Mayor Menino tells Chick-fil-A to get the hell out of Boston

Or more precisely, Chick-fil-A had expressed an interest in opening in Boston. The Mayor told them, in no uncertain terms, to F-off. It's a pretty amazing letter. Read the rest of this post...

Anglo-Saxons for marriage equality

Conservative British Prime Minister David Cameron via Towleroad:

"I think marriage is a great institution – I think it helps people to commit, it helps people to say that they’re going to care and love for another person,” Cameron said at the dinner. "It helps people to put aside their selfish interests and think of the union that they’re forming. It’s something I feel passionately about and I think if it’s good enough for straight people like me, it’s good enough for everybody and that’s why we should have gay marriage and we will legislate for it."

Cameron has also argued that conservative ideology inherently supports marriage equality, saying last October, "Conservatives believe in the ties that bind us; that society is stronger when we make vows to each other and support each other. So I don’t support gay marriage despite being a Conservative. I support gay marriage because I’m a Conservative."

Someone needs to ask Mitt Romney if David Cameron is a "real" conservative. Read the rest of this post...

Salvation Army alleged to have fired bisexual employee

Remember, the Salvation Army is an evangelical church, and they consider themselves an evangelical church.  They like America to think they're just a charity.  But in reality, they're a far right church that that has lobbied in the past in favor of discrimination against gays. From Bilerico:

I was fired from my job as a case worker with the Salvation Army of Burlington, Vermont because I came out to them as bisexual and raised concerns about sections in their employee handbook relating to sexual orientation and employment discrimination.

Until Monday, it was my job to help protect children and families from poverty. Until Monday, I was the one charged with helping those in poverty come out of it. Until Monday, I worked every day assisting needy families in obtaining food, clothing, shelter, and other social services.

But when my little curly-haired girl comes home today, I'm going to have to tell her that our family will now have to depend on some of those same social services ourselves.

Read the rest of this post...

AP reports on controversy over Sally Ride coming out posthumously

An interesting mix of commentary.  I've already weighed in a few times.  You can read the story :) Read the rest of this post...

Crazy GOP Senator says military uniforms should be banned from Pride parades

He says Pride parades are "partisan," because they support a gay civil rights, which is a "liberal" agenda.

Uh, it doesn't really work that way.  That we have an issue of civil rights, he doesn't like it, he's a Republican, so that makes the issue Democratic.

No, it only makes the issue Democratic by default because Republicans tend to be bigots.

Still, that has little to do with a Pride parade, as Zack explains.

This is the guy who "proudly" proclaimed during a debate on the Senate floor that in the recorded history of his family there's never been a homosexual.

Uh huh.  Because they're born purple, so you'd know.

Read the rest of this post...

AIDS activists protest at White House

Washington Blade:

U.S. Parks Police on Tuesday arrested 13 protesters who gathered in front of the White House.

Sergeant Paul Brooks, spokesperson for the U.S. Parks Police, told the Blade that those taken into custody failed to obey officers who told them not to stand on the sidewalk in front of the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Housing Works President Charles King, members of ACT UP Philadelphia, the Prevention Justice Alliance and Health Gap were among those arrested as they tried to tie red ribbons with condoms, syringes and other items to the White House fence.

The arrests took place after thousands took part in the “We Can End AIDS” march from the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and other parts of downtown Washington to Lafayette Park. Participants urged President Obama, members of Congress and other lawmakers around the world to provide more resources to fight HIV/AIDS and protect human rights for those living with the virus.

Read the rest of this post...

Why Sally Ride never came out

Via Cosmiclog at MSNBC:

"In her inherent Norwegian reticence — in this and so many aspects of her personal life (wrestling with pancreatic cancer, for example) — she just didn't talk much (see Norwegian comment, and add to that the typical tight-lipped scientist thing)," [Sally's sister] Bear wrote. "If you read interviews from years and years back, you'll see that there was always a major frustration that she didn't comment much on 'how it feels to be the first American woman in space' — she just didn't think that way. She wanted to get the job done. Her personal feelings were just that: personal. Not right or wrong — simply Sally. Everyone who knows her well really got that about her."

Sex has always been a tricky topic for astronauts: In the old days, they worried that if they didn't conform with the "Right Stuff" stereotype, they wouldn't be picked for spaceflights. Issues such as alcohol abuse or marital problems often were swept under the carpet. Is it any surprise, then, that no active or former astronauts have publicly announced that they're gay? Michael Cassutt, the author of "Who's Who in Space," is quoted on Space.com as saying that such an announcement would be a "career-wrecker."

Read the rest of this post...

Scotland to move ahead with gay marriages

Supporters have the majority in Parliament, so this is pretty much a done deal, I'm told. Read the rest of this post...

Washington Post's bigoted column about Sally Ride

Some southern "cultural journalist", Suzi Parker, is vewy vewy upset that Sally Ride is now a gay icon.

In death, Ride has already become politicized. Progressive and gay blogs are lamenting the fact that O’Shaughnessy will not receive Ride’s federal benefits because of the Marriage Act (DOMA) and blaming Republicans.

Ride obviously didn’t want to be a gay icon. If she had, she could have easily sat down with Oprah or Ellen and told the world about her sexuality, her private life and her love for O’Shaughnessy, whom she had known since she was 12.

Instead, Ride lived in a world where we should all live, a place where we celebrate someone for her accomplishments and not her sexual orientation.

Yeah, Suzi, and we should all live in a world where people don't kill us, bully us, and deny us jobs and housing and the right to marry, all based on our sexual orientation.

But we don't.

(Are you a bigot, or just woefully ignorant?)

Please stop writing about topics about which you clearly know very little. The closet, and people like you who reinforce it, make gay kids question their self-worth.  It's why many contemplate suicide.

Surviving in a world where people would rather you be invisible is an accomplishment. Read the rest of this post...