A Year in Ukraine, Brazilian Drag Kings, and Sexy Vestments
#161
Welcome to Third Cultured, a newsletter about Queer people in diplomacy, politics, and war from the perspective of Kyle Borland (he/they). My goal is to highlight all the ways today is different (and not so) from yesterday.
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This edition:
Opinion Essay
A List of LGBTQ+ Wins
Anti-LGBTQ+ Hate, Laws & Violence Around the World
Extra Links, Quotes & Gay Shit
Opinion Essay
I spent the weekend at Creating Change 2023, the National LGBTQ+ Task Force’s annual conference. The Task Force held its 50th anniversary here in San Francisco, and I was lucky enough to attend. I’m working on my review following the conference and will share my thoughts later this week.
As usual, there’s a compilation of Queer news from around the world below. Become a paid subscriber to read them all. Also, this week is the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, so if you’re able, please consider donating to help support our LGBTQ+ family affected by the war.
Stay vigilant and healthy, beautiful people.
As always, thanks for reading. (And, don’t forget to “like” this post!)
Kyle (@kgborland)
A List of LGBTQ+ Wins
64% favor recognizing same-sex marriage in Japan (Kyodo News)
Activists took over the Oklahoma Capitol to protest anti-trans legislation (LGBTQ Nation)
Additional queer female icons to be featured on US quarters (Bay Area Reporter)
Biden, Lula reiterate support of LGBTQ, intersex rights (Washington Blade)
Charles Silverstein, who helped declassify homosexuality as illness, dies at 87 (WashPost)
Colorado L.G.B.T.Q. Club Says It Will Reopen After Mass Shooting (NYTimes)
Content creators are filling the gap on Black, LGBTQ history (The Hill)
It’s Time for Democrats to Actually Defend LGBTQ People (The Nation)
The LGBTQ community is being attacked more than any time in recent memory. Republican-controlled state legislatures have introduced laws criminalizing and restricting drag shows and banning gender-affirming care for trans youth. Queer teachers are falsely labeled “groomers” or fired. Molotov cocktails have been thrown through the windows of bakeries that host drag shows, and the Proud Boys disrupt drag queen story hours with guns at their side. The right’s institutionalized dehumanization of LGBTQ people led to the killing of five people at Club Q in Colorado Springs. The language used by conservative pundits, politicians, and media personalities to describe the LGBTQ community is patently eliminationist. One can only assume that the violence perpetuated against LGBTQ people is their expected—and preferred—outcome.
This complacency toward LGBTQ voters isn’t unique to Biden but shared by the entire Democratic Party. The assumption that LGBTQ people are an unwavering portion of the base actually allows the party to support them less. An analysis from MIC showed a pervasive reluctance among Democratic leadership to specifically attack anti-trans policies, preferring broad generalizations about “anti-LGBTQ” laws. In an interview with the Financial Times last year, Hillary Clinton disparaged the party for focusing on “activist causes,” commenting that trans rights are “relevant only to a small minority.” By not aggressively fighting for LGBTQ rights for fear of alienating conservative voters, the Democrats weaken their messaging, sow distrust within the LGBTQ community, and maintain homophobia and transphobia within the party itself. Reporting by The Intercept in 2020 showed that the University of Massachusetts–Ahmherst College Democrats engineered false sexual abuse allegations against Alex Morse, an openly gay man, who was running against incumbent Representative Richard Neal.
Japan's PM steps up efforts to quell criticism over LGBT rights (Kyodo News)
Joe Biden calls for Equality Act at SOTU while GOP attacks trans people in response (LGBTQ Nation)
LGBT Brazilians Compete in Country's First Drag King Contest (US News)
LGBTI Victories in the Caribbean and a Turning Point for LGBTI Rights in the Americas (Global Americans)
LGBTQ youth want role models. Queer elders have a lot of advice. (WashPost)
Memories from the Dancefloor podcast is a deep dive into queer history (Financial Times)
Name change eyed for SF park due to late mayor's support of gay bar raids (Bay Area Reporter)
National LGBTQ Task Force's Creating Change heads to SF for 1st time for the organization’s 50th anniversary (Bay Area Reporter)
OutRight launches humanitarian and global development program (Bay Area Reporter)
Pauli Murray becomes first Black queer person on U.S. currency (Windy City Times)
Pope, Anglican, Presbyterian leaders denounce anti-gay laws (AP)
