David Mariner

Eight Latinx LGBT Activists to Watch

November 7, 2016May 27, 2016 by David Mariner

Meet eight amazing Latinx LGBT activists who are changing the world. This is not meant to be a complete list, nor do I claim to be an expert on who would even be on the complete list. I can say withought hesitation, however, that these are eight amazing people who I find inspiring, and I believe you will as well.

Daniel Hernandez

Follow Daniel on Twitter: @djblp

Follow Daniel on Instagram: @djblp

Daniel Hernandez is a Victory Fund candidate for the Arizona State Legislature. You may know him better, however, as the intern for U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords on the life-changing day she was shot at a campaign event in Tucson. At the young age of twenty, Daniel’s quick thinking and courageous action is is credited by many for saving Rep. Giffords life.

Now as a candidate he is an outspoken advocate both for LGBT Equality and for sensible gun control. While this may make Hernandez seem unlikely to be a rising start in a state like Arizona, many locals would describe him as exactly that. Visit his campaign website at: www.danielforarizona.org.

Joanna Maria Cifredo

Follow Joanna on Twitter: @JoannaCifredo

Follow Joanna on Instagram @JoannaCifredo

Joanna Cifredo is the Racial and Economic Justice Policy Analyst at the National Center for Transgender Equality, the nation’s leading social justice advocacy organization winning life-saving change for transgender people.

Joanna serves on the Board of Directors to Whitman Walker Health and the DC Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs Advisory Board. She is the recipient of the 2015 Visionary Voice Award by National Sexual Violence Resource Center for her work Health Equity and Trans-Inclusive Healthcare, she was also honored by Mujeres en el Movimiento as one of DC’s Rising Stars. She can sometimes be found blogging at joannacifredo.com.

Marco Quiroga

Follow Marco Quiroga on Twitter: @DREAMarcoAble

Follow Marco on Instagram: @maquirog

Marco Quiroga describes himself on twitter as “Gay, Undocumented and Unafraid,” Marco is known by many for three amazing years of work at Immigration Equality working on the front lines of our movement’s struggle for LGBTQ immigrant justice.

This year Marco began a new chapter as Director of Public Policy at the True Colors Fund, as he turns his attention to ending LGBT Youth Homelessness. Find out more at truecolorsfund.org.

Lisbeth Melendez Rivera

Follow Lisbeth on Twitter at @buchadc

Lisbeth Melendez Rivera is the Religion and Faith Program’s Director of Latino and Catholic Initiatives at the Human Rights Campaign where she has worked on the A La Familia project.

Over the years Lisbeth has worked at many organizations in the movement including Freedom to Marry, NARAL, Family Equality Council and Now. And of course, Lisbeth did groundbreaking work at LLEGO the The National Latino/a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Organization where she served as Director of Community Education and Training.

Christopher Soto

Follow Christopher on twitter at @loma_poetry

Christoppher Soto (aka Loma) is an nationally recognized poet and activist. Their first chapbook “Sad Girl Poems” was published by Sibling Rivalry Press and tackles some tough topics like LGBTQ youth homelessness, Intimate Partner Violence, and suicide. Their work has been translated into Spanish and Portuguese.

They are currently working on a full-length poetry manuscript about police violence and mass incarceration. Originally from the Los Angeles area, Christopher now now resides in Brooklyn. Visit Christopher’s website at christophersoto-poet.com.

Ruby Corado

Follow Ruby/Casa Ruby on twitter at: @CasaRubyDC

I’ve known Ruby Corado much longer than anyone on the list and if you’ve ever met Ruby, I’m sure you would agree with me when I say what I love most about her is her heart. Ruby was born in San Salvador, El Salvador. She fled a civil war when she was 16 years old. Washington DC has been her home since then where she has been a tireless advocate for the entire LGBT community, but especially Trans, Genderqueer, and Gender Non-Conforming People and the Latino community.

The Casa Ruby community center opened it’s doors in June 2012 and has has met an important need in the community since that day. open to everyone but primarily serving the Latino LGBT community. Find out more and learn how you can support Ruby at www.casaruby.org

Jack Harrison-Quintana

Follow Jack on twitter at: @jchq59

Follow Jack on instagram at: @jchq59

Jack Harrison-Quintana, M.A., is a queer Latino activist, demographer, and researcher currently serving as the director of Grindr for Equality. Prior to his current position, Jack worked for the National LGBTQ Task Force, the Global Trans Research and Advocacy Project (GTRAP), the National Center for Transgender Equality, and Khmera.

