2 • The Rainbow Times • TheRainbowTimesMass.com
October 8, 2020 - November 4, 2020
Biden & Harris, for our rights, lives “Stand back, stand by:” Trump’s words By: TRT Editorial Team
T
here is rampant chaos everywhere in the nation—something that has never been seen or experienced by this generation and likely generations to come. People, hundreds of years from now will read about this—the darkest period in American history—in awe. They will read in astonishment and horror, not understanding how bad it was for all of us who lived it. And they will judge our actions and inaction. They will look at the murders under Trump, those from COVID, from white supremacy, from boasting police brutality toward blacks and immigrants, for keeping children in cages separated from their families, while they died alone. They will read about the unauthorized mass hysterectomies performed on immigrant women and question our sanity and the sanity of other legislators who apparently did nothing to stop him/them. They’ll study the 25th Amendment and will wonder how and why it wasn't invoked since so many American lives were at peril. The NEJM’s condemnation’s importance; fault goes beyond Trump “Editors at the world’s leading medical journal said the Trump administration ‘took a crisis and turned it into a tragedy.’” The New England Journal of Medicine, NEJM (https://bit.ly/2GPAkW8), has remained nonpartisan through all of its 208 years of existence. Today, it stopped that legacy of remaining objective—and it condemned Trump and it endorsed Joe Biden. Titled “Dying in a Leadership Vaccum”,
white nationalists “EDITORS AT THE are a call to arms for later. This is what they call towing the party line. WORLD’S LEADING Tuesday, September 29, 2020 will infa- morning My sleep that night was fraught. The next I woke up and was a virtual zommously go down in history as one of the most traumatic days of my life, thanks to bie through two meetings as my hands MEDICAL JOURNAL President Trump. When asked by Fox quivered, my stomach was in knots, my News reporter Chris Wallace to openly de- head swam with thoughts of how low white supremacy groups, to ver- America has come, and I restlessly fidSAID THE TRUMP AD- nounce bally condemn their hatred, bigotry, and geted. I couldn’t keep my mind focused violence, the 45th President of the United and I had the distinct—and horrifying— sheepishly called out a far-right, feeling of being under siege. It was a racial MINISTRATION ‘TOOK A States, neo-fascist, white nationalist group, The anxiety attack, one that I had never known Proud Boys, and told them to, “Stand back, before. I’ve struggled with anti-Blackness my entire life and will probably struggle by.” CRISIS AND TURNED IT andEyesstandbulging, jaw hitting the floor, and with it until my death. To be nearly 40 heart sinking, I watched as Trump cava- years old and living in a nation with a told a hateful group of white men to leader who has made his hatred of people INTO A TRAGEDY.’” lierly mobilize. The alt-right twittersphere like me quite clear has been nothing less than nearly four years of psychological asBy: Mike Givens* TRT Assistant Editor
the editorial (published on October 7, 2020), slams the U.S. leadership (federal, statewide and local) and called it “dangerously incompetent.” “Covid-19 is an overwhelming challenge, and many factors contribute to its severity. But the one we can control is how we behave. And in the United States, we have consistently behaved poorly. …” read parts of the NEJM experts’ piece. “The United States came into this crisis with enormous advantages. Along with tremendous manufacturing capacity, we have a biomedical research system that is the envy of the world. We have enormous
See Biden/Harris On Page 4
erupted and men around the nation, yearning for affirmation from the President that their hatred was well-placed, received an incendiary dog whistle that gave their bigotry and violence the validation they needed. Reading between the lines, in my opinion, Trump was really saying, “Stand back, and stand by … Be ready to cause a race war if I don’t win the election.” Republican CNN commentator Rick Santorum—who ran an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2012—did his best to mitigate Trump’s disastrous performance at the debate and had the gall to try to reinterpret what the president was saying by claiming that the “stand by” comment meant that he’d make his condemnation
See White Supremacy On Page 6
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Chris Gilmore Audrey Cole
Faith, God And Family: “Humble Pride” is holy and divine
Editor-In-Chief Nicole Lashomb
Crossword Puzzle Artist/Designer Luciano Spanto
By: Paul P. Jesep* TRT Columnist
Assistant Editor Mike Givens
