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VIDEO: Frenchie Davis Performs "I Am Changing", "Love's Got a Hold"

The 25th National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change wrapped in Atlanta on Saturday. The four day conference sponsored by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force convened the nation's premier and emerging LGBT leaders in activism, politics, policy, strategy, media, labor and technology.

The closing plenary featured the fabulous Frenchie Davis who performed "Love's Got a Hold On Me." Watch AFTER THE JUMP ...

This was a busy day for the American Idol alum. After closing Creating Change, Ms. Davis was the featured performer at the second annual Gentleman's Ball. The event benefited AID Atlanta's Evolution Project, was hosted by Eva Marcille and produced by G Spot Productions. Very nice.

Ms. Davis delivered a fiyah rendition of "I Am Changing." Watch AFTER THE JUMP...

Supreme Court Upholds Health Care; Key Victory for LGBT, HIV+

In a huge election-year victory for President Barack Obama and fellow Democrats, the Supreme Court has upheld the landmark Affordable Care Act by a 5-4 decision. The much-anticipated decision is a "stinging setback for Republican opponents of the most sweeping overhaul of the unwieldy U.S. healthcare system in about a half century," notes Reuters.

In a 5-4 ruling based on the power of Congress to impose taxes, the court preserved the law's "individual mandate" requiring that most Americans obtain health insurance by 2014 or pay a tax.

Opponents of the law had argued the mandate was an overreach by the federal government into the private lives of citizens. The court was deeply divided on this issue, but the majority ruled that Congress' taxing power was more important. The law's "requirement that certain individuals pay a financial penalty for not obtaining health insurance may reasonably be characterized as a tax," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court's majority.

"Because the Constitution permits such a tax, it is not our role to forbid it, or to pass upon its wisdom or fairness," wrote Roberts, who was joined by the four most liberal members - Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor - in upholding the law's key provision.

The four dissenters, all from the court's conservative wing, were Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. They would have struck down the entire law.

The Supreme Court decision also upholds key provisions of the act that target the LGBT community, the transgender community and the nation's 1.2 million people who are HIV positive. Doctors and insurers will be prohibited from discriminating against and denying coverage to those who are HIV positive and/or transgender.

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey:

"This ruling is fair and humane, but it also reminds us of the work that remains to be done. People of color and economically impoverished people are disproportionately affected by health inequities. We have also long known that LGBT people - particularly LGBT people of color - suffer from higher rates of health disparities, and we continue to press for reform that addresses the stark realities that many of us face every day. This advocacy includes urging the Department of Health and Human Services to use its authority to make inroads in areas such as data collection and research on LGBT health disparities. We celebrate today, but also pledge to keep pressing forward."

Lambda Legal adds:

This is a victory for all Americans,but in particular, the Court's decision today will save the lives of many people living with HIV - as long as states do the right thing. The Affordable Care Act will finally allow people living with HIV to access medical advancements made years ago but that have so far remained out of reach of many. With continuing prevention education, early detection, and quality care for everyone living with HIV, we have the power to stem the HIV/AIDS epidemic. But this is not a complete victory,because today's decision allows states to opt out of the Medicaid expansion that would provide insurance coverage for many low-income people who cannot otherwise afford it. Our continuing challenge will be to make sure that states opt to expand Medicaid so that more low-income people, and particularly those with HIV, can get the health care they urgently need.

The SCOTUS ruling is critically important to the nation's Black communities—who face greater health care disparities and decreased access to health care providers. The decision is even more critical to Black men who have sex with men—who have suffered the most in the domestic HIV epidemic.

Read the decision HERE.

Kylar Broadus Makes History as the U.S. Senate's 1st Trans Witness

History was made on Tuesday when the U. S. Senate heard testimony from its first ever transgender witness. Kylar Broadus testified at a hearing on the proposed Employment Non-Discrimination Act before the Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee. Broadus is a lawyer and professor at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri and the founder of the Trans People of Color Coalition.

Watch the tesimony AFTER THE JUMP ...

Broadus testified about his experience working at a large financial services company in the 1990s. Broadus said that he was harassed and fired after he transitioned. "While my supervisors could tolerate a somewhat masculine-appearing black woman, they were not prepared to deal with my transition to being a black man," he explained.

