Please enter your date of birth to proceed.
USAID Releases Toolkit for Integrating LGBT Rights into Programming Activities
On Tuesday, February 24, the U.S Agency for International Development (USAID) presented a new toolkit for integrating LGBT rights into the Europe and Eurasia (E&E) region.
HRC.org
Norman Reedus Would’ve “Rocked” That Gay Daryl Storyline On “The Walking Dead”
Rumors of Daryl Dixon’s homosexuality were (not-so) greatly exaggerated, but The Walking Dead‘s resident hillbilly badass could’ve been gay for all actor Norman Reedus cared.
On last night’s Conan, Reedus discussed how fans reacted once the rumor mill started churning:
I would go to these conventions, and you’d have these little kids — ‘Man, I don’t care what’s going on, you’re awesome!’ And then you’d have guys my age, or a bit older be like, ‘Uuuhhhhhhh.’ And then you’d have women, they were like, ‘You’d better not be!’ To tell you the truth, if that’s the story they gave me, I’d rock that story. I’m not afraid.
Well, co-star Steven Yeun told O’Brien last year that he’d be down for a Glenn/Daryl romance, so as long as we’ve got two willing actors, why not scandalize this post-zombie apocalyptic land with some good old-fashioned man-loving?
There’s at least already one gay couple to light the gay way.
Check out Norman Reedus discussing Daryl’s sexuality on Conan:
Les Fabian Brathwaite, rocked by Norman Reedus.
Les Fabian Brathwaite
California Attorney Files Ballot Measure Calling For Execution Of All Gays: VIDEO
You read that headline correctly.
A California attorney has filed a proposed ballot measure with the state Attorney General’s office asking voters to criminalize homosexuality and impose the death penalty, reports LGBTQ Nation.
The “Sodomite Suppression Act” filing will allow Matthew G. McLaughlin to start the process of collecting the roughly 365,000 signatures (around 5 percent of the electorate) required to put the measure on an upcoming ballot.
McLaughlin’s unbelievable proposal states:
“The abominable crime against nature known as buggery, called also sodomy, is a monstrous evil that Almighty God, giver of freedom and liberty, commands us to suppress on pain of our utter destruction even as he overthrew Sodom and Gomorrha.
“The People of California wisely command, in the fear of God, that any person who willingly touches another person of the same gender for purposes of sexual gratification be put to death by bullets to the head or by any other convenient method.
“This law shall be known as ‘The Sodomite Suppression Act’ and be numbered as section 29 in Title 3 of the Penal Code, pertaining to offenses against the sovereignty of the state. The text shall be prominently posted in every public school classroom. ALL laws in conflict with this law are to that extent invalid.”
McLaughlin is on active status with the State Bar for California but the address he provides routes to a Mailbox Express store rather than a law office.
In 2004, McLaughlin filed for a ballot measure to put the King James Bible in the hands of public school students as a literary text.
The 2003 Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas ruled that same-sex sexual activity is legal. That decision cannot be overturned by a simple ballot initiative in California.
Watch a report on Lawrence v. Texas, AFTER THE JUMP…
Jim Redmond
Op-ed: How We're Asking the Supreme Court to End Bi Erasure
A bisexual person is permitted in all states to marry someone of the opposite sex but is still forbidden in 14 states to marry someone of the same sex.
Advocate Contributors
www.advocate.com/commentary/2015/03/04/op-ed-how-were-asking-supreme-court-end-bi-erasure
All The Irrational & Ignorant Fears About Gay Marriage Set To Country Music, Just Because
According to this parody video from Trevor Moore, once the gays get married, everything’s basically going straight to hell. But, sort of a nice hell where you get to go to nice hotels and the devil looks like Mario Lopez in jean shorts washing his car. Doesn’t sound too bad to us.
Watch below as every subconscious fear about gay people is lampooned to oblivion:
Dan Tracer
Op-ed: Mom and Dad, I'm Taking Truvada
How a party prompted a man to evaluate his health — and how others talk about HIV.
Tim Mullaney
www.advocate.com/commentary/2015/03/04/op-ed-mom-and-dad-im-taking-truvada
There’s An Antigay Activist At The Heart Of The Supreme Court Case To Kill Obamacare
Here’s the great thing about the right-wing war against anything President Obama touches: you never have to dig deep to find an antigay nut.
Take the case before the Supreme Court today in which four plaintiffs insist, against all evidence to the contrary, that Congress really did not intend for tax credits for Obamacare to extend to anyone on the federally run exchange. This means only citizens in the 16 states that set up their own insurance exchanges would get subsidies. Everyone else would be out of luck.
The case, King v. Burwell, has been promoted by a veritable who’s who of the anti-Obama legal community, which has been frantically searching for ways to kill the measure. To make the case work, they had to recruit people who claim they were harmed by the Affordable Care Act. And it’s here that they went right to the lowest common denominator.
There are four plaintiffs in the case, one of whom is Brenda Levy. Levy told Mother Jones she has no idea how she was recruited for the case, saying she led “a quiet life.” And that’s true, if by quiet life you mean making your hatred of gay rights known to the world at large.
Levy has written a string of letters to local Virginia newspapers. (Here’s one example.) She contributed $600 to the Proposition 8 campaign to overturn California’s marriage law. She has shown up at her local Boy Scout chapter to protest allowing gay kids to join the Scouts. “We want to leave sex and politics out of the Scouts,” Levy said at the 2013 protest. Her comments on YouTube include rants about how gays want “to subvert monogamy.”
Yes, however did conservative lawyers who want to destroy Obamacare stumble across Ms. Levy living her quiet life? Her inclusion in the case is a telling sign of which rocks the lawyers looked under and their inclination to look under those rocks in the first place.
So, as the Justices listen to arguments tomorrow that could lead to millions of Americans losing their health care coverage, just keep in mind the sterling individuals challenging the law. Based on her writing, Levy would probably rather be challenging marriage equality.
But she’ll settle for anything else the President favors.
H/t: Mother Jones
JohnGallagher
Ryan Skyy Releases 'DONE' Featuring Niki Darling
Ryan Skyy is a queer music artist, DJ and producer who just released a heavy new dance track called “DONE.”
“DONE” features the impressively powerful vocals of Niki Darling and tells the story of the culmination of one’s emotions at the end of a relationship. “DONE” was co-written by Skyy, Anthony Gibson, and Niki Darling, and was produced by Skyy.
The Huffington Post caught up the with the artist this week to discuss this new club-ready track, as well as how his identity as a queer artist informs his work.
The Huffington Post: What is the concept for “DONE”?
Ryan Skyy: “DONE” is a song about facing the forces or people in your life who are causing you harm, realizing that all you need is yourself to be happy and that it’s ok to stand up for your own self-worth and say, “I’m all I ever needed to make me feel completed, and now I see that I deserve so much more. I’m walking out that door! I’m done! I’m done! I’m so done! I’m done with you!”
The song came from a collective experience that my writing/producing partner Anthony Gibson and myself shared in our own individual journeys, along with input from Niki Darling about past relationships and struggles we each faced. We wanted to create a song that people could use to find strength in their own situations to stand up for themselves. “I’m done!” is such commonly used phrase in our culture, and it’s something we realized more and more after we wrote and released the song. It’s the perfect power statement for what we wanted to convey. I think it’s become a universal record that really seems to resonate with people who hear it for the first time.
Why did you decide to collaborate with Niki Darling?
I met Niki in early 2014 when a song I wrote/produced was being considered for Katy Perry’s next album, and the record label, interested in the track, asked that I submit a version with female vocals on it. The original one I submitted had my own vocals and they wanted to hear how it would sound if Katy recorded it. Anthony, who is now my record label partner at Keystone Music Group, was styling me at the time and referred Niki to me when I told him I was looking for a female session singer that had the chops for the track. Niki and I worked together on that track and really clicked. About 4 months later she told Anthony and I that she was going to Europe to perform and wanted to move more towards dance music and asked if I’d produce for her. We sat down in November 2014 to write a track for her European trip and “DONE” emerged. Over the next couple of months the track really took on a life of its own and turned into this whole other thing. We never expected the three of us to click so strongly creatively and for the track to be so well-received. It changed the course of all of our careers and really is only just the beginning. I’m excited to see where things lead.
What does it mean to you to be a queer artist? How does your queer identity inform your work?
I wouldn’t necessarily say my “queer identity” informs me any more or any less than every other aspect of my life, but I won’t shy away from it either. As an artist, the only things I can draw from that are authentic are my own personal experiences and share them with the world. My deepest thoughts, deepest secrets and strongest emotions are the most authentic and interesting things that I can share. If they come from my gay experience, then so be it, but the themes I write about are universal. I may relate to them differently than others but in the end we all relate and are in this together.
Artists are the lucky few who are given a gift to see the world in a way that others can’t see on their own and it’s our duty to report what we see and serve as cultural historians of what is happening at that moment. Some of my favorite moments with fans are when they tell me that my poem or song helped put into words what they were feeling but didn’t know how to express. That makes it all worth it to me in the end.
What’s next for Ryan Skyy?
I’m currently in the studio working on my follow-up singles while we’re finishing up a remix package for “DONE.” The “DONE” remix package will include remixes by the legendary Dave Aude, DJ Strobe and a few other remixers who will showcase “DONE” in a different light and make the single club ready. I’ve also been DJing weekly in NYC and preparing for a spring and summer club and festival tour.
Head here for more from Ryan Skyy.
www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/03/ryan-skyy-done_n_6770684.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices
Alabama Supreme Court Blocks Same-Sex Marriage
The Alabama Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered probate judges in the state to stop issuing same-sex marriage licenses.
The ruling adds to the confusion surrounding gay marriage in the state. A federal judge found that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional in January. Some probate judges refused to comply with that ruling and Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore said that probate judges didn’t have to follow it.
The conflicting orders prompted Elmore County Probate Judge John E. Enslen to ask for clarification from the Alabama Supreme Court, according to WBRC.
Read the Alabama Supreme Court’s full decision here.
Below, more from The Associated Press:
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The Alabama Supreme Court is ordering the state’s probate judges to stop issuing marriage licenses to gay couples.
The all-Republican court sided with a pair of conservative organizations Tuesday in ruling that the U.S. Constitution doesn’t alter the judges’ duty to administer state law.
The court says Alabama has defined marriage as between only one man and one woman for about 200 years. And it says a federal court used “sleight of hand” in a case that resulted in most of Alabama allowing gay marriage last month.
The Alabama Policy Institute and the Baptist-run Alabama Citizens Action Program asked the court to halt same-sex unions after a federal judge in Mobile said Alabama laws banning them were unconstitutional.
Extralegal Ruling Shames Alabama Supreme Court
The order, which has no foundation in constitutional law, flies in the face a prevailing federal ruling by Judge Callie V.S. Granade issued weeks ago.
HRC.org
You must be 18 years old or older to chat
