GayWrites.

"Here‘s the thing about rights—they‘re not actually supposed to be voted on. That‘s why they‘re..."

Mon, 28 May 2012 19:56:26 -0500

“Here‘s the thing about rights—they‘re not actually supposed to be voted on. That‘s why they‘re called rights.”

- Rachel Maddow

Pressure builds for ExxonMobil to protect LGBT employees

Mon, 28 May 2012 16:59:21 -0500

Pressure builds for ExxonMobil to protect LGBT employees:

ExxonMobil shareholders will meet Wednesday to discuss adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the company’s employment nondiscrimination policy.

Some activists are planning to protest outside the hall where the shareholders will be voting. Because Obama hasn’t signed an executive order mandating that companies that do business with the federal government protect their LGBT employees, individual policies are still needed in many cases.

“ExxonMobil’s failure to include sexual orientation and gender identity in its written equal employment policy has made the company an outlier among its peers,” New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli told Dallas Voice in an email.

“From a shareholder’s perspective, this policy means that ExxonMobil isn’t able to attract and retain the best talent to come work for the company and puts its reputation in harm’s way. Until it addresses this issue of discrimination, we don’t feel that ExxonMobil will be getting the best performance to benefit our holdings in the company.”

There is no excuse for any company to ever treat its employees differently based on something like sexual orientation or gender identity. I hope the people in charge here do the right thing.

I promise.

Mon, 28 May 2012 13:50:24 -0500

I promise.

"They did not force me to resign. I resigned because I’m very passionate about foreign policy and..."

Mon, 28 May 2012 11:24:59 -0500

““They did not force me to resign. I resigned because I’m very passionate about foreign policy and national security issues. When the messenger becomes part of the message — if you really care about these issues — you should step aside.””

- Richard Grenell, the openly gay man who briefly served as the national security spokesperson for Mitt Romney’s campaign, speaks out about why he resigned. He says he wasn’t forced out of his job for being openly gay, but he thought discussion about his sexuality had obscured his message. More.

Obama launches reelection efforts among LGBT community

Mon, 28 May 2012 08:54:19 -0500

Obama launches reelection efforts among LGBT community:

Just in time for Pride month, President Obama launched his official LGBT outreach efforts last week.

His LGBT campaign will be hosted on barackobama.com/lgbt, a section of his campaign site dedicated to LGBT issues, endorsements and activism efforts. He’ll have voter registration drives at Pride events nationwide as well as phone banks and house parties in a number of different states.

Joe Solmonese, outgoing president of HRC, told reporters on a conference call that Obama is clearly the candidate for the LGBT community:

While the president signed into law an LGBT hate crimes law and repealed the military’s anti-gay ban known as “Don’t Ask, Don’ Tell,” Solmonese noted that Romney has said he would not have repealed DADT and is in favor of seeing an amendment banning same-sex marriage be added to the U.S. Constitution.

“The choice we are facing could not be clearer. We can re-elect a leader working with our community. Or we can sit back and watch Mitt Romney take us back to where we started,” said Solmonese.

Check his site out for an event near you!

"I’m not different for the sake of being different, only for the desperate sake of being..."

Sun, 27 May 2012 19:52:51 -0500

“I’m not different for the sake of being different, only for the desperate sake of being myself.”

- Vivian Stanshall

Read this now: "San Diego Dedicates Harvey Milk Street"

Sun, 27 May 2012 16:52:37 -0500

Read this now: "San Diego Dedicates Harvey Milk Street":

On May 22, the city of San Diego unveiled the country’s first Harvey Milk Street, named, of course, for the famous gay rights pioneer whose career in public office centered in San Francisco.

The Huffington Post blog above tells us why that’s important. The piece highlights different people’s reactions to the street naming and different perspectives on the significance of Milk’s contributions, including a quote from his nephew, Stuart Milk.

In a speech, longtime LGBT-rights activist and city commissioner Nicole Murray-Ramirez said:

This day has been a long time in the making. For over eight years community leaders have tried to name a street in honor of Harvey Milk. We have had many roadblocks over the years in trying to honor his legacy. When Mr. Milk stood for up equality, he did so for all people, not just the LGBT community, and he did this at a time when the government or family members could have a person committed to a mental hospital just because they were gay or lesbian. Now look how far we have come, when the two Christian churches on this block do not agree with the LGBT lifestyle, yet neither opposed changing the name of the street. For that we should give them a round of applause.

Blogs on HuffPo don’t usually include a lot of reporting, but this one has some pretty meaningful quotes from really important people. For a quick brush-up on your Harvey Milk know-how, give it a read.

It’s a spectrum, and it should be treated like one.

Sun, 27 May 2012 13:51:39 -0500

It’s a spectrum, and it should be treated like one.

Nepal will allow "other" gender on official IDs

Sun, 27 May 2012 11:23:01 -0500

Nepal will allow "other" gender on official IDs:

The government of Nepal has announced that citizens will now have the option of designating “other” as their gender on an official ID, rather than stating “male” or “female.” The change will take effect in a few weeks.

From Advocate.com:

LGBT activists in the nation welcomed the decision, which implements a ruling made by Nepal’s Supreme Court in 2007, reports wire service Deutsche Presse-Agentur. It will help transgender people as well as others who suffer discrimination because their appearance does not match the gender listed on their citizenship cards, they said.

“Our community feels we are finally being granted an identity by the state, and my friends have told me they feel proud about it,” said Sunil Babu Pant, Nepal’s first openly gay legislator.

Little steps like these are helping us break outside binaries. Good for Nepal.

Trans woman wins bathroom rights at UA

Sun, 27 May 2012 08:43:11 -0500

Trans woman wins bathroom rights at UA:

A transgender lecturer at the University of Arkansas won the right to use the women’s restrooms on campus after the Department of Justice got involved.

Jennifer Braly, 38, was a guest lecturer at UA as well as a student. She was told she could only use unisex/gender-neutral bathrooms at the school, essentially banned from using bathrooms designated female (or male, for that matter).

She challenged the school’s position and was banned from lecturing for doing so. Eventually, the Justice Department’s Office of Civil Rights sent a letter to the school outlining Braly’s rights and their expectations. Braly is now permitted to use female-designated restrooms.

Can’t believe we still have to fight for these kinds of things, but every battle won makes a difference.

In which CNN’s Brooke Baldwin challenges the Family...

Sat, 26 May 2012 19:54:03 -0500

In which CNN’s Brooke Baldwin challenges the Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins to justify his anti-gay views. More.

Petition calls for correction in Dictionary.com definition of marriage

Sat, 26 May 2012 16:53:53 -0500

Petition calls for correction in Dictionary.com definition of marriage:

The web site Dictionary.com defines marriage asa “social institution under which man and woman establish their decision to live together as husband and wife by legal commitments, religious ceremonies, etc.” But the organizer of an online petition is trying to correct it.

Mike Raven organized a petition asking Dictionary.com to correct its definition of marriage to include same-sex couples, and more than 90,000 people have already signed on. The definition is currently incorrect, he says, because there are states where legal marriages are between two people of the same sex.

Anne Burrell of Food Network is officially out as dating another...

Sat, 26 May 2012 13:49:42 -0500

Anne Burrell of Food Network is officially out as dating another woman, though her rep says she was never closeted in the first place. More.

High schooler suspended, then excused for bullying awareness campaign

Sat, 26 May 2012 11:20:00 -0500

High schooler suspended, then excused for bullying awareness campaign:

A high school student in New York was suspended for creating a video and a Facebook page about a fictional student who was bullied and committed suicide, but upon outcry from the community, her punishment was lifted.

Jessica Barba, 15, created a video about a fictional 12-year-old character named Hailey who was bullied, became depressed and committed suicide. She also created a Facebook page for Hailey where she posted self-loathing status updates, aiming to illustrate the effects of cyberbullying.

A parent who didn’t know the page was fictional found it and notified police and school officials, and Barba was suspended for five days and the page taken down. But her school rallied behind her, and after a suspension hearing her punishment has been lifted.

I’m not sure how I feel about this. I wholeheartedly applaud this girl’s efforts to raise awareness about a serious, dark issue like cyberbullying, and I don’t think she should have been suspended in the first place. But I wonder if creating a faux suicidal persona is taking it too far, clearly disturbing parents and perhaps triggering other students. What do you think?

Civil unions on their way in Brazil

Sat, 26 May 2012 08:59:23 -0500

Civil unions on their way in Brazil:

A measure that would allow same-sex couples to enter into civil unions is making progress in Brazil.

The bill passed through a human rights committee in Brazil’s Congress, where it’s been held up for 16 years. The measure would change Brazil’s civil unions law from saying such unions are between a man and a woman to being between two people.

This may pave the way for marriage equality in Brazil as well, as state courts have allowed some civil unions to become full-fledged marriages. The bill needs to pass other Senate committees before going to a full vote.

Woo!

"In the end, some of your greatest pains become your greatest strengths."

Fri, 25 May 2012 19:53:32 -0500

““In the end, some of your greatest pains become your greatest strengths.””

- Drew Barrymore

DOMA ruled unconstitutional once again

Fri, 25 May 2012 17:58:19 -0500

DOMA ruled unconstitutional once again:

A federal judge ruled yesterday that a provision of the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional because it limits same-sex spouses of state workers in getting insurance.

DOMA recognizes marriage as between one man and one woman, keeping legally married same-sex spouses from obtaining some federal benefits. U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken ruled that benefits like insurance must be made equally available to same-sex and opposite-sex spouses. Wilken is the second trial judge in the U.S. District Court for Northern California to strike down that section of DOMA.

Wilken issued her ruling in a lawsuit filed against the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, known as CalPERS, by same-sex couples. The system has refused to let gay spouses enroll in its federally approved insurance program on the ground that they were excluded by DOMA.

Wilken said the DOMA ban violated the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal treatment. She wrote that there was no proof the DOMA provision was “rationally related to a legitimate government interest.”

It’s only a matter of time before it’s gone for good.

Inca and Rayas are two male penguins at a zoo in Madrid who have...

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:01:49 -0500

Inca and Rayas are two male penguins at a zoo in Madrid who have built a nest together every spring for the last six years, hoping for a chick. To satisfy their apparent craving to start a family, keepers have given them an egg of their own to care for and hatch. More.

Maryland voters want marriage equality to stay

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:21:01 -0500

Maryland voters want marriage equality to stay:

A new Public Policy Poll shows that 57 percent of voters in Maryland would vote to uphold the state’s current marriage equality law if it came to a referendum.

The poll also showed a “major shift” in the opinions of African-American voters, who comprise about a third of Maryland’s population and would support voting for marriage equality at a rate of 55 percent.

“Things are moving in Maryland,” said Josh Levin, campaign manager for Marylanders for Marriage Equality, in a news release. “We’re approaching a supermajority who want to uphold the state’s new marriage law. The message of stronger families and greater fairness is resonating, and we’re confident Maryland will be the first state to win a ballot measure on marriage equality and religious freedom.”

Every time marriage equality has been put to a ballot in a state, it lost, which terrifies me. But the numbers seem to be in our favor in this one - we can only hope for the best.

First openly gay cadets graduate from Air Force Academy

Fri, 25 May 2012 08:43:51 -0500

First openly gay cadets graduate from Air Force Academy:

Eight months after Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’s repeal took effect, the first openly gay cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy graduated this week.

President Obama gave the commencement address at the graduation in Colorado Springs, Colorado on Wednesday. Officials from the Blue Alliance, an LGBT Air Force Academy alumni group, said there were at least four openly LGBT people in this year’s graduating class.

“We can say with confidence and pride: The United States is stronger, safer and more respected in the world,” Obama said. “There’s a new feeling about America. I see it everywhere I go, from London and Prague, to Tokyo and Seoul, to Rio and Jakarta. There’s a new confidence in our leadership.”

So exciting! Congratulations to them.