The Bilerico Project

Gays should celebrate Roe anniversary

sean@bilerico.com (Sean Kosofsky) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 10:00:00 -0500

The November elections are only the beginning. We must continue to shovel layer upon layer of dirt onto the grave of right wing political playbooks that have hurt so many Americans.

Last year I left the Triangle Foundation in Michigan after 12 years to become the Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina. It has been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. Ironically, I am currently the only man in the country running a chapter of NARAL. It gives me great pride to be on the front lines safeguarding women's rights. But it is still a continuation of my work for LGBT rights.

Every significant pro-gay legal decision is based on Roe v Wade. All LGBT people need to see the struggle for abortion and privacy rights as part of their struggle as sexual minorities. The intersections between the struggle for LGBT equality and reproductive freedom are obvious. Not only are our common struggles about privacy and freedom, but it has to do with control over our own bodies.

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Lesbian Couple Lectured at Doctors office

sean@bilerico.com (Sean Kosofsky) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:00:00 -0500

West Michigan is a very conservative place, but two local lesbians were still shocked to be lectured by their doctor about their "lifestyle" when they went in for a simple issue.

It is a shame that in an era of decreasing access to health care, that barriers like this continue to be created. Being lectured by your doctor can send chills through you and cause you to censor yourself and not seek effective care. Watch this story on WOOD TV in Grand Rapids Michigan for more.

Triangle Foundation is already working to address the situation.

Touching Video for your family and friends

sean@bilerico.com (Sean Kosofsky) — Tue, 06 May 2008 07:00:00 -0500

iPhone users: Click to watch

I was sent this short video, set to a beautiful song by Jewel that really puts personal stories front and center in the LGBT civil rights struggle

Newsweek Contributor Spins eHarmony bias

sean@bilerico.com (Sean Kosofsky) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 07:16:02 -0500

Newsweek's Religion and Society Editor/Contributor Lisa Miller has a piece in this week's issue explaining the PR problem that eHarmony is having.

Most of the piece is just an overview for most of us, but then in one sentence Miller seems to defend eHarmony.com's bias against gays. She said, "eHarmony does not reject gays - it simply doesn't accept them: the only choices on the site are 'man seeking woman' or 'woman seeking man.'"

Depending on how you read the entire paragraph, Miller could just be playing devil's advocate for Neil Clark Warren, the fundamentalist founder of eHarmony, but either way it deserves a closer look. How can you possibly say that discrimination is not occurring when you admit you don't accept certain people? By using language the excludes people from the outset, you are overtly discriminating.

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Horrible coverage of Day of Silence on MI Station

sean@bilerico.com (Sean Kosofsky) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:27:51 -0500

WNEM has run one of the worst stories I have seen in recent years on LGBT issues by using insensitive and inflammatory terms to cover the Day of Silence today.

First, the headline is pure AFA propaganda. Then referring to the AFA as a "family values" organization is a flat out lie. They then referred to gays and lesbians as living an "alternative lifestyle" and referred to us as "homosexuals." They also keep referring to DOS as a protest, as if there will demonstrations occurring in schools. The AFA lies in the piece by saying they have contacted tens of thousands of parents in MI. They have no such list in MI. They mean they are reaching parents using the media.

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Detroit Bans Anti-Transgender Discrimination!

sean@bilerico.com (Sean Kosofsky) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:53:32 -0500

The 11th largest city in the country just banned anti-transgender discrimination.

After a grueling 2 hours of other council business, I emerged from the Detroit City Council meeting with good news. The Council voted 8-1 in support of amending the City's human rights ordinance to include "gender identity or expression."

Detroit has nearly 940,000 residents, but of course this ordinance not only covers those living in the city, but also those visiting, shopping in and working in the City. The formal effort to amend the ordinance began back in October, and we were hoping it would pass around the time that the Creating Change Conference was here in February, but city politics delayed it a tad.

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Michigan Votes on New State Bird: The Middle Finger

sean@bilerico.com (Sean Kosofsky) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 07:38:01 -0500

Yesterday, Democratic leaders in the Michigan House of Representatives fastracked a resolution calling for a new state bird: The Middle Finger.

The move came after months of infighting with the Democratic National Committee and national pundits who have been either paralyzed with inaction or simply complaining all the time. By "shooting the bird" to the DNC, George Will, and dozens of other pundits, state leaders are hoping to get some control back over the delegate mess that Michigan is going through.

Responding to criticism that the Middle Finger is technically not a bird, Speaker of the House Otto Kapidal said, "Actually, when doing shadow puppets, the middle finger looks strikingly like a tern. Which is a way for us to tell the DNC it is their turn to act."

Activists for the PETA were upset at the move because they say they have been auditioning qualified birds for months for the role of state bird. Spokeswoman Nadia Fault had this to say: "What the f*ck. We were just about to sail through the ostrich because it so appropriately has it's head in the sand. We will urge Governor Granholm to veto this particular finger in the hopes of elevating one of the most ridiculous looking animals on the planet."

