Vermont Freedom to Marry

The Vermont same-sex marriage debate is hopefully moving towards Vermont becoming, after Massachusetts and Connecticut, the third state in America to allow same-sex marriage. With the state Senate having already approved legislation of the same-sex marriage bill, the House Judiciary Committee is expected to vote on it today. If, as expected, the committee approves the bill, the full House will begin debate on Thursday. Vermont Governor Jim Douglas, however, has indicated that he will veto its passage.

Has the recession got you down? How about making a positive difference that will cost you nothing? Here's what you can do to make sure that there is enough support in the Vermont House of Representatives to override the veto when votes are cast, probably this Friday:

- Canvass and phone bank in Burlington, Vermont or from home.
- Call and email Vermont Reps
- Call (800-649-6825) and email the Vermont Governor, Jim Douglas
- Call and email the Vermont House Judiciary Committee
- Go to the Vermont Freedom to Marry site to learn more.

Vermont's constitution, written in 1777 as the Constitution of the Vermont Republic, was the first to outlaw slavery and require support of public schools in America. Over two centuries later, in 2000, the state's revolutionary civil unions law took effect. The state's constitution remains among the most far reaching in guaranteeing personal freedoms and individual rights in America. Let's hope that the tradition of progress continues.

Governor Douglas, why would you veto equality?

Corine Mauch, first woman and first openly gay person to become mayor of Zurich, Switzerland

Voters in Switzerland's largest city, Zurich, elected on Sunday their first female and openly gay person as mayor. Corine Mauch, an environmentalist of the centre-left Social Democrats who has lived with her partner for many years, received nearly 42,000 votes, almost 11,000 more than her only rival, Kathrin Martelli of the centre-right Radicals.

The election wonderfully coincides with Zurich's preparations for hosting this year's EuroPride, the largest LGBT festival in Europe, which occurs from 2 May until 7 June 2009.

Congratulations Corine Mauch!

Hurrah for one more momentous occasion in LGBT history!

Read more.

One big step forward for Japan

Japan's Justice Ministry will soon allow Japanese nationals to marry same-sex foreign partners in countries where gay marriage is legal, i.e. in the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa, and Norway. While same-sex marriage is not yet allowed in Japan, this is a monumental step towards fully recognizing same-sex couples in the nation.

Japanese gays and lesbians were not able to marry, even if their partner's country allowed same-sex marriage because the Justice Ministry would not issue the necessary certificate, the obtaining of which involved filling out forms to reveal the sex of each partner. Under the new legislation, the ministry will issue certificates based on applications that will no longer require indicating this information.

Amazing change!

Read more.

Violent homophobic incident in Athens, Greece

Hat tip to Thanos for bringing this to my, and, subsequently, your attention.

From the land where in ancient times writers like Athenaeus, Herodotus, Plato, Sappho, and Xenophon explored aspects of same-sex love, comes the third and most violent incident of homophobia this month. Read about the two others here and here.

A vicious attack took place in the centre of Athens last Saturday when a group of youths stormed a bar on Exarchia Square shouting homophobic remarks such as, "Faggots no place for you here, this is Exarchia," "We're here to fuck your faggot asses," and "Enough with your faggot music."

Scary craziness.

The thugs then proceeded to bash the patrons and destroy the bar, which, over the past few weekends, had been host to the performance of a gay-themed play.

The bohemian district of Exarchia, a traditional stomping ground for artists and activists, drew global attention last December after police shot dead a 15 year old boy in one of its popular cafés. Tomorrow, Saturday 28 March, a demonstration against homophobic violence is set to take place at the Square.

Read more at Gay Super Hero.

ABC News, What Would You Do?

Top hat tip to the dashing Joe at Joe. My. God.!

Check out this surprisingly inspiring clip of ABC's hidden camera show What Would You Do?, which sent two actors, Dusty St. Amand and Dominic Benevento, a gay couple in real life, into a New Jersey sports bar to see how customers would react to their displays of affection, i.e. to the guys being themselves.



Tolerance rocks, and so do people who challenge the intolerance of ignoramuses.

Morocco clamps down on Shiites and homosexuality

What do Shiites and gays in Morocco have in common?

Well, they are both being clamped down on by the Moroccan government as groups that allegedly threaten moral and religious values in the Sunni Arab kingdom.

C'mon Morocco, you've been one of the more open and tolerant nations in the Arab world. Okay, the cutting of diplomatic ties with the Shiite republic of Iran, I think I get that you don't want to have a Shiite Muslim republic trying to spread its faith in your country.

But, what's the harm in letting gay people live peacefully? We're not going to deprive anyone of their moral and religious values. People can believe what they want. We just would like to be free to be us, in the same way you are free to be you. How harmful is that? And, you know, even if you try to drive the Shiites out of your country, gay people, Shiite or Sunni, will always be there, so why not just give it a rest and avoid the same human rights mistakes that Iran has made with its gay population? Okay? Okay.

Read more.

Portia de Rossi on Jimmy Kimmel Live

In case you missed it last Friday (20 March), here is a tongue-in-cheek public service announcement featuring actress Portia de Rossi apologizing to all those who were hurt by her marriage to Ellen DeGeneres.

Enjoy.



Read more.

Spain sends one million condoms to Africa

Thank goodness Spain's Health Ministry said last week it will send one million condoms to Africa to fight the spread of Aids, this despite Pope Benedict XVI's recent controversial remarks denying unanimous recommendations from the scientific community and claiming that the distribution of condoms actually risks exacerbating the spread of the pandemic.

More astonishing statements from a religious leader and yet another unfortunate example of how religion can pose a real threat to public health.

Read more.

Merriam-Webster recognizes same-sex marriage

With all the talk of same-sex marriage in the United States in the past few years further ignited by the passing of that nasty Proposition 8 in California, who knew that reference powerhouse Merriam-Webster had quietly changed it's own dictionary definition in 2003, before gay marriage was allowed in any state?

Quoted in Pink News, associate editor Kory Stamper said:

"In recent years, this new sense of 'marriage' has appeared frequently and consistently throughout a broad spectrum of carefully edited publications … Its inclusion was a simple matter of providing our readers with accurate information about all of the word's current uses."

So here it is, the full definition from Merriam-Webster:

Marriage
Main Entry: mar·riage
Pronunciation: \ˈmer-ij, ˈma-rij\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English mariage, from Anglo-French, from marier to marry
Date: 14th century
1 a (1): the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law (2): the state of being united to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage b: the mutual relation of married persons : wedlock c: the institution whereby individuals are joined in a marriage
2: an act of marrying or the rite by which the married status is effected ; especially : the wedding ceremony and attendant festivities or formalities
3: an intimate or close union

Hooray
Main Entry: hoo·ray
Pronunciation: \hu̇-ˈrā\
Variant(s): also hur·rah \hu̇-ˈrȯ, -ˈrä\ or hur·ray \-ˈrā\
Function: interjection
Etymology: perhaps from German hurra
Date: 1686
—used to express joy, approval, or encouragement

Read more.

Greece’s highest court overturns judgement to compensate wrongfully dismissed HIV positive man

The Areopagus, Greece’s highest court, under the recommendation of Justice Irini Athanasiou, has decided to cancel the fine of €7.539, which had been imposed by two lower courts (the Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeals) on a clothing goods company as back wages and moral compensation to an HIV positive man who was fired after his employers learned of his HIV status. Both lower courts had ruled that the man’s dismissal was abusive and unlawful under the Greek Civil Code.

According to Justice Athanasiou, however, the company, which claims that the man was fired at the insistence of his colleagues who considered him a health risk, cannot be held responsible for unlawful dismissal and thus should not be required to compensate the HIV positive man.

Well, if the company who dismissed the man isn't responsible for his dismissal, then who is?

Read more at Tales from the Other Side of Town and at Gay Super Hero.

Knights Out at U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.

Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., came out of the closet Monday with an offer to help their alma mater educate future Army leaders on the need to accept and honor the sacrifices of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender troops.

The 38-member Knights Out group follows the example of similar support and education groups USNA Out, formed by graduates of the U.S. Naval Academy, and Blue Alliance, at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Quoted in Military Times, 1st Lt. Dan Choi, a National Guardsman with the 1st Bn., 69th Infantry, based in Manhattan, said, "We're publicly announcing our sexuality, our orientation. It's just one part of who we are in saying that we are standing to be counted."

The infamous Don't ask, don't tell policy was implemented by U.S. Congress in 1993 and signed by President Bill Clinton. The law prescribes discharge as the remedy for gay service members who do not remain quiet about their sexuality or do not remain celibate. Groups, such as The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, actively lobby for its repeal.

Hurrah for all the courageous American military personnel fighting for LGBT rights and recognition!

Read more.

That open-minded Nigerian Anglican Church - Not.

Crazy news from influential Nigerians.

In a position paper submitted by the Anglican Church of Nigeria to a parliamentary committee, a new law is being proposed to punish gay couples who get married with five years in jail, while groups of witnesses to the marriage may be sentenced to one year in jail.

Just disgusting.

From Pink News, the Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Nigeria, Peter Akinola, said:

"Same sex marriage, apart from being ungodly, is unscriptural, unnatural, unprofitable, unhealthy, un-cultural, un-African and un-Nigerian. It is a perversion, a deviation and an aberration that is capable of engendering moral and social holocaust in this country."

Whew! What will people will do and say for power. And if that weren't enough, Nigeria's Minister of Foreign Affairs told a UN review of human rights last month that there is no gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community in the country.

Well, if there is no LGBT community, then why is a law being proposed to punish them and their allies?

So. Stupid.

HIV/AIDS rate in Washington D.C. surges

Bad news to start off the week.

Officials in Washington D.C. are expected to relase a report today revealing that at least 3 percent of the population in the American capitol is infected with the HIV/AIDS virus. This approaches the 4 percent rate of infection that San Francisco experienced in the 1990's at the height of the epidemic. And, according to Shannon L. Hader, director of the District's HIV/AIDS Administration, the rate is "on par with Uganda and some parts of Kenya."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines an epidemic as infecting 1 percent of a population.

Read more.

Little Ashes, Salvador Dalí (Robert Pattinson), Federico García Lorca (Javier Beltrán)

Coming to North America in limited release this spring from director Paul Morrison is Little Ashes, a film about the early life of Salvador Dalí (Robert Pattinson), who arrives in Madrid in 1922, a time when traditional values are being challenged by new influences including Jazz, Sigmund Freud, and the notion of the avant-garde. At 18 years old, Dalí enters the Academia de San Fernando and is swept up into the world of the university's social elite, becoming close friends with, among others, filmmaker Luis Buñuel (Matthew McNulty) and poet Federico García Lorca (Javier Beltrán). It is with the latter that Salvador Dalí establishes a passionate bond. Check out the trailer.



I can't wait to see this movie.

For the 22 year old Robert Pattinson, the naked sexual scenes with Javier Beltrán were an uncomfortable first. The young actor told Ace Showbiz, "There's all these gay sex scenes. And y'know, I haven't even done a sex scene with a girl, in my whole career."

Adorable.

Read more.

After Elton's "The good, the bad, and the WTF" gay-themed commercials

I love good commercials, and the great folks at After Elton have come up with a short list of "The good, the bad, and the WTF" gay-themed commercials, which includes two of my favourites.

First, an un-aired black and white ad for Guinness beer with the tagline "Not everything in black and white makes sense." The commercial was pulled in fearful anticipation of a straight backlash.

Guinness commercial
Uploaded by dummy-account

And second, a wonderful MTV ad of a young man recording break-up music.

breakup commercial
Uploaded by dummy-account

Both ads humanize gay people as multidimensional beings that defy simple stereotypical characterizations, and for that, they are exceptional.

Check out the complete After Elton list here.

Pedro Zamora in Pedro, by director Nick Oceano and screenwriter Dustin Lance Black

Hat tip to Kevin at Fusion!

The biographical film Pedro celebrates the true story of Pedro Zamora, the openly gay and HIV-positive Cuban-American who appeared in MTV's San Francisco edition of The Real World in 1994. Directed by Nick Oceano with the screenplay by Academy Award winner Dustin Lance Black (Milk), the movie honors Pedro`s passion for life and education around HIV prevention. Check out the trailer.

Gay video from AfterElton.com

The film closed Fusion, the LGBT People of Color Film Festival in Los Angeles last weekend and will premiere on several MTV networks on 1 April 2009.

Not to be missed.

State Orchestra of Greece hands out homophobic leaflets to audience

Last Friday the Athens Opera House staged the premiere of Antonín Dvořák's Rusalka. The co-production between the Athens Opera House and the Opéra de Nice was directed by French national Marion Wasserman, who decided to give the show a homosexual undertone by depicting Rusalka, a siren of the streams and lakes in Slavic mythology, as a representation of the repressed homosexual desires of the prince with whom the water nymph falls in love. In one scene the prince is seen kissing a male extra, who is really just his mirror image. Neat!

But, in an effort to voice their frustration with the show's "extreme homosexual imagery" members of the orchestra distributed flyers to the audience in which they claimed that "an innocent fairy-tale" had been corrupted. Nevertheless, the premiere took place with the male/male kiss as planned, ans was watched by, among others, former Greek President Konstantinos Stephanopoulos. Unfortunately, after the end of the performance, when Wasserman appeared on stage to speak, members of the audience started hissing and booing so loudly that she was drowned out by the noise. Not so neat!

The next night the LGBT community of Athens staged a demonstration at the entrance of the Opera House. When the protesters tried to enter the hall, they were confronted by orchestra members who prevented them from reading their communiqué, assaulted them, and destroyed the rainbow flag they were carrying.

LGBT issues are not often discussed in Greek politics, and Greece lacks many laws, provisions, and basic civil rights that millions of gay people enjoy in Western Europe and North America, so congratulations to the courageous Athenians who called out the homophobia of the orchestra. Good golly, censorship for a male/male kiss? As Zeus is my witness, I say, ridiculous.

Read more.

Transgender bathrooms to be built in Chennai, India, stir controversy

Officials from the Municipal Corporation of Chennai (formerly Madras) will be building lavatories that will have have both female and male urinals to recognize the transgender community in parts of the southern Indian city.

While the move is ostensibly well-intentioned, some see it as a form of segregation, and, as a matter of course, fear discrimination. Quoted in Pinknews, Rose Venkatesan, India's first transgender television host, said:

"It is a big problem, because not everyone has undergone a sex change. This is a good idea but in the long run, I see a society where there is no difference and all use the same toilets."

Read more.

Gordon Brown hosts LGBT reception at 10 Downing Street

Prime Minister Gordon Brown held a reception this week to celebrate the work of LGBT campaigners. Brown is the first British Prime Minister to invite the LGBT community to 10 Downing Street. Attendees included Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills, Erasure singer Andy Bell, artist Maggi Hambling, East Enders star turned Labour politician Michael Cashman, and LGBT politicians, civil servants, campaigners, entertainers, teachers, and clergy.

What a wonderful gesture!

Prime Minister Harper, can I come over for dinner?



Read more.

Argentina and the Philippines end ban on gays in the military, U.S. next?

This week, Argentina and the Philippines said no to discrimination and officially ended their bans on gays serving in the military.

Argentina announced on Monday that it had abandoned the gay ban, which was part of a sweeping military reform act that included the way members of the armed forces are put on trial. Under the leadership of President Cristina Kirchner, the country decriminalized homosexuality among uniformed members, eliminated the death penalty, and moved crimes committed exclusively within the military to the public justice sphere.

Meanwhile the Armed Forces of the Philippines this week began a recruiting drive in the LGBT community. But, the military also warned that despite allowing gays to serve openly, it's putting it's foot down on cross-dressing. So, no Colonel Klinger?

Nonetheless, these are two significant moves for LGBT rights in world!

In the U.S., on Monday, legislation to repeal "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" was filed in the House of Representatives. While previous attempts to repeal the law had been stifled in the Republican-controlled Congress, there is renewed hope the measure will pass the current Democratically-controlled Congress. President Barack Obama has said that he supports repeal of the ban.

Play Nice - Capetown, South Africa

Hat tip to all my South African contacts!



A safe-sex campaign, Play Nice, targeting men who have sex with men (MSM) was launched last month in Capetown, South Africa. The campaign is run by Health4Men, a programme of the Perinatal HIV Research Unit (PHRU) of the Johannesburg-based Witwatersrand University aimed at men in underserved populations, including MSM and unemployed young men. It is the first large-scale campaign specifically geared to get HIV-related messaging to the MSM community.

Check out the Play Nice site here.

Gay waiters win sexual harassment suit against gay bosses

A Los Angeles Superior Court jury found this week that 32-year-old twins Jed and Wyatt Lorenzen were forced to work in a hostile environment for more than a year. In 2007, the brothers had sued Manuel Mesta and Michael Gelzhiser, owners of Vermont Restaurant, claiming they had been subjected to adverse treatment while working at the popular Los Angeles area eatery. While the brothers were each awarded only USD$ 1,000, they believed it was vital to stand up for themselves and pursue the case, which took 16 months to resolve.

From The Daily Breeze:

"Wyatt Lorenzen testified that he showed up for a Halloween party at the restaurant in 2005 in a 'naughty Girl Scout' costume and that Mesta put his hand up the dress he was wearing and told him the uniform made him 'look like a schoolgirl who was deserving and asking to be raped.'

Jed Lorenzen testified that Gelzhiser told him he touched himself while looking at a photo of the Halloween party and often asked which of the siblings had the 'hotter' posterior."

Wyatt Lorenzen quit the restaurant in June 2007, and Jed maintains that he was fired in November 2006 after rejecting the advances of his employers.

I think it's unfortunate that so many gay men objectify others in ways that are degrading and disrespectful. And, of course, using the example above, there will be those who argue, "But it was a Halloween party, and Wyatt was wearing a 'naughty Girl Scout' costume!" Well, while I dislike Halloween for a variety of reasons and believe that the 'naughty Girl Scout' outfit choice was tacky to no end, the way a man dresses at a party is not to be taken as a sign that invites his boss to touch him inappropriately. Just imagine if Wyatt was a woman. In any case, the party action was but one example of indecent employer behavior.

Read more, and click here to see video of the Lorenzen twins at the onset of the trial.

Some Questions about Homosexuality...from a Straight Guy

Check out this thought-provoking article by Seth Stein in the Tufts Observer.

An excerpt:

"The tendency for both the homosexual and the heterosexual worlds to practice exclusively same-or opposite-sex relations caused gay men to develop an alternative community to the predominantly heterosexual world. Before the community came out of the closet in the 1960s, it was maintained by secretive bars and meeting places. There were clearly established ways of suggesting to possible partners that a man was gay. This is where the stereotype of the effeminate gay man originates; gay men would commonly act more effeminate to signal to other men that they were gay."

Fascinating, and I appreciate the fact that the piece was written by a straight man who sought to explore the reasons for which he and his gay friend, who comes from a similar background, have different sexual preferences. I think it's great that gay people get involved in political action against homophobia, and I also think it's great, yet far too rare, when straight people openly discuss their acceptance of gay people. Straight people have a lot of clout, perhaps even more than gay people, when it comes to changing homophobic views within the heterosexual community.

So, progressive straight readers, if you haven't already done so, how about showing your support for gay people in your next conversations, posts, or articles? After all, we are your children, brothers, sisters, parents, extended family, and friends, and together we can make the world a better place in which everyone is treated equally.

Read more.

Gay Across the Ages

I am so impressed by teens these days who take on political issues. From the Shministi in Israel to the adolescents involved in California's anti-Propostiion 8 movement, the political mindscape of youth has indeed developed over the past few decades.

As Zack, my twenty-something friend writes in his bio over at The New Gay, a site that he co-founded:

"-I came out to my sisters at 19, my parents at 20, and even the most casual of my acquaintances knew by 21. Men who are older than me think this was very brave. Men who are younger than me took their boyfriends to junior prom."

Go figure. Across generations, we gay people are neither monolithic, nor simply characterized, and if we are activists, not all of us go about effecting positive social change in the same way. In other words, like any other group, we are multi-dimensional, and collectively richer for it.