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by Joe Mirabella · Dec 07, 2011 · GAY RIGHTSRead More »
In the past two years, more than two dozen LGBT people in Puerto Rico have been murdered, often in very graphic and violent crimes. Puerto Rico's own police department has been singled out by the Justice Department for failing to deal with the high levels of violence faced by LGBT citizens.Yet at a time when violence toward the LGBT community in Puerto Rico is high, the territory's legislature is poised to remove protections from their existing hate crimes law for people based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Outraged that the government would consider removing hate crimes protections for a population already facing epic levels of violence, Jorge Supelveda started a petition on Change.org urging the Puerto Rico House of Representatives to keep the country's hate crimes laws intact.
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by Joe Mirabella · Nov 10, 2011 · GAY RIGHTSRead More »
More than 75,000 people have joined a campaign on Change.orgcalling upon the Union-Scioto School District in Chillicothe, Ohio, to pass an anti-bullying policy that includes sexual orientation and gender identity following the on-campus assault of a gay 15-year-old student was caught on video. Bret Thompson launched the campaign on Change.org after learning about the assault, which no one stepped in to stop. The 15-year-old’s attacker initially received a three-day suspension, which the school adjusted following public outcry.“I started this petition on Change.org because I know Ohio, and this attack does not reflect our values,” said Thompson. “Every child has the right to learn in a safe environment, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.”
“It is inspiring to see so much support for my petition on Change.org,” Thompson continued. “Now it is time for the school district to respond to the 75,000 people who want all students protected in the Union-Scioto School District – including LGBT students.”
The Union-Scioto School District has adopted anti-harassment policies that include sex, race, color, national origin, religion, and disability, but has not specifically moved to protect against harassment or bullying based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
by Joe Mirabella · Nov 02, 2011 · GAY RIGHTSRead More »
Following the on-campus assault of a gay 15-year-old student caught on cell phone video, more than 4,000 people have joined a campaign on Change.org calling upon the Union-Scioto School District in Chillicothe, Ohio, to pass an anti-bullying policy that includes sexual orientation and gender identity.Bret Thompson launched the campaign on Change.org after the assault, which no one stepped in to stop. The 15-year-old’s attacker received only a three-day suspension for the assault.
“I started this petition on Change.org because I know Ohio and this attack does not reflect our values,” said Thompson. “Every child has the right to learn in a safe environment, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.”
The Union-Scioto Ohio School District has adopted anti-harassment policies that include sex, race, color, national origin, religion, and disability, but have not specifically moved to protect against harassment or bullying based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
“The school administrators should be ashamed of their response,” said Thompson. “If they won't send a message to their student body that this is unacceptable, we'll just have to send a message to them.”
by Joe Mirabella · Oct 10, 2011 · GAY RIGHTSRead More »
More than 80,000 people have joined a campaign on Change.org created by the Gay-Straight Alliance Network’s Make It Better Project and the Tennessee Equality Project, calling for the principal of Sequoyah High School in Madisonville, Tennessee to be investigated for an alleged physical and verbal assault on a student who supported a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) club at the school.After denying more than 150 student requests to establish a GSA at Sequoyah High School, Principal Maurice Moser allegedly assaulted a student, 17-year-old senior Chris Sigler, who wore a homemade T-shirt to school that read ‘GSA: We’ve got your back.’ Principal Moser reportedly shoved Sigler, grabbed his arm, and bumped him in the chest while shouting “Who’s the big man now!” at the student.
GSA Network and the Tennessee Equality Project, two organizations working to build safe schools for all students, launched the campaign on Change.org after allegations of Principal Moser’s assault were made public. GSA Network had already been monitoring the situation at Sequoyah and working with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to advance student efforts to establish a GSA club. According to the ACLU, authorities at Sequoyah High School have until this Tuesday to respond to an ACLU letter inquiring about efforts to start a gay-straight alliance at the school.
by Joe Mirabella · Aug 18, 2011 · GAY RIGHTSRead More »
Robert Segwanyi was scheduled for deportation on August 18, from the United Kingdom's Heathrow airport. The UK was sending Robert back to Uganda, where he was tortured with molten plastic and imprisoned for being gay.Robert was spared from deportation at the very last minute according to his friend and fellow gay Urandan refugee John Bosco, "[Robert] is back in the detention centre waiting to hear what's next. He had 5 escorts up to the plane, and as he was about to board the plane the Home Office stopped his deportation. He is very tired and stressed since he has not been sleeping well. He is in pain."
John Bosco told me on the phone that Robert has not been eating well and that he was considering suicide, "Since last Friday, when he was given the deportation notice he stopped eating. He threatened to kill himself, because he has had enough,” said Bosco.
More than 3,500 people signed Paul Canning's Change.org petition asking the Home Office to grant Robert Segwanyi asylum in the UK.
I asked John to make sure Robert knew about the thousands of people fighting for his right to live freely as a gay man in the United Kingdom. John said, "I was overwhelmed with the way people helped him through the petition. I think the petition played a big part in this."
Paul Canning was pleased to hear that Robert would be given more time to make his case, but he is not done working to keep Robert safely in the UK. He may still need your help. He wrote to the people who signed his petition on Change.org, "We won because everybody helped including you, but we won a battle we didn’t win the war. Robert Segwanyi isn’t safe yet, so we may need to come back to you.”
by Joe Mirabella · Aug 16, 2011 · GAY RIGHTSRead More »
In less than 24 hours, more than 800 people have joined a petition campaign started on Change.org calling on the UK's Home Office to halt the deportation of Robert Segwanyi to Uganda, where he was imprisoned and tortured for being gay.Segwanyi is scheduled for deportation on Thursday, August 18, 2011 on Kenya Airways KQ410 which leaves Heathrow Airport at 8:00 PM.
“Robert has been badly represented, which is largely why his case has hit a crisis point,” said Paul Canning, a blogger at LGBT Asylum News who launched the campaign on Change.org. “The UK authorities are also being completely unreasonable. There is plenty of evidence Robert is gay and -- of course -- that Uganda is unsafe.”
Uganda’s government continues to threaten gays and lesbians with the infamous “kill the gays” bill, which if passed would make being gay or lesbian a crime punishable by death. While the bill died at the end of the last Parliament in May, Uganda’s government appears willing to resurrect the measure sometime in August.
Gays and lesbians are regularly arrested and tortured in Uganda, and according to LGBT Asylum News Segwanyi was arrested in 2010 and tortured for being gay. He eventually escaped to the United Kingdom, where he applied for asylum two weeks after his arrival.
by Joe Mirabella · Aug 12, 2011 · GAY RIGHTSRead More »
More than 7,000 people have signed Illinois-resident Lair Scott’s Change.org petition calling on Sesame Street to marry Bert and Ernie.“I started this Change.org petition because I believe we need more media representation of gay and lesbian people in children’s programming,” said Scott. “There are currently no LGBT characters on Sesame Street, nor in any children’s television program.”
Scott sees the campaign as about more than just LGBT characters as individuals, but as family units. According to 2010 U.S. Census data, it is estimated that one quarter of all same gender couples are raising children, and same gender couples are raising children in 96% of the counties in the United States.
“Thousands of kids are growing up in homes with two moms and two dads,” he said. “They need to see families like their own on television.”
by Joe Mirabella · Jul 27, 2011 · GAY RIGHTSRead More »
Yesterday, the Baltimore Orioles released an “It Gets Better” video, becoming the eighth team in professional sports to join the campaign in taking a stand against anti-gay bullying and homophobia and the fourth to release a video. The Giants, Cubs, and Red Sox have all made “It Gets Better” videos after being petitioned by their fans to do so on Change.org, and the Phillies, Twins, Mariners, and Nationals have announced that they are making videos as well.“The Orioles are proud to support the It Gets Better Project and the Trevor Project,” said Orioles Director of Communications Greg Bader in a statement. “Bullying of any kind, for any reason, is unacceptable to our organization, and we are pleased to have our players speak out against this behavior in the hope it will provide encouragement to LGBT youth, and all children, who are facing hatred and prejudice.”
by Joe Mirabella · Jul 27, 2011 · GAY RIGHTS↵ recent storiesRead More »
Apple has removed their iTunes store from the “Christan Values Network” (CVN.org) after more than 22,000 people signed a petition on Change.org started by Ben Crowther, a student and Apple customer concerned about CVN’s funding of anti-gay, anti-women organizations like Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council.The Apple campaign, which picked up significant momentum after 13,000 AllOut.org members signed another petition on Thursday, follows Microsoft’s decision to leave CVN two weeks ago, prompted by another customer-driven campaign on Change.org. Several other companies have removed their online stores since then, including REI, Macy's, Delta Airlines, BBC America, and Wells Fargo.
“From the beginning, I knew that once this issue was brought to Apple's attention, they would not want to be a part of CVN because it funds anti-gay hate groups like Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council,” said Change.org petition starter Ben Crowther. “Apple is a fair-minded business. I'm glad this petition helped make Apple aware of this issue, and I am thrilled that they removed iTunes from CVN.”
Crowther is no stranger to anti-gay bullying. It started in high school when he and his boyfriend were only the second gay couple to come out to their classmates. “The harassment got so bad I had to go to the principal,” Crowther told Change.org.
In college, Crowther's dorm room door was regularly vandalized with anti-gay slurs. “I no longer live in the dorms because the bullying was so bad,” he said.
by Joe Mirabella · Jul 22, 2011 · GAY RIGHTSRead More »
The Philadelphia Phillies announced last night that they will produce an “It Gets Better” video, becoming the seventh team in professional sports to join the campaign in taking a stand against anti-gay bullying and homophobia. More than 2,000 people -- mostly Phillies fans in the Philadelphia area -- signed lifelong Phillies fan Jerome Hunt’s petition to the Phillies, a campaign he was inspired to start in part due to his own experiences being bullied.“Today, I am even more honored to wear my Phillies red because I know that this organization values and respects its LGBT fans, like myself,” said Hunt. “Straight allies do make a difference in creating an inclusive and welcoming environment and I am glad the Phillieshave once again shown why they are an elite organization who truly cares about the community.”
Hunt started his campaign after he saw that another Change.org petition led to the San Francisco Giants agreeing to become the first professional sports team in America to make an “It Gets Better” video. Subsequently, more than 2,000 people signed Hunt’s petition, and last night Philadelphia Weekly reported that the Phillies are in the process of creating an “It Gets Better” video:
“We are getting on board with the project and we’ve had some discussions with the project manager,” said Bonnie Clark, Vice President of Communications for the Phillies. “Based on the conversations we had with him, the time frame we’re looking at is probably going to be in conjunction with ‘Back to School.’”
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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Joe Mirabella
Seattle, WAJoe Mirabella is a Change.org Organizing Manager for LGBT rights.
Joe served as the Social Media Director for the "Approve Referendum 71" campaign to keep domestic partnerships in Washington state. Unlike more than 30 statewide elections before it, Referendum 71 made history as the first expansion of rights for the LGBT community approved by voters in the United States.
He is a regular contributor to several blogs, including the Bilerico Project, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and the Huffington Post. Along with Phil Reese, he co-hosts SameSexSunday, a weekly political roundtable podcast covering LGBT issues that includes conversations with prominent organizers and activists across the movement.
