By: Susan Oser
NFBPWC Advocacy Team LGBTQIA+ Lead 

June started the summer of Pride in the United States. However, just because June has ended does not mean that Pride has ended.  Some communities have their events through July, August, and September.  Please try to visit at least one Pride event in or near your area to connect to the community and learn the LGBTQIA+ is all about. 

Before we get to the information below, I just want to say that it has been an honor being your LGBTQ+ Liaison under the Advocacy Committee umbrella.  I’ve recently had the honor to speak to the wonderful women of NFBPWC/PA Affiliate on Title IX and LGBTQ+ issues as well as through a JDEI webinar when they recently covered the topic of inclusion.  I’ve had many compliments on my articles and how they have been educated on the issues as well as have felt comfortable enough to ask questions or talk about the subject.  That really means a lot to me. 

While I’m not sure what’s going to happen with this column after the General Assembly, I do hope it keeps going and you can be educated further on topics related to LGBTQ+ issues.  If you have any questions or ideas, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. 

LGBTQ+ Icon of the Month:  Lorraine Hansberry Why highlight?  

Lorraine Hansberry is a playwright, writer, and activist.  She is well-known for the hit Broadway play-turned-film Raisin in the Sun. She was the first black woman to have the honor of her play being performed on Broadway.  She was also very active in the civil rights movement.  While she was married, she secretly had to “hide in the closet” and wrote about these things in unpublished manuscripts as well as in a publication called The Ladder, which is a periodical for the organization The Daughters of Bilities.  Sadly, she passed away young at the age of 34 due to pancreatic cancer in 1965.  Yet her words and her play still lives on. 

Source(s) for more information: 

• The Daughters of Bilitis -https://guides.loc.gov/lgbtq-studies/before-stonewall/daughters-of-bilitis  

• Queer Portraits: Lorraine Hansberry -https://www.queerportraits.com/bio/hansberry  

• Making Gay History: The Podcast – Lorraine Hansberry - https://makinggayhistory.org/podcast/lorraine-hansberry/  Good LGBTQ+ News for July–  

• Good Reasons to Feel Proud around Pride -https://shorturl.at/j8hR2  

• These 20 LGBTQ+ news anchors & journalists are changing our worldviews - https://shorturl.at/3YE9N  

• Trans man wins $4.7 million from school district that didn’t let him use the restroom - https://shorturl.at/013aI  And now for the BAD news: 

• SPLC Designates Genspect, SEGM As Anti-LGBTQ Hate Groups -https://shorturl.at/kU3bl  

• Trans Youth Suicides Covered Up By NHS, Cass After Restrictions, Say Whistleblowers - https://shorturl.at/BENhu  

• Utah lawmakers vote to block federal protections for LGBTQ+ students under Title IX - https://t.ly/mIMVM  

If you have any news or leads on anything related to LGBTQ+ news, issues, and organizations, please contact Sue Oser at soser@nfbpwc.org or if/when a new liaison is selected after General Assembly.