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Hillary Clinton Should Deliver All of Obama's LGBT Speeches and Also This Other Guy, Who is a Real Person In Real Life: Ok, so today there was this big event at the White House for LGBT Pride Month. The audience was mostly local and state-level advocates (so yes, I was too important and BIG TIME to be invited), and Hil gave this badass speech. She makes incrimental change and legislation on duh issues sound so OK! Seriously, though, kind of wish she was in the Oval Office right now.


Sometimes, though, we meet people who are so far from The Best. They are pretty much the opposite of The Best. But they are real people, somehow, that are living in real life right now. This "ex-gay" (gay) guy is one of those people, and his video has been making the blog rounds today and is very LOL.


Top 10 Lines From This Video:

#1-10: All of the lines.

When he started reaching (?) at 3:04 I was kind of convinced that this was a huge joke because look at the reaching thing he does at 3:04. But it is real, and the website checks out. Thank you, Right!

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Senate Armed Services Committee Debate: Watch as the Senate committee debates/votes on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal and the compromise made this week. This looks like a lock for Us, but it's got to make it through here before it goes before the House.

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Viviana Santiago, Professional Baller: Today, Vivi wrote a letter to the Chronicle regarding the BSAI Step Off two weeks ago. Some things were said there that most definitely needed to be addressed. It is important to recognize though, that like Vivi says, her letter should not be an end to this conversation, but rather the beginning. (More on what happened that weekend coming soon).

This Video. (via Videogum): Words cannot express the empathy I have for this boy. (Also, if you do not think this is LGBT news, you do not know what LGBT news is.)

Gates eases ban on gays in the military: (from CNN) Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Thursday that the Pentagon will start to ease its enforcement of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy prohibiting gay individuals from serving openly in the military.

Among other things, Gates said the Pentagon is raising the threshold for what constitutes an appropriate level of information necessary to launch a "credible inquiry" into allegations of homosexual behavior.

The change, which will take effect in 30 days and apply to all current cases, is a reflection of "common sense" and "common decency," Gates said. "These changes reflect some of the insights we have gained over 17 years of implementing the current law, including the need for consistency, oversight and clear standards."

President Obama and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, support a legislative repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," which was first enacted in 1993. Some senior members of the military, however, have expressed concern over the impact of the ban's repeal on unit cohesion and morale, among other things.

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"Transgender Need Not Apply At J.Crew" - Gothamist

Jen Carlson writes: "The group (Make the Road New York) says the preppy proprietor (J. Crew) might as well post a 'transgender people need not apply' sign on their door. They recently put the company's Manhattan retail store to the test, (along with 23 other retail stores), sending a transgender and a nontransgender to apply for jobs—with everything else (age, race, experience) matching on their resumes. The full results can be seen after the jump. The group's report 'also found a 42 percent net rate of discrimination for transgender job applicants... [and] 49 percent of transgender workers surveyed reported that they have never been offered a job in the time that they have lived openly as transgender.'

Queerty asks, 'J. Crew has spent nearly three decades outfitting America's homosexuals in their dandy wardrobe... why aren't you hiring transgender job applicants?'

...

Irene Tung of Make The Road NY tells us J. Crew is being singled out of the 24 stores tested because they 'acted in a discriminatory way with two different matched pairs. The two separate instances of discrimination are considered by the Attorney General and also by social scientists who specialize in matched pair testing, to be especially egregious because they represent a pattern of discrimination. So it is this pattern of discrimination we are singling out at J. Crew.'"

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Will Phillips at the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards:

This kid is AMAZing!!

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Yale to offer gender-neutral housing: In response to student activism, Yale University will begin to offer gender-neutral housing to rising seniors this fall.

From Yale Daily News: "We applaud the decision by the Yale administration both because it is the right action to take and because it recognizes the serious interest students have shown in this issue. ...
But as pleased as we are about the decision itself, we are more pleased that Yale officials made it in part as a response to student activism. Whatever one might think about the specifics of gender-neutral housing, there is no denying that it is good to see students fighting for a change they think is worthwhile. Yesterday’s announcement should serve as a reminder that we who are here today have a chance to shape the Yale of tomorrow."

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Real life lesbians faring better than their TV counterparts

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Lt. Dan Choi Called Back to Active Military Service: Sources are reporting that Lt. Dan Choi, who has become the face of the fight against the discriminatory DADT policy, has been called back into service with his National Guard unit, despite the recommendation that he be discharged, made by a military hearing eight months ago.

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Don't Ask Don't Tell Focus of Senate Hearing:

Live Coverage here.

