The U.S. Supreme Court left intact a Mississippi law that lets businesses and government workers refuse on religious grounds to provide services to gay and transgender people.
The justices turned away two appeals by state residents and organizations that contended the measure violates the Constitution. A federal appeals court said the opponents hadn’t suffered any injury that would let them press their claims in court.
The Mississippi fight in some ways represented the flip side of a Colorado case the high court is currently considering; the question in that instance is whether the state can require a baker who sells wedding cakes to make one for a same-sex couple’s wedding.
The cases are testing states’ ability to regulate what happens when LGBT rights come into conflict with religious freedoms. Colorado is aiming to bolster gay rights by enforcing an anti-discrimination law, even though the Denver-area baker says he has a religious objection to same-sex marriage.
The Mississippi law, by contrast, gives priority to religious rights. The state enacted its law less than a year after the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
The measure says religious people can’t be sued or penalized by the government for declining to provide services for same-sex marriage ceremonies. The law also protects people who believe gender is an immutable characteristic or who object to sex out of wedlock.
Critics say the law lets government clerks refuse to issue same-sex marriage licenses and lets adoption and foster-care organizations decline to place children with LGBT families. The measure also wiped out protections that cities including Jackson, the state’s most populous, had previously afforded to gay and transgender residents.
The suing residents and groups contended the statute unlawfully endorses a religious viewpoint and infringes the constitutional right to equal protection.
The cases are Barber v. Bryant, 17-547, and Campaign for Southern Equality v. Bryant, 17-642.
One of President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees has said that gay judges shouldn’t hear LGBT cases – because they’re biased.
Howard C. Nielson Jr.’s comments came after the 2010 Hollingsworth v. Perry case which made same-sex marriage legal in California.
Nielson argued that the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Vaughn Walker, should have recused himself because he was in a same-sex relationship.
The revelations were released by the Alliance for Justice (AFJ), a group which monitors the judiciary.
They raised concerns over Nielson’s nomination in a new report.
It showed that Nielson said it was “extremely problematic that Judge Walker is a practising homosexual himself”.
Howard C. Nielson Jr (Cooper & Kirk)
Nielson, who Trump nominated to be a judge on the U.S. District Court of Utah in September, put forward a motion which targeted Walker for his sexuality.
In it, he argued that Walker “had a duty to disclose not only the facts concerning his relationship, but also his marriage intentions”, the report said.
Only if Walker “disavowed any interest in marrying his partner could the parties and the public be confident that he did not have a direct personal interest in the outcome,” Nielson added.
The motion was rejected.
Nielson is vehemently opposed to LGBT rights, having argued in the past that sexual orientation is a choice.
He also opposed the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling which legalised same-sex marriage nationwide.
He said that marriage should remain between a man and a woman because “in particular, through the institution of marriage, societies seek to increase the likelihood that children will be born and raised in stable and enduring family units by both the mothers and fathers who brought them into this world,” the AFJ report said.
Corey Johnson was elected City Council speaker in an overwhelming vote Wednesday, capping months of maneuvering that will make him the city’s second-most-powerful elected official.
Johnson — a Manhattan Democrat who is gay and HIV positive — was chosen in a 48-1 vote. Councilwoman Inez Barron, who mounted her own last-minute bid for speaker to protest the lack of black candidates, was the lone no vote.
The new leader is expected to pose a challenge to Mayor de Blasio — saying he won’t hesitate to push through bills over the mayor’s veto, which never happened under his predecessor — although their progressive ideological views largely align. He takes over from Melissa Mark-Viverito, who left the job because of term limits.
The Massachusetts native, 35, recalled moving to New York at age 19, with two bags and no idea where he was going to live.
“I want New York to be a place where you can still be 19 years old and come here and still survive. And it’s becoming more and more difficult if you don’t come from a wealthy family to be able to do that,” he said.
“It should be a place where you can come as a young person and stay here and go to school and get a good job.”
Johnson worked aggressively to shore up support in what had once been a wide-open field of eight candidates. He was all but assured of the job after he got the blessing of the Queens and Bronx Democratic parties, particularly Queens boss Joe Crowley, who reclaimed his traditional role as Council kingmaker four years after being shut out when Mark-Viverito was selected for the job.
