Politics: November 2007
"Won't somebody PLEASE think of the CHILDREN?!"
Filed by Gina de Vries | November 30, 2007 3:51 PM |According to Saving Childhood: Protecting Our Children from the National Assault on Innocence, Teh Homosexuals MADE ME CHOOSE A SEXUAL ORIENTATION before my time! Yep, it's all there, right on Amazon.com! I mean, I would say my experience of coming...Read More
Bill Richardson: I screwed up
Filed by Guest Blogger | November 30, 2007 11:52 AM |[EDITOR'S NOTE:] The following guest post is from New Mexico Governor and Presidential candidate Bill Richardson. Two weeks to the day after my August 10th appearance at the televised HRC/Logo LGBT Forum, I arrived at the Gay and Lesbian Community...Read More
Bill Richardson: I screwed up
Filed by Guest Blogger | November 30, 2007 11:52 AM |[EDITOR'S NOTE:] The following guest post is from New Mexico Governor and Presidential candidate Bill Richardson. Two weeks to the day after my August 10th appearance at the televised HRC/Logo LGBT Forum, I arrived at the Gay and Lesbian Community...Read More
Saudi rape gangs and farming
Filed by Storm Bear | November 30, 2007 11:17 AM |click to enlarge This has to be one of the most disgusting stories of the year and it has been well reported in the MSM and the blogosphere. But here is my take on it... This reads like Alabama...Read More
An open letter to Bill Richardson
Filed by Bil Browning | November 30, 2007 11:00 AM |Dear Bill, It’s time we had a little talk. I’ve been meaning to bring this up for some time now, but it hasn’t ever felt quite right. You’re busy campaigning all the time and I’m always blogging. We’re like two...Read More
Let's Not Forget About AIDS on World AIDS Day
Filed by H. Alexander Robinson | November 30, 2007 10:45 AM |As we embark upon another World AIDS Day we must continue to keep HIV/AIDS as a strategic priority and to not allow it to become an afterthought among the emerging and ongoing socioeconomic and political issues before us....Read More
A Time for Heroes
Filed by Steve Ralls | November 29, 2007 9:23 PM |I first met Brigadier General Keith Kerr when, in 2003, I helped to coordinate his ‘coming out’ – along with another General and an Admiral – in the New York Times. General Kerr’s honesty made history, making him one of...Read More
What will happen to Indiana's marriage amendment?
Filed by Bil Browning | November 29, 2007 6:50 PM |Indiana's proposed constitutional amendment to outlaw same-sex marriage and civil unions (SJR-7) is a case study in politics versus progress. As I described in previous posts about the legislature and the Governor and the religious right, both supporters and opponents...Read More
P is for Power
Filed by Dustin Kight | November 29, 2007 6:05 PM |Okay, stop. Take a moment. Breathe. If you identify as a progressive person -- especially if you're a progressive person who is closely involved in progressive politics -- I want you to relax your shoulders and pat yourself on the...Read More
And the other gay question....
Filed by Alex Blaze | November 29, 2007 6:01 PM |Concerning Huck and the Log Cabin Republicans: The Republicans are also mad at this dude because he at one point said that he liked Obama. Still, a bit odd that they picked this question to be one of two gay...Read More
"General Betray Us" evil, evil, evil; "General Fagginess" funny
Filed by Alex Blaze | November 29, 2007 4:18 PM |There was a question from a retired gay general last night at the Republican CNN/YouTube debate about DADT (note how the Republicans boo and heckle the general): Republicans are pissed off that General Kerr turned out to be on the...Read More
Metastasizing Meth Is Eroding Our Moral High Ground
Filed by Karen Ocamb | November 29, 2007 3:30 PM |For over 25 years, Lorri L. Jean, CEO of the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, has been a kick-ass advocate for LGBT rights. So like the old E.F. Hutton commercial – when Lorri Jean told 1,000 people at the Center’s...Read More
Metastasizing Meth Is Eroding Our Moral High Ground
Filed by Karen Ocamb | November 29, 2007 3:30 PM |For over 25 years, Lorri L. Jean, CEO of the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, has been a kick-ass advocate for LGBT rights. So like the old E.F. Hutton commercial – when Lorri Jean told 1,000 people at the Center’s...Read More
Poisonous Parenting for the Holidays
Filed by Terrance Heath | November 29, 2007 12:46 PM |I guess it was the combination of Parker's fifth birthday and Thanksgiving that brought this series back to mind. After all, it happened that this year Thanksgiving fell on the fifth anniversary of the say we first saw our son...Read More
My Dinner with Elizabeth Edwards
Filed by Eric Marcus | November 29, 2007 10:00 AM |No doubt about it, there were breadcrumbs on my dinner companion’s chin. As we discussed the unusually mild late fall evening that made it possible for us to sit under an open sky in the garden of a New York...Read More
I Endorse John Edwards
Filed by Sean Kosofsky | November 29, 2007 7:30 AM |Editor's note: This post is part of series called Meet the Candidates in which Bilerico contributors write about why they are supporting their chosen candidate. Leadership means taking the lead and it also means taking risks. Whenever leaders announce their...Read More
Indiana Gov Mitch Daniels vs The Religious Right
Filed by Bil Browning | November 28, 2007 9:10 PM |Recent developments around Indiana have put the future of our constitutional amendment in a state of flux. Yesterday, I blogged about the Indiana legislature and polling on the amendment by the Indianapolis Star. Today I'll look at Republican Governor Mitch...Read More
Religious Right for Huck
Filed by Alex Blaze | November 28, 2007 4:31 PM |Or at least some of them. Jerry Falwell, Jr., endorsed Huckabee this morning. Besides being his father's son, he's also a minister, a lawyer, and the current president of Liberty University, which his father founded. Huck's been unable to get...Read More
I See Your Oprah and Raise You a Babs
Filed by Michael Crawford | November 28, 2007 1:27 PM |The day after Barack Obama announced that The Mighty Oprah was going to campaign with him in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, Hillary Clinton announced an endorsement from Barbara Streisand. Color me not so impressed. This sounds too much...Read More
My bullshit detector hits the red zone...
Filed by Mike Rogers | November 28, 2007 12:30 PM |So, Rob at BigHeadDC posted the emails which he wrote about earlier. A careful read of the emails makes it appear as if BigHead was played... Here are the emails... and my notes:...Read More
Called Back Together Again
Filed by Steve Ralls | November 28, 2007 8:15 AM |Editor's note: This post is part of series called Meet the Candidates in which Bilerico contributors write about why they are supporting their chosen candidate. In 1992, my mother did something she had never done before: She registered to vote...Read More
Homophobic prosecutor decided he doesn't have to follow the law
Filed by Alex Blaze | November 28, 2007 7:20 AM |Phill Kline, the former Kansas AG who made a name for himself by filing wacky suits against abortion providers and the state governor to harass them, is back in the news again. Only this time, he's the one breaking the...Read More
The fate of Indiana's anti-marriage amendment
Filed by Bil Browning | November 27, 2007 10:25 PM |Can Indiana dodge a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages and civil unions again this year? Last year we barely escaped when the amendment passed the state Senate but stalled in committee in the House. Under Indiana law if the...Read More
Fewer Hoosiers support marriage amendment, Mitch Daniels, Republicans, new poll shows
Filed by Alex Blaze | November 27, 2007 7:35 PM |The Indianapolis Star is reporting a recent WTHR/Star poll showing that less than half of Hoosiers support a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage: The poll, based on the responses of 600 people statewide, found that 49 percent of Hoosiers...Read More
Thanks a Lott - We didn't want him anyhow
Filed by Bil Browning | November 27, 2007 2:25 PM |It's enough to make a girl's head spin. Let's see if we can't put it into 6 easy steps. Republican Senator Trent Lott abruptly resigns Rumors abound that Lott left to cash in as a lobbyist A DC blog posts...Read More
Obama's My Girl
Filed by Marti Abernathey | November 27, 2007 9:06 AM |Editor's note: This post is part of series called Meet the Candidates in which Bilerico contributors write about why they are supporting their chosen candidate. Hillary Clinton seems to have a status just short of Judy Garland, Cher, or Madonna...Read More
Cheney: The Real Story About His Heart
Filed by Storm Bear | November 27, 2007 9:02 AM |click to enlarge Dick Cheney died many years ago. The figure we see today as Dick Cheney is simply the reanimated organic portal that is kept alive by the constant tweaking and upgrading of his underlying hardware. The hardware...Read More
Another reason to question Kucinich's sanity
Filed by Alex Blaze | November 27, 2007 8:57 AM |Dennis Kucinich has said who he'd want as a running mate, and it's Bilerico's favorite homophobe: "I'm thinking about Ron Paul" as a running mate, Kucinich told a crowd of about 70 supporters at a house party here, one of...Read More
Mitt Romney and politicizing the judiciary
Filed by Alex Blaze | November 26, 2007 11:30 AM |Here's an interesting story about one of Mitt Romney's judicial appointees from his days as governor. Mitt appointed a judge who ordered the release of a convicted murder (after he had served his sentence) and he went across the country...Read More
Mitt Romney and politicizing the judiciary
Filed by Alex Blaze | November 26, 2007 11:30 AM |Here's an interesting story about one of Mitt Romney's judicial appointees from his days as governor. Mitt appointed a judge who ordered the release of a convicted murder (after he had served his sentence) and he went across the country...Read More
True Thanksgiving Story
Filed by Storm Bear | November 26, 2007 8:58 AM |click to enlarge Some years ago, one of my family members came up with the idea of renaming deviled eggs, "angel eggs." We had a good laugh at the craziness of it but over the years the name stuck....Read More
Dennis Kucinich - The One We Really Want
Filed by Storm Bear | November 26, 2007 8:00 AM |Editor's note: This post is part of series called Meet the Candidates in which Bilerico contributors write about why they are supporting their chosen candidate. Most folks I know have a preferred candidate - Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards...Read More
Who's Going to Win the LGBT Vote?
