HRC Denounces Trump Administration’s Proposal That Would Gut LGBTQ Protections
Today, HRC responds to a proposed federal regulation announced today by the Trump-Pence administration that would gut nondiscrimination protections including for LGBTQ people by adding religious exemptions to President Obama’s 2014 executive order that prohibits discrimination in hiring by federal contractors on the basis of both sexual orientation and gender identity.
“With this proposed regulation, the Trump administration is seeking to gut existing protections for LGBTQ people, women, and religious minorities, and we cannot stand idly by,” said HRC President Alphonso David. “This regulation, which directly contradicts Trump’s earlier promise, is a broad and sweeping effort to implement a license to discriminate against people on the basis of their gender identity and sexual orientation. Everyone deserves a workplace free from discrimination. The Trump administration needs to withdraw this proposed regulation and stop these attacks on LGBTQ people.”
In his first month in office, President Trump promised to maintain the Obama EO:
President Donald J. Trump is determined to protect the rights of all Americans, including the LGBTQ community. President Trump continues to be respectful and supportive of LGBTQ rights, just as he was throughout the election. The President is proud to have been the first ever GOP nominee to mention the LGBTQ community in his nomination acceptance speech, pledging then to protect the community from violence and oppression. The executive order signed in 2014, which protects employees from anti-LGBTQ workplace discrimination while working for federal contractors, will remain intact at the direction of President Donald J. Trump.
In July 2014, President Obama signed an executive order amending EO 11246 to provide non-discrimination protections to LGBTQ employees of federal contractors by prohibiting companies that contract with the federal government from discriminating in employment based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Today, the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) announced a notice of proposed federal rulemaking that lays out OFCCP’s intention not to enforce nondiscrimination requirements if a contactor claims that it is acting in accord with religious tenets which will negatively impact LGBTQ people, women and religious minorities. The proposal cherry picks federal court decisions, relies upon language not contained in the majority opinions, and blatantly changes the context and meaning of case law to justify the changes to existing regulations.
Critics slam newspaper’s new ‘gender issues’ section: ‘A forum for hate’
A section of an Australian newspaper’s website devoted to the gender spectrum — sounds like a step in the right direction, yeah? Well, check out some of the headlines recently included in the rollup:
“Transgender project ‘out of balance’”
“PM canes transgender policy”
“They’re castrating children”
“‘Corrupting kids’ thinking’”
Understandably, the online section has sparked a firestorm of backlash since editor Bernard Lane announced it on August 8. “The Australian newspaper’s obsession with humiliating trans people is disgraceful,” Equality Australia said in a tweet. “The rights and existence of trans people is not up for debate.”
The organization explained that “conservative religious fringe groups are determined to divide Australia using misinformation and fear mongering about trans people.”
Joan A. Westenberg, a trans creative director who has written for the San Francisco Chronicle, also called out the News Corp-owned newspaper’s new section. “Bernard, when the transteens that I talk to every day come to me and ask why people are angry at them, threaten them with homelessness and abuse them, this is the kind of content that instigates it,” she tweeted. “I’m too disappointed and sad about this to be angry. Because I’m tired.”
Nevertheless, she persisted. “I need you and your colleagues to understand how much it hurts people like us when this kind of thing happens,” Westenberg added. “And I need you to understand that if you don’t take ownership of a responsible public conversation, you implicitly take ownership of the negative repercussions. People are going to struggle because of editorial choices that, far from being in the public interest, are harmful and antisocial.”
Adding to our society’s human misery. If you had ANY idea about the effect of hate speech…???…but perhaps you actually do, and you just don’t care. Vile
You’ve created a forum specifically to attack trans people. The vile hate you call opinion pieces now given an entire individual platform for discrimination. You deserve nothing but hate for this pathetic fear-mongering outdated bigotry.
