AFP: LGBTs 'Call in Gay' to protest same-sex marriage ban

VIA AFP/GOOGLE NEWS:

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) — Gays across the United States were urged to skip work on Wednesday as part of the latest protest against recent votes outlawing same-sex marriage in several regions.

The "Day Without A Gay" protest appeared to have had little economic impact but organizers said they had accomplished their main goal of raising awareness of their campaign without shutting down businesses.



Activists had encouraged people across the United States -- both gay and straight -- to call in "gay" for work and spend the day doing volunteer tasks. They also asked gays and lesbians to avoid shopping as a way of showing the economic power of the gay community.

But merchants in the Castro, the heart of San Francisco's large gay community, said it was mostly business as usual on a chilly Wednesday morning.

"It seems to be about the same. The cold weather has brought about a little bit of slowness on the streets, but it's mostly normal," said Don Forfang, a barber at Louie's Barber Shop.

The Day Without a Gay protest was created by Sean Hetherington, a personal trainer and stand-up comedian in Los Angeles, as a reaction to the November 4 passage of Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California. Florida, Arizona and Arkansas also approved bans on gay marriage last month. It was timed to coincide with Wednesday's celebration of International Human Rights Day, and took its inspiration from the 2006 immigrants rights protests that shut down schools and businesses from California to Texas.

Hetherington said the main goal of the protest was to increase awareness of the gay community, not to undermine businesses.

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365Gay: Guilty plea in gay porn producer murder

FROM 365GAY.COM:

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania -- One of two men accused of killing a gay porn producer, who he thought was a competitor, has been sentenced to life behind bars.

Under a deal with prosecutors, Joseph Kerekes pleaded guilty Monday to the lesser charge of second-degree murder. It is expected he will testify against his onetime lover Harlow Cuadra, who is still facing a first degree murder charge in the 2006 slaying of Bryan Kocis, the owner of Cobra Video.

Both Kerkes and Cuadra originally were charged with first degree murder and prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty. Second-degree murder carries a mandatory penalty of life in prison.

At a preliminary hearing last year, two medical examiners testified that Kocis died of massive blood loss after his head was nearly sliced off.

Luzerne County Coroner Dr. John Consalvo testified that Kocis suffered between 28 and 29 post mortem stab wounds before his home was torched in an attempt to cover up the killing last January.

When Kocis’ body was discovered by firefighters, more than 80 percent of the body was covered by third-degree burns.

Homicide detectives were able to find Kocis’ computer in the charred remains of the rural home and forensics scientists salvaged and reconstructed part of the hard drive.

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Anti-gay Hate Crime in Brooklyn Leads to Death of Ecuadorian Man

FROM THE GLAAD MEDIA CENTER:

December 09, 2008

An Ecuadorian man has passed away from injuries received late Sunday night in what has been described as an anti-gay and anti-Latino hate crime. Jose Sucuzhanay was walking home arm-in-arm with his brother Romel to their Brooklyn home when they were approached by four men. Shouting anti-gay and anti-Latino slurs, the assailants broke a bottle over Jose’s head and continued to beat him with a baseball bat while his brother ran for help. Jose, 31, died from extensive brain damage and skull fractures early Tuesday morning. According to The New York Times, Brooklyn district attorney Charles J. Hynes has vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice. The New York Police Department’s Hate Crime Task Force is investigating and has yet to find the attackers. The NYPD urges anyone with information to call 1-800-577-TIPS.

Related Media Coverage:

The New York Times- December 9, 2008
“Ecuadorian Dies From Attack That May Be Treated as Hate Crime”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/10/nyregion/10assault.html

The Associated Press- December 9, 2008
“NYPD: Anti-Gay, anti-Hispanic beating investigated”
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jFilhkKapr8HDB_gRxtnS_7AzvPwD94UUMNG1

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GLAAD: Supreme Court Grants Child-Visitation Rights to Lesbian Parent

FROM THE GLAAD MEDIA CENTER:

December 9, 2008

The four-and-a-half year legal battle between former partners Lisa Miller and Janet Jenkins over child-visitation rights came to a close on Monday, December 8 when Jenkins was granted the right to visit their daughter due to a ruling by the United States Supreme Court. The women were joined in a civil union in Vermont in 2000 and raised Miller’s biological daughter together. Following the dissolution of their civil union, a lengthy custody battle began. Miller, who moved to Virginia with their daughter, sought sole custody and Jenkins, who remained in Vermont, sought parental and visitation rights. On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that Virginia must enforce a Vermont court order that awarded child-visitation rights to Jenkins. The decision signifies a landmark ruling as one of the most high-profile cases on the rights of gay and lesbian parents across state lines.

Related Media Coverage:

The Associated Press - December 9, 2008
“Va. Must Enforce Gay Visitation Rights”
http://www.wric.com/Global/story.asp?S=9479398

Newsweek - December 6, 2008
“Mrs. Kramer Vs. Mrs. Kramer”
http://www.newsweek.com/id/172554

Media Contact:

Richard Ferraro
Director of Public Relations
(646) 871-8011
ferraro@glaad.org

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PFLAG Launches First-Of-Its-Kind Safe Schools Initiative & Training Program

FROM PFLAG ONLINE NEWSROOM:

December 10, 2008

Community-Based Program Will Train Local Leaders to Work with Schools on LGBT Issues

Washington, DC – Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) launched a comprehensive, community-based safe schools program today to address a growing epidemic of anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) animus in the nation’s schools. The program, entitled Cultivating Respect, includes training seminars for local parents and allies, empowering PFLAG supporters at the local level to work directly with their community leaders and school administrators to protect LGBT students. PFLAG plans trainings across the country in 2009, following initial training sessions held earlier this year in Ohio and Tennessee.

“Too many students attend school in fear, and too few school administrators and leaders understand just how damaging a hostile learning environment can be for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young people,” said Jody M. Huckaby, PFLAG’s executive director. “Cultivating Respect is the very first program designed to identify and mobilize a grassroots network of parents and allies to take an active role in combating anti-gay behavior, policies, information and environments in their local schools. When children do not feel safe, they cannot learn, and their school experience becomes fraught with the long-lasting effects of unchecked hostility. By working with local parents and local administrators, Cultivating Respect addresses community and school-specific concerns. This is a significant step forward in making our classrooms, hallways and locker rooms safer for every student.”

The PFLAG training, which builds on the organization’s prior work in schools across the country, includes insights on fostering on-going dialogues with local school leaders; approaching administrators about implementing safe schools policies; skills building seminars on language, policy and problem solving in schools; identifying and leveraging access points within the school community; and training on three specific programs that can be implemented in local schools. The program is also designed to counter harmful, anti-gay campaigns by conservative advocacy groups, including attempts to infiltrate libraries with anti-gay literature and information on so-called “reparative therapy” practices, which have been condemned by medical experts. A workbook on LGBT school issues, titled The Top 10 Ways to Make Schools Safer for All Students, was also released today in conjunction with the training and outreach program.

“It is critically important that students, teachers, parents and administrators have accurate, inclusive information and materials about sexual orientation and gender identity,” said Huckaby. “Anti-family advocates are pushing an extreme, anti-gay agenda that seeks to mislead adults and ultimately undermine the well-being of the countless LGBT young people who deserve a healthy learning environment, too. This new program asks those responsible for the well-being of our children to listen, think, act and be respectful of every member of our families.”

According to statistics compiled by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), 73.6% of LGBT students hears derogatory remarks such as “faggot” or “dyke” frequently or often at school. More than half (60.8%) reported feeling unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation, and more than a third (38.4%) felt unsafe because of their gender expression. An overwhelming 86.2% of students reported being verbally harassed.

“Hostile classrooms and campuses impact every member of the school community.” Huckaby concluded, “From LGBT students, to those perceived to be, and even young people who are denied the opportunity to learn because of the distractions presented by anti-gay behavior, the consequences of not dealing with these issues reach far and wide. Now, at last, parents have the tools they need to work directly with their local leaders to stand up for every young person, including those who are LGBT or are impacted by these behaviors.”

For more information on Cultivating Respect, including .pdf copies of The Top 10 Ways to Make Schools Safer for All Students, visit www.pflag.org.

Media Contact:

Steve Ralls
(202) 467-8180, ext. 214
sralls@pflag.org

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HRC: Comments Comparing Prop 8 Protestors with Mumbai Terrorists Shows True Colors of Anti-Gay Movement

FROM THE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN:

Pat Boone’s Bizarre Rant Claims “Awful Similarity” Between “Jihadists” in Mumbai and Prop 8 Protestors; Attacks CA Gov Schwarzenegger for Encouraging Protests

12/9/2008

WASHINGTON – The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights organization, responded today to the exclusive commentary posted on the extremist, right-wing website World Net Daily by anti-gay activist and former singer Pat Boone. Boone published a bizarre and disturbing commentary comparing the horrific tragedy in Mumbai, which took the lives of over 170 people, to the protests against Proposition 8 here in the U.S. In essence, equating the Mumbai tragedy with those protesting the passage of the discriminatory amendment in California that took marriage rights away from gay and lesbian couples to terrorists.

