Obama Says He "Wrestles" with His Regard for Gays & Lesbians (July 7) Last weekend, in anticipation of meeting the Pope this week, President Obama held a quiet, unannounced meeting with the Catholic news media. They discussed abortion and gay rights among other things. Here are his disturbing comments regarding the LGBT community and how he "wrestles" with the idea of our civil rights... "For the gay and lesbian community in this country, I think it's clear that they feel victimized in fairly powerful ways and they're often hurt by not just certain teachings of the Catholic Church, but the Christian faith generally. And as a Christian, I'm constantly wrestling with my faith and my solicitude and regard and concern for gays and lesbians."
"Choosing Absalon" to Screen at Central Florida Film Festival The documentary, "Choosing Absalon," which features former Orlando Gay Chorus artistic director, Absalon Figueroa, and his husband, Eric Stephenson, has been selected as an "official entry" in the Central Florida Film Festival. The film will be screened on Saturday September 5th at the West Orange 5 Theaters in Ocoee. It is competing in the Best Documentary and Best Gay & Lesbian Film categories.
Available at https://www.createspace.com/267112
Gay Community Safer Under Saddam (July 6) The BBC has produced a radio documentary on the Iraqi LGBT community which suffered less brutality under Saddam Hussein that it does now. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8133639.stm
Anti-Gay Hypocrite Marion Barry Arrested Again (July 5) Marion Barry, former Mayor of D.C. who now serves as a D.D. Councilman, was arrested on the 4th of July for stalking a woman in a D.C. area park. You may recall that Barry was the only D.C. Councilman to vote against the district's same-sex marriage bill in May. The former mayor cited "morals" as the reason he opposes same-sex marriage. Morals. The mayor was once arrested for smoking crack cocaine and is known to be a habitual marital cheater. http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/07/05/marion.barry.arrested/index.html
Sailor's Family Claims it was Anti-LGBT Murder at Camp Pendleton (July 4) A sailor on sentry duty at California's Camp Pendleton was shot to death this week. His family says the bisexual sailor recently complained to them about harassment he received from fellow sailors. http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/07/03/california.sailor.death/index.html
Southern Baptist Cultists: Hate Crimes Law Threatens our Liberty The cult of Southern Baptists is fearfully telling members that the Matthew Shepard Act will threaten the liberty of preachers and churches to freely spew hate and promote violence. Ah, Southern Baptist Cultists. You are so mentally twisted and sick. How proud your Jesus must be of you. http://www.floridabaptistwitness.com/10503.article
Sarah Palin Fleeing Scandal (July 4) It looks like Sarah Palin's quick exit from the Alaskan governor's mansion was in anticipation of an emerging scandal. Seems she and husband Todd received some unethical and potentially illegal construction perks during the building of their Wasilla home. http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-07-03/did-a-scandal-sink-the-uss-palin/
Sean Kennedy's Killer Goes Free (July 2) Elke Kennedy received an automated phone call this week to inform her that the killer of her gay son, Sean Kennedy, has been released from prison after serving only 1 year of a 3 year sentence. Sean was killed in 2007 outside of a Greenville, South Carolina gay nightclub when a homophobe punched him to the ground. South Carolina still does not have a hate crime law. Elke Kennedy has become a gay rights activist and was featured at the Come Out With Pride Rally in Orlando last October. She also attended the Orlando PFLAG protest against the anti-gay group, Love Won Out, in June of 2008. http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/07/man-convicted-in-anti-gay-killing-of-sean-kennedy-released-early-from-prison-victims-mom-notified-by-automated-message.html
New Bigot Organization Has Orlando Ties (June 30) Most of the best known anti-gay organizations in the U.S. met at Washington's National Press Club on Tuesday to announce that they have formed a new anti-gay club - the Freedom Federation. The goal, apparently, is to prevent actual freedom across the land. Freedom Federation members include Orlando bigots at Liberty Counsel, Exodus International, and Strang Communications - all very busy, gay-loathing groups doing the work of their anti-gay lord. http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/when-going-gets-tough-right-starts-new-group
