HRC on Passage of the Speier Amendment Codifying Non-Discrimination Protections for Service Members
Today, HRC responded to the U.S. House passage of an amendment that would codify non-discrimination protections in the military and end the ban on transgender military service.
“Transgender troops have served openly with distinction for years, and they and their fellow service members deserve nothing less than the respect of a grateful nation,” says Sarah McBride, HRC National Press Secretary. “The Trump-Pence administration’s trans troop ban goes against medical experts, military leadership and budget analysts; it is unsound, unpopular, and unpatriotic. We are grateful to Congresswoman Speier and the strong, bipartisan majority of the House who voted for this amendment to ensure all transgender military service members have equal non-discrimination protections.”
Offered by Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA), the amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2020 would codify the military’s existing equal opportunity policies to include non-discrimination protections on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation. Passage of the amendment now included in the defense authorization bill would reverse the Trump-Pence administration’s ban on transgender military service.
Despite the string of court victories for transgender troops and recruits in federal district and circuit courts, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed the preliminary injunctions that had been blocking the Trump-Pence administration from implementing their discriminatory ban. Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Defense announced that it would begin discharging openly transgender service members who come out after April 12, 2019, beginning discrimination against transgender service members even as several cases continue to make their way through the courts.
A diverse range of voices have opposed banning transgender people from serving in the military. Thirty-three former national security experts and military leaders, the American Medical Association and the NAACP filed briefs in support of the cases filed to halt the Trump-Pence ban. In testimony before Congress, all four service branch chiefs stated that open service for transgender patriots had not inhibited military readiness or unit cohesion.
The reason the Concorde was unprofitable was, in fact, a side effect of its speed. When the plane sped up past the speed of sound – about 760 mph – it created shock waves in the air that would hit the ground with a loud and sudden thud: a sonic “boom.” It is so alarming for people on the ground that U.S. federal regulations ban all commercial aircraft from flying faster than the speed of sound over land.
Those rules, and the amount of fuel the plane could carry, effectively limited the Concorde to trans-Atlantic flights. Operating the plane was still so expensive that a one-way ticket between London and New York could cost over US$5,000. And the Concorde often flew with half its seats empty.
The main benefit of supersonic travel is the reduction in flight time. A three-hour flight across the Atlantic could make a day trip possible from the U.S. to London or Paris, essentially saving one whole work day. As an aerospace engineer studying high-speed air vehicles, I believe that recent advances in technology and new trends in commercial air travel could make supersonic flight economically viable. But regulations will have to change before civilians can zip through the skies faster than sound.
As a plane accelerates, it builds up a front of air pressure by pushing air in front of it. When it passes the speed of sound, the pressure trails behind like a boat’s wake, forming a sonic shockwave. Chabacano/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA
Beating the boom
As an aircraft flies through the air, it creates pressure disturbance waves that travel at the speed of sound. When the aircraft itself is flying faster than sound, the disturbances are compressed together into a stronger disturbance called a shock wave. Shock wave patterns around supersonic aircraft were recently imaged in NASA experiments. When a supersonic aircraft flies overhead, some of the shock waves may reach the ground. This is the sonic boom, which is experienced as a startling thud.
Sonic booms can be quite loud.
Commercial flights are regulated in the U.S. by the Federal Aviation Administration. To protect the public from sonic booms, the current FAA regulations ban the flight over land of any commercial aircraft at supersonic speed.
However, NASA is working to significantly reduce the sonic boom in its X-59 program. By careful shaping of the aircraft, the goal is to weaken the shock waves or to prevent them from reaching the ground.
With flight demonstrations scheduled to begin in 2021, success in NASA’s project could remove one important barrier to supersonic flight.
A promotional NASA video shows early views of a supersonic aircraft that makes a much quieter sonic boom than the Concorde did.
