Sunday August 8th 4-6 PMThe Musers / Familiar Strangers
The Musers are Sonoma County’s goofy folk trio made up of Anita Bear Sandwina playing banjolin, fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and harmonica; Megan McLaughlin on guitar and mandolin and Tom Kuhn driving upright bass and mouth percussion. At a Muser’s show you can be sure that each musical dish will be served with laughter. dancing feet, and the pure joy of their love of music and life.Familiar Strangers are a trio of Sonoma County treasures: Kevin Russell, Candy Girard and Tim Sarter. This trio is chock full of talent, positive vibes and musical prowess that is sure to please any crowd with their swing-y and upbeat selection of music.
The Global South presents unique challenges for LGBTQ activists and advocacy groups.
The Human Rights Council notes 29 countries have extended marriage rights to same-sex couples, and the majority of them are located in the Global North that comprises more developed countries in the Americas and Europe. Less than a handful of these countries — such as South Africa and Brazil — are in the Global South. Countries in the Global North, as a result, are more likely to harbor LGBTQ-friendly public sentiments compared to the Global South, which is rife with restrictive anti-LGBTQ laws.
This reality not only makes life tumultuous for both openly and closeted queer individuals in the Global South, the chances of encountering LGBTQ-friendly sentiments in these regions are also close to non-existent. Ensuring the fundamental human rights of the queer people who live in these regions are guaranteed is imperative for activists.
The Washington Blade recently spoke with activists from Thailand and Lebanon about their advocacy work and also how they celebrated Pride in countries where LGBTQ identity is not widely acknowledged.
Thailand
Midnight Poonkasetwattana is the executive director of the Asian Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual Health (APCOM), a non-profit organization located in Bangkok. The organization’s work centers on addressing sexual health-related issues by collecting data on gay men and men who have sex with men in 35 countries across Asia and the Pacific.
“What we do in general is empowering communities on the ground to be able to speak their truth, and also participate meaningfully in country, regional, and global fora so they can have their voices and actually articulate what is it the needs of communities on the ground are,” says Poonkasetwattana.
APCOM, by giving these communities the ability to articulate their concerns, creates and facilitates an environment where LGBTQ people’s sexual and mental health needs are met, even though discrimination remains a barrier to accessing these services.
APCOM’s work does not come without its challenges because of the prevalence of anti-LGBTQ laws in many Asian countries. Their work, however, usually continues undeterred because of their ability to work with local community organizations in the public health sector.
“There are some opportunities to work under public health, and we’ve been able to do that in certain places [like Afghanistan] where it’s still difficult to talk about equality,” says Poonkasetwattana. “When we talk about ensuring that those who are marginalized and most at risk to [contract] HIV are able to get prevention and treatment, [we focus on working] with community-based organizations.”
APCOM, as a result, has been able to facilitate important conversations around HIV/AIDS, with the specific information about the use of necessary and appropriate language in web programming that recognizes people’s different sexual identities and encourages direct conversations around drug use and sex work.
APCOM, in order to commemorate Asia’s LGBTQ community’s tenacity, began Pride month with a virtual discussion that the Australian Embassy in Thailand sponsored. The event, titled “Celebrating Pride Month 2021: LGBTQI Inclusion and the Effect of COVID-19,” had two sessions.
The first session, “Voices from Thai LGBTQI: Launch of Khormoon Report,” discussed COVID-19’s impact in Thailand. The second, “COVID-19 Recovery and LGBTQI Inclusion: A Perspective from the Business Sector,” focused on how Thailand’s business sector practiced inclusion and how it will further propel LGBTQ advocacy.
As APCOM prepares to ease back into normalcy as the pandemic wanes, Poonkasetwattana will begin to prepare for the organization’s HERO Awards (HIV, Equality and Rights), a fundraising gala that honors outstanding LGBTQ activists, HIV/AIDS service providers and allies from across Asia and the Pacific and also raises money for the HIV prevention and human rights work of APCOM.
Lebanon
Helem, whose executive director is Tarek Zeidan, is an LGBTQ advocacy organization in Beirut, Lebanon. Founded in 2001, this non-governmental entity works to improve the legal and social status of LGTBQ people in the Middle East and North Africa.
Lebanon is what Zeidan describes as a slightly safer place for queer people. Lebanon, compared to Egypt and Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East, has emerged as a more inclusive and liberal place despite it being anything but a safe haven for queer people.
“When it comes to LGBTQ rights, Lebanon packs a punch way above its weight,” says Zeidan. “Because, in a region which is notorious for LGBTQ rights violations, Lebanon has enjoyed, and here I use the word enjoy very loosely, a relatively safer and more inclusive sort of experience.”
Helem in its many incarnations throughout its 21-year history has always had one main goal: React to whatever priorities and needs that queer people in the Middle East have.
Helem is structurally divided into three parts.
The first is the services department which does a lot of work to protect and assist LGBTQ people in crisis.
“We [offer] emergency intervention, case management, emergency cash, free mental health support, free medical aid, everything,” says Zeidan. “Food security [also] acts primarily as the hub in which we gather a lot of data, particularly data on the locale, density, and type of human rights violations, as well as demographic information.”
The second part of the organization is its community department.
Helem runs the largest non-commercial queer space in the Arab world that serves as a community center. This space is where the Zeidan guides localization work, community building, power building work, capacity building and vocational training.
“That’s where we do our family support, youth outreach, and all of that sort of community building and integration time work,” says Zeidan.
The final leg is the advocacy part or “bureau” that anchors on policy work, procedure, cultural change, public awareness, and legislation. Helem’s advocacy work also focuses on criminalization that Zeidan describes as “getting more attention,” even though it is not a central focus.
“In addition, criminalization, which is something we always do gets a lot of attention, but it’s really not the central thing that we engage with,” says Zeidan. “There are multiple ways in which you can guarantee LGBTQ rights and inclusion that don’t necessarily pass through Parliament, or the Supreme Court, especially when those two are blocked. So in a nutshell, the central question that we ask is, what can we do in order to improve institutions to become LGBTQ inclusive? How do we improve the lives of LGBTQ people?”
Zeidan further mentions that this strategy makes way for avenues that are not necessarily within the traditional human rights view by extracting opportunities from both development and human rights frameworks.
When tackling the lack of employment within Arab LGBTQ communities, for example, Helem doesn’t approach corporations that are more likely to be LGBTQ-inclusive. It instead identifies the industries that target LGBTQ people.
“We are more interested in targeting small and medium enterprises as locales for employment rather than big banks, because that’s where most of the working class and low income queer people are, and that’s where they get most of their livelihoods,” says Zeidan.
Zeidan says he anticipates even more engagement with LGBTQ activism in the Middle East in the future.
“We’re really excited about deciphering the question: What does regional activism really look like in the Middle East,” says Zeidan. “This is a very complicated question.”
He further mentions this goal is complicated because the Middle East does not have a regional organization to which they can turn for advocacy. Africa, for example, has the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, but the Middle East does not have such a body.
Helem’s modus operandi will therefore be engorged in trying to make sense of how to best liberate queer Arabs.
Three Texas men were sentenced yesterday for violent crimes. Michael Atkinson, 28, Pablo Ceniceros-Deleon, 21, and Daryl Henry, 24, were sentenced to prison terms for their involvement in a scheme to target gay men for violent crimes. Atkinson was sentenced to over 11 years in prison, Ceniceros-Deleon was sentenced to 22 years in prison, and Henry was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
“These three men participated in and committed acts of violence against innocent victims because they believed the victims were gay men,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This type of bias-motivated violence runs contrary to our values and violates our federal civil rights laws. The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division will aggressively investigate and prosecute those who target members of the LGBTQI community.”
“These defendants brutalized multiple victims, singling them out due to their sexual orientation. We cannot allow this sort of violence to fester unchecked,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah for the Northern District of Texas. “The Department of Justice is committed to prosecuting hate crimes. In the meantime, we urge dating app users to remain vigilant. Unfortunately, predators often lurk online.”
On Dec. 11, 2017, the conspirators used Grindr to lure five men to a vacant apartment in Dallas where they held the men at gunpoint, kidnapped, carjacked, and assaulted them. As part of his plea agreement, Henry admitted that he used violence and threats of violence to hold the victims in the backroom and closet of the vacant apartment while other conspirators used the victims’ vehicles to drive to local ATMs to steal cash from the victims’ accounts.
Atkinson and Ceniceros-Deleon admitted that they traveled in the carjacked vehicles to take cash from the victims’ accounts. While the victims were held at gunpoint, some were physically assaulted, at least one victim was sexually assaulted, and all of the victims were taunted with gay slurs.
In 2019, Atkinson pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit hate crimes, kidnapping and carjacking and one count of kidnapping. Ceniceros-Deleon pleaded guilty in 2019 to one hate crime count, one count of carjacking, and one count of use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. Henry pleaded guilty in 2019 to one hate crime count and one count of conspiracy to commit hate crimes, kidnapping and carjacking.
Chloe Lula, a Berlin-based writer and audio producer, writes for PinkNews and openDemocracy about the unique challenges trans folk face in ultra-conservative Georgia.
Bart Nikolo, a transgender man living in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, spends his winter nights gathering kindling for the sex workers who wait for clients near Heroes’ Square.
t’s something he’s done for years. After driving around for hours picking up fallen branches, he stacks them in neat piles, creating small fires that radiate a feeble heat.
When police officers try to fine him for “littering”, he explains what he says should be obvious: that he’s only trying to help ensure that these women, many of whom are also transgender, do not die from the cold.
In the absence of government support for queer people, Nikolo feels that the burden of care has fallen on the LGBT+ community’s shoulders.
During the pandemic, in particular, government aid has failed to reach its most vulnerable citizens, including those facing socioeconomic problems and gender and identity-based discrimination.
Many trans people who aren’t able to pass as cisgendered are pushed into dangerous, unstable and often illegal work, such as prostitution. This makes it difficult for them to access healthcare, housing, mental health services and unemployment assistance.
I met Nikolo in October 2020 on the upper floor of Success in downtown Tbilisi, the city’s only queer bar.
“I started by fighting for my own rights,” he told me. Horrified by the bigotry he faced when he first came out as trans in 2006, he set up Equality Movement, an NGO for queer advocacy, in 2011.
“Word of my desire to help [other LGBT+ people] spread fast. I discovered that there were hundreds of people who needed it – more than you would think,” he said.
Georgia’s hostility towards LGBT+ rights, Nikolo told me, stems from the contradictions between the two pillars of Georgian national identity, the Church and the State.
When the United National Movement (UNM) party rose to power following the ‘Rose Revolution’ in 2003, it promised to overturn the stagnant Soviet political economy and culture by introducing widespread neoliberal reforms, government-led modernisation projects and closer ties to NATO and the EU.
But UNM’s desired shift towards a Western-aligned national identity was at odds with Orthodox traditionalism.
UNM’s rise to power led to a period of polarisation – along with a rise in poverty and inequality that has left the country’s most socioeconomically marginalised people, including queer people, at greater risk of exploitation and discrimination.
While homophobic stigma has inhibited above-ground queer organising, more widespread internet access has enabled inclusive values to take hold in underground communities.
The internet is a major meeting point for Tbilisi’s queer people in the absence of physical safe spaces
“It was only with the advent of the internet that new identity categories became available,” wrote Georgian feminist studies scholar Anna Rekhviashvili.
This new form of connection helped mobilise clandestine gay networks, she explains, which eventually emerged in a small number of visible sanctuaries – such as Success – in the 2010s.
The internet continues to be a major meeting point for Tbilisi’s queer people in the absence of physical safe spaces and LGBT-affirming resources.
Homophobia vs solidarity
In May 2013, a small rally in central Tbilisi to mark International Day Against Homophobia was ambushed by thousands of angry protesters. Many of them, including Georgian Orthodox priests, violently attacked the gay rights demonstrators.
Russian millionaire and ultra-nationalist Levan Vasadze was a prominent participant in the 2013 ambush. Last month, he announced his plans to enter politics with a new movement Unity, Essence, Hope – abbreviated in Georgian as ERI, meaning “nation”.
Recently, Vasadze talked of destabilisation if Tbilisi Pride takes place in early July. “We give the government time,” he said, “to cancel the events, otherwise people will react to the government’s decision” and “will not allow the ‘anti-Christian and anti-Georgian’ activities.”
Vasadze “is doing nothing to discourage extremist and nationalist bigoted views, and that’s disturbing,” said Ian Kelly, the US ambassador to Georgia 2015–18.
“His power comes from uniting the opposition and creating a situation that’s very much ‘us-vs-them’.”
Such developments are alarming, but they highlight the importance of solidarity – and improved connections – within the queer community. Giorgi Kikonishvili, a gay rights activist in Tbilisi, was among those attacked in 2013 and remembers it as a turning point for the Georgian LGBT+ movement.
“But,” he said, “we need to start working together very fiercely.”
The American LGBTQ+ Museum will have a permanent home in the expansion of the New-York Historical Society’s headquarters on Central Park West, with a $35 million infusion in capital funds from the city.
The capital funds represents a quarter of the historical society’s $140 million expansion to add more than 60,000 square feet onto the lot directly behind its headquarters, which was acquired in 1937 by the society’s trustees in anticipation of their eventual growth. Among the plans for more classrooms, galleries and exhibit space is a permanent home for the American LGBTQ+ Museum, which has been in the works since 2017.
“Several years ago, as we really faced a huge shortage, a huge deficit of space in our main building, and also began to think through the new stories that we would like to tell in addition to those we’ve been telling in our headquarters, we were introduced to the board of the American LGBTQ+ museum,” said Louise Mirrer, president and chief executive officer, in a phone interview Saturday. Through discussions, Mirrer said, the historical society decided to “use the new building as a place both to fulfill our needs and ambitions and accommodate them.”
“We’re delighted to partner with New York’s foremost museum of history to build a new museum dedicated to an exploration and celebration of the richness and diversity of LGBTQ+ history and culture in America,” Richard Burns, the chair of the board of directors for the American LGBTQ+ Museum, said in a statement. “The respect and rigor with which New-York Historical has approached this process, including their consultation with local communities, mirrors our own commitment to building a thoughtful, welcoming, queer, and inclusive experience for our visitors and partners.”
The New York City Council and the city Department of Cultural Affairs allocated $35 million for the expansion, which will be designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects. The expansion will also include more classrooms for the society’s Academy for American Democracy program, an educational program for sixth-graders, and a new storage facility for the historical society’s Patricia D. Klingenstein Library.
The new museum will occupy the entire fourth floor, two galleries, have access to the roof garden, and areas for offices and storage. Mirrer said she believes this will be the first LGBTQ+ museum with a historical focus in the country.
The historical society has mounted exhibits about the legacy of the Stonewall riots and is currently exhibiting Safe/Haven about the roots of the LGBTQ+ community in Cherry Grove on Fire Island.
The new collaboration between the venerable historical society and the nascent LGBTQ+ museum “really makes it clear that the history of the LGBTQ+ community is part of American history,” Mirrer said. “It’s not a sideshow to American history. It is part of the mainstream of American history.”
The Spahr Center saves lives through many of its HIV and LGBTQ programs Not the least of these essential services is our Harm Reduction Program, which works to prevent HIV and hepatitis C infections among people who use drugs by providing sterile syringes to people who use drugs in order to prevent HIV and hepatitis, distributes Naloxone to prevent opioid related overdoses, and links our clients to medical care and social services.
We are looking for people who refuse to look the other way as overdose and disease transmission impact the lives of our Marin neighbors. The Harm Reduction movement understands that illicit substance use is harmful and wants people to be safe until they are ready to quit. If you want to get involved in the solution to a complex set of problems, we can offer you a positive opportunity.
As more people come to realize that the war on drugs has been a crime against humanity, our army of harm reductionists is rising up to say that mass incarceration is not the answer to homelessness and drug dependence. We believe that respecting a person’s self-determination and recognizing their equality as citizens is a better approach. We believe that science and data and compassion and treatment are much better roads forward. This week our President issued a supportive statement and funding for Harm Reduction activities – the first endorsement and funding of its kind!
Please consider joining our small corps of volunteers and Peer2Peer Advocates at The Spahr Center’s Syringe Access Program. We have opportunities daytime or evening for two hour shifts at our sites. For a few hours a week, you can help us in the office preparing supplies Click the link below.
If you can help us recruit, please pass this email along to ensure that our harm reduction services remain free and available for everyone.
Kataluna Enriquez, who was crowned Miss Nevada USA on Sunday, will become the first openly transgender woman to compete in the Miss USA pageant.
With a platform centered on transgender awareness and mental health, Enriquez, 27, beat out 21 other contestants at the South Point Hotel Casino in Las Vegas. https://iframe.nbcnews.com/xImrqkG?app=1
“I didn’t have the easiest journey in life,” she said, according to KVVU-TV. “I struggled with physical and sexual abuse. I struggled with mental health. I didn’t have much growing up. I didn’t have support. But I’m still able to thrive, and I’m still able to survive and become a trailblazer for many.”
After her win, Enriquez thanked the LGBTQ community on Instagram, writing, “My win is our win. We just made history. Happy Pride.”
The Miss Nevada USA organization congratulated Enriquez for her historic win on social media and shared the hashtag #bevisible.https://iframe.nbcnews.com/QywZSoD?app=1
In March, Enriquez, who previously competed in trans-specific pageants, became the first transgender woman crowned Miss Silver State USA, the main preliminary for Miss Nevada USA.
During the pageant’s question-and-answer segment, Enriquez said being true to herself was an obstacle she faced daily.
“Today I am a proud transgender woman of color. Personally, I’ve learned that my differences do not make me less than, it makes me more than,” she said, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. “I know that my uniqueness will take me to all my destinations, and whatever I need to go through in life.”
Enriquez, who is Filipina American, designs her own outfits, including a rainbow-sequin gown she wore Sunday night in honor of Pride Month “and all of those who don’t get a chance to spread their colors,” she posted on Instagram.
“Pageantry is so expensive, and I wanted to compete and be able to grow and develop skills and create gowns for myself and other people,” Enriquez said, according to the Review-Journal.
She will represent Nevada at the 2021 Miss USA pageant, being held Nov. 29 at the Paradise Cove Theater at the River Spirit Casino Resort in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The Miss Universe pageant system, of which Los Angeles-based Miss USA is part, began allowing transgender entrants in 2012. If she is crowned Miss USA, Enriquez will be the second trans contestant in a Miss Universe pageant, after Spain’s Angela Ponce in 2018.
Miss America, a separate organization headquartered in New Jersey, did not immediately reply to an inquiry about whether transgender women or nonbinary individuals are allowed to compete in its annual competition. As of 2018, the pageant was reportedly only open to “natural born women,” according to the Advocate.
In February, a federal judge upheld the right of another organization, Nevada-based Miss United States of America, to bar transgender contestants from its pageant.
Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr. President of the United States 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Biden:
We, the 105 undersigned organizations, write to express our alarm and disappointment that your administration is reportedly considering plans to continue to use the unlawful Title 42 expulsion policy to block and expel adult asylum seekers for at least two more months and may use punitive measures such as ankle monitors and expedited removal in processing families. Not only does the Title 42 policy violate U.S. refugee law and treaties, but it also endangers people seeking U.S. protection, with over 3,250 kidnappings, rapes, and other attacks on people expelled or blocked at the U.S.-Mexico border since you took office. This number rises every day your administration fails to end this policy. We urge your administration to fully rescind this policy for all populations, comply with U.S. refugee law, and ensure that Black, LGBTQ and other adult asylum seekers, many of whom have been turned back or expelled at ports of entry, as well as families and children, have swift access to the U.S. asylum system.Over 100 Groups Urge Biden to Fully Rescind Title 42 ExpulsionsOver 100 Groups Urge Biden to Fully Rescind Title 42 Expulsions
Many of our organizations have repeatedly called on your administration to end the Title 42 expulsion policy and restart asylum processing for people seeking refuge. Rational, science-based measures, recommended by public health experts exist to mitigate COVID-19 concerns and safely process asylum seekers at the border. The use of Title 42 – described as a “Stephen Miller special” by a former Trump administration official – was implemented over the objections of senior Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) experts and has been widely discredited by epidemiologists and public health experts who have confirmed it has “no scientific basis as a public health measure.” These experts provided detailed recommendations for the safe processing of asylum seekers to your transition team, the CDC, and other officials in your administration. In May 2021, medical experts for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) filed a whistleblower disclosure condemning the policy for lacking a public health justification and for fueling widespread family separation and detention of children. Medical professionals providing care in encampments and shelters in Tijuana have also decried the expulsion policy as threatening the health and safety of migrants.
Human rights organizations and the media have documented the escalating dangers faced by asylum seekers and migrants subjected to the Title 42 policy, many of whom have been forced into squalid and dangerous conditions in several new camps near the border. Legal and humanitarian staff who work with migrants subjected to the policy have also faced serious risks to their safety. The Title 42 policy has also driven family separations as it presents families with the impossible choice of keeping children in danger or sending them alone across the border for their safety. As a result, many of the single adults who are now stuck in Mexico are desperately trying to reunite with their children in Office of Refugee Resettlement custody or with family in the United States.
The expulsion policy has disproportionately affected asylum seekers from Africa, the Caribbean, and elsewhere, who were not placed in the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) and are not eligible for processing into the United States under Phase 1 or Phase 2 of its winddown. Black and LGBTQ asylum seekers blocked in Mexico under the expulsion policy and unable to request protection at a port of entry continue to experience targeted discrimination and violence. Recent reports indicate that while your administration may end the policy in July for families, it may continue to subject adult asylum seekers to the policy for at least two months – an unacceptable delay that would prolong disparities in access to protection and disproportionately impact Black asylum seekers from African and Caribbean countries, as well as LGBTQ refugees and others who are not traveling with children. Such an approach would be completely indefensible. Public health safeguards in no way require or justify disparate treatment between families and adults arriving alone. Moreover, such an approach is contrary to U.S. asylum law and the non-discrimination provisions of the Refugee Convention.
We are concerned that this administration continues to look to deterrence as a strategy to address processing of asylum seekers at the border. Ankle monitors, budget requests for expansive detention, and expedited removal are part of a deterrence strategy that is inhumane and ineffective. Such a cruel strategy is the physical manifestation of the statement “Don’t come.” Electronic monitoring devices are a particularly intrusive measure that causes physical and emotional harm without a positive impact on appearance rates as compared to appropriate, community-based case management services. With respect to expedited removal, many of our organizations, as well as the bipartisan U.S. Commission onInternational Religious Freedom, have long noted failures by Customs and Border Protection officers and Border Patrol agents to follow basic required procedures to identify individuals who must be referred for credible fear interviews, as well as intimidation and coercion of asylum seekers to withdraw requests for protection.
While we greatly appreciate your administration’s ongoing efforts to process into safety certain asylum seekers subjected to MPP, we remain gravely concerned that the Biden administration continues to block and expel asylum seekers to the same dangers under the Title 42 policy. In a rare public statement calling on this country to uphold its legal obligations, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees recently urged the United States to swiftly end this policy and “restore access to asylum for the people whose lives depend on it, in line with international legal and human rights obligations.”
With the 70th anniversary of the Refugee Convention approaching in July, we urge your administration to end its misuse of Title 42 public health authority immediately, restore asylum processing in line with U.S. refugee laws and treaties for all asylum seekers – including at U.S. ports of entry – and set an example for the rest of the world by welcoming refugees with dignity.
Respectfully, The Advocates for Human Rights Al Otro Lado Aldea – The People’s Justice Center Alianza Americas American Friends Service Committee American Immigration Council American Immigration Lawyers Association American Gateways America’s Voice Amnesty International USA Angry Tias and Abuelas of the RGV Asylum Access Asylum Access México (AAMX) A.C. Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP) Austin Border Relief Bay Area Border Relief Bellevue Program for Survivors of Torture Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) BORDER ANGELS Border Kindness California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. Center for Gender & Refugee Studies Center of Excellence for Immigrant Child Health and Wellbeing, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals Children’s Defense Fund Christian Reformed Church, Office of Social Justice Church World Service Coalition on Human Needs Columbia Law School Immigrants’ Rights Clinic Comunidad Maya Pixan Ixim Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Desert Support for Asylum Seekers Detention Watch Network Diocesan Migrant & Refugee Services, Inc. Disciples Immigration Legal Counsel Fellowship Southwest First Focus on Children Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project Freedom For Immigrants Geopaz. Instituto de Geografía para la paz AC (IGP) / Geopaz. Institute of Geography for Peace Grassroots Leadership Haitian Bridge Alliance HIAS Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative Human Impact Partners Human Rights First Human Rights Initiative of North Texas Human Rights Watch Immigrant Allies of Marshalltown Immigrant Defenders Law Center Immigrant Legal Defense Immigration Equality Innovation Law Lab Instituto para las Mujeres en la Migración (IMUMI) International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) International Rescue Committee Jesuit Refugee Service/USA Jewish Family Service of San Diego Justice for our Neighbors El Paso Justice for Our Neighbors Michigan Kids in Need of Defense Kino Border Initiative Laredo Immigrant Alliance Latin America Working Group (LAWG) Law Office of Jodi Goodwin LUCHA Ministries, Inc. Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service Migrant Center for Human Rights Migration Matters National Immigrant Justice Center National Immigration Law Center National Justice for Our Neighbors National Network for Immigrant & Refugee Rights NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice New York Justice for Our Neighbors, Inc. NM Comunidades en Acción y de Fe (CAFe) Physicians for Human Rights Project Blueprint Project Corazon, Lawyers for Good Government Project Dignity Legal Team Project Lifeline Proyecto de Ayuda para Solicitantes de Asilo (PASA) Public Counsel Rainbow Beginnings Rainbow Bridge Asylum Seekers Refugee Congress Refugees International San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium Sanctuary for Families Save the Children Seguimos Adelante Sin Fronteras Nuevo Mexico Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Justice Team Southern Border Communities Coalition Southern Poverty Law Center Tahirih Justice Center The Advocates for Human Rights The Legal Clinic / HI Coalition for Immigrant Rights The Sidewalk School UndocuBlack Network United Stateless VECINA Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center Witness at the Border Women’s Refugee Commission
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced Wednesday that Andrew Bruck would be appointed acting attorney general for the remainder of Murphy’s term. Bruck, who is first assistant attorney general, has been part of the office’s executive leadership since outgoing Attorney General Gurbir Grewal was confirmed in January 2018.
The announcement comes one day after the Securities and Exchange Commission named Grewal the new head of its enforcement division. Grewal’s last day with the state is July 16. Murphy also noted that Bruck will be the first openly gay attorney general in state history.
Before joining the Office of the Attorney General, Bruck spent five years at the U.S. Department of Justice. During that time, he served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, and held several roles in the office of Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, including Senior Counsel, Deputy Chief of Staff, and Acting Chief of Staff.
Before joining the Department of Justice, Bruck worked as a litigation associate in the New York office of Davis Polk & Wardwell and clerked for Chief Justice Stuart Rabner of the New Jersey Supreme Court. He is a graduate of Princeton University and Stanford Law School. Bruck is a New Jersey native who grew up in Montclair and Mendham. He currently resides in Trenton with his husband Adam and 8-month-old daughter, Libby.
The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival (SFJFF) is back! From July 22 to August 1, the world’s first and largest Jewish film festival will present over 50 films from over 20 countries with an unprecedented number of shorts and special guests from around the globe, celebrating bold films and filmmakers that expand and evolve the Jewish story for audiences everywhere. Tickets and passes are now on sale for all programs.Now in its 41st year, this year’s program has “something for everyone.” From historical dramas to genre-bending documentaries, this year’s themes range from poignant coming of age films to complex narratives surrounding Jewish identity. Five films address LGBTQI+ issues, eight films on the joys and pains of teenage life, seven explore topics and themes relating to the Israeli-Palestinian region, 25 feature women directors and producers, literature takes center stage in five films, and the creation of music graces the screen in three films. This year, the new JFI Social Change Teen Fellowship program will be presenting the Take Action program.
Festival-goers can experience SFJFF several ways this year. Those who are comfortable viewing from home can do so in the JFI Digital Screening Room, and those who are excited to gather in community will be able to enjoy in-person, live screenings at the historic Castro Theatre in San Francisco on July 24 and 25.
“We really were not sure what was going to happen this year, so we are thrilled to be back in the Castro for a limited theatrical run with the highest quality slate of ground-breaking and provocative films. The lineup reflects the full breadth of Jewish identity and the perseverance of independent filmmakers during a global pandemic. There is nothing like a community experiencing a film premiere together in the dark. We cannot wait to see everyone!” says JFI Executive Director Lexi Leban.
Queer films include:
BINDING OF ITZIK (Short)A middle aged Hasidic bookbinder, in his search for binding materials, stumbles across a craigslist ad offering “binding lessons for submissive women.”Directed by Anika Benkov
CHARLATAN
A richly drawn biopic of Czech healer Jan Mikolášek who rose to fame through his uncanny ability to diagnose disease with a mere glance at the patient’s urine. Treating all who entered his clinic, from the poor to the Nazis, is he an unorthodox healer ahead of his time or a mere charlatan? Directed by Agnieszka Holland
THE CONDUCTOR
Internationally renowned conductor Marin Alsop smashed the glass ceiling when she became the first woman to serve as music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, and the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. The Conductor takes the audience backstage to the artistry and energy that rewards her audiences and inspires her students.Directed by Bernadette Wegenstein
COSMOPOLITAN (Short)Jacob goes out, for the first time in his life, to a gay party, but discovers that his skin color prevents him from being accepted into the community. The film is part of the “Equals” project, by the Gesher Multicultural Film Fund.Directed by Moran Nakar
PROGNOSIS: NOTES ON LIVING
When maverick Oscar-winning Bay Area documentary filmmaker Debra Chasnoff is diagnosed with stage-4 breast cancer, she faces injustice as always, with her camera. A raw, surprisingly funny portrait emerges of how her calling—to repair the world—shifts as she navigates between terminal illness and the shifting identities of her chosen LGBTQI+ family. Directed by Debra Chasnoff & Kate Stilley Steiner
MY NAME IS PAULI MURRAY
Fifteen years before Rosa Parks refused to surrender her bus seat, a full decade before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned separate-but-equal legislation, Pauli Murray was already knee-deep fighting for social justice. A pioneering attorney, activist, priest and dedicated memoirist, Murray shaped landmark litigation—and consciousness—around race and gender equity. As an African American youth raised in the segregated South—who was also wrestling with broader notions of gender identity—Pauli understood, intrinsically, what it was to exist beyond previously accepted categories and cultural norms.Directed by BETSY WEST AND JULIE COHEN
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