07/25/2010
It happened at Netroots Nation yesterday. Reid said that he would give the ring back to Lieutenant Choi, who received his official discharge letter from the military on Friday, once DADT is repealed. Choi can be heard telling him on stage, after the two hug, that he will hold him to his promise.
He won't be the only one.
Watch the video, AFTER THE JUMP.
Continue reading "Watch: Dan Choi Gives Harry Reid His West Point Ring And Discharge Papers"
Posted 4:19 AM EST by Steve Pep in Dan Choi, Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Harry Reid | Permalink
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07/24/2010
I hope the new Buffy the Vampire line of Jones soda doesn't taste like blood.
Au coeur des familles agricoles is a small non-profit that includes a club for gay farmers. Says one: "'We share personal stories, but mostly we discuss farming and agriculture,' Lampron said about the club, which will be represented in Montreal's gay pride parade next month for the first time by a few members who will be riding a tractor. 'It's great because we face similar challenges as both farmers and gay people living in rural regions -and we don't need to explain ourselves.'"
17 killed at so-called "love parade."
Target helps fund anti-gay Republican pol Tom Emmer in Minnesota? "Follow the money: Target gave $150,000 to Minnesota Forward, which bought TV ads for Tom Emmer, who says "I believe marriage is the union between one man and one woman," and who hangs out with a guy who thinks killing gays is moral."
Seagull hate = homophobia.
Gay discrimination suit where an elderly man was not allowed to se his dying partner is settled. He was awarded $600,000.
Names of some of the sessions offered by the Truth About Homosexuality event next month: “From gay pride to gay tyranny," “The ‘born gay hoax," “The battle over blood: ‘gay’ health risks and public policy," “Corrupting children, politicizing schools: the homosexual youth agenda," “Combating pro-homosexual media bias, confronting pro-gay ‘conservatives’," “From destroying DOMA to homosexualizing the military: Obama’s radical homosexual/transsexual agenda for America.”
The really hasn't been much of a summer in LA this year.
Nico Tortorella does MF magazine.
Somehow Sarah Palin rendered in over the top tabloid, Tawainese CGI is much less ridiculous than the real thing.
Russell Brand makes an ugly Katy Perry.
Some interesting stats on Apps.
Remember this kid? Well, he finally got to meet Lady Gaga in person.
Hate: Openly gay candidate's posters spray-painted with gay slur in Florida.
Best complaint I've heard so far about not being invited to a wedding. Said one person of Chelsea Clinton's nuptials: “I’m good enough to borrow a plane from, but not good enough to be invited to the wedding?”
Wow. Pilot ejects seconds before his jet crashes at an air show in Canada.
Posted 6:33 PM EST by Steve Pep in Bill clinton, Crime, Florida, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Los Angeles, Minnesota, News, Russell Brand, Sarah Palin | Permalink
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He was introduced at the political convention by Nancy Pelosi. Said Obama: "Change hasn't come fast enough for too many Americans. I know that. I know it hasn't come fast for many of you who fought so hard during the election."
Watch his full speech, complete with a "What Happens in Vegas" joke, AFTER THE JUMP.
Also, The Hill reports that Pelosi told the crowds at Netroots Nation she believes we'll see a repeal of DADT before ENDA.
"I can’t give you a time," she said of ENDA. "But I can tell you that it is a priority and it had been our hope to do it this year. We have to finish Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and hopefully we can do both this year."
Continue reading "President Addresses Netroots Nation"
Posted 3:56 PM EST by Steve Pep in Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi | Permalink
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The Washington Blade piece focuses on the lack of progress with many LGBT-focused bills in DC including the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, the Domestic Partnership Benefits & Obligations Act, and, of course, DADT.
A passage from the piece about ENDA which Barney Frank seems optimistic about:
Despite the limited time remaining this year, some LGBT rights supporters are hopeful that Congress will move forward with additional legislation. U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), a gay lawmaker and House sponsor of ENDA, expressed optimism about the bill passing the House this year.
“That’s going to be next thing we’ll turn our attention to,” Frank said. “We have the speaker’s support and we’re still trying to figure out a way to get that done.”
And as far as the future goes? November could make all of the difference.
Whatever progress this Congress makes on passing pro-LGBT bills, recent polls are casting doubts on whether enough Democratic lawmakers will retain their seats next Congress to pass such bills. Several recent polls have shown considerable opposition toward Democrats and the Obama administration as persistent unemployment and concerns about government spending linger across the country.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs gained media attention and inspired consternation among Democratic House members when, during an appearance earlier this month on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” he said Republicans could regain control of the House.
“I think people are going to have a choice to make in the fall,” Gibbs said. “But I think there’s no doubt there are enough seats in play that could cause Republicans to gain control. There’s no doubt about that.” Larry Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia, is projecting that Republicans will win seven seats in the Senate and 32 seats in House after the election. Because of this potential shift, Sabato said passage of more pro-LGBT bills next Congress is unlikely if it doesn’t happen this year.
“If these pieces of legislation don’t pass now, when both houses have swollen Democratic majorities, they certainly aren’t going to pass in the next Congress, when Democrats will have narrow majorities, or even be in the minority,” Sabato said.
Posted 2:53 PM EST by Steve Pep in Barney Frank, Don't Ask, Don't Tell, ENDA | Permalink
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The trouble with the Catholic Church is endless. The Vatican issued a response yesterday to the cover story put out by the Italian magazine Panorama in which reporters secretly recorded several gay priests at gay clubs and having casual sex with strangers.
The Guardian reports on some of the revelations from the exposé: "'One priest, a Frenchman in his 30s identified as Father Paul, attended a party at which there were two male prostitutes then said Mass the following morning before driving them to the airport, Panorama reported. A photo on its website claimed to show the priest in his dog collar but without his trousers with a gay man who acted as decoy for the magazine. In other shots, priests were shown apparently kissing Panorama's collaborator."
"A member of the clergy quoted by the magazine put the proportion of gay priests in the Italian capital at '98%'. The Rome diocese insisted the vast majority of priests in the city were 'models of morality for all', while adding that the number of gay clergyman was 'small, but not to be written off as isolated cases.'"
The Vatican said that it is "saddened and troubled" by the scandal.
According to the AFP, "'The Rome diocese pledged to pursue 'with rigour
any behaviour that is unworthy of the priestly life'. It added: 'No one
obliges them to remain priests and keep enjoying the advantages.
'Consistency demands that they reveal themselves. We don't wish them
any harm, but we cannot accept that the honour of all the others is
dragged through the mud because of their behaviour.'"
Interestingly, Panorama magazine is owned by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Posted 2:04 PM EST by Steve Pep in Catholic Church, Silvio Berlusconi, Vatican | Permalink
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A female graduate student at Augusta State University is suing the school because she claims the public institution has violated her First Amendment rights by forcing her to accept homosexuality in order to graduate from her program in counselor education.
Jennifer Keeton, a Christian who believes that being gay is a choice (she thinks gays suffer from "identity confusion"), is represented by the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal defense organization. WRDW reports:
At the end of the first year, she was presented with a remediation plan, or courses to improve in certain areas. That plan includes classes to improve writing and grammar skills, as well as workshops to make her more sensitive to the gay population -- something her instructors say is necessary for her to be an effective counselor.
"The school counseling faculty has decided that my views are not acceptable for me or to share with other students," she says in a video statement produced by the Alliance Defense Fund. "They have required a remediation plan in which the end result would be me altering my beliefs or being dismissed from the program."
In a letter to Keeton, program directors say that is not the case.
In the letter, associate director Mary Jane Anderson-Wiley points to what she calls Keeton's "belief that you possess a special knowledge about the way that other people should live their lives, and that others need to adopt a similar set of values."
The letter goes on to say that "the content of [Keeton's] moral or religious beliefs is not in question."
According to the remediation plan, program directors are concerned about Keeton's ability to effectively council people who are gay or lesbian, citing class papers and comments where Keeton has disagreed with the gay "lifestyle."
The letter also cites an email from Keeton in which she says: "my Christian moral views are not just about me. I think the Bible's teaching is true for all people and it shows the right way to live."
Watch a news clip on the controversy, which includes interviews with students from Augusta State University who have varying opinions on the matter, AFTER THE JUMP.
Also, watch the short clip put together by the Alliance Defense Fund in which Keeton is interviewed and talks about being forced to her ditch her "biblical beliefs."
Continue reading "Anti-Gay Student Claims School Forced Her To Accept Homosexuality"
Posted 10:10 AM EST by Steve Pep in Georgia | Permalink
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