The Bilerico Project | Indiana

Good news or bad ideas? KY, MI, OH, TX re-examine marriage amendments

bil@bilerico.com (Bil Browning) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:30:00 -0500

The marriage equality drumbeat has rumbled on with news that several states will be attempting to re-examine their state constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage and/or civil unions. Surprisingly, this hasn't received as much attention as I assumed it would in the LGBT blogosphere.

Ohio state representative Tyrone K. Yates (D-Cincinnati), Kentucky state representative Mary Lou Marzian (D-Jefferson), and Michigan House Speaker Pro Tem Pam Byrnes (D-Washtenaw County) have all introduced legislation to repeal their state's respective marriage amendments.

Texas Attorney General candidate Barbara Radnofsky, however, has discovered that the state's amendment also inadvertently "eliminates marriage in Texas," including common-law marriages. A Texas judge ruled the state's amendment was unconstitutional last month.

None of the four states are known for their LGBT-friendly laws which raises an interesting conundrum. Will the four states re-examination of their marriage equality amendments actually help the LGBT community or will it hurt us instead?

Continue reading "Good news or bad ideas? KY, MI, OH, TX re-examine marriage amendments"...

Perspective: Career Blogging, LGBT Priorities, & a Courage Award

bil@bilerico.com (Bil Browning) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:00:00 -0500

Last week, Jerame and I traveled to NYC where I was honored to receive the NYC Anti-Violence Project's Courage Award alongside fellow LGBT bloggers, Joe Jervis (Joe.My.God.), Pam Spaulding (Pam's House Blend), and Andy Towle (Towleroad). The honor is two-fold: the AVP is a very esteemed part of the foundation of our community and the group of blogging peers is impressive. (As an extra bonus, it was also the first award I've won that had my name spelled correctly on it!)

If you'd asked me in late 2004 what I saw in my future, I would never have guessed all the opportunities the new Bilerico blog would afford me. I'm constantly amazed that I've been able to shape my notorious e-mails to a local list-serve about politics and LGBT issues into a career in blogging, activism and writing.

The AVP Courage Award though, means something special. Being honored fresh off the passage of the federal hate crimes law, it really resonated in this Hoosier. Until the law went into effect, I had none of the protections a hate crimes statute can offer. Blogging about "anti-violence" hasn't just been altruistic, that hate crimes law added some security to my family's life. It was also one of the reasons why I picked up the keyboard to begin pounding out political opinion op-eds.

Continue reading "Perspective: Career Blogging, LGBT Priorities, & a Courage Award"...

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"...

Should Heterosexuals be allowed to serve openly in the military?

donnapandori@bilerico.com (Donna Pandori) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 10:30:00 -0500

According to One News Now the American Medical Association (AMA) is ignoring health facts in homosexual advocacy with it's passage of a resolution that opposes "don't ask, don't tell" and declaration that gay marriage bans contribute to health disparities:

Elaine Donnelly, the never served in the military but president of the alleged "Center for Military Readiness" (a.k.a. Center for Military Insaneness) says

the American Medical Association apparently doesn't know the facts about the 1993 law passed by Congress that prohibits homosexuals from serving in the military.

First of all the 1993 law doesn't "prohibit" homosexuals from serving in the military; it "prohibits" them from serving "openly". Secondly, there apparently are some "facts" Ms. Donnelly is unaware of.

Continue reading "Should Heterosexuals be allowed to serve openly in the military?"...

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

The greatest librarian ever

alex@bilerico.com (Alex Blaze) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:00:00 -0500

Over the past few years working here at Bilerico, I've become something of a free speech fundamentalist. A few years ago I was all in favor of "safe spaces," etc., but now it all seems quaint and counterproductive. I guess helping several dozen people who disagree with you express themselves every day will do that to you.

And, as a blogger with a day job, I'm particularly sensitive to cases like this one, where a group of Purdue University students (where my brother as well as plenty of people I know went) who got a petition together to try to get rid of a professor who wrote a virulently homophobic (and patently stupid) screed on townhall.com.

"The most concrete way to protect the university's reputation against academic dishonesty and mediocrity is for him to resign," said Purdue senior Kevin Casimer, who is organizing a petition campaign against the professor.

"However, if Purdue administrators and faculty make a unified statement that (Chapman's writings) are unprofessional and detrimental to Purdue's reputation and not reflective of the university, the same effect might be made."

What we're discussing here isn't exactly free speech. It's more about the right to stupid speech in a job where intelligence is prized, because Chapman's blog post is really, really stupid.

But, then again, it's not a sign of him being stupid on the job.

Continue reading "The greatest librarian ever"...

Random tidbits I wanted to share

bil@bilerico.com (Bil Browning) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:30:00 -0500

No rhyme or reason, just some stuff I felt like sharing...

Boy George twittered a link to Phil Reese's post about the Top 10 Out Gay Male Pop Stars. He protested Phil's description of him.
While I was mad that AirTran canceled me and Jerame's flight to NYC for the Courage Awards, the airline went out of their way to get us to the event on time. They ended up writing Delta a check for two one-way tickets. We flew back on AirTran and the plane was the nicest flight I've ever had - tons of room, free Sirius radio and wifi, and the plane didn't look like it started life in the mid-70s. I do a lot of complaining online, so I wanted to throw out a kudo.
We came in second place in the Top Indiana Blog contest. We lost by 17 votes.
Taking a pit bull, boxer, rat terrier and fox terrier to the vet's office at the same time is not an experience I really want to repeat. Ever.
Good advice [pdf]: Never invite a person you don't like to your party just to accommodate someone else. It'll ruin your celebration.
The RNC's health insurance plan covers "elective abortions." Someone tell Stupak so he'll leave the health care reform bill alone.
Even on a cold and gray day, the Statue of Liberty is exceptionally beautiful when the sun hits the shiny gold of the torch.
I'm not so sure that it is a coincidence that both Sarah Palin and Carrie Prejean are attempting media comebacks at the same time. I smell a swarm of stupid a comin'.

Indianapolis Transgender Day of Rememberance

austen@bilerico.com (Austen Crowder) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:57:42 -0500

It's that time again.

This year's Transgender Day of Rememberance activities include a presentation of "TransActions," a play exploring the emotions and realities of being transgender in this day and age. It's a wonderful play, and a wonderful way to pay respects to those who lost their lives for simply being who they are.

Date: Saturday, November 14th
Time: 6:00PM to 8:00PM
Place: Unitarian Universalist Church of Indianapolis
615 W. 43rd Street
Indianapolis, 46208

I've included the press release below the cut as well.

Continue reading "Indianapolis Transgender Day of Rememberance"...

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!

My worst fear: Microphobia

bil@bilerico.com (Bil Browning) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:30:00 -0500

I should be hopping on a flight to New York around the time this goes live on the site. Flying has never scared me; snakes, spiders and rodents don't really bother me either. Instead, there's one thing that will send shivers of fear down my spine faster than anything.

I get frightened every time I close an important document in Word and it asks me if I want to save my changes when I could swear I didn't make any changes.

What's your worst fear?

House health care bill includes "sexual orientation" and "gender identity"

bil@bilerico.com (Bil Browning) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:30:00 -0500

When the House of Representatives passed their version of health care reform last night, sexual orientation and gender identity were defined [pdf] as groups likely to "experience significant gaps in disease, health outcomes, or access to health care." Hat tip to Jill for pointing it out.

''Subtitle G--General Provisions
16 ''SEC. 3171. DEFINITIONS.
17 ''In this title:
18 ''(1) The term 'core public health infrastruc
19ture' includes workforce capacity and competency;
20 laboratory systems; health information, health infor
21 mation systems, and health information analysis;
22 communications; financing; other relevant compo
23 nents of organizational capacity; and other related
24 activities.

1 ''(2) The terms 'Department' and 'depart
2 mental' refer to the Department of Health and
3 Human Services.
4 ''(3) The term 'health disparities' includes
5 health and health care disparities and means popu
6 lation-specific differences in the presence of disease,
7 health outcomes, or access to health care. For pur
8 poses of the preceding sentence, a population may be
9 delineated by race, ethnicity, primary language, sex,
10 sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, socio
11 economic status, or rural, urban, or other geographic
12 setting, and any other population or subpopulation
13 determined by the Secretary to experience significant
14 gaps in disease, health outcomes, or access to health
15 care.

HRC has a list of areas where LGBT people will be helped by the reform bill.

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

We can't deny the fact that you hate us right now, you hate us!

alex@bilerico.com (Alex Blaze) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:30:00 -0500

I was actually gone on vacation for the earlier part of this week in Seville, since French vacations don't line up with American elections... but I've been catching up and most of what I wanted to say about the elections on Tuesday has either been covered by a contributor on Bilerico or will be soon (there's some great analysis of the elections lined up for the next few days here at TBP, and I'm sure more will be coming in as our brilliant and committed contributors digest the results).

I have three things to add, though, about fault and finger-pointing, so-called strategic incrementalism, and Gay Apartheid, which may just be my new favorite way to not quite violate Godwin's Law. All after the jump.

Continue reading "We can't deny the fact that you hate us right now, you hate us!"...

Indiana's Senator Evan Bayh: Legislator of the Day

jillian@bilerico.com (Dr. Jillian T. Weiss) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:30:00 -0500

Last night's loss in Maine for marriage equality was very disappointing, losing by about 5 percentage points, but the ENDA-like non-discrimination ordinance won in Kalamazoo by an amazing 30 percentage points. The Kalamazoo ordinance covers housing and public accommodations, in addition to the workplace, so its win indicates the high receptivity of non-discrimination as an issue. That should give some comfort to our Blue Dog Democrats on ENDA. At the same time, however, the loss of New Jersey and Virginia governorships to the Republicans may raise the specter of a U.S. shift to the right, which will complicate matters.

I'm sorry to say that we have little time to mourn the loss of marriage equality in Maine, because there is a Senate hearing on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act tomorrow morning at 10 am. United ENDA, a group of over 400 LGBT organizations, has sent out an action alert asking that you call your Senators. Click here for their easy email form.

Where is Indiana's Democratic Senator Evan Bayh on ENDA? We don't know, since he has kept his position to himself. He's one of 6 Senators* likely to vote for ENDA, but who hasn't publicly stated his support. The leadership won't bring it to a vote unless they know they have 60 votes to overcome the Republican filibuster. Please call and ask him to step up to the plate. Contact info and more after the jump.

Sign up here for a reminder of tomorrow's Liveblog of the Senate hearing beginning at 10am tomorrow. Since the real fight is in the Senate, and because the vote there is going to be very, very close, you should join us if you want to read the tea leaves on ENDA.

Continue reading "Indiana's Senator Evan Bayh: Legislator of the Day"...

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"...

"We may be different, but we're not better"

annette@bilerico.com (Annette Gross) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:30:00 -0500

When my son first came out, one of my initial thoughts was that our family was not a "typical, normal" American family. I, too, thought that a family consisted of parents, children, and grandchildren. Since my son was gay, I thought, he would not have children and I wouldn't have grandchildren. I never even thought about what constitutes a family in the larger sense.

After joining PFLAG, I did learn what constitutes a family. I learned that there are many different forms that a family can take. I thought back to my own life - after my husband, son and I moved away from New York and our family there, our friends in the various cities we lived in became our family. We celebrated holidays, birthdays and happy occasions together. I also saw that my son could indeed have children, though not in the "conventional" way.

Today my attention was brought to a video that was made by Sean Chapin.

Continue reading ""We may be different, but we're not better""...

Got Courage? See you in New York next week!

bil@bilerico.com (Bil Browning) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:00:00 -0500

As we've seen in the recent spate of hate crimes in New York City - and not just LGBT folks - there's still a lot of work to do around preventing violence based on arbitrary prejudices. The NYC Anti-Violence Project has been working on the issue for years, but it's a never ending job unfortunately. You can support them by attending the 13th Annual Courage Awards fundraiser next week.

The New York City Anti-Violence Project (AVP) will hold its 13th Annual Courage Awards on Monday, November 9, 2009 at the W New York Ballroom at 541 Lexington Avenue, New York. The evening includes cocktails and a chefs' tasting and a program featuring the award presentation.

At this year's event, AVP has the privilege of honoring Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Tony Kushner, author of Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes and The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism With a Key to the Scriptures, for his truthful and cutting edge political writing and analysis; Weblog creators Bil Browning (The Bilerico Project), Joe Jervis (Joe.My.God.), Pam Spaulding (Pam's House Blend) and Andy Towle (Towleroad), in recognition of the impact of LGBTQH weblogs have made in the fight for civil rights and against violence in our communities; and Clifford Chance US LLP, for their commitment to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and HIV-affected (LGBTQH) rights and extensive work on behalf of the communities AVP serves.

I'm honored to be included in such an all-star lineup of bloggers. We've chosen Pam to do the acceptance speechifying for us, but we'll all be attending the ceremony. If you've ever wanted to meet any or all of us, this is your chance. Purchase your Courage Awards tickets here.

Weekly Reader: Faggots, Child Witches, & Ryan White

bil@bilerico.com (Bil Browning) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:00:00 -0500

I think this was one of Bilerico's best weeks ever. Not only did we have some highly popular emotional and entertainment posts this week, but our political coverage was spectacular. What other LGBT site covered the hate crimes bill signing - and gave you personal posts from contributors who attended? Combine that with our Ryan White Act reporting and a big dose of health care breaking news and you've got a recipe for Bilerico! Here are the posts you won't want to miss from the past week:

PS - Did you go vote for Bilerico Project as the best blog from Indiana? Help us win first place (We're in 10th currently! A bunch of corporate blogs are beating us!).

