Sen. Kerry called the couple heroes for persevering in their marriage

Gay couple get a boost in winning bid to reunite

Kerry helps Brazilian return to Haverhill

Tim Coco (left) with Genesio Oliveira and their dog, Q-tip, at home in Haverhill yesterday. Oliveira can now try again for legal residency. (David Kamerman for The Boston Globe)

By Maria Sacchetti Globe Staff / June 4, 2010

Tim Coco and Genesio Oliveira married in 2005, among the throngs who wed after same-sex marriage became legal in Massachusetts. But for nearly three years, they lived apart — Coco in Haverhill and Oliveira in his native Brazil — because federal law does not recognize their union.

make the jump here to read the entire article

Via JMG: GLAAD Demands Apology From Bill O'Reilly For Comparing Gays To Al Qaeda

GLAAD has issued a call to action, demanding that Fox's Bill O'Reilly issue an apology for comparing gays to al Queda.

On the June 2 edition of Fox News Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor,” host Bill O’Reilly made highly offensive comments while discussing a gay themed McDonald’s advertisement currently airing in France. After playing the ad for his viewers O’Reilly asked Jane Skinner to weigh in on the content. Skinner pointed out that the ad campaign is “part of an overreaching campaign called ‘come as you are,’ which you saw at the end there. So they show people in different walks of life.” O’Reilly then asked, “Do they have an al Qaeda ad, you know, come as you are? You know?” Instead of evaluating the commercial in a fair manner, O’Reilly used the occasion to defame the LGBT community, suggesting that McDonald’s might begin marketing to terrorists simply because the company produced a gay friendly television commercial. His lighthearted tone in the segment was equally disturbing. Cable opinion programs like “The O’Reilly Factor” have a responsibility to cover issues with a level of respect and civility. Bill O’Reilly failed to live up to that standard in making these defamatory remarks. Fox News Channel is equally accountable for allowing O’Reilly a platform for this insulting and irresponsible commentary.

Join in GLAAD's demand here.

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Happy Gay Pride From Tony Perkins

"Happy sexual deviance month--or, as this President likes to call it, Gay Pride Month. Under this administration, every month feels like one long same-sex parade. For the second year in a row, however, the White House decided to make it official, weighing in with its second proclamation for 'Gay Pride Month' detailing how homosexuals and cross-dressers have "enriched' American life. Unlike President Clinton, who spent a fair amount of his time indulging the Human Rights Campaign, President Obama took it a step further and added 'bisexuals' and 'transgenders' to the list. In fact, he called on 'every American' to spend the month celebrating their movement--a movement dedicated to destroying marriage, free speech, public health, religious liberty, and (after the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal) national security." - From yesterday's Washington Update by the Family Research Council, a message that was also emailed to their millions of members.

The Family Research Council wants LGBT people criminalized.
The Family Research Council wants LGBT people deported.
The Family Research Council wants LGBT people put to death.

And yet every time an LGBT rights issue is in the news, Tony Perkins or Peter Sprigg are trotted out on national television as America's leading Christian voices as they tut-tut their hatred, smirk their oily smiles, and promise viewers that they love homosexuals, despite our "sins."

Stormfront loves blacks.
Al Qaeda loves Jews.
Hutus love Tutsis.
And the Family Research Council loves you.reposted from Joe

Via JMG: UNITED NATIONS: Egypt Blocks LGBT Rights Group From Accreditation

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission's request for accreditation as a consulting group to the United Nations has been blocked by Egypt.

The group, which had applied for "consultative status" at the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) three years ago, is an international NGO and advocacy group focusing on protecting the rights of homosexuals and lesbians worldwide. Diplomats from Western nations that support gay rights complained that Egypt and other developing states that have been criticized by rights groups for discriminating against gays and lesbians prevented the committee from voting on whether to accredit the group, thereby leaving it in limbo. "IGLHRC is disappointed by the vote of the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations to block action on our application," Cary Alan Johnson, head of the New York-based group, said in a statement to Reuters.

The U.N. NGO committee has 19 members, among them the United States and Britain, as well as Egypt, Sudan, Qatar, Pakistan and China. Johnson said it was a "clear case of discrimination against an organization because it defends the human rights of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi- and transsexual) people around the world." The U.S. delegation defended the work of IGLHRC. "This NGO is committed to combating discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity," the U.S. statement said. "It has contributed to valuable research on HIV/AIDs and its work is well known to this committee."

According to the British delegation, Egypt blocked IGLHRC "on behalf of African countries."

via JMG: WaPo Picks Up My FRC Post

The Washington Post's David Weigel has picked up my post about the Family Research Council lobbying against Uganda's "kill gays" bill.

Gay City News and blogger Joe My God dug into the lobbying records of the Family Research Council and found that among the "Civil Rights/Civil Liberties" issues that the FRC's Tom McCluskey and David Christensen lobbied on was HR 1064, a resolution condemning Uganda's proposed anti-homosexuality bill. That's the bill that would assign a seven-year sentence for "homosexuality" and a possible death sentence for "aggravated homosexuality."

Should this come as a surprise? Well, it's the only issue under the "Civil Rights/Civil Liberties" heading that doesn't actually touch on a change to American laws. The resolution, proposed by Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Ca.), spends most of its length arguing that Uganda's efforts to fight AIDS would be impeded by the law and proclaims that "all people possess an intrinsic human dignity, regardless of sexual orientation, and share fundamental human rights." In the FRC's report, this resolution is short-handed as "pro-homosexual promotion."

Weigel has posted the FRC's lobbying report in full, as well as the wording of the House resolution. He is waiting for the Family Research Council to respond.

a post lifted from Joe

Via another list: JUST A RANDOM THOUGHT....

the writer says:

I was walking through my midtown neighborhood of Lavendar Heights a little while ago, and since this section of Midtown is the "gay ghetto" of Sacramento, how come there aren't any rainbow flags or gay-related events posted on lightposts, stop lights, etc, you know kind of similar to what it's like down in the Castro. I think it would be a great idea to show our presence in this great neighborhood, other than just walking down or driving through the area streets. I was thinking how interesting it would be if the city did decide to put up those rectangular rainbow flags up and down the major thoroughfares, like 21st St, 19th St, P St, N St, K St, J St, etc, you know like you see in San Francisco. Since Sacramento has the sixth largest gay and lesbian population (percentage-wise) in the United States at around 33,000 or so, why not go for that idea?

Via JMG: Quote Of The Day - Admiral Mike Mullen

"The law needs to change. Fundamentally, it’s an issue of our values. It’s very critical for us as an institution, and I’m hard-pressed not to support policy and a law that forces individuals to come in and lie everyday. I have every expectation that not only we will do this, but we will lead in a way [so] it gets done. That doesn’t mean we won’t have challenges. I want to understand what the possibilities are … what it’s going take to implement this and, in that regard, address the leadership challenges and implementation with expectations that at the small-unit level, not exclusively, it will be led and led well. I have a lot of faith in you that that’s doable." - Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen, speaking to soldiers yesterday at Fort Bragg.

Perhaps referencing the ridiculous claim by the Family Research Council that openly gay soldiers will lead to rampant male rape, one soldier asked Mullen if repealing DADT wouldn't lead to increases cases of sexual harassment. Mullen responded: "Certainly any change in the laws is not an excuse for anything like that to ever happen. We are a disciplined force. We have standards. Maintaining those standards, sustaining that discipline is our job, no matter what happens."

(Tipped by JMG reader Matt)reposted from Joe

Quote of the day (via JMG discssion):

To know a person’s religion we need not listen to his profession of faith but must find his brand of intolerance.

— Eric Hoffer, The Passionate State of Mind, aphorism 215 (1955)

Via JMG: CHRISTIAN LOVE: Family Research Council Lobbied Congress Against Resolution Denouncing Uganda's Kill Gays Bill

It's time for the Southern Poverty Law Center to reclassify the Family Research Council as an official hate group, not merely anti-gay as they are now listed. According to the FRC's official lobbying report for the first quarter of 2010, they paid two two of their henchmen $25,000 to lobby Congress against approving a resolution denouncing Uganda's plan to execute homosexuals. The resolution passed in the Senate on April 13th, but remains languished in the House almost four months after being referred to the Foreign Affairs Committee. Did the FRC's lobbying kill it? As we learned last week with Malawi, international pressure CAN sway even the most virulently anti-gay government.

Below are three screencaps of the 20-page Family Research Council lobbying report supplied to me by Duncan Osbourne at Gay City News. Among the other items they lobbied against are the overturn of DADT and DOMA, which is to be expected. But it's almost astounding, almost, that they would lobby the members of Congress against denouncing the death penalty for LGBT people. THIS needs to fucking THROWN in Tony Perkins' and Peter Sprigg's smirking faces the next time they appear on cable television to speak in soothing voices about the FRC's godly gentle love for homosexuals. The proof is right below on official United States government stationery. The Family Research Council wants you DEAD. Glory! Praise His Name! Also: Die, faggots, die!
reposted from Joe

T-shirt of the day