EP46: From Marches to Milestones: The National LGBTQ Task Force’s Impact on Equality

Join us as we explore the untold stories and key moments in the LGBTQ rights movement through the work of the National LGBTQ Task Force. Hear about pioneers like Dr. Bruce Voeller and Frank Kameny, who helped remove homosexuality from the list of mental illnesses, and Virginia Apuzzo's powerful advocacy during the AIDS crisis.

We'll cover decades of activism, from ACT UP protests to the Creating Change Conference, and how the Task Force shaped federal policy and public opinion. Plus, we'll dive into the intersection of reproductive rights and LGBTQ activism under Kira Johnson's leadership, highlighting the "Ban the Repro Binary" campaign and the enduring significance of National Coming Out Day.

And by the way, if you didn't know, check this out ↴

On July 24, 2024, The National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for President. Their endorsement comes during the active genocide in Palestine. The organization has not endorsed a presidential candidate since its founding in 1973, when they endorsed President Jimmy Carter.

You can read more about it here.

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Transcript

Speaker 1 0:24

Today we're going to be talking about the National LGBTQ Plus Task Force. It was founded in 1973, and it is the oldest national organization in the United States that is dedicated to advancing the rights of LGBTQ plus people.

Speaker 2 0:39

And when it was founded in 1973, it was founded under the name national gay and lesbian task force. So it would take a good while for the name to become what we know it as now, which is the national lgbtq task force. We'll probably just refer to it as the task force throughout this video to make it a little bit easier. Just to clarify for anyone who's like wait, task force, are we still like? We're just going to call it the task force throughout the rest of this video until we're discussing specifically the name change.

Speaker 1 1:07

Sounds easy enough.

Speaker 2 1:08

Aye yai yee. Task force was started by a group of post Stonewall queer activists, and those included Dr Bruce Voeler. I don't know how the fuck you pronounce that last name. It's V-O-E-L-L-E-R. I'm gonna call him Dr Bruce from here on out, because we mentioned him. We mentioned him periodically, so just keep in mind that that is Dr Bruce V-O-L-E-R.

Speaker 1 1:32

Dr Bruce, it is.

Speaker 2 1:33

I'm not trying to pronounce that name 800 times.

Speaker 1 1:35

Totally get that, totally get it.

Speaker 2 1:38

And then there was also Barbara Giddings, frank Kamney, dr Howard Brown, arthur Bell, ron Gold, natalie Rockhill and Martin Duberman.

Speaker 1 1:49

So in October 1973, dr Bruce actually created with these eight people the task force's first ever eight founding members.

Speaker 2 1:58

Some of these founders might sound a little bit familiar to any of our longtime listeners, specifically Frank Kamney, because we talked about him in our episode about the classification of homosexuality as a mental illness. He was one of the many people who became a victim of the Lavender Scare While working as an astronomer for the US government. He was fired once the executive order to no longer allow queer people to work in the federal government went through.

Speaker 1 2:25

In short, the Lavender Scare was where gays and lesbians were targeted by the federal government and they were forced to resign, or they just were forced to be terminated from their positions, with the excuse that federal employees could be blackmailed because of their sexuality. And this went on in the. It started in the late 1940s and continued throughout the 1960s, so for well over a decade.

Speaker 2 2:49

And in the aftermath of this occurring with the Lavender Scare, he ended up starting the task force.

Speaker 1 2:56

Yeah, and he actually wasn't recognized until after death. So he was recognized posthumously, which you know happens a lot more than it should.

Speaker 2 3:04

I didn't realize that.

Speaker 1 3:06

Yeah, and it wasn't until 2009 that the US government actually formally apologized for his firing because he was. He was awesome, like, he was an awesome astronomer, like how cool is that, you know? And just because rumor had it that he was gay, they were just like, oh, you're fired, but his papers were added to the Library of Congress, so he's remembered for all of his contributions toward the LGBTQ plus rights, which is super cool.

Speaker 2 3:32

I love that. I love that we will definitely be doing an episode about him coming up guys, so stay tuned for that one Definitely need an episode about Frank Kamney.

Speaker 1 3:39

Yes, yes, yeah.

Speaker 2 3:40

So not only was Kamney himself involved in the classification of homosexuality as a mental illness, but the task force was involved with and played a huge role in the declassification of homosexuality as a mental illness within literal months of its inception. Like within months of this task force being made by December, like it was made in October of 1973. December of 1973, barbara Giddings, frank Kamney and others within the task force spoke at the APA's national convention alongside another familiar name, dr Henry Anonymous, who was a gay psychiatrist who went undercover in a garnishly made Richard Nixon mask to speak to the APA about the absolutely horrendous mistake that they've made in classifying homosexuality as a mental illness.

Speaker 1 4:36

That seems like a wild process. I can't believe that was even allowed.

Speaker 2 4:39

If y'all are interested in learning more about that whole process that meeting, everything like that we recommend you check out episode 37 of the podcast, which is just all about the classification and declassification of homosexuality.

Speaker 1 4:52

Yeah, that was a really good one. We talked about the transformation from criminalization to medicalization of LGBTQ plus identities. So let's jump back to the task force and what happened after its founding.

Speaker 2 5:05

So it didn't take long after the task force founding for it to already start just like breaking down barriers and making history. Between the 1973, you know, like they were at the APA, they were rocking shit. And by 1977, they were organizing and attending, along with activists from queer rights organization across the country, the first meeting between queer rights activists and the White House under Jimmy Carter's presidency. So this was the first time in US history that queer activists met with people in the White House and it was the task force that helped organize that and get that together and it was their members that went to that Like so cool.

Speaker 1 5:46

So cool. That's really incredible that they made it all the way to the White House in that short amount of time. To like that's a really significant accomplishment.

Speaker 2 5:53

That like that's. What boggles my mind is the fact that it was only a couple of years after their founding that they were. They were hitting the ground, sprinting running yeah. And they ended up meeting with Jean O'Leary, the co-executive director at the time, under the Carter administration. The meeting was set up by Gene O'Leary, who was the co-executive director of the task force at the time, and then the meeting was with Midge Constanza, who was the assistant to Carter's public liaison.

Speaker 1 6:23

Then we go into the 1980s. We need to talk about one person who was definitely a prominent member of the task force. Her name was Virginia Appanzo and she was actually fun fact she was actually a New York native. She was born and raised in the Bronx to Italian parents who migrated here to the US, and she was formerly a nun and she left the convent to go into activism.

Speaker 2 6:48

I love that.

Speaker 1 6:49

Yeah, Isn't that cool. I just when I was doing research on her I noticed she went to SUNY, like the State University of New York, and then she went to Fordham University and I'm like, oh, those are two schools here in New York. I wonder if she's a native New Yorker. And then I started doing some digging on her and I was like, oh, this is really cool.

AIDS Advocacy and Queer Rights

Speaker 2 7:09

That's awesome. I love that. I wonder if she would have had any connection to the Sisters of Self-Indulgence, that convent of queer nuns that was set up during the AIDS epidemic yeah, because she did a lot of fighting against AIDS.

Speaker 1 7:22

Clean shit yeah, she left the convent in 1969, literal days after the Stonewall riots.

Speaker 2 7:30

I would wonder you know what guys let us know if you want an episode about that group, about those nuns, because I would be interested in knowing if she has anything to do with their founding. It doesn't say about it in the task force's history but I'd be interested in knowing that I'd be what it doesn't say about it in the task force's history but I I'd be interested in knowing that. I'd be interested in finding that out.

Speaker 1 7:48

Yeah, me too. I'm very curious because the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence they were queer nuns, I believe, and they explored queer consciousness, but I thought they were drag nuns, so I don't know if she would be part of their four founders and 12 members or if she would have just helped them out along the way.

Speaker 2 8:04

That's fascinating. I love that there is no talking about the 80s and the National Task Force without talking about Virginia. She was a champion during that time. In 83, she testified to Congress about the government's abhorrent lack of a response to the ongoing AIDS crisis. She was arrested on the front steps of the White House for organizing demonstrations and the very next year founded the AIDS Action Council, which was the first advocacy group focusing on funding and research for AIDS. Specifically in this country Getting arrested.

Speaker 1 8:39

that's making a true statement right there.

Speaker 2 8:41

Queen was rocking it. Queen was absolutely going for it, and I mean, of course, the rest of the task force was also doing their damnedest during the AIDS epidemic to get the word out there to save their community. You know they were around for it. They were a queer organization of that time. Of course they were doing something, guys. You know, the same year Apuzio was testifying to Congress, the task force's co-founder, biologist, dr Bruce, was leading the successful effort to change what the CDC referred to as GRID Gay-Related Immunodeficiency Disorder to AIDS Acquired Immunodeficiency Disorder.

Speaker 1 9:20

Yeah, and the reason for that is because there was a high incidence among the gay male population, and calling calling it grid perpetuated that stigma and the misconception surrounding it and basically implied that the disease was exclusive just to an accurate portrayal of what was actually happening. At the same time, he also recognizes that this was harmful. It was basically a misrepresentation of the disease, who it was affecting, what was happening, and just contributed to more stigma in the gay community, and he wanted to change that oh yeah, I know exactly.

Speaker 2 10:05

And again, it completely negates everyone else who got aids children, babies, literal, actual infants born with a like it. It negates and and that negation causes death, that that negation leads to people dying in droves because they didn't even know what they were dying from.

Speaker 1 10:29

Yeah, it was a scary time.

Speaker 2 10:30

Like they never. They never got it checked out because they assumed oh, I can't get that, I'm not a gay man.

Speaker 1 10:37

Yeah, and to add to what you just said, kit, it also at this point, because it was affecting more diverse populations, people understood that, okay, now we have to actually put more effort and energy and resources behind the research and the prevention and the treatment efforts, and that this is actually a more broader public health issue than just one population of people. Like it benefits everyone.

Speaker 2 11:01

Yeah, oh yeah, absolutely, especially considering that that you know this was during the reagan administration, which was very much during the period of time of like the, the I would say almost the birth of morality politics. You know what I mean.

Speaker 2 11:15

the birth of like me, if I, me and mine are better than you and yours and here's, which means we deserve help from the government and you don't Like it almost felt like that was where all of that I don't want to say started, because I definitely feel like that could be traced back further. Now that I think about it, like that can almost certainly be traced back to Jim Crow. That can almost certainly be traced back to actually hold on I'm cooking here. That can almost certainly be traced back to slavery, segregation, jim Crow, bull, connor days, like 100%. That morality and retrospectability politics is old, but I think this was the first time white people saw it being used against them.

Speaker 2 12:01

Oh, and they didn't like that, yeah, it was the first time. It was aimed not just at people of, not even not just that, but at a, you know, a wider, a wider net, if you will. It was the first time that white people were experiencing morality politics the way that black people have been experiencing it for since, yeah, since the birth of this nation, absolutely, even like indigenous people were experiencing it. For, you know, like, but I think that you could say, like the 80s and the reagan administration is one of the first time that, like, white people experienced respectability politics and the morality politics of.

Speaker 1 12:39

I'm better than you and this is why, and that, because of that, I deserve this and you don't right, yeah, and that shift from grid to aids definitely was a very significant step in the fight against aids, but also, like you said, it spills over into other things that were very needed in terms of needing to evolve. Yeah absolutely.

Speaker 2 13:01

yeah, that's huh, I didn't even really think about that. That has a way older history, wow.

Speaker 1 13:07

Yeah, and actually the old name, grid transforming and new executive director named Jeff Levy.

Speaker 2 13:14

The task force moved their headquarters from New York to Washington DC just to further solidify their commitment toward working toward queer rights on every level. You know what I mean Like going toward the federal government. So they placed their headquarters right in Washington DC, where I believe their headquarters are to this very day.

Speaker 1 13:46

That's a pretty intentional move. It's pretty insightful. It's act as if Get closer to the rooms you want to be in.

Speaker 2 13:52

Absolutely, I say in the exact same year. It was also the first time since the start of the AIDS crisis that the task force obtained federal funding for community-based AIDS services, that the task force obtained federal funding for community-based aid services, so this was like the first funding that they were able to get to really to actually help aides in community-based ways.

Speaker 1 14:13

The fact that they got that help within the first year of being there is amazing. It's incredible.

Speaker 2 14:18

I know it's fantastic. As said on the National Task Force website, this is a quote directly from their website about Jeff Levy. As said on the National Task Force website, this is a quote directly from their website about Jeff Levy. Levy devoted the next four years of his tenure as executive director advocating for effective federal policy and funding for AIDS and fighting homophobic legislation from policymakers Like Manns went hard.

Speaker 1 14:40

Yeah, I mean, he spent every ounce of his efforts over a four year period advocating for policies and fighting the AIDS epidemic. It's amazing.

Speaker 2 14:51

On top of this, levy founded a separate coalition known as the National Organization Responding to AIDS, or NORA for short, which was pivotal in the government, defining AIDS as a public health emergency. Like they made that happen.

Speaker 1 15:06

And it didn't stop there, which makes this even more incredible.

Speaker 2 15:09

Oh, you know, absolutely it didn't. I don't it's. The thing is like I love these organizations that just keep going, like the fact that, like, act UP is still a thing. I love the fact that ACT UP is still a thing, y'all. If y'all don't know this, act UP is still a thing. They have a website. I recommend checking it out. They have some fantastic information about the Free Palestine Movement, including the fact that right now, we should not be interacting with the Human Rights Campaign, because the Human Rights Campaign gets a lot of money from weapons manufacturers who are right now dropping bombs on children in Gaza.

Speaker 1 15:46

Yeah, one of HRC's partners is Northrop Grumman, which is a worldwide military company, and they supply weapons and missiles for Israel. And if you look at the HRC site, it says that Grumman is a platinum partner, which makes them one of the top funders of the organization.

Speaker 2 16:05

Same with GLAAD. Glaad has the same thing. Glaad also gets funding from Lockheed Martin.

Speaker 1 16:11

Yeah, I heard about GLAAD, but I didn't know about the HRC until recently, which is very disheartening.

Speaker 2 16:16

ACT UP.

Speaker 1 16:17

ACT UP all the way. Good to know. I will look into ACT UP further.

Speaker 2 16:25

Yeah, check out their website. They still sell like the pink triangle pins and shit, like they still. They still got their shit on lock. I love it, but, yeah, unfortunately yeah, I found that out from going to their website because they on their front page act up has the human rights campaign banner, except the equal symbols have been turned into missiles what that's jaw-dropping? Oh my god because act up is calling them the fuck out.

Speaker 1 16:43

Well, they need to be called out, that's. I'm just very stunned, I mean I'm in shock, uh-huh, and a little sad, yeah, because why Fuck, come on.

Speaker 2 16:54

I got it. I got it. It's like how Lockheed Martin releases Pride merch.

Speaker 1 16:58

Fucking ridiculous.