In 2010, he was a contributing author for Outing Age 2010: Public Policy Issues Affecting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Elders, and in 2011, he was a co-author of Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey. His other work has addressed issues of sexual liberation, racial justice, post-colonial movement building, diaspora activism, and anti-genderqueer discrimination.

Ignacio Rivera

Follow Ignacio on twitter: @Papi_Coxxx

Much like Christopher Soto, the work of Ignacio Rivera blurs the lines between art and activism. Ignacio identifies as “Brooklyn, New York City born and raised Queer, Two-spirit, Black Boricua Taíno” who uses the gender-neutral pronoun they.

Ignacio is also one of the founding board member of Queers for Economic Justice; a progressive non-profit organization committed to promoting economic justice in a context of sexual and gender liberation. And while this organization is no longer around, it had a profound impact on our movement, highlighting how LGBT folks living in poverty are affected by issues like welfare reform, homelessness and the shelter system.

These days Ignacio wears many, many hats. They are a performance artist, activist, lecturer, and most recently a filmaker. Learn more about Ignacio at their website, www.ignaciogrivera.com.

Bathroom Access and the Trans Community: What DC is Doing Right

November 1, 2016May 19, 2016 by David Mariner

Equal Bathroom Access for the Transgender Community

written by David Mariner and Holly Goldmann

A transgender women experiencing violence simply for using the restroom? For those of us who have lived in DC for a while, we know the recent experience of Ebony Belcher at Giant Foods is nothing new. Thankfully, it happens less often than it used to in the District, but it still happens. In 2010 two transender Latina women in the Columbia Heights neighborhood were attacked after they had used a public restroom in a local business. The suspect was charged with assault with a deadly weapon.

Since that time (and many years before) DC activists have spent a lot of time working on “the bathroom issue.” While it is frustrating to hear about what happened to Ebony, we can take solace in the fact that DC has made progress. Most importantly, the police arrested the right person. Affirming Ebony’s right to use the bathroom, the police arrested the security guard for the assault that occured when the guard tried to remove her from the bathroom. Sadly, we know now there are many parts of the country where that would not have happened.

So how did we get to this point? Here are some tipes on the progress we’ve made, and how we can move the ball even farther forward.

The local law is on our side.

The Human Rights law is clear as day in DC. Transgender women are women, and transgender men are men. Everyone, including genderqueer, gender non-binary or gender non-conforming folks, can use the bathroom they choose.

We also require single stall restrooms to be all-gender

Any business in the District of Columbia that has a single-stall restroom, is required to make that restroom gender-neutral (or all-gender). Simply put, there is no reason to have a gender marker on a bathroom made for one person. Having more all-gender restrooms in the city makes it easier, less stressful,and safer for trans and gender non-conforming folks to pee in peace. If you happen to notice a restroom in a DC business that is non-compliant with this law, simply take a picture with your phone and tweet the information using hashtag #safebathroomsdc. The Office of Human Rights will then follow up on that business.

The conversation does not begin or end in the bathroom.

In this moment where there is a national focus on the transgender community, it is important to expand the conversation beyond bathrooms. The DC Office of Human Rights has recently documented the very real employment discrimination transgender individuals experience in the District. The Equal Rights Center in DC has recently conducted a study documenting discrimination transgender women experience in retail settings. The Washington DC Transgender Needs Assesment further documents numerous disparities and challenges faced by our local transgender community, and particularly transgender women of color. Now is the time to shift the conversation so our communities better understand all of the challenges transgender individuals face.

What’s next? All-Gender Restrooms in DC Government Building.

Finally, it’s important to notice that there is still much work to do on this issue. It is very disappointing that so few DC government buildings have all-gender restrooms. The Reeves Center, a government building that houses both the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs as well as the DC Center for the LGBT Community, still does not have a permanent all-gender restroom. This needs to change, but so do other government buildings. In fact every large DC government building with more than 10 public restrooms, should have at least one dedicated all-gender restroom. The work continues ….

Anti-Trans Discrimination in Retail Stores

November 24, 2016May 9, 2016 by David Mariner

A new report published by the Equal Rights Center takes a closer look at the discrimination transgender women face in retail stores. The pilot project was conducted in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Utilizing ‘secret shoppers’, or ‘testers’, the study compared the experiences of transgender women and cisgender women. Some of these tester pairs were African American and some of the pairs were White. This made it possible to also see differences on treatment based on race.

