OutPerform | A weekly newsletter on LGBTQ+ Equality - Issue #41

This week: a trans woman is Jeopardy’s top female earning winner, the psychology of lesbian aesthetics, the passing of gay icon Betty White, homophobia in Senegal, Miranda's gay kiss, and much more.

Welcome to this year's first edition of my weekly equality news digest, where I share important news, updates, and commentary about the LGBTQ+ equality movement globally.

Questions, feedback, and comments are always welcome. Would you mind sharing with your networks to continue helping us move the LGBTQ+ equality conversation forward?

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US News

Jeopardy: a trans woman is the top female earning winner (she also got robbed).

If you missed it, Amy Schneider made history last week, becoming the woman to win the most consecutive regular-season episodes of Jeopardy! and the highest-earning woman to ever appear on the show (and fourth earner ever with over $800,000 so far on the show). The conservatives were not kind as usual and on top of that, she was robbed at gunpoint Sunday. Amy responded to anti-trans trolling cleverly on Twitter with  “I’d like to thank all the people who have taken the time, during this busy holiday season, to reach out and explain to me that, actually, I’m a man. Every single one of you is the first person ever to make that very clever point, which had never once before crossed my mind.”

LGBTQ+ people and sex-offenders registries.

Two weeks ago, I mentioned the specific risks for innocent LGBTQ+ people in the plan to create an international sex-offenders registry as part of bill HR 5150 (introduced in the House on September 3, 2021). This week, an article in Out Magazine discusses the plight of a South Carolina man who was forced to register as a sex offender because of a 2001 conviction for consensual sex with another man and filed a lawsuit in federal court on December 22 challenging his status — and the law itself. Read about it here.

Farewell to Betty White, a true gay icon.

That put a damper on New Year's Eve. The actress died on December 31, 2021, at the age of 99, after a life of allyship with the LGBTQ+ struggle and other social justice causes. When asked about her endorsement by the LGBTQ+ community in 2011, she said: "Throughout my career, I've always portrayed characters that were humorous, but also weren't afraid to speak their minds, especially when it came to racy or controversial topics. … I think this struck a chord with the LGBT community." She clearly loved the work she did, and we loved her. 

Foster care system: a striking LGBTQ+ statistic.

In an article on an LGBTQ+ child in the Virginia foster care system this week, I read that 30% of children in foster care nationally identify as LGBTQ+. Indeed a 2019 study found 30.4 percent of youth in foster care identify as LGBTQ and 5 percent as transgender, compared to 11.2 percent and 1.17 percent of youth not in foster care. This is striking at a time when many States discuss "religious exemptions" that would allow the predominantly faith-based adoption system to discriminate. Similarly, it is a stark reminder of the consequences of homophobia and transphobia on kids.

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Global News

UK: report on the reform of the Gender Recognition Act.

Over the holidays, on December 21, the Women and Equalities Committee (read it here) published its report calling for gender recognition to "move closer to a system of self-declaration," which involves strong legal safeguards but not medical scrutiny. This finding aligns with best international practices, such as the recommendations of the UN Independent Expert on SOGIE. As a reminder, the Gender Recognition Act 2004, which accompanies legal gender transition in the UK, is considered by many as both intrusive and onerous.

Israel: lifting surrogacy ban for LGBTQ+ people and single men.

Same-sex couples, single men, and transgender individuals are now permitted to have children via surrogacy in Israel. Yesterday's announcement put an end to egregious discrimination in access to surrogacy after a July 2020 court decision.

Senegal: it does not get better.

As a community, we often forget francophone West Africa in our efforts to support grassroots movements. While the super-criminalization proposed by some 13 opposition MPs has little chance to pass, it has dangerously ramped up anti-LGBTQ+ hate speech in society. I know you don't speak Wolof, Senegal's dominant language (although maybe add learning it as part of your 2022 resolutions), but here is an example.

Kenya: catfished for money.

From Tashkent to Kenya, criminalization and intolerant environments are directly linked to blackmail and extortion, sometimes by the police. Here is a story in The Guardian of a gay Kenyan entrapped for money.

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LGBTQ+ finance

Spain: "Maricoin" a new LGBTQ+ Cryptocurrency.

I spoke before about the potential of blockchain and cryptocurrencies for the community (See Can Blockchain Safeguard the Rights of At-Risk LGBT People? in April 2021). However, this newly created "Maricoin" in Spain is probably not it. 

Including LGBTQ+ issues in economic development.

In this French article, Serge Rabier, Associate researcher in socio-demography, University of Paris, denounces the resistance within the UN system to include LGBTQ+ people in the development agenda (LGBTQ+ issues are not part of the SDGs). He concludes: "In short, from the perspective of the poor, especially in developing countries, sexuality and sexual rights are at the heart of a mechanism that sees normative discrimination reinforced by social and economic inequalities."

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From the (semi) cultural desk

The Gay Agenda: a new Netflix podcast.

Netflix has launched "The Gay Agenda," a new podcast that will look at the lives of LGBTQ+ creatives at the top of their fields across different industries. The goal, the streaming service says, is to be celebratory, championing success stories "through a loving and humorous lens." Here is the trailer.

"And just like that": Miranda has a gay kiss.

Talking about LGBTQ+ podcasts: Che Diaz's bisexual character and Charlotte's non-binary daughter were not enough; Miranda's gay awakening is the latest LGBTQ+ plot in the Sex-in-the city reboot. The "gay lobby" is really convincing. Refer to that list for less "on-the-nose" queer streaming content in January 2022. And if your resolution is to watch less TV, here is a queer reading list from Yohomo for the New Year.

Andy Cohen vs. Ryan Seacrest.

I am not a TV executive, but I think I would know better than to put Andy Cohen as host for CNN's New Year Eve countdown. Cohen was self-admittedly "drunk and stupid" on air this NYE and subsequently had to apologize to Ryan Seacrest in every single lowbrow publication.

An article on the psychology of lesbian aesthetics.

The idea of gender style for LGBTQ+ people and the link to discrimination has always fascinated me, and the question is whether, in a more accepting environment, gender styles can evolve. This Psychology Today article focusing on lesbians concludes, "we are slowly becoming less likely to deny the possibility that femmes exist and possess sexual identities that are equally authentic to those of the strong butch women that have traditionally been the face of the 'lesbian aesthetic."

Micmac at Mr. Gay World.

Drama at Mr. Gay World after the hot South African refused to sign his contract handing his title to the hot Philippino Louw Breytenbach relinquished his title calling the contract "unconstitutional and opaque."

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Coming, going places, and opportunities

ILGA Andre Du Plessis'farewell.

After more than eight years at the helm of ILGA World, Andre Du Plessis sent a farewell message on January 1: "I leave the organization with great pride in what it has done and also in what it represents: the collective power of queer activists from around the world, uniting across borders, identities, and struggles in a singular global belief that all people should indeed be born free and equal in dignity and rights. I hope we will continue to unite between and across movements, as we find even deeper solidarity and unity with feminist and justice movements." Words to live by in 2021.

Rufus Gifford swearing-in ceremony.

On Monday, Ambassador Rufus Gifford took the oath on an American flag that flew over Embassy Copenhagen given to him by the Marines five years ago held by his husband to serve as Chief of Protocol of the United States. His dogs were not in the picture. You can follow him on Twitter at @US_Protocol

Three jobs at ILGA Europe.

There are three exciting opportunities to join ILGA-Europe's Programmes Team based in Brussels – see them here. 

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What I did with my time in 2021

For those of you wondering what I do for a living: here is a summary of our OutQUORUM achievements in 2021 (a comprehensive review of 2021: LGBTQ+ representation in the boardroom) and our work on leveraging the power of the private sector for global equality (a year of LGBTQ+ Advocacy in review).

And finally, I wish you a very happy New Year 2022 with these words from Jacques Brel in 68:

"I wish you endless dreams and the furious desire to make a few come true.

I wish you to love what to love and forget what to forget.

I wish you passions, I wish you silences.

I wish you bird songs when you wake up and children's laughter.

I wish you to respect the differences of others, because the merits and the worth of each one are often to be discovered.

I wish you to resist the stagnation, indifference and negative virtues of our time.

Finally, I wish you never to give up research, adventure, life, love, because life is a magnificent adventure, and no reasonable person should give it up without fighting a hard battle.

I especially wish you to be yourself, proud of it and happy, because happiness is our true destiny."

Do not hesitate to share this newsletter with your network. See you next week at the same time!