Tag: LGBT

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Singapore: Pink Dot 2014

What does the freedom to love mean to you? LGBT and straight Singaporeans share their sentiments about Pink Dot and their wish for a more open-minded and inclusive Singapore.

I love the videos that Pink Dot creates each year.  Very joyful, very human.

Pink Dot 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.

For more about Singapore’s Pink Dot celebration, click here.

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LGBT flag flies over Costa Rican capital for International Day Against Homophobia

The president of Costa Rica made history today when he became the first Costa Rican leader to raise the rainbow flag of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movement on even mast with the Costa Rican flag on the lawn of the Casa Presidencial.

The flag is being flown in honor of the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, May 17.

“This is the house of all Costa Ricans. When we say all Costa Ricans we mean all, without exclusion, without violence, without harassment in absolute respect for the rights of each one,” Solís told a crowd of LGBT leaders and advocates during his brief comments on the lawn.

“We’re fighting against discrimination in defense of the human rights of all Costa Ricans,” the president said, adding that discrimination based on sexual orientation was against the letter and spirit of the Costa Rican Constitution and human rights declarations the government has signed.

(from Tico Times)

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Idaho: US Army Colonel offers his own burial plot to veteran lesbian couple

Now this is the sign of a class act. When something is wrong, some folks do what it takes to fix the problem.

Retired U.S. Army Colonel Barry Johnson has offered his burial plot to a veteran Idaho lesbian who was refused the right to be buried in a military cemetery next to her late wife, who also served in the armed forces.

U.S. Navy veteran Madelynn Taylor asked for and was denied the right to be buried next to her deceased wife as they did not have the Idaho marriage license required under its rules. Her longtime lesbian partner, Jean Mixner, died in 2012.

From Colonel Johnson’s letter:

As a lifelong Idahoan and a 27-year Army veteran of two wars, I’ve worked beside heterosexuals, gays, lesbians and bisexuals. I’ve really never wanted to hear about anybody’s sex life or sexual preferences, one way or another. Besides, everybody more or less knew who is who regardless, and I don’t recall anybody in the military ever saying a thing about it. Never.

Frankly, the only thing traumatic about the policy change for our armed forces of allowing gays to openly serve our country was all the media making a big deal about it. It didn’t change a thing for any of us doing the job. Serving in uniform has always been about earning trust and has never been about sexuality.

Most of us just shrugged and endured sitting through hours of mind-numbing briefings on a change that essentially changed nothing.

Then we have Madelynn Taylor, who seems like one heck of a lady. She cared for another person with all her heart and had to watch that person die. She is a veteran. She loves her country. She wants her partner by her side and she wants to eternally rest among veterans in the state she made home.

Madelynn, you deserve that.

I’ll tell you what. I will donate the plot I earned in the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery to you and Jean. I am happy to give my fellow veteran that small peace of mind. And I do it to honor all the great Americans I’ve served with along the way – gay, straight, whatever. (I don’t know whether it is possible to donate my plot, but I am quite sincere about my willingness to do so.)

Like Madelynn, I love this state and I respect the views of all my neighbors, whether I agree with those views or not. At least having those differences makes for interesting conversations. But let’s not pick on people who aren’t hurting anybody and simply minding their own business.

Give Madelynn and Jean and others like them a break. Stop finding reasons to make life – and in this case, death – harder than it needs to be.

That’s just irritating as hell and disrespectful to boot.

You can read the entire letter here.

(via Idaho Statesman)

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“Camp Camp 2014” – the summer camp for LGBT adults

Summer camp for adult LGBT folks.  I can see a BIG market for this. 

From the Camp Camp website:

Since 1997, ‘Camp’ Camp – America’s premier summer camp for GLBT adults – has offered a fun and distinctive vacation for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.

Structured just like the sleep-away summer camp that you remember from when you were young(er), Camp offers a full program of great outdoor, athletic, and arts & crafts activities along with a variety of entertaining evening social events.

Located in scenic southwestern Maine, ‘Camp’ Camp is the perfect alternative vacation for adventurous members of the GLBT community looking for a unique vacation option beyond the usual gay cruise or resort.

Our Campers say ‘Camp’ Camp is the best time ever – and who are we to disagree?!

www.CampCamp.com

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Las Vegas: The Gay and Lesbian Community Center celebrates first year in new digs

On Saturday, April 12, The Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada (The Center) will host a free community event to celebrate their first full year at the Robert L. Forbuss building in downtown Las Vegas along with 20 years of service to the Southern Nevada community.

The festivities will include tours of The Center, raffle prizes, free HIV / STD testing, an expo featuring the nonprofit’s groups and community organizations, food tastings by Bronze Café, guest speakers and performances, a State of The Center address from CEO Bob Elkins and more.

Here’s the details:

HOMECOMING: Celebrating One Year in the Neighborhood and 20 Years in the Community
The Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada
Saturday, April 12 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
401 S. Maryland Parkway Las Vegas, NV 89101

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Poll: Voters find gays more favorable than evangelical Christians

A new poll questioning likely 2016 voters commissioned by the Human Rights Campaign asked voters whether they view gay people more or less favorably than they do evangelicals Christians.

The results might surprised some folks.  From the Huffington Post:

On Thursday the Human Rights Campaign and Americans for Marriage Equality released the results of a study, entitled “Victory In Sight”, conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research and TargetPoint Consulting that investigated the nuances of voters’ views on marriage equality. More than a simple matter of “Should gays and lesbians be allowed to marry?”, the poll looked at shifts in opinions over time, reasons for such shifts, and differing opinions among ages, faiths, geographic areas and more.

The first question addressed acceptance, comparing voters’ favorable or unfavorable feelings towards gays and lesbians and towards evangelical Christians. In a nearly 80% Christian-identified country, the results might surprise you.

Fifty-three percent of voters said they felt favorably toward gays and lesbians, compared to 42% who felt favorably toward evangelicals. Eighteen percent said they felt unfavorably toward gays and lesbians, while 28% reported unfavorable feelings toward evangelicals.

The same trend was present among respondents when asked whether they could separate the issue from their faith (ie. “While some people object to gay marriage, it is not for me to judge.”) Sixty-eight percent of monthly worshipers and 72% of yearly worshipers responded in the affirmative, while only 42% of weekly worshipers agreed with that statement.

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United Methodist Church Bishop announces no more trials for ministering to LGBT community

The announcement was predicated on a case between the United Methodist Church and Rev. Dr. Thomas Ogletree who officiated his son’s same-sex marriage.

The trial has now been dropped and New York Bishop Martin McLee calls for no more prosecutions regarding ministering to the LGBT community.

Via press release:

At a joint press conference today, United Methodist Bishop Martin McLee and Rev. Dr. Thomas W. Ogletree announced that the church was dropping the case against Dr. Ogletree for officiating at his son’s wedding.

In a huge victory for the Methodist movement that is organizing ministry to all couples on an equal basis in open defiance of church law, the bishop dropped the case without any conditions.

Furthermore, Bishop McLee said in his statement “I call for and commit to cessation of trials,” the first time ever a sitting United Methodist bishop has categorically declared he will not prosecute pastors for ministering to LGBTQ people.

“I am grateful that Bishop McLee has withdrawn this case and the church is no longer prosecuting me for an act of pastoral faithfulness and fatherly love,” said Dr. Ogletree. “But I am even more grateful that he is vowing not to prosecute others who have been likewise faithful in ministry to LGBTQ people. May our bishop’s commitment to cease such prosecutions be the beginning of the end of the United Methodist Church’s misguided era of discriminating against LGBTQ people.”

The United Methodist Church is the second largest Protestant denomination in the US.

A United Methodist minister from Pennsylvania was defrocked after he officiated at his son’s same-sex wedding.

(source)

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9th Circuit Court ruling for “heightened scrutiny” regarding sexual orientation will stand

Most laws that create groups or classifications are tasked with demonstrating there is a rational basis, or a legitimate reason, for the law.

Laws subjected to “heightened scrutiny” have a steeper hill to climb. Those that classify based on race, must show a compelling state interest for classifying people. Other lawas, based on sexual orientation, must show an important state interest in doing so.

In the January ruling for the SmithKline Beecham v. Abbott case, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held that “classifications based on sexual orientation … are subject to heightened scrutiny.”

In light of Abbott’s decision to not appeal, the ruling will now affect all cases in the 9th Circuit Court moving forward.

From Buzzfeed:

On Jan. 21, the three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit stated, “Windsor review is not rational basis review. In its words and its deed, Windsor established a level of scrutiny for classifications based on sexual orientation that is unquestionably higher than rational basis review. In other words, Windsor requires that heightened scrutiny be applied to equal protection claims involving sexual orientation.”

Abbott had 14 days — which would have been Feb. 4 — to ask the 9th Circuit panel to rehear the case or for an en banc, or larger, panel of 9th Circuit judges to consider the appeal. Abbott asked for and was granted a 30-day extension, which passed March 6.

Friday night, the Human Rights Campaign announced in a news release that not only was Abbott not seeking further review from the 9th Circuit but additionally that the company would not be asking the Supreme Court to review the 9th Circuit decision.

“AbbVie (the pharmaceutical spin-off of Abbott Laboratories) recognizes that the implications of the Court’s findings extend far beyond the underlying case. For that reason, we chose not to appeal,” a spokesman for told BuzzFeed.

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Pastor Larry Tomczak: Men are “effeminate” as punishment for being gay

According to conservative Tennessee pastor and media pundit Pastor Larry Tomzcak, gay men are “effeminate” because God.

Or something.

Not sure what that means for bears or the leather community, but, whatever…

Transcript:

“I have watched people go into a lifestyle, and all of a sudden they become…a man starts to become very effeminate — mannerisms, speech. I’ve seen the reverse, I’ve seen the same thing with women start becoming mannish. What’s going on? They’re taking in their bodies a penalty for deviating from God’s loving design and plan.”

(via JMG)

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Chicago: Researchers find further evidence that male sexuality influenced by genes

A new study by researchers in Chicago, Illinois, has found new evidence that male sexuality is influenced by genes.

From The Guardian:

Scientists tested the DNA of 400 gay men and found that genes on at least two chromosomes affected whether a man was gay or straight.

A region of the X chromosome called Xq28 had some impact on men’s sexual behaviour – though scientists have no idea which of the many genes in the region are involved, nor how many lie elsewhere in the genome.

Another stretch of DNA on chromosome 8 also played a role in male sexual orientation – though again the precise mechanism is unclear.

Researchers have speculated in the past that genes linked to homosexuality in men may have survived evolution because they happened to make women who carried them more fertile. This may be the case for genes in the Xq28 region, as the X chromosome is passed down to men exclusively from their mothers.

Michael Bailey, a psychologist at Northwestern University in Illinois, set out the findings at a discussion event held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago on Thursday. “The study shows that there are genes involved in male sexual orientation,” he said.

The work has yet to be published, but confirms the findings of a smaller study that sparked widespread controversy in 1993, when Dean Hamer, a scientist at the US National Cancer Institute, investigated the family histories of more than 100 gay men and found homosexuality tended to be inherited.