December 3, 2009

Meredith Baxter, Welcome to the Family

We’re proud of you.

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June 21, 2009

City of Seattle Caves to Activist Homophobe

All you good citizens of the City of the Sky That Never Clears, are you going to march on City Hall in protest, or what?

Backstory:
Gay Witch Hunt in Seattle: “Christian” Demands Release of LGBT Employee Membership Roster, June 11, 2009

Citing law, city reluctantly argues for
release of gay employees’ names

… “The city sympathizes with the concerns that plaintiffs have expressed,” Assistant City Attorney Gary T. Smith said in court documents. “Nonetheless, the city believes that the Public Records Act obligates it to disclose the records at issue.” …

Arguing in support of his own request, Irvin offered the court an accounting of instances in which he perceives the city has discriminated against him because of his conservative views.

On several occasions, Irvin has attempted to join or become involved in numerous city-affiliated activities aimed at gay or minority employees. Among other allegations, he asserts in court filings that a dance for gay and lesbian youth was canceled when he volunteered to chaperon and was barred from attending a LGBT event when he attempted to attend with a formerly gay minister.

Describing himself as a civil-rights leader, Irvin said he sees himself as the victim of bigotry by the city and intends to form an employee group for former homosexuals.

“The city is organizing employees to march in the gay pride parade and I intend to march in it with the mayor,” Irvin said in an e-mail. “If I don’t demand equal treatment then I am accepting that (my) values about sex are inferior.” …

Evil.

P.S. to Phil Irvin: If there is a Hell, Joe McCarthy and Roy Cohn are waiting for you in the Ninth Circle. Eagerly.

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June 20, 2009

If You or Someone You Know is Recently Out…

This is cool: a site called “Recently OUT,” “for folks (and their friends and families) who are older than the youngsters, how about over 35, who are just realizing that the reason they have always felt odd in their skins is because they are LGBTQI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual / Transgendered, Queer, Intersexed) and just were never able to face up to it or hadn’t realized it or were generally perlexed about how they did or did not fit into the world and this was the deal… Or have just been damned scared to go there.”

Something I guess missing from my personal experience is understanding what it must be like to realize or just admit to yourself that you’re gay as an adult. Oh, believe me, I’m grateful to the universe I didn’t have to come out as an adult — even though growing up gay (at age three, I wanted to be one of The Beatles, because I saw the way my older sister’s friends reacted to them), and knowing it (but not knowing there was a name for it, or that there was anyone else on the planet going through what I was), and having to come out in my teens, was hell back in *wheeze!* my day, by cracky!

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June 11, 2009

Gay Witch Hunt in Seattle: “Christian” Demands Release of LGBT Employee Membership Roster

Well, well, well… So, it’s a horrible invasion of privacy to publicize the names of people who donate to anti-gay ballot measures and sign anti-gay petitions — but it’s a righteous mission of truth and justice to publicize the membership of an LGBT employee organization, which was never publicly accessible in the first place?

Hypocrisy, thy name is Philip Irvin:

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Chastity Bono is Now Chaz

Considering Cher’s freakout when Chastity came out as a lesbian (which we know now, Chaz wasn’t), we wonder how she’s going to deal with this:

Chastity Bono transitioning from female to male

Chastity Bono, gay-rights activist and child of performer Cher and the late entertainer and politician Sonny Bono, is in the early stages of transitioning from a female to a male and will be known as Chaz, his spokesman said Thursday.

“Chaz, after many years of consideration, has made the courageous decision to honor his true identity,” Howard Bragman said in a written statement.

“He is proud of his decision and grateful for the support and respect that has already been shown by his loved ones. It is Chaz’s hope that his choice to transition will open the hearts and minds of the public regarding this issue, just as his ‘coming out’ did nearly 20 years ago.” …

Well, what can we say but… Congrats, Chaz! A lot of idiots are going to claim you made this “choice,” when it was never a choice at all, and a lot more idiots are going to assume all butch lesbians (which we now know you never were) really just “want to be men.” We’re just going to congratulate you for being true to who you always were. Well done, sir!

One thing not well done, Chaz: Your publicist is the same Howard Bragman who’s playing House Dorothy for Doug Manchester, isn’t he? If I were you, I’d can his ass ASAP and find somebody you can trust not to sell out the whole community to the highest bigot— er, bidder.

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June 5, 2009

Ex-Congressional Candidate Outs Three South Carolina Republicans… Sort Of

I’d send you directly over to the original source, but it’s actually easier to understand what’s going on if you read the summary from QNotes first, and then follow the link from there:

An openly lesbian 2008 South Carolina Democratic candidate for Congress has called out three Palmetto State Republicans for being closeted gays in an interview for a progressive Democratic blog.

The bombshell statements were made in a FireDogLake interview on June 1 from Linda Ketner, an openly lesbian 2008 Democratic candidate against South Carolina’s First Congressional District incumbent Henry Brown.

“We have more gay people serving in South Carolina than probably in anyplace in the United States; they’re just not out of the closet,” she told blogger Howie Klein. “We have an awful lot of people in the closet — Lindsey Graham, Glenn McConnell who’s our Senate president pro tem, our Lt Governor [André Bauer].”

Later in the comment section of the website, Ketner clarified her remarks, “By the way, in Howie’s intro, he quoted me as saying several members of state and U.S. government were gay,” she said. “I don’t know that for sure having never been intimate with any of them. Those are the rumors.” …

Blogger and activist Michael Rogers, who has worked for years outing anti-gay, closeted politicians, said individuals should be careful making accusations without certainty or proof. …

No kidding. Not too smart to set yourself up for a lawsuit, Linda — not that we think you’re wrong or anything, but still. That’d be like us saying Jodie Foster is a lesbian, without having, like, any proof, you know?

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June 4, 2009

Wesley Eure, Welcome to the Family!

Wesley Eure: The one in the tight pants. No, the other one. No, the— yes, that’s right, in the denim shirt showing off his pecs.

Sometime, remind me to dig out the photos I took of Wesley Eure when I met him in ninety-eighty-something.

And remind me to tell you what a charming young man he was — very relaxed, very mellow.

Oh, but you won’t have to remind me to tell you:

I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!

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June 2, 2009

Sara Jane Moore is Getting All the Attention Now… What About Oliver Sipple?

On September 22, 1975, just 17 days after Charles Manson faithful Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme tried to assassinate President Gerald R. Ford, Sara Jane Moore, volunteer bookkeeper for the Patty Hearst-snatching Symbionese Liberation Army and FBI informant, tried to do the same thing.

Moore was released on parole almost a year and a half ago, and is now in the news because she’s decided to go public with her much sought-after story.

OK, whatever. The question here is: Why did Moore’s assassination attempt fail?

Better question: Who was responsible for foiling Moore’s attempt to kill the president?

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May 20, 2009

Because We Haven’t Succumbed to a Big Ol’ Sleazy Tabloid Story About Carrie Prejean’s Allegedly Big Ol’ Lesbian Mom in, Like, a Week

But who can resist The Star, especially when it names Miss Opposite Marriage California’s mother’s alleged (gasp!) lesbian lover? (One Valerie Vetrano, in case you’re wondering.)

We can’t. And we make no apologies for enjoying this spectacle to the fullest. It’s almost as good as Wayne Besen catching Porno Pete on video in flagrante with Charlie Crist. Well, no, nothing would be as good as that. But it’s still a pretty satisfying guilty pleasure. (Except we’re still waiting to feel guilty. Wait, let me check… Hmm, nope, nothing yet.)

Of course, The Star wants you to actually buy the rag, with the breathless promise of “amazing photos of Carrie’s mom on the night she seduced Valerie at a California bar’s lesbian night!”

If this is all legit, we will be amazed. And very, very amused.

Naughty us.

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May 16, 2009

Remember Father Farrow?

Backstory: Fresno Priest Comes Out Against Prop 8 During Sermon — And Comes Out, October 6, 2008

Q&A with Father Geoffrey Farrow

Fr. Geoffrey Farrow, who was fired from his Fresno, CA parish after preaching against California Proposition 8 last October, has agreed to deliver the homily during the Eucharistic liturgy at our DignityUSA Convention 2009. He will also be participating in a newly-added pre-convention forum on Marriage Equality, which will be held on Thursday, July 2, 2009.

. . .

Dignity: How have you remained engaged with your Catholic faith since your dismissal?

Farrow: The word dismissal implies rejection on some level. Many LGBT people have experienced this from their families and from their faith communities. As I mentioned earlier, I am blessed with a loving and supportive family. As far as the Catholic Church is concerned, on one hand, if you think of the Catholic Church as the hierarchy, then there is very little reason to remain a Catholic. On the other hand, if you see the Church as the People of God, a living community of faith, then there are many reasons for hope. Catholics in the pews disagree sharply with their bishops on a host of social issues and tend to be far more progressive than their Protestant counterparts. Eventually, the bishops will get it or, will die off and be replaced by bishops who do get it. Pope John Paul II apologized for the hierarchy’s decisions regarding Galileo, the Crusades and treatment of Jewish people. No one in the hierarchy stood up and rent their garments because this represented a rebuff of the hierarchy. They simply nodded in agreement and hoped that the apology would be accepted and that everyone would simply forget. Considering that many in our society do not know what Vietnam is, I believe that their hope is reasonable.

More at the link.

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May 12, 2009

Flash! Charlie Crist is Still NOT Gay, Was NOT Outed in “Outrage,” and ISN’T Running for the U.S. Senate!

“Hi, I’m Charlie Crist, and
I’m totally Not Gay!”

Oh, wait, he was, and he is.

But he’s still really, really, really NOT GAY, just as we reported last July: “…he’s so Not Gay, he’s marrying a woman, who is so Not A Beard,” and again in August, when we made sure you knew Charlie Crist was NOT just another one of those pathetic Republican closet cases who had to prove he was totally NOT GAY by endorsing Florida’s anti-gay Amendment 2, which—

Oh, wait, he did.

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May 8, 2009

Out, Damn Hypocrites! Out, I Say! (Plus: D.C. News Anchor Threatens Mike Rogers With Violence)

Juicy bits after the trailer:

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May 5, 2009

David Ogden Stiers: Yep, He’s Gay

Exclusive to Gossip Boy:

GB: First thing David we need to let the readers know why you chose Gossip Boy to come out.

DOS: Gossip Boy? I thought you were with the Advocate!

GB: Now.

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Anti-Gay Marie Osmond’s Lesbian-Daughter Story Hits the News Again

UPDATE: We’re VERY happy to report that we were totally WRONG about Marie. What you’re probably looking for is in one of these posts:

Marie Osmond Isn’t Anti-Gay (At Least Not Anymore)
May 8, 2009

Video: Marie Osmond: “So what if my daughter is gay?”
May 21, 2009

Original Post:

What a day for religious-hypocrisy scandals! Last night, we get the first of six promised nude pictures of Carrie Prejean (whose frantic, middle-of-the-night press release defending herself, and not denying anything, convinces us that the photo we’ve seen is real, and Miss California Jugs for Jesus expects the silicone to really hit the fan once the rest of the pics hit the Web), and today, we find a thoroughly misleading headline on the cover of the sleazy tabloid, the Globe:

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May 1, 2009

One “Well, Duh!” Coming-Out Story, and One We Weren’t Expecting

Kelly McGillis came out as a lesbian yesterday (here’s the video), eliciting a gigantic yawn from yours truly, followed by: “Well, it’s about damned time.” Not that we dismiss such a thing — on the contrary, we salute McGillis and welcome her to the Out Wing of the Club. But, seriously, are people actually surprised by this revelation? (And if you ask why we’ve never mentioned McGillis’ orientation before, if we’ve supposedly known about it all these nigh-unto-several decades, the answer is simple: for the same reason we don’t flatly state what we know about certain other “Well, duh!” Hollywood lesbians: l-a-w-s-u-i-t.)

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November 28, 2008

Video: Set Aside 8 Minutes and 56 Seconds to Really Listen to Cleve Jones

This is an interview with Cleve Jones from March, 2008, at San Francisco City Hall the Sunday the 1978 Gay Freedom Day was re-created for Milk. Everything Cleve has to say is worth listening to, particularly his message to young gay people today — what you missed, good and bad, during the revolutionary era of the fight for equality in the 1970s; he even mentions small, simple things, like the warm look of recognition between gay and lesbian strangers on the street (something I remember very fondly, but haven’t seen in many years).

But what I find most striking, and painfully ironic, comes as the video inches toward the 7:00 mark:

Two months before the California Supreme Court handed down its ruling recognizing the fundamental constitutional right of same-sex couples to marry legally, and well before any of us knew Proposition 8 would be on the ballot in November, let alone that our newfound freedom would be ripped away from us, Cleve says:

“History is full of examples where people who thought they were free woke up one morning and discovered they weren’t free, and they had to fight, or die. And I think it is not out of the realm of possibility that we will face that again.”

If we only knew…

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November 24, 2008

Memorial to Gay Air Force Veteran Leonard Matlovich Dedicated in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO — November 24, 2008 — “Therefore be it resolved, that I, Gavin Newsom, Mayor of the City and County of San Francisco, join the LGBT community in recognizing Leonard Matlovich’s unprecedented contribution to the pursuit of equality and celebrate his contributions and heroism, do hereby proclaim November 15, 2008, as ‘Leonard Matlovich Memorial Day’ in San Francisco!”

Thus, in the city in which a local TV news anchor who thought he was off-mike once referred to him as a “faggot flier,” late US Air Force Tech. Sgt. Leonard Matlovich, immortalized on the cover of Time magazine and by his own tombstone in Washington DC’s Congressional Cemetery, was honored by the Mayor and others on Saturday, November 15th.

The occasion was the dedication of a bronze memorial plaque since installed on the side of the apartment building at the corner of 18th & Castro where he once lived. It was conceived by friends of Leonard and the nongay owner of the building. As its text notes, Matlovich, a 12-year Air Force veteran with a Bronze Star and Purple heart earned during three tours of duty in Vietnam, was the first to make the nation aware of the absurdity and injustice of the military’s ban on gays when he volunteered to challenge it in court.

Though he didn’t succeed, his example inspired others to continue to try to this day and others, still, to come out to their family and friends, including some of the speakers at the dedication ceremony.

Representing the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, formed in 1993 to fight the modern version of the military’s ban, San Francisco attorney Jo Hoenninger recalled that, despite having never met him, Leonard inspired her to tell the truth when asked if she was a lesbian when she, too, was in the Air Force. Thinking the importance of her job for the service might save her, she was, nonetheless, soon discharged. She added that she believed that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” would have been overturned by now had Leonard lived.

GLBT Historical Society Executive Director Paul Boneberg revealed that he was still in the closet when Leonard’s famous “I Am A Homosexual” Time magazine cover appeared in 1975, forcing him to hide it behind another magazine while reading it. Twelve years later, as the head of Mobilization Against AIDS, Boneberg would be arrested along with Leonard and several other gay leaders at a protest in front of the White House against the Reagan Administration’s failure to adequately address AIDS which, by that time, had already killed 20,000 in the US. Leonard was arrested wearing his US Air Force jacket, his medals, and carrying a small American flag. By coincidence, the building on which his plaque was installed will soon house an exhibit of the Historical Society’s huge collection of GLBT memorabilia, including Leonard’s uniform, Harvey Milk’s chair, and the sewing machine upon which Gilbert Baker created the first rainbow flag.

In a remarkable coincidence, chants of the huge San Francisco anti Prop 8 crowd marching by below rose upward, filling the LGBT Community Center’s fourth floor ceremonial room as CA Assemblyman/State Senator-Elect Mark Leno also presented a certificate in Leonard’s honor and emphasized how fitting it was that the dedication was happening the same day as nationwide protests against anti gay marriage bigotry.

Attendees watched video clips of some of Matlovich’s numerous appearances on national television and speeches, including Walter Cronkite introducing his first television interview on May 26, 1975; being interviewed in Miami by NBC nightly news as one of the leaders of the 1977 fight against the Anita Bryant campaign which also used the threat of the city becoming “another San Francisco,” and, like Yes On Prop 8, the fear of gays’ influence on children to win; his revealing in 1987 to Charlie Gibson on Good Morning America that he had AIDS; his final speech just weeks before he died at a 1988 Sacramento gay rights rally where he told the crowd that “our mission is to reach out to teach people to love and not to hate”; and ABC’s Peter Jennings announcing his death and reading his epitaph which the Associated Press has described as “still as fresh as today’s headlines: ‘When I was in the military they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one’.”

Leonard’s friend, and co-organizer with him of a never-realized plan to erect a Washington DC memorial to Harvey Milk, activist Ken McPherson, said he knew that Leonard would be out in the streets himself if he were still alive.

LGBT liaison to out-of-the-country San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Alex Randolph, who had not been born when Leonard came out nor yet in grade school when he died, said how happy he was to learn of another gay hero, and presented the certificate from the Mayor proclaiming “Leonard Matlovich Memorial Day.”

More than one speaker agreed with the words of reporter Neely Tucker in an article in The Washington Post just a few days before:

“He had the knack for taking your heart and making it catch for a moment… He seemed to make people want to be braver than perhaps they were.”

A Website, www.leonardmatlovich.com, to further memorialize Matlovich and grow support for overturning “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” will be launched soon.

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November 20, 2008

Gay Is the New Black

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November 16, 2008

Welcome to the Family, Wanda Sykes!

“Now let’s go get our damned civil rights!”

Wanda Sykes Comes Out as Gay and Married

Wickedly funny comedian Wanda Sykes surprised the crowd by making an unannounced appearance and by officially coming out as a gay, married woman at a Join the Impact rally in Las Vegas Saturday.

“I got married on Oct. 25,” Sykes told the crowd holding signs and chanting for her. My wife is here.”

While Sykes has been spotted out and about in lesbian clubs throughout West Hollywood for years and has always championed gay rights in her act and in interviews, she’s never quite said she was gay. …

“They pissed me off,” Sykes said of the people who voted to take away gay and lesbian rights. “You know what? Now I got to get in your face. They pissed off the wrong group of people,” she said, adding that the community is galvanized and will not go away.

Sykes cautioned that those who sought and seek to keep gays and lesbians stripped of their rights had better watch out because not only will the community fight to maintain marriage rights in California but now the community should battle for federal marriage rights. …

The spitfire funny woman also debunked the gay is a choice theory in her four-minute plus speech. … “That’s like telling me I chose to be a woman or I chose to be black,” Sykes said. …

Topping off her pointed and moving speech Sykes said. “I am proud to be a woman. I’m proud to be a black woman and I’m proud to be gay. Now let’s go get our damned civil rights!”

More at the link!

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October 9, 2008

The Only People Surprised When Sarah Palin Flips Off Gay Alaskans Are… Gay Alaskans

Why gay Alaskans are “dismayed by Governor’s rebuff,” and what they could have ever possibly mistaken for “positive comments about gays and lesbians in the vice presidential debate,” we’ll never know. But our brothers and sisters in the frozen north are pretty upset about it:

Palin Declines to Acknowledge National Coming Out Day

Gay Alaskans Dismayed by Governor’s Rebuff

JUNEAU, AK — October 9 — Gov. Palin has declined to issue a formal proclamation recognizing National Coming Out Day in Alaska. Heartened by the Gov. Palin’s positive comments about gays and lesbians in the Vice Presidential Debate, Alaskans Together submitted a formal request to acknowledge the day, which is observed on Oct. 11 internationally by members of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered) communities and supporters.

“But I also want to clarify, if there’s any kind of suggestion at all from my answer that I would be anything but tolerant of adults in America choosing their partners, choosing relationships that they deem best for themselves, you know…,” said Gov. Palin during the debate.

“Governor Palin called for ‘tolerance’, and we hoped she’d show that type of leadership as Governor with this proclamation,” said Alaskans Together President Marsha Buck. “Coming out is a difficult and deserves recognition.”

Oh, Marsha, honey, that’s what you consider a “positive comment”? “Tolerance” is what you have when you’re a karma-mindful Hindu with a mosquito buzzing in your ear, and you grit your teeth to stop yourself from grinding the persistent little bastard into a teeny, tiny, pulpy mess between your fingers.

That’s exactly how Sarah Palin “tolerates” you, me, and every other homo who ever existed.

This will sound harsh, Marsha, but you guys are really Uncle-Tomming it up there. Get some brass ones, and stop falling all over yourself to soft-soap your governor’s consistently revolting homophobia. (How’s that for a bunch of mixed metaphors?) You don’t have to be grateful for what you perceive as a crumb tossed from the mistress’s table.

So far in October 2008 Governor Palin has issued proclamations for: “Careers in Construction Week,” “10th Annual Christian Heritage Week,” “Biomedical Technician Week,” “Alaska Taiwan Friendship Week,” “World Farm Animals Day,” “Breastfeeding Awareness Month,” and “Grand Opening of Rilke Schule Day.”

Marsha, Marsha, Marsha… what do you expect? Farm animals are much higher on your crackpot governor’s value-of-life scale than we’ll ever be. (I’d say “evolutionary scale,” but as you know, she doesn’t believe in evolution — and, frankly, the more I hear from that troglodyte, the more I’m starting to doubt evolution myself, at least among the species Palinus Moronicus.)

“We were asking for the Governor to acknowledge and recognize the dignity of openly-gay Alaskans. We weren’t asking for a policy position, beyond simple acknowledgement.” Buck said.

You don’t have any “dignity” as far as she’s concerned. Hell, you’re not even human as far as she’s concerned — just a demon-possessed Other that needs to be eradicated.

But don’t worry, Marsha — she’s going to pray your gay away.

Now, come on, gay Alaskans, get real — and don’t get too irritated with me. I’m telling you to grow a thicker skin, stop apologizing, and start demanding what you want. You’re not going to win anything by “asking” for approval from anybody, especially that delusional gay-basher running your state.

Recognize your own dignity, ’cause that’s something that can’t be given you — or taken away from you.

Now, get back in the game, and get tough. Instead of issuing a statement expressing hurt and dismay, rewrite it and take Palin to task. You are in the right, and she is in the wrong — and if you don’t take a stronger stand against her extremist positions, you’re just giving her permission to continue promoting homophobia and religious extremism in the public square, and relieving her of any accountability.

Call her on it. Make her answer to her bigotry. Make it public.

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Judy Shepard, Task Force Send Same Message: Ten Years, No Progress, Countless Victims

Have you ever wondered…

If the Mormon church had chosen to leverage tens of millions of dollars, countless man hours, and untold energy into promoting a campaign of peace, tolerance, and nonviolence — instead of pouring its vast resources into eliminating equal rights for gay people in California — how many lives might they might have saved?
 
 
From the Task Force:

Ten Years. Thousands Victimized. Not Enough Action.

Sunday, Oct. 12, marks the 10-year anniversary of the brutal death of Matthew Shepard, and many states and the federal government have yet to enact hate crimes protections covering both sexual orientation and gender identity. This, despite the fact that thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people have been the targets of hate-based violence in the decade since Shepard’s murder, according to statistics from the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP).

Statement by Rea Carey, Executive Director National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund

“Ten years ago, the shocking murder of Matthew Shepard sent a national clarion call for stronger federal laws to combat crimes motivated by hate. Since then, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people have continued to fall victim to hate-stoked violence in shocking numbers. Despite this epidemic of anti-LGBT violence, the federal government has refused to enact a hate crimes law covering sexual orientation and gender identity. This shameful failure of national will and resolve must end in 2009 with a new president and a new Congress.

“Today, we remember and mourn Matthew Shepard. We also remember other young people whose voices fell silent this past year. We mourn Ashley Sweeney of Detroit, Mich., shot to death in February 2008; we mourn Lawrence King of Oxnard, Calif., shot to death in his middle-school classroom in February 2008; we mourn Simmie Williams Jr. of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., shot to death in February 2008; and we mourn Angie Zapata of Greeley, Colo., beaten to death with a fire extinguisher in July 2008. We remember and mourn all victims of hate violence, but especially these and other young gender-nonconforming people, who died in the hope of freedom to live their lives as they wished.”

Assessment of progress during the past 10 years

Currently, 31 states and D.C. have hate crimes laws that track or make illegal crimes motivated by sexual orientation and/or gender identity and expression. However, by the time of Matthew Shepard’s death in 1998, 23 of these 31 states had already passed their laws. Since his death 10 years ago, only eight states have added hate crimes protections (Colorado, Hawaii, Maryland, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Tennessee and Texas). In 19 states, there are no hate crime laws protecting anyone in the LGBT community.

On the federal level, champions in both the House and Senate have continued to prioritize passage of legislation that would expand and strengthen federal hate crimes legislation. In the 110th Congress, both chambers with bipartisan majorities passed the Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act as a free-standing bill in the House and an amendment to the Department of Defense Authorization Act in the Senate. This is the first time both chambers have considered a bill that included both gender identity and sexual orientation. However, strategic and procedural problems prevented Congress from sending a bill to President George Bush, who promised to veto the bill if it did reach that point.

