Combined Gay News Headlines (T5T-1)

James Franco Awarded for Films Not Named Milk

There might have been Milk and Pineapple Express, but there was also The Wicker Man. And its for his career mistakes that James Franco was awarded the Hasty Pudding Man of the Year at Harvard, a ceremonial roast he attended that put him into a gold bra, eye patch, and one hand on a cow's [...]

Why the Orange County High School Really Banned Rent

Yesterday Queerty broke news about an Orange County high school whose principal allegedly banned the drama department from producing Rent because of its portrayal of gay characters. (No word on whether the AIDS storyline scared her!) But now Corona del Mar High School's Principal Fal Asrani is speaking out, saying her decision had nothing to [...]

Homographic: Who's the Bigger Queen … RuPaul or Tyra?

One's a woman with the ferocity of a man, the other a man with the ferocity of a woman– blink and you won't be able to tell which is which! With RuPaul's Drag Race putting the world-famous drag queen at the center of the judges table and Tyra looking less human by the minute, the [...]

Vagina Monologues 2009

Vagina Monologues 2009 Transgender Piece Included! Saturday, February 14 @ 7:00pm Sunday, February 15 @ 7:00pm Doors Open at 6:00pm Fresno State Satellite Student Union Students $5 - General Public $10 Click on Flyer for More Info

Fresno Stonewall Democrats Meet on Wednesday

Fresno Stonewall Democrats will meet on Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at Carrow’s Restaurant, 4280 N. Blackstone at Ashlan in Fresno. Dinner and social 6 P.M. meeting 7 P.M. Our speaker will be Les Marsden, from Mariposa who is a Democratic candidate for the 19th Congressional District seat currently occupied by Rep. George Radanovich through 2010. [...]

End of an era

Freedom to marry activities on the day of love

I was offline almost all of yesterday since, well, this Valentine's Day was a day off from online activism in my house. One of the things we did was a simple de-stresser --  treated ourselves to a spa mani/pedi and went out to one of our favorite restaurants, Sitar India Palace, that had recently reopened in a new location in town.  It's been a burnout month on the day jobs for both of us, so a time-out to be thankful for each other, our lives together -- and thanks to the Bush economy, the fact we still have j-o-b-s, was worth pushing away from the keyboard.

There were, however, committed folks who did put their activist hats on for the day of love. One couple was Robin Tyler and Diane Olson, who filed the first lawsuit to challenging California's marriage laws. Karen Ocamb covered the event for The Bilerico Project (she also has a ton of photos there).

Caption: Robin and Diane kiss after the couple's attorney Gloria Allred holds up and explains lawsuit challenging Prop 8.

Robin Tyler: "This is not about us anymore. If the [California] Supreme Court lets us stay married, it will be a hallow victory because we do not want to be the only ones on the freedom train. The Supreme Court needs to rule to overturn Prop 8 because what Prop 8 does - for the first time in American history - is take a group that is being considered equal by the Supreme Court out of the constitution. That is dangerous because that means that 51% or 52% of people can vote to take YOU out of the constitution. Labor out of the constitution - unions out of the constituion. It guts the Constitution of California. So what started out as a fight for all these years of loving couples all of a sudden exploded into one of the biggest civil rights cases in American history because now we'sre standing to defend our constitution. And we want you all to stand with us."

Yesterday evening in Uptown Charlotte, the Charlotte Rainbow Action Network for Equality (CRANE) held a Light a Candle for Love event, where participants spoke to Charlotte citizens and passers-by about equality and the right of all people to love and be loved regardless of sexual orientation and gender-identity. Also on CRANE's plate:

On Feb. 21, the anti-gay Focus on the Family and Exodus International will hold their so-called "ex-gay" conference Love Won Out at Central Church of God. Their event coincides with the Human Rights Campaign's Carolinas Gala and a joint conference of the Metropolitan Community Church and Unity Fellowship, two primarily LGBT Christian denominations.

...[O]n Thursday, Feb. 19, the grassroots group will host Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out, author of "Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth" and a syndicated columnist whose work appears in Q-Notes. In his presentation, "Pray Away the Gay," Besen will discuss the myths and lies of "ex-gay" organizations like Exodus International. The event will be held at 7 p.m. at Charlotte's Lesbian & Gay Community Center.

Elsewhere in NC, the elected anti-gays on the Rowan County Board of Commissioners plan to vote to support passage of a marriage amendment in the Tar Heel State (QNotes):

The Rowan County Commissioners will vote on the resolution at their next meeting on Monday, Feb. 16. The resolution has been added to the Consent Agenda, which precedes the public comment section.

Mike Clawson, a North Carolina state PFLAG coordinator, says he is disappointed Commissioners have decided to add the resolution to the consent agenda rather than open it up to public discussion by including it in the regular agenda.

"While it's primarily a tool to speed up the process," he said in an email, "one might say, in this case, it is taking the cowards way out."

Do the county commissioners fear debate? If they feel so justified in their position, surely there shouldn't be any controversy in discussing the issue out in the open. Maybe it will give residents a chance to hear bogus and ignorant comments about bestiality, or the continued conflation of religious beliefs and civil rights by people who should know better.

Residents of Rowan County can contact the board and ask that the resolution be removed from the agenda or make it available for public debate and comment.

Rowan sanctity of marriage irony alert -- the former interim director for the Rowan Southern Baptist Association was one Coy Privette. Coy, who was also a former Baptist minister and head of the Christian Action League of North Carolina made headlines when he was busted on "six counts of misdemeanor aiding and abetting prostitution by renting a hotel room and paying for sexual acts". The acts were with someone other than his wife. See my post, "Former NC commissioner busted for aiding and abetting prostitution."

Cleveland Plain Dealer Reporters Can't Just Stick To the Story

The Plain Dealer, based in Cleveland, OH, has been running stories recently concerning the murder of James Mason by his wife, Christine Newton-John. While it’s tragic that a woman would murder her husband by forcing him to exercise until he had a fatal heart attack, it’s unacceptable that the journalists covering the story feel it necessary to exploit the irrelevant fact that Newton-John is a transgender woman. Comments on the story have all been centered around Christine Newton-John’s transgender status, rather than the fact that the she bears responsibility for her husband’s death.

The stories are here, here and here.

I have written a letter to the editor expressing my displeasure with this disgusting display. Please go over to the website and submit your own. This kind of crap will continue until we all make enough of a stink about it.

Chuck Yarborough and Michael Sangiacomo's coverage of Christine Newton-John's murder of her husband is absolutely shameful. It is a tragedy that James Mason was abused and eventually killed by his wife in such a terrifying way. However, that is no excuse for the shoddy journalism which seeks to deflect the real story here - that a wife was responsible for the death of her husband - with the sensationalism of a transgender person. So what if Christine Newton-John is transgendered? How does that in any way, shape, or form add to the content of this story? How is it relevant to the death of her husband? It isn't. Mssrs. Yarborough and Sangiacomo both need to go back to journalism school and re-learn the definition of the term "relevant." By drawing attention to the extraneous fact that Christine Newton-John happens to be a transgender person, they are insinuating that her transgendered status is partly to blame for her abuse and murder of her husband. They seek to use the public's morbid fascination with transgender people to draw attention to their "journalism." In doing so, they encourage the continued hate and discrimination perpetuated upon our transgendered citizens. What irresponsible, cheap behavior! Shame on them for such sloppy, lazy work, and shame on the Plain Dealer for exploiting the transgender community for the sake of sensationalism and newspaper sales!

BREAKING NEWS- 7 Arrested in Chicago Valentine's Day Marriage Equality Protest

I just received a phone call that seven people were arrested as part of a civil disobedience action at the Cook County Vital Records Bureau in downtown Chicago in protest of marriage inequality.

As I played a small role in both the civil disobedience action and the accompaning protest by Join the Impact/Chicago and the Gay Liberation Network (GLN), I hope to provide more than a few details. It is now about 5 pm Chicago time and I will be in route to the police station as soon as I finish this sentence.

UPDATE: The names of the 7 participants in the civil disobedience action are:

Buddy Bell

Dan Ware

Danielle Karczinski

Dale Fecker

Nick Ferrin

Jeff Graubart

Erica Chu

According to Andy Thayer, co-founder of GLN, "It is especially important to remember that in these tough economic times, the right to marry has important economic consequences for many same-sex couples- access to the spouse's health insurance, social security and pension survivor's benefits, inheritence so that a surviving spouse doesn't become homeless after the death of their partner, and many more."

"A Democratic president gave us DOMA in 1996. If the Democrats are truly our friends, they will repeal it in 2009."

Update #2: As of 10pm CST, the seven participants in the CDA were still behind bars. I have been told that for various reasons, the earliest possible release will probably be ~2:30 am. This is according to one of the participants in the civil action who was allowed his one phone call. Meanwhile below the fold is a portion of a story by Andy Thayer of GLN detaing both the CDA and the protest today..

 

7 Arrested at Chicago Marriage License Bureau

Sit-In While Hundreds Protest Outside

By the Gay Liberation Network

Seven activists with the Gay Liberation Network (www.GayLiberation.net) and the Chicago chapter of the Join The Impact (JoinTheImpactChicago.com) were arrested today after they refused to leave the Cook County Marriage License Bureau in Chicago after clerks refused to give marriage licenses to same sex couples. 

Buddy Bell, Dale Fecker, Dan Ware, Danielle Karczewski, Jeff Graubart, Erica Chu, and Nick Ferrin infiltrated into the Bureau shortly before the protest and when clerks refused to issue Bell and Fecker a marriage license, Fecker yelled “We demand equality,” which was the signal for the others to begin sitting in.

Meanwhile, about 400 protesters rallied outside the Bureau and then marched to the Bureau’s doors with a chant that’s been popular here since last spring, “Obama, Obama, let mama marry mama.”  (The equal opportunity counter-point chant was “McCain, McCain, he’s just insane.”)

While the Chicago protesters explicitly saw their action as working to help sway the California Supreme Court to throw out Proposition 8, local issues played a role as well.  Despite having a state government completely dominated by the Democratic Party, Illinois doesn’t even have civil unions, let alone marriage equality.  Illinois, like dozens of states, has its own “Defense of Marriage Act,” and yet there have been no promises from the state Democratic Party leadership to junk the anti-gay legislation...

The sit-in protesters were not arrested when the marriage license bureau closed at noon, but they refused to leave.  Employees at the office indicated that they were prepared to wait out the sit-iners past 10 PM if need be.  The protesters refused to budge.  At 4 PM police arrested them for Criminal Trespass, a Class C misdemeanor.  As of 8:30 PM (CST), police at the local district station told waiting supporters that it would be several more hours before the protesters – dubbed the Marriage Equality 7 – would be released.

For more information about today’s protest – including post-release statements by the sit-iners – email LGBTliberation@aol.com

Freedom to Marry Week!

All week, people across the country have been celebrating Freedom to Marry Week. There’s a ton of ways to get involved.  Start with a visit to Freedom to Marry’s website and you’ll find great ways to take action and make a difference. Next, add your voice to the online discussion at the Straight Talk on Marriage blog. Finish by celebrating [...]

Oregon investigates whether Sizemore broke campaign laws

SALEM — State officials announced Thursday they are investigating whether ballot initiative activist Bill Sizemore violated election laws during his campaign to put five measures on the ballot last November. http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2009/02/state_investigates_whether_siz.html

F to eMbody at PSU (2/16)

Several LGBT & allied student groups at Portland State University have put together what’s shaping up to be a fantastic day of trans-specific events this Monday, February 16th.  The best part?  The day’s activities, titled “F to eMbody,” are free and open to the public!   Here are all the details: Workshop“A workshop that emphasizes how deeply [...]