Archive for lgbt politics

Hey Heterosexuals, Come Out of the Closet!

Posted in Activism, Gender Issues, Legal, LGBT Rights, News, Politics and Sex, You Fucked Up! with tags , , , , , , , on April 6, 2011 by girlonpiano

 

Yes, that’s right! Because it is so difficult for heterosexual people to find support, advocacy, and information about their sexuality, Texas has decided that if colleges or universities fund LGBT awareness programs, they must also provide an equivalent program that promotes “traditional moral values”. This means that if your school has an Ally or other diversity training, they will have to provide an equivalent program to train people about what it means to be straight. I mean, there are certainly no relationship models for straight people anywhere in pop culture, media, politics, academia, religion, business, or any other facet of society, so it is obvious that we need dedicated, focused outreach to really help educate Americans about what it means to be straight.

“Republican Representative Wayne Christian’s budget amendment was approved with a lopsided 110 to 24 vote, The Dallas Morning News reported. The amendment would force state colleges and universities using state funds to promote diversity programs based on sexuality or gender to spend an equal amount of money to promote “family and traditional values.”” Read the rest of the article.

Down Low at West Point

Posted in Legal, LGBT Rights, News, Politics and Sex with tags , , , , , , , , on August 25, 2010 by paigetsindfw

This photo was taken in 1980, representing the first women to graduate from America's most prestigious and demanding military school

And here, 30 years later, another batch of students is making a difference at West Point. This time, as the New York Times reports, those cadets are gay, lesbian, or bisexual. Most are “on the down low”, but now, more and more are coming forward, and facing military “justice” for deciding that their oath of honor means more to them than keeping their true selves hidden from the bigots and fearmongers who prattle about combat readiness and moral hygiene.

As one such student, Katherine Miller put it, “I have lied to my classmates and compromised my integrity and my identity by adhering to existing military policy. I am unwilling to suppress an entire portion of my identity any longer.”

And these are the people we think we can afford to lose with so many enemies abroad?

like a dart in the face

Posted in Activism, Gender Issues, Legal, LGBT Rights, News, Politics and Sex, You Fucked Up! with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on June 17, 2010 by girlonpiano

 

The Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) system is “updating” its non-discrimination policy to create a loophole that would allow GLBT people to be fired, or not even hired to begin with, based solely on their orientation or gender identity.

The “update” was proposed by Raymond Noah at Tuesday night’s closed board meeting. Here’s what it says:

“DART is committed to hiring, promoting and retaining the best qualified persons in all positions and, EXCEPT to the extent permitted by federal and/or Texas law, DART will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or any other characteristic protected by law.”

I added the bold and all caps to the word except, ‘cuz here’s the thing: in Texas, it is permitted to discriminate against LGBT people! So, basically, what I’m hearing is “we won’t discriminate unless we’re allowed to, and we are allowed to, so we’re gonna go ahead and do it.”

Fuck you, DART! Fix this shit NOW!

Iceland recognizes gay marriage – unanimously

Posted in Activism, Gender Issues, Legal, LGBT Rights, News, Politics and Sex with tags , , , , , , , , on June 13, 2010 by girlonpiano

Iceland’s parliament voted 49-0 today to add “man and man” and “woman and woman” to their existing marriage laws.

The Marriage Scorecard to Date:

Netherlands (2001)
Belgium (2003)
Spain (2005)
Canada (2005)
South Africa (2006)
Israel* (2006, marriages from other countries)
Norway (2008, Civil Unions since 1993)
Sweden (2009, Registered Partnerships since 1995)
Portugal (2010)
Iceland (2010)

Monday is International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO)

Posted in Activism, Gender Issues, LGBT Rights, Politics and Sex, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , on May 14, 2010 by finickymuse

To mark this year’s International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO), which is officially Monday, May 17, at least 6 US cities as well as other cities worldwide  will celebrate with the “Great Global Kiss-In” this weekend.  IDAHO wants you to participate and send them a video. Find out more here:

LGBT Action Alert!

Posted in Activism, LGBT Rights, Medical with tags , , , , , , , , on April 8, 2010 by girlonpiano

Action Alert from the National Coalition for LGBT Health

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) is currently circulating a letter in the Senate, requesting funds for the addition of a question about sexual orientation and gender identity to the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), the federal government’s most comprehensive and influential survey. This question is vitally important for gathering the information needed to understand and address the health disparities affecting the LGBT community.

Please call your Senator today and urge them to sign on to Senator Whitehouse’s letter. To contact your Senator, please dial the Senate switchboard at (202) 224-3121, give your state, and ask to speak to your Senator. When you are connected to your Senator’s office, ask to speak to the staff member who works on Health and Human Services Appropriations. Tell them you are a constituent who supports appropriating an additional $2 million for the National Health Interview Survey and that you would like them to sign on to Senator Whitehouse’s letter.

In order to sign on, they must contact Nick Bath in Senator Whitehouse’s office and enter their request in the Appropriations Committee’s database. If they have any questions, please have them contact Rebecca Fox at 202-558-6828 or rebecca@lgbthealth.net

Spill your guts

Posted in Activism, Stuff to do with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 7, 2010 by girlonpiano

“Woodhull Freedom Foundation wants your personal essays about how you experience (or don’t experience) sexual freedom in America. Essays should be approximately 500-1000 words, and should be engaging and well-written. Selected essays will be published on our website or our blogsites, and you will always receive credit for your work. Please include the name you’d like it published under and a brief (one to two sentence) bio.”

 

Submissions should be sent to kbartlett @ woodhullfoundation . org.

Radio host, ‘Christian’ activist Linda Harvey says Westerners should stay out of Uganda

Posted in LGBT Rights, News, Religion with tags , , , , , , on March 29, 2010 by finickymuse

Christian talk show host Linda Harvey says that the US should stay out of Uganda and its laws criminalizing homosexuality. Harvey says the laws are intended to keep “Western homosexuals” from exploiting Uganda children by supporting sex trafficking. Oh, and she says the Westboro Baptist Church is funded by “the gays.”  Please give me some time to wrap my brain around that idea…….For the full story click here

Where’s Carrie When You Need Her?

Posted in Legal, LGBT Rights, News, You Fucked Up! with tags , , , , , , , on March 11, 2010 by paigetsindfw

Contrary to assumptions people may make based on my head being as pointy as my hat and my being prone to fits of manic giggling at the sight of girls in pigtails or gingham, I in fact LOVE school dances. Always did. Granted, I thought the theatre kids always threw a better bash (and it was a little exclusive, so it felt kinda family, closest I ever got to family anywho), but any school dance was a big deal to me.

Senior prom itself may not have been all it was cracked up to be. Because dad and I were used to buying bread and deli items at quarter price many nights, just before Albertson’s threw them out, I recognized how our high school had used the same method to cater the event. Dryest… chicken tenders… ever. But hey, we could gamble for raffle tickets, I looked fly, and it was held at South Fork Ranch, of Dallas fame, which was conveniently only 10 minutes away from where I lived at the time. I see no reason whatsoever why anyone should be denied their right to crap food, wardrobe malfunctions, and the delicate sound of teenage cynicism cracking gently from the warm hope of maybe getting laid.

Itawamba County, Mississippi, disagrees with me on that point.

Constance on the right, with her aunt, checking a new text message. Odds are in favor of this being something along the lines of "u lez beech, go 2 hell". That or they just noticed, like me, this photo is auto-named "Lesbian Prom Date" by its host... Sensationalism much?

I have confidence there’s much that Itawamba County, Mississippi, and I disagree with. Civil liberties. Fashion. Hygiene. We might be able to agree on some aspects of cookin’, but I pee blood anytime some other state tries to claim they can out-BBQ us down here in the Lone Star. In fact, my confidence in the breadth and scope of the disagreements between me and Itawamba is so perfect, I think I’d rather offer rimjobs to patrons of Taco Bell as part of a fundraiser so I can buy whichever senator will put a nuclear waste site under their town square soonest (deep breath) than spend even one moment in whatever passes for a town down there.

Disagreement one: All students deserve the feast of broken dreams that is prom. Lesbians too.

Disagreement two: There’s no good reason a girl can’t wear a tux to her prom, unless she’s very well endowed and the suit was armed by Q from the Bond movies. (if she gets even a bit excited, there’s a good chance of friendly fire)

Disagreement three: If you are going to be an ass hat and discriminate, at least have the sense I gave my flying monkeys NOT to cancel EVERYONE’S prom. That’s not evil. That’s idiocy. Sure, they may form a lynch mob and end those “uppity queers”, but it’s just as, if not more likely, they’ll take it out on the school they already hate going to. There’s enough hate to go ’round here. Besides, it’s a prom, just THINK of how many unplanned pregnancies you’re PREVENTING by canceling! In anti-choice logic, since prophylactics are really just abortifacients in disguise, you’re KILLING BABIES.

Disagreement four: I pretty much thought the U.S. as a whole agreed some many decades back, for both our sakes, to ignore you, Mississippi. Do you really want to draw attention to yourself? To your obesity rates? To your unemployment rate? Your literacy rate? You’re the only state worse than us Texans on that last one!!! I’m gonna be the bigger woman here and, as long as you fix it, I’ll just pretend this didn’t happen, look the other way, and let you go back to praying for your jealous, desert vengeance god to smite anyone who truly believes in loving their neighbor (or at least can spell the damn word). Just, please, do it quietly; We’re all better off if we act like we don’t know each other for a while.

A Whole New World

Posted in Activism, Legal, LGBT Rights, Politics and Sex, Videos with tags , , , , on February 24, 2010 by paigetsindfw

No no, not as in that cloying, dissonant, Disney ode with vaguely suggestive lyrics from Aladdin, but rather an actual, outer space, celestial body. With aliens. Blue aliens, of course, that being de rigueur at the moment.

You WISH this post was about hot cat fuckin'

No hot space cat sex though, sorry.

Rather, this from the ever excellent (and best LGBT blog of 2008) Towleroad, a “site with homosexual tendencies”

I will admit, to the annoyance of many of my friends, that I am not a true gay marriage supporter. I’m one of those who’s suspicious of any special, legal rights/privileges/responsibilities attendant on who one chooses to fuck. I figure we should let the whole kit and caboodle be left to anyone’s cult of preference and put government back to work buying failed missile defense systems.

But the video raises a good point in a very creative way. So long as we stay in the business of giving straight people all these benefits because they badger a spouse into the grave before they fell prey themselves, then nelly nags and golddiggin’ dykes should have an equal space at the trough.

Cynicism aside, I’m all in favor of Social Security and hey, we earned that stuff anyway. It’s our money. We were told we’d get it back. Doesn’t Big Bro ever get tired of picking on folks?