Fifty Years Ago, Jimi Hendrix’s Woodstock Anthem Expressed the Hopes and Fears of a Nation
Hendrix’s version of the National Anthem combined reverence and revolution. nelag0/pixabay, CC BY
One of the most powerful, searing renditions of the national anthem ever recorded, Jimi Hendrix’s iconic Woodstock anthem, almost never happened.
In his memoir, Hendrix’s drummer, Mitch Mitchell, admitted that the band “hadn’t rehearsed … or planned to do ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ at Woodstock.”
The festival was supposed to wrap up on Sunday night, but a series of delays, traffic jams and rainstorms had postponed the closing set until 9:00 a.m. the next day. Hendrix hadn’t slept the night before.
Hendrix played for more than an hour that Monday morning before introducing his regular concert-closer, “Voodoo Child (Slight Return).”
“Thank you very much and goodnight,” he said, as the band continued to jam. “I’d like to say peace, yeah, and happiness.”
But then, instead of wrapping up his set, he launched into his iconic take on Francis Scott Key’s song.
Hendrix performed the anthem as an encore.
Fifty years after Hendrix performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Woodstock, the rendition still serves as an exemplar of music’s political potency. It inspired my own scholarship on the past, present and future of the national anthem.
What made Hendrix’s rendition so remarkable was his ability to fuse protest horror with patriotism and hope.
A living, breathing anthem
Roused by the heroism of the soldiers who repelled the British attack on Baltimore’s Fort McHenry during the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key wrote the song in September 1814. Using a well-known melody, the lawyer-poet composed a new set of lyrics to fit the tune.
In the 19th century, it was common practice to write new lyrics to old songs as a way to comment on politics and culture – a tradition known as broadside balladry. So far my research has identified roughly 200 songs written to the tune of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The abolitionist lyric “Oh Say, Do You Hear?” is one particularly powerful example.
Hendrix, in a way, continued this tradition, updating the tune to say something about the world around him.
Rather than change the words, however, Hendrix transformed the musical arrangement.
Mining the anthem’s many meanings
Some might think Hendrix’s Woodstock Banner was an on-the-spot improvisation. But he had actually been experimenting with the song for over a year, and he would continue to perform the anthem up until his untimely death in September 1970.
Hendrix sometimes titled his anthem renditions “This Is America,” and his arrangements were as flexible as they were potent. They could be as short as three minutes or as long as six-and-a-half.
Building off the traditional melody, Hendrix could paint a picture of patriotic pride or commercial corruption.
Hendrix knew how to celebrate the nation. For example, his studio version of the anthem is a patriotic fireworks display, bursting with overlapping layers of the traditional melody. It’s decorated with sparkling trills, extra melodic passing tones and extreme octave shifts.
At the other end of the symbolic spectrum are his four anthem renditions that he recorded live at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom in October 1968. They begin with dark, atmospheric improvisations, punctuated by Mitchell’s explosive drums, and include raucous quotes of TV advertising jingles and a distorted, out-of-tune version of the melody that devolves into the Civil War lament “Taps.”
Hendrix also knew how to blow up the anthem.
Fusing horror with hope
Woodstock was a social experiment – a cultural response to a decade of protest and fear.
On one side, there was America’s youth, outraged by racial injustice and war in Vietnam. On the other side, there was an establishment terrified by the social revolution taking place: new attitudes about sex, drugs, spirituality, racial equality and communal living.
This generational collision came to a head on the wooden stage built at Max Yasgur’s farm.
Hendrix was an unlikely countercultural hero. He was a mixed-race, rock icon who had served in the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne, earning his “Screaming Eagles” patch as a paratrooper. While he escaped the military to pursue his musical career, he still had friends in Vietnam.
In his Woodstock anthem, Hendrix seems to mimics explosions, machine gunfire and a wailing emergency siren – musical images of horror.
But these departures from the traditional melody don’t dismantle the anthem. Instead, he plays notes that intone the words “bombs bursting in air” and “rockets red glare.” He depicts, rather than destroys, the song.
Hendrix then plays the “Taps” melody, a tune traditionally performed at military funerals to honor the sacrifice of service.
Finally, he returns to the traditional anthem melody, offering a full and faithful conclusion to the song. He lingers on several words, extending the note sounding the word “free” for six full seconds. His musical conclusion seems to echo the optimistic, if not triumphant, themes of the festival.
When 400,000 arrived for a concert designed for, at most, half that number, a public health disaster loomed. Shortages of food, water, gas, and medical supplies, compounded by an impassable traffic jam foretold of suffering if not violence. Yet the community pulled together and a temporary city appeared. Rivers of mud made utopia impossible, but attendees persevered. Extra food was donated, volunteer doctors from the U.S. Army and Red Cross were flown in by helicopter, patience and peace reigned. Music held the world together.
Hendrix used Key’s anthem to reflect the America he experienced at Woodstock that weekend. It was a nation mired in contradiction, but also a community capable of pulling together.
It was a cry of anguish and a vision of “peace, yeah, and happiness.”
Bus driver leaves passengers stranded after deciding vehicle is gay and he is offended
A public bus driver in Norwich, England caused quite a scene when he decided mid-route that the vehicle he was driving was gay and, therefore, he could no longer operate it.
The unnamed driver allegedly turned off the engine and told passengers, “This bus promotes homosexuality and I refuse to drive it!”
He was referring to the rainbow-colored service number on the front of the vehicle.
Confused passengers were then forced to wait until another bus–one without a rainbow-colored service number–was brought to appease the homophobic driver.
Passenger Rebecca Sears posted about the experience on Twitter:
Today I was waiting for the 501 bus to thickthorn and we were told by the driver we had to wait for him to swap buses as “this bus promotes homosexuality and I refuse to drive it” due to the multicoloured “501” sign @nparkandride Norwich doesn’t appreciate homophobia pic.twitter.com/YwDPOT0jeJ
When Sears contacted the station, she claims they knew exactly who she was talking about but didn’t seem too concerned about it:
I complained to the staff at the station and they were already aware of who I was talking about, so why has nothing been done? I’m aware everyone is entitled to their own views however, if you can’t do your job properly because of your bigotry, maybe you need rethink your choices
She then encouraged others to contact the bus company to complain:
@nparkandride@BBCLookEast please call out a system that allows homophobes and bigots to get away with things like this, it’s 2019 people need to grow up and be more accepting
Konectbus eventually responded by saying, “Our management team has been made aware and it is being taken very seriously. We find this attitude, behaviour and level of customer service completely unacceptable.”
Meanwhile, the bus operator Go East Anglia put out a statement that read: “Go East Anglia prides itself on values that support diversity and inclusion and has been a champion of Norwich Pride since 2017.”
It added, “We particularly want all customers of whatever background or sexual orientation to feel comfortable on our services. As a company we do not condone any behaviour from our drivers that does not support this view.”
The driver has been suspended as the company conducts a full investigation into the matter.
‘Straight Pride’ Organizer Insists Event Will Happen, Says City Council ‘Chummed the Waters for Violence’ — WATCH
Don Grundmann, the co-organizer of a Straight Pride event in Modesto, California, insists that his hate group will still hold an event despite the fact they were denied a permit.
Said Grundmann to CBS13: “There’s many many new plans, five at least, maybe ten. We’re just waiting for the bureaucratic response, the bureaucratic wheels to grind, and they can grind very slowly.”
Said Modesto spokesperson Thomas Reeves: “We still have the requirement of insurance and a new location that will be more conducive to this type of event. … We are certainly not telling him or his supporters that he does not have a right to gather.”
Grundmann also blamed the City Council for any violence that might occur: “The violence is all an issue because the City Council lady smeared us. And essentially, in fishing terms, she chummed the waters for violence.”
Ensuring that schools are as inclusive and welcoming as possible for LGBTQ students is personal for longtime LGBTQ advocate Garry Bevel.
“My inspiration came from my own experience as a gayman,” Bevel told HRC. “When I first started my professional career and I represented kids in foster care, I noticed there were many more young people of color who were gender non-conforming or queer-identified that were getting treated in a way that wasn’t affirming of who they were.”
Bevel, who is a children’s ombudsperson at the Children’s Home Society of Florida, is one of HRC Foundation’s – All Children All Families’ master trainers in LGBTQ competency and has been on the ACAF Advisory Council for several years. He works with the HRC Foundation to create safe spaces for LGBTQ students and implement LGBTQ competent policies with educators, social workers and welfare agencies.
As children and educators head back to school, Bevel knows that a supportive environment is important to the well-being of LGBTQ young people. A new CDC report found that there are health benefits that reach far into adulthood when an LGBTQ student has support both at home and school.
“We’ve seen the difference it can make for parents when they’re being supportive. From asking questions about what to do when they have a young person who identifies as LGBTQ to prospective parents who identify as LGBTQ … Our commitment is to ensure that in our work with schools, our work with home placements and our work with other people that we are advocating and celebrating the benefits of welcoming LGBTQ people,” he said.
This approach has proven successful. Bevel recalled the story of a transgender teen who said that if it wasn’t for working directly with staff at his high school, he wouldn’t be in his currently positive position. Through counseling services and having the support of educators and counselors who welcomed LGBTQ students, he was able to thrive.
“I always like to share with [educators that] environments that are supportive of LGBTQ youth are better for all youth, because at their core they are more accepting and more responsive to the individual needs of students, and the more we do this, whether it is because of gender, ability and religion … the more we create a broader sense of equity and inclusion, everyone will thrive,” Bevel said.
Through his work with ACAF, Bevel has traveled across the country helping social workers, teachers, educators and psychologists find a common ground that provides safe and welcoming environments.
“ACAF is a great training as it provides people a safe space … and gives them a chance to open their minds and be more intentional about practicing welcoming behaviors,” he said. “Because of the type of work that we’re doing, we always find people that are open to provide an opportunity to LGBTQ youth … it [also] makes people aware of the great work HRC is doing that they might not have been made aware of … as well as lead them to other resources that can help them in their work.”
To learn more about HRC Foundation’s ACAF program and its trainings visit hrc.org/acaf.
Meet Curt Schilling, the creepy transphobe Trump just endorsed for Congress
Curt Schilling (image via CNN screenshot)
Yesterday, Donald Trump tweeted, “Curt Schilling, a great pitcher and patriot, is considering a run for Congress in Arizona. Terrific!”
Schilling hasn’t actually announced that he’s running for congress, mind you. But anyone who has ever Googled his name knows that he’s a former Boston Red Sox player who turned into a transphobic sports commentator and far-right conspiracy theorist and Islamophobe — exactly the sort of man Trump would love in Congress.
Let’s take a quick look at Schilling’s public record, shall we?
Schilling was always known as a “conservative loudmouth” who’d call into Boston radio shows in the early 2000s to shill for antigay President George W. Bush. (See what we did there?) In 2007, he launched his own political blog in which he wrote about being a Christian and “why the media sucks.”
After Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts died in 2009, Schilling briefly considered running as an independent, stating that he was anti-abortion, against gay marriage, in support of lower taxes and “absolutely for the 2nd Amendment.”
Gay Man’s Super-Romantic Marriage Proposal Goes Viral: WATCH
Naisa Lasalosi, a singer/songwriter and former contestant on Australia’s The X Factor, went viral over the weekend after posting a romantic video to Twitter of his fiancé Adam Price proposing to him at Rocky Point, near Sydney.
The clip shows the couple descending a rock formation that has been covered in rose petals and fairy lights to a blanket spread out below.
According to Lasalosi, he told Price “baby there’s someone having dinner down there” not realizing it had all been decorated for him.
“Baby, it’s for us,” replied Price. The clip unfolds from there.
