OutPerform | A weekly newsletter on LGBTQ+ Equality - Issue #42
This week: whiplash in US High Schools, the anti-LGBTQ+ bill defeated in Senegal, the problematic Che Diaz’ character, Euphoria Season’s Premiere, Germany’s LGBTQ+ Commissioner & more
Welcome to this edition of my weekly equality news digest, where I share important (and less important, let’s be honest!) news, updates, and commentary about the LGBTQ+ equality movement globally.
Questions, feedback, and comments are always welcome. Would you mind sharing with your network to continue helping us move the LGBTQ+ equality conversation forward?
US News
A win at a New York State High School.
Tully High School’s Senior Tyler Kohnson was initially told by the school superintendent his profile would be dropped from the school’s newsletter because of his sexual orientation. Faced with an immediate backlash, the superintendent yielded and organized an emergency board meeting to address how to “better support LGBTQ+ students”. Lesson learnt hopefully.
And a loss in a Chicago High School.
That same week Benedictine monks cut ties with an affiliated Catholic high school in Chicago after the school hired a lesbian lacrosse coach. The Benedictine’s version of drinking the poison, hoping to kill one’s enemy.
Another year of anti-trans politics.
In this LGBTQNation article, ACLU Deputy Director for Transgender Justice Chase Strangio warns us that we are not done with the wave of anti-trans youth legislation we observe at the state level. The manufactured “culture war” is too good of a political platform for obscure lawmakers to pass.
But also a year of amazing trans and non-binary politicians.
This week, Andrea Jenkins, who already broke a ceiling by being the first African American out trans woman to be elected to office in the United States, broke became the US First openly transgender city council president. Jenkins leads Minneapolis City Council.
And Jeopardy Winners.
Read the New York Times oped on Amy Schneider: “The Radical Normalcy of a Trans ‘Jeopardy!’ Winner”.
Global News
Vatican: Francis’ letter to Sister Jeannine Gramick.
Pope Francis wrote a beautiful letter to Sister Jeanine Gramick, thanking her for her 50 years of ministry to LGBTQ+ Catholics, more than two decades after she was investigated and censured by the Vatican for her work (read Washington Post’s article here and the Jesuits’ take in America Magazine). This letter comes on the heels of Pope Francis’ endorsement of Michael O’Loughlin book “Hidden Mercy” on heroic figures in the Church during the AIDS epidemic facing similar hurdles (check out my interview – it deserves more than 116 views). The Vatican is skilled at acknowledging past mistakes, but less good at course correct or getting ahead of the curve: hopefully this will change.
Senegal: “super criminalization” bill rejected.
As expected, the bill to super-criminalize homosexuality proposed by some 13 opposition MPs was defeated in parliament last week. Yet the damage is done: anti-LGBTQ+ hate speech by public officials translates into stigma, violence and deaths.
South Korea: a step backward.
Our friends at Human Rights Watch explain why the recent decision by a court in Seoul rejecting a same-sex couple’s bid for spousal health benefits, underscores the lack of legal protections for same-sex couples in the country. (Read HRW’s take here)
Taiwan: the unfinished equality agenda.
In this AFP article, we are reminded that despite the tremendous marriage equality victory in 2019, Taiwanese LGBTQ+ people are still discriminated against when it comes to adoption. Taiwan is a beacon of hope in a sub-region plagued by a backlash on LGBTQ+ rights emboldened by the US ideological retreat.
Europe and Central Asia: the underfunded movement.
LGBTQ+ equality comes with a hefty price tag. When you add the budgets of HRC, GLAAD, Trevor, LA and NY LGBT Centers, SAGE, The Victory Fund etc… you realize the community heavily invested in equality in the US. Social justice does not happen by accident. On the other hand, ILGA Europe reports this week in “Funding To Meet Changing Realities - LGBTI Organisations on the State of Funding in Europe and Central Asia, Survey 2021”, that in Europe and Central Asia: “one third of LGBTQ+ organizations operate on yearly budgets under 20,000 Euro”. What makes us think that what we obtained in the US for at least a billion/year, we will get for a penny in other countries? (Read the report here) This also supports my sociological theory that in protestant countries, LGBTQ+ movements are elite-driven and therefore better funded.
Poland: the end of the rainbow halo saga.
The appeal against the “Virgin Mary with an LGBT halo” poster acquittal’s appeal was dismissed in Poland today. If I had even one entrepreneurial bone in my body, I would have listed the artwork on Etsy (where you can buy this $60 halo instead).
Germany: Welcome Sven! the newest LGBTQ+ Envoy.
After Canada, the US, the UK and Italy, Germany named a special envoy on LGBTQ+ issues although his focus is more on national issues than foreign policy. The new commissioner for the acceptance of sexual and gender diversity is a 42 years old Green Party lawmaker, Sven Lehmann. Mr. Lehmann will oversee the Government’s LGBTQ+ national action plan. (Read about it on PinkNews)
Belize: merging Christian principles and Government?
Activists Caleb Orozco did not miss this rather scary quote from the Public Service Minister taken directly from the Talibans’ playbook: “The Constitution of Belize is very clear. It advocates the supremacy of God […] and we must make sure that our Christian principles are adhered to, and what better way than to merge them with public service in the way we govern our country.” Tout un programme …
From the (semi) cultural desk
"And just like that": is Che going to make us lose our rights?
I am not obsessed…you are! In this Daily Best piece, Kevin Fallon perfectly articulates why Che is a problematic character: “it comes off as if a smarmy far-right pundit or creator was satirizing or parodying those conversations and the left’s wokeness addiction. That’s how broad and obtuse it is.”
Euphoria Season 2’s premiere on Sunday triggers reaction.
The most entertaining and binge-worthy queer content? Maybe I should switch to Euphoria (also HBO) like everybody else? Here is what people had to say after the Premiere on Sunday.
Morocco: Fatima Zahra Amzkar’s “Lesbian diaries”.
Article 489 of the Moroccan penal code criminalizes “lewd or unnatural acts with an individual of the same sex” with punishment by up to three years’ imprisonment. A young Moroccan writer is publishing her first novel on the lesbian experience in the North African country and the local brand of conversion therapy (see Morocco World News).
More queer reading in 2022.
Check out this list by Dazed, I pre-ordered (with my Out Leadership card! Don’t tell Marco) The Arena of the Unwell. They had me at toxic relationship….And of course, if you missed 100 boyfriends last year – it’s not too late. Nobody else read in 2021. If you want to look intellectual without the reading, just buy some non-prescription Lemtosh like all the other gays.
Coming, going places, and opportunities
Samy Nemir Olivares is running for NY State Assembly.
Queer Latinx community organizer Olivares is running for NY State Assembly on a platform focused on housing, healthcare, education, human rights, climate action, workers, racial and gender justice. Exactly two years ago, Marti Cummings and I co-hosted him for a UN panel on “queer people in politics”. You can support his campaign here.
Sam Brinton: a new gender fluid appointment by the Administration.
Our friend Sam Brinton, formerly Trevor Project and an historic advocate against conversion therapy, is now Deputy Assistant Secretary of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition in the Office of Nuclear Energy for the Department of Energy.
A job at Freedom House.
Freedom House is recruiting a DC-based Senior Program Officer for Learning Initiatives. This person will work with Dignity For All consortium partners to lead safety and security resource creation, sharing, and learning for the benefit of LGBTQI+ human rights defenders, community members, and other stakeholders Additional details are listed in the position description here.
Catherine Rielly’s gift to the David Mixner ICWA fellowship.
Great thanks to the Rielly family which contributed to the Mixner ICWA fellowship joining Barilla, the Pallette Fund and the Bonhett Foundation in an initiative to foster a greater understanding of global LGBTQ+ issues in the US. You can also donate here.
The Gay Agenda
Thursday Jan 21st: Equality Imperative: measurements, indexes, and the corporate sustainability agenda
On Thursday January 21st at 9 am, for our first #EqualityImperative session, I will host an informal off-the-record Zoom roundtable with a mix of non-profits and private companies to discuss trends on LGBTQ+ corporate indexes, new instruments such as the PGLE’s Gap Analysis Tool or James Felton Keith’s Inclusion Score and how companies can navigate these instruments. Let me know if you are interested in joining.
Now I am off to Home Depot (don’t ask why! #3rdCOVIDMove). Do not hesitate to share this newsletter with your network. See you next week at the same time!
OutPerform | A weekly newsletter on LGBTQ+ Equality - Issue #42
Hi Fabrice,
Thoroughly enjoy reading your weekly articles they are always light hearted and informative.
However I have noticed over the last few that we use terms like "schizophrenic US Catholic High Schools" and "Qatar: let the WorldCup schizophrenia begin." I feel that this is unintentionally trivialising a real condition that some of your readers may have for the purpose of a headline.
I don't think this is intentional and hope you take the feedback in the spirit it is meant.
Hi Fabrice! I got a very interesting book for Christmas. It's called "Confessions of a Gay Priest" by Tom Rastrelli. It a true account of him being abused by his family doctor as a child and then how he went into denial about being gay. But by the time he was in college he was having anal and oral sex with priests. He continued to lie about his orientation and went through seminary and was ordained a priest, all the while living a double life. After several years of priesthood, he "came out" and the Vatican was kind enough to revoke his priesthood. I wrote to him and told him about my two years in Catholic seminary and how incredibly similar it was. (I went to seminary in Milwaukee Wis. and he went to St. Mary's in Baltimore) He was delighted that I had quit the church. Curiously enough, he is married to a man named Bruce. I think your readers who were raised Catholic would appreciate the book. My former partner, Jaston Williams, has begged me to write a one man play about my two years but honestly, for the sake of my sons and grandchildren, and my own mental health, I don't want to do it. I'm just fortunate they expelled me because I refused to have sex with the priests who ran the place! Thanks for your kind comment about my grandchildren! I belong to a gay group called "Nude Dudes" here which is basically a nude cocktail party BUT NO AFTER PARTY. (All the other groups always end up with hook ups...especially Stag Run, our local nudist resort). I've done plenty of that but at age 70 and taking beta blockers, well, I'd rather just find a partner. Anyway, I'm incredibly fortunate to have the best of both worlds. My youngest son lives in Wimbledon/London and has a buddy who is having a mid life crisis because his parents are getting divorced so that the father can come out. I mean I was six when I divorced Chris's mom but I never broke my marriage vows to her. Fascinating how all three of my sons have praised me for my integrity and bravery. Coming out in 1990 was not an easy feat. Best to you! Pardon my wordiness! I know I channel William Faulker. I hope your twins are well!!! I'm glad you know the joy of parenting!!! Best, Bruce