McEntee: Discrimination is still with us
o Salt Lake City is stepping out, urging a new anti-discrimination law that actually includes sexual orientation and gender identity in the traditional list of those affected by housing and employment discrimination. Take that, all you legislators who have squashed any such thinking on the state level, arguing disingenuously that “choosing to be gay” is not grounds for civil rights protection. Mayor Ralph Becker, a Democratic representative for 11 years, knows all about that ruse. And one of the most fascinating things is how the city’s Human Rights Commission got there: Its members sat down and talked to people in five “dialogues on discrimination” late last year. No lectures, no surveys. Just conversations about classism/poverty, people with disabilities, racism, faith and sexual orientation. Kilo Zamora, whose nonprofit Inclusion Center trained the commissioners, says the opener was, “How’s the city doing, and do you think there’s discrimination here?” As people talked, it became evident that race, gender, class, income and religious biases “we thought we had buried in the ’60s were much alive in our communities,” he says. People were shocked. “Are you sure?” they would ask. “I never knew racism was still alive!”
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/07/mcentee-discr…
The Church and Gay Marriage: Are Mormons Misunderstood?
Last November, Jay Pimentel began hearing that people in his neighborhood were receiving letters about him. Pimentel lives in Alameda, Calif., a small, liberal-leaning community hanging off Oakland into the San Francisco Bay. Pimentel, who is a Mormon, had supported Proposition 8, the ballot initiative banning same-sex marriage. And that made him a target. “Dear Neighbor,” the letter began, “Our neighbors, Colleen and Jay Pimentel” — and it gave their address — “contributed $1,500.00 to the Yes on Proposition 8 campaign. NEIGHBORS SHOULD BE AWARE OF THEIR NEIGHBORS’ CHOICES.” The note accused the Pimentels of “obsessing about same-sex marriage.” It listed a variety of local causes that recipients should support — “unlike the Pimentels.”
Pimentel, a lawyer and a lay leader in the small Mormon congregation in Alameda, is markedly even-keeled. Yet the poison-pen note still steams him, even though in May the California Supreme Court validated Prop 8 as constitutional. He is bothered less by the revelation of his monetary contribution, which he stands by, than the fact that the letter’s author didn’t bother to find out that every other Saturday for 15 years, he or someone else from Alameda’s 184-member Mormon ward has delivered a truckload of hot meals to the Midway Shelter for Abused and Homeless Women and Children — one of the organizations the Pimentels allegedly wouldn’t support. “The church does a lot of things in the community we don’t issue press releases about,” he says. “And when people criticize us, we often just take it on the chin. I guess you could say I’m not satisfied with the way we’re seen.”
Across the country, that’s the dilemma facing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. With 13 million members worldwide (by its own count), the LDS is the fourth largest church in the country, the richest per capita and one of the fastest-growing abroad. The body has become a mainstream force, counting among its flock political heavyweights like former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Democratic Senate majority leader Harry Reid, businesspeople like the Marriotts and entertainers like Glenn Beck and Twilight novelist Stephenie Meyer. The passage of Prop 8 was the church’s latest display of its power: individual Mormons contributed half of the proposition’s $40 million war chest despite constituting only 2% of California’s population. LDS spokesman Michael Otterson says, “This is a moment of emergence.”
See The Church and Gay Marriage: Are Mormons Misunderstood?
TIME
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/06/church-and-ga…
Elisabeth Hasselbeck Disowns “Ignoramus” Joe The Plumber Over “Queers” Comment
Elisabeth Hasselbeck disowned “Joe The Plumber” Thursday morning on “The View.”
Hasselbeck, who campaigned on the trail with Sarah Palin in October, took Joe the Plumber to task for his recent comments that “queers” aren’t welcome around his children.
“I think this is an ignoramus statement,” Hasselbeck said. “In that specified corner to which he had a life during this election, I was even a person who thought, you know what, power to Joe the Plumber at that point. Well, Joe the Plumber is not invited anywhere around me. “
Joy Behar promptly screamed, “Turning! Turning! Turning!” implying that Hasselbeck, a stalwart Republican, was turning into a Democrat.
Watch: Elisabeth Hasselbeck Disowns “Ignoramus” Joe The Plumber Over “Queers” Comment (VIDEO)
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/05/elisabeth-has…
Rachel Maddow On “The View”: Gets Praise From Hasselbeck, Talks Coming Out
Maddow — who, at 5’11″, was described by Joy Behar as “a tall lesbian” — spoke, as she often does, about not being a typical “TV news babe.” She discussed the first time she met her partner, Susan Mikula — like a scene from “Gay Desperate Housewives” — and how she came out: by plastering an announcement all over the dorm bathrooms at Stanford, without telling her parents (who received an anonymous letter alerting them to the news and “did not react well”).
Maddow also described her look as a tomboy growing up.
“I had long blonde hair, but even as a little girl with long blonde hair, I looked like one of the Hanson boys,” she said.
Maddow discussed her hate mail — of which there’s a steady stream, some targeting her sexuality — but she also received an unlikely compliment from conservative co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck.
“You do an exceptional job,” Elisabeth said. “I think it’s important to recognize people who do a great job on both sides of issues.” See Rachel Maddow On “The View”: Gets Praise From Hasselbeck, Talks Coming Out * Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/03/rachel-maddow…
BNY Mellon Named One of Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality
NEW YORK, MY — The Bank of New York Mellon, (NYSE:BK) the global leader in asset management and securities servicing, has been named one of the “Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality” by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation.
The “Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality” distinction is awarded to businesses that scored 100% on the HRC Foundation’s 2009 Corporate Equality Index, the primary method for businesses to benchmark and evaluate their policies, practices and diversity efforts relating to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) workers. The index evaluates non-discrimination policies, benefits, diversity training and other internal resources for LGBT workers, as well as external support for LGBT consumers and job seekers.
“We’re committed to ensuring every employee in our company has an opportunity to contribute and excel, and I’m thrilled that this is being recognized,” said Robert P. Kelly, chairman and chief executive officer of The Bank of New York Mellon.
“Our company has made great strides in our ability to attract and support LGBT employees,” said Bruce Miller, an executive vice president and global sales coordinator and is co-chair of the company’s Prism affinity network. Prism strives to promote a workplace in which all LGBT employees are fully included in corporate life. “In recent years, Prism membership has grown from approximately 100 members to nearly 525 worldwide today. Prism members are becoming more visible in the company, viewing The Bank of New York Mellon as a place where employees are embraced for their talents and contributions.”
Prism is co-chaired by Denise Beckman, a vice president in Asset Servicing Technology.
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the United States’ largest civil rights organization working to achieve LGBT equality. A complete list of the honored businesses is available online: www.hrc.org/placestowork.
The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation is a global financial services company focused on helping clients manage and service their financial assets, operating in 34 countries and serving more than 100 markets. The company is a leading provider of financial services for institutions, corporations and high-net-worth individuals, providing superior asset management and wealth management, asset servicing, issuer services, clearing services and treasury services through a worldwide client-focused team. It has $20.2 trillion in assets under custody and administration, $928 billion in assets under management and services more than $11 trillion in outstanding debt. Additional information is available at www.bnymellon.com.
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/02/bny-mellon-na…
The bigots in charge of Florida’s Hillsborough County vote down proposal to study domestic partner benefits
TAMPA – A proposal to study the possibility of extending health benefits to the domestic partners of Hillsborough County employees was shot down by the county commission Thursday.
Newly elected commissioner Kevin Beckner said he put forth the proposal because the county is in the process of taking bids for employee health insurance — a process that only happens once every four years.
It was defeated 5-2.
The proposal and the vote came against the backdrop of the commission’s decision three years ago to ban any support of gay pride or gay causes.
Some accused Beckner, the County’s first openly gay commissioner, of breaking his promise not to campaign on a gay agenda.
That did not stop activists on both sides from arguing over the moral high ground.
“To extend this benefit is to affirm a behavior that is dangerous, costly and sinful,” said Donna Kunit.
see Domestic partner benefits proposal voted down
MyFox Tampa Bay, FL -
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/01/bigots-in-cha…
Robinson Invocation Supposed to Be Included in HBO Broadcast
Crowds attending the concert at the Lincoln Memorial
(AFP/Robyn Beck)
Late last night AfterElton.com reported that HBO, which had broadcast The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial Sunday afternoon — a
concert organized by the Presidential Inauguration Committee to start the inauguration festivities — said they were not to blame for …
