News
New NRA chief once compared fighting gay rights to fight against slavery
Oliver North equated ‘Don’t Ask’ repeal to ‘social experiment’ in the military
Oliver North, the new head of the National Rifle Association, has a controversial past as the central figure in the 1980s Iran-Contra affair ā a scandal in which the Reagan administration illegally sold arms to Iran with the intent to use proceeds to fund rebels in Nicaragua ā but he has also courted controversy for his views on gay rights.
In a speech at the 2014 Conservative Political Action Conference, North, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps, compared fighting against gay rights to the abolitionists’ fight during the 19th century against slavery.
At a time of achievements on LGBT rights and rapidly changing views the year before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled for marriage equality nationwide, North ended his speech by urging conservatives not to abandon social issues.
āSome say that we must ignore social issues, like the definition of marriage, the sanctity of life, religious freedoms,ā North said. āI say those are not social issues, they are deeply moral and spiritual issues and should be part of Americaās elections.ā
North continued: “In the 1850s, a political party was born on the idea of a great moral issue: Human bondage, the abolition of slavery in America. If we, as conservatives, cease to be a place where people of faith and those who believe in strong moral values can come, we will cease to be a political force in America.”
Years after President Obama signed repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” North also engaged in veiled criticism of openly gay service, using language borrowed from the Family Research Council about letting LGBT people in the military.
“The members of our armed forces and their families deserve better than being treated as laboratory rats in some radical social experiment,” North said.
The speech in 2014 was covered by Secular Talk Radio’s Kyle Kulinski, who at the time said “if that’s your idea of moral values, you’re an idiot.”
“Not only is there no comparison, if anything the opposition position on those issues is more like opposing slavery,” Kulinski said. “To be in favor of gay rights and to try to treat people equally under the law. That is definitely a movement that is more in line with the idea behind the abolitionists of treating people equal and treating people right.”
Those anti-gay remarks weren’t new for North, who as a Fox News commentator was a regular figure at CPAC as well as the anti-LGBT Voters Values Summit hosted each year by the Family Research Council.
Years before that speech, North in 2010 wrote an op-ed for the National Review in which he criticized then-Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen for coming out in favor of gays in the military and suggested troops who disagree with thatĀ can āfind another place to work.ā
“Such a cavalier response to a U.S. senatorās serious inquiry may play well in the press and in the current commander-in-chiefās office, but it illuminates a deeply misguided commitment to political correctness and foreshadows serious adverse consequences for our national security,” North wrote. “If tens of thousands of troops now serving in the finest military force the world has ever known vote with their feet in the midst of a war, weāre all in deep trouble.”
Also in 2010, as reported at the time by ThinkProgress, North told Sean Hannity on Fox News allowing openly gay people in the military was tantamount to letting pedophiles in the armed forces.
“Now, hereās whatās next,” North said. “NAMBLA members, same-sex marriages. Are chaplains in the U.S. military going to be required to perform those kinds of rituals? Do they get government housing?”
ThinkProgress’ Igor Volsky wrote at the time, “The irony of a convicted felon who lied about diverting proceeds from arms sales to a rebel group in Nicaragua supporting a policy that forces gay and lesbian servicemen to lie about their sexual orientation was lost on both Hannity and North.”
That past seems to be a perfect fit for the NRA despite attempts from the organization to profess LGBT inclusion in recent years and support for the LGBT gun group Pink Pistols.
Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the NRA, said the new hire is “the most exciting news for our members since Charlton Heston became president of our association.”
āOliver North is a legendary warrior for American freedom, a gifted communicator and skilled leader,”Ā LaPierre said. “In these times, I can think of no one better suited to serve as our president.ā
According to the NRA, North will depart as a Fox News commentator before taking on his new role ā a process the organization’s board of directors initiated Monday morning.
Jason Lindsay, founder and executive director of Pride Fund to End Gun Violence, said North’s opposition to gay rights and prominence in the Iran-Contra affair “will suit him well in his new position as the president of the NRA.”
