The furious explosion of nutjobs over the passage of the Matthew Shepard & James Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act continues...

Our old fundie friend, Pastor Gary Cass of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission (yeah, that's clue number one about his point of view), is back at his gay hating ways. But this time he's taking it to a whole new level. Cass and crew are headed to DC on November 16th to protest the Hate Crimes Act in front of the Department of Justice. Their tactic?

They'll be calling for violence against LGBT people to try and get arrested so they can "prove" the Hate Crimes Act infringes on their God given right to beat up fags:

The "Rally for Religious Freedom" in front of the Department of Justice in Washington is intended to force Attorney General Eric Holder either to address the issues or be put in a position of ignoring those who say they are violating the provisions of the federal law, Cass said.  "We're basically going to defy the law, and challenge it," Cass told WND. "We're going to declare the whole counsel of God, including those parts that some may consider 'inciting a hate crime' to see if the attorney general is going to come down and arrest a group of peaceful clergy exercising their First Amendment rights.

Continue reading "WWJD? Incite Hate Crimes Against LGBT People, according to this "Pastor"" »

An amendment to add "gender identity and expression" to the Tampa Human Rights Ordinance passed first reading and will come to the council for a final vote in two weeks.

The council voted unanimously 7-0 to move the measure to 2nd reading where the final vote will take place.

Councilmember Joseph Caetano, who originally voted no, changed his vote to yes to make it unanimous late this afternoon.

Continue reading "Tampa City Council Votes Unanimously to Add 'Gender Identity and Expression' to Human Rights Ordinance" »

We did it!

Tuesday night, Steve Kornell won his historic race to become the first openly gay person to win a seat on the St. Petersburg City Council.

In a contest widely praised for being a clean race that focused on the issues Steve garnered 59% of the vote.

He couldn't have done it without you.

"I envision a St. Petersburg that welcomes everyone to contribute to our city regardless of their gender, sexual orientation or any other difference," said Steve on election night.

Continue reading "Steve Kornell Wins St. Pete City Council Race!" »

Today is not a day to be sad. Anger is a different story. We have a lot to be angry about with our community's razor-thin defeat in Maine. Its a hard pill to swallow. I've given quite a bit of my cash and time to LGBT causes over the years, but I've never given as much cash to an organization as No On One Maine. I am proud to say that I think they spent every penny carefully and deliberately, and worked their butts off to avoid mistakes of the past.

However, despite all that we gave in Maine, all the time we all took, Maine went the other way. When our relationships are voted on, this is not a normal political loss. When losing elections before, I always felt as if it were something akin to losing a really important baseball game--like the time in High School when we were stopped at States by Blissfield (I'm still convinced those Umps were biased). There's a lot of cussing and throwing things, then you move past it. It generally doesn't rock you to the core of everything you are.

There's more to what happened last night, though, than Maine. More after the jump.

Continue reading "Mourn the losses... Celebrate the Victories!" »

Editors' note: Brian Winfield is the Equality Florida Communications Director. In March of 2007, Ryan Skipper was stabbed 19 times and left to die on a dirt road in rural Polk County, Florida. He was only 25. His killers drove around in his blood-soaked car, bragging how they had killed a gay man.

A jury convicted one of Ryan Skipper's two killers of first-degree murder yesterday. It's all over the evening news. My how times change. Today was the second of two trials, both resulting in a life sentence for each of Ryan's killers. Three young Florida men whose lives are ended in one way or another.

There is no joy, no celebration, no closure, but there was justice and that's something.

It's been nearly two years and eight months since Ryan was stabbed 19 times and left for dead on the side of a Wahneta dirt road in Polk County. I've grown close to his family since then. So much so, I sometimes forget that I've never met Ryan. I feel like I know him as well as I know his friends and family members.

Maybe that just goes to show how much we carry our loved ones with us.

Continue reading "Justice for Ryan and Something More" »

In May 2009 President Barack Obama appointed Kevin Jennings to the post of Assistant Deputy Secretary of Education and Director of the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools at the U.S. Department of Education (the so-called "safe schools czar.")

The openly gay Jennings (b. 1963) is uniquely qualified for this job. After years of distinguished service as a teacher and youth counselor, Jennings founded (1990) the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). In 1992 Massachusetts Governor William Weld (a Republican) appointed Jennings to co-chair the Education Committee of the Governor's Commission of Gay and Lesbian Youth.

