gaywrites:

Zachery Gray, a teenager from Florida, is in 24-hour care at a medical center and unable to walk or talk after attempting to hang himself a year ago. Gray’s mother found him at the time and was able to save him, but he has suffered serious brain damage.

Gray’s family and others have said that he was bullied at school and called hurtful antigay slurs. The catch is that Gray is not gay and has a girlfriend, who noticed people treating him poorly. Gray complained to school officials about the teasing, but they never told his parents. 

EDGE Boston cites an investigationconducted by the Pasco School District after the suicide attempt, which found that Gray had complained to teacher Brenda Carlson that other students had called him “Zach Gay” during a field trip. Carlson told the school investigators she responded by asking Gray, “If someone calls you a tree, are you a tree? And if someone calls you gay, does that make you gay?”

“Her job was to come to me, tell me, go to the principal, go to authorities,” Sissy Gray told Tampa Bay Online. “She did nothing.”

So sad. If you need help, please call The Trevor Project’s lifeline anytime at 1-866-488-7386.

gaywrites:

Yollada “Nok” Suanyot, a transgender model, actress, singer and activist in Thailand, has been elected as the top financial officer in Thailand’s Nan province. This makes her the highest-ranked trans politician in the nation. 

Suanyot won the election Sunday against a candidate from the ruling Pheu Thai party. She’s the founder of a trans activism organization as well as a former beauty pageant winner and entertainer. 

“We barely have any rights at all at this point,” she told a Global Post interviewer shortly before the election. “Our genitalia is not recognized as female (even after surgery) so, if we’re jailed, we’re put in prison with the men. We can’t get proper health insurance. We can’t get married. We have problems traveling outside the country and trouble dealing with banks and government offices.”

Her gender identity, however, did not figure prominently in the campaign, she said. “As far as I can see, the people of Nan are believers in human rights,” she told the Global Post. “They examine my ability to develop the province more than my gender.”

Way to go! Awesome awesome awesome. 

gaywrites:

Today, May 30, Lambda Legal and the ACLU will file separate lawsuits seeking marriage rights for same-sex couples in Illinois. The organizations will hold press conferences on Illinois marriage equality later today. 

“Tomorrow same-sex couples from across the state will be on hand to share their stories about why it’s just time for Illinois to allow them to marry,” said Lambda Legal Marriage Project Director, Camilla Taylor.

“We look forward to introducing tomorrow our clients, the committed and courageous couples who will take the first step to marriage,” said John Knight, LGBT project director for the ACLU of Illinois. “It is time for Illinois to recognize the love and commitment of these couples and thousands of others by allowing them the freedom to marry.”

YES YES YES YES. Let’s do this. Come on, Illinois. 

knowhomo:

LGBTQ* Insight and Ideas

(following text from PflagWestchester)

An Effective Ally…   

• Respects confidentiality.  

• Allows individuals to lead the direction of the conversation, lets them 

make their own choices, and listens, listens, listens. 

• Talks to LGBT family, friends, and coworkers.  

• Avoids assumptions and stereotyping.  

• Tries using gender-neutral terms when talking about significant others, 

spouses, and partners. 

• Expects to make some mistakes, but doesn’t use them as an excuse 

for not acting.  

• Acknowledges how homophobia, transphobia, and heterosexism have 

operated in their life.  

• Educates themself about issues facing LGBT people.  

• Has a sense of humor.  

• Knows when and how to refer somebody to outside help, and to get 

professional adult intervention when necessary.  

An Effective Ally Doesn’t …

• Have all the answers.  

• Try to “fix” problems  

• Proceed with an interaction if boundaries or personal safety have been 

violated.  

Photo from: NYU’s Ally Week. Copied from: Toronto District School Board’s website

knowhomo:

LGBTQ* Privileges (or lacking privileges) You Should Be Aware Of

30+ Examples of Cisgender Privilege

(following text from: Its Pronounced Metrosexual )

Following is a list of cisgender identity privileges.  If you’re not familiar with the term, “cisgender” means having a biological sex that matches your gender identity and expression, resulting in other people accurately perceiving your gender.  If you are cisgender, listed below are benefits that result from your alignment of identity and perceived identity.  If you identify as cisgender, there’s a good chance you’ve never thought about these things.  Try and be more cognizant and you’ll start to realize how much work we have to do in order to make things better for the transgender folks who don’t have access to these privileges.  If you’re unsure of what it means to be “transgender” you can read about it in our gender identity guide.

