We've Laid the Foundation for Equality: Here's What's Next
The Supreme Court’s decision granting all Americans the freedom to marry instantly made me think fondly back to the day I wed, which was one of the happiest days of my life and incredibly meaningful to my daughter and our family. Now, young people like her — especially lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth — will grow up in a country where they can marry the person they love and where they are equal under the law — something so many of us never dreamed possible in our lifetimes.
As the Executive Director of Equality Federation, the strategic partner to the state-based equality movement, I am humbled by my role in the decades long struggle to push love to the forefront and win equality, one step at a time. But, we are not done.
The ruling solidified the foundation: now we have to build the house.
More heavy lifting is needed to achieve our vision of a world free of all forms of discrimination: a world without racism; a world without violence against transgender and gender nonconforming people; a world where everyone has the health care they need; and a world where all of us are able to live without the fear of being fired from our jobs or kicked out of our homes simply for being who we are.
As the LGBT movement charts its path forward, we should reflect on how we got here. The pathway to this historic victory felt long and arduous, but in the arc of history was quite short. We learned and adapted quickly as the public began to support our families.
Equality Federation was formed to partner with the state-based equality organizations. So much of the national progress we see today began with efforts at the local and state level. Examples abound. MassEquality became the first organization to lead an effort that resulted in a super-majority of state legislators supporting the freedom to marry. Equality Maryland made history when they led a successful campaign to win marriage equality at the ballot box. Equality California showed great courage in the Proposition 8 battle, and the many lessons learned from that valiant effort continue to inform our work.
State-based equality groups throughout the country worked tirelessly — amplifying the heartwarming stories of couples, lobbying legislatures and so much more — alongside the legal teams who fought marriage bans in the courts and brought down the Defense of Marriage Act. Our community owes enormous gratitude to all these organizations and, of course, the thousands of people who participated in the lawsuits, campaigns, lobbying, canvassing and storytelling.
We also honor all of the couples and families who simply lived their lives openly and authentically day in and day out, even when it was uncomfortable or dangerous. There are insights to be gleaned from the aunt who held signs at her local farmer’s market or the college student who collected signatures on campus.
In order to harness the momentum of this great win, it will be important to remember that equality is not achieved by relying solely on one person, organization or strategy. We found success by collaborating and sharing lessons learned in unprecedented ways, and that is what we must continue to do in order to ensure all Americans are protected from discrimination.
In the coming months, Equality Federation will continue working with our partners in the state-based equality movement — with even more vigor — to pass over 30 statewide nondiscrimination laws to include protections for LGBT people, and to struggle against racism, violence and injustice.
As during the early days of the marriage movement, many people are already doing their part. People have been sharing their stories of being fired from their jobs and kicked out of their homes simply for being who they are. Leaders in towns big and small are passing nondiscrimination ordinances. Now is not the time to rest — coming off of the marriage victory — we need to push forward so that no one is left behind.
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YouTube star Shane Dawson comes out as bisexual in emotional video
Shane Dawson woke up feeling scared on Tuesday (7 July).
He had something deeply personal to share with his more than 6.7 million followers on YouTube and he was determined that this was the day.
Dawson began by saying that he has always been ‘sexually confused’ but never more so than in the past year.
‘I always wished that I was gay, that I was just 100 percent gay,’ he admitted.
Why?
‘You know, number one, that would mean I knew who I was,’ he explained. ‘Number two, it would be a lot easier for me to be accepted by people. Because I wear wigs and dresses on the internet and I’m feminine and all these things. And it would be so much easier to just say, yeah, you know, I’m gay.’
But that just isn’t the case.
‘I’m not completely gay, and I can’t sit here and say that I am… but I also can’t sit here and say that I’m straight…I’ve come to the conclusion, through therapy and through being honest with myself, I am bisexual.’
He also observed: ‘In a lot of coming out videos, people who are gay or lesbian, they’re so confident. I’m not that. I don’t know who I am 100 percent. I know a lot of you guys feel the same way.’
Dawson, who launched his YouTube channel back in 2008, goes on to share the rest of his emotional story in the video below.
The post YouTube star Shane Dawson comes out as bisexual in emotional video appeared first on Gay Star News.
Greg Hernandez
www.gaystarnews.com/article/youtube-star-shane-dawson-comes-out-as-bisexual-in-emotional-video/
Kansas Governor Brownback Issues Anti-LGBT Executive Order
Kansas Governor Sam Brownback issues an executive order encouraging blatant discrimination against LGBT Kansans in the name of religion.
HRC.org
Benham Brothers: ‘Persecuted’ Christians Must ‘Refuse to Bow’ to the Militant Gay Agenda – VIDEO
Writing on wingnut rag WorldNetDaily yesterday, anti-gay activists and former TV hosts the Benham brothers have said that religious liberties in the U.S. are “in the cross-hairs of the militant, secular agenda” following the SCOTUS ruling on same-sex marriage.
With their “persecuted” Christian faith under fire, the Benhams argue that those “riding the fence” on gay rights – a structure to which they claim the devil has exclusive rights – must now choose a side because “you can’t stand strong on top of a fence.”
Blaming their rambling outburst on satan because “that’s how the devil works,” the brothers continue:
“God’s purification of our faith is nothing new. Believe it or not, millions of Christians before us have suffered persecution – or pressure, like we have in America – and God is still God, we are His children. So our Father will take care of us. All we’ve got to do is be faithful and willing to stand.
“A few biblical men show us the way forward, and their stories actually reveal something quite similar to what we may experience in America soon. As they stood firmly on God’s side of the fence, the nation where they were living turned against them quickly.
