What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/1263710
8 WHAT'S UP! JUNE 28-JULY 4, 2020 FAQ Better Together These and other local organizations can help LGBTQ and GNC people find resources, establish a support system, or offer a safe space to grow community. • NWA Equality at nwaequality.org • Transgender Equality Network on Face- book or at transequalitynetwork.org • HIV Arkansas at hivarkansas.org • The Trevor Project at thetrevorproject.org • Youth Bridge at youthbridge.com • Y'ALLIDARITY NWA Mutual Aid on Facebook • Northwest Arkansas Women's Shelter at nwaws.org • NWA Center for Sexual Assault at nwasexualassault.org • VECTOR Health & Wellness at vector healthnwa.com • River Valley Equality Center at rvecark. org • Spinsterhaven - Elder Tree on Facebook COVER STORY JOCELYN MURPHY NWA Democrat-Gazette I t feels strange to use the word "celebrate" when the world is as it is. And yet, Pride Month is still a celebration of the rights won and the diversity of the vibrant LGBTQ+ community. Even without the parades and in-person events that have become a cornerstone of the month's commemorations, recognition of PRIDE is, without a doubt, a celebration of how far equality for LGTBQ people has come. Nonetheless, the month also serves as a reminder of where that fight began and that it still continues to this day. On June 15, the Supreme Court of the United States granted federal job protection to LGBTQ employees in a landmark case. That is to say, until less than two weeks ago, a person could be fired from their job in some states based on sexual orientation or identification. "It's weird," Fayetteville resident Leah Spears-Blackmon reflects. "When you live with discrimination and inequality, you internalize it… You make adjustments that become habit. You try to stay off the radar. "I was unaware of how internalized this fear was in me until I read the ruling and felt immediate RELIEF. I can't explain it to you. I could have married Micah on 5/12/14 and been fired for being a lesbian on 5/13/14. This ruling is a sweeping act of equality. I'm still processing the power and gratitude of it." This processing for LGBTQ people comes on top of suffering the isolation, the sense of loss — of plans, of social gatherings, of employment, of tangible loss of life — and the fear brought on by the coronavirus pandemic we are all experiencing; not to mention the social unrest swelling worldwide in response to police brutality against people of color. LGBTQ people continue to overcome challenges unique to their population while also persisting in the same fight for equal rights they were fighting in 1969 when the Stonewall Riots — another protest of and uprising against police brutality — became a catalyst for the gay rights movement. "It's a very complicated, very interesting time for mental health and the LGBT community," an old friend of mine, Scott Percelay, muses. In preparation for considering the effects of covid-19 on the mental health of our LGBTQ population in Northwest Arkansas, I contacted Percelay for a little LGBTQ+ voices support, encourage during covid crisis Last year's annual Pride parade was Fayetteville's largest yet. Though the celebration was completely virtual this year, there's still plenty to celebrate and honor in our everyday LGBTQ+ community. (NWA Democrat-Gazette /BEN GOFF)