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This video commemorates the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance and is also an It Gets Better video made by Western Illinois University's Unity. Enjoy!
This past weekend, November 5th and 6th, 2010, a group of more than 70 faith leaders gathered together at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, CA. What was special about this group was that these faith leaders were all transgendered, or friends and advocates for the transgender community. It was a very special event and a lot was shared about faith, hope and how our faith communities could be more accepting of transgendered individuals. The event was called, "Transgender Religious Leaders Summit 2010." The speakers and panelists came from a variety of faith traditions. All spoke about the progress they have made, and are helping to make. It was inspiring to see so many connect and plan for the future. If you are a teenager or young person who is looking for hope, we recorded this video message for you! Most of us have been where you are now, but we got through it and so can you! Those you see in this video are standing up for you and with you to say we know it will get better. Your life can be full of meaning and purpose!
As North Texans commemorate Trans Day of Remembrance, one trans woman remembers the attack she survived as a child.
By DAVID TAFFET -
Winter Mullenix
To many people, statistics on anti-transgender violence are just numbers. Astounding, perhaps frightening, but still just numbers.
Winter Mullenix is the face of one of those numbers. One of many.
Mullenix was attacked when she was 9 years old by someone who had apparently been stalking her for a while.
“He was disgusted by my behavior. I was living as a boy, but it was obvious to everyone,” she said, describing herself. “I would dance and prance and I hung out with the girls.”
Mullenix said that when she was a child, she would sneak out of the house at night and go to a nearby playground. She isn’t sure now what time she left the night she was attacked, but, she said, she knows she had waited until everyone in the house was sound asleep.
“He jumped me,” she said. “He was hiding near the playground.”
Mullenix said her attacker jumped out from behind a tree or maybe even from inside the hollowed-out old tree. Then he grabbed her and dragged her down to a creek near the playground.
“If you want to be a woman, you have to learn to bleed like a woman,” he told her.
Then he put a knife into her rectum and cut the skin around her tailbone. Then he raped her, using her blood as lubricant, she said.
Before he left her, Mullenix said, he asked, “You don’t want to be a little girl anymore, do you, faggot?”
Those words are burned into her memory, proof that the attack was a hate crime and not just the actions of a violent pedophile.
When he was done, he left Mullenix for dead, laying in a pipe connected to the sewer.
Her memory of getting home is blurry. She told no one about what happened and healed without medical attention. Her attacker was never caught, at least not for this crime. Mullenix never reported the rape.
“I became numb,” she said. “I cut myself off from the world.”
Mullenix said she became delusional and entered a fantasyland to mask her pain. But things started to change five years later when she began the process of coming out as transgender at age 14. She was having severe nightmares.
“I’d doodle a lot during class,” she said. “My Spanish teacher noticed I was drawing very violent things. She worried about what was happening to me and sent me to a school counselor.”
The school counselor referred Mullenix to outside counseling until she achieved her goal at age 20 of having sex reassignment surgery.
“I was focused,” Mullenix said.
She had determination uncommon in a teenager.
Although continuing to dress as a male until age 17, Mullenix knew who she was when she began going to counseling. Throughout her teens she was determined to complete her transition early. She worked, saved money and paid for the surgery herself.
Despite the words of her attacker, Mullenix knew exactly what she wanted and who she was.
“I felt as normal as I could when I completed the transition,” she said.
But Mullenix still suffers the psychological effects of the brutal attack. She has panic attacks and a fear of the dark.
“I can’t sleep without a light on,” she said.
She’s paranoid that someone is going to sneak up behind her and jump her. She scares easily. She’s uncomfortable in unfamiliar surroundings.
“People think I’m a creature of habit,” Mullenix said. But she actually just avoids unfamiliar places.
“I survived,” she said. “But I have friends who died from violent crimes.”
“The homicide rate for transgenders is so high,” said Marla Compton, the coordinator for GEAR, the transgender program at Resource Center Dallas.
Human Rights Campaign estimates that one out of every 1,000 homicides in the U.S. is an anti-transgender hate crime.
“We do have to be more careful,” Mullenix said. “Violence is more likely for us.”
Despite her experiences, Mullenix said that she can’t let what happened control her life.
“[You] have to take control and take proper precautions,” she said. “For me, I’m happily married now and I have some great, supportive friends.”
Mullenix also stressed that a violent situation doesn’t have to mean the end of a normal life.
“I want transgender youth to know they shouldn’t let fear control them if something terrible happened and they survived it,” she said.
Transgender Day of Remembrance is important to Mullenix because it displays unity within the LGBT community.
“It acknowledges us as part of the community,” she said.
“The day gives us a chance to pause and remember those who left us and cherish those who are still here,” Compton said.
She said that having friends and allies attend a TDoR event is emotional and uplifting to her. But she also said that it helps others understand the violence the transgender community faces.
“Fortunately, I’ve never had to read the name of a friend at TDoR,” Compton said.
But too many others have. Dallas’ Transgender Day of Remembrance observance takes place at the Interfaith Peace Chapel at Cathedral of Hope Sunday, Nov. 21, at 6 p.m. Organizers asked people to participate in the memorial by bringing a flower. Speakers will include Cece Cox and Andy Moreno, with performances by Voice of Pride 2010 winner Mel Arizpe, Women’s Chorus of Dallas ensemble MosaicSong and the Youth First Texas choir PUMP! In Fort Worth, TDoR remembrance will be held during morning worship at Agape Metropolitan Community Church on Sunday, Nov. 21. This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition November 19, 2010.
Equalities minister Lynne Featherstone has said the government is committed to tackling hate crime against trans people.
Saturday is the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. The international event, now in its 12th year, remembers trans people who have died as a result of prejudice.
In a message recorded ahead of the event, Ms Featherstone said the government was “determined to tackle hate crime” and was committed to publishing a Transgender Action Plan.
She said: “Together, we must tackle the transphobic prejudice which holds transgender people, and society, back. Equality is for all. That is why we have already committed to improving support and reporting services for transgender victims of hate crime – both by helping transgender people access help and by ensuring that services are better able to meet their needs.
“We cannot turn back time but together we can make a difference. This is our commitment to the memory of those we have lost and to a future free from ignorance and intolerance.
In London, a service will be held between 3pm and 6pm in Room LT1, the Cruciform Building, 5 University Street London WC1E 6JS.
Other events will be held in Brighton, St Andrews, Coventry and Sheffield.
For a full list of UK and worldwide events, click here.
The Transgender Day of Remembrance (20th November) was set aside to memorialise those who were killed due to anti-Transgender hatred or prejudice. The event is held in November to honour Rita Hester, whose murder on November 28th, 1998 kicked off the "Remembering Our Dead" web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Rita Hester's murder — like most anti-Transgender murder cases — has yet to be solved.
Not every person represented during the Day of Remembrance self-identified as Transgender — that is, as a transsexual, crossdresser, or otherwise gender-variant — each was a victim of violence based on bias against Transgender people.
MUSIC
Private Reflection; Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com/); Licensed under Creative Commons "Attribution 3.0" http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
On Thursday, Nov. 18, District and area residents gathered for the Transgender Day of Remembrance at the Metropolitan Community Church of Washington. The annual event, marking a time to remember transgender victims of crime -- including several murders that have gone unsolved -- brought together more than a hundred community members on Thursday evening.
This year's keynote speaker was Amanda Simpson, a senior technical advisor in the U.S. Department of Commerce and the first trans-identified woman to receive a presidential appointment. She spoke out against transphobia and its consequences -- whether coming from a comedian like David Letterman or from the gay community.
Thanks so much to those who contributed to this week's actions by donating what you could to make them happen. Many of you stepped up when we asked for help, and we appreciate it. This week, we've gone from the jailhouse to the White House -- and we're not planning to stop until "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is part of our nation's history books!
As a lead-up to the White House action, we started the day by paying tribute to our history at the gravesite of Sgt. Leonard Matlovich -- the first gay soldier to publicly come out on a national scale -- and then we moved from past to present as we proceeded to Senator Harry Reid's office to try and get some answers about the status of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal and the promise to return Lt. Dan Choi's West Point ring.
From there, we headed to the White House -- intent on making sure that the Commander in Chief heard our message to repeal DADT this year. We wanted to share a short video with you that will give you a sense of what our action at the White House looked and felt like on Monday:
The folks arrested at the White House fence were charged with failure to obey lawful order -- which carries with it an obligation to return to DC on December 15 for a hearing. And we're raising money now in preparation for those expenses.
We have been thrilled with the movement we've seen on the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" this week, and we're hopeful that the road to repeal will continue to look promising. We're thrilled that the President did end up stepping into the debate this week, and we look forward to seeing him and Senate Majority Leader continue to press forward with repeal by avoiding filibuster, securing a successful Senate vote, avoiding a veto, and certifying repeal in the Spring.
As any member of the military would recognize, we won't stop fighting until our mission is complete.
We hope that our work over the past seven months, as well as our actions this week, have played some small part in moving the ball forward -- and we hope that you'll help us continue to knock on the door of justice.
It can cost anywhere from $100-$500 per person if we end up having to enter a plea, and it'll likely cost $200-$300 for most folks to be able to return to DC in December for the trial. So we need to raise about $7,150 in order to pay the legal and travel fees for everyone who participated in this action.
Michael Rader will direct the 8 PM concert, which will boast the talents of the previously reported Tony winner Betty Buckley, Ricky Ian Gordon, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Marc Kudisch, Aaron Lazar, John Tartaglia, Seth Rudetsky, Lea Delaria and Jeanine Tesori, as well as Emily Albrink, Jeff Blumenkrantz, Attila Joey Csiki of Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Jason Forbach, Constantine Germanacos, Joe Lodato, Matthew Morris, Todd Palmer, Kate Pazakis, Nurit Tilles, Erin Quill, Tony Yazbeck and Jennifer Zetlan.
he Church of St. Paul the Apostle is located at West 60th Street and Columbus. Tickets, priced $25 (general admission) and $100 (premium reserved seats), are available by visiting http://www.YouAreNotAloneBenefit.com.
The Trevor Project is the leading national organization focused on crisis and suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth.
Valley of the Dolls star Patty Duke says gay fans of the 1967 cult film helped her overcome 40 years of humiliation over her performance, according to website Hollywood News. “I’ve come to enjoy that movie — not that it’s not still embarrassing," Duke says. "But thanks to the gay community, I can see it in a different way and have a good time with it.”
Duke, who played booze- and pills-addicted star Neely O'Hara, loosely based on Judy Garland, in the adaptation of Jacqueline Susann's torrid bestseller, will attend special screening festivities at Chicago’s Music Box Theater November 20. Festivities will include a costume parade and a sing-along screening of the film.
The film, while a box office success, was greeted with some of the most scathing reviews in motion picture history and developed an almost immediate following among gay viewers who were attracted to the film's camp elements.
Celebrating 33 Years of Ministry in the LGBT Catholic Community!
On behalf of GLBT Catholics, their families and friends, and thoughtful Catholics across the United States, the National Coalition of American Nuns is appalled at the lack of sensitivity of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to lesbian and gay persons.
More than a month has gone by since the media broke the news about a series of gay suicides. During that time, the US Catholic Bishops failed to make a single statement regarding these tragic, preventable deaths. Not one bishop’s voice was raised to condemn a culture where youths are bullied for being who God created them to be and are sometimes pushed by society’s judgments to attempt suicide. Many people have accused certain segments of organized religion, including the Catholic hierarchy, of fueling these attacks and contributing to suicides.
The annual meeting in Baltimore of the US Catholic Bishops this week offered an opportunity to decry these horrendous events. Instead, the bishops have chosen to discuss “the defense of marriage,” their well-funded attack on same-gender couples.
Like blinded Pharisees, they fail to see that the Catholic community is embarrassed by their silence in the face of brutality and incensed by their push of a political agenda against marriage equality—all at a time when their credibility on sexual matters is at a record low.
The bishops have not learned from the Minnesota experience, where Catholics returned the anti-gay DVD’s the hierarchy sent to each household in the state. The anger of Minnesota Catholics is erupting all across our country. Faithful Catholics believe their bishops should be preaching a message of concern and understanding, instead of rejection and hate.
The National Coalition of American Nuns calls on all US Catholics to rise up and say, “Enough, enough! No more discriminatory rhetoric and repressive measures from men who lay heavy burdens on the shoulders of others and do not lift one finger of human kindness and compassion. We all need to work for a holy and just society and church."
---Founded in 1969 to study and to speak out on issues of justice in church and society, the National Coalition of American Nuns consists of approximately 500 Catholic sisters from different congregations of women religious in the United States.
Stonewall has launched a new campaign reassuring gay school pupils that they don't have to wait for things to get better in their lives -- they can be great now. In Britain we have partnership rights, the right to serve in the military and the right to have children. Our government is committed to tackling homophobic bullying and many schools, supported by Stonewall's Education for All campaign, are taking bold steps to do just that.
The World Team Tennis (WTT) Smash Hits 2010 Reception and Auction event featured Elton John and others facing off on two teams in a tennis match.
According to WTT, the auction portion of the evening raised $267,000. A ''hitting session'' with Agassi and Stefanie Graf sold for $50,000. Other auction items sold included two Elton John signed piano benches.
Half of the money raised during the auction will benefit the Washington AIDS Partnership, an organization that invests resources in local organizations that are striving to improve prevention efforts, testing and care services in the D.C. area.
The Elton John AIDS Foundation operates out of New York and London, both sites working to ''support innovative HIV prevention programs, efforts to eliminate stigma and discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS, and direct care and support services for people living with HIV/AIDS.''
The Constitutional Court (or Council) of France will consider a case challenging that nation's ban on same-sex marriage. France's highest court of appeal, the Cour de cassation, referred the case to the Constitutional Council, which has sole authority to rule on whether the prohibition of gay marriage violates the French Constitution. According to press reports
The request came after individuals in August asked a court in the northeastern city of Reims to look at the legality of articles of the civil code which ban same-sex marriages. The unnamed individuals said the articles were unconstitutional because they "limit the personal freedom of a French citizen to marry someone of the same sex".
The Court of Cassation said that gay marriage "is today the subject of a broad debate within society, notably because of the evolution of morals and the recognition of same-sex marriages by the laws of several foreign countries".
According to the Court of Cassation website, the questions presented in the case (No. F 10-40042) are as follows:
"Sections 144 and 75 of the Civil Code - are they inconsistent in their application [with] the preamble to the Constitution of 1946 and 1958, in that they limit the liberty of a French citizen to marry a person of same sex? " "Sections 144 and 75 of the Civil Code - are they inconsistent in their application [with] the provisions of Article 66 of the Constitution in that they prohibit a court judge to authorize marriage between persons of the same sex?"
Since 1999, French law has included the legal status of PACS, or pacte civil de solidarité, which is roughly comparable to civil unions. Both same-sex and different-sex couples have the option to enter a PACS, which is registered by a clerk of court. In some areas, couples signing a PACS can choose to have a formal civil ceremony, comparable to a wedding performed by a court official. If the Constitutional Court eliminates the ban on gay marriages, presumably all couples would then be able to choose between marriage and a PACS. (This is also the outcome being sought by a new equal relationship rights campaign in Britain.) It is only in that legal environment that the goal of genuine choice in family formation could be said to exist.
Aren't you relieved that we have developed rating systems so young tender minds can never have images of genitalia, making love or even male to male kissing on television? The act of two men or two women kissing seems to take a major network decision and often into the second season of a hit series before it is allowed. God forbid we should allow our children to see honest and open sexuality. We don't want those young little minds corrupted do we? Most likely at the first view of a penis they will go off and masturbate, stop studying in school and who knows maybe even become a mass murderer.
Give me a break.
Sex is exactly what we need in television today given the graphic imagines of violence and torture that dominate current mainstream hit drama's on television. Just watch a couple of weeks of "Criminal Minds" and you will be crying out for them to show naked couples making love in a loving way. The show has featured torture, children being held behind bars and molested, families wiped out and a father forced to watch his daughter being raped and every other imaginable horrible crime. Any of the CSI series will feature corpses without eyeballs, mutilated sexual organs, people nailed to trees and serial killers terrorizing women in the most graphic way. Please may I have a good old fashion f**k instead of watching these images of extreme horror?
So please, give me more sex on television. Don't worry about the human body being naked. After what our kids are watching it might actually be soothing to them. Don't worry about two men kissing since at least they aren't cutting up a body with a chain saw. Allow kids to see television parents having healthy sex and good relationships since it is better than father being forced to watch his kids being raped.
Quite simply tell the censors, producers and film makers we will gladly embrace more sex given the options. Now, about that penis.....
The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) and ARC International are deeply disappointed with yesterday’s vote in the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly to remove a reference to sexual orientation from a resolution on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. The resolution urges States to protect the right to life of all people, including by calling on states to investigate killings based on discriminatory grounds. For the past 10 years, the resolution has included sexual orientation in the list of discriminatory grounds on which killings are often based.
The removed reference was originally contained in a non-exhaustive list in the resolution highlighting the many groups of people that are particularly targeted by killings - including persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, persons acting as human rights defenders (such as lawyers, journalists or demonstrators) as well as street children and members of indigenous communities. Mentioning sexual orientation as a basis on which people are targeted for killing highlights a situation in which particular vigilance is required in order for all people to be afforded equal protection.
The amendment removing the reference to sexual orientation was sponsored by Benin on behalf of the African Group in the UN General Assembly and was adopted with 79 votes in favor, 70 against, 17 abstentions and 26 absent.
“This vote is a dangerous and disturbing development,” said Cary Alan Johnson, Executive Director of IGLHRC. “It essentially removes the important recognition of the particular vulnerability faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people - a recognition that is crucial at a time when 76 countries around the world criminalize homosexuality, five consider it a capital crime, and countries like Uganda are considering adding the death penalty to their laws criminalizing homosexuality.”
This decision in the General Assembly flies in the face of the overwhelming evidence that people are routinely killed around the world because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation, and renders these killings invisible or unimportant. The Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions has highlighted documented cases of extrajudicial killings on the grounds of sexual orientation including individuals facing the death penalty for consensual same-sex conduct; individuals tortured to death by State actors because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation; paramilitary groups killing individuals because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation as part of “social cleansing” campaigns; individuals murdered by police officers with impunity because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation; and States failing to investigate hate crimes and killings of persons because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation.
"It is a matter of great shame that the responsible Committee of the United Nations General Assembly failed in its responsibility to explicitly condemn well-documented killings based on sexual orientation," said John Fisher, Co-Director of ARC international. "The credibility of the United Nations requires protection of all persons from violations of their fundamental human rights, including on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity. We thank those States which supported the inclusion of sexual orientation in the text, and will redouble our collective efforts to ensure that Member States of the United Nations maintain the standards they have sworn to uphold."
The amendment runs counter to other positive developments in UN and regional human rights systems where there is increased recognition of the need for protection from discrimination regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. At a September 2010 panel held in conjunction with a session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon unequivocally recognized “the particular vulnerability of individuals who face criminal sanctions, including imprisonment and in some cases the death penalty, on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity.”
Sixty-eight countries have also signed a joint statement in the UN General Assembly on human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity which calls for an end to “human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity … in particular the use of the death penalty on this ground [and] extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.”
IGLHRC and ARC International urge all States, regardless of their vote on this amendment, to sign the UNGA joint statement affirming support of the human rights of all people, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity and to continue in efforts to decriminalize same-sex conduct and to end other discrimination, including violence, on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
After considering thousands of comments on a proposed regulation requiring all hospitals that receive Medicare funds (which essentially = all hospitals in the U.S.) to develop visitation policies that allow patients to designate anyone, including same-sex partners, as visitors, the Department of Health and Human Services has issued the final regulation. It will take effect in 60 days.
Here is reporting from The Advocate, based on a conference call between Secretary Sebelius and HHS Deputy General Counsel (and former ACLU LGBT Rights Project attorney) Ken Choe with advocates:
The rule change is the result of a directive that President Barack Obama gave to HHS in April after hearing stories of people who were denied access to their same-sex partners during the critical and, in some cases, final hours of their lives.
Hospitals will be required to have written policies and procedures detailing visitation rights and the specific circumstances under which a hospital can restrict access based on reasonable clinical needs. Hospitals must also inform incoming patients of their right to choose their visitors, regardless of whether the visitor is a family member, a spouse, a domestic partner (including a same-sex domestic partner), or other type of visitor, as well as their right to withdraw such consent to visitation at any time.
Ken Choe, deputy general counsel at HHS, said no documentation will be required to prove any particular kind of relationship. Patients need only give an oral designation of whom they wish to permit access to, a designation that can also be revoked at any point during their stay.
If a patient enters the hospital unconscious, Choe said complications with access would only arise if two people claimed to be the person who should be making visitation decisions on the patient’s behalf. In that case, hospitals would be allowed to ask for documentation in order to determine who should be allowed access to the patient.
Choe said complaints can be lodged against hospitals believed to be out of compliance in several ways. All hospitals must have a formalized internal grievance process, and people can also report hospitals to their state’s Survey and Certification Process, which governs Medicare and Medicaid participation. Medicare beneficiaries can also take their concerns to Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs) in every state.
Gay policemen Ivan Sigston, left,
and Steven Ponder with their son
William, who was born after Steven's
sister Lorna agreed to act as a surrogate
A woman is set to make history in the UK by acting as a surrogate for her brother and his gay partner, which will make her the mother and aunt of the same baby.
In one of the first cases of its kind in Britain, the same-sex couple have applied for fertility treatment at Harley Street's London Women’s Clinic enabling them to use donor eggs from the surrogate in this country instead of travelling abroad.
Until now gay men have gone to America, where surrogacy is common and the laws are more relaxed.
Dr Kamal Ahuja, LWC’s scientific director, confirmed its ethics committee was considering the application along with one from two men who want to become parents, with a female colleague acting as the surrogate.
The applications are the first the clinic has received from gay men.
Both couples seeking the help of the LWC would be legally recognised as parents.
Since April, two men can be named as parents on a child’s birth certificate. Gay men can now seek special 'parenting orders' so that they are recognised as their child’s legal parents, not the surrogate who carried the baby. In the past, this right was restricted to heterosexual couples.
Hampshire policemen Steven Ponder, 28, and his partner Ivan Sigston, 48, made British history last year when Mr Ponder’s sister, Lorna Bradley, acted as surrogate to their son William.
In an interview with the Evening Standard, Dr Ahuja said the two applications were the first the clinic had received from gay men. He said they highlighted how the rise in IVF had changed the nature of the traditional family.
The fertility expert added: 'The definition of a traditional family is progressively fading. Though we had concerns some years ago, the evidence now is that we need not worry in terms of same-sex parenting.
'Families of the future may combine up to five parents. Regardless of culture, the evidence is that children adapt well and it’s the quality of the nurturing environment which is important.'
Barrie Drewitt and Tony Barlow from Essex were Britain’s first gay couple who became parents with the help of a surrogate. They went to California, where both donated sperm to enable an American to conceive twins.
The LWC was one of the first to admit lesbian women for donor insemination a decade ago. Since then, several hundred babies have been born to same sex couples and the proportion of gay patients has risen to nearly a third from seven per cent.
It was revealed this week that a gay man and lesbian woman are facing a bitter court battle over their children.
Sen. Joe Lieberman said Thursday that repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell” as part of the National Defense Authorization Act is no longer a question of votes, it’s a question of process.
“I am confident that we have more than 60 votes prepared to take up the Defense authorization with the repeal of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ if only there will be a guarantee of a fair and open amendment process, in other words, whether we’ll take enough time to do it,” Lieberman told reporters at a press conference, naming GOP Sens. Susan Collins and Richard Lugar as "Yes" votes. “Time is an inexcusable reason not to get this done.”
Lieberman, an Independent, was flanked by 12 of his Democratic colleagues – a core group that seemed intent on urging their Democratic leadership to allow enough room in the Senate schedule for a debate that would be amenable to Republicans. The senators talked about working over the weekends and Sen. Mark Udall offered to go straight through until Christmas Eve.
Lieberman noted that two items could be negotiated by Senate majority leader Harry Reid and minority leader Mitch McConnell – the number of amendments to be considered and the amount of time for debate on those amendments.
Full and open debate on the bill could take as many as two weeks but an agreement between Reid and McConnell might also shave that down to just one week. Regardless, given that other bills will also eat up some of the remaining days, providing some sort of open amendment process will likely require that Senators stay past the targeted adjournment date of Dec. 10 until at least Dec. 17.
Lieberman also noted that the NDAA is “several hundred pages long” and chock full of “critically necessary” items for the military.
“How are you going to explain to a soldier or a family that we didn’t authorize the benefits they deserve because we wanted to go home?” he said.
Asked how many amendments would be “fair,” Lieberman responded, “It’s hard to put a number on it now, and that’s what I hope will be negotiated and we’re going to do our best to encourage Sen. Reid to reach out to allow a somewhat larger number [of amendments].”
Lieberman was joined at the press conference by Sens. Barbara Boxer, Roland Burris, Ben Cardin, Chris Coons, Diane Feinstein, Al Franken, Kirsten Gillibrand, Amy Klobuchar, Patrick Leahy, Jeanne Shaheen, Mark Udall, and Ron Wyden.
Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network said the most interesting development over the past several days is “the determination of a core group of senators to get repeal done this year.”
“With chairman Levin and Sen. Lieberman’s commitment and with the determination of the president and majority leader Reid to work with key Republican senators, we’re alive and we can get this done this year,” Sarvis said.
Earlier in the day, General Carter Ham, co-chair of the Pentagon’s working study, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that upcoming report on repeal is the most thorough he has ever seen on a personnel issue.
“As far as I can tell, this is the most comprehensive assessment of a personnel policy matter that the Department of Defense has conducted,” Ham said.
Sen. John McCain, who vehemently opposes repeal, tried to undercut its credibility by noting that only about 25% of about 400,000 troops had responded to the survey on repeal that forms a portion of the study.
But Ham corrected McCain, saying the total was closer to 28%, a little over 115,000 respondents, and called the survey “statistically sound and analytically rigorous.”
Sen. Jim Webb, a Democrat who joined McCain’s successful filibuster against the defense authorization bill in September, seconded Ham’s assertion.
“Having spent five years in the Pentagon; I can't remember a study on this type of issue that has been done with this sort of care,” he said. “So it's going to be a very important study for us to look at and examine.”
Preliminary reports about the study suggest that it concludes repeal poses “minimal risk” even during a time of war.
Ham said he doubted the study would be released before December 1 because they were currently waiting on the military’s service chiefs to review it and provide their assessments, but Sen. Levin urged Ham to make “every effort” to deliver the study early.
Levin said Wednesday that he would be scheduling hearings on the study “during the first few days of December” before Sen. Reid scheduled a vote on the motion to debate the larger defense bill.
Pink says her new song Raise Your Glass is meant to celebrate those who feel left out. The singer told InDemand.fm she'll be "celebrating a gay wedding [in the video]," and explained the scene was inspired by her personal experience. She revealed, "I threw my best friend's wedding in my backyard [she] is gay...and it was absolutely beautiful. And the end of it, her mom said, 'Why can't this be legal?' and started crying. It was just the most heartbreaking thing I've ever seen." Raise Your Glass is from Pink's forthcoming best-of, Greatest Hits...So Far!!!
"I've spent my entire life - and I'm 60 years of age right now - I've spent my entire life being gay, being a lesbian woman... I knew I was gay from day one," so says one of Forbes World's Most Powerful Women - Suze Orman.
She continues, "One by one we started to talk to each other, and it got better. I knew that if I was just willing to be who I am that the world would eventually change and accept people like me - and look at me now!
So my message to you is this: Just stick with us. People are listening to you, people are supporting you, people want you to be who you are. And if you can just have faith and stick in there. I promise you, it will get better..."
Cardinal Giacomo Biffi attacks the gay rights movement in his memoir.
Christians must brace themselves for a "new form of persecution" driven by homosexual activists and their ideological accomplices, an Italian cardinal has said.
Freedom of thought and expression is under threat from the gay rights movement, said Cardinal Giacomo Biffi, the retired archbishop of Bologna, in memoirs that are published on Thursday. And the result is that those people who disagreed with the homosexual agenda are being ostracised by society, he said.
"The ideology of homosexuality" – as often happens to ideologies when they become aggressive and end up being politically triumphant "becomes a threat to our legitimate autonomy of thought: those who do not share it risk condemnation to a kind of cultural and social marginalisation," said Cardinal Biffi.
"The attacks on freedom of thought start with language," he wrote. "Those who do not resign themselves to accept 'homophilia' ... are charged with 'homophobia'."
The people listed inside have three things in common...and maybe more. First of all, they are all dead and have died since last November 20. Secondly, they are all transwomen. Thirdly, they died as a result of nothing more than intense hatred. One only needs to survey the causes of death to verify that. In many cases, the rage that the murderer must have had is evident in the number of stab wounds, the dismemberment or other mutilation evident on the bodies, or the execution that clearly had taken place (please note how many had been shot in the head).
I provide this list, cribbed from this site, not to be a downer...though it sure brings me down...but to honor their lives and the courage it took to live them.
Tomorrow is Transgender Day of Remembrance. We will not forget.
Not only are more marriages on the rocks these days, so is marriage itself, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center.
A survey of 2,691 Americans done in association with Time magazine found that nearly four in 10 Americans think marriage is becoming obsolete. That's an 11 percent spike since 1978, when Time asked the same question.
"Marriage is still very important in this country, but it doesn't dominate family life like it used to," Andrew Cherlin, a professor of sociology and public policy at John Hopkins University, told the Associated Press.
Younger people are leading the way in redefining what marriage means. Forty-four percent of those between the ages of 18 and 29 saw marriage as obsolete, compared to 32 percent of those 65 and older.
Other groups more likely to see marriage as a fading institution included blacks, at 44 percent, those with a high school diploma or less, at 44 percent, and people who made $30,000 or less a year, at 48 percent.
Young People Marrying Less and Less
Census data have shown that younger people are marrying less and less, and when they marry, they're generally older.
The median age of when one first gets married is at its highest point ever. For women, it's 26.1 years of age, and for men, it's 28.2.
On top of that, for the first time in half a century, the number of unmarried people between the ages of 25 and 34 outnumbers the number of married people in the same age range.
Experts say that young adults between 18 and 29 are more likely to have an unmarried or divorced parent, and that's made a difference in how they view marriage.
Young people are marrying less often, in part, because they're taking marriage more seriously after watching their own parents divorce or separate from one another.
Families Redefined
The Pew survey also showed the quiet revolution of the American family over the last 30 years. Americans increasingly think marriage, once a central way of defining what constitutes a family, is no longer as important in that regard.
One reason is the increasing number of people living together and having children without getting married.
About 29 percent of children under 18 now live with a parent or parents who either are divorced or never married. Broken down further, six percent of those kids have parents who are live-in couples who never got married.
Of the respondents, 86 percent said a single parent and child constitute a family; 80 percent said an unmarried couple living together with a child is a family; and 63 percent said same-sex couples raising a child is a family.
The presence of children continues to have a strong impact on determining what makes a family. The majority of those surveyed said that an unmarried couple living together is not a family.
"People are rethinking what family means," Cherlin said. "Given the growth, I think we need to accept cohabitation relationships as a basis for some of the fringe benefits offered to families, such as health insurance."
The Census Bureau plans to redefine what it considers a family when measuring poverty because of the growing number of unmarried couples raising children.
Marrying for Love, Not Stability
When people do get married, historians say that Americans no longer are getting married for the same reason Ozzie and Harriet did.
For centuries, economic security was the reason to say I do. Marriage thrived as a practical way to divide labor, allocate resources, have children and arrange for someone to take care of you when you got old.
Now, people's desire to be happy trumps society's more "old-fashioned" interest in stability.
When asked why they tied the knot, 93 percent of respondents said love, 87 percent said making a lifelong commitment, 81 percent said companionship, 59 percent said having children and all the way at the bottom of the list was financial stability, at 31 percent.
Will a social institution built on love have the same longevity as one built on economic security?
Back in 1960, 72 percent of all adults in this country were married. Now, that number hovers at 52 percent.
Not only are more people getting divorced. More people are saying, I don't.
This month, Susan Sarandon, Alan Cumming, Pete Wentz, Rebecca Romijn, Eden Riegel and Cyndi Lauper speak out about why they give a damn about homeless gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth.
Portia De Rossi ... disappointed that Julia Gillard and Australia haven't taken a lead.
Today, parliament carried by the slimmest of margins, 73-72, a Greens motion on gay marriage.
Not to grant legal status to gay marriage, mind you.
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No, this vote was just to give parliamentary weight to MPs talking to their constituents about gay marriage - and seeking their views.
It's significant progress, no doubt.
Despite this result, it continues to be the rigid stance of Prime Minister Julia Gillard - who has ruled out changing the party's policy on the issue until Labor's national conference - that has arguably sparked the most discussion.
And now, she's begun to attract some heavyweight celebrity criticism.
Renowned expatriate actor Portia de Rossi today declared her dismay at Gillard's lack of leadership - and she did most articulately; with a passion hard to dismiss as mere Hollywood sideline sniping.
Striking all the right notes, de Rossi - married to talk show megastar Ellen DeGeneres - urged Australia to take a lead on an issue she insisted was a matter of "equality for every citizen".
It didn't "seem right to treat gays and lesbians as second class citizens," she said.
"I always thought Australia would pass this equal rights law . . . long before America would," she told ABC radio this morning - adding she was "a little bit disappointed in the new prime minister''.
"But I am hoping Australia will be a leader in this."
But leadership appears to be in short supply; especially from our politicians.
And if the following comment is anything to go by, there may not be a lot of point in parliamentarians talking to their electorates.
One enthused news site commenter posted the following on an article arguing for gay marriage: "Who said Guy marrigers (sic) must get the nod, it is immoral & against nature, to explain it in the simplist (sic) terms we are here to keep the species alive. Look at the Dinosausers, (sic) they all turned gay, now were (sic) are they?"
Never mind meteorites, climate change or the challenge presented by the evolution of mammals. 'Dinosausers', more commonly referred to as dinosaurs, living in uncivilised times without a gay marriage ban, were apparently not able to help themselves being attracted to the same sex of their species causing a drastic drop in reproduction, leading ultimately to their demise. The implication being that if we allow gay marriage today, along with the problems of so called "immorality", a similar epidemic of homosexuality could wipe our species off the planet. The theory suddenly explains all those coupled male fossils they've been finding.
Now, perhaps more illuminating than this new and clearly scientific theory that I would suggest all paleontologists examine closely, is the fact that people out there may actually take the underlying premise of marriage as procreation vs homosexuality seriously. All I can say is let's hope this guy is a great satirist trolling and misspelling his way across news sites heavily laden with dollops of irony.
