Skip to main content

New top story from Time: This is the Queerest Congress Ever. Will It Advance LGBTQ Rights?

https://ift.tt/3wT9b9I

This article is part of the The DC Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to get stories like this sent to your inbox every weekday.

For many Americans, it’s all too easy to assume that the fight for LGBTQ rights has been won. After all, same-sex couples have enjoyed the same right to marriage as their straight neighbors since 2015; the Supreme Court ruled last year that a person’s sexuality alone is not a justifiable reason for them to lose their job. Support for same-sex relationships is at a record high, while major corporations for the past month have been bathing consumers in rainbow-hued marketing and affirmations amid Pride celebrations. In Washington, D.C., more LGBTQ lawmakers than ever before are in power at the Capitol—and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is the first openly gay member of a presidential Cabinet.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

But Americans would be better served by benching gestures of performative allyship and recognizing just how many ways this country still discriminates—in perfectly legal ways—against the LGBTQ community. From financial contracts to mental-health services, housing to parenthood, institutions find ways large and small to stack the deck against LGBTQ people. In just one example, a 2018 study found that LGBTQ students left college with about $16,000 more student debt than their straight classmates, owing to factors like decreased family support, their requiring more time to finish a degree and external costs like counseling.

At the federal level, some steps are being considered to provide LGBTQ people with more support. The Equality Act, the most sweeping rewrite of civil rights laws since the 1960s, would offer protections for fair access to housing, education and even jury service without regard to sexuality or gender. But the legislation is stuck in the Senate.

Meanwhile, a bevy of efforts are under way to roll back existing protections; dozens of bills are winding their way through state capitols to make it more difficult— if not impossible—for transgender students to play school sports or use restrooms corresponding to their gender identity. Self-styled “religious ­liberty” laws that permit discrimination in the name of faith are chugging along with few checks in state legislatures that are dominated by Republicans. And in June, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Philadelphia was on the wrong side of the law when it said that to receive city funding, a Catholic social-service agency had to provide services to same-sex couples looking to adopt.

Against this backdrop, TIME spoke with two co-chairs of the Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus, Representatives Sharice Davids of Kansas and Mondaire Jones of New York, as part of its 2021 virtual Pride Summit highlighting perspectives on identity, creativity and equality. Both Democrats, they’ve made history: Davids in 2018 as the first openly LGBTQ Native American elected to Congress and Jones as one of two gay Black men elected to Congress in the 2020 elections.

“It’s important that we are living authentically and visibly, giving inspiration to kids­ ­like [I was] when I was growing up wondering if there was a place for me in a world filled with so much injustice,” Jones tells TIME. “And of course you have to shoulder some of the important work that the LGBTQ movement has still yet to accomplish.”

They may be firsts, but they’re not ones to puff up their chests just because they will have places in future history books. “A lot of people know what it’s like to be the only person like them in the room,” Davids says. And even with the strides being made to ensure Congress is more representative of America’s changing demographics, there’s still plenty more work to do. Of the 535 voting members of Congress, just 11 identify publicly as LGBTQ.

This appears in the July 05, 2021 issue of TIME.

Make sense of what matters in Washington. Sign up for the daily D.C. Brief newsletter.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

L Taraval Improvement Project Update

L Taraval Improvement Project Update By Sevilla Mann Roundtable at the Community Parklet Shares Project Updates  This past week, the SFMTA hosted a media roundtable discussing updates about the L Taraval Improvement Project at the community parklet located in front of the The Rolling Out Café  on Taraval St.   Segment B construction began in February 2022 and is scheduled to be completed Fall 2024. Sewer and water infrastructure work is currently taking place. Future work includes track work, overhead line work, the construction of new boarding islands and streetscape improvements.    On hand to answer questions and provide updates was District Four Supervisor Gordon Mar, SFMTA Board Director Sharon Lai and Director of Transportation Jefferey Tumlin.   The Roundtable  Supervisor Mar opened the discussion by highlighting the many benefits that the local community will receive with the planned infrastructure upgrades along the corridor. These benefits include:   Replacing sew

FOX NEWS: Cincinnati zoo renames sloth habitat after late 1-year-old who loved sloths The sloth habitat at Ohio's Cincinnati Zoo will be named after a toddler who recently passed away.

Cincinnati zoo renames sloth habitat after late 1-year-old who loved sloths The sloth habitat at Ohio's Cincinnati Zoo will be named after a toddler who recently passed away. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/3DLAshi

IPL 2020 | KKR, SRH search for first win to get off the mark https://ift.tt/333a9nc

Having suffered defeats in their opening games, the Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad will lock horns on Saturday at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. While Kolkata faced a tough 49-run loss to defending champions Mumbai Indians, the Sunrisers suffered a monumental batting collapse against Royal Challengers Bangalore, losing the game by 10 runs.

FOX NEWS: Decadent double chocolate mint cookies for National Chocolate Day National Chocolate Day on Oct. 28th calls for a serious dose of chocolate.