Speaker 2 16:59

Like insane, insane behavior. Yeah, just remember, guys, if you know, the conservatives get their way and trans people actually start getting attacked in the streets and like shit gets really, really bad. It's gonna be the guns that claim to be on our side, the people oh, yay, gay pride, the Lockheed Martins that are gonna be pointed against us corporations. Don't got your back. Community has your back.

Speaker 2 17:25

So, yes, so many of us I'm sure just about every queer person knows the second March on Washington. We all know about the first March on Washington and we all know about the second March on Washington, the second March on Washington, which was known as the second March on Washington for lesbian and Gay Rights. It occurred in October of 1987. Few know that it was the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force who played a massive role in organizing the second March on Washington. Huge, that march most likely wouldn't have happened without that organization's work to make it happen. Mind you, there were plenty of other organizations that also worked diligently to make the second march on Washington happen. But I feel like, personally, the task force is pretty forgotten, in that I mean, it's to the point where most of us didn't even know we had a task force.

Speaker 1 18:18

I concur. I think that's a pretty accurate statement to say I didn't know.

Speaker 2 18:23

We do, and that task force made the second march on Washington happen and that's important to remember. I feel like, yeah.

Speaker 1 18:30

Yeah, this march was actually one of the ones where the AIDS Memorial quilt was displayed for the first time on the National Mall. Yeah, and that quilt actually commemorated those who had died from AIDS and it helped to raise more awareness about what was actually going on with the epidemic in general. And I feel like that March also had a lot of workshops and different things like networking events and opportunities for education, but it was more about the community building right, it was more about gathering the community together.

Speaker 2 19:00

Just, yeah, just to teach and learn and also just to mourn. To mourn, there was a lot, I'm gonna cry. There was so much of that march that was just about mourning and loving and remembering those that we've lost and promising to fight in their memory, especially with that quill.

Speaker 1 19:22

And the Creating Change Conference, like just the title of that in and of itself, just speaks to the clarity of what they're doing.

LGBTQ Activism Highlights Through the Decades

Speaker 2 19:29

What I also really love about the second march on Washington, speaking of ACT UP, the second march on Washington would also be where activists with ACT UP would receive national media attention for the first, but not the last time. So it was this march that they put them on the map. Yeah, exactly, and and from there I mean we've talked, we've spoken about act up before. They were pivotal during the aids crisis. Act up, their protests to the fda are the reason why nowadays, if you are terminally ill and you go to test a medication that is not on the market, you won't be given a placebo. That is why that is the case. It's because members from ACT UP were watching AIDS patients die because they were given a placebo and said fuck that. And made it so that doesn't happen again. That's not a thing anymore. They helped make sure that if you're dying, you're not going to get placeboed.

Speaker 1 20:35

Wow, that's incredible and powerful.

Speaker 2 20:37

Yeah, that's huge. That benefits every single terminally ill person in this country. It doesn't matter what you are ill with. If you are terminally ill, act UP benefited country. It doesn't matter what you are ill with, if you are terminally ill, act up benefited you 10 out of 10. As someone whose, whose father was, you know, terminally ill when they were young, I mean I remember him, you know, trying to sign up for, for, for trials and things of that nature to try to get more time and stuff like that, and I, you know we never had to worry about whether or not he was just going to be given a placebo and left to die. That's a huge. That's a huge weight.

Speaker 1 21:10

Yeah, and it impacts the terminally ill, but it also impacts their family members, because then you can rest a little easier, knowing that they're going to be taken care of.

Speaker 2 21:18

That they're getting something, even if it's not. You know a miracle drug that does everything you hope it will. It's something.

Speaker 1 21:26

Right.

Speaker 2 21:27

It's not just a placebo, like that's so cold, like I still think about looking at the protests from ACT UP and they're holding up little handmade gravestones and one of those gravestones says I got the placebo.

Speaker 1 21:44

Oh my God, that's deep.

Speaker 2 21:45

That hit me like a truck, like oh my god wow yeah, that's crazy to think about yeah, like that's that. That's, that's what it comes down to. You know, like it's. It's terrifying to think that you got a placebo when you need the real thing.

Speaker 1 22:03

Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 2 22:05

But yes, speaking of the Creating Change Conference, it was the very next year, after organizing something as huge as the second March on Washington, that the task force hosted their very first Creating Change Conference, which is still happening annually to this very day, since 1988. That's so cool, I love it, I love it so much.

Speaker 1 22:37

It's incredible and also that second March was like the largest LGBTQ gathering to date. For that time, there was over 500,000 people that attended, so it was huge for that time. Like I know, we've had events more modern day that have had more attendees, but that's pretty significant. That's how impactful that event was.

Speaker 2 22:52

Exactly, and it it it opened a lot of people's eyes to the fact that queer people are people.

Speaker 1 22:58

Yeah.

Speaker 2 22:59

So simple. We just want to live, we just want to vibe. You know, I know I love that. That's fantastic.

Speaker 1 23:05

Yeah, so you're ready to jump back to the Creating Change Conference.

