Politics: May 2012
What The First Circuit Appeals Court DOMA Decision Means
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | May 31, 2012 6:00 PM |The United States Appeals Court for the First Circuit issued an opinion today affirming the striking down of Section 3 of DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act, as unconstitutional. What is the effect of this decision, and is it going to the Supreme Court?Read More
Religious Right Equates GLBT's as 'Sexual Terrorists'
Filed by Guest Blogger | May 31, 2012 4:00 PM |For the second time in as many weeks, a fundamentalist minister has called for the death of members of the LBGT Community. So what can we, as individuals, do to fight this growing threat to the life and liberty of LBGT people? Read More
Rep. Barney Frank Remembers Officially Coming Out
Filed by Karen Ocamb | May 31, 2012 3:00 PM |Rep. Barney Frank Remembers Officially Coming Out in 1987 - 25 years ago yesterday. Read More
'Ex-Gay' Therapy Bill Passes California Senate
Filed by Karen Ocamb | May 31, 2012 10:00 AM |By a party-line vote of 23-13, California Senate Democrats passed SB 1172, a bill that would crackdown on unethical so-called "reparative" therapy that promises to change a person's sexual orientation. Heads to the Assembly. Read More
Thee Um Butlerum Itum Didium Est
Filed by Kate Clinton | May 30, 2012 4:00 PM |You Latin III scholars have already worked out the translation, but for those who stopped at Latin I's amo-amas-amat threesome, here you go: "The butler did it." Remember, the verb always goes at the end of the sentence. Read More
Three Latina Lesbians Win Primary Races in Texas
Filed by Karen Ocamb | May 30, 2012 2:00 PM |On a night when political eyes were on the Great State of Texas - where good ole Southern Christian boys helped Mormon Mitt Romney clinch the nomination to be the Republican presidential nominee -three Latina lesbians also won their primaries. Read More
Canadian Far-Right Pushes 'Homophobia Is Hate Word' Tactic
Filed by Mercedes Allen | May 30, 2012 10:00 AM |The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada is taking up the "homophobia is a slur" meme, though it (sort of) stopped short of calling for the word to be banned from anti-bullying programs as "hate speech." Read More
Support OBX Pridefest and Gay Friendly Dare County, NC
Filed by Michael Hamar | May 29, 2012 4:30 PM |Like many others, my first reaction to the depressing vote results on North Carolina's Amendment One was to totally boycott all of North Carolina. Was I angry and seeking revenge? Yes, most definitely. But I've calmed down somewhat now. Read More
NY Times Op-Ed on Marriage Equality: Save Us, Obi Wan Kennedy
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | May 29, 2012 1:00 PM |Will Justice Kennedy ring liberty throughout the land, allowing same gender loving couples the freedom to marry in Mississippi and West Virgina? No, Virginia, there is no Justice Santa Claus, even if the Sun says it's so.Read More
PA Legislator Pushes To Abolish State Inheritance Tax for Domestic Partners
Filed by Sue Kerr | May 27, 2012 1:00 PM |State Representative Babette Josephs has long been a fierce advocate for Pennsylvania's LGBTQ community. Her latest campaign is legislation introduced in 2011 to exempt domestic partners from the state's onerous 15 percent inheritance task.Read More
Obama For America Seeks to Energize LGBT Voters
Filed by Karen Ocamb | May 27, 2012 10:00 AM |Timing is everything, and President Obama's re-election campaign is counting on LGBT Pride Month this June to energize LGBT voters. On Wednesday, the Chicago-based national campaign announced the new effort.Read More
Did the Obama Campaign Just Snub Barney Frank?
Filed by Bil Browning | May 24, 2012 3:10 PM |The blogosphere is alight today with the new video from the Obama campaign to kick off their LGBT outreach efforts for pride month. But did the campaign snub retiring gay Congressman Barney Frank in the process? Read More
Even Colin Powell Supports Marriage Equality
Filed by Bil Browning | May 24, 2012 1:00 PM |Moderate Republicans like Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Governor (and former Senator) Lincoln Chafee, Rep Illeana Ros-Lehtinen, and even super conservative former Vice President Dick Cheney all support marriage equality. Now former Secretary of State and Republican statesman Colin Powell has joined their ranks.Read More
Did My Marriage Cause Obama's Evolution?
