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Maddow to Obama: Do
the right thing
MSNBC.com, August 11, 2010
In a special comment on her TV show, Rachel Maddow criticized the “soul-sucking”
insistence of the Obama administration on putting political calculations
above doing what’s right. "If you are changing the policy soon,
why not hold off the ruination of lives under the policy now, in the meantime?
Why not do that? I’ll tell you why. Because that would take some
political capital. That would take some guts.”
Obama
stand does gay Americans no favors
By Leslie J. Gabel-Brett, Bloomberg, September 3, 2010
President Barack Obama has a problem with the lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender community: He keeps making steady progress on some very important
matters, and we keep complaining that he has let us down. Our glass is
half empty and his, it seems, is half full.
Are
Republicans 'co-opting' gay rights?
By Adam Sewer, Washington Post, September 2, 2010
Pro-gay rights Republicans seem to be less of an oxymoron these days.
Former Solicitor General Ted Olson is, along with Ted Boies, leading the
fight in the courts against California's ban on same-sex. Former RNC Chair
Ken Mehlman has come out and begun raising money for the pro-equality
group Americans for Equal Rights. Conservative commentator Ann Coulter,
who once called Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards a "faggot,"
is headlining a political convention for gay and lesbian conservatives.
End
the silent segregation in the U.S. military
By Tracy Emblem, San Diego Gay & Lesbian News, September 1, 2010
In 1948, President Harry Truman issued Executive Order 9981 proclaiming
that "there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all
persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion
or national origin." Compare President Truman’s proclamation
of equal opportunity and treatment in the military to today’s efforts
to repeal the 1993 "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" policy
imposed by Congress.
Now,
clean out the closet
Editorial, Boston Globe, August 31, 2010
When former Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman announced
last week that he is gay, he expressed remorse for not doing more to advance
gay rights when he was in a position of power in the Republican Party.
Addressing those who doubt the sincerity of his regret, he added: "If
they can’t offer support, at least offer understanding.’’
That’s a lot to ask for.
View
from Washington
By Kerry Eleveld, Advocate.com, August 30, 2010
The White House may continue to wear blinders on same-sex marriage, but
the world is transforming around them as conservatives take up the mantle
of equality.
Will
GOP official's self-outing help gay rights?
By Max Fisher, TheAtlanticWire.com, August 26, 2010
Ken Mehlman, a former Republican National Committee chairman and the manager
of George W. Bush's 2004 campaign, has announced that he is gay. The news
has provoked strong reaction in gossip-hungry Washington and especially
among liberals who are wondering why Mehlman worked so hard for a campaign
and political party that have been less than receptive to gay-rights issues.
Many observers write that Mehlman's sexuality was long an open secret.
Here's what people have to say.
Don't
serve, don't promote
By Kara Speltz and Eugene McMullan, Bay Area Reporter, August 26, 2010
While all of us oppose the discriminatory policy known as "Don't
Ask, Don't Tell," as people who take seriously the biblical injunction
against killing we are concerned about the lack of conversation in our
community regarding the morality of military service.
Save
the 14th Amendment
By Rachel B. Tiven, Advocate.com, August 23, 2010
Gay people have a real interest in fighting the effort to strip birthright
citizenship from the 14th amendment, says Immigration Equality executive
director Rachel B. Tiven.
Laura
Schlessinger -- Over and out
Editorial, Bay Area Reporter, August 19, 2010
One of the most vile and bigoted voices on the airwaves is leaving –
and not a moment too soon. Laura Schlessinger, the conservative talk show
commentator who has spent the better part of her career lambasting gays
and other minorities, announced on CNN's Larry King Live Tuesday night
that she was ending her long-running radio show.
On
Prop 8, it's the evidence, stupid
By Lisa Bloom, CNN, August 18, 2010
There's a big difference between a political debate about same-sex marriage
and the recent hard-fought court challenge to the California ban, Proposition
8.
How
I learned to stop worrying and love the Prop 8 lawsuit
By. E. J. Graff, The Nation, August 18, 2010
After a few days of talking with a number of LGBT advocates, I’ve
been reassured, on several counts. First, the lawyers all tell me that,
contrary to the common wisdom, Perry isn’t necessarily on a fast
track to the Supreme Court. It could stop short at the Ninth Circuit on
a number of grounds.
Same-sex
marriage is about equality, not religion
By O.C. Allen, CNN.com, August 16, 2010
I am a product of the "The Black Church." It shaped me into
who I am today: a Christian pastor aware of God's amazing grace and love.
When I announced I was gay, the church limited that grace and love. Although
I had no doubt that God loved me, I discovered that God's love and the
church's love can be two different things. To be Christian is to be inclusive
of people who love one another. This is why I support same-sex marriage.
Angels
in America
By Frank Rich, New York Times, August 15, 2010
In 1985, Judith Peabody, a frequent contributor to the traditional good
causes favored by those of her wealthy class, did the unthinkable by volunteering
to work as a hands-on caregiver to AIDS patients and their loved ones.
Those patients were then mostly gay men.
In
Defense of Marriage
Editorial, New York Times, August 14, 2010
If same-sex couples in California have the constitutional right to be
part of the mainstream of society, then so should every couple in America.
A
judge with no right to judge?
By Leonard Pitts, Miami Herald, August 12, 2010
Vaughn Walker is the federal judge, originally appointed by Ronald Reagan
and generally regarded, according to the Associated Press, as "a
conservative with libertarian leanings," who struck down Proposition
8, California’s ban on same-sex marriage. It turns out there is
a rumor — never confirmed or denied — that Walker himself
is gay. That has launched proponents of the ban into a full-fledged tizzy.
Working
to empower black LGBTs
By Sharon Lettman, Bay Area Reporter, August 12, 2010
In African American communities only some of us feel comfortable going
home. In our communities, only some of us feel safe enough to be who we
are in the company of those who raised us. Only some of us can show up
and be all of ourselves all of the time with the people we love most.
The pain of moving through our families – closeted, and, in many
instances, alienated – is devastating black families everywhere.
My
fellow conservatives, think carefully about your opposition to gay marriage
By Margaret Hoover, FoxNews.com, August 11, 2010
As a conservative Republican representing the next generation of attitudes
towards gays and lesbians, I encouraged the readers of FoxNews.com last
January to take a careful look at the arguments and evidence in the Prop
8 trial, Perry v. Schwarzenegger.
The
great (gay) surname debate
By Tracy Clark-Flory, Salon.com, August 11, 2010
What's the next step after a same-sex marriage? A same-sex name change
-- at least, that's the case for Portia de Rossi, who has petitioned to
adopt wife Ellen DeGeneres' last name. To gay couples everywhere: Welcome
to the surname wars!
Is
there really a "fight" for gay marriage?
By Vanessa Carmichael, Huffington Post, August 10, 2010
The tipping point for gay and lesbian equality is clearly on the horizon
but I'm afraid it's going to need a little more activism on the part of
gay and lesbian Americans. If you understand Obama is the president of
a rather conservative country and not the Gay Civil Rights Leader, you
get the need for marriage equality supporters to invest diligently in
winning this struggle.
The
marriage ideal
By Ross Douthat, New York Times, August 9, 2010
Here are some commonplace arguments against gay marriage: Marriage is
an ancient institution that has always been defined as the union of one
man and one woman, and we meddle with that definition at our peril. Lifelong
heterosexual monogamy is natural; gay relationships are not. The nuclear
family is the universal, time-tested path to forming families and raising
children. These have been losing arguments for decades now, as the cause
of gay marriage has moved from an eccentric- seeming notion to an idea
that roughly half the country supports.
View
from Washington: No change
By Kerry Eleveld, Advocate.com, August 9, 2010
Even as White House aides responded to the historic ruling overturning
Prop. 8, they were at pains to communicate that Obama's position on the
issue was simply business as usual.
For
politicians, a marriage of inconvenience
By Lou Cannon, New York Times, August 9, 2010
Can Meg Whitman take advantage of a federal judge’s decision to
overturn the ban on same-sex marriage in California?
Homosexuality
and the law
Editorial, Los Angeles Times, August 9, 2010
Tucked away in U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker’s opinion
is something that could carry weight not only in this lawsuit, as it moves
through the courts, but in other same-sex marriage cases and debates about
the rights of gays and lesbians. It is a brief statement addressing whether
homosexuals should be regarded as the kind of minority group that deserves
special protection by the courts under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.
A
judge's mighty arguments for marriage equality
By Eugene Robinson, Washington Post, August 6, 2010
The 14th Amendment is a mighty sword, and U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker
used it Wednesday to slice and shred all the specious arguments -- and
I mean all of them -- that are used to deny full marriage rights to gay
and lesbian Americans. Bigotry has suffered a grievous blow.
Why
are anti-gay Texas leaders silent on Prop 8 ruling?
By John Wright, Dallas Voice, August 6, 2010
Perry v. Schwarzenegger could eventually result in Texas’ same-sex
marriage bans being struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court. So you’d
expect politicians in Texas to be lining up to sound off about U.S. District
Judge Vaughn Walker’s ruling that declared California’s Prop
8 unconstitutional. Or not.
Proposition
8 and S.B. 1070: Sisters under the skin?
By Sandip Roy, Salon.com, August 6, 2010
I have no idea if Judge Robert Vaughn Walker and Judge Susan Bolton know
each other, but within one week, they had suddenly brought together two
parts of who I am. As a gay immigrant, I am used to juggling identities,
never sure which one is acceptable in which setting, which one I should
check at the door.
Marriage
is a constitutional right
Editorial, New York Times, August 5, 2010
Until Wednesday, the thousands of same-sex couples who have married did
so because a state judge or Legislature allowed them to. The nation’s
most fundamental guarantees of freedom, set out in the Constitution, were
not part of the equation. That has changed with the historic decision
by a federal judge in California, Vaughn Walker, that said his state’s
ban on same-sex marriage violated the 14th Amendment’s rights to
equal protection and due process of law.
Donations
off Target
Editorial, Bay Area Reporter, August 5, 2010
If Target really has an "unwavering commitment to the LGBT community,"
as Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel said last week, it wouldn't have given
money to a candidate who says that LGBT people should be treated like
second-class citizens.
Prop.
8 lessons
By Lorri L. Jean, Advocate.com, August 4, 2010
L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center CEO Lorri L. Jean explains what the new Prop.
8 analysis means for changing the grassroots game plan and winning over
voters.
Why
we are protesting against "Americans for Truth about Homosexuality"
By Andy Thayer, Huffington Post, August 3, 2010
Beginning August 5, a group which calls itself Americans For Truth About
Homosexuality is organizing what they call an "academy" to "train
young people (as well as older pro-family advocates) how to answer 'gay'
activist misinformation and fight the homosexual-bisexual-transsexual
agenda." AFTAH has a long history of telling lies about LGBT people,
and recently was designated a "hate group" by the Southern Poverty
Law Center.
Dems
need to get a spine
Editorial, Bay Area Reporter
The national Democrats need to toughen up and not succumb to right wing
distractions, which have stalled the congressional calendar. Congress
has one week before the August recess and then doesn't return until after
Labor Day, leaving only eight working weeks before the November midterm
elections.
This
is why I was arrested, Speaker Pelosi
By Shannon Cuttle, Washington Blade
I have held meetings, I have lobbied, I have phone banked all in support
of passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Speaker Pelosi, what
more can I do to "push," you as requested? Everyday lives are
on the line and hang in the balance for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
individuals in and out of the workplace. I am asking you to please bring
ENDA for a vote before the end of 2010.
The
Kids Are All Right? No Way!
By Joan Garry, Huffington Post, July 27, 2010
You're wondering how a lesbian mom and gay rights activist can possibly
have any issues with the first mainstream feature film with box office
stars as lesbians who raise a family together. Do I have to be so damned
picky? Yes, I do.
(Gay)
Life, on the Small and Big Screen
Opinion, New York Times, July 23, 2010
It’s a long way from "Brokeback Mountain" to "The
Kids Are All Right," the critically praised film about a lesbian
couple played by Julianne Moore and Annette Bening. As A.O. Scott wrote
in his New York Times review, the movie "starts from the premise
that gay marriage, an issue of ideological contention and cultural strife,
is also an established social fact." What effect have these portrayals
played in gaining social acceptance for same-sex families and in changing
social perceptions?
Looking
for time bombs and tea leaves on gay marriage
New York Times, July 20, 2010
An aside about laws affecting gay men and lesbians in a recent case is
being viewed as a potential signal for a future Supreme Court ruling on
same-sex marriage.
The
Vatican and women: Casting the first stone
By Tim Padgett, Time Magazine, July 20, 2010
The Vatican issued an avowal, as obtuse as it was malicious, that ordaining
women into the priesthood was a sin on par with pedophilia. Rome's misogynous
declaration, tossed into its new guidelines on reporting clerical sexual
abuse, did more than just highlight the church's hoary horror at the idea
of female priests — or its penchant of late for sticking its papal
slippers in its mouth every chance it gets. It also pointed up an increasingly
spiteful rhetoric of bigotry.
A
summer for gay rights
By Richard Socarides, The Huffington Post, July 19, 2010
This is shaping up as the summer of gay rights in the courts. The twin
victories last week from the US District Court in Massachusetts striking
down as unconstitutional key portions of the anti-gay "Defense of
Marriage Act" and the eagerly anticipated decision in the federal
Proposition 8 case in California have made for enormous excitement in
the legal and civil rights communities.
Rome
fiddles, we burn
Maureen Dowd, New York Times, July 19, 2010
If the Vatican is trying to restore the impression that its moral sense
is intact, issuing a document that equates pedophilia with the ordination
of women doesn’t really do that.
Why
the US should adopt the UK stance on gay soldiers in the military
By Phillip Dayle, The Guardian, July 16, 2010
The US Congress is poised to get rid of the military's "Don't ask
don't tell" policy, which prevents gay and lesbian people from serving
openly. The discussion in the US mirrors what took place in the UK before
the European Court of Human Rights' decision on Lustig-Prean and Beckitt
v the United Kingdom in 1999 that eliminated the service ban on gay and
lesbian people in the military.
How
the GOP is saving gay marriage
By Joshua Green, The Atlantic, July 15, 2010
Last week, a U.S. District Court judge in Boston struck down a significant
portion of the Defense of Marriage Act, ruling that the controversial
1996 federal law violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution
by denying gay and lesbian couples the federal benefits afforded to straight
couples. Nearly as significant as the decision itself is the political
affiliation of the judge who made it: 79-year-old Joseph Tauro, a Republican
and the longest-serving appointee of Richard Nixon.
Tauro
ruling on DOMA should stand
By Sen. John Kerry, TheHill.com, July 15, 2010
In 1996, I voted against DOMA because I believed—and still believe—that
it was unconstitutional and unconscionable for Congress to actively legislate
against gay Americans. I thought back on this last week when a United
States District Court declared DOMA’s restrictions unconstitutional.
Pentagon
survey on gays distracts from real issue: Leadership
Aaron Belkin, Huffington Post, July 13, 2010
The Pentagon survey is flawed, to be sure. Several questions ask whether
gays or lesbians impact unit cohesion "a lot," "a little,"
"some," or "not at all," with no way to indicate whether
that effect is positive or negative. Perhaps even more troubling, the
survey asks questions that would never be posed of other minority groups.
Same-sex
marriage sanity
Editorial, Los Angeles Times, July 13, 2010
What is the rational basis for laws that deprive gay and lesbian couples
of the right to wed? The arguments that have emerged so far — that
same-sex marriage is bad for child-rearing and that it damages heterosexual
unions — fall apart under the slightest scrutiny. A judge in Massachusetts
recognized this in a case involving the federal Defense of Marriage Act;
now the judge in the lawsuit against California's Proposition 8 should
do the same.
Letters to QSanAntonio Do you have an opinion about something that you've read in QSanAntonio?
All letters should include your full name and telephone number. You will
be called to verify the letter’s publication. Your letter can be
published with your initials only if you wish. Letters should as brief
as needed to make your point. We reserve the right to edit letters for
length and clarity. All letters become the property of QSanAntonio Publishing.