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Could Rob Portman Make GOP Evolve on Marriage Equality?
The Ohio senator, a marriage equality supporter and father of a gay son, is in a good spot to advocate that the party drop its opposition, says CNN’s John King.
Trudy Ring
www.advocate.com/politics/politicians/2015/05/11/could-rob-portman-make-gop-evolve-marriage-equality
Texas Lawmakers Advance 'Pastor Protection Act,' Continue Full-Fledged Assault On Same-Sex Marriage
Last week, we told you how witnesses compared same-sex marriage to bestiality and pedophilia when they testified in support of a bill that would prevent churches and pastors from being forced to participate in gay weddings.
On Monday, the Texas Senate responded by advancing the bill in a 21-10 vote, with one Democrat joining the chamber’s 20 Republicans.
The Texas Tribune reports on passage of the so-called “Pastor Protection Act”:
State Sen. José Rodríguez, an El Paso Democrat who voted against the measure, questioned whether it could be used to justify a refusal to perform interracial marriages — shielding religious officials from prosecution “no matter how extreme [their] views are.”
Pointing out that same-sex marriage is banned in Texas, state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, asked what problem the bill was trying to fix.
Whitmire said it was “unheard of” that a same-sex couple would try to force a pastor to perform a wedding ceremony if that pastor did not accept their marriage.
“They just want to be left alone to love their partner, they want to get married with clergy in a setting that embraces that union,” he said.
More from the The American-Statesman:
The legislation also stipulates that clergy, religious organizations and people employed by a religious group could not be sued for damages, prosecuted for criminal violations, lose tax-exempt status or forfeit a government contract or grant for refusing to provide services, open facilities or sell goods related to same-sex marriages.
“I think the language is awfully broad,” said Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, adding that a clause protecting groups supervised and controlled by a religious organization would seem to allow for-profit health care, nursing home and other companies to refuse to serve same-sex couples.
The Texas House is set to vote on an identical bill Tuesday.
Also Tuesday, the House will vote on a far more dangerous bill, by Rep. Cecil Bell (above), that seeks to undermine a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of same-sex marriage.
The Texas Observer reports:
The bill would bar state and local employees from issuing, enforcing or recognizing same-sex marriage licenses—and prohibit public monies from being used to do so—regardless of any court order.
LGBT advocates say if the high court rules in favor of same-sex marriage, HB 4105 would set up a showdown between state and federal law, costing Texas millions of dollars in litigation and potentially delaying the effectiveness of the decision by years. They say the bill would unleash chaos similar to what’s been seen in Alabama over same-sex marriage, and generate the type of business backlash associated with passage of an anti-LGBT religious freedom law in Indiana. …
Rebecca Robertson, legal and policy director at the ACLU of Texas, said HB 4105 is designed to give Texas another legal basis for challenging same-sex marriage in court: state sovereignty. And she said it could be used as a model by other states for resisting the Supreme Court ruling.
“The last time that we saw similar efforts to undermine court rulings about what the Constitution requires was when Southern states attempted to use the power of the purse to avoid having to comply with federal court orders ordering school desegregation,” Robertson said. “Those tactics were rejected, but obviously it took years of litigation to get to that point. HB 4105 is trying to do the same kind of end run around the Constitution.”
Despite comparisons to Indiana’s religious freedom law, few businesses have come out publicly against the Texas anti-gay marriage bill, according to The Washington Blade:
As Texas lawmakers prepare to vote on legislation aimed at circumventing an anticipated U.S. Supreme Court decision in favor of same-sex marriage, the state’s business leaders are largely keeping quiet.
The business community’s opposition in Indiana helped ignite a media firestorm against a religious freedom law there that is so far absent in the Texas debate. …
Robert Wood, spokesperson for the Texas Association of Businesses, said his organization hasn’t “taken any position, nor testified” on the legislation and doesn’t have any comment at this time.
John Wright
WATCH: Ugandan Trans Man Emotionally Accepts GLAAD Award
Pepe Julian Onziema’s in-depth interview on Last Week Tonight With John Oliver won a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Talk Show Episode on Saturday.
Sunnivie Brydum
www.advocate.com/world/2015/05/11/watch-ugandan-trans-man-emotionally-accepts-glaad-award
Kelly Ripa, Laverne Cox and Judith Light at the GLAAD Media Awards
Marti Gould Cummings attends the GLAAD Media Awards and interviews your favorite stars Kelly Ripa, Laverne Cox, Sam Champion, Linda Carter and more!
