Texas town elects openly Gay Bruno “Ralphy” Lozano their mayor

I thought this news from last month was really cool.

“Stonewall happened because drag queens and a minority group stood up to animosity, and I had to go back in the closet [while in the Air Force] because of that same hatred,” [Bruno] told IntoMore.com. “I know what that was like, and it translates to today’s campaign. I’m not going to bow down. I am who I am. Accept me or not.”

The headline angle on how Bruno likes wearing heels felt sensationalized (the old stereotype that all gay men want to dress like/be women), but maybe that's my internalized sense of things being homophobic (and some internalized homophobia, too.) — maybe there's a generational shift happening here, and it's just a shrug - oh, he wore high heels to a Veterans Day parade. (Which, as a Veteran, is a pretty nice way of protesting the military's old "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.)

Bottom line: the fact that Bruno was elected by his small Texas town is a moment of hope, and pride.

And, just because it's such good, happy news, here's a smiling photo of Mayor Lozano:

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee

Desmond is Amazing - a 10-year-Old "Drag Kid"

This is amazing...



I love how:

supportive Desmond's parents are of him being him.

confident he is in loving what he's doing, and who he is.

it's a window into how drag can be empowering.

I'm also struck (as I always am when watching RuPaul's Drag Race) at the mentoring element of Drag, and how for earlier generations, drag has sometimes been a way of finding family when a drag performer's own family of origin wasn't on board... For Desmond, with parents who are so supportive, it's like he'll have two families.

And that's something to celebrate!

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee

p.s. - thanks to my husband for sharing this with me, so I could share it with you...

An Online Movement Helps Out The Feminist/LGBTQ "Common Language Bookstore" in Ann Arbor, Michigan

I thought this story was great!

On April 16, Dadrielle posted on Tumblr

"I saw a sad facebook post from the gay bookstore back in Ann Arbor where I used to live about how they hadn’t sold any books that day so I went on their online store and bought a couple, and while you don’t get #deals like elsewhere online, I’d love it if y’all would consider buying your next gay book from them instead of like, Amazon."

What happened next?

From the store's Facebook post just two days later:

At last count we had 211 online orders over the last couple of days. We generally have a handful of online orders PER MONTH. And many days our in store sales are 3-5 books. In other words, this deluge is significantly more than we sell in a month. We are literally brought to tears by this outpouring.

...

Our staff is three people and one dog. And while the dog is, perhaps, the world's sweetest dog, he's not much help in this task. The lack of opposable thumbs is a big hindrance to many bookstore tasks.

Mind you, we are not complaining. Having a surge which overwhelms our current resources is a great problem to have. Heartfelt thanks.

As I take a short break from fulfilling orders I wanted to share a few thoughts.

This is transformative.

We will be able to pay some bills which will steady the ship for a longer voyage. In our wildest dreams this surge would continue, we'd hire more people to handle the load, and the world would have a thriving honest-to-god queer bookstore.

But even if it doesn't continue at this truly astonishing rate, having a regular flow on online orders would give the store a level of security we haven't seen in a long time.

All of you did this. You made it happen. And you can be a part of making that dream come true. In fact, you can be the most important part of making that dream come true. You can be an ambassador.

It was, after all, an ambassador who made this happen.

When a friend talks about getting a book, steer them to us. Our mission is to create a safe space for LGBT people, a resource for a community, a place of equality for women, a place where black lives truly matter, a place where your gender is what you say it is, not what anyone else says it is.

If this is your mission as well, join us.

And on April 20, they posted:

Somewhere around 700 online orders in.

How awesome is that? The community coming together in this way, to give new life and possiblities to this safe space.

Beautiful. Because our world needs a "thriving honest-to-god queer bookstore" — really, we need LOTS of them, in every community!

Thanks to Dadrielle, Kaila Hale-Stern's article at The Mary Sue, Shelf Awareness (where I heard about it), the Common Language Bookstore, and of course, our community!

Lee

91-year-old woman kicked out of the Air Force for being a Lesbian finally gets her discharge changed to "honorable"

Helen Grace, as featured on the "Today" show

Kudos to Megyn Kelly for featuring Helen Grace's story on the "Today" show. It's a long way from Helen's 1950s discharge from the Air Force for being a lesbian to Megyn clasping her hand over her heart at the end of Helen's story and the studio audience applauding Helen, and the story's closing line: "rights for which one is never to old to fight."

A nice reminder, in this time of struggle, that we are making progress towards a more just and open and embracing-of-differences society.

Proud Parent Moment - Teens Really Can Change The World For The Better!

So my teen and I were having dinner recently, these vegetarian chicken-style nuggets that we like, and she's reading the back of the package while I'm trying to come up with some vegetable to go with it, and she suddenly exclaims that she can't believe what she just read... And asks me if I can believe it. I tell her that if she's really upset about it, she should write to the company. So she did.


Here's her letter:

Hi Gardein Team,
My name is [held back for her privacy], and I am 14 years old. I am a big fan of your seven grain crispy tenders. As I was reading the instructions to make "After School Chick'n Parm Bites" on the back of the package, something bothered me about the language. At the very end of the recipe, it says, "Thanks mom!" This assumes that everyone has a mom, which not everyone does. Also, the title, "After School Chick'n Parm Bites," is implying that this mom is a stay-at-home mom who cooks for her kids. There are so many hidden stereotypes in the wording of this recipe. I have two dads, and I don't feel that everyone is represented in the recipe, including me. These assumptions are subtle, but I think they should be addressed. A simple solution could be to change the title to "Afternoon Chick'n Parm Bites" (not everyone goes to school), and to take out the last sentence completely. I hope you notice the problem with your packaging, and make everyone feel included.
Thank you very much.
Sincerely,

About a week later, they responded:

Dear [held back for her privacy],
Thank you for contacting us about our gardein™ products.

We are always grateful when loyal consumers such as you take the time to communicate their experience and feedback with us. We actually recognized the statement at the end of the recipe as well and have removed 'Thanks mom!' from the latest artwork. This will be evident on the packages before the end of the year.

I'd love to send you some coupons in appreciation of being such a great fan...

Thank you again for your feedback and we hope you continue to enjoy gardein products.

Sincerely,

WOW! And that's one way the world changes...

I'm inspired, and very proud.

Thanks for letting me share.

(and if you're commenting, please respect my awesome teen's privacy.)
Lee

Inspiring Words From Ireland's First Openly Gay Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar

“My experience of the very successful marriage equality referendum here was that if you want to convince people to change their minds, it’s not by shouting at them or lecturing them or attacking them personally or degrading them. That’s not how you change hearts and minds. And I certainly look forward to meeting him. [U.S. Vice President Pence, not much of a friend to the LGBTQ community] I’d like to hear about his stories and his Irish connections, which he seems to be proud of, and maybe tell him a bit about my story, too.” – Leo Varadkar, Ireland's first openly gay and half-Indian (and, at 38, youngest ever) prime minister.

Read the full interview piece by Maureen Dowd at the New York Times here.

Sharing our stories. That's how you change hearts and minds. Wise words. And inspiring!

A Flashmob Dance For LGBTQ Pride in Delhi, India

This dance/demonstration/call for India to break its LGBTQ stereotypes was really fun to see.

I'm so glad to know it happened!

I love this ad - and can only imagine how it would have BLOWN my mind when I was a kid (in the BEST way!)

check out this 30 second commercial: "Your Father"




Star Wars. Two Dads? WOW! Love love love love this.

Thanks to Jerry for sharing!

"I Am Thankful For..." Jodi Picoult's Answer To This Time Magazine Piece Makes A Difference

So in the current Time magazine, December 1-8, 2014, on page 18, they ran a piece by Tessa Berenson, interviewing four notable people and asking them to share what they are thankful for. Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, Actor Chelsea Peretti and current U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry all weighed in with their answers.

But Jodi Picoult took this one step further - as an opportunity. Here's what she wrote:

'I'm thankful for my family, as it expands in very wonderful directions. This Labor Day, my son Kevin proposed to his boyfriend Kyle. On paddleboards. In the middle of a lake. With a handmade titanium earring shaped like the infinity symbol. Every time I look at Kyle's engagement earring, I silently hope that other LGBTQ people will have the same joy in their lives as he does at this moment."

                                                                         - Jodi Picoult, Author

Being honest about our journeys, letting others know the truth of who we are as LGBTQ and Allied people is the most important element of changing our world for the better.

I hope Kevin is really proud of his mom, and Kyle of his soon-to-be-mother-in-law.

I know I'm proud of Jodi, and grateful for her answer.

I'm thankful Time magazine ran it.

And I'm thankful my husband shared it with me, so I could share it with all of you.

Namaste (the light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in every one of you),
Lee

Progress: A Shout out to People Magazine's May Profile of "Online Dating's Most Wanted: Sexiest Singles Alive!"

Amid all the challenging news of the summer, this piece in People Magazine (you can see the online version here) made me ridiculously happy...

Four of the seven online dating sites profiled included men looking for men or women looking for women. And out of the nineteen people profiled and shown, seven were out and looking for their Lesbian, Gay or Bi special someone...

I'm certainly not looking (love you, husband!) but I keep thinking how this would have ROCKED MY WORLD as a teen. To see these people proudly looking for love - the kind of love I so deeply and secretly yearned for - and to have them presented as equals, indeed as among the "Sexiest Singles Alive!" is a powerful message celebrating our differences.

For using their platform to make our world a better place for LGBTQ people, I want to say:

Thanks, People Magazine!

President Obama's Speech on the 50th Anniversary of the March On Washington

Watch this! (From Wednesday of this week...)



Moments that leapt out at me include at 8:36 in...

"Because they marched, America became more free and more fair, not just for African-Americans but for women and Latinos, Asians and Native Americans, for Catholics, Jews and Muslims, for gays, for Americans with disabilities.

America changed for you and for me. 

And the entire world drew strength from that example."

and at 12 minutes in...

"The arc of the moral universe may bend towards justice but it doesn't bend on its own."

and this part at 22 minutes in...

The March on Washington teaches us that we are not trapped by the mistakes of history, that we are masters of our fate.

But it also teaches us that the promise of this nation will only be kept when we work together. We'll have to reignite the embers of empathy and fellow feeling, the coalition of conscience that found expression in this place 50 years ago.

And I believe that spirit is there, that true force inside each of us. I see it when a white mother recognizes her own daughter in the face of a poor black child. I see it when the black youth thinks of his own grandfather in the dignified steps of an elderly white man. It's there when the native born recognizing that striving spirit of a new immigrant, when the interracial couple connects the pain of a gay couple who were discriminated against and understands it as their own. That's where courage comes from, when we turn not from each other or on each other but towards one another, and we find that we do not walk alone. That's where courage comes from.

Here's a full transcript of President Obama's speech from the Federal News Service (as reported by the Washington Post.)

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: To the King family, who have sacrificed and inspired so much, to President Clinton, President Carter, Vice President Biden, Jill, fellow Americans, five decades ago today, Americans came to this honored place to lay claim to a promise made at our founding.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

In 1963, almost 200 years after those words were set to paper, a full century after a great war was fought and emancipation proclaimed, that promise, those truths remained unmet. And so they came by the thousands, from every corner of our country -- men and women, young and old, blacks who longed for freedom and whites who could no longer accept freedom for themselves while witnessing the subjugation of others. Across the land, congregations sent them off with food and with prayer. In the middle of the night, entire blocks of Harlem came out to wish them well.

With the few dollars they scrimped from their labor, some bought tickets and boarded buses, even if they couldn't always sit where they wanted to sit. Those with less money hitchhiked, or walked. They were seamstresses, and steelworkers, and students, and teachers, maids and pullman porters. They shared simple meals and bunked together on floors.

And then, on a hot summer day, they assembled here, in our nation's capital, under the shadow of the great emancipator, to offer testimony of injustice, to petition their government for redress and to awaken America's long-slumbering conscience.

We rightly and best remember Dr. King's soaring oratory that day, how he gave mighty voice to the quiet hopes of millions, how he offered a salvation path for oppressed and oppressors alike. His words belong to the ages, possessing a power and prophecy unmatched in our time.

But we would do well to recall that day itself also belonged to those ordinary people whose names never appeared in the history books, never got on TV.

Many had gone to segregated schools and sat at segregated lunch counters, had lived in towns where they couldn't vote, in cities where their votes didn't matter. There were couples in love who couldn't marry, soldiers who fought for freedom abroad that they found denied to them at home. They had seen loved ones beaten and children fire- hosed. And they had every reason to lash out in anger or resign themselves to a bitter fate.

And yet they chose a different path. In the face of hatred, they prayed for their tormentors. In the face of violence, they stood up and sat in with the moral force of nonviolence. Willingly, they went to jail to protest unjust laws, their cells swelling with the sound of freedom songs. A lifetime of indignities had taught them that no man can take away the dignity and grace that God grants us. They had learned through hard experience what Frederick Douglas once taught: that freedom is not given; it must be won through struggle and discipline, persistence and faith.

That was the spirit they brought here that day.

That was the spirit young people like John Lewis brought that day. That was the spirit that they carried with them like a torch back to their cities and their neighborhoods, that steady flame of conscience and courage that would sustain them through the campaigns to come, through boycotts and voter registration drives and smaller marches, far from the spotlight, through the loss of four little girls in Birmingham, the carnage of Edmund Pettus Bridge and the agony of Dallas, California, Memphis. Through setbacks and heartbreaks and gnawing doubt, that flame of justice flickered and never died.

And because they kept marching, America changed. Because they marched, the civil rights law was passed. Because they marched, the voting rights law was signed. Because they marched, doors of opportunity and education swung open so their daughters and sons could finally imagine a life for themselves beyond washing somebody else's laundry or shining somebody else's shoes. (Applause.) Because they marched, city councils changed and state legislatures changed and Congress changed and, yes, eventually the White House changed. (Cheers, applause.)

Because they marched, America became more free and more fair, not just for African-Americans but for women and Latinos, Asians and Native Americans, for Catholics, Jews and Muslims, for gays, for Americans with disabilities.

America changed for you and for me.

And the entire world drew strength from that example, whether it be young people who watched from the other side of an Iron Curtain and would eventually tear down that wall, or the young people inside South Africa who would eventually end the scourge of apartheid. (Applause.) Those are the victories they won, with iron wills and hope in their hearts. That is the transformation that they wrought with each step of their well-worn shoes. That's the depth that I and millions of Americans owe those maids, those laborers, those porters, those secretaries -- folks who could have run a company, maybe, if they had ever had a chance; those white students who put themselves in harm's way even though they didn't have to -- (applause) -- those Japanese- Americans who recalled their own interment, those Jewish Americans who had survived the Holocaust, people who could have given up and given in but kept on keeping on, knowing that weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning -- (cheers, applause) -- on the battlefield of justice, men and women without rank or wealth or title or fame would liberate us all, in ways that our children now take for granted as people of all colors and creeds live together and learn together and walk together, and fight alongside one another and love one another, and judge one another by the content of our character in this greatest nation on Earth.

To dismiss the magnitude of this progress, to suggest, as some sometimes do, that little has changed -- that dishonors the courage and the sacrifice of those who paid the price to march in those years. (Applause.) Medgar Evers, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, Martin Luther King Jr., they did not die in vain. (Applause.) Their victory was great.

But we would dishonor those heroes as well to suggest that the work of this nation is somehow complete. The arc of the moral universe may bend towards justice, but it doesn't bend on its own. To secure the gains this country has made requires constant vigilance, not complacency. Whether it's by challenging those who erect new barriers to the vote or ensuring that the scales of justice work equally for all in the criminal justice system and not simply a pipeline from underfunded schools to overcrowded jails -- (applause) -- it requires vigilance.

(Cheers, applause.)

And we'll suffer the occasional setback. But we will win these fights. This country has changed too much. (Applause.) People of good will, regardless of party, are too plentiful for those with ill will to change history's currents. (Applause.)

In some ways, though, the securing of civil rights, voting rights, the eradication of legalized discrimination -- the very significance of these victories may have obscured a second goal of the march, for the men and women who gathered 50 years ago were not there in search of some abstract idea. They were there seeking jobs as well as justice -- (applause) -- not just the absence of oppression but the presence of economic opportunity. For what does it profit a man, Dr. King would ask, to sit at an integrated lunch counter if he can't afford the meal?

This idea that -- that one's liberty is linked to one's livelihood, that the pursuit of happiness requires the dignity of work, the skills to find work, decent pay, some measure of material security -- this idea was not new.

Lincoln himself understood the Declaration of Independence in such terms, as a promise that in due time, the weights should be lifted from the shoulders of all men and that all should have an equal chance.

Dr. King explained that the goals of African-Americans were identical to working people of all races: decent wages, fair working conditions, livable housing, old age security, health and welfare measures -- conditions in which families can grow, have education for their children and respect in the community.

What King was describing has been the dream of every American. It's what's lured for centuries new arrivals to our shores. And it's along this second dimension of economic opportunity, the chance through honest toil to advance one's station in life, that the goals of 50 years ago have fallen most short.

Yes, there have been examples of success within black America that would have been unimaginable a half-century ago. But as has already been noted, black unemployment has remained almost twice as high as white employment (sic), Latino unemployment close behind. The gap in wealth between races has not lessened, it's grown.

As President Clinton indicated, the position of all working Americans, regardless of color, has eroded, making the dream Dr. King described even more elusive.

For over a decade, working Americans of all races have seen their wages and incomes stagnate. Even as corporate profits soar, even as the pay of a fortunate few explodes, inequality has steadily risen over the decades. Upward mobility has become harder. In too many communities across this country in cities and suburbs and rural hamlets, the shadow of poverty casts a pall over our youth, their lives a fortress of substandard schools and diminished prospects, inadequate health care and perennial violence.

And so as we mark this anniversary, we must remind ourselves that the measure of progress for those who marched 50 years ago was not merely how many blacks had joined the ranks of millionaires; it was whether this country would admit all people who were willing to work hard, regardless of race, into the ranks of a middle-class life. (Applause.) The test was not and never has been whether the doors of opportunity are cracked a bit wider for a few. It was whether our economic system provides a fair shot for the many, for the black custodian and the white steelworker, the immigrant dishwasher and the Native American veteran. To win that battle, to answer that call -- this remains our great unfinished business.

We shouldn't fool ourselves. The task will not be easy. Since 1963 the economy's changed.

The twin forces of technology and global competition have subtracted those jobs that once provided a foothold into the middle class, reduced the bargaining power of American workers.

And our politics has suffered. Entrenched interests -- those who benefit from an unjust status quo resisted any government efforts to give working families a fair deal, marshaling an army of lobbyists and opinion makers to argue that minimum wage increases or stronger labor laws or taxes on the wealthy who could afford it just to fund crumbling schools -- that all these things violated sound economic principles.

We'd be told that growing inequality was the price for a growing economy, a measure of the free market -- that greed was good and compassion ineffective, and those without jobs or health care had only themselves to blame.

And then there were those elected officials who found it useful to practice the old politics of division, doing their best to convince middle-class Americans of a great untruth, that government was somehow itself to blame for their growing economic insecurity -- that distant bureaucrats were taking their hard-earned dollars to benefit the welfare cheat or the illegal immigrant.

And then, if we're honest with ourselves, we'll admit that during the course of 50 years, there were times when some of us, claiming to push for change, lost our way. The anguish of assassinations set off self-defeating riots.

Legitimate grievances against police brutality tipped into excuse- making for criminal behavior. Racial politics could cut both ways as the transformative message of unity and brotherhood was drowned out by the language of recrimination. And what had once been a call for equality of opportunity, the chance for all Americans to work hard and get ahead was too often framed as a mere desire for government support, as if we had no agency in our own liberation, as if poverty was an excuse for not raising your child and the bigotry of others was reason to give up on yourself. All of that history is how progress stalled. That's how hope was diverted. It's how our country remained divided.

But the good news is, just as was true in 1963, we now have a choice. We can continue down our current path in which the gears of this great democracy grind to a halt and our children accept a life of lower expectations, where politics is a zero-sum game, where a few do very well while struggling families of every race fight over a shrinking economic pie. That's one path. Or we can have the courage to change.

The March on Washington teaches us that we are not trapped by the mistakes of history, that we are masters of our fate.

But it also teaches us that the promise of this nation will only be kept when we work together. We'll have to reignite the embers of empathy and fellow feeling, the coalition of conscience that found expression in this place 50 years ago.

And I believe that spirit is there, that true force inside each of us. I see it when a white mother recognizes her own daughter in the face of a poor black child. I see it when the black youth thinks of his own grandfather in the dignified steps of an elderly white man. It's there when the native born recognizing that striving spirit of a new immigrant, when the interracial couple connects the pain of a gay couple who were discriminated against and understands it as their own. That's where courage comes from, when we turn not from each other or on each other but towards one another, and we find that we do not walk alone. That's where courage comes from. (Applause.)

And with that courage, we can stand together for good jobs and just wages. With that courage, we can stand together for the right to health care in the richest nation on earth for every person. (Applause.) With that courage, we can stand together for the right of every child, from the corners of Anacostia to the hills of Appalachia, to get an education that stirs the mind and captures the spirit and prepares them for the world that awaits them. (Applause.) With that courage, we can feed the hungry and house the homeless and transform bleak wastelands of poverty into fields of commerce and promise.

America, I know the road will be long, but I know we can get there. Yes, we will stumble, but I know we'll get back up. That's how a movement happens. That's how history bends. That's how, when somebody is faint of heart, somebody else brings them along and says, come on, we're marching. (Cheers, applause.)

There's a reason why so many who marched that day and in the days to come were young, for the young are unconstrained by habits of fear, unconstrained by the conventions of what is. They dared to dream different and to imagine something better. And I am convinced that same imagination, the same hunger of purpose serves in this generation.

We might not face the same dangers as 1963, but the fierce urgency of now remains. We may never duplicate the swelling crowds and dazzling processions of that day so long ago, no one can match King's brilliance, but the same flames that lit the heart of all who are willing to take a first step for justice, I know that flame remains. (Applause.)

That tireless teacher who gets to class early and stays late and dips into her own pocket to buy supplies because she believes that every child is her charge -- she's marching. (Applause.) That successful businessman who doesn't have to, but pays his workers a fair wage and then offers a shot to a man, maybe an ex-con, who's down on his luck -- he's marching.

(Cheers, applause.) The mother who pours her love into her daughter so that she grows up with the confidence to walk through the same doors as anybody's son -- she's marching. (Cheers, applause.) The father who realizes the most important job he'll ever have is raising his boy right, even if he didn't have a father, especially if he didn't have a father at home -- he's marching. (Applause.) The battle-scarred veterans who devote themselves not only to helping their fellow warriors stand again and walk again and run again, but to keep serving their country when they come home -- they are marching. (Applause.) Everyone who realizes what those glorious patriots knew on that day, that change does not come from Washington but to Washington, that change has always been built on our willingness, we, the people, to take on the mantle of citizenship -- you are marching. (Applause.)

And that's the lesson of our past, that's the promise of tomorrow, that in the face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it. And when millions of Americans of every race and every region, every faith and every station can join together in a spirit of brotherhood, then those mountains will be made low, and those rough places will be made plain, and those crooked places, they straighten out towards grace, and we will vindicate the faith of those who sacrificed so much and live up to the true meaning of our creed as one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. (Cheers, applause.)

What are the moments that resonated for you?

Jack Adraka is a 16 Year Old Openly Gay Scientist

Inspiring!



Go, Jack, Go!


If you can't see the video above, check it out on youtube here.

