2nd arrest in NYC homophobic, racist slaying

(New York City) A second arrest was made Friday in the hate crime killing of an Ecuadorean immigrant, a prosecutor said.

The arrest in suburban Yonkers came after police released a video of 28-year-old Keith Phoenix and offered a $22,000 reward for information leading to his capture.

In the video, Phoenix grins …

Arrest in NYC homophobic, racist slaying

(New York City) New York City Police say Wednesday they have arrested one of the attackers who yelled slurs as they beat an Ecuadorean immigrant to death on a city street, and investigators are looking for a second suspect.

Hakim Scott, 25, was arrested in the Dec. 7 attack on real …

Gay marriage fault lines in San Mateo County

Proposition 8, the State Constitutional Amendment recently passed by California voters, was arguably one of the most divisive pieces of public policy placed before the voters since Proposition 187, the anti-illegal immigrant initiative which was passed by voters in 1994.

Proposition 8 is the Constitutional Amendment that eliminated the right of same-sex couples to marry in California and established that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.

Proposition 8 passed by the narrow margin of 6,838,107 votes in support, or 52.3%, to 6,246,463 votes against, or 47.7% in the State. In San Mateo County, Proposition 8 failed by a wide margin of 114,695 votes in support, or 38.3%, to 185,127 votes against, or 61.7%.

Since its passage, many of those of donated in support of the measure have been subject to unpleasant phone calls and letters, some of which contained foul language and physical threats. Web sites like AntiGayBlacklist.com posted donors’ names and home addresses on Google maps and there have been calls for boycotts of the businesses of donors.

See Gay marriage fault lines in San Mateo County
Examiner.com -

Published by

Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/02/gay-marriage-…

On Valentine’s Day, Binational Gay and Lesbian Couples Struggle to Stay Together

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Immigration Equality, the national group aimed at ending anti-LGBT discrimination in immigration law, and the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization, lauded today’s introduction of the Uniting American Families Act. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), will provide lesbian and gay Americans the same opportunity as different-sex couples to sponsor their partner for immigration purposes. During a media conference call, Rep. Nadler joined Immigration Equality Executive Director Rachel B. Tiven, HRC President Joe Solmonese, and Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund Legislative Staff Attorney John Amaya to discuss the importance of this legislation, along with two binational couples who face the prospect of being forcibly separated under existing immigration laws.

“It should be an outrage to all Americans that our government continues to deny one set of citizens the fundamental rights enjoyed by the rest of its citizens,” said Rep. Nadler. “It is time that we as a society finally acknowledge that a committed, loving family is a committed, loving family, no matter whether a couple is gay or straight. It makes no difference. We should be encouraging and rewarding stable families rather than sweeping them into the margins. We must now pass UAFA, the Uniting American Families Act, and grant gay and lesbian binational families the same legal protections—and the same human dignity—as other Americans.”

“Like many people across the country, there are Vermonters whose partners are foreign nationals and who feel abandoned by our laws in this area. The promotion of family unity has long been part of federal immigration policy, and we should honor that principle by providing all Americans the opportunity to be with their loved ones. I hope all Senators will join me in supporting equality for all Americans and their loved ones,” said Sen. Leahy.

Under U.S. immigration law, U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents may sponsor their spouses for immigration purposes. But gay and lesbian Americans are not afforded this basic right. Consequently, many binational gay and lesbian couples are kept or torn apart. The Uniting American Families Act would allow U.S. citizens and permanent residents to sponsor their same-sex partners for family-based immigration by meeting the same standard as different-sex couples. The bill would impose harsh penalties for fraud, including up to five years in prison and as much as $250,000 in fines.

“This Valentine’s Day, thousands of gay and lesbian Americans who have fallen in love across borders must grapple with an impossible choice between being with the person they love and staying in their country,” said Immigration Equality Executive Director Rachel B. Tiven. “These couples simply want the same opportunity to prove that their families deserve to stay together.”

“For far too long, our elected officials have ignored the devastating real-life consequences that current immigration policies have had on thousands of gay and lesbian couples in loving, committed relationships,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “We thank Representative Nadler and Senator Leahy for their leadership to ensure that these couples are treated equally under the law. We commend Immigration Equality for their continued leadership in fighting this unjust policy.”

This inequality affects more than 36,000 gay and lesbian Americans, according to the 2000 Census and research commissioned by Immigration Equality and conducted by Gary Gates of the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Audio of the call held today can be accessed at http://www.immigrationequality.org/blog/ and http://www.hrcbackstory.org.

Immigration Equality is the only national organization devoted to fighting for equal treatment under U.S. immigration law for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and HIV-positive immigrants and their families and to winning asylum for LGBT and HIV-positive people fleeing persecution.

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.

Published by

Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/02/on-valentines…

Gay marriage fault lines in San Mateo County

See Gay marriage fault lines in San Mateo County
Examiner.com -

Published by

Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/02/gay-marriage-…

Latido unveils first gay Basque film

Sabino Arana, the hawkish first ideologue of Basque nationalism, must be spinning in his grave.

Arana exalted died-in-the-wool Catholicism and Basque racial purity. A century after his death, the Berlinale Panorama welcomes “Ander,” billed by sales company Latido as the first-ever gay Basque-language movie.

What’s more, it’s set in the Arratia Valley in Biscay, an idyllic spot, where, traditionally, real men are farmers, and farmers real men.

Pushing even a larger envelope, most of “Ander’s” finance comes from the Basque government, via Berdindu, its gay-lesbian service.

And the cream of Basque politicos — including Basque government president, Lehendakari Juan Jose Ibarretxe — turned out for “Ander’s” world preem on Jan. 30, when it opened the Basque Country’s Zinegoak 09 — the 6th Bilbao Gay-Lesbo-Trans Intl. Film Festival, playing to enthusiastic auds.

Roberto Caston, its writer-director, bridles slightly at the gay tag. Pic follows fortysomething Ander, a Basque farmer-cum-factory worker who breaks a leg. He hires a Peruvian immigrant, Jose (Christian Esquivel, “Che”), who inspires in Ander feelings he didn’t know he had.

“The film’s about solitude, which most of the characters suffer,” said Caston.

See Latido unveils first gay Basque film
Variety, CA

Published by

Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/02/latido-unveil…

NY Gov. Paterson condemns vandalism at Bay Shore gay center

Gov. David A. Paterson has condemned the vandalism at a Bay Shore gay and lesbian center and said the state human rights commissioner would hold a public forum at the center this week.

In a statement Tuesday, Paterson called the vandalism “despicable.” State human rights commissioner Galen Kirkland will hold the forum at the center tomorrow at 3 p.m.

It’s his second visit to Suffolk in three months. He held community discussions after Ecuadorean immigrant Marcelo Lucero was stabbed to death in Patch- ogue in November. Investigators say he was targeted by teens hunting for Hispanics to harass.

Donors have replaced the smashed windows and slashed tires on the van used by theLong Island Gay and Lesbian Youth Center in Bay Shore, which was attacked by vandals on Monday. See Paterson condemns vandalism at Bay Shore gay center
Newsday, NY

Published by

Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/02/ny-gov-paters…

200 Supporters of Gay & Lesbian Community March in2009 Los Angeles Chinatown New Year’s Parade

Contingent Organized by API Equality-LA Draws Record Participation

Los Angeles – On Saturday, January 31, 2009, a record 200 people joined the API Equality-LA contingent in the Golden Dragon Parade in Los Angeles’ Chinatown, one of the city’s most popular community event. Saturday marked only the fourth time in the parade’s 110-year history that a contingent representing and supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) members of the Asian and Pacific Islander (API) community has participated in the parade.

“We expected a strong turnout after all of the energy in our community since the November 2008 election, but we were absolutely astounded to welcome 200 participants – nearly three times as many as last year!” said Ericson Herbas, API Equality-LA steering committee member and one of the organizers of the contingent. “Particularly meaningful for all of us, we were also joined this year by same-sex couples who had been able to legally marry before November 2008.”

Wearing bright red t-shirts, the large contingent marched proudly through the streets of Chinatown, carrying banners displaying the six colors of the rainbow. The rainbow is commonly used to represent the pride of the LGBT community and was chosen by the API Equality-LA contingent to also represent the diversity of the coalition’s membership and supporters.

“Our participation in the lunar new year parade each year sends a powerful message of pride, diversity and inclusion,” said Marshall Wong, API Equality-LA co-chair. “Saturday was a wonderful way to enter the Year of the Ox. It is said that the Ox is a sign of prosperity through fortitude and hard work. Fortitude and hard work describe exactly what we need to win back the freedom to marry for the LGBT community. Today we took a short stroll around Chinatown but we’re committed to the long march to full equality.”

The contingent was led by a drum troupe playing traditional Korean drums, comprised of volunteers from the Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance (KIWA). And bringing up the rear of the API Equality-LA contingent was Danza Méxica Cuauhtemoc, a cultural troupe performing traditional Aztec dances, accompanied by Aztec drums and dressed in traditional Aztec clothes and tall feather headdresses.

“API Equality-LA was thrilled to be able to include both Korean and Aztec drums as well as Aztec dancers,” said Eileen Ma, another API Equality-LA steering committee member and organizer of the contingent. “For us, the drummers and dancers reinforced our message of pride in our diversity as a community.”

The diversity of the marchers was also evident in the organizations that officially joined the API Equality-LA contingent, many of whom proudly displayed their own organizational banners as part of the contingent. In addition to API Equality-LA, other organizations who participated in the contingent included: Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC); Asian Pacific Health Care Venture (APHCV); Asian Pacific Islander Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (API PFLAG); ); California Faith for Equality; Chinese Progressive Association (CPA) of San Gabriel Valley; Equal Roots Coalition; Gays United Network (Gays U.N.); Japanese American Citizens League (JACL); Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance (KIWA); Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC); Love Honor Cherish; OCA-Greater Los Angeles; South Asian Network (SAN); and Asian Pacific Islander Pride Council, which includes Asian American Queer Women Activists (AAQWA), Asian Pacific AIDS Intervention Team (APAIT), Chinese Rainbow Association, Gay Asian Pacific Support Network (GAPSN), and Satrang.

(photo credit Ericson Herbas) * Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual

Published by

Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/02/200-supporter…

Anti-Women and Anti-Gay “Walk for Life” will March Through San …

On January 24th, an anti-women’s rights and anti-gay march will take place in San Francisco. The Bay Area Coalition for Reproduction Rights (BACORR) is calling on human rights supporters to protest the so-called “Walk for Life” led by religious conservatives.

The “Unite to Fight the Right Wing” counter-protest will begin with a rally at San Francisco’s Music Concourse at Embarcadero and Market Streets at 10:30am. More Details

As part of this year’s protest, BACORR is also calling attention to the ICE raids against immigrant communities. Anita O’Shea, BACORR spokesperson writes “The ‘Walk for Life’ is part of a multi-pronged rightwing movement that includes bigots in suits as well as armed, vigilante Minutemen, clinic bombers, and gay bashers…..We must stop the blame game against women, immigrants and queers before the ultra-right gains momentum.”

In recent years the Catholic Church has helped push through two discriminatory acts, the “Conscience Rule” and Proposition 8. The “Conscience Rule” allows health care providers to refuse to fill a birth control prescription for “moral” reasons. BACORR co-chair Gemma Mirkinson responded to the institution of the Conscience Rule asking, “What’s next: refusing service to people with AIDS, or immigrants or transgender folks? This is nothing but bigotry sanctioned by the highest office of the land and applauded by the people who will trek through our city January 24.” See Anti-Women and Anti-Gay “Walk for Life” will March Through San …
Bay Area Indymedia, CA

Published by

Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/01/anti-women-an…

Jim Carrey’s gay movie among Sundance buzz titles

A star-studded cop drama like “Brooklyn’s Finest?” A high-profile animated opening-night film like “Mary & Max?” Jim Carrey’s turn as a gay man in “I Love You Philip Morris?”

Maybe.

A rough-hewn documentary about a popular rapper? A quiet drama about Middle East immigrants in the Midwest? A real-life story about men who attack dolphins?

Very likely.

As the Sundance Film Festival opens in this mountain resort on Thursday, buzz titles are springing from buyers’ lips, as they do every year. “Brooklyn’s Finest,” a reunion of “Training Day” partners Antoine Fuqua and Ethan Hawke, leads a pack of prominent titles seeking distribution, along with movies that follow this year’s trend toward one-word titles, including “Spread,” an off-color comedy starring Ashton Kutcher, and “Shrink,” a drama starring Kevin Spacey.

Buyers expect at least one or two films to go for solid seven figures, with one or two more pulling in respectable sales. One also can throw Shana Feste’s family drama “The Greatest,” Lone Scherfig’s period romantic comedy “An Education,” the Michael Cera-starring quasi-documentary “Paper Heart” and the Robin Williams-Bobcat Goldthwait collaboration “World’s Greatest Dad” into the mix.

But with high-profile movies flaming out at the festival or the box office last year — Barry Levinson’s “What Just Happened?” and Andrew Fleming’s “Hamlet 2,” respectively — and acquisition-minded distributors carrying thinner wallets, small movies might make the biggest splash. That especially will be true if a high-profile title gets even a small amount of negative attention.

See Jim Carrey’s gay movie among Sundance buzz titles
Reuters