Friend and Ally and Daughter of Two Moms Susan Yeagley On One Thing That Could Make Our World Better

With Mother's Day just past, this post by the wonderful Susan Yeagley is well-worth watching.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Susan Yeagley (@sukiyeagley) on May 8, 2020 at 7:37am PDT

She's so right!

We're cheering you on, Susan.

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee

Homophobia Smack-Down: Indigenous People Champion the LGBTQ Community When a City Council Wouldn't

I love this story over at Upworthy by Annie Reneau, A city council voted down a rainbow crosswalk. Now residents have painted 16 of them.

In September of 2019, a proposal to install a rainbow crosswalk in the city of Chilliwack, British Columbia was voted down by the city council. Dissenters argued that such a crosswalk would be seen as a "political statement" and would be "divisive," but according to Yahoo! News, that hasn't stopped people from installing 16 of them on privately owned property...

"The city does not have jurisdiction over our lands so we are free to paint them to demonstrate our support for being an inclusive community," Dave Jimmie, president of the Ts'elxweyeqw Tribe, told Maple Ridge News.

How amazing is that?

The article shows lots more photos of rainbow crosswalks on private property, along with messages of support by the folks who painted them.

Read the full article here.

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee

Matthew Shepard's Parents Speak Out Against This Adminstration's (and Department of Justice's) Hypocrisy

As reported in the Advocate by Trudy Ring,

"We find it interesting and hypocritical that he would invite us to this event commemorating a hate crime law named after our son and Mr. Byrd, while, at the same time, asking the Supreme Court to allow the legalized firing of transgender employees.

“Mr. Barr, you cannot have it both ways. If you believe that employers should have the right to terminate transgender employees, just because they are transgender, then you believe they are lesser than and not worthy of protection. If so, you need not invite us to future events at the Department of Justice that are billed as celebrating the law that protects these same individuals from hate crimes. Either you believe in equality for all or you don’t. We do not honor our son by kowtowing to hypocrisy." —Judy and Dennis Shepard

It's refreshing and wonderful when people do the right thing.

Yeah, appearing with the current administration officials at this anniversary event would have drawn media attention to their mission of making the world a better place for LGBTQ people... but it would have used the Shepards as window-dressing, helping the administration continue to pretend they care about our equality while at the same time actively opposing it.

I'm really proud of Judy and Dennis.

I hope their standing proud for what's true and right inspires many others to do the same.

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee

p.s. - shout out to my husband Mark who shared this with me, so I could share it with all of you.

Felipe Neto is My New Hero

He's a Brazilian YouTube star (with 34 million subscribers), but as I don't speak Portuguese, Felipe Neto hasn't been on my radar. But he is now!

As reported in the Advocate and at Pink News and in The Guardian...

At Rio de Janeiro’s international book fair (which just ended on September 10, 2019), the city's mayor "attempted to pull the graphic novel Avengers: The Children’s Crusade because it prominently features a same-sex kiss", saying that it should be "wrapped in black plastic and come with a warning label."

And on Friday, the mayor "ordered city inspectors to seize copies of Avengers." What happened next was amazing...

"In response, Felipe Neto... bought all the copies of major LGBTQ-themed books being sold at the festival, totaling about 14,000, and gave them out Saturday to anyone who wanted one."

What's with the black plastic wrapping? As Pink News explains,

In a mischievous act of compliance with the mayor’s demand that LGBT+ books are sold with content warnings, the books come in black bags with a label that says: “This book is inappropriate for backwards, outdated and bigoted people.”

Go here to watch Felipe's youtube post about his activism, and check out the video starting at 1:50 -- the nearly endless stream of people getting free copies of LGBTQ books is really inspiring.

In this still shot from Felipe's YouTube post, the label in Portuguese explains that 'We are going as fast as possible to distribute everything before the "censorship inspectors" appear'

14,000 LGBTQ books given out for free! It's a homophobia smack down for sure!

“Although we [are] going through the most frightening government in terms of repression since the dictatorship, this time we have a united and engaged people who will not permit that censorship, the imposition of others’ moral values,” Neto told the Guardian.

Bravo, Felipe!


And in another act of LGBTQ solidarity and allyship, Brazil's biggest newspaper printed the illustration of the "two men kissing on its front page to attack an attempt at censorship by the evangelical mayor of Rio de Janeiro."

Awesome!

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee

ALA Inspiration - Two Librarians Share Their Response to Complaints About Their Library's LGBTQ Pride Displays

I'm back from the American Library Association annual conference in Washington D.C., and one discussion among the more than 600 librarians I met really stands out. (By the way, that number is not an exaggeration, I was working at the IBPA booth on the exhibition floor representing over 260 books from our independent publisher members, and I scanned 606 badges over the four days.)

It was during my give-away of audiobook review copies of my YA novel, "Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill", for which I had a big diversity rainbow pride flag out on the signing table, rainbow pride flag bookmarks, and a sign about the giveaway with the same pride flag on it as well. I even had a little bust of Abraham Lincoln with some Gay Pride neck jewelry (courtesy of my brother John!) In short, for the times I was at the demo table, I was a lighthouse of LGBTQ inclusion.

And it worked as a lighthouse, drawing interested and allied folks near.

That's me, chatting with interested librarians about the "Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill" audiobook at #alaac19

One librarian, Monena, told me about how she had a patron complain about a June pride display in their library. Her response? She thanked the patron for sharing their point of view, and then, "I went and added a dozen books to the display."

Another librarian overheard our conversation, and nodded. She had had a patron complaint about a pride display in one of their branch libraries as well. She smiled as she said, "so this year, we did pride displays in two more libraries."

That's the stuff of true allies.

And it's why I so appreciate and respect librarians!

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,

Lee

p.s. If you're a librarian, and you want a free review copy of the audiobook of "Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill," simply email me your name along with your library name and location, and I'll send you a copy as well! 

leewind (at) roadrunner (dot) com

I'm so excited about the audiobook (narrated by Michael Crouch, who also did the narration for "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda", and with a bonus author interview at the end where the legendary Lesléa Newman interviews me!) You can listen to the first two chapters here.

Billy Porter's Tuxedo Dress (Designed by Christian Siriano) Inspires!

This.

Lit up.

The Oscar's Red Carpet.

In Vogue, Billy explained how the Tuxedo Dress came about and how,

“My goal is to be a walking piece of political art every time I show up. To challenge expectations. What is masculinity? What does that mean?”

And as for the folks that didn't appreciate it?

"The comments are not my business. What people think about what I’m doing is not my business. I lived that already."

Go, Billy! And Bravo to you and Christian!

Tomorrow, We VOTE!

For the past 98 days on twitter, facebook, and instagram I've been counting down my motivations for voting in tomorrow's midterm elections here in the United States.

Tomorrow, Tuesday November 6, 2018, we vote.

Do your part. If you can vote, do so. If you can't, do what you can to encourage and empower others to vote.

And let's stop Trump and his Republican enablers from moving even one more step on their hateful, selfish, terrible agenda.

The light in me recognizes and celebrates the light in you, and in times of darkness like right now, that's when light matters even more!

Lee

It's Banned Books Week - Read With PRIDE (even in Maine's Rumford Public Library)

This time, religious folks were protesting the inclusion of LGBTQ books in a display of books that had been banned!

Happily, there was a librarian from the LGBTQ community who stood up and spoke out, people who supported that librarian, and ultimately a unanimous vote by the library's trustees to leave the current display intact.

Read the full article by Nick Duffy at Pink News here.

An Act of Creative Defiance and LGBTQ Pride in Russia

check out this very cool Pride visibility action:

Inspiring!

The text reads:

"in Russia, the act of displaying the LGBT flag in public can get you arrested, so these 6 activists from latin america resorted to creativity: wearing uniforms from their countries' football teams, they turned themselves into the flag and walked around Moscow with pride."

How

Amazing

is

This?!

My thanks to the activists who put themselves out there to stand up for what's right, to Gabi (@harleivy) for sharing this, and to everyone for helping get the word out.

The idea that showing a Gay Pride flag is illegal is ridiculous, and alarming, and we shouldn't stop talking about it and protesting this kind of institutional homophobia whenever and wherever it festers.

You can find out more about The Hidden Flag project here.

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee

Inspiring Words From Ireland's First Openly Gay Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar

“My experience of the very successful marriage equality referendum here was that if you want to convince people to change their minds, it’s not by shouting at them or lecturing them or attacking them personally or degrading them. That’s not how you change hearts and minds. And I certainly look forward to meeting him. [U.S. Vice President Pence, not much of a friend to the LGBTQ community] I’d like to hear about his stories and his Irish connections, which he seems to be proud of, and maybe tell him a bit about my story, too.” – Leo Varadkar, Ireland's first openly gay and half-Indian (and, at 38, youngest ever) prime minister.

Read the full interview piece by Maureen Dowd at the New York Times here.

Sharing our stories. That's how you change hearts and minds. Wise words. And inspiring!

Love Has No Labels - The "Kiss Cam" Version (with a gay kiss and a lesbian kiss!)

This was lovely, how it shows all diversity as equally worth celebrating, including ours...





Thanks to creators R/GA and the Ad Council, and everyone featured in the public service announcement.


Find out more about the Love Has No Labels campaign here.

A Flashmob Dance For LGBTQ Pride in Delhi, India

This dance/demonstration/call for India to break its LGBTQ stereotypes was really fun to see.

I'm so glad to know it happened!

UN Free & Equal's New Animated Short Video, "The Lesson"

The video aims to raise awareness of the scale and impact of anti-LGBTIQ bullying and calls on parents, teachers, schools and governments to play their part in stamping it out. Created with children's author Daniel Errico and animation house Kavaleer Productions, the video tells the bittersweet story of a boy whose friendship with a girl becomes problematic when his mother sees her kiss another girl.



Free & Equal is a project of the United Nations Human Rights Office. The campaign raises awareness of homophobic and transphobic violence and discrimination, and promotes greater respect for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people everywhere. Find out more here.

The journey of Transgender Model Tracey Africa Norman

What an amazing story!




Read more about Tracey and her being brought back as a Clairol model in this NY Mag The Cut article by By Jada Yuan here.

Thanks to my awesome husband for the heads-up on this one.

DRAW THE LINE - Can The Gay Teen Who Created A Gay Superhero Become A Hero In Real Life As Well?

Draw The Line by Laurent Linn

Here's a video interview I did with Laurent about his debut YA novel...




Here's the official synopsis:

Adrian Piper is used to blending into the background. He may be a talented artist, a sci-fi geek, and gay, but at his Texas high school those traits would only bring him the worst kind of attention.

In fact, the only place he feels free to express himself is at his drawing table, crafting a secret world through his own Renaissance-art-inspired superhero, Graphite.

But in real life, when a shocking hate crime flips his world upside down, Adrian must decide what kind of person he wants to be. Maybe it's time to not be so invisible after all, no matter how dangerous the risk.

Add your review of "Draw The Line" in comments!

Ambassador Samantha Power (U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations) Gives A Speech on LGBTI Human Rights - And It's Well Worth Reading!

Check out this speech by Ambassador Samantha Power, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, on “A Call on Governments: Integrating LGBTI Rights into Foreign Policy,” to the Global LGBTI Human Rights Ministerial, July 13, 2016

AS DELIVERED July 13, 2016


Let me begin by thanking the government and civil society leaders chairing this conference: from Uruguay, Foreign Minister Nin Nova and Ovejas Negras; and from the Netherlands, Foreign Minister Koenders and COC-Netherlands.

