GAYLETTER

Earlier this week, the current “president” was on Twitter asserting that “the US government will not allow transgender individuals to serve in the U.S. military,” and then reasoned (without grammar as usual) that the medical costs for having transgender individuals in the military would be “disruptive” and “burdensome.” So yeah, this is just your weekly reminder that Donald Tr*mp is a fucking transphobic scum. Also, just a heads up that providing necessary services for troops who are trans would cost anywhere from 0.004-0.017% of the Defense Department’s $49.3 billion-dollar health care budget. It’s really important in a time when transgender and gender non-conforming communities are subject to discrimination and oppressive rhetoric that we speak up and support the “T” in our LBGTQ+ community. 2016 was the deadliest year for transgender americans with 27 individuals murdered (predominantly trans women of color), and so far in 2017 there have been 15 recorded murders. If you aren’t saying or doing anything about Tr*mp’s new ban or trans & gender non-conforming issues in general, donating to The National Center For Transgender Equality is a great place to start! They do vital work for trans and gender non-conforming communities. However you feel about the U.S. military, it’s important to recognize the effect this ban will have on the estimated 15,000 active serving transgender troops who are, as our fav Janet Mock put it, putting their lives on the line for a country and president that have not and will not fight for them. TRANS PEOPLE ARE NOT A BURDEN.  —Gayletter

I don’t know why they want to protest Trump’s failures as a president, as far as I am concerned, the fact that he hasn’t managed to get anything done makes him a great success, because all his ideas are terrible for the country. This shouldn’t be a protest it should be a party where we all celebrate how wonderfully ineffective our orange cheeto prez is. His travel bans have been blocked, his funding restrictions to Sanctuary Cities have been stopped, his healthcare bill went nowhere, the only thing he’s done is elect a Supreme Court Justice, and that only happened because congress blew up the filibuster rule. Regardless, this is a worthwhile event to attend, whether you want to protest the moron or cheer him to keep on “winning” like the true loser he is. Bring a sign and let your voice be heard. “We will rally outside of Trump Tower to share all the ways that Trump is putting people at risk and making life harder for ordinary folks, with signs, flyers, and chants detailing 100 ways that the administration is reversing progress.” SAD!  —tom

Act Up was started in 1987 as a response to the AIDS crisis. Gays were dropping like fucking flies and surprise, surprise, the hetero, white majority who ran this country didn’t give a shit. Remember when Ebola was a thing a few years back? Remember how that one straight, white doctor returned from Africa to New York with the virus and the whole fucking country jumped into action to stop it from spreading? That was the opposite to what happened when AIDS was killing, not one, but thousands of gay men across the country in the early 80’s. When a smart, responsible reporter named Lester Kinsolving decided to do his job and ask Reagan’s press secretary, Larry Speakes, about the epidemic in 1982, he was laughed at. “'What’s AIDS?' Speakes asked.” “It’s known as the ‘gay plague,'” Kinsolving replied. “I don’t have it,” Speakes replied. “Do you?” At this point 20,849 people in the United States had died of the disease. The president wouldn’t even say the word “AIDS” until 1985. Act Up was a response to a criminal and callous government who was so blinded by their homophobia they willfully let thousands die. I couldn’t think of a better group to celebrate than Act Up, this Thursday, March 30th at their 30th Anniversary March and Rally. And I couldn’t think of a better time to recommit to protecting the lives of LGBTQ people across the country, and the world.  —tom

With the “prime time” announcement last night that our Cheeto Faced Pres has nominated Neil Gorsuch for his Supreme Court pick I thought I would offer an antidote in the form of a conversation with the brilliant Ruth Bader Ginsburg. It took place today (Feb. 1, 2017) at the Virginia Military Institute. “United States v. Virginia (1996), was a landmark case in which the Supreme Court of the United States struck down the Virginia Military Institute (VMI)’s long-standing male-only admission policy in a 7-1 decision.” In the conversation, Ginsberg talks about this progressive case, and how it was another woman, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, whose ruling allowing a man to train at an all-women’s nursing school lay the groundwork for the VMI decision. One of my favorite quotes from RGB is “My mother told me to be a lady. And for her, that meant be your own person, be independent.” Ruth has being an independent woman her whole life, surely exceeding any expectations her mother ever set out for her. At 83 she is still going strong. She only needs to stick around the Supreme Court for another 4 years if we are to maintain its current structure. So please, watch this conversation, and every morning when you wake, send her your love, light and energy. In the words of Rumi “the wound is the place where the light gets in.” Our country is deeply wounded right now, so just imagine how much light can get in.  —tom