Epidemic of anti-LGBT violence

LGBT people are disproportionately affected by hate violence. Reports produced by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (1984-1993) and the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (1994-2007) have documented more than 35,000 anti-LGBT crimes over the last two decades. It is important to note that these statistics are based on reports from only a handful of local LGBT crime victim assistance agencies. Inclusion of transgender people in hate crimes laws is especially important because violence against transgender people is widespread, largely underreported, and disproportionately greater than the number of transgender people in society. The total number of victims reporting anti-LGBTQ violence to NCAVP in 2007 was 2,430, which represents a 24 percent increase over the total number of victims reported in 2006.

The Task Force has led the movement-wide effort to secure an effective and full governmental response to hate crimes against LGBT people, beginning with the launch of its groundbreaking anti-violence project in 1982. Task Force organizing, coalition building and lobbying resulted in the 1990 passage of the Hate Crimes Statistics Act, sponsored by U.S. Rep. John Conyers.

From Judy Shepard:

Ten Years of Change — No Progress

Hello my friends,

It’s hard to believe that it has been ten years since Matthew’s death. So much has changed yet so much remains the same. I want to thank all of you for your unwavering support for the Foundation. I know that you understand our work is far from over. I don’t mean the work of the Foundation exclusively I mean the work we all need to do at a personal level. We need to continue talking to our friends, families and co-workers. Unless we are honest about who we are and are able to share with those who love us what our lives are like, they will not know how to help us. We need those allies in this struggle to achieve equality across the board to realize all of our civil rights.

Great advances have been made in changing people’s attitudes and eliminating ignorance about the gay community even in my wonderful state of Wyoming. At least I thought so, until I read the readers’ comments following an article about the ten year observance of Matt’s death in the Cheyenne, Wyoming newspaper.

I understand that the readers who take the time to write in are doing so because they absolutely disagree with the article and those who do agree won’t bother to write comments. However, it brought home to me how much work is left to do to make the world an accepting place. The level of ignorance is astounding. The continuing belief that what happened to Matt was not a hate crime and the notion that ‘special people shouldn’t have special rights’, is beyond my comprehension. The level of ‘hate’ is frightening.

The Foundation staff is very committed to doing all they can to ensure the message — ‘erase hate’ — is one that is known to the community and its allies as well as those who are trying learn more about the Foundation and the LGBT community at large. It is ignorance that ultimately results in hate and that may escalate into physical violence. The only way to combat the ignorance is to educate and tell our stories.

We are all aware of how important this election cycle is to all of us. Please take the time to know the issues and what is at stake for the LGBT community. Share your stories with those who care about you. It is the only way they will know how to vote to support you.

The privilege of having the right to vote is also a responsibility. We must remember that we are not voting only for a new President but also for representatives at the local, county, state and national level. Please vote and encourage everyone you know to vote. Apathy is unacceptable. We are at a cross roads in the movement and we need to show our support for those who support the LGBT community. We are all hoping the next ten years will be our time.

If you wish to learn more about the Foundation and the work we are doing now, please visit www.MatthewShepard.org or www.MatthewsPlace.com.

Thank you again for being a part of what we do.

Sincerely,

Judy Shepard

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September 24, 2008

Clay Aiken: Yep, He’s Gay.

About bloody well time he came out. Per People (which appears to have been beaten to the Web with its own cover by Perez Hilton):

Clay Aiken:
I’m a Gay Dad

Following the Aug. 8 birth of his son Parker, singer Clay Aiken is following through on a promise he made to himself as a new dad: to publicly acknowledge that he’s gay.

“It was the first decision I made as a father,” Aiken, 29, tells the upcoming issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday. “I cannot raise a child to lie or to hide things. I wasn’t raised that way, and I’m not going to raise a child to do that.”

Aiken says he expects the news may overwhelm some of his fans. …

Only the ones who’ve had a total lobotomy. You mean there was anybody who didn’t know Aiken was on the team (albeit hiding in the locker room)?

He adds that he hopes his fans “know that I’ve never intended to lie to anybody at all. …”

Does lying by omission so you can keep performing for anti-gay churches count?

More at the link, in case you care about his mom’s reaction.

