Advocacy Archives - Blind LGBT Pride International

International LGBT organization urges Senate to reject Jeff Sessions nomination for Attorney General

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

International LGBT organization urges Senate to reject Jeff Sessions nomination for Attorney General

Contact: Gabriel Lopez
Company: Blind LGBT Pride International
Phone: (786) 547-5465
Email: info@blind-lgbt-pride.org
URL: http://blindlgbtpride.org

Austin, Tx – Blind LGBT Pride International (BPI) the only Civil Rights and Advocacy organization representing LGBT individuals who are blind and vision impaired, today announced its opposition to the nomination of Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions as the next U.S. attorney general.

“We believe that any president should have broad latitude in appointments. However, given the extraordinary role the attorney general has over so many issues fundamentally impacting the lives of our community, Sessions’ egregious track record on those issues makes it impossible for us to support this nomination,” stated BPI President Will Burley.

“Throughout his career, he has been a staunch opponent of progress for historically disenfranchised groups, whether it’s African-Americans, people with disabilities, Latinos, LGBT Americans, or women” remarked Burley. Sessions record is replete with actions and stated positions which we find in complete opposition to the freedoms and well being of people with disabilities who are LGBT, including: in May of 2000, his taking to the Senate floor in opposition to the reauthorization of IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), the Federal law which mandates the integration of children with disabilities into public schools; citing the law as the reason that U.S. public schools were failing, referring to the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which contains provisions relevant to the voting rights of people with disabilities, as a “piece of intrusive legislation”; opposing both the 2006 and 2013 bipartisan immigration reform bills and calling for an end to birthright citizenship; his opposition to the renewal of the Violence Against Women Act, in 2000 and 2009; voting against measures expanding hate crime legislation to include sexual orientation; He dubbed the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision legalizing same-sex marriage an “effort to secularize, by force and intimidation”, , and referring to Civil rights organizations as “Communist-inspired” and “un-American.” “The list goes on and on”,commented Burley.

“It is exceedingly disappointing, to say the least, that the newly elected President has chosen someone who is at best indifferent, and at worst actively antagonistic toward an overwhelming portion of the country’s population. For such a crucial post, We urge the Senate to soundly reject his nomination,” concluded Burley.

For more information regarding Blind LGBT Pride International’s stance on the nomination of Sen. Jeff sessions, please contact the Legislative and Advocacy chair, Don Brown by email at advocacy@blind-lgbt-pride.org.

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Blind LGBT pride International, a 501c(3) organization founded in 1996 has a goal to offer advocacy, education, programs, alliances and support for those who are either blind or vision impaired and who happen to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or allies. For more information, please visit http://blindlgbtpride.org.

Ideas for Your Holiday List

By: Gabriel Lopez

As is customary during the Holiday Season, we make a list of those who will be the happy recipients of gifts from us. We hope you have saved room for one more name in your list. Don’t panic- it won’t cost you any extra dollars; actually, it should save you some in the long run! Just think of all the beautiful things you have received from your friends and family members who have already claimed a spot in your Holiday list. Now think of this additional friend- she has given you open doors, opportunities, liberty, freedom, equality, inclusion, aid in times of need, and she has always been ready to cover your basics so that you can move on to bigger and better things. Have you guessed her name yet?

Some times we tend to take America for granted, and we forget the greatest and noblest principles our nation stands for. However, this end-of-year is different. We are witnessing how the incoming administration is filling each cabinet position with persons who pose a clear threat to those principles that constitute rights and protections for all of us. The anti-LGBT position of our future cabinet is clear. The civil rights that have resulted after the blood and tenacity of many heroes is now at risk. Moreover, the protections that have helped the disabled community level the playing field are being attacked. All of these rights and protections are gifts that, for decades, we have received from our beloved America.

From the appointment of a white supremacist to one of the highest positions in the White House, to the selection of a blatantly racist character for the position of Attorney General. The second in command, being the most fearsome enemy of the LGBT community in the United States. Does this sound like our country? Do you think these kind of choices represent the values that have already made America great for centuries? If you disagree, then it is time to take matters into your own hands. Our great nation has already gifted us with so much, and it is time we give back. We must stand up and defend the principles and values that constitute the building blocks of our society.

Starting this Holiday Season, and moving forward, during the next four years, we must shower America with gifts. Let’s give our nation the gift of our time during which we should follow every single move attempted by our future government. Consider exerting your democratic rights by contacting your representatives and demanding from them they make the decisions that best align with your values. Show your courage on behalf of your nation by being vigilant and ready to act if you feel any American principle being threatened. Consider sharing your talents with any progressive organization of your choice. While we hope you can relate with this proposed Holiday list, we would like to invite you to add more to the list and to share your gift ideas with us, with your friends and family members, with your neighbors, with your coworkers and colleagues, with your social media contacts, and even with a stranger in the bus stop. Let’s give our America the gift of making sure we remain the great nation we have always been!

BLIND LGBT PRIDE INTERNATIONAL (BPI) PRESENTS TRANS 101

In observance of Transgender Day of Rememberence (TDOR), , BPI invites all to join it’s monthly Info-Share Session, at 3 PM PDT, 5 PM CDT and 6 PM EDT on Sunday, November 13, 2016.

RitaDunn will present an overview of issues and concerns facing the Transgender community and their families.

To participate in the teleconference call 218-895-3779 and enter code 2012#.

TDOR is an annual observance on November 20 that honors the memory of those whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence., Additionally, during the week of November 14-20, individuals and organizations around the country participate in Transgender Awareness Week to help raise the visibility of transgender and gender non-conforming people and address the issues these communities face.

TDOR was started by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith as a vigil to honor the memory of Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was killed in 1998. The vigil commemorated all the transgender people lost to violence that year and began an important memorial that has become the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance.

“The Transgender Day of Remembrance seeks to highlight the losses we face due to anti-transgender bigotry and violence. I am no stranger to the need to fight for our rights, and the right to simply exist is first and foremost. With so many seeking to erase transgender people — sometimes in the most brutal ways possible — it is vitally important that those we lose are remembered, and that we continue to fight for justice.” – Transgender Day of Remembrance founder Gwendolyn Ann Smith

Does My Sexual Identity Define Me?

By Kelly Warren

“Your sexual identity ‘defines’ you!” Numerous times, I’ve heard this statement pronounced proudly from the lips of well meaning advocates, allies, and members of the lgbt community at large. I disagree, at least in terms of the meaning of the statement as it stands, by itself. It oversimplifies a highly complex subject. It is far too generalized to contain any degree of significant, applicable meaning for the straight community, and it invites the lgbt community to place an unhealthy, inordinate amount of importance on their sexuality. On both an individual and societal scale, it is a deceptive notion that is actually counter productive to the progression of sexual freedom. At the risk of being too pedantic, I suggest that we strive to expand this statement to something like, “Your sexual identity/orientation represents a valuable, dynamic, and vital part of your unique, evolving personality!”

To say that one’s sexual identity alone defines them is similar to saying that one’s blindness or sight alone defines them. To claim that anyone’s physiological, mental, or emotional attributes, or even the combination thereof defines them is exclusive and incomplete, and therefore, ends up being a gross misrepresentation. If I desire to truly “get to know” you, my interests wont be concerned with your societal sexual tag(s) or your classification based upon psychological pseudoscience, but rather will be invested in exploring the wealth of intricate aspects, sexual and non-sexual, which, when combined, produce your “wholeness.” A rainbow is not a rainbow unless it has “all” the colors of the rainbow.

Both words “identity” and “define” in this commonly spoken statement create concepts that can inhibit personal growth. Identity is not an object or a condition, but rather a “process.” It’s easier to think of it as a condition because then we can remain safe inside the shell of our protected, easily identifiable state, categorized and filed away on the shelf of some sort of sexual identity museum. But we didn’t come out of the closet to be placed on the shelf. The “process” of identity is one that involves personal transformation, a continually changing state in which we are exposed to both the positive and negative impact of varying circumstances that produce an assortment of consequences. It requires management, fine tuning, and readjustment. That sexual identity is a continually evolving process on a collective scale is evidenced by the ever changing lgbt acronym, in which we first added the “q” for “questioning,” followed by letters that refer to straight allies. And, by the way, have you ever heard a straight person claim that their sexual

identity defines them?

Honestly, I almost feel demeaned when someone suggests that my sexual identity defines me. As if that which sexually arouses me somehow defines the whole of my personality. “Sexuality” is about “sex,” largely the act of sex itself, which is something that today is misunderstood, disrespected, feared, shunned, and shamed – even among some members of the lgbt community – due to centuries of horrific, fear mongering suppression by political and religious regimes. Saying that one’s sexual identity defines them is a glorified, vague generalization that clouds the minds of the general public by sweeping the ill conceived perception of the messiness of the sex act under the rug. Even in the land of the free, sexual freedom is still a starving child.

Finally, considering the word “define” here again, our error is in wanting our identity neatly packaged into a simple, precise, unchangeable “definition.” After all, behavioral science can succinctly define any behavior or pattern of behavioral tendencies, right? No, it cannot, especially since, in relation to lgbt people, its history has proceeded from being the submissive bed partner to the aforementioned political and religious entities that have championed terms like “immoral” and “reprobate” from which the psychological designations of “aberrant” and “dysfunctional” were coined to describe some of the sexual activities in which we engage, saving us from execution only by bleakly categorizing us as “mentally ill.” Science, through reductionism, is bent on defining. That’s not a criticism. That’s what it’s supposed to do. But in this modern age in which science is king, to say that science can adequately define sexuality is to squash individuality like a dirty cockroach.

