EQUALITY - WHAT MATTERS: The Latest In The LGBT Rights Movement, May 19, 2011

(This update is for interested parties following the gay-rights movement.  It is produced by Equality Matters, a campaign for full LGBT equality.)

JUST POSTED - NOM: YOU’RE A BULLY IF YOU SUPPORT GAY RIGHTS (via Equality Matters) – “The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) isn’t happy with a new campaign to get Orbitz to cease its sponsorship of Fox News due to Fox’s long history of anti-LGBT bigotry. In a blog entry this week, NOM criticized pro-gay rights groups, including Equality Matters, for “bullying” Orbitz into ending its sponsorship. As anybody who has had the displeasure of following NOM’s work over the past several months knows, the group clearly has a habit of tossing around accusations of “bullying” any time pro-LGBT groups attempt to pressure politicians or organizations to support equal rights.” http://bit.ly/lK coml
 
THE CAMPAIGN TO DROP FOX (via Media Matters) – “Media Matters kicked off its DropFox campaign today by urging Orbitz (OWW), an online travel site, to pull its ads from the anti-LGBT Fox News network. Three high-profile gay rights organizations—GLAAD, Courage Campaign and Equality Matters—signed the letter to Orbitz CEO Barney Harford asking that the company no longer support Fox News through ad revenue.” http://DropFox.com/  

KEEPING AN EYE ON NOM (via Equality Matters’ Carlos Maza):
--NOM’s New York Marriage Rally: All About “Love,” Except For The Parts About Hate http://bit.ly/k2CFqZ
--NOM Freaks Out About Slavery Comparison Two Days After Making It Themselves http://bit.ly/jBdUAr
--NOM: Marriage Equality Is “An Excuse To Poison Young Minds” http://bit.ly/m9ebbr
--NOM Partners With Group, Launches Anti-Gay PSA, Complete With Gunfire And Explosions http://bit.ly/joe2Vz
--NOM: Gay Marriage Is A Waste Of Time (Unless You’re Trying To Stop It) http://bit.ly/iu5Wd1
 
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MINNESOTA MA Y VOTE TODAY ON MARRIAGE BAN (via local KSTP) - “A controversial amendment that would ban gay marriage could get a vote in the House Thursday.  …If approved, the ban on gay marriage would be placed on a ballot for Minnesota voters to decide. .. The House Rules Committee voted 13-12 Wednesday to put the issue before the full House.  Members of the state Senate have already passed the amendment. Governor Dayton has no authority to block it from the ballot if approved by lawmakers.” http://bit.ly/iBkGPl
 
“DON’T ASK” AMENDMENTS MOVING TO HOUSE FLOOR NEXT WEEK (via Politico) - “Since taking over in January, House Republicans have tried unsuccessfully to stall or derail the military’s p lans to allow gays and lesbians to serve openly.  Their latest effort, which comes to the House floor next week as a series of amendments to the annual defens e policy bill, is likely to flop as well. Even though the bill as amended is likely to pass, the process of repealing the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy is moving faster than lawmakers’ efforts to thwart it.” http://politi.co/lp59z7
 
AMENDMENTS DESIGNED TO KILL REPEAL (via SLDN) - “These amendments jab at various aspects of repeal:
--Rep. Todd Akin's (R-MO) amendment would ban members of the armed forces, DoD employees, and chaplains from assisting in or performing same-sex marriages and restrict base facility usage for those marriages;
--Rep. Vicky Hartzler's (R-MO) amendment would restate DOMA language to explicitly include our armed forces, improperly attempting to legislat e on the issue of marriage through a bill to provide for the national defense; and
--Rep. Duncan Hunter's (R-CA) amendment would expand certification to the service chiefs, wh o have already testified that they do not need this authority.” http://bit.ly/jg46P8
 
HOW THE AMENDMENTS EXPAND DOMA (via SLDN) - “The passage of these amendments that would expand the DOMA law already on the books – essentially ‘DOMA-plus’ – means we must continue to fight back when the defense bill goes to the full House for a vote later this month. Make no mistake – it will be hard to win there, but this is an important fight we must wage. This does matter. Some of the DOMA-plus language adopted by HASC could pass the Senate and end up in conference committee this fall. As a result, our troops could be stuck with DOMA-plus.” http://bit.ly/jg46P8
 
U.S. ARMY VET AUBREY SARVIS DEBATES REP. AKIN (via Media Matters) - http://bit.ly/ljmRvy
 
TRAINING THE TROOPS (via Huffington Post’s Andrea Stone) - “As the Pentagon prepares troops for the repeal of the ban on openly gay and lesbian service members, the service branches have held a flurry of such small group sessions on sprawling stateside bases like Camp Lejeune, aboard aircraft carriers and at combat outposts in Afghanistan.  Gay rights groups say the majority of the training sessions, which began in February, have been professional, just-the-facts affairs.” http://huff.to/jskwxK
 
TAMMY BALDWIN EYES U.S. SENATE SEAT (via Keen News Service) - “U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin’s office is, thus far, silent on wheth er the openly gay legislator might make a bid for the U.S. Senate. But buzz about that possibility is hot, particularly within the LGBT community because, if successful, Baldwin would become the first openly gay person to serve in the U.S. Senat e.” http://bit.ly/moFO1T

KEVIN JENNINGS LEAVING EDUCATION DEPT (via Metro Weekly) - "The Be the Change nonprofit announced today that Kevin Jennings, currently serving in the Obama administration's Education Department as the assistant deputy secretary and the head of the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, will be leaving that role this summer to become the new president and CEO of Be the Change." http://bit.ly/mUdw23

DISCUSSED ON THE PODCAST - The Advocate’s Andrew Harmon discusses a possible senate run by U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin in this week’s episode. The weekly Equality Matters podcast is available for free download on iTunes: http://bit.ly/g1nqr2
 
FROM THE HILL (via media release) -  “Democratic Members of the Committee on House Administration continued to demand information about the House Republican’s contract to defend the Defense of Marriage Act.  The contract, granted to the Bancroft firm, was issued to support the firm’s engagement as outside Counsel to defend the Defense of Marriage Act after the King & Spalding firm withdrew from the contract on April 25th.  In a statement issued at the time, King & Spalding’s chairman, Robert Hays, indicated that ‘In reviewing this assignment further, I determined that the pr ocess used for v etting this engagement was inadequate.’”
 
FOUR WEEKS TO GO IN NEW YORK MARRIAGE FIGHT (via NYT) - “Urging lawmakers to put themselves on ‘the right side of history,’ Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg visited the Capitol on Tuesday and vowed to support the re-election campaign of any Republican senator who votes to allow gay couples to wed.” http://nyti.ms/m78a9Q
 
GILLIBRAND: “WE’RE GOING TO WIN MARRIAGE EQUALITY” (via The Advocate) - “Sitting in her Washington, D.C. office on a recent afternoon with two Diet Cokes placed in front of her (one nearly flat, the other an ostensible back-up), New York senator Kirsten Gillibrand was eager to talk about her state’s battle for marriage. Very eager, in fact, even though unbridled optimism on the topic has been backhanded by political reality before.” http://bit.ly/kzm9ht 

NYT: CONSERVATIVES FUNDING MARRIAGE EQUALITY PUSH (via Equality Matters) - “It appears that some on the Right have finally gotten the memo on marriage equality. The New York Times published an article Friday documenting a surprising development in New York’s current marriage equality fight: a large bulk of the money being donated to equality advocates is coming from conservative and Republican donors” http://bit.ly/kn7JIt
 
VIDEO: VOGUE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ANNA WINTOUR FOR MARRIAGE EQUALITY (via HRC) - www.hrc.org/NY4marriage 

THE FUTURE OF MARRIAGE IN MARYLAND (via Wash Blade) - “The Human Rights Campaign is expected to emerge as the coordinator of a reorganized coalition of national and local LGBT groups pushing for passage of a same-sex marriage bill in the Maryland Legislature next year, according to sources familiar with the effort.” http://bit.ly/jRUMzE 

SUSPECT CHARGED IN MARYLAND TRANS BEATING (via Metro Weekly) - “The grand jury for Baltimore County indicted Teonna Brown, 18, with five charges on Monday, May 16, including that of a hate crime, for the physical attack on Chrissy Polis, a transgender woman, at the Rosedale, Md., McDonald's on Monday, April 18.” The story: http://bit.ly/lApnNa  The governor’s statement: http://bit.ly/iWTGKN
 
FOX REMOVES ANTI-TRANS ARTICLE AFTER COMPLAINTS (via Equality Matters) - “On Tuesday, May 17, Fox News posted an article by transphobic psychiatrist and contributor Dr. Keith Ablow about Chaz Bono, who has recently opened up to the public about the experience of being a transgender person. The post quickly came under criticism for its transphobic overtones. By Wednesday afternoon, the post had been taken do wn from Fox News’ website. ” http://bit.ly/lwv9VS

WASH POST EDITORIAL ON BI-NATIONAL COUPLES - “…Mr. Holder should erase any confusion by declaring a moratorium on removal of foreign nationals in state-recognized same-sex unions until federal courts determine DOMA's constitutionality. He should ensure that the government is not focusing on breaking up otherwise law-abiding families.” http://wapo.st/kdx4Tf
 
WATCH: BI-NATIONAL COUPLE DISCUSSES HALTED DOMA DEPORTATION (via MSNBC) - http://bit.ly/im2Tjl
 
UGANDA ABANDONS “KILL THE GAYS” BILL, FOR NOW (via AllOut) - Watch this inspiring two minute video to find out how it all happened and then share with friends. http://AllOut.org/
 
SEN. HARKIN ENDORSES EXECUTIVE ORDER BARRING LGBT JOB BIAS (via Wash Blade) - “The leading Senate Democrat on labor issues on Monday announced support for an executive order from President Obama mandating that the U.S. government contract only with companies that have policies barring job discrimination against their LGBT workers.” http://bit.ly/kD6EGW
 
NEVADA PASSES TRANS PROTECTIONS (via HRC) – “…the Nevada Legislature [passed] AB 211, a bill codifying prohibitions against discrimination in employment on the basis of gender identity or expression. The bill now moves to Governor Sandoval’s desk for his consideration. ‘The Nevada legislature has rightly recognized that everyone should be treated equally in the workplace, and Governor Sandoval should sign this bipartisan measure into law,’ said HRC President Joe Solmonese.” http://bit.ly/mG W6gE
 
WATCHING MICHIGAN’S ANTI-GAY AMENDMENT (via The Grand Rapids Press) - “This is homophobia in action and it is hurting our kids and our state. …We must recruit and educate the best and the brightest talent for our area schools and universities -- not push people away with discriminatory measures. The generation of our parents helped put the world on wheels; we cannot allow a bigoted amendment to stop our path to progress.” http://bit.ly/kBxupF
 
WATCHING TEXAS “TRADITIONAL VALUES” BILL (h/t Zack Ford) - “The Texas House of Representatives has passed a budget bill that would require any public college with a student center on ‘alternative’ sexuality to provide equal funding to create new centers to promote ‘traditional values.’  W hile the Senate has yet to adopt a version of the budget bill, the inclusion of the measure in the overall budget bill and the dominance of social conservatives in Texas politics means that the measure could well be enacted. The House vote in favor of the amendment on the campus sexuality centers was 110-24.” http://bit.ly/eWlkgg
 
GINGRICH GLITTER BOMBED AT EVENT (via Equality Matters) - “2012 GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich was showered with glitter by a local activist during a book signing Tuesday night, just before the anti-gay Minnesota Family Council’s (MFC) annual dinner in Minneapolis.” http://bit.ly/j3mc0V
 
SPORTS EXECUTIVE COMES OUT (via NYT) - “Last month, in a Midtown office adorned with sports memorabilia, two longtime friends met for a private talk. David S tern, the commissioner of the National Basketball Association, sipped his morning coffee, expecting to be asked for career advice. Across from him sat Rick Welts, the president an d chief executive of the Phoenix Suns, who had come to New York not to discuss careers, but to say, finally, I am gay.” http://nyti.ms/lc6vJm
 
CHARLES BARKLEY: I HAD GAY TEAMMATES (via ESPN / h/t: Fred Sainz) - “…Barkley dismissed commentary suggesting male athletes are homophobic and the locker rooms of major men's professional sports are still not ready for an openly gay teammate. He said never felt threatened or hit-on in the locker room and was never bothered by the presence of gay teammates. ‘First of all, every player has played with gay guys,’ Barkley [said], adding that any player who says he hasn't is ‘a stone-freakin' idiot.’” http://es.pn/kzNsjv
 
VIDEO: DON LEMON TALKS ABOUT HOMOPHOBIA (via CNN) - http://bit.ly/j57YDt
 
LO NGTIME BLADE REPORTER TO BE HONORED (via Wash Blade) - “Longtime Washington Blade reporter Lou Chibbaro Jr. will be inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Society of Professional Journalists’ Washington Pro Chapter next month. Chibbaro, who started freelancing for the paper in the ’70s and came on staff full time in 1984, was selected by the Society for inclusion and is the first member of the LGBT press to be inducted.” http://bit.ly/mfdpgd
 
NEW LEADER AT EQUALITY CALIFORNIA - “Equality California and its Board of Directors announced today that Roland Palencia, a trailblazing LGBT activist with extensive experience in leading an d managing multi-million dollar non-profit organizations, will serve as the new executive director for Equality California and Equality California Institute. Palencia will begin his tenure on July 5.” www.eqca .org 

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