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You are here: Home / Archives for Civil Rights / LGBTQ Rights / LGBTQ Rights Are Human Rights

LGBTQ Rights Are Human Rights

Monday Evening Happy Stuff Open Thread

by Anne Laurie|  April 5, 20216:05 pm| 206 Comments

This post is in: LGBTQ Rights Are Human Rights, Music, Open Threads, President Biden, Vice-President Harris

New presidents typically record a welcome video for new U.S. citizens. "I want to thank you for choosing us and believing that America is worthy of your aspirations," President Biden says in his. https://t.co/CKqk0qwLK4

— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) April 5, 2021

show full post on front page

Congrats to @StanfordWBB, and their fans, on winning it all. Congrats to @ArizonaWBB on a great season.

And….yes, congrats to the @SecondGentleman. He called it. https://t.co/lYGnY4lT9B

— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) April 5, 2021

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson will take some heat from his base for this, but credit where it's due. https://t.co/vPb1wdOd50 via @CharlesPPierce

— Esquire (@esquire) April 5, 2021


(Of course, the Arkansas legislature is expected to override Hutchinson’s veto, but his willingness to stand up for basic decency remains an indication that public pressure does work.)

And this is 17 minutes of fun…

Monday Evening Happy Stuff Open ThreadPost + Comments (206)

Guest Post: Trans Day of Visibility

by Major Major Major Major|  March 31, 20218:07 pm| 91 Comments

This post is in: Civil Rights, LGBTQ Rights, LGBTQ Rights Are Human Rights

Take it away, Sister Golden Bear!


Today is the annual Trans Day of Visibility, and for trans folks (and our non-binary/gender non-conforming siblings) it’s both the best of times and the worst of times.

I mostly post about the latter because the effort to eradicate — and I don’t use that word lightly — trans people from public life is hateful, alarming and requiring direct action to combat. The on-going hate-crimes murders of trans people, usually almost all trans women, usually almost all women of color, usually the vast majority Black trans women. The demonization of trans (girl) athletes — because it’s almost always trans women/girls who are targeted — by an unholy alliance between social conservatives and purported “feminists,” who are really Feminist-Approriately Reactionary Transphobes. (Because if you’re “feminism” aligned you with the Immoral Minority, then you’re doing feminism wrong.) State legislatures proposing — and passing — laws to criminalize providing trans-related healthcare to trans kids, to allow doctors to deny healthcare in general to trans patients.

Like the attack on voting rights, even when they fail these efforts are meant to intimidate us. They force us and our allies to expend time on effort that could go to more worthy purposes — such as reducing the shockingly high rates of suicide among trans teens. In a 2018 study, 85% of trans teens reported “seriously considering suicide,” while over half of them attempted suicide. Because life is that fucking tough for them. In another study, 78% of respondents reported being harassed, 35% attacked and 12% sexually assaulted. Trans adults have suicide rate comparable only to combat vets suffering PTSD, because yes, life is that fucking hard for too many of us as well. I only post about a fraction of this stuff, not only for my own sanity, but to prevent myself from becoming Janie One Note. Trust me, there’s a lot of other things that I’d rather be posting about. So if you know a trans/non-binary/gender non-conforming person, today is a really good day to show them some love, because although there’s now a lot of good things happening, there’s still all too much threatening and scary stuff going down.

It’s also the best of times. Like for many other minorities, the existential terror of The Former Guy’s administration is now gone. The current administration has our backs, and they’re walking the walk. They’re rolling back the hateful policies of the prior administration. The Biden administration became to the first to celebrate Transgender Day of Visibility, while also today the Pentagon reversed the military’s trans ban. That’s a big Joe Biden Deal. (Even if presidential executive orders mean my rights are at the whim of who’s in power.) The love shown to Elliot Page shown when he came out. The increasing visibility of, and support for, trans men, who’ve traditionally flown under the radar (for better or worse).

Dr. Rachel Levine getting confirmed by the Senate as Assistant Secretary of Health — the first trans person to do so. Dr. Levine’s accomplishment is a double victory, because like a lot of later-in-life transitioners, including myself, she’s “visibly trans” due to the unwanted changes testosterone wreaked on her body. Previously the high-profile trans woman activists, like Laverne Cox and Janet Mock were less threatening: they fit the cisgender heterosexual norms of beauty, they’re attracted to men. Which is not to knock their activism, far from it. But life is different when you look like, well Laverne Cox. I still regularly get “sirred” by store cashiers and others. I’ve resigned myself to always being “sirred” on the phone. I’ve learned to let roll off my back since it’s often not worth correcting them, but for part of me it’s still always another slice in the death of a thousand cuts. (If you don’t think pronouns are important, try misgendering a cisgender person’s pet.) I don’t know Dr. Levine’s sexual orientation, but since she was married to a woman (the married didn’t survive transition), I suspect that like many later-in-life transitioners, including myself, she’s attracted to women. (Sexuality attraction being independent from gender identity.)

