The Movement: May 2008
Opening the Door to Full Inclusion
Filed by Waymon Hudson | May 31, 2008 9:00 AM |The National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force have released a new joint publication, Opening the Door to the Inclusion of Transgender People: The Nine Keys to Making Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Organizations...Read More
Tomorrow Night! Critical Resistance Parties All Over the U.S.
Filed by Jessica Hoffmann | May 30, 2008 6:00 PM |Critical Resistance, a visionary organization working to abolish the racist, classist, and violently heteronormative prison system, is hard at work planning CR10, their tenth-anniversary gathering, which will take place in Oakland in September. This will be a major moment in...Read More
One reason why there's sexism...
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 30, 2008 4:30 PM |Because girls rock: Jaime Nared, a 12-year-old girl who stands 6-foot-1, has been told she can no longer play on the boys team of which she has been a member since the second grade, according to a report on the...Read More
The Yearning for Zion Ranch -- What's a Lesbian Mother to Think?
Filed by Nancy Polikoff | May 30, 2008 2:30 PM |The children of the Yearning for Zion Ranch are going home. Am I happy? Yes and no. The Texas Supreme Court says they should all go home, but a minority of the court wanted to keep the girls who had...Read More
Tonight on The Rebecca Juro Show: Nancy Nangeroni
Filed by Rebecca Juro | May 29, 2008 4:30 PM |Tonight, we'll be talking with transgender activist and mediamaker Nancy Nangeroni. In addition to being a longtime transgender activist, Nancy also created and hosted "Gendertalk," the groundbreaking radio show that took on topics of interest to transgender people and ran...Read More
Let's not resort to process arguments....
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 29, 2008 2:30 PM |Rebecca Hagelin is a conservative who thinks she cares about democracy: If you've ever wondered why liberals fight tooth and nail whenever it comes to confirming judges, just look to California. There, in another outrageous example of judicial over-reach and...Read More
Relationship legitimacy questions of the day
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 29, 2008 1:30 PM |I've been gone for about a week now because the ol' Acer died somewhere between Paris and St. Etienne last Wednesday (more about my computer problems for the nerds in the audience later today), and there was a great comment...Read More
I know you want to hear more of my anti-marriage thoughts...
Filed by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore | May 28, 2008 9:30 AM |Though I am a queer person living in San Francisco, I will not be celebrating the California Supreme Court decision overturning the ban on same-sex marriage. Nor will I join those who say, "I would never choose to get married,...Read More
Can a Morehouse College Man be openly gay?
Filed by Rev Irene Monroe | May 27, 2008 4:00 PM |Since its inception in 1867 Morehouse College is noted as the bastion of black male leadership. Embodying W. E.B. Dubois's theory of The Talented Tenth, where "exceptional black men" would be the ones to lead the race, Morehouse College has...Read More
Marriage vs. healthcare, and guess who loses?
Filed by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore | May 26, 2008 9:00 AM |Back when I first started doing radical queer direct action (in the early '90s), universal health care was almost a mainstream gay issue. So many people had seen a dramatic percentage of their friends die quickly and painfully of AIDS...Read More
We Are Family
Filed by Rebecca Juro | May 25, 2008 5:00 PM |Sometimes politics, like life, is just not as black and white as we often like to think it is, especially for those of us who perpetually inhabit gray space. Thursday night, I interviewed Hilary Rosen on my radio show. While...Read More
Gay stamp celebrates CA marriage equality
Filed by Bil Browning | May 24, 2008 12:00 PM |No, not an official stamp from the Postal Service. Of course, the United States government wouldn't be that cool... California queer artist Perry Hoffman has designed this stamp to celebrate the California marriage ruling. He used online postage generator zazzle.com...Read More
OK, fess up - who is leaking info about the Homosexual Agenda?
Filed by Pam Spaulding | May 23, 2008 4:00 PM |Someone's going to get a spanking from me! I want to know who has turned over one of our top secret strategy documents to the fundie Alliance Defense Fund. Blender Karen in Kalifornia alerted me to the security breach; click...Read More
A fleeting moment of democracy for California's same-sex couples
Filed by Rev Irene Monroe | May 20, 2008 6:00 PM |I have learned as both a pastor and as a member belonging to several minority groups- African-American, women and lesbian- that a popular opinion on an issue does not always reflect the right choice. Too often, the right choice and...Read More
Oh my
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 20, 2008 4:00 PM |I'm kinda weirded out over the huge response around the internet to my post this past Saturday about how I'm going to make a list of all the media folks and pundits calling Obama a faggot, either directly or indirectly....Read More
California, Homophobia, and the Living Rebuttal
Filed by Tyrion Lannister | May 20, 2008 3:11 PM |As I've written before, I generally place anti-gay marriage arguments into one of two camps. The first camp starts with the assumption that gay sex is sinful. Therefore, this line of reasoning continues, the state is justified in doing whatever...Read More
Preserving my domestic tranquility: What the next day means
Filed by Don Sherfick | May 20, 2008 3:00 PM |The only plausible connection to the subject matter of this post to the GLBT community discourse has to do with peace in my own particular same-sex household. My beloved and I have long been at odds over what "Next Monday,...Read More
St. Alf's Science Fair
Filed by Kate Clinton | May 20, 2008 2:00 PM |Faster than you can say, "CA Supreme Court overturns ban on gay marriage," his Extreme Slippery Slopeheadedness, Pope Benedict had an announcement to make. Barely taking the time to translate it from the Latin, in that oddly high voice, the...Read More
Almost every trope of sexism
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 20, 2008 12:00 PM |Watch this video about McCain: iPhone users: Click to watch Consider it in conjunction with pretty much the Platonic ideal of the gendered political narrative I was talking about this weekend (Democratic men are prissy, women in politics are bitches,...Read More
We'll never be able to imagine
Filed by Bil Browning | May 20, 2008 11:00 AM |Keep in mind, we're still occupying Afghanistan; nominally, we're in charge. BushCo should be deeply ashamed. Go read the story and let's remember that this still happens. "I would lie to my family and say I bought them food from...Read More
Clown Hall bigot eruption: gay rights vs democracy
Filed by Pam Spaulding | May 19, 2008 5:00 PM |According to Town Hall columnist, racism apologist and author Dinesh D'Souza, the advancement of gay rights via the courts is undermining our democracy. I almost refrained from posting this asshattery, but I just couldn't after reading:...Read More
How Wrong Can a Court be When It Looks at Two Moms and a Child?
Filed by Nancy Polikoff | May 19, 2008 4:30 PM |Very wrong, if it's the highest court in Maryland and they are considering same-sex couples raising children. Today the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled that, after the end of an 18 year relationship that included raising a five year old...Read More
Obama's so gay
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 17, 2008 3:00 PM |So I'm working on a mini-project here to track mainstream media and politicians calling Obama a faggot, directly or indirectly. This will become a dominant narrative this fall as McCain is a real manly man and Obama can't bowl over...Read More
Obama's so gay
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 17, 2008 3:00 PM |So I'm working on a mini-project here to track mainstream media and politicians calling Obama a faggot, directly or indirectly. This will become a dominant narrative this fall as McCain is a real manly man and Obama can't bowl over...Read More
800-1000 Celebrate Marriage Victory in WeHo
Filed by Karen Ocamb | May 16, 2008 5:15 PM |Celebration is too calm a word. For two hours, the heart of West Hollywood burst with boisterous joy, gratitude, pride, applause, marriage proposals and promises, laughter, tons of couples - some with marriage licenses, some with children - bubbles, candy,...Read More
Congratulations California! Go Buckeyes!
Filed by Kate Clinton | May 16, 2008 1:00 PM |Four years after San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's gay marriage block party got shut down by a very testy legislature, the California Supreme Court lifted the ban on gay marriage statewide. Woo Hoo! Make some noise! Tie strings of tin...Read More
Rape and Murder of a Lesbian Soccer Player
Filed by Patricia Nell Warren | May 16, 2008 8:30 AM |The crime is horrific in itself, but few countries can point an accusing finger at South Africa and not admit that crimes like this are endemic within their own borders. On April 28, in a town near Johannesburg, the body...Read More
California Supreme Court OKs Marriage for Gays - But It Ain't Over Yet
Filed by Karen Ocamb | May 15, 2008 7:00 PM |That joyful noise you hear rumbling across America is the sound of equality applauding: today the California Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that lesbian and gay couples have the same constitutional right to marry as heterosexuals. The decision could be overturned,...Read More
The Reasoning of the CA Supreme Court
Filed by Ellen Andersen | May 15, 2008 4:30 PM |OK, two hours and 120 pages later, I'm back with a quick summary and analysis of the majority decision in the California marriage cases. I'll post on the concurring/dissenting opinions later....Read More
Victory in California
Filed by Guest Blogger | May 15, 2008 2:45 PM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Toni Broaddus is the Executive Director of the Equality Federation. The Federation is the national alliance of state-based lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocacy organizations. Just over an hour ago, the California Supreme Court ruled in...Read More
The California Marriage Win -- Reason to celebrate; Reason to pause
Filed by Nancy Polikoff | May 15, 2008 1:30 PM |It's an auspicious day for my first Bilerico post! The win in California is a huge civil rights victory. Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, deserves kudos for spearheading the litigation that resulted in today's...Read More
California Supreme Court rules in favor of same-sex marriage
Filed by Bil Browning | May 15, 2008 1:08 PM |The decision has come down. We won by a 4-3 majority. The full decision is 172 pages long, containing 4 separate opinions. Full text after jump with commentary to follow....Read More
Radio is the theater of the mind
Filed by Bil Browning | May 15, 2008 12:30 PM |Our own Don Sherfick was recently interviewed for WFIU radio about the implications Michigan's recent domestic benefits ruling will have in Indiana. He has become one of the foremost activists fighting against Indiana's marriage amendment. iPhone users: Click to watch...Read More
Sitting Around Waiting for the CA Supreme Court to Rule...
