An “out and proud gay law enforcement deputy” from Florida who died of complications from coronavirus is being remembered by as a “protector of the LGBT+ community”.
Deputy sheriff Shannon Bennett was 39 when died on April 3, just a week after testing positive for COVID-19.
He had left work on March 23 feeling unwell, and went to the hospital the following day where he was tested for coronavirus.
Tributes pour in for Florida police officer who died of coronavirus.
Florida’s Broward Sheriff’s Office, where Bennett worked for more than a decade, led tributes to the late deputy.
“Deputy Shannon Bennett was a 12 year veteran of the Broward Sheriff’s Office; an out and proud gay law enforcement deputy; a school resource officer who protected and mentored the young students at Deerfield Beach Elementary; a man in love whose wedding was to be held later this year,” colleagues wrote in a Facebook post.
“We love and will miss you, Deputy Bennett. Thank you for your bravery, your kind heart, and your service. Rest In Peace.”
“During the Stonewall Pride fest in Wilton Manors, he never participated in the drinking aspect, the fun part of it,” he said.
“He always wanted to be in uniform, on the street, protecting his community. And he was very proud of that fact, that that’s what he did on most weekends.
Whenever they closed down Wilton Drive, he was there, in uniform, protecting us.
After the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, Bennett took to parking his patrol car outside bars and clubs in the gay area of Wilton Manors to show that they were protected.
“Shannon Bennett was the kind of guy who would put his family first, his friends second, and himself last,” Martin told local media.
A second police officer from Broward Sheriff’s Office, Jose Diaz Ayala, subsequently also died of complications from the disease.
According to the current shelter in place order we are to leave our homes solely for the purposes of providing or receiving essential services. While we all still need to feed ourselves, trips to the grocery store are not what they once were before the inception of the coronavirus. With this in mind, we hope that the following advice collected from the County of Sonoma and local grocers may be of help to facilitate your safe food shopping while helping to decrease the spread of COVID-19.
Limit or avoid all trips to the grocery store
Staying home means staying safe and keeping other people safe: plan ahead by making a detailed list of your food needs. Go to the store only when absolutely necessary. This can be a good time to shop for your pantry and freezer. Try to buy enough food to last for two weeks.
But, you think, what good are grocery lists when many items on your list may be sold out? All the more reason to plan for alternative choices. You can even Google ingredients to see what the world’s collection of recipes can do for the foods you may already have on hand. (Remember to check dates on food items you may have at home. This is not a good time to risk food borne illnesses.)
If you would like to avoid the grocery store all together, several grocery chains — including Safeway and Raley’s — offer no-contact pickup and delivery. Simply order online and pickup your order at a specified parking location in the store’s lot, or have your groceries delivered to your own doorstep. Instacart is another option for home grocery delivery. Because these services are likely to be in high demand right now, make sure to stay on top of your food supply so that you can order a week before you run out.
Wash your hands, wear a mask and don’t touch your face
Experts also advise shoppers to wash their hands before they shop and immediately after. Soap, water and thorough washing is the gold standard for fighting off viruses. And don’t touch your face (wearing a mask or face covering will help prevent you from doing so).
Most stores provide wipes for cart handles and freezer doors — but it’s also a good idea to bring your own.
Don’t bring the family
During a shelter in place order, any trip outside the home can seem like a potential excursion. But while a family trip to the store may sound appealing, it is not a good idea during the coronavirus pandemic.
Write a shopping list together and then send only one person from each household to the store — this reduces the amount of people in the store, making it easier to maintain social distancing, thus decreasing the risk of getting and spreading the virus.
Go when it is less crowded
As more people are unable to work or are working from home, the natural rhythm of grocery stores has shifted. Still, by and large, there are generally less people early in the morning and later at night. If you arrive at a store which is packed with people, come back at another time. A Google search of a particular store can give you an indication of the current foot traffic in a pop-up box.
Several local grocery stores have implemented seniors-only hours: this is a time for older adults and people with underlying medical conditions to shop away from crowds during the coronavirus pandemic.
You may also consider shopping in a small market close to home to reduce the number of people you’re around.
Keep the distance
Local grocers are finding a need to constantly remind people to pay attention to the 6-foot distancing marks. Let’s help them help us. This includes keeping your distance from grocery store workers.
Grocery clerks, while they go about performing an essential service for us, are particularly exposed during the coronavirus pandemic. Try not to crowd the store personnel when asking about the availability of your favorite ice cream.
Get in and get out
Again, plan your shopping trip in advance. Have a list on hand and keep yourself and grocery workers safe by getting your goods quickly. This is not a time to be browsing the store while googling Ina Garten recipes. The people in the line that wraps around the building will appreciate your quick and efficient shopping efforts.
Treat fresh produce like dog poop
Grab that beautiful kohlrabi using a produce bag as a glove, the same way dog walkers pick up their dogs’ waste. Then turn the bag inside out to contain it. Watch this video from Oliver’s for a demo. And don’t touch items you are not purchasing or contemplate purchasing. If you must knock on that melon, put a bag over your fist. Then knock gently.
Wipe down your debit, credit or membership card
Wipe cards down before and after presenting them to the cashier. When possible, pay with your phone so there’s no exchange with the cashier.
Reusable bags are a new no-no
To fight cross-contamination, stores are not accepting your reusable bags for packing groceries. Those bags that you’ve finally remembered to start bringing, they have to stay home for now.
Consider disinfecting food packaging and washing fresh produce
When you return home, take off your shoes, hang up your coat and wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
Currently there is no evidence to support transmission of COVID-19 associated with food, according to the CDC. It may, however, be possible for a person to contract COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or eyes. Unpack your groceries at the door and keep those grocery bags outside to use for garbage or put straight in the recycling. Then use sanitizing wipes or a bleach solution to clean food packaging, or dispose of packaging when possible.
Remember to wash your hands again for 20 seconds after you’ve unpacked your groceries and sanitized packaging.
As always, you should handle and prepare food safely. The FDA recommends following the usual best practices for handling food, such as cooking foods to their proper temperature and washing produce thoroughly.
Really clean up
Once you’re done unpacking your groceries, keep your shoes and outerwear by the door, wipe off surfaces and, if you’re really concerned about getting sick, it might be worth throwing your clothes in the wash and taking a shower.
Thank your grocery workers with your actions
They’re here for us in our time of need. Being cooperative and kind and giving them their 6 to 10 feet of space is a great way to thank them.
Be gentle on yourself
For doing this tiring work of staying safe and keeping other people safe, reward yourself with a binge watch, hot tea or a video chat. Forgive yourself if you haven’t used the lockdown as the chance to take up knitting, study physics or launch your career as a stay-at-home filmmaker. Being vigilant about safety is hard work.
The whole world thanks every one of you for your efforts.
Multiple transgender organisations have joined calls for the US government to provide urgent funding to support trans people through the coronavirus pandemic.
The California-based groups have written to governor Gavin Newsom proposing the creation of an Emergency Transgender Wellness and Equity Fund to address the urgent and long-term needs of the trans community.
Trans people are among the most marginalised groups in the country, the open letter explains, and face significant barriers in society which have have only been exacerbated by the coronavirus.
“The structural and institutional change that must occur to counter these barriers means an investment in trans-led organisations and services, those that are tailored to address the specific needs of TGI (transgender, gender non-conforming and intersex) people,” the letter reads.
“Because of a lack of services tailored to serve the trans community, this makes this moment especially isolating and difficult.”
There are approximately 220,000 transgender people in the state of California, many of whom are in “dire economic situations”.
The 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey found that 12 percent of adult respondents made less than $10,000 in annual income, compared to 4 percent of the general population in that income bracket.
Add this to the fact that LGBT+ people are more likely to be vulnerable to the coronavirus, and more likely to face difficulties accessing healthcare, the need for tailored financial support during the pandemic is clear.
A specific emergency fund “would help address the immediate needs of TGI people in the midst of COVID-19, but would also help to create long-term services that would prevent the drastic impact on our community in the midst of crisis in the future,” the letter explains.
It was signed by seven groups: TransLatin@, Coalition Unique Women’s Coalition, Transgender Health and Wellness Centre, Gender Justice LA, Transgender Law Centre, El/La Para TransLatinas and the Transgender, Gender Variant, Intersex Justice Project.
They acknowledge that everyone is struggling in the face of the pandemic, but stress the importance of transgender people not being overlooked in relief efforts.
“When we say we are in this together, that obviously includes trans and gender non-conforming people,” Bamby Salcedo, president of The TransLatin@Coalition told Forbes.
“We as leaders in the community are making sure that we address those needs and issues, and so we invite all of us to really understand the meaning of we are in this together and how we are going to together change the narrative and the landscape of our community.”
Finding a secure place to live has not been easy for Nez Marquez, 23, who has experienced homelessness for the past five years. Born in Mexico and raised in New York, he left home at 18 because his family did not accept his gender identity and sexual orientation, he said.
Marquez is staying at Sylvia’s Place, an emergency shelter for LGBTQ young adults on the bottom floor of a Manhattan church. He said shelters that specifically cater to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people are safer for him because he has been subjected to homophobic attacks at general-population shelters. But now, in addition to anti-gay violence and the inherent dangers of life on the streets, Marquez has another fear: the coronavirus and its ripple effects.
“I’ve been worried about not having housing,” Marquez said in an interview. “If where I’m staying shuts down, I’ll be out of options.”
Not only does he worry about being “forced to live in a homophobic environment,” but he also has a congenital lung issue, putting him at higher risk for adverse outcomes if he were to get COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus.
LGBTQ youth and young adults, like Marquez, make up a disproportionate number of homeless young people, and this vulnerable demographic is facing unique hardships amid the global health crisis. With countrywide shutdowns of schools and youth programs, diminished office hours at LGBTQ community centers and, for many of them, unsupportive family members, these young Americans and the organizations that serve them are forced to find new ways to get and provide support.
Increase in needs, decrease in services
LGBTQ adults make up an estimated 4.5 percent of the U.S. population, but recent studies have found that 20 percent to 45 percent of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ, and among young adults ages 18 to 25, LGBTQ people have a 2.2 times greater risk of homelessness than their non-LGBTQ peers, according to a new research brief by the Williams Institute at UCLA Law.
Many homeless LGBTQ young adults rely on the approximately 260 LGBTQ community centers across the U.S. for their vital needs and general well-being. During the pandemic, however, many of the centers are reducing their hours and services or closing their doors completely to protect staff and visitors.
“Our clients rely on nonprofits to provide health care, and a lot of those places have closed or shut down hours.”
