Activism

PERU: Lima Police Use Batons And Water Cannon To Break Up LGBT Valentine’s Kiss-In Protest [VIDEO]

Gay Star News reports: Police in Lima, Peru broke up a peaceful gay kiss protest with water cannons on Saturday (13 February). Dozens of people gathered together to protest against homophobia. They held hands, kissed, embraced and waved rainbow flags. Sin Eqiguetas, a LGBTI website in Lima, posted pictures that showed same-sex couples kissing as armored police trucks loomed in …

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American Bar Association Honors Evan Wolfson

From the American Bar Association: Evan Wolfson, founder and president of Freedom to Marry, was a recipient of the 2016 Stonewall Award from the ABA Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity during an award ceremony on Feb. 6 at the ABA Midyear Meeting in San Diego. Wolfson is considered by many as the father of the same-sex marriage movement. …

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INDIA: Thousand March At Mumbai Pride In Renewed Hopes That Gay Sex Will Be Decriminalized [VIDEO]

The Times Of India reports: Mumbai: The amiable Sindhi lady, waiting at Kemps Corner signal, carefully propped up her shopping bags against her leg, and trained her phone’s camera on the profusion of colour that had suddenly poured down the road. “It is for gay rights, no?” she asked a couple of passing reporters. “Yes, I read about it in …

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FRANCE: New Law Forbids Food Waste, Supermarkets Must Donate Unsold Items To Charities & Food Banks

The Guardian reports: France has become the first country in the world to ban supermarkets from throwing away or destroying unsold food, forcing them instead to donate it to charities and food banks. Under a law passed unanimously by the French senate, as of Wednesday large shops will no longer bin good quality food approaching its best-before date. Charities will …

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Dan Savage Joins Ali Forney Center Campaign [AUDIO]

The Ali Forney Center’s campaign to buy Harlem’s hate church got a huge boost this morning when Dan Savage spent the the first five minutes of his widely followed podcast on the story. With Dan’s permission I have excerpted the opening to today’s Lovecast below. You’ll really enjoy this. Lovecast has over 325,000 subscribers. Hit the first link and donate!

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Ali Forney Center: Meet Harlem’s Hate Pastor [VIDEO]

Activist Scott Wooledge has created the below clip for the Ali Forney Center, whose campaign to buy Harlem’s hate church continues to gather steam and garner notice in the mainstream press. The clip opens with one of Pastor James David Manning’s foul epithet-filled rants that might be familiar to JMG readers, but it’s included here so that those unaware of …

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Freedom To Marry Launches Legacy Site As Model For Other Nations Moving Towards Marriage Equality

Freedom To Marry has relaunched its website to serve as an instructive tool for overseas activists pursuing marriage equality in their own nations. Evan Wolfson writes: What a journey it was – full of pain, injustice, loss, and sacrifice, but also, of course, love, hope, confidence, trust, transformation, and, ultimately, triumph. Through hard work, we held America to its promise, …

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UPDATE: Ali Forney Center’s Donation Campaign To Buy Harlem Hate Church Tops $75K In First 48 Hours

AMAZING! On Thursday we learned that Harlem’s infamous “Jesus Would Stone Homos” hate church will be placed to public auction on February 24th due to over $1M in unpaid debts. Late Friday afternoon the Ali Forney Center, which serves homeless LGBT youths, announced a campaign to buy the building and the donation drive has already rocketed above $75,000. AFC founder …

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Sanders Supporters March In Manhattan [VIDEO]

Yesterday thousands of Bernie Sanders supporters gathered in Manhattan’s Union Square and then marched down Broadway to Zuccotti Park, the location of 2011’s Occupy Wall Street demonstrations. Similar marches took place yesterday in about three dozen cities around the country to little to no mention by the press, including the New York Times, which yesterday endorsed Hillary Clinton. The video …

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BREAKING: Ali Forney Center Wants The Harlem Hate Church And A Fundraiser Has Been Launched

Yesterday we learned that Harlem’s infamous “Jesus Would Stone Homos” hate church has been ordered to public auction due to over $1M in unpaid bills. Many of you here on JMG immediately suggested that the community rally to buy the property for the Ali Forney Center. You may be able to help that dream come true. AFC founder Carl Siciliano …

