#AM_Equality Tipsheet: March 20, 2020

OUR HISTORY HAS PREPARED US FOR THIS — A MESSAGE FROM HRC PRESIDENT ALPHONSO DAVID (@AlphonsoDavid) ON COVID-19: The LGBTQ community has known adversity. In fact, we have drawn much of our strength and power from times of great uncertainty. As we have time and again, we must raise our voices together to fight for our community, to lift each other up and to vote out those who are not protecting us. More from HRC. 

MAJOR HEALTH, EDUCATION AND CHILD WELFARE ORGANIZATIONS OPPOSE STATE-BASED LEGISLATION TARGETING TRANS YOUTH, LGBTQ COMMUNITY: The letter is released as Idaho passes two anti-transgender bills that attack youth in sports and transgender Idahoans seeking to update their birth certificates. “Harmful legislation, such as the torrent of anti-LGBTQ bills introduced across the country, deeply affect youth-serving professionals’ ability to do their job — caring for America’s young people,” said HRC President Alphonso David. “The letter released today underscores the widespread professional and public opposition to anti-LGBTQ legislation and clearly warns states that LGBTQ discrimination will harm states’ education, health care and child welfare.” More from HRC and Metro Weekly. 

Amidst a pandemic spreading throughout our nation, Idaho lawmakers are choosing to focus their attention NOT on the health and safety of their constituents, but instead on attacking trans people. t.co/zI6vbuxypx

— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) March 18, 2020

ON SATURDAY — HRC TO HOST VIRTUAL INTERFAITH PRAYER SERVICE: HRC will host a virtual interfaith service, titled “Remaining Home in Faith: An Interfaith Prayer Service,” as a part of its “Coming Home to Faith: A Search for Common Ground” tour. The service, which will be hosted on Zoom on Saturday evening and posted publicly by HRC on Sunday, comes as HRC canceled or postponed all of its public events through the weekend of April 4 in light of the current global health crisis.

• If you would like to RSVP to attend the virtual prayer service, please email your full name, outlet affiliation, role and cell phone number to Madeleine Roberts at [email protected].

FEEL FOOD FRIDAY — ACTOR LACHLAN WATSON SHARES A POWERFUL MESSAGE TO LGBTQ YOUTH: More from HRC. 

Lachlan Watson, best known for their role on @sabrinanetflix, received the HRC Visibility Award at our Arizona Gala Dinner. Thank you for being an advocate for the non-binary and trans community both on and off screen! ️‍ pic.twitter.com/KaoEttzjhf

— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) March 19, 2020

VIRGINIA VALUES ACT MAKING LGBTQ HISTORY IN THE SOUTH: Virginia Values Act is on its way to the governor’s desk to become law. Once this bill is enacted, Virginia will be the first state in the South to have non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people, the first state in more than a decade to add sexual orientation and gender identity to existing non-discrimination law and the first state since 1993 to add a prohibition on discrimination in public accommodations where none existed before. More from HRC. 

• Opponents of equality are threatening to gut reforms that would protect all Virginians from discrimination. Take action in support of the bill here.

NEWNOWNEXT’S KATE SOSIN WRITES ON WHAT TO DO IF YOU’RE TRANS AND NEED TO GO TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM: Sosin (@shoeleatherkate) shares advice from Dr. Nick Gorton (@RNickGorton), a trans ER doctor and primary care physician at Lyon-Martin Health Services in San Francisco, and Dallas Ducar (@DallasDucar), a clinical lead for mental health services at the Massachusetts General Hospital Transgender Health Program. More from NewNowNext. 

LGBTQ COMMUNITY MAY BE “PARTICULARLY VULNERABLE” TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC: More from Louisville Courier Journal’s Savannah Eadens (@SavannahEadens) in USA Today.

GET CULTURED – Entertainment, arts and sports news!

GAY TIMES SPOTLIGHTS BIG FREEDIA (@bigfreedia), HER IMPACT IN THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY AND THE MUSIC INDUSTRY: More from Sam Damshenas (@samdamshenas) at Gay Times.

GLOBAL EQUALITY NEWS

STATE DEPARTMENT REPORT GIVES FRAGMENTED OVERVIEW OF ONGOING HOSTILITY AND VIOLENCE FACED BY LGBTQ PEOPLE ACROSS THE GLOBE: The annual State Department’s Human Rights Report reveals a broad picture of LGBTQ abuses across the globe yet also omits anti-LGBTQ abuses in several countries including Russia, Egypt and Brazil. More from Council for Global Equality. 

COVID-19 LOCKDOWN EXPOSES LGBTQ PEOPLE TO FAMILY ABUSE IN THE MIDDLE EAST: More from Reuters. 

READING RAINBOW – Bookmark now to read on your lunch break!

Metro shares that Queer Eye’s Jonathan Van Ness (@jvn) is being creative during social distancing, reveals a DIY TV station starring his cat Harry Larry; NewNowNext shares 11 queer books to read by LGBTQ authors or featuring LGBTQ characters; Vulture highlights artist Salman Toor (@Salmantoor)

Have news? Send us your news and tips at [email protected]. Click here to subscribe to #AM_Equality and follow @HRC for all the latest news. Thanks for reading!

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Professional basketball star Sebastián Vega comes out as gay

 

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A seguir!!!

A post shared by Seba Vega – Monoco (@sebavega_7) on Oct 14, 2019 at 9:28am PDT

A star basketball player in Argentina has come out as gay. Sebastián Vega, 31, plays for Gimnasia de Comodoro. The team plays in the country’s top league.

The 6’7″ athlete came out by publishing a letter on his social media last week, becoming the first professional basketball player in the country to reveal themselves as gay.

La verdad nos hace libres! pic.twitter.com/oKv4vUuOeg

— Seba Vega (@_sebavega) March 10, 2020

Vega grew up in Gualeguaychu, about 125 miles north of Buenos Aires. In the letter, he talks about struggling to accept his sexuality. He recounts trying dating a girl and trying to live a “straight life”, but over time, he couldn’t escape his feelings for men.

“And then I met who would become my partner for the next six years.”

Related: First openly gay athlete to play in NCAA basketball tournament’s history

On meeting that partner, he decided he had to tell his family. He said he was “terrified” of telling his father, and assumed he’d be asked to leave home. However, to his surprise, his parents were accepting and supportive.

“They showed me that nothing was going to change, that things would remain the same. That my sexual orientation would not change my personal situation, what I was (and am) as a person.”

 

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Ganas de

A post shared by Seba Vega – Monoco (@sebavega_7) on Feb 17, 2020 at 8:55am PST

He says he was coming out now to help others in the same situation.

This week, in an interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, Vega described coming out as liberating.

“I was really scared, but the fear didn’t paralyze me. I felt truly free: it had been a long time since I’d walked without such a heavy weight on my shoulders.”

Related: WATCH: College basketball star has a bootylicious secret weapon

Although Argentina has progressive laws around LGBTQ rights, within society, conservative attitudes toward sexuality and gender norms persist.

“Unfortunately, (homosexuality in sport) is still a taboo topic,” said Vega. “It’s very difficult to say you’re gay…you have to be masculine to not be (seen as) less than.”

 

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A post shared by Seba Vega – Monoco (@sebavega_7) on Jan 29, 2018 at 8:02am PST

Vega says his teammates have all been very supportive since he came out, with some apologizing for past homophobic comments they’d made.

“The most beautiful thing of all is that nothing has changed – on the contrary, it has changed for the better,” he said. “We formed a stronger bond.”

He also posted thanks on his social media, “for the infinite messages of affection and respect that I have received … I’m touched.”

