Celebrating LGBTQ History Month: June 30, Conclusion

PRIDE

On this final day of LGBTQ History Month, I want to take time to reflect on the necessity of celebrating this month as well as highlight some especially powerful stories.

As with Black History Month and Women’s History Month, I wish we did not need LGBTQ History Month, but the fact is we do! We must not fall into the delusion that people in the United States and all over the world are treated equally by virtue of being human.  In most states in the south it is not safe to be part of the LGBTQ community.  In Uganda it is legal to kill gay people–a proposal seen just recently here in the United States.

I bring up Black History Month and Women’s History month because of all the people who have multiple identities and experience oppression on multiple levels. Marriage Equality is just a small portion of what needs to be addressed regarding civil rights.  Violence against the LGBTQ community has increased by 13% over the past year, with people of color and transgender gender non-conforming folk being specifically targeted. What is equally disturbing is witnessing false science by a so called “scholar,”  (funded by the recognized hate group NOM) who publishes homophobic data, or that Mitt Romney has signed a pledge to eliminate civil rights for the LGBTQ community–I believe that is called Fascism.  All of this violence and homophobia does not make it easy for people to be out and proud.

While quite honestly, I don’t want Tom Cruise on our team and I don’t really care why he is getting his third divorce while I’m not allowed to have a legal marriage,  I am particularly disturbed that Cruise takes such offense at people speculating that he might be gay, as though he were being called a racist.  Being called straight is not a pejorative, why should being called gay be one?

While I could go on ad nauseam about the disparities, inequalities, and intersections of oppression the LGBTQ community faces everyday, I would rather conclude on a positive note. Let’s highlight some stories that were particular favorites of mine, some dating back to last year’s celebrations.  Of course, one of my all time favorites was celebrating Dumbledore. Adding to the list of heroes of mine that were celebrated are: Bayard Rustin,  Glenn Burke,  and of course our Allies.

I hope the day will come in my lifetime that we are able to celebrate everyone in the LGBTQ community sharing in all of the civil rights enjoyed by our heterosexual brothers and sisters, just as I hope we will see an end to racism and misogyny.

Celebrating LGBTQ History Month: June 29, Omar Sharif, Jr.

Today we honor and celebrate a man who made a bold statement merely through his honesty. Omar Joseph El Sharif was born in Montreal in 1983. He is the grandson of renowned actor Omar Sharif; as such, he had a privileged upbringing, spending his youth as a socialite. Wanting more, he obtained a Master’s in Comparative Politics from Queen’s University in Canada. Also bitten by the family acting bug, he obtained a role in an Egyptian TV program and tried stand-up comedy. Fluent in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Hebrew and Yiddish (his maternal grandparents are Jewish Holocaust survivors), Omar continues to seek out roles internationally. In 2010 Sharif moved to Los Angeles, California to study at The Lee Strasberg Institute of Theatre and Film. He also participated in the 83rd Academy Awards ceremony, joining Kirk Douglas in a skit.

Earlier this year, Sharif raised eyebrows when he was interviewed by The Advocate. He spoke out about the need for civil rights free from religious dogma, specifially referring to the Egyptian revolution. Two weeks later, he published an impassioned editorial in the magazine entitled Coming Out Story: We’re Not in Cairo Anymore. He discussed his reasons for moving from Egypt, perhaps permanently, including this great passage:

One year since the start of the revolution, I am not as hopeful. [...] The vision for a freer, more equal Egypt — a vision that many young patriots gave their lives to see realized in Tahrir Square — has been hijacked. The full spectrum of equal and human rights are now wedge issues used by both the Supreme Council of the Egyptian Armed Forces and the Islamist parties, when they should be regarded as universal truths.

I write this article despite the inherent risks associated because as we stand idle at what we hoped would be the pinnacle of Egyptian modern history, I worry that a fall from the top could be the most devastating. I write, with healthy respect for the dangers that may come, for fear that Egypt’s Arab Spring may be moving us backward, not forward. And so I hesitantly confess: I am Egyptian, I am half Jewish, and I am gay.

That my mother is Jewish is no small disclosure when you are from Egypt, no matter the year. And being openly gay has always meant asking for trouble, but perhaps especially during this time of political and social upheaval. With the victories of several Islamist parties in recent elections, a conversation needs to be had and certain questions need to be raised. I ask myself: Am I welcome in the new Egypt? Will being Egyptian, half Jewish, and gay forever remain mutually exclusive identities? Are they identities to be hidden?

