Tag Archives: LGBT rights

Hundreds of clergy from all faiths have gathered in Washington today to lobby for the passage of ENDA and the LGBT-inclusive hate crimes bill, which last week was renamed the Matthew Shepard Act when it was introduced in the Senate. HRC’s Joe Solmonese: “For too long, there has been a false perception in American politics that faith and religion stand …

Last week, Deb Price of the Detroit Press managed to get the Iraq government’s spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, to now condemn the killing of Iraqi gays, when she demanded, “Does the Iraqi government condemn the killings of Iraqis targeted specifically because they’re homosexual?” The spokesman responded, “Iraqi government condemn each and every killing — whoever are being killed. Definitely we condemn …

A male firefighter was awarded $1.7M by a Los Angeles jury for anti-gay discrimination he claims he suffered for coming to the defense of a lesbian firefighter. The firefighter had claimed he was forced out of the fire department after he supported his coworker in her homophobic bias suit against the department. I presume the male firefighter is straight, making …

Last night I attended the first organizational meeting of the Queer Justice League, where about 100 activists gathered to discuss the purpose, structure, rules and procedures of the group. During an interesting opening exercise, attendees were asked to give their first names, preferred gender pronoun, and a one-word description of their mood about the meeting. Curious, optimistic, hopeful, ready, excited, …

Rosanne Barr, for many years a staunch supporter of the gay community, made some rather surprising remarks on the radio yesterday. Sitting in as guest host, during an interview with black lesbian activist Jasmye Cannick, Rosanne said: “Never once in my 54 years have I ever once heard a gay or lesbian person who’s politically active say one thing about …

The bill to include LGBT people for protection under the federal hate crimes law comes to a vote on Thursday. I know I nagged you good people to write your representative on this issue just a few weeks ago, but please do so again, particularly if your Congressperson has not yet signed on as co-sponsor. The Human Right Campaign has …

“We were proud to join the many diverse families attending the White House Egg Roll this year. For the second year in a row, gay and lesbian-headed families participated in a great American tradition. Despite the cold weather and freezing temperatures, gay and lesbian families came and made their presence known, making our existence real to millions of Americans.” – …

It’s been a good week for the movement. -The ACLU claimed a victory in Okeechobee, Florida, a small town near the northern edge of the Everglades, where their federal lawsuit forced Okeechobee High School to recognize the Gay-Straight Student Alliance. The school had banned the group as a “sex-based club”, saying it violated their abstinence-only policy. -New Hampshire’s state house …

Walt Disney has announced that its Fairy Tale Wedding package will now be available to gay couples, meaning that LGBT folks can stage ceremonies at either U.S. resort or on their cruise line. No word on whether they are changing the name of the wedding package (which starts at $8000), but let’s hope they don’t. If I got married at …

The first meeting of the Queer Justice League will take place at NYC’s Gay Community Center on Thursday, April 12th at 7:30pm. This meeting will be a space for long-term ACT UP members and new young activists to come together and discuss the future of the fight for LGBT equality. If you want to have a voice in the next …

The Archbishop of Italy, Angelo Bagnasco, has compared the current battle in Italy for same-sex marriage to incest and pedophilia, saying, “Why say ‘no’ to forms of legally recognised co-habitation which create alternatives to the family? Why say ‘no’ to incest?” Why say ‘no’ to the pedophile party in Holland?” Italy is preparing for a vote on a civil union …

The Human Right Campaign, Nike, ESPN, and the Women’s Sports Foundation are jointly hosting a discussion panel on LGBT athletes at the NCAA Final Four competition in Atlanta on Friday. Openly gay athletes expected to appear include former NBA star John Amaechi, former pro baseballer Billy Bean, former NFL players Esera Tuaolo and Dave Kopay, and others. The press release …

“This vote is another nail in the coffin of homophobia. The defeat of the religious fundamentalists is a just reward for their deceitful scare-mongering campaign.” – British gay activist Peter Tachell, celebrating that despite vigorous protest and lobbying by British fundies (remember Monday’s video?), the Sexual Orientations Regulations was approved by the House of Lords yesterday. Zod saved the queens!.

Yesterday, with the support of a broad coalition of professional organizations, including many law enforcement groups, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) introduced the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which will extend hate crimes protection to the LGBT community. Today the American Family Organization issued an action alert to stop the legislation, saying that the hate crimes …

Early figures are showing that gay couples in New Jersey aren’t exactly rushing to be civil unioned. Only 229 couples have applied for licenses in the first month (although not all municipalities have reported in), which some activists say is indicative of a feeling that gay marriage will eventually come to the state, causing many couples to wait. If true, …

Here’s a bit of YouTube nastiness courtesy of British fundies who are planning to protest Parliament’s plan to enact a “Sexual Regulations” bill allowing schools to educate children about gay families. Unbelievable.

ABOVE: Irish Queers member JF Mulligan sets up. (Embiggen to read the banner.) Forget “Erin Go Bragh”, the real chant of today’s NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade was “Queers can march in Dublin! Queers can march in Cork! Why can’t queers march in New York?” Or at least that was the favored chant in the Queer Corral, which is what …

Openly gay Iraq vet Eric Alva appeared on CNN’s Paula Zahn Wednesday night to challenge Gen. Peter Pace on DADT..

New York Governor Elliot Spitzer has announced that he will not march in tomorrow’s NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade, the first NY governor to skip the parade in over a decade. Although Spitzer doesn’t specifically cite the parade’s ban on gays as his reason, his refusal to participate is consistent with his vigorous support of LGBT rights. Spitzer has promised …

“This kind of prejudice is going to continue to have a direct impact on our national security as we allow qualified gay men and women to lose their jobs for no good reason. This policy, and General Pace’s bigotry, is outdated, unnecessary and counter to the same American values our soldiers are giving their lives for each and every day.” …