“The Supreme Court ruled LGBTQ+ people cannot be fired for their orientation (https://reut.rs/3m18Soi)!” according to a text from my dearest friend regarding the High Court’s decision released in June 2020. He noted, “This is important to my family and me.” June of this year was the first Pride Month his family flew a Rainbow Flag at their Southern home. No, it is not in Florida, it is the real South. Shortly after arriving home from Europe (just as the pandemic hit), he shared, “I was almost stranded for 4 months before I could rejoin my husband and two children.” He further reflected, “There are many people who suffered so we could be a family. I have sometimes had issues with the word Pride. As a Christian-gay man married to a Christian-gay man raising two adopted children to be Christian, I understood pride as one of the deadly sins. But I realized pride in the streets is positive and spiritual and no different than the pride I share at the dinner table with and for my husband and two kids.” “There are very different concepts to pride,” he observed. “Pride also can be affirming who God made us to be and before we were in the womb we were known—
PRIDE IS A SELFRECOGNITION OF VALUE, PURPOSE, AND BELONGING. every part of us even who we love.” Pride, as noted by my friend, comes with a joyful belonging because we are and were meant to be part of Creation. Pride is a selfrecognition of value, purpose, and belonging. Building a life with a person you love is something to rejoice and celebrate. The day may arrive when my decent, extraordinarily talented, quick-witted friend becomes the first gay man elected to high office in his Southern state. Yet this man’s greatest legacy will always be his marriage and adorable, happy, healthy children. Of course, there will be grandchildren someday! And, I expect Daddy and Papa will be around to hold their first great-grandchildren and take the clan to Disney World.
This is pride grounded in knowing you and your family belong to and are blessed by God (defined gender neutral). You are spiritually whole and sustained knowing your tribe is equal to every other family because it is conceived in love. My dear friend and his family are empowered (or burdened) with the opportunity to be an example to young, single LGBTQ+ adults and, in some cases, men and women leaving “traditional” marriages after many years. This family is also an example to those needlessly threatened by same-gender marriages. These are positive outcomes of pride. Culture, religion, and ethnicity can be a source of pride. It does not mean one heritage whether Arab, Celtic, Slavic, Asian, Persian, or African is better than another. Each has its place in the human family. All offer perspective and their own wisdom from which we learn and grow. Because you’re a LGBTQ+ person doesn’t give anyone the right to deny you of your faith or heritage. Just ask a LGBTQ+ Irish Catholic who celebrates St. Patrick’s Day! It’s also good to be proud of one’s academic and professional accomplishments. Read the rest of this story at TheRainbowTimesMass.com
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The Rainbow Times is published monthly by The Rainbow Times, LLC. TRT is an award-winning publication affiliated with QSyndicate. The articles written by the writers, columnists, and correspondents solely express their opinion, and do not represent the endorsement or opinion of The Rainbow Times, LLC or its owners. Send letters to the editor with your name, address and phone number to The Rainbow Times (address shown above), or e-mail any comment/s to the editor-in-chief at: editor@therainbowtimesmass.com. All submissions will be edited according to space constraints. The Rainbow Times, LLC reserves the right not to print any or all content or advertisements for any reason at all. TRT is not responsible for advertising content. To receive The Rainbow Times at your home via regular mail, or through electronic delivery, please visit its website. The whole content and graphics (photos, etc.) are the sole property of The Rainbow Times, LLC and they cannot be reproduced at all without TRT’s written consent. The appearance of names or photographic representations in TRT does not necessarily indicate the sexual orientation or gender identity of the named or depicted individuals.
October 8, 2020 - November 4, 2020
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October 8, 2020 - November 4, 2020
Biden/Harris From Page 2 expertise in public health, health policy, and basic biology and have consistently been able to turn that expertise into new therapies and preventive measures. … Yet our leaders have largely chosen to ignore and even denigrate experts. The response of our nation’s leaders has been consistently inadequate. The federal government has largely abandoned disease control to the states. Governors have varied in their responses, not so much by party as by competence.” In an interview with CNN, one of its editors, Dr. Eric Rubin, said that they (with the medical authority and expertise they hold) “call on voters to oust the current U.S. leadership.”
lied community to cast their vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and in state and local races, to vote blue, as blue as the water of the sea and the calm that we’ll all feel once this chaos is over. 400,000+ people are supposed to die by the end of the year. If that is not enough for you, our reader, then we don’t know what is. What we do know is that we will cast our vote for them—to save America and to save American lives. We know history will be watching and we will stand on the right side of it once again, unequivocally and unalterably. The question is, will you vote, and will you vote blue? We, too, have broken our almost 15-year-old history to be more objective in our presidential endorsements— we've never endorsed a party in its entirety.
MARRIAGE EQUALITY, LGBTQ+ RIGHTS, TRANSGENDER PROTECTIONS, THE RIGHT FOR TRANS SERVICEMEMBERS TO OPENLY SERVE, ACA & REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS ARE ALL AT STAKE IF JUDGE BARRETT GETS IN. It exhorted Americans not to re-elect the leaders that have not taken swift action to avoid American deaths, and Dr. Rubin said to CNN this involves the “governors” and other leaders that have allowed this to happen, “to the extent that it has.” This entire breaking news all taking place while Trump touted via Twitter that contracting the virus was “a blessing from God.” The NEJM was, in addition, critical of other leaders and while expressing that the vindication would come as they see them held accountable—in a judgment day of sorts. They mention that we can do that. We, as the voters can do that. We can send that unanimous message to all of them when we vote Blue. We, at The Rainbow Times, have condemned Trump and Trump-like politics at the national, state and local levels from day one. And, we stand by such a stance. Furthermore, we call on the LGBTQ+ and al-
We must be this forceful this time around. All of our lives depend on it—however many of us remain after Trump and COVID. We wouldn’t be able to forgive ourselves if we didn’t take this stance. LGBTQ+ Rights & more And, let's not forget that marriage equality, LGBTQ+ rights, transgender protections, the right for trans servicemembers to openly serve, healthcare that many in the community depend on—the Affordable Care Act, ACA—and reproductive rights are all at stake if the Republicans win in their nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett, as they try to fill the seat from the beloved and illustrious, the "Notorious RBG (Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg)" with a conservative justice. Vote, because your life and rights depend on it. Stay safe, for your loved ones’ sakes, and for your own. #WearAMask
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October 8, 2020 - November 4, 2020
Supreme Court nominee threatens LGBTQ+ & reproductive rights, ACA’s future Mass. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey Weigh in on RBG’s replacement, Judge Amy Coney Barrett By: Audrey Cole TRT Reporter
IN THE LIMELIGHT
The Trump Administration along with the Sen. Mitch McConnell (RKy.) are rushing through the nomination of a new SCOTUS Justice to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, even after Ginsburg, herself, asked that the next president replaced her instead. “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed,” were the words that the “Notorious RBG,” as many refer to the icon, dictated to her granddaughter in a press statement days before her passing. In what has been deemed by many as a callous move, McConnell, the Senate Republican Majority Leader, vowed to call for a vote to replace Justice Ginsburg just an hour after the nation learned of her death—a move in direct contrast to his own “rules” established by the GOP during the Obama administration. “Majority Leader Mitch McConnell set the precedent in 2016 when he said no Supreme Court vacancies should be filled in a presidential election year,” said Sen. Ed Markey (DMass.) of McConnell’s refusal to confirm then Obama-nominee Merrick Garland, citing the proximity of the election at the time
as his excuse. “In setting that bar, McConnell kept that seat open for 400 days from vacancy to floor vote, until Donald Trump was president and could nominate Justice Neil Gorsuch.” McConnell and Trump are eager to follow through on the nomination of one of the most conservative women known to sit on the bench, Judge Amy Coney Barrett. “McConnell and his Republican caucus in the Senate stole that Supreme Court seat [then], and now they’re trying to steal another one,” Markey emphasized via an interview with The Rainbow Times. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) added that a Barrett appointment would be an assault on American democracy, adding that fundamental rights would be at peril such as the Affordable Care Act, ACA, voting rights, women’s reproductive rights, immigrant rights and more. “I will not be meeting with Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee,” Sen. Warren said via a statement after learning of Barrett’s nomination. “I will not lend legitimacy to Mitch McConnell’s efforts to steal another Supreme Court seat. “The nominee has already made it clear that she will try to deliver a deathblow to health care coverage for millions of Americans and to erase protection for people with pre-existing conditions. She's an extremist who was picked to overturn Roe v. Wade, rubber stamp Trump’s attacks on im-
migrants, strip away voting rights, and complete the decades-long assault on our judiciary by billionaires and giant corporations to tilt the courts in their favor. Too many lives are on the line. We need to treat this nomination like the illegitimate power grab it is.” Falseness doesn’t begin to describe this unprecedented move by McConnell and the Trump White House, Markey emphasized. “Hypocrisy is too weak a word to describe McConnell and his colleagues’ position here,” Markey said. “It’s corruption, plain and simple.” Likewise, Markey vowed to honor the late Justice’s legacy and to take whatever means necessary to assure it is protected. “If McConnell and Trump betray the dying wish of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and appoint a justice to her seat, we must abolish the filibuster and expand the Supreme Court in a new, Democrat-controlled Senate,” Markey said. “We must use all the tools at our disposal because hoping and relying upon Republicans to do the right thing is simply not a strategy.” Most Americans agree Sen. Warren appealed directly to voters, voters who are currently casting ballots across the country. “There is so much at stake: Health care for millions of Americans. A woman’s right
to make decisions about her own body. Dreamers. The right to join a union. Racial Justice. Economic equality. Our very democracy is on the line and our biggest weapon is our voice. Speak out. Vote. Make your voices heard,” she urged. Most Americans side with Senators Warren and Markey. An ABC News/Washington Post poll found that Americans by nearly a 20-point margin say the next justice of the U.S. Supreme Court should be left to the winner of the presidential election and a Senate vote next year, contrary to GOP plans for a rushed nomination by Trump and vote by the current GOP-sided Senate, according to a report published (https://bit.ly/34t7oLC) by The Rainbow Times last month. Barrett threatens LGBTQ+ rights Barrett’s appointment threatens to turn back decades of progress for LGBTQ+ and women’s reproductive rights, transgender rights and protections, healthcare for over 20 million Americans, and many more, reported (https://bit.ly/34t7oLC) The Rainbow Times. A former clerk to the unapologetically Conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who once compared same-sex marriage to eventual bestiality, said that
See Supreme Court/RBG On Page 10
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White Supremacy from page 2 sault. Trump’s behavior was inexcusable. Full stop. There is no justification for him not condemning an entire group of people who wish for the eradication of people of color, LGBTQ+ people, and anyone who isn’t Christian (I suspect that they only want to keep white women around to bear their hateful offspring). If you’re reading these words and have been following the calamitous debate and aren’t fully enraged by Trump’s lack of civility, grace, poise, and basic human decency, then please stop reading now. This column isn’t for you and I’d kindly ask you to go back to watching makeup tutorials on YouTube, raving about RuPaul’s Drag Race, or otherwise burying your head in the sand. Are my words harsh? Absolutely! But there is no way you can be an intelligent and moral human being—Republican, Democrat, Independent, or apolitical—and passively listen to the president make what’s akin to hate speech and then go about your day as if nothing happened. You can’t be even mildly annoyed, put off, or saddened. If you’re not feeling the extreme of any negative visceral reaction to the President’s behavior then either you’re not paying attention or, even more frightening, you could care less about the leader of this nation inciting a war over not winning reelection. If you’re still undecided after September 29—and if you are, I can write a separate
October 8, 2020 - November 4, 2020
column about how problematic that is— think about what the last nearly four years have been like. In that time, we’ve had a president who has: • Done nothing substantive for the LGBTQ+ community during his time in office; • Continued an all-out assault on immigrants, painting them as criminals, rapists, and thieves; • Stripped national resources for environmental protections and diverted those funds to building a wall along the southwest border; • Become a laughing stock of the world with nations like Russia and China viewing him as a joke; • Stoked immense racial hatred, never condemned white supremacy, and has done nothing to heal centuries-long racial tension in the United States; • Actively tried to corrupt the election process and put American democracy in jeopardy for the sake of getting himself reelected; • Refused to be transparent about his finances through releasing his taxes; and • Abused his power to write executive orders that advance his own personal agenda. Still not convinced? Well, I purposefully left off one massive black eye that the Trump administration has been carrying for most of the year: the pandemic. Trump publicly dismissed legitimate claims about the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic earlier in the year (https://is.gd/ZdBnDI) while all-the-while knowing that the
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pandemic was deadly. Early in 2020, while the virus—which has taken the lives of more than 210,000 people in the United States—began spreading across the nation, Trump was spotted playing golf. He played an endless game of ping pong with the truth, at times denying how virulent and deadly COVID-19 is and then proclaiming the opposite while offering empty platitudes about how he’d address the rising death toll and sinking economy. He lied about when he learned about the pandemic’s introduction into the U.S. and dismissed it as being under control and a
short-term problem. Trump racialized the pandemic by calling it “Kung-Flu” or “The China Flu” (https://is.gd/LfXsCk) and reweaponized coronavirus in xenophobic attacks on Asian people (https://is.gd/WsKbLC) living in the United States. Just days after being diagnosed with COVID-19, Trump ignored CDC quarantine guidelines (https://is.gd/hKbmme) in favor of continuing his campaign, placing his staff and others at risk. He consistently ignored the advice of seasoned experts, often refused to wear a face mask in public, and even encouraged people to inject themselves with bleach and cleaning fluids to cure themselves of the infection. Trump also touted the unsubstantiated benefits of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug, to treat the virus (https://is.gd/4kNaHf). Remember Stella Immanuel (https://is.gd/1PxnxA)? I wish I didn’t. To refresh your memory, she is a pediatrician and purported minister in Houston who Trump made (in)famous this summer after retweeting a video of her praising the benefits of hydroxychloroquine. Mind you, this is a woman who also believes that women who have legitimate and treatable gynelogical conditions had dream-sex with demons and witches; has declared that alien DNA is being used to treat illnesses; and alleges that a subset of her contemporaries are working on a vaccine to cure religious beliefs. The Houston “doctor”—who also claimed that marriage equality would lead to adults marrying Read the rest of this story at TRT’s website
October 8, 2020 - November 4, 2020
TheRainbowTimesMass.com • The Rainbow Times • 7
The Theater Offensive launches #VoteOffensively initiative Voting platform supports queer and trans people of color issues and participation in the 2020 election
By: Audrey Cole TRT Reporter
IN THE LIMELIGHT
BOSTON—The Theater Offensive (TTO) has launched #VoteOffensively, a queer and trans people of color creative voter engagement initiative, according to officials within the organization. #VoteOffensively presents an opportunity for TTO’s organizational, artistic, and audience expansion as it grows into a new role as a civic leader, TTO noted in a press release. “In 2019, The Theater Offensive released an updated mission statement: to ‘present liberating art by, for, and about queer and trans people of color that transcends artistic boundaries, celebrates cultural abundance, and dismantles oppression,’” said TTO’s Producing CoExecutive Director Harold Steward.“#VoteOffensively advances our new mission while staying true to our core.” Steward said that this project also allows the organization to bring community organizations, community members, artists, and youth into the fold. “#VoteOffensively is especially relevant now, in light of the 2016 presidential election in which voters of color were notably
disenfranchised,” Steward said. In this exclusive Q&A, The Rainbow Times caught up with four of TTO’s leaders—Sarah Vickery, Development and Communications Manager; Rochelle Malter, Development and Communications Coordinator; Tonasia Jones, Interim Director of Programs; and Harold Steward Producing Co-Executive Director—who collectively paint a clear and critical role of what this significant call to action entails. TRT: Why did you deem it necessary to start the #VoteOffensively initiative? TTO: #VoteOffensively advances our new mission while staying true to our core aesthetic. This project also allows us to include community organizations, community members, artists, and youth in one unified effort—a new opportunity to bring all of our stakeholders (usually served by separate TTO programs) together. #VoteOffensively is especially relevant now, as it follows the 2016 presidential election in which voters of color were notably disenfranchised. According to a 2018 survey from The Atlantic and the Public Religion Research Institute, Black and Hispanic respondents were twice as likely to report barriers to voting in 2016 as white
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Theater Offensive From Page 7 respondents. One in 10 Hispanic respondents indicated that they had been bothered or harassed at the polls in 2016. Voters of color in Boston, who identify as queer/trans, face additional barriers to voting. Unlike other states, Massachusetts does not have strict voter Photo ID laws in effect. However, the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC) noted that queer and trans people might still face discrimination if poll workers think that their ID does not match their appearance. The National Center for Transgender Equality’s (NCTE) 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey: Massachusetts State Report found that 61% of respondents reported that none of their IDs had the name and gender they preferred, and 32% reported being verbally harassed, denied benefits or service, asked to leave, or assaulted after showing an ID with a name or gender that did not match their gender presentation. These percentages were even higher for trans people of color in the national survey. Through #VoteOffensively, TTO will support queer and trans people of color participating in the 2020 election by using art as an organizing and movement building tool. Q: What do you hope to accomplish with #VoteOffensively? A: Our goals for #VoteOffensively are to: • Facilitate story circles with community members to discover issues that are highly important to queer and trans people of color, and connect current and future elected officials in