Rachel Maddow Debunks Former Congressman’s Claim against Marriage Equality
March 16, 2010
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow cut into former Congressman JD Hayworth on Monday for his outrageous assertion that marriage equality in Massachusetts would allow a person to marry a horse.
While speaking to a Florida radio program on Sunday, Hayworth said “You see, the Massachusetts Supreme Court, when it started this move toward same-sex marriage, actually defined marriage — now get this — it defined marriage as simply, ‘the establishment of intimacy’. Now how dangerous is that? I mean, I don’t mean to be absurd about it, but I guess I can make the point of absurdity with an absurd point — I guess that would mean if you really had affection for your horse, I guess you could marry your horse.”
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But as Maddow points out, the language Hayworth cited in that interview does not actually exist.
“So here’s my question about that,” Maddow challenged Hayworth. “Where does the ‘establishment of intimacy’ thing come from? Where in Massachusetts law or in the Supreme Court ruling does it say ‘the establishment of intimacy’? I spent the whole afternoon sort of looking for that and couldn’t find it anywhere.”
Hayworth suggested that Maddow simply had a “disagreement” with him.
“Well it either is true or it isn’t. It’s empirical,” Maddow finally said.
MSNBC’s Chris Matthews also criticized Hayworth’s comments.
“Bringing up the connection between horse and rider in this debate really doesn’t show a lot of common sense or human understanding,” said Matthews.
Meanwhile, Hayworth issued a statement on Monday saying that he stands by his claim, but once again did not clarify where he found the language he cited.
GLAAD applauds Rachel Maddow for taking former Congressman JD Hayworth to task and ensuring that politicians be held accountable for their claims.
Related Posts:An Historic Day in the Nation’s Capital: GLAAD’s Perspective on the First Day of Marriage Equality in D.C.
March 10, 2010
Yesterday was the first day that same-sex couples could legally marry in the District of Columbia. In preparation, my colleague, Daryl Hannah, and I traveled to D.C. to work with couples who planned to marry in the District – and help them prepare for the deluge of media attention they were about to receive.
Adam Bass with Angelisa Young and Sinjoyla Townsend
On Tuesday, those couples exchanged vows in very moving ceremonies. It was an honor and a privilege to be present and hear them express the love they have for each other in front of their family, friends, and an anxious media corps.
Angelisa Young and Sinjoyla Townsend (Angel and Tina) were the first couple to get married yesterday, at the Equality Center.
I had the opportunity to be in the room with Angel and Tina just prior to their wedding ceremony. The excitement and love in the air was moving. What struck me is how similar the feeling was to when my own sister got married to her husband a few years ago. It was a strange mix of emotions: excitement, love, nervousness, anxiety, and happiness. At about 10 a.m., Angel and Tina walked down the aisle and exchanged vows.
Media gathered outside HRC's Equality Center
Following them, Rockie and Reggie, accompanied by their twin daughters (15-months-old) exchanged vows. Minutes later, Darlene and Candy, both leaders in the Metropolitain Church of Christ, were married. The couples were then greeted and congratulated by D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, along with several members of the City Council.
Later in the day, I joined Rick and Terrance – and their two sons – for their wedding at the Unitarian Universalist Church – the same location where Mayor Fenty had signed the D.C. marriage equality bill into law a few months earlier.
Mayor Adam Fenty shares a moment with Darlene Garner at the press conference
Yesterday was an amazing and moving experience that reminds me why we do the work we do at GLAAD. Moments before their wedding ceremony, I talked with Sinjoyla, specifically to thank her for sharing her wedding day with the world. We talked about what the media would look like Wednesday morning. Today, a young lesbian in the middle of the country will wake up and open the paper and have a new role model. Those role models might be Angelisa and Sinjoyla. That young lesbian will have someone to look up to. It was stressful for these couples to share such a private moment with the world, but it was incredibly important for the world – through the media – to see the love, commitment and respect they have for each other on their wedding day.
Rev. North presents Angelisa and Sinjoyla their signed marriage license
I’m thrilled, humbled and honored to have been part of such a special day for these couples and to be part of this historic moment in our country’s history.
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Adam Bass is a Senior Media Field Strategist at GLAAD.
Related Posts:GLAAD Trained Couples First to Wed as Ceremonies Begin in D.C.
March 9, 2010
Today marks the first day that same-sex couples can legally marry in Washington, D.C. After applying for marriage licenses last Wednesday, couples were finally able to be married this morning. First among these pioneering gay and lesbian couples to say their vows and have their marriage license signed were Sinjoyla Townsend and Angelisa Young, one of the couples for whom GLAAD was happy to provide media training and assistance on the ground over the past week.
Sinjoyla Townsend (L) and Angelisa Young (CNN.com)
Working in conjunction with Campaign for All DC Families, GLAAD’s Senior Media Field Strategist, Adam Bass, is present at the Equality Center-- where the first ceremonies are taking place – and live tweeting the historic and touching moments from the proceedings. At 8:30 this morning the marriage licenses for those who applied last Wednesday were available for couples to pick up. By 10:45 am EST Sinjoyla and Angelisa were married, and at 11:00 am their license was signed, making the bond official.
Rocky Galloway (L) and Reginald Stanley with Rev. Sylvia E. Sumter (AP)
Following that ceremony, Rocky Galloway and Reggie Stanley and then Candy Holmes and Darlene Garner became the second and third same-sex couples to legally wed in the nation’s capital city. Jessica Gresko of the Associated Press described 100 guests sitting on white chairs, surrounded by snapdragons, roses, and carnations as the pastor pronounced the couples “partners in life this day and for always.”
These first marriages were highly celebrated, and AP also talked to many same-sex couples who planned to wed at the courthouse over the next weeks. The courthouse, which normally holds 3-4 weddings each day is expecting 10-12 per day over the next several weeks.
Darlene Garner (L) and Candy Holmes (AP)
GLAAD applauds the media for its extensive coverage of this historic moment and congratulates all those couples who are paving the way toward full marriage equality.
Related Posts:GLAAD On the Ground In D.C. As Couples Prepare to Marry
March 3, 2010
Two of GLAAD’s media field strategists are in Washington, D.C. helping elevate the voices of numerous couples who are set to marry. By 9 am this morning, 60 same-sex couples had lined up outside the D.C. Superior Court to file their applications for marriage licenses, according to The Washington Post. Today marks the first day that the District of Columbia will accept same-sex applications, and the first couples will receive their licenses as soon as Tuesday, March 9th.
The Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009 passed the D.C. Council and was signed by D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty in December but then had to survive the mandatory congressional review period as well because Washington is a federal district. With the review period’s expiration on Tuesday and Supreme Court Justice Robert’s denial of a last-minute request by opponents to stay the new law, however, the marriage equality bill went into effect this morning, making D.C. the sixth location in the country to issue licenses to same-sex couples (joining Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont).
In preparation for the day, commemorative pens and celebratory cupcakes were on hand at the court. The Associated Press reported that the D.C. marriage bureau also changed the language of its applications and civil marriage ceremonies to be gender-neutral.
GLAAD media field strategists, Adam Bass and Daryl Hannah are on the ground in D.C. providing extensive media assistance to couples as they apply for their newly-legalized marriage licenses. GLAAD is proud to support loving couples who are making lifelong commitment to take care of and be responsible for one another. We’ll continue to keep you updated on all of the latest developments.
Related Posts:Crate & Barrel Holds Inclusive ‘Ultimate Wedding’ Contest, Anti-Gay Blogger Attacks
March 1, 2010
Contemporary houseware giant Crate & Barrel is giving one lucky couple $100,000 to make their ‘Ultimate Wedding’ dreams come true. The winning couple can be gay or straight, the company says.
‘The Ultimate Wedding’ sweepstakes asks couples to post a small profile to Crate & Barrel’s website that gives a brief synopsis of their love story. The couple must then earn votes from online users in order to advance to the next stage of the competition. The 50 contestants who receive the most votes will move to the final round of the contest and Crate & Barrel judges will select one lucky couple to win their ‘Ultimate Wedding’.
Numerous same-sex couples are already strong contenders in the race. Longtime partners Gregory Jones and Jonathan Howard, for instance, currently hold the #2 spot for most votes earned.
Howard was the victim of a bias-motivated crime in August 2008, during which he suffered significant head and spinal injuries. Howard says his love for Greg helped him get through the attack.
“After the attack and the trial Greg stood by my side,” Howard writes. “He held me up and he pushed me forward. He was there with me through the constant nightmares and my struggle to understand. He was also the one who helped me gain the courage to speak out about what happened to me.”
Now, some bloggers are harassing Jones and Howard about their success in the competition. One Chicago-based blogger who claims to be in the “law enforcement industry” was particularly menacing with a post that called Jones and Howard a “fruit loop couple” and made other crude and defamatory comments.
Anonymous comments following the post referred to the couple as “flammin fa**ots.”
That content has since been removed from the blogger’s website.
Discouraged by the comments, Howard considered dropping out of the contest, but quickly realized he had to stay visible and make a difference:
“I think about all that I have been through,” Howard writes on his blog. “My struggle to come out, the lack of acceptance, being attacked for being true to myself, finding the perfect man and loving him openly and honestly, getting engaged and making the decision to enter a contest knowing that it would be a difficult road.
“There is no way that I can drop out of this competition and retreat. I cannot stop being who I am and I need to make a difference. Words are powerful, and so are actions. And just like words of hatred can have power over people, words of hope can have power over people as well. We have the power to change society, we have the power to make a difference.”
Other same-sex couples who are performing strongly in the contest include ‘Mikey and Earl’, ‘Emily and Rachel’, and‘Ed and Erwin’.
Be sure to support your favorite couples at http://www.ultimateweddingcontest.com/
GLAAD applauds Crate & Barrel for its inclusive rules in the ‘Ultimate Wedding Contest’ which give visibility to loving and committed same-sex couples everywhere. We also commend Gregory Jones and Jonathan Howard for their courage in standing up and celebrating their love despite some defamatory attacks.
For more information, visit http://www.crateandbarrel.com
Related Posts:Advocates and Allies Across the Nation Celebrate ‘Freedom to Marry Day’
February 12, 2010
Today, advocates and allies across the country will celebrate loving and committed same-sex couples on National Freedom to Marry Day.
According to Marriage Equality USA, “at local marriage counters in cities all over the country, same-sex couples will request marriage licenses at their local County Clerk’s Offices and engage in other public education outreach to raise awareness of the harms and impact the inability to marry causes on their families.”
DallasVoice.com shared the story of one such couple, Kay Mathews and Wendy Churitch, who renewed their vows in Dallas today at noon to mark the holiday. Churitch and Mathews were legally married in Iowa last August.
And San Jose Mercury News reported that same-sex couples and supporters will gather on San Francisco’s City Hall today to request marriage licenses from the county clerk.
National organizations are also promoting marriage equality today. Chicago’s Gay Liberation Network has organized an informational picket on Chicago’s Holy Name Cathedral in order “to highlight the role the Church’s leadership has played in promoting inequality,” according to an article that appeared on ChicagoPride.com today.
For more information about ‘Freedom to Marry Day’, visit www.marriageequality.org
Related Posts:Hearing Set on Bill that Would Ban Out-of-State Marriage Recognition in Maryland
January 25, 2010
On Jan 16, Maryland Delegate Emmett Burns (D-Baltimore County) introduced House Bill 90, a bill that would ban recognizing out-of –state marriages for gay and lesbian couples in Maryland. If this bill were to pass, it would affect many LGBT couples, especially those in neighboring Washington D.C., who will be allowed to legally marry on March 2nd.
Maryland law has defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman since 1973. The state recognizes marriages performed in other jurisdictions according to the “full faith and credit” clause of the U.S. Constitution, but current marriage law does not address recognition of same-sex marriages.
