The U.S. elections were a wake-up call for the “woke,” yet even though the overall results spell danger, there are a number of queer bright spots to celebrate. With commentary by Andy Humm and Ann Northrop of GayUSA, our coverage includes homophobic Georgia gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson, trans U.S. Congressmember-elect Sarah McBride (Delaware), lesbian Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin, lesbian U.S Congressmember Angie Craig (Minnesota), Native American lesbian U.S Congressmember Sharice Davids, gay U.S Congressmember Eric Sorensen, Rocky Mountain Equality Deputy Director Bruce Parker, former U.S, Senator and MSNBC analyst Claire McCaskill and U.S. Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
And in NewsWrap: Mali’s ruling military junta sends a law banning gay male sex to the president for his approval, a previously dismissed lawsuit challenging Connecticut’s transgender-supportive statutes for school sports is going forward again, diversity-equity-inclusion programs crash at global plane-maker Boeing, controversial trans woman darts star Noa-Lynn van Leuven is facing three-time champion Michael van Gerwen in the first round of the Grand Slam of Darts, the MUBI streaming service is cancelling its international film festival in Istanbul after authorities block a screening of the film “Queer,” and more international LGBTQ news reported by Sarah Montague and Joe Boehnlein (produced by Brian DeShazor).
All this on the November 11, 2024 edition of This Way Out!
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Complete Program Summary
for the week of November 11, 2024
U.S. Elections: Take the LGBTQ+ Wins
NewsWrap (full transcript below): Mali lawmakers almost unanimously approve a bill outlawing gay male sex, although no penalties were revealed … a U.S. federal judge reluctantly allows a lawsuit by cisgender female former high school track and field athletes challenging Connecticut law allowing trans girl athletes to compete in their gender identity to go forward … global plane-maker Boeing becomes the latest U.S.-based conglomerate to crash its policies promoting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace … Noa-Lynn van Leuven is set to become the first trans woman to compete in a nationally-televised Professional Darts Corporation tournament against men … global streaming service MUBI cancels its Istanbul International Film Festival after the Turkish government bans the screening of the event’s opening entry, Queer, featuring steamy and explicit gay sex scenes starring Daniel (James Bond) Craig, because its “provocative” content could “endanger public peace” (written by GREG GORDON and LUCIA CHAPPELLE, produced by BRIAN DeSHAZOR, reported this week by SARAH MONTAGUE and JOE BOEHNLEIN) .
Feature: The result of the November 5th U.S. elections was a wake-up call for the so-called “woke.” President-elect Donald Trump’s victory in both the Electoral College and the popular vote will be taken as a mandate for the most anti-progressive promises of his campaign. Pundits and activists foresee a repeat Trump administration free to implement the far-right’s Project 2025 vision for the country — a vision that at worst includes mass deportations, the quashing of civil liberties and potential economic chaos. Yet even though the overall election results spell danger, there are a number of queer bright spots we can report. (featuring commentary by ANN NORTHROP and ANDY HUMM of GayUSA TV, along with trans U.S. Congressmember-elect Sarah McBride (Delaware), lesbian Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin, lesbian U.S Congressmember Angie Craig (Minnesota), Native American lesbian U.S Congressmember Sharice Davids, gay U.S Congressmember Eric Sorensen, Rocky Mountain Equality Deputy Director Bruce Parker, former U.S, Senator and MSNBC analyst Claire McCaskill and U.S. Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris, with reports by DAVID HUNT, AVA DAVIS, MICHAEL TAYLOR-GRAY, MELANIE KELLER, and BRIAN DeSHAZOR, music by BEYONCE).
NewsWrap
A summary of some of the news in or affecting
global LGBTQ communities
for the week ending November 9, 2024
Written by Greg Gordon and Lucia Chappelle,
reported this week by Sarah Montague and Joe Boehnlein,
produced by Brian DeShazor
Mali’s ruling military junta is moving to criminalize private consensual adult gay sex. Only one member of the National Transitional Council voted against sending the legislation on to President Assimi Goita for his approval.
The junta’s Justice and Human Rights Minister Mamadou Kassogue issued this warning after the October 31st vote: “There are provisions in our laws that prohibit homosexuality in Mali. Anyone engaging in this practice, promoting or apologizing for it, will be prosecuted. We will not accept that our customs and values are violated by people from elsewhere. This text will be applied, God willing.”
Mali is a socially conservative, predominantly Muslim West African nation, where Islamic law condemns same-gender sex. The junta has been in power since a coup in 2020. Most Malian Muslims think of gay sex as a Western import. Activist Nginda Nganga slammed that notion, saying, “LGBTQI+ people have always existed, and they always will.” She told The Washington Blade, “It’s a human rights issue, and honestly, I have never understood why some are so concerned about others’ personal choices and private lives … It’s strange.”
To African rights activist Eugene Djoko, the new law is only a distraction. He told The Blade, “According to the minister, anyone who practices, promotes or glorifies homosexuality will be prosecuted; however, restraining personal liberties is not how you will fix the country’s problems.”
The full text of the same-gender sex ban has not been made public, but it is believed to apply only to men. There has been no hint what the penalty for violating the law might be.
A lawsuit challenging Connecticut’s transgender-supportive statutes for school sports will go forward again. U.S. District Court Judge Robert N. Chatigny had initially dismissed the lawsuit after deciding that the plaintiffs did not have legal standing because they were no longer competing in high school sports. The Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed and sent the case back to him. Chatigny bent to the appeals court’s opinion on November 5th.
The plaintiffs are four cisgender female former high school track and field athletes. They claim that they lost college scholarships and other perks because they had to compete against two transgender female sprinters from 2017 through 2019. They’re suing the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference and five local school boards for unspecified monetary damages. The suit also demands the removal of awards and records of any transgender athletes and reranking the results wherever they competed. Finally, the lawsuit demands revocation of the state policy allowing trans athletes to compete in sports based on their gender identity.
Judge Chatigny’s 55-page decision noted that there is “little guidance” on how U.S. courts should deal with the issue of transgender athletes. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 bans discrimination based on sex in any federally funded school program. However, there’s no legal consensus about whether “sex” is the same thing as “gender” – and protections for trans people rests on that semantic distinction.
Chatigny wrote: "This case presents a direct conflict between two interests protected by Title IX: the interest in providing fair competition for biological females, which has long been recognized as a significant governmental interest under Title IX, and the interest in providing transgender girls with opportunities to participate in girls’ sports, which is now protected by a Connecticut state statute."
The battlelines have been drawn: on the plaintiffs’ side is the rabidly anti-queer Alliance Defending Freedom; defending the pro-trans policy are the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation and the ACLU Foundation of Connecticut.
Global plane-maker Boeing is crashing its diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Vice President Sara Liang Bowen is gone, and the rest of her DEI department staff will be integrated into existing human resource teams charged with improving talent and employee experience. Bowen’s farewell post on Linkedin read in part, “It has been the privilege of my lifetime to lead Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at the Boeing company these past 5+ years. Our team strived every day to support the evolving brilliance and creativity of our workforce. … The team achieved so much - sometimes imperfectly, never easily - and dreamed of doing much more still. All of it has been worth it."
With Boeing’s decision, far-right social media maven Robby Starbuck is claiming credit for another U.S. conglomerate abandoning efforts to promote equitable, diverse and inclusive workplace environments. Starbuck says that he warned Boeing Board Chair Steve Mollenkopf weeks ago that he was planning, in his words, "to expose their woke policies.”
Those “woke policies” had included efforts to recruit employees from a variety of minority groups under former CEO Dave Calhoun. He stepped down in early August due to the corporation’s financial troubles. Incoming CEO Kelly Ortberg has vowed to trim staff across the board by at least 10 percent.
Meanwhile, a self-satisfied, anti-“woke” Starbuck declares, “The landscape of corporate America is quickly shifting to sanity and neutrality."
Controversial trans woman darts star Noa-Lynn
van Leuven is facing three-time champion Michael van Gerwen as the first round of the Grand Slam of Darts gets underway. She and 20-year-old star Beau Greaves are the only two women in the draw. For van Leuven, the Grand Slam is an arduous warm-up for the Professional Darts Corporation World Championship coming up at North London’s Alexandra Palace in December.
Van Leuven will be the first trans competitor to appear against men in a televised PDC tournament, being covered live by Sky Sports. PDC Chief Executive Matthew Porter has staunchly defended her right to compete. He told Sky News, “Noa-Lynn’s started to achieve more success in recent years, hence the opposition to her has become more vocal, which is the way of the world. … Again, it’s something we respect but ultimately, we have a policy in place and it’s one that we’re comfortable with.” To Van Leuven, there’s “really [no] difference between men and women” in darts.
If she defeats van Gerwen in the first round, van Leuven will face former World Number One Gary Anderson and qualifier Ryan Joyce. Knockout rounds for the event now in progress start on November 13th. The Grand Slam concludes on November 17th.
Finally, the MUBI streaming service is cancelling its international film festival in Istanbul. Organizers said in a Turkish-language Instagram statement that the District Governorship of Istanbul was upset by the “provocative content” of the opening film, Queer. The much-ballyhooed adaptation of the second novel by famed queer writer William S. Burroughs features several steamy and explicit gay sex scenes with Daniel “James Bond” Craig, Drew Starkey and Omar Apollo. The Turkish government banned the film on the grounds that it “endangers the peace of society.”
MUBI responded by cancelling the entire festival because it said the ban targeted the “very essence and purpose” of the event. In the words of the global streaming platform, production company and film distributor, “We believe this ban is an intervention that restricts art and freedom of expression. Festivals are breathtaking spaces where art and cultural diversity are celebrated, bringing people together. This ban takes not just one movie away from the meaning and purpose of the entire festival.” MUBI went on to thank “all artists, viewers and supporters who were planning to attend the festival and who we believe are as saddened by this situation as we are, for their understanding and solidarity.”
MUBI is available in over 190 countries on the web, and publishes Notebook, a film criticism and news publication.
Queer received a nine-minute standing ovation when it premiered at the Venice Film Festival earlier this year. It will hit cinema screens in the U.S. on November 27th, and on December 13th in the U.K.
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