Perspectives

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Gay dad emphatically shuts down pathetic bigots after son qualifies for Olympics

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A gay dad has emphatically shut down homophobes who think queer people shouldn’t be parents after his son qualified for the Olympics. Jerry Windle is the proud father of Jordan Windle, a 22-year-old diver who recently qualified for the men’s diving team for the Tokyo Olympics. Tragically, both of Jordan’s biological parents died when he was just a baby. Jerry later adopted him in Cambodia and nursed him back to health after he had suffered from malnutrition, scabies and intestinal parasites. Jordan later started diving at the age of seven – and he is now set to achieve a lifelong dream of […]

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The pain of racial injustice lingers. Here’s how you can support your Black partner

It takes a strong Black person to date a white person. For better or for worse, romantic relationships are a minefield of opportunities to explore Black/white dynamics in America. It works well when the white partner is able to reduce the harm they create and learn from their partner, but it can also be traumatizing for the Black partner to relive life-alienating societal patterns in one of their most intimate relationships.  When a white man is fascinated with my last name, I don’t expect them to know that it reminds me of how my family history has been ill-kept. In […]

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Coming out is not the serve you think it is

Coming out is undoubtedly part of the essence of contemporary queer culture. It represents a point in one’s journey to complete self-actualization where they fully accept themselves, their body, and also demand to occupy space in an insidiously cis-heternormative world.  This concept/journey has become such a treasured part of queerness, so much so that National Coming Out Day is celebrated every year on Oct. 11, not only to commemorate the 1979 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights which demanded civil rights and legislation for LGBTQ people, but to also allow queer people to be visible, unabashedly live in their […]

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Claiming our power in the HIV-AIDS epidemic

“Unless we fight for our lives, we shall die,” wrote Larry Kramer in the New York Native in March 1983. Before Kramer’s article “1,112 and Counting,” gay people were doing what they could to care for the sick and mourn their dead with quiet dignity.  After the article appeared in gay papers across the country, gay people grew increasingly unwilling to be quiet about the deaths of gay men and the preternatural silence about the epidemic from elected officials. In San Francisco, the momentum generated by a July 1984 political march spiraled into support for an independent gay AIDS activist […]

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Biden must stand up for LGBTQ Iranians

“I was arrested four times by the moral police because of being trans and because of my appearance. They also flogged me.”— A respondent to a 2020 survey by the Iranian Lesbian and Transgender Network (6Rang).  Each June, LGBTQ Americans celebrate Pride month, notwithstanding the continuing challenges they face due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. Unfortunately, for their counterparts in Iran, Pride month—and every month—is Fear Month, a month of hiding who they are and whom they love in order to avoid arrest, imprisonment, flogging, and even execution.  The Iranian regime began persecuting LGBT citizens immediately after coming to power in the Islamic […]

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Trailblazing trans BMX rider Chelsea Wolfe is going to the Tokyo Olympics

Trailblazing BMX rider Chelsea Wolfe is going to the Tokyo Olympics, becoming the first trans athlete to join the Team USA roster. Wolfe will travel to Tokyo as a reserve athlete, according to Huffington Post, and will only compete if one of the two qualifying riders – Hannah Roberts and Perris Benegas – drops out. The athlete, who has spoken openly about her trans identity and her Olympic dreams, said it is still “taking a bit to register”  that she’s going to Tokyo. Writing on Instagram, she reflected on how she has gone through “so much work” and come “so many obstacles” to get to […]

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Mexico football team issues desperate plea to fans: Stop your homophobic chants

Mexico’s national football team has begged fans to stop the homophobic chanting that’s led to FIFA banning spectators from two World Cup qualifier matches. FIFA slapped the sanctions on the Mexican soccer federation (FMF) last month after several matches were marred by fans chanting “p**o”, a homophobic slur that’s plagued Mexican football for years. “If we don’t have a chance to participate in the World Cup, that’s going to be awful for everybody – for us, the federation, for the players and for the fans and supporters as well,” Torrado told The Tennessean. “So we need them to continue supporting us, but in a good […]

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Olympic frontrunners forced out of Tokyo games over naturally high testosterone levels

Two Namibian sprinters have been blocked from competing in the women’s 400m at the Olympics because their natural testosterone levels have been deemed too high. Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi, who are both cisgender women, were forced to undergo medical assessments while they were at a training camp in Italy. The tests were requested by World Athletics, according to the Namibia Olympic Committee, and their results “indicated that both athletes have a natural high testosterone level,” a statement continued. “According to the rules of World Athletics, this means that they are not eligible to participate in events from 400m to 1600m,” officials added. “Both […]

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Parents of ‘scared’ 13-year-old trans girl sue Florida over transphobic sports ban

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The parents of a 13-year-old girl have launched a federal lawsuit to challenge Florida’s reviled ban on trans girls taking part in school sports. Mounted by the Human Rights Campaign, one of the largest LGBT+ advocacy groups in the US, the lawsuit argues that the ban violates both the constitution and existing federal anti-discrimination law. It was filed on behalf of Daisy, an avid football player aged 13, and her parents. Under Florida’s anti-trans sports law, she will be forced to play either on the boys’ team or quit the sport altogether. “Playing sports makes me feel like I fit in,” Daisy […]

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Biden administration working for equity in the workplace

Pride month is a chance for LGBTQ+ people to be proud and visible in a world that tells us not to be. Pride month is a chance to celebrate and honor the work of LGBTQ+ people as we fight every day for equity and inclusion in society, in the law and in our workplaces.  Thanks to the tireless work of advocates, we’ve had many recent encouraging wins at the national level: Last June, in Bostock vs. Clayton County, the Supreme Court affirmed that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act protects employees from discrimination based on their sexual orientation and […]

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