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Guns & Restaurants: What Could Go Wrong? [VIDEO]

E Online recaps: How’d you like some shots with your pizza? SNL alum Rachel Dratch plays a busy mother of two in a PSA by the pro-gun control group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. The ad, titled “What Could Go wrong?” and released Thursday, mocks typical bright and cheery commercials featuring families. Dratch’s character, her partner and …

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TORONTO: PFLAG Launches School Posters With Special Pro-LGBT Message Visible Only With Camera Flashes

AdWeek approves: New posters have gone up in Toronto District School Board schools, which include 76,000 middle school and high school students. Launched by LGBTQ advocacy group Toronto Pflag, the posters depict a rainbow that spells out the LGBTQ acronym: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Straight, Queer and 2-Spirited. When students use the flash on their camera phones to take a …

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CANADA: Edmonton Oilers Become First NHL Team To Use “Pride Tape” On Their Hockey Sticks

From the National Hockey League: The Edmonton Oilers became the first NHL team to use Pride Tape, a multicolored tape to promote inclusiveness in sports. The Oilers used the tape Sunday during their annual Skills Competition at Rexall Place. “Many view professional hockey players as role models and our team felt this was a great initiative to let every person …

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NEW SITE: Stop Hate Dump Trump

A huge coalition of bold-face names have already signed on to a just-launched anti-Trump movement. Among those celebrities are Lily Tomlin, Rosie O’Donnell, Jane Fonda, Cynthia Nixon, Rosanne Barr, Cornel West, and Harry Belafonte. Via press release: A diverse coalition cutting across race, gender, religion, sexual orientation and party affiliation has organized to give voice to Americans calling out Donald …

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ALABAMA: Protesters Chant “Love Already Won” Outside Madison County Courthouse

Huntsville’s NBC affiliate is live-streaming a protest against Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore, who earlier today ordered a halt to same-sex marriage. The small group of protesters are outside the Madison County Courthouse where they are chanting “love already won.” Hit the link and watch.

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VIRAL VIDEO: Pennsylvania Man Fired After Lobbing N-Word At Anti-Fracking Protesters

Unsurprisingly, the YouTube comments are full of Trump fans praising the man. Via Raw Story: A Pennsylvania man who was caught on video harassing and shouting racial epithets at activists was reportedly fired this week. In a video posted to YouTube on Monday by photojournalist Tom Jefferson, a man wearing work clothes and a camouflage hat is seen approaching anti-fracking …

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MICHIGAN: LGBT Measure Cleared For Petition Stage

Over the objections of the ACLU and Equality Michigan, activists at Fair Michigan have cleared a procedural hurdle and will be allowed to begin gathering petition signatures to place an LGBT rights bill on the 2016 state ballot. The Detroit Free Press reports: Supporters of amending Michigan’s constitution to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity cleared an …

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GREECE: LGBT Activists To File Hate Speech Complaint Against “Spit On Them” Orthodox Bishop

A few days ago a Greek Orthodox bishop called on his followers to literally spit on any lawmaker who votes in favor of the civil unions bill due to be heard on December 22nd. The Guardian today reports that Greek LGBT activists will be suing the bishop for his “untrammeled hate speech.” Here’s a reminder of what the bishop wrote: …

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Empire State Pride Agenda To Shut Down

In an unanticipated announcement, New York state’s leading LGBT rights organization has revealed its plan to shut down. Paul Schindler reports at Gay City News: Citing its success in winning new state regulations protecting transgender New Yorkers from discrimination, the Empire State Pride Agenda has announced it will close down major operations in early 2016. In a press release issued …

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Panti Bliss Makes Most Influential Europeans List

Irish civil rights goddess Panti Bliss has been ranked at #12 in Politico‘s annual list of the 28 most-influential Europeans. From their bio: The outspoken queen captured the public imagination in a country that didn’t decriminalize gay sex until 1993. O’Neill was surprised himself. He charts it up to the fact that drag queens, often considered “fun” and almost “cartoonish” in …

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