19-Year-Old Who Was Raised by Two Women Gives Moving Gay Rights Speech, Becomes Viral Video Star | AlterNet

19-Year-Old Who Was Raised by Two Women Gives Moving Gay Rights Speech, Becomes Viral Video Star | AlterNet

TN Govenor Reverses Nashville Metro Non-Discrimination Ordinance

Strike another blow to LGBT civil rights in Tennessee

Gov. Bill Haslam has signed the bill reversing Metro's new nondiscrimination ordinance, dealing a blow to opponents who had mounted a campaign urging him to veto the bill.

The bill effectively reverses an ordinance passed by the Metro Council that required contractors with the city to agree to follow Metro's rules barring discrimination against gay, lesbian and transgendered people.

The move comes despite an effort by opponents of the bill to convince Haslam not to sign the bill, which passed by a more than two-thirds margins in the Republican-led state legislature. Gay rights activists from across the country have been pushing companies to issue statements against with the legislation.

The campaign led the executive committee of the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which had supported the bill while it was in the legislature, to reverse its position Monday.

"The Tennessee Chamber supports a standard regulatory environment at the state level as opposed to potentially conflicting local regulations covering employment practices," the executive committee said in a statement released late Monday.

"That principle was the only interest the Chamber had in this bill. Because (the bill) has turned into a debate on diversity and inclusiveness principles, which we support, we are now officially opposing this legislation in its present form."

From The Tennessean

AmericaBlog has been been closely following the anti-gay legislation in Tennessee and helped launch a nationwide campaign to boycott the companies which had supported the TN Chamber of Commerce's support of the anti-gay bill.

LGBT Groups Scale Back Goals in 2011: 265 Anti-Gay Members of Congress

Facing an emboldened Republican House unlikely to consider significant gay rights legislation in 2011, the nation's leading LGBT advocacy organizations are aiming to push for measures that advance pro-equality causes but are a far cry from historic bills like the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

A new analysis by the Human Rights Campaign, the country's largest LGBT advocacy group, argues that the 112th Congress will have 53 more lawmakers unlikely to vote on behalf of advancing gay rights than in the previous session; the Senate will have five more, bringing the total of such members in the new Congress to 265:

LGBT Equal Rights: The Next Step

Now that we are over the hump of repealing the military's anti-gay "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, it's time to refocus on equality for LGBT people in the workplace, housing, and marriage.  President Obama has said that he supports overturning the Defense of Marriage Act, which denies federal recognition of same-sex marriages.  While V.P. Biden says gay marriage is "inevitable," President Obama says his views are "evolving."

It's time for liberal politicians to quit pretending they do not support marriage equality and get behind the next civil rights struggle-- marriage equality of gay and lesbian couples.

The Split-Screen Struggle Over Gay Rights

Good article by Arianna Huffington at the Huffington Post on the political struggles over gay rights, particularly the growing impatience of the LGBT community with the lack of progress on LGBT issues by Obama and the Democratically-controlled Congress.

And what's up with John McCain?  He can't seem to stick to any position on anything anymore, and is grasping at straws to stop the repeal of DADT.

13 Arrested at White House DADT Demonstration

Coalition of LGBT Rights Groups Join One Nation Together March

Coalition of National LGBT Rights Groups Joins With Progressive Allies as Part of One Nation Working Together

WASHINGTON - September 23 - The National Black Justice Coalition, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, National Stonewall Democrats and Pride At Work are co-convening the “LGBTQ Table” for One Nation Working Together , a new progressive movement demanding secure jobs, justice and quality education. LGBTQ groups will be joining with thousands of progressive allies in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 2 for One Nation Working Together's national rally.
“This is about getting people energized and re-engaged,” says Sharon Lettman-Hicks, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition. “We can show our collective leadership by mobilizing our constituents, and we will continue to stand tall and steadfast until our priority initiatives become a reality.”

More than 200 organizations have endorsed One Nation Working Together, including the NAACP, AFL-CIO, SEIU and many other labor, civil and human rights, faith, immigrant rights, environmental, women and peace organizations.

"Everyone deserves the right to find and keep a job in a safe work environment with a living wage," says Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. "This is about fundamental fairness. This includes ensuring people are not discriminated against based on their sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. It's about passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. It's about ending 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell.' It's about ensuring people get a fair shake and are able to support and care for their families. It's about real lives and livelihoods."

The nation's economic climate has left people all across the country vulnerable, and the ongoing discrimination in employment, schools, housing, health care and the absence of relationship recognition present added economic barriers and stresses for many within the LGBTQ community. In addition, the 12 million undocumented immigrants, including at least half a million LGBTQ people living in this country and 36,000 binational couples, deserve access to a system that allows workers to earn legal status and permits people from all backgrounds to stay with their families.

“One Nation Working Together has already been an unprecedented opportunity for the LGBT community to work in coalition with many progressive organizations with a common purpose,” says Michael Mitchell, executive director of National Stonewall Democrats. “The focus of One Nation Working Together — jobs, justice, education — is also what we are fighting for as LGBT Americans.”

