Columns

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Reproductive rights are intersectional

Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court on June 24. Six conservative justices chose to remove a person’s right to an abortion. The decision uprooted much of America and caused women to feel like their bodies were an unsafe place to live in. Regulation of women’s bodies by a conservative cohort of mostly white men is wrong.

Recently, the Biden administration issued an executive order that will reverse the fateful Supreme Court decision so that women may still have access to abortion services. I hope these efforts succeed.

Despite the potential reversal, it needs to be made clear that abortion, and all reproductive rights, are an intersectional issue. Countless Instagram posts, memes, captions, and news articles are talking about how women will suffer. Women will most definitely suffer from a reversal of Roe v. Wade, but transgender men and other nonbinary people will suffer too.

Transgender men are fully capable of having pregnancies. It is imperative that people remember our right to an abortion as well. Many transgender men either forego going on testosterone therapy for a while to have a baby or choose to become pregnant before starting hormone therapy. This is fine and a perfectly normal process to opt into.

Transgender men also deserve legal and affordable access to Plan B pills, just like all women should. Much of our body still works in the same way that a biological female’s would, despite doses of testosterone.

Tangentially, trans men also partake in the medical conversation about contraceptives and other medicines that prevent STI infection. Trans men who choose to have sex with men need affordable access to condoms and birth control.

They also need safe and affordable access to PrEP, which prevents HIV transmission. Recent federal guidance will make PrEP free, or borderline free, which is a step in the right direction. Gender nonconforming patients should also ask doctors about any differences in PrEP’s effects on bodies assigned female at birth versus those assigned male at birth.

All sorts of people — women and others — are threatened by the Supreme Court right now. The conservative cohort of justices sitting in D.C. is simply ruining America’s future.

The treatment for ectopic pregnancies and septic uteruses is an abortion. People have already been dying because they can’t access these safe and legal abortions. The cruelty being inflicted on these bodies is unrivaled.

But it’s time we include all sorts of genders in the conversation on abortion.

Isaac Amend (he/him/his) is a transgender man and young professional in the D.C. area. He was featured on National Geographic’s ‘Gender Revolution’ in 2017 as a student at Yale University. Amend is also on the board of the LGBT Democrats of Virginia. Find him on Instagram @isaacamend.

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Call to Action:  BOYCOTT Luther Burbank Center for the Arts for Bringing Anti-LGBTQI+ Hate to Sonoma County

The tasteless, anti-LGBTQI+ comic Dave Chappelle performed five shows at Luther Burbank Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa.  It is difficult to believe the LBC staff and board were unaware of Chappelle’s numerous anti-LGBTQI+ comments that are well-documented and for which he has offered no apologies.  Chappelle identifies as a so-called “TERF (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist)” joining author J. K Rawlings in such dangerous hate speech.  These people refuse to accept that we are in the position to declare our gender or lack thereof. 

Netflix came under fire for producing and airing two Chappelle shows that feature anti-Trans comments. LGBTQI+ Netflix employees protested – some even quit.   Days before the LBC shows comenced, a Minneapolis Chappelle show switched locations as a direct result of a protest organized after Chappelle referred to Monkeypox as “a gay disease.”   Chappelle mocked the members of the local LGBTQI+ Community who brought about the move.  The original venue apologized to the local LGBTQI+ Community for once welcoming Chappelle and his hate. Chappelle has never backed down, apologized or even reached out to better understand the concerns of he LGBTQI+ Community.  Instead, he continues to mock our Community.

The Press Democrat revealed that mere weeks before the five July shows, Live Nation approached LBC with an offer LBC appears to have found unable to refuse.  The LBC staff and board claim there was considerable conversation – considerable, but certainly brief and misguided.  Did they notice how few dates Live Nation had booked for Chappelle?  None in San Francisco or Oakland or Los Angeles.  LBC thought they could sneak this past our Community. No doubt comedy venues in big cities find Chappalle as toxic as the LBC staff and board should have.  

Luther Burbank Center for the Arts found it necessary to confiscate all audience cell phones before the Chappelle shows.  I have attended too many LBC concerts to count but have never had my cell phone taken away before a show.  They must have done this so no footage of his anti-LGBTQI+ vitriol would find its way onto social media identifying LBC as the location.  Sorry, LBC, you are now forever linked to anti-LGBTQI+ comments.  

Should the North Bay’s LGBTQI+ Community allow hate speech and inflammatory comments to be staged in our backyard?  Make no mistake – this is not an attack on free speech or about censorship.  This is about making LBC aware that Trans people are harmed and even killed as a result of such despicable comments. 2021 saw a record number of Trans-folks murdered.  So far this year 57 have been murdered in the United States alone.  We once valued this venue, but it’s decision to allow Chapelle a forum for his hate is unacceptable.  The LGBTQI+ Community finds Dave Chappelle comments offensive, inflammatory and even deadly.

Let’s stand up to Hate Speech and inform those in power at Luther Burbank Center for the Arts we will boycott the venue.  Some shy away from boycotts.  If you are amongst them, at least express your opinion by contacting the people listed below.   

Let the Staff and Board of Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, its sponsors, those who share the Center’s campus, and elected officials know that such Hate results in harm to members of the LGBTQI+ Community.  Email and call, as many as possible and as often as possible.

Luther Burbank Staff

President: Richard Nowlin: 707-800-7524 [email protected]

Dir. of Special Projects:  Robin Seltzer 707-800-7525 [email protected]

Culture Specialist:  Arlene Smith  707-800-7542 [email protected]

Community Engagement:  Ashleigh Worley 707-800-7520 [email protected]

Education Operations:  Chrystie Prokopakis 707-800-7504 [email protected]

Community Supe: Tracy Sawyer 707-800-7529 [email protected]

Marketing: Anita Wiglesworth  707-800-7500 [email protected]

Advertising: John Cain 707-800-7513 [email protected]

Development: Ben Taylor 707-800-75-5 [email protected]

Giving Manager: 707-800-7531 [email protected]

LBC Board 

Chair: Susan Preston (SPG Insurance Solutions) 415-475-4300

Kathleen Hamilton:  Tekberry Inc.  844-835-2377

Rena Charles (ARENA Galleries) 707.603.8787 [email protected]

Robi McMinn 707-433-2000

Monica Lopez (Bachas Landing Cellars) 707-395-0697 

LBC Sponsors

Lytton Rancheria: 510-215-7888

Rodney Strong Wines: 707-431-1533  

Exchange Bank:  707-524-3000

Vantreo Insurance: 707-546-2915

Redwood Credit Union: 877-545-4100

Morris Distributing:  707-769-7294

Spaulding McCullough & Tansil: 707-524-1900; [email protected]

If you aren’t aware of this man’s exploits, check out these articles:

‘Comedian’ Dave Chappelle brands critics ‘transgender lunatics’ and calls monkeypox a ‘gay disease’
Duke Ellington school theater not renamed after Dave Chappelle
https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-pop-culture/netflix-releases-dave-chappelles-speech-slamming-transphobic-joke-crit-rcna37291
https://www.them.us/story/dave-chappelle-ricky-gervais-transphobic-comedy-netflix

Call to Action:  BOYCOTT Luther Burbank Center for the Arts for Bringing Anti-LGBTQI+ Hate to Sonoma County

The tasteless, anti-LGBTQI+ comic Dave Chappelle performed no less than five shows at Luther Burbank Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa.  It is difficult to believe the LBC staff and board are unaware of Chappelle’s numerous anti-Trans comments that are well-documented and for which he has offered no apologies.  Chappelle identifies as a so-called “TERF (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist)” joining author J. K Rawlings in such dangerous hate speech.  These people refuse to accept that we are in the position to declare our gender or lack thereof. 

Netflix came under fire for producing and airing two recent Chappelle shows that feature anti-Trans comments. LGBTQI+ Netflix employees protested – some even quit.   Recently, a Minneapolis Chappelle show switched locations as a direct result of a protest organized after Chappelle referred to Monkeypox as “a gay disease.”   Chappelle mocked the members of the local LGBTQI+ Community who brought about the move.  The original venue apologized to the local LGBTQWI+ Community for once welcoming Chappelle and his hate. Chappelle has never backed down, apologized or even reached out.  Instead, he continues to mock our Community.

The Press Democrat revealed that mere weeks before the five shows, Live Nation approached LBC with an offer they seen unable to refuse.  The LBC staff and board claim there was considerable conversation – considerable, but perhaps, but certainly misguiged.  Did they notice how few dates Live Nation had booked for Chappelle.  None in San Francisco or Oakland or Los Angeles.  LBC thought they could sneak this past our Community. No doubt comedy venues in big cities find Chappalle as toxic as the LBC staff should have.  

Imagine, Luther Burbank Center for the Arts confiscated cell phones at the Chappelle shows.  I have attended too many LBC concerts to count but have never had my cell phone taken away before a show.  They must have done this so no footage of his anti-LGBTQI+ vitriol would find its way onto social media identifying LBC as the location.  Sorry, LBC, you are now forever linked to anti-LGBTQI+ comments. Did you think this community could be so easily duped?  

Should the North Bay’s LGBTQI+ Community allow hate speech and inflammatory comments to be staged in our backyard?  Make no mistake – this is not an attack on free speech or about censorship.  This is about making LBC aware that Trans people are harmed and even killed as a result of such despicable comments. 2021 saw a record number of Trans-folks murdered.  So far this year 57 have been murdered in the United States alone.  We once valued this venue, but it’s decision to allow Chapelle a forum for his hate is unacceptable.  The LGBTQI+ Community finds Dave Chappelle comments offensive, inflammatory and even deadly.

Let’s stand up to Hate Speech and inform those in power at Luther Burbank Center for the Arts we will boycott the venue.  Some shy away from boycotts.  If you are amongst them, at least express your opinion by contacting the people listed below.   

Let the Staff and Board of Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, its sponsors, those who share the Center’s campus, and elected officials know that such Hate results in harm to members of the LGBTQI+ Community.  Email and call, as many as possible and as often as possible.

Luther Burbank Staff

President: Richard Nowlin: 707-800-7524 [email protected]

Dir. of Special Projects:  Robin Seltzer 707-800-7525 [email protected]

Culture Specialist:  Arlene Smith  707-800-7542 [email protected]

Community Engagement:  Ashleigh Worley 707-800-7520 [email protected]

Education Operations:  Chrystie Prokopakis 707-800-7504 [email protected]

Community Supe: Tracy Sawyer 707-800-7529 [email protected]

Marketing: Anita Wiglesworth  707-800-7500 [email protected]

Advertising: John Cain 707-800-7513 [email protected]

Development: Ben Taylor 707-800-75-5 [email protected]

Giving Manager: 707-800-7531 [email protected]

LBC Board 

Chair: Susan Preston (SPG Insurance Solutions) 415-475-4300

Kathleen Hamilton:  Tekberry Inc.  844-835-2377

Rena Charles (ARENA Galleries) 707.603.8787 [email protected]

Robi McMinn 707-433-2000

Monica Lopez (Bachas Landing Cellars) 707-395-0697 

LBC Sponsors

Lytton Rancheria: 510-215-7888

Rodney Strong Wines: 707-431-1533  

Exchange Bank:  707-524-3000

Vantreo Insurance: 707-546-2915

Redwood Credit Union: 877-545-4100

Morris Distributing:  707-769-7294

Spaulding McCullough & Tansil: 707-524-1900; [email protected]

‘Comedian’ Dave Chappelle brands critics ‘transgender lunatics’ and calls monkeypox a ‘gay disease’
Duke Ellington school theater not renamed after Dave Chappelle

https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-pop-culture/netflix-releases-dave-chappelles-speech-slamming-transphobic-joke-crit-rcna37291

https://www.them.us/story/dave-chappelle-ricky-gervais-transphobic-comedy-netflix

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If politicians want a brighter future for young queer people there’s an obvious solution

As soon as I cross state lines, I mask my queerness.

I attended a school-sponsored trip to the Smoky Mountains while in middle school a few years ago, to explore Tennessee’s vast countryside and stunning views. We traveled as a cohort, and I was lucky to have close friends on the trip, with whom I felt extremely comfortable sharing my sexuality. In my hometown of Chicago, I never felt unsafe expressing myself. It wasn’t a secret— I crossed my legs every time I sat, my painted nails reflected the Southern heat, and my octet-raising voice certainly wasn’t helping.

But in Tennessee, the stares started to pile up, from the staff at the hotels, the servers at the restaurants we ate at, and even the security guards whose job it was to make us feel safe. I bought the cheapest nail polish remover at a local drugstore; I uncrossed my legs whenever I caught myself falling into old habits; I cleared my throat before speaking to ensure it came across as masculine as possible. I was afraid for my physical safety.

As soon as the plane landed back in Chicago, I breathed a sigh of relief, sat at the bedside table and despite the exhaustion from the long flight, I repainted my nails.

As queer youth, we are forced to limit who we can be queer with and where. We code-switch whenever the situation demands it. We observe which teachers respect our pronouns, which friends say slurs too liberally, whether our parents were home or not. And now, states are adding to that burden – codifying those worries into law.

Today, an unprecedented amount of anti-LGBTQ laws are flooding state legislatures across the country. One after the other, conservative states are rushing to ban trans youth from participating in sports, ban comprehensive sex education in schools, undermine longstanding & federally-backed non-discrimination policies, and prevent gender-affirming medical care. On a national scale, LGBTQ youth are now having to determine for themselves whether our authenticity is worth risking our security.

As queer youth, we desperately need the government to take action and pass the Equality Act today. Whether or not we are entitled to LGBTQ rights has become dependent upon the geographical boundaries of where our feet stand. Today, in 27 states there are no explicit laws protecting us from discrimination and in 21 states it is still legal to discriminate against LGBTQ people in many spheres of public life, including education.

The Equality Act would protect LGBTQ people from protections on a federal level so that our rights are equal no matter where in the country we choose to live. It would expand federal civil rights laws to protect us from discrimination in employment, housing, credit, jury service, and federally funded programs, such as those for health and education, as well as public places and spaces. It would allow us to live as our most authentic selves.

I watched the Equality Act first pass the House of Representatives in 2019 through my phone’s tiny screen. For the first time, I felt great pride in my country, assured we were finally heading for the right track, oblivious to the onslaught of anti-LGBTQ laws that would soon spread across the country like wildfire in the years to come. Just as Pride month began this year, President Biden issued a proclamation in which he called on Congress to pass the Equality Act, which he said, “will enshrine long overdue civil rights protections and build a better future for all LGBTQI+ Americans.”

But currently, the legislation is languishing in the Senate. Despite repeated calls from LGBTQ advocates and the endorsement of the entire federal Democratic caucus, there has now been no action on the bill since the middle of last year. Supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans, the Equality Act still seems in danger of failure even as it nears the finish line in the Senate. We are on the precipice of finally ensuring LGBTQ can be themselves and live without fear of discrimination, no matter the state they reside in, but we can’t get there if our elected officials keep ignoring our rallying cries.

State lines will never define who we are. Queer people exist in every state, are here to stay, and we deserve the right to feel safe while doing so. As the list of dangerous anti-LGBTQ state legislations grows rapidly, the Senate has a responsibility to act now to swiftly pass the Equality Act for President Biden to enact into law.

Across the country, queer youth are watching closely for the day they no longer have to hide their true selves – their desire to play sports, dress how they choose, and access healthcare that affirms their gender identities. Just as flowers do not choose where they bloom, LGBTQ young people deserve the right to thrive everywhere we exist. The fight for equality must not die in committee nor across state lines.

Jorge Martinez is a Senior at Bennett Day School in Chicago, IL. Jorge is a community activist for queer voices and a youth ambassador with AMAZE.org. 

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Supreme Court, GOP are sliming our democracy

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In two decisions — one throwing out New York’s gun laws and the other overturning Roe v. Wade — the Supreme Court and the Republican Party who put them there, have slimed the American public and in essence our democracy. 

With the decision on Roe v. Wade, for the first time, the court has taken away a constitutional right. One recognized by previous courts and upheld for nearly fifty years. Justices Thomas and Alito finally had the votes, with Trump’s three stooges, to do what they have wanted to do for decades. We now understand how far this court is willing to go to take rights away from the American people, and we should all be afraid.  

They proved they have the votes to attack women and we must believe the LGBTQ+ community could easily be their next target. They almost certainly are not finished with their attacks on women as they can come down on contraception and other pharmaceuticals. Then they can end affirmative action even though it was what got Thomas to where he is. Clearly, we should have listened to Anita Hill. Thomas’s written decision could even put into question the Loving decision, which allowed interracial marriage and made it legal for him to marry his wife. We must believe the court will look at all these issues.

There is a sickness in the land and we will either succumb to it, or fight it. My answer is we have to fight it with all we have. We must collectively stand up and say “no more!” Allowing Republicans to continue to take the nation in this direction is unacceptable. The only way we can do something about it and stand up for our democracy is by VOTING. Every poll shows Americans are against what the Supreme Court is doing. Yet we are stuck with a court, which as Nancy Pelosi says “gave a slap in the face to women.” Justices clearly care more for an unborn fetus than a living child. A living child who could be mowed down by the guns they are allowing on the streets. 

As Democrats, and all decent people, mull over how to react, we must come together as never before. We can march until we are blue in the face but if we don’t vote, we lose. We need to elect Democrats to statehouses and state legislatures, and keep majorities in both Houses of the Congress. The House has already passed legislation curbing guns and codifying Roe v. Wade. We now need more senators to go along. It actually could take only two more who would agree to end the filibuster to move these issues forward. 

I have written before to the LGBTQ+ community that parades and parties celebrating Pride are wonderful, but if every person who participates in them doesn’t vote, they mean very little because next year we will have lost some of our rights. We must not let ourselves and future generations down and be victimized by the likes of Thomas, Alito and the three disgusting Trump judges. We must vote against the Republican Party because the right wing now controls it. 

Sen. Mitch McConnell has already said if Republicans take over Congress he will consider passing a law outlawing abortion nationally. We cannot allow that to happen. It is only Congress and state governments that can act to counter what the court with Republican support is doing. We must do more than show the nation with the January 6th hearings about Trump’s attempted coup. Even if through that we can put the likes of Ginny Thomas in jail for her role in it. 

The results of the midterm elections will show the world where America stands. These elections will play out over a range of issues. We will see if people vote more based on inflation and the cost of gas, or vote for their right to privacy and freedom. Those of us who promote the right to privacy and democracy must stand together if we are to win. We cannot fight each other, creating internal battles, rather must fight the enemy, the Republican Party, as it is constituted today. 

It won’t be easy but we can win this fight. We can keep the House of Representatives and win at least two additional Senate seats making it easier to move the Senate forward on a host of issues. When it comes to what the court has done to women, their decision on guns, and what Thomas is signaling they will do in the future, it really is clear we are facing life and death issues.

Peter Rosenstein is a longtime LGBTQ rights and Democratic Party activist. He writes regularly for the Blade.

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What we need this Pride Month is equal access to the ballot

Leading up to this Pride Month, I’ve found myself mulling over the quote by late Texas Governor Ann Richards: “If you are not at the table, you are probably on the menu.”

It’s unsettling to think about how true this quote has been for LGBTQ Americans recently, particularly over the past year, as we’ve endured an onslaught of hundreds of attacks from state and national lawmakers.

As a member of the LGBTQ community, I’ve known for a long time that there are parts of my identity that I have no control over – including that I am gay, white, a cisgender man, and a person living with disabilities. What I have been able to choose for myself is a deep commitment to voting rights. I’m proud to be a “power voter,” someone who has voted in every election that I’ve been eligible for since my eighteenth birthday. I also serve as a committed youth voting rights advocate for college students in states across the country.

But it’s crucial to recognize that for much of the LGBTQ community registering to vote, casting a ballot, and being a regular voter are not easy choices. Policy decisions that could fundamentally change the trajectory of our lives are being made at tables where we’re not represented and where our best interests are overlooked or ignored by elected officials. Members of our community are silenced by unique, strict, and oftentimes insurmountable voting restrictions that remove them from that decision-making table.

Strict voter ID laws do nothing to make our elections safe or secure, yet they exist in states across the country and more states are pushing bills that would make those restrictions even tighter. As these voter identification requirements get stricter, the LGBTQ community gets further pushed to the outskirts of the very democracy that we deserve an equal say in.

Transgender people, especially those who have or are transitioning, are much more likely to have outdated IDs that don’t match their correct name or gender. On top of that, getting new IDs is not easy; it requires time, financial resources, and sometimes childcare that many people, especially people of color, women, and parents, do not have.

This is not only a logistical issue, it’s also about fear. Through my years of working with young student voters, I know that the fear of potential harassment, intimidation, or humiliation at the polls for having a name or appearance that differs from one’s ID is real. Over 60% of transgender adults of color have been declared ineligible to vote or chosen not to vote in at least one election in their lifetime due to issues with meeting voter ID requirements.

Coming out of the closet as gay when I was a teenager allowed me to find my voice. I’ve been privileged to be able to advocate for the elected officials and policies that protect and properly represent who I am. My access to information on registration, voting, and polling locations and certain pieces of my identity allows me to make an impact on which direction our nation will move on issues that will impact me, my future, and the entire LGBTQ community.

But my voice alone – and only certain voices from the community – are not enough. I cannot speak for others, like our transgender friends and allies, in our elections. Our community will not be properly represented in our democracy until all of us are sitting at the table.

It’s fundamentally un-American and anti-democratic to continue allowing a small group of people to decide who is elected to office. Ensuring the LGBTQ community’s equal right to vote is critical to ensuring equality for all.

State-level measures, like loosening burdensome voter ID restrictions, allowing same-day voter registration, and expanding voting options that proved successful during the pandemic, like no-excuse vote by mail, would have a direct impact on improving LGBTQ people’s ability to cast a ballot that counts.

On top of these, we need federal legislation, like the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, that protect the right to vote regardless of what state voters live in.

This year’s primary elections are well underway, and with the midterm elections just beyond the bend, it’s more important now than ever to live up to the ideals that this country was founded on.

Every American who wants to vote needs to be able to do so. That includes voters of color, LGBTQ voters, voters living with disabilities, and others who have long faced unique and disproportionate barriers to access. Together, we must call on elected officials at the federal, state, and local levels to ensure equal access to the ballot.

Chuck Black is the Midwest Manager of the Fair Elections Center’s Campus Vote Project. He is also a Doctor of Education student at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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Show Your Pride By Voting

I am always surprised when I hear someone proudly say “after two years Pride is back!” If you are ‘out’ and didn’t have Pride in yourself and your community for the past two years there is a real problem and it’s not about missing the parades and parties.

Pride needs to be about having Pride in who you are, being comfortable in your own skin, with a willingness to be open and ‘out’ sharing with others who you are. Even today, that’s not always easy everywhere. Clearly it is easier than when I was young back in the dark ages. I knew I was gay, not knowing the term, but knew I was attracted to boys. When going through puberty in the early 1960s I felt as if I was the only one who felt that way and it embarrassed me. I managed to hide it from myself, often convincing myself it was phase, most of the time until I left New York City and moved to D.C.  Even then it took me a few years to come out.

I was 34 going to my first Pride event and hid behind a tree in Dupont Circle, afraid someone would take my picture. Today I think Pride parades are most important for people who are still struggling with their identity to enable them to see there are many others like themselves and being LGBTQ is OK. In June 2021, friends participated in a walk from Dupont Circle to Freedom plaza and told me how great it was to celebrate Pride in a simpler way without all the parades and parties just walking together in sisterhood and brotherhood. I missed that walk as it was the day of my friend Clark Ray’s memorial service. Clark lived a life we all admired with his husband Aubrey and their four adopted children. No one was a better role model for younger members of the community everywhere, for what it meant to be ‘out and proud,’ compassionate and successful. 

Don’t get me wrong I’m not opposed to parades and parties. When I was younger, I fully participated and still think it’s great to see all the people who do. I was even honored as a Pride Hero in 2016, riding in a convertible at the front of the parade — a long way from hiding behind a tree in 1981. 

But in these difficult times parades and parties must have a purpose. They should focus on the next generations and show them what it’s like to be part of a strong, successful community. It is the reason I fought so hard for marriage equality. At the time I was asked if I would marry and answered “most likely no, I don’t even have a boyfriend.” Yet to me it was important every young boy and girl who realized they were gay or lesbian knew they could be married and live a full and open life like all their straight friends. 

Pride month is about celebrating how far we have come, and also recognizing how far we still have to go. Today we must understand if the Supreme Court can overturn Roe v. Wade, it can overturn marriage equality and even interracial marriage. All things a pig like Alito and his co-signers of the leaked draft opinion on Roe v. Wade can claim are not explicitly written into the Constitution. 

The slogan for all Pride parades in the United States this year should be “Show your Pride by voting!” I hope each Pride event across the nation has that as a focus. Each Pride event needs multiple opportunities for people to register to vote. 

I consider myself lucky to live in D.C. with politicians who support me and a large open and welcoming community. Yet I am well aware not everyone has that luxury. It means those of us who do must lead the way and be examples for what it means to support each other and support every minority community. We are all in this together. Women may not be a minority but too many in the world still treat them as such and we must support them. 

Maybe this year we ask every participating float, in every parade, to have a sign saying ‘Show your Pride by voting!’ If we stand shoulder to shoulder, committing to each other to work at it and vote, we can continue to move forward making progress toward what the Constitution calls “A more perfect union.”

Peter Rosenstein is a longtime LGBTQ rights and Democratic Party activist. He writes regularly for the Blade.

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How to be a better straight ally to LGBTQ people

For people who are not LGBTQ, it can be difficult to understand what being a straight ally means. Some might think that allies just need to be supporters and nothing more, but there’s actually a lot more that goes into being an ally.

In this post, we’ll break down what it means to be a straight ally and explain why they’re so important in the fight for equality.

What Is A ‘Straight Ally’? Meaning Of The Term

“Ally” describes a person who is “not a member of a marginalized or mistreated group but who expresses or gives support to that group.”

Thus, to be an LGBTQ ally – meaning someone who does not identify as LGBTQ but recognizes the unique challenges faced by members of the community – is to be a straight and/or cisgender person who speaks up for and stands with LGBTQ people against discrimination, oppression, and violence.

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What Does Being A Straight Ally Entail?

According to the education organization GLSEN, there is more to being an ally than simply identifying as one. Being a fierce and proud ally, which involves taking on the responsibility to continue growing and learning about the LGBTQ community, entails a lot of hard work – especially today, as LGBTQ people continue to face pushback from conservative groups and legislators.

So, what does “straight ally” mean in the context of 2022?

It’s true that significant progress has been made toward achieving equality for LGBTQ people around the world. Today, same-sex marriage is legal in 31 countries. However, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. In many countries, it is still legal to discriminate against someone on the basis of sex and gender.

In the US, transgender and gender non-conforming people, in particular, continue to face significant discrimination in employment, medicine, and housing. Thus, they are far more likely to experience unemployment, houselessness, mental illness, substance abuse, as well as have insufficient access to gender-affirming healthcare. Today, transgender athletes are also facing bans from girls’ and women’s sports programs in 10 states.

Part of the problem that LGBTQ people face in fighting discriminatory policies and legislation is the lack of representation in the legal system. This is why it’s so important for the LGBTQ community to have straight allies in positions of power who can use their voice and privilege to help enact change.

Shutterstock

How Can You Be A Better Straight Ally?

There is a lot of debate on what good allyship looks like. Individuals and corporations have co-opted the LGBTQ movement to lift themselves up and paint themselves as progressive to gain sympathy and bank on “pink money” or the purchasing power of the LGBTQ community.

