The daughter, who goes by Bri, first posted the video on her Tumblr page.
My mom says this was how it was when I came out. I love her.”
…And we love her too after watching this hilarious reenactment too and her amazing support to her daughter.
As we all know not all LGBT children get the same treatment. Many struggle for acceptance in schools, at church, at work, and especially in their own home.
You can see the funny video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=20&v=pAwad6dSjn0
Hilary Swank has spoken up recently about her portrayal of a transgender male in the 1999 film Boys Don’t Cry.
Swank was largely unknown when she starred in the real-life story of Brandon Teena, a trans man who was beaten, raped and murdered by his male acquaintances after they discovered he was transgender.
During an appearance on Thursday’s all-new Meredith Vieira Show, Swank was asked about the progress made for the transgender community since the film’s release.
I think we have taken strides since that movie, like you said 15 years ago. We have a long way to go. It’s astonishing to me that we are here in 2015 and there are so many issues that need to be looked at and handled and we shouldn’t dictate who people should love.”
Swank has been a proud supporter of LGBT rights for many years. In fact, she recently received the GLAAD award and Outfest award for her work in the famous film.
When asked if she ever expected the movie to spur so much conversation, she would have to say no.
I had no idea. If I had known that at the time, I probably would have collapsed from the enormous responsibility of that,”. “It was an enormous responsibility just to play someone who had lived and been murdered so brutally and whose life was taken short because of their choice of whom to love.”
In a world filled with many more issues, Swank argues that Americans should spend their time on far more important causes instead of preventing equal rights for the LGBT community.
Let people love people and let’s focus on what truly needs looked at and help homeless people, homeless pets, sick people. Look at the rest of the world, let’s focus on those things.”
Despite a surge in gay marriage wins across America, acceptance of the LGBT community still needs much more work to ensure the safety and acceptance of LGBT Americans in their communities, workplaces, and families.
According to a new Accelerating Acceptance survey released by GLAAD, one-third of respondents were uncomfortable attending a same-sex wedding (34 percent), seeing a gay couple hold hands (36 percent) or learning their doctor is LGBT (31 percent). Harris Poll conducted the online survey in 2014 of 4,000 Americans who indicted they were heterosexual.
“Closing the gap to full acceptance of LGBT people will not come from legislation or judicial decisions alone, but from a deeper understanding and empathy from Americans themselves. Accelerating acceptance will require the help of not just LGBT people, but also their allies – everyday Americans who feel strongly and take an active role to make sure that their LGBT friends and family are fully accepted members of society.”
Sarah Kate Ellis, the CEO and President of GLAAD
While a majority of the public supports equal marriage protections, there remain large numbers of straight, non-transgender adults that still have a significant degree of discomfort surrounding actual weddings for same-sex couples. One-third (34%) say they would be uncomfortable attending the wedding of a same-sex couple, with 22% saying they would feel very uncomfortable. A substantially larger group (43%) responds they would be uncomfortable bringing a child to the wedding of a same-sex couple.
Beyond weddings for same-sex couples, the survey reveals that many are still uncomfortable simply seeing and interacting with same-sex couples. A third of non-LGBT Americans (36%) say that just seeing a same-sex couple holding hands makes them uncomfortable.
The survey also evidenced resistance to LGBT parents by other parents in their community. Many straight, non-transgender parents say they would be uncomfortable with their child playing at a home with an LGBT parent – 40% for a transgender parent, 29% for a gay dad and 28% for a lesbian mom.
A fifth to nearly a third of non-LGBT Americans are uncomfortable with common situations involving LGBT people. These range from simple things like having an LGBT person move in next door to more personal situations such as learning that a family member is LGBT.
Acceptance of the transgender community faces more resistance than does acceptance of the rest of the LGBT community. Most notably, a majority of non-LGBT Americans (59%) say they would be uncomfortable if they learned their child was dating a transgender person. More than a quarter (31%) say this would make them “very uncomfortable.”
Being on a sports team with a transgender person still makes large numbers of non-LGBT Americans uncomfortable. Roughly equal numbers report discomfort with being on the same team as a transgender woman (32%) and a transgender man (31%). These numbers are higher than the reports of discomfort with being on a sports team with a gay man (26%) or lesbian (20%).
Further demonstrating the importance of cultivating more allies, those who know LGBT people display substantially lower levels of discomfort –30% are uncomfortable seeing a same-sex couple hold hands among those who have LGBT family members, while that number drops to 25% among those with an LGBT coworker and 17% among those with a close LGBT friend. On the flip side, almost half (47%) of those who don’t know any LGBT people say seeing a same-sex couple holding hands makes them uncomfortable. Clearly, a connection exists between familiarity and acceptance.
Tyler Clementi’s family could have stayed silent after he killed himself. They could have hid from the spotlight and attention thrust upon it when he jumped from the George Washington Bridge – a tragic event that happened after his roommate’s webcam captured him kissing another man inside their Rutgers University dorm room.
However, 4 years after his death, the Clementis have used their daily pain to encourage acceptance and eradicate bullying.
“We could have retreated. We didn’t want to see this kind of thing happen to other kids and have it affect other families the way it affected ours.”
Joseph Clementi
The Clementi foundation raises awareness of bullying and cyber-bullying, particularly in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
Its initiatives include building support for LGBT and vulnerable youth through partnerships and legislative advocacy, as well as having family members speak to different organizations and groups to encourage more “inclusive environments.”
One of its key initiatives is turning bystanders into ‘upstanders’.
All too often people witness bullying but don’t do anything about it. Using his son’s case an example, Joseph Clementi said that if just one person had stood up and said something, it could have made a difference.
The foundation already partnered with Rutgers to launch the Tyler Clementi Center, which works within the school and with outside organizations to study young people in the digital era. But it hopes to become a national voice and “thought leader” on bullying issues, Joseph Clementi said.
Tyler Clementi’s mother, Jane, gave the keynote address last year at a small conference of Christians on LGBT issues, telling the gathering she had left the conservative church she had attended before his death. She also took part in a panel at the Washington National Cathedral last October with Judy Shepard, whose son Matthew was killed in Wyoming in 1998. Matthew Shepard’s name is on the expanded federal hate-crimes legislation to cover crimes motivated by bias against gays, lesbians and transgender people.
Clementi’s death, along with a string of other suicides in 2010, raised awareness of the impact of bullying by associating specific stories with the issue, said Seth Adam, director of communications for GLAAD, an LGBT advocacy organization.
Before 2010, Adam said, LGBT bullying wasn’t a major talking point. The conversation after Clementi’s death ignited an expansion of LGBT bullying awareness and mixed with a larger culture shift that allowed other LGBT issues to gain momentum, he said.
But James Clementi said the cultural shift isn’t happening fast enough. The foundation continues to hear from those who suffer from harassment, he said.
“When young people are in so much pain that they literally want to die. The change that we’re talking about is happening at too slow a pace.”
Joseph Clementi
Get the best of what’s queer, right to your inbox.
Kitsch Mix, is a rapidly growing social platform developed to promote the diverse creative ventures of women in the LGBT community. It aims to chronicle and celebrate the stories, people and voices that are emerging and inspiring all of us, ranging in topics from pop culture and style to politics and news, all through the lens of today’s LGBTQ community.
© 2020 Kitsch Media Group. All rights reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement. Kitsch Mix may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Kitsch Media Group.
Get the best of what’s queer, right to your inbox.