Tag: Gay Politics
Court Sticks A Knife in DOMA
CNN:
In its divided ruling on the federal Defense of Marriage Act, the high court said legally married same-sex couples must receive the same benefits provided to heterosexual couples. The act had defined marriage as only between a man and a woman, but the court said the law violated the rights of same-sex couples by demoting their marriages to second-class status when compared to their heterosexual peers.
The court said law wrongly “instructs all federal officials, and indeed all persons with whom same-sex couples interact, including their own children, that their marriage is less worthy than the marriages of others.”
Now, the federal government recognizes the marriage of those same-sex couples who are legally married in their states.
Leader of ‘Ex-Gay’ Group Exodus International Admits Sexuality Cannot Be Cured, Apologizes to Those He Has Hurt – Exodus Closes Down
“You have never been my enemy,” wrote Alan Chambers, head of the ex-gay group Exodus International, in an apology to the gay men and women his group has harmed over the years. “I am very sorry that I have been yours.”
Woah — maybe there is a God. Chambers issued the apology in advance of an appearance on the OWN network with Lisa Ling as part of series she hosts called “God & Gays.” Not long after Chambers issued his apology, Exodus — the best known the best-known group among organizations that sell the idea that homosexuality can be cured by prayer and other means it labeled “reparative therapy” — announced that it is going out of the business of curing gays while continuing to pursue a right-wing Christian agenda.
Here’s an excerpt of Chambers’ apology:
Poll: 58% of Californians Support Gay Marriage
As the Supreme Court prepares a decision on the fate of Proposition 8, nearly six in 10 California voters now believe same-sex marriage should be legal, with support rising among older voters and in all regions of the state, a new poll has found.
The USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll reveals that attitudes in the state toward gay marriage have changed significantly since Californians banned it in 2008 by a vote of 52 percent to 48 percent. The Supreme Court will decide this month whether the ban will continue.
“There has been movement across the board” in favor of same-sex marriage, said Dave Kanevsky, research director of the American Viewpoint, a Republican polling firm that helped conduct the survey. “Every group has moved.”
The poll found that 58 percent of the state’s registered voters believe same-sex marriage should be legal, compared with 36 percent against, a margin of 22 points. When the same pollsters asked that question three years ago, 52 percent favored gay marriage and 40 percent opposed it, a 12-point spread…
Town Where Once a Man Was Killed for Being Gay Now Shields Its Residents from Westboro Baptist Hate
Somewhere, Ryan Skipper is smiling.
No, Ryan Skipper is laughing, high-fiving, and doing the chicken dance. Or maybe that’s just us, upon hearing the recent state of affairs in Lakeland, Fla.
One person who might not have gotten the anti-homophobia message is Sheriff Grady Judd
The same place where, in 2007, 25-year-old Ryan Skipper was bound and brutally stabbed, leaving his car so bloodied that the his murderers, who planned to steal it, drove it off a dock instead — all because, as they told investigators, Ryan was gay — the very same Lakeland citizenry has now massed together to fight off the Westboro Baptist Church, known for its nonsensical hate-mongering against homosexuals.
Basketball’s Jason Collins Steps Up to Be First Professional Player to Come Out
The coming out manifesto from free agent NBA center Jason Collins, published by Sports Illustrated, shows how far the struggle for equality and dignity for people of all sexual orientations has come.*
Collins waited for another major league team sports professional to be the first to tell the world he or she was gay. None have.
I didn’t set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport…I wish I wasn’t the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, “I’m different.” If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I’m raising my hand.
Collins says he decided the time was right after becoming a free agent, after the Boston marathon bombings, and after watching his straight friend, Rep. Joe Kennedy, march in a gay rights parade — while he stood on the sidelines.
I’m seldom jealous of others, but hearing what Joe had done filled me with envy. I was proud of him for participating but angry that as a closeted gay man I couldn’t even cheer my straight friend on as a spectator. If I’d been questioned, I would have concocted half truths. What a shame to have to lie at a celebration of pride.
He also wanted to beat the gossip sites to the punch.
My maternal grandmother was apprehensive about my plans to come out…She worries that I am opening myself up to prejudice and hatred. I explained to her that in a way, my coming out is preemptive. I shouldn’t have to live under the threat of being outed. The announcement should be mine to make, not TMZ’s.
*Update: A search on Twitter for the words, “Jason Collins faggot” shows how far we have yet to go.
Republican Senator Doesn’t Cite Gay Relatives in His Support for Marriage Equality
Many people who change their minds from being against marriage equality to being for it chalk up their “evolving” to knowing someone personally who is gay. Such was the case for Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who recently revealed that a) his son is gay, and b) he thinks gay people should be able to marry the person they love.
Another Republican senator, Mark Kirk of Illinois, has now stepped forward to endorse marriage equality, but for more compelling reasons. In a short blog post, Kirk laid out his position simply.
One wonders if Portman, unlike Kirk, would have seen the light if not for the personal interest of actually knowing and loving a gay person, and wanting his son to be happy
When I climbed the Capitol steps in January, I promised myself that I would return to the Senate with an open mind and greater respect for others.
Same-sex couples should have the right to civil marriage. Our time on this Earth is limited, I know that better than most. Life comes down to who you love and who loves you back– government has no place in the middle.
Climbing those steps was difficult for Kirk because he is recovering from the stroke he suffered in January of 2012.
Michelle Shocked Explains Her Homophobic Rant, Sort of
I admit I made a mistake, Piers. If I had the chance to do it again, I don’t think I would have taken the audience up on their choice. I had presented an entire performance, and I framed it as “truth,” and then I came out back for an encore, and they requested “reality.” What has consequently taken place ever since then is my manifestation of how little I think of reality. I know that it’s a stock in trade for a lot of the media to present things like that’s how it really is. But I don’t think the audience was ready for the consequences of that, and I surely have not been happy with it.
Former folk-pop star Michelle Shocked explaining her “God hates fags” rant onstage in San Francisco last month, speaking with CNN’s Piers Morgan.
At Last: The Gay Agenda Explained
Interesting comments are sometimes left on our posts, although there can be a time delay between when the post is written and when comments appear. We assume this happens because someone was doing a search for a topic and up we popped.
So here’s a recent comment on an old post (May of 2011), from someone who signed his name “Matt Stone.” Matt finally explains the storied “gay agenda,” to which conservatives point. The subject of the post, from Jon Ponder, called, Guess What Percentage of Americans is Gay was that the estimates exaggerate the real number.
Matt starts his comment with a quote from the post.
“They claim it’s more like 2 percent — which prompts the question: If there are so few gay people, why all the fuss?”
Because in the late 70’s the gay community realized in order to gain legitimacy for their perversion they would have to re-brand their lifestyle from one governed by licentious behavior to one of social victimization.