The federal Defense of Marriage Act, enacted into law in 1996, allows states to decide whether to recognize same-sex marriages.
“The issue is knocking on our doors,” Burns said. “People will be flying over here, wanting to force us to accept their marriage licenses.”
“Our back door is open, and it needs to be closed.”
The article also discussed that Burns introduced this bill despite the Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler saying that he would make a decision on this matter:
Sen. Richard Madaleno, D-Montgomery, asked Gansler to issue an opinion on the matter last May. Gansler will interpret existing Maryland law on marriage recognition to arrive at his opinion. The opinion will also take into consideration legal precedent set nationwide, including that of the Proposition 8 trial currently being argued in California.
“There has been a lot of movement on this issue,” said Raquel Guillory, spokeswoman for the attorney general. “That’s why we’ve been very methodical in drafting this opinion.”
Guillory could not give a timetable for the decision, but said it would be made this year. She said Burns’ bill would have no bearing on Gansler’s opinion unless it passed before the opinion was issued.
The bill hits close to home for Delegate Heather Mizeur, D-Montgomery, who married her partner in 2008 in a civil ceremony in California. (They had their formal marriage ceremony in 2005.) The marriage is still considered legal in that state, in the district and in six other states, but not in Maryland.
A hearing about House Bill 90 will take place at the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday, January 28th, 2009 at 1 PM in Room 100 in the Lowe Office Building located at 6 Bladen Street, Annapolis, Maryland.
Equality Maryland is asking for LGBT advocates in their state to show opposition to this bill by testifying at the hearing or providing moral support by just showing up.
The Attorney General’s office is currently considering an official opinion as to whether Maryland should honor legal out of state same-sex marriages. This bill would prevent the enforcement of a positive opinion, thereby creating yet another area of law in which we are discriminated against.
We hope that you will join us for the hearing next week! We cannot allow this bill or any other piece of legislation to invalidate the commitment of hundreds of Maryland couples! Please, plan to join us for this important hearing.
To RSVP with Equality Maryland, click here.
GLAAD will continue to monitor this story and provide updates.
Related Posts:Media Continues to Spotlight Testimony in Prop. 8 Case
January 22, 2010
The federal lawsuit challenging California’s voter-sanctioned ban on marriage for same-sex couples, known as Proposition 8, will finish its second week of hearings today.
Attorneys David Boies and Ted Olson, who argue that bans on marriage equality are unconstitutional, presented testimony on Wednesday from a 26 year-old openly gay man who was forced by his evangelical Christian family to undergo so-called “reparative therapy,” The Los Angeles Times reported late Wednesday:
Ryan Kendall, 26, who grew up in an evangelical Christian family in Colorado, said his parents forced him to undergo therapy with a Christian group to try to change his sexual orientation. The therapy made him suicidal but did not change his sexuality, he testified.
“I was just as gay as when I started,” Kendall testified.
Kendall, a Denver resident, testified tearfully about how his mother abused him after learning of his sexuality from reading his journal. He said he was the target of slurs and his glasses were smashed when he was a student at an evangelical school.
Boies and Olson also presented evidence which suggested that the Catholic and Mormon Churches had close ties to leaders of the anti-gay, “Yes on 8” campaign.
Documents unveiled later revealed the Catholic and Mormon churches played a major role in passing Proposition 8.
An e-mail from the executive director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to the bishops and a cardinal said Catholics were crucial in providing money and volunteers to qualify Proposition 8 for the ballot.
The Associated Press reported on Thursday that Boies and Olson also introduced an e-mail from Mark Jansson, the Mormon church’s representative to the executive committee that oversaw the “Yes on 8 campaign.” That email indicated that the Mormon church and other faith leaders took the lead in the anti-gay campaign:
This campaign is entirely under (Mormon) priesthood direction in concert with leaders of many other faiths and community groups.
Other testimony on Wednesday included Stanford University Professor Gary M. Segura who testified that gay people do not have a meaningful degree of political power — as evidenced by, among other things, hate crime statistics, relatively low numbers of gay office holders, and the success rate of anti-gay ballot measures.
