Via SacBee

Whitman pushed eBay worker, New York Times reports

The New York Times is reporting that Meg Whitman was involved in a physical altercation in 2007 with an employee who later received a paid settlement. Read more.

Via JMG: HomoQuotable - Mike Albo

"Is it finally okay to be a 13-year-old sissy? From the feather-cuffed, drama-filled Olympic figure-skating competitions to the unashamedly oddball high-school TV show Glee, being young and gay suddenly has a place in pop culture that isn’t cruel or tragic.

Of course, there has never been a lack of gay subtext on TV (Dukes of Hazzard, Pee-wee Herman, Jonny Quest, SpongeBob). But it seems that, in our world of niche-entertainment marketing, gay boys are becoming a viable demographic, up there with tween girls and security moms. Call them Twinkles: preteen boys who may not know they are gay yet, or may not want to say they are gay yet, but who have a gleam in their eye and a definite sensibility. Twinkles proudly prance, unashamedly emote, high-kick, jazz-hand, belt out Paparazzi with piano — everything a gay kid used to do in his bedroom with the door shut." - Performance artist and author Mike Albo, writing for New York Magazine. reposted from Joe

Soccer practice

Via JMG: WORLD CUP: Soccer Comes Out

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Pat Robertson: Don't Hassle Your Flirtacious Husband (And Would It Kill You To Put On Some Damn Makeup?)

Pat Robertson offers advice to a woman who says her husband is too flirty:

First thing is you need to make yourself as attractive as possible and don't hassle him about it. And why is he doing this? Well, he's doing it because he wants affirmation that he is still a man, that he is attractive -- and he gets an affirmation of himself. That means he's got an inferiority complex that's coming out. And he's not gonna cheat on you. He's just playing. But you need to not drive him away or start hassling and hounding on him, but make yourself as beautiful as you can, as fun as you can, and say let's go out here, let's go there, let's go to the other thing.

reposted via Joe

Via NCLR:

Dear NCLR Champion,

You've probably heard a lot recently about the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would prohibit harassment or firing of anyone based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. I’m sure you’ll agree that we all need to tell our elected officials in Congress that it’s essential. Because the LGBT community needs ENDA passed—desperately.

But do you know why?

Sometimes, amid all the calls to action and alerts, it can be hard to remember why this legislation is critical to the lives of so many people around the country, and must become law.

In the past year, NCLR was contacted every week by LGBT people around the country who were harassed, discriminated against, or even fired because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Their jobs spanned a range of industries, public and private employers, and experience levels. From police officers and firefighters to counselors, engineers, managers, doctors’ assistants, journalists, and restaurant servers.

One of the cases that our attorneys and partners are working on involves a mother and daughter who harvested lettuce together in California’s Central Valley. I’ll call them M. and her daughter B. Their foreman discovered that B. was transgender and began harassing her. He made rude comments about her body and her appearance, and others in the crew began to make jokes as well. M. confronted the foreman, demanding that he respect her daughter. But instead, the foreman immediately issued her a warning.

Two weeks later, that harvesting season ended. The following season, the foreman re-hired every worker except M. and B. The pair tried for weeks to get their much-needed jobs back. By the time they contacted us, they had been out of work for weeks and were in dire straits. We immediately took action, telling the employers they had violated California law by allowing harassment against B. due to her gender expression and arguing they had illegally retaliated against our clients by refusing to rehire them after they complained of the unfair treatment.

Thankfully, as a result, our clients were re-hired, and back on the crew the following work day. That was possible because we were able to use California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act, which prohibits this type of discrimination, to help these two clients. Without such protections nationwide—without the passage of ENDA—we simply will not be able to win cases for workers in dozens of other states where LGBT people have few employment protections.

The past support of NCLR’s loyal donors has helped us to answer the calls of wrongly fired workers and fight for clients like the mother and daughter above. We are hoping to raise $10,000 online from new supporters this year—can we count on your first-time gift now?

Will you make a gift to NCLR today to ensure that other people who are harassed or fired because of their sexual orientation or gender identity have somewhere to turn for help?

In addition to NCLR's work to fight workplace discrimination through our helpline and litigation, I also wanted to share with you a few key facts about NCLR’s history with ENDA. Did you know that NCLR...

• Was one of first organizations to push for a fully-inclusive ENDA;
• Helped draft ENDA to ensure that it includes both gender identity and expression;
• Is a founding member of the United ENDA Steering Committee, a strong grassroots coalition;
• Serves on the ENDA legislative drafting committee;
• Has a full-time grassroots organizer on staff who is organizing in key districts;
• Spoke at a National Press Club press conference to press for a vote on ENDA;
• Co-organized an ENDA rally in San Francisco;
• Worked with 700 local activists to schedule 100 in-district meetings in support of ENDA;
• Facilitated 70 phone banks for ENDA in the last 6 months; and
• Placed over 30,000 calls into key districts where ENDA most needs support, resulting in over 3,000 calls to Congress.

NCLR continues to do all that it can to change our nation’s laws for the better. We need ENDA and true workplace protections for all LGBT people now, and we must continue to fight discrimination. With your first-time gift today, you can help NCLR continue to pave the way for ENDA and empower and protect workers who have been discriminated against with your gift today. Truly, we can’t do it without you.

Towards a new day,


Kate Kendell, Esq.
Executive Director

Via JMG: GEORGIA: Two Marines Arrested For Beating Of Gay Man

Two U.S. Marines were arrested yesterday for beating a gay man near downtown Savannah, Georgia. The victim remains hospitalized after suffering two seizures at the site of the attack.

About 3:45 a.m., a metro police officer was patrolling when he saw two men running on Congress Lane. Moments later, the officer received a call about a man at Congress and Bull streets unconscious on the ground. The officer rushed to the intersection and found 26-year-old Kieran Daly motionless with friends performing first aid, a report stated. The officer caught up with the two men who were running away, identified as Keil Joseph Cronauer, 22, and Christopher Charles Stanzel, 23. Police records show both men are stationed at Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort, S.C. Cronauer and Stanzel told police they were being harassed by a gay man and wanted to get away from him.

But witnesses painted a different picture, according to the report. They told police one of the men grew angry because he thought Daly was winking at him and struck Daly in the back of the head with his fist, knocking him unconscious. Saturday night, from his bed at Memorial University Medical Center, Daly insisted he tried to convince the Marines he was not winking at them. "The guy thought I was winking at him," Daly said. "I told him, 'I was squinting, man. ... I'm tired.'" Daly said one of the men told him he demanded respect because he served in Iraq. And at least one hurled slurs at him as he tried to walk away. "That's the last thing I remember is walking away," Daly said.

The attackers have only been charged with misdemeanor assault.

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: FLORIDA: Clear Channel Rejects Billboards From St. Petersburg Pride

Media giant Clear Channel has rejected two of the four billboards purchased to promote St. Petersburg, Florida's gay pride event. Only the billboards in which the models appear physically affectionate (the top two above) were rejected.

In an email to Clear Channel Outdoor, St. Pete Pride Executive Director Chris Rudisill wrote, "the images that were not selected do not contain anything that is sexual, immoral, illegal or otherwise offensive in nature." "I'm almost certain that you have had billboards in the market which display men and women in both friendly and romantic ways," he continued. "I can't seem to understand where these images would be any different, except for the fact that they portray two men and two women, respectively." St. Pete Pride is preparing to host its eighth annual festival to promote unity and a positive image of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) people around Tampa Bay. In past years, Clear Channel has edited St. Pete Pride's submitted messages, but this year, the organization says it submitted much-less controversial billboards. "St. Pete Pride is determined to focus its message on the family aspect of the GLBT community," said Rudisill in a press release. "Therefore, (we) would not allow Clear Channel to dictate what message we could convey."

Clear Channel refuses to discuss their decision.reposted from Joe

Via JMG: LOS ANGELES PRIDE: Kelly & Sharon Osbourne Shout Down Anti-Gay Asshats

Los Angeles Pride grand marshals Kelly and Sharon Osbourne ripped into some anti-gay protesters as their float passed them by yesterday.

The anti-gay group came right up to Sharon and Kelly midway through the parade, and Sharon stood her ground. "You should be ashamed of yourselves," she said over the loud speaker. "Kelly went to the mic and told the crowd, 'My God loves Gays'," an eyewitness tells RadarOnline.com. She then led the crowd into a chant of "God loves Gays." It was so loud it drowned out the protesters.

Well done, ladies! reposted from Joe

Via SacBee: Proposition 8 case over gay marriage reaches arguments

The federal trial over California's same-sex marriage ban heads to one full day of closing arguments Wednesday, with gay couples' attorneys expressing confidence that they've made a strong case that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/06/14/2820383/proposition-8-case-over-gay-marriage.html?storylink=lingospot_top2#ixzz0qqQYtUfe

Today's "well I'll be Damned!" Via JMG: Yuma AZ Mayor Apologies

“As mayor I must respect the lifestyle choices of others, no matter how disagreeable they are with my personal beliefs or my personal moral standards. I apologize for my comments at the Memorial Day service at Desert Lawn cemetery on Memorial Day.” - Yuma, Arizona Mayor Al Krieger, offer an unapologetic "apology" for saying that "limp-wristed" homos don't belong in the military.

reposted fromJoe

Via JMG: Kitchen Grind!

http://dancingalonetopony.tumblr.com/

Betty Bowers Explains Traditional Marriage to Everyone Else

Quote of the Day via [bahairants] Re: Change is a law of nature

God Helmet: http://www.shaktitechnology.com/god_helmet.htm

Homosexuality is a product of biological evolution, thus, homosexuals have been an integral part of human society from the beginning, presumably fully participating in parenting, supporting families, providing political strength, and probably a large number of other evolutionary advantages. It will be important to try to find archelogical evidence, ***which no one has probably been thinking about***.

The exclusion of homosexuals creates an unnatural emptiness, and throws off the balance and proper integration of a society.

http://www.shaktitechnology.com/deathanxiety.htm

Here is some interesting speculation about the important role of gay men in human evolution:

http://www.shaktitechnology.com/gaybrain.htm

Via 365gay:Corvino: The gay parenting difference - and why it doesn't matter to marriage

By John Corvino, columnist, 365gay.com 06.11.2010
The debate over marriage equality is not the same as the debate over parenting ideals

Read more...

Via Bilerico: Winning the Freedom to Marry

Via Bilerico: Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore

Here I am on NPR, talking about -- yes, you guessed it -- marriage!!!

On Thursday, I was on the nationally broadcast National Public Radio program Tell Me More -- listen here, and tell me what you think...

Via JMG: Iceland Approves Gay Marriage

Today Iceland's parliament voted unanimously to legalize gay marriage!

Iceland, the only country in the world to have an openly gay head of state, passed a law on Friday allowing same-sex partners to get married in a vote which met with no political resistance. The Althingi parliament voted 49 to zero to change the wording of marriage legislation to include matrimony between "man and man, woman and woman," in addition to unions between men and women. Iceland, a socially tolerant island nation of about 320,000 people, became the first country to elect an openly gay head of state in 2009 when Social Democrat Johanna Sigurdardottir became prime minister after being nominated by her party. "The attitude in Iceland is fairly pragmatic," said Gunnar Helgi Kristinsson, a political scientist at the University of Iceland. "It (gay marriage) has not been a big issue in national politics -- it's not been controversial."

Til hamingju, Iceland!

reposted from Joe

Via HRC:

Dear Daniel,

As we navigate an extremely challenging time in our nation's history, a passionate national discussion about the role and scope of government action has unfolded. Opinions about what government means run across a wide spectrum, and rightly so. In many cases, as we have witnessed over the past week, government can be used to make enormously positive changes.

This week, HRC released a study of healthcare facilities nationwide, surveying the policies and practices that affect the LGBT community. Although there were notable high achievers like Kaiser Permanente in the mix, the overall picture was less positive, with most hospitals lacking non-discrimination policies that include our entire community.

Equal care in hospitals has long been a pressing concern in our community, and our findings demonstrate why. Fortunately, the federal government is mandating that hospitals nationwide adopt non-discriminatory, inclusive visitation policies and reinforcing those hospitals' obligation to respect advanced healthcare directives and other medical decision-making documents. This development is the result of the President's April 15 memorandum protecting the rights of LGBT people in health care settings. Also, the Joint Commission, the body that certifies and accredits healthcare facilities nationwide, recently announced that fully inclusive non-discrimination standards would be added to their certification process. These two developments are important steps toward healthcare equality.

This week, we also learned that the administration has taken action on two recommendations from HRC's Blueprint for Positive Change. The Justice Department clarified that criminal provisions of the Violence Against Women Act, a key federal domestic violence statute, should be equally applied to LGBT people. In addition, the State Department instituted a new policy, effective immediately, which establishes a less burdensome standard for transgender applicants to change their gender marker on a passport. The federal government's move to improve health care for our community, include LGBT people in our nation's domestic violence laws and establish more respectful passport policies for transgender Americans are examples of our government working for the people.

It is clear that our government can do great good. The way that this will continue to be the case – and the only way that we will avoid government's often negative instincts – is to be actively involved. Whether it be by our active participation in the November elections, our public opposition to discrimination at all levels, or the relationships that we develop with policy makers and elected officials, we must be involved. It's a responsibility that we owe to our democracy and future generations.

Sincerely,

Joe Solmonese
President, Human Rights Campaign