There just isn't much more to add to what this New York State Senator offered before the defeat of marriage equality in New York State, except that this is what leadership looks like.
Category Archives: Community
World AIDS Day
It's World AIDS Day.
That's nice.
…and I'm reminded of some Black comic's comment about February being "African American History Month"…"typical…we get the shortest month."
Which is to say, one day to remember is woefully shy of the task.
I remain angry at the homophobic, puritanical, punishing, sex-fearing, "christian" response to HIV-AIDS. And how long it took Ronald Reagan to even say the word "AIDS" (and that it took the death of a closeted movie star and a heroic Elizabeth Taylor to finally get him to utter it.) I remain angry at the idea of "innocent victims" of this disease.
I remain angry at how little memory there is for how Gay people responded to this, growing up, growing together, growing institutions. How little memory there is for how Gay people fed and sheltered and cared for one another…and angry that my friends are still sero-converting in 2009.
I remain angry at how brutally expensive AIDS meds are in the U.S. (and how cheap they are elsewhere) while the nimrods and the bloviators and the moralizing hypocrites in the Congress (yeah…I'm talking to you Joe Lieberman!…you ugly asswipe!) squash a public option…the only real way to provide competition to the profit-seeking, blood-sucking insurance companies…that would provide healthcare coverage for every American citizen, just like every other industrialized nation in the world!
Shame on the Senate. Shame on our elected officials.
Shame on the churches who came so late to the aid of the neediest and who still foment discrimination against gay people.
And every time I hear another fear-mongering "news" report on H1N1 and the vast over-reaction to it (several thousand people die from the flu annually, H1N1 or not) and how people with HIV were shunned by their communities, deserted by their families and died in fear, it makes me want to break something. And it makes me wonder …it makes me sad… to think of how things might have been different if the reaction when "Gay cancer" first appeared had been anything approaching the H1N1 hysteria.
Two Spirits
This documentary, reviewed in the most recent issue of White Crane is a MUST SEE.
YES WE CAN!
If you are on Facebook…and who isn't these days?…you can now help White Crane. JPMorgan Chase is promising that the first 100 eligible organizations (and White Crane is eligible) with the most votes, will receive a $25,000 grant and will have the opportunity to share how they would put $1 million to use.
Then, Facebook users will vote on those top 100 charities. Chase will grant the charity receiving the most votes $1 million, with the five runners-up getting $100,000. Additionally, an Advisory Board will distribute an additional $1 million to the organization of their choice from all that are nominated.
So please…if you are on Facebook…take a moment to help White Crane.
The Maine Idea
"Basic constitutional rights cannot depend on the willingness of the electorate in any given state to end discrimination. If we were prepared to consign minority rights to a majority vote, there would be no need for a constitution." – David Boies
"You can't put a civil rights issue on the ballot and let the people decide. You have to have elected officials who have courage to make the right decision. If you left it up to the people, we'd have slavery, depending on how you worded it." – Former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura, responding to Maine's vote on CNN.
Bea Arthur: Hero
The Ali Forney Center in New York City, received a gift of $300,000 today, from the Estate of
legendary actress Bea Arthur.
The Ali Forney Center, the nation's largest organization dedicated to homeless
LGBT youth, announced at Bea Arthur's Memorial Service on September 14th that
they planned to purchase a building to house 12 youths and name it her honor.
"We work with hundreds of young people who are rejected by their families
because of who they are. We are overwhelmed with gratitude that Bea saw that
LGBT youth deserve as much love and support as any other young person, and that
she placed so much value in the work we do to protect them, and to help them
rebuild their lives." says Executive Director Carl Siciliano.The Ali Forney Center offers emergency shelter and transitional housing in seven residential sites in NYC
and operates two drop-in centers offering food, clothing, medical and mental health treatment, HIV testing,
treatment and prevention services, and vocational and educational assistance. It provides
services to over 1000 young people each year.
RISE UP & SHOUT… RISES AGAIN!
Well…they're doing it again. If you're anywhere near Los Angeles, Rise Up & Shout! is a wonderful, feel-good evening. This is sponsored by The Gay Men's Medicine Circle in Los Angeles.
Tickets are $25 and vailable at BGTix.com
GO! RISE! SHOUT!
It Doesn’t Get Better Than This…
Urvashi Vaid. On fire with poetry and blazing wisdom...I love this woman.
Schwarzenegger Does the Right Thing…
It's amazing what can be accomplished when a Governor needs to court votes. Late last night, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the Harvey Milk Day, out-of-state marriages bill and domestic violence protection bill.
However, Schwarzenegger vetoed AB 1185 (Lieu), which Equality California legislative director, Alice Kessler described as “a simple bill allowing better access to birth certificates for transgender people.” He also vetoed AB 382 (Ammiano), which would have established protections for LGBT prisoners, which he said was “unnecessary.”
The Harvey Milks Day bill - AB 2567 requires “the governor proclaim May 22 each year as Harvey Milk Day. It would encourage public schools and educational institutions to conduct suitable commemorative exercises on that date.” It does not make it a state holiday.
Buy Pepsi!
A group of religious conservatives, ever vigilant for another group or entity at which to wag a collective, scolding finger, have ratcheted up rhetoric aimed squarely at PepsiCo for its alleged support of "the homosexual agenda."
The American Family Association, which has been promoting a boycott of Pepsi since January, said in a statement Tuesday it has secured more than 500,000 signatures from those pledging to stop buying Pepsi products, which include soft drinks, salty snacks, juices and oatmeal (as if there were anything less wholesome than oatmeal, for chrissake).
AFA's beef with Pepsi is for what it calls the company's financial support of groups promoting the "homosexual agenda." AFA points to two gay-rights groups in particular: Human Rights Campaign and Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, better known by the acronym PFLAG.
PepsiCo didn't respond to queries about the boycott, or whether it donates to these groups. But it does note on its website that it earned a top score, 100 percent, in HRC's 2009 Corporate Equality Index, an annual measure of gay-friendly employment policies. PepsiCo achieved the same score in the 2010 index, along with 305 other companies, according to HRC. PFLAG notes on its site that PepsiCo is among its corporate sponsors.
AFA will continue the boycott for as long as PepsiCo continues to support "a lifestyle that is extremely unhealthy and dangerous," said the group's president, Tim Wildmon, in a statement.
The Pepsi boycott seems to be having some effect within the Christian conservative community. Last month, the Westboro Baptist Church, of "God hates fags" fame, protested in downtown Atlanta with signs that read "God hates Diet Pepsi."
One question: Where's Coke?
Oh…and we should still tax "juice drinks" and soda as a means to support universal healthcare.