www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGWC3aOH13Y

Lady Gaga asked for our video responses. Here is mine. Call your senator, ask them to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.

A little over a year ago, I left the relatively safe and comfortable confines of Google’s Chicago office after working there for three years. I left to do something different. I left to change healthcare so it would be better. I’m proud to say that the team of people I work with every day has done a fantastic job of having an impact in that area, but there’s a barrier to making it big: how do we educate people about something that they don’t want to talk about?

April is STD Awareness Month. Join me in breaking down the barriers that prevent people from being healthy. Be safe, and encourage others to do the same. Safe sex means using protection, being educated about what’s out there, and knowing your status. Remember, the worst thing that can happen is not that you get an STD, it’s that you get an STD and don’t do anything about it. Many can be cured, and none of them mean the end of the world if cured.

So go out there and have a “ball” (or two), and for fuck’s sake, get tested. And if you want to try our new approach to STD testing, use the link below to get $50 a complete sexual health checkup.

Sure, this may not come as a surprise to many of us. As my good friend Cara said – there has been speculation about this for years. There are even the very revealing paparazzi photos of him in his skimpies on the beach with one heck of an attractive man. Perhaps this is a convenient time to come out, when he isn’t at the height of his career, when public acceptance of homosexuality is common and growing, and when it is seemingly trendy for celebs to come out. There’s a lot of sarcasm flying around about the topic, and even some bitterness; why?

It’s been a decade since I was outed to my family, but I still remember all too clearly the burden of keeping mum about being gay. It’s certainly not something that is fun to do. In a way, being mad at someone for remaining in the closet is similar to disliking them for being gay. Society makes it quite a hassle to be gay, it would be easier to just be straight, and similarly being in the closet is a horrible experience, and it would be much more liberating to live life unhidden. People remain closeted for a reason, and it’s important not to lose touch with that fact.

I’m not much of a celebrity follower. I love the art that musicians, actors, writers, and performers create for us to consume. I don’t need to and in many ways don’t want to know who they are dating or what they look like fetching the paper. The exception is when a celebrity comes out. Celebrities have a fantastic power to change the opinions of a large number of people. When someone of that status comes out, their fans and followers notice. Some fans will become former fans, and some formerly ignorant fans will become enlightened. We should commend artists that take the risk and lovingly encourage others to follow.

I ask my friends and readers to respond to this news not with vitriol but with compassion and appreciation.

I thank Ricky Martin for his bravery, and I wish the best for him and his family.

At least he didn’t go down the drug path…

Read the interview at IRMA.

This is clearly a response to the growing pressure from the general public surrounding the President’s handling of gay rights issues thus far. In addition to pressure from the media, several big names including HRC National Field Director Marty Rouse and gay blogger Andy Towle have pulled out of an upcoming gay-centered fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee. So Obama clearly had to do something.

So, while this is certainly a welcome move, it is not enough. Sorry, Mr. Obama, but LGBT rights are not a slot machine and you can’t just pull the arm and hope your nickel gets you out of this mess. Unless the media outlets are wrong and you are announcing something major tomorrow, understand that it isn’t good enough. There is no appeasement any longer. No small gesture to show that you are still our “fierce advocate.” The only action at this point is strong and swift action on all fronts. Tomorrow, come to the table with the following, or come to the table with the knowledge that you are no friend of an equal America:

• An executive order immediately ending Don’t ask, don’t tell and a timeline for legislation to be introduced to permanently repeal the policy including sponsors in both the House and Senate.
• A clear condemnation of the abusive and offensive language used in last week’s brief supporting DOMA along with a timeline for introducing legislation to permanently repeal DOMA, sponsors in both the House and Senate, and the immediate dismissal of all staffers involved in allowing this version of the brief to be issued.
• A date in the next two weeks for the return of the Matthew Shepard Act to Congress for immediate vote and a promise to sign the bill into law no later than the anniversary of the Stonewall riots on June 28.
• A publicly-announced policy shift supporting full same-sex marriage equality.
• The immediate appointment of a top-level adviser on gay-rights issues.

