Homelessness in CA jumps significantly

DID YOU KNOW? Housing affordability is fueling a crisis of homelessness in California, despite billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded efforts (higher property taxes in LA). Homelessness jumped 12% and 16% from a year ago in the county and city of Los Angeles, respectively. The tally showed 58,936 homeless people in Los Angeles County, which includes 36,300 in the city, the USA’s largest outdoor-homeless population. In San Francisco, the number rose 17% while Alameda County, which includes Oakland, saw a 43% increase. Homelessness grew 42% in San Jose over the past 2 years and 31% in Santa Clara County, the heart of Silicon Valley. New York is not far behind.

At the end of 2018, four California mayors from the largest cities got together to discuss this as a monumental crisis requiring state-wide effort.  See full article HERE.  Let’s hope someone can finally come up with solutions to make this grim situation better.

LGBT notable events in 2019… so far

In honor of Gay Pride this month, let’s review all the LGBT victories in 2019 so far.  I love seeing all these RIGHTS and bans finally happen.  HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!!

JANUARY

• Same-sex marriage becomes legal in Austria.
• A law banning conversion therapy on minors in the U.S. state of New Hampshire takes effect.
• A law banning hate speech based on “transgender identity or expression” takes effect in Sweden.
• A law allowing third gender option (“diverse”) on official documents takes effect in Germany.
• A law allowing legal gender change without medical or psychological requirements, as well as third gender option (“X”) on birth certificates takes effect in New York City.
• Angola decriminalizes homosexuality.
• New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signs a bill banning the use of conversion therapy on minors. The law takes effect immediately, making New York the 15th U.S. state to enact such a ban.

FEBRUARY

• Health Minister of Germany, Jens Spahn, calls for a ban on conversion therapy.
• The French Parliament votes to replace the use of the words “mother” and “father” in official school forms with the terms “parent 1” and “parent 2”. Supporters of the legislation say it aims to guarantee equal treatment for pupils with parents of the same sex.
• Same-sex marriage becomes legal in the Mexican state of Nuevo León, following a unanimous ruling by the National Supreme Court of Justice which struck down the state’s ban on such marriages as unconstitutional.

MARCH

• The Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Austria allowed blessings of same-sex marriages.
• The Reformed Church in Austria allowed blessings of same-sex marriages.
• The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg allowed blessing of same-sex unions in Christian churches.
• Governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rosselló, issues an executive order prohibiting mental health professionals from offering conversion therapy for minors.

APRIL

• Health Minister of Spain, María Luisa Carcedo, calls for a ban on conversion therapy.

MAY

• The Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover allowed blessings of same-sex marriages.
• The Evangelical Church of the Palatinate allowed blessings of same-sex marriages.
• Same-sex marriage becomes legal in Taiwan.

For more information on LGBT rights, you can visit the Wikipedia page HERE.

Home Prices Still Rising

DID YOU KNOW? National home prices increased 3.6% year over year in April 2019 and are forecast to increase by 4.7% from April 2019 to April 2020. The April 2019 HPI gain was down from the April 2018 gain of 6.6%, but up slightly from the March 2019 gain of 3.5%, indicating that the rate of home price increases has flattened out. Prices in 39 states (including the District of Columbia) have risen above their pre-crisis peaks. Of the 7 states that had larger peak-to-trough declines than the national average, California, Idaho, and Michigan have surpassed their pre-crisis peaks as of April 2019. Connecticut home prices in April 2019 were the farthest below their all-time HPI high, still 18.8% below the July 2006 peak. (CoreLogic)