Independent since 2002 Issue No. 1102 Week of November 7, 2026 Get the free email dispatch →

Category: Inclusion

Commentary

We Can Stop the GOP’s Disenfranchisement of Black, Trans Voters

By The Reverend Irene Monroe Editorial Board

The GOP tactics to dissuade people of color from going to the polls during the midterm elections also impacted and posed challenges for many transgender voters who transitioned. Many did not have government-issued photo IDs reflecting their gender. According to the Williams Institute data, of the 137,000 transgender people who transitioned and were eligible to vote, approximately 57 percent (78,000) may not have had the appropriate ID.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has voiced opposition to making Election Day a federal holiday. However, allowing American voters a more accessible and a stress-free trip…

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Commentary

Jailed Transwoman Fought for Her Dignity

By The Reverend Irene Monroe Editorial Board

Many states, Massachusetts included, have placed inmates in prison facilities according to their anatomy at birth. This insensitive act has put many transgender inmates in harm's way.

Transgender people are in every facet of life - even prison. Too often, however, because of physical and sexual assaults, and being housed in facilities according…

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Cover Story

Scotus Upholds Transgender Military Ban With a No “Blanket Ban”

By The Reverend Irene Monroe Editorial Board

Transphobia, like racism and sexism, in our armed forces is militarily dangerous because it thwarts the necessary emotional bonding needed amongst service members in battle, and it underutilizes the needed human resources to make a democratic and robust military.

With a conservative Supreme Court - Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M.…

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Commentary

Ellen, Black LGBTQ Lives Matter, Too!

By The Reverend Irene Monroe Editorial Board

There are very few safe places for GBTQ brothers of African descent to safely acknowledging their sexuality as well as to openly engage the subject of their sexualities. Black GBTQ sexualities within African American culture are perceived to further threaten not only black male heterosexuality, but also the ontology of blackness itself.

Nothing exacerbates a problem more than good intentions. And, Ellen DeGeneres’s had no idea the Pandora Box hers opened trying to revive talks for comedian Kevin…

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Commentary

Kevin Hart’s Heartless Apology

By The Reverend Irene Monroe Editorial Board

Although Hart’s now a crossover phenom, he still plays largely to a black audience. And, sadly, in 2018 this audience is a demographic group - young, old, church or unchurched - still unevolved and not completely woke to the deleterious effects of homophobia on its community.

While I will continue to argue that the African American community doesn’t have a patent on homophobia, it does, however, have a problem with it. And…

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Commentary

An Evening with Michelle

By The Reverend Irene Monroe Editorial Board

Michelle conveyed a universal message of hope. However, her message of self - empowerment to women - young and old - spoke a truth across generations, centering it as the theme for the evening.

First Lady Michelle Obama swept into Beantown Saturday as part of the national book tour promoting her memoir “Becoming” that was held at the TD Garden.…

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Cover Story

Thanksgiving: The Original Hate Crime

By The Reverend Irene Monroe Editorial Board

America’s origin of hate crimes can be traced with the treatment of Native Americans and how America celebrates Thanksgiving. For many Native Americans, Thanksgiving is not a cause of celebration, but rather a National Day of Mourning.

Thanksgiving is an excellent time to give a closer look at the rising escalation of hate crimes in America - its origin and its legacy. America’s…

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Commentary

A Queer Look at Jonestown at 40

By The Reverend Irene Monroe Editorial Board

The Peoples Temple marched in Gay Pride and embraced a social gospel of radical inclusion. Jones had a sizeable LGBTQ following that kept growing as did his African American audience.

This November 18th marks the 40th anniversary of the Jonestown massacre. The mass murder-suicide was the largest casualty of American citizens before 9/11. With forty years…

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Commentary

“Fun Home” Exposes the Straitjacket of Heterosexism

By The Reverend Irene Monroe Editorial Board

It is the first-ever Broadway musical to feature a lesbian protagonist, and an all-female creative team to win the Tony.

It is the first-ever Broadway musical to feature a lesbian protagonist, and an all-female creative team to win the Tony. Many of us in the LGBTQ…

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Commentary

Halloween: Our American LGBTQ Holiday

By The Reverend Irene Monroe Editorial Board

Long before June officially became Gay Pride Month, and October "Coming Out Month" for the LGBTQ community, Halloween was unofficially our yearly celebrated "holiday," dating as far back at the 1970s when it was a massive annual street party in San Francisco’s Castro district.

Halloween is America’s gay holiday. In the words of the lesbian poet and scholar Judy Grahn, Halloween is "the great gay holiday." And this weekend of…

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