Headlines from the Granite State
Musical scholarship
Congratulations to Sophia Desiets, valedictorian of Merrimack High’s Class of 2023, for receiving the New Hampshire Gay Men’s Chorus’s $1,000 2023 Scholarship.
Desilets is now pursuing a bachelor of fine arts degree in musical theater at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee College of Music.
Going into her junior year, Desilets volunteered at the Amherst Street Elementary School in Nashua, working with high-need students entering kindergarten and first grade. This past year, Desilets also volunteered as an assistant dance teacher at the Palace Theater in Manchester for three-to-five- year-olds. She has also been performing at the same theater for the past six years.
“Theatre allows me to pour out my emotions, and it has been there for me in every stage of my life. It is what I’m best at, it is what makes me special, and it is my passion,” Desilets said. “I want my passion and career to be the same thing. When it came time to decide what to major in, I knew I would regret it for the rest of my life if I did not pursue musical theatre. That’s how I knew that this is what I am meant to do, and I am unbelievably excited to see what is in store.”
Gay, trans panic ban
In August, Governor Chris Sununu signed legislation (HB 315) into state law that will ban “gay/trans panic” as a legal defense in criminal cases. Earlier in the year, the Granite State’s House and Senate had overwhelmingly passed the bill and sent it over to the governor’s desk.
The law means that defendants on trial in the Granite State may no longer excuse violent crimes on the basis of their victim’s sexual or gender orientation.
“I’m ecstatic,” State Representative Shaun Filiault told the Sentinel Source. “This defense implies the lives of LGBTQ+ people are not as important as that of straight people and that is simply not the case. This bill sends a loud and clear message that this state values LGBTQ+ people on an equal footing as anybody else.”
Said Filiault, who introduced the bill back in January, “This defense implies the lives of LGBTQ+ people are not as important as that of straight people, and that is simply not the case. This bill sends a loud and clear message that this state values LGBTQ+ people on an equal footing as anybody else.”
Carrington Heath takes the helm
Seacoast Outright has a new executive director. Following an extensive search to locate the right mix of organizational management and programming skills combined with personal passion and commitment to Outright’s mission, the Granite State-wide LGBTQ+ youth advocacy nonprofit has chosen Heidi Carrington Heath.
“There’s never been a more important time to support our LGBTQ+ youth on the Seacoast,” Heidi said. “They’ve had an especially difficult couple of years, and we plan to continue to expand our programming and outreach to meet their needs.”
A homophobic campaign
No surprise to anyone paying attention to the news these days that Republican Presidential candidates are taking advantage of extremist views on race, sexuality and gender identity, under the label of “parental rights,” and they’re doing it to campaign in New Hampshire.
These hot button issues are putting the LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities at the center of the 2024 elections.
Case in point: President hopeful Nikki Haley, appearing at Granite State town halls with Moms for Liberty, which, notes the Boston Globe in a Sept. 13 story, “has waged campaigns to wrest control of local school boards in various states, a testament to the organization’s growing influence in the Republican party and the state.
Reports the Globe, Haley praised the group’s cofounder Tiffany Justice for doing “God’s work” and for “fighting every mom’s fight. I can’t thank you enough.”
Happy drag queen story hour
Sure shows the state of things when the Boston Globe reports on a drag queen story hour without masked new-Nazi protesters.
But that was indeed the big story in mid-August after drag performer Juicy Garland read to the kids at the Teatotaller cafe without an unhappy incidents from white nationalists showing up.
Not to say the event’s organizers weren’t prepared after an incident in June at the same cafe.
Reported the Globe story, “Peacekeepers in fluorescent vests milled about inside and outside, and new signs notified the public that the open-air walkway along the cafe’s large windows is private property where protests and demonstrations would not be tolerated.”
And the story hour went on in peace.
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