Via JMG: Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) Introduces Federal Anti-Bullying Bill

Today Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) and 21 fellow Senators introduced a federal bill intended to protect LGBT students from harassment and bullying. Via the ACLU:

The Student Non-Discrimination Act (SNDA) would help to end entrenched biases towards lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students in our education system. A similar bill was introduced in the House of Representatives in January by Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) and currently has over 100 co-sponsors. The American Civil Liberties Union strongly supports these bills and urges swift action by both chambers. The ACLU is currently involved in a case that underscores the need for the SNDA. In April, the ACLU filed a complaint with the Itawamba County School District in Fulton, Mississippi urging the school district to reverse its decision to forbid a lesbian student from attending a prom with her girlfriend and from wearing a tuxedo to the prom. After school officials canceled the prom altogether rather than allow Constance McMillen to attend the dance in a tuxedo with her girlfriend, the ACLU then filed a federal lawsuit. In a preliminary ruling in April, the court found that Itawamba County School District officials violated McMillen's First Amendment right to freedom of expression, and the case is expected to go to trial.

Franken says that he and others are working on language to define what constitutes bullying. But he says that most people know it when they see it. As noted in the above-linked story, Rep. Jared Polis introduced similar legislation in the U.S. House earlier this year. Here's the list of Senate co-sponsors:

SNDA is co-sponsored by Senators Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), John Kerry (D-Mass.), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Robert Menedez (D-N.J.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii).

a repost from Joe

Via JMG: Will Rekers Scandal Affect Prop 8?

Following up on the New York Times story about the legal implications of the Dr. George Rekers scandal, Amanda Terkel at Think Progress has found four instances of Rekers' ties to the Perry Vs. Schwarzenegger trial to overturn Proposition 8. I don't usually excerpt another blogger's work so extensively, but this is a must-read.

1. Blankenhorn was the defendants’ star witness and was eviscerated on the stand by attorney David Boies, who was arguing against Prop. 8 for the American Foundation for Equal Rights. Blakenhorn has claimed that he is “not familiar” with Rekers’ work and didn’t “cite anyone named ‘Dr. Rekers’” in his “expert testimony submitted to the court.” However, Blankenhorn did reference Rekers’ work the bibliography of his “expert report” for the trial:

This Rekers declaration that Blankenhorn references has statements such as “The inherent structure of households with one or more homosexually behaving members deprives children of vitally needed positive contributions to child adjustment and to the child’s preparation for successful adulthood adjustment that are present in heterosexual homes.” (View it here.)

2. One of the witnesses arguing against Prop. 8 was Ryan Kendall, a gay man who was forced to undergo “reparative therapy” as a teenager to make him straight. He “was first sent to see a Christian therapist and then the National Association of Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH),” and the experiences left him contemplating suicide. Rekers was on the board of NARTH during the Prop. 8 trial and only recently stepped down after the “rent boy” scandal broke.

3. Rekers is a member of the American College of Pediatricians (ACP), which submitted an amicus brief to Chief Judge Walker in the Prop. 8 trial. ACP is a sham, right-wing group. When “the American Academy of Pediatrics passed its policy statement supporting second-parent adoptions by lesbian and gay parents in 2002, a fringe group of approximately 60 of the AAP’s more than 60,000 members” broke off and formed ACP.

4. The Prop. 8 defense had a witness named George Robinson who was going to testify about how being gay is a choice, although he was eventually withdrawn. He had also based some of his expert report on Rekers’ Prop. 22 declaration.

Excellent work by Amanda Terkels! Let's hope that Judge Vaughn Walker takes notice of this during the upcoming closing arguments.

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: U.S. State Department Condemns Conviction Of Malawi Gay Couple

The U.S. State Department has denounced the Malawi government's conviction of two gay men for "unnatural acts and gross indecency."

"The United States is deeply disappointed in today’s conviction of same-sex couple Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza in Malawi," said assistant secretary Phillip J. Crowley at a press briefing Wednesday. "We view the criminalization of sexual orientation and gender identity as a step backward in the protection of human rights in Malawi. The Government of Malawi must respect the human rights of all of its citizens. The United States views the decriminalization of sexual orientation and gender identity as integral to the protection of human rights in Malawi and elsewhere in the world."

Thank you, Secretary Clinton. It may not help these poor men, but it's better than silence.reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Two Birds, One Gay Stone

Super damn funny.



(Via - Queerty)

posted by Joe

From the San Francisco ENDA Rally

Dear Friend of NCLR,

From Washington D.C. to San Francisco, NCLR is working tirelessly to make sure we pass ENDA, and we won’t stop until we get these crucial employment protections for our community.

Check out video of me and NCLR staff at yesterday’s ENDA rally outside Speaker Pelosi’s San Francisco office, and make sure you stand with us in our call to pass ENDA now!

watch video

In Solidarity,


Kate Kendell
Executive Director, NCLR

Dear Daniel --

Ever feel like your relationship isn't working out the way you think it should?

Well, our friends at AMERICAblog, CREDO Action and Open Left are wondering the same thing... about the Democratic Party when it comes to fighting for LGBT equality. . We all felt so strongly about it, we thought it was time to write a letter to the Democrats.

This isn't just any letter, mind you. It expresses concerns that many of us -- both straight and LGBT -- have been feeling recently. Here's the beginning of the letter:

Dear Democrats,

We need to talk.

This may be a hard letter to read, but I need to figure out if this relationship is still healthy for me...

Click here to read the rest of our open letter to the Democrats. If it says what you're feeling, sign your name to it and then forward this message to your friends. We will deliver your signatures to Democratic Party leadership:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/DearDemocrats

Rick Jacobs
Chair, Courage Campaign

Courage Campaign Equality is part of the Courage Campaign's multi-issue online organizing network that empowers more than 700,000 grassroots and netroots supporters to push for progressive change and full equality in California and across the country.

To support our campaign for full equality, please chip in what you can today:

Via Belirico: Sam Brownback's Pastor Problem: Evangelical Extremist Lou Engle

Filed by: Waymon Hudson

May 18, 2010 2:30 PM

American Evangelical Extremist Lou Engle is making waves again. Readers may remember Engle as the fringe pastor behind TheCall Rally in California supporting Proposition 8, where he called homosexuality a "spirit of lawlessness" and called for "martyrs" to become "God's Avengers of Blood" to stop the "homosexual agenda" at all cost.

He also recently held another TheCall Prayer Event in Uganda where he praised the country's "courage" and "righteousness" in promoting the horrific Anti-Homosexuality "Kill the Gays" Bill. The bill calls for gays to be executed, says "known Ugandan homosexuals" abroad should be extradited back to Uganda for "punishment", and that people in Uganda must report anybody known to have committed a homosexual act within 24 hours, among other horrific provisions.

Now Lou Engle is back in America and causing a major headache for Republican Senator Sam Brownback in the Kansas gubernatorial race. It seems people aren't taking to kindly to Engle and Brownback being so close, including being former roommates and "soldiers for salvation" together. Brownback even appeared at a TheCall Rally as a special guest of Engle.

Continue reading "Sam Brownback's Pastor Problem: Evangelical Extremist Lou Engle" »

Daniel Radcliffe's Trevor Project PSA

Via Belirico: Bullies: The Wizard of Oz and Tomato Soup

Filed by: Peter Monn and Alex Paredes

May 18, 2010 5:00 PM

Editors' Note: Peter Monn (and his partner, Alex) is a Bilerico-Indiana blogger. We've lifted this up to the main site to share with everyone.

We have this amazing little girl that lives next door to us. Everyday when we take the puppies out she comes running over, filled with stories about her two younger siblings and frustrated that our oldest dog won't let her catch him. She is 6. Today, I came home and she was dressed, from head to toe, like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, complete with sparkling ruby red slippers. Her hair was tied back in braids and she was carrying a basket on her arm as she ran around the backyard, her sister, dressed like a beautiful princess in pink taffeta, chasing her around, reaching for her in the wind.

And I thought...what a wonderful thing to be a child.

But not for everyone.

Not for me.

Continue reading "Bullies: The Wizard of Oz and Tomato Soup" »

Neo-Neands