Top Stories

/ /

LGBTQ Americans Report More Financial Struggles and Anxiety Over Money than Other Americans

LGBTQ Middle Americans are more likely to worry about the direction of the country, feel less financially secure, and struggle more with personal financial issues than other Americans, according to research by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. (MassMutual).

“Nearly half (47 percent) of Middle-income earners who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning  (LGBTQ) say they feel less than financially secure and many often struggle with financial emergencies,” said Wonhong Lee, head of diverse markets with MassMutual. “Overall, LGBTQ individuals tend to worry more about finances and are impacted more negatively by their finances than other Middle Americans. For instance, 60 percent of LGBTQ individuals report often worrying everyday about their household’s financial situation, compared to 53 percent of the general population.”

While many LGBTQ Americans worry about money, 80 percent of survey respondents said they are worried about the direction of the country, compared to 66 percent of the general population, according to the MassMutual LGBTQ Middle America Financial Security Study. LGBTQ Middle Americans are also more likely to be worried that changes to the healthcare system could cause a loss of coverage for them or a loved one. The research polled 500 respondents who identified themselves as LGBTQ as part of a broader study of working Americans ages 25-65 who earned annual incomes of between $35,000 and $150,000.

In addition to concerns about politics, LGBTQ respondents expressed higher levels of concerns than the general population about finances (60 percent vs. 54 percent, respectively), the health and well-being of parents (54 percent to 51 percent, respectively), and their marriage and/or romantic relationship  (28 percent to 22 percent, respectively). LGBTQ Americans who expressed concerns about their personal finances were more likely to be impacted than other Middle Americans as a result.

Reasons for Worry
The study showed differences in attitudes about saving as well as concerns about a wide range of financial issues, including lack of preparation for retirement, struggling to make ends meet, a need for more education about retirement savings and financial issues, and potential changes to the healthcare system.

Living for Today
The attitude expressed by LGBTQ respondents about a greater propensity to spend rather than save underscored an overall lack of savings. Those identifying themselves as LGBTQ were more likely to agree that “spending money to enjoy myself now is more important than saving for the future” than other Middle Americans, 36 percent to 27 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, fewer than one in four (27 percent) LGBTQ respondents have at least $5,000 in savings set aside for emergencies and 44 percent said an unexpected expense of $5,000 would create at least some if not significant discomfort. Both those levels were higher than reported by the general population.

Managing finances is also more of a challenge for the LGBTQ population, with 59 percent saying they don’t always have enough money every month compared to 48 percent of the general population, the study found. Half of LGBTQ workers with lower incomes (less than $45,000) found it difficult to manage their household expenses. Both LGBTQ (54 percent) and the general population (53 percent) attributed personal financial issues to high levels of debt.

LGBTQ Middle Americans also expressed concerns about having different financial planning needs than the average household, more difficulty finding financial support and greater interest in financial education.  More than half (53 percent) said they are unsure where to go for financial advice.

“The financial services industry needs to continue to get closer to its customers to better understand their individual needs, as MassMutual’s study of LGBTQ Middle Americans plainly shows,” Lee said. “There are many different types of households and families in America.  Both our challenge, and our opportunity, is to better understand how we can help all types of households and families prioritize managing their money, enhance their financial security and reach their financial goals.”

/

Chechen Gays Are Accused of Terrorism So They Cannot Flee Country

Chechen security forces visit homosexuals’ relatives and demand to write statements about the departure of their children to Syria, employees of two human rights organizations told Kavkaz.Realii edition.

“The policy of the Chechen law enforcement agencies is such: it is easier for them to immediately state that the person was recruited and he left for Syria. Most likely, this is designed to ensure that people, who do not want to live in those conditions, did not go anywhere. Because this one message about leaving for Syria is not the end. His entire family will have a monkey on their back, Kadyrovtsy (Head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov’s special forces officers – Ed.) will impose pressure on them,” the interlocutor of Kavkaz.Realii explained.

According to the edition, the police of Chechnya have already announced the search for several homosexuals on suspicion of terrorism.

Recall that previously BBC journalists reported that the relatives of the disappeared residents of the Republic were forced to write statements about leaving for Syria. As the CrimeRussia previously wrote, the Chechens disappeared after mass arrests in December-January 2016-2017, which began after the attack on policemen in Grozny on the night of December 17. Novaya Gazeta reported that at least 27 detainees were shot to death.

Information about the hard oppression of gays in Chechnya appeared in Novaya Gazeta in April this year. According to the press, mass purges among homosexuals were held in the Republic. It was also pointed out that secret prisons, where men were held and tortured, operated in the region. In connection with these publications, Tatyana Moskalkova, the Human Rights Ombudswoman in the Russian Federation, applied to law enforcement agencies to verify this information. At the end of June, the Ombudswoman once again stated that she did not receive a single appeal about violations of the rights of LGBT community representatives in Chechnya. Despite this, media publish new stories from gay refugees, who managed to leave the Republic. They talk about tortures and murders, which began in 2009.

Trevor Project Reports Spike in Calls to Suicide Hotline; Equality Texas Speaks Out

The Trevor Project – the nation’s largest LGBTQ youth crisis intervention and suicide prevention organization – issued a press statement about the amount of incoming calls, text messages and online chats they’ve received from transgender youth. The influx of communications to the suicide prevention organization corresponded most notably after President Trump’s tweet regarding transgender military service members, and the local to national news coverage of proposed “bathroom bill” in the Texas legislature.

According to the press statement issued by the Trevor Project:

  • of the approximately 178 contacts per day (on average) received by The Trevor Project, 7.3 percent typically self-identify as transgender;

  • within 24 hours after the President’s tweet regarding transgender military service members, contacts from transgender individuals spiked to 17.5 percent of all contacts;

  • And, the week after the Texas legislature introduced the anti-trans “bathroom bill,” contacts from transgender young people doubled to 14.7 percent.

“As an adult living my life as a transgender man, I know first hand what it feels like to feel scared, alone, and vulnerable. Throughout the 85th legislative session here in Texas, and now in the Special Session, Equality Texas has been on the frontlines fighting against the anti-transgender rhetoric and public discourse espoused by elected officials at the Capitol,” said transgender programs coordinator Lou Weaver. “The anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and all of the anti-transgender policies have directly resulted in members of our community being assaulted and our parents being afraid for their children . We hope the news from the Trevor Project will inform lawmakers and result in them rejecting all discriminatory bathroom bill legislation targeting our transgender neighbors, families and friends.”

“It’s summertime. Families with children should be having fun and reconnecting during their summer break. Instead, families with trans youth are traveling for hours to testify against bathroom bills, because the lieutenant governor has decided to pick on an already bullied group of kids. The news from the Trevor Project regarding the spike in communications is heartbreaking,” said Chuck Smith, CEO of Equality Texas. “Attacking transgender kids with discriminatory legislation puts them in crisis. Enough is enough! The Texas Legislature needs to stop the bathroom bills.”

Transgender kids and adults need to be treated fairly. Equality Texas is not fighting about bathrooms. We are fighting against policies which will have lifelong consequences for our families, and communities. Equality Texas will continue to hold anti-LGBTQ legislators accountable.

/ /

Lambda Legal Blasts Trump; DOJ Over Plans to Undermine Affirmative Action Policies

Lambda Legal CEO Rachel B. Tiven blasted the Trump administration and Attorney General Jeff Sessions over new reports revealing plans to undermine and attack affirmative action policies. A report from The New York Times this week affirmed the effort will dedicate resources from the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division toward investigating and suing universities over affirmative action admissions policies deemed to discriminate against white applicants. The effort continues adding to a laundry list of civil rights offenses by the Trump administration, the most recent of which came last week when the administration levied a series of assaults on LGBT rights and policies.

“The DOJ’s continued war on civil rights has hit a new low today, and only serves to reinforce that the administration is hell bent on creating an America that targets vulnerable communities, undermines important civil rights protections, and ultimately excludes millions of Americans from participating in public life,” said Rachel B. Tiven, the CEO of Lambda Legal. “Instead of bolstering and strengthening education and opportunity, this administration has used education as a vehicle to advance discrimination – first by targeting transgender students through the Dept. of Education, and now by targeting People of Color through the Dept. of Justice. Meanwhile, real problems – police brutality, government corruption, and rising hate violence – are being ignored, as the DOJ chases figments and myths.

“It’s repulsive and perverse that affirmative action has now found its main adversary in the very arm of DOJ meant to advance progress on civil rights: the Civil Rights Division. We are appalled but not surprised by this continued assault on civil rights, and Jeff Sessions’ determination to sully the reputation of the Department of Justice.”

The DOJ’s plans were first revealed this week (via a document obtained by The New York Times), and comes just one week after the administration levied a series of attacks on the LGBT community: beginning with President Trump’s tweet indicating intentions to ban transgender people from serving in the military (a move opposed to by a majority of Americans, top military brass, and prominent Republican Members of Congress), and ending with the DOJ intervening in a private employment lawsuit, arguing that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not provide workplace protections for LGBT people.

Lambda Legal has been a strong supporter and defender of affirmative action in college admissions. In 2012, Lambda joined with other civil rights groups to urge the Supreme Court to uphold the University of Texas at Austin’s use of race to advance diversity, joining in the filing of a friend-of-the-court brief as well as educating and creating visibility among its members on the importance of affirmative action policies.

/

Voters Say 68 – 27% Let Transgender People Serve, Quinnipiac Poll Finds

American voters say 68 – 27 percent, including 55 – 39 percent among voters in military households, that transgender people should be allowed to serve in the military, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today.

Republicans opposed transgender service 60 – 32 percent, but every other party, gender, education, age or racial group supports transgender service by margins of 22 percentage points or higher, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University Poll finds.

By an 89 – 8 percent margin, American voters say it should be illegal for an employer to discriminate against an employee based on sexual orientation.

More acceptance of transgender people would be “a good thing for the country,” 46 percent of voters say, as 14 percent say it would be “a bad thing” and 39 percent say it would not make much difference.

American voters disapprove 80 – 15 percent of the way Republicans in Congress are handling health care. Even Republicans disapprove 60 – 32 percent. Voters disapprove 64 – 25 percent of Republican ideas to replace Obamacare.

Voters disapprove 59 – 34 percent of the way Democrats in Congress are handling health care.

“They put on uniforms and face the same risks as their brothers and sisters in arms for little reward other than protecting their country,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

“Voters say a soldier is a soldier, no matter what his/her gender identity is.

“Voters say, ‘Let them serve.’

“Nobody gets high marks on health care, but Republicans take a crushing blow. The message: Start over and do it right.”

Only 22 percent of American voters say President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress should repeal all of the Affordable Care Act – Obamacare. Another 40 percent say repeal parts of Obamacare and 33 percent of voters say don’t repeal any of Obamacare.

American voters say 81 – 14 percent, including 76 – 17 percent among Republicans, that there should be bipartisan hearings on any new health care law to replace Obamacare.

Voters oppose 69 – 26 percent, including 52 – 39 percent among Republicans, decreasing federal funding for Medicaid.

Replacing the current health care system with a single payer system in which Medicare covers every American citizen is a good idea, voters say 51 – 38 percent. Democrats and Republicans in Congress

While still negative, the Democratic Party is ahead of the Republican Party in voter favorability: the Democrats get a negative 36 – 48 percent favorability, compared to the Republicans’ negative 22 – 64 percent favorability – a new low.

If the 2018 Congressional elections were held today, voters say 52 – 38 percent, including 48 – 37 percent among independent voters, they would like the Democrats to win control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Voters say 53 – 39 percent, including 49 – 40 percent among independent voters, they would like to see the Democrats win control of the U.S. Senate.

American voters are divided 44 – 44 percent on whether Democrats or Republicans can do a better job handling the economy. Voter opinions on other issues are:

  • 56 – 29 percent that Democrats can do a better job on health care;
  • 43 – 43 percent split on who can do a better job on taxes;
  • 55 – 35 percent that Democrats can do better fighting for the working class. Voters support 54 – 44 percent raising the national minimum wage to $15 per hour.

From July 27 – August 1, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,125 voters nationwide with a margin of error of +/- 3.4 percentage points, including the design effect. Live interviewers call landlines and cell phones.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys nationwide, and in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Iowa and Colorado as a public service and for research.

Visit poll.qu.edu or www.facebook.com/quinnipiacpoll

/ /

Confusion, Fear, Cynicism: Why People Don’t Report Hate Incidents

It is one of the most striking and curious statistics contained in a recent Bureau of Justice Statistics report on hate crimes in America: 54 percent of the roughly 250,000 people who said they were victimized in recent years chose not to file a formal complaint with the authorities.

The Matthew Shepard Foundation, an advocacy organization based in Colorado that played a role in successfully pushing for national hate crime legislation, has recently tried to better understand the phenomenon. The foundation began asking the Denver residents notifying the organization about being victimized to explain why they did or did not report the incident to the police.

The effort began in February and so far has produced a modest 15 responses — not all of which appear to be crimes. But in a country largely bereft of reliable or probing data on hate crimes, the information collected by the foundation has value.

The foundation, which shared its data as part of our Documenting Hate project, agreed to make public some of the responses to the question on reporting to authorities. The responses are anonymous, but they offer glimpses into the mix of forces at work when victims are deciding what to do: confusion about the definition of hate crimes; skepticism of the commitment by law enforcement to aggressively investigate; fear of retaliation.

“They echo what other organizations have heard through listening sessions, meetings, and the national victims of crime survey responses,” said Jason Marsden, the foundation’s executive director, referencing the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ report.

For one transgender person who reported that homophobic slurs and beer cans were hurled at them, the answer to why they reported the assault to the police was clear: “To get these men charged with a crime.”

For others, there was confusion as to whether what happened to them was worth reporting to the police.

One of the responses came from a gay woman who had felt menaced by a drunk man, who screamed at her: “You fucking dykes are all going to hell.” The woman said her main concern was to flee the scene as quickly as possible.

She said it was also far from clear to her that the menacing amounted to a crime, “since it was just mean words.” It would take a real investigation to answer her uncertainty, but it’s quite likely the incident didn’t qualify as a prosecutable crime.

A Hispanic woman walking through her neighborhood wrote that she felt sexually harassed by passengers in a passing car.

“Working or walking?” she said they asked her. She didn’t call the cops.

“It is just expected that women have to deal with this and it is a fact of our lives,” she wrote. “On a more logistical level,” she added, “I did not get the license plate number.”

A gay woman with short hair reported that another woman tried to bar her from entering the women’s room at a McDonald’s, believing she was transgender.

It was “pointless to report,” she said, though she added she had to physically move the woman from her path.

A number of the respondents did call the police, to mixed effect.

A gay, black man at a rally against President Trump’s travel ban said a passenger in a passing vehicle threw an egg at his face. When he contacted the Denver Police Department, “the dispatcher seemed unsympathetic,” he reported. “No police officer came to my assistance, although I felt I was in distress.”

Another gay man said he was followed around a store by an angry man who yelled homophobic slurs at him. “I refuse to allow anyone to attack me like this, so I reported it,” he wrote. He went on to say, without further explanation, that when it was all over, he wound up being ticketed by the police for “disturbing the peace.”

A disabled lesbian woman in the city’s suburbs said a neighbor tried to run her down with his car. She said she wanted to call the police, but that she was afraid.

Hate crimes and bias incidents are a national problem, but there’s no reliable data on their nature or prevalence. We’re collecting reports to create a national database for use by journalists and civil-rights organizations. See the project.

What We Know — And Don’t Know — About Hate Crimes in America

It’s been about six months since we joined forces with newsrooms around the country to track hate. We’ve collected information on thousands of incidents, but much remains unknown about the scale of the problem.

“I often think I will not be believed or taken seriously,” she wrote. When she called the police anyway, she asked the officers not to confront the man, fearing retaliation for filing a report.

“I knew that reporting the incident was important — both to notify authorities to have the incident documented, to have evidence of harassment on file in the event of a future incident, and because no matter who I am or what my sexuality is, I knew this was wrong and potentially criminal,” she wrote.

When a recently disabled gay man said he was attacked by another man who’d asked for bus fare, he said he was prevented from calling the police by his assailant. “Faggot, you calling the police,” the man reportedly said as he punched the victim. Luckily, he wrote, someone else called the authorities for him. He thought the cops were great.

