The National LGBTQ Task Force has opened registration for the Creating Change Conference, the largest LGBTQ+ activist conference in the country, per a press release. The conference will be held in person in host city New Orleans on Jan. 12-16, 2022. Registration information can be found at www.pheedloop.com/register/cc22/attendee and includes early access to the first list of public workshops. A special registration rate is available in limited supply until Monday, Nov. 15.
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to a California court decision in favor of a patient who was turned away from a hospital for being transgender, an ACLU press release noted. In 2019, the California Court of Appeal held that Evan Minton could pursue a claim for discrimination based on the hospital's cancellation of his surgery. The court also said that Dignity Health does not have a constitutional right to violate California's nondiscrimination law. Minton was originally scheduled to undergo a medical procedure in 2016 at Mercy San Juan Medical Center, a Sacramento hospital in the Dignity Health chain.
Hundreds have signed a Change.org petition in support of LGBTQ artist Kalliope Amorphous, the founder of Black Baccara, an artisan perfume company based out of New York, the website stated. Kalliope started the petition in hopes of calling attention to French luxury brand Baccarat's "bullying of small businesses and artists." The trademark bullying of an individual artist by a corporation has resulted in public backlash against Baccarat on social media, with thousands calling for a boycott of the luxury brand on Instagram and Tiktok, according to Amorphous. (WCT reached out to Baccarat, but had not heard back.)
Mark Charles Glaze, a longtime D.C. resident who was gay, died Oct. 31 in Scranton, Pennsylvania by suicide while being held on DUI and other charges at the Lackawanna County Prison, The Washington Blade reported. Glaze, 51, was involved in a car accident on I-81 in Dunmore, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 9 and fled the scene, according to police. He worked as a principal at the D.C.-based political affairs firm the Raben Group and had a variety of issues in his portfolio, including campaign finance reform, government ethics and LGBTQ issues; Glaze was also director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the largest gun-violence prevention group in the country. In 2010, the Human Rights Campaign hired Glaze to push for Senate legislation to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
San Diego became the fifth city in the nation to ban the future use of "he" and "she" in city laws and policies, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported. Oakland and Berkeley (both in California); Boston; and Portland, Oregon, have already adopted similar "inclusive language" policies regarding gender and sexual orientation. Moreover, 11 states have approved "third gender" identification cards for people who don't identify as either male or female.
In Utah, the incoming Salt Lake City Council is historic, in several ways, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. For the first time, a majority (four of the seven members) happen to be openly LGBTQ. In addition, most of the members (also four) are racial and ethnic minorities. "It is different to have a government that makes decisions to value diversity and to have a government that is diverse itself," said council member Darin Mano, an openly gay Japanese man. "I'm excited that we are now both." Also claiming victory Nov. 2 were Alejandro Puy, who is Latino and gay; Amy Fowler and Chris Wharton, who are both LGBTQ, were re-elected.
A former naval training student at Fordham University in New York filed a federal lawsuit accusing the institution of covering up an alleged rape in 2011, according to an Inside Higher Ed item that cited The New York Post. Frank Austin alleges that his "closeted homosexual" roommate anally raped him when he participated in a Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps program in February 2011. The lawsuit says the roommate's father was a "highly influential attorney in the U.S. Military" and a Fordham alumnus. The lawsuit claims that faculty members and administrators "mocked and scorned" Austin when he reported the alleged assault, called him "a liar," and did not properly investigate.
Los Angeles-based real-estate development company KOAR International LLC, announced it has broken ground on Living Out Palm Springs, a press release noted. Living Out Palm Springs will be an active adult retirement community designed to meet the unique needs of the LGBTQ+ community and provide a safe and welcoming home for its residents. Living Out Palm Springs will be the inaugural property for KOAR International LLC, with plans to develop similar LGBTQ+-focused developments across the United States.
George Gorham, a former employee of Villanova, Pennsylvania-based Devereux Foundation, has filed suit against the behavioral-health agency for alleged wrongful termination due to his sexual orientation, Philadelphia Gay News reported. Gorham—a Delaware resident who worked at a Devereux service center in West Chester, Pennsylvania—alleges that Devereux violated state and federal anti-bias laws when firing him. Gorham is seeking more than $150,000 in damages (plus attorneys' fees and costs) from Devereux for economic losses, along with emotional distress and mental anguish.
The Wall Las Memorias (TWLM) will commemorate World AIDS Day on Wed., Dec. 1, with the unveiling and rededication ceremony of The Wall Las Memorias AIDS Monument and the 28th Annual Noche de Las Memorias in Los Angeles' Lincoln Park, a press release noted. As part of the commemoration, TWLM will also host an event "Honoring the Caregivers" on Sunday, Nov. 28, and a special celebration of Las Posadas in the Park on Saturday, Dec. 4. The Dec. 1 event will be livestreamed to a global audience by +Life, a digital lifestyle platform focused on eliminating the stigma of living with HIV, simultaneously on both its social-media channels and those of The Wall Las Memorias.
The Queens Museum unveiled a mural that shines a light on Black trans femme activists and artists leading social-justice movements in New York City, Gay City News reported. The mural, dubbed "Black, Trans, & Alive (Qweens Song)," stretches across the side of the museum. The artwork, unveiled Oct. 1, depicts some of the stars in the city's activist scene, including GLITS founder Ceyenne Doroshow; the founders of the Stonewall Protests, Qween Jean and Joela Rivera; and Aaron Philip, a transgender model and grand marshal of the 2021 Pride March.
Founded in the late 1800s, Pullen Memorial Baptist is one of the first churches in Raleigh, North Carolina to embrace LGBT rights, ABC7Chicago.com recently reported for LGBTQ History Month. In the 1950s, Pastor William Wallace Finlator stood up for civil, women's and gay rights. In 2002, after a decade of serving in ministerial and associate leadership roles, Nancy Petty became the first woman and lesbian pastor to lead this 500-member, historic church. (Reference material was coordinated in conjunction with local LGBTQ+ archives and the ONE Archives Foundation.)
NYC Pride announced the appointment of Sandra Perez as the organization's executive director, per a press release. Perez has served as an advocate for Latinx/e arts and culture, and has served multiple development roles for the Ms. Foundation for Women and as a consultant to the public and the private sectors. Perez has also been a program auditor and grant panelist for a variety of entities in the arts and social justice sectors, such as the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Council on the Humanities.
My Health Agenda is a new online digital series from the nationally syndicated network Latino Alternative TV (LATV), a press release noted. The episodes are at latv.com/series/myhealthagenda, and each episode introduces the audience to a special guest that shares their personal, insightful and informative journey to help share a common message of encouragement, hope, and love. The fifth episode will air Wed., Nov. 10.
GLAAD and Gilead Sciences' HIV Age Positively® program announced the launch of a weekly Instagram video series with Native Son featuring people 50 and older who are living with HIV, a press release noted. The video series launches as HIV Age Positively enters its next round of funding, with 24 organizations across 11 states throughout the United States receiving $16.6 million to support people living with HIV who are older than 50. For more information on the Gilead HIV Age Positively program and its grantees, visit www.gilead.com/purpose/partnerships-and-community/hiv-age-positively.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) and U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kansas), both out lesbians, joined about 100 LGBTQ activists and supporters at the Library of Congress' main auditorium for the premiere showing in the nation's capital of the film Lesbian Bar Project, The Washington Blade noted. The film is named after a project founded last year by New York-based lesbian filmmakers Erica Rose and Elina Street, the film's directors. They told the Washington Blade earlier this year that they started the Lesbian Bar Project to help the nation's 21 remaining lesbian bars that were struggling to survive during the COVID pandemic.
Mississippi is simplifying the process for people to change their gender designation on driver's licenses or identification cards the Mississippi Department of Public Safety (DPS) issues, The Oxford Eagle reported. According to a Mississippi newspaper, the DPS created a form in October that people can fill out to change their gender marker on the licenses or ID cards from male to female or female to male; the form does not have a non-binary option. However, it has been rumored that the DPS has backtracked on this new development. An attorney representing trans woman Alexandra Dogwood filed a complaint against the DPS on Oct. 21 in Hinds County Chancery Court. The attorney argued that because amending a birth certificate can often take up to six months, it was impossible for Dogwood and others in her position to comply with a law requiring them to get a Mississippi driver's license within 60 days of moving to the state.
In Iowa, the Waukee School District pulled books off its library shelves after a parents complained that said books had exposed their students to inappropriate content, The Des Moines Register reported. In a Waukee School Board meeting, parent Amber McClanahan read passages from several books she said were available in the Northwest High School library; she stated the excerpts—selected from All Boys Aren't Blue, Lawn Boy and Gender Queer—contained graphic written and visual depictions of sexual acts between boys and, in one case, relatives. The district said the books are under review and are currently unavailable in school libraries.
Along similar lines, less than one month before opening night on their new auditorium stage, Hillsboro High School students learned they will not be performing their fall play, WCPO.com noted. She Kills Monsters was canceled after students said there were complaints about a gay character. "They want to say the town is just not ready, but how are you not ready? It's 2021," said Ryan Cronan, a parent of a bisexual student who was to be in the production. Families said they believe the decision was influenced by a pastor who has been in support of canceling the play.
TD Bank recently awarded $150,000 to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset's Babs Siperstein PROUD Center to improve access to medical care for members of the LGBTQ community, Out in Jersey noted. The Center currently has a focus on HIV prevention and mental health. The grant will also help provide funding to ensure more equitable access for transgender individuals of color who face significant barriers to medical care.
In Washington state, Gonzaga University held its annual Lavender Mass on Oct. 7, according to the school's website. Lavender Mass (formerly known as Mass of Compassion) has been held each fall for over a decade, providing an opportunity for collaborations between the Lincoln LGBTQ+ Resource Center, Mission and Ministry, and various Jesuits on campus. The event is scheduled each year near or on National Coming Out Day (Oct. 11).
In Pennsylvania, Democratic trans candidate Tyler Titus conceded the race for Erie County executive to Republican Brenton Davis, The Washington Blade reported. Titus, a school board president, was behind by more than 4,000 votes shortly before midnight on Nov. 2 in their bid to become the nation's first openly transgender and non-binary person to win election as a county executive.
Rhyheim Shabazz, a gay adult content creator that shot to fame after launching his career in early 2019, has been suspended from Twitter, out.com noted. Shabazz, who recently became the most-followed male adult performer in history after eclipsing the 1 million mark, is reportedly one of more than 30 accounts removed. The reason given to all account users (including those of some of Shabazz's collaborators) was "violating our rules against ban evasion." Shabazz said none had evaded suspension by creating new accounts.
Jim Bob Duggar, of the TV show 19 and Counting, is re-entering the political arena, announcing via social media his plans to run for the Arkansas state Senate, Page Six noted. "Out-of-control bureaucrats have put politics over common-sense policy with government mandates that force people to choose between earning a paycheck and violating their personal rights and beliefs," Duggar announced, according to USA Today. Jim Bob's announcement came six months after son Josh Duggar was indicted for receiving and possessing child pornography; that trial is slated to start Nov. 30.
A Southwest Airlines flight turned political when one of its pilots finished an announcement to passengers with "Let's Go, Brandon," a chant used to insult President Joe Biden, Yahoo! News noted. The phrase "Let's Go, Brandon" has been a rallying cry of the right to secretly bash the president. Its origins can be traced to a NASCAR event during which NBC Sports reporter Kelli Stavast mistakenly identified chants from a crowd to be saying "Let's Go, Brandon," when they were actually saying "F**k Joe Biden." Southwest issued a formal apology, and opened an internal investigation.
