A record number of over 400 LGBT+ candidates are standing in elections for public office in the United states, according to the Victory Institute.
The nonprofit group supports leadership campaigns within the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
Sean Meloy, the political director of the Institute, told Reuters: “It’s a really exciting time… We believe that representation is power and when someone is in the room and helping to make decisions, they will automaticaly bring an LGBTQ perspective.”Amongst the candidates is a Democrat transgender woman, Alexandra Chandler, who is a former military intelligence officer running for Congress in Massachusetts.
The candidate wrote on Twitter that she not only hopes to become the only openly transgender Congressional nominee in 2018, but that she plans to make history for the trans community by being elected.
According to CNBC, there are currently only two LGBT+ women who are federal lawmakers. The first, Tammy Baldwin, was elected to the US House in 1998, becoming Wisconsin’s first female representative, and the nation’s first LGBT+ federal lawmaker.
In 2012, Baldwin won a race for the US Senate, and the second LGBT+ woman Krysten Sinema was elected to represent Arizona’s 9th District in Congress.
But the pair could soon be joined by a plethora of other LGBT+ representatives and senators.
Public policy expert Patrick Egan told Reuters that the figures reflected an increasing tolerance of LGBT people among the US public.
“Gay people have always been involved with electoral politics and many of them ran for office,” said Egan, associate professor of politics and public policy at New York University.
“What we are seeing now is the slow receding in stigma against gay people in that they can not only run for office but run openly as LGBT.”
A previous report released by the Victory Institute this year revealed that of all US elected public officials currently serving 559 were openly LGBT+, which is 0.1 percent.
The majority of the LGBT candidates coming forward are Democrats, and many are standing in November’s midterm elections.
They are running for positions ranging from state governor to local government officials.
Joe Biden’s foundation has launched a major campaign aimed at stopping parents from rejecting their LGBT kids.
Barack Obama’s former Vice President Joe Biden, a long-time supporter of LGBT rights, has made LGBT issues a core focus of the Biden Foundation, which was set up following his departure from the White House.
Biden today launched a campaign to raise awareness of “the importance of family acceptance in the lives of LGBTQ young people,” putting significant resources towards campaigns bolstering acceptance by families.The “As You Are” campaign launch is backed by a number of high-profile figures including Cyndi Lauper and former NFL star Wade Davis.
Biden said: “I’m so proud to announce that the Biden Foundation has launched a family acceptance campaign.
“We’ll use our resources to highlight the harms of family rejection—and lift up research, best practices, and personal stories to powerfully show the significant value of family acceptance.”
The Foundation added: “Today far too many LGBTQ folks continue to face rejection at home and discrimination in their communities. This kind of rejection leads to heartbreaking outcomes.
“Forty percent of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ. Many of them have been kicked out of their homes, or no longer find it safe to stay at home.
“Gay, lesbian and bisexual youth are five times more likely than their straight peers to have attempted suicide. 40 percent of transgender and gender nonconforming adults report having attempted suicide at some point in their lives. Most of them before the age of 25.
“Some parents subject their children to the vile practice of conversion therapy or pressure them to keep their identities secret. It doesn’t have to be this way.”
It adds “Stories like these have incredible power to inspire, to remind, to create communities, to heal families, to move us towards a culture of acceptance — not rejection. And we want to hear from you.
“If you are an LGBTQ person who has experienced rejection or acceptance we want to hear from you. If you are a parent we want to hear from you. If you are a teacher, a coach friend neighbor co-worker sibling or ally we want to hear from you, too.
“By sharing your stories — your stories, we can work together to change the culture and ensure a bright future for the LGBTQ young people in America.”
Dr. Caitlin Ryan, Director of the Family Acceptance Project said: “Our research shows that LGBTQ young people who are accepted by their families are healthier, have higher self-esteem and are much less likely to report depression, abuse substances or attempt suicide. Family acceptance is like a vaccine that protects their LGBTQ child with love and helps them deal more effectively with challenges, adversity and stigma.”
