Gay? Straight? Sexual Orientation Not A Choice, But Set At Birth

by David Badash on June 2, 2011

in News

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Sexual orientation is neurobiological and is set at birth, according to a report delivered by Jerome Goldstein, M.D., a board-​certified medical neurologist and Director of the San Francisco Clinical Research Center. “Sexual orientation is not a matter of choice, it is primarily neurobiological at birth,” Goldstein told the 21st Meeting of the European Neurological Society (ENS), in Lisbon, Portugal, adding, “Clearly the basis of sexual orientation is in the brain and differences in brain structure and function and the province of neurology.”

make the jump here to read the full article

Everyday New Yorkers for HRC's NYers for Marriage Equality

Via JMG: AFA Launches Anti-Gay Phone Campaign To Local Home Depot Store Managers

Via press release:

Home Depot is having its annual shareholder meeting this week. Many shareholders are upset with Home Depot's sponsorship of numerous gay pride events and support for homosexual marriage. Shareholders will be addressing the board of directors personally this week and plan to make sure the board of directors know they need to end the boycott! But...they need YOUR support. Your local store manager is the closest personal contact you can have with the company. They are the "eyes and ears" of the company and can make sure your concerns get to the right people. Today, call your local Home Depot store and ask to speak to the manager. You can find the number to your local store here (click "Store Finder" at top of page) or in your local phone book. Politely let him know you are boycotting his store until the company agrees to remain neutral in the culture wars and stops supporting homosexuality.

Do call your local Home Depot and personally thank the manager for their support of their LGBT customers.

Labels: AFA, bigotry, gay Pride, hate groups, Home Depot, religion, retail

reposted from Joe

MSNBC - Ben Cohen Quits Rugby To Combat Homophobia

LGBT Religious History Matters

Via HimalayaCrafts:

HimalayaCrafts

Follow the way of virtue.
Follow the way joyfully
Through this world and on beyond! ~ Buddha
♥ Namaste ♥ HimalayaCrafts

Via JMG: HomoQuotable - Peter Tatchell

"We witnessed a high level of fraternisation and collusion between neo-Nazis and the Moscow police. I saw neo-Nazis leave and re-enter police buses parked on Tverskaya Street by City Hall. Our suspicion is that many of the neo-Nazis were actually plainclothes police officers, who did to us what their uniformed colleagues dared not do in front of the world’s media. Either that, or the police were actively facilitating the right-wing extremists with transport to the protest.

"During the Second World War, Mucovites stood against the Nazis. Now the Mayor of Moscow is colluding with neo-Nazis. He gave the neo-Nazi groups permission to stage a protest calling for violence against gay people, while denying Moscow Gay Pride a permit to rally for gay equality." - Famed British activist Peter Tatchell, reporting from yesterday's demonstration in Moscow.

Labels: activism, gay Pride, HomoQuotable, Moscow, Moscow Pride, Peter Tatchell, Russia

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JMG Tweet Of The Day - Miley Cyrus

Pop singer Miley Cyrus has been telling her one million Twitter followers to boycott Urban Outfitters because its CEO is a raving teabagger who contributed to Frothy Mix. Go Miley!

Labels: 2012 elections, Miley Cyrus, Rick Santorum, teabaggers, Tweet Of The Day, Urban Outfitters

reposted from Joe

Via AmericaBloggay: Fmr. Lt. Dan Choi Beaten in Moscow

Fmr. Lt. Dan Choi just texted me.  On Saturday, May 28 he was thrown to the ground and kicked by neo-Nazis and the Russian police for the simple "crime" of marching peacefully in Moscow's LGBT pride parade.  There's video of the entire thing, and it's horrific.

And the US government has said nothing.

Please sign Dan's open letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asking her to condemn the anti-LGBT violence in Moscow, and to reaffirm the human rights of lesbians, gays, bisexual and transgender people in Russia and around the world.


The Russian government has banned "Pride" for years, in direct violation of a decision by the European Court of Human Rights.  And today they used violence against Russian and international human rights activists for peaceably exercising their rights to freedom of speech and freedom of association.

Dan needs our help. Our Russian brothers and sisters need our help.  And so far the US government is offering no help at all. (A State Department official actually claimed he couldn't do anything because the entire US government is on vacation until Tuesday!)

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is a longtime ally of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.  She was there when we needed her to speak out against LBGT human rights abuses in Uganda.  And we need her to speak out again today.

Dan Choi has agreed to personally deliver this open letter with all of your signatures to the State Department upon his return to Washington.  We can make a difference here, with your help.  Sign Dan's open letter to Secretary Clinton urging her to speak out against the violence in Moscow.

Thanks so much,

John Aravosis and Joe Sudbay @ AMERICAblog

Via AmericaBlogGay: Israeli PM Netanyahu mentioned gays in his address to Congress

I'd missed this from the other day:

So today the Middle East stands at a fateful crossroads. And like all of you, I pray that the peoples of the region choose the path less traveled, the path of liberty.

No one knows what this path consists of better than you. Nobody.

This path of liberty is not paved by elections alone. It’s paved when governments permit protests in town squares, when limits are placed on the powers of rulers, when judges are beholden to laws and not men, and when human rights cannot be crushed by tribal loyalties or mob rule.

Israel has always embraced this path in a Middle East that has long rejected it. In a region where women are stoned, gays are hanged, Christians are persecuted, Israel stands out. It is different.

Before anyone poo-poos this, he's the conservative leader of a government that panders to religious extremists. Yet he has no problem mentioning gays in an address to another government that is somewhat equivocal on, and even downright hostile to, gay rights. It's not nothing.

Via JMG: Another Gallup Poll

Labels: Gallup, LGBT rights, polls

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: HRC Endorses Obama 2012

The Human Rights Campaign has already endorsed Barack Obama's reelection bid.

Running in 2008, Barack Obama promised change from the George W. Bush administration and on so many issues, change is certainly what we got. From signature achievements like passage of the law to end "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" to administrative changes throughout government, President Obama has done more to improve the lives of LGBT people than any President in history.

Hit the link for HRC's exhaustive list of Obama's pro-gay accomplishments.

Labels: 2012 elections, Barack Obama, Democrats, HRC

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Bloomberg's Speech On Marriage

Here's the full video of yesterday's pro-gay marriage speech by NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg. As noted by Andy Humm, we've got some major issues with Bloomberg, but it IS a damn good speech.

Labels: marriage equality, Michael Bloomberg, NYC

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Top TN Democrat: Extremist Bills Make State Look Buck-Toothed And Barefoot

Top TN Democrat: Extremist Bills Make State Look Buck-Toothed And Barefoot

Labels: education, LGBT rights, Nashville, Tennessee

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Gallup: How Many Gays Are There?

Gallup says: "U.S. adults, on average, estimate that 25% of Americans are gay or lesbian. More specifically, over half of Americans (52%) estimate that at least one in five Americans are gay or lesbian, including 35% who estimate that more than one in four are. Thirty percent put the figure at less than 15%."

Labels: Gallup, polls, sexuality

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Ken Mehlman: Why Republicans Should Support Same-Sex Marriage

Yeah, that's nice now. But don't ever for one minute forget Mehlman's leadership role in the many anti-gay marriage referendums that swept the nation during his tenure as head of the Republican National Committee.

Labels: GOP, homocons, Ken Mehlman, marriage equality

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton Symbolically Vetoes Anti-Gay Marriage Bill

Even though he has no power to stop Minnesota's anti-gay marriage amendment from going on the 2012 ballot, Gov. Mark Dayton has symbolically vetoed the bill.

"I do not have the power to prevent this divisive and destructive constitutional amendment from appearing on the ballot, in November 2012, the Legislature sent it to me in the form of a bill," he wrote in a letter to legislative leaders. "Thus, symbolic as it my be, I am exercising my legal responsibility to either sign or veto it." He predicted the amendment will fail when it comes before Minnesotans. If that happens, Minnesota voters would be the first voters of dozens of states to reject a gay marriage ban. "The path of social progress, of human compassion and understanding, would be tragically reversed by this amendment. Minnesotans are better than this. I urge Minnesotans to reject this amendment," he wrote.

Hit the above link for a copy of Dayton's letter announcing the veto.

Labels: 2012 elections, marriage equality, Minnesota

reposted from Joe

PUSHING FOR AN AMBITIOUS ANTI-HOMOPHOBIA LAW IN BRAZIL

All Out has been working in support of an ambitious Anti-Homophobia law (PLC122) that would finally give ALL Brazilians equal protection under the law. Brazil has one of the highest rates of attacks and murders of LGBT people in the world. On May 17, the International Day Against Homophobia, our 100,000+ All Out / Avaaz petition was delivered to the Brazilian parliament and our efforts received tons of local press. Later that evening All Out organized a massive outdoor photo projection in Brasília, made up of hundreds of powerful messages of solidarity from our membership around the world. Check out some incredible photos from that event here

Via JMG: Photo Of The Day - SF AIDS Ribbon

A giant AIDS ribbon has been installed on San Francisco's Twin Peaks in observance of the 30th anniversary of the epidemic. The ribbon, which can been seen for many miles, will remain on the hillside until it's replaced by the giant pink triangle which appears in that space every year on gay pride weekend.

(Tipped by JMG reader James)
[Photo Credit: Thomas Levinson]

Labels: California, HIV/AIDS, San Francisco

reposted from Joe