Many of his first seven rivals quickly dropped out, though Councilman Jumaane Williams (D-Brooklyn) did not concede before Wednesday, and his last opponent, Barron (D-Brooklyn), mounted her challenge late last month.
Johnson stressed he will be “independent” of the mayor — and unlike de Blasio, supports congestion pricing, as well as giving more city money to the MTA if there are assurances on how it will be spent. He also said there’s little appetite on the Council to revive Hizzoner’s push to ban horse carriages.
“I’m fine with overriding vetoes,” he told reporters after the vote. “I’m more than willing to do that.”
The biggest controversy over Johnson’s selection centered around race, with some Council members and civil rights groups objecting to giving the job to a white man. Three of the four citywide officials are now white and male.
“Black, Latino and Asians are the majority in this city, yet we have never, ever had a black speaker,” Barron said on the steps of City Hall Wednesday, before nominating herself for the job. “It’s our turn now.”
Barron blasted it as “unconscionable” that the Democratic Party in 2018 would “conspire” to block a black candidate from capturing the job. But while several members applauded her bid, she did not garner any votes from the 51-member Council besides her own.
Johnson receives applause after he was elected Council Speaker on Wednesday.
Williams, who is also rumored as a possible primary challenger to Gov. Cuomo, opted to skip the vote and instead attend Cuomo’s State of the State speech in Albany. Debi Rose (D-Staten Island) was the other Council member not in attendance.
Another black candidate for the post, Brooklyn Councilman Robert Cornegy, stayed in the race for more than a week after the deal to anoint Johnson. Cornegy objected to the selection of a white candidate, but he eventually offered his support — and seconded Johnson’s nomination Wednesday.
“The black community is the base of the Democratic Party. And we were given short shrift,” said the Rev. Jacques Andre DeGraff, associate pastor of Harlem’s Canaan Baptist Church, who backed Cornegy.
Johnson said he understood the racial concerns, and would make sure leadership and powerful committee posts go to a diverse group of pols.
“I am never going to compare my experience to that of a person of color in New York City,” he said. “When I walk into a Duane Reade, I don’t get followed around by someone because they think I’m going to shoplift.”
Johnson, who has spoken openly about his past struggles with alcohol and drug addiction, has chaired the health committee for the last four years, and represents Chelsea, the Village and Hell’s Kitchen.
The future speaker first made headlines while still in high school, when he came out as gay while co-captain of his football team.
With his mother, Ann, looking on Wednesday, he said he was “suicidal, despondent, and I didn’t want to live” when he first told her he was gay.
Then he had to tell his 82-year old, Mass-attending Irish Catholic grandfather.
“He said, ‘Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I thought you were going to tell me you were a Republican. You can be gay, but you have to be a Democrat,” he recalled his grandfather saying.
Besides supporting congestion pricing to raise money for the crumbling subway, Johnson — who has never owned a car, but will get a car and driver with the post — said he’ll continue to ride the trains regularly as speaker.
“I actually like the subway when it works,” he said. “It’s good people watching.”
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and Equality Pennsylvania today released new polling data conducted by Hart Research Associates one year out from the 2018 midterm elections, showing that likely voters across Pennsylvania overwhelmingly support LGBTQ-inclusive policies and are less likely to vote for a candidate who does not. HRC is on the ground in Pennsylvania, a priority state through HRC Rising — the largest and earliest grassroots expansion in its 37-year history.
“A year out from the midterm elections, the data clearly show that Pennsylvanians overwhelmingly support LGBTQ equality,” said JoDee Winterhof, Senior Vice President for Policy and Political Affairs. “Just as they have in North Carolina last year and Alabama earlier this month, Pennsylvania voters will stand up to reject candidates who target LGBTQ people. These polling results make it clear — hate is not a winning political strategy.”
”This polling data reaffirms what we’ve been seeing for the past year as we talk to our members in every single county across the state,” said John Dawe, Interim Executive Director at Equality Pennsylvania. “As the the LGBTQ community was repeatedly attacked with hateful legislation and policies during the past year, the number Pennsylvanians standing up and making LGBTQ issues a priority in their activism also grew exponentially.”
Following the defeat of anti-LGBTQ politicians like former North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory and Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, the new polling makes clear that voters in Pennsylvania resoundingly reject elected officials who attack and discriminate against the LGBTQ community. Almost half of voters (46 percent) say they would feel less favorably toward an official who opposes LGBTQ equality, versus 11 percent who say it would make them more favorable toward the official. This 35 point margin demonstrates just how toxic it is to attack LGBTQ people for perceived political gain.Voters will no longer tolerate discrimination against their family, friends and neighbors.
Pennsylvania voters also oppose the Trump-Pence administration’s efforts to roll back LGBTQ equality, with 53 percent opposing Trump’s efforts to ban qualified transgender people from serving in the United States armed forces. By a wide 22 point margin, voters also oppose laws granting business owners a dangerous license to discriminate.
Overall, Pennsylvania voters support LGBTQ equality and protections for LGBTQ people such as banning so-called “conversion therapy” and prohibiting discrimination against prospective LGBTQ parents and kids in foster care and adoption. Other key findings from the poll:
71 percent of Pennsylvania voters support LGBTQ employees having access to paid family and medical leave, without fear of losing a paycheck or their job for the birth or adoption of a child, or to care for a sick family member.
59 percent of Pennsylvania voters support allowing LGBTQ people to legally adopt children.
56 percent of Pennsylvania voters support making it illegal to discriminate against LGBTQ people in employment.
53 percent of Pennsylvania voters support making it illegal to discriminate against LGBTQ people in housing.
Pennsylvania voters also support passing the Equality Act by a 56 to 25 percent margin. This crucial federal legislation would provide consistent and explicit non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people across key areas of life, including employment, housing, credit, education, public spaces and services, federally funded programs, and jury service.
In July, HRC announced HRC Rising, the earliest, largest grassroots expansion in its 37-year history ahead of 2018 midterms. This historic campaign to win equality in states from coast-to-coast, resist the politics of hate, fight anti-LGBTQ legislation, and fuel pro-equality candidates and initiatives, will include six priority states: Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, HRC has identified more than 2,005,000 Pennsylvanians as likely “Equality Voters” — those who are strong supporters of policies that advance LGBTQ equality, including marriage equality and other measures prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has announced key national and in-state staff to lead HRC Rising, a bold, proactive grassroots campaign to accelerate progress in states from coast-to-coast, resist the politics of hate, fight anti-LGBTQ legislation, and fuel pro-equality candidates and initiatives in 2018, 2020 and beyond.
HRC has begun recruiting at least 45 full-time political, field, grassroots organizing, volunteer engagement, communications, and digital staff for this earliest, largest grassroots deployment in its 37-year history. Today, HRC announced the first 12 staff, who will join more than two dozen existing staff working on the HRC Rising initiative. They will immediately begin working with HRC’s 32 existing, volunteer-led, local steering committees to expand local partnerships, recruit volunteers, mobilize constituents, register voters and grow the organization’s grassroots army to flex political muscle in legislatures and at the ballot box.
In Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, HRC is making an especially strong, early push to organize against the Trump-Pence agenda and support pro-equality candidates in coming elections. Newly hired State Managers will manage state staff and volunteers, and work with state and local organizations and partners in coalition to bolster efforts to advance equality, defend the LGBTQ community against attacks, and deliver wins for pro-equality candidates in order to lay the groundwork for future legislative victories. As part of HRC Rising, HRC will also expand its public education and programmatic initiatives to raise awareness about the scope and consequences of inequality and engage a broader swath of the public in our efforts to empower and improve the lives of LGBTQ people everywhere. This will include education about the lack of federal non-discrimination protections that leave LGBTQ people in 31 states at risk of being fired, denied housing, and denied services for who they are or whom they love.
The launch of HRC Rising comes after a year in which HRC significantly expanded its grassroots engagement and proved that the ten million LGBTQ voters in America — five percent of all voters — are one of the most important and effective voting blocs in the nation. Over the last year, HRC has refined its digital outreach, organizing and targeting, including the development of an “Equality Support” model. HRC can now target with a high degree of accuracy not only LGBTQ voters but allies — “equality voters” — who are likely to oppose candidates who attack the civil rights of LGBTQ people.
