Pam Spaulding's Blog, page 33

George And Farid In Brooklyn Want To Get Married

Freedom To Marry has released this short video testimonial from George and Farid, a committed couple who have been together for ten years. They discuss their desire to marry and their excitement over their immenient plans to become fathers.

They own a restaurant in Park Slope, Brooklyn, Bogota Latin Bistro .

I've actually eaten there many times. I wasn't aware it was owned by a gay couple, which is kind of cool and fitting. George and Farid's testimonial nicely illustrates how LGBT citizens are seamlessly woven into the fabric of every community.

With only 18 days until the legislative session breaks, it's past time for everyone to engage. It's important every New Yorker, LGBT and ally, do as George and Farid have done and tell their stories to our leaders in Albany.

Senator Gillibrand's Friend Factor page is a super-easy way to get in touch with your Senator. Friend Factor finds your Senator and will call your phone and transfer you directly to their office. You can invite your friends and family to do the same.

News from the coalition efforts, via New Yorkers United For Marriage Press Release:

 A record number of New Yorkers contacted their state lawmakers in support of marriage equality over Memorial Day Weekend, signing postcards and making thousands of calls to their individual legislators, New Yorkers United for Marriage reported today.

Coalition members were joined by volunteers at supermarkets, coffee shops, public squares and Memorial Day parades in Forest Hills, Maspeth, Stony Brook, Hyde Park, Troy, Rochester and dozens of other towns across the state, offering passersby the opportunity to contact their legislators directly and urge them to make marriage a reality for all New Yorkers.

Last week alone, more than 8,000 New Yorkers wrote postcards to their legislators and thousands more called their offices to express their support for marriage equality. The surge of contact from supporters over the holiday weekend reflects the increasing mobilization for the passage of marriage legislation by the end of the 2011 session.

“We were overwhelmed by the hundreds of residents in every district who were anxious to call or write their lawmakers in support of marriage,” said Human Rights Campaign Senior Strategist Brian Ellner. “This weekend’s success was a true reflection of the passion New Yorkers feel about this issue and the momentum behind this campaign.”

I was actually among them (yeah, that's me above). I spent my weekend in Queens speaking with constituents on the street, talking to them about marriage equality. Quinnipiac has a new poll out just today showing record support for marriage equality in the Empire State: 58% approve versus 36% who don't.

My experience, even in the remote regions of Queens that are not considered progressive hotbeds, is those numbers are very easy to believe. I did not have a hard time finding people who were more than willing, but rather downright enthusiastic to sign their name to a postcard telling their Senator to vote "yes." I stood over probably 75 people while they used my cell to call and leave a message at the Senator's office saying they support passing a marriage equality bill. 

And honestly, if was a spiritually uplifting experience. People would chat with me and express how they just felt important it was that people get treated equally.

And the stories they'd shared! One woman, maybe approaching 50 signed and called and afterward she told me, "Oh, I did this for my grandfather. He's been with his husband for 16 years and they're very happy." I am just smiling thinking of her grandfather who must be in his 80s having a doting boyfriend (I should be so lucky!). I met a lot of PFLAG parents (and grandparents) and even a couple people told me they had a gay parent.

At the end of the weekend I really felt I'd helped move us just a little bit closer to victory. 

This is really important outreach work that has to be done, and is being done strategically very well. If you can spare just a few hours to phonebank (there's on in the Times Square area in the city) or hit the streets you can sign up here.

Guest column by Irene Monroe: Are we writers or gay writers?

Are we writers or gay writers?

By Rev. Irene Monroe

The twenty-third annual Lambda Literary Awards, LLA, (also known as the "Lammys") took place at New York's School of the Visual Arts Theatre on May 26. This red carpet event brought out our finest in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) literature and publishing traditions.

Celebrities like Bryan Batt ("Mad Men"), former New Jersey governor Jim McGreevey, TV icon Stefanie Powers of the TV series "Hart to Hart," Miss New York 2010 winner Claire Buffie, Tony Award-winning playwright Terrence McNally ("Kiss of the Spider Woman") and the event's master of ceremonies, stand-up comedienne Lea Delaria, all lent their star power in making the evening special.

This year's LLA pioneers being honored were three-time Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Edward Albee, 83, and Diamond Dagger Award-winning crime fiction writer Val McDermid, 56.

But as I sat in the audience listening to several speakers querying our present-day utility of the literary niche "gay writer" I wondered in our efforts to overcome heterosexism and to go mainstream in literature and publishing do we eventually want to get rid of our niche.

More below the fold.

Were the speakers assimilationists or homophobes?

Or am I a relic stuck in the ghetto of "identity politics"?

"I'm looking forward to the day where it's not 'gay books,' it's just, 'books,'" Lea DeLaria told the audience.

And Stefanie Powers told "Entertainment Weekly" reporter Stephanie Lee that "The gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities are in a position where they're expected to fill a niche, to make a point of themselves," she said. "We all long for the time when nobody has to do that."

In our longing to enter into mainstream society, how far is too far before we not only lose our distinctive cultural identities, but we also potentially lose leverage from our communities and allies in our continued battle for LGBTQ civil rights?

For Edward Albee, however, these questions of LGBT genres in literature are, at best, a non-issue, and, at worst, absurd, and one he never deigned to tackle in his opuses.

In accepting his Lammy, Albee told us, "I'm not a gay writer. I'm a writer who happens to be gay. ...I've written a number of plays with gay characters in them, but I have never written a play that could be considered a 'gay play' because I consider that a lessening of the creative act, to limit oneself to one's own sexual practices as subject matter for one's work."

But there was a time, during both Albee's and McDermid's, that gay themes were prohibited, and "...to those times when it took real guts to tackle gay themes openly and unapologetically, in one's writing, risking one's career and, up until the 1960s, a possible jail sentence," Don Weise, Publisher of Magnus Books, reminded LLA audience in his message as host committee chair.

And here at home in the U.S., many LGBTQ-themed books still have a hard time landing with big named publishing houses. Just ask Scottish-born writer McDermid.

"When I was first published in 1987, no mainstream commercial publisher would consider my book for a nanosecond. Only niche publishers catering to lesbians and feminist wanted books with big old queers taking center stage. Now, in the UK at least, pretty much every big house has starry lesbian authors headlining their catalogues. ...My latest book, Trick of the Dark, is chock-full of lesbians, and everywhere except in the U.S. it's being published by all my usual publishers," McDermid said in an interview with Sinclair Sexsmith, who runs the award-winning personal online writing project, "Sugarbutch Chronicles: The Sex, Gender, and Relationship Adventures of a Kinky Queer Butch Top" at sugarbutch.net.

As an African American lesbian, however, I don't have the luxury to entertain if I am a "writer" or a "lesbian writer" or a "black writer," because I write at the intersections of where my race, class, gender, and sexual orientation give visibility to my experience and authenticity to my voice.

In 2002, I attended "Fire and Ink: A Writer's Festival for LGBT people of African Descent." It was an historic event that took place on the campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago. I was delighted to be a part of the event because never have I been at a writers' conference where all the participants were both black and queer. Many of us looked at each other and asked if this was really happening.

The goal of the event was to bring together LGBT writers, thinkers, teachers, and publishing and media professionals of African descent to discuss the position and importance of African diasporic LGBT literature.

The exclusion we experience from publishing houses and the literary world due to homophobia and/or racism, at best, departmentalizes our works as either black or queer; thus erasing the LGBT-of-African-descent literary canon, and, at worst, rendering us invisible and muting our voice.

Being both of African descent and queer creates a distinctive epistemology that shapes not only our identity but it also shapes our distinctive interpretative lens we zoom on the world about politics, race, class, gender, sexual orientation, arts, music, and, of course, literature.

NOM showing large scale hypocrisy in Minnesota

crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) is constantly trying to frame the lgbt community as bullies who are trying to "force" folks to accept gay marriage by either silencing people or "poisoning" the minds of children.

The organization portrays itself as supposedly the last line of resistance against an encroaching and violent agenda of folks (i.e. lgbts like myself) who will stoop to all sorts of evil things to get what we want.

But a seemingly innocuous action on part of NOM sufficiently wrecks that idea. And it begs the question just who is willing to stoop low - the lgbt community . . . or NOM:

The National Organization for Marriage and the Minnesota Family Council have registered with the state campaign finance board to actively encourage voters to support an anti–gay marriage amendment on the 2012 ballot.

Remember the recent controversy involving the Minnesota Family Council (MCF)'s "material" about the lgbt community?

To recap, it was recently discovered that MCF was pushing inaccurate information on its website about the lgbt community. To be more specific,the organization was pushing a manual which said that gays and lesbians are more likely to practice sex with animals and children and that they enjoy eating human excrement.

When this was discovered, the information was taken off of MFC's website. However, Tom Prichard, president of MFC, actually defended the material:

According to NPR:

Prichard defends the postings as getting “into the nature of homosexuality and homosexual behavior,” but says that won’t be the focus of his group’s efforts to pass the constitutional ban. “The focus of this campaign is the nature and purpose of marriage — not a referendum of homosexuality per se, or its lifestyle activities and behaviors,” he says. “I would see that as a separate issue.”

And this is the organization which NOM is teaming up to "preserve traditional marriage and morality?"

Maybe that's why when the controversy was brewing, NOM remained silent.  Who knows? Maybe the organization was too busy either demonizing lgbts or spreading stories about "gay recruitment" to make a statement about MFC's actions.

But it still doesn't explain why, if NOM wants a civil discussion on the subject of marriage equality, that it is choosing to team up with a group who want people to think that gays are pedophiles who, when we are not having sex with animals, busy ourselves consuming urine and feces.

It's a gross thing to talk about but it's a pertinent question to ask Maggie Gallagher, Brian Brown, or anyone else at NOM.

How can you even encroach the idea of having a civil discussion on marriage equality in Minnesota when one of your biggest allies in the state have already unpacked the bullhorns in anticipation of yelling "fire" in a public theatre?

Related post:

Marriage Equality - Simple answers to NOM's complicated lies

 

White House launches LGBT constituency page - "Winning the Future"

Yes, the 2012 election/gAyTM cycle has begun. Here's what landed in the inbox from Brian Bond, Deputy Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement:

Dear Friends,

In honor of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) History Month, The White House launched our first ever LGBT specific constituency webpage: http://wh.gov/lgbt. This webpage is designed to keep you updated on how the President and the Administration are Winning the Future for LGBT Americans. 

Please take a look at our Winning the Future for LGBT Americans factsheet and sign up for our e-mail updates that will keep you up to speed with what is going on in the Administration. We encourage you to spread the word about this site to your friends, families, and the communities you work with. 

All the best, 
Brian

What's non-user friendly is the above-mentioned "fact sheet," which is in PDF rather than text format. I've helped you out by extracting the accomplishments of this administration for your review. It's all below the fold.

The Obama Administration’s Commitment to Winning the Future for the LGBT Community

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/defau...

The Obama Administration has taken decisive actions and made historic strides to advance Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender equality and strengthen LGBT families and communities, and continues to do so.  Some of these accomplishments include: 

Preventing bullying and hate crimes against LGBT Americans

* President Obama signs the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law -- the first federal civil rights legislation to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity”

* President Obama, Vice President Biden and other Administration officials record “It Gets Better” videos to address the issue of bullying and suicide among LGBT teens

* The President and First Lady Michelle Obama host the White House Conference on Bullying Prevention

* The Department of Education issues guidance to support educators in combating bullying in schools by clarifying when student bullying may violate federal education anti-discrimination laws 

Supporting LGBT families

* Following a directive from the President, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) requires all hospitals receiving Medicare and Medicaid funds to allow visitation rights and medical decision making rights to LGBT patients

* HHS creates the National Resource Center for LGBT Elders

* The Department of Labor clarifies that the Family Medical Leave Act ensures that LGBT federal employees can care for sick family members

* The State Department clarifies that transgender applicants can obtain, under certain conditions, passports that accurately reflect their gender

* The Justice Department clarifies that persons with HIV and persons with AIDS are covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act and that it would be illegal to exclude them from occupational training and state licensing

* The Justice Department issues a memo stating that federal prosecutors should enforce criminal provisions in the Violence Against Women Act in cases involving gay and lesbian relationships

* HHS’s Administration for Children and Families issues a memorandum to ensure that LGBT and questioning youth in foster care are protected and supported

* The US Interagency Council on Homelessness releases “Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness,” the nation’s first comprehensive strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness, including LGBT homeless youth

* The Obama Administration works to ensure that the Census provides a fair and accurate count of all Americans, including LGBT couples 

Ensuring equal access to housing for LGBT families

* The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announces the first ever national study of discrimination in housing against LGBT persons

* HUD proposes new regulations to ensure that housing programs are open to all persons regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity

* HUD requires grant applicants to comply with state and local anti-discrimination laws 

Supporting LGBT health

* President Obama releases the first-ever National HIV/AIDS Strategy

* President Obama urges Americans to get tested for HIV

* President Obama signs the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act

* HHS issues recommendations to improve the health and well-being of LGBT communities

* Despite challenging budgetary times, the President’s Fiscal Year 2012 Budget not only maintains, but increases domestic HIV/AIDS funding 

Supporting job creation among LGBT-owned businesses

* The Department of Commerce signs a Memorandum of Understanding with National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce to support federal contracting and exporting 

Setting precedents in hiring and benefits for LGBT Americans

* The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announces that gender identity is a prohibited basis of discrimination in federal employment

* President Obama expands federal benefits for same-sex partners of federal employees

* OPM allows same-sex domestic partners to apply for long-term care insurance

* President Obama sends the first U.S. Executive branch official to testify in support of the Employment NonDiscrimination Act (ENDA) before Congress

* President Obama continues to appoint LGBT Americans to positions at every level throughout his Administration 

Repealing the discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Law

* President Obama signs the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010, which will allow gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans to serve openly and with integrity 

Providing global leadership on LGBT issues

* The U.S. lifts the discriminatory entry ban for individuals with HIV

* President Obama and his administration play active roles in protecting LGBT populations in Uganda, Honduras, Malawi and other countries

* The U.S. leads an effort at the United Nations resulting in 85 countries supporting a resolution to end violence and human rights violations related to sexual orientation and gender identity

* The White House announces major three-year investment in combating global AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria 

Honoring LGBT history

* President Obama honors the 40 th Anniversary of Stonewall riots

* President Obama awards the Medal of Freedom to Harvey Milk and Billie Jean King 

Supporting LGBT Progress

* President Obama has called for the Congressional repeal of the discriminatory “Defense of Marriage Act” and has announced that in his view, Section 3 of DOMA is unconstitutional

* President Obama also continues to support legislation that would directly impact the LGBT community, including an inclusive ENDA and the Domestic Partners Benefits and Obligations Act

* President Obama believes that all students should be safe and healthy and learn in environments free from discrimination, bullying and harassment; that we must ensure adoption rights for all couples and individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation; and that Americans with partners from other countries should not be faced with a painful choice between staying with their partner or staying in their country 

Illinois begins issuing civil union licenses today to loving couples

 Congratulations Illinois!  Today is the first day that civil union licenses are available in Illinois.  The Chicago Tribune has posted a few short videos to document the day.

When I watch these videos, I see such a mix of emotions in the people involved.  I see clerks super happy to finally be able to treat their fellow citizens who are lesbian, gay or bisexual with a measure of respect.

I see couples joyous over being able to formalize their relationships and feeling relieved in knowing that their decision to care for one another will be legally respected.  They can no longer be called "legal strangers" by the State of Illinois.

I also see the joy dampened with the knowledge that while civil unions are an important step in the right direction, they still represent second-class status and automatically brand those who get them as somehow unworthy or less-than.  They also represent a failure of the Illinois Legislature to demand that the federal government treat its lesbian, gay and bisexual couples with the same respect shown to heterosexual couples.  This respect comes in the form of federal rights and responsibilities that are available only through marriage.

We should all celebrate today with Illinois.  Then tomorrow, the work towards true equality must commence once again.

Guest column by Tony Varona - Antigay NY State Sen. Rev. Ruben Diaz Grilled On NY1 Spanish Channel

NOTE FROM PAM: You have to read the homophobic bleatings from Diaz to believe it. Just one quote from the interview, comparing being gay to being a drug addict.

Sen. D?az: I came out of drugs, and one day I changed my mind and said, no more. I got out of drugs, and here I am.

Benitez: So being homosexual is like being a drug addict. That's the comparison you just made.

Sen. D?az: No, I'm just comparing for you how one can one day change his mind, because I one day was, and you keep wanting to find the twists and turns, and tomorrow the blogs will be saying, look at what he said, look at how he compared... but what I am saying is that I was homosex... look, now you have me all [mixed up]. I was a drug addict and left the military with a drug addiction. And one day, my mind changed and I no longer was a drug addict. But I was not born a drug addict. I was not born a drug addict.

Many thanks to Tony Varona for his analysis and taking the time to translate the Diaz interview.

Virulently Antigay NY State Senator Rev. Rub?n D?az (D-Bronx) Grilled Relentlessly on his Antigay Positions and Marriage Equality Obstructionism in Withering Interview on NY1 Spanish-Language Public Affairs Program

By Tony Varona

Activists familiar with the long, circuitous and still uncertain path towards marriage equality in the nation's third most populous state know that the Rev. Rub?n D?az, Sr., has been one of the lawmakers most responsible for the failure of the New York state legislature to recognize civil marriage rights for same-sex couples. Having represented parts of the Bronx in the State Senate since 2002, D?az has forcefully criticized his fellow Democrats for supporting marriage equality and has long been instrumental in blocking legislation from reaching the Senate floor. He passionately spoke and voted against the failed 2009 marriage equality bill. More recently, Diaz co-sponsored a May 15th rally against marriage equality with the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), and on May 4th called for a boycott against the Spanish-language El Diario La Prensa newspaper for having editorialized in favor of marriage equality.

A Pentacostal minister, D?az last year responded to a question about the separation of church and state during an interview with anchor Juan Manuel Benitez on NY1's Spanish-language sister newschannel, NY1 Noticias (NY1n) with a categorical rejection of the question's premise. He proclaimed: "I am the Church and I am the State." Benitez once again interviewed Sen. D?az late last week on his Spanish-language NY1n public affairs program, Pura Politica. Video of the interview is here. Benitez's focused and relentless questioning of Sen. D?az was extraordinary.

As a Cuban-born native Spanish-speaker, I consume media in both English and Spanish. Time and again I have seen how bilingual and bicultural politicians, religious leaders and other public figures make outrageously defamatory and inaccurate statements against the LGBT community in Spanish media that they would never get away with making in English-language broadcast and print interviews. Much of the time, the interviewer allows them to make whatever outlandish and homophobic or transphobic claims about us without any follow-up questions or challenge of any sort. Not so with Juan Manuel Benitez's 21-minute interview of Sen. D?az.

Benitez repeatedly challenged D?az's antigay statements, demanded facts to back up his extreme claims, and ended up performing one of the most thorough, cringe-worthy journalistic grilling of a gay rights opponent I have ever seen, in any language.

Hispanophones can view the archived video and see for themselves. For those not familiar with Spanish, I have translated the most eye-opening segments of the interview below the fold.

Benitez: This legislation does not affect your church. It is a civil issue. Why are you still opposed?

Sen. D?az: That is not the case.

Benitez: Someone will force you to [solemnize same-sex marriages]?

Sen. D?az: Yes. According to the bill as written, and in the future, yes. Churches will be forced.

Benitez: That is not true. Let us talk about facts. We are talking about civil marriage. No one will go to your church to have you marry them.

Sen. D?az: Marriage is marriage.

Benitez: Civil marriage.

Sen. D?az: Marriage is marriage. And the bill as written... the bill does not exclude... as it is written specifically... does not exclude either churches or ministers specifically. It does not say it in the bill.

Benitez: The bill refers only to civil marriage, never to religious marriage.

Sen. D?az: Marriage refers only to marriage between man and woman.

Benitez: The bill refers only to civil marriage, not religious marriage. Do you really think same-sex couples would go to your church to get married... to have you marry them?

Sen. D?az: Well, who knows? They would come to my church so that I would refuse to marry them, and so that they could sue me, and mount a discrimination case. To mount a case in favor of stripping my church of taxes [tax exempt status], just because I would not marry them. [...]

Benitez: I don't know if you have read the bill, but the bill specifically excludes churches and deals only with civil marriage, which is performed by civil authorities. It deals with civil marriage and not religious marriage.

Sen. D?az: One of the other senators just said that he would prefer if they would include - so that specifically it would be clear - that it would not force ministers and churches...

Benitez: And if the bill included that more specific language - that the churches would be excluded and there would be no problem with discrimination by churches - would that mean that you would vote in favor of civil marriage equality?

Sen. D?az: For me, no, I would vote no because [...]it is against nature... and it just should not exist.

On the complaints from certain members of the Latino community that Senator D?az has been acting as if he were the official spokesperson for the entire Latino community, Sen. D?az let out a raucous laugh (at 3:50) and then said:

Sen. D?az: I'm so tired of this. It's incredible. I don't even want to respond to it. (...) The lies, and how they twist the truth and things to make their argument. They should be ashamed of themselves. How they twist things. How they want to take things and change them and say that this was said and this was not said, so that they can attract sympathy. They should be ashamed of themselves. This is not about hate. To the contrary, my [lesbian] granddaughter arrived (to the May 15th anti-marriage equality protest march he organized) and I hugged her... this is not about hate. Why do they continue to say that we want to hate? Everyone in America can choose what they want. Or to be in favor of something or against something. The churches are not about hate when it is not permitted to pray, and when it is not permitted to read the word of God. We're not the ones who are hateful.

Benitez: Everyone is free, as you say, but you are denying the liberty of gay people to marry those whom they love.

Sen. D?az: No, no I cannot pray in a school. I cannot read the word of God in a school. The teacher would throw me out. So there is no liberty. [...] We are the ones who are being persecuted, and that Christians are persecuted. And that the Christian religion is persecuted when we cannot do the things that we want to do. We accept that. That's fine. But don't hate us. So don't permit us to do those things... but why is it that these people... when one gets on something... oh 'Hate!'

Benitez: So you are saying that that is not homophobia. That you are not a homophobe?

Sen. D?az: Hate is what they do to me! With the threats they send me...

Benitez: So you do not accept the label of homophobe? You are not a homophobe?

Sen. D?az: How can that be? How could that be? When I have relatives...

Benitez: I will read to you the definition of homophobia because I am a bit confused. Homophobia is "irrational and obsessive aversion to homosexuals." You not only have demonstrated an aversion, but have said things like this, just 2 years ago: [footage from previous interview, with Benitez asking him whether he thinks homosexuality is a choice, and D?az responding "It's like sexual relations with animals... these are acts against nature..."]

Sen. D?az: [...] Nature shows us that relations between a man and a woman can create children. And that relations between two men or two women cannot result in procreation.

Benitez then played a second clip from NYC Mayor Bloomberg's May 26th in support of the passage of marriage equality legislation. Bloomberg said: "The question for every New York State lawmaker is, do you want to be remembered as a leader on civil rights, or an obstructionist? Remember, on matters of freedom and equality, history has not remembered obstructionists kindly. Not on abolition, not on abortion, not on women's suffrage, not on workers' rights, not on civil rights, and it will be no different on marriage rights."

Benitez: Senator, are you not concerned that in 10, 20, 30 years, when there are documentaries made on this subject - a subject that is now unstoppable with more and more nations and states recognizing same-sex marriage - that you will appear like those politicians in documentaries on the 1950s and 1960s who opposed civil rights? That you will appear to be like one of those [obstructionist] politicians in the history books?

Sen. D?az: Firstly, Mayor Bloomberg and the people who dare to compare the suffering, the slavery, forcible deportations, the assaults suffered by the African-American community, from Africa - like they sold our relatives, brought them in ships, chained them together, sold them as slaves. People like Mayor Bloomberg who dare to compare all of that to the homosexual lifestyle disrespect and abuse the African-American community. The African-American community must not allow our suffering and past slavery to be used as a comparison to homosexual conduct. [...] Second, the states that have civil [same-sex] marriage do not have it because the people have opted for it. In every state where the people have been given the right to vote [on marriage equality], including California, the people have rejected it. So what is it that happens? Well, there are millionaires like Bloomberg, who take their bundle of money and buy votes, leading the legislatures to impose same-sex marriage on the public.

Benitez: The end of legal racial segregation also was not put up to public vote. Those laws were federal dictates and orders direct from the presidency.

Sen. D?az: Jews do not allow anyone to compare their suffering...

Benitez: But you will recognize that the gay community has had its own suffering...

Sen. D?az: Like we Hispanics have suffered? Like Puerto Ricans have suffered? Like fat people have suffered? ... In this world discrimination is massive. We Hispanics, we Puerto Ricans when we came to this country... and we still have it... but to compare that to Black slavery is disrespectful to the Black community.

Benitez: But the gay community also can claim that you have been disrespectful to it at many moments. You have had as a fundamental pillar of your career and your public persona your opposition to the homosexual community. In 2003, you opposed public funding for a school designed to serve gay students [referring to D?az's lawsuit against public funding for the Harvey Milk School, which argued that it discriminated against heterosexual students]...

Sen. D?az: Because I don't believe in public funds...

Benitez: And in '94, you objected to New York City's hosting of the Gay Games. You said then, "some of the gay and lesbian athletes will arrive infected with AIDS" and you also said "children will conclude that if there are so many gay athletes, that there is nothing wrong with being gay." Don't you think that the gay community has reason to find these comments hurtful?

Sen. D?az: Could be.

Benitez: The fundamental pillar of your career as a politician has been this theme.

Sen. D?az: Wait, where are we? We are in America. Aren't we in the United States of America where the freedom of expression guarantees us the right to be in favor of some things and not others? So now they are telling me that I cannot believe what I believe?

Benitez: Well, it is really that you are infringing on the rights of gay people who are interested in marrying the people that they love, is it not?

Sen. D?az: No, you can fall in love with whomever you want, my brother. You can fall in love with whomever you want, and enjoy yourself with whomever you want, but what I don't approve of is [civil same-sex] marriage. And I vote with my vote.

On his recent call for a boycott against El Diario La Prensa for being too much in favor of gay equality:

Benitez: That freedom of expression that you talk about you seem to deny to El Diario La Prensa, against whom you have organized a boycott after it editorialized in favor of marriage equality.

Sen. D?az: And in favor of abortion.

Benitez: So you would like to silence the expression of El Diario La Prensa?

Sen. D?az: No, what I want is equality. The thing is that El Diario does not cover any of our events, does not cover our parades for children, [...] They don't cover pastors, they don't cover religious events, they cover nothing.

Benitez: They cover what they consider to be newsworthy.

Sen. D?az: What I want is equality and balance. What I am saying is not that they shouldn't be covering that [marriage equality], but that they should be balanced and cover that as well as our side. In journalism it is important to be impartial.

Benitez: But every newspaper has an editorial board and an opinion page and runs editorials where it expresses its own opinions.

Sen. D?az: No not the editorials, their pages for everything. Journalism in America has to be impartial. Cover this and cover that. But if you are only going to cover one side...

Benitez: It seems to me like you like to engage arguments when it is convenient to you and evade them when it is not.

Sen. D?az: Well, I am in America and I am only one person and I don't understand why when I am only one person against so many millionaires contributing and the press advocating for homosexual marriage and I am the only one attacked.

Benitez: Well, I will repeat to you that you have based your career and public persona on the fundamental pillar of this subject. So you can't hide your hand after you have thrown the rock.

Sen. D?az: They are the ones who want publicity and attack me to get it.

On his opposition to the City's hosting of the Gay Games in 1994:

Benitez: You make many comments that many people find insulting.

Sen. D?az: They are not insulting. What I am saying is that when the Olympics came, Michael Jordan [sic - he apparently meant Magic Johnson] was prohibited from leaving this country, and other countries over there prohibited Michael Jordan [sic] from crossing their borders because he had AIDS [sic - Magic Johnson, not Michael Jordan, has HIV, which has not progressed to AIDS]. So what I said was why is it that we should permit them [the Gay Games athletes] to enter here...?

Benitez: So was it not because you thought that children would think that there was nothing wrong with being gay?

Sen. D?az: Yes, I say that today.

Benitez: So you would say that today? So is the criticism against you not justified when you say such things about the gay community?

Sen. D?az: No, because for me, as pastor and minister, homosexuality, Biblically, should not be.

On his prognostications, warnings, comparisons, and call for a public referendum on same-sex marriage:

Benitez: ...Are you not afraid of turning out to be like one of those pastors who prognosticate the end of the world, as what happened last week, in your having warned about the horrors of marriage equality when the truth is that in many nations around the world the doomsayers have been proved wrong? [...]

Sen. D?az: I do announce the end of the world.

Benitez: For when?

Sen. D?az: For when God wants.

Benitez: Of course. That's how you hedge your bets. [...] But again I ask you whether you are not concerned about being like one of those charlatan pastors announcing the end of the world and in the end the world proves them wrong by not ceasing to exist?

Sen. D?az: So you are calling me a charlatan because I oppose homosexual marriage?

Benitez: No, but you have been saying that all sorts of tragedies will befall society if we have homosexual marriage. But many countries around the world have legalized [same-sex] marriage and have not suffered any of the harms you warn about. You express an opinion but no data, no facts.

Sen. D?az: So why not just insist on a referendum and permit the 20 million New Yorkers be the ones to decide if they want it or not? Why not do that instead of impose it upon them by buying senators' votes, and buying minds and consciences.

On homosexuality as choice, and its similarity to drug addiction:

Benitez: To conclude, Senator, you also put out a press release this Thursday, critical of Mayor Bloomberg, in which you kept referring to the "homosexual lifestyle." So you think that this is a lifestyle - a lifestyle that can be chosen? You think that homosexuals one day wake up and decide, 'today I am going to fall in love with someone of the same sex?'

Sen. D?az: I think, I think, I think that, I think that, I think that homosexual conduct - because there have been homosexuals that have changed their conduct.

Benitez: So I ask you, if it is a choice, you too by that very rationale might get up - might awaken -- tomorrow morning and say, 'I will fall in love with a man.'

Sen. D?az: I could.

Benitez: You think that you could?

Sen. D?az: Yes, I could.

Benitez: So you would be capable of doing so?

Sen. D?az: Well, I don't know if I would be capable of that, but one could make the case.

Benitez: One could make the case?

Sen. D?az: One could make the case that tomorrow they will get up with an atrophied mind, different, and will change their thing. [...] Listen, I came out of drugs.

Benitez: But you are once again comparing...

Sen. D?az: I came out of drugs, and one day I changed my mind and said, no more. I got out of drugs, and here I am.

Benitez: So being homosexual is like being a drug addict. That's the comparison you just made.

Sen. D?az: No, I'm just comparing for you how one can one day change his mind, because I one day was, and you keep wanting to find the twists and turns, and tomorrow the blogs will be saying, look at what he said, look at how he compared... but what I am saying is that I was homosex... look, now you have me all [mixed up]. I was a drug addict and left the military with a drug addiction. And one day, my mind changed and I no longer was a drug addict. But I was not born a drug addict. I was not born a drug addict.

Benitez: That is where we will leave it.

Tony Varona is a law professor and academic dean at the American University Washington College of Law. He is on the board of directors of GLAAD and is the former general counsel/legal director for HRC & HRC Foundation.

PBS Airs "Out in America" on June 8, 8:00 pm ET/PT

This looks promising...

Watch the full episode. See more PBS Specials.

Emmy award-winning director Andrew Goldberg and PBS, in association with Oregon Public Broadcasting, today announced a new national PBS special, OUT in America. The one-hour film will make its national premiere on Wednesday, June 8 at 8:00 pm ET/PT on PBS, in conjunction with National Gay & Lesbian Pride Month.

OUT in America is an uplifting collection of unique, transformative stories and inspiring personal narratives told through the lens of the country's most prominent LGBT figures and pioneers, as well as many average, yet extraordinary, citizens from Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender communities. The program weaves together diverse stories - from urban and rural America, from the heartland to New England, from San Francisco to Harlem. Deeply moving and often humorous, viewers will get a glimpse of awakenings, first crushes, unlikely soul mates, intimacy and liberation. While separated by circumstance and upbringing, the film's subjects are all united in their shared experiences of self-discovery, coming out, pride and love as well as a triumph over adversity and a true sense of belonging. Against the backdrop of historical events, each also traces their own hopes, struggles, influences and contributions towards advancements in equality and broad social change.

Featured interviews include TV personality Andy Cohen (Bravo TV Host), famed Tales of the City author Armistead Maupin, country music star Chely Wright, humorist Kate Clinton, as well as legendary LGBT activists James Hormel (philanthropist), Urvashi Vaid (former Executive Director of the pre-eminent civil rights organization National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, recently cited in Out Magazine's list of most influential men and women in America) and Dr. Patricia Hawkins (psychologist renowned for her early work with HIV patients). Other influential lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people in the film include: Reverend Peter Gomes, who came out on the steps of Memorial Church at Harvard; PJ Serrano, Puerto Rico's first openly gay and HIV positive political candidate; a transgender police lieutenant, who transitioned while on active duty; a Muslim lesbian from the country of Mauritius; a gay rancher; the organizer of Capital Queer Prom; a Latino rapper; a West Point graduate and former Captain in the US Army; a drag queen; a great-grandmother; and "The Harolds," a giddy bi-racial couple in their 80s, who reminisce, in unison, about their five decades together.

WH Press Secretary: no change on President's marriage equality position - God's still in the mix

Just so everyone is clear that the President, even while calling for legislative repeal of DOMA, is apparantly still publcly clinging to his position that "God is in the mix" regarding marriage...

From the Tuesday, May 31 official WH Press Briefing Transcript:

Q: And my second question, based on his -- what he said and his actions, I think a reasonable person can conclude that President Obama believes in the right of gay couples to marry. So why hasn't he come out and said that?

MR. CARNEY: The President has said in the past what his position is. It hasn't changed. And if it changes, I'm sure he'll let you all know.

Q: The last time we checked, he said it was evolving.

MR. CARNEY: And that's -- I have no update for you on that.

More LGBT-related news came up during the briefing; Chris Johnson of the Washington Blade asked if there was any update related to Sen. Tom Harkin's (D-IA) endorsement of an executive order that would serve as a "temporary ENDA" related to federal government contract requirements:

Asked whether the president takes heed when someone when like Harkin calls on the president to take action, Carney said Obama welcomes input from the senator but has no information on the potential executive order. The Iowa senator helped build momentum for Obama's presidential bid in 2007 by inviting him to the 30th Annual Steak Fry; a major event for potential presidential candidates in the Iowa caucus process.

"I'm sure that the president always wants to hear what Senator Harkin has to say on a variety of issues, but I don't have anything for you on that particular one," Carney said.

An executive order barring government contractors from job discrimination against LGBT people has been seen as an interim alternative to ENDA passage while Republicans are in control of the House and progress on the measure in the lower chamber of Congress is unlikely. The White House hasn't said one way or the other whether Obama would be open to issuing such a directive.

 

Presidential Proclamation: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, And Transgender Pride Month, 2011

Landed in my inbox yesterday afternoon...

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 31, 2011

LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER PRIDE MONTH, 2011

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

The story of America's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community is the story of our fathers and sons, our mothers and daughters, and our friends and neighbors who continue the task of making our country a more perfect Union. It is a story about the struggle to realize the great American promise that all people can live with dignity and fairness under the law.  Each June, we commemorate the courageous individuals who have fought to achieve this promise for LGBT Americans, and we rededicate ourselves to the pursuit of equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Since taking office, my Administration has made significant progress towards achieving equality for LGBT Americans.  Last December, I was proud to sign the repeal of the discriminatory "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.  With this repeal, gay and lesbian Americans will be able to serve openly in our Armed Forces for the first time in our Nation's history.  Our national security will be strengthened and the heroic contributions these Americans make to our military, and have made throughout our history, will be fully recognized.

My Administration has also taken steps to eliminate discrimination against LGBT Americans in Federal housing programs and to give LGBT Americans the right to visit their loved ones in the hospital.  We have made clear through executive branch nondiscrimination policies that discrimination on the basis of gender identity in the Federal workplace will not be tolerated. I have continued to nominate and appoint highly qualified, openly LGBT individuals to executive branch and judicial positions.  Because we recognize that LGBT rights are human rights, my Administration stands with advocates of equality around the world in leading the fight against pernicious laws targeting LGBT persons and malicious attempts to exclude LGBT organizations from full participation in the international system.  We led a global campaign to ensure "sexual orientation" was included in the United Nations resolution on extrajudicial execution -- the only United Nations resolution that specifically mentions LGBT people -- to send the unequivocal message that no matter where it occurs, state-sanctioned killing of gays and lesbians is indefensible.  No one should be harmed because of who they are or who they love, and my Administration has mobilized unprecedented public commitments from countries around the world to join in the fight against hate and homophobia.

