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| Acting USAID Administrator Alfonso Lenhardt (Photo courtesy of Patricia Adams/USAID) |
Friday, February 27, 2015
USAID says global LGBT community victimized by poverty
Labor Department says FMLA applies to same-sex couples
"All eligible employees in legal same-sex marriages, regardless of where they live, can now deal with a serious medical and family situation like all families -- without the threat of job loss," Labor Secretary Tom Perez said in a statement.
1 of 2 anti-LGBT bills advances in Ark.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson this week declined to veto legislation that critics say invalidates municipal LGBT nondiscrimination measures that are more stringent than state law. Some businesses pushed back against the measure, with a spokesman for Walmart saying it "sends the wrong message about Arkansas."
An unrelated bill that would have allowed businesses and individuals to refuse services to LGBT people on religious grounds failed to advance out of a state Senate committee on Wednesday.
An unrelated bill that would have allowed businesses and individuals to refuse services to LGBT people on religious grounds failed to advance out of a state Senate committee on Wednesday.
GLBT Student Services at Auraria Presents LGBTQ Tax Event
Denver's Got Talent Aims to Raise $10,000 for the Matthew Shepard Foundation
Hosted by Lushus La’Rell, the 3rd Denver’s Got Talent fundraiser takes place Saturday, February 28 at EXDO Event Center and will benefit the Matthew Shepard Foundation.
For the low, low price of $20 you can enjoy dinner, a show, and the knowledge that you are supporting the foundation in their mission to replace hate with understanding, compassion, and acceptance through the telling of Matthew's story.
The entertainment portion of the evening will be served up by performers from local businesses and non-profits as they vie for a $1000 Grand Prize to be awarded to the charity of their choice.
I spoke with Lushus La’Rell’s alter ego Anthony Aragon to find out more.
Drew: $20 for dinner, a show, and to benefit The Matthew Shepard Foundation? Sounds like the best deal in town! Anthony: Oh, I’d like to think so, yeah. This is my third one, and this thing has just kind of taken on a life of it’s own. The last two we did at Tracks for a $10 cover but this year I’m working with EXDO and using their space and decided to include a pasta dinner and just charge $20.
The first year I think we raised almost $7000 and then last year was for the White Rose Scholarship Foundation and we raised $6000. My goal this year is to net $10,000 for the foundation that night and I’m probably already at $7500-8000 before anybody even walks in the door.
It’s a lot of work but I have high expectations and it’s just something I love doing. I’m fortunate that I’ve got networks and resources and community partners like all the bars we have sponsoring the event. It’s a community effort and they’re always willing to come to the table with resources to help whenever I ask.
How did you come up with the idea for Denver’s Got Talent?
The whole concept was around community organizations putting together these production numbers. And they are competing for a $1000 grand prize, which is money raised privately and does not come out of the money going to the charity.
Who are this year’s performers?
This year we have Demented Divas, the Dreamgirls Cast, the Denver Cycle Sluts, the Men of Charlie’s, and then Richard Brendlinger and Gabriella But’zin from the Imperial Court. Lushus will do a couple of numbers as well.
I hear there are going to be some special guests.
There will be a lot of familiar faces; Nina Montaldo, Britney Michaels, Jasmine James. Judy Shepard will be there, which is amazing. She’s going to speak during the middle of the program. And Jackie Summers and Michale Vrooman are going to be my emcees and the celebrity judges are Dennis Shepard, Jennifer Kustok from Hamburger Mary’s, Shanida Lawya, Wade Frisbee, current co-chair of DGLCC, and Jessie Sexton who just won Mr. Southwest All-American Gent.
I know RuPaul looks for charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent in a winner. What criteria will your judges be using?
I don’t have that one on me but it’s next on the list! There's still so much to do because there are several components to the evening. When it started out it was all about the productions and trying to get community organizations together in one room and now, as an event, it has so much more going on. The most important thing is that, at the end of the night, we're going to raise a lot of money for the Matthew Shepard Foundation and somebody is going to walk away with$1000 for their charity.
