Category: Uncategorized

Posted on

PinkDot 2013 Brings It Home

From the PinkDot official website:

Singapore, June 29, 2013 – Marking its milestone fifth edition, Pink Dot tonight saw an unprecedented 21,000 families, friends andmembers of Singapore’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community, taking a stand in support of the Freedom to Love. Carpeting Speaker’s Corner at Hong Lim Park with a profusion of pink lights from torches and mobile phones, this was the strongest-yet turnout, with 6,000 more participants compared to last year’s 15,000.

Pink Dot Sg is a non-profit movement started by a group of individuals who care deeply about the place that LGBT Singaporeans call home. It is a group for everyone, straight and gay, who support the belief that everyone deserves the freedom to love. With openness and acceptance, we hope to bring LGBT Singaporeans closer to their family and friends.

(h/t JMG)

Posted on

Egypt: President Morsi ousted, Cairo celebrates

The Egyptian military grabs power and President Mohammed Morsi’s whereabouts are unknown:

Armored vehicles, tanks and troops deployed throughout the Egyptian capital, including near the presidential palace. The army seized the headquarters of the state television and the state-run newspaper, which reported that Morsi had been told he was no longer president.

The whereabouts of the president himself, an Islamist backed by the Muslim Brotherhood, were unknown.

Security forces raided the Cairo offices of Al Jazeera’s Egyptian television channel and detained at least five staff members, a journalist at the station told Reuters.

Karim El-Assiuti told Reuters his colleagues at the Al Jazeera Mubasher Misr channel were arrested while working in the studio. The station was prevented from broadcasting from a pro-Morsi rally and its crew there was also detained, he said.

The State Department, meanwhile, warned U.S. citizens to defer travel to Egypt and told Americans already living in Egypt to depart “because of the continuing political and social unrest.”

President Obama issued a statement that said in part, “The United States is monitoring the very fluid situation in Egypt, and we believe that ultimately the future of Egypt can only be determined by the Egyptian people.” He called on the Egyptian military “to move quickly and responsibly to return full authority back to a democratically elected civilian government as soon as possible through an inclusive and transparent process.”

Read more at NBC News.

Posted on

Happy Endings – Edie Windsor and her $638,000 IRS refund

In all of the hoopla over Edie Windsor’s big win at the US Supreme Court, it’s possible we lost focus on why she even started the lawsuit that changed so many of our lives.

 Her fight with the IRS.

From CNN:

Normally, surviving spouses are entitled to inherit the estate of their late husband or wife tax free.

But because DOMA only recognized marriage between a man and a woman as legitimate for the purposes of federal law, same-sex spouses have not been entitled to the same privilege.

As a result, Windsor had to pay the federal government roughly $363,000, as well as $275,000 to New York state, where estate tax rules track the federal ones.

That money has been in limbo since Windsor sued to get it back in November 2010. Her case first went before a federal trial court judge in New York, then to the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, and finally to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Windsor will also be paid interest on her refunds. Paul, Weiss, the law firm that represents her, estimates she will receive about $45,000 in interest on her federal refund and $25,000 on her New York State refund.

The other good news for the 83-year-old Windsor? Her lawyers won’t be getting a cut because Paul, Weiss took the case pro bono.

Posted on

New music: Steve Grand “All-American Boy”

OK, I think this is pretty great. 

First of all, yes, everyone is A&F gorgeous in the video.

But even better, I think practically every gay young man has had this moment in their heads.

Great song, great singer.

Thanks, Steve Grand. Please keep singing. And one last thing – more please.

Follow Steve on Facebook.

Download the song here.

From Steve on the YouTube page:

July 2, 2013

I fought with who I was for most of my life. In every way a young person can fight with himself.

But starting today, I’m laying it out there. I’m done playing it safe.

I’m fortunate to have smart friends who believe in me, but I don’t have a manager or a label or any sort of funding other than the money I make playing piano downtown at The Joynt, and also, ironically to some, in the churches on Sunday morning.

As far as the ascetic achievements of the video… lets just say I was lucky to have a good friend introduce me to the best team I could have asked for… who held on to the roller coaster that was this project and dealt with all my intensity and craziness as the true professionals they are.

I wrote the song during a drunken piano jam session at a party. I recorded the vocals in my parents’ basement and worked with my friend Max Steger to record and mix the rest of the instruments.

I feel like most music industry people wouldn’t like the idea of me “pigeonholing” myself by telling this story as I have. But I don’t believe the world sees change until it sees honesty.

So I went in on my own.

I went all in. I’m nervous/excited/horrified/anxious about the effect that all of the choices I am making (and have made throughout my journey of discovering myself as a man and as an artist) will have on my future. But then I remind myself that I never really had a choice. This is the story I’ve been aching to tell my most of my life… the universal story of longing to be loved…it is what I hold dearest to me.

BUT my story would never have seen the light of day were it not for the people I have listed above, many of whom asked for nothing in return. I know my passion and intensity for this project were a lot to deal with (that might be the understatement of the year.. ;)) Thank you for doing your best to help me keep my sanity… just barely. And thank you for sticking with me; for your flexibility and patience and for helping to bring my vision to life. And to mom and dad… I know you guys don’t always understand just what the hell I am trying to do, but continue to love and support me nonetheless. It means everything to me…

-Steve

Download the song here.

Posted on

Russia: Putin signs adoption ban for foreign gay couples

This is very sad for so many children without parents.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill barring same-sex couples from foreign countries from adopting Russian children.

The legislature passed the law after France established legal marriage equality rights for gay and lesbian couples in May. The Russian measure is “aimed at guaranteeing a harmonious and full upbringing for children in adoptive families,” according to the Huffington Post.

According to the Associated Press, this law limits adoption possibilities for 600,000 Russian children who do not have parental custody.

(source)

Posted on

New Jersey lawmakers to attempt override of marriage equality veto by Gov. Christie

(image via Memeographs)

New Jersey’s Star-Ledger reports:

The state’s top Democratic lawmakers today urged their Republican counterparts to “vote their conscience” to legalize same-sex marriage, but said some GOP lawmakers won’t do this because they don’t want to cross Gov. Chris Christie.

Senate President Stephen Sweeney said he will hold a vote to override Christie’s veto of a same-sex marriage bill that passed last year, noting that thousands of gay couples in New Jersey will be ineligible for federal benefits unless lawmakers act soon.

But first, Sweeney said, at least a few Republicans have to change their no votes to yes. The Senate president said Christie has intimidated GOP lawmakers, claiming some have privately admitted they would like to change their votes to allow same-sex marriage.

To quash Christie’s veto, Democrats have to muster three more votes in the Senate and 12 more in the Assembly to reach the required two-thirds majority.

(via JMG)

Posted on

Paula Deen’s legal team attempting to use Prop 8 decision to have lawsuit dismissed

Well, here’s a novel courtroom defense: Paula Deen’s lawyers are attempting to use last weeks Prop 8 decision from SCOTUS to have the lawsuit against her and her brother dismissed.

From the Advocate:

A former employee is suing Deen and her brother Earl “Bubba” Hiers for reportedly racist and sexist behavior in the workplace, their restaurant, Uncle Bubba’s Seafood and Oyster House in Savannah, Ga. However, Deen’s lawyers claim that the complainant is a white woman, so she does not have standing in court to claim that she was affected by racism, Politico reports.

The lawyers are using the Supreme Court’s decision to dismiss Perry v. Hollingsworth last week, declaring that the proponents of Proposition 8 did not have legal standing to appeal the case in court.