National
World news in brief
Millions of gays demand rights during Brazil march & more
Millions of gays demand rights during Brazil march
SAO PAULO — Millions of gays and lesbians jammed several of Sao Paulo’s main avenues Sunday for the 14th annual Gay Pride parade in South America’s largest city.
The Associated Press reported that as they danced to music blasting from sound trucks, event attendees condemned homophobia and demanded equal rights for LGBT people. They also said they would push candidates this year in Brazil’s presidential election to support their cause.
A river of gay men, lesbians and even straight couples flowed down skyscraper-lined Avenida Paulista in what is billed as the world’s biggest Gay Pride parade.
According to the Associated Press, event organizers expected about 3.2 million people, but did not immediately release a tally. Police have not provided a crowd estimate. The event has become a huge tourist draw.
Lesbian couple weds in Portugal’s 1st gay marriage
LISBON, Portugal — A lesbian couple wed Monday in Portugal’s first same-sex ceremony since the predominantly Catholic country introduced a law allowing gay marriage last month.
The Associated Press reported that Teresa Pires and Helena Paixao, divorced Portuguese mothers in their 30s who have been together since 2003, married in a 15-minute ceremony at a Lisbon registry office.
“This is a great victory, a dream come true,” Pires was quoted as saying. “Now we’re a family, that’s the important thing.”
The ceremony came less than a month after Portugal’s conservative president ratified a gay marriage law passed by Parliament in January. His approval made Portugal the sixth in Europe to allow same-sex couples to wed.
The center-left Socialist government has said the law is part of its effort to modernize Portugal, where homosexuality was a crime until 1982. Three years ago, the same government lifted Portugal’s ban on abortion, despite church opposition.
Pires and Paixao, the lesbian couple, had campaigned for a change in the law since a registry office turned them away when they first tried to marry in 2006, according to the Associated Press.
Brazilian man, Mass. husband rejoin in asylum case
BOSTON — A Brazilian man was reunited with his Massachusetts husband last week after U.S. Sen. John Kerry pressed federal officials to temporarily allow the 31-year-old gay man back into the country on humanitarian grounds.
The Associated Press reported that Brazilian-born Genesio Oliveira rejoined Tim Coco, 49, of Haverhill, at an emotional reunion at Boston’s Logan International Airport.
Gay rights and immigration rights advocates declared the case a rare victory for gay, married asylum seekers.
“I’m delighted,” said Oliveira, who married Coco in 2005 in Massachusetts where gay marriage is legal. “I’ve been waiting for this to happen. I never really undid my bags since returning to Brazil.”
According to the Associated Press, the couple split nearly three years ago when Oliveira, nicknamed “Junior,” was forced to return to Brazil after being denied asylum in the U.S. because the federal government does not recognize same-sex marriages.
The pair maintained contact through online video chats and sporadic visits during holidays. The case gained international attention from gay rights and immigration advocates who criticized U.S. officials for separating the couple — who were legally married.
Last year, Kerry asked Attorney General Eric Holder to grant Oliveira asylum on humanitarian grounds. Then in March, Kerry wrote Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano asking her to issue Oliveira “humanitarian parole” based on his fear of persecution in Brazil.
Humanitarian parole is used sparingly to bring someone who is otherwise inadmissible into the U.S. temporarily because of a compelling emergency, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Last month, Kerry called Coco to inform him that Oliveira had been granted humanitarian parole and would be allowed to stay in the U.S. for at least a year.
“Obviously we’ll work on a permanent solution, but for right now I just couldn’t be happier that the system worked and Tim and Junior are reunited,” Kerry was quoted as saying. “This is a very sweet moment, long overdue, but sweeter because they decided it was worth the wait.”
Federal Government
US Census Bureau testing survey on LGBTQ households
Agency proposing questions about sexual orientation and gender identity
The U.S. Census Bureau is seeking public comment on a proposed test of sexual orientation and gender identity questions on the American Community Survey. The test would begin this summer and continue into next year.
The Census Bureau published the request as a Federal Register notice. In its press release the agency noted that the ACS is an ongoing survey that collects detailed housing and socioeconomic data. It allows the Census Bureau to provide timely and relevant housing and socioeconomic statistics, even for low levels of geography.
As part of the process for adding new questions to the ACS, the Census Bureau tests potential questions to evaluate the quality of the data collected.
The Census Bureau proposes testing questions about sexual orientation and gender identity to meet the needs of other federal agencies that have expressed interest in or have identified legal uses for the information, such as enforcing civil rights and equal employment measures.
