HOUSTON RAINBOW HERALD
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The Secrets Gay Men Don’t Want Straight People to Know
As gay men and lesbians get closer and closer to the mainstream they've often traded in their image as the queer radicals who started the Stonewall Riots for the milquetoast assimilationists who want to get married and have kids and put HRC bumper stickers on their cars. That doesn't mean we're still not queer radicals. It just means we're hiding it from you.
That's right, there are all sorts of secrets that Ted and Ned, the nice gay couple next door to you with the matching BMWs and the prim sweater sets aren't telling you, probably starting with the reason they have those bolts in the ceiling of the "den" (It's for the sling and "den" is gay for "sex room"). Now, it's time to let the straights in on some of our dirty little secrets. Let's see if you still like us after this. Yes, I don't speak for all of the homosexuals, but, come on, queen, try to tell me this isn't true!
TRIPLE D
Dykes, Dinner, & Discussion
at the GLBT Center
Friday, February 17 @ 7 PM
This ongoing program is open to lesbian, bisexual, and transgender women of all walks and coupled or not.
Main course: Shepherd's Pie and Chocolate cake
Covered dishes are welcomed
Topic is Valentine's Day and being single. Couples are welcome to give support, ideas, encouragement and suicide prevention.
For more information, email the Center at info@hglbtcc.org
Houston GLBT Community Center
1901 Kane, Houston, Texas 77007
Facilitated by Jacquie Bartha, the program encourages networking opportunities and discussion of topics that include health, family, dating, equality, community awareness, and freedom of speech.
Michelle Obama sits with lesbians
Two openly gay women will join the First Lady in her box (Yes, we’re terrible, Muriel) Tuesday night at President Obama’s third State of the Union address. Col. Ginger Wallace (top right), an Air Force intelligence officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was the first military officer to have a same-sex partner participate in a rank promotion “pinning-on” ceremony after the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Kathy Knopf, Wallace’s partner of over a decade, helped pin the new Colonel rank on Wallace’s jacket in December. Wallace said she “could not be more honored” to represent the “thousands of gays and lesbians who have served.”
Starbucks And Google Endorse Washington Marriage Equality
Washington state's marriage equality legislation received an extra boost today (sorry for the coffee pun!) with endorsements from Google and Seattle-based Starbucks. Details follow. In an email from Washington United for Marriage, we learn that Google joined Starbucks to throw its weight behind equality.
Politician: Gay EuroGames will mark ‘end of the world’
The leader of the Hungary’s minority Jobbik nationalist party has reportedly described the gay EuroGames in the country’s capital this summer as the “end of the world”. Gábor Vona was referring to his country’s successful bid to host the gay EuroGames, which were held in the Netherlands last year. According to Hungarian news sources, Vona told an audience this week: “God is my witness, it’s not some kind of homophobia but merely common decency that makes me say that this really is the end of the world.” Vona, 33, co-founded the right-wing Jobbik party in 2003. Jobbik Magyarországért Mozgalom (Movement for a Better Hungary) now has 46 of the 386 seats in Hungary’s National Assembly, or 12%, and three MEPs. Budapest’s EuroGames events will be held in the last days of June this year, ahead of the London Olympics, with 3,800 athletes taking part in nearly 20 sports. The organisers said the event would aim to “improve the reputation of Hungary as an open minded country”. Vona’s comments bear some similarity to those made by the Pope last month when he said gay marriage could threaten the “future of humanity”. According to Reuters, the pontiff said “pride of place goes to the family, based on the marriage of a man and a woman” when discussing appropriate “settings” for children. Of straight marriage, he said: “This is not a simple social convention, but rather the fundamental cell of every society. “Consequently, policies which undermine the family threaten human dignity and the future of humanity itself.”
Courtesy Pink News
Ann Widdecombe: Let unhappy gays try to turn straight
Ann Widdecombe has backed the ability of therapists to offer so-called ‘gay cure’ treatments to clients who want to become straight. In her column in the Daily Express, she questions the lack of availability of therapy for “gays who do not want to be gay”. Widdecombe wrote about the case of Lesley Pilkington, who was found guilty of malpractice by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy last year. She argues that if a gay person wants to change their sexuality, professional help should be available to them, despite a lack of scientific evidence for it working. She wrote: “When I was training as a Samaritan in the Eighties the first principle was never to dismiss another’s priorities. “If a man rang in and said he was gay we should never say, “Oh, that doesn’t matter, it’s OK to be gay,” if he took the opposite view.”
N.J. Assembly Panel Advances Marriage Bill
By Julie Bolcer
The New Jersey Assembly Judiciary Committee approved the marriage equality bill in a vote Thursday afternoon, promising to escalate the standoff between Democratic lawmakers and Republican governor Chris Christie, who has vowed to veto the legislation. In its first-ever hearing in the Assembly, the Marriage Equality and Religious Exemption Act bill passed the panel Thursday afternoon in an 5-2 party line vote, moving one significant step closer to reaching the desk of Governor Chris Christie, who has promised to veto the legislation and wants lawmakers to put the issue to a referendum. The bill now moves to a floor vote, with the earliest possible date being February 16, according to a spokesman for Assembly speaker Sheila Oliver, a cosponsor of the measure. The Senate, which approved the bill last week in an 8-4 party-line vote, is expected to vote on the bill February 13. Leaders in both houses believe they have enough votes to pass the bill, but it remains unclear whether they can secure enough bipartisan support to override the Republican governor’s pledged veto. Senate president Stephen Sweeney, who has prioritized the marriage equality bill this session, did not testify Thursday but issued a statement that reiterated his opposition to a referendum. He urged the governor and lawmakers to follow the latest example of Republican senators in Washington, who voted for legislation that passed Wednesday night and put the state on track to become the seventh with marriage equality.
Should Gays leave the South?
On their Facebook this week, Out on the Town magazine asked a question of their readers regarding the status of equality for LGBT people in the South. Their post said, “a lot of comments on these stories place blame on gay Southerners for choosing to live in such an intolerant place. How do you respond to people who believe its “your fault” for being discriminated against in a region we consider our home?” Read more>>>
Out Airman Will Raise Funds for HIV
A gay airman who came out to his family and the world the day "don't ask, don't tell" was officially repealed, announced that he will raise funds for HIV programs by joining the AIDS/LifeCycle this June. Randy Phillips, a member of the U.S. Air Force stationed in Germany, will ride 545 miles with thousands of other participants from San Francisco to Los Angeles, with a personal goal of raising $10,000. He's now asking for pledges from the big YouTube following that he's accumulated since coming out last year. "There's so much stuff I could do with [this platform]. I could show you dumb kitten videos, I could try to sell you corny shirts that nobody wears, or I could try to do something good in the world," he said in a YouTube video.
Courtesy The Advocate
Martina Navratilova asks anti-gay former competitor if she has ever fancied women; Lesbian tennis legend Martina Navratilova has asked one of her former competitors, who has spoken out against gay marriage in Australia, whether she is suppressing her own attraction to the same sex.
Lesbian tennis legend Martina Navratilova has asked one of her former competitors, who has spoken out against gay marriage in Australia, whether she is suppressing her own attraction to the same sex. Navratilova, 55, wrote an open letter to the Herald Sun after three-time Wimbledon champion Margaret Court claimed being gay is a matter of choice and that many people are gay because they suffered from sexual abuse as children. In the letter, Navratilova asked Court whether she had spurned feelings for women. “You say it is a choice to be gay; do you mean to say you had feelings for women as well as men and chose men? That might explain your certainty on the issue,” she wrote, as The Advocate reports.
Why Miley Got Her Gay-Marriage Tattoo
It sparked a major controversy on Twitter—now Miley Cyrus tells you the whole story.
Imagine finding someone you love more than anything in the world, who you would risk your life for but couldn't marry. And you couldn't have that special day the way your friends do—you know, wear the ring on your finger and have it mean the same thing as everybody else. Just put yourself in that person's shoes. It makes me feel sick to my stomach.
When I shared a picture of my tattoo on my Twitter page and said, "All LOVE is equal," a lot of people mocked me—they said, "What happened to you? You used to be a Christian girl!"
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The Black-Gay Divide: A Clash of Race, Religion & Rights
As public opinion moves toward supporting gay rights, especially marriage equality, the African-American community has been slower to get on board. While polls show a slight majority of Americans favoring same-sex marriage, just 30 percent of non-Hispanic blacks do; 59 percent are opposed, according to a 2010 Pew Research survey. There’s evidence that the divide between African-Americans and the gay community is narrowing, but activists say much more work needs to be done. More than three years after California voters approved Proposition 8, the referendum that banned same-sex marriage, bitterness within the gay community over African-American support of the measure remains. Exit polls showed that as many as 70 percent of black voters supported the referendum. Much of the opposition to same-sex marriage came from African-American churches, which are very influential, although most of the funding dollars came from the Mormon and Roman Catholic churches.
'Think Before You Speak' Video Aired At Super Bowl
Madonna's highly-anticipated halftime show has been hyped as "bringing gay" to the Super Bowl, but a series of public service announcements will ensure other aspects of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) life are emphasized during the big game.
Protestors Tased And Arrested At Santorum Anti-Marriage-Equality Rally In WA
Not an hour after gay marriage was officially signed into law by Washington State governor Chris Gregoire yesterday, Rick Santorum made a stop in Tacoma to meet with Republican legislators and church leaders.
That night, some raucous protesters crashed the rally. Three were tased by police when a scuffle broke out and eventually arrested. The rabble-rousers repeatedly shouted, “We are the 99%!,” hopefully drowning out Rick’s 45-minute-long speech.
Just in case, here’s a portion of it of it:
I know this is a very important day in Washington. And, in many respects, a sad day for many people. We saw the law signed into effect here in Washington State. But it is very important you understand what just happened in another place… The Ninth Circuit decided that anybody that disagrees with any of these folks when it comes to the issue of what marriage is in this country, well, they are irrational. That’s what the Ninth Circuit said. They said anybody who disagrees with their decision to shoot down Prop 8 in California, they do so because they are irrational.
Gambian president: Gay rights ‘destroy culture’
Yahya Jammeh, the President of the Gambia, has said those who think gay rights are human rights in the African state are making a “great mistake”. Jammeh previously threatened to decapitate gays and claims to be able to cure AIDS. The South Africa Press Association reports Jammeh saying: “We know what human rights are. Human beings of the same sex cannot marry or date.” He added that homosexuality came from an alien cultures, saying: “If you think it is human rights to destroy our culture, you are making a great mistake because if you are in the Gambia, you are in the wrong place then.”
Gay couple sets record for longest kiss, Google sends a Valentine to gays
Valentine’s Day 2012 was marked with more progress on marriage equality front, this time in Maryland where a joint panel of two committees in the state legislature advanced a bill to legalize same-sex marriage. Guest columnist Craig Cassey shared his Valentine message for LGBT teens, a gay couple set a new world record for the longest kiss, and a Google doodle sends a Valentine to gay couples. Here’s today’s wrap-up:
Virginians are almost evenly split on gay marriage, Post poll finds
Virginians are closely divided over whether gay marriage should be legal, according to a new Washington Post poll, a striking result in a state that overwhelmingly agreed to amend its constitution to ban gay marriage just five years ago.
Forty-seven percent of Virginians say gay couples should be allowed to legally wed, and 43 percent are opposed, according to the poll. Fifty-five percent of Virginians say gay couples should be able to legally adopt children.
Chavez allies attack new opponent Capriles as Jewish, gay
By msnbc.com news services
Allies of President Hugo Chavez are bombarding Venezuela's newly anointed opposition leader Henrique Capriles with attacks, questioning his sexuality, disparaging his Jewish roots and casting doubt on the legitimacy of the primary vote.
Auguring a rough campaign ahead of the Oct. 7 presidential election, the torrent of accusations against Capriles began just minutes after his landslide win at the Democratic Unity coalition's primary on Sunday. With Chavez himself uncharacteristically quiet, senior officials and state media have led the attack, denouncing Capriles -- a 39-year-old state governor who wants to be Venezuela's youngest leader -- as "bourgeois" and "fascist."
