Today DC saw its first legal same-sex marriages performed. The first couple, Angelisa Young and Sinjoyla Townsend (right), shared their story with the Washington Post
The couple had previously been approached by the HRC, which was looking for pairs willing to be among the first 10 to go to the courthouse, and they had agreed. But when they got to the courthouse last Wednesday morning, after a giddily sleepless night, it was still dim outside and a clerk informed them that they were actually the very first couple to arrive.
They were excited, “But just like I’m excited when I’m first in line to get french fries at the cafeteria,” Townsend says. They could have been 37th in line; what mattered is that they were there.
It wasn’t until after the paperwork had been filed and they emerged from courthouse in daylight that they saw the crowds. A gantlet of reporters asking them for comment, supporters cheering encouragement, protesters waving signs. Suddenly they began to understand the difference between first and First, to realize that they would be looked at for what they represented as much as for who they were. Their two adult children support what they’re doing, but fear the repercussions of the publicity: On the phone, Young’s daughter pleaded with her, “Mommy, please be safe.”
- After Governor McDonnell moved to take away protections for gay, bisexual and transgendered employees in Virginia, Attorney General Cuccinelli is calling on public universities to end protections against discrimination against LGBT students. Cuccinelli isn’t backing down. I sure hope this isn’t what Virginians were hoping for when they cast their ballots.
- Florida officials are considering denying a tax credit for the filming of TV shows and movies if the projects include gay characters. Joe at AMERICAblog has more.
- The Washington Post feels heat for a front page photo of a gay couple kissing after getting their marriage license–and stand by their decision.
- Several members of Congress have joined to call for an end to the ban on gay men donating blood. About time. This is a policy that once made sense–when gay men were the population most heavily struck by HIV/AIDS and the science wasn’t there to test blood quickly or cheaply. Now they test all blood anyway and gay men aren’t the population most burdened by HIV/AIDS. By this outdated logic, African Americans should be banned from giving blood as they are the population most hit by HIV/AIDS.
I blog a lot about issues like Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and marriage equality and I often (but not often enough) try to bring this back to the impact on the lives of gay kids. Unfortunately, I don’t write enough about the issues directly facing young men and women who are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered. But here is the blunt, incredibly disturbing reality: Marriage and the right to serve openly in the armed services only benefit LGBT youth who survive to adulthood.
A new study from Iowa State University found that more than half of LGBT youth were victims of cyberbullying in the previous 30 days. Nearly half of the bullied LGBT kids reported being depressed because of the bullying through websites, email, chat sites, and cell phone, among other technologies.
The most upsetting finding? More than 1 in 8 LGBT teens had entertained thoughts of suicide. Lead researcher Warren Blumenfeld summed up the study:
“There’s a saying that we’ve now changed to read, ‘Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can kill.’”
Over half of the kids who had been bullied felt the schools and parents couldn’t do anything about the bullying. Half also feared telling their parents because they thought their internet use would be limited, which Blumenfeld interestingly points out as significant because LGBT kids frequently use the internet to connect to other gay youths–forming a virtual community where they might lack a real world support network.
Marriage and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell both send a strong signal to LGBT youth because they set a tone for our society and how we view LGBT people. But that only goes so far. We need to do more so that people don’t have to be in the closet to have a childhood that is free of torment and bullying. Every child faces bullying for something–whether it be their weight, intelligence, hair color, athleticism, or socioeconomic status–but we should be doing more to ensure that kids aren’t so tormented they’re driven to thoughts of suicide. When one in 8 kids from any group have suicidal thoughts, we must step up and do more.
I hope studies like these can drive more attention and national advocacy efforts to support groups like The Trevor Project. This is an organization that I personally had not heard about until I read about Daniel Radcliffe filming a public service announcement for them–and if I’ve not heard of them, it’s probably safe to imagine that closeted gay, bisexual and transgendered teens across our country have not either. We need to do more to change the tone from schools up, as well as society down.
Watch Daniel Radcliffe talk about his work with The Trevor Project below. read more…
Today is the first day that the DC will issue marriage licenses to same sex couples after the Supreme Court refused to stop the law from taking effect today. Congratulations to DC!
At least this time the victims aren’t children in crisis. Employees of Catholic Charities in DC were told yesterday that beginning today their health care coverage plan will no longer be offered to the spouses of new employees or extended to spouses of existing employees. So charitable, right?
From the Washington Post
Staff members at the charity were not given advance notice of the new policy and will not be able to add a spouse now because the most recent open enrollment period ended in November.
Those who use their health benefits to cover spouses will be grandfathered into the new policy.
Especially disgusting given that, other than issues around abortion, the Catholic Church has been an ally for expanding access to health care. I hope that Edward J. Orzechowski, the president of Catholic Charities has to look in to the eyes of sick spouses, gay or straight, of employees he just used as a tool in a larger political fight.
Here is their main phone line if you have any thoughts you’d like to share…202-772-4300.
Maryland Attorney General Gansler on Fox 5 discussing his opinion on recognizing out of state same sex marriages.
h/t Good as You
- One last ditch effort to stop DC from issuing marriage licenses to gay couples on Wednesday.
- The DC Superior Court is getting ready for massive turnout for the first day of marriage licenses for same sex couples. Couples registered as domestic partners will not have to pay the $35 application fee. Only seems fair…
- The Washington Post applauds Maryland Attorney General Gansler for his opinion on marriage equality.
- Tony Perkins is uninvited from an Air Force prayer luncheon.
Chris Geidner has a lot more detail on the opinion released yesterday by Maryland’s Attorney General on whether Maryland should recognize out of state marriages and what exactly the decision means legally. A really interesting read.
The other update is that shortly after the release, Attorney General Gansler clarified that Maryland would immediately recongnize marriages performed in other states and provide the rights that those marriages receive in those states. The Geidner piece has more on how the Defense of Marriage Act limits these recognitions, though.
If you’re in New Jersey…
I’ll be trying to post as many of these opportunities and actions as possible, so please let me know in a comment or by email if you know of a lobby day/outreach effort.
Beyond appalling.
Rep. Steve King seems to be sympathizing with the Texas IRS terrorist. I wonder if he spoke this way about Timothy McVeigh? Would he tolerate someone talking about the 9/11 terrorists and saying, “Well, no one likes US soldiers in Saudi Arabia.” Or, “You know, a lot of people think women shouldn’t have equal rights to men.”
It’s mindboggling to me that in this era of the Tea Party, people like Scott Brown and Steve King aren’t being booed off their soapboxes. If you want transparency and accountability (Sen. Brown’s words), flying a plane into a building is NOT the solution and it’s not a justifiable reaction. This is why the tea party movement scares me–none of their leaders are checking the crazy, irrational rage.
- Today’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” recap.
- Media Matters and released a comprehensive list of the myths used to support Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and a letter supported by an impressive crowd calling for balanced coverage of the DADT debate.
- Some background on the Lieberman DADT repeal effort from DC Agenda.
- The top commanding general in Iraq thinks sexual orientation doesn’t matter.
