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Out Music: Summer Luk “Part Of Me”

Summer Luk, who describes herself as “a musician who’s trans, not a trans musician,’ shares a personal essay with The Advocate about her new music video, “Part of Me.”

In the op-ed, Luk explains why she fought against the narrative that trans women should be limited to portrayals that are only “sad and painful.”

Through music, I get to tell a different story about myself. Although my song “Part of Me” isn’t revolutionary or radical, it is a song that gives me permission to feel the feelings that I had to suppress as a youth in a conservative Christian household. This song, like all my other songs, was my way of learning to see myself through my own eyes and to acknowledge that while there’s a part of me that has experienced sadness, there are also parts of me that are silly, sassy, and even downright cheesy. I believe that only when I can acknowledge all these parts will I find the strength to move forward because I’m not leaving any part of me behind.

That is why I’ll always do what I’m not supposed to do as a musician who happens to be trans. That is why I will always write, perform, and exist not as a trans musician but as a musician who is trans.

Learn more about Summer Luk in this Refinery29 Q&A.

Check out the music video for “Part of Me” below. It’s fun, light and pop-y.

Plus, she’s got great taste in music video crushes.

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News Round-Up: January 31, 2017

(image courtesy of Sundance)

Some news items you may have missed:

• After a splashy world premiere at Sundance Film Festival, BEACH RATS, a gritty coming-of-age tale about a Brooklyn teen’s struggles to come to grips with being gay, has been picked up by new indie label Neon.

• Trump son-in-law, Jared Kushner, may be feeling squeezed out of his power position in the White House.

• Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins aren’t completely sold on billionaire Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. #TheresHope

• New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who forced “The Donald” to settle his Trump University lawsuits for $25 million, is joining the ACLU’s lawsuit against Trump’s travel ban.

• Awkward – in 2015, during now-fired acting Attorney General Sarah Yates’ confirmation hearings, Sen. Jeff Sessions queried Yates about her responsibility to then-President Obama should he ask her to defend “unlawful” orders. Kinda like yesterday which led to her getting canned?

• Lead singer and chief songwriter for 80s band Asia, John Weston, passed away at the age of 67 of colon cancer. The band’s debut single, “The Heat of the Moment,” spent 6 weeks on top of the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart in 1982. I thought the 10/8 meter of the verse was the coolest thing. Loved Asia.

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Billionaire Education Secretary Nominee Betsy DeVos Squeaks By Senate Committee On 12-11 Vote

Although it appears she was caught plagiarizing her answers in written responses to questions from Senators, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was approved out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee by a vote of 12-11.

From ABC News:

President Donald Trump’s nomination of Betsy DeVos to be education secretary was sent today to the full U.S. Senate for confirmation on a tight 12-11 party line vote in committee after a fractious debate over her qualifications.

The vote on the nomination of DeVos, a controversial figure in Michigan politics and education, raised hackles among Democrats in the Senate, who argued throughout a contentious hearing two weeks ago and today’s debate that she knows too little about federal education policy and would undermine public schools.

Republicans, in the majority in both the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and the full Senate, defended her as being committed to children even if she has been a key supporter of school choice and vouchers — though two GOP members signaled that their votes in the committee today did not necessarily guarantee support on the Senate floor.

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White House Announces LGBT Executive Order Will Remain Intact

The White House issued this statement last night in regards to rumors that the Trump administration was circulating an executive order draft which would repeal President Obama’s LGBT protections.

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 31, 2017

President Donald J. Trump Will Continue to Enforce Executive Order Protecting the Rights of the LGBTQ Community in the Workplace

President Donald J. Trump is determined to protect the rights of all Americans, including the LGBTQ community. President Trump continues to be respectful and supportive of LGBTQ rights, just as he was throughout the election. The President is proud to have been the first ever GOP nominee to mention the LGBTQ community in his nomination acceptance speech, pledging then to protect the community from violence and oppression. The executive order signed in 2014, which protects employees from anti-LGBTQ workplace discrimination while working for federal contractors, will remain intact at the direction of President Donald J. Trump.

President Obama’s 2014 executive order was the first ever to bar federal contractors from discriminating against LGBT employees. The EO was, in part, a response to the GOP-controlled Congress who clearly were never going to pass the dead-on-arrival Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

Although this is good news, it does not mean President Trump may attempt to issue additional executive orders which may give some kind of “religious freedom” clause.

Given the past few days chaos over Trump’s immigration EO, plus the fact I believe the sources who reported the draft of a repeal, I tend to believe Trump wasn’t up for more protests.

This is just my gut, but I think the EO draft may have been the brain child of notoriously anti-LGBT Vice President Mike Pence in an attempt to appease social conservatives in the Republican party.

Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, issued a statement which read in part, “L.G.B.T.Q. refugees, immigrants, Muslims and women are scared today, and with good reason,” Mr. Griffin said. “Donald Trump has done nothing but undermine equality since he set foot in the White House.”

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Boy Scouts Of America Will Allow Transgender Scouts

The Dallas Morning News is reporting that, beginning immediately, the Boy Scouts of America will allow transgender youth who identify as boys to enroll in scouting programs:

The organization announced it had made the decision to begin basing enrollment in its boys-only programs on the gender a child or parent lists on the application to become a scout. The organization had previously held a policy that relied on the gender listed on a child’s birth certificate for those programs.

Rebecca Rausch, a spokeswoman for the organization, emailed a statement Monday. She said the organization’s leadership had considered a recent case in Secaucus, New Jersey, where an 8-year-old transgender child had been asked to leave his Scout troop after parents and leaders found out he is transgender, but the change was made because of the larger conversation about gender identity going on around the country.

“For more than 100 years, the Boy Scouts of America, along with schools, youth sports and other youth organizations, have ultimately deferred to the information on an individual’s birth certificate to determine eligibility for our single-gender programs,” the statement said. “However, that approach is no longer sufficient as communities and state laws are interpreting gender identity differently, and these laws vary widely from state to state.”

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Washington Post Confirms Draft Of Trump Executive Order On LGBT Issues

Many LGBTs across the country have feared, since the election of Donald Trump, that our rights and protections could come under fire with a Trump administration.

It appears that our concerns may be born out later this week.

This afternoon, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer dodged a direct question about a possible anti-LGBT executive order: “I’m not gonna get ahead of the executive orders that we may or may not issue. There’s a lot of executive orders, a lot of things that the president has talked about and will continue to fulfill. But we have nothing on that front right now.”

An hour later, Washington Post reporter Josh Rogin tweeted that there is, indeed, a draft of an executive order addressing LGBT issues.

Watch below (49:14 mark) as Spicer side-steps the question on a possible LGBT executive order:

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Trump Executive Order Targeting LGBTs Could Come This Week

It’s not all that surprising, when you consider that President Trump has promised to sign the so-called First Amendment Defense Act which would legalize anti-LGBT business discrimination nationwide, that sources are saying an executive order allowing discrimination against LGBTs is expected from the Trump White House.

The expectation is that the EO would affect areas of employment, social services, business, and adoption.

From LGBTQ Nation:

From what we’ve heard, the executive order could be far-reaching, and could include: making taxpayer funds available for discrimination against LGBTQ people in social services; allow federally funded adoption agencies to discriminate against LGBTQ parents; eliminate non-discrimination protections in order to make it possible to fire federal employers and contractors based on their sexual orientation or gender identity; and allow federal employees to refuse to serve people based on the belief that marriage should be between a man and a woman, and that gender is an immutable characteristic set at birth, which would impact a broad range of federal benefits.

The order is expected to come in the packaging of so-called “religious freedom,” which argues that someone’s religious beliefs should be enough to prevent them from having to provide goods and services to members of the LGBTQ community if doing so would conflict with said beliefs.

The Human Rights Campaign‘s JoDee Winterhof, Senior Vice President for Policy and Political Affairs, issued a statement which read in part:

“The rumors of an anti-LGBTQ executive action by President Trump are deeply troubling. We already know that he is willing to target and marginalize at-risk communities for his perceived political gain. As the President and his team plan their next steps, we want to make one thing clear: we won’t give one inch when it comes to defending equality, whether it is a full-on frontal assault or an attack under the guise of religion. Mike Pence should know that better than anyone given his track record in Indiana.

“The Human Rights Campaign will stand with those who have already been targeted by this Administration and are prepared to fight tooth and nail against every effort to discriminate.”

When asked about the reports, White House press secretary Sean Spicer refused to answer the question.

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White House: No Apology For Detaining 5 Year Old Due To Immigration Order

Earlier today, White House press secretary defended the detaining of a 5 year old Iranian boy over the weekend due to President Trump’s immigration order by saying, “To assume that just because of someone’s age or gender or whatever that they don’t pose a threat would be misguided and wrong.”

Via RawStory:

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said on Monday that the Trump administration would not apologize for detaining a 5-year-old Iranian boy because it was done to keep the country safe.

Video published by WJLA over the weekend showed the 5-year-old boy being reunited with his mother after he was detained at Washington Dulles International Airport for hours on Saturday.

“The president recognizes that it is his duty and obligation to keep this country safe,” Spicer explained. “And by instituting a process by which we look at these countries over a 90-day period and the process by which the people can come in out of this country to ensure the safety of each and every one of us, I think, is something that makes a heck of a lot of sense.”

“When you look at the 329,000 people [who traveled to the U.S. over the weekend], 109 were inconvenienced for the safety and security of us all,” the Trump spokesman said. “And to make sure that, if they are a 5 year old, that maybe they’re with their parents and they don’t pose a threat.”

“But to assume that just because of someone’s age or gender or whatever that they don’t pose a threat would be misguided and wrong.”

Watch below: