Category: Uncategorized

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Indiana: Public school teacher supports holding separate prom to exclude gay students

Indiana public school teacher Diane Medley, speaking in support of a plan to stage a separate senior prom that will ban gay students from attending:

“I believe that it was life circumstances and they chose to be that way; God created everyone equal. Homosexual students come to me with their problems, and I don’t agree with them, but I care about them. It’s the same thing with my special needs kids, I think God puts everyone in our lives for a reason. So the same goes for gays? Do you think they have a purpose in life?’ No I honestly don’t. Sorry, but I don’t. I don’t understand it. A gay person isn’t going to come up and make some change unless it’s to realize that it was a choice and they’re choosing God.”

Dan Savage reacts:

Let’s pause here to grieve for all the special education students in Sullivan, Indiana. Students with learning disabilities have it hard enough without getting stuck with a mentally challenged special ed teacher. You know else has it hard enough? I imagine queer kids growing up in Sullivan, Indiana, population 4,249, have it hard enough without having to watch shit like this on the evening news.

The anti-gay haters at Sullivan High have a Facebook page: 2013 Sullivan Traditional Prom. One of the organizers of this hate group would like us to know that “this is not a hate group.” 2013 Sullivan Traditional Prom is just a group that has been organized with the sole purpose of creating an alternate prom that excludes gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender students and to achieve that end the group’s members are calling LGBT kids “offensive,” sick, and sinful.

What’s hateful about that? Besides, you know, everything?

I completely agree with Dan. Their last high school celebration these folks have and they want to plan as an exclusionary event. That how you want to head out into the world? Really?

(via JMG)

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Video: The science of love

Ever wonder WHAT exactly is happening inside your brain when you feel “love?”

Our friends at AsapSCIENCE bring us a new short video explaining that what happens to us when we feel love is similar to what happens to our brain’s on cocaine.

No, not a bad thing – just similar. Cool video. Love these science guys explaining the world around us.

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Colorado: State senate passes civil unions bill for gay couples

The Colorado Senate passed its civil unions bill today by a vote of 21-14.

Yay!  Happy dance!

The Denver Post reports:

Democrats control the Senate 20-15 so there was no doubt about the outcome of Senate Bill 11.

Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray, said he couldn’t support the bill because a civil-unions like measure on the 2006 ballot failed in his county 75-25 percent.

Lawmakers often are silent during the official vote, simply voting “yes” or “no,” but often on high-profile bills there is another round of debate before the vote. But there was no further debate today, perhaps because it was the third time in three years the Senate has debated the measure.

The bill in 2011 and 2012 died in the Republican-controlled House, last year after a dramatic night with only one day left in the session. With Democrats now in the majority in the House, the bill is expected to pass, be signed into law by Gov. John Hickenlooper in March and become effective in May.

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Sec. of Defense Panetta extends benefits to gay & lesbian service members’ families

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta on Monday announced he will extend to nearly the full extent permitted under current law the benefits available to gay and lesbian service members and their families.

OutServe-SLDN, the association of actively serving LGBT military personnel, has called on the Department of Defense to issue these benefits for more than two years.

“Secretary Panetta’s decision today answers the call President Obama issued in his inaugural address to complete our nation’s journey toward equality, acknowledging the equal service and equal sacrifice of our gay and lesbian service members and their families. We thank him for getting us a few steps closer to full equality – steps that will substantively improve the quality of life of gay and lesbian military families,” said Army Veteran and OutServe-SLDN Executive Director Allyson Robinson.

The package of recognition, support, and benefits – which includes the issuance of military identification cards, access to family support initiatives, and joint duty assignments – does not address the larger issues of health care, housing, and survivors’ benefits restricted by DOMA and other federal statutes. The Supreme Court is set to consider DOMA next month, and is expected to issue a ruling later this year.

From HRC: “Today, the Pentagon took a historic step forward toward righting the wrong of inequality in our armed forces, but there is still more work to be done. Gay and lesbian service members and their families make sacrifices every day, and this country owes them every measure of support we can provide. Since the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ the Obama administration has shown true leadership on this issue. But even today, the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act makes inequality for gay and lesbian military families a legal requirement. It’s time to right this wrong. When the Supreme Court considers the constitutionality of DOMA in the coming weeks, they should take note of the real harm this law inflicts every day.”

Additional benefits for same-sex domestic partners include:
– Dependent ID cards, which will be renewed in accordance with existing policies
– Commissary privilges
– Morale, welfare, and recreation programs
– Surveys of military families
– Quadrennial quality of life review
– Emergency leave
– Emergency leave of absence
– Youth sponsorship program
– Youth programs
– Family center programs
– Sexual assault counseling program
– Joint duty assignments
– Exemption from hostile-fire areas
– Transportation to and from certain places of employment and on military installations
– Transportation to and from primary and secondary school for minor dependents
– Authority of service secretary to transport remains of a dependent
– Disability and death compensation: dependents of members held as captives
– Payments to missing persons
– Space-available travel on DoD aircraft
– Child care
– Legal assistance

(via press release)

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President Obama considers employment nondiscrimination executive order

The Washington Post is reporting that President Obama is considering issuing an executive order regarding discrimination of gays and lesbians who work for government contractors:

On social policy, Obama is reconsidering whether to issue an executive order prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. When he decided not to issue such an order last year, the White House said it would prefer to pass a law applying to gays and lesbians in the workplace.

But if Congress seems unlikely to act on the broader legislation — called the Employment Non-Discrimination Act — officials have signaled to people working on the issue outside the administration that the president would likely consider issuing an executive order, which can only affect government contractors.

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Benedict XVI – first Pope to resign in 600 years

Pope Benedict will step down February 28, the Vatican has confirmed. The resignation took the Vatican by surprise, as it is the first time in six centuries (not since 1415) that a Pope has resigned.

From Boston.com:

Pope Benedict XVI said Monday he lacks the strength to fulfill his duties and on Feb. 28 will become the first pontiff in 600 years to resign. The announcement sets the stage for a conclave in March to elect a new leader for world’s 1 billion Catholics. The 85-year-old pope announced the bombshell in Latin during a meeting of Vatican cardinals, surprising even his closest collaborators, even though Benedict had made clear in the past he would step down if he became too old or infirm to do the job.

Benedict called his choice ‘‘a decision of great importance for the life of the church.’’ Indeed, the move allows the Vatican to hold a conclave before Easter to elect a new pope, since the traditional mourning time that would follow the death of a pope doesn’t have to be observed.

It will also allow Benedict to hold great sway over the choice of his successor. He has already hand-picked the bulk of the College of Cardinals — the princes of the church who will elect the next pope — to guarantee his conservative legacy and ensure an orthodox future for the church.

Reaction on Twitter is wide-ranging. Here’s my favorite Tweet: