1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

LGBT News New Haven roundtable discussion addresses safety of LGBTQ community

Discussion in 'Current Events, World News, & LGBT News' started by bi4pride, Jul 4, 2016.

  1. bi4pride

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jul 2, 2016
    Messages:
    6
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Miami, Flordia
    Gender:
    Female
    Sexual Orientation:
    Bisexual
    U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3, took time this week in the wake of the Orlando mass shootings to meet with members of the Greater New Haven LGBTQ community and talk about both the progress they’ve made in escaping discrimination and the problems that remain.

    The “roundtable discussion” — actually around a rectangular table — included representatives from a host of groups, including the New Haven Pride Center, AIDS Project New Haven, True Colors, GLSEN Connecticut, the city of New Haven, U.S. Attorney Deirdre Daly’s office, and the Triangle Community Center, among others.

    One reason DeLauro gave for having the meeting was, “I want to be equipped to fight on your behalf,” she said. She said she also called it to discuss “how do we make you feel safe?”

    It took place in the New Haven Pride Center on Orange Street on the last day of Pride Month — and just 18 days after the deadliest mass shooting and hate crime in modern American history, in which 49 people were killed on Latino Night at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

    “We make progress” toward eliminating discrimination, DeLauro told the group at the start.

    But she then urged them to “take a look at what some of the state legislatures are doing” to limit reverse that progress — citing recent measures in North Carolina, Georgia, Texas, South Carolina and elsewhere to curtail LBGTQ rights.

    Over the past few years, state legislators across the country have taken extraordinary measures to limit LGBTQ rights, allowing — and sometimes encouraging, discrimination, DeLauro said, prodding those around the table to consider “what we must be vigilant about.”

    She pointed out that the New York Times recently reported that LGBT people are more likely to be targets of hate crimes than any other minority group.

    “LGBTQ Americans are twice as likely as African Americans to be targeted for hate crimes,” DeLauro said.

    To combat those kinds of measures “takes a community ... or a business community saying, “No, this is wrong,” DeLauro said.

    Several around the table, including Pride Center Co-President Josh O’Connell, said as horrible as the Orlando shootings were, they have sparked renewed and expanded efforts not only to fight for LGBTQ rights but to combat gun violence; two issues that had not previously been linked.

    DeLauro agreed, saying, “despite all the underlying causes, there’s an opportunity that we have that we’ve never had” before. “The window is open.”

    Some asked DeLauro how they could help.

    “It’s bewildering to me to come together after each tragedy and find that we’re in a parallel universe” in which nothing changes “because Congress can’t get anything done,” said Andrew Wolf, New Haven’s director of arts, culture and tourism.

    DeLauro pointed out Congress “is an institution that responds” to public input and feedback.

    She did not hide that there is a partisan political issue involved, with members of the GOP fighting against limits on firearms, “but I think they’re going to be overwhelmed.”

    Ultimately, however, “I think we need to change” the makeup of Congress, she said. Others around the table said there is much that needs to change at home.

    “People in our community still don’t feel safe walking down the street,” said Anthony Crisci, executive director of the Triangle Community Center of Norwalk, which serves people in communities as close to New Haven as Shelton and Stratford.

    “We’ve got laws that say you can’t discriminate, but we don’t do training” to teach employers and agencies what those laws require, said Robin McHaelen, executive director of True Colors Sexual Minority Youth and Family Services.

    Layne Gianakos, a prevention service coordinator for AIDS Project New Haven who is trans, suggested that violence and harassment of trans people has increased since Orlando, adding, “A few days after the Orlando shootings, I was harassed.”

    That’s of interest to one of the LGBTQ community’s allies, Connecticut U.S. Attorney Deirdre Daly.

    “Deirdre Daly wants to get the message out that law enforcement is here to use as a resource,” said David Heath, LGBT liaison for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

    Elijah Leigh, an organizer/activist for the Pride Center and GLSEN Connecticut, said that “LGBT youth, especially LGT youth of color, often disproportionately disciplines” in ways that take them out of mainstream life and often into prison.

    Many LBGTQ people “are afraid,” Leigh said. “They’re afraid to come here because they don’t trust authority figures.”

    Yvette Larrieu, a Branford tax accountant, said the fight for equal rights for LGBTQ people “is a fight that I’ve been fighting for 35 years. I’ve always wanted us to get here, but I never thought I’d see it in my lifetime.”

    Peace Out! :thewave: