Posts tagged LGBT

…it appears that North Carolina has become the 30th state to outright ban marriage equality for her citizens.  As much as I love the South, it is so disheartening to watch hatred be inscribed in law.

For once, I have something positive to report form my home state of Tennessee!  I’ve talked several times about Tennessee’s “Don’t Say Gay Bill” (here, here, and here) and the horrible implications that it has for Tennessee schools, students, and teachers.  But Gov. Bill Haslam has come out this week and said, among other things:

“…[This bill] is not something I think is particularly helpful or needed right now…”

For a republican governor from the most conservative end of a typically red state to say this is definitely a step in the right direction.  And he’s right.  Regardless of your views on homosexuality, marriage equality, or open dialogue in schools, the state of Tennessee has much bigger things to worry about, like the fact that Memphis City Schools, the largest school system in the state, almost didn’t start on time this year because there was no money to fund it.  

On to not-so-great news.  After a Florida teenager was shot for being black and in the wrong neighborhood, the man who did it is still not in jail.  Almost 2 weeks later.  He’s trying to claim self defense, but it’s clear that this was a case of racism.  (Before you go there, yes racism is still alive and kicking.)  And now witnesses have approached the Miami Herald saying that they heard what sounded like a scared child, pleading.  Yeah.  Self defense.  

And what irritates me to no end is that if this situation were the other way around, with a dead white kid and a black shooter, there is no doubt in my mind that the police would have arrested the shooter on the spot.  

And last, but not least (and certainly the funniest), was in the news this week for the state’s residents google search history.  Those top search parameters? “Free Gay Porn” immediately followed by “God.”  While technically 2nd to Florida on the “Free Gay Porn” search, the addition of that 2nd search allowed MS to top the list.  I’ll let you draw your own conclusions about why those are the top searches in The Magnolia State. 

Just an reminder, the Self Evident Truths Project will be in Knoxville Sunday, March 11th and Monday, March 12th.  On Sunday, they’ll be at Lox Salon from 10a-5p.  On that Monday, they’ll actually be on campus in the OUTreach Center here at UT. I have an appointment set for 3p, y’all should come!  

As a little added incentive, UGA just broke the record for number of turn outs of any other city in the country in one city with 95.   We need to break that! 

(Source: polarbear1986)

Something I can happily report about my home state and adopted city.  I recently talked about Stacey Campfield, a state representative from Knoxville, and his ever-so-enlightened comments about HIV infection, his most recent bigoted, inflammatory, and completely false statements.  Don’t forget he is also the lead sponsor of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.  Well, I’m happy to report that other Tennesseeans are listening to the trash spewed form his mouth.  

Anyone who has lived in Knoxville for any length of time knows that Gay St. is one of the best parts of downtown.  Restaurants, bars, and a few unique shops surround the iconic Tennessee and Bijou Theaters and it’s just a generally great experience.  Well, one of these restaurants took a stand when Rep. Campfield decided to make a (laughably ironic) visit to a Gay St. classic.  Bistro at the Bijou is well known in the area and Cempfield decided he would stop by for a bite, but when owner Martha Boggs heard he was in the restaurant, she made a pit stop at his table…and told him to leave.  

“I didn’t want his hate in my restaurant. “I told him he wasn’t welcome here… I feel like he’s gone from being stupid to being dangerous, and I wanted to stand up to him.”

She then took to Facebook and said, 

 ”I hope that [Stacey] Campfield now knows what [it] feels like to be unfairly discriminated against.”

 It’s so nice to know that even here in the most conservative part of the state, people are standing up for what’s right.  I’ve always loved Bistro at the Bijou, but I’ll make sure my patronage is even more frequent now.  Thank you, Ms. Boggs.

Seriously.  I’m so tired of Tennessee being in the national news for crazy things like this.  In a radio interview on Thursday, Knoxville’s incredibly intelligent state representative said, 

“My understanding is that ut us virtually — not completely, but virtually — impossible to contract AIDS trough heterosexual sex.”

I would really like to see him say that to the face of 66% of women (85% of female African Americans) with HIV.  Guess how they got?  Yeah.  Saying things like this are only detrimental to society.  HIV infection is on the rise.  The young adults now are too young to remember the AIDS epidemic and panic of the ’80s and their parents likely weren’t old enough to really be concerned about it.  Add to that a culture on intolerance and bigotry and we’re beginning to have another wave of major infections.  People today, en masse, have the idea that “it will never happen to me.”  But it can.  Gay men still make up the largest percent of new HIV infections and it’s for the same reasons as it was in the ’80s.  

• It’s not like anybody’s gonna get pregnant
• I don’t sleep around
• I was drunk

But, guess what?  That doesn’t mean you can’t catch it. 

The African American community is particularly struck by this.  70% of new HIV infections in men are in young, black men.  And if you think about the fact that African Americans are only 14% of the US population, you realize how severe this problem is.  Some of this is attributed to particularly fierce homophobia amongst African American men.  When a group is already largely marginalized, fighting social norms and morés isn’t always an option.  By being seemingly forced to live out gay lives in secret and then return home to a “normal” heterosexual life, it opens everyone up to a whole new world of problems.  

But Campfield, the sponsor of the “Don’ Say Gay” bill here in Tennessee, keeps spouting his ridiculous rhetoric, pseudoscience, and blatant lies and he’s is damaging the reputation of our state and the harming the people who live here.  It’s time for the people of Knoxville to give him the axe. 

Tennessee had yet another teen commit suicide in the last week from being bullied.  His name was Phillip Parker from Gordonsville, TN, a town about an hour east of Nashville.  He was 14 years old.  14.  And his life is over.  All because other students couldn’t just leave him alone.  While acceptance of everyone would be great, it’s unrealistic.  But tolerance or apathy is mandatory.  You don’t like someone?  Fine.  Don’t talk to them.  Avoid them in the halls.  Don’t invite them to your awesome party.  But to bully someone so much for so long that they take their own life is completely unacceptable.  

As someone who grew up gay in Tennessee, I know how hard it can be.  And I even grew up in Memphis, the liberal end of the state, with the best high school experience anyone could ever ask for.  The hatred and bullying I experienced was all from church and fear of family finding out.  That alone lead me to a very dark and dangerous place.  The pain this child endured was obviously no longer bearable and he felt death was his only way out.  I want to wish the kids that caused this be haunted by what they’ve caused for the rest of their lives, but that wouldn’t be right either.  In the end, they’re kids themselves and likely can’t/couldn’t fathom the true consequences of their actions.  I do hope that it haunts them for many years to come before they are able to move past it and that they realize just what they’ve caused.  

This is a sad, sad day for the South, the LGBTQ community, America, and the world.  When are we going to realize that no matter how you feel about another person or group of people, they deserve respect.  

Many of you may remember my first discussion of the Tennessee state “Don’t Say Gay” Bill or the follow up to it.  Well, one Tennessee school has taken it a step farther.  But the situation isn’t quite as clear-cut as you might think.  Rossville Christian Academy added an anti-gay clause to its school policies.  

“Homosexuality is forbidden in scripture (Romans 1:27, Leviticus 18:22). A staff member or student who promotes, engages in, or identifies himself/​herself with such activity through any word or action shall be in violation of this policy. Should the administration determine a violation of this policy, the person involved will be subject to disciplinary action with the possibility of permanent dismissal. Any applicant who is not in compliance with this policy will not be admitted.”

The first hitch is that Tennessee has no state laws banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. But even if it did, because this is a private school and not a tax-funded public one, they could likely still get away with it.  Add to the fact that it is a religiously based school and there really isn’t a whole lot that can be done.  

Now, there’s a big part of me that, although I disagree with this particular rule, still believes that because it is a private and religious school, they can make their own rules and suffer no legal repercussions.  Because I don’t want religion in politics and laws, I can’t in good conscience think it would be ok to have law and politics in religion.  Simple enough. 

But is it the right thing to do?  It’s easy to say “Well, if you’re LGBT or ally, don’t go to school there.”  But did you always agree with everything your parents thought growing up?  Of course not.  What about that gay student growing up in an environment where he/she feels the need to hide who they are?  What if their parents force them to go this school in hopes of somehow changing their orientation?  All of these pressures now exacerbated thanks to school administration. 

But my real gripe with this is that the school is placing emphasis on a particular aspect of the Bible over all others.  The Bible states in James 2:10 “For whosoevershall keep the whole law, and yet offend offen in one pont, he is guilty of all.”  So why would anyone professing to follow the Bible do something that contradicts the Bible?  If homosexuality is a sin, a point to which I don’t concede, why is it any different than lying, stealing, or adultery?  It just doesn’t make sense.  

And to make all this even worse, one parent flat out said that they feel this rule is targeting one specific student in the approximate 300 person student body.  That just doesn’t seem very Christian to me.  

By all means, people are more than welcome to their opinions and beliefs, but I don’t think that enforcing extraneous rules on children is the way to go.  Faculty?  Sure.  While I don’t agree with it, Tennessee is a “‘At Will’ Employment” state and a company or organization can legally say that they don’t want to a hire a person because of sexual orientation or gender identity and having a different set of criteria for staff vs. students is acceptable.  But this just goes too far.