A personal blog by a graying (mostly Anglo with light African-American roots) gay left leaning liberal progressive married college-educated Buddhist Baha'i BBC/NPR-listening Professor Emeritus now following the Dharma in Minas Gerais, Brasil.
Students Protest Against Gay Teen Derrick Martin Attending His Prom
While Derrick Martin's high school has grudgingly admitted that they had no rule in place to block him from bringing his boyfriend to the prom, some of his fellow students still don't want him there. In fact, they've held an anti-Derrick rally.
The rally’s organizer, Amber Duskin, sent text messages to high school students Wednesday asking them to show up. The senior said she asked her high school to return her prom ticket money and does not plan to attend because of Martin. “I don’t believe in going up there and dancing with gay guys like that,” she said. “It’s also not just him bringing a boy. It was bringing all this attention to it.” A group of college students also stopped by the rally but not to protest. “We’re for it,” said Carly Nobles, a Middle Georgia College student. “It takes a lot for someone to come out (as gay). “This is a small town. Some of these students are sheltered, and I don’t think they can think for themselves.” Martin said talk at school Thursday was that the prom committee may do away with the traditional “walk through” when students and their dates are announced as they enter the prom. He’s also heard some students are trying to have a separate prom.
Saying they are upset about all the attention, Derrick's parents have kicked him out of the house and he is staying with friends for now. Two bright moments in this story is that tonight Derrick will be the guest of honor at a concert held by the Atlanta Gay Men's Chorus. And Derrick also reports that Ellen DeGeneres has invited him to appear on her show.
Since the Public Policy Institute of California began tracking attitudes on same-sex marriage in the year 2000, residents in the Golden State were always more likely to express opposition. But the latest survey, released Wednesday, found that 50 percent of residents now favor it and 45 percent are against it.
The health care reform legislation President Barack Obama signed into law Tuesday does not include any of the pro-gay provisions sought by the LGBT community, yet the measure is expected to help thousands of people living with HIV/AIDS and others obtain coverage.
Other immediate effects of the bill include putting an end to insurers' practice of placing lifetime spending caps on policies and the end of insurance company discriminatory practices against people with chronic health needs, said a statement from the National Association of People with AIDS. (read more)
"I know your values, Madame Speaker, and I know that you strongly support ENDA. Now I want these young people to know what is in your heart. With the knowledge that health care reform has been achieved and that enough votes now exist in the House today to pass ENDA, will you work with Rep. George Miller, Chair of the House Committee on Education and Labor, to ensure that ENDA is passed out of committee and brought to the floor of the house immediately?
"I am writing this open letter to you and sharing it with my friends in the Courage Campaign and GetEQUAL communities, thousands of whom will sign a petition to you asking that ENDA be prioritized for passage now. You can read the petition and Americans can sign on to it here. Congratulations again on your historic achievement. Along with thousands of other people reading this letter, I wish you the best." - Cleve Jones, in an open letter to Nancy Pelosi requesting she move forward on ENDA. Sign the above-linked petition, which will be hand-delivered to Pelosi.
RELATED: Yesterday Barney Frank said that ENDA may be brought to a House vote as soon as mid-April.
This week’s passage of historic health care legislation will improve the lives of millions of Americans, including many people in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. To quote President Obama, “This isn’t radical reform, but it is major reform,” and while LGBT anti-discrimination provisions were not included in the final bill (pdf), the passage of health care reform is a momentous achievement that will save lives and will improve access to much-needed health care. Once reform is fully implemented, more than 95 percent of the country will have health insurance coverage, including 32 million who are currently uninsured. This matters to LGBT people because:
1. A disproportionate number of LGBT people are poor (pdf) and/or homeless due to pervasive discrimination. Extending health care coverage to an additional 32 million economically disadvantaged people will help a critically vulnerable segment of our community gain access to basic medical care.
