Latest Stories from the NEAT Blog
Catch up on news from Theneat, where volunteers and partners join forces for LGBTQ+ justice. Skim the highlighted posts below, then dig into the complete archive.
Monthly Spotlight: Kirsten (CA)
Posted 2/25/2021. Our Spotlight series honors the NEAT supporters whose commitment fuels our everyday work for LGBTQ+ justice.
Meet Kirsten
- Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
- Age: 47
- State: California
Life outside of volunteering
Kirsten shares a home in the Bay Area with her wife. Over 25 years as a professional event manager, she worked with a range of nonprofit organizations before joining the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley 12 years ago. There she creates transformational, immersive learning experiences for Executive MBA students through week-long courses held in the U.S. and overseas. Away from work, she likes socializing dogs at the SPCA, watching documentaries, traveling, and spending time with friends and family.
Her ties to LGBTQ+ justice
Social justice has been a constant in Kirsten's life. During high school she concentrated on hunger and homelessness; in college she shifted to reproductive rights, including time at Planned Parenthood. After coming out as lesbian at 20, she turned her attention to LGBT equality and has remained there since. In her 20s she ran a weekly peer support group for queer women at her local LGBT community center for five years. In her 30s she devoted nearly a decade to marriage equality with Marriage Equality USA, work that culminated in the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court victory. She points out that until everyone can live openly without fear of discrimination or violence, the work goes on.
What she does at NEAT
Kirsten took over as editor of the NEAT blog and newsletter in January 2021. She draws inspiration from the intersectionality of NEAT's LGBT equality work and from the inclusive way the organization brings volunteers in.
Words for future volunteers
For anyone thinking about volunteering with NEAT, Kirsten shares Margaret Mead's words: "Never doubt that a group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." Time given to this organization, she says, is time well spent.
Intersections: Why the Minimum Wage Matters to LGBTQ+ People
Posted 2/24/2021. Intersections looks at NEAT's work on issues not usually framed as LGBTQ+, yet which often affect LGBTQ+ people most severely.
NEAT supports the Raise the Wage Act of 2021
Newly introduced in both the U.S. Senate and House, the Raise the Wage Act of 2021 has NEAT's firm backing, and we call on lawmakers to pass it. If enacted, the Act would:
- Gradually lift the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025;
- After 2025, adjust the minimum wage annually to keep pace with growth in the median wage; and
- Eliminate the subminimum wage for tipped workers, frozen at just $2.13 since 1991.
How a low minimum wage harms LGBTQ+ communities
The Advocate's 2019 article "Why Raising the Minimum Wage is a Critical LGBTQ Issue" makes several key points:
- Raising the minimum wage would lift millions above the poverty line, and LGBTQ+ people are disproportionately represented among those living in poverty—especially transgender people, with a 2015 report estimating 1 in 3 trans individuals below the poverty line.
- In 2019, Black Future Labs' Black Census surveyed the black community; of 5,400 LGB+ respondents, over 90% said low wages were their biggest life concern.
- This foundational economic issue reaches into other areas of life, including healthcare and education.
If Congress passes the Raise the Wage Act of 2021 and President Biden signs it, our community and millions of people will feel an immediate positive impact.
Read the full article View comments Read the Raise the Wage Act fact sheet Read The Advocate's analysis See Williams Institute poverty research Read the 2015 transgender survey report Explore the Black Census Share on Twitter
NEAT Steps Up to Protect Transgender Youth in Alabama
When our partner, the Alabama office of the Southern Poverty Law Center, alerted us that the Alabama Legislature was prioritizing attacks on transgender kids through HB 1 in the House and SB 10 in the Senate, NEAT's field team acted fast. Volunteers from Alabama and across the country called Alabama voters to inform them about this harmful copycat bill and connect them with their legislators to say discrimination has no place in their state or anywhere.
Alabama's ACLU chapter stated: "All of these measures run counter to medical science, prevailing standards of treatment for transgender youth, and basic human dignity. Research has shown that transgender youth have the best outcomes when they are affirmed in their gender identity through supportive families, medical providers, and communities."
First introduced in 2020, the bill cleared both chambers but never reached the Governor's desk for signing because of COVID-19. It would ban best-practice medical care for transgender youth, immediately putting trans lives at risk, ignoring parents' wishes, and contradicting recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and other leading health authorities. At the time of this post, SB 10 had passed the Alabama Senate Health Committee and HB 1 was pending in the House. If passed and signed, Alabama would become the first U.S. state to enact an official transgender medical ban.
Read the full article View comments Visit the SPLC Alabama office Read the ACLU of Alabama on SB 10 Track medical care bans nationwide Share on Twitter
Explore the Blog
Archives
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- October 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- August 2019
Categories
Discover Theneat
A home for collaborative action and partnerships in the fight for LGBTQ+ justice.
NEAT's blog brings together volunteer spotlights, issue explainers, and field updates from the fight for LGBTQ+ justice. Each post links to the full story, related research, and ways to get involved, so you can read up and then take action.