Blog Posts Related to the LGBT Community

  • Helping Young People in Times of Crisis

    Posted by David McFarlan on September 2, 2011 at 5:35 PM EDT

    Ed. Note: Champions of Change is a weekly initiative to highlight Americans who are making an impact in their communities and helping our country rise to meet the many challenges of the 21st century.

    Each one of us deserves a chance to dream for the future, no matter who we love or how we express our gender. For thousands of young people across this country, whether they are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ), they find themselves in situations of isolation, high anxiety and depression with nowhere to turn. They may fear rejection from their families, or have been bullied by their peers; they may have been kicked out of their home or rejected by their religious community, or they suffer from mental illness. For too many young people, the built-in safety nets of love, acceptance and caring do not exist; but for them, there is always “Trevor.”

    The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ young people, ages 13-24. Offering lifesaving programs and information, Trevor works every day to help make the future better for all LGBTQ youth.

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  • Watch Department of the Interior's Message for Teens: It Gets Better

    Posted by Colleen Curtis on September 2, 2011 at 12:00 PM EDT

    Our colleagues at the Department of the Interior were so inspired by the videos they’ve seen in support of the It Gets Better campaign, that they produced our own. The video features Secretary Salazar and includes employees from across the Department, including the National Park Service, the U.S. Geological Survey and others, sharing their experiences growing up as LGBT youth and coping with bullying, and emphasizing the ways life has dramatically improved over time. DOI is helping to remind teenagers who face bullying that they are not alone — and it WILL get better.
     
    Please watch the video here and share it with your family and friends.

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  • Making Schools Safer and Creating a More Hopeful Future for LGBT Youth

    Posted by Eliza Byard on September 1, 2011 at 11:02 AM EDT

    Ed. Note: Champions of Change is a weekly initiative to highlight Americans who are making an impact in their communities and helping our country rise to meet the many challenges of the 21st century.

    GLSEN

    In the fall of his freshman year of high school, Georgia high school student Austin Laufersweiler spotted a GLSEN Safe Space Sticker on his guidance counselor’s door. He knew he wasn’t alone and instantly felt safer. Austin went on to be a force for change and progress in his school, and was later honored as GLSEN’s 2009 Student Advocate of the Year.

    At the foundation of GLSEN’s work to make schools safer and more affirming for all students, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression, are the experiences of students like Austin. These students’ strength and commitment shape our efforts to create a world where young people learn to respect all people and value difference for the positive contribution it makes to a more vibrant society.

    But for every student who can connect with a system of support, countless other lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) K-12 students navigate hostile school climates without the support they need. 

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  • A Better Understanding of Employee Benefits for an Increasingly Diverse American Workforce

    Posted by Hilda L. Solis on July 26, 2011 at 6:13 PM EDT

    Ed. Note: Cross-posted from (Work in Progerss)

    Last year, I wrote in “Sometimes, It Takes An Interpretation” that by making a clarification to the Family and Medical Leave Act, originally passed in 1993, we are taking into better consideration the changing nature of America’s households and workers.  Our clarification then means that today, a same-sex partner who shares in parenting, or an aunt who steps in for a mother called to active military duty, can take unpaid leave to ensure the care for a child at home.   

    Today, we take another great step in better understanding the resources and benefits available to America’s workforce. 

    For the first time, in order to better understand the benefits available to an increasingly diverse American workforce, this year’s National Compensation Survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics includes information on domestic partner benefits, providing a better, fuller picture of employee benefits in workplaces across our nation.

    The report shows that while 71% of all workers in private industry have access to health care plans, only about 1 in 4 such workers have access to a health care plan they can use to cover their same-sex or opposite-sex domestic partner. 

    High wage earners and union workers are significantly more likely to have access to benefits for a domestic partner, while only a small percentage of low wage-earners, non-union workers and part-time workers have access to these benefits.

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  • The End of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

    Posted by Valerie Jarrett on July 22, 2011 at 8:00 PM EDT

    Today, President Obama certified to Congress that the conditions necessary for ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” have been met.  His certification follows that of Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 

    This means that in 60 days – on September 20, 2011 – DADT will cease to exist.

    A few hours after the President’s certification, I joined a call with Secretary Panetta, Jeh Johnson, General Counsel for the Department of Defense, Brian Bond, the LGBT liaison in the White House, and Kathleen Hartnett from the White House Counsel’s office. We had the chance to thank many of the leaders in the LGBT community who worked so hard to make this moment possible. 

    Reaching this point has not been easy. There were those who doubted that President Obama could deliver on his promise to repeal DADT, especially in such a polarized political environment.

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  • Getting "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Done

    Posted by Katelyn Sabochik on July 22, 2011 at 5:49 PM EDT

    DADT Certification

    President Barack Obama signs the certification stating the statutory requirements for repeal of DADT (Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell) have been met, in the Oval Office, July 22, 2011. Pictured, from left, are: Brian Bond, Deputy Director of Public Liaison; Kathleen Hartnett, Associate Counsel to the President; Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta; Kathryn Ruemmler, Counsel to the President; Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen; and Vice President Joe Biden. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

    Today, President Obama signed a certification ending the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy for good beginning September 20, 2011. The President signed the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" into law last December.

    The President sent the email below to individuals and organizations who worked hard to make this victory possible. 

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  • President Obama Supports the Respect for Marriage Act

    Posted by Colleen Curtis on July 19, 2011 at 6:43 PM EDT

    President Obama is proud to support the Respect for Marriage Act, which has been introduced by Senator Dianne Feinstein and Congressman Jerrold Nadler. This legislation would uphold the principle that the federal government should not deny gay and lesbian couples the same rights and legal protections as straight couples.

    The President has long called for a legislative repeal of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which continues to have a real impact on the lives of real people -- our families, friends and neighbors.

     

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  • The Departments of Justice and Education Resolve Gender-Based Harassment Case

    Posted by Brian Bond on July 1, 2011 at 6:52 PM EDT

    Today the Departments of Justice and Education announced an important settlement with a California school district, resolving an investigation under federal civil rights law into the harassment of a gay middle school student based on his nonconformity with gender stereotypes. That student, Seth Walsh, tragically committed suicide in September 2010, at the age of 13. The Departments’ investigation, which stemmed from a complaint received in October 2010, found that the school district did not adequately investigate or otherwise respond to the harassment that Walsh suffered for more than two school years, which included ongoing and escalating verbal, physical and sexual harassment by other students at the school based on Walsh’s nonconformity with gender stereotypes. Under the settlement, the district will take a variety of steps to prevent sexual and gender-based harassment at all of its schools, to respond appropriately to harassment that occurs, and to eliminate the hostile environment resulting from harassment.  

    As President Obama has said:

    We’ve got to dispel the myth that bullying is just a normal rite of passage – that it’s some inevitable part of growing up. It’s not. We have an obligation to ensure that our schools are safe for all of our kids. And to every young person out there you need to know that if you’re in trouble, there are caring adults who can help.

    Read more about today’s settlement and learn more about the enforcement of federal civil rights laws by the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Right’s.

    If you’re a young person who’s been bullied or harassed by your peers, or you’re a parent or teacher who knows a young person being bullied or harassed, a few resources that can help you are available here.

    Brian Bond is Deputy Director of the Office of Public Engagement.

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