An incumbent Democratic lawmaker who opposed equal marriage has been defeated by a gay drag queen.
Earl Jaques Jr, who has sat in the Delaware House of Representatives since 2009, lost out to progressive challenger Eric Morrison – a popular local drag queen known who performs as Anita Mann.Read Morex
Morrison claimed 61.13 per cent of the vote in Tuesday’s Democratic primary for house district 27, while, Jaques received just 38.87 per cent.
Drag queen wins in a landslide despite smears on campaign trail
Jaques had told local media: “That is so far off-base for our district, it’s unbelievable. You wonder what the point is. You can have fundraisers, I don’t care about that. But dressing in drag? Really?”
He had claimed: “I’m not sure he represents the people who attend those places of religion [in the area]. If he’s actually having a fundraiser in drag, I don’t think those churches would endorse that.”
Happily, it turns out that more than 60 per cent of Democratic voters have no issue with drag queens – but do take some issue with bigotry.
As Morrison’s campaign noted, the lawmaker “voted against same-sex marriage in 2013, and refused to vote yes or no on banning the barbaric practice of conversion therapy for Delaware’s LGBT minors in 2013.”
Eric Morrison, who performs as the drag queen Anita Mann
Morrison is believed to be the first out gay man to serve on Delaware’s General Assembly.
Eric Morrison thanks supporters after resounding primary win
In a Facebook post, he wrote: “This morning, I am overwhelmed with emotions—but most of all with gratitude. Thank you to our incredible core team members. Thank you to our wonderful volunteers who knocked doors, made calls, stuffed envelopes, attended events, greeted voters at the polls, delivered yard signs and volunteer ‘goody bags,’ and many other important tasks.
“Thank you to our donors who believe that political candidates and elected officials can and should be funded by the people. Thank you to the nine people-focused activist organisations that endorsed us. Thank you to anyone who did anything to support our campaign in the biggest or smallest of ways.”
He added: “This isn’t over! Before we know it, the general election will be here on November 3, and we face two candidates—a Republican and a libertarian. But for today, we celebrate and we THANK YOU for your support. I look forward to taking every remaining step of this exciting journey with you.”
McBride, who was the first trans person to speak at a major party conventionin 2016 when she addressed the Democrat National Convention, claimed a stunning 91 per cent of the votes in the primary, paving the way for her anticipated victory in the heavily-Democratic district in November.
The Washington Blade, the nation’s oldest LGBTQ newspaper, today announced it has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its refusal to turn over emails related to a rule change allowing federal contractors to discriminate against LGBTQ workers.
The Blade filed a FOIA request for emails within the Department of Labor related to the Trump administration’s proposed rule change allowing a religious exemption in employment non-discrimination requirements for federal contractors. The request sought to shed light on the motivation behind the proposal and whether it was to enable anti-LGBTQ discrimination in the name of religious freedom. The Department has so far ignored the FOIA request, forcing today’s action after more than a year of waiting.
“We’re committed to our mission of holding the Trump administration accountable for its actions affecting LGBTQ people and marginalized communities,” said Chris Johnson, Washington Blade White House reporter. “Our readers deserve to know the motivation for the Department of Labor’s proposal to undercut President Obama’s 2014 executive order, which brought long-sought protections for LGBTQ people working for federal contractors.”
The suit was filed by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which is representing the Blade in the case.
“We are glad to be representing the Washington Blade as it seeks access to records that could shed light on whether government officials took steps to undermine regulations intended to protect LGBTQ individuals from employment discrimination. Federal FOIA can only promote greater transparency and accountability if agencies comply with their statutory obligations to release information, which we fully expect the Department of Labor to do in this case.”
“This is another example of the Trump administration obfuscating and shirking its responsibilities to transparency,” said Blade editor Kevin Naff. “Thank you to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press for joining us in this effort to hold the administration accountable and to get answers to these important questions.”
A U.S. Marine convicted of killing a Filipino transgender woman was deported Sunday after a presidential pardon cut short his detention in a case that renewed outrage over a pact governing American military presence in the Philippines.
Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton said in a farewell message that he was “extremely grateful” to President Rodrigo Duterte for pardoning him and expressed his “most sincere sympathy” to the family of Jennifer Laude, who he was convicted of killing in 2014 in a motel northwest of Manila after finding out that she was a transgender.
In his nearly six years of confinement, Pemberton said he spent “much time contemplating the many errors” he committed the night Laude died. “He wishes he had the words to express the depth of his sorrow and regret,” according to Pemberton’s message, which was issued by his lawyer, Rowena Garcia-Flores.
Virginia Suarez, the Laude family’s lawyer, said in a statement that she wishes Pemberton “peace of mind,” and hopes that he has learned “the value of life and dignity regardless of gender and nationality.”
Philippine immigration officers and American personnel escorted the 25-year-old Pemberton, who was in handcuffs and wearing a face mask, from his cell in the main military camp in Manila to the airport, where he boarded a military aircraft. He was put on an immigration blacklist and will be banned from returning to the country, said immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval.
The U.S. Embassy said that “all legal proceedings in the case took place under Philippine jurisdiction and law,” and that “Pemberton fulfilled his sentence as ordered by Philippine courts.”
On Monday, Duterte granted an “absolute and unconditional pardon” to Pemberton in a move that caught many by surprise. The Philippine leader has long been a vocal critic of U.S. security policies while reaching out to China and Russia.
Duterte’s pardon was condemned by left-wing and LGBTQ groups.
Debate has brewed over whether the Marine, whose detention was arranged under the treaty allies’ Visiting Forces Agreement, or VFA, can be covered by a Philippine law that grants shorter jail terms to ordinary prisoners for good conduct.
The Regional Trial Court in Olongapo city, which handled Pemberton’s case, ruled that the law covers Pemberton and ordered authorities on Sept. 1 to release him early for good conduct. But Laude’s family and the Department of Justice separately appealed, blocking his early release from a maximum prison term of up to 10 years.
Duterte said he granted the pardon because Pemberton was not treated fairly after his early release, which he said the Marine may have deserved, was blocked.
The court order rekindled perceptions that American military personnel who run afoul of Philippine laws can get special treatment under the VFA, which provides the legal terms for temporary visits by U.S. forces to the country for large-scale combat exercises.
Pemberton, an anti-tank missile operator from New Bedford, Massachusetts, was one of thousands of American and Philippine military personnel who participated in joint exercises in the Philippines in 2014.
He and a few other Marines were on leave after the exercises and met Laude and her friends at a bar in Olongapo, a city known for its nightlife outside Subic Bay, a former U.S. Navy base.
Laude was later found dead, her head slumped in a toilet bowl in a motel room, where witnesses said she and Pemberton had checked in. A witness told investigators that Pemberton said he choked Laude after discovering she was transgender.
In December 2015, a judge convicted Pemberton of homicide, not the more serious charge of murder that Philippine prosecutors sought. The judge said at the time that factors such as cruelty and treachery had not been proven.
The VFA could have been abrogated last month if Duterte had not delayed an earlier decision to terminate the pact after President Donald Trump expressed readiness to help the Philippines deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. The Philippine leader has said his country can survive without America.
If the VFA had been scrapped, it would have removed a legal basis for Pemberton’s detention in the military camp and created pressure for him to be moved to one of the country’s notoriously overcrowded and high-risk prisons.
Former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum came out as bisexual Monday in an interview with broadcaster Tamron Hall.
“You put it out there whether or not I identify as gay, and the answer is I don’t identify as gay, but I do identify as bisexual,” Gillum told Hall.
It’s the first time the 2018 Democratic nominee for governor in Florida has spoken publicly about his sexuality.
“Coming out as bi+ looks different for every person,” tweeted Alphonso David, president of the Human Rights Campaign, a national LGBTQ civil rights group. “No matter the circumstances, all people deserve respect. @AndrewGillum sharing his story will no doubt help others who may be struggling with coming out on their own terms.”
Gillum’s supporters celebrated his decision on social media.
Gillum’s conversation with Hall on her new syndicated talk show marks his first sit-down interview since he was found inebriated in a Miami Beach hotel room in March with a man who had reportedly overdosed. A photo of Gillum unconscious at the scene was leaked. Gillum, who was not charged in the incident, spoke about the event that derailed his once-promising political career. He also opened up about his struggles with mental health and alcohol abuse after losing the 2018 governor’s race to Republican Ron DeSantis by less than 35,000 votes (less than half a percentage point).
“When that photo came out, I didn’t recognize the person on the floor,” Gillum told Hall. “That was not anything more than a person being at their most vulnerable state. Unconscious, having given no consent and someone decided to use a moment where I was literally laying in my own vomit.”
He said that he checked into a rehabilitation center to be treated for alcoholism and depression following the incident. He credits therapy and his wife for helping him get through the fallout.
“I’m still here by the grace of God,” he said. “So much of my recovery has been about trying to get over shame.”
A newsreader has been ordered to pay $10,000 in compensation to a trans woman for liking Facebook comments that wrongly branded her “a male bully”.
The dispute began when Canberra radio broadcaster Beth Rep misgendered Bridget Clinch, Australia’s first transgender soldier, in a string of Facebook posts in March 2018. Clinch complained to the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Human Rights Commission, and mediation led to Rep writing an apology and paying Clinch AU$ 700.
However, the ACT said Rep then “added fuel to [the] conflict” by liking many of the offensive comments posted under the apology, including “Bridget Clinch is a male bully”, “I hate Bridget and I don’t even know who he is” and #istandwithbeth.
Rep argued that she didn’t write the comments and had ‘liked’ them to highlight their importance rather than show agreement, but the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal disagreed.
“The respondent could have deleted the comments made against the apology. They were rude, offensive and unacceptable,” said senior tribunal member Bryan Meagher, according to ABC. “Once she was aware of the comments and did not remove them, she is responsible for them.”
By leaving them on the post she had continued to incite hate, the ACT said, actively stirring the debate and encouraging more people to leave vilifying and victimising comments towards the trans woman.
“Even if the respondent was not minded to deactivate comments, there was no need to react to them,” Meagher said. “It was simply not necessary. To do so unnecessarily added fuel to a conflict that the apology was supposed to end.”
Rep was ordered to pay $10,000 to Clinch in compensation, to delete “all posts, statements, information, suggestions or implications” on the matter and to refrain from sharing similar posts in future.
It will likely be a tough blow to Rep, who described herself to the tribunal as a “radical feminist” who believes in resisting what she called “aggressive trans activism”.
LGBTQI History: A Sonoma County Timeline 1947-2000.Wednesdays 1:30-3pm. Online via Zoom. Next week, 9/16 our topic will be “Queering Space: SoCo LGBTQ Bars”. Please contact me to enroll in this FREE class and receivea Zoom invite: cdungan@santarosa.edu
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 145 on Friday evening, ending blatant discrimination against LGBTQ young people on California’s sex offender registry. Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) issued the following statement in response to the governor’s action:
“It’s appalling that in 2020, California continues to discriminate against LGBTQ people, by mandating that LGBTQ young people be placed on the sex offender registry in situations where straight people aren’t required to be placed on the registry. SB 145 simply ends that discrimination by treating LGBTQ young people the exact same way that straight young people have been treated since 1944. I am so grateful that Governor Newsom — one of the LGBTQ community’s strongest allies ever — once again has shown that he gets it and that he’s willing to support our community even when it’s hard. And the politics here are hard, with the massive Trump/QAnon/MAGA misinformation campaign against the legislation. The facts are clear: SB 145 simply ends anti-LGBTQ discrimination. Today, California took yet another step toward an equitable society.”
