Daily Archives: July 2, 2015
Girl Scouts troop returns $100,000 from transphobic donor and raises three times as much
Girl Scouts troop returns $100,000 from transphobic donor and raises three times as much
The Girl Scouts of Western Washington were initially thrilled when they received a $100,000 pledge – enough to send 500 girls to camp.
But it turns out the money came with strings attached.
Chief Executive Officer Megan Ferland received a letter from the donor which read: ‘Please guarantee that our gift will not be used to support transgender girls. If you can’t, please return the money.’
Ferland will not reveal the identity of the donor but she knew this was money the group could not keep.
‘Girl Scouts is for every girl,’ Ferland tells Seattle Met. ‘And every girl should have the opportunity to be a Girl Scout if she wants to.’
To make up for the $100,000 they turned away, the group launched an IndieGoGo crowdfunding effort this week and in the first three days, the campaign has raised more than $307,000 with donations coming from 6,480 people.
In a video on the crowdfunding page, the group states: ‘Girl Scouts empowers EVERY girl regardless of her gender identity, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, to make the world a better place.’
With what has been raised so far, the group has raised enough money for 1,500 girls to join their troop and to be able to go to camp. Each additional $50,000 raised supports 250 more girls.
‘We are incredibly humbled and thrilled to see so many people from across the globe support this campaign,’ the group states.
The post Girl Scouts troop returns $100,000 from transphobic donor and raises three times as much appeared first on Gay Star News.
Greg Hernandez
Holly Woodlawn, Warhol’s Great Superstar, Is In Very Bad Shape In L.A.
Holly Woodlawn, Warhol’s Great Superstar, Is In Very Bad Shape In L.A.
Even if you haven’t seen Holly Woodlawn’s memorable work in seminal queer films such as Trash (legendary director George Cukor touted her work as worthy of an Oscar nomination) and Women in Revolt, you likely know her reputation from the immortal Lou Reed anthem “Walk on the Wild Side.” The late rock star singled out the pioneering trans entertainer, now 68 and forever linked to iconic pop artist Andy Warhol as one of his great self-proclaimed superstars, in the opening verse:
Holly came from Miami, F.L.A.
Hitch-hiked her way across the U.S.A.
Plucked her eyebrows on the way
Shaved her legs and then he was a she
Woodlawn, whose epic life was vividly chronicled in the 1991 memoir A Low Life in High Heels, is now in extremely poor health in a Los Angeles hospital and the outcome for her recovery isn’t very optimistic. A GoFundMe campaign has been set up by her friend and fellow entertainer Penny Arcade to help cover medical and (ugh) eventual funeral and burial costs for the ailing performer. Penny’s note about Holly reads:
Holly Woodlawn, the beloved, iconic Transgender LBGT pioneer and Warhol superstar is very ill. She is currently in the hospital in Los Angeles in a private room.The hospital has asked that we not give out the name because they are already fielding many phonecalls about Holly and are not set up to handle it. Holly cannot speak on the telephone now and her condition is dire. She is undergoing investigative measures to determine exactly the nature of the lesions discovered on her brain and lungs. There are also other physical conditions challenging her recovery. Holly’s has made it clear that she wants to return home, surrounded by friends and if she must die, she doesn’t want to die in a nursing home.
We who love Holly, hope to raise enough funds to continue her care and hopefully bring Holly home with 24 hour nursing care , after she recouperates in a nursing home. Currently, we have no means to achieve these goals, which also include provisions for her funeral and to secure her last resting place. Holly gave visability long before it was comfortable to do so and also gave thousands of people both hope and pleasure.
Please contribute and help us bring Holly home and please, please share this widely.
Experience a few minutes of the legend yourself with this short clip from her volatile performance in 1970’s Trash opposite Joe Dallesandro and scroll down for an amazing vintage interview.
Jeremy Kinser
News: Jim Webb, Donald Trump, California’s ‘Kill the Gays’ Bill, Disney Princes
News: Jim Webb, Donald Trump, California’s ‘Kill the Gays’ Bill, Disney Princes
> US demands extradition of 7 FIFA officials as part of its sweeping probe on corruption at the organization.
> Matt Damon has a ponytail now.
> Former Virginia Senator Jim Webb announces he will be running for the Democratic Party’s nomination for President.
> Tom Cruise rumored to be leaving Scientology.
> 7 simple tips for a successful Christian marriage according to the Bible.
> Hillary Clinton’s emails signal that she fought for LGBT rights behind the scenes before her famous 2011 “Gay rights are human rights” speech.
> Joy is dead. Meet the bubble wrap that doesn’t pop.
> First look at Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.
> NYC reviewing its contracts with Donald Trump. Serta cancels its partnership with the GOP hopeful. Ricky Martin pulls his charity event from a Trump golf course. And America Ferrera thanks Trump.
> Marisa Tomei is coming to Empire season 2.
> Ranking churches based on their acceptance of homosexuality.
> That time when Nixon was drunk during the middle of the Arab-Israeli war.
> US Navy to hold first west coast LGBT Pride event.
> California Attorney General Kamala Harris shoots down proposed “Kill the Gays” bill once again.
> Rihanna slays in new music video, “B*tch Better Have My Money.”
> If Disney princes were Magic Mike strippers.
The post News: Jim Webb, Donald Trump, California’s ‘Kill the Gays’ Bill, Disney Princes appeared first on Towleroad.
Sean Mandell
News: Jim Webb, Donald Trump, California’s ‘Kill the Gays’ Bill, Disney Princes
VIDEO: Miley Cyrus and Stella Maxwell, Celebrity Couple?
Oregon Teacher of the Year Gets Settlement in Antigay Harassment Case
Oregon Teacher of the Year Gets Settlement in Antigay Harassment Case
The first openly gay person to be named the state’s Teacher of the Year said he was harassed by supervisors and colleagues.
Trudy Ring
www.advocate.com/education/2015/07/02/oregon-teacher-year-gets-settlement-antigay-harassment-case
Bobby Jindal Gives Up Last Stand Against Gay Marriage Licenses In Louisiana
Bobby Jindal Gives Up Last Stand Against Gay Marriage Licenses In Louisiana
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) has been relentlessly resisting the Supreme Court’s historic decision that made same-sex marriage legal in every state. On Thursday, the federal trial court in New Orleans released a ruling that ended Jindal’s nearly weeklong effort to hold out.
U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman officially struck down the state’s same-sex marriage ban and directed all state agencies in Louisiana to recognize gay marriage, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports. Jindal’s administration finally relented and agreed to abide by the ruling.
While most of the remaining states with gay marriage bans immediately began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples last Friday, the day of the Supreme Court ruling, state officials in Louisiana looked for ways to postpone the inevitable.
Jindal himself took a particularly extreme stance. Last Friday, the 2016 presidential hopeful denounced the Supreme Court and suggested it would be better to just disband the nation’s highest court.
“The Supreme Court is completely out of control, making laws on their own, and has become a public opinion poll instead of a judicial body,” Jindal said. “If we want to save some money, let’s just get rid of the court.”
Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell (R) meanwhile said that because the Supreme Court’s June 26 ruling did not directly order states to begin issuing marriage licenses to gay couples, “there is not yet a legal requirement for officials to issue marriage licenses or perform marriages for same-sex couples in Louisiana.” Local court clerks were instructed to hold off for 25 days. Clerks across Louisiana issued licenses anyway, except in New Orleans. In the state’s largest city, a state agency, which reports to Jindal, has control over marriage licenses.
Jindal argued that he wanted to wait until a lower court applied the Supreme Court’s decision to Louisiana. On Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit formally overturned Louisiana’s gay marriage ban, seemingly giving Jindal the go-ahead.
But the governor persisted in his stall, releasing a statement indicating that he would wait for a ruling from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. When that court said this means you on Thursday, Jindal had no choice but to give up his resistance.
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Hood County, Texas Still Not Issuing Same-Sex Marriage Licenses as Anti-Gay Hate Spikes – VIDEO
Hood County, Texas Still Not Issuing Same-Sex Marriage Licenses as Anti-Gay Hate Spikes – VIDEO
Earlier this week, we told you how Katie Lang, the clerk of Hood County, Texas, said she would finally begin issuing same-sex marriage licenses after previously attempting to claim a religious exemption.
As it turns out, Lang (right) still has not done so, and she says it may take weeks before the county can update the necessary forms.
On Thursday, Texas Values President Jonathan Saenz (above), whose ex-wife left him for a woman, organized an anti-gay hate rally outside the Hood County Courthouse. Based on photos from the rally, attendance was rather underwhelming. Meanwhile, a gay couple of 27 years who’ve been trying to obtain a marriage license in Hood County told reporters they plan to file a lawsuit next week if they don’t receive one before then.
The Star-Telegram of Fort Worth reports:
Jim Cato and Joe Stapleton just want to get married.
But the two men haven’t been able to get a license from the Hood County Clerk’s office despite asking nearly every day since last week’s Supreme Court ruling legalized their pending union. …
On one side of the courthouse, Cato and Stapleton told the crowd that their attorney is sending a letter to Lang …
On the other side of the courthouse, dozens of people gathered to show their support for Lang and for religious freedom.
Lang didn’t attend the rally, and Saenz claims it was out of concern for her safety. Saenz later issued this statement:
“On the eve of our Independence Day, the Texas and American values of religious freedom and personal liberty are just as important now and as they ever have been. We will not stand by and watch as LGBT radicals try to destroy the guarantees of the First Amendment of our Constitution and ruin the personal lives of Texans who support marriage between one man and one woman. We will not be silent. We will proudly rise up with the timeless colors of red, white and blue as our backdrop, for God and country.”
More from The Dallas Morning News:
As a result, two attorneys from Austin are on their way to Granbury at this very moment. They want just one thing: for the clerk’s office to issue a marriage license for their clients, Jim Cato and Joe Stapleton, who have been waiting to marry for 27 years. If they do not get one, says attorney Jan Soifer, she and attorney Austin Kaplan will sue the Hood County Clerk’s office first thing Monday morning.
“After [Lang] changed her tune Tuesday, my clients gave her a day and waited till this morning to get their license,” says Soifer. “They said, ‘No, no, no, it will take three weeks.’ They said, ‘We’re not ready to do it, we don’t have the forms ready.’ We sent them the link to the website with the form they are supposed to use. It’s posted. It’s available to them. We know 205 other counties in Texas have already been issuing them.”
Also this week, WFAA-TV reported that Hood County residents are attempting to get the LGBT-themed children’s books “My Princess Boy” and “This Day in June” removed from the public library in Granbury, the county seat.
Library Director Courtney Kincaid (right) is defending the books, and the board voted to keep them, but more than 50 residents have signed “challenge forms” after a parent raised concerns and took them to City Councilwoman Rose Myers, who has since posted a longer statement about the issue on Facebook. Now, the Hood County Commission is set to consider the issue later this month.
From WFAA:
The challenge forms are filled with comments questioning why the books are in the children’s section. Other submitters indicate the books should be banned outright because they promote “perversion” and the “gay lifestyle.”
Granbury City Council member Rose Myers said she was approached by a constituent a few weeks ago that raised concerns about the placement of the books.
She said in a statement provided to News 8:
“My decision to sign a protest regarding the book My Princess Boy was clearly based on the fact that if the library would not move the books and keep them in an appropriate location, then they should be removed […] Can a four year old understand the content of this book without the help of an adult? In my opinion, No!”
Watch the report below.
The post Hood County, Texas Still Not Issuing Same-Sex Marriage Licenses as Anti-Gay Hate Spikes – VIDEO appeared first on Towleroad.
John Wright
Hood County, Texas Still Not Issuing Same-Sex Marriage Licenses as Anti-Gay Hate Spikes – VIDEO
Hippies
Mozambique Decriminalizes Same-Sex Relationships
Mozambique Decriminalizes Same-Sex Relationships
The African country overturned a 19th-century law forbidding ‘vices against nature.’
Daniel Reynolds
www.advocate.com/world/2015/07/02/mozambique-decriminalizes-same-sex-relationships