On Thursday, anti-gay activist and “Yes on 8” proponent William Tam was called to the stand, The San Francisco Chronicle reported on Friday.
The plaintiffs hope to prove that backers of the Prop. 8 initiative were led by anti-gay bias and unfair stereotypes:
In a message to supporters during the campaign, for example, Tam wrote that “other states would fall into Satan’s hand” if same-sex marriage remained legal in California. San Francisco’s government, “under the rule of homosexuals,” would next move to legalize sex with children and prostitution, he said.
Tam affirmed those statements in a San Francisco federal courtroom Thursday. He said he also believes, based on European nations that have allowed same-sex marriage, that it is a forerunner to legalized incest and polygamy, all signs of “the moral decay of a liberal country.”
According to The Los Angeles Times, when Tam was asked how he had come to such conclusions about gay men and lesbians, he said it was “based on different literature I have read.” Tam, however, was unable to recall where he had read the information.
Boies later asked Tam if he would be frustrated if denied the right to marry:
Boies… noted that Tam, a Chinese American, had described himself as a minority. Boies asked if he would be aggrieved if he were forbidden to marry the person he loved. Tam said yes.
GLAAD will continue to follow the media’s coverage of the Prop. 8 trial. Updates can be found on GLAADblog.org
Related Posts:GLAAD Joins Rosie O’Donnell to Premiere HBO Documentary ‘A Family is a Family is a Family’
January 21, 2010
GLAAD joined Rosie O’Donnell on Tuesday evening to premiere her upcoming HBO documentary, A Family is a Family is a Family: A Rosie O’Donnell Celebration.
In HBO’s moving documentary, kids offer touching, profound and often funny insights about what being a family means to them. While answers vary, all family’s share one vital ingredient: love.
Challenging stereotypes, the film creates a portrait of the modern American family in all its wonderful diversity. Among those featured are: children with two fathers or two mothers; a girl whose mother and father adopted her in China; three brothers who live with their mother and grandmother; a pair of mothers who are getting married to make one big family; and families with adopted kids and children born through in-vitro fertilization.
A Family is a Family is a Family is directed and produced by Amy Schatz, whose credits include such award-winning HBO family productions as the “Classical Baby” series and the special “Goodnight Moon & Other Sleepytime Tales.”
The film makes its television debut Sunday, January 31 at 7PM/ 6 Central on HBO.
Be sure to tune in!
Related Posts:Noted Conservative Figures Take Stand in Support of Marriage Equality
January 21, 2010
Cindy McCain, wife of former presidential candidate John McCain, joined a rising number of conservative figures who have come out in favor of marriage equality recently.
The ‘NoH8 Campaign’ – a photo project that features celebrities and civilians who oppose California’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples, known as Proposition 8 – posted a photo to its website on Wednesday boasting the face of Cindy McCain with the campaign’s staple silver duct tape over her mouth and ‘NoH8’ written across her cheek.
Cindy McCain contacted the NoH8 campaign and volunteered to pose for the photo, The Associated Press reported on Wednesday.
Meghan McCain, daughter of John and Cindy McCain, has been a longtime advocate for marriage equality and also posed for the photo project in 2009.
Fox News contributor and conservative commentator Margaret Hoover also revealed her support for marriage equality recently in an article published to FoxNews.com on January 15.
In it, Hoover notes that Ted Olson, lead council in the federal Prop. 8 lawsuit that challenges California’s ban on marriage equality, is not only a well-respected conservative but acted as George W. Bush’s Solicitor General and is the same man “who successfully argued Bush v. Gore before the Supreme Court in one of his fifty-five performances before the nation’s highest judicial body.”
Hoover goes on to ask of her conservative brethren:
Gays and lesbians are our friends, neighbors, doctors, colleagues, sisters and brothers. Does it sit well with you that because of their sexual orientation, a factor outside one’s control, that they should have less rights and protections in the eyes of the law?