Judy Shepard, Co-Founder of the Matthew Shepard Foundation said: “No matter who you are, where you live, or how you pray, surely we can all agree that we ought to live in a society where all our young people are supported and affirmed. It’s not enough to change laws and policies. We have to change hearts and minds.”
Marsha Aizumi, author of “Two Spirits, One Heart” said: “As a parent who has been on a journey of acceptance, I know firsthand the importance and impact of being my son’s ally and champion. All of our children deserve the right and dignity to live their lives as authentically as possible. In sharing our stories of love and acceptance, we move closer to a safer, more peaceful world for all our children.”
Amit Paley, CEO & Executive Director of The Trevor Project said: “Family acceptance can save lives. Gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth are more than four times more likely than their straight peers to attempt suicide. And 40% of transgender and gender nonconforming adults report having attempted suicide at some point in their lives, most of them before the age of 25. That’s why it is so important to support LGBTQ youth and let them know that they are not alone.”
A judge who blocked name changes for transgender teenager is facing a lawsuit.
Judge Joseph Kirby, the Probate and Juvenile Court judge in Warren County, Ohio, is alleged to have denied legal name changes to at least three transgender teens.
He denied 15-year old Elliott Whitaker a legal name change at Warren County Juvenile Court in June, telling the teen to come back when he is 18.
State law does not require people to be 18 to secure a legal change of name, which is separate from legal gender recognition, but the judge ruled that the teen lacked the “maturity, knowledge and stability” to make such a decision.
Transcripts from the hearing show a bizarre line of questioning as the judge interrogated Whitaker about his bathroom choice, repeatedly referred to trans people using the wrong pronouns, and appeared to suggest Caitlyn Jenner was making kids transgender.
The judge had rhetorically asked if “all this” had started “when all of this stuff came out in the media”, referring to Jenner.
Two other teens, a 15 year old and a 17 year old, were also denied name changes by the same judge with identical orders.
In all three cases the teens had been receiving therapy and treatment for gender dysphoria, and doctors had supported their legal change of name.
The families of the three teens this week filed a joint suit against Kirby in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.
The suit, filed by Josh Langdon, LLC and Engel & Martin, LLC, alleges the judge’s actions amount to unconstitutional discrimination against the teens, claiming he treated transgender adolescents unfavorably because of their gender identity.
Attorney Josh Langdon said: “Denying transgender children the ability to legally change their names until age 18 can lead to significant and irreparable harm, and increases their risk of being outed and bullied, having violence perpetrated against them, having depressive symptoms, and attempting suicide.
“The judge failed to consider the evidence presented by the families and doctors that the name change is in the best interest of the teenager and, instead, substituted his own skeptical views.”
Attorney Josh Langdon
The suit states: “[Plaintiffs] have been treated by the Defendant differently from others similarly situated without a rational basis for doing so. Judge Kirby violated the Equal Protection Clause’s prohibition against sex-based discrimination when the judge treated transgender adolescents unfavorably because of their gender identity.
“Judge Kirby has facially and intentionally discriminated against the Plaintiffs in violation of the Equal Protection guarantees of the 14th Amendment on the basis of sex and transgender status by depriving transgender adolescents the ability to change their name. Non-transgender adolescents are not deprived of this ability to change their names.
“Defendant’s actions deny transgender people, including Plaintiffs, access to legal documents and the ability to legally change their names.
“Defendant’s refusal to allow transgender children to change their legal name erects a barrier to the full recognition, participation, and inclusion of transgender people in society and subjects them to discrimination, privacy invasions, harassment, humiliation, stigma, harm to their health, and even violence.”
Judge Kirby was not available for comment.
Caitlyn Jenner previously slammed the official for invoking her in the decision.
She said: “It has come to my attention that a judge in Ohio thinks I’m brainwashing kids into being trans.
“For me, being trans has been a great gift. It’s been the most profound, growing experience of my life. But we’re in the thick of some very difficult, scary and dangerous times in our community, especially trans people of colour. Why anyone would choose to embark upon a trans journey if they don’t really feel that way is beyond me.
