GLAA Forum

Andrea Lafferty Cites CT School Shooting to Rally Opposition to Non-Discrimination Policies

Brian Tashman reports at RWW:

Andrea Lafferty of the Traditional Values Coalition used the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, in order to bolster her campaign against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act over the bill’s protections for LGBT employees. While speaking to Janet Mefferd yesterday about the Orange County, Florida, school system’s new non-discrimination policy that is similar to ENDA, Laffery said that just as parents are upset about the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting and are concerned about keeping their children safe, they should also be worried about ENDA’s “devastating effects” as schools will have “people with some real issues playing out their personal problems in the classroom.”

Can you say desperate? Follow the link for audio.

Arms and the teacher

(Hat tip: Americans Against the Tea Party)

Rocks

(Hat tip: Gil Gerald)

Deadly Romance

(Photo by Brett Donley)

My latest column looks at how America's gun fixation holds the nation hostage. Here's an excerpt:

We are awash not just in guns but in the assumption of their indispensability. Author Jonathan Rauch endorsed the Pink Pistols movement in 2000: "We have tried to make a political virtue of our vulnerability, but the gay-bashers aren't listening. Playing the victim card has won us sympathy, but at the cost of respect. So let's make gay-bashing dangerous."

I appreciate Rauch's caveat that we "shouldn't play Dirty Harry," but how to make that stick? The recent shooting death of 17-year-old Jordan Davis over loud music belies our self-assurances.

As an activist, I have never considered myself a victim. I do not have to prove it by joining the gun culture. When I was born in D.C. in 1956, an historic bus boycott was underway in Montgomery, Ala. Those brave African-Americans were armed only with discipline, resolve and faith, while facing greater danger than we.

Read the whole thing here.

Wildmon: Satan carried out attack at Sandy Hook Elementary

Tim Wildmon of AFA weighs in. Meanwhile, James Dobson blames abortion and gay marriage.

President speaks at vigil in Newtown, CT

A strong speech by the President in the aftermath of another horrific mass shooting. It included this:

Are we really prepared to say that we’re powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard?

Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year after year after year is somehow the price of our freedom?

Full transcript here.

Not for hunting deer

Silent Night - SNL cold open

Instead of opening with a comedy sketch, SNL began on December 15 with a children's choir singing "Silent Night" in honor of those who perished in Newtown, Connecticut the previous day.

President Obama speaks on school shooting in Newtown, CT

President Obama is emotional as he speaks on today's horrific mass shooting in an elementary school in Connecticut.

Pastor arrested for molesting men under pretext of curing their homosexuality

Cambridge, Minnesota pastor Ryan J. Muehlhauser has been charged with eight felony counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct for molesting men while counseling them on overcoming homosexuality. So they're still gay, and now they've been abused by someone claiming to help them. Your faith offerings at work, Cambridge! Pardon my irreverence in the face of people being victimized, but the more this keeps happening, the more a sense of unreality sets in. The frauds who keep hiding their personal issues being this poisonous junk science need to be exposed and stopped from doing any more damage.

Anti-gay Christianist lawyer arrested for child porn

The Concord Monitor reports. Once again, the real perv is the obsessive homophobe.

McKellen participates in UK anti-bullying campaign

Good spot, except that the "T" is missing.

Bizarre: CAGLCC executive director arrested for unlawful entry

LGBTQ Nation reports:

"The leader of the D.C.-area gay and lesbian chamber of commerce, who is scheduled to receive national Chamber recognition this week, was arrested earlier this month and charged with unlawful entry, according to court records obtained by LGBTQ Nation.

"Mark Guenther, Executive Director of CAGLCC (Capital Area Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce) was charged Nov. 5 by the U.S. Attorney's office for the District of Columbia after a male neighbor in Guenther's apartment building was awakened at 3 a.m. on October 26 to find Guenther standing over his bed while he had been asleep."

Very strange. The article raises more questions than it answers. I must say that hot guys never break into my apartment in the middle of the night like that (at least not that I am aware).

Nov. 20 - Transgender Day of Remembrance

Please join us at 6 pm on November 20 for the 2012 Transgender Day of Remembrance at the Metropolitan Community Church, 474 Ridge St NW.

Leadership in touch with people

(Gov. Christie, President Obama and marina owner Donna Vanzant in Brigantine, NJ. Reuters/Larry Downing)

This photo of President Obama in Brigantine, New Jersey on Wednesday hugging North Point Marina owner Donna Vanzant is more than just a reminder of how consistently Obama has polled as personally likable. It stands in stark contrast with the consistently socially awkward, cold and impersonal Mitt Romney. This goes beyond photo ops and campaigning to touch on a quality crucial in a president: the ability to empathize with the concerns of constituents. Obama, who has been mocked by Republicans for his background as a community organizer, has it. Romney, the child of privilege and venture capitalist, does not.

If there is a silver lining for our country in such a devastating storm hitting our most dense population center, it may lie in the graphic demonstration of this contrast mere days before the election. Electing ideologues who are determined to rob the federal government of its ability to respond to such disasters, who would prefer to put the functions of FEMA in the hands of profit-driven private firms, is a recipe for national suicide. The storm, awful as it is, may help avert such a further disaster.

Another thought: Chris Christie, who has never been my favorite politician (and whom I have specifically slammed for his bullying), has risen to the occasion presented by the storm's devastation of his state and shown the combination of sympathy and resolve demanded by the situation. As he entered that mode, he found a friend and collaborator in the President. These men were not just posturing, they were doing their jobs. The haters will not recognize this, of course. But I suspect enough voters will recognize it to make a difference on November 6. Let us hope so. It will be hard enough to get our country to respond seriously to climate change without handing over the government to a coreless man in thrall to anti-science denialists.

Obama & Christie: government working for people

In this excerpt from his remarks at Brigantine, New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie praises President Obama for "springing into action" on Hurricane Sandy.

Fischer uses phony security concern to explain absence at DNC

Joe Jervis shares the above tweet from AFA's Bryan Fischer and says, "If you believe that the AFA actually got denied press credentials, raise your hand."

Friar says priests were seduced by kids

Father Benedict Groeschel of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal makes a bold assertion concerning pedophile priests:

People have this picture in their minds of a person planning to — a psychopath. But that’s not the case. Suppose you have a man having a nervous breakdown, and a youngster comes after him. A lot of the cases, the youngster — 14, 16, 18 — is the seducer....

Well, it’s not so hard to see — a kid looking for a father and didn’t have his own — and they won’t be planning to get into heavy-duty sex, but almost romantic, embracing, kissing, perhaps sleeping but not having intercourse or anything like that. It’s an understandable thing, and you know where you find it, among other clergy or important people; you look at teachers, attorneys, judges, social workers. Generally, if they get involved, it’s heterosexually, and if it’s a priest, he leaves and gets married — that’s the usual thing — and gets a dispensation....

Well, you know, until recent years, people did not register in their minds that it was a crime. It was a moral failure, scandalous; but they didn’t think of it in terms of legal things.

Back in 1993 and 1994, when I was involved in the ultimately successful effort to expel NAMBLA and other pedophile groups from the International Lesbian and Gay Association, I encountered the same brazen defense. [Fortunately, that defense failed: ILGA delegates in 1994 voted by an 89 percent majority to expel the groups.] This is not a hard call: we are talking about adults and children. An adult has a responsibility to exercise self-control, and to protect children rather than exploit them. Anyone in a position of authority who cannot understand this should certainly not be permitted to interact with children. This story is just one more example of religious leaders utterly abdicating their moral authority.

(Hat tip: Joe Jervis)

Renegade Raging Grannies respond to Todd Akin

(Hat tip: George Bakan)

From the San Francisco 49ers: It Gets Better

Thanks to the 49ers. They should have more company.

Grisly scene in midtown Manhattan

(Photo by Sam Gewitz for The New York Times)

Pardon the bloody photo, but I suppose if the Gray Lady considers it fit to publish, this is the new mainstream and we'd better get used to it. I was having my morning coffee at a cafe in Dupont Circle when the news hit everyone's Twitter feed about the latest mass shooting, this one on 33rd between Fifth and Sixth Avenues near the Empire State Building in NYC. It was quickly announced that this was not a terrorist incident, but was a fired employee getting revenge on his former boss. (The statement that it was not terrorist-related prompted jaded comments that the shooter must be white.) Some of the victims may have been caught in the crossfire between suspect Jeffrey Johnson (who is now dead) and police. NYT reports here. Gawker reports here.

Meanwhile, 19 people were shot in overnight shootings in Chicago. As New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg pointed out, there are a lot of guns out there. I wonder how much more of this would have to happen before right-wingers would admit that the proliferation of guns does not make us safer. Nah, they'd probably deny the problem no matter what.

Faith, Family, Fraud: Exposing FRC

(Tony Perkins at FRC building. Photo by J. Scott Applewhite / AP)

[Written on August 20]

Watching Family Research Council President Tony Perkins last week brought to mind Rahm Emanuel's notorious statement from November 2008, "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste." The August 15 shooting of a security guard at FRC's Washington headquarters was more a horrible incident than a crisis, but Perkins and others who specialize in demonizing gay people quickly took advantage of it.

Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage said, "Today's attack is the clearest sign we've seen that labeling pro-marriage groups as 'hateful' must end." (For "pro-marriage" read anti-equality.) Perkins called a news conference at which he said that accused shooter Floyd Corkins "was given a license to shoot an unarmed man by organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center that have been reckless in labeling organizations hate groups because they disagree with them on public policy." Perkins thanked LGBT groups for their statement condemning the shooting, but asked them "to go a step further and to join us in calling for an end to the reckless rhetoric that I believe led to yesterday's incident." The next day, he blamed President Obama as well.

SPLC senior fellow Mark Potok deplored the violence but added:

The SPLC has listed the FRC as a hate group since 2010 because it has knowingly spread false and denigrating propaganda about LGBT people -- not, as some claim, because it opposes same-sex marriage. The FRC and its allies on the religious right are saying, in effect, that offering legitimate and fact-based criticism in a democratic society is tantamount to suggesting that the objects of criticism should be the targets of criminal violence.

Dana Milbank of The Washington Post slammed SPLC for applying the "hate group" label to what he called "a mainstream Christian advocacy group." John Aravosis of AMERICAblog Gay documented FRC's anti-gay lies and asked how Milbank would react if similar lies were spread about him. This point is key. There is more than a policy difference in what amounts to FRC's demand that LGBT people cease to exist.

Fischer: Akin is Like a Victim of Rape

Um, no.

(Hat tip: RightWingWatch)

Boykin spews it at SPLC

FRC Executive Vice President Jerry Boykin hurls a string of epithets at SPLC, and also trots out the right-wing claim that Hitler was left-wing because the Nazis were the National Socialist Party. The flight of the Ignoranti continues.

Crazy guy at FRC conference: Minister Leroy Swailes

As Metro Weekly reports, the man with a t-shirt message visible behind Tony Perkins at last Thursday's news conference at FRC headquarters was Minister Leroy Swailes of suburban Maryland, one of the more colorful characters who testified against marriage equality at Board of Elections hearings back in 2009 and 2010. See video below from 2009. I remember when he held up children's books including King & King and Heather Has Two Mommies and called them "pedophile books." I suppose we can take some comfort in knowing that he read those books about as carefully as he read the Bible.

Geraldo asks if a lesbian cabal has taken over Homeland Security

I will answer this self-absorbed fool with another question: Does he assume that any woman who is not interested in him must be a lesbian? But just because the stuff on Fox is beyond idiotic does not mean it is not sinister. That network is a disinformation factory.

