Comic Relief
After the disappointment of last week, please enjoy this much needed comic relief.
Tags: Joe Biden, LGBT, LGBTQ
We’ve named our blog, Growing Up Hayden because we feel it’s a testament to what it is to live in the now, in a world where the LGBT community is fighting for acceptance and equality. Our content is focused on all aspects of what it is to live, love and thrive in what’s still a very judgmental world. Growing Up Hayden is a live narrative that we hope will continue to illustrate positive changes and a more and more loving, open and welcoming world.
After the disappointment of last week, please enjoy this much needed comic relief.
Tags: Joe Biden, LGBT, LGBTQLongtime friend of the LGBTQ community, Dolly Parton, told Larry King on Larry King Now that she gets called out from Christian fans. Parton doesn’t try to pivot around the issue, she tells these fans “If you’re the fine Christian that you think you are, why are you judging people?”
Parton also told King that “I just think that we should be more loving, more caring. We are who we are. If you’re gay, you’re gay. If you’re straight, you’re straight. And you should be allowed to be how you are and who you are.”
Watch the full interview here.
Tags: Christians, Dolly Parton, Judging, Larry King, LGBT, LGBTQ
If the debates, sound bites and blogs did not provide enough information about each candidate’s views about the LGBTQ community, this picture says it all. Choose wisely on Election Day.
Tags: Donald Trump, Election 2016, LGBT, LGBTQ, Mike Pence, Presidential Election
Donald Trump opened a rally in Colorado while holding a LGBTQ rainbow flag. “LGBTs for Trump” was written in black marker on the flag. Did he speak on LGBTQ issues during the event? Trump’s speech covered his usual talking points: repealing Obamacare, a corrupt election, and bashing Hillary Clinton.
LGBTQ advocates don’t believe Trump’s gesture and 72% of LGBTQ voters will vote for Clinton in the election. Trump’s choice of running mate, did not help him gain any points with the LGBTQ community. Mike Pence has a history of supporting anti-LGBTQ laws, such as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and trying to overturn marriage equality.
Here are some quotes from the Trump / Pence ticket about LGBTQ rights and issues.
Transgender Bathroom Access
Trump: After previously stating that North Carolina should “leave it the way it is,” and permit transgender individuals to use the restroom they feel most comfortable using, Donald Trump told ABC News on May 13, 2016, “I believe it should be states’ rights and the state should make the decision. They’re more capable of making the decision.” Trump made this comment after the Obama administration issued guidance directing public schools to allow transgender students to use restrooms matching their gender identity.
Pence: In response to the directive issued by the Obama administration on May 13, 2016, stating that transgender public school students must be afforded the right to use bathrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identities, Pence said, “The federal government has no business getting involved in issues of this nature.”
Marriage Equality
Trump: During a November 2013 interview on MSNBC, Trump said “I think I’m evolving, and I think I’m a very fair person, but I have been for traditional marriage. I am for traditional marriage, I am for a marriage between a man and a woman.”
Pence: In 2006, Pence supported a constitutional amendment that would have defined marriage as between a man and a woman. Pence said in a speech that cited a Harvard researcher, “societal collapse was always brought about following an advent of the deterioration of marriage and family.” Pence also said that being gay is a choice and that preventing gay couples from marrying was not discrimination, but a means of enforcing “God’s idea.”
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
Pence: He supported Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the policy that prohibited soldiers from openly identifying as gay until it was ended in 2011. Pence told CNN in 2010 that without the policy, the military could become “a backdrop for social experimentation.”
Don’t forget that Election Day is Tuesday November 8th. Go out and vote!
Tags: Donald Trump, Election 2016, Election Day, HB2, HB2 law, Hillary Clinton, LGBT, LGBTQ, marriage equality, Mike Pence, North Carolina, Presidential Election, Religious Freedom, Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Vote, VotingI recently came across this great article on Huffington Post, When You’re LGBT And Your Family Is Voting For Trump. Oh good, I thought, I’m not the only one out there.
My husband and I have supportive families, mine being the most supportive of all. My mother will proudly tell any Pastor that her son didn’t choose to be gay, and then proceed to ask him when did he choose to be straight. Both families came to our wedding, and both families love and adore their grandson. But both families, support Donald Trump.
In all honesty, I think Trump supports the LGBT community. A man of that level of wealth, living in NYC, I don’t think he’s the religious anti-gay candidate like he is showcasing to the Republican Party. He’s simply telling them what they want to hear. But Trump chose Mike Pence as his running mate. Pence has been on record applauding businesses for firing employees who are openly gay, encourages Religious Freedom Laws that directly discriminate against my family and is on task to see that the Supreme Court overturns Marriage Equality.
When getting into a discussion surrounding the Trump-Pence ticket, families supporting them often say there is more to worry about in this election then LGBT “issues”. For my husband and I, there simply isn’t. Put yourself in our shoes. If a candidate was running for President who threatened to denounce your marriage, end your ability to adopt children and force you into the closet for fear you could legally be fired for being straight – would you support them?
When it comes down to protecting my family, that is the only issue I am worried about.
Tags: Donald Trump, Election 2016, Election Day, family, LGBT, LGBTQ, Mike Pence, Presidential Election, Religious Freedom, VotingFor some people, when they hear the words hate crime, a young man named Matthew Shepard comes to mind. Lately when the word hate is uttered it is usually in connection with presidential nominee Donald Trump. Judy Shepard, mother of Matthew, is in a new ad denouncing Trump and his campaign of hate.
Judy says in the ad “When I see the hate that Donald Trump has brought to his campaign for president, it terrifies me. Words have an influence. Violence causes pain. Hate can rip us apart. I know what can happen as a result of hate, and Donald Trump should never be our president.”
Watch the ad here.
Tags: Donald Trump, Election 2016, hate, hate crime, Judy Shepard, LGBT, LGBTQ, Matthew Shepard, Presidential ElectionLast week, Indonesia’s Youth and Sports Ministry banned LGBTQ people from entering the competition for the “Creative Youth Ambassador.” The ban questions if the LGBTQ community are “physically and mentally healthy.”
This comes after months of increasing anti-LGBTQ sentiments from politicians and officials and several anti-LGBTQ directives by government institutions. At the time, the Human Rights Watch described the movement as a “sustained assault” against the LGBTQ community.
Now President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has made his first public comments against this escalating discrimination against Indonesia’s LGBTQ community. “The police must act [to protect them]. There should be no discrimination against anyone.” President Widodo stated.
Kyle Knight, a LGBTQ researcher at Human Rights Watch said President Widodo’s statement signals that the “…administration is keen on cultivating an Indonesia that is inclusive and safe for everyone.”
http://www.curvemag.com/News/Indonesia-President-Defends-LGBT-Rights-1544/
Tags: Human Rights Watch, Indonesia, Kyle Knight, LGBT, LGBT discrimination, LGBTQ, LGBTQ discrimination, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo