5 THINGS TO KNOW
Month: August 2017
5 THINGS TO KNOW
How lesbians in Nazi Germany were treated.
Among the Nazi regime’s many victims, as many as 15,000 gay men were sent to concentration camps. But there hasn’t been much information on how the regime treated lesbians. Samuel Clowes Huneke, a Ph.D. candidate at Stanford University, stumbled across four files on lesbian couples tucked away in the Berlin State Archive in 2015. To his knowledge, historians haven’t explored most of these files in extensive detail beforehand, though they may have been mentioned in some writings. Regardless, the files paint a detailed, if small, portrait of how Nazi officials treated lesbian women in Berlin.
POLICIES
Thousands left hanging by Trump’s transgender troops tweet.
Three weeks after Donald Trump, their commander in chief, clouded their futures through a string of tweets, saying he won’t allow them to serve in the military “in any capacity,” thousands of transgender members continue to serve the nation, still anxiously awaiting official policy to determine their fate. Jennifer Peace, an Army captain and intelligence officer with a wife and three children, and more than 12 years’ service including tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, said the depth of frustration and anxiety is difficult to describe.
HEROES
Historic gay representation in the Florida Legislature.
The first openly gay candidate elected to the Florida Legislature said this week that he didn’t run as a one-issue candidate and intends to represent all of his constituents regardless of sexual orientation. David Richardson, a certified public accountant from Miami Beach, defeated three other Democrats in the Aug. 14 primary and is unopposed in the Nov. 6 general election. “I did not run as a gay candidate and I’m not going to serve as the gay legislator,” Richardson said in a telephone interview.
5 THINGS TO KNOW
Broadway comes to LGBT senior group in NYC.
Sing For Your Seniors brought cast members of Broadway hit “War Paint” to perform for senior members of the LGBT community in SAGE’s midtown headquarters on August 10th. They sang numbers from their show and some of their favorite Broadway standards for their enthusiastic audience. “So many of these people grew up with Broadway being one of the few places that celebrated differences and diversity, and LGBT stories and people, so it has a special place in people’s hearts,” says Christian Appel, SAGE’s Women’s Program Coordinator.
HEALTH
HRC conference in Orlando to focus on LGBT youth.
Working to support LGBTQ youth, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation, in partnership with the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Counseling Association (ACA), will hold its nationally-acclaimed Time to THRIVE Conference February 16-18 at the Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek in Orlando. Toyota will again be a presenting sponsor. In its fifth year, this premier event of the HRC Foundation, the educational arm of the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization, will address the safety, inclusion and well-being of LGBTQ and questioning youth.
5 THINGS TO KNOW
Holding the LDS Church accountable for past actions.
The LDS Church’s endorsement this week of a fundraising concert for LGBTQ support groups sends a mixed message, says former Mormon Tyler Glenn, the outspoken lead singer for Neon Trees. Glenn, who is gay, is referring to a statement posted Wednesday on the church’s website that praises the Aug. 26 LoveLoud Festival in Orem as an effort to unite participants in addressing LGBTQ “teen safety and to express respect and love for all God’s children.”