Author Archives: Tony Sparrow

7 Lesbian Athletes Who Stood Up for Gay Rights

Here’s a list of seven openly gay women behind some of the most crucial milestones in the LGBT sports world. These women have helped challenge this sexist double standard, and show that both genders have made equal progress for LGBT rights in sports.

Billie Jean King – Tennis, USA

In 1981, the tennis star Billie Jean King became the most prominent openly gay female athlete upon revealing her relationship with her secretary, Marilyn Barnett. Unfortunately, King was unable to come out on her own terms, as a palimony lawsuit filed by Barnett brought their relationship into the public eye. However, King is now an icon in LGBT community, recently selected by President Obama to serve on the U.S. delegation to the Olympics.

Martina Navratilova – Tennis, USA

Shorty after the outing of her on-court rival Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova followed King’s suit by revealing her sexual orientation in a column in the Dallas Morning News. Unlike King, Martina came out on her own terms, setting a precedent for many LGBT athletes to come.

Patty Sheehan – Golf, USA

Patty Sheehan is one of the most successful female golfers of all time, winning the LPGA tour on 35 occasions, including six major victories. Her golfing prowess earned her a spot in the Golf Hall of Fame, and her decision to become one of the first female golfers to come out as gay has made her an influential spokeswoman for lesbian athletes.

Sheryl Swoops – Basketball, USA

When WNBA star Sheryl Swoops became one of the first African-American female athletes to come out as gay in 2005, she was arguably the most famous athlete ever to do so in American professional sports. Swoops is a three-time WNBA MVP, one of the league’s founding players and perhaps its greatest talent. She is currently the head women’s basketball coach at Loyola University in Chicago.

Brittany Griner – Basketball, USA

The most recent openly gay female athlete in the sports world is current WNBA center Brittany Griner. Griner was perhaps the greatest female college basketball player of all time at Baylor University, where she gained notoriety from her dominant statistics and her rare ability to dunk in the women’s game. In the interview in which she publicly came out, Griner detailed the bullying she endured growing up because of her sexual orientation. She is now one of the leading advocates of anti-bullying in schools, especially when directed at the LGBT community.

Megan Rapinoe – Footbal, USA

Megan Rapinoe gained her first foray into the public spotlight following her stellar performance as a midfielder on the U.S Women’s National Footbal Team silver medal effort at the 2011 World Cup. Following the tournament, Rapinoe revealed her relationship with a fellow female soccer player to Out magazine. Her courage and advocacy for gay rights earned her a board of directors award from the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center in 2012.

Leigh-Ann Naidoo – Volleyball, South African

Naidoo was a member of the South African women’s volleyball team in the 2004 summer Olympic games. Though not a household name, Naidoo became the first African ambassador to the Gay Games, a landmark achievement for a continent not known for its progressive attitudes about gay rights.

 

20 Iconic Bands Recreated in LEGO

From Tegan and Sara, to No Doubt, The Beatles, Beastie Boys, Cypress Hill, Joy Division and Foo Fighters – Self-proclaimed knowledge, music, LEGO and die-cast car junkie, Adly Syairi Ramly presents a collection of 20 iconic bands that he’s taken the time to recreate with everyone’s favourite building blocks.

Insightful Discussion on the Cultural Impact of Hip Hop and Feminism

Watch two brilliant minds discuss an art form that has become a driving force in so many of our lives. Joan Morgan, author of the seminal book “When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost : My Life as A Hip Hop Feminist“, and Dr. Brittney Cooper of Rutgers University discuss hip hop, feminism and pleasure politics.

 

Please Support The Bridge Project

The Bridge Project are a group of Australian students who created a project team to promote the acceptance of LGBTIQ people in schools. Their message is simple ‘It’s okay to be gay!’ and the deliver of this message comes in the form of three.

The Bridge Project will now take their films on tour, traveling to different schools in Australia and talk to students about LGBTIQ and informing them about today’s issues. Their aim is to decrease the amount of discrimination of Gay, Lesbian and Gender Diverse people get in schools.

Find out more – http://site.thebridgeproject.com.au/

Human Rights Advocates Challenge Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Law In Court

Human rights advocates and Uganda opposition politicians filed a lawsuit against Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act on Tuesday. The Anti-Homosexuality Act, which President Yoweri Museveni signed into law on February 24, imposes up to a life sentence for homosexuality and criminalises advocating LGBT rights.

