Joe.My.God. LGBT News

Via the Washington Post: Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics announced Thursday that he was gay, breaking a barrier in Eastern Europe’s socially conservative political arena. The declaration, made via a cheerful Twitter posting, immediately gave gay rights advocates a prominent voice in post-Soviet Eastern Europe. The region — where openly gay public figures are a rarity — has significantly lagged …

Via NBC San Diego: An updated tally puts U.S. Rep. Scott Peters ahead of challenger Carl DeMaio by 861 votes in the tight race for the 52nd Congressional District. A final, certified winner will not be announced until Monday. After Election Night Tuesday, candidate Carl DeMaio led by fewer than a 1,000 votes, but both said they were optimistic about …

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Via White House press release: Five years ago, I was proud to sign the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crime Prevention Act into law – a law that strengthened the protections against crimes based on the color of our skin, the love in our hearts, the faith we practice, or the place of our birth. This law gave …

“We have been awaiting this decision for some time and welcome it not only as a tremendous victory, but as a common sense recognition that it is not for the federal courts to substitute their judgment about whether same-sex ‘marriage’ is a good idea or not, but to leave it to the people to make the decision about this fundamental …

“We applaud the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit for upholding the freedom of the people to define marriage as the union of a man and woman. The Sixth Circuit rightly recognizes that the Constitution does not demand that this modern redefinition of marriage be forced on the States. The American people simply will not accept a nationwide …

Read the ruling. UPDATE I: Freedom To Marry reacts: “Today’s ruling is completely out of step with the Supreme Court’s clear signal last month, out of step with the constitutional command as recognized by nearly every state and federal court in the past year, and out of step with the majority of the American people. This anomalous ruling won’t stand …

“Once again we see judges imposing their views of marriage in violation of the law and the overwhelming decision of state voters to preserve marriage in the law as it exists in reality, the union of one man and one woman. In Missouri, we need Governor Jay Nixon to immediately file a motion demanding that the lower court ruling be …

Which is, of course, a thinly-veiled political ad. An ad for the documentary aired on an ABC affiliate in Washington, D.C., Thursday. The documentary is titled Ben Carson: A Breath of Fresh Air; A New Prescription for America and is produced by a company run by conservative media personality Armstrong Williams. Williams’ company is paying for the airtime. The ad …