At home, we are working to address and eliminate violence against LGBT individuals through our enforcement and implementation of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.  We are also working to reduce the threat of bullying against young people, including LGBT youth. My Administration is actively engaged with educators and community leaders across America to reduce violence and discrimination in schools.  To help dispel the myth that bullying is a harmless or inevitable part of growing up, the First Lady and I hosted the first White House Conference on Bullying Prevention in March. Many senior Administration officials have also joined me in reaching out to LGBT youth who have been bullied by recording "It Gets Better" video messages to assure them they are not alone.

This month also marks the 30th anniversary of the emergence of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which has had a profound impact on the LGBT community.  Though we have made strides in combating this devastating disease, more work remains to be done, and I am committed to expanding access to HIV/AIDS prevention and care. Last year, I announced the first comprehensive National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States.  This strategy focuses on combinations of evidence-based approaches to decrease new HIV infections in high risk communities, improve care for people living with HIV/AIDS, and reduce health disparities. My Administration also increased domestic HIV/AIDS funding to support the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program and HIV prevention, and to invest in HIV/AIDS-related research.  However, government cannot take on this disease alone.  This landmark anniversary is an opportunity for the LGBT community and allies to recommit to raising awareness about HIV/AIDS and continuing the fight against this deadly pandemic.

Every generation of Americans has brought our Nation closer to fulfilling its promise of equality.  While progress has taken time, our achievements in advancing the rights of LGBT Americans remind us that history is on our side, and that the American people will never stop striving toward liberty and justice for all.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2011 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month.  I call upon the people of the United States to eliminate prejudice everywhere it exists, and to celebrate the great diversity of the American people.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand eleven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fifth.

BARACK OBAMA

And as Chris Geidner of MetroWeekly notes, same-sex committed relationships and their recognition despite its mention in past proclamations doesn't make the cut:

There is no mention of relationship recognition, despite the fact that on Feb. 23, Attorney General Eric Holder, announced that the president had determined that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional. The Department of Justice subsequently ended its defense of that portion of the law in ongoing court challenges.

By comparison, in the 2010 proclamation, Obama stated, "That is why we must give committed gay couples the same rights and responsibilities afforded to any married couple, and repeal the Defense of Marriage Act."

In the 2009 proclamation, meanwhile, Obama stated, "Here at home, I continue to support measures to bring the full spectrum of equal rights to LGBT Americans. These measures include ... supporting civil unions and Federal rights for LGBT couples ...."

Gender Rights Maryland announces membership of its Boards

Today Gender Rights Maryland announced the membership of their boards.

GENDER RIGHTS MARYLAND ANNOUNCES SELECTION OF BOARD MEMBERS

LAUREL, MD (May 31, 2011) - Gender Rights Maryland, a new civil rights organization focused on issues of gender identity and expression in the State of Maryland, today announced the selection of a diverse and passionate group of Marylanders to serve as directors of its 501(c)4 and 501(c)3 non-profit corporation boards. These boards are representative of the diverse population of Maryland. The membership includes men and women, gay, lesbian and straight allies, members of clergy and religious organizations, as well as significant representation from Maryland's trans community.

Joining the founders of the organization on the 501(c)4 board are, Mark McLaurin - Political Director of SEIU Local 500, Attorney Jonathan Shurberg, and direct marketing specialist Ezra Towne. Joining the 501(c)3 Foundation board are Stephen Colgan - Co-Chair of the LGBT Task Force of the Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church of Bethesda, Christine Grewell - President of Teachthefacts.org, an LGBT advocacy group, Lee Ann Hopkins - Executive Director of the Free State Legal Project, Rev. Mother Meredith Moise of the Byzantine Rite Old Catholic Church in Baltimore, Bonnita Spikes - Criminal Justice chair of the Maryland NAACP, and Attorney Deborah Strauss, who facilitates PFLAG's T-Families group in Bethesda. Alex Hickcox has been named Chair of the 501(c)3 Foundation board.

In addition to the board of directors, Gender Rights Maryland will also have a Policy Advisory Board to assist us in development of our mission and to broaden the organization's connection to other groups in the community. Details will be available soon at http://www.GenderRightsMaryland.org/

The press release continues below the fold.

Related:

* Gender Rights Maryland debuts ahead of schedule for a good cause

About Gender Rights Maryland

The purpose of Gender Rights Maryland is to promote civil rights, education, tolerance, equality and acceptance on the basis of sex and gender identity/expression in the State of Maryland.

For more information contact:

Sharon Brackett - Board Chair, Gender Rights Maryland, Inc.

Sharon@GenderRightsMaryland.org

(443) 574-4763

Alex Hickcox - Board Chair, Gender Rights Maryland Foundation, Inc.

Alex@GenderRightsMaryland.org

Dana Beyer, M.D. - Executive Director

Dana@GenderRightsMaryland.org

(240) 731-8338

Gender Rights Maryland

PO Box 818

Laurel, MD 20725

Coming Soon - Future home of something quite cool

www.GenderRightsMaryland.org