Decadent double chocolate mint cookies for National Chocolate Day National Chocolate Day on Oct. 28th calls for a serious dose of chocolate. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/3nEJxSB

Powered Scooters Charge City’s Transportation Recovery

Powered Scooters Charge City’s Transportation Recovery By Jason Hyde The SFMTA is releasing its next round of Powered Scooter Share permits on July 1. Scooters remain a sustainable mode of travel and a complement to Muni and public transit service as the city recovers from the pandemic and San Franciscans begin to travel more. The SFMTA’s Powered Scooter Share Program is essential in ensuring that shared scooter operations support the city’s economic recovery in a safe, sustainable, and equitable way.  The SFMTA received four submittals for the permit program and will issue permits to two operators : Spin and Lime. Permits will be in effect for a one-year term, with the option to extend for another year at the discretion of the SFMTA based on compliance with various program metrics. While the new permit program does not set a limit on the number of scooters each operator may deploy, it does limit the overall citywide fleet size at 10,000. Starting at a base of 2,000 scooters per

New top story from Time: 3 Killed in Northern California as Wildfires Force Thousands to Evacuate

https://ift.tt/34at2Uy (SAN FRANCISCO) — Northern California’s wine country was on fire again Monday as strong winds fanned flames in the already scorched region, destroying homes and prompting orders for nearly 70,000 people to evacuated. Meanwhile, three people died in a separate fire further north in the state. In Sonoma County, residents of the Oakmont Gardens senior living facility in Santa Rosa boarded brightly lit city buses in the darkness overnight, some wearing bathrobes and using walkers. They wore masks to protect against the coronavirus as orange flames marked the dark sky. The fire threat forced Adventist Health St. Helena hospital to suspend care and transfer all patients elsewhere. The fires that began Sunday in the famed Napa-Sonoma wine country about 45 miles (72 kilometers) north of San Francisco came as the region nears the third anniversary of deadly wildfires that erupted in 2017, including one that killed 22 people. Just a month ago, many of those

Traffic Collisions have Decreased on San Francisco’s Slow Streets

Traffic Collisions have Decreased on San Francisco’s Slow Streets By Julia Malmo   As a whole, Slow Streets are safer than they were before being designated Slow Streets  Streets that are part of the SFMTA’s  Slow Streets Program have become measurably safer since the program began in 2020, with the number of traffic crashes falling by almost half. On average, these corridors have seen a 48% drop in collisions following their designation as Slow Streets, compared with a 14% drop in collisions citywide over the same period. Slow Streets also are more welcoming for people who walk, bike and roll. Fewer than 1,000 vehicles per day use all but four of the current Slow Streets (20th Street, Minnesota Street, Noe Street, and Page Street).  The goal of the program is to create safe, shared streets that are comfortable and enjoyable for people of all ages and abilities, using any mode of transportation. We now can see how it’s doing in a new evaluation report . When the SFMTA Board appr

New top story from Time: How History Is Repeating Itself for Haitian Migrants Trying to Enter the U.S.

https://ift.tt/3upRk9U In the past 11 years alone, Haitians have suffered natural disasters, rising gang violence, outbreaks of cholera and COVID-19, and political instability, including the recent assassination of President Jovenel Moïse . The crises left many in the hemisphere’s poorest nation feeling they had no option but to leave—despite the difficulties they face in fleeing to other countries. In late September, Americans were confronted with the reality of those difficulties too. An estimated 15,000 people arrived in Del Rio, Texas, during the month, below a bridge connecting the city to Mexico’s Ciudad Acuña. A majority were Haitian nationals, migrants and asylum seekers who ended up living in tents or under tarps, in conditions similar to those in other camps that have formed along the U.S.-Mexico border in recent years. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Read more: Caught Between U.S. Policies and Instability at Home, Haitian Migrants in Tijuana Are in a State of L

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J कोरोना सकंट में TV सीरियल की शूटिंग शूरू, मास्क लगाकर पहुंचे स्टार्स- निया, पार्थ से लेकर रश्मि-PICS

कोरोना वायरस के चलते जारी लॉकडाउन में टीवी व फिल्मों की शूटिंग बंद थी। कोरोना के खतरे को देखते हुए तमाम सीरियल की शूटिंग रोक दी गई तो वहीं फिल्मों को रिलीज अटक गई। एंटरटेंमेंट इंडस्ट्री को कोरोना के चलते करोड़ों from टेलीविजन की खबरें | Television News in Hindi | TV Serials Update in Hindi – FilmiBeat Hindi http:/hindi.filmibeat.com/television/tv-shooting-starts-kasauti-zindagi-kay-naagin-nia-sharma-parth-samthaan-rashmi-desai-pics-090604.html?utm_source=/rss/filmibeat-hindi-television-fb.xml&utm_medium=23.11.231.156&utm_campaign=client-rss

Meet the People of the Next Generation CIS: Leon Yu

Meet the People of the Next Generation CIS: Leon Yu By Deanna Leo Leon Yu, Graphic Artist, Creative Services   What do you do on the project?  I help design the user experience: What users see on the new displays, how they see it and how often they see it, down to the actual graphics.   How do you feel your work impacts our customers? Who will benefit?  My work communicates transit information to customers as cleanly and clearly as possible, so the information is easy for any member of the public to understand. We only have a small space to work with on the displays, so we must make it count. People  of all backgrounds, languages and abilities, so need to get this information quickly at a glance.   What was your favorite part of the project?  My favorite part is working with the team and all the different CIS systems. This is such a multidisciplinary project involving many staff and people I’ve never worked with before. Being able to collaborate with so many dedicated colleagu