Daily Archives: July 23, 2015
#21AceStories: Including the A in LGBTQIA
#21AceStories: Including the A in LGBTQIA
Are LGBT people welcoming of asexuals?
Eliel Cruz
www.advocate.com/pride/2015/07/23/21acestories-including-lgbtqia
11 Things White People Need To Realize About Race
11 Things White People Need To Realize About Race
“We talk a lot about race in this country a lot, but we don’t include you into the conversation… I’m interested in how you feel.”
That’s the open-ended question award-winning filmmaker Jose Antonio Vargas poses to young white Americans in his (aptly named) new documentary: “White People.”
The content of the film is interesting, but only scratches the surface. (To read a smart critique of “White People,” go here.) But where the movie succeeds is in bringing up a basic truth that, unfortunately, many white people in this country are still terrified to face: We have to start talking about and interrogating our whiteness.
We are two white women. We are also self-described progressives and critical thinkers, who write professionally about the way sexuality, gender and race intersect with the world we live in. Yet we still recognize an internalized reticence to engage in conversations about race and racism. Neither of us can remember a clear moment in our young lives during which we realized we were white, and what that meant. When we’re pulled over by a cop, our biggest fear is that we might get an expensive speeding ticket. We have always seen faces that look like ours on TV and in movies. All of these things speak to the depth of our white privilege — and the the fact that people of color certainly can’t say the same. We do not live in a “post-racial” world.
The same way men need to be forced to confront, interrogate and reckon with masculinity in order to address sexism, white people need to face their whiteness. And it is not the responsibility of people of color to educate white people about race. People of color don’t need to be taught that racism exists — they live it every day. It shouldn’t (and can’t) be on their shoulders to enlighten the rest of us. We have to do that for ourselves.
Here are 11 things every white person who doesn’t want to be Part Of The Problem should know:
1. Everyone has a race — even you.
“Racism is the fact that ‘White’ means ‘normal’ and that anything else is different,” writer John Metta wrote in a blog published on HuffPost. Because whiteness is viewed as the “default,” white people have the privilege of distancing themselves from the concept of race or denying it altogether. The first step towards combating structural racism is acknowledging its existence — and the ways in which cultural ideas about whiteness prop up those structures.
2. For white people, talking about race is uncomfortable. For people of color, it’s a necessity.
No, talking about race isn’t fun. Confronting privileges and structures far larger than yourself — ones which you may feel you have little-to-no control over or no idea how to change — will always be uncomfortable. But… tough shit. “The entire discussion of race in America centers around the protection of White feelings,” wrote Metta. (See: “white fragility.”) Many people don’t have the ability to ignore these issues, because they worry that the color of their skin could mean dying in police custody after being pulled over for a routine traffic violation, or being killed for walking down the street wearing a hoodie, or being massacred by a white man in their house of worship. Discussions of racism can’t be dictated by the emotions of white people.
3. You’re not “color blind.”
You do see race. You make snap judgments. Pretending that you don’t see race simply means that you haven’t had to. Guess what? That’s the epitome of privilege. People who are discriminated against don’t get to just wake up and decide race doesn’t matter, that it doesn’t exist. Neither do you.
4. You need to recognize that you benefit from white privilege in order to move the conversation forward.
As one student in the documentary noted, as a white person, “you don’t have to prove you’re one of the good ones.” Think about how often that applies. If you’re pulled over by a cop, your innocence is assumed. If you’re looking to move, your neighbors will believe you’re a good person without any proof. If you’re shopping in a store, you won’t be followed by an employee. You don’t get to choose whether you benefit from white privilege or not — it’s the structures in place that automatically grants it to you. Denying that only makes you complicit in continuing that cycle.
5. #BlackLivesMatter doesn’t suggest that other lives don’t — it’s about making sure that black lives do.
Presidential candidate Martin O’Malley learned this lesson after he said that all lives matter at the Netroots Nation conference. Of course they do, but declaring it misses the point.
#BlackLivesMatter doesn’t mean other lives don’t. Like people who say “Save The Rainforests” aren’t saying “Fuck All Other Types of Forests”
— Matt McGorry (@MattMcGorry) July 18, 2015
6. People of color are allowed to be angry about racism. Don’t dismiss that anger, take it in.
Social change requires making some noise. As the Black Lives Matter protest at the Netroots Nation conference proved, activists of color are going to hold all influencers — allies or otherwise — accountable. And doing so probably will involve “disruption,” fueled in part by (righteous) anger. As white people, we have to accept that anger is a natural response to being systematically oppressed. And it can be an effective tool. “Frustration. Anger. Silenced. Talked over. Ignored,” reads a post on Eclecta Blog, about the Netroots protest. “Every single one of these emotions are felt acutely and painfully every single day by racial minority groups in our country.”
7. Everyday racism is subtle and insidious.
Blatant racism is easy to recognize, and easy to separate ourselves from. As President Barack Obama stated in a June podcast, “It’s not just a matter of it not being polite to say ‘nigger’ in public. That’s not the measure of whether racism still exists or not. It’s not just a matter of overt discrimination. Societies don’t, overnight, completely erase everything that happened 200 to 300 years prior.” Racism is everywhere — black actors and actresses are sidelined in Hollywood. In the workplace, the wage gap hits black women and Latina women the hardest by far. And people of color experience racial microaggressions on a daily basis. (Comments like: “What are you?” and “You don’t really act black.”)
8. Words matter.
Before you speak, think about the impact the words you choose could have on the people around you. At one point in “White People,” a black student breaks out in tears when a white girl doesn’t understand why casually calling her white friend’s behavior “ghetto” was a problem. As BuzzFeed’s Tamerra Griffin put it, when a white person says “That’s ghetto,” black people hear, “That is a negative thing I associate with blackness and/or the working class.” See Griffin’s list of 14 Words That Carry A Coded Meaning For Black People for more phrases you should consider banning from your vocabulary. (Yes, describing a trend as “urban” is racist.)
9. The conversation about race implicates you, but your voice should not be at the center of it.
As Taylor Swift learned from her recent Twitter back-and-forth with Nicki Minaj, when people of color criticize structural inequality it’s not about you, personally. Again: It’s. Not. About. You. Personally. So don’t try to make it all about you. White people need to take responsibility for the big and small ways we perpetuate racism. But often that means taking a step back and listening to the people who are impacted by racism day in and day out. If you’re going to add your voice to a dialogue — which you should — make sure you’re adding value to the conversation, and not just silencing the grievances of people of color.
10. “Reverse racism” isn’t a thing.
Watch comedian Aamer Rahman debunk the term (really, do yourself a favor and watch this):
11. Don’t think you know it all — or even most of it. Listen, listen, listen.
Also On HuffPost:
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Most expansive LGBTI civil rights bill in history introduced in US Congress
Most expansive LGBTI civil rights bill in history introduced in US Congress
Democrats in the US House of Representatives and US Senate today introduced The Equality Act which essentially seeks to expand the nation’s civil rights law to cover sexual orientation and gender identity.
The proposed legislation – the most expansive for LGBTI people in the nation’s history – seeks to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in employment, housing, credit, education and jury service.
It also seeks to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex by those receiving federal funding and in public accommodations.
The legislation is sponsored by senators Jeff Merkley, Tammy Baldwin and Corry Booker and representatives David Cicilline and John Lewis (D-GA).
‘Introduction of this law is a historic step for Equality in this country,’ Baldwin said of the bill.
Baldwin, the first out lesbian to serve in the senate, later took to Twitter to tout the legislation.
‘Employees should hired, fired or promoted based on their performance – not their sexual orientation or gender identity. The Equality Act is about whether #LGBT Americans deserve to be treated just like everyone else.We need to ensure every American has a fair chance to earn a living & provide for their family, including #LGBT Americans. #EqualityForward.
The proposed legislation comes approximately one month after the US Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage is legal in all 50 states.
After that ruling, LGBTI activists began to focus on the fact that in 31 states, someone could marry their same-sex partner on a Friday and get fired for being gay when they return to work on Monday.
Lambda Legal’s Jennifer C. Pizer calls the legislation ‘ a crucial next step forward’ in ending that discrimination.
‘It spotlights the pervasive, unjust, and unacceptable discrimination facing LGBT Americans and their families,’ states Pizer who is director of Lambda Legal’s Law and Policy Project.
Pizer points out that less than have the states in the US have clear statutory bans on discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodations, and education.
‘The Equality Act is an answer to this inadequate patchwork of protections because it is a broad federal statute protecting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people across the entire country and throughout their daily lives.’
The post Most expansive LGBTI civil rights bill in history introduced in US Congress appeared first on Gay Star News.
Greg Hernandez
Infographic: The Need for Full Federal LGBT Equality
Infographic: The Need for Full Federal LGBT Equality
Following HRC’s endorsement of The Equality Act, a comprehensive federal non-discrimination law, earlier today, HRC released a detailed infographic about the patchwork of current LGBT legal protections.
HRC.org
The Bears Are Getting Randy In The Bushes; Chaz Bono Is A Serial Killer; That Amy Schumer-John Cena Sex Scene Was Real
The Bears Are Getting Randy In The Bushes; Chaz Bono Is A Serial Killer; That Amy Schumer-John Cena Sex Scene Was Real
Chaz Bono continues to be amazing. The activist-author has evolved into an actor-producer (which makes him even more of a multi-hyphenate) and is earning raves as a serial killer in the play Down the Road. You can see it in L.A. through August 16.
If you aren’t already a huge fan of Amy Schumer, that’s bound to change after this interview with Aussie chat program The Project in which the Trainwreck star says the reason her sex scene with wrestler-turned-actor John Cena was so insanely awkward-hilarious is because he was really inside of her.
Those furry fiends friends are back in the the wacky web series Where the Bears Are. Ben Zook, Joe Dietl, Rick Copp, et al, have cranked up the hair-raising antics for the fourth season so take a quick sneak peek below.
The long-awaited reunion of “Opposites Attract” stars Paula Abdul and MC Skat Kat finally happened and we have James Corden to thank.
“Halston, Gucci, Fiorucci…” remember that refrain from the disco anthem “He’s the Greatest Dancer?” Well, visionary fashion designer Elio Fiorucci has shuffled off this mortal coil, dying in Milan at age 80. Godspeed, sir.
Blond, James Blond. Ugh, sorry, that should be Bond. Daniel Craig‘s pale blue eyes sometimes make us forget our own names. Here he is in the trailer for the new 007 epic Spectre and it looks as if out actor Ben Whishaw‘s role has been beefed up — perhaps to make up for the absence of Dame Judi Dench?
The prospect of a new Pedro Almodóvar film always excites us (even his last effort I’m So Excited, which felt like he was marking time, was superior to most American studio comedies). Here’s hoping his upcoming Silencio (scheduled for release in Spain next spring) doesn’t disappoint.
Jeremy Kinser
Congress Introduces ‘Equality Act’ to Extend Comprehensive Non-Discrimination Protections to LGBT Americans: WATCH
Congress Introduces ‘Equality Act’ to Extend Comprehensive Non-Discrimination Protections to LGBT Americans: WATCH
Members of Congress gathered today in the Senate’s LBJ room to announce the introduction of a historic bill that would extend non-discrimination protections to all LGBT Americans.
Via the Human Rights Campaign:
The Equality Act, which was introduced by Senators Jeff Merkley, Tammy Baldwin, Cory Booker, and Representative David Cicilline, has more than 140 cosponsors in the House, including Representative John Lewis, and at least 39 in the Senate. The legislation establishes explicit, permanent protections against discrimination based on an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity in matters of employment, housing, access to public places, federal funding, credit, education and jury service. In addition, it would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex in federal funding and access to public places.
The bill has been endorsed by the HRC, superstar legal eagles David Boise and Ted Olsen, the National Center for Transgender Equality, and a number of corporate America leaders.
The post Congress Introduces ‘Equality Act’ to Extend Comprehensive Non-Discrimination Protections to LGBT Americans: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.
Kyler Geoffroy
#Repost @cinnamon_kisses_333 with @repostapp. ・・・ THEY BE LIKE "OH THEY'RE PART OF THE PROMO TEAM‼️✔️‼️✔️Last weeks #girlcodefridaze 📷 FRIDDDDDAAAYYYYY… MANNNN YOU MIGHT AS WELL CALL IT F.R.E.E.DAYY
WATCH: Caitlyn Jenner: Sneak Peak Shows Her Without Makeup, Struggling with Responsibility
WATCH: Caitlyn Jenner: Sneak Peak Shows Her Without Makeup, Struggling with Responsibility
Spoiler Alert: it’s Caitlyn Jenner as we’ve never seen her before: au natural, bed hair, and sharing her burdens in a video diary.
Dawn Ennis
The GOP Plan to Stoke Anti-Gay Bigotry in 2016
The GOP Plan to Stoke Anti-Gay Bigotry in 2016
There have been predictions for several years that gay-bashing by GOP presidential candidates would be dead by 2016, some of it wishful thinking by gay advocates. Back in 2011, Fred Sainz of the Human Rights Campaign, for example, commenting on the lack of discussion of gay issues in the three debates between President Obama and Mitt Romney in 2012, said, “What we’re seeing is proof positive that gay issues aren’t the wedge they used to be.” The public, he said, has “moved on.”
Fast forward to 2015: Ted Cruz, Scott Walker and Rick Perry have expressed blatant anti-gay positions, from banning gay scout leaders to supporting yet another marriage amendment. Some pundits believe this to be politically dangerous, certainly in a general election, and they’re right when it comes to the more overt bigotry. As I noted last week, Scott Walker clearly crossed a line — and walked back — when he said the Boy Scouts’ ban on gay adults “protected children.”
But new polling underscores that covert messaging — the dog whistle — could do the trick for the GOP, just as it has worked for the party on race and gender for decades now. Jeb Bush has defended “religious liberty” — the new code words for anti-gay positions — even while saying gay couples deserved “respect” for their relationships. And just last week, Bush said he supported the idea of anti-discrimination laws protecting LGBT people, though he thought they should be handled “state-by-state” (contrary to a comprehensive federal bill introduced by Democrats in Congress today that would protect LGBT people nationally).
But in comments that directly followed, Bush said that he believes there should be an exception for people with religious objections to allowing gays and lesbians to marry, such as a florist who refused to sell flowers to a gay couple for their wedding. In other words, those who would discriminate in the first place should be exempt from laws banning discrimination. This will in fact will be the more subtle — but no less vile and discriminatory — gay-bashing of the 2016 election.
Right on schedule, GOP legislators in Congress introduced — and last week publicly promoted — the deceptively-named First Amendment Defense Act, a bill which appears to be designed to do what the George W. Bush-backed Federal Marriage Amendment was meant to do in 2004 and the year preceding it: Fire up the anti-LGBT evangelical base and create excitement among them for candidates backing it.
The First Amendment Defense Act, as written, would do exactly what Jeb Bush believes — and much more. Introduced by Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), it states that government “shall not take any discriminatory action against a person, wholly or partially on the basis that such person believes or acts in accordance with a religious belief or moral conviction that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman, or that sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage.”
The ACLU describes it as “Indiana on steroids,” referring to the initial, notorious Indiana Religious Restoration Freedom Act. Could a bill like this really gain traction in a post-Obergefell world? While we’ve seen breathless poll after breathless poll proclaiming majority support for marriage equality and anti-discrimination laws, this week the Associated Press released a poll that worded the questions a bit differently. And we had better pay attention, because this is how backlash to equality operates.
First off, the poll saw no surge in support for marriage equality after the Supreme Court’s historic ruling, and, the AP reported, “[i]f anything, support was down slightly since April.” Secondly, when people were given more than two choices, and given the option to say they “neither approve nor disapprove” of the court’s ruling, 18 percent chose this category. Thus, only 39 percent approved while those who disapproved of the ruling is at 41 percent. Likely, much of the 18 percent would have said they approved if given just two choices, and this may be why in most other polls we see majority support for marriage equality. But it is clearly a lot of soft approval. In fact, while only 30 percent in the poll chose “strongly approve” (over “somewhat approve”), 35 percent chose “strongly disapprove,” showing passion is higher among those opposed to marriage equality.
Still, it’s true that a large portion of the country supports marriage equality and public opinion has moved quickly in a positive direction on that issue. But as the AP reported, the poll found that when religious objections are thrown into the mix, the public has a jarring reaction, and one that LGBT activists should be taking heed of rather than simply trumpeting new and breathless polls claiming more support:
When the two are in conflict, 56 percent of those questioned said it’s more important for the government to protect religious liberties, while 39 percent said it’s more important to protect the rights of gays and lesbians.
People were split over whether officials who issue marriage licenses should be allowed to say no to gay and lesbian couples because of religious objections. Just under half said those officials should not have to issue the licenses, about the same proportion saying they should.
Also, 59 percent think wedding-related businesses should be allowed to refuse service to same-sex couples, compared with 52 percent in the earlier poll. By comparison, 46 percent said businesses in general should be allowed to refuse service because of their religious principles, while 51 percent said that should not be allowed.
So, in the AP poll we’re actually now seeing nearly 60 percent of Americans agreeing with Jeb Bush’s position, and this is up sharply since the Supreme Court ruling, from just over half. There’s a sharp difference between Republicans and Democrats, too. Among Republicans, 82 percent said it was more important to protect “religious liberties” than gay rights — which is why this is an issue GOP candidates will feel compelled to push big time — while 64 percent of Democrats saw gay rights as more important to protect. But with 32 percent of even Democrats viewing “religious liberties” as more important, it’s certainly something to be concerned about.
While it may be accurate to say that a majority of the American public has “moved on” with regard to marriage equality, that’s not true among the base of the GOP. And, more critically, the majority of Americans in general hasn’t “moved on” when it comes to “religious liberty” vs. “gay rights,” not by a long shot. I’ve pointed out over and over, both in pieces covering conservative conferences over the last few years and in my recent book, that anti-gay bigots have been re-crafting their messaging. They’ve been searching for a new wedge, looking for what one anti-gay strategist described to me as the gay version of “partial birth abortion,” as they study LGBT rights in a post-Obergefell world in the way they studied women’s rights in a post-Roe world.
The First Amendment Defense Act is quickly gaining co-sponsors: 136 in the House (including one Democrat, Rep. Daniel Lipinski of Illinois) and 36 in the Senate. Mitch McConnell, responding to a question from the Washington Blade on whether or not it would get vote, certainly didn’t rule it out. “I think at some point this year we’ll obviously take a look at that,” he replied. It’s unlikely this bill could get 60 votes in the Senate, nor would it likely be signed by President Obama. But the Federal Marriage Amendment had even worse odds. The real goal wasn’t to get it passed, but to engage anti-gay voters in the presidential and congressional races.
That may or may not be enough to garner GOP wins in 2016, but it will surely have the effect of injecting bigotry into the 2016 political discourse — which is already happening — and legitimizing religious hatred and discrimination. And that’s always a loss for the average gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender person, still not legally protected in the majority of America and subjected to derision, discrimination and violence every day.
Michelangelo Signorile’s new book, It’s Not Over: Getting Beyond Tolerance, Defeating Homophobia, and Winning True Equality, is published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
— 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.
