in attendance for allowing their children to be vulnerable and unconditionally loved. “The qualities you embody as a family—love, acceptance, pride, togetherness—are qualities that we all need to embody as individuals and as a country,” Harris said.
Event emcee actor/comedian Alec Mapa told the Los Angles Blade that he is dismayed that “cruel, hateful laws” negatively affect families with LGBTQ parents like his own. He praised the Family Equality Council’s work in providing information and resources to those families who don’t have it.
“Love is love is love, and love is what makes a family—it doesn’t matter if it’s by blood, by adoption, gay or straight or lesbian,” actress Constance Marie said, adding that she has imparted this value of acceptance to her young daughter.
UNIVERSAL CITY, CA – MARCH 17: Lola Jessika (R), her daughters and Karamo Brown (L) attend Family Equality Council’s Impact Awards at The Globe Theatre at Universal Studios on March 17, 2018 in Universal City, California. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Family Equality Council)
Queer Eye actor Karamo Brown gave a call to action in his speech, imploring that “if [Parkland student gun control advocates] can rise up and work fearlessly in the face of that terrible moment, then we have no excuse not to rise up in this moment and work just as fearlessly for a better tomorrow, too.”
Lola Jessika, in perhaps the most emotionally charged speech of the gala, shared how she used her opportunity appearing in Uber’s annual Pride commercial to be vulnerable and come out as pansexual to her family. “Embracing our vulnerability can be risky, but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love, belonging, and joy,” she said, inviting her daughters to join her onstage as she received a standing ovation from the audience.
UNIVERSAL CITY, CA – MARCH 17: Armie Hammer and CEO of Family Equality Council Stan Sloan attend Family Equality Council’s Impact Awards at The Globe Theatre at Universal Studios on March 17, 2018 in Universal City, California. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Family Equality Council)
In his remarks, Sloan talked about Family Equity Council’s work to fight Attorney General Jeff Sessions and discriminatory state laws that are preventing 117,000 youth currently waiting for families from being adopted by LGBTQ parents. Galvanized, the crowd donated over $378,000 to support Family Equity Council’s work for LGBTQ youth seeking families, research, advocacy, and offsetting the cost of adoption for lower income LGBTQ parents, among other initiatives.
UNIVERSAL CITY, CA – MARCH 17: A general view of atmosphere at Family Equality Council’s Impact Awards at The Globe Theatre at Universal Studios on March 17, 2018 in Universal City, California. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Family Equality Council)
To end the night, singer Debby Holiday performed “Put a Little Love in Your Heart,” a song co-written by her father Jimmy Holiday for Jackie DeShannon in 1968. The song aptly represented Family Equity Council’s message: “If you want the world to know that we won’t let hatred show, put a little love in your heart.”
NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell (courtesy NCLR)
LGBT politicos nationwide were struck by the March 15 announcement that National Center for Lesbian Rights executive director Kate Kendell was stepping down after more than 22 years of service advancing social and economic justice through the lens of LGBT civil rights.
“Kate literally changed the world. Her leadership in advancing the rights of LGBT people from being criminals to being able to marry has transformed the lives of millions of people. She always pushed the envelope and was a constant voice for our movement to embrace our communities’ diversity, partner with others and embrace a progressive agenda,” says Geoff Kors, Palm Springs City Councilmember, former Equality California Executive Director, and Kendell’s “brother from another mother.” “She has an ability to connect with people on our shared humanity and move them to do the right thing even when it is politically challenging.”
“We are so grateful for Kate’s decades of leadership in the fight for full LGBTQ equality and social justice,” says Equality California Executive Director Rick Zbur, noting that NCLR is currently co-representing Equality California in Stockman v. Trump, a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s transgender military ban. “They broke the mold when they made Kate Kendell. And while her leadership at NCLR will be missed, her legacy will live on in the work of generations of LGBTQ civil rights advocates who will stand on her shoulders.”
It is that passionate commitment to justice and human dignity that helped Kendell grow the small San Francisco-based national non-profit into a powerhouse legal advocacy legal organization.
“Kate Kendell’s charisma, passion and vision have resulted in NCLR becoming one of the most creative and effective advocacy organizations in this country. Every LGBTQ person has benefitted because of her incredible leadership,” said Donna Hitchens, the retired San Francisco Superior Court judge who founded NCLR in 1977.
Kate Kendell, wife Sandy before Rainbow Flag (Courtesy NCLR)
“Kate Kendall is one of the most fearless and tireless advocates the LGBTQ equality movement has ever known,” says Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin. “Kate’s profound work is woven into the fabric of our movement and millions of Americans have felt the impact of her unwavering leadership. I am proud to call Kate a friend, colleague, and a true champion for equality.”
Even journalists pay Kendell respect. “Authentic, empathetic, fully present, flawless mix of PC and un-PC, openminded, Mormon good-girl ethics, rebellious lesbian side, a hard worker not a brander, and a fully spin-free zone. It don’t get much better,” tweeted San Diego-based semi-retired reporter Rex Wockner.
Kendell started thinking about her career trajectory a few years ago. “I’ve engaged in a fair amount of self-interrogation and reflection about when might be the right time” to leave, Kendell says in an extensive March 15 phone interview.
“It just really felt like this was the right time for me—I hit 58 next month—to pursue whatever my next chapter is,” Kendell adds. “And it’s the right time for NCLR to have a new, obviously younger leader.”
The NCLR board and management team is working on a succession plan. The search for the new executive director will officially launch on April 1.
Kate Kendell debating Rev. Jerry Falwell on CNN’s “Crossfire” (Courtesy NCLR)
“I had no idea when I took the job as legal director in 1994 or even as executive director in 1996 that I would be in the role this long, that I would be a part of some of the most powerful resonant and culture-changing moments in the LGBTQ movement, or that I would be able to look back on a 22-year run with such a profound sense of gratitude and humility,” she says.
“I was lucky enough to meet Kate back in 1994, when she started as NCLR’s Legal Director after working at the Utah ACLU and we clicked right away,” Mary L. Bonauto, longtime attorney with GLAD (GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders), tells the LA Blade. “For one, there were few women working in the legal organizations at that time, and we were both eager to use our legal skills to stick up for our community—for liberty, freedom and equality, even as others tried to stuff us back into the closet. And we were able to collaborate across the miles on cases and policy issues sometimes, too, including parenting cases.” NCLR’s “docket of protecting all families and children…is foundational to many of our other successes.”
Parenting issues were NCLR’s first priority as lesbian parents in heterosexual marriages came out and lost custody of their children. For generations, invisibility “protected us from the worst of this nation’s bigotry and assaultive approach to LGBTQ people. But it also rendered us unable to be our own advocates because we couldn’t be open and fight for what we wanted,” Kendell says.
”And then AIDS—which galvanized our community like nothing else could have,” Kendell continues. “And while it was never worth the death count, it still put in stark relief that being hidden, being silent, being invisible was a matter of life and death. Our visibility, our coming out, our being adamant about our own humanity and demanding that this nation recognize and honor that humanity is how we got to where we are now—in very short order by civil rights-time measurement.”
But while “the rapidity with which we’ve seen landmark change is breath-taking,” Kendell says, family issues such as adoption and child custody issues are “still a huge problem in many states.”
Some of the most heart-wrenching cases in the 1990s involved lesbian couples separating with the biological parent treating the non-biological parent as a “legal stranger” with no right to even see the child.
Collage of Kate Kendell and family— wife Sandy, son Julian, 20 and daughter Ariana 14. (Courtesy NCLR)
“To this day, I find it abhorrent in the extreme that there are lesbians who would use heterosexist homophobic legal arguments against not just their former partner but our entire community. It still haunts me the cases that we lost with children four, five, six-year olds being denied any ongoing relationship with their parent! Forget how traumatic and hard this is for the lesbian co-parent—as a parent myself, my kids were about the same age when we were in the thick of these cases—imagine the trauma to this child!” Kendell says. “The venality and the self-loathing and the selfishness embedded in such an action still makes my blood boil.”
