DOCSLIB.ORG

Outing Age PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES AFFECTING GAY, LESBIAN, BISEXUAL and TRANSGENDER ELDERS

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Outing Age PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES AFFECTING GAY, LESBIAN, BISEXUAL and TRANSGENDER ELDERS Outing Age PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES AFFECTING GAY, LESBIAN, BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER ELDERS by Sean Cahill, Ken South and Jane Spade the Policy Institute of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Foundation Contents Preface by Urvashi Vaid . .iv Executive Summary and Recommendations . .1 GLBT Elders and Aging . .4 Who are Elderly Americans in General? . .4 What Do We Know about Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Elders? . .7 The Context: Heterosexism . .17 Ageism within the GLBT Community . .18 Elderly GLBT Veterans . .19 GLBT Aging Organizations . .20 Policy Issues Affecting Seniors . .23 Services . .23 Older Americans Act . .23 Caregiving Needs . .24 Long Term Care . .25 Social Security . .25 Health Policy . .29 Medicare . .29 Medicaid . .30 Managed Care . .31 Housing and Nursing Homes . .32 Nondiscrimination and Anti-Poverty Policy . .33 Employment . .33 Supplemental Security Income . .34 Disability Policy . .34 How Aging Policy Frameworks Can Benefit GLBT Elders . .36 Research and Needs Assessment . .36 Local Research . .36 Advocacy for Inclusion in Research . .37 Services . .40 The Need for Access for GLBT Elders . .40 The Need for Training . .40 Caregiving Needs . .41 Recognition of GLBT Families . .42 Social Security . .43 401(k)s and Pensions . .45 The Medicaid Spend-Down . .47 Grandparenting Relationships . .47 Domestic Partnership and Civil Unions . .48 Housing and Nursing Homes . .51 Subsidized Housing . .52 GLBT Senior Housing Developments . .52 Nursing Homes and Homophobia . .53 Changing Practices and Regulations . .54 Options for Independent Living . .55 Health Care . .57 Medicare . .57 Medicaid . .58 Public Health . .59 Managed Care . .59 HIV/AIDS . .61 Mental health . .62 Hate Violence as a Public Health Concern . .64 Nondiscrimination and Anti-Poverty Policy . .65 Employment . .65 Supplemental Security Income . .65 Welfare Reform and Charitable Choice . .66 Non-Discrimination Legislation . .67 Outing ii Age Recommendations for Policy Advocacy and Activism . .70 Policy Recommendations . .70 Research . .70 Services, Training, and Caregiving . .71 Recognition of GLBT Families . .73 Housing . .74 Health Care . .74 Discrimination and Income Support . .76 Recommendations for Activism for GLBT and Social Justice Activists . .78 Conclusion . .80 Appendix A: Estimates of the GLBT Population in the United States . .82 Appendix B: Lesbian and Gay Activism at the White House Conference on Aging . .84 Appendix C: Legal Issues Facing Same-Sex Couples . .86 Appendix D: Resources . .88 Appendix E: General Research on Latino/-a, Asian Pacific Islander, and Native American GLBT and Two-Spirit People . .93 Notes . .95 Bibliography . .123 Contributors . .143 Table of Contents iii Preface BY URVASHI VAID Director, NGLTF Policy Institute Age is dirty word to many people in America. People lie about it. Others avoid or ignore those who are old. Youth is a virtue, but old age is just plain sad, so we are told. Politicians pander to the senior vote each election cycle, but fail to authorize urgently needed funds for social service programs, as the re-authorization of the still-not-yet- fully-funded Older Americans Act would do. And with the notable exception of some extraordinary individuals and organizations, the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) movement has followed this overall cultural pattern. Today we stand at the edge of two tidal waves: a growing wave of GLBT people aging and entering the social service and community institutions which care for and advo- cate for the elderly; and a tidal wave of reaction against government, and against gov- ernment funding for social service needs. How will GLBT people fare as these waves wash over our communities? To date, aging service providers are not ready for the new wave of GLBT elders, policy makers are running away from it, and until very recently, frankly, the GLBT community has not faced this wave either. This report aims to change these responses by increasing the awareness of policy makers, advocates and ser- vice providers about the realities facing GLBT elders. Federal and state governments offer a wide variety of social programs and services that aim to support the lives of elderly people. Yet none of these programs recognize or sup- port, in even the most rudimentary ways, the families GLBT people build. Social Security survivor benefits are an essential part of a widow or widower’s income, yet same-sex partners do not receive this benefit, even after decades of building a family together. Nursing homes and assisted living facilities have ignored the special needs of GLBT elderly, and the dearth of data on old GLBT people makes identifying problems and advocating for solutions very difficult. Little thought has been given to the special caregiving needs and realities of GLBT seniors. Plans are made, surveys conducted, research on the elderly done—all with no awareness of the existence of GLBT seniors and of their sometimes unique situations. Outing iv Age This country’s aging policies assume heterosexuality and close relationships with chil- dren and extended families to provide basic needs as we age. Yet what of those people without such family ties or those who are not parents? Should the ability to access good care in old age be dependent on one’s parental status or one’s relationship to one’s fam- ily of origin? As a matter of public policy, what kind of support do the elderly need? How does that need for support change based on sexuality, or income status, or race or ethnicity? What is the responsibility of government, if any, to provide such support? Even as GLBT old people face oblivious or alienating social service agencies, they also face devastating race, class and age bias within GLBT communities. Part of this is due to simple ignorance: because the “out” GLBT community is still an emerging commu- nity, many GLBT people just do not think of old people and the issues they face when they conceptualize community and prioritize issues. But some of our denial is certainly due to the persistent youth bias in the broader culture and in the GLBT subculture. Ageism operates to deprecate old people, and to ignore the serious problems presented by aging in a political culture that pays lip service to concern for the elderly but will not deliver the support needed to fulfill the promises made. Ageism operates when the involvement and participation of old GLBT people is not evident or even sought as desirable by our national and local organizations. And like heterosexism, ageism has consequences for the health, security, and lives of GLBT seniors. In order to address ageism in our society and to spark advocacy for GLBT seniors, the Aging Initiative was launched in 1999 by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) Policy Institute. Through research, relationship building with GLBT and non-GLBT aging policy organizations, training, and advocacy, NGLTF works to ensure that the needs of GLBT seniors become a visible and conscious part of public policy frameworks and service programs. The NGLTF Aging Initiative includes four main strategies: • To collect and disseminate factual, empirically-based information and analysis on the lives, realities, and policy needs of GLBT seniors; • To raise consciousness within the GLBT community to confront ageism that keeps older people invisible and robs the.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • For Love and for Justice: Narratives of Lesbian Activism
    City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 2-2014 For Love and for Justice: Narratives of Lesbian Activism Kelly Anderson Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/8 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] For Love and For Justice: Narratives of Lesbian Activism By Kelly Anderson A dissertation submitted to the faculty of The Graduate Center, City University of New York in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History 2014 © 2014 KELLY ANDERSON All Rights Reserved ii This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in History in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Blanche Wiesen Cook Chair of Examining Committee Helena Rosenblatt Executive Officer Bonnie Anderson Bettina Aptheker Gerald Markowitz Barbara Welter Supervisory Committee THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii Abstract For Love and for Justice: Narratives of Lesbian Activism By Kelly Anderson Adviser: Professor Blanche Wiesen Cook This dissertation explores the role of lesbians in the U.S. second wave feminist movement, arguing that the history of women’s liberation is more diverse, more intersectional,
    [Show full text]
  • Vaid, Urvashi (B
    Vaid, Urvashi (b. 1958) by Tina Gianoulis Encyclopedia Copyright © 2015, glbtq, Inc. Entry Copyright © 2005, glbtq, inc. Reprinted from http://www.glbtq.com Lesbian activist Urvashi Vaid began her life as a political organizer when she was a young child. A deeply intellectual and progressive thinker, she did not outgrow her early commitment to justice and fairness, but developed it by studying political science and the law. She then devoted her energies to trying to create a queer liberation movement that would have as its core goal the liberation of all people. In her influential 1995 book Virtual Equality: The Mainstreaming of Gay and Lesbian Liberation, Vaid stated her most basic desire for the movement, "Gay people do not fight for freedom to live in a lavender bubble, but in a more just society." Vaid was born on October 8, 1958, in New Delhi, India. The family came to the United States in 1966, and lived in Potsdam, New York, where her father had a teaching job at the state university. Even as a child, Vaid was stimulated by the currents of political change that permeated American society during the late 1960s, and she quickly became politicized. She put up a poster of Martin Luther King in her bedroom when she was eight, attended her first anti-war protest by the age of eleven, and gave the first of many political speeches (in support of Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern) when she was twelve. A quick and diligent student, Vaid graduated from high school in three years and attended Vassar College in New York.
    [Show full text]
  • Title Author Publication Year Publisher Format ISBN
    Audre Lorde Library Book List Publication Title Author Publisher Format ISBN Year '...And Then I Became Savin-Williams, Ritch Routledge Paperback 9780965699860 Details Gay': Young Men's Stories C ]The Big Gay Book Psy.D., ABPP, John D. 1991 Plume Paperback 0452266211 Details (Plume) Preston ¿Entiendes?: Queer Bergmann, Emilie L; Duke University Readings, Hispanic 1995 Paperback 9780822316152 Details Smith, Paul Julian Press Writings (Series Q) 1st Impressions: A Cassidy James Mystery (Cassidy Kate Calloway 1996 Naiad Pr Paperback 9781562801335 Details James Mysteries) 2nd Time Around (A B- James Earl Hardy 1996 Alyson Books Paperback 9781555833725 Details Boy Blues Novel #2) 35th Anniversary Edition Sarah Aldridge 2009 A&M Books Paperback 0930044002 Details of The Latecomer 1000 Homosexuals: Conspiracy of Silence, or Edmund Bergler 1959 Pagent Books, Inc. Hardcover B0010X4GLA Details Curing and Deglamorizing Homosexuals A Body to Dye For: A Mystery (Stan Kraychik Grant Michaels 1991 St. Martin's Griffin Paperback 9780312058258 Details Mysteries) A Boy I Once Knew: What a Teacher Learned from her Elizabeth Stone 2002 Algonquin Books Hardcover 9781565123151 Details Student A Boy Named Phyllis: A Frank DeCaro 1996 Viking Adult Hardcover 9780670867189 Details Suburban Memoir A Boy's Own Story Edmund White 2000 Vintage Paperback 9780375707407 Details A Captive in Time (Stoner New Victoria Sarah Dreher 1997 Paperback 9780934678223 Details Mctavish Mystery) Publishers Incidents Involving Anna Livia Details Warmth A Comfortable Corner Vincent
    [Show full text]
  • Vaid Urvashi Transcript 03 24 15
    LGBTQ Oral History Project – Urvashi Vaid Page 1 of 22 Vassar LGBTQ Oral History Project Interviewee: Urvashi Vaid Interviewer: Priya Nair Date of Interview: March 24, 2015 [start audio part 1] Priya: Okay. I’m Priya Nair, I’m a senior at Vassar College, and the student interviewer for the Vassar LGBTQ Oral History Project. It’s March 24, 2015 and I’m with Urvashi Vaid in her office at Columbia Law School in New York City… um, hey! Urvashi: Hi there. Priya: Could you first state your name, date of birth, and where you were born? Urvashi: Sure. I’m Urvashi Vaid, I was born October 8, 1958 in New Delhi, India. Priya: So could you first talk about where you grew up and what it was like. Urvashi: Absolutely. I was born in India, as I said, into a large extended family and… my first eight years were spent either in Delhi or a town called Chandigarh in the northwest. It was the state of Punjab. We’re Punjabis. My mom and dad in India were both teachers and my dad taught at Punjab University and my mom taught at a high school there. I went to a Catholic school as a little kid and then we moved to America in 1966 when my dad got a job. He had studied here, done his PhD and then he’d gone back to teach and somebody offered him a job at the state university of New York at Potsdam, New York, which is way north in New York State, like thirty miles from the Canadian border where New York state goes straight up, straight north of Albany.
