The emcee at an LGBT journalists’ organization annual conference Saturday night called attendees “things and its.” Marshall McPeek, a meteorologist at a Sinclair-owned ABC affiliate station in Ohio later apologized and resigned his membership to The Association of LGBTQ Journalists (NLGJA).
“Ladies and gentlemen, things and its,” were the words McPeek chose to begin the evening’s event in Palm Springs, California, which was hosted by Fox News.
But it was a tweet from Mary Emily O’Hara, who covers LGBTQ news for Condé Nast’s them, that drew attention to McPeek’s offensive remarks. Those remarks were seen as especially bigoted toward the transgender and non-binary journalism professionals in attendance.In a statement to NCRM, the NLGJA called McPeek “a volunteer emcee,” who “made an inappropriate, unscripted remark that does not reflect our values.”
“We’ve worked hard for many years to make NLGJA an inclusive organization for transgender and nonbinary journalists,” the organization, in the unsigned statement, wrote. “People were understandably hurt and offended by last night’s remarks. As journalists, we understand uniquely that words matter. We apologize and are committed to working to make NLGJA more inclusive and diverse.”
McPeek has not publicly commented since his apology at the event.
Monica Roberts, the award-winning journalist and founder of TransGrio, reportedly shouted, “Oh no he did not,” and, “there are no things or its here,” when McPeek made his bigoted comment.
A gay student who was forced to flee Kenya after his family tried to send him to a gay conversion camp has been awarded the Colin Higgins Foundation’s annual Youth Courage Award.
Mahad Olad’s terrifying ordeal in the summer of 2017 left him with no contact with his family, who brought him to Kenya under the pretence that it was a “vacation.”
Mahad Olad (Instagram)
Receiving the Youth Courage Award also means that he will receive a $10,000 grant. The award is given to an inspiring person within the LGBT+ community who has overcome adversity brought on by their identity.
Olad, who lives and studies in New York, opened up about his ordeal of almost being sent to a gay conversion camp in his student newspaper, The Ithacan.
He went on a holiday in the summer of 2017 to Kenya with his mother, who Olad says comes from an “extremely conservative Muslim background.”
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However, upon arriving in Kenya, his mother told him that it was not a vacation, as he had been told, and that she had brought him there to send him to a gay conversion camp.
He was horrified to discover that his family had discovered the truth about his sexuality, which he had chosen to keep from them.
His mother asked him to withdraw from college in New York so he could be placed under the control of a group of sheiks who would reform his religious beliefs and “reorient” his sexuality.
“A few sheiks were at our hotel that night,” Olad wrote in his student newspaper earlier this year. “They briefly spoke to me about how being gay and atheist is unequivocally against my Islamic upbringing and African heritage.
“I knew that when they came back to get me the following morning, I would be forced to go with them.”
Mahad Olad (Twitter)
Olad said that the camps that operate in Kenya and Somalia are terrifying places where captives are subject to “severe beatings, shackling, food deprivation and other cruel practices.”
“Those who fail to cooperate, make adequate progress or try to escape could possibly be killed.”
Olad told his mother he was going for a walk that night and immediately called a group called the Ex-Muslims of North America, who helped him get out of Kenya and back to the United States. He is no longer in touch with his family.
Stonewall say that LGBT+ people continue to be exposed to harmful conversion therapy. A 2009 survey of over 1,300 accredited mental health professionals found that more than 200 had offered some form of conversion therapy.
A group of House lawmakers is calling on the Department of Veterans to incorporate gender reassignment surgery as part of its coverage for U.S. veterans, calling denial of the procedure for transgender people “unconscionable.”In the Sept. 7 letter, the lawmakers respond to a request for comment on coverage for gender reassignment surgery.
“Simply put, the VA has an obligation to provide the necessary care that is prescribed to enrolled veterans by their health care practitioners,” the letter says. “It is unconscionable to deny veterans the same access to health care services that civilians receive in the private sector, and that is available to Medicare beneficiaries and federal workers, simply because of outdated and unscientific prejudice against their gender identity.”
The VA has request comment on gender reassignment surgery as a consequence of ongoing litigation against the department seeking coverage for the procedure. The case is currently pending before the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Given the anti-LGBT policies of the Trump administration, including the attempt to ban transgender people from the U.S. military, it’s hard to see how the solicitation for comment could result in a proposed rule change. In fact, the administration could use comments against coverage as justification for current policy.
