No one really knows how long he’d been dead, two weeks maybe. Several days at least. Alan lived on 16th Street, only a block from Cobalt, the heart of what many consider the center of gay life in the District, in a fashionable several-story gothic building that many still refer to as the ‘gay dorm.’ Alan himself was described as a fixture in the neighborhood. So how did he come to die alone in his apartment?
Chelsea Manning, the U.S. military’s most famous transgender service member, accused President Trump of “normalizing hate” by issuing a directive banning trans recruits. The former Army intelligence analyst took aim at the policy change from her widely-followed Twitter account Friday shortly after it was reported that Mr. Trump signed a directive banning the Department of Defense from recruiting transgender individuals into the armed forces on the heels of announcing his intentions in a tweet of his own last month.
As an openly gay male athlete in a pro team sport, I feel like a distinct minority and wish more athletes would take the plunge and come out. I am from Canada and play pro volleyball and it hasn’t been easy being openly gay. Volleyball isn’t as high profile as some of the other major sports throughout the world and especially in North America, so I feel that my impact is limited to the volleyball community. But I think my experiences as a team sport athlete are not unique.
All my life I’ve loved Texas: those big skies, big steaks and big attitudes. I’m there several times a year. But Texas doesn’t love me back. Certainly its lawmakers don’t, and lately they’ve been hellbent on showing that. In June the governor signed a bill allowing child welfare groups to refuse adoptions that contradict their “sincerely held religious beliefs.” They can turn away gay men like me.
Did you know that gay and bisexual men get less routine health care than other men do? That lesbian and bisexual women are less likely to have a usual place to go for medical care? According to the US Transgender Survey, almost a quarter of transgender people avoid going to the doctor for needed medical care out of the fear of being mistreated.
It’s come to our attention that America is doing some redecorating: Monuments and statues honoring Confederate leaders are being taken down with a swiftness—which is terrific. But it’s leaving unsightly empty spaces outside city halls, parks, and schoolgrounds across the country. Below, we humbly nominate seven LGBT heroes perfectly suited for public admiration.
Amending the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to protect members of the LGBT community is long overdue. It’s been debated in every legislative session since 1983, yet there has been no progress. The state of Michigan still allows discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. This is ridiculous. However, as that fight continues, Equality Michigan has filed a petition with the Michigan Civil Rights Commission that could immediately help this vulnerable population.
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