Missouri Hate Crime

KSDK reported that three gay men were attacked early Saturday morning when leaving The Complex Nightclub in St. Louis.

One of the men attacked, Jacob Piwowarczyk said, “I have a soft tissue bruise on my elbow. I have six stitches in my eye and I have a mild concussion.”

Piwowarczyk …

Statewide Action: On Heels of Prop 8 Ruling, “Meet in the Middle for Equality” Rallies ,Civil Rights Advocates in Fresno for LGBT Equality on a Federal Level

FRESNO, CA – In the first statewide demonstration following the California Supreme Court rulings which upheld the ban on same-sex marriage, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) advocates and allies will gather in Fresno on Saturday, May 30th in solidarity to support full federal equality. This all-inclusive event will attract supporters of social justice and equality from across California and ask them to renew their dedication to fight for the rights of LGBT individuals who currently struggle to have their rights protected. Moreover, progressive leaders and activists will be setting goals for a new movement which will call upon organizers and attendees to continue the fight and call upon the federal government to provide full equality to LGBT individuals.

Meet in the Middle is the beginning of a civil rights movement for today’s generation. In a symbolic sign of respect to the social movements of the past and present, the event begins with a five-hour 14.5-mile Equality March from Selma, California to downtown Fresno, California. The march and rally is the result of a major grassroots effort, modeled after President Obama’s campaign relying on the Internet and word of mouth. Traditionally, the LGBT rights movement has concentrated efforts in major metropolitan cities, but California voter demographics from November 2008 reflect that this approach did not garner the expected results. Consequently, organizers for Meet in the Middle have created an inward-working-out geographic strategy based upon the belief that the “Selma” or “Montgomery” of the LGBT rights movement will be in smaller communities needing equality education, resources and support – communities like Fresno who are at the epicenter of middle-American values.

Meet in the Middle for Equality is the brainchild of Central Valley organizers and a growing coalition of partners that include the Courage Campaign and hundreds of other organizations. The event’s lead organizer is Fresno resident Robin McGehee, a lesbian mother of two who was forced from her post as President of her child’s PTO due to her advocacy efforts for the No on Prop. 8 campaign.

WHEN:
Saturday, May 30, 2009, 1st Statewide Action After the Proposition 8 Decision
7:50 a.m. – Equality March Kickoff; 8:00 a.m. – March from Selma to Fresno
1:00 p.m. – Rally at steps of Fresno City Hall

WHERE:
March from the intersection of W. Front St. and Whitson St. in Selma, CA, then along the Golden State Highway to the Meet in the Middle rally location at Fresno City Hall, 2600 Fresno Street, Fresno, CA 93721

WHO:

Equality March speakers at Selma Kick-off include:
Anne-Marie Williams of Jordan/Rustin Coalition
Nii-Quartelai Quartey of Courage Campaign
Yardenna Aaron of Here to Stay Coalition
Andrea Shorter of Equality California (EQCA)
Roland Palencia of HONOR PAC (English/Spanish-language)
Rally Speakers at Fresno City Hall Location include:
Robin Tyler, the original plaintiff in Tyler vs. the County of Los Angeles
Angelica Salas, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles
Molly McKay, Marriage Equality USA
Christine Chavez, Latino and African-American Leadership Alliance and Granddaughter of Cesar Chavez
Kate Kendell, National Center for Lesbian Rights
Rabbi Denise Eger, Congregation Kol Ami & California Faith for Equality
Father Geoff Farrow, Former Catholic Priest for Fresno’s Saint Paul Newman Center
Lt. Dan Choi, West Point graduate, recently discharged under “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”
Reverend Eric Lee, Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Reverend Dr. Amos Brown, Third Baptist Church, San Francisco
Rick Jacobs, Chair and Founder of the Courage Campaign
Cleve Jones, founder of Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt and Harvey Milk intern
Dustin Lance Black, Academy Award Winning Screenwriter for Milk
“With this ruling, Californians are experiencing a great loss – a loss of justice, loss of compassion, and a loss of humanity. But rather than become disabled by our grief, we must shift our shame to strength and revitalize for the sake of the entire American LGBT community. We must use this ruling as a catalyst for an even greater goal and a greater good,” said Robin McGehee, lead organizer for Meet in the Middle.

Over 100 organizations from around the state have endorsed Meet in the Middle for Equality. The Courage Campaign and White Knot for Equality are providing buses to bring activists and progressive allies from San Diego, Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Francisco to the middle of California. Additional active participants include the California Nurses Association, Dolores Huerta Foundation, Equality Action NOW, Equality California (EQCA), Equal Roots, Freedom Action Inclusive Rights (F.A.I.R.), Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) Network, HONOR PAC, Jordan/Rustin Coalition, Marriage Equality USA, Martin Luther King Legacy Association, NAACP Youth and College Division, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Los Angeles, and the Third Baptist Church of San Francisco.

Meet in the Middle for Equality is a group of Central Valley equality activists and grassroots organizers who are working to raise awareness of progressive issues in middle-America-type communities. The group was founded by Robin McGehee, a Fresno-based mother who was forced out of her position as PTO president at her child’s school after speaking out against Proposition 8. From McGehee’s public yet peaceful protests of Proposition 8 in November 2008, a group of supporters emerged with the common goal of taking action in order to protect individuals’ civil rights and to create a statewide response to the California Supreme Court’s decision on same-sex marriage. It is the long-term goal of Meet in the Middle for Equality to work with other organizations’ leaders to create a working group that actively addresses LGBT outreach and equality issues across America. www.meetinthemiddle4equality.com

Equality California (EQCA) is the largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender-rights advocacy organization in California. In the past decade, EQCA has strategically moved California from a state with extremely limited legal protections for LGBT individuals to a state with some of the most comprehensive civil-rights protections in the nation. EQCA has passed over 50 pieces of legislation and continues to advance equality through legislative advocacy, public education and community empowerment. www.eqca.org

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Same-Sex Unions Supplant Abortion As Social Priority for Conservatives In Fight Over High Court Pick

As President Obama prepares to name his first Supreme Court justice, conservatives in Washington are making clear that his nominee will face plenty of questions during the confirmation process on the legal underpinnings of same-sex marriage.

In addition to shedding more light on the nation’s most contentious unfolding social drama and legal frontier, Senate Republicans say the debate could provide a road map to an Obama nominee’s judicial philosophy.

“It may reflect the degree to which they think that they’re not bound by the classical meaning of the Constitution, and that they may want to let a personal agenda go beyond what the law said,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions (Ala.), the senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Questions on social issues in confirmation hearings have tended for the past 30 years to focus squarely on abortion, with partisans from both sides poring over a nominee’s writings and rulings and presidents typically denying that any “litmus test” was employed in the selection.

Same-sex marriage carries the same freighted potential to dominate a hearing, conservatives say.

“It is now the flash point where politics and law meet. That flash point used to be abortion. I don’t think anybody thinks that’s going to be the flash point in this nomination,” said William A. Jacobson, a Cornell University law professor and conservative blogger.

Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (Utah), another GOP member of the Judiciary Committee, said conservatives are particularly eager to avoid a Supreme Court ruling akin to the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion nationwide and has divided the country ever since. “I don’t think members of the court, or any of us, ever want to see a decision like that again,” Hatch said. Obama assured the senator in a recent meeting that he will not pick a “radical” to replace Souter, but Hatch added: “Presidents always say that. That’s why we have the hearing process.”

Same-sex marriage gained national resonance in the wake of last month’s Iowa Supreme Court ruling that legalized the practice in that state. And in the two weeks since Justice David H. Souter announced his retirement, Maine also legalized same-sex marriage, becoming the fifth state to do so; the New Hampshire legislature sent a marriage-equality bill to the governor; the New York State Assembly approved gay-marriage legislation; and the District of Columbia voted to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere.

Those actions, in so short a time, have outstripped the ability of Democrats in Washington to stake out their public position on the issue. MORE at Washington Post

* Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual

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Dallas pastor to join team lobbying Congress for gay rights

The Rev. Jo Hudson of Dallas’ Cathedral of Hope will be part of a high-profile team of pastors visiting Congress to lobby for gay rights. Details below:

This is a critical time for the LGBT movement. Today, the U.S. House is marking-up the federal hate crimes bill, an important step before the bill moves to a vote. Federal legislation is necessary to ensure all citizens are safe from hate violence. Only 11 states and the District of Columbia have hate crimes laws that cover both sexual orientation and gender identity. Twenty states have hate crimes laws that cover sexual orientation but not gender identity.

The Clergy Call for Justice and Equality is organized by the HRC Foundation’s Religion & Faith Program, lead by Harry Knox, who was recently appointed by President Barack Obama to the Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. To check out this year’s program visit: www.HRC.org/ClergyCall.

Confirmed speakers: Read their bios: http://www.hrc.org/issues/religion/12294.htm

The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, NH
Bishop Yvette Flunder, San Francisco, CA
Rev. John H. Thomas , Cleveland, OH
Rev. Dr. Anthony Campolo, St. Davids, PA
Father Richard Estrada, Los Angeles, CA
Rev. Dr. Jo Hudson, Dallas, TX
Rabbi Steven Jacobs, Los Angeles, CA
Rev. Dr. Cynthia Love, Abilene, TX
Rev. Manish Mishra, St. Petersburg, FL
Rev. Drew Phoenix, Anchorage, AK
Bishop Tonyia Rawls, Charlotte, NC
Joe Solmonese, Washington, DC
Rev. Dr. Traci C. West, Madison, NJ

Updates in the movement of faith and LGBT equality:

The unanimous ruling of the seven-member Iowa Supreme Court, written by Mark Cady, a Republican appointee, explained that a state’s legalization of same-sex marriage has no effect on marriage as practiced by religions. “The only difference,” the judge wrote, is that “civil marriage will now take on a new meaning that reflects a more complete understanding of equal protection of the law.
The McCain-Palin 2008 campaign strategist, Steve Schmidt, urged his party last week to join him in endorsing same-sex marriage.
Jon Huntsman Jr., the governor of Utah, who in February endorsed civil unions for gay couples, a position seemingly indistinguishable from Obama’s. Huntsman is a Mormon presiding over what Gallup ranks as the reddest state in the country.
Rev. Rick Warren, the hugely popular megachurch leader who endorsed Proposition 8, California’s same-sex marriage ban, dropped in on Larry King to declare that he had “never” been and “never will be” an “anti-gay-marriage activist.” But, it apparently didn’t thrill his base and he cancelled on ABC’s George Stephanolopous, minutes before taking to the air on the nationally televised “This Week.” Warren’s sudden reverse remains controversial in the LGBT community: http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/10284/rick-warren-lies-about-his-homobigotry-on-larry-king-live
Faith leaders are building momentum and making clear that they support full equality for LGBT people under the law. America’s clergy are transforming our nation one congregation at a time and making it easier for Members of Congress to stand for equality. The theme for Clergy Call 2009, “Moving from Acceptance to Advocacy,” reflects the vision of a faith-based movement for LGBT equality built from the ground up: in local churches, synagogues, mosques.

See Dallas pastor to join team lobbying Congress for gay rights

Dallas Morning News

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Broad Coalition Collaborating on Poll to Assist Community on Timing, Efforts to Repeal Prop. 8 Should Court Uphold Marriage Ban

Representatives from a diverse coalition of faith, civil rights and LGBT organizations will host a conference call to announce the launch of an innovative, collaborative polling project to help determine the timing and targeting of efforts to repeal Proposition 8, should the California Supreme Court uphold the constitutional amendment banning marriage for same-sex couples.

The polling project will share qualitative and quantitative polling data with community members and stakeholders as part of a larger strategy to involve the community in the decision making process and engage the broad coalition of organizations to better coordinate and partner with on-going efforts to restore marriage for same-sex couples in California.

Expected at the session are:

Tawal Panyacosit Jr., Director, API Equality
Rick Jacobs, Founder and Chair, Courage Campaign
Marc Solomon, Marriage Director, Equality California
Luis Lopez, President, Honor PAC
Ron Buckmire, Board President, Jordan/Rustin Coalition
Molly McKay, Media Director, Marriage Equality USA
Reverend Eric Lee, President and CEO, Southern Christian Leadership Council of Greater Los Angeles

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2 Fla. students challenge school’s gay club ruling

An attorney for two gay students at a north Florida high school told a federal judge they should be allowed to have a Gay-Straight Alliance on campus, while a lawyer for the Nassau County School Board says the group’s name is against school policy.

Yulee High School students Hannah Page and Jacob Brock, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, are challenging a decision by the school board which prevents them from having the club which promotes anti-bullying and tolerance toward gays.

School board attorney Frank Sheppard says if the group will change its name, it could meet on campus.

See 2 Fla. students challenge school’s gay club ruling MiamiHerald.com