Anya Crittenton

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Sharice Davids is the First LGBTI Native American Member of Congress in the US

The people of Kansas today voted in the first ever LGBTI Native American to Congress with Sharice Davids as their preferred candidate. Davids ran for office in Kansas’ 3rd congressional district. She earned 52.8% of the vote, with 70% of precincts submitting their votes. Her Republican opponent, Kevin Yoder, got 44.5% of the vote. The third-party candidate, Chris Clemmons (Libertarian), took 2.4% of the total vote. Davids is a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, a Native American tribe in Wisconsin. She has lived and worked on numerous reservations, working with multiple tribes. From 2016-17, she was one of 16 who participated […]

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Jared Polis is the First Openly Gay Man Elected Governor in the US

Jared Polis is a history-maker in today’s midterm elections in the United States. He is officially the first openly gay man elected a state governor. Polis ran as the Democratic candidate in Colorado’s gubernatorial race. He was declared the victor with 52% of the votes after 57% of the precincts reporting. He ran opposing Republican candidate Walker Stapleton, who took 44.9% of the votes. Third-party candidates Scott Helker (Libertarian) and Bill Hammons (Unity Party of Colorado) took 2.4% and 0.9% of the votes, respectively. ‘Tonight, Colorado rejected the Trump-Pence administration’s politics of bigotry and fear by choosing bold pro-equality champion […]

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Gay Chicago Police Officer Under Investigation for Allegedly Beating a Gay Couple

Tom Stacha on a stretcher going into the ambulance | Photo: Video/Chicago Tribune 1 November 2018    20:32 GMT A police officer in Chicago is currently under investigation for allegedly beating a gay couple outside a club. Two friends of Sgt. Eric Elkins, as well as a friend of the victims, implicated Elkins in the attack on 29 September. According to reports, the friend of the victims identified Elkins ‘immediately and without hesitation’ from a lineup of photos of suspects. So far, Elkins faces no official charges. On Wednesday (31 October), however, Anthony Guglielmi, a Chicago police spokesman, described Elkins as a ‘person of […]

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Hyatt Hotel Announces it’s Going to Stop Hosting Hate Groups

Hyatt Hotels has announced they will no longer host hate groups in their spaces. The decision comes after one of their hotels in Virginia hosted an annual conference for an anti-Muslim group. At the Skift Global Forum in New York City on Thursday (27 September), CEO Mark Hoplamazian announced the decision. ‘If a group is primarily focused on disparaging a group by virtue of their identity…that’s really where we need to draw the line,’ he said. Hoplamazian also added that traits like empathy and inclusiveness are ‘deeply personal to me’. He also clarified that groups like the anti-Muslim one in Virginia are […]

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Transgender People Suing Kansas Over Discriminatory Birth Certificate Policy

Luc Bensimon, one of the plaintiffs | Photo: Facebook/Luc Malik Bensimon 15 October 2018 Four transgender plaintiffs in Kansas — two men and two women — are suing the state, saying the state’s policy on birth certificates violates their rights. While the state allows changes to driver’s licenses and state ID cards, they refused to change the sex on four people’s birth certificates. Lambda Legal filed the lawsuit, Foster v. Andersen, with the U.S. District Court in Kansas City. They are representing Luc Bensimon, Nyla Foster, Jessica Hicklin, and a final client identified by his initials, C.K. ‘By not allowing transgender people like […]

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US Medical Group Takes Stand Against Intersex Surgery on Children

Protesting intersex surgeries | Photo: Flickr/Stuart Crawford 18 September 2018 The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) in the United States has taken a stance against performing unnecessary surgery on intersex children. The organization, which was founded in 1947, issued the new guidelines earlier this year. Intersex people are those born with variations in their sex characteristics. This can include chromosomes, gonads, sex hormones, or genitals. Most of the time, these variations are benign and non-threatening, meaning intersex surgery is largely cosmetic. Doctors regularly began performing surgery on intersex infants and children in the 1960s. Rationale for this action stemmed […]

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Tadd Fujikawa Becomes First US Open Golfer to Come Out

Japanese-American professional golfer Tadd Fujikawa has come out as gay. In 2006, Fujikawa became the youngest player every to qualify for the US Open at the age of 15. He is one of the first pro golfers to come out, and the first US Open player to do so. On Tuesday (11 September), Fujikawa made an Instagram post to announce his coming out. ‘So… I’m gay,’ he begins the post simply. ‘My hope is this post will inspire each and every one of you to be more empathetic and loving towards one another.’ https://www.instagram.com/p/BnkdY3TlalW/ He reveals later in the post […]

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YouTube Apologizes to LGBTQ Creators

YouTube apologized on Twitter for the ways they’ve ‘let the LGBTQ community down’. The company made their statements on Saturday (30 June), the last day of Pride. ‘It’s the last day of Pride Month and we wanted to reach out to the LGBTQ community,’ they wrote on the social media platform. ‘We’re proud of the incredible LGBTQ voices on our platform and the important role you play in the lives of young people.’ Then they continued by acknowledging their missteps. They specifically cited ‘inappropriate ads’ as well as their monetization policy. ‘We’re sorry and we want to do better,’ they […]

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