Won't Back Down - help repeal Prop 8

http://www.wontbackdown.org

Even though the California Supreme Court upheld Prop 8 and same-sex couples can no longer marry, we won't back down.

Kim Kardashian's Reaction to H8

Kim Kardashian (Keeping up with the Kardashians) took to her official website to voice her disappointment on Tuesday morning's discriminatory ruling against gay and lesbian Americans.

She says:

"Today the California Supreme Court decided to uphold Prop 8, outlawing gay marriage in California. This really makes me sad. I thought we were more forward thinking than this, and I'm disappointed in the Supreme Court for being so closed minded. Everyone.. gay, straight, bisexual, transgendered, EVERYONE should have equal rights to marry who they want to. I have many gay friends and all I want is for them to be happy, yet this is just another obstacle in their way. Now they must continue fighting to be granted a basic civil right that many people take for granted. Shame on you, California! We must all continue to fight the h8!"

Gibbons vetoes domestic partnerships bill

CARSON CITY – Gov. Jim Gibbons has vetoed a domestic partners bill to give gay couples some of the same rights enjoyed by those who are married.

The governor said Senate Bill 283 “would effectively bypass that constitutional mandate by allowing the rights and privileges of marriage to be bestowed upon non-married persons.”

Sen. David Parks, D-Las Vegas, the sponsor of the bill, said previously he would talk with leadership to determine if an attempt will be made to override the veto.

The bill was approved 12-9 in the Senate and 26-14 in the Assembly. A two-thirds vote is required to override the governor’s veto.

The governor also vetoed two other bills, dealing with regional planning in Washoe County and setting standards for medical care for state prison inmates.

So far the governor has disapproved nine bills this session and he is starting to catch up with the record of 12 vetoed by Gov. Bob List in 1981. And the governor is just getting the tax bills that he promised to veto.

The domestic partners bill provides couples, either of the same sex or couples of opposite sex who are not married, such rights as community property, responsibility for debts and the right to seek alimony in a split up.

A couple would be required to register with the Secretary of State’s Office and pay a fee. The bill says a private and public employer would not be required to provide health care benefits to a domestic partner of an employer.

The governor said the Nevada Constitution, in an amendment approved by voters, provides that “only a marriage between a male and a female person shall be recognized and given effect in this state.”

Gibbons said, “I believe that because the voters have determined that the rights of marriage should apply only to married couples, only the voters should determine whether those rights should equally apply to domestic partners.”

Voters in 2002 approved a constitutional amendment that a marriage should only be between a man and a woman. Supporters of the bill said this was about contract rights and not about marriage.

The governor said many of the same rights granted in the bill “are readily available today by way of private contracts.”

The governor said this veto “should not be taken to suggest that domestic partners are in any way undeserving the rights and protections.” He said he recently signed Senate Bill 207, which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation.

The governor also disapproved Assembly Bill 473, which requires the state Department of Corrections to adopt regulations on medical emergencies and the provision of medical and dental services to prisoners.

He said these requirements are already in the law. He said existing law already requires the director of the Department of Corrections to take “proper measures to protect the health and safety of staff and offenders in the institutions and facilities of the department.”

The governor said the corrections director is already required to establish standards for personal hygiene of offenders as well as standards for medical and dental services.

Assembly Bill 473 passed the Assembly 36-6 and the Senate 18-3.

Gibbons also vetoed a bill to require Washoe County to require in its comprehensive regional plan the amount of water that will serve the population.

The governor said existing law already ordered that regional planning in Washoe County must take into effect conservation including the use and protection of water resources. He said this bill is “redundant and unnecessary.”

Assembly Bill 119 cleared the Senate 27-14 and 12-9 in the Senate.

(courtesy of the Las Vegas Sun)

Equality

When will people realize that men are create equal and are all equally entitled to whatever basic human rights?

No one asked for the church or religion bodies to alter their teachings or whatever, the only thing we ask for, is that we are protected by the law.

And yet, conservative religious freaks everywhere spread out religious craps to protest the legislation of Gay Marriage.

God create men equally. God loves everyone equally. No one in this world should be deprived off his/her rights.


Will they ever understands??

California Upholds Proposition 8

The Supreme Court of California has officially upheld the anti-gay marriage Proposition 8, which was passed by voters last November. Backed by conservative and religious groups, Proposition 8 limits marriage to a man and a woman. However, 18,000 gay marriages performed in 2008 will be upheld. The CA Supreme Court's 6-to1 ruling was announced at 10:00 AM PST with the release of a massive, 186-page document. The Court voted unanimously to preserve the marriages of nearly twenty-thousand gay couples. Only Justice Carlos Moreno (formerly the only Democrat on the California Supreme court) voted to strike down Proposition 8.

NoH8 (No Hate) Campaign

All over California (and across the U.S.), dozens of rallies will be held in reaction of the state Supreme Court's decision this morning to uphold Proposition 8.

Gay and lesbian residents of this state are being denied the same rights, privileges and protections that heterosexual couples have when they marry civilly.

That is NOT right! That is not fair! That is wrong wrong wrong!

This is about equality!

Lisa Nova Parody: Miss "Her high Holiness, Titties Baring, Dumb Ass" California Press Conference

Keith Olbermann Comments on Carrie Preejan securing her pageant title

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Mr. Olbermann, you are friggin' awesome!

Miss California Press Conference following the decision to let her keep her Pageant title

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Miss California USA: Carrie Preejan, in her own words after Donald Trump and the panels of the Miss California Pageant people decided she would keep her throne of Miss California.

Freedom of Speech has its limitation. Does she even know LGBTs around the world have their "freedom" to even live taken away. If preposition 8 passed, where does the freedom of the LGBT community?

Respect?

Where is the respect that LGBTs around the world rightfully deserve?

Tyra Banks Show - Gay is the New Black

The Tyra Banks Show (7/5/09).
In this episode, Tyra and Sam Harris discusses issues regarding California's Proposition 8, gay issues and the title of the latest issue of LGBT leading magazine, The Advocate - "Gay is the New Black".

Tyra examines comparisons between the gay and African-American fight for equality. Tune in and find out... is gay the new black?

Come Make Pink Dot at 5/16

Everyone should have the freedom to love, regardless of sexual orientation. But fear, ignorance and prejudice often stand in the way. At PinkDot, we believe the first step to overcoming these barriers is for open-minded segments of society to come together. If you too feel that LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) people deserve to express their love just like any other Singaporean, please join us at Hong Lim Park on 16 May 2009.

In this video, straight Singaporeans from different walks of life come together to talk about the LGBT people in their lives. Among the known faces are celebrity blogger Xiaxue, actress Pamela Oei, actors Lim Kay Siu and Lim Yu Beng, Dave Tan and Amanda Ling from local band Electrico, as well as Pink Dot's ambassadors Neo Swee Lin, Rosalyn Lee and Timothy Nga.

I cried watching this. I know for a fact that most of the people featured in the video are straight, but still, they go all out by supporting the cause of the LGBT community. A fact on why it is so different from the Taipei Pride March is that Taipei Pride steers more to a more flamboyant and sex route, which, to me doesn't really help in straighten the perspective of the public towards us. Thank you, Pink Dot for organizing such a wonderful event, and most of all, i want to thank a special person (whom i seldom speaks to but i still cherish him as a dear friend) for sending the link to this video and alert me about the event.

Equality for All

This video put tears into my eyes.
Equality for all, Ya'll!!!!

Machael Savage - The Ultra Conservative A-Hole lashing out on the LGBT Society.

The world would be a better place without A-Holes like them.
What about the people who rape and kill women?
What about all the sexual harassment,
what about all the domestic violence,
and really, i could go on with the what about-s all day long.

Did God teach us to be bias, insensitive, inconsiderate, etc?
Does being Gay is pervert???
This dude should be condemned to hell.

Gays and transexuals are not the same!
This guy is obviously sick and twisted himself.
Perez Hilton is looking for beauty with brains,
not some half witted blondie with only an empty shell of a body.

And, does asking a questions in regard with the LGBT issue meant
promoting Transexuality?? Hell no!
If he says a woman should win the pageant with her beauty and only that,
he himself is sick and pervert,
as he merely objectify a woman as something...well, sexual.

I'm lost for words with the crap spewed out of this fuck hole.
He should go to hell.

Why We Will Continue To Fight And Be Very Vocal For Equality

This is absolutely heartbreaking.

Another young life lost!

11 year old Jaheem Herrera of Stone Mountain, Georgia, took his own life last week because his fellow classmates at Dunaire Elementary School harassed and bullied Herrera for thinking he was gay.

He was just 11 years old!!!