Filed by Ellen Andersen | May 15, 2008 10:30 AM |While we sit around twiddling our thumbs and waiting for the California Supreme Court to announce its ruling in the same-sex marriage cases, I thought it might be useful to recap some of the key features of the litigation. The...Read More
The results of rhetoric like Schlafly's
Filed by Guest Blogger | May 14, 2008 2:30 PM |Editors' note: Guest blogger Dr. Dean L. Rosen is the president of PFLAG's St. Louis chapter. PFLAG has taken the lead in opposing an honorary degree to be given to Phyllis Schafly by Washington University. This Friday, the graduating class...Read More
More on Dr. Kenneth Zucker
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 14, 2008 12:30 PM |Dana at Mombian points out this NPR report on the mother of a transgirl who was sent to Kenneth Zucker (who's the chair of the panel charged with revising Gender Identity Disorder's entry for the DSM-V). Let's just say he...Read More
That's Revolting! -- the book you've been waiting for...
Filed by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore | May 13, 2008 10:30 AM |"That's Revolting! is a pre-emptive line in the sand... It calls us all, regardless of our specific sexual and gender identities, to resist the pressures to assimilate into an increasingly belligerent and racist normality. Ranging from New York to San...Read More
The International Queer
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 12, 2008 7:00 PM |Sam Harris at the Huffington Post asked: But, leaving aside the practical and political impossibility of doing so, could we even allow ourselves to contemplate liberating the women and children of traditional Islam? I get asked to post (by emailers,...Read More
Destruction Of The Black Transwoman Image
Filed by Monica Roberts | May 12, 2008 9:00 AM |One of the things that I and my transsisters have in common with our biosisters besides our shared cultural heritage is defending the images of Black women from constant assault inside and outside the community. Ever since the advent of...Read More
Are you a Chicken? The lesson of Stalin and a Chicken
Filed by Robert Ganshorn | May 10, 2008 8:30 AM |Editor's Note: Robert Ganshorn was a founding member of the Gay Liberation Front at Purdue University before creating one of the first Public Television documentaries on gay lifestyles broadcast during his graduate studies at Indiana University. Failing to become the...Read More
Lawrence King Deserved To Die
Filed by Sara Whitman | May 09, 2008 10:00 AM |While the defense lawyer in the Lawrence King shooting decided to take the most disgusting route possible- it was in fact, Larry's fault for being open about himself and the school's efforts to support him that got him killed. I'm...Read More
Parsing of Words and The Projection of Dishonesty
Filed by Marti Abernathey | May 09, 2008 5:34 AM |One of the things that really bothered me about Bill Clinton during his presidency was how he parsed words. Every single dot and tittle was accounted for and packed with hidden meanings. "I did not have sexual relations with that...Read More
Tonight On The Rebecca Juro Show: Justin Tanis
Filed by Rebecca Juro | May 08, 2008 6:30 PM |Tonight, we'll talk with Justin Tanis, the National Center for Transgender Equality's Program Director and co-author of the new publication "Opening the Door to the Inclusion of Transgender People", which offers advice to organizations seeking to become more transgender-inclusive. We'll...Read More
More on the Michigan Marriage Ruling
Filed by Ellen Andersen | May 08, 2008 5:00 PM |The Michigan Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the state's same-sex marriage amendment prevented public schools and universities from extending domestic partner benefits to same-sex couples. Waymon posted on this story yesterday, but I thought it deserved a second look because...Read More
Joe's sorry
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 08, 2008 12:00 PM |iPhone users: Click to watch Joe Solmonese has apologized for his statements that HRC would oppose any legislation that wasn't fully inclusive (via Pam). That's after the jump....Read More
International Day Against Homophobia: In Latvia Prejudice Is Ingrained
Filed by Guest Blogger | May 07, 2008 12:30 PM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Kate Allen is the Director of Amnesty International UK. Amnesty International will be launching a hard-hitting briefing on the problem of homophobia in Eastern Europe on May 17th. Later this month sees the International Day Against...Read More
Historic night for the south
Filed by Chuck Wolfe | May 07, 2008 11:00 AM |While the presidential primary race is drawing this morning's big headlines, last night was also remarkable for two other exciting political achievements. Falls Church, Virginia voters elected Lawrence Webb to their city council, making him the state's first openly gay...Read More
Marriage Equality Movement Mother Dies
Filed by Rev Irene Monroe | May 06, 2008 5:30 PM |As the nation celebrates Mother's Day this Sunday, let us as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Americans not forgot our mother of the marriage equality movement who died this week: Mildred Jeter Loving. There is no greater challenge before...Read More
Book review: Valuing all families
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 05, 2008 6:00 PM |Nancy D. Polikoff Beyond (Gay and Straight) Marriage: Valuing All Families under the Law Beacon Press, 2008 Law professor Nancy Polikoff argues in Beyond (Gay and Straight) Marriage: Valuing All Families under the Law that marriage and the rights currently...Read More
Uh oh
Filed by Mercedes Allen | May 05, 2008 3:30 PM |Editors' note: Frequent guest blogger Mercedes Allen looks at who's in charge of deciding the fate of Gender Identity Disorder in the DSM-IV. A short time ago, I'd discussed the movement to have "Gender Identity Disorder" (GID, a.k.a. "Gender Dysphoria")...Read More
Health care on paper only
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 05, 2008 2:30 PM |The NY Times has an article up about the state of health care in the US, specifically for the insured, or, more precisely, the insured-on-paper-only: Mr. Corbin said that under their employer's health plan, he and his co-workers are now...Read More
Safe travels home, Deborah.
Filed by Gina de Vries | May 03, 2008 12:30 PM |Toni wrote this beautiful eulogy for Deborah Jean Palfrey. It brings up a lot for me; says a lot of what I want to say, perhaps with more eloquence than I can muster at the moment. The first time I...Read More
Horserace, Schmorserace: Curmudgeonly Queer Political Pragmatism 101
Filed by Marla R. Stevens | May 02, 2008 4:00 PM |Is Obama really the Teflon Gipper meets the Dalai Lama or is he just an ambitious, smart Chicken George who has figured out how to hide whoever he is behind a calm demeanor and a big enigmatic smile?Read More
These past 5 years have gone by so quickly...
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 01, 2008 10:00 PM |Jessica reminded us that it's May Day today, and half the blogosphere reminded me that it's been 5 years since our Fratboy-in-Chief declared "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq. I don't think I have to go into an explanation of how wrong...Read More
The Ridiculous Notion of Gay Privilege
Filed by Sara Whitman | May 01, 2008 2:00 PM |Watching Tim Wise today has me wondering... how do we do the same thing in the LGBT community? How do we push hard against someone else, make someone smaller, less than in order to feel our privilege? ENDA, of course,...Read More
Is same-sex marriage just for white people?
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 01, 2008 12:10 PM |Earlier this week, I posted about the lengthy article in the NY Times Sunday magazine that profiled young, married gay couples in Massachusetts. The couples were all white and wealthy, and I took author Benoit Denizet-Lewis to task over that...Read More
Talking Shop with Jennifer Bietsy of Top Chef
Filed by Serena Freewomyn | May 01, 2008 10:00 AM |I knew blogging had its perks, but who knew I would get to talk to some really cool chefs as a result of writing for an LGBTQ blog? Yesterday I interviewed Zoi Antonitsas of Bravo's Top Chef. It was really...Read More
The real tragedy in the District 3 California State Senate election
Filed by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore | May 01, 2008 9:00 AM |I'm feeling a little bit silly about it, but I started crying on the bus while reading the San Francisco Bay Guardian's election endorsement in the race between Carole Migden and Mark Leno, two gay Democrats fighting for the State...Read More
