Queer News 2

[TheGodlessUtopian]

The highest court in Hong Kong is scheduled to hear this week what is being hailed as the city's first case testing the Chinese province's stance on transgender equality, reports FT.com (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/87503776-a4bf-11e2-a94c-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2QXyLbdp8).
The case revolves around a transgender woman who has undergone gender-affirming surgery and legally changed her gender marker to female. The woman, identified only as "W" for privacy reasons, wants Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeals to overturn a lower court ruling declaring that the woman cannot legally marry her boyfriend because she was assigned male at birth.
FT.com points out the irony that while the government now refuses to recognize her marriage, a government program provided W with counseling and surgery, and the same government permitted W to change her gender marker.
W's attorney says his client just wants to be sure that the state's definition of "woman" in the law describing marriage as the "union between one man and one woman," will fully, irrevocably apply to her.
"W is treated as a woman by society in ever other way," W's lawyer, Michael Vidler, told FT.com. "If she was admitted to [a] hospital tomorrow, she would be put in a women's ward. So why should she not be married as a woman?"
Read more here (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/87503776-a4bf-11e2-a94c-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2QXyLbdp8).


Source: http://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2013/04/15/hong-kongs-highest-court-considers-trans-womans-marriage



Moments after Portland Timbers midfielder Will Johnson was called a homophobic slur by San Jose Earthquakes forward Alan Gordon, Johnson responded by scoring the game-winning goal.
The point ended a scoreless deadlock, giving the Timbers a 1-0 victory Sunday night over the Earthquakes.
According to the Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/15/alan-gordon-gay-slur-will-johnson-goal_n_3083715.html), Gordon did not speak to reporters after the match, but did release a statement through the team.
“I would like to sincerely apologize to everyone who watched tonight’s match on NBC Sports Network. The language I used came during a heated moment and does not reflect my feelings toward the gay and lesbian community. I made a mistake and I accept full responsibility for my actions,” the statement read.
However, Johnson preferred to allow his game-winning goal speak for him and remained relatively silent on the issue of Gordon’s behavior. “I think it’s probably better that I don’t comment on that,” he said. “It’s a very sensitive matter. I’d prefer the league go through with their protocol.”
Gordon’s use of an antigay slur during a heated moment of Sunday’s game highlights the homophobic environment LGBT athletes currently endure in professional sports—a point made by openly gay soccer player Robbie Rogers (http://www.out.com/entertainment/popnography/2013/04/15/gay-robbie-rogers-soccer-hid-my-secret-nightline), whose interview with ABC News discussing being a gay professional athlete aired on the same night.
Watch Johnson’s game-winning goal and see a clip from the Rogers interview as well in the videos below.

Source: http://www.advocate.com/sports/2013/04/15/pro-soccer-player-responds-antigay-slur-winning-game

P.S: See source for video

[TheGodlessUtopian]

New Zealand’s Parliament approved marriage equality today in the third and final vote required for the legislation’s passage.
Legislators voted 77 to 44 in favor of the bill, and the nation’s governor-general is expected to give it assent, considered a formality. It will take effect within four months, CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/17/world/new-zealand-same-sex-marriage/) reports.
Louisa Wall, the bill’s chief sponsor, said she is “very proud to be a member of a Parliament that has voted overwhelmingly to give New Zealanders, regardless of their sex, sexual orientation, or gender, the right to marry.” In her testimony before the vote, Wall, who is a lesbian, had thanked her “darling” civil union partner, Prue Kapua, for “sharing this journey with me,” The New Zealand Herald (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10878156) notes.
A marriage equality bill also recently passed in Uruguay, (http://www.advocate.com/politics/marriage-equality/2013/04/02/uruguay-senate-passes-marriage-equality) where the president is expected to sign it. With the addition of Uruguay and New Zealand, there will be 13 countries with nationwide marriage equality. Three others, including the United States, have legal same-sex marriage in certain states or regions.
Meanwhile, in neighboring Australia, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the New Zealand vote will not change her opposition to marriage equality. “I doubt we’re going to end up agreeing,” she told The Sydney Morning Herald. (http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/gillard-unmoved-by-nz-gay-marriage-vote-20130417-2i0sv.html) Australian gay rights supporters predicted the vote in New Zealand would increase the pressure for marriage equality in their nation and said many Aussies would likely go to New Zealand to marry.

Source: http://www.advocate.com/politics/marriage-equality/2013/04/17/new-zealand-approves-marriage-equality



Thanks to being posted on Reddit, a Facebook post from a dad who sided with his son when the toddler asked for a copy of Disney's animated series about a princess, Sofia the First, has gone viral.
The father, whose name has been redacted, recounts how he was standing in line at Walmart with his son when a display advertising Sofia the First caught the child's eye. After initially telling his son the family already had plenty of movies at home, a man in another line imposed some harsh gender-policing, telling the child, "You don't want to grow up like a mommy, you want to grow up to be like daddy."
That's when the boy's dad stepped in, replying, "Actually, I just want him to grow up to be whatever he is supposed to be … and if that's a boy that likes princess movies, then great."
The bystander, who the father simply labels "Moron," then gets outright explicit in warning the father that his son might turn out "funny" — you know, he might like boys.
The dad's quippy response? "And I'd love him just as much … and he'd probably smell better as a teenager."
Then an elderly woman in line behind the family offers the icing on the cake.
Check out the entire exchange, via Reddit (http://imgur.com/HebNYAp), right here:

http://www.advocate.com/sites/advocate.com/files/imce/uploadedimages/SofiaFirstx633.jpg



Source: http://www.advocate.com/youth/2013/04/16/read-dads-touching-facebook-post-defense-his-sons-princess-dvd

[TheGodlessUtopian]

The Colombian Senate decides to suspend marriage equality vote until Tuesday (23 April) by a vote of 35-30.
Only 65 senators attended the vote out of the Senate's 102 members.
During an intense discussion that started today (17 April) at 5pm local time, the Senate unexpectedly postponed the vote on the equal marriage bill.
The decision was made following a proposal of the Senator Juan Restrepo of the ruling 'U' party, who pointed out that the debate ‘was very important’ for country’s future and that therefore it should be delayed.
35 senators voted in favor of the proposition while 30 opposed, three hours later.
The Colombian Constitutional Court issued a ruling in 2001 that required the lawmakers to act by June 20, 2013, or else same-sex couples would automatically have the right to marry.
The court ruled that gay couples have equal legal rights to be constituted as a family, but due a ‘deficit of legal protection’ must be eliminated by Colombian lawmakers.
The Bill passed its first reading (http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/gay-marriage-bill-passes-first-vote-colombia051212) last year.
However, during today’s vote, it appeared that both the ‘U’ and Conservative parties were decidedly against the bill.
If both parties would have voted against it – the no vote would have a majority of 46 Senatorial votes.
In order to pass as law a majority of senators must vote for the bill, which seems an unlikely prospect following today's debate.
Senator Armando Benedetti, author and sponsor of the bill warned that it would be a ‘grave error’ if lawmakers voted against marriage equality next week.
Benedetti also criticized his ‘U’ party members for voting against the bill and said that if voting would be unsuccessful next week there could be a further appeal to the Constitutional Court of Colombia.
During the debate Benedetti gave an impassioned defense of marriage equality.
Martha Lucía Cuellar, LGBT rights advocate, said that as a straight mother to a gay son she rejects any discrimination, because he deserved respect and equality.
While senator John Sudarksy of the Green party urged Colombia to follow Argentina and Uruguay and spoke openly about his family he construed with husband whom he married in New York city.
Conservative senator Roberto Gerlein, who previously compared gay marriage to excrement, said he was a victim of persecution by a ‘homosexual lobby.’
While Luis Carlos Henao, vice president of the right wing Families Forum, warned that homosexuals seek ‘to destroy marriage’ and ‘society’, citing discredited research of the conservative anti-gay US based Family Institute about the 'unhealthy' nature of gay relationships which leads to 'diseases'.
Mario Cely, an 'expert' in anthropology and theology, said that ‘it has been found’ that children raised by same-sex couples suffer from disorders and that ‘homosexual marriage is an unprecedented and dangerous experiment’.
The Senate president Roy Barreras was recently exposed for signing an agreement with an evangelical leader not to allow marriage equality to be voted upon or become law.
While Colombia's president Santos has remained silent on the issue.
LGBT rights advocates who assembled in Plaza de Bolivar, next to the Senate in the capital Bogota, expressed their disappointment with the result.

Source: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/colombias-senate-postpones-gay-marriage-vote180413



DOVER, Del.—A Delaware House committee on Wednesday voted 4-1 to advance a bill that would extend marriage rights to same-sex couples. The House Administration Committee approved House Bill 75 after 38 people testified for and against the proposal during a hearing that lasted more than 90 minutes.
House Majority Leader Valerie Longhurst (D-Bear) voted to allow HB 75 out of committee along with state Reps. Pete Schwartzkopf (D-Rehoboth Beach) and Deborah Hudson (R-Faircloth.) Seaford Republican Dan Short voted against it.
“House Bill 75 extends the freedom to marry to all Delawareans who are in a loving, committed relationship,” state Rep. Melanie George Smith (D-Bear,) (http://www.washingtonblade.com/2013/03/20/del-civil-unions-law-sponsor-to-introduce-marriage-bill/) who introduced HB 75 last Thursday, (http://www.washingtonblade.com/2013/04/11/del-lawmaker-introduces-same-sex-marriage-bill/) said at the beginning of the hearing. “This legislation will respect and recognize with equal dignity all couples who are in a loving, committed relationship.”
She, along with Equality Delaware President Lisa Goodman and Equality Delaware Foundation President Mark Purpura stressed the measure will also protect religious freedom.
“This bill makes it explicitly clear no minister will ever be required to marry a same-sex couple,” Goodman said.
Rehoboth Beach resident Fay Jacobs, who has been with her partner for 35 years, urged the committee to “end our long run as second class citizens.” Richard Smith, president of the Delaware State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP,) described nuptials for gays and lesbians as a “civil right.”
“It’s an affirmative right for people to be together,” he said.
The committee’s vote took place nearly two years after Gov. Jack Markell signed a bill that would allow gays and lesbians to enter into civil unions.

The law took effect in Jan. 2012, but same-sex marriage opponents have repeatedly accused Equality Delaware and other groups that support HB 75 of lying about their intentions to seek nuptials for gays and lesbians in the state once they were able to enter into civil unions.
“We sat in this chamber just less than two years ago debating the civil unions issue,” Nicole Thise of the Delaware Family Policy Council said during her testimony. “The civil unions legislation is the most comprehensive legislation in the country. It literally mirrors the marriage law of Delaware, extending all state benefits to couples of the same-sex.”
Rick Hensley, a pastor at Grace and Truth Community Church in Felton, testified against the civil unions bill in 2011. He reiterated his opposition to extending marriage to gays and lesbian couples as he spoke against HB 75.
“The bill at hand is another example of the assault on the foundation of our society, which is the family,” Hensley said.
Rev. Jeffrey Ross of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Lewes noted his congregation began blessing same-sex unions before the state’s civil unions law took effect. He told committee members that we “cannot allow prejudice to prosper in our First State.”
“As a priest in the Christian church I need to support members who want to live faithfully within the covenant of marriage, even if they happen to be gay or lesbian,” Ross said. “I need you to give them that legal standing.”
Neighboring Maryland is among the nine states and D.C. in which same-sex couples can legally marry.
A Global Strategy Group poll that Equality Delaware commissioned in February shows 54 percent of Delawareans back nuptials for gays and lesbians. (http://www.washingtonblade.com/2013/03/04/poll-indicates-majority-of-delaware-voters-back-gay-marriage/) A survey that ABC News and the Washington Post released last month indicates 58 percent of Americans now support same-sex marriage. (http://www.washingtonblade.com/2013/03/18/poll-58-percent-of-americans-support-gay-marriage/)
Smith welcomed the committee’s vote during a brief interview with the Blade inside the House chamber.
“We’re very excited that the bill was voted out of committee,” she said. “We look forward to in the very near future having an opportunity to have a full debate on this on the House floor and passing it out of the House of Representatives.”
The full House could potentially vote on HB 75 as early as Tuesday.
Smith said she remains confident the measure will have enough votes to pass in the chamber.
“I’m confident that we have a majority of Delaware representatives — so over 21 of the 41 — [who] will do the right thing and vote to support equality in Delaware,” she said.

Source: http://www.washingtonblade.com/2013/04/17/breaking-del-same-sex-marriage-bill-advances/

[TheGodlessUtopian]

A lesbian couple in Guangzhou, China, hosted a wedding in a busy shopping area Wednesday, asking passers-by for tolerance and words of blessing for the same-sex couple, reports (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90882/8212464.html) China Daily.
China does not recognize same-sex marriage, but the couple told China Daily that they were inspired by the visit of Icelandic Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir, an out lesbian who married her partner on the same day Iceland legalized marriage equality in June 2010.
"In China, lesbians face heavy marital and finical burdens," one of the brides, who identified herself only as Xiaoxiao, told China Daily. "A woman will be regarded as 'leftover' if she doesn't get married. Not married to men, lesbians have to be financially independent, but women are usually put in an unfavorable position in the Chinese job market, which is full of sex discrimination."
Dressed in floor-length white gowns, the couple exchanged rings in front of Sacred Heart Cathedral, and held signs with pro-gay slogans, according (http://english.sina.com/china/p/2013/0418/583159.html) to Sina English.
"Legalization of same-sex marriages will bring lesbians legal protection," said Xiaoxiao's wife, Xiaoyang. "But most lesbians are afraid of stepping up to speak out. I hope more lesbians can speak up and society can listen to what they say. And I hope the society can respect homosexuals' choice and protect their rights."

Source: http://www.shewired.com/box-office/2013/04/18/lesbian-couple-weds-china




WATCH: Hudson Taylor Comes Out...

4.18.2013

By Out.com Editors

...as an ally of equality! GLAAD launches new PSAs with celebrity allies helmed by Brett Ratner


Brett Ratner directed and produced GLAAD's new PSA series (http://www.glaad.org/ally), donating his time to raise support for LGBT people after he recanted from his antigay remarks of yesteryear (http://www.out.com/entertainment/popnography/2011/11/09/brett-ratner-fired-oscars-antigay-remarks). It's a fun and eclectic bunch of celebs, including Jackie Chan, Tamala Jones (Castle), Giada De Laurentiis (Food Network), DeRay Davis (21 Jump Street), Hudson Taylor, Jaime King (Hart of Dixie), Jason Alexander (Seinfeld), Kristen Johnston (The Exes), Sarah Shahi (The L Word), and Pauley Perrette (NCIS). Additional participants and videos will be released later this month. The PSAs were produced by Kali Londono.
"Our straight allies are essential participants on the road to full acceptance of the LGBT community," said GLAAD's Wilson Cruz. "From athletes to faith leaders to elected officials across the political spectrum, straight Americans are speaking out for equality at a rapid rate and we hope more across the nation will be inspired to take action in support of LGBT people."
According to the press release, "Comcast and NBCUniversal will serve as a leading media partner for the PSA campaign, contributing $1.5 million in national airtime on its Xfinity TV cable systems and bringing this important message to more than 20 million homes over the next year."
Check out Hudson Taylor (http://www.out.com/out-exclusives/hot-list-2012/2012/05/30/hudson-taylor-athlete-ally-lacoste) in the vid below:

Source: http://www.out.com/entertainment/popnography/2013/04/18/glaad-hudson-taylor-comes-out-psa

P.S: See source for video

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Boy Scouts of America officials are going to call for an end to the organization’s ban on gay scouts but recommend continuing to prohibit gay adults from serving as troop leaders.
The resolution still must be voted on by the organization’s board in May, but if approved, “no youth may be denied membership in the Boy Scouts of America on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone,” BSA spokesman Deron Smith told the Reuters (http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/19/us-usa-boyscouts-ban-idUSBRE93I0OY20130419?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews) news service. But it would leave in place the ban on openly gay adult leaders, the Associated Press (http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/boy-scouts-proposing-lift-gay-ban-youth-18997806#.UXFmGoKmVSo) notes.
The group had earlier indicated it might adopt a policy of allowing each individual troop to set its own policy on admitting LGBT scouts and leaders. The proposal unveiled today came after several months of research and surveys, BSA officials said.
The BSA will submit the proposal to its 1,400-member national council the week of May 20, when the council gathers for its annual meeting in Texas.
Story developing …

Source: http://www.advocate.com/society/youth/2013/04/19/boy-scouts-recommend-admitting-gay-youth-still-bar-gay-adults



The state attorney general’s surprising lawsuit against a small florist in Eastern Washington has energized gay-marriage opponents who all but disappeared after failing to defeat same-sex marriage in Washington last fall.
They are rallying around Barronelle Stutzman, owner of Arlene’s Flowers of Richland, who cited her relationship with Jesus Christ in declining last month to provide floral arrangements for the September wedding of two longtime gay customers.
Local gay-rights leaders, meanwhile, have been low key in their reaction to the case — even as it has grabbed attention nationally.
There’s concern that as a handful of states seek to legalize gay marriage, a case like this could well provoke resentment among the so-called “movable middle” as well as live-and-let-live types who don’t like being told how to run their businesses.
Much like the Wildflower Inn in Vermont that refused in 2005 to accommodate a lesbian wedding and the New Mexico photo studio that declined in 2006 to shoot a commitment ceremony, they know the State of Washington v. Arlene’s Flowers will undoubtedly become a cause celebre for opponents seeking to highlight what they refer to as the negative consequences of legalizing gay marriage.
Approved by 54 percent of voters last fall, the state’s marriage law exempts religious leaders and organizations opposed to same-sex marriage from having to perform such weddings.
But those exemptions don’t extend to private businesses whose owners might have a religious objection to such unions, but must still comply with state laws against discrimination, which include sexual orientation as a protected category.
Customers of the Richland florist for nine years, the two men estimate they have spent thousands of dollars on flowers for special occasions — for Valentine’s Day, birthdays, anniversaries.
Josh Friedes, a spokesman for Equal Rights Washington, a gay-rights advocacy group, pointed out that while same-sex unions have been legal elsewhere in this country for nearly a decade, conflicts like this one have been few.
Here in Washington, he said, “there have been thousands of weddings ... and this is one of very few negative stories we’ve heard.”
In the end, he said, “The issue is not about marriage, but about whether gays and lesbians can go into a place of business and expect to be served just like everyone else.”
Joseph Backholm, executive director of the Family Policy Institute of Washington, who helped lead the campaign against same-sex marriage last year, is representing the florist in the court of public opinion.
His organization has established a fund for her defense and is exploring the idea of legislation “to clarify what the state’s nondiscrimination law can and cannot do.”
This is not about a business declining to serve gay people, but about a business owner who, because of her religious convictions, “didn’t want to be involved in a same-sex marriage,” Backholm said.
“People don’t want to have to pass some philosophical litmus test to participate in this society.”
Law to be tested
In an unusual move last week, state Attorney General Bob Ferguson sued the florist in Benton County Superior Court, saying her refusal to serve customers Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed violates the state’s anti-discrimination law.
Such a violation, according to the lawsuit, triggers an automatic violation of the state’s Consumer Protection Act, which the Attorney General’s Office enforces and upon which this suit is based.
At the same time, allegations of discrimination are typically filed with the state’s Human Rights Commission, which enforces the state’s anti-discrimination law.
JD Bristol, attorney for Arlene’s, argues that Ferguson has no statutory authority to bring the suit, in part because this is not a clear case of discrimination. The Attorney General’s Office disagrees and ultimately a judge will resolve that question before the merits of this case can be heard.
A court date has not yet been set.
In comment threads and on Facebook pages, supporters are lining up on both sides of the dispute.
Last week, the ACLU of Washington said in a letter to the florist that it planned to sue her civilly on behalf of Ingersoll and Freed unless she publicly apologizes, donates $5,000 to a local LGBT youth center and stops refusing service to people because of their sexual orientation.
Bristol said his client has no plans to respond to the ACLU threat and, after consulting with several national organizations, is ready to fight the state on this issue.
On Thursday, the ACLU filed the suit, seeking damages and a court order barring the florist from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation.
For now, lawyers on both sides are not allowing their clients to speak publicly about the incident.
Relationship marred
Ingersoll and Freed have been together since they met nearly nine years ago. They live a quiet life in a county that last fall voted by a nearly 3-1 ratio against same-sex marriage.
While the men are likely to be witnesses in the state’s case against Arlene’s, they did not complain about the shop’s treatment of them to either the attorney general or the Human Rights Commission. That issue was first raised in news reports.
Freed grew up in the Tri-Cities and has been on the faculty of Columbia Basin College for nearly 20 years, while Ingersoll, who moved to Washington in the 1990s, works as an operations manager for Goodwill in Richland.
The men say they were deeply hurt by the rejection, in part because they believed they had a meaningful relationship with the florist.
On the shop’s Facebook page, Stutzman acknowledges the relationship, but said that when it came to the couple’s planned September wedding, she told Ingersoll: “I could not do it because of my relationship with Jesus Christ.”
In her posting on Facebook, she said, Ingersoll told her he respected her opinion, they gave each other a hug and he left.
“I believe, biblically, that marriage is between a man and a woman,” she wrote on Facebook. “That is my conviction, yours may be different.”

Source: http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020803087_weddingflowersxml.html



Archie Comic's first gay character faces middle school in a new children's book by Paul Kupperberg


In 2010, Dan Parent created a handsome young sprout named Kevin Keller (http://www.out.com/entertainment/books/2012/01/12/we-need-talk-about-kevin) to add to the Archie Comics bunch. He was the first openly gay character in the series and Archie fans took the all-American boy next door right away, buying enough copies to warrant the first re-print of Archie Comics in 70 years. Last year, he aquired his very own spin off series (http://www.out.com/entertainment/popnography/2012/01/31/out-exclusive-kevin-keller-issue-1) and later Kevin married his partner in a popular issue of Life with Archie magazine, created by famous comics writer Paul Kupperberg.
Now, Kupperberg is putting out a children’s novel (appropriate for ages 8-12) based on Kevin’s life before meeting Archie and the gang, following him through middle school where he faces bullying, puberty, girls, boys, and other issues around being a young kid who doesn’t quite fit in.
A child of the military, Kevin is moved from place to place throughout his childhood. For a young teenager confused about his sexuality and insecure about his appearance, being the new kid again and again just adds to the daunting task of finding an identity and keeping your head held high.
“Kevin was overweight, had braces, and collects comic books; he’s an outsider,” Kupperberg told Publisher’s Weekly (http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/comics/article/56609-archie-s-kevin-keller-gets-a-novel.html). “The story revolves around Kevin trying to come to terms with growing up and becoming aware of himself and his feelings towards the popular kid.”
The Archie Comics series has always been a safe place of refuge for the huddled masses of the nerdy, the confused, and the clumsy. Kevin’s story is a much needed addition to the accepting and kind-hearted community that is Riverdale High School.
The novel was released today, April 18, and is intended for ages 8 to 12. (http://amzn.to/ZqASQd)

Source: http://www.out.com/entertainment/art-books/2013/04/18/kevin-keller-paul-kupperberg-archie-comics



The Alliance for Housing and Healing (http://www.alliancehh.org/), a Los Angeles-based nonprofit dedicated to providing housing and food to those who are impoverished and suffering from HIV and AIDS, hosted its annual gala, called A Faire of the Heart, (http://www.alliancehh.org/#%21a-faire-of-the-heart/c1uwz) at the Beverly Hills Hotel on April 9. Queer As Folk actor Hal Sparks served as the evening's master of ceremonies.
The gala honored Oscar-winner Cloris Leachman with the Celebrity Trailblazer Award, recognizing her status as a pioneering woman in the world of television, film, and comedy. Dr. Phillip Musikanth, who has been treating patients with HIV and AIDS for 25 years, received the Alliance Humanitarian Award. And Laurie Hasencamp, Esq. was honored with the Visonary Award, in appreciation for her commitment and service to the HIV-positive and LGBT communities.
“Our honorees have devoted their talents and resources to caring for those who are struggling with poverty, AIDS, and have yet to achieve full equality, and we are delighted to recognize their accomplishments,” said Terry Goddard II, executive director of the Alliance. “As we move closer to a cure for AIDS, we must fight harder for those who are suffering through this epidemic and its devastating effects, including homelessness and hunger.”
Proceeds from A Faire of the Heart went to the charitable programs of Alliance for Housing and Healing, which provide housing and food to those who are suffering with poverty and living with AIDS in Los Angeles.


Source: http://www.advocate.com/health/2013/04/19/faire-heart-gala-funds-aids-housing

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Two men have pleaded guilty to federal hate-crimes charges arising from the beating of a gay Atlanta man in 2012, an attack that was the subject of a widely circulated Internet video.
Christopher Cain and Dorian Moragne, both of Atlanta, pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to beating Brandon White because he is gay, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice. (http://www.fbi.gov/atlanta/press-releases/2013/two-atlanta-men-plead-guilty-to-federal-hate-crime-against-gay-man) They and another man attacked White as he was leaving a grocery store in February of last year, using antigay epithets as they did so, while a fourth man recorded video of the assault on a cell phone.
Cain, Moragne, and Dareal Demare Williams all pleaded guilty last July to state charges resulting from the attack and were each sentenced to five years in prison, followed by five years’ probation. Williams, a juvenile, was tried as an adult in Georgia but does not face federal charges, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (http://www.ajc.com/news/news/2-plead-guilty-to-federal-hate-crime-in-gay-mans-b/nXQmm/) reports. Javaris Bradford, the man accused of making the video recording, remains at large.
The state charges did not include hate-crime provisions; Georgia law does not cover crimes based on sexual orientation or gender identity. This is the first case to be prosecuted in Georgia under the sexual orientation portion of the federal hate-crimes law.

“Violence against another person because of his or her sexual orientation has no place in our civilized society,” Sally Quillian Yates, U.S. attorney for the northern district of Georgia, said in an emailed statement to the Journal-Constitution. “The citizens of this district should know that we are committed to aggressively prosecuting hate crime.”
While the federal charges could conceivably result in additional prison time for Cain and Moragne, the U.S. attorney’s office recommended, as part of a plea deal, that their federal and state sentences be served concurrently.

Source: http://www.advocate.com/society/hate-crimes/2013/04/19/two-atlanta-men-plead-guilty-hate-crimes-charges



Pat Robertson continues his reign as conductor of the crazy train with his latest ”700 Club” commentary about marriage equality.
In a circuitous little statement about the French Revolution, the Illuminati and “history repeating itself,” Robertson segued his ramblings to gay marriage, asking viewers if equal rights advocates are really “just about marriage,” or if their motives “go far beyond that: to destroying the traditional family and building a country without God?”

Source: http://www.salon.com/2013/04/17/pat_robertson_gay_marriage_advocates_are_like_illu minati_want_to_build_country_without_god/

P.S: See source for videos





TRENTON, N.J. — Rutgers University has reached a $475,000 settlement agreement with Mike Rice, agreeing to pay the fired men’s basketball coach for the remaining two years of his contract, university officials announced Thursday night. “Tonight’s agreement is in the best interests of the university, and I am pleased this issue has been resolved,” President Robert Barchi said in a statement after spending the day fielding questions from state lawmakers over the school’s basketball scandal.






Barchi fired Rice on April 3 after the coach was caught on video hitting, kicking and taunting players with anti-gay slurs at practice.
Under his contract, Rice was owed a little more than $1 million for the next two years at 75 percent of his contract amount, plus an additional $100,000 for completing the 2012-13 season.
Barchi told a New Jersey Assembly budget panel earlier Thursday that he would not approve a hefty payout to the disgraced coach.
“My personal position is that the university was damaged by his actions,” he said. “My personal position is there was conduct there that was unethical, not acceptable.”
Gov. Chris Christie, who is a lawyer and father of a college athlete, also has said Rice should have been fired for cause.
Barchi said severances worth between $420,000 and $1.2 million had been finalized for two other officials caught up in the scandal. The university’s lawyer and athletic director both resigned in what Barchi termed mutual separation agreements.
Rutgers took steps last week to publicly address fallout from the scandal, announcing an independent review and hiring a respected former state attorney general as the school’s new top lawyer.
The measures were intended to get the university back on track during a time of transformation. Rutgers is absorbing most parts of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, which gives it a coveted medical school, and is working on a strategic plan for how to catapult the school to be among the highest regarded public universities in the nation.
The university, set to enter the Big Ten Conference, is reported to have reached a tentative agreement with Los Angeles Lakers assistant Eddie Jordan to take over as coach of the scandal-marred program.
The video of Rice, taken at practices during his three years at Rutgers and aired on ESPN, showed numerous clips of the coach firing basketballs at players, hitting them in the back, legs, feet and shoulders, grabbing players by their jerseys and yelling obscenities and using anti-gay slurs.
Barchi was called to the Statehouse in Trenton on Thursday to answer questions as lawmakers reviewed $487 million in proposed aid to the state’s largest university. Hours later, the settlement was announced.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/rutgers-reaches-settlement-with-mike-rice-former-basketball-coach-to-receive-475000/2013/04/18/36c974a2-a889-11e2-9e1c-bb0fb0c2edd9_story.html

[TheGodlessUtopian]

LINCOLN, Neb. – A former University of Nebraska basketball star convicted of lying to police about being attacked in her home by masked men who carved anti-gay slurs into her skin was sentenced Thursday to a week in jail and two years' probation.
Charlie Rogers, who maintains that the attack last July did happen, cried and hugged family and friends as she left the courtroom. Neither she nor her family would comment after the hearing.
The reported attack provoked outrage and spread fear among Lincoln's gay community, and hundreds of people turned out for a rally that weekend outside the state Capitol. At the time, Lincoln was debating whether to adopt a proposed "fairness ordinance" that would have banned discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation, and tensions were high among those on both sides of the issue.
According to police, Rogers, who is a lesbian, said three masked men broke into her home, assaulted and subdued her, and carved anti-gay slurs and into various parts of her body before trying to set fire to the home and leaving. A neighbor told police Rogers crawled from her home naked, bleeding and screaming for help.
Prosecutors say her story quickly fell apart, and that she faked the attack because she thought it would inspire change in the treatment of gay people. They say Rogers purchased zip ties, a box cutter and white gloves shortly before the attack, and that the evidence didn't support what she said had happened.
Judge Gale Pokorny read a message on her Facebook page shortly before the alleged attack, in which she wrote, "So maybe I am too idealistic, but I believe way deep inside me that we can make things better for everyone. I will be a catalyst. I will do what it takes. I will. Watch me."
Rogers' attorney, Brett McArthur, said that Rogers maintains her innocence, asked Pokorny to sentence her to only probation because she had no previous criminal history and is receiving counseling. But Pokorny said the evidence shows she is guilty and that jail time is warranted, and that Rogers ended up harming the cause she meant to champion.
"It exploded in her face. Ms. Rogers has single-handedly managed to do a disservice to her cause of enormous proportion," Pokorny said. "For a long, long time to come, when a gay makes a legitimate complaint about unequal treatment or discrimination, there will be a knee-jerk reaction among many."
Deputy County Attorney Patrick Condon told the judge probation wasn't enough, considering the fear Rogers spread and the hours and resources police spent investigating her claims.
"It does have an effect on this community," Condon said.
Rogers must report to jail April 29. In addition to probation and jail, she was ordered to complete 250 hours of community service for the city parks service in Lincoln.
Rogers played for Nebraska from 1996 through 2000, and finished her collegiate career as the team's second all-time shot-blocker.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2013/04/18/ex-nebraska-women-basketball-star-convicted-lying-about-anti-gay-attack-gets/#ixzz2R2PCKd4V






A proposed new ordinance designed to protect the LGBT community in Pocatello, Idaho from discrimination in housing, accommodations, and employment, was rejected on April 18.
According to the Idaho State Journal (http://www.idahostatejournal.com/news/local/article_2762178c-a89b-11e2-9e57-001a4bcf887a.html), the Pocatello City Council was deadlocked on a motion to approve the ordinance with a vote of 3-3 with Mayor Brian Blad casting the deciding vote to defeat the legislation.
The outcome of Pocatello’s vote stands in contrast to Idaho towns Boise, Moscow, and Sandpoint, which have all passed similar legislation. But even more disturbing is the suspected influence (http://www.idahostatejournal.com/news/local/article_5e43cdd4-a983-11e2-8e48-001a4bcf887a.html)of the antigay organization Heritage Foundation, which was able to secure time in a City Council work session prior to the public hearing on the proposed LGBT nondiscrimination ordinance.
In the past, the Heritage Foundation has not only championed the Defense of Marriage Act, but also pulled out of the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2011 because the gay Republican group GOProud would be in attendance.
Nevertheless, while his ‘no’ vote defeated the proposed legislation, Blad left room for the possibility of a modified anti-discrimination ordinance in the near future. He's ordered a work session for May 9 with deputy city attorney Kirk Bybee and the council with plans to introduce a new proposal at the June 6 council meeting. “I believe we can draft an ordinance that most people can accept,”Blad said.“My main goal is to bring the community together and it's split right now.”

Source: http://www.advocate.com/politics/2013/04/20/lgbt-antidiscrimination-bill-fails-pocatello-idaho



"This is something I campaigned on. It's a part of why I'm here as a senator today," Sen. Dennis Guth said on the Senate floor Wednesday.
Guth, of Klemme, said the media has "bamboozled" the public into a growing acceptance of gay relationships and argues his family faces "health risks" because of sexually transmitted infections he said are associated with a gay lifestyle.
"The media, for the most part, has bamboozled us into thinking that having a relationship outside of the boundaries of monogamous, heterosexual marriage is positive, happy and fulfilling," he said.
Guth then compared the choice of smoking to what he said was the choice of being gay.
"There are health risks that my family incurs because of the increase of sexually transmitted infections that this lifestyle invites. For example, there are more and more medical tests required before giving blood, or giving birth," he said.
Guth's comments were quickly condemned by Sen. Matt McCoy, of Des Moines, who said Guth was using "warmed-over rhetoric that has been invented by the Christian-right extremist groups."
McCoy said being gay isn't a choice, but "you certainly can choose to be ignorant."
"What I heard today was ignorant," McCoy said.
McCoy told KCCI that he was surprised by the comments.


Read more: http://www.kcci.com/news/politics/Senator-makes-controversial-comments-on-gay-lifestyle/-/9356970/19786994/-/lr1b9yz/-/index.html#ixzz2R2PR6gAU

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Onlookers toasted glasses of champagne outside of the National Assembly as French lawmakers voted to establish legal marriage equality for the country's same-sex couples.
The lower house voted 331-225 in a final vote Tuesday. The senate approved the bill earlier this month, and President Francois Hollande has already pledged to sign the bill into law. In addition to securing marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples, the bill would also give same-sex couples the right to adopt children. Once the law is finalized, France will be the ninth country in Europe and the 14th in the world (along with New Zealand, and Uruguay, which has recently approved bills that are awaiting signature) to provide marriage equality to all of its citizens.
Still, several antigay groups, some affiliated with the Catholic Church and other conservative or religious organizations, have declared that they will continue a legal battle by filing a legal challenge with the Constitutional Council, CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/23/world/europe/france-same-sex-vote/index.html) reports. Tensions remain high as continued protests are also planned throughout the country as a reaction to the vote. A gay man was attacked in Nice, and a gay bar in Lille was the target of attacks last week, in reaction to the gaining traction toward legalizing marriage in the country. In fact, just moments before the Socialist-led National Assembly completed the final vote, an antigay protester was ejected from the legislature for being disruptive.

"Only those who love democracy are here," said Claude Bartelone, the assembly's president.

Source: http://www.advocate.com/politics/marriage-equality/2013/04/23/france-approves-marriage-equality-bill



The Employment Non-Discrimination Act is set to be introduced in both chambers of Congress on Thursday, according to multiple sources, but without major changes that were previously under consideration.
The bill will be reintroduced in the House by Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), the most senior openly gay member of the chamber, who’s taking over the legislation now that former Rep. Barney Frank has retired. In the Senate, the legislation will be reintroduced by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.). The lawmakers’ offices confirmed they would introduce ENDA concurrently on Thursday.
The Senate version of the bill will have five original sponsors: Merkley and lesbian Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) will be two Democrats, Sens. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) will be two Republicans and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) will round out the quintet.
The number of original co-sponsors in the House remains to be seen. Conchita Cruz, a Polis spokesperson, said many House members have told her boss “they want to make sure that they are included” as original co-sponsors.
Tico Almeida, president of Freedom to Work, said his organization will push for a committee vote and movement on the Senate floor for ENDA “as soon as possible.”
“ENDA had a recent committee hearing where not a single Republican senator bothered to show up to express any opposition or even ask questions about the drafting of the bill, so I think Chairman Harkin should schedule the committee vote on ENDA as soon as possible in May or June,” Almeida said. “It would be great to have ENDA teed up to go to the Senate floor in July.”
Harkin, whose committee has jurisdiction over ENDA, has already pledged to mark up the legislation this year. The office of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has said Democratic leadership “looks forward to working with” Harkin to set up a floor vote on the bill.
Almeida said the time period immediately after Supreme Court decisions are expected on California’s Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act would make July an excellent opportunity for a floor vote on ENDA, which would ban anti-LGBT employment discrimination.
“After the Supreme Court rules in the Windsor marriage case, many right-wingers are going to denounce marriage equality for same-sex couples, but claim that they don’t believe in discrimination against LGBT Americans,” Almeida said. “That’s the time when we should call some of those bluffs by putting ENDA on the Senate floor and letting all 100 senators go on the record about whether hardworking Americans should get fired just because of who they are or who they love.”
One question about the bill was whether ENDA would be changed upon reintroduction. LGBT advocates had previously told the Washington Blade the legislation has been under review prior to reintroduction in the 113th Congress.

Two areas that were said to be under review were the religious exemption as well as the area of disparate impact, which ENDA hadn’t previously addressed. However, multiple sources familiar with ENDA said these changes were ultimately not made to the bill.
Jamal Raad, a Merkley spokesperson, said “there will be a few changes to update the language” on ENDA, but said he couldn’t provide actual legislative text until reintroduction on Thursday.
Almeida said another change he’s seeking for ENDA as it progresses through the legislative process is an update to the bill in the aftermath of the Supreme Court ruling in Gross v. FBL Financial. That 2009 decision raised the bar for the standard of proof in making certain employment discrimination claims.
“If this legal loophole does not get fixed before ENDA becomes law, there will be gay and transgender victims of discrimination with meritorious cases who are denied justice because of the unequal standard that the conservative activists on the Supreme Court created a few years ago,” Almeida said. “Gay and transgender plaintiffs deserve to have the same standard of proof applied to their cases as plaintiffs alleging racial or religious discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.”
Almeida said the fix would be along the lines of the bipartisan legislation introduced by Harkin and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) known as the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act. That bill hasn’t yet been reintroduced in the 113th Congress.
“Especially since Chairman Harkin is the author of the bi-partisan legislation to address the Gross case, I’m hoping that he and the committee staff will close this loophole when ENDA goes to mark-up,” Almeida said.
As ENDA advances, many eyes will be on the U.S. senators who’ve recently come out for marriage equality, but haven’t yet articulated a position on the legislation.
Those who’ve come to support marriage equality, but didn’t co-sponsor ENDA in the previous Congress are Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) — and most notably Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio). Also in question among the U.S. senators who support marriage equality is Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), who’s new to Congress.
Eyes also will be Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who voted for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal and recently said she’s “evolving” on the issue of marriage equality.
Reid also wasn’t a co-sponsor in the previous Congress, but he typically doesn’t co-sponsor bills because of his leadership position.
Freshmen senators who were formerly U.S. House members — Sens. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) — were co-sponsors of ENDA in the lower chamber of Congress, so would likely support the bill again in the Senate. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) has said he supports ENDA and Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) signed an LGBT non-discrimination bill into law as governor of the state in 1998.
Other freshman Democrats — Sens. Mo Cowan (D-Mass.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) — signed a letter in February identifying themselves as ENDA supporters.
NOTE: An earlier version of this article neglected to include Sen. Martin Heinrich as among the freshmen Senate Democrats who supported ENDA as U.S. House members. He also signed the letter identifying himself as an ENDA supporter. Whitney Potter, a Heinrich spokesperson, said the senator intends to support ENDA as a U.S. senator.

Source: http://www.washingtonblade.com/2013/04/23/enda-introduction-set-for-thursday/

[TheGodlessUtopian]

The Nevada State Senate voted 12-9 to overturn the statewide constitutional amendment that currently bars same-sex couples from marrying, after Sen. Kelvin Atkinson told all of his colleagues that he is gay during the floor debate.
"I'm black. I'm gay," he said Monday, according to the Las Vegas Sun. (http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2013/apr/22/split-vote-nevada-senate-passes-measure-begin-repe/) "I know this is the first time many of you have heard me say that I am a black, gay male."
Atkinson, who was reportedly very emotional, added that his father, who remarried a woman of another race, would have been barred from doing so earlier in American history. He also argued that establishing marriage equality for same-sex couples would not threaten heterosexual marriages.
"If this hurts your marriage, then your marriage was in trouble in the first place," he said.
The state senate now has three openly gay members, including senators David Parks and Pat Spearman, with Atkinson.
Sen. Ben Kieckhefer was the only Republican to vote in favor of overturning the constitutional ban. Sen. Ruben Kihuen, a Catholic, said he wasn't sure if he would "be allowed in church on Sunday," after voting to overturn the ban, but Mormon Sen. Justin Jones said he had to vote in support of his gay brother-in-law.
"I would rather lose an election than look my brother-in-law in the eye every Sunday and tell him he doesn't have the same rights as I do," Jones said.
According to Buzzfeed (http://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidner/nevada-senate-votes-to-repeal-ban-on-same-sex-couples-marria), this is the first time a state legislative body has voted to overturn such a law. Next, the state assembly, which has 27 Democrats and 15 Republicans, would have to vote on the measure. It would then have to be approved by both houses again in 2015 and then voters would make the final decision in 2016 by ballot.

Source: http://www.advocate.com/politics/marriage-equality/2013/04/23/nevada-senate-oks-marriage-equality-senator-comes-out



A vehemently homophobic man who was born to extreme privilege was elected leader of Paraguay, a poverty-stricken South American nation.
Horacio Cartes won a five-year term, with 46% of the vote. Cartes, who made much of his current fortune from the tobacco industry and is facing money-laundering charges, has such an irrational fear of gay people that he threatened to shoot himself in the genitals if his son was gay (http://www.advocate.com/politics/2013/04/17/paraguay-presidential-candidates-antigay-remarks-shock-nation). Cartes also compared gay people to monkeys and said those who support marriage equality want the world to end.
According to Fox News, Cartes is part of the "tiny elite that controls just about everything in Paraguay," a nation where about half of the populace lives in poverty. The wealth of Cartes's family allowed him to be educated in Oklahoma.

Read more here. (http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2013/04/22/paraguay-elects-anti-gay-tobacco-magnate-as-president/)

Source: http://www.advocate.com/news/world-news/2013/04/22/privileged-homophobe-wins-paraguay-presidential-election



When a gym teacher at a Catholic high school in Columbus, Ohio was fired after her mother’s obituary revealed that she was in a lesbian relationship, her supporters, led by her students, initiated a Change.org (https://www.change.org/petitions/diocese-of-columbus-reinstate-faculty-member-carla-hale)petition to rehire her that easily surpassed its goal of 10,000 signatures, according to a release.
More than 40,000 people have signed the petition to support Bishop Watterson High School rehiring Carla Hale, a physical education teacher there for 19 years.
Hale told The Columbus Dispatch (http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2013/04/17/backers-rally-for-fired-gay-teacher.html) that when she returned to work following her mother’s funeral last month, school administrators showed her a letter a parent, "appalled” that Hale’s name was listed next to another woman’s in the obit, had written to the Roman Catholic diocese of Columbus. The Diocese of Columbus fired her a few days later on Holy Thursday, according to a release from Change.org.
“To see The Church, which is rooted on love and acceptance, show such intolerance is extremely disheartening,” said Hope Vacarro, a senior at Bishop Watterson, according to Change.org. “Ms. Hale is a woman who has dedicated her life to the education of children, and she deserves immense respect for that. She is a moral and ethical educator who has done nothing but bring friendship and guidance to Watterson students.”
Hale has filed a grievance under the terms of her labor contract, seeking reinstatement, and is considering other legal options, her attorney said, according to The Dispatch.
Regarding the outpouring of support she’s received Hale told The Dispatch, “It’s amazing that they’ve come together and rallied around this situation. I’m in awe of them.”

Source: http://www.shewired.com/soapbox/2013/04/22/40000-plus-signatures-collected-lesbian-gym-teacher-ohio-fired-being-gay



She wrote it with Fun.'s Jack Antonoff and the duo call it a 'civil rights anthem'


Sara Bareilles’s brand new single “Brave” dropped last week, and now we have a chance to check out the fun video for the catchy pop tune. In a video interview posted today, the singer-songwriter says that the lyrics were inspired by a close friend who is struggling with coming out. "There's so much honor and integrity and beauty in being able to be who you are," Bareilles explains about her motivations. She wrote the track with Jack Antonoff of Fun., who explained that there's a "need for a civil rights anthem," which is what they're calling the pop song. Watch their interview explaining why the wrote the song together here:
"It's important to be brave and by doing so, you give others permission to do the same," Bareilles says. Watch the video for "Brave" below:

Source: http://www.out.com/entertainment/popnography/2013/04/23/watch-video-brave-sara-bareilles

P.S: See source for videos

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Delaware's house of representatives approved a bill to establish legal marriage equality for the state's same-sex couples with a 23-18 vote on Tuesday. (http://www.equalitydelaware.org/victory_in_the_house_marriage_equality_bill_passes )
The bill, which was introduced less than two weeks ago, will go to the Senate for a vote before heading to the desk of Gov. Jack Markell, who has said he would sign such a bill into law.
The state has extended civil unions rights to all same-sex couples since 2011. The legislative procedure to make marriages legal for Delaware's same-sex couples is relatively simple. Current law restricts marriage only to two people of the opposite gender, but there is no constitutional ban on marriage equality. The proposed legislation will revise the statute language to establish marriage equality. With a strong Democratic base of voters, Democratic control over both the house and senate, and Gov. Markell's endorsement, equality supporters don't anticipate a drawn-out fight toward equality.
The news comes as Rhode Island is also now poised (http://www.advocate.com/politics/marriage-equality/2013/04/23/5-gop-senators-back-ri-marriage-equality-bill) to legalize marriage equality as the state senate there is gearing up to vote on a similar bill this week.

Source: http://www.advocate.com/politics/marriage-equality/2013/04/23/delaware-house-approves-marriage-equality



When Seminole State nursing student Blake Lynch found out his friend Emmy suffered from sickle cell anemia and required blood transfusions, he went to donate blood on her behalf. But when Lynch arrived to make his contribution, he was turned away due to the FDA’s policy which bans any man who has ever had sex with another man from donating blood for life.
Outraged that people like his friend Emmy were being denied potential donations due to a three decades-old policy, he founded the organization Banned4Life (http://banned4life.org/about/) with his partner Brett Donnelly which aims to raise awareness of the FDA’s discriminatory ban.
Several respected organizations such as the American Red Cross have urged the FDA to reconsider their blood deferral policies, noting their ban on donations from gay men is unwarranted. Current practices require all donations to be tested for over a dozen diseases including HIV. Yet the FDA has refused to change their stance.
Emmy notes that HIV is not a disease which only affects gay men and worries that the FDA’s outdated policy may cost lives in the future. “I’m afraid that one day I will be told that there is no blood available for my transfusion when needed most,” she says in a statement on the Banned4Life (http://banned4life.org/about/) website. “I have been battling this disease all my life and sometimes blood transfusions are vital to my recovery.”
In addition to their efforts to change the FDA’s current discriminatory policy, Banned4Life also encourages eligible donors to give blood in the place of those who have been “banned for life” and is planning several upcoming charity events and blood drives.
The biggest of these will be taking place on October 19, 2013, a date the organization has coined as National Donate 4 All Day, a day described on their website as a time “where businesses, organizations and universities will host community blood drive events around the nation.”
To learn more about the Banned4Life organization’s mission, watch the video below and visit Banned4Life.org (http://banned4life.org/).


Source: http://www.advocate.com/health/2013/04/23/newly-founded-organization-takes-fda-gay-blood-ban

P.S: See source for video




Former Rep. Jim Kolbe urged members of the Senate to include language allowing a path to citizenship for same-sex binational couples in a bill to reform immigration policies.
Kolbe, the second openly gay Republican to serve in Congress, was one of 20 people who who testified Monday before the Senate Judiciary Committee on proposals to reform American immigration policies, but he was the only person to specifically speak about the rights of gay and lesbian binational couples. He met his partner, Hector Alfonso, a Panamanian citizen who came to the U.S. as a Fulbright Scholar eight years ago.
However, the schools where Alfonso taught special education students, nor Kolbe, could provide sponsorship for Alfonso's green card.
"Despite being in a committed relationship and despite the fact that he remained in lawful status every day he had been here, Hector was forced to return to Panama when his work visa expired," Kolbe said in a prepared statement shared by Immigration Equality (http://immigrationequality.org/2013/04/read-congressman-kolbes-testimony-in-support-of-inclusive-immigration-reform/). "Our 12 month separation -- like that of any American from their spouse -- was painful."
Eventually, Alfonso obtained an additional visa after a long, expensive process, which Kolbe said is beyond the financial capabilities of most people.
"Our laws should not separate American citizens from their loved ones for such unacceptably long periods of time."
Kolbe and Alfonso have plans to marry on May 18 in Washington, D.C., but that still does not secure a path to citizenship or residential status that heterosexual couples have when they marry a foreign-born partner, because of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act.
"We are immensely fortunate that Hector has now secured an investment visa that allows him to remain here with me," he said. "Many other couples, however, are not as fortunate. Even if they, like us, have a marriage, civil union or life-long commitment to each other, their ability to secure a permanent solution that would allow them to build a home, family or business together is elusive and difficult to realize. It shouldn’t be that way, and this Committee has an opportunity to fix this problem."

Source: http://www.advocate.com/politics/2013/04/23/gay-former-congressman-lobbies-immigration-equality



The senate judiciary committee voted (http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/gay-marriage-faces-pivotal-test-in-ri-senate-committee-final-vote-could-come-this-week/2013/04/23/afcb74a6-abde-11e2-9493-2ff3bf26c4b4_story.html) 7-4 to move the vote to the full senate floor on Wednesday. The bill has already passed the house and Gov. Lincoln Chafee has said he would sign the bill into law.
As the Rhode Island senate prepares to vote on whether to establish legal marriage equality for same-sex couples, five Republicans said that they plan to support the bill.
"We recognize that there is a national consensus building on this generational issue, and we are glad that support for the freedom to marry is growing within the Republican Party," senators Dennis Algiere, David Bates, Dawson Hodgson, Nicholas Kettle, and Chris Ottiano said in a joint statement (http://%20http://news.providencejournal.com/breaking-news/2013/04/ri-senate-republicans-endorse-same-sex-marriageready.html)Tuesday morning. "Today we join the 209 other Republican state legislators across America who have stood up for the freedom to marry...we are proud to add our voices to reaffirm the principles of freedom and equality under the law."
Lesbian Senator Donna Nesselbush, the lead sponsor on the bill, said she believes the majority of senators will support marriage equality.
"We're not there yet, but I do believe a majority of senators support granting civil rights to gay people," she said to the Associated Press. (http://www.twincities.com/national/ci_23085157/gay-marriage-faces-pivotal-vote-ri)
Janson Wu, a staff attorney for Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) testified before the senate judiciary committee in favor of the bill.
"Only marriage gives same-sex couples and their families the recognition and respect they need and deserve," he said in a statement Tuesday after the committee moved the bill forward. "GLAD is hopeful that the full Senate will act quickly to pass this bill."
Rhode Island could become the 10th state, plus the District of Columbia, to establish legal marriage equality.

Source: http://www.advocate.com/politics/marriage-equality/2013/04/23/5-gop-senators-back-ri-marriage-equality-bill

[TheGodlessUtopian]

A group of Republican legislators in Iowa want to reduce the salaries of the seven state Supreme Court Justices who ruled unanimously in favor of marriage equality in 2009, according to the WCF Courier (http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/update-house-amendment-would-cut-pay-for-justice-involved-in/article_23bc7c16-ac34-11e2-8384-001a4bcf887a.html).
Representatives who introduced the amendment to a Senate budget bill — which would cut judicial salaries to $25,000 — say the justices overreached when they struck down the state's ban and ordered the legislature to implement marriage equality in Varnum v. Brien.
"It's our responsibility to maintain the balance of power," between the branches of government, Rep. Tom Shaw told the Courier on Tuesday. Fellow Republican Rep. Dwayne Alons said the justices "trashed the separation of powers" when they ruled in favor of marriage equality without amending state law that banned same-sex marriage.
The amendment appears in Senate File 442, which regulates the state judicial branch's budget. The amendment would seek to reduce the salaries of the four Supreme Court justices still on the bench who joined the unanimous decision by the full seven-member court in Varnum. The bill would reduce the justice's salaries to $25,000 — the same as a state legislator, according to the Courier.
Three of the justices (http://www.advocate.com/news/daily-news/2010/11/03/iowa-supreme-court-judges-booted) who issued that ruling subsequently lost their retainment elections, after antigay groups like the National Organization for Marriage, Family Research Council, and the American Family Association launched aggressive localized campaigns to remove pro-equality justices from the bench.
Representatives who proposed the salary amendment say it isn't meant to be punitive, despite only impacting the judges who ruled in favor of marriage equality. The salary change would take effect for all justices once Iowa voters approve a constitutional ban on marriage equality, reports the Courier.
"We're just holding them responsible for their decision," said Shaw. "For going beyond their bounds."
But the state Senate Judiciary Chairman called the amendment "ridiculous," noting that the court routinely interprets both state law and constitutional issues. The chairman, Sen. Rob Hogg, also told the Courier that a proposal to pay justices differently depending on their role in a single case was unlikely to withstand a constitutional challenge.

Source: http://www.advocate.com/politics/marriage-equality/2013/04/25/gop-seeks-revenge-pro-equality-iowa-supreme-court-justices



France's lower house of parliament legalized marriage equality on Tuesday (http://www.advocate.com/politics/marriage-equality/2013/04/23/france-approves-marriage-equality-bill) by a vote of 331-225, clearing the way for same-sex marriage and adoption in France. But today, four members of parliament are saying they didn't really mean to vote in favor of equality, according to Salon (http://www.salon.com/2013/04/24/confused_anti_gay_marriage_politicians_accidentall y_vote_in_favor_of_gay_marriage/).
Henri Guiano, a vocally antigay member of the right-wing Union for a Popular Movement party, said he was confused by the electronic voting system and accidentally voted for equality, when he actually opposes it. Three other members of Guiano's UMP party told French publication Le Point (http://www.lepoint.fr/politique/mariage-gay-henri-guaino-a-vote-pour-le-projet-par-erreur-23-04-2013-1658370_20.php) that they also inadvertently voted in favor of marriage equality while they actually oppose it.
Guiano blamed his confusion on "activity" in the Assembly, and flashing lights on the electronic voting system, according to a statement.
"You saw the mess that was?" Guiano told Le Point. "I've never seen such a mess in the assembly! There were three buttons flashing — yes, I [pushed] the wrong button!"
Guiano said he realized his mistake and approached the Assembly recorder to correct his vote. Of course, that still didn't change the overall outcome of the bill.
President François Hollande has already pledged to sign the bill into law. In addition to securing marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples, the bill also gives same-sex couples the right to adopt children. Once the law is finalized, France will be the ninth country in Europe and the 14th in the world (along with New Zealand (http://www.advocate.com/politics/marriage-equality/2013/04/17/new-zealand-approves-marriage-equality) and Uruguay (http://www.advocate.com/news/world-news/2013/04/11/uruguay-celebrates-marriage-equality-passes), which have recently approved bills that are awaiting signature) to provide marriage rights to all of its citizens.

Source: http://www.advocate.com/politics/marriage-equality/2013/04/25/france-confused-antigay-politicians-accidentally-vote-marriage



On the same day the Employment Non-Discrimination Act was re-introduced in Congress, a gay elementary school principal in Oregon was saying goodbye to the students he's worked with for a decade, after the district declined to renew his contract once the educator revealed he is gay.
Tom Klansnic has been the principal of North Gresham Elementary School in Gresham, Ore., for ten years, but when his contract came up for renewal (http://www.advocate.com/society/education/2013/03/08/oregon-principal-claims-he-was-fired-being-gay) last month, the district declined to rehire him. Today will be Klansnic's last day on the job, though he will remain on paid leave for the rest of the school year, reports Oregon's KATU (http://www.katu.com/news/local/Openly-gay-principal-ousted-from-job-early-204587721.html).
Klansnic contends that the school's decision not to rehire him is related to the principal's divorce from his wife three years ago, after which Klansnic publicly came out as gay. Last month, Klansnic said he and his attorney are preparing to file a lawsuit alleging discrimination and retaliation by the school district.
The Gresham-Barlowe School District clarified its decision not to renew Klasnic's contract in a statement to KATU on Wednesday, absolving itself of any wrongdoing; "The Gresham-Barlow School District has been working with Principal Klansnic to resolve our differences. The district has reached a tentative agreement with Principal Klansnic," reads the statement. "Both the district and Principal Klansnic believe this tentative agreement is an important step toward keeping the District and North Gresham Elementary School focused on meeting the needs of our students….The agreement currently being finalized will show that the dispute was resolved without an admission or finding of liability or wrongdoing on the part of the school district."
Although Oregon has LGBT-inclusive employment nondiscrimination statutes, Klansnic's situation perfectly illustrates the need for antidiscrimination protections at the federal level. That's precisely what a bipartisan group of congresspeople hope to accomplish by reintroducing ENDA in both the House and Senate today.
Introduced in the Senate by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Tom Harkin (D-IA), openly gay Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Republican Sens. Mark Kirk of Illinois, and Susan Collins of Maine, ENDA would prohibit most employers across the country from discriminating against LGBT workers.
The legislation has been introduced in almost every Congress since 1994, and in 2007 was amended to include employment protections based on actual or perceived gender identity or presentation.
Openly gay Colorado Democrat Rep. Jared Polis joined Florida Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen to sponsor the legislation in the House, though more than 100 cosponsors also signed onto the bill, according to the National Center for Lesbian Rights.
"It is long past time for federal law to provide basic workplace protections for LGBT people, and we are gratified that this important legislation has been re-introduced with strong bipartisan support," said NCLR executive director Kate Kendell in a statement today. "In the months ahead, we look forward to working closely with leaders in Congress and state groups across the country to build support for the bill.”

Source: http://www.advocate.com/politics/2013/04/25/enda-re-introduced-oregon-principal-loses-job-being-gay



To owners and managers, choosing Alan Gendreau would be a business decision.


There's quite the show happening at Radio City Hall this week: the NFL Draft, an annual tradition in which gobs of well-proportioned men preen and pose for the nation's football teams, hoping all the while that they'll be Belle of the Ball.
As these straight men try to catch old coach's eye, a gay man named Alan Gendreau (http://www.out.com/news-opinion/2013/04/23/alan-gendreau-thor-trailer-delaware-gay-marriage-nevada-gay-richie-havens) is working behind the scenes. Though not part of the official line-up on display over the next few days, 23-year-old Gendreau's well-positioned for consideration: the former Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders kicker ended his college career with 295 points, a record for the Sun Belt Conference. The fact that he's gay and a devout Christian has only made his story more noteworthy. It's certainly identifiable for conservatives unsure about putting gays in the locker room. "He defines himself as a good man, a Christian, an athlete," Howard Bragman, the gay PR guru who's representing Gendreau, told ABC News (http://abcnews.go.com/US/openly-gay-nfl-player-gain-millions-team/story?id=19035209#.UXk24oL1de7). "He has a lot of ways he defines himself. He's a well-rounded guy who happens to be gay."
The idea of having an openly gay football player has been a pipe dream for many gay activists and fans. It was something that could only happen after the archetypal "locker room culture" had been absorbed into a completely inclusive society. But now that it looks like it could very feasibly happen—quite organically, at that—and observers are all wondering whether this potential groundbreaking event will really be monumental. Will a gay player be mocked? Will teams, self-conscious in the locker room, start losing? Will advertisers or sponsors pull out, fearful of a right-wing backlash? The answer to these questions is most likely "no," and no doubt team owners aren't thinking along those lines anyway. To them, football's a business, and Gendreau's got major assets.
"The NFL is about winning. It's not about whether you're gay or straight," Cyd Zeigler, co-founder of the gay sports site OutSports, said in an interview with ABC. He later noted, "There is money to be made off Alan -- or any gay athlete. Whatever team signs him, they'll gain millions. Every poll shows you where this country sits on this issue. Jersey sales, ticket sales, people are going to spend their money. People say, 'whatever team you end up on, I'll be the first to buy your jersey."
And Kevin McClatchy (http://www.out.com/entertainment/sports/2013/04/17/kevin-mcclatchy-newspaper-pittsburgh-pirates?page=0,0), the gay former owner and manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates, told us recently (http://www.out.com/entertainment/popnography/2013/03/27/will-active-professional-athlete-come-out-soon), "If you're the first gay athlete you're going to be embraced—especially from a marketing standpoint. I think people will be shocked by the outpouring of support that first out gay athlete will get."
Bragman notes that the entire conversation has changed. It's not about whether gays will throw the sport into turmoil, but how the sport impacts gays. "If someone were to come out, they'd make millions," he said. "They [have] always said if someone came out, it would be disruptive. A week before the Super Bowl, the story was that homophobia was what was being disruptive."
He's talking about how San Francisco 49ers player Chris Culliver took to the radio a week before the big game to say that closeted gay players "got to get up out of here." He was roundly and widely criticized and some say the distraction put them at a disadvantage against Super Bowl rivals The Ravens, who won by a slim three points.
That may be taking the argument to far, but the fact of the matter is that the gay footballer debate isn't just about equality and inclusion and lovey-dovey communities. It's about cash, cash that's cold, hard, and plentiful. Let's just hope that the scouts cruising Gendreau don't get too greedy and pick him for the wrong reasons.


Source: http://www.out.com/entertainment/popnography/2013/04/25/gay-football-player-alan-gendreau

[TheGodlessUtopian]

The Mormon Church released a statement this week voicing their approval of the Boy Scouts of America continuing its ban on openly gay leaders, but opening up membership to out Scouts (http://www.advocate.com/society/youth/2013/04/19/boy-scouts-recommend-admitting-gay-youth-still-bar-gay-adults).
"The currest BSA proposal constructively addresses a number of important issues that have been part of the ongoing dialogue, including consistent standards for all BSA partners, recognition that Scouting exists to serve and benefit youth rather than Scout leaders, a single standard of moral purity for youth in the prograom, and a renewed emphasis for Scouts to honor their duty to God," the church said in a statement.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sponsors more Boy Scout troops than any other religious organization (read about their entangled relationship here (http://www.advocate.com/youth/2013/02/07/mormon-church-behind-boy-scouts-cop-out)). The BSA, meanwhile, will consider their policy change next month at a meeting in Texas.
Read more here. (http://www.ontopmag.com/article.aspx?id=15078&MediaType=1&Category=26#)

Source: http://www.advocate.com/politics/religion/2013/04/26/mormons-board-scouts-half-ban-gays



A man from Kent, Wash., has been arrested and charged with felony rape and robbery after he allegedly sexually assaulted at least one man he met through the online and mobile gay networking site Growlr, frequented by the burly, hairy gay men known fondly as bears.
Leverne Lee Maxwell, 32, is currently in jail awaiting trial on seven felony counts related to a week-long crime spree where police say he contacted men on Growlr, arranged dates, then sexually assaulted his victims at gunpoint, before robbing them, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Charge-Kent-man-raped-robbed-man-he-met-on-gay-4461235.php#ixzz2RRpClSjS).
Describing the attack, a Seattle Police detective told the P-I that Maxwell reached out to one man on Growlr, posing as a buyer for a Kindle eBook the man wanted to sell. When Maxwell arrived at the victim's home, he asked for a glass of water, then pulled out a gun and threatened to kill the man before sexually assaulting him.
Four days later, another man was robbed at gunpoint inside his South Seattle home by a man he met on Growlr, reports the P-I. That suspect also asked for a glass of water before brandishing a pistol and stealing the man's laptop and iPhone.
Police allege that Maxwell robbed yet another man of his iPhone after holding him up at gunpoint on April 13. Investigators said they found a used condom and fingerprints linking Maxwell to the sexual assault, and note that several victims have positively identified Maxwell as their attacker.
Maxwell was arrested April 19, when he denied any theft and claimed he and the man he met on Growlr had consensual sex. Maxwell is an 11-time felon, reports the P-I , and has now been charged with first-degree rape, three counts of first-degree robbery, two counts of unlawful gun possession, and one count of first-degree burglary. He's currently incarcerated in King County, Wash., where his bail has been set at $750,000. He is scheduled to appear before a judge on May 6.

Source: http://www.advocate.com/crime/2013/04/25/felon-charged-rape-robbery-gay-bears-he-met-online



A transgender man in Chile’s northernmost city of Arica gave birth late last week. The birth marked the first recorded male pregnancy in Chile’s history.

“We know that our case is a milestone, a precedent,” said ‘Matías,’ who chose to keep his identity secret while talking to Chilean television station Mega about his pregnancy. “Along the way we discovered legal loopholes... but the entire thing has been so normal.”

Matías’ case exemplifies the rare instance in which a transgender man in Chile was able to keep his female genitalia, though he is legally male.

In Chile, if a man or woman wishes to change their legal sex, they must hire a lawyer and present the case to a judge. Because there is no law that protects the right to gender identity, petitions for name and gender changes are left vulnerable to the prejudices of the judge.

“If you still have reproductive organs from your biological sex, it's very hard to get a judge to approve your request,” said Lukas Berredo, a transgender man and political coordinator for Movement for Sexual Diversity (MUMS).

LGBTQ rights group Movilh said just 10 percent of petitions to change gender identity are granted in the country. This leaves the remaining 90 percent of transgender individuals vulnerable to many types of discrimination.

For example, appearing to be male with identification that says female often causes problems at banks, voting booths and job interviews (http://www.santiagotimes.cl/opinion/special-reports/25636-interview-chiles-first-transgender-congressional-candidate) — anyplace where identification is under close scrutiny. Some transgender activists even compare being transgender in Chile to being an undocumented worker because the prevalence of workplace discrimination against them.

Alberto Roa, Movilh’s general secretary, said because of the discrimination transgender individuals face, he anticipates the couple will encounter struggles as two fathers raising a child in Chile.

"The parents might encounter problems legally listing their baby as their own child since the current law is ambiguous in this respect,” Roa said. “The fact that the child might not legally belong to both parents would undoubtedly affect their quality of life, because the law does not address diversity types of families.”

“There’s a huge social discrimination over people who don’t fit into gender norms, and it’s very important that we make it visible,” Berredo, who does not know the couple but knows their case, said. “ hope that someday we won't be so worried about what others have between their legs, but about their character and dignity.”
Source: http://www.santiagotimes.cl/chile/other/26057-transgender-man-gives-birth-in-chile



Cartoon Network continues the battle against bullying with a special commercial-free presentation of CNN’s half-hour documentary [I]The Bully Effect on Sunday, April 28 at 5:30 and 8p.m. (ET/PT).
The new documentary—hosted by out CNN anchor Anderson Cooper—chronicles the journey of 14-year-old Alex Libby, whose emotional life was both restored and wonderfully activated because someone spoke up in his defense. For Libby, slurs, threats, and beatings at school were a daily occurrence until filmmaker Lee Hirsch highlighted the young man’s story in his 2011 documentary Bully. Since then, he has become an anti-bullying rock star with appearances on national television and a visit to the White House.
The Bully Effect is a part of Cartoon Network’s Stop Bullying: Speak Up initiative—a multi-platform pro-social campaign founded in 2010 which utilizes video, print, and online resources to raise awareness and empower young people to speak up against bullying when it occurs. “Our campaign is all about giving kids the confidence and the competence to know how to speak up when they see their friends get picked on,” says Alice Cahn, Cartoon Network’s vice president of social responsibility. “We launched Stop Bullying: Speak Up as a direct result of audience research. When we asked kids to tell us what issue worries them most where they feel they can make a difference, the thing they said most was, ‘I see my friends get picked on. I know I want to do something. Show me what to do.’”
As a mother raising her children together with her partner in New York, the campaign’s mission is personal for Cahn—and one she knows requires continuous effort. “This is not an issue you can address once and fix,” she says. “That’s where the power of an entertainment brand, where kids go every day because they want to, can help. Sending the message that no one deserves to be bullied or picked on and saying it consistently is what it’s going to take to make a change.”
Nevertheless, Cahn is aware young people need more than lectures and rules to effect change. They also need visible role models who are both relatable and inspiring. “We wanted to go back and revisit some of the young people that were involved in Lee Hirsch’s Bully movie to show what had happened when that film spoke up for them and became an active bystander on their behalf,” she says, explaining Cartoon Network’s motivation to produce The Bully Effect. “This story of Alex—who is the same age as our target audience—kids look at him and think, ‘That could be me. That could be my friend.’ Showing what happened to him, how his life changed when someone spoke up for him, and how he’s now become an advocate for other young people is one of those really motivational stories where kids see a real kid like themselves.”
Both airings of The Bully Effect on April 28 will be accompanied by an online Q&A with Anderson Cooper and bullying prevention expert Rosalind Wiseman. Cartoon Network also plans to make the documentary available on their website (http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv_shows/promotion_landing_page/stopbullying/index.html) beginning Monday, April 29 as well as YouTube and to cable and satellite customers through VOD for two weeks following the premiere telecast.
While the Stop Bullying: Speak Up initiative has made a concerted effort to target LGBT youth by partnering with organizations such as GLSEN (http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/home/index.html) (Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network), Cahn says she hopes to see Cartoon Network reach further by incorporating LGBT characters and their families into future programing. “Our job as television broadcasters is to offer kids a mirror and a window,” she says. “Through that mirror they should see their lives reflected and through that window they should see people, places, and ideas that they don’t see in their lives. I would hope that youth television will continue to evolve so that we provide a positive, accurate, and broad mirror and window for all young people and the adults who care for them.”
Until then, documentaries like The Bully Effect continue to lay the groundwork for a brighter future—a goal Cahn vows Cartoon network will continually strive toward. “We will continue doing this and contribute to that social change,” she says. “We really believe by putting this information out there, having it be practical, having it be actionable and giving them—not just strategies—but real tactics that make them feel confident and competent that we can help create climates in schools and communities where bullying is not tolerated.”

Source: http://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/television/2013/04/26/cartoon-network-continues-battle-against-bullying-bully

P.S: See source for video

[TheGodlessUtopian]

After several media outlets reported that San Francisco Pride had elected Bradley Manning as their grand marshal yesterday, setting off wild debates in the gay blogosphere and protests from military groups, the organization has said that news was premature and wrong.
Lisa L. Williams, Board President for San Francisco Pride, released a statement this morning saying that Manning would absolutely not be grand marshall and that his "nomination was a mistake and should never have been allowed to happen. A staff person at SF Pride, acting under his own initiative, prematurely contacted Bradley Manning based on internal conversations within the SF Pride organization. That was an error and that person has been disciplined. He does not now, nor did he at that time, speak for SF Pride."
The rest of Williams' statement on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/SanFranciscoPride/posts/622822351079480) is as follows:
"Bradley Manning is facing the military justice system of this country. We all await the decision of that system. However, until that time, even the hint of support for actions which placed in harms way the lives of our men and women in uniform -- and countless others, military and civilian alike -- will not be tolerated by the leadership of San Francisco Pride. It is, and would be, an insult to every one, gay and straight, who has ever served in the military of this country. There are many, gay and straight, military and non-military, who believe Bradley Manning to be innocent. There are many who feel differently. Under the US Constitution, they have a first amendment right to show up, participate and voice their opinions at Pride this year.
Specifically, what these events have revealed is a system whereby a less-than-handful of people may decide who represents the LGBT community's highest aspirations as grand marshals for SF Pride. This is a systemic failure that now has become apparent and will be rectified. In point of fact, less than 15 people actually cast votes for Bradley Manning. These 15 people are part of what is called the SF Pride Electoral College (http://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/pride/2013/04/27/bradley-manning-will-not-be-grand-marshal-sf-pride#), comprised of former SF Pride Grand Marshals. However, as an organization with a responsibility to serve the broader community, SF Pride repudiates this vote. The Board of Directors for SF Pride never voted to support this nomination. Bradley Manning will have his day in court, but will not serve as an official participant in the SF Pride Parade."

Source: http://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/pride/2013/04/27/bradley-manning-will-not-be-grand-marshal-sf-pride



Equality Forum, the national LGBT organization based in Philadelphia, Penn., says that the U.S. government has refused to allow Mariela Castro, an LGBT activist and daughter of Cuba's president Raúl Castro, to enter the U.S. to participate in its annual event. According to Michael K. Lavers of the Washington Blade (http://www.washingtonblade.com/2013/04/25/mariela-castro-denied-permission-to-attend-u-s-gay-event/), Equality Forum's executive director, Malcolm Lazin, said that the younger Castro, who is executive director of the Cuban National Center for Sex Education, was to speak on a panel on May 4 and accept an award at the group’s annual dinner later that same day at the National Museum of American Jewish History. She accepted the invitation several months ago.
According to Lazin (http://www.washingtonblade.com/2013/04/25/mariela-castro-denied-permission-to-attend-u-s-gay-event/), while the State Department issued a visa to Castro that allows her to attend meetings at the United Nations in New York, it refused to allow her to travel to Philadelphia to attend Equality Forum, which will highlight Cuba this year.
“Over the past 11 years, Equality Forum has invited leaders of the featured nation to attend. For those who needed a visa, all past visas have been approved,” Lazin wrote in a press release. (http://www.washingtonblade.com/2013/04/25/mariela-castro-denied-permission-to-attend-u-s-gay-event/) “It is shocking that our State Department would deny Ms. Castro travel to a civil rights summit — especially one held in the birthplace of our democracy that enshrines freedoms of speech and assembly.”
Castro was behind lobbing the Cuban government to cover the cost of gender reassignment surgery under the country's national health care (http://www.advocate.com/news/world-news/2013/04/27/lgbt-activist-mariela-castro-allegedly-denied-entry-us#) system, lobbied for greater rights for LGBT citizens, marched in numerous trans and gay parades, and pushed for more health care access and reduction of stigma against people with HIV/AIDS.
Lavers reports that she was allowed to appear on a panel with Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, in New York in 2012.

Source: http://www.advocate.com/news/world-news/2013/04/27/lgbt-activist-mariela-castro-allegedly-denied-entry-us



The two co-founders of gay conservative group GOProud will be stepping down from their day-to-day duties as the organization searches for a new executive director, reports (http://www.advocate.com/politics/2013/04/26/goproud-leaders-step-down-let-someone-else-shake-things#) BuzzFeed (http://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidner/goproud-leaders-stepping-aside-for-someone-else-to-come-in-a)'s Chris Geidner.
Jimmy LaSalvia, the outgoing executive director, and senior strategist Chris Barron, told Geidner the organization is ready for some fresh ideas and new leadership.
"It's time," said LaSalvia. "We don't want it to get stale."
Barron, who served as GOProud's chairman until 2011 (http://www.advocate.com/news/daily-news/2011/12/14/chris-barron-replaced-goproud), told Geidner the organization's business-as-usual model just isn't cutting it, these days.
"The reason why GOProud has been so successful is because we have brought new ideas and new energy to the arena," said Barron. "At some point, what was the outside-the-box thinking all of the sudden becomes the box, and so now, that's the way that GOProud does things. It's our box. It seems crazy to everyone else, but, for us, it's like standard operating procedure. It's time for someone else to come in and shake things up."
GOProud has often garnered the ire of the mainstream gay community for its questionable endorsements, like when the group endorsed Mitt Romney (http://www.advocate.com/politics/washington-dc/2012/06/22/goprouds-romney-endorsement-had-only-two-gay-backers), or Republican Tommy Thompson (http://www.advocate.com/politics/election/2012/08/22/goproud-endorses-tommy-thompson-against-tammy-baldwin) for an Illinois Senate seat that ultimately went to Tammy Baldwin, making her the nation's first openly gay Senator. GOProud has also earned critique for its strident defense of right-wing darling Ann Coulter, who the organization hosted as its keynote speaker (http://www.advocate.com/news/daily-news/2010/08/06/ann-coulter-headline-goproud-event) at its HomoCon party in New York City in 2010, and from whom the group defended a tweet (http://www.advocate.com/society/activism/2012/10/17/goproud-cofounder-defends-ann-coulter-tweet-coming-out-day) around National Coming Out Day last year where Coulter snarked that the day would better be named "Disown Your Son Day."
LaSalvia acknowledged that it's not alway easy to represent gay and staunchly conservative values in today's polarized political climate.
"There was this little patch of ground that nobody else wanted," said LaSalvia of the group's more conservative, grassroots alternative to the Log Cabin Republicans. "And that's where GOProud is. We built a foundation on that patch of ground, and I'm really kind of excited to see where it goes from here."
Read more at BuzzFeed (http://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidner/goproud-leaders-stepping-aside-for-someone-else-to-come-in-a).


Source: http://www.advocate.com/politics/2013/04/26/goproud-leaders-step-down-let-someone-else-shake-things

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Vermont regulators have issued a mandate that insurers operating within the state cover all medically necessary procedures for transgender people, including gender-reassignment surgery.
The Vermont Department of Financial Regulation’s Division of Insurance laid out the policy in a bulletin saying, “DFR is committed to ensuring that Vermonters do not face discrimination in accessing medically necessary health care benefits, including those based on gender identity and gender dysphoria,” the Rutland Herald (http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20130429/NEWS03/704299884) reports. The document adds, “This is both a simple question of fairness and a matter addressed by existing insurance law and DFR regulation.” The policy went into effect last week.
Three other states — California, Colorado, and Oregon — and the District of Columbia have similar policies, according to ThinkProgress. (http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2013/04/29/1936391/vermont-requires-insurers-to-cover-transgender-healthcare-needs/) The Transgender Law Center (http://transgenderlawcenter.org/archives/7506) and other advocacy groups praised Vermont’s move.

Source: http://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2013/04/29/vermont-orders-insurers-cover-gender-reassignment



Washington state Sen. Sharon Brown and 11 other Republican lawmakers have introduced a bill to legalize discrimination against gays and lesbians based on a business owner’s “sincerely held” religious beliefs, philosophical beliefs or “matters of conscience.” The measure would also undermine current state anti-discrimination law.
Senate Bill 5927 would not allow businesses to deny services to people based on race, religion, disability or other protected classes under federal law; but being gay or transgender is not a protected class, so discriminating against them is fair game, according to (http://www.thenewstribune.com/2013/04/25/2573106/bill-seeks-exemption-to-non-discrimination.html) the bill:

The right to act or refuse to act in a manner motivated by a sincerely held religious belief, philosophical belief, or matter of conscience may not be burdened unless the government proves that it has a compelling governmental interest in infringing the specific act or refusal to act and has used the least restrictive means to further that interest.
Brown defended the measure as “protection” for people and religious organizations “burdened” by, it seems, the very existence of gay people: “There’s a glaring lack of protection for religion in state law,” she told the Associated Press.
Josh Friedes, a spokesman for Equal Rights Washington, said the bill “undermines our entire approach to ensuring the equality of all Washingtonians in commerce,” calling it “discrimination, pure and simple.”
The measure comes on the heels of state Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s decision to file a consumer protection lawsuit against Arlene’s Flowers and Gifts in Richland. Shop owner Barronelle Stutzma refused to provide flowers for a gay couple’s wedding, citing her “relationship with Jesus Christ” as a justification. Ferguson’s complaint states: “Under the Consumer Protection Act, it is unlawful to discriminate against customers based on sexual orientation. If a business provides a product or service to opposite sex couples for their weddings, then it must provide same-sex couples the same product or service.”


Source: http://www.salon.com/2013/04/26/washington_state_republicans_introduce_measure_to_ legalize_lgbt_discrimination/



The state Senate’s only openly gay lawmaker wants to outlaw a controversial therapy that attempts to make gay youth straight.
Legislation introduced Friday by Sen. Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan) would bar mental health providers from trying to change the sexual orientation of anyone under the age of 18.
If enacted, a licensed mental health provider who ignored the law would be cited for unprofessional conduct and subject to licensing sanctions.
Hoylman will co-sponsor the bill in the Senate with Michael Gianaris (D-Queens). It is being carried in the Assembly by Deborah Glick, a Manhattan Democrat who is a lesbian.
Conversion therapy has been rejected by many in the mental health community.
Hoylman, who is married to a man and has a two-year-old daughter, said the controversial treatment is not good for the individual or society.
“It not only is impossible, but it is detrimental to young people to attempt to convert them,” he said.
“It also increases the stigma in society and creates a culture of unacceptance for young gay and lesbian people,” Hoylman added.
California last year enacted a similar law barring the controversial therapy, but the measure is on hold while it’s being challenged in the courts.
The Rev. Jason McGuire, executive director of New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, doesn’t believe a New York law would pass legal or ethical muster.
“I simply believe that those in the homosexual community should recognize that there is a significant population in that community that want to leave that lifestyle and pursue a heterosexuality lifestyle,” McGuire said. “People should respect their choice to pursue that.”

Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2013/04/nys-bill-would-ban-conversion-therapy-for-gay-youths



Daniel Ellsberg, the former military adviser who released the Pentagon Papers (http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1971/The-Pentagon-Papers/12295509436546-7/) in 1971, will speak at a rally in San Francisco today in support of Bradley Manning, the LGBT former army intelligence specialist who leaked defense documents relating to "don't ask, don't tell," and foreign policy to WikiLeaks in 2010.
San Francisco blogger Michael Petrelis first reported (http://mpetrelis.blogspot.com/2013/04/daniel-ellsberg-to-speak-at-manning.html) Ellsberg's confirmed participation, including the photo at left, with Ellsberg's silent statement in solidarity with Manning.
The rally, which begins at 5 p.m. today outside the San Francisco Pride office at 1841 Market St., was called after a staffer at SF Pride told press on Friday (http://www.advocate.com/politics/military/2013/04/26/sfs-pride-marshal-bradley-manning) that Manning would be named grand marshal of the city's 2013 Pride celebration, but then backtracked on the statement Saturday (http://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/pride/2013/04/27/bradley-manning-will-not-be-grand-marshal-sf-pride).
Gay and lesbian peace and social justice activists Petrelis, Tommi Avicolli Mecca, and Lisa Geduldig are behind the call to action. The group says that SF Pride is turning its back on activism and dissent, after the board president, Lisa Williams, released a statement on Saturday (http://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/pride/2013/04/27/bradley-manning-will-not-be-grand-marshal-sf-pride) saying that Manning being named a grand marshal was a mistake by a lone employee that underscored a systemic problem in how grand marshals are chosen.
Manning, a U.S. Army soldier, was arrested in 2010 after passing classified documents about DADT and the Iraq war to Wikileaks. Since his trial is set to begin in June, he would have served as grand marshal in absentia. The initial grand marshal announcement about Manning, who identifies as either gay or transgender, caused a flurry of debate in LGBT community nationwide, especially in military and veteran circles.

Source: http://www.advocate.com/politics/2013/04/29/pentagon-papers-whistleblower-supports-bradley-manning

[TheGodlessUtopian]

A group of students will deliver a petition with 4,000 signatures to administrators of all-women Smith College after the college refused to consider the application of a transgender student.
The student, Calliope Wong, will join Smith Q&A, a campus gender and sexuality advocacy organization, when the signatures are delivered to the office of admissions this Thursday at 4 p.m.
"Four thousand people from the Smith community and across the country have spoken up against this discrimination, and against the inaction of school officials," Smith student Elli Palmer said in a statement via Change.org, where supporters signed the petition (http://www.change.org/smithadmissions). "The issue of allowing trans women access to women's spaces is real and prevalent. The trans community is one of the most marginalized in our current culture, and it hurts to see our school not only contributing to that marginalization, but clinging to it despite our call for change."
Smith student Ollie Schwartz added that the fact that thousands of people — not just students — signed this petition will signal that expanding Smith's admissions policy to include transgender students "is not simply a 'Smith College' issue, it is an issue that LGBT people and their allies across the country care about. We hope that delivering this petition will signal to the college that it is time to step up."
Smith College, in Northampton, Mass., does have a protocol to welcome transgender students, only as long as they legally identify as female at the time of admission. The school's policy also accepts transgender men if they transition after they become students. Wong has identified as female throughout her adolescence, but her Free Application for Federal Student Aid identifies Wong as male. To be recognized as female in Connecticut, where she lives, Wong would have to undergo sexual confirmation surgery, a costly and complicated procedure for a teenager.

Source: http://www.advocate.com/society/education/2013/04/30/trans-student-petitions-after-being-rejected-womens-college



The chairman of the Latah County, Idaho, Republican Party has been censured by members of his party for voting in support of an antidiscrimination law as a Moscow City Council member.
Party precinct committee members voted 7-6 to censure Walter Steed for voting in favor of a law that would make it a misdemeanor offense to discriminate against people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. The City Council passed the law unanimously April 1.
Steed is currently on vacation in Europe, the Associated Press reports. (http://www.idahostatesman.com/2013/04/26/2552827/n-idaho-gop-chairman-censured.html)
"That policy legitimizes stuff that we don't agree with, and it forces people who don't support that kind of behavior to go along with it," said Gresham Bouma, a committee member. "It opens people up to lawsuits that they otherwise wouldn't be open to."
The censure followed a no confidence vote after Steed supported a letter from the City Council to the Idaho state legislature with suggestions for preventing gun violence. Steed's term as chairman lasts through May 2014. He has said he will not resign.

Source: http://www.advocate.com/politics/2013/04/30/idaho-gop-leader-supports-gay-rights-bill-gets-censured-party



After publicly congratulating Jason Collins for coming out, former NFL star Leroy Butler had his speech at a church canceled, he said on Twitter (https://twitter.com/leap36).

Butler is a former star safety for the Green Bay Packers. He's played for a Super Bowl champion team. He even invented the "Lambeau Leap," when players jump into arms of fans in the stands after a touchdown.

After Collins came out, the first active player in the NBA to do that, Butler tweeted, "Congrats to Jason Collins." And that was all, as first reported (http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/05/01/wisconsin-church-cancels-former-nfl-player-over-tweet-supporting-gay-nba-player/) by Raw Story.

But for that, he lost a $8,500 speaking engagement at a local church, he said.

"Wow, I was schedule to speak at a church in WI, and a member said that the pastor wants to cancel my event, I said ok why?," he wrote. "Then I was told, because I said congrats to Jason Collins on twitter, I said really? we have a contract, he said check the moral cause."

The moral clause, though, apparently came with a way around it.

"I was told if i removed the tweet, and apologize and ask god forgiveness, I can have the event, I said no," Butler wrote. "Only god can judge."
Source: http://www.advocate.com/sports/2013/05/01/church-cancels-speech-nfl-star-over-support-jason-collins



Among the touching details that Jason Collins revealed when coming out in that Sports Illustrated op-ed was the revelation that his number, 98, is actually a tribute to Matthew Shepard. And when she heard that (http://www.advocate.com/sports/2013/04/29/why-collins-wore-number-98), Shepard's mom said it moved her to tears.

"To hear the story behind his number, well, I cried," said Judy Shepard during an interview with Headline News. "I thought it was such a tribute to Matt, to Matt's story, and to so many other yon people who are struggling. His own silent, private tribute, I was very moved."

Matthew Shepard is the gay college student who was murdered in Wyoming in an infamous hate crime in 1998. During President Obama's first term, a federal hate crimes law was passed that bears his name.

Collins is the first active NBA player to come out, and he had worn a jersey number in honor of Shepard without ever explaining why.

"When I put on my jersey I was making a statement to myself, my family and my friends," Collins wrote in the op-ed.

In the video below, watch the entire interview with the Shepards during which they talk about Collins' impact on young people.
Source: http://www.advocate.com/sports/2013/05/01/matthew-shepards-mom-moved-tears-jason-collins-gesture

P.S: See source for video

[TheGodlessUtopian]

As police investigate the murder of a 20-year-old transgender woman near Cleveland, a local city councilman is asking (http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/cleveland_metro/cleveland-city-councilman-says-murder-of-transgender-woman-in-olmsted-township-is-hate-crime) investigators to consider her death a hate crime.
Cemia “Ci Ci” Dove, of Cleveland, was found dead in a pond near Cleveland Monday (http://www.advocate.com/crime/2013/04/30/transgender-womans-body-found-near-cleveland-news-coverage-denounced). She was stabbed to death, and there was a rope around her waist that was tied to a concrete block and a steel pipe, police told local media at a press conference Monday afternoon. Her body was badly decomposed, indicating she was killed some time ago. She was reported missing March 27, and her body was found April 17 in the pond in Olmsted Township, west of Cleveland. The pond had been used to catch and recycle water runoff from a greenhouse that once operated in the area. A resident of a nearby apartment house discovered her body, and police identified her through DNA. She was born Carl Acoff and was identified earlier as Cemia Acoff; friends say she went by Cemia Dove.
“Cemia lived a trouble life of acceptance,” said Cleveland City Councilman Joe Cimperman in a statement Wednesday (http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/cleveland_metro/cleveland-city-councilman-says-murder-of-transgender-woman-in-olmsted-township-is-hate-crime). “While Cemia struggled, she did not deserve to die as what is likely a hate crime. Too often we lose loved ones because of fear or hate. Violence should not be tolerated against anyone regardless of race, gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation.”
Activists have objected to the way Cleveland media, including daily newspaper The Plain Dealer (http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2013/04/brutal_slaying_marks_the_end_o.html) and the Fox TV affiliate (http://fox8.com/2013/04/29/body-found-in-pond-id-released-today/), reported on the story, with references to the Dove’s body being “oddly dressed” (in a tank top and bra), describing her as a man even after the discovery of her name and the fact that she identified as female, and discussion of her police record. Find out more about those objections here (http://www.advocate.com/crime/2013/04/30/transgender-womans-body-found-near-cleveland-news-coverage-denounced).

Source: http://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2013/05/02/cleveland-city-councilman-says-trans-womans-murder-likely-hate-crime

Yeah, no shit it is likely a hate crime!




Lawmakers are holding off on introducing legislation that would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act until after the Supreme Court rules on the anti-gay law, according to multiple sources familiar with the bill, as one Republican LGBT organization expects Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) to sign on as a co-sponsor.
A number of LGBT advocates familiar with the legislation, which has been known as the Respect for Marriage Act, told the Washington Blade its lead sponsors — Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) in the House and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) in the Senate — are delaying introduction until after the expected court ruling in June.
Fred Sainz, HRC’s vice president of communications, said his organization supports the decision to postpone introduction of the bill until after a decision is reached in the DOMA case, known as Windsor v. United States.
“The lead sponsors of the RMA have decided to wait until after the court rules in Windsor,” Sainz said. “We support that decision and look forward to continuing to work with them to advance this important legislation.”
Ian Thompson, legislative representative for the ACLU, said his organization, which filed the lawsuit against DOMA, has a similar understanding that the lead sponsors won’t introduce the Respect for Marriage Act until the Supreme Court rules on plaintiff Edith Windsor’s challenge.
“The ACLU understands and respects that decision, and is committed to continuing to work with our sponsors in Congress and coalition partners to advance the Respect for Marriage Act and a full repeal of DOMA to ensure that the federal government recognizes and respects the marriages of same-sex couples across the nation,” Thompson said.
Still, the lawmakers are staying mum. Ilan Kayatsky, a Nadler spokesperson, said he had “no news to report yet” on the timing for the introduction of the DOMA repeal bill, and Feinstein’s office declined to comment.
In the event that the Supreme Court decides to uphold DOMA, the Respect for Marriage Act would be the next approach to lifting the 1996 anti-gay law, which prohibits federal recognition of same-sex marriage. Moreover, as previously reported by the Blade (http://www.washingtonblade.com/2013/04/11/doma-repeal-implementation/), legislation still may be necessary if DOMA is overturned to clear up lingering inequities for married same-sex couples, such as in situations where they move from one state that recognizes their union to another that doesn’t.

Previous versions of the bill had a “certainty provision” spelling out that federal benefits would continue to flow to married gay couples — even if they live in a state that doesn’t recognize same-sex marriage.
David Codell, legal director at the Williams Institute of the University of California, Los Angeles, explained that the Respect for Marriage Act “would serve important purposes” even if the Supreme Court were to strike down the ban on federal recognition of same-sex marriage.
“The Respect for Marriage Act would make clear that the federal government would treat as valid for federal purposes all marriages of same-sex couples in the United States if the marriages were valid where entered — regardless of whether a couple currently lives in a state that permits same-sex couples to marry or recognizes such marriages,” Codell said. “The Act would mean that a validly married same-sex couple could move anywhere in the country without losing federal benefits tied to marriage.”
As they await introduction of a bill, LGBT advocates say they’re continuing to work to bring on additional co-sponsors for the bill, which closed the 112th Congress with 161 co-sponsors in the House and 32 co-sponsors in the Senate. That effort was highlighted by Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry.
“Freedom to Marry’s focus right now is on continuing to add co-sponsors as we prepare to introduce the bill with the strongest momentum possible when ready to move forward,” Wolfson said.
While the House bill had Republican co-sponsors in the 112th Congress — Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), Rep. Richard Hanna (D-N.Y.) and former Rep. Charlie Bass (R-N.H.) — the Senate version of the bill has never had GOP support. Even Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who’s considered an LGBT advocate and champion of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal, wasn’t a co-sponsor.
But the Log Cabin Republicans say that will change. Gregory Angelo, the organization’s executive director, said he expects Portman — who came out in favor of marriage equality after he learned his son is gay — to be among the sponsors of the DOMA repeal.
“Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Congressman Richard Hanna were Republican co-sponsors in the 112th Congress, and we have every expectation they will continue as co-sponsors when the bill is reintroduced,” Angelo said. “Given his recent evolution on marriage equality, we expect Republican Senator Portman to be a co-sponsor in the Senate.”
Angelo later clarified that he’s had no assurances from Portman that he’ll be a sponsor, but was basing his assessment on the senator’s past statements in favor of same-sex marriage.
Portman’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment on whether he’ll sign on as co-sponsor to the Respect for Marriage Act. According to a Cleveland Plain Dealer (http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2013/03/sen_rob_portman_comes_out_in_f.html) article at the time Portman came out for marriage equality, Portman told reporters he believes legally married gay couples should receive the federal benefits of marriage, but the report doesn’t quote him as saying he’ll sign on as a sponsor to DOMA repeal legislation per se.

Source: http://www.washingtonblade.com/2013/05/01/no-doma-repeal-bill-until-after-court-ruling/

[TheGodlessUtopian]

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Writers of Ancient Greece and Rome

Ancient Greek Literature openly celebrated same-sex love in its poetry and prose. For the most part, Roman writing on homosexual themes followed the Greek models, though the two cultures held sharply differing attitudes toward love between males.
http://www.glbtq.com/literature/greek_lit_ancient.html
http://www.glbtq.com/literature/roman_lit.html

Hostility toward all non-procreative sexuality led Augustine of Hippo (334-430) to condemn homosexuality, though same-sex friendships played an important role in his own emotional life.
http://www.glbtq.com/literature/augustine.html

Roman poet Catullus (ca 85-ca 55 B.C.E.) incorporated homoerotic themes in his verse that both reflected the passionate character of same-sex friendships and described several of his own homosexual adventures.
http://www.glbtq.com/literature/catullus.html

Horace (65-8 B.C.E.) reflects the easy bisexuality of the first century B.C.E. Roman upper class in his accomplished and influential poetry.
http://www.glbtq.com/literature/horace.html

Juvenal (ca 55 or 60-ca 130) was a famously sharp-tongued author of satires that often lampooned Roman sexual practices. In places, the satires suggest that a subculture similar to modern gay subcultures existed in ancient Rome, but the satirical nature of these texts makes them complicated to interpret.
http://www.glbtq.com/literature/juvenal.html

Lucian (ca 120-ca 185) is best known as a satirical author of seventy to eighty prose pieces in Greek. Some treat homosexuality as a personal trait associated with villainy, pretension, and ignorance. http://www.glbtq.com/literature/lucian.html

The Greco-Roman myths concerning same-sex love have been of crucial importance to the Western gay and lesbian literary heritage, both as texts and as icons. http://www.glbtq.com/literature/classical_myth.html

Both the Elegiac and the romantic Pastoral have been associated with homoerotic desire from their beginnings in classical literature to their echoes in contemporary literatures. http://www.glbtq.com/literature/elegy.html
http://www.glbtq.com/literature/pastoral.htm

Patristic Writers also known as the Church Fathers, were Christian authors who appropriated currents of hostility to homoeroticism in pagan thought and used them to strengthen the prohibitions of Leviticus and Paul, while also expressing their own hostile interpretations. http://www.glbtq.com/literature/patristic_writers_lit.html

St. Paul (d. ca 66), a Christian Apostle, condemns same-sex eroticism in his New Testament Epistle to the Romans and his first Epistle to the Corinthians. The views he expresses there have been used to justify church-sanctioned homophobia for centuries; and they continue to shape many Christians' attitudes toward male and female homosexuality today.
http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/paul.html

Petronius (ca 27-66) is the author of The Satyricon, a brilliant satire of excesses in Nero's Rome that remains one of the most bumptious homoerotic picaresque narratives ever written. http://www.glbtq.com/literature/petronius.html

Plutarch (ca 46-ca 120) was a prolific author who wrote extensively on male-male love in Greece and Rome. While no ancient author is more instructive about pederasty than Plutarch, he also described love between adult males.
http://www.glbtq.com/literature/plutarch.html

Sappho (b. ca 630 B.C.E.) has been admired through the ages as one of the greatest lyric poets of ancient Greece and is today esteemed by lesbians around the world as the archetypal lesbian and their symbolic mother.
http://www.glbtq.com/literature/sappho.html

Theocritus (ca 308-240 B.C.E.), an ancient Greek poet, is the first great voice in the homoerotic pastoral tradition in Western literature. His significance for gay literary history resides in the fact that five of his thirty Idylls map the emotional and poetic terrains of intense--especially frustrated--homosexual desire that later poets would explore in greater detail.
http://www.glbtq.com/literature/theocritus.html
http://www.glbtq.com/literature/pastoral.html

Virgil (70-19 B.C.E.) wrote approvingly of male love in many works, and his second eclogue became the most famous poem on that subject in Latin literature.
http://www.glbtq.com/literature/virgil.html

_________________________________________
NOTABLE BIRTHDAYS, April 1 through April 30

April 1: Russian writer Nikolai Gogol, 1809; blues singer and recording artist Alberta Hunter, 1895; writer, editor, and one-time Communist Whittaker Chambers, 1901; science fiction master Samuel Delany, 1942; television and radio host Rachel Maddow, 1973

April 2: Danish fairy tale writer Hans Christian Andersen, 1805; dancer and choreographer Serge Lifar, 1905; social commentator and literary critic Camille Paglia, 1947

April 3: English diarist Anne Lister, 1791; actor David Hyde Pierce, 1959

April 4: Actor Anthony Perkins, 1932; comedian and talk-show host Graham Norton, 1963

April 5: English poet Algernon Charles Swinburne, 1837; actor Nigel Hawthorne, 1929; French activist and historian Pierre Hahn, 1936

April 6: German filmmaker Monika Treut, 1954; American documentary filmmaker Rob Epstein, 1955

April 7: Chilean Nobel laureate in literature Gabriela Mistral, 1889; French novelist Violette Leduc, 1907; American activist Harry Hay, 1912; songwriter and singer Janis Ian, 1951

April 8: Artist Sonja Sekula, 1918; comedian and activist Robin Tyler, 1942; choreographer, director, and producer Michael Bennett, 1943

April 9: French poet Charles Baudelaire, 1821; dancer, choreographer, and actor Sir Robert Helpmann, 1909; actress Cynthia Nixon, 1966

April 10: English playwright and poet John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, 1647; landscape architect and philanthropist James Ogilvy, Earl of Findlater, 1750

April 11: Novelist Glenway Westcott, 1901; novelist Dorothy E. Allison, 1949

April 12: Playwright William M. Hoffman, 1939; actor and playwright Charles Ludlam, 1943; Indigo Girl Amy Ray, 1964

April 13: Supreme Court Justice Frank Murphy, 1890; African-American novelist Nella Larsen, 1891; playwright Lanford Wilson, 1937; U.S. Federal Judge Deborah A. Batts, 1947

April 14: Actor Sir John Gielgud, 1904; screenwriter and director Don Roos, 1955

April 15: Renaissance artist and scientist Leonardo da Vinci, 1452; Classical scholar Benjamin Jowett, 1817; Anglo-American writer Henry James, 1843; blues singer Bessie Smith, 1894; photographer George Platt Lynes, 1907; physician and activist Howard Brown, 1924; film, stage, and television producer Craig Zadan, 1949

April 16: Dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham, 1919; rocker Dusty Springfield, 1939; African-American poet Essex Hemphill, 1957

April 17: Greek poet C. P. Cavafy, 1863; American playwright and novelist Thornton Wilder, 1897; Costa Rican-Mexican singer and performer Chavela Vargas, 1919; filmmaker Lindsay Anderson, 1923

April 19: Actor Dick Sargent, 1930

April 20: Actor and activist George Takei, 1937; writer and editor Katherine V. Forrest, 1939; writer and political activist Andrew Tobias, 1947; Canadian painter and figure skater Toller Cranston, 1949; Nigerian-born photographer Rotimi Fani-Kayode, 1955; African-American artist Glenn Ligon, 1960

April 21: Publisher Muriel Inez Crawford, 1914; performer, writer, and filmmaker John Cameron Mitchell, 1963; screenwriter and director Alice Wu, 1970

April 22: Filmmaker John Waters, 1946

April 23: Playwright and poet William Shakespeare, 1564; U.S. President James Buchanan, 1791; British composer Dame Ethel Smyth, 1858; fashion designer Halston, 1932; writer Alex Sanchez, 1957

April 24: Fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier, 1952; writer and actor John Epperson, 1955

April 25: Edward II, King of England, 1284; pop singer Andy Bell, 1964

April 26: Blues singer Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, 1886; philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, 1889; novelist Gale Wilhelm, 1908; composer Conrad Susa, 1935

April 27: Canadian-American painter, writer, and activist Mary Meigs, 1917; rocker Kate Pierson, 1948; Mexican painter Luis Zapata, 1951

April 28: New Zealand artist Frances Hodgkins, 1869

April 29: Poet and composer Rod McKuen, 1933; transgender actress, model, and activist April Ashley, 1935

April 30: American playwright and screenwriter Craig Lucas, 1951

Source: glbtq newsletter

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Thierry Speitel, the openly gay mayor of the town Sigolsheim in eastern France, was shocked to find he had been mailed bullets earlier this week.
According to French news source The Local, (http://www.thelocal.fr/page/view/gay-french-mayor-sent-death-threat-after-interview#.UYPcd8r44v6) the threating package arrived on the heels of a recent interview Speitel gave in which he talked about marring his partner and potentially adopting children in the near future. In the interview, he also strongly spoke out against the homophobic incidents that have recently taken place throughout France and blamed extreme opponents of gay marriage for poisoning the county’s social atmosphere.
The bullets Speitel received were accompanied by a newspaper copy of this interview and contained several handwritten homophobic insults scrawled across it.
Speitel has reported the incident to the police. However, he is not the only elected official to recently receive such a threat. The Socialist president of France’s lower house, Claude Bartolone, received a letter containing gunpowder the day before the National Assembly was to vote on the country’s marriage equality bill. Additionally, Socialist deputies Hugues Fourage and Sylviane Bulteau were sent letters threatening to kidnap and kill them or their families if the bill was not withdrawn.
Source: http://www.advocate.com/politics/2013/05/03/gay-french-mayor-sent-bullets-after-interview




LGBT families and same-sex couples will most likely not be included (http://www.advocate.com/politics/2013/05/01/will-gang-eight-democrats-fight-gay-couples-immigration-reform) in 884 pages of immigration reform legislation dubbed the "Gang of Eight Bill," expected to be introduced in the Senate next week. According to several LGBT organizations, that means many binational same-sex couples will continue to be split up, with some noncitizen partners facing deportation and separation from their families.
According to the Washington Blade (http://www.washingtonblade.com/2013/04/08/tiven-gay-couples-will-not-be-included-in-immigration-reform-bill/), New York representative Jerrold Nadler, who introduced the bill in the House in February, was discouraged. "This is disappointing but not particularly surprising," Nadler told the Blade. Even more surprising, though, is the fact that the bill's authors include Democratic senators Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin, both of whom are champions of gay rights. Nadler adds that he will "fight like hell" to ensure LGBT-inclusive language remains in any House and Senate conference report.
Leading LGBT and immigration advocacy organizations promise they won't go down without a fight, though. "We are not expecting LGBT families to be included in the Gang of Eight Bill, " said Rachel B. Tiven, president of Immigration Equality (http://immigrationequality.org/). "That in our minds means that of course the bill is incomplete. ... We expect and we hope that senators on the committee will allow a full and open amendment process that provides an opportunity to fix the flaws."
As the House considers the legislation, supporters continue to defend the rights of LGBT immigrants who seek citizenship. Evangelical leaders have threatened to rescind their support for comprehensive immigration reform if the legislation includes protections for LGBT couples. But a broad coalition of LGBT advocacy groups promise they won't be bullied into submission.
"Our primary goal is to pass a commonsense, compassionate immigration reform bill that puts our nation’s undocumented men, women and children on a pathway to citizenship," says the statement (http://www.nclrights.org/site/PageNavigator/Press_Releases_2013/press_2013_Nations_Leading_LGBT_Orgs_Stand_for_Ref orm_050113), signed by the National Center for Lesbian Rights, GLAAD, The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, United We Dream, and Queer Undocumented Immigrant Project. "That pathway would provide at least 267,000 LGBT undocumented people the opportunity to become full participants in our economy and our democracy. We do not believe that our friends in the evangelical faith community or conservative Republicans would allow the entire immigration reform bill to fail simply because it affords 28,500 same-sex couples equal immigration rights. This take-it-or-leave-it stance with regard to same-sex bi-national couples is not helpful when we all share the same goal of passing comprehensive immigration reform that provides a path to citizenship."
The Human Rights Campaign (http://www.hrc.org/blog/entry/congress-must-pass-inclusive-and-comprehensive-immigration-reform) agrees. "The idea that lesbian and gay couples are the barrier to a bipartisan immigration reform agreement is an offensive ruse designed to distract attention away from the failings of Congress — a body that refuses to come together on popular and common-sense solution to a host of our country's problems," HRC president Chad Griffin said in a statement. "This bluster is nothing more than a political maneuver designed to divide the pro-reform coalition and at the same time appease a small but vocal group of social conservatives that will do anything to stop progress for lesbian and gay couples."


Source: http://www.advocate.com/politics/2013/05/02/lgbt-groups-respond-conservative-threats-rejecting-inclusive-immigration-reform

[TheGodlessUtopian]

President Obama reiterated Friday that would like to see the immigration reform bill include a provision allowing citizens and legal residents to sponsor immigrant same-sex partners for legal status, although he would sign a bill without it.
He spoke at a press conference in Costa Rica, where he said, “I’ve said in the past that the LGBT community should be treated like everybody else,” adding, “We’re all created equal,” The Hill (http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/297757-obama-backs-lgbt-provision-in-immigration-bill) reports.
He said, however, that the primary issue the bill needs to address is border security, and that the same-sex partner provision, sponsored by Sen. Pat Leahy, may not end up in the final bill. “I’m not going to get everything I want in this bill and Republicans are not going to get everything they want,” Obama said.

Source: http://www.advocate.com/politics/2013/05/04/obama-endorses-lgbt-inclusive-immigration-reform



Influential 20th-century economist John Maynard Keynes, an advocate of government spending to boost employment, has his adherents and detractors, but to Harvard economics professor Niall Ferguson, one of the chief problems with Keynes is that he was gay.
At a conference of investors and financial professionals in California Thursday, Ferguson said Keynes didn’t care about the effect of economic policy on future generations because he was gay and childless, Financial Advisor (http://www.fa-mag.com/news/harvard-professor-gay-bashes-keynes-14173.html) magazine reports.
“Ferguson asked the audience how many children Keynes had,” Financial Advisor contributor Tom Kostigen writes. “He explained that Keynes had none because he was a homosexual and was married to a ballerina, with whom he likely talked of ‘poetry’ rather than procreated.”
The audience responded to Ferguson’s comments with silence, and some later said they took offense, Kostigen reports. The reporter adds, “This takes gay-bashing to new heights. It even perversely pins the full weight of the financial crisis on the gay community and the barren. Not only is this intellectually void, it’s mad. And anyone with a moral conscience should be outraged.”
Source: http://www.advocate.com/business/economy/2013/05/04/harvard-prof-bashes-economist-being-gay



The Iowa Supreme Court today ruled in favor of a married lesbian couple who sued the state Department of Public Health after officials refused to list both women as the biological parents on their daughter's birth certificate in 2009.
Heather and Melissa Gartner, of Des Moines, married after the Iowa Supreme Court legalized marriage equality in 2009, but when their daughter was born later that year, DPH officials listed only Heather on the infant's birth certificate, according to the Associated Press (http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/court-iowa-recognize-lesbian-parents-19100790#.UYQPPCsjrrS). The "father" line was left blank, and officials told the couple they would need to go through a second-parent adoption in order for both women to be listed on their daughter's birth certificate.
The lawsuit filed by the Gartners and Lambda Legal argued that DHS deprived the child of the protections and benefits of having two legal parents present from birth, reports AP.
The court issued its ruling Friday, in a decision backed by all six justices who considered the case. Justice David Wiggins said the state was unable to come up with a "constitutionally adequate justification" for treating lesbian parents differently that heterosexual parents.
"It is important for our laws to recognize that married lesbian couples who have children enjoy the same benefits and burdens as married opposite-sex couples who have children," wrote Wiggins.
Interestingly, the court's ruling seems limited to lesbian couples who conceive through a sperm donor, reports the AP. It appears to have no legal implications for same-sex couples who use surrogates or adoptions to grow their families.
"The Department of Public Health appreciates the definitive direction from the Supreme Court," spokeswoman Polly Carver-Kimm told AP. "And it will fully implement the directive of the Court to name both married lesbian women as a child's parents on the birth certificate."
According to AP, this case marks the first time the Iowa Supreme Court has considered an LGBT issue since voters removed three of the justices who joined the unanimous 2009 decision in favor of marriage equality.


Source: http://www.shewired.com/soapbox/2013/05/03/iowa-supreme-court-unanimously-declares-both-lesbian-moms-be-listed-birth



The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay rights group, is criticizing President Obama for not naming an openly LGBT cabinet member.
“While the cabinet is full of staunch allies, there is no reason why qualified LGBT Americans willing to serve their country should be overlooked, especially in a day and age when LGBT people are an integral part of the fabric of our nation as everyone from doctors to teachers to professional basketball stars,” HRC spokesman Michael Cole-Schwartz told the Washington Blade (http://www.washingtonblade.com/2013/05/04/obama-criticized-for-lack-of-lgbt-diversity-in-cabinet/) Friday, a day after Obama finalized his second-term cabinet appointments. “The president has said it’s our job to remind him when he’s fallen short and while there’s much for which to applaud him, on this issue this president has fallen far short.”
Chuck Wolfe, CEO of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, also said it was disappointing that Obama has not chosen an openly LGBT person for a cabinet appointment. Speaking at the Equality Forum in Philadelphia, he noted that there still could be such an appointment before the president’s second term ends.
White House aide Shin Inouye responded by defending Obama’s record on LGBT issues. “The president is deeply committed to diversity in his administration, and he’s proud of the of LGBT appointments he’s made throughout all levels of his administration,” Inouye told the Blade. “Moreover, he has a strong record of accomplishment on issues of concern to the LGBT community and will continue to make progress in that area.”
Source: http://www.advocate.com/politics/politicians/2013/05/04/hrc-critiques-obama-over-lack-lgbt-cabinet-member



A lesbian couple in Austin say the relationship between being gay and Christian should be “both-and,” not “either-or,” and toward that end they’re both seeking to be ordained as ministers — something that may be a problem in one’s denomination.
Annanda Barclay is seeking to become a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), which allows openly gay, partnered clergy, and Mary Ann Kaiser in the United Methodist Church, which does not as of yet, but she’s determined to forge ahead just the same.
She’s doing so with the support of Austin’s University United Methodist Church, where she is director of social justice and youth ministry, The Austin Chronicle reports. “Our church council voted almost unanimously to recommend her as a candidate for the ministry,” Senior Pastor John Alford told the paper. “Opposition has been almost negligible, but we are concerned.” Barclay said her home church, Central Presbyterian, has been supportive as well.

http://www.shewired.com/sites/shewired.com/files/imce/MARY-ANNE-ANNANDA02X480.jpg

Mary Ann and Annanda
Still, many religious bodies have a long way to go with acceptance of LGBT people. Barclay and Kaiser plan to wed this fall in Maryland, where same-sex marriage is legally recognized, but neither of their denominations solemnizes same-sex marriages. The Presbyterian Church has a ritual of blessing for same-sex unions, but does not consider them marriages.
Both have struggled with whether to remain affiliated with churches, given organized religion’s poor record on LGBT rights and social justice in general, but they see the situation as changing for the better.
“It has really changed a lot in the last few years,” Kaiser told the Chronicle. “Hopefully, as the church becomes more inclusive, people will become slowly more comfortable revealing parts of our lives that are not traditionally allowed or even known about.” Added Barclay: “Dualism is an unfortunate reality, that people think they have to live that way, queer and straight alike. My hope is that someday people realize that Christianity is not an either-or. I hope the church gets that. It's a ‘both-and.’”

Source: http://www.shewired.com/lifestyle/2013/05/03/adorable-lesbian-couple-texas-seek-become-ministers

[TheGodlessUtopian]

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: French Theater

French-Speaking Theater, which has a long history of depicting male and female homosexuals and exploring the complexities of homosexual life, has been and remains an important instrument of liberation.
http://www.glbtq.com/literature/french_theater.html

Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) was one of the masters of Nineteenth-Century French Fiction who provocatively includes both lesbian and gay male characters in his novels. Though remembered primarily for his fiction, Balzac was also an accomplished playwright.
http://www.glbtq.com/literature/balzac_h.html
http://www.glbtq.com/literature/french_lit2_19c.html

Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) was the most famous actress of her time. The theatrical superstar scandalized and titillated Paris by wearing pants, taking men's roles in some of her plays, and having numerous love affairs, some with women.
http://www.glbtq.com/arts/bernhard_t_s.html
http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/paris.html

Patrice Chéreau (b. 1944) is an award-winning French director, screenwriter, and actor who has earned international renown for his visionary, often controversial, productions of opera, theater, and film.
http://www.glbtq.com/arts/chereau_patrice.html

Hélène Cixous (b. 1937), an influential Algerian-born French feminist theorist and experimental novelist and dramatist, celebrates female homoeroticism and feminist solidarity.
http://www.glbtq.com/literature/cixous_h.html

Jean Cocteau (1889-1963) was an outspoken homosexual and a prolific poet, novelist, critic, essayist, artist, playwright, and filmmaker. Cocteau was also a mentor who nurtured the careers of others, including especially actor Jean Marais.
http://www.glbtq.com/arts/cocteau_j_art.html
http://www.glbtq.com/arts/marais_j.html

Colette (1873-1954) is remembered today as one of France's most beloved authors. Her novels address male and female homosexuality and bisexuality with a frankness that was exceptional for her time. Though the novel was the literary form that made her famous, Colette also penned several plays.
http://www.glbtq.com/literature/colette.html

Marie Dorval (1798-1849) was a popular nineteenth-century French actress who enjoyed an intense romantic friendship with the writer George Sand that fueled much speculation among Parisian gossips of the time, as well as among later biographers and historians.
http://www.glbtq.com/arts/dorval_m.html
http://www.glbtq.com/literature/sand_g.html

Jean Genet (1910-1986) was an openly homosexual French novelist and playwright who saw homosexuality, criminality, and other kinds of marginality as a revolt against entrenched power.
http://www.glbtq.com/literature/genet_j.html

André Gide (1869-1951), one of the premier French writers of the twentieth century, reflected his homosexuality in many of his works, including novels, essays, and plays.
http://www.glbtq.com/literature/gide_a.html

Alfred Jarry (1873-1907), a precursor of Surrealism who is considered the inventor of the Theater of the Absurd, included homosexual characters and themes in most of his works.
http://www.glbtq.com/literature/jarry_a.html
http://www.glbtq.com/arts/surrealism.html

Pierre Loti (pseudonym of Julien Viaud, 1850-1923) was one of the most popular and respected French novelists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as well as an accomplished playwright.
http://www.glbtq.com/literature/loti_p.html

Jean Marais (1913-1998) became one of the most celebrated stars of French movies, theater, and television partly because of the early sponsorship of writer and film director Jean Cocteau.
http://www.glbtq.com/arts/marais_j.html
http://www.glbtq.com/arts/cocteau_j_art.html

Jovette Marchessault (b. 1938), the first Québécoise novelist unequivocally to declare her lesbianism, has recently devoted much of her attention to the theater.
http://www.glbtq.com/literature/marchessault_j.html
http://www.glbtq.com/literature/quebec_lit.html

Françoise Raucourt (1756-1815) was an eighteenth-century French actress widely admired for her talent and beauty. Raucourt lived openly with a series of female lovers.
http://www.glbtq.com/arts/raucourt_f.html

George Sand (pseudonym of Amantine-Aurore-Lucile Dupin, 1804-1876) is as infamous for her cigar-in-hand cross-dressing as she is famous for her eighty novels, twenty plays, and numerous political tracts.
http://www.glbtq.com/literature/sand_g.html

Michel Tremblay (b. 1942) is a Montreal-born playwright and novelist who draws on his own Roman Catholic working-class background in his presentation of bar culture characters and their relatives.
http://www.glbtq.com/literature/tremblay_m.html
http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/montreal.html
http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/roman_catholicism.html

________________________________________
NOTABLE BIRTHDAYS, May 1 through May 31

May 1: English novelist Marie Corelli, 1855; American artist Romaine Brooks, 1874; female-to-male transsexual pioneer Michael Dillon, 1915

May 2: Writer Edith Somerville, 1858; lyricist Lorenz Hart, 1895; cartoonist Howard Cruse, 1944; singer and songwriter Lesley Gore, 1946

May 3: Paleontologist Baron Franz Nopcsa, 1877; American writer May Sarton, 1912; soldier-activist Miriam Ben-Shalom, 1948

May 4: Ballet impresario Lincoln Kirstein, 1907; artist Keith Haring, 1958; pop singer Lance Bass, 1979

May 5: Food writer James Beard, 1903; San Francisco activist Del Martin, 1921

May 6: Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, 1856; silent screen star Rudolph Valentino, 1895; poet Olga Broumas, 1949

May 7: Composer Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky, 1840; theater and film director Sir Nicholas Hytner, 1956

May 8: Artist Tom of Finland (Touko Laaksonen), 1920; teacher and youth activist Kevin Jennings, 1963

May 10: Olympic equestrian Blyth Tait, 1961

May 11: Artist Filippo Tibertelli de Pisis, 1896; artist Tamara de Lempicka, 1898; New York priest Father Mychal Judge, 1933; former major league baseball player Billy Bean, 1964

May 12: Nurse Florence Nightingale, 1820; scientist and activist Bruce Voeller, 1934; U.S. Congressman Gerry Studds, 1937; writer Joan Nestle, 1940; artist Ross Bleckner, 1949; U.S. Congressman Jared Polis, 1975

May 13: Travel writer Bruce Chatwin, 1940; novelist Armistead Maupin, 1944; screenwriter, producer, and director Alan Ball, 1957

May 14: Activist and sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld, 1868; composer Lou Harrison, 1917; novelist Terry Andrews (George Selden Thompson), 1929

May 15: Writer Carlo Coccioli, 1920; dramatist Sir Peter Shaffer, 1926; painter Jasper Johns, 1930; filmmaker Barbara Hammer, 1939

May 16: Flamboyant entertainer Liberace, 1919; poet Adrienne Rich, 1929

May 17: British writer Robin Maugham, 1916; Annise Parker, Mayor of Houston, 1956

May 18: American artist Don Bachardy, 1934

May 19: French activist Daniel Guérin, 1904

May 20: French writer Honoré de Balzac, 1799

May 21: Artist Albrecht Dürer, 1471; actor Raymond Burr, 1917; activist Frank Kameny, 1925; Italian activist Mario Mieli, 1952

May 22: Martyred politician Harvey Milk, 1930; actor Paul Winfield, 1941; minister, educator, and author Peter Gomes, 1942; businessman, athlete, and 9/11/2001 hero Mark Bingham, 1970

May 23: Swiss author and photojournalist Annemarie Schwarzenbach, 1908; writer Allen Barnett, 1925; actor, singer, and stand-up comic Lea DeLaria, 1958

May 24: Italian Renaissance artist Jacopo Pontormo, 1494; writer and director Greg Berlanti, 1972

May 25: Actor Sir Ian McKellen, 1939

May 26: American astronaut and educator Sally Ride, 1951; British novelist Alan Hollinghurst, 1954

May 27: Environmentalist Rachel Carson, 1907; writer John Cheever, 1912

May 28: Australian Nobel laureate for literature Patrick White, 1912; American poet May Swenson, 1913; novelist, memoirist, and sex writer Paul Reed, 1956

May 29: African-American playwright Lorraine Hansberry, 1930; Mexican stage director and activist Nancy Cárdenas, 1934; Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson, 1947; African-American novelist Melvin Dixon, 1950; British actor Rupert Everett, 1959; rocker Melissa Etheridge, 1961

May 30: Actress Cornelia Otis Skinner, 1901; African-American poet Countee Cullen, 1903; playwright William Inge, 1913; transsexual actress and singer Christine Jorgensen, 1926; Mayor of Paris Bertrand Delanoë, 1950; Irish novelist Colm Tóibín, 1955

May 31: Poet Walt Whitman, 1819; German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1946

Source: glbtq newsletter

[TheGodlessUtopian]

France gay marriage: Hollande signs bill into law

The first gay wedding can be held on 28 May - 10 days after Mr Hollande signed the bill

France's president has signed into law a controversial bill making the country the ninth in Europe, and 14th globally, to legalise gay marriage.
On Friday, the Constitutional Council rejected a challenge by the right-wing opposition, clearing the way for Francois Hollande to sign the bill.
He said: "I have taken [the decision]; now it is time to respect the law of the Republic."
The first gay wedding could be held 10 days after the bill's signing.
But Parliamentary Relations Minister Alain Vidalies told French TV he expected the first ceremonies to take place "before 1 July".
Constitutional challenge
Gay groups in France are delighted that the marriage bill has finally become law. They say there are thousands of couples waiting to get married, and thousands of children being brought up in gay households who will now have the full protection of the law.
Opponents are angry and frustrated. They think President Hollande has made gay marriage a personal obsession, because he's failed to make progress on other more pressing issues - like the economy. There's also irritation that the Constitutional Council cleared the text on 17 May - which happens to be World Day Against Homophobia. It suggests, opponents say, that social pressure formed part of the sages' considerations.
Another anti-gay marriage demonstration is planned for 26 May. It could easily be another monster-manif, like the ones earlier this year. This is because opposition to gay marriage has become conflated with all sorts of other anti-government grievances coming from the right. And the atmosphere in the country is particularly volatile.
But in reality the battle is over. Gay weddings will now begin to be held in France. Some on the right will promise a repeal if they get elected, but experience shows that reversing this kind of social change is extremely hard.

Mr Hollande and his ruling Socialist Party have made the legislation their flagship social reform since being elected a year ago.
After a tortured debate, the same-sex marriage and adoption bill was adopted by France's Senate and National Assembly last month.
The bill was quickly challenged on constitutional grounds by the main right-wing opposition UMP party of former president Nicolas Sarkozy.
But the Constitutional Council ruled on Friday that same-sex marriage "did not run contrary to any constitutional principles," and that it did not infringe on "basic rights or liberties or national sovereignty".
It said the interest of the child would be paramount in adoption cases, cautioning that legalising same-sex adoption would not automatically mean the "right to a child".
Comedian Frigide Barjot, who has become a leading mouthpiece for the anti-gay marriage movement, denounced the ruling as "a provocation" and called for the campaign to continue.
Catholic concerns
Scores of protesters took to the streets of Paris to voice their opposition to the ruling on Friday: previous, occasionally violent, demonstrations against the bill have drawn hundreds of thousands onto the streets.
UMP President Jean-Francois Cope said he regretted the Constitutional Council's decision but would respect it. Another senior UMP figure, Herve Mariton, said the party would come up with alternative proposals in 2017 that were "more respectful of the rights of children".
Thousands joined protest marches against gay marriage, such as this one in Paris on 21 April
The anti-gay marriage lobby, backed by the Catholic Church and conservative opposition, argues the bill will undermine an essential building block of society.
Opinion polls have suggested that around 55-60% of French people support gay marriage, but only about 50% approve of gay adoption.
France is now the 14th country to legalise gay marriage after New Zealand last month.
It is also the ninth country in Europe to allow same-sex marriage after legalisation in the traditionally liberal Netherlands and Scandinavia, but also in strongly Catholic Portugal and Spain. Legislation is also moving through the UK Parliament.
Timeline: Gay marriage in France


May 2012: Election of President Hollande, who makes gay marriage his flagship social reform
January 2013: At least 340,000 join protests in Paris as National Assembly begins debate on gay marriage bill
April: Senate approves bill, two months after the assembly had passed it
17 May: Constitutional Court dismisses legal challenge
18 May: Bill signed into law by President Hollande


But the measure has aroused stronger than expected opposition in France - a country where the Catholic Church was thought to have lost much of its influence over the public.
In January, a protest in Paris against the bill attracted some 340,000 people according to police - one of the biggest public demonstrations in France in decades. Organisers put the figure at 800,000.
Since then, both sides have held regular street protests.
Mr Hollande has been struggling with the lowest popularity ratings of any recent French president, with his promises of economic growth so far failing to bear fruit and unemployment now above 10%.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22579093




78 trans murders in 2013, mutilation common


New figures claim 78 trans people have already been killed in 13 countries this year and 1,233 in 59 countries since January 2008
17 May 2013 | By Rakshita Patel (http://www.gaystarnews.com/author/rakshita-patel)

New figures published today show 78 trans people were murdered in 13 countries from 1 January to 30 April this year.
There were 1,233 reported murders of trans people in 59 countries worldwide from 1 January 2008 to 30 April 2013.
The new figures were collected as part of the Trans Murder Monitoring project by Transgender Europe (TGEU) (http://tgeu.org/) and published on International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO).
TGEU says the murders are often particularly violent, including mutilation and torture.
These are only preliminary results and the numbers are likely to grow over the course of the year.
The vast majority of the murders were in Central and South America. 78% of the globally reported murders of trans people (958 murders) were in Central and South America, with 468 murders in Brazil alone.
The cases were found through internet research and the cooperation of trans organizations and activists.
It is likely they reflect only a portion of the total number of murders worldwide.
The highest absolute numbers of trans murders were found in countries with strong trans communities and trans or LGBT organizations that carried out professional monitoring – indicating the global problem is far greater.
The Transgender Europe said: ‘While often the actual circumstances of the killings remain obscure due to lacking investigation and reports, many of the cases documented involve an extreme extent of aggression, including torture and mutilation.
‘Many cases are not investigated properly by the authorities.
‘In most countries, data on murdered trans people are not systematically produced and it is impossible to estimate the numbers of unreported cases.
‘The alarming figures demonstrate once more that there is an urgent need to react to the violence against trans people and to seek mechanisms to protect trans people.’
The Trans Murder Monitoring project was initiated in April 2009 to collect, monitor and analyze reports of homicides of trans people worldwide.
TGEU has members in 36 countries working for equality and inclusion of all trans people.
Source: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/78-trans-murders-2013-mutilation-common170513

[TheGodlessUtopian]

A new picture book by Amber Dee Parker and Hannah Sequra attempts to battle messages of LGBT equality with a warm and fuzzy brand of hatred, reports Good as You (http://www.goodasyou.org/good_as_you/2013/05/heather-has-a-new-book-shunning-her-two-mommies.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GoodAsYou+%28Good+As+You%29&utm_content=Google+Reader).
Endorsed by the American Family Association, God Made Dad & Mom tells the story of a young boy named Michael who prays for his classmate Jimmy and his two dads to learn “the truth” about how God made them after a trip to the zoo where he’s told all animal families “consist of a male, a female, and their offspring.”
Watch the author’s official preview of how this book “can be used as a tool by grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters to give to the next generation in teaching them and educating them of God’s plan for families between one mother and one father” in the video below.

Source: http://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/books/2013/05/23/new-antigay-childrens-book-teaches-kids-hate-lgbt-families

P.S: See source for video




On October 20, gay activist Louis Rispoli (http://www.advocate.com/crime/2012/10/26/police-investigate-brutal-attack-gay-activist-new-york-city) was brutally attacked by a group of men while on a walk in Queens, N.Y., resulting in his death four days later, and while the crime continues to be investigated, questions concerning the initial response of the New York Police Department continue to go unanswered.
The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/23/nyregion/questions-about-new-york-police-response-to-killing-of-gay-man-in-october.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&)reports that officers who first responded to the 911 call of an assault in progress were unable to communicate with the victim, who had no identification on his person, and incorrectly assessed that no crime had been committed. The responding supervisor instead determined that the severe head trauma Rispoli had sustained was not from an assault but from a drunken fall.
It was only after the 62-year-old victim’s husband, Danyal Lawson, filed a missing-person report, roughly 12 hours after the attack, that detectives were able to identify Rispoli. Yet a crime scene was not established on the corner of 43rd Avenue and 42nd Street until about 5 p.m. the following day, nearly 39 hours after the assault took place.
An investigation by the Internal Affairs Bureau into why officers initially assessed that no crime been committed in the attack of Rispoli is now being conducted in tandem with the police department’s investigation of the killing.
The internal investigation has been cited for the reason all requests to release transcripts of the 911 calls and radio dispatches related to the attack have all been denied. Police are not investigating the attack as a hate crime.
Nevertheless, Lawson remains focused on bringing his husband’s killers to justice. “It’s only now that I’m even able to feel angry about it,” he says, assuring police, “I’m not into suing or anything — just find these guys.”

Source: http://www.advocate.com/crime/2013/05/23/questions-over-police-response-murder-ny-gay-man-still-unanswered



Every day that 11-year-old Caine Smith goes to school (video below), he gets pushed around, punched, and called a fag just because he's a little shy, has long hair, and is being raised by two moms.
"[The bullies] just think that I'm really different and think that they can pick on me," Smith says. "They want me to change who I am. But I can't change who I am."
Smith has never really had friends willing to stick up for him. Most of his pals get bullied and called names too — some of them have even begun bullying him just to avoid getting picked on themselves.
But after school, Smith has a secret way of calming down and clearing his mind — playing games on his Nintendo Wii.
"Gaming actually really helps me a lot to calm down," Smith says. "It's like going into a different universe."
When he plays video games, Smith imagines a world where he can fly and do Harry Potter-style magic; a world where he can zip the lips of all the kids who call him names and finally be himself.
With the support of his two moms, Smith spoke out against bullying to local school officials. But he's not alone. Homophobic bullying pervades public schools (http://www.glsen.org/playgroundsandprejudice.html). Half of kids with lesbian parents get harassed at school (http://www.advocate.com/news/daily-news/2012/03/07/study-half-teens-gay-moms-bullied). Over time, the bullying hurts students' grades (http://www.asanet.org/press/AM11_Williams_News_Release.pdf), their health (http://www.advocate.com/news/daily-news/2011/02/03/study-homophobia-harms-health) and can even lead to suicide (http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/10/23/1075321/study-bullying-and-family-rejection-contribute-to-suicidal-ideation/).
While it's not uncommon to find homophobic bullying in online gaming forums (http://blog.tpronline.org/?p=574) too, studies have proved (http://www.ecu.edu/cs-admin/news/newsstory.cfm?ID=1344) that video games actually help kids alleviate stress (http://www.today.colostate.edu/story.aspx?id=5526).
And considering that a growing number of gamers (http://kotaku.com/5989551/ea-acknowledges-things-can-get-better-when-it-comes-to-gay-issues-in-video-games) have begun self-identifying as LGBT (http://www.joystiq.com/2007/02/26/gay-gamer-survey-results-with-large-hetero-inclusion/), it's safe to say that kids who experience anti-LGBT bullying are among those using games as a way to cope.
"I have been bullied quite a bit up until I reached the end of high school," says Matt Conn, cofounder of Gaymer X (http://gaymerconnect.com/), an LBGT gaming conference happening this August in San Francisco. "I wished I could have just been myself and honest about being a queer geek. … Games were my only escape for me. They allowed me to live in another world … having a team with me as we stormed Booster's Castle in Super Mario RPG or defeating the evil Porky in Earthbound … really was magical."
http://editorial.advocate.com/sites/advocate.com/files/imce/uploadedimages/conn_brown.jpgConn and cofounder Kayce Brown (pictured) started Gaymer X as a month-long Kickstarter campaign (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gaymercon/gaymercon-everybody-games) to raise $25,000 for the "first gaming and tech convention with a focus on LGBT geek culture." The campaign ended up raising $91,388 — evidence that LGBT gamers wanted a place to connect and discuss their issues, a bullying-free place to play and games and gaming communities that reflect themselves.
Though Brown grew up in a conservative part of Arizona, she didn't endure as much bullying as Smith and Conn. Nevertheless, she says she's seen too many people struggling, living in fear and attempting suicide because of anti-LGBT phobia.
Women like Brown often get targeted (http://blog.pricecharting.com/2012/09/emilyami-sexism-in-video-games-study.html) with crude come-ons, sexist putdowns, and even death threats (http://fatuglyorslutty.com/) as part of their online gaming experience. When writer Anita Sarkeesian launched a video campaign to address misogyny in gaming, her YouTube channel got filled with sexist comments (http://kotaku.com/5917623/awful-things-happen-when-you-try-to-make-a-video-about-video-game-stereotypes) and her Wikipedia page got defaced with pornography and statements about her liking "gay fisting" and "homosexual penetration."
"I think GaymerX addresses the issue simply by our original mission that regardless of being queer, straight, bi, trans, whatever ... you have a safe space to escape and be yourself with us," Brown says. "We aren't out to set ourselves apart. Our tagline from the beginning has been 'Everyone Games,' and we truly mean that and want anyone and everyone to feel welcome and safe being exactly who they are."
Conn concurs: "I'm hoping that as young people see what we're doing with GaymerX, they can see that there is an entire world out there for them — that they are not alone, that there are tens of thousands of openly queer geeks, and that being a queer geek is not 'weird' or abnormal.
"It may be a smaller group than your straight friends, but [it's] entitled to every right that they are. Feeling accepted, feeling wanted, feeling attractive, and feeling like part of a community."
Watch a documentary short about Caine Smith fighting homophobic bullying below:

Source: http://www.advocate.com/youth/end-bullying/2013/05/24/could-video-games-be-cure-anti-lgbt-bullying

P.S: See source for video

[TheGodlessUtopian]

The Nevada legislature advanced a measure today that would repeal the state’s anti–marriage equality constitutional amendment and replace it with one guaranteeing same-sex couples’ freedom to marry.
The state Assembly approved the bill today by a vote of 27-14; the state Senate had passed it last month. Both houses will vote on it again in the 2015 legislative session, and if they approve it in exactly the same form, it will go before voters in 2016, the Las Vegas Review-Journal (http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/nevada-legislature/nevada-legislature-advances-gay-marriage-resolution) reports.
All the no votes were from Republicans, but some GOP members supported the legislation, including Assemblywoman Michelle Fiore of Las Vegas. Addressing fellow lawmakers, she said, “When we started this floor session, I introduced my mother to this body, proudly. What is currently in our constitution does not allow her to get married. You see, my mom is gay. I love my mom with all my heart, and I am who I am today because of her guidance, influence, and how she raised me.”
Marc Solomon, campaign director for the national group Freedom to Marry, released a statement in support of Nevada’s action, saying, “Lawmakers in Nevada took a huge step today toward undoing a discriminatory amendment that never should have been written into the state constitution and advancing the freedom to marry. We look forward to the day that Nevada couples join those in the 12 other marriage states in being able to make a lifelong commitment to the person they love.”
Source: http://www.advocate.com/politics/marriage-equality/2013/05/23/nevada-takes-another-step-toward-marriage-equality



Gay Athletes Hop Aboard the Condom Mobile

By: Brandon Voss
5.23.2013
Ooh, it's so big!
To encourage condom use and safer sex practices, the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health is now distributing its official “L.A. Condom” in a 40-foot long condom mobile that made its debut at Long Beach Pride.
With the goal of distributing 1,000,001 condoms by the end of 2013, the "Game On. Suit Up, L.A." campaign has partnered with local LGBT intramural sports leagues, including the LA Flag Football League, Lambda Basketball, and the Greater L.A. Softball Association. Members of these organizations have volunteered to be featured in the new campaign ads.
The condoms distributed feature new L.A.-branded wrappers designed by local residents as part of last summer’s “L.A. Condom” wrapper design contest, which was organized by L.A. County Public Health’s Division of HIV and STD Programs.
“Gay athletes have always been in sports and we're delighted some professional athletes have made steps to live their life honestly in the public's eye. We’re hopeful that this recent attention can help Lambda Basketball shine a light on causes important to us,” said Garsten Bergquist, Lambda Basketball's vice president. “Health education and community service are a part of our mission, so we’re happy to help promote a healthy lifestyle — whether it’s staying active by playing in a team sport or by using condoms and getting tested regularly for HIV or STDs.”
For a full list of locations distributing free condoms in L.A., visit LAsexsymbol.com (http://www.lasexsymbol.com).


Source: http://www.gay.net/sports/2013/05/23/gay-athletes-hop-aboard-condom-mobile



A pair of LGBT activists in Uganda were arrested this morning as they peacefully protested a government blackout of independent media.
According to activists on the ground in Uganda, several LGBT Ugandans and an American photojournalist joined other demonstrators in a peaceful rally demanding freedom of the press. The activists held a mock funeral procession for the independent radio outlets and newspapers that were recently shuttered by Ugandan officials, but police attacked the protesters, injuring photojournalist Tim McCarthy, and arrested Ugandan LGBT activists Richard Lusimbo and Komugisha Shawn.
The latest report provided to The Advocate notes that Lusimbo and Shawn are both still in jail, along with three other human rights activists who were arrested. LGBT advocacy group Sexual Minorities Uganda is at the jail, working to get the activists released. SMUG indicated that Lusimbo's hand was injured by police and reported that Shawn was in need of emergency medical attention.
McCarthy posted several photos of the demonstration, both before and after the violent intervention by police. The photo above features McCarthy with SMUG executive director Frank Mugisha, and was taken before state police brutalized the nonviolent protesters. Find more of McCarthy's photos, including a shot of his injured hand, on his Instagram (http://instagram.com/GAYVIDEOHISTORIAN).
Anti-LGBT violence is all too common in Uganda and regularly occurs at the hands of police officers. When the country held its first unofficial Pride celebration last August (http://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/commentary/2012/08/08/see-photos-ugandans-both-proud-and-brave), police broke up the parade and arrested some in attendance. Homosexuality is illegal in the East African nation, and the Ugandan parliament (http://www.advocate.com/news/world-news/2012/12/14/ugandan-parliament-breaks-holiday-without-vote-kill-gays-bill) is still considering the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, better known by its colloquial moniker, the "Kill the Gays Bill." If passed, the legislation would further criminalize consensual same-sex relations by lifetime prison sentences, and in some cases, require the death penalty. The bill would also require friends, family members, and neighbors to report any "known homosexuals" to state authorities or risk three years imprisonment themselves.
Despite this rabidly antigay climate, LGBT Ugandans continue to raise their voices and insist that they exist and are deserving of full recognition and equality in their native land. Richard Lusimbo (http://www.advocate.com/news/world-news/2013/01/02/photos-we-are-here-lgbt-uganda?page=0,11), one of the activists arrested, and several of those in attendance at the rally, were featured in a photo essay (http://www.advocate.com/news/world-news/2013/01/02/photos-we-are-here-lgbt-uganda?page=0,0) published by The Advocate in January.

Source: http://www.advocate.com/news/world-news/2013/05/23/ugandan-lgbt-activists-arrested-while-protesting-media-censorship

[TheGodlessUtopian]

The Boy Scouts of America’s national council voted today to end the organization’s discriminatory policy barring openly gay youth from membership, reports the Associated Press. However, the group’s ban on gay adult leaders remains in place.
For former members like James Dale, who was expelled from the organization in 1990 at age 19 after BSA officials learned he was gay, it is a hard-fought victory in a battle which has continued for more than two decades.
His case, Boy Scouts of America vs. Dale, grabbed headlines in 1998 after an appellate court in New Jersey ruled that the BSA violated the state’s antidiscrimination law by expelling Dale because of his sexual orientation. Though the ruling was reversed June 28, 2000, by the U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 ruling saying private groups like the BSA have the right to set their own membership criteria, Dale believes his case helped pave the way for today’s landmark vote.
“I lost by one vote in the Supreme Court, but I think that I pretty much continue to win in the court of public opinion,” he said in a recent interview with GLAAD.
Since then, public disapproval of the BSA’s antigay policy has continually increased over the years, reaching a fever pitch in 2012. Even as the organization continued to expel employees such as former Eagle Scout Tim Griffin, who was fired from his job at a California Boy Scout camp because he was gay, and leaders such as Jennifer Tyrrell, who was ousted as a leader of her son’s scout troop in Ohio for being a lesbian, a wave of support for equality arose. Last year both President Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said they opposed the BSA’s discrimination against gays, while groups such as the Intel Foundation, the BSA’s largest corporate donor, announced it would no longer fund the organization unless the its gay ban was lifted.
By January of this year, mounting public pressure had forced the BSA to announce it would consider ending the gay ban and replace the policy with one which allowed local scouting organizations to set their own rules on the matter. However, a vote by the group’s national board set for February 6, 2013 to decide the issue was soon delayed until May, with the organization claiming the complexity of policy required “a more deliberate review.” National BSA officials then put forth the proposal voted on today, allowing openly gay young people in the program but still barring gay adults.
While today’s vote is a step forward, the fact that the BSA has remained steadfast in its ban on gay adult leaders remains an obstacle in the battle for equality. However, Dale believes the fight will eventually be won as more people continue to raise their voices as he did 23 years ago. “We have won as a community,” he said. “We continue to win when we tell our own stories.”
Click through for more pictures leading up to the events in Texas today.

Source: http://www.advocate.com/news/2013/05/23/boy-scouts-vote-end-discrimination-against-gay-youth

P.S: See source for photos




The Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education network has also named seven additional members to its board of directors.

The executive vp global communications at Disney/ABC Television Group has been elected chairman of the board at the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network.
"Kevin has been a passionate supporter of GLSEN for almost two decades, and an outspoken member of our board for the past six years," GLSEN executive director Dr. Eliza Byard said. "His leadership, enthusiasm and drive make him not only perfectly suited for this responsibility, but also the best possible partner as we further the efficacy and reach of our important efforts."
GLSEN is the leading national education organization focused on ensuring safe schools for all students. Since its establishment in 1990, the group seeks to develop school climates where difference is valued for the positive contribution it makes to creating a diverse community.
"The work GLSEN is doing to ensure that schools across our nation are safe for all children is nothing short of inspiring," Brockman said. "I’ve had the great pleasure to hear directly from many of the incredible students that they’ve helped over the years, and when you are faced with that kind of courage, and that kind of compassion, it’s easy to agree to become a bigger part of the process. I’m looking forward to the challenges, and the opportunities, that lie ahead with this new responsibility."
Brockman joined Disney in 1997 and has been in his current position since 2008.
Additionally, GLSEN has elected seven new members to its board of directors: Bob Chlebowski(executive vp, Wells Fargo & Co.); Art Coleman (managing partner, Education Counsel); David Dancer (vp, Partnership Marketing at Teleflora); Daniel Duty (vp, Marketing at Target); Michele Meyer-Shipp (chief diversity officer, Prudential); Brett Peterson (director, the Gary and Jerri-Ann Jacobs High Tech High School); and Loan Tran (student leader).


Source: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disneys-kevin-brockman-elected-chairman-536401



A transgender senior at St. Pius X Catholic High School in Albuquerque skipped his graduation Wednesday after the school refused to let the teenager wear the black cap and gown worn by male graduates, instead insisting he wear the white graduation garb worn by female students.
The Albuquerque Journal (http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2013/05/22/abqnewsseeker/st-pius-x-transgender-student-skips-graduation.html) reports that the student, Damian Garcia, thanked his friends and supporters on Facebook Wednesday morning, noting that the school would not make an exception to allow Garcia to dress in gender-appropriate attire at graduation.
"I'm fully respecting this and myself by not walking and/or attending the ceremony at all," the Journal reports Garcia writing.
Garcia has been vocal about his disapproval of his school's refusal to recognize his gender identity, but acknowledged earlier this week (http://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2013/05/20/watch-catholic-school-tells-trans-teen-wear-girls-gown-or-dont-walk) that the private parochial school was unlikely to change its policy, which mandates that students dress in gender-specific graduation attire according to the gender listed on their birth certificate. Although Garcia legally changed his name last year, and family, friends, and faculty recognize him as male, the state of New Mexico won't change the gender marker on a birth certificate without a medical affidavit affirming that he's had expensive, experimental surgery that is generally not covered by insurance.
Garcia and friends rallied outside the school earlier this week, and the school's most famous alumnus, out actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Tuesday called (http://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2013/05/21/jesse-tyler-ferguson-slams-his-former-catholic-school-forcing-trans) on the school to "do the right thing and let all your students graduate with dignity."
The Journal also notes that the University of New Mexico's LGBTQ Resource Center has announced plans to host a graduation celebration for Garcia May 30 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Scholes Hall on the university's main campus.

Source: http://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2013/05/23/transgender-high-school-senior-skips-graduation-over-schools

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Danielle Powell, a former student of Grace University in Omaha, has begun an online petition (https://www.change.org/petitions/grace-university-don-t-force-my-wife-to-pay-back-college-scholarships-because-she-s-gay) protesting the actions of the conservative Christian institution, which is demanding that Powell return her scholarship funds after expelling her in 2012 for being a lesbian.
Grace University, originally the Grace Bible Institute, has refused to transfer the credits earned by Powell during her three-and-a-half-year enrollment until she agrees to pay $6,300. The amount reflects the tuition of the spring semester of 2011, when administrators first discovered her sexual orientation and removed her from courses.
Powell, a former member of the college’s volleyball team and an on-campus volunteer for the homeless, was one semester shy of graduation.
Michael James, executive vice president at Grace University, justified the college's actions to The Huffington Post, (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/12/danielle-powell-grace-university_n_3428514.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp0000000 3&ir=Gay%20Voices) affirming that its student handbook forebade "sexually immoral behavior." Quoting from the handbook, James stated:
"Any student involved in sexually immoral behavior, including premarital sex, adultery, and homosexual acts, is at minimum placed on University probation and may be subject to a Judiciary Hearing.”
The Change.org petition, started by Powell’s wife, Michelle Rogers, calls for Grace to drop its demands, which are preventing Powell from transferring to another university and becoming the first in her family to earn a college degree. It has already gained 11,200 signatures since its launch last weekend.
“I’m asking for your help in petitioning Grace University to drop all tuition fees owed for the Spring Semester of 2011,” Rogers says in the petition. “We are a young, recently married couple and this lingering debt -- which Danielle should not have to pay and Grace University has no right to demand -- is holding her back from achieving her dreams and putting us in a perilous financial situation. Please sign this petition and join us in demanding at least a shred of 'grace' from Grace University.”
This is not the first time Danielle Powell and her wife made headlines. A YouTube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpYEWDW0iZ8), in which Powell proposed to Rogers at a Macklemore concert, went viral in December. See the Change.org petition here (http://www.change.org/petitions/grace-university-don-t-force-my-wife-to-pay-back-college-scholarships-because-she-s-gay) and watch the proposal below.

Source: http://www.advocate.com/society/education/2013/06/12/university-expels-student-being-lesbian-demands-she-repay-tuition

P.S: See source for video




Arizona’s junior U.S. senator, Jeff Flake, is apologizing for homophobic, racist, and anti-Semitic language his teenage son Tanner used on social media.
BuzzFeed (http://www.buzzfeed.com/johnstanton/arizona-senators-son-used-homophobic-anti-semetic-language-o) yesterday broke the story about Tanner Flake’s bigoted language, reporting that the youth “used Twitter to threaten the ‘faggot’ who stole his bike that he ‘will find you, and … will beat the crap out of you,’ joked about an acquaintance stealing one-liners because he’s Jewish, and went by the name ‘n1ggerkiller’ in an online game.”
These and other offensive tweets were culled from January and February; Tanner’s Twitter account has since been locked, BuzzFeed reports. The site also notes that Tanner posted screen shots from the online game Fun Run with his racially charged character name, and that his comments on YouTube are full of homophobic and racial slurs, including the f and n words as well as calling Mexicans “scum,” plus boasts about his father being in Congress.
“I’m very disappointed in my teenage son’s words, and I sincerely apologize for the insensitivity,” Jeff Flake said in a statement to BuzzFeed. “This language is unacceptable, anywhere. Needless to say, I’ve already spoken with him about this, he has apologized, and I apologize as well.”
Flake, a conservative Republican, is in his first term in the Senate, having been elected in November to succeed Jon Kyl, who retired. Before that he had been in the House of Representatives since 2001, racking up a less than gay-friendly record. For his three most recent terms in the House, the Human Rights Campaign’s Congressional Scorecard, (http://www.hrc.org/files/assets/resources/HRC-112th_CongressionalScorecard_Updated.pdf) which rates members on their votes on LGBT issues, gave him scores of 0, 20, and 10.

Source: http://www.advocate.com/politics/politicians/2013/06/13/arizona-senator-apologizes-sons-homophobic-tweets



Kenny Neal Shults is the comedian we have been waiting for. Part Lenny Bruce, part Chris Rock, he is the first bona fide gay comic who's willing to really go there. Two of his funniest bits go like this: “I’m not one of these new generation gays. I don’t want to get married, serve in the military, have a buncha kids. I’m old-school gay. I wanna have sex with lots of strangers and gentrify bad neighborhoods. Maybe get a Maltese down the line…” Another favorite bit is when he says, “But then again, we used to not be represented in TV and film at all, invisible, like a tattoo on a black guy. Then we were portrayed as childless party monsters who devote all their disposable income to cocaine and strippers.” He makes a displeased face before he shouts, “What happened?”

As funny as Shults is, it's his day job where he's making the biggest difference. A few years ago he left a large public health firm to do his own form of HIV prevention by engaging directly with at-risk populations and teaching people how to make short films that act as behavior change campaigns directed at their peers. They are essentially online public service announements that aim to change behaviors and attitudes from within. The program he developed lets him engage any particular group (gay men, HIVers, teens, transgender folks, for example), and making the film alters the participants’ own perspectives and behaviors in the process. The program is called MyMediaLife and is a behavior-science fueled product that his company offers to nonprofits, service organizations, and any organization that wants to help foster social change respectfully and effectively without shaming, scaring, or lying.

Shults explains, "In public health, behavior change is everything; it's the primary tool we use to get specific groups of people to use condoms and birth control, wear a seat belt, take their meds, stop smoking, wash their hands, etc. But these same social marketing principles, that organically employ behavior science, can also be applied to any social cause that can be advanced through changes in norms, attitudes, and behaviors such as bullying, sexting, homophobia, voting, etc. It all depends on the mission of the agency and what they are funded to do."

He argues that there are many ways to motivate public behavior and attitude shifts, some effective and others less so. "In the beginning of the AIDS epidemic," he says, "telling gay men to use something that was only for straight people [a condom] was a groundbreaking strategy for preventing the spread of HIV. At that time condoms were a foreign concept to gay men. But prevention efforts never evolved, and by the mid '90s they actually caused more harm, in my opinion."
Source: http://www.hivplusmag.com/people/2013/06/13/standup-comic-and-hiv-innovator-kenny-neal-shults

P.S: See source for remainder of story




Did you hear the one about the news anchor who said, "I pledge allegiance to the fag" before a Gay Pride report?
In what must be the biggest on-air news gaffe since A.J. Clemente's cursing (http://www.gay.net/video/2013/04/22/f-s-cursing-news-anchor-says-he-didnt-say-gay), Bill Lunn of KSTP-TV, an ABC affiliate in St. Paul, Minn., had the extremely unfortunate slip of the tongue Tuesday while stumbling over the phrase "I pledge allegiance to the flag" — especially regrettable since it happened just before poor Bill introduced a story about the Twin Cities Gay Pride Festival.
"Haha... unfortunate slip of the tongue. Getting razzed at work a bit," he later tweeted (https://twitter.com/BillLunnKSTP). "4 years and they couldn't get me on the KSTP blooper reel. I guess they've got me now."
But the LOLs were short-lived; now, following some negative media attention and public outrage on Twitter, he's "begging forgiveness," (https://twitter.com/BillLunnKSTP/status/344963218525016064) clarifying, "The word when intended is offensive. It was not intended. I merely bumbled trying to read flag. I detest that word."
Do you accept Bill Lunn's apology? Watch the clip below.

Source: http://www.gay.net/news/2013/06/13/anchor-now-begging-forgiveness-after-fag-slip

P.S: See source for video




Six out of ten voters in California now believe same-sex marriage should be legal, according to a recent poll (http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-poll-gay-marriage-20130610,0,6776707.story) conducted by the University of Southern California and the Los Angeles Times.
The poll, which surveyed California’s registered voters, found that only 36% of respondents were against marriage equality, with 58% in favor. In 2010, the same poll found that 52% of Californians favored same-sex marriage, compared with 40% against. Thus, within three years, the margin between those for and against equal marriage rights has increased from 12 to 22 points.
The poll also found that younger voters were far more likely to support marriage equality. Voters ages 19 to 29 were 76% in favor, compared to 52% of voters ages 50 to 64. There was also a significant spread between the sexes. At 63%, women in California were more likely than men, at 52%, to endorse same-sex marriage.
Nationwide, 51% of Americans are in favor of equal marriage rights, making California’s approval seven points higher than the national average. At 58%, it also has one of the highest state approval percentages in the country. The current figure is a significant difference from the vote on Proposition 8, in which 52% of California voters approved a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in 2008. The poll arrives on the eve of a decision by the nine justices of the Supreme Court on whether or not to overturn the controversial state constitutional amendment.
"There has been movement across the board," Dave Kanevsky, research director of the polling firm American Viewpoint, told the Times about the issue of same-sex marriage. "Every group has moved."

Source: http://www.advocate.com/politics/marriage-equality/2013/06/12/poll-shows-majority-california-voters-support-same-sex

[TheGodlessUtopian]

While Washington, D.C., is hailed as having some of the best antidiscrimination policies in place for trans people, it also has one of the highest rates of antitransgender crime. In fact, the number of incidents of violence against LGBT people in D.C. has many concerned. In the past 10 days alone, six separate attacks against LGBT people, four of them involving trans victims, have been reported, according to the Daily Kos group TransAction (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/07/01/1220322/-An-epidemic-of-attacks-on-LGBT-people-in-Washington-DC#).
Two trans women were attacked in two separate incidents Sunday. One was sexually assaulted at 3:30 a.m. after accepting a ride from an unidentified man, while another was shot roughly 30 minutes later, with robbery being the apparent motive.
Before that, last Thursday a 22-year-old transgender woman was approached by two men who reportedly asked her for a light before one of the men attacked her and pulled off her wig. When she turned to flee she was shot in the buttocks, and her purse was stolen by one of the men.
On Sunday, June 23, two women attacked a drag performer, identified as a gay man, outside a pizzeria. The attackers bit the victim in the thigh and yanked him around by the hair — which caused a scalp wound — while a bystander shot video of the crime and encouraged the fight.
The day before that, a 35-year-old lesbian was shot and killed in D.C. in an apparent armed robbery.
On June 21, Bree Wallace, a trans woman, met a man to get a cigarette and was stabbed 11 times after refusing to perform oral sex on her attacker. Wallace is still hospitalized, recovering from a severed tendon in her left hand and collapsed lung.
None of these attacks have been classified as hate crimes.

Source: http://www.advocate.com/crime/2013/07/02/violence-against-lgbt-people-continues-rise-washington-dc

P.S: See source for video




Lesbian couple Jayne Rowse and April DeBoer were told by a federal judge in Michigan in March (http://www.advocate.com/politics/marriage-equality/2013/03/07/michigan-judge-tells-lesbian-moms-he-cant-help-until-supreme)that their lawsuit challenging the state’s voter-approved same-sex marriage ban would have to wait until the Supreme Court ruled on the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. However, now that SCOTUS has issued decisions on both DOMA and Proposition 8 that were in favor of same-sex marriage, that same judge has said the “plaintiffs are entitled to their day in court and they shall have it,” reports MLive.com. (http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2013/07/detroit-area_couple_challengin.html)
Rowse and DeBoer, who live in the Detroit suburbs, filed their lawsuit based on their desire to jointly adopt their three children. They say the U.S. Constitution's equal protection clause should invalidate a ban on same-sex marriage that voters approved in 2004 and that prevents them from being recognized as a couple during adoption proceedings.
Judge Bernard Friedman cited the SCOTUS decision on DOMA as the reason the couple’s case had merit, saying, “Plaintiffs’ equal protection claim has sufficient merit to proceed. The United States Supreme Court’s recent decision in United States v. Windsor, No. 12-307 (U.S. Jun. 26, 2013), has provided the requisite precedential fodder for both parties to this litigation. Plaintiffs are prepared to claim Windsor as their own.”
Friedman plans to set a trial date at a conference scheduled for July 10.


Source: http://www.advocate.com/politics/marriage-equality/2013/07/02/judge-sets-date-michigan-same-sex-marriage-ban-trial




Confirming what LGBT immigration groups have been saying since Wednesday's historic Supreme Court ruling striking down a section of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act that prohibited the federal government from recognizing legal same-sex marriages, the department of Homeland Security today issued a statement (http://www.dhs.gov/topic/implementation-supreme-court-ruling-defense-marriage-act) affirming that married gay and lesbian couples will be treated like married straight couples for immigration purposes.
"After last week’s decision by the Supreme Court holding that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional, President Obama directed federal departments to ensure the decision and its implication for federal benefits for same-sex legally married couples are implemented swiftly and smoothly," said Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano in a prepared statement today. "To that end, effective immediately, I have directed U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to review immigration visa petitions filed on behalf of a same-sex spouse in the same manner as those filed on behalf of an opposite-sex spouse."
Over the weekend, a gay couple in Florida became the first (http://www.advocate.com/society/modern-families/2013/06/29/florida-couple-becomes-first-gay-married-pair-granted-greencard) to receive approval for green card based on their legal marriage. Just two days after the Supreme Court ruled, Julian Marsh and Traian Popov of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., were pleasantly surprised by notification from Citizenship and Immigration Services officials that Popov's petition for permanent residency based on his bona fide marriage had been approved, reports The DOMA Project (http://www.domaproject.org/), which fights for immigration equality for LGBT binational couples.
The Department of Homeland Security also composed a list of frequently asked questions (http://www.dhs.gov/topic/implementation-supreme-court-ruling-defense-marriage-act) relating to how DOMA's death affects U.S. immigration law for Americans with foreign-born spouses of the same sex.

Source: http://www.advocate.com/politics/2013/07/01/homeland-security-confirms-same-sex-binational-couples-can-get-green-cards



For a brief moment, Istanbul’s Taksim Square was transformed yesterday. The riot police, clouds of tear gas, and barricade-building protesters that characterized the past month’s unprecedented unrest (http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2013/06/19/will-turkey-s-protest-end-democracy.html) were gone. Instead, a mass of rainbow flags, garish makeup, and neon clothing and face paint gleamed in the afternoon sunshine ahead of the city’s 10th LGBT pride march.


The atmosphere was festive. Despite that the demonstration was not legally sanctioned and there were frequent anti-government chants, uniformed police were almost nonexistent. Public reaction seemed to be almost overwhelmingly positive, and bystanders applauded the procession as it passed down İstiklâl Avenue. Attendance, estimated at least 20,000, was among the largest in the march’s history and included three M.P.s from the Republican People’s Party, an opposition group.

It was an undeniable success, and organizers were justifiably delighted. But under any other circumstances, things might have been very different. Homosexual conduct between consenting adults is legal in Turkey, but far from accepted. Prejudice is widespread: 84 percent of Turkish people said gays or lesbians were among the groups they would least like living in their area, according to 2011 research conducted as part of the World Values Survey.

Intolerance often manifests itself as discrimination, abuse, and brutal violence. “It’s not just about equality. We have to fight for our right to live,” says Hassan Metehan Ozkan, a founder of the solidarity group LISTAG, which supports families of LGTB individuals in Istanbul.


Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said homosexuality was “a sexual preference” that is “contrary” to Islam.
Hate crimes against LGBT individuals are higher in Turkey than in any other member of the Council of Europe, advocacy groups say. Gay men and transgender women are at particular risk. At least 30 transgender individuals in Turkey were murdered between January 2008 and December 2012, according to Transgender Europe. The figure is higher than in any other European, Middle Eastern, African, or Asian country for which data are available, although considerably less than the 69 murders which occurred in the U.S. over the same period. “Honor killings” as a result of sexual preference, such as the fatal shooting of Ahmet Yildiz, and the “R.Ç.” case, in which a father is currently on trial for the murder of his 17-year-old gay son, have also taken place.

Homophobic attitudes start at the very top. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said homosexuality was “a sexual preference” that is “contrary” to Islam, in remarks reported in local media earlier this year. And Minister for Women and Family Affairs Selma Aliye Kavaf described it as “a biological disorder, a disease,” in a 2010 interview with the Hürriyet daily news.

The national Constitution itself does not offer protection against discrimination on grounds of gender identity or sexual orientation. There is, however, little political will to address this, says Andrew Gardner, a Turkey researcher with Amnesty International: “At the highest level ... there is a complete refusal to recognize that there actually are LGBT rights or to implement nondiscrimination provisions in a way that would protect LGBT individuals.”

The justice system is, in many cases, weighed against victims of hate crimes, Ozkan adds. Culprits apprehended in transgender murder cases, for example, sometimes employ a defense of “unjust provocation” and lenient sentencing as a result.

The authorities are not just failing to protect LGBT individuals, however. In some cases they are actively responsible for maltreatment. Provisions in the criminal code on exhibitionism and public morality are often used by the police to harass LGBT people, according to the European Commission. Transgender individuals—often least able to hide their identity—have been detained and fined on misdemeanor charges and even faced torture and abuse in custody, says Gardner.

State interference in media coverage of gay and transgender topics means that positive representation is a rarity. “The only reason LGBT individuals are shown in the press is if they are killed,” says İlker Çakmak, spokesperson and head of communications with Istanbul LGBTT Solidarity Association, pointing to often-lurid and sensational reports of transgender murders.

RTÜK, the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating radio and television content, is heavily involved in censoring content. The cable broadcast of Sex and the City 2, for example, was blocked due to its “twisted and immoral” depiction of a gay wedding. In 2011 the Telecommunications Communication Presidency (TIB) prohibited Turkish Internet-hosting providers from using the word “gay,” along with 137 other potentially inflammatory words, in domain names and websites, according to Freedom House. TIB has also shut down LGBT Internet forums.

As bad as things are in Turkey—especially in regard to the high numbers of transgender murders—conditions in some of its regional neighbors are far worse. “It’s certainly one of the best countries [for LGBT rights] in the Middle East and Africa,” says Isays Hossein Alizadeh, Middle East and North Africa program coordinator with the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. “But then standards are really not very high.” In four Middle Eastern countries—Iran, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen—same-sex consensual sexual activity between consenting adults is still punishable by death, according to the International Lesbian and Gay Association.

Meanwhile, in Iraq—which does not prohibit homosexuality in its penal code—militia squads have targeted LGBT individuals alongside any other displays of supposedly “effeminate” behavior, as in the spate of so-called “emo” killings that swept the country in 2012. Homosexuality remains illegal in Kuwait, Syria, and parts of the Palestinian territories, and while not actually unlawful in Jordan, societal and legal discrimination is common. The same is true of Lebanon, where LGBT people have been tortured in police custody, according to Human Rights Watch.

Things in Turkey, are, however, slowly getting better, Alizadeh adds. Progress was also lent a huge boost by the momentous protests of recent weeks.

During the Gezi Park occupation, minority groups were able to raise their flags in safety, boosting awareness and support for their causes. Those with a well-established history of activism, such as Kurdish, feminist, and LGBT associations, were better organized and experienced with advocacy than their newly established counterparts and played a central role in the movement as a result.

More than that, though, many of Istanbul’s inhabitants are now experiencing a taste of the treatment faced by minority groups for years. Banging pots and pans together—a common tool of protesters—is punished using the same laws once employed to harass transgender women, and the censorship tactics employed to suppress discussion of homosexual issues and information on human-rights abuses in Kurdish areas were used to silence reporting on the protests.

It is too early to tell whether or not its role in the broader protest movement will make a lasting difference to the LGBT community in Turkey, but there are signs that for some, attitudes have already started to change. The quantity and nature of inquiries to Istanbul LGBTT Solidarity Association, for example, has changed markedly since the Gezi demonstrations began, Çakmak says. “A month ago, the only people who phoned us or sent emails via the website were asking for condoms or hormone shots. Now individuals aged from 17 to 70 are getting in touch to apologize for using homophobic slurs in the past and promising to never do so or allow others to do so again.”


Source: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/07/01/turkey-s-violent-homophobia.html



Governor Cuomo makes it a focal point of his initiative to increase tourism spending in the Empire State.
"A one-stop tourism portal" is how Governor Andrew Cuomo describes New York's new website for LGBT travelers to his state.
The "I Love NY LGBT" website is the centerpiece of New York's "I Love NY LGBT" initiative, which aims to grown queer travel to not just New York City, but all around the state. The push to reach queer travelers is part of New York's biggest tourism marketing campaign ever — a $60 million effort to attract new visitors.
“As part of our efforts to boost the tourism industry in New York, this pride month, we are launching the 'I Love NY LGBT' website to highlight all of what the state has to offer to the LGBT community,” Governor Cuomo said. “New York State has a tremendous variety of ‘must see’ destinations for all travelers of different interests — whether they are wine connoisseurs, history buffs or outdoor adventurers. The website will be an important tool to help attract visitors, encourage spending in our communities and create jobs in the industry. New York has a proud history of welcoming the LGBT community, and whether you’re planning a weekend trip or a destination wedding, I encourage all to come explore the Empire State.”
The "I Love NY LGBT" website covers culture, food, shopping, family adventures, outdoor fun, nightlife, and includes tips on regional attractions, LGBT events, and a wedding guide for same-sex couples. Check it out here. (http://lgbt.iloveny.com/)


Source: http://www.outtraveler.com/destination-guide/new-york-city/2013/07/02/new-york-launches-new-website-devoted-lgbt-travelers

[Slavoj Zizek's Balls]

At midnight tonight in England, Wales and Scotland, the first same-sex marriages will come into existence (00:00am, Saturday 29th March 2014).

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/first-gay-marriages-in-the-uk-will-take-place-tonight-9220985.html is one source on the matter, randomly picked.


The first same-sex marriages in the UK will take place at the stroke of midnight tonight, after years of tireless campaigning by gay couples fighting to have their unions recognised by law.

The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act came into force in July last year, but it was not until 13 March that couples were able to register their intention to marry under the Act for the first time.

Campaigners who spent years battling for the legalisation of gay marriage will see the historic law enacted at midnight, despite objections from the Church of England and some members of the Conservative party.

Civil partnerships were introduced in England and Wales in 2005 to provide gay couples with the same legal rights as heterosexual partners, but campaigners continued fighting to have their marriages recognised by law.

A number of couples are hoping to claim the title of being the first ever to be married in Britain by trying to time it perfectly so their vows are said at 12.01am.

Peter McGraith and David Cabreza, who have been together for 17 years, said they wanted to wed as soon as the marriage laws changed.

Mr McGraith said: "We are thrilled to be getting married. It is a mark of significant social progress in the UK that the legal distinction between gay and straight relationships has been removed.”

Also vying for the title of first same-sex couple to marry in Britain will be Brighton couple Andrew Wale and Neil Allard. The pair will wed in Brighton's famous Royal Pavilion.

Sue Wilkinson, 60, and Celia Kitzinger, 57, tied the knot in Canada in 2003 and fought for eight years to have their union recognised here.

They took their fight to the High Court in 2006, when a judge refused to make a declaration that their marriage was valid in this country.

But, due to the change in the law, their marriage became legally binding at one minute past midnight on 13 March.

Ruth Hunt, acting chief executive of gay rights charity Stonewall, said: "Saturday is a momentous day for England and Wales, as the first same-sex marriages mark full legal equality for lesbian, gay and bisexual people.

"The first weddings will send a powerful message to every person in Britain and around the world that you can live and love as you choose, regardless of your sexual orientation."