“The defeat of Pat McCrory in North Carolina and Roy Moore in Alabama show anti-equality politicians everywhere that ‘Equality Voters’ are a powerful voting bloc that can determine elections,” said JoDee Winterhof, HRC Senior Vice President of Policy and Political Affairs. “With so much at stake in 2018, it was more important than ever for us to make this crucial investment in on-the-ground staff a year before the election. Their work mobilizing, activating and harnessing the energy of our grassroots army of more than three million members will truly make the difference come November, and we’re excited for them to join the team as we enter the next stage in the fight for full LGBTQ equality.”
Geoff Wetrosky, former National Campaign Manager for the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), has been named Campaign Director for HRC Rising. Wetrosky has a decade’s worth of on-the-ground experience working on Democratic presidential, gubernatorial, US Senate, US House, and municipal-level campaigns in 11 different states. Long-time HRC Senior Regional Field Director Lynne Bowman, who has overseen HRC’s field efforts in the midwest and northeast since 2012, and Jonathan Shields, who helped lead HRC’s election efforts in North Carolina and across the country in 2016, have joined Wetrosky as Deputy Campaign Directors. Wes Schrock, who most recently built and executed the Democratic Party’s national volunteer program for Virginia’s 2017 elections, is serving as Campaign Coordinator.
HRC also announced four State Managers: Pennsylvania State Manager Allison VanKuiken, Ohio State Manager Shawn Copeland, Wisconsin State Manager Wendy Strout, and Nevada State Manager Briana Escamilla. HRC is also hiring state managers in Arizona and Michigan, who will be on board early next year.
VanKuiken, the former deputy field director for Pennsylvania Competes, joins the team after serving as Equality California’s program director and brings extensive campaign experience in state races in Michigan. Copeland comes to HRC after years leading field campaigns in Ohio for organizations including the Progressive Turnout PAC, NextGen Climate Ohio and Equality Ohio. Strout has deep experience in Wisconsin’s nonprofit advocacy world, building Emerge America’s statewide program in Wisconsin, and most recently leading field work for the Wisconsin AFL-CIO. Escamilla joins HRC from the League of Conservation Voters, where she was Nevada field director, and has also worked for the Nevada State Assembly and the State Democratic Party.
The state managers will manage incoming regional organizing leads, oversee statewide recruitment, cultivate and train volunteer leaders, and mobilize “Equality Voters” ahead of crucial 2018 elections in their states.
HRC is also expanding its digital and communications operations, with staff dedicated to strategic work supporting these in-state teams. Ianthe Metzger, who previously worked at HRC, is leading communications for the six priority states. Prior to rejoining the team she worked at the PR firm BerlinRosen where her clients included Planned Parenthood, the Southern Environmental Law Center and the Democratic Attorneys General Association. Senior Manager of Online Strategy Jacob Shlomo and social organizers Curtis Clinch and Charles Girard will be expanding HRC’s digital communication with members in the six priority states. Shlomo most recently worked at digital strategy firm Mothership Strategies, Girard comes from the HRC Foundation’s Welcoming School program, and Clinch has an extensive background in public relations and marketing for nonprofits.
A judge violated ethics rules by insisting he did not want to oversee same-sex adoptions, officials have concluded.
Judge Mitchell Nance, who presides over family court in Kentucky’s 43rd Judicial District, caused a storm earlier this year after he banned cases involving gay families from his courtroom.
Judge Nance’s order registered an “conscientious objection to the concept of adoption of a child by a practising homosexual”, seeking to recuse himself from such cases on the grounds of “matters of conscience”.
The judge claimed he cannot hear the cases because he believes there is no circumstance in which “the best interest of the child [would] be promoted by the adoption by a practicing homosexual”.
A probe into his conduct by the Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission this week established that he had violated ethics rules.
The judge was handed a reprimand, having already confirmed that he will ‘voluntarily’ resign from the bench over the row.
The state judicial commission had pursued ethics charges against Nance, accusing him of violating the judicial code of conduct.
This bars judges from overtly “showing bias or prejudice based on race, sex, religion, national origin, disability, age, sexual orientation or socioeconomic status”.
He was also accused of failing to act in a way that “promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary”.
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Responding to the charges previously, Nance’s lawyers confirmed that he would be resigning rather than face punishment.
The complaint against the judge was pursued by the Fairness Campaign, a Kentucky LGBT group. It was joined by Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Kentucky and University of Louisville Law Professor Sam Marcosson.
