GLBTQ: Combined Gay News Headlines (T5T-1)

And God said: Let there be skin. Introducing ex-communicatee Chad Hardy's latest gift to mankind, the 2010 Men On A Mission calendar, now available for your purchase. Hopefully you're already up-to-speed with the behind the scenes peek. This is one way of getting the Mormon faith to fall in love with gays. CONTINUED Â» Permalink | 9 [...]

While you've got groups like Geoff Kors' Equality California signaling they're gonna wait until 2012 to push for a ballot repeal of Prop 8, Rick Jacob's Courage Campaign says it's still aiming for a 2010 effort. According to their latest e-blast, they just need to hit the $100,000 fundraising mark … in the next 60 [...]

We're not quite sure why there was a catwalk at the Rogers Cup Master Series Players Party in Montreal, but we do know it was well utilized. While other pro tennis players modeled fashions from Yves Jean Lacasse, the No. 3-ranked Novak Djokovic debuted a much more refined look. CONTINUED Â» CONTINUED Â» Permalink | 9 comments | [...]

To allÂ of you thatÂ love going to INTEGRATION,Â this Wednesday before INTEGRATIONÂ we haveÂ a special treat that’s going to be taking place, what is it?Â Â Well, for all of you that saw her back at Reel Pride, it’s Amy Tee! She is bringing her great comedy show to Starline at 8pm.Â The cover to see the show [...]

Ah yes, once again, Jamaica My Weekend, an event sponsored by the Tower District Marketing Committee,Â filled the property of The Shrine of St. Terese on the corner of Maroa and Floradora in Fresno, Ca. with family, friends, and guests to sit around, relax, and enjoy reggae music and enjoy all of the great Jamaican [...]

Fresno Stonewall Democrats will meet on Wednesday, AugustÂ 12, 2009 at Carrow’s Restaurant 4280 N. Blackstone avenue at Ase at Ashlan in Fresno. Dinner and Social 6:00 P.M. meeting 7:00 P.M. Our speaker will be Louise Bauer-Davoli candidate for Fresno City Council District 5 which comprises southeast Fresno. We will also be discussing positions on when the next [...]

Is it me or have these people gone over the edge and into a complete eliminationist stance? Peter Daou on protests at Obama's NH stop.

I am deeply concerned that the summer of 2009 has set the stage for bloodshed to come. The kind of rage we're seeing, based on Limbaugh, Coulter and Hannity-style soundbites, is dangerous. It's like a cancer that grows with time and we need to be vigilant in defending against it.
In that regard, check out this video from outside President Obama's NH visit. And listen for these words:
"Send [illegal immigrants] home with a bullet in the head the second time"
"Read what Jefferson said about the Tree of Liberty - it's coming baby."
[Jefferson said "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."]

UPDATE: Here's the interview by Chris Matthews of the man who was packing heat at the Obama rally in NH:

At Gawker, John Cook just says out loud what people are thinking:

But let's be clear: anyone watching the mounting rage over, of all things, health care - perhaps one of the most boring and complex policy subjects - has to worry that these people are going to try to kill Barack Obama. That's not an extrapolation from unhinged rhetoric, or a partisan reading of the imagined intentions of our political enemies. It's a rational reading of the anticipated behavior of a man who brandishes a gun at the location where the president is expected to imminently arrive while holding a sign that openly advocates his assassination. And the astonishing, breathtaking, maddening fact that he hasn't been violently taken to the ground by large men wearing suits and earpieces is an open encouragement to anyone else so inclined to give it a shot.
There are always people who want to kill the president. Generally speaking, they are politically marginalized, insane, and/or too incompetent to come close to achieving their ends. But in the past six months, people who would be inclined to do violence to our political leaders have been affirmatively embraced by the Republican Party and its messaging operation.

Because the daily updated signature validation numbers are of ongoing and intense interest for some of us, I will bump this updated diary to the top of the page each afternoon (Pacific time) after the previous morning's results have been released. All the action will remain below the fold so as to keep the diary profile slender. Last updated: 3:14 pm on August 11, 2009. Data are provisional.

August 11th: Eek!
It's clear that we need to make the most of time between now and the November election. Repeat this to everyone you know until they can say it by heart: To preserve the new domestic partnership law, vote APPROVED on Referendum 71. Sign up with Washington Families Standing Together to help get the word out. Here's why:

Totals as of 3:14 pm Tuesday, August 11, 2009:

Signatures in Volumes	Accepted	Rejected	% Rejected	Registration Not Found	Signature Image Pending	No Match	Duplicate
33,214	29,752	3,462	10.42%	3,117	12	203	130

Numbers reported are not final until all signatures have been verified.

If the referendum qualifies, Washington stat e voters supporting the new domestic partnership law will need to vote APPROVED on the November ballot.

137,689 raw signatures were submitted.

120,577 validated signatures are needed to qualify the referendum for the ballot.

The break point comes when either 17,113 signatures are invalidated or 120,577 signatures are validated.

The overall signature invalidation rate the petition needs to stay below to qualify for the ballot is 12.43% (17,112/137,689).

Definitions of the various categories can be found at the SoS's page.

Below is an update on the latest developments for Referendum 71 and Washington Families Standing Together. Many of you have been asking how you can help. Beginning today, WAFST will run weekly phone banks from the ERW and WAFST offices at 7th and Columbia in downtown Seattle.
Please send an email to volunteer@wafst.org to participate in one or more phonebanking days or evenings. Hours for phone banks are Monday through Thursday, 10am until 8 pm, and Friday, from 10 am until 5 pm. Additional questions or immediate scheduling can be directed to Kate Fredenberg by phone at (206) 324-2570. We also ask those who are able to bring personal laptops or cell phones to use during your phonebank session.
As our coalition moves forward, we ask that you make a personal commitment through both financial support and volunteering your time. Join us for this important work.
Sincerely,
Connie Watts
Executive Director
CONTRIBUTE
CAMPAIGN UPDATE: Washington Families Standing Together (WAFST), the campaign to retain the Domestic Partnership law, has had teams of observers every day from 7:30am to 10:00pm in Olympia monitoring the signature vote count. Please contribute today so that WAFST can continue to vigorously work on behalf of Washington families.
Remember, there is a very low threshold in Washington State to qualify a referendum for the ballot. Even with that low number of signatures needed, because so few were turned in by those trying to repeal the Domestic Partnership law, the Secretary of State must review every signature. WAFST will have trained observers there every day, three shifts a day, until every signature has been checked.
CONTRIBUTE
The signature verification process has three steps to it, and the initial numbers reported in the press and on line were based only on the initial step. After signatures are initially checked, any that appear to be invalid are re-checked, and can be added back as valid, if additional information is found. The third step is that counties are consulted to see if they have voters on file who are not in the statewide database. If so, those are added back as well. That's why initial numbers change as the process continues. It will take until the week of August 17 or later before this multi-step review is completed.
That means, if the Secretary of State determines there are enough valid signatures, there will be fewer than 8 weeks before mail-in ballots for the November election will start going out to voters. We cannot sit back and wait. WAFST is moving forward with fund raising, voter contact, social networking, media and all of the other critical elements of a campaign. The WAFST coalition now includes more than 130 organizations and continues to grow daily.
CONTRIBUTE
Today we ask you to make a meaningful contribution to the campaign so that we are all doing our part to keep the religious right from rolling back the Domestic Partnership Law. This law protects thousands of families all across Washington State. If Referendum 71 is on the ballot, voters will be asked whether they want to APPROVE or reject the law. To keep the law, we have to make sure voters know they vote to APPROVE it.
Key rights and obligations in the law include death benefits for the partners of police and firefighters killed in the line of duty, pension benefits for the partners of teachers and other public employees, victims' rights, including the right to receive notifications and benefits allowances, the right to use sick leave to care for a seriously ill partner, to have workers' compensation benefits if a partner is killed in the course of employment, to receive unemployment benefits if an employee must leave a job to care for a seriously ill partner and to adopt a partner's child without paying for a home study.
Phone Bank Volunteers Needed: We have already started phone banking out of our Seattle office. We are calling Monday-Thursday 10am-8pm, Friday, 10am-5pm. If you live outside Seattle we do have the ability to allow people to do phone banking from their homes and in the future will have other phone bank locations. If you would like to volunteer sign up by e-mailing - volunteer@wafst.org or calling 206-324-2570.
CONTRIBUTE
Together we will win
Joshua Friedes
Campaign Manager Washington
Families Standing Together
PS: Click here to download our approve Referendum 71 placard that you can hang in your window or post at your favorite coffee shop. Use this as your personal image on Facebook:

Referendum 71 voters will be asked to approve or reject the domestic partnership law.

REFERENDUM 71
Ballot Title
Statement of Subject: The legislature passed Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 5688 concerning rights and responsibilities of state-registered domestic partners [and voters voters have filed a sufficient referendum petition on this bill].
Concise Description: This bill would expand the rights, responsibilities, and obligations accorded state-registered same-sex and senior domestic partners to be equivalent to those of married spouses, except that a domestic partnership is not a marriage.
Should this bill be:
Approved ___
Rejected ___
Ballot Measure Summary
Same-sex couples, or any couple that includes one person age sixty-two or older, may register as a domestic partnership with the state. Registered domestic partnerships are not marriages, and marriage is prohibited except between one man and one woman. This bill would expand the rights, responsibilities, and obligations of registered domestic partners and their families to include all rights, responsibilities, and obligations granted by or imposed by state law on married couples and their families.

DONATE TO WASHINGTON FAMILIES STANDING TOGETHER !
PRINT AND DISTRIBUTE HANDOUTS AND PLACARDS !

I learned not too long ago that I will receive a 2009 Courage Award from the New York City Anti-Violence Project "for the significant contributions you have made to raising awareness about anti-violence work." I really appreciate the recognition of the LGBT blogosphere and its role in the fight for civil equality.

The New York City Anti-Violence Project (AVP) will hold its 13^th annual Courage Awards on Monday, November 9, 2009. AVP’s Courage Awards were created over a decade ago to honor outstanding individuals, organizations and corporations whose work on behalf of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and HIV-affected (LGBTQH) communities—particularly on behalf of victims and survivors of bias and hate violence, police misconduct, domestic violence, sexual assault, rape and police misconduct—has made a profound impact on all of our lives. This year’s Courage Awards will be held on Monday, November 9, 2009. The evening includes cocktails and a light supper for approximately 400 attendees and a program featuring the award presentations.

At this year’s event, AVP has the privilege of honoring Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Tony Kushner, author of Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes and The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism With a Key to the Scriptures, for his truthful and cutting edge political writing and analysis; Weblog creators Bil Browning (Bilerico.com), Joe Jervis (Joe.My.God.blogspot.com), Pam Spaulding (pamshouseblend.com) and Andy Towle, (towleroad.com) in recognition of the impact of LGBTQH weblogs have made in the fight for civil rights and against violence in our communities; and Clifford Chance, for their commitment to LGBTQH rights and extensive work on behalf of the communities AVP serves.
AVP was founded 29 years ago as a community response to a number of hate-motivated incidents targeting gay men in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood. Today, AVP is the nation's largest victim services assistance and advocacy agency for the LGBTQH communities and the coordinator of the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs.
Past Courage Award honorees are: The Ali Forney Center, Rose Arce / CNN, “Bash’d: A Gay Rap Opera,” BRAVO TV, Sam Champion /Eyewitness News and Good Morning America, Alan Cumming, Lea DeLaria, Deutsche Bank, New York State Senator Thomas K. Duane, Verna Eggleston, Eve Ensler, Law & Order: SVU , Linda Fairstein, Harvey Fierstein, HBO, Richard Haymes, Barbara Hughes, Howie Katz, Surina Khan, Bruce Kogan, New York State Assembly Member Deborah Glick, In The Life, Matt Foreman, Mercedes-Benz USA LLC, Kenneth Monteiro, MTV: Music Television, Honorable Gavin Newsom, NY1 News, NYPD Special Victims Unit, NYS Assembly Member Daniel J. O’ Donnell, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, NYPD Sally Osborn, New York City Council Member Bill Perkins, New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, People of Color in Crisis, Inc., Frank Rich, Edgar Rodriguez and GOAL (Gay Officers Action League), Mariana Romo-Carmona, Safe Horizon, Cristina Saralegui, Regina Shavers, NYPD Detective Tosano (Tony) Simonetti, Judy Shepard, Richard Socarides, Showtime Networks, Inc., Stonewall Community Foundation, Sundance Channel, Tim Sweeney, Emil Wilbekin, Willow House and George C. Wolfe.

There's a lot of hard work and committed activism going on in virtual space, a medium that is alternately rendered invisible and deemed irrelevant by political groups and institutions, or seen as troublesome or a threat, depending on which way the wind is blowing on a given day. It is gratifying and humbling considering that it's also also a movement without a structural permanent base of support to legitimize it.

Very few bloggers can make a living doing what we do, and it's almost frightening that such a tenuous slice of the movement can garner such kudos when any of us, due to life circumstances, might just have to put the keyboard down and walk away leaving a void.

All we have to do is look at Steve Gilliard, a bright light in the progressive blogosphere, who was here one day writing and then gone.

But while we're here, we are working hard to make a difference for the future in the real world.

The Portland Art Museum in collaboration with Bottlenotes will be hosting a wine tasting extravaganza Thursday, August 13th in which a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Basic Rights Oregon. With over 80 of the finest wines from around the world, come ready to experience a night full of flavor and fun!

Tuesday’s Life & Entertainment Post includes: A Coming out article; ‘Ask A Gay Family’ videos; Life as Dad & Daddy; An interview with filmmaker Pedro AlmodÃ³var; Gay wrestling; A lawsuit by a former TV contestant; And a silly speedo controversy. Coming Out Stories: Leslie Davis on Coming out Family Life: - A couple of great videos: Ask A [...]

Tuesday’s News Post includes stories on: A looming HIV/AIDS crisis; Executive Powers; Same-sex marriage and Ireland; Gay clergy in England; a gay controversy in Israel; Details on the Tim Hortons controversy; how gays are good for democracy in India; and even a historical gay political scandal. Health Watch: - Huge Challenges Ahead in Fight Against AIDS: Experts - [...]

Monday’s Entertainment Post includes: An interesting idea for G.I. Joe; The sex scandal behind Evelyn Waugh’s novel; Colin and Justin’s latest project; An interview with a charismatic ballet star; And the latest on Perez Hilton… Bookworm Extract: Aristocrats, footmen, frightened king and curious writer. A new book uncovers the sex scandal behind Evelyn Waugh novel — [...]

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Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Combined Gay News Headlines (T5T-1)

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