May 11, 2017
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EQLA Thanks Sen. Mary Landrieu for Sponsorship of Youth PROMISE Act
August 11, 2014
Equality Louisiana Supports the Youth PROMISE Act (S. 1307/ H.R. 1318)
Dear Senator Landrieu,
As a coalition of more than 25 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and allied organizations in the state of Louisiana, we express our support for the Youth PROMISE Act. Historically, Louisiana is known for one of the worst juvenile justice systems in the country, and this has disproportionately affected the LGBT community.
We know that LGBT youth are overrepresented in the criminal justice system in Louisiana, with one study published in the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law saying that 15 percent of youth in prison identify as LGBT.[1] Higher rates of bullying, harassment, homelessness, policing and family rejection make LGBT youth more likely to be funneled out of schools and into prisons. When LGBT youth enter the prison system, they face increased physical, sexual and psychological abuse and harassment, increased isolation, a lack of services and a lack of understanding of their needs.[2]
We applaud your efforts to counter the school to prison pipeline by sponsoring the Youth PROMISE Act. We know that intervention programs work and decrease recidivism, youth arrests and delinquency. High incarceration rates have torn our community apart, and we commend your efforts to help solve this problem. Thank you once again for being the lead sponsor on the Youth PROMISE Act and for your hard work on this critical issue. We look forward to future correspondence with your office.
Sincerely,
Tucker Barry Managing Director, Equality Louisiana
[1] Irvine, Angela. “We’ve Had Three of Them: Addressing the Invisibility of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Gender Non-Conforming Youths in the Juvenile Justice System .” Columbia Journal of Gender and Law 19: 675-701. http://www.nccdglobal.org/sites/default/files/content/weve-had-three-of-them.pdf
[2] Ware, Wesley. “Locked Up and Out: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth in Louisiana’s Juvenile Justice System.” Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana. http://jjpl.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/locked-up-and-out.pdf
Louisiana Progress Highlights Issues of Poverty in the LGBT Community
Louisiana Progress Highlights Issues of Poverty in the LGBT Community
In the LGBT community and movement, the conversation often goes to the freedom to marry and to live our lives free of discrimination. Often, the conversation doesn’t go beyond that to address the very real effects of the discrimination in employment, housing, education, etc. that are experienced by so many in our community. This is the part of the conversation that Louisiana Progress, one of our coalition members, is highlighting with their blog post, “The Invisible Poor: LGBT People and Poverty.”
This month Louisiana Progress is bringing the issue of poverty to the forefront through their social media messaging, emails, blog posts and forums around the state. To learn more about what they are doing and how you can help, like them on Facebook and sign up to receive updates via email.
The Invisible Poor: LGBT People and Poverty
When we think of LGBT people’s rights in this country, we often immediately have conjured images of wedding cakes and rainbow flags. These more glamorous symbols of the LGBT rights movement in our country have meant that extreme issues of poverty have taken a backseat priority-wise. As Laura A. Hughes puts it in her article for the Huffington Post, “But for all the scrutiny, marriage has been the beginning and end of most discussions of either [political] party’s stance on LGBT issues. What has been overlooked…[is] that throughout the country, and particularly my own city of Detroit, poverty is very much an LGBT issue itself. The high numbers of LGBT homeless youth are one of the harshest consequences.” LGBT youth are at extreme risk for homelessness, due to the at times unstable nature of their family life. Kids who come out to their families may be kicked out of their homes with nowhere else to go. They may be allowed to stay in their homes, but face extreme emotional or physical abuse, and ultimately flee for their safety. This pushes these children into exceedingly dangerous circumstances, including being forced into sex work just to survive.
Read more.
EQLA Is Honored to Have Been a Part of the Pride 1 Awards
EQLA Is Honored to Have Been a Part of the Pride 1 Awards
Last Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending the One Awards with other members of the EQLA leadership team and several of our coalition members. Held yearly by Pride 1: Baton Rouge Pride, the One Awards honor those members of our community that have shown excellence in their given field, aided in the community, or overcome adversity.
We were fortunate enough to have EQLA coalition members nominated for several of the categories, including Female Advocate of the Year, Male Advocate of the Year, Event of the Year, and the Redder Award for Outstanding Organization.
We are thrilled that Pride 1 is also one of our coalition members, and I want to specially thank Pride 1 President Quentin Little for all of his hard work in organizing the Awards, but also all of the events that led up to the awards, including several fundraisers to raise money for LGBT nonprofits, including Equality Louisiana.
As I sat in the audience, I realized that I work with some fantastic people, y’all. I often take that for granted. I am also lucky enough to call my amazing colleagues my friends. On Saturday, I got to see the hard work and years of dedication of some of these folks recognized by the Baton Rouge Community.
I watched Kayla Mulford, President of Capital City Alliance, accept the Female Advocate of the Year Award for her commitment to the LGBT community in Baton Rouge. I am so happy for Kayla. This lady does a lot of work, and I’m excited that other folks have noticed. I remember when I first met Kayla – I got to watch her jump right into the work of CCA and add business after business to the list of benefactors of the very first Equality March. She continues to work to make Baton Rouge a more accepting and welcoming place for all LGBT people.
I got to see Tucker Barry, our Managing Director, accept the Redder Award on behalf of Equality Louisiana. When I look back at the other organizations who all do incredible work for LGBT people in Baton Rouge and in Louisiana, I am both surprised and extremely humbled that EQLA received this award. We could not do the work we do without the support of our coalition members all over the state and their unwavering dedication to LGBT equality. I am so glad that accepted it on behalf of the organization. Sometimes people don’t realize that no one is paid to work for EQLA – we are all volunteers. But that doesn’t stop us from working 40+ hour weeks in addition to our jobs, classes, families, and anything else we might add to our plates. Tucker in particular works incredibly hard to keep the organization moving, and I am so grateful for everything he does.
Finally, I approached the brink of sobbing as Tucker gave a heartfelt and emotional introduction of the winner of the last award – the One Award. This award is given to a person who has fought tirelessly for LGBT equality in the Baton Rouge area and, in the case of this year’s winner, across the country. The 2014 One Award was given to our Coalition Manager, Louisiana Progress Executive Director, and Board Member of Louisiana Trans Advocates and Capital City Alliance – Bruce Parker. Because I am sure that I can’t give a better introduction than Tucker did, I just want to quote the first few lines of his:
This year’s One Award goes to the most deserving person that I know, a cornerstone of the LGBT community in our state. Because of this person, we have a much stronger LGBT movement in Louisiana, a better place to live, and a much better shot at full lived and legal equality. He is responsible for an entirely new approach to advancing LGBT equality in Louisiana and an unprecedented number of opportunities for people to get involved in community organizing.
We are so lucky to have Bruce, as well as Tucker and Kayla, advocating for our rights. I couldn’t be more proud of these three people, and I am so glad that other folks are recognizing the amazing work they do every day.
Marriage Matters Monday: Sarah and Rena
Marriage Matters Monday: Sarah and Rena
“Having two moms and a dad means we have more love than most kids have.” -Maddy
We are Sarah Mahfouz & Rena Romero-Mahfouz. We have been together nearing 4 years now and will celebrate 2 years of marriage on April 26th. Our 2 beautiful children, Madelyn (10 years) and Cohen (5 years) are our world-and also keep our world very busy and entertaining!
‘Maddy’ is a rising gymnast who flips and twirls through life with a smile as big as her heart! Cohen is an avid Ninja Turtle fan who looks forward to beginning his karate career this summer! The careers of us mommies in the house allow for plenty family time and movie nights-complete with popcorn an popsicles of course!
Mom (Rena) is an In-School Suspension Facilitator at a local elementary school. ‘Muffy’ (Sarah) is a store manager at a nearby home interiors store who also enjoys her second job of landscaping in and around Acadiana. Our family is very blessed to have a very supportive and loving father to our children. Our babies were born from a prior relationship that has continued into a very close friendship between mom and dad. This allows our family to function in a very loving and smooth manner that sometimes feels surreal.
Our family is fortunate to have not seen any discrimination from the community thus far. Mom and Muffy are both active in the local LGBT community, and we are able to feel very loved and supported by friends and family.
As we watch marriage equality slowly unfolding across our country, we look forward to the day that we can celebrate that victory of equality for our own family right here in the south. Although as parents we know this may mean waiting longer than most families have wait wait, we teach our children that we should never give up, always have faith, share love and peace and last but definitely not least – embrace the precious gifts that sometimes unfold over time because those gifts are worth the wait.
One day, we will look back at all the rallies and events we have attended and smile in knowing that our children were our inspiration to fight for the freedom to marry so that one day when they find the one person they want to spend their whole life with, they will have the freedom to do so.
by Sarah Mahfouz & Rena Romero-Mahfouz Lafayette, Louisiana
A Statement by Louisiana Trans Advocates and Equality Louisiana on Recent News of the Abominable Treatment of a Transgender Woman in Natchitoches Parish
The leaders and members of Louisiana Trans Advocates and Equality Louisiana are full of grief and sadness today as we learn that a transgender woman has been held captive and tortured by three individuals in the Ajax area of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. She was systematically abused, assaulted and dehumanized by her captors for months. Through her remarkable strength and resilient hope, she fought to survive and successfully escaped captivity. Though law enforcement are often not allies to transgender women, she was courageous enough to work with them in order to prevent her captors from doing this to anyone else in the future.
The deprivation of freedom and basic human dignity demonstrated in this case serve as a reminder that things like this happen in the cities and parishes of our state and are far too often ignored by the media and law enforcement. It is not uncommon for transgender women to be subjected to violence that results in their death. LGBT people, people of color, women and many other populations experience unacceptable treatment on a daily basis. This woman survived, while many women do not.
We believe that everyone has a responsibility to fight for the basic humanity and dignity of all people. We have a responsibility to create communities and a society where acts like this don’t happen. We can create healthier, less violent communities by ensuring that everyone has access to employment, housing, and education without fear of discrimination, harassment, and violence. We hope you will join us as we work toward ending all violence and discrimination against transgender women and everyone else based on their gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation because when it comes to ensuring human dignity, we can never compromise.
A Statement by Louisiana Trans Advocates and Equality Louisiana on Recent News of the Abominable Treatment of a Transgender Woman in Natchitoches Parish
The leaders and members of Louisiana Trans Advocates and Equality Louisiana are full of grief and sadness today as we learn that a transgender woman has been held captive and tortured by three individuals in the Ajax area of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. She was systematically abused, assaulted and dehumanized by her captors for months. Through her remarkable strength and resilient hope, she fought to survive and successfully escaped captivity. Though law enforcement are often not allies to transgender women, she was courageous enough to work with them in order to prevent her captors from doing this to anyone else in the future.
The deprivation of freedom and basic human dignity demonstrated in this case serve as a reminder that things like this happen in the cities and parishes of our state and are far too often ignored by the media and law enforcement. It is not uncommon for transgender women to be subjected to violence that results in their death. LGBT people, people of color, women and many other populations experience unacceptable treatment on a daily basis. This woman survived, while many women do not.
We believe that everyone has a responsibility to fight for the basic humanity and dignity of all people. We have a responsibility to create communities and a society where acts like this don’t happen. We can create healthier, less violent communities by ensuring that everyone has access to employment, housing, and education without fear of discrimination, harassment, and violence. We hope you will join us as we work toward ending all violence and discrimination against transgender women and everyone else based on their gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation because when it comes to ensuring human dignity, we can never compromise.
33 times - that's how many times the Louisiana Family Forum has directly attacked LGBT people in their public emails just in 2014. Join join us in the fight against their hateful attacks. https://causes.anedot.com/33-times