This week I was invited by Metro Weekly to write a letter to Donald Trump along with some amazing community leaders. I was inspired by reading all the letters and I encourage you to visit the MetroWeekly website and read the letters there. My letter is printed below:
Dear President Trump,
Soon you will be living (part time?) in Washington, D.C., where Hillary Clinton won more than 90% of the vote, and where, not surprisingly, you will not find many fans. There are those who would suggest, of course, that Washington, D.C., is just another urban bubble, ignorant of the realities of small town America.
I can assure you, however, that this is not the case. Many of us, including myself, come from a small town and know the struggles they face first hand. Others follow one of the finest American traditions coming from other countries to seek new opportunities, much like my own mother did more than fifty years ago.
I have never felt more of an American than I have living right here in Washington, D.C. Not because of the monuments, or the Congress, but because of the people — my neighbors. My Washington, D.C. is where Ben Ali, a Muslim immigrant from Trinidad, came with virtually nothing and over time built Ben’s Chili Bowl, one of our city’s most iconic restaurants. This city is a place where homeless LGBTQ youth arrive from other parts of the country with little more than a bus receipt, and have the opportunity to rebuild their lives thanks to the work of folks like Ruby Corado at Casa Ruby. My city is a place where undocumented residents can get a limited purpose driver’s license, where asylum seekers and refugees find sanctuary, and where transgender residents can get gender-affirming care. Most importantly, Washington, D.C. is a place where we strive to live together in peace.
We are not perfect, but it is here, working with the local community where I feel we are closest to that perfect union where everybody — yes, everybody — has a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This is the daily work of our fine city, and frankly for me and for countless others, this is what makes America great. I might add, we do it all without a vote in Congress (it’s called taxation without representation and it’s not fair).
I hope you take the opportunity to learn from your new neighbors, but if not, please know that we will not be divided. I consider an attack on any one of our fine citizens an attack on all of us, and I know other community leaders feel exactly the same way. We don’t know if you will go through with pushing for a Muslim registry. We don’t know if you will go through with your threats to start deporting undocumented residents on Day One of your Presidency. We don’t know how many of the executive orders protecting individuals from discrimination will be rolled back. What I do know is that we will resist. I know the “bubble” I live in is growing bigger every single day. And I know that ultimately, we will win.
It’s that time of year that we start thinking about our goals and plans for the year’s ahead. I asked several of our LGBT community leaders to share their resolutions for the coming year. Some resolutions are very personal (self-care resolutions for these hard workers are encouraged) and many are about the work ahead for our movement. Presented here, unedited, are their resolutions. What will you do to make the world a better place for LGBT people in 2017? Share your resolution on facebook and twitter using the hashtag #LGBTQresolution.
Beth Shipp
Beth Shipp
LPAC
“In 2017, LPAC is resolved to fight tooth and nail to protect our progress and defend against any attempts to erode the rights and equality of the LGBTQ community, women, people of color, religious minorities, immigrants, labor unions — anyone who faces bullying by the president-elect!”
LPAC builds the political power of lesbians and queer women by electing candidates who champion LGBTQ rights, women’s equality and social justice. Learn more about LPAC at: www.teamlpac.com
Faith Cheltenham
Faith Cheltenham
BiNet USA
“I believe that when you state your intentions to the world, the world is more likely to be as you intended. So every year I start with a list of items I’d like to accomplish, issues to professionally resolve, and dreams I’d like to see come true.
As we close 2016 all around me a dissonance is heard, from the cracking and crumbling of a country long blind to its own bad behavior. All around us are signs of who we could be, what our world has the potential to be and what’s at stake for humanity. In times like these the resolutions get simpler, the path becomes clearer and my heart warms to a steady beat:
RESIST. LOVE. REPEAT.”
BiNetUSA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit advocating for bisexual communities in the U.S.Learn more about BiNet USA at www.binetusa.org
Rebecca Isaacs
Rebecca Isaacs
Equality Federation
“I resolve to work harder than ever to move the LGBTQ agenda forward, even with a hostile Administration. I resolve to be a true partner to groups who are facing threats, because their agenda is our agenda. We will continue building power and leadership at the state and local levels so that our resistance can be as strong and successful as possible. I am more determined and energized than ever to continue Equality Federation’s work to win equality and equity in the states and to work on building strong partnerships to work on racial, economic, and social justice issues in the communities we call home.”
Equality Federation is the movement builder and strategic partner to state-based organizations advocating for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. Learn more about the Equality Federation at www.equalityfederation.org
Russell Roybal
Russell Roybal
National LGBTQ Task Force
“I have the same new years resolution every year – Have more fun in the New Year then I did in the previous year. And after 2016, I need more fun in my life.”
The National LGBTQ Task Force advances full freedom, justice and equality for LGBTQ people. Learn more about the National LGBTQ Task Force at www.thetaskforce.org
Brian Langevin
Asexual Outreach
Brian Langevin
“As we continue to face ever increasing hurdles and unexpected challenges, I resolve to spend more energy collaborating with the folks around me so that we can face those difficulties together. I often get so caught up in all of my own work that I forget to look around and see who might be working on similar projects. As has always been the case, I believe collaboration will be key to overcoming new challenges and to building up movements that can benefit all of us.”
Asexual Outreach aspires to act as an umbrella organization for the national ace and aro advocacy movement by providing structure, sustainability, and resources that help projects and communities flourish.Learn more about Asexual Outreach at www.asexualoutreach.org
Lourdes Ashley Hunter
Lourdes Ashley Hunter
Trans Women of Color Collective
“So much of my life has been focused on helping others. This year I want to center my focus on continuing my education by entering a Doctoral program.
I also want to continue to work towards expanding global advocacy for trans and gender non-conforming people of color and buy a house.”
The Trans Women of Color Collective uplifts the narratives, leadership, and lived experiences of trans people of color.”Learn more about TWOCC at www.twocc.us
J’aime Grant
J’aime Grant
Global Trans Research and Advocacy Project
“My resolution is to never ‘normalize’ the administration whose figurehead I will not name. I commit to a constant posture of resistance. I commit also to resourcing the leaders and leadership we most need right now to fight our way out. Nationally, in terms of queer activism, Black Lives Matter is where the juice and the momentum is for me. In terms of local organizing, I am a huge fan of Dignity and Power Now in LA, which foregrounds the leadership of formerly incarcerated folks and their families but is equally committed to healing justice practices in its network. They work on policy too, and have won a citizen’s review board of one of the most violent Sheriff’s offices in the nation. I love HIPS in DC for their unwavering support of sex workers, transfolks and addicts. They will always have my coins and my vocal support. There is so much great work going on among our people, that’s where my hope is!”
Earl Fowlkes
Earl Fowlkes
National Center for Black Equity
“My wish is that we can organize our communities to resist the excesses of the incoming Trump administration.”
The Center for Black Equity (CBE) is an institution committed to supporting leaders, institutions and programs for health, economic and social equity for LGBT people of African descent. Learn more about the National Center for Black Equity at: www.centerforblackequity.org
Rea Carey
Rea Carey
The National LGBTQ Task Force
“To be resolute in my resistance and to tap into the hope that is out there among millions of people.”
The National LGBTQ Task Force advances full freedom, justice and equality for LGBTQ people. Learn more about the National LGBTQ Task Force at www.thetaskforce.org
Share your resolution on facebook and twitter using the hashtag #LGBTQresolution
The age at which lesbian, gay, or bisexual people become aware of their sexual orientation is the subject of earnest debate. It’s no longer unusual in the United States to hear of people as young as ten years old coming out as being gay, while others may be unaware of their orientation until their late teens, or even older. For transgender persons, many of us are aware as early as six or seven years old that our assigned identity as boys or as girls is questionable, or simply wrong. We sense it, even if we lack the words to describe it. The dawning of awareness that one’s sexual orientation is lesbian, gay, or bisexual, or that one’s gender identity is transgender, or (as more broadly classified) being queer (LGBTQ) may be simply a curiosity for many, but in locations throughout the Americas the consequences are nothing less than dire.
Far too many LGBTQ youth in this hemisphere, and particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean, face immediate rejection, exclusion, and social ostracism when they come out. With that rejection comes intense vulnerability – psychological, emotional, and physical – and (where relevant) a rapid and rough introduction to the many dimensions of intolerance and excess that the patriarchal culture of machismo is known for. Yes – it is common knowledge throughout the world that young people need loving adult care, protection, and nurturing, but for too many LGBTQ youth their experience of their own parents is of adults who are harshly uncompromising. Homophobic or transphobic parents feel justified by their culture and often by their religious values to abandon their own gay or transgender children to life on the streets, where they will struggle to survive, deprived of access to education, health care, or a warm embrace by a doting parent. For such children the first lesson in survival is that almost no one cares what happens to them…other than those who intend to exploit them.
Awareness is growing of the problem of child sexual trafficking throughout the Americas, and the intense vulnerability of these young people to exploitation and abuse is noted by some activists and some officials in some governments. Laws are passed – if practically never implemented. Among the whole population of trafficked youth, we do not know how many identify as LGBTQ. Nobody bothers to collect such information. We seldom even hear their stories; often we are left only to speculate about their harsh realities.
The absence of relevant data is not to be minimized. Without such an empirical view, public policy remains mute, with little or no guidance to offer. Police are therefore seldom trained in the plight of trafficked LGBTQ youth[1]While engaging in prostitution is generally recognized as a crime, those youth who are trafficked into sex work are not legally held to be perpetrators of criminal offenses but are instead seen as … Continue reading , and politicians typically show little interest in their issues (except to use them as politically expedient distractions). The record is abundantly clear: these young LGBTQ people really don’t matter to the general public very much – if at all – even when they are trafficked to the United States as sex slaves. Instead, here in the U.S. they are viewed at best as bureaucratically inconvenient; rough young people who are in this country illegally, have little education and no resources, often have sexually transmitted diseases, and generally don’t speak any English. In the few cases where their personal stories are shared, such narratives are – to most of us – incomprehensible. How could such LGBTQ persons, so young and so vulnerable, have already suffered such extremes of violence, trauma, humiliation, and degradation? How could these youth come to be so far removed from their homes and communities, and become so exposed to the worst exploitations of sexual slavery and subjugation?
Two morally tough questions emerge. Who could ever do this to young LGBTQ people? Why did no adult protect them? The answer is more than a “who did what to whom and why”, or an analysis of who failed to fulfill a basic duty of adulthood – protecting vulnerable youth. Child sex trafficking in general throughout the Americas has now grown into a major criminal industry, and among those youth who are trafficked the subpopulation who are LGBTQ-identified are distinguished by an even greater degree of vulnerability. After all, their LGBTQ status exacerbated their visibility to their original targeting by the sex traffickers.
Once such young people became aware of their same-sex sexual orientation or non-conforming gender identity (which is neither a choice nor a “lifestyle”), their own families cast them out into the world to make their way as best they could. At such a tender age, their vulnerability could hardly be more acute. Unfortunately, very few decent persons see fit to intercede to offer protection and support to homeless LGBTI youth, who find meager shelter wherever they can – such as in open sewers in Kingston, Jamaica. Without any protection, and with no one looking out for their welfare, LGBTQ young people are reduced to the status of soft targets. There are always people positioned to exploit such soft targets by trafficking them into sexual slavery and servitude, occasionally in countries far away where their isolation and vulnerability becomes even more acute.
Sex trafficking – especially of highly vulnerable LGBTQ youth – is a shadowy, harsh, and very dangerous world of criminality in which patterns of violence and exploitation are efficient, profitable, and devastating to those ensnared in it. There is some anecdotal evidence from the relative handful of young LGBTQ people who’ve managed to break free, yet empirical data is scarce. Very few Latin American or Caribbean countries bother to collect reliable information about sexual trafficking, especially of children. Not a single country in the Americas – North or South – accurately tallies how many of these young people are from the LGBTQ community. No one bothers to ask them what their sexual preferences are – as if that mattered to the trafficker or to the customer. They are just easy and very vulnerable youth who can often be trafficked with impunity[2]Legislation against child sex trafficking is not uncommon in Latin America, where 26 countries now have laws on the books. Implementing such laws is another story entirely. According to the United … Continue reading . Few in authority genuinely seem to care what happens to trafficked youth in general; we can but conjecture how tiny is the number of those in authority who also care about the small subpopulation of trafficked LGBTQ youth.
For transgender youth who are sexually trafficked, their gender identity is frequently seen as a commercial asset if such young people identify as female, and they are deemed to be sexually “attractive”. There is a lucrative market among some men who seek women with certain male embodiments, and since only a negligible percentage of young transgender women who are trafficked have ever had gender confirming surgeries, their bodies are viewed as desirable objects in this niche market. This does not imply that these young transgender women are respected as women; they simply constitute a niche market for men with non-traditional sexual inclinations. Such young transgender women – girls – who are just beginning the very challenging ordeal of understanding and claiming their authentic gender identities are valued by their “customers” not for that emerging authentic identity but, to the contrary, as some sort of bizarre sexualized fantasy object. They are treated as freaks. The stigma and trauma associated with that form of discrimination constitutes a systemic form of violence that threatens any sense of integrity and self-respect for these young and very vulnerable transgender women. [3]Sexually trafficked young transgender men who are not on hormones and who have not acquired masculine physical traits (low voice, facial hair) are sometimes marketed as “lesbians” to customers … Continue reading
Child sex trafficking owes its existence to a market. Due both to the Internet and to better transport infrastructure, that demand for commercial sex with minors is growing. While details are few, we do know that the majority of those customers or “johns” seeking the services of these exploited young people are men in and from the home countries of those who are trafficked, often clustered in locations where industries such as mining and commercial fishing bring large numbers of men together.
Tourism centers also provide lucrative returns to the traffickers, with bars and hotels becoming regular paid accomplices in marketing such services to foreign tourists who are often wealthy. Some men come to these destinations specifically for sexual tourism, while others see this as a side benefit to a business trip. According to Nelson Rivera Reyes, a senior officer of the Colombian organization Fundación Renacer that combats such sexual exploitation: “The number of tourists who come to Colombia and have sex with children has increased in recent years…Unfortunately clients can find girls who are under eight if they want to do so.” Similar reports on child sex trafficking are easy to find in other major tourism destinations, such as Costa Rica, Mexico, Jamaica, and Peru, but there are never any details as to how many of those youth who are trafficked are LGBTQ.
Sexual trafficking of adults and youth, LGBTQ or not, is also a cultural problem in much of Latin America and the Caribbean. The prevailing masculine norms of machismo assert that the male’s appetite for sex is boundless and often uncontrollable, and that society should therefore accommodate itself to this “reality” – even to the point where men’s reputations are built on their promiscuity and unfaithfulness to their wives. Women – and female sexuality in general – is viewed as something for men to exercise dominance over. Through such values, the dignity and worth of any male-dominated sexual partner (female or male, adult or child, straight/cisgender or LGBTQ) is by definition of lesser value than that of the sexually dominant man. Such values ride roughshod over fundamental moral precepts of protecting persons from sex and gender based violence – especially against children. Commercial sex is seen as a normal part of life, and for those who participate as consumers of commercial sex it is simply convenient not to ask where the sex workers come from or how old they are. After all, in their view sex workers really don’t matter very much, and they are certainly not viewed as fully human and hence dignified persons worthy of respect.
The overriding challenge therefore is to seek a transformed concept of masculinity throughout the Americas, whenever masculine values are structured on the dominance and exploitation of others, and particularly where sexual inequality between men and women is currently normalized. That is a long term but critically important undertaking, and the future of societal development and flourishing depends upon its eventual success. Policy-makers, social leaders, and advocates for gender equity have much work to do.
The particular challenge, however, is even more urgent. All children and youth everywhere deserve to be respected, nurtured, and protected – no exceptions. Moving in the opposite direction, in which certain children are effectively sacrificed as exploitable and valueless, is the height of immorality. There is no government anywhere, in any cultural setting, that can morally justify ignoring or condoning the sexual exploitation of vulnerable youth. Offering homophobia or transphobia as some justification for the abuse and sexually trafficking of that small vulnerable subpopulation of exploited LGBTQ youth is also morally unsupportable by any standard of human decency, respect for human dignity, or simple human compassion. The cultural hypocrisy – exacerbated by machismo – that LGBTQ youth are expendable and exploitable as sexual objects is outrageous, and the widespread impunity that traffickers of such youth currently enjoy is insulting to any concept of human dignity, and to any generalized expression of natural human care and compassion.
Will governments be moved to needed reforms by protestations of outrage and insult in the context of sexually exploited LGBTQ youth? Morally, they must. If not, then human dignity as an ideal has ceased to have any meaning at all. Given that human dignity is the ultimate foundation of civilization, that is a very high price to pay.
While engaging in prostitution is generally recognized as a crime, those youth who are trafficked into sex work are not legally held to be perpetrators of criminal offenses but are instead seen as victims of child sex trafficking. Police should therefore be treating such youth with care and support as appropriate to those victimized by violent crimes – yet many anecdotal reports find that police throughout Latin America and the Caribbean are hostile or even abusive to LGBTQ youth who have been sexually trafficked.
Legislation against child sex trafficking is not uncommon in Latin America, where 26 countries now have laws on the books. Implementing such laws is another story entirely. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) only about 10 percent of those who are investigated for their role in human trafficking are actually convicted. From 2010 to 2012, some countries in Central America and the Caribbean failed to convict a single person. Disturbingly, UNODC has also reported that in North and Central America, as well as in many countries in South America, those three years saw some of the most significant increases in child trafficking worldwide. UNODC details that children made up about 30 percent of trafficking victims in the Americas, and that over 65 percent of these children were girls. They have no data on LGBTQ status.
Sexually trafficked young transgender men who are not on hormones and who have not acquired masculine physical traits (low voice, facial hair) are sometimes marketed as “lesbians” to customers who believe – as a value derived from machismo – that sexual intercourse and other sexual practices with them will convert these youth into heterosexual, cisgender women. There is almost no anecdotal evidence available about the few cases where young transgender men who have significantly transitioned into male embodiment (through testosterone therapy and top surgery) have been sexually trafficked.
Donald Trump has already had his first visit to the White House. Before you know it, the holidays will be over and the Trump Administration will have begun. If you’re anything like me you may be feeling a bit helpless at the moment. Still there are things we can be doing right now to prepare. Here are six tips:
#GetCovered Before the Innauguration
Donald Trump said in one of his speeches “When we win on Nov. 8 and elect a Republican Congress, we will be able to immediately repeal and replace Obamacare.” (LA Times)
Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, no American can be dropped or denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition like HIV; and more Americans have access to health insurance than ever before. So how do we fight to keep it? One way is to make sure you and everyone you know sign up! If there is a surge in in open-enrollment, it will show Congress just how important the Affordable Care Act is, and we are well on our way. Over 100,000 folks signed up for a healthcare plan the day after the election. To learn more and find out where you can get help choosing a plan visit www.out2enroll.org.
Update Legal Documents if Needed.
Advances during the Obama Administration have made it easier for transgender folks to update their Social Security Administration (SSA) cards as well as Passports to reflect their gender identity. We haven’t seen Donald Trump comment specifically on this issue, but better to be safe than sorry. Encourage the people they love to go ahead and update their legal documents if needed. If you don’t know where to begin, start by contacting your local LGBT Community Center. Chances are, they will be able to point you in the right direction.
Recommit to your State and Local LGBT Advocacy Organization
With Republican control of the House, Senate, and Oval Office, we need to seriously adjust our expectations for what progress we can make at the national level. There are many states, however, where a path forward is more clear. Vice President Elect Mike Pence supports conversion therapy for LGBT youth. Do you know if your state has banned conversion therapy? New York State has a plan to end new HIV infections by 2020. Does yours? Does your state have a comprehensive non-discrimination policy? Several cities have passed gender-neutral bathroom laws. What about where you live? Every victory at the state and local level moves us forward, and makes it harder for those who want to roll back progress at the national level. Click here to connect with your State LGBT Equality Group and find out how you can help.
Learn the New Rules of Engagement
LGBT Advocacy looks a lot different when you’ve been invited into the White House than it does when you’re standing outside the White House with a protest sign. Around the country we are seeing people take to the streets. It’s an encouraging sign. But just like there are a set of skills you need to know to be an effective inside player, there are skills you need to have to be an effective outside player. You need a plan to be effective, you need to train people before the protest. You need to have a plan if someone get’s arrested or harassed by the police. These are just a few things to take into consideration.
