 and Charles. I'm Keith Ghostland. This is All Things LGBTQ, we're back. Did you miss us? Were you home long enough to learn how to cut your own hair? Today is Tuesday, April 21st. We are recording remotely in Montpelier which we acknowledge is unceded indigenous land. So now some headlines. Linda, take it away. Okay, and I have for headlines. I want to do a report on the death of my friend in New York City named Victoria Rapetto. And also a little story about another lesbian icon in Phyllis Lyons who dies. ACLU files a lawsuit challenging Idaho's being on transgender athletes. Queen Latifah openly discusses her celeb crush on Brazilian supermodel and Indiana Lima. Massapy's cake shop is in trouble again and is going back to court for refusing to service a transgender person. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin comes out in support of Biden. San Francisco and New York City Pride have both been canceled. Paige Kiesman who was kicked out of the military for being a transgender woman is now running for office. The gorilla activist Rev Billy 69. We have a picture of him and he's decked out in a pink suit and a bandana mask was arrested on Sunday afternoon in Central Park. City Lights bookstore in San Francisco raises $450,000 to pay their employees during the COVID-19 epidemic. I have some entertainment news. The latest project from film and TV creator Ryan Murphy. Florida police chief is now on leave and it's National Library Week and the theme for this year's celebration has been find your place at the library where LGBT books have been hard to find. So that's my headlines. Well, I have news from four continents. It's been five weeks since we recorded so there's a lot to cover but we had to select a little bit. Starting with Europe, an Amsterdam gay couple is spat at and called Cancer Homoes. I have a picture of the crime scene. They were going to the grocery store and set upon by some teenagers who began to taunt them and then became physical. And as you can see a bystander, the picture before you is of the thugs or the harassers and you see the bystander trying to intervene but then two of them came back and spat on the young men which of course is very dangerous in these times and fled. So they made a viral video and I was speaking out about it. British hurdler, Athon Akani has come out and he says that coming out as a gay athlete has boosted his confidence. I have a picture before you of him now. He came out in college and identified himself with the famous rainbow laces and so then attracted other gay people. They formed a gay group in athletics and they're doing a lot of exciting things. So he's very pleased. The third story from Europe is also is good. Leo Vorodkar whom we may recall was the first overly gay prime minister of Ireland and also the youngest prime minister. He's also a registered doctor. So while he's re-registered now. So he's going to be serving as a conduit for people who have the virus who call in. I have a picture before you of him even in case you don't remember what he looks like. So that's Europe, Latin America good and bad news. The top America's court has found Peru responsible for the torture and rape of a trans woman. It happened in 2008. The police buried the story didn't charge anybody although security guards, the security agents are the perpetrators. So now the court, the Latin American court has indicated that Peru is responsible. So I'm hoping answering will follow. In Argentina there's great news in a couple of pictures. A bid to make language gender neutral gains traction. And I'll explore that in greater detail. Africa, bad news. A giant online outing campaign is underway in Morocco. This, you know, it's just incredible. A gay activist elicited all these women to go on social media, Grindr, Romeo and solicit gay men. And then he's outed them on social media. And his misguided efforts here are to prove that there are a lot of gay people in Morocco, but of course he's putting them in great danger, especially if they're home with their families who reject them. There's been a lot of unfortunate backlash and personal pain as a result of this misguided political strategy. The LGBTQ in Uganda community, a LGBTQ shelter in Uganda was raided ostensibly over social distancing. 20 men were taken into custody. Three were left to stay in place because they were sick. But of course the 20 people who were detained now are at greater risk of COVID-19. And they were released, but no, it's harassment. More news from around the world in Asia. The Philippines uses humiliation as a COVID-19 curfew punishment. And I'll tell you a little more about that. Indonesia, police will not bring murder charges in the case of a transgender woman who was burnt to death. And this is an awful story I'll tell you about. And the best news or very exciting news is Taiwan. Taiwan has, Taiwan has, Taiwan has a very long history is Taiwan's based, yet gay Netflix is going global. And this is a good time for them because of the coronavirus and people staying at home. So I'm going to talk more about some of these stories in detail, but now let's go to Keith. So what I would like to talk about is first our trivia question, which I didn't ask them in advance. So we'll see how good they are when we get to the answer portion. September 17, 1985. Why is that a date the LGBTQ plus community should remember? Then I want to talk a little bit about the FDA and their new regulation about blood donation from men who have sex with men. And then maybe a little bit about COVID-19 and the LGBTQ plus community where we have documented lesser access to healthcare. Are we in the statistics? Then I want to talk a little bit about our legislature. They're not meeting in person, but there's still things that should be going on. They have not yet approved a budget, which would be nice. And then a plug, the census, please, if you haven't done it online yet, please do do it. They've extended the period of time for which they're going to be collecting census data. And keep in mind for each person counted in Vermont that brings in over $4,000 per person in federal funding. Even though the LGBTQ plus communities are disappearing from health and human services and civil rights enforcement, et cetera, the money comes to Vermont. And once it gets here, we can have some input in how it's being spent in the programs that are being targeted and supported. Last kind of plug. Keep in mind what I had said on previous shows about your medical record and this state agency called Vital, because as of March 1st, they just got access to your complete healthcare record. Do you know what's in there? Do you know what they're getting? This is where we also used to talk about events. Well, with stay-at-home social distancing, there are not public events happening, but please go on organizations' websites and look at the virtual events that are being sponsored, such as the one this past weekend that was sponsored by Rainbow, Umbrella, and Momentum, which was a virtual coffee hour. And did you know that this is Lesbian Visibility Week? Say hello to a lesbian. So, Linda, it's back to you. Okay. Well, I guess I'm going to say hi to a lesbian. And by the way, Ian, that cat is really cute back there licking herself. Okay. I would like to report on the death of a friend in New York City, Vittoria Rapetto. She reportedly died of a heart attack brought on by the coronavirus. She was a wild girl. And for those of you who do not know, wow, began in 1980 as an international women's theater festival. She was a working-class poet and the only child of Italian immigrants. She and I read our poetry together at the LGBT community center in New York City. Ann and I were meeting her for dinner at a restaurant. She said she had the only authentic Italian pizza in the city was at this restaurant. Let's see. Reading. Realizing we were going to be late. We were on a bus. Ann and I were on a bus to meet her at this restaurant. And we found ourselves on a crawling bus down Fifth Avenue in New York, which you can imagine. She yelled into the phone when I called her and said we were going to be late. Oh, for God's sakes, get off the damn bus and take a cab. So we did. She was crusty and tough and generous. And she said she was going to be late. Rest in peace, Victoria. And I have a picture of her. During the wow days. And also a later picture of her. So. And we've not lost another lesbian icon in Phyllis Lyons. In 1955, she started the daughters of the light. She died. In 1956, they began publishing the letter, which had, which published along with other authors, the work of Lorraine Hansberry. Phyllis and her partner fought for LGBT equality. When it was neither safe, nor popular to do so. And I have a picture of her. May I say something? I think it's Phyllis Lyons. Yes. Phyllis Lyons. Oh, I said Lyons. Sorry. Um, and, uh, let's see, uh, Virginia governor signs first LGBT clue, inclusive civil rights bill in the south. Ralph Norton, Virginia's governor, signed the values bill last week. I think it's Phyllis Lyons. Um, and also, um, Christine Hallquist, apparently. Um, and for any of those who don't remember ran for, uh, governor in the Democratic party here in Vermont. Um, got a Corona virus. Um, and she is recovering at home and doing well. Last I heard. Pete Kreeg, Kreisman, who was kicked out of the military is now running for office after becoming a victim of the Trump purge on transgender service members. She is looking to make history. If she is elected in the Oregon Congress, she's running in district 42 in Portland and would be the first transgender woman to run for state law. She identifies as a socialist Democrat and proudly places her LGBTQ identity front and center. And now I have a picture of the guerrilla activist Rev Billy, who's 69, decked out in a pink suit and a bandana mask was arrested on Sunday after being arrested on Sunday after being arrested on Sunday after being arrested on Sunday after being arrested on Sunday after being jostled in a blue suit and a bandana mask. He was arrested on Sunday after afternoon in Central Park. Uh, A field hospital in New York City run by the evangelical son of Billy Graham. Great. What's his name? Graeme Franklin. Franklin Graham. Thank you, Ann. But he was told to sign what they call a statement of faith which stated that to work They had to conform to evangelical principles. We all know what those are and He refused and so they told him that his services were no longer needed and he could leave So three chairs for Reverend Billy And now May I add something? Yeah, then and one of the specific Precepts of this statement of faith is that marriage is between a man and a woman. I mean this is specifically homophobic Coddler soul in this statement that he refused to sign also anti abortion and You know, but you know most people I think have an idea what? Evangelical beliefs are at this point, but yes point point taken in and may I say one more thing? This is a Theory that I've heard that Cuomo and de Blasio allowed this evangelical Group to set up in Central Park to pacify Trump and Pence so they could get more aid That's what it's come to in this country So I have to say Thank you and for I won't say buddy again, but for Adding to this so where are we going next? We're going to Keith, right? Are we going to end? I'll go I just have to let's go back to South Latin America if we could The Peru story I was talking about The specifics are the international inter-american court of human rights Ordered Peru to pay a transgender woman arbitrarily detained and raped by the police in 2008 In a ruling she said the court said that a soul Rojas Marin Had been the victim of an act of torture in 2018 And she it ordered the court ordered the government to pay her unspecified damages She was detained by police in 2008 in northern Peru and while in custody was stripped hit and raped with Attraction by police She had filed a criminal complaint, but the case was dismissed by state Prosecutors and human rights groups took it to the American inter-american court on her behalf This decision came as Peruvians content with measures enacted by the government To curb the coronavirus outbreak But Peru has ordered men and women can only leave the home on separate days and of course this Leaves trans people in a terribly vulnerable position so In art let's go back to Argentina also if we could because I find as a retired English teacher, I find this very exciting news President Alberto Fernandez Who's picture before you now took office took office in December? and He has publicly used gender neutral language his decision to do so again at a moment of public crisis underscored the reach of a movement that is challenging the Long-standing rules of language working to make Spanish used in Argentina more inclusive We're always talking about equality and the truth is that language reveals the Inequalities that exist in society at large isn't that the truth and the person who's speaking about that is Buena's Ares City Drunk judge Elena Libertory and she's pictured before you right now She is significant in this controversy Because she started it by issuing a ruling in which ordinarily Gendered words were spelled with an e instead of an a or an o that generally denote feminine or masculine in Spanish and So actually was brought against her and the Complaint was defeated ruled crazy to in the vernacular The question makes Spanish less gendered is not limited to Argentina in the US Some politicians and scholars have embraced the word Latinx which I've been using for a long time Which's an alternative let to Latino the masculine form of the word used to encompass everyone as the default in Spanish now the Royal Spanish Academy Which oversees the most authoritative dictionary? Has ruled the new formulations as an aberration they say we don't need it Um Judge Libertory said she'd long been conscious of the way language can uphold societal norms When she was sworn in in 2000 the sign outside her door The sign inside her door read who is Rather than the female term for judge Huisa she changed it later and When she issued this gentle gender root neutral ruling a group of lawyers before the city council Suited her and the council decided with her We've joked that we should Name the manual after her the lawyer who filed the complaint said an attorney who represented Judge Libertory in the matter. So that's very exciting news from Argentina But it's not only Argentina the shift in language Coincided with the rise of the feminist movement in Argentina that coalesced around a campaign against Femicide or the killing of girls and women because of their gender that campaign called not one Less was critical to broadening political support for legalizing abortion a Legislative priority also for mr. Hernandez Nonspeaking non-spanish speaking countries are also grappling with the place of gender in language in Sweden The effort has reached preschools where teachers avoid pronouns like him or her Referring to children as friends or to use the general neutral pronoun Hen and maybe Keith can speak to this since he has been exploring this question not in Swedish In another language, okay in the US linguists say they use They commonly it still needs to be accepted more widely. I would opine But in Argentina mr. Fernandez besides being crime minister who's a law professor Courted the movement to make language less masculine when he campaigned for president in his campaign logo The word totos which means everyone was rendered with a symbol of the Sun in lieu of the second letter. Oh So that's the end of my segment. I have much more to tell you about but I will See the floor to Keith and as you can tell when we're not sitting side-by-side We sometimes forget who's supposed to be speaking next so to first address Ann's last comment is Han It was originally finished But the rest of the Scandinavian countries have started adopting it. It was a Entirely new pronoun that had no gender or class affiliation and the Finnish government presented it at the UN and said that it was their gift to the world so And I personally have been using it under my name Because pronouns and I you're just not a good Thank You Keith So I would like to talk now about the FDA and Blood donate blood and plasma donation and men who have sex with men Historically during the height of the HIV and AIDS epidemic men who have sex with men and it doesn't matter how you personally identify with orientation or gender identity if You were a man who had sex with another