Faiz Shakir, ThinkProgress: "Moments ago, by a 65-31 vote, the Senate acted to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell, the policy banning gays from openly serving in the military. The same six GOP senators who broke with their party during the cloture vote earlier today also voted for repeal: Sens. Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, Scott Brown, Lisa Murkowski, George Voinovich, and Mark Kirk. Two more Republicans - John Ensign and Richard Burr - joined with Democrats in final passage."
Read the Article
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Via JMG: Final DADT Vote: 65-31
Two Republicans switched their "no" cloture votes to "yes" for repeal: Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) and Sen. John Ensign (R-NV).
Friday, December 17, 2010
Via JMG: HomoQuotable - Dan Savage
"Let's make a deal: give us our full civil equality—repeal DOMA, let us marry legally in all fifty states, end DADT, pass ENDA, stop torturing gay kids to death—and we'll let you have your fucking rainbows back." - Dan Savage on yesterday demand by NOM that queers stop using the rainbow.Via JMG: Miami Church Wants Univision Fined For "Obscene Interview" With Ricky Martin
A Hispanic evangelical group plans to protest outside the Miami affiliate of Univision tomorrow because the FCC totally needs to fine the network for airing an "obscene interview" with recently-out Ricky Martin. Andres Duque provides the translation of their press release at Blabbeando: On November 2nd, 2010, Univision broadcast a program called: Ricky Martin... Without Secrets, in which he spoke of having his first sexual encounter when he was 15 years of age and that, after having slept with women, he had relations with men. Afterward he felt confused until one day when he was being interviewed he felt attracted to the reporter who was interviewing him. To the point of falling in love with that man. Presenting himself as being ultra-successful, showing images of his 10 million dollar house, riding a sport motorcycle through the streets, walking through the beach and then, showing images of his concert, in front of thousands of young folk, he presents himself as the role model to follow for the children who watched the program at the child friendly hour of 7 to 8 pm. As people who valor the principles that gave birth to this nation, we have decided to say 'enough' with these shows that violate the innocence of our kids and promote confusion at a time in which our youth are developing. Univision's complicity in transmitting this message deserves, on our side, our complaints before the FCC - the entity that regulates media in the Unites States - which says that any pornographic, indecent or obscene content can be reported as a complaint.Got that? Merely interviewing a gay person is obscene and pornographic.
Prêmio Direitos Humanos consagra Toni Reis pela defesa da população LGBT
O Prêmio Direitos Humanos, que chegou, neste ano, à 16ª edição, foi entregue nesta segunda-feira (13) a Antonio Martins dos Reis, o Toni Reis, reconhecido pela sua atuação na promoção e na defesa dos Direitos Humanos da população LGBT desde 1983.
Toni é presidente da Associação Brasileira de Gays, Lésbicas, Bissexuais, Travestis e Transexuais (ABGLT).
Participaram da cerimônia o presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, o ministro Paulo Vannuchi, da Secretaria de Direitos Humanos da Presidência da República (SDH/PR) e o ministro da Cultura, Juca Ferreira.
O prêmio é considerado a mais alta condecoração do governo brasileiro a pessoas e entidades que se destacaram na defesa, na promoção e no enfrentamento e combate às violações dos Direitos Humanos em nosso País.
A estatueta entregue neste ano foi idealizada pelo artista gráfico Elifas Andreato. Fundida em bronze com acabamento em pátina, base de granito preto e plaqueta banhada a ouro, a escultura chama-se “Maternidade”, e foi desenhada a partir da figura de uma mãe carregando seu filho.
Fonte:
Ministério da Cultura
Ministério da Cultura
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
JMG Quote Of The Day II - Jimmy Carter
"Step-by-step, we have realized that this issue of homosexuality has the same adverse and progressive elements as when we dealt with the race issue 50 years ago, or 40 years ago. So I would say that the country is getting acclimated to a president who might be female, who might, obviously, now, be Black, and who might be as well a gay person." - Former President Jimmy Carter, in a video commentary on Big Think.Via JMG: HomoQuotable - USMC Staff Sgt. Eric Alva
"He pretty much spit on me, my Purple Heart, and my 13 years of service. I would definitely ask Amos for a meeting to explain his comments, and I’d bring my Purple Heart with me. I wish Obama would invite [Amos] to the White House and fire his ass on the spot." - Former USMC Staff Sgt. Eric Alva, responding to USMC Commandant General Amos' comment that repealing DADT would cost Marines their limbs due to the "distraction" of all those homo soldiers. In 2003 Alva became the first Marine to be injured in Iraq when he lost his leg due to a landmine.
Via JMG: GLAAD Action Alert: Tell Apple To Stay Strong On The Manhattan Declaration
Two weeks ago, I asked to you to use the Family Research Council's own link to thank Apple for keeping the Manhattan Declaration app off the iPhone. (And thousands of you did.) Responding to yesterday's video from NOM, today GLAAD echoes that request.
The 'Manhattan Declaration' calls gay and lesbian couples "immoral," it calls the recognition of their relationships "false and destructive," and claims that allowing them to be married will lead to "genuine social harms." The original application also contained a quiz in which the "right" answers were those that oppose equality for gay and lesbian people. This application fuels a climate in which gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people are put in harm's way. Apple did the right thing in recognizing that this application violates the company's guidelines. Join GLAAD in thanking Apple for their action to remove the app and urging them to stay strong in the face of anti-gay activism.Sign GLAAD's petition to Apple.
Today's Little bit of Crazy Via JMG: USMC Head James Amos: DADT Repeal Could Cause Marines To Lose Their Legs
General James Amos, Commandant of the USMC, says the "distraction" of openly gay soldiers will cause more casualties on the battlefield. "When your life hangs on a line, on the intuitive behavior of the young man ... who sits to your right and your left, you don't want anything distracting you," Amos told reporters at the Pentagon. "I don't want to lose any Marines to distraction. I don't want to have any Marines that I'm visiting at Bethesda (hospital) with no legs," he said. He added that "mistakes and inattention or distractions cost Marines' lives. That's the currency of this fight." His comments were the toughest yet on the issue, after he testified at a congressional hearing that he opposed lifting the ban in a time of war. Amos said Marines in combat in Afghanistan sent a "very strong message" in the Pentagon's study released earlier this month, expressing opposition to repealing the ban in a survey."I have to listen to that," he said.Metro Weekly's Chris Geidner reports that Amos' comments have sparked outrage among pro-repeal groups.
Aaron Belkin, the director of the Palm Center, told Metro Weekly, "Among those U.S. Marines who know a gay or lesbian peer in their unit, 88.1 percent say that the unit functions effectively. Gen. Amos is cherry-picking the data to support his 20th century views, and everyone knows it." Belkin added, "Gen. Amos admitted [in his testimony on Dec. 3] that he is the only Service Chief who did not take the time to ask his colleagues in foreign militaries whether allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly undermines combat effectiveness." [snip]
Servicemembers United executive director Alex Nicholson, meanwhile, said in a statement that Amos's "commentary is moving from the realm of reasonable disagreement in the provision of professional military advice to hysteria-inducing absurdity on this topic that reflects very poorly on DOD and on the administration." SLDN's Sarvis went on in his statement to say of Amos's comments, "He had his say before the Senate and House. General Amos needs to stop lobbying against his Commander-in-Chief, the Secretary of Defense, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. If he cannot do that, the President should ask for his resignation."
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Via JMG: PFLAG Co-Founder Dies At Age 90
Adele Starr, the co-founder and first president of PFLAG, has died in Los Angeles at the age of 90. In 1976, Starr founded the Los Angeles chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, a gay rights and acceptance organization known then as Parent FLAG, now as PFLAG. In 1979, she spoke on the steps of the U.S. Capitol at a march for gay rights — a seminal event often credited with uniting a then-nascent movement. Two years later, she became PFLAG's first national president; she served in that capacity until 1986 and remained a forceful advocate for civil rights and, in later years, for the legalization of same-sex marriage. Starr served at the helm of PFLAG during the onset of the AIDS crisis, said her longtime friend and collaborator Terry DeCrescenzo, founder of another advocacy group formed to reach out to gay and lesbian youth. "In that time, a lot of us lost hope," said DeCrescenzo, 66, of Studio City. "Not Adele. And PFLAG became enormously important because it was rock solid.... She was a good woman. She'll be missed.Adele Starr: "We cannot understand those arrogant people who have decided that a heterosexual lifestyle must be imposed on everyone and that they have a monopoly on morality. The American way is respect for diversity with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
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