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News (USA)
Virginia lawmakers kill proposal to repeal ban on same-sex marriage
A Virginia House of Delegates subcommittee on Monday voted 6-1 to kill a proposal that would have repealed the state’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Delegate Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax) introduced HJ665 on Jan. 9, the first day of the current legislative session. He told the Washington Blade after the vote he feels “people affirming their […]
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News (USA)
Florida lawmaker introduces same-sex domestic partnership bill
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A Florida lawmaker has introduced a bill that would allow Floridians to enter “domestic partnerships.” State Sen. Eleanor Sobel (D-Fort Lauderdale) introduced the “Families First” bill (SB 196), which would extend legal protections to same-sex couples, including hospital visitation rights and the ability to make healthcare decisions for a partner. “This bill […]
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News (USA)
Vicco, Ky., becomes smallest U.S. town to adopt LGBT fairness law
VICCO, Ky. — The Appalachian town of Vicco, Ky., on Monday approved the state’s first LGBT-inclusive anti-discrimination ordinance in a decade. The “fairness ordinance,” which prohibits discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations based upon a person’s actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity, received support from three of the city’s four-member commission and […]
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News (USA)
Kotek sworn in as nation’s first open lesbian to lead a legislative chamber
Oregon state Rep. Tina Kotek was sworn in on Monday as her state’s Speaker of the House, becoming the first open lesbian to lead a legislative chamber in the United States. Kotek, a third term lawmaker from North Portland who took the oath of office with her partner, Aimee Wilson, by her side, called the historic occasion “humbling.”
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Commentary
Who are you to judge Jodie Foster?
I don’t understand this whole philosophy that exists by some in the gay community that doesn’t tolerate any sort of weakness when it comes to a gay celebrity. This whole thing that says if you’re gay, and you’re any sort of celebrity, or have any sort of power, it’s your responsibility to pave the way for every other gay person in the world. I don’t believe its Jodie Foster’s responsibility to make my life easier. I don’t believe it should be the job of any celebrity to make my life easier…
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Commentary
Let’s be honest about Salem College
The truth of the matter is there is misinformation about what is happening at Salem and what allowing an openly-transitioning student to remain at Salem would mean. Regardless of whether a student is considering transition or not, such a decision is in no way the concern of the college administration, Board of Trustees, or alumni but a private and personal decision of the individual and their medical professionals that should be respected…
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News (USA)
Business leaders urge Illinois lawmakers to pass marriage equality bill
A coalition consisting of fifty Illinois business leaders and organizations on Sunday joined in urging the state’s General Assembly to pass the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act, which would grant gay and lesbian couples the freedom to marry. The support represents a broad array of economic sectors, including manufacturing, financial services, energy, lodging, publishing […]
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News (USA)
Maryland lawmaker claims marriage votes spurred alcohol abuse
A Maryland lawmaker told a local newspaper last week that legislators who voted for the state’s same-sex marriage bill contributed to his alcohol abuse. Delegate Don Dwyer (R-Anne Arundel County) told the Maryland Gazette in an interview the newspaper posted to its website on Saturday that he felt “betrayed” when Dels. Wade Koch (R-Baltimore County) […]
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Life
Surprise? Jodie Foster’s casual coming out at the Golden Globes
In a rambling speech at Sunday night’s Golden Globe Awards, actress Jodie Foster appeared to end years of speculation by casually coming out of the closet while accepting the Cecil B. Demille Lifetime Achievement Award. Foster took the stage for an acceptance speech that was anything but predictable.
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News (World)
Hundreds of thousands march in Paris to oppose marriage equality
PARIS — Several hundred thousand people converged at the Eiffel Tower in Paris on Sunday to protest the French president’s plan to legalize same-sex marriage and allow same-sex couples to adopt and conceive children.
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Commentary
An open letter to the owner of The Stingray Cafe
What is it about your spirituality, your religion, that you feel you have the absolute right to judge another human being? It certainly can’t be from the teachings of the Jesus I know who simply said: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”
I see nothing there of judging or intolerance – only the commandment to love one another. Period.
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News (USA)
Student asks to remain at all-female college after transitioning to male
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — An undergraduate student at Salem College, who is transitioning from a woman to a man, is asking to stay on the campus of the all-female school, a college alumnae says. Annie Webb, a 2005 Salem graduate, said in an email to fellow alumnae on Jan. 5 that a traditional student will be […]
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Life
More than 1000 Catholic priests sign letter opposing same-sex marriage
LONDON — More than 1,000 Roman Catholic priests have signed a letter voicing fears that legalization of same-sex marriage in the United Kingdom could threaten religious freedom in a way last seen during “centuries of persecution” of Roman Catholics in England. The letter, published Saturday in London’s Daily Telegraph, said marriage equality for gays and […]
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Commentary
To the reader who saved my life…
Dear Bob, As we enter this new year, full of promise and possibility, I realized that I could not in all fairness properly close out the old without first repaying a major debt. One that I owe to you, dear reader, for quite literally saving my life. … You likely had no idea, when you reached for the book, that the very act of reading it could so profoundly affect me, and all for the better. How could you know, after all, that while I’d long envisioned a life for myself as a writer, until you contacted me, I’d begun to consider stopping altogether?
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News (USA)
Lesbian couple condemned by cafe owner because they are gay
NEW BERN, N.C. — A married lesbian couple in North Carolina is outraged and going public after receiving a letter from a cafe owner condemning them because they are gay. Ariel and Shawnee McPhail said that after finishing their meal at The Stingray Café in New Bern, N.C., on December 4, the owner handed them […]
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News (USA)
Cook County, Ill., offering wallet-sized civil union, marriage certificates
Same-sex couples in Illinois now have an easier way to prove their civil union. Cook County Clerk David Orr unveiled wallet-sized civil union and marriage licenses Thursday, designed specifically for same-sex couples in a civil union or married couples with different last names. Image courtesy Cook County Clerk. “Couples are routinely asked to prove they […]
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News (USA)
Wash. judge refuses to perform same-sex marriages for ‘religious reasons’
OLYMPIA, Wash. — A Superior Court judge in Washington states said he refuses to officiate same-sex marriage due to his “philosophical and religious reasons.” “I do not wish to perform same-sex marriages,” said Thurston County Superior Court Judge Gary Tabor. Tabor told The Olympian that he did not intend for his choice “to be a […]
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Life
Poll: Americans who believe homosexuality is a sin has decreased significantly
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The percentage of Americans who believe that homosexuality is a sin has decreased significantly in a year, according to a recent survey released Thursday by LifeWay Research, a Christian-oriented firm. The November 2012 survey of adults in the United States found 37 percent affirm a belief that homosexual behavior is a sin […]
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News (USA)
First transgender contestant to compete for Miss California USA crown
Among the 229 contestants competing for the title of Miss California USA will be Kylan Arianna Wenzel, a 26-year-old transgender woman from Century City, Calif.
Wenzel will be the first ever transgender contestant after the Miss Universe Organization changed its rules in April last year — Miss Universe operates the Miss USA pageant, and the local pageants that determine the state delegates.
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News (USA)
Colorado governor calls for passage of same-sex civil unions bill
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, in his third State of the State address, called for civil union legislation to be passed this year.