Tag Archives: lgbt leaders

Finally Someone In Congress Willing To Do Something About ENDA; Senator Tammy Baldwin Taking More Steps

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The Employee Non Discrimination Act (ENDA) that would provide federal protections to LGBT men and women so they cannot be fired because of their sexual orientation has unfortunately been at a literal standstill for years. Too often many democrats, including President Obama have made promises to help pass the bill so that many of us would have peace of mind. Now it appears that the bill is starting again and Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), the first openly LGBT politician to be elected in the US Senate, is willing and ready to do what’s necessary to get this bill passed, including reaching over partisan lines. Here’s more:

In a Thursday interview with The Huffington Post, she said a Democratic senator approached her earlier in the day to ask her to explain ENDA in more detail and clarify some of the provisions.

“I said, ‘Absolutely, we can sit down and do that anytime,'” said Baldwin. “I’ll be having those same conversations with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle too.”

Only three Democratic senators have not signed on to cosponsor ENDA: Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Bill Nelson (Fla.) and Mark Pryor (Ark.). Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Mark Kirk (Ill.) are the only Republican senators supporting it so far.

The push in the Senate is being led by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), who is the lead sponsor of the bill. He has been meeting one-on-one with his colleagues and having floor conversations between votes in an effort to get them to join him.

So far, Republicans haven’t shown much eagerness to back ENDA. Most seem to be either unaware of the legislation or concerned it will lead to excessive litigation against businesses and hurt religious organizations.

In response, Baldwin pointed to the fact so many states and localities have already passed non-discrimination ordinances, and they haven’t led to excessive litigation.

“In fact, often it’s provided the tools to work these [cases] out without having to resort to filing lawsuits,” she said. “When people learn, for example, that there is a law at the local level, that they’ve violated it, there’s often an effort to address the situation in many different ways. So we have examples we can point to to when someone says that the sky is falling. It’s not. The sky isn’t falling.”

It’s great to see Senator Baldwin ready to sit down and find common ground with the republican party and hopefully she will be able to find GOP members that are willing to stand for equality rather than discrimination. I’ve mentioned this before so again here’s my take: It’s not just President Obama that is at fault for dropping the ball on ENDA. It’s also some of the leaders in the LGBT community as well that campaigned only for marriage equality as they saw that is the issue that would have a more favorable outcome. We have been focused on marriage equality and same sex marriage and that is all we as a collective have been focused on as if we’re unable to multitask more than one cause at a time which isn’t true.

Look at where we are now, all the momentum that HRC and GLAAD could be using to galvanize this community after Prop 8 was overturned and section three of DOMA struck down has this community energized more than the 2012 election with almost as much on the line. But instead it appears that time and donations are being spent on making rainbow stickers for Facebook statuses. This tepid, tiptoeing around the other issues we face as a community have been one of the biggest things slowing us down. We need to be making it clear that there are still two DOMA statutes in place that need to be taken down so as I wrote about yesterday, our fight is nowhere near the finish line.

When are they going to use their platform to help organize rallies to help get the word out for LGBT and their families to contact their local and state democrats to do their job and asking them to fulfill the promises made on campaign trials and town hall meetings. They aren’t even showing any signs of implementing strategies for the 37 states where same sex marriage is illegal.

What about transgender rights and GENDA (Gender Expression Non Discrimination Act) so that they have the same protections all citizens of this country should have? We know the history of both these organizations with the transgender community with little to no progress in recent months other than featuring one transgender woman in a t-shirt campaign where we don’t even know where the proceeds will go to help, if they do at all. It’s easy to point fingers when you believe you’ve done something when in all honesty, adding to the complacency that this community is rife with and makes those that are working overtime for solutions have to work that much harder.

People are excited at the possibilities they now see after the Supreme Court’s ruling. Now that people see that being fully realized citizens of this country LGBT men and women are willing and ready to speak out and promote change while looking to see what the next move should be. You have their attention HRC and GLAAD, so please use it to it’s full advantage. So we don’t have to wait for baby boomers to fade out in order for all of us to have the same rights that some of us have now.

GLAAD, What Else Are You Doing Other Than Selling T-Shirts? Same Question For You HRC

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The title is harsh but it is an honest question. Too often I feel that the LGBT community is nowhere near as united as it used to be or like it should be now. When we talk about the various issues within a community I feel that the problem starts with the most visible. The ones that are given a platform to be the voice of us and our concerns. In this case that would be both GLAAD and HRC. Still with all the issues I have with these organizations I know that they are successfully doing more than selling really cool shirts.

I’ll start off by saying that I feel these organizations are about more than selling shirts and having lavish parties with celebs. I love a great party just like the next gay. And they have done some great work with suicide prevention and made great efforts to end bullying. That work does help save lives and I am always thankful for any measure that saves live and look forward to seeing their techniques advance for the next generation of LGBT people.

But all my praise for these organizations stops there. Any other problems that affect our community are either met with endless delays, fall by the wayside or completely forgotten. Efforts only become about parties and advancing the rights of some members of this community instead of all members.  This train of thought entered my mind again tonight as I was about to do a quick summary about GLAAD teaming up with American Apparel and how this is a great step in giving this community visibility but I’m not too sure I feel that way about it now. I love the simplicity in the shirts and applaud the efforts made by American Apparel but GLAAD’s association with this leaves me with more questions than answers.

Not to be pessimistic but before reading the article my first thoughts were what exactly will GLAAD be doing with the proceeds? Are they donating it to a cause or is this purely for profit? Will they use transgendered men and women in their campaigns? Will all models be a size 28 with chiseled jaws and perfect abs? Kind of sad that those were the first questions that popped into my head when I read about GLAAD’s involvement. But it’s not like those thoughts and concerns aren’t coming from a history that has not been that favorable for them in terms of truly representing this community. Both organizations have done some questionable things in recent years.

I also began to think about how this upcoming week can be a huge week in advancing equality for our community and our society as a whole and if the Supreme Court rules in our favor we will be the closest to being truly recognized as citizens in this country in the eyes of the law.  We are on the cusp of great change within our society, regardless of what the decision the Supreme Court makes this week but somehow it does not feel like a united, uniformed effort. The time is now to work on the issues going on within this community that you and other pompous leader’s parade around saying you know diversity when you clearly don’t. The reason we are stronger as a community is because people are speaking out and standing up no matter what.

Just this year GLAAD named Brett Ratner Ally of the Year for doing a modicum of work. This is was only a year after he was in hot water for using gay slurs during a rehearsal. Think someone was probably more deserving than someone that threw some of his celebrity friends in a video to promote equality. Don’t get me wrong the efforts he made since his comments were admirable as it helped bring more recognition to this community but still not enough for an award many were more deserving of at the time.

It took GLAAD until this year to add transgendered men and women to their official mission statement. My only question is why did it take so long to do this? What possible explanation is there that provides a real authentic answer and not a bunch of red tape and colorful jargon to deter us from recognizing this exclusion.

My point is that one of the biggest problems with organizations like GLAAD and HRC is in how they choose to represent this community. There is little to no diversity in terms of race/ethnicity. Even less lesbian and bisexual representation. And virtually no representation of transgendered at all (unless they are again accused of discriminating against them by not allowing transgendered members in LGBT rallies like they were accused of during the Supreme Court DOMA/Prop 8 hearings). We are tired GLAAD (and HRC as well) of you saying that you are going to do more to show how diverse we truly are but you keep agreeing to ads like this which is the same, nearly monotone aka safe advertising and it has to stop. Is it that hard to have a team of people within your organizations that are willing to do actual research into the real issues of this community or am I and the other concerned members of this community talking to thin air?

I often think about the time of Harvey Milk and how I wish we were seeing the same passionate multifaceted approach of his generation but we are anything other than the successors of this great man. He truly stood for the differences among all of us and it often feels that these organizations don’t. Let’s not forget that in 1995 HRC were perfectly willing to exclude transgender men and women in order to have ENDA passed. So yes this community has a history of struggling to be united when fighting for equal rights. Some may argue that it is the past, but the past sets precedent and when no mass collective effort has been shown to include all members, how else are the rest of us supposed to feel?

Why is it that you and HRC are not working on a more visible campaign for ENDA (Employee Non Discrimination Act)? Why is it barely mentioned and only given a few paragraphs and the only time that you may bring it up is when there is an LGBT member. Why aren’t these organizations using their grand platform to speak to the community to reach out to Senate Democrats who keep stalling out on progressing ENDA through Congress? How much longer will we have to wait before we ensure LGBT members of this country have federal protections against discrimination instead of endless parties, fundraisers where it isn’t made clear where the money is going, and awards to undeserving people? Both groups said virtually nothing during the Immigration Reform Bill as well that excluded LGBT members from receiving the same benefits.

My words are harsh and blunt, but it’s what you need to hear. Maybe I am being so forward because I am waiting with as much anticipation about what this week could mean for us a community and it has me thinking of what else needs to be done that has not been done yet. I know both organizations have done some great work in promoting change and fighting for equality. But we need to do just as much work, if not more within the community. We need to work on these issues now and that starts with talking about them openly and honestly.

If you continually make members of this community who are not gay Caucasian males not feel welcomed or a part of this community then it’s reasonable to be at the very least frustrated with how these organizations operate. Whatever the decision is next week know that we all have so much more to do. We have to do more. So let’s start now.

Recognize Our LGBT Leaders Now, Not Just Later

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a beayt

Okay so I was originally going to wait on writing this until I felt better but my last article got my creative and expressive synapses all in a flutter. Earlier today, I was writing about Miley Cyrus and how she’s being a great advocate for supporting the LGBT community. While I was randomly deciding on whether or not I like her latest hair style, I started thinking about our community as I often do and how we recognize each other and the accomplishments towards true equality. I also reflect on how we recognize those that that actively make contributions to this ideal. They are not being honored, at least not the way they should be.

What comes to mind today is why so often in our society places  much more emphasis and attention given to the celebrities and movie stars for their support than the ones truly doing the work everyday? Those leaders that are up everyday, from dawn to dusk, out championing for us, refusing to accept anything other than equal rights. We are sadly more likely to hear and see a cooled response from allies than the greats like Dan Savage that demand we be treated fairly and equally. Why does there always have to be that “safe bridge” or the person known in the majority group be heard more often and their words are seen as more significant?

I read about the creative and innovative practices of LGBT leaders everyday. Yet on any given day stories like Miley’s two or three words of support will have more weight in our society than the people that fight and at times risk their lives to ensure that each generation has it easier than before. So that our burdens are not our future’s burden. So that they will be safe from being fired from their jobs, marry the one they love, or walk down the street not being afraid someone will attack them or worse for being gay. So they can be who they are anywhere and everywhere.

Far too often, we hear and momentarily praise the achievements of fighters like Richard Adams during special events and ceremonies when stories like this happen everyday. I want to hear more about stories like Perry Watkins braving against the government so he could serve our country as an openly gay man while they still walk among us. Entertainers like April Ashley remembered only during special ceremonies. People like Frank Kameny that dedicated his life to the cause so we would not experience the same wrongs he set out to make right. So many stories like this heard too infrequently.

When you only hear about these incredible men and women at the end it feels like it was only a footnote in history when they were so much more than that. Their journey alone was remarkable, and the path that they set out for us should never be forgotten, And it certainly shouldn’t be in a few short paragraphs summing up their accomplishments only to be remembered during anniversaries or LGBT History Month.

It aggravates and frustrates me that this happens so often and reminds me of what my great aunt told me as a child, “whenever there is a  river dividing right and wrong,  the wrong side’s shit still floats downstream”. Pardoning the language, she was right. We always see words of the people that aren’t having to fight nearly as hard sail through while many times our words and the brave actions of our leaders sink to the bottom. We still carry the words of others more than we do of our own. And as a blogger, I am sometimes guilty of this too. And I can do better. We can always do better.

I can only liken this experience to my race, something that I often do because in many ways the reactions to issues are interchangeable. You’d be surprised of the similarities between the two. So often when there is a discussion of racial strife and divide within the African American community the problem is addressed many times by African American leaders, often and repeatedly. Only much later, when the problem is addressed by someone else, usually a straight, Caucasian male, is the issue given any weight and credibility. It’s disconcerting when you witness more people give weight to a movie director’s words of Quentin Tarantino and his fictional tale is praised while African American leaders or writers like Al Sharpton or Spike Lee, who have said the same thing (but more eloquently and are more historically accurate) are rarely given the time of day.

Now don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against praising the people that are our allies. The people that get up and fight along side us for every scrap of victory that we are afforded. We still need them as we all need support each other, regardless of the community we are from. And I humbly and profusely thank them for their love and support.  But we also need to recognize those within the community that make it possible for those celebrities to know about us and our struggle. Far too often, the only time we hear about the great works of an LGBT leader is when they have met their maker, either through natural causes, or more nefarious means. It shouldn’t be that way. We shouldn’t wait to hear and appreciate the great works of those great activists until after they’re gone. The world needs to know them now.