Via GetEqual

Across civil rights movements of the past, the freedom to marry has been a stepping stone on the path toward full legal equality. Of course, there are many other such stepping stones -- employment non-discrimination, full and open access to public accommodations, open military service, etc. -- but marriage has always provided a strategic opening for more and greater civil rights for marginalized groups.

We're on the verge of a perfect storm this week in New York and we need your help to push for a few key wins this week...

New York State is in the eye of the storm for a few key reasons:

• First, there is a marriage equality bill pending in the state Senate, but which is being held hostage by anti-LGBT forces that are using President Obama's own reticence to embrace marriage equality as a way to override the overwhelming majority of New Yorkers who support the freedom to marry.
• Second, President Obama is holding a giant LGBT fundraiser in New York City, but hasn't publicly stated that he favors the freedom to marry for LGBT folks...stating instead that his position on marriage equality is "evolving."
• And, third, New York City's Pride is this weekend -- in just a matter of days, hundreds of thousands of LGBT folks and allies will be in town to celebrate the anniversary of Stonewall and of our tradition of standing up for our rights.

It's time for the President to evolve already. And, here is our plan to help push for that to happen:

First, please sign the petition that Freedom To Marry has created, asking the President to "Say I Do" to marriage equality. There are over 111,000 signatures on the petition so far, and we want to keep adding signatures in order to keep adding pressure on the President. We'll take that message with us as we stand outside the President's fundraiser on Thursday (more below):

http://freedomtomarry.org/GetEqual

Second, help us to put more pressure on the President by following us on Twitter at @GetEQUAL. We'll be launching a Twitter campaign shortly in order to keep the pressure on and make it clear to the White House that anything less than full support for marriage equality is unacceptable. And we're joining with AMERICAblog Gay to push the President to #evolvealready over the next few days.

Third, we'll be in New York City on Thursday at the President's fundraiser and we hope you'll either join us yourself or ask your friends to join us there. You can find information on the rally at:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=123451884405622

We hope that, through this public pressure, we'll be able to move the President to understand that he's falling behind the majority of Americans who see marriage equality as a key civil right for LGBT Americans. Through this pressure, we hope that President Obama, before cashing those checks, will think twice about how he can help make the lives of those check writers better with just two words:

"I do."

Of course, marriage isn't the only vital piece of legislation moving through the New York legislature right now. GENDA (Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act) passed the Assembly, but is stuck in the Senate. We encourage you to exercise your voice by making calls and adding feedback to the whip count over at Act On Principles: http://www.actonprinciples.org/gendanysenate/.

Get Out! Get Active! GetEQUAL!

Robin McGehee, Director

Via JMG: Tomorrow In Albany!

Labels: activism, Albany, marriage equality, New York state

reposted from Joe

The Juliettes "Hooray You're Gay"

HoorayYoureGay(.com) is the first international release from The Juliettes, Seattle's favorite all-woman, Pump Rock band. 100% of net proceeds will benefit equality education and at-risk gay youth. The Juliettes celebrate you.

Lixo Extraordinário (2010) - TRAILER OFICIAL

CNN - NY Gay Couple Waiting 61 Years To Marry

Via JMG: Lichtenstein Approves Civil Unions

Voters in the tiny nation of Lichtenstein have approved a version of civil unions for LGBT couples.

Gay and lesbian couples will receive the same tax, inheritance and welfare rights as come with marriage following a referendum in which 68 percent supported the law, Swiss news agency ATS reported. Parliament had all but adopted the legislation earlier this year but its critics, the group Vox Populi, called for a public poll. The new law is based on the Swiss model which came into effect in 2007 and therefore excludes the right to adopt children. "With this clear 'yes' to partnerships, Liechtenstein... is putting an end to the current discrimination faced by same-sex couples," ATS quoted Prime Minister Klaus Tschuetscher as saying.

Lichtenstein has a population of about 35,000.

Labels: civil unions, Europe, LGBT rights

reposted from Joe

"It Gets Better: CBS Employees"

Perform This Way (Parody of "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga)

Via JMG: MICHIGAN: State Court Of Appeals Rules Against "Gay Panic" As Defense Claim

A little common sense out of the Michigan Court of Appeals (PDF):

This case arises from the beating of Ryan Young. In the early morning hours of June 11, 2009, Young was celebrating his birthday with friends at a local bar. Defendant was also at the bar. Young did not know defendant, but defendant joined Young and his friends at their table and defendant and Young talked and became acquainted. At about 3:30 a.m., Young and defendant were dropped off at Young's apartment. Young testified that he went into his bedroom to change and asked defendant: "did you want to do anything or did you just want to go to bed," to which defendant responded: "yeah, I'm going to do something you fucking faggot."

Young testified that defendant choked him "so bad" that he "could not get away from him" and Young thought he was going to die because defendant "wouldn't get off me and just stop punching me." Young believed that he was fighting for his life. Young remembered defendant cutting off his oxygen until he passed out and that, when he came to, defendant was "just still bashing my face in" until he went unconscious again. Young believed defendant hit him "a good 30 times." According to Young, he never tried to touch defendant and neither of them ever fell asleep-except when Young went unconscious from the assault. Young testified that there was no discussion about flipping the television on or anything and that he believed this was because defendant had the assault already planned.

Read the full court ruling at the above link.

