mechante_fille | Entries tagged with gay news

Hi all - An awesome new group has started to offer support to gay individuals in groups in whatever way they need to fight homophobia in their own countries.

Kaleidoscope International Diversity Trust

In the words of Sir Elton John:

"There is a global war going on against the right of an entire group to fall in love. The US hard right is aiding the side of the persecutors and bigots. We need to aid the side of the people who want to live and love. That is the goal of Kaleidoscope."

More here.

Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes and his partner Sean Eldridge will donate $10 for every person who 'likes' the Equality North Carolina Facebook page. Help the fight against the proposed anti-gay constitutional amendment that would same-sex marriage, civil unions and domestic partner benefits.

Hughes also wrote an Open Letter to the North Carolina General Assembly explaining why the amendment would be "bad for business, bad for the perception of my home state on the national stage, and a far cry from job-creating legislation that North Carolina lawmakers should be focused on."

In other gay news, I'm not sure that I've mentioned yet that Maine is going to have gay marriage on the ballet again in 2012. This time we are putting it there and asking Mainers to vote FOR gay marriage. We were so, SO close last year and people have been going door to door changing hearts* and we really hope we can do it... and how awesome will it be to have voters actually vote in gay marriage. *fingers crossed*

*It is amazing how many people are against gay marriage because they aren't attracted to the same gender. And sometimes it is easy to point out to them the crazy.

Oh! And a documentary was made during the campaign last year that should really swing things in our favor next time! I can't wait until it is out. Seriously, everyone should watch this trailer. It's... amazing and frustrating and uplifting and heartbreaking and only 6 minutes long. For more information on the documentary.

Some interesting things I've stumbled upon this week or so.

FREE BOOKS. They are all academic, but could be of interest. Or used for research purposes.

A country without libraries... When I was in high school my town library had a sign, "Books can get us through times without money better than money can get us through times with no books." This meant little to me at the time, but seems significant now. Can we truly stay 'America' without public libraries?

As it is now, even with public libraries, we are somewhat willfully dumb. The Atlantic looks at Ten Bizarrely Mistaken Beliefs Americans Hold About Themselves. Some of these misconceptions work in favor of politicians, which makes one wonder again about the meaning of democracy. As far as the sun revolving around the earth? I have to assume that most of those people misread the question. I just have to.

An update on the Out in Athletics thread: San Francisco Giants Make an "It Gets Better" Video. Change is coming, my friends.

Here is the CNN report, though the video is old and not about this most recent ruling.

Having it not start until August 18 leaves lots of time for it not to happen... but no need to be pessimistic.

Full text and stuff here.

Gotta run!

Human Rights Campaign's Open Letter to Target and Best Buy.

Add your name here: http://www.HRC.org

. . . In fact, your consistent ratings of 100 percent on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index were a solid signal of your commitment to a diverse workforce . . . Now, Americans are questioning their loyalty to your brands with word of significant contributions to the political action committee MN Forward that hopes to install one of the most strident opponents of equality in the Minnesota Governor’s mansion . . . No matter your motivations in making these donations, they didn’t occur in a vacuum.

With friends like these . . . You know, I get that Target and Best Buy look at the gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer and see that he supports policies that will make their companies--and the shareholders--more money. But if he were quoted as saying that he is a fan of Hitler, for example, and that he didn't agree with him on everything, but that he respected his opinion, well, I don't think his thoughts on tax laws would have mattered. It is telling that even corporations with strong track records on LGBT(IQA) issues see the rights of LGBT people as an unimportant board on the platform of a candidate.

If they can't support the other guy because the business policies he would support would possibly 'harm' their shareholders, then they need to demand better a candidate. Tom Emmer supports policies that would harm their consumers and employees.

The County of Sonoma and a Sonoma nursing home have reached a $653,000 settlement with the estate of Clay M. Greene and Harold Scull, two men who were partners for decades, ending a complicated saga that had sparked a firestorm within the gay and lesbian community.

