Via JMG: Russia Today Rips NOM, Yehuda Levin

According to Wikipedia, Russia Today is now the second-most watched foreign news network in the United States, behind the BBC. This is a good example why.

Labels: hate groups, NOM, Russia Today, Yehuda Levin

reposted from Joe

Via American Foundation for Equal Rights: At 9 a.m. on Monday, we'll be back in court.

Dear Daniel,
At 9 a.m. on Monday, we'll be back in court.
The proponents of Prop. 8 – who passed the ballot measure that stripped the freedom to marry from gay and lesbian Californians – are trying to prevent the American people from seeing the video recording of the Prop. 8 trial.

What are they trying to hide? Last year's trial was conducted in an open courtroom. The testimony and evidence that was presented are public record, accessible to everyone. Both witnesses they put on the stand have a long history of advocating for their views in the media, at conferences, and in numerous books and articles that they've published.

The Prop. 8 proponents don't want anyone to realize that, despite ample resources, they failed to present a single piece of credible evidence or expert testimony that supported keeping the discriminatory law on the books. At one point during the trial, their lead attorney, Charles Cooper, even asserted that they didn't "need any evidence."

At the American Foundation for Equal Rights, we are committed to spreading the truth about why gay and lesbian couples should have the fundamental freedom to marry, and to exposing the lies used to justify discrimination.

Even though Monday's hearing will not be broadcast or recorded because of objections made by the Prop. 8 proponents, we'll be providing live updates from the courtroom on Twitter, @AFER, and track the hashtag #Prop8. Also, be sure to like us on Facebook for more information.

Here's what you can do:

• Urge your friends to "like" AFER on Facebook for updates about the Prop. 8 case and what the other side is up to.
• Send a tweet encouraging your followers to tune into AFER's live stream on Monday.
• Encourage your friends and family to sign up for email updates from AFER.

Everyone should be able to see for themselves the trial of a case that affects the civil rights of millions of Americans.

Sincerely,

Adam UmhoeferSenior Project Director American Foundation for Equal Rights

Via JMG: Quote Of The Day - Jerry Buell

"I am a man of God and I try to be like Jesus every day. I teach God's truth, I make very few compromises. If you believe you may have a problem with that, get your schedule changed, 'cause I ain't changing! I try to teach and lead my students as if Lake Co. Schools had hired Jesus Christ himself." - A message to students from the syllabus of Florida public school teacher Jerry Buell, who was reinstated yesterday after the KKK threatened to protest the school board.

Labels: assholery, education, Facebook, Florida, hate speech, racism

reposted from Joe

Via AmericablogGay: LA Times: In 2012, gay-bashing views of GOP candidates "are simply ridiculed"

Interesting perspective from Paul Thornton at the Los Angeles Times. GOP presidential candidates will engage in gay-bashing, but their homophobic views engender mocking, not serious discussion. That's a big change:

Could this be the biggest gay-bashing election in recent history? Doubtful, since President George W. Bush set such a high bar in 2004. Quite the contrary: Call me an optimist, but I see such highly publicized gay-baiting as a positive development. 

Why? Not so long ago, the virulently homophobic views offered by some candidates were treated almost as viable alternatives to the positions taken by less anti-gay politicians. It was as if all those views came from the same menu of Reasonable Points of View Worth Debating. Now, the radical ideas espoused by Bachmann, Perry, Santorum and others are held up not for genuine consideration but for scorn (notwithstanding the last GOP debate in Iowa). Perry's and Bachmann's views aren't weighed against President Obama's "evolving" stance on same-sex marriage; rather, they are simply ridiculed. It says as much about our society as it does the candidates.

It gets better indeed.

As we've noted many times, the trendline is moving in our direction -- and moving fast. Blatant homophobia might still appeal to the hard-core haters in Iowa, but it's a bad strategy overall.

Via AmericablogGay: Barbarian Flashmob Converts "Marcus Bachmann" in Glitter Baptism at Clinic [Official]

2011 is not 2004. The LGBT community isn't going to sit back and take the gay bashing. Not at all. Nick Espinosa is doing his part to make sure of that. Via press release:

“The American people have a right to know: does the Bachmann family profit from bogus “gay reparative therapy” or not,” continued Espinosa. “The medical evidence against the practice aside, the Bachmann’s subversive marginalization of the LGBT community is despicable.”

Today’s action was organized by the same young man who previously glittered Newt Gingrich, inspiring a national trend in political protest of anti-LGBT sentiments from political candidates and campaigns.

“It’s clear that the Bachmanns are the real barbarians here, and their archaic views on LGBT equality will no longer be tolerated.”

Via JMG: TEXAS: More Sexual Allegations Against Rick Perry From Backer Of Anti-Perry Ad

Ron Paul supporter Robert Morrow appeared on Austin's Outcast radio show this week to make some pretty wild sexual allegations against Rick Perry, including a story about a visit to strip club. This is the guy who last week published a newspaper ad urging anybody who'd had sex with Perry to come forward.

OutCast Austin - Volume 173 - 08/23/2011 - Interview with Robert Morrow 

 

Labels: 2012 elections, Austin, GOP, radio, Rick Perry

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: CENSUS: America's Ten Gayest Cities

That is, gayest in terms of the percentage of self-identified same-sex couple households. I'm surprised that Wilton Manors is behind Provincetown, but that's probably due to migration to the recently popular-with-the-gays Oakland Park, which is next door and comes in at #10.

Labels: gayborhoods, Provincetown, Wilton Manors

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Photo Of The Day - Jack Layton Tribute

In Toronto's Phillips Square, hundreds of residents have created chalk tributes to the late progressive leader Jack Layton, who died of cancer last week at the age of 61. Layton was considered Canada's most passionate and effective ally of the LGBT community and his passing has affected the gay political world like nothing in recent memory.

Labels: Canada, heroes, memorial, straight allies

Via JMG: Crazy Eyes To Keynote FL Hate Group

Michele Bachmann, who lately claims she is uninterested in discussing "frivolous topics" like LGBT rights, will nonetheless be the keynote speaker at the annual convention of the Florida hate group that funded the successful ballot measure banning same-sex marriage. Remember, she "respects your dignity," even though you are "of Satan."

Labels: Florida, GOP, hate groups, Michele Bachmann

reposted from Joe

Via AmericablogGay: CA GOP cuts gay prez candidate Karger out of state convention

I don't know how GOProud is going to spin this one?  But I'm sure they will. 

Even as Republican leaders say they're eagerly wooing all candidates to the state GOP convention Sept. 16-18 in Los Angeles, Karger says his request to attend and address the party activists has apparently been refused.

"I have been waiting for my invitation and it never came," Karger, 61, a 38-year resident of Laguna Beach, told The Chronicle last week. "And I called up a couple of weeks ago and explained my position."

That's when a party official, Karger said, left a "terse" message: "The schedule is completely filled."

That certainly isn't very "big tent" of them, now is it? Sometimes you gotta wait a really long time for those conservatives to come around. Of course, if he had just pretended to be straight, or married to one of the candidates, he might even be in the running for First Lady.

Via AmericBlogGay: New research finds the closet is bad for workplace performance

The closet is an ugly, ugly place. And, it just be bad for business. Fascinating new research from UCLA, explained by Tom Jacobs at Miller-McCune:

Don’t ask. Don’t tell. Don’t do your job as well. 

That’s the implication of newly published research, which links poorer job performance with uncertainty about a colleague’s sexual orientation.

“Supporters of policies that force gay and lesbian individuals to conceal their sexual orientation in the workplace argue that working with openly gay individuals undermines performance,” writes a trio of researchers led by UCLA’s Benjamin Everly. “We examine this claim in two studies and find the opposite effect.”

These findings, published the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, are certainly timely. The military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” rule, in which gay soldiers are discharged if they reveal their sexual orientation, will be repealed Sept. 20. Last week, presidential candidate Michele Bachmann said she was in favor of reinstating that policy — which would be within her authority as president.

Social conservatives argue that serving with openly gay soldiers could harm troops’ “unity and effectiveness.” While unity is hard to quantify, effectiveness is not, and this study suggests allowing openly gay soldiers could actually enhance it.

A couple months ago, we posted research from the Center for Work-Life Policy that showed almost half of college grads aren't out at work. This new study could lead one to conclude that could be harming workplace performance for everyone involved.

The new UCLA study, by Everly and his colleagues, Margaret J. Shiha and Geoffrey C. Hoa, can be located here.

Via JMG: Jay Bakker On LGBT Rights

The son of whackadoodle Jim Bakker and the late Tammy Faye Messner turned out to be an OK dude.

Labels: religion, straight allies, Tammy Faye Messner

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: White House To Honor Trevor Project

Just in via press release:

Tomorrow, Thursday, August 25, 2011, the White House will honor The Trevor Project as a leading innovator in the realm of suicide prevention as part of the “Champions of Change” initiative. The Trevor Project is the leading organization selected for this honor representing youth suicide prevention and crisis intervention among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth, specifically. Accepting the honor and speaking with Administration officials about priorities for improving suicide prevention nationally will be David McFarland, Interim Executive Director and CEO of The Trevor Project. The event occurs ten days prior to National Suicide Prevention Week, (Sept. 4-10, 2011).

Labels: LGBT youth, suicide, Trevor Project, White House

reposted from Joe

ViaJMG: HRC Issues Memo Detailing NOM's Many Donor Disclosure Court Losses

In what may be a shot across the bow regarding the upcoming marriage ballot in Maine, today the Human Rights Campaign issued a memo detailing NOM's unblemished record of court losses in their attempts to evade state campaign finance laws.

The latest in NOM’s string of legal defeats came on August 11 when the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the group’s challenges in Maine and Rhode Island. On its Law Blog, the Wall Street Journal put the cases into perspective. “The 1st Circuit issued rulings in two cases that raise an important campaign finance issue: the extent to which states can require advocacy groups to report details about their expenditures in support of candidates or political causes.” Given the recent historical record, states do in fact take disclosure, and legal compliance, in earnest. NOM has unsuccessfully challenged disclosure laws in Maine, Minnesota, New York, California, Rhode Island, and Iowa.

All of the above losses came after the fact, when the elections were already over, and NOM has flouted court rulings in every single case with no apparent punishment. What will be very interesting to see is whether NOM re-enters the Maine campaign having lost their disclosure case there. Oh, what a happy day it would be to see Slaggie and Brian Brown led away in handcuffs for contempt of court.

RELATED: There has been increasing speculation that NOM is secretly and primarily funded by one or two very deep-pocketed individuals who have reputations so appalling that NOM will do anything to shield them.

Labels: campaign finance, criminals, hate groups, HRC, Maine, marriage equality, NOM

reposted from Joe

What President Obama Has Done for LGBT Rights and Equality

President Obama often lends his voice to the equality of all individuals, but in the scope of things he has overwhelmingly shown support for the LGBT community. May I please ask the naysayers to look at what has been accomplished in only two years, rather than act as though he hasn’t done enough. He still has work to do, and he knows that.

There have been many naysayers from inside the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community regarding what President Obama has done for LGBT rights and equality. Many who say he simply doesn’t care about LGBT rights, and/or has not fulfilled the promises he made during his campaign. There are many more who say that he has not fulfilled his promises fast enough. This is a list of the rights and equalities granted to the LGBT community under the Obama administration. I hope that this will put to rest any thoughts that our President is ignoring the importance of equality. He is indeed a proponent of civil rights. In fact, he has done more for LGBT rights than any other US President in history.

• Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (The first federal civil rights law to protect gays and lesbians)
• He instructed all federal agencies to extend benefits where possible to civilian federal employees with same-sex partners.
• He issued two Presidential Memoranda (in June 2009 and June 2010) directing federal agencies to extend whatever benefits they could, under existing authority, to the same-sex partners of federal employees. These include sick and funeral leave, long-term care insurance, travel and relocation assistance, child care subsidies, and certain retirement benefits. The State Department extended numerous benefits to the partners of Foreign Service officers, including diplomatic passports, access to overseas medical and training facilities, inclusion in housing allocations, and access to emergency evacuation.
• He ended the ban on HIV-positive immigrants and foreign visitors.
• The federal Prison Rape Elimination Commission proposed national standards to reduce sexual abuse in correctional facilities, including standards regarding LGBT and intersex inmates. In early 2011, the Justice Department proposed regulations to implement those standards.
• The State Department reversed a Bush Administration policy that refused to use a same-sex marriage license as evidence of a name change for passports.
• Health and Human Services (HHS) Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability reviewed the lifetime ban on blood donation by gay and bisexual men, concluded that it is a “sub-optimal” policy that screens out low risk donors and called on HHS to conduct research to support a move to a policy based on risk behavior, regardless of sexual orientation.
• The Department of Justice issued an opinion clarifying that the criminal provisions of the Violence Against Women Act related to stalking and abuse apply equally to same-sex partners.
• The Department of State revised the standards for changing a gender marker on a passport, making the process less burdensome for transgender people.
• The Department of Labor issued guidance clarifying that an employee can take time off under the Family and Medical Leave Act to care for a same-sex partner’s child, even where the partner does not have a legal or biological relationship to that child.
• HHS revised its funding guidance around abstinence-only-until-marriage sex education programs, requiring that recipient programs are inclusive of and non-stigmatizing toward LGBT youth, and mandating that they include only medically-accurate information.
• HHS awarded a $900,000 grant for the creation of a national resource center on LGBT aging issues to Services & Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Elders (SAGE). HHS also awarded a $13.3 million grant to the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center to create a model program supporting LGBT and questioning youth in the foster care system.
• At the request of HHS, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) issued a lengthy report in March 2011 detailing the range of areas in which more research is needed on LGBT health needs.
• In March 2011, HHS sent a number of recommendations to the White House for policy and regulatory changes that HHS could undertake to improve the health of LGBT people, including: collection of LGBT health data, guidance for states on including LGBT families in federal welfare programs, and guidance for states on protecting the financial resources of a same-sex partner when his or her partner enters long-term care under Medicaid.
• He announced new regulations through The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)  that recognize LGBT families for federal housing programs and prohibit discrimination in getting federally insured mortgage loans.
• The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) added gender identity to the equal employment opportunity policy governing all federal jobs.
• He appointed more than 100 openly gay people in his administration, some of which include the government’s top personnel official and the head of the Council for Environmental Quality.
• He issued Presidential Memorandum in April 2010 directing HHS to issue regulations requiring all hospitals receiving Medicaid and Medicare to prohibit discrimination in visitation against LGBT people. HHS issued regulations that went into effect in 2011.
• He awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to gay icons Billie Jean King and Harvey Milk.
• He hosted a White House summit on bullying and recorded a video message telling young LGBT individuals that “It Gets Better.”
• He ordered the data to be released of legally married gay couples from the 2010 census, granting legitimacy of same-sex relationships.
• HHS rescinded provisions of a Bush-era rule which allowed health care providers to refuse to provide any health care service or information for a religious or moral reason.
• He championed the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, a 17-year-old ban barring LGBT individuals the right to serve openly in the military.
• He wants Congress to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which will prohibit employers from considering sexual orientation in hiring and firing decisions. This legislation however, is currently stalled in the Senate.
• He also wants to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which bars legally sanctioned same-sex couples from reaping Social Security survivor payments, tax breaks and other benefits reserved for straight married couples. This legislation is also being held up in a highly conservative House of Representatives, and will probably not see repeal for at least two years.

make the jump here to read the full posting

Via JMG: More Lies From Matt Barber & The AFA

The above headline from the American Family Association is a completely outrageous lie currently being spread all over the Christianist blogosphere by Liberty Counsel liar-in-chief Matt Barber. Barber recently attended a conference on pedophilia which was organized by a tiny bizarre sect of weirdos called B4U-ACT.

And since those freak show conference attendees mentioned the APA guidelines on mental illness (according to Barber and the AFA), that means the APA is totally thinking about removing pedophilia from the list. Just like they were forced to do with homosexuality. In reality, of course, no such action is planned or will ever fucking happen in ten million years.

Matt Barber, the American Family Association and their vile ilk scarcely even pretend to be telling the truth these days. They know very well that their audience is uninterested in anything that doesn't viciously vilify and demonize gay people.

Labels: AFA, douchenozzles, hate groups, liars, Liberty Counsel, Matt Barber, pedophilia

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Santorum On Rep. Maxine Waters

"Well, y’know, it’s Maxine Waters. She’s a caricature of what’s wrong with Congress. She’s vile and she’s always been that way and she’s just one of these real nasty, anti-basic traditional and fundamental values of this country. And so I’m not surprised." - Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum, first out of the box to go after what Mediaite is calling the "Waters pinata" after she said the Tea Party can "go straight to hell."

Labels: losers, Rick Santorum, Tea Party, teabaggers

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Anti-Immigrant Hate Group Threatens Violent Overthrow Of Government

"We’re no longer referring to him as President Barack Obama, our national organization has made the decision and made the announcement we now refer to him as Dictator Barack Obama. That’s what he is. And basically at this point, if you’re looking for a peaceful, political recourse there really isn’t one that we can think of, and I’m really not sure what to tell people out there than I guess they need to make decisions soon to just accept whatever comes next or some type of extra-political activities that I can’t really talk about because they’re all illegal and violent." - William Gheen, head of Americans For Legal Immigration.

Labels: hate groups, immigration, racism, treason

Via Folha.uol.com.br: OAB discute casamento e adoção para casais gays

Casamento e divórcio, proteção contra a violência doméstica, acesso à adoção e à herança, além de punição a atos discriminatórios.
Esses são alguns dos direitos que a Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil pretende estender a homossexuais, bissexuais, transexuais, travestis, transgêneros e intersexuais.
Um anteprojeto de lei e uma PEC (Proposta de Emenda à Constituição) foram elaborados pela comissão de diversidade sexual do Conselho Federal da ordem e serão apresentados na terça-feira (23).
O anteprojeto cria o Estatuto da Diversidade Sexual, que prevê, por exemplo, o oferecimento de iguais oportunidades de trabalho e a criminalização da homofobia.
Os direitos do estatuto não poderão ser ignorados pelos legisladores, diz Maria Berenice Dias, presidente da comissão. "Um dia vão ter que aprovar", disse em evento.
O estatuto aborda um tema controverso: quando operar intersexuais --pessoas cujo sexo não é identificado como padrão masculino ou feminino, tratadas no passado por "hermafroditas". O anteprojeto proíbe cirurgias irreversíveis em crianças intersexuais se não há risco de morte.
Para Anibal Guimarães, colaborador do texto, a decisão sobre a operação deve ser tomada quando a pessoa tiver maturidade para entender o diagnóstico.
No Hospital das Clínicas de São Paulo, a cirurgia é feita quando o distúrbio do desenvolvimento sexual é identificado."É mais saudável que deixar a criança ser criada ambiguamente", diz Elaine Costa, do serviço de atendimento a esses pacientes.
As propostas atingem também heterossexuais, já que a "licença-natalidade" pode ser usufruída independentemente de sexo e orientação sexual. Nos primeiros 15 dias após o nascimento ou a adoção, a licença vale para ambos. Nos outros seis meses, os pais podem se alternar.
O estatuto precisa ser aprovado pelo pleno do Conselho Federal da OAB, antes de ser levado ao Congresso.
Para que as medidas não esbarrem na inconstitucionalidade, a comissão elaborou uma PEC que institui o casamento civil independente de orientação sexual, a licença-natalidade e bane a discriminação em função de orientação sexual ou identidade de gênero.

Editoria de Arte/Editoria de Arte/Folhapress

o link aqui