Politics: January 2010
Florida Adoption Court Ruling Matters Nationwide
Filed by Nadine Smith | January 31, 2010 2:30 PM |Wednesday night volunteers from across the state joined us for our first ADOPT EQUALITY phone bank. First timers and seasoned volunteers alike committed 2 hours and made hundreds of calls to Florida voters to ask where they stand on Florida's...Read More
BREAKING: Openly gay Senate candidate Meister quits; backs Giannoulias
Filed by Phil Reese | January 31, 2010 11:30 AM |Today at 10am Jacob Meister announced that he is backing his opponent, banking scion and front-runner Alexi Giannoulias, for the Democratic nomination for United States Senator from Illinois, effectively ending his historic run as the first visible openly gay Senate...Read More
BREAKING: Openly gay Senate candidate Meister quits; backs Giannoulias
Filed by Phil Reese | January 31, 2010 11:30 AM |Today at 10am Jacob Meister announced that he is backing his opponent, banking scion and front-runner Alexi Giannoulias, for the Democratic nomination for United States Senator from Illinois, effectively ending his historic run as the first visible openly gay Senate...Read More
What the DC Agenda Story on ENDA Really Means
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | January 29, 2010 11:00 AM |The word is out on the street in DC that ENDA is dead, according to Lou Chibbaro, the famed veteran gay reporter at the DC Agenda. The story quotes four anonymous sources from "mainline" LGBT political advocacy groups who say...Read More
What the DC Agenda Story on ENDA Really Means
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | January 29, 2010 11:00 AM |The word is out on the street in DC that ENDA is dead, according to Lou Chibbaro, the famed veteran gay reporter at the DC Agenda. The story quotes four anonymous sources from "mainline" LGBT political advocacy groups who say...Read More
DC Agenda declares ENDA dead for the year
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 28, 2010 7:00 PM |It looks like some folks on the Hill think ENDA's dead for this Congress: Breaking what some have called an informal code of silence adopted by mainline LGBT political organizations, at least four sources familiar with the gay and transgender...Read More
The Supreme Court: Wave Goodbye
Filed by Sara Whitman | January 28, 2010 6:00 PM |Can't hide my head in the sand anymore. I'd like to, but it's time to discuss the recent Supreme Court decision. Ouch. What the Supreme Court did, was to rule that corporations are entitled to "personhood" in a way that...Read More
Will faith-based agencies help Haiti's gay community?
Filed by Rev Irene Monroe | January 28, 2010 5:00 PM |Since the world community has descended on Haiti with relief aid in response to the January 12th earthquake, I am wondering how Haiti's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) communities are being helped. As one of Haiti's most marginal...Read More
My State of the Union Reaction: DADT Mention, Tough Talk, & Supreme Smack Down
Filed by Waymon Hudson | January 28, 2010 4:00 PM |Note from Waymon: Let me first say that this was a really dense, full speech to the Nation from Obama. I hope the readers will jump in and leave their own views and impressions on the SOTU- I always learn...Read More
The Big Fat SOTU Roundup: Everything You Need to Know
Filed by Bil Browning | January 28, 2010 1:00 PM |Last night's State of the Union address had the LGBT world buzzing. The White House had dropped some considerable hints that LGBT issues would be mentioned and the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell got the nod (although a subtle...Read More
Meeting religious objections to marriage equality head-on
Filed by Adam Bink | January 28, 2010 12:00 PM |There's an interesting approach being taken to further the cause of repealing Prop 8 in California. This week, openly gay State Senator Mark Leno- who previously sponsored the legislation legalizing marriage equality which was twice vetoed by Gov. Schwarzenegger -...Read More
Will Same-Sex Marriage Recognition Cross the Finish Line In Maryland?
Filed by Keri Renault | January 28, 2010 9:30 AM |The rush is on to beat Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler to the finish line in defining the state's legal position toward out-of-state, same-sex marriage. Delegate Emmett Burns, Jr. (D-Baltimore), a Baptist minister and champion of equal opportunity for African-Americans...Read More
State of the Union liveblog
Filed by Bil Browning | January 27, 2010 8:30 PM |We didn't announce this earlier, but since I'll be watching the State of the Union live on the ole television, I thought I'd put up a liveblog and we could all talk while it's on. Come on in and offer...Read More
Prop 8 trial: Whose side are these witnesses on?
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 27, 2010 7:30 PM |I'm struck, as I read about the defense's witnesses and their case (which is supposed to be finished today), by the paucity of facts they're willing to present. I know, I know, there really isn't much truth in the traditional...Read More
O just might like the T more...
Filed by Antonia D'orsay | January 27, 2010 5:30 PM |Is President Obama more willing to treat trans people better than GLB people? The question is fairly simple and doesn't have much deeper subtextual value, but the things it makes one look at in order to answer it effectively are...Read More
Steve Pougnet for Congress
Filed by Michael Crawford | January 27, 2010 3:30 PM |Let's just be honest. One of the best ways we can increase the chances of passing pro-LGBT legislation in Congress is to elect more LGBT people to Congress. Of the 435 members of the House of Representatives only three are...Read More
State of the Union on LGBT Issues
Filed by Michelle Marzullo | January 27, 2010 2:30 PM |I am a President Barack Obama fan. I am drawn to his direct, calm leadership style, and quite frankly I think he's as authentic as a president can be. I also do believe that he is doing right by our...Read More
State of the Union on LGBT Issues
Filed by Michelle Marzullo | January 27, 2010 2:30 PM |I am a President Barack Obama fan. I am drawn to his direct, calm leadership style, and quite frankly I think he's as authentic as a president can be. I also do believe that he is doing right by our...Read More
Disunity brewing within Tea Party?
Filed by Donna Pandori | January 27, 2010 1:30 PM |The Tea Party Convention slated to take place next month in Nashville appears to be unraveling. Two major Tea Party supporters, National Precinct Alliance and American Liberty Alliance, have withdrawn their support for the convention. The Tea Party is losing...Read More
The State of the Union & DADT: Rhetoric or Real Policy Shift?
Filed by Waymon Hudson | January 27, 2010 9:30 AM |It looks like Obama will address the horrendous "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Policy in his State of the Union address tonight. 365gay.com is reporting that the reason Sen. Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, pushed back his scheduled hearing...Read More
The Democratic Party's Senate Problem, Political Will and ENDA
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | January 26, 2010 7:30 PM |The Democratic Party is in trouble. It appears to be unable to move, curled up in the fetal position and bawling at the top of its lungs. Health care reform, the economy and jobs are all problems that, as of...Read More
Now available: Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Volume 1
Filed by Jeff Sheng | January 26, 2010 6:30 PM |I first want to start this post by saying a big thank you to the over thirty service members in our military who have allowed me to photograph them for my "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," photo series so far. It...Read More
Heads in the sand
Filed by Matt Comer | January 26, 2010 4:30 PM |This year's Census has invigorated activists who believe the U.S. government's decennial count of all citizens should reflect an accurate and inclusive count of the LGBTs in our population. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has taken up an...Read More
Uganda's 'Kill The Gays' Bill Goes XXX??
Filed by Waymon Hudson | January 26, 2010 3:30 PM |Ugandan pastor Martin Ssempa, who recently made news for planning on February 17th what he called a "million man march" in Uganda in support of the odious "kill the gays" bill, is getting concerned by the international pressure and outrage...Read More
Another Republican against free market solutions
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 26, 2010 1:30 PM |Considering how bad the recession has been to state budgets, can you really blame New Hampshire from trying to increase revenue from non-tax sources? The way this Republican is complaining, you'd think that the state voted to increase property taxes....Read More
Profile: Openly lesbian Illinois lawmaker Deb Mell
Filed by Phil Reese | January 26, 2010 12:30 PM |Over the past few months I've told you a lot about the folks who are aspiring to be out LGBT elected leaders in Illinois, but two people I would love to tell you a lot more about are our two...Read More
Prop 8 Trial Twitter Feed: The Defense
Filed by Bil Browning | January 26, 2010 12:00 PM |The defense is trying to give reasons why they pushed Proposition 8 that wasn't sparked by discriminatory motives today. Yesterday, cross-examination completely torpedoed a defense witness who ended up admitting that Prop 8 was meant to stir hatred and discrimination...Read More
Prop 8 Trial Twitter Feed: The Defense
Filed by Bil Browning | January 26, 2010 12:00 PM |The defense is trying to give reasons why they pushed Proposition 8 that wasn't sparked by discriminatory motives today. Yesterday, cross-examination completely torpedoed a defense witness who ended up admitting that Prop 8 was meant to stir hatred and discrimination...Read More
Gay Hoosier is White House guest for State of the Union address
Filed by Bil Browning | January 26, 2010 10:45 AM |Indianapolis resident Trevor Yager, an openly gay business owner, has been picked by the White House to be the First Lady's guest at tomorrow's State of the Union address. Yager co-owns TrendyMinds, an Indianapolis advertising agency celebrating its 15th anniversary...Read More
Will Scott Brown stand up for LGBT servicemembers, too?
Filed by Dustin Kight | January 26, 2010 10:30 AM |My local NPR station, WBUR, had a (somewhat inappropriately sanguine) profile of Scott Brown on this morning. The feature included references to his troubled childhood: his single mother, the time spent on welfare, his rocky relationships with authoritative men, er,...Read More
Sexting: Indiana looks at new law aimed at teens
Filed by Bil Browning | January 25, 2010 6:30 PM |UPDATE: Senator Merritt just tweeted: "My bill, SB 224 Sexting by Minors just passed committee unanimously." It's not often that I give kudos to a Republican - especially Indiana state legislators who tend to trend toward the anti-sex religious fundamentalist...Read More
What Ten Percent Looks Like
Filed by Father Tony | January 25, 2010 1:30 PM |This is what the new census might reveal. I performed this visual exercise with conflicting feelings about the fact that Florida's Broward County has begun a census that asks questions about the sexual orientation of households. It's good to be...Read More
Have a straight crush? Try slipping him some soy milk
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 25, 2010 12:30 PM |Here's an odd story to start the week. Paul Richards, the CEO of a chain of gyms in New Zealand, wrote an article for the gym's newsletter saying soy milk turns you gay. He's apologized: Richards says he did not...Read More
Prop 8 Trial Twitter Feed: The Plaintiffs Rest
Filed by Bil Browning | January 25, 2010 12:00 PM |The plaintiffs in the Prop 8 trial should be resting their case today and then comes the defense's attempt to make their case. You won't want to miss today's testimony and arguments. Most of us have been following along on...Read More
Prop 8 Trial Twitter Feed: The Plaintiffs Rest
Filed by Bil Browning | January 25, 2010 12:00 PM |The plaintiffs in the Prop 8 trial should be resting their case today and then comes the defense's attempt to make their case. You won't want to miss today's testimony and arguments. Most of us have been following along on...Read More
A Bad Case of PMS
Filed by Davina Kotulski | January 25, 2010 10:30 AM |I want to apologize for Friday's last blog. To be honest, I had horrible PMS, Protect Marriage Syndrome. Protect Marriage Syndrome, or PMS, comes on when you have to sit for hours on end and listen to Yale and Cambridge...Read More
A Bad Case of PMS
Filed by Davina Kotulski | January 25, 2010 10:30 AM |I want to apologize for Friday's last blog. To be honest, I had horrible PMS, Protect Marriage Syndrome. Protect Marriage Syndrome, or PMS, comes on when you have to sit for hours on end and listen to Yale and Cambridge...Read More
Pending bill to protect same sex married couples in Washington
Filed by Joe Mirabella | January 25, 2010 9:30 AM |Washington state Representative Jamie Pedersen introduced legislation that would protect same sex married couples under Washington's domestic partnership law. Under the law approved by voters last November, registered same sex domestic partners from other states like California and Oregon are...Read More
Olympics and the coming gender inquisition
Filed by Patricia Nell Warren | January 24, 2010 5:30 PM |While the IAAF has been backing and filling on the Caster Semenya case, many of us have been waiting for the IOC shoe to drop. This week the shoe dropped. In Miami Beach, a panel of so-called "experts" convened by...Read More
What real threats looked like after Prop 8 passed
Filed by Gloria Nieto | January 24, 2010 4:00 PM |The Yes On 8 people at the Prop 8 trial going on in San Francisco make me want to scream. Daily. Thursday's star witness, Dr. (of what?) William Tam signed on to Prop 8 early on. He testified in court...Read More
(Net)hacking through the anti-LGBT political climate
Filed by Austen Crowder | January 24, 2010 2:30 PM |Nethack, like politics, is a humbling game. Originally released in 1985, Nethack is still among the most uniquely complex games that I have ever had the pleasure to play. It is also the single hardest game I've played; even after...Read More
Lo que vi en sus ojos...
Filed by Pedro Julio Serrano | January 24, 2010 1:00 PM |Yo sabÃa que serÃa procesable antes de que la jueza lo determinara, pues sus gestos lo delataron. Mi mirada se posó en la suya y nos reconocimos. Supe inmediatamente que era el asesino confeso de Jorge Steven López Mercado y...Read More
Una visita histórica...
Filed by Pedro Julio Serrano | January 23, 2010 4:00 PM |Esta semana, Puerto Rico recibió una visita histórica de una delegación de oficiales elect@s y de lÃderes comunitarios de la ciudad de Nueva York y Chicago en solidaridad con la familia de Jorge Steven López Mercado y con las comunidades...Read More
Being gay is bad for my health (but not for the reasons you'd think)
Filed by Davina Kotulski | January 22, 2010 6:30 PM |I have not been to the gym since the Prop 8 trial started two weeks ago. I can't even think of going to the gym in the morning when I have to race to San Francisco and go through the...Read More
Now That Corporations Are People, Can They Marry Each Other? What If They're Gay?
Filed by David Badash | January 22, 2010 4:00 PM |You cannot help but feel amused/perplexed/incredulous/angered/frustrated/ready-to-pack-your-bags-and-move-to-another-country by events the past week in America. After the "stunning upset" Republican Scott Brown (I like to remind him he is a Republican; he seems not to want to tell anyone) pulled off on...Read More
Rep Paul Scott Blows Smoke on Transgender Michigan
Filed by Keri Renault | January 22, 2010 3:00 PM |A fledgling politician, 27-year-old Michigan Representative Paul Scott (R-Grand Blanc) has a precocious grasp of social conservatism's #1 rule. All is fair in the war. Politics is war. Entering his sophomore year as a Michigan congressman, Scott, a rising star...Read More
As Good As it Gets
Filed by Sara Whitman | January 22, 2010 12:00 PM |It really is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. I can't shake the feeling of being cornered right now. My little safe state is no longer what I thought it was. Where to go? Ok, I really was...Read More
Prop 8 Trial Twitter Feed: Day 9
Filed by Bil Browning | January 22, 2010 11:30 AM |Our live Twitter feed of the Prop 8 trial was really popular last week, so I'm bumping it back up to the top to make it handy for Projectors to find. Contributor Davina Kotulski is in the courtroom today and...Read More
Prop 8 Trial Twitter Feed: Day 9
Filed by Bil Browning | January 22, 2010 11:30 AM |Our live Twitter feed of the Prop 8 trial was really popular last week, so I'm bumping it back up to the top to make it handy for Projectors to find. Contributor Davina Kotulski is in the courtroom today and...Read More
Boo Radleys and a Non-Political Gay Wedding
Filed by Peter Monn and Alex Paredes | January 22, 2010 10:00 AM |Alex and I are not political whatsoever. We usually get our news from E! or TMZ or Facebook. We care more about Brangelina and the Kardashians than we do Goldman Sachs' bonuses or car recalls in Detroit. Don't get me...Read More
Is openly gay Dave Schroeder heading for a sure Illinois Assembly win?
Filed by Phil Reese | January 22, 2010 9:30 AM |David Schroeder has been dealing with a lot of good news lately. Of all of the LGBT Democratic candidates going up against the machine in Illinois, Schroeder is faring best--with a Chicago Tribune endorsement on the morning of the 21st,...Read More
Mais je rêve: More from the Prop 8 trial on queer political power
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 21, 2010 5:30 PM |Back in San Francisco, the homophobes had a chance to cross examine Prof. Gary Segura, who was there to testify that gays and lesbians (they stuck to those categories) aren't politically powerful. My eyes rolled when I saw that apparently...Read More
NOM wants Indiana
Filed by Donna Pandori | January 21, 2010 5:00 PM |The National Organization for Marriage sure is a busy organization. Brian Brown, Executive Director of NOM, sent an alert to his sheeple just as the Indiana Senate Judiciary Committee was considering the marriage discrimination amendment. The Senate Judiciary Committee and...Read More
More Queer/Trans Maine Activists Speaking Out Against Equality
Filed by R Conrad | January 21, 2010 3:30 PM |More and more queer and trans activists in Maine are finally speaking out against the parasitic campaign for gay marriage here in the pine tree state. During the last election in November 2009 any dissent around the issue, particularly why...Read More
Testifying at Indiana State Senate Hearing on January 20, 2010
Filed by Annette Gross | January 21, 2010 2:30 PM |Last week I was asked to testify at yesterday's Senate hearing of SJR-13. Of course I said yes, being very happy to be able to tell the Senate committee how I feel about this issue. As a PFLAG mom, I...Read More
As Haiti crumbles, the US sends in troops -- get ready for a long occupation!
Filed by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore | January 21, 2010 1:30 PM |I'm standing in line at Walgreens and some white guy is yelling at one of the cashiers, a Latina woman, about Haiti, spouting racist corporate media lies about how Haitians are corrupt, they steal from their own people, they can't...Read More
As Haiti crumbles, the US sends in troops -- get ready for a long occupation!
Filed by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore | January 21, 2010 1:30 PM |I'm standing in line at Walgreens and some white guy is yelling at one of the cashiers, a Latina woman, about Haiti, spouting racist corporate media lies about how Haitians are corrupt, they steal from their own people, they can't...Read More
Prop 8 Trial Twitter Feed: Day 8
Filed by Bil Browning | January 21, 2010 12:00 PM |Our live Twitter feed of the Prop 8 trial was really popular last week, so I'm bumping it back up to the top to make it handy for Projectors to find. Contributor Davina Kotulski is in the courtroom today and...Read More
Prop 8 Trial Twitter Feed: Day 8
Filed by Bil Browning | January 21, 2010 12:00 PM |Our live Twitter feed of the Prop 8 trial was really popular last week, so I'm bumping it back up to the top to make it handy for Projectors to find. Contributor Davina Kotulski is in the courtroom today and...Read More
Nepal: Proud to be gay capital of Asia
Filed by Gloria Brame, Ph.D. | January 21, 2010 11:30 AM |I'm officially on hiatus this month, working on a new book, and completely utterly obsessed with it... but there's just too much news to ignore. Anyone want to move with me? Nepal is set to legalise gay marriage later this...Read More
Cindy McCain, Wife of Sen. John McCain, Poses for NOH8 Campaign
Filed by Waymon Hudson | January 21, 2010 9:30 AM |Update on John McCain's Reaction, after the jump. Cindy McCain, wife of former GOP Presidential Candidate John McCain, has posed for the NOH8 Campaign, the project from photographer Adam Bouska that was started as a response to California passing Prop...Read More
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Volume 1," is done
Filed by Jeff Sheng | January 20, 2010 7:30 PM |Projectors, I'm completely excited to announce that I finished the first volume of my "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," photobook series. I approved the final proofs last weekend with my printers (incidentally on MLK's 81st birthday), and preview copies for the...Read More
Unholy Crusade: More on those Bible Verses on our Military's Guns
Filed by Waymon Hudson | January 20, 2010 4:30 PM |There's more coming in surrounding the shocking story I blogged about yesterday in which ABC News revealed that our Military is being armed with rifle scopes that have Christian Bible Scripture imprinted on them. These guns are not only being...Read More
Unholy Crusade: More on those Bible Verses on our Military's Guns
Filed by Waymon Hudson | January 20, 2010 4:30 PM |There's more coming in surrounding the shocking story I blogged about yesterday in which ABC News revealed that our Military is being armed with rifle scopes that have Christian Bible Scripture imprinted on them. These guns are not only being...Read More
Out of the ashes of Prop 102 rises the Arizona LGBT Political Coalition
Filed by Bobby Parker | January 20, 2010 3:30 PM |The passage of Prop 102 in Arizona, writing discrimination into our state's constitution like its counterpart Prop 8 in California, required our LGBT community to realize that if we didn't stop the bickering and infighting going on among our groups...Read More
Massachusetts Is Not Invincible
Filed by Sara Whitman | January 20, 2010 2:30 PM |I have always been so proud to be from Massachusetts. Home of the liberals, even when liberal became a bad word. We have marriage equality, we have health care, we had the "liberal lion" Teddy Kennedy. I thought we were...Read More
IN Marriage Amendment Moves Forward
Filed by Bil Browning | January 20, 2010 1:30 PM |This morning the Indiana State Senate Judiciary Committee passed SJR-13, the proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and civil unions. The legislation passed on a vote of 6-4 party line vote with one Senator out of the chamber at...Read More
Can the LGBT community adopt Haitian orphans?
Filed by Joe Mirabella | January 20, 2010 12:30 PM |As the humanitarian disaster continues to unfold in Haiti, one of the most vulnerable populations are the orphans. Before the earthquake, 15% of the country's children were orphaned or abandoned. In Port-au-Prince there were 380,000 orphans alone. Post earthquake, that...Read More
Prop 8 Trial Twitter Feed: Day 7
Filed by Bil Browning | January 20, 2010 12:00 PM |It's time for our daily Twitter feed of all the Prop 8 trial action on Day 7. Contributor Davina Kotulski is in the courtroom today and will send in regular updates too. (Sorry folks, Davina had to take a day...Read More
Prop 8 Trial Twitter Feed: Day 7
Filed by Bil Browning | January 20, 2010 12:00 PM |It's time for our daily Twitter feed of all the Prop 8 trial action on Day 7. Contributor Davina Kotulski is in the courtroom today and will send in regular updates too. (Sorry folks, Davina had to take a day...Read More
Coakley/Brown, the day after
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 20, 2010 11:00 AM |Jon Stewart goes over just some of the incompetence from the Coakley campaign. Did you know she went on vacation just a couple weeks before the election? Or that Scott Brown held more three times the number of public events...Read More
The Sky Is Falling: Prop 8 Trial Day 6
Filed by Davina Kotulski | January 19, 2010 7:30 PM |The attorney for the proponents of Prop 8, Cooper, cross-examined Lee Badgett, Ph.D., a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Research Director of the Williams' Institute at UCLA. Cooper asserts that research suggests that many...Read More
The Sky Is Falling: Prop 8 Trial Day 6
Filed by Davina Kotulski | January 19, 2010 7:30 PM |The attorney for the proponents of Prop 8, Cooper, cross-examined Lee Badgett, Ph.D., a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Research Director of the Williams' Institute at UCLA. Cooper asserts that research suggests that many...Read More
Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition... Literally
Filed by Waymon Hudson | January 19, 2010 6:30 PM |According to ABC News, our Military is operating in Muslim countries like Afghanistan and Iraq (and elsewhere in the world) with Bible Scripture imprinted on their guns. Not written on the guns, mind you. Actually embedded as part of the...Read More
Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition... Literally
Filed by Waymon Hudson | January 19, 2010 6:30 PM |According to ABC News, our Military is operating in Muslim countries like Afghanistan and Iraq (and elsewhere in the world) with Bible Scripture imprinted on their guns. Not written on the guns, mind you. Actually embedded as part of the...Read More
The Costs of Marriage Discrimination: Prop 8 Trial Day 6
Filed by Davina Kotulski | January 19, 2010 5:30 PM |M.V. Lee Badgett, Ph.D., a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Research Director of the Williams' Institute at UCLA was called to testify about the private harms caused by Proposition 8 and the impact of...Read More
The Costs of Marriage Discrimination: Prop 8 Trial Day 6
Filed by Davina Kotulski | January 19, 2010 5:30 PM |M.V. Lee Badgett, Ph.D., a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Research Director of the Williams' Institute at UCLA was called to testify about the private harms caused by Proposition 8 and the impact of...Read More
Could a Brown win in Mass be good for health care reform?
Filed by Bil Browning | January 19, 2010 2:30 PM |Should liberals be secretly hoping for a Scott Brown win in Massachusetts today? Could a Brown win be good for health care reform? Air America's Jack Rice makes a good case for why a Brown win could actually help liberals...Read More
Could a Brown win in Mass be good for health care reform?
Filed by Bil Browning | January 19, 2010 2:30 PM |Should liberals be secretly hoping for a Scott Brown win in Massachusetts today? Could a Brown win be good for health care reform? Air America's Jack Rice makes a good case for why a Brown win could actually help liberals...Read More
A Change of Heart: Day 6 Prop 8 Trial
Filed by Davina Kotulski | January 19, 2010 1:30 PM |Driving rain and wind gusts of up to 51 mph reported in San Francisco. Day 6 of the Prop 8 trial begins. Today's witnesses are Lee Badget, Williams Institute, UCLA, Jerry Sanders, current mayor of San Diego who has a...Read More
The Massachusetts Special Election, The Energized Base and ENDA
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | January 19, 2010 12:30 PM |The key to today's special election in Massachusetts is how many people will turn out. Comparatively few turn out for a special election, so it all turns on whose base is more energized. Judging from my family, the base is...Read More
The Massachusetts Special Election, The Energized Base and ENDA
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | January 19, 2010 12:30 PM |The key to today's special election in Massachusetts is how many people will turn out. Comparatively few turn out for a special election, so it all turns on whose base is more energized. Judging from my family, the base is...Read More
The Massachusetts Special Election, The Energized Base and ENDA
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | January 19, 2010 12:30 PM |The key to today's special election in Massachusetts is how many people will turn out. Comparatively few turn out for a special election, so it all turns on whose base is more energized. Judging from my family, the base is...Read More
Day 6 Prop 8 trial Twitter feed
Filed by Bil Browning | January 19, 2010 12:00 PM |Our live Twitter feed of the Prop 8 trial was really popular last week, so I'm bumping it back up to the top to make it handy for Projectors to find. Contributor Davina Kotulski is in the courtroom today and...Read More
Day 6 Prop 8 trial Twitter feed
Filed by Bil Browning | January 19, 2010 12:00 PM |Our live Twitter feed of the Prop 8 trial was really popular last week, so I'm bumping it back up to the top to make it handy for Projectors to find. Contributor Davina Kotulski is in the courtroom today and...Read More
Caster Semenya: Sports Authorities in Gender Gridlock
Filed by Patricia Nell Warren | January 19, 2010 10:30 AM |Whenever I want to know what's up with the still-festering Caster Semenya case, I go to a South African website called "The Science of Sport." TSOS gets through the media murk to what the issues really are. It's run by...Read More
Massachusetts special election today: A Brown victory means Obama's done too much for LGBT's
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 19, 2010 9:30 AM |Bridgette LaVictoire thinks LGBT's might not get out to vote in the special Senate election today: It is there that Massachusetts becomes a problem. Massachusetts is a state with some of the largest numbers of LGBT Americans in the country,...Read More
Down to the Wire: Coakley vs. Brown
Filed by Sara Whitman | January 18, 2010 6:30 PM |I took the kids to the Obama rally yesterday. Yeah, they were really happy about that. Actually, we had the chance to meet the President and they all willingly put on ties and suits. It was the President after all....Read More
Michael Steele's Wall Street Populism
Filed by Terrance Heath | January 18, 2010 5:30 PM |Eugene Robinson thinks maybe Michael Steele is crazy like a fox. I think he’s just plain crazy (and only slightly crazier than the GOP for hiring him in the first place), for a number of reasons, the latest of...Read More
The Devil versus the Democrats
Filed by Guest Blogger | January 18, 2010 3:30 PM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger J. Todd (Tif) Fernandez is a volunteer activist with a Masters of Law in Human Rights from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and a JD and BA from Boston University. With a past career in...Read More
Educating Congress
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | January 18, 2010 10:30 AM |I am still stunned by last week's statement from Capitol Hill about Congressmembers' miseducation on trans issues in ENDA: There continues to be concerns on the part of many members about the transgender issue, particularly about the question of places...Read More
Educating Congress
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | January 18, 2010 10:30 AM |I am still stunned by last week's statement from Capitol Hill about Congressmembers' miseducation on trans issues in ENDA: There continues to be concerns on the part of many members about the transgender issue, particularly about the question of places...Read More
NOM Loves Scott Brown
Filed by Sara Whitman | January 17, 2010 5:30 PM |You know, I simply could not put my heart into the Coakley race. Not again. And... it was a sure win. I was tired - no more for now. My kids needed my time, my wife, heck, my dog was...Read More
DC's Murderous Anti-Prostitution Policy
Filed by Terrance Heath | January 17, 2010 11:30 AM |Apparently all you need to do to be arrested for prostitution in D.C. is carry three or more condoms. Sign the petition. Tell D.C., San Francisco and New York: Condoms Aren't a Crime!Seriously. Think you might get lucky tonight? Well,...Read More
21 Bogus Reasons Why Gender Matters From the Prop 8 Trial
Filed by Davina Kotulski | January 16, 2010 4:00 PM |Yesterday we found out that during the Prop 8 campaign Ron Prentiss reportedly distributed a booklet to churches that included an article entitled "'21 Reasons Why Gender Matters' Examines Gender Disorientation Pathology And Social Policy." By the way, he made...Read More
Italy's All-Transgender Prison: That's Amore?
Filed by Keri Renault | January 16, 2010 2:30 PM |Italy plans to designate a former women's prison specifically for transgender inmates. The proposal may be the first globally to separate gender variant inmates from the cisgender criminal population. My first reaction was wariness. I tend to sniff for ulterior...Read More
The Uh-Ohs: A Decade of Conservative Failure, Pt. 2
Filed by Terrance Heath | January 16, 2010 11:30 AM |“Haven’t we already given money to rich people … Shouldn’t we be giving money to the middle?” – President George W. Bush in November 2002, acknowledging to advisors that he knew his tax cuts were giveaways to the super-wealthy....Read More
Indiana State Senate to take action on marriage amendment
Filed by Bil Browning | January 15, 2010 6:00 PM |A constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in Indiana has been re-introduced in the state senate and will be heard in committee next week. Similar legislation has already been introduced into the Indiana House of Representatives. Indiana legislators have introduced...Read More
Playing Politics: It's Our Lives
Filed by Sara Whitman | January 15, 2010 4:00 PM |Last night I read that 18 Republican state senators from Iowa are introducing an amendment to ban "gay" marriage. I would like to remind them, it's not "gay" marriage, it's marriage equality. And since there isn't a hope in hell...Read More
Day 5 Prop 8 trial update: Our children are well adjusted
Filed by Davina Kotulski | January 15, 2010 1:00 PM |Michael Lamb, PhD discussed the impact of same-sex marriage on children. Lamb is the author of The Role of the Father in Child Development and co-author of Child Care and Its Impact on Young Children (2-5) published by the National...Read More
Day 5 Prop 8 trial update: Our children are well adjusted
Filed by Davina Kotulski | January 15, 2010 1:00 PM |Michael Lamb, PhD discussed the impact of same-sex marriage on children. Lamb is the author of The Role of the Father in Child Development and co-author of Child Care and Its Impact on Young Children (2-5) published by the National...Read More
Ann Coulter's Favorite Democrat
Filed by Michael Crawford | January 15, 2010 12:00 PM |Former Rep. Harold Ford Jr. is considering a run for the Senate from New York and you know what that means, right? He's backtracking and flip-flopping on issues faster than you can say "I love gay people." The good folks...Read More
Day 5: Live Twitter feed of Prop 8 trial
Filed by Bil Browning | January 15, 2010 11:30 AM |Our live Twitter feed of the Prop 8 trial has been really popular this week, so I'm bumping it back up to the top to make it handy for Projectors to find. While Davina had to take a day off...Read More
Day 5: Live Twitter feed of Prop 8 trial
Filed by Bil Browning | January 15, 2010 11:30 AM |Our live Twitter feed of the Prop 8 trial has been really popular this week, so I'm bumping it back up to the top to make it handy for Projectors to find. While Davina had to take a day off...Read More
ENDA: More Trans Follies
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | January 15, 2010 10:30 AM |Representative Barney Frank, quoted in the Advocate, has said that the House Committee on Education and Labor will mark up ENDA sometime in February, with a full House vote in March. Right now, of course, the Congress Channel is all...Read More
ENDA: More Trans Follies
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | January 15, 2010 10:30 AM |Representative Barney Frank, quoted in the Advocate, has said that the House Committee on Education and Labor will mark up ENDA sometime in February, with a full House vote in March. Right now, of course, the Congress Channel is all...Read More
Prop 8 Trial: Sunrise Vigil Video & Witness List
Filed by Davina Kotulski | January 15, 2010 9:30 AM |I'll be back in the courthouse today, but I wanted to share these videos from the Sunrise Vigil (for and against marriage equality) and a list of the witnesses (thanks Pam Brown). If you are interested Google them and learn...Read More
Prop 8 Trial: Sunrise Vigil Video & Witness List
Filed by Davina Kotulski | January 15, 2010 9:30 AM |I'll be back in the courthouse today, but I wanted to share these videos from the Sunrise Vigil (for and against marriage equality) and a list of the witnesses (thanks Pam Brown). If you are interested Google them and learn...Read More
Conflicting Signs on DADT Repeal
Filed by Waymon Hudson | January 14, 2010 5:30 PM |There are conflicting opinions coming out of the Military and the Administration on when to move forward on a repeal of the discriminatory "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy barring gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military. Pentagon legal...Read More
Haitian ambassador responds to Pat Robertson's idiocy
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 14, 2010 4:30 PM |Bil posted Pat Robertson's comments on Haiti this morning, how Haiti deserved the earthquake because they made a pact with the devil some 200 years ago to free them from "Napoleon the Third and whatever," who was born four years...Read More
Supreme Court shuts down webcast of Prop 8 trial, finds risk to security of defense witnesses
Filed by Nan Hunter | January 14, 2010 12:30 PM |In a 5-4 per curiam opinion, the Supreme Court yesterday effectively shut down any broadcasting of the trial in Perry v. Schwarzenegger beyond closed circuit transmission to other rooms in the federal courthouse in San Francisco where the trial is...Read More
Liberty Law School drops out of CPAC because of GOProud
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 14, 2010 11:30 AM |Actually, this GOProud sponsorship is turning out to be kind of fun to watch. Now Jerry Falwell's Liberty Law School has dropped out of the CPAC because they refuse to kick out GOProud, the newer gay Republican group: Liberty University...Read More
Live Twitter feed of Prop 8 trial: Day 4
Filed by Bil Browning | January 14, 2010 10:00 AM |Our live Twitter feed of the Prop 8 trial has been really popular this week, so I'm bumping it back up to the top to make it handy for Projectors to find. Unfortunately, Davina isn't able to attend the trial...Read More
Live Twitter feed of Prop 8 trial: Day 4
Filed by Bil Browning | January 14, 2010 10:00 AM |Our live Twitter feed of the Prop 8 trial has been really popular this week, so I'm bumping it back up to the top to make it handy for Projectors to find. Unfortunately, Davina isn't able to attend the trial...Read More
Sick and Wrong
Filed by Paige Schilt | January 13, 2010 7:30 PM |It had to happen sooner or later. When we sent our son, Waylon, to school, we knew that eventually some kid would tell him that it's sick and wrong to be fat....Read More
Aggressive violent acts by supporters of LGBT rights
Filed by Davina Kotulski | January 13, 2010 6:30 PM |After the break, Thompson began introducing evidence that Yeson8 people were attacked by No8 people - including death threats, boycotts, defaced churches, and an elderly couple beaten up. While this is all hearsay to me, I want to speak to...Read More
Aggressive violent acts by supporters of LGBT rights
Filed by Davina Kotulski | January 13, 2010 6:30 PM |After the break, Thompson began introducing evidence that Yeson8 people were attacked by No8 people - including death threats, boycotts, defaced churches, and an elderly couple beaten up. While this is all hearsay to me, I want to speak to...Read More
Prop 8 Trial: No One is Perfect (Not Even Lily Tomlin)
Filed by Sara Whitman | January 13, 2010 5:30 PM |In California, the trial on the constitutionality of Proposition 8 is underway. Soon, in New Jersey, a similar trial will take place. The proponents of Prop 8 say that "states have a compelling interest to restrict marriage to heterosexual couples...Read More
Prop 8 Trial: No One is Perfect (Not Even Lily Tomlin)
Filed by Sara Whitman | January 13, 2010 5:30 PM |In California, the trial on the constitutionality of Proposition 8 is underway. Soon, in New Jersey, a similar trial will take place. The proponents of Prop 8 say that "states have a compelling interest to restrict marriage to heterosexual couples...Read More
Prop 8 Trial: You Have Brokeback Mountain
Filed by Davina Kotulski | January 13, 2010 1:30 PM |DAY 3 MORNING Thompson, the smug attorney for the Proponents of Prop 8, is taking the position that gays are not being discriminated against any more and so that cannot be the reason that Prop 8 passed. He makes a...Read More
Prop 8 Trial: You Have Brokeback Mountain
Filed by Davina Kotulski | January 13, 2010 1:30 PM |DAY 3 MORNING Thompson, the smug attorney for the Proponents of Prop 8, is taking the position that gays are not being discriminated against any more and so that cannot be the reason that Prop 8 passed. He makes a...Read More
And Stay Out! Michael Savage Still Not Welcome in UK
Filed by Bil Browning | January 13, 2010 12:30 PM |Oh, Michael Savage, how the world loves him. Granted, we think he's a piece of shit and England barred him from even entering the country last year, but now the UK has upheld their ban on Savage. Unsurprisingly, knowing what...Read More
Not every liberal supports same-sex marriage
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 13, 2010 11:30 AM |Maybe Equality California is just trying to shape coverage of Obama's words on same-sex marriage, since it's unlikely he'll come out with a brief for the Prop 8 trial this late in the game. But, if he did, something tells...Read More
Is ENDA Back?
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | January 13, 2010 10:30 AM |With Congress set to resume operations next Monday, the big question on the LGBT legislative agenda is whether ENDA is back. When I ask "Is ENDA back?" I don't simply mean "Does ENDA exist?" To be or not to be...Read More
Is ENDA Back?
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | January 13, 2010 10:30 AM |With Congress set to resume operations next Monday, the big question on the LGBT legislative agenda is whether ENDA is back. When I ask "Is ENDA back?" I don't simply mean "Does ENDA exist?" To be or not to be...Read More
Prop 8 Trial Day 2 Recap: Homosexuality This Is Your Life
Filed by Davina Kotulski | January 13, 2010 9:30 AM |Leaving where I left off yesterday in my coverage of the Prop 8 trial, at 12:30 PM we broke for lunch and raced to the cafeteria on the 2nd floor of the federal building. I inhaled some sushi because I...Read More
Prop 8 Trial Day 2 Recap: Homosexuality This Is Your Life
Filed by Davina Kotulski | January 13, 2010 9:30 AM |Leaving where I left off yesterday in my coverage of the Prop 8 trial, at 12:30 PM we broke for lunch and raced to the cafeteria on the 2nd floor of the federal building. I inhaled some sushi because I...Read More
So Harold Ford is OK with marriage now... does that change anything?
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 12, 2010 5:30 PM |How long did it take for Harold Ford to convert his position on same-sex marriage after announcing that he wanted to challenge Kirstin Gillibrand for Hillary Clinton's Senate seat? He leaked rumors that he'd challenge her on the January 5,...Read More
The Spirit of Harvey Milk: Day 2 of the Prop 8 trial
Filed by Davina Kotulski | January 12, 2010 2:30 PM |It's hard not to think about the legacy of Harvey Milk when the Prop 8 court case is only a block away from where Harvey made history, changed the world, and was tragically murdered by Dan White. And Harvey's spirit...Read More
The Spirit of Harvey Milk: Day 2 of the Prop 8 trial
Filed by Davina Kotulski | January 12, 2010 2:30 PM |It's hard not to think about the legacy of Harvey Milk when the Prop 8 court case is only a block away from where Harvey made history, changed the world, and was tragically murdered by Dan White. And Harvey's spirit...Read More
From all around the court building
Filed by Gloria Nieto | January 12, 2010 2:00 PM |The first day of the federal Prop 8 trial felt like the start of overtime in a hockey game. There was excitement everywhere in the building, anything could happen in testimony, what lineup would the coaches use and what would...Read More
From all around the court building
Filed by Gloria Nieto | January 12, 2010 2:00 PM |The first day of the federal Prop 8 trial felt like the start of overtime in a hockey game. There was excitement everywhere in the building, anything could happen in testimony, what lineup would the coaches use and what would...Read More
The Politics of Being Transgender: GRITtv panel
Filed by Bil Browning | January 12, 2010 12:30 PM |Julia Serano, author of Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity, Naomi Clark of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project and blogger at Feministe, and filmmaker Jules Rosskam of Against a Trans Narrative, were on Laura...Read More
Prop 8 trial a "teachable moment"
Filed by Joe Mirabella | January 12, 2010 10:30 AM |Yesterday I made my way with to the Federal Court House in Seattle as a typically nasty Seattle winter rain storm managed to drench me to my soul, despite my over-sized umbrella and hearty rain jacket. No matter, I was...Read More
Prop 8 trial a "teachable moment"
Filed by Joe Mirabella | January 12, 2010 10:30 AM |Yesterday I made my way with to the Federal Court House in Seattle as a typically nasty Seattle winter rain storm managed to drench me to my soul, despite my over-sized umbrella and hearty rain jacket. No matter, I was...Read More
Prop 8 Trial: Day 1 Recap
Filed by Davina Kotulski | January 12, 2010 9:30 AM |Okay, I was blogging, tweeting, and facebooking for 8 hours yesterday and, damn, my hand hurts. But I'm willing to go the extra mile for equality. I woke up yesterday morning at 4:30AM to support my princess bride, Molly McKay,...Read More
Prop 8 Trial: Day 1 Recap
Filed by Davina Kotulski | January 12, 2010 9:30 AM |Okay, I was blogging, tweeting, and facebooking for 8 hours yesterday and, damn, my hand hurts. But I'm willing to go the extra mile for equality. I woke up yesterday morning at 4:30AM to support my princess bride, Molly McKay,...Read More
It's not the hypocrisy, it's the ubiquity: Iris Robinson and Scott Brown's straight moral sex lives
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 11, 2010 7:00 PM |I don't care much at all about who or what people want to do in their private lives, but sometimes it becomes apparent that certain public figures' private affairs are affecting their public views and actions that it makes you...Read More
AFA Self Mutilates over Amanda Simpson
Filed by Keri Renault | January 11, 2010 5:00 PM |The social-cultural divide in America has widened considerably since conservatives were voted from power after the 2008 election. Nowhere is this emotionally charged environment more evident than when an LGBT American makes national news. Take the Obama administration's appointment of...Read More
Update from the Prop 8 trial: Special Report
Filed by Davina Kotulski | January 11, 2010 4:00 PM |The Prop 8 trial started with introductions from all the attorneys and discussion of the stay of a live feed of the trial to other federal courthouses and streaming for YouTube. A stay has been issued until Wednesday at 4:00...Read More
Manchester Grand Hyatt protest still going strong
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 11, 2010 3:00 PM |These folks know how to boycott: Waving signs reading: "We All Deserve the Freedom to Marry," more than 200 gay-rights activists and union members representing hotel employees rallied outside the Manchester Grand Hyatt on Saturday in the latest protest over...Read More
Meet the Independent: Jim Madigan vs 'The Machine'
Filed by Phil Reese | January 11, 2010 2:00 PM |Jim Madigan is taking a big risk. He's running against the infamous Chicago Democratic Machine to try to become Illinois's only openly gay state Senator. Check this guy out, he knows his stuff. And he's got what it takes to...Read More
Special Prop 8 trial report: All Rise for Equality
Filed by Guest Blogger | January 11, 2010 1:00 PM |Editors' Note: Bilerico Project special correspondent, Dr. Davina Kotulski, is live at the federal Prop 8 trial and will be filing regular reports as the trial progresses. Davina is the former executive director of Marriage Equality USA and is the...Read More
Live Twitter feed of Prop 8 trial
Filed by Bil Browning | January 11, 2010 12:30 PM |Now that the US Supreme Court has put a stay on cameras in the federal courthouse for the Prop 8 trial (including delayed YouTube videos and satellite watching locations) for at least three days, the only way you can keep...Read More
Live Twitter feed of Prop 8 trial
Filed by Bil Browning | January 11, 2010 12:30 PM |Now that the US Supreme Court has put a stay on cameras in the federal courthouse for the Prop 8 trial (including delayed YouTube videos and satellite watching locations) for at least three days, the only way you can keep...Read More
Federal Prop 8 trial starts today
Filed by Bil Browning | January 11, 2010 10:30 AM |UPDATE: The Supreme Court has blocked a live broadcast and delayed daily YouTube videos for three days until it has enough time to fully consider the appeal by Prop 8 proponents to ban cameras from the courtroom. Perry v. Schwarzenegger,...Read More
Federal Prop 8 trial starts today
Filed by Bil Browning | January 11, 2010 10:30 AM |UPDATE: The Supreme Court has blocked a live broadcast and delayed daily YouTube videos for three days until it has enough time to fully consider the appeal by Prop 8 proponents to ban cameras from the courtroom. Perry v. Schwarzenegger,...Read More
It's funny because he helps set American foreign policy
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 11, 2010 9:30 AM |Charles Murray over at the American Enterprise Institute (a neoconservative think tank that really, really wanted to invade Iraq) started talking about Paris after visiting a non-Paris part of France, and he went there: Last night, having been struck by...Read More
Writing a check your body can't cash
Filed by Antonia D'orsay | January 10, 2010 4:00 PM |That line still sticks in my head, all the years after it was pointedly told to Tom Cruise. It fits in well with a whole set of ideas related to a particular theme that Dirty Harry once reminded bad guys...Read More
Writing a check your body can't cash
Filed by Antonia D'orsay | January 10, 2010 4:00 PM |That line still sticks in my head, all the years after it was pointedly told to Tom Cruise. It fits in well with a whole set of ideas related to a particular theme that Dirty Harry once reminded bad guys...Read More
Writing a check your body can't cash
Filed by Antonia D'orsay | January 10, 2010 4:00 PM |That line still sticks in my head, all the years after it was pointedly told to Tom Cruise. It fits in well with a whole set of ideas related to a particular theme that Dirty Harry once reminded bad guys...Read More
Oil Tears
Filed by Sara Whitman | January 09, 2010 10:00 AM |Boat, the woman said to her small toddler she was holding. See that? It's a boat... I've been to many war memorials, having grown up with two great aunts who were members of the Daughters of the Confederacy and lived...Read More
"The Uh-Ohs": A Decade of Conservative Failure
Filed by Terrance Heath | January 08, 2010 4:00 PM |“Stuff happens.” - Donald Rumsfeld on the looting of Iraq following the U.S. invasion Forget about “the Aughts.” Never mind “the Naughts.” The decade just passed — and which promises to leave a lingering, bitter aftertaste — deserves a...Read More
Global HIV travel and immigration policies
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 08, 2010 3:00 PM |The US and South Korea just ended their HIV travel bans this week. UNAIDS has an interactive map up with information about the restrictions other countries put on entry, stay, and residence of foreigners with HIV/AIDS. Blue means there's some...Read More
Marriage bill defeated in New Jersey Senate
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 07, 2010 5:00 PM |A bill that would have legalized same-sex marriage in New Jersey failed in the senate 14-20. The governor is changing after next week from a Democrat who would have signed a marriage bill to a Republican who won't, so this...Read More
Freedom depends on open government
Filed by Joe Mirabella | January 07, 2010 4:00 PM |This is part 3 of a 3 part series discussing the pending Supreme Court case that will decide the future of our petition gathering process in Washington, and the push by anti-equality forces to operate in secrecy nationwide. In part...Read More
Freedom depends on open government
Filed by Joe Mirabella | January 07, 2010 4:00 PM |This is part 3 of a 3 part series discussing the pending Supreme Court case that will decide the future of our petition gathering process in Washington, and the push by anti-equality forces to operate in secrecy nationwide. In part...Read More
The Prop 8 trial will get YouTubed
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 07, 2010 1:00 PM |Both Joe and I posted about the controversy in the Ninth Circuit over whether or not to broadcast the federal Prop 8 challenge. The Prop 8 defenders said that their witnesses would be intimidated and look like idiots if people...Read More
Humor Rights Watch: Rachel Rocks, Letterman Doesn't
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | January 07, 2010 12:00 PM |The appointment of Amanda Simpson by President Obama to the Commerce Department is now making the rounds on the TV show circuit. Interestingly, as revealed last night by Rachel Maddow, she's not the first. Rachel also displayed her usual witty...Read More
Anti-equality foes so ashamed they have to hide
Filed by Joe Mirabella | January 06, 2010 7:00 PM |This is part 2 of a 3 part series discussing the pending Supreme Court case that will decide the future of our petition gathering process in Washington, and the push by anti-equality forces to operate in secrecy nationwide. Yesterday I...Read More
The punishment doesn't fit the crime: More on transgender women, prison, and Maria Benita Santamaria
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 06, 2010 6:00 PM |I posted the other day about Maria Benita Santamaria, a transgender woman sent to prison after she was found with ten pounds of meth on her. She was sent to a men's prison, put in solitary confinement, and denied hormones...Read More
The Rhode Island legislature recognizes, with a veto-proof majority, that everything is not marriage
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 06, 2010 1:30 PM |The Rhode Island legislature overrode the governor's veto to pass a bill to allow gay and straight unmarried partners to plan their partners' funerals in the case of death. I blogged about the governor's veto of this bill last November...Read More
The Prop 8 trial would make for better TV than Judge Judy
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 06, 2010 9:30 AM |How is National Review writer Edward Whelan not admitting that Prop 8 supporters are judgmental authoritarians whose willingness to uncritically accept what they're told means that their arguments are inferior? Walker's New Year's Eve surprise is a critical step in...Read More
Referendum 71 petition signatures should remain public
Filed by Joe Mirabella | January 05, 2010 6:30 PM |This is part 1 of a 3 part series discussing the pending Supreme Court case that will decide the future of our petition gathering process in Washington, and the push by anti-equality forces to operate in secrecy nationwide. The US...Read More
New Jersey court decides against gestational surrogacy contracts
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 05, 2010 5:30 PM |Here's a complicated story from New Jersey. A gestational surrogate (i.e., a surrogate mother who's not genetically related to the child) is the legal mother of the twins she carried. Angelia Robinson agreed in a contract to have her brother...Read More
They really want to ban gay-as-in-happy marriage
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 05, 2010 2:30 PM |More Oklahoma fundamental-ness, this time from someone we already know, Sally Kern: Scheduled for introduction in the 2010 legislative session by state Rep. Sally Kern, R-Oklahoma City, House Bill 2279 would restrict the "use of incompatibility as a ground for...Read More
Rhode Island to override veto of domestic partner death rights
Filed by Joe Mirabella | January 05, 2010 12:30 PM |In November, in an unusually cold anti-gay move, Rhode Island's Governor Donald Carcieri vetoed a bill that would allow domestic partners to collect the remains of their deceased loved ones. The bill was inspired by the tragic loss of Mark...Read More
The HIV travel ban is over
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 05, 2010 11:30 AM |While Obama lifting the HIV travel ban was in the Top 10 LGBT Stories of 2009 Bil and I wrote up, it wasn't put into effect until yesterday. A two decades old policy that was based on nothing more than...Read More
Marriage equality safe in Iowa until at least 2014
Filed by Joe Mirabella | January 05, 2010 9:30 AM |According to the Chicago Tribune, the Democratically controlled Iowa legislature will not put Iowa's April 3, 2009 Supreme Court decision legalizing same gender marriage up for a debate. Iowa's founders brilliantly made it difficult to change the state constitution. Two...Read More
Oklahoma to ignore new hate crimes law?
Filed by Bil Browning | January 04, 2010 4:30 PM |Representative Sally Kern isn't the only right wing fundie nutjob in the Oklahoma state legislature. Republican state senator Steve Russell is now proposing legislation to exempt Oklahoma from the recently passed hate crimes law. This proposed measure would forbid state...Read More
Crazy tea baggers and liberal blogger friends
Filed by Jerame Davis | January 04, 2010 3:30 PM |Friend of the blog, Abdul Hakim Shabazz, is a conservative radio pundit, blogger and part-time stand-up comedian (no, seriously - he teaches college part-time too.) His show, Abdul in the Morning is on WXNT radio and his blog is Indiana...Read More
New rights for trans people in Pakistan
Filed by Joe Mirabella | January 04, 2010 11:30 AM |Pink News Reports: The Pakistan Supreme Court has ordered the government to allow trans people the right to a distinct gender. The court said that trans people, known as hijras, should be able to get national identity cards showing their...Read More
That is Mayor Annise Parker now
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 04, 2010 9:30 AM |Congrats to the new mayor: HOUSTON -- Annise Parker has been sworn in as Houston mayor, officially making her city the nation's largest to be led by an openly gay person. Parker took the oath of office in a private...Read More
Rare joint appearance!
Filed by Bil Browning | January 04, 2010 6:00 AM |I almost forgot to mention this, but if you're in the Indianapolis area, Jerame and I will be making a joint media appearance on Abdul Hakim Shabazz's radio show this morning from 7-8am. We'll be talking about local and state...Read More
Amanda Simpson, The DC Power Elite, and the Cultural Imaginary
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | January 02, 2010 4:00 PM |The announcement of President Obama's appointment of Amanda Simpson to the Department of Commerce on the last day of 2009 is a significant event for LGBT rights in the U.S. But what does it, in fact, mean? What, if any,...Read More
Amanda Simpson, The DC Power Elite, and the Cultural Imaginary
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | January 02, 2010 4:00 PM |The announcement of President Obama's appointment of Amanda Simpson to the Department of Commerce on the last day of 2009 is a significant event for LGBT rights in the U.S. But what does it, in fact, mean? What, if any,...Read More
Iowa and New Hampshire's equality and the Presidential elections
Filed by Joe Mirabella | January 02, 2010 10:00 AM |At 12:01 AM on January 1, New Hampshire became the 5th state to grant marriage equality to same gender couples, changing Presidential politics as we know them. Arguably the most important states in Presidential politics, both Iowa and New Hampshire...Read More
Iowa and New Hampshire's equality and the Presidential elections
Filed by Joe Mirabella | January 02, 2010 10:00 AM |At 12:01 AM on January 1, New Hampshire became the 5th state to grant marriage equality to same gender couples, changing Presidential politics as we know them. Arguably the most important states in Presidential politics, both Iowa and New Hampshire...Read More
