 Gay Socialites | California gay marriage battle turns to court role Reuters - By Peter Henderson SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The legal battle over gay marriage in California turned on Monday to whether the state's top court could strike ... Proposition 8 backers attack Brown's efforts to keep gay marriage Prop. 8 backers take on AG's gay marriage argument Prop. 8 backers blast Calif. Attorney General |
 Queerty | Church vandalism heats up gay marriage debate Los Angeles Times, CA - The e-mail claims that opponents of Proposition 8, which amended the California Constitution to ban gay marriage, defaced the church with swastikas ... Prop 8 protesters vandalize "gay-friendly" Catholic church Gays vandalize San Francisco church Vandals target SF church |
Gay-rights activists to rally near Delicate Arch Salt Lake Tribune, United States - By Rosemary Winters Gay-rights activists hope to build a bridge to their fellow Utahns before the state's most iconic span: Delicate Arch. On Saturday, ... |
 TheaterMania.com | WICKED Casts Past and Present 'DEFYING INEQUALITY' Benefit 1/12 Broadway World, NY - Their mission is to win equality and justice for LGBT New Yorkers and their families. Through their education, organizing and advocacy programs, ... New York & Chicago Companies of Wicked to Host Defying Inequality ... |
Steve Rothaus MiamiHerald.com, FL - He also created Fight OUT Loud with his husband Waymon Hudson (pictured left) and has been a long-time activist in the LGBT community. ... |
Gay Socialites | Big Prop 8-related summit will limit media access PageOneQ.com - "LGBT journalists ... represent the thousands of individuals who contributed to and volunteered for the No on Prop 8 campaign and if people are going to be ... Equality on Campus Day |
Gay Socialites | On the ’Gay Agenda’: New England to Become Marriage Equality Zone EDGE Boston, MA - by Kilian Melloy New England, the cradle of America, will once again be the site of strides forward for democracy, if a prominent GLBT organization is ... The year in review: international |
GLBT youth at greater risk for depression, suicide attempts The Olympian, WA - While I don't know the situations surrounding those attempts, suicide was, and still is, hardly unheard of in the GLBT community. The scene from the movie ... |
Crisp: Chance for enlightened thinking Scripps News, DC - The GLBT is more visible in our culture than it was in 1978, and the examples of greater acceptance are manifold. Still, it hasn't been a good autumn for ... |
Former Congressman Bob Barr (pictured), who was also the 2008 Libertarian candidate for president, continues his evolution on LGBT equality in today's Los Angeles Times. Barr, who recently reversed his position on the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban, has again re-visited his past prejudices and come to the conclusion that the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) - which he authored during his time in the House - should be scrapped, too."In 1996, as a freshman member of the House of Representatives, I wrote the Defense of Marriage Act, better known by its shorthand acronym, DOMA, than its legal title," Barr writes in today's Times. "The law has been a flash-point for those arguing for or against same-sex marriage ever since President Clinton signed it into law. Even President-elect Barack Obama has grappled with its language, meaning and impact."
"I can sympathize with the incoming commander in chief," Barr says. "And, after long and careful consideration, I have come to agree with him that the law should be repealed."
"I've wrestled with this issue for the last several years and come to the conclusion that DOMA is not working out as planned," he says. "In testifying before Congress against a federal marriage amendment, and more recently while making my case to skeptical Libertarians as to why I was worthy of their support as their party's presidential nominee, I have concluded that DOMA is neither meeting the principles of federalism it was supposed to, nor is its impact limited to federal law."
"In 2006, when then-Sen. Obama voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment, he said, 'Decisions about marriage should be left to the states.' He was right then; and as I have come to realize, he is right now in concluding that DOMA has to go. If one truly believes in federalism and the primacy of state government over the federal, DOMA is simply incompatible with those notions."
That's welcome news, indeed. And while Barr has not endorsed marriage equality in today's op-ed, he's clearly on a journey, embracing the truly libertarian values of personal privacy and limited government intrusion into American's lives.
To read his full column in today's Times, click here.
Yes you read the title correctly. On December 23rd President Bush delivered a holiday gift to lesbian and gay couples when he signed the Worker, Retiree and Employer Recovery Act of 2008. The new law makes it mandatory for businesses to roll over retirement benefits to a same-sex partner in the event of the employee’s death. Previously, employers could decline and surviving same-sex partners would have to pay tax on the inheritance of the deceased partner’s retirement savings. Legally married opposite-sex couples automatically avoid that tax penalty.Many LGBT organizations, including PFLAG National, applauded this important step towards equality. The legislation ensures necessary protections for lesbian and gay couples when planning for retirement. Lesbian and gay couples experience many barriers during their golden years. One of the most ostensible barriers is the denial of Social Security spousal and survivor benefits. Thankfully, the President agreed that the tax code should not cut out our partners from their hard-earned retirement savings.
- J. Rhodes Perry
A refrain heard relentlessly by gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people of faith is: "God hates fags!" Whether it's hurled as a direct insult or stated more subtly in a "Love the sinner, hate the sin" theology, the message to LGBT ears is the same: "God hates you and so do we!""Gay and lesbian people are constantly under attack," said Candace Chellew-Hodge, the author of Bulletproof Faith: A Spiritual Survival Guide foruide for Gay and Lesbian Christians. "We're unable to marry the person we love, and many support writing that discrimination into the U.S. Constitution. Churches continue to argue about our lives and many insist we must become something called, 'ex-gay.' We're tired of constantly being a target."
This trend against LGBT people isn't abating. Religious groups from around the nation used their considerable wealth to target the GLBT community by writing marriage discrimination into the state constitutions of California, Arizona and Florida in the last election. This sent the message that it's "gays vs. God" and that gay and lesbian people are disdained by God.
Even Archbishop Desmond Tutu noted in his endorsement of the book that, "Gay and lesbian Christians are constantly demoralized and told they are not children of God. Bulletproof Faith reassures gays and lesbians that God loves them just as they were created and teaches them how to stand strong, with compassion and gentleness, against those who condemn them."
Bulletproof Faith, published by Jossey-Bass, helps readers reclaim the spiritual self that criticism from society and religion has led them to give up. Instead of arguing over biblical texts, Bulletproof Faith helps LGBT people live authentically into their faith despite criticism.
Bulletproof Faith empowers readers to withstand even the most aggressive assaults without fear, doubt, or anger by providing:
- Solid, proven tactics that can be used successfully when faced with an attack
- Practical tools to discover one's "authentic self": the bulletproof part of each of us
- Guidance on how to turn attacks into opportunities for spiritual growth
Bulletproof Faith doesn't argue; instead Chellew-Hodge's approach - born out of 12 years of being on the frontlines in the controversies surrounding gay and Christian identity - teaches readers to draw on their own inner strength and to return abuse with the spiritual Aikido of gentleness, compassion, reverence - and strength.
Candace Chellew-Hodge is the associate pastor at Garden of Grace United Church of Christ in Columbia, SC and founder of the online magazine for LGBT Christians called Whosoever, at http://www.whosoever.org/, which reaches nearly 1 million people a year. She is an award-winning former journalist with 25 years of experience including six years as a news writer, reporter and editor with CNN, and is a graduate of the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta.
For more information and a free 25-page study guide for Bulletproof Faith, visit http://www.bulletproofbook.com/.
Candace Chellew-Hodge is the associate pastor at Garden of Grace United Church of Christ in Columbia, SC and founder of the online magazine for LGBT Christians called Whosoever, at http://www.whosoever.org/, which reaches nearly 1 million people a year. She is an award-winning former journalist with 25 years of experience including six years as a news writer, reporter and editor with CNN, and is a graduate of the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta.
For more information and a free 25-page study guide for Bulletproof Faith, visit http://www.bulletproofbook.com/.
Two days before Christmas, President Bush signed the Worker, Retiree and Employer Recovery Act of 2008 (WRERA). WRERA is a new law makes it mandatory for businesses to roll over retirement benefits to a same-sex partner in the event of the employee’s death. Prior to the law, employers could decline the benefit and surviving same-sex partners [...]
Barack Obama has chosen Tim Kaine to run the Democratic National Committee. This is a little bittersweet for the LGBT community in the respect that Kaine was the only candidate who responded to the Washington Blade’s 2005 request for Virginia Governor’s candidates to answer questions about gay issues (and was very positive about the [...]
According to a post from Matt Hennie at Project Q Atlanta: A gay man expected to formally announce his campaign for Atlanta City Council this week is apologizing for remarks he made three years ago when he said transgender people and drag queens were on the fringe of society and hurt the gay equality movement. Charlie Stadtlander, [...]
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