Lesbian Firefighter Claims Defamation

A black lesbian firefighter who responded to the crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 at San Francisco International Airport last July says the fire department falsely accused her of killing a passenger who had been lying on the tarmac.

Through her defamation claim against the city, Elyse Duckett, who joined the San Francisco Fire Department in 1989, says, “In their rush to assign blame and to protect the firefighter who was actually responsible for the death of Ye Meng Yuan,” the department “committed multiple violations” of her rights. Duckett also “believes that the treatment she endured” was due to her race, sexual orientation, and other factors.

Read more here.

Brittney Griner and Her Girlfriend Share a Kiss on the Great Wall

Via The Fab Femme.

Laverne Cox: Love for Trans Community Will End Injustices She, Others Face

Transgender actress and advocate Laverne Cox has learned to love herself and is pleased to see the rest of the country learning to love trans people.

Cox gave the keynote address Thursday evening at this year’s national Creating Change conference at the Hilton Americas–Houston.

She walked onstage to a standing ovation and loud cheers from the 4,000 people in the audience. But she admitted to them she was “not used to receiving this kind of love.”

“I have to say that a black transgender woman from a working-class background raised by a single mother getting all this love tonight; this feels like the change I need to see more of in the country,” Cox said.

More at the Dallas Voice.

Beyond Transitions: Orange Is the New Black Transgender Star Finds Her Own Truth

“Human beings aren’t supposed to live like this.”

The quote is one of Sophia Burset’s most memorable lines. The transgender character in the Netflix original series Orange Is the New Black has contributed to transgender actress and advocate Laverne Cox’s rise to fame. Sophia’s story, a tale of self-acceptance and personal discovery that’s a microcosm for anyone who has struggled to fit in within a perplexing set of societal ideals, gleans strength from a universal human condition.

Are you resilient enough to be yourself?

Continue reading at Houston’s Culture Map.

Barneys Features Transgender Models In Awesome Push For Equality

Over the past few years, the modeling industry has taken some strides to redefine itself and maintain its relevancy in modern society. While there’s still a long way to go, luxury retailer Barneys New York has taken it a step further this year with its spring campaign, which features 17 transgender models.

The campaign, entitled “Brothers, Sisters, Sons and Daughters,” is meant to promote awareness of transgender issues and includes photos, videos and a short film. Women’s Wear Daily spoke with Barneys creative director Dennis Freeman recently about the decision to use transgender models in the campaign. Freeman stressed the importance of progress in the industry to include the entire LGBT community, noting that compared to the inclusion of gay, lesbian and bisexual models, “it’s striking how the transgender community has been left behind. It’s disturbing and upsetting to see that.”

Read more from the Huffington Post.