Hate Crimes Against LGBTQ People Highest In 14 Years -
The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Projects today released a collective report on hate crimes against LGBTQ people.
Despite increased public and political acceptance of gays and lesbians, the number of crimes against LGBTQ people is the highest since 1998, the year they began tallying such attacks and also the year Matthew Shepard was murdered, Towleroad reports.
The amount of physical violence, rather than just verbal abuse, has also skyrocketed — and, not surprisingly, younger people, transgender people and people of color are targeted the most. From NCAVP:
This year’s report shows that LGBTQH youth and young adults between the ages of 18 and 30 years old were 2.41 times as likely to experience physical violence compared to LGBTQH people age 30 and older.
As in the case of the murder statistics, transgender people and people of color were more likely to experience physical injury in a hate violence incident. The report found that transgender people were 28% as likely to experience physical violence compared to non-transgender people, and that LGBTQ people of color were two times as likely to experience physical violence compared to those who were not LGBTQ people of color.
Read more: http://www.towleroad.com/2012/05/hate-crimes-against-lgbtq-people-highest-in-14-years.html#ixzz1wYVDkvWD
SKI BUMS is proud to support the work of the New York City Anti-Violence Project, which is an important part of the national coalition to prevent anti-LGBTQ violence. Please learn about their work and offer your support.
Japan’s ‘Aspen’ seen as bet on weaker yen - MarketWatch -
If you need another great reason to join the SKI BUMS trip to Niseko, Japan, the financial experts at MarketWatch point out that the weaker Japanese yen makes this a fantastic time to visit!
They also say that Hokkaido has “the best cuisine on the planet,” and one expert says:
“The skiing in Japan is world-class, phenomenally good. It’s just that it was very under-marketed until about four to five years ago,” Peck said.
Check out the SKI BUMS trip to Niseko >
Freddie Wilkinson, a guide and Everest climber from New Hampshire, warns that this is not the year to climb Everest.
Is global warming affecting the ice falls? >
Wow. This is an astounding, beautifully written letter to the anti-gay boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, and it’s well worth a read.
(No surprise that the author was a Fulbright scholar, now an out lesbian writer at the University of Iowa. We await more incredible work from you, Laurel Fantauzzo!)
10 questions for SkiLink proponents | The Salt Lake Tribune -
The Canyons — the largest ski area in Utah, part of the Park City area — is proposing a gondola to link its terrain with nearby Solitude. The powers that be seem destined to make it happen, but a smart columnist for the Salt Lake City Tribune asks some vital questions.
Check out the insightful OpEd >
Gay rights in the US, state by state | guardian.co.uk -
In light of the disappointing news from North Carolina, the Guardian has put together an insightful, illuminating portrait of LGBT rights, state by state. Share this with your friends and everyone who cares about how far we’ve still got to go!
View the excellent infographic >
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Bob Smith obituary: Inventor of fog-resistant ski goggles dies at 78 - latimes.com -
Did you know that fog-proof goggles were invented by an Army dentist in the 1960’s?
Bob Smith — the developer of the modern ski goggle — traded early versions of his inventions for lift tickets. He’s just passed away at age 78, and the Los Angeles Times has a fascinating story on the man we should thank for being able to see our way down the slopes!
This is a brilliant campaign to defeat North Carolina’s Amendment 1, which comes to a vote on May 1st.
“Simply put, Amendment One is an unnecessary, thinly veiled attack on civil rights — a gross injustice to North Carolina’s unmarried couples, children, families, seniors, women and businesses. If Amendment One passes, what’s next? It would mark the first time the North Carolina constitution was amended in order to discriminate against specific individuals. This flies in the face of the state’s tradition of amending the constitution to increase equality.”
Using images from the segregationist history of the South, Every1Against1 makes a powerful statement on the painful realities of discrimination.
From Q Salt Lake:
“On Monday, April 23, an 18-year-old Ogden resident on a community panel spoke about the dangers of bullying. Alex Smith told the packed room about the bullying his boyfriend, Jack, experienced at school.
What no one in the room yet knew, including Alex, was that Jack had already taken his own life.
The death of Jack Reese is the latest known suicide of a gay teen in Northern Utah.
One official told Ogden OUTreach director Marian Edmonds, off the record: “It happens here about once a week, but officially, you know, it doesn’t happen here.”
OUTreach is hosting a community panel and discussion, A Community Stands up – Northern Utah Addresses LGBT Bullying and Suicide on May 1, 6:30 p.m., at the Ogden Amphitheater, 343 E. 25th St., Ogden. The purpose of the event is for the community to stand in solidarity with queer youth, to speak out and express grief and outrage at yet another loss of life in Northern Utah, and to witness for the need for immediate change in schools, churches and society.”
SKI BUMS urges our LGBT friends and straight allies in SLC / Ogden to attend this rally if you can, and please spread the word!
Homophobic? Maybe You’re Gay - @nytimes -
One of the authors of a compelling new peer-reviewed study writes in the New York Times:
“One theory is that homosexual urges, when repressed out of shame or fear, can be expressed as homophobia. Freud famously called this process a “reaction formation” — the angry battle against the outward symbol of feelings that are inwardly being stifled…
It’s a compelling theory — and now there is scientific reason to believe it. In this month’s issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, we and our fellow researchers provide empirical evidence that homophobia can result, at least in part, from the suppression of same-sex desire.”
Read the fascinating article >
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We Finally Know What Really Causes Ice Cream Headaches -
Ice cream, cold water, face plant… a mouth full of sudden cold can be a real pain in the head! Now we know what causes that!