Queer News
the other Barb (t.o.b.) originated Queer News in the early years of the L-Word. Elaine has taken over since 2016. We try put last month's queer news here somewhere close to the beginning of every month--so if you want to really be current you'll have to subscribe you can get a .pdf) but if you don't mind being a little behind you can get it here.
January 2019
Gay Teen Refugees Flee NicaraguaSource: Armando Trull, Washington Blade Nicaragua has been a tumultuous place in recent months, racked by protests against the repressive government of Daniel Ortega. The government in turn has responded with violence against those it perceives to be involved with the protests. At least 800 civilians are believed to be dead, and the number includes many minors and scores of gays. Gay youths were prominent in the resistance, and many have had to flee the country to avoid paramilitary death squads. Randal, a young gay university student said that the government's soldiers were "shooting to kill" protesters. "We as a community are used to fighting for our rights. From an early age, I had to struggle for my right to be included and accepted in a homophobic culture,” he added. Many gay Nicaraguan teens fled to neighboring Costa Rica, where they wandered the streets of San Jose as homeless refugees. Some of them organized and created Asociación Hijos del Arco Iris LGBTI (Children of the LGBTI Rainbow Association). They contacted a group of prominent Nicaraguans, including the former human rights ombudsman, who had also been forced into exile in Costa Rica, and obtained enough money to rent a group home in a poor, run-down section of the city. Forty young people live there, sharing their meager food and thin mattresses, and trying to be a family to one another. Costa Rica, which has few resources, is trying to provide for more than a million refugees, and describes the situation as a humanitarian crisis. Other gay teens fled to Spain, where unlike their counterparts in Costa Rica, they found a well-established and welcoming gay community, which helped them to seek political asylum, and access social and healthcare services.
On-Line Anti-Gay App Dropped by AppleSources: BBC, NBC Three major software retailers -- Apple, Google, and Amazon have offered an online app that demonizes gay people. The app, created by Living Hope Ministries, described gay people as sinful, sick addicts, and urges gay youth to switch their orientation through prayer and therapy. After receiving an extensive online petition, signed by nearly 150,000 people, spearheaded by a Chicago organization called "Truth Wins Out" Apple recently removed the app. Although Apple's CEO Tim Cook publicly announced that he was gay in 2014, Truth Wins Out said that it got a runaround from Apple staff when it complained about the app. Living Hope's executive director, Ricky Chelette, said that he planned to challenge Apple's decision. Google and Amazon also carry the app in their online stores. Google staff have said they will review the product and remove it if they find it violates their ban on promoting hatred based on race, religion, and sexual orientation. Amazon is said to be looking into the matter.
Cuba -- Marriage Is Still Between a Man and a WomanSource: Michael Weissenstein and Andrea Rodriguez,?Huff Post Despite hopes to the contrary, Cuba's new constitution will not legalize same-sex marriage. Gay rights advocates had hoped to replace the "man and woman" clause with the "union of two people with absolutely equal rights and obligations." This proved to be unpopular, not only among evangelical churches, but among ordinary citizens, who still harbor many anti-gay attitudes.
History books may say that it was one woman, a lesbian widow, who dislodged one stone on the mountainside and started the avalanche. When the Supreme Court in 2013 ruled in the case of United States v. Windsor (Edith Windsor, who lost her spouse Thea Spyer in 2009), it declared that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was unconstitutional under the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment (for denying her the tax and inheritance benefits of an opposite-sex spouse). Many other cases had challenged DOMA, but the Windsor ruling was the first to identify so clearly the heart of government discrimination against gay people. In his angry dissent in the Windsor case, conservative Justice Antonin Scalia warned that the ruling would lead to state after state having their same-sex marriage bans invalidated. Scalia has been proven right. In the past six months, six states have joined the list of those allowing gay marriage. An avalanche compared to the slow dribble of states In the decade since 2003 when Massachusetts led the way: only nine states followed in that ten year period. In 2013, three states gained marriage equality through popular vote, and five more joined the list in a rush of court decisions based on the Supreme Court’s DOMA overturn. One exception, California regained legality for same-sex weddings by its own separate Supreme Court decision in 2013 that nullified Proposition 8. States gaining same-sex marriage in 2013 include Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Utah. Utah? Yes, that very conservative Mormon-governed state tumbled onto the list in December following a judge’s ruling that overturned their ban on same-sex marriage. Within days, clerks were issuing licenses, and in one week in December 1,225 licenses were issued in the state, 74% to same-sex couples. Coming in 2014, expect action in Idaho, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Nevada. Happy New Year! Sources: SF Chronicle, Wikipedia, NY Times, Time, Salt Lake Tribune, towleroad.com, Washington Post Denver Proposes Ban on Conversion TherapySource: Alanna Vagianos, Huff Post Denver may pass the first ban on conversion therapy in the state of Colorado. Recently introduced to the City Council, and supported by the mayor, the ban, if successful would target state-licensed therapists within the city of Denver who claim that being gay, bisexual or transgender is a mental illness. Conversion therapy, which is based upon the belief that sexual orientation is a choice, has been condemned by the American Psychological Association and the American Psychoanalytic Association as useless and destructive, which can even result in suicide. According to CBS, Colorado lawmakers have previously tried to ban conversion therapy throughout the state, but the proposed legislation has failed four times.
Neighborhood Revolts after Thief Steals Rainbow FlagSource: Alex Bollinger, LGBTQ Nation One morning, Casey Handal and Zadette Rosado, a lesbian couple who live in Barrington Illinois with their daughters, noticed that the rainbow flag outside their house was missing. In its place was an American flag. Handal reasoned that this was not ordinary vandalism, but a message left by an intolerant neighbor or passer-by. She placed a post on social media asking if anybody had seen the event. Nobody had, but a neighbor ordered 50 small rainbow flags. She distributed them around the neighborhood, and people began displaying them on their houses, on their mailboxes, and even incorporating them into Christmas decorations. Handal said she was glad that something positive came out of an act of hate.
Historical markers commemorate Nashville's first gay barsSource: Jessica Bliss, the Tennessean (Nashville) Nashville's Metro Historical Commission has unveiled a plaque recognizing two long-gone bars in a seedy section of town as the city's first gay bars. During the 1960's, when a same-sex couple could be thrown in jail for holding hands in public, the two bars -- The Jungle, for men, and Juanita's, for women, served as a sanctuary where gay people could safely meet, socialize, listen to music and dance. As reporter Bliss said: "The historical marker, which was funded by the H. Franklin Brooks Fund of the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, will be only the second in the city that mentions Nashville's LGBTQ community. "The first was installed a year ago recognizing the work of gay rights and mental health advocate Penny Campbell, daughter of civil rights activist Will Campbell. She was the lead plaintiff in Campbell v. Sundquist (1996), which overturned a law criminalizing private, consensual, sexual acts between same-sex adults. 'It's history that we haven't commemorated in any way,' Tim Walker, executive director of the Metro Historical Commission, said of the LGBTQ-focused historical markers. ... This is part of the commission's work to make sure all aspects of our history are being recognized."
Queer News is collected and written by Elaine, who encourages you to send in any news items or issues you think worthy of inclusion, and welcomes your comments and criticism.