Like most of my classmates at culinary school, I'm addicted to Top Chef. It's fun to see what chefs who are already in the industry are doing. In fact, Top Chef is the predominant item on my Tivo list (along with Project Runway and Family Guy). This season, I have been excited to see so many talented women on the show. Three of them happen to be out lesbians.
Zoi Antonitsas is one of those talented chefs. I was lucky enough to catch Zoi for a few minutes this week and ask her some questions and find out why she thinks a woman's place is in the kitchen.
SERENA: When did you know that you wanted to be a chef?
ZOI: I got my first kitchen job when I was twenty, and at the time it was more of a job than a career move. But after a few months of working in the kitchen, I found it exciting and fun, and I loved it.
S: Why did you decide to try out for Top Chef?
Z: Well, the show is exciting. It appeals to the competitive nature in me. I also found the exposure appealing, because you can't really achieve that on your own.
S: You're not a classically trained chef. So how did it feel to win the knife skills quick fire challenge?
Z: That was the most fulfilling thing about being on the show, because I really respect and admire Daniel Boulud, more than any other guest judge who's been on the show. It was a real honor to cook for him. I was really nervous when I walked into the kitchen and saw him there, especially when I found out it was a knife skills test. I thought, "Oh, God." But I'm really happy and proud that I won. I think education is important. But your skill comes from within.
Read more:
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
The Washington Blade: Robinson backs out of symposium on ‘ex-gays’
Gay bishop denounces reparative therapy; APA disavows event
By CHRIS JOHNSON, Washington Blade Apr 30, 12:30 PM
A controversial symposium to address the relationship between religion and homosexuality is causing consternation among some psychiatrists and some gays, who argue that holding such a dialogue will legitimize homophobic views.
Controversy surrounding the event prompted a gay religious figure who was scheduled to speak at the event to cancel.
Rev. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay, non-celibate priest to be ordained a bishop by the Episcopal Church, had planned to voice his opinion at the forum, but has since pulled out.
Robinson said he canceled his plans to attend because he came to believe that making an appearance at the event would validate the concept that sexual orientation can be changed.
“Conservatives, particularly Focus on the Family, were going to use this event to draw credibility to the so-called reparative therapy movement,” Robinson told the Blade. “It became clear to me in the last couple of weeks that just my showing up and letting this event happen … lends credibility to that so-called therapy."
The forum is titled “Homosexuality and Therapy: the Religious Dimension” and is scheduled to take place Monday at the Convention Center in Washington.
Panelists include Warren Throckmorton, a counselor known for helping patients alter homosexual behavior, and Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, who was quoted as saying he would support prenatal treatments to convert the expected sexual orientation of unborn children.
Although the event is scheduled at the same time as the American Psychiatric Association (APA) annual meeting and is taking place in the same city, APA is emphasizing that the forum is not an official event.
Read more:
By CHRIS JOHNSON, Washington Blade Apr 30, 12:30 PM
A controversial symposium to address the relationship between religion and homosexuality is causing consternation among some psychiatrists and some gays, who argue that holding such a dialogue will legitimize homophobic views.
Controversy surrounding the event prompted a gay religious figure who was scheduled to speak at the event to cancel.
Rev. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay, non-celibate priest to be ordained a bishop by the Episcopal Church, had planned to voice his opinion at the forum, but has since pulled out.
Robinson said he canceled his plans to attend because he came to believe that making an appearance at the event would validate the concept that sexual orientation can be changed.
“Conservatives, particularly Focus on the Family, were going to use this event to draw credibility to the so-called reparative therapy movement,” Robinson told the Blade. “It became clear to me in the last couple of weeks that just my showing up and letting this event happen … lends credibility to that so-called therapy."
The forum is titled “Homosexuality and Therapy: the Religious Dimension” and is scheduled to take place Monday at the Convention Center in Washington.
Panelists include Warren Throckmorton, a counselor known for helping patients alter homosexual behavior, and Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, who was quoted as saying he would support prenatal treatments to convert the expected sexual orientation of unborn children.
Although the event is scheduled at the same time as the American Psychiatric Association (APA) annual meeting and is taking place in the same city, APA is emphasizing that the forum is not an official event.
Read more:
UK Gay News: Gay Civil Unions or Partnerships Not Full Equality, Says Bishop
"I have been puzzled by a strange fact – that a largely conservative, rural small-town diocese such as New Hampshire should have elected a man in an open, monogamous relationship with another man."
The words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who is never slow at coming forward in support of equality and acceptance of gay men and women both within the Christian church and in society in general.
These words form the first sentence of a powerful foreword of Bishop Gene Robinson’s new book, In the Eye of the Storm., a reflection on his journey of faith, his life experiences, the concerns that matter most to him as a bishop and the controversy that has rocked the church he loves and to which he is committed.
The book itself is equally powerful as the foreword. The openly gay Bishop of New Hampshire sets out his values – and offers a way forward in the equality battle faced by Christian gay men and women.
Reading the book, one gets an impression of a really pleasant man. This was confirmed at a meeting.
The opening gambit: “What is the correct way to address a bishop of the American Episcopal Church?”
“Gene would do very nicely,” the bishop suggested.
The conversation soon drifted into the subject of marriage – same-sex marriage and the machinations of the all-powerful conservative Religious Right who “thump the pulpit” at every opportunity about what they call ‘the gay agenda’, which includes marriage equality for same sex couples.
They scream about “the sanctity of marriage”, yet not a murmur when a pop star goes to Las Vegas for a weekend, gets married in a civil ceremony and then has it annulled after a couple of days.
Read more:
The words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who is never slow at coming forward in support of equality and acceptance of gay men and women both within the Christian church and in society in general.
These words form the first sentence of a powerful foreword of Bishop Gene Robinson’s new book, In the Eye of the Storm., a reflection on his journey of faith, his life experiences, the concerns that matter most to him as a bishop and the controversy that has rocked the church he loves and to which he is committed.
The book itself is equally powerful as the foreword. The openly gay Bishop of New Hampshire sets out his values – and offers a way forward in the equality battle faced by Christian gay men and women.
Reading the book, one gets an impression of a really pleasant man. This was confirmed at a meeting.
The opening gambit: “What is the correct way to address a bishop of the American Episcopal Church?”
“Gene would do very nicely,” the bishop suggested.
The conversation soon drifted into the subject of marriage – same-sex marriage and the machinations of the all-powerful conservative Religious Right who “thump the pulpit” at every opportunity about what they call ‘the gay agenda’, which includes marriage equality for same sex couples.
They scream about “the sanctity of marriage”, yet not a murmur when a pop star goes to Las Vegas for a weekend, gets married in a civil ceremony and then has it annulled after a couple of days.
Read more:
National PFLAG: Proud of My Gay Son and PFLAG Condemns Misleading, Anti-Gay Campaign
National PFLAG Blog: Nothing More Satisfying
Of course I am proud of my gay son.
Carter, our youngest son, first came out to his friends at his middle school in Greensboro, NC, a little over 10 years ago. Then he wasted little time in telling his mom, who immediately told me. My wife and I were initially taken back, but not because he was gay. Our son, marching to his own drum beat, had demonstrated remarkable courage - not only to come out to his friends but also to his parents. We knew immediately that we were now on a ride that we were not quite sure we were ready for.
Fortunately, within a few months of Carter’s coming out, we discovered the Greensboro PFLAG chapter that met monthly on Tuesday nights. Greensboro PFLAG was very supportive to Linda and I when we needed them. PFLAG provided a confidential space for open, honest and confidential discussions, as well as education that we needed.
As parents, we learned how to support our son especially during his high school years. Carter was very definite about his sexual orientation and he was unknowingly breaking down barriers and stereotypes about being gay. I found myself along with my wife constantly supporting my son - going into his high school, talking with teachers and Carter’s principal regarding activities where it was related to verbal abuse from other students or misunderstandings how to respond to his sexual orientation.
T
here is nothing more satisfying than standing up for my son. I am very proud of Carter and I would not want him to be any different.
PFLAG Blog:
I have been posting this series from the National PFLAG Blog because they are excellent. I also wish to let everyone know that we do have a local PFLAG chapter here in Western South Dakota. It has been meeting every week. It usually starts at 5pm with a gathering at a local eatery and then returns to The Center West at 7pm. This is a time when anyone can stop in and get information, find someone to visit with, or they can call an talk with someone on the phone. To call or get more information about PFLAG and the meetings here please call: 605-348-3244. Your LGBT kids need your support. Other parents who are new to their children's orientation need your help as well. (O.M.)
PFLAG Condemns Misleading, Anti-Gay Campaign in Support of Military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Law
Calls New Web Advocacy Site More of Same Tired & Disproven Rhetoric
Washington, DC – Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) today called a new campaign in support of the federal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law misleading, offensive and disrespectful to America’s military personnel. The online advocacy website, www.americansforthemilitary.com, was launched by the conservative Center for Military Readiness and urges voters to sign a Congressional petition to continue dismissing lesbian, gay and bisexual service personnel from the armed forces.
“It is outrageous that some in our country would answer the service and sacrifice of their fellow citizens by calling for them to be fired simply because of who they are,” said PFLAG executive director Jody M. Huckaby. “Ms. Donnelly has recycled the same tired, misleading and disproven rhetoric that has been used for years to keep too many qualified Americans out of our armed forces. All the while, an estimated 65,000 LGBT Americans continue to proudly report for duty in our nation’s military and keep Americans, including Ms. Donnelly, safe and secure. PFLAG supports all of America’s military and their families, including LGBT service members. No amount of shrill fear-mongering will ever change the fact that our country is better because of their service.”
Calling efforts to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” an “attack” on the armed forces, Donnelly calls for an “online Army” to support a continuation of the federal law, which results in at least two service personnel being dismissed every day. Despite polls showing that 79% of Americans support allowing gays to serve openly, the Michigan-based activist also claims voters have “insisted” the armed forces keep gays out of its ranks.
Meanwhile, retired, high-ranking military leaders, such as retired Joint Chiefs Chairman John Shalikashvili and Lieutenant General Claudia Kennedy, USA (Ret.) have called for an end to the law, which is estimated to have cost taxpayers more than $364 million since its inception.
“Our national priority should be on the qualification of potential service members, not on discriminating against them because of who they are,” Colonel Daniel Tepfer, USAF (Ret.), a 23-year veteran who serves on PFLAG’s national board, said in a recent statement. “I know many stellar lesbian and gay troops who also served proudly, but who could not serve openly about their lives and their loved ones. Our national priority should be on the qualification of potential service members, not on discriminating against them because of who they are.”
“The best way to show pride in our troops is by saluting their service, not signing their pink slips,” Huckaby added. “This new campaign is not only disrespectful to our men and women in uniform, but it is also a disservice to their families, who also continue to be impacted by this unconscionable law.”
Wayne Besen: Top Researcher Claims Focus on the Family Distorted Work
Dr. Gary Remafedi Says Conservative Group Guilty of “Gross Misrepresentation” And Questions If Focus Actually Read His Article Before Misquoting It
NEW YORK – TruthWinsOut.org published a letter today from a researcher who claims Focus on the Family twisted his work. In the letter, Gary Remafedi, M.D., M.P.H., a professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota, asked Focus on the Family’s leader James Dobson to stop misrepresenting his findings from a key 1992 study.
“I want to draw your attention to a gross misrepresentation of our research at the website of Focus on the Family,” Remafedi wrote in his letter to Dobson. “More important, had the authors of “Myths and Facts” actually read the article, they would have found no support for their contention that ‘many children experience a period of sexual-identity confusion when they can be influenced in either direction.’”
(Full Text of Letter)
NEW YORK – TruthWinsOut.org published a letter today from a researcher who claims Focus on the Family twisted his work. In the letter, Gary Remafedi, M.D., M.P.H., a professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota, asked Focus on the Family’s leader James Dobson to stop misrepresenting his findings from a key 1992 study.
“I want to draw your attention to a gross misrepresentation of our research at the website of Focus on the Family,” Remafedi wrote in his letter to Dobson. “More important, had the authors of “Myths and Facts” actually read the article, they would have found no support for their contention that ‘many children experience a period of sexual-identity confusion when they can be influenced in either direction.’”
(Full Text of Letter)
More "Day of Silence" Articles
The Morning Call
Students hope their silence is deafening
For Sam Smith, it was an ordeal he sometimes endured five times a day. As the openly gay junior walked the crowded hallways of Nazareth Area High School between classes, he frequently became a magnet for anti-gay insults, he said.Things got worse one day last October. As he talked with a friend outside the school, he was pushed by a student in a group of students standing near him.The students later told school authorities that Smith was shoved accidentally when he walked into their horseplay. But Smith said he was pushed more than once and he heard the word ''fag.''Today, Smith will join thousands of students around the country in Day of Silence to call attention to the harassment that gay, lesbian and transgendered students face in schools. In its 12th year, Day of Silence is recognized by gay and straight students in several Lehigh Valley districts as a way to unify against the bullying that has made school a daily gantlet for many gay students.
Smith, 17, plans to host a vigil at S. Main and Center streets in Nazareth this afternoon.Elsewhere, a group of Freedom High School students is organizing events, said Kayla O'Connor, a Freedom guidance counselor who advises the Bethlehem Township school's gay-straight alliance, an extracurricular club for any student interested in promoting tolerance.
Read More:
Xtra.ca
Winnipeg holds vigil for National Day of Silence
HATE CRIMES / Event marks the deaths of US gay teen and local trans woman
On an unseasonably cold night in Winnipeg, a small group gathered at the Manitoba legislature to commemorate a California teen who was murdered because of his sexuality and to remember a local trans woman who was killed in March.
With candles in hand, the group held a vigil for Lawrence King who was only 15 years old when he was gunned down by a fellow classmate. King, who had recently come out to his friends and family as gay, was harassed at his high school because of his sexuality. In the early morning of Feb 12, a 14-year-old student that King had given a valentine card two days before walked into a classroom and shot King twice in the back of the head.
"When I heard about Lawrence's death I was shocked and I couldn't just sit around and not do anything so I decided to organize an event," says Joshua Huppe, co-organizer of the Apr 25 vigil in Winnipeg. "Homophobia is happening every day and people aren't really paying attention to it... something has to happen in order for it to change."
Thousands of people across North America attended vigils on Apr 25, the National Day of Silence, to remember Lawrence King and other queer youth that have been harassed because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Read more:
The Arkansas Traveler
P.R.I.D.E. celebrates Day of Silence with dance
Walter Lang and his partner moved across the dance floor with all eyes on them. Around them, gay and straight couples stood chatting and dancing, as well.
Lang was one of many UA students and members of the UA organization P.R.I.D.E (People Respecting Individual Differences and Equality) celebrating the National Day of Silence with a prom at the Unitarian Universalists Church Friday.
The Day of Silence is a project of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network and student-led day of action when concerned students - from middle school to college - take some form of a vow of silence to bring attention to the name-calling, bullying and harassment experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students and their allies, according to the Day of Silence Web site.
This year's Day of Silence was held in honor of Lawrence King, a 15-year-old student from Oxnard, Calif., who was shot and killed on Feb. 12 by a 14-year-old classmate because of King's sexual orientation and gender expression, according to the Day of Silence Web site.
"The Day of Silence can be a very unhappy event. We [wanted] to make it upbeat and bring some joy to everyone's day," said Jessica Lange, vice president of public relations.Lange said P.R.I.D.E encourages students to speak up in class but stay silent during other times, such as lunch.
At the end of the day, people traditionally get together to break the silence and talk about their days. P.R.I.D.E members wanted to do some of the traditional things, but they also wanted to have an opportunity to dress up like other organizations do, Lange said.
Read more:
Students hope their silence is deafening
For Sam Smith, it was an ordeal he sometimes endured five times a day. As the openly gay junior walked the crowded hallways of Nazareth Area High School between classes, he frequently became a magnet for anti-gay insults, he said.Things got worse one day last October. As he talked with a friend outside the school, he was pushed by a student in a group of students standing near him.The students later told school authorities that Smith was shoved accidentally when he walked into their horseplay. But Smith said he was pushed more than once and he heard the word ''fag.''Today, Smith will join thousands of students around the country in Day of Silence to call attention to the harassment that gay, lesbian and transgendered students face in schools. In its 12th year, Day of Silence is recognized by gay and straight students in several Lehigh Valley districts as a way to unify against the bullying that has made school a daily gantlet for many gay students.
Smith, 17, plans to host a vigil at S. Main and Center streets in Nazareth this afternoon.Elsewhere, a group of Freedom High School students is organizing events, said Kayla O'Connor, a Freedom guidance counselor who advises the Bethlehem Township school's gay-straight alliance, an extracurricular club for any student interested in promoting tolerance.
Read More:
Xtra.ca
Winnipeg holds vigil for National Day of Silence
HATE CRIMES / Event marks the deaths of US gay teen and local trans woman
On an unseasonably cold night in Winnipeg, a small group gathered at the Manitoba legislature to commemorate a California teen who was murdered because of his sexuality and to remember a local trans woman who was killed in March.
With candles in hand, the group held a vigil for Lawrence King who was only 15 years old when he was gunned down by a fellow classmate. King, who had recently come out to his friends and family as gay, was harassed at his high school because of his sexuality. In the early morning of Feb 12, a 14-year-old student that King had given a valentine card two days before walked into a classroom and shot King twice in the back of the head.
"When I heard about Lawrence's death I was shocked and I couldn't just sit around and not do anything so I decided to organize an event," says Joshua Huppe, co-organizer of the Apr 25 vigil in Winnipeg. "Homophobia is happening every day and people aren't really paying attention to it... something has to happen in order for it to change."
Thousands of people across North America attended vigils on Apr 25, the National Day of Silence, to remember Lawrence King and other queer youth that have been harassed because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Read more:
The Arkansas Traveler
P.R.I.D.E. celebrates Day of Silence with dance
Walter Lang and his partner moved across the dance floor with all eyes on them. Around them, gay and straight couples stood chatting and dancing, as well.
Lang was one of many UA students and members of the UA organization P.R.I.D.E (People Respecting Individual Differences and Equality) celebrating the National Day of Silence with a prom at the Unitarian Universalists Church Friday.
The Day of Silence is a project of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network and student-led day of action when concerned students - from middle school to college - take some form of a vow of silence to bring attention to the name-calling, bullying and harassment experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students and their allies, according to the Day of Silence Web site.
This year's Day of Silence was held in honor of Lawrence King, a 15-year-old student from Oxnard, Calif., who was shot and killed on Feb. 12 by a 14-year-old classmate because of King's sexual orientation and gender expression, according to the Day of Silence Web site.
"The Day of Silence can be a very unhappy event. We [wanted] to make it upbeat and bring some joy to everyone's day," said Jessica Lange, vice president of public relations.Lange said P.R.I.D.E encourages students to speak up in class but stay silent during other times, such as lunch.
At the end of the day, people traditionally get together to break the silence and talk about their days. P.R.I.D.E members wanted to do some of the traditional things, but they also wanted to have an opportunity to dress up like other organizations do, Lange said.
Read more:
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Page One Q: Principal outs gay kids, ACLU steps in
by Nick Langewis
Daphne Beasley, principal of Hollis F. Price Middle College in Memphis, Tennessee, is under fire for outing at least one gay couple in her student body, according to the ACLU-backed couple and their parents.
In September of 2007, Beasley sought out couples of all kinds to monitor them for public displays of affection. She compiled a list of names, which included students Andrew and Nicholas (last names omitted), based on information she received from teachers and students; the list was clearly visible to anyone who visited her office.
Of those that saw this list was Andrew's mother, Andrea. "I couldn't believe it when I went to meet with the principal and that list was right there by her desk where anyone could see it," she said. "African American people face enough obstacles to succeeding in this world and I want my son to have every opportunity he's worked so hard for. Our schools should be helping our children do well, not tearing them down for something like this."
"This is a public high school that runs on taxpayer dollars," said attorney Bruce Kramer. "As such, it is part of the government and must obey the Constitution in dealing with the students entrusted to its care each day."
According to Nicholas' mother Nichole, the principal said that she didn't tolerate homosexuality in the school and repeatedly asked if she knew her son was gay.
The honor student underwent further humiliation, in addition to verbal harassment, when taken out of the running for a class trip to New Orleans related to rebuilding efforts, as a risk to the school's image; Nicholas was told that there were fears he'd embarrass the school by engaging in "inappropriate behavior."
"This school has no business singling these boys out and taking away educational opportunities against them simply because they were dating," added Mr. Kramer.
"We never bothered anyone or did a single thing at school that broke any of the rules," Nicholas, a junior, said. "Every day I feel like they're still punishing me, and I'm worried that this is going to hurt my chances to get into a good college."
"The principal's outing of these two students to their families, classmates, and teachers is unacceptable," said Hedy Weinberg, ACLU of Tennessee's Executive Director. "Its only purpose was to intimidate not only these students but all gay students at Hollis Price.
Read more:
Daphne Beasley, principal of Hollis F. Price Middle College in Memphis, Tennessee, is under fire for outing at least one gay couple in her student body, according to the ACLU-backed couple and their parents.
In September of 2007, Beasley sought out couples of all kinds to monitor them for public displays of affection. She compiled a list of names, which included students Andrew and Nicholas (last names omitted), based on information she received from teachers and students; the list was clearly visible to anyone who visited her office.
Of those that saw this list was Andrew's mother, Andrea. "I couldn't believe it when I went to meet with the principal and that list was right there by her desk where anyone could see it," she said. "African American people face enough obstacles to succeeding in this world and I want my son to have every opportunity he's worked so hard for. Our schools should be helping our children do well, not tearing them down for something like this."
"This is a public high school that runs on taxpayer dollars," said attorney Bruce Kramer. "As such, it is part of the government and must obey the Constitution in dealing with the students entrusted to its care each day."
According to Nicholas' mother Nichole, the principal said that she didn't tolerate homosexuality in the school and repeatedly asked if she knew her son was gay.
The honor student underwent further humiliation, in addition to verbal harassment, when taken out of the running for a class trip to New Orleans related to rebuilding efforts, as a risk to the school's image; Nicholas was told that there were fears he'd embarrass the school by engaging in "inappropriate behavior."
"This school has no business singling these boys out and taking away educational opportunities against them simply because they were dating," added Mr. Kramer.
"We never bothered anyone or did a single thing at school that broke any of the rules," Nicholas, a junior, said. "Every day I feel like they're still punishing me, and I'm worried that this is going to hurt my chances to get into a good college."
"The principal's outing of these two students to their families, classmates, and teachers is unacceptable," said Hedy Weinberg, ACLU of Tennessee's Executive Director. "Its only purpose was to intimidate not only these students but all gay students at Hollis Price.
Read more:
GayWired.com: The Global Struggle for Queer Freedom
Peter Tatchell 4/28/2008 0:00:00
Jamaican AIDS activist, Steve Harvey, was shot dead by a gang of men who burst into his home in late 2005. Soon afterwards, Nokia Cowen drowned when he jumped into Kingston harbour to escape a violent homophobic mob. A few weeks later, Jamaica’s trade ambassador Peter King was found dead with his throat slashed and multiple stab wounds. Then the mutilated bodies of two lesbians were found dumped in a septic pit behind the house they shared.
Homophobic violence is routine in Jamaica—a supposed parliamentary democracy—according to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) victims of hate crimes seldom get justice. Police sometimes ignore anti-gay attacks and abuse, threaten, beat and arrest the gay victims.
What is happening in Jamaica is the tip of a global iceberg of homophobic persecution. More than 70 countries continue to outlaw homosexuality, with penalties ranging from one year’s jail to life imprisonment. Six Islamist states impose the death penalty, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Sudan and the Yemen. In some provinces of other countries, such as Nigeria and Pakistan, Islamic Sharia law is enforced and lesbians and gays can be stoned to death. Under the new post-Saddam "democratic" Iraqi penal code, people who murder gays and lesbians to defend the "honour" of their family are exempt from punishment.
No international human rights convention acknowledges sexual rights as human rights. The right to love a person of the same sex is not specifically recognised in any international law. There is nothing in UN conventions that explicitly prohibits homophobic discrimination and protects LGBT people. Indeed, an unholy alliance of the Vatican and Islamic states has repeatedly blocked initiatives by Brazil and other countries to condemn queer-bashing violence and discrimination.
Only in the last decade or so has the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) been interpreted to outlaw discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. Since the late '90s, for example, British LGBT citizens have cited the right to privacy and anti-discrimination clauses of the ECHR to successfully challenge centuries-old anti-gay legislation. Our victories forced the UK government to repeal the unequal age of consent for gay men, homophobic sexual offences laws and the ban on lesbians and gays in the armed forces. ECHR judgments also successfully pressured Romania and Cyprus to decriminalise homosexuality.
There are 192 member states of the UN. So far, only a handful of these have repealed all major legal inequalities against LGBT people: the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Canada, New Zealand and, very recently, the UK.
Read more:
Jamaican AIDS activist, Steve Harvey, was shot dead by a gang of men who burst into his home in late 2005. Soon afterwards, Nokia Cowen drowned when he jumped into Kingston harbour to escape a violent homophobic mob. A few weeks later, Jamaica’s trade ambassador Peter King was found dead with his throat slashed and multiple stab wounds. Then the mutilated bodies of two lesbians were found dumped in a septic pit behind the house they shared.
Homophobic violence is routine in Jamaica—a supposed parliamentary democracy—according to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) victims of hate crimes seldom get justice. Police sometimes ignore anti-gay attacks and abuse, threaten, beat and arrest the gay victims.
What is happening in Jamaica is the tip of a global iceberg of homophobic persecution. More than 70 countries continue to outlaw homosexuality, with penalties ranging from one year’s jail to life imprisonment. Six Islamist states impose the death penalty, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Sudan and the Yemen. In some provinces of other countries, such as Nigeria and Pakistan, Islamic Sharia law is enforced and lesbians and gays can be stoned to death. Under the new post-Saddam "democratic" Iraqi penal code, people who murder gays and lesbians to defend the "honour" of their family are exempt from punishment.
