Please contact bigoted Mississippi school board that canceled prom rather than let a girl bring another girl

Join the Facebook group too. 20,000 have already joined today!

We wrote about this earlier. The girl is now getting harassed in school as a result of the school board essentially blaming her for killing prom. Dan Savage is asking folks to contact the school board, and he's right. His readers have already sent 1,000 emails to the school board. Let's send some more.

Superintendent Teresa McNeece
tmcneece@itawamba.k12.ms.us
phone (662) 862-2159 Ext. 14
fax (662) 862-4713
Teresa McNeece's Facebook page is here—be sure to check out the pictures people are posting to her facebook page!

Principal Trae Wiygul
twiygul@itawamba.k12.ms.us
(662) 862-3104

School Board Member Eddie Hood
a082315@allstate.com
YOU CAN ALSO SEND HIM A MESSAGE VIA HIS FACEBOOK PAGE.

School Board Member Jackie Nichols
jnichols@itawamba.k12.ms.us

School Board Member Harold Martin
hmartin@itawamba.k12.ms.us

School Board Member Clara Brown
cbrown@network-one.com

School Board Member Tony Wallace
twallace@nexband.com
YOU CAN ALSO SEND HIM A MESSAGE VIA HIS FACEBOOK PAGE. Read More...

Skater Johnny Weir not invited to participate in Stars on Ice because he is ‘not family friendly.’

From ThinkProgress

Glaad reports that sponsors have “refused to allow” American figure skater Johnny Weir to join the Stars on Ice Tour because they deemed him “not family friendly.” While Weir — a three-time national champion — has never “officially announced his sexual orientation, he has garnered a significant amount of LGBT fans” and is also known for his flashy costumes. Weir won an online poll that asked fans who they wanted to see in the tour, but Stars on Ice seems to have barred him because of his “perceived sexual orientation.”

Their concern is understandable, what with the hyper-heterosexual image of skating that they need to protect. Obviously, I'm joking. Read More...

State Dept documents anti-gay violence and discrimination around the world in new human rights report

I'd like to think the White House was responsible for this, but I suspect it was Hillary's doing. You can find the entire report here. Here's a press release about it:

The Council for Global Equality applauds this year's State Department human rights report to Congress for underscoring the clear and growing crisis in human rights abuse directed against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people worldwide, and urges the use of diplomacy to counter this trend.

In introducing the report, Michael Posner, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, singled out the case of Uganda, where introduction of a draconian anti-gay bill has resulted in serious abuse directed against Uganda's LGBT community. The report further documents LGBT-related incidents in almost every country in the world, including a range of cases involving arbitrary arrest and detention, police abuse, rape, and murder. For instance, the report notes serious assaults against LGBT individuals in Jamaica, "including arbitrary detention, mob attacks, stabbings, harassment of homosexual patients by hospital and prison staff, and targeted shootings of such persons." In Iraq, the report notes that "numerous press reports indicate that some victims were assaulted and murdered by having their anuses glued shut or their genitals cut off and stuffed down their throats until they suffocated." The report highlights numerous instances in which police and other authorities have failed to investigate or prosecute such incidents.

Council Chair Mark Bromley, while recognizing that the State Department report examines a broad range of human rights concerns impacting various minority communities, nonetheless emphasized that "the level of reporting on LGBT abuses this year is remarkably detailed and truly commendable, and unfortunately this new level of detail shows just how dangerous it is for LGBT individuals to go about their daily lives as ordinary citizens in so many parts of the world." For the first time ever, most of the reports have a dedicated section examining "societal abuses, discrimination, and acts of violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity." Bromley insisted that "the report makes clear that LGBT rights are firmly rooted in basic human rights protections and that those protections are under severe attack in the world today."

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Mississippi high school cancels prom after girl invites another girl; ACLU sues

Imagine my surprise to find out that Mississippi is home to bigots.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi today filed suit in federal court against the Itawamba County School System, which canceled the prom for one of its high schools when a student challenged a ban on bringing same-sex dates.

The federal suit asks the court to force the school board to reinstate the prom and alleges district officials have violated the First Amendment rights of Constance McMillen, a senior at Itawamba Agricultural High School.

"It's shameful and cowardly of the school district to have canceled the prom and to try to blame Constance, who's only standing up for herself," said Christine Sun, an attorney with the ACLU national LGBT Project. "We will fight tooth and nail for the prom to be reinstated for all students."

The school board met Wednesday and announced it was canceling the prom after McMillen challenged the same-sex date ban. The Mississippi ACLU, which is assisting McMillen, gave the district until Wednesday to change its policy.

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Dobson forced out of Focus on the Family

I just posted about this over on the main site. Oddly enough, it's because he was too anti-abortion and too anti-gay-rights... supposedly. Read More...

Oklahoma state senate passes bill to opt out of fed hate crimes law

What kind of a bigot do you have to be to want to undercut the investigation of a hate crime?

In an amendment presented on the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon, Sen. Steve Russell, R-Oklahoma City, gutted a bill that had been filed to create a task force to study the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association, and inserted language to make changes to the state's hate crime statutes.

Under the new provisions of Senate Bill 1965, reports that were collected during investigations of possible hate crime that did not end in a conviction would be destroyed or kept by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

Russell said the bill is meant to prevent the federal law enforcement officials from taking over a case and applying different standards when local law enforcement has already investigated a case.

Only a few senators questioned Russell about the contents of his proposed amendment. The measure passed 39-6 and now heads to the House for consideration.

I guess in Oklahoma people who beat up and kill minorities must be a pretty powerful special interest. And these states wonder why they get no respect. Perhaps if they didn't defend killers and bigots people might not think they were so backward. Read More...

Towleroad interviews Boies and Olson

David Boies and Ted Olsen were in New York CIty yesterday. The Prop. 8 lawyers sat down for an interview with our friends at TowleRoad to talk about next steps and the Supreme Court:
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Getting Connecticut's AG candidates on-the-record about fighting DOMA

Last year, after the Massachusetts Attorney General, Martha Coakley, filed a lawsuit against DOMA, Paul Sousa, who I think is one of the savvier and fearless activists around, began an effort to push Connecticut's AG to do the same thing. Connecticut, like Mass., has full marriage equality at the state level. Within a day, Paul got a response from the AG, Richard Blumenthal. It wasn't a great answer, but he had to respond. Blumenthal is now running for Senate. So, this week, Paul launched a campaign to get the candidates for AG in Connecticut to state a position on whether they'd challenge DOMA:

Thus far, there are 3 Democrats and 1 Republican who have announced their candidacies for Attorney General. Since marriage equality is indeed the law in Connecticut, we are asking those 4 Attorney General candidates if they will follow Massachusetts’ lead and stand up for the citizens and laws of their state by filing a lawsuit against the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

FYI, in addition to the Attorney General having a duty to defend state law, defending marriage equality just so happens to be the politically expedient action to take. The majority of Connecticut citizens support marriage equality and those numbers continue to grow.

So let’s ask all 4 Attorney General candidates if elected, they would defend state law, marriage equality, and file a lawsuit against DOMA!

Well, Daniela Altimair, a reporter at the Hartford Courant, saw Paul's campaign and decided to ask the AG candidates for their position on challenging DOMA. And, she got some answers. Not all great answers, for now, but the candidates are going on the record. And, clearly, a couple of them will have more to say on this:

Susan Bysiewicz, Democrat
"As attorney general, I would uphold the marriage laws of our state, which allow a man and a woman to marry, two women to marry and two men to marry. I have not seen the lawsuit the attorney general of Massachusetts has brought. I would like to look at that closely before I make a decision on this issue. I do not know what particular principles she is relying on.''

Martha Dean, Republican
Did not provide an answer at this time. She said she will be available for questions on this and other topics when she formally announces her candidacy on March 16.

George Jepsen, Democrat
Said he is consulting with attorneys to get a legal breakdown of Coakley's case. But, he added, "I am very sympathetic to the cause" and noted his long public support for same-sex marriage.

John Pavia, Republican exploratory candidate
Does not support joining the lawsuit. "This is an issue for the legislature to decide on a state-by-state basis. We have more important things to be focused on like getting people back to work, creating jobs and lowering taxes. If it were up to me, we would have nothing to do with that case."

Andrew Roraback, Republican exploratory candidate
"As far as the citizens of Connecticut go, it's settled law. I support the law of Connecticut and it would not be a priority of mine to influence the laws of other states. I don't think that's the role of the Connecticut attorney general. The role of the Connecticut attorney general is to uphold Connecticut law and protect Connecticut citizens."

Cam Staples, Democrat
"I agree with [Coakley's] position that DOMA violates the equal protection clause...I certainly think all Connecticut citizens deserve the same federal rights they enjoy under state law. I would certainly if we can join that suit...or find the right way to participate...Pursuing a suit against the federal government is certainly consistent with our responsibility to our citizens under state law."

That last answer is the best one. Jepsen's a long-time ally, so I suspect he'll be good on this. And, Bysiewicz, too, once she gets that closer look.

Nice work by Paul, again. The Facebook event for the campaign is here. Read More...