Massachusetts with these issues. Support queer and trans people of color voter engagement. • Activate the arts as a tool for mass movement participation and coalition building. • Amplify artists and arts organizations as civic leaders. • Engage youth in civic participation through the arts. • Expand our network by building partnerships with organizations working on civic & voter engagement. • Increase participation in TTO programs and events by engaging new audiences Q: Who else are you collaborating with on #VoteOffensively? Or, is it TTO created and lead? A: Through #VoteOffensively, TTO is taking part in MassCreative’s Create the Vote initiative (TTO serves on the initiative’s steering committee) and is engaging with established and new partner organizations working on voter education and engagement. Our partners include Mass Voter Table, Inventive Interventions, Central Square Theater, and the Queer Elders Are Listening Group from the LGBT Aging Project at Fenway Health. Q: What is most at stake during the 2020 elections? A: For queer and trans people of color, what’s most at stake is having proper representation and fully engaging in the civic practice of voting so that the policy concerns that most affect us are not omitted. It is important that the candidates we put in office consider us holistically, not as a monolith, from the federal level to regional
“... QUEER & TRANS PEOPLE MIGHT STILL FACE DISCRIMINATION IF POLL WORKERS THINK THAT THEIR ID DOES NOT MATCH THEIR APPEARANCE.” and local levels. Q: Are you most focused on the presidential election or also on the Senate races? A: We are focused on voter education and voter engagement. We are focused on making sure that QTPOC feel empowered enough to know that they can vote, that they can become very active vocal individuals starting in community and leading to civic participation: the right to vote, and to advocate against barriers that make them ineligible to vote, and to be part of collective movements toward civic engagement. If you look at the ways QTPOC have been disenfranchised, misinformed, and oppressed by voting policies and at voting sites, there’s a lot of fear and also a belief that voting is a privilege for the wealthy. We are focused on helping people feel that voting is something you can do no matter your socioeconomic status. It is a place where people can affect change and as such the playing ground should be level and equal; we pay into it like we pay into other public systems through taxes. We want QTPOC to get a return on our investment in this country, and to feel connected and empowered at the county, city, state, and federal levels. Q: What is your reaction to Sen. Mitch McConnell’s forcing a vote to replace the notorious RBG, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, on the Supreme Court before the upcoming election? A: Our reaction is to organize and mobilize. We are mourning the loss of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and connecting our people to voter education is the way we can honor her. Q: What have you learned so far with the #VoteOffensively initiative? A: We have learned that community is still abundant and still here, ready to engage in conversation around voting, organizing, mobilizing—we just have to provide the space, whether that’s virtual or in-person when safe to reopen. People want to share their knowledge, stories, and hopes for the future. People want to bring their full selves and identities to this process—inRead the rest of this story at TheRainbowTimesMass.com
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October 8, 2020 - November 4, 2020
‘Rain’ Before the Storm: Ashley Morgan & John Flanagan’s modern pop folk band “Faultlines” Prepares to Release Their New Folk Album, “Bittersweet Revival” in near future By: Shane Gallagher Special to TRT
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PHO TO: C
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shley Morgan and John Flanagan make up Faultlines, the dynamic modern pop folk band with a unique sound that combines tight harmonies that warm like the California sun with lyrics that speak to the gritty, universal inter-human experience. One of their
most popular releases, “Rain,” was written in the days following the 2016 election. It highlighted the collective trepidation John, an out musician, and Ashley felt after the U.S. elected an openly racist, nationalist, and sexist candidate to its highest public office. Donald Trump’s policy record and the public outcry from members of America’s more marginalized groups—including the LGBTQ community, BLM members, immigrants and POC—has made the message of the song even more relevant through the years. It is the reason the duo chose to rerelease “Rain” before the election. We spoke with the rocking duo from their home in Los Angeles as they were putting the finishing touches on their next album, Bittersweet Revival. Q: How confident are you guys feeling that Biden will win the presidency? Ashley: If 2016 is any indication, we have to ignore the polls and get out the vote. The past four years have encouraged division and sown deep, unexposed bias and privileges sleeping next door on every American street. Fear rules the day. People vote differently when they’re scared. That said, I have never seen a push for voter registration like I have in the
past few months. I’m cautiously optimistic. Q: Do you believe Trump when he says he is a friend to the LGBTQ community? John: I believe that Donald Trump was elected at the first time in American history when Gallup polls indicated more citizens supported marriage equality than didn’t. I think that for the first time in an American election, it was safer for a candidate to support gay rights than to oppose them. He wagered correctly, and it paid off. Look no further than his policy on trans rights in the military to see how his friendship is playing out. Q: What are your thoughts on gays who support Trump? John: Parents of small children still keep guns in their homes after knowing accident statistics and risks. Religious leaders voiced their support for Trump even after the Access Hollywood tapes. It’s easy to be manipulated into acting against your own self-interests if you haven’t been taught to think critically. Who you vote for is private information—unless you choose to put a sign in the yard or write albums like we do—and I love even the American’s who voted for Trump. I hope that people can learn to love others and themselves when
they show up to the voting booth in November. Q:Ashley, what are your thoughts on women who support Trump? Ashley: Even among all the scandals and the way Trump talks about women with such misogynistic disrespect, I don’t quite understand how people can still make excuses for him and vote against their own interests. At what point has he gone too far? Where is the line? Q: Does it make you feel safer that he has nominated a woman to the Supreme Court? Ashley: Representation is important but I worry that the new justice may help to overturn Roe v. Wade. It is my personal belief that women should have the right to their own reproductive health. We don’t know each individual story of what a woman is going through and it’s unfair to force blanket laws that shame women and then do nothing to take care of mothers after birth. The point is that every woman should have the right to choose and that right doesn’t affect anyone else’s rights. I hope ultimately whomever fills that seat Read the rest of this story at: TheRainbowTimesMass.com
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October 8, 2020 - November 4, 2020
No justice for Breonna Taylor By: Nicole Lashomb* TRT Editor-in-Chief
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hree police officers involved in the slaughter of Breonna Taylor were not charged with murder, as the grand jury indictments were announced recently. The police did not even enter the apartment they intended to enter—a fatal mistake for Taylor—but that didn’t matter for this white-centered system rooted in racism. Officer Brett Hankinson was indicted for “three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment” as it relates to Taylor’s neighbors, but not based on the fatal shooting itself. According to the USA Today, “A wanton endangerment charge is a class D felony and carries a penalty of one to five years in prison. The charges read by Judge Annie O’Connell on Wednesday said that Hankison “wantonly shot a gun” into three apart-
ments.” The two other officers involved in the shooting, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Detective Myles Cosgrove, were not indicted, USA Today (https://bit.ly/30DqsFV) reported. During a no-knock warrant, police killed Taylor as she slept in her Louisville, Ky. apartment on March 13. At a time where protests have erupted across the country as a result of police brutality, especially against Black Americans, this grand jury decision draws a final blow to Black Americans and communities of color. Justice has not been served many argue, and I argue the same. The police killing of an innocent civilian as she peacefully slept—she wasn’t a suspect of any murder, but rather a good lawabiding citizen of this country—is *Read the rest of this story at: TheRainbowTimesMass.com
Supreme Court/RBG From Page 5 “Barrett was Trump’s pick for a seat on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals,” a CNN report read (https://cnn.it/30JnJut). David B. Cruz, Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Southern California School of Law, told The Washington Post (WP; https://wapo.st/3iN8ze9) that Justice Ginsburg’s support for LGBTQ+ rights went beyond just that. “Ginsburg not only played a critical role in voting in favor of LGBTQ+ rights but also voted to keep religious exemptions within narrow boundaries,” said Cruz to the WP. “Her absence, and her replacement by a conservative justice, could help tip the scale toward curtailing LGBTQ+ rights.” Barrett’s threat to landmark decisions Judge Barrett “has previously made disparaging comments about transgender women, [stating] that she believes marriage is between a man and a woman, and publicly opposed the outcome in Obergefell v. Hodges (https://bit.ly/36GpWKV), the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that extended the freedom to marry to same-sex couples,” reported a statement by Freedom for All Americans (FFAA), “ … Justice Ginsburg left a legacy in which she affirmed LGBTQ+ protections under the law in every legal milestone we have achieved, from striking down laws criminalizing our relationships to extend-
Trans Voting Qs?
CHECK OUT... TRANSHEADLINES. COM By: Luciano Spanto TRT’s Crossword Puzzle Designer
OSCAR WILD
ACROSS 1 System not used in Liberia and Myanmar 7 Object for an actor 11 Board game with a ballroom 12 Techno music party 13 Oscar winner for portraying a LGBTQ character 14 Sign of things to come 15 Photo moments at events 16 Moe's, for example 18 Positive votes 20 Jeremy gets rid of wrinkles 21 Oscar winner for portraying a LGBTQ character 23 McDonald's menu option 25 Ivan IV was Russia's first 29 FX series starring Aubrey Plaza 30 "Prince ___" (Aladdin song) 31 Deserve dough 32 Oscar winner for portraying a LGBTQ character 35 Stellar trip 36 Showing on the small screen 37 They abound in tip jars 38 Rental contracts DOWN 1 One side of a famous family feud 2 Run away, for Romeo and Juliet
3 Setting for HBO's Watchmen 4 Michael Stipe's band 5 Polish film that won the 2014 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film 6 Hotel breakfast 7 University head 8 Asian noodles 9 Words said to end walkie-talkie messages 10 Oscar winner for portraying a LGBTQ character 17 It was lost in an Indiana Jones movie 19 Freud and Pávlov, slangily 22 "Long ___ (and Far Away)" (song from Cover Girl) 23 Master 24 Have the same opinion 26 Slumdog Millionaire attire 27 Heart song 28 Audi's logo 29 Oscar winner for portraying a LGBTQ character 33 Run, to Romeo and Juliet 34 The E in BCE
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ing the freedom to marry, to prohibiting discrimination against us; and those rulings cannot be rolled back or compromised,” said Kasey Suffredini, CEO and national campaign director of FFAA. In June, the Supreme Court delivered a powerful assertion of LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination protections when it ruled in Bostock v. Clayton County (https://bit.ly/2SCCL0N), a groundbreaking United States Supreme Court civil rights case in which the Court held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (https://bit.ly/30I3cGW) protects employees against discrimination because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. “Judge Barrett’s public positions on LGBTQ issues and her public association with anti-LGBTQ activist groups such as the Alliance Defending Freedom, which opposes marriage equality and has been leading nationwide efforts to banish transgender people from public spaces, is concerning,” said Suffredini. Upcoming LGBTQ+ and health care cases On November 4, the court is set to hear oral arguments in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia (https://bit.ly/34rMfBi). In this case, a Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia that operated, and still does, a foster care agency in Philadelphia for over 100 years, refused to license married samesex couples to become foster parents, in violation of the nondiscrimination provisions of a contract into which they voluntarily entered with the City and received taxpayer funds from too. The Catholic Social Service agency and four of its licensed families sued the City of Philadelphia when the City refused to renew the agency’s contract. The outcome of the case could have *Read the rest of this story at: TheRainbowTimesMass.com
October 8, 2020 - November 4, 2020
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October 8, 2020 - November 4, 2020