2. Under the new law, adult children under the age of 27 will be allowed to stay on their families’ insurance policies, even after they leave home and/or graduate from college. Between 1 million and 9 million children are being raised by LGBT parents in the United States today and poverty rates for children of same-sex couples are twice as high as poverty rates (pdf) for children of different-sex married couples.
3. According to the Williams Institute , studies show that people in same-sex couples are more likely to be uninsured than are people in married different-sex couples. A 2006 survey of national data showed that 20 percent of people in same-sex couples were uninsured, compared with only 11.5 percent of married individuals.
4. A study analyzing the National Health Interview Survey found that women in same-sex couples were statistically significantly less likely to have health insurance than women in different-sex relationships.
5. Women will no longer be subjected to “gender rating,” a practice used by insurance companies to charge women more than men for the exact same policies—and under reform, maternity care will be covered.
6. Community health centers would receive an additional $11 billion (pdf), doubling the number of patients who can be treated regardless of their insurance or ability to pay.
7. Health insurance companies will no longer be allowed (pdf) to deny people coverage because of preexisting conditions. This provision will be a tremendous benefit to transgender people, people with HIV, and people with cancer, including the disproportionate number of lesbians who suffer with breast cancer.
Given how many lives and personal economies have been ruined due to unaffordable health care, this legislation will prevent disaster for millions of people. But we recognize that this bill comes at a cost. There is no coverage of undocumented immigrants, which is shameful. There are restrictions on reproductive freedom, which are outrageous and must be remedied. And the failure to include specific anti-discrimination protections for LGBT people is unconscionable. The final package also did not include a provision which would have eliminated the tax paid on domestic partner health benefits offered by employers.
LGBT individuals are entitled to health care free of prejudice and we must continue our work to eradicate barriers faced by LGBT people in accessing health care. We must advocate for a woman’s right to choose, a physician’s right to provide the care that he or she believes is medically appropriate and necessary to his or her patients without unwarranted interference from the government, and full and equal access to health care for all people, including equal access to assisted reproduction. NCLR is working with other civil rights organizations to protect and advance these precious human rights.
While this legislation is imperfect—a product of compromise—it is a foundation upon which to build. And while there is much work to be done, including adding anti-discrimination provisions for LGBT people, this unquestionably is a historic moment. President Obama just signed one of the most significant progressive laws passed in decades. This is a tremendous, hard won victory, and we must continue our work to fill the gaps left by this bill.
There is much to be learned by the long journey to passing this legislation, which teetered on the brink of defeat on several occasions. Our nation remains deeply polarized, with opponents of health care reform resorting to familiar fear-mongering and hate-filled tactics. Members of Congress who supported health care reform were targeted in appalling ways, and Tea Party activists hurled racist and anti-gay epithets at African American and openly gay Representatives. Our community is all too familiar with these opponents, the very same who support anti-LGBT ballot measures. However, this week we rose to victory and trampled their campaign of scare tactics and lies. That victory reverberates across the nation, and we must sustain this momentum, stay true to our vision, and not fall prey to divisiveness.
In the coming weeks, we will be put to the test again. Already, the debate over the reconciliation bill rages on in the Senate. We will see similar debates as President Obama pushes for comprehensive immigration reform and as our community fights for long overdue workplace protections and the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
We are in historic times and we are witnesses to and participants in groundbreaking, but still flawed, victories. We all need to engage, get active, be involved, and sacrifice like never before to make certain that the changes we seek and the gains we make include our community. This has to be our time.
According to a Pentagon spokesperson, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates will soon announce modifications to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
“I think he is prepared to offer a way ahead on that subject this week. So stay tuned,” said Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell. “Hopefully you’ll be seeing him later this week and (he) can address the changes that he is going to be making.”
These supposed changes follow the 45 day review Gates called for after he and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified in front of of the Senate Armed Services Committee. No one really knows what Gates will suggest, but one theory is the Defense Department will cease disciplinary hearings against gay troops who are outed by others.
