The former governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee, resigned from the Country Music Association Foundation board of directors this week.
Huckabee faced a backlash over a number of stances against LGBT rights he has aired throughout his time as Governor of Arkansas and beyond.
Writing in a letter of resignation, Huckabee who has made his stance on LGBT issues clear in recent years, said that some had “bullied” him out of the appointments with threats of boycotts and the reversal of support.
He wrote: “I genuinely regret that some in the industry were so outraged by my appointment that they bullied the CMA and the Foundation with economic threats and vowed to withhold support for the programs for students if I remained.”
The two-time Republican presidential candidate Huckabee, has in the past hit out at same-sex marriage, comparing it to incest and polygamy, suggesting that adoption by same-sex couples is experimentation, has attacked trans people, joked about rape and murder, used gay as an insult, and various other anti-LGBT stances.
He oddly did not mention the controversy around his LGBT-rights stance in his letter.
But he did write: “If the industry doesn’t want people of faith or who hold conservative and traditional political views to buy tickets and music, they should be forthcoming and say it.”
The Country Music Association Foundation was warned by business owners that they would drop support if Huckabee remained as a board member.
Jason Owen, who is married to his same-sex partner and with who he has a son, is the co-president of Monument Records.
He told Monument CEO Sarah Trahern and CMA Foundation executive Tiffany Kerns that his companies and their clients would drop support of the foundation in light of Huckabee’s appointment
“Huckabee speaks of the sort of things that would suggest my family is morally beneath his and uses language that has a profoundly negative impact upon young people all across this country,” wrote Owen wrote in an email published by MusicRow.
“Not to mention how harmful and damaging his deep involvement with the NRA is. What a shameful choice.”
People For the American Way, the organization that runs Right Wing Watch, filed suit against the Department of Justice and the Department of Housing and Urban Development today to demand the release of documents concerning reported changes in federal policy toward LGBTQ people.
Right Wing Watch had filed Freedom of Information Act requests with both agencies asking for documents on reported actions removing mentions of LGBTQ people from federal announcements and programs. These reported actions were being taken quietly and without public announcement, raising the questions of who made the decisions, what the decisions covered, and whether agency staff had been directed to implement certain policies regarding programs affecting LGBTQ people without public knowledge.
In August, the organization asked HUD for copies of any directives to pull back from efforts to combat LGBTQ homelessness after New York magazine reported that department leadership had:
… ordered the removal of online training materials meant, in part, to help homeless shelters make sure they were providing equal access to transgender people. It also pulled back a survey regarding projects in Cincinnati and Houston to reduce LGBT homelessness. And it forced its Policy Development and Research division to dissociate itself from a major study it had funded on housing discrimination against gay, lesbian, and transgender people — the study ended up being released in late June under the aegis of the Urban Institute instead.
In September, after The New York Times reported that the Department of Justice had “scrubbed references to ‘L.G.B.T.Q. youth’ from the description of a federal program for victims of sex trafficking,” we asked DOJ for any directives related to that action as well.
Although the deadlines for fulfilling these requests have long past, neither agency has produced any responsive documents.
The group have also recently filed a FOIA request with the Department of Health and Human Services regarding similar decisions to remove references to LGBTQ people from agency policies.
A Media Matters analysis of broadcast and cable news found that networks discussed anti-LGBTQ violence and homicides only 22 times for less than 40 minutes across seven channels in 2017, even though it was the deadliest year in hate violence against the community since at least 2012. The majority of the coverage was about two specific stories and came on just four days, and the networks rarely noted the trend of increasing anti-LGBTQ violence nationwide in their coverage.
Top trends from a year of anti-LGBTQ violence coverage on broadcast and cable TV news
Media Matters analyzed 2017 coverage of the deadliest year in anti-LGBTQ hate violence since at least 2012 on cable and broadcast TV news, flagging segments in which speakers focused on anti-LGBTQ violence or on a specific anti-LGBTQ killing. We analyzed cable TV news coverage between 6 a.m. and midnight on CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC and broadcast TV news coverage on the morning shows, flagship evening news programs, and Sunday political talk shows on ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox Broadcasting Co. Here are some of our key findings:
Across seven networks, anti-LGBTQ violence was discussed only 22 times for a total of 39 minutes and 36 seconds.
Speakers contextualized their subjects as part of an overall trend of increasing violence against the LGBTQ community in only seven of the 22 discussions.
Discussion of two stories — the death of Scout Schultz and Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision to send a hate crimes prosecutor to investigate the 2016 killing of Kedarie Johnson — comprised more than half of all discussions about, and time spent covering, anti-LGBTQ violence. Stories about Schultz’s death occurred over a three-day period, and stories about Johnson’s case all occurred on one day.
Though Fox News spent the most time covering anti-LGBTQ violence — at 10 minutes and 21 seconds — most of that coverage came from one 7.5-minute segment featuring a disgraced police detective who defended the police officer who shot Schultz.
Anti-LGBTQ hate homicides in 2017 were at their highest rate in more than five years, mirroring a years-long rise in anti-LGBTQ hate incidents
NCAVP finds that anti-LGBTQ murders were up by 86 percent in 2017, and the latest FBI data found an increase in anti-LGBTQ hate crimes in 2016. The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) reported that anti-LGBTQ homicides were up by 86 percent in 2017, with the number of victims growing from 28 in 2016 to 52 in 2017. Of the 52 victims, 27 identified as transgender or gender nonconforming and 22 were transgender women of color. People of color made up 71 percent of anti-LGBTQ hate homicide victims in 2017, and 67 percent of the total victims were under the age of 35. According to a report by the Human Rights Campaign and the Trans People of Color Coalition, “Transgender women are estimated to face more than four times the risk of becoming homicide victims than the general population of all women.” These findings reflect a general trend of increasing anti-LGBTQ hate crimes and violence. In November, the Human Rights Campaign reported that the FBI’s 2016 hate crime statistics showed increases in anti-LGBTQ hate crimes, noting, “Of the 6,121 incidents reported, 1,076 were based on sexual orientation bias and 124 were based on gender identity bias. These numbers reflect a two percent and nine percent increase, respectively.” [National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, January 2018; Human Rights Campaign and Trans People of Color Coalition, 2017; Human Rights Campaign, 11/13/17]
Some media have reported on the rise in anti-LGBTQ violence throughout 2017. Media have been aware of increasing violence against LGBTQ people since well before NCAVP’s January report was released. In March 2017, TheWashington Post wrote that seven transgender women had been killed only two months into the year, quoting Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-MA) saying that the country was “certainly on pace to blow right by the record set last year.” The article also noted that “while not unprecedented, the frequency of the killings has rattled a community whose members are prone to suffering violent attacks, whether hate-based or otherwise.” That same week, Newsweek similarly reported that those seven murders put “the rate well on course to beat the previous figure of 23 reported murders” of transgender people in 2016. In June, The Daily Beast reported on NCAVP’s 2016 report, noting that the year “was the deadliest year on record for the LGBT community” and that it marked an increase in anti-LGBTQ homicides even if you didn’t count the “49 victims of the Pulse nightclub massacre” in Orlando, FL. The report added that “anti-LGBT violence shows no signs of stopping in 2017” and that the year was “on track to be the most violent on record for the U.S. transgender community.” [The Washington Post, 3/16/17; Newsweek, 3/15/17; The Daily Beast, 6/12/17]
Broadcast and cable news spent less than 40 minutes discussing anti-LGBTQ hate violence in 2017
Throughout 2017, broadcast and cable news spent a total of 39 minutes and 36 seconds discussing anti-LGBTQ hate violence. Broadcast networks ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox Broadcasting Co. spent a total of just over 17.5 minutes during their morning shows, flagship evening news programs, and Sunday political talk shows discussing anti-LGBTQ hate violence in 2017. Cable news networks CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC, meanwhile, spent just under 22 minutes covering the topic throughout the year, based on a review of 18 hours of coverage every day between 6 a.m. and midnight. Of the total 39 minutes and 36 seconds of coverage across networks, 24.5 minutes were spent discussing just two stories — the murder of Scout Schultz and Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision to send a hate crimes prosecutor to investigate the death of Kedarie Johnson — accounting for more than 60 percent of the coverage. Fox News spent the most time discussing anti-LGBTQ violence, devoting 10 minutes and 21 seconds to the topic, but more than 7.5 minutes of that coverage came from one segment that included disgraced former Los Angeles Police Department Detective Mark Fuhrman defending the police officer who shot Schultz. Fuhrman became toxic during the O.J. Simpson murder trial with the discovery of hours of video tape of him using a racial epithet and was later charged with perjury for lying under oath about his language. Fox News has a history of hosting Fuhrman to discuss police violence. MSNBC had the most segments addressing the subject, but its coverage lasted less than 5.5 minutes in total, the lowest of any cable channel. In terms of broadcast networks, Fox Broadcasting Co. did not address anti-LGBTQ violence in 2017 but does not have morning or evening news programming; ABC News had the next least amount of coverage with less than 2.5 minutes. [Fox News, The Story with Martha MacCallum, 9/19/17; Media Matters, 3/30/16]
Across networks, anti-LGBTQ violence was discussed only 22 times in 2017, and only seven of those reports explicitly mentioned or alluded to it as part of an overall upward trend
Throughout 2017, cable and broadcast news shows discussed anti-LGBTQ violence only 22 times. An analysis of programming between 6 a.m. and midnight on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News and on the morning shows, flagship evening news programs, and Sunday political talk shows on broadcast stations ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox Broadcasting Co. found that networks discussed hate violence against the LGBTQ community only 22 times in total in 2017. MSNBC had the most discussions, with six pieces of coverage, and ABC News and Fox Broadcasting Co. had the least coverage, with one and zero segments, respectively, although Fox does not have morning or evening news programming like the other broadcast networks.
Only seven out of the 22 discussions of anti-LGBTQ violence and its victims contextualized it as part of an overall trend of increasing violence against the LGBTQ community. Only seven segments discussing anti-LGBTQ violence and its victims mentioned or alluded to an overall growing trend in anti-LGBTQ hate violence, with all seven also noting in some way the trend of increased violence against the transgender community. All 15 discussions that failed to contextualize the trend were about specific murders of LGBTQ victims (for instance, not one of the 13 segments about Johnson or Schultz mentioned the trend). We deemed coverage as contextualizing the trend in anti-LGBTQ hate violence if it specifically mentioned an increase in anti-LGBTQ violence, acknowledged the high rates of violence against LGBTQ people, or noted several instances of anti-LGBTQ violence within a specified time frame.
Reports on the death of Scout Schultz and the investigation into Kedarie Johnson’s killing made up more than half of the coverage of anti-LGBTQ violence
Out of 22 discussions of anti-LGBTQ violence across the networks, eight were specifically about the murder of Scout Schultz. More than one-third of the discussions about anti-LGBTQ violence in 2017 were about a single case, the killing of Scout Schultz, the “bisexual, nonbinary, and intersex” president of an LGBTQ student group at Georgia Tech, who used the gender-neutral pronoun they. All eight discussions occurred between September 17 and 19, while protests were erupting on the Georgia Tech campus. A campus police officer fatally shot Schultz, who reportedly was holding a multipurpose tool with an unextended blade and saying “shoot me,” after Schultz “called 911 to report a suspicious white male with long blonde hair on campus holding a knife and possibly a gun,” according to The New York Times. Schultz had left three suicide notes in their room, and, according to the Times, their mother said that they “suffered from depression and had attempted suicide in the past.” Half of the segments were framed around the campus protests that erupted after Schultz’s murder, and of the eight discussions, only three mentioned Schultz’s LGBTQ identity. [The New York Times, 9/18/17]
Five of the 22 pieces of coverage discussing violence against the LGBTQ community were about Jeff Sessions sending a hate crimes prosecutor to Iowa to investigate the killing of Kedarie Johnson. More than 22 percent of TV news discussions in 2017 of anti-LGBTQ violence were about Attorney General Jeff Sessions sending a hate crimes prosecutor to Iowa to investigate the 2016 killing of gender-fluid black teenager Kedarie Johnson. All five discussions occurred on October 16 on cable news, with MSNBC discussing the case three times and CNN and Fox News discussing the case one time each. [The New York Times, 10/15/17, 10/26/17]
Methodology
Media Matters searched Nexis transcripts for cable TV coverage appearing between 6 a.m. and midnight on CNN and between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. on Fox News and MSNBC (daytime transcripts for those networks are not available on Nexis), as well as transcripts of broadcast TV news morning shows (Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, and Today) flagship nightly news shows, and Sunday political talk shows on ABC News, CBS News, and NBC News between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2017, for mentions of the words or variations of the words “LGBT,” “gay,” “transgender,” “gender identity,” “lesbian,” “bisexual,” “sexual orientation,” “gender nonconforming,” or “gender fluid” occurring within 25 words of the terms or variations of the terms “violence,” “crime,” “hate,” “attack,” “homicide,” “shoot,” “murder,” “death,” “die,” or “kill.”
We also searched for the names of all 52 anti-LGBTQ homicide victims in 2017, using the name or names listed in the NCAVP report: Mesha Caldwell, Jamie Lee Wounded Arrow, Sean Ryan Hake, Savyon Zabar, Bill Denham, Dontae Lampkins, JoJo Striker, Jaquarrius Holland, Keke Collier/Tiara Richmond, Chyna Gibson/Chyna Doll Dupree, Glenser Soliman, Ciara McElveen, Alphonza Watson, Andrew Nesbitt, An Vinh Nguyen, Kenne McFadden, Bruce Garnett, Chay Reed, Mx. “Kenneth” Bostick, Earl English, Imer Alvarado, Sherrell Faulkner, Kevin Wirth, David Swartley, Matthew Murrey, Josie Berrios/Kendra Adams, Neil Rodney Smith, Ava Le’Ray Barrin, Michael “Chris” Jones, Ebony Morgan, Robert Lee Covington, Rodriguez Montez Burks, TeeTee Dangerfield, John Jolly, Jaylow MC, Juan Javier Cruz, Gwynevere River Song, Kiwi Herring, Ally Lee Steinfeld, Anthony Torres, Derricka Banner, Scout Schultz, Elizabeth Stephanie Montez, Candace Towns, Giovanni Melton, Sydney Loofe, Brooklyn BreYanna Stevenson, Brandi Seals, Shanta Myers, Brandi Mells, Kerrice Lewis, and Kaladaa Crowell. Media Matters also searched for a number of variations and potential misspellings of the victims’ names.
We also searched Nexis transcripts of Fox Broadcasting Co.’s Sunday show Fox News Sunday (the network does not have an evening or morning news program) for the same terms. Any reruns of programming were not included in analysis.
Additionally, Media Matters conducted the same searches on iQ media for the above terms and names appearing on MSNBC’s and Fox News’ programming between 6 a.m. and midnight for the same time frame, as full transcripts from shows on these networks’ daytime programming are not available on Nexis. The iQ media search of Fox News and MSNBC coverage was limited by iQ media’s transcripts.
We excluded from the study coverage of anti-LGBTQ violence in other countries such as Chechnya and Saudi Arabia, updates on past instances of anti-LGBTQ violence like the murders of Harvey Milk and Gianni Versace, and coverage of the 2016 massacre at the Pulse nightclub, an LGBTQ bar in Orlando, FL.
When we found the above terms, we included the segments if the stated topic of discussion was anti-LGBTQ violence in general or instances of anti-LGBTQ violence, such as a specific anti-LGBTQ homicide, or if there was significant discussion of the topic. We defined “significant discussion” as a back-and-forth exchange between two or more people; passing mentions were not included in the analysis.
Survivors of the mass shootings at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub and a South Florida high school embraced Wednesday outside the club where 49 people were killed nearly two years ago.
“We’re all family,” said Neema Bahrami, who was an event manager at Pulse at the time of the attack.
Pulse survivors, wearing shirts that read “We Will Not Let Hate Win,” stood among Parkland survivors, whose shirts read “Kids First, Politics Second.” The Parkland group hung 49 white roses on the gate surrounding the nightclub, one for each of the victims.
The visitors from Parkland made a stop at Pulse to pay tribute to the nightclub shooting victims and show solidarity with its survivors and activists as part of their trip home from Tallahassee, where they had petitioned lawmakers to reform the state’s gun laws.
If stricter gun legislation had been enacted in response to the June 12, 2016, mass shooting at Pulse, the Parkland survivors argued, they would have been spared the shooting that killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14.
Stronger laws should have been in place even before the Pulse shooting, said both sets of survivors, including 16-year-old Annabel Claprood, who was in the first room the Parkland school gunman approached.
“This should have been changed after Sandy Hook,” Annabel said, referring to the 2012 massacre of 20 children and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. “Pulse shouldn’t have even happened.”
She testified before state lawmakers Tuesday.
“We’re gonna get it done,” a Parkland survivor said to Bahrami.
“Thank you for keeping it up. It’s exhausting,” another Parkland survivor said. Bahrami held her hands, and they vowed to keep fueling the conversation about gun-control legislation.
State lawmakers rejected an assault-style weapons ban Tuesday, despite the group’s testifying in its favor.
“They just made a huge group of activists out of us who are teaming up with other activists. This community right here,” said Shelbie Seys, who has three children going to schools in Parkland.
Orlando knows their pain and the road to healing far too well, said Mayor Buddy Dyer, who was at Pulse on Wednesday to welcome the group. Dyer said he wanted to show the same love and support that Orlando felt from around the world after Pulse.
Orlando city attorneys have been to Broward County since the massacre, helping School Board attorneys there navigate some issues that confronted Orlando immediately after the Pulse shooting, Dyer said.
Dyer said he favors gun-control legislation.
“If the shooter in the case in Parkland had not been able to purchase that weapon during the course of the last two years, he could not have carried out the act that he did,” Dyer said. “I do support a ban on assault weapons moving forward.”
The nation watched as student survivors organized rallies and delivered compelling testimony. Students got in front of state lawmakers who were in their legislative session, an opportunity Pulse survivors did not have because the shooting occurred in June.
The session begins in January and ends in March.
Construction is currently under way on a “interim” memorial at Pulse that is meant to make it easier for visitors to pay their respects while long-term plans for the site are still being determined.
On Wednesday, Pulse survivor Luis Ruiz befriended Heather Davidson, director of public policy and advocacy for United Way of Broward County. They exchanged numbers and a hug before Davidson boarded the bus.
They stood together for a photo in front of the roses.
“We’re stronger together,” Davidson said. “This needs to stop.”
A fifth transgender woman has been murdered in the US.
Phylicia Mitchell was shot dead outside of her home in Cleveland, Ohio last week.
The 45-year-old was found with bullet wounds in her chest in her living room on February 23.
She was taken to hospital but was later pronounced dead.
Police have not yet determined a suspect or a motive for the shooting.
Her partner of 30 years, Shane Mitchell, said that he is distraught over her loss.
Phylicia and Shane (Photo by Phylicia Mitchell/Facebook)
“Everyone loved her,” he told Cleavland.com. “I miss her tremendously. That’s my soulmate.
“We went everywhere together. We did everything together.”
Mitchell took her partner’s name last year, although they did not have an official wedding.
He explained: “It was like a mock wedding.
“We had a few friends come, some of her family. It was awesome.”
The two had recently separated as they both struggled with drug addiction, which Mitchel fears is the reason she was killed.
Over the time that they knew each other, Shane had helped Phylicia get out of sex work.
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He said: “She was a good person, even though she had a drug problem, she’s a good person.
“She got mixed up with the wrong people.
“We should have never started doing drugs together. We’d have both had an even better life than we already did.”
Mitchell added that when they first started their relationship they struggled as people “didn’t respect them” but over the years, his family began to accept her.
“My nieces and nephews opened up to her so much. She was just so funny and kind,” he added.
She was found stabbed to death in her home. Her husband Mark Steele-Knudslien, has been arrested on suspicion of the murder after he confessed to police that he had killed her. However, he has since entered a not guilty plea at his arraignment hearing.
