Claremont McKenna Dean Resigns Following Protests, Hunger Strike

The Claremont McKenna College dean of students resigned Thursday following criticism over her response to student complaints of racism. 

Mary Spellman, who had been the focus of protests this week calling for her resignation, said in a statement that she was stepping down “with sadness beyond words.”

Students had accused Spellman and her office of failing to effectively respond to multiple incidents of racism and hate speech in recent years at the liberal arts school’s campus outside Los Angeles. At least one student had begun a hunger strike, demanding Spellman’s ouster.

The activism came to a head this month after Spellman sent an email to a Latina student, Lisette Espinosa, promising to better serve students “who don’t fit our CMC mold.” Spellman later apologized, but the email circulated widely and added to simmering tension. Spellman couldn’t be reached for comment after her resignation.

A photo posted on Facebook over the weekend of students wearing offensive Halloween costumes — after an extensive campaign advising students not to do so — fueled demonstrations and demands for action at a student government meeting on Sunday.

In response, CMC President Hiram Chodosh on Wednesday announced steps to address concerns, including two new leadership positions on diversity, a review of the student affairs office, plans to facilitate forums on race and the creation of “programming space to support campus climate (identity, diversity, and free speech).”

But students said Chodosh promised eight months ago to create a hub for marginalized students, and nothing happened. 

“There is a lot of distrust among marginalized students and the administration,” senior Jincy Varughese told The Huffington Post. 

Taylor Lemmons, a junior who announced Wednesday afternoon that she would go on a hunger strike until Spellman resigned, described bias on campus as “unavoidable.” In classrooms, for example, Lemmons said there’s often a fear of “not being sure if your voice is being heard or valued as much as someone else because of the color of your skin or economic background.”

Lemmons said she spoke with Spellman in what she called “a powerful moment” after announcing the hunger strike. 

“She said she respected the movement and respected what we were trying to do,” Lemmons said of the conversation. 

The Halloween picture was posted on Facebook by Casey Garcelon, a student who said she was offended by the mariachi-style costumes worn by women in the photo. One of the women in the photo contacted Garcelon to apologize and ask that the picture be taken down, but Garcelon declined. An article in the CMC Forum, a student news outlet, said a college administrator also tried unsuccessfully to persuade Garcelon to remove the photo. 

The junior class president, Kris Brackmann, who was among four other students in the photo, but wasn’t wearing a mariachi costume, apologized for associating herself with disrespectful costumes and resigned her office. 

The photo provided further basis for students of color to talk publicly about hostility they said they experience on campus.

“The case before was it was largely happening behind closed doors, in spaces that were limited to the groups that were being affected,” said Chris Humphries, a sophomore.

Students demonstrated on Wednesday to repeat demands that administrators address earlier incidents, including photos of slaves in Facebook invitations to a pirate-themed party, complaints by students of color that they were spat at and peed on at parties, vandalism of Queer Resource Center posters with anti-gay language, vandalism of Black Lives Matter posters, and a student activist’s contention he was called a “cockroach” by a professor. 

Despite the college president’s pledge to address the concerns, students said they’ll remain skeptical until they see that steps are being actually taken. 

 

Tyler Kingkade covers higher education and is based in New York. You can contact him at [email protected], or on Twitter: @tylerkingkade.

— 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.

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Utah’s governor critical of judge who removed child from lesbian foster parents

Utah Governor Gary Herbert is critical of a judge who this week took a baby girl from her foster parents simply because they are lesbians.

‘I’m a little puzzled by the action down there personally,’ Herbert told reporters on Thursday (12 November).

‘I expect the court and the judge to follow the law. He may not like the law, but he should follow the law. We don’t want to have activism on the bench in any way, shape or form. Laws, sometimes people don’t like, but the judge should not interject his own personal beliefs and feelings and supersede the law.’

Judge Scott Johansen ordered the Department of Child and Family Services to remove the child from the home of Carbon County couple April Hoagland and Beckie Peirce within seven days..

The couple are married with two children and hoped to adopt the one-year-old girl who they had been fostering for three months.

 

The judge cited studies suggesting children are better off in straight households.

The Human Rights Campaign has noted the prevailing professional consensus is that the sexual orientation of parents has nothing to do with their ability to be good parents.

 

The post Utah’s governor critical of judge who removed child from lesbian foster parents appeared first on Gay Star News.

Greg Hernandez

www.gaystarnews.com/article/utahs-governor-critical-of-judge-who-removed-child-from-lesbian-foster-parents/

Protesters: Caitlyn Jenner Doesn't Represent Trans People

Caitlyn Jenner, leaving a speaking engagement in Chicago today, encountered some angry protesters who called her “an insult to trans people” and “an insult to women.”

Jenner gave a luncheon address at a Hilton hotel as part of a fundraising event for Chicago House, a nonprofit that was established in the 1980s to provide housing and case management to people with HIV or AIDS and expanded in 2013 with the TransLife Center, a program offering supportive housing and social services to transgender people, regardless of HIV status.

But protesters said Jenner was not an appropriate representative for transgender people, given that she is a wealthy white woman and has made some disparaging comments about people who receive public assistance. They also accused Chicago House of marginalizing tras people of color.

“Make the services and make this movement and this plea for trans tolerance intentional and direct for the people who are facing the violence every day on the streets, the people who are being discriminated against on the basis of their gender and their race at the same time,” protester Monica James told the Chicago Tribune. “She can’t speak to those struggles. It defaces the real truth behind transitioning.” James held a sign reading, “Liberation not miss-representation.”

James briefly spoke with Jenner, talking about her struggles to find employment. Jenner responded, “I would love to see you have a job. I love you,” then was escorted to a van by her security team, the Tribune reports.

“I understand her saying that and having her perspective, but that’s just one perspective,” James told the paper. “Now we’re asking them to come and get the rest of our perspectives and then make a comprehensive package of how we’re going to try to merge these people into mainstream society with equal rights and equal benefits.”

Organizers of the protest, dubbed “I Ain’t Cait,” set up a Facebook page to draw participants to the demonstration and included a quote from Jenner on her reality TV series I Am Cait, regarding users of social services: “You don’t want people to get totally dependent on it. That’s when they get into trouble. ‘Why should I work? You know, I’ve got a few bucks, I’ve got my room paid for.’”

The page described Jenner as “a clueless rich white woman who thinks disenfranchised trans women of color should just pluck themselves up off the street and stop being so lazy.” A protester at the event could be heard calling her “an insult to trans people” and “an insult to women,” according to Entertainment Tonight.

Those who attended the speech defended Jenner. “The chaos outside was a great contrast to the uplifting atmosphere inside, where Caitlyn had just given her speech,” Chicago radio personality Showbiz Shelly told ET. “I thought she handled the situation with poise. By confronting the protesters in the way she did, she emphasized the themes she talked about in her speech. To be respectful, be brave, and stand up for what you believe in.”

Inside the Hilton, Jenner had “a rapt audience that cheered, laughed and was quiet as if on cue,” the Tribune reports. “Jenner talked about throwing herself into sports so she did not have to face her gender identity struggle, raising her family despite that struggle and living life after she finally decided to transition.”

Candis Cayne, Jenny Boylan, Kate Bornstein, who have appeared on I Am Cait, were in attendance, as was trans MMA fighter Fallon Fox, who met Jenner for the first time and sat next to her, ET reports. A source also told ET that the event was being filmed for the show.

Chicago House CEO Stan Sloan told the Tribune that Jenner’s appearance would help bring attention to transgender issues, but he granted that she is a controversial figure with some learning to do. “She’s a lightning rod,” Sloan said. “You can’t have that level of fame without having some kind of controversial notoriety that goes with it. The important part is to help her to grow and to help her evolve so that she can be the best representative possible for the communities we serve.”

Trudy Ring

www.advocate.com/transgender/2015/11/12/protesters-caitlyn-jenner-doesnt-represent-trans-people

Steve Grand thanks fans with new live, acoustic version of his song We Are the Night

Steve Grand thanked his fans for their staunch support on Thursday (12 November) by releasing a video of a live acoustic version of his song We Are the Night from his All-American Boy album.

Grand recorded the song at the YouTube space in Los Angeles as a thank you to his fans for their support since he burst onto the music scene in July 2013 with his video for All-American Boy which went viral on YouTube.

He also reflected on his journey since then in a Facebook post:

‘I am grateful for not only all the enriching experiences your support has brought me, but also for the challenges I have grown from. I am the person I am today because of those experiences and those challenges, and (though I have not always been able to say this honestly) I am at a point where I know I would not have it any other way. Because what choice do we have anyways?

‘Among many other things, in these last two years I’ve learned that life moves fast, and as my very wise Grandma Kay has said since I was little, it’s so important to “be flexible.” Things probably will never turn out exactly as you expect them to (they haven’t for me), but that is okay. Accept your past as it is, learn from it, and move on.

‘Forgiving those that have wronged you (including, and possibly most importantly, yourself) does not mean you have to forget.

‘Most importantly, learn to stop anticipating a “point of arrival.” This expectation will only lead to disappointment. Keep moving and loving and dreaming. Look forward more than behind you, but be present wherever you are on your journey more often than not.’

The post Steve Grand thanks fans with new live, acoustic version of his song We Are the Night appeared first on Gay Star News.

Greg Hernandez

www.gaystarnews.com/article/steve-grand-thanks-fans-with-new-live-acoustic-version-of-his-song-we-are-the-night/

Northern Ireland Mayor: Youth Should Pray to Cure ‘Being Gay’ – VIDEO

A Northern Ireland deputy mayor has been urged to stand down after he suggested gay people can be cured through prayer.

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) member and Deputy Mayor of Derry and Strabane Thomas Kerrigan made the comments after his party again blocked legislation for same-sex marriage. A majority of Members of the Legislative Assembly voted in favor of the measure. However, a blocking mechanism allowed the DUP to put an end to the legislation.

RELATED: Northern Ireland Poll Shows Overwhelming Support for Same-Sex Marriage In Wake of Neighboring Irish Referendum Vote

Kerrigan said that young people who do not attend church are leaving themselves open to “being gay” and to drug and alcohol abuse. If “people relied more on prayer,” he added, “it could cure a lot of these problems”.

Malachai O’Hara, Health and Wellbeing Manager with the Rainbow Project, said:

“This isn’t the first time a member of the DUP has made these kind of comments, so it would be useful if the party clarified if this is the party policy.

“He needs to withdraw his remarks and apologize for the offensive they have caused.”

A DUP spokesman said the party “does not have any [same-sex marriage] policy nor have we any plans to adopt such a policy in the future.”

In 2008, DUP member Iris Robinson made controversial remarks supporting “ex-gay” therapy.

Watch a BBC report on the campaign for same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland.

[Photo via Twitter]

The post Northern Ireland Mayor: Youth Should Pray to Cure ‘Being Gay’ – VIDEO appeared first on Towleroad.

Michael Fitzgerald

Northern Ireland Mayor: Youth Should Pray to Cure ‘Being Gay’ – VIDEO

PHOTOS: The Beard Moment

Christopher Harrity

www.advocate.com/photography/2015/11/12/photos-beard-moment

Glad to Be Gay With Money, Where Do You Fit in?

Photo:Guillaume Paumier/ Flickr

Profligate spender or pink penny pincher, where do you fit in?

Are gays really better with money?

Numerous studies report that in general LGBT Americans earn more and carry less debt than the general population. But does this mean we are actually better with money?

By David Rae, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™

Statistics can be tricky. On the one hand, you may have seen some of the studies that say “Gays are better with money” (Prudential, Census Bureau, Experian). On the other, there are polls that show that the LGBT community has lower income and lower levels of education (Gallup). Who is right? And can these studies even draw a useful conclusion from the data?

When it comes to being gay, there really is no such thing as ‘average’; there’s just way too much diversity among us for that to be remotely possible. But with any statistical monetary median there are people who rise above while others fall below. For every uber-earner owner like David Geffen, Elton John or Tim Cook in our A-list cities, there are thousands of homeless LGBT youth struggling across this great country.

However, there is a significant urban and educated gay cohort that is more affluent than their urban and educated straight brethren of the same age. (Somebody’s got to pay the armies of personal trainers who deliver all the 6-packs running around, right?) As a gay man in Southern California, I definitely enjoy many advantages when it comes to finances (beyond personally being a financial planner and having a fiscally responsible husband), while at the same time face the same challenges prevalent to our community.

Fiscal potential
It’s no secret that the stereotypical ‘gay’ professions — in media, the arts, design, beauty and other creative endeavors — have the potential to pay extremely well. However it must be said that most gay individuals, as with most individuals period, have ‘regular’ jobs in decidedly less glamourous professions. So where’s the gay advantage when it comes to money?

– Years of being discriminated against, and not be afforded the protections and benefits of marriage may have forced you to be proactive and take control of your finances. This may increase your odds of actually implementing a comprehensive financial plan with proper estate planning.

– As a community we are also more likely to be educated, have dual-income households, and less likely to have kids. DINK (double income no kids) couples are a financial planners dream, let me tell you. A gay couple with no children will have way more disposable income compared to a family with several children, even if both parents are working. (Estimates say it costs at least $245,000 to raise a middle class child. And if he/she goes to medical school, you can count on doubling that.)

Paying the gay way
I’ve noted before our community faces its own financial challenges.

Keeping up with the Gay Joneses can leave even the biggest earners among us with empty pockets. One of my previous posts “Are your Gay Friend Making you poor?” generated a response ranging from hate mail to “OMG this is so spot on.”

But the stereotypical ‘gay lifestyle’ can be a budget buster. A consumer frenzy of first class vacations, ultra-luxury cars and fancy clothes can easily get you off track financially and have you living from paycheck to paycheck, however large. And don’t get me started on the cost of gyms, Botox, plastic surgery and a million other ways we “stay young” and “healthy”.

Furthermore, high earning LGBT person also tends to live in higher cost metropolitan areas, thereby increasing many costs of living. Housing dollars go a whole lot further in Kansas, then L.A., San Fran or NYC.

Finally, for those who do choose to have a family, adoption or surrogacy can be quite expensive even before any child rearing costs enter the picture.

Redefining success
In my opinion, making more income, and having less debt than the general population doesn’t necessarily make you better at handling money. True, generating tons of dough makes you successful on the job front and having less debt is an excellent thing, but neither makes you a fiscal whiz kid either. Nor do these things mean you are rich or even financially secure for that matter.

Ask yourself who’s in worse shape, a factory worker with $20,000 in credit card debt or a movie star with a $20 million dollar mortgage? For instance, I’d be willing to bet Lindsay Lohan has been more successful making money than the vast majority of people reading this piece, yet she’s currently broke because her fiscal chops — or those she hired to look after her affairs — were not up to snuff. I’d also be willing to bet that because of this, the vast majority of people reading this piece are in better financial shape than she is.

So what is important? Repeat after me: Becoming a successful money maestro means developing a specific plan for your specific situation to reach your personal financial goals.

One of our journeys as a gay community is to claim our self-respect and assert our place in the world. On a personal level, an excellent way to put your self-respect in action is to take control of your finances and make your own world more secure and a lot more welcoming.

DAVID RAE, CFP®, AIF® is a Los Angeles-based retirement planning specialist with Trilogy Financial Services, a firm managing over $3 billion of client assets. He has been helping people reach their financial goals for over a decade. Follow him onTwitter @davidraecfp or via his website at www.davidraefp.com

Securities and advisory services offered through National Planning Corporation(NPC), Member FINRA,SIPC, a Registered Investment Advisor. Trilogy and NPC are separate and unrelated entities.

— 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.

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Jennifer Lawrence says Kim Davis ‘makes me embarrassed to be from Kentucky’

Jennifer Lawrence has one thing in common with controversial Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis: both are from Kentucky.

But the Oscar winning actress feels like Davis and her fight against issuing marriage licenses same-sex couples based on religious grounds has given their home state a bad name.

Lawrence refers to Davis as ‘lady who makes me embarrassed to be from Kentucky’ in a new Vogue magazine cover story.

The day in September that Lawrence was being interviewed by Vogue, Davis was released from a jail in Kentucky after spending six days  behind bars. She had defied a federal judge’s order that she not stand in the way of marriage licenses being issued.

‘Don’t even say her name in this house,’ Lawrence said. ‘All those people holding their crucifixes, which may as well be pitchforks, thinking they’re fighting the good fight. I grew up in Kentucky. I know how they are.’

The Hunger Games franchise star adds that she was raised a Republican but is turned off by the conservative political party’s stance on social issues.

‘I just can’t imagine supporting a party that doesn’t support women’s basic rights,’ she says. ‘It’s 2015 and gay people can get married and we think that we’ve come so far, so, yay! But have we? I don’t want to stay quiet about that stuff.’

The post Jennifer Lawrence says Kim Davis ‘makes me embarrassed to be from Kentucky’ appeared first on Gay Star News.

Greg Hernandez

www.gaystarnews.com/article/jennifer-lawrence-says-kim-davis-makes-me-embarrassed-to-be-from-kentucky/

Utah Adoption Case Highlights Need for the Equality Act

Today, HRC responded to reports that a juvenile court judge in Utah has ordered a child removed from the home of her married foster parents because they are a same-sex couple.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/utah-adoption-case-highlights-need-for-the-equality-act?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed