Results matching “matthew shepard”
Regular readers will have noticed that in recent months, Feministing has brought in a number of new contributors: Ariel, Jos, Lori, Rose and myself. No doubt you're getting to know them by reading their posts and engaging with their ideas in the comments section, but I also suspect that you might want to know a little more about these wonderful women (I know I do!). Over the next few weeks, I'll be interviewing my fellow new contributors so that you and I can get to know them a little better. This week I interviewed Jos Truitt.
Jos joined Feministing as a contributor this July, and in the past few months has been blogging up a storm (those of you who love Mad Men Mondays, you can thank Jos for that!). Jos grew up in Boston and graduated from Hampshire College, where she studied philosophy of race, feminist organizing and sequential art, which, she informed me, is the academic term for comics.
Jos now lives in DC, where she is pursuing her passion for reproductive justice. She recently started working part-time at the National Abortion Federation hotline and she serves as a clinic escort with the Washington Area Clinic Defense Task Force. She has also worked and blogged for Choice USA. In her spare time, she likes to bake and spend time in the printmaking studio, and when I asked her which feminist she'd take with her to a desert island, she gave by far the sweetest answer I've heard yet.
And now, without further ado, The Feministing Five, with Jos Truitt.
President Obama signed into law the Matthew Shepard Act, which adds sexual orientation and gender identity to existing hate crimes laws.
A trans woman in Australia successfully fought for an apology and a change in policy from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade after she suffered embarrassment and harassment while traveling abroad with a passport that still identified her as male.
It's Friday folks! Add your links in comments and enjoy the Halloween weekend.
The Matthew Shepard-James Byrd Hate Crimes Bill passed the Senate. (For a dissenting view on hate crimes laws, read Jos's take.)
Are big movies with strong female leads damned if they do, damned if they don't? More from Women & Hollywood.
How the Superfreakonomics writers get it wrong on sex work.
On Law & Order's anti-choice propaganda.
A Utah OB puts its anti-woman policies on a sign for all to see.
The gender gap in the results of a survey of DC teens about sex.
Challenging assumptions about working mothers.
The nation's only African-American lacrosse team.
Ramapriya Gopalakrishnan on her life as a single, urban, and happy Indian woman.
The Navy announced it would start stationing women on submarines. Cue sexist outcry!
A new report reveals the level of discrimination and inequality faced by trans people in Britain.
I don't have an issue with Obama having a regular all-male basketball game. But I am tired of male politicians citing the "strong women in their lives" as proof somehow that they have no gender biases.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development has taken a stand against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Does Islam need a sexual revolution?
Writes Tami, "I've come to expect black women, especially plus-sized ones, to be the butt of the joke in low-brow comedy films--the sort of flicks commonly associated with Eddie Murphy, Rob Scheider or Tyler Perry." But now Amy Poehler, too? Ugh.
What have you all been reading/writing this week?
The topic of hate crimes has been in the news a lot lately with the movement of the Matthew Shepard Act through Congress and the trial and conviction of Lateisha Green's killer. Many may take it as a given that all members of the queer and trans communities support hate crime legislation and convictions. This is not the case, though. Myself and many other queer and trans organizers and activists oppose this approach to violence against our communities.
It is important to recognize violence motivated by bigotry, and difficult to see alternatives to hate crime convictions as a means to this end. A sense of justice for the family and friends of people who have been killed because of their sexuality or gender identity is also valuable. But the ultimate goal should be to end such violence. Harsher sentencing does not decrease the amount of hate crimes being committed. A focus on sentence enhancement for these crimes does nothing for prevention. Putting our energy toward promoting harsher sentencing takes it away from the more difficult and more important work of changing our culture so that no one wants to kill another person because of their perceived membership in a marginalized identity group.
Hate crimes legislation puts the power to bring and pursue such charges in the hands of a law enforcement and criminal justice system that disproportionately targets marginalized communities. As a result, hate crime charges are brought against black folks for allegedly targeting white folks and against queer folks for allegedly targeting straight folks. In fact, as the Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SRLP) points out in their non-endorsement of GENDA, so called anti-white hate crimes constitute the second highest amount reported by the FBI. Self defense in the face of a racist, homophobic or transphobic attack can equal a harsher sentence for the person being attacked in the first place.
Incarceration is supposed to deter crime, and harsher sentencing for hate crimes is supposed to deter crime even more. However, this is not the reality. In fact, longer time spent in prison actually increases recidivism. Our current system of imprisonment is producing more violence, not less. Hate crime verdicts will only add to this sad reality.
Via Pam's House Blend, we find efforts were being made to kill hate crimes legislation which would protect the LGBT community - not by objecting a proposed bill, but rather by adding a "poison pill" amendment which would revise it to the point of unsupportable. And they just passed last night.
Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) added amendments to the Matthew Shepard Act which will in effect kill the legislation; for example, one amendment will apply the death penalty in some hate crimes cases. His two other amendments are also seen as burdensome to the bill and a blatant Republican attempt to put the legislation to sleep.
This is especially bad considering the bill is already in danger being attached to the Defense Appropriations Bill. (Which may be vetoed by the president because of controversial funding requests for F-22 fighter planes.)
For those who don't know, Jeff Sessions was the asshole who grilled Sotomayor last week, accusing her of being a racist (while he was rejected to serve as a federal judge in '84 for making racist remarks). And he now serves as a force in the Senate Judiciary Committee, which he himself has called "a great irony." At least that's one thing we can agree on.
Update: Just found out that the Senate voted to stop the production of F-22 planes, which takes away the threat of the president's veto.
RNC puts out an Obama card "game" on their website that is racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic and the list goes on.
Via Feministe, "Lateisha Green's Killer Dwight DeLee Convicted of Manslaughter as a Hate Crime." Thank. Fucking. Goddess. But Cara breaks down the transphobia endemic in the trial.
Dana takes on the supposed decrease in importance on marriage and procreation among young people.
Learn something new at Queers United with their "Gay of the Day," feature. Word of today, "Homo hop." Love. It. Glad someone is talking about it.
Hate Crimes Bill (aka Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act) passes the Senate. This is exciting news.
New America Media is hosting community meetings in 5 different cities this week about the issues facing immigrant women kicked off by the report they released about what immigrant women face.
Congrats to Ann and Kai Wright for receiving the Maggie Award from Planned Parenthood for Kai's awesome piece on HIV Apartheid in the US.
Have a great weekend folks!
Miriam touched on this briefly yesterday when the Matthew Shepard Act passed the House, but this really takes the cake. Anyone that is opposed to hate crime legislation must have a tremendous super power to ignore all the violence that has been inflicted upon marginalized populations all through out history, a violence that continues. And anyone with this power must be deeply evil.
Take for example Virginia Foxx, a North Carolina Congresswoman who dared to suggest that the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard was a hoax.
Transcript:
Rep. Foxx: "The bill was named after a very unfortunate incident that happened, where a young man was killed, but we know that that young man was killed in the commitment of robbery. It wasn't because he was gay. The bill was named for him, the hate crimes bill was named for him, but it's, it's really a hoax, that that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills."[House Floor Speech, 4/29/09]
Always take fundies at their word, even when they try and backpedal.
Via Pam's House Blend.
You can follow the debates via twitter, or see them live at C-SPAN here.
The hate crimes legislation is the Matthew Shepherd Act, description here.
There are some really hateful things being said by the legislators, including the suggestion that Matthew Shepherd's death was not actually a hate crime motivated by his being gay. Absurd.
UPDATE: The bill passed the House (news via Twitter). Vote count: 249-175. News story via AP here.
Yay!
SIECUS and other organizations are calling for action against the suspension and following resignation of a high school teacher in Grandfield, OK who taught her students about the Laramie Project. Via USA Today:
The episode began in January, when Debra Taylor showed students at Grandfield High School The Laramie Project, a 2002 film based on the play of the same name, about the murder of Matthew Shepard. The students soon decided to film selected scenes themselves for an in-class project.Taylor, 50, knew the project was controversial with strong language, but got her principal's permission. A few weeks into it, the principal told her to stop production. After students protested, she held a 20-minute ceremony in a nearby park in which students wrote their thoughts and rolled them into helium balloons, then released them.
The next day, Taylor says, Superintendent Ed Turlington canceled the class. After she complained to a school board member, Turlington put her on paid leave and recommended that she be fired. The school board approved her resignation Friday.
This is outrageous. What's funny is that the district is saying that Taylor wasn't forced to resign because of the play. Attorney John Moyer (representing the district) says, "If someone is saying that adverse employment action is being taken against Ms. Taylor because of homosexuality, they're wrong." So why don't you shed light on exactly why Taylor was suspended the day after she held the mock funeral based on the play?
William Smith, SIECUS Vice President says: "What happens when the next teacher tries to talk about intolerance and hatred and murdering people for that, and they get harassed and forced to resign? This is bigger than just what's happening to Debra Taylor. It's about the perpetuation of hatred and injustice in our society. The same sort of hatred and discrimination that led to Shepard's death leads to this teacher's firing. We can't allow that to stand." (Emphasis mine)
SIECUS is asking folks to take action and call Superintendent Turlington at 580-479-5237 or send an email and tell him:
"Debra Taylor did not deserve this kind of treatment. Young people need dedicated teachers willing to confront issues of respect and acceptance for people of all sexual orientations. She should be commended for creating a safe space for all her students and should be reinstated immediately."
h/t to Max!
In the November issue of The American Prospect, Jeremy Bearer-Friend and Daniel Redman report on the trans-rights movement in between the coasts:
Many would view the politically red heart of the country as a harsh, unwelcoming, and vaguely dangerous place for the transgender community. When we think of states like Nebraska and Wyoming, we don't think of M.J. -- we think of people like Brandon Teena and Matthew Shepard, both killed in vicious, nationally publicized hate crimes. But the truth of the matter is far more interesting, inspiring, and instructive. Away from the coasts and the urban havens, a vibrant transgender-rights movement is slowly emerging across the mountain and plains states. Through increased visibility, community building, legislative outreach, and face-to-face public education in churches, schools, and neighborhoods, trans people are building a foundation for equality in some of the nation's most conservative regions.
And Emily Douglas has a sidebar on the mainstream gay-rights movement's slow evolution on transgender issues.
Read 'em both.
Thousands in LA protest Prop 8. Pic via Lesbian Dad.
The passage of Proposition 8, which will amend California's constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman, was a devastating loss.
Thousands of protesters took to the street on Wednesday night, and over a thousand protested outside of a Mormon temple yesterday afternoon - the Mormon Church bankrolled a big portion of the proposition's campaign.
For more, see The Advocate for videos of Wednesday night's protest.
In related news, AMERICAblog reports that famed attorney Gloria Allred will file a lawsuit against Proposition 8:
Attorney Gloria Allred and her clients, Robin Tyler and Diane Olson, will hold a news conference today November 5, 2008 at 12:00 noon at 6300 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1500 L.A. to announce a new lawsuit against Prop. 8. Prop. 8 intended to ban same gender marriages in California.Ms. Allred and her law firm represented the couple in their victory before the California Supreme Court. Her clients became the first to marry in Los Angeles County in June.
It's so depressing that the same country that elected Obama could be so unbelievably hateful towards gay Americans. But I think Pam says it best:
If victories make us complacent, it is our defeats that rally us to a new level of community and activism. We stood up after mortal blows from Anita Bryant pushing her anti-gay vitriol in Florida. We rallied to the bedside of Matthew Shephard in his family's time of tribulation. More recently, we re-committed our vows to protect our youngest members in the wake of the murder of Lawrence King by a fellow classmate. In the wake of the passage of Prop 8, we see now and will see another historic re-awakening of our community.
As the GOP continues to front compassionate to lure swing-voters, its homophobia continues unabated. In fact, the conservative gay-rights group Log Cabin Republicans (LCR) is so angry with the GOP that it has threatened to withhold its endorsement. This is not an insignificant move. According to the RNC one million gays and lesbians voters cast ballots for Bush in 2000. (How SCARY is that?).
Gay-rights issues have played out in a range of recent stories that have been less prominent in the media. Late last month, VP Cheney spoke of his gay daughter and inferred that he disagreed with the Bush position on supporting a constitutional amendment to prevent gay marriage.
Then this Wednesday, the hate-mongering Alan Keyes described homosexuality as "selfish hedonism" and called Cheney's daughter a sinner. (And, yes, this is the same guy who compared abortion to slavery last month).
Less publicized still has been the shocking resignation of uber-conservative Virginia Congressman Edward Shrock, an outspoken critic of gay marriage and supporter of the Federal Marriage Amendment, after a gay-rights activist and blogger released a recording of a phone call allegedly placed by the congressman to a gay dating service several years ago. While there is some savory irony to this twist, the tactics and implication of outing public figures, no matter what their politics, is EXTREMELY problematic.
