Daily Archives: July 2, 2015
Coming out of the Closet in Front of the Cast of Mamma Mia
Coming out of the Closet in Front of the Cast of Mamma Mia
Teachers, management, and even his friends coached Raymond avoid seeming too gay. But Judith Light (Angela from Who’s the Boss) had different advice.
Matt Baume
www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/2015/07/02/coming-out-closet-front-cast-mamma-mia
The President Sings of Grace
The President Sings of Grace
Justice comes from recognizing ourselves in each other.
President Obama had the best week of his career last week, with victories on trade, fair housing, healthcare and marriage equality that cemented his legacy. But instead of taking a victory lap, he capped his week with a eulogy in the form of a sermon on grace.
Black churches have figured prominently in my thoughts lately. On Stonewall Sunday, going through my Twitter feed, I found a joint Father’s Day sermon delivered the week before by the Revs. Otis Moss II and III at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. In addition to being LGBT-affirming, Trinity is famous for its tradition of prophetic preaching, thanks to video loops of its previous pastor, Jeremiah Wright, that roiled the 2008 presidential campaign.
Near the close of Justice Anthony Kennedy’s marriage opinion, he gave a nod to Jim Obergefell: “As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death.” Outside the court, Obergefell held a photo of his late husband and took a call from the president. The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington sang “The Star-Spangled Banner,” tacitly embracing the words above the court’s entrance: “Equal Justice Under Law.”
The act of domestic terror that took the president to South Carolina later that day was intended by its perpetrator to start a race war. As Obama noted, however, when Dylann Roof killed pastor and state senator Clementa Pinckney and eight other members of Charleston’s Emanuel A.M.E. Church at a Bible study meeting, he did not account for the power of grace.
The Revs. Moss the previous Sunday spoke of prophetic grief, of how inhabiting another’s pain can lead to healing. Understandably, some were not ready for such talk. Before healing, they wanted justice. I think this misreads the forgiveness by the families of the fallen. They were not surrendering, nor calling for the killer’s release. They urged him to repent. He appeared too warped by hate to receive their wisdom; but they refused to give in to hate.
These members of a storied black congregation had welcomed a white stranger because of their faith: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” (Matthew 25:35) Their grace in the face of terror and grief had the rare effect of shifting the nation’s political ground. Within days, a movement swept the South to remove the banner of treason and slavery from its places of honor. The campaign feels like a long-delayed last battle of the Civil War.
The Fourteenth Amendment, ratified on the heels of the Union victory, provided the basis 150 years later for a landmark ruling for same-sex couples citing its Due Process and Equal Protection clauses. Try as we might to separate our struggles, our history throws us together, as illustrated by Kennedy’s citations of the 1967 decision in Loving v. Virginia ending state bans on interracial marriage. Obama said of Pinckney, “Clem understood that justice grows out of recognition of ourselves in each other.”
The president began to sing “Amazing Grace,” and the organist and congregation joined in. A few days earlier, state senator Paul Thurmond, son of a segregationist, had said of the rebel flag, “I am not proud of this heritage.” In his eulogy, the president brought up America’s obsession with guns. An issue long untouchable was made approachable by a tragedy’s exposure of the dirty secret that our gun fixation is substantially fueled by white supremacy.
The marriage victory required decades of work by countless people. More work remains, from transgender and immigrant rights to police reform, employment protections, and rebuffing the false pose of victimhood by religious bullies.
Recognizing our kinship in a rancorous era, and summoning the civility to work together, is a challenge. Some will be lulled, despite the narrow 5-4 decision, into a sense of historical inevitability.
Progress, like grace, is not guaranteed to us. Our natural instinct is not to welcome those unlike us, as the martyrs of Mother Emanuel did that Wednesday evening, not far from the docks where their ancestors arrived in chains. We have much to learn from their unconquerable spirit.
This piece originally appeared in the Washington Blade and Bay Windows.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
Kentucky county clerk refuses to issue marriage certificates to LGBTI couples
Kentucky county clerk refuses to issue marriage certificates to LGBTI couples
A Kentucky county clerk insists issuing marriage licenses to LGBTI couples places him in ‘prison.’
Casey County Clerk Casey Davis was a guest last night, 1 July, on the MSNBC show All In with Chris Hayes.
The local official insisted no matter what the Supreme Court decided, he will not approve certificates for same-sex couples.
‘I did not take an oath that said I would lay my personal feelings down to do this job nor will I ever do that,’ Davis said to Hayes, according to The Courier-Journal.
‘As a matter of fact I said I would do this job to the best of my ability, so help me God, and the best of my ability does not go beyond what my conscience will allow me to do,’ he continued.
Governor Steve Beshear has issued a directive for all clerks to follow the high court’s ruling. However, on 29 June, Davis wrote a letter in protest.
‘To me, that puts me in a “prison” and it puts government on the wrong side of, as our Declaration (of Independence) states, the laws of nature,’ Davis said in the letter, according to The Courier-Journal.
