Latest news with #NationalStateof
USA Today
02-06-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Pride 2025: Why we don't have a month dedicated to 'straight pride'
Pride 2025: Why we don't have a month dedicated to 'straight pride' Show Caption Hide Caption Pride flag colors, explained: Meanings behind the rainbow colors The rainbow Pride flag has become a symbol for the LGBTQ+ community. Here's how the flag came to be and what its colors represent. For the second year in a row, a bar in Ohio is offering deals for "Heterosexual Awesomeness Month," and lawmakers from the state have proposed a "natural family month" that explicitly excludes LGBTQ+ families and celebrates only families led by straight men with children. Utah passed a bill to become the first state to ban Pride flags from flying on any government property, though Nazi flags were allowed, and Idaho passed a similar one. More than 500 bills targeting the LGBTQ+ community have been proposed in 2025 alone, about 2 in 5 corporations are decreasing recognition of Pride Month out of fear of retaliation from the Trump administration and hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ community, especially transgender people, are on the rise. In 2023, the Human Rights Campaign declared a National State of Emergency for LGBTQ+ Americans for the first time in its over 40-year history and the FBI reported its highest number of gender identity-based hate crimes to date. Several countries have begun warning their LGBTQ+ citizens about traveling to America and in March, the U.S. was added to the Global Human Rights Watchlist due to declining civil liberties, in part because of the treatment of the LGBTQ+ community. Still, more conservative groups are pushing for a "straight pride" month as an answer to the traditional celebration of Pride Month. The LGBTQ+ community celebrates Pride Month during June to commemorate the Stonewall uprising. But amidst a political and social environment that has become increasingly hostile towards queer people, events and promotions celebrating heterosexuality seem to push back on the celebration. Heterosexuality is the norm, and experts say that creates the need to dedicate a month to LGBTQ+ visibility. Here is more about why America celebrates Pride as a month and why there isn't a month to celebrate straight people. Why don't we have a month dedicated to straight people? Imara Jones, a journalist and founder of non-profit news organization TransLash Media, said we have dedicated months, including Pride, Black History Month and others, because those communities have been historically marginalized. "People have been systemically written out of history and excluded and made invisible," she said. "One of the antidotes to that has been the idea that we will make people more visible and that there needs to be increased visibility in order to counteract that." She also pointed out that the majority of people in the U.S. identify as heterosexual. According to December 2023 data from the UCLA Williams Institute, 5.5% of adults, or 13.9 million people, in the U.S. identify as LGBT. The norms of heterosexuality are widely reflected in mainstream media, she said, mentioning shows like "Bridgerton" and "The Bachelor." She said Pride is about declaring, "This is who I am." Pride Month commemorates Stonewall riots, celebrates community Pride Month commemorates the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in New York and celebrates the LGBTQ+ community and the fight for equal rights. The Stonewall Uprising began on June 28, 1969, when police raided the Stonewall Inn, a prominent gay bar in Manhattan's Greenwich Village. The protests that followed are credited with a shift in LGBTQ+ activism in the U.S. The following year saw some of the first Pride parades in Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. Despite the pivotal role transgender people and women of color played in the riots, including trans activist Marsha P. Johnson, they were largely excluded from early Pride celebrations. Today, Pride Month presents an opportunity for visibility and community. In addition to celebrating LGBTQ+ love and joy, it's also a time to highlight important policy and resource issues the community faces. Anti-LGBTQ+ hate, legislation on the rise The last few years have seen waves of legislation targeting the LGBTQ+ community. In 2024, more than 500 bills were introduced in state legislatures and 49 of those were signed into law, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). This year, at least 588 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced and 57 have been signed into law as of May 30. In 2024, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) saw a 13% increase in the number of anti-LGBTQ+ groups from the previous year and in 2023, it identified an approximately 30% increase in anti-LGBTQ+ hate groups, more than they had ever listed. FBI crime data from 2022 and 2023 showed that anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes were also on the rise, with 2023 data showing that 2,800 incidents reported by the FBI were classified as bias against the victims' sexual orientation or gender identity, accounting for nearly one in four (22.8%) of total hate crimes committed that year. In 2022, the Human Rights Campaign "sounded the alarm" when FBI data showed a 13.8% increase in reports based on sexual orientation and a 32.9% jump in reported hate crimes based on gender identity. And in 2024, GLAAD documented 110 anti-LGBTQ+ incidents in June 2024 alone, while the SPLC recorded at least 74 bomb threats targeting LGBTQ people and events in the same month. Anti-trans bills have specifically been on the rise as the Trump administration has relied on that small population as a major scapegoat in his presidential campaign and, said SPLC, with Texas alone having filed 32 anti-trans bills for the 2025 legislative session. Jones said the political pushback against diversity, equity and inclusion trickles down into Pride celebrations. She has seen intense anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric online seep into real life with real consequences for the community. "We can't ignore... the role of intimidation in all of this, to be quite frank about it," she said. Contributing: Ahjané Forbes, USA TODAY
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘We affirm you.' Transgender pride flag flies over Tacoma Dome for first time
In honor of Transgender Day of Visibility, for the first time a blue, pink and white trans pride flag was flown over the Tacoma Dome on Monday. Similar flags were raised above the Tacoma Municipal Building, Tacoma Police Department headquarters and the Tacoma Fire Department, according to the city. For the past few years the transgender pride flag has flown over City Hall, but this was the first year it was flown on other city buildings, said Mayor Victoria Woodards in a news release Monday. There has been ongoing debate for years among Tacoma and Pierce County officials about whether the rainbow Pride flag and others should be flown on places like the Dome or in council chambers. Last July was the first time a Pride flag had ever been flown in the Pierce County Council chambers. 'Transgender Day of Visibility was born out of trans people daring to proclaim joy. In defiance of all the barriers they face, they have the audacity to thrive in the face of hate and bigotry. The contributions of trans people are endless, and seen here in our city's rich diversity, economic vitality, and quality of life. Trans joy is worthy of celebration,' said Council Member Olgy Diaz in a news release Monday. 'March 31 is a moment for us to pause to honor and celebrate the tremendous perseverance and fortitude of trans people of all ages, backgrounds and professions. This is an opportunity to speak in one voice to say we see you, we affirm you, and there is a community standing in support of you.' The choice to raise the flag comes at a time of increasing attacks on transgender rights and people in the United States. In 2023, for the first time in its 40-year history, the Human Rights Campaign declared a National State of Emergency for LGBTQ+ Americans in response to more than 550 anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced into state houses across the country, more than 85 of which were passed into law. Last year more than 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced and more than 40 passed. A vast majority of those bills specifically targeted transgender people, seeking to ban access to safe, effective and age-appropriate gender-affirming medical care, limit access to bathrooms and locker rooms and remove references to LGBTQ+ identities and experiences in books and school curricula, according to the HRC. 'As trans people, our very existence is seen as defiance under a tyrannical federal government. While it is dangerous to be out and visible, it is also imperative for those who cannot be to see that their community and allies have not stopped fighting,' said Oliver Webb, executive director of the Diversity Alliance of the Puget Sound, in the news release. The city of Tacoma said the transgender flag was provided by community partners at no cost to the city and was raised as directed by the council's newly adopted commemorative flag policy.
