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KEVIN NAFF
Friday, November 30, 2007
"WOW, THERE’S A lot to be angry about.”
That was the reaction recently from a local gay high school student who was reading the Blade for the first time, earnestly poring over articles about hate crimes, employment discrimination and rising HIV rates.
He seemed genuinely surprised that life for ordinary, grown-up gay Americans didn’t necessarily involve the corporate jobs, Prada shoes and stylish apartments made famous by the “Will & Grace” episodes he grew up watching.
But teenagers aren’t the only ones in need of an education on gay reality. During the debate over the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, it became clear that many members of Congress, including some freshman Democrats, remain woefully ignorant about our issues. Collectively, openly gay people have done a poor job of educating those around us about the inequalities we face.
Too many gay people come out to family and friends and then never speak of it again. Unfortunately, it’s not enough to merely come out; those of us living openly and honestly must take it to a new level.
Chatting with gay-friendly next-door neighbors last week, the subject of marriage surfaced. The straight, married couple was surprised to discover that same-sex relationships are not recognized under the law. And I was surprised that they didn’t already know that.
The conversation served as a reminder that gays take their straight allies for granted and that many of them know very little about the obstacles and discrimination we face in everyday life.
So, as many of us prepare to head home to family and friends for the coming holiday season, let us review some basics about the status of the gay rights movement so we can better educate our most important supporters.
In 30 states, it remains legal to fire an employee based on sexual orientation; in 38 states, it is legal to fire a person for being transgender.
Those numbers should scare straight workers, too, because they are not protected if a boss perceives them to be gay and then fires them. Gays and lesbians are not covered under federal non-discrimination laws. The U.S. House passed ENDA this month, after a transgender provision was removed from the bill, marking the first time in history that either chamber has approved such a measure. The earliest incarnation of ENDA dates to the 1970s, when Rep. Bella Abzug introduced a bill to bar discrimination against gays. Congress is still debating the issue more than 30 years later. Despite the House passage, a version has not yet been introduced in the Senate and White House advisers have publicly recommended that President Bush veto the bill should it reach his desk.
ENDA exempts small employers and the military, meaning the armed forces can continue to expel openly gay and lesbian service members. More than 12,000 gay men and women have been kicked out of the military since President Bill Clinton signed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in 1993, including dozens of Arabic speaking linguists desperately needed after the 9/11 attacks. Many of our allies, including Great Britain, Canada and Israel already permit open gays to serve in the military.
There is no federal recognition of same-sex relationships, creating myriad problems for gay couples. The federal government bestows more than 1,100 rights and responsibilities on straight married couples, including rights related to Social Security benefits, immigration and filing joint taxes. Gay couples — even those married legally in Massachusetts — are not entitled to any of those rights.
Only one state permits gay marriage. Four others have enacted civil unions, including New Jersey, Vermont, Connecticut and New Hampshire. California, Oregon, Maine, Washington and Washington, D.C., have enacted domestic partnership laws that extend some rights of marriage, such as hospital visitation to gay couples. And Hawaii offers limited rights to gay couples. Twenty-six states now have constitutional amendments limiting marriage to heterosexual couples; another 19 states have codified straight-only marriage in state law. In addition, same-sex couples are barred from adopting children in Florida, Mississippi and Utah; an adoption ban effort is currently underway in Arkansas.
Gays are not covered under federal hate crimes laws, even though newly released FBI statistics show that gays are disproportionately the targets of such attacks. Hate crimes based on sexual orientation rose by 1.3 percent in 2006, according to the FBI, and account for 15.5 percent of all hate crimes reported, even though the overall gay population is estimated to be far smaller than that.
The House passed a bill to add sexual orientation to the federal hate crimes law earlier this year. The Senate attached the measure as an amendment to the defense authorization bill, which President Bush has vowed to veto.
HIV-positive foreigners are legally barred from entering the country, making the U.S. one of just 13 countries in the world, including Sudan and Saudi Arabia, to ban travel for people with the disease.
Gay Americans are barred from sponsoring their foreign partners for immigration, forcing thousands of bi-national same-sex couples to choose between love and country.
The mainstream media work hard to keep gays and lesbians in the closet. Gay, lesbian, bisexual or trans characters account for just 1.1 percent of all scripted characters on the five broadcast networks, according to GLAAD. And mainstream news outlets don’t fare much better, routinely declining to report on the sexual orientation of gay celebrities like Jodie Foster, Queen Latifah and Anderson Cooper. Even the obituaries of openly gay figures like Susan Sontag and Ismail Merchant frequently omitted any mention of their partners.
And the plight of gays around the world remains bleak. Gays in Iran face execution; Iraqi gays have been lured in chat rooms to meetings where they are beaten. Gays attempting to march in Poland and Russia have been physically attacked and arrested over the past few years. Homosexuality is outlawed in Nigeria, where gays living in the Muslim-dominated north can face the death penalty. A more recent proposed law makes it a crime to watch gay-themed TV shows or read gay literature and gays are even barred from dining together in public. India has a sodomy law that can bring a 10-year prison sentence to anyone convicted of having gay sex.
This newspaper and many others are filled with such stories each week. Yes, the gay rights movement has progressed quickly, but so much work lies ahead.
If you’re lucky enough to be welcome at your family home this holiday season, clip this out and take it with you. Help make sure gay allies understand the discrimination we face.
Indeed, there is a lot to be angry about.
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