man once Since 1981 you were permanently banned from ever donating blood or plasma Within the last year that has been changed to men who have sex with men can only Donate if they have not had even a single Sexual encounter within the past year In the midst of the COVID-19 epidemic They've changed the ruling again and this time it's men who have sex with men can donate if they have not had a single sexual encounter within the last three months While this is a step forward It's still is not in keeping with true scientific research where it doesn't matter Who it is you're engaging in that sexual encounter. It's what you do and how you do it They are continuing to stigmatize To discriminate and to look in the wrong direction how this got into the national debate was a gay male doctor in New York City who had COVID-19 and recovered and Wanted to participate in the plasma study where they could use his antibodies to see if it Helped in the recovery process of somebody who was truly struggling with COVID-19 and he was rejected What then got added into the national conversation is even though the FDA had changed the regs They didn't do it in consultation with the Red Cross or the other major blood donation organizations, so Men who have sex with men Who indeed had been celibate for the preceding three months would show up to donate and Got turned away because the staff at the donation centers had not been trained on the new protocols and The computer software they were using is so outdated That they couldn't update it to include the new protocols So even if the staff were trained when they tried to enter the data into the computers The donor was rejected So Not only are we continuing have to have to fight regarding old biases That have no scientific basis Let's talk about the COVID-19 pandemic in general There's been a recent conversation. How race was not being identified and That when they added race in to the demographics They found that minority communities of color are Disproportionately Represented in both the individuals who are COVID-19 positive and those who have died from COVID-19 and part of the basis for that is This is traditionally an underrepresented group who does not have access to adequate health care So they have greater underlying conditions that have gone Undiagnosed and untreated Vermont within the past couple of weeks has started including race in ethnicity in the demographic breakdown of COVID-19 cases However, there is you know after race There is an addendum that says if known So not everyone is collecting that data. So it is not necessarily there to report on the same as ethnicity LGBTQ plus We've been removed at the health and human services level for data collection. So Other than our own health care organizations No one is collecting data on the impact of COVID-19 directly upon the LGBTQ plus communities even here in Vermont And if we look at some of the stories that we've reported on our previous episodes LGBTQ plus community particularly the transgender community does not have access to adequate health care adequate support What is the impact of this on those members of our community? So with that I'm going to turn it back to Linda Well, you know, that's very sobering Keith really about you know Who's being counted and who isn't and I just wanted to add to that list is that people dying in nursing homes It's not really listed either And I I think it's really important that we do that especially Looking forward towards the future about how we're going to take care of people our seniors in You know going forward obviously it is not a place that's You know people aren't being really taken care of while they are so a quick response to that is Age is indeed one of the categories for which they have solid demographics, but you are correct That well actually in Vermont. We do have how many of those Died within an assisted living community Because it is information that has to be included on the death certificate So that our Department of Health can retrieve it via that mechanism. I Know and but you know in some other places I mean they have they have put people in closets trying to hide How many people have died within their nursing homes? And so it's just it's a huge problem On a lighter note. I have some entertainment news. I Just finished watching black lightning on Netflix. It's a comic book drama featuring black superheroes one of which is a lesbian and I've just started watching why no why why oh why no not herp who comes back to purgatory to fight demons and Yes, indeed. She is the great-granddaughter of Wyatt Earp and Her sister is involved with a police officer who was also a woman in the series So that was that's a lot of fun if you like, you know Dramas in which there are demons who get killed and they're tracking them, you know, it's a good like a zombie thing But it's good. It's really good And the latest project from film and TV creator Ryan Murphy is an aspirational story of bygone Hollywood that flips the script on the straight white male studio stronghold That was the golden age and instead delivers queer intersectional world and At the center of this jury pays homage to Rock Hudson and will be on Netflix Starting May 1st. So you might want to put that on your calendar in Florida what you know in Florida police chief The police chief is now on leave while town officials investigate his alleged remarks about Broward County deputy Shannon Bennett The police chief said that the deputy died of the coronavirus because he was gay so that's lovely and it is National library week and the theme for this year's library celebration celebration has been find your place at the library Well, the American Library Association had to flip the script to find the library at your place Following recent social distancing restrictions. There are still some communities where lgbtq To youth will have a hard time finding affirmative literature of any kind on the shelves of their local libraries That's because Themes gtq themes are the most challenged in public libraries according to the ala's state of america's libraries 2020 eight of the ten most popular books challenged Had lgbt themes or characters including the first six entries So That's news from the library So i'm going to move on now to Ann What's the name of that ryan before you get off? What's the name of that last film you mentioned the ryan murphy wasn't Yes, it was ryan murphy What's the name of the film? It's called uh by gone hollywood. Oh, thank you Okay, like to start um by introducing a member of our family who was mentioned earlier This is angelina Named after one of the grimpy sisters who's a little uninterested in our broadcast but appearing occasionally In the background of my screen Another personal note apropos of entertainment recommendations. I've been watching a virtual film festival Um presented by women make movies and they're free you watch them on your computer Um, I just finished watching a film called A normal girl about a young person who grows up intersects and her struggles There are q and a's afterwards. You can find it if you google women make movies go to their websites It's really fabulous. We've seen a lot of good films Now I'd like to return if I may in my um Discussion to asia I didn't give you any information about the harassment In the philip the harassment in the philippines And what happened was on april 5th volunteers in the in a village in um the philippines stopped and detained Three lgbtq people outside after curfew Two of whom explained they were running an errand for their grandmother A village official accused them of looking for illicit sex and his punishment publicly humiliated them By ordering them to kiss dance and do push-ups on live video broadcast on social media Uh the incident illustrates um The danger of unrestrained law enforcement Uh Which occurs under the guise of public health other individuals who violated the curfew Were also subject to a range of punishments broadcast on social media So that's a tale for our time um Now the good news I'd like to turn to is about this asia's gay netflix Going global It's an lgbt plus video streaming platform called gaga u lala And it wants to reach hundreds of millions of people isolated by the pandemic With the lgbt community especially isolated Especially if they're living by themselves and not welcomed by family We hope this provides relief distraction and entertainment said jay linn head of the taipei based political media Wrong portico media Gaga u lala a combination of two phrases for gay people in taiwan is available in 21 asian countries Since launching in 2017 and will expand to more than 190 From early may When planning the rollout we never anticipated the pandemic with three billion or more people in quarantine or lockdown when told rogers The lockdown has cut off as we know The lockdown has cut off traditional entertainment Uh forced people to stay at home and driven millions of new viewers to sign up for disney plus netflix and amazon prime Media analysts expect the demand to keep growing Taiwan endorsed as we know same-sex marriage last year a milestone in its development as one of the region's more liberal societies Available via website or mobile apps with about 300,000. I'm sorry 370,000 registrants to the free section of the site Gooh gaga u lala provides unlimited access to its lgbt films tv series Documentaries from about six dollars a month One reason we set it up for may is because it will be the one year anniversary Of the passage of same-sex marriage in taiwan Lynn a prominent gay activist said on the expansion to mark the date Gaga u lala was streamed a new documentary on same-sex marriage through the eyes of three same-sex couples from different generations Gaga u lala which produces original lgbt plus content has also contacted lgbt plus film festivals called to offer a postponed in the crisis to offer them a new audience A lot of lgbt plus organizations are thinking about what event or part of pride can go online Said the co-founder of shanghai the shanghai pride film festival Which is due to be held in june with the decision on whether To go ahead set for may and here i may parenthetically Add if you don't know that new york city pride has canceled for this year And i think they may not be the first To make such a decision Film streaming is definitely one of the best you can do it at home It's entertaining and a good way to keep diversity conversations going on said this Representative of shanghai pride film festival Whose festival has linked up with gaga u lala to show its features so I have more but i'm happy to Give the floor back to keith See what he has to say Hi, and i did announce that new york and san francisco prides were both canceled Did you I did i'm so sorry i missed it. Oh, I apologize. That's okay i'm for keith I had you distracted Okay, ah So guess where we're going I don't know we're gonna go to the legislature And let's talk a little bit about all the fun that they've been having so Both the senate