Organization Spotlight: National Education Association GLBT Caucus

The National Education Association Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Caucus (NEA GLBT) works to provide GLBT teachers, education support professionals, and students, with safe schools free of anti-GLBT bias and intolerance, and to provide sound education programs for all students.

Take Part in Historic and Important International LGBT Survey

For the first time, there is a global study of LGBT lifestyles, demographics, workplace issues, causes of concern, discrimination and many more important topics. The results will be used by governments, business and other organizations and can make sure we enjoy an equal ’seat at the table’ in society.

The 2010 Out Now Global LBGT Study is surveying LGBT people living around the world – sampling into 20 countries, looking at what significant issues affect our lives today.

Being involved is easy – it takes just 15 minutes to complete a survey online at www.CommunityValues2010.com – and you may even get lucky and win one of their giveaway prizes: including flights, Amazon gift cards and iTunes vouchers.

Crossposted via Best Gay Blogs.

Open Forum: LGBTQAIZ5123?

Labels for the community have been evolving and continue to evolve to this day. It started with "Gay" which included same-sex attracted males and females, then it branched out to include "Lesbians" as their own separate label. Over time other movements like the "Bisexuals" and "Transgender" populations joined in under the acronym "GLBT". The acronym was thought to be biased towards the "G" and hence the more popularized acronym became "LGBT". Now we see movement to change the acronym so that perhaps the "B" or "T" come before the "L" or the "G" in the sequence of the letters to be more reflective of an inclusive community.

Just when you thought the whole "LGBT" or is it "GLBT" drama was settled we now have new movements boarding the sexual/gender minority bandwagon. "Queer" people who reject the notion that sexuality is fixed and who don't attach binaristic labels want "Q" added to the ever long list of letters in the acronym. People who are "Questioning" their sexuality or are curious want the "Q" to represent the term "Questioning". "Intersex" people don't want to be lumped under the "Transgender" umbrella and want the "I" added to the list. "Asexuals" want to be recognized as a legitimate sexual orientation and have "A" added to the list. "A" has also been representative of those who consider themselves "Allies" to the community.

So we already have a long and varied list with letters overlapping for different communities who want representation. Confusing huh? Well there are also movements by "Polyamorous" families, fetish groups, "Pansexuals", "Two-spirits", and others who want to be part of the acronym.

How far do we go with the acronym, is the label "LGBT" fair and inclusive? Or should we come up with a new term to describe all of these sexual/gender minorities. Is Queer too broad and open so that if we use it nobody will know what we are talking about? Share your thoughts on this ever growing and evolving debate...

Atticus Circle Urges You to Write a Straight Friend Today

In honor of "Day Without a Gay". Atticus Circle is encouraging the LGBT and Straight community to write to at least one straight friend, neighbor, or co-worker and ask a straight person to take a public stand for LGBT equality, perhaps for the first time, by joining Atticus Circle.

Click here to send the form.

Constitution State Embraces Constitution!

Congratulations to our LGBT brothers and sisters in Connecticut, today marks the beginning of legal marriage equality within the state. The court ruled on Oct 10th, 4-3 that gay couples should be afforded constitutional protection. Anyone getting hitched?

HRC Survey - Campaigning for LGBT Equality

The Human Rights Campaign is asking people to fill out their online survey so that they can get a better sense of what we want them to be fighting for. If you are upset about lack of transgender inclusion within HRC this is a good opportunity to speak up.

Click here for the survey

Resources for Coming Out of the Closet!

"Why are people afraid to come out?

Answer: There can be many reasons people are afraid to come out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. It depends on the culture you were brought up in, your religion and the point of view of your family and friends. People coming out now, don’t necessarily realize the stigma associated with being gay as little as ten years ago. Forty years ago, people were thrown in jail for dancing with same-sex partners in gay and lesbian bars. It was only in 2003 that the Texas sodomy law was overturned, finally making sex between two same-sex consenting adults legal. In 33 states you can still be fired for being gay.

Read more at lesbianlife.about.com.

HRC's Coming Out Project helps GLBT, as well as straight-supportive people live openly and talk about their support for equality at home, at work and in their communities each and every day.

Bisexual

Learn more about the specific issues around coming out as bisexual.

In Communities of Color

Learn more about the specific issues around coming out in communities of color.

Straight Supporters

Learn more about the specific issues around coming out as a straight supporter.

Transgender

Learn more about the specific issues around coming out as transgender.

Crossposted via Wicked Gay Blog

Open Forum: Is the Community Comprised of Hypocrites?

We claim to pride ourselves on diversity and promote the notion of acceptance of others. Are we really hypocrites in disguise behind the banner of a rainbow?