Flashback: And Another Reason We Can’t Stand Clay Aiken…: “No, it’s not just that he refuses to come out — as gay, or straight, or bi. No, it’s not just his criminal fashion sense, or even his butt-ugly hair. It’s that he would perform for a hate-filled, anti-gay church, no matter what his own sexuality. …” October 9, 2007

Tomorrow: We talk about stuff you didn’t already know.

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August 21, 2008

From Now On, We’re Buying ALL Our Greeting Cards from Hallmark (And Poo! to American Greetings)

Signs of the Times:
Hallmark Introduces Gay Marriage Cards

Now that more than 1,000 newspapers across the nation accept wedding announcements from same-sex couples, it only seems right that Hallmark should make a card specifically celebrating that happy occasion.

And they have. Finally.

Hallmark added the cards after California joined Massachusetts as the only U.S. states with legal gay marriage. …

Hallmark began offering coming-out cards last year.

The introduction of the gay marriage cards makes Hallmark the first major greeting card company in the country to make such an offering. And for the moment, they’ve got a lock on gay marriages: Hallmark’s largest competitor, American Greetings Corp., says it has no plans to enter the market, saying its current offerings are general enough to speak to a lot of different relationships. …

More from GFN at the link.

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June 12, 2008

PFLAG Praises MA Gov. Deval Patrick for Embracing His Lesbian Daughter (And So Do We)

Governor & Mrs. Patrick “Embody the Perfect Combination of Leadership & Love,” Group Says

Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) today applauded a groundbreaking interview, in Bay Windows newspaper, in which Katherine Patrick, daughter of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, talks openly for the first time about being the lesbian daughter of one of America’s most pro-lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) leaders.

In an interview with Windows reporter Laura Kiritsy, Governor and Mrs. Patrick discuss their shared pride for their daughter and recount Katherine’s coming out experience at the Governor’s Mansion.

“[T]the first thing my dad did was, [he] wrapped me in a bear hug and said, ‘Well, we love you no matter what,” and the family shared a group hug. “And I’ve been closer to my parents since coming out than any other time, I think,” Katherine says.

“All of us at PFLAG congratulate Governor and Mrs. Patrick as they embrace their daughter and celebrate their family’s love,” said PFLAG national president John R. Cepek, who is the father of a gay son. “The Patricks embody the perfect combination of leadership and love and are role models not only for parents in Massachusetts, but for families across the country. Long before he knew he had a lesbian daughter, Governor Patrick was a leader on LGBT issues. He has set a policy and parental example that every father, and every elected leader, should aspire to follow.”

Massachusetts is one of only two states to officially recognize full marriage equality for same-sex couples. In 2007, the state legislature defeated a measure, following the historic Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling legalizing marriage, to amend the state’s constitution to ban such unions. The effort to defeat the measure was led, in large part, by Governor Patrick.

“[O]f course, he didn’t know I was gay then,” Katherine Patrick says in her interview this morning. “So, for someone so publicly to fight for something that doesn’t even affect him was just like, ‘That’s my dad,’ you know? That’s all I could think. I was very, very proud to be part of this family, and this state in general.”

This Saturday, Governor Patrick will join his daughter to march in the Boston Pride Parade.

“PFLAG extends a heartfelt invitation to the Governor and Katherine to join our local chapter in Saturday’s parade,” Cepek added. “We are proud to have them as part of the growing chorus of families who believe in loving all of our children equally, and just as they are.”

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October 20, 2007

Whole New Reason for the Fundies to Pile On the Eeeeeeeevil Harry Potter

J.K. Rowling Outs Hogwarts Character

Harry Potter fans, the rumors are true: Albus Dumbledore, master wizard and Headmaster of Hogwarts, is gay. J.K. Rowling, author of the mega-selling fantasy series that ended last summer, outed the beloved character Friday night while appearing before a full house at Carnegie Hall.

After reading briefly from the final book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” she took questions from audience members. She was asked by one young fan whether Dumbledore finds “true love.”

“Dumbledore is gay,” the author responded to gasps and applause.

Rowling, finishing a brief “Open Book Tour” of the United States, her first tour here since 2000, also said that she regarded her Potter books as a “prolonged argument for tolerance” and urged her fans to “question authority.”

Not everyone likes her work, Rowling said, likely referring to Christian groups that have alleged the books promote witchcraft. Her news about Dumbledore, she said, will give them one more reason.

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