The Movement: October 2011
North Bi Northeast: An Interview with Bi Researcher Dr. Margaret Robinson
Filed by Amy Andre | October 31, 2011 5:00 PM |When Margaret Robinson, PhD, was working on her dissertation - which was on bisexual women and their choices between polyamory and monogamy - she found that the distinctions were more blurry than expected.Read More
Classic Defenses for Anti-LGBT Behavior
Filed by Guest Blogger | October 31, 2011 2:00 PM |Guest blogger Matt Smith takes us through several excuses commonly used to justify or explain away anti-LGBT behavior.Read More
Sharing Your Perspective on the History of HIV/AIDS
Filed by Dan O'Neill | October 31, 2011 12:00 PM |I'm currently working with the Velvet Foundation to develop an exhibition on the History of HIV/AIDS as told from the perspective of the LGBT community. Our aim is to develop this exhibition in advance of the 2012 International AIDS Conference in DC.Read More
A Right to Be There
Filed by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore | October 31, 2011 9:00 AM |This time when I visit Occupy Santa Fe, some people are friendly to me and others seem disengaged, homophobic in the sense of a masculinist type of suspicion.Read More
5 Best Reasons for LGBT to Support T
Filed by E. Winter Tashlin | October 29, 2011 4:00 PM |Some among us need it explained why the LGBT community needs to support trans rights. Guest blogger Winterson Tashlin lays it out in five concrete arguments.Read More
Fighting Alienation Is a Revolution
Filed by Alex Blaze | October 28, 2011 4:00 PM |I've been thinking this more and more about lately. How did some social apes like us decide that it was a sign of status and safety to not interact with others.Read More
Something Like a Dream
Filed by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore | October 28, 2011 10:00 AM |There's something about living in Santa Fe that allows me to suspend disbelief about this whole thing. I try to follow what's going on in other occupations that pop up in the news, and of course there's a lot more going on there.Read More
To the Rest of the World, We Are the 1%
Filed by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore | October 27, 2011 1:00 PM |Today someone mentions a potential camping area where everyone has been cleared out - oh, a perfect place for an occupation, right? Clear out the wrong people, bring in the right ones. We are the 99 percent! Read More
NOM Fakes Photo & Gets Called Out on Maddow
Filed by Bil Browning | October 26, 2011 3:00 PM |Lovable blogger Jeremy Hooper over at Good As You is one of the best religious right watchers in the nation and he's caught the National Organization for Marriage with their pants down yet again.Read More
Occupy Santa Fe: Maybe This Is What It Means to Really Live Here
Filed by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore | October 25, 2011 4:00 PM |Even in this short time, I can see the leaders who do not identify as leaders emerging, I can see the way they talk to one another and I know that intoxication from my own experience with activism.Read More
Solidarity: Calling Out a Corporate Sponsor at a Pro-LGBT Event
Filed by Guest Blogger | October 23, 2011 5:30 PM |Would you have the nerve to call out a presenting sponsor for an LGBT event if you were the featured speaker? Guest blogger Katie Burgess did just that during a Coming Out Day Luncheon sponsored by Cargill.Read More
Thoughts on Why HIV Infection Rates Are Up for Young Black Men
Filed by Anthony Carter | October 22, 2011 2:00 PM |It has often been said that knowledge is power. A very wise mentor of mine likes to say that it is the "application of knowledge" that gives us true power.Read More
Mixner Calls for Townhalls to Choose New HRC Ex Dir
Filed by Bil Browning | October 22, 2011 12:00 PM |Well, this is an interesting idea... Veteran activist David Mixner writes that the Human Rights Campaign should hold a series of townhall meetings to get community input on the selection of a new Executive Director.Read More
Transgender Community Wins Some and Loses Some
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | October 21, 2011 3:00 PM |Recent events in the trans community show that we are beginning to form a unified opposition to the oppression that we face on a daily basis. Read More
Equality California Taking Time With Transition Plan
Filed by Karen Ocamb | October 20, 2011 4:30 PM |In a press release announcing the resignation of Roland Palencia as EQCA executive director, the nonprofit statewide LGBT lobbying organization promised to present a plan last Friday, but no plan emerged.Read More
Are Trans Sex Workers Deserving of Liberation?
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | October 20, 2011 3:00 PM |I have a lot of complicated feelings about sex work. Do I stand in solidarity with trans sex workers and their right to dignity or am I fighting for rights so that trans people won't have to engage in sex work?Read More
How to Combat Rising HIV Rates in Young Black Men
Filed by Anthony Carter | October 20, 2011 11:00 AM |As a mentor, I can offer the insight that is steeped in knowing how young people think and behave. I can give the "think of your future" nonsense a rest. I can actually "listen" to them give me the reasons and thinking behind their decisions.Read More
Go Purple for Spirit Day on October 20th!
Filed by Jason Tseng | October 19, 2011 7:00 PM |Every child deserves that kind of support, but not everyone can get it. Which is why you should go purple for Spirit Day on October 20th.Read More
Col. George Middleton: Black Revolutionary War Hero
Filed by Guest Blogger | October 19, 2011 9:00 AM |During the time of the American Revolution, George Middleton was recognized as a great fighter for liberty and independence, and a respected leader among the community of blacks living in Boston, Mass.Read More
Confessions of a Reluctant Activist
Filed by Anthony Carter | October 18, 2011 2:00 PM |Warning! If somebody has to keep telling - and not showing - their politics there is trouble afoot.Read More
Roland Palencia on Why He Left Equality California
Filed by Karen Ocamb | October 18, 2011 11:00 AM |Over the weekend, EQCA's Communications Director Rebekah Orr told me that the board didn't not complete their conversations with staff and therefore didn't publish their transition plan on Friday, as expected. She said they hoped to put it out Monday, but no release was forthcoming.Read More
Jerame Davis Named Interim ED of National Stonewall Democrats
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | October 18, 2011 9:30 AM |Current Executive Director Michael Mitchell is not renewing his contract, which expires at the end of this month. Read More
Is Marriage Equality for White People?
Filed by Guest Blogger | October 18, 2011 9:00 AM |Even after it was widely discredited that the black turnout could be responsible for the passage of Prop 8, the conventional wisdom has remained that the issue of marriage equality is simply not something that appeals to voters of color.Read More
We're Going Purple on October 20: You Should Too
Filed by Bil Browning | October 17, 2011 7:00 PM |The Bilerico Project will be joining the campaign by changing our logo purple for the campaign. Wearing purple on this day symbolizes support for LGBT people and against bullying of LGBT teens.Read More
Occupy Wall Street Likes Capitalism - Sort Of
Filed by Don Davis | October 17, 2011 1:00 PM |It's free speech, it's people seeking a redress of grievances in a peaceful assembly, there's voting... hell, the only way this could be more representative of Truth, Justice, and The American Way is if everyone down there was wearing a Superman suit.Read More
Why I Don't Want To Blog Anymore
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | October 17, 2011 12:00 PM |My low blogging libido issues, and what the doctor ordered.Read More
A View from Occupy Santa Fe
Filed by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore | October 17, 2011 10:00 AM |I was skeptical about this encampment, which apparently has received the blessing of both the Mayor of Santa Fe and the Santa Fe Police Department. But, when I arrived, it was pretty fascinating to see the infrastructure that had emerged.Read More
Look Who's at the OutServe Conference: The CIA
Filed by Karen Ocamb | October 16, 2011 2:30 PM |Some very interesting panels at the OutServe conference at the New York New York hotel in Las Vegas on Saturday. I thought you might want to see this: the CIA is here as a sponsoring organization. Read More
Same-Sex Couples Fight for Marriage Licenses in NC
Filed by Adam Polaski | October 14, 2011 4:00 PM |In the past few weeks, the new "We Do" campaign has been seeking to make its mark on North Carolina by having gay and lesbian couples request marriage licenses and have their requests publicly denied. Read More
Tributes Honoring LGBT Hero Frank Kameny Continue
Filed by Karen Ocamb | October 14, 2011 12:00 PM |One indication of how Frank Kameny secured his own legacy, and therefore the early milestones of the LGBT movement, was by having his memorabilia donated to and curated by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.Read More
NYC Begins Fight for LGBT-Inclusive Education
Filed by Adam Polaski | October 13, 2011 5:00 PM |On Tuesday, New York City lawmakers joined California by entering the ring of the fight for public grade school curriculum that discusses the achievements and influences of LGBT people throughout history. Read More
Point Foundation NYC Cornerstone Event Helps LGBT Collegians
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | October 13, 2011 4:00 PM |The Point Foundation is one of my top LGBT causes because it helps guide our next-generation leaders and because it is so well-run, a class act all the way.Read More
Katherine Lee Bates: Author of 'America the Beautiful'
Filed by Guest Blogger | October 13, 2011 9:00 AM |Katherine Lee Bates wrote "America the Beautiful," popularly known in the United States as "the other national anthem." Her ode has touched so many lives "from sea to shining sea."Read More
Friedrich Von Steuben: Father of the U.S. Military
Filed by Mark Segal | October 12, 2011 9:00 AM |There are few historians today who would doubt that Baron Friedrich Wilhelm Von Steuben was gay. If George Washington was the father of the nation, then von Steuben, a gay man, was the father of the United States military.Read More
Coming Out: Ten Years Later
Filed by Michael Hamar | October 11, 2011 3:00 PM |October 10 marks the tenth anniversary of the day I first came out to my former wife. I had struggled for 39 years trying to convince myself that what I knew in my heart about my sexual orientation was not really true.Read More
16 Reasons We Should Be Protesting
Filed by Leslie Robinson | October 11, 2011 10:00 AM |LGBT folks are demonstrating from New York to Seattle and I'm pleased about that. I can think of a lot of reasons we should be involved in this fight, but here's the first sixteen that pop to mind.Read More
Roland Palencia Stepping Down as Equality California ED
Filed by Karen Ocamb | October 11, 2011 9:00 AM |In a brief phone interview Monday night, Roland Palencia told me he was resigning as Executive Director of Equality California.Read More
Dear Applicant: Ten Tips for the LGBT Job Seeker
Filed by Amy Andre | October 10, 2011 3:00 PM |Your resume should be one page max. If you're at a stage in your career where you've accomplished so much that you can't possibly fit it all onto one page, you're not applying for jobs anyway - you're being headhunted. Read More
COW: On Joe Solmonese's Replacement
Filed by Bil Browning | October 10, 2011 1:30 PM |Many readers added other prominent LGBT activists to Viktor's list, but many overlooked those who weren't/aren't directly involved in the movement. Former contributor Toni D'Orsay chimed in to remind Projectors to think outside of the box.Read More
Is Getting Angry in the Face of Oppression Productive?
Filed by Alex Blaze | October 10, 2011 12:00 PM |Expressing anger - acting with spiritual violence - hurts everyone, not just the object of that anger. Insulting people is like throwing hot coals at someone with your bare hands; you might hit your object sometimes, but you're sure to burn yourself in the process.Read More
Paula Ettelbrick Dies at 56
Filed by Jessica Max Stein | October 09, 2011 4:00 PM |The passing of Ettelbrick, a lesbian legal expert and activist, is a great loss. Read More
Walt Whitman: Poet, Chronicler of War
Filed by Guest Blogger | October 09, 2011 2:00 PM |Walt Whitman, the father of both American poetry and modern poetry in general, established free verse as the international norm for poetry in English and celebrated gay sexuality with surprising openness for its time.Read More
Queers Shouldn't Ask to Sit at the Table
Filed by Toshio Meronek | October 07, 2011 1:00 PM |It's hard in there for a queer. The relative number of LGBT people in prison is higher than that of straights, and queers behind bars experience abuse more widely than their straight counterparts.Read More
Complete This Sentence in 4 Words or Less
Filed by Bil Browning | October 07, 2011 12:00 PM |Just for fun this afternoon, complete this sentence in four words or less.Read More
The Top 10 Potential Presidential Candidates for HRC
Filed by Viktor Kerney | October 07, 2011 11:00 AM |As most of you know, Joe Solmonese had chosen not renew his contract as HRC President. Here's a list of ten highly qualified leaders that could move the HRC in an progressive direction.Read More
What's Next for the Progressive Movement?
Filed by Terrance Heath | October 06, 2011 4:00 PM |As the last full day of the Take Back the American Dream conference ended, the “Building the Progressive Movement: What Should We Do Next?” action strategy session posed the question that was probably on the minds of many attendees: What should we do next?Read More
Is My Generation Destroying Gay Subculture?
Filed by Adam Polaski | October 06, 2011 1:00 PM |Rachel Maddow's interview in The Hollywood Reporter makes me question: How important is "gay subculture"? And what does that even mean? Perhaps my inability to pinpoint the subculture is exactly the issue that she's talking about...Read More
Equality California Says No to Prop. 8 Repeal Ballot in 2012
Filed by Karen Ocamb | October 06, 2011 10:00 AM |Buried in a note to supporters of Equality California on what Executive Director Roland Palencia describes as a new "breakthrough" project is the announcement that EQCA will not be participating in any return to the ballot in 2012 to overturn Prop. 8.Read More
William Rufus King: First Gay U.S. Vice President?
Filed by Guest Blogger | October 06, 2011 9:00 AM |Some historians have speculated that William Rufus King holds a significant distinction as likely being the first gay U.S. vice president, and possibly one of the first gay members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.Read More
Unequal Equality
Filed by Rebecca Juro | October 05, 2011 6:00 PM |As common as it now is to hear the term "equality" thrown around with such abandon in our national conversation about American LGBT civil rights, is it really accurate or even fair to describe many of our community's most recent political gains with this term?Read More
James Buchanan: America's First Gay President?
Filed by Guest Blogger | October 05, 2011 8:00 AM |Historian James W. Loewen has extensively researched the personal life of James Buchanan, the 15th president of the United States, and he's convinced Buchanan was gay, having shared much of his life with William Rufus King, a senator from Alabama.Read More
Your Thoughts: HRC's New Survey
Filed by Bil Browning | October 04, 2011 1:00 PM |I noticed this morning that HRC is doing a survey to get the community's thoughts on "HRC, the state of our movement, & issues that matter most to you." My interest piqued, I went and took the quick survey.Read More
Doe v Reed: The Next Chapter
Filed by Joe Mirabella | October 03, 2011 11:30 AM |Today, the next chapter in a legal case that many thought was long since over will be argued in Federal District Court in Tacoma, Washington.Read More
Anna Maria Lane: Soldier
Filed by Guest Blogger | October 03, 2011 9:00 AM |Just beyond the grounds of the Virginia Capitol stands a historical marker honoring Anna Maria Lane, a soldier in the American Revolution. It distinguishes her for donning men's clothing so she could enlist with her husband in the Connecticut Continental Line. Read More
New Marriage Equality PSA Debuts in Australia
Filed by Adam Polaski | October 02, 2011 4:30 PM |This week an Australian LGBT advocacy organization, "I Do," launched a PSA promoting marriage equality in the country. It's a sweet, statistics-filled piece that makes the case for a supportive, gay-friendly Australia. Read More
Dr. Mary Edwards Walker: Civil War Surgeon
Filed by Guest Blogger | October 02, 2011 3:30 PM |Known for her determination and strength of conviction, Mary Edwards Walker (1832-1919) is also remembered as the only woman to earn the Congressional Medal of Honor in the United States military, for her service during the Civil War.Read More
Fairness WV: From Secret Meetings to Equality Gala In Three Years
Filed by Ed Kennedy | October 02, 2011 10:00 AM |How does one build equality? Out of a few brave souls.Read More
Fairness WV Brings GLBT Activism To Small Town Appalachia
Filed by Ed Kennedy | October 01, 2011 4:00 PM |West Virginia's only gay rights group brings activism out of the cities and into rural West Virginia.Read More
Teleseminars: Coming Out
Filed by Davina Kotulski | October 01, 2011 2:00 PM |Sometimes coming out is more than just revealing our sexual orientation. Sometimes we need to come out about other aspects of who we are that others may not agree with.Read More