Equality California, which co-sponsored the bill with the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, released the following statement from Executive Director Rick Chavez Zbur:
“We are incredibly grateful to Governor Newsom for his unyielding commitment to LGBTQ+ civil rights and social justice. Dr. King said, ‘The time is always right to do what is right.’ Signing SB 145 was the right thing to do. It was the right thing to do for LGBTQ+ young people, it was the right thing to do to keep our communities safe and it was the right thing to do for California. If we want a California for all, then we need a justice system that treats all Californians fairly and equally — regardless of who they are, what they look like or whom they love. That goal is at the core of SB 145. Thanks to Governor Newsom and Senator Wiener, California is one step closer to living up to our shared values of fairness, equality and justice for all.”
Senate Bill 145 ends California’s anti-LGTBQ discriminatory treatment of specific sex acts regarding sex offender registry law. Under longstanding California law (since 1944), if an adult has voluntary penile-vaginal intercourse with a minor aged 14, 15, 16, or 17 and is up to 10 years older than the minor, the offense is not automatically registrable. Rather, a judge has discretion whether or not to place the defendant on the sex offender registry depending on the facts of the case. By contrast, if the act is oral sex, anal sex or sexual penetration, the court must place the defendant on the sex offender registry regardless of the facts of the crime and even in cases where the prosecutor and judge do not want to place the defendant on the registry. This distinction in the law is irrational and discriminatory towards LGBTQ young people. For example, if a 19-year-old and 17-year-old couple have voluntary oral sex, the 19-year-old must be placed on the registry. But if it’s vaginal sex, the judge has discretion to place the older party on the registry or to keep them off. SB 145 ends this irrational distinction by treating all voluntary sex the same way that the law currently treats penile-vaginal intercourse.
SB 145 is co-sponsored by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and Equality California, and is supported by both law enforcement (California District Attorneys Association and California Police Chiefs Association), as well as civil rights advocates, including the the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the California Public Defenders Association, Children Now, the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault (CALCASA), Lambda Legal, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights.
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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
A New Jersey man was charged for detonating an explosive device at a lesbian-owned gym long considered by locals as a “safe haven” for LGBT+ people.
Dwayne A Vandergrift Jr, 35, was charged by federal authorities on September 4 for not only causing devastating damage to the Gloucester City gym, but for unlawful possession of two destructive devices and unlawful possession of a short-barrelled rifle, according to a press release from the US Attorney’s Office for New Jersey.
At around 4am on August 26, Vandergrift tacked the explosive device on the front door of GCity Crossfit Gym, according to surveillance footage.
Sprinting off, the resulting explosion shattered the glass and desolated the door.
An LGBT+ Pride flag decorating it on lithely hanging on the hinges, prompting the gym’s owners as well as the local community to suspect the incident was a hate crime.
LGBT+ gym allegedly bombed by man who searched how to produce makeshift explosives only days before the attack.
Owned by Jenai Gonzales and her wife Ann Panarello, the gym is a “known safe-haven in the area for LGBT+ youth” and many of its personal trainers and staffers are queer, athletic apparel Lifting Culture owner Steven Vitale wrote on his website.
As much as the gym’s owners suspect the attack was motivated by queerphobia, the Attorney’s Office does not specify a motive.
Federal and local law enforcement officers combed Vandergrift’s home on 28 August, finding inside bomb-making materials as well as several weapons, tactical vests, ammunition and around 85 marijuana plants.
Investigators tapped his home computer to find that he had in recent days searched for ways to jerry-rig explosives, including pipe and pressure cooker bombs. He was arrested later that day and is presently in custody.
Vandergrift faces a total prison term of at 20 years as well as a maximum fine of $250,000.
Though the attack left the local LGBT+ community shaken, Vitale wrote: “G-City Crossfit had, and will continue to have, a large gay Pride flag displayed prominently in their front door.”
Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the national Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance results for 2019. It’s clear from the national data that many LGBTQ young people continue to suffer higher health and suicide risks than their peers. This follows the same trends present in an HRC analysis of the 2015 and 2017 data — LGBTQ students are more likely to experience victimization, violence and suicidality. In many areas of the data, transgender students are facing more disparities in 2019 than they were in 2017.
The data show that 43% of transgender youth have been bullied on school property. 29% of transgender youth, 21% of gay and lesbian youth and 22% of bisexual youth have attempted suicide.
Since the YRBS began including data on sexual orientation in 2015 and gender identity in 2017, we’ve seen consistently that LGBTQ youth face greater health disparities than their cisgender straight peers. This data continues to make clear a truth that we’ve long known — that LGBTQ students are not getting the support, affirmation and safety they need and deserve. We must ensure that adults are doing everything possible to support LGBTQ youth, especially those who are living at the intersections of multiple marginalized identities. Complete and robust data collection for our entire community is vital to putting systems and structures in place to support LGBTQ students. The Human Rights Campaign Foundation will continue to provide resources for LGBTQ students and educators across the country and will work with our network of youth-serving professionals to be sure they have the resources and tools they need.
Ellen Kahn, HRC Senior Director, Programs and Partnerships
In 2019, many states collected gender identity data. Data for 14 of these states across more than 107,000 youth are included in publicly available files on the CDC’s website. Below are initial key findings from HRC’s original analysis of these 2019 data:
29% of transgender youth have been threatened or injured with a weapon on school property, compared to 7% of cisgender youth; transgender youth were more likely in 2019 to have been threatened or injured with a weapon on school property than reported in 2017
16% of gay and lesbian youth and 11% of bisexual youth have been threatened or injured with a weapon on school property, compared to 7% of straight youth
43% of transgender youth have been bullied on school property, compared to 18% of cisgender youth; transgender youth were more likely in 2019 to have been bullied on school property than reported in 2017
29% of gay or lesbian youth and 31% of bisexual youth have been bullied on school property, compared to 17% of straight youth
29% of transgender youth have attempted suicide, compared to 7% of cisgender youth
21% of gay and lesbian youth and 22% of bisexual youth have attempted suicide, compared to 7% of straight youth
These data underscore the need and urgency for youth-serving professionals to be well equipped to meet the needs of LGBTQ youth. The HRC Foundation has many resources for LGBTQ students and educators, including our Welcoming Schoolsprogram, resources for LGBTQ youth and resources specific to COVID-19. If you’d be interested in speaking with an HRC expert about this data, I’d be happy to help connect you. After all, youth-serving professionals who have attended the annual HRC Foundation’s Time to THRIVE conference are 64% more likely to say they are prepared to promote physical safety of LGBTQ youth than youth-serving professionals who haven’t attended Time to THRIVE.
President Donald Trump added 20 additional names to his shortlistof potential Supreme Court nominees Wednesday, and the list — which includes sitting judges and U.S. senators — immediately drew criticism from LGBTQ advocacy groups.
“This list is teeming with individuals who have alarming anti-LGBTQ and anti-civil rights records, which should be disqualifying for any judicial nominee, let alone a nominee for the Supreme Court,” Sharon McGowan, legal director for Lambda Legal, said in a statement, characterizing many of the potential nominees as “dangerous, ultraconservative ideologues.”
The Human Rights Campaign, the country’s largest LGBTQ advocacy group, called the 20 names a “wishlist” from conservative groups that have a “record of hostility towards progress, tolerance and equality.”
“If the past is prologue, he may once again nominate people who would deny legal protections for LGBTQ people, take away the health care provided by the Affordable Care Act, undermine the fundamental right to vote, erode core civil rights laws, and fail to value the lives, needs and Constitutional rights of the LGBTQ community,” the group’s president, Alphonso David, said in a statement.
When asked about assertions that the names on the shortlist are anti-LGBTQ, the White House broadly defended the president’s record on judicial appointments.
“President Trump has an unmatched record of appointing judges who believe in applying the Constitution as written, not legislating from the bench,” White House spokesperson Judd Deere told NBC News in an email. “Once again, the President is being transparent with the American people about the qualifications he considers paramount and who he would consider for a seat on the High Court to ensure this exceptional nation built on the rule of law continues for generations to come.”
Those qualifications, which were mentioned along with the president’s additional list of potential high court contenders, include a commitment to “protect life,” “protect religious liberty,” “protect the 2nd Amendment” and “protect our borders.”
