HRC Interns Get Out the Vote in Jacksonville

One of the many exciting things about being an intern at HRC is having the chance to see how the nation’s largest LGBT advocacy organization makes change and how as interns, you are able to be part of that change.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/hrc-interns-get-out-the-vote-in-jacksonville?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

An Open Letter to HBO: Save Looking

Without Looking, TV will return to featuring gay men as supporting foils for straight characters. 

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Jim Halterman

www.advocate.com/commentary/2015/03/20/open-letter-hbo-save-looking

A matter of Pride: 6 of the sexiest for 2015

Pride celebrations are heating up – where will you be flying the flag?

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G2003

www.gaystarnews.com/article/matter-pride-6-sexiest-2015180315

Every Vote Counts in Jacksonville

At HRC, we know that Every Vote Counts in every election and that LGBT and ally voters play a critical role in elections when we decide to vote.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/every-vote-counts-in-jacksonville?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Jeb Bush, Chipotle And The Antigay Republican Death Grip Of ‘Religious Discrimination’

There’s an increasingly popular strategy among antigay legislators that allows them to promote discrimination against LGBT people without actually saying the words, and 2016 Republican presidential hopeful John Ellis Bush (who knew ‘Jeb’ was just his initials?!) is fully on board.

Gone are the days when politicians can come out and make targeted antigay remarks without facing backlash (though some still try), so they’ve come up with a new rhetoric to wiggle around those pesky do-gooders.

They aren’t anti-gay, they’re anti-religious discrimination. It’s more of a death grip than a strategy, but it allows them to introduce bills granting people the legal right to discriminate against LGBT people without ever even having to hint at the word “gay.” Some Republican strategist must have been gifted a nice bonus for that one. Maybe an all-access pass to CPAC, the Woodstock of boring assholes.

Here’s how J.E.B. recently tap danced around the topic. When asked about pending Georgia legislation aimed at protecting the state’s oppressed Christian religious folks, he said:

Jeb Bush makes his case to Georgia lawmakers – and wades into a thorny debate. t.co/vrcs7ItA8m #gapol pic.twitter.com/9BavGHXKOi

— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) March 19, 2015

Here’s the text, which is as confusing to read as it is to listen to:

“I don’t know about the law, but religious freedom is a serious issue, and it’s increasingly so, and I think people that act on their conscience shouldn’t be discriminated against, for sure. There should be protections, and so, as it relates to marriage equality — and that may change, the Supreme Court may change that. That automatically then shifts the focus to people of conscience, and, I don’t know, have their faith make — they want to act on their faith, and may not be able to be employed for example.”

Classic. Just like “voter I.D.” laws are all about cutting down on non-existent voter fraud, and not, you know, disenfranchising minorities and poor people from casting votes, religious discrimination laws are simply there to protect “people of conscience.”

And as is usually the case in American politics, it gets much more farcical.

In a recent op-ed in the Washington Examiner, Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) draw a comparison between so-called religious discrimination protections and, get this, Chipotle’s announcement that it will stop carrying pork at many locations due to a supplier’s violation of animal welfare standards.

Because freedom.

“It is crucial that the same freedom of conscience enjoyed by the leadership of Chipotle remain equally available to business owners of faith,” they wrote. “Indeed, much more so, as freedom of religion is explicitly protected by the First Amendment. We cannot simultaneously laud the leaders of a business motivated by a commitment to environmental sustainability and discriminate against the leaders of a business motivated by religious belief.”

Is that the best they can do? Really?

A Chipotle spokesperson broke it down in one breath. “It’s a pretty ridiculous comparison,” Chris Arnold told The Huffington Post. “Our decision not to serve pork that doesn’t meet our standards isn’t discriminating against any customers or group of customers.”

The Human Rights Campaign added its befuddled logic:

“Using Chipotle’s business decision to not stock carnitas as a defense to give corporations having religious beliefs special legal protections is ludicrous,” said David Stacy, government affairs director for the Human Rights Campaign. “It adds nothing and indeed trivializes a very serious debate about whether corporations should be able to refuse to hire some employees and turn away some customers based on who they are or who they love.”

An aide for Sen. Lankford said, “The column says nothing about gays; it’s about the importance of businesses being able to make decisions in line with their values. It’s as simple as that.”

Is that what they tell themselves to fall asleep at night?

Dan Tracer

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/kzkeSI0_Tx4/jeb-bush-chipotle-and-the-antigay-republican-death-grip-of-religious-discrimination-20150320

The Gay Legacy of 'Glee'

Bobby Hankinson

www.towleroad.com/2015/03/the-gay-legacy-of-glee.html

Bill Jones' Story From The Let Love Define Family Series
Today’s “Let Love Define Family™” series installment about a pioneering gay foster-adoptive parent is written by RaiseAChild.US contributing writer David Humiston.

How often do we get to experience a “first” of real significance? Bill Jones, now a venerable 86-year-old man, did just that in the tumultuous 1960s, and he declines credit for it to boot. At a time when the country’s community closet was still considerably full and liberal use of “don’t ask, don’t tell” was the unlegislated norm for reasons more of bureaucratic than social prejudice, Bill Jones, a gay, single man in his 30s, was granted a groundbreaking wish by a knowing social worker with enough moral foresight and diplomatic sense to look — perhaps gaze pointedly — the other way.

From a broken home himself (his parents separated when he was two), Bill says he often felt “farmed out” to the care of others. Later, when he was only 11, his mother gave birth to Bill’s half-brother and soon passed the major responsibility of child rearing on to Bill. He took naturally and happily to the task, perhaps finding that the course of his care nurtured him, decreasing his own sense of the connection. The joy from the interaction likely planted the seed for his later, fatherly yearnings.

Understandably, Bill became an elementary school teacher for fourth, fifth and sixth grades, where he had the option of being a secondary parent of sorts. He still harbored the desire to be part of a family, however, and he sought out options in the U.S. and even in Cuba, which he visited in 1959 when he heard that there were large numbers of unadopted “lost” children following Castro’s Cuban revolution. He learned a hard lesson in social tolerance there when his visit to Havana was abbreviated with orders to go back, alone, to the U.S. Undeterred, he then made tentative arrangements with an American woman to provide him with her unwanted child, but was later advised against it by his attorney.

In 1967, Bill was losing options and beginning to feel defeated. Beaten at each turn, he distracted himself one night with a visit to see “Mame” (its second national tour with Angela Lansbury), and upon hearing the song “If He Walked Into My Life” was touched, brought to tears even, by the lyrics. He felt, more than ever, that he must redouble his efforts. He contacted an adoption agency led by Dorothy Murphy, and encountered a social worker by the name of Mary Davidson. They, Bill claims, are the true heroes in this story. Mary, in particular, was heroic for her efforts because she told him, as she gazed away and up at the ceiling, that she “thought gay men would make excellent adoptive parents, but if anyone actually told her that he was gay, that her agency would force her to decline such an adoption.” Bill followed her lead, feeling that she was providing support in her own way, and did not bring up his sexual orientation. The doors to adoption were opened, partly because of his teaching experience, and partly because he had additional family in the area, but largely because he was a kindly, sincere, and eager person with a wealth of love to provide a needy child — and a lone social worker had the insight to see that.

While the first enormous hurdle was overcome, Bill struggled to find the right child. He was, to be fair, not the very first single man to attempt to adopt in California. However, in the first case, the placement did not go well and so the arrangement was dissolved. Knowing this, Bill felt some pressure to do well because otherwise it might lead to disaster for others who would follow him.

Many older children, particularly boys, were still unadopted all over the state, and Bill felt his chances were best with just such a child. He tentatively chose one and spent some time with him, but felt the boy’s issues were too great for him to overcome. The child was the son of a heroin addict and had, upon birth, gone through withdrawal as an infant. He also appeared to have some neurological disorders that limited his psychological maturation and Bill reluctantly declined to pursue his adoption further. However, knowing all too well what rejection felt like, Bill went to FAO Schwarz and bought the boy a big teddy bear anyway. He came back to the agency feeling that he could at least be more kind to the child even if he could not adopt him. Upon entering the room, Aaron, as he would later be named, called out to him and ran across the room to embrace him. That was all it took. Bill was united with Aaron and Aaron with Bill, and both of their dreams of family were, at last, realized.

As Bill relates, Aaron’s first word was “daddy” and his first sentence was “I love you.” Bill and Aaron loved each other dearly when they were a family, but their happy story had its obstacles. Aaron was largely non-verbal when Bill adopted him, but Bill made a game of learning. He printed the names of all of the objects in their home and taped them on every chair, table, lamp and television. Each night, they snuggled on the couch where Bill read to him, and it was not long before Aaron, in turn, was reading back to Bill. As he provided love and acceptance to Aaron, Bill also found himself soothing the wounds of his own childhood. It was an opportunity for both of them to heal.

Aaron faced many personal challenges, however, and was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia, leading to drug use later in life that ended fatally. But Bill and Aaron’s story of mutual affection is what should be most remembered here, because father and son led richer and sweeter lives as a result of finding each other.

Bill says he still cries often at the loss, but smiles often at the remembrances. We smile and cry with you, Bill. Without your courage, many children languishing in the foster care system would not be placed in loving homes with LGBT parents. Thanks for breaking ground.

To learn more about Bill Jones’ fatherhood journey, RaiseAChild.US invites readers listen to his emotional StoryCorps interview by Stu Maddux entitled “Pain, But No Regrets: A Father Remembers His Adopted Son.”

RaiseAChild.US is a national organization headquartered in Hollywood, California that encourages the LGBT community and all people equally to build families through fostering and adopting to serve the needs of the 400,000 children in the U.S. foster care system. Since 2011, RaiseAChild.US has run media campaigns and events to educate prospective parents and the public, and has engaged more than 2,500 prospective parents. For information about how you can become a foster or fost/adopt parent, visit www.RaiseAChild.US.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/20/bill-jones-gay-family_n_6904900.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Gallup Survey Confirms San Francisco Is The Nation's Gayest City (#7 May Surprise You Though)

John Wright

www.towleroad.com/2015/03/gallupgaycities.html

Op-ed: How Bea Arthur and 'Maude' Changed My Life

Now that Maude is available to all, a gay filmmaker explains why this feminist sitcom is a must-see.

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David DeCoteau

www.advocate.com/commentary/2015/03/20/op-ed-how-bea-arthur-and-maude-changed-my-life

Steve Grand’s Album Is Here For Your Listening Pleasure

Steve Grand’s debut album All-American Boy has been decades in the making (OK, it was only about a year and a half, but even he feels like we’ve been talking about it forever), but will finally be released March 27. The highly-touted first country singer to come out at the launch of his career initially made headlines, as well as scores of fans during the summer of 2013 with the release of the video for his song “All-American Boy.” Since then he’s stayed in the public eye chatting about everything from his relationship with the church to skinny-dipping to raise money for charity. The 24-year-old raised most of the money to record his album thanks to a hugely-successful kickstarter campaign and donations from his admiring fans so without further ado here it is…

Listen to five tracks below and you can stream the rest of the album here.

Jeremy Kinser

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/bZJkRdykvS4/steve-grands-album-is-now-available-online-for-your-listening-pleasure-20150320