Op-ed: The LGBT Movement After Marriage

Reaching full marriage equality in the United States will indeed be pivotal, but it’s not the end-all, when it comes to LGBT rights.

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Rebecca Isaacs

www.advocate.com/commentary/2014/06/12/op-ed-lgbt-movement-after-marriage

British Consulate in Hong Kong may yet marry same-sex couples after all

Diplomatic staff at the British Consulate for Hong Kong are reviewing a decision to not allow same-sex couples to marry there after it was revealed that the Spanish Consulate in Hong Kong is already marrying same-sex couples

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andrewp

www.gaystarnews.com/article/british-consulate-hong-kong-may-yet-marry-same-sex-couples-after-all120614

Tea Party Candidate Says It's OK To Stone Gays To Death
Scott Esk, a Republican Tea Party candidate in Oklahoma, got into a debate on Facebook last summer in which he advocated killing homosexuals.

“I think we would be totally in the right to do it,” Esk wrote in comments uncovered by Oklahoma journalist Rob Morris. “That goes against some parts of libertarianism, I realize, and I’m largely libertarian, but ignoring as a nation things that are worthy of death is very remiss.”

When pressed, Esk added: “I never said I would author legislation to put homosexuals to death, but I didn’t have a problem with it.”

Esk is running for the state’s House of Representatives. The primary is scheduled for June 24.

When contacted by Morris, who runs the news outlet Moore Daily, Esk didn’t deny making the comments or back down from the rhetoric.

“That was done in the Old Testament under a law that came directly from God and in that time there it was totally just. It came directly from God,” Esk said, adding: “I have no plans to reinstitute that in Oklahoma law. I do have some very huge moral misgivings about those kinds of sins.”

The Raw Story notes that in other Facebook posts, Esk has said that laws punishing gays should be instituted locally so people “can decide for themselves whether they want to live in a particular community based in part on how things like this are dealt with.”

The comments have quickly gone viral, drawing attention to other parts of his platform… and those views aren’t any less extreme.

Esk wants to “punish abortionists severely for their committing of murder” and punish federal bureaucrats who try to enact the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

In addition, he’s against all forms of gun licenses, wants to cut education funding “which I don’t consider a proper function of government” and believes “the EPA, FDA, OSHA, etc.” “have no legitimate reason for existing, since they’re unConstitutional.”

Esk wants to make divorce more difficult as well. He’s calling for jury trials for divorce cases and an end to no-fault proceedings.

“I also don’t buy into the notion that it’s unfair to make somebody stay in a marriage he’s unhappy with,” Esk wrote.

Esk was married for 15 years until “frivolous divorce raised its ugly head in the Esk home,” he notes on his campaign website. (You can see him speak more about divorce in the video below.)

Esk’s Facebook page contains other stunners, including a December 2013 post written shortly after Nelson Mandela’s death in which he called the former South African president a “communist thug” and a “low-life.”

And in November 2013, he wrote of calling 911 to report “a large group of Mexicans” gathered at an Oklahoma City mall geared toward Latino shoppers because he “suspected that many of them were guilty of being here illegally.”

His long rant notes that police didn’t respond to his emergency call.

Esk was a computer programmer in the state’s Department of Public Safety, but has “since gravitated toward courier work.” He also owns a window-washing business.

“I look forward to applying Biblical principles to Oklahoma law,” Esk writes on his website.

(h/t The Week)

www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/11/scott-esk-stoning-gays_n_5486678.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Trans Republican wins primary in bid for Nevada Assembly seat

Lauren Scott, who’s transgender, has won the Republican nomination to represent Nevada in the state legislature (Photo of Nevada Legislature Building by Dave Parker via Wikimedia Commons).

An openly transgender woman claimed the Republican nomination on Tuesday night in her bid to represent Nevada in the state legislature.

Lauren Scott, who’s transgender and a veteran of the Persian Gulf War, won the Republican primary election for Nevada Assembly District 30 in a contest against Adam Khan. She took 58 percent of the vote compared to 42 percent won by her opponent.

The district, which includes parts of Reno, is heavily Democratic, but Scott pledged to fight to win the general election.

“I have always been a moderate and I am willing to work with Democrats and Republicans to find solutions to the problems facing Nevada today,” Scott said in a statement.

Although her opponent was endorsed by the Nevada Republican Assembly, Scott was endorsed by Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval. She hasn’t been endorsed by the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund. In the general election, Scott will face off against Democratic incumbent State Assembly member Michael Sprinkle.

It’s not the first time Scott has sought a seat in the Nevada Legislature. In 2012, she tried to claim the seat to represent District 30 in the Nevada Assembly, but she lost the Republican nomination to Ken Lightfoot.

According to Scott’s campaign website, she was an active-duty member of the U.S. Air Force for nearly seven years. She served three years in Nevada at the Tonopah Test Range in support of F-117A Stealth Fighter operations, the website says, and qualified as a small arms expert with the M-16 rifle, earned two Achievement Medals and received a Commendation Medal for her service during Operation Desert Storm. She received an honorable discharge in 1994.

In 2012, Sandoval appointed Scott to the Nevada Equal Rights Commission. Over the course of the last three legislative sessions, she helped found Equality Nevada and worked as a lobbyist to advance civil rights issues in the state.

If elected, Scott could be the first openly transgender person to serve in a state legislature in U.S. history. However, she may compete for that distinction with Dana Beyer, who competing with State Sen. Rich Madaleno in Maryland for the Democratic nomination for his district in Maryland.

Stacie Laughton, another openly transgender candidate, was elected to the New Hampshire legislature in 2012 but her candidacy was declared to be invalid. She resigned and was never seated.

Chris Johnson

Trans Republican wins primary in bid for Nevada Assembly seat