“My coming out publicly wasn’t to brainwash people, it was to let the mainstream world know we exist, we’re here and it isn’t a mental illness. I send a message to Elliot in Ohio – your identity is real, and we are behind you 100 percent to build a safer world.”
LGBT+ teenagers who are first-time offenders are more likely to have substance abuse or mental health problems than their heterosexual or cis-gendered peers, according to new research.
The study, carried out by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, suggests higher rates of stress among LGBT+ adolescents—often triggered by family problems or rejection by their peers—could be to blame.
The researchers emphasised that a teenager’s sexual orientation or gender identity alone does not put them at increased risk of breaking the law, as a range of factors contribute to offense rates.Dr Matthew Hirschtritt, lead author of the study, said: “Factors like peer rejection and family discord may contribute to impaired support networks and engagement in risky behaviour.
“It would be incorrect to conclude that sexual-minority status puts a youth at increased risk of offending.
“But if we compare court-involved sexual minority youth with court-involved straight youth, we see more severe psychological distress and a greater likelihood of child-welfare system involvement.”
For the study, published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Adolescent Health, researchers examined 423 first-time, non-detained offenders aged between 12 and 18 from a juvenile court in an unnamed Northeastern state.
Of these, 133—about a third of the group—identified as LGBTQ.
The teenagers had committed offenses ranging from underage drinking to breaking and entering.
Among the LGBTQ group, one in two had used alcohol, compared to one in four of the heterosexual and cis-gendered group.
They were also approximately twice as likely to use drugs, including cannabis, cocaine and injection drugs.
The LGBT+ group also reported poorer mental health, which meant they were at higher risk of self-harm.
Researchers called for better support of young LGBT+ first-offenders.
Co-author Dr Marina Tolou-Shams said: “We need cost-effective, tailored interventions so that adolescents’ first court appearances become an opportunity to prevent worsening of pre-existing health risks and further entrenchment in the justice system.”
Dr Hirschtritt added: “One-on-one support, group counselling and peer support may meet the needs of these adolescents without further stigmatising them.”
The Annual Bullying Survey, carried out by the charity Ditch the Label, found 43 percent of people within the LGBT+ community questioned have been bullied in the last 12 months.
More than 9,000 people aged between 12 and 20 were surveyed.
Of those within the LGBT+ community, nearly a third—31 percent—had attempted suicide because of their experiences and half of the respondents said they had self-harmed.
The couple are fundraising to raise money as a reward to whoever helps them identify the sender (GoFundMe)
A lesbian couple from Minnesota have spoken out about receiving anonymous hate letters containing threats towards their daughter.
Angie and Jaime Mace, from St Peter, have launched a GoFundMe page to raise money to give as a reward to whoever helps them identify the sender of the letters, which contain extreme anti-LGBT language.
On the GoFundMe page, the couple wrote: “Please help us find a terrorist who is making death threats based on sexual orientation, race and gender in Minnesota. We need to raise reward money that will encourage witnesses to come forward with information that will lead to the arrested and prosecution of this criminal.“I am a proud resident of St. Peter, Minnesota. I am a married lesbian with a child. My wife grew up in St. Peter, while I transplanted here over 15 years ago. We have not encountered deliberate acts of discrimination, until late last year.”
The couple then explained how they received two letters in the space of a month which threatened to “destroy our home, shoot and kill us.”
“Both letters made direct threats to stalk and kill our child,” they added, posting the two letters at the end of the fundraising page.
“Your house could be torched, a gun could be used to eliminate you,” one letter reads.
It continues: “Oh, and your poor daughter! She must be so embarrassed to have you for parents! She needs to look out behind her back also… I know where she goes to school!”
Although the letters have been analysed by police and investigators, no fingerprints or DNA have been recovered.
The couple wrote on their fundraising page: “The person who wrote the letters took precautions to avoid getting caught. It seemed as though the investigation was at a stand still for several months.”
