Politics: September 2007
Don't Fear the Whip Count
Filed by Nadine Smith | September 30, 2007 | 11:21 AM |It is important to remember the dynamics of a whip count. It is a tool of political gamesmanship and often a very bad idea when faced with a bill that has a slim majority or hard won support. It is...Read More
Don't Fear the Whip Count
Filed by Nadine Smith | September 30, 2007 | 11:21 AM |It is important to remember the dynamics of a whip count. It is a tool of political gamesmanship and often a very bad idea when faced with a bill that has a slim majority or hard won support. It is...Read More
Joe Solmonese On Transgender Inclusion
Filed by Marti Abernathey | September 29, 2007 | 7:54 PM |Lest anyone think I was unfair earlier today... This is from Southern Comfort Conference September 14, 2007. I think Joe's own words speak for themselves:...Read More
Politico or Activist, You Choose
Filed by Marti Abernathey | September 29, 2007 | 2:55 PM |After a night (of not too restful) sleep on the actions of the House Democrats stripping of transgender people from ENDA, I'd like to make a few observations. It's been said by Barney Frank that the votes are just not...Read More
ENDA - To Support It or Not?
Filed by Guest Blogger | September 29, 2007 | 9:51 AM |[EDITOR'S NOTE:] The following is a guest post by Peter Rosenstein. Peter has worked for Congresswoman Bella Abzug, the Carter administration, and the White House Conference for the Handicapped Implementation Unit. In addition, Peter has been a member of the...Read More
A Moment of Truth
Filed by Nadine Smith | September 29, 2007 | 2:50 AM |Don't get angry, get organized. That's an old activist slogan to remind us that in a fight we do better to get strategic than to simply lash out. Are you upset to hear that gender identy and expression has been...Read More
A Moment of Truth
Filed by Nadine Smith | September 29, 2007 | 2:50 AM |Don't get angry, get organized. That's an old activist slogan to remind us that in a fight we do better to get strategic than to simply lash out. Are you upset to hear that gender identy and expression has been...Read More
A Moment of Truth
Filed by Nadine Smith | September 29, 2007 | 2:50 AM |Don't get angry, get organized. That's an old activist slogan to remind us that in a fight we do better to get strategic than to simply lash out. Are you upset to hear that gender identy and expression has been...Read More
Guest post on ENDA from Congressman Barney Frank
Filed by Guest Blogger | September 28, 2007 | 5:45 PM |This guest post comes to us from Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA). Congressman Frank is one of two openly gay House members, is the Chair of the Financial Services Committee, and has been a leader in the development of the Employment...Read More
Recent ENDA developments
Filed by Joe Solmonese | September 28, 2007 | 5:30 PM |We know that everyone has been waiting to hear from HRC about the status of ENDA. A lot has changed since Wednesday. Besides trying to ensure that the Senate beat the filibuster on Hate Crimes—an achievement which can not get...Read More
Update:ENDA
Filed by Marti Abernathey | September 28, 2007 | 4:44 PM |This just in from the San Francisco Chronicle: The move has generated outrage in the gay rights community -- with the notable exception of HRC, which so far remains silent, refusing to return repeated phone calls. Sources say HRC has...Read More
Police Brutality at SRLP Anniversary Party: Hold the Cops Accountable
Filed by Jessica Hoffmann | September 28, 2007 | 2:46 PM |On Wednesday night, NYPD officers attacked without provocation members of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, an organization that works on behalf of low-income people of color who are transgender, gender non-conforming, or intersex. The SRLP's press release reported, "two of...Read More
A Frank Coming of Age Story
Filed by Marti Abernathey | September 28, 2007 | 1:49 PM |I guess being screwed over is a rite of passage as a transgender activist/advocate. Becky Juro's written an excellent summary of the history of dangled carrots and broken promises. Vanessa Edwards Foster explains how we've been suckered like this in...Read More
The big breaking news about ENDA
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 28, 2007 | 12:38 PM |Is that they're splitting it into two bills, one for sexual orientation, one for gender identity. From the SF Chronicle: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco and Reps. George Miller, D-Martinez, Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., believe...Read More
Why do Barney Frank & Tammy Baldwin, HRC, Nancy Pelosi & the Dems, and the Civil Rights Powers That Be Hate Gays?
Filed by Marla R. Stevens | September 28, 2007 | 10:30 AM |... smart people don't compromise themselves out of the picture and, even if you could pass for straight enough to get on the HRC Board of Directors, taking gender inclusion out of ENDA is going to leave a bill that could well end up not protecting you.Read More
Why do Barney Frank & Tammy Baldwin, HRC, Nancy Pelosi & the Dems, and the Civil Rights Powers That Be Hate Gays?
Filed by Marla R. Stevens | September 28, 2007 | 10:30 AM |... smart people don't compromise themselves out of the picture and, even if you could pass for straight enough to get on the HRC Board of Directors, taking gender inclusion out of ENDA is going to leave a bill that could well end up not protecting you.Read More
Why Gays In Iran Don’t Wear Burqas.
Filed by Storm Bear | September 28, 2007 | 9:14 AM |click to enlarge...Read More
Here We Go Again...
Filed by Rebecca Juro | September 28, 2007 | 3:52 AM |...and it's just oh-so-familiar, isn't it? Of course, by now you've heard that House Democrats are expected to strip protections for Transgender-American citizens from ENDA. You've probably also heard that the Human Rights Campaign and the Leadership Council on Civil...Read More
Here We Go Again...
Filed by Rebecca Juro | September 28, 2007 | 3:52 AM |...and it's just oh-so-familiar, isn't it? Of course, by now you've heard that House Democrats are expected to strip protections for Transgender-American citizens from ENDA. You've probably also heard that the Human Rights Campaign and the Leadership Council on Civil...Read More
ENDA Three Card Draw
Filed by Marti Abernathey | September 28, 2007 | 1:57 AM |With passage of The Matthew Shepard Act in the Senate on Thursday, it should have been a time for celebration. But on the heels of the victory came the news that gender identity could possibly be stripped of from the...Read More
Edwards on DenialOMA: Four Tiny Words = One HUGE Statement
Filed by Marla R. Stevens | September 27, 2007 | 5:13 PM |Presidential candidate John Edwards at last night's debate at Dartmouth said that he supports DenialOMA repeal. Read More
No Gays in Iran? Might be right!
Filed by Sean Kosofsky | September 27, 2007 | 1:55 PM |I have been very pleased to read about the national response to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's comments at Columbia University that there are no "homosexuals" in Iran. The crowd immediately burst into laughter and the comment has already made the...Read More
A non-transgender-inclusive ENDA? No way!
Filed by Matt Foreman | September 27, 2007 | 1:25 PM |IIf media reports from the last 24 hours are accurate, it is unconscionable that congressional leaders would rush to a decision to strip protections for transgender people at the same time as states across the nation are adding these protections...Read More
VIDEO: Richardson wouldn't lead Boy Scouts
Filed by Bil Browning | September 27, 2007 | 12:15 PM |Man, I can't help but really like Bill Richardson. He may screw up occasionally, but that makes him human. And now that he'll go further on the Boy Scouts than anyone else? Hell, yeah. I've always thought it was hypocritical...Read More
Hate crimes bill to be voted on soon
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 27, 2007 | 10:02 AM |The vote for cloture to vote to add new hate crimes law to a massive military appropriations bill will be coming up soon, possibly in the next hour. I'll keep you informed. Here's a reminder of what the bill does...Read More
Hillary, I am in no mood for 2013!
Filed by Storm Bear | September 27, 2007 | 8:34 AM |click to enlarge HRC can't make a commitment to bring the troops home before 2013? Well, I am terribly sorry, then it seems I can't make a commitment to vote for her. I am looking for a President, not...Read More
It's Put Up Or Shut Up Time
Filed by Marti Abernathey | September 27, 2007 | 1:41 AM |According to the Washington Blade: "House Democratic leaders are strongly considering dropping anti-discrimination protections for transgender persons from the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA, after an internal Democratic head count on Wednesday found that the bill would likely be defeated...Read More
Setting the Pace on Gays in the Military
Filed by Steve Ralls | September 26, 2007 | 8:58 PM |General Peter Pace, the outgoing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has clarified his earlier remarks about gays in the military. Speaking before the Senate Appropriations Committee this afternoon, and prompted by questions from Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, Pace...Read More
Slipping from Sewanee to the Rhine...
Filed by Marla R. Stevens | September 26, 2007 | 8:39 PM |Listening to the Republican frontrunners, I continue to be struck by the tone of blame toward those who are suffering economically ... There's a mean streak in certain libertarians who ignore the effect on their lives and choices of the many privileges they enjoy. It is too often a willful blindness that ignores as well the power of macroeconomics and the power of purchased government to maintain economic injustice. Read More
Slipping from Sewanee to the Rhine...
Filed by Marla R. Stevens | September 26, 2007 | 8:39 PM |Listening to the Republican frontrunners, I continue to be struck by the tone of blame toward those who are suffering economically ... There's a mean streak in certain libertarians who ignore the effect on their lives and choices of the many privileges they enjoy. It is too often a willful blindness that ignores as well the power of macroeconomics and the power of purchased government to maintain economic injustice. Read More
We ain't got no stinkin' gays; We ain't got no stinkin' transcripts neither
Filed by Bil Browning | September 26, 2007 | 3:15 PM |While the world got a good laugh at Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's idiotic comment about gays and lesbians at Columbia University this week, he's apparently not willing to share the chuckles with his own people. The International Gay and Lesbian...Read More
Hangin' with the Supremes
Filed by Bil Browning | September 26, 2007 | 11:40 AM |You may remember Bill Groth from his frequent comments here on The Bilerico Project or you might know him from his own blog at the American Values Alliance (where Sheila Kennedy and I blog also). By far, Bill has one...Read More
Last Ditch Effort: The Right Wing Whopper Lies
Filed by Marti Abernathey | September 26, 2007 | 10:04 AM |Unbelievably, I woke up to find this in a Google alert:"Bringing back Hitler and the SS". From the get go, it's filled with lies: "Right now we have a bill called HR 2015 that, in my opinion, would bring back...Read More
Iran has a long history of using pastels!
Filed by Storm Bear | September 26, 2007 | 8:45 AM |click to enlarge Again, Ahmadinejad’s idiot comments about the non-existance of Gays in Iran is just as stupid as damn near anything Reich Marshal Bush has to say. Of course, it could be a back-handed compliment. Ahmadinejad may have...Read More
Larry Craig's lawyers to appear in court tomorrow
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 25, 2007 | 4:55 PM |His day in court is the 26th of September. That's tomorrow. Consider this an open thread to speculate as to what will happen, if you're as interested in this case as I am. You can read Craig's motion to retract...Read More
All the News That’s Fit to Swill
Filed by Karen Ocamb | September 25, 2007 | 3:30 PM |The Advocate’s come a long way, baby! Forty years and counting. That’s an impressive achievement by any standard. But fear of middle-age and remaining relevant in the instant era of YouTube/Blog-o-mania have nudged the onetime national gay and lesbian newsmagazine...Read More
Jena 6’s black leadership splits queer community
Filed by Rev Irene Monroe | September 25, 2007 | 2:10 PM |The Jena 6 case - in which Southern white law enforcement in Jena, La., unabashedly doled out biased treatment against six African-American high school students - harkens backs to this country’s era of Jim Crow. And it is a no-brainer...Read More
Challenging the right wing - one person at a time
Filed by Bil Browning | September 25, 2007 | 1:55 PM |Box Turtle Bulletin's Jim Burroway has a post up today that will literally make you want to stand up and cheer. He suffered through the Family Impact Summit held in Tampa, Florida recently and describes an incident that stuck out....Read More
Airport prosecutor wants Larry Craig guilty plea to stick
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 25, 2007 | 1:00 PM |Not as if that's much of a surprise. The prosecutor assigned to the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport, Christopher Renz, has responded to Larry Craig petition to retract his guilty plea, saying that he "had hoped that he could plead guilty and...Read More
What If the Gays Stopped Being Polite and Started Getting Real?
Filed by Michael Crawford | September 25, 2007 | 7:55 AM |Richard Rothstein hits the LGBT activist nail on the head in this excerpt from his post called Black America To Gay America: Jena Six, This Is How It's Done! Consider that days before a possible ENDA vote, ENDA is not...Read More
What If the Gays Stopped Being Polite and Started Getting Real?
Filed by Michael Crawford | September 25, 2007 | 7:55 AM |Richard Rothstein hits the LGBT activist nail on the head in this excerpt from his post called Black America To Gay America: Jena Six, This Is How It's Done! Consider that days before a possible ENDA vote, ENDA is not...Read More
At What Point Do We Say Enough is Enough?
Filed by Michael Crawford | September 24, 2007 | 10:19 AM |At what point do we say that the latest attack against a LGBT person is the last one and that we will be silent no more? At what point will we allow the fear and anger at the news of...Read More
The Very First Diva-In-Chief?
Filed by Steve Ralls | September 24, 2007 | 9:06 AM |Why do we love Hillary? It’s a question being debated in the LGBT community in advance of a much-talked-about Advocate interview with the junior Senator from New York. Clinton does not, the article points out, support same-sex marriage. (And, according...Read More
Who Is The White Man in Ahmadinejad’s Court?
Filed by Storm Bear | September 24, 2007 | 8:40 AM |click to enlarge I have been reading a lot of translations of Ahmadinejad's speeches and they parallel Bush's speeches. I find it amazing the two can both be so disconnected from reality or skilled in propaganda. Maybe they have...Read More
Leave the Activism to the Adults…?
Filed by Waymon Hudson | September 24, 2007 | 8:00 AM |People often wonder why we don’t have more young leaders and advocates standing up from within our community. They claim the community, and young people in particular, are disengaged and disinterested in politics and activism. Yet do these people really...Read More
Transwoman loses her job over the bathroom issue
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 21, 2007 | 2:45 PM |I remember a few months back one of the commenters on this site, who's a transwoman, was exasperated that all trans activists talk about is "the bathroom issue". I'm certainly not in a position to judge these activists, but it...Read More
What Really Happened to Denise Lannaman?
Filed by Steve Ralls | September 21, 2007 | 9:01 AM |By all accounts, Denise Lannaman was a woman who found her calling in the United States Army. After bouncing from job to job for years (including as a firefighter, a sailor, a filmmaker, a scuba diver, a paramedic and an...Read More
Rick Santorum, faux-outrage, and the tragic sitcomedy known as American politics
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 21, 2007 | 8:24 AM |The gym I go to has several dozen televisions throughout it, each turned to one of three channels: ESPN, NBC, and Fox News. Since the sound isn't turned on, you can't really tell what's going on, but imagine my surprise...Read More
What will Congressman Ellsworth do?
Filed by Bil Browning | September 20, 2007 | 6:30 PM |I had an interesting conversation with Stu Rosenburg from the Human Rights Campaign yesterday. He's in town continuing the valuable work he and his team have been doing in Indiana around ENDA and hate crimes legislation. I love sitting and...Read More
What will Congressman Ellsworth do?
Filed by Bil Browning | September 20, 2007 | 6:30 PM |I had an interesting conversation with Stu Rosenburg from the Human Rights Campaign yesterday. He's in town continuing the valuable work he and his team have been doing in Indiana around ENDA and hate crimes legislation. I love sitting and...Read More
"I hit puberty because of Jimmy Carter"
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 20, 2007 | 4:28 PM |The always-fabulous Samantha Bee tries to answer the question on everyone's mind: Is America ready for a woman president?...Read More
James Dobson slaps Freddie Thompson
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 20, 2007 | 3:13 PM |The good doctor wrote up an email that was obtained by the AP where he says he's not down with the Freddie. It's funny what he thinks about the GOP savior: Isn't Thompson the candidate who is opposed to a...Read More
National Coming Out Day 2007
Filed by Michael Crawford | September 20, 2007 | 12:46 PM |Any good gay knows that closets are for clothes and that no matter how well organized your closet may be, its not a place fit for you or any other person. That's why the folks at the Human Rights Campaign...Read More
Is Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a “Girlie-Man?”
Filed by Karen Ocamb | September 19, 2007 | 7:42 PM |About 200 demonstrators laughed and cheered Tuesday night when Lorri Jean, CEO of the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center, stuck a fake pen in the hand of a fake Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and urged him to sign California’s same-sex marriage...Read More
Is Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a “Girlie-Man?”
Filed by Karen Ocamb | September 19, 2007 | 7:42 PM |About 200 demonstrators laughed and cheered Tuesday night when Lorri Jean, CEO of the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center, stuck a fake pen in the hand of a fake Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and urged him to sign California’s same-sex marriage...Read More
Gays Stand in Support of Jena 6
Filed by Michael Crawford | September 19, 2007 | 11:55 AM |The case of the Jena 6 proves that the stench of racism is alive and well in the good old U.S.A. Last fall the day after two Black students sat under the "white" tree at a high school in Jena,...Read More
Secret History of the Taser
Filed by Storm Bear | September 19, 2007 | 9:03 AM |click to enlarge...Read More
Mitt Romney Radio Ad Attacks Gays
Filed by Michael Crawford | September 18, 2007 | 9:13 PM |Mitt Romney is running a new radio ad in Iowa touting his support for a federal constitutional amendment to ban marriage between same-sex couples. He and the oh so perky announcer blather on about the need to defend traditional marriage,...Read More
Mitt Romney wishes you a great Pride Weekend, 2002
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 18, 2007 | 6:37 PM |Here are a few interesting stories about GOP presidential candidates (no wonder Alan Keyes sees an opening). First, some wonderful people have found a wonderful 2002 poster of Mitt Romney wishing us all a great Pride (found via Queerty). The...Read More
John McCain even flip-flops on his religion
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 18, 2007 | 6:33 PM |Next up, Sen. John McCain, speaking in South Carolina, announced that his religion has changed from the gay-friendly Episcopalian church to the more homophobic Baptist church, a whole long time ago, and everyone's been reporting his religion incorrectly, even when...Read More
Bill Richardson: LGBT Americans have been denied their civil rights for too long
Filed by Guest Blogger | September 18, 2007 | 4:33 PM |[EDITOR'S NOTE:] The following guest post is from New Mexico Governor and Presidential candidate Bill Richardson. Governor Richardson has the strongest record of achievement of any Presidential candidate on civil rights issues and support for the LGBT community. He proudly...Read More
John Kerry's sorry that the Tasered kid existed
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 18, 2007 | 2:57 PM |Or something. From him: In 37 years of public appearances, through wars, protests and highly emotional events, I have never had a dialogue end this way. I believe I could have handled the situation without interruption, but I do not...Read More
Ocean Grove's Camp Meeting Association loses tax exemption
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 18, 2007 | 12:20 PM |The Camp Meeting Association, in Ocean Grove, New Jersey, will have to start paying quite a bit more in taxes. The group own the beach and the boardwalk in the town (a town with a strong gay and lesbian presence),...Read More
Maryland High Court Upholds Marriage Ban
Filed by Michael Crawford | September 18, 2007 | 10:46 AM |The Maryland Court of Appeals upheld the state's ban on gay marriage in a decision announced this morning. The decision reverses a lower court ruling by Baltimore Circuit Court Judge M. Brooke Murdock, who held in January that the 1973...Read More
Maryland High Court Upholds Marriage Ban
Filed by Michael Crawford | September 18, 2007 | 10:46 AM |The Maryland Court of Appeals upheld the state's ban on gay marriage in a decision announced this morning. The decision reverses a lower court ruling by Baltimore Circuit Court Judge M. Brooke Murdock, who held in January that the 1973...Read More
Richardson at SEIU - Two things
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 18, 2007 | 7:35 AM |Hey, at the big SIEU presidential forum last night, we got a shout-out from Bill! From Dana Goldstein: And he even mentions LGBT rights. "When I'm elected president, there will not be discrimination based on sexual orientation." Richardson closes with...Read More
University of Florida student Tasered for Speaking to John Kerry out of turn
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 17, 2007 | 11:12 PM |A student at the University of Florida was trying to ask Sen. Kerry why he wasn't backing impeachment of the President, when, well, this happened. From the Miami Herald: "He apparently asked several questions -- he went on for quite...Read More
While I'm on the subject of IFI...