Dr. Levine doesn’t really have a choice whether she’s visibly trans. Myself, I blend in more often than I’d hoped for, and for the most part I’m treated as the woman I am. But I still choose to be visible for those who can’t be. (Yes, I’m one of the examples that yes, it does get better, and I have enough privileges to be visible.) But I’m hoping that being trans ends up being the third or fourth most-interesting thing about me. That said, not everyone can be, or wants to be visible. (If you don’t think you know any trans people, trust me you do.) There are many reasons. Some don’t feel safe doing so, some are trying to keep jobs or preserve marriages, some feel it’s nobody else’s damn business. But regardless of the reason, it’s totally cool, and they’re just as trans (or non-binary or gender non-conforming), just as valid, as those who are out.

But in the spirit of visibility, I’d encourage you to check out FORGE’s series of short videos where trans/non-binary/gender non-conforming folx share their experiences and feelings about being seen. In particular my friends Helen Boyd and Rachel Crowl. (Helen is an incisive thinker about gender, amazing writer, and fierce advocate — buy her books!, and check out her Trans 101 talk. Rachel is a bad-ass actor, musician and photographer who got stellar reviews for co-starring in an award-winning indie film, and at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival — cast her!)

To my trans sisters and non-binary, and gender non-conforming sisters, brothers and siblings, to their partners (who are too often unsung heroes), to their families. I’d like to give a shout out to all those on the trans spectrum who don’t socially transition and therefore never go public for various reasons (most don’t feel the need to transition and are happy being “just a crossdresser” etc.), and often are deeply, deeply closeted—there’s probably 10 of them for every public transitioner, making them the vast dark matter of the trans universe. Unfortunately many of them are looked down upon not only by society at large, but also too often by other trans people. Yes, I see you, and yes, you’re “real enough” too. To quote Helen, you’re amazing and you’re awesome. Love to you all. Don’t let the bastards get you down.

Many thanks for writing this up, SGB.

Guest Post: Trans Day of VisibilityPost + Comments (91)

Late Night Nasty Little Stupidities Open Thread: In Some Barrels, There Is No Bottom

by Anne Laurie|  March 8, 202111:59 pm| 55 Comments

This post is in: LGBTQ Rights Are Human Rights, Open Threads, Popular Culture, Cosplay Socialists

What is grief, if not love persevering? has become the most-quoted line from this season’s must-watch TV show, WandaVision. So when an idiot ‘leftist’ wants a stick to beat Democrats with…

I know dumb tweets aren’t worth getting worked up about but in the 1990s the entire Republican Party tried to exterminate me. pic.twitter.com/ZXvZDTA1hl

— Mean Homo ???????? (@SJGrunewald) March 7, 2021

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What is Twitter Leftism but GamerGate persevering? pic.twitter.com/OU9qlg83Rc

— Mean Homo ???????? (@SJGrunewald) March 7, 2021

Erick Erickson, defender of institutional racism:

Like he’s already made peace with comparing a 2x combat veteran and his wife to a jihadist terrorist group but Erick had to very very specifically name-check one from West Africa because the only real crime in conservatism is subtlety. https://t.co/r3gEOwTFy9

— Zeddy (@Zeddary) March 8, 2021

I know it’s not the point but Woke-O Haram means Woke Is Forbidden. which makes the right Woke-O Haram. i am fully aware this is like trying to rationally explain why you shouldn’t shit on the carpet to your dog

— sean hannity’s bottomless pasta pass (@MenshevikM) March 8, 2021

And then there’s… how the hell can anyone, even a professional member of the GOP Death Cult, dismiss ‘like 40 people’ murdered as just… a blip in the matrix, I guess?

“Like, 40 people.” pic.twitter.com/TW9UMy0n79

— Jane Coaston (@janecoaston) March 5, 2021

“Have we ever voiced any support for women in sports before this? No? Just vague insults about lesbians playing soccer? Did we Google the NCAA’s standards for trans athlete inclusion at the collegiate level? No? We didn’t do that? What about the Olympics? Not that either? Great.”

— Jane Coaston (@janecoaston) March 5, 2021

I believe in transubstantiation but I draw a line at believing that some of these people care about “women’s sports” in a non-cudgel way.

— Jane Coaston (@janecoaston) March 5, 2021

Late Night Nasty Little Stupidities Open Thread: In Some Barrels, There Is No BottomPost + Comments (55)

Thursday Evening Open Thread: Because It’s the Right Thing to Do

by Anne Laurie|  February 25, 20216:20 pm| 213 Comments

This post is in: LGBTQ Rights Are Human Rights, NANCY SMASH!, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat

House votes to pass Equality Act, sweeping legislation prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity https://t.co/oASHSzm7gt

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 25, 2021

A possible explanation for MTG’s latest outbreak of public bigotry. Gonna be interesting, shall we say, for Sen. Krysten Sinema to reconcile her support for LGBTQ rights with her defense of the filibuster here…

The House voted Thursday to pass the Equality Act, a far-reaching measure that has been decades in the making and would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The legislation was passed by the House in 2019 but blocked in the Republican-led Senate. This time, Democrats control the White House, House and Senate. President Biden has signaled his support for the measure, but it still faces an uphill fight in the Senate, where it would need 60 votes to break a legislative filibuster.

“The Civil Rights Act is a sacred pillar of freedom in our country. It is not amended lightly,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a House floor speech Thursday afternoon. She thanked members of the Congressional Black Caucus who “gave their imprimatur to the opening of the Civil Rights Act to end discrimination against LGBTQ Americans.”

After a tense and often personal debate, the House voted 224 to 206 for the measure, with three Republicans joining all Democrats to vote yes…

The Equality Act has been a pillar of the LGBTQ civil rights movement since similar legislation was first discussed after the Stonewall riots in 1969. Democratic Rep. Bella Abzug of New York was the main sponsor of the Equality Act in 1974; other prominent supporters of the legislation included Rep. Ed Koch (D-N.Y.).

In the ensuing decades, public opinion has shifted dramatically toward support of such protections. More than 8 in 10 Americans favor laws that would protect LGBTQ people against discrimination in jobs, public accommodations and housing, according to a 2020 Public Religion Research Institute American Values Survey…

(Rep. Abzug, along with Rep. Shirley Chisholm, was my adolescent legislative hero. I’m glad she gets the credit she earned here.)

Thursday Evening Open Thread: Because It’s the Right Thing to DoPost + Comments (213)

Late Night Open Thread: Too Soon for A Denny Hastert Reference?

by Anne Laurie|  February 16, 202112:23 am| 76 Comments

This post is in: LGBTQ Rights Are Human Rights, Open Threads, Republican Venality

Never trust a man who takes noisy ‘purity’ interest in other peoples’ genitals…

I mean look, I usually try not to judge folks for doing what they have to do to put bread on the table, but if someone told me they were a middle school penis inspector, I would probably politely recuse myself and never speak to them again. https://t.co/KOCfm8Tgif

— Starfish Who Just Wants To Grill (@IRHotTakes) February 13, 2021

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You gotta keep your eye on the ball, and now your hand too.

— Robert Mitchell (@hyperionxix) February 12, 2021

"In hindsight, we probably shouldn't have put such an emphasis on experience when evaluating resumes." https://t.co/FzD2e6ZlyB

— Starfish Who Just Wants To Grill (@IRHotTakes) February 13, 2021

But seriously, *never*:

I'm not saying every QAnoner is a pedophile, but it takes a certain predisposition to think that what rich people want more than anything is sex with kids. https://t.co/4H1a7PIPUl

— Jeff Fecke (@jkfecke) February 14, 2021

Late Night Open Thread: Too Soon for A Denny Hastert Reference?Post + Comments (76)

National Coming Out Day Open Thread

by Major Major Major Major|  October 11, 20202:11 pm| 205 Comments

This post is in: LGBTQ Rights, LGBTQ Rights Are Human Rights, Music, Open Threads

Is it October 11 already? Time flies when you’re locked in a plague bunker.

Last year I wrote about my mixed feelings on this day of observance. Visibility can be a burden; most of us just want to live our lives. At the same time, lack of visibility is a big driver of the forces that seek to prevent us from living our lives, and reminding everybody I’m gay once a year isn’t really that annoying. So it is with only minor grumpiness that I wish you an acceptable Coming Out Day–may we some day not need it any more.

I’m gay, and so is my husband.


We now return you to your regularly scheduled lazy afternoon.

National Coming Out Day Open ThreadPost + Comments (205)

Late Night Open Thread: #ProudBoys Hashtag Hijacked

by Anne Laurie|  October 3, 202011:15 pm| 132 Comments

This post is in: LGBTQ Rights Are Human Rights, Open Threads, Popular Culture

Look up what’s trending now on #ProudBoys. You’re welcome, Internet.

— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) October 3, 2020

Mr. Takei outed the Nazis, and his followers responded in… kindness!

Taking over #ProudBoys https://t.co/d2bHLmCEtc pic.twitter.com/sTWXDRcY7F

— Eric Alper 🎧 (@ThatEricAlper) October 4, 2020

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#ProudBoys
Bless you @GeorgeTakei https://t.co/D7J77QzwYQ

— Lincoln's Bible (@LincolnsBible) October 4, 2020

Fantastic, I love this. #ProudBoys https://t.co/ZKB1CgPQC7

— kristen johnston (@thekjohnston) October 4, 2020

members of our government saluting the only #ProudBoys that count at Montreal Pride. 🇨🇦 (Elizabeth May ftw here)

thank you George Takei. allies unite and share this hashtag! pic.twitter.com/l2FziHHypd

— Lise C (@liseski) October 4, 2020

It just dawned on me, that when trump's always playing 'YMCA' at his rallies…it's actually a dog whistle to the #ProudBoys! Holy schnike! 😲 pic.twitter.com/TXHG1qU97E

— TWILIGHT ZONE dm 4 your secret ANTIFA decoder BLM! (@TheGreatMueller) October 4, 2020

Cream of the jest, she said piously, is that those cosplay Nazis supposedly sign a pact against masturbation…

Late Night Open Thread: #ProudBoys Hashtag HijackedPost + Comments (132)

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