The Bilerico Project | Washington, DC

Weekly Reader: Hugs, Honduras, & Grandma's Dress

bil@bilerico.com (Bil Browning) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:00:00 -0500

While this week brought news that ENDA has been delayed for a few weeks, we didn't let that stop us from bringing you a ton of popular posts about almost every aspect of our community. Here are the best from this week.

From the Washington Blade's Ashes Comes DC Agenda

michael@bilerico.com (Michael Crawford) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:28:37 -0500

I was as shocked and saddened as anyone on Monday when it was revealed the Washington Blade (along with other Windows Media publications) had been shut down on Monday.

But, the great news is Kevin Naff and the former Blade team have launched a new publication called DC Agenda. The first issue was released today. The issue is slim compared to previous issues of the Blade, but it is an impressive effort considering they only had a few days to put it together.

Kevin had this to say about DC Agenda's mission:

The former staff of the Washington Blade remains united and DC Agenda represents our effort at continuing the important mission and work of the Blade. It will grow and evolve to include a much larger and more diverse group of voices. But the core of the Washington Blade's work remains unchanged. We will cover Congress, the White House, the LGBT rights movement, the D.C. marriage fight, local hate crimes and other political issues important to the LGBT residents of the city.

Ty has a list of locations where you can find the DC Agenda.

Follow DC Agenda on Twitter.

Stephen Colbert on DC Gay Marriage

michael@bilerico.com (Michael Crawford) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:43:14 -0500

Stephen Colbert takes on the DC marriage equality issue in the way only he can.

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

The Word - Skeletons in the Closet

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

U.S. Speedskating

What really happened to the Washington Blade and Southern Voice?

bil@bilerico.com (Bil Browning) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:30:00 -0500

Word has started to leak out surrounding the closure of Windows Media's LGBT publishing empire - including the Washington Blade and Atlanta's Southern Voice. While blame originally fell on the Small Business Administration for unexpectedly pulling the plug on LGBT newspapers around the country, today's revelations throw the blame back on Windows Media itself.

First came word that another owner had been found for the Washington Blade and negotiations were in progress when the paper abruptly shut down yesterday.

Nicholas F. Benton, owner of the Falls Church News-Press, a Washington, D.C.-area weekly, confirmed today that his corporation, Benton Communications, Inc., had won a bid from parties that included the SBA in September to obtain the assets of the Washington Blade from its bankrupt parent company for purposes of a seamless perpetuation of the nation's oldest gay community newspaper. The Blade was closed without Benton's advanced knowledge on Monday.

Benton said he regrets that the negotiations to complete the transfer of ownership failed to be completed, and that as a result he is unable to carry forward the Blade, its legacy, its employees, and its service to its community regionally and nationally.

"Everything was in place, although moving slowly, to make the seamless transition we hoped for. But I remain unaware of what happened, and as a result of Monday's events, the Blade is gone after 40 years of publication, its employees are out of work, and the nation's and region's LGBT community has been stripped of an invaluable institution." Benton said.

Sirius OutQ News though, found out who the real culprit is. According to the SBA, the owners decided to refuse the buyout offers and shutter the doors.

The Recession and LGBT Communities: A Series

michellemarzullo@bilerico.com (Michelle Marzullo) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:00:00 -0500

The global economic recession has been rolling over the world full force for over a year now. We have seen the markets flowing in red, homeowners being turned out at a rate not seen since the great depression, and the economy "shedding" jobs by the millions--a term far too positive and faceless for the gravity of the situation.

I was riding along in my car one fine afternoon wondering how all of this impacts LGBT people when the National Public Radio (NPR) show called "Marketplace" began. Since I am no economist, I always find the reporting on this show to be factual yet pithy, exactly how I like my economic information. Get to the point. Be entertaining. Speak my language. Good. Well, until they covered a story about how DINKs (Dual Income, No Kids) are handling the recession.

Continue reading "The Recession and LGBT Communities: A Series"...

BREAKING: ENDA Postponed

jillian@bilerico.com (Dr. Jillian T. Weiss) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:30:00 -0500

The House Committee on Education and Labor, which was due to mark up the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) on Wednesday of this week, has announced that it is postponing its markup. A terse statement on the Committee's website states simply that "This markup has been postponed."

I had posted on Wednesday about rumors of a possible slow-down on ENDA. DC insiders said there was no slow-down, and that the bill is "on track." However, it appeared, after comparing statements made when the bill was introduced with later statements, that the House vote, initially thought to be in October or November, was now being discussed in a "December or February" timeframe. That would put the bill up before the Senate during midterm election campaigns, which could make it more difficult to gain support among conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans.

Since the House is not in session next week, the earliest date for markup would be in December. That would make it difficult to obtain a House vote on ENDA before year's end.

Continue reading "BREAKING: ENDA Postponed"...

Washington Blade, Southern Voice closed in Window Media demise

phil@bilerico.com (Phil Reese) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:00:00 -0500

UPDATED AT THE END

Disturbing news this morning. Window Media--the Publisher of the Washington Blade, the South Florida Blade, the Houston Voice, the Southern Voice, David Atlanta and 411 Magazine--has officially closed its top publications: The Southern Voice, David Atlanta and the Washington Blade.

At publishing time I had not received any confirmation on Houston Voice or The South Florida Blade's closure (both their websites were down once again, most likely due to high traffic), though an update on Fresh Loaf from former Southern Voice Editor Lauren Douglass-Brown confirms that all Window Media publications are affected.

The Blade website has been up and down all morning, presumably because of increased traffic from this story, but their Twitter feed officially confirmed the bad news:

More after the jump.

Continue reading "Washington Blade, Southern Voice closed in Window Media demise"...

The DC Catholic Church's red herring

nancy@bilerico.com (Nancy Polikoff) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 14:30:00 -0500

To hear the Catholic Church tell it, if same-sex couples can marry in DC they will have to stop providing social services here. At least that's their threat, as reported earlier this week in the Washington Post.

I heard the same thing at the October 26 committee hearing. Their representative said the marriage equality bill would "hurt the people who count on Catholic Charities." (To view the whole hearing click here and select the October 26 meeting of the Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary).

After their representative lamented about what would happen when they sought relicensing as a foster care agency, Committee Chair Phil Mendelson asked why foster care would be implicated and the answer was that the Catholic Charities would not place children with same-sex couples.

Well, I have news for the church (except I suspect it's not news to them).

Continue reading "The DC Catholic Church's red herring"...

Weekly Reader: Fruit Bat Fellatio, Las Vegas, & Scaring Our Elders

bil@bilerico.com (Bil Browning) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:00:00 -0500

While I took a few vacation days this week to travel to NYC, the Editorial Team kept things plugging right along and the great contributor content didn't stop for an instant. These posts really stood out this week:

Sunday

Fellatio in fruit bats Filed by: Gloria Brame Ph.D.
Are you normal? Filed by: Michele O'Mara

Monday

Is Violence Inevitable In Our Fight For Equality? Filed by: Father Tony
Vegas still casts desert mirage of equality Filed by: Cassandra Keenan

Tuesday

About that LGBT boycott of the Obama Campaign, the DNC, and Organizing for America.... Filed by: Alex Blaze
Zenyatta: Why Should We Care About a Horse? Filed by: Patricia Nell Warren

Wednesday

Why I'm So Damn Frightened of You Filed by: Diane Silver
Counterpoint: trans-inclusion is distracting to LGB legislation Filed by: Austen Crowder

Thursday

For marriage victories, we must face and use religion Filed by: Matt Comer
I've signed on to Don't Ask, Don't Give (and you should too) Filed by: Bil Browning

Friday

When Its Not Your Fight Filed by: Antonia D'orsay
Video WH 'held for review': Obama official Melody Barnes' support for marriage equality Filed by: Pam Spaulding

The Pernicious "Choice Myth" and "Change Myth"

mhamar@bilerico.com (Michael Hamar) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:30:00 -0500

As the recent Yes on 1 campaign confirmed, two of the key elements utilized by Christianist enemies of gay equality are the myths that (1) sexual orientation is a "lifestyle" choice as opposed to an immutable aspects of GLBT individuals and (2) gays can "change" their sexual orientation and become heterosexual if they but want to.

These myths bolster efforts to spread the lie to the general populace that gays will recruit children to the "lifestyle" as was just seen in Maine with the repeal of same-sex marriage.

The Christianists also use these myths to argue to politicians that since being gay is a "choice," there is no need to grant GLBT citizen "special rights" and legal protections. There are numerous Christianist organizations that promote these myths such as Exodus International, Focus on the Family, and a host of others - often making lots of money preying upon religiously conflicted gays and their families in the process. Legitimate medical and mental health associations condemn these myths and just this past August, 2009, the American Psychological Association ("APA") formally condemned the practice of so-called "reparative therapy"to cure gays as basically unethical because there is no legitimate evidence that it works.

Continue reading "The Pernicious "Choice Myth" and "Change Myth" "...

For marriage victories, we must face and use religion

mattcomer@bilerico.com (Matt Comer) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:30:00 -0500

The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., is saying it might not be able to continue its social services programs if a marriage equality bill is passed by the D.C. Council.

The Washington Post reports that Archdiocese officials say the proposed marriage bill might threaten their religious freedoms. They say that without a religious exclusion, the bill could force them and other religious groups receiving money from the city to "give same-sex couples medical benefits, open adoptions to same-sex couples and rent a church hall to a support group for lesbian couples."

Continue reading "For marriage victories, we must face and use religion"...

The WWJD Hate Crime Inciters are Getting Some Support for their DC "Protest"

waymon@bilerico.com (Waymon Hudson) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:30:00 -0500

Updated: Fundie Scarborough says Anti-Gay Activists Are Just Like MLK (seriously) after the jump.

I posted the rather unbelievable story last week that got a lot of you talking about Pastor Gary Cass of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission losing his mind over the passage of the Matthew Shepard & James Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Cass and his group of hate-mongers had decided to head to DC on November 16th to protest the Hate Crimes Act in front of the Department of Justice in hopes of getting arrested, saying:

We're basically going to defy the law, and challenge it. We're going to declare the whole counsel of God, including those parts that some may consider 'inciting a hate crime'

Of course, we all know that the Hate Crimes Law has nothing to do with speech or religious freedom, but don't try any of that pesky logic on Cass and his cohorts.

Well, it looks like the putrid party of hate is getting a little bigger now with support from all the usual suspects in the "hate on gays" army...

Continue reading "The WWJD Hate Crime Inciters are Getting Some Support for their DC "Protest""...

The Importance of "Straight Allies"

mhamar@bilerico.com (Michael Hamar) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:00:00 -0500

As the recent lost on marriage equality in Maine demonstrates, the GLBT community will never achieve full equality under the civil laws without the help of our "straight allies" who may in some cases be better able to open hearts and minds in the larger society than we in the GLBT community.

This past weekend's 2009 Equality Virginia Legends Gala in Norfolk honored Cindy Cutler, one such straight ally, who has worked tirelessly in this part of Virginia for the equality of all citizens and has shown no fear in supporting our community. At Saturday night's event, while accepting the title of 2009 Legends honoree, Cindy made some remarks which all us need to share with our families and straight friends. To quote Cindy, they need to "come out" as GLBT allies. Had more of our straight allies gone to the polls in Maine last week and voted "No" on Question 1, we might have seen a different result.

Continue reading "The Importance of "Straight Allies""...

Michael Crawford: One of Advocate's People of the Year

bil@bilerico.com (Bil Browning) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:00:00 -0500

Congratulations to Bilerico-DC managing editor Michael Crawford for being named one of Advocate magazine's "People of the Year."

In a city that is more than 50% African-American, Michael Crawford has been leading the charge on an issue often used to exploit racial tensions: marriage equality.

Crawford, a former associate field director for HRC, is the founder and cochair of DC for Marriage, which helped engineer the October introduction of a marriage equality bill that garnered 10 cosponsors from the 13-member Council of the District of Columbia. The bill will likely have sailed through the council by the time this magazine hits stands, and the only hurdle left will be the U.S. Congress, which approves all D.C. laws.

DC's marriage equality bill passed out of committee this week and is expected to be voted on by the full council on Dec 1. Click through to read the full article and see the picture of Michael looking all serious activist-y in his photo. Michael will be on the Michelangelo Signorile Sirius Radio show this afternoon at 3:30 Eastern.

I need your help ASAP!

bil@bilerico.com (Bil Browning) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:30:00 -0500

This post will stay at the top of the page until midnight. New posts are underneath this one.

Projectors,

I know I was lucky enough to win the NYC Anti-Violence Project's Courage Award last night along with fellow contributor Pam Spaulding (for her own fantastic site, Pam's House Blend), Joe Jervis of Joe.My.God. and Andy Towle from Towleroad. But can you help us to win another award today?

We're only 200 votes shy from winning 1st place as Indiana's Best Blog. Think about that for a second. Indiana blog. When you think of Indiana, do you think LGBT issues? My home state didn't even have a hate crimes law until the federal government signed it into law!!

We're in 7th place currently and voting ends at midnight. Over 12.5k visitors came to Bilerico Project yesterday alone. Imagine how much we could cream the competition if everyone who visited today voted! What a landslide that would be for an LGBT blog in a Midwestern non-gay friendly state.

You can only vote once and voting ends tonight at midnight Eastern. Help us pull out the win! Please!

Weekly Reader: Gay Geeks, Election Night, & Equality March Controversy

bil@bilerico.com (Bil Browning) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:00:00 -0500

Thanks to this week's election night open thread and our liveblog of the Senate ENDA hearing, this was the highest traffic week ever on Bilerico Project. While those two posts were two of our highlights, out of the many posts published this week, here are some of the best:

Sunday

Guess Who Just Played the Gay Card? Filed by: Adam Bink
Apples and Androids [Gay Geeks] Filed by: Nathan Strang

Monday

Why gay marriage IS the End of the World (or the queer world, at least) Filed by: Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore
Lessons for the marginalized Filed by: Amy Hunter

Tuesday

Equality March Co-Directors Resign; Group Reorganizes Amid Controversy Filed by: Bil Browning
How Do You Just Watch a Rape? Filed by: Terrance Heath

Wednesday

The Day After a Hard Night Filed by: Kate Kendell
Update: Statement on Gender Identity Disorder and Transvestic Fetishism in the DSM-V Filed by: Kelley Winters

Thursday

Speaker Pelosi (and all your Democratic friends): I'm not waiting anymore. Filed by: Kip Williams
Marriage after Maine Filed by: Nan Hunter

Friday

The Top 10 Best Ballot Questions Ever Filed by: Alex Blaze
WWJD? Incite Hate Crimes Against LGBT People, according to this "Pastor" Filed by: Waymon Hudson

GOP Christian Taliban Ticket Sweeps Virginia

mhamar@bilerico.com (Michael Hamar) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:30:00 -0500

Fighting the urge to vomit, last on Tuesday, I watched Creigh Deeds concede to Taliban Bob McDonnell (Pat Robertson's anointed candidate) in the race for Virginia's next governor. Obviously, there are a number of lessons to be learned from Deeds' defeat, including:

the Democrats need to avoid contested primaries that allow the GOP opposition several months of unopposed campaigning,
Virginia voters are too stupid to discern a slick but completely disingenuous and dishonest campaign by far right cultural warriors like McDonnell,
andidates from Southwest Virginia are DOA in a statewide general election - Deeds is the third to crash and burn as a candidate for governor,
Deeds ran one of the worse campaigns in memory and dragged the rest of the Democrat ticket down with him,
DNC chair Tim Kaine should have spent more time at home minding Virginia, and
Barack Obama and the Congressional Democrats' inability to pass major legislation even when given a mandate suggests to many - at least it would seem in Virginia - that a vote for Democrats is a vote for contemplating one's navel rather than getting the job done.

Continue reading "GOP Christian Taliban Ticket Sweeps Virginia"...

Election Night Results Open Thread: Maine, WA State, Kalamazoo & Beyond

waymon@bilerico.com (Waymon Hudson) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:30:00 -0500

Tonight is a big night for LGBT rights and issues- Marriage Equality in Maine, Relationship Recognition in Washington State, and a Human Rights Ordinance in Kalamazoo. Add that to the openly gay candidates (Annise Parker in Houston) and races that effect our movement (the New Jersey Governor's Race), and you have a busy night for all things LGBT.

We're going to use this open thread to update election results, talk about the races, follow everything that matters to you. Jump in the comments, add the races you're watching, and give your commentary throughout the evening!

We'll be updating this post all night as results trickle in!

Maine Question 1 Results: 84% Reporting
NO (yay!): 47.4%
Yes (boo!): 52.6% *Winner-UGH*

The Associated Press has declared Yes On 1 the victor. We lost. A recount is expected.

Campaign Statement after the jump.

Washington State Referendum 71 Results: 100% Reporting
Approve (yay!): 51% *Winner*
Reject (boo!): 49%

We won Washington State. LGBT residents keep domestic partner benefits.

Kalamazoo Ordinance 1856 Results:

WINNING PRESS RELEASE AFTER THE JUMP

Yes (yay!): 65% *Winner!!*
No (boo!): 35%

More races (NJ, VA, Houston, St Pete FL, Chapel NC, & more!) and results as they come in after the jump!

Continue reading "Election Night Results Open Thread: Maine, WA State, Kalamazoo & Beyond"...

A little marriage bill moves ahead in D.C.

guest@bilerico.com (Guest Blogger) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:50:55 -0500

Editor's Note: Guest blogger Bob Summersgill is a long-time GLBT rights activist in the District of Columbia who has successfully led numerous human rights efforts.

Lost in the aftermath of the D.C. Council hearing on the marriage bill and in the rush of Election Day news and last minute campaigning in Virginia, Maine, and Washington State, a small but significant marriage rights bill passed the D.C. Council.

Last July, the District started to recognize same-sex couples married in other jurisdictions. However, that bill did not include the right of same-sex married couples to file taxes jointly, nor does the pending marriage equality bill. All married couples in the District must file taxes with the same filing status as they use for their federal returns. However the Defense of Marriage Act prevents the recognition of same-sex couples, so same-sex couples who are now recognized as married must still file as single.

Continue reading "A little marriage bill moves ahead in D.C."...

Voting on marriage equality in DC

nancy@bilerico.com (Nancy Polikoff) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:00:00 -0500

The hearing on marriage equality in DC continued today before the City Council Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary. Last week there were theatrics by those opposing marriage equality, but there was also a common theme. They want the people to vote. That theme continued yesterday.

Under DC law, however, human rights matters are not subject to popular vote. So opponents asked for an "advisory referendum," even though it would not be binding. Last week that gave Council Member David Catania the opportunity to note that the only time such an advisory referendum has been held in the District of Columbia was on December 21, 1865, and the subject was giving freed slaves the right to vote. According to Council Member Catania, the vote was 721-1 in Georgetown and 6591-35 in the rest of the city - and that would be against extending the vote to freed slaves.

Continue reading "Voting on marriage equality in DC"...