NY Governor Andrew Cuomo Gives State of the State as Advocates Push for Gender Identity Protections
The NYS Trans Rights Coalition, the Empire State Pride Agenda, the Human Rights Campaign and others continue to work together to urge the New York State Senate to pass the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) in 2015.
HRC.org
If Guys Acted In Real Life The Way They Do On Gay Apps
It’s been argued that the gay social scene is getting more and more cramped. Pocket sized, even.
And as digital grids of thirsty queens replace public cruising, it only makes sense that people’s behavior would get more audacious. What’s the worst that can happen? You get ignored, blocked, maybe a nasty response. But the rejection is minimal, and then it’s on to the next.
What would happen if the tables turned again and we transferred our digital behavior back into the 3D world?
In San Francisco, it might go something like this:
Dan Tracer
Chilean House of Representatives Approves Civil Unions Bill
The Chilean House of Representatives has passed a bill that would legalize civil unions for same-sex couples, The Washington Blade reports:
“People of the same-sex will have the opportunity to demonstrate that they have the right to be happy,” said gay Congressman Claudio Arriagada Macaya after the vote,according to La Tercera.
Rolando Jiménez, president of the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation, a Chilean LGBT advocacy group, also praised the vote.
“We dedicate this day, this moment, to the gay and lesbian families that have suffered a historic burden of misunderstanding and prejudices,” he said in a statement. “Today it will be the state’s turn to strengthen them and protect them on equal terms.”
The bill, which passed by a vote of 86-23, was first approved by Chile’s Senate. President Michelle Bachelet is expected to sign the bill.
Another bill introduced in December would have gone further than the current civil unions bill, providing instead full marriage rights to same-sex couples. Jaime Parada Hoyl, a gay councilman in the Santiago community of Providencia, expressed concern that this current bill will derail more ambitious strides towards full equality for LGBT Chileans:
“It is good news for the equality of rights in Chile, but it is not the best,” Parada told the Blade late on Tuesday as he discussed the outcome of the civil unions bill. “Chile today should be discussing marriage equality with good legislative work, and above all with political will. The votes are there, or at the very least they are missing very few. My worry is that this (civil unions) bill, positive in its essence, will further delay full legal equality.”
Sean Mandell
www.towleroad.com/2015/01/chilean-legislators-pass-civil-unions-bill.html
marriage proposal lgbt
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www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuG43Dlm0Nw&feature=youtube_gdata
Being a Gay Man in Egypt Is 'Terrifying and Thrilling'
Egypt’s president has put the entire LGBT population on notice that its members are targets. In December dozens of gay men felt the heel of his government’s boot during a bathhouse raid.
Thom Senzee
www.advocate.com/world/2015/01/21/being-gay-man-egypt-terrifying-and-thrilling
Allred, Jayne to Receive LGBT Ally 'Elgy' Awards Thursday Night in L.A.-Public Invited
LGBTs In The News returns to Hollywood as The Los Angeles Press Club @ Steve Allen Theater welcomes a panel of leading LGBT journalists, activists and allies for a night of engaging conversation and audience participation–and you’re invited.
Sponsored by SAG-AFTRA and now in its third year, LGBTs In The News with Thom Senzee comes back to the Los Angeles Press Club the evening of January 22 at 7 p.m. for another of the series’ much anticipated, always explosive panel discussions–and to present its first ever “Elgy” Award for Lifetime Achievement in Equality Advocacy.
The first-ever Elgy Award will be presented to Gloria Allred, Esq. Ms. Allred’s work as a civil rights attorney and advocate for equality is legendary. Never shy to represent victims of abuse and discrimination in high-profile cases, Ms. Allred also quietly champions the rights of victims in lesser-known cases.
Little known to the general public was her pioneering fight in 1983 for the right of a lesbian couple celebrating their anniversary to sit in the romantic, couples-only section of a fine-dining establishment called Papa Choux. It was her first legal battle on behalf of the rights of lesbians to be free of discrimination by a business. She and her firm won a precedent setting victory in the California Court of Appeals in that case, which she and other lawyers have been able to site as precedent to protect other gay and lesbian individuals from discrimination.
In January l987 Allred filed a lawsuit against Jessica’s nail salon on behalf of Paul Jasperson because the nail salon denied him a pedicure after learning that he was HIV positive. Ms. Allred and her firm won two precedent setting victories in that case for Paul and victims of Aids discrimination.
Allred was the first attorney in California to challenge the family code ban on marriage equality in that State. In 2008 she and other attorneys won the right for same-sex couples to legally marry for the first time ever in California. Few know that it was her law firm’s argument before the California Supreme Court that saved the marriages of the thousands of couples who were married before Proposition 8 temporarily ended marriage equality in the state. Her pro-equality work on behalf of LGBT people continues today.
As the founder of the LGBTs In The News panel series, I’m thrilled and proud to bestow our first Elgy Award to Gloria Allred. I think it’s time Gloria received the recognition she so clearly deserves from our community. Gloria has never failed to be a voice for the vulnerable. She may be the most passionate ally our community has ever known.
Allred, Maroko and Goldberg, the law firm Ms. Allred co-founded, handles more women’s rights cases than any other private firm in the nation and has won hundreds of millions of dollars for victims. Over the course of her 39-year legal career, Gloria Allred has won countless honors for her pioneering legal work on behalf of women’s rights and rights for minorities. She has won the President’s Award from the National Association of Woman Lawyers and the President’s Award for Outstanding Volunteerism, presented to her by President Ronald Reagan at the White House. She has been voted by her peers as one of the best lawyers in America.
Gloria is also a three-time Emmy nominee for her commentaries on KABC television in Los Angeles. Her nationally syndicated television show, We the People, with Gloria Allred was also nominated in 2012 for a Daytime Emmy Award. The Daily Journal named her One of the 100 Most Influential Lawyers in California. In January 2014 Ms. Allred received the Lifetime Achievement Award from The National Trial Lawyers for her pioneering role combating injustices and winning new rights especially for women and minorities.
She is the author of Fight Back and Win, My Thirty-Year Fight Against Injustice- And How You Can Win Your Own Battles. Recently President Barack Obama introduced Allred as “one of the best attorneys in the country.”
“I start every day with the knowledge that helping people and fighting for justice is my duty, and that nothing worthwhile comes without sacrifice, self-discipline, and courage,” she was recently quoted as saying. Ms. Allred will headline the LGBTs In The News panel discussion about the importance of the role of allies in the fight for LGBT equality in the U.S. and abroad.
In addition to several leading journalists and activists, she will be joined by pop superstar and top-selling dance-music diva, Erika Jayne. As the January 22 engagement’s featured panelist, Erika Jayne will be named LGBTs In The News Ally Entertainer of 2015 in recognition of her ongoing support for the rights and equality of LGBT people around the world. 
“I’m so honored to be named Ally Entertainer of 2015 at this year’s LGBTs In The News event in Hollywood,” said Ms. Jayne. “There are so many incredible people leading the fight for equality and I’m just grateful to be able to contribute. After all, these aren’t just ‘gay issues,’ they’re humanity issues; and it’s important that we all step up however we can.”
The January 22 engagement of LGBTs In The News includes six other panelists, all leaders in their respective fields, including:
Jason Stuart, out gay actor-comedian and co-star of the critically acclaimed 2014 film Love is Strange as well as innumerable feature films and television shows, and the hit web series, “Mentor.” Jason is a founding member and co-chair of the SAG-AFTRA LGBT Actors Committee.
Noah Michelson, award-winning executive editor at Huffington Post and Huffington Post Gay Voices vertical, was kind enough to agree to join LGBTs In The News and The Los Angeles Press Club in person, traveling from in New York City, where he lives and works to be a part of the January 22 panel.
Acclaimed journalist, Diane Anderson-Minshall, author of Blind Faith, Blind Curve, and Blind Leap, is editor-in-chief at HIV-Plus magazine and The Advocate’s editor-at-large. Joel Martens is an award-winning journalist, editor-in-chief of The Rage Monthly entertainment and lifestyle magazine–and a LGBTs In The News veteran panelist.
Tiq Milan is the senior media strategist of national news at GLAAD in New York City. He is author of an anthology of books about the transgender experience and a noted journalist and contributor to CNN, BET, MSNBC and other media outlets. Blue Montana is a transgender activist based in San Diego and star of an upcoming documentary film about transitioning, which will be the first such production to include scenes from inside the operating room where he will undergo “F-to-M” gender-affirmation surgery.
LGBTs In The News comes to the Los Angeles Press Club Thursday @ Steve Allen Theater, 4773 Hollywood Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90027 on January 22 at 7 p.m. (reception, followed by panel discussion and award presentation at 7:30). Members of the media and the public are invited to attend this free event. For more information, visit LAPressClub.org.
NCLR and HRC File Joint Brief in Transgender Discrimination Case
Yesterday, NCLR and HRC filed a joint brief in a U.S. District Court supporting former Saks Fifth Avenue employee Leyth Jamal, who has filed a case alleging that Saks discriminated against her for being transgender.
HRC.org
Macedonian Parliament Votes To Ban Same-Sex Marriage And Civil Unions
The European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights is reporting that the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) has voted to constitutionally ban same-sex marriage.
Politicians began the process in July of last year when they agreed to consider constitutional amendments put forward by the conservative government.
The country’s parliament voted by 72-4 yesterday to legally define marriage as between one man and one woman. The move will also make future legislation for civil unions extremely difficult.
An earlier version of the amendment explicitly banning same-sex civil unions and registered cohabitations was criticized by a Council of Europe advisory body.
However, Tanja Fajon MEP, Vice-President of the Intergroup on LGBTI Rights, said that “instead of taking the [criticism] seriously, and guaranteeing equal rights for all couples, the government, supported by parliament, decided to create a constitutional obstacle to even create possible legislation on this issue in the future.”
Sophie in ‘t Veld MEP, Vice-President of the Intergroup, added:
“LGBTI people in Macedonia face severe stigma and are all too often faced with hate crime, to which authorities fail to react.
“The Macedonian government should realise diversity is the source of prosperity and social stability, not an obstacle for it. Inversely, homophobia has never created a single job or indeed solved any other problem. Macedonia would be better served by following the trend of an increasing number of countries in Europe and the Americas where same-sex couples are legally recognised and protected.”
The amendment still needs final confirmation through an additional parliamentary vote and presidential approval.
Jim Redmond
www.towleroad.com/2015/01/macedonia-bans-same-sex-marriage-and-civil-unions.html
LGBT community nagtatalo sa mensahe ni Pope Francis
Hindi lamang inspirasyon, paksa na rin ng mga debate ang ilang linyang iniwan ni Pope Francis. Isa ang LGBT community sa nagtatalo kung ano ba ng kahulugan ng mga pahayag ng Santo Papa.
