Apple's Latest Upgrade Includes LGBT Emojis
Thanks, Tim Cook.
Neal Broverman
www.advocate.com/business/technology/2015/02/25/apples-latest-upgrade-includes-lgbt-emojis
Daily Archives: February 25, 2015
West Virginia Considering Bill To Block Local Governments From Extending LGBT Protections
West Virginia Considering Bill To Block Local Governments From Extending LGBT Protections
The West Virginia House of Delegates is considering a bill that would eliminate several LGBT anti-discrimination measures passed in the state.
The legislation would prohibit local governments from enacting anti-discrimination protections that are different from those in place at the state level. West Virginia’s current anti-discrimination protections do not extend to lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender individuals. The law would also nullify anti-discrimination protections for LGBT individuals that are currently in place in six communities, including Charleston, the state’s biggest city.
According to the bill’s text, the prohibition is an attempt to benefit businesses in the state by ensuring that employers are subject to uniform anti-discrimination protections.
But Andrew Schneider, executive director of the advocacy group Fairness West Virginia, said the bill is “anything but a pro-business bill.”
“It would strip the right of communities from making their towns and cities more inclusive. And these days the vast majority of Fortune 500 companies are establishing policies that they don’t discriminate against anyone including LGBT employees,” he told The Huffington Post. “No one wants to move their company to a close-minded hostile environment.
“If West Virginia starts to create this perception that we promote discrimination, then we’re not going to be open for business. We are shutting the door on business by doing that.”
Del. Lynne Arvon (R), who introduced the bill Monday, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The legislation was presented in the same week that a similar bill banning protections for LGBT individuals became law in Arkansas.
Beyond being bad for business and promoting discrimination, Schneider added, the West Virginia bill would usurp the ability of local governments to pass their own laws and develop solutions for their specific communities.
“Cities and towns are entitled to do what is right for them,” he said. “This seems to fly in the face of the principles of the democratic process.”
The bill also comes just a few weeks after the tiny, five-person town of Thurmond, West Virginia, voted to protect LGBT individuals from discrimination.
After Thurmond passed its anti-discrimination measure, Schneider told The Huffington Post that it was clear there was a “movement afoot” to establish similar protections in the state.
Asked if the statewide bill was a response to recent momentum for LGBT protections, Schneider said Wednesday, “I think that there’s part of that, you know, people out there who would like to hold on to the status quo of discrimination … They don’t want to see the world evolve to one of inclusiveness and acceptance.”
Ben and Jerry’s Join The People’s Brief
Ben and Jerry’s Join The People’s Brief
www.hrc.org/blog/entry/ben-and-jerrys-join-the-peoples-brief?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed
West Virginia Panel Advances Bill Banning LGBT Anti-Discrimination Ordinances
West Virginia Panel Advances Bill Banning LGBT Anti-Discrimination Ordinances
H.B. 2881, a bill that would ban local municipalities in the state of West Virginia from enacting LGBT anti-discrimination ordinances, advanced out of committee today and now moves to the House floor for an up or down vote. The bill is a facsimile of the anti-gay bill Arkansas recently enacted.
The bill, named the “West Virginia Intrastate Commerce Improvement Act”, claims its intent is to “improve intrastate commerce” and business by enacting “uniformity” of laws, thus benefitting “the businesses, organizations and employers seeking to do business in [West Virginia] and will attract new ones to [it].” In actuality, the bill prevents local governments from protecting its LGBT citizenry from discrimination.
(a) No county, municipality or other political subdivision may adopt or enforce a local law, ordinance, resolution, rule or policy that creates a protected classification or prohibits discrimination on a basis not contained in state law.
And adds:
(b) Any local law, ordinance, resolution, rule or policy adopted before the operative date of this act that violates subsection (a) of this section shall be null and void.
Prior to the bill advancing out of committee, Andrew Schneider, Executive Director of Fairness West Virginia, told The New Civil Rights Movement,
“HB 2881 not only prohibits the rights of communities to govern themselves but it also interferes with democracy in its purest form: city and town councils. When a nondiscrimination ordinance or resolution is considered or passed, each community has the opportunity to speak out against it, vote the city or town leadership out of office, or repeal the ordinance. There’s no need for interference by the state legislature.”
Sean Mandell
THIS WEEKEND LADIES, WE HAVE 3 BANGIN ASS EVENTS GOING ON!!!!! —- #GIRLcodeFRIDAZE | VITA LOUNGE – FRIDAY 10p-3a —- #SATURDAYsocial |BAR 7 – SATURDAY 5p-10p —- #4thSATURDAY #Recess | VITA LOUNGE – SATURDAY 10p-3a #TMSentertainment #Women #DMVevents
Alabama Judge, Ordered to Recognize Same-Sex Marriage, Denies Second-Parent Adoption
Alabama Judge, Ordered to Recognize Same-Sex Marriage, Denies Second-Parent Adoption
The same probate judge who was taken to court for denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples is being sued again — by the same couple whose marriage he was court-ordered to recognize.
Trudy Ring
Gay People Are Gods: Protecting LGBT Communities Is a Divine Right
Gay People Are Gods: Protecting LGBT Communities Is a Divine Right
It was night time. An openly gay man was walking alone down 10th Street in the crime-ridden section of Long Beach, California. Wearing neon red parachute pants, a bright pink polo shirt, the latest Air Jordan shoes, and sporting a white Kangol hat, he looked like a cross between Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Prince. It was the early 1980s.
I was nine years old, and I knew this gay man from around my neighborhood. He was the first gay person I’d ever met.
As this man walked towards the intersection of Orange Avenue, suddenly he was bum rushed by ten local gang members. They formed a tight circle around him, knocked off his hat, and punched him around like boxer Floyd Mayweather punching Manny Pacquiao.
The gay man stumbled to the hard concrete and the gangsters began to violently stomp him into the cement; yelling and screaming with blind rage.
“Stay out of our hood, you flaming ‘F’!” The gangbangers used the demeaning F-word to refer to members of the gay community.
While I watched the gay-bashing, my nine year old mind could not process the nature of the bitter homophobic juggernaut that compelled these hardcore thugs to beat down a helpless homosexual man.
In my neighborhood everyone knew that “snitches get stitches” and “if you open your mouth, a gun goes in your mouth”. These colorful ghetto code phrases mean that one must never intervene in a fight and never report crimes to the police. In my low-income housing project, the police were considered enemies and the gang members were considered friends.
Terrified by the savagery and afraid of these hoodlums, I ran away from this episode of anti-gay violence. Meanwhile, the gay man was thug-jacked and booty-crushed. No one intervened and I heard the man nearly died.
On the same night of this beating, I watched a video tape of Dr. Martin Luther King’s famous “I have a dream speech.” I distinctly remember Dr. King oozing moral courage and socio-political power as he continually described his compassionate dream of equality and justice. A tear rolled down my face as I listened to the speech.
Today, as I reflect upon the pain inflicted on this particular gay man, I am inspired with a new dream — not only an aspiration for LGBT equality — but a dream of gay empowerment. For without power there can be no true security or freedom of choice.
I have a dream today that gay people and lesbians will have a vested and inalienable right to universal marriage equality backed by the power of law. Gay marriage is not only a civil right to be enacted by governments, but it is a fundamental human right bestowed by the almighty hands of God.
Today, in a major step towards fulfilling this lofty dream of social justice, I submitted an innovative proposal to the offices of California State Senator Mark Leno and California Assembly Member David Chiu.
My proposal calls for the creation of “California LGBT Police Departments” throughout the Golden State. These police departments, funded by the state, would be staffed exclusively by gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender police officers. The goals of these proposed “LGBT Squads” are to better serve communities while minimizing troubling incidents of anti-gay violence.
I believe it is important for heterosexual people and homosexual people to love and respect one another regardless of sexual orientation or transgender identity. However, it is also vital for LGBT communities to wield police power backed by the force of law. In other words, we must not only demand “gay rights,” but we must also demand “gay power.”
As I think back on the savage episode of anti-gay bashing I witnessed as a small boy, I now understand that LGBT communities worldwide must be empowered with the weapons to fight for justice.
This essay is humbly dedicated to the memory of Matthew Shepard (December 1, 1976–October 12, 1998).
Mark Charles Hardie is a candidate for United States Senate in California (2016). An attorney, Mr. Hardie is a veteran of both the United States Army and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). He is a member of the World Jewish Congress and the NAACP. His critically acclaimed autobiography is titled “Black & Bulletproof: An African American Warrior in the Israeli Army” (New Horizon Press, New Jersey, 2010).
Discriminatory “Conscience Protection Act” Suffers Setback in Senate Judiciary Committee
Discriminatory “Conscience Protection Act” Suffers Setback in Senate Judiciary Committee
HRC Arkansas urges legislature to abandon consideration of H.B. 1228
HRC.org
Homophobic Teacher Succeeds In Suing The School That Fired Her, And Now She Wants Even More
Homophobic Teacher Succeeds In Suing The School That Fired Her, And Now She Wants Even More
For the past two years, special ed teacher Jenye Viki Knox (pictured) has been in a legal battle with administrators from a Union Township High School in New Jersey after she claims they violated her free speech and religious rights by firing her for launching into an unprovoked homophobic tirade. Now, a judge has ruled in her favor.
The incident happened back in September 2011. After noticing a poster for LGBT Month hanging in the school hallway, Knox took to Facebook to express her outrage, writing:
“Why parade your unnatural immoral behaviors before the rest of us? I DO NOT HAVE TO TOLERATE ANYTHING OTHERS WISH TO DO. I DO HAVE TO LOVE AND SPEAK AND DO WHAT’S RIGHT!”
She then listed all her religious objections to the billboard, which included statements from the bible about homosexuality, calling homosexuality a sin and an act of “disobedience to God,” and calling for salvation through Mr. Jesus H. Christ.
School board officials determined Knox’s behavior was “unbecoming” of a state employee who is supposed to be a role model to young people, and as a result, she was suspended without pay for three months, a punishment Knox feels was unfair.
“It’s not like she was a teacher standing up in the middle of class and saying I believe in ‘this, this and this,” her attorney, Demetrios Stratis, argued in court.
At the end of the school year, she resigned from her job, saying that being branded as a zealot and a homophobe had gotten to be too “stressful.”
She now claims the incident caused her considerable “physical and emotional toll” and that she hasn’t been able to work since.
This week, U.S. District Court Judge Kevin McNulty ruled in Knox’s favor, opening up an opportunity for her to argue her case before a federal jury. She is seeking reinstatement, back pay, and monetary damages.
h/t: Raw Story
Related stories:
Gay High School Teacher Fired For Announcing His Engagement On Facebook
Schoolteacher Who Referred To Student As “Fag Number One” Quickly Fired
Graham Gremore
Westboro Baptist's Shirley Phelps-Roper Knows Why Neil Patrick Harris Stripped at the Oscars: VIDEO
Westboro Baptist's Shirley Phelps-Roper Knows Why Neil Patrick Harris Stripped at the Oscars: VIDEO
Shirley Phelps-Roper and a bevy of her Westboro Baptist Church minions traveled to L.A. to picket the Oscars over the weekend and decided they would make a stop by the sidewalk in front of the offices of The Hollywood Reporter the next day.
Why? Because the media mob is doomed to Hell, that’s why (see Shirley’s song and dance in the video that follows)!
THR Reporter Seth Abramovitch, who made a point of letting them know he’s gay and Jewish, went out to speak with them and discovered that Shirley and her clan still love the spotlight as much as any Hollywood star.
She had a few comments on the Oscars, on things such as Neil Patrick Harris’s underwear stunt:
“They say that [Neil Patrick Harris] saw that [the show] was really boring. The answer for a fag to something that is boring is to take his pants off. I saw the backside of him over my shoulder. I think that he needs to keep it covered.”
And as for Lady Gaga?
“Lady Gaga needs to shut up and repent or she’s going to go to Hell with the rest.”
And how about Joan Rivers getting snubbed by the Academy. Shirley says the WBC was much more reverent:
“We didn’t snub her. We had our ‘Joan Rivers in Hell’ sign.“
Shirley is rendered speechless, however, when asked about the sign she’s holding up top.
Check out the hilarious interview, AFTER THE JUMP…
Andy Towle