WUSA9: Activists point fingers over FRC shooting

WUSA-9, the local CBS affiliate, reports on yesterday's news conference in which FRC's Tony Perkins blamed SPLC's hate-group designation for prompting Floyd Corkins II to shoot a security guard at FRC headquarters. I attended the conference, and told reporters afterwards that if Perkins is going to talk about speech inspiring violence he should look in the mirror. In this WUSA report I am shown pointing out that hate crime stats contradict Perkins' implication that God-fearing people like him are the primary targets for such violence.

FRC's Perkins: Shooter "was given a license" by SPLC

(The words carved above FRC's door. Photo by Rick Rosendall)

Here are a few notes from this afternoon's news conference in front of Family Research Council headquarters in DC.

Tony Perkins (I am paraphrasing): We thank the groups, even those who disagree with us, who condemned yesterday's violence. But we ask them to go one step farther and stop the hate speech. The shooter was given a license by the Southern Poverty Law Center to do what he did.

My (Rick Rosendall's) reaction: pointing out hate speech is not in itself inflammatory. Nothing SPLC ever did or said can remotely be taken to condone violence. But if Perkins now believes that intolerant speech can inspire others to commit violent acts, he should take his own words to heart and stop slandering LGBT people who simply want equal protection under the law. America is a socially and religiously and ethnically diverse country, and for us to live together peacefully requires respect for that diversity. Freedom of speech and religious freedom mean nothing if they are treated as a monopoly held by one group.

Politico reports here. Chris Geidner reports at BuzzFeed.

(Tony Perkins. Photo by Rick Rosendall)

Statement for GLAA on #FRC shooting

Friends,

You have probably heard of the shooting Wednesday morning of a security guard at the D.C. headquarters of the anti-gay Family Research Council. It has been reported that the man arrested for the shooting, Floyd Corkins II, had volunteered for the DC Center for the LGBT Community. The guard, who helped subdue Corkins, is reportedly in stable condition; Police Chief Cathy Lanier called him a hero.

Here is the Metro Weekly story: http://tinyurl.com/dyvkdah

Here is the Washington Blade story: http://tinyurl.com/9pre9ky

Here is Chris Geidner's story for BuzzFeed: http://tinyurl.com/9mcy4h8

Here is the Associated Press story: http://tinyurl.com/bsqybxs

AP quotes Brian Brown of the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage as saying, "Today's attack is the clearest sign we've seen that labeling pro-marriage groups as `hateful' must end."

AP quotes DC Center Executive Director David Mariner as saying about suspect Corkins, "He always struck me as a kind, gentle and unassuming young man. I'm very surprised that he could be involved in something like this."

Before the suspect's connection to the DC Center was known, two dozen LGBT groups issued a statement condemning the shooting: "We were saddened to hear news of the shooting this morning at the offices of the Family Research Council. Our hearts go out to the shooting victim, his family, and his co-workers. The motivation and circumstances behind today’s tragedy are still unknown, but regardless of what emerges as the reason for this shooting, we utterly reject and condemn such violence. We wish for a swift and complete recovery for the victim of this terrible incident."

Here is a link to the LGBT groups' statement:
http://ow.ly/cZRhP

I say this to Brian Brown: Instead of exploiting this shooting, stop slandering LGBT people. We all need to coexist in this country. Hate kills. It is hardly in your interest, Mr. Brown, to start comparing who has more blood on his hands. Gay families exist whether you like it or not. We have a right to exist. Each of us has a right to our own religious beliefs, or no religious beliefs. You do not have a right to use the government to impose your religious beliefs on the rest of us. If you would stop your hate-filled campaign attacking gay and lesbian families, we could work together to promote greater tolerance and understanding for everyone in this diverse country. Who knows, we might also be able to do something about the insane proliferation of guns. Neither violence nor demonizing minority groups is an acceptable way of resolving differences.

By the way: Brian Brown's rhetoric notwithstanding, attacking gay and lesbian couples' marriage rights is NOT pro-marriage. Those of us who love our partners so much that we have spent years fighting for the right to marry, and our allies, are the ones who are pro-marriage. As the joint statement by LGBT groups demonstrates, the overwhelming consensus in our movement for equality is that our struggle must be conducted with respect and reason and in recognition of our common humanity, and in renunciation of violence. But the path toward violence begins before a gun is drawn. Incendiary and slanderous speech contributes to it, as when gay people are accused of seeking to destroy marriage. Make the case for why you think we are wrong, even dressing up your religious dogma as "natural law" if you must; but that does not require you to invent dastardly motives for us.

Finally, I draw your attention to GLAA's "Manifesto Against Religious Bullies," which I drafted and which we issued on May 25, 2012:
http://www.glaa.org/archive/2012/religiousbullies0525.pdf

In peace, hope, and dignity,

Rick Rosendall
Vice President for Political Affairs
Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance

Update: David Mariner, Executive Director of The DC Center, has issued the following statement:

I was shocked to hear that someone who has volunteered with the DC Center could be the cause of such a tragic act of violence. No matter the circumstances, we condemn such violence in the strongest terms possible. We hope for a full and speedy recovery for the victim and our thoughts are with him and his family.

NOM's Brian Brown exploits #FRC shooting

HuffPo, reporting on Wednesday's shooting of a security guard in the lobby of the Family Research Council's headquarters in D.C., quotes Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage:

Today's attack is the clearest sign we've seen that labeling pro-marriage groups as `hateful' must end.

Brown is referring to the fact that the man arrested for the shooting, Floyd Corkins II, had volunteered for the DC Center. The Center's executive director, David Mariner, is quoted saying this:

He always struck me as a kind, gentle and unassuming young man. I'm very surprised that he could be involved in something like this.

I separately quoted the joint statement by LGBT groups condemning the shooting. I say this to Brian Brown: Instead of exploiting this shooting, stop slandering LGBT people. We need to coexist. Hate kills. It is hardly in your interest, sir, to start comparing who has more blood on his hands. Gay families exist, whether you like it or not. We have a right to exist. We have a right to our own religious beliefs, or no religious beliefs. You do not have a right to use the government to impose your religious beliefs on the rest of us. If you would stop your hate-filled campaign attacking gay and lesbian families, we could work together to promote greater tolerance and understanding. Who knows, we might also be able to do something about the insane proliferation of guns in this country. Neither violence nor demonizing minority groups is an acceptable way of resolving differences.

By the way: Brian Brown's rhetoric notwithstanding, attacking my marriage rights is NOT pro-marriage. Those of us who love our partners so much that we have spent years fighting for the right to do so are the ones who are pro-marriage.

LGBT Organizations issue statement about FRC shooting

This just in, a joint statement from dozens of LGBT organizations:

Joint statement regarding shooting at Family Research Council (FRC) from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) organizations

We were saddened to hear news of the shooting this morning at the offices of the Family Research Council. Our hearts go out to the shooting victim, his family, and his co-workers.

The motivation and circumstances behind today’s tragedy are still unknown, but regardless of what emerges as the reason for this shooting, we utterly reject and condemn such violence. We wish for a swift and complete recovery for the victim of this terrible incident.

Amen to that.

Guard wounded in shooting at FRC headquarters

A security guard was wounded today in a shooting at the Washington headquarters of the Family Research Council. The local ABC affiliate reports. The increasing frequency with which apparently deranged people express themselves with firearms can hardly surprise anyone given how this country is awash with arms and ammo — especially of a variety designed not for hunting but for killing people. One wonders how much more of this insanity would have to happen before we summon the collective will to do something about it. Needless to say, this is not how we are supposed to settle disputes in this country.

In other violence-related news, a gay man was killed in a shooting in Baltimore on August 10.

Moten Calls on Mayor Gray and DC Council to Address Rapes and Violence at DC Jail

We received this from Republican Ward 7 D.C. Council candidate and Peaceaholics co-founder Ron Moten:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Ron “MO” Moten
Phone: 202.615.0204
Email: ron@ronmoten.com

Moten Calls on Mayor Gray and DC Council to Address Rapes and Violence at DC Jail

Who: Ron Moten, Friends of Transgender Victims and Members of Check-It
Why: To Address Jail Cover-Up
Where: DC Jail Entrance
When: 12pm Thursday, August 9, 2012

Washington, DC August 8, 2012 – A source close to Ron Moten, Co-founder and former managing partner of the Peaceoholics, a non-profit anti-gang organization, tells Moten that violence and drugs are running rampant in the DC Jail and the Correctional Treatment Facility. Now Moten wants Mayor Gray and city legislators to address rapes of transgender and gay youth with the same urgency that they spoke to the Chic-fil-A matter.

Moten was contacted by a transgender youth who was violently raped while in custody at the DC Jail. Before this incident, another source told Moten that a gay youth was raped by a 32 year old inmate, who has a history of sexual assaults. The source added that the violence against inmates was not limited to other inmates, noting that another transgender youth had been sexually assaulted and one gay youth raped by this alleged serial rapist and another by a CTF staff member.

Moten said he was particularly saddened by the alleged rape of one of the young people, because he had personally worked with this transgender youth who is a member of the “Check It” Gang. Many members are now working and reenrolled in school. This young man was taking a step in the right direction as Mr. Moten encouraged and transported the youngster to turn himself in to authorities due to a warrant for his arrest.

Aug. 9 - WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED Rally and Safety Walk

GLAA endorses this event set for 7 pm on Thursday, August 9. Blade story here. The following is info on the event from organizer Nick McCoy, a 2010 GLAA Distinguished Service Award recipient:

I invite you to join members of the LGBT community and the residents of Shaw, Bloomingdale, and Eckington in saying no to violence and hatred on the streets of DC.

On July 22, two men were physically assaulted while exiting their vehicle in the 1900 block of 3rd Street NE. Their assailants shouted homophobic slurs before punching and kicking the victims.

More information about the assault is available at The Washington Post.

I live just a few blocks from the scene of this hate crime. Amy Loudermilk and I have been putting together this event, in coordination with the Eckington Civic Association President, and local ANC commissioners to maximize participation from the community.

Join us for a rally and safety walk through this neighborhood to make our message clear: "We shall not be moved."

Thursday, August 9
Meet at 7:00 PM at Big Bear Cafe
1700 1st Street NW (Intersection of 1st and R St NW)
Walking to 1900 3rd Street NE (3rd and T Street NE)

We will gather for a short rally outside 1st and R Street NW before the safety walk to the location of the incident. Instead of a moment of silence, we will have a "moment of noise." The march will then return to the starting point. Big Bear Cafe is located about 7 blocks east of the Shaw Metro station.

We will be joined by representatives from Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence (GLOV), the Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit of the Metropolitan Police Department, the DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Collective Action for Safe Spaces, the DC Office of LGBT Affairs, SMYAL, and the Critical Incident Team.

No one should have to walk in fear on the streets of DC because of hate. Whenever any community is targeted, we all have a duty to stand together.

Join us.

Sincerely,

Nick McCoy

Thanks to Nick, Amy Loudermilk and the other organizers. I will be there. Please join us.

We were duly warned

Fischer: The Sikh Temple Shooter Was A Liberal

The vileness of AFA's Bryan Fischer is matched only by his howling illogic and sheer brazen falsehoods, here applied to the Sikh temple shooter, neo-Nazi Wade Michael Page. One lie is the oft-repeated right-wing claim that, since Nazi stands for National Socialist, the Nazis were liberals because "socialist" is liberal. Um, Mr. Fischer, the difference between "socialist" and "national socialist" is as great as the difference between "communitarian" and "communist." But coherence is not what Fischer is striving for. His purpose is only to inflame. Demagogues will grab onto anything that will serve their purpose. And they blame others for the bloody consequences of their incitements.

(Hat tip: Right Wing Watch)

SPLC: Temple shooter was "frustrated Neo-Nazi"

The Southern Poverty Law Center reports:

The man who allegedly murdered six people at a Sikh temple in suburban Milwaukee yesterday, identified in media reports as Wade Michael Page, was a frustrated neo-Nazi who had been the leader of a racist white-power band.

As Jonathan Capehart points out, The Department of Homeland Security warned us about this sort of person three years ago:

The Department of Homeland Security warned us about the likes of Wade Michael Page, the alleged gunman who killed six people at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisc.

In an April 2009 report , entitled, “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment,” DHS warned that “lone wolves ... embracing violent right-wing extremist ideology are the most dangerous domestic terrorism threat in the United States.” It went on to say that “white supremacist lone wolves pose the most significant domestic terrorist threat because of their low profile and autonomy — separate from any formalized group — which hampers warning efforts.” And it noted that military expertise and knowledge made lone wolves especially dangerous.

Now at Huffington Post: Cops vs. Condoms

HuffPo has just published my column, "Cops vs. Condoms," discussing the new Human Rights Watch report on police undermining HIV prevention in four cities. Here's a link.

Cops vs. Condoms

My column for this week concerns a threat to public health caused by police harassment of transgender women over condom possession. Here's a portion:

One message emerging from last week's AIDS 2012 conference in Washington was that an AIDS-free generation is within sight, if only we muster the will to do what must be done. But a new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) shows that the best educational efforts and universal access to treatment will not suffice if public health policies are undermined by police.

HRW, at a July 19 news conference at the National Press Club, released "Sex Workers at Risk: Condoms as Evidence of Prostitution in Four US Cities." Those cities are New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington. Here I will focus on D.C.

HRW found incidents of condom-related harassment of suspected sex workers by police in six of D.C.'s seven police districts. Several women, including transgender sex workers, say they were stopped and searched by police, who accused them of prostitution upon finding condoms (which, it should be noted, are legal). Further police actions ranged from ordering the women to throw condoms away to requesting sexual favors to stomping on their wigs. These abuses are unlikely to show up in officers' incident reports.

Such actions violate General Order PCA-501.02, which states that MPD policy "is to interact with the transgender community in a manner that is professional, respectful, and courteous." They also hamper efforts by the group HIPS (Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive), whose Mobile Services Van distributes condoms and provides new syringe access to sex workers. HIPS outreach director Jenna Mellor told HRW, "Clients take fewer condoms than they need because they fear the police."

Read the whole thing here.

Gay rights activist murdered in Tanzania

Pink News reports the awful news:

Tanzanian gay rights activist Maurice Mjomba has been found dead at his house in Dar es Salaam.

Identity Kenya reports that Julius Lumanyika Kyaruzi, the coordinator at the Centre for Human Rights Promotion where Mjomba was a Training Coordinator confirmed Mr Mjomba, 29, had been found dead....

Mr Mjomba was a member of Stay Awake Network Activities, a group which deals sexual health education for men who have sex with men.

SANA said today: “We sadly announce that Moris Mjomba, one of our founding member, a friend and activist, was strangled by unknown person (s) the date of his death has not been confirmed yet. For more information, we will let you know.”

This hits me close to home, as my own partner Patrick survived a murder attempt in Dar es Salaam ten years ago. Notwithstanding the hate crimes that occur in the United States, activists here are far safer on the whole than our counterparts in the Global South. Condolences to Mr. Mjomba's colleagues, friends and family, and Godspeed to all who struggle against hate in the most dangerous parts of the world.