Only yesterday we were cheering the news that Derrick Martin's Georgia high school had approved his request to bring a male date to the prom. But now his parents have kicked him out of the house. Derrick is staying with a friend for now, but has been getting kind messages of support from the LGBT community.
Many gay-rights activists are now posting the story on their Facebook pages. And an Atlanta filmmaker said he hopes to document the story. “I sent flowers to his high school,” said Randi Reitan, a resident of Eden Prairie, Minn., who sent a bouquet of yellow flowers with a rainbow-colored balloon to Bleckley County High on Tuesday to show her support. “We have a gay son. I wish he could’ve danced with a young man at his prom,” Reitan said. She also has offered to buy Martin and his date, who is from Tift County, boutonnieres to wear on prom night. Drew Dowdell from Pittsburgh is setting up a link on his Web site for people to leave donations for Martin to help buy the 18-year-old a limo ride to the prom. “I want to help Derrick have the best prom he can because I worry that anti-gay people in his school will be doing their best to ruin it for him,” Dowdell said. “I’m proud that he was willing to go to the school to make an issue about it.”
Vice President for Medical Center Clinical Affairs for NYU Langone Medical Center
Our health care system is broken. There is no perfect legislation that could ever solve all the problems we have today and make everyone happy at the same time.
We would like to share with you this open letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi from Cleve Jones, a pioneering equal rights activist featured in the film "MILK," creator of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, and Senior Advisor to the Courage Campaign.
I would like to express my deep appreciation and gratitude for your relentless perseverance in the passage of health care reform. Along with President Obama, your steadfast leadership and personal commitment has fundamentally changed the lives of millions of Americans.
You and I have known each other for a long time, since we first met as political organizers in San Francisco. I was proud when you were elected Speaker and proud again on Sunday night when you gave a powerful speech on the floor of the House of Representatives about the meaning of health care reform, eloquently asserting that:
"When it comes to health care for all Americans, 'All politics is personal.' It's personal for the family that wrote to me who had to choose between buying groceries and seeing a doctor. It's personal to the family who was refused coverage because their child had a pre-existing condition..."
This profound statement about the power of politics to change the lives of everyday people touched me deeply. And it reminded me of the opportunity we have right now to transform the lives of Americans again -- the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
As shocking as it may be to believe in the year 2010, LGBT people can still legally be fired from their jobs in at least 29 states of our country simply because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. That's why the Employment Non-Discrimination Act is so vitally important.
Once passed, ENDA would provide to all Americans basic protections against workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. As my friends at Pride at Work describe it, ENDA is "based on the labor principle that every worker should be judged solely on his or her merits as a worker" and is similar in nature to other federal civil rights laws like Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
We've seen the passion you've brought to the challenge of passing health care reform. Now more than ever, we need your passion and skill to achieve the passage of ENDA.
As you know, many Americans in the LGBT community -- especially young people -- are increasingly frustrated and cynical about the pace of progress in Washington.
We want you to show them that cynicism is not the response at this time. They need to believe in the process, Madame Speaker, and you can restore their faith in this process by moving expeditiously to bring ENDA to a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives.
I know your values, Madame Speaker, and I know that you strongly support ENDA. Now I want these young people to know what is in your heart.
With the knowledge that health care reform has been achieved and that enough votes now exist in the House today to pass ENDA, will you work with Rep. George Miller, Chair of the House Committee on Education and Labor, to ensure that ENDA is passed out of committee and brought to the floor of the house immediately?
Due to the lobbying of Chicago's Gay Liberation Network, Porno Pete LaBarbera's Americans For Truth About Homosexualityhas been listed as a hate site by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the watchdog group that tracks hate groups in numerous categories. Via Andy Thayer at Feast Of Fools:
After years of vilifying gays as disease-prone and child molesters, the website of the Naperville-based anti-gay organization Americans For Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH) recently became listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The Chicago-based Gay Liberation Network (GLN) lobbied the Law Center to list AFTAH as a hate group so that its lies against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people could be exposed to public scrutiny and condemnation. The listing appeared in the most recent issue of the Law Center’s quarterly publication, Intelligence Report.
The criteria that the Law Center historically has used to determine whether or not an organization is a hate group is not merely that it opposes legal equality for gays or others, but whether or not they intentionally utilize discredited and slanderous propaganda to spread lies about a group of people. By repeatedly using the phony “research” of defrocked psychologist Paul Cameron, who is roundly condemned by every major professional psychological association, AFTAH’s website apparently met the Law Center’s definition of a hate group.
GLN's Bob Schwartz:
“Getting LaBarbera’s website labeled a ‘hate group’ is important because it helps assist the political marginalization of a man who has dedicated his career to denying others legal equality. Through demonstrating against LaBarbera and his organizations over the years, GLN and others have made LaBarbera gain the reputation of being a bigot, and thus radioactive in many ‘respectable’ circles. This most recent victory, getting the Southern Poverty Law Center stamp of disapproval for LaBarbera’s website, makes it less possible for him to garner support for future anti-gay legislation and initiatives.
"Well, here goes. I really resent the term, but I use it because it’s recognized and accepted. I’m gay. From some seventy years of personal experience, I can tell you that there’s not much “gay” about being homosexual. For the first twenty years of my life, I had to live in the shadows, in a culture that was — at least outwardly — totally hostile to any hint of that variation of life-style. At no time did I choose to adopt any protective coloration, though; my cultivation of an abundant beard was not at all a deception, but part of my costume as a conjuror.
"Gradually, the general attitude that I’d perceived around me began to change, and presently I find that there has emerged a distinctly healthy acceptance of different social styles of living — except, of course, in cultures that live in constant and abject fear of divine retribution for infractions found in the various Holy Books… In another two decades, I’m confident that young people will find themselves in a vastly improved atmosphere of acceptance.
"Before publishing this statement, I chose to privately notify a number of my closest friends and colleagues — none of whom, I’m sure, have been at all surprised at this “coming out.” I’m prepared to receive the inevitable barrage of jeers and insults from the “grubbies” out there who will jump to their keyboards in glee to notify others of their kind about this statement, which to them will be yet further proof of the perfidy of the rationalist mode of life that I have chosen. Those titters of joy will be unheard over the murmur of acceptance that I confidently expect from my friends." - Famed magician James Randi, coming out at the age of 81 after seeing the film Milk. "The Amazing Randi" was a frequent guest on Johnny Carson and now spends much of his time debunking paranormal and supernatural claims.
Last week retired US Gen. John Sheehan ridiculously claimed that the Bosnian genocide of thousands of Muslim men and boys was the result of the homo-infested Dutch army. A group of openly gay Dutch soldiers has announced their plan to sue Sheehan for libel.
“Gay reproach is world news,” reads NRC Handelsblad’s weekend headline. “The fall of the Balkenende cabinet hardly attracted any international attention, but an American former general who claims the Dutch army is weakened by homosexual soldiers is world news – from Al Jazeera to the New York Times.” At the end of last week former US general John Sheehan caused outrage by blaming the presence of gay soldiers for the Dutch army’s failure to prevent the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.
The fallout continues in Monday’s press, with de Volkskrant reporting that gay Dutch soldiers are planning to sue the retired general for libel. Communication strategist Peter Schouten has launched the Pink Army foundation on their behalf. Via the Pink Army website. He’s looking for Dutch soldiers to bring a class action lawsuit against General Sheehan in the Californian federal court. Pink Army is demanding that he should publish a full-page apology in the international press – and attend a course in “sensitivity training”.
While Derrick Martin's high school has grudgingly admitted that they had no rule in place to block him from bringing his boyfriend to the prom, some of his fellow students still don't want him there. In fact, they've held an anti-Derrick rally. 