Brownley, top Democrat on the House Veterans’ Affairs Health Subcommittee, said in a statement the estimated 160,000 transgender veterans in the United States are deserving of coverage and “have put their lives on the line in order to protect our constitutionally protected freedoms.”
“It is simply unacceptable that we would ask our veterans to risk their lives to protect our rights but we would refuse to defend theirs in return,” Brownley said. “The VA must put an end to this discriminatory and outdated ban on treatments for gender dysphoria and ensure that all our nation’s veterans have access to the healthcare they have earned.”
The lawmakers’ letter to the VA has a blemish of bipartisanship. Among the 83 House members who signed the missive was Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), who has a transgender son and is slated to retire from Congress at the end of this year.
Charlotte Clymer, a transgender veteran and spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement the exclusion of gender reassignment surgery from VA coverage is harmful.
“The Department of Veterans Affairs’ exclusion of many forms of transition-related health care flies in the face of every major medical authority and undermines the health and wellbeing of transgender patriots who have laid their lives on the line for this country and their families,” Clymer said.
Indeed, the letter says studies have shown transition-related care, including gender reassignment surgery, can reduce the rate of suicide among transgender people as well as mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression.
“This broad medical consensus on the treatment of gender dysphoria is based on decades of peer-reviewed studies and clinical observation — including studies of veterans — that demonstrate its efficacy and substantial health benefits,” the letter says.
The Department of Veterans Affairs during the Obama administration had floated the idea of covering gender reassignment surgery, but the planned was scrapped after the election of President Trump — but before his inauguration — under the pretext of concerns about cost.
A VA spokesperson said in response to the letter the department “appreciates the lawmakers’ views and will respond to them directly.”
“VA will consider the comments received and determine the appropriate response,” the spokesperson added. “Although there is no specific timeframe required for this type of consideration, VA will announce any action it takes in the Federal Register.”
The National LGBT Cancer Network is the newest recipient of a $2.5 million five year award from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to expand resources for their grantees serving LGBTQ people at risk for tobacco-related cancers.
“The LGBTQ communities smoke at rates significantly higher than other populations. That alone increases our cancer risks dramatically,” said Liz Margolies, the Executive Director of the National LGBT Cancer Network.
The Cancer Network’s new award will expand their NYC presence to Providence, RI, the base for their Principal Investigator, Dr. Scout. For more than a decade, Dr. Scout has led this CDC health priority at other agencies. He emphasizes that the next five years will bring a new vision for this work: “We are really looking to expand the online knowledgebase and toolbox for LGBTQ community members at risk for cancer, living with cancer, and policymakers serving us. Watch our website at www.cancer-network.org; each month we will be adding new resources, building a robust library of information and tools everyone can access.”
The CDC award leverages a trusted network of organizational members who specialize in tobacco-related cancers and/or serving LGBTQ people. The Cancer Network reports early membership commitments from a wide range of LGBTQ serving national organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign, the National LGBTQ Task Force, the Gay & Lesbian Medical Association, the Equality Federation, and more. Likewise, many states health departments and national health organizations have already signed on as members: American Cancer Society, The Truth Initiative, Association of State and Territorial Health Officers, and more. “The American Cancer Society has a longstanding commitment to addressing cancer in the LGBTQ communities. We are very excited about this new award and look forward to helping further reduce the cancer impact for this population,” said Tawana Thomas-Johnson, Vice President, Diversity and Inclusion at ACS.
Ms. Margolies added, “We are particularly excited to have members work with the state health departments, who collectively are the second largest health funder in the United States.”
The National LGBT Cancer Network works to improve the lives of LGBT cancer survivors and those at risk, through education, training, and advocacy. They recently created the most comprehensive LGBTQ cultural competency training program available, which has been used to train thousands people across the country to date. Learn more at www.cancer-network.org.
Tommy Koh, the country’s former UN ambassador, called for a class action suit to change Singapore’s Section 377A law, which, like India’s now-defunct legislation, was put in place under British colonial rule.
Singapore’s Law and Home Affairs Minister Kasiviswanathan Shanmugam has also raised the possibility of repealing the law, which carries a sentence of up to two years in prison and predates Singapore’s independence in 1965 by a decade.