    [Show full text]
  • AIDS and the POLITICS of DISABILITY in the 1980S by Nancy E
    AIDS AND THE POLITICS OF DISABILITY IN THE 1980S by Nancy E. Brown A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Purdue University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of History West Lafayette, Indiana August 2019 2 THE PURDUE UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL STATEMENT OF COMMITTEE APPROVAL Dr. Nancy Gabin, Chair Department of History Dr. Kathryn Cramer Brownell Department of History Dr. Wendy Kline Department of History Dr. Yvonne M. Pitts Department of History Approved by: Dr. David Atkinson Head of the Graduate Program 3 For my brother Bill 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I want to express my deepest appreciation to my committee chair, Nancy Gabin, who followed my research path from 19th century immigration to the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. Her encouragement and support helped balance the vagaries of my graduate school experience. As my dissertation took shape, her guidance challenged me. Thank you to my committee: Kathryn Cramer Brownell pushed me to engage in the wider academic community and assisted in many ways. Yvonne Pitt’s enthusiasm and critique motivated me. Wendy Kline’s thoughtful comments helped me conceptualize disability. Conversations with faculty members David Atkinson, Doug Hurt and John Larson fortified my resolve. I appreciate the institutional support from the Department of History and Purdue University. Staff members Fay Chan and Julie Knoeller answered my many questions with good humor. Funding from the Harold D. Woodman research award, the College of Liberal Arts PROMISE award and the Center for C-SPAN helped finance my research and conference participation as did a travel grant from the Organization of American Historians.
    [Show full text]
  • Leslie Feinberg Library Book Catalog
    Leslie Feinberg Library Book Catalog Sexual Minorities Archives Holyoke, Massachusetts 2 LFL A Art ………………………………………………………………...5 LFL AS Asian ……………………………………………………………..5 LFL BIOD Biological Determinism ………………………………….6 LFL BINF Bisexual Non-Fiction ………………………………………8 LFL BLF Black Fiction …………………………………………………..8 LFL BHIS Black History ………………………………………………….9 LFL BLGBTQF Black LGBTQ Fiction ………………………………………12 LFL BLGBTQNF Black LGBTQ Non-Fiction ………………………………13 LFL BLIB Black Liberation ……………………………………………14 LFL BLNF Black Non-Fiction ………………………………………….15 LFL CHIC Chicano/a/x ………………………………………………….15 LFL COM Comic Books …………………………………………………16 LFL DIS Disability ………………………………………………………16 LFL FEM Feminist ……………………………………………………….16 LFL F Fiction (General) …………………………………………..18 LFL GLIB Gay Liberation ……………………………………………...20 LFL GMF Gay Male Fiction …………………………………………..21 LFL GMNF Gay Male Non-Fiction ……………………………………22 LFL GEN Gender ………………………………………………………….22 LFL HEA Health …………………………………………………………..23 3 LFL HIS History .…………………………………………………………24 LFL IN Indigenous Peoples ……………………………………….25 LFL IH International History …………………………………....26 LFL I Intersex ………………………………………………………..28 LFL JY Jewish / Yiddish ……………………………………………28 LFL LAB Labor …………………………………………………………….36 LFL LANG Language ………………………………………………………37 LFL LAT Latino/a/x …………………………………………………….37 LFL LA Law ……………………………………………………………….38 LFL LF Lesbian Fiction ………………………………………………38 LFL LNF Lesbian Non-Fiction ………………………………………39 LFL LGBTQF LGBTQ Fiction ……………………………………………….40 LFL LGBTQHIS LGBTQ History ………………………………………………40
    [Show full text]
  • Queer Dreams
    ueer Dreams and Q Nonprofit Blues Dilemmas of the Nonprofit Tradition in LGBT Politics National Conference October 4–5, 2013 Center for Gender and Sexuality Law Columbia Law School Produced by | The Engaging Tradition Project, Center for Gender and Sexuality Law and Co-Sponsored by | Barnard Center for Research on Women Resources Center for Gender and Sexuality Law Columbia Law School 435 West 116th Street New York, New York 10027 http://web.law.columbia.edu/gender-sexuality Barnard Center for Research on Women 101 Barnard Hall 3009 Broadway New York, New York 10027 http://bcrw.barnard.edu We have begun to gather articles and resources online that address queer and social change nonprofits and issues raised in this conference. These articles are will be made available on the web site for Queer Dreams and Nonprofit Blues, at http://bcrw.barnard.edu/queerdreams and at the Engaging Tradition Project at the Center for Gender and Sexuality Law web site: http://web.law.columbia.edu/gender-sexuality/engaging-tradition-project. If you have additional citations to add to this list, please email the citation to the article to us at: [email protected] Conference Team: Janet Jakobsen, Dean Spade, Urvashi Vaid, with critical support from Hope Dector, Katherine Franke, Cindy Gao, Lauren Gutterman, Anne Jonas, Catherine Sameh, and Carla Sutherland. Funding: Thank you to the Ford Foundation and the Arcus Foundation for support of the Engaging Tradition Project and this conference. Conference LogoQ and Design: Debbie Nadolney, Art Market Provincetown Queer Dreams and Nonprofit Blues Resources Welcome elcome to the Queer Dreams and Nonprofit Blues conference.
    [Show full text]
  • The Journal of Gay & Lesbian Psychotherapy
    This article was downloaded by: [Optimised: University of California, Los Angeles] On: 24 May 2011 Access details: Access Details: [subscription number 937415603] Publisher Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37- 41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Journal of Gay & Lesbian Psychotherapy Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t904385604 BOOK REVIEWS Mary Barbera; Cheryl Chessickb; Vernon A. Rosarioc; William Byned; Robert Clymane; Bill Womackf a Ulster County Mental Health Department, Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists, Kingston, NY b Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado, Denver, CO c UCLA, Neuropsychiatric Institute, d Neuroanatomy Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Mt. Sinai Medical School, New York, NY e Ulster County Mental Health Department, Kingston, NY f Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Division of Child Psychiatry, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA To cite this Article Barber, Mary , Chessick, Cheryl , Rosario, Vernon A. , Byne, William , Clyman, Robert and Womack, Bill(2007) 'BOOK REVIEWS', Journal of Gay & Lesbian Psychotherapy, 11: 3, 187 — 202 To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1300/J236v11n03_11 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J236v11n03_11 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.informaworld.com/terms-and-conditions-of-access.pdf This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date.
    [Show full text]
  • How the Broken Criminal Justice System Fails Lgbt People
    UNJUST: HOW THE BROKEN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM FAILS LGBT PEOPLE February 2016 Authors Partners This report was authored by: This report was developed in partnership with: 2 Center for American Progress Advancement Project The Center for American Progress (CAP) is a think tank Advancement Project is a next generation, multi- dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through racial civil rights organization. Rooted in the great ideas and action. CAP combines bold policy ideas with human rights struggles for equality and justice, we a modern communications platform to help shape the exist to fulfill America’s promise of a caring, inclusive national debate. CAP is designed to provide long-term and just democracy. We use innovative tools and leadership and support to the progressive movement. strategies to strengthen social movements and CAP’s policy experts cover a wide range of issue areas, achieve high impact policy change. Learn more at and often work across disciplines to tackle complex, www.advancementproject.org. interrelated issues such as national security, energy, and climate change. Forward Together Forward Together is a multi-racial, multi-issue org- Movement Advancement Project anization that is changing how we think, feel, act, The Movement Advancement Project (MAP) is an and make policy about families. Whether chosen or independent think tank that provides rigorous biological, we work to ensure that all families have research, insight, and analysis that help speed the power and resources they need to thrive. We work equality for LGBT people. MAP works collaboratively at the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality— with LGBT organizations, advocates and funders, and find ways to shift our culture and policy in the providing information, analysis and resources that areas of reproductive justice, economic justice, and help coordinate and strengthen efforts for maximum ending mass incarceration.
    [Show full text]
  • Urvashi Vaid More Just Society.” Became the Executive Urvashi Vaid Is an Attorney, Author, Activist and the Executive Director of the Arcus Director of the Foundation
    URVA SHI VAID b. October 8, 1958 “Gay people do not fight for freedom to live in a lavender bubble, but in a In 2005, Urvashi Vaid more just society.” became the executive Urvashi Vaid is an attorney, author, activist and the executive director of the Arcus director of the Foundation. Arcus Foundation, a Vaid was born in New Delhi, India. In 1966, her family moved to Potsdam, New York, private grant-making where her father taught at the state university. Vaid’s interest in politics began at the organization focused on age of 11 at an anti-war protest. achieving social justice In 1979, Vaid graduated from Vassar College. She received her law degree in 1983 from inclusive of sexual Northeastern University, where she founded the Boston Lesbian/Gay Political Alliance. orientation, gender From 1983 to 1986, Vaid served as staff attorney for the National Prisons Project of the identity and race. American Civil Liberties Union. She litigated class action lawsuits to challenge prison conditions and initiated the organization’s HIV/AIDS inmate project. In 1986, Vaid joined the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NLGTF), where she worked for 10 years—first as media director, then as executive director, and finally as director of the NGLTF Policy Institute. Vaid is the author of “Virtual Equality: the Mainstreaming of Gay and Lesbian Liberation” (1995), a political analysis of the GLBT movement. ARRA N In 2005, Vaid became the executive director of the Arcus E M G Foundation, a private grant-making foundation focused O on achieving social justice inclusive of sexual orientation, © T gender identity and race.
    [Show full text]
  • A History of Queer New Mexico, 1920S-1980S Jordan Biro
    University of New Mexico UNM Digital Repository History ETDs Electronic Theses and Dissertations 9-1-2015 Uncommon Knowledge: A History of Queer New Mexico, 1920s-1980s Jordan Biro Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/hist_etds Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Biro, Jordan. "Uncommon Knowledge: A History of Queer New Mexico, 1920s-1980s." (2015). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ hist_etds/8 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Electronic Theses and Dissertations at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in History ETDs by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Jordan Biro Walters Candidate HISTORY Department This dissertation is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication: Approved by the Dissertation Committee: Virginia Scharff, Chairperson Cathleen Cahill Andrew K. Sandoval-Strausz Peter Boag UNCOMMON KNOWLEDGE: A HISTORY OF QUEER NEW MEXICO, 1920S-1980S BY JORDAN BIRO WALTERS B.A., History, California State University Sacramento, 2004 M.A., Public History, California State University, 2009 DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy History The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico July, 2015 ©2015, Jordan Biro Walters iii DEDICATION For my husband, David. May we always share the quest for knowledge together. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I thank all of the oral history participants from whom I’ve learned. Their narratives have given clarity of purpose to this project. The participants whom I interviewed include, Ginger Chapman, Vangie Chavez, Therese Councilor, Ronald Dongahe, Jean Effron, Zonnie Gorman, Bennett A.
    [Show full text]
  • Milestones Kevin Cathcart Looks Back on 20 Years of Leadership As
    MILESTONES Into the Future Kevin Cathcart looks back on 20 years of leadership as executive director of Lambda Legal, and forward to the challenges that lie ahead. When Kevin Cathcart arrived at Lambda Legal in 1992 to take on the job of executive director, he had already shepherded groundbreaking lawsuits and civil rights campaigns for eight years at New England’s Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD). But he was ready to go national, as he says in this interview. Since then, Lambda Legal has made history, tackling a massive roster of groundbreaking cases, including lawsuits seeking marriage equality, challenging anti- sodomy laws and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and addressing adoption, custody, hospital visitation, school harassment, workplace fairness and more. Twenty years into his tenure, Cathcart reflects on the landmark achievements of the organization and the broader movement—and the significant work that remains to be done. » 8 LAMBDA LEGAL IMPACT | Winter 2012 In all the years I’ve been doing this, I have never felt like there was more opportunity than there is right now. MATT COLES STARTING SMALL, STAYING LOCAL Deputy National Legal Director, ACLU Speaking truth to WHAT waS GOING ON AT LAMBDA LEGAL IN 1992 THAT PIQUED power—no one does YOUR INTEREST? that better than Kevin I had seen first-hand during my years in New England what a local or regionally based Cathcart. Shortly after organization could do. One of the things that was very exciting about the idea of coming to I started at the ACLU Lambda Legal from GLAD was that here was a larger national organization that was committed LGBT Project, I went to my first (maybe to expanding its footprint nationwide, beyond New York and Los Angeles.
    [Show full text]