Just when you were ready to put the dismal Supreme Court decision on same-sex partner benefits temporarily behind you, news that protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church will make an appearance at Eastern Michigan University today at noon. If you don't know what to do for lunch, stop by and share in the counter protest!
From the Triangle Foundation press release:
"Known for his "God Hates Fags" websites and propaganda, Fred Phelps is coming to protest against a student organization that allegedly promotes 'the sodomite agenda.'"
"If you would like to join Triangle Foundation and other LGBT and allied organizations on EMU’s campus, we would appreciate your support. Those of us who attend, please do not engage in violent ways or angry reactions. Be mindful he engages in spiritual abuse against LGBT people and our allies. After their protest we encourage our community to assist us in symbolically and physically washing the area of hate, bigotry, and exclusion with mops and brooms."
It's really difficult to see this event as unrelated to the Supreme Court decision earlier this week. The temptation is to say that the Westboro people are a fringe group and the Supreme Court is not. But the result for LGBT people is the same: public denouncement of who we are. Is that connection really such a stretch for straight people to comprehend?
It is doubtful the Westboro group is attempting to create synergy with the court decision, but you never know. They may be hateful, but they're not stupid.
Showing posts with label LGBT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LGBT. Show all posts
Friday, May 9, 2008
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Same-sex partner benefits illegal in Michigan
Welcome to the backwater called Michigan.
The Supreme Court has spoken. The state constitution as amended by voters defines marriage in Michigan as only possible between one man and one woman. Public employers may not extend benefits to same-sex partners of employees.
If you are gay or lesbian and in a committed relationship, you cannot be construed as married in Michigan. While the court's decision only applies to public employers, it will be a green light for further discrimination against LGBT persons in Michigan.
Now you can be sure that Michigan is an inhospitable place for gay and lesbian people.
The straight majority asserted its will in 2004. Married heterosexual people really are privileged in Michigan. Heterosexual privilege is enshrined in the state constitution.
If you are in a gay or lesbian relationship, you may think of your commitment to each other as a marriage, but the state does not. You may share all your resources with each other, but Michigan will not honor your relationship. You have no protection. You can draft a sheaf of legal documents to simulate the contractual elements of marriage. You can hope that such documents will be honored as you attempt to conduct your business as a couple. But there are no guarantees.
Good luck with your new economy, Michigan. Good luck attracting quirky, creative, innovators. Good luck retaining gays and lesbians who've devoted themselves to public service and education for the wellbeing of their fellow citizens.
Maybe this is what some voters wanted -- to drive out the queers, make them unwelcome, purify Michigan for the sake of future generations.
The Supreme Court has spoken. The state constitution as amended by voters defines marriage in Michigan as only possible between one man and one woman. Public employers may not extend benefits to same-sex partners of employees.
If you are gay or lesbian and in a committed relationship, you cannot be construed as married in Michigan. While the court's decision only applies to public employers, it will be a green light for further discrimination against LGBT persons in Michigan.
Now you can be sure that Michigan is an inhospitable place for gay and lesbian people.
The straight majority asserted its will in 2004. Married heterosexual people really are privileged in Michigan. Heterosexual privilege is enshrined in the state constitution.
If you are in a gay or lesbian relationship, you may think of your commitment to each other as a marriage, but the state does not. You may share all your resources with each other, but Michigan will not honor your relationship. You have no protection. You can draft a sheaf of legal documents to simulate the contractual elements of marriage. You can hope that such documents will be honored as you attempt to conduct your business as a couple. But there are no guarantees.
Good luck with your new economy, Michigan. Good luck attracting quirky, creative, innovators. Good luck retaining gays and lesbians who've devoted themselves to public service and education for the wellbeing of their fellow citizens.
Maybe this is what some voters wanted -- to drive out the queers, make them unwelcome, purify Michigan for the sake of future generations.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Clare Public Schools squashes Day of Silence
If you're a gay kid in Clare Public Schools, you're on your own. The school administration will not support you or assure a safe environment or permit something as benign as participation in the Day of Silence, a national event of solidarity with LGBT youth in schools.According to a report in the Clare County Review, Clare Public Schools officially prohibited student and teacher participation in the National Day of Silence sponsored by GLSEN.
Clare Board Of Education President Tom Weaver read a statement at the board meeting prior to last Friday's event:
"Teachers will be instructed to teach, and students will be instructed not to post any signs or hand out any literature.
If a student chooses not to participate in classroom activities, they will face the consequences of their actions. Disciplinary action will be taken against any students or teachers causing any type of disturbance relating to the “Day of Silence” issue."
Doesn't the Board of Education realize that harassment on the basis of perceived sexual orientation or gender expression is the most common "disturbance" relating to the "Day of Silence" issue? The issue is creating safe space for all students. Period. Kids are driven to suicide and assaulted every day because of actual or perceived difference. By prohibiting an event that demonstrates support for an inclusive environment, the community leaders are giving a green light for violence and abuse against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender kids.
Even worse, they are tacitly accepting a community standard based on suppressing civil action to protest injustice. They are condoning a community standard of discrimination, intolerance, conformity and fear.
It's bad enough LGBT adults in Michigan continue to face workplace discrimination.
Michigan's future depends on a culture of creativity and diversity and inclusion. That means welcoming gay and lesbian people. And transgender people. And all kinds of different people.
The Clare County Review reported that Rev. Jim Shuster, a bus driver and pastor of the North West Baptist Church, said, “This agenda is the homosexual cause. Are we going to allow this agenda into Clare Schools? It’s sin. Why do we want to legitimize sin in our schools? Our tax based school system should not promote this agenda.”
It's not a homosexual cause, it's a human rights cause. Kids have the human right to be safe in their persons in schools supported by the state.
Michigan, you have a long, long way to go. Please don't shoot yourself in the foot.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Antics with Semantics or How to Insure the Invisible Partner (update)
Good news for non-heterosexual households in Michigan. Michigan State University has a plan to continue providing benefits to persons formerly known as "domestic partners." Now these family members will be called "other eligible individuals" for the sake of conforming to the restrictively interpreted language of Michigan's man/woman marriage amendment. MSU will begin a pilot program with the new language July 1 and review it annually.
According to a June 15 piece from Inside Higher Ed, "The new policy doesn’t distinguish between same-sex and opposite-sex living arrangements, and in fact it would cover people who aren’t really couples in any sense, but who merely share a home."
The message in Michigan seems to be: if you are gay or lesbian and in a committed relationship, in order to receive the employment benefits that accrue to heterosexuals in partnered relationships, your relationship must be rendered invisible. If your relationship is invisible, you can have benefits. The proponents of the marriage amendment said they didn't want to take benefits away from anyone, just clarify the definition of marriage. Mission accomplished.
Update: Late this morning, University of Michigan announced,"Effective Jan. 1, 2008, a new category of dependent called Other Qualified Adult (OQA) is being offered to all benefits-eligible U-M employees. A set of specific eligibility requirements defines the criteria required for OQA coverage."
OQAs or OEIs? Neither has the same ring as "spouse."
Related Post: "The Law is the Law"
According to a June 15 piece from Inside Higher Ed, "The new policy doesn’t distinguish between same-sex and opposite-sex living arrangements, and in fact it would cover people who aren’t really couples in any sense, but who merely share a home."
The message in Michigan seems to be: if you are gay or lesbian and in a committed relationship, in order to receive the employment benefits that accrue to heterosexuals in partnered relationships, your relationship must be rendered invisible. If your relationship is invisible, you can have benefits. The proponents of the marriage amendment said they didn't want to take benefits away from anyone, just clarify the definition of marriage. Mission accomplished.
Update: Late this morning, University of Michigan announced,"Effective Jan. 1, 2008, a new category of dependent called Other Qualified Adult (OQA) is being offered to all benefits-eligible U-M employees. A set of specific eligibility requirements defines the criteria required for OQA coverage."
OQAs or OEIs? Neither has the same ring as "spouse."
Related Post: "The Law is the Law"
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
"The Law is the Law"
The list of public institutions discontinuing same-sex domestic partner benefits in Michigan grows daily. MSU will no longer offer benefits and the existing benefits will end when current contracts expire. (According to Pam Beemer, assistant vice president for Human Resources at MSU, 54 people currently use the benefit at MSU.) What took them so long? University of Michigan made that announcement immediately after the February 2 Court of Appeals ruling.
According to Rusty Hill, spokesman for Attorney General Mike Cox, "the law is the law." So public institutions will need to find creative ways to rename and restructure the benefits extended to same-sex domestic partners. And it behooves them to do so immediately, unless they want to lose valuable employees to more welcoming states and employers.
The law doesn't deny the right to provide health insurance or other benefits to domestic partners; it denies the right to equate the benefit in any way with the benefits given to straight married people. Certainly, human resources and legal departments can work around that. Let's see...what might we call this employment benefit? "Health Insurance Allowance" to be used at employee discretion? Fine. Call it something else, but don't leave couples and families with children in the lurch.
According to Rusty Hill, spokesman for Attorney General Mike Cox, "the law is the law." So public institutions will need to find creative ways to rename and restructure the benefits extended to same-sex domestic partners. And it behooves them to do so immediately, unless they want to lose valuable employees to more welcoming states and employers.
The law doesn't deny the right to provide health insurance or other benefits to domestic partners; it denies the right to equate the benefit in any way with the benefits given to straight married people. Certainly, human resources and legal departments can work around that. Let's see...what might we call this employment benefit? "Health Insurance Allowance" to be used at employee discretion? Fine. Call it something else, but don't leave couples and families with children in the lurch.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Hope for LGBT Homeless Youth in Southeast Michigan
Up to 42% of homeless and runaway youth identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, according to the National Runaway Switchboard--a number vastly disproportionate to the general population. What does this mean for the Detroit area?
Grace McClelland, Executive Director of the Ruth Ellis Center, says we are in the midst of an epidemic of LGBT homelessness. "The estimated number of homeless youth not receiving shelter services in Detroit on any given day ranges from 1,600 to 2,000. Of those, 640-800 homeless LGBT youth are on the streets of Detroit every day," according to a recent report by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, titled "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth: An Epidemic of Homelessness."
The Ruth Ellis Center, created in 1999, provides short-term and long-term residential safe space and support services for runaway, homeless and at-risk LGBTQ youth in Detroit and southeastern Michigan. It is one of only four agencies in the nation that specifically focus on the needs of LGBT youth and it is the largest youth drop-in center in the country, straight, gay or otherwise, says McClelland.
The Center was named in honor of Ruth Ellis, the renowned "matriarch" of Detroit's African-American gay and lesbian community, who lived to be 101 years old. An out lesbian all her adult life, Ellis was known for her hospitality and generosity to people whose race or sexual orientation put them at odds with the dominant culture. At the age of 100 she cut the ribbon on the new Center bearing her name. "We really did model the agency after the legacy of her unselfishness in giving to young people. She was a female entrepreneur and she was black and lesbian. She opened up her home in 1930 to gay and lesbian people in Detroit. This was pre-civil rights movement. She could have been killed," McClelland recounted.
The Center has four programs: the Street Outreach Program and Drop-In Center, Ruth's House Transitional Living Program, and Ruth's House Emergency Shelter Program. "Last year, we had 14,880 contacts with runaway, homeless and at-risk LGBT youth in Detroit," reports McClelland.
Over the last three and a half years, the number of contacts has risen exponentially, from less than 1000 in 2002 to the current levels. McClelland attributes this increase to several factors. In 2003-2004 the Center developed the Street Outreach Program to such an extent that now, the word is out and youth find the Center through each other. The SOP has six full time staff and about 70 volunteers. McClelland also speculates that more youth are coming out due to the encouragement of the gay rights movement and a perception that society is more open to LGBT people. In addition, youth are coming out at younger ages than before. But for the LGBT youth of Detroit, coming out often results in judgment and rejection by families and churches. "The kids are coming out or being outed, and they are immediately being ejected from their homes,"McClelland said.
Once on the street, in addition to the stress of being poor, hungry and homeless, the youth are vulnerable to sexual abuse and exploitation by predators. They are also targets of violence for being gay. The Center reaches out to these youth by offering referral to shelters and housing agencies, one hot meal daily, access to shower and laundry facilities, clothing, access to mentor relationships, education on HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, and independent living skills.
