In an effort to strengthen a community and build up a new generation of achievers; the Black, Gifted and Whole Foundation aims to inspire social change with the launch of their HBCU Scholarship Ambassador Program, where selected students will receive financial support and mentoring throughout their college matriculation.
The goal of this program is to create a structure equipped with strategies that assist with the elimination of systematic barriers for the Black gay/ queer men in their pursuit of obtaining life skills before entering the workforce. Thus creating ambassadors who will, in turn, pay it forward and uplift their fellow brethren, completing the vision of what it means to be Black, Gifted & Whole.
“I wish that I had a mentor that was like me so that I didn’t have to struggle through that journey alone,” says Johnson. Similarly, Anthony tells NewsOne, “The reason we started BGW was to celebrate Black Gay and Queer men by affirming their whole selves. Not often do we see ourselves as whole people in media, in relationships, at work, or in family life. Black, Gifted & Whole is the organization I wish was around when I was learning how to love myself as a young man.”
The foundation will award $10K to 5 students (Ramon Johnson, Derrell Richardson, Torres Savage, Michael Moore, Denzel Cammon) across the United States, who have been accepted to a Historically Black College or University, with their Presidential Scholarship. This payment will be made directly to the university/institution to help offset the tuition cost, money for books, and a yearly stipend for food. The 2017-2018 scholarship recipients will be announced at the 2nd Annual Scholarship Gala to be held this summer.
“This generation of students regardless of sexual orientation deserves the same opportunities, a chance to learn, to explore, and to know what’s at their reach. In the end, the passions and skills they develop through higher education will only serve us all for years to come.”
Interested in learning more about the Scholarship Ambassador Program and how to get involved please visit BlackGiftedWhole.Org.
Coming out. Diana Ross, emotional YouTube videos and dusty old closets are just some of the things that spring to mind, but the truth is everybody’s definition is unique. For me the process began long before I opened the closet door. Coming from a Muslim background I used to pray to God to straighten me out and so naturally I avoided pornography and all the sin that comes with it for longer than most horny teens. When I finally had my sexual awakening I felt guilty at first, but the more exposure I had to this strange yet familiar gay world and the more people I spoke to, the more I began to accept myself and think maybe I don’t have to marry a woman and have kids in a dark closet. The first step is coming out to yourself because if you can’t come out to yourself, how in the hell you gonna come out to anyone else?!
My sisters were always going to be the first people I told – at the ripe old age of 19 in a Wahaca restaurant. I was fairly certain they would take it well but you always have that doubt in the back of your mind. Everyone always talks about the feeling of a weight being lifted off your shoulders but I felt more nervous and weirded out by the whole situation. Like I said everyone’s experience is different and you should never compare yourself to others. Nevertheless, it has allowed us to grow closer and I hope this continues. Meeting up with my oblivious parents the next day, after deep chats with my sister was bizarre to say the least, but having someone to talk to is always better than no one.
Over that summer I told everyone close to me who I thought would take it well and thankfully they all did. At first it all seems very serious and formal so it can be difficult to know how to approach the reveal. However, I found that the more open I was the easier it became to casually drop the bombshell, or not feel the need to make a point of it because it’s already obvious and they clearly don’t give two shits. It’s 2017, I’ve told more than one person over Snapchat for God’s sake.
University is liberating for everyone but it can be especially important for LGBT+ people to grow their often-suppressed personality, away from potential pressures and glaring eyes at home. This was undoubtedly the case for me. For the first time, I could meet people and be realer than I ever had before. I’m still working on finding my authentic self but that is what coming out is all about. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that I would be attending drag shows with gay friends, becoming the BAME representative for the LGBT+ society or marching in a pride parade, but this and so much more is what you have to look forward to. All you have to do is turn that key.
I am speaking to you a year on from first opening that closet door, with one foot in and one foot out. Primarily due to unanswered questions about how my religion can reconcile with my sexuality and the fact that my parents are still in the dark. It’s not easy for me to enlighten them because they are practicing Muslims who are against homosexuality. This has created a barrier which prevents us from growing close as I have to act straight in front of them, or rather just exist. For this reason I have considered switching that light on as early as the end of this summer. I know it will not be easy at first and it may even drive us further apart, but I live for the chance that we could have a better relationship. I can’t see them die having lived a lie.
Being stuck in the closet for so long has forced me to suppress my personality to the extent that I don’t even know who the real me is. But I like to think that a year from now I could be finding myself to the tune of RuPaul’s latest gay anthem, as far away as possible from that dark closet I used to call home, along with many of you.
Peace and love,
Someone like you x
Support is available. The Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity (MASGD) works to support, empower and connect LGBTQ Muslims. Find out more at www.muslimalliance.org.
Asian and Pacific Islander Americans are the fastest growing minority group in the nation (NQAPIA). According to a Williams Institute 2013 report, an estimated 325,000 or 2.8% of all Asian and Pacific Islander (API) adults in the United States identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT). This #FollowFriday we highlight just a few of the many LGBTQ Asian and Pacific Islander Americans (and one Canadian) who are a part of our movement.
Strategist, politico and coalition builder Gregory Cendana is the first openly gay and youngest-ever Executive Director of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance and Institute for Asian Pacific American Leadership & Advancement. He is the immediate past Chair of National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, co-founder of the diversity initiative Inclusv, Treasurer for the Labor Coalition for Community Action and is the youngest General Board member of the AFL-CIO, a federation of labor unions representing 12 million workers.
Elisha Lim is a graphic novelist and claymation animator who can’t ever leave Toronto, although they have tried, with Singapore, Berlin, London, the east coast of Australia and Montreal. They have 100 Crushes but they always come home. They decorate their most heartfelt stories with embellished frames and intimately detailed portraits. They also curate, lecture, jury and direct festivals to promote themes close their heart: radical inclusion and respect around race and gender.
Jose Antonio Vargas is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, filmmaker, and media entrepreneur whose work centers on the changing American identity. He is the founder and CEO of Define American, a non-profit media and culture organization that seeks to elevate the conversation around immigration and citizenship in America; and the founder of #EmergingUS, a media start-up that lives at the intersection of race, immigration, and identity in a multicultural America. #EmergingUS is the first-ever media property owned by an undocumented immigrant.
In June 2011, the New York Times Magazine published a groundbreaking essay he wrote in which he revealed and chronicled his life in America as an undocumented immigrant.
Urooj Arshad is the Associate director of International Youth Health and Rights at Advocates for Youth. She manages a project of the International Division that builds the capacity of youth-driven organizations in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean to empower young people as strong advocates within their own countries and at international forums on reproductive and sexual health and rights of youth, especially young women and LGBTQ youth.
Ben de Guzman has been a leading voice for over a dozen years both locally and nationally on a range of issues in the AAPI and LGBT communities, including: civil rights, veterans and immigration policy; leadership training and development; and advocacy and organizing.
Ben has worked for LGBT advocacy organizations including SAGE and NQAPIA. Ben also previously served as the National Coordinator for the National Alliance for Filipino Veterans Equity (NAFVE), where he ran the successful legislative campaign to achieve payments for and recognize the military service of Filipinos who fought under the United States during World War II
He serves on the Executive Committee for the Filipino Veterans Recognition and Education Project.
Farzana Doctor is a Canadian novelist and social worker. She has published two novels to date, and won the 2011 Dayne Ogilvie Grant from the Writers’ Trust of Canada for an emerging lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender writer.
Her second novel, Six Metres of Pavement, was also a nominee for the 2012 Lambda Literary Awards in the category of Lesbian Fiction, and was announced as the winner of the award on June 4, 2012.
Born in Zambia to Dawoodi Bohra Muslim expatriate parents from India, she immigrated to Canada with her family in the early 1970s. In addition to her writing career, Doctor works as a psychotherapist, coordinates a regular reading series in Toronto’s Brockton Village neighbourhood, and coproduced Rewriting The Script: A Loveletter to Our Families, a documentary film about the family relationships of LGBT people in Toronto’s South Asian immigrant communities
Andy Marra is the Communications Manager for the Arcus Foundation. Prior to Arcus, she was the Public Relations Manager for the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN). Previously, she was Co-Director of Nodutdol for Korean Community Development and Senior Media Strategist for GLAAD. Andy has also served on boards and advisory councils, including Chinese for Affirmative Action, Funding Exchange, Human Rights Campaign, the National Campaign to End the Korean War, and the National Center for Transgender Equality.