and the house have voted To allow remote voting and video conferencing for committee meetings Now, of course, this meant that they had to get a quorum present to do the vote And in the house it involves a member saying they were requiring that everybody show up Did not go over well, but Both chambers can now do remote voting And then individual committees are continuing to work Now if you are interested in a specific piece of legislation You know, you can go onto the legislative website the same as we always have Pull up a committee or specific bill in which you are interested and see the status Is there a committee that is doing any work on that piece of legislation? What is now included on the committee page? Is a way to access The video conferencing so that you can at least hear the conversation that's going on Or you can still sign up To present testimony. You can still be a witness Now they have put a number of safeguards in place after a very Infamous encounter that happened with one of the senate committees where someone Hacked into the committee And they started streaming pornography and hearing racist comments The state it department has said they have put safeguards in place to ensure That that does not happen again And anyone who it has been using zoom and which of us hasn't these days It's Similar to using the waiting room function to allow people in So the committee knows Who it is that's on the line who's participating Who they want to mute and unmute And the host has the option of muting everyone who was part of the meeting So looking at some of the pieces of legislation That we have reported on on previous episodes I can't see that there is anything happening in house human services with the older brahmantra bill And this was the bill that was going to set up some targeted programs for outreach to Vermont seniors community and The alliance and myself had introduced testimony about expanding Their mission statement in the legislation itself to ensure that underrepresented communities such as the lgbtq plus communities Were actively involved It can't couldn't just be that You know the central vermont counseling on aging saying oh, you know well anyone who is lgbtq can come to our programs They had to develop programs specifically for and including The lgbtq communities The other piece of legislation Actually for which i have a high degree of concern right now Is in the senate constitutional amendment for Which was the equality of rights provision This would take all of the protected classes that we put into brahmant statutes and elevate them to the constitutional level if That amendment has to pass both The senate by a two-thirds majority and then the house by a simple majority before the end of this year For it to be able to be considered again during the next biennium To then go out for a statewide vote. I have not seen any action happening It's in senate judiciary I've gone in each week to look at What are the bills that they're videoconferencing or have holding committee hearings on this has not been on the list And I have not seen any comprehensive statewide strategy to address Advocacy and support for this piece of amendment But then again Who knows I mean since Legislators are not into building and not caucusing There is not the ready access to individuals to say So what's happening and knowing if there is indeed a plan going on So That's what I have I have trivia No, we had we have trivia, but I don't have any more stories Okay so The answer. Oh, I I see ann's hand is up That's right to say thank you um I just want to Clarify that when you said the alliance you meant the lgbtq alliance of brahmant Correct your story. Yes, in case viewers might not know The lgbtqi alliance of brahmant There is both a facebook and a website For your dining and dancing pleasure There we go so September 17th 1985 Either of you have a guess Yeah, they're shaking their heads. No because we're on camera and so There's been a lot of conversation about how The covid 19 pandemic Oh, this is just like the hiv and aids epidemic No, it's not And this is an example of how it's not hiv and aids First new york time story is 1981 september 17th 1985 Four years into the epidemic Is the first occasion upon which president reagan Even mentions the word aids And it is only in response to a question That is posed to him in a press conference It is not a statement that he did voluntarily It wasn't until february of 1986 That president reagan Put the words aids Into a letter to congress talking about funding and support And it wasn't until 1987 Over 20,000 people had already died That president reagan did his first major speech on hiv and aids covid 19 IV They are not the same pandemic So On that Are we gonna now end our show? Absolutely Okay, so I have my hand raised. Oh, I I missed that Everybody remember Ann has a comment I would just like to add that I read an article by john weir Who points up the huge differences? What also says a common thread is that government is totally incompetent So as they are with this epidemic, I mean I don't know how much how willful it is In uh in the current pandemic, but you can't you can't look to the government for anything obviously So that's my sour note on which I will I will end my commentary. Thank you for recognizing me Linda take it away. All right now. We'll see you in two weeks. We promise to try to improve and um We're very excited to be back and to be doing this. So remember Even though we can't come outside. We can still resist