PHOTOS: PFLAG Honors Straight Allies for Equality
PFLAG honored allies from the worlds of entertainment, sports, and business at a gala even this week.
Trudy Ring
www.advocate.com/pflag/2015/04/02/photos-pflag-honors-straight-allies-equality
Monthly Archives: April 2015
Indiana Law Went Too Far For Most Americans To Support
Indiana Law Went Too Far For Most Americans To Support
WASHINGTON — Indiana amended its controversial new religious freedom law on Thursday to clarify that it does not specifically allow businesses to turn away lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender customers, nudging the state back in line with Americans’ increasingly accepting view of gay rights.
Many Americans are sympathetic to the need for laws protecting religious convictions, and a recent Pew poll that asked about wedding-related businesses found people evenly split on the issue of whether these companies should be allowed to refuse to work with same-sex couples. But a new HuffPost/YouGov poll finds that a clear majority of Americans do not think that all businesses should be allowed to refuse customers because of their sexual orientation, and many people said they would be less inclined to patronize businesses that do so.
The HuffPost/YouGov poll found a nearly equal divide when it comes to concern over religious protections and discrimination, with 36 percent more concerned about people being forced by law to violate their own religious beliefs, and 39 percent more worried about people citing their religion as a way to discriminate.
Similarly, 35 percent are more concerned that they’d personally be discriminated against, while 37 percent fear being forced to act against their own beliefs.
However, most people agreed that the Indiana law went too far. Taken before legislators voted to amend the law, the poll found that 55 percent of people think businesses should be required to provide the same services to LGBT customers, while 31 percent said businesses should be allowed to refuse on religious grounds. The remaining 15 percent were undecided.
Opinions break down along the usual fault lines seen in gay rights issues, with younger Americans and Democrats more concerned about discrimination, and older, more conservative and more religious Americans worried about religious freedoms. More than half of the people in every age group, however, said businesses should be required to serve all customers, as did a majority of Catholics and non-evangelical Protestants.
Indiana — where nearly one in three residents is a white, evangelical Protestant — is somewhat less supportive of gay rights than the nation as a whole, according to the Public Religion Research Institute. However, a survey conducted by the institute in 2014 found that a majority of the state’s residents still agree that gays and lesbians face discrimination, and support laws that would protect them from being discriminated against in the workplace.
“A lot of the people who don’t agree with gay marriage have said that they are not in support of this law,” said Tyler Langdon, a gay 29-year-old who’s planning his wedding this fall in his small hometown of Plymouth, Indiana, not far from the now-contentious Memories Pizza. “You know, it’s one thing to have a personal disagreement with gay marriage, but to more or less legalize discrimination is a step too far for them.”
After the law passed, Langdon said he scrambled to make sure his DJ, caterer and other wedding vendors didn’t mind that he was marrying another man.
“It’s awkward, because it’s almost like coming out to a stranger every single time you do it. It’s not that I’m ashamed to be gay, but it’s definitely an uncomfortable conversation when you don’t know if the person on the other end of the line is going to have a very strong negative reaction to it,” Langdon said Wednesday. But the business have taken the news well. “The response we got was really reassuring from a lot of them, because they went out of their way to say, ‘That doesn’t matter to me whatsoever,'” he said.
Both Indiana’s law and a similar bill in Arkansas have faced substantial opposition from business groups. The new poll results suggest that taking a public stance against serving LGBT customers has far more of a potential to backfire than actively supporting gay marriage.
Forty-four percent of Americans said they’d be less likely to shop at a business that refused to serve LGBT people, while just 23 percent would avoid a business that publicly backed gay marriage.
The HuffPost/YouGov poll consisted of 1,000 completed interviews conducted March 31-April 2 among U.S. adults using a sample selected from YouGov’s opt-in online panel to match the demographics and other characteristics of the adult U.S. population.
The Huffington Post has teamed up with YouGov to conduct daily opinion polls. You can learn more about this project and take part in YouGov’s nationally representative opinion polling. Data from all HuffPost/YouGov polls can be found here. More details on the poll’s methodology are available here.
Most surveys report a margin of error that represents some, but not all, potential survey errors. YouGov’s reports include a model-based margin of error, which rests on a specific set of statistical assumptions about the selected sample, rather than the standard methodology for random probability sampling. If these assumptions are wrong, the model-based margin of error may also be inaccurate. Click here for a more detailed explanation of the model-based margin of error.
All aboard! 3 epic Asian train journies
All aboard! 3 epic Asian train journies
Who’s up for a railway romance?
jamiet
www.gaystarnews.com/article/all-aboard-3-epic-asian-train-journies030415
“Fix” to Indiana Law
“Fix” to Indiana Law
www.hrc.org/blog/entry/fix-to-indiana-law?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed
Towleroad Guide to the Tube #1715
Towleroad Guide to the Tube #1715
SAM SMITH: ‘Coming out’ April Fools’ joke divides fans
AL FRANKEN: Speaks out against Indiana Gov. Mike Pence
BIG GIRLS CRY: Sia’s latest collaboration with Maddie Ziegler
BENEDICT CHOCOBATCH: Go ahead, take a bite.
For more recent Guides to the Tube, click HERE.
Kyler Geoffroy
www.towleroad.com/2015/04/towleroad-guide-to-the-tube-1715.html
LGBT welcomes changes to RFRA
LGBT welcomes changes to RFRA
Memebers of the LGBT community are welcoming changes to the RFRA, while other say it should be left alone.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HdJPLLiwm0&feature=youtube_gdata
Vous aussi vous soutenez le prochain film de @LaClairiereProd ? Alors faites-le savoir sur vos réseaux sociaux avec le hashtag #ComingIn
A Prayer for LGBT People in Indiana
A Prayer for LGBT People in Indiana
As one who lived through a popular vote in Minnesota about whether my family is equal to others, is worthy of respect, and deserves protection under the law, I feel called to lift up a prayer for LGBT people in Indiana. I still remember how personal it felt when the legislature decided to have a referendum on marriage here, and it is because of that memory, that I offer this prayer.
Beneath the pandering, Behind the pundits,
Before the votes get counted in the next election,
Beside the ones who judge, or deliberate,
There you are.
You are the one on my mind, in my heart.
You, queer Hoosier,
You are the one for whom I offer this prayer.
You. You matter most right now. You.
You’re not a spectator, not a viewer while a political football gets tossed down the field,
not a potential voter exhibiting trends, not someone able to boycott your own life.
Because underneath all the lies and obfuscation, all the rhetoric, all the abstract speculation, it’s your life. It’s your worth and dignity. It’s your love and your identity being raked publicly. It’s your soul being punted and kicked and thrown.
You are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer.
You are a human being, living your life.
There you are.
You’re a busy parent, trying to make ends meet, with dollars and hours.
You’re a young adult, just coming out, excited to explore this new terrain.
You’re a middle school student, head down, trying to survive.
You’re an activist, brave name in the paper, scared at nightfall.
You’re quiet at work while others argue the pros and cons of this legislation.
You’re praying for religious freedom of your own, freedom from religion that excludes.
You’re wondering if you should retire somewhere else.
There you are.
You’re grateful for those offering support, but you don’t know what can change.
Sometimes you’re afraid. Sometimes you’re angry. Sometimes you’re sad.
Sometimes you feel a toxic bitterness you can’t stop, even as you reel from it.
You’re tired.
The righteous bully’s insult is an epicenter around which you waltz: Feeling hurt, refusing to feel hurt. Feeling alone, feeling accompanied. Feeling vulnerable, feeling tough.
This prayer is for you.
May you know you are a child of God, beautiful and beloved, just as you are.
May you know that your worth and dignity can never be voted away.
May you know your people, living, dead, not yet born, and hold them to you.
May you know that straight allies who hold you dear are aching with you.
May you feel the support of people you will never meet, of all orientations and genders.
May you refuse to be a witness in the trial against yourself and your people.
May you know that your love is the precious gift you have been given.
May you feel compassion for all the people, all around the world, who have been told they did not matter, and may that compassion sustain you.
May you live in love.
May you live in love.
God of love and justice, hold these queer Hoosiers close to you, each one precious and priceless. Whisper love songs in their ears. Replenish them when they are tired and give them strength to stand up proud and strong. Give them reason for hope and confidence that justice will come.
Amen.
HRC Hails Historic Hire of Openly Gay Scout Leader
HRC Hails Historic Hire of Openly Gay Scout Leader
Prominent lawyer David Boies representing scout leader; ready to challenge national organization if it blocks employment.
HRC.org
John Mellencamp Has A Heavy Heart Over Indiana’s Discrimination Against Gays And Lesbians
John Mellencamp Has A Heavy Heart Over Indiana’s Discrimination Against Gays And Lesbians
In recent days I’ve been asked to give my opinion about what’s been going on in our state. Do I agree or disagree with the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act? What am I going to say, or do, about it? Am I going to cancel any of my upcoming Indiana shows? As many of the Star’s readers know, I have lived in Indiana since the day I was born, and I know firsthand that our state is populated with a great diversity of people who hold varying religious and political beliefs. The people in our neighborhoods are also racially diverse, live in different types of family units and also span a broad spectrum of sexual and gender identities. Indiana is now, in many ways, the American Melting Pot we all learned about in school. We are more than just tolerant, most of the time. We are welcoming.
So it is with a very heavy heart that I’ve watched the divisiveness that has occurred over our state government’s actions. I am not questioning the sincerity of those who believe they have acted in the interests of religious freedom, but I am resolutely stating my opposition to this misnamed and ill-conceived law. It is discriminatory, hurtful, and a stain on Indiana’s national reputation. I understand Governor Pence and the state legislature are working on some changes to the law’s language, and I can only hope that they will do the right thing for the people of our state.
I have thought seriously about canceling my upcoming shows, not wanting the resulting tax revenues from ticket sales, concessions and the like to help fill the same government coffers that would enforce this terrible law. But then I realized that I would be letting our government divide us again, keeping me apart from my most important audience: My Indiana fans who have been there for me from the very beginning. Our evenings together will be about music, and hopefully this situation will be made right by the time I see you in May.
My best to you all,
John Mellencamp
— Rock icon John Mellencamp, who was born and still resides in Indiana, in a note posted to his official website about the state’s controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act signed by Gov. Mike Pence
Jeremy Kinser
