Saturday, December 6, 2008

For the artists and art lovers, an art exhibit



For more information, check out the calendar at the bottom of the blog.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Keith Olbermann's Thoughts on Gay Marriage - A Follow Up Interview

Today, the Advocate.com posted this interview with Keith Olbermann regarding his commentary below and his motivation behind it. More great thoughts from this great man. Check it out.

Black Women's Vote

In an effort of continual education on those who voted for Prop 8, I've decided to post an interesting NY Times Op-Ed piece written by columnist Charles M. Blow, which discusses some theories on why black women, who were twice as likely as black men, voted for Prop 8.

An intriguing read that can inform our efforts to repeal Prop 8. Also a graphics editor, Charles M. Blow posted this graph below which is a great visual of statistics. It gets lost amongst the busy layout of the website, so I wanted to be sure to post it here.




Thursday, December 4, 2008

An Ex-Mormon Missionary's Story

I have been contacted by Mormons who are ashamed of their church's involvement with the passing of Prop 8 and the direct negative impact that they have had on thousands of lives. Many have become actively involved to repeal Prop 8, volunteering their time to fight as our allies, some even resigning from the church and are now facing ostracism from their families and friends. Some have even started a website, Mormons for Marriage. Check it out and give your support.

We need to remind ourselves that not all Mormons are the enemy and that building these bridges with Mormon allies is essential to our success. We also need to take advantage of the resources within our own LGBTQ community because a substantial amount of our numbers were Mormons at one point.

An account of an ex-Mormon missionary gives a great insight to the Mormon church, its history on homophobia and its present situation of being under the microscope due to their involvement with Prop 8. It's a fascinating read and you can find it on PR Watch.org.

After reading this, what are your thoughts? How can we use this information to our advantage, shaping our strategies with it in mind?

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Equality California Urges Us to Write our Representatives

MESSAGE FROM EQCA:

Urge Your Representatives to Support the Invalidation of Prop 8.

The proponents of Prop 8 usurped the role of the Legislature by putting the right for same-sex couples to marry directly on the ballot.

Two Equality California-sponsored resolutions introduced today will make it official state policy, when they are approved by the Legislature, that Prop 8 should be overturned. Write your legislators now to urge them to support the invalidation of Prop 8 and vote for Leno's Senate Resolution 7 and Ammiano's Assembly Resolution (number to be assigned).

Prop 8 eliminates the fundamental right to marry and allows a slim majority to take away the equal protections of a minority, which violates one of the founding principles of our Constitution. The resolutions state the measure should have been approved by a two-thirds vote in the Legislature before going to voters. Urge your representatives to support these resolutions.

On December 19, proponents of Prop 8 will file their briefs with the California Supreme Court.

EQCA will do its part to make sure we have broad support for these resolutions. But we need you to do yours.

So, ask everyone you know to write their representative by going here by December 19.

Ask your friends and family join you. California lawmakers need to hear from you—their constituents—that our state should be a state of hope, prosperity and equality for all.

A Star-Studded Must See on Prop 8!

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

A Positive Poll in Favor of the LGBT Community

An article posted today on Advocate.com included a poll commissioned by GLAAD and conducted by Pulse of Equality suggesting that many Americans favor laws protecting gay and lesbians.

The results:

•Three-quarters of U.S. adults (75%) favor either marriage or domestic partnerships/civil unions for gay and lesbian couples. Only about two in 10 (22%) say gay and lesbian couples should have no legal recognition. (Gay and lesbian couples are able to marry in two states, and comprehensive civil union or domestic partnership laws exist in only five others and the District of Columbia.)

•U.S. adults are now about evenly divided on whether they support allowing gay and lesbian couples to legally marry (47% favor to 49% oppose).

•Almost two-thirds (64%) of U.S. adults favor allowing openly gay military personnel to serve in the armed forces. (The current "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law bans military service by openly gay personnel.)

•About six in 10 (63%) U.S. adults favor expanding hate crime laws to cover gay and transgender people. (Hate crimes laws cover gay and transgender people in 11 states and the District of Columbia, and an additional – 20 states' laws cover sexual orientation but not gender identity.)

Read More...

•A slight majority of U.S. adults (51%) favor protecting gay and transgender people under existing laws that prohibit discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations. (Existing non-discrimination laws cover gay and transgender people in only 12 states and the District of Columbia, and eight other states' laws cover sexual orientation but not gender identity.)

•Nearly seven out of 10 U.S. adults (69%) oppose laws that would ban qualified gay and lesbian couples from adopting children. (In several states, gay and lesbian couples are banned from adopting.)

Yesterday's post pronounced my fears of adoption rights be stripped away. This poll does help calm those fears, and it is very encouraging, but it doesn't change the fact that we still have work to do to protect those rights amongst others. Yet, if we continue this work and look back on civil rights history, we can conclude it's only a matter of time that our fight for equal rights will be history too.

To read the rest of the Advocate.com article, go here.

Monday, December 1, 2008

New York's Fight for Same-Sex Marriage

The New York Times printed a report that the New York state congress may delay a vote on a bill legalizing same-sex marriage until 2011. Why? The reasons are not anything new to our ears - it basically boils down to politics.

The pro-gay governor is newly in office, and many feel that if they delay the vote to 2011, the by-then second term governor will be cleared of political threats and be more active in signing a bill if passed by congress.

Also, the current Democratic congress holds only a slight majority, and they hope if they wait, they can gain more seats for a more assured victory.

The cons of waiting are pissing off us, the same-sex supporters, who donated lots of money to the Democratic campaigns based on their promise of getting this bill to the floor. But also, more striking, if they do bring the bill to the floor and fail, it could set back the movement decades.

Naturally, my inclination is to go for it. After the setback here in California, I'm thirsty for a victory and some encouragement. Yet, if they do go forward, they face obstacles, one of the big ones being three conservative Democrats who will go against a majority leader who supports same-sex marriage. Our allies are going to need our help and support.

Queers United blog has a Call To Action for today, to contact these three Democrats and urge them to vote with the New York Democratic Party. Check out the blog for more information.




World AIDS Day

STOP AIDS. Keep the Promise - Lead - Empower - Deliver

This blog is focused on the same-sex marriage fight and equal LGBTQ rights, and I believe the fight against AIDS is a part of that. In the 80s and 90s, due to many reasons, one of the big ones being the ugly head of discrimination, anti-HIV drugs were all but inaccessible to those who needed them, many of those in need coming from the LGBTQ community.

Many amazing people fought against this discrimination, taking the issue to the forefront of the nation's mind, not letting them forget that each day, people were dying and in need of medication. Luckily, today we benefit from their fight, with access to much needed medical attention.

Unfortunately today, not all get treated, and much still needs to be done. We need to take this day and remember this ongoing fight. Take a moment to learn our community's history, our present situation and what can be done NOW.

World AIDS Campaign

CNN Article, "Much Accomplished, Much to Do"



Even on a holiday . . .

. . . we're not on a holiday. While away on a small holiday get away to San Diego, I came across this SUV. It was just a reminder to me that many hold strongly to their beliefs just as strongly as I hold onto mine. No matter how irate I get over their willingness to take away my rights in the name of their beliefs, I have to accept that some won't ever change their minds. It's difficult to accept, and though it made my enjoyment of Shamu a little more difficult, I was also grateful for this Thanksgiving reminder - I needed a boost in motivation to keep up this fight.