Filed by Michael Crawford | November 26, 2007 7:50 AM |As you probably know from reading Bilerico, our contributors are an opinionated and varied lot. That is no different when it comes to the candidates for president that we are supporting. In an effort to give a full airing of...Read More
Veteran queer activists protest HRC at Stonewall
Filed by Alex Blaze | November 26, 2007 7:40 AM |At an HRC function this weekend, several dozen of the "who's who" of LGBTQ activists showed up to protest HRC's actions following the ENDA split. Their main concern, according to them, wasn't HRC's support for a noninclusive ENDA, but HRC's...Read More
Veteran queer activists protest HRC at Stonewall
Filed by Alex Blaze | November 26, 2007 7:40 AM |At an HRC function this weekend, several dozen of the "who's who" of LGBTQ activists showed up to protest HRC's actions following the ENDA split. Their main concern, according to them, wasn't HRC's support for a noninclusive ENDA, but HRC's...Read More
Laudate, Dear Rep. Carson
Filed by Marla R. Stevens | November 25, 2007 6:42 PM |Rep. Julia Carson has announced that she is suffering from terminal lung cancer. Even though all the signs were there that she was seriously ill, the details hit like a gut punch. Her announcement included that she will not run...Read More
Laudate, Dear Rep. Carson
Filed by Marla R. Stevens | November 25, 2007 6:42 PM |Rep. Julia Carson has announced that she is suffering from terminal lung cancer. Even though all the signs were there that she was seriously ill, the details hit like a gut punch. Her announcement included that she will not run...Read More
No Doggone Rights for You
Filed by Waymon Hudson | November 25, 2007 11:24 AM |It’s another example of where our community’s relationships rate in the opinions of some people. Palm Beach Community College in South Florida has approved a discounted group medical plan for employee’s pets. Sounds nice, right? It is, until you look...Read More
Reality check
Filed by Sara Whitman | November 24, 2007 10:32 AM |And while we are all warm, enjoying our families, and feeling love... I want to remind you that the Hate Crimes legislation is currently suffering a setback and may never become law. Because LGBT people don't need special "rights." Being...Read More
Conservapedia homo-obsessed statistics are probably fake
Filed by Alex Blaze | November 24, 2007 7:45 AM |The story about the Conservapedia site statistics that would prove that conservatives are completely obsessed with homosexuality has been making its way around the blogosphere, and it probably isn't true. The Conservapedia site statistics, as they're being reported around the...Read More
"I had sex with Larry Craig" guy can keep "POOFTER" plates
Filed by Alex Blaze | November 21, 2007 3:08 PM |I posted two weeks ago that David Phillips's "POOFTER" vanity plates were being recalled by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Well, this story has a happy ending, as Phillips wrote to Pam: This morning the Virginia DMV notified me by phone...Read More
FBI Reports Hate Crimes Increase
Filed by Michael Crawford | November 21, 2007 10:19 AM |In a move that makes you want to scream "WTF?" neither the Jena 6 noose incidents and beatings nor the West Virginia case of six white people kidnapping, beating, torturing and sexually assaulting a Black woman were included in newly...Read More
Hillary Got It Right
Filed by Steve Ralls | November 21, 2007 8:28 AM |There have been some curious headlines in the LGBT press following remarks Senator Hillary Clinton made during a campaign stop in Tama, Iowa on Monday. Answering a question from Air Force Major Gary Mathis of Cedar Rapids about privacy and...Read More
At The End Of The Day Of Remembrance
Filed by Rebecca Juro | November 20, 2007 11:31 PM |I needed to wait. When you write a lot, you know that there are times when you know you have no business behind a keyboard, or at the very least, no business writing on certain topics. I'm usually pretty versatile...Read More
At The End Of The Day Of Remembrance
Filed by Rebecca Juro | November 20, 2007 11:31 PM |I needed to wait. When you write a lot, you know that there are times when you know you have no business behind a keyboard, or at the very least, no business writing on certain topics. I'm usually pretty versatile...Read More
At The End Of The Day Of Remembrance
Filed by Rebecca Juro | November 20, 2007 11:31 PM |I needed to wait. When you write a lot, you know that there are times when you know you have no business behind a keyboard, or at the very least, no business writing on certain topics. I'm usually pretty versatile...Read More
Bob Allen will cost $400K to replace
Filed by Alex Blaze | November 20, 2007 3:15 PM |It seems like this is "Comment on Florida's Financial Priorities" Week. The special election to replace Bob Allen will cost Orange and Brevard Counties, Florida, $400,000. Being publicly shamed, the stigma attached to public and for-pay sex, and state Republicans...Read More
More gay questions for the GOP YouTube debate
Filed by Alex Blaze | November 20, 2007 1:53 PM |Michael Crawford posted this weekend some gay YouTube questions for the upcoming Republican CNN/YouTube debate. Here are a few more, like this one from a Christian lesbian about marriage: They're pretty interesting, and there are a lot more after the...Read More
Are Hate Crimes Really Down in Florida?
Filed by Waymon Hudson | November 20, 2007 11:44 AM |The Florida State Attorney’s Office reported Monday that the number of hate crimes is down to its lowest level in Florida in the past decade. Broward County, home to the city of Fort Lauderdale and other heavily gay populated areas,...Read More
Happy Thanksgiving!
Filed by Storm Bear | November 20, 2007 9:13 AM |click to enlarge The early settlers of Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts were particularly grateful to Squanto, the Native American and former British slave who taught them how to both catch eel and grow corn and also served as their...Read More
Just A Couple More Things...
Filed by Rebecca Juro | November 19, 2007 6:58 PM |I promised myself that the next thing I wrote wouldn't have anything to do with ENDA or the Human Rights Campaign. Really I did. I'm about to sort of keep half of that promise, even as I fail miserably to...Read More
Just A Couple More Things...
Filed by Rebecca Juro | November 19, 2007 6:58 PM |I promised myself that the next thing I wrote wouldn't have anything to do with ENDA or the Human Rights Campaign. Really I did. I'm about to sort of keep half of that promise, even as I fail miserably to...Read More
Just A Couple More Things...
Filed by Rebecca Juro | November 19, 2007 6:58 PM |I promised myself that the next thing I wrote wouldn't have anything to do with ENDA or the Human Rights Campaign. Really I did. I'm about to sort of keep half of that promise, even as I fail miserably to...Read More
Just A Couple More Things...
Filed by Rebecca Juro | November 19, 2007 6:58 PM |I promised myself that the next thing I wrote wouldn't have anything to do with ENDA or the Human Rights Campaign. Really I did. I'm about to sort of keep half of that promise, even as I fail miserably to...Read More
Just A Couple More Things...
Filed by Rebecca Juro | November 19, 2007 6:58 PM |I promised myself that the next thing I wrote wouldn't have anything to do with ENDA or the Human Rights Campaign. Really I did. I'm about to sort of keep half of that promise, even as I fail miserably to...Read More
The angel/whore dichotomy, sexual regulation, and Bob Allen's Florida
Filed by Alex Blaze | November 19, 2007 3:08 PM |Florida Republican state rep. Bob Allen was sentenced Friday for his bathroom sex solicitation: Friday he was sentenced to serve six months of probation. He must pay a $250 fine, court costs and $245 restitution to Titusville Police Department. Allen...Read More
Smile, You’re Having Sex on Camera!
Filed by Waymon Hudson | November 19, 2007 1:36 PM |In what can only be described as more of Florida’s obsession with gay sex, officials in Martin County are looking into putting motion-activated cameras on beaches to deter “men soliciting men for sex”. The cameras sense motion and flash a...Read More
Blood Diamonds and Pearls
Filed by Storm Bear | November 19, 2007 10:06 AM |click to enlarge This past weekend I had the opportunity to watch the Grist.org Presidential Forum on the Environment and enjoyed every minute (buffering 18%) despite the con-(buffering 98%)-stant problems with the stream. When I ask myself why I...Read More
Just so you know...
Filed by Bil Browning | November 19, 2007 8:30 AM |Mike Huckabee is "Chuck Norris approved." Next week the Edwards camp will be touting the former Senator's endorsement by Kyan Douglas....Read More
Gay Questions for Republican Presidential Candidates
Filed by Michael Crawford | November 18, 2007 9:59 AM |We have only ten more days before the CNN/YouTube Republican Presidential Debate. Initially most of the 12 angry white men who make up the GOP's slate tried to weasel their way out of the debate by claiming scheduling conflicts and...Read More
This Post is Not Gay
Filed by Michael Crawford | November 18, 2007 8:15 AM |But, then again it is. Newsweek Magazine has a new column by Markos Moulitsas, a.k.a. Kos of DailyKos, in which Markos writes about how absent some freak political happening, the Democrats should be fine come the November 2008 elections. Consequently,...Read More
Fair Courts Matter - the whys and hows
Filed by Don Sherfick | November 18, 2007 7:45 AM |Lambda Legal has recently come out with Fair Courts Matter, A Democracy in Action Guide, which is a quick and pretty layperson-friendly civics lesson focused on the importance of maintaining a fair judiciary system at both the federal as well...Read More
Hate Crimes Bill Hung Up?
Filed by Terrance Heath | November 17, 2007 4:15 PM |It looks that way. In a more-than-a-little-ironic twist so soon after the ENDA debate, it looks like the hate crimes bill may get hung-up in Congress, because it would include anti-gay hate crimes. The fate of a gay- and transgender-inclusive...Read More
12,000 Flags for...Fundraising?
Filed by Dustin Kight | November 17, 2007 2:35 PM |Two weeks from now, "12,000 Flags for 12,000 Patriots" will go up on the National Mall. When I first read the press release for this project, co-sponsored by HRC, SLDN, Log Cabin and others, I thought, wow, what an amazing...Read More
Edwards knows all LGBT politics is local
Filed by Guest Blogger | November 17, 2007 2:30 PM |[EDITOR'S NOTE:] This guest post comes to the Bilerico Project from Eric J. Stern. Eric is the former Executive Director of National Stonewall Democrats and the former Director of LGBT Outreach for the Democratic National Committee. He currently serves as...Read More
Hillary Clinton Smacks John Edwards
Filed by Michael Crawford | November 17, 2007 9:45 AM |In Thursday night's Democratic presidential debate in Nevada Hillary Clinton smacked John Edwards for his increasing shrill and negative attacks against her. Well done Hillary. Edwards has strong policy ideas, but unfortunately for him his message is not penetrating. Trying...Read More
Hate Crimes Bill Hits Major Snag
Filed by Michael Crawford | November 17, 2007 9:30 AM |According to the Washington Blade, final passage of the federal hate crimes bill is in jeopardy. As many as 20 House Democrats who are strong gay rights supporters indicated they might vote against the National Defense Authorization Act because it...Read More
Equality in Montgomery County, MD
Filed by Terrance Heath | November 16, 2007 3:27 PM |If ever I had a doubt (and I haven't) that we moved to the right place to raise our family, I don't anymore. It one of the things LGBT parents have to take into consideration when making the decision about...Read More
Equality in Montgomery County, MD
Filed by Terrance Heath | November 16, 2007 3:27 PM |If ever I had a doubt (and I haven't) that we moved to the right place to raise our family, I don't anymore. It one of the things LGBT parents have to take into consideration when making the decision about...Read More
Equality in Montgomery County, MD
Filed by Terrance Heath | November 16, 2007 3:27 PM |If ever I had a doubt (and I haven't) that we moved to the right place to raise our family, I don't anymore. It one of the things LGBT parents have to take into consideration when making the decision about...Read More
Equality in Montgomery County, MD
Filed by Terrance Heath | November 16, 2007 3:27 PM |If ever I had a doubt (and I haven't) that we moved to the right place to raise our family, I don't anymore. It one of the things LGBT parents have to take into consideration when making the decision about...Read More
Gaydar alert!
Filed by Mike Rogers | November 16, 2007 3:00 PM |Here for your watching, the head of the Iowa Federation of College Republicans: I have no scientific proof it works, but on a scale of 1 to 10, my gaydar tripped a 15! (Hat tip: Huffington Post blogger Adam Burke)...Read More
Someone's willing to endorse Mike Huckabee
Filed by Alex Blaze | November 16, 2007 11:01 AM |It seems that while the rest of the Religious Right is trying to find a winner to endorse so that they look high and mighty, there's one nutty columnist who's willing to endorse a loser. Check out what Chuck Norris...Read More
Hillary: Master Politician, it is OK to admit it.
Filed by Storm Bear | November 16, 2007 9:33 AM |click to enlarge After watching last night’s debate from Las Vegas on CNN, I solidified my theory on one of Hillary’s key campaign strategies. She may seem to be equivocating on the issues surrounding foreign policy, but what I...Read More
Obama adds 'gay' to stump speech
Filed by Guest Blogger | November 15, 2007 9:23 PM |[EDITOR'S NOTE:] This guest post is written by Cynthia Laird. Cynthia is news editor of the San Francisco Bay Area Reporter. This is her first post for the Bilerico Project. Photo credit to Bill Wilson (click to enlarge). Presidential candidate...Read More
I <3 American Family Association
Filed by Dustin Kight | November 15, 2007 4:05 PM |As part of my job, I keep an eye on the conservative "family" groups out there. They spew a lot of hate, especially via emails intended for their members eyes only. These folks have A LOT of money. Anybody who...Read More
What is Hillary Really Thinking?
Filed by Storm Bear | November 15, 2007 9:27 AM |click to enlarge This must have been "pile-on week" for Hillary. No one runs a perfect campaign and the longer a campaign goes without a bump, the larger the faux pas will seem when it does happen. Concerning the...Read More
Frank Joins Baldwin in Backing Hillary for President
Filed by Steve Ralls | November 14, 2007 1:24 PM |It's official: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) now has the support of both openly gay Members of Congress. Clinton's campaign announced yesterday that Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) has joined Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) in supporting Hillary's bid for the White...Read More
If you don't want to read any more on Obama/McClurkin, keep on scrolling
Filed by Alex Blaze | November 14, 2007 10:50 AM |This weekend brought two statements from Barack Obama regarding the McClurkin concert from two weeks ago. First, his campaign wrote up a guest post for us, and then on Sunday he appeared on Meet the Press and answered a Tim...Read More
Bestiality! Tapped Out?
Filed by Eric Marcus | November 14, 2007 8:00 AM |From the first e-mail query that came in from my publisher, I knew that last week's KNUS radio interview in Denver was not going to be about my new question and answer book for teens, What If Someone I Know...Read More
Remembering Scott Hitt
Filed by Karen Ocamb | November 13, 2007 7:15 PM |My first memory of R. Scott Hitt - the prominent AIDS doctor who passed away from colon cancer on Nov. 8 - was watching him work the room during a fundraiser for San Francisco District Attorney Arlo Smith. He...Read More
The Task Force takes on Senatorial sexual policing
Filed by Alex Blaze | November 13, 2007 5:43 PM |The Task Force sent a letter to Senators Boxer and Cornyn, chairs of the Senate ethics panel, to ask why they're investigating Larry Craig's indiscretions as an ethics violation and not David Vitter's. Both were Republicans, both admitted to sexual...Read More
Why the troops will stay.
Filed by Storm Bear | November 13, 2007 11:08 AM |click to enlarge We have heard it a million times, once the surge is successful, Bush tells us he will bring the troops home, "when the job is finished." So why are they still there? The Right Wing press...Read More
Honoring LGBTQ Veterans
Filed by Serena Freewomyn | November 13, 2007 10:14 AM |Yesterday I marched in the Phoenix Veteran’s Day Parade with Veterans for Peace. Started in 1985, the group is made up of veterans from all of the branches of the military who have served in various military conflicts. VFP’s float...Read More
White supremacists for Ron Paul
Filed by Alex Blaze | November 12, 2007 4:31 PM |Bil and I joke all the time on this site about the Ron Paul supporters. He's polling at around 6% nationwide among Republicans, and yet if we say anything about him on this site his supporters come out of the...Read More
I feel another Lou Dobbs Rant coming on.
Filed by Storm Bear | November 12, 2007 10:44 AM |click to enlarge A ship carrying cargo for the China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) hit one of the pylons of the San Francisco Bay Bridge this past weekend and spilled 58,000 gallons of oil into the sensitive Bay area....Read More
Liveblog with NC U.S. Senate candidate (and out gay man) Jim Neal
Filed by Pam Spaulding | November 12, 2007 6:07 AM |I've been telling folks why it's time to boot Senator Elizabeth Dole out of office for some time now. Never mind that I don't agree with her politics -- she's simply not doing the job she was elected to do...Read More
Honoring GLBT Veterans
Filed by Michael Crawford | November 11, 2007 10:19 AM |In honor of Veteran's Day The Frontlines, the blog of the Sevicemembers Legal Defense Network, has been running a series of posts about gay and lesbian vets who were kicked out of the military for being gay. In the roughly...Read More
Barack Obama: A Call for Full Equality
Filed by Guest Blogger | November 10, 2007 8:30 PM |[EDITOR'S NOTE:] Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama issued this guest post to explain his support for LGBT civil rights. This post was originally published on November 10, 2007; it seemed appropriate to reprint it now, the night before the presidential...Read More
Barack Obama: A Call for Full Equality
Filed by Guest Blogger | November 10, 2007 8:30 PM |[EDITOR'S NOTE:] Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama issued this guest post to explain his support for LGBT civil rights. This post was originally published on November 10, 2007; it seemed appropriate to reprint it now, the night before the presidential...Read More
What does the death penalty have to do with transgender rights?
Filed by Dustin Kight | November 10, 2007 7:35 PM |Alright, I'll admit it. I'm a bit of a public media junkie. I eat oatmeal in the morning to Morning Edition. And last night I finished a long-since-warm beer at 2:30am watching Bill Moyer's revival of the series, "The Journal."...Read More
What does the death penalty have to do with transgender rights?
Filed by Dustin Kight | November 10, 2007 7:35 PM |Alright, I'll admit it. I'm a bit of a public media junkie. I eat oatmeal in the morning to Morning Edition. And last night I finished a long-since-warm beer at 2:30am watching Bill Moyer's revival of the series, "The Journal."...Read More
ENDA: Lessons Learned
Filed by Rebecca Juro | November 10, 2007 6:21 PM |Sometimes it's hard to keep a certain amount of journalistic distance on a story, especially if it affects you or people you care about in some way. For me, ENDA has been, and continues to be, one of those stories....Read More
ENDA: Lessons Learned
Filed by Rebecca Juro | November 10, 2007 6:21 PM |Sometimes it's hard to keep a certain amount of journalistic distance on a story, especially if it affects you or people you care about in some way. For me, ENDA has been, and continues to be, one of those stories....Read More
ENDA: Lessons Learned
Filed by Rebecca Juro | November 10, 2007 6:21 PM |Sometimes it's hard to keep a certain amount of journalistic distance on a story, especially if it affects you or people you care about in some way. For me, ENDA has been, and continues to be, one of those stories....Read More
Feinstein-Lieberman: Bad News for Democrats
Filed by Steve Ralls | November 10, 2007 5:48 PM |Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman and his west coast counterpart, California Senator Dianne Feinstein, are becoming bad news for progressive-leaning Democrats. With a slim majority in the Senate, Democrats had already been governing "by the skin of Joe Lieberman's teeth," as...Read More
A day of commenting over and over again...
Filed by Sara Whitman | November 10, 2007 2:30 PM |I am pleased my piece about Tammy Baldwin has been picked up and redistributed over and over again. One of the deep satisfactions I have doing this work is to know people are reading, taking it in, and feel it's...Read More
Ho Hum...
Filed by Mike Rogers | November 10, 2007 2:00 PM |Just another week in American GOP politics... A Republican lawmaker who tried to pass tougher public lewdness laws was convicted Friday of agreeing to pay for gay sex with an undercover officer in a men's park restroom. State Rep. Bob...Read More
What Next?
Filed by Marti Abernathey | November 09, 2007 11:22 AM |Last night I wrote a friend a rant that was full of expletives and frustration. Most of my disgruntlement was from the Wednesday's passage in the House of Representatives of the sexual orientation only Employment Non-Discrimination Act. It was a...Read More
I don't need a straight man's history book
Filed by Alex Blaze | November 09, 2007 10:58 AM |Tom Brokaw's new history book, Boom!: Voices of the Sixties: Personal Reflections on the '60s and Today, is a 700-page tome on how the 60's affected our lives today. And it completely ignores us in our movements' most formative time...Read More
Media narratives are hard things to break
Filed by Alex Blaze | November 09, 2007 10:30 AM |You know, when Pat Robertson endorses a presidential campaign and the candidate giddily accepts that endorsement, said candidate cannot be called "moderate" on gay rights or pro-choice. But not to the beltway pundits. Here's a segment from Hardball where Chris...Read More
ENDA Rift: Throw Tammy Baldwin Under the Bus?
Filed by Sara Whitman | November 08, 2007 7:26 PM |A historic vote took place yesterday. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) was finally passed, having first been introduced in 1974. Thirty three long, hard fought years and the measure “was approved 235 to 184, perhaps reflecting polls showing that a...Read More
Lessons learned from the campaign trail
Filed by Bil Browning | November 08, 2007 3:45 PM |If you’re a regular reader, you’ll know that I stepped away from the blog for a few weeks since I was a campaign manager for an Indianapolis City-County Council race. Election Day was Tuesday and I’m sad to report we...Read More
News Flash: 100% of My Friends Say Leaders Should Be Stewards and Listeners, Too
Filed by Dustin Kight | November 08, 2007 3:30 PM |In a recent poll, 100% of my contacts and close friends said that leaders should be stewards and listeners. Participants were asked to respond to the following statement: "When a community is faced with difficult decisions, that community's leaders should...Read More
News Flash: 100% of My Friends Say Leaders Should Be Stewards and Listeners, Too
Filed by Dustin Kight | November 08, 2007 3:30 PM |In a recent poll, 100% of my contacts and close friends said that leaders should be stewards and listeners. Participants were asked to respond to the following statement: "When a community is faced with difficult decisions, that community's leaders should...Read More
That's right, Barney, make light of your cowardice
Filed by Brynn Craffey | November 08, 2007 1:55 PM |As an Irish resident who is both queer-identified and FtM, I am protected from outright discrimination in employment or the delivery of goods and services—such as housing or say, medical care—on both the basis of gender-identity and sexual orientation. Now,...Read More
Sean Hannity - Great Soviet
Filed by Storm Bear | November 08, 2007 11:27 AM |click to enlarge If we are going to have freedom of speech then it has to apply to everyone. Certainly Ron Paul is not my candidate of choice but just because he doesn't suit my elective tastes does not...Read More
Why I Love the Dutch!
Filed by Serena Freewomyn | November 08, 2007 10:29 AM |I'm probably biased because my family's from Holland and all. But man, I love the Dutch! I mean, aside from the obvious reasons like good chocolate and even better cheese, there's this: The Netherlands has told its ambassadors in countries...Read More
Video: Barney Frank on ENDA
Filed by Bil Browning | November 08, 2007 10:00 AM |Rather than me telling you what Barney had to say, I'll let him say it himself....Read More
We are frustrated, but it will not stop us
Filed by Matt Foreman | November 07, 2007 8:15 PM |Following six weeks of rancorous debate, the House of Representatives voted today on a version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) that does not include protections on the basis of gender identity. It passed by a vote of 235 to...Read More
Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin on the passage of ENDA
Filed by Guest Blogger | November 07, 2007 7:00 PM |[EDITOR'S NOTE:] Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) has given us the following guest post as her statement on the passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Our thanks to the Congresswoman's office for sending this along. Representative Baldwin is the only openly...Read More
ENDA passes
Filed by Alex Blaze | November 07, 2007 6:47 PM |From Chris at the HRC: After 30 years, it's over in the House...ENDA has been approved, 235-184. Thirty-five Republicans joined the 200 Democrats to pass the bill. And, yes, it's T-exclusive. Tammy Baldwin presented and withdrew her amendment. The Republicans...Read More
Hypocrisy, Alarm, or Something Else, Oh MY!
Filed by Dustin Kight | November 07, 2007 6:00 PM |For those of you paying close attention in 2004, you probably saw the Barna Group numbers around Born Again Christians and divorce. I was 20 at the time, and paying more attention to research papers. I won't lie. A little...Read More
Gay Bush, The Action Figure
Filed by Storm Bear | November 07, 2007 12:21 PM |As you folks may already know, I am the cartoonist for The Bilerico Project which is now up for Best LGBT Blog of the Year. So yesterday when project Co-founder Bil Browning asked me to come up with something...Read More
Pat Robertson endorses Rudy Giuliani
Filed by Alex Blaze | November 07, 2007 11:57 AM |Say good-bye to the possibility of a social conservative third-party run. The Washington Post has video of Pat Robertson at the National Press Club endorsing Rudy Giuliani this morning. This indicates three things:Rudy Giuliani is not "moderate on gay rights"...Read More
What Do We Want? Gay Power!
Filed by Michael Crawford | November 07, 2007 10:40 AM |Thanks to the awesome work of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund dozens of gay candidates were elected to municipal and state legislative office yesterday. The Victory Fund has endorsed 71 candidates for office in 2007 with 31 winning their...Read More
Desperate times and really desperate (and possibly illegal) measures
Filed by Guest Blogger | November 07, 2007 8:15 AM |(This guest post comes to us from Ray Jencar. Ray is a former teacher and current grad student at the University of Louisville. He hopes someday, like Socrates, to corrupt the minds of youth. Ray has guest posted before on...Read More
ENDA Update: HRC, LCCR Completely Turn Their Backs On Gender-Variant Americans, House To Vote On CripplENDA Tomorrow
Filed by Rebecca Juro | November 07, 2007 3:44 AM |As many expected, the Human Rights Campaign, in concert with the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) and a few of its member organizations, yesterday effectively renounced its previous public promises and statements on the issue, and has now completely...Read More
ENDA Update: HRC, LCCR Completely Turn Their Backs On Gender-Variant Americans, House To Vote On CripplENDA Tomorrow
Filed by Rebecca Juro | November 07, 2007 3:44 AM |As many expected, the Human Rights Campaign, in concert with the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) and a few of its member organizations, yesterday effectively renounced its previous public promises and statements on the issue, and has now completely...Read More
ENDA Update: HRC, LCCR Completely Turn Their Backs On Gender-Variant Americans, House To Vote On CripplENDA Tomorrow
Filed by Rebecca Juro | November 07, 2007 3:44 AM |As many expected, the Human Rights Campaign, in concert with the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) and a few of its member organizations, yesterday effectively renounced its previous public promises and statements on the issue, and has now completely...Read More
Do 70% of us support an exclusive ENDA?
Filed by Alex Blaze | November 06, 2007 4:57 PM |The Advocate is running a poll that says 70% of 500 members of the LGBT community asked support going forward with a trans-exclusive ENDA. I have a few issues with this, the first being about the polling itself. Any long-time...Read More
Which Republican would make the worst president?
Filed by Alex Blaze | November 06, 2007 1:04 PM |That's the question that Kerry Eleveld asks in this month Advocate, but not in so many words. It's an interesting conversation, but it's pretty much like comparing the merits of various exurban McMansions: I'm never going to want one and...Read More
Here Comes the Wedge Again
Filed by Waymon Hudson | November 06, 2007 11:13 AM |The compassionate conservatives are at it again. A constitutional amendment is set to go on the ’08 ballot to “protect marriage” from the evil gays here in Florida. The amendment’s broadly written language mimics that of the amendment passed in...Read More
Ron Paul, Meet Guy Fawkes
Filed by Storm Bear | November 06, 2007 11:11 AM |click to enlarge Ron Paul, and what will go down in history as a genius fund-raising idea, raked in 4.2 million dollars over this past weekend in honor of Guy Fawkes. With a barage of YouTube videos (best one...Read More
Barney's SPLENDA Legacy: Skinny & Not-So-Sweet
Filed by Marla R. Stevens | November 05, 2007 11:00 PM |He's of an age now when he should be looking at things with an eye to his legacy. Crotchety anachronism - the political equivalent of the old bar troll -- who constantly needs his ego stroked doesn't seem like one worthy of his pursuit.Read More
ENDA will hit the House floor this week
Filed by Alex Blaze | November 05, 2007 6:46 PM |The ENDA's being worked on this afternoon in the House Rules Committee, after which it can go to the full House. From Gay City News: Gay City News has confirmed that the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act, delayed for the past...Read More
Can you tell the difference between Kentucky and San Francisco?
Filed by Alex Blaze | November 05, 2007 4:48 PM |There's a radio ad being run right now in support of the Republican candidate for governor from Kentucky, with special celeb narrator Pat Boone. Polling predicts that the Democrat's going to sweep the race, so they're getting desperate, and desperate...Read More
What Makes a Family?
Filed by Terrance Heath | November 05, 2007 2:55 PM |So, I was on the radio Friday afternoon. On NPR, actually. I was invited to be on the broadcast of News & Notes, which was focusing on the question of "What makes a healthy family?", specifically where black families are...Read More
For our Indianapolis readers
Filed by Bil Browning | November 05, 2007 12:10 PM |This isn't directly LGBT related, but is aimed at our Indianapolis readers who've been following along with the Scott Keller campaign. Since it's the day before the election, I don't have time to write much today, so I am putting...Read More
Not a Sure Bet
Filed by Patricia Nell Warren | November 05, 2007 10:51 AM |All you LGBTs out there who cherish the freedom to bet on sports as well as the freedom to be yourself openly, watch out. The religious right is coming for your NBA office pool, and your online poker game, and...Read More
What happened to Al Qaeda in Baghdad?
