Arkansas School Official Wants Gays Dead

School Official Wants Gays Dead

Arkansas school board member Clint McCance believes "queers" and "fags" should kill themselves — that is, if they don't get AIDS and die first.


Truth Wins Out Demands Removal of Homophobic Arkansas School Board Member

UPDATE: Arkansas School Board Member Resigns

Discrimination Ordinance Approved by Memphis City Council Committee

Does Opposing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Bolster US Militarism? A Debate with Lt. Dan Choi and Queer Activist Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore

Does Opposing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Bolster US Militarism? A Debate with Lt. Dan Choi and Queer Activist Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore

Obama: It Gets Better Message

President Obama contributes a video to gay teens as part of the "It Get's Better" project

Military (No Longer) Accepting Gay Appllicants

The U.S. Military is now accepting gay and lesbian applicants after US District Judge denies a stay on her decision ending the military's anti-gay "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Phillips in California denied the government's request for an emergency stay of her order barring the military from enforcing its ban on gay men and lesbians serving openly. The government is now expected to go to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.


Lt. Dan Choi, who was kicked out of the military under DADT for being gay, has re-enlisted.


UPDATE:  Appeals Court Grants Stay, DADT Back

The Gay Rights Movement in the U.S. Today

Democracy Now Segment on the Gay Rights Movement in America

Judge Ends "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

Judge Orders "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Injunction

A federal judge has issued a worldwide injunction stopping enforcement of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, ending the military's 17-year-old ban on openly gay troops.

The Dept. of Justice is not required to appeal the decision but is expected to do so.

In related news, the Dept. of Justice is Appealing Rulings Against DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act)

The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday defended the federal law defining marriage as between a man and a woman by appealing two rulings in Massachusetts by a judge who called the law unconstitutional for denying federal benefits to gay married couples.

How ironic that the administration of the candidate who promised to repeal DADT and DOMA is now defending them, while conservative Republicans are winning court cases to overturn them!

Memphis Gay Rights March

The Memphis LGBT community held a March for Gay Rights today.  More than 200 people participated in the march from the Civil Rights Museum to City Hall to rally for LGBT equality and to call upon the Memphis city council to approve a non-discrimination ordinance that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.  The City Council failed to pass a resolution earlier this year.

Commercial Appeal: Memphis Gay Lesbian Rallies at City Hall To Support Anti-Discrimination Ordinance

WMCTV: Hundreds Rally For Gay Rights (With Video)

Eyewitness News:  Gay Rights Supporters Walk for Equality in Memphis (with Video)

Coffee Party Progressive Blog

I've created a new blog to counter the right-wing Tea Party for Coffee Party Progressives

It is not the official blog of the Coffee Party Progressives but is designed to supplement the official website with other information from progressive websites and blogs.

Be sure to Join the Coffee Party Progressives!

Another Gay Teen Suicide

Oklahoma Gay Teen Commits Suicide

Another gay teen has taken his life after vicious attacks on gays in Norman Oklahoma.

A 19-year-old gay man from Oklahoma has taken his own life, and his parents say a hate-filled recent City Council meeting he attended may have driven him over the edge.

Zach Harrington was a talented musician who’d endured years of struggles due to his sexual orientation in high school in conservative Norman, Okla.

Memphis March for Gay Rights Oct. 11

Join the Memphis March for Gay Rights Oct. 11

The Teaparty That The Republicans Don't Want You To See!

It Gets Better

Dan Savage Has Started this project to support LGBT youth struggling with violence and suicide.

One Nation March/Rally 10-2-2010

My partner Glenn and I joined the Socialist Party USA and the Socialist Contingency at the One Nation Together March Oct. 2. It was great to finally meed the national SPUSA officers and socialist comrades from across the country.
And I finally got to meet David McReynolds!

Some of my highlights:
Driving up to the march I got into a discussion with an older white man (in his 50s) who worked in a TN rest stop. When I told him I was going to the march, he said he thought everyone should have healthcare and that he worked two jobs and had no health insurance. He even agreed that we should expand Medicare to cover everyone. This from a working class man who I was afraid to discuss my politics with because I assumed he was a right-wing conservative.

I also ran into Lt. Dan Choi, who was kicked out of the military for being gay, and he was marching with a group of young LGBT people holding signs with the pictures of the 5 young gay males who have committed suicide in the past weeek.

I got into an argument with a couple of African-American women who objected to referring to gay rights as "civil rights." They support equal rights for gays but not gay marriage and they started throwing the Bible ad religion at us. They walked off, but we had a better interaction with an older black man and his younger daughter (I think). They admitted their was a lot of homophobia (they used that word) in the black community, but the man said he told his daughter he would rather she was with a woman that loved her than a man that abused her.

The crowd was incredibly diverse, unlike the Beck-Palin neo-Nazi rally last month. Lots of discussions about issues and the upcoming elections....

We marched with the Socialists and carried signs and chanted slogans critical of Obama and the Democrats, like "Obama is No Socialist, But We Are, But We Are!"

I admit I was wrong about the Socialist Contingency and now think it was a good idea, even though I didn't agree with everything some of the other groups believe or advocate. We agree on most things, and the big things that matter--the need to replace capitalism with democratic socialism! (We just don't all agree on how to get there.)

Here are some pics I took at the March/Rally

One Nation Together

Greetings from Washington D.C., our nation's capitol. I've joined tens of thousands here to protest the pro-corporate anti-labor policies of the Republican and Democratic Parties and their corporate masters on Wall Street. There is a mix of liberal, progressive and socialist activists here who do not agree on every issue, certainly not on President Obama and the Democratic Congress which have failed to deliver real change for American workers. This is a Wake Up Call! Take back our government from the corporate elite!

There is a Socialist Contingency which strongly objects to the failed policies of Barack Obama and the Democratic Congress. The right-wing propaganda networks (Fox News, etc.) will try to tell you that they are here to support Obama and the Democrats, but they are NOT! Read their statement:

Socialist Contingency

I'll be marching with the Socialist Party U.S.A.

Not Our Party: The Tea Party vs. We The People

Memphians to be Among One Nation Working Together Rally

One Nation Working Together