Featured Blog: SC Loves Our LGBT Community. But it is Not So in Other Cities.

If you pay attention to the news you may find it difficult to feel upbeat about the state of the world: a debt crisis in America, unemployment, terrorism in Norway, tyranny in the Middle East, a famine in Somalia, shootings sprees in Texas, Seattle, Florida and elsewhere.

But as a light of hope, among the murders, drug overdoses, mass killings, and devastating disasters, shines the news that as of 12 o' clock Eastern Time on Sunday, same-sex couples are legally able to get married under New York’s new law. Finally, hundreds of dedicated, loving partnerships will be recognized as equal to traditional, heterosexual couples – another step in the long struggle for LGTB rights in America. The state joins Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Washington, D.C. and Vermont as the latest to pass legislation legalizing gay marriage, leaving its West Coast counterpart, California, in the dust.

Seriously, how is same-sex marriage in California still not legal? We have stood for so long as one of the nation’s preeminent progressive states, yet we’ve somehow managed to fall behind in the pursuit of legalizing gay marriage. Perhaps our coastal state isn’t as liberal as we thought we were. Or are we Santa Cruzans simply shielded from the horror of anti-LGBT attitudes in the rest of California? While the (eventual, hopefully) legalization of marriage across the U.S. is not the be-all, end-all of the fight for acceptance and equal rights, the topic can open up a discussion of the general state of being for LGBT people in America -- especially our youth.  

The rates of suicide and attempts in response to anti-gay bullying across the U.S. is well documented, prompting campaigns such as the Trevor Project and the It Gets Better Project, which function as suicide prevention resources for LGBT and marginalized, bullied youth. Recently the Anoka-Hennepin School Disctrict in Minnesota (which happens to fall in presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann’s congressional district) has come under federal investigation over a school policy after seven students committed suicides in two years.  According to a report by CNN, “Federal authorities are investigating ‘incidents involving harassment and bullying.'" 

CNN reports:

“Parents and friends say four of those students were either gay, perceived to be gay or questioning their sexuality, and they say, at least two of them were bullied over their sexuality…It's unclear whether the suicides or the policy are a significant part of the federal investigation. The [schools] controversial policy, adopted in 2009, states that staff must ‘remain neutral on matters regarding sexual orientation’ and that ‘such matters are best addressed within individual family homes, churches or community organizations.’”

It’s heartbreaking to see lives cut so short because students felt traumatized by the actions of others. Bullying and bigotry against LGBT youth in our nation is appalling and unacceptable, and unfortunately it’s increasingly becoming a relevant topic in the news.

So, you may be asking: where does Santa Cruz fit into all of this? Well, let me start by saying that there are many things about Santa Cruz that I truly find irritating (ask me about it any day of the week!). But there is one thing I am particularly proud of; wherever I go, be it shopping downtown, dinner and a movie, or most recently, a roller derby bout, I often see girls and boys – high school kids – in same-sex relationships who feel safe and free to hold hands in public. To hug. To sit on each other’s laps. I feel so lucky to live in a place where young people – a generation with devastatingly high rates of suicides in response to anti-gay bullying – are able to express themselves and their sexuality without fear of being ridiculed or retaliated against.

I can’t comment on what goes on in the schools or online in our local community, but I frequently see young Santa Cruzans expressing their non-heterosexual orientation (or their acceptance of their friends orientations) in public and it makes me so happy that our community is such a safe and welcoming place for young people to be who they are. I think we Santa Cruzans often take for granted the acceptance of LGBT people in our community, and we must remember that people are not so welcoming in other communities. 

So congratulations and Mazel Tov to all the newly married couples in New York! Truly a wonderful moment in history. But let's not forget the youth struggling in the face of hatred all across our nation. Let's hope that one day they too will not only be able to be married in California and Minnesota, but that they will simply be accepted and loved equally as they are in Santa Cruz.