18 October 2017

Greece passes gender-change law opposed by Orthodox church (UK)

Helena Smith
The Guardian


Greek capitol (interior)

Credit:  https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/61/Greek_Parliament_swearing-in_ceremony_2009Oct14.jpg/220px-Greek_Parliament_swearing-in_ceremony_2009Oct14.jpg

please press:  www.theguardian.com

Inside The Fight For Transgender Americans In The Mountains Of North Carolina

James Michael Nichols
HuffPost


Credit:  https://photos.zillowstatic.com/p_c/ISq16nnutypuxs1000000000.jpg

please press:  www.huffingtonpost.com

ezs note:  Please also note the podcast, "I'm Still Here".  It lasts a little than 40 minutes.

Rural LGBTQ community comes together for two-day summit

Press
The Commons Online


Brattleboro, VT

Credit:  https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5553/14848334832_cfa9c5ca85_b.jpg

please press:  www.commonsnews.org

CT Transgender Activist Fran Fried Loses On 'Jeopardy!'

Susan Dunne
Hartford Courant


Credit:  https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/G/01/videogames/detail-page/B003S2JI82.02.lg.jpg

please press:  www.courant.com

ezs poetry

driving an overtopped van
beneath the strain of traffic
the men and women sit, some placidly
some wheelchaired

one sits
gazing at cracked
bare branches
and he traces
the tree
meeting
the sky

©2017

17 October 2017

One Nation After Trump - Norman J. Ornstein, E.J. Dionne, Thomas Mann


Credit:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDxJexspBJw

C-SPAN/Politics And Prose

Transgender footballer told she cannot play for Australia's national women's team sparking uproar (UK)

Ian Ransom
Mirror


Sydney,  Australia

Credit:  https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Sydney_Opera_House_-_Dec_2008.jpg

please press:  www.mirror.co.uk

State of South Dakota sued over transgender health policy

Jonathan Ellis
Argus Leader


Credit:  http://www.blackhillsknowledgenetwork.org/media/k2/items/cache/b3eb68a775b4ff5e495d75f3ab55b74c_XL.jpg

please press:  www.argusleader.com

Macklemore Slams Trump At Arizona Concert

Press
Noise11


Phoenix, AZ

Credit:  http://www.beautyschoolsdirectory.com/sites/default/files/2017-03/Phoenix%2C%20AZ.jpg

please press:  www.noise11.com

‘Govt clinics not transgender-friendly’ (India)

Press
The Hindu


Credit:  http://www.railprofessional.com/wp-content/uploads/Kochi-1.jpg

please press:  www.thehindu.com

ezs poetry

she slips
into the coral kimono
and steps into the whitened sand

© 2017


Credit:  https://media.cntraveler.com/photos/58acc05a29676a553e60ced1/master/pass/dreamland-bali-GettyImages-544489350.jpg


16 October 2017

Keith Olbermann - The Resistance - Donald Trump Is The Harvey Weinstein Of Washington


Credit:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Upjd311FT7g

Gay pride party next weekend (Botswana)

Keamogetse Motone
weekendpost


Credit:  http://www.operationworld.org/files/ow/maps/lgmap/bots-MMAP-md.png

please press:  www.weekendpost.co.bw

CT Transgender Activist To Be On 'Jeopardy!'

Susan Dunne
Hartford Courant


Credit:  https://www.jeopardy.com/Assets/jeopardy/images/_facebook/fb_profile.jpg

please press:  www.courant.com

Queer Community at CC Celebrates LGBTQIA+ History Month

Logan Coleman
The Catalyst


Credit:  https://res.cloudinary.com/hud9ala09/image/upload/v1462379319/xq5xo7cntfv5u0c5ogea.png

please press: catalystnewspaper.com

Connecticut Joins Legal Battle Over Trump's Ban On Transgender Troops

Russell Blair
Hartford Courant


Connecticut state capitol
(interior)

Credit:  http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/68051083.jpg

please press:  www.courant.com

ezs poetry

The sky, a mullet gray
whips my face as I ride along
not too cool
the weatherman says
but  I feel it
I feel it

finally I enter
as I go to my favored seat
I pick up a book
Ginsberg, some twenty years' dead
whispers into my ear

He speaks to me of Paterson
ruined citystate
where his mother died
alone
poor tattered madwoman

and he sat there
not knowing how to reach her.

©2017



15 October 2017

Trump re-election campaign raised $10 million in third quarter, spent $1.1 million on legal fees

Reuters
CNBC


Credit:  http://www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/trumpbantoon07.jpg?w=620

please press:  www.cnbc.com

Patients risk being left behind as foreign donors pull the plug on HIV/AIDS in Vietnam (Vietnam)

Lam Le
VN Express International


Credit:  https://www.mapsofworld.com/vietnam/maps/vietnam-map.gif

please press:  e.vnexpress.net

ezs note:  This is, by far, the most fascinating story about Vietnam has reported.  Y'see, it's not entirely Vietnam's fault.  A certain agency, PEPFAR, has, until recently, provided a large sum of the funds necessary to combat HIV/AIDS.  PEPFAR stands for U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.  And guess who's in charge of that after January 20?

I don't even want to say it...

Please, call your Representative and both Senators and ask that PEPFAR be fully funded.


Sessions sending top DOJ lawyer to prosecute transgender murder case: report

Brandon Carter
The Hill


Jeff Sessions

Credit:  https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Jeff_Sessions_official_portrait.jpg

please press:  thehill.com

19 years after Matthew Shepard's death, his family is still fighting for LGBTI rights

Rafella Gunz
Gay Star News


murder site of Matthew Shepard
(Laramie, WY)

Credit:  https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz2TW45Z2DDZcUtw3M8QgSynRbgL6BZzElosNj6BHLIuTGRs4_dI_2V2zBuSlKFoijNinqu1hBLTlAfMwssaIWCuk1FHlNCy4ORsGNRcqI9_P20WDmCzIgpnQbTgCIuAev6LUEcB2jTdaY/s1600/4785071547_7da7d2ebc1_b.jpg

please press:  www.gaystarnews.com

Christian printer 'refused to make business cards' for transgender woman (UK)

Jeff Farrell
Independent


Credit:  https://i.pinimg.com/736x/6d/33/40/6d3340e0787da00659acd792eb9d74d2--political-economy-political-satire.jpg

please press:  www.independent.co.uk

To Quote A Queer - ed. John Lessard


Jesse Monteagudo

Credit:  http://bilerico.lgbtqnation.com/mt-static/support/assets_c/2012/11/jesse-bio-thumb-300x300-28625.jpg

"If there was anything that characterized the men and women of the 'Rubyfruit Generation,' it was our innocence and our idealism.  We really believed that we could make things better, for ourselves and for our brothers and sisters." 

14 October 2017

Mnuchin Says Estate Tax Repeal Will Help ‘Rich People’ Most

Alan Rappeport
The New York Times


Credit:  http://westbrookradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Donald-Trump.jpg

please press:  www.nytimes.com

Kim Davis, Once Jailed in America, Campaigns Against Gay Marriage in Romania

Liam Stack, Kit Gillet
The New York Times


Credit:  http://wp.production.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/files/2015/09/Go9pBP5.jpg

please press:  www.nytimes.com

LGBTQ Life celebrates National Coming Out Day

Taylor Jade Powell
Hub


Credit:  https://www.bme.jhu.edu/images/about/homewood_campus.jpg

please press:  hub.jhu.edu

Brogan-Kator discusses transgender rights at Gender Colloquium

Candice Clark
DailyToreador.com


Credit:  http://s3.amazonaws.com/btl-db/1851/S1M1_profile_1851.jpg

please press:  www.dailytoreador.com

Lawmakers launch legislation to protect transgender troops

Carl Prine
The San Diego Union-Tribune


Credit:  http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/gty_congressional_walkout_ferguson_02_jc_141211_4x3_992.jpg

Tazewell, Virginia


estimated transgender population: 27* (rounded up)

Credit:  http://images.npmg.io/images/35b050f787ca3b43f89fc98fc04d84ac/scale?w=300&c=l

ezs note:  For such a tiny town, its National Register of Historic Places is quite impressive.  And one of these - the Tazewell Historic District is open to the public!  Come on down - visit Tazewell, Virginia today!

13 October 2017

Trump’s Iran Derangement

Roger Cohen
The New York Times


Credit:  https://i.pinimg.com/736x/6c/a2/f1/6ca2f17bdcbcf3ceab5677692fccf6dd--political-satire-political-cartoons.jpg

please press:  www.nytimes.com

Priscilla soars, HK Ballet dives into dark themes (Hong Kong)

Kevin Ng
ejinsight


Hong Kong Ballet Company

Credit:  http://www.northrop.umn.edu/sites/default/files/public/styles/media_full/public/media/the_hong_kong_ballet_turandot_photo_conrad_dy-liacco_4.jpg?itok=SWAVtJa-

please press:  www.ejinsight.com

We Cannot Remain Silent

David J. Johns
Los Angeles Blade


Credit:  https://tbmwomenintheworld2016.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/screen-shot-2017-02-28-at-9-34-53-am.png?w=956

please press:  www.losangelesblade.com 

Harford County private school loses state vouchers over discriminatory policies outlined in handbook

Liz Bowie
The Baltimore Sun


Trinity Lutheran Christian School - Joppa, MD

Credit:  https://i.ytimg.com/vi/DAqXyqnRYyQ/hqdefault.jpg

please press:  www.baltimoresun.com

Former Army Secretary: Donald Trump’s Transgender Troops Ban Weakens the Military

Eric K. Fanning
Time


Credit:  http://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/imagecache/mbdxxlarge/mritems/Images/2015/10/14/6f39fd3dfb854acda964e450c001646f_18.jpg

please press:  time.com

12 October 2017

To Quote A Queer - ed. John Lessard


Bruce Hayes

Credit:  https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5073583384ae5bd7fb7188a4/t/50a15725e4b046b429557fd1/1352750887719/Bruce_Hayes.jpg

"It is always exciting when a gay person of accomplishment comes out.  But in our haste to turn these people into role models, we frequently expect them to drop what they're doing and become activists overnight.  We forget what made them newsworthy in the first place."

