The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), in partnership with HIT Strategies, unveiled a national survey exploring how the Black LGBTQ+ community is viewed among Black people. Among other things, nearly two-thirds of Black people believe the Black community should do more to protect Black LGBTQ+ people, especially young people; and 92% of respondents reported concern about youth suicide after being shown statistics about the heightened rate among Black LGBTQ+ youth. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), LGBTQ Task Force, National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), Family Equality and GLSEN supported the research.
Western District of Louisiana Chief Judge Terry Doughty temporarily blocked the Department of Education’s final Title IX rule, which bans discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation, according to Politico. Doughty penned that Title IX—a federal education law that bars sex-based discrimination—“was written and intended to protect biological women from discrimination.” The department said it is reviewing the ruling and that “Title IX guarantees that no person experience sex discrimination in a federally-funded educational environment.”
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco and Acting Associate Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer delivered remarks at the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) Pride 30th-anniversary celebration and awards ceremony, per a press release. In part, Monaco said, “Creating and sustaining this organization not only reflects the pride you take in being part of the LGBTQ+ community, it’s also testament to your commitment to and belief in this Department and our country. The founders of this organization grappled with a government—including this department—that historically failed to do right by LGBTQ+ Americans. But DOJ Pride did not give up. DOJ Pride and its members kept pushing, often uphill, in pursuit of what was right and fair and just.” Mizer said, in part, “Of course, even as we recognize how far the law has moved—on equality issues important to the LGBTQI+ community—and, with thanks to the tireless advocates who helped make that happen, we all know that there’s so much work left to be done … We are deeply troubled by any bias-motivated acts of violence and will never hesitate to hold perpetrators of hate crimes accountable.”
There was a recent celebration of the 32-year tenure of Sharon Kleinbaum as senior rabbi of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah (CBST)—New York’s LGBTQ+ synagogue that she led to become a major national force in Judaism, LGBTQ+rights,and human rights, Gay City News reported. The event, at Jazz at Lincoln Center, had attendees such as President Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, performing-arts stars, CBST’s Community Chorus, fellow rabbis, her adult daughters and her spouse, American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten.
Lambda Legal—the nonprofit that helped win the landmark Supreme Court case guaranteeing the right to same-sex marriage—said it is seeking at least $180 million in additional funding to fight a tidal wave of state legislation aimed at rolling back legal protections for LGBTQ+ people, per The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Last month, Lambda Legal launched the “Unstoppable Future” campaign. “We are the LGBTQ+ community’s last line of defense,” CEO Kevin Jennings said. “Unfortunately, in a lot of states we simply don’t have the votes to stop legislators from enacting hateful, anti-LGBTQ+ laws, which means that the only hope left is if Lambda Legal can strike them down in court.”
The Ann Arbor, Michigan-based LGBTQ+ outlet Out Post has ceased publication after 34 years, per Press Pass Q. Publisher Steve Culver made the announcement in its June 2024 Pride issue, which would be its last. According to Pride Source, Culver launched what would later become Out Post in January 1990, when it was initially published under the name Ten Percent while he was learning how to work a desktop. Culver told Pride Source that running his own publication came naturally to him given his journalism background, and what started as a 12-page newsletter grew into one of Michigan’s longest-running LGBTQ+ publications.
LGBTQ+-rights advocate Carlos Guillermo Smith has become the first out Latino to join the Florida state Senate, per The Advocate. The Orlando Democrat filed for an open seat last year. When Florida’s qualification deadline for state candidates passed on June 14, he remained the only candidate filed for Florida Senate District 17—meaning he will take office on Nov. 6 following this year’s general election. Smith will be only the second out state senator in Florida history; he will share the 40-member chair now with Florida Sen. Shevrin Jones, who, in 2020, became the first gay man elected to the chamber.
Openly gay U.S.Rep. Robert Garcia (D-California) sent a letter to federal officials asking them to help protect LGBTQ+ people from violence during Pride Month and beyond, according to LGBTQ Nation. In a letter sent to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FBI Director Christopher Wray, Garcia expressed “grave concern” in light of FBI and DHS warnings of “foreign terrorist organizations’’ posing a risk to queer people during June. Garcia wrote, in part, ““In fact, Pride events take place over the course of many months—stretching into October—and our law enforcement agencies must stay vigilant throughout the entire period.”
A possible chemical agent was released in front of the main stage at the Baltimore Pride Block Party, causing a stampede and ending a performance by headliner Saucy Santana, per The Baltimore Banner. Police did not release the chemical agent and are trying to determine what it was, a police spokesperson added. “The event was closed. The fire department responded and was tending to several injuries from the mass exodus,” the spokesperson added. Online posts suggested the chemical agent was Mace; these posts alleged it was sprayed after a fight broke out, prompting panic.
Also in Maryland, LGBTQ+-rights advocate Carlton R. Smith died at age 61, The Baltimore Banner noted. Smith was affectionately called “The Duchess” in a nod to royalty, because of his unofficial role of mayor of Baltimore’s Mount Vernon neighborhood. Smith was born and raised in Brooklyn and came to Baltimore to attend Morgan State University, where he received a degree in advertising in 1985. In 2002, Smith, Kevin Clemons, Dana Owens and Leroy Burgess co-founded Blaq Equity Baltimore, which produces the annual Baltimore Black LGBTQIA Pride event.
U.S. District Judge Liles Burke renewed his order for some of the nation’s top LGBTQ+-civil rights attorneys to produce a privileged document or face sanctions, according to the Alabama Political Reporter. Burke previously ordered 11 attorneys involved in a lawsuit against Alabama’s law criminalizing gender-affirming care to produce a privileged “Q&A document” prepared to help the attorneys defending themselves in an allegation of improper judge-shopping. Burke said that the court can review the document in camera, meaning that it would not be admitted as evidence unless the court finds that the crime fraud exception does apply; iff it doesn’t apply, Burke said he will disregard it. The attorneys contend that since Burke is the ultimate fact-finder in the case, it would be impossible to “put the toothpaste back in the bottle” if he views the document in camera, no matter what course of action he takes. The 11th Circuit Court found that the 11 attorneys improperly judge-shopped, although the lawyers have denied acting outside the scope of the law.
In Illinois, the city of Peoria and Peoria County proclaimed June as Pride Month, per The Illinois Eagle. The Peoria City Council issued its proclamation at the June 11 meeting; reps from Peoria Proud and Central Illinois Friends were present and received the proclamation from Peoria Mayor Rita Ali. The Peoria County Board issued the proclamation at its June 13 meeting as out board member Rob Reneau read the document.
Also in Peoria, Planned Parenthood of Illinois (PPIL) reopened the newly renovated Peoria Health Center, 2709 N. Knoxville Ave, more than a year after it was severely damaged after a firebomb attack in early 2023, per a press release. The Peoria Health Center suffered extensive damages costing more than $1 million to rebuild. “We are back and stronger than ever,” said PPIL President and CEO Jennifer Welch. “We know the vital role the Peoria Health Center plays in the central Illinois community.” The Peoria Health Center attack is part of an ongoing trend of violence and arson against abortion providers since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade; according to the National Abortion Federation, arson attacks have increased by 100%.
Tech pioneer and LGBTQ+-rights advocate Bruce W. Bastian has died at age 76 in California after battling complications related to pulmonary fibrosis, ABC4 reported. Known in the tech world as a co-founder of the word processor WordPerfect, Bastian was also known as a major philanthropist for human rights and arts organizations around Utah. In 1997, he set up the B.W. Bastian Foundation, which served as his main philanthropic arm. He joined the board of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC); as part of HRC, supported local efforts such as Equality Utah and the Utah Pride Center. Bastian leaves behind four sons, 14 grandchildren, two sisters, one brother and husband Clint Ford.
In Florida, a school employee who might be fired because she allowed her transgender daughter to play girls high school volleyball criticized those who outed her child, saying that the ensuing investigation destroyed the girl’s life, per The Independent. Jessica Norton said her daughter was doing well at Monarch High School in Fort Lauderdale before someone anonymously notified a Broward County school board member in November that the 16-year-old was playing on the girls’ varsity volleyball team, in an apparent violation of The 2021 Fairness in Women’s Sports Act. “They destroyed her high school career and her lifelong memories,” Norton said. “I saw the light in my daughter’s eyes gleam with future plans. … And 203 days ago, I watched as that life was extinguished.”
The Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health are partnering to advance health equity for the LGBTQ+ community, per a press release. Studies have shown that LGBTQ+ people suffer worse health than their peers, with more incidents of both mental health ailments, such as depression, and physical illnesses, including cancer and cardiovascular diseases. The LGBTQ Health Center of Excellence launched June 4, during Harvard Chan’s Pride Month celebration.
In a statement, NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists agreed with the Baltimore Sun Guild in its call to co-owner Armstrong Williams “to return to the ethical standards and practices employed by the paper prior to its recent acquisition.” NLGJA stated that, in a recent op-ed, “Williams used discriminatory and outdated language in reference to transgender people. While NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists typically refrains from commenting on opinion pieces, Williams is not just a contributor. He is a co-owner and leader of the paper, and his language sets an understanding that trans voices are unwelcome in the Sun.” In his piece, Williams mentioned the “transgenderism movement” and used the phrases “biological males” and “biological females” to refer to trans women and men, respectively.
Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has pardoned more than 175,000 marijuana convictions that will also include people who have passed away, CNN noted. “I’m ecstatic that we have a real opportunity with what I’m signing to right a lot of historical wrongs,” Moore said in an interview with The Washington Post, which first reported the news. “If you want to be able to create inclusive economic growth, it means you have to start removing these barriers that continue to disproportionately sit on communities of color.” Moore’s clemency action comes more than two years after Maryland voters approved a constitutional amendment legalizing recreational marijuana for people 21 and older.
Louisiana has become the first state to order every public-school classroom to display a poster of the Ten Commandments, the BBC noted. The Republican-backed measure that Gov. Jeff Landry signed into law describes the commandments as “the foundational documents of our state and national government.” Civil-rights groups are expected to challenge the law. Similar laws have recently been proposed by other Republican-led states, including Texas, Oklahoma and Utah.
A judge set a $30,000 bond for Houston park ranger Joey Lamar Ellis, who is accused of targeting gay men in order to rob them, according to ABC13. The alleged victim, Joshua Beede, told ABC13 he was asleep in his car in Cullen Park when Ellis knocked on his window wearing a park ranger uniform; Beede said Ellis threatened to arrest him if he didn’t give up his cash or take off his clothes, making it known he had a gun in his pocket. Ellis also allegedly demanded Beede use a dating app to lure other men to the park so they, too, could presumably be robbed.
The post NATIONAL Black survey, Title IX, DOJ, lesbian rabbi, Lambda Legal appeared first on Windy City Times.