Via JMG: HAWAII: Senate Approves Civil Unions!

The Hawaii Senate has just approved its civil unions bill!

The Senate voted 19-6 for the bill Friday, sending it to the state House of Representatives for additional consideration. Hawaii would become the sixth state to grant some of the rights of marriage to same-sex couples without authorizing marriage itself. A civil unions bill also passed the Illinois Legislature last month. Democrats, who control the Hawaii Legislature, have said they plan to approve the bill quickly this year and send it to new Democratic Gov. Neil Abercrombie for his signature. Abercrombie has said he supports civil unions.

Suck it, Tony Perkins!

Labels: civil unions, Hawaii, LGBT rights

reposted from Joe

Disgraceful

Scott Lively: How Do We Know David Kato Wasn't Killed By His Gay Lover?

Keeping with his theme of the inherent murderous violence of gay men, today repulsive anti-gay activist Scott Lively issued a statement raising the possibility that Uganda LGBT activist David Kato was killed by another gay man.

Ugandan homosexual activist David Cato was murdered yesterday in his home. To my knowledge, no one has been arrested for the crime so the motive at this time is purely a matter of conjecture. CNN is reporting that money and clothing had been stolen from his house, which would suggest a run-of-the-mill criminal intent. There is also the possibility that he was killed by a “gay” lover, as was the case with another homosexual activist two weeks ago in New York. Carlos Castro was castrated with a corkscrew by his boyfriend and bled to death in his hotel room.

The Boston Globe calls Lively's statement "feeble and callous." And note that not only does Lively (probably intentionally) misspell Kato's name, he fails to express any regret over the murder. As for police claims that the crime was motivated by robbery, here's what Box Turtle Bulletin's Jim Burroway thinks:

Police are attributing David Kato’s murder to robbery. We’ve seen it often enough elsewhere in Europe and America where local authorities are loathe to investigate hate crimes. The mere fact that items are missing doesn’t mean that a hate crime did not occur. If a homophobe is burning a gay man to death, for example, why not take a watch as a trophy and money to party with later? Yet that’s often enough for police to quickly try to eliminate the stigma of a hate crime in the local community. If police in this country are very resistant to investigate crimes as hate crime even when the evidence for those charges are overwhelming, how can we expect anything different in Uganda?

Labels: hate groups, murder, Scott Lively, Uganda

reposted from Joe

A Night to Remember!

AFER board member Rob Reiner with Elton John and attorneys David Boies and Theodore B. Olson

Elton John’s intimate, full-length concert last week raised over three million dollars to overturn Prop. 8 in federal court. A huge "thank you" to Ron Burkle, who hosted the evening at his historic Green Acres estate in Beverly Hills, to the event’s sponsors for their generous support and to everyone who helped make the night so memorable.

Check out a few news clips about the evening:

• The Advocate 
• Associated Press
• New York Times

Also, read below for interviews from the red carpet and photos from the event.

BATTLE OF CONCORD 2011

Via JMG: Obama Names Open Lesbian Roberta Achtenberg To Civil Rights Commission

Gay rights attorney and former San Francisco Supervisor Roberta Achtenberg has been appointed by the president to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

Achtenberg co-founded the National Center for Lesbian Rights and was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1990. In 1993, she became the first openly gay or lesbian person to be confirmed for a federal appointment when the Senate approved President Bill Clinton's nomination of Achtenberg as assistant secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. She has served on the Cal State Board of Trustees since 2000.

RELATED: In 1995 Achtenberg left the above-mentioned HUD position to unsuccessfully run for mayor of San Francisco. And I voted for her even though her campaign worker totally ruined my bought-that-day suede jacket with a big sticker.

Labels: Barack Obama, feds, gay politicians, lesbians

posted by Joe

Via JMG: UGANDA: Pastor Shouts Against Gays At Kato Funeral, Fights Break Out

Hundreds gathered at the funeral for slain Ugandan LGBT activist David Kato today, where fights broke out after the pastor conducting the ceremony raged against homosexuals.

"The world has gone crazy," the pastor told the congregation through a microphone. "People are turning away from the scriptures. They should turn back, they should abandon what they are doing. You cannot start admiring a fellow man." Gay activists, wearing T-shirts featuring Kato's face with sleeves coloured with the gay pride flag, then stormed the pulpit and grabbed the microphone. "It is ungodly," the pastor shouted, before being blocked from sight. An unidentified female activist then began to shout from the pulpit. "Who are you to judge others?" she shouted. "We have not come to fight. You are not the judge of us. As long as he's gone to God his creator, who are we to judge Kato?" Locals intervened on the side of the pastor and scuffles broke out before he was taken away to Kato's father's house to calm the situation.

Villagers then refused to bury Kato's coffin, forcing his gay friends to carry it to the gravesite where they buried it themselves. One activist lamented: "After we had read statements from everybody, including Obama, after all the nice things friends said about David, that this man could stand up and throw dirt at someone who should be resting in peace. It's just disgusting."

Labels: bigotry, Christian Love, murder, religion, Uganda

posted by Joe

Via JMG: BRITAIN: Activists Hold Kato Vigil Outside London's Uganda High Commission

LGBT activists staged a vigil for David Kato outside of London's Uganda High Commission today, after which they delivered a 40,000-name petition to UK Home Secretary Theresa May, demanding that Britain not send lesbian asylum-seeker Brenda Namigadde back to Uganda. Namigadde says she fears that she too will be murdered if forced to return. Add your name to the petition here.

Labels: activism, asylum, LGBT rights, London, Uganda, UK

reposted from Joe

DOMA AMICUS BRIEFS: Who's Who In Vile Anti-Gay American Hate Groups

GLAD has posted a round-up of the anti-gay groups who have filed DOMA amicus briefs in their case, Gill v. Office of Personnel Management.

Agudath Israel of America
American College of Pediatricians
Attorneys General of SC, UT, IN, MI, CO
Concerned Women for America
Congressman Lamar Smith
Eagle Forum
Family Research Council
Foundation for Moral Law
Robert George
George Goverman
Liberty Counsel
Massachusetts Family Institute
NARTH
National Legal Foundation
National Organization for Marriage
Pacific Justice Institute
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops,
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
National Association of Evangelicals

Labels: bigotry, Catholic Church, Concerned Women Of America, DOMA, douchnozzles, Family Reseach Council, GLAD, hate groups, LDS, Liberty Counsel, NARTH, NOM, religion

reposted from Joe