LGBT Youth
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Why the National Equality March Was the Right Thing to Do
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The Effect of Gay Marriage on Gay Kids
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Students vs. the Defense of Marriage Act
Students, Get Your National Equality March On
Published September 18, 2009 @ 09:00AM PT
Student movements have helped topple military dictatorships, shed light on brutal human rights atrocities, and uncovered gross inequities and conviction errors in criminal justice systems. Can they also help make full and equal rights for LGBT people a reality in the U.S.?
That's what one new student group is hoping, as it organizes like hell in advance of the National Equality March, October 10-11 in Washington, D.C. Their new campaign, Students for the National Equality March, spells it all out.
"As student leaders we refuse to remain silent in the face of what we know is the greatest civil rights movement of our generation. We must speak out and be among those who express outrage at the hatred and discrimination that is inflicted upon our fellow citizens. To remain silent is to endorse hatred," the students write.
That comment right there echoes what Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said about the issue of marriage equality earlier this summer. NY's Junior Senator, in championing her support for marriage equality, said, "Marriage equality is the equal rights battle of our generation, and we should all be strongly united in our efforts to make progress."
More than 100 universities are participating in Students for the National Equality March, organizing on campuses from Tulane to UCLA to Princeton, and everywhere in between. Facebook 'em here. Twitter 'em here.
Bea Arthur's Lasting Gift to Fight LGBT Homelessness
Published August 18, 2009 @ 03:15PM PT
Earlier this year the world lost one of its biggest gay icons, when former Golden Girl Bea Arthur died. Arthur was ever the champion of LGBT causes, so much so that her name will now carry on in the fight against LGBT homelessness.
The Ali Forney Center, which for the past seven years has worked to serve the LGBT homeless population in New York City, announced today that they would rename one of their shelters after the legendary television and theater performer. The official renaming will take place at a memorial service at the Majestic Theater, and will commemorate Arthur for her work to end homelessness among LGBT youth.
In 2005, Arthur said that her work to support organizations like the Ali Forney Center stemmed from wanting to make the world a better place for vulnerable kids. "I'm very, very involved in charities involving youth and the plight of foster children. But these kids at the Ali Forney Center are literally dumped by their families because of the fact that they are lesbian, gay, or transgender."
It's partly that dedication to fight for the rights of LGBT youth that made Bea Arthur such a beloved figure in the LGBT community. Homelessness is a pandemic among LGBT youth, with statistics saying that up to 25 percent of LGBT teens are rejected by their families and face a life on the streets.
Everything can and should be done to prevent that. And that's something Arthur recognized. And for that, while it seems kind of cheesy, it seems like the most appropriate thing to say is, "Thank you for being a friend," to the LGBT population yet again.
Daniel Radcliffe Says No To LGBT Suicide
Published August 10, 2009 @ 06:30AM PT
When it comes to celebrity support for LGBT rights, Daniel Radcliffe is giving everyone a run for their money. Two weeks ago Radcliffe gave an interview to the UK's Attitude magazine, where he talked about how much he loathed homophobia, and the people that foster it. Now he's giving a major donation to one of our favorite organizations, The Trevor Project, to combat suicide among LGBT youth. Talk about putting your money where your mouth is.
The Trevor Project announced today that Radcliffe would be joining its circle of major donors, to help support the organizations work among LGBT youth. Trevor works on a number of different issues, from combating violence against LGBT youth to fostering education programs that spotlight issues facing LGBT youth. They are perhaps most famous for their Trevor Helpline, a 24-hour suicide hotline for LGBT youth. That Help Line provides an invaluable service for LGBT populations, and the organization has said that call volume to the suicide hotline is up more than 300 percent since last year. Wow.
Maybe that's one reason why Radcliffe wants to support the organization so badly. There's perhaps never been a more critical time to deal with the issue of LGBT suicide, especially among young people. Here's what Radcliffe said in announcing the donation:
It's extremely distressing to consider that in 2009 suicide is a top three killer of young people, and it's truly devastating to learn that LGBTQ youth are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers. I deeply hope my support can raise the organization's visibility so even more despondent youth become aware of The Trevor Helpline's highly trained counselors and Trevor’s many other resources. It's vitally important that young people understand they are not alone and, perhaps even more important, that their young lives have real value.
LGBT lives have real value. What a message for the most famous 20-year-old in the world to proclaim loudly. For more information on The Trevor Project, check them out here.
The Rise of the "Gaybe" Boom
Published August 04, 2009 @ 07:53AM PT
Twenty percent of gay and lesbian couples have children under 18, which has led researchers to come up with a term to describe this generation of kids. They're not Gen X, Gen Y, or Millennials, but rather children of "The Gaybe Boom," or "The Gaybe Boom generation."
And this generation of kids are just as well balanced and healthy as children of heterosexual parents. That's according to data collected as part of the National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study, a 23-year study out of the University of California, San Francisco, which found that children of same-sex parents have an even deeper appreciation for diversity and social justice. Here's what Dr. Nanette Gartrell told ABC News about children of the "Gaybe" boom:
Most offspring of same-sex parents are heterosexual as adults. By the time our study kids were 10 years old, they demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of diversity and tolerance, and an appreciation of the destructive effects of discrimination.
The ABC News story here is an interesting read behind LGBT parenting - both from the perspective of children being raised by same-sex parents, and by parents who struggle with a culture that all-too-quickly assumes that a child has a mother and a father rather than two moms or two dads. Is the phenomenon of LGBT parenting transforming gay culture?