“The NRA is on a quest to dismantle our nationās gun safety laws and stands in complete opposition to any new reforms, despite public opinion and the tragic human cost,” Lindsay said. “Of particular concern to the LGBTQ community is Northās inflammatory statements regarding the repeal of āDonāt Ask, Donāt Tell,ā which he implied would lead to pedophiles being admitted to the armed forces. His previous actions and statements make clear that this is not an individual who should have a leadership position in any organization, but is not a surprising choice for an organization as disastrous to public safety as the NRA.”
National
GLSEN hosts Respect Awards with Billy Porter, Peppermint
Annual event aims to āinspire a lot of people to get activeā
GLSEN will host its annual Respect Awards April 29 in New York, with guests including Miss Peppermint and Billy Porter.
Respect Awards director Michael Chavez said that the event will be moving.
āIt will inspire a lot of people to get active and take action in their own communities and see how much more work there is to do, especially with all of the harmful things happening,ā he said.
At the event, they will recognize the Student Advocate of the Year, Sophia T. Annually, GLSEN recognizes a student from around the country who is impacting their community.
āSophia is doing incredible work advocating for inclusive sex education that is LGBTQ+ affirming, working with Johns Hopkins University to implement curriculum.ā Chavez said.
Chavez calls the students that attend the Respect Awards the ābiggest celebritiesā of the evening.
āIt is really important for the adults, both the allies and the queer folks, to hear directly from these queer youth about what itās like to be in school today as a queer person,ā he said.
GLSEN is a queer youth advocacy organization that has been working for more than 30 years to protect LGBTQ youth.
āGLSEN is all hands on deck right now, because our kids are under direct attack and have been for years now,ā said actor Wilson Cruz.
Cruz is the chair of GLSENās National Board, which works to fundraise and strategize for the organization.
āI think we are fundamental to the education of LGBTQ students in school,ā he said. āWe advocate for more comprehensive support at the local, national, and federal levels so our students are supported.ā
Chavez is one of the students that was impacted by this work. He led his schoolās GSA organization and worked with GLSEN throughout his youth.
Cruz said Chavez is doing what he hopes todayās GLSEN students do in the future, which is pay the work forward.
āThereās nothing more powerful than people who have experienced the work that GLSEN does and then coming back and allowing us to expand on that work with each generation that comes forward,ā he said.
Florida
Homeless transgender woman murdered in Miami Beach
Andrea Doria Dos Passos attacked while she slept
Gregory Fitzgerald Gibert, 53, who was out on probation, is charged with the second-degree murder of 37-year-old Andrea Doria Dos Passos, a transgender Latina woman who was found deceased in front of the Miami Ballet company facility by a security guard this past week.
According to a Miami Beach Police spokesperson the security guard thought Dos Passos was sleeping in the entranceway around 6:45 a.m. on April 23 and when he went to wake her he discovered the blood and her injuries and alerted 911.
She was deceased from massive trauma to her face and head. According to Miami Beach police when video surveillance footage was reviewed, it showed Dos Passos lying down in the entranceway apparently asleep. WFOR reported: In the early morning hours, a man arrived, looked around, and spotted her. Police said the man was dressed in a black shirt, red shorts, and red shoes.
At one point, he walked away, picked up a metal pipe from the ground, and then returned. After looking around, he sat on a bench near Dos Passos. After a while, he got up and repeatedly hit her in the head and face while she was sleeping, according to police.
āThe male is then seen standing over her, striking her, and then manipulating her body. The male then walks away and places the pipe inside a nearby trash can (the pipe was found and recovered in the same trash can),ā according to the arrest report.
Police noted that in addition to trauma on her face and head, two wooden sticks were lodged in her nostrils and there was a puncture wound in her chest.
Victor Van Gilst, Dos Passosās stepfather confirmed she was transĀ and experiencing homelessness.Ā
āShe had no chance to defend herself whatsoever. I donāt know if this was a hate crime since she was transgender or if she had some sort of interaction with this person because he might have been homeless as well. The detective could not say if she was attacked because she was transgender,ā said Van Gilst.
āShe has been struggling with mental health issues for a long time, going back to when she was in her early 20s. We did everything we could to help her. My wife is devastated. For her, this is like a nightmare that turned into reality. Andrea moved around a lot and even lived in California for a while. She was sadly homeless. I feel the system let her down. She was a good person,ā he added.
The Miami Police Department arrested Gibert, collected his clothing, noting the red shorts were the same type in the video and had blood on them. Blood was also found on his shoes, according to police. He was taken into custody and charged.
āThe suspect has an extensive criminal record and reportedly was recently released from custody on probation for prior criminal charges. Police apprehended the suspect in the city of Miami and the investigation is currently ongoing. This case is further evidence that individuals need to be held accountable for prior violent crimes for the protection of the public. We offer our sincere condolences to the family and friends of the victim,ā Miami Beach Mayor Steve Meiner said in a statement.
Joe Saunders, senior political director with LGBTQ rights group Equality Florida, told the Miami Herald that āwhenever a transgender person is murdered, especially when it is with such brutality, the question should be asked about whether or not this was a hate-motivated crime.ā
Federal Government
HHS reverses Trump-era anti-LGBTQ rule
Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act now protects LGBTQ people
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights has issued a final rule on Friday under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act advancing protections against discrimination in health care prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics), in covered health programs or activities.
The updated rule does not force medical professionals to provide certain types of health care, but rather ensures nondiscrimination protections so that providers cannot turn away patients based on individual characteristics such as being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, or pregnant.
āThis rule ensures that people nationwide can access health care free from discrimination,ā said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. āStanding with communities in need is critical, particularly given increased attacks on women, trans youth, and health care providers. Health care should be a right not dependent on looks, location, love, language, or the type of care someone needs.ā
The new rule restores and clarifies important regulatory protections for LGBTQ people and other vulnerable populations under Section 1557, also known as the health care nondiscrimination law, that were previously rescinded by the Trump administration.
āHealthcare is a fundamental human right. The rule released today restores critical regulatory nondiscrimination protections for those who need them most and ensures a legally proper reading of the Affordable Care Actās healthcare nondiscrimination law,ā said Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, counsel and health care strategist for Lambda Legal.
āThe Biden administration today reversed the harmful, discriminatory, and unlawful effort by the previous administration to eliminate critical regulatory protections for LGBTQ+ people and other vulnerable populations, such as people with limited English proficiency, by carving them out from the rule and limiting the scope of entities to which the rule applied,ā Gonzalez-Pagan added. āThe rule released today has reinstated many of these important protections, as well as clarifying the broad, intended scope of the rule to cover all health programs and activities and health insurers receiving federal funds. While we evaluate the new rule in detail, it is important to highlight that this rule will help members of the LGBTQ+ community ā especially transgender people, non-English speakers, immigrants, people of color, and people living with disabilities ā to access the care they need and deserve, saving lives and making sure healthcare professionals serve patients with essential care no matter who they are.ā
In addition to rescinding critical regulatory protections for LGBTQ people, the Trump administrationās rule also limited the remedies available to people who face health disparities, limited access to health care for people with Limited English Proficiency, and dramatically reduced the number of healthcare entities and health plans subject to the rule.
Lambda Legal, along with a broad coalition of LGBTQ advocacy groups, filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration rule,Ā Whitman-Walker Clinic v. HHS, and secured a preliminary injunction preventing key aspects of the Trump rule from taking effect.
These included the elimination of regulatory protections for LGBTQ people and the unlawful expansion of religious exemptions, which the new rule corrects. The preliminary injunction in Whitman-Walker Clinic v. HHS remains in place. Any next steps in the case will be determined at a later time, after a fulsome review of the new rule.
GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis released the following statement in response to the news:
āThe Biden administrationās updates to rules regarding Section 1557 of the ACA will ensure that no one who is LGBTQI or pregnant can face discrimination in accessing essential health care. This reversal of Trump-era discriminatory rules that sought to single out Americans based on who they are and make it difficult or impossible for them to access necessary medical care will have a direct, positive impact on the day to day lives of millions of people. Todayās move marks the 334th action from the Biden-Harris White House in support of LGBTQ people. Health care is a human right that should be accessible to all Americans equally without unfair and discriminatory restrictions. LGBTQ Americans are grateful for this step forward to combat discrimination in health care so no one is barred from lifesaving treatment.ā
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