“What kind of person does this? What kind of person can sleep at night after threatening to kill innocent children? A person that belongs behind bars, that’s who!”
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Earlier this year, another lesbian couple received a letter which threatened them and their child, which is also being investigated by police.
The Maces said they had received an “outpouring of support” from people all over the world after posting one of the letters on Facebook.
“It really reinforced that the words of this bigoted idiot are not the words of the majority,” they wrote.
“We need to find this terrorist. To do that, we need to raise reward money to offer to anyone who can provide information leading to the arrest of this criminal. This person must be caught and brought to justice.
“Please give what you can and ask your friends to do the same. We are scared. This seemed to start as an isolated incident, but has progressed to include other innocent families. This needs to stop and this criminal needs to know s/he is not above the law. Help us bring justice to ‘small town rural Minnesota.’”
Seth Owen was sent to gay ‘conversion’ therapy by his parents (gofundme)
A gay teenager whose parents sent him to ‘conversion’ therapy and forced him out of their home will be able to go to college after his teacher raised more than $70,000 in six weeks.
Seth Owen, 18, is set to achieve his “life goal” of attending Georgetown University, thanks to his former biology teacher Jane Martin and the more than 1,100 donors who have contributed to his cause.
Seth was $20,000 short from reaching his “life goal” (gofundme)
This was after Seth’s Southern Baptist parents discovered he was secretly gay.
“I was writing a paper, and my dad decided to check my phone late in the evening,” he told NBC
“He found a damning photograph of me and another guy. Nothing inappropriate, but it clearly indicated that I was gay.”
After his parents interrogated him about his sexuality until 4:30am, it wasn’t long before he was forced into therapy aimed at changing his sexuality.
Seth, Martin and his wife (gofundme)
“They sent me to a Christian counsellor,” he said. “It was clear that their intent was for me to walk out of therapy straight.”
He added: “It was not like a conversion camp, but it was definitely awkward conversion therapy where they tried encouraging stereotypical masculine tasks and things like that.”
Seth convinced his parents to let him leave the therapy after a few months, but in February, during his crucial senior year, their vocal intolerance reached new levels.
“I mean, there was just incident after incident,” he said. “They talked very negatively about the LGBTQ+ community. They said that gay people would not serve in the church.
“Then they were talking about transgender people as though they weren’t human, and that really, really bothered me.”
Jane Martin with her wife (jane martin/facebook)
After numerous arguments, his parents gave him an ultimatum: go to their anti-gay church, or leave their home.
He couldn’t choose any other option but to leave – but he still had hope that his parents wouldn’t go through with it.
“The worst part was I was packing my bags, and I was walking out the door, and I was hoping that my mum would stand in my way,” remembered Seth.
“I was hoping that she would say: ‘I love my child more than I love my religion.’”
She didn’t, meaning that the teenager had to spend the next months sleeping at friends’ houses and working full-time to support himself while he completed high school with a 4.16 GPA.
And when the Georgetown acceptance letter came through, there was more pain in store for Seth, who realised that his financial aid package had been put together with the expectation that his family would contribute.
“I started to cry, because I realised there was no way that I could go to college,” said the 18-year-old. “Georgetown was my only option, because I had already denied my other acceptances.”
It was then that his former teacher and mentor Martin, whose same-sex wedding Seth attended as the ring bearer, stepped in.
On June 18, she started a GoFundMe page with a target of $20,000 and the message that “I know the goal seems unrealistic and the circumstances aren’t ideal, but I also know communities can make the impossible possible.
“It’s Pride Month and rainbows abound around the world. Help me bring a rainbow in the midst of Seth’s storm.”
The community responded – and how. The goal has been smashed more than three times over as people have rushed to help Seth live out his dream.
There have been nine gifts of $1,000 or more – plus a $500 donation from Martin herself – but the figure has been reached through community spirit.
Students protesting at Georgetown (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty)
“After we had hit $2,000, Seth was just like, ‘I’m so surprised that people, like, actually care about me,’” Martin said.