But McCain and Hoover aren’t the only conservative leaders to weigh in on unions between same-sex couples. Last June, former Vice President Dick Cheney told Fox News’s Gretta Van Susteren that while he does not believe marriage equality should be a federal issue, he “believe[s] equal rights means equal rights for everybody and that people ought to be able to enter into any kind of relationship they want, but that the states ought to retain the ability to regulate and determine what’s marriage and what the legal status of those unions are.”
GLAAD will continue to follow the media’s coverage of the conservative response to marriage for same-sex couples. Updates can be found on GLAADblog.org
Related Posts:Dolly Parton Advocates for Marriage Equality on The Joy Behar Show
January 19, 2010
Country legend and gay icon Dolly Parton appeared on The Joy Behar Show on Friday, openly advocating for marriage equality and addressing her large gay fan base. Behar asked why Parton has such an large gay following, to which Parton responded,“I think it’s because they know that I’m different too,” and said, “they just appreciate that I love everybody for who they are. We’re not supposed to try to change people…”
Behar moved on to ask if Parton supports marriage equality. “I always say, ‘Sure, why can’t they get married? They should suffer like the rest of us.”
Behar later questioned what Parton’s take was on anti-gay pastor Joel Osteen, saying “I don’t think that if he was a religious person, he would be judging people.”
Dolly Parton wrote and performed the song “Travelin’ Thru” for the 2005 film Transamerica, which earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Song. GLAAD applauds Parton for her unyielding support to the LGBT community by fearlessly paving the road to marriage equality.
Watch video below:
Media Continues to Follow Testimony in Prop. 8 Case
January 15, 2010
Columbia University professor Ilan H. Meyer, an expert in mental health issues among LGBT people, told a court on Thursday that gay men and lesbians are more likely to suffer from mental disorders than heterosexuals because of anti-LGBT discrimination, The Los Angeles Times reported.
Meyer was the second witness called to the stand on Thursday in the Prop. 8 trial, a federal lawsuit challenging California’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples.
From The Los Angeles Times article:
Proposition 8 sent “a message that gay relationships are not respected, that they are of secondary value if they are of any value at all,” Meyer said. He also said the 2008 measure made the public statement that it was OK “to designate gay people as a different class of people in terms of their intimate relationships.”
… Meyer said concealment of one’s sexual orientation for fear of rejection was “damaging and stressful” and testified about a federal government report that said gay male adolescents were two to three times more likely than heterosexual teens to attempt suicide.
The report also said that gays and lesbians were more vulnerable than heterosexuals to mood disorders and substance abuse.
Earlier on Thursday, Edmund Egan who heads the Office of Economic Analysis in San Francisco testified that extending marriage protections to same-sex couples would boost local economies.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported today that Egan predicted that San Francisco could expect a $1.7 million per year increase in added sales taxes and $900,000 in hotel taxes from wedding-related spending and out-of-town visitors if marriage equality were legal.
Marriage equality would also save money in healthcare costs because “Married individuals are healthier, on average, and behave in healthier ways than single individuals,” according to Egan.
Meanwhile, The Associated Press has reported that presiding Judge Vaughn Walker has abandoned his effort to broadcast the trial online via YouTube, after the Supreme Court issued a permanent stay on broadcasting the proceedings:
Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker said Thursday he’s withdrawing his application to have the landmark case video-recorded under a pilot program approved last month by the governing body for federal courts in the West.
The AP goes on to report that Prop. 8 supporters are calling on Judge Walker to destroy recordings of the trial that were produced in the opening days of the case. Walker has rejected that request.
GLAAD will continue to follow the media’s coverage of the Prop. 8 trial. Updates can be found on GLAADblog.org
Related Posts:COAD News Buzz
January 12, 2010
Here’s a look at some COAD-related stories in the media:
Denise King, Mother of Hate Crime Victim, Dies
Denise King, a gay rights advocate in South Florida, died of a heart attack on New Year’s Eve. King’s son, Simmie Williams who was gay, was gunned down in February 2008. Since his unresolved murder, King made educating others about the violence LGBT people face a priority:
Since her son’s death, Mrs. King “brought the conversation of love, acceptance and compassion into a community where black [gays and lesbians] are invisible,” said Michael Emanuel Rajner, a co-founder of Transgender Equality Rights Initiatives, who became a family friend after the murder.
“The night of her son’s viewing, she left early because she had gotten a call from someone that evening that there was a youth, about 16, thrown out of his home because he was openly gay,” Rajner said.
“Denise, not even knowing the child’s name, hit the streets with her car up and down Sistrunk looking for this child. She would take them in. Her home became this safe haven for people to run. In her pain she was moved to make certain no child was turned away.”
Mrs. King’s aunt said she was committed to justice.
“Everything she did, she did it from her heart as a mother,” said Rose Barnes, of Fort Lauderdale.
Julian Bond Chosen For Marriage Equality Advisory Board
The American Foundation for Equal Rights today announced that it has chosen champion civil rights leader, Julian Bond for its advisory board, which includes a diverse and prominent roster of civil rights leaders. The American Foundation for Equal Rights launched its groundbreaking federal court challenge to Prop. 8 in May, and brought together attorneys Theodore Olson and David Boies to argue the case, Perry v. Schwarzenegger.
The Windy City Times reported:
Julian Bond is Chairman of the NAACP Board of Directors. He co-founded and was the first president of the Southern Poverty Law Center and was a founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) . He served more than 20 years in the Georgia legislature after a 1966 U.S. Supreme Court ruling held that the Georgia House of Representatives unconstitutionally denied him the seat he had won.
“The humanity of all Americans is diminished when any group is denied rights granted to others,” Bond said. “This is not a special interest case, but one that should be of great importance to everyone who believes in the principles of equality on which this nation was founded.”
The Los Angeles Times op-ed on being black, gay and African:
In the Los Angeles Times, Douglas Foster, a journalism professor at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, addresses the anti-gay belief that being gay is “un-African,” his experiences in South Africa and the anti-gay legislation in Uganda. Here is an excerpt from his op-ed.
South Africa is far from nirvana for lesbians and gay men: There’s certainly no shortage of homophobia within its borders. But it’s the one place on the continent — and one of the few places in the world — with a constitution that explicitly prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation.
In 2007, when I spent a year in Johannesburg, I heard the deputy chief justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, Dikgang Moseneke, address the Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. In his speech, he paid tribute to liberation heroes like the late Simon Nkoli, a courageous black revolutionary and an out and proud gay man. Nkoli, like the men and women with less well-known names who regularly turn up at Simply Blue, countered the lie that same-sex attraction is a relic of colonialism.
The theme of homophobic African politicians is that gay identity is a perversion imposed on black people by white oppressors. The historical fact is the reverse, of course: Legal prohibitions on homosexuality were originally imposed by white colonial rulers. So it’s no small twist in the plot that the new wave of threats to Ugandan gays should be reinforced by American religious extremists.
The proposed legislation places in stark relief the persistence of deadly prejudice. The roots of hatred can be traced to myriad traditions — indigenous and foreign, white and black. What’s more important than identifying the sources of the poison is to find the antidote. The first step is listening to the voices of African lesbians and gay men, and taking our cues from them about how to offer the most effective support.
I’ve been logging on daily in recent weeks to the Box Turtle Bulletin, the website widely credited with alerting Americans to the Uganda legislation, and also to Gay Uganda, the distinctive, irrepressible blog of a partly closeted young gay blogger who’s broken important news, and provided bracing perspective, ever since the anti-gay panic began to build in Uganda. “I am fighting for our lives and freedom in my country,” the Gay Uganda blogger wrote on New Year’s Day, as government officials and preachers called on Ugandans to join in a nationwide demonstration against homosexuality on Jan. 19.
Read the piece in its entirety here.
Lala Vazquez Poses Topless for Marriage Equality 
The VH1 host follows in the footsteps of her friends Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian and poses for the grassroots campaign against the passing of Prop 8 in 2008.
MTV/VH1 veejay Lala Vazquez bares all and lends her famous form to the NOH8 marriage equality campaign, a photographic protest speaking out against California’s Proposition 8 gay marriage ban.
N0H8 is a photo project and silent protest created by photographer Adam Bouska and his partner Jeff Parshley. Other African-American celebs who have posed are the cast of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, actors Isaiah Washington, Jenson Atwood, Rachel True and Daryll Stephens ; singers Dawn Richardson (Dantity Kane) and the girl group Rich Girls; and Entertainment Tonight Reporter Kevin Frazier to name a few.
Related Posts:Media Spotlights Couples’ Compelling Stories in Prop. 8 Case
January 12, 2010
The federal lawsuit challenging California’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples opened yesterday with testimony from the four plaintiffs.
Numerous local and national media outlets covered the case, including, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, the Associated Press, PBS’s The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle and a host of others. Many of the reports focused closely on the love and commitment of the two couples at the heart of the case.
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Jeffrey J. Zarillo was the first to be called to the stand, The Los Angeles Times reported late yesterday:
Zarrillo, 36, a manager in the entertainment industry, testified tearfully about being denied the right to marry Paul T. Katami, his partner of nearly nine years and a co-plaintiff.
“He is the love of my life,” Zarrillo said.
Later, Kristin M. Perry, a 45-year-old child services professional, testified about her relationship with her partner of 10 years, Sandra B. Stier. In an article published on Tuesday, The New York Times recounted Perry’s statements:
“I remember thinking that she was the sparkliest person I’d ever met,” Ms. Perry is quoted as saying in the New York Times, which drew giggles from the packed courtroom. “When she told Ms. Stier of her feelings, she said, ‘she told me she loved me, too.’ Ms. Perry proposed marriage in 2003, although same-sex marriage was illegal then in California and every other state.”
The Associated Press also published a portion of Perry’s testimony late Monday:
“I’ve been in love with a woman for 10 years, and I don’t have access to a word for it,” said Kristin Perry… “You chose them over everybody else, and you want to feel that it is going to stick and that you are going to have the protection and support and inclusion that comes from letting people know you feel that way.”
Numerous blogs, advocates and LGBT groups are also keeping a close eye on the case via twitter and on their respective sites. And, Shannon Minter, Legal Director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights is providing his legal expertise on Pam’s House Blend. As we reported Monday, The United States Supreme Court put a temporary block on a YouTube broadcast of the federal case. The Supreme Court said the block would allow for “further consideration” about the webcast. A final decision is expected Wednesday.
GLAAD will continue to keep our attention on mainstream media coverage of Perry v. Schwarzenegger. Updates can be found on GLAADblog.org
Related Posts:Supreme Court Blocks Internet Broadcast of Prop. 8 Trial
January 11, 2010
The Supreme Court on Monday put a temporary block on a YouTube broadcast of the federal case challenging California’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples.
That trial begins today in San Francisco.
The Supreme Court said the block would allow for “further consideration” about the webcast, The Washington Post reported today.
The lawsuit was filed by two California couples who argue that California’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples, known as Proposition 8, is unconstitutional. (To read more about the case, click here)
National media outlets are devoting significant coverage to the trial. The Associated Press, The New York Times, and ABC have covered the story extensively, among others.
Newsweek published an editorial in its Jan. 18 issue authored by Theodore B. Olson, the conservative attorney who will argue to overturn the ban. The lengthy article, titled “The Conservative Case for Gay Marriage,” argues that “same-sex unions promote the values conservatives prize.”
Similarly, a CNN.com article published on Monday titled “Courtroom Showdown Set to Begin over Same-Sex Marriage,” touched on the historic significance of the case:
It is expected to set legal precedents that will shape society for years to come and result in a landmark court decision that settles whether Americans can marry people of the same sex.
Meanwhile, many people are taking to Twitter for the most up-to-date news on the trial. Others will have to wait until the Supreme Court decides whether or not to proceed with the YouTube broadcast. That decision is expected to come down on Wednesday.
GLAAD will continue to follow the media’s coverage of the Prop. 8 trial. Updates can be found on GLAADblog.org.
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