Click here to sign up to meet with your US Senators and Representatives in August in your local district to press the case for HR 3017, The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would prohibit job discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Did you click on the link just now and sign up? Why not? That unreasoning reason that just jumped into your head - you know, the thing along the lines of "You expect meeee to....no thanks, I can't, someone else will do it, I'm just browsing, leave me alone" - that one?

We can have ENDA -- if we get smart and we get targeted.

Or not.

Continue reading "Click Here To Meet With Your US Legislators in August. Or Bye-Bye ENDA" »

I'm sure you've all at least hear about the story Politico broke yesterday about the Washington Post attempting to sell access to Obama officials, newsroom journalists, and editorial staff. For the low price of $25,000, health care lobbyists could secure their place at a dinner at the Post's publisher's house with her and "the select few who will actually get [health care reform] done." They promised the dinners to be an "off-the-record" event where "the right people can alter the debate."

The Post is now trying to backtrack and say that the flier a health care lobbyist leaked to Politico was just a draft that hadn't been properly vetted (but somehow was already being distributed to lobbyists), and the White House is saying that they have no knowledge of any staff's involvement in this. The "salons" have been cancelled, and the Post, which has been one of the most condescending legacy media publications towards new media when it comes to ethics and journalism, is trying to salvage what remains of its reputation.

But what I find particularly disheartening about this whole mess is the subject matter proposed for the first salon: health care reform. I've been following that issue for some time, and three of the main reasons we don't have a public option even though a large majority of Americans support it are:

1. the journalists who cover it for mainstream publications already have good enough health care to not really care about the issue,
2. people without health care tend not to have enough money to gain access to politicians and staffers, and
3. the insurance industry spreads misinformation about health care reform easily.

It's maddening that the only industry mentioned in the Constitution because of its important role in democracy would lead the way for a highly antidemocratic process on a specific issue that should be decided democratically. They really have no shame.

Continue reading "Let them attend their own insider salons" »

It's not enough that he has set Catholicism back several decades (you should have known that was his objective when he chose the name of the last pope he could actually respect, Benedict XV, 1914-1922, who invented canon law). Having torched seminaries with his witch hunt for homosexual candidates for the priesthood, he has now turned his bloody eye on that weakest and most endangered workforce of the Roman Catholic Church, the nuns.

As reported in The New York Times, B16 has initiated what he is calling a "visitation", but let's call it what it really is, an inquisition. He's gotten wind of the fact that some nuns don't wear habits, some nuns have secular work (gotta pay the bills on those vast and empty convents) and some nuns have supposedly developed an interest in Reiki. B16 in usual Vatican fashion lumps Reiki in with voodoo and sees it as opposed to Catholic faith. (This is a subject for another day, but Reiki actually talks about the flow of healing energy from and within the human body. Substitute grace for energy and you're on safe Catholic ground. Plus, the "laying on of hands" is part of ancient Catholic tradition and ritual. Reiki just does it more intently.)

Because B16 can't ride his dark horse up to the gate of each and every American convent, he has deputized an American nun as his grand inquisitor visitator. The New York Times calls her "apple-cheeked" and with "smiling eyes," but make no mistake. She is B16 in a dress. Oh wait. A different dress (supply any reverse drag joke you like). Mother Mary Clare Millea has a degree in canon law from the Lateran University in Rome. She's a well-connected Vatican tool. Beneath her sweet words of overture to the nuns of America is the obvious disciplinary intent.

Continue reading "The Relentless Damage of Pope Benedict XVI" »

Here's a quick historical tidbit in honor of the many patriotic songs played this weekend: Katherine Lee Bates, author of "America the Beautiful," lived for 25 years with fellow Wellesley College professor Katherine Coman, in what is commonly called a "Boston marriage." (I find it eternally funny that the term has existed since the late 19th century, and in 2004 Massachusetts became the first state to legalize marriage for same-sex couples.)

It may be ahistorical to call Bates a lesbian in a modern sense; we don't have evidence of any sexual relationship between the two women. One only need read "Yellow Clover," the volume of poetry Bates wrote upon Coman's death, however, to know that their bond went beyond mere friendship. In the poem, If You Could Come, Bates says:

Continue reading "A Patriotic Foremother" »

Editors' Note: Guest blogger Kim Fountain, PhD, is the Deputy Director of the NYC Anti Violence Project. She is standing with Joseph Holladay, a recent hate crimes victim, in the picture below. Holladay's bashing was covered on Bilerico-Indiana; he's originally from Indianapolis and his cousin is a friend of the site.

Earlier this week, as the deputy director of the NYC Anti-Violence Project AVP) I welcomed a room full of reporters and elected officials to New York City Anti-Violence Project's offices for the release of the 2008 New York statistics on anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender hate violence. It was both exhilarating and distressing. The energy in the room-- the strength of survivors who wanted to tell their stories so that people can understand what a hate violence means in the lives of a survivor, the energy of activists and elected officials hungry to do something to stop the violence and help end the discrimination that condones hate violence, and the interest from members of the media in understanding and getting the story out. But the distressing part is the reality of the hate violence and how it persists. Without adequate attention to education and prevention measures, the number of incidents reported may go down slightly (12% in NYC) but the severity of the violence is increasing at an alarming rate.

Continue reading "2008 was most dangerously violent year for LGBT people in over a decade " »

Patrick Vandenburgh, writing for the Freeport (Ill.) Journal-Standard, wants a Christian revolutionary war:

It is time for a new Christian revolutionary war. It is time for Christians all over the United States to stand up for our Judeo-Christian heritage. Our nation has slowly turned its back on God. We have forsaken our call as a nation, which is to be a light to all other nations. We have allowed a few in the secular minority to rob our freedoms, which came by the blood of many brave men and women throughout history. [...]

The United States of America is still the greatest country in the world. However, our nation is in a battle of major proportions for its soul. We cannot allow the secular humanists, the religious liberals or the immoral of society speak on behalf of our nation. It is time that the church of Jesus Christ find its revolutionary voice, and proclaim to everyone who will listen, that this nation is and will always be "one nation under God."

It's unclear what "freedom" he's been robbed of, since the only violation he mentions in the column is the fact that Obama doesn't believe America is a Christian nation (perhaps because he's read the Constitution).

That's really not important, though, since if there's anything that unites this sort of Evangelical fundamentalist, it's the idea that they're incredibly oppressed by absolutely everyone at all times, and if you can't understand just how they're all always eternal victims, then you're part of the problem.

Continue reading "War! War! War!" »

I went nuclear last year when there was a historic committee hearing on transgender issues and not one African-American transgender person was invited to participate.

There was another historic gathering of importance to GLBT people that took place on Monday. It was in the wake of the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots that took place June 28, 1969.

This time the host was none other than the POTUS, and it took place in the building at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue that my ancestors helped construct with their unpaid labor.

So did the white transgender community learn its lesson from last year and make sure in the twelve transgender people that were selected to be there, there was some African-American representation?

Nope.

Continue reading "Another Historic Meeting, Another Melanin-free Transgender Contingent" »

Congrats to India, the Delhi High Court repealed the state sodomy law, section 377.

The verdict, which was described as "progressive" by the gay rights activists who fought an eight-year-long legal battle, said, "section 377 denies a person's dignity and criminalises his or her core identity solely on account of his or her sexualities and thus violates Article 21."

"As it stands, section 377 denies a gay person a right to full personhood which is implicit in notion of life under Article 21 of the Constitution," the Bench said in its 105-page judgement allowing the plea of gay right activists seeking to decriminalise homosexual acts among consenting adults which otherwise attracts punishment up to life imprisonment.

The case was prosecuted mainly by the Ministry of Health, since it's hard to fight STD's among men who have sex with men if the characteristic that defines that group is illegal, and this past week was marked by protests in favor and against lifting the sodomy law.

Here are a few highlights I found interesting. You can read the full text here in pdf.

Continue reading "India repeals sodomy law" »

There are 20 fair-minded House Republicans who appear to be open towards ENDA, but have not yet gone public with their support. They are just as important as the 45 Democrats who are unconfirmed, and may be more open than some of the Democrats.

What are they waiting for?

They are waiting for you to ask.

Please email and ask them to support HR 3017, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. If you are a constituent and want to set up a meet with them, click here.

The full list of unconfirmed Representatives, both Democrats and Republicans, can be found by clicking here, and will be continuously updated until ENDA 09 is completed.

Continue reading "Click Here To Email 20 House Republicans Open to ENDA " »

Today's our birthday! We launched Bilerico Project two years ago today. It seems appropriate to make an announcement about the future of TBP and our affiliated sites today.

We're in the middle of creating a new look for the Bilerico sites and we hope to have everything up and running before the end of the month. We're going to more of a magazine style than simply running large swaths of text down the left column; we want to be able to highlight our best content and current actions while still maximizing what contributors and readers have to say about the day's topics.

Not only will we be launching the new look on TBP and Bilerico-Indiana, Bilerico-Florida, and Bilerico-DC - we'll also be launching Bilerico-NY at the same time! Father Tony will be taking the reigns of the new Bilerico affiliated site so you know how irreverent and lively it'll be. Tony has lined up some incredible talent as part of the Bilerico-NY family and I'm looking forward to seeing the mischief they'll cause.

With our new format, we'll be able to facilitate more contributors without stressing the Editorial Team past their limits plus we'll be featuring breaking citizen journalist news reports from around the country. We'll also have more ways for Projectors to connect with each other and help shape the site. If you'd like to apply to be a contributor to Bilerico Project or one of our state sites, please submit an application.

As Bilerico has grown from our original idea into what it is now, I wonder what the future holds. Any suggestions? As we put the new site together, do you have anything you'd like to see or things we should dump? Any contributors we should seek out? What should we do to bring you back every day and get you to invite your friends too?

I was very happy to get a facebook invite yesterday for Join The Impact's newest campaign: Fairness Works.

Join The Impact is the grassroots organization that was able to, with zero money, mobilize millions of LGBT people to march in the streets to protest the passage of Proposition 8 last November, all through the power of the internet.

Now they are lifting up a campaign to knock-out job discrimination with a three pronged punch. Their campaign focuses energy on the passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), and the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT).

On July 25th, in communities around the country, a grassroots army of people will be holding dream-ins, part mis-mash of events, part teach-in, part protest, part direct legislative lobbying, and part- testimony, to lift up voices of discrimination in our community and how ENDA and EFCA and the repeal of DADT can bring fairness for all workers.

For those in the community who have been using the rallying cry of "no more excuses" here is an excellent way to put our anger and energy to action.

Continue reading "Introducing Fairness Works " »

The Canadian queer radical journal No More Potlucks has just published my piece "Dump Gay Marriage Now." A print-on-demand edition will also be available.

"Dump Gay Marriage" was sparked by my Bilerico Project piece, "Prop 8 Is a Distraction, or: NOW Can We Dump Gay Marriage?". The two pieces are quite different, with only a couple of paragraphs remaining from the original, so please do read this new one and let me know what you think.

My thanks to Ryan Conrad for sharing his amazing photograph. And to the Bilerico readers who made the original post one of the most popular, and who engaged in one of the more nuanced conversations we've had here in a while.

Excerpt and link after the jump.

Continue reading "Dump Gay Marriage Now" »