1. 29 Apr


    The evolution of pro sports’ acceptance of gays: A timeline 2002New York Mets pitcher Mike Piazza, concerned by implications in an article in the New York Post, holds a press conference to announce, “I’m not gay. I’m heterosexual.” 2013Kobe Bryant tweets: Proud of @jasoncollins34. Don’t suffocate who u r because of the ignorance of others #courage #support #mambaarmystandup #BYOU

    The evolution of pro sports’ acceptance of gays: A timeline

    2002
    New York Mets pitcher Mike Piazza, concerned by implications in an article in the New York Post, holds a press conference to announce, “I’m not gay. I’m heterosexual.”

    2013
    Kobe Bryant tweets:     Proud of @jasoncollins34. Don’t suffocate who u r because of the ignorance of others #

     

  2. 29 Apr


    msnbc: “I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay.” Jason Collins makes history becoming the first male athlete playing in a major pro-sport to come out as gay: http://on.msnbc.com/1888nO2FB Yes.

    msnbc:

    “I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay.”

    Jason Collins makes history becoming the first male athlete playing in a major pro-sport to come out as gay: http://on.msnbc.com/1888nO2FB

    Yes.

     

  3. 26 Mar



    Dick Cheney publicly supported allowing gay couples to marry in 2009 — what took the rest of these folks so long?
    — Jeb Golinkin argues that we shouldn’t be applauding the ‘courage’ of politicians now backing gay marriage
     

  4. 20 Mar


    What a difference a decade makes. A Washington Post/ABC News poll released Monday shows that 58 percent of Americans support legalizing gay marriage and only 36 percent oppose it. In 2003, it was the reverse: 37 percent favored same-sex marriage and 55 percent opposed it. How did we get here? Let’s take a look back at America’s gay-marriage evolution.  Photo: Genora Dancel (left) and Ninia Baehr, plaintiffs in a Hawaiian anti-gay marriage case, in 1996. (AP Photo/Dennis Cook)

    What a difference a decade makes. A Washington Post/ABC News poll released Monday shows that 58 percent of Americans support legalizing gay marriage and only 36 percent oppose it. In 2003, it was the reverse: 37 percent favored same-sex marriage and 55 percent opposed it. How did we get here? Let’s take a look back at America’s gay-marriage evolution. 

    Photo: Genora Dancel (left) and Ninia Baehr, plaintiffs in a Hawaiian anti-gay marriage case, in 1996. (AP Photo/Dennis Cook)

     

  5. 5 Dec



    Let me be clear about this, as the Republican Party hasn’t always been in years past: If you’re a gay American, we love you. We want you to know that this is a party dedicated to helping lift all Americans. You can disagree with us on some issues. That’s fine. That’s okay. But we love you and we want you to join us. And if anyone says you shouldn’t be allowed to visit your partner in a hospital — I will personally show up and give them a piece of my mind. This is a party for all Americans.
    — The speech Marco Rubio should give, written by Matt Lewis

    (Source: theweek.com)

     

  6. 23 Aug


    “She’s completely taken advantage of the sympathy and goodwill of hundreds of thousands of people.” — Ashley Burns, With LeatherOn July 22, former University of Nebraska women’s basketball star Charlie Rogers, 33, crawled screaming from her Lincoln, Neb., house naked and bleeding with a cross cut in her chest, slashes all over her body, and anti-gay slurs carved on her arms and abdomen. Rogers, a lesbian, told police that three masked men had broken into her house and assaulted her. An outpouring of support rolled in from the community and gay rights supporters nationwide. Then, on Aug. 21, police arrested Rogers for allegedly staging the brutal “hate crime” herself. If convicted of making a false police report, Rogers faces a maximum of one year in prison and a $1,000 fine. What makes them think she staged the crime herself? Lots and lots of evidence. 

    “She’s completely taken advantage of the sympathy and goodwill of hundreds of thousands of people.” — Ashley Burns, With Leather

    On July 22, former University of Nebraska women’s basketball star Charlie Rogers, 33, crawled screaming from her Lincoln, Neb., house naked and bleeding with a cross cut in her chest, slashes all over her body, and anti-gay slurs carved on her arms and abdomen. Rogers, a lesbian, told police that three masked men had broken into her house and assaulted her. An outpouring of support rolled in from the community and gay rights supporters nationwide.

    Then, on Aug. 21, police arrested Rogers for allegedly staging the brutal “hate crime” herself. If convicted of making a false police report, Rogers faces a maximum of one year in prison and a $1,000 fine.

    What makes them think she staged the crime herself? Lots and lots of evidence. 

    (Source: theweek.com)

     

  7. 27 Jun


    Brave’s Merida, the celebrated first female hero of a Pixar film, is a tomboy. She’s a skilled archer, she fights, she detests girly clothes, rejects all her male suitors, and explicitly expresses that she does not want to get married. So, asks Adam Markovitz in a controversial article at Entertainment Weekly, “Is Merida gay?” It isn’t just that the character bristles at “traditional gender roles” that raises suspicion, Markovitz says. It’s the timing of Brave’s release to coincide with major parades in New York and San Francisco in honor of LGBT Pride Month, which he thinks was an intentional decision. The argument sparked a firestorm of commentary. Is Merida a thinly disguised gay character, and, if so, does it matter?

    Brave’s Merida, the celebrated first female hero of a Pixar film, is a tomboy. She’s a skilled archer, she fights, she detests girly clothes, rejects all her male suitors, and explicitly expresses that she does not want to get married. So, asks Adam Markovitz in a controversial article at Entertainment Weekly, “Is Merida gay?”

    It isn’t just that the character bristles at “traditional gender roles” that raises suspicion, Markovitz says. It’s the timing of Brave’s release to coincide with major parades in New York and San Francisco in honor of LGBT Pride Month, which he thinks was an intentional decision. The argument sparked a firestorm of commentary.

    Is Merida a thinly disguised gay character, and, if so, does it matter?

     

  8. 26 Jun


    Between the Salvation Army’s bell-ringing Santas and thrift-store empire, people often forget that the international group “is actually a Christian church organization with many conservative tenets and a military-style structure,” says Zach Ford at Think Progress. And recently, Maj. Andrew Craibe, the media relations officer for Australia’s southern territory, reminded us of that fact by agreeing on-air with two gay radio hosts that the Salvation Army believes gay people “should die.” The group quickly scrambled to clarify Craibe’s remark — after all, the Salvation Army’s mission is to “preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination” — but this is hardly the Salvation Army’s first run-in with the gay community. Here, a look at the influential charity’s challenging history with homosexuality and gay rights: 1865 — Former Methodist minister William Booth founds the Salvation Army in London, giving his religious mission a military structure and trappings, including its own flag, military-style uniforms, hymns, and ranks  1880 — The Salvation Army sets up shop in the U.S., Australia, and Ireland  1986 — The Salvation Army collects signatures for a petition to stop the New Zealand legislature from decriminalizing homosexuality. The Homosexual Law Reform Act passes anyway.  May 1, 2001 — An internal document from the Salvation Army says the charity has a “firm commitment” from the Bush administration for a national regulation shielding it and other religious charities from city and state laws barring discrimination against gays and lesbians, The Washington Post reports. The Salvation Army never discriminates in who it serves, says senior official George Hood, but being forced to hire gays “really begins to chew away at the theological fabric of who we are.”  July 11, 2001 — The Bush administration turns down the Salvation Army’s request   2004 — The Salvation Army threatens to leave New York City if Mayor Michael Bloomberg enforces a new ordinance requiring all groups with city contracts to offer benefits to the same-sex partners of employees. Bloomberg, who opposed the ordinance, doesn’t enforce it.   Feb. 14, 2006 — The New York State Court of Appeals upholds Bloomberg’s right to ignore the ordinance, leaving future enforcement decisions to the discretion of whomever is mayor   July 2006 — The New Zealand branch of the Salvation Army apologizes over any remaining “hurt” from its prominent role in trying to stymie the Homosexual Law Reform Act 20 years earlier  Nov. 21, 2011 — Bil Browning at The Bilerico Project promotes a drive encouraging gay-rights supporters to give their holiday donations to other charities that don’t “actively discriminate against the LGBT community”   June 21, 2012 —Maj. Andrew Craibe, the Australian Salvation Army spokesman, goes on the radio program Salt and Pepper, where gay hosts Serena Ryan and Pete Dillon ask him about his organization’s assertion in its officialSalvation Story: Salvationist Handbook of Doctrine that practicing homosexuals “deserve to die.” “So we should die,” Ryan tells Craibe, who replies: “You know, we have an alignment to the Scriptures, but that’s our belief.”  June 23 — In a statement, the Salvation Army “sincerely apologizes” for Craibe’s “miscommunication” and the “serious misunderstanding” of the group’s beliefs. The scripture in question “is not referring to physical death, nor is it specifically targeted at homosexual behavior,” says Maj. Bruce Harmer of Salvation Army Australia. Instead, the church believes that “no human being is without sin, all sin leads to spiritual death (separation from God),” and that “it would be inconsistent with Christian teaching to call for anyone to be put to death.” 

    Between the Salvation Army’s bell-ringing Santas and thrift-store empire, people often forget that the international group “is actually a Christian church organization with many conservative tenets and a military-style structure,” says Zach Ford at Think Progress. And recently, Maj. Andrew Craibe, the media relations officer for Australia’s southern territory, reminded us of that fact by agreeing on-air with two gay radio hosts that the Salvation Army believes gay people “should die.” The group quickly scrambled to clarify Craibe’s remark — after all, the Salvation Army’s mission is to “preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination” — but this is hardly the Salvation Army’s first run-in with the gay community.

    Here, a look at the influential charity’s challenging history with homosexuality and gay rights:

    • 1865 — Former Methodist minister William Booth founds the Salvation Army in London, giving his religious mission a military structure and trappings, including its own flag, military-style uniforms, hymns, and ranks
       
    • 1880 — The Salvation Army sets up shop in the U.S., Australia, and Ireland
       
    • 1986 — The Salvation Army collects signatures for a petition to stop the New Zealand legislature from decriminalizing homosexuality. The Homosexual Law Reform Act passes anyway.
       
    • May 1, 2001 — An internal document from the Salvation Army says the charity has a “firm commitment” from the Bush administration for a national regulation shielding it and other religious charities from city and state laws barring discrimination against gays and lesbians, The Washington Post reports. The Salvation Army never discriminates in who it serves, says senior official George Hood, but being forced to hire gays “really begins to chew away at the theological fabric of who we are.”
       
    • July 11, 2001 — The Bush administration turns down the Salvation Army’s request 
       
    • 2004 — The Salvation Army threatens to leave New York City if Mayor Michael Bloomberg enforces a new ordinance requiring all groups with city contracts to offer benefits to the same-sex partners of employees. Bloomberg, who opposed the ordinance, doesn’t enforce it. 
       
    • Feb. 14, 2006 — The New York State Court of Appeals upholds Bloomberg’s right to ignore the ordinance, leaving future enforcement decisions to the discretion of whomever is mayor 
       
    • July 2006 — The New Zealand branch of the Salvation Army apologizes over any remaining “hurt” from its prominent role in trying to stymie the Homosexual Law Reform Act 20 years earlier
       
    • Nov. 21, 2011 — Bil Browning at The Bilerico Project promotes a drive encouraging gay-rights supporters to give their holiday donations to other charities that don’t “actively discriminate against the LGBT community” 
       
    • June 21, 2012 —Maj. Andrew Craibe, the Australian Salvation Army spokesman, goes on the radio program Salt and Pepper, where gay hosts Serena Ryan and Pete Dillon ask him about his organization’s assertion in its officialSalvation Story: Salvationist Handbook of Doctrine that practicing homosexuals “deserve to die.” “So we should die,” Ryan tells Craibe, who replies: “You know, we have an alignment to the Scriptures, but that’s our belief.”
       
    • June 23 — In a statement, the Salvation Army “sincerely apologizes” for Craibe’s “miscommunication” and the “serious misunderstanding” of the group’s beliefs. The scripture in question “is not referring to physical death, nor is it specifically targeted at homosexual behavior,” says Maj. Bruce Harmer of Salvation Army Australia. Instead, the church believes that “no human being is without sin, all sin leads to spiritual death (separation from God),” and that “it would be inconsistent with Christian teaching to call for anyone to be put to death.” 
     

  9. 25 Jun


    This weekend, thousands of people took part in LGBT pride parades in San Francisco, Chicago, and New York, where celebrants, including Cyndi Lauper, marked the one-year anniversary of landmark legislation that legalized gay marriage in New York. The merrymaking capped a string of global celebrations in June, which is the official month of LGBT pride.

    Here, a pictorial guide to pride parades around the world 

     

  10. 1 Jun



    The entire medical community is opposed to these phony therapies. These non-scientific efforts have led in some cases to patients later committing suicide, as well as severe mental and physical anguish. It’s not just that people are wasting their time and money on these therapies that don’t work, it’s that these therapies are dangerous.
    — California State Senator Ted W. Lieu (D), on his bill banning ‘gay conversion therapy’ for kids in California.
     

  11. 24 May


    Marvel’s Astonishing X-Men mutant superhero Northstar made history in 1992 when he declared, “I am gay.” He’ll do so again by proposing to his boyfriend Kyle in an upcoming issue.

    Meanwhile, DC Comics announces that one of its “major iconic” superheroes will also come out of the closet this June. “This is a huge deal,” says Entertainment Weekly. Here, a look at the growing number of gay comic book characters

     

  12. 14 May


    Most commentators see Newsweek’s provocative new cover as a cynical rebuttal to rival newsweekly TIME’s breast-feeding head-turner last week. (Newsweek editor Tina Brown reportedly responded to TIME’s cover by saying, “Let the games begin.”) But Andrew Sullivan, the openly gay writer who penned the cover story, means it seriously — in a figurative way — much like what Toni Morrison meant when she called Bill Clinton the “first black president” in 1998: He just gets it. Thanks to Obama’s fraught relationship with his mixed race, Sullivan writes, “he intuitively understands gays and our predicament — because it so mirrors his own.” Still, first gay president? Is this the kind of thing that kept Obama from fully “evolving” on gay marriage for so long? Best opinions:  Obama can’t be happy about this one: It’s sad that the once-mighty newsweeklies are stooping to “stunt covers” like this to sell magazines, says Ed Driscoll at Pajamas Media. But give “Tina Brown credit for one thing — albeit not necessarily intentionally.” Newsweek and TIME have been running near-“messianic” covers of Obama almost nonstop since 2008, and now “at least Tina has put up a cover that will give Obama plenty of derision in flyover country.”  In 2012, this barely registers as shocking: Even a few years ago, Newsweek proclaiming Obama “the first gay president” would have been “a rainbow-wrapped gift” for any Republican challenger, says Rick Klein at ABC News. But “for once Democrats aren’t worried about the image [the cover] projects.” Obama and Mitt Romney both know that, demographically if not politically, Democrats are winning the culture wars. And if nothing else, this cover promises another week “where the Obama economy was not front and center.”  Gay marriage won’t change anyone’s vote: Actually, like Romney, “Obama no doubt wishes the same-sex marriage question would fade into the background, so that issues more important to most Americans — say, the economy — could become the focus of campaign 2012,” says Brad Knickerbocker at The Christian Science Monitor. People have already made up their minds on gay marriage, and Obama isn’t winning over those who oppose it. But people’s views of the economy matter a lot, and on that front he has a lot of persuading to do. Bottom line: “Whether or not Obama is ‘the first gay president’ may make little difference come November.”

    Most commentators see Newsweek’s provocative new cover as a cynical rebuttal to rival newsweekly TIME’s breast-feeding head-turner last week. (Newsweek editor Tina Brown reportedly responded to TIME’s cover by saying, “Let the games begin.”)

    But Andrew Sullivan, the openly gay writer who penned the cover story, means it seriously — in a figurative way — much like what Toni Morrison meant when she called Bill Clinton the “first black president” in 1998: He just gets it.

    Thanks to Obama’s fraught relationship with his mixed race, Sullivan writes, “he intuitively understands gays and our predicament — because it so mirrors his own.” Still, first gay president?

    Is this the kind of thing that kept Obama from fully “evolving” on gay marriage for so long? Best opinions: 

    • Obama can’t be happy about this one: It’s sad that the once-mighty newsweeklies are stooping to “stunt covers” like this to sell magazines, says Ed Driscoll at Pajamas Media. But give “Tina Brown credit for one thing — albeit not necessarily intentionally.” Newsweek and TIME have been running near-“messianic” covers of Obama almost nonstop since 2008, and now “at least Tina has put up a cover that will give Obama plenty of derision in flyover country.”
       
    • In 2012, this barely registers as shocking: Even a few years ago, Newsweek proclaiming Obama “the first gay president” would have been “a rainbow-wrapped gift” for any Republican challenger, says Rick Klein at ABC News. But “for once Democrats aren’t worried about the image [the cover] projects.” Obama and Mitt Romney both know that, demographically if not politically, Democrats are winning the culture wars. And if nothing else, this cover promises another week “where the Obama economy was not front and center.”
       
    • Gay marriage won’t change anyone’s vote: Actually, like Romney, “Obama no doubt wishes the same-sex marriage question would fade into the background, so that issues more important to most Americans — say, the economy — could become the focus of campaign 2012,” says Brad Knickerbocker at The Christian Science Monitor. People have already made up their minds on gay marriage, and Obama isn’t winning over those who oppose it. But people’s views of the economy matter a lot, and on that front he has a lot of persuading to do. Bottom line: “Whether or not Obama is ‘the first gay president’ may make little difference come November.”

    (Source: theweek.com)

     

  13. 8 May



    There’s not more than a handful of voters in America who are bigoted enough to hold a position on marriage equality against a candidate for President above all else, or at least not more than a handful who wouldn’t already be voting against Obama because they already think he endorses what he has strained not to endorse. […] Moreover, the only impression you get from this word-parsing and game-playing is one of a cynical campaign operation unable to articulate a strong statement of principle.
    — 

    —David Dayen at Firedoglake

    Gay-marriage supporters’ patience with Obama is wearing thin. Most observers on both sides of the issue think President Obama secretly supports gay marriage but won’t say so publicly for political reasons. Would Obama be better off if he just endorsed same-sex marriage?