On this day in 1928 police seized 800 copies of Radclyffe Hall’s lesbian novel The Well of Loneliness. It would be put on trial as obscenity later in 1928 under the Obscene Publications Act of 1857; Virginia Woolf came to the trial but wasn’t allowed to provide testimony — nobody was.
Interestingly, 1928 was the same year women got the right to vote in the UK.
Coincidence?
(h/t to The Progressive’s “Hidden History” calendar, via FW)
This letter from local clergy in Appleton is pretty much the best Christmas present I didn’t even imagine getting:
Jesus not only preached about but a lived a message of radical inclusion. He saw God’s realm as including everyone — and especially those who were despised or downtrodden or oppressed.
That’s why we and many other Christians believe that our values are best expressed when all people and all families are treated with fairness and loving support.
It was written in response to a letter from Appleton Taxpayers United which appeared a few weeks ago, which I won’t honor by quoting. It’s lovely to read Christians who sound like Christians.
The Fair Wisconsin Education Fund is hosting its first ever Leadership Conference, to take place in Milwaukee from January 13th – 15th. Why go to a Leadership Conference?
1. Meet other LGBT and allied leaders from around the state. The Leadership Conference will be a wonderful opportunity to connect with LGBT and allied people working to advance equality in their local communities. Share your experiences and gain support from people just like you who care about building a fair and just Wisconsin.
2. Learn new information and skills from local and national leaders. The Leadership Conference will offer an array of interesting and useful workshops to broaden your knowledge and help you to acquire new skills and tools to become a leader in the LGBT equality movement in Wisconsin.
3. Be a part of something new. This conference is a new opportunity that we have never seen before. Don’t miss out on being the first to participate in what is poised to be a hugely successful program!
4. Strengthen the movement. The Leadership Conference is a prime opportunity to build a strong base of support for the LGBT movement in Wisconsin. Join us as we build a fair Wisconsin together.
5. Celebrate and have fun! No conference is complete without some fun and celebration! Work hard and play hard at the first ever Fair Wisconsin Education Fund Leadership Conference!
Student registration is only $35! I’ll be there, and Chaz Bono is doing the keynote speech.
Russia wants ot make it illegal to write, speak or publish anything about being LGBT. Sign the petition, and sign it fast.
Tonight, progressives in Appleton faced the possibility that the position of Diversity Coordinator and the Diversity program would be cut or not funded. Also, there was a possibility that the domestic partner benefits for Appleton city employees might not make it through the budget process, too.
But tonight we kept a priority on diversity and equality.
And while I’m pleased – this is the 4th time (?) I’ve testified before Appleton’s Common Council, and I’m sure they’re tired of me by now – it was pretty rough sitting and listening to a bunch of people who don’t know me call me a moral stain and tell me I’m going to hell. It’s not something I haven’t heard before – as a feminist, as a green, as a queer – but there is something particularly painful to me when I hear that kind of rhetoric coming from Christians, and who say those things because they’re Christians.
It makes me wonder if I missed the part about the Good Samaritan asking first if the guy was gay.
I also wonder – when I hear haters stand behind their status as tax payers – if it ever occurs to homophobic types that LGBTQ people pay taxes too, and into a government that doesn’t treat them as equals. I wonder how well that would sit with people who don’t understand but who – for other reasons – are of a more libertarian stripe.
I pointed that latter piece out tonight, because I think that’s at least some of who I’m talking to here in Appleton.
But “moral stain” I really can’t get past. There’s something so dehumanizing and miserable about that one.
My other bit of wonder is how it is that people who think homosexuality is immoral – and they’re free to think it is – somehow think that justifies treating LGBTQ people as less than citizens. I mean, it’s not like queers have the corner on immorality, right? So do we stop paying health insurance for the partner of a man who commits adultery? I mean, which sins count, exactly, when it comes to citizenship? Which morality matters?
Eh, the whole process makes me sad, but I’m thankful for the other progressives who came tonight, and other nights, to speak truth to power. I’m thankful to all the common council members who are still there, at midnight, wrestling with a budget for this city I live in. I feel thankful that I’ve been given at least some skills to fight for justice.
Fair Wisconsin and Our Lives magazine need to hear from LGBT people – & their straight allies – who live in Wisconsin. Please fill out this survey for them, as both the organization and the magazine rock.
We are fighting some uphill battles here.
It’s been 13 years since this young man was left for dead in Laramie, Wyoming. I’m sure he’d be proud that his death was turned into a force for good, especially through his mother Judy Shepard’s efforts. We can hope that, anyway.
They are hateful, disrespectful, un-Christian bigots who bring their hatred of homosexuality into the private and traumatic grief of the families of fallen soldiers.
It’s unconscionable.
I want a counter-protest. I want love.
Their flier is below. More
I just got this note from Katie Belander of FAIR WI. As you all know, I was one of the “local LGBT leaders” who spoke at this Appleton Common Council meeting in favor of the city granting domestic partner benefits.
Earlier this month, I was proud to stand with local LGBT and allied leaders when the Appleton Common Council granted health care and related benefits to the registered domestic partners of city employees by a vote of 10 to 6. This is a major step forward for Appleton, the Fox Valley and Wisconsin.
But anti-fairness forces are already gearing up to try to undo the progress we have made together.
Saturday morning, the Appleton Post Crescent ran a citizen’s letter calling domestic partner benefits a “cancer [that] must be killed before it spreads” by overturning “this immoral and fiscally imprudent policy through direct legislation by referendum.”
As we learned with the state domestic partnership registry, no victory will go unchallenged. And at Fair Wisconsin, no victory will go undefended.
If you can, please make a donation to FAIR WI so we’ve got the resources to fight this one.
How do you not love artists?
A sculptor has created a sculpture of her and her wife, in bed naked and embracing, as their headstone in Woodlawn cemetary. She said:
“Since all we were legally afforded was death, I was going to make the most elegant statement on our government not allowing us to marry as I could muster.”
What an amazing statement and an amazing response to discrimination.
I’m glad DADT has gone the way of history (and somewhat amazed such an idiotic policy had such a long tenure), but the fact of it is trans people are not covered by the repeal of DADT: crossdressing and cross-gender presentation is still considered mental illness and grounds for discharge in the US military.
JAC Stringer has explained in a post over at Trans Group Blog:
What bothers me more than the issues within the military is the greater “LGB” community’s reaction, or lack their of, to the exclusion of trans* communities. I’m so glad today is here so I won’t be invited to another “Yay DADT! All Our Problems are Over!” facebook event; after months of it I’m fed up. Yes, we should be celebrating, but its downright lousy to rub it in trans people’s faces saying “we don’t have to worry anymore” and “problem solved.” If you’re going to go that far you might as well just call today what it is, yet another “We Forgot You, Again” day, or “We Matter More” day. And yes, I do have to remind people that our problems are not over. I’m not a downer, I’m an activist. I’m not bitter, I’m fucking furious. The LGB community knows what it’s like to be ignored, passed over, discriminated against, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t capable of taking their rights and privileges for granted. The LGB community makes strides with the help of the trans* community, the trans* community is booted out, and what should be our joy becomes a part of our pain. But in of every disappointment there is room for action. It holds me together when people do speak out and recognize that we are not done yet. We must continue to work, continue to fight, and never be satisfied until we all are equal.
I’ve heard today described as “the light at the end of the tunnel.” If this is your truth, I celebrate joyously for you. And as you reach that light at the end of the tunnel, I hope you remember that some of us have been left behind and we are still working in the dark.
So if you find our trans friends a little less celebratory than you might expect, it’s not even the incremental change that’s getting us down – it’s that so many others in the LGB don’t even seem to know a huge chunk of people are still, as JAC puts it, “working in the dark.”
It looks like such a humdrum shot, doesn’t it? City Council votes are notoriously unexciting, even if and when the debate gets a little heated. That is, the votes go up on the screen, and no one hoots or hollers or storms out: they just move on to the next subject, like the width of roads or the proposal to add a bike lane.
Still, this shot is of the board that gave Appleton city employees domestic partner benefits for the very first time. A few elected officials spoke eloquently and bravely, and a few community members did too.
A huge congratulations to Appleton for leveling the playing field for employees who are in same sex relationships and registered as domestic partners with the state of Wisconsin.
I expected something different, something far more corny, but found this woman’s explanation of her life & her reason for the video pretty damned incredible. Watch through to the end.
Good news from Fair Wisconsin:
FAIR WISCONSIN APPLAUDS MILWAUKEE COUNTY BOARD PASSAGE OF DOMESTIC PARTNER BENEFITS Board grants important protections to employees, moves County forward
Today members of the Milwaukee County Board approved a measure granting health care coverage to the same- and opposite-sex domestic partners of county employees. The final vote was 13-5.
“This decision marks an important victory for fairness. Providing equal employment benefits for all county employees is the right decision,” stated Katie Belanger, Executive Director of Fair Wisconsin.
“On behalf of Fair Wisconsin, other members of the Board of Directors and more than 20,000 members and activists statewide, I thank the members of the County Board and County Executive Chris Abele,” noted Fair Wisconsin Education Board President Robert Starshak. “The collective leadership of key board members, County Exec. Abele and other activists have been impressive. We look forward to continuing our work together to advance equality and move our state’s largest county forward.”
As the statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) advocacy organization, Fair Wisconsin is proud to have worked closely with members of the County Board and the County Executive to support the passage of this resolution. Providing domestic partner benefits and creating a more inclusive workplace is a critical step towards building a stronger, more diverse workforce that will lead Milwaukee County in the years ahead.
With the passage of this resolution, Milwaukee County has joined a growing number of employers who already grant their employees these critical protections, including the State of Wisconsin, the City of Milwaukee and Marquette University, and top private sector employers like Aurora Health Care and MillerCoors.
