Iowa Republican's Knees Buckled from Marriage Decision

Wow, homophobes really internalize their hate, huh? His knees buckled and it was the worst day of his life? I'm surprised they didn't have to put the poor hater on life support.



Is it just me or is this guy a Charlie Christ look-a-like? Question: Does his knees buckle every time one of his heterosexual friends get a divorce? Read More...

If you're in DC, support the Trevor Project tomorrow night

My good friend, Trevor Thomas, along with Colin Bishop, Alex Levy, Christopher Nulty, Jason Rahlan and Scott Zumwalt, are co-hosting an event for the Trevor Project tomorrow night here in DC. It should be a good one.

Here's how the invitation reads:

We made it.

Washington, DC is full of many happy and accomplished LGBTQ adults. As teenagers, most of us struggled to imagine a future like this for ourselves. Sure, life isn't always perfect, but it's certainly worth living.

Across the country, countless LGBTQ teens struggle for survival each day. They're bullied and harassed, rejected by their friends and family. They don't realize that a brighter future lies just a few years ahead of them. They don't realize It Gets Better.

The tragic stories have continued: thirteen-year-old boys in Texas and California, fifteen-year-old boys in Indiana and Minnesota, and an eighteen-year-old in New Jersey. Whether you knew a struggling teenager in high school or were one yourself, these tragedies deserve more than a passing thought.

This weekend is full of happy hours, dance parties, birthday blowouts, a black-tie dinner, and too many after-parties to count. Let's all come together -- members of the LGBTQ community and our allies -- for an event supporting the kids who don't believe their lives will ever be celebrated.

Please join us this Friday at 18th & U Duplex Diner to support The Trevor Project, a phenomenal national organization that provides crisis support and suicide prevention resources to LGBTQ youth.

Your $10 donation at the door will go directly to The Trevor Project and you will receive discounted rail drinks all night, courtesy of 18th & U Duplex Diner.

We hope you'll join us.


DETAILS:

Location: 18th & U Duplex Diner

Date: Friday, October 8th

Time: 7.00PM - 11.00 PM (After HHHH @ Donovan House and before Siren @ APEX)

$10 Donation includes discounted rail drinks and a souvenir Trevor Project button.

If you cannot attend, we encourage you to make a donation to The Trevor Project by clicking here.

The Trevor Project is the leading national organization focused on crisis and suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth.

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Next, we'll see the Obama admin. fiercely defend the constitutionality of DOMA

Over the next two weeks, the Department of Justice will have to decide whether it will defend the constitutionality of DOMA. You recall that, last July, Federal District Court Judge Joseph Trauro found Section 3 of DOMA was unconstitutional in cases brought by GLAD and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. DOJ doesn't have to defend DOMA. It's not like the District Court level cases where DOJ had to defend the law. Now, DOJ will be going to the Circuit Court of Appeals to argue that DOMA is constitutional. The widely-held expectation is that DOJ will appeal.

Chris Johnson has the latest:

President Obama’s commitment to repealing the Defense of Marriage Act is likely to come under enhanced scrutiny next week when the U.S. Justice Department announces its decision on whether or not it will appeal federal court rulings against the statute.

Legal experts across the board are expecting the administration to appeal the decisions as many LGBT advocates grumble that the defense of DOMA in court undermines Obama’s campaign pledge to advocate for same-sex couples.

Richard Socarides, a gay New York attorney and former adviser to President Clinton, said he expects the Justice Department to appeal the cases because he believes the administration hasn’t shown any signs of changing its position after defending DOMA at the district court level.

“I think that they’re going to continue to battle the gay rights movement in the courts,” Socarides said. “I think it continues to be one of the most unfortunate decisions of the president’s entire first two years in office and really something that is perhaps the most troubling part of these first two years of his presidency.”

Socarides said he doesn’t think the administration is compelled to appeal the decisions to the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals even as he acknowledged that debate has taken place over whether the president can decide against upholding a federal statute.

“I think that it’s clear now that the president has the option of declining to defend laws that he believes are not constitutional,” Socarides said. “This law has now been declared unconstitutional, so he could agree with the federal district court … and choose not to defend it.”

This might feel different if the Obama administration had taken any action to repeal DOMA in Congress. But, we couldn't even get a Committee vote on ENDA and the President didn't make a single phone call to a Senator or make a simple statement about the filibuster of the Defense Authorization bill, which contained the compromise DADT language.

So, we'll be heading into the 2012 reelection without DADT repeal, without passage of ENDA, but with the Obama administration defending the constitutionality of DOMA -- and DADT -- in the courts. Not sure how Jim Messina is going to work that into a fundraising appeal to the LGBT community. (Expect to hear a lot about Hate Crimes and hospital visits over the next two years. You'll probably hear a lot about them at HRC's big "No Excuses" dinner on Saturday night, cause they've got nothing to else to show either.) Read More...

Pew finds growing support for same-sex marriage 'across many demographic, political and religious groups'

In Pew's latest polling, support for marriage equality has made dramatic gains in just one year. It's heading in the right direction, quickly:

Polls this year have found that more Americans favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally than did so just last year. In two polls conducted over the past few months, based on interviews with more than 6,000 adults, 42% favor same-sex marriage while 48% are opposed. In polls conducted in 2009, 37% favored allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally and 54% were opposed. For the first time in 15 years of Pew Research Center polling, fewer than half oppose same-sex marriage.

The shift in opinion on same-sex marriage has been broad-based, occurring across many demographic, political and religious groups. (my emphasis)

Notably, pluralities of white mainline Protestants and white Catholics now favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally -- the first time this has occurred in Pew Research Center surveys. Political independents are divided in their views of same-sex-marriage; in 2009, they opposed it by a wide margin.

Politicians who refuse to support full equality are on the wrong side of history. And, yes, I mean Barack Obama.

Public opinion is changing fast, even among those much sought after political independents:

Independents and other non-partisans are now divided in their view: 44% favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally while 43% are opposed. In 2009, more independents opposed same-sex marriage than favored it (37% favor, 51% oppose). Throughout the past decade, opinion among independents has tracked more closely with Democrats than Republicans on this issue.

It's hard to see how the President sticks with his current position of not supporting full equality in 2012. But, we're not getting any indication that Obama is changing with the times.

And, given the vehement and outspoken anti-marriage position of Catholic Bishops in the U.S., these numbers are fascinating:

There has been a similar shift among white Catholics -- 49% now favor same-sex marriage while 41% are opposed. Opinion was more evenly divided over the past two years (44% favor, 45% oppose). Here too, support has increased among those who attend services less than weekly, from 51% in 2008-2009 to 59% in 2010.

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Transcript of the Phelps family before the Sup. Ct.

The "God Hates Fag" religious right group went before the Supreme Court yesterday to argue that it's their constitutional right to picket a US soldier's funeral. Joe has background on the appearance here. Here's the transcript of the two parties' attorneys in oral arguments before the court:

09-751 Read More...

Emanuel arrives to mixed reviews by LGBT community

LGBT Civil Rights Activist Janice Langbehn provided a link to this interesting article via her Facebook page.

Rick Garcia, director of public policy for Equality Illinois, said Tuesday that Emanuel’s voting record on gay issues as a congressman was impeccable. But after he entered the White House in 2008, his impact on gay-rights politics was met with greater skepticism:

“There is a sense in Washington of foot dragging--on the Employment Non-discrimination Act, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, and gay marriage,” said Garcia. “People see Rahm’s fingerprints all over it.”

Tom O'Briant, co-founder of "Run Rahm Run" in Chicago disagrees:

In 2009, he had lunch with Emanuel, then the White House chief of staff, in Washington. O’Briant brought to Emanuel’s attention a New York Times article on Janice Langbehn, who, because she was gay, was denied access to her partner of 18 years as she lay dying in the hospital.

O'Briant then reveals he was stunned when Obama issued the memorandum securing hospital visitation rights for same-sex couples in April 2010.

