Politics: January 2011
Mosley Braun: Opponent Is 'Strung Out on Crack'
Filed by Bil Browning | January 31, 2011 | 4:00 PM |Holy shit. Why does Chicago always have the most interesting politics? Sometimes it reminds me of a third world country with all the corruption and scheming. While no one threw a shoe, I was waiting on it during this exchange...Read More
Will MassEquality Support Sen Brown in 2012?
Filed by Guest Blogger | January 31, 2011 | 2:00 PM |Editors' note: Kara Suffredini is executive director of MassEquality. As Sen. Scott Brown embarks on his re-election bid - the latest news in that regard is that he's sitting on a $7 million war chest - I have been asked...Read More
When Students Harass Gay Teachers
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 31, 2011 | 8:30 AM |An out middle school teacher in the LA area and his union brought up the harassment he's experiencing and the school's indifference at a board meeting last week: Although Collins and the union are making specific demands of the district,...Read More
From Both Sides Now?
Filed by Terrance Heath | January 30, 2011 | 2:30 PM |After getting some concerns off my rest re: the shooting in Tucson, I’ve been reading what everyone else is saying, and I’m kind of amazed at the conservatives attempt at the “Both sides do it,” argument. To be sure, people...Read More
65 Years After Auschwitz & Christianists Have Learned Nothing
Filed by Michael Hamar | January 30, 2011 | 1:00 PM |As noted by Bob Felton at >Civil Commotion, January 27, 2011, was the 65th anniversary of the day that Allied forces liberated Auschwitz and discovered the full extent of the horrors of the "Final Solution." The hatred and malicious denigration...Read More
The Revolution Will Not Be Funded
Filed by Toshio Meronek | January 30, 2011 | 11:30 AM |People fighting the Non-Profit Industrial Complex say that it doesn't take long before the number one objective at most non-profits becomes fundraising rather than the cause they were founded for. It's not a new idea, but it's one that people...Read More
#SSS: Uganda murder, State of the Union, marriage and military
Filed by Phil Reese | January 30, 2011 | 10:00 AM |Nobody is left off the hook this week on SameSexSunday. D. Gregory Smith returns with another great interview with the Executive Director of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, Jason Marsden, discussing hate crimes, the state of the nation-wide LGBT community, and...Read More
Understanding Uganda
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | January 29, 2011 | 2:00 PM |With the tragic bludgeoning death of Ugandan gay activist David Kato last week, international attention has once again focused on the state-supported open homophobia in Uganda. Many, including President Obama, issued statements condemning this murder, while the Ugandan authorities said...Read More
Why Obama's Appointment of 'Damn Lesbian' Roberta Achtenberg to the Civil Rights Commission is Important
Filed by Karen Ocamb | January 29, 2011 | 10:00 AM |Concern over heated political rhetoric is much in the news since the assassination attempt against Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. But not that long ago hate speech against LGBT people in the corridors of Congress was unabashedly acceptable. One recipient of...Read More
Chicago Won't Violate Marriage Protestors' Free Speech
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 28, 2011 | 2:00 PM |Last year, the Gay Liberation Network in Chicago protested a Catholic church on Valentine's Day for marriage, and some folks noted that it's actually illegal to protest within 150 feet and 30 minutes of a religious service, for anything besides...Read More
On Egypt: The Crisis Is Here
Filed by Don Davis | January 28, 2011 | 12:00 PM |It has been a couple of years since I first started writing about Egypt; at that time I did a series of stories that described how the country's Constitution is designed to ensure that the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP)...Read More
States to Watch for Marriage and Civil Union Legislation, Round 2
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 28, 2011 | 9:30 AM |The other day I posted about various state-level efforts on same-sex partnership recognition, mentioning what's going on in Iowa, Wyoming, Hawaii, New York, Maryland, and Rhode Island. Readers let me know that I left a few states out. Add Florida...Read More
Park51 Senior Advisor Says Gay People Were "Overwhelming"ly abused
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 27, 2011 | 6:00 PM |An imam who was brought on board as a senior advisor for the Park51 project in Manhattan (the Islamic community center that was demagogued through the election season last year that we haven't heard much about since, for no reason...Read More
Canada: Is the Conversation Lurching to the Right?
