News

Almost 50 House Republicans joined Democrats to pass legislation on Tuesday that would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and enshrine marriage equality into federal law.

House passes bill to codify marriage equality (axios.com)

Steve explains how we're moving forward with recommendations to adopt language that is gender-neutral and inclusive, including updating the NOTAM acronym from Notice to Airmen, to Notice to Air Missions. 

Link to Steve's YouTube video

The link below is an article about Transgender Remembrance Day.  The link will take you to the FAA Focus.

https://my.faa.gov/focus/articles/2021/11/Transgender_Remembra.html

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/20/executive-order-preventing-and-combating-discrimination-on-basis-of-gender-identity-or-sexual-orientation/

Colleagues,

As I’m sure you remember, when the National Defense Authorization Act was signed into law, it mandated paid parental leave for federal employees. However, there were questions whether the new benefit would apply to FAA employees due to how we’re structured as a federal agency.

At that time, I committed to you that we would make sure you receive the same parental leave benefits that will be available to your colleagues in the federal government, starting October 1, 2020.

Today, I’m pleased to announce that the FAA will join other federal agencies in offering employees up to 12 weeks of paid leave taken in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child in their home.

Paid parental leave will become effective this year for FAA employees who welcome a new eligible family member into their household on or after October 1, 2020. For more information about how this new FAA benefit may apply to you, visit the Paid Parental Leave page on MyFAA.

Nothing is more important than family, and I will continue to make sure the FAA is an environment that supports families and a healthy work/life balance.

Thank you to everyone who worked hard to secure this benefit for FAA employees, and thank you to everyone for your hard work and dedication to our safety mission.  

-Steve

https://www.yahoo.com/news/hopes-marriage-russian-same-sex-092235173.html

This is definitely not the only place in the world where members of the LGBTQ+ community can't marry and face harassment.  We need to keep up the fight for equality!

Click here to watch the video.

This is an article I ran across during my normal work duties.  The report has not been validated nor do we endorse the research group.  I'm simply adding as a resource.

LGBTQ travel in 2019.pdf

Good afternoon, colleagues. Thank you for attending the following webinar as part of the Health Equity Speaker Series at CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention — Office of Health EquitSOGI_8_15_19v2_handout2.pdfy.

• ·       Event title: Improving Measurement of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in the Federal Statistical System
• ·       Presenters: Nancy A. Bates, MA (Senior Researcher for Survey Methodology, U.S. Census Bureau) and Sylvia K. Fisher, PhD (Director, Office of Research and Evaluation, U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration)
• ·       Date: Thursday, August 15, 2019

A captioned version of the webinar recording is now available on YouTube. In addition, I am also sharing a copy of the PowerPoint slides in PDF format attached to this email and the following links on behalf of the presenters.

• ·       Link to the web site for the Federal Interagency Working Group for Improving Measurement of Sexual Orientation: https://nces.ed.gov/FCSM/SOGI.asp
• ·       Link to the Methods and Measurement in Sexual & Gender Minority Health Research page on the NIH Sexual & Gender Minority Research Office web site: https://dpcpsi.nih.gov/sgmro/measurement
• ·       Link to the Understanding the Status and Well-Being of Sexual and Gender Diverse Populations page on the National Academies of Science web site: http://sites.nationalacademies.org/DBASSE/CPOP/sexual_and_gender_diversity/
• ·       Link to the LGBT Stats page on the Williams Institute web site: https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/lgbtstats/

The presenters have asked that I forward along their answers to questions that we did not get to address during the webinar. Those questions and answers are at the bottom of this email.

In the sweltering, early morning hours of June 28, 1969, New York City Police raided the Stonewall Inn.  This was not a singular occurrence nor were raids limited to the Stonewall Inn, but this night, the Stonewall patrons rose up and fought back.  The police came to enforce laws against “lewd behavior” like serving alcohol to gays, members of the same sex dancing together, or individuals wearing clothing of the opposite gender.  This time the police pushed things too far.  Police hit an unidentified female over the head while being loaded into the police transport.  She cried out, and the crowd responded with six nights of demonstrations and clashes with law enforcement.  The Stonewall Uprising was the catalyst for the Gay Right Movement in the United States.

After 50 years, we acknowledge many great successes for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT+) community.  However, our march for equality continues!

In celebration of LGBT+ Pride Month, FAA GLOBE will host “Stonewall at 50 – The March Continues,” on June 26, 2019, in the Quesada Auditorium (FOB 10A, 3rd Floor) from 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm (EDT).  All are welcome to attend.  The event will look at the FAA’s LGBT+ community with Acting Assistant Administrator Courtney Wilkerson and our keynote speaker, Vicki Malesza.  Vicki recently retired and is FAA GLOBE’s immediate past-president.  She will recount her story of being a member of the LGBT+ community during her career at the FAA.

Those unable to attend “Stonewall at 50 – The March Continues” in person can watch a live broadcast using the provided link, https://faa.rev.vbrick.com/#/webcasts/faa-globe-lgbt. If you are teleworking, disconnect from PulseSecure, copy and paste this link into your Chrome browser (Internet Explorer will not work), and you can log back into PulseSecure once the stream is running.

FAA GLOBE is the Federal Aviation Administration’s officially recognized LGBT+ Employee Association whose purpose and goal is to bring about a workplace that is free of prejudice and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity through education and awareness of issues affecting LGBT+ employees.  We are a professional organization acting as an advocate for equitable representation and opportunities in employment, development, and leadership.