11 October 2017

Donald Trump just issued a direct threat to the free and independent media

Chris Cillizza
CNN


Credit:  https://thehighwaywoman.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/mg_0003.jpg

please press:  www.cnn.com

LGBT people in Egypt targeted in wave of arrests and violence (UK)

Ruth Michaelson
The Guardian


Credit:  https://www.mapsofworld.com/egypt/maps/egypt-map.gif

please press:  www.theguardian.com

How Trump Uses “Religious Liberty” to Attack L.G.B.T. Rights

Masha Gessen
The New Yorker


Credit:  https://i.pinimg.com/736x/64/d4/35/64d4357e426a0fa66d17f3497f3c6b14--freedom-riders-freedom-fighters.jpg

please press: www.newyorker.com

BRUMMETT ONLINE: A job for the Marines

John Brummett
Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette


Credit:  https://www.stripes.com/polopoly_fs/1.248964.1382665596!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_900/image.jpg

please press: www.nwaonline.com

Why the Boy Scouts are finally willing to welcome girl Scouts

Abby Hamblin
The San Diego Union-Tribune


Credit:  http://c001af38d1d46a976912-b99970780ce78ebdd694d83e551ef810.r48.cf1.rackcdn.com/orgheaders/3221/bsa-logo.png

please press:  www.sandiegouniontribune.com

ezs note:  Well, now, let me see.  Do girls belong in the Boy Scouts?

in 1909:  no
in 2000:  well... no... not really...
But this is 2017, pal.  If they feel that strongly, they do belong.  Unless Donald Trump is your Scout leader.  In that case, maybe boys and girls should stay out of the troop.  It would be so much better that way.

To Quote A Queer - ed. John Lessard


Tom Ford

Credit:  https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Tom_Ford_cropped_2009.jpg

"When the youth of America gets together, amazing things happen.  College campuses were once a hotbed of political activity.  Students in the '60s were responsible for great changes, politically and socially.  The youth movement launched and defined what we've become since the '60. I would like to see that happen again."  

David Cay Johnston - Q&A


Credit:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8bAHb4yVko

10 October 2017

DONALD TRUMP CHALLENGES REX TILLERSON TO AN IQ TEST: ‘I CAN TELL YOU WHO IS GOING TO WIN’

Graham Lanktree
Newsweek

Graham Lanktre

Credit:  https://www.usnews.com/dims4/USNEWS/643aac7/2147483647/resize/1200x%3E/quality/85/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.beam.usnews.com%2Fb4%2F32%2Fecf8430d46218d601ccc6d6460d1%2Fthumb-2.jpg

please press:  www.newsweek.com

Bosnian LGBTs Remain in Closet to Stay Safe (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Mladen Lakic
Balkan Insight


Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Credit:  http://i2.cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/170724165925-mosque-sarajevo-full-169.jpg

please press:  www.balkaninsight.com




THE RISE OF TRANSGENDER POLITICAL CANDIDATES

Joseph Darius Jaafari
Nation Swell


Credit:  https://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/BN-QA652_0928se_J_20160928170022.jpg

please press:  nationswell.com

ezs note:  It's one of those little hotlinks that you can easily pass over - but you definitely shouldn't. I read that 0.3 percent made up the transgender population - but I was wrong.  It's 0.58 percent - almost double the amount. (In the initial report, the authors of The Williams Institute [UCLA] listed the data as 0.6 percent - but I felt it was more scientifically sound to list the data at 0.58 percent.)  To get the full documentation from The Williams Institute, press http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/How-Many-Adults-Identify-as-Transgender-in-the-United-States.pdf.


Information is scarce about parents opposed to City Schools of Decatur’s transgender policy

Dan Whisenhunt
Decaturish


Credit:http://www.urbana.k12.oh.us/uhs/animations1/animals_m_z/ocean/crab_hide_under_rocks_hr.jpg

please press:  www.decaturish.com

Greek Transgender Community Hopes New Law Will Improve Lives

Elena Becatoros
US News & World Report


Santorini, Greece

Credit:  https://www.interrail.eu/sites/interrail.eu/files/styles/asset_image_responsive_common_list_block_380/public/assets/images/2013/11/santorini_greece.jpg?itok=-Kx9qimu

please press:  www.usnews.com 

To Quote A Queer - ed. John Lessard


John Amaechi

Credit:  https://www.amaechiperformance.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/About-Us-John-Amaechi.jpg

I am gay, black, British, smart, dumb, patronizing, all these other things - flawed in many ways - and I am now asserting my activism. -  John Amaechi

09 October 2017

Four ways Bob Corker skewered Donald Trump (UK)

Anthony Zurcher
BBC News


Credit:  http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/default/files/custom/Family_Guy_Trump_Emmy_Campaign_embed.jpg

please press:  www.bbc.com 

Activists celebrate Botswana's transgender court victory (Kenya)

Press
The Star


scene in Kenya

Credit:  http://www.journeyinstyle.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Kenya-2-1200x671.jpg

please press:  www.the-star.co.ke