It is legal in 29 states to discriminate based on sexual orientation. It's also legal in 37 states to discriminate based on gender identity and expression.

Numerous studies have shown that Black and Latina trans women and men are at the greatest risk of violence. The murders of Black transgender women often remain unsolved. Black trans women face "extreme discrimination and poverty", and are more than likely to suffer from violence, physical or sexual abuse, police brutality, HIV/AIDS and bullying, according to a first of its kind survey conducted by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Black Justice Coalition.

"To have a trans person of color shed light on the challenges faced by transgender Americans who simply want the same chance at earning a living and providing for themselves was monumental," says NBJC Executive Director Sharon Lettman-Hicks. "This was a historic moment in the Senate and for our nation as a whole."

Via Think Progress , watch the tesimony AFTER THE JUMP ...

National LGBT Groups Issue Joint Letter on Trayvon Martin Killing

More than 20 national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights groups have issued a joint open letter on the killing of Trayvon Martin. The organizations have described the killing of the unarmed 17-year-old as a "national call to action" and urge state, local and federal authorities to find answers.

An Open Letter: Standing Alongside Trayvon Martin’s Family and Friends

The tragic killing of Trayvon Martin is a national call to action. Our hearts go out to Trayvon’s family and friends for the loss they have experienced. We stand in solidarity with them as they demand answers and justice. We represent organizations with diverse lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender constituencies.

Many in our community have been targets of bigotry and bias. We have a great deal of experience grappling with the role bias plays in violent crimes against our communities. We well know the stories of young people targeted for violence just because of who they are: Rashawn Brazell, Lawrence King, Ali Forney, Deoni Jones, Brandon White, Matthew Shepard, Angie Zapata, Sean Kennedy and countless others.

Trayvon’s killing is a wakeup call to the enduring cancer of racism and racial profiling. The pain his family continues to endure transcends communities and unites us all. Every person, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity, must be able to walk the streets without fear for their safety.

Trayvon’s killing is tragic and the stark reality that racial bias played a role in his death has alarmed our nation. Questions must be asked. Answers must be sought. And justice must be served. We join our voices to the chorus of so many others to demand that local and federal authorities find those answers. We stand in solidarity with Trayvon’s family and friends as they seek justice for his killing. In the timeless words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

Signatories:

CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers
Equality Federation
Family Equality Council
Freedom to Marry
GLAAD
GMHC
Human Rights Campaign
Immigration Equality
International Federation of Black Prides
Lambda Legal
LGBT Progress at the Center for American Progress
National Black Justice Coalition
National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR)
National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE)
National Coalition for LGBT Health
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
National Stonewall Democrats
Out & Equal Workplace Advocates
PFLAG National
Pride at Work
Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE)
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN)
The Trevor Project
UNID@S

VIDEO: Wilson Cruz Talks Activism, Politics and "Creating Change"

Actor and activist Wilson Cruz will be attending the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's "Creating Change 2012" conference this week in Baltimore. Cruz has a long history in LGBT activism and is featured in a short new video discussing what attracted him to the Task Force.

"The Task Force is doing all of the heavy lifting," says the star of Noah's Arc and Grey's Anatomy. "And through the years I always felt that was what they were doing. Other organizations [are] very good at visibility and get our message out. But as far as the nuts and bolts work to advance our cause, that's what the Task Force is doing."

Cruz adds: "I have lived in a world that the Task Force created so I have to give back."

Cruz will close out the conference with "Love, Child...", a musical performance. The actor talks with MetroWeekly's Chris Geidner about the intersection of music, politics and activism:

I'm going to take people on a journey about love, what I've learned about love in the past 10 years. I think it's a great thing to talk to the Creating Change folks about because I've done a lot of this work. I've been a field organizer for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, I've worked on the Obama campaign, I'm a pretty political person. What I've realized is that, in doing my work as an activist and an organizer and such, we lose sight of what it is that we're actually fighting for.

I'm in the process of picking music that is going to help me tell that story. It's the story of falling in love, and what we do to sabotage that, and how we find ourselves ready to be open to loving again.

Creating Change 2012 begins Wednesday in Baltimore. The three day conference will bring together the nation's leading LGBT movement activists.

Read the interview HERE. Watch the video AFTER THE JUMP ...

REPORT: Black Trans Community Faces "Extreme" Discrimination

Black transgender men and women face "extreme discrimination and poverty", are more than likely to suffer from violence, physical or sexual abuse, police brutality, HIV/AIDS and bullying in school. Those are the conclusions of a first of its kind survey conducted by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Black Justice Coalition.

Kellee Terrell is the news editor at TheBody.com. Terrell frequently reports on gender, sexuality and health for digital media and analyzes the report in an excellent article for The Root.

Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey collected data from more than 6,500 transgender Americans and found that all transgender people face severe bias ranging from housing and health care to education and employment.

But when researchers took a deeper look at the discrimination that the black respondents faced (pdf) -- all 381 of them -- the data jumped out at them. "What was really poignant were these stark differences. In every case, black respondents fared worse than the nonblack respondents in the national survey," says Darlene Nipper, deputy executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. "This is because black transgender people face anti-transgender bias coupled with structural and institutionalized racism."

Monica Roberts, a 49-year-old black transgender activist and founder of the award-winning blog TransGriot, wasn't shocked by Injustice at Every Turn's findings -- they reflect what advocates have been saying for years. "There is this saying that when white America has a cold, black America has a fever. Well, when black America has a fever, black transgender America has pneumonia."

The employment-discrimination data alone support Roberts' train of thought. Overall, black unemployment is at an all-time high at 16.7 percent, but 26 percent of black transgender people are unemployed -- that's three times the rate of the general public and twice that of the rest of the transgender community. And while a crippling economy is a serious factor behind the statistics, it's important to note that current laws -- in 35 states it's perfectly legal to fire or not hire someone because he or she is transgender -- exacerbate these unemployment numbers.

The disparities are sobering.

20 percent of black respondents are HIV positive (the general black population's HIV prevalence rate is 2.4 percent); 21 percent of those who were attending school as transgender people had to leave because the harassment was so severe; 41 percent have been homeless in the past (five times the rate of the general U.S. population); 29 percent of those who had been in jail or prison reported being physically assaulted, and 32 percent reported being sexually assaulted; and 34 percent reported not seeking medical attention when injured or sick for fear of being discriminated against in health care settings.

One of the most shocking findings was that nearly half of the black respondents reported having attempted suicide at least once in their lives -- this rate was higher than that of any other racial group in the survey. ...

Sharon J. Lettman, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, is confident that the report will be a wake-up call for what African Americans need to do as a community. "Our black transgender sisters and brothers are black people, too, and we have to love them better."

Terrell adds: "Despite the increase in positive media coverage around LGBT issues -- and shows such as Glee, Modern Family and True Blood that raise the national consciousness around what it means to be gay or lesbian -- it's hard to deny that transgender people, especially African Americans, are somewhat left out of that national conversation."

The vast majority of anti-trans violence in the U.S. targets Black and Latina trans women. Most cases of  homicide of Black and Latina trans women remain unsolved. In recent  years on R20, we've seen plenty of the cases, such as the horrific daylight stabbing of Nana Boo Mack, Lateisha Green case, a transgender shooting in Milawukee, the fatal shooting in New Orleans, and several recent shootings in Memphis.

This summer witnessed  a series of anti-trans attacks in our nation's capital,  such as the tragic killing of Lashai McLean, the 23-year-old transgender woman brutally gunned down on a Washington DC street. Police have made no arrests.

Read the full article at The Root ...

Bigots Seeking California LGBT History Bill Repeal FAIL

Awww. The bigots who launched an effort to repeal California's LGBT history bill have officially failed to gather enough signatures, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

The group, Stop SB48, which is named after the law, faced a Wednesday deadline to turn in just under 505,000 signatures to put the law on the ballot and give voters the opportunity to overturn it. In an e-mail, the group said, "We thank all of you that worked so hard to provide the hundreds of thousands of signatures received. In the end, 90 days was too short a time to accomplish such a large task."

They gave no precise number of how many signatures had been gathered. Backers ran the effort out of the offices of the Capitol Resource Institute, a socially conservative advocacy organization in Sacramento. The institute's executive director, Karen England, also was the leader of the referendum.

The nearly all-volunteer effort faced not only a short time frame, as referendum signature drives must be completed 90 days after the governor signs a law, but also a lack of significant contributions from national socially conservative organizations. The backers of the referendum noted that second issue in their e-mail.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed SB 48 on July 14. The bill requires California public schools to include LGBT history in all curricula. The bill has been slammed by conservatives and many churches, who launched a signature drive to repeal the bill.

Pastors seeking to repeal the Fair Education Act held a now-infamous prayer rally last September where they forcibly ejected gay activists from a Los Angeles church.  Anti-gay activists with Stop SB 48 were also documented lying in signature collection—claiming that the repeal would "protect children" from child molesters.

Anti-gay activists vow there will be another "battle".

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McInerney Defense Suggests Lawrence King "Taunted" His Killer

More testimony at the Los Angeles trial of 17-year-old Brandon McInerney, who gunned down his gay classmate Lawrence King in February 2008. The defense team paraded several witness who suggested that King "taunted"  his classmate, reports the LA Times.

One teacher after another has testified in the murder trial about their deep worries that King's feminine attire and taunting behavior could provoke problems — and that E.O. Green Junior High administrators ignored them.

It wasn't just that King, 15, had begun wearing makeup and women's spiked-heeled boots, witnesses testified. It was that he seemed to relish making the boys squirm at his newly feminized appearance and was taunting them with comments like "I know you want me."

A series "gay panic" events triggered McInerney:

King continued to clash with boys at school and paid special attention to McInerney, according to court testimony. After lunch that day, he passed McInerney in a corridor and mockingly said, "Love you baby!"

History teacher Arthur Saenz testified that on that same Monday, Feb. 11, 2008, he noticed King "parading" back and forth in high-heeled boots and makeup near a bench where McInerney was sitting after school waiting to be picked up. A group of boys was laughing as McInerney grew visibly angry, Saenz testified.

The next morning King showed up at E.O. Green in his school uniform with no embellishment or makeup. In the computer lab, McInerney took a seat directly behind King. About 20 minutes into class, he drew a handgun and shot him twice in the back of the head.

McInerney is being tried as an adult for the murder. The defense has portrayed Lawrence King as sexually "aggressive" and has repeatedly suggested that McInerney was "provoked." Prosecutors are seeking to quash McInerney's "gay panic" defense.

Closing arguments could happen next week.

PUERTO RICO: 3 LGBTs Killed in 3 Days, 18 Killed in 18 Months

Disturbing reports of an escalating series of anti-LGBT violence and homicides in Puerto Rico. Three LGBTs were killed within three days, the latest discovery happening Tuesday in Humacao, reports Michael Lavers at EDGE.

Primera Hora reported that Ramón “Moncho” Salgado was found dead along the side of a highway in Humacao on the island’s eastern coast. Thomas J. Bryan Picó, executive director of la Fundación Gaviota, told the newspaper that Salgado was a 46-year-old gay man who lived in Humacao. “Primera Hora” reported that Salgado’s body showed signs of blunt trauma.

Bryan pointed out that Salgado is the third LGBT Puerto Rican who has been found dead in 72 hours. As EDGE reported late Monday, June 6, a transgender woman was found shot to death in a Santurce intersection. Karlota Gómez Sánchez’s body was discovered roughly 48 hours after Alejandro Torres Torres was found stabbed to death in Ponce.

The rash of reported anti-LGBT crimes in Puerto Rico started in November 2008 when 19-year gay Jorge Steven López Mercado was brutally killed and dismembered near Cayey.  In December 2008, another gay man was killed. In April 2009, the body of Ashley Santiago Ocasio, a transgender woman, was discovered in a bloody crime scene near San Juan. 

Juan A. Martínez Matos later confessed to killing López. Martínez was sentenced to 99 years in prison in May 2010.

At least 18 LGBT indviduals have been killed in Puerto Rico in the past 18 months, according to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, which released this statement from Communications Manager and Puerto Rico Para Tod@s founder Pedro Julio Serrano:

"The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force stands in solidarity with the LGBT community in Puerto Rico and sends its deepest condolences to the families and friends of Karlota Gómez Sánchez, Ramón Salgado and Alejandro Torres Torres. As someone who grew up in Puerto Rico and has been very active in its LGBT community, this is a heart-wrenching moment. Our thoughts and sympathies go out to all of the victims’ loved ones at this difficult time. Justice must prevail. This is about members of the Puerto Rican LGBT community feeling safe in their communities and being able to take care of the ones they love. We call upon the authorities and political leaders to effectively address this epidemic of anti-LGBT violence. This must stop now."

In June 2010, the Commonwealth's attorney general announced the creation of a special commission to investigate hate crimes. To date, Puerto Rico's Republican Gov. Luis Fortuño, who resisted efforts to prosecute the López case a hate crime, has yet to publicly comment on that or any other anti-LGBT hate crime. But the conservative anti-gay governor has called for a constitutional marriage ban against same-sex marriage.

AP Reports on Latino Gays and Ricky Martin's Coming Out

 

The Associated Press reports on the impact of Ricky Martin's coming out among Latino gays. The announcement was so significant, it's been described as "almost like an earthquake."

"The example of Ricky Martin as citizen of the world, humanitarian, father, intelligent person, is a good example for those who have obvious stereotypes and also for those who don't have prejudice but have ideas that may act as barriers in the lives of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBT)," said Jarrett Barrios, president of GLAAD (The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation). "Ideas like 'a gay man is good to water my flowers at home but not for business' limit the opportunities for the LGBT community."

Pedro Julio Serrano, communications manager of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, says that "when Ricky made the announcement the tectonic plates moved, it was almost like an earthquake. ... It was one of the most important news in the fight for equality that the Latino LGBT community leads. It touches the hearts and opens the minds of many people," said Serrano, who became a friend of the artist after his announcement. ...

"If in Puerto Rico people used to love him, now they love him even more," said Serrano, who recounted that during Martin's first public appearance post-announcement, in April at the Latin Billboard Awards, the singer not only received a standing ovation in the theater but a multitudinous cheer from the people on the streets. "That says a lot about the welcoming and I think demonstrates the reality of our society," he said. "Even though we still have to fight a lot of homophobia, there is much more acceptance today."

And this very touching personal story:

Ricardo Torres, a Mexican man who was raised in Texas and lives in Chicago, was in the audience when Oprah Winfrey interviewed Martin last year. He thanked Martin, saying that his revelation was good for his own relationship with his mother. "For the first time my mother asked me personal questions. For almost 20 years she has known that I am gay but she never asked anything ... she told me not to tell anyone else in my family. It was a secret ... a big taboo," Torres, 38, told the AP. "Everything changed after Ricky came out of the closet," he added. "Like someone in our family came out and by doing so gave us the right to live more openly."

Blabbeando's Andrés Duque reports on the pop star's recent press junket with Latino media for Música + Alma + Sexo, his first album since 2005. Martin told Leila Cobo of Billboard that coming out on Twitter in March 2010 took "months" of deliberation.

"I spent many months figuring out the best way to do it. I thought it could be a song, or an interview, or in the book," he says, "But I couldn't wait eight more months. I needed to do this, now. Several months before I pressed send, there was a hate crime in Puerto Rico against a gay boy. And at the time, if I had spoken out, people would have started conjecturing."

He adds "There are moments of great tension in the book because I was living under great tension. And one Friday, I called my manager and said, I'm doing this on Monday. I spent the entire weekend drafting that letter. And when I sent it, I felt such a relief, such peace and joy. I thought, My God, had I known, I would have done this 10 years ago."

It's beautiful that Ricky has found his own way and decided to live his life more openly. And become an inspiration to many others. Bravo.

Ricky Martin's autobiography Me was a New York Times best-seller and its Spanish edition Yo was the No. 1 biography in the United States. Música + Alma + Sexo dropped last Tuesday and the single "Lo Mejor De Mi Vida Eres Tu" is No. 1 on Billboard Top Latin Songs.