In Los Angeles, after the vigil, our friends at the Antebellum Gallery are extending the Prop 8 - inspired artwork exhibit, "Who Do You Love, Who Do You H8?" for all, lasting from 8pm-10pm. See the calendar for further details on where.
If you know of more activities in your area, please contact us and we'll be more than happy to add it to the events calendar.
Pat Boone, crooner, TV star and evangelical is, believe it or not, still around. And though I normally wouldn't want to make that fact any more prominent in our collective cultural consciousness, the man has grabbed my attention with a pretty ignorant albeit innocuous editorial. See his insipid remarks here.
Boone's attempt to anger us and stir a response is sadly apparent. So why do I bother even posting this, you ask? Because it made me laugh, and as a recent study found, happiness amongst friends is contagious. I want to further the epidemic.
In November, California voters approved Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment outlawing same-sex marriage, thereby overturning the state Supreme Court decision that gave gay couples the right to wed just months ago.
Why are civil unions not enough for gay rights activists? The federal government accords 1,138 benefits and responsibilities based on marital status, not on civil union status. A few of those benefits are unpaid leave to care for an ill spouse, social security survivor benefits and spousal benefits, and the right not to testify against one's spouse, among others.
The District of Columbia and 47 states have anti-hate crime laws, however only 24 states and the District of Columbia include sexual orientation in their legislation.
According to FBI hate crime statistics, there were 7,163 reported hate crimes in 2005. 14.2% of which were based on sexual orientation. Most were violent in nature.
Last year, both houses of Congress passed a historic hate crimes bill known as the Matthew Shepard Act, which would have outlawed hate crimes based on both sexual orientation and gender identity. But the legislation never made it to President Bush's desk because of his veto threat.
While 19 states and the District of Columbia have laws barring discrimination based on sexual orientation, and many cities offer similar protections, federal law didn't offer such a shield until November of 2007, though it did bar discrimination based on race, religion, ethnicity, sex, age, disability and pregnancy. The bill, the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, was the latest version of legislation that Democrats have pursued since 1974. To ensure passage of the bill, Democrats were forced to remove language that would have granted protections to transsexual and transgender individuals by barring discrimination based on sexual identity, a move that infuriated some gay-rights groups.
In the U.S., 75% of students have no state laws to protect them from harassment and discrimination in school based on their sexual orientation. In public high schools, 97% of students report regularly hearing homophobic remarks from their peers.
Of the estimated 1.6 million homeless American youth, between 20% and 40% identify as LGBT. In one study, 26% of gay teens who came out to their parents/guardians were told they must leave home; LGBT youth also leave home due to physical, sexual and emotional abuse. Also, LGBT youth report they are threatened, belittled and abused at shelters by staff as well as other residents.
While gay couples are seen on TV shows more often than in the past (eg. Luke and Noah, the young gay couple on "As The World Turns"), affection between the two is restricted to holding hands, playing with one another's neck scarves and sharing meaningful looks. This wouldn't be odd if heterosexual couples were not shown kissing on a regular basis.
Despite the shortage of blood at banks across the country, gay donors are being turned away. Men who have had sexual contact with a man, even once, since 1977 are automatically disqualified. The agency has had its policy on men who have sexual contact with men since 1983, when the risk of AIDS through transfusion was recognized. The FDA reaffirmed the policy in May of 2007, despite improvements in testing and increased susceptibility of heterosexuals to HIV. All donated blood is tested for HIV, but the virus can go undetected until the immune system has produced a testable amount of antibodies. That window period, according to the FDA, would pose a "small but definite increased risk to people who receive blood transfusion if the policy were changed."
Newsweek continues to cover the resurgence of the gay rights movement, calling it "Gay Rights 2.0". I regularly find more LGBT coverage at Newsweek than any other on-line news source, and recently I found this article, "Gay Rights 2.0", examining the new activist generation, and whether or not they're prepared to take over the leadership role from the older generation.
I read this article and took it as a warning that if we do not organize ourselves soon, in particular Southern California, the hot bed of this new movement, we're going to lose momentum and lose any grounds that we have gained. Or, even worse, have less than when we began.
As I already reported earlier this week, two town hall meetings were held in Los Angeles this past weekend. Though very effective and well done, the attendance could've been better. And as I have already discussed with the coordinators, more now needs to be done about what's next, keeping the community motivated with action and less talk. We're running out of time.
Plans are already in the works for early January ACTION meetings and coalition building (stay tuned - the cogs are indeed churning). We need the community to remain involved and motivated, including leaders and founders of all the different groups to put time aside to come together and form a coalition. As already stated, there are plans to reach out to you and inform you of these meetings, so stay tuned and participate.
This is a grassroots movement, and without a community, there is no grassroots. During hard economic times, holidays and political setbacks, it's hard to keep going, to make the sacrifices needed, to find the strength and energy to keep up the fight. Yet, these are historical times, and it's our chance to make a world of difference, not only for us, but for future generations. We need new leadership, we need this fresh blood to keep flowing. Are you prepared to join the fight?
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Light Up the Night For Equality is in one week and more events are in development. Check the calendar below for details.