1. Use public restrooms without fear of verbal abuse, physical intimidation, or arrest
2. Use public facilities such as gym locker rooms and store changing rooms without stares, fear, or anxiety.
3. Strangers don’t assume they can ask you what your genitals look like and how you have sex.
4. Your validity as a man/woman/human is not based on how much surgery you’ve had or how well you “pass” as non-transgender.
5. You have the ability to walk through the world and generally blend-in, not being constantly stared or gawked at, whispered about, pointed at, or laughed at because of your gender expression.
6. You can access gender exclusive spaces such as the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival, Greek Life, or Take Back the Night and not be excluded due to your trans status.
7. Strangers call you by the name you provide, and don’t ask what your “real name” [birth name] is and then assume that they have a right to call you by that name.
8. You can reasonably assume that your ability to acquire a job, rent an apartment, or secure a loan will not be denied on the basis of your gender identity/expression.
9. You have the ability to flirt, engage in courtship, or form a relationship and not fear that your biological status may be cause for rejection or attack, nor will it cause your partner to question their sexual orientation.
10. If you end up in the emergency room, you do not have to worry that your gender will keep you from receiving appropriate treatment, or that all of your medical issues will be seen as a result of your gender.
11. Your identity is not considered a mental pathology (“gender identity disorder” in the DSM IV) by the psychological and medical establishments.
12. You have the ability to not worry about being placed in a sex-segregated detention center, holding facility, jail or prison that is incongruent with your identity.
13. You have the ability to not be profiled on the street as a sex worker because of your gender expression.
14. You are not required to undergo an extensive psychological evaluation in order to receive basic medical care.
15. You do not have to defend you right to be a part of “Queer,” and gays and lesbians will not try to exclude you from “their” equal  rights movement because of your gender identity (or any equality movement, including feminist rights).
16. If you are murdered (or have any crime committed against you), your gender expression will not be used as a justification for your murder (“gay panic”) nor as a reason to coddle the perpetrators.
17. You can easily find role models and mentors to emulate who share your identity.
18. Hollywood accurately depicts people of your gender in films and television, and does not solely make  your identity the focus of a dramatic storyline, or the punchline for a joke.
19. Be able to assume that everyone you encounter will understand your identity, and not think you’re confused, misled, or hell-bound when you reveal it to them.
20. Being able to purchase clothes that match your gender identity without being refused service/mocked by staff or questioned on your genitals.
21. Being able to purchase shoes that fit your gender expression without having to order them in special sizes or asking someone to custom-make them.
22. No stranger checking your identification or drivers license will ever insult or glare at you because your name or sex does not match the sex they believed you to be based on your gender expression.
23. You can reasonably assume that you will not be denied services at a hospital, bank, or other institution because the staff does not believe the gender marker on your ID card to match your gender identity.
24. Having your gender as an option on a form.
25. Being able to tick a box on a form without someone disagreeing, and telling you not to lie.  Yes, this happens.
26. Not fearing interactions with police officers due to your gender identity.
27. Being able to go to places with friends on a whim knowing there will be bathrooms there you can use.
28. You don’t have to convince your parents of your true gender and/or have to earn your parents’ and siblings’ love and respect all over again.
29. You don’t have to remind your extended family over and over to use proper gender pronouns (e.g., after transitioning).
30. You don’t have to deal with old photographs that did not reflect who you truly are.
31. Knowing that if you’re dating someone they aren’t just looking to satisfy a curiosity or kink pertaining to your gender identity (e.g., the “novelty” of having sex with a trans- person).
32. Being able to pretend that anatomy and gender are irrevocably entwined when having the “boy parts and girl parts” talk with children, instead of explaining the actual complexity of the issue 

In response to criticism from the LGBT community and allies over its coverage of a fire that killed a transgender woman this weekend, the New York Times released a statement that reveals a lack of understanding of how serious this problem is.

New York Times Metro Editor Carolyn Ryan stated: “We typically try to capture the personal stories of those whose lives are lost in a fire, and we sought to do so in this case. We certainly did not mean any disrespect to the victim or those who knew her. But, in retrospect, we should have shown more care in our choice of words.”

Unfortunately, the problem with the Times’ article on the death of Lorena Escalera, a transgender woman of color, is bigger than their “choice of words” or with their attempt to “capture” her story. It’s their failure to recognize trans women as women.  

The decision by writers Al Baker and Nate Schweber to call her “curvaceous” in the first sentence was not a poor choice of words. It was a poor choice of focus. The way this entire article is framed comes directly from an idea that transgender women are curiosities. That they’re other. That they should be treated differently than other people.  Saying that Lorena was “called” Lorena, even though that is exactly how police identified her, was not a poor choice of words. It was a disrespectful jab at her identity as a trans woman, by implying that she wasn’t really Lorena.

Lorena was a daughter. She was a friend. She was a beloved member of a community. But the only elements of her story that writers Al Baker and Nate Schweber seemed concerned with were; what she looked like, what her neighbors thought she looked like, and whether any items that would typically belong to a woman were in her apartment when it burned. Very little of this is relevant to the actual personal story of Lorena Escalera’s life. It seems very clear that this personal information was included in order to “spice up” the story by exploiting Lorena’s status as a transgender woman – not to actually inform readers about her life.

“As my city’s and our nation’s paper of record, I would expect the New York Times to treat any subject, regardless of their path in life, with dignity,” said trans advocate and journalist Janet Mock. “In Lorena Escalera’s life she was so much more than the demeaning, sexist portrait they painted of girls like us. It goes beyond a ‘choice of words.’ According to the Times’ limiting, harmful portrait of Lorena, she was nothing more than a ‘curvaceous’ bombshell for men to gawk at. That is not the ‘personal’ story of any woman, and until we treat trans women like human beings - in life and death - with dignity, families and struggles, our society will never see us beyond pariahs in our communities.

Unfortunately, many Americans, including members of the media, do view transgender people – and trans women of color in particular – as curiosities at best, or not deserving of basic human dignity at worst. And very few Americans know any trans people in their day-to-day lives, so this viewpoint is never dispelled.  This is why extra care must be taken when reporting on a story that involves a transgender person, especially if that person is no longer able to speak for themselves, as is the case here. Writers and editors alike must be made aware of how common this underlying bias is, and make a conscious effort to remove it when they see it.

This is where the Times’ statement truly fails. Not only does it not show an understanding of what the problem with the original article was, it also makes no assurances to the community that it will educate its writers and editors about how to report on transgender people in the future. There’s nothing forward-looking in the Times statement.

GLAAD did ask the Times to detail what steps will be taken in the future to ensure this doesn’t happen again. We were told that this statement “will be all there is from us on this.”

But this statement is not good enough.  The New York Times has highlighted the personal and inspiring stories of transgender people in the recent past, including an article on Harmony Santana, Laverne Cox and other transgender actresses, a piece on triathlete Chris Mosier and one on classical pianist Sara Davis Buechner. We can be almost certain that the New York Times does understand the problems with its piece on Lorena, and is embarrassed that it ran. Now it’s time for them to say so publicly, and to tell its readers that steps are being taken to ensure that an article like this won’t be printed again.  We thank members of the LGBT community, including trans leaders like Janet Mock, Autumn Sandeen, Laverne Cox, and Jennifer Finney Boylan, trans author and New York Times contributing writer, as well as Colorlines and Feministing, for bringing attention to this story. We hope to continue putting pressure on the Times until they offer assurances that changes will be made.

projectqueer:

By Peter Holslin

Against Me! singer-guitarist Tommy Gabel made her live debut as Laura Jane Grace on Friday, performing with the band under her new name for the first time since coming out as transgender. 

gaywrites:

I promise.

projectqueer:

TW: extreme heterosexism, discrimination

Over 1,000 people protested a minister who advocated putting gays into a concentration camp-style setting.

BY Trudy Ring

More than 1,000 protesters gathered in Newton, N.C., Sunday to protest an antigay sermon by a minister in the nearby town of Maiden.

The demonstrators were objecting to a Mother’s Day sermon by Providence Road Baptist Church pastor Charles Worley, who advocated putting gays and lesbians in concentration camp–style settings. Video of the message went viral online.

projectqueer:

BY Trudy Ring

The government of Nepal announced this week that it will allow citizens to choose “other” as the gender option, rather than male or female, on official ID cards.

LGBT activists in the nation welcomed the decision, which implements a ruling made by Nepal’s Supreme Court in 2007, reports wire service Deutsche Presse-Agentur. It will help transgender people as well as others who suffer discrimination because their appearance does not match the gender listed on their citizenship cards, they said.

“Our community feels we are finally being granted an identity by the state, and my friends have told me they feel proud about it,” said Sunil Babu Pant, Nepal’s first openly gay legislator.

The change will take effect in a few weeks, said officials with Nepal’s Home Ministry.

gaywrites:

A federal judge ruled yesterday that a provision of the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional because it limits same-sex spouses of state workers in getting insurance. 

DOMA recognizes marriage as between one man and one woman, keeping legally married same-sex spouses from obtaining some federal benefits. U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken ruled that benefits like insurance must be made equally available to same-sex and opposite-sex spouses. Wilken is the second trial judge in the U.S. District Court for Northern California to strike down that section of DOMA. 

Wilken issued her ruling in a lawsuit filed against the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, known as CalPERS, by same-sex couples. The system has refused to let gay spouses enroll in its federally approved insurance program on the ground that they were excluded by DOMA.

Wilken said the DOMA ban violated the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal treatment. She wrote that there was no proof the DOMA provision was “rationally related to a legitimate government interest.”

It’s only a matter of time before it’s gone for good.