Tommy Koh is currently serving as Singapore’s Ambassador-at-large (ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP/Getty)
In response to a Facebook post by the dean of National University of Singapore’s Faculty of Law, Simon Chesterman, about the Indian court’s decision—which sparked joyous celebrations across the country—Koh wrote: “I would encourage our gay community to bring a class action to challenge the constitutionality of Section 377A.”
Koh responded with a simple solution, writing: “try again.”
“Try again” (Simon Chesterman/facebook)
Shanmugam, a cabinet minister, sounded sympathetic when asked about the issue on Friday.
He said, “Singapore… on this issue, it is a deeply split society. The majority oppose to any change to section 377A—they are opposed to removing it,” according to Channel NewsAsia.
“A minority—I have to say, a growing minority—want it to be repealed. The government is in the middle,” continued Shanmugam.
Singapore’s Home Affairs and Law Minister Shanmugam (ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP/Getty)
“This issue relates to social mores, values—so can you impose viewpoints on a majority when it so closely relates to a social value system?”
But Shanmugam emphasised that the country’s founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew had been “sympathetic” towards LGBT+ people and had “expressed his understanding for those who are gay.”
“The law is there but generally there have been no prosecutions for private conduct,” said Shanmugam.
“People openly express themselves as gay, you [have] got the gay parade. Police even approved a licensing for it, no-one gets prosecuted for declaring themselves as gay.
“So, really, when was the last time someone was prosecuted?”
The Pink Dot Pride event attracts thousands every year (ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP/Getty)
Shanmugam hinted at his personal acceptance of gay people, saying: “Speaking for myself, if you ask me, in a personal capacity, personal view—people’s lifestyles, sexual attitudes—(we) really should be careful about treating them as criminals or criminalising that.”
He refused to explicitly voice his support for LGBT+ equality, though, saying: “But again, it will be wrong for me to impose my personal views on society or as a policymaker.
“We live our lives, live and let live. If one side pushes, you will expect a substantial pushback.”
The prime minister’s nephew, Li Huanwu, came out publicly last month (Li Huanwu/facebook)
PinkNews spoke to activist Rachel Yeo last month about how life for LGBT+ people in Singapore can be difficult, with mental health issues prominent and a ban in place on positive representations of queer people in mainstream media.
Li Huanwu, the grandson of Singapore’s first prime minister and nephew of its current prime minister, came out as gay in July, but his public statement was seen as brave and unusual, rather than commonplace.
India’s highest court has just struck down a more than century-old prohibition on gay sex, calling the Victorian-era law “irrational, indefensible, and manifestly arbitrary.”
The ruling represents a hard-fought victory for gay-rights activists in India, who have been battling the law for more than a decade. But it’s also a symbolic break with India’s colonial past. The law, known as Section 377, dates to when the British Empire ruled India.
The court’s ruling on Thursday effectively makes it illegal to discriminate against people based on sexuality, though it doesn’t permit same-sex marriage. Section 377 was inconsistently enforced, but police and others sometimes weaponized the law to harass, blackmail, or extort transgender or gay people — especially men. Gay rights advocates said it also deterred victims of sexual assault from reporting crimes over fears of prosecution.
And that contributed to a culture of fear across India, according to activists who celebrated the ruling. A man named Krishna, one of the petitioners in the case, told the BBC: “I don’t know how it will change our lives yet but it helps us lead them without fear or depression.”
The fight to decriminalize gay sex in India
A five-judge panel, in a unanimous decision, overturned Section 377 on Thursday, though the same law had been upheld by the same court just five years earlier.
“We have to bid adieu to prejudices and empower all citizens,” India’s Chief Justice Dipak Misra said as he read the decision striking down the nearly 160-year-old law.
Section 377 criminalized “whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature,” and sentences ranged from 10 years to life in prison.
Indian supporters of the LGBT community take part in a pride parade in Chennai on June 24, 2018.Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images
Activists have been trying to change the legislation for more than a decade.
In 2001, the Naz Foundation, an Indian organization that works on HIV/AIDS advocacy, disputed the constitutionality of the law. The legal challenge wove its way through the courts for years. Finally, in 2009, the Delhi High Court overturned the ban on gay sex, but the ruling only applied in that specific jurisdiction, not across the country.
That early gay rights victory almost immediately faced a setback. Proponents of Section 377 took the challenge to India’s Supreme Court, which fully reinstated the ban on gay sex in 2013.
In that 2013 decision, the court said that gay people made up a “minuscule fraction” of India’s population, and left it up to India’s Parliament to change the laws.
But it was another landmark decision by India’s Supreme Court in 2017 — this one about privacy — that provided opponents of Section 377 a new avenue with which to challenge the law.
In August 2017, India’s highest court ruled that Indians have a fundamental right to privacy, and it included sexual orientation among those protected rights. “Discrimination against an individual on the basis of sexual orientation is deeply offensive to the dignity and self-worth of the individual,” the Court said in its decision.
And a year later, India’s highest court strengthened that principle when it struck down the law criminalizing gay sex. “What makes life meaningful is love,” Justice Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud wrote in the decision. “The right that makes us human is the right to love. To criminalize the expression of that right is profoundly cruel and inhumane.”
What these decision might mean for India — and the region
India’s gay rights advocates won a major victory on Thursday — but there’s still more to do.
Issues like same-sex marriage, adoption, and inheritance rules have yet to be decided, and could lead to court battles in the future.
Members and supporters of the LGBT community celebrate the Supreme Court decision in New Delhi on September 6, 2018.Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images
The end of Section 377 won’t necessarily be embraced across India, and there’s still a lot of skepticism about gay rights outside major urban centers and among conservative religious Hindu, Muslim, and Christian groups. Those who wanted the law to remain in place argued that sexual orientation wasn’t innate, and that decriminalizing gay sex would lead to the spread of HIV, according to the New York Times.
But Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his conservative ruling party, Bharatiya Janata, largely stayed on the sidelines during this latest debate. The government, which had previously supported the law, said during the latest fight that they would leave the decision up to the courts.
This silence was likely driven by a mix of domestic and global political concerns — the desire to balance India’s ambitions as a modern economic power, while trying to placate some of its more conservative supporters.
Still, many advocates interpreted this ruling as laying the groundwork for a greater acceptance of gay, lesbian, and transgender people in India.
“This is not a narrow, do-what-you-want-in-your-bedroom type of decision,” Menaka Guruswamy, a lawyer for the plaintiffs in the case, told the Los Angeles Times. “This is so much wider than that, and the fact that many of the justices linked this to the idea of freedom and consent, that it was unanimous, that all of them looked to India as a constitutional democracy … it’s huge.”
The question now is how intensely this ruling might reverberate across the region, or in other countries (including former colonies) that have similar laws decriminalizing gay sex. According to the Washington Post, India was the largest country to have such a law — until Thursday.
“I was turning into a cynical human being with very little belief in the system,” Ritu Dalmia, one of the plaintiffs in the case, told the Guardian, “but honestly, this has really shown once again that we are a functional democracy where freedom of choice, speech and rights still exist.”
Shantee Tucker is the 19th reported case of a trans person being killed in the US so far in 2018. (Shantee Tucker/Facebook)
A black trans women shot dead in Philadelphia on Wednesday morning has become the 19th reported case of a trans person being killed in the US so far this year.
Shantee Tucker, who had celebrated her 30th birthday on Sunday (September 2), was found suffering from a gunshot wound by police at about 1am on a highway in the Hunting Park area of the city, according to local media reports.
She was taken to Temple University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.Police are reportedly looking for a suspect in connection with the murder.
According to local magazinePhiladelphia, a police report state that Tucker had been arguing with an unidentified person or persons in a black Ford truck, who then started shooting at Tucker.
Philadelphia Police Department are appealing for any witnesses to contact the Homicide Unit on 215-686-3334.
Friends have paid tribute to Tucker on social media.
One friend, Samantha Jo Dato, wrote on Facebook: “R.I.P Shantee Tucker I was just on your live checking in on your birthday. May you forever live in our hearts and justice be swift and ruthless.
“This is so close to home Philly Stay Strong and wrap one another in love.”
Another friend, Tameer Harris, posted on Facebook: “Omg I can’t believe the news I just got R.I.P Shante !! you was really like another big sister to me!”
Harris added: “I really can’t even believe this phone call I got ❤️❤️❤️ this morning I woke up to a confirmation that I can’t even stomach to believe 😔 May you Rest In Peace baby 💋 I Love You So Much!”
Sarah McBride, national press secretary of the Human Rights Campaign, told PinkNews: “There is a growing epidemic of violence targeting transgender people, particularly Black transgender women.
“This is an urgent crisis that is a by-product of the toxic and violent combination of transphobia, misogyny, and racism. As a society, our policymakers and lawmakers must do more to combat this violence.
“Our hearts go out to the family—both blood and chosen—of Shantee Tucker, and we must never forget that behind the headlines was a real person whose life of love, hopes and dreams was tragically cut short.”
Dejanay L. Stanton (left) and Vontashia Bell were both found dead on August 30. (Facebook)
Dejanay L. Stanton, a 24-year-old woman, was found on a street in Chicago on Thursday morning with a gunshot wound to the head, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
The other woman, 18-year-old Vontashia Bell, was also found in a street in Shreveport, Louisiana, with gunshot wounds to the chest and wrist.
Born on May 21, 1923, the pastor marched at early gay rights protests, years before the Stonewall Riots in 1969.Wood reportedly came out as gay to the public when his article titled “Spiritual Exercises” was published in a gay magazine, showing him photographed in a clerical collar.
He published his groundbreaking book Christ and the Homosexual in 1960, which called for church-approved equal marriage and for Christian clergy to welcome gay people.
Wood wrote that the “saving message of Christ and the freely flowing grace of God are as much for the homosexual as the heterosexual,” adding that “the church must minister equally to both; that the demands of Christ apply to both; that both are capable of being moral, as well as immoral and amoral.”
In 1960, Wood was honoured with an Award of Merit from The Mattachine Society, an early gay rights group.
Wood was also known to have carried out same-sex marriage ceremonies many years before it was enshrined in law across the entirety of the US in 2015.
Wood advocated for equal marriage. (BORIS HORVAT/AFP/Getty)
In his younger years, Wood studied as an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania, and went on to be enlisted as a soldier during World War II.
He was injured during the invasion of Italy and honourably discharged for his efforts.
In 1962, Wood met his long-term partner, Hugh M. Coulter, an artist and cowboy, who was also a World War II veteran.
The pair met in a gay leather bar in Manhattan.
Wood marched at gay rights protests, years before the Stonewall Riots in 1969. (Creative Commons)
Wood and Coulter were also present at the country’s first gay picket line in 1965, reportedly protesting outside the Civil Service Building after it had been revealed that the head of the Civil Service Department said it would not employee gay people.
The couple spent 27 years together until Coulter’s death in 1989 and each wore a gold wedding ring.
In 2001, Wood was honoured as a gay pioneer by the Christian Association at the University of Pennsylvania.
And, in 2004, the United Church of Christ Coalition of LGBT Concern gave him its pioneer award.
Jeff Cobb was denied early boarding (jeffcobb415/twitter)
A gay couple has claimed that they were denied early boarding with their daughter—only to see straight parents walk through with children.
Jeff Cobb and his husband were flying with Taiwanese airline EVA Air from San Francisco to Thailand on Saturday (September 1) when they were reportedly separated on the false basis that only one parent could accompany a child onto the plane.
Cobb described on Twitter how “my husband and I were told only one of us could join our 19-month-old in the family boarding group of EVA Air 27 from SFO on 9/1/18.
“I explained we were both the fathers of the child, and they said it was their policy that only one parent can board and the other has to wait in the normal line.
“Not having flown EVA before, I accepted it and let my husband and child go while I boarded later.”
But Cobb said he was in for a surprise when he was finally reunited with his husband and daughter.
“When I met him on the plane, he said there were many other (straight) families all boarding together,” he wrote.
“I’m very disappointed that the EVA ground staff at SFO thinks it’s ok to separate same-sex families during boarding.
“I will definitely not be flying this airline again after this incident.”
When they got their connection in Thailand with EVA Air, the two dads were allowed to walk through early boarding with their daughter, according to Attitude.
An EVA Air spokesperson said: “EVA Air and most especially our San Francisco International Airport team sincerely apologise to all the passengers affected by this incident.
Cobb said he “will definitely not be flying this airline again after this incident” (EVA Airways Corp./Facebook)
“It is our policy that passengers travelling with infants can have priority boarding. The policy does not limit the number of accompanying adults or specify the relationship to the infant.
