Politics: April 2011
California Needs to Fight Gender Bullying
Filed by Guest Blogger | April 30, 2011 12:00 PM |Vernon Rosario, MD, PhD and Sarah Herbert, MD, MSW are child and adolescent psychiatrists and members of the LGBT Committee of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry. After enduring repeated episodes of bullying, 13-year-old Seth Walsh hanged himself from...Read More
Why Hate Crimes Charges May Be Appropriate in the Beating of a Trans Woman at McDonald's
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | April 29, 2011 4:00 PM |There have been calls for "hate crimes" charges in the brutal assault on Chrissy Lee Polis in a Maryland McDonald's. Those charges would allow a longer sentence for those convicted of committing a crime, such as assault, found to be...Read More
As the DADT Fight Winds Down, South Korea is Just Getting Started
Filed by Jarrod Chlapowski | April 29, 2011 3:00 PM |On March 31, the South Korean Constitutional Court upheld a 1962 law describing homosexual activity between two consenting adults as reciprocal rape, reversing on appeal a 2010 decision by a military court declaring the law to be unconstitutional. The military...Read More
14 Years Together, Married, and Still Filing 'Single'
Filed by Davina Kotulski | April 29, 2011 2:00 PM |This year Molly and I filed our taxes again as "married" in California and "single" on our federal documents. We are grateful that we are legally married and can file "married" in the state of California, but it is totally...Read More
Today's Trump This Racist Award Goes to...
Filed by Kate Clinton | April 29, 2011 1:00 PM |Sally Kern, R-Oklahoma or Mars, who said on the floor of the Oklahoma house: We have a high percentage of blacks in prison, and that's tragic, but are they in prison just because they are black or because they don't...Read More
Labor Department Adds Gender Identity Protections
Filed by Bil Browning | April 29, 2011 9:30 AM |The Department of Labor announced new equal opportunity policies yesterday that included gender identity protections. The policies now protects all employees and applicants regardless of race; color; religion; national origin; sex, including pregnancy and gender identity; age; disability, whether physical...Read More
Why Hate Crimes Legislation Is Still Not a Solution
Filed by Yasmin Nair | April 29, 2011 8:30 AM |The brutal assault on Crissy Lee Polis in a Maryland McDonald's has led to a long and sustained conversation here and elsewhere about how best to seek solutions to the ongoing problem of harassment and violence inflicted upon trans and...Read More
Ohio County Tries to Write Lesbians Out of Constitution
Filed by Guest Blogger | April 28, 2011 6:00 PM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Tico Almeida is a civil rights litigator at Sanford Wittels & Heisler LLP, which was recently named by Law360 as the only plaintiff-side law firm on the 2010 list of the Top Five employment law practices...Read More
Poet, Mother (and Lesbian) to Write Poem for Royal Wedding
Filed by Dana Rudolph | April 28, 2011 1:00 PM |I wasn't going to write about the royal wedding at all. Despite having lived in the U.K. for a couple of years, I find the monarchy interesting only as an example of the persistence of older traditions of European leadership....Read More
Birther Blues: Obama's Birth Certificate
Filed by Terrance Heath | April 28, 2011 12:00 PM |OK. I think I understand why he did it. At first I didn't think Obama's release of his long form birth certificate would do him much good. But now I'm beginning to think the president knows exactly what he's doing,...Read More
Iowa GOP's Homophobia: Fire Kevin Jennings, Ban Trans Folk from Marrying
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 28, 2011 9:30 AM |To follow-up on Joe's post on the Iowa Republican Party's platform, there's a lot of anti-gay and anti-trans ideology in there. While I'd love to go through and post on all the crazy (the platform actually says it opposes "The...Read More
Iowa Republican Party Wants to Re-establish Slavery
Filed by Joe Mirabella | April 28, 2011 8:30 AM |The Iowa Republican party platforms calls for a constitutional change that could theoretically result in a turn in slavery. With the Republican Iowa Caucuses campaigns underway, it is important to understand the kind of Republicans these candidates are going to...Read More
Trans Woman Banned from Hotel for Life for Going to Bathroom
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 27, 2011 6:00 PM |A woman from New York who was in Las Vegas was banned for life for using the women's room at The Cosmopolitan's bar: Here's what happened. Stephanie goes to the Cosmo in the early hours of the morning - about...Read More
Logic Failure: Administration Supports Clement's Defense of DOMA
Filed by Bil Browning | April 27, 2011 5:00 PM |Only in Washington can logic get this twisted in an attempt to make everyone happy. Asked about the outcry over King & Spalding's hire to defend the Defense of Marriage Act and subsequent decision to drop the case, Attorney General...Read More
Obama Releases Long-Form Birth Certificate
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 27, 2011 1:30 PM |Barack Obama has made his long-form birth certificate, which birthers said was completely different from the birth certificate Obama had already put online, public. So now the conspiracy theories stop, right? While the White House called this a "fake issue,"...Read More
Demons, Illuminati, Bigoted Views Cause Rumpus in Florida City Council Election
Filed by Guest Blogger | April 27, 2011 11:30 AM |Editors' Note: An occasional columnist for the Huffington Post, guest blogger Lisa Derrick writes the pop culture page La Figa for Firedoglake.com as well as hostessing FDL's online Monday Movie Nights. Her hobbies are throwing parties and studying the history...Read More
Texas Republicans Propose Law to Legalize Same-Sex Marriage
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 27, 2011 9:30 AM |That headline is the gist of this story from the Austin Statesman, even though it says the law is to "strip away transgender marriage rights." The law, as the Statesman describes it would explicitly allow certain marriages involving transgender people...Read More
Dallas County Gender Identity Protections Pass
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 26, 2011 12:13 PM |John Wright reported on Twitter that the Dallas County Commissioners Court just passed an ordinance adding gender identity to its antidiscrimination rules for county employees on a 3-2 party line vote. Dallas County passed protections for sexual orientation in March...Read More
Homophobes Want Prop 8 Ruling Thrown Out because Judge Is Gay
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 26, 2011 8:30 AM |Prop 8 proponents have filed to have Vaughn Walker's ruling in favor of same-sex marriage vacated because he's gay and, according to them, may benefit from his own ruling. Opening a new front in the battle over Proposition 8, its...Read More
Karger Has a Shot
Filed by Leslie Robinson | April 25, 2011 7:00 PM |If you haven't heard of Fred Karger, you have an awful lot of company. Karger is a retired political consultant from California. He's also a gay activist, and he's running for the presidency. As a Republican. Clearly this is a...Read More
Will Body Bags Be the New Gold Watch?
Filed by Don Davis | April 25, 2011 3:00 PM |We are continuing a recent theme here today in which two of my favorite topics are going to converge: Social Security and in-your-face political activism. I have been encouraging folks to take advantage of the recent Congressional recess to have...Read More
King and Spalding Drops DOMA Defense
Filed by Bil Browning | April 25, 2011 1:00 PM |Looks like John Boehner is going to have to find a new law firm to denigrate gay and lesbian couples. Facing stiff opposition to their contract with the House majority to defend DOMA, law firm King and Spalding has backed...Read More
Texas Moves to Defund Campus LGBT Centers
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 25, 2011 10:00 AM |Inside Higher Ed has an article on the Texas bill that would require the same funding for pro-heterosexual campus groups that LGBT groups receive. The last I saw of this bill it made little sense since almost everything on college...Read More
Rick Santorum's Dangerous Shift in Tone
Filed by Joe Mirabella | April 25, 2011 8:30 AM |When questioned about rights for gays and lesbians, Rick Santorum told Fox New's Mike Wallace: "Well, sure. I mean there are all sorts of contractual benefits that anybody can contract for. But the question is whether we should institutionalize that...Read More
#SSS: The Price of DOMA Defense, Chick-Fil-A, & Don't Say 'Gay'
Filed by Phil Reese | April 24, 2011 10:00 AM |Though there will be fresh interviews every week, the SameSexSunday round table will be going on a brief hiatus until Pride Month, so Joe and I sought to make this week's expert panel one of our best. We invited a...Read More