Tennessee Couples File Brief Asking Supreme Court to Uphold the Freedom to Marry and End “Checkerboard Nation” of Marriage Laws
The Court will have an opportunity to bring an end to the serious harms that destabilize the lives of same-sex couples in the small minority of states that continue to deny them the freedom to marry when it hears oral argument in the case, as well as cases from Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio, later this spring. The Court is expected to issue its decision by the end of June 2015.
The Tennessee plaintiff couples are Dr. Valeria Tanco and Dr. Sophy Jesty; Army Reserve Sergeant First Class Ijpe DeKoe and Thom Kostura; and Matthew Mansell and Johno Espejo. Each couple legally married in another state before moving to Tennessee, which refused to respect their marriages. They are represented by Shannon Price Minter, Christopher F. Stoll, and David C. Codell of the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), Tennessee attorneys Abby Rubenfeld, Maureen Holland, and Regina Lambert, William L. Harbison and other attorneys at the Nashville law firm of Sherrard & Roe PLC, and Douglass Hallward-Dreimeier and other attorneys at Ropes & Gray LLP.
“We’re hopeful the Court will recognize that our family is just like other families in Tennessee,” said Tanco, who has an 11-month-old daughter with Jesty. “Even though we were married when we moved to Tennessee, Tennessee doesn’t see us as a family or give us any of the legal protections that other married couples have. We are grateful to have this chance to explain to the Court why this discrimination hurts us and our daughter.”
Working It Out with GLBT Student Services at Auraria
Additonally, Director Steve Willich promises via Facebook, that there will be free food. Mr. Willich is a cunning man.
HRC on Jeb Bush: An “LGBT-friendly” Republican Should Support Marriage Equality and Discrimination Protections for all LGBT Americans
The Human Rights Campaign’s Fred Sainz released the following statement:
“At the end of the day, it isn’t rhetoric or hiring practices that count, it’s what a candidates stands for. A candidate who is truly committed to LGBT equality will support marriage equality and support protecting all LGBT Americans from discrimination. While the tone of Jeb Bush’s language and word choice may have changed, he hasn’t yet articulated different policies from when he opposed marriage equality and opposed discrimination protections as governor. There are more questions than answers on where Bush stands today.”
Earlier this week, the Human Rights Campaign released a comprehensive research report on potential 2016 candidates that highlights their record on LGBT issues. The ongoing project can be found at http://www.hrc.org/2016republicanfacts. The Jeb Bush report highlights how as governor of Florida, he consistently opposed equality for LGBT Americans and can be downloaded here.
Elizabeth Taylor's Birthday
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Picture Yourself OUT - What Does Coming Out Look Like?
Picture Yourself Out is a newly formed organization inspiring, training and supporting novice to expert LGBTQ artists who will create photography exhibits that depict their personal journeys of struggles and success with coming out. Its mission serves to yield fully self-expressed and empowered individuals both within the LGBTQ community and the world.
MHFB 30th Anniversary Concert
Join them on February 28, 2015, at 7:30pm as they take a look back over the past 30 years and celebrate the music that has brought us all together. The band will be performing in the gorgeous Studio Loft at the Ellie Caulkins Opera house.
In conjunction with this concert, MHFB will also be holding their annual raffle fundraiser. The grand prize is six tickets to a suite at Coors Field for the Rockies v. Padres game on April 21, including food and drink for all guests ($1500 value).
Colorado Rush Rugby 101
Come out, learn the fundamentals of rugby, and see if rugby is the sport for you. Afterward, join the team for their traditional "3rd Half" social event for food and drinks.
What to bring to Rugby 101:
- water bottle
- cleats (soccer cleats preferred, please avoid football cleats)
- high socks (recommended)
- mouthguard (recommended)
"Don't Ask, Don't Kill" - the Homicide of Private First Class Barry Winchell
At 2 a.m. on July 5, 1999, Private First Class Barry Winchell is murdered. His parents are told he's been kicked in the head by a steel-toed boot, while his girlfriend, Calpernia Addams, hears on the news that he was in a brutal fight. Addams, a transgender woman, fears she was to blame for Winchell's killing. Only two men know what really happened in the beer-soaked barracks that deadly night. One of them is released from prison; the other is ready to tell the awful truth about the jealousy, transphobia, and manipulation that led to the death of the well-liked PFC.
Colorado Chamber Orchestra Performs its Spring Concert March 28 and 29
The concert will be held on Saturday, March 28 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, March 29 at 2p.m. The program features dynamic new solo percussionist and Udow protégé, Dave Alcorn, performing Remembrance by Michael Udow, written in memory of Udow's father. Dr. Udow remarks, "The first two sections are tonal, yet with the Japanese prayer bells, and hanging bells and the musical saw, the tonal music will ultimately have an eerie quality. Those sections are more reflective of my Dad’s temperament – he loved the music of Tchaikovsky; he was a quiet and mild-mannered fellow. Then the work goes through a series of transformations while staying true to my interest in contrapuntal complexities.”
Anchoring the spring program is Felix Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 5 Reformation, a masterpiece balancing classical control with romantic impulse. Rounding out the program, is Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man and Music for the Royal Fireworks, by the great Baroque composer, George Frideric Handel, a rousing and festive piece originally conceived for and performed by winds in an outdoor setting complete with fireworks.
HRC Commends Facebook for New Option Allowing Users to Describe Their Own Gender Identity
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) commended Facebook for a new, inclusive feature the social networking giant rolled out today that will allow individuals to use their own words to describe their gender identity.
The change builds on the “Custom Gender” option introduced last year by Facebook, which provides users a list of more than 50 gender identities they can choose from to describe themselves while building their online profile at the site. The feature will now include a free-form field in which individuals who use Facebook in US English can self-identify with their own words.
The need for the new option is underscored by HRC Foundation’s gender-expansive youth report, which found that many young survey respondents wrote their own description for their gender identity. In the survey of 10,000 LGBT youth, nearly 10 percent identified as transgender or gender-expansive, with more than 600 using their own words to describe their gender identity.
“Facebook is a place where many LGBT users can be exactly who we are, free of the legal, social and financial barriers facing us offline,” said Jay Brown, Director of Program Strategies for the HRC Foundation. “Creating a free-form field for gender is a perfect solution for ensuring gender-expansive users have that kind of freedom.”
In announcing the new feature, the company said that it recognizes that “some people face challenges sharing their true gender identity with others, and this setting gives people the ability to express themselves in an authentic way.”
Said Deena Fidas, Director of HRC Foundation’s Workplace Equality Program and co-author of its Corporate Equality Index (CEI): “Facebook has demonstrated a commitment to LGBT equality, both within the company, earning a 100 percent on our Corporate Equality Index, which measures workplace LGBT inclusion, and through these very meaningful changes to their networking platform.”
The change builds on the “Custom Gender” option introduced last year by Facebook, which provides users a list of more than 50 gender identities they can choose from to describe themselves while building their online profile at the site. The feature will now include a free-form field in which individuals who use Facebook in US English can self-identify with their own words.
The need for the new option is underscored by HRC Foundation’s gender-expansive youth report, which found that many young survey respondents wrote their own description for their gender identity. In the survey of 10,000 LGBT youth, nearly 10 percent identified as transgender or gender-expansive, with more than 600 using their own words to describe their gender identity.
“Facebook is a place where many LGBT users can be exactly who we are, free of the legal, social and financial barriers facing us offline,” said Jay Brown, Director of Program Strategies for the HRC Foundation. “Creating a free-form field for gender is a perfect solution for ensuring gender-expansive users have that kind of freedom.”
In announcing the new feature, the company said that it recognizes that “some people face challenges sharing their true gender identity with others, and this setting gives people the ability to express themselves in an authentic way.”
Said Deena Fidas, Director of HRC Foundation’s Workplace Equality Program and co-author of its Corporate Equality Index (CEI): “Facebook has demonstrated a commitment to LGBT equality, both within the company, earning a 100 percent on our Corporate Equality Index, which measures workplace LGBT inclusion, and through these very meaningful changes to their networking platform.”
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