It’s a spectrum, and it should be treated like one. 

The government of Nepal has announced that citizens will now have the option of designating “other” as their gender on an official ID, rather than stating “male” or “female.” The change will take effect in a few weeks.

From Advocate.com:

LGBT activists in the nation welcomed the decision, which implements a ruling made by Nepal’s Supreme Court in 2007, reports wire service Deutsche Presse-Agentur. It will help transgender people as well as others who suffer discrimination because their appearance does not match the gender listed on their citizenship cards, they said.

“Our community feels we are finally being granted an identity by the state, and my friends have told me they feel proud about it,” said Sunil Babu Pant, Nepal’s first openly gay legislator.

 Little steps like these are helping us break outside binaries. Good for Nepal. 

The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, but it did not approve a portion of the measure that specifically protected LGBT victims of violence.

VAWA, as it’s abbreviated, “organizes federal funding” to allow greater access to investigation of domestic violence and sexual assault cases and more support services for victims. A version passed in the Senate included provisions specific to the LGBT community, but the House excluded this portion, as well as a portion protecting Native Americans and undocumented immigrants.

HRC president Joe Solmonese said House Republicans were putting politics ahead of the well being of domestic abuse victims. “It is unfortunate – though not surprising – that some lawmakers refuse to acknowledge the basic dignity and respect LGBT domestic violence victims deserve,” he said in a statement shortly after the vote. “These lawmakers are leaving victims out in the cold with nowhere to turn for help, and attempting to further stigmatize many of the stereotypes associated with domestic abuse. We urge lawmakers to work together in conference so that VAWA is inclusive of all victims of domestic abuse.”

Ugh. We keep coming so close to making real progress and then things like this happen again. Disappointed. 

Yep.

There’s a movement to revamp the Violence Against Women Act to include greater protections for LGBT victims of sexual assault. As this blog post from the Washington Post points out, these modifications are direly needed.

Only 24 states use federal funding to support LGBT-specific anti-violence programs, but anti-gay violence is everywhere. This piece starts off with a chilling account of a violent relationship between two women, one of whom simply didn’t know where to turn when things were at their worst.

The rate of domestic violence among LGBT couples is about the same as for heterosexual ones — an estimated 25 to 33 percent experience abuse in their lifetimes, according to National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs. But LGBT victims are significantly less likely to seek out help: 45 percent of them have been turned away from domestic violence shelters, and only 7 percent call the police after an incident of domestic violence. LGBT women are particularly at risk: they’re victims of the majority of murders related to domestic violence in the gay community, the coalition says.

This actually does happen all the time, but it’s clearly underreported, and mainstream media outlets may be hesitant to cover it. This article points out why the suggestions to the Violence Against Women Act are needed right now, especially as the world slowly tilts left on gay rights.

Give this story a read. It’s a little-heard perspective on an important issue.

Researchers at Boston University have released a new study that explores different facts related to individuals living lives out of the closet.

Some of the “findings” are incredibly common sense: for example, people whose parents are supportive of them coming out in their 20s live healthier lives, and people with supportive parents are less likely to experience mental health problems or substance abuse.

However, one interesting finding shows that women are more strongly affected by remaining in the closet than men. From The Advocate:

“It’s possible that the stress of not disclosing your sexuality to your parents affects men and women differently,” said lead researcher Emily Rothman in an announcement of the findings. “In general, gay and bisexual men may be able to conduct their sexual lives apart from their parents with less stress.”

Thoughts? Fair/accurate observation?