Parental role in Anti-Bullying
They Keep Coming: 82 Anti-Transgender Bills Introduced in 2021 State Legislative Sessions
Tracking Anti-Transgender Legislation The Human Rights Campaign has been tracking anti-transgender legislation across state legislatures for decades. Some of the recent transgender filed include South Carolina HB 4047 (an anti-transgender medical care ban), Texas SB 1311 (an anti-transgender medical care ban) and Michigan SB 218 (an anti-transgender sports ban). According to Alphonso David, Human Rights…
Transgender Day of Visibility March 31, 2021: Need It More Than Ever!
On his first day in office, President Joe Biden signed an executive order that stated “children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room or school sports.” This order was aimed at fighting discrimination based on gender identity and sexual identity. Erasing Trans…
BiHealth Important All Year Round!
March is Bisexual Health Awareness Month. In its eighth year, it was founded by the Bisexual Resource Center. Its purpose is to “raise awareness about bisexual and community’s social, economic, and health disparities, advocate for resources, and inspire actions to improve bi+ people’s well-being.” Why #BHAM Is Needed In a recent Gallup poll, over HALF…
“Love and Marriage, love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage,” But Shouldn’t Be Blessed If You’re Gay, according to His Holiness Pope Francis.
In the third grade, during “Show and Tell” at The North Street Elementary School, I decided to serenade, or bore the class with my rendition of Frank Sinatra’s hit “Love and marriage, love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage. This I tell ya’, brother, you can’t have one without the other…” A…
One in Six Adults in Generation Z (18 to 23) Consider Themselves LGBT
According to a recent Gallup report, an estimated 5.6% of Generation X (born 1981-1996) in the United States identify as LGBT. This report was based on more than 15,000 phone interviews conducted through 2020 and reflected a jump of nearly 25% since 2017, the last year the survey compared findings. The findings of Gallup: 6%…
Please Don’t Let The Equality Act Be Buried in the Legislative Graveyard
A bipartisan majority in the U.S. House of Representatives just voted, 224-206, to pass the Equality Act. Known as H.R.5 and sponsored by Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI.) who has introduced versions of this bill since 2015 in each Congress sessions, the Equality Act is sweeping legislation that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual…
When LGBTQ Kids Feel Rejected At Home
Rob Todaro, Press Secretary of the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ youth, The Trevor Project, reported alarming statistics from a recent Morning Consult Survey. One-third of LGBTQ young Americans felt they couldn’t be themselves at home with their parents for fear of rejection or worse being “kicked out” of the…
Planes, Trains, and Automobile Remake by Pete Buttigieg
On February 2, 2021, Pete Buttigieg was confirmed, by a vote of 86 to 13, as the Secretary of Transportation. The youngest Senate member at age thirty-nine, he has the distinction of being the first out LGBTQ official cabinet member to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate to a cabinet position. Since 2008, Buttigieg has…
Biden Signs Away Trump’s Ban on Transgender Troops
On his first day in office, forty-sixth President Joseph Biden, Jr. directed all agencies to address any policies in place that discriminated against individuals on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity (a person’s innate, deeply-felt psychological identification as a man, woman or some other gender), including housing, education, employment and health care. As…
LGBTQIA: What Does the A Stand For? No, It’s Not Ally!
The correct answer is Asexual. In our sexually-charged society and social media, it is possible to be asexual. In fact, 1% or nearly three million people refer to themselves as asexual or “aces,” according to Lisa Zhang at TED X Gunn High School Talk on YouTube (3-26-2014). What Is Asexuality? Asexuality is a term for…
State of The Union Before 2021: How’s the LGBT Community Doing?
It has been a tough year for many people: unemployment, isolation, escalation in drug abuse, a world-wide pandemic taking so many lives, schools shut. Yet despite all the social problems of this year, there have been some bright spots in this trying time. The LGBT community made some strides and should continue to do so…
National Homelessness Youth Awareness Month: November
Did you know that: LGBT Youth are 120% more likely to experience homelessness. LGBTQ youth are over represented in the foster care system. They are more likely to become homeless, according to http://pflag.com. One in three transgender Americans have been homeless at some point in their lives. According to Covenant House, LGBT youth comprise 40%…
Why We Need Transgender Awareness Week November 13-19
Yearly, you can count on the third week in November being celebrated as National Transgender Awareness Week. Between November 13-19, people and organizations in the U.S. help raise visibility about transgender people. As allies of the trans community, we need to address the issues members of that community face such as social stigma, discrimination and…
Pronouns Aren’t Just Good Grammar
If you have an LGBT child, you need to address them by the right pronouns. It not only demonstrates acceptance but acknowledges their identity. It is particularly troublesome for a transgender child or gender non-conforming child to hear the more common pronoun she/her/he/him that is applied to cis-gender kids (those who identify with the sex…
What Can You Do If Your School Isn’t An Ally To Prevent Bullying
National Bullying Prevention Month is coming to a close. Your kids have hopefully been able to attend school these last two months. While the opening of schools may be a blessing for you as a parent, it may be hellish for your LGBT child if he is being bullied. Although the school climate is better…