The test would follow the protocols of the actual ACS — with one person asked to respond to the survey on behalf of the entire household. These particular questions are asked about people 15 years of age or older. Households are invited to respond to the survey online, by paper questionnaire or by phone.
The current Federal Register notice gives the public a final opportunity to provide feedback before the Census Bureau submits its recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget for approval. The public may provide feedback through May 30 online.
The White House
Judy Shepard to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
Nancy Pelosi is also among this year’s honorees
Beloved LGBTQ advocate Judy Shepard is among the 19 honorees who will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the U.S., the White House announced on Friday.
The mother of Matthew Shepard, who was killed in 1998 in the country’s most notorious anti-gay hate crime, she co-founded the Matthew Shepard Foundation with her husband Dennis to raise awareness about anti-LGBTQ violence.
The organization runs education, outreach, and advocacy programs, many focused on schools.
In a statement shared via the Human Rights Campaign, Shepard said, “This unexpected honor has been very humbling for me, Dennis, and our family. What makes us proud is knowing our President and our nation share our lifelong commitment to making this world a safer, more loving, more respectful, and more peaceful place for everyone.
“I am grateful to everyone whose love and support for our work through the years has sustained me.
“If I had the power to change one thing, I can only dream of the example that Matt’s life and purpose would have shown, had he lived. This honor reminds the world that his life, and every life, is precious.”
Shepard was instrumental in working with then-President Barack Obama for passage of the landmark Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009, which was led in the House by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who will also be honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom during the ceremony on Friday.
Also in 2009, Shepard published a memoir, “The Meaning of Matthew: My Son’s Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed,” and was honored with the Black Tie Dinner Elizabeth Birch Equality Award.
“Judy Shepard has been a champion for equality and President Biden’s choice to honor her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom is a testament to what she’s done to be a force of good in the world,” HRC President Kelley Robinson said in a statement.
“A mother who turned unspeakable grief over the loss of her son into a decades-long fight against anti-LGBTQ+ hatred and violence, Judy continues to make a lasting impact in the lives of the LGBTQ+ community,” she said.
“It is because of her advocacy that the first federal hate crimes legislation became law and that countless life-saving trainings, resources and conversations about equality and acceptance are provided each year by the Matthew Shepard Foundation,” Robinson said. “We are honored that Judy is a member of the HRC family and know that her work to create a more inclusive and just world will only continue.”
Other awardees who will be honored by the White House this year are: Actor Michelle Yeoh, entrepreneur and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Jesuit Catholic priest Gregory Boyle, Assistant House Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), former Labor and Education Secretary and former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.), journalist and former daytime talkshow host Phil Donahue, World War II veteran and civil rights activist Medgar Evers (posthumous), former Vice President Al Gore, civil rights activist and lawyer Clarence B. Jones, former Secretary of State and U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), former U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) (posthumous), Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky, educator and activist Opal Lee, astronaut and former director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center Ellen Ochoa, astronomer Jane Rigby, United Farm Workers President Teresa Romero, and Olympic athlete Jim Thorpe (posthumous).
National
United Methodist Church removes 40-year ban on gay clergy
Delegates also voted for other LGBTQ-inclusive measures
The United Methodist Church on Wednesday removed a ban on gay clergy that was in place for more than 40 years, voting to also allow LGBTQ weddings and end prohibitions on the use of United Methodist funds to “promote acceptance of homosexuality.”
Overturning the policy forbidding the church from ordaining “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” effectively formalized a practice that had caused an estimated quarter of U.S. congregations to leave the church.
The New York Times notes additional votes “affirming L.G.B.T.Q. inclusion in the church are expected before the meeting adjourns on Friday.” Wednesday’s measures were passed overwhelmingly and without debate. Delegates met in Charlotte, N.C.
According to the church’s General Council on Finance and Administration, there were 5,424,175 members in the U.S. in 2022 with an estimated global membership approaching 10 million.
The Times notes that other matters of business last week included a “regionalization” plan, which gave autonomy to different regions such that they can establish their own rules on matters including issues of sexuality — about which international factions are likelier to have more conservative views.
Rev. Kipp Nelson of St. Johns’s on the Lake Methodist Church in Miami shared a statement praising the new developments:
“It is a glorious day in the United Methodist Church. As a worldwide denomination, we have now publicly proclaimed the boundless love of God and finally slung open the doors of our church so that all people, no matter their identities or orientations, may pursue the calling of their hearts.
“Truly, all are loved and belong here among us. I am honored to serve as a pastor in the United Methodist Church for such a time as this, for our future is bright and filled with hope. Praise be, praise be.”
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Judy Shepard to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
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