Archive for Gay Rights
Maggie Gallagher is “Just Saying…” (But You Can’t)
Maggie Gallagher says:
We have no scientific evidence at all, that I know of, that children raised by same-sex couples benefit if their unions are legally considered marriages. Why is that now self-evident?
Then she says:
I do not think same-sex marriage will serve child well-being in any appreciable way, and I don’t think there is much [...]
Civil Unions Coming to Hawaii?
In 1993, the Hawaii Supreme Court seemed on the verge of bringing marriage equality to the state. In Baehr v. Lewin, the court held that the ban on gay marriages was a form of sex discrimination, and that the state therefore bore a heavy burden of justification. The case was sent back to the lower [...]
Nepal Votes for Equality
As states throughout the U.S. have moved to impale discrimination into their constitutions by banning same-sex marriages, other countries are sprinting in the other direction.
This just in: Nepal is about to join South Africa in explicitly guaranteeing equality to its gay and lesbian citizens. Same-sex couples will be able to marry.
Meanwhile, in Cuba sex-change operations [...]
Emboldened in Hawaii
Are civil unions the compromise they’re touted as? Not according to this story from Hawaii, where religious anti-equality opponents repeatedly discussed the sanctity of marriage in opposing — a Hawaii civil unions bill! The rhetoric was almost entirely religious, even though the bill has nothing to do with religion, even nominally. Counter-protesters also invoked religion [...]
The Lighter Side of Gay Bashing
By now you may have heard of this story. Notre Dame’s school newspaper, The Observer, ran a horrific “comic” strip, pictured in the linked story. The text (which leaves nothing worthwhile out, considering how untalented the artist is) went like this:
Character 1: “What’s the easiest way to turn a fruit into a vegetable?”
Character 2: “No [...]
Mr. Gay China
This article from the Guardian-UK provides a fascinating look at a slice (a tiny slice) of gay life in China. Check out this accompanying video:
Exporting Death: Big Tobacco, Meet Rabidly Anti-Gay Evangelists
This connect-the-dots article in today’s New York Times details a gruesome connection between talks that three American evangelists gave in Uganda last March and the subsequent, well-publicized, and internationally condemned proposed legislation that was introduced just a month later. A current draft of that bill lifts the death-by-hanging penalty for homosexuality in favor of life [...]
“All that is needed for bad fashion to prevail is for gay men to do nothing.”
The title comes from a comment to this story, featured on boingboing (h/t to D/P, one of my readers). This picture is priceless:
I love the bemused look on her face: “Now what? I can’t just leave…. And who has time for fashion with all of these homosexuals to save? Should I have put a semi-colon [...]
Boiled in Oil
A few years ago, Martina Navratilova was asked about how her openness about being a lesbian had affected her tennis career. In characteristically honest and amusing fashion, she had this assessment (and here I paraphrase): Well, it wasn’t great. It cost me some fans, I took some heat for it, and I lost almost all [...]
Rhode Island, Salt Lake City, and Working with Principled Opponents
Within the past couple of days, two astonishing things happened:
In Rhode Island, Governor Carcieri vetoed a very modest bill that would have provided domestic partners with the right to make funeral arrangements for their partners. Although the legislature may have the votes to override this veto, it’s nonethless appalling. After providing a few arguments against [...]