A thank you and a quick lobby day follow-up…
April 1, 2008 by Angry Black Bitch · 1 Comment
This bitch had a fantabulous time in Boston!
Well, actually we were in Cambridge…but there was still chowdah to be had, so it was all good.
Hugs and adoration to the fantabulous WOC bloggers I finally got to meet in person and a HUGE thank you followed by a hug Kierra at Choice USA for asking me to be on her panel!
Pause…stretch out travel kinks…continue.
Shall we?
A follow-up to PROMO’s Lobby Day…
This bitch wanted to direct all y’all to the Pam’s House Blend post regarding an incident that happened whilst we were lobbying last week.
Anti-Gay hatred rampant in Florida High School
March 11, 2008 by Sweet Pea · 2 Comments
By Sweet Pea and Rachel
This one is a little weird, but not unexpected, but you might want to brace yourself anyhow. The Ponce de Leon High School in the Florida panhandle has
decided that it would be a really cool idea to ban symbols and speech which might prove supportive of GLBT rights. No, I am not kidding. After lesbian student was harassed the demented school board not only refused to help the abused student; the board went so far as to side with the attackers by banning Gay symbols and speech which might be deemed as supportive of the GLBT community. The end result is an atmosphere of fear and censorship in which homophobic students will be encouraged to act out against gay students or against those who are supportive of equal rights for the GLBT community. Moreover the board has created an atmosphere within an institution of learning in which the free exchange of ideas has been successfully stifled. Not exactly something one thinks about when he or she hears the term education.
And what was the board’s excuse? Initially it stated that it felt that the use of symbols such as rainbow flags or even shoes or T shirts emblazoned with expressions of support for the gay community might prove “disrupptive.” But then the board and its attorney went so far as to suggest that such symbols might promote “illegal organizations.” A ridicules suggestion if ever there were one. Why it’s enough to make one ask the obvious question: since when did harassment on the behalf of homophobic students become legal while supporting that student can be construed as promoting “an illegal organization.” It seems to me that the real crimes here are being comitted by the board and its attorney who are in effect aiding the free low of hate speech while putting a damper on free speech and freedom of expression.
Sphere: Related Contentlove and marriage
with the recent fight between the two democratic frontrunners for the lgbt vote- gary at declarations of pride has laid out the best post i have seen on the subject of ‘gay marriage.’
open letter from obama to lgbt community
February 29, 2008 by Betmo · 5 Comments
“I’m running for President to build an America that lives up to our founding promise of equality for all – a promise that extends to our gay brothers and sisters. It’s wrong to have millions of Americans living as second-class citizens in this nation. And I ask for your support in this election so that together we can bring about real change for all LGBT Americans.Equality is a moral imperative. That’s why throughout my career, I have fought to eliminate discrimination against LGBT Americans. In Illinois, I co-sponsored a fully inclusive bill that prohibited discrimination on the basis of both sexual orientation and gender identity, extending protection to the workplace, housing, and places of public accommodation. In the U.S. Senate, I have co-sponsored bills that would equalize tax treatment for same-sex couples and provide benefits to domestic partners of federal employees. And as president, I will place the weight of my administration behind the enactment of the Matthew Shepard Act to outlaw hate crimes and a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act to outlaw workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.”
spark of controversy
February 28, 2008 by Betmo · 5 Comments
in the interest of disclosure, i am going to go on record as saying- i am a white woman, mid-thirties who has lived predominately in rural and semi-rural settings my entire life. i have never been a part of any organization and, indeed, have more of the go-it-alone sentiment over grouping together. alright, i guess i grew up thinking- if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. so- with that in mind- i am completely out of my understanding or depth with tackling this topic i am about to throw out there. i am not a person of color and i am not a feminist. consequently, i know next to nothing about either. i guess it’s rather simplistic of me to say i am a humanist- i try to see people as people regardless of race or gender. now, that doesn’t mean i always succeed. societal implants are hard to change when you have lived them for 36 years- but i am trying.
as i have said before, i attempt to learn from folks- and tooling around the blogosphere- i get to learn quite a bit. 
i really feel that we have to challenge ourselves to think outside of ourselves once in awhile- and if these last 8 years plus haven’t done that- well, you must be a neo con. yes, that was snarky. this particular democratic primary has raised some important topics that we need to be having as a society- and as a planet really. i recently finished national geographic’s february issue- and the article on the ‘black pharaohs‘ got me thinking. the article basically said that in the ancient world, there wasn’t racism per se.
“The ancient world was devoid of racism. At the time of Piye’s historic conquest, the fact that his skin was dark was irrelevant. Artwork from ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome shows a clear awareness of racial features and skin tone, but there is little evidence that darker skin was seen as a sign of inferiority. Only after the European powers colonized Africa in the 19th century did Western scholars pay attention to the color of the Nubians’ skin, to uncharitable effect.”
Sphere: Related ContentGETTING SHAFTED AGAIN
Sweet Pea is a contributor to Coalition for a Democratic America and the Coalition for a Republican-free America. We welcome him to Siren’s today with an important post regarding LGBT issues that always get swept under the damn rug. ~ Dusty
By Sweet Pea
Well, it must be a presidential election year because once again Gays and Lesbians are getting the short end of the proverbial stick. We all know that John McCain will do his very best to make certain that Gays and Lesbians will never achieve full equality under the law, meaning that he will in all probability try to deny us the benefits of civil unions, much less the rights to marry and to enjoy the financial benefits that come from a marital union.
So that means that we stand a much better chance with the Democratic candidates for president, doesn’t it? Well, to be succinct, NO.
The original Clinton Administrations did very little to help Gays and Lesbians. And despite the half baked idea that Clinton was our first Black President, he did very little to help Blacks. In fact the Clintons are little more that moderate Republicans, corporate whores in Democratic clothing who employed corporatist economic policies which harmed the very people they were claiming to uplift, than they are legitimate liberals. I suppose, in a warped sort of way, this meant that Gays and Lesbians were better off than racial minorities and poor people, because the Clintons never had the guts to be seen with GLBT leaders and politicians. Instead, they chose to play it safe. They avoided controversy by pretending that the GLBT community didn’t even exist.
Some things never change. When was the last time you saw Hilary Clinton appear at a rally with a well known GLBT leader, cleryman, or politician? Can you say “virtually never?” Hilary would much rather play it safe, playing and running to the center and then governing–if elected–from just right of center. Just like the 1990s when they ran a joint presidency out of the White House. Let’s face it. The Clinton’s aren’t about do or be seen doing anything that the center or their corporatist masters might find controversial. And that means they will ignore an entire constituency, human rights be damned.
So if the Clinton’s can’t be trusted, certainly we can trust Mister Obama.
Yeah. Right. Tell me another one.
Sphere: Related ContentRachel Maddow rules!!
December 12, 2007 by ProudProgressive · 5 Comments
This video segment covers the MOST salient issues our day – What is governments function, why is it functioning the way it is..and a few other tidbits. Its just a fantastic segment. Keith Olbermann what a voice for sanity. These two together in this – well just kick it out of the park.
Between her particularly fantastic gray suit her brilliant politics and take on things, her being out, she is on my list of big time heros. Its so refreshing to see her on Keith Olbermann more regularly. One great communicator. Makes me prouder still of our tribe and our allies. She knows the score big time, gets the big picture , connects the dots and Keith mentions Naomi Klein – score ! Both Rachel and of course Keith, have a high enough public profile to get the truth out there on the MSM,to the masses. People like them in the main stream, give me so much hope. Amy Goodman too of course, but reality is , too many people do not even know of the daily news hr called Democracy Now. Those who do know DM love it of course.
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