Shortlist’s new names
McGowan said the sheer number of people on Trump’s running listof over 40 potential Supreme Court justices “whose records are replete with anti-LGBTQ bias is both staggering and terrifying.”
Among the newly added names is Noel Francisco, who served as U.S. solicitor general from 2017 until earlier this year. McGowan said the Trump-appointee drove an “anti-LGBTQ agenda” in that role which included submitting a Supreme Court brief asserting that gay workers are not protected by federal civil rights law.
Also on the list is Lawrence Van Dyke, who currently sits on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last year ahead of his 9th Circuit confirmation, Van Dyke broke down in tears when confronted with a scathing letter from the American Bar Association that deemed him “not qualified” and questioned his ability to treat LGBTQ litigants fairly. As solicitor general of Montana, a role he held from 2013 to 2014, Van Dyke argued against same-sex marriage in two cases and in favor of allowing photographers to deny wedding services to gay couples in another.
Another name causing “deep concerns” for LGBTQ advocacy groups, including Lambda Legal, is Allison Jones Rushing, who currently serves as a judge on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. One reason for the concern is the Trump-appointed judge’s ties to Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal nonprofit that the Southern Poverty Law Center has deemed a “hate group” for its espousal of beliefs such as the criminalization of homosexuality, legislation to restrict transgender people’s access to sex-segregated facilities and support of businesses to deny service to LGBTQ people.
A number of the newly added names to Trump’s shortlist — many of whom Trump previously appointed to lower courts — have already “lived up to the worst expectations” of LGBTQ advocates, according to McGowan.
Stuart Kyle Duncan appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee as a U.S. 5th Circuit Court nominee in Washington on Nov 29, 2017.C-Span
“He even went so far as to say it was inappropriate to refer to a transgender person by their [preferred] pronouns,” McGowan said.
Prior to his 5th Circuit confirmation, Duncan was part of the legal team that represented Virginia’s Gloucester County School Board in its case against Gavin Grimm, a transgender high school student who was unable to use the restroom that aligned with his gender identity. And in 2014, he represented Louisiana in its bid to uphold the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.
Another 5th Circuit judge on the shortlist, James Ho, ruled against a transgender inmate seeking to undergo gender reassignment surgery in prison in December. McGowan called Ho “one of the most anti-LGBTQ judges on the court of appeals.”
Some of the most well-known additions to Trump’s shortlist include conservative Republican senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Ted Cruz of Texas and Josh Hawley of Missouri, as well as former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement, who argued in favor of the Defense of Marriage Act before the Supreme Court in 2013 on behalf of Congressional Republicans.
‘Lasting damage to civil rights’
In less than four years in office, Trump has confirmed over 200 judges — two to the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, and 53 to appeals courts. By comparison, President Obama confirmed two Supreme Court justices and 55 appeals court judges during his entire eight years in office.
According to a 2019 report from Lambda Legal, eight of 12 appeals courts — which sit just below the Supreme Court in the judicial hierarchy —are now composed of more than 25 percent of Trump appointees.
Many of Trump’s appointments have provoked criticism from gay and civil rights advocates — a third of the more than 50 circuit court judges nominated by Trump since he took office have a “demonstrated history of anti-LGBTQ bias,” according to the report. This “threatens to do lasting damage to the civil rights of LGBT people,” the report states.
The next appointment to the high court could shape the future of LGBTQ rights for decades. In June, the Court delivered a landmark ruling for LGBTQ workers, finding that Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects them against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. One of Trump’s high court appointees, Gorsuch, sided with the majority, while Kavanaugh voted against the broader interpretation of Title VII.
“The impact that another anti-LGBTQ nominee could have on the Supreme Court would be catastrophic,” McGowan said.
The court, currently divided 5-4 between conservatives and liberals, will hear a key gay rights case in the fall. In Fulton v. The City of Philadelphia, the court will decide whether faith-based child welfare organizations can reject same-sex couples and others whom they consider to be in violation of their religious beliefs.