Take, for example, the dozens of corporations that decorate their company logos with rainbows and project empty messages of equality and support come Pride month – all without doing much else for the community. Another example is celebrities who use LGBTQ imagery in their work, queerbaiting fans by hinting they could be gay without explicitly saying so, and making vague sentiments about acceptance.

Taylor Swift was famously criticized back in 2019 for her music video “You Need to Calm Down”, which features an explosion of rainbows and dozens of LGBTQ celebrity cameos. Critics have panned the video as an act of “performed allyship”. New York Times pop music critic Wesley Morris wrote of “the riot of auxiliary personalities – gay personalities – [being] in the service of her brand and persona.”

As Vox puts it, “There are two kinds of “allies”: those who lift up the queer community, and those who seem most concerned with lifting up themselves.” So, how do you become part of the former group? Here are four tips for becoming a better ally:

1. Be Curious And Open-Minded

If you already know the basic concepts of what it means to be gay, bisexual, transgender, non-binary, asexual, etc., that’s great! But you should also recognize that there is no one way to be any of those things. LGBTQ people have different experiences and perspectives, and things like class, race, sex, gender, disability, and nationality can put can compound one’s experience of discrimination and oppression.

The LGBTQ movement is also relatively new, and many people are only beginning to find the terms and concepts to describe themselves. So, always be willing to learn about new identities and experiences.

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2. Learn To ‘Pass The Mic’

Or as GLSEN puts it, “speak up, not over”. As an ally, it’s important to speak up for the marginalized and oppressed, especially if people in positions of power are trying to silence them.

However, it’s also important to let LGBTQ people advocate for themselves and tell their own stories. Thus, the idea of “passing the mic” to LGBTQ people who may feel afraid to speak or who aren’t given the opportunity to do so. Uplift the voices of activists and advocates and give way to them in discussions that concern them.

3. Recognize Your Privilege

As a straight and/or cisgender person, you are inherently more privileged than someone who isn’t. That means you may not know what it means to be denied certain rights, you may have certain safety nets that others do not, and blind spots that you can’t even recognize immediately.

Understanding this allows you to better empathize with others and helps you figure out how to uplift marginalized people without centering yourself in the conversation.

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4. Take Action

You can’t just identify as an ally and call it a day. Being nice to LGBTQ people is great and all, but it’s the bare minimum of allyship.

Put your privilege into action by:

  • Speaking up against discriminatory remarks or oppressive policies at school, work, or in social situations;
  • Calling out your friends for making offensive jokes, even when there are no LGBTQ people around
  • Showing up to protests and Pride events. Remember, there is strength in numbers.

The Bottomline

So, what does it mean to be a straight ally? It means standing up for your LGBTQ friends and family members, even when it’s not easy. It means using your privilege to help others, and speaking out against discrimination and hate. And it means being there for your queer friends, always.

If you want to be a better straight ally, start by educating yourself on the issues that affect LGBTQ people.

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US: LGBT Asylum Seekers in Danger at the Border

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and other asylum seekers fleeing persecution in their home countries experience abusive and dangerous conditions in Mexicowhen not allowed to cross the border to seek asylum, Human Rights Watch said today.  

Two policies implemented by the administration of former President Donald J. Trump – the Migrant Protection Protocols, commonly known as “Remain in Mexico,” and the Title 42 summary expulsion policy – continue to be used under the Biden administration to block access to the asylum system for most people who try to cross into the US to seek safety. This includes people at a greater risk of harm in Mexico because of their particular conditions or identities, including gender identity or expression, disability, and age who should be entitled to an exception from expulsion. US authorities should stop sending asylum seekers to Mexico or expelling them to their countries of origin and should quickly process people waiting at the border to seek asylum who are at particular risk of abuse.

“The United States should restore access to asylum for all, but so long as Biden is blocked from doing so, he should at the very least immediately use existing exceptions for at-risk asylum seekers, including LGBT people,” said Ari Sawyer, US border researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Continuing to summarily expel LGBT and HIV-positive asylum seekers to Mexico or their country of origin places their lives at serious risk.”

US government protocols include exceptions for asylum seekers at a greater risk, and President Joe Biden has promised US agents will apply them. But border agents have broad discretion to grant or deny exceptions, and there are no clear consequences for agents who fail to do so or checks to ensure that exceptions are being handled properly, Human Rights Watch found.

Despite a recognition by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that LGBT people may face “increased risk of harm in Mexico due to their sexual orientation or gender identity,” Human Rights Watch documented cases in which border officials returned LGBT asylum seekers, including those with HIV, to Mexico under both abusive anti-asylum policies.

Human Rights Watch conducted 29 interviews with asylum seekers, migrants’ rights groups, and United Nations agency officials in April and May 2022, in person and by phone, in Ciudad Juárez and Mexico City, and in El Paso, Texas. Human Rights Watch undertook research in coordination with Casa de Colores, a US-Mexican organization working to provide shelter and legal services to LGBT asylum seekers.

LGBT asylum seekers told Human Rights Watch they had been expelled even after expressing their fear of returning and telling border agents they identified as LGBT, had HIV, or had experienced abuse related to their gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation. They also described serious abuse during their journeys to the border, including by Mexican officials.

One woman interviewed fled to the United States from Honduras, where she previously faced targeted violence for living openly as a lesbian woman, including one incident when someone cut her face, leaving a large scar. Near the US border, people she believed to be members of a Mexican cartel kidnapped her and forcibly took nude photos of her.

She said that when she explained to US border officials that she was a lesbian seeking asylum from Honduras and that she had also experienced abuse in Mexico, agents laughed at her. She said one agent told her, “I don’t care what’s happening to you.” She was expelled to Honduras, and immediately fled again to the US border, this time afraid to seek asylum for fear of being returned to Honduras again.

Previous Human Rights Watch research has highlighted the risk of illegal and arbitrary arrest, torture, extrajudicial execution, sexual assault, and enforced disappearance for LGBT people in Central America.

Although the Biden administration has moved to terminate both Title 42 and Remain in Mexico, several US state officials have filed suits in federal court, resulting in orders to keep the programs in place during the litigation.

A federal district court judge has temporarily blocked the Biden administration from ending the expulsion policy, which was first issued at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic against the recommendation of top public health experts. There is no evidence that people seeking asylum pose a public health threat to the United States, and the expulsion policy cannot be justified on public health grounds.  

Though the initial Title 42 was issued without “notice and comment” procedures, allowing a period for the public to comment, the judge found that the Biden administration should have gone through these administrative consultation processes to end Title 42. Some US lawmakers have proposed legislationthat would keep summary expulsions in place until pandemic public health measures are terminated.

Asylum seekers and other migrants sent to Mexico are often unable to support themselves or access basic services such as shelter, food, water, safe transportation, or health care, and have no meaningful recourse for abuses from criminal cartels or Mexican authorities. In the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, Human Rights Watch found that asylum seekers and other migrants are systematically targeted for kidnapping, extortion, rape, and other violence, by both government officials and criminals.

LGBT people constitute one particularly at-risk group of asylum seekers, among others, including people with disabilities and chronic health conditions, Black and Indigenous asylum seekers, asylum seekers who do not speak Spanish as a first language, and families traveling with children.

LGBT asylum seekers and asylum seekers with HIV described additional discrimination and abuse as well as barriers to accessing essential services, including life-saving antiretroviral therapy and gender-affirming health care, services that include medical and mental health services, continuation of hormonal treatment, and other services for transgender and nonbinary people that are crucial to their health and well-being.

 National Migration Institute’s Letter of Response to HRW 5.31.22 (In Spanish)

Human Rights Watch asked Mexico’s National Migration Institute for more information on allegations made against immigration agents. The agency responded on May 31 and said they were unaware of any reports of such abuses, were not able to investigate them, and that the Mexican constitution prohibits such behavior.

The United States has an obligation to protect refugees from returning to a threat of persecution, ill-treatment, and threats to life and safety, Human Rights Watch said. President Biden should ensure that the United States complies with its domestic and international legal obligations to respect the right to seek asylum.  

“LGBTQ+ and HIV-positive asylum seekers face grave risks to their health and safety from the time they flee their countries, often after years of targeted abuse, to when they arrive at the US border,” said Susana Coreas, director of Casa de Colores. “Biden has rightly committed to protecting LGBTQ+ refugees. He should follow through on that promise and ensure all asylum seekers are welcomed with dignity at the border.”

Abuse at the US Border

Human Rights Watch spoke with 20 LGBT asylum seekers in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, who hoped to cross into the United States and be allowed to seek protection. Nearly all reported they were not approaching the border or trying to ask US officials for asylum because they feared they would be expelled to Mexico or their country of origin. They said they preferred to wait for the Biden administration to restore access to asylum or for legal aid to make a request for exemption from the expulsion policy. Four asylum seekers reported that they had previously been expelled to Mexico or their country of origin without an asylum screening.

When Adolfo H. and Gerardo C., a gay couple fleeing Cuba and El Salvador, respectively, who like others interviewed are not identified by their real names for their protection, tried to seek asylum at the US border in February 2022, they were expelled by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents to Mexico. They had previously experienced extortion several times by Mexican immigration agents, who stopped them at various points along their journey and demanded payment to continue. At the time, they were not yet married. US officials told the couple that Adolfo could stay and seek asylum in the United States because he is from Cuba but that his partner would be expelled, even though border officials had the authority to allow both men in. Instead, they gave them the option of being separated or of being expelled together. They said that while they were in custody, US officials told them to stop holding hands or touching one another. Faced with the prospect of being separated again, they got married in Mexico, hoping that given another chance, they would be allowed to seek asylum together.

  • José M., a gay man who fled death threats in Honduras based on his sexual orientation, said he had tried to cross the border in March 2021. He was afraid to stay in Mexico, where he said he has experienced extortion and violence at the hands of Mexican police and discrimination at shelters. On his way to the border, Mexican immigration agents stopped the bus he was on and made everyone get off, he said, forcing each migrant to pay a bribe of about US$25 each or be expelled from the country. He also said that because of his gender expression and sexual orientation, some shelters did not allow him to stay there, leaving him to sleep on the streets. In Ciudad Juarez, the shelter operators told him it was a sin to be gay and said that if he and other LGBT asylum seekers didn’t go to religious service, they would be forced to leave. He said he had told US border officials that he is gay and that he was afraid to be sent to Mexico, but hours later CBP agents sent him to Mexico. Before expelling him, US officials made him throw away everything he had, including the few clothes he had. US border agents typically throw away migrants’ possessions, including items such as medicine, baby blankets, important identity documents, documents needed to prove an asylum claim, and memorabilia that hold sentimental value, claiming the practice is for health and safety reasons.

The Biden administration has also recently placed some LGBT people in the Remain in Mexico program, officials with the International Organization of Migration (IOM) told Human Rights Watch, sending them to Ciudad Juárez despite the exemption for LGBT people and others at particular risk of abuse. IOM operates a shelter for newly expelled or returned asylum seekers to test them for Covid-19 and provide quarantine before they move on to other shelters. IOM officials said LGBT asylum seekers had been sent to Mexico even after they explicitly told US border agents about their gender identity or sexual orientation.  

Abuses in Country of Origin

LGBT asylum seekers interviewed reported serious abuses in their countries of origin, including rape, assault, death threats, extortion, and forced disappearances or killings of romantic partners and friends.

  • Juan C., a transgender man, fled Honduras after he received death threats related to his gender identity and activism in an LGBT rights organization. He said that several LGBT people he has known have been killed or disappeared there. He said that the police detained him without charges on several occasions. In 2021, two men raped him and his girlfriend after saying, “Who is the man and who is the woman in the relationship?” and saying that the couple were transgender and lesbian only because they had not had sex with a man. “They said, ‘We are going to make you women,’” Juan said.
  • Eduardo O., a gay man from Honduras, said he fled the country shortly after gang members beat his romantic partner to death. Gang members had previously threatened to kill Eduardo. Then in June 2021, the same gang members attacked him and his partner while they were together. While Eduardo was able to escape, he said, his partner could not. He said he reported his partner’s murder to the police, who did not investigate.
  • Kayla R., a transgender woman from Guatemala, said she had to flee and seek asylum after the gangs who were extorting the business where she worked beat her when she and the store owner couldn’t pay, leaving prominent scars on her face. On another occasion, gang members beat her in the street while using anti-LGBT slurs. They left a large gash and scar on her head.

Discrimination and Abuse in Mexico

Human Rights Watch also documented serious abuse and discrimination against LGBT asylum seekers in Mexico. Several LGBT asylum seekers said that Mexican immigration agents, police, and National Guard soldiers targeted them for extortion. Other asylum seekers experienced kidnapping, sexual assault, robbery, and other physical violence by both Mexican government officials and criminals.

  • Brenda F., a transgender woman, fled El Salvador in 2017 after gang members who wanted her to sell drugs beat and threatened to kill her. After applying for protection and living for a few years in Mexico, she said she was riding a bus from Monterrey to Matamoros in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas in May 2020 when, at a checkpoint, immigration agents pulled her off the bus and took her into an office about 25 meters away. While another immigration agent stood watch outside the office, the agent questioned her about her destination and reason for traveling, she showed him an order from a doctor for laboratory tests. He accused her of lying and of wanting to cross into the United States and grabbed his genitalia, saying if she wouldn’t “give me what I want,” he could have two police officers expel her to Guatemala. Afterward, he told her that if she reported him, he had already taken a photo of her identification and would come after her. She said she knows other trans women who have experienced sexual assault at the hands of Mexican immigration agents.
  • Mariana L., a lesbian woman who fled Honduras in 2021, said she was kidnapped for ransom in January 2021 and held for over a week near the US-Mexico border by people she believed to be cartel members. They took her to a house in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, where she saw several other kidnapped migrants. She said they stole her passport and forcibly photographed her naked until her sister managed to pay a ransom of US$3,000. Her kidnappers would hit her to make her cry when they called her sister for the ransom money.
  • When Erika L., a lesbian woman, and Samuel B. and Martin G., gay brothers from El Salvador, arrived at the Mexico-Guatemala border in January 2022, a group of men kidnapped them. On the Mexican side of the border, the men raped Erika while beating her friends and forcing them to watch. They went to the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (COMAR), Mexico’s refugee authority, in Tapachula, Chiapas, where they applied for asylum in Mexico. COMAR gave them a document confirming that they were in the process of seeking asylum in Mexico, giving them legal status in Mexico. An immigration agent apprehended them outside the COMAR office as they left. When he saw their application documents, he tore them up, saying they were meaningless and sent them to a detention center. They were released and then took a bus to the US-Mexico border. They said Mexican immigration agents periodically stopped the bus and boarded it to extort them and other migrants, saying they had to pay if they wanted to continue their journey to the US border.
  • Kayla R., the transgender woman who fled Guatemala, said that in July 2021 Mexican state police in Piedras Negras robbed her and beat her with batons so badly that she was ultimately hospitalized and vomited blood. The police detained her and another transgender woman she was traveling with for two days without food and water and then turned them over to immigration agents, who sent them to an immigration detention facility. There, she said, a Mexican immigration agent told her she should report the crime, which would make her eligible for a one-year humanitarian visa, giving her legal status in Mexico. She said she would like to do so, and that the agent took down her information but never gave her any paperwork or began any immigration process. Instead, after she reported the crime, Mexican immigration agents returned her to Guatemala, where she had experienced brutal violence. She immediately fled again. While she was making her way back to the US border in March 2022, criminals threatened her with a machete and robbed her.

Six asylum seekers and migrant rights workers reported that some of the shelters in Ciudad Juárez that accepted LGBT asylum seekers subjected them to discriminatory treatment, including the shelter where LGBT asylum seekers were forced to go to Christian religious services. Shelters in Ciudad Juárez are at capacity, meaning they would be homeless if they did not agree to go to the service. Some migrant shelters in Ciudad Juárez would not accept LGBT asylum seekers at all, migrant rights workers there said.

Accessing lifesaving health care for asylum seekers with HIV or other chronic illnesses was also difficult, asylum seekers said. All five HIV-positive asylum seekers interviewed, and one asylum seeker with diabetes and hypertension, said they had gone periods ranging from a few weeks to four months, without their necessary medication because they did not have any money or support.  

  • Mari R., a transgender woman who is HIV positive and who fled Honduras after she refused to sell drugs for a gang whose members had raped and threatened to kill her, went without her antiretroviral medication in Mexico for four months. In April, with the support of Derechos Humanos Integrales en Acción (DHIA), a local migrant rights organization, she was finally able to see a doctor, who told her that her condition had significantly worsened. The day after Human Rights Watch spoke to her, she was hospitalized.

Four transgender asylum seekers, as well as IOM officials and a local trans rights organization called Red Solidaria Trans, said that transgender asylum seekers have not had access to gender-affirming health care in Ciudad Juárez.

  • Brenda F., a transgender woman who fled after facing an attempted gang recruitment and death threats in El Salvador, said she had previously been taking hormones but that in Ciudad Juárez, she has not been able to access to gender-affirming hormone care, though she has repeatedly tried. “They always say they don’t offer that care, they can’t, or they don’t know how,” she said. Transgender people who take hormones to develop secondary sex characteristics consistent with their gender identity and expression experience a reversal of these physical traits when hormone therapy is stopped, which can cause distress among other symptoms. Brenda said she hasn’t had access to hormone care since October 2021 and that she is suffering from depression as a result. “I have asked for help getting my hormones and they have said they don’t offer that kind of support here [in Ciudad Juárez],” she said. “We are suffering marginalization in that way – hormone treatment is necessary, and they are denying us.”

Recommendations

To the Biden Administration

  • Continue and redouble efforts to end the Remain in Mexico program and Title 42 summary expulsions, including by initiating a “notice and comment” rulemaking process to end Title 42.
  • While these abusive policies remain in place, ensure that border agents do not to return at-risk asylum seekers under the Remain in Mexico program or expel them under the Title 42 summary expulsion policy. People at particular risk of harm include LGBT asylum seekers; those with HIV, disabilities, and chronic health conditions; Black and Indigenous asylum seekers; those who do not speak Spanish as a first language; and families traveling with children.
  • Take immediate steps to parole into the United States all LGBT asylum seekers and other asylum seekers at particular risk of harm who have previously been subjected to the Remain in Mexico program or the Title 42 summary expulsion policy.
  • Review regulations, Board of Immigration Appeals and Attorney General decisions, and policies and other guidance, rescinding or amending as appropriate to ensure consistency with the right to seek asylum and the right to protection from return to harm or threat of harm as defined in the Refugee Convention, the Convention against Torture, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
  • Continue to increase the number of appropriately trained personnel – asylum officers, doctors, child-care specialists, mental health services professionals and other first responders – at the border using funds currently allocated toward immigration enforcement and detention.
  • Beyond initial screening of migrants, transfer humanitarian reception, including migrant processing and asylum functions, from CBP to a separate government agency, such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), or groups with trauma-informed training and whose mission is to perform humanitarian services.
  • Take steps to ensure that LGBT asylum seekers and asylum seekers with HIV feel safe enough to self-identify while in the custody of CBP, including by ensuring that US officials affirmatively explain a policy of nondiscrimination and ask each migrant if they would like to share their gender identity and sexual orientation.
  • Investigate and discipline US border agents who wrongfully send LGBT asylum seekers and other particularly at-risk asylum seekers to Mexico or their countries of origin.
  • Work with Mexico and other governments to implement a holistic regional plan for access to protection and safe and dignified migration.

To the US Congress

  • Reject proposed legislation introduced by Sens. James Lankford (R-Oklahoma) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Arizona) to keep Title 42 in place until after the government’s Covid-19 emergency declaration is terminated.
  • Enact legislation to end the Title 42 summary expulsion and Remain in Mexico policies.

To the Mexican Government

  • End the practice of accepting non-Mexican nationals sent to Mexico by US authorities under the Remain in Mexico and Title 42 summary expulsion policies.
  • Investigate abuses by Mexican immigration agents, including reports of extortion at immigration checkpoints, and take disciplinary action against any found to have been involved in such conduct.
  • Ensure that Mexican immigration agents do not expel people who may need international protection without due process and screening for fear of return to potential harm.

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LGBTQ history is repeating itself. That’s not necessarily a bad thing

Let’s face it, this year’s Pride comes at a time when many in our community are feeling a sense of doom. The passage of Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill this spring was a shock, not to mention the gut punch of the Supreme Court’s likely Roe vs. Wade decision and its deeply concerning implications for our rights and freedoms.

So if you’re feeling threatened, there’s good reason — and it’s not just because of what happened in Florida. This year, over 230 anti-LGBTQ bills were introduced in state legislatures aimed at sports, libraries, and curricula, all with the aim of protecting children from what is seen as a growing LGBTQ menace. It feels like a new assault. But sadly we’ve been here before. For many of a certain generation, the present moment feels like deja vu all over again, as Yogi Berra famously said.

During the 1970s, in the years after Stonewall as gay men and women started becoming loud, out, and proud there was a similar backlash. In 1977, after Florida’s Dade County passed a gay rights bill, born-again Christian and singer Anita Bryant launched a campaign called “Save Our Children.” The language she used and her faith-based appeal are similar to what we’re seeing today, all in a desperate attempt to save kids from exposure to the “evil of homosexuality,” “perversion,” and the newest fear-buzzword “grooming.”

Hearts And Minds

The massive difference between then and now is that this message of hate falls on many more deaf ears. Despite the latest assault on our hard-earned freedoms, the American public is overwhelmingly supportive of LGBTQ rights. Today, nearly 80 percent of Americans support laws that protect LGBTQ+ people from discrimination in jobs, housing, and public accommodations. Almost 70 percent support same-sex marriage, up considerably from 54 percent in 2014.

And the most important part? This support is up from what was essentially zero in the 1970s.

Just remember the context back then: homosexuality was considered both a mental illness and a crime. During the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, being gay was equated with a deadly, physical illness — a modern day plague. The conservative Reagan-era politics pushed many people back into the closet and LGBTQ progress slowed.

But we owe everything to those who resisted — the ACT-UP protestors who paved the way for major progress in the 1990s by national organizations like the Human Rights Campaign, Lambda Legal, and GLAAD. These were real victories on the battlefield of public opinion which ultimately created the context for acceptance, culminating in federal marriage equality in 2015.

At the time it seemed like a gay “end of history,” with many feeling the fight had been won. So what happened? How is it that in 2022 despite overwhelming changes in public opinion, and when coming out and living out is so much more common and accepted, we are back to the same old attacks of the ‘70s? There are a number of reasons.

First, the galvanization of the evangelical Christian right — a political juggernaut that has only gained momentum. Second, the “normalization” of hate facilitated by Donald Trump; there’s a permission structure for a vocal minority of haters to speak — inaccurately — for the majority of Americans. And, of course, 2022 is an election year. In many recent election cycles, LGBTQ rights have become weaponized by the right into a potent and useful wedge issue to drive their voters to the polls.

The Fight Isn’t Over

So what can we do? There are no silver bullets. That means we have to do what we’ve always done — fight back. If the voices of hate and fear are loud, then all of us have to speak up and be even louder. The only reason the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality as a diagnosis in 1973 was because of years of protests. (There’s an excellent film out now called “Cured” which explores this battle in depth.)

Activism works. Loud voices get heard. And protest sparks change: Anita Bryant, California’s Prop 8, and Don’t Ask Don’t Tell were all defeated by relentless activism and passionate protest.

Another major difference between now and the 1970s is representation. Across the country, there are now many members of the LGBTQ community serving on city councils, state legislatures, and even occupying the governor’s office. While there’s less representation in states like Tennessee, which not coincidentally has the highest number of these proposed anti-LGBTQ+ bills, there are certainly allies there who can make a difference even if it’s just by voting.

So, while it would be nice to sit back on our laurels, have a few margaritas, and watch this year’s gay Pride parade pass by, that’s not an option. The fight is not over. Sure, we can celebrate this month — after all, that is what Pride is all about. But let’s not forget Pride started as a protest and not a parade. It was a march; a march for visibility that had a vision for a future in which there was no stigma or shame in being gay.

We have arrived at that future in many respects. Now we need to take the next step forward, which is to live openly and advocate for ourselves so that those who are driven by fear can see the truth.

Mark Twain once said, “History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes.” I like to think that history actually can repeat itself and that’s not always a bad thing. In the same way that Anita Bryant’s campaign was ultimately a failure, I believe the current spate of hate-based legislation trying to save children from a threat that doesn’t exist will also falter. We’re sorry, haters: the gay genie is out of the bottle and the effort to try to reverse that is destined to fail because we’re not hiding anymore. Not only are we here and queer these days, but we are also aware and active and fighting for our very lives.

To those in our community who are maybe less vocal or more resigned, this moment is the wake-up call to speak up, fight back, and make the right kind of history repeat itself again.

Alex Slater is the founder and CEO of Clyde Group, a mid-sized PR and marketing firm based in Washington, DC.

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‘Politics’ and ‘politician’ have become dirty words

When you study the field of politics, it is represented as “the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status.” An accepted definition of a politician is “a person who is professionally involved in politics, especially as a holder of or a candidate for an elected office.”

Politics, if done well and honestly, should not be thought of as dirty and neither should the politician who practices politics. One can be an activist and practice politics without being a politician. But I find it amusing when a candidate running for office says they are not a politician. They may not have been one before they announced their candidacy, but once they have, they are a politician. I believe the majority of politicians in office, or running for office, are doing it for the right reasons.

It is because the term politician has become a dirty word that people are running for office declaring they are not really politicians. An example is the new Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. The headline in the New York Times is “Alvin Bragg Says He’s Not a Politician, Is That the Root of His Trouble?” In fairness Bragg says he shouldn’t act like a politician, which indicates he thinks being a politician is a bad thing. 

Bragg, who ran in a primary and then in a general election and now holds office, is by any definition a politician and there is nothing wrong with that. Decisions he makes will be both political in nature and have political ramifications. Whether it is to prosecute, or not prosecute, Donald Trump; or whether his office will cease to seek jail and prison time for all but the most serious crimes, those are in many ways political decisions. They can be political even if based on the facts as he sees them at the time. The reality is on what appeared to be his initial views on both of these issues, he is now vacillating based on the political winds he is facing. He is entitled to change his mind, as can any politician, as long as they don’t give up their principles. 

I keep hearing U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland say he will decide what to do about Trump and his acolytes involved in the Jan. 6 insurrection without regard to any politics. Anyone who actually believes that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn you can buy. 

We often only hear about sleazy politics or sleazy politicians. They make for great click-bait journalism. But in reality, they are in the minority. 

Just consider the politics of fighting for equal justice and economic equality, and the politicians fighting to make them both a reality. We have moved far from what the framers of our constitution wrote to make our country more equal for all. That was accomplished through war in one case, but it was also done through politics and by politicians. Do we have a long way to go? Of course. But we must take heart when we hear Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, now the next Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, talk about her family and saying, “My family went from segregation to the Supreme Court in one generation.” That, of course is a tribute to her family, but also to politics and politicians.  

There have been many times I disagreed with the politics of some groups and the politicians who seem to represent them. But I must accept some people have legitimate views, in their own eyes, different from mine. While I nearly always disagree with Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Ala.) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah) it must be recognized they not only voted for Judge Jackson but made strong and resonating statements in support of her. 

So it will be important, if we are to move our country back on the track many want to see it on, not to ascribe a negative implication to all politics and politicians we disagree with. We will never agree with all that is done in the name of politics or by every politician. However, we must accept decent people can disagree and the other side is not always being sleazy. We need to learn to respect each other and try to treat each other with dignity.

Peter Rosenstein is a longtime LGBTQ rights and Democratic Party activist. He writes regularly for the Blade.

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