The Spectrum: Weekly

Hey guys, welcome to LGBTQ+ weekly where I will be giving you a rundown on all the news that is happening all over the world to do with LGBTQ+. This week has not been a good week for our fellow LGBTQ+ community all over the world, there’s some good but it’s mostly bad but let’s get to it.

Donald Trump and the Ban of Transgender Individuals from the Military

Donald Trump has done it again. On Tuesday the 22nd of January, the Supreme Court ruled to ban most transgender troops from the military including those who are currently serving and have been serving for many years. They believe that allowing transgender troops poses a threat to military effectiveness and lethality even though this is happening only 3 years after Obama lifted the ban back in 2016 after finding that transgender people didn’t pose any threat. Fortunately, several transgender service have publicly stated that they will soldier on for as long as they can. They are now all facing the fear of being pressured or out right abused out of service and instead of being applauded and thanked for their service, they are being targeted and vilified.

Today as we speak there are roughly 14 700 trans people serving in the military according to the Palm Centre(a research institute that studies LGBTQ+ military inclusions) and out of those 14 700, 13 736 are currently facing dismissal meaning that only 937 transgender service actually meet the requirements that would clear them for service but that also doesn’t mean that those 937 troops are actually safe. The Secretary or President could change their minds tomorrow and decide to fire them all simply because right now they are vulnerable and are not protected by the law.

For people like Alice Ashton who have spent 18 out of her 39 years in service, what is she supposed to do if forced to find another job? Are we just going to forget about the amount of time she put into keeping America safe and just toss her to the dogs? How is any of this constitutional?

”I think the biggest thing with this story is that it not be viewed as a finality, it is a setback but it’s not the end.” Caroline Morrison

Oscars 2019 Break Records for LGBTQ+ Inclusivity with the  Nominations

It is going to be a striking year for LGBTQ+ representation at the Oscars this year.

More than 50% of the best picture nominees announced on Tuesday, 22nd January are LGBTQ+ inclusive movies. We have A Star Is Born, Green Book, The Favourite, Vice and Bohemian Rhapsody.

We also see that EVERY acting category has at least one queer role, this includes Best Actor, Best Actress and Best ing Actress. However every actor playing these roles identifies as straight and nearly 60 straight people have received Oscar nominations for LGBTQ+ roles while an out gay actor has never ever won.

BUT Lady Gaga has made history as a bisexual actress and singer at the Oscars nominated.

The community definitely had a big win at the Oscars but there does need to be a little more equality and diversity when casting actors. This is not to say that straight people can’t play queer roles but to say that queer people need more roles.

Was Logan Paul Joking about Going Gay for a Month

Controversial Youtuber Logan Paul largely known for his suicide video is back with another scandal but this time he’s aiming it at the LGBTQ+ community. On the 11th or 10th or 12th of January Logan Paul posted a podcast where discussions about new year's resolutions were taking place and to kind of try and explain them he used the words ‘going gay’. This did not sit well with the internet at all as they accused him for being ignorant about the experience of being queer. Paul later itted himself that it was a poor choice of words and sat down with Josh Seefried, an LGBTQ+ activist on his most recent Podcast but he proceeded to make some contradictory comments.

Paul told Seefried that he was not homophobic and explained how noble it was for a gay person to put their foot down and defy society by simply being themselves and how there is nothing more beautiful than being yourself. During the podcast Seefried called on Paul asking him if he was actually intending on exploring his sexuality or if it was all meant to be a joke. Paul then proceeded to try and defend his statement by saying, “I understand you can’t just go gay, but if I want to experiment with men for a month during March, how would you describe that action?” Seefried simply reminded him that exploring one’s sexuality is perfectly okay and if that is Paul’s intentions then he should communicate that but Paul completely avoided the question and never clarified his intentions.

Seefried eventually explained to Paul how joking about queerness can lead to bullying especially since he has a large following. He urged Paul to refrain from using such statements before turning to Paul’s friends and basically holding them able by saying they should have stood up to Paul and stopped him.

I got mad RESPECT for Seefried now.

New York Finally es Ban on Conversion Therapy

From 2012-2018, 14 states including Washington DC have been ing laws prohibiting conversion therapy for minors but New York, the city that never sleeps was not among them. That changed this month when the States Legislature voted to stop mental health professionals from trying to change a minor's sexuality or gender. The Legislature also ed the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act which adds protection for gender identity under New York's Discrimination and hate crime laws.

Short Stories You Guys Can Read More On

NYPD sued after arrestin trans woman with pink handcuffs

Egyptian journalist sentenced to hard labour for interviewing gay man

Bryan Singer accused of sexually assaulting underage boys

Patricio ‘Cacahuate’ Manuel makes history as first openly trans male to box professionally in US

So that’s it for this week and guys feel free to let me know about stories I might have missed and that you found interesting. Let me know what you guys think about the stories above and what are your opinions.

I will see you guys again around about same time this week with some more weekly news.

BYE!!!

PS. Does anyone have a really cool idea for the name of this post because 'Weekly LGBTQ+' is just so boring.

#CuratorReview

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