Sunday, 6 October 2013 – 5:19 PM
| Comments Off on A long-overdue Bent Alaska update — October 2013
Bent Alaska’s blog will continue in hiatus indefinitely; but the Bent Alaska Facebook Group on Facebook is thriving — join us! A long-overdue update from Bent Alaska’s editor.
Monday, 12 July 2010 – 1:46 PM
| Comments Off on Firing of transwoman because coworkers might feel "uncomfortable" is discrimination, Court rules
It’s currently legal to fire someone for being lesbian, gay or bisexual in 29 states, and transgender workers can be fired for being trans in 38 states. Alaska is in both categories, having no job protections for LGBT employees.
While Congress is slowly working on ENDA, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, several discrimination cases are moving through the courts. Last week, transgender employees won an important legal victory:
U.S. District Judge Richard W. Story handed down a decision finding the firing of Vandy Beth Glenn—a former Georgia state legislative editor who announced that she would be transitioning from a man to a woman—unconstitutional.
Born Glenn Morrison, the plaintiff alleged that her boss, Georgia Legislative Counsel Sewell Brumby, dismissed her after two years of employment because the gender transition she was about to undergo would make coworkers feel “uncomfortable” and be seen as “immoral” by Georgia lawmakers. In Glenn v. Brumby et. al., Sewell argued that lawmakers “would no longer trust his office if a transgendered person worked there,” states UPI.com.
But in a 50-page decision, Story wrote: “[A]voiding the anticipated negative reactions of others cannot serve as a sufficient basis for discrimination and does not constitute an important government interest.”
He fired her because coworkers might feel uncomfortable? I’ve felt uncomfortable around homophobic coworkers, but never suggested that otherwise qualified employees should be fired because of their bigotry. As usual, substitute any other minority group for “transgendered person” and you’ll see how absurd this is.
Note that she worked with adults – not with children, not in a religious setting, and not visible to the general public. Those are the main talking points that bigots use to whip up fear of transgender workers. But none were present in this case. It wasn’t fear for the children that got her fired, it was a boss who was afraid of working with someone different from himself – someone he had already been working with for two years.
Sadly, this kind of firing is not unusual. And it doesn’t just happen in the south, it happens here too. This court decision will help end job discrimination against transgender workers in Georgia, and eventually throughout the U.S.
… In this case, “the court proved that the Georgia General Assembly isn’t above the constitution,” says Lambda Legal transgender-rights attorney Dru Levasseur, who is co-representing Glenn, in a press release. “The evidence was clear—Vandy Beth was fired because her boss didn’t like who she is, and that kind of treatment is unfair and illegal.”
Last September, Ms. Glenn testified at a congressional hearing on the federal bill ENDA, which, if passed, would ban workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression through the country. She explained her case in the testimony:
Sunday, 11 July 2010 – 6:25 AM
| Comments Off on Watch: Robosexual Marriage
Futurama is back on Comedy Central, and last week’s episode on robosexual marriage coincided with the federal court ruling that DOMA is unconstitutional. The clip parodies the infamous Gathering Storm ad, and includes the pro-equality part of a public debate. Later in the episode, the opponent turns out to be a closet robosexual, of course.
In a previous episode, Bender and Amy tried to keep their love hidden from coworkers, and dealt with a street preacher (another closet robosexual) who sounds like a familiar Anchorage homophobe. How many of our local haters are closet cases? Watch the clip:
The Kids Are All Right opened Friday in the lower 48. It’s a family comedy starring Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, and Mark Ruffalo. Two teenagers raised by a lesbian couple (Bening and Moore) find their sperm donor father (Ruffalo) and bring him into the family. The household will never be the same.
Tuesday, 6 July 2010 – 5:17 AM
| Comments Off on Pride Float destroyed & rebuilt for July 4th parade wins Grand Prize (video and links)
Two days into a camping trip, I received a text message that a Pride Parade float entered in the Anchorage 4th of July parade had been destroyed by a suspicious fire.
The Imperial Court had 48 hours to rebuild. They called for volunteers and for the LGBTA community to march along with the new float. In the nearest town, I shared that information on Bent’s Facebook wall before the connection quit.
Coming home last night, I saw photos of the new LGBT float and the queer youth float that also participated in Sunday’s parade.
The Pride float was built by the efforts of many. Thanks to the LGBT people and allies who created the float so quickly and with so much style. Thanks to the businesses and individuals who donated the materials, funds and labor to rebuild the float. Thanks to all who rode and walked with the float. And thanks to the Facebook users, local media, and bloggers for reporting the fire and the story of Phoenix Rising, the LGBT float that won the Grand Prize in the 4th of July parade. It was a community effort, in every way.
A fund is set up to help rebuild Paula & Ken Butner’s garage (Wells Fargo account #9297382088). The fire investigation is still in progress. In a possibly related incident, the police are investigating eggs thrown on the home of Daphne, the emcee for the LGBT float.
Meanwhile in the town of Homer, Alaska, the LGBTA float for the July 4th parade was created without incident by PFLAG and the Gay/Straight Alliance, but the announcer refused to introduce the PFLAG/GSA float when they passed the judging booth. One of the marchers had to step forward and tell the crowd who they were.
More people rode in the PFLAG rainbow skiff this year, and several of the walkers wore Alaska rainbow socks. The LGBT contingent included the skiff, two bicycles, two gay olympic athletes with their medals, a skateboarder, a group of walkers, and a blond queen wearing a pink sweater-set with black leather boots and riding a motorcycle.
Thanks to the national LGBT book blogger Band of Thebes (who lives part time in Homer) for the story and photos.
Friday, 2 July 2010 – 8:24 AM
| Comments Off on Watch: Drag Queen Bingo & Alaska Pride Parade (videos)
Thanks to KTVA channel 11 for airing several stories throughout the week of Alaska PrideFest this year. Here are KTVA’s stories on the annual Drag Queen Bingo at Snow City Café, a benefit for AMP; and at Anchorage’s annual Pride parade and festival.
Thursday, 1 July 2010 – 2:38 PM
| Comments Off on Watch: Elena Kagan on DADT & marriage
At her Supreme Court confirmation hearings this week, nominee Elena Kagan stated her continuing opposition to DADT: “I have repeatedly said the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy is unwise and unjust. I believed it then, and I believe it now.”
Later Kagan said, “One thing I do know is that my politics would be, must be, have to be completely separate from my judging.”
Kagan will likely be hearing the Prop 8 case in the next couple of years, and could only discuss side issues when asked about states’ rights and same-sex marriage:
Tuesday, 29 June 2010 – 8:33 PM
| Comments Off on Openly gay Ray Boltz performs in Anchorage, July 11
Ray Boltz is performing in Anchorage on July 11 — and the concert is FREE! Yes, that’s right, you can hear this acclaimed gay singer perform for free by registering HERE before they run out of tickets.
Ray Boltz sold over 4.5 million records and was the recipient of two Dove awards before coming out as a gay man and retiring from Christian music. After a five year break from the stage, Boltz recorded True, with songs about same-sex marriage (“Don’t Tell Me Who to Love”), bias crimes (“Swimming Hole”), and the conservative claim of a gay ‘agenda’ (“Following Her Dreams”).
In several of the songs on True, Boltz tries to reconcile being gay with his Christian faith.
“I don’t believe God hates me anymore,” said Boltz in an interview with the New York Times. “I always thought if people knew the true me, they’d be disgusted, and that included God. But for all the doubts, there’s this new belief that God accepts me and created me, and there’s peace.”
Both Bolz and his ex-wife Carol have been vilified by religious extremists for becoming LGBT advocates. She manages his website and blogs her support at My Heart Goes Out.
Mrs. Boltz also realizes better than anyone how many former fans vehemently object. She fields the e-mail messages that pour into the Web site, the ones that say, “We will be destroying all your cds cassettes etc immediately” and “Instead of converting to man-love, why not goat love?”
Ugh. Sounds like something Prevo would say. So if you enjoy gay-themed songs or contemporary Christian music, go to this free concert and support Ray Boltz in his return to the stage as an openly-gay man. And bring your straight Christian friends and relatives! They need to hear his message as much as LGBT people do.
The Anchorage concert is sponsored by the Metropolitan Community Church (MCCA) and St. Mary’s Episcopal Church. For more on Boltz and his tour with another recently out singer Azariah Southworth, visit the Living True tour.
Sunday, 27 June 2010 – 1:04 PM
| Comments Off on Stonewall, the Rosa Parks moment (video)
June 28 is the anniversary of Stonewall, when the queens, gays and lesbians of New York City fought back against a police raid on the Stonewall Bar in 1969. The event taught us the power of honesty and pride, and launched the modern LGBT rights movement.
Stonewall Uprising tells the story of the Stonewall riots in the words of the participants:
“It was the Rosa Parks moment,” said one man. June 28, 1969: NYC police raid a Greenwich Village Mafia-run gay bar, The Stonewall Inn. For the first time, patrons refuse to be led into paddy wagons, setting off a 3-day riot that launches the Gay Rights Movement.
Told by Stonewall patrons, reporters and the cop who led the raid, Stonewall Uprising recalls the bad old days when psychoanalysts equated homosexuality with mental illness and advised aversion therapy, and even lobotomies; public service announcements warned youngsters against predatory homosexuals; and police entrapment was rampant. At the height of this oppression, the cops raid Stonewall, triggering nights of pandemonium with tear gas, billy clubs and a small army of tactical police. The rest is history. (Film Forum)
Saturday, 26 June 2010 – 2:16 PM
| Comments Off on What does PRIDE mean to you?
IN THE LIFE speaks with a diverse group of LGBT people and discovers what Pride means to them. Watch the episode and tell us what LGBT Pride means to you:
Friday, 25 June 2010 – 3:07 PM
| Comments Off on The ordinance one year later (video)
KTVA looks back at the 2009 battle for an equal rights ordinance, and asks where the LGBT community of Anchorage is today, as we celebrate PrideFest 2010.
Four voices speak for fairness and equal rights: Matthew, Rachel, Johnathan and MeMe. Only one person speaks for hate: Prevo. Which side are YOU on?
The very real consequences of DADT repeal; seeking survivor benefits for same-sex partner of Alaska shooting victim; waiting on SCOTUS decision about whether it will hear Prop 8 case; and other recent LGBTQ news selected by Sara Boesser in Juneau, Alaska.
In this month’s “Ask Lambda Legal” column, Lambda Legal answers a question about the federal government’s longstanding ban against donations of blood from men who have sex with men (MSM).
Alaska Pride Conference 2012 kicks off on October 5 with a First Friday showing at Tref.Punkt Studio of Love is Love, a photographic exhibit of LGBT couples from across the state.
United for marriage: Light the way to justice. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments this Tuesday and Wednesday, March 26–27, in two cases about freedom to marry. Please join us on Tuesday, March 26, at the federal courthouse in Anchorage (7th & C) in a circle united for equality.
Pariah, a critically acclaimed film about a 17-year-old African-American woman embracing her lesbian identity, will screen at UAA on Friday, November 2, and will be followed by a discussion on acceptance in honor of Mya Dale. The event is free and open to the public.
Ray Boltz is performing in Anchorage on July 11 — and the concert is FREE! Yes, that’s right, you can hear this acclaimed gay singer perform for free by registering HERE before they run out of tickets.
