 guardian.co.uk | Gay rights activists eager to hear Obama's plans The Associated Press WASHINGTON â€" President Barack Obama is finding it tough to deliver on big campaign promises to the gay rights community but is looking to reaffirm a ... Obama to Reaffirm His Support for Gay Rights Seeking to Quell Unrest, Obama to Address Nation's Largest Gay Rights Group ... Obama to speak to gay rights group at fundraiser |
 Washington Post | Rep. Frank says DC gay rights march misses mark The Associated Press Barney Frank, an openly gay member of Congress, says he'd rather see gay rights supporters lobbying their elected officials than marching in Washington this ... NewsPoliticsRep. Barney Frank, 1st openly gay member of Congress: Gay rights ... Gay congressman Barney Frank says Washington rights march misses mark Rep. Frank says DC gay rights march misses mark |
Hawaii evangelical churches plan election push The Associated Press They did manage to oust a half-dozen pro-gay marriage lawmakers and lead a successful drive for a constitutional amendment to reject same-sex marriages a ... |
 Memphis Flyer | Previewing national equality march msnbc.com LGBT-rights supporters, in Washington, DC for this weekend's National Equality March, have quite a weekend ahead of them. Starting this morning several ... Barack Obama: America's First Gay President? 2:00 PM Seattle LGBT Equality March & Rally Seattle PostGlobe - Top News: The drive behind LGBT Equality Weekend |
LGBT Equality Weekend hits the streets of Seattle MyNorthwest.com Seattle will be host to various activities and events this weekend as part of LGBT Equality Weekend. The Seattle marchers are walking ... NATIONAL COMING OUT DAY SUNDAY OCTOBER 11 |
 Los Angeles Times | GLAAD Report: LGBT Characters Hit New High on Broadcast, Decline on Cable Seattle Post Intelligencer LGBT characters on the Big 5 networks increased to the highest percentage yet - 3 percent of all characters, totaling 18. The report, which relied on ... GLAAD Report: Gay characters on network TV still on the rise 'Glee' heads up prime-time shows getting praise for diversity from GLAAD LGBT Middle School Kids Face More Harassment Than High Schoolers |
 SheWired | GLBT History Month Features Icons Throughout October SheWired It's GLBT History Month and for the fourth year, the Equality Forum is spotlighting 31 men and women who ... |
GLBT History Month Icons For Oct. 8-9: Harry Hay and Magnus Hirschfeld Just Out Yesterday's GLBT History Month Icon was a true pioneer in organization, activism, and community-building within the gay, lesbian, bi and trans community. in ... |
Memphis Flyer | The road to full equality â€" the National Equality March Gay and Lesbian Times The Foundation is dedicated to working toward the causes championed by Matthew during his life: social justice, diversity awareness and education, and GLBT ... TEP offers two ways to be an activist on National Coming Out Day Local delegation heads to the National Equality March in Washington, DC Road to Washington :: the activists speak |
As expected, the House of Representatives passed the Department of Defense (DOD) Authorization Conference Report, which includes the Hate Crimes Prevention Provision, by a vote of 281-146. It’s now off to the Senate where it is expected to pass with the hate crimes provision included and soon to be signed into law!
Below is the news coverage of this story, courtesy of The Advocate.
The House voted 281 to 146 Thursday to pass a Defense Department funding bill that includes a measure extending hate crimes protections to people targeted on the basis of their gender, gender identity, sexual orientation or disability.
The conference report for the defense bill, which is a melding of the versions passed separately in the House and the Senate, will now move to a vote in the Senate as early as next week.
“The week of the 13th, we expect the Senate will take up the conference report and pass it as well, and then the bill gets pushed over the finish line and sent to the President’s desk for signature,†said Allison Herwitt, legislative director of the Human Rights Campaign.
At Thursday's press briefing, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs pledged that President Barack Obama would sign the legislation.
Herwitt said the legislation should remain intact exactly as it passed the House.
“A conference report cannot be amended so it's simply an up or down vote in the Senate,†she said. “We are extremely optimistic.
The conference report kept several amendments that were offered by Republicans but dropped the most problematic amendment, which would have included the death penalty as a possible sentence for perpetrating a hate crime.
The two provisions that remained added additional first amendment protections to the measure and charged the U.S. Attorney General with providing guidelines for determining whether a hate crime has been committed.
Herwitt highlighted the work of Sens. Patrick Leahy, Carl Levin, and Susan Collins as well as Reps. John Conyers, Tammy Baldwin, and Mark Kirk as instrumental in ensuring passage of the measure.
"And of course, the years of work that Senator Kennedy did -- what a tribute that it's going to become law this year," she added.
Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, who passed away this August, and Representatesentative John Conyers of Michigan originally introduced hate crimes legislation in both chambers of Congress in 2001. The legislation was renamed the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act in honor of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old gay man who was brutally murdered in Laramie, Wyoming in 1998.
Below is the news coverage of this story, courtesy of The Advocate.
The House voted 281 to 146 Thursday to pass a Defense Department funding bill that includes a measure extending hate crimes protections to people targeted on the basis of their gender, gender identity, sexual orientation or disability.
The conference report for the defense bill, which is a melding of the versions passed separately in the House and the Senate, will now move to a vote in the Senate as early as next week.
“The week of the 13th, we expect the Senate will take up the conference report and pass it as well, and then the bill gets pushed over the finish line and sent to the President’s desk for signature,†said Allison Herwitt, legislative director of the Human Rights Campaign.
At Thursday's press briefing, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs pledged that President Barack Obama would sign the legislation.
Herwitt said the legislation should remain intact exactly as it passed the House.
“A conference report cannot be amended so it's simply an up or down vote in the Senate,†she said. “We are extremely optimistic.
The conference report kept several amendments that were offered by Republicans but dropped the most problematic amendment, which would have included the death penalty as a possible sentence for perpetrating a hate crime.
The two provisions that remained added additional first amendment protections to the measure and charged the U.S. Attorney General with providing guidelines for determining whether a hate crime has been committed.
Herwitt highlighted the work of Sens. Patrick Leahy, Carl Levin, and Susan Collins as well as Reps. John Conyers, Tammy Baldwin, and Mark Kirk as instrumental in ensuring passage of the measure.
"And of course, the years of work that Senator Kennedy did -- what a tribute that it's going to become law this year," she added.
Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, who passed away this August, and Representatesentative John Conyers of Michigan originally introduced hate crimes legislation in both chambers of Congress in 2001. The legislation was renamed the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act in honor of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old gay man who was brutally murdered in Laramie, Wyoming in 1998.
The following interview comes from Dave Zirin's column at The Huffington Post. In it, Dave talks with Scott Fujita, a star linebacker for the unbeaten New Orleans Saints. He is also a 2001 graduate from the University of California at Berkeley with a BA in political science. In addition to playing for the Saints, he is also is someone proudly raising his family in post-Katrina New Orleans. In the following interview, Scott speaks out about why he is supporting the October 11th National Equality March for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender rights in Washington DC.Dave Zirin: Scott, you made the decision to lend your name and endorse the National Equality March. Why did you choose to do that?
Scott Fujita: I think for me it was a cause that I truly believe in. By in large in this country the issue of gay rights and equality should be past the point of debate. Really, there should be no debate anymore. For me, in my small platform as a professional football player, I understand that my time in the spotlight is probably limited. The more times you have to lend your name to a cause you believe in, you should do that.
DZ: You've said to me in previous discussions that one of the reasons why this issue really resonates with you is because of the issue of adoption, and who gets to adopt children in the United States. Can you speak about that?
SF: A year ago or two years ago, I remember reading about an initiative that was proposed in the state of Arkansas. It was some kind of measure that was aimed at preventing adoptions by single parents. Now, the way I read that and the way that I translated that language was that only heterosexual, married couples could adopt children. As an adopted child that really bothered me. I asked myself, what that is really saying is that the concern with one's sexual orientation or one's sexual preference outweighs what's really important, and that's finding safe homes for children, for our children. It's also saying that we'd rather have kids bounce around from foster home to foster home throughout the course of their chheir childhood, than end up in a permanent home, where the parent, whether that person's single or not, gay or straight. Either way, it doesn't matter. It's a home that's going to be provided for a kid who desperately needs a home. As an adopted child, that measure really bothered me. It just boggles my mind because good, loving homes for any child are the most important thing.
DZ: Now Scott, what makes your stance newsworthy is that people don't really think of the National Football League as a gay friendly place. How present is homophobia in the locker room on a day in and day out basis?
SF: You know people do call it homophobia, and even that term alone is interesting to me. Because I don't even know how they call it homophobia, because that's a fear of the same. It's more heterophobia. It's a fear of something different from yourself. Is there still some of that in the locker room? Absolutely. People tell me, hey, that's pretty courageous. You come out in favor of gay rights. I don't think it's that courageous. I think I have an opinion, that I wish was shared by everybody, but I honestly believe that it's shared by more [football players] than we know because a lot of people just won't speak out about it. I'm hoping that what [Baltimore Ravens linebacker] Brendon [Ayanbadejo] did, and things like what I'm doing, speaking out a little bit, hopefully more people will step up and acknowledge the fact that hey, its ok to talk about this. Just because I'm in favor of gay rights doesn't mean that I'm gay or doesn't mean I'm some kind of "sissy" or something. That's the language that you hear in locker rooms. I know these guys well. I know for the most part, guys are a lot more tolerant than they get credit for but they're not comfortable yet speaking out about it. It's going to come in time. By in large, it's an opinion that's shared by more people than are realized. I just wish it was shared by everybody.
To continue reading Dave's interview with Scott Fujita, click here.
Last night the House defeated the Motion to Instruct â€" a procedural vote organized by Republicans to strip the hate crimes provisions from the Department of Defense (DOD) Authorization bill. The motion failed by a vote of 178-234, and the conference report now advances for a vote in the House tomorrow. If passed, the report advances to the Senate where we imagine a similar procedural vote will take place sometime next week. Please check back for more updates!
Leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services committees have agreed to include in the FY10 defense authorization conference bill a provision that would expand the definition of hate crimes to include selude sexual orientation, several congressional aides said Monday.
The decision ends a long dispute between the two committees over whether the annual defense policy measure should include the hate-crimes language, which has been sponsored over the years by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.
Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin has long viewed the defense authorization bill - which is considered a must-pass piece of legislation -- as a viable and suitable vehicle for the hate crimes language.
After the Senate approved a hate crimes provision in the FY08 defense bill in 2007, House lawmakers worried that its inclusion in the final bill would compel most House Republicans to vote against the measure. Those "no" votes, when combined with those cast by antiwar Democrats who oppose the annual authorization, ultimately would jeopardize passage of the bill, they reasoned.
Even if the FY08 bill could muster enough votes to pass, House Democrats feared then-President George W. Bush would veto it over hate crimes language and force Congress to drop it to get a defense bill signed.
But the political climate has shifted significantly this year.
President Obama, who will be the keynote speaker Saturday at the annual dinner of the Human Rights Campaign, the leading national advocacy group for gay rights, has supported the hate-crimes language. Meanwhile, House Democrats -- buoyed by an expanded majority after the 2008 elections -- approved a stand-alone hate crimes measure in April by a 249-175 margin.
Still, the hate crimes provision was among the last issues to be resolved during private negotiations by Levin, Senate Armed Services ranking member John McCain, House Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton and ranking member Howard (Buck) McKeon to reach a conference agreement, aides said.
With hate crimes and other differences in the two bills now resolved, the House is expected to make a formal appointment of conferees on the measure tonight, followed by a House-Senate conference meeting Wednesday.
The House plans to vote on the conference report as early as Thursday, with the Senate likely to vote next week, aides said.
McCain declined to comment on the details of the conference agreement Monday, but said he was generally pleased with the outcome.
"There's always things that you'd rather have or rather not have," he told reporters. "I think overall, it's something that we can support. [I'll] hold my nose in some places, but overall I think it's a good authorization bill."
Leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services committees have agreed to include in the FY10 defense authorization conference bill a provision that would expand the definition of hate crimes to include selude sexual orientation, several congressional aides said Monday.
The decision ends a long dispute between the two committees over whether the annual defense policy measure should include the hate-crimes language, which has been sponsored over the years by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.
Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin has long viewed the defense authorization bill - which is considered a must-pass piece of legislation -- as a viable and suitable vehicle for the hate crimes language.
After the Senate approved a hate crimes provision in the FY08 defense bill in 2007, House lawmakers worried that its inclusion in the final bill would compel most House Republicans to vote against the measure. Those "no" votes, when combined with those cast by antiwar Democrats who oppose the annual authorization, ultimately would jeopardize passage of the bill, they reasoned.
Even if the FY08 bill could muster enough votes to pass, House Democrats feared then-President George W. Bush would veto it over hate crimes language and force Congress to drop it to get a defense bill signed.
But the political climate has shifted significantly this year.
President Obama, who will be the keynote speaker Saturday at the annual dinner of the Human Rights Campaign, the leading national advocacy group for gay rights, has supported the hate-crimes language. Meanwhile, House Democrats -- buoyed by an expanded majority after the 2008 elections -- approved a stand-alone hate crimes measure in April by a 249-175 margin.
Still, the hate crimes provision was among the last issues to be resolved during private negotiations by Levin, Senate Armed Services ranking member John McCain, House Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton and ranking member Howard (Buck) McKeon to reach a conference agreement, aides said.
With hate crimes and other differences in the two bills now resolved, the House is expected to make a formal appointment of conferees on the measure tonight, followed by a House-Senate conference meeting Wednesday.
The House plans to vote on the conference report as early as Thursday, with the Senate likely to vote next week, aides said.
McCain declined to comment on the details of the conference agreement Monday, but said he was generally pleased with the outcome.
"There's always things that you'd rather have or rather not have," he told reporters. "I think overall, it's something that we can support. [I'll] hold my nose in some places, but overall I think it's a good authorization bill."
When David and Eric Akridge’s 6-year-old son, Max, set up a lemonade stand last summer, his fathers encouraged him to donate a portion of the proceeds to charity. “Do something good with it,” they said. Max already had a good cause in mind. He wanted to help make it possible for his daddies to get married, [...]
Charles Merrill, the gay rights activist and artist who has given thousands of dollars toward the National Equality March on Washington, D.C. â€" scheduled in conjunction with National Coming Out Day on October 11th â€" is now calling for a cancellation of the march in protest to what he calls “socialist propaganda from march organizers [...]
Everywhere we turn, we find evidence of a society where people are mistreated based on various physical, sexual (or sexual preference), linguistic, age and national characteristics. An exonerated Black man in Chicago, who had spent 15 years in prison, goes to a car dealership, puts $20,000 down for a car and is given the runaround by [...]
No comments:
Post a Comment