No international human rights convention acknowledges sexual rights as human rights. The right to love a person of the same sex is not specifically recognised in any international law. There is nothing in UN conventions that explicitly prohibits homophobic discrimination and protects LGBT people. Indeed, an unholy alliance of the Vatican and Islamic states has repeatedly blocked initiatives by Brazil and other countries to condemn queer-bashing violence and discrimination.
Only in the last decade or so has the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) been interpreted to outlaw discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. Since the late '90s, for example, British LGBT citizens have cited the right to privacy and anti-discrimination clauses of the ECHR to successfully challenge centuries-old anti-gay legislation. Our victories forced the UK government to repeal the unequal age of consent for gay men, homophobic sexual offences laws and the ban on lesbians and gays in the armed forces. ECHR judgments also successfully pressured Romania and Cyprus to decriminalise homosexuality.
There are 192 member states of the UN. So far, only a handful of these have repealed all major legal inequalities against LGBT people: the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Canada, New Zealand and, very recently, the UK.
Read more:
Pink News: Scientist's discover protein that may help halt the spread of HIV
By Adam Lake • April 28, 2008 - 21:42
Scientists have discovered an HIV Aids treatment that may help sufferers avoid the problem of drug resistance.
Scientists have found that the virus can be significantly weakened by inactivating a key human protein called ITK.
Current treatments target the proteins in the HIV virus. This approach weakens the virus but in time it will mutate and resist the drugs that the sufferer is taking.
To combat this doctors will change the combination of the drugs but in time the virus will become resistant to those too. In addition to this, the changing of combinations can bring on serious side effects.
The new approach targets a protein produced by human cells rather than HIV, and is therefore impervious to the virus's mutations.
Researchers in the US found that inactivating the protein, known as ITK, suppressed HIV's ability to infect key human immune cells.
The HIV virus uses the bodies T cells to spread the virus, but by inactivating the ITK protein the virus looses can no longer use T cells.
ITK is a signalling molecule that activates T cells, part of the body's immune system.
Scientists studied the effects of ITK inactivation on cell cultures exposed to HIV and found that suppressing ITK reduced the ability of the virus to enter T cells and have its genetic material transcribed.
Read more:
Scientists have discovered an HIV Aids treatment that may help sufferers avoid the problem of drug resistance.
Scientists have found that the virus can be significantly weakened by inactivating a key human protein called ITK.
Current treatments target the proteins in the HIV virus. This approach weakens the virus but in time it will mutate and resist the drugs that the sufferer is taking.
To combat this doctors will change the combination of the drugs but in time the virus will become resistant to those too. In addition to this, the changing of combinations can bring on serious side effects.
The new approach targets a protein produced by human cells rather than HIV, and is therefore impervious to the virus's mutations.
Researchers in the US found that inactivating the protein, known as ITK, suppressed HIV's ability to infect key human immune cells.
The HIV virus uses the bodies T cells to spread the virus, but by inactivating the ITK protein the virus looses can no longer use T cells.
ITK is a signalling molecule that activates T cells, part of the body's immune system.
Scientists studied the effects of ITK inactivation on cell cultures exposed to HIV and found that suppressing ITK reduced the ability of the virus to enter T cells and have its genetic material transcribed.
Read more:
Cumberland Times News: Suicide rate high among young homosexuals
To the Editor:
I suppose going to bat for gay and lesbian individuals around here is going to have people believing I am gay. That is not true. However, if I were worried about being called names; I would still be hiding in my house and would have done nothing with my life. I am involved in preventing suicides and I'm just doing my job.
Of course there'll be a lot of "letters" from the "holy rollers" next week, but really consider what I have written before you start damning people. When thousands of young people are taking their lives because of prejudice; I feel I must speak out.
Gay, lesbian and bisexual youth comprise 1,500 to 5,000 deaths by suicide of youths annually. For homosexual youth to come to terms with their sexual identity, they must first come to terms with society's dislike for them. Homophobic slurs perpetuate anti-gay prejudice by implying that it is acceptable to display bias against homosexuals. Anti-gay language promotes a system of social interaction in which gay youth are made to feel inferior.
In 1989, the "Report of the Secretary's Taskforce on Youth Suicide" reported that gay and lesbian adolescents were two to three times more likely than peers to attempt suicide and may account for as many as 30 percent of deaths by suicide of young people each year."
Schools have a legal responsibility to adopt guidelines about sexual harassment that are inclusive of sexual orientation." (PFLAG, Title 1X prohibition of sexual harassment of GLBT students, 1997.)
Gay and lesbian adolescents need to be guaranteed their school environment is safe, and, we need to create a supportive environment for them. We also need to educate parents, students, school personnel and the community and health professionals. There needs to firm boundaries and clear limits against slurs or abusive words. We need language that constructs acceptance; not language constructs hatred! Finally individuals need to show an understanding of gay and lesbian issues and that expresses equality.
If we join together as a community of like-minded people determined to change prejudice, we can accomplish the goals of transforming the terror of prejudice into the acceptance of different gender preferences, races, religions, and, of course, those of us who have a mental illness. We can create a paradigm in our schools and communities where individuals of any race, religion, gender identity or disability can live with dignity and respect.
Jerry Ruby
Oakand
Cumberland Times News
I suppose going to bat for gay and lesbian individuals around here is going to have people believing I am gay. That is not true. However, if I were worried about being called names; I would still be hiding in my house and would have done nothing with my life. I am involved in preventing suicides and I'm just doing my job.
Of course there'll be a lot of "letters" from the "holy rollers" next week, but really consider what I have written before you start damning people. When thousands of young people are taking their lives because of prejudice; I feel I must speak out.
Gay, lesbian and bisexual youth comprise 1,500 to 5,000 deaths by suicide of youths annually. For homosexual youth to come to terms with their sexual identity, they must first come to terms with society's dislike for them. Homophobic slurs perpetuate anti-gay prejudice by implying that it is acceptable to display bias against homosexuals. Anti-gay language promotes a system of social interaction in which gay youth are made to feel inferior.
In 1989, the "Report of the Secretary's Taskforce on Youth Suicide" reported that gay and lesbian adolescents were two to three times more likely than peers to attempt suicide and may account for as many as 30 percent of deaths by suicide of young people each year."
Schools have a legal responsibility to adopt guidelines about sexual harassment that are inclusive of sexual orientation." (PFLAG, Title 1X prohibition of sexual harassment of GLBT students, 1997.)
Gay and lesbian adolescents need to be guaranteed their school environment is safe, and, we need to create a supportive environment for them. We also need to educate parents, students, school personnel and the community and health professionals. There needs to firm boundaries and clear limits against slurs or abusive words. We need language that constructs acceptance; not language constructs hatred! Finally individuals need to show an understanding of gay and lesbian issues and that expresses equality.
If we join together as a community of like-minded people determined to change prejudice, we can accomplish the goals of transforming the terror of prejudice into the acceptance of different gender preferences, races, religions, and, of course, those of us who have a mental illness. We can create a paradigm in our schools and communities where individuals of any race, religion, gender identity or disability can live with dignity and respect.
Jerry Ruby
Oakand
Cumberland Times News
PFLAG National Blog: You Bet I Am.
Can a father be proud of a gay son? You bet!
I was quite sad after reading the article written by a man who thought that it would be difficult to be proud of his son if he happened to be gay. I will admit that when my son came out to his mother and me that we were completely unprepared and felt ourselves very ignorant about the whole subject of sexuality.
Did it take a while to learn more about homosexuality? Yes.
Did it take a while for us to review all the hopes, plans, and expectations that we had for our son and his future life and discover that these hopes, plans, and expectations would be different but OK if he were gay? Yes.
Did I realize at the time that my son came out, how ignorant I was about the whole spectrum of sexuality and how his being gay would be a portal for understanding a wonderful side of life of which I had been previously completely unaware? No.
Did I ever think that my son would marry a man, who I now love as another son, instead of one of the wonderful young women he used to associate with whom I had hoped would be a daughter-in-law someday? No.
Did I have a lot of learning and growing to do when my son came out to us as gay? Yes.
Read more:
I was quite sad after reading the article written by a man who thought that it would be difficult to be proud of his son if he happened to be gay. I will admit that when my son came out to his mother and me that we were completely unprepared and felt ourselves very ignorant about the whole subject of sexuality.
Did it take a while to learn more about homosexuality? Yes.
Did it take a while for us to review all the hopes, plans, and expectations that we had for our son and his future life and discover that these hopes, plans, and expectations would be different but OK if he were gay? Yes.
Did I realize at the time that my son came out, how ignorant I was about the whole spectrum of sexuality and how his being gay would be a portal for understanding a wonderful side of life of which I had been previously completely unaware? No.
Did I ever think that my son would marry a man, who I now love as another son, instead of one of the wonderful young women he used to associate with whom I had hoped would be a daughter-in-law someday? No.
Did I have a lot of learning and growing to do when my son came out to us as gay? Yes.
Read more:
Pink News: American talk show host Larry King sends out message of support for LGBT students
By Adam Lake • April 28, 2008 - 17:20
American talk show host Larry King made an emotional plea to viewers that Americans must demand tolerance for LGBT students.
The statement comes as thousands of American students took part in a 'Day of Silence'.
The yearly event was particularly poignant after the homophobic murder of a gay teenager
Fifteen year old Lawrence King was gunned down by 14-year-old Brandon McInerney earlier this year in Oxnard, California because he was gay, and had allegedly asked McInerney to be his valentine.
The National Day of Silence is coordinated nationally by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN).
An estimated 500,000 students from nearly 5,000 junior and high schools in all 50 US states and Puerto Rico have participated in the National Day of Silence in past years and more than 6,000 schools registered this year.
In addition, presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama each issued statements on the death of King, as did talk show host Ellen Degeneres.
Students in the UK are also took part in the day. The Sussex University LGBT group took part in the international day of silence on the Sussex campus based just outside Brighton.
All students taking part or supporting the event are being encouraged to wear black to show solidarity.
Read more:
American talk show host Larry King made an emotional plea to viewers that Americans must demand tolerance for LGBT students.
The statement comes as thousands of American students took part in a 'Day of Silence'.
The yearly event was particularly poignant after the homophobic murder of a gay teenager
Fifteen year old Lawrence King was gunned down by 14-year-old Brandon McInerney earlier this year in Oxnard, California because he was gay, and had allegedly asked McInerney to be his valentine.
The National Day of Silence is coordinated nationally by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN).
An estimated 500,000 students from nearly 5,000 junior and high schools in all 50 US states and Puerto Rico have participated in the National Day of Silence in past years and more than 6,000 schools registered this year.
In addition, presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama each issued statements on the death of King, as did talk show host Ellen Degeneres.
Students in the UK are also took part in the day. The Sussex University LGBT group took part in the international day of silence on the Sussex campus based just outside Brighton.
All students taking part or supporting the event are being encouraged to wear black to show solidarity.
Read more:
Monday, April 28, 2008
Truth Wins Out: Exodus, Antigay Bullies Prove Need for More Days of Silence around World
Posted April 28th, 2008 by Michael Airhart
In the United States on Friday, Exodus featured speaker and megachurch pastor Ken Hutcherson led Snoqualmie, Washington, students in a school walkout and protest against silent opponents of antigay violence. In other words, he led a student protest in defense of antigay violence, which Hutcherson himself favors.
Exodus followed up today with an endorsement for the April 28 “Day of Truth” protest which supports antigay bigotry and refuses to even acknowledge — much less discuss or oppose — antigay violence in schools.
The moral failure of Exodus and other conservative religious organizations to stand in solidarity with antiviolence advocates is fueling new initiatives in the United States and abroad. Hutcherson’s grandstanding tirades and his disruption of classes are scandalous:
Hutcherson called his student supporters “warriors,” described pro-harassment advocates as “moral people” and called for them to be “unashamed” in their opposition to the antiviolence Day of Silence.
Hutcherson’s loud protest and a related boycott by a coalition of ex-gay and antigay organizations interrupted learning at the school and dissuaded 495 out of 1,410 students from attending classes, whereas the silent vigil against violence had no impact on learning.
Hutcherson criticized Christians who favored a non-disruptive “Golden Rule” approach to student antiviolence initiatives.
Focus on the Family congratulated Hutcherson on his opposition to antiviolence vigils.
Despite a promising ad-hoc gesture of cooperation in a single locale, a rival “Golden Rule” protest organized by pro-exgay pundit Warren Throckmorton declined to oppose disruptive pro-violence boycotts; pitted self-styled Christians against antiviolence advocates; and refused to affirm the moral and religious values of those who oppose antigay violence and harassment in schools.
Read more:
In the United States on Friday, Exodus featured speaker and megachurch pastor Ken Hutcherson led Snoqualmie, Washington, students in a school walkout and protest against silent opponents of antigay violence. In other words, he led a student protest in defense of antigay violence, which Hutcherson himself favors.
Exodus followed up today with an endorsement for the April 28 “Day of Truth” protest which supports antigay bigotry and refuses to even acknowledge — much less discuss or oppose — antigay violence in schools.
The moral failure of Exodus and other conservative religious organizations to stand in solidarity with antiviolence advocates is fueling new initiatives in the United States and abroad. Hutcherson’s grandstanding tirades and his disruption of classes are scandalous:
Hutcherson called his student supporters “warriors,” described pro-harassment advocates as “moral people” and called for them to be “unashamed” in their opposition to the antiviolence Day of Silence.
Hutcherson’s loud protest and a related boycott by a coalition of ex-gay and antigay organizations interrupted learning at the school and dissuaded 495 out of 1,410 students from attending classes, whereas the silent vigil against violence had no impact on learning.
Hutcherson criticized Christians who favored a non-disruptive “Golden Rule” approach to student antiviolence initiatives.
Focus on the Family congratulated Hutcherson on his opposition to antiviolence vigils.
Despite a promising ad-hoc gesture of cooperation in a single locale, a rival “Golden Rule” protest organized by pro-exgay pundit Warren Throckmorton declined to oppose disruptive pro-violence boycotts; pitted self-styled Christians against antiviolence advocates; and refused to affirm the moral and religious values of those who oppose antigay violence and harassment in schools.
Read more:
Sentencing hearing this morning for Tom Faltynowicz
Some of you may remember the post I did last month on Tom Faltynowicz's trouble with the law regarding his use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Tom is living with AIDS and the only thing that can make it bearable for him to take his medications, which he needs to save his live, is Marijuana.
As reported by SoDakNorml.org Tom was arrested for growing and smoking marijuana based on an anonymous tip that led to the police searching his home. Tom cooperated with the police and admitted growing and smoking it because he needed it to survive. There was no evidence that Tom ever sold any of it or that he ever smoked it with anyone else.
This morning I attended the sentencing hearing for Tom in Sturgis. It was very interesting to say the least. Tom's doctor testified that, due to the wasting disease associated with AIDS, Tom was not predicted to survive more than a short time. He has, however, beaten the odds with the help of marijuana because smoking marijuana takes away the nausea and increases the appetite which allows him to gain weight and combat the wasting disease.
Tom was basically put in the position of breaking the law or dying. Tom's doctor testified to that fact.
The judge today took all of that into account. But, he stated that he was not about to legislate from the bench. Tom had broken the law and even with extenuating circumstances he was guilty. The judge then sentenced Tom to one year in the state pen with all but seven days suspended conditioned to his not smoking marijuana. He can serve those seven days in the Meade County jail.
I do not fault the judge on this. The problem is the law itself. What is someone to do when the only thing that can help them to live a life that is livable is illegal? It is time to change the law. Why are we keeping a lifesaving medication from a patient who needs it to survive in any kind of a life that is bearable?
I have been informed that there will be a March for Sensible Marijuana policy this Saturday, May 3rd at Memorial park starting at 3:45 with the march starting at 4:20. It is being sponsored by South Dakotans for Safe Access.
Here at The Center West we work with a lot of people who are living with AIDS. If we have something that can make life more bearable for them, then we need to make safe, legal and accessible. To do otherwise is an injustice.
As reported by SoDakNorml.org Tom was arrested for growing and smoking marijuana based on an anonymous tip that led to the police searching his home. Tom cooperated with the police and admitted growing and smoking it because he needed it to survive. There was no evidence that Tom ever sold any of it or that he ever smoked it with anyone else.
This morning I attended the sentencing hearing for Tom in Sturgis. It was very interesting to say the least. Tom's doctor testified that, due to the wasting disease associated with AIDS, Tom was not predicted to survive more than a short time. He has, however, beaten the odds with the help of marijuana because smoking marijuana takes away the nausea and increases the appetite which allows him to gain weight and combat the wasting disease.
Tom was basically put in the position of breaking the law or dying. Tom's doctor testified to that fact.
The judge today took all of that into account. But, he stated that he was not about to legislate from the bench. Tom had broken the law and even with extenuating circumstances he was guilty. The judge then sentenced Tom to one year in the state pen with all but seven days suspended conditioned to his not smoking marijuana. He can serve those seven days in the Meade County jail.
I do not fault the judge on this. The problem is the law itself. What is someone to do when the only thing that can help them to live a life that is livable is illegal? It is time to change the law. Why are we keeping a lifesaving medication from a patient who needs it to survive in any kind of a life that is bearable?
I have been informed that there will be a March for Sensible Marijuana policy this Saturday, May 3rd at Memorial park starting at 3:45 with the march starting at 4:20. It is being sponsored by South Dakotans for Safe Access.
Here at The Center West we work with a lot of people who are living with AIDS. If we have something that can make life more bearable for them, then we need to make safe, legal and accessible. To do otherwise is an injustice.
The Bilerico Project: Rev. Ann Fontaine, of the Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming
On being an ally
Last year I updated my anti-racism training as required of lay and clergy leaders in the Diocese of Wyoming. As part of our training we pledged to work against racism in our churches and communities. Since I am white I wondered how I can fulfill that pledge as an ally with those who experience racism because of skin color and/or ethnic group. It is the same question I have when working with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (lgbt) brothers and sisters.
Reflecting on the struggle by women for equality in church and community, I know there is more to working as an ally than just being helpful and nice. An ally is one who works with others to attain their goals. An ally does not just stand beside one, but also "has one's back," offering to watch out for unseen dangers.
I know from my own place of needing allies that it needs to be done with respect and consultation. Ask for information and guidance from those with whom one wishes to be an ally instead of assuming one knows best for the other.
Some questions to consider in ally work:
Read more:
Last year I updated my anti-racism training as required of lay and clergy leaders in the Diocese of Wyoming. As part of our training we pledged to work against racism in our churches and communities. Since I am white I wondered how I can fulfill that pledge as an ally with those who experience racism because of skin color and/or ethnic group. It is the same question I have when working with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (lgbt) brothers and sisters.
Reflecting on the struggle by women for equality in church and community, I know there is more to working as an ally than just being helpful and nice. An ally is one who works with others to attain their goals. An ally does not just stand beside one, but also "has one's back," offering to watch out for unseen dangers.
I know from my own place of needing allies that it needs to be done with respect and consultation. Ask for information and guidance from those with whom one wishes to be an ally instead of assuming one knows best for the other.
Some questions to consider in ally work:
Read more:
InsideBayArea.com: Hayward focuses on hate-crime prevention
Neighborhood watchers promote awareness of so-called 'bias' crimes
HAYWARD — More than five years since the brutal murder of a Newark transgender teen, community leaders remain determined to confront the thinking they say turned two seemingly ordinary men into cold-blooded murderers.
Hate-crime prevention will be Topic A of this month's Hayward's Neighborhood Alert — a gathering of the 100 or so Neighborhood Watch block captains to discuss public safety issues.
Police Sgt. Jason Martinez will address the Neighborhood Alert at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Southland mall Community Room.
Martinez will promote awareness of bias-motivated crimes and provide information on how to prevent such occurrences, said City Councilman Bill Quirk, who also is a block captain.
State law provides for enhanced sentencing for anyone convicted of crimes deemed to be bias-motivated — also known as hate crimes.
Quirk acknowledged the 2002 murder of 17-year-old Gwen Araujo was a wake-up call, noting that the apparent motive reflected biases that are too often accepted.
Michael Magidson of Fremont and Jose Merel of Newark were 25 and 26 at the time of their January 2006 convictions.
"They were ordinary kids," Quirk said. "That's what's so scary about this. If it could happen to these kids, then it could happen to anybody."
Read more:
HAYWARD — More than five years since the brutal murder of a Newark transgender teen, community leaders remain determined to confront the thinking they say turned two seemingly ordinary men into cold-blooded murderers.
Hate-crime prevention will be Topic A of this month's Hayward's Neighborhood Alert — a gathering of the 100 or so Neighborhood Watch block captains to discuss public safety issues.
Police Sgt. Jason Martinez will address the Neighborhood Alert at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Southland mall Community Room.
Martinez will promote awareness of bias-motivated crimes and provide information on how to prevent such occurrences, said City Councilman Bill Quirk, who also is a block captain.
State law provides for enhanced sentencing for anyone convicted of crimes deemed to be bias-motivated — also known as hate crimes.
Quirk acknowledged the 2002 murder of 17-year-old Gwen Araujo was a wake-up call, noting that the apparent motive reflected biases that are too often accepted.
Michael Magidson of Fremont and Jose Merel of Newark were 25 and 26 at the time of their January 2006 convictions.
"They were ordinary kids," Quirk said. "That's what's so scary about this. If it could happen to these kids, then it could happen to anybody."
Read more:
Philadelphia Daily News: Philly: The City of Equality
Philly: The city of Equality
By ALEX IRWINPhiladelphia Daily News
irwina@phillynews.com 215-854-5218
ON JULY 4, 1965, 40 men and women demonstrated on behalf of gay and lesbian rights in front of Independence Hall. It was the largest protest of its kind in history.
This was the first of four "annual reminders" held in Philadelphia - reminding the world that homosexuals were here - and it predated by four years the now iconic riots at the Stonewall Inn in New York City.
A historic marker on the north side of 6th and Chestnut streets testifies to the significance of these "reminders" to the gay-rights movement.
Philadelphia is once again at the center of that movement, as hundreds of rainbow flags line Center City streets trumpeting this year's Equality Forum.
The forum - the largest annual gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender forum in the world - begins today and runs through Sunday. The forum will host more than 60 discussions and dozens of parties and special events, beginning with a VIP kickoff at City Hall with Mayor Nutter delivering opening remarks.
On Saturday, New Mexico governor Bill Richardson receives the International Role Model award at a gala dinner at the National Constitution Center. The Wachovia Corp. will be awarded the International Business Leadership award.
Read more:
By ALEX IRWINPhiladelphia Daily News
irwina@phillynews.com 215-854-5218
ON JULY 4, 1965, 40 men and women demonstrated on behalf of gay and lesbian rights in front of Independence Hall. It was the largest protest of its kind in history.
This was the first of four "annual reminders" held in Philadelphia - reminding the world that homosexuals were here - and it predated by four years the now iconic riots at the Stonewall Inn in New York City.
A historic marker on the north side of 6th and Chestnut streets testifies to the significance of these "reminders" to the gay-rights movement.
Philadelphia is once again at the center of that movement, as hundreds of rainbow flags line Center City streets trumpeting this year's Equality Forum.
The forum - the largest annual gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender forum in the world - begins today and runs through Sunday. The forum will host more than 60 discussions and dozens of parties and special events, beginning with a VIP kickoff at City Hall with Mayor Nutter delivering opening remarks.
On Saturday, New Mexico governor Bill Richardson receives the International Role Model award at a gala dinner at the National Constitution Center. The Wachovia Corp. will be awarded the International Business Leadership award.
Read more:
PFLAG National Blog: Father Knows Best: Having a Gay Son is Great
Yeah, so what?,” I asked myself.
I’d just read Would You Really Be OK with a Gay Kid? a March 21 column on the Details Magazine blog. The column contends that even progressive men, perhaps especially progressive men, have a hard time being “comfortable” with the idea of having a gay son. I actually do know a progressive man who is uncomfortable that his son is gay. My wife thinks there are many more.
I’m not so certain. After all, I know only one befuddled dad, and the column presents only three other anonymous progressive men with heebie-jeebies about gay sons. But I also met a progressive dad who accompanied his son, a high school sophomore, to our PFLAG meeting last Sunday. He wants to be more out than his son. He wants to tell everyone. He’s proud to have a gay son.
OK. There’s one progressive dad who’s not breaking out in hives about gay sons. I know another one, me. A child of the sixties, I wanted my children to march to a different drummer, and so when I learned John is gay, I clapped along with the beat.
As a matter of fact, I also have a straight son. The three of us went fishing, threw snowballs at each other, wrestled, chased each other around Uncle Frank’s house, argued and fought, played soccer, played catch, watched movies, threw water balloons, went swimming, and participated in nearly all the activities dads and sons undertake. Truth be told, John didn’t come out until his first year in college. If he had come out earlier, I’m sure he’d agree we have done all of the same things together.
This father knows best: having a gay son is great. So is having a straight son.
Read more:
I’d just read Would You Really Be OK with a Gay Kid? a March 21 column on the Details Magazine blog. The column contends that even progressive men, perhaps especially progressive men, have a hard time being “comfortable” with the idea of having a gay son. I actually do know a progressive man who is uncomfortable that his son is gay. My wife thinks there are many more.
I’m not so certain. After all, I know only one befuddled dad, and the column presents only three other anonymous progressive men with heebie-jeebies about gay sons. But I also met a progressive dad who accompanied his son, a high school sophomore, to our PFLAG meeting last Sunday. He wants to be more out than his son. He wants to tell everyone. He’s proud to have a gay son.
OK. There’s one progressive dad who’s not breaking out in hives about gay sons. I know another one, me. A child of the sixties, I wanted my children to march to a different drummer, and so when I learned John is gay, I clapped along with the beat.
As a matter of fact, I also have a straight son. The three of us went fishing, threw snowballs at each other, wrestled, chased each other around Uncle Frank’s house, argued and fought, played soccer, played catch, watched movies, threw water balloons, went swimming, and participated in nearly all the activities dads and sons undertake. Truth be told, John didn’t come out until his first year in college. If he had come out earlier, I’m sure he’d agree we have done all of the same things together.
This father knows best: having a gay son is great. So is having a straight son.
Read more:
Orlando Sentinel: Parents of murder victim to urge lawmakers to protect gay kids
Jeff Kunerth Sentinel Staff Writer
April 26, 2008
The parents of Ryan Keith Skipper, the victim of a gay-hate-crime murder in Polk County, will mark what would have been his 27th birthday Monday by joining others in support of anti-bullying legislation in Tallahassee.
Hate crimes against gays can start with bullying of gay students in high schools, said Brian Winfield, communications director for Equality Florida, a gay civil-rights organization."Bullies are the people who grow up to commit hate crimes in early adulthood," he said.
Skipper was stabbed to death March 14, 2007, his body dumped on an unpaved road and his car burned and abandoned beside a Winter Haven lake. Two men have been charged with his murder.
Ryan endured bullying in school and endured bullying and harassment afterward. It ultimately ended up with his murder," said Lynn Mulder, Skipper's stepfather.The Safe Schools bill before the Legislature does not specifically include sexual orientation and gender identity but is a major step in addressing the harassment of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students, Winfield said.
Read more:
April 26, 2008
The parents of Ryan Keith Skipper, the victim of a gay-hate-crime murder in Polk County, will mark what would have been his 27th birthday Monday by joining others in support of anti-bullying legislation in Tallahassee.
Hate crimes against gays can start with bullying of gay students in high schools, said Brian Winfield, communications director for Equality Florida, a gay civil-rights organization."Bullies are the people who grow up to commit hate crimes in early adulthood," he said.
Skipper was stabbed to death March 14, 2007, his body dumped on an unpaved road and his car burned and abandoned beside a Winter Haven lake. Two men have been charged with his murder.
Ryan endured bullying in school and endured bullying and harassment afterward. It ultimately ended up with his murder," said Lynn Mulder, Skipper's stepfather.The Safe Schools bill before the Legislature does not specifically include sexual orientation and gender identity but is a major step in addressing the harassment of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students, Winfield said.
Read more:
Sunday, April 27, 2008
The Christian Post: Transgender Talks Begin at United Methodist Meeting
By
Audrey Barrick
Christian Post Reporter
Sat, Apr. 26 2008 12:06 PM ET
Hundreds of United Methodists have begun looking over some 1,500 petitions that have been proposed by those seeking change in church policies and structures, among other things, during the church's quadrennial gathering.
Much of the media spotlight, however, has fallen on two submitted petitions aimed at changing the United Methodist Church's current position on homosexuality. The church body holds that the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.
One petition would state that homosexuality is a subject about which Christians disagree and the other would define marriage as the union of two loving adults.
To support gay and transgender church members, young Methodists from the Mosaic Youth Network are holding a 24-hour "drumming and rally," which began Friday at noon, outside the Fort Worth Conference Center in Texas, where the United Methodist General Conference is taking place. Recent General Conferences have seen protests by gay-rights advocates, some of whom were arrested for disrupting proceedings.
Debates on whether gay Christians can be ordained as clergy have gone on for decades in the denomination and most recently, controversy has erupted over transgendered persons.
The Rev. Drew Phoenix, pastor of St. John's United Methodist Church in Baltimore, sparked debate when the transgender minister was allowed last year to remain pastor of the church. Phoenix, who previously led the church as the Rev. Ann Gordon, underwent surgery and hormone therapy to become male.
Read more:
Audrey Barrick
Christian Post Reporter
Sat, Apr. 26 2008 12:06 PM ET
Hundreds of United Methodists have begun looking over some 1,500 petitions that have been proposed by those seeking change in church policies and structures, among other things, during the church's quadrennial gathering.
Much of the media spotlight, however, has fallen on two submitted petitions aimed at changing the United Methodist Church's current position on homosexuality. The church body holds that the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.
One petition would state that homosexuality is a subject about which Christians disagree and the other would define marriage as the union of two loving adults.
To support gay and transgender church members, young Methodists from the Mosaic Youth Network are holding a 24-hour "drumming and rally," which began Friday at noon, outside the Fort Worth Conference Center in Texas, where the United Methodist General Conference is taking place. Recent General Conferences have seen protests by gay-rights advocates, some of whom were arrested for disrupting proceedings.
Debates on whether gay Christians can be ordained as clergy have gone on for decades in the denomination and most recently, controversy has erupted over transgendered persons.
The Rev. Drew Phoenix, pastor of St. John's United Methodist Church in Baltimore, sparked debate when the transgender minister was allowed last year to remain pastor of the church. Phoenix, who previously led the church as the Rev. Ann Gordon, underwent surgery and hormone therapy to become male.
Read more:
the New York Times: Young Gay Rites
By BENOIT DENIZET-LEWIS
Published: April 27, 2008
LAST NOVEMBER IN BOSTON, Joshua Janson, a slender and boyish 25-year-old, invited me to an impromptu gathering at the apartment he shares with Benjamin McGuire, his considerably more staid husband of the same age. It was a cozy, festive affair, complete with some 20 guests and a large sushi spread where you might have expected the chips and salsa to be.
I beg of you — please eat a tuna roll!” Joshua barked, circulating around the spacious apartment in a blue blazer, slim-fitting corduroys and a pair of royal blue house slippers with his initials. “The fish is not going to eat itself!”
Spotting me alone by a window seat decorated with Tibetan pillows, Joshua, who by that point had a few drinks in him, grabbed my arm and led me toward a handful of young men huddled around an antique Asian “lion’s head” chair. “Are you single? Have you met the gays?” Joshua asked, depositing me among them before embarking on a halfhearted search for the couple’s dog, Bernard, who, last I saw him, was eyeing an eel roll left carelessly at dog level. (At the other end of the living room, past a marble fireplace, the straights — in this case, young associates from the Boston law firm Benjamin had recently joined — were debating the best local restaurants.)
As the night went on, the gays and the straights — fueled, I suspect, by a shared appreciation for liquor — began to mingle, and before long the party coalesced into a boisterous celebration. Joshua looked delighted. And in a rare moment of repose, he sidled up to his taller, auburn-haired mate.
“Honey,” Joshua said, “we may be married, but we still know how to have a good time, don’t we?”
Benjamin, sharply outfitted in green corduroys and an argyle sweater over a striped dress shirt, smiled. “Josh is extremely social, and he keeps us busy all the time,” he told me. “I think we may be proof that opposites do attract.”
“If it were up to him,” Joshua said, “we’d barely leave the house! We’re actually a terrific team. He calms me down, and I get him out at night. I’ll say: ‘Honey, this is what we’re doing. Now put this on.’ ”
“I think a lot of straight married couples start hibernating at home once they get married,” Benjamin said.
Read more:
Published: April 27, 2008
LAST NOVEMBER IN BOSTON, Joshua Janson, a slender and boyish 25-year-old, invited me to an impromptu gathering at the apartment he shares with Benjamin McGuire, his considerably more staid husband of the same age. It was a cozy, festive affair, complete with some 20 guests and a large sushi spread where you might have expected the chips and salsa to be.
I beg of you — please eat a tuna roll!” Joshua barked, circulating around the spacious apartment in a blue blazer, slim-fitting corduroys and a pair of royal blue house slippers with his initials. “The fish is not going to eat itself!”
Spotting me alone by a window seat decorated with Tibetan pillows, Joshua, who by that point had a few drinks in him, grabbed my arm and led me toward a handful of young men huddled around an antique Asian “lion’s head” chair. “Are you single? Have you met the gays?” Joshua asked, depositing me among them before embarking on a halfhearted search for the couple’s dog, Bernard, who, last I saw him, was eyeing an eel roll left carelessly at dog level. (At the other end of the living room, past a marble fireplace, the straights — in this case, young associates from the Boston law firm Benjamin had recently joined — were debating the best local restaurants.)
As the night went on, the gays and the straights — fueled, I suspect, by a shared appreciation for liquor — began to mingle, and before long the party coalesced into a boisterous celebration. Joshua looked delighted. And in a rare moment of repose, he sidled up to his taller, auburn-haired mate.
“Honey,” Joshua said, “we may be married, but we still know how to have a good time, don’t we?”
Benjamin, sharply outfitted in green corduroys and an argyle sweater over a striped dress shirt, smiled. “Josh is extremely social, and he keeps us busy all the time,” he told me. “I think we may be proof that opposites do attract.”
“If it were up to him,” Joshua said, “we’d barely leave the house! We’re actually a terrific team. He calms me down, and I get him out at night. I’ll say: ‘Honey, this is what we’re doing. Now put this on.’ ”
“I think a lot of straight married couples start hibernating at home once they get married,” Benjamin said.
Read more:
Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Great Letter from Richard K. Reedy, Sgt. USMC Ret.
Rights, privileges denied
Can someone please explain how creating second-class citizens out of the gay, bisexual, lesbian and transgender community is for the greatest good?
I find it interesting that many of the people who actively campaign to accomplish this are at the same time actively working to secure all human rights for the unborn. So according to their logic, the unborn has more civil rights than a retired, combat-disabled Marine who just happens to be gay. Most of these people make their arguments based upon their religious beliefs, a belief that is constitutionally protected and a belief that I defended as a Marine for years.
However, the constitutionally protected right of religious belief cannot be used as the basis to deny rights and privileges of others based upon a perceived choice made by others.
Just to make sure I get this right, we want to protect and ensure basic human rights to the unborn at the same time we strip them away when an individual comes out as members of the gay, bisexual, lesbian and transgender community.
So much for equality and justice for all.
Read comments:
Can someone please explain how creating second-class citizens out of the gay, bisexual, lesbian and transgender community is for the greatest good?
I find it interesting that many of the people who actively campaign to accomplish this are at the same time actively working to secure all human rights for the unborn. So according to their logic, the unborn has more civil rights than a retired, combat-disabled Marine who just happens to be gay. Most of these people make their arguments based upon their religious beliefs, a belief that is constitutionally protected and a belief that I defended as a Marine for years.
However, the constitutionally protected right of religious belief cannot be used as the basis to deny rights and privileges of others based upon a perceived choice made by others.
Just to make sure I get this right, we want to protect and ensure basic human rights to the unborn at the same time we strip them away when an individual comes out as members of the gay, bisexual, lesbian and transgender community.
So much for equality and justice for all.
Read comments:
Aberdeen American News: Leonard Pitts; Modern Christianity out of step with Jesus' teachings
Published on Sunday, April 27, 2008
James Lawson is out of step with modern Christianity.
Take gay marriage. Speaking in support of a proposed state constitutional ban on same sex unions, one Rev. Hayes Wicker of First Baptist Church in Naples, Fla., was recently quoted by the Naples Daily News as saying, "This is a tremendous social crisis, greater even than the issue of slavery."
As asinine as that remark is, it is perfectly in step with much of modern Christianity, which has spent years demonizing gay men and lesbians. And then there's the Rev. Lawson, who is scheduled to speak this weekend at the 10th anniversary conference of Soulforce, a group that fights church-based homophobia. Few things could be more "out" of step.
Lawson, you might know, is an icon of the civil rights movement; it was he who invited Martin Luther King to Memphis to support the striking sanitation workers. He sees his longtime involvement with Soulforce as part of the same struggle. "The human rights issue is not a single issue," he told me recently. "It is about all human kind. And all human kind has been endowed with certain inalienable rights."
My interview with Lawson was set before Wicker's remark, but I leapt at the chance to ask him about it. "Obviously," said Lawson, "he does not know anything about the 250 years of slavery or the 143 years since slavery as the nation has largely failed to deal with the issue of slavery and its consequences. ... And he knows even less about the gospel of Jesus. ... Jesus broke all the social etiquette in terms of relating to people and bringing people into relationship with himself. He acknowledged no barriers or human divisions ... no category of sinners from who he would isolate himself."
Sadly, Wicker's brand of intolerance cloaked in faith has lately made inroads in black America. King's daughter, Bernice, has marched against gay rights. Others have peevishly rejected the idea that there are parallels between the black struggle and the gay one.
Lawson finds the antipathy appalling. "To unite with white Christian fundamentalism like Pat Robertson is an absolute disgrace. For black people to pretend that kind of Christian fundamentalism, which justified slavery and justifies racism, is a colleague in anything is to be blind to the realities that we're facing. We who have suffered and do suffer should be the most sensitive to the suffering of others. We don't want this undeserved suffering put on us, and we should therefore, clearly, not participate in putting such suffering on others. We ought to know better."
Read more:
James Lawson is out of step with modern Christianity.
Take gay marriage. Speaking in support of a proposed state constitutional ban on same sex unions, one Rev. Hayes Wicker of First Baptist Church in Naples, Fla., was recently quoted by the Naples Daily News as saying, "This is a tremendous social crisis, greater even than the issue of slavery."
As asinine as that remark is, it is perfectly in step with much of modern Christianity, which has spent years demonizing gay men and lesbians. And then there's the Rev. Lawson, who is scheduled to speak this weekend at the 10th anniversary conference of Soulforce, a group that fights church-based homophobia. Few things could be more "out" of step.
Lawson, you might know, is an icon of the civil rights movement; it was he who invited Martin Luther King to Memphis to support the striking sanitation workers. He sees his longtime involvement with Soulforce as part of the same struggle. "The human rights issue is not a single issue," he told me recently. "It is about all human kind. And all human kind has been endowed with certain inalienable rights."
My interview with Lawson was set before Wicker's remark, but I leapt at the chance to ask him about it. "Obviously," said Lawson, "he does not know anything about the 250 years of slavery or the 143 years since slavery as the nation has largely failed to deal with the issue of slavery and its consequences. ... And he knows even less about the gospel of Jesus. ... Jesus broke all the social etiquette in terms of relating to people and bringing people into relationship with himself. He acknowledged no barriers or human divisions ... no category of sinners from who he would isolate himself."
Sadly, Wicker's brand of intolerance cloaked in faith has lately made inroads in black America. King's daughter, Bernice, has marched against gay rights. Others have peevishly rejected the idea that there are parallels between the black struggle and the gay one.
Lawson finds the antipathy appalling. "To unite with white Christian fundamentalism like Pat Robertson is an absolute disgrace. For black people to pretend that kind of Christian fundamentalism, which justified slavery and justifies racism, is a colleague in anything is to be blind to the realities that we're facing. We who have suffered and do suffer should be the most sensitive to the suffering of others. We don't want this undeserved suffering put on us, and we should therefore, clearly, not participate in putting such suffering on others. We ought to know better."
Read more:
Saturday, April 26, 2008
No Matter What: it's not just being queer...
Another sergeant allegedly told Specialist Hall that as an atheist, he was not entitled to religious freedom because he had no religion.
Everyone is aware that most in the military don't want LGBTQ involved with the service but there has also been a concerted effort by evangelical [christianists] service members to eliminate atheists as well.
Soldier Sues Army, Saying His Atheism Led to Threats
FORT RILEY, Kan. — When Specialist Jeremy Hall held a meeting last July for atheists and freethinkers at Camp Speicher in Iraq, he was excited, he said, to see an officer attending. But minutes into the talk, the officer, Maj. Freddy J. Welborn, began to berate Specialist Hall and another soldier about atheism, Specialist Hall wrote in a sworn statement.
“People like you are not holding up the Constitution and are going against what the founding fathers, who were Christians, wanted for America!” Major Welborn said, according to the statement.Major Welborn told the soldiers he might bar them from re-enlistment and bring charges against them, according to the statement.
Last month, Specialist Hall and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an advocacy group, filed suit in federal court in Kansas, alleging that Specialist Hall’s right to be free from state endorsement of religion under the First Amendment had been violated and that he had faced retaliation for his views. In November, he was sent home early from Iraq because of threats from fellow soldiers. New York Times, April 26, 2008
There is a large flaw in Maj. Freddie's argument - going against what the founding fathers, who were Christians, wanted for America!What the Founding Fathers wanted was a nation that had tolerance for all beliefs. Contrary to what Freddie thinks, not believing is a belief. Add to that the fact that many of the Founding Fathers were not Christian but deists and warned against the intolerance and bigotry of christian sects and you have to wonder what history class Major Freddie missed. It may have been all of his American History classes. Of course, people also hear and read what they want. Christianists insist that they read their Bible literally, when in fact they are the biggest interpreters of it. They will pull the parts that they agree with to bolster their intolerance and ignore the universal message behind it.
Read more:
Everyone is aware that most in the military don't want LGBTQ involved with the service but there has also been a concerted effort by evangelical [christianists] service members to eliminate atheists as well.
Soldier Sues Army, Saying His Atheism Led to Threats
FORT RILEY, Kan. — When Specialist Jeremy Hall held a meeting last July for atheists and freethinkers at Camp Speicher in Iraq, he was excited, he said, to see an officer attending. But minutes into the talk, the officer, Maj. Freddy J. Welborn, began to berate Specialist Hall and another soldier about atheism, Specialist Hall wrote in a sworn statement.
“People like you are not holding up the Constitution and are going against what the founding fathers, who were Christians, wanted for America!” Major Welborn said, according to the statement.Major Welborn told the soldiers he might bar them from re-enlistment and bring charges against them, according to the statement.
Last month, Specialist Hall and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an advocacy group, filed suit in federal court in Kansas, alleging that Specialist Hall’s right to be free from state endorsement of religion under the First Amendment had been violated and that he had faced retaliation for his views. In November, he was sent home early from Iraq because of threats from fellow soldiers. New York Times, April 26, 2008
There is a large flaw in Maj. Freddie's argument - going against what the founding fathers, who were Christians, wanted for America!What the Founding Fathers wanted was a nation that had tolerance for all beliefs. Contrary to what Freddie thinks, not believing is a belief. Add to that the fact that many of the Founding Fathers were not Christian but deists and warned against the intolerance and bigotry of christian sects and you have to wonder what history class Major Freddie missed. It may have been all of his American History classes. Of course, people also hear and read what they want. Christianists insist that they read their Bible literally, when in fact they are the biggest interpreters of it. They will pull the parts that they agree with to bolster their intolerance and ignore the universal message behind it.
Read more:
The Bilerico Project: Ingredients for a New Christian Church
I suppose it's time to get down to the business of assembling the ingredients of a new Christian religion. We need one. That's clear. The Protestant varieties, so refreshing several centuries ago are now stale and disappointing. The Roman Catholic Church, a squandered franchise, has knit its own straight jacket.
What to do. It shouldn't be that difficult to make a recipe that will bring us back into the presence of the fabulous Jesus. He is really quite accessible and friendly if you are not afraid to enter that part of town in which he lives, where he has dinner with "those kind", where he speaks out loudly without the benefit of costly amplification. On a hillside. In someone's boat. Before the furious judges. He's so easy to find.
I don't know why I bother with this. It's not like I personally need a religion. I just can't shake the task. The errand has fallen to me much against my will. I'd really rather be cruising the Ramble, but let's have at it.
Read More:
What to do. It shouldn't be that difficult to make a recipe that will bring us back into the presence of the fabulous Jesus. He is really quite accessible and friendly if you are not afraid to enter that part of town in which he lives, where he has dinner with "those kind", where he speaks out loudly without the benefit of costly amplification. On a hillside. In someone's boat. Before the furious judges. He's so easy to find.
I don't know why I bother with this. It's not like I personally need a religion. I just can't shake the task. The errand has fallen to me much against my will. I'd really rather be cruising the Ramble, but let's have at it.
Read More:
Transgender Relationship Articles
Ottawa Sun: Escaping from the 'fear'
Transgender couple find strength to deal with their sexuality
By ANN MARIE McQUEEN, Sun Media
Jay-Dee Catherine Purdie knew one thing when she moved out of her matrimonial home in April 2006.
“I lived my whole life in fear,” she said. “I isolated myself from people. I made a vow to myself that no matter how frightened I was of doing something, I would do it.
On May 5, the 62-year-old separated father of a teenage daughter, born John David Purdie, will travel to Montreal for sex reassignment surgery. It’s the last step to reversing a life-long obstacle, what Purdie calls “a horrible trick of nature that I have had to live with.”
The notion occurred, as a little boy, way back in 1951. And so started a gender identity battle that raged inside Purdie for decades. There was clinical depression and two suicide attempts. One left him in a psychiatric ward for several weeks.
Purdie’s story is almost typical, says Dr. Diane Watson, an Ottawa psychiatrist who treats transgender patients.
Read more:
The New York Times: Through Sickness, Health and Sex Change
NEW MILFORD, N.J.
THERE are ways in which the Brunners are like many other middle-aged married couples. Former high school and college sweethearts, they finish each other’s sentences and order the same food at restaurants. They shuttle their three children to sports practices, and laugh when their 90-pound Labrador retriever jumps onto the sofa to lick guests.
“We’re one of the few of our friends who are still in our original marriage,” Denise Brunner said.
But it is not exactly the same union, as evidenced by their marriage certificate, which they have enlarged to poster size to make the point. The original, from 1980, listed Donald Brunner as the bridegroom and Frances Gottschalk as the bride. But a sex-change operation in 2005 turned Donald into Denise. Fran stood by her spouse, and the couple secured an amended certificate, putting “Denise” next to “bridegroom” for lack of other options.
Read More:
The Guardian: A real test of friendship
Richard Beard and his mate Drew loved their annual camping holiday, walking by day, downing pints at night. Normal bloke stuff. Then Drew revealed he wanted to become Dru and, eventually, had a sex change Saturday April 26, 2008The Guardian
The first time I saw Dru in pearl earrings, I coughed and pretended nothing had changed. Then I made a big effort not to say what I was thinking - you are a 43-year-old man whose wife has just left you for another bloke, taking your daughter with her. You drink lunchtime pints of Smile's Old Tosser and you work in the engine room of a 7,000-tonne passenger ship. You are not a woman.
We sat opposite each other and drank mugs of tea. Dru smiled happily. "From now on, I want you to think of me as she." She'd shaved her forearms. It was September 16 2001.
I wasn't expecting any surprises, because once a year, for five or six years, the two of us had gone camping together. For me, these trips were a back-to-nature quest for what it meant to be alive; and more than likely, as the cold and the blisters cut in, what it meant to be a man. We knew each other pretty well. How well? Well enough to share the one-and-a-half-man space in your average two-man tent. And want to do it again
Read more:
Transgender couple find strength to deal with their sexuality
By ANN MARIE McQUEEN, Sun Media
Jay-Dee Catherine Purdie knew one thing when she moved out of her matrimonial home in April 2006.
“I lived my whole life in fear,” she said. “I isolated myself from people. I made a vow to myself that no matter how frightened I was of doing something, I would do it.
On May 5, the 62-year-old separated father of a teenage daughter, born John David Purdie, will travel to Montreal for sex reassignment surgery. It’s the last step to reversing a life-long obstacle, what Purdie calls “a horrible trick of nature that I have had to live with.”
The notion occurred, as a little boy, way back in 1951. And so started a gender identity battle that raged inside Purdie for decades. There was clinical depression and two suicide attempts. One left him in a psychiatric ward for several weeks.
Purdie’s story is almost typical, says Dr. Diane Watson, an Ottawa psychiatrist who treats transgender patients.
Read more:
The New York Times: Through Sickness, Health and Sex Change
NEW MILFORD, N.J.
THERE are ways in which the Brunners are like many other middle-aged married couples. Former high school and college sweethearts, they finish each other’s sentences and order the same food at restaurants. They shuttle their three children to sports practices, and laugh when their 90-pound Labrador retriever jumps onto the sofa to lick guests.
“We’re one of the few of our friends who are still in our original marriage,” Denise Brunner said.
But it is not exactly the same union, as evidenced by their marriage certificate, which they have enlarged to poster size to make the point. The original, from 1980, listed Donald Brunner as the bridegroom and Frances Gottschalk as the bride. But a sex-change operation in 2005 turned Donald into Denise. Fran stood by her spouse, and the couple secured an amended certificate, putting “Denise” next to “bridegroom” for lack of other options.
Read More:
The Guardian: A real test of friendship
Richard Beard and his mate Drew loved their annual camping holiday, walking by day, downing pints at night. Normal bloke stuff. Then Drew revealed he wanted to become Dru and, eventually, had a sex change Saturday April 26, 2008The Guardian
The first time I saw Dru in pearl earrings, I coughed and pretended nothing had changed. Then I made a big effort not to say what I was thinking - you are a 43-year-old man whose wife has just left you for another bloke, taking your daughter with her. You drink lunchtime pints of Smile's Old Tosser and you work in the engine room of a 7,000-tonne passenger ship. You are not a woman.
We sat opposite each other and drank mugs of tea. Dru smiled happily. "From now on, I want you to think of me as she." She'd shaved her forearms. It was September 16 2001.
I wasn't expecting any surprises, because once a year, for five or six years, the two of us had gone camping together. For me, these trips were a back-to-nature quest for what it meant to be alive; and more than likely, as the cold and the blisters cut in, what it meant to be a man. We knew each other pretty well. How well? Well enough to share the one-and-a-half-man space in your average two-man tent. And want to do it again
Read more:
New "Day of Silence" Articles
The Bilerico Project: Warren Throckmorton's Day of Silence counter-programming is wrong
Filed by: Alex Blaze
April 25, 2008 11:29 AM
Today is GLSEN's Day of Silence, when students all across the country remain silent at school in solidarity with the silence LGBT youth feel when it comes to expressing their identities, sexualities, and genders and the violence they face when they do actually express themselves. The students pass out cards explaining what they're doing since they aren't talking.
When I first heard about it years ago, I thought that it was a terrible idea. How in the world does shutting up prove our point? But then seeing the frenzied reaction of the Religious Right, how they've asked parents to keep their children home, organized walk-outs, and even made a "Day of Truth" to pass out anti-gay propaganda, I thought that the day must be doing something right if it's pissing the Religious Right off.
Indeed, with the amount of allied participation in this event, I think it's safe to say that this is an effective form of LGBT activism to counter violence against queer communities. So when someone like Grove City College's Warren Throckmorton tries to counter-program it with a "Golden Rule Day," it's unacceptable.
Read more:
The Huffington Post: When Silence Speaks Volumes
As you may know, today is the 12th Annual National Day of Silence, an annual observation in which students across the country take a vow of silence to bring attention to anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) harassment faced by individuals in schools.
This year's event is being held in memory of one of my constituents, Lawrence "Larry" King, who was killed earlier this year in an act of anti-gay violence at E.O. Green Junior High.
Larry was a 15 year-old student at E.O. Greene Junior High in Oxnard who was tragically killed earlier this year. He liked to draw, study bugs, crochet, and sing. But he was also repeatedly harassed in school because of his sexual orientation and gender expression.