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Hawaii Senate Passes Civil Union Bill (HB 444): "The Senate voted 18 to 7 to pass a civil-unions bill. The bill now moves to the House for consideration with a veto-proof majority.

The bill would give same-sex and heterosexual couples the ability to enter into civil unions and receive the same state rights as marriage.

Locking down a two-thirds' vote - 17 of 25 senators - had become crucial because state House leaders have said a veto-proof majority would be among the factors they will consider if the bill moves back to the House.

The House passed a civil-unions bill last year that only applies to same-sex couples. The House came one vote short of a two-thirds' majority - with one Democrat absent - but leaders do not want to go through the exercise again in an election year unless there is a realistic chance the bill will become law."

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Cindy McCain NOH8 PHOTO: McCain Joins Project Protesting Prop 8: Cindy McCain, like her daughter Meghan McCain before her, has posed for the NOH8 Campaign, a photographic campaign against California's anti-Equality Proposition 8. Former presidential hopeful Senator John McCain remains opposed to marriage equality, although he "respects the views of his family".

Cindy McCain posing for NOH8

Meghan McCain posing for NOH8 in 2009

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Gay Pride: In and Out (a series of documentaries on current™ tv): Thought someone else might find these intriguing too. I'm interested in what y'all think about them, especially the piece on firearms. Hope your breaks have been exceptional!

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Portugal set to legalize gay marriage! (from Yahoo! News): Catholic Portugal, traditionally one of Europe's most socially conservative countries, is expected to approve the legalisation of gay marriage on Friday with a minimum of fuss.

With the governing Socialists and other left-wing parties enjoying a strong majority, the new law is likely to sail through the first reading debate and gain final approval before a visit by Pope Benedict XVI, due in Portugal in May.

In contrast to Spain, where the lead-up to the legalisation of gay marriage in 2005 brought hundreds of thousands of demonstrators onto the streets, the bill in Portugal has provoked only muted opposition even from the right.

While normally vocal on the role of marriage and the family in society, the Catholic Church has refused to mobilise on a subject which, according to Lisbon's Cardinal Patriarch Jose Policarpo, is "parliament's responsibility".

"I think the Portuguese people have learnt one of the fundamental tenets of democracy: respect for the rights of the individual," Miguel Vale de Almeida, Portugal's first openly-gay lawmaker who was elected in September, told AFP.

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Very Interesting Interview with Amanda Simpson (2008): If you have time, give this a look. I'm really glad that Amanda's appointment has not only forced the recognition of transphobia in more conservative American populations, but also within our own queer community. It's vital that we be aware.

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NJ to vote on marriage equality Thursday: The NJ state legislature will vote on marriage equality this Thursday. Supporters of the bill are unsure if there are enough votes for it to pass, but have decided to move forward because while current Governor Jon Corzine has said he would sign the bill into law should it pass, incoming Governor Chris Christie has said he would veto the bill.

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Amanda Simpson Appointed Senior Technical Advisor For The U.S. Bureau Of Industry And Security:

(from Pam's House Blend)

"I'm truly honored to have received this appointment and am eager and excited about this opportunity that is before me. And at the same time, as one of the first transgender presidential appointees to the federal government, it demonstrates a commitment to hire the best qualified for a position and thus this appointment is symbolic of future opportunities for many others."

-Amanda Simpson

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First Ever Gay Sex Scene On Daytime TV: Yesterday, television history was made when One Life to Live aired the first ever gay sex scene on daytime TV.

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Malawi's First Same-Sex Wedding Ends In Arrests: (from Jezebel): "Following Malawi's first same-sex wedding on Saturday, the newlyweds were jailed for 'gross indecency':

Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza must have known the likely outcome of the ceremony: homosexuality and sodomy are illegal in Malawi, and punishable by up to 14 years in jail. And the timing was no accident: Uganda has recently proposed an Anti-Homosexuality Bill that would condemn convicted homosexuals with life imprisonment or death, as in the Sudan. Meanwhile, Senegal and Burundi have both publicly cracked down on homosexuality (already illegal in 37 African nations). And in general southern Africa, not incidentally with the vocal encouragement of US-based Christian evangelical groups, is a dangerous region to be openly gay. Thus, the couple's ceremony was an exercise in protest as well as commitment: a public statement of sorts.

The Malawi law society has publicly called the wedding 'against the order of nature,' and the couple will come up for trial shortly. In 2006, the Anglican Church posted Bishop Nick Henderson, a cleric known for his support of gay rights, to head a Malawian diocese; the move led to protests and, ultimately, the death of a parishioner. Since then, the country has become more conservative. But the hundreds of attendees at the ceremony - and the outcry the arrests are drawing - may have already made their point."