Noisy on the ground, too
My father took me to see the Concorde take off in the early 1970s, and what I remember after all these years is the noise. Nowadays, I recognize that landing and takeoff noise at airports is a second barrier to supersonic aircraft. Airport noise is also regulated in the U.S. by the FAA, and the current rules require that supersonic aircraft meet the same airport noise standards as subsonic aircraft. The Concorde was so loud, however, that it had to be given an exception from those rules.
The latest subsonic aircraft use very large jet engines that deliver high fuel efficiency. These engines also greatly reduce airport noise by accelerating a larger volume of air to a lower velocity than smaller engines. The new engines are so quiet that regulators have twice been able to decrease the amount of noise airplanes are allowed to make since Concorde stopped flying.
Those standards are now much harder for supersonic aircraft to meet. That’s because supersonic aircraft can’t use the big new engines, which greatly increase the drag at high speed. That, in turn, requires more fuel to be carried aboard the plane and burned in flight, which is both heavy and expensive. Essentially, in the design of supersonic planes, a compromise has to be found between noise and efficiency.
However, some recent innovations for airport noise reduction on subsonic aircraft will also yield reductions for supersonic vehicles in comparison to the Concorde’s 1960s design. These advances include the use of chevrons on jet engine nozzles to reduce jet noise by more effectively mixing the gas from the engine with the external airflow.
Also, with the improved speed and accuracy of computer simulations, it’s now easier to explore new noise-reducing airframe designs.
In addition to technology advances since the Concorde retired, there have also been important changes in commercial air travel patterns. Specifically, there has been a significant increase in the use of commercial business jets and their ownership by wealthy individuals. So, one promising approach to the reintroduction of supersonic commercial aircraft is to develop small business jets. This is the approach being taken by Aerion.
Aerion is developing a supersonic business jet in collaboration with Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
Updating the rules
Technology and market forces are making supersonic aircraft more acceptable and more affordable – but the relevant aviation rules haven’t changed since the Concorde era. In its Reauthorization Act of 2018, the FAA is required to review the regulations for supersonic aircraft on sonic boom and airport noise.
Recently, the current U.S. administration signaled that it wants to amend the rules to facilitate supersonic commercial flight. An important first step involves the FAA simplifying the process for testing supersonic aircraft.
In my view, the current total ban on any flight over land at supersonic speed is far too restrictive. Aircraft flying at low supersonic speeds do not generate a significant boom. And, the NASA X-59 project may result in supersonic aircraft with much weaker booms. Rather than banning booms entirely, it would be better to set maximum boom levels, to balance the benefits of supersonic flight with the noisy detriments.
In addition, I believe the current airport-noise rules, requiring supersonic aircraft be no louder than subsonic airplanes, impose an unreasonable burden on supersonic aircraft developers. First, as mentioned earlier, the Concorde provides a precedent for making a special case for supersonic aircraft. Second, for many years after their initial reintroduction, the total number of supersonic aircraft departing any airport will be a small fraction of all traffic. For example, a study conducted for Aerion indicated potential sales of 30 supersonic aircraft a year for 20 years in the small business market. Regulations should accommodate both what supersonic aircraft technology can reasonably deliver and what airport communities will tolerate.
Momentum is building through changes in technology and market that may bring back supersonic commercial flight, if regulations keep up. While at first it may be affordable to only a select few, the experience gained in developing and operating these aircraft will inevitably lead to new innovations that drive down ticket prices and open the opportunity to fly faster than the speed of sound to a broader section of society.
Wedding dressmaker says Jesus forbids her from treating lesbians like people
This is not the homophobic wedding dress-maker in question, btw. This woman seems like a very nice lady.
When Angel Lane approached New York-based D Auxilly about creating a $1,500 jumpsuit for her upcoming wedding to Tiffany Allen, D Auxilly’s dress designer Dominique Galbraith reportedly didn’t ask about her measurements or her wedding date — she mentioned how her love of Jesus forbids her from treating lesbians like other couples.
‘I wouldn’t be able to make a piece for a same-sex wedding. It goes against my faith in Christ. I believe Jesus died for our sins so that we would live for him according to His Holy Word.
I know you both love each other and that this feels right but I encourage you both to reconsider and see what the Lord has to say and the wonderful things He has in store for you both if you trust and obey Him.
God Bless and be with you both! I’m available to talk and share more about Jesus if you’d like. Feel free to call me.
Let’s address one thing real quick: Galbraith’s response is creepy as hell. Any “helpful” anti-gay Christians should know that when you talk about “the wonderful things He has in store for you if you trust and obey Him,” it comes off as a barely veiled threat suggesting that he has terrible things in store for you if you don’t trust and obey your concept of “Him.”
Lane and her fiancée both live in St. Louis, Missouri and the dressmaker is located in New York City, New York. Missouri doesn’t have laws preventing businesses from discriminating against people based on sexual orientation, but New York does. That means that if Lane and Allen decide to pursue legal action against D Auxilly, they could possibly have a case.
This incident is just the latest in the ongoing U.S. battles over marriage-related business owners refusing service to same-sexcouples over their “religious beliefs.” And as always, it’s not about the dress or even about Jesus, it’s about giving businesses permission to refuse service to same-sexcouples.
Yeah, Lane and Allen could always “go somewhere else” (just like black people refused service at lunch counters in the 1960s could always “go somewhere else,” right?), but if we let business owners refuse to serve LGBTQ people, allowing pharmacists, medical professionals, hotel clerks, teachers and others to do the same could literally be the difference between life and death for some queer people.
Here’s hoping an alternate dress maker will hear this couple’s plight and step in to help them. Extra points if they’re also Christian. Love thy neighbor, and all that.
Pete Buttigieg Unveils ‘Douglass Plan’ to Broadly Combat Racial Inequality: VIDEO
South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who has struggled to build support from black voters, told CNN last week that he believed his policies will help him find support from black Americans, today unveiled his “Douglass Plan,” named for abolitionist Frederick Douglass.
I’m proud to share with you the Douglass Plan, our proposal for comprehensively and intentionally dismantling racist structures and systems, fueled by an investment of unprecedented scale in the freedom and self-determination of Black Americans: t.co/J35lpGfAry
CNN reports: ‘In the new details of the plan, Buttigieg has proposed: increasing federal funding for historically black colleges and universities, increasing investments in minority-held depositories and mandating 25% of government contracts go to minority owned businesses. The plan would also seek to reduce incarceration by 50% at the state and federal level and abolish private federal prisons, per a release from the Buttigieg campaign.The plan also wants to address “the underrepresentation of Black Americans in the health workforce and train our existing health workforce to combat bias — especially racial bias — when treating patients,” hitting a topic Buttigieg has touched on while stumping on the campaign trail.’
NPR adds: “His ‘Douglass Plan’ aims to establish a $10 billion fund for black entrepreneurs over five years, invest $25 billion in historically black colleges, legalize marijuana, expunge past drug convictions, reduce the prison population by half and pass a new Voting Rights Act to further empower the federal government to ensure voting access.”
Said Buttigieg, rolling out the plan on NPR’s Morning Edition: “If you’re a white candidate, it is twice as important for you to be talking about racial inequity and not just describing the problem — which is fashionable in politics — but actually talking about what we’re going to do about it and describing the outcomes we’re trying to solve for.”
HOUSE DEBATES NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT & SPEIER AMENDMENT: The amendment would codify non-discrimination protections in the military based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation and gender identity, and end the ban on trans military service. More from HRC.
TRUMP’S “UNALIENABLE RIGHTS” COMMISSION MORE LIKELY TO HARM LGBTQ PEOPLE: Civil and human rights advocates fear that the commission’s focus on “natural law” is simply code for anti-LGBTQ, anti-choice and anti-women’s rights agendas — a dangerous attempt to repudiate the longstanding international consensus around human rights. More from JustSecurity.
HRC: Here are six signs that the Trump-Pence Administration is abandoning LGBTQ human rights abroad — and this commission is number one. Check out the list here.
THANKFUL THURSDAY — ADVOCATES REFLECT ON THE FIGHT FOR SAME-SEX MARRIAGE IN TAIWAN: “Because of Taiwan’s achievement, more Asian activists think it’s possible for them as well — as long as they prepare enough and strategize and have a brave group of people willing to share their stories,” said advocate & HRC Global alum Jennifer Lu (@equallovetw). Read more from HRC.
.@HRC Global alumn Jennifer Lu and other Taiwanese advocates from @equallovetw stopped by HRC’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. to talk about their work in Taiwan and share lessons learned in the fight for LGBTQ equality. ������️�� t.co/szOyC87iUA
TRANSGENDER & NON-BINARY MIGRANTS WHO ARE BEING HELD IN ICE CUSTODY RELEASE LETTER CALLING FOR INVESTIGATION INTO POOR TREATMENT: They are being held at Cibola County Correctional Center in New Mexico, the only ICE facility with a designated unit for transgender women. “Our feelings, our worries, our indignation, the violation of our rights, our vulnerability before ICE and the officials that work here: it is for all these reasons we are expressing ourselves through this letter not just as transwomen but also as human beings,” says the letter in Spanish. Read more from AZ Mirror.
In a powerful short documentary, Luz, a transgender woman who was held at the same facility, tells her story. Watch here.
THIS WEEK’S EPISODE OF “POSE” REMINDS US TO SHOW UP FOR OUR TRANSGENDER FAMILY: While FX’s “Pose” may be set in 1990 this season, the themes resonate nearly 30 years later. The series is set in New York City and juxtaposes the house/ball scene against the tumultuous political and social climate of the ’80s and ’90s. The new episode was a heart-wrenching reminder of the epidemic of violence against transgender people — particularly transgender women of color. Read more from HRC (warning — spoilers at link).
D.C.’S LGBTQ COMMUNITY SPEAKS WITH DEL. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON ABOUT FATAL VIOLENCE TARGETING BLACK TRANSGENDER WOMEN, ASHANTI CARMON AND ZOE SPEARS: More from NBC 4.
MAN WHO ALLEGEDLY BURNED LGBTQ PRIDE FLAG OUTSIDE HARLEM BAR IS FACING HATE CRIME AND ARSON CHARGES: More from CBS New York.
Also, in Queens, a man who police say used anti-transgender slurs against a woman before spraying her in the face with pepper spray was arrested and charged with a hate crime. More from New York Post.
“THE STATE OF INEQUALITY” — THE CHESTER COUNTY PRESS WEIGHS IN ON HOW FAR PENNSYLVANIA HAS TO GO TO ENSURE FULL EQUALITY FOR ITS LGBTQ RESIDENTS: It emphasizes the need to ban the harmful and abusive practice of “conversion therapy.” Read the piece here.
CONGRATS TO THE U.S. WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM ON THEIR ESPYs WIN! More from HRC.
TBILISI, GEORGIA’S LGBTQ COMMUNITY HELD A PRIDE RALLY AFTER POLITICAL UNREST AND THREATS FORCED THE CANCELLATION OF A PLANNED MARCH: More from Reuters.
READING RAINBOW – Bookmark now to read on your lunch break!
Towleroad reports on the new Queer Eye (@QueerEye) Season 4 trailer; Newsweek covers the story of lesbian Ash Summers’ gay grandmothers, together over 40 years; Pioneer Press reports on Stefanie K. Horvath becoming the highest-ranking openly gaywoman in the Minnesota National Guard; Outsports talks with openly gay college rugby player Chris Kelley (@chriskell3y)
Doctors, Priests, Republicans All Beg SCOTUS to Outlaw Discrimination
A wide variety of organizations have filed friend-of-the-court briefs urging the justices to find that federal law already bans anti-LGBTQ bias in the workplace.
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