Laverne Cox, Gabrielle Union and Halle Berry have joined hundreds of prominent feminists in taking a stand for trans women and girls.
More than 465 feminist leaders in business, entertainment, media, politics and social justice signed an open letter released by GLAAD in honour of the Transgender Day of Visibility on Wednesday (31 March).
The letter calls for an end to the ongoing discriminatory rhetoric and attacks against trans people, and serves as a proud statement of solidarity between cis and transgender women.
Signatories include A-list celebrities such as Regina King, Selena Gomez and Megan Rapinoe, as well as activists and women’s rights groups like Gloria Steinem, the Me Too Movement and Planned Parenthood.
Others who signed include Mj Rodriguez, Patricia Arquette, Judith Light, Cynthia Erivo, Anna Wintour, Chelsea Clinton, Sarah Paulson, Peppermint, Lena Dunham, Beanie Feldstein, Alison Brie, Bella Hadid, Lena Waithe, Wanda Sykes and Janelle Monáe.
“Trans women and girls have been an integral part of the fight for gender liberation. We uphold that truth and denounce the ongoing anti-transgender rhetoric and efforts we witness in various industries,”
“We acknowledge with clarity and strength that transgender women are women and that transgender girls are girls. And we believe that honouring the diversity of women’s experiences is a strength, not a detriment to the feminist cause.
“All of us deserve the same access, freedoms, and opportunities. We deserveequal access to education, employment, healthcare, housing, recreation, and public accommodations. And we must respect each person’s right to bodily autonomy and self-determination.”
The signatories highlight the “wave of bigoted governmental policies and legislation” launched this year in the form of bills banning trans healthcare and inclusion in sports. They draw parallels with past efforts to legislate cis women’s healthcare, warning: “We refuse to let youth endure that now.”
The letter calls on others to fight against these “unnecessary and unethical barriers” placed on trans women and girls by lawmakers, as well as “those who co-opt the feminist label in the name of division and hatred”.
“Our feminism must be unapologetically expansive so that we can leave the door open for future generations,” they state conclusively. You can read their letter here in full.
Half of Generation Z thinks that traditional gender roles and labels related to the gender binary are outdated, according to a refreshing new study.
As issues of gender equality continue to challenge societal norms and influence public opinion, US-based ad agency Bigeye sought to understand consumers’ perception of gendered products and advertising.ADVERTISING
For the 2021 Gender Study the agency polled 2,000 adults from a range of ages, incomes, locations, and gender identities. Questions included the kinds of clothing they wear to their opinion on gender-neutral children’s toys and education.
They found that 50 per cent of Generation Z-ers are pushing back against the gender binary, and that sentiment is even higher among Millennials at 56 percent.
More than half (51 per cent) of all respondents agreed that, in a decade, we will associate gender with stereotypical personality traits, products, and occupations much less than we do today.
“While the majority of Americans are cisgender, a significant percentage of younger generations believe the notion of identity is fluid and decidedly non-traditional,” said Adrian Tennant, VP of Insights at Bigeye and the leader of the research team.
“This study provides a snapshot of the broad, generational spectrum of opinions and beliefs held toward gender identity and expression within the media we consume daily through TV, ads and online platforms.
“While the majority of older generations remain skeptical of advertising’s ability to change perceptions of traditional gender roles, Gen X and younger are leading the charge and challenging brands to portray more diverse audiences and expressions.”
It seems women are more likely to embrace gender-neutrality than men, as nearly three-quarters of cis female parents encourage gender-neutral play for their children (73 percent), a figure significantly higher than cis male parents (59 per cent).
And fifth of female respondents believe that none of the consumer product categories benefit at all from being gendered.
“Toiletries are constantly gendered and it is completely unnecessary. They should be labeled with the qualities of the product and the fragrance, if any. No mention of male or female is needed,” one Gen Y respondent wrote.
In another positive finding, LGBT+ participants were more likely to have faith in the next generation, with 82 per cent of queer millennials and 88 per cent of queer Boomers believing that Gen Z is better educated about non-binaryand transgender identities.
The LGBT+ community is made up of a diverse group of people from all over the world, and their stories are often overlooked in history books.
PinkNews spoke to ambassadors and workers from LGBT+ youth charity Just Like Us about the historical figures they wished they had learned about in school, from the past to the present.
Anne Lister was a prolific diarist in the 19th century. (Public Domain)
Anne Lister, English landowner and diarist
Rita Leci, 21, said she learned about Anne Lister by watching the historical BBC drama Gentleman Jack. Lister is often heralded as the “first modern lesbian” as she took charge of her family’s estate and lived openly as a lesbian with her partner.
“I’ve always found her story really inspirational as she chose to go against society’s expectations by becoming a businesswoman and by choosing to be happy with someone she loves in a time when this was seriously frowned upon,” Levis said.
She explained Lister’s story “makes me realise that we are really lucky in a lot of ways, as women nowadays in the UK, to be able to pursue whatever career we like and to love and live with whomever we choose”.
American Pop artist Andy Warhol (1928 – 1987) sits in front of several paintings in his ‘Endangered Species’ at his studio, the Factory, in Union Square, New York, New York, 12 April 1983. (Photo by Brownie Harris/Corbis via Getty Images)
Andy Warhol, American artist, film director and producer
Ramses, 25, said it took “me lots of additional reading” to discover Andy Warhol’s sexuality, despite the artist being mentioned during his modern art studies. Warhol was one of the first American artists to be gay, and his “Factory” – his studio – was a safe space for LGBT+ people, including transwomen.
“Learning about him in school would have shown me you could be LGBT+ and still be successful and famous, even in a period when discrimination was common and violent,” Ramses said. “His early drawings, movies, photographs and the community he created are a testament to the gay rights movement and an incredible contribution to LGBT+ history worldwide.”
As a trans gay man, Ramses shared that the way Warhol shaped the LGBT+ community “inspired me to get in touch with my own, creating a safe space for young LGBT+ people”.SPONSORED CONTENT
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Alan Turing was a gay man, a scientist and a war hero. (Getty)
Alan Turing, English mathematician, computer scientist and logician
Both Roan Maclean, 23, and Daniel Mayor, 22, wished they had learned more about mathematician and World War II historical figure Alan Turing. Turing was a key member of the Allied forces cracking the Enigma Code, and he has been credited as being the father of modern computing.
“To be taught about LGBT+ history, especially ones that are at the top of their field and doing groundbreaking at the time work would have been amazing,” Mclean said. “It would have shown younger me that anything is possible.”
Mayor said he had learned about Turing’s contributions to modern computing, but nothing was said about him being gay or the way he was persecuted because of his sexuality. Turing was prosecuted in 1952 for homosexual acts, and he died by suicide in 1954.
Mayor said it would have been “very powerful” if he knew that an LGBT+ person like Turing had such an “amazing impact on the world”.
Jack Bee Garland, author, journalist and nurse
Like many people, Emma Fay, director of education at Just Like Us, admitted to having not realised that “trans people had existed throughout history”. Fay said it was a “real awakening” to “discover the people out there who are bringing trans history to light and busting the often-repeated myth that we don’t know anything about it”.
“In particular, I wish I’d known about Jack Bee Garland, who I learned about for the first time recently while reading CN Lester’s book Trans Like Me,” Fay said. “That book has had a huge influence on how I understand gender and introduced me to loads of interesting trans people throughout time.”
Jack Bee Garland was born in San Francisco in 1869 and lived as a male in the city’s Tenderloin District. Garland adopted the male identity of Beebe Beam and accompanied the US Army to the Philippines in 1899 to participate in the Philippine War. When Garland became sick and was “found out”, his fellow soldiers were incredible allies, chipping in money to help him, helping him escape and even breaking him out of prison.
“It’s such an amazing piece of history that I wish I’d learned about at school,” Fay said.
Marsha P Johnson (pictured) and Sylvia Rivera’s STAR House inspired the name of a new LGBT+ refuge centre. (Netflix)
Marsha P Johnson, American queer liberation activist
Jemima Churchhouse, 23, said she would have liked to have learned about Marsha P Johnson at school. Johnson was an outspoken, revolutionary Black trans woman who co-founded the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), an organisation that provided housing to homeless LGBT+ youth and sex workers in New York in the 1970s.
Johnson was a popular figure in New York City’s gay art scene, even modelling for Andy Warhol, and she was one of the prominent figures in the Stonewall uprising of 1969. As trans rights are hotly debated in the UK and worldwide, Churchhouse said it was essential “that we remember that trans people such as Marsha have always fought alongside LGB+ people for our rights”.
“I wish I’d been taught that trans women, and especially trans women of colour, have always been at the forefront of the Gay Liberation movement,” Churchhouse said. “I’m so grateful to all of the LGBT+ people who came before me and have helped allow me to live freely and authentically.”
DJ Ritu, radio presenter and activist
Taz Rasul, director of volunteering at Just Like Us, said she would have liked to have learned about DJ Rita as a teenager. She explained: “15-year-old me was fine with my sexuality, but embarrassed about being Asian. Asians weren’t cool or relevant.”
Rasul said learning about a broadcaster and activist like DJ Ritu “might have forced open my view of who Asians are a little earlier in my life”. Ritu is a British Asian lesbian who helped run the UK’s first South Asian lesbian and gay group in the 1980s. Rasul said: “If my school had made LGBT+ people of every colour visible to me, I might have embraced every part of myself with pride.”
Ben Barres (YouTube)
Dr Ben Barres, American neurobiologist
Dr Ben Barres was a neurobiologist at Standford University, and he became the first openly transgender scientist in the National Academy of Scientists in 2013. As a trans man, Krystof, 22, said he found “comfort and confidence” in Dr Barres story, “knowing that he has not only survived and thrived”.
Dr Barres transitioned in 1997, in the middle of his career, and he was appointed the chair of neurobiology at Stanford’s school of medicine. Krystof said Dr Barre’s story and career made the “idea of coming out” less scary because “I knew there was someone like me before”.
“It is important to see representation and for schools to teach about LGBT+ figures in all fields,” Krystof said.
Audre Lorde, writer feminist, poet and civil-rights activist, during her 1983 residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. (Robert Alexander/Getty)
Audre Lorde, American writer, feminist and civil rights activist
Dominic Arnall, chief executive of Just Like Us, said he had first read Audre Lorde‘s collection of essays Sister Outsider while he was working on a project on supporting LGBT+ rights activists in Russia. He said he became “completely enamoured by her writing style”.
“She wrote both with a profound wisdom and an innate understanding of the human condition and the systems that we operate in,” Arnall said. “Lorde had an ability to see a particular situation from many angles at the same time, drawing you to question what you already knew, including the systems by which you knew it.”
The self-described “Black, lesbian, mother, warrior poet” is best known for writings reflecting her hatred of racial and sexual prejudice. Lorde dedicated her life and creative works to confronting and addressing social injustices including racism, homophobia, sexism, classism and capitalism.
Arnall said he’s sent copies of Sister Outsiders to colleagues, friends and even his mother. He added: “It was a permanent fixture in my bag, in one instance finishing it only to start back at the beginning again, needing to ensure some detail had not escaped my memory.”
School Diversity Week is the annual celebration of LGBT+ inclusion in education run by charity Just Like Us. Schools and colleges in the UK can sign up now to take part ahead of 21 – 25 June – last year schools representing 1.9 million young people took part. Just Like Us also runs school talks and provides free home learning resources for parents.
A man from Malaysia has won a landmark ruling against an Islamic gay sex ban, raising hopes for greater LGBT+ rights in the country.
The Muslim man – whose name has been withheld by his lawyer to protect his identity – filed the lawsuit after he was arrested in the central Selangor state of Malaysia in 2018 for attempting gay sex. He denied the allegation.
Same-sex acts are illegal in Malaysia, although convictions are rare. All 13 states and the federal territory in Malaysia criminalise same-sex relations and gender nonconformity. The federal penal code also punishes any form of anal or oral sex with up to 20 years in prison and mandatory caning.
In an unanimous decision, Malaysia’s top court ruled that the Islamic provision used in Selangor was unconstitutional, and authorities had no power to enact the law which bans sex “against the order of nature”.
The nine-judge panel ruled Selangor’s enactment of the anti-gay law was ultra vires, or beyond the state’s power, because under Malaysia’s constitution only the federal government may legislate some aspects of criminal law.
‘One small, but significant step forward’
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement the federal court’s ruling is “one small but significant step forward” for LGBT+ rights in Malaysia. The HRW said: “In the face of pervasive anti-LGBT+ discourse, law and policy, Malaysian activists are taking steps to whittle away at institutionalised discrimination.”
The man involved in the legal challenge was among 11 men arrested on charges of “attempting” gay sex from a 2018 raid on a private residence in Selangor. In November 2019, a court convicted five of the men and sentenced them to fines, imprisonment and six strokes of the cane each.
Malaysia’s state laws are notorious for their persecution of LGBT+ people, especially trans women
Last year, the religious affairs minister gave “full license” for Malaysian police to arrest and detain trans people. Minister Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri announced on social media that he had given the religious police “full licence to carry out its enforcement actions” against transgender people in Malaysia.
He elaborated that his order goes beyond arrests, but also allows police to subject trans people to “religious education” so that they will “return to the right path”.
More recently, Malaysia’s deputy religious affairs minister proposed to increase criminal penalties against LGBT+ people. Deputy minister for religious affairs Ahmad Marzuk Shaary has proposed amendments to the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act (Act 355) which would allow state courts to enact harsher sentences for same-sex conduct than the current maximum sentence permitted under federal law.
You may have heard of Abby and Brittany Hensel before, either on Oprah, in Time…
Act 355 limits the sentences that can be imposed by Sharia courts. The current sentence under the act includes three-year imprisonment, a fine of RM5,000 (£905) and six strokes with a cane.
However, Marzuk said this punishment was “not giving much effect on the group of people”. He said: “All state religious agencies and enforcers have been instructed to take action against those [LGBT+ people] who do not behave accordingly.”
Two gay men are being held on terror charges in Chechnya, having escaped torture in the homophobic republic before being returned by Russian police.
Salek Magamadov and Ismail Isayev, who is just 17 years old, fled to Russia in June 2020 with the help of the Russian LGBT Network.
They were relocated by the group to Nizhny Novogorod, a city around 400 kilometres east of Moscow, having been tortured by the Chechen special police for running an opposition Telegram channel.SPONSORED CONTENTPandemic or Not, Don’t Skip These 3 Health ChecksBy Sutter Health
The men were left “in mortal danger”, after their lawyer followed them to Chechnya and found they were being “pressured” to refuse legal representation.
Now, the Russian LGBT Network has been informed that the men are being held on the terrorism charge of aiding an illegal armed group.
The network said in a statement: “The investigation, however, did not provide objective evidence of the guilt of Ismail Isaev and Salekh Magamadov.”
On 8 February, the European Court of Human Rights “ordered Russia to explain the reasons for the detention of Magamadov and Isaev, to admit independent lawyers, medical workers, and their next of kin to them”.
But despite the order, legal representatives were not able to see their clients.
Sayputy Isaev, the 17-year-old’s father, said he was beaten and “blackmailed with the life of his son” if he did not sign a statement on the minor’s behalf to refuse a lawyer.
Magamadov and Isayev’s case is currently being considered, and they could face up to 15 years in prison in Chechnya. The men themselves said that “they had to sign statements and testimonies under threats and pressure”.
They are currently being held in SIZO no. 2, a pre-trial detention centre in Grozny, Chechnya.
You may have heard of Abby and Brittany Hensel before, either on Oprah, in Time…
In 2017, reports began to emerge of a “gay purge” in Chechnya, involving mass detention, abductions, torture and abuse of human rights against the LGBT+ community. Reports of such atrocities have continued in the years since.
The leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadryov, has denied the reports as well the existence of any LGBT+ people in the region. He was hit with sanctions by the US government in July 2020 over the atrocities.
The UK government also ordered strict sanctions to be placed upon three top Chechen officials charged with torturing LGBT+ people in the region’s “gay purge” in December 2020.
When Israel Folau’s homophobia sent ripples through the world of rugby, he had no way of knowing his bigotry would inspire a bigger story.
Folau’s claims that “hell awaits” gay people saw him sacked by Rugby Australia in disgrace. Undeterred by the backlash, he simply doubled down on his beliefs by claiming the devil is to blame for trans kids and bushfires are “God’s judgment” for same-sex marriage.×ADVERTISING
“My first thought was, f**k you,” he said. “My second was, ‘What if there’s a gay kid that looks up to him? What if they see this? What if this gives more fodder to the bullies?’”
On the heels of this came his third thought: “I have to tell the Steelers’ story.”
Two years later Eammon’s done just that with a new documentary about the King’s Cross Steelers – the world’s first gay rugby club.
Debuting at the Glasgow Film Festival this week, Steelers follows the iconic London club as it challenges conventional perceptions around sexuality, gender and masculinity in sport, just by existing.
When the Steelers first formed in 1995 there was nothing else like them on the rugby landscape. It was the peak of the AIDS crisis and few straight teams would even agree to meet them on the pitch. Some ignored the invitation, believing it was an April Fool’s joke.
You may have heard of Abby and Brittany Hensel before, either on Oprah, in Time…
“When I was growing up, sport in general was always this hyper-masculine environment,” he said. “For whatever reason, the kids at school worked out that I was gay before I even knew it. That meant I was the butt of the jokes in every sports class or rugby match.
“They played up to all the stereotypes, that gay people have limp wrists and can’t throw a ball, so I was never really given the opportunity to succeed or to practice or to belong in a sporting environment.”
The bullying grew so bad that by the time he reached his senior year he was skipping every sports class. “By the end I absolutely hated it, passionately hated it you could say. And that was a real shame,” he said.
Those scars will never go away, but Eammon found something of an antidote with the Steelers, a team that gave him a space to fail and learn and improve, and gradually fall in love with sports again.
His experience is echoed by so many of his teammates, who speak candidly about their struggles with mental health and the salvation they’ve found with the club. For some – Eammon included – the Steelers has quite literally been a lifesaver.
“I got to the point where I wrote a goodbye note. That’s how low my depression had got,” he revealed. “And that was all a result of people’s words. They do have impact.”
Nearly three decades after it began the Steelers is a thriving, joyful celebration of masculinity in all its forms. And it’s no longer alone: there are now 80 gay and inclusive rugby clubs around the world, not to mention a bona fide gay rugby league.
But Israel Folau’s comments serve as an inescapable reminder of the homophobia that remains.
This painful truth underscores the whole documentary, which nonetheless manages to be a heartwarming success story, one Eammon hopes will serve as a vital counterpoint to the bigotry.
“Sportsmen and sportswomen, they’re like the modern day gladiators: they are role models in our society,” he said. “What they say and do matters because people do look up to them.
“I think the fact that that there aren’t many openly gay players in any league of professional sport for men just shows that we still do have a long way to go. And I hope that my film is one step towards where we need to be as a society.”
As the victim of a transphobic attack fended off her assailant, a police officer allegedly lobbed racist and anti-LGBT+ slurs at her instead of helping.
Luis Cruz was strolling through Manhattan, New York, on 11 April, 2020 when a man began harassing her, according to court papers.
She called the cops. But when the officer arrived to Tompkins Square Park in the Alphabet City neighbourhood, instead of coming to her aid, she instead discriminated against her, the lawsuit claimed.
The New York Police Department (NYPD) officer allegedly shoved Cruz and neglected to arrest her actual attacker, the Manhattan Supreme Court heard, according to the New York Post.
Even as Cruz’s reported attacker pelted her with a chain and spat on her, the suit detailed, the defendant “falsely detained” Cruz instead.
The officer – identified in court documents by her surname “Moore” – allegedly shouted “get away from me, faggot” and launched a volley of hateful slurs at the victim.
Moore “refused to arrest the male who struck, spits and insulted plaintiff due to plaintiff’s race and sexual orientation in being a transgender female”, the lawsuit claimed.
Cruz’s attacker was only arrested after she dialled 911 a second time and a police sergeant responded instead. They ordered Moore to arrest the assailant.
After the arrest, Cruz filed a “formal complaint” against Moore to the sergeant.
NYPD has a history of transphobia
New York City’s trans community and the police have a historically fraught relationship.
In 2018, Linda Dominguez, a 45-year-old cosmetologist, cut through a park to get to her apartment when she was stopped by authorities.
Hygiene in the American Wild West was probably about what you’d expect – unhygienic.
Despite being part of a group, Dominguez – a trans woman – was the only one arrested. She was later cuffed to a pipe in a cell with pink handcuffs and repeatedly deadnamed.
She later filed a lawsuit against the police department accusing officers of causing her “mental anguish, ongoing humiliation and embarrassment”.
As part of a settlement agreed in 2020, the department was ordered to retrain its staff in protecting trans civilians as well as pay Dominguez $30,000.
Dr Igi Moon is a chartered psychologist whose work focuses on psychotherapy, gender, sexuality and emotion. They are also chair of the Coalition for the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) Against Conversion Therapy, which includes 17 major therapy organisations, such as BPS and UKCP, GPs, NHS England and NHS Scotland, and is pushing for a ban on conversion therapy in the UK.
Moon told PinkNews why a ban on conversion therapy in the UK is vital, and why all healthcare providers “must come together again and fight to stop any of our community being told they need to be ‘cured’”.
Are you a white cis gay man in your mid-60s living in London? Then you may have been given conversion therapy. Against your wishes. Simply because you needed to be ‘cured’.
Are you a Black British transgender woman aged 18 to 24 years old living in London? Or an Asian British cis gay man aged around 16 to 17 years old living in Northern Ireland? Then you are likely to be offered conversion therapy. Right now. In the UK.
As a way of dealing with this you may want to talk it through in therapy with a counsellor or psychotherapist. It is imperative you know you will be safe. But will you?
Later this year all LGBT+ people will hopefully be supporting the government calls for a complete ban against conversion therapy.
Conversion therapies are techniques used to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity and can range from corrective rape to spiritual counselling to ‘cure’ them of being LGBT+.
In 2018, the government said it would bring forward proposals to end the practice of conversion therapy after its own LGBT Action Plan in 2018 (the largest LGBT+ survey of its kind in the world with 108,000 responses) told us that five per cent of respondents had been offered ‘conversion’ or ‘reparative’ therapy, and a further two per cent had actually undergone conversion therapy. If you take time to look at the data, it is shocking.
We already know from the survey that a whole population of people aged in their mid-60s who identify as gay men and lesbians have been harmed by conversion therapy and we hope the government will recognise the damage these people from our community have gone through and address these issues.
But the survey also tells us our LGBT+ youth are being offered ‘the cure’ of conversion therapy. This is a live issue affecting our young LGBT+ people and it needs to be stopped. NOW.
We know that religious leaders of all faiths must come together and address this issue regardless of how painful and sensitive.
Because faith organisations are by far the most likely to offer (53 per cent) or conduct (51 per cent) conversion therapy, according to respondents in the survey.
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We also know that parents and family members are likely to conduct conversion therapy (16 per cent), so we need to help our young LGBT+ siblings to be aware of this when they are at school. And we need to work with organisations such as Childline to help our young LGBT+ youth know where to turn in a crisis.
However, one shocking finding indicates that healthcare providers or medical professionals also conducted conversion therapy (19 per cent), while a far higher number of trans people reported being given conversion therapy by healthcare providers or medical professionals (29 per cent).
This means that when you see a GP or psychologist or psychiatrist you may be exposed to people who believe you need to be ‘cured’.
This could be by denying treatments such as hormones as part of your gender transition or by a psychotherapist or psychologist believing that being heterosexual or cisgender is preferable to being lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or asexual.
As chair of the Coalition for the Memorandum of Understanding against Conversion Therapy we are united in speaking out against conversion therapy as unethical and potentially harmful.
As sexual orientations and gender identities are not mental health disorders, it would be totally unethical to offer any treatment to ‘cure’ them.
So, we are pleased to represent at least 250,000 medical and healthcare professionals including psychiatrists, psychotherapists, psychologists and counsellors who are affiliated to officially recognised organisations such as the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP), British Psychological Society (BPS) United Kingdom UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP), British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC), British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), Northern Ireland Humanists (NIH) and LGBT led organisations such as cliniQ and Gendered Intelligence. Alongside, we have the full support and attendance of NHS England, NHS Scotland and Stonewall.
We are working tirelessly with the government and MPs such as Alicia Kearns– who is doing an excellent job to outline how legislation will look – to bring in a ban and stop conversion therapy before it does more harm.
We have spent the last six years making sure that anyone who has to meet with a counsellor, psychologist, psychiatrist, psychoanalyst or psychotherapist will know that the organisation their mental health professional is affiliated with has signed up to the MoU and is against conversion therapy.
This document can be read here and I would ask you to check it out. We have asked that all organisations dedicate time to training and curriculum development.
Why? Because, believe it or not, very few therapists, analysts, psychiatrists or GPs are trained in LGBT+ healthcare issues.
We ask our organisations to address this shortfall, and if you look at their websites you can see how they are making sure practitioners uphold the highest degree of training.
We aim to make sure you are well informed about the risks of conversion therapy, that healthcare professionals are aware of ethical issues relating to conversion therapy, that all new and existing therapists are trained appropriately, that evidence into conversion therapy is regularly reviewed and that all of us on the MoU work together to achieve these goals.
As a person who was part of that 80s London scene depicted by It’s a Sin, I trained as a counselling psychologist in the 90s to help the mental health of my community as we faced social prejudice, political hatred and the devastation of HIV/AIDs.
We really must come together again and fight to stop any of our community being told they need to be ‘cured’.
We want to live in safety because to live in safety is our freedom and to have our freedom is the greatest form of equality we can share.
Ferris State University professor Thomas Brennan was fired after tweeting about “fags” and dismissing COVID-19 as a “hoax”.
Brennan, a former assistant physical science professor at the Ferris State University in Michigan, was previously placed on leave in November last year for a slew of homophobic, racist and antisemitic social media posts.
He often tweeted about the “Jewish mafia”, called the coronavirus pandemic a “Jewish revolution” and used the N-word in reference to Black physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, according to an exposé by the university’s newspaper The Torch.
As much as Brennan sought to shrug off the article as a “hit piece” at a time, he confirmed on Twitter Saturday (27 February) that he has now been dismissed from the university.
The school confirmed to The Detroit Newsthat it had terminated his contract Thursday (25 February).
“Ferris State University Assistant Professor of Physical Sciences Thomas Brennan’s employment at the university has been terminated, effective Thursday, 25 February 2021,” a spokesperson said.
“The university has no further comment.”
Ferris State professor Thomas Brennan blames homophobic tweets on ‘electromagnetic fields’
In a lengthy, six-page statement on his personal website, Brennan said he tweeted what he did because of, among other things, electromagnetic fields.
“My defence is that I was acting out and speaking out of despair caused by a personal crisis involving extremely painful migraines, EMF sensitivity and a series of repeated break-ins into my home,” he wrote.
“I am one of thousands of Americans from all walks of life who claim to be victims of a secret programme that harasses people, breaks into their homes, and uses [electromagnetic frequency] along with bio, neuro, or nano-technologies to poison and torture their targets,” the statement continued.
“Rather than kill the target, the goal is to get the target to have a breakdown that discredits them and causes them to lose their livelihood.”
He went on to detail various points of contention between himself and faculty leaders, such as refusing to wear a mask on the grounds that a mandate would be “immoral” and claiming that the severity of the coronavirus has been “exaggerated by revolutionary leftists in the media and government”.
He also admitted to the “red zingers” he posted to his Twitter and described his account on the platform as a “little hole to shout in and purge my despair”.
“As I said, it was despair that led me to do this, and I knew I might get in trouble but I needed to cry out,” he said.
“Since I had no way to speak about my disability at work,” Brennan added, “I was exercising my free speech rights on Twitter as a result of my disability.
“Therefore the things I said on Twitter were not expressed in order to discriminate against people of different races or social categories but were uttered as a result of my disability. This is one of many reasons why freedom of speech exists.”
A gay couple were brutally attacked by a gang as they left a casino, in what they believe was a homophobic hate crime.
The men say they were both left with serious injuries after the allegedly homophobic attack, which took place as they left the Ameristar Casino in St Charles, Missouri.
One of the men, who wished to remain anonymous, told local news station KSDK that he believed they were the victims of a hate crime, claiming that they were targeted and verbally abused because of their sexuality.
He explained that he was helping his boyfriend into the car after a night at the casino on Saturday (27 February). As the couple neared the garage, a group of four men made an aggressive gesture towards them.
The victim called out to the group and words were exchanged. He told KSDKthat he was called homophobic slurs and pushed one of the men. Then, things became physical.
The two men were subjected to a vicious assault, and the man said all he could think about was trying to protect his boyfriend. He said: “All I could think about was getting over to him, covering [him] as he was getting hit with punches and kicks.
“He was laying there unconscious.”
The victim said the men eventually stopped the allegedly homophobic attack and left the casino. The two men were hospitalised with nose, eye and mouth injuries. But the victim said the injuries are more than just physical.
“Just know me and him are scared to go anywhere in public,” he told KSDK.
Police don’t believe the men were victims of a homophobic hate crime
St Charles County Police told KSDK there was no evidence to support that the couple were victims of a homophobic hate crime. The police said that they talked to two men in the group of alleged assailants, and both men are cooperating with the investigation
The men told police that one man stepped out of the way to avoid bumping into the couple.
In a statement to Fox-affiliated TV station KTVI, lieutenant Tom Wilkison of the St. Charles Police Department said there remains a “dispute as to what type of language was used back and forth”. He added: “At this time, we don’t have anything to support that the two people got beaten up or targeted because of their sexual orientation.”
He said the investigation remains open, and the police are still gathering evidence to take to the country prosecutor, who will decide on charges.
But the victim told KTVI that the assault was “clearly a hate crime” because the men “saw me with my arms wrapped around him [his boyfriend] and that’s why they did that [aggressive] motion and said [an anti-gay slur]”.
He said his injuries include a fractured nose and eye-socket, which will need surgery, and his boyfriend will likely lose several teeth.
Ameristar released a statement following the incident saying it is unable to provide additional details on the matter because of the ongoing investigation. But the organisation said it has a “zero-tolerance for those who commit acts of violence or intolerance” and are working closely with law enforcement in their investigation.
