Exclusive cineGLAAD Video: Dustin Lance Black, Joe Solmonese, and Reed Cowan Discuss 8: The Mormon Proposition
January 29, 2010
This past Sunday at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, cineGLAAD hosted the panel discussion LGBT Civil Rights & The Power of Film – 8: The Mormon Proposition, which featured leaders in the fight for marriage equality debating the ways in which film and media can sway public opinion as we strive to change the hearts and minds of voters who oppose equality. Panelists also provided fascinating insight into the current efforts to overturn California’s anti-gay Proposition 8.
The powerful documentary 8: The Mormon Proposition investigates the decades long campaign the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has been waging against the rights of gays and lesbians to marry, and also examines the psychological toll that anti-gay bigotry takes on LGBT Mormon youth.
Kate Kendell, Executive Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, moderated the thought-provoking discussion featuring several of the people behind 8: The Mormon Proposition: Reed Cowan (Director); Dustin Lance Black (Narrator); Bruce Bastian (Executive Producer); and featured cast Joe Solmonese (President – Human Rights Campaign) and Dennis Herrera (San Francisco City Attorney).
In the first video below, Black and Solmonese discuss the lessons we’ve learned since Prop 8’s passage in California. In the second video, Cowan, seated next to Kendell, discusses his film’s focus on the harms done to LGBT youth.
Related Posts:Exclusive cineGLAAD Video: Dustin Lance Black at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival
January 25, 2010
Attendees of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival packed into the Filmmaker Lodge yesterday for cineGLAAD’s panel, LGBT Civil Rights and the Power of Film: 8: The Mormon Proposition. Kate Kendell, Executive Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, moderated the thought-provoking discussion featuring several of the people behind the festival documentary 8: The Mormon Proposition: Reed Cowan (Director); Dustin Lance Black (Narrator); Bruce Bastian (Executive Producer); and featured cast Joe Solmonese (President – Human Rights Campaign) and Dennis Herrera (San Francisco City Attorney).
8: The Mormon Proposition investigates the decades long campaign the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has been waging against the rights of gays and lesbians to marry. Panelists debated the ways in which film and media can sway public opinion as we strive to change the hearts and minds of voters who oppose equality and also provided fascinating insight into the current efforts to overturn California’s anti-gay Proposition 8.
In the coming days, check out glaadBLOG.org for exclusive video from the panel. In the meantime, below you can check out GLAAD’s Director of Entertainment Media Taj Paxton’s interview with Academy Award-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black in which he discusses the ways LGBT youth can take an active role in the movement.
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: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:BREAKING: Supreme Court Votes to Block Webcast of Prop. 8 Trial
January 13, 2010
That block will remain in effect until the Court rules on an upcoming appeal that will challenge the decision, SCOTUS Blog reports.
SCOTUS blog goes on to say:
“As a practical matter, the ruling almost certainly dooms any broadcast coverage of the trial as it goes on. The trial’s length has been estimated variously at two weeks to several weeks. There is no indication that final Supreme Court action on the dispute would be speeded up to the point that the question could be resolved during that brief span of time..”
The 17-page decision states that the U.S. District Court in San Francisco defied standing procedures regarding public broadcasts when it declared the proceedings would be available online via YouTube on a delay.
GLAAD will continue to follow the media’s coverage of the Prop. 8 trial. Updates can be found on GLAADblog.org
Related Posts:Historians Testify In Favor of Marriage Equality in Prop. 8 Case, Media Takes Notice
January 13, 2010
Two historians appeared in federal court on Tuesday in the Proposition 8 case which challenges a voter sanctioned ban on marriage for same-sex couples in California.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported on Wednesday that Harvard history professor Nancy Cott spoke to the court about the history of marriage and the evolution of matrimony in America:
Those who supported prohibitions on weddings across racial lines, bans dating from colonial days that the Supreme Court abolished only in 1967, often argued that “the institution would be degraded, their own marriages would be devalued” if such unions were allowed, Nancy Cott testified in San Francisco on the second day of the U.S. District Court trial of a suit challenging Prop. 8.
Similarly, she said, 19th century laws in most states that required women to surrender their property, earnings and legal status to their husbands were viewed by their supporters as “absolutely essential to what marriage was.” It took a series of Supreme Court rulings in the 1970s, Cott said, to stamp out the remnants of sex discrimination in marriage laws.