 

Sources:
AMERICABlog – Obama not to address any of his eight promises tomorrow…
The New Civil Rights Movement – Obama extends benefits to Federal LGBT Employees’ Partners
The Rachel Maddow Show

I feel as though I’m constantly re-tweeting and posting to Facebook a wealth of articles about the (snail-paced) advancement of gay rights issues. I’m now going to post a collection of each days articles, video clips, editorials, and quotes in a post called the Equality Roundup (name is open to more creative suggestions).

• The New York Times has published yet another strong editorial in support of gay rights -- this time the going after the Obama administration for their harshly worded and completely unnecessary brief issued last week in support of the Defense of (bigoted) Marriage Act. In the brief, the Obama-appointed Justice Department compares same-sex marriage to incest and marriage between children and adults.
  [ View the full editorial here. ]

 

• Rachel Maddow, the only-slightly-sarcastic-but-incredibly-witty MSNBC host brought former Governor of Vermont Howard Dean to discuss the president’s stance on gay rights. During the interview Dean calls Do(b)MA unconstitutional and says that it was a mistake of the Obama administration to issue the legal brief. He also suggests that the administration might now have to move Don’t Ask Don’t Tell to the front of their agenda in order to make up for their blunder.
  

  

  www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg7CrrlqREw

 

• glaadBLOG posted their commentary on June 9th’s “The 700 Club” in which Pat Robertson advises the mother of a gay child to tell her son that being gay is “an abomination before God” and goes on to say that “if somebody’s on the way to hell you’ve got to love them to rescue them.” He also insists that gay people are not born that way but rather “made homosexuals” through abuse.
  [ View the full story and video. ]
   
• Tonight PBS airs the documentary “ASK NOT” -- “ASK NOT explores the history of the infamous “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and reveals the personal stories of gay Americans willing to risk their lives for a country that criminalizes the act of coming out.” If you are in Chicago it airs on Channel 11 and 11.1 at 10pm and 3:30am as well as channel 11.2 at 4pm.
  [ More information and showtimes here. ]
   
• Cleve Jones responded to concerns about the upcoming March on Washington over at The Bilerco Project. He covered ten reasons why such a march would be a success for gay rights. The gist of his argument is that this march is supposed to help ignite a larger movement nationwide. 
  [ Full post available at The Bilerco Project. ]
   
• Multiple bloggers and twitter users posted links to a very simple page -- “Obama’s Plan for Gay Rights.”
  [ Obama's full plan available here. ]
   
• And finally -- some tweets:
  

  @ntinaz RT @DCBadger: As much as I love the DNC email from POTUS re: Health Care, where’s email re: LGBTQ rights? #p2

  @ntinaz RT @jtbritto RT @hobronto: http://www.obamasplanforgayrights.com/

  @perezhilton Join us this October! RT @NtlEqMarch 10 Reasons to March, by Cleve Jones http://is.gd/13Atk
   

I’m still waiting for the PDF to load so I can read the full opinion but I’ll offer more of my opinions after that happens. If you would like to view the full opinion find it here: California Prop 8 ruling (re-hosted as official link is nearly impossible to load)

It seems that at least some of the judges realize the stupidity of Prop 8 and the horrible discrimination that it codifies-
“our task in the present proceeding is not to determine whether the provision at issue is wise or sound as a matter of policy or whether we, as individuals, believe it should be a part of the California Constitution”

The ruling is essentially making the argument that because civil unions are still valid the only change that Prop 8 presented was a change in the “designation of the term ‘marriage’” and that Prop 8 does not, in fact, deny “the constitutional right of same-sex couples to ‘choose one’s life partner and enter with that person into a committed, officially recognized, and protected family relationship that enjoys all of the constitutionally based incidents of marriage.’” Clearly this court has never explored the hell that was racial segregation during our country’s “separate but equal” period.

Find a rally near you

PS -- I don’t hate Jesus or Christians. I chose this photo as a representation of what the religious wrong have done -- used a religion that is supposed to preach harmony and love for your family and neighbors to impose completely unrelated ideals on others. Each and every person who uses religion as a tool for their own personal gain and to discriminate against others should be horribly ashamed of themselves.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuDJmVkPYpw