LGBT

OutHistory.org Needs Your Help!

Elizabeth — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:18:56 -0800

OutHistory.org is an educational web site on LBGT history developed by the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS) at the

City University of New York Graduate Center . Part archive, part museum, part encyclopedia, it is a rare resource in that it makes scholarship on LGBT history widely accessible outside of academic journals.

This very important project needs your help. Please make a donation if you can! Because of the economic crisis and its impact on public higher education in New York, CLAGS can't continue funding the project, and the grant that established OutHistory expires on December 31, 2008. In an email sent out today by CLAGS director Sarah Chinn and OutHistory director Ned Katz, the importance of the site and its need for funding is put like this: Continue reading after the jump

Good news in Connecticut!

Elizabeth — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:11:09 -0700

Good news from Connecticut this morning: The CT Supreme Court ruled that the state's marriage laws apply to same-sex couples making it the third state to allow same-sex marriage. Even better news: The governor, Jodi Rell, though she does not agree with the decision, will not challenge it. Of course challenges may come from elsewhere. There is a question on the November ballot asking whether direct initiatives should be allowed in CT, as they are in CA, where voters in November will be able to decide directly whether the state's constitution should be amended to expressly limit marriage to couples who fit the one man and one woman formula.

Here's a link to the Connecticut decision (PDF). Click here to read more.

LGBT History: No Faggots, No Trannies, No Perverts Allowed

Chris — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 23:32:26 -0700

People like Pat Robertson or Fred Phelps will never succeed in silencing the voices of queers. They're too recognizably vile, and create an instant, impassioned response against them, to ever act as anything other than very good rallying points for people who believe in social justice and sexual equality. The worst enemies of sexual minorities come from within the LGBT communities themselves. They're the people whose vision of LGBT activism involves making the homos just like the heteros, and want that so badly that they strive not to broaden our culture's vision of sexuality, but instead work to narrow the community's vision of itself. Look, for example, at this quote from Joseph Sabrow's editorial in Metroline, a New England gay and lesbian publication, that Autumn Sandeen spotted:

Mother Love

Chris — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 10:15:55 -0800

Yes, we know that your parents sucked. They didn't let you stay out past nine, were always on your ass about your grades, the people you dated, the awful music that you were listening to, how their generation had more respect for their elders, yadda yadda yadda. And even now that you're grown up, they're still nudzhing at you, right?

Here's some consolation: You don't have Amy Contrada for your mom. Amy Contrada belongs to a Massachusetts anti-gay group called MassResistance which describes itself "the pro-family action center for Massachusetts -- and beyond!" After MassResistance organized a protest of a high-school production of the play The Laramie Project starring Amy's daughter Claudia, Claudia came out as a lesbian.

Oops.

God's Latest Hissy Fit

Chris — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 20:55:54 -0700

I was waiting for a clearer, sharper intellect than my own to come along and make clear the reasons for the holocaust that's consuming Southern California. First, the hard-hitting journalists told me that it was all a plot by Al Qaeda. Fair enough; that seemed plausible at first, but I couldn't help noticing the lack of smug declarations of responsibility from Osama Bin-Laden. But then, I got it. Who's really responsible for all the bad stuff that happens to this country?

FAGGOTS!

Or, as former-homo-current-closet-case-fundamentalist James Hartline puts it:

They shook their fists at God and said, “We don't care what God says, we will issue our legal brief to support gay marriage in San Diego!” Then Mayor Jerry Sanders mocked the Christian vote and signed off on this rebellious legal document to support same-sex marriage.
read more

National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce

Elizabeth — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 16:42:07 -0700

Policy work, political and community organizing, research and reports ... lots of great resources

National Coming Out Day

Elizabeth — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 19:01:39 -0700

From the HRC "National Coming Out Day" page :

This year will also mark an important hallmark as National Coming Out Day, falls on the 20th anniversary of the 1987 Gay and Lesbian March on Washington, and the unfurling of the AIDS Quilt on the National Mall. The very first National Coming Out Day was celebrated a year to the day later as a way of continuing the spirit of openness, honesty and visibility that the March and the AIDS Quilt presentation inspired.

If you know of events in your area, please add them to the calendar!

The Immigration Debate: LGBT Perspectives

Elizabeth — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 09:25:30 -0700

We all too often keep important political issues separated in our mind but recognizing the ways they intersect is often the only way to produce smart policy. This event highlights the intersection of two sets of issues that many people keep separate in their minds, but that really have significant areas of overlap especially around questions discrimination, civil rights, and family status.

A night at the 82 Club with Joe E. Jeffreys

Elizabeth — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 09:04:08 -0700

From the NYU Gender Studies discussion list (posted by Joe E. Jeffreys):

Discover and relive the history of the 82 Club in the very room it took place.

An East Village night spot, starting the 1950s the 82 Club offered lavish drag shows three times nightly for 20 plus years before becoming a rock and roll club (where Wayne County, the New York Dolls and the Mumps played among others) and today serves as a gay male cruising ground.

Incorporating hundreds of photos spanning the history of the space as well as rare audio and video clips Joe E. Jeffreys multi-media talk stirs up tales and ghosts of the fabled club.

This special event is part of HOT! Dixon Places 16th Annual NYC Celebration of Queer Culture.

From the Dixon Place calendar page:

CLOSED: Submit a question for the first ever LGBT-oriented Presidential debate!

Elizabeth — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 09:10:13 -0700

So it seems that "new media" users and activists are spurring challenges to the way we think about presidential campaigns. We've had the YouTube/CNN debate, and now we're gearing up for the HRC/Logo debate. While neither HRC nor Logo are "new media" entities, they want to use the democratizing force of the Internet by inviting you to submit questions that will be asked by HRC president Joe Solmonese, singer Melissa Etheridge, and journalist Jonathan Capeheart.

Issues that uniquely affect the lives of LGBT citizens are often neglected in presidential politics. Do you have a question you'd like the candidates to address? Is there an issue you think has been left out of the traditional debate scheme too often?