Combined Gay News Headlines (T5T-1)

SF Mayor Gavin Newsom Giving Up on Governor's Race

The gayest straight mayor America has ever known just dropped his Democratic bid for the governor's mansion. CONTINUED » Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us Tagged: California, Gavin Newsom, Politics, San Francisco

Massive Layoffs At a Bleeding Regent/Here Media. Advocate Folding (Into An Insert)

Just days after a glowing profile in the Dallas Morning News of Paul Colichman and Stephen Jarchow's Regent/Here Media comes word from inside the company: it's a sinking ship. CONTINUED » Permalink | 20 comments | Add to del.icio.us Tagged: Advocate, Gay.com, Here Media, hiv plus, Media, Out, Paul Colichman, regent, Regent Media, Stephen Jarchow, The Advocate

Teacher Suspended Over Gay Animal Assignment … Gay Domestic Violence Reports Up 93%?!

ON OUR GAYDAR â€" News, notes, clicks, and quips from around the web. • Illinois high school English teacher Dan DeLong suspended over an optional assignment for students to read a Seed magazine article about documented homosexuality among 450 species. There's a special board meeting on Monday to decide his fate. More than 750 supporters on [...]

Obama lifts HIV travel ban

For whatever reason for the past  two decades the United States hasn’t allowed people with HIV or AIDs into this country. Granted we also don’t let gay people donate blood because, y’know, queers all have HIV. Today though that first issue was rectified by President Obama signing the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Act. From the [...]

Pat Robertson on hate crimes law: 'The noose has tightened around the necks of Christians'

Now you know we had to find out what 700 Club host and all-around fundie gasbag Pat Robertson's reaction to signing the hate crimes bill into law. As usual, it rates on the high end  of the Batsh*tometer. (Think Progress):

PAT ROBERTSON: The noose has tightened around the necks of Christians to keep them from speaking out on certain moral issues. And it all was embodied in something called the Hate crimes bill that President Obama said was a major victory for America. I'm not sure if America was the beneficiary. [...] We have voted into office a group of people who are opposed to many of the fundamental Christian beliefs of our nation. And they hold to radical ideology, and they are beginning put people sharing their points of view into high office. And not only that, they not only have control of both houses of Congress.

Will Bernice King continue to 'run game' on lgbts of color?

NOTE FROM PAM: I share a couple of thoughts -- and a statement from Rev. Eric Lee, b elow the fold.

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crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

After I heard the news about Bernice King, I felt that as a black gay man, I had to add my two cents

Bernice King, the youngest daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr., has been chosen to lead the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the organizatiization that her father help to found.

Personally I am reticent about the entire matter; that is to say I am undecided on whether this is a good thing .

Bernice King has been very vocal against marriage equality. She has led marches against it and her opinion of marriage equality is best typified by the following statement:

“I know in my sanctified soul that he (Dr. King) did not take a bullet for same-sex marriage.”

It not so much the statement that angered me but what it represented.

An unfortunate consequence of the cultural battle over marriage equality is how it allowed some black leaders to shirk their responsibilites to lgbts of color.

Evoking the implication that the fight for marriage equality was a bastardized attempt by "wealthy white gays" to piggyback on the so-called untouchable legacy of the 1950s/60s civil rights movement allowed black leaders to neglect the needs of their own.

Never mind addressing the HIV rate amongst African-American MSMs and never mind addressing issues of isolation and lack of self esteem that plague lgbts of color. As long as the focus was on fighting marriage equality and labeling it as a plot of "the white man," black leaders like Bernice King were able to willfully and intentionally hide the mess of the outright dehumanization of lgbts of color by their own people behind the curtain.

Now that King has a bigger spotlight,  I can't help but to wonder will she continue those shenanigans?

Or will she step up and be a true leader?

Will she take the easy road and publicly demonize lgbts (and by extension lgbts of color) in front of eager crowds via religious condemnations?

Or will she note the irony that in some circles, the same religious condemnations will be thrown at her for being a woman who dares to take a leadership position in the black community?

Will she get the poignancy of President Obama signing hate crimes legislation named after both a heterosexual African-American victim of a hate crime and a gay victim of a hate crime?

Or will the poignancy conveniently slip her mind? Or worse yet, will she try to push away the poignancy via talking points surreptitiously provided by religious right groups?

Will King address the fact that lgbts of color have a place in the black community and deserve as much respect as their heterosexual counterparts?

Or will she try to placate us via silly patronizing comments about "not having a problem with anyone's sexual preference" -  comments that are not the words of a thoughtful conscientious leadus leader of but a Machiavellian leader trying to play both sides of the issue.

