Brigham Young University in Utah has revised its strict code of conduct to strip a rule that banned any behavior that reflected “homosexual feelings,” which LGBTQ students and their allies felt created an unfair double standard not imposed on heterosexual couples.
The university is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which teaches its members that being gay isn’t a sin, but engaging in same-sex intimacy is.
BYU’s revisions to what the college calls its honor code don’t change the faith’s opposition to same-sex relationships or gay marriage. The changes were discovered by media outlets Wednesday.
Students found out Wednesday, too. BYU student Franchesca Lopez, tweeting under the handle @fremlo_, wrote, “It’s confirmed. Gay dating is okay, kissing and hand holding from the mouth of an HCO [Honor Code Office] counselor,” and included a photo of her kissing a friend in front of the campus statue of Brigham Young.
I’m going to the honor code office as soon as I get out of class to make sure, but several people have confirmed that gay students can now date and it is not against the honor code
BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said an email that the updated version of the code aligns with a new handbook of rules unveiled by the faith, widely known as the Mormon church. She didn’t elaborate on the thinking behind the change, saying only that the changes removed “prescriptive language” and “kept the focus on the principles of the Honor Code, which have not changed.”
The faith has tried to carve out a more compassionate stance toward LGBTQ people over the last decade, while adhering to its doctrinal belief that same-sex relationships are a sin.
An entire section in the code that was dedicated to “homosexual behavior” has been removed. The clause that upset people was the part that said “all forms of physical intimacy that that give expression to homosexual feelings” is prohibited.
Students had previously complained about the clause that was eliminated was interpreted to be a ban on gay couples holding hands or kissing. Those behaviors are allowed for heterosexual couples, though premarital sex is banned.
Former BYU student Addison Jenkins had advocated for years for the college to remove the language, which he said codified homophobic ideas. He said he’s glad the section is gone.
“It treats queer students the same as straight students, which is something we have been begging the university for,” said Jenkins, who is gay.
But he said he still has major concerns about how school administrators will implement the change after seeing BYU officials issue a series of tweets late Wednesday afternoon about what the college called some “miscommunication” about what the changes mean.
“The Honor Code Office will handle questions that arise on a case by case basis,” BYU tweeted. “For example, since dating means different things to different people, the Honor Code Office will work with students individually.”
BYU’s Honor Code bans other things that are commonplace at other colleges — including drinking, beards and piercings. Students who attend the university in Provo, Utah, south of Salt Lake City, agree to agreed to adhere to the code. Nearly all students are members of the faith. Punishments for violations range from discipline to suspension and expulsion.
Last year, several hundred students rallied to call on BYU officials to be more compassionate with punishments for honor code violators.
The code was criticized in 2016 by female students who spoke out against the school opening honor-code investigations of students who reported sexual abuses to police. The college changed the policy to ensure that students who report sexual abuse would no longer be investigated for honor code violations.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has doubled down on transgender Mormons with a new handbook that spells out the consequences for those who transition.
While it advises church members to treat transgender people with “sensitivity, kindness, compassion, and an abundance of Christlike love”, it also warns transgender people against any form of social transition.
“Gender is an essential characteristic of Heavenly Father’s plan of happiness,” the chapter begins. “The intended meaning of gender in the family proclamation is biological sex at birth.”
It continues: “Church leaders counsel against elective medical or surgical intervention for the purpose of attempting to transition to the opposite gender of a person’s birth sex (‘sex reassignment’).
“Leaders advise that taking these actions will be cause for Church membership restrictions.”
Any Mormon who attempts to transition their gender through “changes in dress, grooming, names, or pronouns intended to reflect a gender identity different from the one assigned at birth” will be subject to a plethora of restrictions “for the duration of this transition.”
These include receiving or exercising the priesthood, receiving or using a temple recommend, and receiving some Church callings.
Building on a statement by a top church leader last year that gender assigned at birth is eternal, the guidance reiterates that the Mormon priesthood, which is reserved for men, will not admit trans men.
