#WhyWeFight: International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia

Today is International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia! The day is a part of the United Nations Free & Equal campaign for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. Per the UN:

The global movement for lesbian, gay, bi and trans (LGBT) equality encompasses millions of individuals, groups, organizations and campaigns all of whom are fighting for change in their own countries and communities.

To celebrate the International Day against Homophobia & Transphobia on 17 May 2016, we asked people to help us create a video that captures some of the strength and spirit that LGBT activists and allies bring to their work, and the sheer diversity of causes that help make up the movement globally. The result is a celebration of activism – and a reminder of why we fight.

Thanks to singer-songwriter Rachel Platten for lending her powerful “Fight Song” to serve as the soundtrack to this year’s video. Finally, special thanks to the many activists around the world who contributed time, energy and enthusiasm to the making of the video – and whose daily struggle against stigma and discrimination is the inspiration for this project. This fight song is dedicated to you!

The inspiring campaign also features videos from LGBT activists from around the world like singer Melissa Etheridge, NBA star Jason Collins and parents who have been affected by hate and homophobia in their own families. Today, the United Nations is using the hashtags #WhyWeFight and #IDAHOT to spread the word on social media and we hope you do the same!

VIDEO: Watch Loretta Lynch’s Historic Speech in Favor Transgender Rights

This week transgender activists, the LGBT community and fans of basic civil rights everywhere applauded the speech by Attorney General Loretta Lynch given in response to North Carolina’s “bathroom bill.” Lynch took to the podium in a press conference to denounce the bill, saying it violated civil federal rights. According to Lynch:

The North Carolina General Assembly passed House Bill 2 in special session on March 23 of this year. The bill sought to strike down an anti-discrimination provision in a recently-passed Charlotte, North Carolina, ordinance, as well as to require transgender people in public agencies to use the bathrooms consistent with their sex as noted at birth, rather than the bathrooms that fit their gender identity. The bill was signed into law that same day. In so doing, the legislature and the governor placed North Carolina in direct opposition to federal laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex and gender identity. More to the point, they created state-sponsored discrimination against transgender individuals, who simply seek to engage in the most private of functions in a place of safety and security – a right taken for granted by most of us.

Last week, our Civil Rights Division notified state officials that House Bill 2 violates federal civil rights laws. We asked that they certify by the end of the day today that they would not comply with or implement House Bill 2’s restriction on restroom access. An extension was requested by North Carolina and was under active consideration. But instead of replying to our offer or providing a certification, this morning, the state of North Carolina and its governor chose to respond by suing the Department of Justice. As a result of their decisions, we are now moving forward.

Today, we are filing a federal civil rights lawsuit against the state of North Carolina, Governor Pat McCrory, the North Carolina Department of Public Safety and the University of North Carolina. We are seeking a court order declaring House Bill 2’s restroom restriction impermissibly discriminatory, as well as a statewide bar on its enforcement. While the lawsuit currently seeks declaratory relief, I want to note that we retain the option of curtailing federal funding to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety and the University of North Carolina as this case proceeds.

In a career that thus far has been quietly off the radar, Loretta Lynch’s words have been heralded as a turning point in the current discrimination battle brewing in the south. Watch the entire speech here!

Obama to name Stonewall Inn National Monument

stonewall-inn

The legendary Stonewall Inn, the Greenwich Village bar at the center of the gay-rights movement, was granted landmark status last year but according to the Associated Press the Obama administration plans on naming the bar the country’s first national monument for gay rights. Per the New Yorker, Obama is, “considering proposals that would involve cordoning off Christopher Park, a small sliver of land near Stonewall Inn, and surrounding areas.” Federal officials are travelling to NYC next week to discuss the proposal while city officials iron out the details of the land’s title. If no complications arise, the Stonewall Inn should be declared a national monument in June, just in time for Pride month and the city’s famous parade.

New Yorkers and lawmakers alike “have long pushed for the national-park designation, and last year, Congressman Jerrold Nadler and Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer introduced legislation that said as much,” wrote the New Yorker. “It’s time for the Stonewall Inn to take its place in the panoply of sites and events that were sparks in the march to the kind of freedom and equality that is the very wellspring of the American Dream,” Schumer said. “Making the Stonewall Inn site a unit of the National Park system is the right thing to do.”

Good News From The South! Louisiana Bans LGBT Discrimination

New-Orleans In a couple of weeks filled with really bad news coming out of the south, this little nugget from Louisiana is a real gem.

On Wednesday, Governor John Bel Edwards signed an executive order prohibiting discrimination against LGBT Louisianans. The order overturns an executive order by Edwards predecessor, Republican Bobby Jindal which protected employers and agencies that wouldn’t serve the LGBT community. Edwards said order was “bad for business, tourism and the Louisiana economy. Per NBC News, “Louisiana has no law protecting LGBT residents from employment discrimination. Edwards’ order protects state employees from discrimination over a variety of reasons, including race and religion in addition to sexual orientation and gender identity.” Edwards’ bill also explicitly protects transgender people. The nonprofit Forum for Equality called the order “a bold stroke to broaden equality in Louisiana,” while Equality Louisiana said it should spur the Legislature “to extend these employment protections to all workers in Louisiana, in both the public and private sectors.” The order was signed after months of pressure from gay rights groups and companies like IBM which worried that Jindal’s order would “create a hostile environment for our current and prospective employees.”

Teen in Northern Ireland Releases Touching Video Asking For His Mom’s Right To Marry

A 15 year-old from Northern Ireland made headlines this week with a video taking a local politician to task for voting against marriage equality. Darragh Tibbs wrote a letter to local assembly leader Gordon Dunne about a month ago asking why the official voted against same-sex marriage. After receiving no response, Tibbs made this video wherein he reads his letter to Dunne.“I am 15 years old and a constituent of yours,” the letter opens, “and I live just around the corner from your office. You voted no in the Marriage Equality vote last year—I want to know why. I’m the child of a same-sex relationship, and I can see absolutely no reason why my brother and I should be denied a secure family set-up. To me it seems perfectly reasonable that a democratic government should give all of its citizens the same legal protections. What gives you the right to take from my brother and me the right for legal protection for our family?” Tibbs goes on to say that the rest of the U.K. has voted for marriage equality and he wonders why Northern Ireland hasn’t done the same. “Gordon Dunne is a straight man, so when the legislation goes through, it won’t actually make any difference to his life. The only conclusion we’re left is that Gordon Dunne doesn’t support equality. He doesn’t truly believe that absolutely everyone is equal, just those who he approves of,” Tibbs says. According to NewNowNext, “a spokesperson for the Democratic Unionist Party commented, ‘The party supports the traditional definition of marriage of one man and one woman…we don’t believe marriage should be redefined.’” Dunne has yet to comment on Tibbs video or letter.

Disney & Marvel To Boycott Georgia If Anti-LGBT Bill Passes

CIchTNYUsAEiZT7 Add Disney and Marvel to the growing list of companies to say they will boycott the state of Georgia if the governor signs a bill restricting the rights of LGBT people into law. HB 757 formerly known as the “pastor protection act” has passed in the House and Senate and is heading to Governor Nathan Deal’s desk to be signed. HB 757, like Indiana’s ‘religious freedom bill’, would allow pastor’s, churches and other faith-based organizations to refuse to perform marriage ceremonies to certain groups including LGBT couples. The bill would even allow hospitals to deny services to LGBT couples. “Disney and Marvel are inclusive companies, and although we have had great experiences filming in Georgia, we will plan to take our business elsewhere should any legislation allowing discriminatory practices be signed into state law,” a Disney spokesman said on Wednesday. This could be a huge financial hit for the state of Georgia if other studios followed suit. Thanks to great tax breaks for studios, there are currently 10-30 film and television shows being filmed in Georgia at any given time, meaning millions in revenue for the state. According to the Los Angeles Times, “During Georgia’s fiscal 2015, 248 film and television productions shot in the Peach State, representing $1.7 billion in spending there, according to a statement last year by the Georgia Department of Economic Development. Those film and TV projects generated an economic impact of more than $6 billion during the fiscal year extending from July 1, 2014, to June 30, 2015.”

Disney and Marvel join the NFL, Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines and dozens of other companies who have come out in opposition to the measure.

Antarctica Declared First LGBT Friendly Continent

aaron_jackson_penguins

Non-profit organization Planting Peace has declared Antarctica the world’s first LGBT-friendly continent. Planting Peace hopes to “instill full fundamental rights to LGBT people inhabiting or visiting the continent of Antarctica.” Founder Aaron Jackson has set social media ablaze recently with images of him travelling around Antarctica carrying a Pride flag “to raise awareness for the need for action across the planet because basic rights are still denied to the LGBT community in so many countries across the world.” The group wants to shed a light on the 76 countries which continue to ignore the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, six of which still consider homosexuality a crime punishable by death. Jackson and company first made headlines a few years back when they purchased a house in Topeka, Kansas directly across the street from Westboro Baptist Church and painted it in the colors of the Pride flag. original

LGBT History Made in NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade

alav1 On Thursday people around the country celebrated St. Patrick’s Day but in New York City this year’s festivities were extra special for the LGBT community. “This year’s St. Patrick’s Day parade — the world’s oldest and largest — also proved to be a historic one, as openly gay and lesbian groups were allowed to march in the parade, ending a quarter-century long ban,” according to NBC. “I never thought I’d see the day when I could march up Fifth Avenue in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade with my husband,” said Brendan Fay, chairman of the Lavender and Green Alliance, as the parade began. “When we started in 1991, after getting arrested so many times for protesting the parade, wow, what a moment this is.” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio marched in the parade for the first time this year too. He boycotted the parade for his first two years in office because of the parade’s ban on LGBT advocacy groups. “Today everyone is celebrating together,” de Blasio said. “The city is at peace and unified.”

Mayor of Kokomo Signs LGBT Protection Act

Final Welcome Sign Kokomo is the latest community in Indiana to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. According to WTHR in Indiana:\

Council members voted 5-4 in favor of an ordinance protecting members of the LGBT community after what has been a contentious debate. Mayor Greg Goodnight signed the ordinance early Tuesday. The overflow crowd tested the capacity of Kokomo’s council chambers. By fire code, only 157 could fit inside. Police estimated 300 to 400 more people had to stand outside and await the final vote on the human rights ordinance. The measure protects lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens from discrimination. It also bans discrimination based on marital status, age or veteran status.

Despite death threats and harassing emails, council members voted to end LGBT discrimination. “One of our members was basically told ‘you better vote no or else’ and I won’t go into what the ‘or else’ was. But he has filed a police report on that,” said Council President Robert Hayes.”There were things we received in emails that no elected official should have received. When I get emails invoking my dead mother, saying she’d be weeping at my vote, well, you don’t know my mother. She’d say ‘atta boy. Go get ’em and speak your mind,” Hayes said. “I certainly hope we haven’t come to the point where we cannot agree to disagree in a civil manner without intimidation and in some cases outright bigotry.”

60 Major Corporations Endorse Equality Act

Apple, Amazon, Google, and Coca-Cola are just a few of the huge brands on the Human Rights Campaign’s list of companies in favor of the Equality Act. Released this week, the list includes 60 companies that support the bill which would protect LGBT people from discrimination. Per the HRC’s press release:

Since HRC joined with lawmakers and advocates last July to introduce the Equality Act in Congress, HRC has continued to build support from the business community. Today, the Business Coalition for the Equality Act launches with 60 leading American companies. With operations in all 50 states, headquarters spanning 22 states and a combined $1.9 trillion in revenue, the companies that make up the coalition employ over 4.2 million people in the United States.

“These business leaders are showing true leadership and fighting to end a shameful status quo that leaves LGBT people at risk in a majority of states for being denied services or fired because of who they are or who they love,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “We’re proud of all these corporate leaders stepping forward to say that all Americans, including LGBT people, should be able to live free from fear of discrimination and have a fair chance to earn a living.”

A majority of states — 32 states in total — still lack fully inclusive non-discrimination protections for LGBT people, and there are no explicit federal protections against discrimination. Introduced one month after the historic Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges that ushered in nationwide marriage equality, the Equality Act would finally guarantee explicit, permanent protections for LGBT people under our existing civil rights laws. The Equality Act provides clear, permanent and equal protections under federal law for all Americans in vital areas of life, like employment, access to public spaces, housing, credit, education, jury service, and federally funded programs.