Hours after the comment by Fault, she was terminated by PETA for her remarks.

Vitter Scores!

sean@bilerico.com (Sean Kosofsky) — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 13:22:47 -0500

This month's Church and State from Americans United, tells how Republican Louisiana Senator David Vitter has scored a 100% rating from the Family Research Council.

This just shows, once again, the hypocrisy on the right and the proof that right-wing extremists really do hate gays. If you are heterosexual and admit to using the services of prostitutes while married, you can earn a perfect score from the FRC, but they have absolutely nothing nice to say about gay people who have never "sinned."

This reminds me of a state house race in Michigan in 2004, where a pro-gay Republican in conservative West Michigan faced a primary challenger because he refused to vote to ban gay marriage. His primary opponent claimed to be the more moral candidate, even though he had been divorced twice and admitted to using a prostitute while married. The pro-gay Republican spent over $300,000 of his own money and only won his primary by less than 70 votes.

See. They hate the gays, not just the sin. Simply not voting to harm gays made you more immoral than a philandering criminal.

Nationally recognized Homophobe dies

sean@bilerico.com (Sean Kosofsky) — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 11:13:26 -0500

Robert Skolrood has died. Many of you may not be familiar with this man but he was a major player in fundamentalist activism.

Included in the NY Times obit is this gem:

"In 2002, when he was semi-retired, Mr. Skolrood was arrested on charges of uttering obscenities and making sexual advances toward a male undercover police officer at an overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway. He denied all the charges at a trial before a federal magistrate in Roanoke, Va., but he pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor, and paid a $125 fine."

Once again, a man plagued with his own desires doing great damage.

Bad Trans News Coverage in MI

sean@bilerico.com (Sean Kosofsky) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 22:34:33 -0500

One of the more prominent GLBT reporters in Michigan, Todd Heywood, has posted a good piece about recent insensitive news coverage in Michigan on transgender issues. Most of which we have worked on at Triangle Foundation. Here is the link to Michigan Messenger for the news.

For more information about any of the cases mentioned contact our Director of Victim Services at melissa@tri.org.

Snoop Dogg Dogs Gays in Reality Show

sean@bilerico.com (Sean Kosofsky) — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 18:54:23 -0500

I don't normally watch TV so I don't even know if what I just witnessed was a re-run or not, but on Snoop Dogg's reality show "Father Hood" on E! there was a bizarre piece of "advice" given to Snoop's sons by a buddy of his.

After trying to encourage his kids to stay in school, Snoop brings his sons to hang out with a friend who proceeds to talk about staying away from certain drugs, claiming that he's been clean for four years. The friend then imparts this little gem: "Whatever you do don't hit the pipe...and don't suck anyone's d-ck..." And of course Snoop just laughed and so did his kids, but the friend looked dead serious.

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Homophobia in the Locker room

sean@bilerico.com (Sean Kosofsky) — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 14:23:06 -0500

Many of you remember when former NBA player John Amaechi came out and Tim Hardaway opened up a can of "I must be uncomfortable with my own sexuality" on his ass. Well, here in Detroit something similar happened a few years ago with Detroit Lions President Matt Millen called a former player a "faggot" while in a Kansas City locker room.

The story made national news and Millen immediately apologized. In fact, thousands of people were calling for his head, mostly because he has failed year after year to deliver a winning football team in Detroit, but the response was impressive.

Well, it is happening again with Cleveland Browns player Brady Quinn (no, not Tom Brady - Brady Quinn). Check out this NY Times piece.

Quinn denies it all but police put him at the scene at the time the insults were allegedly hurled. You decide.

Mukasey Makes Progress for Gays at DOJ

sean@bilerico.com (Sean Kosofsky) — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 16:10:26 -0500

Attorney General Michael Mukasey has issued a non-discrimination policy that clearly includes GLB employees of the U.S. Department of Justice.

President Clinton signed an executive order banning discrimination based on sexual orientation in 1998, but once Bush took office his underlings refused to enforce the policy. Scott Bloch was the right-winger put in charge of this enforcement and of course the appointment of extremist John Ashcroft only solidified the tone of non-inclusion at the DOJ.

This statement from Mukasey is welcomed and is clearly a product of hard work by federal employees with GLOBE and DOJ Pride. Amidst all the crap coming out of DC nowadays this is a great development.

Romney Wins MI: See Hilarious Spoof on Romney Bigotry

sean@bilerico.com (Sean Kosofsky) — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 22:26:40 -0500

Romney just won Michigan. If you can't bear to laugh, check out this hilarious video spoof from The Onion:

Romney really had to win Michigan to stay in this race but the longer it goes for the Republicans the more money they have to spend. Enjoy.

HIV positions of Presidential contenders?

sean@bilerico.com (Sean Kosofsky) — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 19:35:28 -0500

Recently the Gay Men’s Health Crisis unveiled a new report analyzing the positions on HIV/AIDS of all the presidential candidates. Here is a brief summary written by my awesome intern Alex Boskovich. I think you will find it interesting.

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