Tag Archives: LGBT rights

Moscow Mayor Promises More Hate

Speaking at an AIDS conference of all things, the mayor of Moscow promised that he will continue to oppress Russian homosexuals. Speaking at an international conference on HIV/AIDS, Mayor Luzhkov said: “So-called democrats consider that sexual minorities can be the main indicator and main symbol of democracy, but we will in future continue to ban propaganda of the views of …

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FL Judge Finds Ban On Gay Adoption Unconstitutional

UPDATE: I’ve deleted the previous post in this space with this excellent news. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman Tuesday declared Florida’s 50-year-old ban on gay adoptions unconstitutional — a ruling state lawyers immediately said they would challenge. The ruling sets the stage for Frank Gill, a gay man from North Miami, to adopt two foster children he has raised since …

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Burundi Outlaws Homosexuality

Mixed in with otherwise positive reforms, Burundi’s parliament unanimously voted to outlaw homosexuality this week. Box Turtle Bulletin has the report: The central African nation of Burundi adopted a new set of laws abolishing the death penalty for the first time in the troubled nation’s history. The sweeping law was seen as an important reform. It incorporated parts of international …

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Transgender Day Of Remembrance

Today is the International Transgender Day of Remembrance. From the site: The Transgender Day of Remembrance was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. The event is held in November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder on November 28th, 1998 kicked off the “Remembering Our Dead” web project and a San Francisco candlelight …

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Huckabee: Gays Haven’t Been Beaten Up Enough To Be Compared To Blacks

Huckabee: “People who are homosexuals should have every right in terms of their civil rights, to be employed, to do anything they want. But that’s not really the issue. I know you talked about it and I think you got into it a little bit early on. But when we’re talking about a redefinition of an institution, that’s different than …

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HomoQuotable – Rex Wockner

“The organization No On 8 failed us. Before the TV ad war started, we were up 14-17 points in the polls. Then No On 8 spent some $37 million of your money to spam the California airwaves with really lousy ads, while the other side spent a similar amount to spam the California airwaves with ads that were, whatever else …

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Obama Site Lists Lengthy Plan To Improve LGBT Civil Rights

From Barack Obama’s site, Change.gov: Expand Hate Crimes Statutes: In 2004, crimes against LGBT Americans constituted the third-highest category of hate crime reported and made up more than 15 percent of such crimes. Barack Obama cosponsored legislation that would expand federal jurisdiction to include violent hate crimes perpetrated because of race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, or …

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Obama Pressured On DADT

Over 100 high-ranking retired military officers have signed a letter demanding an end to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in the hopes the Barack Obama will make a swift move to repeal the policy. More than 100 retired U.S. military leaders — including the former head of the Naval Academy — have signed a statement calling for an end to the …

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HomoQuotable – Andrew Sullivan

“You will notice that the website of the biggest gay rights group in the country has one single mention – it’s a blog about a celebrity, of course – of the massive protests that occurred for marriage equality across the country yesterday. (A letter from Joe Solmonese tells us to be nice.) You will also notice that a handful of …

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Write My Name In The Book Of Love

Wow. Thank you New York City! Here’s a quick slideshow of the rally at City Hall. For full screen versions go here. Hey, what happened to that supposed “93% chance of rain”? Bah! Please put links to photos from your town in the comments. I’ve gotten a couple hundred more emails today but there’s no way I can get to …

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Tomorrow: Nationwide Prop 8 Protests

Go to Join The Impact for information about the protests near you. Protest times are staggered by time zone, making this the very first time in the history of our nation that LGBT people will be standing up for ourselves in every major city in every state at the SAME TIME.

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Open Thread Thursday

Where will YOU be this Saturday? There will be a Prop 8 rally in every major city in every state. Me and my peeps will be downtown at City Hall by 1PM to demand that the New York Senate approve marriage equality. No excuses. Be there.

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Uganda Promises Gay Crackdown

The menace of homosexuality is apparently getting out of control in Uganda. The Ugandan government said on Saturday it would strengthen anti-gay laws and step up police operations against homosexuals amid concern about the “mushrooming” number of gays and lesbians in the East African nation. “The state of moral health in our nation is challenging and we are concerned about …

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Ahmadinejad: Like Traffic Offenders, Laws Against Gays Must Be Enforced

Iran President Ahmadinejad was interviewed by Larry King last night, where he said he didn’t think the US or Israel would make the “big mistake” of attacking. Then King steered the conversation to gays and human rights. (Around the 1:40 mark.) AHMADINEJAD (through translator): What do you mean by human rights problems? KING: People protesting that they don’t have the …

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Brazil’s Prez Endorses Civil Unions

More progress from Brazil: Gay couples exist and we must give them legal recognition, the President of Brazil said yesterday. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also questioned why some politicians oppose gay rights but still take gay people’s taxes and votes. The President said he is in favour of civil unions. “We must stop this hypocrisy because we know they …

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The Five Worst Places To Be Gay

Via The Independent, the five worst places in the world to be gay: Saudi Arabia: Homosexuality is punished with the death penalty or, occasionally, a severe whipping.Iran: In 2007 President Ahmadinejad declared that homosexuality did not exist in his country. Should the need arise, however, there is a law against it carrying a punishment of anything from jail to public …

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Muslims Demand End To Bosnia Pride

Bosnian Muslims are demanding that this month’s first-ever gay pride events be canceled because they occur during Ramadan. Opposition to gay pride has been fueled by the Islamic magazine Saff. Columnist Ezher Beganovic has called for the government to cancel the festival. Calling the four day event a “festival of homosexuality” that is an affront to Islam, Beganovic warned in …

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“We Have Our Differences”

In the waning minutes of his address, Barack Obama made an acknowledgment of gay rights that seemed meant to both encourage LGBT followers and reassure others that he isn’t in our evil clutches: “I know we have our differences on same sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the …

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LGBT Activism Pioneer Del Martin
Has Died At Age 87

Del Martin (at right above in a photo from 2004) has died at age 87 in San Francisco. Phyllis Lyon, her wife of 55 years, was by her side. The co-founder of the world’s first lesbian rights organization and with Lyon the first gay person to legally marry in California, Del Martin lived a long, proud, beautiful life of service …

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Iraqi Gays: Things Were Better Under Saddam Hussein

Under Saddam Hussein, gay life in Iraq existed relatively peacefully in a “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” sort of vein. Since the US invasion and the rise of sharia law, gays have been routinely rounded up, raped and murdered. Most gay men in Iraq now live hidden and terrified. Iraqi officials generally refuse to even discuss the situation and those that …

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