Today in WTF: A Gawker tipster has revealed that the Boy Scouts of America aren’t sure if those scary Gays™ can keep their eyes/hands to themselves. The BSA is apparently polling members about the appropriateness of homosexual leaders attending overnight camping trips, and other rules/activities which could/would be impacted by a proposed change to the BSA’s policy barring gay members. While some argue that certain questions have merit — like questions about the appropriateness of gay teens sharing a tent — the overall tone and apparent need for such a poll doesn’t seem very inclusive to us. Thoughts?
obitoftheday asks: I consider myself pretty up on politics, social issues, and pop culture...but for the love of all that is holy, who is that woman in the DOMA post? (I know you reblogged but you all seem like smart folks who have all the answers.)
» SFB says: Why, that’s Edith Windsor, the woman who brought the case on DOMA—the one that could see DOMA overturned for good. As it turns out, Chris Geidner, the guy I reblogged (and one of the best journalists in the country on LGBT issues), wrote a really great profile of her a while back. It’s a must-read. — Ernie @ SFB
After careful consideration and extensive dialogue within the scouting family, along with comments from those outside the organization, the volunteer officers of the Boy Scouts of America’s National Executive Board concluded that due to the complexity of this issue, the organization needs time for a more deliberate review of its membership policy.Boy Scouts of America - In a new statement, announcing the organization’s decision to postpone a vote to determine whether or not to repeal a three-decade old policy barring gay members and leaders from joining the BSA. The vote was apparently delayed due to a request from a coalition of leaders representing roughly one-fifth of the Boy Scouts’ currently registered members. source
Sarah Palin gives a thumbs up to anti-gay Chick-fil-A.
We’re going to eat a moose in protest.
Police in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, and San Francisco are confiscating condoms from sex workers and transgender women, undermining health department campaigns to reduce HIV.
Don’t take away people’s condoms!
Read more and watch our interviews of sex workers here.
© 2012 Human Rights Watch
Questionable approach of the day. Human Rights Watch interviewed more than 300 people in putting together this report, and some of the findings are fairly shocking. “Criminalizing HIV prevention undermines human rights and endangers the public health,” said Human Rights Watch senior health researcher Megan McLemore.
Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke marches in the city’s Pride parade on July 1 with his son Patrick and comedian Rick Mercer.
Burke’s son Brendan died in a car accident in February 2010. Two months before he died, he told the world he was gay. Burke had promised to march with him in the Pride parade that year, and he kept his promise.
The Post’s Bruce Arthur wrote about the first parade Burke marched in to honour his son. This piece was nominated for a National Newspaper Award.
Awesome and heartbreaking at the same time. What a great promise to keep.
I’m very, very disappointed. I am disappointed that my campaign manager forwarded an e-mail that would include any member of my family in policy discussions.Representative Marsha Looper • Commenting on campaign manager Lana Fore-Warkocz’s decision to include her son in a recent email praising Looper for voting against a civil unions bill in Colorado. The message pointed to Looper’s decision to vote against the bill, even though her son was homosexual, as proof of her commitment to her ideals. Unfortunately, the email also outed Looper’s son, who had not previously discussed his sexuality publicly. Yikes. source (via • follow)
Dharun Ravi, the former Rutgers student who recorded Tyler Clementi on a webcam prior to Clementi’s suicide, has been sentenced to 30 days in prison. Officials are saying he was charged with a bias crime, but not a hate crime, and that he acted out of gross insensitivity.
Judge Berman ordered Ravi, 20, to report to the adult correctional center in Middlesex at 9 a.m. on May 31 to serve a 30-day jail term as part of a probationary sentence, with other conditions. The three-year probationary term includes 300 hours of community service and a $10,000 assessment to be paid to a state-affiliated group that assists bias crime victims. The judge also ordered Ravi to attend, in his words, a “counseling program relative to cyber-bullying and ‘alternative lifestyles.’”
Ravi could have been in prison for up to 10 years and even faced possible deportation to India. 30 days seems like absolutely nothing in comparison. What do you think of this ruling?
Too light?
WOAH. House Speaker John Boehner made it clear at his weekly press conference today that he disagrees with President Obama on the issue of gay marriage, and he would not answer the question: Do you feel that gay marriage is a civil rights issue? When asked, Boehner responded: ”I believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, and the president and the democrats can talk about all this all they want.” He added, “The fact is the American people are focused on our economy, and they’re asking the question: Where are the jobs?”
(Via AP YouTube)
It’s like he’s pointing into our souls.
I’m moving back to New York in a few days. Unlike past...
OMG. I got so...
In this week’s Newsweek, a little...
Tumblr this morning. [h/t anne]
#@#$%!.tumblr.com
Here’s a hidden feature that shipped in...
Dan Savage appears to be a constant source of controversy in the LGBT community, and some recent comments he made may have been the last straw.
At a high school journalism convention recently, Savage told the audience there was “bullshit in the Bible” that needed to be ignored. Some people walked out, and Savage called them “pansy-assed,” for which he later apologized.
In this article, columnist Jay Michaelson argues that Savage’s comments were just as harmful to the LGBT community as they would have been if they were made by a super conservative a la Rick Santorum. It’s an unfortunately common misconception that people have to choose between religion and an LGBT identity, and Savage’s comments could certainly be taken as alienating to queer people of faith.
A select blurb:
It’s all well and good for a religious progressive to insist that the Bible be interpreted selectively. But where does that leave kids growing up in religious communities committed to a more conservative view? Must such communities abandon their faith and adopt Dan Savage’s theology in order to affirm and include their LGBT members? If that were the price of inclusion, I know many communities would refuse to pay it. But fortunately, it is not. Very traditional religious values, no theological salad bar required, support inclusion and affirmation of LGBT lives. No matter what Rick Santorum, and now Dan Savage, says.
A lot of you have very strong thoughts about Dan Savage and obviously about Rick Santorum. What do you think? Legitimate accusation?
If nothing else, a very provocative headline.
From the New York Times, January 28, 1995:
The House majority leader, Representative Dick Armey of Texas, set off a dispute on Capitol Hill today when he referred to Representative Barney Frank, one of several openly homosexual members of Congress, as “Barney Fag.”
Mr. Armey said later that he had simply mispronounced Mr. Frank’s name. First privately and then in addressing the House, he apologized to Mr. Frank for the remark, which he had made in an interview with a group of radio broadcasters.
In his statement on the House floor, Mr. Armey also attacked the news media for reporting the remark, whose disclosure he had tried to squelch. He said news organizations were casting it as an “intentional personal attack” on Mr. Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat who has emerged as an effective floor leader for his party in the House.
[…]
“I don’t think it was on the tip of his tongue, but I do believe it was in the back of his mind,” Mr. Frank said. “There are a lot of ways to mispronounce my name. That is the least common.”
This is basically the best single-serving Tumblr you’ll see today. Run by some great guys!
I ask my friends on the other side: If the victim is in a same-sex relationship, is the violence any less real, is the danger any less real because you happen to be gay or lesbian? I don’t think so.Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) • Expressing her dismay at pushback from Republicans over the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which resulted from new provisions included to protect the LGBTQ community. Senator Feinstein went on to say that, in her opinion, “to defeat this bill is almost to say ‘we don’t need to consider violence against women — it’s not an important issue.’ It is.” source (via • follow)
Less than 24 hours after the state assembly sent a same-sex marriage bill to his desk New Jersey Governor Chris Christie followed through on his promise to veto the measure, and continued his call for a ballot question. In his veto, the governor cited a continued belief that citizens should decide whether or not to redefine the state’s legal definition of marriage, and included a proposal for the creation of an ombudsman to oversee compliance with the state’s existing civil union laws. Many say the existing laws are both flawed and discriminatory. State Senate President Steve Sweeney(D) condemned the move, saying that Governor Christie, “had a chance to do the right thing, and failed miserably.” (image courtesy of flickr user bobjagendorf) source
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