Transgender people are assured that they are free to receive Church callings, temple recommends, and temple ordinances, as long as they agree not to pursue any medical, surgical, or social transition to the ‘opposite gender’.
Unsurprisingly, the Church also refuses to budge on its position on same-sex marriage (don’t do it). It states that “God’s law defines marriage as the legal and lawful union between a man and a woman”, and the only people who should be having sexual relations are a married heterosexual couple.
“Any other sexual relations, including those between persons of the same sex, are sinful and undermine the divinely created institution of the family,” the Church claims.
On the plus side, they will no longer consider same-sex marriages “apostasy” (rejection of church teaching) or deny baptism to children whose primary residence is with a same-sex couple.
A study of gay, bisexual and questioning teenage boys in the United States has revealed that the majority have never had a HIV test.
Researchers surveyed nearly 700 boys aged between 13 and 18 and found that less than one in four had ever had a HIV test, Healthday reports.
They also asked the boys about their sexual activity and history and found that just one third of teenage boys who have had sex without a condom had taken a HIV test.
Teenage boys who took part in the study thought they couldn’t legally consent to HIV testing because of their age.
Researchers discovered various barriers teenage boys face in looking after their sexual health. Many believed that their age meant they could not legally consent to a HIV test. Others did not know how to go about getting tested, while more were afraid of being outed.
The study, which was published online yesterday in the Pediatrics journal, revealed the best solution to the lack of testing is, of course, education. Teenage boys who had open dialogue with their parents about sex and HIV as well as those who knew basic facts about the virus were more likely to get tested.
Doctors – pediatricians in particular – need to be having more frank and open conversations with their male teenage patients.
The study’s authors also noted that 15 per cent of HIV infections in the United States are undiagnosed, but his figure rises to 51 per cent among 13-24 year-olds.
“Doctors – pediatricians in particular – need to be having more frank and open conversations with their male teenage patients,” said study co-author Brian Mustanski.
“If parents ask their teen’s provider to talk about sexual health and testing, this may be enough to start that key dialogue in the exam room, leading to an HIV test,” he added.
He also said that teenage boys should be empowered to be able to speak about these issues with doctors without their parents present.
Antiretroviral drugs mean that people with the virus can now live healthy and happy lives.
While HIV was once a death sentence, progress in medical science has led to breakthroughs that mean people can now live healthy, happy lives with the virus.
Antiretroviral drugs are used to treat the virus, and when taken effectively, a person’s viral load is undetectable. A major study that concluded last year found that people on effective treatment cannot pass the virus on through unprotected sex.
Furthermore, the availability of PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), when taken daily, prevents people from contracting the virus through unprotected sex.
LGBT+ people make up 21 per cent of the UK gaming industry, according to an eye-opening new diversity census.
This figure is disproportionately high considering that LGBT+ people make up between three and seven per cent of the UK population – which begs the question of why LGBT+ characters are so poorly represented when it comes to blockbuster video games.
At three per cent, trans representation is also higher in the gaming industry, versus one per cent nationwide. The biggest difference was seen in bisexual people, who represent 11 percent of those in the gaming industry compared to just 0.7 percent of the national population.
Unsurprisingly, men make up the vast majority of the workforce at 70 per cent; 28 per cent are women, while two percent identify as non-binary.
Reported levels of anxiety and depression are also significantly above the national average, with the report acknowledging that the LGBT+ community tends to experience higher rates of mental health issues than the general population.
It accrued more than 3,200 anonymised responses from people (LGBT+ or otherwise) working across the UK gaming industry, posing a range of questions about the kinds of work that games industry workers do, their personal characteristics, and their backgrounds.
The results were released alongside an industry-wide diversity pledge, #RaiseTheGame, to make gaming more inclusive for minorities.
“Diversity isn’t a nicety – it’s a necessity if the industry is going to grow, thrive and truly reflect the tens of millions of people that play games every day in this country,” said Dr Jo Twist, CEO of The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment.
“A diverse industry that draws on myriad cultures, lifestyles and experiences will lead to more creative and inclusive games that capture the imagination of players and drive our sector forward.”
The pledge, which is backed by founding partners EA, Facebook, Xbox, Jagex and King, aims to recruit 200 game businesses by 2021 and improve diversity and equality across the industry.
Mike Heath, a long–time anti-LGBTQ activist in Maine who now runs Helping Hands Ministries, has been a regular participant in Dave Daubenmire’s daily program. On Friday, Daubnemire turned the mic over to Heath so that he could announce his plans.
“I’m going to do a world tour,” Heath announced. “The theme is ‘Faggots are Maggots.’ The tour is inspired by the work of Donald Trump. This isn’t satire. I’m serious. I started supporting Donald Trump early in the 2016 primary for one reason: He insults his enemies. He makes things personal that deserve to be personal.
“The decades of leftists being the only ones allowed to make everything personal are over. It’s long past time for WASP manners to take a back seat to the truth. Long past time. Faggots are indeed maggots. Maggots consume the rancid flesh of rotting dead things. Faggots are no different.”
Heath last appeared on JMG in 2016 when his Maine group launched a campaign to recriminalize homosexuality.
From a statement by the National Institutes of Health:
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has stopped administration of vaccinations in its HVTN 702 clinical trial of an investigational HIV vaccine. This action was taken because an independent data and safety monitoring board (DSMB) found during an interim review that the regimen did not prevent HIV. Importantly, the DSMB did not express any concern regarding participant safety.
The Phase 2b/3 study, named HVTN 702 or Uhambo, began in 2016 and is taking place in South Africa. It was testing an investigational prime-boost vaccine regimen based on the only vaccine regimen ever to show protection from HIV—the regimen tested in the RV144 clinical trial in Thailand led by the U.S. Military HIV Research Program and the Thai Ministry of Health. For HVTN 702, the vaccine regimen was adapted to the HIV subtype Clade C most common in southern Africa, where the pandemic is most pervasive.
“An HIV vaccine is essential to end the global pandemic, and we hoped this vaccine candidate would work. Regrettably, it does not,” said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. “Research continues on other approaches to a safe and effective HIV vaccine, which I still believe can be achieved.”
“There’s absolutely no evidence of efficacy,” says Glenda Gray, who heads the study and is president of the South African Medical Research Council (MRC). “Years of work went into this. It’s a huge disappointment.” The efficacy study, which began in October 2016, is known as HVTN 702. It enrolled 5407 sexually active, HIV-uninfected men and women between 18 and 35 years of age at 14 sites across the country.
Researchers randomly assigned half of the participants to receive a pair of HIV vaccines used in a one-two punch called a prime boost, whereas the other half received placebo shots. The trial was supposed to last until July 2022. But on 23 January sneak peaks at the data to evaluate safety and efficacy informed Gray and the other leaders of the study that it was “futile” to continue. There were 129 infections in the vaccinated group and 123 in those who received the placebo.
Historically, HIV treatments have included three or more medications (oftentimes combined in one pill) to keep HIV suppressed and help people living with HIV reach and maintain undetectable viral loads. In the spring of 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the complete regimen combo pill Dovato (dolutegravir + lamivudine), manufactured by ViiV Healthcare, giving clinicians for the first time a two-drug option to treat individuals just beginning HIV treatment.
“I’m concerned that this will lead to massive amounts of Dovato use, two-drug therapy, that will bite us down the road,” said Gandhi, who is medical director of Ward 86. “We have lots of experience with three drugs, and there is a concern about resistance with a two-drug regimen.”
(Photo: ViiV Healthcare)
Gandhi explained that lamivudine (3TC), the NRTI in Dovato, has a low barrier to resistance—meaning that it’s easy for a person to develop resistance to the effects of 3TC so that the drug no longer works. When this happens if a person is taking Dovato, the person is effectively on dolutegravir monotherapy. And, people taking only dolutegravir can develop resistance mutations that would rule out future treatment with dolutegravir and, likely, other integrase inhibitors. Dolutegravir monotherapy, Gandhi said, is “a terrible idea.”