Filed by Bil Browning | September 17, 2007 | 9:44 PM |I'm telling you, these fundies don't know anything about gay dating. First Ryan asks me on an all-day date without even so much as a wink. I accepted but at least I had the grace to ask him to a...Read More
More fundie follies
Filed by Bil Browning | September 17, 2007 | 4:02 PM |Curt Smith, head of the Indiana Family Institute, blogs today about same-sex civil marriage and trots out the usual fundie talking points for the sheeple. After all these years of using the LGBT community as a fundraising tool, you'd think...Read More
ACLU backs Larry Craig
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 17, 2007 | 3:08 PM |Two weeks ago Dan Savage took on the Larry Craig debacle in his column, and he wrote: However, CASH, as I'm sure you and others involved in the homosexual lifestyle are aware, the kind of man that plays footsie in...Read More
The Sulfur Smell of John McCain
Filed by Storm Bear | September 17, 2007 | 9:59 AM |click to enlarge Meet The Press is hard enough to watch with Tim Russert asking pointless questions, but yesterday's show was brutally painful, mostly due to the appearance of John "Baghdad Walkabout" McCain. From the transcript: SEN. McCAIN: ...I...Read More
Alan Keyes announces presidential run
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 16, 2007 | 4:36 PM |Alan Keyes, five-time failed candidate, has decided that he needs another failed campaign to make an even half-dozen. America's favorite PFLAG dad unproud father of a "selfish hedonist" has announced his run for presidency on Janet Parshall's radio show. He...Read More
Rudy Giuliani Attacks Hillary Clinton
Filed by Michael Crawford | September 16, 2007 | 11:52 AM |Rudy Giuliani's lame new attack ad against Hillary Clinton which you can see here proves again that he is nothing more than a school yard bully masquerading as a presidential candidate. He unsuccessfully tries to blame the recent anti-war ad...Read More
Condi Coming Out? I say, No, No, No.
Filed by Sara Whitman | September 15, 2007 | 10:22 PM |What a day yesterday. I go out, meet a friend for lunch, come back and people are busy outing Condi Rice and her gal pal Randy Bean, with whom she owns a house in California. Um… I don’t want her....Read More
The House is Rice and Bean's
Filed by Mike Rogers | September 14, 2007 | 5:40 PM |Are you done laughing? Because, while it certainly has its funny side, it's really just another example of the hypocrisy of another conservative politician. Secretary of State Condi Rice and another woman, documentary filmmaker Randy Bean, own a house together...Read More
Bush nominates first practicing, closeted homosexual to Secretary of State
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 14, 2007 | 3:14 PM |Everyone erupts in baseless speculation WASHINGTON - The Washington Post's diplomatic correspondent, Glenn Kessler, has reported facts in his new book, The Confidante: Condoleezza Rice and the Creation of the Bush Legacy, that may answer the widespread speculation over the...Read More
We can win this one, with enough effort
Filed by Joe Solmonese | September 14, 2007 | 11:35 AM |For the first time since it was introduced 13 years ago, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) received a hearing before the key committee of jurisdiction in the U.S. House of Representatives last week. The Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee,...Read More
Why tolerate "tolerance?"
Filed by Guest Blogger | September 14, 2007 | 10:41 AM |[EDITOR'S NOTE:] The following guest post comes to us from Waymon Hudson. Waymon is President and Co-Founder of Fight OUT Loud, a national non-profit organization dedicated to helping LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) individuals fight discrimination and hate. He...Read More
Dennis “Firewall” Kucinich
Filed by Storm Bear | September 14, 2007 | 10:24 AM |click to enlarge This is Part 6 of the series "I No Longer Fear The Kucinich Revolution." Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Looking at where we are at as a nation, we are in...Read More
Out and Aging: Gay and Lesbian Boomers
Filed by Nina Smith | September 14, 2007 | 7:30 AM |Learning to Love Growing Old is a dated but useful article that appeared in Psychology Today back in 1994. Jere Daniel writes, “We fear and deny aging, because we fear and deny death. In our denial of death and the...Read More
Well, duh, marriage is about the regulation of sexuality
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 13, 2007 | 1:17 PM |-I don't think were talking about love here. We're talking about S-E-X in front of the C-H-I-L-D-R-E-N. -Sex Cauldron! I thought they closed that place down! Brummett, a local Arkansas columnist, has just written about the upcoming legislation in that...Read More
Republicans and Compassionate Hedonism
Filed by Storm Bear | September 13, 2007 | 8:53 AM |click to enlarge You can’t throw a dental dam these days without hitting a Gay Republican. We have all heard of the old saw about those “who protest too much.” It only 10% of that is true, the GOP...Read More
Another smack-down delivered to the ADF
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 12, 2007 | 1:48 PM |A challenge to the New York state comptroller's decision that retirement benefits will not be denied to same-sex couples married outside of New York got turned down today. The challenge was led by none other than the Alliance Defense Fund,...Read More
Bar exam flunkee drops suit
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 12, 2007 | 10:16 AM |Remember that guy in Massachusetts who was suing the state board of Bar examiners for asking a question on the exam that referenced a lesbian couple and the state supreme court justices for ruling in favor of same-sex marriage? Well,...Read More
By backing Obama, Oprah leaves queers behind
Filed by Rev Irene Monroe | September 11, 2007 | 9:05 PM |Queen of daytime talk Oprah Winfrey is omnipresent and omnipotent. Her monthly oracle — O, The Oprah Magazine — pontificates the principles of self-help, self-love, and self-giving. Her image floods newsstands. Bookstores stockpile their inventory with her choice for the...Read More
Are Gays the New Blacks for GOP?
Filed by Michael Crawford | September 11, 2007 | 6:16 PM |The Boston Globe has a smart op ed pointing out the similarities between how the Republican Party is using LGBT issues now and the way that it used racial doublespeak to solidify its support amongst white evangelicals and appeal to...Read More
Indiana gears back up for same-sex civil marriage fight
Filed by Bil Browning | September 11, 2007 | 12:36 PM |LGBT people are back on the minds of Indiana's conservatives, but you can bet your bottom dollar they're not concerned with treating us fairly or equally to themselves. No, instead we get more of the same - extreme rhetoric, lies...Read More
Battle Of Manhattan - The Fanatic vs. The Lady (redux)
Filed by Storm Bear | September 11, 2007 | 8:44 AM |click to enlarge Here is a clipping of something I wrote on September 11, 2001 with my initial thoughts of the war machine gearing up. Battle Of Manhattan - The Fanatic vs. The Lady Two warriors faced off in...Read More
Known Unknowns
Filed by Steve Ralls | September 10, 2007 | 7:02 PM |It is only slightly shorter than War & Peace, but oh so much more entertaining. It is, of course, GQ's exclusive interview with Donald Rumsfeld, the former Secretary of Defense. Rummy, who was said to set the hearts of women...Read More
Passing Politics
Filed by Rebecca Juro | September 10, 2007 | 3:02 PM |I originally wrote and posted this to my own blog but in light of the discussions regarding Marti's recent post I decided to post it here as well. Today, while driving home from a shopping trip, a truck driver passed...Read More
ICE Must Investigate Victoria Arellano's Death in Custody
Filed by Jessica Hoffmann | September 10, 2007 | 2:27 PM |(I've been swamped lately, so I'm late on posting about this -- been sitting in my inbox for a week -- bad blogger.) We, the undersigned organizations, write to you today to express our outrage over the July 20, 2007...Read More
Questioning the Candidates on Civil Unions - The POTUS and a Primer Part VI
Filed by Don Sherfick | September 10, 2007 | 10:00 AM |Over six installments (see the end of this post for links to each) I've pursued the issue of what the six Democrats seeking the nation's highest office are NOT saying when they reject same-sex marriage but say they're all for...Read More
Questioning the Candidates on Civil Unions - The POTUS and a Primer Part VI
Filed by Don Sherfick | September 10, 2007 | 10:00 AM |Over six installments (see the end of this post for links to each) I've pursued the issue of what the six Democrats seeking the nation's highest office are NOT saying when they reject same-sex marriage but say they're all for...Read More
Petraeus Report: 6 months of Surge or Pelosi Inaction?
Filed by Storm Bear | September 10, 2007 | 9:27 AM |click to enlarge Ever wonder how many lives would have been saved if we had YouTube for the Vietnam war? Or would the leaders of the day still deny the evident truth laying dead in the ditches and rivers...Read More
Venezuela: Is President Hugo Chavez - gulp! - gay?
Filed by Guest Blogger | September 10, 2007 | 8:25 AM |[EDITOR'S NOTE:] The following guest post comes to us from Andrés Duque from Blabbeando. Born in Colombia, South America, Andrés is a proud immigrant to the United States. He was a co-founder of the Colombian Lesbian and Gay Association (COLEGA),...Read More
Another GOP gay scandal brews in murder-suicide case?
