Watch: LGBTQ #BlackLivesMatter Town Hall
Five Black LGBTQ leaders held a LGBTQ #BlackLivesMatter Town Hall yesterday, and it’s well worth watching. View it here if you missed the livestream.
Violence and Tragedy
In the Wake of Violence Yet Again
I have written about far too many mass shootings in the United States since I started this blog 14 years ago. I feel like I am repeating myself when I post about my fears—for my son, for all our children, for all of the children who will grow up without one or more parents lost to gun violence. When we tire of talking about it, however, we give the victory to those who support lax gun regulations or who use gun violence to express hatred and bigotry. Forgive me some repetition, therefore.
Remembering Newtown, Moving Forward
Today marks the sixth anniversary of the deadly shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, that left 20 children and seven adults (including the shooter) dead. Are we making progress towards ensuring this never happens again?
Changing the Landscape of Hate
This landscape is familiar, strewn with ash and blood. We’ve been here before, too often, seeking the living, counting our dead. I know the terrain, can pick my way stumbling over the bodies, the stench of fear and hatred lingering in the air; the thoughts and prayers; the headlines and statistics.
May Their Memories Be a Blessing
As a Jew and as a human, I have been saddened and angered today by the awful shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh. And I wonder at the unending number of shootings in a country that is supposed to be a beacon of freedom and justice and ask myself: When will we have had enough?
Why We Must Still #NeverForget
Yes, I’m still remembering. Here’s my 9/11 story, and how the events of that day became motivation for me to start a family.
A Threat to Our Children
Weeks after the Trump administration ostensibly changed its policies of child separation and family detention at the U.S.-Mexico border, and after a court-imposed deadline to reunite separated families, hundreds of immigrant and refugee children are still not with their parents. These policies are only some of several recent moves by the administration and by individual states that show an appalling disregard for the well-being of children.
March On
Wishing peace, strength, and perseverance to all who are gathering today to speak out for gun control and to end gun violence in our schools—especially the young people who are leading us where we should have gone long ago.
Watch: Stoneman Douglas GSA Honored: “Loud and Proud and Laser-Focused on Calling B.S.”
The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School GSA, along with its president, Emma Gonzalez, were honored at Equality Florida’s 2018 Miami Gala last Saturday for their work against gun violence in the wake of the tragic shooting at the school last month. Listen to Gonzalez’s remarks.
Another School Shooting: Our Country Is Failing Its Children
As parents in the United States, we see our children off to school each day not knowing if they will be educated or be shot. Yesterday saw the 18th school shooting in 2018 alone. There have been 290 since 2013. When a country cares more about allowing its citizens access to firearms—including high-capacity, military-style weapons—than protecting its children, it has failed its children.