Gay Cleveland Pages

Dot Gay May be on the Horizon

2011-02-08T11:09:00.000-08:00

Move over .com and make way for .gay!

...or .love, .eco, .car, .health, .radio, .ski, etc. In fact, there's a large list of all the possibilities various groups already want to see when the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) completes its tasks to implement the new Top level Domains over on the .NXT Conference site. The custom domain will also mean cities and states can have their own top level domain like .nyc or .florida. We may also see brand ones like .coke (.canon and .unicef are already listed).

What's the catch, you may ask? Having your own top level domain like this will be coming with a hefty price tag. $185,000 plus a $25,000 annual fee according to the Washington Post. Pretty big catch! Luckily, the dotGAYalliance and dotGAY will be pushing to have the .gay extension included so we may see eventually sites like hotel.gay, sports.gay, or health.gay popping up.

Unfortunately, as has happened in the past with the Bush Administration stopping the .xxx extension, the Obama administration is quietly pushing to allow countries, including the US, to veto top level domains. That then leads to the trouble that having a central domain such as .gay (or any number of potentially controversial extensions like .abortion, .aids, etc) would allow countries who aren't friendly towards a particular subject to block any domain with that extension if it was approved by the ICANN.

Confused About "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"? You're Not Alone...

2010-11-17T15:34:00.000-08:00

As one of my followers on Twitter mentioned recently, the news about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" has been less than clear. He is, of course, absolutely right as it seems things are constantly going back and forth about whether it will be repealed or not (and even if it will be included in the Defense Authorization Act this year). I've been reading the stories as they appear on various news sites and have seen everything from the White House not approving any defense bill without the repeal of DADT to the lame duck congress won't be able to pass the defense bill with or without it due to the small time span.

While I won't be able to make anything clearer about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" myself as I'm not a member of congress, at least I can do some of the legwork by giving you a list of the most informative articles I've read lately to do with DADT.

While Wikipedia has its flaws in the communal editing and potential of false information being edited in by those who aren't up on their facts or are trolling, generally, it is always a good place to look for quickly updated information and source linkes. Don't Ask, Don't Tell article on Wikipedia

Advocate.com is also another source and is where most of the articles I've been reading has stemmed from. The latest one posted as of November 16, 2010 is A Midwestern DADT Repeal Effort.

Others Articles Posted Recently

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/11/yes_dadt_repeal_could_still_pa.html

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/11/mccain_is_still_on_the_wrong_s.html

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/11/the_morning_plum_131.html

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/11/on_dadt_its_imperial_presidenc.html

http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2010/11/gates-launches-investigation-of-dont-ask-dont-tell-review-leak.html

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=131223266

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sc-dc-1114-court-gays-military-20101112,0,6155475.story

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/cindy-mccain-opposes-john-mccain-dont/story?id=12131423

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20022790-503544.html

http://www.washingtonblade.com/2010/11/17/obama-restates-commitment-on-keeping-dont-ask-in-defense-bill/

Overall, we're going to have to wait and see what comes out of the lame-duck congressional session. Taking a look through some of those links will help to piece together a semblance of where things are currently standing. If it's anything like a couple recent days though, tomorrow it may very well be a different story.

Lady Gaga Wins 8 VMA's

2010-09-13T18:15:00.000-07:00

Lady Gaga swept the MTV’s Video Music Awards with eight wins. Her wins tie her with A -ha's "Take on Me" in 1986 for the 2nd highest number of wins in one night.

Lady Gaga received the following awards:

Collaboration: Lady Gaga featuring Beyonce, "Telephone"

Female video: Lady Gaga, "Bad Romance"

Pop video: Lady Gaga, "Bad Romance"

Dance music video: Lady Gaga, "Bad Romance"

Choreography: Lady Gaga, "Bad Romance"

Direction: Lady Gaga, "Bad Romance"

Editing: Lady Gaga, "Bad Romance"

Video of the year: Lady Gaga, "Bad Romance"

Power Ranger Comes Out of the Closet

2010-08-30T12:42:00.000-07:00

The Blue Power Ranger from the show Mighty Morphin Power Rangers has come out of the closet.

David Yost, 41 played on the show from 1993 – 1996 and in a 1995 feature film. Yost quit the show for being harassed and discriminated against because of his sexuality.

"I was called 'f*ggot' one too many times [by the show's] creators, producers, writers, directors," Yost explains.
He adds, "I know that my costars were called in a couple of times to different producers' offices and questioned about my sexuality, which is kind of a humiliating experience to find that out."
Yost recently completed work on a new 2010 film, Degenerate.

Lesbian Mississippi Teen Left Out of Yearbook for Wearing a Tuxedo

2010-08-23T18:40:00.001-07:00

A teenage lesbian is suing a Mississippi school district for refusing to print her senior yearbook picture of her wearing a tuxedo.

Last Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit for Sturgis, claiming the Copiah County district discriminated against her on the basis of sex and gender stereotypes. Her photo and name were kept out of her senior yearbook.

"The thought of a portrait of her in the 'feminine' clothing as a representation of her senior year embarrassed her, and she began crying," the lawsuit states.

The school district, superintendent Clopton and school principal Ronald Greer are named in the lawsuit. It seeks unspecified damages and attorneys' fees.

The filing comes a few weeks after McMillen reached a settlement in her federal lawsuit against the Itawamba County School District.

The north Mississippi district had canceled its prom rather than allow McMillen attend with her girlfriend. The district agreed to pay $35,000 and follow a nondiscrimination policy as part of the settlement, though it argued such a policy was already in place.

Gay Marriage Approved in Argentina

2010-07-19T16:15:00.000-07:00

After 14 hours of debate and hundreds of deomonstrators rallying in the near freezing temperatures, a vote of 33-27 senators approved the proposal of gay marriage.

They became the first Latin American country to allow gay couples get married and adopt children.

"We're now a fairer, more democratic society. This is something we should all celebrate," Maria Rachid, a leading gay rights activist, said as supporters of the law hugged each other and jumped up and down after the vote.

Church leaders rallied tens of thousands of protestors outside against the vote. Anywhere from a child to elderly nuns were in attendance to demonstrate.

Argentina became one of the very small number of countries to allow gay marriage. Netherlands, Sweden, Portugal and Canada allow same sex marriage. Five states and Washington DC allow gay marriage in the United States.

Fighting back against hate crimes

2010-04-19T15:45:00.001-07:00

Daniel Hauff was attacked on January 10th. He was a young gay male being gay-bashed on the train. He was assaulted, battered and called names.

He finally smeared his own blood on his attackers and then told them he was HIV Positive. He's not."

Nobody touched him after that. But they didn't go away, either.

Police say three men were still yelling anti-gay slurs when they were arrested. They were charged first with misdemeanor battery and then later the charge was upgraded to felony hate crime.

According to Chicago police, the number of gay-bashings, attacks based on sexual orientation, was down from 26 in 2007 to 18 in 2008.

But the Center on Halsted sees a much different picture.

Total reports to its anti-violence project are up in those same two years - 105 in 2007 to 125 in 2008.. "

More than ten reports a month of attacks with lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender victims. They know it's common but they also know they don't know the half of it because many cases aren't reported.

Some people have an experience of shame related to being attacked.

You might think the shame and fear would be decreasing. It's been months since the President signed a law making it a federal offense to assault someone based on sexual orientation or gender identity. It was a measure named for Matthew Shepard, a gay Wyoming college student beaten to death in 1998.

The administration is also working to end the long-standing military policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell'," allowing homosexuals to serve openly.

WGN-TV Newsletter | WGN-TV on Twitter | WGN-TV on YouTube

It might seem that acceptance is at a historic high, but science suggests the opposite.

The more mainstream exposure gays and lesbians get, the more violence against them increases.

Daniel Huff was discriminated against on the CTA and, he says, for most of his life. He is still recovering from the wounds he suffered in that January attack. But he's also grateful.

"I'm certainly grateful that the Chicago Police department and the State's Attorney's office went back and looked at the case, reviewed the evidence and upgraded the charges to hate crimes, because that's what it was," he says.

National statistics show that almost 10% of gay-bashing victims are actually straight. In those cases, the attack still falls under the hate crime law, because the attack was motivated by hate.

Places like Chicago's Center on Halsted just want all victims to come forward - whether they're out or not.

For information on how to do that confidentially visit centeronhalsted.org or call their 24-hour crisis line at 773-871-2273.

WGN-TV Newsletter | WGN-TV on Twitter | WGN-TV on YouTube

In survey, troops ask what changes are in store if Congress lifts ban on gays in military

2010-04-12T13:11:00.001-07:00

WASHINGTON (AP) — Troops attending the first meeting of its kind on ending the ban on gays in the military said Tuesday they want to know what changes were in store for them if gays were allowed to serve openly.

Picked at random and assembled in the Pentagon auditorium, about 350 rank-and-file troops asked the leaders of a new working group whether bunking arrangements would change and if the spouses of gay personnel would be given military family benefits, among other issues.

The answers to those questions aren't expected until the end of the year, when the working group releases its findings on the impact openly gay service might have on the force.

Officials say they will spend the next several months reaching out to troops and their families in focus groups and meetings like the Tuesday forum to determine what concerns they'll have to address.

Attendees of the Tuesday session said that one female Marine stated that bunking with a lesbian would be the same as being told to share a room with a man. A soldier said he didn't want to wade into the political debate and that he would follow orders.

Another service member asked if a gay service member who gets married — now forbidden under law — would receive military family benefits.

At one point, a moderator asked how many troops believed they have served with a gay person. About half the people in the audience raised their hands.

Attendees described the meeting on condition of anonymity because they said they were not authorized to speak publicly on the issue.

President Barack Obama has called on Congress to lift the ban. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said a repeal of the 17-year-old "don't ask, don't tell" policy is inevitable. But he says he wants to do it in a way that would mitigate any risk to unit effectiveness.

Accordingly, Gates has assigned his chief legal counsel, Jeh Johnson, and Army Gen. Carter Ham to lead a working group on the subject. The results of their review are due Dec. 1.

One issue officials have been wrestling with is how to gauge the opinion of gay service members without forcing them to break the law by disclosing their sexual orientation.

Officials say it is likely that a third party will be hired to help survey the force and reach out to gay troops.

Orlando Sentinel

A 'Don't ask, don't tell' rules complicate survey of troops on policy change

2010-04-05T18:16:00.000-07:00

How do you ask if people aren't supposed to tell? And what happens if they tell you what you don't want to hear?

That's the quandary facing the Pentagon as it prepares to survey the armed forces about the probable end of the "don't ask, don't tell" law that prevents gay men and lesbians from serving openly.

As directed by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, the Pentagon is conducting a study of how the military would accommodate gay service members if Congress were to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" law, which was adopted in 1994.

The study, to be completed by Dec. 1, is being led by Gen. Carter F. Ham, commander of the U.S. Army Europe, and Jeh C. Johnson, the Pentagon's chief legal counsel. Among their marching orders: Carry out a "systematic" assessment of the rank and file's views on the subject.

Gates has specifically asked the study group to include the opinions of gay men and lesbians who serve in the military. That's a challenge, since under the law they must keep their sexual orientation a secret if they want to keep their jobs. (It's anybody's guess how many gays are in uniform, but one recent estimate pegged the number at 2 percent of military personnel, or about 66,000 people.)

In a phone interview Wednesday, Ham said his group would probably employ a third-party pollster to reach out to gay service members and survey them under a guarantee of confidentiality. "These groups have some pretty masterful ways of reaching out to what they call hidden groups in larger communities," he said.

Ham said the survey would have to occur at arm's length for practical and legal reasons. "We know that a serving Department of Defense official, especially one in uniform, cannot be the one to do this," he said. If a gay soldier "were to disclose to me their sexuality," he added, "then I'd almost certainly be required to pursue that" by opening a formal investigation that could lead to discharge.

Not everyone at the Pentagon agrees. Army Secretary John M. McHugh told reporters Wednesday that he has been gauging troops' sentiment on "don't ask, don't tell" recently. In response, he said, some have volunteered that they are gay. He said he declined to take action against them, reasoning that if he hadn't asked, they wouldn't have told.
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"What I'm trying to do is show the troops that, yes, it's okay to talk about this," he said. "I just felt it would be counterproductive . . . to take disciplinary action against someone who spoke openly and honestly."

Supporters of "don't ask, don't tell" also have to walk a fine line.

Lt. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, commander of the U.S. Army Pacific, received a smack-down from the top brass at the Pentagon after he wrote a letter to Stars and Stripes, a newspaper that covers the military, urging service members and their families to lobby elected officials to keep "don't ask, don't tell" in place.

Last week, Gates called Mixon's comments "inappropriate." Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, concurred and said that if commanders disagree with policy changes, they should not resort to political advocacy but rather "vote with your feet" by resigning.

Since then, however, Mixon appears to have undergone a political rehabilitation. On Wednesday, McHugh said that Mixon had been advised that his letter was "inappropriate" but that he would not receive a formal reprimand.

Another general who has been at odds with Gates and Mullen over "don't ask, don't tell" is James T. Conway, commandant of the Marine Corps. Conway has told Congress that the law should not be changed. Last week, he said that even if it is, he will not force straight Marines to live with gay ones in their military quarters, citing what he called "overwhelming" opposition in the Corps to such an arrangement. Conway, however, has not drawn any official rebukes for his views.

Ham said the military could resolve concerns over housing. He said a much tougher challenge would be to determine whether same-sex partners or spouses should receive recognition or benefits, given the fast-changing and conflicting array of state and federal laws regarding gay marriage.
Washington Post

Supreme Court takes on anti-gay military funeral protest case, dispute over vaccine lawsuits

2010-03-15T18:21:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is entering an emotionally charged dispute between the grieving father of a Marine who died in Iraq and the anti-gay protesters who picket military funerals with inflammatory messages like "Thank God for dead soldiers."

The court agreed Monday to consider whether the protesters' message, no matter how provocative or upsetting, is protected by the First Amendment or limited by the competing privacy and religious rights of the mourners.

The justices will hear an appeal from a Marine's father to reinstate a $5 million verdict against the protesters after they picketed outside his son's funeral in Maryland four years ago. Members of a Kansas-based church have picketed military funerals to spread their belief that U.S. deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq are punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.

The funeral protest dispute was one of three cases the court said it would hear in the fall. The others involve whether parents can sue drug makers when their children suffer serious side effects from vaccine and NASA's background checks on contract employees. The government says the decision in the NASA case could throw into question the background checks routinely done on all federal government workers.

The protest lawsuit stemmed from picketing by members of the fundamentalist Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., outside the funeral for Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder in Westminster, Md. Snyder died in March 2006 when his Humvee overturned.

The funeral was one of many that have been picketed by Westboro pastor Fred Phelps and other members of his church. One of the signs at Snyder's funeral combined the U.S. Marine Corps motto, Semper Fi, with a slur against gay men.

Other signs carried by church members read, "America is Doomed," ''God Hates the USA/Thank God for 9/11," ''Priests Rape Boys" and "Thank God for IEDs," a reference to the roadside bombs that have killed many U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Snyder's father, Albert, sued Phelps, his daughters and the church and won more a verdict of more than $11 million for emotional distress and invasion of privacy. The judge reduced the amount to $5 million, but a federal appeals court threw out the verdict altogether.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the signs contained "imaginative and hyperbolic rhetoric" protected by the First Amendment.