Andy has been honored by the White House for her contributions to the LGBT movement, profiled in The Advocate’s “Forty Under 40″ and the inaugural Trans 100, and listed as one of The Huffington Post’s “Most Compelling LGBT People.” She is also the past recipient of the GLSEN Pathfinder Award, the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force Creating Change Award, the Colin Higgins Foundation Courage Award, and was honored by the City of New York for her work in the community.
Born & raised in San Francisco and now established in New York, Jes Tom is a fresh voice in stand up comedy.
Their first 30 minute comedy special, Cold Brew, was recorded live in August 2016 at Astoria’s QED: A Place to Show and Tell. Cold Brew is an elegy for the Fuckboi. It’s a cautionary lamentation about being Queer and getting your heart broken in the age of “Love is Love is Love.” Through stand up, storytelling, and uncomfortably public vulnerability, COLD BREW tackles “falling in love,” astrology, interracial relationships, Pokémon, gay porn, and the inevitable fall of society as we know it
Jes Tom holds a BA in Theatre from Smith College. They have completed the Meisner Acting program at Maggie Flanigan Studio.
In my early teens I started to become aware of transsexuality. I finally had terminology to describe this feeling that had been growing within me, this overwhelming feeling of despair and hopelessness. And in my lament I would retreat to the safe and hopeful mental state of the “one day”: “one day I’ll have breasts”, “one day I’ll be free to be me”, “one day”. So for many years in my youthfulness I believed that the world was my oyster; that all my dreams were just 18 candles away. I believed then, that I’d move to a big city and have my own apartment and become the woman I knew myself to be. With this idea in mind I went on a journey to South Florida, 300 miles away from my friends, family and people throwing passive bible verses in my face.
Like most youth in discovery there is that moment when you realize the world is not what you thought it was. Life was not a Cinderella story. Where you just show up at the club, dance with the man of your dreams that’s all sorts of fine and whose complexion can only be described as caramel macchiato; you forget your pump—as if you wouldn’t notice you’re missing a 5 inch stiletto. A week later he finds you on facebook or as was popular at the time, Myspace. He hits you up to return your shoe and professes his undying love for you with his deep baritone voice and because he just happens to have good credit, he’s willing to pay for your whole transition (yes, this was a reoccurring dream). I look back on my youthful ignorance with a simple “bitch please”.
I realize that life wasn’t any different then when I was back home. Sure I did not have to deal with the constantly having to explain things to mother or deal with the persistent gaze of people who knew me. I could get all fished out for the gawds in my own place and feel my trans but life did not get any easier. Instead it got harder. The more I tried to take steps in transitioning; the more the world around me pushed back. The more I began to express my femininity; the more I was ostracized. At first I lost my job. Finding new employment became a challenge. I eventually found a second home at the Boardwalk—a gay strip club. I began to sell jello shots in my underwear. However the money wasn’t enough. I was barely making enough to pay my rent. Forget about hormones, clothes and surgery. All of which began to seem further and further out of reach. Trying to capitalize on all the daddies in Fort Lauderdale I eventually began to dance; because private dances paid more I began to do those too.
*****
One evening a client from the club asked me to go home with him, he flashed a few twenties in my face and before I knew it I was in his car. The thing about South Florida is there were always young people like myself with these dreams of moving to the city and living the night life. Being the new trade in town quickly wore off. I tell my younger kids who I know are in the sex trade, have a plan because every day there is a whole new batch of 18 year olds and they are cuter and tighter than you are. Once the mystic of being the new trade wore off I was back to square one. Each day began to feel more and more like a struggle. Money was never enough. I was eventually evicted. Seeing everything I had come to South Florida with on the curb for the entire world to see was one of the most painful experiences of my life. It was visual confirmation that I was a failure.
I loaded up my car with as much as I could and lived out of my car for a few nights parking it in a super Wal-Mart that wouldn’t take notice. I went to a shelter and was placed with a bunch of men who did not take to effeminate young boys that easily. Every night something would go missing, first it was my hair gel, then my deodorant. That shelter was not a temporary place while you got back on your feet. It was a cot nothing more. A week later I went back to sleeping at that Wal-mart. Hooking up was no longer something I did for fun. It was now something I had to do if I wanted a shower. Eventually I bounced from couch to couch with friends that took pity on me. Everywhere I turned I couldn’t escape people’s judgmental eyes. I began to rediscover that state of despair that had imprisoned me for so many years, only now I did not have that “one day” to escape to. I was a prisoner with no release date. The anguish that was caused by what I deemed as “my failure” broke me, and, I only saw one way out. When I left the hospital a few days later, I found my car in the parking lot with a full tank of gas and a note on the dash. “We think you should move back home”.