The petitioners include activists Frank Mugisha of Sexual Minorities Uganda, trans activist Julian Pepe Onziema, former Ugandan opposition leader Ogenga Latigo, and Member of Parliament Fox Odoi. The suit argues that the law violates the right to equality before the law under the Ugandan constitution, as well as the right to privacy, freedom of expression, and association. It also notes that parliament lacked a quorum when it voted in favor of the bill on December 20.

The Pope suggests Catholic Church could support same-sex civil unions

While reaffirming the Catholic Church’s opposition to same-sex marriage, Pope Francis said in a newspaper interview Wednesday that the church could support some form of civil unions. In an interview published in Corriere della Sera, an Italian daily, the pontiff suggested the Catholic Church could tolerate some types of same-sex civil unions as a practical measure to guarantee property rights and health care. The pope said that “matrimony is between a man and a woman,” but moves to “regulate diverse situations of cohabitation (are) driven by the need to regulate economic aspects among persons, as for instance to assure medical care.”

“Matrimony is between a man and a woman,”

Pope Francis

The new Pope, who marks his first year as Pope on March 13, has sought to set a more tolerant tone for the Catholic Church on issues related to homosexuality and abortion. Francis had led the Catholic Church’s public stance against legalising same-sex marriage in Argentina while he was Archbishop. At the time, Francis called the proposed legislation “a destructive attack on God’s plan.” However, he was part of a number of Catholic bishops have supported civil unions for same-sex couples in Argentina.

In an interview with CNN last year, Marcelo Marquez, a leading Argentinian LGBT rights activist, said that during that nation’s 2010 debate over same-sex marriage, he received a phone call from the Pope Francis then Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the Archbishop of Buenos Aires.  According to Marquez, then-Cardinal Bergoglio told him “… ‘I’m in favour of gay rights and in any case, I also favour civil unions for homosexuals, but I believe that Argentina is not yet ready for a gay marriage law.’ “

 

Making Space For Queer People of Colour

The following post, part of HRC’s Black History Month series, comes from Joseph Ward:

“There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.”

– Audre Lorde

When I came out as a gay, Black, Latino, I didn’t fully know what that would mean. At the time, I was in an interracial binational relationship.

I could walk the streets of my East Harlem community with some general level of comfort because of my skin color. I could stroll through LGBT friendly neighborhoods with some level of security because of my orientation. But the moment my hands or lips would touch my partner’s, the attitudes of those around us would quickly change.

How can two gay men of different racial backgrounds be in a relationship? That’s often what I felt others implied with their confused or sometimes intimidating stares. No matter how subtle or obvious it was, I recognized early that my queer identity would always be uniquely influenced by my racial identity, and vice versa.

Yet as many queer people of color know, this can manifest in more dangerous ways.

Today, a lesbian woman will be discriminated against in a job interview because, though highly qualified, she wore a suit and tie and didn’t conform to gender stereotypes that were inauthentic to her truth. A transgender women of color, whose rich experiences could fill a novel, will try to have a conversation where she’s not being asked about the most personal and intimate details of her body—details others wouldn’t even think to ask a cisgender women. Today, millions of LGBT people across the world will wake up and watch their multiple identities collide, exposing them to unique experiences of racism, sexism, transphobia, homophobia, and biphobia that’s prevalent in our culture.

Throughout Black History Month, I’ve been reflecting on the importance of “intersectionality” in the LGBT justice movement. Intersectionality is a term used to describe the unique vulnerabilities LGBT people experience because of other parts of their identity including race, class or culture. Poet Audre Lorde and Civil Rights Activist Bayard Rustin, two visionary queer people of color, offered a powerful framework for this discussion.

“The barometer for social change is measured by selecting the group that is most mistreated,” Rustin often reminded us. The LGBT community is incredibly diverse and we are only as strong as our ablity to prioritize and elevate the needs of LGBT folks living at the margins.

“Any future vision which can encompass all of us, by definition, must be complex and expanding, not easy to achieve,” Lorde writes. As we look at the LGBT justice movement today, how are the diverse needs, faces, and experiences of our community showing up in our strategies, our funding priorities, and our leadership teams?

Making space for queer African Americans and other people of color in the LGBT justice movement is a powerful way to honor Black History Month. As Lorde and Rustin remind us, it deepens and broadens our collective power as a community, and truly creates a vision that can “encompass all of us.”

Watch: ‘We Thought You’d Accept Us’ – powerful LGBT film from Africa

A new video from Atlantic Philanthropies shows that despite written law; tolerance and acceptance do not come easily to those living in Africa; and in particular South Africa.

It is common for many LGBT Africans to seek asylum and refuge in South Africa, where the constitution (put into effect in 1996 by the late President Nelson Mandela) promises equal rights to all.

