Obama names Medal of Freedom recipients, including Harvey Milk …
President Obama, attempting to spotlight those who have acted as “agents of change,” today announced that he will bestow the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor, on a cast of living and deceased figures widely known in politics, the arts and sciences, sports and social movements.
The 16 honorees named by the White House today include Harvey Milk, the San Francisco city supervisor who led an early movement for gay rights in public life and was assassinated. They include the late Republican Congressman Jack Kemp, a football legend as well, and the ailing Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts.
The president’s choices, who will be honored at a White House ceremony Aug. 12, include American civil-rights activist the Rev. Joseph Lowery and South African freedom fighter Desmond Tutu. They include a pioneer in sports for women, tennis star Billie Jean King, and the first woman on the Supreme Court, retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
They include actor Sidney Poitier and singer Chita Rivera.
See
Obama names Medal of Freedom recipients, including Harvey Milk …
They include actor Sidney Poitier and singer Chita Rivera.
See
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/07/obama-names-m…
Gay veteran’s military dismissal puts spotlight on California congressional race
WASHINGTON - Anthony Woods says he grew up without health insurance, struggled to get an education and fought in Iraq, a war he didn’t believe in.
Then he got kicked out of the military for violating its “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy after telling his commanding officer he was gay.
Woods, a 28-year-old graduate of West Point, figures he has the proper anti-establishment credentials to win an open seat in California’s 10th Congressional District. He’s proud of his lack of political experience, saying experienced politicians haven’t done much good in either Sacramento or Washington.
“If we keep sending experienced career politicians to D.C., nothing’s going to change,” Woods said in an interview.
Woods may be a long shot in the race to replace the retiring Democratic Rep. Ellen Tauscher in the East Bay seat, but his presence assures it will be a high-profile affair. It’s already resulting in national attention.
Woods, a Democrat, is less well-known than his challengers, but his team is banking on the candidate’s compelling life story and his status as an outsider to put him over the top in a splintered field.
See Gay veteran’s military dismissal puts spotlight on California …
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/07/gay-veterans-…
Marriage fight looms IN mAINE
Opponents and supporters of gay marriage are laying the groundwork for a tough summer political campaign that experts say will put Maine in the national spotlight.
Organizers of an effort to overturn a new law legalizing same-sex marriage in Maine have hired the California public relations firm that ran the successful Proposition 8 campaign that overturned same-sex marriage there.
And supporters of same-sex marriage, who oppose the people’s veto effort, have hired a seasoned Maine political strategist who ran the successful Maine Won’t Discriminate campaign in 2005. That campaign fought a people’s veto of Maine’s gay rights law.
Maine became the fifth state to legalize gay marriage in May, when the Legislature passed a bill and Gov. John Baldacci signed it into law. Opponents, led by the Catholic church and other clergy, immediately began the campaign for a people’s veto, which would ask voters to overturn the law.
Organizers of the people’s veto are attempting to collect 55,087 signatures of registered Maine voters to put the question on the ballot. The same-sex marriage law would take effect 90 days after the Legislature’s June 13 adjournment. But if the veto effort collects enough signatures before then, the law’s implementation would be stayed.
At least five political action committees have been formed to help raise funds to support the people’s veto effort. Two have been formed to oppose a people’s veto.
According to the latest filings with the state Ethics Commission, most haven’t raised money. But one, StandForMarriageMaine.com, has raised $60,000 from the National Organization for Marriage. The next filing deadline is July 15.
* Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/06/marriage-figh…
Maine Gay-marriage foes hire California firm that ran Prop 8
Opponents and supporters of gay marriage are laying the groundwork for a tough summer political campaign that experts say will put Maine in the national spotlight.
Organizers of an effort to overturn a new law legalizing same-sex marriage in Maine have hired the California public relations firm that ran the successful Proposition 8 campaign to overturn same-sex marriage there.
Supporters of the law have hired a seasoned Maine political strategist who ran the successful Maine Won’t Discriminate campaign in 2005. That campaign fought a people’s veto of Maine’s gay-rights law.
Maine became the fifth state to legalize gay marriage in May. Opponents, led by the Catholic Church and other clergy, immediately began campaigning for a people’s veto, which would ask voters to overturn the law.
Organizers of the veto effort are attempting to collect 55,087 signatures of registered Maine voters to put the question on the ballot. The same-sex marriage law will take effect 90 days after the Legislature’s June 13 adjournment unless the veto effort collects enough signatures before then, which would put the law on hold.
At least five political action committees have been formed to help raise funds to support the people’s veto effort. Two have been formed to oppose the veto.
According to the latest filings with the state Ethics Commission, most haven’t raised money. But StandForMarriageMaine.com has raised $60,000 from the National Organization for Marriage. The next filing deadline is July 15.
See Gay-marriage foes hire California firm that ran Prop 8
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/06/maine-gay-mar…
2009 Gay Soccer World Championship Opens in Washington D.C. on Sunday June 14, 2009
WASHINGTON, DC — The International Gay & Lesbian Football Association (IGLFA) will open the 2009 Gay Soccer World Championship (www.iglfa2009.org) in the Washington D.C. area on Sunday morning June 14, 2009. The 2009 Gay Soccer World Championship is being hosted by the Federal Triangles Soccer Club (FTSC) of Washington, D.C. This marks the first time the tournament has been held in the United States since 2004 when it was held in San Francisco. This also marks the second time that this tournament is being hosted in the Washington D.C. area by FTSC.
This year the IGLFA 2009 Official Gay Soccer World Championship tournament coincides with the end of Capital Gay Pride. The Capital Pride organization is a partner with IGLFA 2009. The 2009 IGLFA Tournament is also being supported by both the D.C. United of Major League Soccer and the Washington Freedom of the Women’s Professional Soccer League. Both the D.C. United and Washington Freedom will have players signing autographs this Sunday, June 14th at the Capital Pride Festival.
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Second Topless Pic Of Miss Cali Released, Runner Up Ready To Take Crown
A second topless photo of Miss California Carrie Prejean has been released by TheDirty.com, days after Prejean promised the state pageant that there was only one such photo in existence.
In related Miss California news, TMZ reports the gay-marriage opponent’s father may be gay. Her parents split in 1988, and the ugly divorce was full of allegations. Read that story here.
Back to the crown drama. On Wednesday Prejean’s runner-up Miss Malibu told “Access Hollywood’s” Billy Bush she is ready to step in should Prejean lose her crown because of a morality clause in the pageant contract contestants sign that promises they have no nude or semi-nude photos in their past.
The second photo is similar to the first, with Prejean’s bare back to the camera, only she’s no longer smiling.
The release of the second photo comes out days after Prejean, in an email to the Miss California pageant obtained by TMZ, promised there was only one such photo in existence. “I shouldnt (sic) have taken the photo of me in my underwear. There are no other photos of me. This was the only one I took.”
TMZ, however, claims it has seen four such photos, as over the weekend they were offered to the site in a sale.
Meanwhile on Wednesday Miss Malibu Tami Farrell told “Access Hollywood” she is ready, willing and able to take over. “I would be honored to represent the state of California if they need me for my responsibilities as first runner-up. I wouldn’t mind stepping into the spotlight.”
See PHOTO: Second Topless Pic Of Miss Cali Released, Runner Up Ready To Take Crown
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/05/second-toples…
Some fear anti-gay words will lead to anti-gay sticks and stones
Sen. Chris Buttars called gay activists “the meanest buggers” and alleged they have no morals. America Forever, in full-page newspaper ads, compared gay men and lesbians to “druggies” and “hookers.”
Just words. No sticks. No stones. But such talk does hurt. It can leave emotional scars and, some observers warn, inspire others to inflict physical ones.
Utah hit a national “hate watch” list twice in recent weeks for headline-grabbing onslaughts of anti-gay rhetoric.
“It’s not the kind of America we want,” said Heidi Beirich, spokeswoman for the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala. “You can have a difference of opinion over somebody’s lifestyle but to put them in a position of threat — that’s going too far.”
The national civil rights organization monitors hate groups, such as white supremacists, and publishes “Hatewatch,” a newsletter and blog that spotlighted the comments from Buttars, R-West Jordan, and America Forever.
“The kinds of things they’re saying,” Beirich said, “can give credence to others who would like to take their actions further than speech, into the realm of violence.”
The FBI reports that in 2007, the most recent year of available data, Utah had nine hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation bias.
Not that those who oppose gay rights mean to incite violence.
See Some fear anti-gay words will lead to anti-gay sticks and stones
Salt Lake Tribune -
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/03/some-fear-ant…
Fire Revives Palin Church’s ‘Ex-Gay’ Scandal
Sarah Palin and her church’s religious teachings are again making headlines — or at least propelling conversation.
The Alaska governor’s church, Wasilla Baptist Church, literally came under fire this weekend in what appears to be arson. And, considering the suspicious nature of the incident, one can’t help but wonder whether the church was specifically targeted because of Palin’s long history there. That’s one of the theories, of course, and has brought Palin’s right-leaning beliefs — and past scandals — back into the spotlight.
As Colin Powell pointed out last week, Palin was certainly a polarizing figure during her short stint on the campaign trail. She fired up supporters and burned up critics. But who would hate this woman enough to torch her church? Probably plenty of wackos, but some seem to be speculating that the “suspect class” can be narrowed a bit.
You may recall that last September, as people were just starting to examine Palin’s background, it came to light that her church had distributed a flyer for Love Won Out, a group that claims it can “cure” gay people. [There was also a scandal in which Palin was accused of asking her local library to remove gay-themed books from its shelves when she was mayor. She denied the charge.] Obviously gay people were not amused and called on Mrs. Palin to explain herself. It became a small thorn in her side, and one that Palin tried to avoid. Sure, the topic came up a bit, but it never became the headline grabber it could have during previous elections, when the culture wars raged. Well, the topic came up last night when Palin sat down with Fox News’s Greta van Susteren. See Fire Revives Palin Church’s ‘Ex-Gay‘ Scandal
Women on the Web, NY
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2008/12/fire-revives-…
Transgender prostitute slain in Memphis shadows
It took a bloody jailhouse beating by police to bring Duanna Johnson out of the shadows.
With a video of the beating making the rounds on the Internet, people who would never have known she existed — and likely paid her little mind if they did — were suddenly talking about her.
Angry residents sent letters to the local newspaper and a federal grand jury launched an investigation. The mayor and police chief voiced outrage at her treatment.
But it wasn’t long before Johnson, a 43-year-old, 6-foot-5 transgender prostitute, slipped out of the spotlight and back to working the dark streets of a tough inner-city neighborhood, little noticed once again by mainstream Memphis.
And there she died with a bullet in her brain. See more of Transgender prostitute slain in Memphis shadows
The Associated Press
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