“Throughout history…believers in God have been forced to bow to godless agendas/decrees/ordinances/laws, yet they’ve refused, and suffered intense persecution.
“At the same time people of faith have been forced not to bow to God/His boundaries/His laws/His words – yet they chose to bow in reverence and faced the fires of persecution as well.
“Either way, persecutors want God’s faithful to be obedient to man, not God – to bow or not to bow, depending on the circumstances.
“And their easiest targets are the fence sitters.
“So if you find yourself straddling the fence, please move to God’s side and trust that He’s got your back. We have nothing to fear, and we can’t forget that Jesus is in heaven speaking about our courage to the Father.”
Last year, the Benhams compared themselves to victims of ISIS beheadings.
Watch the brothers complain that they lost their jobs as part of “an agenda that seeks to silence men and women of faith” below.
The post Benham Brothers: ‘Persecuted’ Christians Must ‘Refuse to Bow’ to the Militant Gay Agenda – VIDEO appeared first on Towleroad.
Michael Fitzgerald
Benham Brothers: ‘Persecuted’ Christians Must ‘Refuse to Bow’ to the Militant Gay Agenda – VIDEO
WATCH: Kentucky Clerk Defends Marriage Equality Opposition, Wants Licenses Issued Online
Casey Davis won’t grant licenses for same-sex marriages because such unions go against God and nature, he says.
Trudy Ring
My Transgender Life: I Know Someone Who Knows Someone Who…..
Do you remember the old game called Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon? You know, name any actor and try to connect in the fewest “hops” of what movie were they in with someone who ultimately was in a movie with Kevin Bacon.
The entire game was based on a concept called six degrees of separation, which posits that any two people on earth are fewer than six acquaintance links apart.
This made me think about the recent survey report that only about 8% of the population knows someone who is transgender. I know that my own personal world does not fairly represent the country as a whole, but when I go out to teach or speak I ask the question and often see 20-30% or more hands go up.
I do believe that knowing someone who is transgender goes a long way to acceptance and understanding – and for those that have been following some of my writing, you know that I think the acceptance can come first. So the questions started to swim around my mind that how far can the “separation” of acquaintance links be in order to foster and grow transgender acceptance.
If you know someone who is trans, have you ever been in a conversation with a friend, a co-worker, even a stranger in a line somewhere, where you got to say, “I know someone who is transgender and they are so courageous and happy being their true self!” Have you ever heard this from someone and repeated as ” I know someone who knows someone who is transgender and…..”
…
Once again, I will state that we are all unique, just like snowflakes! There is no one way, no right way to BE transgender. Just because you may know someone who is transgender that does not mean you know everyone who is transgender. There are trans people in the public. Some do great things, while some do not! Some are heroes while some are not. Some are highly visible and some hide themselves and their past, which all is fine. Almost all of them, all of us, have gone through an internal battle to understand and hopefully accept ourselves as best we possibly can. No two of us have taken the same path to live our truth. Each one of us has had the courage to move forward and possibly lose everything and everyone that is near and dear to us. Yes, each one of us reached this crossroad!
When you know someone you have met someone who has had an incredible challenge in his or her life and was incredibly brave enough to face their internal challenge in spite of not mapping to society’s expectations. The more people you meet and get to know, you will realize that they are really not that much different than you, but perhaps their specific challenges are! Perhaps it is the millions of trans people that are facing their challenges can teach everyone to face their own and live their true life, what ever that may be.
…
Six degrees of separation does not seem so far away. Neither does even 2 degrees or 3 degrees of separation. It was reported that over 17 million people saw the Diane Sawyer/Jenner interview this past April. If each of those people told two people they know a trans person and then they told 2 people, there would be over 150 Million people at 2 degrees of separation. This may sound silly, but that is the power of the media and the way we see knowledge being spread.
Most of us, not just trans people, want to live our lives as our true selves. We need people in our life to accept us just as people who had a challenge that we did not ask for but have learned to deal with it. We are not crazy, impaired or doing anything wrong.
We are just trying to end our internal six degrees of separation, and bring together all those parts and aspects inside of us that have been internally battling for many years and bring them all together as the people we truly are.
I bet you are too!
###
Grace Stevens is a transgender woman who transitioned at the age of 64 and holds a Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology. She is a father of three, grandparent of two, athlete, advocate and author of No! Maybe? Yes! Living My Truth, an intimate memoir of her personal struggle to transition and live her true life authentically as a woman. Grace is available for speaking about authentic living with Living on-TRACK, and Gender Variance Education and Training. Visit her website at: www.graceannestevens.com/. Follow Grace on Twitter: www.twitter.com/graceonboard .
— 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.
REVIEW: Jen Cafe – Chinatown, London
Jen Cafe is a fairly simple place but it’s one of the stand-outs in London’s Chinatown.
Occupying a prime corner location in Newport Place, Jen Cafe specialise in freshly made dumplings (steamed or fried) but also has a full menu of numerous classic dishes.
The service is brusque, and this isn’t a place to linger over your food, but if you fancy some freshly made dumplings then this is a winner.
The post REVIEW: Jen Cafe – Chinatown, London appeared first on Gay Star News.
Gareth Johnson
www.gaystarnews.com/article/review-jen-cafe-chinatown-london/
Parents Give Son Gift Of NSA Gay Dating Apps. Happy Birthday, “RagingBottom96″!
What did you get for your 19th birthday? A subscription to Rolling Stone? A car if you were one of those kids?
Well for one fresh-faced 20-something actor playing 19, the big gift was a smart phone loaded up with Jack’d and complete with a ready-to-go profile crafted by mum and dad.
They even chose a solid user ID to get him stated — RagingBottom96. How very touching.
Watch the entertaining marketing ploy below:
Dan Tracer
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