“If you lose [develop resistance to] dolutegravir after some time, you’ve just lost the entire first-line class of drugs that we have to treat HIV [INSTIs],” she said.
Drug resistance can be transmitted (i.e., it’s possible for a person who has never taken HIV medications to already have a resistance mutation), so HIV clinicians test for resistance mutations prior to starting therapy. If a person has a resistance mutation, HIV providers can tailor the drug treatment to work around resistance. Resistance can also develop if someone taking HIV medication isn’t adherent to treatment—for instance if they forget to take or aren’t able to take medications every day as prescribed.
For these reasons, Gandhi urges clinicians to consider adherence when prescribing two-drug regimens—knowing that “we’re just not that good” at estimating how adherent a person can be.
“I would be more comfortable at this point giving people a chance to adhere and do well with a three-drug regimen, and then maybe downgrading them to a two-drug regimen if they are adherent,” said Gandhi. “Patients should be aware of the importance of adherence, which is true of any regimen, but particularly true with a two-drug therapy. I wouldn’t want them to miss any doses. And I would want them to talk to their provider about how to take medication, so that they both could be reassured.”
Gandhi said she worries that health care providers who do not specialize in HIV treatment may miss some of these nuances with the new DHHS guidelines—opting to prescribe a two-drug regimen out of concerns over toxicities in regimens with three drugs.
“Young healthy people probably aren’t going to get toxicities with TAF or abacavir (the third drug in the combo pills Biktarvy and Triumeq, respectively). I think it’s interesting that we are talking about two-drug therapy now due to concern about toxicities. For example, NSAIDS (e.g., ibuprofen) can cause renal issues, but we don’t even think twice before putting people on long-term NSAIDS if they’re young and not at risk of renal toxicity. You want to tailor your toxicity concerns to risk factors of that individual. If they have risk factors for cardiovascular disease, you should be concerned about abacavir. If they have risk factors for renal toxicity, you should be concerned about TAF,” said Gandhi
FDA approved Dovato for the initial treatment of HIV based on the results of the GEMINI 1 and 2 studies, which enrolled over 1,400 people starting HIV treatment for the first time. The studies found that 86% of individuals had undetectable viral loads <50 copies after 96 weeks (compared to 89.5% of people taking a three-drug regimen of dolutegravir + TDF/FTC). 85% of participants were men and two-thirds were white.
Although these study results show that dolutegravir + lamivudine can be a successful treatment option for some, Gandhi said that she questions the extrapolation of one phase 3 study to the entire population of people living with HIV.
“People who get into clinical trials are often very rarified populations. They are adherent, they come in for clinical trial visits. They are often white and they are often men. We need some real-world studies, some demonstration projects, that include women and people who may have adherence difficulties,” said Gandhi.
Also new in the DHHS guidelines is a recommendation that HIV treatment be started immediately or as soon as possible after diagnosis, to decrease the time required to achieve viral suppression and reduce risk of HIV transmission, a recommendation Gandhi supports and said she was pleased to see.
The challenges—and opportunities—of two-drug regimens
Here’s a low-down on HIV drug resistance, including what it is and how you get tested for it. Also, get advice from HIV clinicians on prevention and what to do if you do develop HIV drug resistance.
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San Francisco AIDS Foundation receives funding from corporate partners including those in the pharmaceutical industry. Editorial decisions on our blog and website are made independently. For more information about SFAF funding, please refer to our financial and tax documents.
EMILY LAND, MAEmily Land is the editor-in-chief of BETA blog and content marketing manager at San Francisco AIDS Foundation.
Arielle Clark, 28, grew up in a sober household in Louisville, Kentucky, and was never drawn to alcohol. But when as a teenager she began her process of coming out, alcohol suddenly became ubiquitous in her social life.
“When I was growing up and I was kind of figuring out my sexuality, all of a sudden I was inundated with alcohol,” Clark told NBC News.
Going to Kentuckiana Pride, her home state’s largest gay pride celebration, at 16 was Clark’s “LGBT puberty” moment, she said. While she witnessed the heavy presence of alcohol at the event, she felt accepted. Her next milestone, friends said at the time, would be turning 21 and being able to go to the gay bars.
Clark quickly realized that alcohol use — and, in many cases, dependence — were large parts of the LGBTQ social scene that she had been introduced to. She eventually decided gay bars were not for her, but she had a hard time finding a social alternative.
Arielle Clark, a 28-year-old Kentucky native, is trying to find a brick-and-mortar for her tea shop, which would be the first sober, LGBTQ space of its kind in Louisville.Savannah Eadens / Louisville Courier Journal
That’s when she got the business idea for Sis Got Tea, a tea shop that she hopes will provide a safe, alcohol-free social space for Louisville’s black queer community that is accessible to people with disabilities. While she continues to fundraise for the shop’s brick-and-mortar space, she has been hosting pop-up events around the city that aren’t centered on alcohol.
“It took until my mid- to late-20s to finally find a group of black, queer women where I could finally relax my shoulders, and I really want to provide that for the community,” Clark said.
Sis Got Tea, which Clark hopes will open later this year, will be among a new wave of queer, alcohol-free social spaces and traveling events that have popped up over the last few years and serve as alternatives to gay bars. While sober social spaces and events have become popular among younger Americans more broadly, they are particularly noteworthy within the LGBTQ community — where substance abuse is disproportionately high and gay bars have long served as unofficial community centers and safe havens.
‘Third spaces’
Indiana resident Morgan Roddy has been making chocolate truffles and desserts for more than a decade. With the support and encouragement of her wife, Roddy opened the high-end chocolate shop Queer Chocolatier in Muncie, Indiana, in 2017.
She said she decided to make the name of her shop explicitly LGBTQ after the state’s governor, Mike Pence, was elected vice president. She feared his anti-gay track record would force some people to go deeper into the closet — so she wanted to come further out.
“I knew there would be a lot of people who would feel safer if they were quiet about their sexual orientation,” she explained. “I decided to take space and hold it for those who would be feeling vulnerable in these times.”
For Roddy, keeping Queer Chocolatier alcohol-free is a commitment to keeping the space accessible to patrons of all ages and those recovering from substance abuse. She also believes it will foster a better environment for political discourse and community activism.
“As a queer woman with a masters in sociology, ‘third spaces’ are places where ideas are shared and relationships are built,” Roddy said. “Without alcohol, there’s less pressure to engage in sex-centered conversations or hookup culture as well. Allowing for people to thrive and flourish in third spaces without alcohol has the potential to bring about some truly radical changes.”
Across the country in Portland, Oregon, Ori Gallery in 2018 launched a creative and community-organizing space for trans and queer artists of color. The gallery was founded by Maya Vivas, a ceramic and performance artist, and Leila Haile, a tattoo artist and community activist.
Aside from offering a rotating gallery space, Ori Gallery also offers free or low-cost workshops and organizes meetups for LGBTQ artists of color.
Ori Gallery was not originally intended to be a sober space — people are still allowed to consume alcohol at private events — but since the gallery’s organizers prioritize youth in their programming, alcohol is not provided at the venue’s regular events. Maintaining alcohol-free environments is often a way of ensuring that queer spaces are accessible to young people under 21.
In Los Angeles, Cuties has become a popular destination for daytime socializing among the city’s LGBTQ community. Virginia Bauman, the venue’s queer owner, opened the café in 2017 after a successful IndieGogo fundraising campaign. Bauman said she wants Cuties to serve as a casual space that can reduce isolation and promote greater connectivity within the community.
“Having spaces that are accessible from an economic standpoint where people can just be for long periods of time … without having to justify their existence, or without having to justify why they’re there, is one of the biggest opportunities that I still see for queer communities,” she explained.
The absence of alcohol sales, which produce relatively high profit margins, can be a financial obstacle, according to Bauman. In order to compensate, Cuties started a fundraising campaign to bring in additional money to help keep the venue afloat.
‘We’re tapping into a need’
In a number of cities across the U.S. — and beyond — LGBTQ event organizers and online communities are bypassing the overhead of a physical space altogether and are focusing on intentionally alcohol-free social gatherings that are not dependent on a specific location.
Photographer and queer activist Cyrus Golestan is the co-founder of Trans in the Wild, a nonprofit that provides resources to New York’s LGBTQ community. Last month, he hosted his first alcohol-free party in an apartment building basement in Brooklyn. The idea was to “overcome winter gloom” with “sober fun,” according to the party’s promotional flyer.
“We used to have so much fun as kids without any type of substances,” Golestan, 29, said. “Why can’t we just get together and play?”
Cyrus Golestan, second from left in the front row, at an alcohol-free social event he hosted in Brooklyn, New York, on Jan. 11, 2019.Courtesy of Cyrus Golestan
After posting the promotional flyer, Golestan said he received an influx of positive messages. Many of those who wrote to him expressing interest in the party told him they “do partake in alcohol sometimes” but were “excited that this is a healthier option,” he said.
Golestan said he does not identify as sober, but he recognizes how he has used alcohol in the past to cope, especially during his college years before coming out as trans.
“I was trying to be something that I wasn’t,” Golestan said. “Being closeted even from yourself is this really stressful thing that alcohol let me escape from.”
Golestan’s experience of using alcohol to cope with isolation is not unique. A study published last October in the journal Psychiatric Services found LGBTQ stressors, like discrimination and stigma due to one’s sexual orientation or gender identity, “contribute to the development of substance use disorders among some LGBTQ young adults” between 21 and 34.
Golestan’s first sober party attracted over 30 people, which he considered a success, so he is already in the planning stages for the next one on Feb. 22.
Last month, a new alcohol-free LGBTQ social meetup also debuted in Chicago. Aptly named the Chicago Queer Sober Social, the event was organized by Powerbabe, a sober queer community founded by two tech professionals, Phoebe Conybeare, 30, and Hollie Lambert, 28, who have both been sober and in recovery for two years.
The event, which is scheduled to take place monthly, is not part of a structured recovery program and is marketed simply as an alcohol-free social community. Conybeare said she and Lambert saw the need for a safe space for those who decided to abstain from alcohol for any number of reasons.
“Most sober spaces online and IRL catered to a cisgender, heterosexual and monogamous crowd or were program-based,” Chicago Queer Sober Social’s Facebook page says. “Most queer social events were focused on bars and parties where drugs and alcohol would be present.”
The group’s first event was held in a coffee shop and drew over 100 attendees. Given its success, the next Chicago Queer Sober Social, scheduled for Feb. 18, will be held in a larger venue.
“People were extremely grateful for the space — many were thanking us throughout the night and excited about attending future events and offering to help us organize,” Conybeare told NBC News. “We now have a small list of volunteers just from our first event. Response from the community has been incredibly supportive, and we’re so glad we’re tapping into a need.”
In North Texas, KT Kershen, 27, who has been sober and in recovery for four years, said she started an alcohol-free social group last year due to a “personal need for connection and a sense of community.”
“The experience of intense loneliness that comes at the intersection of being both queer and sober drove me to create a space for myself and for others like me,” she said, noting that as a queer atheist woman she felt like “an outside” in the 12-step Alcoholics Anonymous program.
Kershen said Queer Sober Society initially started as an online group for North Texan LGBTQ people in recovery, but she said it has since morphed into an in-person meetup that connects at least once a month. The group organizes mocktail parties, game nights, bowling outings and other alcohol-free events.
“It is my hope, and I am going back to school to get a bachelors in psychology to prepare for it, that Queer Sober Society will one day be a nonprofit organization that provides a safe space for folks like me,” Kershen said.
The United Kingdom is also seeing queer sober parties pop up. Misery, a queer sober collective focused on mental health and healing, launched in 2019 and hosts events in London and Berlin. Queers Without Beers, which started in 2018, started as an online community and then started organizing sober meetups in different U.K. cities, including monthly pop-up “bars” in London, Bristol and Manchester.
“Everyone is welcome,” Laura Willoughby, the founder of Queers Without Beers, said. “We have people who are going through traditional recovery, the local muslim LGBT group, students who have never really drunk as well as people looking to cut down or just socialize without the pressure of needing to drink all evening.”
‘The possibilities are endless’
Arielle Clark, who in November exceeded her $10,000 fundraising goal for a physical Sis Got Tea space in Louisville, said she’s encouraged by the queer, alcohol-free events she has heard about popping up across the U.S. and abroad.
While she looks for a permanent home for Sis Got Tea, aiming for a 2020 debut, she said she plans to continue hosting pop-up events to provide options for those who don’t want their social life centered on alcohol.
“As we move further into creating these sober spaces, I think we’ll identify more needs within the LGBTQ+ community that intersect with sobriety,” Clark said. “The possibilities are endless.”
A reverend in Ohio revealed a thief has stolen part of his church display honouring the trans people who were killed in 2019.
St Peter’s United Church of Christ in Cincinnati, Ohio, describes itself as a “100 per cent hate free zone”.
According to its website, the church welcomes everyone into its community “no matter your faith background, sexual orientation, gender identity [or] race”.
But Terry told Fox 19 that on Saturday, February 1, he noticed that the two trans Pride flags that made up part of the display were missing. After checking the church’s security footage, he realised they had been stolen.
Terry added that the church has had problems with vandalism in the past, and said: “Anytime you make a stand for anything, there’s always someone who has a different perspective or different idea.
“And so, like I said, this has happened to us before, so I get it, but of course I was angered. I was upset.”
He said he is not sure of the thief’s reason for stealing the flag, but added: “It’s still stealing. It’s still wrong.
To whomever stole our Trans flags at @Stpeterscinci: God saw you and so did our cameras. Once the ground is softer we will have permanent flag poles installed and pride flags will wave 20 feet in the air. When you go low we will go high. #carryon
A New York state park will be renamed to honour the trans activist Marsha P Johnson, New York governor Andrew Cuomo has said.
Cuomo announced that East River State Park in Brooklyn would be renamed at the Human Rights Campaign greater New York gala on Saturday February 1.
Johnson, a black trans woman who worked as a sex worker, is most well-known for her involvement in the 1969 Stonewall uprising, often seen as the beginning of the modern gay rights movement.
She was also a trans rights pioneer, and in 1970 she founded “Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries” otherwise known as “STAR”, with her friend Sylvia Rivera.
According to AP News, Cuomo said at the gala: “New York state is the progressive capital of the nation, and while we are winning the legal battle for justice for the LGBTQ community, in many ways we are losing the broader war for equality.”
He said that hate crimes against black people, Jewish people, Muslims and the LGBT+ community were on the rise, but that they were driven by “fear and intolerance”.
He continued: “We are fighting back, and we will continue achieving progress and showing the rest of the nation the way forward.”
New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks onstage during the Human Rights Campaign’s 19th Annual Greater New York Gala at the Marriott Marquis Hotel on February 01, 2020 in New York City. (Gary Gershoff/Getty)
After the gala, Cuomo added on Twitter: “I’m proud to announce that East River State Park in Brooklyn will be named in honor of Marsha P Johnson, a pioneer of the LGBTQ rights movements.
“New York unequivocally supports the rights of LGBTQ New Yorkers, now and always.”
On the tape, recording in 1970, the pair discuss reactions to their gender from people around them.
Rivera said: “My grandmother completely freaked out for a number of years until she just recently has to be satisfied that I’m, that I’m going to be my way.
“And now she calls me Sylvia. I’m her dear granddaughter… Society keeps on saying, ‘You can’t do this because this isn’t your role.’
“Who is to tell who what role we’re supposed to take?”
