Via All Out: Major victory at the UN!

Our inboxes have been flooded this morning with the great news: today the UN Human Rights Council passed a historic resolution affirming equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. This is a really big deal -- it's the first time that an official UN resolution has focused exclusively on human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity. The resolution also commissions an official UN study on how LGBT people around the world are impacted by discriminatory laws and violence.

This victory was a long time in the making. Advocates and activists in South Africa worked closely with the South African government to introduce this resolution. A coalition of civil society advocates, including our friends at ARC International, pushed until the last minute for this unprecedented vote. And hundreds of you responded to our urgent campaign alert, flooding foreign offices around the world, urging this vote.

Together we made a difference.

From social networks to the streets, from court houses to the corridors of the United Nations, LGBT people around the world are fighting, and winning, the simple right to live and love freely. This global movement for LGBT equality is gathering speed. Thanks so much for being a part of it.

Let us know what this victory means to you. Leave us a message on our Facebook wall and read what others are saying about this historic moment.

www.facebook.org/AllOutOrg

All the best and All Out,

Andre, Erika, Guillaume, Jeremy, Nita, Oli, Prerna, Tile, Wesley and the rest of the team at All Out

SOURCES:
U.N. Gay Rights Protection Resolution Passes, Hailed As 'Historic Moment'
www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/17/un-gay-rights-protection-resolution-passes-_n_879032.html
Historic decision at the UN
www.iglhrc.org/cgi-bin/iowa/article/pressroom/pressrelease/1417.html
La ONU pide tolerancia cero ante la discriminación homosexual
www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/ONU/pide/tolerancia/cero/discriminacion/homosexual/elpepuint/20110617elpepuint_6/Tes
L'ONU adopte une résolution "historique" sur les droits des homosexuels
www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2011/06/17/l-onu-adopte-une-resolution-historique-sur-les-droits-des-homosexuels_1537356_3224.html

 

All Out is bringing people together in every corner of the planet and of every identity - lesbian, gay, straight, transgender and all that’s between and beyond - to build a world in which everyone can live freely and be embraced for who they are.

Our mailing address is:
Purpose Foundation
224 Centre St, 6th Fl
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Copyright © 2011 AllOut.org, All rights reserved.

Via Sean and KESQ-TV/KDFX-TV/KUNA-TV:

GENEVA — The top U.N. human rights body declared Friday there should be no discrimination or violence against people based on their sexual orientation, a vote Western countries called historic but Islamic states firmly rejected. 

The controversial resolution marked the first time that the Human Rights Council recognized the equal rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

The text, presented by South Africa, was adopted with 23 countries in favor and 19 against.

"All over the world, people face human rights abuses and violations because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, including torture, rape, criminal sanctions, and killing," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement issued in Washington.

"Today's landmark resolution affirms that human rights are universal," she said, calling it a "historic moment."

"This marks a significant milestone in the long struggle for equality, and the beginning of a universal recognition that LGBT persons are endowed with the same inalienable rights — and entitled to the same protections — as all human beings," President Barack Obama said in a separate statement. "The United States stands proudly with those nations that are standing up to intolerance, discrimination, and homophobia. Advancing equality for LGBT persons should be the work of all peoples and all nations."

Backers included the United States, the European Union, Brazil and other Latin American countries. Those against included Russia, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Pakistan. China, Burkina Faso and Zambia abstained, Kyrgyzstan didn't vote and Libya was earlier suspended from the rights body. 

The resolution expressed "grave concern at acts of violence and discrimination, in all regions of the world, committed against individuals because of their sexual orientation and gender identity." 

More importantly, activists said, it also established a formal U.N. process to document human rights abuses against gays, including discriminatory laws and acts of violence. According to Amnesty International, consensual same-sex relations are illegal in 76 countries worldwide, while harassment and discrimination are common in many more. 

"The Human Rights Council has taken a first bold step into territory previously considered off-limits," said Graeme Reid, director of the LGBT Rights program at Human Rights Watch. "We hope this groundbreaking step will spur greater efforts to address the horrible abuses perpetrated on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity."

"Today's resolution breaks the silence that has been maintained for far too long," said John Fisher of the gay rights advocacy group ARC International. "It's clear that the resolution will serve as an entry point for further debate at the United Nations." 