KATE BARNHART, NEW ALTERNATIVES EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
New York City’s LGBT Community Center, at the center of the pandemic in the U.S., closed its Manhattan location and suspended its in-person operations indefinitely on March 13. It is providing some services remotely, such as individual counseling sessions, 12-step support groups and youth social programs. Similarly, the Los Angeles LGBT Center has canceled all nonessential meetings and limited its youth programs to lunch services and critical needs while keeping its housing center open.
Detroit’s Ruth Ellis Center, which includes drop-in services, a health clinic and an overnight shelter, has also reduced some of its services. Before the coronavirus crisis, the drop-in center offered hot meals and showers daily and professional skills training three days a week. Now, the center is open only to distribute groceries from its front doors on Mondays and Wednesdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Staff members are still doing videoconference appointments for behavioral health and primary care.
“The need for services is increasing, and the availability of services is decreasing,” said Kate Barnhart, executive director of New Alternatives, a New York City-based nonprofit for LGBTQ homeless youth.
Barnhart said the pandemic has further complicated her clients’ already inconsistent access to care, particularly when it comes to their health needs.
“Our clients rely on nonprofits to provide health care, and a lot of those places have closed or shut down hours,” she said, saying a client of hers recently ran out of psychiatric medication when all her go-to medical providers were closed because of the crisis.
Barnhart said a third of her clients are living with HIV, and she fears what will happen if they are unable to get their daily medication.
For LGBTQ youth and young adults who are able to find beds at one of the few overnight shelters across the country that cater to them, there is a different set of challenges and risks.
Brad Schlaikowsky, co-founder of Courage MKE, a Milwaukee organization that operates a group home for LGBTQ youth, said soap, hand sanitizer and other hygiene products — many of which are crucial to help prevent contraction of the coronavirus — have been hard to come by for people who are housing insecure. Due to the contagious nature of the virus, his organization is not accepting food and clothing donations.
“This is a huge expense on the budget, and it’s hitting everyone hard right now,” Schlaikowsky said. “The best way people can help any organization is through financial support.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone physically distance themselves from others by about 6 feet to reduce the chance of contracting the virus. The CDC has issued interim guidelines for the country’s thousands of homeless shelters if someone does get sick, including confining symptomatic clients to individual rooms or moving them to alternative facilities if possible. However, at many shelters, the guidance is impractical.
“We don’t have a private room,” said Wendy Kaplan, director of Trinity Place Shelter, an LGBTQ youth shelter in New York City. “It’s unrealistic, out of touch and makes us feel like the government isn’t able or prepared to protect some of our most vulnerable members of society.”
‘Serious implications’ for mental health
In addition to the physical well-being of LGBTQ homeless youth and young adults, there are also concerns about the unique mental health challenges they may face.
The Trevor Project, a national nonprofit that focuses on LGBTQ youth in crisis, released a white paper Friday outlining the “serious implications” the COVID-19 crisis could have on the mental health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer young people. The organization cited the physical distancing, economic strain and increased anxiety related to the pandemic as being among the most worrisome problems.
“For a lot of LGBTQ young people, the main sources of support that they get are at their schools, at clubs, at community centers, at physical spaces that they no longer have access to.”
AMIT PALEY, TREVOR PROJECT CEO
“LGBTQ young people … are already at risk of discrimination and isolation, which can impact their mental health,” Amit Paley, the organization’s CEO, said Tuesday in an interview with MSNBC. “For a lot of LGBTQ young people, the main sources of support that they get are at their schools, at clubs, at community centers, at physical spaces that they no longer have access to. … Not being able to connect with some of those really important, positive influences in your life can be extremely challenging for LGBTQ youth right now.”
Paley said the Trevor Project, which operates a 24/7 crisis hotline, has had a steep increase in the number of LGBTQ youth who have been reaching out.
“We saw nearly twice the level of young people reaching out, and we know that this pandemic is having an impact, that young people are not sure where they can turn to for support,” he said.
‘It’s most important they know they’re not alone’
Local and national organizations that serve LGBTQ homeless youth are working to acclimate to the new normal, developing innovative pathways to accommodate the changing and expanding needs of this vulnerable population.
Lilianna Angel Reyes, director of the Ruth Ellis Center’s drop-in service, said staff members at the Detroit facility “aren’t waiting for people to create a solution.”
“They’re creating them, and we’re helping [our clients] be the healthiest they can,” she said.
With schools closed, staff members at the center’s group home, Ruth’s House, have developed an educational curriculum for their residents, who are ages 12 to 17. And at the drop-in center, which typically caters to teens and young adults ages 13 to 30, staffers have turned the large open space into a makeshift classroom for their group home residents.
Reyes said the Ruth Ellis Center is a safe space that “can be built anywhere” — including online, where the center has ramped up its presence. Staffers are now offering some services through digital video platforms, like its tobacco cessation program for transgender women, and clients can connect with staffers on social media, including Facebook Messenger and Snapchat.
Reyes said that overcoming obstacles and a lack of resources “isn’t new” for the youth and young adults whom the Ruth Ellis Center serves and that this may ultimately help them get through the pandemic and its ripple effects.
“Most of our youth have had long histories of trauma, and they’re extremely resilient,” she said.
Trinity Place Shelter, which caters to LGBTQ New Yorkers ages 18 to 24, is typically open only in the evening and overnight, but during the pandemic, it is operating 24 hours a day. The extended hours give the center’s 10 residents a place to socially distance, three meals a day and somewhere to wash their hands.
“The less time they’re on the subway and out interacting with the public, the safer they are,” the Rev. Heidi Neumark, the shelter’s executive director, said in an interview.
Neumark, who is a pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church, which houses Trinity Place Shelter, said that now it is “particularly important that we offer a lot of extra reassurance.”
“Most of the young people are here because they have been rejected by their families and do not have the support system and comfort that some people can count on,” she said.
While Milwaukee schools and most of the city’s youth programs are closed, Courage MKE has tripled the number of onsite staff members working at its group home, Courage House, the only LGBTQ youth shelter in Wisconsin. The increase is intended to help ensure that the organization’s clients get the extra support they need during the pandemic while also keeping burnout low and morale high among the staff.
“We’re 24/7 for the next 30 days, and it’s not always sunshine and daisies, so we want to protect them, too,” Schlaikowsky said of his staff.
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Schlaikowsky said Courage MKE’s staffers are also trying to keep a brave face on for the youth and young adults they serve.
“If we show fear, it will rub off on the kids and make their anxiety even higher,” he said.
In addition to getting help, Courage MKE’s clients are helping others by preparing sandwiches for people in the community in need of food. Schlaikowsky said that making 300 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches has been an effective distraction for the organization’s clients and that feeding others has been an affecting way to thank the broader community for all the support it has given the nonprofit since it launched in 2015.
In his interview on MSNBC, Paley of the Trevor Project spoke directly to LGBTQ young people, telling them they “are deserving of love and respect” and are not alone. He also stressed that “social distancing is not the same as social isolation.”
“There are places you can reach out to for support,” he said. “There are always organizations like the Trevor Project that are here 24/7.”
The Trevor Project provides multiple round-the-clock services for LGBTQ youth in need, including TrevorSpace, a social networking site specifically for LGBTQ youth, and a network of trained crisis service counselors who can be reached through TrevorChat, TrevorText and TrevorLifeline (1-866-488-7386).
In its new report, the Trevor Project also encourages LGBTQ young people who are in distress because of the negative social impacts of physical distancing to participate in shared activities online, like gaming, watch parties and physical activity classes.
As for Nez Marquez, he has been staying indoors most of the day at his shelter, which is offering extended hours. He said that while his circumstances were not ideal before the coronavirus emerged, he longs to return to his pre-pandemic life.
“I was applying for housing, I was applying for jobs and had interviews, and I can’t do that anymore,” Marquez said. “I just can’t wait for this to be over and I can go back to my life to do what I need to do.”
Lorena Borjas had a wheelie bag, and in the bag she had the world. The first time Lynly Egyes met her, Borjas pulled a birth certificate out of the bag. Egyes was then a lawyer with the Sex Workers Project at the Urban Justice Center and had recently taken the case of a young immigrant transgender woman who was in jail, facing felony assault charges for defending herself against an attacker—an exceedingly common predicament. “Lorena came into my office and said, ‘I hear you need the birth certificate for one of the girls,’ ” Egyes told me on the phone. “I said, ‘Who are you?’ ‘I am Lorena!’ ” Borjas also convinced Egyes to take on a second case that stemmed from the same incident; the proceedings dragged on for about a year, with frequent court appearances. Borjas always came to the hearings and brought supporters. “She felt it was important for the judge to see that these two young women were loved,” Egyes said.
Borjas died on Monday, at Coney Island Hospital, in Brooklyn, of complications from covid-19. She left an orphaned community of transgender women, especially Latina immigrant women in Queens, and countless L.G.B.T.-rights activists who looked to her for guidance, inspiration, and love. About two hundred and forty people gathered for a memorial on Monday night, albeit via Zoom, which added a layer of heartbreak to the mourning of a person whose legacy was one of building community, in the streets and in apartments in her Jackson Heights neighborhood, and of taking close, personal, physical care of people.
Borjas was born in Veracruz, Mexico, in 1960. At seventeen, she ran away to Mexico City, where she lived in the streets. At twenty, she crossed the border into the United States, where she hoped she would be able to receive hormone treatments. She made her way to New York City, where she studied for her G.E.D. and then studied accounting.The New Yorker’s coronavirus news coverage and analysis are free for all readers.
“Back then, the trans community didn’t have spaces,” Cristina Herrera, the C.E.O. and founder of the Translatinx Network, a group for transgender immigrants, told me on the phone. “We met at Port Authority—that was the main place, because you could stay indoors.” Herrera, who is from El Salvador, came to New York in 1985, at the age of fifteen, and met Borjas soon after. “She was like the social worker in our community,” Herrera said. “She was the case worker.” Borjas guided other trans and gay immigrants to the resources she had found: E.S.L. classes, G.E.D. tests, community colleges, H.I.V. screening, immigration lawyers, and research studies that paid for participation.
Borjas was able to obtain legal status under a Reagan-era amnesty. But, in the nineteen-nineties, she developed an addiction to crack, which, Herrera told me, led to more and riskier sex work and, finally, to a relationship in which Borjas was trafficked. She was arrested several times, making her ineligible to renew her green card or apply for naturalization.