(Via - Pam Spaulding)

Labels: gay panic, hate crimes, Michigan

reposted from Joe

Cubs and ItGetsBetter.org

Decisão histórica nas Nações Unidas

Conselho de Direitos Humanos aprova Resolução sobre a violação dos direitos humanos de lésbicas, gays, bissexuais, travestis e transexuais (LGBT)

A Resolução (texto na íntegra abaixo) foi apresentada pela África do Sul em conjunto com o Brasil e mais 39 países de todas as regiões mundo, e foi aprovada nesta sexta-feira, 17 de junho, em Genebra, com 23 votos a favor, 19 contra e 3 abstenções. Veja como foi a votação:

A favor: Argentina, Bélgica, Brasil, Chile, Cuba, Equador, Eslováquia, Espanha, EUA, França, Guatemala, Hungria, Japão, Maurício, México, Noruega, Polônia, Reino Unido, Coreia do Sul, Suíça, Tailândia, Ucrânia,Uruguai

Contra: Angola, Arábia Saudita, Barein, Bangladesh, Camarões, Djibuti, Federação Russa, Gabão, Gana, Jordânia, Malásia, Maldivas, Mauritânia, Moldova, Nigéria, Paquistão, Qatar, Senegal, Uganda.

Abstenções: Burkina Fasso, China, Zâmbia

Ausentes: Quirguistão, Líbia (suspensa)

A Resolução pede que a Alta Comissária de Direitos Humanos da ONU encomende um estudo, a ser  concluído até dezembro de 2011, “para documentar leis e práticas discriminatórias e atos de violência contra as pessoas por motivo de sua orientação sexual e identidade de gênero, em todas as regiões do mundo, e para documentar como a legislação internacional de direitos humanos pode ser utilizada para pôr fim à violência e às violações dos direitos humanos cometidas por motivo de orientação sexual e identidade de gênero.”  Além disso, a Resolução pede que os resultados do estudo sejam discutidos durante a 19ª sessão do Conselho de Direitos Humanos, quando este deverá dar encaminhamento às recomendações do estudo.

Diante do voto favorável do Brasil, Toni Reis, presidente da ABGLT (Associação Brasileira de Lésbicas, Gays, Bissexuais, Travestis e Transexuais) disse que “a Associação agradece e parabeniza o Governo Brasil que, através do Ministério das Relações Exteriores e toda sua equipe, tem se destacado no cenário internacional na defesa dos direitos humanos das pessoas LGBT.” Reis acrescentou que “embora na ONU o Brasil tenha votado a favor da Resolução, o País precisa fazer lição de casa. Esperamos que a nova ministra das Relações Institucionais da Presidência da República, Ideli Salvatti peça para a base aliada do Governo no Congresso Nacional que também vote favorável à criminalização da homofobia no Brasil. Esperamos que não tenhamos que recorrer novamente ao Supremo Tribunal Federal para resolver mais essa questão, já que estamos aguentando já há 11 anos a inércia e a  omissão do Congresso Nacional que não vota a matéria,” desabafou.

Informações adicionais:

Toni Reis, presidente da ABGLT – 41 9602 8906

Carlos Magno, diretor de comunicação da ABGLT - 31 8817 1170

Irina Bacci, secretária-geral  da ABGLT - 11 9259 8621

Beto de Jesus, diretor da ABGLT para a região sudeste - 11 8593 9977

Rafaelly Wiest, integrante da diretoria executiva da ABGLT  – 41 9651 4204

Texto da Resolução na íntegra:

A/HRC/17/L.9/Rev1

Direitos humanos, orientação sexual e identidade de gênero

O Conselho de Direitos Humanos,

Considerando a universalidade, a interdependência, a indivisibilidade e a interrelação dos direitos humanos conforme preconizadas na Declaração Universal dos Direitos Humanos, e subsequentemente incorporadas em outros instrumentos de direitos humanos, como o Pacto Internacional sobre Direitos Econômicos, Sociais e Culturais, o Pacto Internacional sobre Direitos Civis e Políticos, e outros instrumentos chaves e relevantes de direitos humanos;

Considerando também que a Declaração Universal dos Direitos Humanos afirma que todos os seres humanos nascem livres e iguais em dignidade e direitos, e que todas as pessoas têm capacidade para gozar os direitos e as liberdades estabelecidos na Declaração, sem distinção de qualquer espécie, seja de raça, cor, sexo, língua,  religião, opinião política ou de outra natureza, origem nacional ou social, riqueza, nascimento, ou qualquer outra condição;

Considerando ainda a Resolução da Assembleia Geral nº 60/251, de 15 de março de 2006, na qual a Assembleia estabeleceu que o Conselho de Direitos Humanos deverá ser responsável pela promoção do respeito universal à proteção de todos os direitos humanos e todas as liberdades fundamentais de todas as pessoas, sem distinção de qualquer natureza, e de maneira equitativa e igualitária;

Expressando forte preocupação em relação a atos de violência e discriminação, em todas as regiões do mundo, cometidos contra as pessoas por causa de sua orientação sexual e identidade de gênero.

1. Solicita que a Alta Comissária de Direitos Humanos encomende um estudo a ser concluído até dezembro de 2011, para documentar leis e práticas discriminatórias e atos de violência contra as pessoas por motivo de sua orientação sexual e identidade de gênero, em todas as regiões do mundo, e para documentar como a legislação internacional de direitos humanos pode ser utilizada para pôr fim à violência e às violações dos direitos humanos cometidas por motivo de orientação sexual e identidade de gênero;

2. Resolve convocar um painel de discussão durante a 19ª sessão do Conselho de Direitos Humanos, fundamentado nos fatos contidos no estudo encomendado pela Alta Comissária de Direitos Humanos, para que haja diálogo construtivo, fundamentado e transparente sobre a questão das leis e práticas discriminatórias e atos de violência contra as pessoas por motivo de sua orientação sexual e identidade de gênero;

3. Resolve outrossim que o painel também discutirá a forma apropriada de encaminhamento das recomendações do estudo encomendado pela Alta Comissária;

4. Resolve acompanhar de forma contínua esta questão prioritária.

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
New York, NY 10013
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