Shirley Phelps-Roper, a defendant in the lawsuit and one of Phelps' daughters, said she is pleased the case is going to the Supreme Court. "We get to preach to the conscience of doomed America," she said in an interview Monday. "I am so excited that I can't I tell you how good it is."

In the vaccine case, parents, drug companies and the Obama administration all asked the court to decide whether vaccine makers can be sued in state court over injuries that allegedly result from vaccines.

All but one court has held that a 1986 law limits such lawsuits and instead directs parents to a special vaccine court. The law was intended, in part, to ensure a stable vaccine supply by shielding companies from most lawsuits.

The Georgia Supreme Court is so far the only one that has ruled that families can sue in a vaccine case, and drug makers are eager for the U.S. high court to remove any uncertainty caused by the Georgia ruling.

The lawsuit at issue concerns claims by parents in Pittsburgh who want to sue Wyeth over serious side effects their daughter, six months old at the time, allegedly suffered as a result of the company's diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine.

According to the lawsuit, Hannah Bruesewitz was a healthy infant until she received the vaccine in April 1992. Within hours of getting the DPT shot, the third in a series of five, the baby suffered a series of debilitating seizures. Now a teenager, Hannah suffers from residual seizure disorder, the suit says.

The vaccine court earlier rejected the family's claims and Wyeth, now owned by Pfizer, Inc., prevailed in a federal appeals court ruling.

Wyeth lost another high court fight last year over whether federal law barred lawsuits against drug makers. That case, involving a botched injection, asked whether federal law included an implicit prohibition on the lawsuits. The court said it did not.

In this appeal, however, Congress clearly laid out how claims over vaccines were to be made, and the court has repeatedly ruled against plaintiffs when Congress has explicitly sought to bar lawsuits.

In midday trading Monday, Pfizer shares were down 17 cents, or 1 percent, at $17.31.
Chicago Tribune

Va. AG: Colleges can't ban gay discrimination

2010-03-08T18:02:00.000-08:00

RICHMOND, Va. —

Virginia's attorney general has advised the state's public colleges that they don't have the authority to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, saying only the General Assembly has that power.

The letter sent by Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli to state college presidents and other officials Thursday drew swift criticism from Democrats and gay rights activists.

Cuccinelli said the legislature has repeatedly refused to exercise its authority. As recently as Tuesday, a subcommittee killed legislation that would have banned job discrimination against gay state employees.

"It is my advice that the law and public policy of the Commonwealth of Virginia prohibit a college or university from including 'sexual orientation,' 'gender identity,' 'gender expression,' or like classification, as a protected class within its nondiscrimination policy, absent specific authorization from the General Assembly," Cuccinelli wrote.

The Republican advised college governing boards to "take appropriate actions to bring their policies in conformance with the law."

Jon Blair, chief executive officer of the gay rights group Equality Virginia, said Cuccinelli's "radical actions are putting Virginia at risk of losing both top students and faculty, and discouraging prospective ones from coming here."

C. Richard Cranwell, state Democratic Party chairman, said Virginia's colleges and universities were more than capable of setting policies that work for them "without meddling from Ken Cuccinelli."

The attorney general said his letter merely stated Virginia law, which prohibits discrimination because of "race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, or disability," but makes no mention of sexual orientation.

Cuccinelli said the criticism was coming from people who have been frustrated in their attempts to change the law.

"None of them suggest our reading of the law is wrong. It's people who don't like the policy speaking up because it's their opportunity to go on the attack," he said.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia legal director Rebecca Glenberg said colleges are bound by U.S. Supreme Court decisions not to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.

A spokesman for the Family Foundation of Virginia, which has opposed expanding state anti-discrimination policies to protect gays, said the criticism of Cuccinelli's action is unwarranted.

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"My understanding is all he's done is essentially ask the universities to follow the law," spokesman Chris Freund said. "It's a little perplexing to see people respond the way they have."

Virginia's last two Democratic governors, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, signed executive orders barring state agencies from discriminating in hiring, promotions or firing based on sexual orientation. Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell, who took office in January, removed protections based on sexual orientation from his anti-discrimination order.

As attorney general in 2006, McDonnell said Kaine exceeded his constitutional authority by extending protections to gays.
Seattle Times

As ELCA splinters over gay clergy issue, new Lutheran group hopes to capture congregations

2010-03-01T18:20:00.000-08:00

Until a few weeks ago, the Rev. Gail Sowell was pastor at two Lutheran churches in the small Wisconsin town of Edgar. That was before members of both congregations jumped headfirst into the simmering debate over gay clergy in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.

"It was pretty gruesome," Sowell said, recalling shouting matches inside the sanctuary; the mass resignation of one church's council, save one member; even whispers around town that she was a lesbian. "For the record, I'm not," she said.

When the smoke cleared, the congregation at St. John Lutheran Church narrowly voted to not leave the ELCA. Across town at Peace Lutheran, they voted to leave and fired Sowell. "Fortunately, I'm thick-skinned," she said.

Not all ELCA congregations have seen that level of turbulence over the ELCA's decision last August to allow pastors in committed same-sex relationships to serve openly. But by most accounts, it has been a confusing and murky time in the nation's largest Lutheran denomination.

Several hundred congregations are moving toward a permanent split with the ELCA and more will likely come, but the number is still a small portion of the 10,000-church denomination.

Last week, a conservative Lutheran group announced its plans to establish the North American Lutheran Church, a new denomination that will recruit dissident congregations. Rather than setting up a clear-cut choice, though, even some critics of the ELCA's new policy say the move could further confuse already splintered Lutherans at a time when Protestantism in general seems to be moving away from a denominational model.

"It just feels like we're stepping off a sinking ship, and I'm not inclined to get on another boat," said the Rev. Bill Bohline, lead pastor at Hosanna! in Lakeville, Minn., which had been the state's second largest ELCA church until its members voted overwhelmingly in January to sever ties with the denomination. "That's not where the spirit is moving."

Pushing plans for the new Lutheran denomination is Lutheran CORE, an activist group that led opposition to the gay clergy policy. Critics say liberalizing policies toward homosexuality directly contradicts scripture.

Lutheran CORE leaders hope to have the North American Lutheran Church up and running by August. They hope for a denomination that's less bureaucratic than the ELCA, but still makes it easy for congregations across the country to collaborate on shared goals.

"We heard from many congregations who came to us, who said we'd like to leave the ELCA, but for us the other options aren't quite right," said Ryan Schwarz, a private equity manager in Washington who's leading the effort to organize the new denomination.

Since August, congregations have not left the ELCA in huge numbers. The denomination has about 10,000 congregations, and in all 220 have taken at least one of two required votes to leave. So far, only 28 congregations have actually approved leaving, which requires two separate votes that each attain a two-thirds supermajority.

"Even if that number doubles or triples, it would still be less than 5 percent of the ELCA," said Bishop Peter Rogness of the St. Paul, Minn. synod. "So it's not as though a schism has happened, where we're a denomination split in half. Nothing on that magnitude is in the offing."

Lutheran CORE leaders say the process for leaving is laborious and time-consuming, and those that already left were on the leading edge of opposition.

"I think they should be alarmed by these numbers," said the Rev. Mark Chavez, Lutheran CORE's director. Many churches, he said, just started the discussion.

"I don't think the wave has hit them yet," Chavez said.

Some of the breakaway churches have already found alternative denominations to take them in.

The Lutheran CORE effort isn't coming together quickly enough to be viable, said the Rev. Kurt Rau, whose Calvary Lutheran Church in Kalispell, Mont., instead opted to affiliate with Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ.

"They're a little slow to the party," Rau said.

His church's new, much smaller denomination itself split from the ELCA in 2000 over perceptions that the bigger congregation was getting too liberal, and so far has been the chief receptacle for congregations leaving the ELCA.

St. Paul Lutheran Church in New Braunfels, Texas, also joined LCMC, said Brian Baese, a self-employed salesman who is president of the church council.

Lutheran CORE's proposal came "too little, too late," Baese said. "We can't hang around when we don't know how long this is going to take. The momentum was carrying in this direction, and we had to go with it."

At St. Luke's Lutheran Church in La Mesa, Calif., the congregation also voted to ditch the ELCA — although the Rev. Mark Menacher said that had less to do with gay clergy and more to do with other long-standing theological disputes. St. Luke's is affiliating with yet another small denomination, the Fellowship of Confessing Lutheran Churches.

Menacher is skeptical about the success of the North American Lutheran Church. "If all that joins you together is concern about same sex relationships, I don't think that's a very strong reason for being," he said.

Bohline, the Lakeville pastor, said Lutherans should stop worrying so much about how they organize themselves. It's a main reason for the decline of mainline Protestantism in recent decades, he said.

"When I went to seminary, I wasn't sure I should be a pastor because I didn't understand what was so different about Lutherans or Baptists or Methodists. And you know, we're not that different," Bohline said. "We're working on the same playing field here. So let's get on with it."

Chicago Tribune

HRC iPhone app helps you buy gay-friendly

2010-01-24T18:41:00.001-08:00

HRC has released a first of its kind, free iPhone application for its “Buying for Equality” guide. The app allows shoppers to access the Buying for Equality guide as they enter a store to see how gay-friendly hundreds of brands are.

The iPhone application is available for download at www.hrc.org/iPhone. Both Apple, and the iPhone’s exclusive service provider, AT&T, score 100% on the 2010 Corporate Equality Index.

From HRC:

The Buying for Equality iPhone application puts information directly in the hands of consumers in an easy to read format that divides businesses and their consumer products into red (brands to avoid), yellow (brands that have made some progress) and green (brands to support) categories to help consumers support businesses that support LGBT equality.

These color-coded rankings are based on a company’s score on the HRC Corporate Equality Index, a nationally recognized benchmark that scores major American corporations based on their workplace policies and commitment to fairness for their LGBT employees.

“As pro-equality consumers enter the stores in 2010, the new Buying for Equality iPhone application is a revolutionary tool that will help inform purchases and support those businesses who believe in our equality,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.

“With this application, critical information about workplace equality is now at the fingertips of thousands of LGBT and allied supporters who have hundreds of billions of dollars in buying power. This is another way that we are enabling our community to come together to support those that support us in this new year ahead.”

365 Gay

Anderson Cooper Stops Being a Journalist, Starts Being a Haitian Rescuer

2010-01-24T18:11:00.001-08:00

How LGBTs Like You Are Helping the Haitian Earthquake Relief Effort

2010-01-18T20:16:00.000-08:00

Rainbow World Fund, the international relief agency, is among the many non-profits accepting donations to go directly toward aiding the tens of thousands of displaced, injured, and needy victims of the earthquake in Haiti. What separates RWF apart from, say, the Red Cross is its specific focus on LGBTs, working with queer communities across the globe to provide assistance. Thus far, RWF has committed $40,000 to the Haitian relief effort, and they're still accepting donations. If you're interested in offering financial support, visit their sitehere and specify "Haiti." Of course, we remind everyone to carefully research and vet any organization they donate money to, to ensure funds go where they're intended. In 2007, RWF claims "of every $1 RWF received (monetary donations, grants, interest income and contributed supplies), 91¢ went to programs and services that directly benefited those most in need. 2.9¢ went to educate people about issues of humanitarian need and 6.5¢ went to administrative and fundraising costs." Those are some pretty excellent numbers for a non-profit.

Queerty

Adam Lambert on Oprah

2010-01-18T19:55:00.001-08:00

The Not-So-Private Full-Body Airport Scans Will Reveal Everything About You. Including Whether You Hang Left

2010-01-03T17:46:00.001-08:00

Gay Ohioan Dies After Bar Fight

2009-12-28T20:08:00.000-08:00

A gay man has died of injuries he suffered during a bar fight in Toledo, Ohio, December 13.

Marland Woods, 33, of Findlay, died December 19 at a Toledo hospital of head injuries. He was hurt in a fight at gay club Caesar’s Showbar that involved multiple people and spilled from the bar into the street, reports The Courier,a Findlay newspaper.

Toledo police don’t know how the altercation started, Sgt. Tim Noble told the paper, although Woods’s partner, Brian Hunker, said it began when one person bumped another on the dance floor. Noble said police do not believe Woods’s death was a hate crime. Norman Corggens, 20, of Toledo, has been arrested on a felonious assault charge in connection with the fight, but no one has been charged with murder, the paper reported.

Woods and Hunker had been together for 10 years. They bought a home in Findlay in 2005 and had a commitment ceremony in September.

Woods worked two jobs and was a “homebody” who seldom went to bars, his sister Shonda Floyd told The Courier. “This was only the second time this year he went to a bar and this happened to him,” she said. “He never started any trouble. He died trying to keep someone else from being hurt.”
Advocate

Meet Argentina's First Legally Married Gay Couple: Jose Maria Di Bello + Alex Freyre

2009-12-28T19:35:00.001-08:00

Congratulations to Jose Maria Di Bello, the gay rights, activist, and Alex Freyre, who just became Argentina's first gay couple to legally wed. Oh, they're also Latin America's first as well. "The couple had previously tried to marry in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires," notes the AP, "but were thwarted by city officials citing conflicting judicial rulings. Argentina's Constitution is silent on whether marriage must be between a man and a woman, effectively leaving the matter to state and city officials. Tierra del Fuego Gov. Fabiana Rios said in a statement that gay marriage 'is an important advance in human rights and social inclusion and we are very happy that this has happened in our state.'"
Queerty

Adam Lambert Performs Live During Primetime And Nobody Has Called the FCC

2009-12-21T05:44:00.001-08:00

Actual Homosexual Sex to Take Place on Daytime Soap Opera

2009-12-21T05:25:00.000-08:00

"Ron Carlivati, head writer of One Life to Live, confirmed Kyle and Fish, aka Kish, played by Brett Claywell and Scott Evans, will get the same type of love scene as the soap's straight couples," Daytime Confidential's Jamey Giddens writes. "According to Carlivati, his executive producer and the network have already approved the love scene, which would be the first gay male sex scene shown on screen in daytime." And because this is daytime, and not The Adam Lambert Show, it will be as tame and sterile as all soap sex scenes! The interview is here.
Queerty

Calif. picks 1st openly gay Assembly speaker

2009-12-14T05:46:00.000-08:00

(Sacramento, Calif.) The California Assembly has picked its first openly gay speaker.

Assembly Democrats on Thursday unanimously backed John Perez, the chairman of the Assembly Democratic Caucus, to be its next speaker.

Perez will hold one of the most powerful positions in state government. A cousin of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Perez was elected to the Assembly last year.

He was challenged in the speakership race by Democratic Assemblyman Kevin De Leon, a fellow Hispanic lawmaker. The nomination now goes before the full Assembly, but the candidate with the most Democratic support usually wins because Democrats hold a majority of seats in the 80-member chamber.

He will take over the position from Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, who was elected by her colleagues in February 2008.

365 Gay

Adam Lambert - One of The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2009

2009-12-10T19:23:00.000-08:00

Did the Netherlands' National Soccer Team Fire These 2 Lesbians for Dating?

2009-12-07T05:59:00.001-08:00

It's hard enough getting Americans to care about soccer in this country, so what about if we tell you about the Dutch national women's soccer team, and how they cut two lesbians — who are in a relationship together — from the team? Interested now?

Dyanne Bito (pictured, below) has been kicking balls around for nine years on the national team, and her girlfriend Claudia van den Heiligenberg (pictured, left) is a four-year veteran. They've been dating at least a year and a half. So did their intra-team romance have anything to do with Coach Vera Pauw (pictured, right) dismissing them?

The team’s coach, Vera Pauw, has stated that, although Heiligenberg’s performance had been slipping, she would still have had to cut her and Bito from the line-up if her performance had been stellar. Pauw was hesitant to give a clear reason for her actions and only spoke of ‘private affairs’. It is the first time Pauw has made the difficult decision to remove one or more players from her team.

Now, no one involved has stated that the dismissal of the two women is related to their relationship. While coaches tend to be hesitant towards relationships in teams, the two have been dating for a long time, so if this is a reaction to them being together, it comes at a rather late date.

On the other hand, if the dismissal is related to their relationship, it is a rather big step back for the Dutch sports world. Especially in (Dutch) women’s soccer, it’s not a secret that a lot of the players are either bisexual or gay.

Coach Pauw says it's "absolute nonsense" (we're translating) to assume the pair were let go because of their romantic relationship. But Heiligenberg says it's impossible to think they were let go because they were bad players.

Curious.

[EuroOut]

Lady Gaga Wants to Get Married Even If the Gays Can't

2009-12-02T18:47:00.000-08:00

Well, that's one way to read her Elle interview: "In eight to 10 years, I want to have babies for my Dad to hold, grandkids. And I want to have a husband who loves and supports me, just the way anyone else does. I would never leave my career for a man right now, and I would never follow a man around."

Maybe she knows something about the future that we don't?

Queerty

All The Good Things That Can Be Said About the Anti-Gay Manhattan Declaration

2009-11-30T05:53:00.000-08:00

The Manhattan Declaration is the 4,700-word manifesto signed by scores of Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian leaders as a public reminder of the importance in protecting their religious ideology, no matter how discriminatory it may be. Supposedly, it's a way to cue believers that human life must be protected above all else, but also that gay marriage is not something this national can tolerate. But of course, as one Declaration signatory tells it, that doesn't mean the document is anti-gay!

Dr. Ronald Sider, the founder of Evangelicals for Social Action and a theology professor at a Pennsylvania, signed the document, but he doesn't denounce the meaningfulness of gay relationships. He tells the Village Voice:

It's better for the people involved, and better for the culture, if a gay person has one longer-term relationship than a whole bunch of temporary ones and promiscuity. It's pretty clear that that's a destructive way to live. I'm glad if a gay person has one longer term relationship, rather than a bunch of relationships.

[...] The constitutional protection of minorities is enormously important. Religious freedom is important, but they are all important. I want gay Americans to be protected by the law. I want an end to gay bashing. I want them to have jobs, and have housing. I want them to visit their partner in the hospital, and to inherit property and pay taxes [together] legally. Those are all proper things a good society does to establish equality. Even though gay people are not practicing what I believe is the proper sexual relationship, I think they should be protected by the constitution and have all of their civil rights.

But of course, there's a major caveat:

I don't think the culture needs to say that partnership is marriage. I think it would be entirely appropriate and there is a range of views on this in the evangelical community but I would be open to a legal category of civil partnership. Gay people could have a specified number of legal rights that would encourage their ongoing commitment. But what really matters, and what's really decisive, is what marriage means.

And not even what religion says marriage means. But what society needs it to mean!

This is precisely not a religious argument. It's an argument about what a society needs, to preserve itself, to preserve what is wholesome from generation to generation. The core of that argument is historic, from every civilization.

[...] My argument was not a religious argument. It is about what marriage means. It's true, a lot of contemporaries have redefined marriage. Marriage now means an emotional, romantic relationship between people. If that is what marriage is, then it should ought to be available to gays or lesbians. But if marriage is what every culture has always said it was, then it makes no sense to offer it to everyone, and [Prop 8 attorney Ted] Olsen's argument doesn't hold.

And don't even try to compare a ban on interracial marriage with a ban on gay marriage. Dr. Sider has you beat!

[The ban on interracial marriage] was wrong, and racism is wrong, and I am glad that was overturned. But that doesn't follow that every case in analogous.

The only analogous cases, of course, are the ones that treated marriage contracts as property transfers. That, too, was wrong. Marriage is about so much more, especially in the Catholic Church, which has yet to come out swinging for a ban on divorce.

Queerty

Adam Lambert Talking About Weighing 250 Pounds

2009-11-29T15:29:00.000-08:00

Equality California Infiltrates Miss California USA With This (Lackluster) Ad

2009-11-21T20:18:00.000-08:00

Equality California, will be airing the mini-story about Mary-Kate's moms Frances and Cynthia during Sunday's broadcast of the Miss California USA pageant.

Same-sex couples say 'no legitimate' reason for excluding them from feds marriage definition

2009-11-17T19:26:00.000-08:00

BOSTON (AP) — Gay married couples suing the government over a federal law that doesn't recognize same-sex unions say there is "no legitimate or plausible" reason for having a federal definition of marriage that excludes gay couples.

The lawsuit was brought by seven gay couples and three widowers, all of whom were married in Massachusetts after it became the first state in the country to legalize gay marriage in 2004.

In court documents filed Tuesday, the couples say the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution because it denies them access to federal benefits given to other married couples, including pensions, health insurance and the ability to file joint tax returns. They argue that the law "eviscerates" the historic power of the states to establish criteria for marriage.

"DOMA marks a stark, and unique, departure from the respect and recognition the federal government has long afforded to State marital status determinations," lawyers for Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders argue in a written response to the U.S. Department of Justice motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

In a court filing in September, Justice officials made it clear that the Obama administration thinks the law is discriminatory and should be repealed. But the department said it has an obligation to defend federal laws when they are challenged in court.

The law, enacted in 1996, was passed by Congress at a time when it appeared Hawaii would become the first state to legalize same-sex marriage. Opponents worried that other states would be forced to recognize such marriages.

In addition to Massachusetts, gay marriage is now legal in Vermont, Connecticut and Iowa. New Hampshire's law takes effect Jan. 1. Earlier this month, voters in Maine repealed a state law that would have allowed same-sex couples to wed.

A spokeswoman for the Justice Department had no immediate comment on the latest court filing by the same-sex couples.

In its written response to the lawsuit, filed in September, the Justice Department argued that there is no fundamental right to marriage-based federal benefits and says Congress is entitled to address issues of social reform on an "incremental" basis.

"Congress is therefore permitted to provide benefits only to those who have historically been permitted to marry, without extending the same benefit to those only recently permitted to do so," the government said.

The couples who brought the lawsuit are asking U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro to reject the government's motion to dismiss the lawsuit and to find in their favor without a trial. Specifically, the group is asking for a ruling that the section of the law that excludes same-sex couples from federal marriage-based benefits is unconstitutional, as applied to the couples who brought the lawsuit.

Such a ruling would mean that those couples would be eligible for the benefits they have been denied. The ruling also would likely extend to other Massachusetts couples.

"If we won, then it would be unconstitutional to deny access to these programs to other married same-sex couples in Massachusetts," said Mary Bonauto, one of the attorneys representing the couples.
It would take a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court or an act of Congress to strike down the law.

A bill to repeal the law was introduced in the U.S. House in September, but has little chance of making it to a vote this year.
Orlando Sentinel

Click here to find out more! Home > Sports > National Sports News Chiefs and Larry Johnson reach an agreement on suspension

2009-11-09T06:18:00.000-08:00

KANSAS CITY, Mo. Larry Johnson recouped some money Saturday, but his "settlement" with the Chiefs didn't answer questions about his long-term job security with the team.

Johnson's agent, Peter Schaffer, told The Kansas City Star on Saturday night that his client and the Chiefs had agreed in principle that Johnson would remain suspended for two weeks but that he would be paid for one of those weeks.

The original suspension, which was handed down by the team Wednesday night, would have cost Johnson more than $600,000. Now it will cost him about half that, and it will keep the sides out of a grievance hearing next week.

"We have nothing signed," Schaffer said. "I don't think anybody is going to go back on their word.

"We've got an agreement that, in my mind, is a positive resolution that allowed all sides to move forward."

The Chiefs have refused to discuss Johnson or his situation, referring reporters to a statement issued Wednesday, when the suspension was announced for "conduct detrimental to the team." Johnson made disparaging comments Sunday night about coach Todd Haley's lack of football playing experience. Johnson later used a gay slur in reference to one of his Twitter followers, and he directed another gay slur toward reporters a day later in the Chiefs locker room.

Schaffer said the agreement with the Chiefs was a step toward a peaceful resolution, but he stopped short of saying Johnson would play again for the team in 2009 or beyond. Johnson is signed through 2012, but the Chiefs could decide to distance themselves from Johnson after weighing his ineffectiveness this season he has averaged 2.7 yards per carry in seven games and his latest messy episode.

Schaffer said he didn't know what the Chiefs' plans are and that he and general manager Scott Pioli discussed nothing this week beyond an agreement to keep the sides out of arbitration.

"His plan right now is to play for the Chiefs," Schaffer said of Johnson. "That's his plan. That's how he has to prepare."

Johnson's suspension is set to expire after next Sunday's game at Jacksonville, and he could ostensibly rejoin his team Nov. 9. Schaffer wouldn't discuss whether he or Johnson thought his client would face further punishment by the team or the league.

Schaffer said Johnson preferred to avoid an arbitration hearing against the Chiefs and to pursue a peaceful accord. Schaffer said his client felt as if he were still in the early phases of his relationship with Pioli and Haley, both of whom are in their first years in Kansas City, and that moving forward with a grievance might have further soiled that relationship.

"This is a case of first impression in a lot of areas," Schaffer said. "A lot of times arbitrations become adversarial: 'I'm still a member of this team, and these are not the people I want to be fighting with; I want to be fighting with them.'

"Larry took the very high road, saying it wasn't his agenda to fight with his team."

Schaffer said that neither he nor his client know what might happen next. But Schaffer said he knows this: Johnson will be at Chiefs headquarters next week unless he's told not to be.

"That's our plan," Schaffer said. "I'm satisfied with the process. Everybody was positive; everybody was productive. People wanted to find a way to keep moving forward. It's very easy; any time you're dealing with the human element, with passion and pride and intelligence, it sometimes can go the other way."

Orlando Sentinel

Were These Dads Harassed + Detained By Wal-Mart Because They're Gay?

2009-11-08T21:06:00.000-08:00

As if shopping at Wal-Mart didn't already require the suspension of a certain set of morals, here's a whole new reason to loathe the retail giant: After falsely accusing two gay dads of stealing, and detaining their two children in the store, and allegedly harassing them, and manufacturing a situation that had the dads handcuffed and in the back of a police car, Wal-Mart has banned the family from its stores "for life" — and stuck them with a bill asking for ten times the value of the supposedly stolen items. And what did this family allegedly rob Wal-Mart of? Bic lighters.

If "this is just ridiculous" is your first thought, you wouldn't be blamed.

The Chicago area's Joe Paolucci and his partner Thomas Hitchcock might know a thing about retail stores and the law: Both are attorneys who launched their own home goods retail store. And yet somehow they're on the hook for trying to steal a package of Bic lighters with a retail value of $15.84?

It all happened back on Aug. 16, when Paolucci and Hitchcock were shopping with their special-needs 11-year-old twin sons they adopted from Romania. The South Bend Tribune on what transpired:

On Aug. 16, the four traveled to Wal-Mart at least in part, Paolucci said, to reward the twins for recent good behavior. Hitchcock bought groceries totaling some $200 and checked out at a counter operated by a cashier. Paolucci, meanwhile, went to a self-checkout lane to use scanning equipment he had operated before.

Later, he said, he returned to the shopping area to pick up additional items, including the lighters, which he scanned and placed in bags. He grabbed his receipt for the items, totaling some $60, and headed for the exit, as did Hitchcock and the boys.

Before they got outside, store employees stopped them.

"They asked if I had Bic lighters. I said, 'Yes,' and handed them over," Paolucci said. "Then they asked if I had a receipt. I said, 'Yes, you're holding it.' Then this group of Wal-Mart employees started forming around us."

Paolucci and Hitchcock said the employees were threatening and that one used a vulgarity. Their accusations frightened the boys, who began "crying, screaming and freaking out," they said.

Employees ordered Paolucci and Hitchcock into a "detention room" — they refused, and ordered the police be called, thinking the cops would sort out the situation. But when the cops arrived, officers placed the dads in the back of their squad cars without first ascertaining the situation; Paolucci was handcuffed. And their kids? Taken in the back to a detention room with Wal-Mart's security officers, who "allegedly threatened them in the security room and had made disparaging remarks about Paolucci and Hitchcock's lifestyle. Paolucci and Hitchcock said they asked police to take statements from the boys but the officers refused, telling the couple they'd have to contact Child Protective Services. They were told next that they'd have to leave the premises immediately, they said, or be arrested for trespassing. The men said they argued the store should at least replace such grocery items as a frozen pizza, ice cream and popsicles, which by then had thawed or melted, but those arguments, too, went nowhere."

It took several days and phone calls, but the police finally interviewed the boys four days later, "with one of the issues raised an allegation by Paolucci that one of the twins had been injured when he was pushed into the security room. Paolucci said he and Hitchcock also asked the Berrien County Prosecutor's Office to file criminal charges against Wal-Mart's employees but none were forthcoming. They weren't surprised charges weren't authorized, they said, because such prosecution would have raised questions about the Sheriff's Department's handling of the situation. Attempts to meet personally with Sheriff Paul Bailey were rebuffed, they said."

Meanwhile, a copy of the police report obtained by the newspaper states security footage shows Paolucci did scan both packages of Bic lighters, raising the possibility the store's scanner was defective, leading to the entire situation.

As for whether the couple plans to take legal action against Wal-Mart? Not likely, since rather than settle out of court, Wal-Mart would likely "play hardball" and make it a financial nightmare to take them on in court. In the meantime, Wal-Mart's attorneys sent Paolucci and Hitchcock a letter demanding $158.40, or 10X the price of the lighters. They don't plan on paying.

This isn't the first time Paolucci and Hitchcock have been involved in a situation involving harassment against their family: In 2006, their sons' Chicago City Day School — which supposedly maintained a zero-tolerance policy against anti-gay bullying — allegedly refused to act when their boys came home crying because other students were teasing them for having gay dads.

It's still unclear whether Wal-Mart's disdain for this family has anything to do with their sexuality, but employees were obviously aware they were dealing with a gay family. And if you believes the dads and their kids, they were subjected to anti-gay harassment. All the more ridiculous, because it's clear nobody was trying to steal anything; this family was actually composed of shoppers spending money with the store; and they've banned them for life over what is, arguably, a misunderstanding gone very, very bad.
Queerty

Miss California USA Wants Their Breasts Back

2009-10-25T15:25:00.000-07:00

Things haven't been going so well between Miss California USA and Carrie Prejean, the fallen beauty pageant star current hanging from a home in West Hollywood. First, Carrie sued K2 Productions, which produces Miss California USA, for super fun things like slander, libel, religious discrimination, public disclosure of private facts and infliction of emotional distress, because she was tired of getting all the blame from her anti-gay Miss USA Q&A. And now K2 is returning the favor: They're suing Prejean to get her to pay up for the $5,200 loan they gave her for those implants that made her more, ahem, pageant ready. Maybe they can garnish her wages!
Queerty

Does Boy George Feel Remorse For Kidnapping That Escort? Not Quite

2009-10-25T14:47:00.001-07:00

"The important thing is that I don’t feel malice towards anybody. That’s the most important thing. Whether I feel remorse or not is irrelevant. What I would say is this: what happened in the last five years of my life [that is, until he gave up cocaine] was all to do with drugs. I took responsibility for that, in a way. Generally, my attitude is, I put myself in those situations because of drugs. I never would have made those decisions if I had not been high. So that, if I sit down and start thinking about the finer details, I would drive myself crazy." —Boy George, reflecting on handcuffing, whipping, and threatening a male escort, which landed him a 15-month jail sentence
Queerty

Schwarzenegger creates special Calif. recognition day honoring gay rights leader Harvey Milk

2009-10-14T11:37:00.000-07:00

DON THOMPSON Associated Press Writer
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Slain gay rights activist Harvey Milk will get a special day of recognition in California, making him only the second person in state history — in addition to conservationist John Muir — to gain such a designation.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's signing of the bill establishing "Harvey Milk Day" each May 22, Milk's birthday, was announced Monday.