While I agree the memorandum directing HHS to "develop new hospital visitation guidelines to help ensure respect for the families of LGBT patients" was a welcome move, Lamba Legal documents the continued questions and problems presented by the fact we do not have legal standing as married partners in certain cases like that of incapacitation. Also, if Emmanuel truly had that much pull and sway to ensure Obama signed the memorandum then what was his role in Obama ignoring all the other MAJOR promises made to us involving DADT, DOMA and ENDA?

The article also encapsulates the tension between those in our community who are satisfied with (rather minor) incremental progress versus those of us who realize we have woefully been left behind by most of our allied countries in the world.  Being a "Fierce Advocate" apparently means having to be second class American citizens for at least another decade. Sure, I'm grateful for any movement when it comes to the recognition of our rights, but I'm furious Team Obama spurned their chance to truly remove the yoke of oppression from our lives. There are many of us who believe Rahm Emmanuel's fingerprints are all over that strategy. It could have been a historical watershed moment for us and for them to have addressed the civil rights questions of our time. Read More...

USD Pride says: It Gets Better

Joseph Rocha and his colleagues at USD Pride did a "It Gets Better" video.
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Gay student who is being serially harassed by MI asst. AG speaks out

From the Advocate:

“Honestly, I didn’t really ask to be put in this position in a lot of ways,” said Armstrong. “But I felt that, seeing these kids feel like they needed to take their life, it’s important to understand that things can get better and it’s important to know that you can reach out in your community, you can reach out to friends and they can support you.”

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White House has no contigency plan for DADT: 'we expect the Senate to act'

Yeah, this strategy hasn't worked all that well so far:

A White House spokesperson told The Advocate Wednesday evening that administration officials “expect the Senate to act” on repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” when they return from the midterm recess for the final days of the 111th Congress.

The statement, which placed the responsibility for repeal squarely on Senate leadership, was a follow up to a question asked earlier this week about whether the White House was making any “contingency plans” in the event that Congress fails to pass the National Defense Authorization Act to which the repeal measure is attached.

The White House acts as if the President has no role in passing legislation. And, on the Defense Authorization bill containing the DADT language, the President played no role. He didn't call one Senator.

Not sure how why they'd expect things to be different in the lame duck session -- after Dems. suffer electoral losses.

Here's the full statement:

The President has repeatedly said he wants a lasting and durable solution to DADT, and he continues to believe that the Senate should follow the bipartisan action in the House to repeal the statute. The White House continues to work with the Congressional leadership on a host of issues that need to be addressed when they come back into session, including passage of the National Defense Authorization Act. We are not commenting on contingencies if the Senate does not act because we expect the Senate to act – it is the right and fair thing to do and it is in the national security interest of the country for it to get done.

I would like someone at the White House to define the term "continues to work" -- because, from every indication, there hasn't been any real work.

Someone at the White House should be thinking about contingencies to end DADT discharges. In the State of the Union, Obama said he would end DADT this year. Jim Messina said the same thing a couple weeks ago. This statement from Shin Inouye doesn't inspire much confidence. Read More...

EqualityNC is sending fruit loops to homophobic State Rep.

Matt Comer reports:

Equality North Carolina is taking a humorous, positive and proactive approach to their response to N.C. Rep. Larry Brown.

Brown, a Republican who represents portions of Forsyth County and Kernersville, called LGBT people “queers” and “fruitloops” in an email to 60 Republican colleagues last week.

In an email to supporters today, Equality NC responds:

As of this morning, Rep. Brown has not apologized to his LGBT and allied constituents, nor have any of the 60 colleagues who received the e-mail spoken out against his use of bigoted language.

Well, if it’s fruitloops Rep. Brown wants, then that’s what we’ll give him! From now until Monday, October 11th, at 5pm, each donation you make to Equality NC in Rep. Brown’s name will come with a box of Froot Loops cereal to be delivered to his office, complete with your personal message.

Comer thinks Brown should resign:

Rep. Brown, it is time for you to go. Hate and prejudice have no place in public service.

Unfortunately, hate and prejudice against the LGBT communithy are still accepted in public service. It happens in North Carolina. And, as we saw during the debate on DADT repeal, it happens in DC. Read More...