I had planned to be in Montevideo with you, but unfortunately, the escalating violence in South Sudan has kept me here at the UN. Much as I regret missing the opportunity to meet many of you in person, I’m honored and incredibly humbled to be able to speak with you today.

Being an advocate for LGBTI rights these days can feel almost schizophrenic. While more than 50 countries worldwide now prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, more than 70 countries criminalize consensual same-sex conduct. In elections last month in the Philippines, voters elected both a Senator who called gay couples “worse than animals,” and the country’s first-ever transgender Representative. In Brazil, which has a proud history of pushing for LGBTI rights at home and abroad, including introducing the first-ever UN resolution, in 2003, to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation – a monitoring group has documented nearly 1,600 killings of LGBTI people over the past four and a half years. That’s approximately one LGBTI killing per day in Brazil, every day, since 2012. And while same-sex couples now have the right to marry in all 50 American states, and people no longer have to hide who they love to serve in our nation’s military – you can still be fired from a job because of your sexual orientation, and an estimated 40 percent of trans people in the United States attempt suicide – approximately 30 times the national average.

You all know these ups and downs, because you live them day to day. Consider this very conference: while some civil society participants can live tweet and blog about the issues discussed here in real time, others have to keep their heads down, they have to keep a much lower profile, knowing that calling attention to their work here – or any of your efforts to advance LGBTI rights – could lead to harassment, imprisonment, or worse in their home countries.

To state the obvious: Governments do not have to choose between advancing LGBTI rights within their own countries and around the world. We can and must do both.

How? First, we must be willing to use all the tools in our toolkit to shift the policies and attitudes of the governments that condone or even fuel discrimination and violence against LGBTI people.

Let me give you just one example: Last July, President Obama traveled to Kenya, a country where having a consensual same-sex relationship is punishable by up to 14 years in prison, and where a 2013 poll found that 90 percent of people think society should not accept homosexuality. Now, even before the President set foot in Kenya, protestors took to the streets to warn him not to bring the issue up. Their arguments will be familiar ones to many of you – including that the U.S. should not impose its views on people with different cultural and religious traditions. An argument, I would note, that the diversity of advocates in this room – the room you are in – clearly rebuts.

Here is how President Obama responded when asked about the issue at a press conference in Nairobi with Kenya’s president: he said, “I believe in the principle of treating people equally under the law…and that the state should not discriminate against people based on their sexual orientation…[W]hen you start treating people differently – not because of any harm they’re doing anybody, but because they’re different – that’s the path whereby freedoms begin to erode and bad things happen… And as an African-American in the United States, I am painfully aware of the history of what happens when people are treated differently, under the law.”

President Obama’s point was that there’s no legitimate alibi for violating basic human rights. Treating people differently because of who they are is always wrong. So while it is wise, and indeed necessary, to ask which tactics will be most effective in advancing equality – we can’t let the false justifications of culture, sovereignty, or anything else hold us back from fighting discrimination. That’s why we are not only standing up for LGBTI rights in public statements, but also through other means, such as the diplomatic efforts of our nation’s first-ever Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTI persons, the great Randy Berry, who is with you in Montevideo and has gotten to know many of you in his travels to 43 countries.

Second, we must work to integrate LGBTI rights into the DNA of multilateral bodies like the UN. It may seem self-evident that the institution whose Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms that “everyone is entitled to all rights and freedoms…without distinction of any kind” would fight against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity; yet too often, throughout history, it has not.

Here are a few ways we and partners, many of whom are in the room there, have worked to change that record in the last few years.

In 2011 and 2014, we worked with partners on the UN Human Rights Council to pass resolutions compelling the Council to systematically document LGBTI rights violations around the globe – a key step toward breaking the pattern of impunity for such abuses.

In August of 2015, we co-chaired the first-ever UN Security Council meeting focused on LGBTI rights – on the persecution of LGBTI people by ISIL. In doing so, the world’s foremost enforcement body for peace and security signaled that it is wrong to violate people’s rights because of who they love.

Just last month, as you know, a Latin American led resolution created the first-ever permanent Independent Expert at the UN to provide consistent reporting on violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity – an initiative that 628 NGOs from over 150 countries rallied behind. When a group of countries tried to block the effort – calling it reckless and arrogant, and even calling for a vote to strip the resolution of its title – those same Latin American countries vigorously beat back those efforts.

Of course, these steps have not yet succeeded in stopping widespread discrimination and violence against LGBTI people. But with each of these “firsts,” we weave another thread of LGBTI rights into the fabric of universal human rights, and we chip away at the misconception that LGBTI rights are somehow subordinate to other human rights.

None of these are steps that we have taken alone; in each instance, we’ve worked with a coalition made up of countries from the global North and South. I will never forget the words of my Chilean counterpart at the UN when I asked if his country would co-sponsor the Security Council’s session on LGBTI rights, again, an unprecedented occurrence. He said: “We are with you. We may be all alone, but we are with you.” In the end, thankfully, we were not all alone.

And we’ve had to defend virtually every one of our collective gains working with partners – governmental partners and Civil Society partners. Consider the UN Secretary-General’s 2014 laudable decision to extend benefits to the families of all UN employees, including same-sex couples. In March 2015, Russia launched an effort to try to strip these benefits, which would have sent a totally devastating message that LGBTI families do not deserve equal rights within the UN’s own house. We and our partners fought that effort vigorously, and in the end we succeeded. Out of 193 countries, only 43 voted with Russia.

Now, I recognize the obstacles that we governments must overcome – and the risks that we face – pale in comparison to those confronting many activists here. And that is precisely why governments at this conference, as well as those not at this conference, must do much more to support you.

Let me conclude. Prior to Orlando, the worst mass killing of LGBTI people in the United States occurred in 1973, in New Orleans, when a gay club called the UpStairs Lounge was firebombed, killing 32 people trapped inside. The story made front page news in the local newspaper, which described the grisly scene in detail, but not one of its many stories mentioned that the attack had targeted a gay club. And though it was the worst fire in the city’s modern history, local officials made no public statements, nor did national politicians. Multiple churches refused to hold services for the victims, and no one was ever prosecuted for this heinous crime.

Compare that to the response to the horrific attack in Orlando, where, in the words of a doctor who treated the injured, “after the worst of humanity reared its evil head…the best of humanity came roaring back.” First responders rushed to the scene. Residents lined up for hours to donate blood. The city and our nation mourned. At the U.S. Mission to the UN, we had to put out four condolence books – because so many representatives of other governments came to write messages of solidarity. In many of your countries, you participated in vigils and other public shows of support.

Perhaps most moving were the stories of the 49 individual victims, which have revealed the beautiful diversity of just a small sliver of the LGBTI community – from the Army reservist, to the travel agent who organized international tours for LGBTI people, to the young man who, in 2003, was the only person brave enough to come out in his high school of 2,500 people. As President Obama said after meeting with relatives of the victims, “These families could be our families. In fact, they are our family.”

That is the difference 43 years has made. That is the difference when a society moves from one where existence of LGBTI persons is not even acknowledged – much less embraced – to one where we are finally recognizing LGBTI rights as human rights. Our work – the work of governments and of civil society – will not be finished until LGBTI people are welcome in every nation, every community, and every family.

I thank you.
###


You can find out more about the United Nations Free and Equal Campaign for LGBTQ Equality here.

And it's worth considering, for those of us USA voters, that whoever is in the White House sets the agenda for what the US does in the United Nations. Would a Trump Presidency have one of its ambassadors speak out so clearly for LGBTQ rights? Doubtful. But a Hilary Clinton Presidency would. 

After all, when she was Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton famously said,

"Human Rights are Gay Rights and Gay Rights are Human Rights."

The Boy Scouts Lift Their Ban On Gay Scout Leaders!

BIG, exciting news!

Here's looking forward to the day when, like the Girl Scouts, the Boy Scouts come out with a consistent, proud message that scouting is #FOReveryKID! And now we're so much closer to that.

The New York Times article brought up that the Mormon Church is still obstructing equality, still fighting for their homophobic agenda. (And there's still a loophole for churches, where "...the new policy allows church-sponsored units to choose local unit leaders who share their precepts, even if that means restricting such positions to heterosexual men.")

But for now, in the big picture, justice has won.

I'm excited and grateful to everyone who fought for this over the years, including the Eagle Scout who left the Boy Scouts because they knew me and my husband, and the prejudice against gay members and leaders felt so wrong to them.

Now, the policy has been made right. Gay kids can participate in Boy Scouts. Gay adults can be Scout Leaders.

It's a good thing.

It's progress.

Girl Scouts Is #ForEVERYGirl - a wonderful story about standing up to prejudice (and being rewarded for that!)

So, here's the story:

The Girl Scouts of Western Washington got a donation. A BIG donation. $100,000.00 This was a lot of money for them, about a quarter of their fundraising goal for the entire year.

But, the money came with a catch.

"Please guarantee that our gift will not be used to support transgender girls," read the message. "If you can't, please return the money."

So what did the Girl Scouts of Western Washington do?

"We said Girl Scouts is for EVERY girl. And we gave the money back."

So proud of them!

Then, the Girl Scouts of Western Washington turned to the internet, launching an indigogo campaign.

They explained what had happened, and asked the larger community to help them replace the funds, so they could still help 500 girls be financially able to "join a troop, go to camp and participate in a multitude of other life-changing Girl Scout experiences even though their families can’t afford to pay for them."

As the indigogo text explains, through their participation in Girl Scouts, Every girl is empowered to:

"Use their voice to stand up for what they believe in
Be proud of who they are, and
Support each other to take action to make the world a better place."

Great goals!

So here's the even better news. They replaced that $100,000.00 donation in ONE DAY. And as of this writing, they'd raised a total of more than $330,000.00! Enough to help over 1,500 girls!

As Stefanie Ellis, the public relations director of Girl Scouts of Western Washington, was quoted in the Upworthy article about this,

"When we realized the donation would require us to exclude some girls, there was nothing else to do but return it. We were grateful to have the enthusiastic backing of our board and staff in making that decision. It was a sad one, though, because that money was for 500 girls who couldn't participate in all the life-changing opportunities we offer without financial support. So we knew we needed to find a way to get that money back. Crowdfunding came up as an idea, and we ran with it. Now here we are.
...
We wholeheartedly believe every girl means EVERY girl. And every girl should have the opportunity to be a Girl Scout if she wants to. The only way we're going to fulfill our mission of building girls of courage, confidence and character who make the world a better place is if we make sure there aren't any barriers in place for girls' success. We welcome all girls to join us, and get out there and make a difference in our world!"

Beautiful.

As their indiegogo video says, "our community is stronger because we are inclusive."

YES!

Now isn't that a great story?

BREAKING AWESOME NEWS: MY MARRIAGE IS LEGAL EVERYWHERE IN THE U.S.A.!

Love this news (and my husband and daughter!)





It's an historic, wonderful step – Cheers for our country bending that arc of history toward justice!

Lee

So You're Straight, And This Gay Guy Has A Crush On You... What Do You Do?

Well maybe you'll consider becoming friends with them.

And then, a couple of years after you've been friends, you might just be as awesome as this...





Now that's heartwarming!

Cheers to Jacob Lescenski and Anthony Martinez, to Ellen for sharing the story, and to Karol for sharing the story with me, so I could share it with all of you!

*** UPDATE ***

You can see a photo of the young men on prom night here!