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GLAAD and partners release guide for talking about HIV and AIDS in the media
With an exclusive from MSNBC, GLAAD's new initiative to ensure accurate coverage and end stigma about HIV and AIDS became public on Friday. GLAAD partnered with the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation and AIDS United to write and release a guide for journalists on how to cover HIV and AIDS. The guide, "HIV & AIDS in the News: A Guide for Reporting in a New Era of Prevention & Treatment," provides background information on HIV and AIDS developments, a closer look at stories like HIV criminalization and PrEP, and a listing of HIV and AIDS organizations, which can provide further context and expertise. MSNBC wrote that GLAAD "is teaming up with two leading AIDS organizations to urge Hollywood to develop more characters and stories that reflect the nation’s HIV/AIDS population. The move is part of a larger push by the organization that fights for fair and accurate representations of the LGBT community and its partners the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation and AIDS United to reengage the media and entertainment industry, news media, and all Americans in the three decades long fight to eradicate HIV and AIDS." The guide is a part of GLAAD's 30th anniversary renewal of its commitment to eradicating HIV and AIDS. Read more here.
GLAAD and Facebook's groundbreaking collaboration to honor gender identities
Facebook, after collaborating with GLAAD, announced that it will expand gender options to include a free-form field. Now, if a user doesn't identify with any of the gender options listed on Facebook, they can simply write in their own. The expanded custom gender option is available to everyone who uses Facebook in US English. Last February, GLAAD helped Facebook expand its gender options from 2 to 58, and Facebook announced that it would offer a custom gender field for transgender and gender nonconforming people. The expanded gender options feature enables users to select a custom gender option, indicate preferred pronouns and adjust privacy settings for the custom gender field. Since 2010, GLAAD has worked closely with Facebook to ensure the safety of and improve the experience for LGBT users. Several outlets picked up Facebook's recent change, including Associated Press, NBC News, TIME, USA Today, Cosmopolitan, HRC, and Business Insider. Read more here.
#GotYourBack campaign hits Vine
GLAAD’s #GotYourBack campaign empowers LGBT people and allies to show their support for the LGBT community. Many people have shown their support on Twitter and Instagram and now you can create a 6-second video on Vine. This past weekend, GLAAD's Social Media Manager Brendan Davis reached out to Vine star Jeffrey Marsh and coordinated with them to create a Vine using #GotYourBack to show their support for LGBT youth. With over 200k followers and over 125 million views on their 6-second videos, Marsh has reached many LGBT people and allies with their message of love and acceptance. After working with Davis, Marsh created a Vine for GLAAD’s #GotYourBack campaign, which started an outpour of supportive #GotYourBack Vines. Watch here.
Transgender healthcare threatened by new incidents
GLAAD's Director of Spanish-Language Media Monica Trasandes and Strategist Janet Quezada consulted on and placed an op-ed written by two of our friends at Lambda Legal, Carmina Ocampo and Marco Castro-Bojorquez. The op-ed, entitled “When Womanhood Comes at a Deadly Price,” focused on how the recent death and arrest of transgender women of color Katya De La Riva and Valeria De la Luz affect healthcare for transgender women. Read more here.
Boys Meets Girl director and star talk transgender love story
GLAAD's Video & News Strategist Claire Pires interviewed Eric Schaeffer, director of Boy Meets Girl, before the film’s Los Angeles premiere for GLAAD’s video series, GLAAD: All Access. Pires also interviewed transgender actress and star of the film, Michelle Hendley. Boy Meets Girl is a coming-of-age story and romantic comedy centered around a transgender girl in Kentucky. Schaeffer highlighted GLAAD Board member Jenny Boylan’s support of the film. The interview was published on The Huffington Post and Bustle. Watch the interview here.
Zeke Stokes spotlights America's need for a trans-inclusive military
US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter recently vocalized his support for transgender inclusion within the military. Gay Star News' article on the subject quoted GLAAD's Vice President of Programs Zeke Stokes about the military's trans-exclusionary policies. Stokes said in his statement, "Sadly, transgender service members who are putting their lives on the line every day to keep our country safe are serving in silence. It's time to acknowledge their service, honor their sacrifice, and allow them to serve open and honestly, without fear of losing the job they love simply for being who they are."
GLAAD advocates for the importance of a positive LGBT media presence
The winter 2015 issue of Public Diplomacy Magazine, published by the University of Southern California, included an article about GLAAD's mission-driven advocacy for accurate, well-rounded media portrayals of the LGBT community, as well as the significance of such work. The article was written by GLAAD's Director of Spanish-Language Media Monica Trasandes. Read more here.
GLAAD: All Access interview inspires moving responses
Following GLAAD's video in
terview with Debi Jackson, a Southern conservative mother of a transgender daughter, Parents Magazine wrote a full-length article about this trailblazing parent. The article sparked hundreds of comments on Parents Magazine's Facebook from parents, many of whom became more accepting of the transgender community after reading the article. The video was part of GLAAD Southern Stories, which aims to amplify the voices of LGBT people and allies in or from the American South. The video was also picked up by The Huffington Post, Out, Transgriot, Towerload, Frontiersmedia, Trans-parenting, and Bulgegull. Read more here.
Accurately covering transgender issues in Spanish
GLAAD's Director of Spanish-Language Media Monica Trasandes edited and updated GLAAD’s Transgender Resource Guide in Spanish and met with reporters who needed help accurately covering transgender issues for their stories. Trasandes also reached out to Spanish-language media outlets to correct inaccurate coverage of the recent death of transgender woman Katya De La Riva in Los Angeles and Kristina Grant Reinwald in Florida.
Big Freedia talks LGBT acceptance in the South
GLAAD's Video & News Strategist Claire Pires interviewed television personality Big Freedia before the premiere of season three of Fuse's hit show, Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce. Big Freedia talked about LGBT acceptance in the South and why visibility is important for LGBT youth. The interview was part of GLAAD Southern Stories. Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce is also nominated for Outstanding Reality Program in the 26th Annual GLAAD Media Awards. Read more here.
GLAAD heads to Washington, DC for historical reception and LGBT advocacy
GLAAD was in Washington DC twice! On Monday, GLAAD's Director of Programs Ross Murray attended the release of USAID's Toolkit for Integrating LGBT Rights Activities into Programming in the Europe & Eurasia Region. The toolkit will help not only USAID programs in Eastern Europe and around the world, but it will also inform LGBT organizations working internationally, such as GLAAD's Global Voices program. Murray returned to DC to attend a welcome reception for Randy Berry, the US State Department's first Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBT Persons.
Monica Trasandes' interview with Fundación Reflejos de Venezuela goes live
GLAAD's Director of Spanish-Language Media Monica Trasandes' interview, conducted a few weeks ago with Ana Margarita Rojas Martínez of Fundación Reflejos de Venezuela, was recently made available on YouTube. In the interview, Trasandes discusses GLAAD's media advocacy work, the importance of media visibility in order to achieve culture change, and how LGBT issues are covered in Spanish-Language Media. Watch the interview here.
Tiq Milan selected for Ace Hotel’s Beyond Measure contest
GLAAD’s Tiq Milan was selected for Ace Hotel’s Beyond Measure contest, which awards three members of the LGBT community with a free suit made by Bindle & Keep and a night’s stay at Ace Hotel New York. Milan works closely with the media to make sure transgender issues are covered accurately. Read more here.
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