1.                              Only on msnbc.com

'Unnatural right'?

South African Ambassador Jerry Matthews Matjila said the aim was for a dialogue on discrimination and violence meted out to those "whose only crime seems to be their choice in life."

But delegations from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and Bangladesh took the floor to reject the text in a heated debate held on the last day of the council's three-week session.

Mauritania's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Cheikh Ahmed Ould Zahaf, said that the issue did not fall within the scope of any international human rights treaty.

"This issue has nothing to do with human rights," he said, speaking before the vote. "What we find here is an attempt to change the natural right of a human being with an unnatural right. That is why calls on all members to vote against it."

Homosexuality is generally taboo in Islamic states as it is seen as a violation of religious and cultural values. Homosexual men in the Gulf are regularly arrested and sentenced to prison terms.

Mexican Ambassador Juan Jose Gomez Camacho said the issue had nothing to do with imposing Western or other values, but with non-discrimination. People are already protected under international treaties against discrimination on grounds of race, religion, and gender, he said.

"Non-discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation is exactly the same," Camacho said, winning applause.

The resolution calls on the office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay to draw up the first U.N. report on challenges faced by gay people worldwide.

 

Her report, due by December, should document discriminatory laws and practices and acts of violence against people based on their sexual orientation and gender identity.

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary Daniel Baer told reporters the Obama administration had chosen what he described as a "course of progress" on gay rights, both domestically and internationally. 

In March, the U.S. issued a nonbinding declaration in favor of gay rights that gained the support of more than 80 countries at the U.N. This has coincided with domestic efforts to end the ban on gays openly serving in the U.S. military and discrimination against gays in federal housing. 

Asked what good the resolution would do for gays and lesbians in countries that opposed the resolution, Baer said it was a signal "that there are many people in the international community who stand with them, and who support them, and that change will come." 

"It's a historic method of tyranny to make you feel that you are alone," he said. "One of the things that this resolution does for people everywhere, particularly LGBT people everywhere, is remind them that they are not alone."

 
 
Rich Tarpening
KESQ-TV/KDFX-TV/KUNA-TV
Assignment Manager
rtarpening@kesq.com
42-650 Melanie Place
Palm Desert, California 92211
(760) 340-7093

The Cast of Burlesque on Anti-Gay Bullying

Via JMG: NEW YORK: Tracy Morgan Meets Homeless LGBT Youth Of Ali Forney Center

ABOVE: "Tracy Morgan listens to Jayden Love, an Ali Forney Center client rejected by her religious family." I can't imagine a more effective remedy for Morgan than meeting the kids of the AFC.

Labels: Ali Forney Center, Carl Siciliano, hate speech, homelessness, LGBT youth, NYC

reposted from Joe

DMC's Anti-Homophobia Hip-Hop Challenge

Via Bilerico: California Marriage Equality's 3rd Anniversary

Three years ago today, on June 16, 2008, the first same-sex marriages in California were legally recognized. That day kicked off four and a half months of same-sex couples - many of whom had been together for many years - obtaining official, legally recognized marriages. Between June 16 and November 4 of that year, 18,000 same-sex couples were married.

This week, another chapter of the marriage equality struggle in California concluded. On Tuesday, Chief Judge James Ware of the federal district court in San Francisco rejected an effort to disqualify Judge Vaughn Walker's 2010 ruling that nullified Proposition 8. Walker had come under fire by supporters of Prop. 8 when he revealed that he is gay in April of this year. Prop. 8 proponents said it was unfair for Walker to have overturned the ballot initiative's decision because he was biased.

On Tuesday, Judge Ware pointed out how nonsensical their claims were:

A well-informed, thoughtful observer would recognize that the mere fact that a judge is in a relationship with another person-whether of the same or the opposite sex-does not ipso facto imply that the judge must be so interested in marrying that person that he would be unable to exhibit the impartiality which, it is presumed, all federal judges maintain. To assume otherwise is to engage in speculation about a judge's motives and desires on the basis of an unsubstantiated suspicion that the judge is personally biased or prejudiced."

The anniversary of the first legal same-sex marriages in California lined itself up nicely with an important development in the Prop. 8 case last year, too. On June 16, 2010, Judge Walker heard closing arguments in the federal trial that challenged Prop. 8's constitutionality.

This year's anniversary is far less uncertain than last year's - the Republican-appointed Ware's ruling is a significantly positive development in the marriage equality campaign in California and in the broader United States.

To the hundreds of California couples celebrating their milestones today - congratulations, and Happy Anniversary.

make the jump here to read the article

Via 365 Gay: In historic vote, UN body calls for protection of gay rights

(Geneva) The U.N.’s main human rights forum has condemned for the first time discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

 

The 47-member Human Rights Council voted 23 in favor and 19 against Friday, with 3 abstentions, for the resolution put forward by South Africa.

It establishes a panel to review discrimination of gays and lesbians around the world.

The resolution was backed by the United States, the European Union, Brazil and other Latin American countries.

But African and Islamic countries, led by Nigeria and Pakistan, slammed the resolution saying it had “nothing to do with fundamental human rights.”

AC360 - Prophet Who Sees Penises At Denver Airport Makes RidicuList For 3rd Time

Via JMG: Yesterday & Today

Labels: internet, silliness, technology

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Pam's House Blend Joins Firedoglake

At today's Morning News Dump with Lizz Winstead, Pam Spaulding made the big announcement that she'll be folding Pam's House Blend into a subblog on Firedoglake. FDL founder Jane Hamsher:

Pam's House Blend has long been one of the most compelling and influential sites in the blogosphere. Founder Pam Spaulding has used the platform not only to speak out herself as a woman of color and a member of the LGBT community, but also to play host to many other fine bloggers who have worked with her to build PHB into a robust activist community. Pam was also one of my first friends when we were both posting at Daily Kos, before Firedoglake even existed.

So it gives me great pleasure to announce that Pam's House Blend will be joining the Firedoglake family of blogs. I think it's a perfect union - as the task of hosting a blog and performing the tech, legal and security work to keep it up and running becomes more and more complex and expensive, it will free Pam and her fellow bloggers to spend their time doing what they do best, which is blog. It also allows us to feature the work of a really amazing group of writers on FDL, and be tremendously enriched by the PHB community.

We wish her well.

Labels: blogging, Firedoglake, internet, Pam Spaulding

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Quote Of The Day II - Albert Mohler

"We've (Southern Baptists) lied about the nature of homosexuality and have practiced what can only be described as homophobia. We've used the choice language when it is clear that sexual orientation is a deep inner struggle and not merely a matter of choice." - Southern Baptists president Albert Mohler, speaking at this year's convention. Mohler also said: "Only the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ gives a homosexual person any hope of release from homosexuality."

NOTE: It's unclear if Mohler's comments were prompted by the demand for an apology made earlier this week by groups such as GetEQUAL and Truth Wins Out.

Labels: Albert Mohler, Quote Of The Day, religion

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: MINNEAPOLIS: Lesbian Couple Yelled At For Kissing At Twins Baseball Game

Via Minneapolis' City Pages blog:

Taylor Campione and Kelsi Culpepper -- two lesbian women from Minneapolis -- were recently scolded by a Target Field security guard for what they call a "brief kiss." After seeing the quick peck on the lips, the guard told the women that "we don't play grab ass here" and that they must "adhere to the 10 Commandments" while at the stadium. "That ruined our entire evening," says Campione. "We were super upset, we felt super uncomfortable." The security guard has since been reprimanded, but continues to work at the stadium, says Kevin Smith, a spokesman for the Twins. "That behavior just is unacceptable," Smith says of the biblical put-down. "That security guard has received both a verbal and written reprimand that will be put in his personnel file, and he understands that that is not an acceptable behavior."

The couple plans to file a complaint with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights.

Labels: assholery, baseball, Minneapolis, Minnesota, sports

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Today In Christian Love™

Unbelievable.

Activists in Kentucky are planning a peaceful response after two gay men with developmental and intellectual disabilities were kicked out of a public pool. A maintenance technician reportedly cited the Bible while telling the two men they couldn't swim at The Pavilion, a government-funded recreational facility in Hazard, Kentucky. "We own this place and can tell you to leave if we want to," the couple was told, according to the Kentucky Equality Foundation. "The Pavilion staff immediately entered the pool area and asked my clients and their staff to leave the Pavilion," Mending Hearts Executive Director Shirlyn Perkins recalled. "My staff asked The Pavilion staff why they were being asked to leave, and they were informed that 'gay people' weren't allowed to swim there."

Labels: assholery, Christian Love, Kentucky, religion

reposted from Joe

MSNBC - Judge Walker's Ruling Upheld & Gay Marriage Now 1 Vote Shy In NY

Via JMG: Crazy Eyes: Horrible Lesbian Activists Held Me In The Ladies Room Against My Will!

Today the Daily Beast reports on a 2005 incident in which Michele Bachmann called the police when lesbian activists spoke to her in a ladies room.

A few dozen people showed up at the town hall for the April 9 event, and Bachmann greeted them warmly. But when, during the question and answer session, the topic turned to same-sex marriage, Bachmann ended the meeting 20 minutes early and rushed to the bathroom. Hoping to speak to her, Arnold and another middle-aged woman, a former nun, followed her. As Bachmann washed her hands and Arnold looked on, the ex-nun tried to talk to her about theology. Suddenly, after less than a minute, Bachmann let out a shriek. "Help!" she screamed. "Help! I'm being held against my will!"

Arnold, who is just over 5 feet tall, was stunned, and hurried to open the door. Bachmann bolted out and fled, crying, to an SUV outside. Then she called the police, saying, according to the police report, that she was "absolutely terrified and has never been that terrorized before as she had no idea what those two women were going to do to her." The Washington County attorney, however, declined to press charges, writing in a memo, "It seems clear from the statements given by both women that they simply wanted to discuss certain issues further with Ms. Bachmann."

As the above-linked story notes, just before Bachmann's ladies room encounter, she'd been exposed by the local press for hiding in the bushes (with a bodyguard) to observe a gay rights rally at the Minnesota capitol building.

Labels: 2012 elections, asshattery, bigotry, crazy people, GOP, Michele Bachmann, Minnesota, religion

reposted from Joe

Via AMERICAbloggay:

Two gay men with disabilities kicked out of KY swimming pool: Told "gay people" not allowed to swim, per the Bible

Wow.  Sounds like we need a nationwide public accommodations law too.  I mean, swimming pools.  Could they pick a better civil rights example?

This is the problem with the Democrats' dawdling on ENDA the past two years (and now it's too late, since we lost the House).  We're far beyond ENDA as a community.  We need marriage and a comprehensive civil rights act, now.  And Democrats have no clue how far beyond them our movement has gone.  The problem is that the White House is only talking with the traditional gay groups, who no longer represent the community, treating the rest of us like diseased pariahs.  They don't like us, especially those of us who work with the Internet.  We're mean, you see, because we actually expect the President to be our fierce advocate without massive amounts of never-ending cajoling.  No cocktail parties for us.  The White House thinks that if they diss enough of us enough times, the repeated snubs will force us to be nicer to them the next time they drop the ball and don't do what they promised.  Wonder how that's working for them, what with an important election coming up and all.  As Joe likes to say, you'd think they'd be wooing the base about now.  Not so much.  They're wooing HRC.  But some day soon the White House is going to realize that HRC has about as many troops as the Vatican. And by then it's going to be too late.

I really thought we'd be working side-by-side with the White House on gay rights and all sorts of progressive issues, taking advantage of the huge mandate the public gave the President, and of the utter ruin in which George Bush left the Republican party.  Instead, we got someone who is better than a Republican on a number of issues.  I strive to be more in life than simply better than bad people on a number of issues.  I'd hoped our friends in the White House would as well.

Now back to Kentucky...

More from Raw Story:

"The Pavilion staff immediately entered the pool area and asked my clients and their staff to leave the Pavilion," Mending Hearts Executive Director Shirlyn Perkins recalled. "My staff asked The Pavilion staff why they were being asked to leave, and they were informed that 'gay people' weren't allowed to swim there."

"My staff told this man that what he was trying to do was discrimination. The man stated that what he was doing was in the Bible and he could do it. My staff continued to argue with this man, but was ultimately forced to leave. My clients, whom already feel ridiculed and different, left the city owned facility crying and embarrassed for trying to participate in 'normal' activities that everyday 'normal' people do," she added.

"This is completely outrageous, The Pavilion is owned by the City of Hazard and paid for by our tax dollars," Kentucky Equality Federation President Jordan Palmer said.

Via GP: GOP presidential candidates weigh in on homosexuality

Three Republicans who have announced their candidacies for president answered questions about LGBT issues this week. Herman Cain, a former business executive, said he believes homosexuality is sinful and a choice. Rick Santorum pledged his support for amending the U.S. Constitution to ban legal marriage for same-sex couples. Meanwhile, former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney declined to say whether he believed homosexuality is a sin, but reiterated his opposition to marriage equality. RealClearPolitics (06/08) Towleroad (06/09) CBS News (06/09)

Via AmericaBlogGay:

Two gay men with disabilities kicked out of KY swimming pool: Told "gay people" not allowed to swim, per the Bible

And they even had the audacity to tell them outright that "gay people" weren't allowed in their public pool.  And there were witnesses.

Via Lincoln's Wet Paint:

Hate Groups Victims of Gay Bullying?

Read this and after you are finished screaming obscenities, please read my comments.

Anti-Gay Bigots: Homos Are Bullying Us!

This takes the damn ass fucking cake, but it's no surprise to those of us on Twitter.

As the gay-rights movement advances, there's increasing evidence of an intriguing role reversal: Today, it's the conservative opponents of that movement who seem eager to depict themselves as victims of intolerance. To them, the gay-rights lobby has morphed into a relentless bully — pressuring companies and law firms into policy reversals, making it taboo in some circumstances to express opposition to same-sex marriage. "They're advocating for a lot of changes in the name of tolerance," said Jim Campbell, an attorney with the conservative Alliance Defense Fund. "Yet ironically the tolerance is not returned, for people of faith who don't agree with their agenda." Many gay activists, recalling their movement's past struggles and mindful of remaining bias, consider such protestations by their foes to be hollow and hypocritical.

Not agreeing over equal marriage is one thing. What these people are doing is quiet an other.
First I want to remind you that they are Hate Groups for repeatedly spreading known misinformation and out right lies against the LGBT population.
They use derogatory language at every turn. They rely on discredited "facts" and studies that are manipulated to fit their agenda. Several of the writers of these studies that they twist are coming forward to protest how the Hate Groups are using their findings.
They compare being gay with so many horrible things that I can't bear to write them. You all know what they are.
They blame us for everything under the sun that goes wrong, from the economy to natural disasters.

They say that homosexuals are worse than terrorists and should die. That homosexuals have no Family Values and want to make all their children homosexuals too. If homosexuals are allowed to marry, our kindergartners will be taught about homosexual sex. Homosexuals hate christians. Homosexuals hate God! Bullying is wrong...unless you want to tell a homosexual they are going to hell.

Got the picture?

Now you can lie all you want out here but you can not lie in court. The anti-marriage defence is lame at best and the courts keep finding in favor of fairness to all. 

They are scared. They know they will loose. They will do or say anything to win including waving the religion card. The FACT that the Catholic church is dumping money into the "war" and every board member is catholic may have something to do with that. The Fact that they are fighting about disclosure of funding in several states raises some good questions.

Homosexuals are taking away your freedom of religion. You will not be able to spread the word that God hates homosexuals. Homosexuals want to take away your rights.

Now they are the victims?

I think the fact that the Supreme Court allows for Phelps and the  WBC to continue to do their thing is proof that religious freedom is just fine. The only thing that will change is " If you receive public funds, you can not discriminate against the public." They can discriminate all they want as long as it is with their own money.

That we are "making it taboo in some circumstances to express opposition to same-sex marriage." That is not true. They can say what they want in their homes and house of worship. They can stand on the street corner and public protests.
There is no change in their freedom of speech or religion.

These Hate Groups want people to believe that exposing their lies, exposing their twisted "facts", exposing their hate toward gays, and proving that we are NOT all those nasty things is bullying.

They have turned themselves into victims....Not the LGBT population.

DON'T LISTEN TO HATE GROUPS! THEY GOT IT WRONG!!