The UK’s first ever national LGBT+ museum is set to open its doors in Kings Cross, London, later this year.
The museum – called Queer Britain – will explore the stories, people and places that are central to the LGBT+ community in the UK and beyond. It will be located at 2 Granary Square in Kings Cross, which is owned by Art Fund, the UK’s national charity for art.
Organisers have been putting plans in place to open an LGBT+ focused museum since 2018. They have promised that Queer Britain will be “an inclusive place that promises to welcome everyone regardless of sexuality or gender identity” .
The museum is expected to open its doors free of charge in the spring, according to Art Fund, although a firm date has not yet been specified.
Queer Britain museum will explore LGBT+ community’s ‘diverse histories’
Lisa Power, a trailblazing LGBT+ activist and trustee of Queer Britain, celebrated the news in a statement released by Art Fund.
“I’m really excited that Queer Britain is finally going to have a space to show what we can do and that we’re here for all the community, from old lesbian feminist warhorses like me to young queer folk of all genders and ethnicities. Queer Britain aims to tell our many and diverse histories, and now we have a home to do that from.”
Anjum Mouj, also a trustee of Queer Britain, said: “The UK is finally getting the LGBTQ+ museum it deserves, to reflect and celebrate all our exciting and wildly diverse communities, whatever their sexualities, gender identities, backgrounds, ability or heritage. Community lives in unity.”
Joseph Galliano, director and co-founder of the museum, said the time had come for the UK to have its own LGBT+ focused museum.
“We are delighted to have found our first home in beautiful Granary Square with Art Fund as our first landlord,” Galliano said. “It’s a prime location accessible to swathes of the country, and in a part of town with a rich queer heritage.”
Queer Britain will be made up of four galleries, a workshop, an education space, a gift shop, and it all also be home to offices for the team. Organisers have promised that it will be “fully accessible” with lifts and ramps and entry will “always” be free.
North Bay LGBTQI Families is hosting training opportunities on LGBTQIA+ youth, family, and community inclusion, cultural responsiveness, and safe spaces with your local early childhood education providers, including daycares, preschools, TK/kindergarten teachers, and schools.
There will be a 2-part virtual training series in February (on the 12th and 26th from 10a-12p) and another one in March (on the 10th & 24th from 6p-8p) with the same content, and both will be offered in English and Spanish. See the flyer images above for further details, and please circulate widely! You can also access or forward the registration link here.
North Bay LGBTQI Families is working with First 5 Sonoma County, First 5 Napa, Rainbow Action Network, the Solano County Office of Education, and The Quality Counts CA Region 1 HUB for their work in making these critically important resources available our local providers, youth, and families.
A great deal has changed for LGBT+ people in the United States since Joe Biden came into office one year ago today – but there’s still a long way to go.
The dark days of the Trump presidency aren’t quite as distant a memory as we might like. The far-right still holds a great deal of influence in the United States, and queer people continue to face disproportionate levels of violence and discrimination.
Since inauguration day on 20 January 2021, Joe Biden and Kamala Harrishave strengthened legal rights, they have rolled back Trump-era attacks, and they’ve created a more hospitable environment for LGBT+ people to exist in. The feeling among LGBT+ rights activists and advocacy groups is clear – it’s a good start, but there’s still plenty more to achieve.
One year on from inauguration day, we take a look at some of the issues Biden and Harris need to focus on over the next year to ensure that LGBT+ people’s lives are improving in tangible ways.
Joe Biden needs to end the epidemic of violence against trans women
Trans people, particularly trans women of colour, continue to face shocking levels of violence in the United States and across the world. We wish we could say things were getting better – but Biden’s first year in office was also the deadliest year on record for trans people in the United States.
One thing is clear – something needs to change, and it needs to change fast. The problem is that a political solution isn’t entirely clear or straightforward, according to Sarah Warbelow, legal director at the Human Rights Campaign.
It’s a regressive policy that is not based in science, and it’s a cruel hangover from the worst days of the AIDS epidemic.
“The American Red Cross just announced a blood donation crisis,” Sarah Kate Ellis, CEO and president of GLAAD, tells PinkNews. “Our nation’s blood supply is drastically, dangerously low. One way to alleviate the shortage and advance equality would be to urge the FDA to eliminate the discriminatory deferral period for gay and bisexual men to donate blood, and lead all agencies to revise donor screening processes to focus on current science rather than outdated notions and stigma.”
“We applaud the administration’s efforts to enforce nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ young people in schools, particularly transgender, nonbinary, and intersex students who are experiencing ongoing attacks and attempts to sanction discrimination in state legislatures across the country,” they say.
“GLSEN will continue to partner with the US Department of Education and other federal agencies to strengthen these protections and promote inclusive data collection practices that will help increase the effectiveness of programs and services.”
Over the next year, GLSEN would like to see the Biden administration expand on its current efforts to advance equality for LGBT+ people who face marginalisation in the education system. They would also like to see the administration “continue to se a tone that encourages classroom teachers, families, principals, administrators, state leaders and everyone who is part of K-12 learning communities to affirm and meet the needs of all students”.
The federal government must focus on LGBT+ mental health
Numerous studies have shown that LGBT+ people are more likely to experience mental health difficulties, and they’re also at a greater risk of suicide than their straight and cisgender peers.
Preston Mitchum is director of advocacy and government affairs at The Trevor Project, an organisation that works to prevent suicide among LGBT+ people. He says Biden “deserves credit” for prioritising LGBT+ representation in his cabinet and for reversing the trans military ban, among other measures.
However, more has to be done to protect the mental wellbeing of LGBT+ people in America.
“We will continue to push the administration to take action at the federal level to protect young people from the dangerous and discredited practice of conversion therapy, to expand access to mental health care for all, to improve the collection of sexual orientation and gender identity data across federal agencies, and to allocate the resources necessary to make [crisis line] 988 a success come July, including specialised services for LGBTQ youth,” Mitchum says.
Adam Polaski, communications director with Southern Equality, says the Biden administration needs to challenge those laws. He notes that Biden “has followed through on many of his commitments related to LGBTQ+ equality”, but it’s now time to look towards the future.
“We’d like to see him continue to use the ‘bully pulpit’ now to call for passage of federal non-discrimination protections – and, what’s more, work specifically with legislators on both sides of the aisle to pass meaningful federal protections,” Polaski says.
“He and his Department of Justice can also dive into challenging anti-LGBTQ laws, including the anti-trans healthcare discrimination law in Arkansas and myriad anti-trans student athletics laws. And we’d like to see him continue nominating out LGBTQ+ people and allies to federal judgeships and other government positions.”
A lesbian member of the National Guard is suing the US Army and Air Force after her boss allegedly pressured her to “appear more feminine”.
Kristin M Kingrey of the West Virginia Air National Guard (WVNG) said she lost out on two jobs after repeated comments that she should grow her hair and wear make-up, according to a report by the Daily Beast.
Technical sergeant Kingrey, 37, filed a lawsuit on 23 November 2021 against the army she has worked in for nearly 14 years over comments made by a senior male leader.
Kingrey told the Daily Beast that a job she had successfully applied for was withdrawn after the comments were made, and that in another instance she was not hired for a position she was more than qualified for.
She said: “From 2016 to 2018, I was constantly being pulled into my seniors’ offices being told my hair was out of regs [non-regulation].
“It crossed a line into harassment, and I carried on my person a copy of our regulations in regards to female hair length because I was not breaking any rules.”
The lawsuit claims that the sergeant was subject to “continued harassment, discrimination, and retaliation based upon her sex, including her sexual orientation and perceived gender nonconformity.”
Kingrey alleged the incident that sparked the lawsuit happened when a senior leader, vice wing commander colonel Michael Cadle, asked a female lieutenant colonel to encourage Kingrey to begin appearing more feminine.
Kingrey said it was implied she should “grow my hair out and start wearing makeup because if I didn’t, it would be detrimental to my career in the West Virginia Air National Guard”.
She added: “I had heard of other females with short hair having issues with people saying things, but I don’t know that progressed to the extent mine did. My hair length has nothing do with my work ethic or job performance.
“Initially I was embarrassed. I could not believe that not fitting their mould of how I should look would truly impact my career. It was devastating.”
After the comments were made, the lesbian sergeant said that a job that had been verbally offered to her was suddenly longer no longer available because of an alleged funding cut.
The role was then re-advertised.
Mike Hissam, Kingrey’s attorney, said she is seeking the job offer back, as well as an apology from colonel Cadle.
He said: “We would want reinstatement and back pay… Kristin should get the position she applied for and would have gotten had it not been for the unlawful discrimination she suffered. That’s the outcome she wants.”
Kingrey told the Daily Beast: “The whole thing has made me feel that I don’t belong, and that my career will be hindered. But I have not considered quitting. I will not be defeated.
“They are not going to make me leave something that I truly love, and I truly love putting on the uniform every single day. I love my country, and I love my state, and I have served them both honourably for over 14 years.”
Holli R Nelson of the West Virginia Air National Guard told PinkNews in a statement: “The WVNG is fully committed to an inclusive and diverse workforce free from harassment.
“As a matter of policy, the WVNG does not comment on matters that are currently pending in litigation. But generally, the WVNG advised an outside agency who is charged with conducting investigations that are prompt, fair, and impartial in matters like this one.
“They produced a report with the factual record, and it was determined that no discrimination and/or harassment occurred. As such, we are continuing the process to present the facts to fully resolve this matter in the court system.”
A US Army spokesperson told the Daily Beast: “As a matter of policy, the Army does not comment on ongoing litigation.”
Kingrey told the Daily Beast that she is still “committed” to her career in the military.
“I just want to go through my career on a fair basis,” she said.
“I’ve never asked for favouritism just because I am from the LGBTQ community. I just want to be allowed to continue my military career based on my own merits and off my work ethic.”
Queeriosity Corner Friday, February 4 6:00–7:30 p.m. PT Online program $5 | Free for members
GLBT Historical Society archives staff members will present a veritable treasure trove of hidden LGBTQ history gems from the archives vault. Curatorial specialist Ramón Silvestre, reference archivist Isaac Fellman and project archivist Megan Needels have selected some of the most unusual and surprising material objects in the archives, and the trio will discuss their historical significance. The program culminates with the unveiling of a recently acquired artifact from the Tool Box Bar, SoMa’s most influential leather bar of the early 1960s, that has never been seen by the public.
“Queeriosity Corner” is a quarterly program series led by Silvestre that showcases treasured physical objects from the archives. Each program in the series explores a few such select items, including paintings, sculptures, objects, costumes, drawings, posters, photographs and ephemera, most of which have never been on public display. The series also features conversations with other museum professionals on display and curation best practices, institutional partnerships and related topics, all in delightfully entertaining queer show-and-tell format. Tickets are available online here.
San Francisco police on Thursday revealed a sixth victim may be linked to the 1970s serial killer who targeted the city’s gay community and doubled reward money in hopes of ramping up efforts to solve the decades-old cold case.
The “Doodler” was previously suspected in at least five homicides of gay, white men between January 1974 and June 1975, police said in 2019. But police said Thursday that a potential sixth victim has been tied to the killer, exactly 48 years after the first victim was killed.
The possibility of a sixth victim was raised during a series in the San Francisco Chronicle last year, which followed cold case detectives Dan Cunningham and Dan Dedet as they investigated the death of Warren Andrews. The department confirmed it now believes Andrews is connected to the serial killer case. https://iframe.nbcnews.com/ZXkiMl1?_showcaption=true&app=1
“On April 27, 1975, Andrews was a victim of an assault at Land’s End,” the department said in a release. “Andrews was found unconscious and never regained consciousness dying several weeks later.”
Investigators have spent years attempting to identify the killer, who they believe targeted men at gay clubs and restaurants around San Francisco and often had sex with them before attacking them. Four bodies were found around Ocean Beach, a fifth at Golden Gate Park.
Andrews was attacked near Lands End, a popular hiking spot north of Golden Gate Park and about a 1.5 mile walk north from Ocean Beach.
But while the other victims were stabbed to death, Andrews was bludgeoned with a rock and a tree branch.
Cunningham told the Chronicle that he had to reconsider Andrews’ murder as part of the case given the location, “the victimology” and time period.
“I’d be a fool not to consider him as a Doodler victim,” he said.
Two years ago, San Francisco police released a sketch of what authorities believe the killer would look like after being aged 40-years. A suspect has never been charged in the case, though someone was detained in 1976 in connection with the murders.
The sketch is based on the original descriptions given by two white men who survived assaults in July 1975, both stabbed with a knife and injured in a similar manner to the victims.
Authorities dubbed the suspect the “doodler” after a surviving victim told police that he was drawing caricatures on a paper while the two spoke in an all-night truck stop diner. He had told the victim that he was a cartoonist.
“The SFPD has increased the reward from $100,000 to $200,000 for information leading to the identification, apprehension, and conviction of the serial homicide suspect,” police said in the Thursday statement.
The horrific spate of anti-LGBT+ killings that have fuelled fear in Jamaica is to be investigated as part of a new podcast series.
Ring The Alarm, an Apple Podcasts series that will explore what it’s like to be LGBT+ in the island country, will be hosted by Jasmyne Cannick, one of Los Angeles’ most recognisable Black political strategists and journalists.
Cannick helped capture national attention to the sordid killings by small-time American Democratic donor Ed Buck – now she’s training focus on the creeping homicide rates of LGBT+ people in Jamaica.
“I have always used my platform to elevate Black stories and issues I felt were being ignored and Ring the Alarm is no different,” Cannick told The Advocate.
“When I was asked to come to Jamaica to speak to the LGBTQ+ community and share their stories, I immediately said yes.
“I said yes because American’s have had so much to say about the plight of queer people in places like Iran and Afghanistan but for decades have ignored the murders of lesbian women, gay men, and trans men and women in Jamaica.
“Well not anymore.”
The world ‘can’t keep ignoring’ wave of LGBT+ murders in Jamaica
In Jamaica, it is illegal to be gay, punishable by up to a decade in prison with hard labour. Some take the law into their own hands, carrying out brutal torture and murders that capture the deepening homophobia in the country.
Many queer Jamaicans live in fear, with more than half saying they have been victims of some form of violence fuelled by hatred for their sexual orientation or gender identity, according to the Human Rights Watch.
Contempt towards LGBT+ people is entrenched in the Jamaican state, the group warned.
Queer youth rejected by their families remain among the most vulnerable in society and battle to survive as the public and police target them.
But described by Cannick as like a modern-day underground railroad, countless safehouses provide LGBT+ people with a place of safety, healing and camaraderie.
Cannick hopes to tell the stories behind the safehouses and those who run them while raising money for the organisers. Above all, she hopes to raise national attention once again to a pressing issue – the killing of the most vulnerable.
“Americans love vacationing in Jamaica,” she added, “but just beyond the carefully curated tourism corridor, people are being murdered for being queer.
“We can’t be okay with that. We can’t keep ignoring that.”
Brandon Straka, the 44-year-old New York-based hairstylist and Trump loyalist who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge for his role in the January 6 Capitol Insurrection, was finally sentenced on Monday.
Judge Dabny Friedrich, a Trump appointee, gave Straka no jail time but sentenced him to three months of house arrest, 36 months of probation, $5,500 in fines, and community service.
According to court documents, FBI officials identified Straka from a since-deleted video he posted to his own social media page in which he could be heard shouting “Go! Go!” to the other insurrectionists as they stormed inside the U.S. Capitol building.
Two days after he pleaded guilty, Straka emailed his mailing list asking them to send him money for his legal bills.
“Start posting positive things that you believe about me,” he wrote. “Push back against the one sided hate attacks that are happening right now. I still have nothing to say about my case, other than this- as it’s being widely (and likely INTENTIONALLY) misreported: I did NOT enter the Capitol building.”
“After being PERMANENTLY BANNED from PayPal, Venmo, and Stripe,” Straka added, “I have CUSTOM CREATED a support platform using a conservative friendly payment processor company.”
Officials were also able to tie Straka to the insurrection based on several since-deleted posts from his Twitter account, including:
“Patriots at the Capitol – HOLD. THE. LINE!!!!”
“I arrived at the Capitol a few hours ago as Patriots were storming from all sides. I was quite close to entering myself as police began tear-gassing us from the door. I inhaled tear gas & got it in my eyes. Patriots began exiting shortly after saying Congress had been cleared.”
“I’m completely confused. For 6-8 weeks everybody on the right has been saying ‘1776!’ & that if congress moves forward it will mean a revolution! So congress moves forward. Patriots storm the Capitol – now everybody is virtual signaling their embarrassment that this happened.”
“Also- be embarrassed & hide if you need to- but I was there. It was not Antifa at the Capitol. It was freedom loving Patriots who were DESPERATE to fight for the final hope of our Republic because literally nobody cares about them. Everyone else can denounce them. I will not.”
“Perhaps I missed the part where it was agreed this would be a revolution of ice cream cones & hair-braiding parties to take our government back from lying, cheating globally interested swamp parasites. My bad.”
Multiple other people sent the FBI videos that reportedly showed Straka at the Capitol building on January 6. In one of the clips, he allegedly tells the mob, “We’re going in!” In another, he allegedly orders them to attack a police officer, yelling, “Take the shield! Take it! Take it!”
Straka signed a plea deal with prosecutors, agreeing to provide agents with “copies of any social media accounts, postings, videos, or photos” and answer questions “regarding events in and around January 6, 2021.” In exchange, prosecutors sought a lighter sentence.
The OUT Against Big Tobacco coalition supported by Equality California Institute launched a pledge today urging California legislators and candidates to voluntarily refuse campaign contributions from the tobacco industry. A total of sixteen legislators and candidates have taken the pledge thus far, with more expected to sign on as the 2022 campaign season gets underway.
The pledge was launched in conjunction with the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout, a national day in recognition of tobacco users who are looking to quit tobacco for good. LGBTQ+ people are more than TWICE as likely to smoke as our non-LGBTQ+ peers, and nearly 30,000 LGBTQ+ people across the country die every year of tobacco-related causes.
Initial signers of OUT Against Big Tobacco’s pledge not to take tobacco industry campaign contributions include:
Supervisor Matt Haney, candidate for Assembly District 17
Daniel Hertzberg, candidate for Senate District 18
Mayor Christy Holstege, candidate for Assembly District 42
Bilal Mahmood, candidate for Assembly District 17
Mayor Lily Mei, candidate for Senate District 10
Caroline Menjivar, candidate for Senate District 18
Andrea Rosenthal, candidate for Assembly District 36
Dr. Sion Roy, candidate for Assembly District 50
Rick Chavez Zbur, candidate for Assembly District 50
“For decades, Big Tobacco has used their profits to place themselves as friends of our community. This year we are kicking them OUT; out of our Pride, out of our organizations, and out of our politics,” said Equality California Program Manager, Dr. Shannon Kozlovich. “We are calling all 2022 California State legislative candidates to stand with us and pledge to run tobacco free campaigns.
“The tobacco industry is killing our children, killing people of color, killing people that have underlying health conditions. We have to take a stand by not accepting tobacco contributions!” said Senator Lena Gonzalez.
In California’s 2020 Senate and Assembly election cycle, tobacco companies spent $6 million on campaign contributions, while spending millions more lobbying against legislation to prohibit the sale of flavored tobacco products — products disproportionately targeted towards LGBTQ+ people, people of color and our young people.
“The tobacco industry serves no purpose other than to make people sick. Tobacco money is not essential for people to win,” said Senator Scott Wiener.
###
Equality California is the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization. We bring the voices of LGBTQ+ people and allies to institutions of power in California and across the United States, striving to create a world that is healthy, just, and fully equal for all LGBTQ+ people. We advance civil rights and social justice by inspiring, advocating and mobilizing through an inclusive movement that works tirelessly on behalf of those we serve. www.eqca.org