In the commentary titled “Hate is hate, in India or America,” which can be viewed at http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=82830, Boone writes, “let me ask you: Have you not seen the awful similarity between what happened in Mumbai and what's happening right now in our cities?” Boone went on to state, “What troubles me so deeply, and should trouble all thinking Americans, is that there is a real, unbroken line between the jihadist savagery in Mumbai and the hedonistic, irresponsible, blindly selfish goals and tactics of our homegrown sexual jihadists.”

“Pat Boone wouldn't normally warrant a second thought, even if his only claim to fame these days is his unabashed homophobia, but his disturbing commentary on this right-wing site can't go unanswered,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “His commentary marks a new low in anti-gay rhetoric. And yet it also demonstrates the depths of hatred from these demagogues toward the LGBT community. Most Americans would be shocked to see this level of vitriol coming from someone who presented himself as America’s sweetheart.”

Boone even lodged an attack on Governor Schwarzenegger for encouraging gay Americans to "never give up" in the quest for equality. Boone wrote, “You haven't seen, on the evening news, prominent entertainers and even California Gov. Schwarzenegger, urging the demonstrators on, telling them they should "never give up" until they get their way?” Boone added, “Hate is hate, no matter where it erupts. And hate, unbridled, will eventually and inevitably boil into violence.”

“Bigots like Boone will never see how absurd their arguments are, but just like that other anti-gay icon from the 70s, Anita Bryant, Pat Boone's screed actually helps our efforts for equality,” continued Solmonese. “In most places in America today it isn’t acceptable to be an outright bigot. Obviously, Pat Boone hasn’t got that memo.”

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The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.

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GLAAD UPDATE: Episcopal Leaders Say ‘No’ to Defectors and ‘Yes’ to Gay People

December 08, 2008

The head of the Episcopal Church announced that defectors from the denomination, who broke away because of the ordination of openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson, are no longer members of the Episcopal Church. Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts-Schori took a stand after leaders in the breakaway dioceses announced that they would form a rival denomination and seek official standing with the worldwide Anglican Communion. Many members in the offending dioceses of Pittsburgh; Fort Worth; Quincy, Ill; and San Joaquin chose not to defect and their congregations are being reorganized.

On the following day Bishop Jefferts-Schori was present as the Los Angeles Diocese voted to lift the moratorium on the ordination of gay bishops imposed last summer by the international Anglican Church at their once-per-decade Lambeth Conference in England. Later, the Bishop of the Los Angeles Diocese also announced that blessing of gay couples is an official rite of the diocese — it had already been practiced by many priests.

Related Media Coverage:

Los Angeles Times – December 5, 2008
“Episcopal Church leaders says those who defected ‘are no longer Episcopalians’”
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-episcopal5-2008dec05,0,7356324.story

San Bernardino County – December 6, 2008
“At Riverside convention Episcopalians say no to ban on gay bishops”
http://www.pe.com/localnews/sbcounty/stories/PE_News_Local_S_episcopal07.41dc34d.html

Los Angeles Times – December 8, 2008
“Episcopal Diocese of L.A. officially condones the blessing of gay unions”
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-episcopal8-2008dec08,0,7919724.story

Media Contact:

Adam Bass, Media Field Strategist - West
Phone: (323) 634-2018
Email: bass@glaad.org

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Mom Logic: 'Gay or Nay' on Same Sex Adoption?

FROM MOM LOGIC:

Monday, December 8, 2008

Arkansas' same sex adoption ban will take effect in a matter of days. This comes just weeks after Florida lifts their ban. How do you feel about same sex adoption?

Arkansas' law means all gay couples will not be allowed to adopt or foster as of January 1. While heterosexual unmarried couples are also forbidden, some say the law is only to ensure that homosexuals aren't given the right. Susan Hoffpauir, President of the Arkansas chapter of the National Association of Social Workers agrees that adding such restrictions will only cut down on the amount of quality homes available.

While it began to seem like some were warming up to the idea of same sex parenting -- a judge in Florida last month struck down an old law prohibiting same sex couples to adopt -- Utah and North Dakota also disqualify gay couples from being foster parents or adopting.

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Windy City Times: LGBT band to march in Obama's inaugural parade

FROM THE WINDY CITY TIMES:

The Lesbian and Gay Band Association (LGBA) has announced that it will be included as a marching contingent in President-elect Barack Obama's Jan. 20, 2009, inaugural parade. This is the first time that an LGBT group will be represented in a presidential inaugural parade.

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Dallas Voice: Tragedy of the closet; cop's secret gay love affair and tragic death

FROM THE DALLAS VOICE:

As murder retrial gets under way, story of a clandestine gay love affair and a young man’s tragic death should serve as a cautionary tale

By Hardy Haberman

For some people, being “in the closet” is a personal hell. But it often affects others, too.

Take the case of Steven Rios, a married police officer from Columbia, Mo.

According to prosecutors, Officer Rios, when faced with the possibility of having his gay relationship revealed to his wife and family, decided to reach into his closet and pull out a knife — a knife he used to slash the throat of Jesse Valencia, a 23-year-old student attending college at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Officer Rios began the relationship with Valencia in 2004 when he arrested the student for interfering with a police call about a loud party. Rios told the court that their sexual relationship began that very night.

Rios was convicted of the murder three years ago, but an appeals court ordered a retrial, saying the trial court allowed inadmissible hearsay testimony the first time around.

The new trial began Monday, Dec. 1, and Rios faces a mandatory sentence of life without parole if he is convicted. Court officials said they expect the trial to end by Friday, Dec. 5.

The story is a graphic example of how the closet can kill. It should be a wake-up call for every LGBT person that is trying to hide their sexual orientation.

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Wisconsin state Supreme Court a player in gay rights issue

FROM THE DAILY CARDINAL (MADISON, WI):

Although Proposition 8 passed and Wisconsin passed a gay marriage ban in 2006, Wisconsin Supreme Court Justices could alter the law to change gay marriage rights

By Molly Rivera

In the wake of Democratic victories on Election Day, liberals find it easy to believe in the progressive America that elected Barack Obama, the first black president. We should be proud of the historical civil rights success Obama’s election represents.

Yet, on that same day, our image of hope and unity was clouded by the passing of discriminatory measures in several states. Although thousands of students marched to Wisconsin’s capitol building Nov. 4 cheering for the future of America, the occasion was muted by California and America’s sad affirmation of the second-class status of LGBT citizens.

Along with Proposition 8 in California, the passage of gay marriage bans in Florida and Arizona—as well as Arkansas’ measure to bar gay couples from adopting children—reveal the long battle ahead for members and supporters of the LGBT community. Today, more than 40 states have constitutional bans or laws against same-sex marriages, including Wisconsin, which passed a law in 2006.

However, in the next few years Wisconsin courts will determine the full authority of the statute, and the court could overturn the ban completely someday. The Wisconsin Supreme Court is critical to protecting civil rights in our state and will ultimately decide how broadly to interpret the amendment. For example, judges elected to the Supreme Court will have the power to interpret the second sentence of the amendment that bans anything “substantially similar” to marriage.

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Southern Voice: Arkansas adoption ban could start national trend

FROM THE SOUTHERN VOICE:

Georgia seen as potential target for similar legislation

By MATT SCHAFER
DEC. 5, 2008

Jerry Cox doesn’t need flashy campaigns or a lot of money to “blunt the homosexual agenda” in Arkansas. He’s done it twice, and all he needs is a ballot box and a church bulletin insert.

Cox is president of the Arkansas Family Council, a relatively small religious organization that is dedicated to, among other things, thwarting civil rights for gay people. The Arkansas Family Council won an unexpected success for social conservatives on Nov. 4 when 57 percent of the state’s voters approved the “Arkansas Adoption and Foster Care Act,” a measure that banned unmarried couples from adopting or fostering children. The measure applies regardless of sexual orientation, but was designed to target gay couples.

Polls leading up to the event showed a much closer race, and the work behind the upset win might empower conservative groups in Georgia, Cox said.

Cox and the Arkansas Family Council essentially circumvented the state legislature in Little Rock and appealed directly to the state’s rural, religious base. He believes that same strategy could work in Georgia.

“It’s probably the case that when you get out of Atlanta you find that the rest of the state isn’t that liberal, and that’s the same in Arkansas,” Cox said.

The Arkansas Family Council was outspent by its opposition. They were unable to mount much of a media campaign in response to television ads and endorsements by gay-friendly politicians, so Cox had to find another way to reach his voters.

Where gays have found success turning to social networking sites, the Arkansas Family Council turned to an older form of social networking — the church door. The Arkansas Family Council distributed bulletin inserts to more than 1,000 churches.

“That as much as anything turned it around,” Cox said.

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Wisc. State Journal: Two moms are better than none

FROM THE WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL:

A Wisconsin State Journal editorial

Wisconsin and the nation should reject the backward path Arkansas tripped down last month when it banned same-sex parenting.

At stake are the futures of thousands of children like Maria, 5, who is thriving in Madison with two moms rather than struggling to grow up on her own.

Denise Matyka, the executive director of a Madison nonprofit, adopted Maria from Russia in 2003. Matyka's partner, Margaret McMurray, is now a legal co-parent.

Today their daughter is happy and loved. Maria was recently honored as a "super thinker" in kindergarten.

Wisconsin should thank same-sex parents for providing attention, encouragement, financial resources and permanent homes for needy children. The fact these parents are gay or lesbian shouldn't matter. What should matter is what's best for the children.

Arkansas voters on Nov. 4 banned anyone who is "cohabitating outside of a valid marriage" from being a foster parent or adopting children. The ban is aimed at same-sex parents who can't legally marry even if they want to. And the ban will even prevent one half of a gay couple from adopting a child if the couple lives together.

The Arkansas ban will kick in Jan. 1 -- even though 960 children in that state are waiting and wishing for someone to adopt them. Preventing responsible gay couples from adopting more of these children is a tragic mistake.

The Arkansas vote will only expand the state's waiting list for adoptions and foster care, depriving more children of stable and loving homes. It also will forbid private adoptions by gay parents.

A Florida judge recently found, after listening to reams of expert testimony, that no legal or scientific reason exists for prohibiting anyone from adopting a child based on sexual orientation alone. The judge struck down as unconstitutional a strict Florida law that tried to prohibit gay people from adopting children.

Wisconsin has quietly allowed gay couples to foster and adopt children for years, although in many cases only one half of the couple can be named as the legal adoptive parent. The state also respects the laws of other states and countries if the adoption occurred there.

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Col. Springs Gazette: More Coloradoans embracing gay unions, warming to gay issues

FROM THE COLORADO SPRINGS GAZETTE:

By Bill Reed

Two years ago, by a 57 percent to 43 percent margin, Colorado voters approved a constitutional amendment defining marriage as being between a man and a woman. At the same time, they also defeated a measure to allow civil unions.

Now, according to a survey released Thursday, more Coloradans appear to be embracing ideas such as civil unions and gay marriage.

A slim majority of Coloradans support gay marriage and four-fifths support gay civil unions, according to the survey commissioned by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation in California, and conducted Nov. 10-16 by Harris Interactive with 502 Colorado residents.

GLAAD conducted a national poll, but Colorado was the only state the group polled separately. Even though California's Proposition 8 to outlaw gay marriage is more timely, having passed in the November election, the group felt that Colorado's history on gay issues and its being home to two opposing forces on the issue - Focus on the Family and the Gill Foundation - made this the best crucible for their research.

GLAAD's leaders seemed pleased with the results.

"Visibility is leading to the conversation, and the conversation with family and friends is giving people a better understanding about gay and lesbian people," said Neil Giuliano, president of GLAAD. "And they understand we need legal protections just like everyone else."

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Gay City News: NYC's war on porn shops claiming gay and bisexual victims

FROM THE GAY CITY NEWS:

By Duncan Osborne

Questionable Prostitution Charges Rock Video Stores

The city's continuing war on porn shops has claimed gay and bisexual men as victims as nearly 50 of them have been arrested on questionable prostitution charges in seven Manhattan porn shops over the past four years.

And in lawsuits brought against six of those businesses, the city has cited those prostitution arrests as the primary justification for trying to shut those shops down.

"It seems as though there is a pattern of arresting innocent men in an effort to try and close these places down," said Robert Pinter, a 52-year-old massage therapist who was among 12 men arrested this year in Blue Door Video on First Avenue in the East Village. "It's extremely troubling that the police have so little regard for the gay citizens of New York that they use them as pawns to try and close these porn shops down."

The city sued Blue Door in June after ten men were arrested for prostitution there. The business paid a $2,500 fine and installed video cameras to monitor the premises. Since then, Pinter and a 42-year-old man were arrested, and the city is now seeking to close the shop. Pinter denies that he engaged in prostitution and forcefully disputed the account of a policeman involved in his arrest.

The 42-year-old man is contesting his case while the rest pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and received small fines and minor sentences. Those arrest records will eventually be sealed, which suggests they had not been arrested before. For most defendants, such deals are the quickest and easiest way to make the cases end.

Also this year, police arrested four men at BH Connections at 557 Eighth Avenue, two men at the DVD & Video Center at 218 West 35th Street, and six men at Gotham City at 687 Eighth Avenue. All the men were charged with prostitution.

The city sued these three Midtown West businesses. In an agreement with the city, the DVD & Video Center was closed in July while the other two remain open. The men were not named in those suits, so Gay City News was unable to determine the disposition of these 12 cases.

In October, one man was arrested outside the Rainbow Store at 207 Eighth Avenue in Chelsea after allegedly agreeing, inside the store, to have sex for $60 with an undercover officer from the Manhattan South vice squad who made some of the arrests in Blue Door. That man pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct. Rainbow Store has not been sued by the city.