But a different type of gay dinosaur is still walking the earth with the political lay of the land for gay marriage remaining perfectly preserved in a tar pit of conservatism and tradition. The motion to be voted on today has ALP support but the PM remains firm against the idea of a conscience vote or a change to the Marriage Act, which currently defines marriage as between a man and woman.
This is despite moves from within the ALP, with Labor minister, Mark Arbib, federal backbencher,Stephen Jones and government MP Kirsten Livermore all dissenting from the official party line. Funnily enough for Ms Livermore, a recent survey showed her electorate as one with a large amount of anti-gay sentiment. The seat of Capricornia, currently on a margin of 3.7 per cent, had 44.7 per cent of respondents agreeing with the idea that homosexuality was immoral and only 33 per cent thought gay adoption was a good idea. The survey also spelled out the obvious, that anti-gay sentiment remains entrenched in outer-suburban and regional areas and in strong Coalition seats. Overall 27 per cent of respondents to the survey, conducted over two years, believe homosexuality is immoral.
Independent MP Bob Katter summed it up nicely; asked about the Greens' motion to promote a conversation between MPs and their electorate, he said he didn't need to talk to them: "I think I know their attitudes . . . Their attitude is not in favour." We know that areas like Bob Katter's electorate of Kennedy in North Queensland don't tend to be very receptive to the idea of gay marriage, but that doesn't mean it's not the right thing to do, or that it's not the will of the majority.
Still, it is more than likely that Labor is going to take the cautious road on this one. The dinosaurs are not the ''gay ones'' that died out according to our commentator's theory above, but the ones in parliament directed by those voters stuck under a fossil somewhere. The movement on this issue has been glacial with small increments towards a more progressive stance, including the vote this morning which doesn't even approach the strength of a conscience vote but instead is simply a promise to talk. You've got to hope that as we enter a different paleontological age, these gay (marriage) dinosaurs evolve or die out. Bella Counihan works in the Canberra Press Gallery and writes for The National Times.
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Hundreds of dancers descended on the Sydney Opera House on Sunday November 14th. The group surprised onlookers at Australia's most famous Icon with a routine set to a soundtrack of the greatest hits of two other Aussie Icons - Dannii & Kylie Minogue.
The performance stars international drag phenomenon JOYCE MAYNGE who is about to feature in "Drag! XXXMas" at Sydney Opera House. http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/whats...
It also stars AUNTY MAVIS, five brave kids and hundreds of back-up dancers.
Organised in spare time by a team of volunteers with a budget of only a few hundred dollars, the video made waves in the international press before even being uploaded to YouTube. Kylie & Dannii have both Tweeted the event and it was profiled in the prestigious Sydney Morning Herald Newspaper.
Dan Murphy from ROCK YOUR BOX and Anthony Carthew produced the performance, with choreography by David Olsen. The crew have built a reputation for knockout stunts, with their previous videos receiving almost a million hits in the last year.
A Republican super-majority in the New Hampshire Legislature could jeopardize marriage equality in the Granite State.
As a result of the Nov. 2 elections, Republicans will hold 297 of 400 seats in the House of Representatives and 19 out of 24 slots in the state Senate. The Democratic-controlled Legislature passed a marriage equality bill in 2009. Governor John Lynch signed it into law despite personal misgivings. And more than 1,000 gay and lesbian couples have wed since the law went into effect in January.
The state’s Republican legislative candidates had campaigned on a platform of addressing the budget deficit and creating jobs. They downplayed their social agenda.
Nevertheless, they will mount a full-bore attack to repeal the marriage equality law, according to a political observer and an openly gay Democratic lawmaker EDGE interviewed.
"The scale of the victory is historic," said Dante Scala, an associate professor of political science at the University of New Hampshire. "Certainly over the last decade we’ve had three straight midterm elections in the state where either one party or the other rolled up the score. This was an unusually severe movement. Democrats were decimated. I mean, pick your natural disaster."
Scala believes there’s a possibility legislators will pass a bill repealing marriage equality. "Republicans seem to be ready to take up fiscal matters first, but at some point I think social conservatives will want a go at repeal," he said.
Asked if the Tea Party will influence legislation, Scala said it’s unclear.
"It depends on which Tea Party," he explained. "The one with the fiscally conservative message might. It remains to be seen about how strong the social conservatives are. They will be more important than in the Legislature under the Democrats, but will they be strong enough to overcome the governor’s veto?"
Legislators need a two-thirds majority-or 267 votes-to override a veto. "You’ve got 300 Republicans in the Legislature," noted Scala. "Some of them are going to be more moderate. It’s not like all 300 of them were elected to repeal gay marriages."
He added Senate Republicans "could be a bit more moderate", but the National Organization for Marriage is expected to give a big boost to those seeking to repeal the law.
NOM financially backed successful efforts to repeal marriage equality in Maine and California. And Iowa voters earlier this month recalled three state Supreme Court justices who were among those who issued a unanimous ruling that legalized marriage for gays and lesbians in the Hawkeye State.
"In New Hampshire, we flipped the state Legislature," boasted NOM President Brian Brown in a blog post. "And not only flipped it, but it now looks like we have veto-proof majorities in both legislative houses. We will now fight for a vote on a constitutional amendment and a repeal of same-sex marriage in New Hampshire. And we look forward to the Legislature overriding any veto that John Lynch might attempt."
State Rep. Robert Thompson (D-Manchester) believes victorious GOP candidates have already written two bills, one to repeal marriage equality and a second that would place a constitutional amendment on the 2012 ballot.
A member of the Judiciary Committee, he worked with a handful of other openly gay legislators to persuade fellow Democrats to support marriage equality. Thompson, who was elected in 2008, was among the victims of the Republican sweep--he lost by just 120 votes.
While Lynch will have to deal with the Legislature’s veto-proof super-majority and is expected to move more to the center if he decides to run again in two years, Thompson says he still supports marriage equality-and he said Lynch’s daughter, who is a Dartmouth College student, told her father he needed to sign the marriage bill.
"She was a real advocate for the community, even though she’s not gay," he reported. "In college she probably has gay friends and they’re just like anybody else walking down the street, but they just happen to be the governor’s daughter’s friends."
Thompson pulled no punches when asked about NOM. "Its leaders need to look at their own families and decide which ones might be gay," he said. "They should ask themselves, ’Do you hate your children that much and feel they shouldn’t have the same rights as everyone else? We should not allow one group that calls itself a non-profit control the elections in the country."
Thompson, who hopes to produce a live call-in show on gay and lesbian issues on a public access television channel in Manchester once he leaves office, stressed LGBT activists and allies need to fight tooth and nail to make sure lawmakers do not repeal marriage equality in the Granite State
He compared apathy among LGBT Granite Staters to that of the Jews in Nazi Germany.
"They didn’t speak up," said Thompson. "We cannot stand by and say it won’t happen. We need to stay involved. When the bill comes up in the Legislature, there should be a thousand people there. They need to do everything they can to hold the Republicans accountable for every single thing they do."
Peter Cassels is a recipient of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association’s Excellence in Journalism award. His e-mail address is pcassels@edgepublications.com.
A Boy Scouts chapter that won the right to ban gays from its city-owned headquarters at a federal trial in Philadelphia said it has negotiated a deal to end the decade-long dispute with city officials.
The city had threatened to evict the scouts for violating its anti-discrimination laws, and urged the group to reject national Boy Scouts of America policies that ban gays. But a jury this year found the eviction would infringe on the private group’s right to free association.
Rather than appeal, the city will instead offer to sell the building to the Cradle of Liberty Council for $500,000, less than half its $1.1 million value, council lawyer Jason Gosselin said Wednesday. In exchange, the scouts will forgive the nearly $1 million in legal fees the city was ordered to pay the scouts after losing the case.
"At the end of the day, the Boy Scouts will be writing a check to the city, rather than the other way around," Gosselin told The Associated Press. "This is a better solution than having to go through an appeals process."
City solicitor Shelley Smith and council attorney Sandra Girifalco said in a joint statement Wednesday night that all parties had worked hard to find an equitable solution.
"What we have on the table is a win-win situation that resolves the lawsuit, saves the city $1 million and gives the Scouts the opportunity to buy the headquarters they have been in for 80 years," the statement said. The two said they expected that an ordinance for the building sale would be introduced before the City Council on Thursday.
The Boy Scout oath calls for members to be "morally straight," which the national group interprets to mean that gays cannot participate. In 2000, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 split that the Boy Scouts, as a private group, can exclude gays.
The Cradle of Liberty Council, like other councils, has since tried to walk a fine line between appeasing the city, the United Way and other supporters, and the Irving, Texas-based Boy Scouts of America.
In 2003, it passed its own nondiscrimination policy but was forced to retrench when the Boy Scouts of America ordered it to conform with national rules.
Jurors at the eight-day trial felt the council was "between a rock and a hard place," in the words of the foreman, a former Eagle Scout from Lancaster County.
In Philadelphia, the council enjoys $1-a-year rent at the prime downtown site, a stately Depression-era building the scouts had built and maintained on city land. Rent is valued at about $200,000 a year. The council serves up to 75,000 children a year in various programs, including life-skills programs open to girls as well as boys.
There has been just one known case of a gay scout being ousted from the Philadelphia chapter, but the city argued at the June trial that many gay youths may be scared off by the national policy.
Former Scout Greg Lattera, then 25, testified at trial that scouting had meant the world to him as an inner-city child. He said he had not intended to become a flag bearer for gay rights when he spoke about being gay while wearing his scout uniform in a TV news interview. But the publicity cost him his scouts membership, he testified.
A city lawyer at trial urged Cradle of Liberty leaders to muster "the courage of their convictions" and fight the national office.
"This is a conversation taking place all across the country," Gosselin said Wednesday, speaking of gay rights in society and in scouting. "I don’t think this conflict is going away, but hopefully it is with the Boy Scouts and the city of Philadelphia."
Valley of the Dolls star Patty Duke says gay fans of the 1967 cult film helped her overcome 40 years of humiliation over her performance, according to website Hollywood News. “I’ve come to enjoy that movie — not that it’s not still embarrassing," Duke says. "But thanks to the gay community, I can see it in a different way and have a good time with it.” 
Tennis icons Billie Jean King, Andre Agassi, Martina Navratilova and other players joined forces at American University on Monday, Nov. 15, and raised more than $500,000 for the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the Washington AIDS Partnership.
The Constitutional Court (or Council) of France will consider a case challenging that nation's ban on same-sex marriage. France's highest court of appeal, the Cour de cassation, referred the case to the Constitutional Council, which has sole authority to rule on whether the prohibition of gay marriage violates the French Constitution. 
Aren't you relieved that we have developed rating systems so young tender minds can never have images of genitalia, making love or even male to male kissing on television? The act of two men or two women kissing seems to take a major network decision and often into the second season of a hit series before it is allowed. God forbid we should allow our children to see honest and open sexuality. We don't want those young little minds corrupted do we? Most likely at the first view of a penis they will go off and masturbate, stop studying in school and who knows maybe even become a mass murderer.
Sen. Joe Lieberman said Thursday that repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell” as part of the National Defense Authorization Act is no longer a question of votes, it’s a question of process.
"I've spent my entire life - and I'm 60 years of age right now - I've spent my entire life being gay, being a lesbian woman... I knew I was gay from day one," so says one of Forbes World's Most Powerful Women - Suze Orman.
The people listed inside have three things in common...and maybe more. First of all, they are all dead and have died since last November 20. Secondly, they are all transwomen. Thirdly, they died as a result of nothing more than intense hatred. One only needs to survey the causes of death to verify that. In many cases, the rage that the murderer must have had is evident in the number of stab wounds, the dismemberment or other mutilation evident on the bodies, or the execution that clearly had taken place (please note how many had been shot in the head).
Portia De Rossi ... disappointed that Julia Gillard and Australia haven't taken a lead. 