Filed by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer | May 23, 2012 5:30 PM |We so wanted our marriage not to be a political event, so it was almost comical on our honeymoon cruise to read that Chan's home state of North Carolina voted to extra-double-duty outlaw gay marriage and a day later President Obama came out in favor. Read More
Newt Gingrich & Cory Booker: Dragged Into A Conversation They Can't Hold
Filed by Terrance Heath | May 23, 2012 4:30 PM |This strange political season gets stranger by the day. The song that comes to mind is from Culture Club's 1984 single, "Mistake No. 3," when Boy George sings of people getting "dragged into a conversation they can't hold."Read More
What the Bain Argument Is Really About
Filed by Terrance Heath | May 23, 2012 12:30 PM |The 2012 presidential election may go down as one of the strangest political seasons in recent memory, because the influence of the financial sector in politics, policy and the economy has caused Republicans to sound like Democrats and Democrat to sound like Republicans.Read More
White House LGBT Pride Reception: I'm on the List
Filed by Bil Browning | May 23, 2012 10:00 AM |Yesterday I was honored to discover that I've been invited to the White House on June 15th to celebrate LGBT Pride Month with President Obama.Read More
The Plight of Gay Republicans in 2012
Filed by Bil Browning | May 22, 2012 5:00 PM |Yesterday, Bilerico co-founder and National Stonewall Democrats Executive Director, Jerame Davis, appeared on the Thom Hartmann Program to talk about the plight of gay Republicans in the 2012 presidential election cycle.Read More
Assistant Secretary of State on Protections for LGBT Refugees
Filed by Karen Ocamb | May 22, 2012 12:30 PM |Last Thursday, Anne Richard, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for population, refugees and migration, was among those who participated in an event at the Human Rights Campaign headquarters marking the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.Read More
Gay Heresy & Political Reality
Filed by Guest Blogger | May 20, 2012 1:30 PM |Guest blogger Jim Toevs admits he will gladly trade continued Democratic control of the United States Senate, in exchange for not including a marriage equality plank in the National Democratic Platform, any day of the week.Read More
The NAACP Endorses Marriage Equality
Filed by Viktor Kerney | May 20, 2012 12:30 PM |Yesterday, the NAACP made history. During a meeting in Miami, the board of directors passed a resolution that will wholeheartedly endorse marriage equality.Read More
Justice Department Issues New Rules on Sexual Assault of LGBT Inmates
Filed by Karen Ocamb | May 18, 2012 3:00 PM |This is a big deal. The US Justice Department released a new set of rules on Thursday in conjunction with a new Memorandum from President Obama to address the epidemic of sexual assaults in prison that particularly impacts LGBT inmates. Read More
The Return of the Man from Bain
Filed by Terrance Heath | May 18, 2012 2:00 PM |It looks like the Man from Bain is back. The truth is, he never left. Obama and the Democrats have every reason to make sure he sticks around for the duration of the campaign.Read More
Black Pastors: Getting On the Right Side of History
Filed by Viktor Kerney | May 18, 2012 10:00 AM |After President Obama made his gay marriage announcement, it seemed that everyone looked to the black churches for their reaction. As some pastors shrugged it off and went about their business, several pastors and church leaders fell into the classic stereotypical trap.Read More
GOP Bigotry Against Tracey Thorne-Begland Bites VA Governor
Filed by Michael Hamar | May 16, 2012 5:30 PM |Taliban Bob worked hard over the years constantly kissing up to the Christian Right and pushing the backward thinking, theocratic agenda of Pat Robertson and The Family Foundation. Now that it's biting him in the ass, I cannot find a single tear to shedRead More
America Is 'Evolving' Towards Justice
Filed by Terrance Heath | May 16, 2012 2:00 PM |President Obama nearly cost me five bucks. In the build-up to his historic interview, a co-worker announced that he would bet $5 that Obama would end of his evolution on same-sex marriage and announce his support of marriage equality.Read More
Booker!
Filed by Bil Browning | May 16, 2012 12:00 PM |Who says Republicans and Democrats can't get along? Chris Christie and Cory Booker's comedy routine for the New Jersey Press Association Legislative Correspondents Club is damned funny. Too bad gridlock isn't.Read More
Obama Should Appoint an LGBT Cabinet Member in 2nd Term
Filed by Karen Ocamb | May 15, 2012 3:30 PM |When President Obama told the story of former California State Sen. Hilda Solis, now Secretary of Labor, a flashing neon light went off in my brain: the same message applies to LGBT people. It's time to appoint an LGBT Cabinet member! Read More
President Obama Will Repeal DOMA in Second Term
Filed by Viktor Kerney | May 15, 2012 12:00 PM |During last night's fundraising event at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City, President Obama announced he will repeal DOMA in his second term.Read More
Obama's Gayloed & Romney's Rewarded: Both Satanic to Evangelicals
Filed by Karen Ocamb | May 14, 2012 4:00 PM |While both Obama and Romney have been lauded by their base for their respective stances on marriage equality, one evangelical leader vows they are both tools of Satan. He's urging his follower to "vote for Jesus."Read More
Reince Priebus: Marriage Is Not a Civil Rights Issue
Filed by Bil Browning | May 14, 2012 11:45 AM |The Republicans continue to show why they are so out of step with the average American on civil rights and progressive issues.Read More
Are Log Cabin Republicans Influencing the GOP?
Filed by Karen Ocamb | May 13, 2012 4:00 PM |A memo to GOP insiders and operatives warns that if Republicans continue their rhetoric and attacks on gay people after President Obama announced his support for marriage equality - they could well render the party irrelevant.Read More
Bad Blood in the South
Filed by Leslie Robinson | May 11, 2012 5:00 PM |Mississippi is ready to fight over North Carolina governor Beverly Perdue's recent statement on the passage of a marriage amendment.Read More
Indiana Dem Gubernatorial Candidate Favors Marriage Amendment
Filed by Bil Browning | May 11, 2012 3:30 PM |Flying in the face of the national trend in favor of same-sex marriage, Indiana Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Gregg announced his support of a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages and civil unions on the same day President Obama announced his support.Read More
The Continued Myth of 'God's Creation' of Marriage
Filed by Michael Hamar | May 11, 2012 1:30 PM |You have to hand one thing to the Christianists and their political whores in the Republican Party - they are some of the most consistent liars one might ever meet.Read More
The Pothead or the Bully
Filed by Bil Browning | May 11, 2012 12:30 PM |Taiwanese company Next Media Animation has come out with their latest video short about LGBT rights in America. This time they contrast President Obama's recent stances on marriage with Mitt Romney's bullying of a gay student at a prestigious prep school.Read More
Seattle & LA Hail the Conquering Obama
Filed by Karen Ocamb | May 11, 2012 11:30 AM |The day after his historic announcement supporting marriage equality, President Obama headed to the West Coast for a Big Bucks re-election fundraising blitz.Read More
How Mitt Romney Learned to Rule the World
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 11, 2012 10:45 AM |I don't really have trouble imagining that no one involved in this assault was punished. There's a certain class that sees experiences like these as absolutely necessary for growing up to be a leader in certain sectors.Read More
Mitt Romney's Disgusting Embrace of the Right
Filed by Jerame Davis | May 10, 2012 6:00 PM |I continue to be amazed at the lengths to which Mitt Romney will go in his quest to demonstrate his fealty to the far right wing of his party. His latest display of "severe conservatism" will play out Saturday at Liberty University.Read More
Romney Attacked Gay Classmate in Prep School
Filed by Bil Browning | May 10, 2012 2:30 PM |Five of Mitt Romney's classmates at the prestigious Cranbrook prep school are talking to the media bout his anti-gay attack on a fellow student today. The story is incredibly disturbing and paints Romney as violently homophobic.Read More
Standing with Barack Obama
Filed by Karen Ocamb | May 10, 2012 1:30 PM |The front page of BarackObama.com features President Obama's historic position on marriage equality. Additionally, Obama sent out an email to all of his supporters that you simply must read.Read More
The Importance of Being Romney
Filed by Terrance Heath | May 10, 2012 12:30 PM |Like father like son. Obliviousness must run in the family, because Tagg Romney is claiming that being Mitt Romney's son has had no bearing upon his success.Read More
Maddow on Politicians' Personal Feelings on LGBT Rights
Filed by Bil Browning | May 10, 2012 11:30 AM |I'll admit, I cheered when Rachel Maddow got to the part where she talks about politicians' personal views on marriage equality and the political cowardice that seems to overtake them as soon as they move from "citizen" to "candidate."Read More
The President's Marriage Play Is Finally Over
Filed by Joe Mirabella | May 10, 2012 10:30 AM |Millions of Americans are going to move with the President on this issue. This is not only a huge political win for the President, but one for us too. Read More
Marriage Activists Launch 'We Do' Campaign After Amendment One Passes
Filed by Karen Ocamb | May 09, 2012 6:00 PM |Sometimes it is hard to remember that history is on the side of LGBT equality. Despite a recent Gallop poll indicating that 50% of Americans support marriage equality, individual states controlled by Christian conservative Republicans continue to vehemently buck the trend.Read More
Colorado Civil Unions Bill Runs Out of Time
Filed by James Holmes | May 09, 2012 4:00 PM |On the heels of NC's Amendment One, a Colorado bill granting same-sex couples the right to form Civil Unions died along with the legislative session. With the President evolving a day late, one has to wonder if it would have made a difference.Read More
Obama Comes Out for Marriage Equality
Filed by Bil Browning | May 09, 2012 2:53 PM |"I've just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married," Obama told Roberts.Read More
A Taiwanese Take on America's Gay Rights Struggles
Filed by James Holmes | May 09, 2012 12:00 PM |It is always interesting to see how the world views the internal politics of the United States. In this new animation video from the Taiwanese news station NMA, we see their take on America's fights on gay rights in California and North Carolina. Read More
Freedom To Marry's Chutzpah on North Carolina Loss
Filed by Bil Browning | May 09, 2012 11:00 AM |Freedom To Marry's press release about the passage of an anti-gay marriage amendment in North Carolina is amazingly tone deaf. In one of the paragraphs the org has the chutzpah to even claim credit for Vice President Biden's mealy-mouthed support of marriage equality.Read More
Snapshots of Austerity: Detachment
Filed by Terrance Heath | May 09, 2012 10:00 AM |What's end of the line for austerity? We've gone through despair, desperation, and indifference. The latter feeds the first two, creating "a tinderbox society" resulting in frustration over the inability of most people to get ahead.Read More
North Carolina Passes Same-Sex Marriage Amendment
Filed by Bil Browning | May 08, 2012 9:20 PM |The Associated Press has called it. We lost the North Carolina anti-gay amendment. Every state in the South has now passed a constitutional amendment to discriminate against LGBT people.Read More
Help Defeat Antigay Amendment One & NOM in North Carolina
Filed by Karen Ocamb | May 08, 2012 12:00 PM |This is crunch time in North Carolina in the battle over Tuesday's vote on the antigay Amendment One. A new poll by Public Policy Polling indicates that the measure will win: 55% said they intended to vote yes, while only 39% said they'd vote no.Read More
North Carolina's Final Message
Filed by Bil Browning | May 08, 2012 11:00 AM |Protect All NC Families has released it's final e-mail message to supporters as voters head to the polls today to decide whether or not to ratify an amendment to ban same-sex marriages and civil unions.Read More
5 Reasons the Black Church Shouldn't Support Amendment One
Filed by Viktor Kerney | May 08, 2012 10:00 AM |The Amendment One battle is hitting inferno status. From folks shooting and pissing on signs to a slew of marriage commercials, the fight to define marriage has everyone talking. It's not a secret that the Black church is split on the matter.Read More
Biden, Duncan Support for Marriage Equality Underscores Political Minefield
Filed by Karen Ocamb | May 07, 2012 6:00 PM |Despite President Obama making repeated trips to North Carolina, he's made no direct mention of the initiative. Considering the generally scripted nature of TV appearances, some politicos viewed Biden's remarks on marriage just days before the primary to be more than merely fortuitous.Read More
Arne Duncan vs Joe Biden: Who Endorsed Marriage Equality?
Filed by Bil Browning | May 07, 2012 12:00 PM |Only in Hollywood would movie magic allow Vice President Biden's lips to move while new words are dubbed over top of what he's actually saying. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan shows the veep how it's done.Read More
Perry Puckers Up
Filed by Terrance Heath | May 06, 2012 5:00 PM |We can probably expect to see more of this. I mean the parade of Republican presidential wannabees now preparing to kiss up to Mitt Romney after attacking him so viciously -- and accurately -- during the seemingly interminable GOP primaries.Read More
Did Biden Just Come Out for Marriage Equality? Not Really
Filed by Bil Browning | May 06, 2012 12:00 PM |Over at Think Progress, Igor Volsky has put up a post entitled, "BREAKING: Joe Biden Endorses Same-Sex Marriage" after the Vice President appeared on Meet The Press and made a vague statement of support for same-sex relationships, but is it true?Read More
Snapshots of Austerity: Indifference
Filed by Terrance Heath | May 04, 2012 3:00 PM |Does the latest wave of uprisings finally sound the death knell for austerity measures? If the protests have no impact and austerity happened anyway, people will go home. They'll forget about solidarity and worry more about survival.Read More
Maddow: Democrats Discover Women for 2012 Elections
Filed by Bil Browning | May 04, 2012 1:00 PM |Normally the Republicans embrace their anti-choice positions while Democrats whimper that they are anti-abortion too while simultaneously trying to convince women that they're still a better option than Republicans.Read More
A Message from North Carolina [Action Alert]
Filed by Bil Browning | May 04, 2012 10:00 AM |This just in from North Carolina... I know I've been bugging y'all about supporting the efforts to defeat a proposed constitutional amendment in the Tarheel State, but today it's even more important than ever.Read More
Stephen King: 'Tax Me, for F@%&'s Sake!'
Filed by Terrance Heath | May 03, 2012 5:00 PM |Finally, someone's giving NJ governor Chris Christie as good as he dishes out. Stephen King has posted a response to Christie's suggestion that Warren Buffett should just "shut up and right a check." King isn't the least bit scared of Christie's bombast.Read More
MO State GOP Rep. Comes Out Because of 'Don't Say Gay' Bill
Filed by James Holmes | May 03, 2012 2:00 PM |It is not often that I can say I am proud of a Republican, but yesterday Republican state Representative Zach Wyatt of my home state of Missouri came out publicly inspired by the proposed "Don't Say Gay" Bill. Read More
Indiana 'Lesbian Girl Scouts' Lawmaker's Just Desserts
Filed by Bil Browning | May 02, 2012 11:00 AM |Oh, this is too rich. Remember Indiana Republican lawmaker Bob Morris? He infamously claimed that the Girl Scouts were a hotbed of lesbianism and abortion. It seems most Hoosiers aren't down with Mr. Morris' attacks on little girls.Read More
LGBT Baby Boomers Need Support for Social Security Equality Bill
Filed by Karen Ocamb | May 01, 2012 4:00 PM |Let's face it: much of the LGBT movement has one massive Peter Pan complex. We won't grow up. Nope, not us. We're here, we're queer and everyone just has to get used to it!Read More
