“…Later that night I held an atlas in my lap ran my fingers across the whole world and whispered where does it hurt? it answered everywhere everywhere everywhere” —Warsan Shire Two days after a sniper killed five Dallas police officers, this poem, by expat Somali poet Warsan Shire, who came to world’s attention when her words were spoken on Beyonce’s visual album “Lemonade,” showed up in my Twitter feed. That was three days after the killing of Philando Castile in Minneapolis,...
Our Voices
When I first heard the story of what was happening to Alex in St. George, Utah a few years ago, I could not believe it. I’m from Utah, and I know it can be tough for LGBTQ kids there, but I had no idea that charlatans could torture and keep prisoner a young girl based on her refusal to deny who she was. Alex’s parents’ attempts to change her sexual orientation were wrong, misguided, and ill informed, but what makes Alex’s story—detailed in her book, “Saving Alex,” out March...
When leading Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump suggested that we respond to the mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., by barring Muslims from entering the U.S., most Americans, even many in the Republican Party, were rightly appalled if not completely surprised. Trump’s preposterous and shocking pronouncements are, at this point, predictable. But what is truly disturbing is his boisterous refusal to be accountable to facts and the significant percentage of Republican voters...
I just did something I thought I would never do. I resigned my membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) and asked that my name be removed from the records. Even at the height of church involvement in the passage of Proposition 8 in California, I never seriously considered removing my name. It just didn’t matter that much to me. Spiritually and emotionally, I left the church I grew up in decades ago. And despite being a “known gay activist” to the church, I...
The past 10 days have been filled with a lot of religion. Ten days ago, I spoke at the International Affirmation Conference, the LGBTQ Mormon gathering in Provo, Utah. And last week it was 24/7 Pope Francis. Both of these events left me a bit unmoored. The church of my childhood, the Mormon church, and the Catholic church I thought I knew, have transformed in ways more fully embracing of dignity justice and belonging. Yes, as a politically progressive, vaguely agnostic, lesbian feminist, there...
I turned 18 in 1978 and voted in my first presidential election in 1980. Jimmy Carter was on his way, sadly, to being a one-term president. It wasn’t until 1992 that the candidate I voted for won the White House. That was the year Bill Clinton won, and I still remember the raucous party held at the home of a friend in my hometown of Ogden, Utah. Going back to all those elections, I felt certain that my vote never really mattered in the national contest for president (and since I was in Utah...
I don’t know about you, but the past three weeks have been a whirlwind. The June 26th U.S. Supreme Court ruling acknowledging our freedom to marry is a new high water mark for our movement. As this new reality settles in, I feel a profound gratitude to be here as a witness. It is the highest honor of my career that NCLR played a central role in winning marriage equality. You made this possible. Now it’s time to harness this new energy. Now is the time to capitalize on this momentum and our...
Today, America is closer to being a country that walks the talk of “Equal Justice Under Law.” After last week’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling in our Tennessee marriage case (one of four cases before the Court), striking down discriminatory state marriage laws and affirming our freedom to marry, millions of families are more equal and secure. Today, in every corner of this nation, every lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender person can take a deep breath and walk a little taller. The ground has...
On April 28th, the United States Supreme Court heard oral argument in our Tennessee marriage equality case and cases from three other states. A decision is expected by the end of June. The following is the reaction from NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell, who had a seat at the historic hearing.
I came out to my mother at 21, while she was driving us to see my grandparents in Oregon. I was prepared for the worst. Looking back, the idea that I would reveal this information in a fast moving vehicle now seems risky, but I needn’t have worried. Despite my mom’s devotion to her Mormon faith and her love of Jesus Christ, whom she regarded as her Savior, she took my trembling hand and said, “Honey, honey, the only thing that matters to me is that you are happy.” Over...
