Why the proximity of the two holidays should provoke reflection This July 4th, America for the 248th time celebrates its independence from British rule. But the proximity of Juneteenth, now a federal holiday since President Biden designated it as such in 2023, should force Americans
Since abolition, women have led the fight for rights we now take for granted When those rich white males turned the Declaration of Independence’s “All men are created equal” into the original U.S. Constitution, they took “men” quite literally. Their constitution made landed white men
As I watched the Atlanta Pride parade broadcast on TV last fall (we march in October thanks to a summer drought in 2007 that rendered the parade’s endpoint, Piedmont Park, a scorched wasteland), I was struck by a couple of things at once. For starters,
A conservative backlash against bisexual, transgender, and gay people is growing so strong that random street violence is surging in the U.S., the U.K., and elsewhere. Kids are learning hatred from parents and churches and then bullying and beating up LGBTQ+ classmates. Queer adults are
Here’s how to celebrate a healthy, bigot-free Pride By now everyone should know that June is celebrated as LGBTQ+ “Pride Month.” That’s well-established in cultures across the globe whether anyone else likes it or not. Anti-LGBTQ+ forces use the public celebration to their advantage —
My home state of Massachusetts celebrated 20 years of marriage equality on May 17, thanks to the landmark decision in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health that preceded by 11 years the historic U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges that legalized same-sex marriage
Why make religious scapegoats of other people? Have you ever thought about the fact that “religious” people all over the world — I mean everyday people, not elite thinkers or those who use religion to push their career and political agendas — care about the
Women’s History Month doesn’t do enough to lift up black lesbians. Fifty years ago in Boston, several lesbian and feminist women of African descent founded the Combahee River Collective. As a sisterhood, they understood that their acts of protest were shouldered by and because of
Note: This is the text of a letter sent by the author to the Parliament of New South Wales, which includes Sydney, Australia, in support of a bill banning sexual orientation / gender identity change efforts (SOCE/GICE). The state’s Premier, Chris Minns, has voiced his
When France enshrined abortion rights in its constitution, it prompted me and a lot of other folks to wonder, what’s wrong with the United States? What’s wrong with the United States is that the affairs of the church have collapsed into the affairs of the