With a new policy rolling out, public schools in Washington, DC, are slated to become some of the first in the United States to allow students to enroll as non-binary.
According to a report from the Washington Post, starting next school year, families can select non-binary for students on forms, rather than simply male or female.
The DC public school system confirmed the news with a tweet.
Interim chancellor Amanda Alexander of the school system said in a statement: ‘We value the whole child at [D.C. Public Schools], and have worked diligently to ensure our schools are safe and inclusive for all students, staff, and families.’
DC joins the likes of Oregon and Minneapolis, who allow students to enroll with a third gender ‘x’ or tell their school and teachers they have a preferred name and do not identify as male or female.
Through these enrollment forms, DC teachers will know which of their students identifies as non-binary. This removes the burden from these students or their families having to inform the teachers.
Further, knowing the number of non-binary students in the system also allows for the better allocation of resources.
‘It’s a step in the right direction,’ said Jessica Raven, an activist and mother of a trans daughter in the school system. ‘I hope that it will lead to better accommodation to trans, non-binary and gender-expansive youth.’
This move by the DC public school system is the latest in US locations recognizing these identities.
Beyond schools, numerous states have introduced legislation allowing people to choose a third gender option on various identification forms.
Cars drive through Times Square. The logo of the ‘No Gays Allowed’ ad campaign(Mario Tama/Getty)
A billboard bearing the message “NO GAYS ALLOWED” has been installed in New York City’s iconic Times Square.
NBC reports that the billboard, which reads “NO GAYS ALLOWED” on a blank white background, was installed on Tuesday and is set to remain in place until February.
Despite the outwardly homophobic message, the Times Square billboard is not what it initially seems.
The Times Square ad unit was actually placed as a protest against legal firm Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a shadowy ultra-conservative body that has brought several cases seeking to undermine LGBT+ anti-discrimination protections across the US.
Chad Griffin, the influential LGBTQ activist who helped turn the Human Rights Campaign into a powerful political force, announced Thursday that he is stepping down as the organization’s president.
Griffin’s announcement follows a midterm election in which the group invested heavily in Democratic campaigns. The capstone for the organization came this week, when Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., won a close Senate race, becoming the first openly bisexual person elected to the Senate.
Griffin has spent seven years at the helm of HRC, steering the organization through the landmark Supreme Court ruling in favor of gay marriage nationwide and the repeal of a North Carolina law that required transgender people to use restrooms matching their birth certificates. Former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory, who was defeated after signing the “bathroom bill,” called HRC a more powerful advocacy group that the National Rifle Association.
Griffin informed staff at HRC of his decision to step down Thursday.
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., who has worked closely with Griffin, praised his leadership of the nation’s largest gay rights advocacy group through a time of enormous change for the LGBT community.
“History will show that Chad was a leader in the moment he was needed to lead,” Harris said in an interview.
Griffin hasn’t said what he plans to do next. He is expected to stay at HRC until the organization names a new president; that process could take several months.
A prolific fundraiser with deep political ties, Griffin probably will become one of the most sought after advisers for Democrats preparing to undertake White House campaigns.
“Every person in the Democratic Party who is thinking of running for president is going to call Chad,” said Dan Pfeiffer, a White House adviser to President Barack Obama and longtime friend of Griffin.
Harris, who is considering a 2020 presidential campaign, demurred when asked if she would hire Griffin, saying only that she hadn’t made a decision on entering the race.
During Griffin’s tenure, HRC invested heavily in campaign work across the country, including a $26 million effort to send staff to all 50 states during the midterms. The organization said it registered more than 32,000 new voters since the 2016 election.
Griffin’s supporters credited him with plunging HRC more deeply into the political arena and pushing Democratic politicians in particular to do more than just pay lip service to gay rights issues.
“It really wasn’t enough for him for elected officials and candidates to respect the LGBTQ community,” said Kristina Schake, Griffin’s former business partner. “He wanted them to fear them — to fear the power of their vote.”
Griffin, 45, got his start in politics working in President Bill Clinton’s White House press office. Before joining HRC, he was co-founder of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, an organization that challenged the California law banning same-sex marriage. That effort was a precursor to the Supreme Court’s verdict on gay marriage nationwide.
Kyrsten Sinema has won a landmark victory to represent Arizona in the US Senate, becoming the first ever openly bisexual senator.
The Democratic congresswoman, who has already served three terms in the US House of Representatives as the only openly bisexual member of Congress, narrowly defeated Republican candidate Martha McSally to replace Jeff Flake, a Republican senator who retired ahead of the midterm elections.
With her nail-biting victory, the margin of which currently stands at just 38,000 votes, she became the country’s second out LGBT+ senator alongside Wisconsin’s Tammy Baldwin, who was re-elected last week in a double-digit landslide.
Sinema was also the first openly bisexual Senate candidate from a major party (kyrsten sinema/facebook)
US’s first bisexual Senator calls for unity
Sinema, who was also the first ever openly bisexual senate candidate for a major party, reacted to the win by writing on Twitter: “As long as I’ve served Arizona, I’ve worked to help others see our common humanity & find common ground.
“That’s the same approach I’ll take to representing our great state in the Senate, where I’ll be an independent voice for all Arizonans.”
Speaking to ecstatic supporters in the state capital of Phoenix, Sinema took aim at Republican tactics which have seen McSally accuse her of “treason” and “protesting us in a pink tutu” during a fractious election campaign.
Sinema has served in the House for six years as the only openly bisexual member of Congress (kyrsten sinema/facebook)
Sinema said: “Arizona rejected what has become far too common in our country: name-calling, petty, personal attacks and doing and saying whatever it takes just to get elected.
“We can embrace difference while seeking common ground.”
— Kyrsten Sinema
“It’s dangerous, and it lessens who we are as a country. But Arizona proved that there is a better way forward.”
In a call for unity and acceptance, Sinema continued: “We can work with people who are different than us. We can be friends with people who are different than us.
“We can love and care about people who are different than us. We can keep people who different than us safe. We can be good people who care deeply about each other even when we disagree.”
The 42 year old, who was first elected to her state’s House of Representatives when she was 28, added: “We can embrace difference while seeking common ground.”
Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez congratulated Sinema on a “stunning victory,” adding that “Arizonans went to the polls last Tuesday looking for bold new leadership, and that’s exactly what they’re going to get with their first-ever female senator and our nation’s second openly LGBTQ senator.”
“Unlike her predecessor, Senator-elect Sinema is ready to fight on day one for quality health care, a VA system that works the way it should for our veterans, comprehensive immigration reform, good-paying jobs, and an economy that works for all Arizonans.”
Annise Parker, CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, said: “An LGBTQ woman winning a U.S. Senate seat in a state that voted for Trump is a game-changer, both for the LGBTQ community and the Democratic party.
“Kyrsten’s victory makes clear that an LGBTQ candidate who listens to voters and prioritises their issues can win elected office anywhere—blue state or red state.
Sinema narrowly defeated Martha McSally to win the election (kyrsten sinema/facebook)
“It also signals to the Democratic party that nominating more LGBTQ candidates for high-level positions should be a strategic priority, because their openness and authenticity resonate with independent voters.”
She added that “by doubling our influence with two passionate and tough LGBTQ women… the U.S. Senate will certainly find our community more difficult to ignore.”
It is the first time a Democrat has held a Senate seat in Arizona since 1995, and ensures the Democrats will fill at least 47 of the Senate’s 100 seats, with Florida’s race going to a recount and Mississippi awaiting the results of a run-off later this month.
Kyrsten Sinema has a pro-LGBT record—unlike her opponent
During her nearly six years in Congress, Sinema—who won her Democratic primary with an overwhelming 80.5 percent of the vote—has repeatedly taken a stand for LGBT+ rights.
The Arizona-born politician, who spoke at the Human Rights Campaign gala this year, co-sponsored the Equality Act, which would amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to also ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Sinema speaks at the Human Rights Campaign 2018 Los Angeles Gala Dinner (Rich Fury/Getty)
Sinema also sponsored HR4041, a bill currently in committee which, if it were passed, would ensure that transgender people were able to serve in the US military, despite President Donald Trump’s attempts to institute a ban.
In contrast, McSally voted for an amendment which would have made it impossible for the military to pay for gender surgeries for its trans service people, and stood against using Title IX to protect the right of trans students to use the bathroom which matches their gender, an issue which has been mainly used by Republicans as a way of fighting against trans equality.
A photo showing a group of Baraboo High School boys from the class of 2019 giving a stiff-armed Nazi salute prior to this past spring’s prom is generating outrage online and has prompted an investigation by the district and police.
The photo taken on the Sauk County Courthouse steps includes about 50 students, though not all are holding their arms outstretched. One of those students is senior Jordan Blue. The 18-year-old can be seen in the top right of the photo with his arms at his sides and a neutral expression while most of his classmates are pictured laughing.
“It was very upsetting to me,” he said. “It was very disrespectful to what my beliefs are, and it was a very bad representation of the senior class and the Baraboo School District, because by all means, the Baraboo School District does not support that kind of actions and it is a district that provides many opportunities for the students.”
In the photo, almost all of the 63 boys appear to make the Sieg Heil salute before their junior prom in the spring at Baraboo High School. One student also seems to be flashing a white power sign with his hand. The controversial picture is reported to have been taken by a local motorcycle photographer.
One student, Jordan Blue, who was in the photo but did not make any racist gesture, is distancing himself from the controversy. Blue said making the salute was the photographer’s idea, and it happened so fast he couldn’t get out of the group picture. “I knew what my morals were and it was not to salute something I firmly didn’t believe in,” he said.
The number of hate crime incidents reported in the United States jumped by 17 percent last year, the largest increase since 2001 when the terrorist attacks of 9/11 fueled a surge in attacks on Americans of Muslim and Arab ancestry.
U.S. law enforcement agencies reported a total of 7,175 hate crimes in 2017, up from 6,121 in 2016 and the third consecutive annual increase, the FBI said in its annual hate crime report released on Tuesday. About 5,000 of the incidents were listed as crimes against persons such as assault and intimidation.
The report showed a doubling of anti-Arab hate crimes and double-digit increase in anti-Semitic incidents.
Recently-installed Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker called the report “a call to action” and vowed that “we will heed that call.”
“I am particularly troubled by the increase in anti-Semitic hate crimes, which were already the most common religious hate crimes in the United States, that is well documented in this report,” Whitaker said in a statement.“The American people can be assured that this Department has already taken significant and aggressive actions against these crimes and that we will vigorously and effectively defend their rights.”
The FBI defines hate crime as a “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.”
The vast majority of hate crimes are prosecuted in state courts, with federal prosecutors typically charging between one and two dozen defendants for hate crimes under various federal hate crime statutes.In 2018, the Justice Department filed 22 hate crime cases, according to a spokeswoman.
The surge in hate crime in 2017 was largely driven by racial and religious bias.
Race remained the largest driver of hate crimes in 2017, with 4,832 incidents motivated by race, ethnicity or ancestry.Nearly half of all racially-motivated incidents involved African Americans.Anti-Hispanic or anti-Latino bias accounted for nearly 11 percent of the race based incidents. Anti-Arab hate crimes, though accounting for a fraction of all race-based hate crimes, doubled to 102 incidents.
Religion was the second biggest motivator of hate crimes, with 1,679 incidents reported by law enforcement agencies. At more than 900 incidents, anti-Semitic hate crimes accounted for 58 percent of all religious-motivated hate crimes.
The number of anti-Muslim hate crimes fell to 273 incidents from 314 incidents in 2016 but the level remained well above historic averages.In 2015 and 2016, anti-Muslim hate crimes increased by nearly 90 percent, fueled by a backlash to terrorist attacks in Europe and the United States and anti-Muslim political rhetoric.
“The scourge of hate crime continues to harm communities in cities and states across the country,”said Maya Berry, the executive director of the Arab American Institute.“The FBI data confirms the reality we all know: hate is increasing in America.”
The FBI report is believed to undercount the true extent of hate crime in the United States.That is in part because the report is based on voluntary submissions made by law enforcement agencies, most of which usually don’t report hate incidents.Last year, more than 16,000 law enforcement agencies took part in the FBI data collection, but only 2,000 agencies actually reported hate crimes.
In a statement, the Arab American institute noted the report left out three of “the most horrific acts of bias-motivated violence” reported last year, including the August 12 killing of Heather Heyer at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia; the fatal stabbing of two men who tried to confront a man shouting racial slurs a hijab-wearing woman and her friend on a train in Portland; and the shooting of two Indian men in Olathe, Kansas.
“The FBI data, in what is missing from it, also demonstrates the hate crime reporting system we have in place is failing to respond adequately to hate crime, and thus inform fully the policy remedies we must make to improve our response to hate,” Berry said in a statement.
The report for 2017 came two weeks after a man killed 11 people and wounded six oth
Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who was jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, lost her bid for reelection in US mid-term elections on Tuesday.
Democrat Elwood Caudill Jr. beat Republican Davis 4,210 votes to 3,566 votes for the position of Rowan County clerk, according to local media.
Davis made headlines around the world in August 2015 when she was briefly jailed for refusing to issue a marriage license to a gay couple in Kentucky. Davis claimed to be acting on ‘God’s authority’.
Five same-sex couples sued her. A judge, therefore, ordered her to issue the licenses but she refused to comply.
In September 2015, a judge sentenced her to jail. But, she was released after five days. Importantly, as she holds an elected official position, she could not be fired and returned to work.
In 2014, Kentucky elected Davis as a Democratic nominee.
However, she claimed the Democratic party ‘abandoned’ her in the wake of her stance on same-sex marriage. She, therefore, switched to the Republican party.
WinningDemocrat Caudill said: ‘I believe that as a community we must continue to work together toward a more prosperous and cohesive Rowan County’, according to local reporter Will Wright.
The LGBTI community took to the internet to celebrate Davis’ defeat.
Democrat J.D. Ford pulled off a big upset Tuesday, unseating state Sen. Mike Delph, a Republican who has served the district since 2005. Ford is thought to be Indiana’s first openly gay state lawmaker. “Ladies and gentleman, we just made history and no one can take that from us,” Ford said. It was a rematch for Ford and Delph, one of the Legislature’s most socially conservative Republicans. Four years ago, Delph won with 54.3 percent of the vote to Ford’s 45.7 percent.
Delph is a teabagger renowned in Indiana for his rabid opposition to LGBT rights and for being the spokesman for the local movement against same-sex marriage.
From 2014:
Senate President Pro Tempore David Long has disciplined Sen. Mike Delph — taking away leadership roles and even moving his seat — for violating Senate protocol when he tweeted about the same-sex marriage amendment.
According to Long’s office, Delph used Twitter to report information, garnered from a GOP private caucus, on the fate of Senate action on House Joint Resolution 3.
Delph will be given a new seat in the Senate chamber, along side Democrats — in the minority in the House — and across the aisle from Republican leadership. On Friday, Delph’s seat already was moved to the back row, amid the Senate’s 13 Democrats.
The people of Kansas today voted in the first ever LGBTI Native American to Congress with Sharice Davids as their preferred candidate.
Davids ran for office in Kansas’ 3rd congressional district. She earned 52.8% of the vote, with 70% of precincts submitting their votes.
Her Republican opponent, Kevin Yoder, got 44.5% of the vote. The third-party candidate, Chris Clemmons (Libertarian), took 2.4% of the total vote.
Davids is a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, a Native American tribe in Wisconsin. She has lived and worked on numerous reservations, working with multiple tribes.
From 2016-17, she was one of 16 who participated in the White House Fellowship program. That’s when her political aspirations became bigger.
‘After completing a year as a White House fellow in Washington under President Barack Obama, I know that now is the time to take action for our community and for our nation,’ she said.
On the issues, Davids boasts numerous progressive stances.
Regarding gun violence, she believes the country ‘must demand more than condolences from our lawmakers’. Further, she said politicians must enact legislation for gun safety laws.
She’s also highly trained in martial arts.
Actor and comedian Billy Eichner, who has been vocal about the midterm elections and began his own program, Glam Up the Midterms, congratulated Davids on her win.
Numerous races throughout the country are still being determined. For Democrats, their eyes are set on taking back control of the House of Representatives, which Davids’ win helps possibly achieve.
‘Sharice Davids made history tonight as the next congresswoman from Kansas, showing the Trump-Pence administration that LGBTQ people of color are here, visible and that our fight for equality continues to move forward,’ said Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin.
‘We look forward to working closely with Congresswoman Davids to pass commonsense federal protections for LGBTQ people through the Equality Act.’
One of the biggest hopes with Democrats taking back the House is movement on the Equality Act, as Nancy Pelosi affirmed.
Zach Wahls just won a senate seat in the US state of Iowa.
The 27-year-old, who went viral in a video in 2011 defending his lesbian moms, took to Twitter last night (6 November) to announce his victory.
He tweeted: ‘We won. Thank you, Iowa.’
Zach Wahls, who ran as a Democratic candidate, received 78% of the vote.
He will be one of the youngest people to ever serve in the state senate.
The young senator campaigned on issues like affordable health care, education, improved workers’ rights and gun control.
‘I hope tonight marks a fresh start for Iowa,’ he said in a statement last night. ‘We must all come together to bring real reform to our health care system, restore a tradition of excellence to our public education system and raise incomes for Iowa’s working families.
‘It’s time to start thinking about the future of our state again,’ he added.
Zach Wahls said his viral video in 2011 inspired him to run for office.
He said in his announcement at the end of last year: ‘Two quick notes about how we’re going to run this campaign.
‘FIRST, I am incredibly conscientious of the fact that I am a straight white guy running in the #MeToo moment.
‘I am running because I believe all Iowans need a seat at the table. That absolutely means more women running, it means more young people, it means more people of color.
‘This is an all hands on deck situation that is going to determine the future of our state for generations to come — and all hands means all hands.
‘I am going to listen to women.
‘I am going to hold myself and the men around me accountable for our behavior. For our generation, this is a basic qualification, but I feel it is one that is important to name and to say out loud,’ he tweeted.
Watch his viral video, with more than 19 million views:
