Via JMG: Obama Recess Appointment To EEOC For Open Lesbian Chai Feldblum

Despite months of strenuous opposition from the right, openly lesbian Chai Feldblum has been appointed to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Chris Geidner at Metro Weekly reports:

Feldblum was nominated by President Barack Obama on Sept. 14, 2009, more than six months ago. Her confirmation hearing was held two months later, on Nov. 19, and her nomination received a favorable vote from the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions on Dec. 10. Earlier this month, however, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid confirmed that a hold was being placed on all of the President's EEOC nominees, keeping them from receiving a vote of the full Senate.

Obama granted a recess appointment today to all the EEOC nominees, including his nominee to serve as chair of the Commission, Jacqueline A. Berrien. Berrien, according to the White House, has served as the associate director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund since September 2004. In announcing the move, Obama said in a statement, ''The United States Senate has the responsibility to approve or disapprove of my nominees. But if, in the interest of scoring political points, Republicans in the Senate refuse to exercise that responsibility, I must act in the interest of the American people and exercise my authority to fill these positions on an interim basis.''

Christianist groups like the Illinois Family Institute (former home to Peter LaBarbera) had turned opposition to "radical activist" Feldblum into a fundraising campaign.

a reposted via JMG

Mallory Wells - Florida Competitive Workforce Act Senate Workshop

2 From 365:

Would partners of gay troops get benefits, too?

By The Associated Press 03.26.2010

Momentum appears to be building for ending the ban on gays in the military. Read more...

Withers: Tinkering around DADT's edges

By James Withers, contributing editor, 365Gay Blog 03.26.2010

Secretary of Defense Gates unveils new DADT rules. Read more...

Via JMG: Where Europe's Denominations Dominate

Here's the European version of the map I posted earlier in the week. Green dots mean more Catholics, blue dots mean more Protestants.

UPDATE: I'm not really getting this map either. Maybe someone can suss out the methodology at the source.

a repost from JMG

Great idea!

From JMG - the kids has balls! Go Derrick!

Students Protest Against Gay Teen Derrick Martin Attending His Prom

While Derrick Martin's high school has grudgingly admitted that they had no rule in place to block him from bringing his boyfriend to the prom, some of his fellow students still don't want him there. In fact, they've held an anti-Derrick rally.

The rally’s organizer, Amber Duskin, sent text messages to high school students Wednesday asking them to show up. The senior said she asked her high school to return her prom ticket money and does not plan to attend because of Martin. “I don’t believe in going up there and dancing with gay guys like that,” she said. “It’s also not just him bringing a boy. It was bringing all this attention to it.” A group of college students also stopped by the rally but not to protest. “We’re for it,” said Carly Nobles, a Middle Georgia College student. “It takes a lot for someone to come out (as gay). “This is a small town. Some of these students are sheltered, and I don’t think they can think for themselves.” Martin said talk at school Thursday was that the prom committee may do away with the traditional “walk through” when students and their dates are announced as they enter the prom. He’s also heard some students are trying to have a separate prom.

Saying they are upset about all the attention, Derrick's parents have kicked him out of the house and he is staying with friends for now. Two bright moments in this story is that tonight Derrick will be the guest of honor at a concert held by the Atlanta Gay Men's Chorus. And Derrick also reports that Ellen DeGeneres has invited him to appear on her show.

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reposted from JMG

Politicians: That's Gay

Survey: Californians Now More Likely to Favor Gay Marriage

Since the Public Policy Institute of California began tracking attitudes on same-sex marriage in the year 2000, residents in the Golden State were always more likely to express opposition. But the latest survey, released Wednesday, found that 50 percent of residents now favor it and 45 percent are against it.

make the jump here to read the article

Via B.A.R.

Obama signs health care;
reps push for ENDA

by Lisa Keen

The health care reform legislation President Barack Obama signed into law Tuesday does not include any of the pro-gay provisions sought by the LGBT community, yet the measure is expected to help thousands of people living with HIV/AIDS and others obtain coverage.

Other immediate effects of the bill include putting an end to insurers' practice of placing lifetime spending caps on policies and the end of insurance company discriminatory practices against people with chronic health needs, said a statement from the National Association of People with AIDS. (read more)

From JMG: HomoQuotable - Cleve Jones

"I know your values, Madame Speaker, and I know that you strongly support ENDA. Now I want these young people to know what is in your heart. With the knowledge that health care reform has been achieved and that enough votes now exist in the House today to pass ENDA, will you work with Rep. George Miller, Chair of the House Committee on Education and Labor, to ensure that ENDA is passed out of committee and brought to the floor of the house immediately?

"I am writing this open letter to you and sharing it with my friends in the Courage Campaign and GetEQUAL communities, thousands of whom will sign a petition to you asking that ENDA be prioritized for passage now. You can read the petition and Americans can sign on to it here. Congratulations again on your historic achievement. Along with thousands of other people reading this letter, I wish you the best." - Cleve Jones, in an open letter to Nancy Pelosi requesting she move forward on ENDA. Sign the above-linked petition, which will be hand-delivered to Pelosi.

RELATED: Yesterday Barney Frank said that ENDA may be brought to a House vote as soon as mid-April.reposted from JMG