Gay Rights

2. The HIV/AIDS Battle in the South

This video tackles racism, homophobia, and the role of churches in respect to HIV/AIDS, and suggests that all three contribute to the alarming stereotypes still surrounding the disease in the South, especially among African American communities. The statistics are powerful enough to stand alone without the video: African Americans represent only 22 percent of North Carolina’s population, but are 68 percent of the state’s HIV/AIDS population. In Louisiana, African Americans are 70 percent of the HIV/AIDS population. In Mississippi, 74 percent. In Georgia and South Carolina, 75 percent. Why such disparity in one of the most religious regions – we’re talking Bible Belt here – in the country?

“The stigma,” as the video names it. Churches, government officials and culture warriors in the South have succeeded in creating an overwhelming attitude of shame surrounding sexuality, particularly homosexuality, that at-risk populations keep quiet about their sex lives. And by default, they place entire communities at risk for sexually transmitted diseases.

The video also highlights the Regional AIDS Interfaith Network (RAIN), an organization of 75 churches in the South working to address homophobia and HIV/AIDS, especially in African-American communities and churches. As one pastor with RAIN is quoted: “If we’re not willing to tell our members in our churches that being homophobic is a sin, then we’re really shucking the job.” Amen to that. Check out Part One (below) and Part Two (below that!).

3. Rejected by E-Harmony – Still Gay!

What do you do when one of the leading online dating sites discriminates against LGBT people? You strike back with your own television advertising campaign. That’s what the folks at chemistry.com did, with a series of short advertisements spoofing the fact that E-Harmony won’t quite accept everyone the way they are. A flashy PR-stunt? Probably. But an effective talking point against discrimination in the online dating world? Absolutely.

4. The Power of Words

“Words can be a powerful weapon, so please choose them carefully.” That’s the mantra of this celebrity-studded video from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). Whether it’s an anti-gay joke, or a derogatory term to describe LGBT people, this video reminds us that hateful and discriminatory language tears down efforts to obtain equality. As Cher once said, “Words are like weapons that wound sometimes.” Sadly, Cher doesn’t appear in this video. But Alec Mapa, Shaun Robinson, Sara Ramirez, T.R. Knight, Lance Bass and Jason Lewis all lend their personas to send this strong message.

5. Access to Treatment

It’s not overtly LGBT, but this may be one of the best clips depicting the gathering storm of global HIV/AIDS. Produced by Medicins Sans Frontieres, the video hits hard at the implications for refusing medical treatment to victims of HIV/AIDS, either because of stigma associated with the disease, stigma associated to homosexuality, or both. Powerful stuff, and beautifully animated to boot.

6. Here! Focus: Family Pride

As the saying goes, the family is a haven in a sometimes heartless world – even if that haven is full of dysfunction and drama! This video spotlights LGBT families in all shapes and sizes, and discusses the obstacles that gay and lesbian couples face in combating the Norman Rockwell image of the perfect and normal American family. Family Pride, an organization that started in 1979, is profiled in the clip, and their director offers insight on how LGBT families can advocate for their children and ensure family rights.

here! Focus: Family Pride

7 & 8. Japhy Grant’s Flaming Politics

Though he doesn’t update it as often as he should, Japhy Grant has both a hilarious and insightful Vlog, “Flaming Politics,” addressing the weekly crop of LGBT headlines around the world. As Japhy himself puts it, the vlog is an “opinionated and independent look at the gay political landscape.” Some of the best? Check out Japhy’s vlog post on the California Supreme Court’s ruling recognizing the right of same-sex couples to marry, and his post on LGBT refugees seeking asylum. Just don’t hold the IKEA bookcase background against Japhy!

9. 60 Minutes: “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

Is it kosher to include an online video from 60 Minutes, the show that’s been around for decades and has a healthy population of viewers who don’t blog, check email, or use Twitter? Absolutely, especially when it’s as good as this critical series examining the “Don’t Ask, Don’t tell” policy enacted under President Bill Clinton in 1994 and still in effect today. More than 12,000 service members have been discharged from the military since ’94 because of their sexual orientation. But as this report notes, with the U.S. military fighting two wars and increasing evidence that gay and lesbian soldiers can serve just as effectively in the military as their heterosexual counterparts, some military commanders are calling for a repeal of the discriminatory policy.

10. Will & Right: Religion, Politics and Gay Marriage

In response to President Bush’s February 2004 call for a Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriages, Film Director Michael Hall set out to capture the story of how this amendment would affect everyday LGBT Americans. The result is this 32-minute documentary, which takes viewers into the homes of LGBT couples to witness firsthand how important the fight for equal marriage rights is. The documentary also captures history in the making, as the first gay marriages in New York State – performed in New Paltz, New York – are solemnized by the city’s mayor. As an added bonus, Tony-award winning actor Harvey Fierstein is interviewed, as well as several members of the New York State Assembly. Though a few years old, the film is all the more relevant given the May 2008 order by current New York Governor David Patterson, which recognizes gay marriages performed in jurisdictions such as Massachusetts, California and Canada. As much as gay marriage can be viewed as a wedge political issue each election year, this film is a heartfelt reminder that the battle over gay marriage transcends the political and partisan landscape.