To transpose this procedure and say that sexual identity, based upon a supposedly empirical understanding, somehow defines us, is an absurd insinuation. Gays, lesbians, and the straight community would do well to discuss the subject with their bisexual and transgender friends who often appreciate and understand, to a greater degree, the transitional nature of sexual identity and its complex, fluctuating contribution to the wholeness of one’s personality. And unfortunately, because I’m trying to limit the length of this essay, I can’t even begin to share anything about our precious friends who might be pansexual or asexual, who presently aren’t included in the alphabet soup of our modern acronym. I currently claim the “g” but have also dabbled with the “b” of our acronym, because my own sexuality is fraught with a wide variety of likes and dislikes, specific fetishes, thoughts, feelings, and desires that often intensify, level off, and fade in response to pulsations of sensual fulfillment and deprivation. So, go ahead, put me into a box and define my sexual identity, or explain to me how it defines me. Write the story of my sexuality, and pretend as though you’ve come to fully understand it. I hope you have pounds of coffee, undying patience, infinite wisdom, and a computer with an immeasurable memory.

Happy Anniversary BPI: Fifteen Years at the Forefront

Since its inception, Blind LGBT Pride International, or Blind Friends of lesbians and Gays, as this organization was originally named, has been at the forefront in setting an example for inclusion and equality! Like any group, the growth of this affiliate is marked by fantastic successes as well as growing pains. The main focus of BPI has never shifted, however. We strive to support and embrace every aspect of what it means to be individuals who happen to be blind or vision impaired as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.

In 1996, a group of members within the American Council of the Blind believed a voice was missing in the organized blind movement – that of individuals who were lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. This small group held the first of four annual informal meetings to begin discussion of the needs of the vision impaired glbtq population; these gatherings also began to ponder what it would mean to build a path forward to getting their voices heard by the broader community. During the ACB convention in Los Angeles in 1999, a decision was made to apply for formal status as a special interest affiliate.

On February 20, 2000, the ACB Board of Directors approved the request for affiliation of the members of Blind Friends of Lesbians and Gays, or BFLAG. The affiliation certificate was presented during the first general session of the ACB convention that year in Louisville, Kentucky. . Rob Hill became the first president of the new organization.

BFLAG continued its growth in Houston, Texas in 2002, and Connie David was elected as president. Many of the local Houston LGBT volunteers became members, and the week was very successful.

The next year saw a great deal of hard work pay off for the members as BFLAG earned its 501c(3) status, and a new logo was created. These two events made it much easier to promote the work and objectives of BFLAG, and this lent the organization strength in pursuing donations. Our organization also received the Growth Award by ACB for having the highest percentage of new members for 2003.

2008 saw even more growth as BFLAG reported its 200^th member as well as the formation of four affiliates – BFLAG Washington, D.C., BFLAG Texas, BFLAG Tulsa and BFLAG Mid Atlantic.

2009 saw more growth for BFLAG, as our name was changed to Blind LGBT Pride International or BPI. This was also the year that board meetings became open to the public, providing more transparency to members, allowing them to have firsthand knowledge of how organizational business was conducted.

As we enter into our 15^th year of existence as a special-interest affiliate, we can be proud of the work that has been done to further the advancement and inclusion of people who are blind or visually impaired and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. We must also continue to ask ourselves, what we can do to further our goals and reach more individuals with our powerful message.

As members of BPI, we are part of the only organization in the world dedicated to the issues experienced by those that are LGBTQ and blind and vision impaired. We can continue to be the leading special interest affiliate as LGBT baby boomers begin to age into vision loss.

According to a study released by the American Foundation for the Blind in 2008, by 2030, rates of vision loss will have doubled along with the country’s aging population. Blind and Vision Impaired individuals who are LGBT face a number of particular concerns as they age. Several studies document they are less likely than their straight sighted counterparts to access adequate health care, affordable housing or other social services that they may need; this due to attitudinal barriers, institutionalized discrimination, and a lack of access to safety net programs. As an active member and advocate dedicated to social justice and equality, you will have the opportunity to collaborate in a joint effort that works to reverse this pervasive trend.

You belong to a unique organization that strives to make a difference. I invite you to more fully support our continual efforts to eliminate societal barriers while increasing opportunities for those members of the LGBT community who happen to be blind or vision impaired. I look forward to working with you as we head into the next 15 years at the forefront…