The results will not be suprising to anyone who is familiar with the experiences of Transgender Women.

In 75% of the tests conducted, the transgender tester experienced at least one type of adverse differential treatment and service. The adverse differential treatment included differences in the quality, quantity, and content of the service provided to the testers.

African American transgender testers faced higher rates of verbal harassment and other forms of negative interactions than their white peers. In the jurisdictions with nondiscrimination protectiosn (DC, MD) the white transgender tester experienced significantly less negative interactions (19%) than the African American transgender tester (81%). In the jurisdiction lacking nondiscrimination protections (VA) the African American transgender tester experienced a negative interaction in 57% of the tests, while the white transgender testers experiences negative interactions in 43% of the tests.

This study is a sobering reminder that legislation is needed at the federal level to prohibit public accomodation discriminationcbased on gender identity and expression. Still, passing a law is a beginning, not an end. As this study shows us this kind of discrimination continues even in a place like the District of Columbia, which has strong laws supporting the Transgender community. Legislation has to be coupled with active enforcement of the law. It is also crucial that retail employees are educated about the rights of their transgender community. Further, it is crucial that transgender and gender variant indivduals themselves understand their rights and how to report discrimination when it happens.

Read the entire report here to learn more:

Download the Report

FDA Launches LGBT Youth Tobacco Prevention Campaign

April 14, 2018May 3, 2016 by David Mariner

LGBT Youth Tobacco Prevention Campaign - This Free Life

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has officially launched their new This Free Life campaign to shift the conversation about smoking in the LGBT Community. While smoking is an issue that is not often discussed in our community, it has a profound impact on our community, particularly when we are talking about LGBT Youth.

“We know LGBT young adults in this country are nearly twice as likely to use tobacco as other young adults, says Mitch Zeller, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products.

On hand for the launch was Dr. Scout from Healthlink, a program of the CenterLink, the National Association of LGBT Community Centers. Scout provided valuable information to the FDA on best practices with regards to reaching the LGBT Community and was one of many LGBT communty members who provided feedback on the campaign, which was market tested with over 1,000 LGBT Youth.

“There are a number of factors that contribute to the higher risk for tobacco use among LGBT young adults. The coming out process is a unique tobacco-use risk factor for LGBT young adults due to the actual and perceived social stigma, discrimination and anxiety experienced during this process. And data show that the coming out process faced by most LGBT young adults can lead to tobacco use and negative health consequences.

Research also indicates that many LGBT young adults can find a sense of community at LGBT bars and clubs which sometimes provides environments conducive to tobacco use.

“This Free Life” launches in 12 markets this week using print, digital and out-of-home ads, as well as outreach at the local level to showcase tobacco-free behaviors and attitudes within the LGBT Community. The $35.7 million campaign is funded by user fees collected from the tobacco industry.

Talking about Suicide and LGBT Populations

February 23, 2019April 20, 2016 by David Mariner

In the past few years we’ve seen more awareness in our community about suicide and LGBT populations, especially LGBT Youth. Studies like the Youth Risk Behavior Survey -when LGBT data is collected by some states at the local level – have consistently shown that LGBT Youth are at higher risk for ‘suicidal ideation’ (suicidal thoughts). This is largely due to minority stress which is the stress your experience from living in a world that is often hostile and discriminatory to LGBT people; and all the little and big things you have to cope with living in that world.

This is an important issue to talk about, of course, but how we talk about it matters greatly. There is a growing body of evidence that suggests that suicide is in part, contagious. People who are considering suicide are already at risk, of course, but publicity about suicides can be a trigger.

There are definitely things to avoid. This includes discussing the details of the method used in a suicide death, and idealizing suicide victims.

To learn more, read this thoughtful report from the Center for American Progress.

Talking about Suicide and LGBT Populations

Strict Voter ID Laws Impose Added Costs for Transgender Voters

June 6, 2016April 6, 2016 by David Mariner

Transgender people may experience barriers to voting at the polls in states with strict voter identification laws if there are inconsistencies between their ID, voter registration information, and appearance, according to a new report by Taylor N.T. Brown, Policy Analyst, and Jody Herman, Scholar of Public Policy, from the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law.

To help ensure the ability to vote on a regular ballot at the polls, transgender people who have transitioned to live in a gender different from their sex assigned at birth must update their gender marker and photo on their photo ID. However, these updates cost time and money, and transgender people uniquely bear the costs.