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Camp Kansas City: "I'm Tired of Being Expected to Be Patient," says editorialist

FROM CAMP KANSAS CITY:

By Jim MacDonald

When I saw that Californians approved Proposition 8 by slightly more than 50 percent of the vote, it got me to thinking:

Surely, more than 50 percent of the people — in any state, let alone California — know a gay person. That means that there are millions of people who voted in favor of stripping constitutionally guaranteed rights from people who they know.

Even here in Missouri, a similar ban was passed in 2004 by, like, 70 percent of voters. That means that each of us probably knows quite a few people who don’t support full equality for gay couples. Even accounting for those who hold extreme religious views, that means that there are many of our own friends and family who don’t support full equality for us — for reasons that aren’t particularly clear.

What could their reasoning possibly be? I have a few theories:

Theory # 1: The religion excuse. Many people — and I’ve heard Hillary Clinton express this view—say, because their particular religious tradition doesn’t sanction same–sex marriage, that they personally have qualms with it.

Perhaps we should point out to those people that we don’t need their particular churches to give their blessing on whether or not we are deserving of the same legal rights granted by our government to straight people. We’ve found plenty of churches who will welcome us — that’s not the issue. When we say marriage, we’re not talking about the ceremony in a church. We’re talking about the hundreds and hundreds of rights that government-sanctioned marriage extends to any opposite–sex couple who asks for them — regardless of how long they’ve known each other, whether they really love each other, even whether or not they happen to be sober at the time.

Theory #2: The sex excuse. While they would never admit it to our faces, many of our straight friends and family, as supportive and loving as they are, I suspect are still a little queasy over the prospect of two men or two women in bed together. And the notion of gay marriage kind of reminds them of the fact that we are sexual beings like them. Frankly, I kind of get this — the idea of a man and a woman having sex still makes me a little queasy.

There’s one other theory I have. I call this the secret excuse -- that is, the idea that straight people secretly know that marriage isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. They don’t see it as that big a deal that we don’t get to experience it. To that, I say: Let us decide for ourselves!

I have an assignment for all of you: Help to dispel the mystery surrounding why a majority of people continue to oppose full equality for gay couples. Find out where all the straight people in your life stand on the issue. Make them talk about it. Force them to go on the record. If they are opposed, or if they equivocate, help them to understand all the practical challenges faced by gay couples as long as we are denied full equality under the law. Talk to them about how complicated and expensive it is to protect your assets in the event of your partner’s death. If you’re a gay parent, describe the anxiety that comes from the fear that if you die, your child may be taken away from their other parent. Let them know what a burden it is to watch your co-workers enjoy benefits that you don’t have access to yourself. If you’re lucky enough to work in one of those places that will give you domestic-partner benefits, tell them how offensive it is that you must pay taxes on those benefits while your straight co-workers get them tax–free.

I don’t know about you, but aside from being a little pissed off, I’m a little bit tired.

I’m tired of seeing our community take two steps forward only to take one step back.

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Dallas Voice: News editor wins 'Best Column' award for article about bipolar gay man's religious struggles

FROM THE DALLAS VOICE:

Winning entry detailed bipolar gay man’s ordeal with religious group, ‘ex-gay’ therapy, and his road back home to his supportive family

By Arnold Wayne Jones

As Dallas Voice news editor John Wright sat in the audience of the Sixth Floor Museum, listening as the winners of the Katie Awards were read, his heart sank a little. When he heard “best column” awarded to someone other than himself, he considered leaving right then.

“I didn’t know about the large market/medium market newspaper distinction, so when they announced that ‘best column’ went to the Dallas Morning News, I figured I must have lost,” he says.

He’s glad he stuck around. A few minutes later, Wright found himself on the podium, accepting a Katie Award — his first — from the Press Club of Dallas.

“I’m very happy. It’s gratifying. It’s not the first time I’ve won something, but it is the biggest in terms of prestige and just physical stature,” he says, referring to the more-than-a-foot-tall statuette. “And it made the five-dollar sports jacket I bought for the ceremony from the Salvation Army a good investment.”

Wright received the award for a column he wrote in last year’s Dec. 14 edition of Dallas Voice called “Purity sieges lead gay man into bipolar hell.” In it, Wright examined how a local man had been exploited by anti-gay protesters.

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Bay Area Reporter: Milk march attracts huge crowd

FROM THE BAY AREA REPORTER:

By Matthew S. Bajko

Gyl Rosenblum vividly remembers meeting Harvey Milk as a teenager in the mid-1970s when she lived on Castro Street in the heart of the city's then burgeoning gayborhood. Living mere doors down from Milk's Castro Camera store, Rosenblum would frequent the business.

Milk went on to become the first out gay man elected to political office in a major U.S. city when he won a seat on the Board of Supervisors in 1977. A year later Milk, along with then-Mayor George Moscone, was assassinated in his City Hall office on November 27, 1978 by former board colleague Dan White.

The night of their deaths Rosenblum joined the crowd in front of City Hall mourning the slain leaders. Now living across the bay in El Cerrito, Rosenblum returned to the city last week to once again remember her former neighbor.

"It felt like it was time to commemorate it," said the 50-year-old Rosenblum, who was joined by her partner of three years, Ann Williams.

Williams, 59, was an out lesbian living in Oakland at the time. Pregnant and near her due date, she was unable to attend the candlelight vigil that night in 1978.

"It was just stunning. It was just an awful thing, to have a powerful gay leader just eliminated so quickly," said Williams. "I remember seeing him walking by once. You could see he could have gone far. He really did have charisma."

The couple joined close to 1,000 people who had gathered in front of City Hall and then marched to the location of Milk's old camera shop on Castro Street Friday, November 28 to mark the 30th year since the assassinations. [The annual ceremony had been pushed back a day due to the actual anniversary falling on Thanksgiving this year.]

The San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus, whose first public performance was the night of the deaths, returned to the steps of City Hall to sing once again. Friends, relatives, and colleagues of both Milk and Moscone eulogized the men many credit with opening the doors of the city's political power to gays and people of color.

"Tonight is very bittersweet for many. Every time we gather our hearts are heavy with what happened," said recently sworn-in state Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, a friend of Milk's who followed him into politics. "Harvey Milk would be very bemused today to see where history has placed not only him, but us, the community and his legacy."

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Mark Leno Facebook update outlines resolution opposing 'unlawful' Proposition 8

Via Facebook - California State Senator Mark Leno's Page:

Leno Resolution Declares Legislature’s Opposition to Proposition 8’s Unlawful Revision to the California Constitution

Sacramento, CA— Senator Mark Leno (D-Marin/San Francisco/Sonoma) introduced Senate Resolution 7 today to declare the Legislature’s opposition to Proposition 8 because it failed to meet the distinct procedures mandated by law for revisions to California’s Constitution.

The resolution is co-authored by the entire LGBT Legislative Caucus and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg. It is sponsored by Equality California and supported by many other civil rights groups opposed to the November initiative. Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) has introduced an identical resolution, HR 5, in the Assembly.

“Proposition 8’s revision to the California Constitution violates key structural checks and balances built into our legal system,” said Senator Mark Leno. “Overnight, the constitutional protections of thousands of tax paying, law abiding California citizens were stripped from them by a simple majority vote, without a prior two-thirds vote by both houses of the legislature, thereby trampling on their fundamental right to equal protection,” he said.

Specifically, SR 7 memorializes the Legislature’s opposition to Proposition 8 because it is an improper revision of the California Constitution and was not enacted according to the procedures required by Article XVIII to the State Constitution. This Article mandates that a proposed revision of the California Constitution must originate in the California Legislature and be approved by a two-thirds vote of each house of the Legislature before being submitted to the voters.

The California Supreme Court has held in Livermore v. Waite and other subsequent decisions, that a revision is a substantial change to the “underlying principles” of the California Constitution or to the structure of our “basic governmental plan.” Proposition 8 changes the constitution to eliminate the fundamental right to marry for a particular minority group, and thereby violates the principle of equal protection and the separation of powers clause.

“Prop 8 eliminates the fundamental right to marry from same-sex couples and allows a slim majority to take away the equal protections of a single minority group, which violates one of the fundamental and founding principles of our Constitution,” said EQCA Executive Director Geoff Kors. “That type of unprecedented change to the Constitution puts the rights of all Californians at risk, and it’s critical in our system of checks and balances that the Legislature weigh in on such fundamental revisions to the Constitution.”

“The framers of our state’s constitution outlined distinct procedures to follow when enacting a revision to our state’s highest legal document,” said Leno. “These procedures are the rule of law, and must be followed when we’re talking about human beings’ fundamental rights.”

SR 7 and HR 5 will be heard in Committee and on their respective floors when the Legislature reconvenes in early 2009.

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Human Rights Campaign responds forcefully to untruthful NYT ad

From the Press Center at the HRC:

12/5/2008

Today, members of the Human Rights Campaign's Religion Council responded forcefully to a full-page ad in the New York Times that implies there is an organized attempt to foment mob intimidation and violence toward the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints due to its actions dehumanizing lesbian and gay people in the recent election campaign, particularly in California around passage of Proposition 8, which stripped gay families of the right to a civil marriage. The ad was sponsored by NoMobVeto.org, a project of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.

When did the LDS Church become the victim? It’s hard to believe, but that is exactly what it is trying to convince the public of. It is continuing to spend an excess of dollars in an attempt to mislead the public and transform its image. But the truth is that this is the same church that conducted a national broadcast to every temple, calling on members to organize and write checks to the Prop 8 campaign. The same church that donated more than half of the $40 million behind Prop 8, even though California Mormons represent just 2 percent of the state's population. Yes, it’s the same church.

What HRC's Religion Council had to say:

• "Several signatories to the ad are generals in the culture wars," said Rev. Susan Russell of All Saints Church (Epsicopal), Pasadena, Calif. "They lied about gay people in the campaign, and now they are lying again when they say we are in favor of mob intimidation and violence. I personally talked legitimately angry demonstrators in California out of such action and every credible LGBT organization called for peaceful resistance to the Prop 8 travesty. Many of the leaders cited in this ad preach hate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, then look the other way when LGBT people are the victims of hate crimes. This ad is an act of individual and corporate hypocrisy."

• Bishop John Selders of Amistad United Church of Christ in Hartford, Conn. commented, "As an African-American, I've heard this before. A few frustrated members of a minority group respond in anger to a new indignity and the oppressor calls them anarchists. Satan, sometimes called the Father of Lies, is at work when powerful people seek to dehumanize those who are less powerful."

• Rev. Dr. Miguel de la Torre of Iliff School of Theology in Denver agreed, “I am always struck that those in power, those who manipulate the truth to maintain oppressive structures, present themselves to the public as the ones being persecuted. Make no mistake, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is a powerful organization with an agenda of imposing a narrow religious view upon the rest of America. As we Hispanics say, ‘que vergüenza’ (what a shameful act).”

• "Calls for tolerance of certain religious viewpoints rings hollow in a world where religion often stands by tolerating violence perpetrated on God’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender children," was Rev. Dr. Erin Swenson's reply. Dr. Swenson is a Presbyterian minister and psychotherapist in Atlanta.

• Rev. Dr. Ken Stone of Chicago Theological Seminary said, "While I agree that violence and anti-religious bigotry need to be combated, we must also demand an end to the violence undertaken by those religious institutions that not only encourage but also fund bigotry against lesbians and gay men. Where will the Becket Fund be when we call for endorsements of hate crimes and employment protection legislation for LGBT people?"

• Here's what Rev. Dr. Mary A. Tolbert of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies at the Pacific School of Religion had to say: "The 'No Mob Veto' ad would be more convincing as a statement of concern for civil debate over the well-organized and well-funded participation of the LDS church in the passage of Prop 8 had it not itself ended with a clear threat of intimidation toward anyone criticizing that church's role in the election. As the Christian gospels demonstrate in Jesus' action of overturning the tables of money-lenders in the temple, sometimes speaking the truth to entrenched and wealthy religious leaders requires a dramatic stroke. To protest the enormous financial involvement of a religious body in stripping equal rights from California LGBT people, their families, and their children is in no way anti-religious bigotry; it is instead, like the example of Jesus in the temple, an attempt to speak the truth to those rooted in power and wealth whose actions serve to deprive other human beings of the equal respect and dignity all of God's children deserve."

• Rev. Rebecca Voelkel of the Institute for Welcoming Resources of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force summed up: "As a Christian, I was taught not to 'bear false witness.' One of the deepest tragedies of the Yes on Proposition 8 campaign in California was its bearing false witness-- more plainly stated, its lies-- about the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons. This ad is one more example. In response to the passage of Proposition 8, faithful, honorable, patriotic Americans from every walk of life and of many sexual orientations and gender identities gathered to say no to lies and yes to love, truth and the American way. To name these overwhelmingly peaceful gatherings as mobs dishonors me, my family, members of my church and so many others who participated in them. As a Christian, my religious tradition also admonishes me to speak the truth in love. Therefore, I prayerfully ask those who have run this ad and others like it, to stop your false witness. Instead, and especially in these times, our country and our world need all of us, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, pagans and all people of faith, to work on behalf of the dignity of all human beings."

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GLAAD: Alaska Sen.-Elect Begich Supports Partner Benefits for Gay Couples

From the Media Center at GLAAD:

December 05, 2008

Senator-elect Mark Begich, the mayor of Anchorage, told The New York Times that he opposes amending the Constitution to ban marriage for gay and lesbian couples. Begich also said he supports allowing same-sex couples to receive “benefits through their partners.” He is the first Alaska Democrat to win in seat in the Senate for more than three decades.

Related Media Coverage:
The New York Times—December 5, 2008
“Alaska’s New Senator Sees Change at Work”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/05/us/politics/05begich.html?scp=4&sq=same-sex&st=nyt

Media Contact:
Richard Ferraro, Director of Public Relations
Phone: (646) 871-8011
Email: ferraro@glaad.org

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