No More "Not Gay" At UVA (University of Virginia)

So here's the University of Virginia 'Good Ol' Song'



What you don't hear is that students have been inserting "not" before the word "gay" in the chant for years. Here's the lyrics:

The good ol' song of wah-hoo-wah
We'll sing it o'er and o'er
It cheers our hearts and warms our blood
To hear them shout and roar.

We come from ol' Virginia
Where all is bright and gay
Let's all join hands and give a yell
For the dear old UVA.

Good news is that last week the student council

"unanimously approved a resolution condemning the insertion of the “not gay” chant into the “Good Ol’ Song,” commonly sung at athletic events. The chant has come under scrutiny several times in the past decade and has become increasingly unpopular as support for gay rights has increased across the country."

With the resolution,

"Council seeks to take a stand against the chanting of the unscripted phrase — a phrase that members see as contrary to the safe and welcoming environment the University seeks to provide to all its students. Council members said they hoped the legislation would be a step toward ending disrespectful or derogatory acts toward LGBTQ communities and supporters."

Progress!

Namaste,
Lee

ps- my thanks to Karol for giving me the heads-up on this story!  It's also been reported on the Huffington Post and at Outsports.

This GAP Ad makes me so happy!

It's been on buses all over Los Angeles, and while it was hard for me to snap a good shot of it, Benjamin over at Spencer Alley got this great photo of a bus in San Francisco (above), sporting the gay pride two-guys-in-one-t-shirt pose of Broadway star Rory O’Malley & his boyfriend Gerold Schroeder photographed for GAP’s “Be Bright, Be One” Ad Campaign.  Thanks, Benjamin!

Here's the best shot I got...

Of course, there's been backlash from unfriendly quarters, but really, let's focus on the positive.  I keep thinking of all the young GLBTQ people seeing these buses and feeling YEAH, my kind of love deserves to be celebrated, too.

And it does!

Namaste,
Lee

JC Penney's Gay Dad Ad for Father's Day... make that "Fathers' Day"

The ad features “real-life dads Todd Koch and Cooper Smith with their children, Claire and Mason," and reads:

First Pals: What makes Dad so cool? He’s the swim coach, tent maker, best friend, bike fixer and hug giver — all rolled into one. Or two.

Pretty awesome.

And even more laudable, since the company got a lot of flack (and a boycott called against them) for signing Ellen DeGeneres as a spokesperson back in February of 2012.

Back in 1997, after Ellen's character on her sitcom came out as a lesbian, JC Penney's did pull their advertising from the show in response to anti-gay-equality pressure.

It's great to see how things are changing for the better.

Namaste,
Lee

ps- I found out about this via LGBT Authors.

U.S. Marine's Gay Homecoming Kiss

Check out this kiss between Brandon Morgan and his partner Dalan Wells when Brandon came home.

It was posted on the Facebook Gay Marines page and in 3 days got over 36,000 likes and more than 8,000 commments. It was written about on Joe. My. God. (a site with adult content and language. You can see the post here) and The Huffington Post.

Brandon's reported response to all the comments:

"To everyone who has responded in a positive way. My partner and I want to say thank you. Dalan, the giant in the photo, can't believe how many shares and likes we have gotten on this. We didn't do this to get famous, or something like that we did this cause after 3 deployments and four years knowing each other, we finally told each other how we felt. As for the haters, let em hate...to quote Kat Williams, everyone needs haters, so let them hate. We are the happiest we have ever been and as for the whole PDA and kissing slash hugging in uniform...it was a homecoming, if the Sergeants Major, Captains, Majors, and Colonels around us didn't care...then why do you care what these random people have to say? In summation thank you for your love and support. I received a lot of friend requests off this. I don't just accept requests so if your request was because of this post message me and let me know. Goodnight all, and Semper Fi." --Brandon Morgan

Pretty awesome.

You can watch an interview with Brandon and Dalan here.



Namaste,
Lee

U.S. Secretary of State Clinton's Address on the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People

Happy New Year!

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke last month in Geneva to the United Nations on the Human Rights of LGBT People.

Her words and the Obama administration's positions are powerful and important.