George Chauncey, a Yale historian specializing in 20th century LGBT studies, also testified on Tuesday, The Associated Press reported:
After viewing several television commercials produced by Proposition 8’s sponsors, Chauncey said images and language suggesting the ballot initiative was needed to “protect children” were reminiscent of earlier efforts to “demonize” gays, ranging from police raids on gay bars during the 1950s to campaigns to rid public schools of gay teachers in the 1970s.
“You have a pretty strong echo of this idea that simple exposure to gay people and their relationships is somehow going to lead a whole generation of young kids to become gay,” Chauncey said. “The underlying message here is something about the undesirability of homosexuals, that we don’t want our children to become this way.”
The case is drawing a great deal of national media attention. MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow interviewed attorneys David Boies and Ted Olson, the lawyers representing the plaintiffs in the case, on last nights program and discussed the landmark case as well as Ted Olson’s recent Newsweek editorial titled, “The Conservative Case for Gay Marriage.”
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Media are also focusing attention on Wednesday’s expected decision about whether or not to broadcast the trial online via YouTube. The Huffington Post published an article on Wednesday titled, “Let the Prop 8 Trial Be Broadcast,” that calls on the Supreme Court to lift a temporary stay on broadcasting the proceedings. U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, who is presiding over the case, noted on Monday that he had received over 138,000 signatures in favor of a broadcast and just 32 opposed. A final decision is expected later today.
GLAAD will continue to follow the media’s coverage of the Prop. 8 case. Updates can be found on GLAADblog.org
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.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
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.
Related Posts:Maine Education Officials Dispute Claim that Marriage for Same-Sex Couples will be Taught in Schools
September 25, 2009
The Maine-based newspaper Sun Journal reported on Wednesday that the anti-LGBT ‘Stand for Marriage’ organization has come under fire for misleading voters about marriage for same-sex couples.
In a television advertisement that began airing this week, ‘Stand for Marriage’ alleges that extending marriage protections to Maine’s same-sex couples “has everything to do with schools.” The ad features a Massachusetts couple who tells the story of how their 7 year-old son’s teacher read a book to the class about one prince marrying another prince.
Maine’s Department of Education spokesperson David Connerty-Marin, however, disputes the claim that providing marriage protections for same-sex couples would make any difference to the state’s education policies:
Seeing as there is nothing in Maine education law or rule that even mentions marriage, I think it’s quite unlikely that changing the rules about marriage would encourage anyone to change what they are teaching in the classroom.
Connerty-Marin goes on to point out that there is nothing that prohibits Maine’s teachers from addressing the issue of same-sex couples in the classroom today:
There is nothing that would prohibit a teacher – two years ago, 10 years ago or a year from now – from reading a book to your child that you don’t like. Your recourse would be to talk to your child’s teacher, principal, superintendent or school board and ultimately work to change policies or change the people who sit on that school board if you don’t agree with those.
Jesse Connolly, campaign manager for the No on 1/ Protect Marriage Equality campaign also weighed in on the issue in the Sun Journal article:
To say that gay marriage is going to be taught in school is totally, 100 percent false in my opinion. There are gay and lesbian families in Maine that have kids in public schools, so if you’re asking if those families are already acknowledged in the classroom by teachers, then I would say yes. But that has nothing to do with this campaign or bill.
AMERICAblog author John Aravosis notes that the ad’s scare tactic is not only similar to the fear based approach used in California’s Proposition 8 battle, it is exactly the same. Aravosis points out that the ad reuses the exact footage of the Massachusetts couple featured in the anti-LGBT ‘Yes on 8’ campaign last fall.
These are extreme views in any context and we believe that Maine voters will see through this cast of characters and focus on the real issue of treating all Maine families with dignity and respect… The fact that the ‘Yes on 1’ campaign would literally repackage the same ad their California consultants used in California is a testament to the national outsiders pushing their agenda on the voters of Maine. This is nothing more than a tired national playbook concocted by California political consultants and the national groups that pay their way.
GLAAD will continue to monitor the media’s coverage of Maine’s fight for marriage equality. Updates can be found on glaadBLOG.org
Related Posts:Mormon LGBT Group Challenges LDS on Anti-Gay Practices
September 22, 2009
Affirmation Gay and Lesbian Mormons celebrated 30 years of support and advocacy on September 18-20. More than 200 members from across the country convened in Salt Lake City, Utah, to explore next steps toward equality in the Mormon Church and society.
GLAAD staff was on hand to provide media assistance for a press conference where Affirmation launched its “Keep Them and Love Them” website. The site provides accurate information in accessible language to prevent family and church rejection when a loved one comes out. People who are coming out, their families and church leaders need accurate information to reduce homelessness, despair and suicide.
Robert Moore/Photo Courtesy of Salt Lake Tribune
Affirmation’s director of youth work, Robert Moore, shared his story of being a seventh generation Mormon who was thrown out of his family’s home as a teen when they discovered he was gay. He was homeless for many months but worked to support himself. Today, he says, “We cannot keep treating our young people like trash.”
GLAAD staff helped Affirmation with media releases and prepared them for follow-up television interviews. With coverage by the Salt Lake City Tribune, the Deseret News and local Fox TV, hundreds of thousands of Utah residents know that gay Mormons are shining a light on the harm caused by misinformation and discrimination.
The high profile role of Mormons in the Proposition 8 campaign in California mobilized an increasing number of pro-LGBT Mormons and ramped up additional political actions to urge Utah government officials and Mormon leaders to support pro-LGBT legislation and families with gay members. While up-front funding of anti-equality work has diminished, leaders in Iowa recently pointed toward the well-known anti-equality group, National Organization for Marriage, as a conduit for Mormon monies.
Affirmation’s media engagement paves the way for two separate early October meetings with Utah Governor Gary Herbert. One is with the Foundation for Reconciliation and the other is with leaders of Equality Utah. Both meetings were precipitated by earlier media work by the Foundation for Reconciliation as assisted by GLAAD in response to Utah’s Governor comparing legal protections for LGBT people to legal protections for “blue-eyed blonds.”
Related Posts:George Takei and Husband Brad Altman to Appear on The Newlywed Game
September 17, 2009
Yesterday, GSN announced the premiere date (October 12) for its revamped edition of The Newlywed Game and also revealed that the first episode will be a celebrity edition that will feature Star Trek’s George Takei and his huband, Brad Altman, among others.
Brad Altman (l.) and George Takei (r.) on their wedding day in 2008
Takei and Altman were married last September in Los Angeles prior to the passage of Prop.8 in California. They recently celebrated their first wedding anniversary, but have actually been together for 22 years. When they appear on the game show next month, they will compete against former teen idol Davy Jones of The Monkees and Dancing with the Stars‘ Edyta Sliwinska and their respective spouses.
Back in August, we blogged about The Newlywed Game, which is hosted by Ricky Lake, opening its casting to same-sex couples and are delighted to see them follow through! Though the new season will feature several other celebrity editions, we hope to see everyday LGBT newlywed couples competing as well.
Related Posts:Utah Newspaper Refuses Gay Couple’s Wedding Announcement
August 13, 2009
Spencer Jones and Tyler Barrick were married at San Francisco City Hall on June 17, 2008. The couple rushed to get married on the first day California gay couples were legally allowed to do so – and were lucky enough to have their marriage upheld by the California Supreme Court post Proposition 8.
Jones and Barrick planned to return to their hometown in Southern Utah on August 22, 2009 to have their formal wedding reception with their family and friends.
Like any other happy couple, they planned to announce their reception in their local paper – both to celebrate their happiness and to make sure all their friends knew where to celebrate with them.
But, their hometown paper, The Spectrum, in St. George, Utah rejected their ad.
At first, the paper said they could run the announcement in the “celebrations” section of the paper – but only if there was no picture.
Jones and Barrick objected to being told their picture would be excluded, and in response president and publisher Donnie Welch decided that no announcement would run at all. He told the couple, “As our policy is to run marriage announcements recognized by Utah Law, I have made the decision to not run this announcement.”
When Jones and Barrick were first married in June 2008, they received widespread media coverage, from People Magazine to the Bay Area Reporter. They also were mentioned and pictured by USA Today – which, like The Spectrum, is owned by Gannett. Tyler’s mom created a video that shows all the media coverage.
The advertisement that Jones and Barrick submitted looked like this:
Spencer Jones and Tyler Barrick
Tyler Jerome Barrick and Spencer Kent Jones
Tyler Jerome Barrick and Spencer Kent Jones will celebrate their marriage in a ceremony on September 6, 2009, at the Rio Villa Resort on the banks of the Russian River in Sonoma County, California. An open house and reception will be held in their honor on August 22, 2009, at 7PM, at 908 Madison Heights in Washington, Utah.
Spencer is the son of Leon and Cherie Jones, currently of Stansbury Park, Utah, and formerly of St. George, Utah. Tyler is the son of Steven and Linda Stay of Washington, Utah.
The grooms met in St. George, Utah, in 2001, while Spencer was home on winter break from Dartmouth College and Tyler was attending Dixie State College. The couple has subsequently lived together in Washington, DC, Tokyo, Japan, and San Francisco, California. Spencer graduated with a B.A. in government and history from Dartmouth in 2002, subsequently obtained a Juris Doctorate from Stanford Law School in 2007, and currently works as a litigation associate for the international law firm of O’Melveny & Myers LLP in San Francisco. Tyler graduated with a B.S. in nursing from the University of San Francisco in 2007, and he currently works as a cardiac R.N. at the UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco. Tyler and Spencer were among the first dozen same-sex couples to legally obtain their marriage license in San Francisco last year, on June 17, 2008. The couple has made their home in San Francisco, where they reside with their dog Cooper.
GLAAD reached out to Mr. Welch with concerns when we heard this story. We shared with him a few important facts:
- The Spectrum is a Gannett newspaper, and 85% of all Gannett newspapers that run any type of wedding announcement will, under most circumstances, run the ads of same sex couples, like Jones and Barrick.
- GLAAD launched the Announcing Equality campaign in 2002 after working with The New York Times to open its weddings and celebrations pages to same-sex couples.In 2002, there were only 70 daily papers in the U.S. willing to print a wedding/commitment ceremony announcement for a same-sex couple. After The Kansas City Star joined the list of LGBT-inclusive papers in June of this year, this number today stands at 1,052.
- In 2008, another paper in Utah, The Herald Journal, which has an even smaller readership than The Spectrum printed it’s first same sex wedding announcement – and faced relatively little community push back. There were a few very vocal opponents, but overall, the decision had little-to-no business impact.
But Welch still declined to publish Jones and Barrick’s announcement, telling GLAAD he was, “making a business decision.”
The Spectrum boasts advertising from major companies in the circular section of it’s website. Of the 18 companies listed, 15 have non discrimination policies covering sexual orientation, 8 also include gender identity – according to HRC’s Corporate Equality Index.
GLAAD’s Senior Director of Media Programs, Rashad Robinson issued this statement about Welch’s decision:
“We believe all couples should be able to celebrate their weddings with their local communities. What’s more meaningful than a wedding-the joining of a couple in a loving commitment? We believe everyone should have this opportunity and we’ll continue to work so that couples in every locality – including St. George, Utah – can share this rich part of their lives.”
GLAAD encourages you – particularly those who live in Utah – to reach out to The Spectrum’s Donnie Welch, and urge him to publish Spender and Tyler’s announcement.
Contact:
Donnie Welch
President/Publisher, The Spectrum
435-674-6222
Jones has also contacted the National Center for Lesbian Rights, a national LGBT legal organization, to alert them to this incident. Executive Director Kate Kendell made a statement that “NCLR is very disturbed and disappointed to hear about the treatment that Spencer and Tyler experienced. No family or couple should be made to feel like their relationship is somehow of a lesser status simply because of their sexual orientation.” Both GLAAD and NCLR will continue to keep a close eye on the situation as it develops.
Related Posts:Brad Pitt Reiterates Support for Marriage Equality
August 7, 2009
Three years ago, actor Brad Pitt stated his support for marriage equality in Esquire Magazine. In a interview with Parade Magazine posted online yesterday, Pitt again came out in support of equal rights for gay and lesbian couples.
From Parade.com:
“I have love in my life, a soul mate–absolutely. When someone asked me why Angie and I don’t get married, I replied, ‘Maybe we’ll get married when it’s legal for everyone else.’ I stand by that, although I took a lot of flak for saying it–hate mail from religious groups. I believe everyone should have the same rights. They say gay marriage ruins families and hurts kids. Well, I’ve had the privilege of seeing my gay friends being parents and watching their kids grow up in a loving environment.”
GLAAD previously reported on Pitt’s support of marriage equality late last year when he gave $100,000 to fight Prop 8 in California. We commend Pitt for his continued support and the strong stance he has taken through his actions as well as his words.
American Apparel Not Deterred by Anti-LGBT Vandals
July 24, 2009
A Washington D.C. area American Apparel store had its window shattered by vandals on Tuesday, allegedly in a protest of the store’s ‘Legalize Gay’ t-shirt display.
American Apparel has been a longtime outspoken advocate in support of LGBT equality and began printing ‘Legalize Gay’ on its trademark, multicolored plain tees in November 2008 in response to California’s passage of Prop. 8 – a bill that repealed marriage protections for same-sex couples in that state.
Although American Apparel does not donate all proceeds from the shirt’s sales to LGBT organizations, the company notes on its website that:
Scores of our employees were on the frontlines of [Prop. 8] protests in Los Angeles, handing out hundreds of Legalize Gay t-shirts to supporters, and we have donated over $17,000 worth of these shirts to protestors, Harvey Milk High School in New York City and local gay-interest businesses. We plan on donating at least 1,000 more to organizations that support marriage equality, and are currently discussing potential projects with GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco.
The Washington Blade reported yesterday that Kassandra Powell came to work on Tuesday to find that her Silver Springs, MD store had its front display window broken. The ‘Legalize Gay’ t-shirt display still stood among the broken glass. Powell, who manages the store, later reported that nothing had been stolen.
Just one day later, a Georgetown store received a phone call from an anonymous male who threatened to break that store’s window unless store management agreed to remove the ‘Legalize Gay’ tees from its windows. The caller said that he “found the shirts offensive.”
American Apparel responded to the threat in a statement on Wednesday that let would-be vandals know the company will not be intimidated:
Not only are [vandals] not going to prevent us from speaking out on [marriage for same sex couples], an issue that is important to this company and our employees, but we’ll continue to run Legalize Gay advertisements in papers across the DC- Metro area. We’ll also send Legalize Gay t-shirts to any group in Washington DC that is fighting for gay rights and will help support any protest or rally for the cause. We don’t find this kind of thing funny and we definitely don’t find it intimidating.
GLAAD applauds American Apparel for standing its ground in a commitment to fairness and equality and will continue to monitor any developments related to this issue.
Related Posts:A Fresno Nos Vamos! – To Fresno We Go!
June 2, 2009
Photo Courtesy of Colleen Broderick
Este 30 de mayo, miles de activistas LGBT y sus amigos y aliados viajaron a Fresno para protestar la decisión de la corte suprema del estado de California, la cual no anuló a la Proposicón 8. La Proposición 8 fue aprobada por aproximadamente 52% de los votantes el 4 de noviembre y eliminó el derecho de matrimonio civíl para parejas del mismo sexo, un derecho que la corte misma otorgó en su fayo de mayo del 2008.
Se veían muchos individuales, parejas y familias Latinas entre los miles protestando en Fresno, incluyendo Christine Chavez, nieta de César Chavez, quien inspiró muchísimo al grupo de manifestantes. Hemos visto tambien mucha cobertura excelente en los medios en español sobre este tema, incluyendo en el programa en Noticiero Telemundo y Despierta America de Univision.
Es alentador ver a tantos Latinos y Latinas contando sus historias en los medios y asi cambiando mentes y corazones. Asi es que llegaremos a contar con millones más de aliados.
On May 30, thousands of LGBT activists and their supporters travelled to Fresno to protest the California Supreme Court decision refusing to overturn Proposition 8. Proposition 8 was approved by approximately 52% of state voters on November 4 and eliminated the right to marriage for gay couples.
Many Latinos were among those gathered in Fresno, including Christine Chavez, the granddaughter of César Chavez who inspired activists with her words. We’ve seen excellent coverage in Spanish-Language media of the marriage decision, including on Noticiero Telemundo and Despierta America on Univision.
Photo Courtesy of Colleen Broderick
It’s great to see so many Latinos telling their stories in the media, helping to change hearts and minds, which is how the LGBT community will soon count millions more allies to our cause.