Speaker 2 23:08

The Creating Change Conference. Yes, on the Task Force's website it says as a direct quote the Creating Change Conference grew out of a need for organizers throughout the LGBTQ movement to come together to collaborate, learn from one another and strategize the future of the movement. Since 1988, it has grown to become the largest annual gathering of LGBTQ activists in the country. Kings and queens, I want to try to go at some point. That seems like it would be fun.

Speaker 1 23:40

Oh, heck, yeah, how much fun would that be. Oh my God.

Speaker 2 23:42

I feel like that would be a great time. I feel like that would be a great time. So, yeah, that ends us off at the 80s, that's a cap on the 80s for the task force. And when we're moving into the 90s we start in the year of 1993 with when the task force became the lead organizer for the third march on Washington for lesbian, gay and bi equal rights and liberation.

Speaker 1 24:10

Equal rights and liberation. Man, I could just feel myself breathe easier hearing those words. But yeah, this is definitely another significant milestone for LGBTQ plus people and just activism. It definitely reflects a lot of growth, stability and momentum just activism.

Speaker 2 24:26

It definitely reflects a lot of growth, stability and momentum. No, absolutely, and the march was spurred by failed campaign promises on behalf of Bill Clinton to the queer community, such as state bans on LGBTQ plus adoptions and the AIDS crisis.

Speaker 1 24:39

I remember that, oh my God.

Speaker 2 24:40

Yep, and that's why the third march happened. This brought hundreds of thousands of people into the streets of Washington. This one was another. It wasn't nearly as big as the second, but it was still like, really, really big. It was shockingly large, you know.

Speaker 1 24:56

Yeah, this one was guesstimated to have somewhere between 800,000 people and over a million which would make it one of the largest protests in American history.

Speaker 2 25:20

A recording of her speech is on the National Task Force's Histories website. I heavily recommend going to that tab and checking out her speech in full. It's a really really empowering, beautiful speech, Really really well done, and that's it. I just wanted to recommend y'all go check out her speech because she did a great job with that.

Speaker 1 25:40

Thanks for that. I'm curious. I would love to hear that speech.

Speaker 2 25:42

It's on the National Task Force's websites. They have a tab that says our history. It's right on that page and that's also where a lot of this information came from. Was from directly their history. I didn't want to, you know, find a third party primary sources here, baby.

Speaker 1 26:00

And the 3rd March. Actually, it influenced the response to don't Ask, don't Tell. It was a policy that was instituted in the US military back in 1993, which permitted gays to serve in the military but banned homosexual activity. The 90s were a pivotal time for gay rights, and so, while the march didn't directly contribute to that being repealed, it was the activism surrounding the march that contributed to it.

Speaker 2 26:29

Literally, it was the definition of don't ask, don't tell. As long as we don't find out you're gay, you're allowed to search. If we find out you're gay, you're gone. That's what it was, yeah.

Speaker 1 26:39

Right, exactly so. That was first implemented then and then later obviously it was repealed.

Speaker 2 26:45

It was repealed under the Obama administration Right, I believe, the same year I graduated. No, yeah, it was before 2014, because 2014 was closer to Obergefell.

Speaker 1 26:54

Yeah, I think it was 2011 or 12.

Speaker 2 27:00

Yeah, it was probably around. I think it was 2011,. Yeah, so, speaking of Don't Ask, don't Tell, the exact same year as the momentous 3rd March on Washington, the task force founded the Military Freedom Project in partnership with the ACLU. The project was run by Tanya Domi, who herself is a veteran. In May of the same year, she testified in front of the House Armed Services Committee about lifting the ban on LGBTQ plus service members. She has also traveled the country with other queer veterans to advocate for queer inclusion in the military.

Speaker 1 27:31

So that's what the Military Freedom Project was all about Inclusion in the military, nice.

Speaker 2 27:37

Was all about yep and it was started in 1993, probably assisted with Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and then I would guarantee you assisted with the full-blown repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and then I would guarantee you assisted with the full blown repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

Speaker 1 27:48

It's cool that you banded together with other queer veterans too, Like the veterans are, like you know. I think that they're essential to that, to the change of that 100%, absolutely.

Speaker 2 27:59

I mean, I listen, the queer veteran who came out in his obituary did you hear about that?

Speaker 1 28:07

Tell me a little bit more and I'll let you know. It's not ringing a bell right now.

Speaker 2 28:11

His lover was named Paul, for Paul.

Speaker 1 28:14

I did. I did hear about that. Yeah, I had to think about it for a minute, but yeah, yeah, I did.

Speaker 2 28:20

Oh my.

Speaker 1 28:20

God, I'm getting full body chills right now.

Speaker 2 28:23

That's not something we yeah, that's not something we want to go back to guys. No one needs to go back to not feeling safe to be themselves until they're dead.

Speaker 1 28:33

Exactly.

Speaker 2 28:34

No one deserves to live like that Period. So yeah, sorry it makes me sad, I know so sad. Sorry it makes me sad, I know so sad. In 1996, the same year, the earth was blessed slash, cursed with my presence Ha ha Task force launched their equity begins at home campaign, which was designed to work for the betterment of LGBTQ plus rights nationwide, at state by state levels. So yeah, that's pretty cool. The initiative was started in response to state laws banning cities from providing health benefits to the domestic partners of unmarried city workers, forbidding unmarried couples from adoption and rolling back funds on harm reduction methods during the AIDS crisis.

Speaker 1 29:23

It's crazy. I remember when those things were being evolved Fair, fair enough, and we still have so much work to do, but, wow, we've made some pretty great progress.

Speaker 2 29:35

We just we just have to remember, though, that even with all of this really good progress, there are people constantly trying to push against it. We can't get tired. This is a marathon. We have to keep pushing back again. You know what I mean. Like it's a marathon and it is a constant push.

Speaker 1 29:52

They're waiting for us to get tired and they're waiting for vulnerability to any of these things. They're waiting for us to get comfortable. Any of these things can be taken back at any time.

Speaker 2 30:01

It was for a long time. A lot of white queers especially since Obergefell, when we gained the right to marry a lot of white gay, lesbian, non-trans queer people died became comfortable. You know, it was okay, we're good, we won. And there was this very loud cry of no, we're not good, we haven't won. We still have a long way to go and we have to make sure we don't go back. And unfortunately, because of that lull, that period of comfort, we're kind of where we're at now. You know where it's now we have to push even harder and keep it even more where, if we had kept up that steady pressure, we wouldn't quite have fumbled so hard, not to say, you know, queer people are at fault. We deserve rest. Every human deserves rest.

Speaker 1 30:52

It keeps us humble. So we remember that we never want to go back. You know what I mean.

Speaker 2 30:57

No, absolutely Keeping that history in mind is important to not repeat it. Yes, after my lovely, lovely year I was born and all that jazz, we jump all the way to 2010. We got quite the time gap here. The time jump.

Speaker 1 31:13

Yeah, I was going to say.

Speaker 2 31:14

The next major move by the task force came with their launching of the Queer the Census campaign. Holy hell, that's a tongue twister it really is.

Data Collection and Queer Representation

Speaker 2 31:26

It really is. I just want to point out real quick I understand the problems with a Queer the Census campaign. Living in a surveillance state, I don't know about y'all I don't really want the government knowing every little detail about me as we inch closer toward a possible trans genocide. You know what I mean. Like I understand that in our present day environment, government existence, something like this kind of looks a little scary, you know. It can look a little daunting, it can look a little like I don't know if I really need the government knowing that.

Speaker 2 32:07

However, the reason why things like queering the census are important and this will again be a direct quote from their website the intentions of this and the reason why it's important is to tally and count the LGBTQ community in the United States with the understanding that the census data is crucial to writing informed and relevant state and federal legislation. So if we know you know how many queer people we have in this country at least around about, we are more easily able to write legislation that benefits that decade. The US census misses or undercounts hundreds of thousands of marginalized people, including low-income people, people of color and very, very young children. At the same time, the census overcounts, usually substantially people with the most privilege, including the white population, homeowners and wealthier people. And that's the point of things like clearing the census is to make the census more equitable, to make it more inclusive, to make it more intersectional, to make it more fair. However, again, I understand how that looks scary in a world that isn't intersectional or, you know, accepting or any of those things, or wholeheartedly inclusive yeah, or equitable.

Speaker 1 33:46

And also I get the point of the census, but also they should have a buffer, because not a lot of queer people feel safe enough to be honest, and queer people have always been here. So I tend to think and maybe this is wrong, or maybe it's not wrong or just whatever what I default to is there's just as many queer people as there are straight people, maybe even more, because we have such a wide variety of the spectrum of what exactly is queer? What does it mean? What's the definition? And so many people identify with it. So there's so many vagaries underneath that queer umbrella. But I think they should just assume that there's more than what's reporting, just because of the fact that not everybody feels safe to come forward. Whatever the numbers are, I don't know, double them or something you know no fair.

Speaker 2 34:37

At the end of the day, I think it's just about having even an estimate, just so that we can understand whether or not we are doing any kind of justice to this population. You know what I mean.

Speaker 1 34:49

Yeah.

Speaker 2 34:50

And, like I said, I see the point, I see the purpose, I understand what they're trying to do. I don't necessarily think it's the best idea in this political climate.

Speaker 1 35:00

Or the best way to gather information. It's a little lackluster, but I see what you're saying.

Speaker 2 35:05

That's kind of where I'm at with it. Yeah, I see what they're trying to do. I see the good intentions behind it. However, we live in a surveillance state, guys.

Speaker 1 35:16

Exactly.

Speaker 2 35:17

I don't think they need more to surveil us with. I don't know about you.

Speaker 1 35:21

Well, that's what I'm saying, because nobody honors privacy anymore. Nothing's sacred. The government's up our ass for I mean, everything's recordable, everything's, whether it's camera, audio, voice record. You just don't know if people are recording you or like how they're. You don't put these things. You know they put these things in your car now to get your insurance lowered. They monitor your speed and how often you break and it's like when does the government not feel invasive? And especially when you're a queer person, it could feel more invasive.