McDonald's Beating Updates: Victim Identified, Cameraman Fired
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 23, 2011 4:00 PM |The police report has been released in the case of the woman who was beaten in McDonald's yesterday, although redacted. And the victim was identified as female in it. The Smoking Gun identifies her as Chrissy Lee Polis The police...Read More
Rejected Don't Ask, Don't Tell Training Video - Laugh of the Day
Filed by Karen Ocamb | April 23, 2011 2:00 PM |LGBT ally Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti, an officer in the Naval Reserve, told me recently that he had gone through the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell training and was very impressed. So imagine my surprise when Rachel...Read More
Thirteen Things We Know About Taxes
Filed by Terrance Heath | April 23, 2011 12:00 PM |"What do we think? What do we know? What can we prove?" That’s a quote from And the Band Played On, HBO’s adaptation of Randy Schilts’ book about the beginnings of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It’s the mantra of CDC...Read More
Michael Lucas Is Still Writing at The Advocate
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 22, 2011 2:00 PM |Michael Lucas has a column up at The Advocate that actually discusses something that really happened this time: the Tel Aviv delegation to Berlin Pride has decided not to display the Israeli flag during pride. Michael Lucas blames the gays,...Read More
John Ensign's Karma
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 22, 2011 11:00 AM |John Ensign in 1998: "I came to that conclusion recently, and frankly it's because of what [Bill Clinton] put his whole Cabinet through and what he has put the country through," Ensign said Thursday, becoming the first member of the...Read More
The House Republican Contract with King & Spalding Really is Republican
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 21, 2011 1:00 PM |The LA Times, which puts out "We agree with the gays but their tactics are just so uncivil!" editorials every few months just to remind everyone how centrist they are, has an editorial out saying that HRC (you know, the...Read More
The Case for a Truly Progressive Third Party
Filed by Rebecca Juro | April 21, 2011 9:30 AM |If there's anything progressives have learned over the last generation or so, it's that the Democratic Party can't be trusted to lead on the issues its members campaign on any more than the Republican Party can. The vast divide between...Read More
Most Americans Favor Same-Sex Marriage
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 20, 2011 5:00 PM |CNN has a new poll that shows a slight majority of Americans support same-sex marriage, making it the third of recent marriage polls to show that: OutletWhenFavorOppose APAugust, 20105246 Wash. Post/ABCMarch, 20115344 CNNApril, 20115147 The wording of the question varies...Read More
Homophobia Can Be Good for the Bottom Line
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 20, 2011 2:00 PM |I don't know how many nonprofit press releases I've read recently that used some permutation of the expression "Equality is good for the bottom line." Whether they're talking about how legalizing same-sex marriage can be good for a local economy,...Read More
OC Republican Official Apologizes for Racist Email, Won't Resign
Filed by Karen Ocamb | April 20, 2011 1:00 PM |Orange County Republican official Marilyn Davenport, a Tea Party activist, publicly apologized Monday night for emailing friends a photo depicting President Barack Obama as a chimpanzee with the caption: "Now you know why No birth certificate!" After an immediate uproar,...Read More
King & Spalding Breaks Non-Discrimination Pledge with DOMA Case
Filed by Michael Hamar | April 20, 2011 12:00 PM |Having been in the legal profession for well over 30 years, I am never surprised by the hypocrisy that seems to be the hallmark of many law firms. They claim, with wink and a nod and fingers crossed behind their...Read More
Tornado? That's Not in the Constitution
Filed by Don Davis | April 20, 2011 9:00 AM |There are lots of big tough words coming out of our friends in the Tea Party these days, especially when it comes to the permissible functions of the federal government. "If it's not specifically enumerated in the Constitution," they say,...Read More
NH Teabaggers: Who Cares About Gay Marriage?
Filed by Bil Browning | April 19, 2011 7:00 PM |Great video from Wonk Room's Igor Volsky today. Igor attended one of the Tea Party's Tax Day rallies in New Hampshire and while the House Republicans have decided to spend a half a million dollars to "defend" section three of...Read More
Hungarian Parliament Approves Constitutional Ban on Same-Sex Marriage
Filed by Bil Browning | April 19, 2011 5:00 PM |The Hungarian Parliament approved a new constitution on Monday that includes a ban on same-sex marriages. Lawmakers passed the legislation with an overwhelming majority - 262 to 44. Edge has the report: "We've just participated in a historical moment," Parliamentary...Read More
Republican Official Sends Racist Image of Obama
Filed by Sara Whitman | April 19, 2011 1:30 PM |Marilyn Davenport, a CA GOP official, sends out a picture of two chimps and Obama's face pasted on the "baby" chimp and states, "Now you know why there is no birth certificate." Stunning. I mean, there have been a lot...Read More
Affirmative Action for Straight Marriage
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 19, 2011 12:30 PM |Arizona just passed a law saying that married couples (same-sex marriage isn't recognized in the state) should have "priority" over other potential parents in adoptions. The rule applies to public and private adoption agencies: Married couples will have preference when...Read More
A Tale of Two Kinds of Democrats
Filed by Don Davis | April 18, 2011 7:00 PM |If your view of politics is filtered by a lens marked "Progressive" or "Liberal," there's a pretty good chance that you've been gnashing your teeth and pulling your hair in frustration over the "give away the store, then negotiate" approach...Read More
Naked Emperor Alert: Trans Employment Rights
Filed by Bil Browning | April 18, 2011 6:00 PM |When Maryland State Senate President Mike Miller, the Democrat who was supposed to be on our side during the recent transgender protections battle said this on Maryland Public Television's State Circle, people were shocked: "...The problem is this: I have...Read More
LGBT-Friendly Firm to Defend DOMA; John Boehner to Take Money from Justice
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 18, 2011 5:00 PM |The House Republicans have recruited Bush-era U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement to defend DOMA in court. He works for the prestigious Atlanta-based firm King & Spalding. The Justice Department was running an anemic defense of the law before the president...Read More
The American Dream Deferred
Filed by Terrance Heath | April 18, 2011 3:00 PM |Langston Hughes once asked, "What happens to a dream deferred?"; a rhetorical question answered with still more questions. The current economic crisis raises a similar question: What’s happened to the American Dream? According to-- a recent survey, less than one-third...Read More
Imagine a Trump Presidential Campaign Run by Ralph Reed
Filed by Karen Ocamb | April 18, 2011 12:00 PM |Donald Trump is a headline-grabber, that's for sure. But he can't be serious about wanting to be President of the United States. This is all just a publicity stunt to boost ratings for his NBC reality show, right? Well,...Read More
'Defending Marriage' Congressional Hearing Videos
Filed by Karen Ocamb | April 17, 2011 11:30 AM |Bless Zack Ford over at the ThinkProgress Wonkroom for putting together a compilation of clips (inside) from Friday morning's absurd "defending marriage" hearing held by the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution. Committee Chair Lamar Smith (R-TX) and subcommittee...Read More
Man who Killed Professor Don Belton Convicted of Murder
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 16, 2011 4:00 PM |In late December 2009 I posted about an Indiana University professor, Don Belton, who was killed by a Marine, Michael Griffin. The trial was this week and the jury returned a conviction of murder, which carries a 45 to 65...Read More
Federal Victory for LGBT Elders - Now, State Battles Begin
Filed by Michael Adams | April 16, 2011 2:00 PM |Our federal government has recently taken important steps to help ensure that the basic health needs of LGBT Americans are fairly met. It's a welcome development. But there is much more to do, especially for LGBT older people, so that...Read More
Maggie Gallagher Gets GetEqual Anita Bryant Award
Filed by Bil Browning | April 15, 2011 3:00 PM |Just in case Delaware's passage of civil unions legislation has Maggie Gallagher down in the dumps, GetEqual has given her something to look forward to! At today's congressional hearing about marriage equality, the direct action group's members bestowed their first...Read More
CA Senate Passes FAIR Education Bill, Some Parents 'Have Concerns'
Filed by Karen Ocamb | April 15, 2011 2:00 PM |Thursday the California state Senate passed the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act (SB 48), authored by Sen. Mark Leno, by a vote of 23-14. The bill would require schools to fairly and accurately portray the historic contributions...Read More
Michael Lucas's Desecration Porn and Silencing Queers on Palestine
Filed by Guest Blogger | April 15, 2011 1:00 PM |Editors' note: Savannah Garmon is a physics researcher and queer and trans community activist presently based in Toronto. She studied both physics and creative writing in her birth state of North Carolina and later received her Ph.D. in physics at...Read More
Delaware Legislature Okays Civil Unions
Filed by Bil Browning | April 15, 2011 11:00 AM |While states like Indiana and North Carolina are fighting constitutional amendments to ban any form of relationship recognition for gay and lesbian couples, another north eastern state has stepped forward to treat us like almost-equals as Delaware's legislature okays civil...Read More
US to Deport Gay Man to Uganda
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 14, 2011 6:00 PM |Here's a story that highlights a lot of problems with America's immigration system. Joseph Bokombe is a gay man from Uganda who came to the US several years ago on a cultural exchange visa. His visa soon expired but he...Read More
Gay Couple Kicked Out of Pub for Kissing
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 14, 2011 3:00 PM |A gay couple was kicked out of a pub in Soho, London's gay neighborhood: He said that during their first drink, a drunken man had asked them politely to stop kissing. Mr Williams said he politely asked the man, who...Read More
ENDA Reintroduced in Senate
Filed by Bil Browning | April 14, 2011 2:00 PM |Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) held a press conference this morning to announce the reintroduction of a fully inclusive ENDA. According to a Washington Blade article yesterday, the legislation will quickly gain co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle. The Senate...Read More
Is 'Queer' Offensive? One School Says Yes
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 14, 2011 12:00 PM |A Missouri high school has taken up one of our favorite, completely unresolve-able, and inconsequential debates: is the word "queer" offensive? A bisexual student was sent home for wearing a "queer" T-shirt. He got it at a regional queer youth...Read More
Jon Kyl Meets Twitter
Filed by Don Davis | April 14, 2011 9:30 AM |So Arizona Senator Jon Kyl went and did a stupid thing the other day by claiming on the floor of the Senate that 90% of what Planned Parenthood does is related to abortions, and that, by God, we need to...Read More
Gays, PTSD, and the White House's New Military Family Initiative
Filed by Karen Ocamb | April 13, 2011 5:00 PM |The LGBT press has done a good job of addressing how lesbians, gays and bisexuals were officially excluded from the White House's announcement about a new initiative to help military families. (Here's The Advocate, the Washington Blade and MetroWeekly) The...Read More
Victory: Illinois Kills Anti-Adoption Bill
Filed by Phil Reese | April 13, 2011 2:30 PM |When you put your mind to it, you can achieve just about anything! [UPDATE: Find out who voted how after the jump.] Thanks to hundreds of calls being made by people all over Illinois and all over the nation, the...Read More
The Bathroom Issue Gets a Bill in Maine
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 13, 2011 10:30 AM |Maine rep. Kenneth Fredette has proposed a bill would "allow the operator of a restroom or shower facility to decide who can use which gender's restroom," basically to reduce legal protections for transgender people (although it does sound like a...Read More
Wait: The Anti-gay Illinois Legislation Is a Democrat Bill?
Filed by Phil Reese | April 12, 2011 7:00 PM |They say "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer," but maybe we should go back and work on that friends thing. The anti-gay bill being hammered through Illinois in record time - the bill that will allow adoption agencies...Read More
If Congress Actually Represented America
Filed by Bil Browning | April 12, 2011 3:30 PM |Fascinating and sad. Check out this graphic from Think Progress's photo stream showing what Congress would look like if it was actually representative of the American people. Clickety to embiggen....Read More
Leadership I Can Believe In
Filed by Bil Browning | April 12, 2011 12:30 PM |A lot of my grassroots activism stems from leading or participating in direct action zaps and activities. We've talked quite a bit on Bilerico about the different styles of activism - whether it's protesting or working from within - but...Read More
CPAC Leader Calls GOProud Too 'Aggressive'
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 12, 2011 10:30 AM |The new chair of the America Conservative Union, which runs the CPAC, says that GOProud is too "aggressive" for his tastes, specifically referring to when GOProud's Chris Barron called ACU board member Cleta Mitchell a "nasty bigot" for being a...Read More
Illinois Right Wing Is Forcing through an Anti-LGBT Bill
Filed by Phil Reese | April 12, 2011 8:30 AM |I've seen the face of evil, and it is the cunning Illinois Right Wing. Hidden carefully by Sen David Koehler in SB 1123, a bill to assist the blind - like an arsenic pill hidden in a crême brulé -...Read More
Maryland Trans Rights Bill Dies in Senate Vote
Filed by Bil Browning | April 11, 2011 5:00 PM |Supporters of a Maryland bill to provide housing, credit and employment protections to transgender people were shocked today when the bill was sent back to committee for reconsideration. Today is the last day of the Maryland legislative session so the...Read More
Gay Blood Ban Eased in UK
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 11, 2011 4:00 PM |The UK is easing the gay blood ban, ever so slowly: The ban on gay men donating blood is being lifted because it was decided that the rule could be discriminatory and might breach equality legislation. However, gay men will...Read More
Gay Candidate's Signs Defaced with 'Faggot'
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 11, 2011 1:00 PM |NBC Miami is reporting that signs for a candidate for a local city council have been defaced after a mailer (origin not mentioned in the article) included a picture of him with his male partner and daughter. This is part...Read More
New York Times Tells of Trans Job Lawsuit
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | April 11, 2011 12:00 PM |The New York Times op-ed section brings word of an unusual lawsuit this morning. The Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund (TLDEF) has brought a lawsuit on behalf of El'Jai Devoureau (first name pronounced like LJ). El'Jai was hired by...Read More
DOMA Defense Will Not Bankrupt America
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 11, 2011 10:00 AM |The argument about how much the attorneys the House is hiring to defend DOMA in court will cost is stupidity on a stick for a variety of reasons and reminds me of the argument that states shouldn't try to pass...Read More
Target's Silly Diversity Video
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 10, 2011 4:00 PM |I don't know if this diversity video from Target is actually supposed to be a response to the bad press they've been getting around LGBT issues lately, but it sure seems like it: It's weird how much of this they...Read More
#SSS NOM Bus Tour Organizer Defects, Queer the Taxes
Filed by Phil Reese | April 10, 2011 10:00 AM |Tech problems couldn't get us down this week at SameSexSunday. We just had too much to talk about to give up, so even when we lost almost all of our round table participants, we knew "the show must go on."...Read More
DADT Update: The Service Chiefs Report, The Republicans Fret
Filed by Don Davis | April 09, 2011 4:00 PM |There's been a great deal of concern around here about the effort to prepare the US military for the full repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT), and I've had a few words of my own regarding how long the...Read More
Chelsea Clinton, Ken Mehlman & David Mixner to Team Up for Friendfactor
Filed by Phil Reese | April 09, 2011 10:00 AM |You can't imagine stranger bedfellows. The super tech-savvy organization promoting straight allies get involved in the political process pushing for LGBTQ equality, is celebrating the launch of its New York initiatives with a big event hosted by its newest Advisory...Read More
Arkansas Supreme Court Strikes Down Same-Sex Adoption Ban
Filed by Bil Browning | April 08, 2011 4:00 PM |Good news out of Arkansas yesterday. In a unanimous decision, the state's supreme court upheld a lower court's decision that the state's ban on same-sex adoption was an unconstitutional invasion of privacy. Supporters now say they'll try to pass a...Read More
Paul Ryan & Welfare Reform's Catastrophic Success
Filed by Terrance Heath | April 08, 2011 3:00 PM |When conservatives start talking "welfare reform" progressives usually respond one of two ways. We either: (a) start inching towards the exits; or (b) stand in open-mouthed wonder, asking one another, "Wait, they’re not serious, right?" Oh they’re serious, alright....Read More
NOM Bus-Tour Bigot Comes Out for Marriage Equality
Filed by Phil Reese | April 08, 2011 1:00 PM |Jeremy Hooper's website, GoodAsYou.org is like a well-organized database of all of the atrocities performed by the religious far-right. Jeremy has broken much important news at the page: we found out about Chick-Fil-A's homophobic philanthropy policies through his site, and...Read More
LGBT Rights Activists Beat Target
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 08, 2011 8:30 AM |A judge denied the injunction Target wanted against Canvass for a Cause, the California group that tries to talk to people about same-sex marriage, which means that they can keep on canvassing: The retail giant had filed an injunction trying...Read More
Maryland Nondiscrimination Bill Marks Potentially Life-Saving Advance
Filed by Guest Blogger | April 07, 2011 6:00 PM |Editors' note: Mara Keisling is the executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality. Lisa Mottet is the Transgender Civil Rights Project Director at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force An important thing we have learned from "Injustice...Read More
ENDA Reintroduced, 92 Fewer Co-Sponsors: Who's Missing?
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | April 07, 2011 5:00 PM |ENDA was reintroduced in the 112th Congress today as HR 1397, with 92 fewer co-sponsors than when the 111th Congress closed, according to the Washington Blade. Why are there 92 fewer co-sponsors, and what does this mean? There are many...Read More
Teacher Fired for Posting Gay Sex Ad on Craigslist
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 07, 2011 1:00 PM |Frank Lampedusa, a teacher at a San Diego public school, was fired for putting up an ad with pictures on Craigslist's "men seeking men" section. He didn't use his name or mention the school. He fought the decision, got reinstated...Read More
FAIR Education Act and Gender Nondiscrimination Act Pass Committees
Filed by Karen Ocamb | April 07, 2011 9:30 AM |On Monday, April 4, about 70 LGBT and ally high school students from around California participated in the annual Queer Youth Advocacy Day, first rallying on the steps of the state Capitol in Sacramento and then lobbying legislators on key...Read More
Prop 8 Judge Is Gay; He Didn't Have to Recuse Self
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 07, 2011 8:30 AM |Vaughn Walker, the trial judge during the Prop 8 case, made his first public statement that confirmed that he was gay and had some sensible things to say about when judges should recuse themselves: Former U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker,...Read More
No, You Shut Down
Filed by Kate Clinton | April 06, 2011 4:00 PM |Somewhere those end-time rapturists are kicking back with a big stogey, an Armagedda-tini and a big fat smile on their slab faces. Bring it on. The Obstinance-Only Teabagging GOP is determined to fulfill their promise to shut down the government....Read More
Gay-Friendly Restaurant Says Susan Stanton Is Harassing Them
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 06, 2011 1:30 PM |Here's a situation between a Florida gay-friendly restaurant that runs a gay tea dance on Sundays and city manager Susan Stanton. Long-time Bilerico readers will remember Stanton from our five bazillion posts on her, including when she was fired from...Read More
Jesus Formed a Republican Political Organization
Filed by Bil Browning | April 06, 2011 11:30 AM |Bryan Fischer, lead nitwit at the American Family Association, wants everyone to know that Jesus formed a political organization because he wanted his disciples (and, therefore, all Christians) to be Republicans. Or something like that... People pursue public office for...Read More
Homophobic University Gets Hundreds of Millions of Dollars from the Government
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 06, 2011 10:30 AM |Liberty University, founded by Jerry Falwell, is apparently the biggest recipient of federal student aide in Virginia and the biggest private recipient nationwide. The school gets around $445 million while Public Broadcasting, which the right hates and has made people...Read More
Does Hyper Sexuality Start at Five?
Filed by Anthony Carter | April 06, 2011 8:30 AM |When baby animals don't get touched they die. If this is the case for lesser developed creatures, why do we think humans can survive without touch. In my post "Should Cruising Be Considered an Unacceptable Risk?" I made reference to...Read More
Equality California to Hold Town Halls on Whether to Repeal Prop 8 in 2012
Filed by Karen Ocamb | April 05, 2011 2:30 PM |As soon as the California Supreme Court said it would take up the standing question asked by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in the American Foundation for Equal Rights Perry v. Brown case (formerly Perry v Schwarzenegger), on the...Read More
Woodhull: Stepping Up & Speaking Out with a Brand New Name!
Filed by Ricci Levy | April 05, 2011 12:30 PM |Today is a big day for Woodhull as we put aside the name we've had since 2003 and adopt our new name - a name that better reflects who and what we are at Woodhull and the work that we...Read More
Millionaires Ask to Be Taxed More as New York Tries to Cut Social Services
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 05, 2011 9:30 AM |Some millionaires in New York put out a video and a statement last week asking the governor not to cut their taxes in the next budget: Keep in mind that's not all of the millionaires of New York, probably not...Read More
Lawrence O'Donnell, Let's Talk About DADT
Filed by Don Davis | April 04, 2011 7:00 PM |I had MSNBC on last Thursday night, and Lawrence O'Donnell was talking to Ari Berman of The Nation about the new Obama Campaign Chief of Staff, Jim "Not Part Of Loggins &" Messina. In the course of that conversation O'Donnell...Read More
Texas Wants Colleges to Promote Heterosexuality
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 04, 2011 6:00 PM |Texas's house passed an amendment, 110-24, that sounds like it was written by the guy Karen just posted on: While many members in the chamber cracked jokes and guffawed, the amendment's author, Rep. Wayne Christian, said the University of Texas,...Read More
The Advocate: Prop 8 Plaintiffs Received Hate Messages During Trial
Filed by Karen Ocamb | April 04, 2011 5:00 PM |Andrew Harmon at The Advocate just posted an important exclusive on how one of the couples in the federal Prop. 8 trial - plaintiffs Kristin Perry and Sandra Stier - "were subjected to more than a dozen antigay voice mails...Read More
Obama to Run for Reelection in 2012
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 04, 2011 3:00 PM |Bil posted the news you've been sitting at the edge of your seat for: Barack Obama's going to run for reelection in 2012. He kicked off his campaign with a Real Americans Telling It Like It Is video; Katherine from...Read More
California Considers Queering History
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 04, 2011 12:00 PM |Karen posted about this bill a while back but it looks like it's gaining speed: If implemented, the measure, which would revise social science textbooks, could have effects beyond California. The state is a major purchaser of educational texts, and...Read More
Obama Announces Reelection Campaign
Filed by Bil Browning | April 04, 2011 10:00 AM |President Obama announced his reelection campaign this morning in an e-mail to supporters. The announcement was expected to happen soon; President Bush also announced his reelection campaign around the same time. The text of the e-mail is after the jump....Read More
The 'Religious Freedom' Argument against LGBT Rights Is Tribalism
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 03, 2011 4:00 PM |I've been writing for a while about the jingoism behind arguments that Christian religious freedom means that LGBT rights must be trampled. The point, time and time again, isn't about increasing freedom for everyone or even increasing religious freedom for...Read More
Karger Wins New Hampshire Republican Straw Poll
Filed by Karen Ocamb | April 03, 2011 1:00 PM |Unlike Democrats who occasionally like to throw a wrench into "conventional wisdom" by supporting a wild card like Ralph Nader or nominating a relative unknown like Jimmy Carter (remember Jimmy Who?) or Barack Obama - Republicans tend to nominate the...Read More
Dancing with the Tea Party
Filed by Terrance Heath | April 02, 2011 2:00 PM |"Dance with the one that brung you." It’s an old saying, and an unwritten rule in politics: stick with the strategy and/or constituency that "brung you" to power, if you want to stay in power. Dance with the one...Read More
A Memorial to Cpl. Andrew Wilfahrt, a Gay Soldier
Filed by Drew Cordes | April 01, 2011 1:00 PM |A very moving piece from the Courage Campaign. This brave soldier's father says it best: Soldiers don't die for our freedom of speech. They don't die for patriotism. They don't die for noble causes. They don't die for our political...Read More
Take a Stand: Refuse to Lie
Filed by Nadine Smith | April 01, 2011 9:30 AM |In the coming days a group of activists will be launching a campaign called "Refuse To Lie." The launch is timed to coincide with tax season, a time of year when the federal government compels married gay couples to file...Read More