Will Bernice King break the chains of ignorance and hypocrisy that shackle not only the lgbt of color community but the black community at large?

Or will she add another link to that chain?

I'm waiting to see what Ms. King will do.

And I am not the only one.

Will Bernice King be a leader to ALL African-Americans?

Or will she continue to run game on me and mine?

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NOTE FROM PAM: Alvin did a kick-*ss job here; I couldn't add much more to the sentiments he expressed so well. I think that the words of Rev. Eric Lee say a lot as well:

The Reverend Eric P. Lee, president of the Los Angeles chapter of the SCLC and an outspoken advocate of social justice, was targeted last year by the organization for his advocacy in favor of LGBT marriage equality during California's Proposition 8 controversy.

With next week's anniversary of Proposition 8, and the upcoming marriage equality votes in Maine and Washington, Reverend Lee says, "my hope is that Reverend King will follow in the spirit of her father and her mother. We know that her mother, Coretta Scott King, was supportive of LGBT equality, and we believe that Dr. King would have been as well." Reverend Lee adds, "it's going to be a tough role for her because, of course, sexism still plagues our society.

My hope is that her election is a sign that the SCLC is returning to its sprit of equality for all people. The need for the SCLC is more critical than ever at this time. Our society is facing the challenges of healthcare reform, immigration reform and education reform. Reverend King and the SCLC have the opportunity, and the obligation, to once again ensure justice is provided to all people."

Reverend Lee is the author of the book, “Marriage Equality: Proposition 8, The California Divide”, and the co-producer of a 90 minute documentary film on the failure of public education for African American and Latino children entitled, “Who Is Accountable?”

In 2004, when she marched in Atlanta with homophobe Bishop Eddie Long of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in support of a constitutional amendment to ban marriage for gay and lesbian couples, it was clear she was going to divide black LGBTs from the rest of the black community -- cast us aside like refuse. It's the same narrow, ignorant thinking -- that civil rights must be some non-renewable resource that surely cannot be wasted on the hellbound homos. Of course the hypocrisy of sex, sexuality and the black church are never discussed on a serious level -- she could redeem herself in the spirit of Coretta Scott King's vision that equality is equality...period.

I support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 1994 because I believe that freedom and justice cannot be parceled out in pieces to suit political convenience. My husband, Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." On another occasion he said, "I have worked too long and hard against segregated public accommodations to end up segregating my moral concern. Justice is indivisible." Like Martin, I don't believe you can stand for freedom for one group of people and deny it to others.

So I see this bill as a step forward for freedom and human rights in our co fefuntry and a logical extension of the Bill of Rights and the civil rights reforms of the 1950s and '60's.

The great promise of American democracy is that no group of people will be forced to suffer discrimination and injustice. I believe that this legislation will provide protection to a large group of working people, who have suffered persecution and discrimination for many years. To this endeavor, I pledge my wholehearted support.
-- Press Conference on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 1994, Washington D.C. (23 June 1994)

Breaking: Gavin Newsom Has Quit Race For California Governor

From the Los Angeles Times' Gavin Newsom quits race for California governor:

San Francisco San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who has been seen as a leading contender to be the next governor of California, announced today that he is quitting the race.

Newsom is withdrawing from the Democratic primary amid lackluster poll numbers and meager fund-raising receipts. His withdrawal leaves state Atty. Gen.  Jerry Brown, who is expected to run even though he has not officially entered the race, with little opposition in the Democratic primary.

"It is with great regret I announce today that I am withdrawing from the race for governor of California," Newsom said in a statement. "With a young family and responsibilities at City Hall, I have found it impossible to commit the time required to complete this effort the way it needs to - and should be - done. This is not an easy decision. But it is one made with the best intentions for my wife, my daughter, the residents of the city and county of San Francisco, and California Democrats." ...

Mayor Newsom may be an lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community hero because of his stand on marriage equality, but he apparently didn't have that extra something to catch the imagination of the rest of the Democratic base here in my home state.

Maine’s super-volunteers and passionate student allies

In the days leading up to my departure for Maine, I wasn't sure what to expect from the people I'd meet here. I'm no stranger to ballot campaigns; we've had our share of those in Oregon. I rode on Tuesday to a suburb outside of Portland, Maine with another volunteer staff to meet with nine high school students about their interest to get involved with the No On 1 campaign. Our goal was to start a “Friends and Family” Volunteer Recruitment Phone Bank with them on the spot, and to organize a few times when they and their friends could volunteer together, canvassing door-to-door the weekend before Election Day. We rolled up to their neighborhood Starbucks at about 3 o'clock and met the students inside. They'd come straight after school, and had heard abou. They'd come straight after school, and had heard about the campaign at an all-ages concert, where they'd been watching their favorite local band. Three of the youth were band members! A few of them had worn their No On 1 buttons to school that day, and mentioned that they'd started conversations with other students about the issue, and what it meant to them. After introducing ourselves and briefly describing the state of the campaign, we read through a script and role-played it, making sure to arm the students with the facts needed to express to their friends and family members how much this means to them and why we need their help in the last two weeks of the campaign. When we asked the students to get out their mobile phones and start calling to sign their friends up for volunteer shifts with the campaign, they excelled at the task! After about a half hour, the students made a plan to gather together with their newly signed up volunteers for a morning canvass on Halloween, knocking on doors to get out the vote. None of the nine students were affiliated with the Gay Straight Alliance at their school, (and none mentioned that they identified as LGBT,) but all shared a sense that whoever you are and whomever you love, couples deserve to be recognized equally under the law.

From Maine with Love

We are 11 days away from the November Election. The Portland, Maine office is humming with volunteer activity. Every day, volunteers drop off food provisions for all the other volunteers. The first day we had homemade chili, yesterday egg salad sandwiches, and this morning someone brought in some carrots from their own yard. Mainers are chipping in any way they can. My time has been spent in the office working in the communications department while Travis Prinslow and Meleanie Altaras have been adopted into the Data and Campus Outreach departments. We work 9 to 9, when we're lucky and have been working on a variety of projects. From confirming volunteers, to getting people to vote early and in person volunteero vote early and in person volunteer recruitment. The amount of work that goes into a campaign is astounding. You walk into any office and you hear typing, people on the phone, stapling, paper shuffling and people being directed. It's a small preview of what Oregon will be dealing with soon enough. However, Oregon's fight will be much larger-- Maine's population is a third the size of Oregon's. I'm grateful that Basic Rights Oregon is starting early and getting all our ducks in a row before we enter our own fight. Maine's latest YouTube celebrity goes by the name of Phillip Spooner. Mr. Spooner is 85 years old, a WWII vet, and a lifelong republicanâ€"he is also in favor of marriage equality. Click here to watch his testimony in April during the Marriage hearings. His video has officially gone viral, with close to 500,000 views. Mainers are excited to have someone like Mr. Spooner speaking up for equality, so much so that he has unofficially become the face of the campaign. Click here to watch a segment of Mr. Spooner being interviewed about his views on Marriage Equality. The opposition is using children to scare voters into voting against equality. They are running ads claiming that "gay sex education" will be taught in schools. Fortunately, the Maine campaign has been very diligent about countering their ads and has caused a stir by featuring a French catholic woman who supports her son's right to get married. Yolande Dumont is also a Maine celebrity and has inspired Catholics and other religious denominations to come out and support the No on 1 campaign. Of course the Catholic DIoces is bankrolling the opposition's campaign along with National Organization marriage and Shubert Flint of prop 8 fame. When Yolande first came on the airwaves the Catholic Diocese was up in arms and started to spend resources countering Yolande's message. This is exciting because the opposition is now on the defensive. Not only do they have to counter multiple legislators, and educators on the whole "Teaching gay in Schools" issue, now they have to make sure that other fair minded Catholics reject Yolande's message. If the No on 1 Campaign wins on Election Day it will be a model on how to defeat the oppositions' vitriol and lies. Although, Maine is literally the farthest place from Oregon in the country, their efforts will have a huge impact on our work. They need all the help they can get. If you have not donated to the NO on 1 campaign you can do so by clicking here. If you cannot afford a donation but have some extra time on your hands you can phone bank from Oregon with their Call for Equality Program sign up here. I'm going to get back to work now but feel free to shoot me an email if you have any questions about getting involved in the Maine campaign. In solidarity, Alejandro Juarez Communications Coordinator Basic Rights Oregon (503) 222-6151 x 105 alejandro@basicrights.org

“You Have Always Been Welcome Here”, a play about the lives of four transgender people as they explore their relationships to family, gender, Christianity and spirituality is coming to Pendleton thanks to Pendleton PFLAG!

“You Have Always Been Welcome Here” here Presented by PFLAG Pendleton in cooperation with Communities of Welcoming Congregations & The Drama Queens    -   “You Have Always Been Welcome Here” portrays the lives of four tran Welcoming Congregations & The Drama Queens    -   “You Have Always Been Welcome Here” portrays the lives of four transgender people as they explore their relationships to family, gender, Christianity and spirituality.   Rev. Tara Wilkins, executive director of Community of Welcoming [...]

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