The Republican governor vetoed similar legislation a year ago. In the interim, Milk was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in August and was the subject of a movie for which Sean Penn won the Academy Award for best actor.

Penn spoke out in favor of the bill last spring, saying he didn't want to insult Schwarzenegger's intelligence by assuming the governor would again oppose creating Harvey Milk Day.

"He has become much more of a symbol of the gay community than he was a year ago because of those things," Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said. "That made the difference from last year: he's really come to symbolize the gay community in California"

In his veto message a year ago, the Republican governor said Milk should be honored locally by those who were most impacted by his contributions. He did not write a signing message this year saying why he flip-flopped.

Milk was a leader in the gay rights movement who was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. The bill said he was the nation's first openly gay man elected to public office in a major U.S. city.

A year later, Milk played a prominent role in defeat of the so-called Briggs Initiative, a ballot proposition that would have prevented gays and lesbians from teaching in the state's public schools.

In November 1978, a few weeks after the election, he and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated at City Hall by former supervisor Dan White, who had resigned his seat but wanted it back.

White was angry at Moscone for refusing his request and at Milk because he had been among those lobbying the mayor against reappointing White.

"Harvey Milk Day" will not be a formal state holiday, so government employees will not be given the day off. The bill instead calls for the day to be observed by public schools as a day of special significance. Teachers will be encouraged to conduct exercises recalling Milk's life and contributions to the state.

State Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, who wrote the bill, said Milk was a human rights leader in the same way Cesar Chavez championed Hispanic farmworkers and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. sought equal treatment for blacks.

"Harvey's work was not only about the respect and dignity and validation of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community, but for all human life. That's why I think he ranks among the other world-renown human rights leaders," he said.

Leno said he would support making Milk's birthday a formal holiday but conceded the state can't afford it because it would require overtime payments to thousands of state workers.

Randy Thomasson, president of SaveCalifornia.com, said he was appalled by the governor's decision.

"Sadly, children in public schools will now have even more in-your-face, homosexual-bisexual-transsexual indoctrination," Thomasson said in a statement.

Leno responded by saying opponents of his bill "wish to lock the fact of LGBT Californians into a dark closet of the 20th century."

"The rest of the state is moving forward," he said.

"Harvey Milk Day" is California's fifth day of significance. The others are the Day of the Teacher, John Muir Day, California Poppy Day and Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day. Muir was instrumental in establishing Yosemite National Park and starting the Sierra Club.

McLear said Schwarzenegger is open to adding days of special significance for other influential Californians if lawmakers send him the bills.

"There's no threshold," McLear said. "He just weighs every bill on its merits."

Miltitant Gay Activists Unveil New Tactics: Glamdalism

2009-10-13T12:45:00.000-07:00

Leave it to the gays to take something old and tired and make it exciting again. Radical gay activist group Bash Back has committed the first act of "glamdalism." It's like vandalism, but with pink paint and glitter grenades.

Bash Back, a collective of grassroots militant activist chapters across the country, announced on their website that they defaced the headquarters of gay civil rights group the Human Rights Campaign Headquarters in D.C. this weekend before Sunday afternoon's National Equality March. It's gay-on-gay crime!

HRC headquarters was rocked by an act of glamdalism last night by a crew of radical queer and allied folks armed with pink and black paint and glitter grenades. Beside the front entrance and the inscribed mission statement now reads a tag, "Quit leaving queers behind."

Not that we're promoting something like vandalism (and the damage they did isn't nearly as savage as the verbal attacks on their website), but glamdalism really needs to catch on. If we're going to be protesting things by defacing them, the least we can do is make them pretty and glittery! This picture of the damage on Leslie Ewing's blog about the march. In the future, we're thinking about maybe a forest full of sparkly garden gnomes on Fred Phelps' lawn.

HRC has long been a target of more radical gay factions for what they see as HRC pushing assimilationist attitudes, kowtowing to elected officials, and preserving the status quo. More from Bash Back's statement:

Just like society today, the HRC is run by a few wealthy elites who are in bed with corporate sponsors who proliferate militarism, heteronormativity, and capitalist exploitation. The sweatshops (Nike), war crimes (Lockheed Martin), assaults on working class people (Bank of America, Deloitte, Chase Bank, Citi Group, Wachovia Bank) and patriarchy (American Apparel) caused by their sponsors is a hypocrisy for an organization with "human rights" in their name.

Of course, not everyone is as excited about glamdalism as we are, especially during a news cycle when Barack Obama and Lady Gaga's penis are putting a big spotlight on the gay civil rights movement. Glamdalism as a concept is totally rad (as well as radical) but next time, why don't we turn it on a target that is really oppressing us, rather than a group that tries to help. In the early '90s, ACT UP! covered Jesse Helm's house with a condom. That's what we talking about! And don't go doing anything illegal, kids. Prison is never pretty, no matter how much pink paint and glitter grenades you have.
Gawker

Lady Gaga Promotes The National Equality March

2009-10-09T12:40:00.000-07:00

Cleveland's Homos Celebrate Gay Games Hosting Gig

2009-10-07T08:50:00.000-07:00

THE SHOT — Brian Tavolier updates Cleveland's Gay Games sign from "candidate" to "host city" at a celebratory Welcome Home From Cologne event on Sunday. Below, Cleveland's government affairs chief Valarie McCall takes the podium. (via Spangle)
Queerty

Kyle Freeman Lied About Gay Sex During 18 Blood Donations. Now Canada Is Suing Him

2009-10-01T14:49:00.000-07:00

We're on the record arguing against blood donation policies than ban men who have sex with other men. Sure, they're discriminatory, but also stupid: Screening techniques can weed out HIV-tainted blood, and there's a risk of accepting bad blood from straight men and women, too. So we're perfectly fine with little white lies when donating, accidentally forgetting to check the box that says you sleep with other dudes. But when Canadian man Kyle Freeman tried doing that, repeatedly, Canadian Blood Services decided to sue. And now he's suing back.

Canadian officials says Freeman lying is what's against the rules — and even if he does think the no-gays policy is discriminatory, he's breaking the law by not being forthcoming. (CBS' original suit against Freeman dates back to 2002.) Not quite, counters Freeman, who maintains the lifetime ban on gay men donating blood not only doesn't make scientific sense, but also violates his constitutional rights to equal treatment.

At the heart of Canadian Blood Service’s claim is whether a blood donor has a duty to tell the truth about his personal and sexual history — whether or not he thinks the questions are unnecessary or even discriminatory, lawyer Sally Gomery said.

The court needs to decide if Freeman’s rights were violated and, if so, whether that’s a defence for negligent misrepresentation.

Gomery argued that if Freeman believed the policy was wrong, he should have fought it.

“What that individual cannot do is take the law into his own hands,” she said.

Freeman, who is not HIV positive, admits he lied when asked if he’s had sex with another man — even once — since 1977.

He donated blood 18 times but the lawsuit focuses on four donations between 1998 — when CBS was formed after the Krever Inquiry into tainted blood — and 2002.

That’s when the agency linked him to anonymous e-mails stating he had lied when giving blood.

Freeman argues the question excludes gay men because they’re gay – not because they’ve engaged in behavior that puts them at high risk for getting HIV and other diseases.

Instead, he argues, CBS could ask people if they’d had unprotected sex, then exclude them from donating during the three months it would take for HIV to be detected in their blood if they were infected.

So why does Freeman — who wants $250,000 in damages — keep donating blood? Because he's been tested, he says, and benefiting society with his blood is more important to lying to officials. We tend to agree. If you also agree, we suggest commenting anonymously, lest Canadian officials get a hold of your Internet trail.

Queerty

15,000 Jocks Headed to Cleveland For 2014 Gay Games

2009-09-29T19:00:00.000-07:00

Anecdotal evidence (read: what lands in our inbox) suggests Cleveland was the most enthusiastic about securing the 2014 Gay Games, but Boston and Washington, D.C. are still in it to win it. At 12:30pm EST the Federation of Gay Games will announce which American city is going to reap a few million bucks in tax revenue — and the largest concentration of hot jocks.

THIS JUST IN: It'll be Cleveland, Ohio, that will host the 2014 games, officials in Cologne, Germany (site of the 2010 Games) just announced. With 15,000 athletes and 28 events, it's a boon to the local economy and, let's face it, that giant Cleveland bathhouse.

And locals will say, they deserved it.

As we noted before, Cleveland's LGBT community has been active in rallying support (and media attention) for the Games. And Cleveland's City Council even approved a $700,000 grant to help host the event.

At Chicago's 2006 games, Gay Games officials estimated 140,000 spectators came, generating between $50-80 million in additional tax revenue.

Says Valarie McCall, Cleveland's government affairs chief: "Whether you are LGBT or GLBT or straight or minority or not, this awarding of the games to the beautiful city of Cleveland will really help take it to the next level … I promise you that on behalf of our leadership, when you come to Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A., we will, we will, rock you."

Queerty

Baltimore Ravens Backs Same Sex Marriage

2009-09-24T12:33:00.000-07:00

Pro Bowl linebacker attends Equality Md. reception

Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo is emerging as a supporter of same-sex marriage.

Ayanbadejo attended an event sponsored by Equality Maryland last week to celebrate the relocation of its headquarters from Silver Spring to Baltimore. The appearance came after he opined in the Huffington Post that "we will look back in 10, 20, 30 years and be amazed that gays and lesbians did not have the same rights as everyone else."

"If Britney Spears can party it up in Vegas with one of her boys and go get married on a whim and annul her marriage the next day, why can't a loving same-sex couple tie the knot?" he wrote in the piece.

"How could our society grant more rights to a heterosexual one-night-stand wedding in Vegas than a gay couple that has been together for three, five, 10 years of true love? The divorce rate in America is currently 50 percent. I am willing to bet that same-sex marriages have a higher success rate than heterosexual marriages."

David Toth, Equality Maryland's interim executive director, welcomed Ayanbadejo's public stance on the issue.

Toth noted that when someone "like Brendon Ayanbadejo speaks out for marriage equality, scores of people who may not give thought to LGBT issues will hear crucial equality messages from someone they themselves aspire to be."

"While not all of us are pro-footballers, one can never underestimate the power of just one voice to change hearts and minds," Toth said, "whether it's your own family or millions of adoring fans."

Ayanbadejo has been selected for the NFL's Pro Bowl three times. He did not immediately respond to interview requests.

Washington Blade

So This AIDS Vaccine Actually … Works?

2009-09-24T12:06:00.000-07:00

So there was this bit of good news about the discovery of antibodies that can prevent HIV from multiplying, and now another breakthrough: Researchers in Thailand say their vaccine reduced the risk of contracting HIV by a third. "The study was carried out by the US army and the Thai government over seven years on volunteers - all HIV-negative men and women aged between 18 and 30 - in parts of Thailand. The vaccine was a combination of two older vaccines that on their own had not cut infection rates. Half of the volunteers were given the vaccine, while the other half were given a placebo - and all were given counselling on HIV/Aids prevention. Participants were tested for HIV infection every six months for three years. The results found that the chances of catching HIV were 31.2% less for those who had taken the vaccine - with 74 people who did not get the vaccine infected and 51 of the vaccinated group infected." And wouldn't you know it: The U.S. Army was behind the research.
Queerty

Indonesia's Gays Treated to 100 Lashings, 8-Year Prison Sentences

2009-09-16T07:13:00.001-07:00

When we think "gay AND Indonesia," our mind jumps to the serial killer who released a pop album. But now there's a new horror from the Muslim nation of islands: gays and lesbians face eight-year prison sentences and 100 cane lashes under a new law in Aceh, a region in northern Sumatra that enjoys much government autonomy. On the plus side, it's better than the fate adulterers, who can be stoned to death.

(Pictured: A public lashing in Iran.)

Queerty

Ben and Jerry's Gay Marriage Backlash Begins

2009-09-09T11:51:00.000-07:00

All the Unilever-owned ice cream maker wanted to do was show its support for Vermont's newly legal same-sex marriage (and drum up major free publicity) by renaming flavor "Chubby Hubby" to "Hubby Hubby," but now Ben & Jerry's finds itself being attacked for its marketing advocacy. The world is unjust!

The ice cream label should stick to doing what it does best — providing calorie-heavy comfort food in adorable little containers — rather than enter the fray of politics, argues Oliver Thring, a food writer for Britain's The Guardian, who returned from vacation to pen this:

Ben & Jerry's make an excellent product. We like it. So much so, you may remember, that we sent Vicky Frost along to the company to develop a Word of Mouth ice cream flavour a few months back, and much fun was had. The company was founded in the hippest hippy traditions, far-out and right-on, and the takeover by Unilever seems scarcely to have undermined this.

And though I agree with their sentiment, it's a gloopy business when a company celebrates the election of a president with the flavour 'Yes Pecan'. In an age when ice cream companies are melting away and reforming as purveyors of frozen yoghurt, is this dinky piece of homespun cheeriness really the best focus of the company's efforts?

That gay people should be able to get married seems to me a basic human right, and I admit that in a completely partisan way I was tempted to justify B&J's action as part of the ongoing struggle against ignorance and fear. But what would I be thinking if a contrary point of view was being aired? I'd be first in line to denounce them as squalid influence peddlers, shamelessly meddlesome, shiveringly undemocratic tricksters.

Ice cream should be a relief from side-taking. It soothes and softens, comforts and consoles. B&J's sentiment is noble, but the side of a half-gallon tub is no place to daub political slogans – it's a distraction from the guzzling pleasure.

Us? We just think Mr. Thring is jealous of Americans: Chubby Hubby was only briefly available to the Brits, but they've gone without since 2002. Grapes, much?
Queerty

Fight at Piedmont Park causes people to 'stampede'

2009-09-09T11:17:00.000-07:00

Hundreds gather each year on Sunday at park for Black Gay Pride

The Atlanta Police Department said people with guns were fighting in Piedmont Park at about 9 p.m. today causing hundreds of people to "stampede."

There were no initial reports of injuries and police said the scene was deemed safe after the crowd was dispersed. The park closes at 11 p.m. and most people were leaving the park at about 9:30 p.m.

Several arrests were made and two people was possibly maced, said APD LGBT liaison Officer Dani Lee Harris.

"The APD got a call about an unruly crowd at the park and responded to the scene. There were two Code 20s [use of mace] and several arrests were made, but it's not known yet how many," Harris said at about 10:15 p.m. "The crowd is dispersed and the scene is secure." She added there were no reports of any injuries.

Hundreds of people were gathered in the park today as part of an unofficial gathering of Black Gay Pride, with DJs playing music and numerous cookouts taking place. Sundays in the park is part of a long standing tradition at Black Gay Pride.

Ryan Lee, editor of David Atlanta magazine and senior reporter at Southern Voice, who was at the park tonight when the incident took place, said he heard no gunfire and police told him a fight broke out among a group of people who had guns. He said at about 9:30 p.m. the APD was attempting to clear out the park.

"There were people fighting with guns and that caused people to stampede," an APD officer told Lee at about 9:30 p.m. at the scene.

Earlier today, the park was filled with people dancing to music and picnicking as well as walking throughout the park.

"I like this crowd — I like coming to Pride because you can meet a lot of people from all around and you are able to be yourself," said Tee, 34, of Detroit, Mich., who was attending her first Black Gay Pride.

"I've been hearing about this party in the park for years. I've always heard this is the spot to be during Pride," she said.
Southern Voice

Milk Honored... But Not With a Day

2009-09-01T07:26:00.000-07:00

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a proposed Harvey Milk Day in California last year, but the slain gay rights activist is apparently worthy of induction into the California Museum’s Hall of Fame.

The governor and first lady Maria Shriver announced Tuesday that Milk will be among 13 honorees inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009. Milk joins inductees including comedian Carol Burnett, filmmaker George Lucas, and philanthropist Joan Kroc.

But the governor still hasn’t budged on approving a day dedicated to Milk -- instead saying that the politician had the most impact in San Francisco and therefore commemorations should take place there. On the heels of Milk being awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Obama, backers of a Harvey Milk Day are hoping to sway Schwarzenegger’s opinion.

"Today’s announcement by First Lady Maria Shriver recognizes the important leadership role Harvey Milk played in our state and nation and further illustrates the historic and international nature of his legacy," Sen. Mark Leno said in a statement. "I appreciate the First Lady’s support and admiration for Harvey’s work to further equal civil rights for all people. He gave his life for what he believed in, and in doing so gave hope to generations of LGBT Californians who continue to struggle for full equality. This honor, as well as the Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded to Harvey by President Obama, should only underscore to the Governor the need for Harvey Milk Day in California, and I hope he will return our bill, SB 572, with his signature when it reaches his desk in the next few weeks.”

Shriver noted each of the nominees commitment to making a mark on history in a statement. “Now more than ever, I see how the perseverance and passion of one person can have a lasting impact in the lives of people, not only in their community but across the world,” said Shriver. “When talent and a relentless drive are matched, the efforts of a single individual can create a legacy of change, hope, and empowerment. Every individual inducted into the California Hall of Fame symbolize the biggest hearts, the greatest drive, and the deepest inspiration. It’s an honor to induct these extraordinary individuals who have each made their own unique mark in history.”

Advocate

Shawn Bennett Said He Was Burned With a Lit Cig In Gay Bashing. He Was Lying

2009-08-31T17:32:00.000-07:00

Remember that sad woman who carved a "B" into her own forehead and then claimed an Obama-supporting black mugger did it to her after seeing her McCain bumper sticker — before admitting it was all a lie? Now we have another wolf crying story, this time involving a fake gay bashing.

Unlike Nick Haramis's made-up story about being bashed, this time there was no actual attacker. Michigan's Shawn Bennett, 29, claimed last week he was brutally assaulted that left him burned and bruised. "They stuck gravel in my face, putting rocks in my ears; the hospital actually had to take them out," Bennett told reporters of the supposed attack in a public park, which he claimed took place because he's gay. He claimed the assailants live nearby, and have been taunting him for weeks. The police even ID'd the suspects.

Turns out, it's all lies.

Police investigated the allegations and concluded Bennett inflicted his own injuries, burning himself with a lit cigarette. "Lt. Mike Yankowski: 'We feel bad for Mr. Bennett. The police department and the city of Lansing is doing everything we can to help him get back on track.' Because the department says Bennett's bizarre situation was a cry for help, but it requires support, different from what he had in mind. We were able to speak with Bennett over the phone, but he declined an interview and says he plans to leave the state. The Lansing Association of Human Rights President Penny Gardner says this is a tragic situation and she's concerned with Bennett's actions."

The cops aren't pressing charges, which is probably for the best — the man clearly needs help of the psychological kind. It's just too bad to hear fake stories of anti-gay attacks, when there are plenty of real ones to go around.

Queerty

Even With RuPaul's Outfit, Miss USA Loses at Miss Universe

2009-08-26T11:28:00.000-07:00

We're not even sure what Miss Universe is supposed to be these days. A college scholarship program? A scouting arena for adult video proprietors? An excuse for Donald Trump to hang out with women one-fifth his age? Whatever it is, it happened last night, and representing Lady Liberty was Miss USA Kristen Dalton, who is not a drag queen.

But as NationalWaterCooler.com points out, she certainly appeals to one.

Alas, America's gal didn't win; Miss Venezuela Stefania Fernandez did. Queens get no respect.
Queerty

These Lesbian Lovers Will Live On After Guiding Light Dies

2009-08-25T18:30:00.000-07:00

The gays have taken over the soap operas, but how meaningful is that when the entire soap opera genre appears to be on the way out? Pretty meaningful, when Guiding Light, the soap produced for more than half a century by conservative consumer goods company Proctor & Gamble, is about to head off into the ether without ever giving its lesbian characters a chance for "a single romantic kiss."

But the kissing will happen. In the afterlife.

Guiding Light's afterlife. An unofficial series spin-off (the characters' names will change, since P&G owns them) will live on, online.

On the soap, Crystal Chappell plays Olivia Spencer, a mom who fell in love with Jessica Leccia's Natalia Rivera; together they are "Otalia" to fans. But that relationship is, in reality, over: the show stopped taping two weeks ago, and the last episode airs Sept. 18. And while Chappell has found a new gig on Days of Our Lives, she's just as upset with fans that P&G and CBS never let her character kiss her lover on air.

So she'll do it on the web. In the upcoming series Venice, Chappell will play "a single, gay career woman, and follow other fictional inhabitants of Venice Beach, in Los Angeles," reports the Times. "Her leading lady on Guiding Light, Ms. Leccia, has agreed to join the cast without pay." (Actually, nobody is getting a salary. Yet.)

And if that's not good enough for you? Chappell assures: "In the first 30 seconds you see these two women kiss."

(Actually, while the Times says the characters never got a chance to kiss, this Soap Opera Digest article reveals otherwise. Or are we splitting hairs over "kissing" and "romantic kissing"?)

We could have an entire conversation about new media v. old media, or webtrepreneurs creating content v. corporations manufacturing content. But plainly, we're just thrilled to see an actress so enthralled with her lesbian storyline, and motivated by fan support, that she's up for carrying it on.

Now, how many seconds into Venice will be needed for a girl-on-girl, stripping down, making their way to the bed, covers askew, camera pans to the right, fade to black scene?
Queerty

Cheat-y Sen. John Ensign Will Not Resign, 'Cause Extramarital Affairs Are Not Illegal

2009-08-20T13:58:00.000-07:00

Yes, that is the Nevada senator's excuse for why he won't just pack it up and leave office. Sure, John Ensign voted to impeach President Bill Clinton for his White House oral activities, but when it comes to himself, he's totally in the clear because he did not break any laws when he sexed a campaign staffer. Remember, Clinton lied under oath. Ensign just lied under his marriage vows. There is a difference, people. One can send you to prison, while another sends you to hell. Good thing we've got Ensign leading the charge for the sanctity of marriage.

"President Clinton stood right before the American people and he lied to the American people," says Ensign. "You remember that famous day he lied to the American people, plus the fact I thought he committed perjury."

The difference between he and Clinton, Ensign concludes, is that he was honest about his affair.

Why Did Wendy Williams Try to Block This Drag Queen From Her Show?

2009-08-18T20:07:00.000-07:00

How you doin'? If you're a guest of The Wendy Williams Show who shows up in drag, pretty terrible. New York City drag diva Ericka Toure Aviance thought Wendy — a walking drag queen herself — would enjoy the costume. Instead, Aviance found herself being singled out in her seating arrangements, and warned by the staff that her "costume" was over the top and inappropriate for the cameras.

Ms. Williams, who just ditched her radio show to devote more time to her daytime talker, made a career out of big hair, big boobs, big hips, big heels, and big talk. And supposedly, she admires cross-dressing men who do the same. Apparently, her staff and production team doesn't share that feeling. (Aviance, who identifies as female on her MySpace page, also dresses as a man, like most queens.)

As Aviance tells The Advocate, she wore "a black baby-doll dress, heels, tights, and standard makeup — not even anything sparkly … a ponytail piece and a bang piece. It was much less hair than Wendy was wearing and, p.s., much less hair than any of the other black women in the audience." But The Wendy Williams Show has a policy against outlandish dress, apparently, and Aviance's outfit was too much.

While standing in line outside the studio Wednesday morning, the group was approached by a female intern who noted the fact that Aviance was a drag queen. “She took my name down, so we thought we were about to get VIP treatment,” Aviance recalls. “After another hour we got to the door, and there’s this little white man standing there giving us the eyeball. He gets in our way to prevent us from going in, and he says, ‘You’re in violation of our no-costumes dress code. We usually don’t do this, but we know you’ve been waiting out there for a while, so we’re going to let you in. But you can’t appear on camera, and if you get up for Hot Topics or try to ask Wendy a question, you’ll be removed from the building.’

[...] Aviance claims that, once seated, another staffer approached them to rearrange the seating so that Aviance was moved away from the aisle and against the perimeter of the seating area. In the row ahead, a short woman and a tall man were then asked to switch seats so that the tall man blocked Aviance.

So how did Debmar-Mercury, which syndicates the show, respond? "Producers at The Wendy Williams Show never intended to offend Ericka Toure Aviance, but the fact of the matter is that the show does request that audience members dress appropriately, not in costume-like attire. We certainly support the LGBTQ community and believe that personal style is a form of self-expression, as evidenced by our host Wendy Williams each and every day. But in this case, our staff was concerned that Ericka Toure’s attire was over-the-top and would be distracting to fans at home."

Meanwhile, Wendy herself has proclaimed her appreciation for the drag community — or at least declared that being compared to a drag queen isn't a bad thing.

Then again, is was back in 2007 that Clay Cane pondered about Williams' support for queers: "Around the time Wendy became nationally syndicated, I noticed her support for the gay community seeming to waver. For example, one time she was chatting about the Harlem Boys Choir, insinuating she would never allow her son to join the choir because there were too many "how you doings" [Williams' slang for the gays] and she didn't want her son to be molested."

The show's reaction to a drag audience member isn't likely to die anytime soon (especially since Aviance went to the show with Jonny "Gay Pimp" McGovern, who already wrote about the incident on his Facebook page), and certainly from this point forward, all Wendy Williams coverage on this website will include mention of what happened.

So how does Ms. Wendy recover? Address the issue immediately and apologize. If not via statement, then definitely on Monday's episode. Invite Aviance on the show. Say you're sorry, on behalf of your staff. Reaffirm your commitment to the LGBTs. And if you're really feeling generous, give Ms. Aviance a chance to perform.
Queerty

Is Lady Gaga the World's Most Famous Intersexed Pop Diva?

2009-08-12T10:28:00.000-07:00

Lady GaGa. Money Honey [Live HQ HD]
by weezy75

Did you know cartoon character and songstress Lady Gaga has both boy and girl parts? At one point you couldn't be blamed for thinking her acknowledgment of being intersexed was just a publicity stunt to drive up her Twitter mentions. Supposedly, Ms. Gaga blogged this on the matter: "It’s not something that I’m ashamed of, just isn’t something that I go around telling everyone. Yes. I have both male and female genitalia, but I consider myself a female. It’s just a little bit of a penis and really doesn’t interfere much with my life. The reason I haven’t talked about it is that it’s not a big deal to me. Like come on. It’s not like we all go around talking about our vags. I think this is a great opportunity to make other multiple gendered people feel more comfortable with their bodies. I’m sexy, I’m hot. I have both a poon and a peener. Big f*cking deal."

But then she appeared panty-less at an ourdoor concert (anyone know which one?), and gave away the store. The video, its posters claim, is "unedited."

It is likely NSFW. And you'll want to scroll to 1:10 for the evidence.

And at the end of the video, she appears to be … covering things up.

Queerty

Study: HIV vaccines do not increase risk of infection

2009-08-05T22:56:00.000-07:00

New Scientist magazine reports that initial fears that HIV vaccines might actually make one more vulnerable to HIV infection have been allayed.

Early trials using HIV genes inserted into an inert cold virus indicated that such a vaccine made test subjects more succeptible to later contracting HIV, but a new analysis indicates that this is not the case.

365Gay

Are U.S. Soldiers Responsible for Executing Iraq's Gays?

2009-08-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

So not only are Iraqi militias like al-Qaeda and the Mahdi Army targeting queers with violent attacks because it makes them look like the un-cowardly, non-feminine heroes that they are, but new allegations say the U.S. military is, uh, doing the same thing. Sorry, what?

Maybe American-led violence toward Iraq's LGBTs explains why U.S. government officials, including the president, are basically silent on the matter.

At a fundraising event in Lebanon last week, two gay Iraqi refugees showed attendees images of abuse and violence, claiming the photos depicted American soldiers "preparing to execute gay Iraqis," according to the Washington Blade. One of the men, Hussam, "also said U.S. service members were involved in anti-gay hostility. For example, he said service members displayed signs in front of their barracks with the words Fuck Off Fags.'" And then: "But the reaction from the audience turned from anger to shock when Hussam said U.S. service members had detained Iraqi civilians perceived to be gay and executed them."

To be sure, Hussam won't turn over photos he claims to have showing American soldiers executing gay Iraqis. Military officials said they weren't aware of any allegations similar to what Hussam described.

If the allegations are true, there are all sorts of Geneva Convention rules the U.S. would be breaking. We're pretty sure there's one about, uh, not murdering civilians for sport.

And while we really, really want to believe Hussam's claims are exaggerated, we wanted to believe the same thing about rape allegations made against soldiers serving in Iraq, or at Abu Grahib prison (link NSFW, very graphic photos), or even the solider who threw a puppy off a cliff (also perhaps NSFW).

At the very least, an investigation should be under way, with Hussam's photos as Exhibit A.

(Note to USA Today: When you describe a one Ahmed Sadoun Saleh as someone who "wore his hair long and took female hormones to grow breasts," you are probably not talking about someone who is "gay.")
Queerty

Kathy Griffin Devotes an Episode on My Life on the D List to Prop 8

2009-07-29T12:39:00.000-07:00

Kathy Griffin on Howard Stern

2009-07-27T19:51:00.000-07:00

High School Wrestling Team Prohibited from Wearing Lady's Bathing Suits

2009-07-23T10:12:00.000-07:00

Sorry, do-gooding Idaho wrestling high school boys, but only the girls may wear bikini tops to attract customers for your fund-raising car wash.

In an instance of high school stupidity and oversensitivity, this Boise-area high school shut down the men's wrestling team's attempt to out-do the cheerleaders across the street by donning bikini tops of their own, something they've been doing for three years. But when a single caller phoned in to complain — "Boys are dressing like girls, it's the apocalypse!" — the team was forced to disrobe. Instead, they're wearing tees with bikini tops drawn on them.

Which begs the question: If the lady cheerleaders can show off their sexiest assets, why not let the guys go shirtless?