The Transitional Living Program, an 18-month program for youth 16-21 years of age, accommodates five residents and provides comprehensive services to build independent living skills. The five-bed Emergency Shelter is open to 12-17 year olds for stays up to 14 to 30 days. But where do the other homeless youth actually stay?
"A lot of our young people 'couch surf.' They stay with people they know until they wear out their welcome and move to another house. We have kids who live outside. We also have a significant number of youth who live in abandoned houses with no heat, no plumbing, no electricity, no water... nothing," McClelland said.
What more can be done? "The public needs to be made more aware through the media," McClelland said. After the NGLTF publication was released in January, CNN and the New York Times did contact the Center and published coverage is pending, yet mainstream local media have not publicized the Center or the report.
But they still can and it would be helpful.
Grace McClelland, Executive Director of the Ruth Ellis Center, says we are in the midst of an epidemic of LGBT homelessness. "The estimated number of homeless youth not receiving shelter services in Detroit on any given day ranges from 1,600 to 2,000. Of those, 640-800 homeless LGBT youth are on the streets of Detroit every day," according to a recent report by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, titled "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth: An Epidemic of Homelessness."
The Ruth Ellis Center, created in 1999, provides short-term and long-term residential safe space and support services for runaway, homeless and at-risk LGBTQ youth in Detroit and southeastern Michigan. It is one of only four agencies in the nation that specifically focus on the needs of LGBT youth and it is the largest youth drop-in center in the country, straight, gay or otherwise, says McClelland.
The Center was named in honor of Ruth Ellis, the renowned "matriarch" of Detroit's African-American gay and lesbian community, who lived to be 101 years old. An out lesbian all her adult life, Ellis was known for her hospitality and generosity to people whose race or sexual orientation put them at odds with the dominant culture. At the age of 100 she cut the ribbon on the new Center bearing her name. "We really did model the agency after the legacy of her unselfishness in giving to young people. She was a female entrepreneur and she was black and lesbian. She opened up her home in 1930 to gay and lesbian people in Detroit. This was pre-civil rights movement. She could have been killed," McClelland recounted.
The Center has four programs: the Street Outreach Program and Drop-In Center, Ruth's House Transitional Living Program, and Ruth's House Emergency Shelter Program. "Last year, we had 14,880 contacts with runaway, homeless and at-risk LGBT youth in Detroit," reports McClelland.
Over the last three and a half years, the number of contacts has risen exponentially, from less than 1000 in 2002 to the current levels. McClelland attributes this increase to several factors. In 2003-2004 the Center developed the Street Outreach Program to such an extent that now, the word is out and youth find the Center through each other. The SOP has six full time staff and about 70 volunteers. McClelland also speculates that more youth are coming out due to the encouragement of the gay rights movement and a perception that society is more open to LGBT people. In addition, youth are coming out at younger ages than before. But for the LGBT youth of Detroit, coming out often results in judgment and rejection by families and churches. "The kids are coming out or being outed, and they are immediately being ejected from their homes,"McClelland said.
Once on the street, in addition to the stress of being poor, hungry and homeless, the youth are vulnerable to sexual abuse and exploitation by predators. They are also targets of violence for being gay. The Center reaches out to these youth by offering referral to shelters and housing agencies, one hot meal daily, access to shower and laundry facilities, clothing, access to mentor relationships, education on HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, and independent living skills.
The Transitional Living Program, an 18-month program for youth 16-21 years of age, accommodates five residents and provides comprehensive services to build independent living skills. The five-bed Emergency Shelter is open to 12-17 year olds for stays up to 14 to 30 days. But where do the other homeless youth actually stay?
"A lot of our young people 'couch surf.' They stay with people they know until they wear out their welcome and move to another house. We have kids who live outside. We also have a significant number of youth who live in abandoned houses with no heat, no plumbing, no electricity, no water... nothing," McClelland said.
What more can be done? "The public needs to be made more aware through the media," McClelland said. After the NGLTF publication was released in January, CNN and the New York Times did contact the Center and published coverage is pending, yet mainstream local media have not publicized the Center or the report.
But they still can and it would be helpful.
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