"One Nation Working Together is about Oct. 2, 2010, in Washington, D.C., but it is much more than that,” says Peggy Shorey, executive director of Pride at Work. “This is about building stronger coalitions at the intersection of race and sexuality, and becoming more effective allies across our communities. This is about lifting the voice and struggle of low-income LGBT people, of LGBT people living in poverty, of LGBT working families struggling with unemployment and discrimination, of LGBT people also fighting racism. Just as important as Oct. 2 is how we carry the work forward — encouraging all of our members to register and vote in November, and continuing to organize in solidarity to win justice and equality for all people.”

Also on Oct. 2, the Whitman-Walker Clinic in Washington, D.C., is hosting its 24th annual AIDS Walk Washington, which takes place Saturday morning prior to the One Nation Working Together rally. Event information, including registration, is available at www.aidswalkwashington.org . Whitman-Walker Clinic is proud to be a partner organization of One Nation Working Together. Rally attendees can sign-up online for the AIDS Walk and receive a 25 percent discount off the standard registration rate (code:ONWT).

The LGBTQ Table is encouraging people to support the AIDS Walk, as well as rally with One Nation Working Together. LGBTQ organizations and activists are invited to gather at Freedom Plaza at 10 a.m. to share in the closing ceremonies of the AIDS Walk and then march as a delegation to the One Nation Working Together rally.

For more details of how to get involved in One Nation Working Together, visit www.onenationworkingtogether.org
Facebook at “One Nation Working Together,” or Twitter using the hashtags #OneNation, #DC10210 and #OneNationLGBTQ.

UPDATE: NAACP Leaders Reach Out to Gay Rights Groups

Judge Rules Mississippi Violated Lesbian's Rights

Judge Won't Force Mississippi District to Hold Prom

But the Judged ruled that the school district violated the rights of lesbian student Constance McMillen

ACKSON, Miss. — A Mississippi school district violated a lesbian student's rights by banning her from bringing her girlfriend to the prom, a federal judge ruled today, but he stopped short of forcing the district to hold the event.

U.S. District Judge Glen H. Davidson denied an American Civil Liberties Union request for a preliminary injunction that would have forced the Itawamba County school district to sponsor the April 2 prom and allow Constance McMillen to escort her girlfriend and wear a tuxedo.

Rep. Tammy Baldwin on LGBT Health Care Reform

Representative Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) addresses National Stonewall Democrats members on the need for comprehensive, progressive, and LGBT-inclusive health care reform.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!
I'm spending the rest of the week in a cabin with family in the Smokey Mountains.

Let's think positive today. Despite a few setbacks, Deb Price says LGBT people have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Here's 10 things to know if you are spending Thanksgiving with Republicans

Gay Man Bequeaths $65 Million to LGBT Groups

Former Microsoft programmer and close friend of Bill Gates, Ric Weiland bequeathed $65 Million to LGBT groups, The bequest, the largest every for LGBT groups, includes multi-milllion gifts to the Pride Foundation, the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, Lambda Legal, and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Weiland committed suicide in June 2006.

Gay Superdelegate Jason Rae Backs Obama

Jason Rae, the youngest (and gay) superdelegate who has been heavily courted by Chelsea and Bill Clinton, has decided to back Barack Obama!

Here's a good article on Queerty on Obama's Gay Supporters, including interviews with three LGBT leaders supporting Obama: Tobias Wolff, Stampp Corbin, and Eric Stern.

LGBT Activists Frustrated with Presidental Candidates

LGBT Activists Frustrated with '08 Candidates
Yes, it is frustrating that none of the remaining three Democratic candidates support marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples and stick to safe poll-tested issues. But why didn't LGBT voters support candidates like Dennis Kucinich who DID support full equality for LGBT people, including marriage? Why don't progressive Democrats SUPPORT progressive candidates like Kucinich instead of following the herd behind the mainstream "moderate" candidates? And if gays really want to get more support from the Democratic Party, they need to get involved in politics and the Democratic Party! Join the Stonewall Democrats!

ENDA Victory ?

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) moves to the House of Representatives following approval thursday in committee. The House Education and Labor Committee voted 27-21 to approve the bill, which would protect gays and lesbians from discrimination in the workplace, but without gender identity, will not cover transgender people. According to Rep. Barney Franks, there are not enough votes to pass ENDA with gender identity included, therefore it was left out of the bill. The exclusion of gender identity has divided the gay community. The National Gay & Lesbian Task Force and the National Stonewall Democrats have led a coalition of 300 LGBT groups to push Congressional Democrats to include gender idendity in ENDA. In an attempt to salvage ENDA and try to bring LGBT groups together, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has agreed to allow an amendment to the bill to include gender identity. Rep. Tammy Baldwin will be presenting the amendment after ENDA is voted on in the House.

I am divided on this one myself. I want ENDA to include gender identity and protect eveyrone, LGBT, from discrimination. But ENDA was first introduced in 1975 and this is the first time it has been brought to a vote in Congress. Can we afford to kill a legislation the gay community has been working on for 25 years? Is it wrong to pass ENDA without gender identity, and get the protection for gays and lesbians now, and work to add gender identity when there is more support for it and enough votes to pass it? I cannot answer these questions to my own satisfaction. Let's do all we can to get ENDA passed with the amendment! If you haven't done so already, CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE in Congress to urge them to support ENDA and Tammy Baldwin's amendment! If you live in Memphis, call Rep. Steve Cohen (202) 225-3265. Cohen already supports ENDA, but he needs to hear from us to know he has our support.