Tag: LGBT

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Pic of the day: Marine Homecoming

Marine Sgt. Brandon Morgan and boyfriend Dalan Wells kiss upon Morgan's return from Afghanistan.

In only a few hours this pic on Facebook has gotten almost 5,000 comments.

Dalan Wells (left) and Brandon Morgan (right) celebrate Brandon’s homecoming.

Brandon, a US Marine, responded to the outpouring:
“To everyone who has responded in a positive way. My partner and I want to say thank you. Dalan, the giant in the photo, can’t believe how many shares and likes we have gotten on this. We didn’t do this to get famous,or something like that we did this cause after 3 deployments and four years knowing each other, we finally told each other how we felt. As for the haters, let em hate…to quote Kat Williams, everyone needs haters, so let them hate. We are the happiest we have ever been and as for the whole PDA and kissing slash hugging in uniform…it was a homecoming, if the Sergeants Major, Captains, Majors, and Colonels around us didn’t care…then why do you care what these random people have to say? In summation thank you for your love and support. I received a lot of friend requests off this. I don’t just accept requests so if your request was because of this post message me and let me know. Goodnight all, and Semper Fi.” –Brandon Morgan

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Cynthia Nixon now says being bisexual “is not a choice”

Cynthia Nixon recently set off a firestorm when, in discussing her current lesbian relationship to the New York Times, she declared that  for her, being gay is a “choice.”

Today she issued a statement to clarify:

“My recent comments in The New York Times were about me and my personal story of being gay. I believe we all have different ways we came to the gay community and we can’t and shouldn’t be pigeon-holed into one cultural narrative which can be uninclusive and disempowering. However, to the extent that anyone wishes to interpret my words in a strictly legal context I would like to clarify: While I don’t often use the word, the technically precise term for my orientation is bisexual. I believe bisexuality is not a choice, it is a fact. What I have ‘chosen’ is to be in a gay relationship.” – Cynthia Nixon

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Hospital denies lesbian visit with partner

The chief executive officer of Rolling Hills Hospital in Franklin, TN, plans to apologize to a lesbian woman who was denied visitation rights with her partner.

Val Burke was not allowed to see her partner who is in the psychiatric hospital’s residential unit — a violation of new federal anti-discrimination guidelines.

Under recent federal regulations, patients at most hospitals across the country are allowed to choose who has visitation rights. These rules apply to all hospitals that participate in Medicare and Medicaid.

“It was human error,” said Richard “Rick” Bangert, chief executive officer of Rolling Hills. “They made a mistake. When I learned of it, I immediately met with my staff on Monday. We immediately made the change in terms of making sure that our policy was very clear.”

The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest civil rights organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, called on hospitals to review their visitation policies to prevent similar incidents from occurring.

“Discrimination in a personal medical setting may be one of the worst forms of discrimination LGBT people face,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese. “Federal regulations were put in place for precisely this reason, to stamp discrimination out of the healthcare process and allow all people to be by their loved ones during their most vulnerable moments.”

Read more at the Tennessean

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Caesars Entertainment rates a perfect score from Human Rights Campaign

Caesars Entertainment Corporation was awarded its fifth consecutive perfect rating from the Human Rights Campaign’s annual Corporate Equality Index. The Corporate Equality Index rates businesses based on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workplace policies.

“Caesars Entertainment is proud to be the only gaming company this year to have received a perfect rating from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation on its Corporate Equality Index,” said Fred Keeton, vice president of finance, external affairs and chief diversity officer for Caesars Entertainment.

“Through leading edge diversity initiatives and our valued relationship with this important organization, we look forward to the coming years and plan to continue to lead the way in LGBT workplace equality.”

The ‘five-peat’ is a reflection of Caesars long-time commitment to create and facilitate programs and policies that are offered to all of its employees and guests. Specific to its LGBT employees, the company enforces its comprehensive non-discrimination policies, provides domestic partner benefits (including health care) and will offer benefit coverage for gender reassignment.

Keeton stressed that the company is a large supporter of the LGBT community and seeks to provide a world-class experience for all of its guests. LGBT guests are treated with the utmost respect and are encouraged to take part in pioneered LGBT events and offerings (e.g. Gay weddings and commitment ceremonies, honeymoon packages, nightlife and PRIDE events).

The Corporate Equality Index 2012 report is available at www.hrc.org/cei.

I’m proud to have a “one degree of separation” with Caesars Entertainment as my husband Michael is the national press rep for Chippendales, which is at the Rio Hotel and Casino – a Caesars property in Las Vegas. I’ve always been very proud of the fact that gay men are always welcome at Chippendales, and always treated with respect at the show.

With the huge amount of recreation travel dollars the LGBT community can spend, it pays to make sure we spend our money where it’s appreciated. I encourage everyone to take a look at the Corporate Equality Index to know where and to who your dollars go.