Sunday

TV ads aren't the answer in Maine Filed by: Matt Foreman
The Gay Hate Crimes Crisis Isn't Over Yet Filed by: David Badash

Monday

I have a problem with faggots Filed by: Bil Browning
War is anti-LGBTQ Filed by: Alex Blaze

Tuesday

Bend (Over) It Like Beckham Filed by: Prince Gomolvilas
Drag memorabilia: vintage Finocchio's postcard Filed by: Gloria Brame Ph.D.

Wednesday

WWJB: Where Would Jesus Bank? -or- Jesus Doesn't Bank Here Any More Filed by: Bil Browning
Child witches, demons, and LGBT youth Filed by: Rev Irene Monroe

Thursday

The beginning of the end Filed by: Cathy Renna
LGBT History: A British Bisexual and American Religious Liberty Filed by: Patricia Nell Warren

Friday

When the Government does Right Filed by: Rebecca Juro
Dragon Age: Origins and Buttsex Filed by: Jason Tseng

Bilerico Nation

William & Mary Students Pick Transgender Homecoming Queen Filed by: Michael Hamar (B-DC)
Transgender Comics: "Between the Lines" Filed by: Austen Crowder
Help Us Stop Murder Music in Miami Filed by: Nadine Smith (B-FL)

Vote Bilerico! (Cuz it's not pretty when I cry)

bil@bilerico.com (Bil Browning) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 08:30:00 -0500

Okay, gang. I need your help. I'm tired of always being the bridesmaid and never the bride... We've come in second place in the Best LGBT Blog Awards for two years running after barely missing first place by a few votes each time. This time I want to win something, dammit!

We're currently in the running for the top blog in Indiana but we're losing by a mile. A blog called "My Old Kentucky Home" is ranked higher than we are. Seriously. *sighs* (I'll refrain from making Kentucky jokes since we're in their blogroll!)

We're one of the most popular sites in the state, but I just found out we were nominated and voting has been going on for a couple of weeks! We're getting a late start on this and right now we only have 112 votes - that's 11th place out of 50 nominations - but the top site has over 500! We're also the only LGBT blog that made the cut, so we have to represent!

There's no sign up needed to vote. You can only vote once per IP address. Won't you help us win the top spot this time? Send the link to all your friends and post it on Facebook and Twitter too. Can you help us get 400 votes today?

UPDATE: We've moved up to 6th place, but we still need over 200 votes to take the top spot. Won't you help us claim #1?

UPDATE 2: We've fallen to 10th place with a 200 vote gap between us and first place! We're being beaten by a bunch of corporate blogs about social networking! Help!

Sen Evan Bayh will oppose Republican filibuster

bil@bilerico.com (Bil Browning) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:30:00 -0500

All of the health care reform debate is really confusing to me and I'll admit that I'm not that well versed in the intricacies. By the time you throw Congressional procedures and protocols, insurance practices lingo, and a bunch of legal and medical terms into a mix, like a majority of Americans, my eyes glaze over slightly and my brain starts to hurt.

After Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced their would be a public option, the rumor mill had our Senator joining Lieberman in supporting a Republican filibuster and I wasn't surprised. Why? Like a lot of other Hoosiers, there's one nugget of information that I do know.

I know the Bayh fortune is built off the medical industry via Bayh's wife - who was paid to sit on the boards of several companies making big bucks off the status quo. Those same companies and related lobbyists have donated quite a bit to Bayh's campaigns. I know I don't trust Senator Bayh with health care reform - and his leadership of the Blue Dogs and their attempted hijacking of the legislation to water it down for the Republicans proves it.

Perhaps all the negative publicity surrounding Bayh's ties to the medical industry is starting to make a dent in the Senator's opposition to health care reform. After all, he's known for keeping his eye on the polls. Color me shocked when a few hours after a Research 2000 poll came out that showed that 54% of Democrats would be less likely to vote for Bayh in a primary if he voted to filibuster the public option, Bayh's office put out this clarification:

Senator Bayh will support moving forward to a health care debate on the Senate floor, where he will work hard to address his concerns and craft affordable legislation that reduces the deficit and lowers health care costs for Indiana families and small businesses.

The same poll showed that 52% of voters think Bayh's $1.5 million in campaign contributions from health and insurance interests hurt his judgment on health care. Yeah. You think? We already knew that.