 

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Holbox

A post shared by Seba Vega – Monoco (@sebavega_7) on Jul 20, 2019 at 4:17pm PDT

www.queerty.com/professional-basketball-star-sebastian-vega-comes-gay-20200320?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Over 100 Pride Celebrations Have Been Canceled or Postponed, Including Dozens in the U.S.

More than 100 LGBTQ Pride celebrations have been canceled or postponed across the globe in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Metro Weekly reports: InterPride and the European Pride Organisers Association are joining forces to form a new group to “coordinate the Pride movement’s response at the international level.” “As we face an unprecedented global threat, our Pride movement will come together to support each other and create community at a time when we need it most,” Linda DeMarco, co-president of InterPride, said in a statement. “Today brings the devastating news that the number of Prides canceling or postponing because of COVID19 will pass 100, and it’s very clear that this pandemic is going to have a huge impact on our movement,” said Kristine Garina, president of European Pride Organisers Association, in a statement. “Right now we must all be focusing first on our own wellbeing and the welfare of those around us, but we are passionate about Pride and we will work together, and do all we can, to help Pride organizers get through this. 

Click here for a full list of Pride celebrations that have been canceled or postponed.

Last week, Billboard took a closer look at the likely impact of the crisis on Pride celebrations: With the vast majority of U.S. Pride celebrations slated for the months of June and July, L.A. Pride’s postponement might be a bellwether. Currently, most American Pride parades and festivals — including New York City’s — are moving forward with what San Diego Pride has described as “informed and cautious optimism.” But a source close to a different U.S. city’s Pride fest believes it will be nearly impossible for their summer celebration to go ahead as planned. … While the situation remains in flux, ways of mitigating the spread during gatherings are roughly the same, whether it’s a celebration of Nordic Pride or North Carolina Pride. Organizers from NYC to L.A. are coming up with plans to maximize cleanliness during celebrations, from wiping down surfaces, floats and microphones to offering an abundance of hand sanitizer to educating volunteers on what to do if attendees become ill.

The post Over 100 Pride Celebrations Have Been Canceled or Postponed, Including Dozens in the U.S. appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Over 100 Pride Celebrations Have Been Canceled or Postponed, Including Dozens in the U.S.

Gov. Gavin Newsom Orders California’s 40 Million Residents to ‘Stay at Home,’ Unless Absolutely Necessary: WATCH

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered residents of the nation’s most populous state to “stay at home,” unless absolutely necessary, until further notice.

“This is a moment we need to make tough decisions,” Newsom said late Thursday. “This is a moment where we need some straight talk and we need to tell people the truth: We need to bend the curve in the state of California.”

BuzzFeed News reports: Newsom announced the order late Thursday just an hour after officials in Los Angeles County, the most populous county in the US, issued a similar mandate. Earlier this week, their Bay Area counterparts handed down similar “shelter-in-place” orders, the strictest measures taken in the country so far. … Across the state of California, health officials have confirmed 675 cases of COVID-19 and 16 deaths from the disease as of Wednesday evening, behind Washington state and New York, where more than 5,000 cases have been confirmed.

More from CNN: Under the order, essential services such as groceries, pharmacies, gas stations, farmers markets, food banks, convenience stores and delivery restaurants will remain open. So will banks, local government offices that provide services and law enforcement agencies. Newsom’s order follows his request to President Donald Trump to send a US Navy medical ship to provide more health care options for the state.”We project that roughly 56% of our state’s population — 25.5 million people — will be infected with the virus over an eight-week period,” he said in a Wednesday letter to Trump asking him to send the USNS Mercy hospital ship to the Port of Los Angeles for use through September 1. … Coronavirus tracking models show its spread in California could require the hospitalization of more than 19,000 people beyond the state’s current capacity.

The post Gov. Gavin Newsom Orders California’s 40 Million Residents to ‘Stay at Home,’ Unless Absolutely Necessary: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Gov. Gavin Newsom Orders California’s 40 Million Residents to ‘Stay at Home,’ Unless Absolutely Necessary: WATCH