LGBT

It is my hope that President Obama and Congress are able to work together to positively address our most pressing issues. Read more »

  Compiled by MCJ Staff The second six months of 2013 was about injustice, from a courtroom in Florida to the hallowed chambers of the nation’s highest court, where an iconic ruling protecting the sanctity of voting rights was stripped of its essence. The second half of the year witnessed the celebration of another iconic moment in American and Black American history,… Read more »

  By Lisa Neff   One sun. One light. One ground. One sky. After a bruising, blistering election season, Richard Blanco helped to usher in a new year with those words in his inaugural poem, "One Today," and in his renewed optimism and hope for one country.  "One sun rose on us today, kindled over our shores, peeking over the Smokies,… Read more »

  By Lisa Neff  One sun. One light. One ground. One sky. After a bruising, blistering election season, Richard Blanco helped to usher in a new year with those words in his inaugural poem, “One Today,” and in his renewed optimism and hope for one country.One sun rose on us today, kindled over our shores, peeking over the Smokies, greeting the faces of the… Read more »

  By Ginger Gibson House Democrats have a plan to advance a gay rights bill that Speaker John Boehner has already declared dead: shaming Republicans. It’s a strategy that has worked well for Democrats in the past. A campaign to pressure Republicans into reauthorizing an expanded version of the Violence Against Women Act forced the leadership to put the bill on… Read more »

 Why the south needs more shelters for LGBT youth.  By Joanne Spataro I first stepped into my local LGBT youth assistance agency, Time Out Youth, in the fall of 2012. At the time, the non-profit organization had seen a 419 percent increase in homeless LGBT young people in need of temporary shelter in Charlotte, N.C.  I was there to write a story about why this was… Read more »

  Representatives Mark Pocan (D-WI) and Gwen Moore (D-WI) have introduced legislation in Congress to protect homeless LGBT youth from discrimination. The bill seeks to include LGBT protections within the Reconnecting Homeless Youth Act, which is up for reauthorization this year. Pocan, one of the only openly gay members of the House of Representatives, spoke to the… Read more »

 By Josh King On Thursday, August 1st, Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D-WI) and Congressman Mark Pocan (D-WI) introduced legislation that would provide robust protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) homeless youth – the Runaway and Homeless Youth Inclusion Act (RHYIA). The RHYIA would protect LGBT youth by prohibiting discrimination against youth… Read more »

 By Andrew Cray  Although they comprise only 5 to 7 percent of all youth in America, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth make up an average of 40 percent of all homeless youth in cities across the United States. These youth face a high risk of rejection and abuse in their homes, in their schools, and on the streets. For LGBT children and young adults left… Read more »

 By Daniel Reynolds    Democratic Representatives from Wisconsin Gwen Moore and openly gay Rep. Mark Pocan, have proposed legislation that would provide assistance for runaway and homeless LGBT youth. The Runaway and Homeless Youth Inclusion Act would add language to the Reconnecting Homeless Youth Act, last reauthorized in 2008, to include specific protections… Read more »