Trans People Suffer Abuses at the Hands of the NYPD

Image courtesy of thetakeaway.org

 

A recent article from Jezebel.com details the harsh, humiliating way trans persons are treated by the New York Police Department while in custody. In one particularly egregious example, a trans woman named Temmie Breslauer was painfully chained to a fence for 28 hours by police officers who referred to her as a "faggot" and "he-she" (among other epithets). As the article notes, this treatment is not unheard of, and transgender advocates have been working for years in an attempt to end this abuse.

Thanks to OUTlaw President Erika Scibelli for the link.

Religious Exemption Dropped from MI Anti-Bullying Law

Earlier this month the Michigan State Senate passed "Matt's Safe School Law", a piece of anti-bullying legislation named after Matt Epling, an East Lansing teen who committed suicide after being subjected to relentless homophobic bullying. The law, designed to prohibit harassment and bullying at school, was met with fierce opposition by anti-gay activists such as the Michigan AFA's Gary Glenn, who called it a "Trojan Horse" for "homosexual activists." Republican Senators briefly added an exemption for bullying based on "religious or moral convictions", igniting a firestorm of controversy and earning them a stinging rebuke from Democratic Senator Gretchen Whitmer. In response, Senator Rick Jones has agreed to drop the religious exemption and leave the bill as it was originally intended.

Misinformation Used in Attempt to Repeal LGBT History Law

On July 14th, 2011, Governor Jerry Brown signed the FAIR Education Act, which would "amend the [California] Education Code to include social sciences instruction on the contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people" as well as "prohibit discriminatory instruction and discriminatory materials from being adopted by the State Board of Education." Now children who attend public schools in California will learn about great LGBT Americans such as Harvey Milk, who was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. However, religious right groups in California seek to repeal the law by way of a voter referendum. The Capitol Resource Institute, the major backer of the referendum, needs to get roughly 500,000 signatures for it to qualify for the ballot. In order to get these signatures, opponets of the law (SB48) are engaging in a dishonest smear campaign against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, as can be seen in the videos below:

In light of this, the Courage Campaign filed a complaint that the StopSB48 group is violating California Elections Code, Section 18600, which states that every person is guilty of a misdemeanor who:

(a) Circulating, as principal or agent, or having charge or control of the circulation of, or obtaining signatures to, any state or local initiative, referendum or recall petition, intentionally misrepresents or intentionally makes any false statement concerning the contents, purport or effect of the petition to any person who signs, or who desires to sign, or who is requested to sign, or who makes inquiries with reference to it, or to whom it is presented for his or her signature.

(b) Willfully and knowingly circulates, publishes, or exhibits any false statement or misrepresentation concerning the contents, purport or effect of any state or local initiative, referendum, or recall petition for the purpose of obtaining any signature to, or persuading or influencing any person to sign, that petition.

The Courage Campaign is currently asking for people to co-sign the complaint.

Presidential Candidates to Join Anti-Gay Speakers at Values Voter Summit

Bryan Fischer at the 2009 Values Voter Summit

Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Herman Cain and Rick Santorum will all be attending the 2011 Values Voter Summit, a conference for American social conservatives that is hosted by the Family Research Council and the American Family Association. An article by the group People for the American Way gives details about the notorious anti-LGBT figures who will be attending and speaking at the event, including Bryan Fischer, Mat Staver, Tony Perkins and Bishop Harry Jackson.

LGBT Americans Still Targeted by State Sodomy Laws

Photo courtesy of Equality Matters

In the 2003 case of Lawrence v. Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court held that sodomy laws which criminalized "private homosexual conduct between consenting adults" were unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment. While this was, indeed, a landmark ruling and a positive step for LGBT rights in America, sodomy laws are still being used to persecute LGBT Americans eight years later. In 2011 eighteen states still have sodomy laws on the books and, as an article from Equality Matters explains, they are far from having fallen out of use. For example, in Michigan LGBT persons are still being charged and convicted under the state's "Abominable and Detestable Crime Against Nature” or“Gross Indecency” laws. Those convicted face a prison sentence of up to fifteen years and must register as sex offenders. Furthermore, LGBT persons face arrest and humiliation due to sodomy laws even when no sexual intercourse takes place. In 2009, a gay couple was kicked out of a restaurant by El Paso police for kissing in public. The officers told the couple that it was illegal for two men to kiss publicly and that they could be cited for "homosexual conduct." Although Texas' sodomy law was explicitly struck down in the aforementioned Supreme Court case, so long as it (and all other sodomy laws) remains on the books, it will be used to target, harass, intimidate and punish LGBT persons simply for being who they are.

Retailers and Aid to Anti-Gay Organizations

A recent article from the New York Times details a link between major U.S. retailers and prominent anti-gay organizations. Companies such as Apple, Wal-Mart and Microsoft regularly do business with affiliate marketers, which direct online customers from their websites to those of the companies. The affiliate marketers, in return, receive a commission. In this case, Charity Giveback Group (CGBG) uses a share of the commission to donate to "Christian charities" such as Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council, the latter of which was designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center last year. The Family Research Council, headed by former Louisiana congressman Tony Perkins, has had a long history of disseminating false and dehumanizing propaganda about LGBT people, claiming that they will eventually "recognize pedophiles as 'prophets' of a new sexual order", making the statement that they "will not inherit the kingdom of God" following the murder of Matthew Shepard, saying that they "spit on the most sacred Person [Jesus Christ] revered and worshipped by millions", and compared them to Satanists. Petitions have largely been effective in convincing retailers to sever ties with CGBG, as 100 companies including Microsoft and Apple have ended their association with the marketer. However, several companies such as Delta, PetSmart, Sam's Club, Target and Wal-Mart initially agreed to leave the network, but later rejoined.

Hundreds in Attendance at Jamey Rodemeyer's Funeral

Jamey Rodemeyer, an openly bisexual teen who committed suicide over years of homophobic bullying, was laid to rest on Saturday. It was estimated that over 500 mourners, many of whom did not personally know Jamey or his family, attended his funeral in Williamsville, New York. According to Buffalo News, Amherst police are investigating whether or not they can charge the school bullies responsible with harassment, cyberharassment or hate crimes in relation to Jamey's suicide. It should be remembered, however, that Jamey's case is not an unusual one. According to the 2009 National School Climate Survey conducted by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), nearly 90% of LGBT students experienced harassment at school while two thirds felt unsafe because of their sexual orientation. Other key findings included that 84.6% of LGBT students reported being verbally harassed, 40.1% reported being physically harassed, 18.8% reported being physically assaulted, 72.4% reported hearing slurs such as "faggot" or "dyke" frequently or often, and the reported grade point average of students frequently harassed because of their sexual orientation or gender expression was nearly half a grade lower than for students who were less often harassed. This is a strong indication that while bullying is an issue for all school students, it is even more so for LGBT students.

Proposed Bill Would Ban Anti-LGBT Discrimination in Housing and Credit Markets

Senator John Kerry (D-MA) has introduced legislation which would prohibit discrimination against LGBT Americans in both the housing and credit markets. The bill, known as the Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME) Act, would amend the Fair Housing Act and Equal Opportunity Credit Act to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status or source of income. The legislation has received endorsements from multiple organizations including the ACLU, NAACP, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund.

U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke Honors Homophobic Artist

At the recent “Reggae Rhythm and Blues Festival”, Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY) presented reggae singer Beenie Man with an award and welcomed him to the U.S., calling him an "outstanding performer" and saying he "made all Jamaicans proud." Beenie Man, like fellow murder musician Buju Banton, is well-known for his intensely homophobic views and song lyrics. From the "Dancehall Dossier":

"Han Up Deh":

Han chi chi gal wid a long piece of rope

[Hang lesbians with a long piece of rope]

"Damn":

I'm dreaming of a new Jamaica, come to execute all the gays

"Batty Man Fi Dead" [Queers Must Be Killed]:

All batty men fi dead!

[All faggots must be killed!]

From you f--- batty den a coppa and lead

[If you f--- ass, then you get copper and lead [bullets]]

Nuh man nuh fi have a another man in a him bed.

[No man must have another man in his bed.]

"Roll Deep":

Roll deep motherf-----, kill p-----sucker

[P---- -sucker: a lesbian.]

Tek a Bazooka and kill batty-f---er

[Take a bazooka and kill bum-f---ers [gay men]]

Beenie Man remains unapologetic for his violent, anti-LGBT song lyrics. You can watch the video of the award presentation here:

Anti-Gay Hysteria in Ghana

It was only two months ago that a Ghanaian minister, Paul Evans Aidoo, began urging the citizens of Ghana to report suspected homosexuals to the police in an effort to "get rid of these people in the society." In August, the Presbyterian Church of Ghana began stepping up efforts to "cure" homosexuals through the pseudo-science of reparative therapy. Sam P. Yalley, former Ghana Deputy Minister, has recently compared homosexuality to genocide, saying:

"Genocide results in the extermination of the human race and if you expand the meaning of homosexuality to mean that a man cannot have a child with another man then it means that that practice would lead to the extermination of mankind and therefore for me if I am to charge anybody apart from having unnatural carnal knowledge, I would also charge him with genocide and see how he can get out of that situation. If you are a man and you are having carnal knowledge with a man how are you going to have a child?"

Now, GhanaWeb is reporting an unprecedented anti-gay propaganda campaign, with prominent religious leaders calling gays "unbiblical, un-African, abnormal and filthy" and a Ghanaian legislator saying that gays could legally be lynched just like robbers. If this trend continues, Ghana could become the next Uganda for the LGBT community.

"Paul Evans Aidoo's Ghana gay spy call 'promotes hatred'":
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14250170
"Ghanaian Church Aims to Pray Away the Gay":
http://www.care2.com/causes/ghanan-church-aims-to-pray-away-the-gay.html
"Ghana: Homosexuals Commit Genocide By Having Sex And Must Be Arrested":
http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/ghana-homosexuals-commit-genocide-by-having-sex-and-must-be-arrested/politics/2011/09/03/26352
"Ghana’s Growing Gay Pride Faces Evangelical Backlash":
http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=217497

Quick Links: Interesting Stories

ABC news reports that a Georgia student has filed a lawsuit against Augusta State University over "Gay Sensitivity Training".

The New York Times published a story on society's recognition of same-sex marriage in South Africa.

Gov. Linda Lingle (R) of Hawaii vetoes civil union bill

From the NY Daily News

"Hawaii is supposed to be paradise. But maybe not for everyone.

Republican Gov. Linda Lingle vetoed a controversial civil unions bill on Tuesday that would have granted gay, lesbian and opposite-sex couples the same rights and benefits as married couples.

The legislation, which was approved by the Legislature in April, would have made Hawaii one of six states – in addition to California, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington – to give the rights of marriage to same-sex couples without sanctioning marriage itself.

Lingle argued that voters, not politicians, should decide on the future of same-sex civil unions.

"The subject of this legislation has touched the hearts and minds of our citizens as no other social issue of our day," she said. "It would be a mistake to allow a decision of this magnitude to be made by one individual or a small group of elected officials."

The American Civil Liberties Union and other pro-civil unions groups said they will file a lawsuit in state court within the next month.

"We are standing ready to file that lawsuit in short order to ensure that LGBT families in Hawaii are provided equal rights and benefits," Lois Perrin, legal director of ACLU Hawaii told KITV4 News in Honolulu. "To be sure, the Hawaii Constitution already provides that and we're going to make sure that the courts agree with us."

Perrin said the lawsuit could take months and perhaps even years to work its way through he legal system.

Shortly after Lingle's announcement, many opponents of the civil unions bill applauded, dropped to their knees, cried and prayed.

"What she did was very just, and I'm very happy about it," said Jay Amina, 50, of Waianae. "It sends a good message throughout the state of Hawaii — that our people here on the islands are standing for traditional marriage."

Supporters of the civil unions were outraged, shouting "We'll keep fighting!" and sang "We Shall Overcome."

"We had hoped the governor would do the right thing for civil rights and equality," Lee Yarbrough of Honolulu said while standing with his partner. "This battle is far from over." "

CA State Senator Roy Ashburn (R) comes out to local radio station

David Begnaud of CBS13 in Sacramento, CA reports that Republican state Senator Roy Ashburn admitted that he is gay on a local radio talk show this morning. The revelation comes after Senator Ashburn was arrested for an alleged DUI last week. It was rumored that he had been pulled over after leaving a gay nightclub in Sacramento. Interestingly, it has also been noted that the senator has voted against every pro-LGBTQ measure that has come before him.

" "Well, I am gay," said Senator Ashburn on KERN Radio to conservative talk show host Inga Barks. "Those are the words that have been so difficult for me for so long. But I am gay."
The 55-year-old father of four said he crossed the line and broke the law, putting people at risk, so he owes the public an explanation.

"The best way to handle that is to be truthful and to say to my constituents and all who care that I am gay," he said. "But I don't think it's something that has affected, nor will it affect, how I do my job."

Ashburn has been on leave since his arrest last Wednesday morning. But according to sources at the capitol, Ashburn was picked up at his home this morning by the Senate's Sergeant at Arms. He [was] expected to be back at the capitol when the Senate conven[ed] today at 2:00pm."

Read the full text of the article here.

Study: LGBTQ people in anti-LGBTQ states are prone to depression

The Advocate's Michelle Garcia reported:

The American Journal of Public Health published a study this month that finds that LGBTQ people living in states that have bans on same-sex marriage and other such anti-LGBTQ laws are prone to depression. More specifically, the study concludes that LGBTQ people living in those states are more vulnerable to general anxiety, alcoholism, and mood disorders. The study has also pointed out that the anti-LGBTQ laws do not affect heterosexual people in the same way as they affect LGBTQ people. Read the full text of the article here at the American Journal of Public Health's website.

Supreme Court refuses to stay D.C same-sex marriage law

Earlier today the Associated Press reported that court papers were filed by marriage equality opponents. The filings asked the Supreme Court to put a hold on D.C's new law that would allow same-sex couples to marry. The new law would take effect tomorrow. Opponents of the law argue that the people of D.C should have the opportunity to vote on the matter.

Moments ago, Reuters reported that Chief Justice Roberts rejected the request of marriage equality opponents to place a hold on the law. You can read more about the decision here.

Guyanese group seeks to tackle transphobia

The New York Times reports via Reuters:

"GEORGETOWN (Reuters) - A group of transgender men in Guyana have asked the country's Supreme Court to strike down laws that leave them open to arrest following a police crackdown on male cross-dressers.
Police in the tiny South American country, where both homosexuality and transgender dress have been illegal for decades, detained and briefly held six transgender males in jail last February on charges of "cross-dressing."
"It was one of the most humiliating experiences of my life. I felt like I was less than human," Seon Clarke, who was among those detained last year, said in a statement from Guyana's Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) on Monday.
Clarke is also one of those who on Friday filed a motion for the Supreme Court to overturn the sexual orientation and dress laws. SASOD, which is representing the group, said it had assembled an international team of lawyers for the case.
The recent crackdown brought criticism from international rights groups, and drew attention to similar laws that make homosexual activity and transgender dress a crime in many of the Caribbean region's former British colonies.
The Supreme Court has not said whether it will hear the case.
Guyanese law prohibits men from appearing in public in female attire, and vice versa. The law appears in a section of Guyana's legal code that also makes homosexuality a crime.
An effort to overturn the laws has been opposed by Guyana's powerful Christian, Hindu and Muslim clergy and has gained little traction with the government.


(Reporting by Neil Marks in Georgetown. Writing by Joshua Schneyer; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Paul Simao)"

Openly gay mayor of Providence, RI will run for Congress

The Advocate's Julie Bolcer reports:

"David Cicilline, the gay mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, announced Saturday that he will run for the congressional seat to be vacated by Rep. Patrick Kennedy.
According to GayPolitics.com, intense competition is expected to surround the race for the Democratic nomination.
”The two-term mayor began to consider running after U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) shocked political observers by announcing he would not run for reelection this year,” reports GayPolitics.com. “Kennedy, son of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, was first elected to the seat in 1994. Cicilline will face state Democratic Party Chair William Lynch, who also announced his candidacy, and could face a number of other contenders.”
Cicilline, 49, was elected mayor in 2002. He would become the fourth openly gay member of the U.S. House of Representatives, if elected to the seat."

NOM investigation in Maine

Neil Broverman of The Advocate reports on the NOM investigation taking place in Maine. NOM would like to delay the investigation until a pending lawsuit is decided. You can read Neil's article HERE.

NOM is the National Organization for Marriage. It was active in both the Yes on 8 campaign in California as well as the Yes on 1 campaign in Maine. It has produced ads such as "The Gathering Storm" intended to intimidate voters by suggesting that same-sex marriage would be dangerous to children, heterosexual marriages, and to families in general. You can view the outrageous video on YouTube. There are responses to the video that can also be seen on YouTube... here is one of them called Weathering the Storm.

Gay rights groups denounce anti-Gay Buju Banton's Grammy nomination

Advocate writer Julie Bolcer reports that a full page ad has been placed in Variety by a coalition of gay rights groups in opposition to Buju Banton's Grammy nomination. Read the full article HERE.

Photo: Getty Images

Title IX Blog: Student Non-Discrimination Act introduced

WNEC Law's very own Professor Erin Buzuvis, contributor to the Title IX Blog, posted today about the Student Non-Discrimination Act that was introduced in the House of Representatives yesterday. The post explains:

"Yesterday, Representative Jared Polis (D-Co.) introduced in the House of Representative a bill that would provide Title IX-like protection to LGBT students. If passed, the Student Nondiscrimination Act would offer remedies for discrimination that targets students because of their "actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity."

Link to the full post at Title IX Blog HERE.