Via JMG: HomoQuotable - Larry Kramer

"Please know that AIDS is a worldwide plague. Please know that no country in the world, including this one, especially this one, has ever called it a plague, or dealt with it as a plague. Please know that there is no cure. Please know that after all this time the amount of money being spent to find a cure is still miniscule, still almost invisible, still impossible to locate in any national health budget, and still totally uncoordinated.

"Please know that here in America case numbers continue to rise in every category. In much of the rest of the world — Russia, India, Southeast Asia, Africa — the numbers of the infected and the dying are so grotesquely high they are rarely acknowledged. Please know that all efforts at prevention and educations continue their unending record of abject failure. Please know that there is no one in charge of this plague. This is a war for which there is no general and for which there has never been a general. How can you win a war with no one in charge?" - Larry Kramer, from a letter handed to patrons attending the revival of his landmark play, The Normal Heart.

Read Kramer's entire letter.

 Labels: AIDS, Broadway, gay writers, HIV, HomoQuotable, Larry Kramer

reposted from Joe

"Tale of Two Cities" from SFGMC's "Words" Spring 2011 Concert

Via JMG: The Sisters Fire Back At Porno Pete

San Francisco's Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence have fired back at hate activist Porno Pete LaBarbera, who yesterday circulated a press release denouncing the Sisters' annual "Hunky Jesus" contest. An excerpt:

First of all the Sisters would like to thank Peter La Barbaria for all the free publicity he is providing for our Hunky Jesus Contest. Even in the most reactionary communities and families there are brilliant young queer children aching for something truly revolutionary, a chance to be utterly glamorous, and to royally piss off their uptight, puritanical parents. The Sisters often declare their love for Peter and especially appreciate Mr. LaBabar's effectiveness in getting news and images of the Sisters to those children. Of course we don't hate anybody, but his saying we do is a great way to grab the interest of angry resentful children, and we have much experience in helping GLBT youngsters work through their anger to find a more joyous spiritual path.

However, as much as Mr. La Barbarella is promoting our appeal to rebellious youth, it is not really our intention or purpose to offend Christians. Many of our friends and fans are Christians as are some of the Sisters. It's not even our intention or purpose to offend uptight, humorless prigs, though we often do so by suggesting that the Deity has a sense of humor. After all, God created a garden of paradise for us, declared His/Her love for us, and created such laughably bizarre creatures as the platypus, the naked mole rat, and Sarah Palin. But our mission is not to offend. Rather we are dedicated to the expiation of stigmatic guilt and the promulgation of universal joy. Still, we do understand that any sort of liberating theology is offensive to those who want to keep others under their thumbs. Offending prudes and tyrants is not our purpose, but we consider it a bit of a bonus.

Read the Sisters' full message.

Labels: drag, Easter, Peter LaBarbera, religion, San Francisco, satire, Sisters Of Perpetual Indulgence

reposted from Joe

My Peeps!

Via Equality America:

 

Defector: NOM Wanted “Crazy” Antigay Propaganda

advocate.com

 

NOM president Brian Brown ordered former marriage tour director Louis Marinelli to make LGBT counter-protesters look as "crazy" as possible.

Via JMG: Kobe Bryant: Word Can Be Hurtful

As penance for last week's "fucking faggot" incident, the below PSA featuring Kobe Bryant and members of the Los Angeles Lakers will be played at the stadium during home games.

Labels: GLAAD, language, NBA, PSA, sports

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: NEW JERSEY: Roommate Charged With Hate Crime In Suicide Of Rutgers Student

The roommate of Rutgers freshman Tyler Clementi (left) was today indicted on hate crime charges stemming from the secret webcasting of Clementi having sex with another man. Clementi leaped from the George Washington Bridge last year after learning about the broadcast.

Dharun Ravi, a former Rutgers University student, was indicted on 15 counts including charges of invasion of privacy, bias intimidation and tampering with evidence by a grand jury in Middlesex County, N.J. Prosecutors allege that not only did Ravi invade Clementi's privacy, but he tried to cover it up. Both Ravi and his alleged accomplice, former Rutgers student Molly Wei, are accused of filming Clementi during a "sexual encounter" in his dorm room with a man and then streaming it live on the Internet. Evidence against Wei has not yet been presented to a grand jury. Prosecutors allege that on Sept. 19 of last year, Ravi filmed Clementi with the purpose of intimidating him because of his sexual orientation. Ravi "disclosed a photograph, film, videotape, recording or other reproduction of the image of [Clementi]...whose intimate parts were exposed," the indictment reads. When Ravi became worried about being charged with a crime, he sent false tweets in an attempt "to mislead a public servant who was engaged in such proceeding or investigation," the indictment reads.

Clementi's parents have released a statement applauding today's charges.

Labels: education, hate crimes, New Jersey, suicide

reposted from Joe

MSNBC - Same-Sex Immigration Bill Proposed In The Senate

Via JMG: Marriage Opponents Now In Minority

Nate Silver looks at the latest polling trends on same-sex marriage.

Republican candidates, who have placed less emphasis on gay marriage in recent years, probably cannot expect their opposition to it to be a net electoral positive for them except in select circumstances. If support for gay marriage were to continue accelerating as fast as it has in the past two years, supporters would outnumber opponents roughly 56-40 in the general population by November 2012. Past trends, of course, are no guarantee of future ones, and it’s always possible that the momentum toward increasing support for gay marriage could flatten out or even reverse itself. But this does put Republicans in a tricky position. Their traditional position on gay marriage is becoming less popular. But to the extent they disengage from the issue, they may lose even more ground. One way to read the trends of the past few years is that we have passed an inflection point wherein it is no longer politically advantageous for candidates to oppose same-sex marriage, which in turn softens opposition to it among the general public, creating a sort of feedback loop and accelerating the trend.

Labels: GOP, marriage equality, Nate Silver, polls

reposted from Joe

MSNBC - Teen Suicide Attempts Higher In Conservative Areas

Via Moveon.org: The Scariest Gay Marriage Chart Ever

Via AmericaBlogGay:

I wonder if King & Spalding would defend anti-miscegenation laws for $900/hour

I wonder what King & Spalding, the law firm that was willing to debase itself by working with John Boehner to defend DOMA, wouldn't do for a fast buck?

Even more disgusting, the firm has the temerity to brag about its diversity policy on its Web site.  Yes, quite the diverse firm.  They offer domestic partner benefits to their employees, then expect those same employees to work to deny similar rights to millions of gay and lesbian Americans nationwide.  The firm is listed near the top of HRC's list of pro-LGBT firms.  I think that listing needs to be tweaked, because any law firm that's willing to do the bidding of the modern day Bull Connor's of the world should have an automatic "fail" in front of their names on any civil rights index.

If you work for King & Spalding, you are no better than someone who worked for firms that helped enforce discrimination against blacks and other minorities during the 50s and 60s and beyond.  I hope all of you $900/hour lawyers can live with yourselves, because your firm shouldn't be permitted on any law school campus in this country.

Perhaps now that DADT is supposedly coming to an end, some enterprising young law students can prepare King & Spalding a queen's welcome next fall when they try to recruit at the nation's top law schools.  Imagine interviewing for a job with a long line of students standing outside the door holding signs that read "HATE," "BIGOT," and "I am a man."  I suspect it might prove embarrassing.  (Though there's no reason King & Spalding's offices can't be greeted by protests now.)

Then again, is anything embarrassing to a law firm that would work to deny millions of Americans their civil rights?  And again, before anyone trots out the old "everyone and every case deserves representation, how would you feel if your law firm was working for, oh, Fred Phelps?  Or David Duke?  Or the Ku Klux Klan?  Still feel that everyone deserves their day?

Shame.

PS About King & Spalding being so diverse, I decided to take a look at their stats. According to stats available online, King & Spalding reportedly has 0.65% gay attorneys. Yeah, pretty diverse.

Via AMERICAblogGay:

Poll: More than half of all Americans now support marriage equality

A lot of polls are showing this recently. And it matters.  First, because it does in fact show that there's a trend in our favor.  Second, the courts aren't immune from news, and trends, like this.  Maggie Gallagher can spew her bigotry all she wants, and she'll even win in the short-term because her bigots are well-motivated and well-financed by the Catholics and the Mormons.  But in the long-run, Maggie, the Catholic Church and the Mormons will be listed in the history books alongside the people who turned fire hoses on African-American civil rights marchers.

The Gospel According to Betty (Part I)

Via JMG: US Sodomy Map

Despite Lawrence Vs. Texas, laws specifically against gay sex remain on the books in four states. Ten other states continue to outlaw all acts of sodomy. Last month the GOP blocked an attempt to delete such a law in Montana.

(Via - Matt Yglesias)

Labels: Lawrence V. Texas, LGBT rights, Supreme Court

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: $500,000 To Defend DOMA

According to a press release from the Human Rights Campaign, the GOP's contract with the law firm hired to defend DOMA stipulates a maximum payment of $500,000. Oh, but it could be more.

In order to defend discrimination by any means necessary, House Republican leaders have contracted with the law firm King & Spalding at the rate of $520 an hour to argue that they’re right to deny recognition to legally married couples, according to the contract made public today. The document caps the cost at $500,000 but can easily be increased upon further negotiations with the firm. “DOMA inflicts a great cost on same-sex couples but now its defense is burdening taxpayers to the tune of $520 per hour,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “The firm of King & Spalding and their attorney Paul Clement should be ashamed at every penny earned in trying to justify discrimination against American families.” There are currently at least nine cases challenging the constitutionality of section 3 of DOMA which bars federal recognition of marriages between same-sex couples. If the House were to intervene in all nine that would mean less than 100 billable hours would be spent per case in order to hit the $500,000 cap.

Where are the jobs?

Labels: bigotry, DOMA, GOP, U.S. House

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Frothy Mix To Glenn Beck: States Should Be Allowed To Criminalize Gay Sex

Former Sen. Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum went on Glenn Beck's radio show yesterday to renew his call to criminalize gay sex. Santorum was responding to former Sen. Alan Simpson's epic denouncement of homophobic Republicans.

There were no “cruel, cruel” remarks. All I can ponder is that Alan Simpson is talking about a comment that I made, which I paraphrased, almost word for word, but paraphrased a Supreme Court justice in a case called Lawrence v. Texas, before that case came out, which had to do with, as you know, a Supreme Court case on the issue of sodomy, and I said that if you have -- if the Supreme Court changes the legal standard to say that sexual -- consensual sexual activity is now a constitutional right, then we open up the gates for all sorts of consensual activity. It’s not homophobic. It’s a legal argument, and it’s a correct legal argument. In fact, that’s exactly what’s happening. We went from Lawrence v. Texas to now a constitutional right to same-sex marriage and they’re going into a constitutional right to polyamorous relationships. This is the slippery slope that we’re heading down, and I stand by it.

Click over to Equality Matters for an audio file.

Labels: 2012 elections, Christianists, douchenozzles, Glenn Beck, GOP, religion, Rick Santorum

reposted from Joe

Via Asterisk: Presbyterian Church (USA) Turns Gays Away from Active Ministry | Asterisk

April 27, 2009

Six weeks ago, I brought your attention to Presbyterian Amendment 08-B, which would open ordination to all called Presbyterians, including lesbian and gay members of the church. There had been an early indication of record numbers of Presbyteries voting to in favor of the amendment, but More Light Presbyterians, the denomination’s LGBT advocacy group, announced Saturday that the “no” votes have won the day.

make the jump here to read the full story

Martha Wash - I've Got You (Official music video)