Counter the "Westboro Baptist Church" Anti-Gay Demo

The Westboro Baptist Church AKA "God Hates Fags" hate group is planning a demonstration to oppose same-sex marriage on June 17 when same-sex couples will begin being issued marriage licenses.

Tuesday, June 17, at
7:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.
Contra Costa County Clerk’s office
555 Escobar St., Martinez, CA.

Anyone interested in a counter-demonstration? Show up and speak your mind.

Word of the Gay: "Genderqueer"

Individuals who self-identify as genderqueer may consider themselves to be both male and female, androgynous, being neither male or female, or falling completely outside of the gender binary spectrum.

Organization Spotlight: CenterLink

Center Link offers a comprehensive listing of LGBT community centers around the United States. There are currently 168 LGBT community centers, and likely one in an area near you! The organization also does work to help foster the creation and development of community centers and programs that benefit the community.

Center Link - Directory of LGBT Centers

Demand Release of Gay Ugandans!

"KAMPALA, June 4 (Reuters) - Ugandan police arrested three gay rights demonstrators who stormed a major AIDS conference in Kampala on Wednesday in protest at the government's stance on homosexuality, which is banned in the east African nation.

Uganda's government said this week it would not focus any HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programmes on homosexuals because it is short of funds.

Ugandan courts can punish homosexual acts with life in prison, and even "attempted" homosexuality can draw a jail term of seven years."

Please exert pressure to demand the release of these prisoners as well as tell the government it is time to decriminalize homosexuality.

Email: Contact Ugandan State House Officials

Please also use the Parliament of Uganda's Contact Form:
Click Here!

Ugandan Police Force:
LOCATION: Plot 1303 Sserumaga Road, Bukoto behind Kabira Country Club.

CONTACT:

TOLL FREE LINE: 0800200019
HOT LINE: 0414-595133
FAX LINE: 0414-533608

New Yorker's Thank Your Assemblymembers for Vote on GENDA

"The New York State Assembly just voted 102-33 to pass the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) and amend the state’s human rights law to include anti-discrimination protections based on gender identity and expression. This is the first time that GENDA has ever made it to the floor of the Assembly for a vote!

We now need you to take a moment to thank your Assemblymember for voting for GENDA. We often call on our elected officials to act on issues that are important to us, and we need to be sure that they know we appreciate what they’ve done once they’ve acted."

PRIDE AGENDA Action Center E-Alert!

John McCain Bad for America, Bad for Queers!

A Record of Opposing the Interests of GLBT Americans

"OPPOSED Ending Discrimination Against GLBT Americans in the Workplace. Senator McCain cast a deciding vote against the federal Employment Non Discrimination Act.

OPPOSED Protecting GLBT Americans from Hate Crimes. Senator McCain voted three times against expanding the federal hate crimes law to include sexual orientation.

PROPONENT of Discriminatory Military Policy. Senator McCain supports Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and does not believe that gays should serve in the military.

OPPONENT of Equal Benefits for Same-Sex Couples. Senator McCain voted for the Defense of Marriage Act which prohibits same-sex couples from receiving federal rights and benefits in any state.

ACTIVELY SUPPORTED State Ban on Domestic Partnerships. Senator McCain campaigned for a ban on same-sex relationship recognition in his home state of Arizona – even appearing in a campaign television ad.

SUPPORTED the Confirmation of Anti-GLBT Equality Judges. Senator McCain voted to confirm President Bush’s judicial nominees who had taken anti-GLBT positions. He has pointed to Justice Samuel Alito as a role model for future Supreme Court appointments.

SUPPORTED a Discriminatory HIV/AIDS Policy. Senator McCain supported a Jesse Helms strategy to cut off funding for prevention efforts aimed at the gay community and voted to prohibit foreign nationals with HIV from immigrating to the United States."

HRC - Year to Win 2008

Broadcast YOUR Message of Marriage Equality

Hat tip to Lavender Liberal for this wonderful idea in order to defeat the anti-marriage initiative in California.

The Marriage Equality Youtube group is looking for LGBT folks & allies to upload short videos onto the net to speak out about why marriage equality is so important to you. Whether you are coupled, single, married, or just believe in equal rights please put out the message and broadcast it to thousands of people on the net. The founder of the group will collect snippets from the various videos to make one long compelling film about why Same-Sex Marriage must be secured for Californians and all citizens of the world.

So get those video cameras out and make your case for Same-Sex Marriage! Together our videos can reach tens of thousands of people and get people to vote against the anti-SSM amendment. We can change hearts and minds through our stories.

http://www.youtube.com/group/marriageequality

TAKE ACTION: Urge United Nations to Support Worldwide LGBT Rights

"People around the world face violence and inequality – and sometimes torture, even execution – because of who they love, how they look, or who they are. Sexual orientation and gender identity are integral aspects of our selves and should never lead to discrimination or abuse. More than 80 countries around the world still make it a crime for men to have sex with men, or women with women. In some countries, the punishment is death. Many laws punish people for simply looking differently, or not living up to cultural norms of “masculinity” or “femininity.

The Yogyakarta Principles – named for the Indonesian city where they were adopted in 2006 by a panel of international experts – lay out clear standards for how governments should end violence, abuse, and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, and ensure equality. We urge the United Nations to endorse the Yogyakarta Principles, and to call for an end to violence and abuse based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Tell the world’s governments to stop criminalizing people because of who they are or whom they love."

Click here to Contact the Secretary-General: Mr. Ban Ki-Moon of the U.N.

Support Anti-Discrimination Legislation in Ohio

According to God is a Dyke:

"In Ohio it is legal to:

* Fire someone if they are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender
* Deny them a place to live if they are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender
* Force them to leave a restaurant if they are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender

In Ohio, it's legal -- even though more than two-thirds of Ohio voters support passage of legislation that would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

TAKE ACTION NOW!

Today, a bipartisan group of legislators has introduced a bill to ban this type of LGBT legislation. State Senator Ray Miller and State Representatives Jon Peterson and Dan Stewart are optimistic, that Ohio will become the 21st state to update its laws and make our state a place where everyone feels at home."

Word of the Gay: "Pink Dollar"

"Pink Dollar" - Used to refer to the purchasing power of the LGBT community. Within the past decade many marketers have realized the wealth and loyalty of the Queer consumer.

1.1 Million Strong for Marriage Equality

Our opponents have collected 1.1 million signatures for a proposed anti-gay ballot initiative that would overturn the recent court ruling allowing for marriage equality in California. To reflect the new number our opposition has reached, the Human Rights Campaign has a new goal on the "Million for Marriage" campaign.

Please sign the Million for Marriage petition and send it along to friends and family.

Million for Marriage Petition

Queers United Welcomes all Homophobes to Our Site

So Queers United has had its first homophobic comment, yay! This comment was left on the entry about homophobe Greg Gutfeld of Fox News.

"fuck all you gay bastards..jesus christ keep all that fag shit to yerself you fucking queer..and queers united is a ridiculous name..and all of you are ridiculous people and should be put on a giant boat set a sail and sank"

I want to thank the person who wrote this, you inspire me and hopefully others here to continue our activism and educate and create awareness to stop homophobes like yourself.

Open Forum: What Does Pride Mean to You?

Happy Pride Month everyone!!!

June traditionally kicks off PRIDE celebrations throughout the world! I figured this is a good opportunity to ask What Does PRIDE mean to you? How do you choose to live your life out and proud, or do you? Will you be attending a parade, a fundraiser, a rally of some sort? What are your thoughts on what PRIDE is about, what it should be, and how the media covers it?

Shameless Self Promotion Sunday

Please feel free to share any links to Queer or Queer related topics of interest. You can post a blog entry you made, a website you found interesting. Anything goes as long as it is Queer in nature.

Guadalajara Officials Want to Oust Gay Bars

According to To Be Publications:

"The Mexican city of Guadalajara is threatening to move gay clubs out of the city center in advance of the 2011 Pan American Games that will take place in the city, according to Carlos Oceguera, who owns two such clubs.

A February story in the daily newspaper La Jornada Jalisco made the same claim, with the headline "Guadalajara mayor's office attack against gay clubs; it doesn't want them in the Historic Downtown."

Oceguera said city officials believe the presence of businesses catering to gays gives the city a "bad and promiscuous image" for tourists."

Local Activism has been unsuccesful and club owners have asked for international help to resolve the issue.

Please contact the Guadalajara Tourism Bureau...
Click here for E-Contact for "Vive Guadalajara!"