RippeLGBTQ +

The march for LGBTQ+ rights and acceptance moves ever forward. We shed light on some historical and contemporary topics that show how far we've come as a community. There is still a long way to go, and spreading this information is just one step on the road to progress. Contributors: Wren, Avory, Marie, Isaac, Yali

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This is ILGA’s (an association for LGBTI rights) latest map of sexual orientation laws by country, based on their yearly State-Sponsored Homophobia report. The fact that we often live in our own bubbles is unavoidable. We live in the bubbles of our country, our county, our city, and our communities. And in the West, these bubbles often blind us to the fact that the callous, hateful murder of LGBTQ people is not just an accepted practice but state-sponsored in 11 countries across the world. Homosexuality is criminalized in roughly 70 countries (including the aforementioned 11). To us, these are just numbers, but to the LGBTQ people who live in those countries, life is a constant mission of secrecy, and many of them will never be afforded the luxury of expressing themselves openly among their friends and family. This is the unfortunate reality of LGBT discrimination abroad. As bad as things can be in the West, a quick look at this map really puts our issues into perspective. So what, then? Does that diminish the importance of continuing to battle for LGBTQ rights in “progressive” countries? There’s progress to be made everywhere, to be sure- and realistically, people don’t have the capacity to be as socially active or conscious as they’d like to be. Still, it’s important to remind ourselves of these facts every now and then. It doesn’t have to inspire us to be international activists. But if our bubbles are burst every so often, it’ll help us tackle our own issues with more information and perspective. - Isaac

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With each new year, as public attitudes on queer people slowly change, it becomes a little easier for companies to endorse certain queer causes. The online gaming industry is no exception and Respawn Entertainment, creators of massively popular multiplayer game Apex Legends, decided to write two queer characters into their game. These characters are Gibraltar and Bloodhound, and they are gay/bisexual and nonbinary, respectively. 

When news(?) of these characters’ identities broke out, there were mixed responses from the game’s community. Some appreciation and even apathy, to be sure, but also a heaping amount of frustration centered around one idea- the developers were pandering.

“Why did the characters need to be queer? Why do their identities matter in an online shooter? I don’t care if they’re gay or straight, cis or trans. I don’t care!”

I’m sure the irony of emphatically repeating how little it matters that a character is queer is not missed on you, reader. Fact is, if nobody cared these characters were queer, this conversation wouldn’t be happening. Jokes at the expense of gay people and outright scoffing at the idea of nonbinary gender often surround this topic of discussion, and they don’t exactly seal my confidence in that argument.

Was Respawn’s motivation purely financial? To me, this question is less useful than asking, “Did they do a good job of representation?” Ultimately, the question of why Respawn chose to write two queer characters is not as important, unless you’re looking for reasons to praise or damn the company. Personally, I think they had good intentions- nonbinary identities are (unfortunately) often a source of contention, even among some LGBT circles. Respawn didn’t have to choose to represent them, but they did. Did they do a good job? I think so. But that question could be a whole post of its own.

- Isaac

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LGBTQ+ discrimination is legal in 30 states. 28 states allow discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in relation to their housing, employment, and public facilities. Wisconsin has laws against discrimination based on sexual orientation but not gender identity and Utah has protections got both in regards to employment and housing but not public facilities. LGBTQ+ people all around the country are being fired, being kicked out of their housing, being refused service or being kicked out of public spaces. This is far from everyone being equal and free. These spaces for discrimination show people that they can be violent without much consequence and shows them they can hate. LGBTQ+ people are hard working, loving, breathing humans and deserve nothing less than equality on all fronts of life and we have to keep fighting to achieve it. Progress got us here but we persevere to get what we need. And what we need is our rights. Find an accredited organization, support them and fight!

-Avory

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Queer Globalization

The Internet has been a tool of immense value since it was released to the public in the early 1990s. It has made communication nearly instantaneous across the globe, and allowed for many boundaries to be broken, creating communities of individuals finally able to seek freedom from their oppressive surroundings. For queer teenagers living in rural areas, the Internet may have been the first place they learned queer terminology, or discovered an identity label that fit their lived experience. 

There has been an increasing amount of frustration from queer individuals and individuals of other oppressed groups who feel that they are constantly asked to explain their own oppression to those ignorant and/or privileged enough to not understand. The internet has done great things for normalizing queer identities, largely by making information accessible. Beforehand, if one wanted to understand the nuances of transgenderism, they would have to scour research libraries with one eye always checking behind their back to make sure they wouldn’t be accosted for researching “perversions.” Now, it’s as easy as a simple Google search that can lead to millions of results, from tweets to YouTube essays to news articles to scholarly journals, all from the comfort and privacy of one’s own home. For example, one can find many comprehensive lists of terms and allowances granted by privilege on Sam Killermann’s excellent website.

Another important part that the Internet has played is in greater visibility for the LGBTQ+ community, with queer content creators and Instagram Influencers generating millions of clicks. More and more people are feeling comfortable and safe enough to be publicly open with their identities and it inspires other members of the community to do the same. A potential downside is that some people have appropriated queer fashion trends or took on labels that don’t actually apply to them in order to gain social status. However, this doesn’t happen too often, and in some cases can be part of someone’s journey on their search for identity, trying on different labels to see what feels right. Part of the beauty is that with the ability for instant communication comes the option for instant change and creation, with new names for identities cropping up frequently, allowing people to be more comfortable within themselves.

-Yali

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Equal Healthcare for ALL

             The first few things that pop up on a search bar when you search “LGBTQ Healthcare” is followed by the words “issues” and “discrimination.” Why is this an issue you may ask? Because the first things that pop up when you type in “healthcare” alone are followed by the words “partner” and “administration” implying that the only detrimental things about healthcare only come when you are a part of the queer community.

             Some of the biggest problems in healthcare are the facts that many healthcare providers don’t know how to treat their queer patients and won’t bother to learn. Constant discrimination and refusal of care is detrimental to the community because avoidable occurrences are happening too often, and this is something that needs to be recognized.

             In an article posted on The Harvard Gazette website, author Alvin Powell states, “… educating health professionals so they better understand that there are differences in care needs, and that ignoring them can do damage” (Powell 2018). There is not enough data or education yet, that could fix the amounts of damage already done with the LGBTQ community, with them being susceptible to highly infectious diseases or complications due to medical negligence.

             Due to the ever-growing community, many places that offer no-holds-bar medical care (to the greatest of their abilities) are non-profits, funded by donations by the many patrons who don’t want to see such an impactful community wither away.

             Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) there are certain protections laid out so discriminations such as misgendering, personal biases, and blatant sexism cannot be practiced when visiting a healthcare professional. With experiences like this scaring LGBTQ teens and young adults from seeking the care and help that they need to have good health and thrive, there are certain things we can do as allies to make sure healthcare is fair and equal, under all circumstances such as:

-          Make yourself knowledgeable on subjects that you have questions on so there is no misunderstanding on what the queer community is fighting for.

-          If one of your queer friends doesn’t want to go alone to a medical appointment, go with them and offer support.

-          Vote for members in government with policies and an agenda to not only continue bettering the practice, but to make sure we do not regress.

Healthcare is not a privilege for the Cisgender, straight, and wealthy Caucasian population, it is a right for everyone no matter their race, sexual orientation, gender, or presentation.

-Marie

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Gay and trans panic are legal strategies to blame a persons gender identity or sexual orientation for the defendant’s violent reaction, including murder. When this is used in court, they claim temporary insanity. It is used as an excuse for their crime. Gay and tans panic laws have freed or lessened prison sentences for homophobic assailants for many years. They have also let LGBTQ+ people die without any justice. One that really stood out to me was a 15 year old child named Larry/Latisha King. They were shot in the head in computer class after asking a boy to be their valentine. The murder accused them of sexually harassing him and his defense team said he had no way out. They used the gay panic defense and it was declared a mistrial and no verdict was made. He was later retried and he was sentenced 21 years. This legal defense is a valid defense in 46 states. Almost anyone can use this legally in court and the effects are horrific. This is something that’s tells LGBTQ+ that we don’t have rights and that LGBTQ+ are not equal. By using these strategies, society tells queer people that their life worth less than others and that’s their identities are reasons for hate. This is far from equality. -Avory Pics are Marco McMillian, Jennifer Laude, and Larry/Latisha King. They were all murdered and their murderers tried to or used gay/trans panic.

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An Explanation of Identity

Featured in this image is the nonbinary flag flying high. It’s a versatile flag, that can be used in so many different ways for so many different types of identities. There isn’t one nonbinary identity- We all have our own version of it. For example, some nonbinary people view themselves as trans, while others do not. Even further than that though, there are people that feel an absence of gender, people that feel like both men and women at once, people that feel a distinctive gender that is neither man or woman, people that feel aspects of one identity while holding another one more strongly, and people that waver through many identities at different times. We all count as nonbinary, if we so choose, because it’s never just a solid feeling within the binary of man or woman. It’s always something slightly different.

There is discourse though about what it means to be nonbinary, because some people see there being a “right” way, or a “wrong” way to do it. Some people argue that you must feel dysphoria to be nonbinary, or trans in any way really. Other people argue that there’s a specific way that nonbinary people should look. They should be androgynous, or they should never wear “women’s” clothes such as skirts or dresses, and only wear pants and shirts, which interestingly is typically seen as “men’s” clothes, because somehow that is the default. Some people even argue that there is no such thing as nonbinary genders, and that we are just confused, or “trendy.” We don’t really feel that way and we’re just looking for attention. Personally, I argue that there is no right way to be nonbinary, and that all forms of it should be welcomed into the community, so long as the individual themself identifies as nonbinary.

We need to show that there is more to the community than just androgynous, skinny, white enbies that were assigned female at birth. I may fit some of those descriptors myself, but that shouldn’t be all that we see when we think of ourselves. That’s just one intersection, one person. There are so many more people than that, that each have their own stories and identities. It’s important to take a moment and remember that nonbinary is huge. It’s thousands of different things, and we all are Right.

- Wren

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New Options for the Start of a New Time

Recently in California, the DMV has offered a new option for driver licenses. This option? The choice to list yourself as nonbinary. This went into effect at the start of this year, 2019, and is a huge step forward in recognizing nonbinary identities. Many people believe that there are only two genders, but this is false and it’s great to see this legally being recognized. It’s something that a lot of people probably disagree with, because they are uninformed. They think that it’s something for attention, something trendy, but if you look back throughout time and through different cultures, there have always been third genders- and fourth and fifth. 

One example of such is the Hijra of India. They have almost a spiritual role in society, and have existed for many hundreds of years. They face discrimination too, as modern nonbinary genders in the United States do, but they’re recognized. It might take some more time for people to adjust and accept, but at least we’re starting our march forward.

- Wren

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be PrEPared to fight for your rights.

PrEP or, pre-exposure prophylaxis, is a drug taken once daily used with other protection for HIV prevention in already HIV negative persons. It is important for the discrepancies to be noted on why people in the LGBTQ+ community have such a difficult time getting access to PrEP, even though it is 99% effective for preventing the disease. The already difficult access to healthcare for people in the community have called out and acknowledged the 25,000% markup for the drug, for it being FDA approved and $6 internationally, and almost $1600 a month domestically.

The discrepancies in cost go hand in hand with the fact that universal healthcare is something people should have but do not have access to. People of the community are discriminated against and turned away from things that could not only keep people safe but prevent an ongoing epidemic that has currently affected 1.1 million people in the US, with 1 out of 7 not knowing that they are affected. The most affected groups being gay and bisexual men between the ages of 25-34.

The drug is for people who are high risk of exposure to HIV and should still be used with other forms of contraception. It is important because it makes the disease less of a threat to people the LGBTQ+ community, such as sex workers, and gay and bisexual men.

It is important call out the queerphobic practices in healthcare and to demand that life saving drugs are not a privilege, but a right.

-Marie

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Magnus Hirschfeld: A Brief History

Magnus Hirschfeld was one of the world’s first prominent sexologists, gaining the nickname “The Einstein of Sex,” and helped pave the way for LGBTQ+ folk to gain acceptance and understanding from the rest of the world. After working with many suffering homosexual clients, Hirschfeld founded the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, which was the first LGBT rights organization in the world. The Committee’s goals were to repeal harmful legislature that criminalized same-sex sexual intercourse, as well as to gain social recognition for individuals who identified as homosexual, bisexual, or transgender. 

In addition to this Committee, Hirschfeld also opened Institute of Sexual Research in Berlin in 1919. The Institute was something of a safe haven for LGBT folks, a place where they could openly be themselves without fear of being deemed criminals. The Institute included Hirschfeld’s impressive library, as well as medical and educational facilities, and it was in the Institute that the first ever transgender sex operations were performed. It was important for Hirschfeld to do the research not just for the benefit of his scientific or queer circles, but for society at large. To this end, Hirschfeld’s Museum of Sex opened to the public, situated within the Institute, as a place where the public could learn more about the burgeoning sexual sciences that were developing at the time. Curiously, a large number of those who came seeking answers were heterosexuals, most often seeking information on contraception. 

Unfortunately, when the nazis rose to power, LGBT people were high on their list of people that needed to go, and in an act of terror, they burned down the Institute of Sexual Research in 1933, destroying nearly all of Hirschfeld’s research. Luckily, Hirschfeld himself was out of town when the incident occurred. He was able to pass along what documents remained to his two heirs/lovers, Karl Giese and Li Shiu Tong, but it would be decades before any of his work would reemerge. Today we look back and recognize the life and accomplishments of this man who compromised his safety in order to advance the common good that is knowledge-power.

-Yali