October is an Important Month for Queer Folks
#145
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+ Laws/Violence Around the World (Paid Subscribers only)
Monkeypox and Gay/Bi Men’s Public Health
Links, Quotes & Gay Shit
Opinion Essay
The last month had a lot of highs and lows for LGBTQ+ rights (and myself personally). I had to restructure how I format these emails because I kept pushing it off, despite wanting to cover the events that were happening, and fitting everything into one email became near impossible. I enjoy compiling the state of things, both good and bad, but the sheer extent of the bad was started to get a bit overwhelming. Add in starting a new challenge at work in the form of my new position, and I went into an all too familiar shut down mode.
October looked me in the face and said my foggy season must end.
My community and my job needed me to show up. I am one of the point people for our Third Annual Pride Ride and, once I inputted all my to-do’s into Asana the other day…I realized just how much was on my plate at work, too. I am blessed to have a flexible schedule that allows me to time to figure shit out when needed, but I know I need to show up in a big way through the end of the year.
Part of that is restarting my mental health treatment journey with Kaiser. It’s not easy or a sure thing that I’ll be able to find help (before factoring in their massive strike), but it’s worth it to try if it helps get my anxiety/depression under a little more control. My primary doctor asked me again if I’d like to try medications, but I don’t want to deal with the weight gain or lack of sex drive which is common with SSRIs. Then again, maybe it’d be worth it for the peace of mind? I really want to try having a regular therapist first and work on maintaining my routines rather than finding excuses to let them slip away again. Even if I gotta rely on gamification to do it! (Ashamed to say…closing my rings and creating streaks really works on me.)
As my partner keeps reminding me, it’s all about the journey, so I’ll keep y’all posted as I make progress, even when said progress is starting over again (again).
Fittingly for LGBTQ+ History Month, we’ve seen some historic wins recently:
President Biden pardoned all prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession and called on governors to pardon simple state possession offenses.
Cuba passed its new Family Code, which legalized gay marriage and gay adoption, and redefined rights for women, children, grandparents, surrogacy, and more. The effort represented a massive demonstration of socialist democracy, with the government hosting 79,000 neighborhood meetings that received more than 300,000 suggestions from citizens. The Family Code was heavily promoted by the government and a member of the Castro family has been a huge proponent of LGBTQ+ rights for decades, so the victory was a long-time coming. Personally, I enjoyed seeing a socialist country set a new bar for Queer rights in our more-often-than-not progressive hemisphere. The support of the Castro’s was of course necessary for passage, but it’s a direct challenge to the results of liberal democracy (which I firmly believe performs best when forced to compete).
Monkeypox cases are going down nationwide! I’ve gotten both shots and my partner got his first one recently. SF’s case rate has slowed exponentially, which is great to hear since every Queer man I know has gotten at least one shot.
Thousands of students in Virginia walked out of class to protest anti-trans policies, giving me a little more hope about the future.
And some historic losses:
The Senate Democrats were unable to secure 60 votes to codify same-sex and interracial marriage into law, so they withheld a vote until after the midterms where they are “confident” that the Republicans will stick to their word and pass it in the lame duck session after the elections. I expect them to pull their typical Lucy with the football, but we shall see in November. (Don’t hold your breathe.)
The UN officially declared LGBTQ+ rights are declining in the US:
An independent UN human rights expert on Tuesday warned that the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse (LGBT) people are being “deliberately undermined by some state governments in the United States”, urging more action on the part of the Biden administration to protect them.
Stay safe and healthy, beautiful people.
As always, thanks for reading.
Kyle (@kgborland)
A List of LGBTQ+ Wins
3 words that have launched a revolution in Iran & why LGBTQ people are using them (LGBTQ Nation)
9th Circuit upholds Washington state's ban on conversion therapy for minors (Bay Area Reporter)
464 LGBTQ+ Candidates Endorsed by LGBTQ Victory Fund, the Most in its 31-Year History (Victory Fund)
Angry judge blocks Montana’s latest attempt to stop trans people correcting their birth certificates (LGBTQ Nation)
Anti-LGBTQ fervor is driving people away from Christianity (Reckon, SAGE, WaPo)
Arizona students walkout in protest of new anti-LGBTQ laws (AZ Mirror)
Biden notes LGBTQ, intersex rights in UN General Assembly speech (Washington Blade)
Challenging traditional sertanejo, Brazil's Gabeu creates space for queer love songs (NPR)
Courts have blocked a number of the anti-LGBTQ laws from going into effect (NPR)
Despite ban and protests, LGBTQ organizers move forward with EuroPride march in Serbia (euronews, PBS Newshour)
DOJ sues on behalf of gay tenant harassed by property manager (LA Blade)
Drag queens and TikTokers: queer Fijian influencers challenging traditional notions of masculinity (The Guardian)
For LGBTQ youths, Des Moines' all-ages drag show is about more than just performing (Des Moines Register)
For the first time in U.S. history, two openly LGBTQ+ candidates face off in congressional race (NBC News, The Hill)
Gay Black Man Awarded $4.5M After He Was Attacked by Religious Patrol (Advocate)
Gay French blood donor wins rights case over 'homosexual' data (France 24)
House Democrat introduces bills to create national LGBT museum in DC (The Hill)
Human Rights Campaign selects its first Black, queer female leader (The Hill)
Inside Dutch queen's convo with SF LGBTQ leaders (Bay Area Reporter)
Italy adopts new LGBT strategy just before right-wing takeover (DW)
Large gaming event set for Florida canceled because of Don’t Say Gay law (LGBTQ Nation)
LGBT solidarity march in Norway for canceled Pride parade (ABC News)
One activist is using the World Cup to raise awareness of LGBTQ rights in Qatar (NPR)
Queer Hungarians in Berlin: 'We can finally hold hands in public' (DW)
Queering translation: Locating queerness in Indian languages (Hindustan Times)
SCOTUS reverses course on religious school’s LGBTQ club in 5-4 vote (WaPo)
Slovenia has legalized LGBTQ marriage and adoptions (LGBTQ Nation)
Southern Fried Queer Pride Is Black Trans Power Personified (them)
Tunisia’s LGBTQ scene celebrates Mawjoudin Queer Film Festival (AL-Monitor
Ukraine: LGBT soldiers fight stereotypes on and off the battlefield. (France 24)
Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws/Violence Around the World
Unfortunately, the wave of backlash tends to amass more news so I had to separate it into a separate post altogether. I’ll include some stories in my essays, but for the compilation of links and stories, folks will need to upgrade to a paid subscripton.
Monkeypox and Gay/Bi Men’s Public Health
26,577 cases in the US and 71,096 cases around the world (CDC)
Black gay community concerned monkeypox response is inadequate (NBC News)
Gay men are the “canary in the coal mine” of future pandemics, warns doc seeking HIV cure (Queerty)
Gay Men Have Higher Risk for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Physician’s Weekly)
Let’s talk about sex: tailoring prostate-cancer care for LGBT+ people (Nature)
Monkeypox Claims First US Victim: What You Need to Know (CNET)
One of the worst meningitis outbreaks in U.S. history is ravaging Florida's gay men (Orlando Weekly)
Southern States’ Lackluster Monkeypox Efforts Leave LGBTQ+ Groups Going It Alone (KHN)
What to know about monkeypox now: Brown University experts weigh in (Brown University)
Links, Quotes & Gay Shit
33 Essential LGBTQ+ Horror Movies (Rotten Tomatoes)
A New Generation of Queer Bars Are Betting on a More Inclusive Future (them)
Adrie Rose on the ties between TERFs, SWERFs, and white supremacy (Sex and the State
For queer Asians, community means family (Xtra)
For Queer Couples, Engagement Rings With Subversive Stones (NYTimes)
Mischa Byruck cares more about prison abolition than gender abolition (Sex and the State)
Netflix Removes LGBTQ Tag From ‘Dahmer’ After Backlash From Viewers: ‘Not The Representation We’re Looking For’ (Variety)
On Being Black, Gay, and Jewish—And Finding Radical Self-Love (Vogue)
On the Radical Possibilities of Queer Friendship (LitHub)
Shudder's Queer for Fear: A History of Queer Horror Entertains as Much as It Educates (Gizmodo)
Queer People Are Capitalists Too Sometimes (Mother Jones)
Rina Sawayama’s Believes Pop Can Save Us (them)
The Difficulty of Writing About Male Intimacy (LitHub)
The Role of Sexual Orientation and Gender in Workplace Experiences of Cisgender LGB Employees (Williams Institute)
Yes, transphobia exists in San Francisco, too (SF Chronicle)