True Colors Tour Benefiting HRC (Human Rights Campaign)

I got this letter from HRC. If you are able to show support by watching the video and perhaps sending a letter to your congressional representative, then please do.

Dear Keith,

When you've been fighting discrimination for as long as I have, you develop a fairly thick skin. But I'll admit, the first time I saw this video, I got chills. It was produced for Cyndi Lauper's True Colors tour benefiting HRC, and it's now showing at concerts across the country.

Please watch the video, and share it with everyone you know.



This stirring video has the power to motivate THOUSANDS MORE people to take action for the Matthew Shepard Act.

And that's exactly what we need to do. As I write this, angry radical right-wing leaders are using scare tactics to fire up their base against the Matthew Shepard Act. They're saying it could "send pastors to prison for simply reading a part of the Bible." It's absurd.

Even worse: despite our House victory, we're hearing from Senate staffers that opponents of the Matthew Shepard Act are still beating us five to one in emails, calls, and letters.

Five to one. With the vote approaching and many senators still undecided, we simply cannot allow this to continue. So I'm asking you to turn that ratio around.

Watch the video - and share it with at least FIVE friends.

The vast majority of Americans support the Matthew Shepard Act. There are, quite simply, more of us. But our senators are hearing from more of them.

If every one of us tells five friends to watch the video and take action, we'll make sure they get the message: hate will not win.

Warmly,
Joe Solmonese
President

Poland: Ban of Warsaw Gay Pride in 2005 Violated Euro Human Rights – Court Rules (Gay Wired)

Score! From GayWired.com, the EU smacks down Poland's homophobic president:

The then Mayor of Warsaw, Lech Kaczynski , who is now President of Poland, violated three Articles of the European Convention of Human Rights when he banned Warsaw Gay Pride in 2005, the European Court of Human Rights ruled Thursday morning.

Gay Rights Bill Passes in Oregon

SALEM, Ore. — Same-sex couples would receive the same benefits as married couples, and gays and lesbians would be protected against discrimination under bills approved Tuesday by the Oregon House.

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Gay Marriage Ban Suffers Defeat in Indiana

In some states, the legislature is fighting to keep civil unions out. In other states, they're fighting to keep discriminatory marriage in.

From Towleroad:

A tied (5-5) vote in the House Rules and Legislative Procedure Committee effectively killed the proposed amendment banning gay marriage in Indiana for what could be a year. Five Democrats opposed the amendment, with four Republicans supporting it. They were joined by one Democrat.

California Supreme Court Receives Same-Sex Marriage Briefs

In my home state (New Mexico), our homophobic Senate refused to pass a civil-union bill. Yet, over in California where the leaders have more balls than to stall a bill to death, the law is going to say who gets to royally fuck whom over in divorce court.

From Towleroad:

On Monday, legal briefs challenging California's ban on same-sex marriage were presented by the city and county of San Francisco, 15 same-sex couples, Equality California, and Our Family Coalition (represented by the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Lambda Legal, and the ACLU) to the state's Supreme Court.

Massachusetts Gov. Patrick Orders 26 Gay Marriages Recorded

I recently learned about "anti-miscegenation" (from Latin miscere - "to mix" - not "misogynation") laws and got some new and interesting perspectives on why gay marriage is not yet nationalized. This may help it along.

From Towleroad:

Reversing an order by former Governor Mitt Romney that blocked the state from officially recording 26 gay marriages by out-of-state couples, Governor Deval Patrick has told the Department of Public Health to put them on the books.

...

Patrick's decision was criticized by Romney's spokesman, Eric Fehrnstrom: "It was Governor Romney's enforcement of this law that stopped gay marriage from being visited on every other state in the country. Now that Governor Romney is out of office, we are seeing an erosion of the previously strong defense of traditional marriage coming out of the executive branch."

A 1913 law prohibits out of state couples from marrying in Massachusetts if the couple's home state does not recognize the union as legal. In February, Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch issued a directive indicating that same-sex marriages made in Massachusetts would be recognized in that state.

Couple: Hotel Wouldn't Rent to Us Because We're Gay

As recently seen on Digg:

A gay couple looking to rent a room say they were told by a local motel that it was against company policy to rent to gay couples.

I suppose there could be a misunderstanding here... or it could just be plain old-fashioned homophobia.

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N.M. keeps partner bill alive

Governor Bill Richardson calls lawmakers back into special session to vote on crucial bills, including domestic partnerships for gay New Mexicans.

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South Carolina State Constitution Now Officially Bans Gay Marriage

The constitution now reads "a marriage between one man and one woman is the only lawful domestic union that shall be valid or recognized in this state."

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Gay Rights Activists Get Arrested in Mississippi

5 Equality Riders were arrested in Clinton, Mississippi yesterday and face several days in prison. Help spread the word and contact the Clinton Police Department and Mississippi's Attorney General's office to free these young people.

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Teacher suspended for running pro-gay editorial in school paper

FTA: "I can only imagine how hard it would be to come out as homosexual in today's society," a student wrote about her friend. "I think it is so wrong to look down on those people, or to make fun of them, just because they have a different sexuality than you." And for this, a teacher got suspended? Bigots rule in Indiana!

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Domestic Partnership Bill in New Mexico: HB 603

I picked this up in my email. I just read the text of the bill. It basically says "marriage" without legally calling it "marriage." -- in fact "a domestic partnership has the same rights, protections and benefits under law as a spouse in a marriage." Please support this.

My name is Eddy Methola I am seeking support for bill HB603. This has to do with passing domestic Partnership in New Mexico.
What will a Domestic Partnership do?

Domestic Partnership will formally recognize domestic partners by giving all of the NM state rights, benefits, protections, responsibilities and obligations of New Mexico civil marriage in the areas of:

• Death & Inheritance
• Insurance benefits
• Health care decision-making
• Family Relationship
• Dissolution of a Domestic Partnership

Tomorrow (March 20, 2007) @ noon the senate of New Mexico will vote on the domestic partnership bill.
I'm asking each and every one of you please click on the below link and tell your senators to VOTE YES!

http://www.hrcactioncenter.org/campaign/NMHB603

View the Bill

Senator McCain: I'll take the religious right's 5% to the gay population's 10% for $2,000, Alex

I'm really starting to like Dan Savage. He comments on Presidential Candidate John McCain's royal stupidity about AIDS:

Q: "So no contraception, no counseling on contraception. Just abstinence. Do you think contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV?"

Mr. McCain: (Long pause) "You’ve stumped me."

Q: "I mean, I think you’d probably agree it probably does help stop it?"

Mr. McCain: (Laughs) "Are we on the Straight Talk express? I’m not informed enough on it. Let me find out. You know, I’m sure I’ve taken a position on it on the past. I have to find out what my position was. Brian, would you find out what my position is on contraception – I’m sure I’m opposed to government spending on it, I’m sure I support the president’s policies on it."

Illinois Becomes Battleground for Gay Rights

The fight over same-sex marriage is taking on new meaning in Illinois. Civil rights organizations are working to protect gay and lesbian couples from discriminatory ballot measures and trying to obtain new rights.

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Sexual Orientation Chair For UCLA Law

The University of California-Los Angeles will establish a chair in sexual orientation law, using a donation of more than $1 million from a gay male couple. The gift is intended to help fund the research of a professor at the school's Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy.

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Owners of Womens Pro Basketball Team Donate $1 Mil to Anti-Gay Fund

It is a fact of life that a lot of fans of women’s professional sports are gay, so it is dumbfounding that the owners of a women’s professional basketball team would donate over $1 million to a group whose sole purpose is to restrict the civil rights of gay people -- and yet that is exactly what the owners of the Seattle Storm did in 2004.

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On Again, Off Again Bill Regulating Gay Student Clubs Back On

(Salt Lake City, Utah) Legislation allowing schools the right to reject student clubs that threaten the "moral well-being" of students that less than a week ago was declared dead has been resurrected and passed by the Utah House.

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Congress likely to pass the first major federal gay-rights bills

Wary conservative leaders, as well as gay-rights advocates, share a belief that at least two measures will win approval this year: a hate- crimes bill that would cover offenses motivated by anti-gay bias, and a measure that would outlaw workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation.

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Gay couples in New Jersey start to file for civil unions

Hundreds of gay couples were granted the same legal rights, if not the title, as married couples Monday as New Jersey became the third state to offer civil unions. More than a dozen other couples applied for licenses for ceremonies later in the week. The civil unions, which offer the legal benefits but not the title of marriage, were granted aut...

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Russian Lawmakers Move To Recriminalize Homosexuality

Just like the US Congress, not every one of the lawmakers in the Russian parliament are idiots. But some Russian lawmakers move to recriminalize homosexuality. After the earlier news that some idiots in Nigeria want to do the same thing, I have to wonder if this is a trend or a coincidence.

The bill, introduced into Russia's lower house by Deputy Nikolay Kuryanovich, is nearly identical to the 1933 criminal code under Stalin, which made homosexuality punishable by five years of hard labor.

If passed, the legislation would also essentially ban gay Pride parades or meetings.

Gay sex was decriminalized in 1993 as a result of Communism's fall. Up until the 1980s, gays and lesbians were routinely committed to hospitals for reparative therapy, which involved taking psychotropic drugs.

Is this all because some people didn't want a gay Pride parage in Russia? People, change the channel if you don't like what's on.

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