Filed by Mercedes Allen | January 27, 2011 | 5:00 PM |It's been a busy time for the Canadian far right, as conservatives and Christian nationalists try to follow the US example of pushing the conversation so far to the right that even Gandhi looks like Josef Stalin. Is it working?...Read More
Paul Ryan: Selling Economic Pain, with a Smile
Filed by Terrance Heath | January 27, 2011 | 4:00 PM |I hear some progressive bloggers tell it, Paul Ryan's response to President Obama's State of the Union address was an utter failure, and the GOP blundered in picking him to carry its message. But the true measure of a speech's...Read More
On The Rebecca Juro Show: Nicki Stallard of the Pink Pistols
Filed by Rebecca Juro | January 27, 2011 | 3:00 PM |Transgender Libertarian Ron Paul supporter and gun rights activist Nicki Stallard joins us to talk guns and politics. We'll talk with Nicki about the Pink Pistols, what it is to be a transwoman on the political right in this country,...Read More
Just Say No to ROTC on College Campuses
Filed by Joe Mirabella | January 26, 2011 | 7:00 PM |President Obama acknowledged that gays and lesbians will serve openly in the armed forces this year thanks to last year's repeal of the so called "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law. In exchange, the President has asked the college campuses and...Read More
States to Watch for Marriage and Civil Union Legislation
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 26, 2011 | 3:00 PM |New legislative sessions started this week, and quite a few states are considering laws related to official recognition of same-sex couples. In Hawaii, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed a bill to create civil unions (for both same- and opposite-sex couples)...Read More
Sometimes Losing Is How You Win
Filed by Don Davis | January 26, 2011 | 9:30 AM |We have been talking a lot about Social Security these past few weeks, even to the point where I've missed out on talking about things that I also wanted to bring to the table, particularly the effort to reform Senate...Read More
Text of Tonight's State of the Union Address
Filed by Bil Browning | January 25, 2011 | 9:00 PM |Just in from the White House, here's the text of tonight's State of the Union speech. You can also watch online with pop up charts, graphics and commentary from various administration officials - including a live chat after the address....Read More
State of the Union Tonight... Predictions?
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 25, 2011 | 6:00 PM |The State of the Union address is tonight at 9 Eastern. Does anyone have any predictions (not dreams) about what Obama will say regarding queer issues? Mine are after the jump. The news today has been the leak that Obama...Read More
JFK, Tucson and Fear
Filed by Diane Silver | January 25, 2011 | 12:30 PM |In the wake of the Tucson shootings and liberal concerns about political rhetoric, our honorable opposition on the right has taken to yelling, "Foul!" Right-wing commentators claim that progressives' concerns about rhetoric aren't real concerns; they're politics. This scream has...Read More
Dan Savage Responds, and: Are All Black People Poor?
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 25, 2011 | 9:30 AM |The Bilerico Project keeps on getting results! On Sunday I complained that Dan Savage wouldn't even explain why marriage is the most "meaningful" right a gay person can have, and yesterday he took to The Slog to defend the issue....Read More
(Gay) Shame on Roe v. Wade Protesters
Filed by Toshio Meronek | January 25, 2011 | 8:30 AM |Every year since 2005, the anti-choice, anti-LGBTQ group Walk for Life has marked the anniversary of Roe v. Wade by bussing people from around the West Coast into Devil's territory (a.k.a. San Francisco) for a big march down the waterfront...Read More
LA City Councilmember Bill Rosendahl Doing Well After Surgery
Filed by Karen Ocamb | January 24, 2011 | 1:30 PM |Openly gay Los Angeles City Councilmember Bill Rosendahl is so energetic and enthusiastic about his personal and political passions, it is hard to imagine that anything could slow him down. But his office announced that Rosendahl has had atrial fibrillation...Read More
The Post-Olbermann Era: What the New MSNBC Can and Should Be
Filed by Rebecca Juro | January 24, 2011 | 10:30 AM |Like a lot of lefties, I was a regular viewer of Countdown with Keith Olbermann and I was disappointed, though not really very surprised, at the rather sudden announcement of his departure from MSNBC. I enjoyed watching Keith, and I...Read More
Rendering Love Visible this Valentine's Day
Filed by Davina Kotulski | January 24, 2011 | 9:30 AM |On February 12, 2001, I dressed up in a make-shift tuxedo with a pink ruffled shirt and my wife, Molly McKay, put on a wedding dress and we walked up the steps of San Francisco City Hall. This is was...Read More
Bad Arguments to Keep LGBT's Out of School
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 24, 2011 | 8:30 AM |An org put together LGBT lesson ideas for UK schools for next month, which is "LGBT History Month" there: Maths - teaching statistics through census findings about the number of homosexuals in the population, and using gay characters in scenarios...Read More
Senator Bill Nelson tells Florida Gov. Rick Scott to "Make [ADAP] a Priority"
Filed by Michael Emanuel Rajner | January 23, 2011 | 11:30 AM |Last week, US Senator Bill Nelson sent letters to both, President Barack Obama and Florida Governor Rick Scott, urging them to "make this a priority" for the growing crisis with our nation's AIDS Drug Assistance Programs. This was his first...Read More
Twitter Activists Plead With FL Gov Rick Scott About HIV Drugs
Filed by Michael Emanuel Rajner | January 22, 2011 | 6:00 PM |Last Thursday evening, Florida Governor Rick Scott hosted a town hall on Twitter providing Floridians with an opportunity to share a short message with Scott using 140 characters or less. At first I struggled with the daunting task limiting a...Read More
Arizona's No Longer Silent Clergy Protests Exodus International
Filed by Bobby Parker | January 22, 2011 | 2:00 PM |Phoenix will be the site of Exodus International's "Love Won Out" conference in February. In advance of that conference, this group, which adheres to a completely flawed idea that reparative therapy can "cure" homosexuality, was holding training yesterday at the...Read More
Should We See the Giffords' Shooting Video?
Filed by Terrance Heath | January 22, 2011 | 10:00 AM |Michael Tomasky points to this... The chief investigator for the sheriff's department here has for the first time publicly described the brief and gory video clip from a store security camera that shows a gunman not only shooting Representative Gabrielle...Read More
GAO Releases Numbers on Cost and Class Impact of DADT
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 21, 2011 | 3:00 PM |I know everyone's pointing to the GOA report on DADT, gasping that a government that says that it can't afford a decent health care system (never mind that single-payer would cost less than what we have now) would spend $193.3...Read More
New HUD Housing Regulations: Even Martians
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | January 21, 2011 | 2:00 PM |The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has announced proposed new regulations to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in programs sponsored by or financed by HUD. Alex discussed them in a post this morning....Read More
Courage Campaign Launches 'Issa Watch'
Filed by Karen Ocamb | January 21, 2011 | 12:00 PM |Even before the Republicans officially took over the House in the new Congress, Southern California conservative Republican Rep. Darrell Issa was gleefully rubbing his hands in anticipation of all the investigative hearings he could hold as chair of the House...Read More
The Ballad of Sarah Palin
Filed by Bil Browning | January 21, 2011 | 11:00 AM |Earlier this week brought us the Battle Hymn of Sarah Palin, but Lady Bunny has now joined the fray with The Ballad of Sarah Palin. If you thought watching two old people warble out the praises of the Half Guv...Read More
New HUD Rules Released on Housing Discrimination
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 21, 2011 | 9:30 AM |Great new rules, if for anything they're setting the tone when it comes to housing: Most notably, the rules would prohibit lenders from using sexual orientation or gender identity as a basis to determine a borrower's eligibility for Federal Housing...Read More
Gay Marriage Reality Check
Filed by Monica Roberts | January 20, 2011 | 4:00 PM |Now that the DADT repeal has been signed into law, there has been chatter in GL world and the Gayosphere about shifting the positive momentum gained from the historic win to renewing the push for gay marriage.That would be a...Read More
Chicago Mayoral Candidate and LGBT Ally, Carol Moseley Braun
Filed by Phil Reese | January 20, 2011 | 2:00 PM |This past Friday evening I found myself staring at a burning log in a fireplace, shaking like a leaf. Not shaking from the temperatures, but shaking out of nerves. Here I was sitting in the living room of a woman...Read More
On The Rebecca Juro Show this Week: Dr. Dana Beyer
Filed by Rebecca Juro | January 20, 2011 | 1:00 PM |On The Rebecca Juro Show this week: Dr. Dana Beyer, former candidate for Maryland State Delegate, transgender activist, author of The Silent T an op-ed that appeared in Metro Weekly on why DADT and not ENDA was passed into law...Read More
Virginia's Bizarre "Tolerance" Ranking By the Daily Beast
Filed by Michael Hamar | January 20, 2011 | 10:30 AM |The Daily Beast has come up with a ranking of U.S. states in terms of alleged levels of tolerance. I'm not sure what mind altering drugs the reviewers were using at the time they ranked Virginia as #11 (higher than...Read More
Charges Dropped in Dallas Bathhouse Raid
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 20, 2011 | 9:30 AM |In October I posted on a bathhouse raid in Dallas that resulted in eleven arrests for "public lewdness," "indecent exposure," and one with "interfering with police." The county was going to argue that a bathhouse with membership and everything was,...Read More
The Right to Kill
Filed by D Gregory Smith | January 19, 2011 | 7:00 PM |I grew up on a ranch in Montana. I rode horses. I branded calves. I collected eggs, brought in lambs, moved irrigation pipe, milked cows, toted hay bales, and, yes, occasionally, I shot things. Guns were part of our life...Read More
Anti-Gay Homeless Shelter Receiving Government Funds
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 19, 2011 | 6:00 PM |A church-run homeless shelter in Columbus, Georgia, kicked two women out because they thought they were gay. While the shelter denies her story, the director is perfectly willing to admit that gay people aren't welcome at that homeless shelter: I...Read More
The GOP's "Do Nothing" Plan for Health Care
Filed by Terrance Heath | January 19, 2011 | 4:00 PM |During the presidential campaign, Republicans enjoyed poking fun at Obama's "Yes, We Can," campaign slogan. Most often they simply restated it as "No, You Can't." However, the GOP majority in the House is setting out to exemplify its own slogan:...Read More
Black LGBTs March in Martin Luther King Day Parade in South LA
Filed by Karen Ocamb | January 19, 2011 | 10:30 AM |For the third year in a row, members of the Jordan/Rustin Coalition, the Here to Stay Coalition, Black Lesbians United, In The Meantime Men, At The Beach LA Black Pride and supporters marched down in the annual Kingdom Day Parade...Read More
Louisiana Argues against Gay Birth Certificates; Hospitals Become More Inclusive
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 18, 2011 | 5:00 PM |File this under "homophobic laws I didn't know about." Louisiana contends that it doesn't have to put a same-sex couple on their adoptive child's birth certificate, even though their law says they have to put adoptive parents on a child's...Read More
Supreme Court Saves DC Same-Sex Marriages
Filed by Bil Browning | January 18, 2011 | 2:30 PM |The US Supreme Court's denial of certiorari today effectively ends the debate on same-sex marriage in the capital. Reverend Harry Jackson's one man crusade to try and invalidate same-sex marriage in DC has effectively been squashed. Jackson petitioned the court...Read More
Tea Party Protests Abortion, LGBT Rights
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 18, 2011 | 8:30 AM |Now everyone keeps on telling me that the Tea Party is something other than the Republican base re-branded, that they're reasonable, independent Real Americans who just want both the Democrats and Republicans to quit the bickering and cut spending, deny...Read More
ENDA Is Dead: Bury It and Move On
Filed by Guest Blogger | January 17, 2011 | 5:30 PM |Editors' Note: Babs Siperstein is a member of the Democratic National Committee, co-chair of the National Stonewall Democrats' Federal PAC Board and Political Director of the Gender Rights Advocacy Association of New Jersey. Attending the signing of the legislation that...Read More
NOM: Obama Is Sabotaging the DOMA Cases
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 17, 2011 | 4:00 PM |Last week I posted about the Justice Department's non-substantive defense of DOMA. Perhaps it's not the worst defense they could be providing (they could have just not appealed the ruling), it was legalistic and avoided most of the substantive arguments...Read More
Wyoming Honors MLK Day By Debating Marriage Rights
Filed by Bil Browning | January 17, 2011 | 2:30 PM |While Martin Luther King Jr is being honored today for his work on behalf of equality and civil rights, the Wyoming state legislature has decided to take a remarkably different approach to justice. They will be debating a bill to...Read More
Would We Be Calling Martin Luther King a Civil Discourse Nut?
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 17, 2011 | 11:30 AM |I wrote a five-post series on King's Stride Towards Freedom last year Four facts I didn't know about the Montgomery bus boycott, Gay is not the new Black: Why replicating King's strategies won't work for the contemporary queer, Nonviolence: It's...Read More
Martin Luther King Day: What's Love Got to Do with It
Filed by Davina Kotulski | January 17, 2011 | 10:00 AM |Today we celebrate Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s life and commitment to non-violent transformation. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend," and, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only...Read More
Will Obama Lose an Argument with Himself?
Filed by Don Davis | January 16, 2011 | 5:30 PM |There have been many unlikely things that have happened this past month or so: some of them appearing as legislation, some of them appearing in the form of Republicans who set new records for running away from the words they...Read More
Rugged Individualism: Meet the Ghost of Government Past
Filed by Don Davis | January 16, 2011 | 2:30 PM |It is about time for the 112th House to come back into session, and the first thing on the agenda appears to be an effort to take away any healthcare reform that have been passed by this Administration. Next comes...Read More
#SSS: Vitriolic Discourse, Immigration Forms, DOMA, HRC and the States
Filed by Phil Reese | January 16, 2011 | 10:00 AM |This week's powerful SameSexSunday will knock you right over as we get to the heart of some truly meaty topics. First and foremost, we discussed the violent rhetoric and vitriolic discourse brought to light by the intense discussions following last...Read More
What Will Obama and Holder Do About Don't Ask, Don't Tell on Tuesday?
Filed by Karen Ocamb | January 14, 2011 | 3:00 PM |Eric Holder, a well-known civil rights advocate before becoming Attorney General, spoke briefly at the powerful memorial in Tucson for the victims of the Arizona shooting Wednesday night. He had a front row seat to President Obama's inspiring message urging...Read More
Minneapolis Public Schools to Teach about LGBT People
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 14, 2011 | 2:00 PM |Minneapolis School Board just passed a resolution unanimously that calls for more tracking of anti-bullying efforts, better training of teachers when it comes to LGBTQ issues, and for LGBT people to be included in curriculum: In a unanimous vote by...Read More
"I Believe We Can Be Better"
Filed by Terrance Heath | January 14, 2011 | 11:00 AM |Everyone either wondered what the President would say, or knew what he should say. Now we know what he did say. It may be the finest speech he’s given as president, thus far....Read More
The Justice Department's Anemic Defense of DOMA
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 14, 2011 | 8:30 AM |The Justice Department has filed for an appeal of the Tauro decisions in Gill vs. OPM and Massachusetts vs. US that struck down provisions of DOMA last year. Chris Geidner sums up Justice's arguments: 1. Congress Could Have Rationally Concluded...Read More
Employees Don't Want to Be Asked about Sexual Orientation
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 13, 2011 | 6:00 PM |As part of the Equality Act passed in the UK last year, government agencies are required to monitor their workforce to see if discrimination is occurring. This means that agencies with over 150 people have been required to ask their...Read More
It's Not Just Inflammatory Rhetoric
Filed by Terrance Heath | January 13, 2011 | 5:00 PM |In the aftermath of the tragic Tucson, AZ, shooting that left six dead, and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D, AZ-8) hospitalized, much has been said and written about the degree to which incendiary rhetoric motivated the shooter. However, caustic rhetoric...Read More
Marriage Equality Hero Gavin Newsom Sworn-In as California Lt. Governor
Filed by Karen Ocamb | January 13, 2011 | 3:00 PM |Applause interrupted openly gay Speaker of the Assembly John A. Perez during his remarks before former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom was officially sworn in as California's Lt. Governor on Monday. In 2004, "his bold leadership ushered in a...Read More
Gay Graffiti at Islamic Center in Missouri
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 13, 2011 | 1:00 PM |A lot of hay has been made about how Jared Lee Loughner would have been already shipped off to Guantanamo if he were Muslim and the right wouldn't be arguing as forcefully as possible that he was "insane" and therefore...Read More
State Rep. Larry Brown to the HIV-Positive: You Can All Go Rot!
