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#AM_Equality Tipsheet: November 29, 2017
ONE STEP CLOSER! AUSSIE SENATE APPROVES MARRIAGE EQUALITY BILL, NOW ON TO HOUSE: The bill passed 43-12 and now heads to the House, where it is also expected to pass. Before today’s vote, Australian Senator George Brandis gave a moving speech in support of the measure, saying, “These late spring and early summer days of 2017 will always be remembered as a time when the Parliament heeded the wishes of the overwhelming majority of Australians that ours should be a society defined by greater decency, truer equality, more perfect freedom.” This follows Australia’s Marriage Law Postal Survey, in which 61.6 percent of Australian voters who participated endorsed marriage equality. More from Voice of America and The Washington Blade.
- An attempt by conservatives to add a “license to discriminate” amendment to the marriage equality bill failed. More from News.com.au.
One step closer! Aussie Senate passes #MarriageEquality bill, now on to House. t.co/0k6jsJGY4x
— HumanRightsCampaign (@HRC) November 29, 2017
ROY MOORE’S LATEST UNHINGED ATTACK ON TRANSGENDER PEOPLE: The Alabama U.S. Senate candidate has again launched an anti-transgender tirade, this time siding with the Trump-Pence Administration’s discriminatory directive barring brave transgender Americans from joining the U.S. military. Writes WaPo’s Eugene Scott (@Eugene_Scott): “If any group knows that the fight for equality is a long one, it’s the transgender community, a group that has at times even felt discriminated against within the larger LGBT community. For whatever progress has been made over the last few months — from bathroom to boot camps — transgender Americans know there is still much work to do.” More from The Washington Post.
MEET YOUNG TRANSGENDER AMERICANS FIGHTING FOR FULL LEGAL EQUALITY: NPR’s Martha Bebinger sat down with young transgender advocates who are pushing back against laws that fuel the harassment and abuse faced by transgender people. “The findings underscore the fact that our approach to achieving equality has to be a ‘both/and’ strategy,” HRC National Press Secretary Sarah McBride (@SarahEMcBride) told Bebinger. “We have to open hearts and change minds while at the same time pushing for laws that protect LGBTQ people from discrimination.” A new NPR poll found that 84 percent of Americans believe discrimination against transgender people exists, with younger Americans identifying bias in laws as a major factor driving discrimination. The survey was conducted in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health More from NPR.
- More findings from the NPR survey — LGBTQ people of color more likely to face discrimination than white LGBTQ people. The survey confirmed that LGBTQ people of color are twice as likely to experience anti-LGBTQ discrimination when applying for jobs and interacting with police. More from The Daily Beast.
WHAT WE’RE READING WEDNESDAY: New Delhi’s annual LGBTQ Pride festival had a markedly positive tone this year following the Supreme Court of India’s ruling that LGBTQ people have “real rights founded on sound constitutional doctrine,” and those rights “dwell in privacy and dignity.” The eloquent decision could signal the beginning of the end to India’s Colonial-era law that bans same-sex relationships. From NYT’s Kai Schultz’s (@Kai_Schultz) report on the festival: “In the crowd was Ashish Chopra, 22, who had traveled from the city of Pune, more than 700 miles away, to attend the parade. Wearing rainbow suspenders and holding the hand of his mother, Simmi Nanda, 50… He began to cry, casting a long look at his mother.” More from The New York Times.
In a landmark decision, India’s Supreme Court wrote that “sexual orientation is an essential attribute of privacy” t.co/eosQP3u2Tj
— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 25, 2017
MORNING MUST READ: “Why This Open Enrollment is Critical for Transgender People,” by Valerie Jarrett, former senior advisor to President Obama and Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality. More from The Advocate.
GRAMMY NOMINATES LGBTQ AND ALLIED ARTISTS: Nominations include Portugal the Man for Pop Duo/Group performance; Bette Midler for Musical Theater Album; Lady Gaga for Pop Solo Performance and Pop Vocal Album; Kesha for Pop Vocal Album and Pop Solo Performance; Beyonce and Jay Z for Rap/Sung Performance; Bruce Springsteen for Spoken Word Album; Sarah Silverman for Comedy Album; and Pink for Pop Solo Performance; and a host of other pro-LGBTQ artists and performers. More from The Los Angeles Times.
EQUALITY RULES IN THE BADGER STATE — MAJORITY OF WISCONSINITES OPPOSE ANTI-LGBTQ DISCRIMINATION: Sixty-two percent say they believe that discrimination against transgender individuals is wrong and should be illegal, and 63 percent say the state’s non-discrimination laws should be updated to include transgender people. Fifty-nine percent believe that businesses should not be given a license to discriminate against LGBTQ people. More from The Wisconsin Gazette.
MUST WATCH — ELLE MILLS COMES OUT AS BISEXUAL: In a powerful video, YouTuber Elle Mills (@millselle) shares her coming out process — including filming scenes of coming out to her closest friends and family by turning her home into a rainbow. Watch here.
HORRIFYING — EGYPT CONVICTS LGBTQ PEOPLE, ALLIES: A Cairo court found 14 Egyptians guilty under anti-debauchery and “sexual deviancy” laws, often used to target LGBTQ people and their allies. HRC has called on Egyptian authorities and the media to respect the human rights and freedom of expression of their LGBTQ citizens. More from BBC.
CHILEAN SENATE COMMISSION CONSIDERS MARRIAGE EQUALITY BILL: It was introduced by President Michelle Bachelet earlier this year. More from The Washington Blade.
LESSONS IN LEADERSHIP — JUSTIN TRUDEAU OFFERS HISTORIC APOLOGY, COMPENSATION FOR ANTI-LGBTQ PERSECUTION: Yesterday, the Canadian prime minister offered a formal apology for LGBTQ people who were persecuted or discharged from the military in the past, committing $85 million to compensate those affected. More from The New York Times.
Canadian PM @justintrudeau: We have failed to LGBTQ2 communities, individuals time and time again. It is with shame and sorrow and deep regret that the things we have done that i stand here today and say we were wrong, we apologize. I am sorry. We are sorry. @WashBlade
— Michael K. Lavers (@mklavers81) November 28, 2017
TRANSGENDER WOMAN KILLED IN PAKISTAN: The woman, Spogmai, was shot this weekend in a market in Peshawar. A second transgender woman was murdered in Peshawar just weeks ago. More from Geo.tv and NewNowNext.
READING RAINBOW
NewNowNext highlights four wedding magazines for LGBTQ people; NPR speaks to Texans with HIV struggling to obtain medicine after Hurricane Harvey; AdWeek shares stories of brands taking a stand on LGBTQ equality
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!
www.hrc.org/blog/am-equality-tipsheet-november-29-2017?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed
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