Gay Dems complain DNC cut off funding, drop support for Biden event
Theboard of directors of the National Stonewall Democrats are dropping their support for a June 25 DNC fundraiser with Vice President Joe Biden over, they wrote in an email obtained by POLITICO, a combination of policy slights and the claim that they’ve been cut off from traditional party funding.
In the email to Tom Petrillo, who runs the party’s substantial gay fundraising operation, the board members write:
[W]e are incredibly disappointed that the DNC has made a decision to withhold any financial support to National Stonewall Democrats this year but is in turn asking us to help raise money for the DNC in a difficult financial environment. The DNC has historically supported National Stonewall through sponsorship of the annual Capitol Champions event. This year, we did not receive any support. The DNC has traditionally provided materials for the many Pride parades and festivals around the country to help educate the LGBT community about why the Democratic Party is the Party for full LGBT equality. This year we were informed that we would not be receiving any materials or support for producing materials for the various nationwide Pride activities. These decisions were very disappointing.
We’d be remiss to also not mention that the recent legal brief of the Obama Administration defending DOMA is incredibly hurtful. The members of the Board and our membership put our hopes, our dollars and our time into ensuring the election of Barack Obama because we believed that he supported us. To now have his Administration refer to our relationships in the same terms used by our long time enemies such as Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and James Dobson hurts on so many levels. To have our committed and loving relationships referred to as the moral equivalent of incest and pedophilia is not something that any of us ever expected from this Administration considering how hard we worked to be seen and respected. For that reason alone, advocating for attendance at a fundraiser to support the Administration and the DNC, while they have not condemned this hurtful language, is not something our membership will receive positively.
The group says it’s not “boycotting” the June 25 fundraiser with Joe Biden; it just won’t encourage its members to attend.
Gay money is, historically, of outsized importance to the Democratic Party. Howard Dean, in particular, launched his presidential campaign in part on enthusiasm from gay donors about his support for civil unions, and maintained those relationships as chairman. For update see Gay Dems complain DNC cut off funding, drop support for Biden event
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Pulitzer-winner Kushner revels over Bachmann’s possible response to ‘Homosexual’ ads
Periodically each evening, the “smokestack”/LED sign atop the Guthrie Theater on Minneapolis’ riverfront lights up to spell out, in gigantic letters, “HOMOSEXUAL.” The word, along with others in the title of playwright Tony Kushner’s newest work have given the gay Pulitzer Prize winner pleasure recently. In the intro to an interview with CNN today, he speaks about how he felt first seeing bus advertisements for the Guthrie’s production of the play, “The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures,” on streets in Rep. Michele Bachmann’s home state:
“I was excited to see a bus go by a couple of months ago when I first got to Minneapolis and the only words you could make out as the bus went by were ‘homosexual’ and ’socialism,’” Kushner says, adding that the first thing he did when he saw it was call his husband back home in New York City.
“He said, ‘Yeah, it’s great — You’ve come up with a perfectly shaped 14-word phrase of English that’s guaranteed to give [Republican U.S. Rep.] Michele Bachmann a heart attack, and it doesn’t even have an active verb in it.’”
Bachmann — a conservative who made national headlines during last year’s election when she called for an investigation into “anti-American” members of Congress (including then-presidential candidate Barack Obama) — is a vocal critic of gay rights and supports a federal ban on gay marriages.
“So it’s like … I feel good about that,” Kushner adds with a chuckle.
“The Intelligent Homosexual,” as t-shirts available at the Guthrie shorten it to, was commissioned by the Guthrie and gets its lengthy title from two 19th-century books: George Bernard Shaw’s The Intelligent Woman’s Guide to Socialism and Capitalism and Mary Baker Eddy’s Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. It closes June 28
See Pulitzer-winner Kushner revels over Bachmann’s possible response … Minnesota Independent
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Poll: Conservatives, churchgoers do about face on DADT
Solid majorities of self-identified conservatives and weekly churchgoers now favor allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. military, a striking turnaround in just the last four years, according to a new Gallup poll. Overall, 69% of U.S. adults surveyed support a change in the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, an increase of six percentage points since late 2004.
According to Gallup:
The finding that majorities of weekly churchgoers (60%), conservatives (58%), and Republicans (58%) now favor what essentially equates to repealing the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy implemented under President Clinton in 1993 is noteworthy for several reasons. First, the data show that these traditionally conservative groups are shifting on this issue, supporting it to a far greater extent than they support legalized gay marriage. Second, it suggests the political playing field may be softer on this issue, and President Barack Obama will be well-positioned to forge ahead with his campaign promise to end the military ban on openly gay service members with some support from more conservative segments of the population. To date, it is estimated that more than 12,500 servicemen and servicewomen have been discharged under the policy, including more than 200 since Obama took office.
See Poll: Conservatives, churchgoers do about face on DADT
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Sen. Jeff Sessions Irked By Lesbian Mom’s Crying Child: “Enough With The Histrionics” (VIDEO)
Yesterday the Senate Judiciary Committee had a hearing on the Uniting American Families Act, a bill that will “amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to eliminate discrimination in the immigration laws by permitting permanent partners of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents to obtain lawful permanent resident status in the same manner as spouses of citizens and lawful permanent residents and to penalize immigration fraud in connection with permanent partnerships.” Of course, some of the discrimination that the bill would eliminate would benefit same-sex couples, so, CONTROVERSY!
One of the people who testified in support of the bill was a woman named Shirley Tan, who is in a same-sex relationship and thus caught in the crosshairs of existing law. The New Republic‘s James Kirchick documents her circumstances thusly:
Testifying was Shirley Tan, a Fillipino woman who has been with her American partner for 23 years. Together, they are raising twelve-year-old twin boys. She originally left the Phillipines after suffering a violent attack from a man who murdered her mother and sister (one of the reasons why Tan does not want to return to her native country, aside from the fact that her partner and children live in the U.S., is that the man who brutalized her has since been released from prison.) Tan was originally scheduled to be deported on April 3rd, but won a reprieve after Senator Diane Feinstein introduced a private bill allowing her to stay in the country temporarily.
Almost right from the start of Tan’s testimony, one of Tan’s young children started crying. The committee chairman, Pat Leahy, paused the testimony and offered the child some measure of comfort. According to Kirchick, these kindly sentiments were not shared by everyone on the committee:
For most people, the sight of a 12-year-old boy in tears at the prospect of his mother being deported halfway around the world would invoke some sympathy. Unmoved, however, was Alabama Republican Jeff Sessions, ranking minority member of the Committee and the only Republican to bother to attend the hearing. At the sight of the weeping boy, according to a Senate staffer who was at the hearing, Sessions leaned towards one of his aides and sighed, “Enough with the histrionics.” Sessions’s press secretary did not return a call seeking comment.
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Gay marriage ‘legal’ in Sims 3
Popular EA game, ‘The Sims 3′, was released this week at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles. And while California recently opposed legalizing gay marriage, the makers of ‘The Sims’ have allowed it in their newest version.
Lyle Masaki at After Elton explained that in the game’s first release in 2000, same sex couples were only able to move in together and could not be officially married. The Sims 2, released in 2004, allowed gay couples to be “joined.”
Now, Masaki wrote:
So when I bought my copy of the latest Sims game yesterday, I wanted to find out if gay couples had taken another step forward and now had the ability to get married like any other couple … and after a week of game time, I was able to get a male couple to plan a wedding party and tie the knot.
It may seem like a small step for a game series that has always been LGB-inclusive, but games that treat gay people equally are still pretty rare. Homophobia is still sadly common among video game communities and, worse, some companies’ attempts to deal with anti-gay harassment have ended up being even more repressive to queer players.
See Gay marriage ‘legal’ in Sims 3
Seattle Post Intelligencer
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Quotes from New Hampshire’s gay marriage debate
“Thank you!” — Gay marriage supporters to lawmakers as they left the Statehouse following Wednesday’s gay marriage vote.
“A lot of New Hampshire families have come to know people in their families who are gay — co-workers, former classmates — and that’s what really made this difference. We are no longer talking about an issue. We are talking about people.” — The Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson, Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire, the church’s only openly gay bishop.
“This legislation makes clear that we understand that certain faiths do not recognize same-sex marriage, and it protects them from having to participate in marriage-related activities that violate their fundamental religious principles.” — Gov. John Lynch, as he signed the gay marriage bill into law.
“We certainly would like to see new legislators and a governor who keeps his word on the issue. If he tells the voters he doesn’t support same sex marriage, that’s what he means. If that happens, who knows, we may be looking at repeal in the next legislative session.” — Kevin Smith, executive director of gay marriage opponent Cornerstone Policy Research. See Quotes from New Hampshire’s gay marriage debate Chicago Tribune
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Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender marriages thrive
This spring my life-partner and I are celebrating our 10th anniversary together. While some might say that 10 years of marriage is no big deal — even in this age of high divorce rates — clearly it is a milestone year, and especially for a gay couple like us. I should note from the start that I do not place marriage in quotation marks, as though ours somehow doesn’t measure up; our marriage is different in some ways and very much the same in others, but it is certainly not less. We know what a precious gift we have in each other.
Our love and commitment, in fact, are as strong and vital as in the best heterosexual marriages, often more so.
Why? Because like all successful lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) marriages, ours thrives despite formidable odds, any one of which would crush many heterosexual marriages. Little wonder LGBT friends and acquaintances tell us our 10 years is actually twenty, even 30 — in straight years.
No one should be surprised by this perception. In place of the myriad ways that heterosexual marriages are incorporated, supported, celebrated and promoted ours’ are denied, excluded, discouraged and condemned. Marriage of any type is, of course, not always easy, even if strong and under the best of circumstances. Imagine for a moment though people praying for your marriage to fail; widespread preaching and protesting against it; laws and constitutional amendments enacted that are overtly hostile to your family; hospitals blocking you from your spouse’s bedside; having your children torn from your life when your spouse, the biological parent, dies; or being unable to carry out your spouse’s final wishes. I could easily go on, and on.
See Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender marriages thrive
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Adam Lambert Openly Gay, Planning ‘Coming Out’ Mag Cover
‘American Idol’ runner-up Adam Lambert is not only openly gay, he is planning a Rolling Stone cover to confirm it after months of speculation, reports the NY Post.
‘Idol’ judge Kara DioGuardi is on a pretaped ‘View’ airing Friday, and during her sit-down she says he is out.
“I don’t think that Adam was ever in [the closet],” she tells the ladies. “I think he was always openly out.”
Meanwhile, Friday’s NY Post reports he will be on the cover of next week’s Rolling Stone.
“AMERICAN Idol” runner-up Adam Lambert has steadfastly refused to talk about his sexuality despite photos of him on his Web site tongue-kissing men and dressed in full drag — but not for much longer. A well-placed magazine source tells Page Six that Lambert will be coming out officially on the next cover of Rolling Stone.
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Gay US diplomats to get benefits for partners
In a policy shift, the US State Department will offer equal benefits and protections to same-sex partners of American diplomats, The New York Times reported.
The newspaper said the shift was spelled out in an internal memorandum Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent last week to an association of gay and lesbian foreign service officers.
Clinton said the policy change addressed an inequity in the treatment of domestic partners and would help the State Department recruit diplomats, since many international employers already offered such benefits, the report said.
“Like all families, our foreign service families come in different configurations; all are part of the common fabric of our post communities abroad,” Clinton said in the memorandum, a copy of which was provided to The Times by a member of the gay and lesbian association.
“At bottom,” the paper quotes Clinton as saying, “the department will provide these benefits for both opposite-sex and same-sex partners because it is the right thing to do.”
A senior State Department official confirmed the new policy, but did not say when it would take effect, the paper said.
Gay US diplomats to get benefits for partners: report
AFP
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Moscow’s mayor tried to crush the city’s gay pride parade. In doing so, he did the cause of gay rights in Russia a huge service Russian gay rights …
Russian gay rights campaigners are toasting Moscow’s homophobic mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, after he ordered the banning and violent suppression of last Saturday’s Slavic gay pride parade in the Russian capital – just hours before the Eurovision song contest was staged in the city.
“Luzhkov has done more than anyone to publicise gay rights in Russia,” beamed Nikolai Alekseev, the gay parade organiser, as we chatted on Sunday afternoon following his release from nearly 24 hours of police detention:
By stopping the gay parade he has provoked massive media coverage of our fight against homophobia. The Russian media has been full of reports about gay issues for the last week. This has hugely increased public awareness and understanding of gay people.
Slowly, we are eroding homophobic attitudes. Through this media visibility, we are helping to normalise queer existence. After our successive gay protests in Moscow since 2006, people are less shocked about homosexuality. We have a long way to go, but gradually we are winning hearts and minds, especially among younger Russians.
We ought to give Luzhkov an award. His violation of our right to protest has given us a remarkable platform, with day-after-day of publicity about lesbian gay human rights. It is the equivalent of about 200m roubles (£4m pounds) in free advertising.
AfteSee Thank you Mayor Luzhkov
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