Jennings has written several books addressing the needs of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students and teachers, including the Lambda Award-winning anthology Telling Tales Out of School (1998).

"It has been said that one person can start a revolution and, in the case of Kevin Jennings, ... that has never been more profoundly true," biographer Victoria Shannon wrote in glbtq.com. "For nearly twenty years, Jennings has campaigned all over the country to educate glbtq and straight teachers, parents, students, and community members about ending bias in the nation's K-12 schools."

Continue reading "Jesse's Journal: Kevin Jennings and the antigay witch hunt" »

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" »

After two hours of deliberations, a jury of 12 has found William Brown, Jr. guilty of first degree murder and robbery with a deadly weapon.

From Ryan Skipper's Family:

We would like to thank the State Attorney's Office and especially Mr. Castillo for consistently striving to uncover the truth and seek justice for our family and for Ryan. We want to thank the detectives of the Polk County Sheriff's Office who worked diligently and showed compassion to our family. Thank you to the crime scene technicians whose attention to detail helped uncover the truth. And thank you to everyone else along the way who committed their time and talent to ensuring that justice was served. Lastly, we thank the jurors who have taken time fromheir jobs and families to fulfill an important civic duty. You paid attention to testimony that was brought before you and rendered a conclusion that serves justice and benefits society.

To the public, we want you to know that Ryan, like so many gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people, was a good and upstanding member of this community. We all deserve to be judged by our abilities and character instead of our differences. We are all human beings and we all deserve the right to pursue happiness, to have a job, to be parents either naturally or by adoption, to be in a committed loving relationship which is legally recognized, to serve our country in the military openly and honestly with pride. Finally we want the public to know the devastation hate crimes inflict is not only on the individual victim but their families, friends and the entire community feels the impact.

We will always cherish our memories of Ryan. We along with countless others will continue to honor Ryan by always standing up for truth, honesty and equality for all!

Continue reading "Statement from Ryan Skipper's Family about today's Guilty Verdict" »

UPDATE: After two hours of deliberations, a jury of 12 has found William Brown, Jr. guilty of first degree murder and robbery with a deadly weapon.

We'll be updating this as trial info comes in:

BROWN TRIAL ADVISORY: Equality Florida to Join Bartow Press Conference Today

Immediately following the verdict and sentencing in the William David Brown, Jr. trial, expected to occur this afternoon in Bartow, Brian Winfield of Equality Florida will join Ryan Skipper's family in a press conference outside of the Bartow courthouse on 255 Broadway. Equality Florida is the statewide LGBT advocacy organization which initially raised awareness about this anti-gay hate crime and has supported Ryan's family since the crime occurred.

At Joseph Bearden's trial in February of this year, Assistant State Prosecutor Castillo and Judge Hunter expressed their opinions that Ryan Skipper was savagely killed because he was gay.

Continue reading "Verdict expected today for 2nd defendant in Ryan Skipper's murder" »

Although Wilton Manors (Fort Lauderdale) is a diverse community any day of the year, on Halloween, even fluid identities get delightfully scrambled. Yesterday, at the annual Wicked Manors festival, the emcee, local drag queen Misty Eyez, had a tough time keeping contestants and categories in order. Her parsings are sure to spook some of the linguistically touchier members of the transgender community, but please keep in mind that if you can't be forgiving on Halloween, when can you be?

Video and photos of this fun event after the jump.

Continue reading "Call The Transgender Language Police!" »

The "Official Philosophy" of Key West is written in tile near the Aids Memorial on the beach at the end of Duval Street. Among the locals ("conchs"), this way of life is more than just a marketing effort.

Having lived in or visited most of the well-known gay/diverse/inclusive communities in the western world, I was surprised by the unique quality of life in Key West.

Continue reading "One Human Family - It Works In Key West" »

The brilliant and irreverent satirist Bryan Safi, from my favorite nerdy show on my favorite nerdy channel - InfoMania, is back exploring more LGBT issues and stereotypes as they are portrayed by the clueless media and pop culture.

This clip is from this week's show and deals with something we've talked about a lot here on Bilerico- ex-gay conversion therapy. And don't worry, Bryan. I guess I've been doing it wrong too...

Tired of being gay? Well, Richard Cohen and his Ex-Gay cohorts can help. Join Bryan Safi as he navigates the world of conversion therapy. You never know, you might be able to rearrange that pesky DNA!

Continue reading "Sunday Funnies: InfoMania's 'Conversion'" »