LGBT
Alabama committee advances ban on LGBTQ+ pride flags in classrooms
The Senate Education Policy Committee voted 5-2 for the House-passed bill, putting the proposal in line for a possible final passage in the last four days of the legislative session.
State Lawmakers Consider Eliminating Marriage Licenses
The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling allowing same-sex marriage was a hard pill to swallow for some Alabama probate judges. Some still refuse to issue marriage licenses in their counties. But a proposed bill could force them to comply with federal law.
Program Seeks to Preserve Queer History in Alabama
The South has the highest concentration of LGBTQ adults in the U.S. But they’ve largely flown under the radar, so collecting their stories has been a challenge. Enter the Invisible Histories Project, which seeks to showcase LGBTQ life in Alabama.
When Your Child Isn’t the Child You Expected
Sometimes children turn out differently than parents had hoped or expected. Writer and psychologist Andrew Solomon, author of Far From the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity, looked at how parents manage to find profound meaning in raising exceptional children.
Bills Could Make it Harder for Gay Couples to Adopt
The pending bills currently before the Alabama Legislature would give faith-based adoption agencies the right to turn away couples they believe conflict with their religious beliefs.
A Murder in Rural Alabama? S-Town Podcast is on the Case
The creators of This American Life and the popular murder-mystery podcast Serial released a third season today. This one’s called S-Town, and it’s set right here in Alabama. WBHM’s Gigi Douban got a preview of the first two episodes, and S-Town host Brian Reed tells her his reporting revealed some painful truths about life in […]
The Queer Library: A New Home for LGBT Literature
The brainchild of Change Project founder Steven Romeo, every book is written by an LGBT author or contains LGBT content.
Roy Moore Trial Ends; Fate of State Chief Justice Unknown
Suspended Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore was on trial himself today in Montgomery. He’s accused of ordering probate judges not to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage.
Orlando Shooting Shakes Birmingham LGBT Community
Sunday was Birmingham's Pride celebration, in honor of National Pride month. It's a time when lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies come together to honor the LGBT community. That event was marred by what is now known as the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. Early Sunday morning a man entered a crowded gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida and began shooting. At least 49 people are dead and dozens more injured. WBHM's Esther Ciammachili spoke with Eva Walton Kendrick of the Human Rights Campaign of Alabama, an LGBTQ advocacy group. Kendrick says this tragedy has shaken the LGBT community in Birmingham.
Sociologists’ Book Urges End of Sex Division in Sports
Can you imagine a world with no gender divisions in sports? University of Alabama at Birmingham sociologist Adrienne Milner can. Not only that — she wants to help make it happen. Along with University of Miami professor Dr. Jomills Henry Braddock II, she’s written a new book called “Sex Segregation in Sports: Why Separate Is Not […]
Birmingham LGBTQ Community Leader Honored by White House
Steven Romeo is founder of the Change Project here in Birmingham. It highlights the lives of LGBTQ people in Alabama and other areas of the South. Recently, Romeo received the White House “Champions of Change” recognition, given to just a handful of LGBT community leaders in the U.S. He stopped by to talk to WBHM […]
StoryCorps: “There’s a little piece of you that’s still shining through.”
Amanda: So how does your queerness impact you on a day-to-day basis? Steven: My queerness operates in very different ways when I’m in a professional setting. I’m expected to be in slacks and things that are not form-fitting. Three months into the job, I was told if I wanted to fit in, I needed to […]
StoryCorps: “I’m not complicated…”
Lacey: I identify as bisexual so that means that I am attracted to people of multiple genders. I used to feel like, in queer spaces, that I wasn’t queer enough to be there. I was constantly having this fear that other people were sort of assessing my queerness. It constantly felt like it was insufficient […]
StoryCorps: “You’re a person of value…”
Kristye: I feel like I loved you before our first date, but I didn’t think that was possible. And when I pulled up to meet you, I got out of my car and you got out of your car, and I’ll never forget the look on your face because you … your eyes were real wide, […]
StoryCorps: “I got in the most trouble I think I ever had in my entire life.”
Derrick: When I was younger, I remember I was on the playground and I kissed a boy. It wasn’t like anything sexualized or anything like that, but I got in the most trouble I think I ever had in my entire life. I had no perception of what bisexuality was, but I guess that was when I would […]
StoryCorps: “The difference is in everybody’s heads.”
Jonathan Hankins and partner Maura Barnett are expecting their first child and discuss raising him with their gender nonconforming values. They had a conversation at Storycorp's mobile booth in Birmingham, AL
StoryCorps: “I need to get my last name legally changed, please.”
Gregory and Joshua Laning share their experiences getting their names changed and talk about being one of the first legally gay married couples in Alabama. They had a conversation at Storycorp’s mobile booth in Birmingham, AL
StoryCorps: “Because I love him.”
Neil Rafferty talks to his partner Mike Rudulph about their emotions before Mikes deployment to Iraq. They had a conversation at Storycorp's mobile booth in Birmingham, AL
Conversation vs. Conversion in LGBT Issues
Members from a range of religious traditions are meeting in Birmingham Friday for a conference that puts the issues of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people alongside faith. The conference by the Magic City Acceptance Project and Human Rights Campaign Alabama aims to help religious communities accept and advocate for such individuals. Participates are hearing from Reverend Roland Stringfellow. He’s pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church of Detroit. He tells WBHM’s Andrew Yeager the conference is about equipping participants with tools to have conversations.
StoryCorps: “We’re just people too.”
Jennifer Sumner and her 12-year-old son Rae talk about the challenges of being transgender. They had a conversation at Storycorp's mobile booth in Birmingham, AL
New Orleans’ Posh Academy Helps LGBT Students Complete GED
In it’s series Back On Track, the Southern Education Desk looks at a program in New Orleans that supports some of those students as they work toward a high school degree. The program called Posh Academy, is part of BreakOut, a non profit addressing issues of LBGT youth. WWNO’s Mallory Falk spoke with some of the students, including 23-year-old Lhundyn Fernandez.
Magic City Marketplace: A Long Time Coming
Much has been written about the investment and nightlife along Second Avenue North in Birmingham as a sign of the city center's rising fortune. But the area's comeback isn't just a post-recession story. And it's one economic development leaders hope isn't done. We talk about that in this week's Magic City Marketplace.
Alabama’s Only High-School Freethinkers’ Club
A recent national poll shows a vast increase in the number of non-religious Americans. Roughly a fifth are now atheist, agnostic, or 'nothing in particular.' But polls also show non-believers are the least-trusted group in the country. So the trend is a prescription for some tension, tension that sometimes plays out in the nation's schools. Our Southern Education Desk reporter Dan Carsen has more on one example -- the story behind Alabama's only high-school 'freethinkers' club.
Carsen & Ott: Weekly Interviews on Education in Alabama
Carsen & Ott Talk Explosions and Explosive Issues Several Alabama school communities are reeling after incidents last week shook things up. E.P.I.C. Elementary School in Birmingham had to be evacuated Friday after a propane tank exploded. No one was hurt, but down in Mobile County, a teacher was taken to the hospital after an incident with a student. Nice, tame topics like charter-school propaganda, same-sex prom dates, and Louis Farrakhan round out this week's interview, which ends on a positive note.
