GLBTQ: Combined Gay News Headlines (T5T-1)

ON OUR GAYDAR â€" News, notes, clicks, and quips from around the web. → It's Clinton v. Bush, the debate. Tickets for the February event go on sale Sunday. CONTINUED Â» Permalink | Post a comment | Add to del.icio.us Tagged: alanis, Alanis Morissette, Atlanta, Bill Clinton, craig gross, Dan DeLong, Education, George Bush, Gossip Girl, Health, jason harper, [...]

Well, he's come out and said it: Xem Van Adams wants his own television show. CONTINUED Â» Permalink | 1 comment | Add to del.icio.us Tagged: fame, Internet Celebrities, xem van adams, YouTube

It's bad enough when heteros don't know about our equality struggle. But when other gay Americans just don't care enough to learn? CONTINUED Â» Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us Tagged: Leffew Family, Maine, Marriage, question 1, YouTube

From our friends at EQCA comes this statement:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 4, 2009
CONTACT: Vaishalee Raja
PHONE: (916) 284-9187 EMAIL: vaishalee@eqca.org
Equality California Devastated by Passage of Maine's Question 1; Elated by victories in Kalamazoo and Washington State
San Francisco -- A slim majority of Maine residents voted to repeal a law legalizing the freedom to marry for the state's same-sex couples. Maine's legislature passed a bill legalizing marriage for same-sex couples last May, which Maine's Governor signed into law while voters in Kalamazoo and Washington State rejected measures that would have stripped LGBT people of non-discrimination protections and domestic partnership, respectively.
In response, Equality California Executive Director Geoff Kors released the following statement:

"Today's loss in Maine is a devastating blow to all who believe in equality, especially to same-sex couples and their families. The efforts of anti-gay extremists to strip same-sex couples and their families of fundamental freedoms are not only abhorrent, but they have real and damaging consequences. Their discriminatory agenda fueled by dishonest attacks and scare tactics is dangerous and embodies the archaic politics of division. Although this is a painful setback, we should also look at the progress that was made. Support for the freedom to marry has grown significantly over the past several years in Maine, in California and nationally, and the victories in Kalamazoo and Washington -- where anti-equality forces ran despicable campaigns and lost -- demonstrate how far we have come and give us strength and hope despite the setback in Maine.
"But while we are making progress, it is also clear that none of these measures should ever have been allowed to go to the voters. Enough is enough. A minority group should never have to defend its rights at the ballot box. We call on the Obama administration that was absent in a critical fight for the soul of our nation to speak up forcibly against these assaults on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans and to immediately join Equality California and others in asking the federal courts to rule that it is unconstitutional to allow a majority to take
away rights from a minority. Millions of lives are being damaged and hundreds of eds of millions of dollars spent needlessly, and it is time for our President and Congressional leaders to demonstrate leadership.
"Equality California is grateful to the thousands of EQCA members who donated and volunteered with us in knocking on doors in Maine and in making more than 60,000 phone calls to Washington and Maine from our phone banks. The struggle for equality is just that -- a struggle, and we are in this for the long haul, until every lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender person achieves full and true equality."

Equality California (EQCA) is the largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender-rights advocacy organization in California. In the past decade, EQCA has strategically moved California from a state with extremely limited legal protections for LGBT individuals to a state with some of the most comprehensive civil-rights protections in the nation.
EQCA has passed over 60 pieces of legislation and continues to advance equality through legislative advocacy, public education and community empowerment. www.eqca.org

Here:

Following mixed night for LGBT equality, Lambda Legal renews call for hope and action
"Ballot measures driven by prejudice are poison; honesty and equality are the essential cure."
(Los Angeles, November 4, 2009) -
In response to last night's apparent wins in Washington State and Kalamazoo, Michigan, and loss in Maine, Lambda Legal Marriage Project Director Jennifer C. Pizer released the following statement:

"Just a few days after Halloween, we see how effective our opponents' trick-or-treat strategy truly was -- going state to state, shouting 'boo' at voters to scare them into voting away the rights of their gay neighbors. Forcing any minority to endure a barrage of lies and insults, ending with a vote that denies them full citizenship, is cruel - it's not the government our founders envisioned. Ballot measures driven by prejudice are poison; honesty and equality are the essential cure.
"So, as with last year's election, the LGBT community must confront a bittersweet moment -- another devastating yet razor-thin setback in Maine, together with galvanizing wins in Washington State and Kalamazoo - just as a year ago we woke up to find our rights stripped away in California by Proposition 8, but a hopeful new day in the White House. As heartbreaking as that narrow loss was, it spurred a massive new wave of engagement nationwide that is helping us win full equality step by step.
"We now have marriage equality in five states, 18,000 married lesbian and gay couples in California, and the first federal law protecting against antigay abuse. Based on the vote tally so far it's encouraging and important that Washington State voters preserved that state's comprehensive domestic partners legislation. They were able to pick their way through the muck of lies and misinformation spread by our opponents -- funded, as in the Prop 8 campaign, by a massive infusion of cash from out-of-state religious groups. And the good news from Kalamazoo, Michigan confirms that positive change continues in the Midwest, as well as on the coasts and in Congress. While we don't win every battle, there's no denying that time is on our side and equality is prevailing. "We also congratulate Protect Maine Equality and Washington Families Standing Together for fighting valiantly against intolerance. Their campaign workers and volunteers fought the dishonesty and is information door to door and dollar to dollar. Their integrity and determination are inspiring as our battle for equality continues."

###
Contact: Jason P??rez Howe, Office: 213-382-7600 ext.247; Cell:
415-595-9245 or Lisa Hardaway 973-902-9298; lhardaway@lambdalegal.org
Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition
of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and
those with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work.
Lisa Hardaway
Media Relations Director
Lambda Legal
120 Wall Street
New York, New York 10005
p:212-809-8585 X-266
lhardaway@lambdalegal.org
www.lambdalegal.org
Lambda Legal: Making the Case for Equality

In terms of looking at election day 2009 as a mixed bag, with the highs of Kalamazoo's anti-discrimination proposition and Washington State's affirmation of R71, the small but significant gains in local races by openly gal/open ally pols, and the awful empty feeling of watching mob rule win again, this time in Maine, it's always the first inclination to place the blame at someone's door. The fact is that Protect Maine Equality/No On 1 did everything right, had a voter base they thought could be swayed by making gay families visible, straight allies present, and putting boots on the ground.

And it didn't work. I think overall, Maine may just not have been winnable, because we understimate the power of cultural intransigence in accepting civil equality when it comes to LGBTs and marriage.

What we all have to do is take a look in the mirror to see what needs to happen to change this -- come out of the closet, live out of the closet, be who you are - a neighbor, co-worker and friend claiming your personal equality as their peer, and to be willing to be sacrifice the comfort of the closet rather than point fingers at gay orgs, the President, Congress, the voting homophobes. As long as our numbers remain artificially small because of that closet, we will fail.

And even then, our numbers will not be significant -- we need allies to be out, proud and our open advocates. There were many there in Maine and Washington. But you have to figure they are a committed slice of people. There were hundreds of thousands of voters who felt the same way, but fail to "come out" and be visible as an ally. LGBTs and allies need to be visible to their lawmakers at every level. As I've asked many times on the Blend, why is it we can draw thousands to a Pride Day, but only muster 200 to lobby their lawmakers face-to-face. Our priorities are screwed.

At Down With Tyranny, Howie Klein features these words from Doug Kahn:

A question for all the people in Maine (and in the 30 other elections) who rejected equality for LGBT people. What in flipping hell is wrong with you straight people? And what's wrong with you, all you straight people who won't speak up against the inhumanity of other straight people, you who let pass all the hate speech in day-to-day life?
...I hope your grandchildren read about this in school, come home and ask, with an attitude of disbelief, what you did about the injustice. You did something, didn't you grandma, grandpa? Your well-deserved destiny is the shame and disgust that comes from your loved ones.

These are harsh words for my taste, but I feel the same way, tempered by a need to frame it as a jumping off point for an actual solution. It's an honest question -- why are the these allies silent, how do they differ from those who have made the commitment to full civil equality? A discussion about why it's so hard to be more assertive as advocates to me is a worthwhile topic to work through.

Without all of our allies out of the closet -- those in elected positions, those with access, and those whose voices are forces to be reckoned with, we'll continue to see the unthinkable -- unconstitutional mob rule over the civil rights of a minority group.

Really, some allies may simply following the President's lead -- he was so uninterested in what was going on that he claimed not to watch the election returns. With civil rights on the ballot. What does that tell you about commitment, if you're a potential ally thinking "what can I do to help?" if the POTUS is so casual about the outcome.

But the fact is that we must not only gaze in the mirror and assess what we can each do personally to advance equality -- the gAyTM needs to close to stop the enabling. Unfortunately it seems to be one of the only ways to signal there's a problem with the lack of support from purported political allies and organizations. This isn't about prioritizing civil rights over health care, the environment, or any other issue that has been sitting on the back burner for eight years. The question that must be by allies is "are civil rights (when it comes to LGBTs) relegated to the bottom of the pile? If not, how far down?"

We're definitely not on the same page, that's for sure. Otherwise we wouldn't hear the variations on "just wait until ___ occurs (midterm elections, Obama's [presumed] re-election, pick some BS of the day), we'll come back for you." That's counter-productive action in the name of "strategy" that hurts civil equality progress rather than helps. You have to wonder whether the word "ally" (or "fierce advocate") need a redefinition.

Thank you to the allies who do speak up and work hard for equality -- your commitment means everything.

We are 11 days away from the November Election. The Portland, Maine officepg" width="300" />

We are 11 days away from the November Election. The Portland, Maine office is humming with volunteer activity. Every day, volunteers drop off food provisions for all the other volunteers. The first day we had homemade chili, yesterday egg salad sandwiches, and this morning someone brought in some carrots from their own yard. Mainers are chipping in any way they can. My time has been spent in the office working in the communications department while Travis Prinslow and Meleanie Altaras have been adopted into the Data and Campus Outreach departments. We work 9 to 9, when we're lucky and have been working on a variety of projects. From confirming volunteers, to getting people to vote early and in person volunteer recruitment. The amount of work that goes into a campaign is astounding. You walk into any office and you hear typing, people on the phone, stapling, paper shuffling and people being directed. It's a small preview of what Oregon will be dealing with soon enough. However, Oregon's fight will be much larger-- Maine's population is a third the size of Oregon's. I'm grateful that Basic Rights Oregon is starting early and getting all our ducks in a row before we enter our own fight. Maine's latest YouTube celebrity goes by the name of Phillip Spooner. Mr. Spooner is 85 years old, a WWII vet, and a lifelong republicanâ€"he is also in favor of marriage equality. Click here to watch his testimony in April during the Marriage hearings. His video has officially gone viral, with close to 500,000 views. Mainers are excited to have someone like Mr. Spooner speaking up for equality, so much so that he has unofficially become the face of the campaign. Click here to watch a segment of Mr. Spooner being interviewed about his views on Marriage Equality. The opposition is using children to scare voters into voting against equality. They are running ads claiming that "gay sex education" will be taught in schools. Fortunately, the Maine campaign has been very diligent about countering their ads and has caused a stir by featuring a French catholic woman who supports her son's right to get married. Yolande Dumont is also a Maine celebrity and has inspired Catholics and other religious denominations to come out and support the No on 1 campaign. Of course the Catholic DIoces is bankrolling the opposition's campaign along with National Organization marriage and Shubert Flint of prop 8 fame. When Yolande first came on the airwaves the Catholic Diocese was up in arms and started to spend resources countering Yolande's message. This is exciting because the opposition is now on the defensive. Not only do they have to counter multiple legislators, and educators on the whole "Teaching gay in Schools" issue, now they have to make sure that other fair minded Catholics reject Yolande's message. If the No on 1 Campaign wins on Election Day it will be a model on how to defeat the oppositions' vitriol and lies. Although, Maine is literally the farthest place from Oregon in the country, their efforts will have a huge impact on our work. They need all the help they can get. If you have not donated to the NO on 1 campaign you can do so by clicking here. If you cannot afford a donation but have some extra time on your hands you can phone bank from Oregon with their Call for Equality Program sign up here. I'm going to get back to work now but feel free to shoot me an email if you have any questions about getting involved in the Maine campaign. In solidarity, Alejandro Juarez Communications Coordinator Basic Rights Oregon (503) 222-6151 x 105 alejandro@basicrights.org

â€œYou Have Always Been Welcome Hereâ€ here Presented by PFLAG Pendleton in cooperation with Communities of Welcoming Congregations & The Drama Queens Â Â - â€œYou Have Always Been Welcome Hereâ€ portrays the lives of four transgender people as they explore their relationships to family, gender, Christianity and spirituality. Â Rev. Tara Wilkins, executive director of Community of Welcoming [...]

New Study Offers First Demographic Picture of Same-sex Spouses LOS ANGELES, Calif. (PRNewswire-USNewswire) — The Williams Institute for Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy at UCLA Law issued a report this week analyzing newly released data from the US Census Bureau. The study examines data from the 2008 American Community Survey (ACS). For the first time, [...]

Wednesday’s News Reports Include: Some results Tuesday’s votes; A Wisconsin Supreme court case; A proposal in Fort Worth; Travel in South Africa; The 2010 Calif. Repeal; Homophobia, bullying in schools and more… Africa Watch: - South Africa welcomes gcomes gay tourists while homophobic violence persists — Country remains one of ‘most highly unequal societies in the [...]

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Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Combined Gay News Headlines (T5T-1)

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