He endured anti-gay taunts, slurs, and other forms of bullying. This harassment culminated in his death when, on February 12, 2008, he was shot in the head by his 14-year-old classmate.
Larry's death is an unspeakable tragedy.
It is also a sad reminder that pleas for help from our young lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender population are often met with silence.
Read more:
Queerty: Baldwin Talks Gay Silence
Lesbian politico Tammy Baldwin schooled her Congressional colleagues on Day of Silence this morning. Speaking on the House floor, Baldwin chatted about how 500,000 students are shutting their mouths to break the silence on anti-gay bullying.
She then reminded them of Lawrence King and implored our nation’s politicians to support the controversial movement:
This year’s event will be held in memory of Lawrence King, a California 8th-grader who was shot and killed Feb. 12 by a classmate because of his sexual orientation and gender expression. Larry’s death is an unnecessary reminder of what we already know: lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students continue to face pervasive harassment and victimization in schools.
As students use their silence to demand schools are safe for all students, it is my hope that we in Congress will use our voices to ensure that it be so.
New York’s Eliot Engel and Lois Capps of California definitely back Baldwin on this one: all three have lent their names to a resolution supporting the Day’s “ideals.” Twenty-eight other politicians have signed on board, as well.
Read more:
Filed by: Alex Blaze
April 25, 2008 11:29 AM
Today is GLSEN's Day of Silence, when students all across the country remain silent at school in solidarity with the silence LGBT youth feel when it comes to expressing their identities, sexualities, and genders and the violence they face when they do actually express themselves. The students pass out cards explaining what they're doing since they aren't talking.
When I first heard about it years ago, I thought that it was a terrible idea. How in the world does shutting up prove our point? But then seeing the frenzied reaction of the Religious Right, how they've asked parents to keep their children home, organized walk-outs, and even made a "Day of Truth" to pass out anti-gay propaganda, I thought that the day must be doing something right if it's pissing the Religious Right off.
Indeed, with the amount of allied participation in this event, I think it's safe to say that this is an effective form of LGBT activism to counter violence against queer communities. So when someone like Grove City College's Warren Throckmorton tries to counter-program it with a "Golden Rule Day," it's unacceptable.
Read more:
The Huffington Post: When Silence Speaks Volumes
As you may know, today is the 12th Annual National Day of Silence, an annual observation in which students across the country take a vow of silence to bring attention to anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) harassment faced by individuals in schools.
This year's event is being held in memory of one of my constituents, Lawrence "Larry" King, who was killed earlier this year in an act of anti-gay violence at E.O. Green Junior High.
Larry was a 15 year-old student at E.O. Greene Junior High in Oxnard who was tragically killed earlier this year. He liked to draw, study bugs, crochet, and sing. But he was also repeatedly harassed in school because of his sexual orientation and gender expression.
He endured anti-gay taunts, slurs, and other forms of bullying. This harassment culminated in his death when, on February 12, 2008, he was shot in the head by his 14-year-old classmate.
Larry's death is an unspeakable tragedy.
It is also a sad reminder that pleas for help from our young lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender population are often met with silence.
Read more:
Queerty: Baldwin Talks Gay Silence
Lesbian politico Tammy Baldwin schooled her Congressional colleagues on Day of Silence this morning. Speaking on the House floor, Baldwin chatted about how 500,000 students are shutting their mouths to break the silence on anti-gay bullying.
She then reminded them of Lawrence King and implored our nation’s politicians to support the controversial movement:
This year’s event will be held in memory of Lawrence King, a California 8th-grader who was shot and killed Feb. 12 by a classmate because of his sexual orientation and gender expression. Larry’s death is an unnecessary reminder of what we already know: lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students continue to face pervasive harassment and victimization in schools.
As students use their silence to demand schools are safe for all students, it is my hope that we in Congress will use our voices to ensure that it be so.
New York’s Eliot Engel and Lois Capps of California definitely back Baldwin on this one: all three have lent their names to a resolution supporting the Day’s “ideals.” Twenty-eight other politicians have signed on board, as well.
Read more:
Friday, April 25, 2008
Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents Blog: Obituary - Randy Forrester
This one is personal for me. I knew and worked with Randy on several occasions during the eighties when I was living in Western Pennsylvania and active in the LGBT movement on college campuses and in the community. I lived in Pittsburgh for several years.
Randy was a true pioneer in the movement, founding the Persad Center in Pittsburgh when the LGBT movement itself was just getting started around the country. He was a fantastic person and the LGBT community was much richer because he was a part of it. I was honored to have known him. (O.M.)
Randal G. "Randy" Forrester was 16 when he came out as a gay man to his parents, and likewise was open about his sexuality with his friends and classmates.
That was in 1963, when society's attitudes about homosexuality were in the Stone Age compared to today, and it illustrated Mr. Forrester's honesty and bravery.
Those attributes, along with intelligence, passion and a sense of humor, would serve him well over the next four decades as he worked tirelessly as a pioneering crusader for the rights of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community as well as for women, black people and other minorities.
Mr. Forrester, 60, died Wednesday in Forbes Hospice, where he had been treated for 10 days. He died of cell carcinoid cancer of the liver.
He was first diagnosed with a tumor 26 years ago, but, amazingly, only in the last year did it present him with serious health problems, said Jim Huggins, Mr. Forrester's life partner of 37 years.
Mr. Huggins, who co-founded the Persad Center with Mr. Forrester in 1972, said he was a visionary who affected innumerable people through his activism and the way he lived his own life.
"Randy was at the forefront of most changes in the sense he was a person who kept pushing the envelope, getting people to look at what gay people and lesbians are really about and not to look at the stereotypical images," said Mr. Huggins, who with Mr. Forrester lived on a houseboat docked at Fox Chapel Yacht Club.
"People are people, human beings are human beings and our 37 years of an incredibly loving relationship is certainly testament to that."
"He was incredibly always ahead of his time, a visionary," said Betty Hill, executive director of the Persad Center, the nation's second-oldest licensed counseling center specifically created to serve the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. "I think he arguably is this region's most influential gay rights figure. I can't think of anyone else who has done more for the gay community and the HIV community."
Read more:
Randy was a true pioneer in the movement, founding the Persad Center in Pittsburgh when the LGBT movement itself was just getting started around the country. He was a fantastic person and the LGBT community was much richer because he was a part of it. I was honored to have known him. (O.M.)
Randal G. "Randy" Forrester was 16 when he came out as a gay man to his parents, and likewise was open about his sexuality with his friends and classmates.
That was in 1963, when society's attitudes about homosexuality were in the Stone Age compared to today, and it illustrated Mr. Forrester's honesty and bravery.
Those attributes, along with intelligence, passion and a sense of humor, would serve him well over the next four decades as he worked tirelessly as a pioneering crusader for the rights of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community as well as for women, black people and other minorities.
Mr. Forrester, 60, died Wednesday in Forbes Hospice, where he had been treated for 10 days. He died of cell carcinoid cancer of the liver.
He was first diagnosed with a tumor 26 years ago, but, amazingly, only in the last year did it present him with serious health problems, said Jim Huggins, Mr. Forrester's life partner of 37 years.
Mr. Huggins, who co-founded the Persad Center with Mr. Forrester in 1972, said he was a visionary who affected innumerable people through his activism and the way he lived his own life.
"Randy was at the forefront of most changes in the sense he was a person who kept pushing the envelope, getting people to look at what gay people and lesbians are really about and not to look at the stereotypical images," said Mr. Huggins, who with Mr. Forrester lived on a houseboat docked at Fox Chapel Yacht Club.
"People are people, human beings are human beings and our 37 years of an incredibly loving relationship is certainly testament to that."
"He was incredibly always ahead of his time, a visionary," said Betty Hill, executive director of the Persad Center, the nation's second-oldest licensed counseling center specifically created to serve the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. "I think he arguably is this region's most influential gay rights figure. I can't think of anyone else who has done more for the gay community and the HIV community."
Read more:
Gay City News: Junk Science on Stage
Psychiatrists Allow Ex-Gay End Run
In 1973, in one of the signal achievements of the emerging gay liberation movement, the American Psychiatric Association (APA), at its annual convention, voted to remove homosexuality from its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).
Yet, 35 years later, on May 5, at APA's 2008 convention in Washington, the group will host a symposium, at which one of the two mental health practitioner-panelists is Dr. Warren Throckmorton, a psychologist without state board certification and an advocate for "Sexual Identity Therapy," which he says he has successfully applied to help patients "alter homosexual feelings or behaviors" and live their lives "heterosexually" with "only very few weak instances of homosexual attraction."
The symposium, moderated by Harvard psychiatrist Dr. John Peteet, who chairs APA's Corresponding Committee on Psychiatry, Religion and Spirituality, is titled "Homosexuality and Therapy: The Religious Dimension." Indeed, the panel includes two prominent religious figures from radically different perspectives - New Hampshire Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson and the Reverend Dr. Albert Mohler. Robinson came to nationwide attention in 2003 when he became the first non-celibate, out gay person elected an American Episcopal Church bishop, for the Diocese of New Hampshire.
Read more:
In 1973, in one of the signal achievements of the emerging gay liberation movement, the American Psychiatric Association (APA), at its annual convention, voted to remove homosexuality from its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).
Yet, 35 years later, on May 5, at APA's 2008 convention in Washington, the group will host a symposium, at which one of the two mental health practitioner-panelists is Dr. Warren Throckmorton, a psychologist without state board certification and an advocate for "Sexual Identity Therapy," which he says he has successfully applied to help patients "alter homosexual feelings or behaviors" and live their lives "heterosexually" with "only very few weak instances of homosexual attraction."
The symposium, moderated by Harvard psychiatrist Dr. John Peteet, who chairs APA's Corresponding Committee on Psychiatry, Religion and Spirituality, is titled "Homosexuality and Therapy: The Religious Dimension." Indeed, the panel includes two prominent religious figures from radically different perspectives - New Hampshire Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson and the Reverend Dr. Albert Mohler. Robinson came to nationwide attention in 2003 when he became the first non-celibate, out gay person elected an American Episcopal Church bishop, for the Diocese of New Hampshire.
Read more:
Psychology Today Blogs: Gender Outlaws: Switching from a man to a woman (or vice versa)
Transsexuals and transgendered people can often tell us a great deal about our society because they've experienced what most of us never will: being perceived as a man or a woman in the same lifetime.
A worthy read on this topic is Kate Bornstein's Gender Outlaw, which chronicles some of her experiences as a transsexual woman. One memorable passage describes the first time Kate walked into a store after being able to successfully pass as a woman. She was shocked to find that nobody was treating her with any respect. A so-called "normal" woman who's been a woman her entire life would never know the difference.
Read more:
A worthy read on this topic is Kate Bornstein's Gender Outlaw, which chronicles some of her experiences as a transsexual woman. One memorable passage describes the first time Kate walked into a store after being able to successfully pass as a woman. She was shocked to find that nobody was treating her with any respect. A so-called "normal" woman who's been a woman her entire life would never know the difference.
Read more:
Pride Source: FTM? Fine by me; One couple shares their story about being in a transgender relationship
When Crystal Proxmire met Aaron Watkins on MySpace, she didn't think twice about the fact that his user name had "FTM" in it. "I was completely clueless," she admits.
Now, two years into their relationship, the Royal Oak-based couple has been through a lot, including plenty of learning experiences for Proxmire - from what being a female-to-male transgender means to what dating Watkins meant for her own sexual orientation and identity.
"After he told me what (FTM) meant, I figured it'd be no big deal since I've dated both men and women," Proxmire says. "But there were still plenty of surprises and issues that came up."
Read more:
Now, two years into their relationship, the Royal Oak-based couple has been through a lot, including plenty of learning experiences for Proxmire - from what being a female-to-male transgender means to what dating Watkins meant for her own sexual orientation and identity.
"After he told me what (FTM) meant, I figured it'd be no big deal since I've dated both men and women," Proxmire says. "But there were still plenty of surprises and issues that came up."
Read more:
More "Day of Silence" Articles
Page One:
Anti-gay pastor, pro-gay students face off in dueling 'Day of Silence' protests
by Nick Langewis
As over 7,300 K-12 schools observe GLSEN's 12th annual Day of Silence today, battle lines are drawn between a vocal anti-gay pastor, his "prayer warriors," and the gay-straight alliance at one high school in the Pacific Northwest.
Mount Si High School, in Snoqualmie, Washington, is undergoing what is being called retaliation for an incident during a Martin Luther King Day speech given by Rev. Ken Hutcherson of Antioch Bible Church in nearby Redmond.
Antioch, having placed a newspaper ad encouraging parents to show up at the school to picket this morning, was countered by another ad by Tolt UCC Congregational Church, voicing its support.
"We send our kids there to get an education, not an indoctrination," Hutcherson told KING 5.
"It's personal," Mount Si principal Randy Taylor told the Seattle Times Thursday. "We embarrassed him at the Martin Luther King assembly. It's payback."
"Of course it's personal," Hutcherson concurred. "They embarrassed me and they embarrassed my daughter." The pastor's daughter, also a Mount Si student, helped organize the engagement.
Hutcherson, during his January 19 appearance, was booed by one teacher and asked by another how he could promote racial equality, while at the same time speak out against equality for sexual minorities.
Read more:
PFLAG National Blog: A Report from Mount Si
Barb Clark-Elliott, President of PFLAG’s Seattle chapter, journeyed out to Mount Si High School this morning to support students taking part in the annual Day of Silence. Mount Si, as we reported earlier, has become the target of Reverend Ken Hutcherson, who has called out 1,000 “prayer warriors” to protest the school’s participation in this year’s observance. This is Barb’s report from the ground.
Ariane Kurita, President of the Bellevue PFLAG Chapter, and I attended the early-morning of supporters (parents, GLSEN reps., former students, etc.) who lined up to show support for the arrival of students at Mt. Si High School today. The group planned to be present from 7am to 8am, then break up and - those who could - be at the library for the GLSEN press conference.
Because I got lost in the winding mountain foothills roads on the way there, I arrived after 7am. Ariane was already there, thank goodness. We wore our bright yellow “I’m a PFLAG Mom” buttons, I wore my purple t-shirt with PFLAG across the front and I carried a PFLAG sign. Rainbow-color cloth strips were provided and we each tied one on our arm or around our neck to show solidarity.
Almost everyone in the crowd held a supportive sign or rainbow flag, umbrella - something that showed we were all of the same mind and purpose. There was one news camera there - I don’t know which one - and he left shortly after I arrived.
Read more:
365Gay.com: Record Number Of Schools Observe Day Of Silence
(New York City) Students from some 6,000 middle and high schools are taking part today in the 12th annual National Day of Silence to bring attention to anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender name-calling, bullying and harassment.
This year the observance is being held this year in memory of Lawrence King, a 15-year-old from Oxnard, Calif., who was shot and killed in school on Feb. 12 because of his sexual orientation and gender expression.
"Young people from across the country have heard about this horrible tragedy and are coming together on the Day of Silence to show their support for safe schools for all students," said Kevin Jennings, executive director of GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, the event’s national sponsor.
"The Day of Silence brings hope to hundreds of thousands of students that their schools and their world can be safer and more tolerant places."
Read more:
The Daily Bruin: Speaking out with silence
Students vow not to communicate today in hopes of shedding light on suppression of LGBT voices
The Queer Alliance is participating in the National Day of Silence today to encourage support for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community and to help UCLA students understand the issues that community faces.
This nationwide youth movement is happening at many universities and high schools across the country.
Students who choose to participate today plan to tie pieces of cloth around their mouths in the morning, to represent their mission to remain silent and to highlight their cause. They plan to remain silent from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and to pass out fliers to students to answer any questions and explain the purpose of the day.
Read more:
East Valley Tribune: How does silence threaten values?
Twelve years ago, a group of students from the University of Virginia wanted to call attention to the increasing incidents of violence and harassment against gay classmates. Their efforts, now recognized as a national Day of Silence on campuses across the nation, are still going strong. This year the planned activities will be held in memory of Lawrence King, a 15-year-old junior high student from Oxnard, Calif., who was shot and killed by a 14-year-old classmate because of his sexual orientation.
Today, hundreds of thousands of students from all beliefs and backgrounds are expected to participate in the quiet protest by taking a vow of silence for the day, in hopes of bringing an end to the name-calling and harassment that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students often endure while at school. The explicit intent of this Day of Silence is to make schools safer for all students and to let those who have experienced bullying know that they are not alone in their desire to find a solution to this national problem.
Bradford Bryant, a retired Methodist pastor and grandparent of a Desert Ridge High School student, has asked the Gilbert Unified School District governing board to take a stand and refuse to allow Gilbert schools to recognize the event. He has alleged that any participation “is complicit in supporting the homosexual assault on family values.” Apparently Bryant believes a perceived moral slight to be of more consequence than the very real physical, mental and emotional assaults the day is intended to quell.
A 2005 National Schools Climate Survey found that anti-LGBT bullying and harassment remains commonplace in schools across America with derogatory remarks and the constant threat of physical violence impairing the educational experience for many students. Over a third (37.8 percent) have endured physical harassment and nearly one-fifth (17.6 percent) have been physically assaulted because of their sexual orientation or gender expression.
Read more:
Anti-gay pastor, pro-gay students face off in dueling 'Day of Silence' protests
by Nick Langewis
As over 7,300 K-12 schools observe GLSEN's 12th annual Day of Silence today, battle lines are drawn between a vocal anti-gay pastor, his "prayer warriors," and the gay-straight alliance at one high school in the Pacific Northwest.
Mount Si High School, in Snoqualmie, Washington, is undergoing what is being called retaliation for an incident during a Martin Luther King Day speech given by Rev. Ken Hutcherson of Antioch Bible Church in nearby Redmond.
Antioch, having placed a newspaper ad encouraging parents to show up at the school to picket this morning, was countered by another ad by Tolt UCC Congregational Church, voicing its support.
"We send our kids there to get an education, not an indoctrination," Hutcherson told KING 5.
"It's personal," Mount Si principal Randy Taylor told the Seattle Times Thursday. "We embarrassed him at the Martin Luther King assembly. It's payback."
"Of course it's personal," Hutcherson concurred. "They embarrassed me and they embarrassed my daughter." The pastor's daughter, also a Mount Si student, helped organize the engagement.
Hutcherson, during his January 19 appearance, was booed by one teacher and asked by another how he could promote racial equality, while at the same time speak out against equality for sexual minorities.
Read more:
PFLAG National Blog: A Report from Mount Si
Barb Clark-Elliott, President of PFLAG’s Seattle chapter, journeyed out to Mount Si High School this morning to support students taking part in the annual Day of Silence. Mount Si, as we reported earlier, has become the target of Reverend Ken Hutcherson, who has called out 1,000 “prayer warriors” to protest the school’s participation in this year’s observance. This is Barb’s report from the ground.
Ariane Kurita, President of the Bellevue PFLAG Chapter, and I attended the early-morning of supporters (parents, GLSEN reps., former students, etc.) who lined up to show support for the arrival of students at Mt. Si High School today. The group planned to be present from 7am to 8am, then break up and - those who could - be at the library for the GLSEN press conference.
Because I got lost in the winding mountain foothills roads on the way there, I arrived after 7am. Ariane was already there, thank goodness. We wore our bright yellow “I’m a PFLAG Mom” buttons, I wore my purple t-shirt with PFLAG across the front and I carried a PFLAG sign. Rainbow-color cloth strips were provided and we each tied one on our arm or around our neck to show solidarity.
Almost everyone in the crowd held a supportive sign or rainbow flag, umbrella - something that showed we were all of the same mind and purpose. There was one news camera there - I don’t know which one - and he left shortly after I arrived.
Read more:
365Gay.com: Record Number Of Schools Observe Day Of Silence
(New York City) Students from some 6,000 middle and high schools are taking part today in the 12th annual National Day of Silence to bring attention to anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender name-calling, bullying and harassment.
This year the observance is being held this year in memory of Lawrence King, a 15-year-old from Oxnard, Calif., who was shot and killed in school on Feb. 12 because of his sexual orientation and gender expression.
"Young people from across the country have heard about this horrible tragedy and are coming together on the Day of Silence to show their support for safe schools for all students," said Kevin Jennings, executive director of GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, the event’s national sponsor.
"The Day of Silence brings hope to hundreds of thousands of students that their schools and their world can be safer and more tolerant places."
Read more:
The Daily Bruin: Speaking out with silence
Students vow not to communicate today in hopes of shedding light on suppression of LGBT voices
The Queer Alliance is participating in the National Day of Silence today to encourage support for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community and to help UCLA students understand the issues that community faces.
This nationwide youth movement is happening at many universities and high schools across the country.
Students who choose to participate today plan to tie pieces of cloth around their mouths in the morning, to represent their mission to remain silent and to highlight their cause. They plan to remain silent from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and to pass out fliers to students to answer any questions and explain the purpose of the day.
Read more:
East Valley Tribune: How does silence threaten values?
Twelve years ago, a group of students from the University of Virginia wanted to call attention to the increasing incidents of violence and harassment against gay classmates. Their efforts, now recognized as a national Day of Silence on campuses across the nation, are still going strong. This year the planned activities will be held in memory of Lawrence King, a 15-year-old junior high student from Oxnard, Calif., who was shot and killed by a 14-year-old classmate because of his sexual orientation.
Today, hundreds of thousands of students from all beliefs and backgrounds are expected to participate in the quiet protest by taking a vow of silence for the day, in hopes of bringing an end to the name-calling and harassment that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students often endure while at school. The explicit intent of this Day of Silence is to make schools safer for all students and to let those who have experienced bullying know that they are not alone in their desire to find a solution to this national problem.
Bradford Bryant, a retired Methodist pastor and grandparent of a Desert Ridge High School student, has asked the Gilbert Unified School District governing board to take a stand and refuse to allow Gilbert schools to recognize the event. He has alleged that any participation “is complicit in supporting the homosexual assault on family values.” Apparently Bryant believes a perceived moral slight to be of more consequence than the very real physical, mental and emotional assaults the day is intended to quell.
A 2005 National Schools Climate Survey found that anti-LGBT bullying and harassment remains commonplace in schools across America with derogatory remarks and the constant threat of physical violence impairing the educational experience for many students. Over a third (37.8 percent) have endured physical harassment and nearly one-fifth (17.6 percent) have been physically assaulted because of their sexual orientation or gender expression.
Read more:
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Queerty: Exclusive: John McCain’s A.G. Pals Overwhelmingly Anti-Gay
Speaking of short-sighted family values, Virginia-based Bob McDonnell also endorsed John McCain and, in 2006, backed a state-wide constitutional ban on gay marriage despite Democratic Governor Timothy M. Kaine’s objections to the measure. Kaine argued that the law’s language - no legal recognition for unmarried couples “that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance or effects of marriage.” That, he said, offered too many misinterpretations and would further complicate the state’s laws. McDonnell disagreed, saying that they law would have no impact on wills and other contracts, and, thus, should be put forth. McDonnell ended up getting his way, which no doubt pleased Jerry Kilgore, another Virginia Attorney General.
Kilgore’s a queer case, largely because many accuse him of being queer. Perhaps it’s his alleged inner turmoil that led him to “gay-bait” during 2005’s gubernatorial election, which he lost to Kaine:
During the campaign, the Kilgore campaign ran ads saying that Kaine supported gay adoption. Kaine’s position is that the current law — which says the best interest of the child is the primary consideration, and allows single people and married couples to adopt — strikes the right balance, of the Kaine campaign.
As state attorney general, Kilgore said the Fairfax School Board did not have the authority to include sexual orientation discrimination in its non-discrimination policy.
For the record, Kaine was also accused of gay-baiting, like when he ran an ad calling Kilgore “weak” and said he “isn’t being straight.
To be fair to Kilgore, he did raise right wing eyebrows in 2003 when he promised not to discriminate against gay people when hiring his staff. Of course, that was probably to serve his selfish purposes. If he really cared about the gays, he wouldn’t have publicly decried gay marriage and civil unions on his now cached campaign website.
Another supporter who’s not entirely evil: Mark Shurtleff of Utah. He came out against his state’s proposed ban on gay marriage, saying the law would “forever deny to a group of citizens the right to approach its Legislature to seek benefits and protections. This is bad law and should be rejected.” He also voiced his support for the Log Cabin Republicans, which some would probably consider “not good,” but we’re all about it.
Any gay good will Shurtleff and Kilgore may bring McCain goes straight down the drain when we read this letter another supporter, Troy King of Alabama, wrote to University of Alabama Crimson White newspaper while in law school. The school had apparently just inaugurated a gay group:
Read more:
Kilgore’s a queer case, largely because many accuse him of being queer. Perhaps it’s his alleged inner turmoil that led him to “gay-bait” during 2005’s gubernatorial election, which he lost to Kaine:
During the campaign, the Kilgore campaign ran ads saying that Kaine supported gay adoption. Kaine’s position is that the current law — which says the best interest of the child is the primary consideration, and allows single people and married couples to adopt — strikes the right balance, of the Kaine campaign.
As state attorney general, Kilgore said the Fairfax School Board did not have the authority to include sexual orientation discrimination in its non-discrimination policy.
For the record, Kaine was also accused of gay-baiting, like when he ran an ad calling Kilgore “weak” and said he “isn’t being straight.
To be fair to Kilgore, he did raise right wing eyebrows in 2003 when he promised not to discriminate against gay people when hiring his staff. Of course, that was probably to serve his selfish purposes. If he really cared about the gays, he wouldn’t have publicly decried gay marriage and civil unions on his now cached campaign website.
Another supporter who’s not entirely evil: Mark Shurtleff of Utah. He came out against his state’s proposed ban on gay marriage, saying the law would “forever deny to a group of citizens the right to approach its Legislature to seek benefits and protections. This is bad law and should be rejected.” He also voiced his support for the Log Cabin Republicans, which some would probably consider “not good,” but we’re all about it.
Any gay good will Shurtleff and Kilgore may bring McCain goes straight down the drain when we read this letter another supporter, Troy King of Alabama, wrote to University of Alabama Crimson White newspaper while in law school. The school had apparently just inaugurated a gay group:
Read more:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