Speaker 2 35:51

Agreed, a hundred percent agreed. So in 2014, under Executive Director Ray Carey, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force revamped itself with a new name, which ended up being the National LGBTQ Task Force, and a new company slogan, which is BU BU.

Speaker 1 36:10

I love that Right. It's so cute. It's short, simple and perfect, impactful.

Speaker 2 36:15

Exactly Like it's great Impactful. Exactly it's great. I love it. This is a quote from Ray Carey specifically. Now more than ever, we have the power to define the future we want, A world where every LGBTQ person can be themselves without any barriers. We have worked hard for decades to create this momentum. Let's seize this opportunity. Let's be ourselves fully and let's make a future together that's worthy of our struggle. Damn. Let's make a future together that is worthy of our struggle.

Speaker 2 36:48

And dissolving barriers. I love that. Yeah, I love that. That's great. I specifically love that last line.

Speaker 1 36:54

Yeah, the oneness of everyone, but also in imagining a future with no barriers, opportunities with, but also remembering where you came from, like that struggle piece. I love that. That's so cool.

Speaker 2 37:06

Exactly yes, and this is something that y'all might be familiar with. Actually, the very next year, in 2015, the task force worked with the National Center for Transgender Equality to release the first National Transgender Discrimination Survey, which has become a vital resource to researchers, the community and the media. So I mean, that's something I hear thrown around all the time online the National Survey, the National Discrimination Survey, the National Trans Discrimination Survey, the Trans Discrimination Survey. These people helped make that survey happen, along with the National Center for Transgender Equality. It was the task force that helped make this survey that we all look back on and reference frequently possible. Really cool again. Really cool. Yeah, they deserve to be known. And then, one decade after the launch of the Queer the Census campaign so in 2020, during you know wonder what happened in 2020.

Speaker 1 38:07

Don't know it's gone.

Speaker 2 38:09

I have no idea what that could have possibly been. A decade after the launch of the Queer the Census campaign, the task force launches a second census campaign, but they take it virtual due to the pandemic. The Queering the Census movement is still ongoing as of today, they still have their virtual version and I believe they have since brought back their in-person version, but I'm not 100% sure. So the Queer the Census campaign is something that's still going on.

Speaker 2 38:34

Again, I have some personal trepidations about it, just because of the fact that we live in a surveillance state where already protesting is becoming something that is being fought against very heavily and and regularly, and has been forever. Mind you, I'm not saying this as if it's something new, like protests have always been something that the, the establishment, have tried to outlaw in some way, shape or form, you know. So yeah, just that's one of those things that personally I'm not really too sure about. But the organization itself clearly is doing it with the hopes of having queer people added to the census for the purpose of better understanding the population density and spread, you know, like where we are in the country too, so that we can better figure out state and federal legislations that help as many people as possible. I understand that that is the purpose of this. Whether or not that is how it will be used if we are added to the census, that is yet to be seen, and that is what makes me concerned.

Speaker 1 39:48

Well, look, it's important because at least now there's a discussion that's ongoing right and it's something that improves data collection for the LGBTQ plus communities, so that in and of itself I don't know feels like it could be a good thing.

Speaker 2 40:01

It is, and it's important because, at the end of the day, you know, like the right always likes to say, numbers don't care about your feelings, facts don't care about your feelings. Well, facts don't care about your feelings either. You know, like these, these, these are the facts and they do not care about your feelings. And it would be nice to have those numbers for that purpose, but again, it could just be so easily and quickly used against us that it's very much a catch-22 which, if y'all haven't read that book, I recommend you read that book hell yeah, that was a that book.

Speaker 1 40:36

Hell yeah, that was a great book. I read it in 10th grade. It was amazing. It's a great book. I couldn't tell you what it's about now, but I remember the feeling of it when I was reading it and after the fact, and I was like man, that was such a great book.

Reproductive Rights and LGBTQ Intersectionality

Speaker 2 40:48

No, right, yeah, I feel that. I feel that deeply, spiritually and emotionally. So in 2021, the task force ends up having another historical moment, but this is from within. This is their own personal history. This is very historic for them specifically, rather than the queer community as a whole, nationwide or globally, if that makes sense. In 2021, the task force named Kira Johnson as their new executive director. She's an expert on queer and reproductive rights and issues who has testified before the US House of Representatives, and she is also the first Black woman to lead the task force.

Speaker 1 41:31

Mic drop. That is so, so cool.

Speaker 2 41:33

Yeah, that's very cool. Since the overturning of Roe v Wade, the task force has been very active and loud about reproductive rights and freedoms. Mind you, they have never before been quiet about reproductive rights and freedoms, but when they were incepted, I believe Roe v Wade was already a thing. So they worked toward reproductive rights and freedoms, but it wasn't with so much veracity because Roe v Wade was already on the books at that time. However, since Roe v Wade has been taken off the books, they have only gotten louder. In 2022, they launched their Ban the Repro Binary campaign, which is Ban the Reproductive Binary campaign. A quote from their website about the purpose of this campaign the task force campaign encouraged people to look beyond the binary and understand that LGBTQ people need access to reproductive health, including contraception, abortion, assisted reproductive services, hiv care, pregnancy care, parenting resources and more.

Speaker 1 42:39

Yeah, overturning Roe v Wade. That was such a significant regression.

Speaker 2 42:44

That was a huge regression for everything from bodily autonomy to, yeah, to doctor-patient confidentiality, like so many things.

Speaker 1 42:55

I, particularly with this campaign, love the fact that it includes that intersectionality piece, because that campaign in and of itself represents the interconnectedness of reproductive rights and LGBTQ plus rights and, like you said, just talking about and bringing to light the restrictions on bodily autonomy and how it affects everyone, regardless of their gender, regardless of their sexual orientation. It affects everyone. That's just such a cool, cool piece. They just represent something that is, I feel like, modern and needed.

Speaker 2 43:33

No, honestly agreed. Yeah, it's fantastic and that's something that I've seen very frequently. With modern day, what's the word I'm looking for Pro-choice campaigns and stuff like that is a focus on the fact that reproductive health, reproductive freedom, is for all and benefits all, and even even cis men. Like, let's be so real, even cis men are benefited by reproductive rights and freedom by the people around them having that, by they themselves having the ability to have that. You know, like, first it's abortion, but when do you? How do you know they're not going to come for vasectomies next?

Speaker 1 44:17

Yeah right.

Speaker 2 44:18

If they want babies. I mean, there's a low chance of it, but at the end of the day, low is not impossible. Yeah, you're right, you know it's not impossible. It's not out of the realm of possibility that if they are desperate enough to have this generation reproduce, they would ban vasectomies.

Speaker 1 44:36

Yeah.

Speaker 2 44:37

Reproductive freedom is important for everyone.

Speaker 1 44:41

Yeah, and it's like you said human rights, equality and human rights, it's. It's that broader mission of it.

Speaker 2 44:50

Exactly Like if you were a person, you should give a shit about reproductive rights and freedoms. I don't know what else to tell you.

Speaker 1 44:56

Yeah, it's interesting that you bring that up, because I never actually even thought about going after vasectomies because men, especially cis men, especially white cis men, they're not marginalized at all, like why would they ever go after that? No, they're so privileged, you know.

Speaker 2 45:13

But at the same time, the whole thing behind the anti-abortion campaign is wanting more workers. It's wanting a generation, to give birth to a generation of workers. But if, even with these archaic necessities in place, we still refuse, men are getting vasectomies in droves since the overturn of Roe v Wade. Who's to say they won't? Can you, pinky, promise me they won't? I don't think anyone can. Or even hysterectomies. That's another really good example. You know like they will go after hysterectomies. You already have to have husband's permission to get a hysterectomy.

Speaker 1 45:55

It's fucking ridiculous.

Speaker 2 45:56

Yeah, oh yeah. It's fucking crazy. You have to have partner's permission, be over the age of 35 and have at least two children. You have to have already given birth.

Speaker 1 46:06

That's an entire other episode, because I'm like feeling.

Reproductive Rights and LGBTQ Advocacy

Speaker 2 46:09

I'm feeling the fire in my blood right now, just oh yeah, because here's the thing is like if you're dating someone or if you're with someone who's a good person, and they automatically give permission. I don't believe that the children thing applied. There's some workarounds, there are wiggle rooms, but usually the way it goes is, if you haven't had a baby yet, oh, they're really like oh, I don't think we're going to do this, because what if you change your mind? What if your husband wants a baby? Literally, like people have been told this, what if you get a hysterectomy and then you find a partner who wants a baby? No tough titties.

Speaker 1 46:49

Exactly, and there's tons of reasons why a woman would want a hysterectomy. It's her choice.

Speaker 2 46:54

Not their body, not their choice. So yeah, I just that's a lot, of, a lot of things can be traced back to a want for money, a hatred of Black people or a hatred of women.

Speaker 1 47:08

Yeah, that right there.

Speaker 2 47:10

And then the way those intersect. The hatred of poor people, the hatred of Black women, the hatred of poor women All of those things can then intersect from there, but it usually can come down to capitalism, racism and sexism. Slash misogyny.

Speaker 1 47:26

Yeah, those last two sentences you just said right there all that, all that, all that.

Speaker 2 47:33

Thanks, I try. Would you like to jump to our fun?

Speaker 1 47:35

fact I get to do the fun fact today. Woo, you do.

Speaker 2 47:40

Oh, that's so exciting. I'm so excited I get to listen to a fun fact.

Speaker 1 47:44

It's so cool, I think you'll like this one. Okay, so you remember before when we were talking about the 2nd March, which was October of 1987, right? So the 2nd March inspired the creation of National Coming Out Day? Oh what? Yeah? So on the following year, on October 11th, that started it being celebrated annually, and obviously National Coming Out Day is to encourage queer people to come out to raise awareness about our community and all that jazz.

Speaker 2 48:13

That's so cool. Oh my God, wow, that's so cool.

Speaker 1 48:17

Oh my god Wow.

Speaker 2 48:41

Yeah, national Coming Out Day has been going on since 1988, october 11th of silence, which I believe is in April. That would be a fun one, thank you.