“They were very compassionate,” he wrote, adding that the officers offered to have a victim advocate talk with him, and came back later to check on him.

In all, most of the people surveyed did not report incidents to the police.

“My take on the results mostly is that people are not reporting because they just don’t think the police are going to take it seriously enough, or they don’t think the incident went to that level,” said Stephen Griffin, who the foundation contracted with to implement the survey.

Christine Downs, a spokesperson for the Denver Police Department, said by email that even if a person doesn’t believe what happened to them was a crime, they should report the incident to the police.

“The Denver Police Department strongly encourages all residents to report crime, regardless of how insignificant they may think it is, especially bias-motivated crimes,” she said.

Marsden, the Matthew Shepard Foundation’s executive director, plans to try to expand their survey to other cities to keep learning more about why people don’t report incidents of hate, and to take what they learn to the police officers they work with.

“I think that can help keep people safe and help on the prevention side of things,” he said. “You have to be an optimist in this line of work.”

Family Research Council claims Trump Will Issue Anti-LGBTQ ‘Religious Exemptions’ Executive Orders Next Week

GLAAD today released the following audio of Tony Perkins, the president of anti-LGBTQ hate group Family Research Council (FRC), claiming that the Trump administration is set to reveal additional executive orders next week that could allow people to use “religious exemptions” as an excuse to openly use a violent and discriminatory agenda against LGBTQ Americans. Perkins made the statement last night on Washington Watch, a weekly radio broadcast that Vice President Mike Pence has even served as co-host on.

Tony Perkins [49:01]: “By the way, stand by next week, you’re going to see some follow-up to the president’s executive order on religious liberty. The next phase of that is going to be coming about and I think it is going to be very instructive. We are going to see government agencies basically put on notice that they have to respect religious freedom. And that is not just the ability to believe, it is the free exercise of religion.”

GLAAD leaked a draft executive order last February that highlighted the Trump Administration’s attempt to issue an order that would allow any business or person to use so-called “religious exemptions” as an excuse to fire someone, reject a housing application, or deny a person a service – like medical care – just for being LGBTQ. This draft executive order was very similar to Vice President Mike Pence’s “Religious Freedom Restoration Act” (RFRA) which he signed while serving as Indiana’s governor. RFRA brought open discrimination against LGBTQ Hoosiers and received across-the-board backlash from national businesses and Americans.

“If President Trump issues another executive order based on advice from anti-LGBTQ extremist groups like the Family Research Council, he will be harming countless hardworking Americans and their families,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD. “The ‘religious exemptions’ laws that groups like the Family Research Council are successfully pushing fly in the face of real American values and open LGBTQ people and our children up to discrimination.”

This revelation comes after a recent study by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) showed how a majority of Americans oppose anti-LGBTQ discriminatory laws, also known as so-called “religious exemption” laws. This is in complete contradiction to the efforts by anti-LGBTQ activists like the FRC and the Trump Administration to issue such orders.

The audio follows Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ choice to voluntarily issue a friend-of-the-court brief for a case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit that argues LGBTQ Americans are not protected under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This gives the greenlight for LGBTQ Americans to be openly targeted and discriminated against by employers, landlords, business owners, or other Americans simply for being LGBTQ.

GLAAD warned about the possibility of additional anti-LGBTQ executive orders in May when President Trump issued his first “religious exemptions” executive order, which stopped just short of allowing rampant discrimination against LGBTQ Americans.

FRC President Tony Perkins has been glued to the hip with the Trump Administration since Day One. Perkins has visited the White House regularly – including a closed-door meeting in the Oval Office just two weeks ago with other anti-LGBTQ activists. Perkins even spoke about in the White House on the night of Trump’s announcement of Neil Gorsuch as the next U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice.

/ /

Aging Gayfully – A Legacy Opportunity

Many of us in our 60’s or older are feeling that our community has moved on without us.  While we were stuck with having to choose between “lesbian” or “gay,” “butch” or“femme, a whole new vocabulary is evolving (and our acronym expanding!)  to describe an ever-expanding range of sexual preferences and gender identities.   Many LGBT youth have also reclaimed the umbrella term “queer” that we who lived in less-accepting times grew to hate.   Also meet-ups, websites, and on-line social media options catering to a wide range of LGBT interests have replaced the smoke-filled bars that were often our only option for socializing and dating.

