Why is the military prepared to shell out $150,000 in retention bonuses to service members who are proficient in Arabic, when it has used the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy to dismiss more than five dozen qualified and willing Arabic speakers? Steve Ralls, PFLAG’s director of communications, who also held that role for the Servicemembers
Senators Obama and McCain have very different views of LGBT families, as I mentioned Monday. Yesterday, I received an e-mail from Obama’s campaign about the expansion of his LGBT leadership team. It only adds to his status as the candidate committed to LGBT families. There will be five new national co-chairs of Obama Pride, which
A few items from recent news: Which state has the highest percentage of LGBT couples with children? Mississippi, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, and reported by The Daily Mississippian. (Thanks to the Family Equality Council for the link.) The state also has the highest percentage of African American same-sex couples. The Census data does
Compare and contrast: John McCain: “I think that we’ve proven that both parents are important in the success of a family so, no, I don’t believe in gay adoption.” Seriously. Do we really want a president who can’t count to two? He later “clarified” to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos: I am for the values and principles
The Grossmont Union High School District in California voted 4-0 yesterday in support of Proposition 8, the November ballot initiative that would ban marriage of same-sex couples in California. It is believed to be the first public school board in the state to do so. The San Diego Union-Tribune notes that some supporters of the
President Bush reauthorized the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which allocates $48 billion over the next five years to treat people living with HIV and fund prevention programs in poorer countries for men who have sex with men. The reauthorization also contains changes that should remove legal roadblocks for HIV-positive immigrants wishing to
It’s official. Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has signed a repeal of the 1913 law prohibiting out-of-state couples from marrying in the state if their home states forbid the unions. At the same time, he signed the MassHealth Equality bill, granting equal benefits to married same-sex and opposite-sex couples through MassHealth, the state’s Medicaid program. MassHealth,
Religion and LGBT rights often stand in opposition. A new study (PDF link) in the June 2008 Journal of Family Psychology, however, found that “religiously invested lesbians and gay men, and those with children, were the most likely to cohabit and to legalize and ritualize their couple relationships.” Study participants were residents of Illinois, so
Out-of-state same-sex couples could marry in Massachusetts later today. Lawmakers have attached an emergency preamble to the bill lifting marriage restrictions on out-of-state couples, stating that it will take effect as soon as the governor signs it, rather than after the usual 90 days. The bill could go to the governor today, according to the
Two people are dead and seven injured after a man entered the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church Sunday and fired a sawed-off 12-gauge semiautomatic shotgun during a children’s performance of the musical Annie. The shooter, Jim David Adkisson, left a letter in his car stating he hated liberals and gay people and was motivated by
