Setting up a “Lemonade for Peace” stand in front of the rainbow-colored Equality House, across the street from anti-LGBT Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, five year old Jayden Sink has raised (as of earlier this afternoon) over $18,000 for a anti-bullying program of Planting Peace. That amount comes from the suggested $1 donation (and [...]
Tag Archives | queer
Queer Talk: Pam Spaulding Announces House Blend Blog is Closing
Pam Spaulding yesterday wrote at her House Blend blog that she is “closing the coffeehouse” on July 1, primarily due to health problems. Pam’s blog – which she started nine years ago – has been notable for many reasons, including the fact she is an African American lesbian, which she discusses in the excerpt below. [...]
Queer Talk: Taking Pride and Pressing for ENDA (Video)
The month of Pride festivals and parades and more is well underway, and this year in addition to a focus on the soon to be released SCOTUS decisions regarding marriage equality, a big part of taking Pride is pressing for the passage of ENDA, the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, and on the executive order candidate Obama [...]
Queer Talk: Vatican’s “Gay Lobby” Confirmed by Pope Francis?
If reports are accurate, Pope Francis may have confirmed a rumor of many years, that there is a “gay lobby” in the Vatican. He didn’t mean to, since the remarks were “off-the-cuff,” as The Daily Beast reports, and in a private audience. But once made, and then made public, you can bet the demands for [...]
Queer Talk: Pentagon to Begin Same-Sex Couple Benefits Sept. 1
By way of an internal posting and without public notice, the Pentagon announced that benefits to same-sex couples will begin to be provided on Sept. 1, 2013. The benefits are limited, but are another reflection of the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT). The benefits to be offered to “same-sex domestic partners,” referred to [...]
Queer Talk: Ellen Sturtz – “Why I Confronted the First Lady”
Ellen Sturtz, the lesbian who confronted the First Lady, Michelle Obama, at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser, reportedly held at the home of a lesbian couple, has written “Why I Confronted the First Lady,” in the Washington Post. Sturtz has received everything from angry criticism – and the use of the word “heckler” plays a [...]
Queer Talk: Which is Worse? Heckler Rudeness or POTUS Failure to Act
Considering the mixed reviews regarding LGBT protestor Ellen Sturtz interruption of Michelle Obama, as she spoke at a Democratic Party fundraiser, and considering the general focus of much of it, the question being asked initially was more about heckler rudeness than about a POTUS failure to act. More of the latter is showing up, and [...]
Queer Talk: 52% of Bloomberg Poll Supports Marriage Equality
A new Bloomberg poll shows that 52% of Americans support marriage equality. That is more a confirmation than new information, but still significant, perhaps especially with the Supreme Court expected to announce rulings on two marriage equality cases later this month. You can see the summation of the focus on marriage equality here. To see [...]
Queer Talk: Michelle Obama Confronts GetEqual LGBT Activist
First Lady Michelle Obama met GetEqual LGBT activist Ellen Sturtz last night, and the confrontation has resulted in both receiving mixed critiques. Sturtz called for President Obama to sign an executive order which would provide job protections for LGBT workers employed as federal contractors, and for the passage of the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA). Michelle [...]
Queer Talk: Former Navy Seal Kristin Beck Comes Out as Transgender
The just released memoir – Warrior Princess – is the story of the transgender journey of high school football player and seven combat deployments veteran Chris Beck, to retired Navy SEAL Kristin Beck. Among other things, it’s a good time to remember that the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, did not include transgender servicemembers. [...]
College GOP Report is Another Wake-Up Call
The study released yesterday by the College Republican National Committee entitled, “Grand Old Party For a Brand New Generation” – a college GOP report – is another wake-up call for the Republican Party. “Wake-up call” is the term RNC Chair Reince Priebus used in describing the 2012 elections. He called for an earlier, post-election study, [...]
Queer Talk: Illinois House Vote on Marriage Equality Delayed [Video]
On the last day of the session, in the last hours, the much anticipated vote on marriage equality in the Illinois House was delayed. The Sun Times reports: His voice breaking with emotion, state Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago) tearfully said Friday that he would not call for a vote on his bill legalizing same-sex marriage [...]
Queer Talk: Therapist Says He “Heals” Gay Brains to Straight [Video]
Via Right Wing Watch has the story, and video, of an ex-gay therapist who claims he “heals” gay brains so that they become straight. Homosexual brains turned to heterosexual brains. Really, that’s what he says. Brian Tashman writes at Right Wing Watch: As we’ve noted, Daystar host Joni Lamb is hosting a special on homosexuality, [...]
Queer Talk: ExxonMobil Shareholders Reject LGBT Job Protection
Once again and as expected, ExxonMobil shareholders have rejected nondiscrimination protections for LGBT employees, according to the Dallas Voice. For anyone who is paying attention, chalk this up as yet another indication that we need the Employment Nondiscrimination Act passed. We’ve only been waiting since 1994, when ENDA was first introduced. Well, we knew of [...]
Queer Talk: Virginia a “Gay Rights Battleground”
While locating a “gay rights battleground” is something most of us can do by just looking around wherever we are, this year Virginia is providing a particularly stark example, as an article at Politico noted. A gubernatorial race already defined partly along culture-war lines has grown even more contentious since … Virginia Republicans nominated as [...]
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