Gutierrez was brutally murdered and her body was found burnt.
Local trans rights activist Ari Moore told Buffalo News: “The hatred, the bigotry and the aggressive attacks on trans people is almost an everyday occurrence in our lives.”
Gus Kenworthy is seen at a press conference during the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Feb. 11, 2018.
American freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy might not have medaled at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, this year, but he has had quite the impact in another respect.
On Tuesday, Kenworthy tweeted screenshots of some particularly vile comments.
His post elicited a strong response from followers, as it illustrated that even one of the biggest celebrities from this year’s Olympics still has to deal with anti-gay attacks.
Former first daughter Chelsea Clinton expressed her sympathy on social media, telling the skier that the comments “reflect on the people making them, not you.”
Later in the day, Kenworthy received a response from YouTube’s official Twitter page, which said the company was “actively working” to remedy the situation.
“This is unacceptable, we’re so sorry these comments and notifications came through to you,” the tweet reads. “We’re actively working to fix this so you won’t see or be notified of abusive comments and exploring more ways to protect people from abusive comments overall.”
Kenworthy responded on Wednesday with some suggestions for the company’s screening policy, explaining that these slurs and hateful messages could have done serious damage to a younger, less confident version of himself.
Kenworthy, who won a silver medal during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, didn’t come out until the following year. Since then, he’s been a proud advocate for the LGBTQ community.
A US federal court has ruled that civil rights laws protect gay workers from discrimination, after the Trump administration argued it was legal to fire people for being gay.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit ruled in the case of Donald Zarda, a former skydiving instructor who alleges that that his old company, Altitude Express Inc, fired him because of his sexuality.
Republicans in Congress continue to block federal legislation to protect LGBT people from discrimination, but Zarda’s lawyers cited civil rights protections from the 1960s which outlaw discrimination in employment based on sex.
The Trump administration’s Justice Department, headed by anti-LGBT Attorney General Jeff Sessions, made an uninvited intervention in the case, arguing before the court that that civil rights provision, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, does not provide any protection for gay people.
But the court has today gone against the Justice Department’s argument – in a landmark decision for LGBT equality.
The judges, who considered the case en banc, wrote: “We now hold that sexual orientation discrimination constitutes a form of discrimination ‘because of sex’, in violation of Title VII.
“We therefore VACATE the district court’s judgment on the Title VII claim and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
Explaining the decision, the judges wrote: “The Supreme Court has held that Title VII prohibits not just discrimination based on sex itself, but also discrimination based on traits that are a function of sex, such as life expectancy, and non‐conformity with gender norms.
“We now conclude that sexual orientation discrimination is motivated, at least in part, by sex and is thus a subset of sex discrimination. Looking first to the text of Title VII, the most natural reading of the statute’s prohibition on discrimination “because of sex’ is that it extends to sexual orientation discrimination, because sex is necessarily a factor in sexual orientation.”
The judges added:”Because one cannot fully define a person’s sexual orientation without identifying his or her sex, sexual orientation is a function of sex.
“Indeed sexual orientation is doubly delineated by sex because it is a function of both a person’s sex and the sex of those to whom he or she is attracted.
“Logically, because sexual orientation is a function of sex and sex is a protected characteristic under Title VII, it follows that sexual orientation is also protected.”
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The decision is a victory for the estate of Mr Zarda, who passed away after beginning litigation against his employer.
The judges recalled of the case: “In the summer of 2010, Donald Zarda, a gay man, worked as a sky‐diving instructor at Altitude Express.
“As part of his job, he regularly participated in tandem skydives, strapped hip‐to‐hip and shoulder‐to‐shoulder with clients.
“In an environment where close physical proximity was common, Zarda’s co‐workers routinely referenced sexual orientation or made sexual jokes around clients, and Zarda sometimes told female clients about his sexual orientation to assuage any concern they might have about being strapped to a man for a tandem skydive.
“That June, Zarda told a female client with whom he was preparing for a tandem skydive that he was gay ‘and had an ex‐husband to prove it’.”
