the U.S. Supreme Court will hear three cases that have the potential to drastically change the status of LGBT equality in the United States. LGBT people could soon find themselves living in a nation where federal law says it is legal for them to be denied a job, fired, discriminated against at school, denied a loan, rejected by a doctor, and evicted from an apartment, simply because they are LGBT.

Protect Trans Health today by submitting a comment to ProtectTransHealth.org

During the 12th annual observance of National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, NYHAAD Ambassadors and youth activists reaffirmed that young people receive poor quality of care due to stigma, lack of healthcare providers’ awareness, and insensitivity to the unique needs of this community.

Our young people highlighted the challenges faced by young people living with and vulnerable to HIV, offered insight on how they thrive, and enhanced the awareness among physicians, policymakers, and youth-serving organization staff, etc. about the existing disparities in order to provide a more comprehensive, competent evidence-based care to this community.

I remember a #health class in high #school in which the lesson that day was about #HIVtransmission routes and the instructor informed us that HIV could be transmitted through a can of soda. Shocked, I politely, yet firmly, let him know that that was absolutely untrue. After going back and forth for a while, I realized that my point would not get across to my instructor. Fortunately, my classmates listened and affirmed me and that was all that truly mattered.

As someone who was born to a mother living with HIV, I was exposed to conversations and information that many of my peers were shielded from. I thought of myself as a natural-born activist because of my situation, and it was important to me that others have medically accurate information.

People tend to have a knee-jerk reaction when it comes to comprehensive sexual health education, discussions about access to condoms, and prevention methods such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a once-daily pill regimen that can help a person remain HIV-negative. Young people are often infantilized and denied proper, life-saving information because it goes against the supposed morals of their parent or medical provider.

The support that I received from my peers about HIV misconceptions reflect studies that show that young people themselves are dissatisfied with the state of #sexeducation. They know they’re being left in the dark, so when they reach out to to satisfy their inevitable curiosity, we must ensure they’re getting facts, not fantasy.

Jamanii, New Orleans

LGBT Health Awareness week highlights challenges faced by LGBT youth, offers insight on how they thrive, & enhances the awareness among physicians, policy makers, etc. about the existing disparities in order to provide competent care. Download the social media toolkit here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bcI03GQ1-iApi3UgTOvQtQnbNlI6ZYQM

The Category Is… Happy International Womxn’s Day

“Being an immigrant in the U.S. is hard.”

Tonight on @rupaulofficial @rupaulsdragrace Mercedes Iman Diamond, the first Muslim Drag Queen on the show, got candid about her experiences in the U.S. as an immigrant. Originally from Mombasa, Kenya, Mercedes noted that “I used to travel a lot [for pageants]. It was just like so hard for me to fly that I ended up like, I used to drive state to state for shows.”

“They put me on a no-fly list, I used to be for a long time.” Mercedes notes that this was most likely due to her name and the current political climate.

“Because my name sounded “Muslim” they put me on a watch list.” I was like I’m a drag queen, what am I going to do?!”

“Because I couldn’t fly I was on the road all the time, to the extent of fainting during a show and having to use a wheelchair.”

The watchlist is a part of the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Database that has long been challenged for it’s “bloated, discriminatory, and unfair” practices.

The @aclu_nationwide believes the No-Fly List to be unconstitutional and is challenging the process in court. There is a process to remove yourself from the watchlist, and Mercedes says she’s no longer on it.

Sylvester James, who performed as “Sylvester,” is an extraordinary figure in LGBTQ history. He became the first, and perhaps only, gay “disco diva.”

In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, he was an unapologetically queer presence in an era not very warm to LGBTQ voices, an artist who embraced the gender spectrum decades before ‘gender queer’ became part of the national conversation.

At the age of 41 #Sylvester died of AIDS-related complication but his voice, videos, and songs continue to inspire us all to dream, sing, and dance as free as we can. For instance, he attained particular recognition in San Francisco, where he was awarded the key to the city. In 2005, he was posthumously inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame, while his life has been recorded in a biography and made the subject of both a documentary and a musical.

In December 2016, #Billboard magazine ranked him as the 59th most successful dance artist of all-time.

Janelle Monaé Robinson is an African-American singer, songwriter, actress, and producer. Monaé was recently nominated for two Grammy awards: “Dirty Computer” for Album of the Year and “Pynk” for Best Music Video. Although Monaé did not win in either category, she dedicated the nominations to her “Trans Brothers and Sister.” She also spoke of how difficult it can be as a creative person who “color[s] outside the lines,” to also be out as a queer black woman.

In an interview with Rolling Stone last year, Monaé told the publication that she identities as pansexual. Unlike bisexuality, pansexual usually means being attracted to anyone regardless of their gender.

#WeStan

“I want to live the rest of my life, however long or short, with as much sweetness as I can decently manage, loving all the people I love, and doing as much as I can of the work I still have to do. I am going to write fire until it comes out of my ears, my eyes, my noseholes–everywhere. Until it’s every breath I breathe. I’m going to go out like a fucking meteor!”

Audre Lorde (1934-1992) was an Afro-Caribbean writer, activist, and self-described “black, lesbian, mother, warrior and poet.

She empowered her readers with her moving poetry often tackling the injustices of racism, sexism and homophobia. She’s known for her poetry and memoirs such as, From a Land Where Other People Live, The Black Unicorn and A Burst of Light. 

Today we shout #HappyBirthdayAudreLorde