@martigcummings
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
The Dolly Parton Biopic We’ve All Been Waiting For Is Coming To NBC
Break out the hairspray and champagne because the biopic we’ve all been waiting for is finally–finally!–happening.
During the NBC Upfronts in New York City this morning, country music legend and gay icon Dolly Parton made a surprise appearance, looking fabulous, as usual, in a rainbow sequined getup. She was there to announce that the network had just greenlit her project “Coat of Many Colors,” a TV movie based on her Tennessee upbringing.
Related: Dolly Parton Says Gay Fans Relate To The Personal Struggles She’s Gone Through
The movie is titled after Parton’s 1971 song “Coat of Many Colors,” which the singer often describes as being one of her favorites from her catalog. It tells the story of how her mother once sewed together a coat for Dolly out of old rags. The family didn’t have much money, but her mother was determined to make something beautiful for her daughter to have. Dolly loved the coat, but when she wore it to school, she was teased relentlessly by her classmates.
Of course, Parton got the last laugh in the end. The song reached reached #4 on the U.S. country singles chart when it was first released. Not only that, but she became a huge international star, and her story has inspired countless people the world over. We can hardly wait to see it told on the small screen.
Related: Dolly Parton Thinks Gay Couples Should Be Able To Marry And Suffer Just Like Straights
“Coat of Many Colors” will be the first in a series of standalone TV movies based on Parton’s songs, stories and life. No word yet on how many cans of Aqua Net the network plans to budget for, or if Parton will be appearing in any of the movies or just serving as executive producer.
Check out this video of Parton performing “Coat of Many Colors” back in 1979.
Graham Gremore
'Q' Wants To Be The First Social Network For Queer-Identified Folks: VIDEO
Q, the new social network developed by Eric Cervini, wants to do away with the left-swipe. As apps like Grindr and Tinder have come to changed the way that we date and interact with one another, online dating has become something akin to a digital meat market. Q, as Cervini’s Kickstarter describes, envisions a different future for romantic, virtual connections. Rather than separating its users by gender identity and sexuality indiscriminately, Q promises to be the first social network for people who explicitly identify as queer.
“Right now, the largest gay app prevents access to everyone but men, and it has an irrevocable license “to reproduce, distribute, [and] publicly display” everything we share. It’s exclusive, and it invades our privacy—we deserve better,” Cervini expressed via the project’s Kickstarter page. “That’s why I’ve created Q, a community-driven social networking app for humans – of all genders and sexual orientations – who identify as queer.”
Q wants to incorporate all of the progressive measures that companies like Facebook have implemented as they’ve worked to become more inclusive spaces for queer people. Where networking apps like Grindr and Scruff have generally limited their users to identifying as male, Q aims to be open and accessible to all people regardless of their gender identities.
Cervini’s project is looking to raise some $25,000 and as of the publishing of this post his Kickstarter has raised nearly $4,000. If you’re interested in bringing the first queer-positive social networking app to market then click through here, and let us know if a service like Q is something you think is worth investing in the comments AFTER THE JUMP…
Charles Pulliam-Moore
www.towleroad.com/2015/05/q-wants-to-be-the-first-social-network-for-queer-identified-folks.html
WATCH: 'SNL' Spoofs Antigay GOP Candidates
According to SNL, the folks of the Republican party know how to have a good, “cool” time.
Raffy Ermac
www.advocate.com/politics/media/2015/05/11/watch-snl-spoofs-antigay-gop-candidates
AsylumConnect: Two Seniors' Quest to Create Lifesaving Online Informational Resources for LGBTQ Asylum Seekers
“Where are you?” I stared expectantly at my dark phone screen, impatiently waiting for it to come to life. I knew that today only one person could understand my profound disappointment. Our vision had just been shattered, and for a moment, I seriously doubted our ability to piece it back together. It was over. We had lost. But could it really have been for nothing? In those minutes before my friend’s message lit up my phone, I knew I had a decision to make: fight or flight. I had chosen wrong before; I refused to make the same mistake. A buzz directed my eyes back to the now glowing screen. “Library. Coming?” I took a deep breath and reached for my phone. “Be there soon.”
When my friend, Sy Abdul, approached me to apply for the University of Pennsylvania’s inaugural President’s Engagement Prizes — a $100,000 grant awarded annually to Penn seniors to design and implement local, national, or global engagement projects during the first year after graduation — I hesitated. I doubted my ability to open up about something that I had gone to such lengths to conceal in the past. Luckily, the necessity of our project inspired me to be brave.
The initial concept for our project, AsylumConnect, was borne out of Sy’s personal experiences as an LGBTQ asylum seeker in the U.S. Our premise was simple: to support people seeking political asylum in the U.S. because of sexual orientation or gender expression. We would accomplish this by creating the first ever website and mobile app specifically designed for LGBTQ asylum seekers. These platforms would feature a centralized catalog of available LGBTQ-friendly services by location, themed educational webinars, and animated how-to videos.
As we combined our distinct experiences into a singular effort to advance AsylumConnect, the line separating us from our project faded. What I uncovered during my research — what I was hearing from existing organizations and LGBTQ asylum seekers — deeply affected me. It altered my worldview and rearranged my priorities.
The reality is sobering for anyone.
It is still illegal to be gay in 77 countries. LGBTQ people in these countries are imprisoned and subjected to “corrective” action, including rape by government officials, public humiliation and the death penalty. Upon arrival in the U.S., LGBTQ asylum seekers face abuse in detention centers. Many have nowhere to go, no social support, and end up homeless. They cannot legally work in the U.S., nor are they entitled to a government attorney without a work permit, which typically takes at least one year to obtain. An estimated 44 percent of LGBTQ refugees suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
I became profoundly aware that I had failed to speak out for more than a decade in a country where I at least had that choice. And with this realization came painful memories. My mind travelled back to when I was 15 years old, sitting in mandatory religion class at my Catholic boarding school – my least favorite part of the day. I felt my palms sweat as I nervously glanced around the classroom. A monk stood at the blackboard, equating homosexuality to bestiality and necrophilia. His words, sharp as knives to me, were blunt instruments to the surrounding faces, used merely to convey the severity of the aforementioned “sins.” Shame washed over me. As I pretended to be fascinated by the chips in the wooden exterior of my desk, I silently marveled at how easily my peers seemed to accept our teacher’s words. Oblivious to my discomfort, they vigorously scribbled each homophobic thought into their notebooks to ensure an “A.” I vowed, once again, to never come out.
As my own story began to intersect with those I encountered for our project, the President’s Engagement Prizes became more than just a competition to me. It became a chance for self-redemption and a rare opportunity to improve the lives of the thousands of LGBTQ asylum seekers in the U.S. With this transformation, losing was no longer an option.
Even after the award recipients were announced and our names were not among them, I remained unable to accept this loss. I realized that our passion for this cause cannot be extinguished by the outcome of an application. It is rooted in our upbringings: both of us grew up in environments that rejected and even condemned homosexuality (albeit to differing degrees). Consequently, both of us know what it is like to deny who we are, and we are willing to fight to prevent others from undergoing similar experiences.
Although we lost the grant, I was accepted to several international conferences to represent AsylumConnect. Surrounded by young global change makers, I caught myself believing once more that I am capable of revolutionizing the movement that has in many ways become an extension of myself. As I drove away from my latest conference, the Global Engagement Summit, watching Northwestern University’s newly-green campus fade into the distance, I found strength in the words I had written in our grant application:
For too long I believed that I could not be feminine and gay. I clung to ‘normalcy’ – to the idea of a husband, a marriage legal in all 50 states, biological children with someone I love. But most of all, I clung to an existence uncomplicated by stereotypes. I was afraid of a word and its connotations. It took transferring to Penn for me to realize that ‘lesbian’ can mean whatever I need it to mean. This term must change for me, not vice versa. Being gay isn’t a choice or a sickness; it is not a punishable offense. Being gay is something you simply are. For the first time in my life, I’m going to be unapologetically me – feminine, gay, and finally proud of both.
We may not have won the grant, but I won this realization. This is not a loss. This is a beginning.
If you’re interested in more information on AsylumConnect, contact Katie at [email protected]. Look out for the AsylumConnect Facebook page and preliminary website coming soon.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
WATCH: Chris Salvatore Cruises Grindr With Octogenarian Gal Pal Norma
Noted really, really, really ridiculously good-looking person Chris Salvatore had a kiki with his sassy senior citizen sister from another mister Norma — just sipping wine, talking about boys and eating pizza. It’s really good pizza. Norma knows good pizza and if mother says it’s good pizza— and she does. Among other amazing things.
That Norma has some good taste. Meanwhile, just when you thought this Salvatore fella couldn’t be any cuter, and here we are:
Ugh, they’re like a Gay Harold and Maude. Check out Chris and Norma’s Pizza Night(!) below:
Les Fabian Brathwaite — seriously considering writing Gay Harold and Maude, starring the ghost of Bea Arthur.
Les Fabian Brathwaite
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