Jaheem's 10-year-old sister discovered her brother hanging from a fabric belt in his bedroom, no longer alive.

Herrera's stepfather said homophobic bullies at school would taunt and name-call his stepson, a 5th grader, repeatedly calling him "gay and a snitch." The boy was even brave enough to tell teachers and faculty at his school about the harassment, but the bullying continued.

Jaheem's tragic loss comes just weeks after the suicide of a Massachusetts boy, Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, who also suffered bullying because classmates thought he was gay, attracted national attention.

He was 11 as well. His mother found him hanging from an extension cord in the family’s home.

Miss *Dumb-ass* USA

No offense calling her a dumb ass,
but her response is too bias. Her response should have been
"Let the states decide for themselves, because United States is a country
where states rule by themselves etc"
What was she thinking??

11-Year-Old Hangs Himself after Enduring Daily Anti-Gay Bullying

GLSEN Calls on Schools, Nation to Embrace Solutions to Bullying Problem

NEW YORK, April 9, 2009 - An 11-year-old Massachusetts boy, Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, hung himself Monday after enduring bullying at school, including daily taunts of being gay, despite his mother’s weekly pleas to the school to address the problem. This is at least the fourth suicide of a middle-school aged child linked to bullying this year.

Carl, a junior at New Leadership Charter School in Springfield who did not identify as gay, would have turned 12 on April 17, the same day hundreds of thousands of students will participate in the 13th annual National Day of Silence by taking some form of a vow of silence to bring attention to anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) bullying and harassment at school. The other three known cases of suicide among middle-school students took place in Chatham, Evanston and Chicago, Ill., in the month of February.

"Our hearts go out to Carl’s mother, Sirdeaner L. Walker, and other members of Carl's family, as well as to the community suffering from this loss," GLSEN Executive Director Eliza Byard said. "As we mourn yet another tragedy involving bullying at school, we must heed Ms. Walker’s urgent call for real, systemic, effective responses to the endemic problem of bullying and harassment. Especially in this time of societal crisis, adults in schools must be alert to the heightened pressure children face, and take action to create safe learning environments for the students in their care. In order to do that effectively, as this case so tragically illustrates, schools must deal head-on with anti-gay language and behavior."

Two of the top three reasons students said their peers were most often bullied at school were actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender expression, according to From Teasing to Torment: School Climate in America, a 2005 report by GLSEN and Harris Interactive. The top reason was physical appearance.

"As was the case with Carl, you do not have to identify as gay to be attacked with anti-LGBT language," Byard said. "From their earliest years on the school playground, students learn to use anti-LGBT language as the ultimate weapon to degrade their peers. In many cases, schools and teachers either ignore the behavior or don’t know how to intervene."

Nearly 9 out of 10 LGBT youth (86.2%) reported being verbally harassed at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation, nearly half (44.1%) reported being physically harassed and about a quarter (22.1%) reported being physically assaulted, according to GLSEN’s 2007 National School Climate Survey of more than 6,000 LGBT students.

In most cases, the harassment is unreported. Nearly two-thirds of LGBT students (60.8%) who experience harassment or assault never reported the incident to the school. The most common reason given was that they didn’t believe anything would be done to address the situation. Of those who did report the incident, nearly a third (31.1%) said the school staff did nothing in response. While LGBT youth face extreme victimization, bullying in general is also a widespread problem. More than a third of middle and high school students (37%) said that bullying, name-calling or harassment is a somewhat or very serious problem at their school, according to From Teasing to Torment. Bullying is even more severe in middle school. Two-thirds of middle school students (65%) reported being assaulted or harassed in the previous year and only 41% said they felt very safe at school.

Carl's suicide comes about a year after eighth-grader Lawrence King was shot and killed by a fellow student in a California classroom, allegedly because he was gay.

GLSEN recommends four simple approaches schools can take to begin addressing bullying now.

Said Walker in the Springfield Republican: "If anything can come of this, it's that another child doesn't have to suffer like this and there can be some justice for some other child. I don't want any other parent to go through this."

About GLSEN

GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, is the leading national education organization focused on ensuring safe schools for all students. Established nationally in 1995, GLSEN envisions a world in which every child learns to respect and accept all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. GLSEN seeks to develop school climates where difference is valued for the positive contribution it makes to creating a more vibrant and diverse community. For information on GLSEN's research, educational resources, public policy advocacy, student organizing programs and educator training initiatives, visit www.glsen.org.

Six gay men shot to death in Iraq by tribe members

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Six gay men were shot dead by members of their tribe in two separate incidents in the past 10 days, an official with Iraq's Interior ministry said.

In the most recent attack, two men were killed Thursday in Sadr City area of Baghdad after they were disowned by relatives, the official said.

The shootings came after a tribal meeting was held and the members decided to go after the victims.

On March 26, four additional men were fatally shot in the same city, the official said, adding that the victims had also been disowned by their relatives.

The official declined to be identified because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

Witnesses told CNN that a Sadr City cafe, which was a popular gathering spot for gays, was also set on fire.

This is sad, and wrong. My heart goes out to those men who perished.
No offense to any particular religion, but, i've said it once and i'll say it again, maybe the reason why they refuse to eat pork is because pigs are their relatives or something. What makes a religion which celebrate a celebration of some ancestors of their religion killing his own son, and kill a cow as sacrificial purpose annually for that celebration has the right to murder those innocent men??

Homosexuality was removed from the medical terms log of the U.S. in the late 70s, but i'd suggest homophobia be included as a new mental desease that needs serious medical attention as they provoke hatred, fear and murderous act.

Retired military officers: keep ban on gays...WTF?

More than 1,000 retired military officers, including several who were top commanders, are urging President Barack Obama and Congress to maintain the law that bars gays from serving openly in the armed forces.

By DAVID CRARY

AP National Writer

NEW YORK —

More than 1,000 retired military officers, including several who were top commanders, are urging President Barack Obama and Congress to maintain the law that bars gays from serving openly in the armed forces.

Obama is consulting with the Pentagon on the issue and says he supports eventual repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which prohibits gays in the military from being open about their sexual orientation. A bill that would allow gays to serve openly has been introduced in Congress.

A statement issued by the retired officers Tuesday said passage of that bill "would undermine recruiting and retention, impact leadership at all levels, have adverse effects on the willingness of parents who lend their sons and daughters to military service, and eventually break the All-Volunteer Force."

Among the signatories were Gen. Carl E. Mundy, Jr., a former commandant of the Marine Corps; Adm. Leighton W. Smith, a former commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe; Gen. Charles A. Horner, who commanded U.S. aerial forces during the 1990-91 Gulf War; and Adm. Jerome L. Johnson, a former vice chief of Naval Operations.

The retired officers said they strongly supported the principle that "homosexuality is incompatible with military service" and warned that repeal of current law could jeopardize morale and "unit cohesion."

Mundy said in a telephone interview that he believed a "large segment" of currently serving officers shared the views expressed in the statement.

"We just see a great many downsides to attempting to enforce on the military something I don't know is widely accepted in American society," he said.

The statement was criticized by Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, an advocacy group seeking equal treatment of gays in the military.

"The signers of this petition are mired in the fears and politics of the past," Sarvis said. "More than 75 percent of the American public, including most younger service members as well as many active duty flag officers, realize the question is not if 'don't ask, don't tell' is repealed, but when and how."

On Sunday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates indicated that executive branch action on "don't ask, don't tell" was not imminent because he and Obama have "a lot on our plates right now."

"Let's push that one down the road a little bit," Gates said on "Fox News Sunday.The most important factor in lifting a gay ban is a clear signal from senior leadership," said Dr. Nathaniel Frank, senior research fellow at the Palm Center, a think tank at the University of California, Santa Barbara, that studies issues involving gays and the military.

"Everyone knows it's just a matter of time before the gay ban falls, so for officers to come out and say 'Gays are a threat to the military' could cause the very problems that they ostensibly fear," Frank said.

The campaign to gather the retired officers' signatures was organized by the Livonia, Mich.-based Center for Military Readiness. Its president, Elaine Donnelly, has been an outspoken foe of gays serving in the military and testified before Congress on the matter last year.

The "don't ask, don't tell" policy was put in place after President Bill Clinton tried to lift the ban on gay service members in 1993. Under the policy, the military does not ask recruits about their sexual orientation, while service members are banned from saying they are gay or bisexual, engaging in homosexual activity or trying to marry a member of the same sex.

One more reason for me to hate those homophobic shitheads.

Condoms not the answer in AIDS fight, Pope says

The Associated Press

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE -- Pope Benedict XVI said on his way to Africa Tuesday that condoms were not the answer in the continent's fight against HIV, his first explicit statement on an issue that has divided even clergy working with AIDS patients.

Benedict had never directly addressed condom use. He has said that the Roman Catholic Church is in the forefront of the battle against AIDS. The Vatican encourages sexual abstinence to fight the spread of the disease.

"You can't resolve it with the distribution of condoms," the pope told reporters aboard the Alitalia plane headed to Yaounde, Cameroon, where he will begin a seven-day pilgrimage on the continent. "On the contrary, it increases the problem."

Some priests and nuns working with those living with HIV/AIDS question the church's opposition to condoms amid the pandemic ravaging Africa.

Benedict's first papal trip to Africa will take him to Cameroon and Angola. Africa is the fastest-growing region for the Roman Catholic Church, though it competes with Islam and evangelical churches.

The pope also said Tuesday that he intends to make an appeal for "international solidarity" for Africa in the face of the global economic downturn.

He said that while the church does not propose specific economic solutions, it can give "spiritual and moral" suggestions.

Describing the current crisis as the consequence of "a deficit of ethics in economic structures," the pope said: "It is here that the church can make a contribution."

On the plane, Benedict also dismissed the notion that he was facing increasing opposition and isolation within the church, particularly after an outreach to ultraconservatives that led to his lifting the excommunication of a Holocaust-denying bishop.

"The myth of my solitude makes me laugh," the pope said, adding that he can count on a network of friends and aides whom he sees every day.

In a letter to Catholic bishops released last week, the pope made an unusual public acknowledgment of Vatican mistakes and turmoil in his church over the rehabilitation of Bishop Richard Williamson.

While acknowledging mistakes were made in handling the affair, Benedict said he was saddened that he was criticized "with open hostility" even by those who should have known better.

Another moron blabbering their brainless "thoughts". Oh Lord, and it ain't in a religious way.

荒谬逻辑 Incongruous Logic

"If homosexuality was the normal way, God would have made Adam and Bruce." ----- ANITA BRYANT


On the whole, going against homosexuality and or anything else for that matter base solely on one own religion is not worth refuting, because in a democratic society, one should not imposing one’s belief onto someone who is not a believer. Religion and politics should never be place together, or else if the Muslims say no one should consume pork, just because it says so in the al-Quran, be it if we are Muslims or otherwise can only keep mum and obey. Is that equitable? Would you comply?

But, denouncing the statement by Anita Bryant above is still a useful way to set an exemplary, for it will shed lights on how ridiculous and overbearing the logic of homophobias are.

It is overbearing, because it forcefully imposes its own faith and belief on to the public and the society; it is ridiculous, because the way it annotate the intrinsic logic of the Bible sink into a point of sheer preposterous.

If homosexuality is erroneous, because instead of “Adam and Bruce”, God created “Adam and Eve”; on the other hand, if God approved of homosexuality, He will create two men, namely “Adam and Bruce”. If this is the case, then incest should be valid, and by condemning homosexuality, we are promoting incest. Based on this logic, if incest is another booboo, God should have not only create “Adam and Eve”, He should create a set of “David and Mary” as well, so to enable the offspring of both family to mate. Since we all know God only created “Adam and Eve”, so the grandchildren of Adam and Eve are no doubt the offspring of the incestuous mating between the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve. It might have even went as far as Adam and Eve themselves form sexual relationships with their own children.

In accordance to Anita Bryant’s logic, since God never created two sets of family, with only one man and one woman created, and that all men and women came from this set of family, that proves incest is indeed approvable; because if God is against incest and label incest as an act of evil. He should have created at least two sets of couples. But, God never did that, therefore, Incest IS approvable. No?

So, how would you perceive of the conclusion? Will those who condemn homosexuality by the abovementioned logic ready to accept the conclusion inferred out of the logic itself, that is incest is indeed acceptable?

From that we can see how childish and unreasonable are those who use the creationism theory from the Bible to lambaste homosexuals. Sadly, these incongruous theories will never make sense to those who practices blind faith, homophobic and brainless. If you were to learn from me by explaining the whole absurdity with some citations as proofs, those who still has a shred of conscience and has a somewhat healthy mindset would still have a sense of remorse for the way they think, but mark my words, few will bow and apologize to homosexuals nor they will take back whatever homophobic expressions they lashed out.

By the way, Anita Bryant was a beauty pageant; pretty without a brain, coincidence? You be the judge.