Focus Less on Your Marriage and More on Concerns of Trans and Queer People of Color (TQPOC)
There are a lot of issues LGBT folks should have on the radar in in the first 100 Days of the Trump Administration, but Marriage Equality is not one of them. According to the Human Rights Campaign “It’s not impossible, but it’s not likely. It’s a binding decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. Congress and Donald Trump cannot unilaterally undo marriage equality. Currently, all five justices who ruled in favor of marriage equality are still on the bench, and that’s not going to change anytime soon. It’s hard to imagine how we lose marriage equality.”
A lot of the most pressing concerns, are the ones that impact Trans individuals, LGBTQ Muslims, and LGBTQ People of Color. Here are some things Trump could conceivably do on day one.
Rescind the Obama administration’s guidance protecting transgender students from discrimination on day one. (more info)
Begin deporting undocumented immigrants (more info)
It’s not clear that any of these things will actually happen, but they are all on the table. Now more than ever, it’s important that we are all looking out for each other. And that means that at this moment it’s important for white and cis LGBT folks to listen to and center the voices of trans and queer people of color.
Bring Back the Stonewall Democrats
At one time the Stonewall Democrats, the national network for LGBT Democrats, was a powerful player for the Democrats, comprised of over 90 local chapters. While many of the local chapters are still active, the national organization that supported them, dissolved years ago. And the groups no longer have a national gathering, or many ways of communicating and learning from each other.
One thing we have definitely learned from this election is that the Democratic party infrastructure at the state and local level is not what we thought it was. We need that to change, and the fact that Howard Dean has expressed interest in returning to the DNC is a promising sign. We can turn things around, but the LGBT community has to do it’s part. That starts by investing time, energy, and resources in our Stonewall Democrats Chapters. Find your local chapter and join today, and let’s all start the conversation about rebuilding a National Network to support Stonewall Chapters around the country.
The reality is sinking in that Donald Trump will be President of the United States.
Trump has scapegoated immigrants, refugees, and Muslims to name. He wants to put people in the Supreme Court that would take away our rights to marriage. As I struggle to accept these results, here are some of my initial thoughts on how we move #ForwardTogether and the issues we should be thinking about in the days and months ahead.
1. If history is any indication, there will be an increase in hate crimes. Following our first African American President, we will have the first President in decades endorsed by the KKK. People who harbor hate in their hearts are feeling validated tonight, and will no doubt be emboldened in the days and months ahead. And we should prepare ourselves for it and look out for each other. To learn more read this article on 10 Hate Crimes Inspired by Donald Trump.
2. Elections like this have an impact on our mental health. We all want to be full and equal citizens of this Country, but much of the country voted for an agenda tonight that devalues Latinos, LGBT people, Muslims, and others. For some in the LGBT community, our own family members voted for an agenda that counts us as less than fully human. It’s normal for that to hurt, And we should expect folks to feel hopeless, to feel lost, and even to experience depression. We’ve seen this in places where marriage rights were reversed or voted down. “According to a quantitative study with more than 1,500 lesbian, gay, and bisexual participants, living in a U.S. State where same-sex marriage is outlawed was directly related to chronic social stress and psychological problems, and not due to pre-existing mental health issues or other factors.” (read the fact sheet here). We all should be checking in with our friends this week and making sure they are ok.
3. Federal Advocacy Requires New Approaches and Adjusted Expectations. While many of us were thinking about what could be accomplished in Hillary Clinton’s first 100 days, we are all going to have to adjust to this new reality. With Republican control of the House and Senate, advancing federal non-discrimination legislation is unlikely, and in many ways we will be shifting from offense to defense. Trump may have the opportunity to nominate multiple candidates to the Supreme Court and has promised to nominate candidates that will roll black equal marriage rights for same-sex couples.
4. State Advocacy Moves to the Front and Center. Passing legislation at the state level is a more realistic goal for the next few years. Advancing SOGI (sexual orientation and gender identity) non-discrimination laws in housing, employment, and public accommodation is crucial and may just be achievable in some states. North Carolina anti-LGBT Governor McCrory who signed anti trans ‘bathroom bill’ was voted out of office and will be by Democrat Roy Cooper. (read the HRC statement on the North Carolina Elections). Freedom for All Americans is one organization already working hard at the state level. State based organizations to look out for are Florida Competes, Georgia Unites, Freedom Indiana, Tennessee Equality Project, and Equality Pennsylvania.
5. Standing by our Allies is Now More Important than Ever. We’ve witnessed a campaign build on divisiveness. One important principal from the Clinton/Kaine campaign to carry with us starting tomorrow is that we are indeed Stronger Together. Standing with immigrants, refugees, the Latinx community, Muslims, and other communities threatened by a Trump Presicency will indeed make us stronger.
How do you think we move #ForwardTogether? Add your thoughts in the comments below.
The National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund and the National Coalition for LGBT Health have published a new guide on health issues important to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people. Released in advance of the 2016 presidential election, the “10 Key LGBTQ Health Advocacy Priorities Guide” is intended to educate voters on LGBTQ health priorities the two organizations will continue to focus on during the next administration.
The guide lists the following ten key areas as priorities: advocating for reproductive health, rights and justice; creating an AIDS-free generation, promoting HIV harm reduction, and increasing access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP); expanding public education and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STI) and sexually transmitted diseases (STD); supporting LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness; improving transgender healthcare; addressing religious exemptions and nondiscrimination laws; promoting LGBTQ cultural competency; improving access to mental health; expanding access to affordable health care; and ending violence against LGBTQ people.
All of these of course are important issues. Notably absent, however, is any discussion of tobacco and tobacco related cancers. Smoking causes more deaths in the United States than HIV, illegal drug use and alcohol use combined, and more than 30,000 LGBT people die each year of tobacco-related diseases. Members of the LGBT community smoke at rates 50 percent higher than the general population. Some studies indicate that LGBT adults are 1.5 to 2.5 times more likely to smoke than heterosexual adults. And, although most LGBT smokers say that they know smoking is harmful to their health, fewer have tried to quit (75 percent versus 80 percent of all adults).
Both The National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund and the National Coalition for LGBT Health will host workshops, trainings, and informational sessions on these priority health advocacy issues during the 2017 Creating Change Conference on January 18-22 and SYNChronicity 2017: the National Conference on HIV, HCV, and LGBT Health, set for April 24-25.
The District of Columbia Office of Human Rights has released a new resource for employers entitled Hired and Transgender: Self-Testing for Hiring Bias against Transgender Applicants. The report is is a part of ongoing work in the District of Columbia to reduce employment discrimination against transgender and gender non-conforming job applicants. It provides step-by-step instructions for employers, human resources professionals, and hiring managers to evaluate their hiring practices for discrimination based on gender identity and make changes as needed.
Despite making up more than half of the lesbian, gay, and bisexual population, bisexual people are often overlooked and invisible. Bisexual people are frequently assumed to be gay, lesbian, or heterosexual based on the gender of their partner. Yet when bisexual people are open about their sexuality, they face increased levels of violence from intimate partners; rejection by community, family, and peers; and skepticism from the people and organizations whom they turn to for help, resources, and services.
Consider this: Only 20 percent of bisexual people say that there is social acceptance of lesbian, gay and bisexual people where they live, compared to 31 percent of lesbians and 39 percent of gay men. While these social acceptance numbers are too low across the board, bisexual people are rarely explicitly considered separately from lesbian and gay people. Rather, bisexual people are swept into the greater lesbian, gay, and bisexual population, their specific disparities made invisible within data about the population as a whole.
The Movement Advancement Project and a broad coalition of partners have released a groundbreaking report. Invisible Majority: The Disparities Facing Bisexual People and How to Remedy Them focuses on the “invisible majority” of the LGBT community, the nearly 5 million adults in the U.S. who identify as bisexual and the millions more who have sexual or romantic attraction to or contact with people of more than one gender. The report shows how bias, stigma, and invisibility lead to alarming rates of societal rejection, violence, discrimination, and poor physical and mental health.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) have come out with a new report on protecting the rights of transgender parents and their children.
All too often parents who have transitioned or come out as transgender after having children have seen their gender transition raised by their ex-spouse or partner as a basis to deny or restrict custody or visitation. Transgender people who formed families after transitioning have faced challenges to their legal status as parents, often based on attacks on the validity of their marriages. This guide provides information to transgender parents and their attorneys to help them protect parent-child relationships and assist them when faced with disputes over child custody issues.
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.
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 ….