Although, I never came back home, I came back to “my mother’s house”. There is an air of entitlement you have over your parent’s house before you ever move out it’s “your house” after you move out and move back in, it’s no longer your house it’s your “parents house” you simply live with them. That sense of despair accompanied my trip back on I-95, the same Highway that I once viewed as the road to freedom. That sense of despair paralyzed me and robbed me of two years of my life. I eventually gave in to the pressure and cut off all my hair, getting in line as I was told to do and in that time hashed out a plan birthed out of trial and error, of moving to a big city and starting again. Years later I’d move to DC to carry out that plan.
*****
Looking back on my experience I now have the language to contextualize my experiences. I am now able to feel the emotions that my younger self did not have space to feel. I am now able to see and call out this greater system that I was too busy navigating and surviving through. And although I have since developed enough agency to advocate for myself and have access. I still have to deal with victimization and violence. They’ve taken on a different form today. I no longer have to fight for a place to live, but I have to fight for medical coverage. I no longer have to deal with the physical and sexual violence of clients who feel that they own me, but I have to deal with the administrative violence of having to argue for my medical needs. I’ve since developed a voice to advocate for myself but every so often just as it was last Friday at Five-Guys with a simple “here you go sir” a cashier can cut me down to size and tell me to get in place.
Furthermore I am still a victim to myself. Although I am able to realize I am the survivor of a broken system and multiple system failures. I have been conditioned to blame myself for the things I went through. Victim blaming is something so pervasive in our society that we train the survivors to do it themselves and worst of all we train them to believe it. It’s taken me years to come to terms with owning the totality of my experiences, a process that I’m still learning to do. Very few people know about this chapter of my life. For a long time I have kept quiet and tried to erase this chapter of my life out of fear of being re-victimized or seen as less than.
My experiences are not uncommon for girls like me. My silence about my experiences have fed into this false narrative that I am somehow the exception I am often showcased as the example—the one to emulate. Another fear I’ve had about coming forward with experiences from my past is perpetuating this false narrative that you can have anything you want if you just “try hard enough and pull yourself up by your boot straps”. That the things I have been able to achieve are accessible to all trans girls. Let me channel the words of Janet Mock when she said. Let me be clear: It is not. For as much as I’ve gone through I also experienced my fair share of privilege. I am articulate, English proficient; I was born documented and have the full love and support of my family but most importantly I was lucky.
As service providers recognizing these systems is crucial but recognizing our role in the continuation of administrative victimization is essential. We must be proactive in addressing these systems as a broad network and be intentional in creating safe spaces for people of trans experience to be able to let their guard down. It’s not enough to say “I know twoc have it harder” we need to address the disparities and not just respond to the outcomes. As service providers we need to do the work to meet our clients where they are and view them as whole beings deserving of the right to be heard, affirmed, validated and served. To do otherwise would be to perpetuate a culture of victimization and violence against trans people.
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 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 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 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 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.
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.
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, 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.
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.
United We Dream, the national network of immigrant youth, has just released its “No More Closets” report, the largest national survey of the LGBTQ immigrant community ever conducted.
The report tells the collective and individual stories of some 461 individuals who self identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer and who are either born outside of the United States or are U.S.-born citizens with foreign-born parents. The survey was conducted in late 2015 both online and through individual interviews.
The report uncovers high levels of discrimination and harassment in employment, healthcare, housing and education and a distrust of law enforcement among this highly resilient population.
“With this survey, we aim to both tell our stories to policymakers as well as to the young people in our communities who are struggling that they are not alone and that together we can turn our shared struggle and power into the change we seek,” said Carlos Padilla, National Coordinator of United We Dream’s Queer Undocumented Immigrant Project. “In fact, some of our nation’s leading change makers are LGBTQ immigrant youth – out of great struggle can come great strength.”
Among the findings:
73.4 percent of respondents say that their income either doesn’t cover or just barely covers their living expenses. Only 26.6 percent report earning enough to live comfortably
About half say they have experienced discrimination at school because of their sexual orientation
41 percent have no health insurance, significantly higher than the general LGBTQ population
46 percent said they have hid or lied about their sexual orientation or gender identity to a health care provider because of fear
Nearly half of all respondents say they are afraid to deal with police because of their immigration status or sexual identity.
Survey architect and report author Zenen Jaimes Perez, Policy & Advocacy Analyst for United We Dream, added, “The patterns of discrimination, lack of healthcare and harassment uncovered by this report are heartbreaking but the countless stories of resistance and hope are inspiring. We hope that this report is just the beginning of research into a community determined to live authentically despite the odds.”
In addition to the survey data, the report also includes several individual testimonies of LGBTQ immigrant leaders themselves including this one from Bianey Garcia of New York City:
“Coming out for me was not about visibility, it was about survival and about being able to share my strength with other youth who continue to remain in the shadows and in fear as undocumented and LGBTQ. As a transgender immigrant woman, being out and counted is a critical step so other people in my community can feel safe.”
On January 14th, 36 national and local organizations representing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people sent a letter to Jeh Johnson, Secretary of Homeland Security calling for an immediate end to the Administration’s heavy-handed and immoral immigration raids , which have sparked a new wave of terror in immigrant communities across the country. The groups also called on the Administration to provide immediate relief to those fleeing violence and decried the Administration’s giving short shrift to due process protections.
The letter decries the immoral tactic of raids and lays out the particular damage that they have on the LGBTQ community. From the letter:
These negative impacts are even more harrowing for LGBTQ immigrants that already report higher levels of violence and discrimination based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. These raids will only serve to push our LGBTQ immigrant community further into the shadows.
The call from LGBTQ organizations adds to the growing chorus of voices ranging from over 60 Asian Pacific Islander organizations to more than 150 House Democrats and other political leaders calling on the Administration to end their reprehensible tactics.
Zenen Jaimes Perez, Advocacy & Policy Analyst for United We Dream said, “LGBTQ advocates refuse to sit idly by while the government inflicts a new wave of terror upon the immigrant community. The raids are just the latest in a series of gross injustices being carried out by the Obama administration on LGBTQ immigrants who are too familiar with the government’s use of intimidation, disrespect for due process and abuses in the immigrant detention and deportation process.”
The full text of the letter can be seen here and below. Signers of the letter include: Aquí Estamos, Association of Latino/as Motivating Action (ALMA), CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers, Collectively Free, Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC), Equality New Mexico, GALAEI, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, GLAD Alliance, GSA Network, Human Rights Campaign, Immigration Equality, La Clinica del Pueblo, Lambda Legal, League of United Latin American Citizens, Manantial de Gracia, Marriage Equality USA, National Black Justice Coalition, National Center for Lesbian Rights, National Center for Transgender Equality, National Immigrant Justice Center, National Immigration Law Center, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, National LGBTQ Task Force, National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance, Our Family Coalition, Pride at Work, Queer Detainee Empowerment Project, RAD Remedy, Social Workers for Reproductive Justice, The DC Center for the LGBT Community, The LGBT Center Orange County, The Los Angeles LGBT Center, Trans Pride Initiative, Trans Student Educational Resources and United We Dream. LETTER TO SEC. JEH JOHNSON FROM LGBTQ ORGANIZATIONS CALLING FOR AN END TO RAIDS:
(for citations, see pdf of letter here)
January 14, 2014
The Honorable Jeh Johnson
Secretary of Homeland Security
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Nebraska Avenue Complex
3801 Nebraska Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20528
Dear Secretary Johnson:
The undersigned lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) organizations and individuals write to express our deep opposition to the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) tactics of conducting raids in communities nationwide to round up and deport Central American children and their families.
We are committed to ensuring the safety, health, and welfare of all LGBTQ immigrants in the United States and we are disappointed that DHS has decided to use tactics that instill fear into immigrant communities. These raids plainly contravene President Obama’s directive to “more humanely” enforce our nation’s immigration laws. Instead of raids, DHS should take measurable steps to protect people that are fleeing tremendous levels of violence.
As an LGBTQ community, we know the vital importance of safe places to live. In the summer of 2014, we saw a wave of parents and children arrive to the U.S. to escape extreme violence in Central America. These parents fled because of gangs murdering their spouses, attempting to recruit their sons, and threatening sexual violence against their children. The majority of these cases lacked access to legal advice and assistance, often because of financial, logistical, or governmental obstacles. Without adequate legal counsel, many do not understand the intricacies of court proceedings and struggle to get their cases heard adequately and fairly.
Additionally, we believe a substantial portion of those who are currently in removal proceedings before the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) people with a disability, as that term is defined in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. See 42 U.S.C. § 12102(1). A very high proportion of the Central American mothers and children now targeted for ICE raids have survived sexual assault or other forms of extreme violence, have mourned the loss of close family members to particularized violence, and today suffer the inevitable consequences of exposure to this trauma. This means that a substantial proportion of the Central American parents and children who have sought refuge in the U.S. are suffering from severe symptoms of—and in many cases likely meet diagnostic criteria for—posttraumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety, and depression.
Consequently, we request that you call for an immediate review of the underlying removal orders on which DHS raids are purportedly based in order to confirm that the orders were not obtained in violation of the Rehabilitation Act. Raids are not the answer, especially for the broader LGBTQ immigrant community. Countless studies show the negative impact that raids have for immigrant communities. Children are pulled from school, immigrant owned businesses suffer, and immigrants fear reaching out to for basic services- even if they themselves are not the targets of the raids. These negative impacts are even more harrowing for LGBTQ immigrants that already report higher levels of violence and discrimination based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. These raids will only serve to push our LGBTQ immigrant community further into the shadows.
Consistent with our welcoming immigrant tradition to harbor those fleeing violence and persecution, DHS must end the use of raids that drive fear into immigrant communities. Additionally, you should exercise your statutory authority to extend relief and due process to all families fleeing violence.
This country has proven to be a beacon of hope for thousands of LGBTQ immigrants that face violence. We ask you send that same level of respect to these families and champion their protection.
We look forward to speaking with you about this matter. Please contact Zenen Jaimes Perez with the United We Dream Network at (512) 914-5905 or zenen@unitedwedream.org for more information or to discuss.
Sincerely,
Aquí Estamos
Association of Latino/as Motivating Action (ALMA)
CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers
Collectively Free
Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC)
Equality New Mexico
GALAEI
Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders
GLAD Alliance
GSA Network
Human Rights Campaign
Immigration Equality
La Clinica del Pueblo
Lambda Legal
League of United Latin American Citizens
Manantial de Gracia
Marriage Equality USA
National Black Justice Coalition
National Center for Lesbian Rights
National Center for Transgender Equality
National Immigrant Justice Center
National Immigration Law Center
National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
National LGBTQ Task Force
National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance
Our Family Coalition
Pride at Work
Queer Detainee Empowerment Project
RAD Remedy
Social Workers for Reproductive Justice
The DC Center for the LGBT Community
The LGBT Center Orange County
The Los Angeles LGBT Center
Trans Pride Initiative
Trans Student Educational Resources
United We Dream
A new visibility campaign in the District of Columbia aims to highlight our local Asian American and Pacific Islander community. The DC AAPI Visibility Project is a partnership between the D.C. Maryors office of Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs, (MOAPIA), API Queers United for Action (AQUA DC) and KhushDC. It is a celebration of the intersectionality of AAPI ethnicities and sexual orientation or gender identity.
The District residents featured in the campaign, many of whom are activists in the community, put a name and face on the diversity within our movement.
As the Project states: “We want to let people in the greater D.C. area know that we exist, and that we are not ashamed of who we are. For those who are still struggling to reconcile their identity as both LGBTQ and AAPI, we hope this project will be a resource and support for them. This collection of portraits will also showcase to our neighbors in both the LGBTQ and AAPI community at large that we are an integral part of the community.”
Campbell: I am a transgender queer-identified Korean-American and D.C. is my home.
