News and Current Events - 2017 - 2022

[killersmom]

Oh how very very sad! The world has lost an amazing person and author. I know that Diana is really hurting!

MAY HE REST GENTLY IN PEACE.

[Lyle (Mooska)]

I don't know why, but I have never read any of McMurtry's writing, but I have loved many a film based on his works, like: Hud. The Last Picture Show. Terms of Endearment...and, of course, screenplays he's written. Thank you Larry.

[fritzkep]

A high school friend of mine gave me the Lonesome Dove novel not that long after the miniseries aired. I read it avidly and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Eternal rest grant unto him, let perpetual light shine upon him. He brought great joy to all of us.

[gattaca]

^^^^ An American Icon who gave us much!  R.I.P our dear friend. V.

[Lyle (Mooska)]

Congrats to VA for ending capital punishment!

[fritzkep]

Yes! Fantastic!

[lislis]

https://www.npr.org/2021/03/25/981242121/new-u-k-currency-honors-alan-turing-pioneering-computer-scientist-and-code-break
^^^
Alan Turing was a gay man, whose transformational work in the fields of computer science, codebreaking, and developmental biology, was still not enough to spare him the appalling treatment to which he was subjected

[gattaca]

^^^ Long, long overdue. As a "computer guy"  Turing's contribution was mentioned but not really explained in depth during my college education in the US.  I knew who he was and what he'd worked on but not the depth of this work.  I also knew that the "death by suicide" always seemed (and still does) "too convenient for the time..."  His treatment, when compared to the pillars of computer science he built and envisioned, is hard to believe but not difficult to understand for those times.  Time does not make it any less acceptable then or today.  I applaud the community for finally recognizing a brilliant man who saved millions of lives by making major contributions to computer science that ultimately helped end that awful war. 

Sadly, similar and worse still happens today around the world b/c the PTB always need someone different than themselves to be the "bad actor."... hate and persecution of a minority by the majority is still with us.   

"Turing was embraced for his brilliance and persecuted for being gay," Fleming said. "His legacy is a reminder of the value of embracing all aspects of diversity, but also the work we still need to do to become truly inclusive."   

Stay safe, stay alive!  V.

[lislis]

https://news.trust.org/item/20210401114746-6e72l
^^^
Exactly 20 years ago, one lesbian couple and three gay couples tied the knot in Amsterdam's city hall - making history as the Netherlands became the first country to allow same-sex marriage

[CellarDweller115]

What a great anniversary!!!!

[CellarDweller115]

Virginia becomes 12th state to ban gay/trans panic defense

By Jo Yurcaba - April 2, 2021


Virginia has become the 12th state to ban the use of the “gay/trans panic” defense.

Gov. Ralph Northam signed a bill Wednesday against the defense, which has allowed those accused of homicide to receive lesser sentences by saying they panicked after finding out the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

The bill passed the state House and the Senate in February.

The bill’s author, Democratic Delegate Danica Roem said she first became aware of the defense after Matthew Shepard, a gay man, was murdered in 1998, and the men who killed him used the defense in court, according to the American Bar Association. Then, in 2004, one of the four men who were convicted of killing Gwen Araujo, a trans teenager, also used it.

Roem was a college freshman and knew she was trans when she read about Araujo’s death. It terrified her, she said.

But what made her determined to introduce a bill to ban the defense in Virginia was a letter she has received from a 15-year-old LGBTQ constituent.

“He's out, and he sent me an email asking me to pass this bill, and I came to realize that in 2021, my out teenage constituents are living with the same fear that I did in 1998, after Matthew was killed, and that I did in 2002 after Gwen Araujo was killed,” Roem said. “And you think of how many other people will stay closeted because they have a fear of being attacked, let alone all the other fears that a closeted person who wants to come out has.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/virginia-becomes-12th-state-ban-gay-trans-panic-defense-n1262933

[fritzkep]

Virginia has improved considerably since the last Republican governor left in 2013.

[Lyle (Mooska)]

I'll say! (And good for Virginians not trying to oust Gov. Northam for a past mistake some time ago.)

I was curious as to what the other 11 states are:

The LGBTQ+ “panic” defense has been banned in:

California, 2014
Illinois, 2017
Rhode Island, 2018
Nevada, 2019
Connecticut, 2019
Maine, 2019
Hawaii, 2019
New York, 2019
New Jersey, 2020
Washington, 2020
Colorado, 2020
District of Columbia, 2020
Virginia, 2021

Legislation against the LGBTQ+ “panic” defense has been introduced, but not yet passed, in:

Pennsylvania, 2019 and 2020
Wisconsin, 2019
Texas, 2020
Iowa, 2021
Maryland, 2021
Nebraska, 2021
Florida, 2021
Oregon, 2021
New Mexico, 2021
Vermont, 2021
New Hampshire, 2021
Minnesota, 2021
Massachusetts, 2021

In July of 2018, The Gay and Trans Panic Defense Prohibition Act of 2018 was introduced by Senator Markey (D-MA)  in the United States Senate and by Congressman Kennedy (D-MA) in the United States House of Representatives. The bill was reintroduced in the House and the Senate in June of 2019. Federal LGBTQ+ panic defense legislation has not yet been introduced in the 117th Congress.

[CellarDweller115]

Thanks for the updates, Lyle!   I'm surprised that Massachusetts hasn't passed it yet.  They tend to be very progressive, and they were the first state to legalize same-sex marriage.

[Lyle (Mooska)]

I hadn't thought of that, Chuck, you're right!

I just noticed that the one Congressman and one Senator who introduced the bills in Congress are from MA. Maybe their strategy is to go national so it applies to everyone, I don't know.