Perhaps, at least according to Johann Hari, a writer for the UK's Independent Newspaper. Here's his thoughts:
This is all part of a slow shift that is transforming gay culture. During the twentieth century, our battle was to find a place of our own where we could be safely different, and recover some shreds of self-esteem. After millennia of being told our difference was a sickness, we needed a moment to celebrate that difference.
But after that was achieved, our goal changed. We started to realise - once we had the space - that we are actually very similar to our straight siblings. We have the same desire for stability and home-building as everyone else. Our tune changed from "I Am What I Am" to "I Am What You Are." We wanted enough basic equality to have everything straight people have. It started with demands for marriage - and the logical next step is children.
There's a tinge of sarcasm in Hari's comments, and certainly not every LGBT person (just like not every straight person) is looking to settle down and raise a family. But the point is that for those who are choosing to have children (whether biologically or through adoption), those children are turning out just as well balanced and normal as the offspring of heterosexual parents.
In the wake of last November's fracas in Arkanasas, where the state eliminated the right of gay and lesbian parents to adopt children, it's important to reiterate that message. Children of same-sex parents, despite what the state of Arkansas thought, are not a threat.
And neither are LGBT parents.
The Best Parts of Cheney's, Clinton's and Obama's Statements on LGBT Rights
Published June 01, 2009 @ 08:50PM PT
Today being the first day of Pride Month, lots of people were talking about LGBT rights. First up was former Vice President (and waterboarding enthusiast) Dick Cheney, who spoke today at the National Press Club and used the occasion to signal his support (albeit kind of tepid support) for marriage equality.
Then came Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who issued a statement just minutes before the POTUS's press office issued a statement themselves, with President Obama signing a proclamation marking June 2009 officially LGBT pride month.
Below we pick out the best parts of each of their statements. If you click on the link in their names, you can read (or in the case of Cheney, watch) their entire statements. Enjoy. First day of Pride Month, and already, the nation's political leaders are talking about LGBT rights.
Dick Cheney: "As many of you know, one of my daughters is gay and it is something we have lived with for a long time in our family. I think people ought to be free to enter into any kind of union they wish. Any kind of arrangement they wish. The question of whether or not there ought to be a federal statute to protect this, I don't support. I do believe that the historically the way marriage has been regulated is at the state level. It has always been a state issue and I think that is the way it ought to be handled, on a state-by-state basis. ... But I don't have any problem with that. People ought to get a shot at that."
Hillary Clinton: "Gays and lesbians in many parts of the world live under constant threat of arrest, violence, even torture. The persecution of gays and lesbians is a violation of human rights and an affront to human decency, and it must end. As Secretary of State, I will advance a comprehensive human rights agenda that includes the elimination of violence and discrimination against people based on sexual orientation or gender identity."
Barack Obama: "The LGBT rights movement has achieved great progress, but there is more work to be done. LGBT youth should feel safe to learn without the fear of harassment, and LGBT families and seniors should be allowed to live their lives with dignity and respect....NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to turn back discrimination and prejudice everywhere it exists."
Fighting Back Against School-wide Homophobia
Published May 19, 2009 @ 05:49AM PT
It's not unusual (although it is still tragic) to hear about LGBT students harassed by their peers in schools. But what about LGBT students harassed by their teachers?
Yesterday, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced that they had reach a settlement with the Vallejo City Unified School District in California, after a lesbian student, Rochelle Hamilton, was taunted and harassed by her teachers. School administrators even made her attend special counseling to discourage her from being a lesbian.
I'm sorry, but that's essentially child abuse. Here's a quote from Hamilton:
All I ever wanted was to be able to go to school and just be myself. But I couldn’t do that when the people I was supposed to be learning from were judging me and telling me something was wrong with me. How was I supposed to learn when I was constantly scared?
Exactly. This year has already seen multiple suicides by children as young as 11, who were taunted and teased at their schools because they were perceived to be LGBT. In Rochelle Hamilton's case, school administrators not only failed to provide protection and safety for her in the classroom, they were actively participating in targeting her for her sexual orientation. For Hamilton, there's at least a silver lining of this lawsuit which has shed light on the malpractice of school administrators in the Vallejo School District. But hundreds of other kids aren't as lucky.
Here's a list of some of the other abuses faced by Hamilton at her school, direct from the ACLU:
- A teacher approached Hamilton while she was hugging her girlfriend and said, “This is ungodly, and you’re going to hell. This is a sin.”
- Another teacher said, “What’s wrong with you? What are you, a man or a woman?”
- Other school staff made repeated harassing comments to Hamilton in front of her classmates, including saying, “it’s not right to be this way.”
- Hamilton was also on several occasions denied access to the girls’ locker room.
I'm half-surprised that school administrators didn't ask Hamilton to drink out of a separate water fountain. Elizabeth Gill, an attorney who worked on Hamilton's case, said that "If a school district ignores anti-gay bias in schools, it is plainly violating both state and federal law. These laws are designed, in part, to ensure that all students are able to learn and thrive free from bias. When it’s left unchecked, harassment can take a serious toll on students."
And I keep going back to Hamilton's own question, posed at the end of her quote: "How was I supposed to learn when I was constantly scared?" Schools have to be safe places for all students - straight or LGBT - or else they become breeding grounds for taunting, teasing, harassment, and violence.