Filed by Storm Bear | November 05, 2007 9:43 AM |click to enlarge Go read this full bore, 100% Bingo article by Kossack, Brandon Friedman. From the diary... As U.S. casualties have continued to drop, many people on the anti-Bush side of the aisle have begun to quietly panic...Read More
Reuters discovers gay Republicans, rewrites Giuliani
Filed by Alex Blaze | November 05, 2007 7:50 AM |Reuters just discovered the Log Cabin Republicans: Doug Warner seems like a stereotypical Republican: Southern, white, male, he served in the military, drives an SUV and likes hunting and fishing. He is also openly gay. Warner's sexual orientation makes for...Read More
Were You Born Gay, or Just Plain Stupid?
Filed by Dustin Kight | November 04, 2007 10:10 PM |Eliminating prejudice and oppression is no easy feat. Like viruses, prejudice and oppression mutate and change. They adapt to the times. When you go at them from one direction, they move in another. When you cut off one of their...Read More
North Carolina: Blogging from the 2007 Equality Conference
Filed by Pam Spaulding | November 04, 2007 4:33 PM |With Patricia Todd, and the attendees at the conference, before the opening session. LGBT North Carolinians and allies are coming together today to share stories and strategize about how to advance civil rights in our state at the 2007 Equality...Read More
Conservatives Try to Overturn Safe Schools Law
Filed by Michael Crawford | November 04, 2007 1:11 PM |Proving once again that the "hate the sin, not the sinner" adage is nothing more than empty rhetoric, conservative evangelicals have launched a drive to force a statewide referendum on a California law that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation...Read More
Vote For Us! Do It Now!
Filed by Rebecca Juro | November 03, 2007 11:55 PM |Hey everyone, do us a favor... If you like what you read here, please take a few seconds and vote for us here for Best LGBT Blog. It's our very first nomination, and we're currently running third behind two much...Read More
Vote For Us! Do It Now!
Filed by Rebecca Juro | November 03, 2007 11:55 PM |Hey everyone, do us a favor... If you like what you read here, please take a few seconds and vote for us here for Best LGBT Blog. It's our very first nomination, and we're currently running third behind two much...Read More
Being in the Closet Hurts Career
Filed by Michael Crawford | November 03, 2007 12:35 PM |As if the weekly revelations of anti-gay Republicans having sex with with members of the same sex were not enough reason to come out, a new study has found that being in the closet can cause your job to suck...Read More
Indictment in NJ Burger King Gay Bashing
Filed by Michael Crawford | November 03, 2007 11:50 AM |The grand jury in Hudson County, New Jersey has indicted two former employees of a Burger King restaurant for brutal beating of a gay male couple in July 2007. Garden State Equality, a New Jersey LGBT civil rights organization provides...Read More
Obama Talks Gay Rights on MTV
Filed by Michael Crawford | November 03, 2007 8:10 AM |On Monday Barack Obama participated in a campaign event sponsored by MTV and MySpace in Cedar Rapids, Iowa that enabled young voters to ask him questions. Obama was asked about his position on marriage for same-sex couples and the Donnie...Read More
The Adventures of Testiculo, Starring Dennis Kucinich
Filed by Storm Bear | November 02, 2007 11:19 AM |click to enlarge In Town Called Dobson, I have been referring to Dennis Kucinich as Ultra K but Ultra may be too small a word for Dennis. On October 23rd, Dennis Kucinich announced he would introduce to the House...Read More
HRC's Bait and Switch
Filed by Marti Abernathey | November 02, 2007 10:04 AM |From HRC's website: In 31 states, it's still legal to fire someone because they're gay; in 39 states it is legal to fire someone for being transgender. Thousands of hardworking GLBT Americans have lost their livelihoods simply because of who...Read More
More on Ireland's same-sex civil union debate....
Filed by Brynn Craffey | November 01, 2007 7:15 PM |Dublin’s two major morning newspapers put their individual spins on yesterday’s debate in the Dáil on same-sex civil unions. Ever true to Fianna Fáil the “paper of record,” the Irish Times, literally trumpeted the government line in its headline, “Same-sex...Read More
John Edwards, electability, and LGBT supporters
Filed by Alex Blaze | November 01, 2007 10:23 AM |John Edwards released a list of LGBT supporters late yesterday along with a letter from them explaining their support. Bilerico contributor Sean Kosofsky is on that list and posted about why he's supporting John Edwards. One of the listserves I'm...Read More
GOP = Gay. Out. Proud.
Filed by Storm Bear | November 01, 2007 9:34 AM |click to enlarge Exactly one week ago, I ran a strip pondering when the next GOP sex scandal would happen (see Hot Buttery GOP Action). Well, it didn't take long. From the AP: OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) -- A state...Read More
John Ensign's 34 Questions of Desperation
Filed by Steve Ralls | November 01, 2007 8:51 AM |I doubt that Republican Senator John Ensign gets much sleep these days. The Nevada conservative has the unenviable job of running the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which has the nearly impossible task of wrestling the high chamber of Congress back...Read More
We Are Family
Filed by Waymon Hudson | November 01, 2007 8:30 AM |As we move into this political season, it seems that the main phrase for politicians is once again “family values.” Every candidate, on both sides, uses these words as weapons. The words have come to mean traditional and conservative, appealing...Read More
