BLAZING TRAILS

April 20, 2016
8 WINDY CITY TIMES
Pro-LGBT organizations
criticize N.C. order
After signing an anti-LGBT rights bill, House
Bill 2, that drew nationwide condemnation,
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory, on April 12,
issued an executive order that he claimed
“expanded” the state’s employment policy to
include sexual orientation and gender identity—but
which maintains the bill’s provisions
that force transgender people to use the wrong
restroom while prohibiting workplace discrimination
based on sexual orientation and gender
identity for state employees.
ACLU of North Carolina Acting Executive Director
Sarah Preston said, “Gov. McCrory’s actions
today are a poor effort to save face after
his sweeping attacks on the LGBT community,
and they fall far short of correcting the damage
done when he signed the harmful House
Bill 2 into law which stigmatizes and mandates
discrimination against gay and transgender
people. With this executive order, LGBT individuals
still lack legal protections from discrimination,
and transgender people are still
explicitly targeted by being forced to use the
wrong restroom.
“An impressive and growing number of businesses,
faith leaders and public figures have
come out to condemn House Bill 2 as an unnecessary
and dangerous measure that unfairly
targets gay and transgender people. Regardless
of political affiliation, more and more political
leaders also understand that discrimination is
bad for business and politically toxic. The public
believes in equality and fairness and House
Bill 2 and measures like it are out of step with
the values of most Americans.
“Efforts to divide the LGBT community by
extending limited protections but leaving
in place the rules mandating discrimination
against the transgender community will only
strengthen our resolve to fight back against
this discriminatory and misguided legislative
action. We call on Gov. McCrory and the North
Carolina legislature to repeal House Bill 2 and
replace it with full non-discrimination protections
for all LGBT people.”
Lambda Legal Staff Attorney Kyle Palazzolo,
in a separate statement, said, “The devastating
blow of HB 2 will not be fixed by the band-aid
of an executive order. While this is an improvement
for the state employees it impacts, HB 2’s
reach goes far beyond what the executive order
addresses and that’s why we are challenging
this extreme and discriminatory measure—in
order to ensure that everyone who lives in and
visits North Carolina is protected under the law.
“HB 2 is an attack on fairness in employment,
education, and local governance that
encourages discrimination against thousands
of LGBT people who call North Carolina home,
and it particularly targets transgender people.”
National Center of Transgender Equality Executive
Director Mara Keisling weighed in, saying,
“It’s obvious that Gov. McCrory is trying to
save his reputation with this desperate move.
His executive order says that transgender state
employees are protected from discrimination,
but they still can’t use the restroom at work.
It doesn’t make sense. In fact, the order does
nothing to change the government-mandated
discrimination against all trans people in public
buildings across the state. And it doesn’t
change the fact that most LGBT people in the
state still have zero protections against discrimination.
If Gov. McCrory thinks anyone is
going to fall for this, he has completely underestimated
North Carolinians—and the rest
of the nation.”
Lambda Legal, the ACLU and the ACLU of
North Carolina recently filed a lawsuit challenging
House Bill 2. The lawsuit argues that
through HB 2, North Carolina sends a purposeful
message that LGBT people are second-class
citizens who are undeserving of the privacy,
respect, and protections afforded others in
the state. The complaint argues that HB 2 is
National Center of Transgender Equality
(NCTE) Executive Director Mara Keisling.
Photo from NCTE
unconstitutional because it violates the Equal
Protection and Due Process clauses of the Fourteenth
Amendment by discriminating on the
basis of sex and sexual orientation and invading
the privacy of transgender people. The law
also violates Title IX by discriminating against
students and school employees on the basis of
sex.
The Obama administration is presently considering
whether North Carolina’s House Bill 2
makes the state ineligible for billions of dollars
in federal aid for schools, highways, and
housing. North Carolina receives more than
$4.5 billion in federal funding for secondary
and post-secondary schools, all of which remains
at jeopardy given the state’s policy of
systemically violating Title IX, which prohibits
sex discrimination, including discrimination
against transgender students.
Oldham sentenced
to six months in jail
By Matt Simonette
Frank Oldham Jr., the former executive director
of the National Association of People
with AIDS (NAPWA), was sentenced to
six months in jail after pleading guilty to
embezzlement, according to the Washington
Blade.
A Montgomery County, Maryland, circuit
court judge sentenced Oldham April 4 for
the incidents, which allegedly took place
in 2012. Oldham was active in a number
of organizations and agencies across the
country, including stints in Chicago as executive
director of Horizons Community
Services (which later became Center on
Halsted) and assistant commissioner at the
Chicago Department of Public Health.
In September 2015, Oldham was the subject
of a six-count indictment for stealing
between $10,000-$100,000 from NAPWA,
which later filed chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Oldham admitted to charging $11,238 on
a misappropriated NAPWA credit card, but
did not admit guilt in any other allegations.
Judge Steven G. Salant sentenced Oldham
to five years in jail, but suspended all
but six months.
The Washington Blade article is at
http://bit.ly/1Yld3sa.
You, Me, and A.D.
One might want to know what A.D. stands
for. It does not stand for After Death. I
believe that is used in biblical terms.
When talking about A.D. I am referring
to the “American Dream.” The American
Dream is a dream not only about wealth
but is about everyone getting a chance to
do their best no matter what their family
or financial background. The question that
has been asked in many different ways is,
do you think the American Dream is alive
and available to everyone? The American
Dream is only available to some and not
others because not everyone can afford it
and others are not treated fairly.
According to Brandon King, in The
American Dream Dead, Alive, or on Hold?,
many liberal economists and activists say
that the American Dream is dead, “but I
say that it`s more alive and important than
“Homeless people are another
example of why the American dream
is not available to everyone. There
are a number of reasons why there
are still homeless people in America.
Affordable housing is the most
common reason.”
ever.” He most likely feels that everyone can
attain the American Dream. I do not agree
with his statement. Most people might think
that the A.D., but I believe the American
Dream is dead. If the A.D. was alive why are
there still individuals who are struggling?
I find it ironic how blind people are
to what is really going on with a certain
ethnic group or culture. For example one
might assume that “Immigrants remind us
that the American Dream is still possible.”
People think that if some immigrants come
to America and find okay jobs, the American
Dream is still possible. This is so not true.
Immigrants are one of the groups of people
that are struggling to acquire the American
Dream. Most immigrants come to America to
try and achieve the American Dream. Some
of them do reach it but there is still a huge
chunk of them that do not. They have to go
through so much just to live in America. If
you do not have the right kind of paperwork
you cannot be in this country. They have
to constantly renew green cards in order to
stay here. Some of them are only allowed
in America if they are working or going to
school. The overall goal for them coming to
America was to make a better life for their
family and or themselves. How is kicking
someone out of America for not having
proper paperwork helping them achieve
their American Dream? No one should be
forced to stay in a country they do not want
to. Unless some immigrant’s version of the
American Dream is to come here and get
kicked out, then the American Dream is not
available to them.
Homeless people are another example of
why the American dream is not available
to everyone. There are a number of reasons
why there are still homeless people in
America. Affordable housing is the most
common reason. It practically cost an arm
and leg just to live in a studio apartment.
Life
by Breezy CONNOR
A lot of people are not even purchasing
homes any more. According to the They Say
I Say handbook, “A recent study showed
a decrease in home ownership from 69%
in 2005 to about 66.5% in 2010, and
an increase in renter households of 1.1
million.”
My guess to why this happened is
because of non-affordable housing. I know
there are hundreds of housing programs
out there. These programs are supposed to
accommodate people who cannot live in
market-rent homes and apartments. Here
is the problem with these programs: If you
do not fall into a certain group, population,
or category it is hard to get accepted into
these programs. Also if you are lucky to get
into some of these housing opportunities
the expectations are extremely high. These
places require you to follow stupid rules
and do a billion things
just to maintain your
spot in the program. One
of these obscene rules
would be, no overnight
quests. If you are not a
person that likes to be
alone this could be an
uncomfortable situation.
It is impossible to live
the American Dream when
people are constantly
breathing down your neck
about rules.
I have witnessed a
lot of mentally ill people
not living the American
Dream. A bunch of these people cannot
afford their medications. Medication is way
too expensive. People end up in mental
hospitals and sometimes dead because they
are no longer on their medicine. “Mentally
ill people would be able to afford their
medications if the income gap was closed.
This would possibly lead them to more
productive lives and on their way to living
their A.D.
The next group of people I feel the A.D.
is not available for are veterans. Brandon
King thinks that “People do not want to
live lavish lives, they just want to live
average, save money, and have a secure
job.” He probably thinks that living lavish
has become so farfetched in people’s minds
that they settle for average living. I am
not disagreeing with that. Sad part about
that is not everyone will be able to live an
average lifestyle either. This is really hard
for veterans to accomplish as well. I feel
they get the worst treatment out of everyone
when trying to achieve their American
Dream. They fought for our country and can
barely get any needs met. There are billions
of veterans who suffer from post-traumatic
stress disorder, homelessness and addiction.
These three things make it impossible to
maintain employment. In my opinion they
should be the first in line to receive any
help, job or housing opportunities. They go
fight for us so we can obtain the American
Dream only to come back from combat and
basically be treated like dirt.
The final group of people I would like
to touch base on are poor trans people of
color. I am not just referring to African
Americans. I am referring to anyone who
is not Caucasian. One would like to believe
historian James Truslow Adams when said
the American Dream was “that dream of
Turn to page 30
Breezy Connor is a homeless youth activist who helped coordinate the Windy
City Times’ LGBTQ Homeless Youth Summit. This is part of a series of columns
Breezi is contributing to Windy City Times.