Florida LGBTQ Families Speak Out about Legislation Targeting Classrooms

Florida Families

GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, and Equality Florida are releasing video of LGBTQ families and educators in Florida speaking out about returning to school today with new laws in effect targeting them.

New laws are banning LGBTQ-related conversation in class, books are removed from shelves and state leaders are targeting evidence-based healthcare, despite the fact that every major medical association supports it as safe and lifesaving for transgender youth.

GLAAD’s poll of LGBTQ and ally voters in Florida finds 71% believe the laws’ intent is to attack LGBTQ people; 70% say the laws are emotionally damaging to children.

The poll shows 77% strongly agree it’s more important than ever to vote as human rights for women and LGBTQ Floridians are being taken away by elected state officials, and that 67% are “extremely motivated” to vote in the midterm elections.

77% of LGBTQ and ally voters have an unfavorable opinion of Gov. Ron DeSantis. The 2018 gubernatorial race was decided by 32,463 votes out of 8+ million. LGBTQ and ally voters are positioned to make a decisive difference in Florida’s election this fall. (Read the pollster memo.)

“Florida’s LGBTQ and ally voters must send an unmistakable message that they are not going back in the closet or back in time,” said GLAAD President and CEO, Sarah Kate Ellis. “Discriminatory, defamatory and dangerous rhetoric and behavior must stop now.”

“It is imperative that Floridians use the power of their votes to hold Governor DeSantis and his allies accountable for the hate they unleashed on our state,” said Equality Florida Press Secretary, Brandon Wolf.

4.6% of Floridians are LGBTQ; 24% of LGBTQ Floridians are raising children.

About Equality Florida:
Equality Florida is the largest civil rights organization dedicated to securing full equality for Florida’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community. Visit eqfl.org or follow Equality Florida on Facebook and Twitter.

About GLAAD:
GLAAD rewrites the script for LGBTQ acceptance. As a dynamic media force, GLAAD tackles tough issues to shape the narrative and provoke dialogue that leads to cultural change. Visit www.glaad.org, connect on Facebook and Twitter, contact: press@glaad.org

Air Force Offers to Relocate Families Impacted by Anti-Trans Legislation

Air Force Transgender Families

Various laws and legislation are being proposed and passed in states across America that may affect LGBTQ Airmen, Guardians, and/or their LGBTQ dependents in different ways.
 
The Department of the Air Force has assignment, medical, legal and other resources available to support Airmen, Guardians and their families.
 
“The health, care and resilience of our DAF personnel and their families is not just our top priority – it’s essential to our ability to accomplish the mission,” said Under Secretary of the Air Force Gina Ortiz Jones. “We are closely tracking state laws and legislation to ensure we prepare for and mitigate effects to our Airmen, Guardians and their families. Medical, legal resources, and various assistance are available for those who need them.”
 
If service members or their families need help with screening, treatment, or mental health support for medical concerns, they should start with DAF medical treatment facilities, according to DAF officials. The MTFs can also assist with navigating challenging life circumstances.
 
The Exceptional Family Member Program is another resource available for all active component Airmen and Guardians to assist families with special needs during the PCS process to include navigating medical, legal, and educational support for dependents during relocation.
 
“As is the case with all of our family members, if the support a family member needs becomes unavailable, commanders can work to get the service member to an assignment where their loved ones can receive the care they need,” Jones added.
 
Installation legal offices are another free source of information for personnel who need assistance navigating new and existing local laws. While installation legal personnel cannot represent Airmen, Guardians or their families in court, they can provide vital advice and counsel.
 
Service members and their families can also seek additional support through their local Airman and Family Readiness Center, the Military and Family Life Counseling Program, or Military OneSource, which can be contacted 24/7 at 800-342-9647.

New Short Film Brings Light To Transgender Parenting & Surrogacy

‘Intended Parents’ is a short film about a Black millennial couple, seeking to expand their family through surrogacy. With one partner identifying as a transgender woman, the couple (Alexander Grey as “Robyn” and Lawrence Locke as “Anthony”) find themselves continously educating or being imprisoned by outdated traditions and opinions from loved ones. While the film explores the intersections of love, gender, surrogacy, acceptance, and desperation; the powerful couple aims to deflate multiple negative stigmas as they prepare for the life-alternating roller coaster of fertility and surrogacy. The short film also features Marc Rose, Varinia Justine and Fredrick Irvin as supporting characters.

WATCH OFFICIAL TRAILER HERE

The film is set to release November 25, 2021 nationwide  and can be streamed via Amazon Prime Video.

Emmy Award Winner and co-director, Dr. Louis Deon Jones, states, “Intended Parents strives to normalize surrogacy, love, support and advocacy, for the transgender community.” In addition, the beautifully directed film has been co-directed by Jabari Redd and executive produced by; Taylor Bryan Barr, Andre Davis, Tori Kay, & Shar Jossell.

Unfortunately, 2021 has already seen 45 transgender or gender non-conforming people fatally killed. With the fatal violence disproportionately affecting transgender women of color, particularly Black transgender women, showing films like ‘Intended Parents’ is imperative to dismantle a culture violence and shame against the transgender community.

About Dr. Louis Deon Jones

Dr. Louis Deon Jones is a screenwriter, producer, director and psych doctor originally from Chicago, IL but resides in Los Angeles, CA. Dr. Louis is known for his award winning digital series, Cycles and NoHo: A North Hollywood Story. He is the writer, producer, and director of several short films such as The Good Teacher, A Hopeless Father, Can I Be Me?, Divided, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? and Produced the Daytime Emmy Award winning film, ‘The Girl in Apartment 15’ which earned him a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Daytime Fiction Program.

Raising Rosie: Parenting an Intersex Child

Raising Rosie

Get this book on AmazonRaising Rosie

When their daughter Rosie was born, Eric and Stephani Lohman found themselves thrust into a situation they were not prepared for. Born intersex – a term that describes people who are born with a variety of physical characteristics that do not fit neatly into traditional conceptions about male and female bodies – Rosie’s parents were pressured to consent to normalizing surgery on Rosie, without being offered any alternatives despite their concerns.

Part memoir, part guidebook, this powerful book tells the authors’ experience of refusing to have Rosie operated on and how they raised a child who is intersex. The book looks at how they spoke about the condition to friends and family, to Rosie’s teachers and caregivers, and shows how they plan on explaining it to Rosie when she is older. This uplifting and empowering story is a must read for all parents of intersex children.

Get this book on Amazon: Raising Rosie

Grandparents Today are More Accepting than You Might Think

Grandparents

A new study from the AARP challenges some of the things you might think about today’s Grandparents. Families are depending on Grandparents more these days, and thankfully these Grandparents are more likely to be accepting of LGBTQ grandchildren.

Since 2001, the number of grandparents has grown by 24 percent (56 million to 70 million). The age of a first-time grandparent is 50, a two year increase since the survey was last conducted in 2011.

Grandparents are contributing now more than ever to the well being of their grandchildren. Grandparents take care of their grandchildren by babysitting, with one in ten living in the same household with their grandchildren, and 5 percent of those being the primary caregiver. Grandparents are also contributing financially, spending an average of $2,562 annually on their grandchildren, totaling $179 billion per year.

It is good to know that while families depend more and more on Grandparents for support, Grandparents are also becoming increasingly supportive of their LGBTQ grandchildren. Eighty-Seven percent of the grandparents surveyed report that they would be accepting of an LGBTQ grandchild.

FInd out more about the grandparent study here.

What We Know: LGBT Youth & Family Acceptance

LGBT Youth & Family Acceptance

The What We Know Project at Columbia Law School has released a new research analysis on what scholarly research says about the link between family acceptance and LGBT youth wellbeing.  Family rejection, and the fear of family rejection, has always been a major concern for LGBT Youth, particularly transgender and gender non-conforming youth.   And it’s a valid concern considering that in the District of Columbia, for example, 43% of homeless youth are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.  Clearly families that engage in rejecting behavior raise the risk of significant harms for their LGBT children.

There is however, another side to this story.  Research shows that on the flip side, parents and families can have a profoundly positive influence when they exhibit affirming behaviors.   The important take home message is that even parents that have neutral or negative views about LGBT people can change their ways and exhibit these affirming behaviors when they truly understand how devastating their rejection is.

LGBT Youth are coming out at even younger ages these days and therefore spending more time living with their families.   One very important role we can play in supporting LGBT Youth is to reach their parents.  Clearly, the work of PFLAG and other organizations that support family members is more important than ever. It also presents a challenge to all of us who work with LGBT Youth to not give up on parents who initially present negative views of LGBT people, and to push for more research on effective interventions to help these parents make the right choices.

Below are some key findings from the Study.  Be sure to check out the complete report here.  For more information on this topic be sure to check out the amazing work of my friend Caitlin Ryan at the Family Acceptance Project.

Key Findings from the Study

  • LGBT youth face heightened risks of numerous mental and physical health dangers including depression, suicidality, substance abuse, psychological distress, low self-esteem, HIV/AIDS infection, and others.
  • Research shows that rejecting behaviors by parents can increase these risks, including contributing to far higher levels of suicidal behavior and depression.
  • Family can play a key protective role against these physical and mental health risks. Several studies confirmed the importance of sexuality-specific acceptance (over generalized support), and of parental support over peer support.
  • Research shows that LGBT youth are coming out at younger ages than in the past, which can mean longer periods of time when they are in the home and “out,” and hence a greater chance of both family-related stress and the possibility of positive interventions.
  • More research is needed on the factors that best predict rejecting family behaviors, the factors that contribute to positive family climates, and intervention approaches with records of evidence-based success; however, a great deal is already known about the information and support that families and LGBT youth need, and parents, practitioners, policymakers and funders should act on this knowledge if they wish to minimize the health risks for the LGBT population.

LGBT Youth and Family Acceptance

 

 

 

 

International Family Equality Day

On May 3, 2015, LGBTQ family organizations from around the world will join forces, for the fourth time, to increase the international visibility of LGBTQ families.

Regardless of different legal, political and social circumstances around the world, the dramatic increase in the numbers of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) people choosing to raise children is a global phenomenon.

International Family Equality Day will take place every year on the first Sunday in May.  Find out more at www.internationalfamilyequalityday.org.