The Movement: February 2007
We gays could learn a lot from Asian-Americans
Filed by Alex Blaze | February 28, 2007 11:52 AM |From CNN:Asian-American leaders are calling on a weekly newspaper to apologize and cut ties with a writer who penned a column titled "Why I Hate Blacks." In the piece, which appeared in the February 23 edition of San Francisco-based AsianWeek,...Read More
Note to Canada's government - Our Canadian brothers and sisters aren't ATMs
Filed by Alex Blaze | February 28, 2007 12:05 AM |Really. A ruling is expected in the largest gay and lesbian class action suit in the history of... man this is huge. The Canadian government gave widowed partners in same-sex couples the pensions of their partners when it opted for...Read More
Cleaning out the files - more non-SJR-7 diversion (almost)
Filed by Don Sherfick | February 27, 2007 11:15 AM |One thing I've discovered since becoming a contributor to this site, and searching the Internet for links or other material to support or embellish my offerings, is that I've managed to pick up some odds and ends that don't quite...Read More
RiShawn Biddle nails it
Filed by Bil Browning | February 27, 2007 11:14 AM |Since Senator Jeff Drozda's amendment forbidding gays and lesbians from adopting died yesterday, I'm a little late in pointing out this blog post on Expresso. But you know, some things are so good there's no expiration date. RiShawn has taken...Read More
College student in Colorado attacked
Filed by Alex Blaze | February 26, 2007 1:30 PM |Speaking of hate crimes, there was another attack this past week against a lesbian student at Naropa University. 365gay has more:Police say the young woman had met two men in a mall who said they were from California and did...Read More
SB289 - a stealth companion of SJR-7?
Filed by Don Sherfick | February 26, 2007 7:28 AM |We all know how proponents and opponents of SJR-7 are arguing over whether the text of that proposed "Marriage" amendment is crystal-clear or river-bottom muddy, what it means and what it doesn't. It now seems that a companion piece of...Read More
A short "time out" from SJR-7 - a 92 county perspective
Filed by Don Sherfick | February 25, 2007 7:48 AM |As you know many, if not most, of my posts have been on the subject of SJR-7. And I need a little break on a Sunday morning. So indulge me with a little diversion as I tell you about a...Read More
Pass that Buck, may it rest in peace
Filed by Alex Blaze | February 24, 2007 2:36 PM |Ok, here are the survey results from when I asked you if Arnold Schwarzenegger should stay married to Maria Shriver: 15% said "yes", 56% said "no", and the rest decided not to decide. Now the governor should show his support...Read More
Guess who's gay?
Filed by Alex Blaze | February 24, 2007 2:10 PM |Suze Orman, that's who....Read More
That darn double standard
Filed by Bil Browning | February 24, 2007 1:27 PM |Copyright 2007 Creator's Syndicate...Read More
My objection over-ruled.....by me
Filed by Don Sherfick | February 24, 2007 8:28 AM |Yesterday I took issue with something in an item by Thomas Nolan, a Purdue student writing in the Purdue Exponent, appeared to imply about SJR-7 being unconstitutional. Fellow contributor Alex Blaze posted a comment saying he didn't think that was...Read More
So many thoughts...
Filed by Julien A. Sharp | February 23, 2007 2:33 PM |...so little time. I am preparing for my FIRST computer-free vacation with my beloved since July 2004. I have promised to leave said laptop at home (and as a freelance writer this is very hard to do!). We are even...Read More
Would SJR-7 be constitutional? yes, but......
Filed by Don Sherfick | February 23, 2007 7:19 AM |Yesterday Bil posted and quoted extensively from an item written in the Purdue Exponent by Thomas Nolan, a sophomore in the School of Mechanical Engineering. I applaud and agree with Nolan's opposition to SJR-7 as being repugnant to the very...Read More
Late night weird
Filed by Alex Blaze | February 22, 2007 11:59 PM |Gay dog as an advertising ploy? WEIRD!...Read More
There's so much wrong with this story
Filed by Alex Blaze | February 22, 2007 11:52 PM |A new development in the case of the Rev. Lonnie W. Latham. He was a pretty outspoken Baptist fundamentalist who didn't really like the gays. According to the AP:Latham had spoken against same-sex marriage and in support of a Southern...Read More
Illinois's moving on up
Filed by Alex Blaze | February 22, 2007 9:15 PM |Or at least proposing legislation to do so. From 365gay:Illinois state Rep. Greg Harris filed legislation Thursday that would permit same-sex couples in the state to marry. Harris (D-Chicago), who is gay and represents a district with a large LGBT...Read More
72-year-old man attacked in Detroit, and some other stuff
Filed by Alex Blaze | February 22, 2007 6:33 PM |From Detroit's WDIV:The victim, Andrew Anthos, was riding a city bus back to his residence at Detroit's Windsor Tower apartments on Feb. 13 when another male passenger asked him if he was gay, Anthos's niece, Athena Fedenis said. Anthos was...Read More
Coming together
Filed by Bil Browning | February 20, 2007 11:51 PM |There's been a lot going on lately and I haven't gotten a chance to talk about something that's very important to me. On Sunday night I was witness to a remarkable and empowering experience. A little background... I truly and...Read More
What your tax dollars aren't doing
Filed by Alex Blaze | February 20, 2007 6:31 PM |There's no such thing as a non-queer-related issue, and to disabuse anyone of that idea, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq's Human Rights Report (links to pdf) has a section on queer people being hunted down in Iraq: Attacks...Read More
Pass that Buck, again
Filed by Alex Blaze | February 20, 2007 2:03 PM |No sense in not pushing this again on a weekday. Take the pollFree Poll by Blog Flux Decide based on whatever criteria you choose and use the comments to describe those criteria. I'll post the results this Saturday. I wonder...Read More
Cultural ex-gayism
Filed by Alex Blaze | February 20, 2007 1:06 PM |Anyone who knows me knows that when I hear queer people describe themselves or their desired mate/sexual partner as "straight-acting", it's like nails on a chalkboard. I cringe, because there's too much internalized homophobia and self-contempt packed into that one...Read More
Read the Fine Print rally a success
Filed by Bil Browning | February 19, 2007 5:50 PM |Today's "Read the Fine Print" rally at the Statehouse was a success, I think. About 500-600 people gathered at the Statehouse rotunda to demand that Indiana's LGBT citizens get the same rights as other Hoosiers. Indiana Equality and HRC sponsored...Read More
Read the Fine Print rally a success
Filed by Bil Browning | February 19, 2007 5:50 PM |Today's "Read the Fine Print" rally at the Statehouse was a success, I think. About 500-600 people gathered at the Statehouse rotunda to demand that Indiana's LGBT citizens get the same rights as other Hoosiers. Indiana Equality and HRC sponsored...Read More
Amendment advertising
Filed by Bil Browning | February 19, 2007 9:06 AM |In other states the various Equality groups have been able to raise enough money to do targeted TV, radio and print ads. Unfortunately, the Indiana LGBT community hasn't come up with that much fire power. If SJR-7 makes it out...Read More
One step forward, one step back
Filed by Ellen Andersen | February 18, 2007 10:23 PM |On the good news front: Same-sex couples in New Jersey will be able to apply for civil union licenses beginning tomorrow, Feb. 19th (the same day that LGBT Hoosiers and their allies will be protesting SJR 7 in a rally...Read More
Pass that Buck
Filed by Alex Blaze | February 17, 2007 2:27 PM |The California governor has promised to veto a bill that might be passed this year that would recognise same-sex marriages. Arnold says:Schwarzenegger said Thursday that if another gay marriage measure goes on the California ballot in the future, "the people...Read More
Procreation and the Will of God
Filed by Sheila S. Kennedy | February 17, 2007 11:24 AM |It's petty of me, I know, but I have really enjoyed the somewhat "in your face" tactic of a gay-rights group in Washington state. In the wake of a decision by a Washington court upholding the state's ban on same-sex...Read More
Connect the dots
Filed by Bil Browning | February 16, 2007 9:15 PM |Let's take a closer look at Brandt Hershman - author of SJR-7 and chief proponent. Good old Brandt has realized that he's no longer able to whip folks into a fury with the gay boogieman. Hoosiers point out that a...Read More
The gentleman's candy bar
Filed by Bil Browning | February 16, 2007 5:58 AM |I loved this Jimmy Kimmel spoof of the infamous Snickers commercial and thought I'd share it with you. If you're going to make gay jokes to sell your teeth rotting product, at the very least make it funny instead...Read More
Chuck Knipp speaks, nothing much intelligent said
Filed by Alex Blaze | February 15, 2007 11:39 PM |The Bay Area Reporter has an article about the recent Hartford, Los Angeles, and New Orleans cancellations of Chuck Knipp's performance of Shirley Q. Liquor. Here's an interesting paragraph:I don't mind critics ... not scared of controversy. I'm so glad...Read More
Anti-Defamation League testimony
Filed by Bil Browning | February 15, 2007 7:16 PM |At yesterday's hearing on the hate crimes bill, several individuals testified about the importance of passing the bill. Testifying were: Carl Brizzi (Marion County Prosecutor)Earl Morgan (Director, Indianapolis Department of Public Safety)Abigail Seif, (Anti-Defamation League, Chicago office)Cornell Burris (President, Greater...Read More
Dungy story still has legs
Filed by Bil Browning | February 15, 2007 7:03 PM |The story about Tony Dungy fundraising for the Indiana Family Institute is still trickling into the mainstream media. Notice this story from CBS Sportsline called, "Don't ask, don't dwell: This will be acknowledged, then ignored." What it tells us is...Read More
"I am homophobic"
Filed by Bil Browning | February 15, 2007 10:59 AM |Former NBA player Tim Hardaway isn't holding anything back when it comes to bigotry and hate. In a radio interview with a Miami radio station, Hardaway - a Heat guard - was asked about his views on gays and lesbians...Read More
The Big Lie III: "Terms of Art" and other Social Conservative Red Herrings
Filed by Chris Douglas | February 15, 2007 6:55 AM |Hoosier social conservatives have called in their out-of-state hired guns, this one in the person of Chris Stovall, an attorney out of Arizona, who publishes in this morning's Indianapolis Star. (Arizona, incidentally, land of Goldwater western conservatives, voted down their...Read More
Ted sends hearts and kisses!
Filed by Bil Browning | February 14, 2007 7:51 PM |(Superhumongously big hat tip to prettyontheoutside.com)...Read More
The Big Lie II
Filed by Chris Douglas | February 14, 2007 6:00 AM |I think it's important for the media to understand the conflation of two strategies at work among Republicans, business interests, and academic interests in the legislature, whether friend or foe. As educated press rooms, editorial boards, reporters and blogs around...Read More
What? A Republican that can resist the Siren call of an anti-marriage amendment?
Filed by Alex Blaze | February 13, 2007 10:27 PM |Apparently, Charlie Crist is one. The Florida governor has said that it's a bad idea for the state party to give money to a petition drive for an anti-marriage amendment in that state. He's all like: We've been focused in...Read More
Did I shovel the drive-way this afternoon?
Filed by Alex Blaze | February 13, 2007 3:43 PM |The snow is piling up here in Indiana and quite a few of the schools are closed. So, instead of being locked in my house, I did what every respectable ex-urban does when it snows: I shoveled the drive-way. The...Read More
DNC issues continue
Filed by Bil Browning | February 13, 2007 2:36 PM |Does anyone know more about this internal DNC struggle? I'll admit, I'm a little lacking in knowledge of the background on this one... I know Howard Dean made some bad decisions after the election and the director of the Gay...Read More
I Have to Wonder...
Filed by Julien A. Sharp | February 13, 2007 2:06 PM |I have to wonder what goes on in the minds of people. As I see the legislature of the state in which I was born continue to steamroll discrimination into the constitution, I wonder what is it about two people...Read More
My Fellow Central Indiana Republicans: Time to Smell the Coffee
Filed by Chris Douglas | February 13, 2007 8:00 AM |I sat yesterday sipping a drink with a fellow Republican holding close to vest the name of another Republican thought capable of beating Bart Peterson. In my opinion, it was delusional. I don't think the ramifications on Marion County politics...Read More
New study on adoptive parents is pretty cool
Filed by Alex Blaze | February 12, 2007 10:51 PM |The American Sociological Review has a new study (link in pdf) about the way that adoptive parents relate to their children. They found that parents who adopted children invested more time with them than heterosexual biological parents. While the initial...Read More
John Amaechi came out!
Filed by Alex Blaze | February 12, 2007 5:11 PM |Last week! Or when he was fourteen. Or some time in between. Hmmmm.... He just got named today as the spokesperson for the HRC's Coming Out Project. If you're like me, you might have wondered if naming someone who just...Read More
MAD as HELL over SJR-7!
Filed by Don Sherfick | February 12, 2007 4:59 PM |You likely just saw Bil's item advising that the full Indiana Senate this afternoon passed and sent SJR7 to the House of Representatives, 39 to 10. I was going to wait until I could determine how many Democrats voted for...Read More
Klan presence increases in Indiana
Filed by Bil Browning | February 12, 2007 3:58 PM |Well, color me surprised. Membership in the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana has soared. I wonder what could be causing that? Hmmmm. Let's think about what hateful, discriminatory laws and attitudes have been floating around the state lately? Hmmmmm. Could...Read More
SJR-7 passes the Senate
Filed by Bil Browning | February 12, 2007 3:35 PM |The Indiana State Senate has passed SJR-7, the proposed amendment to the constitution that would not only outlaw same-sex marriage, but would also strip all unmarried couples of hospital visitation rights, inheritance rights, domestic partner benefits, civil unions and domestic...Read More
Vagina Monologues as Anti-Male Shananigans!
Filed by Carrie Wooten | February 12, 2007 3:31 PM |Watch the video clip to see the debate on PBS' To The Contrary between the president of the Independent Women's Forum, Michelle Bernard and the director of Women in Media and News, Jennifer Pozner. My finding of this debate...Read More
Homosexuality might just be for you!
Filed by Bil Browning | February 12, 2007 11:19 AM |Are you a straight bilerico reader who's having relationship problems? This mock infomercial might just have the solution for you! Don't you think that sometimes the wingnuts that claim homosexuality is a choice must think this is how it happens?...Read More
Help Helen help you
Filed by Bil Browning | February 12, 2007 6:16 AM |This weekend at a dinner party I was talking to Carl Brizzi's Chief of Staff, Helen Marchal. We were talking about the proposed hate crimes law and I promised her that I would ask bilerico readers to help her to...Read More
Harvard Elects its First Woman President!
Filed by Carrie Wooten | February 11, 2007 8:14 PM |Today Harvard University announced that it has elected Drew Gilpin Faust as its new President, marking a turning point in its prestigious history. The former President, Laurence Summers, resigned after heated scrutiny surrounding comments he made regarding his opinion that...Read More
Dungy story makes the mainstream media!
Filed by Bil Browning | February 11, 2007 10:47 AM |The story about Tony Dungy fundraising for the Indiana Family Institute has finally reached the mainstream media. The Philadelphia Inquirer has an article running that talks about Dungy's overt born-again Christianity and what it means to fans. Think the Indy...Read More
Do we finally agree with the Agape Press?
Filed by Alex Blaze | February 10, 2007 9:28 PM |We're all having a good laugh about that Washington ballot initiative to annul the marriages of hets who don't have kids. But I think that some people who criticise it now agree with it more than they'd like to admit....Read More
Quote of the Day
Filed by Ed Team | February 10, 2007 1:17 PM |"The Indiana Senate Judiciary Committee has voted to advance a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage in the state. Committee members would have served their constituents better by addressing serious concerns about the proposal. They should have considered, too,...Read More
Boston Legal ex-gay episode
Filed by Bil Browning | February 10, 2007 10:40 AM |If you're a regular reader, you'll remember that my favorite TV show is Boston Legal. It is hysterically funny and often shows a moral compass. One of the best episodes of the show aired this week. It featured a gentleman...Read More
Our One Good Shot
Filed by Carrie Wooten | February 10, 2007 12:14 AM |The comments on my earlier post today have only proven to me how imperitive it is that Hillary Clinton be elected. I was going to post as a comment what I have written below, but I think it would be...Read More
It's Not Just the Bigotry...
Filed by Sheila S. Kennedy | February 09, 2007 6:37 PM |It's the hypocrisy. By now, readers of this blog know that a Michigan court--ruling on language very similar to the language in "clause B" of SJR-7--said "The marriage amendment's plain language prohibits public employers from recognizing same-sex unions for any...Read More
Hillary Clinton 2008
Filed by Carrie Wooten | February 09, 2007 12:57 PM |It is interesting to me, the apathy that I have witnessed towards Hillary running for President. A highly qualified, highly intelligent, highly respected woman who is being met with curious opposition from her own side in favor of less qualified...Read More
Shakes keeps her job!
Filed by Bil Browning | February 08, 2007 5:54 PM |It looks like Melissa gets to keep her job after all. From the JohnEdwards08 blog comes Edwards's statement on the bloggers: The tone and the sentiment of some of Amanda Marcotte's and Melissa McEwan's posts personally offended me. It's not...Read More
SJR7 goes a step further in the Indiana Senate
Filed by Don Sherfick | February 08, 2007 3:41 PM |The full Indiana Senate considered Senate Joint Resoution 7 (SJR7) on second reading today. Second reading is where amendments to a particular piece of legislation are considered by the full chamber. Senator John Broden (D-South Bend) offered an amendment to...Read More
SJR7 goes a step further in the Indiana Senate
Filed by Don Sherfick | February 08, 2007 3:41 PM |The full Indiana Senate considered Senate Joint Resoution 7 (SJR7) on second reading today. Second reading is where amendments to a particular piece of legislation are considered by the full chamber. Senator John Broden (D-South Bend) offered an amendment to...Read More
NBA player comes out
Filed by Bil Browning | February 07, 2007 9:28 PM |The first NBA player will soon come out of the closet. Well, ex-NBA player - he's retired. John Amaechi, who played for Cleveland, Utah and Orlando in his five years in the NBA, will throw the closet doors open in...Read More
Did Mr. Deity really help the Colts?
Filed by Bil Browning | February 07, 2007 11:50 AM |With all the hullabaloo over Tony Dungy and the Colts' recent brushes with homophobia, I thought that this was really funny. In the clip, God (Mr. Deity) holds a press conference to talk about whether or not he really helps...Read More
Snickers goes nuts with the Colts
Filed by Bil Browning | February 06, 2007 7:29 PM |If you blinked you might have missed this story. I didn't get a chance to blog about it yesterday and by now it's a completely different story. Think back to Sunday's game. Do you remember the Snickers commercial that showed...Read More
Ted Haggard "cured" - didn't you always really know it?
Filed by Don Sherfick | February 06, 2007 1:22 PM |Well, I see today that one of four ministers who oversaw three weeks of intensive counseling for the Rev. Ted Haggard said the disgraced minister emerged convinced that he is "completely heterosexual." His homosexual liaisons were purely an "acting out",...Read More
Rally at the Statehouse!
Filed by Carrie Wooten | February 05, 2007 8:00 PM |This coming Thursday, Planned Parenthood will be holding a rally at the Indiana Statehouse to advocate for "Prevention First" legislation. The proposed legislation aims at fighting right-wing religious doctrines that are currently invading sexual education curriculum. It also serves to...Read More
Rally at the Statehouse!
Filed by Carrie Wooten | February 05, 2007 8:00 PM |This coming Thursday, Planned Parenthood will be holding a rally at the Indiana Statehouse to advocate for "Prevention First" legislation. The proposed legislation aims at fighting right-wing religious doctrines that are currently invading sexual education curriculum. It also serves to...Read More
SJR-7 roundup
Filed by Bil Browning | February 05, 2007 12:58 PM |There is a lot more chatter about the marriage discrimination amendment this year than there was two years ago. That's an improvement... A quick roundup of some of the better clips from around the web lately surrounding SJR-7: A mean-spirited...Read More
Now that's an idea!
Filed by Bil Browning | February 05, 2007 9:51 AM |Now here's some folks that are using their noggins! Washington state activists are introducing a citizen initiative after the State Supreme Court ruled against same-sex marriage. The ruling was based on the the courts decision that the state has a...Read More
SJR7 - Did Senator Hershman mislead the Senate Judiciary Committee?
Filed by Don Sherfick | February 05, 2007 8:30 AM |This past Wednesday both proponents and oppontents of SJR7, the so'called "Marriage Amendment to the Indiana Constitution, presented their arguments to the Senate Judiciary Committee, dominated by Republicans. The outcome, as most had preducted, was 7-4 in favor of the...Read More
Teresa Lubbers and Jeff Drozda?
Filed by Bil Browning | February 03, 2007 6:00 AM |Copyright 2007 David Honig David sent this in yesterday and asked me to mention his new site for "lefty cartoonists," Left 'Toon Lane. You can submit your own 'toons at the site - they've had a few cartoons picked...Read More
"Read The Fine Print": Part II - SJR7 and the fresh eggs dilemma
Filed by Don Sherfick | February 02, 2007 8:30 AM |Wednesday I re-commenced a series designed to try and put SJR7, the so-called "Marriage Amendment" proposed to become part of the Indiana Constitution, into more "non-lawyer friendly" language. To begin, let's forget about SJR7's second paragraph for a moment (a...Read More
The two faces of Dick Cheney
Filed by Bil Browning | February 02, 2007 1:42 AM |Copyright 2007 The Philadelphia Inquirer...Read More
Talking to Mom
Filed by Bil Browning | February 01, 2007 2:55 PM |I'm spending today at the 2007 Indiana Counseling Association Educational Conference working at the PFLAG/IYG/YAD booth. (That's Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Indiana Youth Group, and Youth and Diversity for those of you from out of state.)...Read More