We dispel myths and claim to hate labels but we also embrace all these things we so often argue against. The community claims that we don't need to follow heteronormative thinking and that we don't define ourselves by our genders. Among lesbians you see butch and femme, and among gay men there are tops and bottoms. Doesn't this follow the heternormative philosophy of a dominant "man" and a more passive "woman" role. If we claim to despise categorization and labels why do so many gay men and lesbians label themselves?

Bisexuals claim they can see the stigmatization of not being gay nor straight but somewhere in between. Do they lose this sense of empathy with sexual minorities if they partner with someone of the opposite sex? Do they gain a sense of heterosexual privilege?

Transgender people are fighting for recognition of diversity among gender identities. You hear that its not about the genitals but about the mind and spirit of the person that makes the gender. Is there hypocrisy among the gender variant folks as well? There are different labels such as pre-op, post-op, and non-op. You have terms such as "passable" to imply that the person transitioned so well that they could pass for the other gender. If the genitals and look don't matter, why are there these categories to identify others?

Intersexuals want acceptance of their biological make-up which is not male or female, and want more sensitivity towards gender variance. But, do some go out of their way to make a distinction between their "biological" condition and what many claim is a "psychological" condition for transgender people?

Asexuals don't like the fact that everything in society is labeled and thought of in a sexual context, when in their world sexuality does not play a vital role. But when they discuss asexuality in regards to an orientation aren't they just as much playing into the notion that sexuality is a driving force of life?

This post is controversial, and forgive me if anyone gets offended by it. I am knit-picking a little bit at everyone in order to engage in a healthy conversation that I think is boiling within the topic of queer theory lately.

Out & Greek Conference 2008

"Never has there been a leadership conference to share, network and learn strategies to create safer, more LGBT inclusive fraternity and sorority communities. The Out & Greek National Leadership Conference is the first of its kind for undergraduate fraternity and sorority leaders and is sponsored by the landmark Lambda 10 Project, an educational initiative of Campus Pride. The Lambda 10 Project founded in 1995 works to heighten the visibility of LGBT members of the college fraternity and sorority by serving as a clearinghouse for educational resources and materials related to sexual orientation and gender identity/expression."

November 14-16 at DePaul University, Chicago, IL, register now!

Queering Up History: Sept 18th

"Queer Events On This Day In History...

1977 A 4-hour unprecedented benefit for gay and lesbian rights was held at the Hollywood Bowl.

1980 The US National News Conference convened a panel to investigate claims of deceitful, distorted and biased reporting by CBS for "Gay Power, Gay Politics." The panel voted 9-2 in agreement with the complaint, which claimed that focusing on sexual extremes such as S & M, glory holes, and sex in parks was unfair and reinforced stereotypes. It would result in a public apology on CBS Reports.

1980 The Toronto Board of Education amends its policy to ban discrimination on basis of sexual orientation, but adds clause forbidding "proselytizing of homosexuality in the schools."

1985 A class action suit is filed by Steve Horn of Arizona to overturn the state's sodomy law. He was fired from his job with the Mesa Arizona police department after he came out despite a perfect service record. Police Chief Joe Quigley cited the sodomy law as the reason.

1988 During a speech by US Rep. Bob Dornan (Republican), his wife Sallie Dornan screams "Shut up, Fag!" at a heckler.

1989 The Corcoran Gallery issues an apology for canceling an exhibit of Robert Mapplethorpe photography.

1992 In an interview published in the San Francisco Examiner, attorney John Schlafly, son of conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly, says that he is gay but he supports his mother's right wing politics. He also says it is not hypocritical of her to fight against equality for gays and lesbians while knowing he is gay.

1995 The Canadian House of Commons votes 124-52 to reject a measure introduced by openly gay Real Menard which would have extended legal recognition to same-sex marriages. But times changed quickly. Five years later the House of Commons voted to recognize same-sex spousal rights in common-law relationships.

2003 Canada's Parliament passes a law making it illegal to promote hatred of gays and lesbians in speeches, publication,s radio, or TV. The day before the same House of Commons narrowly defeated an opposition motion to declare marriage was only between a man and a woman.

2003 Britain's notorious Section 28 law, which forbade "the promotion of homosexuality" in schools and was passed by Margaret Thatcher in 1988, is officially repealed.

2003 The United States denies entry to the US to Canada's first legally married gay couple, whose marriage was made legal by a landmark court case three months earlier, because the two men had filled out a single customs form as a family."

Brought to you by our friends at Wicked Gay Blog

Web Spotlight: Obama PRIDE

Today's web spotlight and shout goes to Obama PRIDE. The sub-section of Barack Obama's website which details his commitment to LGBT Americans. Click the graphic to access this site.

Take the LGBT Consumer Index Survey

The folks at Community Marketing have a survey up that helps marketers know the power of the pink dollar. Last year 22,000 people took the survey and the results were quoted in major newspapers throughout the nation. It helps expose the interests and concerns of LGBT consumers in the marketplace.

Click here to take the Consumer Index Survey

Queering Up History: Sept 12th

"Queer Events On This Day In History...

1772 Marquis de Sade was burned in effigy after being sentenced to death for committing sodomy with his manservant and poisoning prostitutes. Six years later his death sentence was commuted. He would die in a lunatic asylum in 1814.

1969 Less than three months after the Stonewall riots, Gay Liberation Front protests at the offices of the New York Village Voice to oppose their policy of allowing writers to refer to gays as "fags."

1976 Outspoken Episcopal Rev. Malcolm Boyd, author of "Are You Running With Me, Jesus?" comes out in an interview with the Chicago Sun Times. He later wrote "Gay Priest."

1985 Fifteen Chicago police who entered a gay bar with a warrant to arrest the bartender storm in with their guns drawn, ordered all the patrons on the floor, searched them, photographed them, interrogated them about their personal lives, beat one man, and detained them over three hours. After the ACLU filed suit charging unreasonable search and seizure, violations of freedom of association, and illegally obtaining personal information the police settled for $226,500 to be divided among the men. Police also agreed to return all photographs and items confiscated and to expunge the incident and all information collected from their records.

1992 Actor Anthony Perkins, best known for his role as Norman Bates in Psycho, dies of complications from AIDS at age 60, but not in his shower.

1993 Raymond Burr American TV actor Raymond Burr dies at age 76. Starred in Perry Mason and Ironside series.

1995 Des Moines, Iowa, school board member Jonathan Wilson, an openly gay man, is defeated in his bid for re-election by a candidate backed by the religious right.

1997 Bernard Widmar and Henry Korn of Boise Idaho hold a party with 200 guests to celebrate their golden anniversary. They met in Chicago while they were both in college on the G.I. bill.

2000 The Netherlands becomes the second country in the world (after Denmark) to recognize gay marriages as the Dutch parliament votes 109-33 to approve gay/lesbian marriages, allowing gays and lesbians to convert previously registered same-sex partnerships into full marriages complete with divorce guidelines and adoption rights.

2004 The Los Angeles Times reports that Paul Crouch, 70, the founder of the world's largest Christian television network (Trinity Broadcasting Network), paid $425,000 to a former male employee of the network to hush up an affair they had eight years earlier."

Brought to you by our friends at Wicked Gay Blog

The LGBT Community is Called to Action

"With 8 weeks to go until Proposition 8 comes to a vote in the State of California, in effort to strike down the measure we call all members of the LGBT community and their supporters to take action with us!

We need your help to put a face on the lives of those that this proposition affects!! Help us to ‘get visible’ and let our presence as upstanding citizens of this world be seen by all. We need to raise awareness amongst all citizens of the good State of California of the need to stand up for equal rights by vowing to Vote NO on Prop 8 on the up and coming Election Day, November 4, 2008. We call all who support equality and fairness to help us "Personalize Prop 8 across the State!"

You can join us in taking action every weekend (Saturday and Sunday) from now until Election Day on November 4th, to “get out and about” in your community!

The idea behind this LGBT Community Call to Action is to put a familiar face on the LGBT community and give those in the heterosexual community a chance to interact in daily life with those that the measure would directly affect.

Here are Some Ideas for What to Do Over the Weekends :

• The number one recommended way to become more visible on your community is to visit your local McDonald’s one day each weekend until Election Day, November 4th. McDonald’s is a highly recognized and popular business that is located in most communities across the state, country, and planet! Many locations offer a McDonald’s Play Land if you have children, plus you can find many choices on their menu to fit your lifestyle and budget. McDonald’s is a corporation who has recently shown their support to the LGBT community by joining the NGLCC. Visiting your local McDonald’s over the weekend is a great way to get highly visible in your community, and is one way that we can show support for a corporation that supports our community!

• The next way you can become more visible in the fight against Prop 8 is to get out and about in other ways such as attending birthday parties and weddings, going to the mall or movies, taking your laundry to the laundry mat, walking your pets, grocery shopping, or take your kids to the park. Visit straight friends and family members and tell them why you are making it a point to get out and about, and let them know how important their vote is to you this Election Day. You could even just drive, ride your bike, roller skate, or just go for a walk around your neighborhood!

• Take it to the next level! Purchase “No on Prop 8” tools and merchandise to wear while you are out and about in the community or hanging out at McDonald’s. You can put a bumper sticker on your car (or window decal), wear a No on Prop 8 t-shirt (men’s here and women’s here), or a No on Prop 8 button.

• Want to take it even further? Report your experience from the weekend or your visit to McDonald’s on social news websites like iReport or on your personal blog! Download the NO on 8 ToolKit here for good examples.

Even if you don’t live in California or are not a member of the LGBT community, you can still help in the fight to strike down Proposition 8 on Election Day!

You don’t have to be married or planning to get married to vote for freedom, equality, and fairness for all by voting NO on Proposition 8. Everyone can and should support equality for all in any way that they can… it could be your rights that are up for debate one day! We are all in this together.

Here Are the Ways That You Can Help:

• In California – Visit your local McDonald’s to show your support for our efforts every weekend until Election Day. You can let us know about your pledge to Vote No on Prop 8 by utilizing the tools mentioned above, and/or reporting your experience on iReport or on your personal blog. Above all else make sure that you register to vote and Vote NO on Proposition 8 on Election Day, November 4th.

• All Over the U.S.– Sign the Million for Marriage petition by clicking the banner below:



• Around the World - Voice your opinion about gay rights and let’s open up the conversation to discuss equality worldwide. Comment and discuss the issue on your favorite social networking websites, message boards, or even write your local newspaper. You can also join the fight in our efforts to strike down Prop 8 by joining the NO on Prop 8 web pages on MySpace and FaceBook.

Wherever you are, please pass this message on!

Re-post, forward, or link to this post and spread the word to help in the fight.

Every vote counts, and every vote matters..."

Crossposted from our friends over at Lesbiatopia

Web Spotlight: Rainbow World Fund

"Founded in 2000, Rainbow World Fund (RWF) is an international relief agency based in the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and friends community. RWF’s mission is to promote LGBT philanthropy in the area of world humanitarian relief. RWF works to help people who suffer from hunger, poverty, disease, oppression and war by raising awareness and funds to support relief efforts around the world. RWF provides a united voice, a large visible presence, and a structure to deliver LGBT charitable assistance to the larger world community."

http://www.rainbowfund.org/

Word of the Gay: "LGBT"

"LGBT" is an acronym that stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender. It refers to the diversity of sexual and gender identity amongst us. Originally the acronym started as GLBT, but due to feminism and the advance for equality the term is more commonly LGBT today.

Turkey Urged to Respect LGBT People’s Right to Freedom of Association

"A local court in Istanbul ordered the closure of the Turkish lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender solidarity organization, Lambda Istanbul. The court ruled on May 29 in favor of a complaint by the Istanbul Governor's Office that Lambda Istanbul's objectives were against Turkish "moral values and family structure".

Amnesty International considers it an act of discrimination and a violation of the right to freedom of expression to close or attempt to close organizations on the basis of advocating for the rights of persons with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities."

Please use Amnesty International's online form to contact Besir Atalay - Turkey's Minister of Interior. (The text is already there, just sign your name and submit).

Amnesty International Online Action Center

Open Forum: Are We Ready for a Gay Leader?

Around the world there have been major advances for minorities and people subject to discrimination. From England, to Israel, Pakistan and beyond we have seen women Prime Ministers and leaders. In the United States we had John F. Kennedy become the first Catholic president. Currently in the United States the democratic party has nominated the first African-American to be a presidential contender. The republican party has also nominated Sarah Palin a female governor of Alaska to be the Vice Presidential selection.

Now in France under the socialist party Bertrard Delanoe an openly gay man is running for Prime Minister. We have seen transgender politicians in Italy's cabinet, gay men and women within the U.S. congress, and state houses, and LGBT people throughout the world holding significant positions of power.

So I pose the question... Within your respective country, and most readers here are from the U.S. so (please specify) do you think your country is ready for a gay prime minister/president?

Obama's LGBT Friends Speak Out!

Below is a video compilation released by the Human Rights Campaign which shows friends and colleagues of Barack and Michelle Obama. They discuss their experiences with them and their hopes for a brighter future.

Equality Maine Endorses Tom Allen for Senate

"The state’s largest GLBT Advocacy group, Equality Maine, has endorsed Tom Allen (D-Portland) for Senate. Allen, a current U.S. Representative, is challenging Sen. Susan Collins (R-Bangor.)

Equality Maine’s executive director, Betsy Smith, said in a release:

“Throughout his long career, Congressman Allen has supported fairness and equality while opposing discrimination. His voting record on LGBT issues is exceptional. He has worked to eliminate discrimination in jobs, housing, public accommodations and financial matters, and we look forward to working with him to win fully-inclusive federal employment non-discrimination legislation.”

Cross posted from the Gay Agenda