Hm, they didn't even mention the part where the County was trying to say they kept them apart and stole all their stuff because they suspected Greene of domestic abuse. Because in Sonoma County, you are apparently guilty until proven innocent, and the all your belongings are forfeit in the meantime.

Given that they didn't mention it, I'm hoping the abuse allegation was unfounded. Considering I had seen that Scull spent his last days putting together a scrapbook for Greene--the only thing he has left after decades of not-marriage--I have a hard time believing it, anyway.

Hey, all. This is obviously rather big in my life atm, and while I don't want to burn you out on news of the election, it is only for a week and a half more. Please take a moment to watch this video, or at least run it in a background tab. I know I'm preaching to the non-resident choir for the most part, but still.

Phillip Spooner: WWII vet, Republican, proud father of his late, gay son, supporter of gay marriage. Here is his testimony.

I didn't embed b/c lj friend's page cookies seem to screw that up, so you'll have to click to view. My apologies for the inconvenience.

I've been meaning to do a post about the People's Veto challenge to gay marriage in Maine that we will be voting on in the upcoming election, but I've been at a loss for what to say.

But others have said it all pretty well, so I'll just give the main points, and then let them take it from there.

This spring, after years of work, Maine became the first state to pass a law granting homosexuals the right to marry by way of the legislature, and have it signed by the governor.

However, in Maine we have the People's Veto, which means that if a group opposing a law can get (I think) 10% of registered voters to sign a petition, we vote on whether to uphold the law or not.

So on November 3, the civil right of marriage will be voted on like a popularity contest, the prize going to the group with the prettiest ads.

With 19 days to go, here are a couple of stories covering the campaign:

Howie Klein: Voting for Marriage Equality Starts Today in Maine

Paul Hogarth: Why I'm Optimistic About Maine

Feel free to spread the word. Maine isn't exactly California, and the lack of a national/international spotlight has actually worked a bit in our favor, but in the push to election day, it's all about who has the money to keep the ads running. And maybe someone out there on your flist is looking for a good cause to throw their money at. ^_^

I've been wearing my buttons and bumper stickers and asking everyone I know to vote early, vote No, and I've been manning the call bank to urge strangers to do the same, but if anyone is looking for a way they can help out from where they are, there are links in the stories above. We are ahead on the money right now, but the Yes side is using words like 'moral imperative' and 'sacrificial contribution' and who knows what they'll be able to earn with their lies and scare tactics?

Thank you for reading.

Just popping in really quickly to post this bit of exciting news. While not important to the daily lives of most people, I really think this is pretty huge for the federal goverment, and for the children affected. Yay!

Social Security must recognize gay couples' kids

Current Mood: happy

I know I don't know the whole story, but this woman just seems unbelievable.

To come to court and basically say, 'I was only in it for the money,' just seems counter to what you'd want to present to the judge. Or is that just me? I suppose she would need to maybe come up with some kind of defence mechanism to the public humiliation of her husband having any affair.

Actually, a gay affair might actually paint one in a better light. 'See, it wasn't me; I was just the wrong gender.' Which, I guess, is why she is crying fraud. And demanding $51,000 a month.

Regardless, though, I'm not sure that I could have done the whole, 'stand by my man' thing in the press conferences. What exactly does it even accomplish? I see that and think, 'political move,' not 'oh, I guess I can forgive him if she can.' Yeah, whatever.

Eh, for both their sakes, I just hope it ends soon, and they can move on with their lives. Without $51,000 a month.

Does anyone remember hearing about this guy on the news a while back? He is a prince in India, who had been disowned by his family when he publicly came out of the closet. So often we never get follow up, and I was most pleased to learn that he had been taken back into the fold.

Gay prince to adopt child.

ETA: *sigh* Ever where there is good news, there is bad as well. Gay-Straight Alliance goes to court in FL.

But the district contends in the motion the club was denied in order to protect students from inappropriate sexually explicit discussions among students. Any sex-based student club would be denied, the motion says.

As the ACLU lawyer said, "The school district is missing the club's point."