“He has had so much support and so many people reach out and say ‘You’re not alone,’ and ‘It gets better,’ all of the things that we all need to hear when we’re queer teenagers and are suffering,” she added.
“I’m just excited for him to have this community literally come around and put all of our arms together and bring him up and raise him up for the first time.”
Seth responded to the tsunami of support on the GoFundMe page, writing: “I simply cannot say thank you to you all enough. My dreams have come true because of you all.
“Through this entire process of sharing my story, I have been shown by an abundance of loving and generous people that Jacksonville is a place of growth and support.
“I appreciate that you all have given me the reassurance to live authentically and the ability to continue to be relentless and tenacious in pursuing my dreams,” he added.
“Your passionate response to my situation reassures me that Jacksonville (and our country) will not tolerate injustices towards the LGBTQ+ community.
“Since this story became public, I have had numerous people reach out to me and say that they are going through similar situations.
“Unfortunately, this is still a problem in Jacksonville (and across the country) for many people, not just me.
“So, I ask that you all continue to be allies in whatever capacity, not just for the LGBTQ+ community, but for all marginalised groups.”
The teenager said he was “forever grateful to you all for making my lifelong dream of attending college possible.”
Next month, he will move to Washington DC to join Georgetown’s Class of 2022.
Last month, San Francisco’s LGBT+ community held a celebratory funeral for trans student Daine Grey, who took his own life, after crowdfunding more than $25,000 – including a donation from celebrity chef Nigella Lawson – to pay for the costs.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has created a religious liberty task force to “protect and promote religious liberty.” Speaking from the Justice Department in Washington, Sessions said the task force, which he will chair, is to help implementation of the religious liberty memo he signed in October.
That 25-page memo outlines 20 guiding principles that federal agencies can use to protect religious liberty in employment, contracting and programming. The task force will facilitate compliance with the October memo, address new or recurring issues with implication of the memo and facilitate interagency coordination regarding the memo.
The full text of Sessions’ remarks has been posted to the DOJ’s website. An excerpt:
A dangerous movement, undetected by many, is now challenging and eroding our great tradition of religious freedom. There can be no doubt. This is no little matter. It must be confronted and defeated. This election, and much that has flowed from it, gives us a rare opportunity to arrest these trends. Such a reversal will not just be done with electoral victories, but by intellectual victories.
We have gotten to the point where courts have held that morality cannot be a basis for law; where ministers are fearful to affirm, as they understand it, holy writ from the pulpit; and where one group can actively target religious groups by labeling them a “hate group” on the basis of their sincerely held religious beliefs.
In recent years, the cultural climate in this country—and in the West more generally—has become less hospitable to people of faith. Many Americans have felt that their freedom to practice their faith has been under attack. And it’s easy to see why. We’ve seen nuns ordered to buy contraceptives.
We’ve seen U.S. Senators ask judicial and executive branch nominees about dogma—even though the Constitution explicitly forbids a religious test for public office. We’ve all seen the ordeal faced so bravely by Jack Phillips. Americans from a wide variety of backgrounds are concerned about what this changing cultural climate means for the future of religious liberty in this country.
President Trump heard this concern. I believe this unease is one reason that he was elected. In substance, he said he respected people of faith and he promised to protect them in the free exercise of their faith. He declared we would say “Merry Christmas” again.
An Indiana man who was headed toward L.A. Pride two years ago in a car filled with weapons, explosives and high-capacity magazines was sentenced to seven years in state prison on Thursday, officials said.
James Wesley Howell, 22, pleaded no contest to possession of an explosive chemical, malicious possession of a destructive device and illegal weapon activity, according to a news release issued by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.
Santa Monica police arrested Howell on June 12, 2016. Inside his car, police found three rifles — including an Anderson Manufacturing AM-15 .223 caliber rifle that police described as an assault weapon — and two 30-round magazines.
In addition to the guns, Howell was also driving with a full five-gallon container of gasoline and a 25-pound container of “Shoc-shot,” a commercially sold two-component explosive that detonates when hit by a high-velocity rifle round, Santa Monica police said at the time.
“The amount of explosives in the container would have posed a grave danger to both persons and property had the explosives been detonated, either intentionally or accidentally,” Santa Monica Det. Derek Leone wrote in a court filing in 2016.
Howell also had a black hood, a Taser, handcuffs, a Buck knife, a security badge and additional ammunition for the guns, court records show.
His arrest created a massive panic as it came just hours after the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Fla., that claimed 49 lives. Santa Monica police also mistakenly tweeted that Howell intended to harm people at L.A. Pride.
It was later revealed police did not actually know why Howell was headed toward the event.
Howell had no ties to California, and told police he was fleeing from potential criminal charges in his home state. He was later charged with molesting a 12-year-old girl in Henryville, Ind., court records show.
Investigators have not said what they believe Howell’s intentions were. The status of his criminal case in Indiana was not immediately clear, and the district attorney’s office did not immediately respond to additional questions.
The U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday afternoon unanimously passed a resolution that condemns hate crimes and urges the Dept. of Justice to “investigate all credible reports of hate crimes and incidents and threats against minorities.”
The resolution is non-binding and was first introduced in 2017. H. Res. 257 was originally sponsored by Rep. Barbara Comstock, a Republican of Virginia.
The resolution specifically mentions people of the Jewish and Islamic faiths, and Hindu and Sikh Americans, all of whom “have been the target of hate-based violence targeting religious minorities.”
It also notes “there has been an increase in White supremacist activity on college campuses across the United States,” and acknowledges “victims of crimes motivated by their offenders’ anti-Black or anti-African-American bias.”
The resolution does not mention LGBTQ people, who are among the groups most-targeted in bias crimes.
The FBI reports that in 2016, there were 6,063 single-bias incidents reported. Rep. Comstock chose to leave out the anti-LGBT bias crimes which account for about one out of every five of those hate crimes.
The resolution was attacked in 2017 by the far right wing Breitbart website, which suggested that if passed it “could end up landing you in federal court for espousing a politically incorrect opinion,” which is false.
Rep. Comstock in November will face Democratic State Senator Jennifer Wexton. Hillary Clinton won the district in 2016 by 10 points, and it is considered a top race to watch.
US president Donald Trump’s administration is “likely to have devastating consequences” for LGBT+ healthcare in the country, according to a damning new report by non-governmental organisation Human Rights Watch.
“Many LGBT people already face difficulties obtaining accessible, inclusive health care,” the 34-page report reads.“The Trump administration’s proposed rollback of antidiscrimination protections and expansion of religious exemptions are likely to have devastating consequences, exacerbating health disparities for a population that already experiences high rates of healthcare discrimination.”
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In May 2017, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) indicated that it would reverse regulations introduced by former president Barack Obama’s administration that prohibit the discrimination of trans people in federally funded healthcare programes.
The HSS has also suggested a number of other possible rules that could allow providers to refuse key services to LGBT+ people and women on moral or religious grounds.
The publication continues: “Many LGBT people have difficulty finding providers who are knowledgeable about their needs, encounter discrimination from insurers or providers, or delay or forego care because of concerns about how they will be treated.
“In the absence of federal legislation prohibiting healthcare discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, LGBT people are often left with little recourse when discrimination occurs.”
The report recommends that laws should be put in place to prevent the discrimination against LGBT+ people in healthcare, and that religious exemption laws need to be repealed.
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The Human Rights Watch report claims LGBT+ people face “significant barriers” accessing healthcare in the US.(Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty Images)
It states: “Lawmakers at the federal, state, and local levels should enact laws and regulations that expressly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in health care, and should repeal or revise sweeping religious exemption laws that allow insurers and providers to deny healthcare services to LGBT people and women seeking reproductive care.”
The research was carried out between August 2017 and July 2018, including 81 interviews related to healthcare discrimination.
