Gay marriage battle goes before voters in Washington state. By msnbc.com staff and news services A referendum that could overturn same-sex marriage in the state of Washington has qualified for the ballot, the secretary of state's office announced Tuesday. Supporters turned in 247,331 signatures, more than double the minimum of 120,577 valid voter signatures required. A 3 percent random sample was done and of the 7,561 signatures that were sampled during the check, 6,877 were accepted. The referendum's backers are seeking to overturn a measure allowing same-sex marriage in the state, which was passed by the Legislature earlier this year. That law was supposed to take effect last Thursday, but was put on hold once the signatures were turned in last Wednesday.
Gay marriage supporters have been raising money to protect the law. Zach Silk, campaign manager for Washington United for Marriage, has said he expects both sides to raise millions of dollars. Obama who? A number of cases involving gay marriage are also winding through federal courts. CARIBBEAN: Gay Rights Slowly Coming Out of the Closet. Todos Iguales. NOH8 Campaign. LGBT community celebrates Utah Pride Festival. SALT LAKE (ABC 4 News) – Beneath the colors and costumes at the Utah Pride Festival lies the hope for understanding of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
“They're just people,” Stevee Francis said. “They’re the same as anybody else.” A spokesman for the Utah Pride Center said this year’s parade is going to be the largest ever. Over 5,000 people are planning on participating. “That’s not the people lining up outside, that’s the people in the parade, so it’s going to be a great event,” Michael Westley said. The parade will mark the first time members of the LDS church will walk alongside members of the LGBT community. The group, called Mormons Building Bridges, from the LDS church plans on preaching love and acceptance. “In the last ten years people have been more accepting and more understanding of the LGBT community, especially in Utah,” Westley said.
Aside from the three day festival, the Pride Center’s goal of changing hearts and changing lives is never ending. LGBT third annual Pride event will kick off on July 12th with the Dundalk Pride Festival - Community. Dundalk is getting ready to host its third Pride Festival which aims to celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in the North East “We at Dundalk Outcomers know that having a local Pride event is a great way to acknowledge lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in the region, and to recognise the important roles they play in local communities,” said a Dundalk Outcomers spokesperson. “It’s also a chance to connect with families and friends of the LGBT community. Dundalk Pride 2012 is a celebration of the whole LGBT community in the North East, their families and friends, and anyone who wants to support an inclusive and equal society.”
He added: “Over the past months, members of Dundalk Outcomers have been working hard to organise this year’s Pride Festival and build on the success of previous years. The programme has something for everyone to enjoy.” There will be a public launch of the art exhibition on Thursday, July 12 at 6.30pm. ‘Pride Day!’ Northbrook.patch. The Illinois State Senate Tuesday by one vote turned back a bill requiring schools to adopt more detailed policies to prevent bullying. Senators Susan Garrett (D), Jeffrey Schoenberg (D) and Terry Link (D) who represent parts of Northbrookvoted for the bill. Thirty votes were required for passage in the Senate; the measure could come up again during the current session. HB 5290 would have required schools to include a definition of bullying and a statement saying it was against the law.
The policies would have spelled out how allegations could be submitted anonymously and how they would be investigated, according to the State Journal-Register of Springfield. A description of what could happen to students who bully others, such as counseling or community service, also would have to be set out, according to the State Journal-Register.
The measure was approved by the House in March. State Reps. Tell Sec. Clinton: Help Protect LGBTI Refugees from Violence. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) refugees are the most vulnerable and isolated among refugees. They seek protection from violence and discrimination in a new country only to face the same persecution from which they fled. In December 2011, President Obama committed to make the rights of LGBT people a priority in U.S. foreign policy. Since then, the U.S. State Department has made great strides in that direction, but there is still much more to be done—especially for LGBTI refugees. Help us make a difference. Tell Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to help make sure that LGBTI refugees gain access to safety and protection from violence in their countries of asylum.
Dear Secretary Clinton: We support your work to implement by the end of your term the measures outlined in the Presidential Memorandum issued on December 6, 2011 on International Initiatives to Advance the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Persons. Sincerely, Handful of Colorado Lawmakers Stonewall Civil Unions Bill. Untitled. 6 Parishioners Dead After Lying Pastor Tells Them They've Been Cured of HIV. Special Ed. Student Says Bullying Is Getting Worse - Albuquerque News Story - KOAT Albuquerque. RIO RANCHO, N.M. —A Rio Rancho sixth-grader, who said he's been relentlessly bullied at school, returned to the classroom on Tuesday. Click Like For New Mexico News Updates: Tobias Zirwas, a special student afflicted with Asperger's, said things were worse on Tuesday. On Monday, he told Action 7 News that he has endured an onslaught on slurs. "They say that I'm gay. They said that I'm a homosexual. They say I'm a gay retard," Zirwas said.
Now that Zirwas has bravely made his ordeal public, Action 7 News asked if teachers are doing anything to stop the harassment. The hall pass didn't ease his mother's concerns, so she went to see the principal. "I had asked them where is administration? Since Monday's story first aired, several middle school parents have contacted Action 7 News to say that bullying is major problem at the school.
School Principal Debbie Morrell refused to talk about Zirwas' bullying case and said it was an open investigation. NOH8 Campaign. Metro - Bullied student takes life. A friend of Jamie Hubley’s says bullying at high school played a part in the teen’s decision to commit suicide, something he had talked about, and blogged about, doing before. “There were a few times before when he was talking about committing suicide, I had talked him out of it, but I wasn’t there this time,” said Steph Wheeler, a close friend and classmate at A.Y.
Jackson Secondary School. A lot of people loved Hubley, but he was bullied because he was gay, said Wheeler. On his blog, he wrote about being depressed, cutting himself, suicide and hating school. He also shared a photo collage that shows teens being bullied in one frame and killing themselves in the next. Another side of him shone through in music. He published videos of his singing on YouTube and recently sang the national anthem at a city council meeting with his high school glee club. “He was shy but outgoing at the same time. “I hated high school,” said founder Jeremy Dias. It Gets Better: Whirlpool Corporation’s Video. Whirlpool employees made this It Gets Better video. Whirlpool has a 100% rating on the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Corporate Equality index for more than seven years. Here’s what they said upon releasing this video: In honor of National Coming Out Day, Whirlpool Corporation’s employees posted a video to share an “It Gets Better” message with LGBT youth who are struggling with bullying and self-acceptance.The It Gets Better campaign focuses on inspiring LGBT youth to overcome bullying and harassment, and hopes to prevent teen suicide as a result.
The movement collects video submissions from individuals and organizations with a common theme – it gets better. The message is meant to encourage these young people to seek help if they are in crisis, and to provide hope that life will get better.For 100 years, Whirlpool Corporation has focused on improving lives one home and one family at a time. Friends: Gay College Rugby Player Comes Out To His Team (Video) New Mich GOP law will override local laws, roll back LGBT protections - the lie of "small government" Local control, local government, local self-determination. These are the hallmarks of the tea party Republicans and conservatives in general. Recent efforts by Michigan Republicans prove conclusively that this is a lie. They are not interested in local control; they are interested in conservative control.
Period. In September, I wrote about two bills passed by the House to limit domestic partner benefits for any public employees in the state. Not that this is any surprise but Michigan Republicans are poised to make sure that schools, counties, cities and the state itself do not offer domestic partner benefits to their employees…It’s obviously nothing more than a blatant effort to make sure same-sex partners are never afforded the same benefits their “different-sex” counterparts enjoy.
The two bills, House bills 4770 and 4771 make it illegal to offer these benefits to domestic partners and to make it illegal for it to be a subject for collective bargaining. It’s a short bill. Beta. We'll cut your aid if you persecute gays, Britain warns African nations. By Simon Walters Updated: 22:44 GMT, 8 October 2011 Poor African countries which persecute homosexuals will have their aid slashed by the Government in a bid by David Cameron to take his gay rights crusade to the Third World.
International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell has already cut aid to Malawi by £19 million after two gay men were sentenced to 14 years hard labour. And he has warned the country's leaders to scrap plans to introduce draconian new anti-lesbian laws. Defiant: Malawi's President Bingu wa Mutharika waves to supporters Mr Mitchell, one of Mr Cameron's closest allies, is also threatening to impose further aid 'fines' against Uganda and Ghana for hardline anti-gay and lesbian measures.
The policy was disclosed after Mr Cameron defended his decision to legalise gay weddings when he addressed last week's Conservative Party conference. The cut in aid to Malawi came after two gay men were convicted last year under the country's rigidly imposed ban on homosexuality. When you talk too much for Twitter. Brian Brown Continues Assault On Freedom and Equality. Breaking: anti-gay N.C. Senator Forrester falsifies credentials – and an open letter to the lawmaker. UPDATE: Equality NC responds; Chapel Hill Mayor, Mark Kleinschmidt calls for Forrester’s resignation ; WRAL picks up the story (“As of 10:00 tonight, the accreditation has not been deleted from either his campaign website or his profile on the Gaston County GOP site.”) and QNotes also has an update.
NOTE FROM PAM: It’s sad that a lawmaker, namely North Carolina State Senator James Forrester, is so blinded by ignorance and bigotry that he embarrasses himself — and his cause (to amend the state’s constitution so that NC recognizes the “only domestic legal union” in the state as a marriage between a man and a woman). He went on the air with Mike Signorile, who asked Forrester to cite his “facts” – something mainstream media almost always fails to do with these bigots — and lo and behold, the lawmaker scrambled and came up with a goose egg.
Dear Senator Forrester: I was dismayed recently to hear your radio interview with Mike Signorile. U are hostile towards gay people. Sincerely, Scott Rose. Gay Rights Activist Protesting Against Chick-Fil-A. A protest against the opening of Chick-Fil-A on the corner of Sunset and Highland Ave. in Hollywood was held Saturday afternoon. Chick-Fil-A in Hollywood. Image found on flickr. Owned by rudebigdog. Angered by the popular food chain’s grand opening on Thursday, Ken Howard, a psychotherapist and gay rights activist, organized the protest. In order to organize the protest, Howard began by creating a Facebook fan page and event encouraging others to come and help protest. Chick-Fil-A is known for sponsoring organizations that do not support gay marriage and other gay civil rights, such as the National Organization for Marriage. Q: What made you decide to organize this protest against Chick-Fil-A? A: As soon as I learned that a Chick-Fil-A was coming to Hollywood, I looked around and looked for protests.
Q: What makes Chick-Fil-A anti-gay? A: Every franchise [of Chick-Fil-A] gives fifteen percent of all food sales to the Chick-Fil-A corporate office. A: I’m just getting the ball rolling. The Freedom to Surf: Protecting Internet Access in Public Schools. Throughout history, those in power have attempted to control access to information, to maintain — in the words of Thomas Jefferson — "tyranny over the mind of man. " While it used to be books alone smoking in the pyres, today virtual information is equally vulnerable to censorship — if not more so — since all it takes is the click of a web filter to block a website.
On the eve of Banned Websites Awareness Day, we remember and celebrate Franks v. Metropolitan Board of Public Education, a case that opened access to inappropriately-blocked websites in hundreds of schools, sparking the ACLU's national "Don't Filter Me" campaign. In 2009, high school senior Andrew Emitt sat down at a computer in his Tennessee school to search for scholarships for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) students. He tried HRC. Allowing access to websites that present one side of an issue while blocking sites that present the other side is called viewpoint discrimination, and it's illegal. When you talk too much for Twitter. Ratigan- Greatest Theft in History. Employers less likely to interview openly gay men: study.
By Eric W. DolanTuesday, October 4, 2011 17:42 EDT Openly gay applicants are 40 percent less likely to be granted an interview than their heterosexual counterparts, according to a study published Tuesday in the American Journal of Sociology. The study was the first large-scale investigation to test the receptiveness of employers to gay male job applicants. Similar studies have been conducted to expose hiring prejudice based on race or sex. “The results indicate that gay men encounter significant barriers in the hiring process because, at the initial point of contact, employers more readily disqualify openly gay applicants than equally qualified heterosexual applicants,” wrote the study’s author, Andras Tilcsik of Harvard University.
Discrimination against openly gay candidates was particularly strong in Southern and Midwestern states. Tilcsik sent two fictitious but realistic resumes to more than 1,700 entry-level, white collar job openings across the United States. Eric W. Eric W. The Best Gay Quote You’ll See All Week. GOP Debate: Audience Boos Gay Army Soldier Asking Santorum About DADT (Video) Editor’s Note: Please read our update to this important story:For Santorum Gays In The Military Reveals Commander In Chief Inadequacy. At Thursday night’s Fox News/Google Republican debate, one question, posted to YouTube, came from a U.S. Army soldier serving in Iraq. Stephen Hill, donning a gray tee-shirt emblazoned with the word “ARMY” on the front, asked Rick Santorum if he would try to “circumvent the progress” that has been made in allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly, effectively reinstating Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. The audience actually booed him.
Hill, apparently, is gay, and was concerned for his future. The idea that anyone would actually “boo” a U.S. service member, serving his country, risking his life in Iraq, is beyond comprehension. “Do you plan to circumvent the progress that has been made for gay and lesbian soldiers in the military?” GOProud, a gay Tea Party organization, issued this statement immediately following the debate: LGBT | POV adds a quote from R. Boehner threatens to withhold funds from DOJ to force DOMA enforcement. 14-Year Old Suicide Victim’s Tormentors Under Criminal Investigation.
Scientists find HIV unable to damage immune system if cholesterol is removed. After The Suicide Of 14 Year Old Jamey Rodemeyer Lady Gaga Has Had Enough! Gaga To Meet With Obama Over Teen Bullying. NARTH to Feature Anti-gay Activists at Annual Convention — Warren Throckmorton. Primer on Anoka-Hennepin Suicides Controversy — Warren Throckmorton. N.C. House passes anti-LGBT amendment « QNotes - Carolina LGBT arts, entertainment, news, views.
Gay Rights Petition: The Master's School: Stop kicking out gay and lesbian students! Anoka-Hennepin School District’s Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy — Warren Throckmorton. Bullycide In America: Moms Speak Out. Rick Perry's New Endorser: New Hampshire "Sold" Adopted Kids to Homosexuals.