"Gay Rights are Human Rights, and Human Rights are Gay Rights."

"Being Gay is not a Western invention, it is a Human reality."

"...Let us keep in mind that our commitments to protect the freedom of religion and to defend the dignity of LGBT people emanate from a common source."

and she asks this question of non-lgbt people and the leaders of countries who don't defend the Human Rights of LGBT people, for them to consider for themselves,

"How would it feel to be a crime to love who I love?"

Her address is 30 minutes long, and is well worth watching.



As we embark on our new year 2012, this is a shining moment of hope, and a vision towards creating a world where things are better for all of us gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people.

And that will make it a better world for all.

Namaste,
Lee

ps: If you want the under two minute highlight version, check out, in the words of the Huffington Post, this "Hillary Clinton's Gay Rights Speech: State Department Turns Historic Moment Into Music Video"

Gay slur costs Brett Ratner the Oscar producing job - and how that's a good thing

The Academy Award telecast is a big deal.  After the Superbowl, it's pretty much the second biggest televised event in the U.S.A. (last year had 37.6 million viewers).  In fact, it's watched all around the world.  This year, for the February 2012 broadcast, there was a new producer hired to take over the Oscars, Brett Ratner.

During a Q&A session prior to a screening of his film Tower Heist in Los Angeles November 4, 2012, Ratner said

"rehearsal's for fags."

The fallout for him saying that - for that flippant bit of homophobia - continued even after his apology, until only a few days later, he stepped down from the Oscars job.

What's good about this homophobic moment and it's aftermath?

Well, for one thing, it's a loud and clear statement that putting down GLBTQ people is no longer acceptable.  We'll start with that being true in the entertainment industry, and hopefully it will spread from there.

And two, it may a turning point - at least for Brett.  He's teaming up now with GLAAD, and together they're planning

"public discussions featuring leaders in the entertainment industry that will address anti-LGBT jokes and slurs in films and on television today as well as their trickle-down effect into popular culture."

So the upcoming Oscars won't be produced by Brett Ratner (and Eddie Murphy, who was to host, has also withdrawn from the show.)  And it's all because of a gay slur.

Words have power.  And I for one am glad we're starting to hold people accountable for their words of hate.

Namaste,
Lee

ps - the Oscars telecast is moving on, with Brian Grazer taking over Brett Ratner's producing role, and Billy Crystal hosting for what will be the ninth time.

***

Update 2/15/2012 

It was announced today that as a result of the talks with GLAAD, Brett Ratner will direct and produce a series of videos of celebrities coming out of the closet as ALLIES of the GLBTQ community.

***

Conan O'Brien Officiates A Gay Wedding On His TV Show

This was awesome to watch.


Thanks Conan, and Scott and David, for sharing this moment with over three quarters of a million viewers.  And with us.

Enjoy,

Oh, the world is changing for the better.

Namaste,
Lee

And thanks to my husband for sharing it with me.  I'd marry you again, cameras or no cameras. 

The Blair Academy in New Jersey Wrestling Team's It Gets Better Video, and Athlete Ally... Now what about YOUR school's teams?

Happy Halloween! 

In keeping with the American tradition of trick or treating (kids dressing up in costumes and going door to door to collect candy...) this post is divided up into one trick and one treat.

First, the treat:

Check out this amazing (and under one minute) It Gets Better Video, by the wrestling team at Blair Academy:



And Athlete Ally (started by Hudson Taylor) has a pledge on their home page:

I pledge to lead my athletic community to respect and welcome all persons, regardless of their perceived or actual sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. Beginning right now, I will do my part to promote the best of athletics by making all players feel respected on and off the field.

I think that's pretty amazing. 

Then, the trick:

Here's a video of Hudson doing a crazy-impressive card trick!


Now, the changing our world for the better:

So how about it?  What about YOUR sports teams at your school?  Can you and your GSA club team up with them and encourage them to sign this pledge?  Can they make an It Gets Better video?

Hudson and these athletes at Blair are leading the way, and making things better.

Let's join them!

Namaste,
Lee