Filed by Pam Spaulding | September 09, 2007 | 3:09 PM |There is a bizarre story swarming blogtopia, laced with unconfirmed (and confirmed) sources that could lead to another Republican Sexual Hypocrite "outing" and scandal. First, some facts about the weird murder suicide in Orlando in late August that kicked off...Read More
Michael Eric Dyson on the marketability of misogyny
Filed by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore | September 08, 2007 | 3:45 AM |Okay, so author/social critic Michael Eric Dyson is quite a brilliant speaker, which is evident from the beginning of an interview on Uprising Radio that starts by addressing the history of hip-hop, its global reach, and paradoxes of commercialism/resistance, but...Read More
Do it for Joan, and for all of us
Filed by Guest Blogger | September 07, 2007 | 4:00 PM |[EDITOR'S NOTE:] The following guest post is from Lee Carpenter, Legal Director for Equality Advocates Pennsylvania. She also supervises Equality Advocates' legal clinic, and acts as an adjunct clinical instructor to Temple Law students who each semester assist Equality Advocates'...Read More
Marriage passes legislature in California (again)
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 07, 2007 | 3:56 PM |From 365gay: A second showdown between the California legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger looms following the passage Friday in the Senate of a second bill to allow same-sex couples to wed. The measure already has passed the Assembly and now...Read More
Being for Civil Unions: how big of a deal is that? The POTUS and a Primer Part V
Filed by Don Sherfick | September 07, 2007 | 10:00 AM |In early August six Democratic hopefuls for their party's presidential ("POTUS") nomination on an HRC/Logo forum prompted me to think about how much candidates really DON'T say when they talk about gay marriage and civil unions. Mike Gravel and Dennis...Read More
Kucinich: Bulletproof Monk
Filed by Storm Bear | September 07, 2007 | 9:41 AM |click to enlarge This is Part 5 of the series "I No Longer Fear The Kucinich Revolution." Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 This strip isn't really about the mafia assassin that was sent to murder Kucinich,...Read More
The warm fuzzies
Filed by Bil Browning | September 07, 2007 | 7:26 AM |I woke up to find this poll in my inbox. I thought it would make a good topic for discussion today... Gallup Ranks the 2008 Candidates According to a Feeling Thermometer Using a "feeling thermometer" to evaluate the major Republican...Read More
An Arizona State of Mind
Filed by Steve Ralls | September 06, 2007 | 7:55 PM |If you're looking for a destination to replace Fort Lauderdale on your vacation list, you might want to consider the increasingly gay-friendly state of Arizona. After making history as the first state to reject an anti-gay marriage amendment, one community...Read More
On display for the public in all of its ugliness
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 06, 2007 | 7:30 PM |I was just reading a column by William Rusher, of course on Larry Craig, and here's what he had to say in defense of the Senator: No doubt about it, the inconsistency is toothsome. But does it really follow that...Read More
The shocking truth about "Fred" Thompson
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 06, 2007 | 3:53 PM |Check this out - GOP fantasy rookie candidate Fred Thompson's legal name isn't Frederick, it's... FREDDIE! The LA Times is reporting that Freddie was told that if he wanted a career in politics, that he had better "get rid of...Read More
The "ENDA" of Discrimination?
Filed by Terrance Heath | September 06, 2007 | 1:40 PM |Or just another end-run? It's that time again. Time for another congressional hearing on the Employment Non-Discriminintion Act (ENDA), which would prohibit workplace discrimination baed on sexual orienation; of course, that's with exemptions for religious organizations, the armed forces, businesses...Read More
The "ENDA" of Discrimination?
Filed by Terrance Heath | September 06, 2007 | 1:40 PM |Or just another end-run? It's that time again. Time for another congressional hearing on the Employment Non-Discriminintion Act (ENDA), which would prohibit workplace discrimination baed on sexual orienation; of course, that's with exemptions for religious organizations, the armed forces, businesses...Read More
Enough is Enough
Filed by Mike Rogers | September 06, 2007 | 12:46 PM |The time when politicians can stand with one foot on the platform of homophobia and the other in the closet has come to an end. Over three years ago -- within a month of the launch of my site,...Read More
Republican Candidate Booed for Supporting Marriage Ban
Filed by Michael Crawford | September 06, 2007 | 9:13 AM |At last night's Republican presidential debate on Fox News Noise, the New Hampshire audience booed Senator Sam Brownback when he voiced strong support for a constitutional amendment banning marriage between same-sex couples. Meanwhile, a voter was asked if there is...Read More
Thompson auditions for lead in "Failed Democracy"
Filed by Storm Bear | September 06, 2007 | 8:33 AM |click to enlarge This is not a Presidential run, but an audition. Already Fred Thompson is using prop masters - when Fred arrives at an event, he is in his red pick-up truck. Before the event, behind the scenes...Read More
Can WorldNetDaily, TalkLeft, and Arlen Specter save Larry Craig?
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 06, 2007 | 6:03 AM |Who knows - this defense might actually work (h/t Pam): All [Craig] had to do was hand the police officer a copy of the U.S. Constitution - the document the senator swore to uphold upon first taking office in Congress...Read More
Larry Craig, Weapons of Mass Distraction, and Lesbian Public Sex
Filed by Yasmin Nair | September 05, 2007 | 5:10 PM |So Larry Craig is now reconsidering his earlier decision to resign, in the midst of a "sex scandal" that contains no sex at all. We queers seem to agree that the Craig exposure is about the hypocrisy and self-loathing that...Read More
An Indy peek at Larry Craig
Filed by Don Sherfick | September 05, 2007 | 4:45 PM |Across from the editorial page of this morning's Indianapolis Star is a great piece by its regular columnist (and chief resident liberal, which makes him the Right's primary target) Dan Carpenter, who delves into the Larry Craig episode in a...Read More
An Indy peek at Larry Craig
Filed by Don Sherfick | September 05, 2007 | 4:45 PM |Across from the editorial page of this morning's Indianapolis Star is a great piece by its regular columnist (and chief resident liberal, which makes him the Right's primary target) Dan Carpenter, who delves into the Larry Craig episode in a...Read More
Pondering Larry Craig
Filed by Ellen Andersen | September 05, 2007 | 12:20 PM |This just in: Sen. Larry Craig of bathroom-bust fame is now reconsidering his decision to resign from the U.S. Senate. He's hired Stanley Brand, a prominent ethics lawyer, to handle the ethics investigation under way in the Senate. And he's...Read More
What we have lost under BushCo.
Filed by Storm Bear | September 04, 2007 | 2:32 PM |click to enlarge The laundry list of things BushCo has done against us is pretty staggering and can even make real Conservatives (honest-to-God Goldwater folks) cringe. But seldom do we look back at what we have lost under this...Read More
Workplace Unfairness Costs U.S. Employers an Estimated $64 Billion Annually
Filed by Bil Browning | September 04, 2007 | 2:06 PM |A new study reveals that workplace unfairness costs U.S. employers an estimated $64 billion per year in turnover of managers and professionals, in addition to costs from decreased sales of products and services and damaged employer reputation. "The Corporate Leavers...Read More
94% of Fortune 500 companies include sexual orientation protections
Filed by Bil Browning | September 04, 2007 | 12:12 PM |The Equality Forum, a national and international LGBT civil rights organization, recently announced that 470 (94%) of the 2007 Fortune 500 companies voluntarily include sexual orientation in their employment nondiscrimination policies. Equality Forum collaborates in this project with Professor Louis...Read More
Cleaning Up After Larry Craig
Filed by Michael Crawford | September 04, 2007 | 10:50 AM |Chicago attorney and gay activist Steve Sanders makes a great point in an op-ed published in the Chicago Sun Times about the recent sex scandals involving Larry Craig, Mark Foley and Ted Haggard: The truth is that these behaviors are...Read More
State Constitutional Amendments on Same-Sex Marriage/Civil Unions: The POTUS and A Primer Part IV
Filed by Don Sherfick | September 04, 2007 | 9:00 AM |On Monday of last week in the third post of my current discussion of marriage and civil unions, and what aspirants to be President of the United States are saying/can do with respect to them I went into some detail...Read More
State Constitutional Amendments on Same-Sex Marriage/Civil Unions: The POTUS and A Primer Part IV
Filed by Don Sherfick | September 04, 2007 | 9:00 AM |On Monday of last week in the third post of my current discussion of marriage and civil unions, and what aspirants to be President of the United States are saying/can do with respect to them I went into some detail...Read More
Larry Craig's Minneapolis legacy - Airport 2008
Filed by Don Sherfick | September 04, 2007 | 7:46 AM |To those who think that Idaho Senator's "intent to resign" at the end of this month will cause the whole shoe-tapping episode to fade from the public mind well before Election 2008, consider this: The September 2008 Republican national nominating...Read More
Will Gays Matter in '08? It's Up to Us
Filed by Karen Ocamb | September 03, 2007 | 7:56 PM |UPDATED Thank heavens for bloggers and the LGBT press. Granted: I didn't see ALL of the media coverage on the Larry Craig sex scandal, but I did see A LOT and not much included reaction from openly gay people. Yes,...Read More
Labor Day: Keeping the holiday in focus
Filed by Jerame Davis | September 03, 2007 | 8:25 AM |As we celebrate this Labor Day with our friends and neighbors, let's remember those of us who still aren't protected from discrimination at their places of employment. Only 12 states have laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation &...Read More
"Icky" Politics?
Filed by Sheila S. Kennedy | September 02, 2007 | 4:59 PM |My good friend Steve Sanders has a provocative op-ed in todays Chicago Sun-Times. Read it and weep......Read More
Saying 'I Don't' in Iowa
Filed by Steve Ralls | September 01, 2007 | 8:27 PM |The 24-hour gay marriage marathon has come to an end in Iowa, thanks to an activist judge's intervention in the matter, but the day-long experiment in equal justice has already turned into a marathon race by Republican presidential contenders,...Read More
