Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) will ring the closing bell on the New York Stock Exchange this Friday, the first time an LGBT family group has done so. The event symbolizes “ring[ing] the closing bell on homophobia.” It also highlights the increasing buying power of LGBT Americans, estimated at $641 billion […]
It’s Wimbledon time again, and play begins today at the All England Lawn Tennis Club. Out lesbian Amélie Mauresmo is the number-one seed and a contender for the women’s singles title. Lesbian icon Martina Navratilova, who turned pro in 1975, will play doubles. I had the pleasure of hearing Martina talk on an Olivia cruise
Hilton Hotels last week announced a new ad campaign targeting “the GLBT community.” The ads, to be run in major GLBT publications, have the tag line, “Come as you are . . . fabulous.” Hmm. Last I checked, “fabulous” was a word most often used to describe the gay male community. (Not that lesbians, bisexual,
In early June, the Human Rights Campaign held a town hall in Washington, D.C., for LGBT people considering parenthood. They have posted videos of the panelists’ speeches and the question-and- answer session. Topics included legal and financial issues as well as the emotional aspects of becoming parents. There are aksi downloadable PDF files with additional
A relatively slow week for pure political news, though the decisions by the Episcopalian and Presbyterian churches have political dimensions. The Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military discovered a Pentagon document of retirement and discharge policies that classifies homosexuality with mental disorders, despite mental health experts abandoning that view decades ago.
I got a laugh out of this tongue-in-cheek article by Reg Henry on banning same-sex marriage. An extract: The nuclear family is called nuclear because it is apt to detonate from time to time and when that happens everything is radioactive for a while. But, really, what is a bit of creative sulking, bickering and
Following the Episcopalians’ decision to permit LGBT bishops, the Presbyterian Church U. S. A. approved a measure allowing local churches to decide on the fitness of an individual to be ordained or serve as a lay official, even if the issue of sexual orientation arises. The measure does not, however, revoke a church law that
Clergy and lay delegates in the Episcopalian House of Deputies today rejected a proposed ban on LGBT bishops that was being urged by other churches in the worldwide Anglican Communion. This will likely kill the measure, at least for this year’s General Convention. The Episcopalians’ newly elected Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, said yesterday she
It’s Juneteenth Day, a commemoration of the ending of slavery in the U. S. and the achievements of African Americans. The National Juneteenth Observance Foundation (NJOF) says that nineteen states, plus the District of Columbia, now recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday. At least eleven more mark it in some fashion, such as a legislative
Lots of LGBT-related church news right now. The U. S. Episcopal Church last week chose its first female leader, Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori. The move strains both the Church’s internal divisions and its relations with other members of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Most other countries’ Anglican churches do not permit women to become bishops. Many conservative
