Tuesday open thread and news and notes

There's a lot going on, and I haven't the energy to write up individual posts (still KO'ed; no passage of kidney stone yet), but there's plenty to discuss.

* In shakeup, HRC poised to lead Md. marriage effort. via the Washington Blade:

The Human Rights Campaign is expected to emerge as the coordinator of a reorganized coalition of national and local LGBT groups pushing for passage of a same-sex marriage bill in the Maryland Legislature next year, according to sources familiar with the effort.

...Attempts failed earlier this year to pass same-sex marriage and gender identity bills in the Maryland Legislature. Now, insiders familiar with LGBT politics in the state say these two new developments represent a shakeup of the established order, where the LGBT group Equality Maryland led lobbying efforts on behalf of the two bills for the past seven years.

Meanwhile, rumors that HRC has offered to make a significant cash contribution to the financially troubled Equality Maryland in exchange for the group allowing HRC to select its next executive director were heightened this week when HRC's regional field director, Sultan Shakir, began working at Equality Maryland's headquarters office in Baltimore on Monday.

* There was a "save marriage" rally at the NC State Capital yesterday (about 3,500 fundies participated, including Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council; I'm told Bam Bam Barber and The Peter were there), and the counter-protest drew the attention of the police. Take a look at an officer as he tries to intimidate the counter protestors. More coverage is at the Charlotte Observer.

This Video was taken by LGBTQ resource,The Triangle, www.trianglelgbt.com. It shows State Capital Police trying to intimidate peaceful LGBTQ counter protesters at anti-LGBTQ faith based rally in Downtown Raleigh on May 17, 2011. State Capital Police only back off when local news reporter inquires into what the police are doing. There is also a snippet of the false information the speaker is telling the crowd about the LGBTQ community. The rally was held by Return America in response to a press conference given by pro-LGBTQ faith leaders in the Legislature Building regarding SB 106 earlier that morning. There will be a pro-LGBTQ rally on June 3, 2011 in downtown Raleigh, you can go to http://getequalnc.org/rally-in-raleigh/ for more information.

* LGBT POV has a guest post up worth a click: Binational Couple to Republicans: Is Our Love Less Than Yours?

I want the same right every heterosexual citizen of my country has. If an American citizen is fortunate to find someone they want to wake up with every morning, they can invite that person - whereever they may come from - to live with them here in the land of the free. Except us queers. That most precious pursuit of happiness - shared, committed love - is not OUR right if there is a border between us. But it's not just a national border: antigay politicians have tried for years to erect legal borders between us and our families and our countries - all in the name of some "morality" they profess to uphold, only to be proven hypocrites in the end.

* From the "you must be kidding me dept" - Bryan Fischer: Gays Are Nazis.

The homosexual agenda is just like Islam: there is no room for dissent, there is no room to leave, once you're in, you can't leave. Muslims won't let you leave, homosexuals won't let you leave - if you leave, they claim you're faking it, so there's no way out. There's no freedom of choice, there's no freedom of religion - if you have religious views about homosexual behavior, you are squashed.

I mean, ladies and gentlemen, they are Nazis. Homosexual activists, when it comes to freedom of speech, are Nazis. When it comes to freedom of religion, they are Nazis. There is no room in their world dissent, there is no room in their world for disagreement, there is no room in their world for criticism. You criticize homosexual behavior, they tag you as a bigot and a homophobe and then they got to work to silence you just like the Roman Catholic Church did in the days of Galileo - it's no different; it's the Spanish Inquisition all over again.

Ladies and gentlemen, they are Nazis. Do not be under any illusions about what homosexual activists will do with your freedoms and your religion if they have the opportunity. They'll do the same thing to you that the Nazis did to their opponents in Nazi Germany.

* Charles Barkley: In sports, ability to play should outweigh sexual orientation. Wow; sports figures continue to lead the way this week.

"I really like ESPN," Barkley added. "They do a great job. But like once every two or three months, they bring all these people on there, and they tell me how me and my team are going to respond to a gay guy.

"First of all, every player has played with gay guys. It bothers me when I hear these reporters and jocks get on TV and say: 'Oh, no guy can come out in a team sport. These guys would go crazy.' First of all, quit telling me what I think. I'd rather have a gay guy who can play than a straight guy who can't play."

* Blender and Village Voice writer Steven Thrasher has a wonderful piece up - an interview with one of the Freedom Riders, Lew Zuchman, about the extraordinary, historic ride for civil rights.

Fifty years ago this month, black and white Freedom Riders set out on buses for the South to challenge local segregation laws, particularly in bus terminals' restaurants and waiting rooms. Their 1961 journey became a turning point in the civil rights movement when the activists were met with mob violence in Mississippi and Alabama, and images of the bitter attacks were widely aired on TV and in the press. One of those riders was a 19-year-old white kid from Forest Hills, Queens, named Lew Zuchman. Now a Manhattan resident and still active in social-justice issues and civil-rights work, Zuchman is setting out today for Jackson, Mississippi, to reunite with his fellow Freedom Riders. We spoke with him about the historic journey and this year's reunion.

* You should also click over to read "The Freedom Riders and same-sex marriage", David Kroll's discussion about the role of civil rights legend Rep. John Lewis, who was one of those Freedom Riders and has spoken eloquently about LGBT rights and is a strong ally (I heard him speak about it a couple of years ago at Equality Alabama's gala). David notes Lewis skipped the issue in a recent appearane in my area:

I was near tears listening to this man who had fought for the simple right of regular people to be treated with respect and dignity regardless of the amount of melanins made in their skin. As he closed, he spoke of the need for the graduates to still engage in what he called "good trouble" to continue to fight for a day where there is "one America" regardless of whether you are Black, white, Asian, Latino, Native American...

But what struck me immediately was that he did not choose that moment to take on the issue of equality among two people who love each other. Perhaps it was because the crowd was about three-quarters African American and he wanted to speak to their issues (although same-sex marriage is an issue in this community as well).

You can watch Lewis's pro-LGBT equality speech here (with transcript).

* Michelangelo Signorile takes a swing at GOProud, the Tea Party and the right wing grip on the GOP in this article up at the Advocate, Lessons Learned. I have no idea how GOProud will respond, but Mike hurls enough against the wall that will stick unless the org releases some sort of statement.

There are two things we've learned from GOProud, the small, often obnoxious right-wing gay group that makes the Log Cabin Republicans seem like liberals. For the uninitiated, this is the group that supports outspokenly anti-equality public figures - from Ann Coulter, who was paid to speak to the group, to Donald Trump, who is opposed to any gay unions-and targeted gay congressman Barney Frank during the 2010 election with an ad that called him "catty."

First off, denialists and elitists who believe they are superior to other gays - even if the attitude masks a pitiful self-loathing - are clearly as prevalent as ever in the LGBT movement, except that they can now be out of the closet. Perversely, the fact that we can find such people in GOProud is a measure of our success.

The other thing we've learned is that the Christian right, contrary to all the media blather about it losing steam as the Tea Party ascends, still has a grip on the GOP, and this can actually be helpful in gaining civil rights through the Democratic Party-if the Democrats recognize a useful wedge issue staring them in the face.