lgbt

The 2020 Census count in California starts in April and outreach has already begun around the San Joaquin Valley to ensure a complete count. However, some census advocates say the survey isn’t specific enough.

One example is that the Census does not identify those who are deaf, hard of hearing, or speak American Sign Language. 

“We wish it did,” said Susan Coulter. She’s the Educational Services Director at the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Service Center in Fresno. Coulter added that there’s also a language barrier. 

Finding the perfect doctor can be a feat for anyone, but for LGBT people in rural places finding an understanding physician can sort of feel impossible. And as FM89’s Ezra David Romero reports some say visiting a doctor's office is so intimidating that often they go without care.  

In 2014 Visalia pediatrician Kathryn Hall got fed up. She sees her practice as welcoming to LGBT people, but she felt that conservative values and homophobia in Tulare County have kept many from receiving proper healthcare.

The reality of aging is a hard pill to swallow for anyone, but for the LGBT population in rural places it can be an even rougher experience. And as FM89’s Ezra David Romero reports getting older for LGBT seniors in Central California often means going back into the closet.

Early this year Van Vanlandingham had surgery.  For almost three months the 68-year-old rehabilitated in a nursing home in the South Valley town of Lindsay.  The staff kept asking him what was his wife's name.

A former Republican lawmaker who came out as gay months before leaving the California Legislature says he was wrong to oppose gay rights measures – including bills to legalize same-sex marriage.

Roy Ashburn termed out after representing Bakersfield for 14 years in the Assembly and Senate. He was arrested for drunken driving five years ago after leaving a gay night club in Sacramento. He came out days later.

Workers at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center in Merced say they had to take down a rainbow flag from a flagpole earlier this week after the owner of the building asked them to do so.

The LGBT center had flown the rainbow flag since it opened on August 31.  But staff members say they recently received a letter from the building’s owner, and took down the flag.

Chris Jervis is the president of Gay Central Valley, which operates the Merced LGBT center.

Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin has announced that she now supports gay marriage. Swearengin, a Republican who is running for state controller had been a supporter of Proposition 8. She announced her new position last week at a meeting of an LGBT conservative group in Southern California. 

Kevin Gilhooley is the president of the Orange County Log Cabin Republicans. Swearengin spoke to his group last week and took questions from the audience.

This report is the first in the Valley Public Radio series "Common Threads: Veterans Still Fighting The War." Support for this series comes from Cal Humanities, as part of the War Comes Home initiative. 

A group of 18 students from schools across Fresno State were hooded with rainbow banners today in a first for Fresno State:  a lesbian, gay, bi, transgender and questioning graduation ceremony.

“I was really inspired because I noticed a lot of openly gay people, but we didn’t have a ceremony of our own, a reception of our own,” says Curtis Ortega with Fresno State’s United Student Pride Club. “We were kind of there as openly gay students, but I felt we needed our own expression and graduation ceremony.”

Beginning this week all California public school districts must allow transgender students to use facilities and play on sports teams according to which gender they identify with. Supporters say the law will protect a vulnerable group of students. But opponents think voters should have a say. Katie Orr reports from Sacramento.

High School Junior Ashton Lee hustles between after school activities. First he makes a stop at the Gay Straight Alliance. There, as club president, he leads a discussion on how to handle holiday stress.

As of this week, all public schools districts in California must allow students to use facilities and play on sports teams based on the gender with which they identity, not their biological sex. The law has generated controversy and faces a possible referendum. But a similar policy has been in place in the Los Angeles Unified School District since 2005. Katie Orr reports from Sacramento.

(“Come on you guys, let’s go!)

Principal Deborah Smith yells for straggling students to hurry as the day begins at Daniel Pearl Magnet High School in Los Angeles.

The repeal of the federal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy has opened up a new world of recruiting possibilities for the armed forces. But, as Katie Orr reports from Sacramento, the California National Guard is interested in doing more than just complying with the law.

The California National Guard decided to lead the way when it came to recruiting gays and lesbians. Throughout the summer the Guard marched in Pride Parades around the state, carrying a banner that read, “Yes! We really do want you!!!”

A bill that would penalize the Boy Scouts of America for the group’s ban on gay membership has cleared its first hurdle in the California legislature.  As Capital Public Radio’s Marianne Russ reports, some groups could pay more taxes under the measure. 

The bill would remove sales and corporate tax exemptions from youth groups that discriminate based on sexual orientation, gender identity or religious affiliation.  Democratic Senator Ricardo Lara wrote the bill.