“This unfortunate incident was due to misunderstanding. Our San Francisco ground-handling agent understood that only one parent could board with an infant.
“We have apologised to our passengers and reminded our airport staff and agents about our priority boarding policy so that we can prevent this kind of incident from happening again.”
Last year, Grant Morse and husband Sam said Southwest denied them priority boarding to a flight because the airline didn’t consider them and their three children to be a family.
New research suggests that LGBT+ people want companies to implement support services, instead of just sponsoring Pride events or using the rainbow flag in their marketing.
The latest research by YouGov indicates that queer people would prefer businesses to actively implement networks that will support LGBT+ staff and customers over actions such as paying to have a float at a Pride parade.
The study of 1,711 adults in the UK—136 of whom were LGBT+—revealed that nearly three quarters of LGBT+ people said they would feel “more positive” if companies introduced services or policies to support their LGBT+ customers.In comparison, half of LGBT+ allies, and more than one third (36 percent) of the general British population, said they felt this way.
Two thirds of LGBT+ people also said they would feel more positive if companies introduced policies to support their LBGT+ colleagues, compared to 48 percent of LGBT+ supporters, and more than one third (34 percent) of the general population.
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However, a lower proportion—65 percent—of LGBT+ respondents said they would feel happier if their company sponsored or took part in a Pride event.
And nearly six in 10 (59 percent) of LGBT+ people surveyed said that they would feel more positive if companies used the rainbow flag in their marketing to show support for the LGBT+ community.
Chantel Le Carpentier, a researcher who carried out the survey for YouGov, told PinkNews: “Our data shows that while the majority of LGBT+ people support brands using the rainbow pride flag in their marketing to show their support, a greater number would be more impressed by a company that introduced policies actively supporting LGBT+ employees or customers.
“This is certainly something crucial for brands to consider when it comes to drawing up their marketing plans for the next Pride season, and of course in the coming year ahead.”
Similarly to LGBT+ respondents, a lower percentage of respondents who said they were supporters of gay rights, or were part of the general population, said that they would feel more positively about businesses sponsoring a Pride event or using the rainbow flag for marketing purposes.
Drag Queens Crystal Couture (right) and Domini (left) pose for a photo with British Airways staff at Brighton Pride in August. (Tim P. Whitby/Tim P. Whitby/Getty)
Commenting on the results, Sam Bjorn, a spokesperson from Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants, which marched at Pride in London and Brighton Pride this year, told PinkNews: “Companies need to do more for LGBT+ employees than marching in Pride or using the rainbow flag in their advertising.
“More important are the policies and practices that organisations have and how they affect all LGBT+ people and all people who face persecution and oppression that was once targeted at us.”
Bjorn also criticised companies, including British Airways and private security company Serco, for using “Pride to show how tolerant they are while remaining complicit in the violent persecution of migrants, including LGBT+ people fleeing persecution.”
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The exterior of Costa coffee store changes it’s logo to include the Pride colours in the run up to Pride in London in July. ( Leon Neal/Getty)
More than 400 companies sponsored or took part in Pride in London’s parade in July this year.
Tanya Compas, a youth engagement officer at UK Black Pride, told PinkNews that the new statistics were unsurprising.
She said: “To me, these results just show what I already knew, those of us from the LGBTQ+ community can see the tokenism of our identities by companies during pride month, compared to the CIS-Het [cisgender-heterosexual] population who just don’t get it or don’t care to understand, because it doesn’t affect them.”
Compas added that the results show that companies need to implement support services for LGBT+ people, highlighting an incident in November 2017 when Topshop staff reportedly barred non-binary performance artist Travis Alabanza from using the changing room of their choice.
“Look Topshop, they tend to be the first people to put rainbows outside their flagship store in Oxford Circus, but equally their changing rooms are not safe spaces for our trans and gender non-conforming siblings,” said Compas, adding: “They’re ally-ship was fake, they were and are—like many companies—chasing the pink pound.”
Compas continued: “Every year that pride comes around, I see these companies coming out with these really disingenuous campaigns including LGBTQ+ people, in ‘support’ of pride, but many often neglect Black and people of colour (POC )from their campaigns, our trans and gender non-conforming siblings, our otherwise abled siblings, our muslim siblings…They keep it safe.
“There seems to be more emphasis on our CIS-Het white ‘allies’ than people from the community itself.”
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