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LGBT News Newsletter of Uptown Gay and Lesbian Alliance Volume 37 Number 7 July, 2020

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LGBT News Newsletter of Uptown Gay and Lesbian Alliance Volume 37 Number 7 July, 2020 LGBT News Newsletter of Uptown Gay and Lesbian Alliance Volume 37 Number 7 July, 2020 Serving Atwater Village, Cypress Park, Eagle Rock, Echo Park, Elysian Heights, Glassell Park, Glendale, Highland Park, Lincoln Heights, Montecito Heights, Monterey Hills, Mt. Washington, Pasadena, Silver Lake, South Pasadena, San Fernando Valley and other communities WWW.UGLA.ORG BLACK LIVES MATTER President Barack Obama Minneapolis City Council Representative Obama Foundation Phillipe Cunningham, Trans Man (F2M), My Brotherʼs Keeper Obama Foundation Center Action Network... George Floyd LGBTQ Organizations Unite to Combat Racial Violence “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen Layla Pelaez Sánchez, Penélope Díaz Ramírez, Nina Pop, HelleJae the side of the oppressor.” Those words, written over 30 years ago by O’Regan, and Tony McDade Archbishop Desmond Tutu, remind us that indifference can never All of these incidents are stark reminders of why we must bridge the divide of hate. And, today, they should serve as a call to ac- speak out when hate, violence, and systemic racism claim — too of- tion to all of us, and to the Movement for LGBTQ equality. ten with impunity — Black Lives. This spring has been a stark and stinging reminder that ra- The LGBTQ Movement’s work has earned significant victo- cism, and its strategic objective, white supremacy, is as defining a ries in expanding the civil rights of LGBTQ people. But what good characteristic of the American experience as those ideals upon which are civil rights without the freedom to enjoy them? we claim to hold our democracy — justice, equality, liberty. Many of our organizations have made progress in adopting • We listened to the haunting pleas of George Floyd for the intersectionality as a core value and have committed to be more di- most basic of human needs — simply, breath — as a Minneapolis verse, equitable, and inclusive. But this moment requires that we go police officer kneeled with cruel indifference on his neck. further — that we make explicit commitments to embrace anti-racism • We felt the pain of Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend as he called and end white supremacy, not as necessary corollaries to our mission, 9-1-1 after plainclothes Louisville police kicked down the door of their but as integral to the objective of full equality for LGBTQ people. home and shot her eight times as she slept in her bed. We, the undersigned, recognize we cannot remain neutral, nor • We watched the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery by white will awareness substitute for action. The LGBTQ community knows vigilantes in Brunswick, GA, aware that they evaded the consequence about the work of resisting police brutality and violence. We celebrate of their actions until the video surfaced and sparked national outrage. June as Pride Month, because it commemorates, in part, our resisting • We saw the weaponizing of race by a white woman who police harassment and brutality at Stonewall in New York City, and pantomimed fear in calling the police on Christian Cooper, a Black earlier in California, when such violence was common and expected. gay man bird-watching in Central Park. We remember it as a breakthrough moment when we refused to accept • We have heard and read about the killings of transgender humiliation and fear as the price of living fully, freely and authenti- people -- Black transgender women in particular — with such regular- cally. ity, it is no exaggeration to describe it as an epidemic of violence. This We understand what it means to rise up and push back year alone, we have lost at least 12 members of our community: Dus- against a culture that tells us we are less than, that our lives don't tin Parker, Neulisa Luciano Ruiz, Yampi Méndez Arocho, Monika matter. Today, we join together again to say #BlackLivesMatter and Diamond, Lexi, Johanna Metzger, Serena Angelique, Velázquez Ramos, commit ourselves to the action those words require. See List of United LGBTQ Organizations on Pages 2, 5 & 6 Join UGLAʼs Virtual ZOOM Mixer, Sunday, July 12, 2pm (see page 3) Center Action Network: LGBTQ Organizations Unite to Combat Racial Violence Affirmations, Dave Garcia, Executive Director • AIDS Foundation of Chicago, Aisha N. Davis, Director of Policy American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Anthony D. Romero, ExecDir • Arkansas Transgender Equity Collaborative, Tonya Estell, Brd/Dir Campaign for Southern Equality, Adam Polaski, ComDir • Cathedral Of Hope UCC, Rev. Dr. Neil G Thomas, Senior Pastor Center on Halsted, Modesto Valle, CEO • Equality Arizona, Michael Soto, ExecDir • Equality California, Rick Chavez Zbur, ExecDir Equality Delaware, Mark Purpura, Director • Equality Federation, Rebecca Isaacs, Executive Director Equality Florida, Nadine Smith, ExecDir • Equality Illinois, Brian Johnson, CEO • Equality North Carolina, Kendra R Johnson, Exec Dir Equality New Mexico, Adrian N. Carver, Executive Director • Equality New York, Amanda Babine, Executive Director Equality Ohio, Grant Stancliff, Communications Director • Fair Wisconsin, Megin McDonell, Executive Director Fairness Campaign, Tamara Russell, Board Member • Family Equality, Denise Brogan-Kator, Chief Policy Officer Freedom for All Americans, Kasey Suffredini, CEO & National Campaign Director • FreeState Justice, Mark Procopio, ExecDir Gay City: Seattle's LGBTQ Center, Fred Swanson, Executive Director • Georgia Equality, Jeff Graham, Executive Director GLAAD, Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO • GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), Janson Wu, Executive Director GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality, Hector Vargas, Executive Director • GLSEN, Eliza Byard, Executive Director GMHC, Kelsey Louie, CEO • GSAFE, Brian Juchens, Co-Director • Human Rights Campaign, Alphonso David, President Immigration Equality, Aaron C. Morris, Executive Director • Ingersoll Gender Center, Karter Booher, Executive Director Lambda Legal, Kevin Jennings, CEO • LGBT Com.Ctr of the Desert, Mike Thompson, CEO • LGBT Life Center, Stacie Walls, CEO UGLAʼs gift coming to you... Show your support BLACK LIVES MATTER Louisiana Trans Advocates, Peyton Rose Michelle, Dir/Ops • Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, Tre'Andre Valentine, ExecDir MassEquality, Tanya V. Neslusan, Executive Director • Movement Advancement Project, Ineke Mushovic, Executive Director National Black Justice Coalition, David Johns, ExecDir • National Center for Lesbian Rights, Imani Rupert-Gordon, ExecDir National Center for Transgender Equalilty, Mara Keisling, ExecDir • National LGBTQ Task Force, Rea Carey, ExecDir NMAC, Paul Kawata, ExecDir • Oakland LGBTQ Community Ctr, Joe Hawkins, CEO • One Colorado, Daniel Ramos, ExecDir One Iowa, Courtney Reyes, ExecDir • OutFront Minnesota, Monica Meyer, ExecDir • OutNebraska, Abbi Swatsworth, ExecDir Pacific Center for Human Growth, Michelle Gonzalez, Executive Director • PFLAG National, Brian K. Bond, Executive Director PRC, Brett Andrews, CEO • Rainbow Community Center of Contra Costa County, Kiku Johnson, Executive Director Resource Center, Cece Cox, CEO • Sacramento LGBT Community Center, David Heitstuman, CEO San Francisco Community Health Center, Lance Toma, CEO • SF LGBT Center, Rebecca Rolfe, Executive Director SAGE, Michael Adams, CEO • Silver State Equality, André C. Wade, State Director • Tennessee Equality Project, Chris Sanders, ExecDir The Diversity Center, Sharon E Papo, ExecDir • The Lesbian, Gay Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, Glennda Testone, ExecDir The LGBTQ Center Long Beach, Porter Gilberg, Executive Director • The San Diego LGBT Community Center, Cara Dessert, CEO The Trevor Project, Amit Paley, CEO • Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT), Emmett Schelling, Executive Director Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF), Andy Marra, ExecDir • TransOhio, James Knapp, Chair & ExecDir Uptown Gay & Lesbian Alliance (UGLA), Carl Matthes, President • Wyoming Equality, Sara Burlingame, Executive Director America Kneeling We all want to get home safely... 2 President’s Message Noel Francisco and other Justice Depart- by Carl Matthes UGLA’s Virtual ZOOM Mixer ment attorneys maintain the City of Phila- UGLA President Sunday, July 12, 2pm delphia has ‘impermissibly discriminated Gather some snacks, your favorite against religious exercise’ under the First On June 15, the Supreme Court, in beverage and join us on-line for Amendment by requiring Catholic Social an action watched closely and with trepida- UGLA’s 1st Virtual Mixer Services (CSS) to abide by a contract requir- tion by LGBTQ folks, further advanced the “BLACK LIVES MATTER” ing LGBTQ non-discrimination practices in cause of our rights by ruling that Title VII of featuring child placement.” the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which makes Sharon Kyle and Dick Price I believe this means, in regular Eng- it illegal for employers to discriminate be- lish, if the law says you can’t discriminate cause of a person's sex, also covers sexual against LGBTQ folks when it comes to orientation. That’s us! While some conserva- adoption, that law is invalid when a religious tives want to punish our community for hav- group says it’s trampling on its “freedom of ing LGBTQ sex, they couldn’t accept that the religion.” (Remember the action of a baker 1964 law actually covered LGBTQ sex, only who refused to fill an order for a wedding straight sex! The court upheld rulings from Pasadena ACLU Board members and cake for LGBTQ couple?) lower courts that said sexual orientation dis- Editors of LAProgressive.com Trump’s Department of Justice con- crimination
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