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 12, 2011 | 7:00 PM |Well, with all the states facing budget crunches and looking for something to cut, someone in this homophobic society was bound to come right and say that people with HIV should just be left to die. State Rep. Larry Brown...Read More
The Worst Thing You'll Read Today
Filed by Bil Browning | January 12, 2011 | 6:00 PM |What violence in our political rhetoric? Just because a South Carolina gun manufacturer is releasing an AR-15 assault rifle with Congressman Joe Miller's "You lie!" quote engraved on the firearm, doesn't mean they expect anyone to use it on a...Read More
From a Friend of Gabrielle Giffords
Filed by Bobby Parker | January 12, 2011 | 5:00 PM |I have a good friend, Steve Brittle, a political strategist and environmental activist, who worked with Congresswoman Giffords on several campaigns. We talked about what happened in Tucson and I asked him for his thoughts to share with the nation...Read More
Palin responds to AZ shooting with video
Filed by Bil Browning | January 12, 2011 | 3:00 PM |When you're Sarah Palin, you issue statements via Facebook and Twitter. And when you've been blamed for targeting a Congresswoman for assassination by printing a graphic with crosshairs over her district, you make a nice video in your home studio...Read More
Rachel Maddow's Ode to Heroism; Interview with Daniel Hernandez
Filed by Karen Ocamb | January 12, 2011 | 1:30 PM |Interesting that Rachel Maddow did not find a way to note that Daniel Hernandez is openly gay. Does his sexual orientation and ethnicity matter? Yes, says Salon.com. Indeed, consider that Arizona does not have workplace protections based on sexual orientation...Read More
The third way to same-sex marriage
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 12, 2011 | 8:30 AM |A conservative organization, the Third Way, has a column up in The Advocate telling the gays what they need to do to get marriage. They claim to have identified the "middle" on the issue (whatever that means) and to have...Read More
Virginia freezes ADAP enrollment
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 11, 2011 | 7:00 PM |Virginia announced that they're freezing enrollment in the state's ADAP program, a move that'll keep most people to be diagnosed with HIV/AIDS from being added to the medication program and will move a bunch of people already in the program...Read More
HRC's SF 'Action Center' is Now Just a Store
Filed by Guest Blogger | January 11, 2011 | 6:00 PM |Editors' Note: From San Francisco, Guest blogger and advocate Michael Petrelis reports stories the mainstream media choose to ignore. Michael has appeared on The O'Reilly Factor, CNN, ABC News, and National Public Radio. He has been quoted by The New...Read More
Crosshairs or Surveyor's Symbol? You Decide
Filed by Terrance Heath | January 11, 2011 | 5:00 PM |OK. I have at least a couple of posts about the Tucson shooting that left six dead and Rep. Gabriel Gifford's in critical condition. I might even finish writing one of them before the story is no longer news. (But...Read More
Violent Rhetoric: Compare and Contrast
Filed by Bil Browning | January 11, 2011 | 12:30 PM |There've been quite a few people drawing connections between this weekend's tragic attempted assassination of Rep Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and the violent rhetoric that's been coming out of various rightwing fundie radio programs, TV shows, and politicos. After the jump...Read More
Fixing the problem - not the blame
Filed by Ricci Levy | January 11, 2011 | 11:30 AM |Enough. Seriously. Enough. An insane young man walked into a store and attacked human beings. Each of the human beings, those wounded physically, those wounded emotionally, and those who died, are (and were) individuals with individual stories, but first -...Read More
Passport application forms amended, re-amended
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 11, 2011 | 10:30 AM |Last week the State Department announced that applications for passports wouldn't ask for information about people's "Father" and "Mother" anymore, but instead ask about "Parent 1" and "Parent 2." It makes sense, and not just for same-sex couples raising children,...Read More
Saskatchewan court: No religious exemption to a government job
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 10, 2011 | 5:00 PM |Several Canadian civil commissioners argued in court it violated their religious principles to perform same-sex marriages, and the court said that's no reason for them not to perform the ceremonies: "Persons who voluntarily choose to assume an office, like that...Read More
Arizona Shooting: Bitter Rhetoric Needs to End
Filed by Sara Whitman | January 10, 2011 | 3:30 PM |At the end of the day on Saturday, after the memorial was done, a few of us were sitting around, laughing, talking. I don't know who heard the news or how, but suddenly there was an iPad running a report...Read More
Palestinian Queer Activists to Tour United States
Filed by R Conrad | January 10, 2011 | 8:30 AM |In February a small group of Palestinian queer activists from from alQaws and Aswat will be touring the United States, hosting a series of community dialogs moderated by local queer activists in the hosting cities. This exciting announcement comes on...Read More
The 'Undo Everything' Congress Begins, With Health Care
Filed by Terrance Heath | January 09, 2011 | 5:30 PM |Did you think that, having regained control of the House, the GOP will stop being the "party of No" and start governing, or at least doing something about the challenges facing the country? Think again. The 112th Congress will...Read More
Who is Alleged Tucson Shooter Jared Lee Loughner?