Tampa NBC Affiliate Airs Anti-Gay Program (June 30) "Silencing Christians," the homophobic syndicated TV program that is playing across the country, but primarily in southeast media markets, was aired by Tampa's NBC affiliate, WFLA, channel 8, on Saturday - the same days as St. Pete Pride. The station, owned by Media General, received much negative publicity but aired the program anyway. The media company has aired the program in other markets where they own TV stations. The anti-gay program asserts that gay folks are threatening Christians' freedom to spew hate. http://eqfl.blogspot.com/2009/06/update-shame-on-you-wfla-nbc-channel-8.html
Attorney General Urges Senate to Pass Hate Crime Legislation (June 25) Attorney General Eric Holder presented a statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday urging passage of the Matthew Shepard Act. http://www.scribd.com/doc/16781498/AG-Testimony-0625
Another Hypocritical Anti-Gay Republican Implosion South Carolina Republican Governor Mark Sanford, who disappeared for 4 days, admitted today that he has been cheating on his wife for a year and was in Argentina with his lover this week. Mark Sanford, one of those bible waving evangelicals who talks a lot about family values, and who opposes same-sex marriage, civil unions and gay adoption, joins fellow anti-gay Republican Senator John Ensign of Nevada, as big, lying, pathetic scumbags who have no business talking about morality or anyone else's relationships, ever.
DNC Fundraisers Face Backlash
When the Democratic Party and President Obama agree that all people should be equal and have the same inalienable rights, then donations will flow. Until that time, the ATM is closed.
Full Equality NOW. Either a politician believes in equality, or he doesn't. It's that simple.
2010 Census to Include Us? Rumor is Obama will have the 2010 Census include categories for committed same-sex couples. That would be a huge deal. Homophobes have long discouraged a legitimate count of our community. If you actually count us, number us, acknowledge us - how can you deny us our civil rights? http://www.washblade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=25829
Cher Releases Statement Regarding Chastity's Transition to Chaz: "She is embarking on a difficult journey, but one that I will support. I respect the courage it takes to go through this transition in the glare of public scrutiny. Although I may not understand, I will strive to be understanding. The one thing that will never change is my abiding love for my child."
Dump DOMA! (June 18) After Wednesday's inadequate White House effort to broaden rights for gay federal workers, "People for the American Way" are calling Obama's bluff and insisting that he work harder to repeal DOMA. https://secure.pfaw.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=dump_doma
Completely Inadequate & Insulting Attempt to Quell Angry LGBT Folks President Barack Obama on Wednesday issued a "Presidential memo" addressing the supposed rights and benefits he would like to see extended to unmarried partners of federal employees. (The federal government, of course, is said to be the nation's largest employer - an employer that will fire any member of the military who happens to be gay.) Those suggested rights and benefits he was so excited about do not include health insurance or pension benefits, though, because those are prohibited by the anti-gay "Defense of Marriage Act" which Obama defended last week in court. You'll recall that his Justice Department brief in support of DOMA compared our relationships to incest, and said that recognizing our relationships would threaten heterosexual marriages. At Wednesday's signing of the memo, standing behind the president and applauding, was none other than Joe Solmonese of HRC who just days ago wrote a scathing letter to Obama about the outrageous DOMA defense. How quickly Joe changes tunes. On Wednesday night he went on Keith Olbermann's show and pathetically defended this ridiculously inadequate "memo." The White House wrongly believes that gay people in America will just fall in line behind an ineffective HRC.
NY Times: Shame on Obama Defense of DOMA (June 16) We have a supposedly more enlightened president than the last one, but Obama's administration has made the same arguments in favor of DOMA. Unbelievably, our relationships have been compared to incestuous ones by Obama's Justice Department. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/16/opinion/16tue1.html?_r=1&hpw
American Foundation for Equal Rights (June 13) A great new organization founded to support the constitutional challenge of Proposition 8 and DOMA, a legal challenge led by straight constitutional attorneys Ted Olson and David Boises. (All prominent LGBT civil rights groups have expressed alarm that someone is actually going to take this matter to court, as if failure would harm our community any more than it is already being harmed. I say, thank you Ted and David, and this new organization that supports action over inaction and pathetic reticence.) http://www.facebook.com/pages/American-Foundation-for-Equal-Rights/89182346346
Liberty Counsel - Extremist Card
Central Florida's own, Liberty Counsel, a "legal ministry" led by homophobe Mathew Staver and his wife, Anita, still has on their web site a "Right-Wing Extremist" membership card that they are proudly selling to their extremist followers. What is so appalling about this pathetic fundraising effort is that they apparently don't feel the least bit ashamed of violent religious extremism even this week. It was religious extremism that caused the murder of Dr. George Tiller and the murder of the security guard at the D.C. Holocaust Museum. Anita Staver has written an objection to the Homeland Security report that was briefly available earlier this year that warned of right-wing extremist terrorists in America. That report was sadly DEAD on. You can read all about this pathetic membership card at http://lc.org/index.cfm?PID=18914
City of Miami Approves Domestic Partner Benefits (June 11) Following the lead of Miami-Dade County, and even Orlando, Miami will finally offer domestic partner benefits following a 5-0 vote Thursday by the city commission. http://www.miamiherald.com/459/story/1092433.html
"I will work [for]...a full repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'... that work should have started long ago. I will start when I take office. America is ready to get rid of the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy. All that is required is leadership."
Candidate Barack Obama
Barack Obama, like many others before him, misled the LGBT community in his race to the White House. We are so easily duped at election time, and politicians know that. We will work hard, make phone calls, and give huge amounts of money to any candidate who refrains from hate speech, only to find, in the end, that they are disappointingly like all the rest. Obama's administration is continuing the tried and true anti-gay policies and practices of the U.S. government, including the disgraceful 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' program. The president has not intervened in any way, and Monday his administration fought a legal challenge to it at the Supreme Court. DOMA is no longer mentioned on his website. And now hate crimes legislation is being pushed into the background, maybe to be attached to another bill strictly out of fear of upsetting anti-gay Republicans. Someday this community will have a champion. But for now we don't have one.
Liberty Counsel Loses Adoption Ruling (June 4) Weeks ago, Mathew Staver and his band of homophobes at the Liberty Counsel filed a challenge with the Florida Supreme Court when the Florida Bar wrote an amicus brief in support of overturning Florida's anti-gay adoption ban. Staver and cohorts were outraged that a voluntary group within the Florida Bar had expressed a negative opinion about the adoption ban, and they sought to have the amicus brief thrown out by the Supremes. On Thursday, the court ruled that the amicus brief was completely acceptable. Not surprising, the gay-hating Liberty Counsel is now writing their own amicus brief in support of the anti-gay adoption ban. http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/06/florida-bar-support-in-gay-adoption-case-upheld.html
Ellen's hilarious commencement address at Tulane University...
The Dallas Principles: Now is the time for full LGBT civil rights. No excuses. No delay.
An extraordinary group of LGBT activists met in Dallas, Texas in May. They are calling out to all LGBT people to join them in demanding full civil rights NOW.
The following eight guiding principles underlie our call to action.
In order to achieve full civil rights now, we avow:
1. Full civil rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals must be enacted now. Delay and excuses are no longer acceptable.
2. We will not leave any part of our community behind.
3. Separate is never equal.
4. Religious beliefs are not a basis upon which to affirm or deny civil rights.
5. The establishment and guardianship of full civil rights is a non-partisan issue.
6. Individual involvement and grassroots action are paramount to success and must be encouraged.
7. Success is measured by the civil rights we all achieve, not by words, access or money raised.
Alex Sink: The Anti-Crist When was the last time a Florida gubernatorial candidate not only attended an Equality Florida fundraiser, but also posed for a picture to broadcast such a thing? Alex Sink, who just announced that she will run for governor in 2010, is a Florida Council member of Equality Florida. She believes in equality for LGBT people! Sink, and her husband, former candidate Bill McBride, attended the May 14th Equality Florida Gala in Tampa which raised over $70,000 for the advocacy organization. It will be historic if Sink defeats Bill McCollum to become Florida's next governor. Not only will she be the first female governor of our state, but she will be the first proudly pro-gay governor of our state. On the other hand, candidate Bill McCollum, like Charlie Crist, refused to even meet with Ryan Skipper's family to discuss hate crimes. Bill McCollum does not attend LGBT fundraisers. Bill McCollum has the backing of the Christian Coalition. I'm just sayin'.
Baptist Leader Calls for "Massive Conservative Resistance Movement" Against Gay People The president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary is calling for a massive conservative resistance movement against the gay community. And we wonder why school bullying is at an all-time high? http://www.floridabaptistwitness.com/10205.article
Hate crime legislation, which passed both chambers of Congress last year but was threatened with veto by then President Bush, is making its way again through Congress. Judy Shepard and HRC have made a moving video in support of the legislation, now ten years late...
Big Money in Gay! HRC's Annual Budget: $41 million Solmonese Salary: $338,000
The Washington Blade has written an expose on the salaries and budgets of America's top 30 LGBT advocacy organizations. There is enormous money in the gay rights movement. Last year the Human Rights Campaign reacted defensively to criticism about HRC's lack of generosity in funding Florida's Amendment 2 battle. Turns out that criticism was very warranted. HRC's annual budget exceeds $41 million! And what paltry resources did they allocate to our state's battle against bigotry? $150,000. Far less than even the salary of their executive director, Joe Solmonese, who rakes in over $338,000 per year. http://www.washingtonblade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=24698
You Won't Be Counted Again in 2010 Just as in past census years, LGBT people will not be counted in 2010, nor will same-sex couples be defined. Until LGBT are allowed to be counted we will forever be the invisible, powerless minority. "Unmarried partners" is the closest category, so please select it if it applies. http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_11868643
Studio3v - Orlando Video
See for Yourself The video source for Central Florida's LGBT community can be found on YouTube. The channel, Studio3V, has videos available for all to use and share from press conferences and events affecting the local Central Florida LGBT family. The site features video from OneOrlando.org, Equality Florida, PFLAG, Truth Wins Out, the Ryan Skipper Documentary and others.
See How Florida's Anti-Gay Counties Voted on 2 And by anti-gay counties, I mean all counties but Monroe. The Sun-Sentinel has a neat page on their website that shows how each county voted. No surprise. Looks like the more uneducated and red-neck counties had the highest number of pro-hate votes. Orange, Seminole and Hillsborough had a 60-40 split. Sumter 73-27. Osceola 68-32. Polk 72-28. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/broadband/theedge/sfl-smarriageamend,0,1226115.htmlpage
LGBT Central Floridians When you feel like the Central Florida LGBT community is powerless in this great big gay-hating state, remember this: Orange County is home to 71,000 LGBT folks; Seminole County is home to over 18,000 LGBT folks. Brevard has 22,000; Volusia has 25,000; Polk has 24,000; Marion has 11,000; Pinellas has over 73,000; Hillsborough has over 74,000. We are not powerless. We are, in fact, over 1 million strong and are 6.5% of the Florida population.
Some census stats about you second class Floridians... 610,000 self-identified LGBT people in Forida; 54,929 self-identified same-sex couples; 56% of same-sex couples are male; 44% of same-sex couples are female; average age of same-sex couples is 41; 32% of same-sex couples are college educated; 17% of same-sex couples are raising children. Counties reporting the most same-sex couples are: 1) Broward, 5,970 2) Miami-Dade, 5,889 3) Palm Beach, 3,069 4) Orange, 2,907 5) Hillsborough, 2,855 6) Pinellas 2,846