Lorri L. Jean, CEO of the LA LGBT Center, says she is sad Kendell is stepping down. “Personally, she has been a valued colleague and friend and I’m going to sorely miss her indomitable presence, her support, her insight and her sense of humor,” says Jean, who also took a stand against the “legal stranger” arguments. “She has done her work with a rare and admirable combination of selflessness, courage and integrity. LGBTQ people everywhere have better lives thanks to her leadership.”
NCLR made history arguing for Sharon Smith’s right to file a wrongful death civil lawsuit after the 2001 murder of her beloved domestic partner of seven years, Diane Alexis Whipple.
Whipple, a lacrosse coach, was coming home with groceries when she was viciously attacked by two large dogs and mauled to death in her apartment hallway. Neighbors Marjorie Knoller and her husband, Robert Noel were eventually convicted of second-degree murder and manslaughter, respectively.
Smith, a vice president at a brokerage firm, filed a wrongful death suit—but California only allowed surviving spouses, children and parents to file such claims. NCLR argued to San Francisco Superior Court Judge James Robertson II that the committed couple was essentially married. Robertson agreed that limiting the right to sue to straight spouses violated the Equal Protection Clause of the state constitution.
“Up until Sharon’s case, it was virtually unheard of for a same-sex partner to be permitted to sue for wrongful death. In every prior case, the surviving partner was deemed a ‘legal stranger,’ regardless of the length or depth of the relationship,” Kendell wrote on her NCLR blog in 2011. “But that measure of vindication, while enormously important, could never bridge Sharon’s terrible loss.”
Kendell and Smith remain very close friends. “Sharon’s case really made history and changed the way people viewed our relationships,” Kendell says.
In 2004, Kendell witnessed history again. The week before Valentine’s Day when Kendell got a call from Mayor Gavin Newsom’s chief of staff saying Newsom was going to begin issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples on Monday, Feb. 9.
“At the time, I thought it was not a good idea,” Kendell says, since the marriage victory in Massachusetts prompted calls for a federal constitution ban on same sex marriage, endorsed by President George W. Bush. “It’s like a little bit of a powder keg right now,” she told him before he made it clear the action would happen “no matter what.”
Kendell talked to NCLR Legal Director Shannon Minter and Bonato, who won the Massachusetts marriage equality case. By Sunday, Kendell concluded: “You know what—game on. Let’s just do it.”
However, Monday morning it became clear that more time was needed, including for Newsom to do some homework on the movement. “He was humble enough to understand that he needed a few more days,” Kendell says.
They prepared the new proper forms then Joyce Newstadt, Newsom’s policy director, and Kendell decided the first couple to marry had to be lesbian icons Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon.
“I called Del and Phyllis’ home and Phyllis answered and I said, ‘Phyllis, I know you and Del have already done so much for the movement, but I have one more request. Would you be willing to be the first couple that would be issued a marriage license by the City and County of San Francisco because Mayor Newsom wants to begin issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples. And she said, ‘Well, just a minute. Let me ask Del.’ I heard her put the phone down and then I heard her say, her voice a little bit muffled, ‘Kate wants to know if we want to get married.’ I didn’t hear what Del said but Phyllis came back and said, ‘Del said we’ll do it,’”Kendell recalls.
The clandestine team included Kors, Newsom’s office, the City Attorney’s office—and on Thursday morning, Feb. 12, history happened.
Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin marry in 2004 (Photo by Liz Mangelsdorf, courtesy NCLR)
Kendell drove the couple to City Hall in her 1972 Mercedes sedan, escorting them through the basement to avoid being seen. They waited outside Treasurer Mable Tang’s office until—“one of the greatest privileges of my life—I was there when Mable Tang did the wedding vows for Del and Phyllis and witnessed Del and Phyllis’ wedding—Feb. 12, 2004, the 51th anniversary of the day they first met.”
Kate Kendell and Gavin Newsom (Photo courtesy NCLR)
“In 2004—at a time when many in the Democratic Party were not ready to support marriage equality—Kate was a force whose advocacy and leadership gave us the courage to marry over 4,000 same-sex couples,” California Lt. Gov Newsom tells the LA Blade. “That’s just one in a long list of fights Kate and NCLR have taken on, and won, to benefit LGBTQ folks across the country. I am grateful for her counsel and friendship, and for her decades of bold leadership at the forefront of the movement for equality.”
“I always knew when Kate was at the table that we would be on solid ground to do the right thing,” says Newstat, now CEO of Rocket Science Associates.
Roberta Achtenberg and Kate Kendell (Photo courtesy NCLR)
“Kate is a force of nature, and her leadership of NCLR has been nothing short of brilliant! I will remember always the day we stood shoulder to shoulder with tears in our eyes and love in our hearts as Phyllis and Del said their vows and ignited the marriage revolutions! That, and so much more, our Kate has helped make possible,” says Roberta Achtenberg, former San Francisco Supervisor and historic high-ranking official in the Clinton administration.
Kendell is proud of NCLR’s role in winning the consolidated 2004 case that resulted from that event. Minter argued, In Re Marriages before the California Supreme Court, which treated the transgender NCLR attorney with dignity and respect during oral arguments. The Court ruled marriage equality was a fundamental constitutional right in May 2008.
“Shannon was an employee of NCLR before I even got to NCLR. In fact, he and I had met a couple of years prior when I was at the ACLU and he came to Utah because we were trying to get a young lesbian girl released from a psychiatric facility where she had been institutionalized by her parents when she came out,” Kendell recalls.
“Shannon and I had been through so much together and to see him standing before the California Supreme Court as our Legal Director and my partner in so much of what had been great about NCLR and my job and to be someone I had so much respect and love and affection for was just a spectacular moment. I was proud, I was moved, I was emotional. I was inspired. It was fantastic. And he was brilliant,” Kendell gushes warmly.
NCLR Legal Director Shannon Minter and Kate Kendell (Photo by Trish Tunney, courtesy NCLR)
Minter became the first individual to transition at an LGBT organization and the first full time transgender employee at a national LGBT organization.
Minter remembers Kendell’s reaction when he announced he was going to transitioning at work.
“I first talked to her about it in 1995, a time when transgender issues were not yet much on the radar of any national LGB group,” Minter tells the LA Blade. “Like most other LGB people at the time, Kate knew very little about transgender issues, but her response was always completely spot-on. She didn’t pretend to know more than she did, but she was enthusiastically supportive on both a personal and professional level from day one.
“When I actually transitioned in 1996, she sheltered me from any negative responses and offered unflagging acceptance and support,” Minter continues. “She set such a positive example for the whole movement in that regard. At the same time, she was always real, including telling me when I complained about having a hard time finding men’s shirts that fit that my arms, which were too short! I have loved teasing her about that over the years.”
He adds, “Kate has never flinched from a fight. She has empowered our staff to launch innovative new projects and then trusted them to take risks. As a result, she has nurtured some of the most impressive leaders in our community.”
One of the hardest issues was Proposition 8, the anti-gay marriage ballot initiative that passed in November 2008.
Kate and Sandy get married (Photo courtesy NCLR)
“What happened in Prop 8 was the lowest point of my career and it just followed on the heels of one of the highest points of my career,” Kendell says. “When we won marriage in California, I was ecstatic….I knew that the resonance of ending discrimination in marriage was going to be a huge lift to every other facet of the lives of queer people. And I believe that has been borne out to be true,” she says.
“I knew Prop 8 was an existential threat and I knew it had a very good chance of passage. But it was impossible to get people to focus on it because everybody was still elated that we’d won marriage and they couldn’t believe that California voters would vote to take away marriage!” Kendell says, her voice rising as if reliving the fall of 2008. “So when Prop 8 passed—I remember the entire night. I remember the growing feeling of dread and nausea. And I remember a sleepless night absolutely devastated and then having to face the next morning. It was a brutal, brutal experience” that left her seriously depressed for six months.
But there was an upside. “I believe that had it not been for Prop 8, we wouldn’t have won marriage as quickly as we did in this country. It shocked the shit out of people that we could see marriage taken away at the ballot box and it galvanized and energized a huge new generation of LGBTQ folks to engage in the fight. And that moment really changed everything, in terms of our momentum,” Kendell says.
Federal Prop 8 plaintiffs Kris Perry and Sandy Stier at the Supreme Court (Photo by Washington Blade photographer Michael Key)
“We have admired her courageous leadership and ability to build support for NCLR for many years but we will be forever grateful to Kate for her unequivocal support during our challenge to Proposition 8 and subsequent friendship,” successful federal Prop 8 plaintiffs Kris Perry and Sandy Stier tell The LA Blade.
Kendell and NCLR have also worked hard on intersectional issues that “deeply impact LGBTQ people,” such as immigration, policing, criminal justice, asylum and poverty issues. “If those issues are not an essential part of every LGBTQ organization, we are doing a disservice and we are leaving people behind,” she says. “There can be no more important work for us to do than actually saving lives.”
“Kate has a clear vision of the intersections in our communities. Whether as an advocate for LGBT immigrants, same sex parents, or transgender youth, she has the best interests of all of us impacted by the range of prejudice and bigotry when she bravely steps forward time after time,” says longtime Democratic Latina politico, Gloria Nieto. “She is the definition of fierce and our communities are more fierce thanks to Kate Kendell.”
Kate Kendell at the Women’s March 2017 (Photo courtesy NCLR)
“Having worked side-by-side with Kate Kendell—including as co-counsel in a number of path-breaking cases—for three decades,” says Jon Davidson, former Legal Director of Lambda Legal, “I often have had the pleasure of seeing Kate’s inspired leadership, passion, smarts, and tenacity up close. She fought tirelessly for the full breadth of our communities, ensured that the LGBTQ rights movement incorporated essential feminist perspectives, and successfully built alliances that have been key to our success. We collectively owe her a huge debt of gratitude, as we certainly would not have made the progress we have but for her many years of hard work.”
Kendell feels that the fight for social justice and intersectionality is “baked into DNA” at NCLR. And while the Right “is still going to fight us at every turn,” her 22 years have taught her that “people are generally good and want to be good but are stopped by being scared.” So, she says, “it’s important to meet people where they are, even when that’s difficult.”
The stakes now are high. “We are in a fight about who we are as a nation,” Kate Kendell says. “But I do have hope. Like Harvey Milk said, we have to give them hope. Because if we lose hope, we concede ground to our enemy. And I do not concede!”
Transgender people are born that way, according to a new study.
Researchers at the University of São Paulo’s Medical School have compared the brains of trans and cisgender adults, and discovered that they are significantly different.
In the study, it was found that the insula – a region of the brain – had a distinct volume depending on whether it was in the brain of a trans or cis subject.
The insula plays an important role in people’s body image, self-awareness and empathy.
Giancarlo Spizzirri, first author of the study – which was published in Scientific Reports – said that the result led them to believe that people are trans in the womb.
“We found that trans people have characteristics that bring them closer to the gender with which they identify and their brains have particularities, suggesting that the differences begin to occur during gestation,” he said in a statement.
(Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images)
Carmita Abdo, coordinator of the Sexuality Research Programme at the university and the study’s principal investigator, emphasised that the study showed being trans was not a product of society.
It found that the term ‘transgender’ “doesn’t just refer to different kinds of behaviour that people develop,” said Abdo.
“We observed specificities in the brains of trans individuals, an important finding in light of the idea of gender ideology, ” she added
“The evidence is building that it’s not a matter of ideology. Our own research based on MRI scans points to a detectable structural basis.”
Professor Geraldo Busatto, who heads the Psychiatric Neuroimaging Laboratory at the university’s hospital, said it would be “simplistic to make a direct link with transgender, but the detection of a difference in the insula is relevant”.
Busatto, an associate researcher, said this was because “trans people have many issues relating to their perception of their own body, because they don’t identify with the sex assigned at birth, and in addition, they unfortunately suffer discrimination and persecution.”
They said it was one of many “internet-exploited sexual fetishes that try to make themselves a rights movement.”
The meeting, called Transgenderism and the War on Women and hosted in the House of Commons, also heard how trans women ‘parasitically’ invaded women’s spaces and were a threat to women’s liberation.
Sheila Jeffreys in 2009 (Photo: Terri Strange / Youtube)
Displaying a presentation entitled ‘transgenderism and the assault on feminism’, Australian academic Sheila Jeffreys opened the event by saying: “Men can’t become women, what’s so difficult about that?”
Jake Bain (right) and his boyfriend (Photo courtesy Jake Bain)
Hundreds of pro-LGBT protesters turned up to drown out the Westboro Baptist Church, when they decided to target a gay high school footballer.
Jake Bain, a popular footballer at John Burroughs School in St. Louis, Missouri, came out publicly as gay last October at an all-school assembly.
His bravery was praised by his coach and teammates – but the young athlete attracted attention from the notoriously anti-LGBT Westboro Baptist Church, which announced it would picket the school.
However, when the protesters turned up to the school on Monday morning, they were met by a crowd of more than 100 pro-LGBT demonstrators, who drowned out their hateful message.
He said: “When the Westboro Baptist Church started rolling in… there was probably already 200 people that were outside, with all kinds of signs in support of my community and in support of the LGBT community as a whole.”
Meanwhile, the school held a special assembly on LGBT issues.
He said: “In the morning in our auditorium, we had a bunch of student speakers come and talk to us, both speakers who are from the LGBT community and also [allies].
“Just to go outside and just get to see all the amazing support, it was really special. … I would say [Westboro] were probably outnumbered 3-to-1.”
Bain added: “They targeted me because they saw that a gay athlete was in the news for the past couple of weeks.
“Honestly, I think they got a little scared that people are starting to realise that it doesn’t really matter if you’re gay, and that everybody should be treated equally.
Pay Off High Interest Debt Now – Get a Quick and Convenient Personal Loan
LendingClub | Need a Loan? Get a Low Rate!
Ad by Lending Club
“I think they realise that the tides are changing, and as this generation and the next generations to come continue to grow and learn, more and more people are becoming accepting. That goes against everything that they stand for.
He added: “They’ve been trying to suppress any kind of person that wants to step out and show that you can be whoever you wanna be. So I think that’s kinda the main reason why they decided to come after me.”
The teen will soon be heading to Indiana State University on a football scholarship.
He said: “Going to Indiana State is gonna be really special. I mean, football has been my passion for as long as I can remember.
“I’ve been playing since I was 11 years old. It’s always been my dream to go on and to play Division I football. So the fact that I’ve kinda been able to fulfill that dream has really been special for me.”
The church, based in Topeka, Kansas, is notorious for its opposition to “fags” and “fag-enablers”, picketing anything related to LGBT equality as part of its quest to spread a message of hatred.
But the Kansas-based cult, run by the Phelps family, has not impressed another contender for the most homophobic man in America.
He made the claim while suggesting that the neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville were also “in on the conspiracy”.
He said: “It defies reason that these groups aren’t infiltrated by undercover government agents.
“If you’re a war gamer, there’s no better asset on the field than your own agent posing as an enemy extremist.
“I always suspected, without proof, that the Westboro Baptist Church ‘God Hates Fags’ group was their asset in the ‘gay marriage’ battle.
“What better way to hurt the pro-family movement than to have a supposedly ‘anti-gay’ group stage obscene protests at the funerals of combat veterans in front of network television cameras.
“What better way to discredit conservative populists than TV footage of rallies where conservatives mix with Nazis (real or planted) carrying racist and antisemitic signs?”