The entire article is worthwhile reading, showing how articulate and insistent Sharif is and how dedicated he is to social justice. He is still finding his voice as an activist and advocate, but with a start like this, great things may come. The courage he demonstrates in outing himself in the face of religious and political exile is powerful. He sums it up in a way that many Americans should remember:

And yet I speak out because I am a patriot.

Celebrating LGBTQ History Month: June 26, Susan Allen

Today we honor and celebrate the first openly gay Native American to serve in a state legislature. Susan Allen was born in 1963 on the Ute Reservation in Utah. She is a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. Allen graduated from Augsburg College in 1992. She later earned a J.D. from the University of New Mexico and an LL.M. from William Mitchell College of Law. Her law practice specializes in serving tribes, helping them draft tribal laws in a wide range of areas.

When state Representative Jeff Hayden was elected to the Minnesota Senate in 2011, Allen was one of four candidates to run for his vacated seat. She won the nomination and the special election handily. She is one of three LGBT members of the Minnesota legislature, a larger number than most states.

Allen is a fierce advocate for equality for all. She campaigned on a six-point platform: Economy, Education, Tax Reform, Health Care, Social Justice, and Marriage Equality. One key part of her campaign website shows her honesty, integrity, and determination.

Minnesota’s strong progressive values are under threat in the current political climate with attempts to roll back established environmental protections and regulations in our state laws.   I will remain committed to Minnesota’s proud legacy of protecting the land, air, and water for current and future generations. We are also witnessing the hurtful social division created by an attempt to amend the state constitution to deny rights to a specific population within our community.   I will fight the concentrated assault on our GLBT community members and families and be a passionate advocate for equal rights for all Minnesotans.

Congratulations on your election, Rep. Allen. The nation needs more leaders like you, but what is with some of the very bigoted folk you have in Minnesota, like Michele Bachmann?

Celebrating LGBTQ History Month: June 25, Ricky Martin

Today we honor and celebrate a singer and activist who has made great personal growth. Enrique Martín Morales was born in San Juan, PR in 1971. He achieved his initial fame as part of the ever-changing line-up of Latino boy band Menudo. He released his first solo album in 1991, a Spanish disc titled Ricky Martin. After three more albums in Spanish, he released his international blockbuster, also titled Ricky Martin, in 1999. He has sold over 60 million albums over his career so far.

His early fame also brought some controversy. Martin performed at the inauguration of George W. Bush and invited the President to dance on stage with him. Over time his view of Bush evolved and he has since said, “as long as I have a voice onstage and offstage, I will always condemn war and those who promulgate it.”

Martin was also rumored to be gay since he first left Menudo. The rumors grew when he split with longtime female companion Rebecca de Alba in 2005 and again in 2008 when he fathered twin boys with a surrogate. He finally came out in 2010, stating, “I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am.” He immediately began working for LGBT causes and equality, recognizing the additional difficulties faced by LGBT people in the Hispanic community. His efforts earned him the Vito Russo Award from GLAAD; at the ceremony he publicly acknowledged his partner, economist Carlos González Abella for the first time. Reflecting on his long time in the closet, Martin told Larry King, “Everything about saying that I am gay feels right… if I’d known how good it was going to feel, I would have done it ten years ago.”

Martin created the Ricky Martin Foundation, which is dedicated to the well-being of children. He also collaborates with organizations that battle human trafficking. In addition to his GLAAD award, he has received the Leadership in the Arts Award, Billboard’s Spirit of Hope Award, ALMA Award, Vanguard Award, International Humanitarian Award by the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children, and the Hispanic Heritage Award.

He is a dual citizen of the United States and Spain. He obtained his Spanish citizenship (for which he was eligible through his Iberian grandmother) in 2011 to celebrate the efforts of Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in defense of LGBT rights.

Celebrating LGBTQ History Month: June 24, Suze Orman

Today we honor and celebrate a woman who is using her personal success to advocate for civil rights for all. Susan “Suze” Orman was born in Chicago in 1951. She received a B.A. in social work  from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. After college she moved to San Francisco, where she initially worked as a waitress as she had as an undergraduate. She raised $50,000 from friends and supporters to open her own restaurant, which she invested with Merrill Lynch.

Her broker at Lynch lost the investment. Frustrated and wanting to pay back the money, Orman was convinced she could do a better job and convinced the firm to hire her. Once she learned the ropes, she sued the firm for the lost investment and won. She also kept her job, impressing her supervisor with her business acumen and strength of character. After a time she moved on to Prudential, and eventually founded her own financial group which she ran until 1997.

Also in the mid-90s Orman began writing books to help others manage their finances. Remembering everything she had to learn and applying her early training in social work, she focused on helping people who would not otherwise get good financial advice. Although she has also written books on managing wealth on a much larger (and rarer) scale, she has always put energy into providing advice for everyone. Much of her work has focused on financial advice specifically for women, acknowledging the unequal playing field. She has been a frequent commentator on news and talk shows and in 2002 began her own show on CNBC.

She has written nine consecutive New York Times Best Sellers and has written, co-produced and hosted seven PBS specials based on her books, winning two Emmy awards. Orman has also won more Gracie Awards (for women in media) than anyone else. She  was named to the Times Magazine list of 100 most influential people in 2008 and 2009, the 2010 Forbes Magazine 100 most powerful women in the world, and 18th on the Forbes list of The Most Influential Women In Media.

Orman came out as lesbian in 2007 and has won GLAAD media awards for her work for the LGBT community since. She married her long-time partner, Kathy Travis, in 2010. On her show yesterday, Orman focused on gross financial inequities faced by LGBT couples (such as the horrific tax morass created by DOMA and conflicting state laws). Starting powerfully from her own experience, she set out the very practical case for marriage equality.

Here I sit in front of you. A 61-year-old woman who has been gay my entire life. Who has been in a committed relationship for the past 12 years. And I will die in this relationship … YET, I am not treated equally.

She lays out the four primary issues — taxes, pensions, social security, and health insurance — and makes a clear, impassioned case for breaking down the bigotry that rules federal marriage law. Consequently, any United States Presidential candidate that believes in discriminating against the LGBT population looks like a bigot and just ridiculous. What a great gift for pride month.

Celebrating LGBTQ History Month: June 21, k.d. lang

Today we honor and celebrate an award-winning musician and activist, the talented k.d. lang. Born in November 1961 in Edmonton, Alberta, Kathryn Dawn Lang grew up in Consort on the Canadian prairie. She attended Red Deer College where she got her first exposure to the music of the late Patsy Cline. Fascinated, lang started her first band in 1983, a Cline tribute group wittily called the Reclines.

The band quickly outgrew the direct tribute and became a strong musical unit in its own right although still drawing clear influence from Patsy’s work). Their first album, 1984′s A Truly Western Experience, got strong reviews and led to a Juno for Most Promising Female Vocalist. Angel With A Lariat followed quickly, recorded in Nashville for major label Sire. After a strongly received duet with Roy Orbison on a new recording of his classic hit Crying, lang scored another coup landing famed Nashville producer Owen Bradley — the architect of Patsy Cline’s sound — for her third album. Over the course of a dozen albums ranging from country twang to meditative pop, lang has demonstrated an amazing musical breadth and won eight Juno awards and four Grammys.

k.d. lang was also one of the first singers to come out relatively early in their careers. Announcing she was lesbian in 1992, she has been a stalwart supporter of LGBT issues for the past two decades. She has campaigned for AIDS awareness and research and donated recordings to a number of albums to raise funds. She is also an animal rights activist and an activist for improved human rights in Tibet. Although she had already begun the transition from country to pop when she came out, she has retained her ties to Nashville and worked hard to improve the country music environment for LGBT performers and fans.

Despite living in the U.S. for many years, lang is also very proud of her Canadian heritage. She recorded an album, 2004′s Hymns of the 49th Parallel, featuring her take on songs by her favorite Canadian writers. Her powerful version of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah led to her being part of the opening ceremonies at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver where she performed the song. The singer recently moved a bit closer to her roots, leaving Los Angeles for a new home in Portland, Oregon, TSM’s home town. Welcome to the Rose City, k.d.!

Celebrating LGBTQ History Month: June 19, Patty Larkin

Today we honor and celebrate one of the great talents in American folk music. Patty Larkin was born in Iowa in 1951 and grew up in Wisconsin. She moved to the west coast after high school, attending the University of Oregon and singing in coffeehouses in Oregon and California. After getting her English degree at U of O, she moved to Boston and began pursuing a music career.

Larkin became part of the burgeoning Boston folk scene and landed a contract with Philo records in 1985. She has recorded a dozen albums over the past 25 years for a number of different labels. A riveting performer, she is an amazing guitarist and singer and has a wonderful rapport with the audience. (Two of her albums are live, capturing the spirit of her stage persona nicely.)

Belieing the dour feminist folky image, Larkin has a wonderful sense of humor and records songs on a broad variety of topics. She addresses relationships and love, of course, but also covers politics, social issues, the arts, and whatever captures her fancy. She has written odes to coffee (Caffeine) and a car song (Dodge Dart) as well as a scathing indictment of industrial pollution (Metal Drums). Her love songs range from the grand (If I Were Made of Metal) to the whimsical (Inside Your Painting) to the direct (Pucker Up) to the intimate (Closest Thing).

Patty Larkin lives in Massachusetts with her partner, Bette Warner, a former dancer who is now her business manager. She talks freely about the joys and challenges of mixing business and professional relationships. It’s clear that she would not have her life organized any other way. The couple have adopted two daughters.

Larkin does more than just sing about social issues; she is also active in changing the world. One issue of particular importance to her is the marginalization of women in the music industry. One of her earliest songs is Not Bad For A Broad, a delightful dissection of a misogynist attendee at one of her concerts. Tired of being asked why there aren’t any great women guitarists (a deep insult considering her amazing talents), she mounted the La Guitara project to celebrate the contribution of women to the history of the modern guitar. Not content to look at the usual suspects, she looks at a broad spectrum of women with great ethnic and cultural diversity. Women are notoriously underrepresented in official accolades. Rolling Stone‘s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists includes just two women (Joni Mitchell and Bonnie Raitt; the first iteration of the list had Joan Jett instead of Raitt but apparently there wasn’t room to add a third woman to the revision), and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame routinely bypasses great women in music.

Patty Larkin is also one of my very favorite musicians. (Big thanks to my husband, Michael, for letting me grab Patty’s birthday to celebrate her here on TSM!) Her album Tango is one of the finest of all time. A brilliant student of human nature with a knack for character study as song, she’s a fine musician, a great singer, and a delightful entertainer.

Celebrating LGBTQ History Month: June 18, Ellen DeGeneres

Today we honor and celebrate an international celebrity who uses her voice and fame to make the world a better place. Ellen DeGeneres was born in 1958 in Louisiana. After her parents’ divorce and her mother’s remarriage, the family moved to Atlanta, TX, where Ellen finished high school in 1976. She moved back to New Orleans for college but dropped out after one semester.

She held a number of jobs (including selling clothes at JCPenney, for which she is now the official spokesperson). She also started doing stand-up comedy for fun, quickly realizing that this was her passion. By 1981 she was the emcee at a local comedy club and began touring nationally. In 1982 she was named Funniest Person in America by Showtime. In 1986 she appeared for the first time on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson; Carson invited her over for an onscreen chat after her performance, making her the first comedienne in the show’s history to be treated this way.

She had a number of small film roles and was a frequent guest on television shows. In 1994, she starred in These Friends of Mine, renamed Ellen after the first season. Tired of the rumors about her sexuality, Ellen came out as lesbian on the Oprah Winfrey Show in 1997, followed by a very successful coming out episode for her character on Ellen. Sadly, while the public were interested in the sensation of the coming out, they lost interest in the show’s sensitive portrayal of her exploring her identity and Ellen was cancelled after one more season.

She starred in The Ellen Show for the 2001 – 2002 season. A wonderful, witty show in which her character was out from the beginning, it co-starred major talents like Cloris Leachman and Martin Mull. CBS seemed to have no idea what to do with the show, bouncing it from one slot to another, confusing fans and eventually killing it. (The whole series is available on DVD and streams from a variety of sources; go find it and watch it!) Soon after this she had her award-winning turn as the confused fish Dory in Finding Nemo. She has also hosted the Academy Awards and the Prime Time Emmy broadcast.

In the talk-show void left by Rosie O’Donnell’s departure from daytime, many celebrities launched new chat shows in 2003. Ellen’s was the clear winner, combining her charm, wit, and easy-going nature with guests for a combination that appealed across demographics. While Ellen is seldom as political as she could be on the show, she is open about her life and her family, frequently talking about her wife, Portia de Rossi.

Ellen uses her significant wealth and public voice to support charitable causes. She has won many broadcasting and comedy awards but has also been noted for her contributions to social justice. She makes an enormous difference simply by being the lesbian in everyone’s living room but also recognizes that the power of her celebrity can be wielded to good effect. In 2011, Secretary of State Clinton named Ellen the Special Envoy for AIDS Awareness in recognition for her work in that area.

As an added bonus, Ellen has a wonderful mother, who turned around her shock at Ellen’s coming out to be a staunch advocate for the LGBT community. Betty DeGeneres is the first non-gay spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign’s National Coming Out Project and perhaps the most visible member of PFLAG.

Celebrating LGBTQ History on Fathers’ Day: LGBT Parents

When I was growing up in the 70s the gay rights movement was just beginning. While it would occasionally surge onto the news, it was in many ways treated as secondary to other movements like the anti-war protests and Second Wave Feminism. Those early days truly changed the landscape, however, and set the stage for the broader progress we see today. Things really moved backwards in the 80s and 90s, when you consider how easily gay and lesbian references cropped up on 70s TV like Sonny and Cher and the Mary Tyler Moore Show.

One thing that would never get into the press or the programs was the idea of gay parents. Even as laws punishing gay sex slowly were repealed or went unenforced in many places, homosexuality was still used as a legal barrier to adoption or to custody. (Interesting how that shows how obsessed our opponents are with the sexual side of things…) While the legal landscape still has a way to go, LGBT parents are far more visible and that’s a very good thing. It’s hard to fear what you understand, and it’s easy to understand your neighbors.

Starting with famous books like Heather Has Two Mommies, the narrative of gay parents as part of the American fabric has slowly become clearer and clearer. Celebrity parents like Melissa Etheridge and Neil Patrick Harris opening their homes show loving, supportive families that look familiar to most people. Many more movies and TV show LGBT parents and adoptions just as a matter of course. Modern Family does a phenomenal job of normalizing same-sex parenting, and is far more about parenting than making a big deal that the parents just happen to be two dads.  The Kids Are All Right shows that LGBT families are just as normal (and messed up) as any other families – the fact that there are two moms is the least of their issues. JC Penney’s bold new brand is aggressively acknowledging that families come in all flavors with inclusive advertising images (much to the ire of One Million Moms). Even comic books get into the game, with DC’s Apollo and Midnighter adopting Jenny Quantum after their marriage.

Being a parent is hard and being a good parent in a complex world is even harder. We need kids to have strong families and good support; the orientations of the parents are irrelevant. No matter what Mark Regnerus and his funders would have you believe, LGBT folk make great parents, and all the good research supports that wholeheartedly. In fact, same-sex households can turn out kids as wonderful as Zach Wahls. So let’s take time this Fathers’ Day to celebrate the families that often require more intent and face challenges from the narrow-minded no matter how well they work.

P.S. – Let’s also celebrate the straight parents who love and accept their LGBT children unconditionally. Since bullying and abuse of these kids is still a significant problem, a loving home is often the saving grace. Three cheers to the Judy Shepards, Daphne’s Moms, and PFLAG moms and dads all over America.

Celebrating LGBTQ History Month: June 16, Vito Russo

Today we honor and celebrate a man whose life work forced everyone to take a hard look at media stereotyping of the LGBT community. Vito Russo was born in 1946 in New York. He had a passion for film and began hosting screenings of camp classics for the Gay Activist Alliance in 1972. As he watched the films, he noted the shallow and often demeaning stereotyping of gay and lesbian characters. Over time, he developed a series of lectures on the topic and began investigating broader media portrayals.

In 1981, Russo published the first book to look at the cinematic treatment of LGBT people and the lives of gay and lesbian actors, The Celluloid Closet. Building on that research, he wrote and produced a series for public television, Our Time, which was the first serious documentary about the gay community.

Russo’s growing concern about the portrayals of gay men, especially in light of the AIDS crisis, led him to create the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) in 1985. This organization has become a powerful watchdog, encouraging positive and accurate media presentations and taking biased and demeaning work to task. GLAAD’s mission, which captures the spirit of Russo’s life, is to

amplify the voice of the LGBT community by empowering real people to share their stories, holding the media accountable for the words and images they present, and helping grassroots organizations communicate effectively. By ensuring that the stories of LGBT people are heard through the media, GLAAD promotes understanding, increases acceptance, and advances equality.

Russo published an expanded edition of The Celluloid Closet in 1986 and participated in the AIDS documentary Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt in 1989. He began teaching a course at UC Santa Cruz based on his book. Sadly, Russo died of AIDS-related complications in 1990. His book was adapted into a powerful documentary also calledThe Celluloid Closet in 1996. GLAAD created the Vito Russo Award as the centerpiece of their annual media awards; it is given to a celebrity whose efforts help advance LGBT equality.

Vito Russo was a pioneer whose tenactiy was matched by wit and charm. His efforts have helped improve the lives of all LGBT people by creating a more responsible media and encouraging accurate and positive images.