Cynthia: I am a queer 2.5 generation Chinese American. I am an analyst in financial services, am passionate about building radical Asian and Pacific Islander Community …. and D.C. is my home.David: I learned Vietnamese as my first language and was an English language learner (ELL) when attending public school … and D.C. is my home.James: I am a gay male, chamorro and my family hails from The U.S. Territory of Guam … and D.C. is my home.Nicholas: I am an educator, administrator, and cusultant, agender, queer, and a person of color from a binational Japanese and U.S. background … and D.C. is my home.Rupen: I am a gay male from Mumbai, India. I am our and proud … and D.C. is my home.Sassanka: I am a page poet, justice advocate, and hard femme .. and D.C. is my home.Vincent: I am a 1.5 generation Taiwanese American from California. I am also the co-chair of Aqua DC, have a very DC-y day job in the think tank world … and D.C. is my home.
Words cannot begin to describe the depth of feeling we all share about the unfolding tragedies in Ferguson and New York City. Words cannot relieve the suffering of Michael Brown and Eric Garner’s loved ones nor can words alone salve the pain nor quell the anger of millions. It’s action we need and we need it now.
As LGBTQ national organizations, we proudly stand in solidarity with the civil rights organizations and local activists — including the actions of an amazing, fierce, brilliant cadre of youth leaders, many of whom are queer identified — in demanding fundamental systemic change that tackles the root causes of racial and economic injustices once and for all. From political accountability for the deaths of Michael and Eric to the immediate passage of federal legislation that completely bans racial profiling across this land to ensuring that local police departments are representative and fair arbiters of safety and protection for everyone and who — through their actions — are continually working to earn the trust, confidence and respect of the entire community.
We too must speak louder than words and take more action — to change more hearts and minds and fight even harder for the policies and practices that make statements such as this one obsolete.
We urge you to:
Join the March Against Police Violence in Washington, called by the National Action Network, on Saturday December 13th, 10:30am;
Organize and participate in peaceful protests in cities across the nation;
Attend public meetings in your city or town to show your support or share your experience with elected officials; and
Create your own actions for change in person and online — at home, at school, at work, in the corridors of power, and in places of worship.
Everyone, everywhere in our nation can do more to end racism and racial injustice. Everyone, from the Department of Justice that must do more to deliver justice for the Brown and Garner families to the high school principal who could do more to engage and educate students about racism and the need for justice.
Even those of us who have devoted our lives to this cause need to redouble our efforts to reach out to more people — including those people who are on the wrong side of this issue.
If we as a nation are to end racism and racial injustice once and for all, everyone must be part of an ongoing and sustainable process of change — a process that builds on all the progress we’ve made, a process that aims to recruit everyone, and a process with the specific mission of delivering lived equality, justice, and freedom for all.
American Civil Liberties Union
Believe Out Loud
Brethren Mennonite Council for LGBT
The BiCast
BiNet USA
Bisexual Organizing Project
Bisexual Leadership Roundtable
Bisexual Resource Center
Campus Pride
CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers
Center For Black Equity
COLAGE
Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals
Equality Federation
Family Equality Council
The Fellowship Global (Pastor Joseph Tolton)
The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries (Bishop Yvette Flunder)
Freedom to Marry
Gay Men’s Health Crisis
GLAAD
Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders
GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBT Equality
Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network
Harvey Milk Foundation
Higher Education T* Circle Advisory Board
Human Rights Campaign
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
Lambda Legal
MAP
Marriage Equality USA
More Light Presbyterians
National Black Justice Coalition
National Center for Lesbian Rights
National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs
National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce
National LGBTQ Task Force
National Minority AIDS Council
The National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA)
Nehirim
Out & Equal Workplace Advocates
PFLAG National
Pride at Work, AFL-CIO
The Pride Network
Reconciling Ministries Network
SAGE (Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders)
Trans People of Color Coalition
The Trevor Project
HIV affects all people, but some communities have been particularly hard hit. Of the more than 1.1 million Americans living with HIV today, half are Black. Black Americans are disproportionately affected by HIV relative to their share of the U.S. population, accounting for 44% of all new infections in the U.S. while representing just 12% of the population. The epidemic has touched many lives. According to a national survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, three in five Black Americans now know someone living with HIV or who has died of AIDS.
National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD) is an HIV testing and treatment community mobilization initiative for Blacks in the United States and across the Diaspora.
There are four specific focal points: Get Educated, Get Tested, Get Involved, and Get Treated. Find out more at: www.nationalblackaidsday.org.