Also: THIS IS HIGH SCHOOL.
Queerty

Guess Which Failed Presidential Candidate Doesn't Want to Protect Gays

2009-07-22T21:42:00.000-07:00

Gay Soldiers Can't Be Out on Facebook. White Supremacists? No Problem

2009-07-17T09:17:00.000-07:00

Remember when we told you about how the United States of America enacted laws to keep openly gay men and women from protecting the nation, but made no such efforts to keep out and proud white supremacists from serving in the military? Now it turns out that, while a gay soldier would ostensibly be kicked out for announcing his sexuality on his Facebook page, Aryan power nutbags appear to suffer no such consequences for posting their racist hatred on social networks.

The Southern Poverty Law Center told members of Congress this week that racist soldiers not only serve in the military, but they promote themselves on NewSaxon.org ("a racist version of Facebook run by the National Socialist Movement") and list their white power and military service right next to each other. Profiles "show a disturbing number of Nazi and Confederate flags, white supremacist language, and identification as active duty members of the U.S. military. One hundred thirty members out of a total 7,906 users list their job as 'military.' Member 'geisler,' for example, identifies himself as a 'human resources specialist' in the Army and says he wants to 'find a woman I can settle down with and have a nice, WHITE family (unlike some in the army with all the race traitors).'" Above, user "BounceandBurst" posts that he's "tired of the destruction of our clean white culture and heritage, the poison of black culture in our society, and the illegal invasion of mexico into our sovereign nation." This "Proud White man" is stationed at Ft. Carson in Colorado.

63650_791333491

To be sure, white power "enthusiasts" are not new to the military. Nor is notifying legislators and the Pentagon about the problem — or, maybe it isn't a "problem," since SPLC notified the Bush administration about the phenomenon; it promptly did nothing about it.

That the military tolerates — and, to hit recruitment quotas, sought after — white supremacists to serve our country is problematic for any number of reasons, ranging from "we should not promote this version of our country to the nations we work with abroad" to "these folks are openly racist and are ordered to serve alongside non-whites." Which means when it comes to always having a fellow soldier's back, and never leaving any man behind on the battlefield, you can imagine these rules are "flexible" when it comes to a white supremacist soldier and a black or Hispanic comrade.

In the meantime, military higher-ups still pretend letting gay soldiers serve will 1) inhibit our national security; 2) negatively impact soldiers' families; 3) violate soldiers' religious beliefs.

'Cause gay soldiers are the real culprits here, and not straight — and out — racists.
Queerty

(Screenshot via Stars & Stripes)

KSL obtains police report from plaza trespassing case

2009-07-16T08:25:00.000-07:00

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

SALT LAKE CITY -- KSL 5 News requested and received a copy of the police report involving the trespassing controversy on Main Street Plaza last week. Now we have official word of what we have been reading about on blogs since Friday.

The police report says an officer arrived at 10:34 Thursday night on a trespassing call. Church security had asked Matthew Aune and Derek Jones to leave the property for what the security guard called "kissing and hugging." When the men refused, security detained them and called police.

"Matt told me that security guards slammed him to the ground," the police officer wrote in his report. "I asked him, ‘Why?' He told me that he and his boyfriend, Derek, had been drinking at the Gallivan Center and they just came through Main St. He said they sat down and he gave Derek a kiss."

"I asked Nickel (church security officer) if they slammed him to the ground," the officer continued. "Nickel said they did not slam him to the ground when they put handcuffs on him."

The officer also noted the physical appearance of the men: "I did not see any signs of injury on either. I could smell alcohol on Matt's breath and his speech was slightly slurred when he spoke to me." [CLICK HERE to read the entire police report]

KSL News tried again Monday to contact Matthew Aune and Derek Jones to get their reaction, but we have not received a response.

Sunday morning, Salt Lake City Police officers were again called to Main Street Plaza, this time to address a public demonstration in support of Aune and Jones.

KSL News asked members of Equality Utah, a gay rights group, if they had a comment on the gathering. In a brief statement the group said they "support Utahns in exercising their right to protest in a non-violent and even loving manner."

KSL

HHS takes first step in lifting HIV travel ban

2009-07-10T12:15:00.000-07:00

Regulation expected to be finalized by year’s end

The Obama administration has taken the first official step in lifting the regulatory ban preventing HIV-positive foreign nationals from entering the United States.

The Department of Health & Human Services last week issued a proposed regulation that would end the ban. The regulation was to be posted in the Federal Registry, triggering a 45-day period in which the department takes public comment. After another period of time, during which HHS will review the comments, a final regulation will be issued.

Steve Ralls, spokesperson for Immigration Equality, said this second period could take up to 60 days.

“We are hoping that the ban will be lifted … by the end of the year,” Ralls said.

Ralls said the language in the regulation is exactly what advocates wanted in the repeal of the ban.

“The language is great and exactly what we had worked for and hoped we would see,” he said.

Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement that the move means “we are one important step closer to finally ending this discriminatory ban once and for all.”

“This regulation is unnecessary, ineffective and lacks any public health justification,” he said. “We are confident that this sad chapter in our nation’s treatment of people with HIV and AIDS will soon be closed.”

Last year, former President George W. Bush signed into law, as part of the reauthorization of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, a provision removing the ban from federal statutes.

The law returned authority to HHS on whether HIV should stay on a list of communicable diseases barring foreign nationals from entering the United States.
Washington Blade

Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover's Mom Revisits Harrowing Suicide for Congress

2009-07-09T13:37:00.000-07:00

Sirdeaner Walker found her 11-year-old son Carl Joseph in his room, dead, hanging from an electrical cord. Driven to suicide, it's believed, because he was being "bullied relentless" in school. He was being pushed around, told he acted "gay," and branded a "faggot." And when she told the school, administrators told her "it would work itself out," she says. Ms. Walker has relived this nightmare a number of times publicly, for which we thank her, since she has to relive it everyday for the rest of her life. Here, she tells Congress about the reality of bullying: It doesn't have to be this way for our kids. "This has got to stop. School bullying is a national crisis. … I know that bullying is not a gay issue, or a straight issue. It's a safety issue."

21st Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Pride Festival draws thousands in Cleveland for fun, activism

2009-07-01T08:38:00.000-07:00

Everywhere there were rainbows.

On umbrellas and Hawaiian leis, dog bandanas and head bands, and flags shimmying in the wind -- all streaming down East Ninth Street to the 21st annual Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Pride Festival at Voinovich Park.

Men held hands with men and women held hands with women as the crowd strode blithely, chattering and cheering, past the protesters screaming of damnation.

"Hopefully in the near future, we won't have to ask for just one day," an organizer shouted over the bullhorn.

First-timers and veterans, homosexual and straight, they filed into North Coast Harbor to celebrate -- and fight for -- gay rights.

"It gives people an opportunity to come together, to celebrate what we are, to do a little political activism and to have some fun at the same time," said Lynne Bowman, executive director of Equality Ohio.

The festival, themed "Equality through Unity," marked the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York City, which sparked the gay-rights movement.

Bowman urged festival-goers to ask state representatives to support legislation guaranteeing equal housing and employment. City Councilman Joe Cimperman told them to work to secure the LGBT community equal rights in Ohio.

Cimperman and 12 other council members served as parade grand marshals, honored for their support of the city's domestic-partner registry. The registry is designed to help unwed couples living in the city receive privileges that are reserved for the married, such as hospital visitation rights.

"This is the human-rights battle for our generation," Cimperman said. "We still have more road ahead of us than behind us."

Supporters say the registry, partnered with Positively Cleveland's LGBT Visitors Guide and the city's application for the 2014 Gay Games, helps create a more tolerant atmosphere in Cleveland.

"It makes a clear statement from the city that people are welcome here," Bowman said.

Dozens of couples signed up Saturday for the registry, city workers said.

Bill Guentzler, 32, and Matt Cordish, 24, said they plan to register as soon as they move from Lakewood to Cleveland. They would marry if they legally could.

"It doesn't guarantee rights, but at least it's a step forward," Guentzler said. "It's currently the best we can do in the state of Ohio."

Cleveland's festival drew thousands, from drag queens strutting in tiaras to suburban two-mom families relaxing on the grass.

Along with the rainbows, slogan T-shirts were omnipresent:

"Marriage is so gay," read one. Others said: "Has anybody seen my rights?" and "You have the right to be yourself."

Cleveland

Was Obama's Gay Powwow a 'Political' Event? The Air Force Sure Thought So

2009-06-30T08:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Barack Obama invited some friends over to the White House. There were folks like Rea Carey from National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Wilson Cruz, from Hollywood. And Air Force Lt. Colonel Victor Fehrenbach, who is in the middle of being kicked out of the military 'cause he gets it on with dudes. (Like Fehrenbach, the National Guard's First Lt. Dan Choi is also being kicked out — in fact, Choi is facing his review panel today.)

So how did Obama's words for the gays yesterday sit with the very folks that are affected by the still-on-the-books, still-not-repealed Don't Ask Don't Tell policy?

Not so well, since Obama, as expected, offered nothing to save those soldiers whose "clocks are ticking," but Fehrenbach says "it did give me a new sense of hope." Not giving him such hope? The Air Force demanding Fehrenbach not wear his uniform to the White House, because they dubbed yesterday's gathering as a "political" event.

Meeting with your commander-in-chief is a political event? Well, the argument could go both ways, but the Air Force's call does lend weight to the argument that Obama's White House get together was, in fact, no more than a greasing of Gay Inc.'s wheels. And that, friends, certainly is political.

Queerty

Ads pulled over radio hosts’ anti-trans remarks

2009-06-18T08:42:00.000-07:00

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Bank of America, Verizon, Chipotle and other companies have pulled advertising from a Sacramento radio station after talk show hosts referred to transgender people as “freaks” with mental disorders.

During a May 28 show, one of the three hosts on KRXQ’s “Rob, Arnie & Dawn” show said he would hit his son with his shoe if he put on high heels. Another said he would tell a boy he was “a little idiot” if he asked to wear a dress.

Officials with Bank of America Corp. and Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. said Friday their companies pulled advertising because they found the comments offensive.

“We listened to the segment and the follow-up comments, and found it quite difficult to defend,” Bank of America spokesperson Joe Goode said.

Representatives of Verizon Communications Inc., Nissan Motor Co. and Carl’s Jr. restaurants also said they stopped advertising.

Transgender advocates and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation have sought an apology from two of the show’s three hosts, Arnie States and Rob Williams. The third host, Dawn Rossi, defended transgender people on the show.

“Our issue here is that Rob and Arnie advocated violence against children because of who they are and have failed to take responsibility for their dehumanizing and defamatory words,” said Rashad Robinson, senior director of programs at GLAAD.

John Geary, vice president and general manager of KRXQ, did not return a telephone message or e-mail Friday.

During a follow-up show, States said he never advocated abuse. He said his comments were meant only as a joke and that he didn’t do anything wrong, according to a report in The Sacramento Bee.

During the May 28 broadcast, States and Williams began discussing the California Supreme Court ruling uphold Proposition 8, the initiative on last November’s ballot that banned same-sex marriage. The hosts then turned their attention to transgender children.

“If my son, God forbid, if my son put on a pair of high heels, I would probably hit him with one of my shoes. I would throw a shoe at him,” States said on the air.

Williams suggested transgender people suffered from a mental disorder.

“They are freaks. They are abnormal,” he said. “Not because they’re girls trapped in boys bodies, but because they have a mental disorder that needs to be somehow gotten out of them.”
Washington Blade

'Don't Ask' challenge rejected

2009-06-10T16:44:00.001-07:00

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned down a challenge to the Pentagon policy forbidding gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military, granting a request by the Obama administration.

The court said it will not hear an appeal from former Army Capt. James Pietrangelo II, who was dismissed under the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

The federal appeals court in Boston earlier threw out a lawsuit filed by Pietrangelo and 11 other veterans. He was the only member of that group who asked the high court to rule that the Clinton-era policy is unconstitutional.

In court papers, the administration said the appeals court ruled correctly in this case when it found that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is "rationally related to the government's legitimate interest in military discipline and cohesion."

During last year's campaign, President Barack Obama indicated he supported the eventual repeal of the policy, but he has made no specific move to do so since taking office in January. Meanwhile, the White House has said it won't stop gays and lesbians from being dismissed from the military.

Last year, the federal appeals court in San Francisco allowed a decorated flight nurse to continue her lawsuit over her dismissal. The court stopped short of declaring the policy unconstitutional, but said that the Air Force must prove that ousting former Maj. Margaret Witt furthered the military's goals of troop readiness and unit cohesion.

The decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was the first that evaluated "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" through the lens of a 2003 Supreme Court decision that struck down a Texas ban on sodomy as an unconstitutional intrusion on privacy.

The administration did not appeal that ruling to the Supreme Court and Witt's lawsuit is ongoing.

The appeals court in Pietrangelo's case also took the high court decision into account, but concluded that it should defer to Congress' determination that the policy fosters cohesion in military units.

The case is Pietrangelo v. Gates, 08-824.

Washington Blade

Cuban Man Denied American Asylum … Because He's Got HIV

2009-05-22T08:01:00.001-07:00

"Raul Hernandez, a gay man who defected from Cuba in 1993 to live in Brazil, had hoped to obtain permanent U.S. residency under the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act after he arrived in 2000. Congress passed the Cold War-era act to provide an expedited and mostly automatic approval process for Cubans seeking refuge in the United States from Cuba’s Communist government, which U.S. officials and human rights advocates labeled as highly oppressive. But following a lengthy application and appeal process, Hernandez, 40, who lives in Arlington, Va., was turned down for admission under the Cuban Adjustment Act in 2005 because he’s HIV positive. U.S. immigration officials told him that the longstanding U.S. ban on HIV-positive visitors and immigrants — a part of U.S. law and regulation — would take precedent over the Cuban Adjustment Act." [Blade]

AIDS activist, GMHC leader McFarlane Commits Suicide

2009-05-21T08:23:00.000-07:00

Rodger McFarlane, a leader in the 1980s of New York’s Gay Men’s Health Crisis, the nation’s first organization to provide services for people with AIDS, took his own life in New Mexico on May 15 after suffering from a debilitating back ailment and heart condition.

An official with the Denver-based Gill Foundation, where McFarlane worked from 2003 to 2007 as executive director, said Monday that McFarlane’s body was found by state police in a park in Truth or Consequences, N.M., in a remote desert setting that McFarlane often visited as an avid hiker.

“He was a great lover of the high desert,” said Tim Sweeney, current executive director of the Gill Foundation, which provides funding for LGBT and AIDS organizations. “It was a place where he found peace and solitude.”

McFarlane, 54, has been credited with helping to transform Gay Men’s Health Crisis, known as GMHC, into a highly effective private service agency for people with AIDS that became the model for AIDS organizations throughout the nation.

“The power of Rodger’s many personal and professional accomplishments cannot be denied,” said a statement prepared by friends and associates and released Monday by the Gill Foundation.

“He was on the forefront of responding to the AIDS epidemic that ravaged our country — and specifically the gay community — in the 1980s,” the statement says. “Before HIV even had a name, in 1981, Rodger set up the very first [AIDS] hotline anywhere.”

McFarlane served from 1989 to 1994 as executive director of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, an AIDS fundraising and grant-making group. He was a founding member along with his domestic partner, Larry Kramer, of ACT UP New York, the protest group that is credited with pressuring the federal government to do more to fight the AIDS epidemic.

During his tenure as head of the Gill Foundation, McFarlane took the lead in creating the group’s sister organization, Gill Action, which advocates on behalf of LGBT causes.

A Navy veteran, McFarlane served as a licensed nuclear engineer who worked on strategic missions in the North Atlantic and Arctic regions aboard an attack submarine, according to the statement released by Gill Foundation.

“A gifted athlete, he was a veteran of seven over-ice expeditions to the North Pole,” the statement says. “He also competed internationally for many years as a elite tri-athlete, and in 1998 and 2002, competed in the Eco-Challenges in Morocco and Fiji, where he captained an all-gay female-majority team.”

He co-authored several books, including one with Larry Kramer, “The Tragedy of Today’s Gays.” In 1993, he co-produced Kramer’s play “The Destiny of Me,” which was a sequel to Kramer’s internationally acclaimed Broadway play “The Normal Heart.”

“In a letter found with his remains, Rodger explained that he was unwilling to allow compounding heart and back problems to become even worse and result in total debilitation,” the Gill Foundation statement says.

“We know that Rodger was in a great deal of pain; already disabled in his own mind because he could no longer workout or do all of the outdoor activities he so loved.

“As his friends and family, we thought it was important that we communicate to the world that it has lost an amazingly wonderful individual who contributed so mightily to our humanity,” the statement says.

“The HIV/AIDS community, the LGBT community, the progressive community, and all communities touched by Rodger's vibrant life have experienced a tremendous loss,” according to a statement provided to the Blade by Ronald S. Johnson, deputy executive director for AIDS Action Council. “Since first meeting him in 1984, Rodger was a hero to me and I am but one of thousands for whom Rodger was a source of limitless inspiration. I am very saddened and extend my condolences to Rodger's family and many, many friends, whose grief may be softened by the legacy of Rodger's life.”
Washington Blade

Adam Lambert May Become First Openly Gay Idol

2009-05-14T11:46:00.000-07:00

Sorry Gokey, but America wanted Adam Lambert and that cute twin Kris Allen to battle it out in next week's American Idol finals. But we'll be seeing you on the tour so, uh, there's the consolation prize. Next week is when the real fun begins, as Kris and Adam croon their way into our living rooms and text messages. And if Adam comes out, ahem, on top? He'll be the first gay American Idol! You know, besides Kelly Clarkson.
Queerty

John Katehis: Stabbing George Weber 50 Times 'An Accident'

2009-05-11T07:48:00.001-07:00

Self-defense. That's what 16-year-old John Katehis is using as a defense to explain the repeated stab wounds that killed George Weber. And now that Katehis is appearing in court, the (more) gruesome details are unfolding.

With Katehis' father crying in the courtroom Friday for a preliminary hearing, the defendant's lawyer Jeffrey Schwartz told the court about all the things Weber did to his client. "It seems that Mr. Weber had this whole secret life that no one knew about," Schwartz says. "He lured John Katehis into his home. He plied him with alcohol and illegal drugs."

Acknowledging Katehis went to Weber's home to perform sex acts in exchange for $60, Schwartz is arguing it was Weber who plied him with alcohol and cocaine and "attempted to get him to do, some sadomasochistic sex to him. Um, the situation got out of control."

And as Katehis put in his own words: "I didn't mean to kill George. It was an accident. He pulled a knife on me, so I stabbed him. He gave me something to drink and some coke. He asked me to do things I wasn't comfortable with."

Stabbed him. Over 50 times.

Queerty

Anderson Cooper Predicts Adam Lambert as the American Idol Winner

2009-05-05T01:03:00.000-07:00

Howard Stern Defends Gay Marriage

2009-04-30T05:16:00.001-07:00

Hate Crimes Bill

2009-04-21T15:37:00.000-07:00

Butler Tech teacher resigns, admits taking students to gay bar

2009-04-20T08:05:00.000-07:00

A Butler Tech teacher submitted a letter of resignation Thursday, April 16, after she admitted to taking four Edgewood High School cheerleaders to a gay bar in Dayton, where the students had been drinking, said Bill Solazzo, Butler Tech marketing director.

Lori Epperson, 37, taught marketing at Edgewood High School through a partnership with Butler Technology and Career Development Schools.

Epperson apologized in an April 10 e-mail to Edgewood High School Principal Bob Buchheim and Butler Tech administrators and admitted that she accompanied three 18-year-old students and a 17-year-old student to a bar in February. Butler Tech later found out the bar was Club Masque, Solazzo said.

According to Epperson’s e-mail, the four students went upstairs in the bar, where someone they knew apparently bought them alcohol shots and cosmopolitan cocktails, Epperson wrote in her e-mail, saying she observed this after following them upstairs, Solazzo said.

Before Epperson gathered the girls to immediately leave the bar, one of the young women was found sick in the bathroom, he said.

Epperson told school officials she got permission from the students' parents to take them to the club, assuring them there would be no alcohol consumption. The girls begged Epperson to let them go to the bar, she wrote. Because she didn't think it was a good idea for them to go, she went along with them, Solazzo said.

Butler Tech placed Epperson on administrative leave for "inappropriate decision-making on the part of a teacher" and initiated an investigation as soon as the allegations arose, Solazzo said.

"We take very seriously our obligation to protect our students," he said.

According to the Ohio Department of Education, Epperson was issued her two-year provisional license Nov. 13, 2008, effective July 1, 2008.

Rumors circulated about the activity in the Edgewood school community for weeks, the school resource officer finally heard versions of the story so many times that the high school administrator was notified and Epperson put on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation by Butler Tech administrators, Solazzo said.

The incident finally came to light last week because the students involved are Edgewood cheerleaders and they were forbidden from participating in a competition because of the school's zero tolerance policy about alcohol consumption, Solazzo said.

John Thomas, Edgewood schools spokesman, said the district does not comment on disciplinary actions involving students and the athletic department's drug, tobacco and alcohol policy.

Thomas said Wednesday that though Epperson also was the eighth-grade basketball cheerleading coach at Edgewood Middle School, the incident did not involve the middle school students.

Butler Tech is exploring the possibility of seeking legal action against the club for serving alcohol to minors, according to Solazzo.

Epperson's resignation will be reviewed for acceptance at the April 21 Butler Tech Board of Education meeting.

"We anticipate that the board will indeed accept that resignation," Solazzo said.

Dayton Daily News

Trans-gender rights bill passes House by one vote

2009-04-14T18:24:00.000-07:00

Concord – By a single vote, the New Hampshire House today reversed itself and passed a bill that bars discrimination on the basis of gender identity. The proposal was dubbed the "bathroom bill" by its opponents.

The bill, House Bill 415, allows individuals to bring actions at the Human Rights Commission when they feel they have been discriminated against on the basis of their sexual identity, or the way they express it, such as with their clothing or makeup.

Gov. John Lynch did not endorse the bill after its passage. His spokesman, Colin Manning, said, "We have a comprehensive anti-discrimination law here in New Hampshire. We are not convinced that the concerns raised by the supporters of this legislation aren't already covered under existing law."

After more than three hours of debate that opened today’s session, the House voted 188-187 to pass the bill. The bill postponed the crushing business of passing a $11.5 billion, two-year state budget.

Early in the debate, Speaker of the House Terie Norelli, D-Portsmouth, took the unusual step of leaving her podium and speaking in favor of the bill. She said she was disappointed in debate two weeks ago, and by “the muddying of the waters” on the issue.

“New Hampshire and the New Hampshire General Court has always stood against discrimination. Somewhere along the way, that message got lost on this bill,” she said. “We’re not asking you to open up bathrooms to sexual predators. We’re asking you to stand tall against discrimination.”

The bill adds the words “gender identity or expression” to the state’s anti-discrimination laws that protect people from discrimination based on race, sex, religion, age, and national origin.

Sponsor Rep. Ed Butler, D-Hart's Location, said his bill simply protects people whose gender is an issue from discrimination in housing and the workplace.

Opponents said it will open bathrooms to sexual predators and child molesters and wrongly penalize employers, schools and churches.

Rep. William O’Brien, R-Mont Vernon, said the bill “is a concept so alien to our citizens that the Legislature should not be in a position of jamming it down their throats.”

He argued, “It seeks to elevate a nebulous and undefined, indeed an undefineable group of individuals in our discrimination laws to the sacred level we find when dealing with racial discrimination, gender discrimination, sexual discrimination and religious discrimination.”

On March 25, the House voted to kill HB 415, by a vote of 181-149. But Rep. Kathleen Taylor, D-Franconia, brought the bill back to the House floor today by asking for a second vote.

The House agreed, bringing it back by a vote of 190-180, two hours of debate ensued. The long slog through more than a dozen GOP-backed amendments delayed action on the proposed $11.5 billion state budget.

Republicans tried to get wording passed that would have meant to lessen the effect of the bill. They wanted to exempt private and religious schools, employers who need women or men in certain positions, churches, rental unit owners, and health care facilities. All the amendments were defeated in order by the roughly the same 70-vote margin.

The bill now goes to the Senate, which already has been given the task of sorting through House bills on gay marriage, medical marijuana and death penalty repeal.

UnionLeader

Wanda Sykes Scores Saturday Night TV Gig

2009-04-08T10:58:00.000-07:00

No longer relegated to merely The New Adventures of Old Christine and gay rights rallies, Wanda Sykes landed her own Saturday night weekly gabfest on Fox. More Real Time With Bill Maher than regular talk show, Sykes' program is set for a fall or January debut, when American Idol can run endless promos to its 25 million viewers.

We've said it before, and we'll say it again: Gays and blacks rule television talk. We're not sure why, and there are plenty of exceptions, but it's one field where both communities continue to excel. Kudos to Sykes to merging the demographics. WE WIN!

Just please, leave Arianna Huffington to Maher's show.

Queerty

Lindsay + Sam: Officially Over?

2009-04-07T09:01:00.000-07:00

As the Lindsay Lohan/Samantha Ronson split continues to spiral out of control, OK! can exclusively report that Sam's family is so concerned that they are seeking a restraining order against the actress.

Around 5 p.m. PST on Monday, Sam’s mother, Ann Dexter-Jones, and sister, fashion designer Charlotte Ronson, were at the Beverly Hills Police Department to look into filing a restraining order because Sam wants to "send a message" to Lindsay.

Charlotte and Ann talked to a clerk at the front desk, who advised them, "The restraining order is the best option. If she violates it, then she gets taken away.”

The Ronsons spoke openly to the officer about their situation. "She does these things to get attention," said Charlotte of Lohan’s recent actions. "She was trying to get into my party this weekend. We had to tell security to keep her out. Then she booked a room at the Chateau Marmont. Her room was right below... She also followed our brother Mark around."

"[Lindsay] was doing drugs," added Ann. "And we could not sleep that night at the Chateau. She was complaining about the music and noise coming from upstairs. She was trying to get attention, so that Sam could come down.”

“She cuts herself too,” Ann continued. “She is a cutter!”

OK Magazine

Transgender wife gets 4 years for husband's death

2009-04-01T08:32:00.000-07:00

MIDDLEFIELD, Ohio – James M. Mason knew his wife since she was born a boy. The janitor and former military man was a boarder in the child's home and was treated like family.

Many were surprised when he married Chris nearly three years ago, not just because he knew she underwent sex-change surgery 13 years before, temporarily calling herself Christine Newton-John after the pop singer with the same last name. He was in his 70s, she in her 30s. He was mild-mannered; she had a domineering personality.

Then, last summer, there was another surprise: Chris Mason was accused of exercising her frail husband to death so she could inherit his retirement benefits, in an attack caught on surveillance video.

Mason was sentenced Friday to four years in prison on her guilty plea to reckless homicide. She expressed remorse to her family members during a hearing in Geauga County court.

"I want to apologize to my former husband's half-sister for her loss as well as to my family and for my loss," she said in court. "It's been very upsetting and devastating for our entire family."

They were in love, Mason said. "I'm not going to let jail turn me away. I will continue to hold my head up high and keep plugging along and moving along as I go through my life," she said.

Police say she forced James Mason, who had heart disease, to do stressful activity in an indoor pool for more than two hours. He collapsed and died the next day after Chris Mason authorized his removal from life support.

"It's just been a total nightmare," said Maryanne Vallandingham, Chris Mason's mother, who is ill with emphysema and distraught over her daughter's fate and the death of a close son-in-law.

Although the tale of James and Chris Mason didn't begin as a nightmare, the relationship always was considered unusual. The marriage seemed not much more than a living arrangement, said Chris Mason's sister, Cathy Vondrasek, who learned of it only after the two were wed.

"I never knew of them to be romantic," she said. "Jim was always like an uncle to us."

Her sister is domineering, "although I hate to say it," while James Mason was very gentle and laid back, Vondrasek said.

"Jim was a people pleaser," Vondrasek said. "If you'd ask him to go to a movie he'd probably say, 'Sure, why not?' So my take about him is if you'd say, 'Hey, you want to get married?', he'd say 'OK.'

James Mason, 73 when he died in June, first met his wife's family in 1963 when he became a boarder at Vallandingham's home. Four years later, his wife was born as John Leslie Vallandingham.

Chris Mason, now 41, is a former health care aide for the elderly. In 1983, a decade before her sex-change operation, she decided that she and Mason should be together, she told police. The couple were living together at the time, but didn't marry until Aug. 18, 2006.

They lived in Middlefield, a village within a northeast Ohio area best known for its Amish community, for about four months. Chris Mason's mother lived with them for much of that time.

Vallandingham, who was present during the attack that killed James Mason but told police she didn't see any harsh treatment, does recall previous conflicts between the couple.

She told police she once saw her daughter flip a chair while James Mason was sitting in it, putting a hole in a wall. She said she saw James Mason standing with his nose to a wall in the corner of the living room because, he told her, his wife had ordered it.

Neighbors at times heard yelling and objects being thrown in the couple's apartment and complained to a Geauga County social service agency that checks on the safety of the elderly, said Middlefield Police Chief Joseph Stehlik.

"They both had good days and bad days," Vallandingham said. "Some things Chris did, well ... Chris needs help," she said, adding that her daughter once was a crack cocaine user.

"I'd rather not be painting an ugly picture," Vallandingham said. "She did love and care for Jim in her own way, and he loved her. Jim was a very loving and caring person."

Chris Mason told police that she didn't intentionally kill her husband and that they were in the swimming pool at their apartment complex so he could exercise.

A security videotape shows Chris Mason pulling her husband by his arms and legs on June 2, tossing and dunking him. Sometimes he clings to the side of the pool and his wife pulls him away. She appears to block his path as he tries to get out of the water — 43 times, by the police chief's count.

At other times James Mason gets out but goes back in. He doesn't swim but walks slowly in the 3-foot-deep end of the pool.

Chris Mason's attorney, public defender Bob Umholtz, declined to comment.

James Mason, who had coronary artery disease, suffered a heart attack. An autopsy shows that his major arteries had potentially fatal blockages of about 75 percent, Geauga County Coroner Kevin Chartrand said. It was fine for James Mason to exercise, but the condition of his heart made strenuous activity a risk, Chartrand said.

Shortly before Mason collapsed in the pool, Vallandingham had told Chris Mason she was moving out.

"I love Chris with all my heart, but I can't live with her," she told the AP.

Troubles continued after James Mason's death. His widow was involved in a bar fight in December and was jailed after her personal bond was revoked, said Prosecutor David Joyce. She was banned from another bar she frequently visited.

"She was getting obnoxious, and the owner told her she had to stay out of here," said Tracy Hall, a bartender at Middlefield Tavern. "She liked to flirt with all the guys who come in here."

She wasn't working at the time of her husband's death. James Mason, a retired janitor who had served in the Army and Air Force, had Veterans Affairs benefits, Social Security and possibly other retirement assets, according to the police investigation.

Police Chief Stehlik had expected a murder charge, convinced that Chris Mason knew her husband had a weak heart and that she would get VA benefits and Social Security as his widow. He said she did receive benefits of more than $860 a month from the VA and at least one retirement account.

But because there is no audio on the security video, the grand jury could not know what the couple said to each other, Joyce said. They do not appear to be arguing. He does not appear to be fighting her off. She was indicted on a charge of reckless homicide, a third-degree felony.

Vondrasek said she and Chris Mason both wept as James Mason died.

But James Mason's half-sister, Cinda Meyer, said Chris Mason appeared to show little grief.

"She had him cremated, and she called and told me to come and pick up the ashes and do something with them," said Meyer, of Seville in northeast Ohio. "She was pretending to be a grieving widow."

Meyer said she arranged her brother's funeral. Chris Mason did not attend.

Yahoo News

Gossip Girls Westwick laughs off gay rumours

2009-03-31T08:24:00.000-07:00

Gossip Girl star Ed Westwick has laughed off rumours that he is in a gay relationship with co-star Chace Crawford.

"[The rumours are] ridiculous," the British actor tells Rolling Stone magazine.

"It's funny because I love this dude [Chace] dearly. I would die for this dude. He's my brother.

"But, by God, we are so into our women it's ridiculous. But what are you going to do about it? Get p***** off and stay home and cry about it?"

Ed, who plays Chuck on the show, reveals he and his male co stars Chace and Penn Badgely are all good friends off set.

"I feel a deep love for each of these people," he tells the mag. "Almost as if we were orphans who ended up in an orphanage.

"There's something Dickensian about it. If I'm drunk and about to fall asleep in the street, I can knock on Penn's door and he'll let me in."

Associated Press

2 Indicted in Fatal Beating of Ecuadorean Immigrant

2009-03-05T10:23:00.000-08:00

The two men accused of fatally beating an Ecuadorean immigrant with a bat and a bottle after shouting epithets about Hispanics and gays face 78 years to life in prison if convicted on charges handed up by a Brooklyn grand jury and unsealed on Tuesday.

The two suspects, Keith Phoenix, 28, and Hakim Scott, 25, are charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter and assault, all as hate crimes, for the Dec. 7 attack on the immigrant, Jose O. Sucuzhañay, and his brother Romel, who survived. At a news conference in Brooklyn announcing the charges, the Brooklyn district attorney, Charles J. Hynes, said that if the men are convicted, his office would push for the sentences to run consecutively.

“The acts which we charge this morning,” he said, “are no less despicable because the victims Jose and Romel Sucuzhañay were not gay.”

Mr. Hynes also issued the latest denial by a city law enforcement official of Mr. Phoenix’s claim that he acted in self-defense because he thought Mr. Sucuzhañay was reaching for a weapon in his waistband.

“The only weapon,” Mr. Hynes said, “was wielded by Mr. Phoenix and Mr. Scott.” The two men, who are being held without bail at Rikers Island, will be arraigned in the coming weeks, the authorities said. Both have said they are not guilty.

Jose Sucuzhañay (pronounced suh-KOO-shen-y’eye), who died in the hospital a few days after the attack near his home in Bushwick, had come to the United States from Ecuador’s southern highlands a decade ago, working his way up from waiting tables to owning his own real estate firm. He sent money home to Ecuador to support his son, Brian, 10, and his daughter, Jhoana, 4, who has Down syndrome. The children live with their grandparents.

The beating, coming soon after the killing of another Ecuadorean immigrant on Long Island, jangled nerves in immigrant and gay and lesbian communities, especially when it looked as if the police had few leads. But a partial license plate number from a sport utility vehicle seen leaving the scene scribbled by a taxi driver led detectives to a companion of Mr. Phoenix’s.

Investigators then uncovered video surveillance of Mr. Phoenix driving the vehicle just 19 minutes after the attack. In the video, taken from a tollbooth at the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge, Mr. Phoenix is laughing as he pays the toll.

Mr. Scott, an associate of Mr. Phoenix’s, was arrested on Feb. 25. Mr. Phoenix, who was on parole for armed robbery, was arrested two days later. Both men live in the Bronx. The police have said both men gave full confessions, though prosecutors have refused to provide details.

On Tuesday, as Romel Sucuzhañay looked on, Mr. Hynes described a beating that started with a gentle gesture. “Romel was putting his jacket around Jose to shield him from the cold when an S.U.V. pulled alongside of him,” Mr. Hynes said.

Witnesses have described part of what happened next, beginning with slurs shouted from the car about Hispanics and gays. “Suddenly, Hakim Scott jumped out armed with a beer bottle,” Mr. Hynes said. “The two brothers tried to flee, but Scott caught up with Jose and slammed him across the head.” He could not catch Romel, Mr. Hynes said.

Mr. Phoenix “rushed from the S.U.V. armed with a baseball bat, ran over to Jose, and repeatedly beat him,” Mr. Hynes said, adding that as Mr. Phoenix walked back to the car he noticed that the victim was still moving.

“Phoenix immediately went back to where Jose was laying and slammed him several more times on the head with the baseball bat until his victim was motionless,” Mr. Hynes said.

NY Times

Same-sex spouses challenge US curbs

2009-03-04T05:26:00.000-08:00

Fifteen gay and lesbian residents from Massachusetts who wed after this state legalized same-sex marriages filed a discrimination suit today, challenging a federal law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

Six same-sex couples and three men whose husbands have died -- one of the deceased was retired congressman Gerry E. Studds -- said in the suit that the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act treats them like second-class citizens and is unconstitutional. The 92-page complaint was filed in US District Court in Boston.

The suit, which legal specialists described as the first serious challenge to the federal law signed by President Bill Clinton, contends that the statute has deprived the plaintiffs of benefits enjoyed by heterosexual married couples.

Those benefits include health insurance for spouses of federal employees, tax deductions for couples who jointly file federal income tax returns, and the ability to use a spouse's last name on a passport.

"It hurts," said Dean T. Hara, who was married to Studds from May 2004 until the retired congressman's death in October 2006, as he discussed the federal government's denial of a $255 lump-sum death payment and thousands of dollars in benefits as the surviving spouse of a retired federal employee. "But at the same time I realize that I, as a man, need to stand up for what I believe in. This is a nation of laws, and we're all supposed to have equal treatment under the law."

Mary L. Bonauto, the civil rights lawyer for Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders who was lead counsel in Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health--the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court case in 2003 that legalized same-sex marriage in the United States for the first time--said the suit asks the court to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act because it targets gays and lesbians for discrimination.

"This is a case that should go to the Supreme Court and in all likelihood will go to the Supreme Court," she said.

If the plaintiffs win, she said, it would not extend same-sex marriage beyond Massachusetts and Connecticut, the two states where it is legal.

But it would dismantle a federal statute that affects more than 1,000 marriage-related benefits, and it would be a huge victory on symbolic and practical levels for supporters of same-sex marriage, according to legal specialists.

"We've got this major federal statute that inflicts really substantial harm on very large numbers of gay people just for being gay people," said Andrew Koppelman, a Northwestern University law professor. "The federal government declares to these people that it regards their marriages as worthless and would not give those marriages the protection and recognition that it gives to all other marriages. It's quite significant if that is invalidated."

A handful of federal agencies and officials are named as defendants in the suit. A spokesman for President Obama, who has spoken of repealing the Defense of Marriage Act but does not support same-sex marriage, said the White House had no comment.

Kris Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute and a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage, said the lawsuit represents the latest effort to export gay marriage to other parts of the country. He noted that Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, known by its acronym GLAD, has a "Six by Twelve" campaign to legalize same-sex marriage in all six New England states by 2012, and he said some gay-rights groups want a federal constitutional amendment to legalize same-sex marriage in all 50 states.

But the tide of public opinion is strongly against them, he said. Voters in 30 states have passed constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage, Mineau said, including California, which in a November referendum overturned a state Supreme Court decision that had recently given gay couples the right to marry.

"There's no doubt that the desire of the citizens of America . . . is that marriage is to remain one man and one woman, and that's what the intent of DOMA is as well," he said, using the acronym for the federal law.

Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, when it appeared increasingly likely that some state would soon legalize same-sex marriage, either by legislation or a court interpretation of state or federal law.

Proponents of the statute feared that if one state legalized gay marriage, other states would be required to do so under the full faith and credit clause of the Constitution.

Same-sex weddings began in Massachusetts on May 17, 2004, and about 10,000 couples have married. Two years later, GLAD quietly began surveying couples to determine whether they wanted federal benefits and equal tax treatment currently provided only to married heterosexuals.

Among those who say they have been discriminated against are Nancy Gill and Marcelle Letourneau, a Bridgewater couple who have been together nearly 30 years and married four days after same-sex weddings began. They have two children.

Gill, 51, who has worked for the Postal Service since 1987, has repeatedly tried to put Letourneau on her health insurance plan, but her employer has rejected her applications, citing the Defense of Marriage Act.

Letourneau, 47, has health insurance through her employer, Baystate Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice, but the couple estimates that it costs them $800 more a year than it would if she could be on Gill's plan.

"I feel like I am not being treated the same as my other married co-workers," Gill said. "I earn those same benefits as my co-workers, yet I'm not allowed to use them."

Boston Globe

In Iraq, a 21st Century Underground Railroad for Gays

2009-02-26T07:50:00.000-08:00

While reports of increasing stability come out of Iraq, being gay and lesbian in the cradle of civilization carries with it a certain death sentence. Leaders of Iraqi LGBT, a human rights group based in London have been helping gays and lesbians escape capture through safe houses and arranged journeys out of the country. The group says that since the fall of Iraq, the democratic government has stood passively by as religious leaders engaged in what they describe as "a sexual cleansing." Pictured, the 2008 killings of three Ramadi men suspected of being gay.

While reports of increasing stability come out of Iraq, being gay and lesbian in the cradle of civilization carries with it a certain death sentence. Leaders of Iraqi LGBT, a human rights group based in London have been helping gays and lesbians escape capture through safe houses and arranged journeys out of the country. The group says that since the fall of Iraq, the democratic government has stood passively by as religious leaders engaged in what they describe as "a sexual cleansing." Pictured, the 2008 killings of three Ramadi men suspected of being gay.

Watch a video on what's happening to Iraq's gays & lesbians:

The Guardian writes about the group and the chilling, horrific life Iraq's gays and lesbians must endure:

"This campaign of terror is sanctioned by Iraq's leading Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. In 2005, he issued a fatwa urging the killing of LGBT people in the "worst, most severe way" possible.

This is the same Sistani who was praised by President Bush as a "leading moderate". The British government concurred. We hosted him in Britain for medical treatment. He was anti-Saddam, so the west backed him, even after he issued his murderous religious edicts.

Although the general security situation has improved in Iraq, for LGBT people it has deteriorated sharply. Systematic assassinations of queers are being orchestrated by police and security agents in the interior ministry, many of whom are former members of the Iranian-backed Badr Corps militia.

Queers are being shot dead in their homes, streets and workplaces. Even suspected gay children are being murdered. They killers claim to be doing these assassinations at the behest of the "democratic" Iraqi government, in order to eradicate what they see as immoral, un-Islamic behaviour."…

"Since establishing the safe houses project in 2006 we have provided refuge for dozens of gay people who were being hunted by death squads," reports Ali Hili, coordinator of Iraqi LGBT.

"We have also assisted people to escape from Iraq to neighbouring countries, where we have established resettlement projects. Our efforts have got gay refugees registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and we've already moved some of them a third safer country, in Europe or North America. These lucky ones are now beginning to rebuild their lives," Mr Hili said

K is a 33-year-old architect who escaped to Amman in Jordan. He now helps run the Iraqi LGBT support group there, aiding other LGBT refugees from Iraq. So far, seven out of 23 Iraqi LGBT refugees who have been smuggled to Jordan have had their applications for asylum approved by the UNHCR and been able to secure asylum in countries such as the United States, Sweden, the Netherlands and Germany.

This heroic work is not without its risks and sacrifices. Many of the underground activists have been assassinated, in a series of grisly homophobic and transphobic murders.

Two lesbians who ran the safe house in the city of Najaf were butchered, together with a young boy they had rescued from the sex industry. Last summer, the coordinator of a Baghdad safe house, Bashar, was gunned to death in his local barber's shop by an Islamist hit squad. Previously, five gay activists who organised another Baghdad safe house were massacred."

Iraqi LGBT says that is chronically underfunded and is in need of financial help. If you want to donate to the group, they ask:

Please make cheque payable to ( IRAQI LGBT ) and send it to our address:

Iraqi Lgbt
22 Notting Hill Gate
Unit 111
London,W11 3JE
United Kingdom

Tel: 079-819 59453
iraqilgbt@yahoo.co.uk

Queerty

First Gay Panthers Cheerleader

2009-02-25T08:04:00.000-08:00

NAACP Calls for Overturning of Proposition 8

2009-02-24T09:03:00.000-08:00

NAACP Calls for Overturning of Proposition 8
The NAACP announced support on Monday for California's supreme court to invalidate Prop. 8, the November ballot initiative that constitutionally banned same-sex marriage in California.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People announced support on Monday for California's supreme court to invalidate Proposition 8, the November ballot initiative that constitutionally banned same-sex marriage in California.

The civil rights group not only wants the court to overturn Prop. 8 -- they want California's legislature to go on record against Prop. 8 as well.

"The NAACP's mission is to help create a society where all Americans have equal protection and opportunity under the law," wrote NAACP CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous (pictured) in a letter to legislative leaders. "Our mission statement calls for the 'quality of rights of all persons.' Prop. 8 strips same-sex couples of a fundamental freedom, as defined by the California state supreme court. In so doing, it poses a serious threat to all Americans. Prop. 8 is a discriminatory, unprecedented change to the California constitution that, if allowed to stand, would undermine the very purpose of a constitution and courts -- assuring equal protection and opportunity for all and safeguarding minorities from the tyranny of the majority."

The California state conference of the NAACP has already filed briefs with the California supreme court in the legal challenge against the ballot initiative, which squeaked by with 52% of the vote. California's state court will begin hearing oral arguments to Prop. 8 on March 5.

"The NAACP has long opposed any proposal that would alter the federal or state constitutions for the purpose of excluding any groups or individuals from guarantees of equal protections," said NAACP chairman Julian Bond in a press release. "We urge the legislature to declare that Proposition 8 did not follow the proper protective process and should be overturned as an invalid alteration that vitiated crucial constitutional safeguards and fundamental American values, threatening civil rights and all vulnerable minorities."

Alexander Robinson, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, an LGBT rights organization, said that the letter represented forward movement for the NAACP. "It's consistent in that they have always opposed constitutional bans," he observed, "but I think that weighing in so clearly on an action that would have the effect of reinstituting marriage given that they still have not taken a position on gay marriage is a significant step forward." Robinson also anticipated that the national organization might get some pushback on the letter from local NAACP chapters. (Neal Broverman, Advocate.com)

Advocate

Dolly Parton Says She Loves the Gays but Isn't One

2009-02-23T14:01:00.000-08:00