VALENTINE'S DAY
PETITION AGAINST STALLING MARRIAGE EQUALITY

Sign this petition to repeal Prop 8 NOW. Show your support in allowing people to choose to marry the person they love. Right now, our brothers, our sisters, our co-workers, and our friends are being discriminated against just because they love someone of the same gender. Love isn’t something that should be regulated by the government. It’s more powerful than that and it’s something that everyone should be able to experience. Love makes us stronger as a community, and it’s worth fighting for.

You can help reverse marriage discrimination by signing this petition. There are organizations out there that say they support marriage equality, but they're hesitant to take a stand and fight for it now. We're going to collect all the signed petitions and deliver them to these organizations, and ask that they step up to support marriage equality now.

When Olson and Boise decided to take marriage equality to the federal courts, some big LGBT organizations argued against it, saying that it was “too soon” to fight for marriage equality on the Federal level. These same organizations are also saying that it’s “too soon” to fight for marriage equality at the State level in California.

Tell them that it’s unacceptable to delay LGBT equality on the federal AND state level.

Make your voice heard. Fill out the petition,
and tell them to support marriage equality now!

It's not right for these organizations to tell Obama that there are no excuses in delaying the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and that there are no excuses in delaying the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, while at the same time they argue that LGBT residents in California should wait more than 2 years to be equal. Demanding equality in the army while putting off equality in marriage is a compromise. Full equality is not something to be earned over time or given through concessions.

Let's stand together and tell these organizations that there is no such thing as partial equality! The time is now and we are the ones we've been waiting for. No one should be told to wait in line for their turn to be equal.

Tell these organizations to stop delaying LGBT equality, and unite in the fight to restore marriage equality now. Tell them to support Restore Equality 2010's efforts in repealing Proposition 8!

An clear exampel as to why JMG is such a delight: Manly Cupcakes For Manly Men

Manhattan's decade of fascination with the "upscale" cupcake emporium has been well-documented. And years after Sex And The City went off the air, the lines at the pointedly downscale Magnolia Cupcakes mysteriously remain. Therefore, it seems, we were long overdue for a gay take on the phenomenon. Enter the Butch Bakery.

Butch Bakery was born when David Arrick felt it was time to combine a masculine aesthetic to a traditionally cute product -the cupcake. When a magazine article mentioned that cupcakes were a combination of everything "pink, sweet, cute, and magical", he felt it was time to take action, and butch it up. He decided to create a company where "Butch meets Buttercream". David is delighted to bring this exciting culinary product to market.

A one-dozen booze-infused "Butch Box" of cupcakes will set you back $48. I love that they've trademarked "Butch it up." I'm totally going to copyright "You go, girl!"

refrosted from JMG

Remembering a Gay Son

The Olympics are all about stories that tug at our heart strings and renew our faith in both a little redemption and a little humanity. And there might be nothing more heart-warming than to see Brian Burke, the General Manager of the U.S. Hockey Team, in attendance at the games. Burke lost his son, openly gay Miami University of Ohio student Brendan Burke, in a car accident last week. When Brendan told his father he was gay, his father not only stood by him, but marched next to him in Pride parades. A few months ago, Burke used his son as an example of courage when talking about homophobia in sports. It was clear that this father loved his son more than anything, sexual orientation be damned. That's the way it should be. Of being at the Olympics, Burke simply said, "My son would have wanted me to be here." Sure, it'll be hard for Team USA's hockey team to surpass the miracle win of 1980. But it sure would be great to see them win this year for Brendan.

from Change.org

The Five Most Gay-Friendly Things About the 2010 Winter Olympics

Face it, there's no escaping the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Whether it's non-stop coverage of Johnny Weir's outfits, or the constant replay of those two South Koreans crashing on the speed-skating track, February is all about covering the glitz and glamour of winter sports.

And if you haven't noticed, there's also something a little LGBT-friendly about this year's games. Are they the Gay Games? No, not in the least. For really LGBT-inclusive sports, stay tuned for the 2010 Gay Games in Cologne, Germany later this year. But in its own way, the Vancouver Olympics are making little LGBT imprints. Here are five ways the Olympics are getting their gay on this time around.

jump here to read the article

From JMG: EU Warns Applicants: Support For LGBT Rights Is Mandatory For Membership

The European Parliament has reaffirmed its policy that EU member states must support LGBT rights. Turkey, Macedonia, and Croatia are moving closer to admission, but all three continue to violate the EU's requirements.

The three candidate countries were reminded that the protection of all minorities is a non-negotiable condition to access the European Union. “I am happy that our amendments in favour of LGBT rights in the progress reports for Macedonia and Croatia were adopted by the European Parliament,” Ulrike Lunacek MEP, co-president of the European Parliament’s Intergroup on LGBT Rights, said this evening. “We have reaffirmed that anti-discrimination standards must apply in candidate countries, and Štefan Füle, Commissioner for Enlargement, has assured us of his support on this issue. We count on the Commission’s work in this area to make sure fundamental rights are respected in the European region.” The other co-president, Michael Cashman, said that accession critera are “crystal clear”. ”Minorities must be protected from discrimination as laid out in Article 19 of the Treaty—and that includes sexual orientation,” he said. “This is not an à la carte menu: it is at the core of the European Union, and we will be rigorous in its application.”

(Via - Lez Get Real)reposted from JMG

From Care2: Gay and Lesbian or Homosexual? What's in a Word?

Together with the New York Times, CBS has released the results of their latest poll in which they attempt to gauge support for repealing the military gay ban 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell.' Interestingly, they found that more people support letting gays and lesbians serve in the military than support homosexuals. What? It seems that, at least in the minds of some respondents, words, and the emotions evoked by those words, really can make a difference. Here's a brief summary of the CBS poll (click here for the full article):

Yes, why?

Valentine's Mouse

From JMG: Dick Cheney Endorses DADT Repeal

This morning on ABC News This Week, Dick Cheney said that the time to repeal DADT has come.

I think the society has moved on. I think it’s partly a generational question. I say I’m reluctant to second-guess the military in this regard because they’re the ones who have got to make the judgment about how these policies affect the military capability of our, of our units. And that first requirement that you have to look at all the time is whether they’re still capable of achieving their mission and does the policy change i.e. putting gays in the force, affect their ability to perform their mission. When the chiefs come forward and say we think we can do it, then it strikes me that it’s time to reconsider the policy. And I think Admiral Mullen’s said that.

(Via - Think Progress)

reposted from JMG

From JMG: Out Lesbian KD Lang Steals Show At Vancouver Olympics Opening Ceremonies

Despite the preceding three hours of high-tech spectacle, it was openly lesbian and native Canadian kd lang's simple, yet soaring take on Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah that stole the show during the opening ceremonies of the Vancouver Olympics. Watch video here. Overnight the top three searches on Google were for various punctuations of lang's name, as accolades poured out on the world's blogs and news sites. Twitter reactions here. Last night was the second time in two weeks that Cohen's classic was sung to a global audience by an openly gay performer, as Matt Morris had dueted on the track with Justin Timberlake during the Haiti telethon. It was lang's second Winter Olympics performance, 22 years ago (during her cowgirl schtick period) she performed Turn Me Around at the 1988 Calgary games.

RELATED: Openly gay Canadian fiddle player Ashley MacIsaac also took center stage during the opening ceremonies. Watch his 1995 hit single Sleepy Maggie.

Lifted from JMG