The study, “Voter ID Laws and Their Added Costs for Transgender Voters,” examined the additional costs of strict voter ID laws for transgender people in 10 states and described the procedures transgender people must follow to update their photo ID to help ensure their ability to vote on a regular ballot at the polls.

“These strict photo ID laws are onerous burdens for many groups of individuals who may not have acceptable photo identification,” Brown said. “Yet, there are additional costs and burdens of these strict laws that specifically impact transgender people’s ability to vote at the polls.”

Key findings from the report include:

• Fees associated with updating photo ID with a change of gender can range from $8 to $358. There are additional costs connected with obtaining court orders, proof of identity and citizenship, documentation of medical treatment, and other required documents.

• Some states only allow individuals to update their IDs after receiving transition-related surgery, regardless of whether they need any surgery as part of their transition.

• Among transgender people who have transitioned from their sex assigned at birth, an estimated 27 percent have not updated any ID to accurately reflect their gender.

Click here for the full report.

NCAA: Divest From Campuses Requesting Discriminatory Religious Title IX Waivers

May 19, 2016April 5, 2016 by David Mariner

Led by Campus Pride and Soulforce, a coalition of over 70 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ), sports, religious and youth advocacy groups have signed on to a letter calling on NCAA to divest from all religious-based institutions who have made Title IX requests to discriminate against LGBTQ youth. The NCAA has long held as core values a commitment to diversity and inclusion of all people regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity.

A list of the organizations can be found online and includes: The Los Angeles LGBT Center, GLAAD, The Tyler Clementi Foundation, Transathlete.com, PFLAG, The National Center for Lesbian Rights and dozens of others.

“Religion-based bigotry is the basis for the vast majority of prejudice and discrimination LGBTQ people face, especially young people,” said Shane Windmeyer, Executive Director of Campus Pride. “The NCAA cannot stand for this outright discrimination among its member institutions and we urge them to take action to ensure an inclusive sports culture that is safe and fair for all athletes, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity,” Windmeyer concluded.

Campus Pride has kept a record of schools that have made these requests on its “Shame List,” calling out the religion-based bigotry online. There are currently fifty-nine religious-based colleges and universities on the list. The requests grew in response to the Department of Education decision in 2014 to include transgender students under Title IX protections. The Alliance Defending Freedom and other anti-LGBTQ groups actively solicited these requests from religious-based campuses the last two years.

“As people of faith or spirit, we call upon the NCAA to act on its stated values as an LGBTQ inclusive organization and divest from these schools who are willfully and intentionally creating unsafe environments for LGBTQ students,” said Jordyn Sun, National Campus Organizer at Soulforce. “No athlete should play sports under the specter of fear and discrimination. Instead, these schools should simply follow the law,” concluded Sun.

LGBTQ young people face high rates of harassment and violence, especially transgender youth and LGBTQ youth of color. The Title IX waiver allows campus administrators to deny transgender students admission, usage of public accommodations, and protections against anti-LGBTQ actions from students and faculty – all based on a student’s gender identity.

“The NCAA has stated that they hope those of all sexual orientations and gender identities speak out against ‘all forms of prejudice targeted toward our LGBTQ student-athletes and colleagues,” said Windmeyer. “Now is the time for the NCAA to put those words into action and only allow campuses that support their values to participate in NCAA sports.”

Stand with Officer Justin Markiewicz

December 4, 2016March 4, 2016 by David Mariner

Justin Markiewicz has been an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, DC since May of 2006. In 2010 he was detailed to the Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit. From 2010 to 2015 Justin worked closely with members of the LGBT community to ensure they received equal police services. In 2015 he was selected as a Capital Pride Hero for his work with the LGBT community.

In 2014 Justin was forced to file a complaint against the Captain who managed the Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit for repeated homophobic remarks. The police department failed to respond correctly and immediately after he made his complaint Justin began to be retaliated against. He was denied overtime, subjected to unfair discipline, and suspended. MPD failed to properly investigate the homophobic remarks Justin was subjected to and as many as 8 months after the complaint the Police Department was continuing to refer to Justin as the same homophobic name on official police documents. Ultimately Justin was forced to leave the Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit and return to patrol in the 6th Police District in September 2015.

This is not the first time this has happened. As we speak, Officer Christopher Lilly is also in a legal fight with the Metropolitan Police Department because they did not address the anti-LGBT harassment and discrimination he experienced from the MPD. This has to stop

Currently Justin is in a costly legal battle with the Police Department. Ultimately he hopes that at the end of the battle MPD will take complaints made my LGBT officers seriously and protect them from future retaliation and harassment.

Justin has already had to pay for thousands of dollars of legal expenses out of his own pocket, not to mention lost work time. He can’t continue this fight without you. Now is the time to stand with Justin.

As friends of Justin we are coming together to show him our support. As members of the LGBT community we greatly appreciate the sacrifices Justin has made. By standing up for himself, he is standing up for all LGBT officers and for all of us who strive for equal opportunities for everyone in the District of Columbia.

Please join us in supporting Officer Justin Markiewicz .

gofundme.com/standwithjustin

Queer Poets: 10 Favorite Moments from Capturing Fire

November 24, 2016February 20, 2016 by David Mariner

Capturing Fire is an international spoken word and poetry that takes place in Washington DC. Poets gather for panel discussions, workshops, performances, and of course a poetry slam. Fortunately some of the best queer poetry performances over the years have been captured on video and have been viewed hundreds, some even thousands of times on youtube. Our most popular video by featuring Joanna Hoffman has over 80,000 views! Unfortunately, we do not have video footage from 2015 which include some of my favorites, including performances by Lady Dane Edidi and Venus Selenite. Still, over the years we have amassed an amazing collection of queer poetry. I offer below, ten of my favorite performances from Capturing Fire featuring some truly amazing queer poets.

Joanna Hoffman – Pride

Patience Rowe – Freedom Piece

Sam Sax: After My Boyfriend’s DragShow

trigger warning – hate violence

J Mase III – Ally Fail

J.T Bullock – This Dance Floor

Shyla Hardwick – Worms

Regie Cabico – It’s not so much his kiss I recall…

Jessica Genia Simon – For the Jewish Queers

Paul Tran – On Beauty (For Queer Colored Boys)

trigger warning – sexual assault

Gabe Moses – Stimming

If you liked these poems, you can find more on the Center Arts youtube page. You can also follow Capturing Fire on Twitter or like Capturing Fire on Facebook.

What We Know: LGBT Youth & Family Acceptance

November 24, 2016February 16, 2016 by David Mariner

The What We Know Project at Columbia Law School has released a new research analysis on what scholarly research says about the link between family acceptance and LGBT youth wellbeing. Family rejection, and the fear of family rejection, has always been a major concern for LGBT Youth, particularly transgender and gender non-conforming youth. And it’s a valid concern considering that in the District of Columbia, for example, 43% of homeless youth are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. Clearly families that engage in rejecting behavior raise the risk of significant harms for their LGBT children.

There is however, another side to this story. Research shows that on the flip side, parents and families can have a profoundly positive influence when they exhibit affirming behaviors. The important take home message is that even parents that have neutral or negative views about LGBT people can change their ways and exhibit these affirming behaviors when they truly understand how devastating their rejection is.

LGBT Youth are coming out at even younger ages these days and therefore spending more time living with their families. One very important role we can play in supporting LGBT Youth is to reach their parents. Clearly, the work of PFLAG and other organizations that support family members is more important than ever. It also presents a challenge to all of us who work with LGBT Youth to not give up on parents who initially present negative views of LGBT people, and to push for more research on effective interventions to help these parents make the right choices.

Below are some key findings from the Study. Be sure to check out the complete report here. For more information on this topic be sure to check out the amazing work of my friend Caitlin Ryan at the Family Acceptance Project.

Key Findings from the Study

LGBT youth face heightened risks of numerous mental and physical health dangers including depression, suicidality, substance abuse, psychological distress, low self-esteem, HIV/AIDS infection, and others.
Research shows that rejecting behaviors by parents can increase these risks, including contributing to far higher levels of suicidal behavior and depression.
Family can play a key protective role against these physical and mental health risks. Several studies confirmed the importance of sexuality-specific acceptance (over generalized support), and of parental support over peer support.
Research shows that LGBT youth are coming out at younger ages than in the past, which can mean longer periods of time when they are in the home and “out,” and hence a greater chance of both family-related stress and the possibility of positive interventions.
More research is needed on the factors that best predict rejecting family behaviors, the factors that contribute to positive family climates, and intervention approaches with records of evidence-based success; however, a great deal is already known about the information and support that families and LGBT youth need, and parents, practitioners, policymakers and funders should act on this knowledge if they wish to minimize the health risks for the LGBT population.