The Daily Moth 10-16-19
House passes resolution condemning U.S. troop pullout in Syria; Obama endorses Trudeau; LDS Church opposed to Utah’s proposed ban on conversion therapy for LGBTQ minors; Hard of hearing woman and daughter pass away in apartment fire; D.C. deaf community testifies in support for “Office on Deaf and Hard of Hearing”
[Transcript] Hello, welcome to The Daily Moth! It is Wednesday, October 16. Ready for news?
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House passes resolution condemning U.S. troop pullout in Syria; Obama endorses Trudeau
Here are two political news briefs.
The first — the House voted 354-60 to pass a resolution condemning President Trump’s decision to pull out U.S. troops from northern Syria. The resolution said Turkey must stop their military offensive against Kuridsh forces and that the White House needs to show a clear plan for the enduring defeat of ISIS.
President Trump defended his decision in a press conference last night by pointing out that our soldiers are not in harm’s way as two countries fight over land that has nothing to do with us.
Trump said that the Kurds are much safer now, that they know how to fight, and that they are not angels.
The second news — Barack Obama tweeted an endorsement for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is campaigning for re-election on Monday.
Obama said he was proud to work with him as president because he is a hard-working, effective leader who takes on big issues like climate change. Obama said he hopes our neighbors to the north support him for another term.
Axios news said it was an unusual endorsement of a foreign leader from Obama.
House: https://www.axios.com/house-votes-condemn-trump-syria-decision-ee641ac7-a941-4a88-9383-7f2b812dd76c.html
Obama: https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/1184528998669389824; https://www.axios.com/barack-obama-endorse-justin-trudeau-canada-election-67fff5b2-93ec-407d-bd79-b0c433362172.html
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LDS Church opposed to Utah’s proposed ban on conversion therapy for LGBTQ minors
CBS News reported that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a statement saying they are against an Utah proposal to ban conversion therapy for LGBTQ minors.
The proposal would ban psychologists from trying to use this therapy to change the sexual orientation of minors. Utah’s licensing board supports it.
The church in their opposition said they teach the “right of parents to guide the development of their children” and are concerned that the rule “fails to protect individual religious beliefs.”
A LGBTQ+ advocacy group, Equality Utah, said conversion therapy was a dangerous practice because studies have found that more than 60% of children who go through it attempt suicide.
The American Psychiatry Association said they do not believe that same-sex orientation should or needs to be changed and that there is no credible evidence that “any mental health intervention can reliably and safely change sexual orientation.”
More than 12 states ban conversion therapy.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lds-church-lgbtq-minors-conversion-therapy-utah-ban-opposes/
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Hard of hearing woman and daughter pass away in apartment fire
Last Tuesday in Detroit, a deaf woman, Star Milligan, and her 2-year-old daughter Mylah died in an apartment fire.
Police said the fire started in an unit below Star’s when a 24-year-old man, Dmarco Latham, purposefully set his girlfriend’s shoes and clothes aflame by putting them on top of a stove after an argument. The girlfriend lived in the apartment and was not at home at the time.
Star’s family told Fox 2 that Star did not hear a neighbor banging on the door to try and warn them about the fire. Star was with her 2-year-old daughter and a 8-year-old son, Markell. The son made it out of the apartment but was injured and was hospitalized.
Star’s family said she wrapped Mylah in a blanket and protected her from the smoke and flames with her own body.
I was in touch with Tai Pritchet, a deaf woman from the Dearborn area who knew Star and went to school with her. She said Star had a very gentle spirit, was very sweet, and loved her babies, loved life, and her mother — who has passed away.
Tai said this was very devastating because she recently found out that she was an extended family member and now will never have a chance to introduce their babies to each other. Tai said she was “too sweet for this evil world.” Tai also said she feels for Star’s husband, Richard Joyner, because he was at work when the fire started.
The suspect Latham was charged with two counts of felony murder and several arson counts.
Prosecutors said Latham shouted, “I’ll set this whole bi——“ on fire” when he allegedly started the fire.
There is a GoFundMe to support the family. The link is in the transcript.
https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/hard-of-hearing-woman-toddler-killed-in-apartment-fire-man-ignited-to-get-back-at-girlfriend-prosecutor
https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/dpd-man-arrested-for-allegedly-causing-fire-that-killed-mother-child-in-apartment-above
GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-for-mylah039s-burial?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet
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D.C. deaf community testifies in support for “Office on Deaf and Hard of Hearing”
Multiple members of the D.C. deaf community testified before the Committee on Government Operations at Council of the District of Columbia in a public hearing on a bill that aims to establish the “Office on Deaf and Hard of Hearing” and have its director be appointed by the D.C. Mayor.
According to Bill B23-0147, the new ODHH, if formed, would focus on the needs of the “Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Deaf-Blind community,” which include ASL interpretation, ensuring all DC agencies are accessible to deaf people, addressing concerns on language deprivation, and acting as advocates towards the DC government and private organizations. The ODHH Director would be a full-time, paid position along with at least three full-time, paid staff.
Six out of 13 councilmembers sponsored the bill.
Here is a video from two of the people who testified, Robb Dooling and Brianne Burger. It was filmed by Travis Dougherty, who also testified.
BRIANNE BURGER:
Hi! I’m Brianne Burger (signs name).
ROBB DOOLING:
Hi, I’m Robb Dooling (signs name).
BURGER:
We’re here at the DC Council and there is a hearing for a bill to establish the Office on Deaf and Hard of Hearing here in D.C.
DOOLING:
34 other states have this, but D.C. doesn’t have one even though we have one of the largest deaf and hard of hearing populations. So we are advocating hard to make the bill happen. Many other deaf people testified here as well.
BURGER:
After today’s hearing has wrapped up, the DC Council will discuss on if they need to change the language in the bill or move it for a vote. We hope for a vote to establish the ODHH as soon as possible, maybe in 2021. As soon as possible.
DOOLING:
Yeah!
Alex: Dooling, who is a DC Association of the Deaf Member-at-Large, said the deputy of DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said they are opposed to the bill because there is already a DC Office of Disability Rights.
Dooling said many statements from the public pointed out that there are large gaps in the ODR coverage when it concerns the deaf community. He said councilmembers who supported this bill asked the Mayor’s office “How many ODR staff know ASL?” He said the office couldn’t answer while the audience shouted, “ZERO!” Another question was, “What partnerships does the ODR have with the Deaf community?” They didn’t answer.
Dooling said five of them approached the executive (Mayor’s) witness and had a thoughtful conversation.
The DCAD posted on Facebook a link to a video that shows the full hearing and people’s testimonies along with timecodes of when specific people testified. Over 20 people testified in person, including Gallaudet President Roberta “Bobbi” Cordano and students from the Kendall Demonstration Elementary School. Other DC community members have sent in written or video testimonies to the DC Council.
What’s next? The committee will have to bring it to the full DC Council for a vote in a to-be-determined date. There is no guarantee of a vote, though.
DCAD: https://www.facebook.com/DCADeaf/photos/a.418114654871587/3069897653026594/?type=3&theater
Bill Text: http://lims.dccouncil.us/Download/41895/B23-0147-Introduction.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0ExayqejUlFEkrCM3D8q8NdypTa7-KA2eYSeXhTMoABYEmCkHTzUQIIXY
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That is all for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light!
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Supported by:
Convo [https://convo.click/2mVhM8h]
Gallaudet University: [gallaudet.edu]