The Movement: December 2008
Last LGBT Parenting Roundup of the Year
Filed by Dana Rudolph | December 31, 2008 | 7:00 PM |For those of you still out there and reading pre-holiday, here's a quick roundup of LGBT parenting news to hold you for a few days: President Bush—yes, that's right—signed the Worker, Retiree and Employer Recovery Act of 2008 (WRERA), making...Read More
Beyond marriage? Let's move beyond progress
Filed by Alex Blaze | December 31, 2008 | 3:20 PM |American workers have had their retirements under assault for over three decades. They've been losing as companies moved from defined-benefit programs over to defined-compensation and plans that were basically a tool to move worthless or soon-to-be worthless stock onto workers....Read More
It's a Man's, Man's, Man's Meltdown
Filed by Terrance Heath | December 31, 2008 | 12:00 PM |This is a man's world But it wouldn't be nothing, nothing without a woman or a girl He's lost in the wilderness He's lost in bitterness ~ James Brown, "It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World" It's been written many times...Read More
Which god is driving the bus?
Filed by Father Tony | December 31, 2008 | 11:30 AM |It becomes clear that as we switch out the god we have in the driver's seat, each of the passengers will eventually and in turn be thrown under the bus. There is no universal god. Only an extremely personal one....Read More
The Media, the Legislature and the Police Are Guilty Too
Filed by Bil Browning | December 30, 2008 | 5:00 PM |My post, "Transgender woman and her boyfriend murdered in Indianapolis," has created quite a bit of conversation - both here on the Project and in certain circles in Indiana. I've just finished an interview with an Indianapolis Star reporter about...Read More
Congressional Democrats, HRC: DADT repeal won't happen until at least 2011
Filed by Alex Blaze | December 29, 2008 | 2:30 PM |FYI. "[Repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell] ought to be re-examined and it ought to be on the agenda, but it shouldn't be very high on the agenda," said Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI). "There are just too many other more important...Read More
Kirchick: gays, cool your jets on Warren
Filed by Pam Spaulding | December 29, 2008 | 11:00 AM |OK folks, what is your take on this piece by Jamie Kirchick, "The Gay Community Needs to Calm Down About Rick Warren"? A snippet: The problem for gay activists is that many Americans agree with Rick Warren when it comes...Read More
Gay rights in 2008
Filed by Guest Blogger | December 28, 2008 | 5:00 PM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Carlos Mock, MD has published three books and is the Floricanto Press editor for its GLBT series. He was inducted in the Chicago Gay & Lesbian Hall of Fame in October of 2007. He grew up...Read More
Barney Frank Keynote
Filed by Bil Browning | December 28, 2008 | 2:00 PM |Rep. Barney Frank Keynote at GLII Luncheon from Jerame Davis on Vimeo. This is the keynote address Rep Barney Frank gave at the Gay and Lesbian Leadership Institute luncheon. Those of attending the LGBT bloggers conference also attended. I've held...Read More
LGBT Parent Newsmakers of the Year
Filed by Dana Rudolph | December 27, 2008 | 2:30 PM |Who were the LGBT parents who made headlines this year in mainstream or LGBT news? Here are my top individuals or couples, in alphabetic (not rank) order. (This started as a top-ten list, but outgrew that appellation by a bit....Read More
If you read ONE article on Prop 8, make it this one
Filed by Nancy Polikoff | December 26, 2008 | 12:00 PM |Of course most of you have reads lots of articles about Prop 8. I've been silent about it because I had nothing to add, but today I read a piece that is so good I have to recommend it to...Read More
Top 10 Victories for LGBT Equality in 2008
Filed by Juan and Ken Ahonen-Jover | December 26, 2008 | 11:00 AM |In 2008, there were some significants setbacks for equality when we lost the ballot initiatives in California, Florida, Arizona, and Arkansas. But there were some significant victories that will help to advance equality in 2009 and beyond. Read our...Read More
Those hard lines we draw between "sexual orientation," "gender identity," and "gender expression"
Filed by Alex Blaze | December 24, 2008 | 4:30 PM |This man in England just won his appeal to have his anti-gay discrimination case heard. It was originally rejected because he was straight and married to a woman. Stephen English says he was forced to quit his job at an...Read More
My Grown-Up Christmas List
Filed by Waymon Hudson | December 24, 2008 | 3:30 PM |I'm a sucker for holiday tunes. And one of my favorites is "Grown-up Christmas List." This season, with all that has happened, it strikes an even bigger chord with me, especially the opening line of the chorus: No More Lives...Read More
Be Safe and Be Thankful
Filed by Sara Whitman | December 24, 2008 | 11:00 AM |A young lesbian woman, 28 years old, was attacked and gang raped on December 13th in Berkeley, California. According to the police report, the woman was taunted for being a lesbian by the men who ranged from late teens to...Read More
Words Matter: Hate and Bigotry
Filed by Waymon Hudson | December 23, 2008 | 3:00 PM |The intense discussion about the Rick Warren choice for the inauguration here and in the media has really been both enlightening and surprising. I've been overjoyed to see the concerns of our community get national attention (which is always a...Read More
LGBT rights protest lights up Times Square
Filed by Father Tony | December 22, 2008 | 12:30 PM |On Saturday, December 20, 2008, I joined the roughly 300 frozen protesters who marched in Manhattan from Herald Square to Times Square. As was the case with the earlier Jointheimpact.com events, this one was unpolished, casual, ardent, sincere, and, more...Read More
What Barack Obama Should Do About Rick Warren
Filed by Dana Rudolph | December 21, 2008 | 5:30 PM |At my alma mater, Wellesley College, on the first Sunday of the school year, students gather at the chapel for "Flower Sunday," one of the oldest traditions of the College. While Flower Sunday has Protestant roots, the service has evolved...Read More
How Homophobia Hurts Everyone
Filed by Paige Schilt | December 21, 2008 | 4:00 PM |Yesterday I spent the morning perched on a tiny plastic chair, observing my son Waylon's yoga class. Although I have studied yoga for years, kindergarten yoga was most enlightening. For instance, I learned that the lotus position can also be...Read More
It is important to say these things out loud
Filed by Nadine Smith | December 21, 2008 | 2:30 PM |President-elect Barack Obama believes "marriage is between a man and a woman". Barack Obama does not think gay couples' relationships are worthy of the same stature as his and Michelle's. He does not believe that gay couples deserve the precise...Read More
Accomplishments and Goals
Filed by Annette Gross | December 21, 2008 | 12:00 PM |I suppose this is the time of year when we take stock of what we did during the past year and what we want to accomplish for the next year. I usually don't do this because I can't keep focused...Read More
A Poem For Barack Obama
Filed by Rebecca Juro | December 21, 2008 | 11:00 AM |I am not a poet. In fact, while I've been writing for years, this is my first attempt ever at this kind of thing, so I ask your indulgence. Bad poetry it may be, but it's how I feel. I...Read More
1 of 18,000 Being Attacked This Holiday Season
Filed by Waymon Hudson | December 20, 2008 | 5:30 PM |My "homosexual agenda" is pretty much the same everyday. Wake-up, give my husband a kiss on the cheek, give one of our dogs his allergy medicine and make sure there is food in their bowls, decide if I can skip...Read More
How To Be An Ally with Atheists
Filed by Guest Blogger | December 20, 2008 | 2:30 PM |Editors' note: This post follows Greta Christina's earlier guest post on TBP, Being an Atheist in the Queer Community. Greta blogs at gretachristina.com. So what do atheists want from their allies? And how can progressive non-atheist people and groups be...Read More
Rachel Maddow on Rick Warren
Filed by Waymon Hudson | December 20, 2008 | 1:00 PM |Rachel Maddow gets real about the Warren Fiasco on the Thursday edition of her show. .msnbcLinks {font-size:11px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #999; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 425px;} .msnbcLinks a {text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal...Read More
Should "Inclusion" Include Everyone?
Filed by Waymon Hudson | December 19, 2008 | 2:30 PM |It is pretty obvious to anyone how I feel about Rick Warren being chosen to deliver the blessing on inauguration day. Warren is a unabashed bigot draped in religious clothing who hates the entire LGBT community. And let's be clear,...Read More
Make Your Voice Heard About Rick Warren
Filed by Scott Kaiser | December 18, 2008 | 8:00 PM |As a gay American who supported, campaigned, and voted for Barack Obama, I cannot even begin to tell you how disappointed and hurt I feel by the choice of anti-gay Pastor Rick Warren to lead the inaugural invocation. Although I...Read More
Another assault on women's choice
Filed by Alex Blaze | December 18, 2008 | 6:30 PM |Women's reproductive choice suffered a legal blow this week, with the Bush administration issuing a new rule that allows medical staff who have moral objections to women's autonomy to refuse treatment: The controversial rule empowers federal health officials to cut...Read More
Being an Atheist in the Queer Community
Filed by Guest Blogger | December 18, 2008 | 4:00 PM |Editors' note: Greta Christina blogs at Greta Christina's Blog. I want to talk about being an atheist in the queer community. This is going to be hard to talk about. But it's been on my mind a lot lately, and...Read More
Crackdowns on Sex Work Make Things Worse
Filed by Tobi Hill-Meyer | December 17, 2008 | 7:30 PM |Note: In honor of International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, I thought I'd share something I wrote for my local weekly paper. Unfortunately, our local police department decided to honor this day with a crackdown on internet based...Read More
Did Mat Staver Really Just Say That? Seriously?
Filed by Waymon Hudson | December 17, 2008 | 3:30 PM |Sometimes you read something and have to do a double take. One of those shake-your-head, cartoon-sound-effect "Huh??" moments. That's what happened when I read the Liberty Council's Mat Staver's quote in the Florida Baptist Witness. The article was discussing the...Read More
71 names, thus far, and an addendum to my last post about Day to End Violence
Filed by Gina de Vries | December 17, 2008 | 10:00 AM |Oh, God. I'm letting out a long and sad breath. I spent my morning researching names of murdered sex workers for International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. Melissa Gira Grant from Sex Workers Outreach Project sent me a...Read More
Fred Phelps's Westboro Baptist Church/God Hates Fags Tries to Protest Chicago's Center on Halsted
Filed by Yasmin Nair | December 16, 2008 | 1:30 PM |These guys are not giving us any rest. As some of you know, I've been covering and photographing the group as it makes its way through Chicago. Most recently, on Saturday, December 13, they decided to picket the (LGBTQ) Center...Read More
The Lost Art of Language
Filed by Waymon Hudson | December 16, 2008 | 12:00 PM |I'll admit it. I am fascinated by the way we communicate with one another- what we say, how we say it, and what we really mean. I've delved into it here before, from the language of gender (I still get...Read More
Gay is NOT the new Black
Filed by Rev Irene Monroe | December 16, 2008 | 11:00 AM |If you are African American and gay, and fighting alongside your white LGBTQ brothers and sisters for queer civil rights, the notion that "Gay is the new black" is not only absurdly arrogant, it is also dangerously divisive. In a...Read More
Jose O. Sucuzhanay died yesterday
Filed by Alex Blaze | December 14, 2008 | 7:00 PM |An Ecuadorean real estate agent who was brutally beaten last week in Brooklyn after having racist and homophobic slurs yelled at him died in a hospital yesterday. His crime? He was walking home from a nightclub with his arms around...Read More
Hatred We Can't Ignore
Filed by Terrance Heath | December 14, 2008 | 5:00 PM |If nothing else, this election revealed how far we have come and how far we have yet to go. Yes, there’s the irony of celebrating the historic election of Barack Obama while simultaneously mourning the passage of Proposition 8 and...Read More
Gays: Not the Last Oppressed Minority
Filed by Tobi Hill-Meyer | December 13, 2008 | 1:00 PM |A couple of people here at Bilerico have already commented on the phrase, "Gay is the New Black," which adorns the most recent cover of The Advocate. Yet the subtitle on that cover, "The Last Great Civil Rights Struggle," is...Read More
Leadership on AIDS must come from the White House
Filed by H. Alexander Robinson | December 12, 2008 | 4:00 PM |With all the excitement, hope and opportunities presented by the upcoming installation of President-elect Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States, every progressive constituency group is hawking their first 100 days list. That includes our nation's efforts...Read More
DC Activists Discuss Marriage Strategy
Filed by Michael Crawford | December 12, 2008 | 3:00 PM |More than 200 people braved the cold and rainy DC weather to participate in a community forum to discuss a plan for winning marriage equality in the District. The forum was organized by DC for Marriage, a project of the...Read More
Anti-gay activists called out in full page ad
Filed by Michael Crawford | December 11, 2008 | 6:30 PM |If anti-gay activists that they could get away with running a misleading ad about LGBT people in the New York Times, they were wrong. Truth Wins Out, lead by activist Wayne Besen, struck back with a full page ad in...Read More
Building Relationships before Rights
Filed by Guest Blogger | December 11, 2008 | 10:30 AM |Editors' note: Rev. Rick Elliott has been a minister since June 1973 and has frequently handled the overflow of weddings from a university chapel. He's a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has received...Read More
I Address the Obama-Biden Transition Team
Filed by Chuck Wolfe | December 11, 2008 | 10:00 AM |Editor's note: The Obama-Biden Transition Team invited dozens of LGBT movement leaders to their offices to discuss the role the incoming administration can play in securing equality for all Americans. Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of the Gay & Lesbian...Read More
Agnes Scott College: Lesbians until graduation?
Filed by Guest Blogger | December 10, 2008 | 7:00 PM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Louisa Hill is a senior at Agnes Scott College where she studies theatre, French, and women's studies. Agnes Scott College, the supposed World for Women, has become the cesspool for Hollywood's C-list sequels. In my four...Read More
Yes, there is a Biblical argument for same-sex marriage
Filed by Alex Blaze | December 10, 2008 | 1:30 PM |Lisa Miller wrote up a defense of same-sex marriage from the Biblical perspective in Newsweek earlier this week that I haven't had a chance to link to. It's a lot of the same arguments that queer, Christian and Jewish theologians...Read More
Iowa marriage argument - good try
Filed by Nan Hunter | December 10, 2008 | 1:00 PM |Lambda Legal did their usually excellent job of lawyering with the challenge to the Iowa marriage law that was argued this morning before the Iowa Supreme Court. (Kudos to lead counsel Camilla Taylor!) But the court did not seem particularly...Read More
Are You "Calling In Gay"?
Filed by Jason Tseng | December 10, 2008 | 11:00 AM |The latest in what is being dubbed "Stonewall 2.0" and the anti-Prop 8 activism, is a nation-wide call to action for queer people across the nation to "call in gay" and donate their free time towards the gay right movement...Read More
Marriage Community Forum in DC
Filed by Michael Crawford | December 10, 2008 | 10:00 AM |After the passage of Prop 8 in California, more than 5,000 DC LGBT residents and allies marched to demand an end to marriage discrimination. But, how do we win marriage equality in the District? Prop 8 Passed, Now What: A...Read More
Iowa Supreme Court hears marriage equality argument
Filed by Nancy Polikoff | December 09, 2008 | 8:00 PM |Kudos to the Iowa Supreme Court for making its oral argument in Varnum v. Brien as user-friendly as possible. Chief Justice Ternus even explained from the bench the steps in the legal process. A number of media outlets streamed the...Read More
Is it just me, or is the police brutality getting worse every day?
Filed by Alex Blaze | December 09, 2008 | 6:30 PM |These two stories are on 365gay's front page right now: The accused officers approached Michael Mineo on Oct. 15 outside a subway station because they believed he was smoking marijuana, police said. When he fled into the station, they and...Read More
Well, we're always saying we should call in "gay" to work...
Filed by Alex Blaze | December 09, 2008 | 4:00 PM |Tomorrow, December 10th, is Day Without a Gay, where several activists in California are asking people to call in "gay" to work, not to shop, and to do volunteer work instead. It's complicated - yes, it's good that people are...Read More
God Hates Fags Comes to Chicago
Filed by Yasmin Nair | December 09, 2008 | 3:30 PM |The Westboro Baptist Church, also known as the group God Hates Fags, came to Chicago this past week. They were a no-show on the 4th, when they were supposed to protest outside Obama's Senate office. However, the event attracted two...Read More
Is Gay the New Black?
Filed by Michael Crawford | December 09, 2008 | 2:00 PM |For whatever reason, some LGBT people are consumed with comparing the LGBT equal rights movement and the Black civil rights movement. Some have gone so far as to ask "Is gay the new Black?" This Newsweek.com video explores that question...Read More
Equal Roots Coalition: Organizing in the aftermath of Prop 8
Filed by Guest Blogger | December 08, 2008 | 1:30 PM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Matthew Palazzolo is the co-founder of Equal Roots Coalition, a new group formed in response to the passage of Prop 8 in California. A new LGBT activist, Palazzolo is also a video artist and an actor....Read More
Harvey Milk: In the Footsteps of Gandhi and King
Filed by Michael Crawford | December 07, 2008 | 3:30 PM |This is a great video from Causecast that situates the life of Harvey Milk in the context of other movements for civil rights and social justice. It is inspiring to see the life of a gay man not compare to...Read More
Messaging message
Filed by Alex Blaze | December 07, 2008 | 1:00 PM |Tim McFeeley, former HRC director and Task Force Policy Institute director, is talking about messaging now at the LGBT bloggers summit. He's talking about moving LGBT rights messaging from "us" to "America" and had these following suggestions. I don't have...Read More
Tolerance - Just Say NO!
Filed by Guest Blogger | December 07, 2008 | 11:30 AM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Jenna Lloyd is a long-time LGBT supporter, friend and fan. Jenna previously worked as an image consultant helping transsexuals and crossdressers with their journey along the gender spectrum. She has presented at Southern Comfort and many...Read More
Gay Dollars, Labor, and Boycotts
Filed by Yasmin Nair | December 06, 2008 | 3:30 PM |I just wrote a piece for Chicago's Windy City Times on the interlinked issues of Gay Dollars, the links between labor organizers and LGBT politics, and economic boycotts. All of these are, of course, tied to the recent upheavals around...Read More
Message to the religious right - this isn't just about marriage, it's about history
Filed by Guest Blogger | December 06, 2008 | 2:00 PM |Editor's Note: Alvin McEwen is a blogger who tracks and catalogs religious right distortions about the gay community via two blogs (Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters and Anti-Gay Lies and Liars). He is also a board member of the South...Read More
How are we going to learn our lessons from the Prop 8 campaign?
Filed by Alex Blaze | December 06, 2008 | 1:00 PM |I'm sitting a panel discussion here on Proposition 8. It includes: Marty Rouse of HRCTobias Packer of Equality FloridaJosh Cohen of Bloggers Against 8George Simpson of Equality CaliforniaMegan Kinninger of Freedom to MarryJoe Sudby of AmericaBlog (moderator) There's a lot...Read More
Why Does the Word "Homosexual" Piss Me Off?
Filed by Waymon Hudson | December 05, 2008 | 6:30 PM |I find myself cringing when I hear the word "homosexual." Yes, I know it is a scientific term and meant to be clinical. And I know it is odd that this word bothers me when I embrace other words like...Read More
Impact Florida- Why We Demonstrate
Filed by Guest Blogger | December 05, 2008 | 12:00 PM |Editor's Note: Lorna Bracewell is the director of Impact Florida, an organization devoted to attaining marriage equality for all of Florida's citizens. She is also a singer/songwriter and has released six albums of original music on her own label, Braced...Read More
NY Senate not to pursue same-sex marriage bill
Filed by Alex Blaze | December 05, 2008 | 10:00 AM |The NY general assembly has already passed same-sex marriage and governor Patterson has indicated that he would sign the bill, but it died in the Senate last year due to Republican opposition. The focus was on turning two of those...Read More
Marriage initiatives and mental health
Filed by Alex Blaze | December 04, 2008 | 4:00 PM |If you're wondering just where those gays who are out there protesting were before the election, this study on marriage initiatives might help explain why: The researchers sorted participants into two groups -- those living in a state with an...Read More
On December 5, I'm a make/shift reader...
Filed by Yasmin Nair | December 04, 2008 | 3:30 PM |Hi everyone, On Friday, December 5, make/shift magazine will be making a Chicago appearance. On hand will be co-editors and co-publishers Jessica Hoffman (also a Bilerico contributor) and Daria Yudacufski, to discuss this amazing independent production (get a subscription, give...Read More
The Pro-LGBT galvanization of American Majorities
Filed by Father Tony | December 03, 2008 | 1:40 PM |A fascinating and encouraging GLAAD-sponsored Harris Interactive survey has just been released to the accompaniment of a call-in question/answer session in which I participated for The Bilerico Project. This post-election survey called The Pulse of Equality, shows that majorities...Read More
Civil Rights: Does "Immutable Characteristic" Really Describe Us?
Filed by Patricia Nell Warren | December 02, 2008 | 7:00 PM |The recent fallout over Prop 8 -- questions about whether African Americans voted heavily to ban same-sex marriage -- points up a need to redefine and strengthen the basis of our demand for civil rights. In recent decades, we LGBT...Read More
The Iowa Marriage Case- Coming up... and you can follow it
Filed by Nancy Polikoff | December 02, 2008 | 2:30 PM |There's only one marriage equality case left. I'm not counting the case before the California Supreme Court on the proper method to amend that state's constitution. I'm talking about a state constitutional challenge to a ban on same-sex marriage, litigated...Read More
Gay Rights Group to Protest FL Governor Crist's Nuptials
Filed by Waymon Hudson | December 02, 2008 | 12:00 PM |After much speculation from bloggers and media outlets, it does appear that what many viewed as a conveniently timed wedding between Florida Governor Charlie Crist and Carole Rome is still on. The wedding announcement came out when Crist was on...Read More
Your Tax Dollars at Work
Filed by Waymon Hudson | December 01, 2008 | 5:30 PM |It's very clear that the economy is in the toilet. The national crisis is trickling down (is that what they meant by "trickle-down economics"??) to the states- with education, healthcare, first responders and hundreds of other programs being slashed to...Read More
Where I've been spending my time lately
Filed by Jerame Davis | December 01, 2008 | 5:00 PM |I thought I'd share with everyone what's been keeping me busy the past few months. Some folks may already know I've been working on a new LGBT social site called Friends You Know. Well, the secret is out! The site...Read More
The New Politics of Yes: Yes We Can... Overturn Prop 8
Filed by Guest Blogger | December 01, 2008 | 11:00 AM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Torie Osborn has been a social activist for 40 years; She is former Executive Director of the LA Gay and Lesbian Center, NGLTF, and the LIberty HIll Foundation. She is currently Senior Advisor to Los Angeles...Read More
