Florida Clergy for Fairness Come Out Against Amendment Banning Gay Marriage

by Michael A. Jones

Published October 17, 2008 @ 01:41PM PT

Amendment 2 isn't getting as much attention as its bigger Californian brother, Proposition 8, but the proposed amendment to the Florida constitution could have serious implications for unmarried couples - both straight and gay - if passed on Election day.

What is Amendment 2?  Well, the sarcastic answer is to say that it's the "secret weapon" of the right, meant to turn out conservative voters en masse to help elect Republicans.  In actuality, Amendment 2 is a proposed amendment - championed by Florida4Marriage and the Florida Catholic Bishops Conference - that will ban all recognition and benefits for unmarried couples, straight and gay. It will block civil unions, domestic partnership and repeal existing protections and family benefits relied upon by millions of Floridians.

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India moves one step closer to decriminalizing homosexuality

by Michael A. Jones

Published October 16, 2008 @ 07:19PM PT

It's a little bizarre to think that by virtue of having sex with someone of the same gender, you run the risk of being fined and thrown in prison for up to 10 years.  But that's what India's law, a hand-me-down from Colonial rule under the Brits, currently says.

Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code:

Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with another person of the same sex shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.

Yikes, that makes Deuteronomy sound like Superfudge.

Thankfully, India's courts may finally take a bold step this year and overturn Section 377, effectively decriminalizing homosexuality throughout the world's second biggest country.

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The Last Presidential Debate: No Mention of LGBT Rights

by Michael A. Jones

Published October 15, 2008 @ 09:11PM PT

13 mentions of "Joe the Plumber."

At least 5 mentions of William Ayres.

1 mention of the Arizona Cardinals beating the Dallas Cowboys.

1 "My Friends" comment, in Sen. McCain's closing statement.

0 (ZERO) mention of anything related to LGBT rights tonight.

That's a shame. Bob Schieffer was roundly praised tonight as being the best moderator of the Presidential Debate season, but not mentioning gay rights this evening was a missed opportunity. Connecticut legalized same-sex marriage five days ago. The tenth anniversary of Matthew Shepard's murder, and the subsequent push for a federal hate crimes legislation, was widely commemorated three days ago. National Coming Out Day was four days ago. The campaign against (and for) California's Proposition 8 have been at their most intense this past week.

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Blog Action Day 2008: The Culture of Consumption and the Cost of Being Gay

by Michael A. Jones

Published October 15, 2008 @ 05:42PM PT

Today. October 15, 2008. Blog Action Day. Your mission should you choose to accept it: blog about poverty.

On its surface, there doesn't seem to be much to connect the issue of gay rights and poverty. There's the stereotypical image of gays and lesbians as wealthy vacationers who, at the drop of a hat, will spring for that last minute weekend trip to Provincetown, Miami Beach, Palm Springs, Ibiza (well, maybe not Ibiza in this economy). There's the uber-marketing done by corporations from Levi's, to Subaru, to the Paris Resorts in Las Vegas, Delta Airlines...even Bridgestone Tires advertises in gay magazines. And these companies market to LGBT people for good reason. At the beginning of 2006, the "value of gay America" (not my language, but that of ABC News) was estimated to be at $610 billion.

$610 billion. That's almost a U.S. government bailout right there.

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Majority in Connecticut Back Marriage Rights for Same-Sex Couples

by Michael A. Jones

Published October 15, 2008 @ 06:59AM PT

Wow, the marriage stories are flying like hotcakes this week.

A poll out yesterday by the Hartford Courant and the Center for Survey Research and Analysis at the University of Connecticut, shows that a majority of Connecticut residents (Connecticans?  Connecticutites?) support last week's ruling by the state Supreme Court granting marriage rights to gay couples.

The numbers are telling: 53 percent of those sampled supported the Court's ruling, while only 42 percent said they disagreed.  But what might be more significant here is that, just three years ago, the Family Institute released a poll showing that 78 percent of Connecticut residents thought that marriage should be defined as only between one man and one woman.  Quinnipiac University also released a 2005 poll that same year showing that (ironically) 53 percent of Connecticut residents were against gay marriage.  The-times-they-are-a-changing.

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Could Iowa be the Next State To Recognize Same-Sex Marriage Rights?

by Michael A. Jones

Published October 14, 2008 @ 07:54PM PT

Gay marriage in Connecticut is not even a week old, and the status of marriage rights in California won't be known for sure until after voters weigh in on Proposition 8 this Election Day, but LGBT activists are already looking at what could be the next state to break for marriage rights -- Iowa.

On December 9, the Iowa Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case of Varnum v. Brien, a lawsuit filed on behalf of six same-sex couples seeking the right to marry in Iowa.  The state currently bans gay marriage, but last year an Iowan District Court ruled that the State's ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional.  The matter now goes to the Iowa Supreme Court, which will have the final say on the matter.

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West Hollywood to House Gay History Museum

by Michael A. Jones

Published October 14, 2008 @ 09:53AM PT

You might have seen many a newspaper headline these past few years, dealing with the subject of same-sex marriage. But would you expect to see a newspaper headline blaring "Homosexual Marriage!" from the 1950s?

Well, now you can. West Hollywood is the new home of a museum - one of the first in Southern California, and one of just a very few in the entire country - dedicated to the history of all things gay.  The ONE Archives Gallery and Museum will open with an exhibit covering the history of the Christopher Street West parade, the gay pride celebration that makes its way down Santa Monica Boulevard each year.  But the museum will have an impact much broader than the history of gay rights in Southern Cali.

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