Filed by Karen Ocamb | January 09, 2011 | 1:00 PM |Federal sources have identified the suspected gunman in the tragic shooting of 12 people as 22 year old Jared Lee Loughner. While most attention has been focused on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot point blank in the head and...Read More
Mr. President, Washington and Franklin thank you
Filed by Mark Segal | January 09, 2011 | 11:30 AM |When President Obama signed the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," he might have felt the ghosts of Founding Fathers George Washington and Benjamin Franklin smiling over his shoulder. They might have even whispered in his ear, "It's about time."...Read More
AZ Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords shot
Filed by Bil Browning | January 08, 2011 | 3:30 PM |Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has been shot at a townhall meeting in Tucson, Arizona. Several other attendees, including a federal judge supposedly, were wounded or killed. Details are still emerging, but it appears that the Congresswoman was shot in the...Read More
The Democratic Party's New LGBT "Equality" Agenda: Big Words, Short Arms
Filed by Rebecca Juro | January 08, 2011 | 12:00 PM |It's really interesting to see how mainstream cable newsmedia is lauding the Democratically-controlled 111th Congress for getting so much done. It's not entirely undeserved of course, but when one takes a close look at what actually did get done this...Read More
The gays scare more conservatives: Heritage Foundation pulls out of CPAC
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 07, 2011 | 2:00 PM |The Heritage Foundation has pulled out of the CPAC (I'm not even conservative and it's hard to imagine a conference establishing itself as the center of American movement conservatism without them): "We believe in the traditional definition of the family,"...Read More
Shame as a tactic
Filed by Don Davis | January 06, 2011 | 7:00 PM |We have been following the story of Betsie Gallardo lately, she being the woman that, due to a medical decision, was being starved to death in a Florida prison. She has inoperable cancer, her death is imminent, and her mother...Read More
Two Virginia Lawmakers Introduce Anti-Bullying Bills
Filed by Michael Hamar | January 06, 2011 | 6:00 PM |As I have written before hereand here, Virginia's current anti-bullying laws are nothing less than a joke and school personnel who fail to address bullying are pretty much given blanket immunity while the bullies face virtually no consequences - even...Read More
Queer homeless youth funding restored in NYC
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 06, 2011 | 5:00 PM |The city of New York has restored money that was cut from homeless youth services after Bloomberg decided to care about LGBT people yesterday: As a result of extensive negotiations over the past six weeks, City Council Speaker Christine C....Read More
Ouch: John Edwards out of Elizabeth's will
Filed by Bil Browning | January 06, 2011 | 4:00 PM |Elizabeth Edwards' will was published online yesterday and it had one shocking revelation. Edwards' husband, former Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards, doesn't get a dime. The couple separated last year after it was revealed in the National Enquirer that John...Read More
Police chief resigns over cruising sting allegations
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 06, 2011 | 12:00 PM |I've been posting about these two gay cruising sting operations a lot because they're both particularly vicious, the one in Palm Springs and the other in Essex County. And there have been developments in both. In Palm Springs, the cruising...Read More
Future of LGBT leadership in Illinois Part I: Anthony Martinez
Filed by Phil Reese | January 06, 2011 | 8:30 AM |This is the first in a series of interviews with both established and up-and-coming Illinois LGBT leaders in this period of transition for our state. Look for another one with Andy Thayer in a few weeks, and more to follow...Read More
What will and won't happen in this Congress
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 05, 2011 | 4:00 PM |The Huffington Post has an article up about what gay conservatives think this Congress is going to accomplish when it comes to LGBT legislation. HRC provided a graphic on how the change in levels of homophobia in both houses: It's...Read More
Be Gay and Say F--k You to the Armed Forces!