Speaking to the Herald Leader, Chris Hartman of the Fairness Campaign said: “I think that we’ve got justice here
“Judge Nance has proven he cannot be entrusted with decisions that affect his diverse constituency and their families.
“I hope it sends a message that fairness and justice must be applied equally, and that judges whose conscience conflicts with their duties must resign the bench if they cannot deliver that basic fairness and justice.”
The judge had insisted previously that he had not discriminated against gay couples because the order was “preemptive”.
The judge explained he wanted to make clear in advance that he would not take such cases, adding: “It’s preemptive in nature… I wanted to preempt there from being any uncertainty if the situation arose.”
Judge Nance was backed by anti-LGBT groups.
The anti-LGBT Family Foundation of Kentucky said: “If we are going to let liberal judges write their personal biases and prejudices into law, as we have done on issues of marriage and sexuality, then, in the interest of fairness, we are going to have to allow judges with different views to at least recuse themselves from such cases.
“When adoption agencies abandon the idea that it is in the best interest of a child to grow up with both a mother and a father, people can’t expect judges who do believe that to be forced to bow the knee.”
The group insisted the judge was correct to “recuse himself if he believes his views might bias a cas.
It added: “We can’t imagine how the groups now trying to unseat him claim to be in favor of tolerance and diversity while at the same time trying to hound from office public officials who don’t agree with their politically correct ideology.”
“If the Judicial Ethics Commission rules against Nance, it will be the second time in recent months which it has ruled against a judge for doing what the law requires judges to do.”
A new study has revealed that lesbian, gay, bisexual and questioning teens are at least four times more likely to be suicidal than their heterosexual peers.
The research in the Journal of Adolescent Health investigated how sexual orientation and traumatic experiences affect suicidal feelings and attempts in teenagers.
The study asked questions to 5,000 students from 97 high schools in Nevada, United States.
A risk of suicide was linked with childhood experiences of trauma, known as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).
These traumatic experiences included sexual assault, domestic violence and physical harm from a parent.
The study discovered that LGB people without traumatic experiences were four times more likely to be suicidal or have attempted suicide than their heterosexual peers.
The study also found that LGB and questioning people were more likely to have experienced trauma or significant upset in their childhoods.
Over 50% of LGB students said they had been through two or more traumatic incidents, compared to around 25% of heterosexual students.
LGB and questioning students with one incident of trauma were nearly seven times more likely to be suicidal than heterosexual students with one incident.
LGB students who had three or more significant traumatic experiences were 14 times more likely to think about suicide or be suicidal than heterosexual students.
Kristen Clements-Nolle of the University of Nevada, the lead author on the study, highlighted the need for research on teen suicide in a statement to Reuters Health.
She said: “It is imperative that we identify adolescent populations at greatest risk to guide our prevention efforts.
“Furthermore, cumulative exposure to ACEs greatly increased suicide risk behaviours among sexual minority adolescents.
She continued: “for example, compared with heterosexual students with no exposure to ACEs, LGB/not sure students with two or more ACEs had approximately 13 times higher odds of attempting suicide in the past year.”
The 2014 study discovered that lesbian and bisexual girls are more likely to report planning suicide, having suicidal thoughts and self-harming than their male peers.
Bisexual and lesbian girls were approximately half as likely to have been treated by a medical professional as a result of a suicide attempt.
Neither of the 2014 or 2017 studies investigated transgender, genderqueer or intersex youths.
The Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus slammed the Trump administration for continuing to censor and erase transgender and allied voices from public discourse at the Department of Health and Human Services, which has reportedly withheld more than 10,000 public comments from a proposal with life and death consequences for the transgender community.
“The Trump administration has all but conceded that they cannot win a public debate on the merits and so has resorted to erasing opposition voices from the public sphere,” said LGBT Equality Caucus Executive Director Roddy Flynn. “This disturbing development comes just days after reporting that agencies within HHS were banning staff from even using the word ‘transgender.’ It seems this administration is not content with just giving a stamp of government approval on discrimination or banning transgender patriots from the military, they are intent on entirely erasing the community from public life.”
In October, the Trump administration sought public comment on a proposal to reduce HHS regulations for religious and faith-based groups, a move that could impact transgender American’s access to health care. While HHS received 10,729 comments on the proposal, it only published 80 comments. The comments published largely support the rule on the grounds that it rolls back nondiscrimination healthcare protections for transgender Americans.
Wednesday, Dec. 20, at 11 AM, the National LGBTQ Task Force and the National Partnership for Women & Families are partnering with LGBTQ, reproductive rights, and scientific advocates to demonstrate at the Department of Health and Human Services and to say women, the transgender community, scientific community, and progressive allies will stand united in a visual protest against the Centers for Disease Control’s action. Note that there will not be a speakers program – this demonstration a visual representation and activists will be taking to social media under the hashtags. #CDC7Words, and #ScienceNotSilence.
After the LGBT community celebrated Doug Jones’ senate win last week in Alabama, beating homophobic and accused sexual predator Roy Moore, the queer community celebrated something else. Internet detectives discovered Jones had a gay son, Carson Jones, and a new Instagram hunk was born.
We had the opportunity to ask Carson Jones some questions about his father’s win, if he’s single or taken and what his DM box is looking like these days now that he has a whole lot more thirsty followers … including us.
Hornet: Since we first blogged about you, your Instagram following has grown by more than 15,000 followers. How does it feel to have such a strong following now and what are you going to do with your platform?
Carson Jones: It was honestly kind of overwhelming as the followers started to climb really quickly. But I have had so many really nice people reach out with words of encouragement and support. So many people have just simply said “Thank you” and all of that really means a lot. Moving forward, I probably will get a bit more vocal about issues. But honestly who knows what the future holds at this point.
What do you know now that you didn’t know at the start of your father’s campaign?
Alabama really can change. I was definitely very pessimistic before the victory and while I saw Alabama changing, it was very very slow. This victory was just so monumental that it really demonstrates that my home state can and will be a place that puts people first.
Do you ever see yourself becoming more involved with politics yourself, especially since there are so few LGBT out politicians in office?
I honestly have no idea what the cards will hold later on. I absolutely love what I do now as a zookeeper and really can’t ever imagine leaving the field. This has been my passion since I was about five years old and I’m finally getting to do some really amazing things with animals and to inspire conservation action. But all that being said, I’ve always been interested in politics, so nothing is getting ruled out for sure.
What has your personal experience been with dating apps like Hornet?
I mean like pretty much every gay guy my age, I have definitely had my fair share of positive and negative experiences with the “app culture” in the gay community. I kind of go through periods where I am using them constantly for a few weeks and then forget all about them for a while and then go back to them. It’s a cycle.
Are you single or taken?
(Laughs) I’m very much single.
What do you look for in a partner?
Just getting started dipping my toe in the dating pool which has been exciting but also terrifying. I mean, I’m looking for what I think most people are: someone handsome and charming but also someone genuine and real. Someone that is engaged with the world around them and supportive when I binge eat Chinese food at 3:00 a.m. after a night out on the town. (Laughs)
If you could sit in a room with some of the men and women who voted for your father, what’s the first thing you would say to them?
It would just be thank you, thank you, thank you. It was amazing to stand in the stage behind my dad on election night and see supporters in the audience bawling at how happy this victory was for them. It really makes you understand how important this election really was. This victory isn’t my dad’s victory, this is their victory and I would tell them that.
If you could say one thing to your 16-year-old self, what would it be?
I think my 16-year-old self was way too tightly strung. I’m still an A-type personality, but 16-year-old Carson took that way too far. So I would simply say, “Chill out. Everything is going to work out.”
What’s the craziest DM you got from a new follower this week?
Honestly, everyone has been surprisingly tame. No dick pics or anything. Lots of marriage proposals but also a lot of really amazing supportive messages. I definitely get a lot of “ZADDY” comments. I honestly had no idea what that meant and had to look it up. And now my close friends are trolling my Instagram and commenting “ZADDY” everywhere. (Laughs)
So what’s next?
Finishing grad school is the top priority. I’ll be done in May and then I’ll see where that takes me. Hopefully a really amazing zoo wants to hire me on full-time and I can really get going with my career. But I also just want to take some time and travel and relax. It has been a crazy year to say the least, so if more naps could be in my future in 2018 … that would be perfect.
Groundswell has announced $1,350,000 in grants for 30 organizations in its inaugural round of grantmaking through the Liberation Fund, a joint project of Groundswell Fund (a 501c3) and Groundswell Action Fund (a 501c4). Grantees were recommended for funding by 15 leading women of color movement leaders who serve as advisors to the Liberation Fund, including Alicia Garza, Linda Sarsour, Mary Hooks, Isa Noyola and Ai-jen Poo, among others.
In today’s political environment, it is more vital than ever that we organize to hold public officials accountable in their home districts to defend and advance the rights of vulnerable communities. Grassroots organizing efforts led by women of color and transgender people of color are at the forefront of these efforts, leading smart and effective multi-issue campaigns that build a vibrant grassroots base of support and leave no one behind.
“Groundswell has teamed up with 15 of the most prominent women of color leaders in the country to bridge a longstanding gap that exists between the funders in this country and the grassroots organizing work that is offering the boldest and most effective solutions to white supremacy and misogyny,” said Vanessa Daniel, Groundswell executive director. “Since the election, billions of dollars have flowed into progressive movements, and nearly all of it is going to large national organizations. While many of these organizations play an important role in the social change ecosystem, they cannot protect communities or advance bold change on their own. Most of us don’t believe in trickle-down economics, so why do we fund trickle-down social justice? The Liberation Fund gives funders and donors an easy way to support powerful change that is surging up from the grassroots.”
The Liberation Fund uplifts and supports the strongest of these organizations across the country with a demonstrated track record and commitment to racial and gender justice on issues ranging from: economic and environmental justice; to LGBTQ, immigrant and Native sovereignty rights; to halting gender-based violence, climate change, mass incarceration, immigration detention and deportation, and anti-Black and anti-Muslim forces, among other key issues.
501c3 grantees on the inaugural docket include:
Black Mesa Water Coalition; BreakOut!; CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities; Desis Rising Up & Moving (DRUM); The Marsha P. Johnson Institute; Mujeres Unidas Y Activas (MUA); Racial Justice Action Center; Southerners On New Ground (SONG); Transgender, Gender Variant, and Intersex Justice Project (TGIJP); and TransLatin@ Coalition.
501c4 grantees on the inaugural docket include:
Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN) Action; Black Progressive Action Coalition (BPAC); BYP100 (Black Youth Project Not for Profit); Californians for Human and Immigrant Rights Leadership Action Fund (CHIRLA Action Fund); Domestic Worker Legacy Fund; Jobs With Justice; Montana Native Vote; Mpower Change Action; ROC (Restaurant Opportunities Centers) Action; Southwest Workers Union; and Texas Organizing Project.
The path to large-scale progressive change in this country is one of bold, multi-issue, solidarity-based organizing represented by these organizations who are lighting the path that social movements writ large must travel in order to win. The Liberation Fund encourages more donors and foundations to help leading organizations turn that light up even brighter by donating to the fund or directly to its grantees.
“The Liberation Fund will make it easier for donors and funders to identify and resource some of the most effective and innovative organizing at the grassroots led by women of color and transgender people of color,” said Alicia Garza, co-founder of Black Lives Matter. “To elevate women of color and trans people of color at a time when our communities are under extreme duress is not only smart but essential for our survival. There’s never been a better time for donors and funders to put their money directly where change is happening.”
Liberation Fund grants have been awarded at the recommendation of the fund’s advisors by 15 prominent women of color leaders from various U.S. social justice movements from environmental, racial and economic justice, to immigrant, Native and transgender rights: Ai-jen Poo, National Domestic Workers Alliance; Alicia Garza, National Domestic Workers Alliance & Black Lives Matter; Angelica Salas, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA); Bamby Salcedo, The TransLatin@ Coalition; Dr. Charlene Sinclair, Center for Community Change; Cindy Wiesner, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance; Chrissie Castro, Native Voice Network; Denise Perry, Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity (BOLD); Elle Hearns, Marsha P. Johnson Institute; Isa Noyola, Transgender Law Center; Linda Sarsour, Mpower Change; Mary Hooks, Southerners On New Ground; Miya Yoshitani, Asian Pacific Environmental Network; Sarita Gupta, Jobs With Justice; and Saru Jayaraman, Restaurant Opportunity Center (ROC) United.
