This Just in from the Ocean State
Public art in Providence
A large-scale work of public art—featuring a historic drag queen, a legendary gay costume designer and a pair of cross-dressing dancers from ancient Chinese opera — has been added to Providence, Rhode Island’s downtown at 40 Snow St., facing the city’s popular gay club the Dark Lady. The piece pays homage to the intersection of Chinese and gay histories, which literally share the same space in the neighborhood where the mural now stands.
“This project felt like it was specifically invented for me,” Lauren YS, the Los Angeles-based artist who painted the mural, told the Boston Globe. “We’re on the street corner that used to house the Chinese Merchants Association, was Chinatown and is now a queer neighborhood. That cross-section of identity is what I practice within.”
Constitutional convention?
On their ballots November 5, voters are being asked if the state should hold a constitutional convention. If the measure passes, it is entirely possible that LGBTQ+ rights, to name just one issue, may come under attack from special interest groups, as has happened in other states.
“A constitutional convention will jeopardize our democratic process and can potentially sway outcomes away from the will of the people and toward narrow ideological agendas,” Vimala Phongsavanh, senior external affairs director for Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, said in a statement.
Opponents of a convention urge like-minded voters to reject question 1.
Defending trans students’ rights
Numerous Rhode Island authors have joined together in an effort to oppose book bans, compiling a compendium of the candidates and where they stand on the subject.
“Our concern is not only for the books themselves, but for the children, families, educators, librarians and communities who suffer when the freedom to read is challenged and taken away,” they state on the group’s homepage.
You can find their Freedom to Read Candidate Scorecards at riaabb.weebly.com.
On-the-job discrimination
Antone DeSouza of Little Compton is suing the state of Rhode Island, alleging that he was denied promotions based on his sexual orientation, which he disclosed to his supervisors in 2017, according to his complaint. In his lawsuit, he alleges that he applied for numerous positions within the department, to be turned down every time, often in favor of a less qualified, but heterosexual, candidates.
DeSouza alleges unlawful discrimination and violations of the Rhode Island Civil Rights Act. He asks to be awarded back pay, pension and health care benefits, as well as unspecified damages.
As of press time, the state had not yet responded to DeSouza’s complaint.
Lesbian firefighter’s fight
The city of Providence will face trial on whether it denied a lesbian firefighter’s request to reopen her disability retirement benefits application as pay-back for her successful lawsuit against the fire department, wherein she was exposed to harassment in horrendous ways because of her sexual orientation and gender.
Judge Ojetta Rogeriee Thompson of the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit detailed the treatment Lori Franchina endured: “‘Cunt,’ ‘bitch,’ ‘lesbo’ are but a smattering of the vile verbal assaults the plaintiff in this gender discrimination case … was regularly subjected to by members of the Providence Fire Department. She was also spit on, shoved and—in one particularly horrifying incident—had the blood and brain matter of a suicide-attempt victim flung at her by a member of her own team.”
Once she won her suit against the city, Lori Franchina filed an application with the Employees’ Retirement System of the City of Providence, seeking to be granted the retirement benefits she was entitled to as a firefighter. Her application was denied, the city citing a lack of new evidence. Franchina’s attorney is alleging that the denial was motivated by a desire to retaliate.
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