In the late nineteen-nineties, Borjas escaped from her abuser. She got clean. Then she got to work helping people who hadn’t been as lucky. “In the morning, she would get up and go to the Department of Health and take free condoms there,” Egyes told me. “Then she might also go to a food pantry. And at night she would walk around with her wheelie bag, distributing the condoms and the food.”
One of Borjas’s closest friends, Cecilia Gentili, who is forty-eight, told me that she met Borjas in a bar in Jackson Heights, in 2005. Gentili, who had come from Argentina five years earlier, was undocumented then and doing sex work. A couple of years later, Gentili got a job at Apicha, a clinic for the L.G.B.T. community, and asked Borjas to help her reach out to potential clients. “She said, ‘Come with me to hand out condoms,’ ” Gentili said. “We started at 11 p.m., up and down Roosevelt Avenue. She said, ‘When you give out condoms, you can give out referrals to your clinic.’ ” They walked the streets until three or four in the morning. At the time, New York police often used possession of condoms as evidence in prostitution cases, and word on the street was that one shouldn’t carry more than three at time. So Borjas considered it her duty to replenish sex workers’ supplies of condoms, a couple at a time, all night long. “She showed people that they had family,” Egyes said of Borjas’s condom-distribution work.
Chase Strangio, the deputy director of the L.G.B.T. and H.I.V. Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, met Borjas more than ten years ago, when Strangio was working at the Sylvia Rivera Law Project. Borjas worked to educate him about patterns of arrests of transgender women of color. “She was so connected to the community that when someone would get arrested, the first phone call was to Lorena,” Strangio said. In 2012, together the two founded the Lorena Borjas Community Fund, which gives bail and bond assistance to transgender immigrants in criminal and immigration proceedings. This was the kind of specific need Borjas’s knowledge of the community could help identify. At the time, the Obama Administration was increasing pressure on local police to coöperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement; when immigrants ended up behind bars—for whatever reason—they faced the risk of deportation, and so it was essential to get them out fast.
Even while Borjas was advocating on behalf of transgender immigrants, she was at risk for being deported herself. A couple of years into the friendship, Borjas finally asked Egyes to look at her own case. Egyes joined the effort to vacate her convictions—it worked with some but not all of them—and eventually filed a petition for a pardon. In her letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo, Egyes described some of the work that Borjas had done. “At meeting after meeting with law enforcement, many clients explained how Lorena was the reason that they were able to escape their trafficker,” Egyes wrote. “At one point, former Assistant United States Attorney, [name redacted], asked if Lorena was a real person because she seemed to help so many people but wasn’t affiliated with any organization. I explained that Lorena is in fact real and that she helps people because she too was a victim and wanted to ensure that these girls had a way out of bad situations.” Egyes attached a list of more than twenty awards, certificates, and proclamations Borjas had received in recognition of her activism. Governor Cuomo pardoned Borjas in 2017.
Borjas was not paid for most of her work. She cobbled together a living: she was paid for some talks, outreach, and counselling sessions, and sometimes she cleaned houses. “She made the money stretch,” Egyes said. “She gave me hope that people do good things because they are good people, not because they would get anything for it.”
“None of her work was with a ‘rescuing’ mentality,” Gentili said. “It was, We help because we help each other. She was the mother of the trans Latinx community.”
Strangio recalled that, in 2011, Borjas threw a big party for him, complete with a cake. It wasn’t his birthday or a date of any other significance. When Strangio asked what the party was for, Borjas answered that it was a way of giving thanks. “She celebrated people,” he said. A year later, when Strangio and his then partner were expecting a baby, Borjas threw them a baby shower. “She raised money and got us a stroller and a car seat,” Strangio told me. “I mean, we are lawyers! But, no, ‘You are going to have a child, and we are going to take care of you. That’s what we do.’ ”
Last year, Borjas became a U.S. citizen. Her work had inspired several nonprofits, including the one that Herrera runs. “She was starting to see the fruits of her labor,” Herrera said. And Borjas herself was finally safe. “She had made it through the aidsepidemic!” Herrera exclaimed. “She made it through the crack epidemic! She made it through the violence we faced in the nineties and two-thousands, with immigration! I thought we were going to have her until she was in her seventies or eighties.”
There is a particular gut punch that coronavirus deaths pack for people who saw their generation decimated by aids. “When we met, we had a community of fourteen,” Herrera said. “Recently, there were three of us left, two H.I.V.-positive and one negative.” Borjas was positive. “And now there are only two of us left.”
Forty-one years ago yesterday, on April 2, 1974, out lesbian Kathy Kozachenko made history as the first openly gay person elected to political office in the US.
Then a 21-year-old University of Michigan student, she was part of the now-defunct left-wing Human Rights Party, which consisted mostly of college students and recent graduates.
“This is the first time in the history of the U.S. that someone has run openly as a gay person and been elected to public office,” Kathy Kozachenko said during her 1974 victory speech, which was unearthed by Bloomberg.
“Gay liberation was not a major issue in the campaign — both candidates in this ward said they supported gay rights, but 10 years ago, or even three years ago, lesbianism would have meant automatic defeat.
“This year we talked about rent control. We talked about the city’s budget. We talked about police priorities, and we had a record of action to run on.
“Many people’s attitudes about gayness are still far from healthy, but my campaign forced some people at least to re-examine their prejudices and stereotypes.”
Kozachenko’s political career was short-lived – after two years on the city council, she decided not to run for a second term.
“As hard as we tried to make our organization representative of and inclusive of individuals beyond students — to be a voice for working people, people that were on welfare but trying to move beyond welfare, people of color — we weren’t really able to go beyond being a student organization,” she said of the Human Rights Party.
“So the viability of the organization as a vehicle for change, I could see that it wasn’t going to be long term, and I wanted to see where else I could be effective.”
But she was the first of many openly gay public officials in the US.
Since equal marriage was legalised in 2015, a “rainbow wave” of LGBT+ lawmakers were elected.
Today, 855 out LGBT+ political leaders sit in elected office, according to the Victory Institute.
“We need you to run for office and be the next historic first,” she said.
“We’ve seen that we cannot be complacent, that we need even more LGBTQ candidates to run. LGBTQ candidates from all walks of life, with diverse backgrounds, with diverse perspectives.
“We need more LGBTQ candidates of color, more trans candidates, more womxn candidates, more LGBTQ immigrant candidates, more intersex candidates, more LGBTQ candidates with bold ideas who will keep pushing our movement forward.”
Kathy Kozachenko said that she is “so proud” of all the activists who came after her.
“The people that pushed and pushed and pushed for gay marriage, the transgender people that have pushed for their rights and for understanding of who they are.
“I think none of this would have happened without the energy and activism of many, many people not giving up, and I’m very grateful for that, and I’m grateful for the chance that I was able to play a small part in this.”
On the same day, which was also Transgender Day of Visibility, Orbán’s deputy prime minister Zsolt Semjén introduced a new bill which, if passed, would replace “gender” with “birth sex” in all legal documents issued in the country.
This would mean that Hungarian citizens would be unable to change their gender legally, a significant rollback of rights for the country’s trans community.
Since data in official documents such as ID cards, driving licenses and passports are taken from the civil registry, the change would affect these as well.
Now, European Union MEPs have hit back at the move to take away trans rights, calling it “intentional abuse”.
Marc Angel, MEP and co-president of the LGBTI Intergroup in the European Parliament, said: “This attack on the trans community is outrageous and deliberate… This move does not only intentionally silence the trans community – it seeks to erase it and deny its existence.”
Angel pointed out that Orbán and his party, Fidezs, have persistently attacked trans rights. He said that “legal gender recognition procedures have been intentionally stalled” since 2016.
Terry Reintke MEP, also co-president of the LGBTI Intergroup in the European Parliament, commented: “Fidezs’s latest move is shocking, yet not surprising.
“The LGBTI community has been continuously exposed to attacks and civil society has been systematically silenced.
“Rule of law in Hungary has been under threat and this move crystallises yet another abuse of power, this time under the pretext of COVID-19 emergency measures… Legal gender recognition is the baseline for protection of trans persons in Hungary.
“Without access to it, they are widely exposed to discrimination and harassment. This move is nothing short of intentional abuse.
“The European community must ensure that it does not go unpunished.”
An estimated 75 percent of Americans are now living under stay-at-home orders because of the coronavirus, which may be one big reason why we’re typing the following phrases into Google as fast as our malnourished fingers will allow it: “Is it safe to order food delivery?” And: “Is it safe to eat takeout during covid?” And countless variations of each.
People clearly want answers. Let’s get you some before you’re forced to binge-watch “Schitt’s Creek” with a cold can of baked beans.
Naturally, these queries can be answered from any number of perspectives: Are food delivery and takeout safe for the person ordering them? For the crews preparing the food? For the delivery drivers? None are easy to answer definitively, but there are ways customers and companies can reduce the risks.
– Are food delivery and takeout safe for the person ordering?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been consistent on its messaging from the start of the outbreak: There’s no evidence that the coronavirus can be transmitted through food. It is “generally thought to be spread from person-to-person through respiratory droplets” from coughing or sneezing, the CDC notes. Our foodstuffs may be safe, but what about the packaging? The public has been especially concerned about disease transmission via inanimate objects since the New England Journal of Medicine published a study in mid-March that said the coronavirus was detectable on cardboard, plastics and other materials for many hours, and even days, after it was applied to the surfaces.
Within days of the study, medical professionals were suggesting we take extra, extra precautions to protect us from potentially harmful packages and containers we bring into the house. But recently in a Washington Post op-ed, Joseph G. Allen, an assistant professor of exposure and assessment science at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, provided some much-needed perspective:
“In the epidemiological world, we have a helpful way to think about it: the “Sufficient-Component Cause model.” Think of this model as pieces of a pie. For disease to happen, all of the pieces of the pie have to be there: sick driver, sneezing/coughing, viral particles transferred to the package, a very short time lapse before delivery, you touching the exact same spot on the package as the sneeze, you then touching your face or mouth before hand-washing.”
In terms of takeaway, you can replace “driver” with “person packing your meal.” Either way, when you bring outside meals into the house, you should remove the food from the bags/packaging/containers and put it on clean dishware (and use your own utensils). If you want, you can use gloves to open the packaging/containers. When finished, you should throw away the materials or thoroughly clean and recycle them. You should immediately wash your hands for 20 seconds with soap and hot water before eating. (If you don’t have soap and hot water available, a hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol will suffice.) You should also clean and disinfect all surfaces where the packaging materials were placed. And don’t touch your face at any point.
In the months since the coronavirus outbreak began, more science has emerged on how it spreads. One study has suggested that the “digestive system other than the respiratory system may serve as an alternative route of infection,” which means that, theoretically, the virus could be transmitted via people who haven’t adequately washed their hands after using the bathroom.
“We can reasonably surmise that some transmissible virus happens from a stool, but we have no evidence to suggest that it is a major route of transmission,” says William Hanage, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “My judgment would be that the role of this in transmission is dwarfed by the contribution that is made by people who don’t even realize they are infected yet.”
“People should just wash their hands regularly and, in particular, when they’re preparing food,” Hanage adds.
What can you do to protect yourself from this potential route of transmission? Experts say the best way is to patronize only those restaurants/takeaways that you know and trust. But you can also track down city and county health inspection reports. They’re widely available online, whether in Los Angeles, New York, Washington or other jurisdictions. But be cognizant that reports may be old and outdated or may feature violations that have already been remedied by restaurant operators.
Recently, a story out of Skagit County, Wash., raised fears that the coronavirus may be transmitted through the air without an infected person coughing or sneezing. To date, however, the World Health Organization is sticking to its warning that the coronavirus is primarily transmitted via droplets from coughing and sneezing, largely downplaying the transmission through smaller air droplets, though not without considerable pushback from the public health community.
Restaurants and delivery services alike are keeping these concerns in mind. Delivery companies such as DoorDash, Postmates and Uber Eats offer “contactless” options in which a driver will drop off your order on the porch or some other designated area. Similarly, some restaurants and coffee shops allow customers to pick up their orders from a counter, thereby avoiding contact with an employee (though maybe not with fellow customers).
Whether or not you select the contactless option for takeaway, it’s paramount to keep at least six feet away from both employees and other customers to prevent the spread of the virus. It may be easier to maintain this distance during nonpeak hours, when there are fewer customers in the restaurant or takeaway area.
“You are already doing your bit by getting food from takeout” and delivery, says Hanage, the associate professor of epidemiology. “If you take those additional steps, then you’re doing more. You’re reducing the risks yet more.”
– Are food delivery and takeout safe for the crews preparing and packaging orders?
This is an almost impossible question to answer. Every restaurant is different: Some need only a few employees to operate now, while some still have a full crew. Some have tight kitchens; some have spacious ones. Some employees can walk to work, and some have to take public transportation, which exposes them to more people who may be carrying the virus. The best thing to do is to talk to the managers of your favorite restaurants and ask how they keep their employees safe. But do so politely, with real empathy. The pressures placed on restaurateurs right now may already be too much to bear.
As the National Restaurant Association points out, the industry already “follows strict local public health guidelines. To meet these guidelines, restaurants have safety protocols and best practices in place.” On top of municipal health codes, many chefs and restaurant owners have doubled their efforts to maintain healthy workplaces, requiring more frequent cleaning of work surfaces, changing out gloves repeatedly and other new protocols.
Last month, President Donald Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which provides paid sick leave for employees who are quarantined or are experiencing coronavirus symptoms and seeking a medical diagnosis. The act also covers employees who are taking care of someone under quarantine or a child out of school or day care because of the outbreak. Companies with more than 500 employees are exempt, presumably because 89 percent of workers at larger business have access to some kind of sick leave.
The new law should help keep restaurant employees – who historically work while ill because they have no paid sick leave – at home when they are not feeling well. Perhaps this is so obvious that it doesn’t bear repeating, but customers should not visit restaurants for takeout if they’re not feeling well, either. The coronavirus is not a one-way pandemic.
Despite all of the precautions and new measures, however, countless restaurants have still opted to close down entirely, because they couldn’t make enough money to keep the business afloat or because remaining open would put their employees (and their families) at risk. Or both. Some employers just didn’t think the risk was worth the return.
– Is food delivery safe for drivers?
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act covers gig workers such as food delivery drivers, who are not considered employees of their particular companies. As The Post’s Heather Long reported, gig workers will get these sick leave benefits “in the form of a tax credit.”
But major delivery companies, such as DoorDash and Uber Eats, have also created assistance programs that will cover up to two weeks of sick leave for qualified workers who have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, placed in quarantine or asked to self-isolate. A DoorDash representative said the company’s program would continue regardless of the federal tax credit. Some companies, such as DoorDash and Uber Eats, are also providing drivers with disinfectants, gloves, wipes and/or hand sanitizers, though some Dashers (as the drivers are called for DoorDash) have complained about the company’s shipping fees.
Customers who order delivery meals should request the contactless option. It’s good for both customer and driver. The latter encounters dozens of people a day, and every door bell they ring could bring them face to face with an infected customer. But if you insist on meeting with the driver, wash your hands thoroughly first with soap and hot water for 20 seconds. Wear a mask, if you have one.
Put the driver at ease, and let them know you want to protect their health, too. And don’t forget to tip well.
A report published in the medical journal The Lancet has found that access to identity documents that align with an individual’s gender identity correlate with lower rates of suicidal thoughts.
Those who had the ability to change their name and gender marker on birth certificates, driver’s licenses or other forms of identification were 25 percent less likely to experience psychological distress or consider taking their own lives.
The research, led by Drexel University’s Dr. Ayden Scheim and published in mid-March, came to its conclusions by analyzing 2015 data collected by the National Center for Trans Equality, which surveyed more than 27,000 trans individuals at the time.
Dr. Jack Turban, a resident physician in psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he researches the mental health of transgender youth, wrote an editorial in The Lancet to accompany Dr. Scheim’s study. Turban said the study’s findings indicate that having documents affirming a trans person’s gender identity “sends a powerful message that transgender people are accepted and valued by society.”
“Gender-congruent identification is a vital aspect of gender affirmation,” Turban told NBC News, while noting that the National Center for Transgender Equality’s survey found that just 11 percent of trans respondents “had fully congruent government identification.”
The studyis prescient given the enactment of the new law in Idaho that blocks the state from issuing birth certificates to trans people reflecting their lived gender. House Bill 509 was one of two anti-transgender bills signed by Gov. Brad Little on Monday. The other, House Bill 500, prevents trans girls from playing on school sports teams in alignment with their gender identity.
Jen Moore, a licensed professional counselor practicing in the state of Idaho, said they have “lost sleep” over how these bills will impact the local trans community.
“The Idaho Counseling Association came out in opposition to the bills that the governor just signed,” Moore said. “These are folks who already lack essential support or who are more vulnerable because the system has historically worked against them. The Idaho government is making my job that much harder.”
According to Moore, having access to an updated birth certificate is incredibly important for the transgender patients that they work with because it “validates a person and the core part of who they are.”
“To hold up a mirror and say, ‘Yes, who you are is right,’ is so important from a mental health standpoint,” she said.
Critics of the Idaho law said refusing trans people the ability to have their lives reflected on their identity documents also opens them up to greater discrimination and abuse. The National Center for Transgender Equality’s survey showed that a third of individuals who showed a birth certificate or ID that did not align with their gender presentation reported experiencing verbal harassment or physical violence as a result.
Kathy Griesmyer, policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho, said laws like HB 509 prevent trans people from “maneuvering through daily life without fear of people questioning you and your existence.” When HB 509 was being debated in the Idaho Legislature, she recalled that a trans man testified that he was once refused service at an Office Depot because he didn’t have a driver’s license that reflected his physical appearance.
“Those are small things most of us take for granted that become much bigger hurdles for trans people when their documents don’t match,” Griesmyer said. “This legislation is an attempt to legislate away trans people by not allowing them to have identity documents that match who they are.”
Although HB 509 is set to take effect July 1, it remains to be seen whether it will stand. After it was signed into law Monday, Lambda Legal accused Idaho of “explicitly flouting a binding federal court order.” Magistrate Judge Candy W. Dale, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho, ruled in 2018 that the state’s standing policy of “automatically and categorically” refusing corrected birth certificates to trans people violates the U.S. Constitution.
“This policy was unconstitutional two years ago, and it is still unconstitutional today,” Peter Renn, an attorney for the LGBTQ advocacy group, said in a statement. “Idaho has deliberately set itself on a collision course with the federal courts. It is in open rebellion against the rule of law.”
But while the U.S. court system debates the future of trans rights, experts say greater support is needed for the community. Although access to gender-congruent identity documents lowered the likelihood of suicidal thoughts, it did not eliminate such feelings. According to the Lancet study, 30 percent of respondents who had their name and gender marker updated on all forms of ID still reported thoughts of suicide.
Turban said that more research is needed but hopes the Lancet report is a call to action for lawmakers and medical professionals in how they interact with vulnerable communities.
“We also need to work on other determinants of mental health,” he said, “including lack of access to gender-affirming medical care, widespread gender identity conversion therapy and alarmingly high rates of violent victimization.”
A virtual global Pride celebration is scheduled to take place on June 27.
InterPride and the European Pride Organizers Association in a press release issued on Wednesday said they are working with Pride organizations in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania “to bring communities and Pride organizations together for this Global Pride event” that “will use online platforms to deliver a Pride in which everyone can participate, wherever they are in the world.”
“It will include musical performances, speeches, and key messages from human rights activists,” reads the press release.
The press release also notes the event will be live-streamed.
“We need community and connection more than ever,” said InterPride Co-President J. Andrew Baker. “This gives us an opportunity to both connect and celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community’s resilience in the face of this pandemic and the true spirit of Pride.”
The coronavirus pandemic has prompted the cancellation or postponement of hundreds of Pride celebrations around the world.
The Capital Pride Alliance on Monday announced it has postponed all of its Pride-related events that were scheduled to take place in May and June. The Center for Black Equity has also cancelled its annual D.C. Black Pride that takes place over Memorial Day weekend.
“The unprecedented challenges of COVID-19 mean that most Prides will not take place as planned in 2020, but we’re determined that this won’t stop us from coming together as a united, strong LGBTQIA+ community to celebrate who we are and what we stand for,” said European Pride Organizers Association President Kristine Garina, who chairs Baltic Pride in the Latvian capital of Riga, in a press release.
“Global Pride will show the LGBTQIA+ movement for the very best it can be, showing solidarity at a time when so many of us are mourning and strength when so many of us are feeling isolated and lonely,” added Garina. “Above all, we will show our resilience and determination that Pride will be back bigger and stronger than ever before.”
Capital Pride Alliance Executive Director Ryan Bos on Wednesday said his organization will participate in the event.
“We will be participating and look forward to us all thinking outside the box as to how we can celebrate and have Pride,” Bos told the Washington Blade in an email.