Facebook released a new set of community guidelines this week centered around ‘sexual solicitation’. The guidelines specifically harm LGBTI users, by disallowing them from discussing their identities.
In justifying the new community guidelines, Facebook wrote in its policy rationale that the discussion of drawing ‘attention to sexual violence and exploitation’ is important, but it wants to ‘draw the line’ at content encouraging or coordinating ‘sexual encounters between adults’.
The rationale for the new rules | Photo: Facebook
The community guidelines then go on to detail what kind of content users are no longer allowed to post.
Some of this banned content includes mentioning ‘sexual preference/sexual partner preference’ and ‘commonly sexualised areas of the body such as the breasts, groin or buttocks’.
Further, these standards apply to all of the companies Facebook owns, including Instagram and Facebook Messenger.
‘For example, on Messenger, when you send a photo, our automated systems scan it using photo matching technology to detect known child exploitation imagery or when you send a link, we scan it for malware or viruses,’ a spokesperson told Bloomberg.
What people are saying
People are upset at social media companies’ decision to start censoring such content for numerous reasons. While drawing a hard line on exploitative content is good, blanket censoring harms marginalized groups like LGBTI people.
Users are taking to Twitter and elsewhere to express their discontent. Making rules like these both continue to take away spaces for LGBTI users, as well as equate LGBTI identities with harmful sexual content.
Due to work and influence from pro-life and conservative figures, the Trump administrationhas created uncertainty around the future of HIVresearch.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has a contract with the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF). The school’s work relies on using fetal tissue for research into diseases like AIDS and Parkinson’s.
Now, however, the future of this research is uncertain due to pro-life advocates against research using fetal tissue.
According to the Washington Post, the contract between NIH and UCSF typically follows a year renewal with $2 million in funding. The researcher who runs the UCSF lab, however, said the lab received only a 90-day contract.
She was also told the money would be cut entirely.
Since taking office, anti-abortion activists have been vocal in asking Trump and his administration to ban research involving fetal tissue.
Several lawmakers reportedly targeted UCSF specifically, asking Trump to cut their funding.
Numerous drugs aimed at treating and preventing HIV have been tested as UCSF. Their research is done via incubating human T cells in mice, and NIH has supplied all the funding.
The tissue comes from elective abortions and many scientists and researchers say there are no other alternative approaches to this research at this time.
The Health and Human Services Department (HHS) of the federal government has also reportedly been holding meetings discussing the government’s stance on supporting research involving fetal tissue.
They have met with people such as patient advocates, scientific societies, ethicists, and abortion opponents.
‘This is a pro-life, pro-science administration,’ HHS Assistant Secretary for Health Brett Giroir told Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC).
HHS spokeswoman Caitlin Oakley said future funding remains uncertain as the administration assesses its stance on fetal tissue research.
Transgender Miss Universe contestant Angela Ponce has said that her victory would send a message to the contest’s former owner, US President Donald Trump.
Angela Ponce is set to represent Spain in the Miss Universe 2018 pageant, which is set to be held in Bangkok, Thailand, on December 17.
Her participation is particularly poignant as the contest was owned by Donald Trump until 2015, when he offloaded the business in the run-up to his run for president.
Speaking to TIME, the 27-year-old Miss Spain said: “I’m showing that trans women can be whatever they want to be: a teacher, a mother, a doctor, a politician and even Miss Universe.”
Addressing the Trump administration’s anti-transgender actions, Ponce said her victory would be an important symbol in a contest many still associate with the leader.
“If they give me the crown, it would show trans women are just as much women as cis women.”
— Miss Spain Angela Ponce
She said: “More than a message to him, it would be a win for human rights. Trans women have been persecuted and erased for so long.
“If they give me the crown, it would show trans women are just as much women as cis women.”
Ponce added that she would still have competed in the contest if she had been allowed to when it was owned by Trump.
Transgender Miss Universe contestant Angela Ponce said she wanted to “give a lesson to the world of tolerance and respect towards oneself and towards others.”
The beauty queen said: “I would. I like to think that most people who don’t understand me, it’s not because they’re bad people.
“It’s because no one taught them about diversity. What you don’t talk about doesn’t exist—even though trans people have been here since there were people on earth.”
The contestant has had a long road to the pageant, competing in 2015’s Miss World Spain contest, only to find out the rules barred transgender women.
She said: “It wasn’t easy… I found out on the day of the competition that their rules didn’t allow a transgender woman to win. It crushed me.
“I had to go on and perform, and it felt horrible. But after I got to the Miss Universe final, Miss World changed their rules too. I changed the rules.”
Ponce, who lives in the Spanish city of Seville, wrote on Instagram after her win: “My goal is to be a spokesperson for a message of inclusion, respect and diversity not only for the LGBTQ+ community, but also for the entire world.”
Miss Universe Canada faced legal action in 2012 when model Jenna Talackova was blocked from competing for being transgender.
Young black American gay and bisexual men are 16 times more likely to acquire HIV than white gay and bisexual men, according to a new study.
Northwestern University found black 16-29-year-old men who have sex with men (MSM) are the most at risk of HIV. This is despite reporting fewer sexual partners, more frequent testing and safer sex practises.
Researchers said this is because of ‘more dense and interconnected social and sexual networks’ within the black community.
There are also disparities with access to healthcare after an HIV diagnosis.
The study warned if the trend persists, one in two black men will acquire HIV at some point. This compares to one in five Hispanic men and one in 11 white men.
Senior study author Brian Mustanski said: ‘Black young MSM engage in fewer risk behaviors but have a much higher rate of HIV diagnosis.
‘Their social and sexual networks are more dense and interconnected, which from an infectious disease standpoint, makes infections transmitted more efficiently through the group.’
He then added: ‘That, coupled with the higher HIV prevalence in the population, means any sexual act has a higher chance of HIV transmission.’
Researchers collected data from 1,015 men who have sex with men living in the Chicago metropolitan area.
Jesse Milan Jr. is the president and CEO of AIDS United.
He said in a statement to Gay Star News: ‘This report demonstrates what we already knew to be true – that HIV has never affected all populations equally, having its greatest impact on society’s most marginalized communities.
‘The alarming disparities that we’ve seen in black gay and bisexual men have been so for decades. Despite recent progress in some populations, HIV continues to have a devastating and disproportionate impact on communities of color, especially black gay and bisexual men and transgender women.
‘We have to do more to bend this curve. It’s a moral imperative and its essential to ending the HIV epidemic in the U.S.
‘We cannot end this epidemic without addressing the stigma, racial and socio-economic factors that fuel it,’ he said.
A university in New Jersey, USA, has decided that a Chick-fil-A restaurant will not be built on campus because of the chain’s anti-LGBT+ views.
Students at Rider University reportedly voted for the Chick-fil-A branch as their top choice for a new food outlet on campus in a poll in spring.
However, in an open letter to students, the university’s president and vice-president said that Chick-fil-A had been removed from the list of options for the new campus restaurant because of its poor record on LGBT+ issues.“Although it was included in previous surveys, Chick-fil-A was removed as one of the options based on the company’s record widely perceived to be in opposition to the LGBTQ+ community,” said president Gregory Dell’Omo and vice-president for student affairs Leanna Fenneberg.
“That decision required a difficult assessment of competing interests.
“We sought to be thoughtful and fair in balancing the desire to provide satisfying options for a new on-campus restaurant while also being faithful to our values of inclusion.”
Rider University has issued a letter saying that a Chick-fil-A outlet will not be built on campus. (Rider University/Facebook)
Chick-fil-A denied that the company is against LGBT+ people.
“Chick-fil-A was removed as one of the options based on the company’s record widely perceived to be in opposition to the LGBTQ+ community.”
—Rider University
In a statement to WIVB, a Chick-fil-A spokesperson said: “Chick-fil-A is a restaurant company focused on food, service and hospitality, and our restaurants and licensed locations on college campuses welcome everyone.
“We have no policy of discrimination against any group, and we do not have a political or social agenda.”
Chick-fil-A has previously been criticised for donating large sums of money to anti-LGBT+ groups and opposing equal marriage,
In 2012, it emerged that Chick-fil-A had donated millions of dollars to anti-gay groups, including the Family Research Council, ‘gay cure’ group Exodus International and Focus on the Family.
CEO Dan Cathy later confirmed the company was opposed to marriage equality and “guilty as charged” for backing “the biblical definition of a family.”
Cathy told Baptist Press at the time: “We are very much supportive of the family – the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that.”
In June, Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, came under fire for supporting fast food chain Chick-fil-A.
Dorsey had tweeted a payment that he made to the restaurant using Square, a mobile payment service he owns.
In April last year, students at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh protested the arrival of a Chick-fil-A branch on campus.
Student senator Niko Martini told The Duquesne Duke: “Chick-fil-A has a questionable history on civil rights and human rights.
“I think it’s imperative [that] the university chooses to do business with organisations that coincide with the [university’s] mission and expectations they give students regarding diversity and inclusion.”
Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equalirt Index takes the ethical guesswork out of Black Friday.
As quickly as Thanksgiving comes and leaves us stuffed and merry, the madness of Black Friday descends upon us. There’s nothing quite as American as the gluttony of Black Friday. With the objective being getting as many deals, deals, deals as possible, it can be easy to forget to consider where one’s dollar is going. Who’s corporate pockets are we fattening?
Every year, Human Rights Campaign releases a Buyers Guide index to hundreds of Fortune 500 companies. The guide assesses whether the companies are committed to LGBTQ-inclusive workplace practices and policies.
“Our annual Buying for Workplace Equality guide provides quick, user-friendly help in selecting everything from groceries to cars, allowing fair-minded consumers to use their wallets to resist attacks on the LGBTQ community by supporting brands committed to fully inclusive workplaces,” said Deena Fidas, Director of HRC Foundation’s Workplace Equality Program. “ Every year we hear from members of the LGBTQ community and many other consumers who want to choose brands that align with their priorities of workplace fairness. Using the Buying for Workplace Equality guide this holiday season helps ensure that their dollars go to businesses that support equality.”
The Buying for Workplace Equality guide sorts businesses by sectors, assigning them a score ranging from zero to 100 based on LGBTQ workplace equality, as measured by HRC’s annual Corporate Equality Index and HRC-researched data.
Here’s a look at the top and bottom ranking companies in each of the 19 categories, with 100 being the highest score and 0 being the lowest. For more information and the full catalogue, visit www.hrc.org/apps/buyersguide.
Pharmaceutical company Gilead is ‘intentionally withholding’ a safer drug used for HIV treatments, a lawsuit claims.
The company holds the patent on Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate (TDF), an antiretroviral drug for people living with HIV. If routinely taken, this can regulate the viral load.
However, a lawsuit filed in US federal court on 17 November alleges that the company is withholding a new version of the drug with fewer side-effects to exploit patent laws.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) greenlit the new drug in November 2016.
According to the lawsuit, the company plans to sell a safer version of the drug called Tenofovir Alafenamide Fumarate (TAF). However, this will only happen when the patent on TDF expires in 2021.
Patent expiration means that cheaper, generic versions of the drug can be produced by other companies. If Gilead is timing the rollout for TAF to the patent expiration on TDF, they could continue to charge premium rates for the new drug.
The lawsuit claims that the company is ‘intentionally withholding [TAF] …from hundreds of thousands of patients in order to extend the profitability of the patent’. It says this has particularly impacted LGBTI individuals and ethnic minorities.
‘We are filing lawsuits on behalf of people with HIV who took one or more of Gilead’s TDF drugs—Truvada, Viread, Atripla, Complera, and Stribild—and then allegedly suffered kidney disease and/or bone density loss,’ the law firms announced on their website.
‘Gilead is accused of knowing that these drugs could cause serious side effects, but allegedly withheld a safer version of the medication (TAF drugs). Our law firms—Morgan & Morgan, Ben Crump Law, and Hilliard Martinez Gonzales—aim to hold Gilead accountable and recover money for people who claim they were harmed by these drugs.’
The Trump administration has quietly gutted transgender rights guidance for federal employees, telling agencies to treat people based on “biological sex.”
ThinkProgress reports that revisions were made to public guidance on the website of the government’s Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to remove transgender rights protections.
The previous guidance, drawn up under President Barack Obama, instructed federal agencies to “review their anti-discrimination policies to ensure that they afford a non-discriminatory working environment to employees irrespective of their gender identity or perceived gender non-conformity.”A revision apparently made in the last week removed all mention of the words “transgender” and “gender non-conforming” while inserting language to effectively reverse several of the inclusive policies.
The new guidance states that employees in gender-specific roles should be treated “in accordance with the individual’s biological sex,” where the previous materials said they should be treated as their preferred gender.
Guidance that directed employers to move away from “gender-specific dress and appearance rules” have also been changed to now state that agencies are “encouraged” to enact “policies [that] require employees to follow dress and appearance rules consistent with the professional standards of their occupation.”
The webpage also erases sections on the “core concepts” of gender identity and gender non-conforming identities.
The OPM webpage now states that agencies should update their diversity and inclusion policies “with the plain meaning of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”
The reference to the “plain meaning” of the Civil Rights Act contradicts the widely-held Obama administration stance that civil rights laws banning discrimination based on sex also outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The Trump administration has previously argued in court that the section should only be applied to direct gender discrimination.
The changes appear to substantiate reports of a leaked memo from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) setting out a new anti-transgender stance across the administration.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on October 22, he confirmed: “We’re looking at it. We have a lot of different concepts right now.
“They have a lot of different things happening with respect to transgender right now. You know that as well as I do and we’re looking at it very seriously.”
Asked if he would protect the LGBT+ community, he responded: “I’m protecting everybody.”
When a reporter told the leader that “transgender Americans say you’ve given up on them,” Trump replied: “You know what I’m doing? I’m protecting everybody. I want to protect our country.”
You can now report Twitter users for targeted deadnaming and misgendering.
Twitter updated its Terms of Service last night (23 November) to protect trans people from online abuse.
The new protection comes under the heading: ‘Repeated and/or non-consensual slurs, epithets, racist and sexist tropes or other content that degrades someone.’
It continues: ‘We prohibit targeting individuals with repeated slurs, tropes or other content that intends to dehumanize, degrade or reinforce negative or harmful steroetypes about a protected category.
‘This includes targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals,’ it said.
Targeted misgendering is the process of deliberately using the wrong pronouns when addressing someone. While targeted deadnaming is deliberately using the birth name of someone who has legally changed their name to affirm their identity.
Twitter users can report these slurs by using the ‘It’s abusive or harmful’ option, then ‘Includes targeted harassment’ or ‘It directs hate against a protected category’.
Transgender advocates took to Twitter to commend Twitter for protecting trans people against online abuse.
One Twitter user wrote: ‘GOOD. It’s about time.’
Another tweeted: ‘A nice thing for Friday.’
Another wrote: ‘If we are going to have rules against harassment, these updated rules makes sense.’
Photo: Facebook. Viccky Gutierrez, 33, was stabbed and had her body set ablaze inside her Los Angeles home on January 10.
The transgender community is still one of the most targeted minorities in the United States. Not only are gender-nonconforming individuals being harassed and attacked on the streets, but the government is attempting to erase their entire identity out of existence.
With National Transgender Day of Remembrance coming up on November 20, the City of West Hollywood is planning a ceremony for the trans lives lost this year at Jeremy Hotel from 6 – 9 p.m. In total, there were 29 deaths of transgender people in the U.S. in 2017. So far, there has been a total of 22 deaths due to fatal violence.
LIVES LOST:
• Christa Leigh Steele-Knudslien, 42, was found dead in her home on January 5, in North Adams, Massachusetts. Steele-Knudslien organized and produced the Miss Trans New England and other pageants, and was loved and known by many in both the local and national trans community.
• Viccky Gutierrez, 33, a transgender woman from Honduras was stabbed and had her body set ablaze inside her Los Angeles home on January 10. Friends described her as “a young trans Latina immigrant woman whose warm smile would give anyone comfort.”
• Celine Walker, 36, was fatally shot in a hotel room on on February 4 in Jacksonville, Florida. It was not known for several days that Walker was trans because local police claimed to not refer to victims as transgender. Investigators are still looking for a suspect in her death.
• Tonya Harvey, 35, was fatally shot on February 6 in Buffalo, New York. A friend of Harvey’s expressed her condolences on Facebook, writing: “I knew her since I started transitioning, she was so sweet and loving.” Police have confirmed they are looking into the incident as a possible hate crime.
• Zakaria Fry, 28, went missing in New Mexico in mid-January. Her body was later found 40 miles outside of Albuquerque on February 19. Albuquerque Police arrested and charged Charles Spiess with two open counts of murder. Fry’s loved ones shared comondolences on Facebook with one friend saying: “You were my older sister. You took care of me and loved me like family. I’ll forever love you. I’m sorry.”
• Phylicia Mitchell, 45, was shot and killed outside her home on February 23 in Cleveland, Ohio. On April 10, Cleveland.com reported that a warrant has been issued for the arrest of Gary Sanders. Sanders was charged with aggravated murder in Mitchell’s death. Her longtime partner, Shane Mitchell, described her as “funny and kind” and that “everyone loved her.”
• Amia Tyrae Berryman, 28, was fatally shot at a local motel on March 26 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Few details are known about the crime, and police report they have no suspects or persons of interest at this time.
• Sasha Wall, 29, a transgender woman of color, was fatally shot on April 1 in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. The FBI is assisting with local investigators, and are analyzing phone records and collecting DNA evidence. Donovan Dunlap, a friend of Wall’s, expressed condolences on Facebook, writing, “I will miss you my beautiful sister. I cannot sleep, I hope they find who did this.”
• Karla Patricia Flores-Pavón, 26, was found choked to death in her apartment in Dallas, Texas, on May 9. Dallas Police arrested 24-year-old Jimmy Eugene Johnson III on May 17, charging him with Flores-Pavón’s murder. “It hurts a lot, you were a good-hearted person. Sister, fly high. We will remember you with love. Your beautiful smile will stay with us,” a friend posted on her Facebook page.
• Nino Fortson, 36, was fatally shot in Atlanta on May 13. City police were nearby executing a traffic stop and rushed to the scene, but Forston later died at the hospital, said transgender advocate Monica Roberts.
• Gigi Pierce, 28, was fatally shot on May 21 in Portland, Oregon. When officers arrived they tried to administer aid, but Pierce died at the scene. Police investigators say they believe that Pierce was shot during an altercation with Sophia Adler, who has been charged with Pierce’s murder, according to KGW-TV.
• Antash’a English, 38, was fatally injured in drive-by shooting in Jacksonville, Florida on June 1. On her Facebook page, English described herself as an “independent” transgender woman who “thrives on being the best person” she can be. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has declared an active murder investigation and asks anyone with information to contact their office.
• Diamond Stephens, 39, was found shot to death on June 18 in Meridian, Mississippi. In interviews with a local television station, family members said that Stephens had an “incredible personality.” As is too often the case in the reporting of anti-transgender violence, Stephens was originally misgendered in local police statements and media reports, which delayed our awareness of this deadly incident.
• Cathalina Christina James, 24, was fatally shot in Jacksonville, Florida, on June 24. In an interview with First Coast News, James’ mother described her daughter as having a “big and bold” personality, saying she loved to dance and travel. James is the third transgender woman murdered and the fourth shot in the Florida city this year.
• Keisha Wells, 54, was found dead with a gunshot wound to her abdomen in the parking lot of an apartment complex on June 24, according to Cleveland.com. A longtime friend of Wells described her as “the nicest person ever” but also a “tough cookie.”
• Sasha Garden, 27, was found dead with signs of trauma in Orlando, Florida, early July 19. Originally from Wisconsin, Garden is remembered by loved ones as a “firecracker” who “didn’t hold anything back.” Friend and local transgender activist Mulan Montrese Williams recalls that Garden was a talented and aspiring hair stylist and had been saving money to fund her transition.
• Vontashia Bell, 18, was fatally shot on August 30 in a neighborhood of Shreveport, Lousiana. The Louisiana Trans Advocates organization released a statement condemning the shooting and calling on the city’s leaders to help curb the violence against the trans community.
• Dejanay Stanton, 24, was found with a fatal gunshot wound to the head on August 30, according to media reports. After an autopsy, her death was ruled a homicide and the investigation is ongoing. “Every time you saw her she had a smile on her face,” said LaSaia Wade, executive director of Brave Space Alliance. “She was just trying to live her best life as a young girl.”
• Shantee Tucker, 30, was found with a fatal gunshot wound in the back in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 5. Friends and family honored her life and mourned her death on Facebook, recalling that she was like “another big sister” to them and remembering her “beautiful spirit and fun aura.”
• Londonn Moore, 20, was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds in a remote area of North Port, Florida on Sept. 8. Moore is remembered by her family and other loved ones, who described her as “hilarious” and someone who “made everyone laugh all the time.”
• Nikki Enriquez, 28, was one of four women killed in Sept. in what local officials describe as a “serial killing spree” allegedly carried out by an intel supervisor for the U.S. Border Patrol. Enriquez, who also went by the name Janelle, is survived by numerous loved ones that were “sad and in disbelief” at her death. Cousin Veronica Castillo described her as a “very outgoing” person who loved to party and was beloved by the local LGBTQ community.
• Ciara Minaj Carter Frazier, 31, was fatally stabbed and her body left behind an abandoned building by a man with whom she was arguing on October 3 in Chicago. As reported in the Sun Times, Chicago police declared Frazier’s death a homicide after appearing on the scene. She is remembered by friends and loved ones, who said that she will “always be missed.”