However many refuges soon discovered (like many others in the country), that LGBT asylum seekers experience heightened harassment and violence.

This film was made in conjunction with the PASSOP organisation (People Against Suffering Oppression and Poverty) who are a dedicate group that work to provide support for gay refugees in Africa. This organisation works tirelessly to empower LGBT South Africans and advocate for their own rights.

With such barbaric practices against LGBT community continuing in other African countries, PASSOP has seen more LGBT asylum seekers coming to South Africa, with numbers arriving in Cape Town increasing from 20 each day to over 200.

For more background information on Atlantic’s work with LGBT rights, you can look at their case study examining the challenges queer South African youth face.

Stunning Buddhist Cave Temples

After seeing these stunning Buddhist temples located inside caves, we want to drop everything that we are currently doing and visit them. The isolation of these sites serves to intensify the spiritual connection experienced by visitors. While some places of worship use architectural height to draw attention up to the heavens, these cave temples highlight the value of spiritual treasures that lie within.

See – http://500px.com/lisajdelaney

Beautiful Prints for LGBT History Month, Scotland

The aim of LGBT History Month is to recognise and celebrate all the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people who have contributed to society and to history

LGBT History Month

So it’s February, which means one thing, its LGBT History Month.

This fantastic calendar event is here to celebrate the lives and achievements of the LGBT community; celebrating its diversity and the society as a whole. It is an opportunity to celebrate LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) lives and culture by exploring our own and others’ histories in an LGBT context.

It is also an opportunity for learning, discussion and debate around the continued fight for LGBT liberation.

Every year a range of arts, cultural and educational events take place across the country. LGBT History Month is for everyone; individuals, community groups, organisations, service providers, LGBT and non-LGBT people.

Sites to visit
  • http://www.lgbthistory.org.uk/
  • http://lgbthistorymonth.org.uk/
  • http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/themes/same-sex_desire_and_gender.aspx
  • https://www.uea.ac.uk/literature/engagement/lgbt-history-month

How LGBT History Month can change attitudes

What’s the campaign called? 

LGBT History Month is an event first marked in Scotland a mere nine years ago to coincide with the abolition of Section 28, which prohibited local authorities and schools from discussing lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) lives. LGBT History Month is managed and promoted by LGBT Youth Scotland, the largest youth and community-based organisation for LGBT young people in Scotland.

Why should we care?

LGBT lives and culture should not be simply tolerated but, in fact, celebrated and incorporated into our daily lives. And as Scotland opens its doors to the world in 2014 through high-profile events such as the Commonwealth Games and Homecoming Scotland, the importance of working together takes on an even greater significance.

Who else cares?

More people than ever care about LGBT rights. Since its launch LGBT History Month has grown in size and scale to become an annual cultural celebration of LGBT creativity, and with more than 60 events planned for 2014, this year promises to deliver an exciting, ambitious and accessible programme of events for everyone. Debate and discussion can’t take place in isolation, and the fact that so many mainstream organisations across Scotland are committed to planning and delivering events throughout the month needs to be acknowledged and applauded. Next month, for example, Edinburgh and Lothians Regional Equality Council (ELREC), Midlothian Council and LGBT Youth Scotland invite you to an evening of celebration and dance at the National Mining Museum; South Lanarkshire council will fly the rainbow flag from no fewer than four locations across the local authority area; and Forth Valley college play host to artwork from the three local LGBT youth groups, to name but a few.

Who are you targeting? 

Put simply, everyone. The success of LGBT History Month in Scotland is down to the fact that it’s remained true to its values: History Month provides a platform for showcasing the very best of LGBT culture at not only a national level but also locally and regionally, in community groups and through youth organisations. In doing so, its reach has extended far beyond LGBT-specific groups into mainstream organisations, including the British Transport Police, local authorities and the NHS, further and higher education, universities, colleges, schools, and the third sector.

What would a better world look like?

Our mission is to “empower lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young people and the wider LGBT community so that they are embraced as full members of the Scottish family at home, school and in every community”.

What can we do?

To find out more about how you can get involved in LGBT History Month, or to see what events and activities are happening locally in your area, visit us at www.lgbthistory.org.uk. Alternatively, why not take part in our #lgbtsmallsteps campaign, which encourages individuals and organisations to celebrate the small, personal ways people have marked the month?

Same-sex desire and gender identity

The evidence for same-sex desire and fluid ideas of gender has often been overlooked in the past, but museums and their collections can allow us to look back and see diversity throughout history.

Much of the historical evidence is centred around men and their concerns and often what survives is partial, fragmentary or ambiguous. Such things have often been hidden in history, and obscured by censorship, but now we realise the past is much ‘queerer’ than we have often thought.

This theme is based on an original web trail published on the Untold London website. Only some of these objects are on display. Some images contain explicit scenes, though these are shown small (click to see larger versions).

Visit – http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/themes/same-sex_desire_and_gender.aspx

LGBT History Month @University of East Anglia

This year the university will be presenting a number of events in support of LGBT History Month –  All talks are free and they take place in Arts 2.02 at 7 pm.

Visit www.uea.ac.uk/literature/engagement/lgbt-history-month

Music in Queer Fiction – Dr Clare Connors – 3 February 2014

When music is described in novels it serves all sorts of purposes. It can connote passion for example, or an experience of intimacy, or point to areas of meaning, life and feeling beyond the grasp of words, or impossible for cultural reasons to articulate. This talk explores the specific role played by the representation of music in a number of twentieth-century works of queer fiction, including novels by Alan Hollinghurst and Sylvia Townsend Warner.

“Marriage is so Gay.” The battle for same sex marriage in the US and Britain: A comparative perspective – Dr Emma Long – 6 February 2014

Same-sex marriage has been a controversial political issue in both the US and UK in recent years. Yet despite the fact the issue is the same, the nature of the campaigns in each country has been quite different. This lecture considers the history of the debate and looks at why the issue has been received differently in the two countries.

Southeast Gaysia!: LGBT Heritage and Activism in the ASEAN Region – Yi-Sheng Ng – 10 February 2014

Southeast Asia is a hugely diverse region, where different races, religions and government systems exist side by side. And yet there are common threads in our queer history that bind us together, from traditions of holy transgender shamans to modern-day lesbian weddings and gay rights marches. Singaporean activist Yi-Sheng Ng will share stories from Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam; these are tales of liberation and oppression, continuity and change.

Pitching Harmony: Thinking differently about the assimilation and difference debate – Dr Jonathan Mitchell – 13 February 2014

In this lecture I wish to speculate on the concept of harmony and how it offers creative possibilities for ways of thinking about LGBT politics. As LGBT politics becomes increasingly divided between a liberal acceptance and extreme differences – BDSM culture, bug-chasing, bare-backing etc. – I wish to muse on the concept of harmony, especially close harmony as a means to emphasize the ‘queer’ at work with and within the norm without having to lose one’s identity either to assimilation, or to the extremes. My own concepts here are fraught with problems and are highly value laden, and I aim to maintain these tensions as a process of self-critique.

“A Quiet Place”: Gay & Bisexual Classical Composers in 20th Century America – Malcolm Robertson – 17 February 2014

Perhaps due to the population size and the diversity of the cultural backgrounds of its citizens, the USA has produced a large number of diverse ‘classical’ composers in the 20th century of which a considerable proportion were/are gay or bisexual. The sheer variety of individual styles in which these composers expressed themselves is quite staggering and many of these composers have reputations that are of key importance to 20th century ‘classical’ music both nationally and internationally. The talk will look at the life and music of several of these composers, including works that seem to reflect their personal feelings and sexuality.

The Homosexual Steamroller: Queer “Propaganda” through Literature – Dr B.J. Epstein –  20 February 2014

Why are LGBTQ books for young readers considered so threatening? Can you turn people queer simply by featuring LGBTQ characters in literature? LGBTQ books for children and young adults are some of the most banned or censored books in the world. This talk will explore some of these texts and the many challenges they have faced. It will discuss the content of both picture books and young adult novels as well as how these works might influence readers.

Saints, Sinners and Martyrs in Queer Church History: The continuing evolution of religious responses to homoerotic relationships – Terry Weldon – 24 February 2014

History contradicts the common assumption that Christianity and homoerotic relationships are in direct conflict. There have been numerous examples of Christian saints, popes and bishops who have had same-sex relationships themselves, or celebrated them in writing, and blessed same-sex unions in church. There have also been long centuries of active persecution – but recent years have again seen the emergence of important straight allies for LGBT equality, and a notable reassessment of the scriptural verdict.

Trans & Gender Variant History 1800s onwards – Katy J Went – 27 February 2014

The development of modern theories, constructs and realities about gender, intersex, sex and trans. Changing social gender “norms”, sexual psychopathology, shifts in neuro and biological understanding of sex and gender, and modern medical possibility to redefine bodies. From crossdressing mollies to sexual inversion, transgenderism, non-binary gender and 80 shades of intersex. This is the second lecture in a series that began by covering the ancient and medieval history of gender variance until 1800, delivered at UEA in 2012.