Zarda was sacked after the woman complained about his conduct – but brought a lawsuit alleging discriminatory treatment by his employer.
The DOJ had insisted: “Discrimination based on sexual orientation does not fall within Title VII’s prohibition on sex discrimination because it does not involve “disparate treatment of men and women”.
Deputy Assistant Attorney General Hashim M. Mooppan appeared before the court this week to argue against gay rights protections, saying: “There is a commonsense, intuitive difference between sex and sexual orientation.”
“Rather than causing similarly situated ‘members of one sex [to be] exposed to disadvantageous terms or conditions of employment to which members of the other sex are not exposed’, differential treatment of gay and straight employees for men and women alike.”
The DOJ also argued somewhat circularly contended that it was clear that existing civil rights law doesn’t protect gay people, because lawmakers in Congress continue to block more explicit legislation “that would prohibit discrimination in employment based on sexual orientation”.
The issue is likely to end up before the Supreme Court.
The Pentagon has confirmed that a transgender recruit has signed up to join the military – after Donald Trump’s ban on trans troops was lifted.
Donald Trump announced on Twitter last year that all transgender servicepeople would be purged from the US armed forces, claiming they were a burden on the military.
Four different courts issued rulings blocking the decision amid legal action, allowing transgender troops to join the military from January 1 this year.
Following the legal action, the Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis sent a memo to the White House last week giving guidance on future policy.
While the details of the memo were not disclosed, it is believed that he recommended allowing transgender people to openly serve.
Today, the Pentagon confirmed that a transgender person has signed a contract to the join the U.S. military for the first time since the memo was sent.
Maj. Dave Eastburn, a Pentagon spokesman, said the contract was signed on Friday, and that the person met the required standards to serve in the military.
He said: “[The Pentagon] confirms that as of February 23, 2018 there is one transgender individual under contract for service in the US Military”.
The individual has yet to start basic training.
Trump has remained silent on the issue.
Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN last month asked a federal district court to permanently block enforcement of the Trump Administration’s ban policy.
The motion for summary judgment filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington seeks a speedy resolution of the case..
Plaintiff Megan Winters, a 29-year-old woman and five-year member of the U.S. Navy serving in the Office of Naval Intelligence in Washington, D.C, said: “Without a court ruling, the possibility of being shoved back into the closet hangs over my head and every transgender service member’s head every day.
“It is impossible to overstate how damaging that uncertainty is to morale and military readiness.”
Lambda Legal Senior Attorney Peter Renn said: “Every single federal court to look at President Trump’s policy has already found that it reeks of undisguised and unlawful discrimination against qualified transgender people willing and able to serve our country, and it’s time to put the nail in the coffin for that policy.
“The facts are in and the court has what it needs to finally return this bigoted policy back to the dustbin of history, where it has always belonged. Every day that this clearly illegal ban lingers perpetuates harm to patriotic Americans who wish only to serve the country they love.”
The course targeted girls who “think they might be gay, bisexual or transgender”.
The advertisement for the workshop has since been removed from the church website, although it says it is going ahead.
After the church declined to cancel the event, hundreds of people turned out to protest on Thursday night – and send a message to the teens that they are fine just they way they are.
(Metro-Detroit Political Action Network)
Speaking to BTL, protest organiser Brianna Dee Kingsley said: “Conversion therapy is what it is, and Metro City Church is trying to repackage it as conversation therapy.
“But the basic premise is you are broken and you need to be fixed and that something is wrong, and we stand against that – we are here to show support for the LGBTQIA community.”
Several survivors of gay cure therapy also attended the protest.
One protester said: “I went through conversion therapy at a local church when I was 15.
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“I wanted to come out and basically make sure these kids know that there are people out there outside of your parents’ house and outside of your parents’ religion who will be there for you.
“I want them to know that they don’t have to give in to what their parents say – they can make it through this even though it’s probably hard right now going through all this.”
And Oakland University professor Char Davenport pointed out the lack of legislation banning gay cure therapy across much of the US – despite the discredited practise being condemned by hundreds of medical bodies.
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Davenport said: “This protest, yes it’s about this church, and it’s about these kids – but let me tell you that this is a much bigger issue than this street corner.
“Only nine states and the District of Columbia have banned this practice. We can make a difference here in Michigan, and we’re going to make a difference here in Michigan. So pay attention, and you’re going to be a part of it.”
A second protest is planned for next week.
The church’s pastor Jeremy Schossau defended the workshop in a sermon subsequently posted to YouTube.
He said: “We’ve seen this movement in culture, particularly younger people, where they are just struggling – and our culture is cheering that struggle on.
“For me, I believe it’s in the wrong direction. Unashamedly. We believe God is the creator of men and women, and that God created men to be men and women to be women, and defined their completeness in one another.
“Not man with man, or woman with woman, but with the opposite. That is God’s design. For those of us who want to follow the God of the Bible, that’s what we believe. It is not a hate-filled thing.”
He added: “Some of you are aware that a couple weeks ago we offered a workshop on the idea of sexual identity for young girls.
“It is obvious that so many young people struggle with their sexual identity, and the direction they want to go with their life.
“We see this more and more, and it has not escaped the church – this is a problem even within the church, and I do say the word ‘problem’, because God does not want us to live confused, he wants us to be whole and complete.
“God doesn’t want us to live broken. We are a Bible-believing, traditionally-minded Christian church that wants to engage the world.”
He denied that the practise was hateful because “this church believes in loving sinners”, and went on to claim parents have a “duty” to fix their children’s sexuality.
He said: “I think it is very clear in scripture that God wants men and women to be married in a monogamous, loving thing called marriage. All of this sexual movement comes from brokenness.
“We’ve been told that parents have no right to intervene in the development of their 12-year-old children. I think it’s not only a right, it’s a duty, and a responsibility.”
GLAAD, the media monitoring organization that advocates for proper treatment and representation for LGBTQ+ people in media, is now calling upon the media for increased and more accurate coverage of violence against transgender people, especially women of color.
After the death of Christa Leigh Steele-Knudslien, the first transgender casualty of 2018 and a victim of domestic abuse, GLAAD released a statement on their website elucidating both their mission and expectations for the media’s coverage of transgender murders:
“[GLAAD is calling on the media to] report on the brutal violence perpetrated against transgender people, particularly transgender women of color. With violence against transgender people at an all-time high and rising, national media coverage is severely lacking.”
The statement continues: “The media must do a better job of reporting these murders and bringing needed attention to a community under vicious and violent attack.
In order for people to be aware of the horrific violence affecting the community, the public needs to know it is happening. The media has a responsibility to communicate about the deadly realities faced by transgender people.”
In addition to the necessity of increased reporting of violence against transgender people, GLAAD is also making clear that media outlets must respect the victims by using proper pronouns and names:
“Respect and use the lived identity, name, and pronoun of the victim. Report on each victim with dignity and respect, portraying them as a person, not just a statistic.
Disregarding the victim’s gender identity and misgendering them in news reports adds further insult to injury, compounding the tragedy by invalidating who the victims were.”
For guidelines on properly and respectfully reporting on transgender people, GLAAD offers their guides entitled “GLAAD’s Doubly Victimized: Reporting on Transgender Victims of Crime” as well as “GLAAD’s Media Reference Guide.” GLAAD also directs readers to contact them if they see a news story “which misgenders a transgender victim and/or publishes details about their personal life irrelevant to their murder,” at the email address transgender@glaad.org.
GLAAD reported that in 2017, 26 transgender people were killed in the United States and nearly all of the victims were transgender women of color. The organization cites that this due in part to transgender women living “at the dangerous intersections of transphobia, racism, sexism, and criminalization which often lead to high rates of poverty, unemployment, and homelessness.”
So far, GLAAD has posted the names of two known transgender women who have been murdered in 2018; Christa Leigh Steele-Knudslien, 42, who was killed on January 5 in North Adams, Massachusetts and Viccky Gutierrez, who was killed on January 10 in Los Angeles, California.
To learn more about individual transgender victims of violence, more information can be found at https://mic.com/unerased.