Filed by R Conrad | January 05, 2011 | 3:00 PM |While many gay and lesbian activists are celebrating the recent overturn of DADT, I thought it important to remember and reflect on queer resistance to the military industrial complex. The fierce and deafeningly blunt anti-war cartoons of Mr. Fish and...Read More
Robert Gibbs to leave White House staff
Filed by Bil Browning | January 05, 2011 | 2:00 PM |White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs will follow in the footsteps of former Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel. Gibbs announced today that he will leave the Obama administration. Some sources say Gibbs will create a consulting firm that will assist...Read More
Playing Keep Away With Our Rights
Filed by Davina Kotulski | January 05, 2011 | 9:30 AM |In yet another segment of what feels like the never-ending California same-sex marriage struggle, the 9th Circuit Court declined to answer the question as to whether or not Prop 8 was unconstitutional. Instead they submitted a question to the California...Read More
Antonin Scalia does not interpret that Constitution literally
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 05, 2011 | 8:30 AM |Much ado is being made about this statement from Antonin Scalia, and I think that's because people never really understood that his interpretation of the Constitution, at least in his mind, isn't based on the text itself in a vacuum,...Read More
The Ninth Circuit issues decision on Prop 8 standing
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 04, 2011 | 4:30 PM |The Sacramento Bee is reporting that the Ninth Circuit Court has ruled that Imperial County, California, doesn't have the right to intervene in the Proposition 8 case for same-sex marriage and asked the California Supreme Court about the orgs that...Read More
Obama extends Bush policy on religious group discrimination
Filed by Nan Hunter | January 04, 2011 | 3:30 PM |Virtually unnoticed by the press, President Obama issued an Executive Order in November establishing criteria for federal agency funding of social services provided by religious organizations. Executive Order 13559 modified Executive Order 13279, the much criticized 2002 order issued by...Read More
Cindy Sheehan on DADT Repeal
Filed by Bil Browning | January 04, 2011 | 2:30 PM |In an op-ed written for Al-Jazeera, peace activist Cindy Sheehan lets loose with her opinion on the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. While she is supportive of LGBT rights, she echoes some of the opinions of Bilerico contributors who've...Read More
Largely Worthless Tim Kaine to Remain DNC Chair
Filed by Michael Hamar | January 04, 2011 | 12:30 PM |Maybe my view of Tim Kaine is colored by his failure to do anything to support his own Executive Order 1 (2006) - which allegedly afforded employment non-discrimination protections to gay Virginia state employees - when its effectiveness was being...Read More
LGBT Rights: Why Messaging Is Important
Filed by Bil Browning | January 03, 2011 | 6:00 PM |One of the most intriguing aspects of politics is messaging. If you've got good talking points that resonate with the public's intuitive suspicions, you can dramatically alter the course of events. The right has always been much more effective with...Read More
New Hampshire: Proposition 8 redux
Filed by Alex Blaze | January 03, 2011 | 3:00 PM |The news out of New Hampshire is that the right, after taking over the state legislature, is looking to ban marriage between couples of the same sex in that state. Even though the governor is still a Democrat, Republicans control...Read More
"Defend Christians" Lists ENDA as Top Anti-Christian "Event" of 2010
Filed by Karen Ocamb | January 03, 2011 | 2:00 PM |Defend Christians.org, a San Diego-based "ministry" of the self-styled Christian Anti-Defamation Commission, just-released a list of the "Top Ten Anti-Christian Events in 2010." The list is the result of an online poll "of Christians and people of good will" at...Read More
NOM: No 2009 Tax Returns Yet
Filed by Bil Browning | January 03, 2011 | 1:00 PM |Continuing their practice of skirting or outright violating American election law, the National Organization for Marriage has failed to file any tax returns for 2009. The group's 2007 and 2008 filings were up to 17 months late and they have...Read More
Jon Huntsman: The Manchurian Candidate?
Filed by Michael Hamar | January 02, 2011 | 10:00 AM |Just shy of two years ago I wrote here and here about former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman and his likely calculated decision to change his stance on opposition to gay rights and to oppose some of the most vocal social...Read More
