This is pretty effin cool. Watching these straight people react to being asked a question that gay people have been asked forever is pretty delightful. If only more people were this empathetic and understanding…
Image is a picture of a married couple.
“As a clergyperson who officiates at same-sex weddings and offers the blessing of my church, I feel that my religious liberty is under threat. Why do the prayers of clergy in other churches matter more than my own?” - Rev. Emily C. Heath
From Believe Out Loud
(via cactustreemotel)
Rick Santorum makes an ignorant claim: that we can trace the fight for gay marriage back to TV’s “Will and Grace.”
- Lauren Suchman, Dear Everyone Discussing Marriage Equality: ‘Gender’ and ‘Sexuality’ Are Not the Same Thing
Trial Against Lt. Dan Choi for ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Protest Set for Today
With much press devoted to the Supreme Court arguments on California’s Proposition 8 and the federal Defense of Marriage Act, not everyone may be aware that LGBTQ rights are on trial in a third case this week: United States v. Daniel Choi.
The case concerns whether Lt. Dan Choi should serve up to six months in jail or pay a fine of up to $5,000 for chaining himself to the White House fence in protest of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy in November 2010. An Iraq war veteran, Arabic linguist, and West Point graduate, Choi was discharged for “coming out” while DADT was still in effect. He has been arrested while engaging in several high-profile acts of non-violent civil disobedience and activism, including three White House DADT protests, a White House protest of the Keystone XL pipeline, and a gay pride parade in Moscow.
Choi was one of 12 activists arrested during the November 2010 DADT protest, but he is the only one with an ongoing trial; the others pled guilty. Choi argues that since DADT has since been repealed, his charges should be dropped.
Hillary Clinton announces support for same sex marriage.
“Gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights…America is at its best when we champion the freedom and dignity of every human being.” - Hillary Clinton
(via msheadphones117)
TV has accepted and is willing to acknowledge “non-traditional” families. Why not government?
Government-Issued IDs: A Barrier to the Vote, A Barrier to Emergency Contraception
Written by Candace Gibson for RH Reality Check. This diary is cross-posted; commenters wishing to engage directly with the author should do so at the original post.
Published in partnership with the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health.
This past election cycle, we saw the power a government-issued ID can give an individual. In states where voter ID laws were being enforced, individuals who did not have government IDs could not exercise their right to vote. Several communities were adversely affected: transgender people, Latinos, African Americans, students, the elderly, people with disabilities — in short, many, many people. These ID laws harken back to Jim Crow-era poll taxes and “literacy tests,” and at the same time increased the impact of fear tactics used to intimidate voters from going to the polls, exacerbating the historic and current inequities that many communities of color face.
Voting ID laws, and voter suppression in general, also have a unique impact on women of color. Recently, the Center for American Progress issued a report that shows how voter suppression denies justice for women of color. The report finds that many people who are eligible to vote don’t have the appropriate identification they would need to do so, and that this disproportionately impacts people of color — and particularly women of color. While only eight percent of white voters lack proper identification, 25 percent of African American and 16 percent of Latino voters do not possess the needed identification to vote according to these laws.
Have We Evolved in Our View of Transgender People?
Written by Debbie McMillan for RH Reality Check. This diary is cross-posted; commenters wishing to engage directly with the author should do so at the original post.
Like most people, the sum of who I am is much more than my individual traits. However, there is one fact about me that puts me way outside the mainstream. It’s that I’m a tran-sgender woman.
Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Massachusetts judge ordered prison officials to provide sex-reassignment surgery for a murder convict.
The piece started by talking about a transgender woman who used to meet in dark parking lots with other transgender people for support. “How things have changed since then for transgender men and women in America, who have made great strides in recent years toward reaching their ultimate goal: to be treated like ordinary people,” the piece noted.
I agree, strides have been made. But “great” grossly overstates the reality. Discrimination and misunderstanding is still rampant. I frequently feel that I’m assigned to a class of sub-humans. Even the judge who ordered the surgery said it was to treat “gender-identity disorder.” As a society, we still view transgender people as being against the natural order and place the blame on our minds, rather than where the real problem is: our incorrect bodies.