Below is a clip of the MSNBC interview:
The post Kentucky county clerk refuses to issue marriage certificates to LGBTI couples appeared first on Gay Star News.
James Withers
Coming Soon: A Virulently Homophobic Feature By Kirk Cameron’s Creationist Buddy, Ray Comfort
Coming Soon: A Virulently Homophobic Feature By Kirk Cameron’s Creationist Buddy, Ray Comfort
Grab your Bible, brimstone and buttered popcorn! Ray Comfort, a close personal pal of confirmed Creationist wackadoodle Kirk Cameron, is about to release a feature-length film called Audacity, which plumbs the depths of two hot-button issues: gay marriage and God’s unstoppered wrath.
Comfort (who believes bananas are incontrovertible proof of God’s existence because they fit in your hand) executive produced this tacky tale of a bike messenger/aspiring comedian (Traver Owens) who must defend his stubborn views on religion and homosexuality in the face of militant, in-yo-face gays and gay supporters. Judging by the trailer, he’s harangued by an uppity young woman with a gay sister (the audacity!), two lesbians who brightly chirp about their marriage license in the tight confines of an elevator (the audacity!), and then, just to be that way, a scary guy with a gun (the audacity!)
We’ve watched the trailer five times and still have no idea what’s going on, but it definitely looks cringey-hilarious in its infinite ineptitude, and we’ll be watching the whole goddamn thing with Godspeed. OH, THE AUDACITY…!
Derek de Koff
DOJ To Virginia School Board: Transgender Students Just Need To Pee
DOJ To Virginia School Board: Transgender Students Just Need To Pee
After proposals to restrict restroom use by transgender public school students were introduced in several states this year, LGBT advocates argued such a statute would run afoul of federal law.
Thankfully, none of the proposals — some of which would have placed bounties on the heads of trans students — passed. And this week, the U.S. Department of Justice affirmed LGBT advocates’ position in a filing that says Title IX of the U.S. Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits sex discrimination, requires schools to allow transgender students to use restrooms according to their gender identity.
The DOJ filing comes in the case of 16-year-old Gavin Grimm (above), who is transgender and sued the school board in rural Gloucester County, Virginia, for the right to use the boys’ restroom. Grimm had used the boys’ restroom until pressure from parents prompted the school board to require him to use an “alternative” restroom in December.
The Washington Post reports:
In a statement of interest filed Tuesday, the Justice Department argues that the Gloucester County school board’s policy violates Grimm’s rights, and federal officials are seeking to ensure that “all students, including transgender students, have the opportunity to learn in an environment free of sex discrimination.” …
“Singling out transgender students and subjecting them to differential treatment can also make them more vulnerable to bullying and harassment, a problem that transgender students already face,” according to the Justice document. The filing also cites figures showing that more than 90 percent of LGBT students in middle school and high school reported being verbally harassed and about half said they were attacked physically.
“Allowing transgender students to use the restrooms consistent with their gender identity will help prevent stigma that results in bullying and harassment and will ensure that the District fosters a safe and supportive learning environment for all students, a result that is unquestionably in the public interest.”
Attorney Joshua Block of the ACLU, which is representing Grimm, said:
“The Department of Justice filing makes crystal clear that the Gloucester County School Board’s transgender restroom policy violates Title IX. All students – including transgender students – should be able to use the restroom without being stigmatized and humiliated for being who they are.”
Buzzfeed News notes that the DOJ has previously made similar filings in cases in California and Michigan. However, a federal judge in Pennsylvania recently dismissed a lawsuit from a transgender college student.
Read DOJ’s filing in Grimm’s case below.
DOJ on Gloucester Transgender Bathrooms
The post DOJ To Virginia School Board: Transgender Students Just Need To Pee appeared first on Towleroad.
John Wright
DOJ To Virginia School Board: Transgender Students Just Need To Pee
opposites?
The Marriage Equality Photo Seen Round the World
The Marriage Equality Photo Seen Round the World
Meet the couple featured in a photo from Decision Day that has becoming iconic of that moment.
Ross von Metzke
www.advocate.com/politics/media/2015/07/02/marriage-equality-photo-seen-round-world
Why It's Time to Reject Gay Separatism
Why It's Time to Reject Gay Separatism
This week, my guest on The Sewers of Paris (a podcast about how entertainment has changed the lives of gay men) is Raymond Miller, a Canadian actor who had doubts about coming out of the closet. But once he finally made the leap, he discovered a big huge queer community waiting to catch him.
The week that this episode comes out is the week that the Supreme Court overturned marriage bans across the United States, which is amazing and revolutionary and I’m still kind of in disbelief that it’s finally happened. It changes a lot, and not just laws about marriage. It means an end to one of the biggest, most visible ways in which queer people are oppressed.
But what is that going to mean for gay men? If we’re not fighting oppression, is there anything that we have in common anymore? Well, yeah, there is one thing — one common thing that we all want. Each other. Whether it’s friendship, or brotherhood, falling in love or falling into bed, we’ll always seek each other out.
And the less we have to deal with oppression, the more energy we can devote towards finding and being good to each other.
For my recommendations this week, please set aside some time for The Boys in the Band. And if you’ve already seen it, watch Making the Boys, the 2011 documentary about it. You can find the movie on YouTube, but you might enjoy reading the play instead. It’s a beautiful and heartbreaking depiction of all the ways that gay men use our own pain to inflict pain on others. In the world of The Boys in the Band, we come together for comfort and companionship, but we come so battered and abused by the world that we can’t help battering and abusing each other. Whether you watch it or read it, The Boys in the Band is a vital text, but I should warn you: brace yourself.
Imagine what the lives of gay men would have been, 50 years ago, if they had been as accepted by society as we are today, or will be in another decade? How much damage and suffering could they have avoided, whether inflicted by the world or by themselves? But with the acceptance that we now enjoy comes a new challenge: we don’t have that common bond of outsider status that once connected us. And sure, we’ll still share a bond in that we’re all interested in what’s in each other’s pants. But that interest is probably not enough to constitute a fully realized community.
So I think now’s a good time not just to appreciate each other and everything that queers have accomplished together, but to ask ourselves, “okay, I’m gay — now what ELSE am I?”
Fortunately, John Waters has some helpful advice in this area. For my second recommendation, I want you to go watch John Waters’s 2015 commencement address at the Rhode Island School of Design. I can’t even imagine how much controversy must have surrounded the decision to invite him, but thank God they did, because here’s what he has to say:
Refuse to isolate yourself. Separatism is for losers. Gay is not enough anymore. It’s a good start, but I don’t want my memoirs to be in the gay section near true crime at the back of the bookstore next to the bathrooms. No! I want it up front with the best-sellers.
In other words, he’s saying times are changing. These days we’re accepted in more and more places. For the first time, the straight world is extending us a welcoming hand without asking us to change. Let’s see what happens if we accept it.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
Why is Facebook refusing to listen to trans people over their ‘real names’ policy?
Why is Facebook refusing to listen to trans people over their ‘real names’ policy?
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg put his head above the parapet on Tuesday to defend Facebook’s ‘real names’ policy, claiming that it did not prevent individuals from using nicknames and that it had been misinterpreted.
The trans community has reacted with disbelief, with many accusing Zuckerberg of lying.
In a public Q&A on his Facebook page, Zuckerberg suggested Facebook’s policy had been misinterpreted in some cases. Claiming that the aim was to increase security for marginalized communities and make it easier for individuals to connect with friends, he said: ‘There is some confusion about what our policy actually is.
‘Real name does not mean your legal name. Your real name is whatever you go by and what your friends call you. If your friends all call you by a nickname and you want to use that name on Facebook, you should be able to do that.
‘In this way, we should be able to support everyone using their own real names, including everyone in the transgender community. We are working on better and more ways for people to show us what their real name is so we can both keep this policy which protects so many people in our community while also serving the transgender community.’
This interpretation of Facebook’s policy was instantly rejected by many, who took to the keyboard to vent their anger.
Commenting on this news on Buzzfeed, one Facebook user wrote: ‘”Real name does not mean your legal name”. Yes, that’s why your service has been kicking trans people off and forcing them to use their dead name. Your lying is disgusting.’
Another pointed out the discrepancy between Zuckerberg’s claim that using nickname was acceptable, and the fact that Facebook demands a range of official government documentation before they will allow individuals to return.
Others, more charitably, suggested Zuckerberg was simply not aware of how this policy was playing out in practice.
According to Facebook’s own guidelines on the issue, individuals whose name has been challenged should seek first to provide ‘any government-issued ID that contains your name and date of birth’.
According to Facebook, they also allow individuals to provide other documentation, which allows for individuals who have adopted alternative names in everyday life, but have not taken any steps to regularize this position with the state, to remain on Facebook. This, however, was directly contradicted by a third commenter who wrote: ‘I’m trans and was asked to provide legal documentation. This is a straight up lie.’
These sentiments were echoed across a number of forums, where Zuckerberg’s justification of Facebook’s policy has had exactly the opposite effect to that intended: rather than pour oil on troubled waters, it seems only to have provoked further anger.
In the UK, a number of activists are now seeking the support of their MP to fight this policy, and efforts are underway to arrange a meeting between Facebook and trans communities across Europe.
Gay Star News quizzed Facebook about Zuckerberg’s comments. In light of the assertion that ‘real name’ does not have to be your ‘legal name’, we asked why they request ‘legal proofs’ to prove a name. We also asked whether Zuckerberg’s comments meant they were backing away from their earlier stated position of describing this as an ‘authentic name policy’.
Facebook have not yet responded.
The post Why is Facebook refusing to listen to trans people over their ‘real names’ policy? appeared first on Gay Star News.
Jane Fae