Do we, as LGBT elders, continue to have a role in our community?  If so, what do we have to offer our youthful counterparts?  I am recommending an exciting forum for exploring answers to that question – the upcoming LGBTQ+ Summit scheduled for September 16th at Sonoma State University.

The LGBTQ+ Summit is the vision of Javier Rivera-Rosales, the director of Positive Images.  With seed funding from the Community Foundations’ s LGBTQI Giving Circle Fund, Javi has put together a creative and diverse Summit planning team of individuals and agency representatives.  The team is committed to producing an innovative event that will bring together a cross-section of Sonoma County’s diverse LGBTQ+ community with the intention of stimulating an ongoing collaborative approach to building safe, welcoming, inclusive communities for LGBTQ+ individuals of all ages, races, ethnicities, sexual preferences and gender identities.

It is important that we LGBT elders make sure our voices are represented in this effort.  We have personally experienced our tumultuous history.  In our fight for equality and for compassionate treatment of those affected by HIV/AIDS we learned the importance of working together.   We also know how quickly our rights and protections can be lost if we do not maintain solidarity.  We have the skills and experience to lay a strong foundation for collaboration.  That is our collective legacy.

The planning team is making every effort to ensure that all segments of our community are represented including LGBT elders so I am encouraging my peers to seize this opportunity to contribute their rich history and wisdom in community-building that will ensure that future generations of LGBT and, yes,“Queer” individuals will not have to experience what we have. Registration is limited and will soon be open so you can  continue checking the Summit website (www.lgbtqsummit.com) to learn when.    

By the way, the planning team is seeking sponsors to provide help with funding and donated goods and services so that Summit participation can be offered at no cost.  It is also seeking volunteers.  You can do either or both at the Summit website.  Don’t miss out on this opportunity for you to contribute the legacy of our generation!

 

 

Buz Hermes is co-facilitator of the Sonoma Valley LGBT Seniors Group and a former staff member of Spectrum’s Senior Outreach Program.  He is currently a consultant on LGBT aging and can be reached at GaryDHermes@comcast.net or (707) 227-6935.

ACLU and Lambda Legal Challenge Fake Repeal of North Carolina’s Discriminatory HB 2

Friday, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of North Carolina, and Lambda Legal announced they have taken steps to expand the federal lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s sweeping anti-LGBT law HB 2 to include a challenge to its discriminatory replacement, HB 142, which left many of the harms caused by HB 2 in place.  The advocacy groups also added two LGBT North Carolinians to the case.

HB 142 – the anti-transgender replacement for HB 2 – bars the “regulation” of access to restrooms and other facilities in schools and other state or local government buildings in North Carolina, leaving transgender people vulnerable to discrimination and even possible arrest.  It also prevents cities from passing any protections against discrimination in private employment or places of public accommodation — for LGBT people or anyone — until 2020.

“LGBT North Carolinians deserve to feel secure in knowing that when they go about their daily lives and interact with businesses open to the public, any discrimination they encounter is illegal, but HB 142 robs of them of that security,” said Chris Brook, legal director of the ACLU of North Carolina. “This law continues to invite discrimination against LGBT people, particularly transgender people, and sends a daily message that LGBT people across the state are not worthy of equal dignity and respect.”

“After publicly vilifying transgender people for more than a year, legislators can’t just abandon transgender people to fend for themselves in the toxic environment of fear and animosity that the legislature itself created.  HB 142 doubles down on many of the worst harms of HB 2 and leaves transgender people in a legal limbo where they remain uniquely vulnerable to discrimination,” said Tara Borelli, counsel with Lambda Legal. “Transgender people face an impossible situation where no door leads to safety.  Anyone would find that intolerable.”

Madeline “Maddy” Goss, 41, is a woman who lives in Raleigh. She is transgender and was diagnosed with gender dysphoria in 2006. Like other women, she uses women’s restrooms in all aspects of her life and all her identity documents reflect her female gender. A native-born North Carolinian, Goss is parent to an 11-year-old daughter and she enjoys teaching Tae Kwon Do. As an LGBT advocate, Goss frequently visits the General Assembly in Raleigh to lobby the legislature with ACLU of North Carolina and Equality North Carolina. Even though her license says female, Goss worries about her safety when using the restrooms at the General Assembly. The passage of HB 2 felt like an invitation to discriminate against people like Goss, and HB 142 has perpetuated that harm because the law has created significant uncertainty about her right to use women’s restrooms.

“I don’t have the option to use the men’s restroom, and I don’t have the luxury to not think about my safety every time I use the women’s restroom,” said Goss. “I know all too well what can happen to a transgender person in the restroom because a stranger won’t just let you be. It’s even scarier now that there is so much confusion about which restrooms I can use and I worry that I am not safe to use any restroom in North Carolina because of this discrimination.”

Quinton Harper, 32, is a bisexual cisgender black man who works as a community organizer and lives in Carrboro, North Carolina.  A longtime advocate for people living with HIV, Harper is a national leader in the fight against the epidemic.  He is politically active and he has served on administrative boards for the city of Carrboro and Orange County, two governments that have considered passing nondiscrimination policies. Because of HB 142, Harper and the many LGBT people he works with in his community are without the protections that a nondiscrimination policy could provide.

“Under HB 142, North Carolina is sending a message to LGBT people like me that we are not welcome here, that we are not deserving of protection from discrimination, and that we are not equally valued members of our communities,” Harper said. “North Carolina should be taking steps to protect and support these members of our community, but HB 142 does the opposite: it puts people like me at greater risk of harm.”

The ACLU, ACLU of North Carolina, and Lambda Legal have worked on Carcaño v. McCrory (now known as Carcaño v. Cooper), a federal court challenge to HB 2, for more than a year on behalf of four LGBT North Carolinians and members of the ACLU of North Carolina. The organizations will continue to defend the right of transgender people to use restrooms and other facilities consistent with their gender identity, as federal law requires. The proposed amended lawsuit, filed today, adds two more LGBT North Carolinians and includes claims to address the harms inflicted by both HB 2 and HB 142.

The other plaintiffs in this case are: Joaquín Carcaño, 28, a UNC-Chapel Hill employee from Durham; Payton McGarry, 20, a UNC-Greensboro student who was born and raised in Wilson; Hunter Schafer, 18, a transgender woman who recently graduated from UNC School of the Arts high school in Winston-Salem; and Angela Gilmore, 54, a North Carolina Central University law professor. Also named plaintiff in the lawsuit is the ACLU of North Carolina and its members.

To read the amended complaint: https://www.aclu.org/legal-document/carcano-v-mccrory-fourth-amended-complaint

/ /

25 Ways President Trump Has Attacked the LGBTQ Community Since Taking Office

GLAAD today released a list of 25 ways President Donald Trump and his administration have attacked the LGBTQ community since taking office Jan. 20. The list stems from GLAAD’s Trump Accountability Project, which tracks the Administration’s anti-LGBTQ movements and calls on media to expose them. From erasing any mention of the LGBTQ community from the White House website minutes after being sworn into office to just recently hosting at the White House a slew of anti-LGBTQ activists who repeatedly use so-called “religious exemptions” to harm LGBTQ Americans, the Trump Administration has been working tirelessly to systematically erase the hard-fought progress of the community.

From Day One of the Trump Presidency, GLAAD has been dedicated to hold this administration accountable, expose anti-LGBTQ policies, and stand together with every marginalized community to resist the attacks made by the most anti-LGBTQ administration in recent memory. Learn more of the anti-LGBTQ record of the entire Trump Administration by visiting GLAAD’s Trump Accountability Project.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: 25 Ways President Trump has Attacked the LGBTQ Community

1.    1.20.17 – Minutes after Donald Trump was sworn into office, any mention of the LGBTQ community was erased from White House, Department of State, and Department of Labor websites. 

2.     1.27.17 – President Donald Trump issued an executive order to indefinitely ban Syrian refugees from entering the United States. This ban includes LGBTQ refugees fleeing the nation in fear of discrimination. 

3.    2.02.17 – ABC News reports that after previously committing to protecting LGBTQ Americans from discrimination, President Trump and his administration had drafted a “License to Discriminate” executive order which would usher in across-the-board discrimination against the LGBTQ community. 

4.    2.22.17 – With help of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, President Trump rescinded Title IX protections for transgender students in our nation’s schools. 

5.    3.20.17 – Trump Administration erases the LGBTQ community from The National Survey of Older Americans Act Participants and the Annual Program Performance Report for Centers for Independent Living, key surveys that are used to help provide care to American seniors – including disability, transportation, and caregiver support needs.

6.    3.24.17 – President Trump appointed anti-LGBTQ activist and former Heritage Foundation employee Roger Severino to lead the Health and Human Services Civil Rights Office, putting the LGBTQ community at risk of losing access to critical and affordable health care.

7.    3.28.17 – Under his proposed budget for the U.S. Congress, The Trump Administration offered to cut HIV and AIDS research funding under the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

8.    3.28.17 – The Trump Administration cancels plans to add the LGBTQ community to its upcoming 2020 U.S. Census, a survey conducted every decade by the federal government to help collect data about living Americans and the United States of America.

9.    4.10.17 – A ProPublica investigation reveals the Trump Administration appointed James Renne, a key staffer involved in the Bush-era anti-LGBTQ purge of gay government employees, to a senior role at the Department of Agriculture.

10. 4.14.17 – The Trump Administration files to dismiss a lawsuit accusing North Carolina of discriminating against the LGBTQ community in response to HB2, despite the similarities of the HB142 replacement.

11.  5.4.17 – President Trump signs a “religious liberty” executive order. Although this EO does not target LGBTQ Americans, it is the first step in what could be a broader permission slip for discrimination against the overall LGBTQ community. 

12.  5.8.17 – Department of Agriculture issues new so-called “religious freedom” policy statement, a move praised by the anti-LGBTQ Family Research Council. 

13.  5.22.17 – The Trump Administration grants White House press credentials to a “reporter” from Infowars, a conspiracy outlet that regularly peddles dangerous, offensive, and anti-LGBTQ content. 

14.  5.23.17 – The Trump Administration reveals their budget which includes proposed slashes to programs and departments critical to the LGBTQ community, including Medicaid, Planned Parenthood, and the Center for Disease Control’s HIV and AIDS programs.

15.  6.1.17 – President Trump declines to issue a presidential proclamation designating June as LGBTQ Pride Month, breaking with an eight-year precedent set by President Barack Obama to honor and support LGBTQ Americans during Pride Month.

16.  6.15.17 – The Department of Education rolls back the Office for Civil Rights’ expansive approach to investigating civil rights complaints that protect LGBTQ students and other marginalized communities from discrimination at school.

17.  6.15.17 – The Department of Education invites Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council, two anti-LGBTQ organizations, to be speakers for a day-long conference on engaging fathers in their children’s education and welfare.

18.  6.15.17 – Department of Commerce removes sexual orientation and gender identity from the agency’s Equal Employment Policy. Only after fierce opposition did Department of Commerce Secretary Ross change it back.

19.  6.16.17 – An obtained internal memo from the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights reveals guidelines to dismiss complaints about bathroom access filed by transgender students. 

20.  6.17.17 – Six members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS resigned saying that President Trump “simply does not care” about combating the HIV and AIDS epidemic.

21.  6.27.17 – The Trump Administration failed to mention the LGBTQ community in their National HIV Testing Day statement. 

22.  6.28.17 – The Department of Justice rejected reporters from covering a DOJ Pride event hosted by LGBTQ affinity groups for federal workers.

23.  6.29.17 – Reports revealed President Trump hired anti-transgender activist, Bethany Kozma, to the Office of Gender Equality and Women’s Rights at the US Agency for International Development.

24. 7.10.17 – In a closed-door and unannounced opportunity, President Trump poses for a photograph with notorious anti-LGBTQ activists who wish to promote so-called “religious exemptions” that would harm LGBTQ Americans across the nation.

25. 7.12.17 – President Trump grants a one-on-one interview with Pat Robertson, a longtime anti-LGBTQ activist and Televangelist.

«‹ 556 557 558 559›»