By Kyle Rohen on Aug 12, 2014 04:54 pm
Good afternoon, and welcome to This Week in LGBT! We'll dive right in to the news after our standard disclaimer. As stated before, this article is written by Kyle Rohen, VP of NOVA Pride. It's written as a hybrid fact/commentary blog and may include snark, shade, and personal opinions of the author and is not intended to be representative of anyone's opinion other than the author. Feel free to sound off on the NOVA Pride Facebook page, tweeting NOVA Pride, using hashtag #TWILKyle, or by emailing me at kyle@novapride.org.
NOVA Pride is proud to announce they are teaming up with IOTA Club & Café in Clarendon for a weekly LGBTuesdays Happy Hour – every Tuesday, beginning August 5th at 2832 Wilson Blvd! Patrons 21 and over, regardless of how or whom they love, are encouraged to come together for a night of unity. Our first night was this past Tuesday, and it was a BLAST! We hope to see all of you there this next Tuesday!
Our first annual Northern Virginia Pride Festival will be held Sunday, October 5th! Interested in volunteering? Go here! Interesting in vending? Go here! Performing - here! Sponsoring? Go here! See you at NOVA Pride Fest!
NOVA Pride is proud to team up with NOVASalud, Inc. as a Diamond Sponsor to present the Open That Closet Door Fashion Show, on August 16th, 2014, at The Mansion on O Street, 2020 O Street NW, Washington, D.C., from 7-10pm.
The event will celebrate the beauty of persons living with, and affected by HIV. Thirteen HIV-positive models with be outfitted in the style and fashions of Juan Jose Saenz-Ferreyros, Peruvian fashion designer and owner of Ferreyros Couture Company. The evening will include self-guided tours through the eccentric and beautiful mansion, offering over one hundred secret doors for guests to find. A ticket raffle with over $13,000 in donated prizes will conclude the event. Tickets are $40 at the door, or through http://www.openthatclosetdoor.eventbrite.com/. Discounted rates are available for students and military, as well.
I think we've all been in a position where we've lost someone we know, whether it be a family friend, a relative, a partner, or a child. We all can agree that, even if we're not especially close to the deceased, it's often an incredibly difficult and taxing ordeal for those who were closest to the deceased, from the loss of a companion, child, loved one, through suddenly having to deal with funeral homes and burials and services, not even touching on the issues of how to continue on when there's a void of a person who used to be responsible for things in our lives. Usually, these events are made more manageable by the knowledgeable staff of the funeral parlor, who can take on the more mundane parts and offer suggestions to grieving family members, provide contacts to local houses of worship for services if desired, and be there to comfort those who need comforting. But what happens when one of the chains of this difficult time breaks? A Florida family is finding that out firsthand right now, as New Hope Missionary Baptist Church recently cancelled the funeral of Julion Evans-Capers because pastor T.W. Jenkins discovered that Mr. Evans-Capers was married to a man. Pastor Jenkins called Mr. Evans-Capers' mother, Julie Atwood, twenty-four hours prior to the funeral to inform her that he had read her son's obituary and refused service in his church for her son's homosexuality. After a public outcry, including thousands of angry citizens negatively reviewing the Church's Facebook page, the Church is no longer responding to press inquiries. However, a reporter in Tampa did manage to get inside of the church, and reported back Pastor Jenkins' thoughts on the matter. According to David Badash of The New Civil Rights Movement: "But once inside, Tampa's WTSP recorded the pastor talking about the nation's anger. 'Our trials come to make us strong,' Jenkins told his flock. 'My family is doing fine,' Jenkins can be heard telling his parishoners. And he asked his 'church family' to 'please remain focused and prayerful ... and we will continue to stand on the word of God.' The church members applauded." I cannot imagine the grief I would be experiencing if my husband died, let alone having to deal with the unpleasantness of having to then lay him to rest. To add to it an unrepentant priest who cannot deal in the same kind of love, respect, and tolerance he preaches about every Sunday simply because Seth is married to a man? Yet we're the ones who are intolerant. Got it. Kthanx.
Pic from nydailynews.com - New Hope Missionary Baptist Church
Once upon a time, there was a man named Lennox Lewis who was a boxer. He was so good at his profession that he became World Champion. This is not about him, but it is about the man who stood behind him, Frank Maloney, who was his promoter and manager. Frank, who was once one of the widest known boxing managers, retired last year following a thirty plus hear career in one of sports' toughest, most macho worlds. So what has Frank been up to lately? Coming out as a woman. Now going by Kellie Maloney, Ms. Maloney has finally revealed what had been her hardest kept secret - that she has always known she was meant to be a woman. Kellie started transitioning shortly after retiring and has been living as a woman for some time now. The courage Kellie has shown has been incredible, and so has the overwhelmingly positive support from the world of competitive boxing for her transition. Congrats, Kellie, on your new beginning!
Pic from telegraph.co.uk - Kellie Maloney
With the subject of weddings on everybody's tongue here in Virginia (as in assuming there is no stay, gay marriages begin this coming Monday), I'm sure there are many of us who are planning our weddings to our partners in the possibly brief window where we might be able to get married. With weddings come a lot of planning - flowers, dinners, outfits - and it's stressful (trust me, Seth and I did our wedding on a dime and planned almost the the whole thing ourselves - it was beautiful, and we're super grateful for his sister, Tina, and her ultra accommodating family who hosted our reception). It's even more stressful when roadblocks are thrown in our way in the name of Jesus, especially when it doesn't come from, you know, a church. A lesbian couple in Pennsylvania (the latest state to have full, uncontested equality, despite the "best efforts" of Teresa Santai-Gaffney [aka the Worst Person in the World from a TWIL a few weeks back]) planning their wedding attempted to book a fitting at the local bridal shop, but were firmly denied by the staff. W. W. Bridal Boutique stands firm on their belief that same-sex marriage flies in the face of God's law, and refuses to offer non-religious services on the basis of the owner's religious beliefs. I've discussed so-called religious liberty before (notably here). I've got a feeling that anti-equality bigots and libertarians (which there is certainly some overlap) will lose their minds over this, siding with the owners of W. W. Bridal Boutique and their ~freedom~ to deny service. And while, yes, as I've said before, religious liberty is absolutely important - churches should never have to marry a same-sex couple, and people should always be able to decide with whom they personally engage with - when it comes to this sort of public sphere offering, there should never be a question of whether or not services outside of direct religious offerings should be available for anyone with a justifiable need. Whenever a new anti-discrimination piece of legislation gets proposed, or voted on, or enacted, the crazy ones will point to this as if forcing a business to sell to people they personally disagree with will damn their souls to hell forever. If that's the case, I'm sorry - but there is another option, and it usually involves not owning a business. Business ownership is not compulsory, and when you become a publicly available storefront/company, you have to follow a certain set of laws. Unfortunately, for the majority of the states in the United States, there are no protections from discrimination for LGBT's in public accommodations. We've seen some backlash against explicit discrimination being written into law (see Arizona and Mississippi), but until we stand up and demand actual protection, we will continue to be discriminated against - and it won't always be dresses and cakes and photography, it'll be necessities and utilities and life-saving treatments.
That's it for This Week in LGBT, See You Next Tuesday!
Read in browser »
 
By Kyle Rohen on Aug 07, 2014 04:04 pm
Good afternoon, and welcome to This Week in LGBT! We'll dive right in to the news after our standard disclaimer. As stated before, this article is written by Kyle Rohen, VP of NOVA Pride. It's written as a hybrid fact/commentary blog and may include snark, shade, and personal opinions of the author and is not intended to be representative of anyone's opinion other than the author. Feel free to sound off on the NOVA Pride Facebook page, tweeting NOVA Pride, using hashtag #TWILKyle, or by emailing me at kyle@novapride.org.
NOVA Pride (http://www.novapride.org), the premiere nonprofit organization dedicated to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ) community of Northern Virginia, is proud to announce they are teaming up with IOTA Club & Café (http://www.iotaclubandcafe.com), at 2832 Wilson Blvd., in Clarendon for a weekly LGBTQ & Friends Night – every Tuesday, beginning August 5th! Patrons 21 and over, regardless of how or whom they love, are encouraged to come together for a night of unity. Our first night was this past Tuesday, and it was a BLAST! We hope to see all of you there this next Tuesday!
Our first annual Northern Virginia Pride Festival will be held Sunday, October 5th! Interested in volunteering? Go here! Interesting in vending? Go here! Performing - here! Sponsoring? Go here! See you at NOVA Pride Fest!
While I know you all LOVE my weekly blog and the updates about important (and sometimes undercovered) LGBT-related information, maybe you're thinking you'd enjoy a quick way to check out a This Day in LGBT History. Well, if you're an Apple user, there is indeed a way! Quist is an awesome app which just celebrated its first anniversary on the App Store. It offers important historical notes of interest in LGBT history both uplifting and otherwise. For example, today's stories cover a police raid in 1994 of a gay bar in Australia, a transwoman's death in DC in 1995 due to withheld medical care, and others (so today's stories are not uplifting, but I've seen them since I've been toying with the app). There is no Android version as of yet, but maybe an enterprising TWIL fan can contact the creator of Quist to help code one? Download from the Apple App Store and learn more about LGBT history daily!
Quist's logo
Ruth Bader Ginsburg made headlines recently when discussing Supreme Court with the Associated Press, stating that the SC won't "duck" gay marriage when another case comes before it. She anticipates a hearing and decision by June 2016, but possibly earlier. For more on the Notorious R.B.G.'s interview with AP, including some thoughts on the Hobby Lobby decision (which I covered here), visit this HuffPo article.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, AKA Notorious RBG
Uganda, which has been having something of an absolute crisis concerning LGBT livelihood in the last forever years, recently had a bill pass through parliament which effectively outlawed homosexuality with severe penalties, including life imprisonment for committing homosexual acts (which is sadly better than early drafts of the bill, which proposed execution for LGBT's and was heavily influenced by United States nut job Scott Lively [evangelist, Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate for a third party, person being sued for inciting violence against LGBT's in federal court, comparer of LGBT's to Nazis including saying LGBT's started Nazism]). Thankfully, the bill was taken up by their constitutional court (sort of a Ugandan version of the Supreme Court) and was tossed out, presumably for just being ridiculous. LGBT supporters in the courtroom cheered when the verdict was read, and were met with protests and death threats upon exiting the courthouse. Unsurprisingly, the Ugandan is quickly reworking the bill to once again make being LGBT punishable. Things all over the world are absolutely awful for LGBT's. While we're over here fighting for marriage and a version of ENDA without religious exemptions, there are countries where LGBT's still face execution and jail time for simply existing. We'll be keeping tabs on the situation in Uganda over the next forever months, because it's sure to be a roller coaster. We'll also be keeping tabs on Scott Lively (I-nsane, Mass gubernatorial candidate) as well.
Ugandan LGBT's protest the "Kill the Gays" bill
That's it for This Week in LGBT, See You Next Tuesday!
Read in browser »
Recent Articles:
|
