Joe Wenke

Watch: Google Features An Out And Proud Transgender Man In Groundbreaking, Inspiring New Video

Building a Proud Community with Google My Business Hailee Bland Walsh, the owner of City Gym in Kansas City, believes her gym “should be more than a place to workout. It should be a place to belong."

This woman's response to neighbors complaining about a "relentlessly gay" yard was perfect.

Gone viral: Baltimore resident wants to make 'relentlessly gay' yard more relentless, gayer A Baltimore resident has started a GoFundMe campaign so she can make her "relentlessly gay" yard even more relentless and more gay.

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers and father figures.

The first gay pride was a riot. Led by trans women. Of color.

The Human Agenda Contributor Y-Love (aka Yitz Jordan) is a hip-hop artist. He’s also an Orthodox Jew and is known as the first African-American Orthodox Jewish MC. In 2001 he began performing hip hop at open mics in New York City, displaying a unique, multi-lingual style that incorporates English, Hebrew, Yiddish, Arabic and Aramaic. In 2005, he released DJ Handler Presents Y-Love: The Mixtape. In 2008, released his first full-length album, This is Babylon. He has said that his music embodies Jewish values and appeals to an audience of conservative-minded hip-hop fans. In 2012 he came out as gay. In addition to being a hip hop artist, Y-Love is also an LGBTQ activist and a writer. His writing has appeared in The Huffington Post, Quartz, The Advocate and the Jewish Post.

"Frustration regarding media's and the country's collective response to white male criminals permeated much of the grief shared on social media. People compared coverage Muslim and black shooters have received in the past, as distinct from white male murderers. Echoing the CPD's statements at dawn on Thursday, many also believed this was a racially-motivated hate crime.

There is an epidemic of black people being subjected to violence or, worse yet, murdered by white perpetrators. Recently, this has largely manifested itself in institutionalized racism, in the way white police officers have treat black Americans."

14 #CharlestonShooting Tweets Show How the Media Covers White Terrorism Enough.

With growing tolerance, the question is no longer whether gender reassignment is an option but rather how young should it begin.

The New Girl in School: Transgender Surgery at 18 It was not an easy transition for Katherine Boone, but the question is no longer whether gender reassignment is an option, but instead how soon it should start.

25 Favorite Fictional LGBT Characters -- What others would you have added?

25 Favorite Fictional LGBT Characters gallery Our picks from ''Orange Is the New Black,'' ''Empire,'' ''Buffy,'' and more, leading to our No. 1

A recent nationwide survey found that a clear majority of Americans oppose discrimination against le***an, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.

Majority of Americans Oppose LGBT Discrimination

For the social media minded, here are 9 LGBT families that will diversify your Instagram feed.

9 LGBT families that will diversify your Instagram feed Need some accounts to help you diversify your Instagram feed? Check out these nine users are challenging a narrow definition of family.

Now is the time to stand on the right side of history! www.hrc.org/red

Marriage equality could soon be a reality in all 50 states. Now is the time to stand on the right side of history! www.hrc.org/red

Mass media has long been at odds with marginalized people for misrepresenting their stories. Here’s what Frenchie Davis had to say about solving the problem. http://hellobeautiful.com/2015/06/15/wow-conference-frenchie-davis-queer-trans-women/

Frenchie Davis Boldly Schools Us On Trans & LGBT Media Coverage: 'We're The Strongest People In...

I had a great interview with CBS San Francisco. https://youtu.be/GLjON2dX4Lo

Joe Wenke, Author: The Human Agenda

US air force: being transgender is no longer grounds for discharge http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/05/us-air-force-transgender-no-discharge

US air force: being transgender is no longer grounds for discharge Eviction permissible if condition interferes with duties, statement said, as Pentagon still instructs recruiters to reject applicants with gender dysphoria

30 LGBTQIA-Positive Children’s Books That’ll Teach Kids How Beautifully Diverse The World Is

Bustle Please enable and refresh the page.

Loving le***an couple in ad shocks India, then goes viral

Indian ad with le***an couple goes viral India, where being gay is criminalized, is taken with a sunny ad about a le***an couple.

Binary? What binary?

7 Up-and-Coming Stars Who Are Changing How We Think About Gender These artists, entertainers and activists use social media to educate.

Contributor Hida Viloria is a gender fluid, intersex writer, lecturer and intersex activist. Hida's mission is to promote equality for intersex people, indeed, to promote equal rights for all people. Hida is the chairperson of OII, Organization Intersex International, and the director of its American affiliate.

Hida writes her own blog, Intersex and Out, and has written about intersex issues for the New York Times, The Advocate, Ms., The American Journal of Bioethics, The Global Herald, and CNN.com. Hida co-authored with OII-USA associate director Claudia Astorino Brief Guidelines for Intersex Allies and is the author of Your Beautiful Child: Information For Parents, which provides tips on how to talk to family and friends about your intersex newborn. Hida is also featured in the documentaries Gendernauts, One in 2000, and Intersexion and recently became the first openly intersex person to speak at the United Nations as a participant in the symposium, Sports Comes Out Against Homophobia.

Great piece in Glamour featuring contributor Gisele Alicea (Gisele Xtravaganza).

Latina Transgender Model Gisele Alicea Shares Her Journey Ed note: This has been a big week for the transgender community. First there was Caitlyn Jenner's Vanity Fair cover, and yesterday Make Up For Ever unveiled its campaign with model Andreja Pejic, making her the first transgender model to land a major cosmetics contract. In our Summer edition of Glam Belleza Latina, which comes out next week, writer Celia San Miguel talked to another trans woman, Latina model Gisele Alicea, about her journey of claiming her true identity despite all the challenges that lay ahead. Much like actress Laverne Cox, who recently said that diverse representation is needed is the media, Alicea agreed. “I want to be treated like everyone else, with respect." This is her story. Years before I heard the term transgender, I was a seven-year-old boy who loved dressing up in girls’ clothing. Named William Alicea and raised with three sisters by a single Dominican mom in the predominantly Hispanic Hamilton Heights section of New York City, I knew even then how the Latino community expected boys to behave. I’d overhear my family say men shouldn’t cook or clean, because that was women’s work—and other such machista comments. And they definitely didn’t think boys should dress

As long as violence like this goes unchecked, can we really say we are making progress?

Transgender Woman Pushed Onto Subway Tracks in Greenwich Village: NYPD A transgender woman was pushed onto the subway tracks at a Greenwich Village station by a man "acting erratically" who demanded to know what she was looking at, police said Wednesday.

This is beyond disturbing. Thankfully no one lost their life this time. Why is this acceptable? How much more needs to happen before system-wide reforms are enacted?

Shocking video shows Texas police attacking black teens at pool party theGrio REPORT - Sunday morning, a video was released online showing officers brutally handling a group of teenagers dressed in swimwear.

Janet Mock captures the complexities transgender people face. Caitlyn Jenner is not the end. Rather, she is the beginnig of a greater conversation. http://janetmock.com/2015/06/03/caitlyn-jenner-vanity-fair-transgender/

Revealing Caitlyn Jenner: My Thoughts on Media, Privilege, Healthcare Access & Glamour ‹ Janet Mock I wasn’t planning to write about the Vanity Fair cover introducing Caitlyn Jenner to the public. This lack-of-a-response was not reflective of my excitement about seeing Caitlyn present as her most authentic (and glam!) self for the first time. My live-tweets are more reflective of my initi

Meet the transgender woman who wants to represent Turkey's LGBT community this election

Meet The Transgender Woman Who Wants To Represent Turkey's LGBT Community This Election ISTANBUL -- Twenty years ago, Deva Ozenen didn’t know if she’d ever find a way out of prostitution. The young transgender woman couldn’t find a job, like many members of the LGBT

Man Meets Woman, a series of pictograms by Beijing-born, Berlin-based designer Yang Liu, addresses gender stereotypes in a light-hearted, yet eye-opening way. (via KitschMix)

THE HUMAN AGENDA has a really simple, innocent premise - it is just as natural and authentic to be LGBTQIA as it is to be straight or cisgender.

I’ve put together a book that in its heart of hearts is really just a series of conversations in which people, like Ian Harvie, Carmen Carrera and Andrew Solomon, tell stories about themselves.

My hope is that these stories may help to celebrate our shared humanity and counteract the voices of ignorance & hate.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Human-Agenda-Conversations-Orientation/dp/0986337935

What do you do if you don't know which pronoun to use?

I had a great conversation with Gabriela of DIY MFA Radio where I shared glimpses into how I put together THE HUMAN AGENDA, a piece of narrative nonfiction based on conversations and interviews.

Episode 45: Crafting Nonfiction - Interview with Joe Wenke - DIY MFA In this episode, I interview author Joe Wenke about crafting nonfiction and his new book THE HUMAN AGENDA.

LGBTQIA equality still a long ways off

Pride Month: LGBTQIA equality still a long ways off Well, it’s Gay Pride month and we’re also just a few weeks away from the Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage. I think it’s almost always a bad idea to anticipate outcomes because life is so unpredictable, but just about everyone, including every Republican candidate for president, thin

Tonight I will be at the Maplewood Memorial Library in New Jersey with Gisele Alicea (Gisele Xtravaganza) & Y-LOVE. See you there.

How to be a better ally

I had a great time with Ian Masters talking about how Caitlyn Jenner and the Amazon TV series “Transparent” are opening up a conversation of acceptance about the transgender community and the transition that Bruce Jenner is undergoing.

Background Briefing with Ian Masters | Home of Background Briefing - KPFK 90.7FM

Showtime Networks' Penny Dreadful skillfully tackles LGBT storylines.

Jonny Beauchamp Talks Loving Reeve Carney On "Penny Dreadful" The actor also talked about his prominent role in Roland Emmerich's upcoming film, "Stonewall."

Kudos to Caitlyn for living her truth.

Introducing Caitlyn Jenner See Vanity Fair's July 2015 cover. Shot by Annie Leibovitz, the cover features the first photo of Caitlyn Jenner.