Kids met gay dad’s partner on Father’s Day
(Atlanta) Eric Mongerson’s kids couldn’t meet his partner of two years, much less join the couple for ice cream. His friends couldn’t cheer on the children at concerts or Little League games.
The divorced dad spent thousands of dollars fighting an unusual ban imposed by a county judge in 2007 that …
Missed chance at grant a blow for The Center
HILLCREST — British poet Alexander Pope famously noted 300 years ago that to err is human, to forgive divine.
San Diego publisher Michael Portantino might not have been pondering “An Essay on Criticism” when he learned San Diego’s main community center for gays and lesbians missed a deadline to apply for a major grant.
But Portantino surely adopted Pope’s way of thinking when he wrote about the blunder in the Gay & Lesbian Times.
Instead of lambasting the San Diego Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center for failing to seek a city grant worth tens of thousands of dollars, the publisher urged readers to forgive the mistake and make up the difference with their own donations.
“There’s not a CEO of a company that hasn’t made a mistake,” Portantino said. “Anybody who doesn’t reach in their pocket and write out a check for $5, $10, $15 or $20 right now should be ashamed of themselves.”
See Missed chance at grant a blow for The Center
San Diego Union Tribune, CA
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/02/missed-chance…
For Supporters of Gay Marriage, a Dashing of Great Expectations
When Senate Majority Leader Malcolm A. Smith spoke to a hotel ballroom in Manhattan packed with hundreds of gay-rights advocates, fund-raisers and politicians on Saturday night, his mere mention of the words “marriage equality” roused the crowd. So when Mr. Smith got to the question on everyone’s mind — whether New York would legalize same-sex marriages — he was greeted with a burst of cheers and applause before he could even finish his thought. “Hold up,” Mr. Smith, a Democrat, said, trying to temper the excitement. “Although we do not have the number of votes at this time needed to pass the marriage equality gender bill this legislative session, we are committed to pursuing its passage.” With that, Mr. Smith sent a clear signal that same-sex marriage in New York did not stand a good chance of becoming law this year. His assessment was a sobering dose of reality for supporters of gay rights, who with their money and support helped Democrats win control of the Senate for the first time since 1965 and hoped to quickly knock down the last remaining obstacle to gay marriage in New York. “It’s very disappointing,” said Matthew Titone, a Democratic assemblyman who represents Staten Island and who listened to Mr. Smith’s speech, which was delivered at a fund-raiser for the Human Rights Campaign, a national gay rights organization. “Even if they don’t have the votes, that’s really no excuse for the leader not to crack the whip, get them in line and remind them that the only reason they’re in the majority is because of the gay community,” Mr. Titone said. Expectations that the Senate would act this year have run high. To secure their victory in November, Senate Democrats relied on hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from supporters of gay and lesbian rights across the country. A gay marriage bill, which passed the Assembly in 2007 and has the backing of Gov. David A. Paterson, was among the issues that Democrats were expected to press once they took the majority. Mr. Smith himself said in 2007, “We’re going to make sure that happens in ’08, when we take over the majority.” See For Supporters of Gay Marriage, a Dashing of Great Expectations
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/02/for-supporter…
Leslie Hagen back on the job at Justice
Leslie Hagen, who during the Bush administration reportedly was fired from a post in the Justice Department’s Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys because of rumors that she was a lesbian, has been reinstated. Her job, which previously was subject to an annual contract-renewal process, has been made a permanent position. However, NPR reports that Hagen has not received an apology for the wrongful firing, even though her complaints were corroborated by the Justice Department’s inspector general. Justice also has declined to reimburse her for thousands of dollars of related legal bills, according to this article. National Public Radio
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/02/leslie-hagen-…
Vandalism at Long Island LGBT center probed as hate crime
(Bay Shore, New York) Thousands of dollars in damage to the Long Island Gay and Lesbian Youth Center in Bay Shore was a message to the LGBT community that hate remains a “terrible reality,” the facility’s director said Tuesday.
The front door of the Center was smashed, all the windows of …
