LGBT Rights And The Dallas Principles: Now, More Than Ever?
[New Civil Rights Movement, September 24, 2011]

Given the news a few weeks ago of Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese's impending resignation and the possibility of a change of direction by HRC's Board of Directors and his replacement, I think it is time to again take a look at The Dallas Principles, authored a little more than two and a quarter years ago.

For those not familiar with the Dallas Principles, on May 15?-?17, 2009 in Dallas, Texas twenty-?four activists and donors, frustrated with the Obama administration's pace of fulfilling its campaign promises to the LGBT community, gathered to discuss the immediate need for full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the United States. Collectively they prepared The Dallas Principles.

The Dallas Principles is a set of eight guiding principles to achieve full LGBT equality. The principles are:

    • Full civil rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals must be enacted now. Delay and excuses are no longer acceptable.

    • We will not leave any part of our community behind.

    • Separate is never equal.

    • Religious beliefs are not a basis upon which to affirm or deny civil rights.

    • The establishment and guardianship of full civil rights is a non-partisan issue.

    • Individual involvement and grassroots action are paramount to success and must be encouraged.

    • Success is measured by the civil rights we all achieve, not by words, access or money raised.

    • Those who seek our support are expected to commit to these principles.

[Continued here]

Kevin Douglas Grant: The Rainbow Struggle: A primer for the global gay rights battle
[Huffington Post, October 3, 2011]

LGBT advocates face a hulking, well-funded force that fights with religious fervor. But by most tallies, they're winning.

This June the U.N. Human Rights Council narrowly passed its first-ever resolution calling for universal gay rights, with the support of more than 80 countries. It was an historic milestone, a global recognition that gay rights and human rights were finally synonymous, at least on paper here in New York at the world body.

How these rights play out in the real world is a very different story, and it is the subject of this GlobalPost "Special Report," which will examine the rights of people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) through a series of reports over the next two months from every corner of the world. ...

To read the full version of this piece, click here.

GlobalPost will be publishing stories from its Special Report, "The Rainbow Struggle: A global battle over gay rights" weekly in partnership with The Huffington Post between Oct. 3 and Nov. 30. Upcoming stories originate in South Africa, Turkey, Spain, China, Sweden and Argentina.

[Continued here]

• Erna Smith: Mounting violence haunts South Africa's gays and mobilizes activists [Global Post, October 5, 2011]
• Jodi Hilton: 'Honor killing' targets Turkey's LGBTs [Global Post, October 12, 2011]
• Nicole Greenfield: Same-sex marriage legal, Argentinians ready to fight for full equality [Global Post, October 19, 2011]
• Guy Hedgecoe: Spain's gays proud of advances but fear backlash [Global Post, October 27, 2011]
• Guy Hedgecoe: In Madrid, noted bookseller pushes LGBT visibility [Global Post, October 27, 2011]
• Graeme Reid: A globalized LGBT rights fight [Global Post, November 2, 2011]
• Ann Tornkvist: Sweden: Transgender actress mourns her "forcible sterilization" [Global Post, November 2, 2011]
• Jason Overdorf: Nepal's other revolution: Red turns to pink [Global Post, November 9, 2011]
• Don Duncan: LGBTI refugees seek haven in Lebanon [Global Post, November 16, 2011]
• Jonathan Kalan: The gray area of gay refugees [Global Post, December 1, 2011]
• Michael Luongo: Opinion: The importance of covering global LGBT news [Global Post, December 1, 2011]
• Patrick Winn: Gay allure in Cambodia's ancient city [Global Post, December 15, 2011]
• Sasa Milosevic: Serbia: For gays, a ghetto in modern Europe [Global Post, December 22, 2011]

    

    

    

    



(Click on images to enlarge)

(Click on image to enlarge)

Gloria Brame, Ph.D.: Our Homostory in photographs [The Bilerico Project]

Gloria wears many hats, and most of them sexual: sex therapist, author, writer, historian, widely-cited sex expert, activist, BDSM/fetish expert, and professor at the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality. In private, Gloria lives in seclusion with her two life partners, 3 dogs, 3 cats and 40 tropical fish. When she isn't obsessing about sex, she's gardening, listening to music, or watching movies.

[Continued here]

Trent Kelly: Hidden in the Open: A Photographic Essay of Afro American Male Couples [Flickr]

Sometimes it is difficult not to write without anger. Pretending or denying certain controversial truths do not exist for the purpose of catering to a saccharine political correctness wanting to make the individual comfortable is dishonest. Transfiguring a string of independent words into coherent whole sentences not losing their intended integrity but also not causing the reader to turn an exasperated and eventually disinterested blind eye toward is complicated.

How does one write about the Afro American gay male and couple? How does one accomplish such a goal from an historical perspective?

Historically, the Afro American gay male and couple has largely been defined by everyone but themselves. Afro American gay men are ignored into nonexistence in parts of black culture and are basically second class citizens in gay culture. The black church which has historically played a fundamental role in protesting against civil injustices toward its parishioners has been want to deny its gay members their right to live a life free and open without prejudice. Despite public projections of a "rainbow" community living together in harmonious co-habitation, openly active and passive prejudices exist in the larger gay community against gay Afro Americans.

[Continued here]

• Hidden in the Open: A Photographic Essay of 140-Years of Black Male Couples [Color Lines, January 10, 2012]

When Same-Sex Marriage Was a Christian Rite
[Live Journal, December 11, 2009]

Contrary to myth, Christianity's concept of marriage has not been set in stone since the days of Christ, but has constantly evolved as a concept and ritual. Prof. John Boswell, the late Chairman of Yale University's history department, discovered that in addition to heterosexual marriage ceremonies in ancient Christian church liturgical documents, there were also ceremonies called the "Office of Same-Sex Union" (10th and 11th century), and the "Order for Uniting Two Men" (11th and 12th century).

These church rites had all the symbols of a heterosexual marriage: the whole community gathered in a church, a blessing of the couple before the altar was conducted with their right hands joined, holy vows were exchanged, a priest officiatied in the taking of the Eucharist and a wedding feast for the guests was celebrated afterwards. These elements all appear in contemporary illustrations of the holy union of the Byzantine Warrior-Emperor, Basil the First (867-886 CE) and his companion John.

A Kiev art museum contains a curious icon from St. Catherine's Monastery on Mt. Sinai in Israel. It shows two robed Christian saints. Between them is a traditional Roman 'pronubus' (a best man), overseeing a wedding. The pronubus is Christ. The married couple are both men.

Is the icon suggesting that a gay "wedding" is being sanctified by Christ himself? The idea seems shocking. But the full answer comes from other early Christian sources about the two men featured in the icon, St. Sergius and St. Bacchus, two Roman soldiers who were Christian martyrs. These two officers in the Roman army incurred the anger of Emperor Maximian when they were exposed as 'secret Christians' by refusing to enter a pagan temple. Both were sent to Syria circa 303 CE where Bacchus is thought to have died while being flogged. Sergius survived torture but was later beheaded. Legend says that Bacchus appeared to the dying Sergius as an angel, telling him to be brave because they would soon be reunited in heaven. ...

Contrary to myth, Christianity's concept of marriage has not been set in stone since the days of Christ, but has constantly evolved as a concept and ritual.

Prof. John Boswell, the late Chairman of Yale University's history department, discovered that in addition to heterosexual marriage ceremonies in ancient Christian church liturgical documents, there were also ceremonies called the "Office of Same-Sex Union" (10th and 11th century), and the "Order for Uniting Two Men" (11th and 12th century).

These church rites had all the symbols of a heterosexual marriage: the whole community gathered in a church, a blessing of the couple before the altar was conducted with their right hands joined, holy vows were exchanged, a priest officiatied in the taking of the Eucharist and a wedding feast for the guests was celebrated afterwards. These elements all appear in contemporary illustrations of the holy union of the Byzantine Warrior-Emperor, Basil the First (867-886 CE) and his companion John.

Such same gender Christian sanctified unions also took place in Ireland in the late 12thand/ early 13th century, as the chronicler Gerald of Wales ('Geraldus Cambrensis') recorded. ...

Records of Christian same sex unions have been discovered in such diverse archives as those in the Vatican, in St. Petersburg, in Paris, in Istanbul and in the Sinai, covering a thousand-years from the 8th to the 18th century.

[Continued here]

• Did you know that Gay Marriage is as old as history? [gaychristian101]

James Gifford: Archie Butt
[Out History]

Whenever a photograph of President Taft appeared in the newspaper, it was almost inevitable that you could catch a glimpse of his distinguished aide-de-camp Major Archibald Butt in the background, at the President's service.

Always impeccably (and loudly) dressed in a military uniform and sporting a clipped mustache, Major Butt in his early forties was always attentive but unobtrusive. He never drew attention to himself, unless the President needed something.

When Archie lost his life on the maiden voyage of the Titanic on April 15, 1912, Washington circles took note. President Taft was devastated. He felt as though he had lost a son.

Almost immediately fundraising began to memorialize Archie and his friend Frank D. Millet, an artist of note who had died with him in the shipwreck.

[Continued here]

Odds & Ends — the 'Bad Old Days'

• Straight from the Closet [The Thistle, July 4, 2000]
• Homosexuals in Media [College Term Papers, September, 1998]
• Cultural Perspectives of Homosexuality throughout the 20th century [Canberra University]

Josh Howard: April 27, 1953: For LGBT Americans, a Day That Lives in Infamy
[HuffPo, April 27, 2012]

On the morning of April 27, 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower declared war on homosexuals.

In one of his first official acts after taking office, Eisenhower issued Executive Order 10450, which banned gay men and lesbians from working for any agency of the federal government.

But that wasn't all. The president ordered all private contractors doing business with the government to fire their gay employees, as well. And he urged our allies overseas to conduct similar purges in their countries.

The rational was that "perverts" -- the word The New York Times freely used as a synonym for homosexuals -- were a threat to the security of the country because their immoral lifestyle left them susceptible to blackmail by foreign agents, who would presumably induce them to reveal sensitive government information in exchange for avoiding exposure.

The McCarthy era is widely known as the time of the Red Scare, the search for Communists who had supposedly infiltrated American society. But in fact it was homosexuals who were the primary victims of the witch hunts. In what has become known as the Lavender Scare, thousands and thousands of people were fired from their jobs simply because of their sexual orientation.

[Continued here]

Mike Wallace and 'The Homosexuals'
[Truth Wins Out, April 9, 2012]

I am a fan of the late Mike Wallace and am very sad that he has passed away. I have always enjoyed his reports and consider him a first-rate journalist. However, there was one noticeable career snafu that caused an enormous amount of damage to the LGBT community. I wrote about it in my book, "Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth":

        In 1967, the news magazine CBS Reports aired an hour-long segment, "The Homosexuals," that gave America its first glimpse of gay and lesbian Americans. Thanks to the efforts of anti-gay psychiatrists, gays were vilified in front of 40 million people, solidifying despicable stereotypes that would last for more than a generation.

        The landmark broadcast included an interview with a closeted homosexual whose face was concealed by dark shadows cast by a large office plant. "I know that I'm sick," he told reporter Mike Wallace. "I'm not just sick sexually. I'm sick in a lot of ways, immature, childlike, and sex is a symptom, like a toothache is a symptom of who knows what."

        This memorable image of disease, timidity, and shame was juxtaposed with with the confident, self-assured doctors Irving Bieber and Charles Socarides, (These are the quacks who founded NARTH) who offered lurid illustrations of gay life. In one segment, Socarides appeared to be answering unprompted questions during a symposium at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine, where he taught. "I was wondering if you think there are any 'happy homosexuals' for whom homosexuality would be in a way their best adjustment to life," a female student said. "Socarides replied, "The fact that somebody's homosexual - a true obligatory homosexual - automatically rules out the possibility that he will remain happy for long, in my opinion." Socarides went on to say that the notion of a happy gay or lesbian person is a "mythology." ...

May Mike Wallace rest in peace. It is good that he acknowledged this error. Unfortunately, the quacks that pushed these lies and deceived Wallace and America are still out there profiting from the pain they deliberately inflict.

[Continued here]

David Badash: Time Magazine Cover Story 42 Years Ago Today: The Homosexual In America
[The New Civil Rights Movement, October 31, 2011]

A controversial Time Magazine cover story, "The Homosexual In America," dated 42 years ago today, (October 31, 1969,) stated that greater tolerance of homosexuals might lead to less of them, as society would become less strident about what constitutes manliness. The piece also asked, "Is there a homosexual conspiracy afoot to dominate the arts and other fields?," and blamed homosexuality on "many emotionally disturbing experiences during the course of several years."

        "Though they still seem fairly bizarre to most Americans, homosexuals have never been so visible, vocal or closely scrutinized by research," the article stated. "They throw public parties, frequent exclusively "gay" bars (70 in San Francisco alone), and figure sympathetically as the subjects of books, plays and films. Encouraged by the national climate of openness about sex of all kinds and the spirit of protest, male and female inverts have been organizing to claim civil rights for themselves as an aggrieved minority."

        Their new militancy makes other citizens edgy, and it can be shrill. Hurling rocks and bottles and wielding a parking meter that had been wrenched out of the sidewalk, homosexuals rioted last summer in New York's Greenwich Village after police closed one of the city's 50 all-gay bars and clubs on an alleged liquor-law violation. Pressure from militant self-styled "homophiles" has forced political candidates' views about homosexuality into recent election campaigns in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Homosexuals have picketed businesses, the White House and the Pentagon, demanding an end to job discrimination and the right to serve in the Army without a dishonorable discharge if their background is discovered.

        Inevitably, the homosexual life has attracted eager entrepreneurs. A firm in Great Neck, N.Y., runs a computer-dating service for homosexuals; San Francisco's Adonis bookstore has some 360 different magazines on display that carry everything from lascivious photos of nude men to reports on the homophile movement and lovelorn advice by "Madame Soto-Voce." Police and homosexuals agree that operating a gay bar is still an occupation that often appeals to Mafiosi. In New York City, sleazy movie houses along Broadway now match their traditional offerings of cheesecake with "beefcake."

        ...

        A Louis Harris poll released last week reported that 63% of the nation consider homosexuals "harmful to American life," and even the most tolerant parents nervously watch their children for real or imagined signs of homosexuality, breathing sighs of relief when their boy or girl finally begins dating the opposite sex.

        ...

        Most experts agree that a child will not become a homosexual unless he undergoes many emotionally disturbing experiences during the course of several years. A boy who likes dolls or engages in occasional homosexual experiments is not necessarily "queer": such activities are often a normal part of growing up. On the other hand, a child who becomes preoccupied with such interests or is constantly ill at ease with the opposite sex obviously needs some form of psychiatric counseling. While only about one-third of confirmed adult inverts can be helped to change, therapists agree that a much larger number of "prehomosexual" children can be treated successfully.

[Continued here]

• A look back: Homosexuality in the U.S. in 1969 [ActUp, July 17, 2010] (as a *.pdf file)

[Note: I was attending the University of Western Ontario's Huron University College (affiliated with the Anglican Church of Canada) from 1965 to 1969. The college's Psychology Department offered an introductory course concerning the sickness of homosexuality and it was frighteningly popular. I was bold enough to ask the head of the Psychology department, one Fred Byrd, what would be done with a student who came to him and admitted to being a homosexual. He told me, in a self-righteous, threatening tone of voice, that such a student would be committed to the Byron Psychiatric Research Hospital for treatment of his or her 'disorder'. Electro-shock therapy was all the rage and I assumed at the time that this would have been the 'treatment' of choice.]

"Gay is Good"



Frank Kameny (1925—2011) [Wikipedia]

Dr. Franklin E. "Frank" Kameny... is "one of the most significant figures" in the American gay rights movement. In 1957, Kameny was dismissed from his position as an astronomer in the Army Map Service in Washington, D.C. because of his homosexuality, leading him to begin "a Herculean struggle with the American establishment that would transform the homophile movement" and "spearhead a new period of militancy in the homosexual rights movement of the early 1960s". ...

In August, 1961 Kameny and Jack Nichols co-founded the Mattachine Society of Washington, an organization that pressed aggressively for gay and lesbian civil rights. In 1963 the group was the subject of Congressional hearings initiated by Congressman John Dowdy over its right to solicit funds.

Kameny is credited with bringing an aggressive new tone to the gay civil rights struggle. Kameny and the Mattachine Society of Washington pressed for fair and equal treatment of gay employees in the federal government by fighting security clearance denials, employment restrictions and dismissals, and working with other groups to press for equality for gay citizens. In 1968, Kameny, inspired by Stokely Carmichael's creation of the phrase "Black is Beautiful",[citation needed] created the slogan "Gay is Good" for the gay civil rights movement.

[Continued here]

• Gay Is Good: How Frank Kameny changed the face of America [Metro Weekly, October 5, 2006]
• Pioneer fighter for gay rights [CNN, December 24, 2010]
• Frank Kameny dead at 86 [Metro Weekly, October 11, 2011]

According to his close associates, Frank Kameny, 86, pioneer of the modern gay rights movement died this evening, October 11, National Coming Out Day.

Speaking around 8:10 p.m. from Kameny's home, a designated historic landmark, Charles Francis confirmed that Kameny died in his bed and that his body was being removed. Others on the scene included Bob Witeck. Both Francis and Witeck were part of the effort to have Kameny's personal papers installed in the Library of Congress.

• Present at the Creation: Frank Kameny, the modest, stubborn man who helped start the gay rights movement [Slate, October 12, 2011]

Frank Kameny's little house in Northwest Washington, with its falling gutters and swaybacked sofa, must be the most modest building ever named a historic landmark. Kameny lived in the house on Cathedral Avenue for decades, and for decades, gay men who thought they were alone in the world, walked up the path of broken weed-choked stones to find . a movement. When Kameny died in his bed Tuesday night, aged 86, he had changed the world.

Opening the door for our interview two years ago, he greeted me with a framed copy of the letter he had just recently received from the U.S. government, apologizing for firing him from his job as an astronomer in 1957 because he was gay. Getting fired from the civil service for homosexuality was a common occurrence in the 1950s, especially after President Dwight Eisenhower had issued Executive Order 10450 mandating the termination of anyone guilty of "sexual perversion." In his book The Lavender Scare, historian David Allyn tells the story of one such civil servant who, within minutes of being told he had been caught and fired, shot himself in the head at the corner of 21st Street and Virginia Avenue.

• What Frank Kameny Meant By "Gay Is Good" [Box Turtle Bulletin, October 12, 2011]

That came out of, in those days - again you have to go back to the issues of that day and the rhetoric of that day - in June of 1968 I saw on television an item of Stokely Carmichael leading a group of students at a college in Salisbury Maryland, chanting, "Black Is Beautiful." And again, same thing. It's not that black is not ugly, or in other ways lesser. We're going to take the next step, "Black Is Beautiful," and I realized I had to do exactly the same thing. I tossed around words and phrases. "Homosexuality" was obviously too clinical. "Good" was sort of bland; on the other hand it covered all the possibilities. Some people had suggested to me, "Gay Is Great," but that sounded a little bit too informal. So ultimately I came up with that. It was adopted in August at a meeting of what was then the North American Conference of Homophile Organizations as a slogan.

• Franklin Kameny, Gay Rights Pioneer, Dies at 86 [New York Times, October 12, 2011]

A half-century ago, Mr. Kameny was either first or foremost - often both - in publicly advocating the propositions that there were homosexuals throughout the population, that they were not mentally ill, and that there was neither reason nor justification for the many forms of discrimination prevalent against them. ...

"Franklin Kameny had the confidence of an intellectual autocrat, the manner of a snapping turtle, a voice like a foghorn, and the habit of expressing himself in thunderous bursts of precise and formal language," the authors wrote. "He talked in italics and exclamation points and he cultivated the self-righteous arrogance of a visionary who knew his cause was just when no one else did."

• Op-ed: Why Frank Kameny Belongs at the Smithsonian [The Advocate, October 13, 2011]

The curator of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, which is home to political paraphernalia from Frank Kameny's life, explains what set the activist apart. ...

At 86, he was one of the last of that generation of activists who moved gay rights forward by making public spectacles of themselves, in the best sense of the term. They put on business suits and dresses and picketed the White House and gave us a face and identity when the prevalent stereotype of gay people was one of menacing perverts.

Kameny was nearly 50 before being gay was removed from the list of psychiatric disorders. He was largely responsible for that famous "cure with the stroke of a pen" in 1973.

The Mattachine Society [Wikipedia]

The Mattachine Society, founded in 1950, was one of the earliest homophile organizations in the United States, probably second only to Chicago's short-lived Society for Human Rights (1924). Harry Hay and a group of Los Angeles male friends formed the group to protect and improve the rights of homosexuals. Because of concerns for secrecy and the founders' leftist ideology, they adopted the cell organization of the Communist Party. In the anti-Communist atmosphere of the 1950s, the Society's growing membership replaced the group's early Communist model with a more traditional ameliorative civil rights leadership style and agenda. Then, as branches formed in other cities, the Society splintered in regional groups by 1961.

[Continued here]

• FBI Records: The Vault: Mattachine Society [FBI]

Harry Hay (1912—2002) [Wikipedia]

Henry "Harry" Hay, Jr.... was a teacher, labor advocate and early leader in the American LGBT rights movement. Drawing on his background in the Communist Party USA, Hay co-founded the Mattachine Society, the first enduring LGBT rights organization in the United States, in 1950. Following his ouster from Mattachine leadership in 1953, Hay largely withdrew from organized LGBT activism until the late 1970s, although he continued to participate in the movement informally and following the 1969 Stonewall riots became involved in a local Gay Liberation Front chapter. He was also a controversial advocate for the North American Man-Boy Love Association. In 1979, Hay and his longtime companion, inventor John Burnside, founded the Radical Faeries. Hay and Burnside remained together for almost 40 years, from 1963 until Hay's death.

[Continued here]

• He Paved the Way for Modern Gay Activism: Harry Hay Dies at 90 [Counter Punch, October 25, 2002]
• Mark Thompson Remembers Harry Hay on Hay's 100th Birthday [LGBT|POV, April 6, 2012]

There was no greater gay activist (and never will be, in my view) than Harry Hay. He took profound risks throughout a long and distinguished life, which has been amply documented in The Trouble with Harry Hay, a biography by Stuart Timmons, Radically Gay, a collection of his writings edited by Will Roscoe, and Hope Along the Wind, a film by Eric Slade. No greater risk taken was the day he declared his love for a modest and married man, John Burnside, back when such things were seldom publicly done. The proposal was accepted, and few gay romances have been as legendary. I was privileged to witness this relationship, and the effect it had on others, during the last two decades of their remarkable life together.

• Rev. Malcolm Boyd: America's Least Known Civil Rights Leader [HuffPo, May 1, 2012]

I asked several people who were close friends or associates of Hay to tell about him from their own perspective. Portland-based filmmaker Eric Slade produced the documentary "Hope Along the Wind: The Life of Harry Hay," which will be shown June 13 as part of the San Francisco exhibition. Slade cited two of the important legacies left by Hay. The first is radical politics. "Harry's work makes it clear that radical political action is the only thing that brings about real change. Attempts at assimilation never work. Because when we say we're just like you, no one is fooled. Our job isn't to quietly fit in but to celebrate our difference and fight for our right to exist as boldly and out as we can be.

"The second legacy is love. It took Harry decades of struggle to realize that the human revolution he wanted has to be based on love and human connection."

Robert Croonquist is founder of Youth Arts New York and an organizer of the upcoming City University of New York conference. I asked him: What is the enduring legacy Harry Hay will have on American life? He replied, "Hay saw the fruit of our liberation was the freedom to be of service. The ethical life is a life of service. Harry will be known for his intellectual ferocity, his understanding of political and social theory, and his steadfast work empowering communities to engage in the struggle for justice and self-determination.

Carl Van Vechten (1880—1964) [Wikipedia]

Carl Van Vechten (June 17, 1880 - December 21, 1964) was an American writer and photographer who was a patron of the Harlem Renaissance and the literary executor of Gertrude Stein. ...

Van Vechten was interested in black writers and artists, and knew and promoted many of the major figures of the Harlem Renaissance, including Langston Hughes, Ethel Waters, Richard Wright, and Wallace Thurman. Van Vechten's controversial novel Nigger Heaven was published in 1926. His essay "Negro Blues Singers" was published in Vanity Fair in 1926.

In the 1930s, Van Vechten began taking portrait photographs....

Van Vechten initially met Gertrude Stein in Paris in 1913. They continued corresponding for the remainder of Stein's life, and at her death she appointed Van Vechten her literary executor; he helped to bring into print her unpublished writings.

After the 1930s, Van Vechten published little writing, though he continued to write letters to many correspondents.

Although Van Vechten was married to Fania Marinoff until the end of his life, he was either homosexual or bisexual. Some of his papers were kept under seal for twenty-five years after his death, and when they were examined after that time, they were found to include scrapbooks of photographs and clippings related to homosexuality.

[Continued here]

Venerable Gay Bookstore [in New York City's Greenwich Village] Will Close
[New York Times, February 3, 2009]

The Oscar Wilde Bookshop in Greenwich Village, which is believed to be the oldest gay and lesbian bookstore in the country, will close on March 29, its owner announced on Tuesday, citing "the current economic crisis." The announcement came nearly six years after the store was about to close, only to be given a last-minute reprieve when a new owner bought it.

The store was opened in 1967 on Mercer Street by Craig L. Rodwell, who was influential in the gay rights movement. It later moved to 15 Christopher Street. Mr. Rodwell, who inspired similar owners of gay bookshops around the country, and who helped organize the city's first gay pride parade in 1970, died of stomach cancer in 1993.

Then, a store manager, Bill Offenbaker, bought the store. A third owner, Larry Lingle, bought the store in 1996.

[Continued here]

• Lambda Owner Takes Over NYC's Oscar Wilde Bookshop [Bookselling This Week, February 4, 2003 ]

Oscar Wilde Bookshop, a landmark gay and lesbian bookstore, was set to close down for good at the end of January, before Maccubbin stepped in and gave the bookstore a reprieve. He did so not because the store was profitable -- it wasn't -- but because the bookstore was historically significant, he told BTW. "This was the very first gay bookstore," Maccubbin explained. "That's too important a factor to let it die."

• Wilde Times: The huge legacy of a small bookshop [New York magazine, February 8, 2009 ]

One of the subtler pleasures of the movie Milk is its vivid portrayal of those small rooms where the conspirators of the gay liberation movement first came together. Sadly, one of those sanctums, the Oscar Wilde Bookshop, announced it was closing last week, after 42 years.

As it happens, the place has a direct link to the film: Its founder, Craig Rodwell, was an early boyfriend of Harvey Milk, at the time a closeted actuary in Brooks Brothers drag. They met cruising on Central Park West and parted after Rodwell, uninterested in monogamy, passed along a case of the clap. By far the more militant of the two, Rodwell had arrived as a teenager, from Chicago, to study ballet, but was distracted by sex and the dawn of "the homophile movement" in the early sixties. In 1967, two years before the Stonewall riots, when most gay activists still used fake names to avoid arrest, he took his savings from cleaning Fire Island hotel rooms and opened the nation's first gay bookstore.

Legendary Gay Bar Owner ["Miss Dixie" Fasnacht] in New Orleans Dies at 101 (1910—2011)
[The Advocate, November 19, 2011]

Whoever said good booze and good times wasn't healthy hadn't met Yvonne "Miss Dixie" Fasnacht, the quirky, plain-talking, and fun-loving lesbian owner of two infamous New Orleans gay bars. When Fasnacht died last Sunday, in her Metairie, Louisiana home, she was 101.

Dixie's Bar of Music became a place where LGBT folks mingled comfortably with luminaries like Helen Hayes, Danny Kaye, Walter Cronkite, and more than one congressman, long before coming out of the closet was considered an option. According to NOLA.com, Dixie's was opened on St. Charles Ave. in the Central Business District in 1939. A decade later she moved it to Bourbon Street in the French Quarter.

"Dixie's was the kind of place where Uptown and downtown, straight and gay, celebrities and regular folks rubbed shoulders," a customer said in a 1996 Times-Picayune interview that included this observation from another former regular: "Everybody who was anybody ended up at Dixie's."

Despite that lofty reputation, "it was a gay bar," said Frank Gagnard, a former Times-Picayune critic, who was a customer.

"It was more a social center than it was a pickup bar," he said. "It was where gay people went to meet friends. Miss Dixie didn't allow any hanky-panky at all."

[Continued here]

• Yvonne 'Miss Dixie' Fasnacht, bar proprietor, dies at age 101 [NOLA, November 16, 2011]

The bar got its name because Ms. Fasnacht, a lifelong New Orleanian, was a musician who played the saxophone and clarinet and pounded the tambourine.

In her youth, she joined a local group called the Harmony Maids. When the Smart Set, an all-girl band, came to town and the saxophone player left, Ms. Fasnacht filled in.

The band later called her to join the musicians in Pittsburgh, where, Ms. Fasnacht said in a 1996 interview, she saw snow for the first time.

Because that bowled her over, one of the musicians said, "We're not calling you Yvonne anymore. We're calling you Dixie," Ms. Fasnacht said in the interview. "Anyhoo, I've been Dixie ever since."

• Rocking the Cradle of Jazz [Ms. magazine, Winter, 2004]

Dixie's Bar of Music holds another distinction in New Orleans' history: It was considered one of the city's first gay bars. Sexuality is not something people of Miss Dixie's generation discuss easily, but she will agree that the gay crowd was "very loyal."

So were the Fasnacht sisters: In 1962, when an entire gay Mardi Gras Carnival Krewe was arrested, Miss Dixie posted their bail. In 1997, she was honored by the gay and lesbian community of New Orleans as a "living testament to the history of gay New Orleans."

• Bourbon and Coke: 1937 [Shorpy, July 10, 2010]

San Francisco's Castro Theatre [CastroTheater.com]

The Castro Theatre was built in 1922 by pioneer San Francisco theatre entrepreneurs, the Nasser brothers, who started with a nickelodeon in 1908 in the Castro neighborhood.

The Castro was built at a cost of $300,000. The Castro's designer was Timothy L. Pflueger (1894-1946) who went on to become a famous Bay Area architect. In 1977, the Castro was designated City of San Francisco registered landmark number 100. It is one of the few remaining movie palaces in the nation from the 1920s that is still in operation.

[Continued here]

• Is San Francisco's Castro Theatre Finished as a Movie Venue? [ReelPolitik, December 7, 2011]

The famous Castro Theatre, long a cinematic home for the queer community, art-house gems and one of San Francisco's classic movie palaces (built in 1922), is done, according to the blog, the Petrelis Files. Many staffers were fired this week, and next year, it will no longer regularly book films. I leave it to San Fran area experts to define what killed the Castro: careless management, video-on-demand, or some combination of other industry factors, but it looks like another nail-in-the-coffin for art-house theatrical moviegoing.

A local film industry source spilled the bad news, according to the blog. "Word is that the enormous screen will shrink for an occasional film festival, but nothing is firm about the screen or a solid commitment to festivals," writes Petrelis.

Instead of film showings, the venue will be dominated by live performances. But as Petrelis worries, "Seems to me turning the Castro from a low-priced film temple into a higher-priced live performance venue would equal fewer folks coming to the gayborhood."

Malcolm Ingram: Continental Drifter [The Advocate, October 5, 2011]

The first time I heard about the Continental Baths was in regards to another lascivious venue, Plato's Retreat. Plato's was a heterosexual swingers club that took over the spot in the Ansonia Hotel at 2109 Broadway in New York City where the Continental Baths originally revolutionized urban nightlife, creating a safe haven for recently empowered post-Stonewall New Yorkers to congregate and connect. Once again, as often happens in the culture, the straights had been beaten to the punch.

For those unfamiliar with the Continental, its main claim to fame was as the launching-pad for Bette Midler, whose raunchy and powerful early performances (accompanied by a then-unknown Barry Manilow) still live in infamy. It was also the place Rudolf Nureyev would go to unwind after dancing the night away in the city's legendary performance halls. Mick Jagger was spotted at the Continental checking out the acts, and one memorable night featured legendary American operatic soprano Eleanor Steber performing for men in black towels designed especially for the occasion. It was just that kind of place.

The venue itself housed a boutique, a salon, a restaurant, a disco, a travel agency, a chapel for non-denominational worship and an Olympic-size swimming pool, complete with waterfall. During the heyday of the baths, Continental towels were sold at Bloomingdale's. The Continental can be directly linked to the creation of Studio 54, and many of the "superstars" from Andy Warhol's Factory were frequent visitors.

Behind the scenes, proprietor Steve Ostrow was instrumental in battling an oppressively conservative environment that made the Continental the target of a series of police raids. Men were rounded up and arrested, only to be bailed out by Ostrow himself, who felt an obligation to protect his customers.

[Continued here]

• Michael Musto: Guess Who Went To The Continental Baths? [Village Voice, March 1, 2012]

Filmmaker Malcolm Ingram is doing a documentary about the place, and he's done an amazing amount of research that's uncovered some fascinating facts.

For example, guess who he told me was spotted once in the pool?

Alfred Hitchcock!

The ultimate voyeur!

"Really great D.J.'s came out of the Pavilion. It was a testing ground for D.J.'s."



Reminiscences of a 'Gay Utopia' [New York Times, November 18, 2011]

THE Pavilion dance club, a hedonistic playground for three generations of gay men in Fire Island Pines, burned down Monday night, stirring memories in gay communities in New York City and beyond.

Dating from before Stonewall, the site was a place where stigma and inhibitions were left at the coat check. Even with gay marriage legal in New York, its dance floor is still held with mythic regard, a "gay utopia," in the words of Andrew Kirtzman, the former television newsman who recently bought the club with two business partners, and has vowed to rebuild it. ...

Andrew Holleran, author, "Dancer From the Dance": "It was about cruising. Going there on the most ordinary nights was like going to your prom times 10. Before the place was soundproofed, the music was so loud that a friend and I would sit home in our house and wait to hear Barry White's 'Love's Theme' come on and then run around the harbor to get on the dance floor."

[Continued here]

• [Fire Island News, November 15, 2011]

A fast moving fire destroyed the Sip N' Twirl complex and gutted the Pavilion and at least one home near the Fire Island Pines commercial district late on Monday, Nov. 14.

Initial reports indicate the blaze broke out around 9:15 p.m. It quickly engulfed the Pavilion, C.F. LaFountaine, Sip N' Twirl, the Pines Bistro and a bay front home. Walter Boss of the Fire Island Pines Fire Department confirmed to The News around 11:20 p.m. that the fire gutted the Pavilion and La Fountaine. The Sip N' Twirl complex that includes the Bistro and a bay front home were destroyed. Businesses north of the Pavilion along the harbor were unscathed.

Three hundred firefighters from the Pines, Ocean Bay Park, Davis Park, Point O' Woods, Cherry Grove, Ocean Beach, Fair Harbor, Saltaire, Kismet, East Islip, West Islip, Hagerman, Sayville, Bellport, Great River and Bay Shore were among those from 31 departments that responded. It was the largest response to a fire on Long Island since the Sunrise Fire scorched thousands of acres of pine barrens in 1995.

• Diller Scofidio + Renfro to Redesign the Pines Pavilion [New York Times, January 5, 2012]

The selection of Diller Scofidio + Renfro, whose recent high-profile commissions include the the High Line and the redesign of Lincoln Center, was announced on Thursday by FIP Ventures - a partnership of Blesso Properties, Seth Weissman and Andrew Kirtzman - which owns 80 percent of the Fire Island Pines commercial district.

"The fire handed us an unexpected opportunity to create something far better than what was destroyed," Mr. Weissman said in a news release. "We're intent upon building something that will reflect the Pines' reputation as a mecca of style."

Silver Lake bar [The Black Cat] recognized for gay rights activism
[Los Angeles Times, November 8, 2008]

The Los Angeles City Council's vote for historic status came four days after voters passed Proposition 8, which amends the state Constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman.

"With Prop. 8 we took five steps backward, but the Black Cat gives us the perspective that we've taken 50 steps forward since 1967," Wes Joe, a Silver Lake resident who nominated the bar for monument status, said at Friday's council meeting in Van Nuys.

Council President Eric Garcetti, whose district includes the Black Cat, called the police raid and protests at the Black Cat "a watershed event that has gone unnoticed in American history."

In the first minutes of 1967, as patrons exchanged New Year's embraces and kisses, plainclothes Los Angeles Police Department officers beat and arrested 14 patrons and bartenders, as well as two other people from a nearby bar. Two of the men arrested for kissing another man that night were convicted under state law and registered as sex offenders. The men appealed, asserting the right of equal protection under the law, but the U.S. Supreme Court did not accept their case.

Two months after the raid, hundreds protested in front of the bar, carrying signs that read "Peace in Silver Lake," "No More Abuse of Our Rights and Dignity" and "Abolish Arbitrary Arrests."

[Continued here]

• Bar still symbolic in the gay community [Los Angeles Times, November 16, 2008]

"We were terrified at the time," said Romanoff, 72. "It wasn't safe to be a gay man and professing you were gay. . . . We were afraid we would get beat up and, possibly worst of all, be rejected by our own families." The 1967 protest lasted days and came one month after a police raid at the Black Cat and nearby New Faces bar, which Romanoff had owned until a few months before the raid.

Just after midnight on New Year's Eve, as balloons floated down from the ceiling, a trio of singers belted out "Auld Lang Syne" and patrons exchanged embraces and kisses, plainclothes and uniformed Los Angeles Police Department officers swarmed the Black Cat, beating and arresting 14 patrons and bartenders.

Two men, who had fled from the raid to New Faces, were chased and arrested there, where the owner and a bartender were also beaten.

Two of the men arrested that night, accused of lewd conduct for kissing another man, were found guilty by a jury and registered as sex offenders. The men appealed, asserting the right of equal protection under the law, but the U.S. Supreme Court did not accept their case.

• New Silver Lake Signage Honors Pioneering GLBT Rights Group [Echo Park Patch, April 5, 2012]

Harry Hay organized the first meeting of the Mattachine Society on Cove Avenue in the 1950s. The Cove Avenue Steps will be renamed the Mattachine Steps on Saturday to commemorate Hay and the group.

The Stonewall Riot and Its Aftermath [Columbia University]

On Friday evening, June 27, 1969, the New York City tactical police force raided a popular Greenwich Village gay bar, the Stonewall Inn. Raids were not unusual in 1969; in fact, they were conducted regularly without much resistance. However, that night the street erupted into violent protest as the crowds in the bar fought back. The backlash and several nights of protest that followed have come to be known as the Stonewall Riots.

Prior to that summer there was little public expression of the lives and experiences of gays and lesbians. The Stonewall Riots marked the beginning of the gay liberation movement that has transformed the oppression of gays and lesbians into calls for pride and action. In the past twenty-five years we have all been witness to an astonishing flowering of gay culture that has changed this country and beyond, forever.

[Continued here]

• Stonewall riots [Wikipedia]

• Michael Musto: Was The Stonewall Raid Based On Drugs And Booze, Not Homophobia? [Village Voice, April 17, 2012]

"The fact of the matter is that Stonewall was a notorious drug den. My father, six years passed away, was an undercover narcotics officer at the time and personally bought thousands of dollars of drugs there over a six month time period as an undercover officer.

"Additionally, the place never had a liquor license, which was the real reason for the raids and were told after each raid to back off the bar by the higher-ups in city politics at the time.

"We're not gonna take it anymore."



Jerry Lisker: Homo Nest Raided — Queen Bees Are Stinging Mad
[New York Daily News, July 6, 1969]

She sat there with her legs crossed, the lashes of her mascara-coated eyes beating like the wings of a hummingbird. She was angry. She was so upset she hadn't bothered to shave. A day old stubble was beginning to push through the pancake makeup. She was a he. A queen of Christopher Street.

Last weekend the queens had turned commandos and stood bra strap to bra strap against an invasion of the helmeted Tactical Patrol Force. The elite police squad had shut down one of their private gay clubs, the Stonewall Inn at 57 Christopher St., in the heart of a three-block homosexual community in Greenwich Village. Queen Power reared its bleached blonde head in revolt. New York City experienced its first homosexual riot. "We may have lost the battle, sweets, but the war is far from over," lisped an unofficial lady-in-waiting from the court of the Queens.

"We've had all we can take from the Gestapo," the spokesman, or spokeswoman, continued. "We're putting our foot down once and for all." The foot wore a spiked heel. According to reports, the Stonewall Inn, a two-story structure with a sand painted brick and opaque glass facade, was a mecca for the homosexual element in the village who wanted nothing but a private little place where they could congregate, drink, dance and do whatever little girls do when they get together.

The thick glass shut out the outside world of the street. Inside, the Stonewall bathed in wild, bright psychedelic lights, while the patrons writhed to the sounds of a juke box on a square dance floor surrounded by booths and tables. The bar did a good business and the waiters, or waitresses, were always kept busy, as they snaked their way around the dancing customers to the booths and tables. For nearly two years, peace and tranquility reigned supreme for the Alice in Wonderland clientele.

The Raid Last Friday

Last Friday the privacy of the Stonewall was invaded by police from the First Division. It was a raid. They had a warrant. After two years, police said they had been informed that liquor was being served on the premises. Since the Stonewall was without a license, the place was being closed. It was the law.

All hell broke loose when the police entered the Stonewall. The girls instinctively reached for each other. Others stood frozen, locked in an embrace of fear.

Only a handful of police were on hand for the initial landing in the homosexual beachhead. They ushered the patrons out onto Christopher Street, just off Sheridan Square. A crowd had formed in front of the Stonewall and the customers were greeted with cheers of encouragement from the gallery.

The whole proceeding took on the aura of a homosexual Academy Awards Night. The Queens pranced out to the street blowing kisses and waving to the crowd. A beauty of a specimen named Stella wailed uncontrollably while being led to the sidewalk in front of the Stonewall by a cop. She later confessed that she didn't protest the manhandling by the officer, it was just that her hair was in curlers and she was afraid her new beau might be in the crowd and spot her. She didn't want him to see her this way, she wept.

Queen Power

The crowd began to get out of hand, eye witnesses said. Then, without warning, Queen Power exploded with all the fury of a gay atomic bomb. Queens, princesses and ladies-in-waiting began hurling anything they could get their polished, manicured fingernails on. Bobby pins, compacts, curlers, lipstick tubes and other femme fatale missiles were flying in the direction of the cops. The war was on. The lilies of the valley had become carnivorous jungle plants.

Urged on by cries of "C'mon girls, lets go get'em," the defenders of Stonewall launched an attack. The cops called for assistance. To the rescue came the Tactical Patrol Force.

Flushed with the excitement of battle, a fellow called Gloria pranced around like Wonder Woman, while several Florence Nightingales administered first aid to the fallen warriors. There were some assorted scratches and bruises, but nothing serious was suffered by the honeys turned Madwoman of Chaillot.

Official reports listed four injured policemen with 13 arrests. The War of the Roses lasted about 2 hours from about midnight to 2 a.m. There was a return bout Wednesday night.

Two veterans recently recalled the battle and issued a warning to the cops. "If they close up all the gay joints in this area, there is going to be all out war."

Bruce and Nan

Both said they were refugees from Indiana and had come to New York where they could live together happily ever after. They were in their early 20's. They preferred to be called by their married names, Bruce and Nan.

"I don't like your paper," Nan lisped matter-of-factly. "It's anti-fag and pro-cop."

"I'll bet you didn't see what they did to the Stonewall. Did the pigs tell you that they smashed everything in sight? Did you ask them why they stole money out of the cash register and then smashed it with a sledge hammer? Did you ask them why it took them two years to discover that the Stonewall didn't have a liquor license."

Bruce nodded in agreement and reached over for Nan's trembling hands.

"Calm down, doll," he said. "Your face is getting all flushed."

Nan wiped her face with a tissue.

"This would have to happen right before the wedding. The reception was going to be held at the Stonewall, too," Nan said, tossing her ashen-tinted hair over her shoulder.

"What wedding?," the bystander asked.

Nan frowned with a how-could-anybody-be-so-stupid look. "Eric and Jack's wedding, of course. They're finally tying the knot. I thought they'd never get together."

Meet Shirley

"We'll have to find another place, that's all there is to it," Bruce sighed. "But every time we start a place, the cops break it up sooner or later."

"They let us operate just as long as the payoff is regular," Nan said bitterly. "I believe they closed up the Stonewall because there was some trouble with the payoff to the cops. I think that's the real reason. It's a shame. It was such a lovely place. We never bothered anybody. Why couldn't they leave us alone?"

Shirley Evans, a neighbor with two children, agrees that the Stonewall was not a rowdy place and the persons who frequented the club were never troublesome. She lives at 45 Christopher St.

"Up until the night of the police raid there was never any trouble there," she said. "The homosexuals minded their own business and never bothered a soul. There were never any fights or hollering, or anything like that. They just wanted to be left alone. I don't know what they did inside, but that's their business. I was never in there myself. It was just awful when the police came. It was like a swarm of hornets attacking a bunch of butterflies."

A reporter visited the now closed Stonewall and it indeed looked like a cyclone had struck the premises.

Police said there were over 200 people in the Stonewall when they entered with a warrant. The crowd outside was estimated at 500 to 1,000. According to police, the Stonewall had been under observation for some time. Being a private club, plain clothesmen were refused entrance to the inside when they periodically tried to check the place. "They had the tightest security in the Village," a First Division officer said, "We could never get near the place without a warrant."

Police Talk

The men of the First Division were unable to find any humor in the situation, despite the comical overtones of the raid.

"They were throwing more than lace hankies," one inspector said. "I was almost decapitated by a slab of thick glass. It was thrown like a discus and just missed my throat by inches. The beer can didn't miss, though, "it hit me right above the temple."

Police also believe the club was operated by Mafia connected owners. The police did confiscate the Stonewall's cash register as proceeds from an illegal operation. The receipts were counted and are on file at the division headquarters. The warrant was served and the establishment closed on the grounds it was an illegal membership club with no license, and no license to serve liquor.

The police are sure of one thing. They haven't heard the last from the Girls of Christopher Street.

[Note: You betcha!]

A Visual History of the Gay Rights Movement [Time]

From Stonewall to the overturning of Prop 8

[Continued here]

Massachusetts roaster debuts 'gay coffee' [Edge Boston, December 24, 2011]

The coffee might not be gay, and the consumers are likely coffee lovers of every persuasion, but the message of this campy new brand is clear: Gay culture and gay history are splashing onto the coffee scene.

Five fledgling blends make up the new brand. There are dark roasts such as "Red Hanky Roast" and "Second Date," dark and medium blends like "Weekend Pass" and "Good Morning Mary" and a medium roast called "Stone Butch Breakfast Blend."

From the young blonde sailor on "Weekend Pass" to the woman carrying moving boxes on "Second Date," each blend sports humorously crafted artwork on the front to reflect its catchy moniker.

This kitschy concept comes from Elbow Room Coffee owner Melissa Krueger. Together with a handful of friends, Krueger says Gay Coffee started as a casual conversation over a cup of you-know-what. The discussion centered around how gay and lesbian culture has seemingly entered the mainstream in many areas.

[Continued here]

Queer to the Core
[Out, April 12, 2012]

After the sexual free-for-all that was 1970s glam rock, the pendulum swung back. The 1980s alt-rock landscape was impossibly straight. That's ironic, since its holy trinity -- R.E.M., Hüsker Dü, and The Smiths -- was made of bands whose frontmen are now respectively queer, out, and sexually nebulous. But in the darker corners of the underground, bands were sprouting up that were defiantly -- and loudly -- gay. The Queercore scene grew out of a generation that bristled against what it saw as the bourgeois trappings of a mainstream gay lifestyle and the macho, hetero hardcore scene that punk -- a movement founded by women, people of color, and gays -- had become. Queercore was a call to arms and storming out of the closet. The literature came before the music. It started out as a loose collective, trading fanzines and letters, and evolved to include dozens of bands, as well as the extraordinary friendships and treacherous rivalries that come along with creative intensity. Here's an oral history of Queercore, from its inky, Xeroxed beginnings until it rendered itself obsolete.

[Continued here]

History of the Hanky Code, Hanky Code 101 [Back In The Gays]

Handkerchief code, hanky code, also known as bandanna code and flagging. Is a way of showing what you are looking for in sex play, usually among gay male casual sex seekers or BDSM practitioners in the leather subculture all over the world. Whether you are a top or bottom, and what kind of sex you were seeking. By wearing a cotton color coded handkerchiefs bandanna in your back pocket or around the belt loop, it shows what you were looking for before even sparking conversation with your partner to be.

Hanky code was widely used in the 1970s as a gay code, nowadays it is also used by many bisexual, pansexual, and queer people all over the world. Today bandannas are worn mostly in the rear jean pocket or tied around the belt loop, left side for tops and right side for bottoms. Just as tops wear their keys on the left belt loop and bottoms on the right side. In the past bandannas were worn tied around the neck with the knot positioned on either the left or right side or around the ankle when wearing boots.

There is no universally understood color code, and regional codes vary from place to place. There is general agreement upon the colors for more common use, especially for those with an intuitive relation between the color and practice. For example: yellow for urolagnia, brown for coprophilia, and black for SM. The wearing of different colored bandannas around the neck was commonly used in the mid to late nineteenth century among cowboys, steam railroad engineers, and miners in the Western part of the United States.

It was said that the wearing of bandannas by gay men originated in California San Francisco area after the Gold Rush. At the time because of a shortage of women, men dancing with each other in square dances created a code between each other. Where the man wearing the blue bandanna took the male role, and the man wearing the red bandanna took the female role in the square dance. Bandannas were usually worn around the arm, hanging from the belt or in the back pocket of their jeans.

[Note: Just a sampling.]

Black: S&M indicates the wearer's interest in hardcore SM play, especially whipping.

Red: Fister Left pocket insertive partner, right pocket receptive partner.

Yellow: Left side watersports urinating on, or right being urinated upon by another person.

Grey: Bondage play involving ropes, handcuffs, chains, other restraints that limit the bottom's ability to move or touch himself.

White: Safer sex.

Light Blue: Oral sex wearing it in the left back pocket or on the left side indicates you are looking to receive oral sex, wearing it in the right back pocket or on the right side indicates you are looking to perform oral sex.

Navy Blue: Wearing it in the left back pocket or on the left side means you are the giver, top, pitcher during anal intercourse, wearing it in the right back pocket or on the right side means you are the bottom, catcher.

. . .

[Continued here]

• Why I Flag (It's Not Just About Sex) [Bilerico Project, November 5, 2011]

Flagging also is a way I can stay visible. Being traditionally femme-looking and being able to pass, it's easy for me to be mistaken as a heterosexual cis-female. This happens even when I'm in gay bars or other queer spaces. If I'm flagging, however, I have an identifier. It's true that most gay people won't know what the colors signify or what side is what, but they know it means something. They know it's a sign that the person wearing them is queer. Flagging identifies me as a member of the community.

NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt [Wikipedia]

The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, often abbreviated to AIDS Memorial Quilt, is an enormous quilt made as a memorial to and celebration of the lives of people who have died of AIDS-related causes. Weighing an estimated 54 tons, it is the largest piece of community folk art in the world as of 2010.

The idea for the NAMES Project Memorial Quilt was conceived in 1985 by AIDS activist Cleve Jones during the candlelight march, in remembrance of the 1978 assassinations of San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone. For the march, Jones had people write the names of loved ones that were lost to AIDS-related causes on signs that would be taped to the San Francisco Federal Building. All the signs taped to the building looked like an enormous patchwork quilt to Jones, and he was inspired. It officially started in 1987 in San Francisco by Jones, Mike Smith, and volunteers Joseph Durant, Jack Caster, Gert McMullin, Ron Cordova, Larkin Mayo and Gary Yuschalk. At that time many people who died of AIDS-related causes did not receive funerals, due to both the social stigma of AIDS felt by surviving family members and the outright refusal by many funeral homes and cemeteries to handle the deceased's remains. Lacking a memorial service or grave site, The Quilt was often the only opportunity survivors had to remember and celebrate their loved ones' lives. The first showing of the The Quilt was 1987 on the National Mall in Washington, DC, The Quilt was last displayed in full on The Mall in Washington, D.C., in 1996.

The Quilt is a memorial to and celebration of the lives of people lost to the AIDS pandemic. Each panel is 3' by 6', approximately the size of the average grave; this connects the ideas of AIDS and death more closely, even though only about 20% of the people lost to AIDS related causes are represented. The Quilt is still maintained and displayed by The NAMES Project Foundation.

[Continued here]

• Portion of AIDS quilt to be shown [Nashua Telegraph, November 30, 2011]

By bringing the AIDS Memorial Quilt to the city, organizers are hoping those who see it will not only memorialize those who have been lost to the disease, but also realize that New Hampshire is far from immune to its impact.

Eight panels of the quilt, a project that started in 1987, will be on display at Nashua High School South starting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the school gymnasium.

The event is open to the public and will feature several speakers, including Jane Murray, who lost her brother to the disease.

Each piece of the AIDS Memorial Quilt tells a story about someone who lost his or her life to the disease, said Janet Valuk, a health teacher at Nashua South. Each section measures approximately 12 feet square and is made up of eight individual 3- by 6-foot panels.

The quilt is now made up of more than 40,000 panels.

Tracy Baim: Building Gay Self-Esteem Through History [Huffington Post, December 16, 2011]

When I first started working in gay media at age 21 in 1984, I felt like I was dropped into the middle of a war zone. At the time, there were fewer than 100 diagnosed AIDS cases in Chicago, but that number soon began to grow and grow.

People I worked with and covered as a reporter and editor at GayLife and then Windy City Times would die within days or weeks of finding out they had AIDS. I would take a photo of someone, for example Dr. Ron Sable or Robert Ford of Thing 'zine, knowing it would likely be the last image and the one I would soon use with their obituary. Gaunt and weak, these men (I was mostly covering gay me) continued their activism up until their last breaths.

Later came inspired heroes Danny Sotomayor and Ferd Eggan, and thousands of others. It was an honor to be able to write about them, to make sure their lives were not forgotten.

Covering the community 365 days a year left little time for reflection. My main goal was documenting the LGBT community in every way I could, whether it was through photos at bars, writing about benefits, doing news stories and features, or whatever else it took to write and photograph as much as possible, as it was happening. ...

To reboot my passion for LGBT issues and people, I launched the Chicago Gay History Project, interviewing some 200 people, mostly on video, and online now. As a result of that, I also helped advise WTTW TV on their Out & Proud in Chicago film project, and they recommended me for the companion book, published by Surrey Books in 2008, Out and Proud in Chicago: An Overview of the City's Gay Community. I also started to scan hundreds of thousands of editorial and photo files from the pre-digital era, to eventually post those online, too.

[Continued here]

Michael Ruse: What Freud didn't know about being gay (1856—1939)
[Globe & Mail, January 9, 2011]

Sigmund Freud got many things wrong. In Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (1905), he argued that gay sons are the result of dominant mothers and absent or hostile fathers. He got things backward. There is now a huge amount of evidence that, as boys, many gay men show behaviour and interests more characteristic of girls - playing with dolls etc. The kids brought on the reactions by the parents, rather than conversely.

But Freud got things so massively right that his name should be honoured forever. He and others opened the way to regard gay people as human beings, not as deviates or sinners. He saw that adult sexual orientation is not a matter of free choice. Although admittedly he did think being gay is in a sense a sign of immaturity, in the celebrated "Letter to an American mother," he went so far as to say that being gay is no sickness. We are what we are, and there is no changing this - or need to.

A hundred years after Freud, we have made great progress in understanding. Neuroscientist Simon LeVay has written an absolutely superb book, aimed at the general reader, discussing in detail what we now know. Gay, Straight, and the Reason Why should be on everyone's reading list. Clearly the environment, culture, can be significant. Think of the Greeks and of the behaviours of people in prisons.

[Continued here]

Magnus Hirschfeld (1868—1935) [Wikipedia]

Magnus Hirschfeld... was a German physician and sexologist. Hirschfeld was an outspoken advocate for homosexual rights.

Magnus Hirschfeld's career successfully found a balance between medicine and writing. After several years as a general practitioner in Magdeburg, in 1896 he issued a pamphlet Sappho and Socrates, on homosexual love (under the pseudonym Th. Ramien). In 1897, Hirschfeld founded the Scientific Humanitarian Committee with the publisher Max Spohr, the lawyer Eduard Oberg, and the writer Max von Bülow. The group aimed to undertake research to defend the rights of homosexuals and to repeal Paragraph 175, the section of the German penal code that since 1871 had criminalized homosexuality. They argued that the law encouraged blackmail, and the motto of the Committee, "Justice through science", reflected Hirschfeld's belief that a better scientific understanding of homosexuality would eliminate hostility toward homosexuals. ...

The Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, under Hirschfeld's leadership, managed to gather over 5000 signatures from prominent Germans for a petition to overturn Paragraph 175. Signatories included Albert Einstein, Hermann Hesse, Käthe Kollwitz, Thomas Mann, Heinrich Mann, Rainer Maria Rilke, August Bebel, Max Brod, Karl Kautsky, Stefan Zweig, Gerhart Hauptmann, Martin Buber, Richard von Krafft-Ebing and Eduard Bernstein. ...

When the Nazis took power, they attacked Hirschfeld's Institut on May 6, 1933, and burned many of its books. The press-library pictures and archival newsreel film of the Nazi book-burning seen today are believed to be of Hirschfeld's library and records.

[Continued here]

• A brief history of transgender issues [The Guardian, June 2, 2010]

Through the work of the early sexologists such as Krafft-Ebbing and Hirschfield, transsexuality became a recognized phenomenon available for study, discussion and treatment. Throughout the 1920s and 30s medical provision was very sparse, but still transsexual people managed to find doctors who would help them. At Hirschfield's infamous clinic, the first sex change operations were performed by Dr Felix Abraham: a mastectomy on a trans man in 1926, a penectomy on his domestic servant Dora in 1930, and a vaginoplasty on Lili Elbe, a Danish painter, in 1931. The surgery was not easy, and Lily died less than two years later from complications.

• The Einstein of Sex (1999) [IMDb]

The life story of Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, a German Jew, who as a physician established the field of sexology, and fought militantly against German anti-sodomy laws in the late 19th century.

Boyhood Effeminancy and Later Homosexuality [New York Times, December 16, 1986]

Most young boys who persistently act like girls grow up to be homosexuals or bisexuals, a 15-year study of ''sissy boys'' has shown. According to the findings, neither therapy designed to discourage the extremely feminine behavior nor ideal child rearing could guarantee that the boys would develop as heterosexuals, although parental discouragement of the boys' girlish behavior tended to result in a more heterosexual orientation.

[Continued here]

Alfred Freedman; led effort to reclassify homosexuality (1917—2011)
[Boston Globe, April 22, 2011]

Dr. Alfred M. Freedman, a psychiatrist and social reformer who led the American Psychiatric Association in 1973 when, overturning a century-old policy, it declared that homosexuality was not a mental illness, died Sunday in Manhattan. He was 94. ...

In 1972, with pressure mounting from gay rights groups and from an increasing number of psychiatrists to destigmatize homosexuality, Dr. Freedman was elected president of the association, which he later described as a conservative "old boys' club." Its 20,000 members were deeply divided about its policy on homosexuality, which its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders II classified as a "sexual deviation'' in the same class as fetishism, voyeurism, pedophilia, and exhibitionism.

[Continued here]

------------8<------------

• Sexual orientation and homosexuality [American Psychological Association]
• Just the Facts about Sexual Orientation and Youth [American Psychological Association]
• Insufficient Evidence that Sexual Orientation Change Efforts Work, Says APA [American Psychological Association]
• AMA Policy Regarding Sexual Orientation [American Medical Association]

------------8<------------

José Julio Sarria: The Queen of San Francisco (1923— )
[The Atlantic, November, 2011]

When I first phoned José Julio Sarria at his home in Palm Springs, California, the octogenarian was having a bad day-he had just found out that his friend likely wasn't coming to take him on a much-needed grocery run. Not a good time, perhaps, for me to request a favor, but for a book I was working on, I needed a photo of Sarria performing a drag version of Faust at San Francisco's Black Cat Café in 1961. "I know just the picture you mean," he said, his mood obviously lifting, "and I'll start looking for it as soon as we get off the phone."

Famous for his camp Sunday-afternoon opera performances at the Black Cat and Backstage cafés, and for starting the Imperial Court System-one of the country's oldest and biggest gay charitable organizations-Sarria has another distinction: 50 years ago this month, he became the first openly gay candidate for public office in the United States, running for San Francisco city supervisor 12years before Harvey Milk.

[Continued here]

• Exhibit Honors Pioneering Gay Candidate [The Advocate, November 13, 2011]
• José Sarria [Wikipedia]

José Julio Sarria... is an American political activist from San Francisco, California. Known for his years of performing at the historic Black Cat Bar in that city from the 1950s and 1960s, Sarria entertained patrons with satirical versions of popular songs and operas while encouraging them to live their lives as openly as possible. He frequently dressed in drag.

(Click on image to enlarge)

Elaine Noble (1944— ) [Wikipedia]

Elaine Noble...) is an American politician and LGBT activist who served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives for two terms starting in January 1975. She was the first openly lesbian or gay candidate elected to a state legislature. She served two terms as representative for the Fenway-Kenmore/Back Bay neighborhoods of Boston. ...

In 1974 she was elected to the state House of Representatives with 59% of the vote. She has described the campaign as "very ugly": it included her windows being shot in, her car being destroyed, her campaign headquarters having their windows broken and her supporters suffering serious harassment. Nevertheless, she was successful and was sworn into office on New Year's Day 1975 by governor Michael Dukakis. Her election made her the first openly LGBT candidate elected to a state-level office in the United States; the second, after Kathy Kozachenko, to be elected to office; and the third openly LGBT elected official overall (Kozachenko's predecessor, Nancy Wechsler, having come out while in office but not publicly known to be lesbian at the time she was elected).

[Continued here]

• A Talk with Elaine Noble [Windy City Times, October 10, 2007]

LN: You and Harvey Milk were the first highly visible, openly gay politicians of the time. Did it ever occur to you that something like what happened to Milk could happen?

EN: We both know that there were some high risks involved. I think Harvey watched my situation very closely because I was elected in a largely Irish/Catholic town. I was elected in spite of being gay. In the height of desegregation in Boston, I was riding on the buses with children of color. The gay community was just as racist as the straight community. So I had a lot of issues around race, which Harvey didn't have. There was a level of animosity in all strata of society against homosexuality. Harvey really was much more dramatic and pushed the envelope in a way. It was more to his style and he was fearless. I think we both knew that [ one of us was going to die ] . You suffer enough bomb threats and craziness with people shooting through your windows and doing damage to your cars and it just escalates.

"If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet also
destroy every closet door in the country."



(Click on image above to enlarge)

Harvey Milk (1930—1978) [Wikipedia]

Harvey... Milk was an American politician who became the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Politics and gay activism were not his early interests; he was not open about his homosexuality and did not participate in civic matters until around the age of 40, after his experiences in the counterculture of the 1960s.

Milk moved from New York City to settle in San Francisco in 1972 amid a migration of gay men to the Castro District. He took advantage of the growing political and economic power of the neighborhood to promote his interests, and ran unsuccessfully for political office three times. His theatrical campaigns earned him increasing popularity, and Milk won a seat as a city supervisor in 1977, part of the broader social changes the city was experiencing.

Milk served 11 months in office and was responsible for passing a stringent gay rights ordinance for the city. On November 27, 1978, Milk and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated by Dan White, another city supervisor who had recently resigned but wanted his job back. Milk's election was made possible by and was a key component of a shift in San Francisco politics. The assassinations and the ensuing events were the result of continuing ideological conflicts in the city.

[Continued here]

• Jonestown And The City Hall Assassinations: Ten days That Shook the City [San Francisco Chronicle, November 18, 2008]

Monday, Nov. 27, 1978. 10:35 a.m.

I'm sitting at my desk in the city room on the third floor of The Chronicle at Fifth and Mission streets, reading the newspaper and waiting for a story to do.

A moment later, assignment editor Richard Hemp beckons me urgently as he hangs up a call from Bob Popp, our police beat reporter stationed at the Hall of Justice.

"Some kind of police activity going on at City Hall," Hemp says. "Lots of units responding."

"On the way, Dick," I answer, already out of my chair, grabbing my coat and notebook. "What do we know?" ...

I duck back into The Chronicle bureau office just across the hall from the supervisors' offices. I call the city desk to check in.

"I think Moscone and Milk are dead," I blurt, gulping air, heart pounding in my chest. "Not confirmed ... no suspect yet ... they might still be here ... can't get into the mayor's or supes' offices ... cops everywhere ... it's total chaos up here. We're still waiting for some official word." ...

"As president of the Board of Supervisors," [Dianne Feinstein] begins, her voice weak and trembling, "... it's my duty to make this announcement." She pauses, inhales deeply, exhales. "Both Mayor Moscone ... and Supervisor Harvey Milk ... have been shot ... and killed."

• The Pioneer HARVEY MILK [Time, June 14, 1999]
• The Castro Resource Guide
• The Resurrection of Harvey Milk [The Advocate, November, 2008]

Cleve Jones has a clear memory from the day his mentor was gunned down in San Francisco's City Hall in 1978. "In my heart, I believed the gay rights movement was over," he says. But by the time the sun had set that sorrowful day, "tens of thousands of men, women, and children of every age, race, and background were marching with their candles down Market Street, and I realized the movement wasn't over at all. It was just beginning."

While most people were shocked by news of the assassination, it likely wouldn't have come as a surprise to Harvey Milk. In the last year of his life, the San Francisco supervisor recorded a final testament to be played in the event that he was killed -- an effort at self-preservation that the new movie Milk depicts in several scenes, showing Sean Penn as the politician reciting the events of his life at his kitchen table in the Castro.

• Jamie McGonnigal: 'If a Bullet Should Enter My Brain': 33 Years Ago [Huffington Post, November 28, 2011]

White's lawyers claimed that while usually a healthy man, White had been consuming many sugary foods, which led to his mental state. This became known as the "Twinkie Defense." White went on to serve just five years of the very lenient seven-year sentence. Two years later, White committed suicide by running a garden hose from the exhaust pipe to inside his car.

Following the guilty verdict, men and women rioted outside San Francisco City Hall. Hours after the riots had ended, police made a retaliatory raid on the streets of the Castro District and the Elephant Walk Bar (now renamed "Harvey's''). Two dozen arrests were made during that raid and the riots, and in the following weeks, after being called upon to apologize, gay leaders refused. The political leverage gained from these events led to the election of Mayor Dianne Feinstein. Feinstein then appointed a pro-gay chief of police who actively recruited gays into the city's police force.

Dianne Feinstein, who is now a U.S. Senator, is leading the way for LGBT equality by sponsoring the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

• San Diego to rename street for Harvey Milk [Los Angeles Times, May 8, 2012]

"Harvey Milk is to the gay community as Cesar Chavez is to the Hispanic community and Martin Luther King is to the African American community," said gay activist Susan Jester.

• Naming ship after Harvey Milk leads to supes debate [San Francisco Chronicle, May 15, 2012]

San Francisco wouldn't be San Francisco if not for robust political debate, even over a seemingly feel-good request to the U.S. secretary of the navy to name a ship after gay civil rights leader Harvey Milk, the assassinated city supervisor who served as a Navy officer during the Korean War.

Critics of the idea, led by Supervisor Christina Olague and a contingent from the San Francisco gay Democrat club named in Milk's honor, don't think he would have wanted his name associated with a military ship.

Milk was "against the Vietnam War and war in general," Olague said of Milk, who was gunned down at City Hall in 1978 by disgruntled former colleague Dan White.

A more fitting tribute would be to get a national holiday named in Milk's honor, she said.

San Diego Rep. Bob Filner, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, has asked the Navy to christen a ship the USS Harvey Milk, and San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener authored a nonbinding resolution urging support.

Chronicling our past: How will queer histories be represented in the Canadian
Museum for Human Rights? [XTRA, August 15, 2011]

The Canadian Human Rights Museum in Winnipeg is set to open sometime in 2013, and the inaugural suite of exhibits is being prepared now. How are decisions about how lesbian and gay people are represented in the final product being made?

A 17-member content advisory committee (CAC) toured the country to gather stories on human rights and produced a report intended to shape the museum's content. The CAC's mandate ended in April of 2010.

"It was a good process," says Jennifer Breakspear, committee member and executive director of Qmunity in Vancouver. "Given the restrictions of time, expense and the sheer size of this country and the scope of human rights issues, it's really hard to feel that you got it all. I feel that we did good work, and I feel that we put forward a good report, but we could have done that work for years, touring the country and talking to Canadians about human rights."

[Continued here]

• Human rights museum opening delayed [CBC, December 20, 2011]

Delays in opening the Canadian Museum for Human Rights are creating headaches in Winnipeg's tourism sector, while Ottawa says it won't give more money to the project.

Museum officials acknowledge that funding shortfalls, along with the development of the museum's exhibitions, are among the reasons why they're working towards opening the facility in 2014, a year later than its last estimate.

Officials had originally hoped to open the museum in 2012, but later set a goal of finishing construction in 2012 and opening in 2013.

The Canadian War on Queers: National Security as Sexual Regulation
by Gary William Kinsman, Patrizia Gentile [Google Books]

Never Going Back: a History of Queer Activism in Canada
by Tom Warner [Google Books]

Eating Fire: Family Life, on the Queer Side
by Michael Riordon [Google Books]

An Unauthorized Bbiography of the World: Oral History on the Front Lines
by Michael Riordon [Google Books]

Toronto's Park Plaza Hotel's Roof Lounge [Toronto Life]

A panoramic 18th-floor shrine to elegance and decorum, the Roof was formerly known by regulars as the Top of the Park Plaza, until the Hyatt buyout 10 years ago. An attentive waiter will appear at your granite-topped table with a Park Cosmopolitan (Grand Marnier, Grey Goose L'Orange, lemon, lime and cranberry juice, $18). The city's best and brightest — from writers to foodies — have quaffed here, and their caricatures line the walls. The lounge is now mostly favoured by hotel guests, well-groomed law students and image-conscious high rollers.

[Note: A former employer, the fabulous Brian Dodge (the now retired owner of Journey's End Antiques at 612 Markham Street in Toronto) was accustomed to regale me with tales of 1950s and 1960s gay life in Toronto. The favourite after-work watering hole for gay men working in trendy jewellery shops like Ty Crawford's Gold Shoppe, various and sundry antique shops, Henry Birks and Sons, Eatons College Street and Robert Simpsons, was the bar atop the Park Plaza Hotel, referred to simply as The Roof. "Meet me at The Roof, darling. Don't be late, if you know what I mean (wink)."]

[Continued here]

John A. Harnick: "Canada has a long and shameful history of homo-hatred."



George Klippert (1926—1996) [CBC, November 7, 1967]

A Supreme Court ruling comes down, and a Northwest Territories mechanic named George Klippert is on his way to jail. His crime is that he is a homosexual. In this CBC Radio clip, Bud Orange, Klippert's MP, says he hopes the government is forced to make a move as a result of the ruling. Justice Minister Pierre Trudeau responds that proposed changes to the criminal code will prevent more cases like Klippert's.

[Continued here]

More information here [CBC archives]

• George Klippert [Wikipedia]

Klippert, a mechanic in the Northwest Territories, was first investigated by police in connection with an arson in 1965. Although he was not found to have had any connection with the fire, Klippert voluntarily admitted to having had consensual homosexual sex with four separate adult men. He was subsequently arrested and charged with four counts of "gross indecency".

A court-ordered psychiatrist assessed Klippert as "incurably homosexual", and Klippert was sentenced to "preventive detention" (that is, indefinitely) as a dangerous sexual offender. Klippert appealed to the Court of Appeal for the Northwest Territories; his appeal was dismissed. He then appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada; his appeal was dismissed in a controversial 3-2 decision.

The day after Klippert's conviction was upheld, New Democratic Party leader Tommy Douglas invoked Klippert's name in the Canadian House of Commons, stating that homosexuality should not be considered a criminal issue. Within six weeks, Pierre Trudeau presented the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968-69 (Bill C-150), an omnibus bill which, among other things, decriminalized homosexual acts between consenting adults. The law passed, and homosexuality was decriminalized in Canada in 1969.

Klippert, however, remained in prison until July 21, 1971, whereupon he was released. He lived twenty-five more years before his death from kidney disease in 1996.

Pierre Elliott Trudeau: "There's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation."



Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968-69 (May 14, 1969) [Wikipedia]

The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968-69 (S.C. 1968-69, c. 38) was an omnibus bill that introduced major changes to the Criminal Code of Canada. It was introduced as Bill C-150 by then Minister of Justice Pierre Trudeau in the second session of the 27th Canadian Parliament on December 21, 1967. On May 14, 1969, after heated debates, Omnibus Bill C-150 passed third reading in the House of Commons by a vote of 149 (119 Liberals, 18 New Democrats, 12 Progressive Conservatives) to 55 (43 Progressive Conservatives, 11 Créditistes, 1 Liberal). The bill was a massive 126-page, 120-clause amendment to the criminal law of Canada.

It proposed, among other things, to decriminalize homosexuality, allow abortion and contraception, and regulate lotteries, gun possession, drinking and driving offences, harassing phone calls, misleading advertising and cruelty to animals. The bill was described by John Turner, Trudeau's successor as Minister of Justice, as "the most important and all-embracing reform of the criminal and penal law ever attempted at one time in this country". Trudeau famously defended the bill by telling reporters that "there's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation", adding that "what's done in private between adults doesn't concern the Criminal Code". The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968-69 is known in French under the title Loi de 1968-69 modifiant le droit pénal.

[Continued here]

• Trudeau's Omnibus Bill: Challenging Canadian Taboos [CBC, December 21, 1967]
• Trudeau's 'indelible imprint' [XTRA, May 20, 2009]
• The mythology of C-150 [XTRA, May 21, 2009]

The first gay protest in Canada [in 1971] — We Demand [XTRA, July 7, 2011]

Forty years ago this summer, a group of about 200 gays and lesbians did something that had never been done before. They gathered on Parliament Hill to read a list of demands - the first time that Canadians had protested publicly for gay rights.

It rained. One car of protesters - en route from Toronto - was involved in an accident and missed the protests. At the time, few would have believed that the soggy event, which lasted less than an hour, would have such a lasting impact.

And yet, as we mark the 40th anniversary of the August 28, 1971, protest, it's hard to underestimate the influence the movement had on three generations of gays, on the law and on Canadian society writ large.

Luckily, a photographer captured some of the protest. Bear in mind that cameras were less common in 1971 than they are now, and the technology meant that every picture that was snapped cost money - for film, for developing, and, often, for disposable flashes. That man was Jearld Moldenhauer, who went on to be a founder of the Body Politic.

[Continued here]

• We demand: Forty years later [XTRA, August 25, 2011 ]

They were making history, even if they didn't know it at the time.

Forty years ago, a group of politically minded gay men and women from Toronto travelled to Parliament Hill in Ottawa to present a list of demands to the Canadian federal government.

In Vancouver, a smaller group of 20 held a parallel demonstration in Robson Square, reading from the same demand list on the steps of the then-courthouse.

Their 10-point list asked for an end to state-legislated discrimination against gays.

According to many, it was the first time Canadians had protested publicly for gay rights. ...

Many of the men and women who were at that first public protest, and continued to play parts in the gay movement, have since died, taking their memories of that day with them. Herb Spiers, who coauthored the list of demands, passed away in March. George Hislop, who cofounded CHAT in 1971, died in October 2005.

• The demands: Excerpts from the brief presented to the federal government in 1971 [XTRA, August 25, 2011 ]

Dear Sir:

In 1969 the Criminal Code was amended so as to make certain sexual acts between two consenting adults, in private, not illegal. This was widely misunderstood as "legalizing" homosexuality and thus putting homosexuals on an equal basis with other Canadians.

In fact, this amendment was merely a recognition of the non-enforceable nature of the Criminal Code as it existed. Consequently, its effects have done but little to alleviate the oppression of homosexual men and women in Canada. In our daily lives we are still confronted with discrimination, police harassment, exploitation and pressures to conform which deny our sexuality.

Therefore, we as homosexual citizens of Canada, present the following brief to our government as a means of redressing our grievances.

1 The removal of the nebulous terms "gross indecency" and "indecent act" from the Criminal Code and their replacement by a specific list of offences, and the equalization of penalties for all remaining homosexual and heterosexual acts.

2 Removal of "gross indecency" and "buggery" as grounds for indictment as a "dangerous sexual offender" and for vagrancy.

3 A uniform age of consent for all female and male homosexual and heterosexual acts.

4 The Immigration Act be amended so as to omit all references to homosexuals and "homosexualism."

5 The right of equal employment and promotion at all government levels for homosexuals.

6 The Divorce Act be amended so as to omit sodomy and homosexual acts as grounds for divorce; moreover in divorce cases homosexuality, per se, should not preclude the equal right of child custody.

7 The right of homosexuals to serve in the Armed Forces, and therefore the removal of provisions for convicting service personnel of conduct and/or acts legal under the Criminal Code.

8 To know if it is a policy of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to identify homosexuals within any area of government service and then question them concerning their sexuality and the sexuality of others; and if this is the policy we demand its immediate cessation and destruction of all records so obtained.

9 All legal rights for homosexuals which currently exist for heterosexuals.

10 All public officials and law enforcement agents to employ the full force of their office to bring about changes in the negative attitudes and de facto expressions of discrimination and prejudice against homosexuals.

Flaunting it! Indeed.



Introducing The Body Politic [CBC, February 11, 1972]

Inspired by the success of the march on Parliament Hill, members of Toronto's gay and lesbian community have formed a newspaper collective. On Oct. 28, 1971, their efforts come to fruition as the first issue of The Body Politic goes on sale for 25 cents. With its calls for gay liberation, the paper is noticed beyond the community it serves, and Barbara Frum of As It Happens wants to know more.

[Continued here]

• An Exploration of The Body Politic 1971-1987 [UWO Pride Library]

The Body Politic was Canada's leading gay liberation periodical of the 1970s and 80s. For over 16 years, this paper chronicled and provided insightful, dynamic and controversial commentary on issues impacting the homosexual community on a local, national, and international level. This site is dedicated to preserving and promoting the legacy of the Body Politic by capturing and providing access to some of the paper's striking images, important content and essential context. Please click on the links below to explore, through words and pictures, the phenomenon that was the Body Politic.

• Gerald Hannon's article "Men loving boys loving men" [The Body Politic, Issue 39, December 1977/January 1978]

There's a painting in the foyer of my YMCA. It's a dedication portrait, the kind you still expect to see in banks over an "Our Founder" plaque, except that banks have pretty much surrendered to the framed fabric school of interior design. Not so trendy, the YMCA. The ones I know still rely heavily on dark wood veneer and respectable oil paintings like this one of C J Atkinson, "Leader in Boys' Work." Or so the dedication reads. It continues: "...here he realized a dream of his young manhood in the building of a community in which boys learned to do by doing."

He worked with boys, did Mr Atkinson. He cared about them, worried about their welfare, worried more about the ones society didn't seem to have much of a place for, and finally arranged for the construction of this building, a sanctuary — at least until recently — for boys, for young men, "a dream of his young manhood."

I think I know something about C J Atkinson. I think he was a pedophile.

I don't know for sure, of course. If I did — if anyone else had — there wouldn't be an oil painting of the man gracing the foyer of a building belonging to the Young Men's Christian Association.

• History of The Body Politic — A Timeline [UWO Pride Library]

1971: November 1 — Issue 1 of the Body Politic (November/December 1971) goes on sale in Toronto.

...

1977: December 30 — Members of a joint Toronto-provincial pornography squad known as "Operation P" raid the offices of the Body Politic. The raid lasts over 3 hours and the squad seizes over 12 crates of material including the Body Politic subscription lists.

1978: January 5 — Criminal charges are laid against the Body Politic and three officers of Pink Triangle Press, the publisher of the Body Politic. The charges are "possession of obscene material for distribution" (section 159 of the Criminal Code) and "use of the mails for purpose of transmitting indecent, immoral or scurrilous materials".

...

1982: June 15 — The Body Politic and the Pink Triangle Press officers are acquitted for the second time on the immorality/indecency charges, this time by Provincial Court Judge Thomas Mercer.

November 1 — The nine members of the Body Politic editorial collective go to trial on the May 12, 1982 charges of publishing obscene material. All nine are acquitted on the same day, and the verdict is not appealed.

...

1986: December 16 — The Pink Triangle Press decides to cease publication of the Body Politic.

1987: February — The final issue, Issue 135 of the Body Politic is published.

• Pink Triangle Press celebrates 40 years: Staff look back at queer history and PTP milestones [XTRA, October 21, 2011]
• Four decades of Pink Triangle Press: Publishers of The Body Politic and Xtra celebrate past and future [XTRA, October 21, 2011]

On Nov 1, 1971, the first issue of The Body Politic (TBP) went on sale in Toronto. It was hawked, from Toronto gay bar to Toronto gay bar, for 25 cents a copy. It would be a few more years before the group of volunteer activists and intellectuals of The Body Politic collective officially incorporated Pink Triangle Press as a not-for-profit corporation in the province of Ontario. But that first issue of TBP, 40 years ago, was the inaugural project for an organization that has since made huge contributions to the Canadian gay and lesbian liberation movement.

The material below provides a series of snapshots of Pink Triangle Press history. Some pieces were penned by those who were there at the outset; others by those who have come to know the organization and the people who contribute to it more recently.

• Winnipeg gay mag dumps ads for Cruiseline, Squirt: Move to ban "selling sex" an attempt to reach a wider audience [XTRA, February 8, 2012]

In an editorial in the latest issue of Outwords, editor Rachel Morgan explains the decision.

"Cruiseline and Squirt are legal businesses but the reality is they are selling sex. Because of that we are getting a lot of pushback from businesses and advertisers who are uncomfortable with the Cruiseline and Squirt ads. We are also getting pushback from queer families who say they don't like having the magazine in their homes where their children might see the ads," she writes.

[Note: Is this an indication that the gay male community is finally growing up and behaving like sexually responsible adults? Somehow I doubt it.]

John Damien: The forgotten hero: Too gay for the horseracing business (d. 1986)
[XTRA, January 18, 2007]

In 1998, community activist Barry Deeprose gave an address at the opening of the Ottawa Pride campaign in which he made passing reference to the subject of this month's column: "I continue to be inspired by the almost-forgotten example of John Damien. He was a racing steward in Toronto, a small, quiet man who loved his work. He was asked to resign in 1975... When he refused, he was immediately fired. John complained to the courts and fought for 10 years... John Damien was a hero, particularly in those days."

[Continued here]

• Fired because he's gay [CBC, March 8, 1976]

The 1981 Toronto bathhouse riots [XTRA, February 4, 2011]

On Feb 5, 1981, 30 years ago, more than 150 Toronto police descended on that city's gay bathhouses, arresting more than 300 innocent men. It was part of a deliberate and organized campaign by government and police to push gay baths and bars out of business, to silence the gay press and to remove gay voices from public discourse.

Gay people were not new to discrimination in 1975 when Montreal police raided that city's Sauna Aquarius. But that is really where the story of the 1981 bathhouse riots starts. For at least the next six years, police in various cities across the country steadily increased their harassment of the gay press and gay men in gay spaces.

Gay people had, of course, previously fought police harassment, but the events in Toronto in the first half of 1981 were watershed for the liberation movement in Canada. The activist chops refined then equipped gay people across the country to fight censorship, win partnership and employment rights, demand reasonable treatment from government, face HIV/AIDS, fight homophobic violence and win marriage rights.

If gay people had run for the shadows in 1981, if the found-ins had pleaded guilty, if those who marched on that first cold February night had simply stayed home, Canada would be a very different place for gay people today.

[Continued here]

• Rage: The Toronto Bathhouse Raids [Shameless Magazine, March 30, 2011]
• The Toronto bathhouse raids of 1981 [CBC, February 15, 1981]
• Operation Soap [Wikipedia]
• Harnessed anger: The sound of smashing bathhouse doors in 1981 is still with us [XTRA, February 2, 2006 ]
• A firsthand account of the 1981 Toronto bathhouse riots [XTRA, April 25, 2011]
• Thirty years after the bathhouse raids [Toronto Star, February 4, 2011]

History of raids

[    • May 22, 1976: A raid on Ottawa's Club Baths (aka Club Ottawa) sees 27 men charged; including manager Peter Maloney.]

The 1981 raids don't stand alone in history. A look at others in Toronto

    • December 1978: Police raid the Barracks and charge 23 men under bawdy-house laws. Those arrested claim police caused wanton damage and called them "faggots," "weirdos" and "queers."

    • October 1979: Police raid a bathhouse, five Toronto apartments and a cottage near Percy, Ont., charging 27 people under the bawdy-house laws.

[    • January 1981: Ottawa's Club Baths (aka Club Ottawa) is torched and temporarily closed just a week or two before the bathhouse raids in Toronto. The trauma resulting from the raids in Toronto has caused this significant event up in Ottawa to be almost competely overlooked.]

    • February 5, 1981: Close to 300 men are charged after coordinated raids on the Richmond Street Health Emporium, Club Baths, Romans II Health and Recreation Spa and the Barracks.

    • June 1981: The Back Door Gym and International Steam Baths are raided and 21 men are charged.

    • April 1983: Police raid the Back Door again, charging eight men.

    • February 1996: Police raid Remington's, a gay club on Yonge St., and charge 19 men.

    • September 2000: Five male officers in plain clothes enter Club Toronto during an event for lesbians and spend 90 minutes on what they claim is a routine liquor licence inspection. Two women are charged with liquor licence infractions.

    • A lawsuit stemming from the 2000 raid is settled, with a promise from the police services board to develop new training programs for officers of all ranks on dealing with gay, lesbian and transgendered people.

• Elegy to Club Toronto: After 37 years, one of the city's oldest bathhouses passes into history [XTRA, April 22, 2010]

On April Fool's Day, a hand-written note appeared on the red door of Club Toronto reading simply, "Closed forever." It was no joke. After 37 years as a bathhouse, the large brick house at Mutual and Carlton streets is being gutted to make way, according to the landlord, for an upscale swingers' club.

When it opened in the summer of 1973 as the Club Baths, it offered a unique blend of sexual and social interaction for gay men.

How Toronto police and the gay community kissed and made up
[National Post, June 26, 2009]

Armed with Crime Stoppers condoms sporting the slogan "Your Tip is Safe With us," Toronto police will march alongside the gay community at this weekend's Pride Parade, symbolizing the epic shift in a relationship once plagued by violence and mistrust.

Not long ago, much of the gay community viewed the city's police officers as skinheads in uniform, a force to be feared. Police, many felt, were more interested in punishing gays for their perceived breach of morality than with defending a population desperately in need of protection.

Most point to the 1981 bathhouse raids -- when more than a hundred police officers arrested 286 men, some of whom were reportedly ushered into a shower room, naked, and told by an officer that he wished the nozzles were hooked up to gas -- as clear evidence of a force that was once intensely homophobic.

The raids were this country's largest mass arrest since the October Crisis of 1970, and marked a violent breaking point between cops and the city's gays.

"It was an uncontrolled rampage," said Norman Hatton, who did advertising for one of the bathhouses and photographed the damage two days after the raid. "I felt chilled by what I saw. It was evidence of unbridled hatred."

Despite this past -- indeed, perhaps because of it -- the Toronto Police Services and the gay community are no longer enemies but rather "the closest of allies," said Const. Tom Decker, the force's liaison to the community.

[Continued here]

• Under surveillance: Police spied on homo activists for years [XTRA, June 7, 2007]

At least two gay activists were the target of police surveillance lasting more than a decade, according to an internal police document leaked last month.

George Hislop and Peter Maloney were followed by undercover officers for years. For at least one year, cops even conducted surveillance on their own boss, the gay-friendly chair of the Toronto Police Services Board (TPSB) Susan Eng, because of her friendship with Maloney.

• Toronto police farce: Part 1 [Eye Weekly, November 18, 2010]
• Toronto police farce: Part 2 [Eye Weekly, November 25, 2010]
• A dispatch from the International Copwatching Conference: 'Getting into bed' with the police risky for queer community, activists say [XTRA, August 23, 2011 ]

While noting that major police departments - most notably in Toronto - have developed queer community liaison programs, march in Pride parades and seem to take incidents of gaybashing more seriously, a number of prominent activists and researchers highlighted the costs of cooperating with law enforcement at the International Copwatching Conference, held in Winnipeg from July 22 to 24.

"LGBT and women's movements getting into bed with the police has not made women and trans people of colour safer," said keynote speaker Andrea Ritchie, from the group Incite: Women of Colour Against Violence. "In fact, working with the police has made us less safe.

"Policing is a system predicated on violence and sexual harassment. They're constantly engaging in the policing of gender and sexuality - of classifying people as male/female, racial categories, class. Queer people are seen as disorderly and become objects of suspicion. Gender-nonconformist people are often stopped on the street, questioned or detained." ...

Gary Kinsman, a sociology professor at Laurentian University in Sudbury and co-author of The Canadian War on Queers: National Security as Sexual Regulation, spoke about organizing against the Toronto police raids on bathhouses in the 1980s. Those raids culminated in what was then the largest mass arrest in Canadian history. The mass-arrest record was unbroken until more than 1,000 were arrested during the G20 in Toronto last June.

During the G20 protests, queer protesters reported being segregated into special holding cages, facing verbal abuse from police and being threatened with rape. These allegations are currently under investigation, but the Toronto Police Service has so far not responded.

"We've seen an incredible mobilization of state power," Kinsman said. "National security has always been targeted to expel some people from the fabric of the nation."

Kinsman railed against claims that incidents of misconduct were the work of a few "rogue" police or mistakes of communication. The same excuses, he said, were made following the 1981 bathhouse raids.

"[The raids] were blamed on individual homophobia in the police, or a rogue unit of cops," he said. "But if you base your activism on these sorts of perspectives, you don't get at the root cause.

"We have to look at how the police are organized. After the G20, members of the queer community rallied against the police chief [Bill Blair] speaking at The 519 - but that's not seen as part of what queer activism is about. It needs to be central. We need to work both within the law but also beyond the law."

A timeline of Same-sex Rights in Canada [CBC]

1965: Everett Klippert acknowledges to police that he is gay, has had sex with men over a 24-year period, and is unlikely to change. In 1967, Klippert is sent to prison indefinitely as a "dangerous sex offender," a sentence which was backed up by the Supreme Court of Canada that same year.

...

Dec. 7, 2006: A motion tabled by the ruling Conservatives to reopen the same-sex marriage debate is defeated in the House of Commons by a vote of 175-123. Twelve Tories - including five cabinet ministers - broke from party lines and voted against the motion, while 13 Liberals supported the motion.

[Continued here]

• LGBT rights in Canada [Wikipedia]

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Canada are the most advanced in the Americas. LGBT Canadians have most of the same legal rights as non-LGBT citizens, and are extended more legal rights than many other nations where homosexuality is legal. Since 2005, Canada has offered civil marriage rights nationwide to same-sex couples. Canada was the third nation in the world where same-sex marriages were legally performed (commencing in 2003 in the province of Ontario), the fourth nation in the world to perform same-sex marriages nationwide, and it was the first nation in the Americas to perform such marriages nationwide.

• Same-sex marriage in Ontario [Wikipedia]

The first legal same-sex marriages performed in Ontario were of Kevin Bourassa to Joe Varnell, and Elaine Vautour to Anne Vautour, by Rev. Brent Hawkes on January 14, 2001. The legality of the marriages was questioned and they were not registered until after June 10, 2003, when the Court of Appeal for Ontario in Halpern v. Canada (Attorney General) upheld a lower court ruling which declared that defining marriage in heterosexual-only terms violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

• Ontario legalises gay marriage [BBC, June 11, 2003]

The highest court in Canada's largest province, Ontario, has ruled that gay and lesbian couples have the right to marry there.

The ruling upholds a lower court decision and challenges the Canadian Government to change its laws on same-sex marriage.

The appeals court ordered that gay couples seeking a legal union should be issued a marriage licence immediately.

• Top court in Canada OKs gay marriage / Lawmakers sought ruling before introducing bill [San Francisco Chronicle, December 10, 2004]

Canada's Supreme Court said Thursday that the government can legally extend marriage rights to same-sex couples in a landmark decision that paves the way for legislation that would allow same-sex couples to marry in every province.

The nonbinding decision says -- in unwavering and sometimes lofty language -- that proposed legislation legalizing same-sex marriage is constitutional. The court, however, stopped short of saying the Constitution required the legalization of same-sex marriage.

Legislators in the House of Commons had asked the Supreme Court to step in and advise them on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage. Same-sex couples can already legally marry in six of 10 provinces and one of three territories. Members of Parliament drafted legislation that would make same- sex marriage legal nationwide, but chose to send the bill to the Supreme Court before introducing it.

In the wake of the ruling, Prime Minister Paul Martin said his government will introduce a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in Parliament after the Christmas holidays. He has told his Cabinet ministers that they must vote for the bill to retain their posts. The bill is likely to get the 155 votes it needs for passage in the 308-seat House of Commons, advocates on both sides of the issue say. Canada would become the third country -- joining Belgium and the Netherlands -- to legalize same-sex marriage.

In its decision, the court also said that forcing religious authorities to perform same-sex marriage would be contradictory to the right to religious freedom, but that was a question for provinces to resolve. "Another exciting day! It feels like internationally there's been a lot of movement forward on equality and marriage for same-sex couples," said Jon Davidson of Lambda Legal, a legal organization working on behalf of gay couples in several same-sex marriage cases in the United States.

• Same-sex marriage in Canada [Wikipedia]

The Civil Marriage Act was introduced by Prime Minister Paul Martin's Liberal government in the Canadian House of Commons on February 1, 2005 as Bill C-38. It was passed by the House of Commons on June 28, 2005, by the Senate on July 19, 2005, and it received Royal Assent the following day.

[Note: Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau started the job, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien did the actual heavy lifting and Prime Minister Paul Martin finally finished the job.]

• Sexual Orientation and Legal Rights [Parliament of Canada]

Over the past 20 years, the legal rights of lesbians and gay men in Canada have been the subject of considerable judicial, political and legislative activity. All Canadian jurisdictions prohibit discriminatory treatment based on sexual orientation, and the introduction of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms significantly altered the legal framework in matters of equality rights for lesbians and gay men. ...

This paper reviews issues and developments affecting the legal rights of lesbians and gay men at the federal level as well as in areas of provincial jurisdiction. The paper is concerned only with legal matters. It does not discuss other socio-cultural, moral or policy issues that have been raised in relation to homosexuality.

• Gay and Lesbian Legal Issues and HIV/AIDS: Final Report (a *.pdf file) [John Fisher, Ralf Jürgens, Anne Vassal, Robert Hughes]
• Human Rights Milestone Remembered By Toronto's Queer Community [Torontoist, December 7, 2011]

Last Friday the anniversary of an important milestone in queer history quietly slipped past: the inclusion of sexual orientation into the Ontario Human Rights Code 25 years ago, on December 2, 1986. The change meant legal protection against harassment and discrimination based on sexual orientation at a time when being fired for being gay was not uncommon, and employees so fired were without recourse.

The victory wasn't won easily, with conservatives and the religious right arguing that inclusion would lead to moral and social decline-the same arguments that have been trotted out anytime queer rights are involved (cf. same-sex marriage and gay-straight alliances).

Naturally, giving more citizens wider protection has done nothing of the sort. ...

With the unveiling of new legislation from the McGuinty government, more progress is being seen with regard to protecting queer youth with Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) in schools. Credit for this work lies in large part to the advocacy being done by students at Catholic schools, who have clashed with a school board that does not want organized groups that refer specifically to sexual orientation under religious grounds. The students, who have now banded under a group called Catholic Students for Gay-Straight Alliances (CS4GSA), were given the John Damien Award For Outstanding Activism for having "caused a major stir this year," notes the Queer Ontario website description.

Canada Ending Anti-Gay Army Rules [New York Times, October 11, 1991]

Responding to the pressure of court cases, the Government is about to end a policy of barring homosexuals from joining the armed forces, senior military officials say.

The officials, who include the Defense Minister, Marcel Masse, the Chief of the Defense Staff, Gen. John de Chastelain, and the Associate Defense Minister, Mary Collins, informed members of Parliament of the impending change in recent days, parliamentary officials said.

But the Ministry of Defense has yet to issue a formal announcement. "All of the matters haven't been finalized," Associate Defense Minister Collins told reporters today.

Parliamentary officials said the announcement had been held up by objections from some Conservative members. One Tory backbencher from the Toronto area, Don Blenkarn, said that rules had to be introduced to make sure of "decent" behavior on ships or in military barracks.

Nicholas Swales, a member of the staff of the House of Commons Standing Committee on National Defense, called the policy change "inevitable."

[Continued here]

• Study Finds Gays Do Not Undermine Canadian Military Performance [Palm Center, April 18, 2000]

A new 44-page study of gays and lesbians in the Canadian military has found that after Canada's 1992 decision to allow homosexuals to serve openly in its armed forces, military performance did not decline.

The study is the most comprehensive academic study of homosexuality in a foreign military ever compiled and reflects an exhaustive inventory of relevant data and research. Its title is "Effects of the 1992 Lifting of Restrictions on Gay and Lesbian Service in the Canadian Forces; Appraising the Evidence".

• Canada's military to allow gay weddings on bases [CTV News, January 20, 2005]

Canada's armed forces will allow their gay and lesbian members to get married on military bases.

The military has drafted a policy calling for its chaplains to formally bless same-sex weddings.

"Members of the Canadian forces are also Canadian citizens, and we must also follow the laws of the land, and the laws of the province in which we reside," chaplain Col. Stan Johnstone, who helped draft the policy, told Canada AM Thursday morning.

"Certainly we have our own military regulations but all of them work together in concert and we have a very socially accepting armed forces."

The new interim guidelines allow military chaplains to marry gay couples in the Canadian armed forces.

A permanent policy will not be in place until the federal government passes a law redefining marriage.

• Soldiers march in Toronto Gay Pride parade [CBC, June 29, 2008]

For the first time, members of Canada's Armed Forces represented the military in Toronto's annual Gay Pride parade, held Sunday.

Lt. Steven Churm, one of 10 soldiers from across the country who marched in uniform, said their presence sends a message that the Canadian military is inclusive and an equal-opportunity employer.

Members of the Canadian Forces were permitted to march in uniform for the first time during Toronto's Gay Pride parade on Sunday. Members of the Canadian Forces were permitted to march in uniform for the first time during Toronto's Gay Pride parade on Sunday.

"The message to the public is that the Canadian Forces is an employer of choice. We have employment opportunities that people can pursue, regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation," he told CBC News.

"For our own members, they can be proud of what they're doing and also be proud of who they are."

To mark its place in the festivities, the Canadian Forces set up an information booth in an area of the city where thousands of people gathered for the start of the parade.

Gay life at sea exhibit to make North American debut [Toronto Star, May 18, 2011]

It was a not-so-secret side of seafaring chronicled in private snapshots: male sailors, dressed in beautiful gowns, stockings and heels, mugging for the camera.

Others made up as showgirls, revelling in the culture of being openly gay at sea that's now the focus of an exhibit making its North American debut at a waterfront museum in Halifax.

"Hello Sailor! Gay Life on the Ocean Wave" will open to the public Thursday at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. It is adapted from an exhibit created by National Museums Liverpool in England.

The U.K. component of the exhibit focuses on the life of gay sailors, particularly men, on board passenger and merchant ships beginning in the 1950s.

U.K.-based researcher Jo Stanley says decades ago, when homosexuality was illegal in Britain, many homosexual men chose to go to sea where they could be open about their sexuality in a welcoming, liberal environment.

[Continued here]

• Hello Sailor!: The hidden history of gay life at sea by Jo Stanley and Paul Baker [Amazon.ca]
• Hidden history of gay life at sea revealed [Chronicle Herald, May 20, 2011]
• Leo Mantha [True Crime Library]

The lower deck situation on the Canadian Navy ship Naden at Victoria naval base in British Columbia wasn't exactly shipshape. Two sailors were sleeping together, and this at a time, in the summer of 1958, when gay sex was illegal in Canada and severely punishable under military law.

Gens Hellquist: Why we're taking on homophobia in Canada's healthcare system
[XTRA, May 12, 2010]

In February 2009, I - along with five others - filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) against Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). All of us have worked extensively in our communities addressing the broad range of health issues that exist, often as a result of homophobia.

Health Canada claims to be "responsible for helping the people of Canada maintain and improve their health" while PHAC claims they are "committed to reducing health disparities between the most advantaged and disadvantaged Canadians," but both seem unwilling to assume their responsibility and commitment when it comes to the health of queer Canadians.

It's long been understood that when a population is marginalized the result is a much poorer health status for that population, and it's no different for the queer community. As a result of the marginalization that results from homophobia, queer people have rates of suicide, alcohol use, illicit drug use, depression, mental health problems, smoking, HIV/AIDS and STIs that are substantially higher than the general population. Queer people also experience higher rates of certain types of cancer and are more often victims of violence resulting in physical injuries. A 2003 literature review estimated that more than 5,000 queer Canadians die prematurely each year as a result of living in a homophobic environment and a 2001 study indicated that homophobia costs the Canadian economy at least $8 billion a year.

One of the roles that Health Canada and PHAC play in our health care system is to assume a leadership position in identifying health issues and health disparities and then partnering with provincial and terrritorial governments to address those issues. Frequently this involves funding research into the issues and developing strategies and funding streams to address the issues. They've done this for other populations such as women, First Nations and Inuit, immigrants and children.

While HC has commissioned a number of studies (see here, here and here) to look at health disparities in the queer community no action has resulted from those studies and not one of the many recommendations those studies made have been acted on. Both agencies claim they base their work on "evidence of need" but they largely ignore that evidence when it comes to the queer community.

[Continued here]

• Canada's healthcare system is homophobic, says group: Six queers file human rights complaint [XTRA, February 17, 2009]

"The constitution of this country guarantees equality to all Canadians in all areas but that still does not hold for gay, lesbian, bisexual Canadians when it comes to our health," said Gens Hellquist, one of the complainants and executive director of the Canadian Rainbow Health Coalition, at a press conference in Toronto on Feb 17.

"We're tired of watching many senseless premature deaths in our community that result from homophobia while government health agencies sit on the sidelines. It's time both agencies live up to their missions and visions when it comes to gay, lesbian, bisexual Canadians."

• Older lesbian told to get out of bed herself: New study finds gay seniors face health care barriers [XTRA, March 30, 2006]

On two of the occasions Grace Owens sought health care services in major city areas-once in her mid-40s, the other in her 60s-the outcomes were nothing short of nightmarish.

In 1985, at St Michael's Hospital in Toronto, Owens' already stressful dialysis appointment turned offensive when a social worker found out she was a lesbian, after asking about her marital status and sex life.

"I walked down [to where] they change the [dialysis] tubing," Owens recalls. "There were three nurses there and the speaker phone was on. All of them were hearing the news that that woman was a lesbian.... I was so upset. After that, one of the nurses wouldn't come near me."

Cut to 2002: Owens, then 62 and living in Vancouver, endured a repeat performance of the discriminatory treatment she received at St Michael's, but this time at St Vincent's Hospital which catered specifically to the health care needs of seniors.

A fractured pelvis, sustained when she fell while getting off a downtown bus, eventually landed her in the care of a nurse who insisted she recognized Owens from somewhere. Owens, an activist for senior issues, mentioned she had recently appeared on the front page of a Burnaby newspaper that covered a seniors' walk in which she was interviewed about life as an older gay person.

From that moment, the nurse did her best to minimize contact with Owens, telling her it was time she learned to get in and out of bed on her own.

In Memoriam: Jack Layton's Pre-Election Survey (1950—2011)
[2B magazine, August 21, 2011]

Ottawa-based youth diversity initiative Jer's Vision has been active in promoting LGBT inclusion and cultural diversity across Canada for over 5 years. They sent out a survey to all 5 parties and only received 4 responses: Liberal, NDP, and Green. Herewith, the response they got from the NDP's Jack Layton. MP and former NDP leader Jack Layton died today, August 21st, from cancer. He was 61 years old. ...

Question 3. What do you feel you have done for LGBT community?

The NDP is by far the federal political party with the longest, strongest, and most proactive commitment to the liberation and equality of LGBTT people, ever since Tommy Douglas spoke out for the decriminalization of homosexuality in 1967. Our leader Jack Layton has been a strong ally for the LGBTT community for over 30 years.

The first openly gay MP in Canada was a New Democrat, Svend Robinson, who came out in 1988, as was the first female MP to come out, Libby Davies, and the first openly gay man elected to a first term, Bill Siksay. The NDP is the only party to name an official Critic for LGBTT Human Rights in Parliament, a practice which will continue in the next Parliament.

The NDP fought long and hard for equal marriage ever since Svend Robinson tabled the first same-sex marriage bill in 1998. The NDP was the only party to require its MPs to support equal marriage in 2005. Starting in 1983, the NDP fought to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act to outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation - a fight it won in 1996. Since 2005, it has fought to outlaw discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression as well.

Finally, the NDP has LGBTT equity committees at both the federal and provincial levels, with representation in its executive committees, the right to submit resolutions to its decision-making bodies, and a mandate to ensure the party meets its commitment to equity for the LGBTT community in its practices and its policies. We are extremely proud of our commitment to stand up for LGBTT human rights and social justice.

[Continued here]

• Jack Layton: 1950-2011: A life of commitment to queer rights (Timeline) [XTRA, August 22, 2011]
• Jack Layton speaks: On gay rights, bathhouse raids and toppling the Liberals [XTRA, January 18, 2006 ]

Michael Lynch and the Politics of Community (1944—1991) [Between the Lines, May 2003]

Peter Steven: Why is Michael Lynch an important person to remember?

Ann Silversides: Michael played a pivotal role organizing in the gay community when the AIDS crisis first hit in the early 1980s. He had already played a leadership role in the movement for gay liberation in [the] 1970s, so he was well known and politically experienced. When the epidemic hit, he helped set up important organizations -- the AIDS Committee of Toronto and, a few years later, AIDS Action Now! He was also the driving force behind the AIDS Memorial in Toronto. Lynch believed that a cohesive strategy based in the community was needed to respond to AIDS. The AIDS crisis in Canada began with a campaign of right-wing religious fear-mongering. Lynch saw the necessity of fighting against the stigma associated with this health crisis and resisting panic.

[Continued here]

• Stefan Lynch Strassfeld: Lessons From 'Aunties' And The AIDS Epidemic [NPR, December 3, 2010]

Stefan Lynch Strassfeld was raised by gay parents - two gay men and a lesbian woman - in the early 1980s.

"My family were mostly gay guys, who were my babysitters and the guys who, you know, took the pictures at my birthday parties," he tells his friend Beth Teper at StoryCorps in San Francisco. "And I felt like I had this amazing family. I called them my aunties. And it was a really wonderful, amazing world that came crashing down. Starting in '82, the first person I knew died of AIDS - a young guy named Steve."

[Note: Michael Lynch, bright guy that he was, figured out early on that it's the oppression — and self-oppression (see Andrew Hodges and his book With Downcast Gays: Aspects of Homosexual Self-Oppression) — gay men contend with in their daily lives that was, and continues to be, a major vector for the dis-ease of hiv/AIDS. This understanding fueled Michael's anger and drove his extensive gay liberation and hiv/AIDS-related activities. For many of those left behind, it still does.]

[Note: Several years ago I received a rather sobering email from Toronto bookstore owner Ian Young, that I undoubtedly deserved, pointing out Michael Lynch's refusal to acknowledge that the use of poppers (amyl nitrate) was a contributing factor to the hiv/AIDS pandemic.]

"Human beings tolerate what they understand they have to tolerate."



Proud Life — Jane Rule (1931—2007) [XTRA, November 28, 2007]

We lost an eloquent, courageous friend when Jane Rule died Nov 27 on Galiano Island, British Columbia surrounded by friends and family; she was 76. American by birth and Canadian by choice, Rule's pioneering work as a writer and activist reached across borders. ...

Lesbian readers discovered themselves in her fiction. Rule's characters and her own presence as a sympathetic writer created a virtual community of readers. For example one woman wrote to Rule to say she had devoured her novels after reading other lesbian themed books. "Seeking words, images that validate, acknowledge our lives, our reality, in place of mainstream culture which wills us with silence, or simply maims with distortions... the really good stuff is rare," she wrote. "Your writing is rare.... You acknowledge the contradictions that are our lives. I feel validated by your writing and empowered by it. As well as just happy by it. It makes for good company. Your characters are people who I recognize quite easily - complex, scarred, courageous, funny, inadequate, but trying."

[Continued here]

• Jane Rule, 76 [Globe & Mail, November 28, 2007]

Although not overtly political, Ms. Rule actively supported the Writers' Union, the gay liberation magazine The Body Politic, where she wrote essays and a regular column, "So's Your Grandmother" from 1979 through 1985, and defended Little Sister's Book and Art Emporium in its 15 year legal dispute with Canadian Customs Officials for regularly impounding shipments of gay and lesbian erotica. She believed ferociously in freedom of expression and the innate ability of ordinary Canadians to define their own literary tastes.

• Jane Rule: Novelist whose work provides an incisive and quietly outlandish view of postwar Canada [Times of London, December 13, 2007]
• Taking My Life, by Jane Rule: Astounding discovery, marvellous story, a gift to us all [Globe & Mail, August 19, 2011]
• An icon's last words: Jane Rule takes the measure of her own life [XTRA, August 30, 2011]

Jane Rule. Author, activist, teacher, lesbian pioneer. For many, the name is synonymous with challenging social ideals, braving new frontiers, defying stereotypes and standing up for one's integrity.

But the name Jane Rule is also tied, very deeply, to teaching. For decades she challenged university students and the world at large to expand their horizons, to think outside the box, to become more accepting of differences and to be more than what they were. And now she has issued one final challenge to readers everywhere.

Leaping far past the bounds of her works of fiction, Rule's final writing effort, the posthumously published autobiography Taking My Life, transcends the typical standards of the genre and takes the reader on a journey into the formative years of one of Canada's most notable gay authors.

Focused on the first 21 years of Rule's life, the book - discovered, unpublished, amid the author's papers a year after her 2007 death - is full of detail and intensely private recollections. While clearly autobiographical, Taking My Life unwinds a narrative that, in the reading, feels more like a vividly penned work of fiction than the story of the beginnings of an award-winning author, activist and teacher.

Written sometime after her retirement in 1991 as an attempt to rekindle her formidable personal fire, Rule examines, in microscopic detail, the complexities of her family relationships and her struggles to find herself in a world that despised who she really was.

David C Jones: "He didn't speak big words, he did big deeds"



"Pioneer" and "inspiration" Denis Simpson dies suddenly (1950—2010)
[XTRA, October 22, 2010 ]

Pioneer. Inspiration. Mentor. The personification of compassion and humility.

This is how many in the queer and arts communities are universally remembering award-winning artist, television show host and activist Denis Simpson, who died suddenly after suffering a brain hemorrhage on Oct 22 in Toronto.

"Simpson was one of the first black faces on Canadian television with the Polka Dot Door," playwright Berend McKenzie says.

"That was groundbreaking in itself, but then he had a whole body of work that was amazing," McKenzie points out.

"He was one of the founding members of The Nylons, his own show, Denis Anyone? which he won a Jessie Award for; then there was Ain't Misbehavin' - people just always wanted to work with Denis Simpson.

"They knew that with Denis, you would get no drama; you would probably have a lot of laughs," McKenzie adds.

"He became my best friend over the last few months, working together on nggrfg," says McKenzie, his voice thick with grief. "The show would not have been the show that it is without Denis Simpson.

[Note: I knew Denis briefly in the very early 80s when he was dating Bruce Kyle. He was good man, for a certainty.]

[Continued here]

• Denis Simpson — "I am your Child" [YouTube]
• Denis Anthony Leopold Simpson [Globe & Mail]

Many encountered Denis, and quickly grew to admire and love him. He appeared in roles as diverse as Horse in The Full Monty, Belize in Angels in America, Hoke in Driving Miss Daisy, Jesus in Godspell and as a long-running host on TVO's Polka Dot Door. Entertaining his siblings when they were babies had sure honed his talent.

In the mid-1980s, Denis settled in Vancouver, where he continued to enjoy his passion for musical theatre in such productions as his autobiographical play Denis, Anyone? and, most recently, The Buddy Holly Story.

Everywhere he went, he treated whomever he met with gentle grace and respect. His outrageous and contagious sense of humour said much for his love of life, never mind the restaurants he and friends often had to leave in embarrassment because he had managed to get everyone laughing so hard they could hardly contain themselves, or the many actors or stagehands who witnessed his antics as he was about to go onstage.

Egan v. Canada [Wikipedia]

Egan v. Canada, [1995] 2 S.C.R. 513, 1995 SCC 49 was one of a trilogy of equality rights cases published by a very divided Supreme Court of Canada in the spring of 1995.[1] It stands today as a landmark Supreme Court case which established that sexual orientation constitutes a prohibited basis of discrimination under Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

[Continued here]

• Queering the Archives: Jim Egan (1921-2000) [Christopher Moore]

As a pioneer gay activist Jim Egan was one of the most important figures in the early gay rights movement in Canada. As early as 1949 he was writing politicians, newspapers, magazines and tabloids protesting anti-gay attitudes and correcting gay myths and stereotypes. This includes letters occasionally published in Saturday Night and participation in an article in MacClean's For example, David Churchill has noted that:

Throughout the 1950s, Egan undertook an extensive one-man letter-writing campaign challenging the sensational representation of homosexuals as sex perverts. Every time a negative story appeared in the tabloids, or in the mainstream newspapers for that matter, Egan would write a letter to the editor challenging the views expressed in the article. During the 1950s alone, Egan would write some eighty-odd letters and articles challenging the representation of homosexuals in the tabloids and offering up his own opinions and views on the subject.

• Jim Loves Jack (1996) [IMDb]

Jay Cochrane Strolls Across Niagara Falls

Tightrope walker Jay Cochrane crossed Niagara Falls in just 12 minutes on a steel tightrope without a safety net.

[Note: I was there watching. Cheering. Awesome queer. Nice guy.]

United Kingdom of England, Scotland and Wales: Sexual Offences Act 1967 [Wikipedia]

The Sexual Offences Act 1967 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom (citation 1967 c. 60). It decriminalised homosexual acts in private between two men, both of whom had to have attained the age of 21. The Act applied only to England and Wales and did not cover the Merchant Navy or the Armed Forces. Homosexuality was not decriminalised in Scotland until passage of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980 and in Northern Ireland by the Homosexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 1982.

[Continued here]

• Military gay ban illegal [BBC, September 27, 1999]

The ban on gays in the UK armed forces is a breach of human rights, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled.

The Strasbourg judges said the ban broke the Human Rights Convention, which safeguards the right to privacy.

Gay rights campaigners say it is a landmark case, and they hope the government will lift the ban by the end of the year.

Three ex-servicemen and a former RAF nurse told the court investigations into their homosexuality, and their subsequent sackings, violated their human rights.

Former RAF nurse Jeanette Smith, ex-RAF administrator Graeme Grady, ex-Royal Navy lieutenant-commander Duncan Lustig-Prean and ex-naval rating John Beckett took their case to the European court after it was rejected by the Appeal Court in London.

• Gays win pay-out over sacking by Forces [Telegraph, July 26, 2000]

Gay rights campaigners welcomed the compensation award made by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. A further 89 cases are outstanding, with the total damages expected to cost the taxpayer about £5 million.

The Ministry of Defence broadly accepted the award and said that it represented only a fraction of the four claims. Britain's ban on homosexuals serving in the Armed Forces was scrapped this year after the Strasbourg court ruled last September that it was unlawful.

• Services gay ban lifted [BBC, January 12, 2000]

The ban on homosexuals in the UK armed forces is being lifted with immediate effect. Gay rights campaigners have hailed the move as an important and long overdue step on the road to equality. ...

Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon outlined a new code of conduct on Wednesday covering personal relations in the forces which will operate for homosexuals and heterosexuals alike in the services.

In a Commons statement Mr Hoon said the rules would recognise that sexual orientation was "essentially a private matter for the individual".

Under a service test set down in the code, disciplinary action would only be taken if a personal relationship or an individual's behaviour damaged "efficiency or operational effectiveness".

Mr Hoon said: "As no primary or secondary legislation is required, with effect from today, homosexuality will no longer be a bar to service in Britain's armed forces."

• Navy's new message: your country needs you, especially if you are gay [The Guardian, February 21, 2005]

It is a liaison that would once have turned many military top brass purple with rage. Five years after the ban on homosexuality in the armed forces was lifted, the Royal Navy is entering into a partnership with Stonewall and actively seeking gay recruits by advertising in the pink press.

Subject to smutty innuendo ever since Churchill supposedly dismissed Britain's naval tradition as "nothing but rum, sodomy and the lash", the navy will today cast off centuries of repression and inhibition by seeking Stonewall's advice on the recruitment and retention of gay and lesbian sailors. In a transformation likened by activists to turning round a supertanker, the navy will pay the pressure group for advice on curbing prejudice and ensuring gay personnel have equal rights to housing, benefits and pensions.

Despite the persistent swirl of sexual rumour around some of Britain's most celebrated war heroes, homosexuality remained the last taboo in the armed forces until 2000, when the government was forced by the European court of human rights to withdraw its ban on homosexuality in the military. Then, Stonewall was the sworn enemy of many admirals and air marshals for taking the case of sacked gay servicemen to the European courts. Openly gay soldiers and sailors have since seen active service in Iraq, but relatively few of the estimated 2,100 gay and lesbian sailors have felt sufficiently relaxed to come out since the ban was lifted. A spokesman for the navy accepted that pockets of prejudice remained and that there was "room for improvement" but said it was "committed to establishing a culture and climate where people can discuss their sexual orientation without risk of abuse or intimidation". ...

Lord Kitchener (1850-1916)

He never married and appreciated porcelain, fine fabrics and interior decor, but it is disputed whether Horatio Kitchener was gay or was just more interested in empire than the opposite sex. The hero of Sudan and the Boer war, whose portrait encouraged millions to enlist for the first world war, was declared gay by many historians. Little was known about his sexual preferences, although a contemporary journalist remarked that Kitchener "has the failing acquired by most of the Egyptian officers, a taste for buggery".

• 'Gay weddings' become law in UK [BBC, December 5, 2005]

At least 1,200 ceremonies are confirmed as being scheduled already, according to figures from councils compiled by the BBC News website.

Registrars are preparing for the first ceremonies, with couples permitted to register from Monday morning.

Campaigners say the law ends inequalities for same-sex couples.

The first ceremonies under the Civil Partnerships Act can take place in Northern Ireland on 19 December, followed by Scotland the next day and England and Wales on 21 December.

Under the law, couples who want to form a partnership must register their intentions with local councils. Unlike marriages, the signing of the legal partnership papers does not need to happen in public.

• How the forces finally learnt to take pride [Independent, July 27, 2009]

In the genteel atmosphere of the Coldstream Guards' officers' mess, Lieutenant Mark Wakeling was known as "thug". Amongst his fellow guardsmen, he prided himself on being the toughest, the fittest and the most aggressive.

He not only laughed at homophobic jokes - he was the "straightest of the straight" amongst the young officers. When one of his platoon admitted to being gay, he immediately started the discharge process.

Nobody realised that behind the excessively macho behaviour was a young man who lived in fear that his own homosexuality would be discovered. Eventually, the pressure became too much and he cut short his military career and resigned his commission. "I scurried away like a frightened rat," he explained yesterday, bitter regret still evident in his expression more than a decade later.

This month, for the first time in its history, the cover of the British Army's official publication Soldier magazine shows Trooper James Wharton - openly gay - clad in his dress uniform, complete with Iraq medal, next to the headline "Pride". It is the most obvious sign that almost a decade after the military lifted the ban on homosexuality it is finally comfortable with its new clothes.

British servicemen and women now march at Gay Pride in uniform, all three services have become Stonewall diversity champions and a few months ago the head of the British Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt made history when he became the first army chief to address a Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender conference. "Respect for others is not an optional extra," he said.

• A very modern military partnership [Independent, March 27, 2010]

One groom wore ceremonial uniform with his Iraq medal, the other morning dress with an orchid. Surrounded by silverware and paintings commemorating great battles, Lance Corporal James Wharton, 23, and his new husband enjoyed their first dance to Tina Turner in the warrant officers' mess of the most prestigious regiment in the land.

The Household Cavalry, famed for escorting the Queen during state occasions and the fact that it counts both her grandsons among its officers, celebrated its first gay wedding in style. L/Cpl Wharton was joined in a civil partnership with his boyfriend, the Virgin air steward Thom McCaffrey, 21, surrounded by members of L/Cpl Wharton's regiment, the Blues and Royals.

"The entire regiment has been really supportive," he said. "When I went to ask the Squadron Leader, Major Nana Twumasi-Ankrah, for permission to get married, he just said 'This is fantastic, congratulations'."

• Has the time come for gay marriage in the UK? [The Guardian, July 21, 2010

The deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats has said that gay couples are likely to gain full rights to marriage under the current Parliament. This would represent a revolution for gay rights, but there is still a long way to go before same-sex couples achieve full rights to marriage as they are arguably entitled to under human rights law.

• Gay 'marriages' to be allowed in church [Telegraph, February 12, 2011]

Lynne Featherstone, the Liberal Democrat equalities minister, is expected shortly to outline firm plans to lift the current ban on civil partnerships being conducted in places of worship.

In a political "win" for Nick Clegg and his party, the Coalition will also say that such ceremonies should for the first time be allowed to have a religious element, such as hymn-singing and readings from the Bible.

They could, it is understood, also be carried out in the future out by priests or other religious figures.

• British PM backs gay marriage [Sydney Star Observer, October 6, 2011]

Cameron said in the speech that he based his support on conservative values.

"To anyone who has reservations, I say this: Yes, it's about equality, but it's also about something else: commitment," he said.

"Conservatives believe in the ties that bind us; that society is stronger when we make vows to each other and support each other.

"So I don't support gay marriage in spite of being a Conservative, I support gay marriage because I am a Conservative."

• Gay couples to be allowed civil ceremonies in church [Telegraph, November 1, 2011]

Lynne Featherstone, the equalities minister, will say that the ban on the ceremonies in religious surroundings will be lifted on Dec 5. The move has been championed by David Cameron but is likely to be opposed by some church groups.

The scheme will be "voluntary" with no church compelled to offer same-sex services. However, it is likely that some campaigners will seek to push the matter further if churches refuse to open their doors to gay couples.

It is estimated that about 1,500 civil partnerships a year would take place in religious settings once the ban is lifted. There are currently about 5,500 civil partnerships taking place every year.

Liberal Jewish groups, Quakers and other minor Christian organisations have lobbied for the right to host civil partnerships with religious readings and hymns. However, the Church of England has warned that it would not bless same-sex couples. The speed at which the proposals are being introduced is likely to cause concern among Anglicans.

• Church 'may have to offer gay weddings' if Cameron's plans given go-ahead [Daily Mail, December 3, 2011]

Same-sex couples will be able to have church weddings if David Cameron goes ahead with plans to allow gay marriage, the Church of England indicated yesterday.

Its lawyers said that weddings will have to be offered to same-sex couples under any scheme to open the full privileges and title of marriage to gays and lesbians.

They suggested that if same-sex couples could marry the Church would no longer be sheltered from equality laws that forbid it from discriminating against homosexuals.

The admission was made by officials in a paper on the impact of new civil partnership regulations.

The rules, which come into effect on Monday, mean that, for the first time, churches would in theory be able to host same-sex civil partnership registration ceremonies.

The CofE maintains that because it has never offered civil partnership ceremonies it cannot be forced to start doing so under the new rules.

• Women to serve on Royal Navy submarines [Telegraph, December 8, 2011]

''We will change and adapt with the evidence and the circumstances. We will value our history and tradition - but we will not be slaves to them.

''In that spirit, I can announce today that I have accepted the recommendation of the First Sea Lord that women should be allowed to serve in submarines in the future.''

• Obscenity law in doubt after jury acquits distributor of gay pornography [The Guardian, January 7, 2012]

It was the law used in the controversial prosecution of Lady Chatterley's Lover. Now the Obscene Publications Act, which came into force in 1959, appears to be on its last legs.

On Friday, in one of the most significant cases of recent years, a London jury rejected prosecution claims that gay pornography depicting acts that are legal between consenting adults were capable of "depraving and corrupting" those who watched them on DVDs.

The case, at Southwark crown court, threatens to have implications far beyond the acquittal of pornographer Michael Peacock, who ran a mail-order business and had been targeted by an undercover vice officer.

Officials at the British Board of Film Classification, as well as police officers involved in prosecuting obscenity cases, have admitted that the current laws on what is obscene may require a major rethink.

• Cameron faces Tory backbench revolt over gay marriage plans [The Guardian, January 17, 2012]

The campaign raises the prospect of a rebellion that would dwarf the vote last October in favour of a referendum on Britain's EU membership.

But there would be a key difference. The government imposed a three line whip in the EU vote. Backbenchers would probably be given a free vote in any vote on legalising gay marriage. This means that voting against the move would not technically count as a rebellion for backbenchers.

• Chris Wimpress: Gay Marriage: Tory MP Expects Law To Be Changed 'Without A Doubt" [Huffington Post, January 17, 2012]

A Commons vote allowing full gay marriage on a par with that offered to straight couples will be passed "without a doubt", a gay MP has told HuffPost UK.

Articles in The Guardian and the Independent on Monday suggested 100 Tories could vote against a motion to allow gay marriage, with Tory MP and Parliamentary Private Secretary to Oliver Letwin, David Burrowes, telling The Independent that gay marriage was "a debate we don't need to have at this stage."

But Stuart Andrew, Tory MP for Pudsey, played down claims that a free vote on the issue in the Commons would trigger the largest backbench revolt among Conservative MPs so far in this parliament.

"I've spoken to a number of people around the building, and I would be surprised if the figure of a hundred people rebelling was accurate. I suspect a number of people who have deep religious beliefs will rebel, and that's fine," he told Huffpost UK on Monday night.

• Lords pass bill erasing archaic anti-gay convictions [Gay Star News, March 13, 2012]

A bill which wipes clean the records of people convicted under an achaic anti-gay law has reached its final hurdle in the UK.

The Protection of Freedoms Bill completed its third reading in the House of Lords last night (12 March), meaning it will soon become law.

The proposal includes amendments secured by gay rights group Stonewall, which would mean convictions of 'loitering with intent', made under Section 4 of the Vagrancy Act 1824, would be erased from gay men's criminal records.

The act has historically been used to prosecute gay men arrested for cruising or cottaging.

• Law to wipe gay sex convictions given royal assent [Pink News, May 1, 2012]

Men may now apply to the Secretary of State to disregard convictions under section 12 of the Sexual Offences Act 1956, the offence of buggery, under section 13 of that Act, covering gross indecency between men and under section 61 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861, which governed "the abominable Crime of Buggery, committed either with Mankind or with any Animal", as long as those involved were over the age of 16 and the action would not now be regarded as an offence.

(Click on image to enlarge)

John Bercow unveils his £37,000 portrait and coat of arms complete with ladder,
rainbow and pink triangles (1963— ) [Telegraph, November 29, 2011]

John Bercow has unveiled his official coat of arms, dominated by a ladder to represent his climb to the top and a rainbow and pink triangles to mark his support for homosexual issues. ...

Mr Bercow's official coat of arms sits in the frame of his portrait. It is dominated by a ladder, four roundels and two curved 'seax' knives.

The ladder represents Mr Bercow's ascent from humble beginnings, as the son of a taxi driver in north London. He went to a comprehensive, before entering Parliament as MP for Buckingham and becoming Speaker in 2009. ...

The rainbow colours and pink triangles mark Mr Bercow's championing of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans-sexual people. They sit between his motto: "All Are Equal".

[Continued here]

• John Bercow [Wikipedia] ...In November 2002, when the Labour government introduced the Adoption and Children Act which would allow unmarried gay and heterosexual couples to adopt children, Duncan Smith imposed a three-line whip requiring Conservative MPs to vote against the bill rather than allowing a free vote. In protest, Bercow defied the whips and voted with the government arguing that it should be a free vote. He then resigned from the front bench....

• Tories must stop pretending that gay couples don't exist [Telegraph, July 2, 2003]

The Government proposes to create a civil partnership register for same-sex couples. It is a sign of progress in an enlightened Conservative Party that Iain Duncan Smith is giving his MPs a free vote.

I for one will vote for change. He has rightly adopted "fairness for all" as the banner behind which to rally: this issue will allow Conservatives to demonstrate the seriousness of our commitment to this principle.

Same-sex partners suffer discrimination on several counts. They are not recognised as next of kin for hospital visiting rights or decisions relating to hospital treatment. They have almost no say in the treatment of a partner experiencing mental health problems. They do not even enjoy equal rights when partners die.

Earliest Painting Of Transvestite Uncovered In London Gallery
[HuffPo, April 20, 2012]

The transvestite painting, now called the "Chevalier D'Eon," is currently hanging in the Philip Mould Ltd. gallery in London and will possibly become a permanent feature in the British National Portraits Gallery, said art dealer and art historian Philip Mould, director of Philip Mould Ltd.

"We spent 30 years honing our skills at looking at British portraits, and you begin to spot anomalies," Mould told LiveScience. "Portraiture, despite the diversity of odd-looking people in the world, particularly in the 19th century, before advances in cosmetic science and dentistry and medical advances had taken place, but portraiture is always extremely straight-laced."

The finished portrait was typically a compromise between the artist (who was painting what he or she saw) and the sitter (who wanted to look their best); that means anomalies of facial features can be subtle. ...

Here's how D'Eon's transvestitism came to pass: He joined King Louis XV's secret service in 1755, had his first major military posting in London in 1763, before being appointed Plenipotentiary Minister to London. However, within months, he had a falling-out with the ambassador appointed to replace him in London, accusing the ambassador of trying to murder him. D'Eon also made public secret documents and ended up being sent to prison, which he escaped.

Once escaped, D'Eon concealed his identity, reportedly, by dressing as a woman. Gossip about his gender began in 1770, with rumors that people were even betting on whether he was a man or a woman.

[Continued here]

Rupert Croft-Cooke (1903—1979) [Wikipedia]

Rupert Croft-Cooke... was an English biographer and author of fiction and non-fiction.

He also published detective stories under the pseudonym of Leo Bruce. ...

Croft-Cooke was a homosexual, which brought him into conflict with the laws of his time. In 1952, at a time when the Home Office was seeking to clamp down on homosexuality, he was sent to prison for six months on conviction for acts of indecency, although the facts were meagre. Croft-Cooke went to Wormwood Scrubs and Brixton Prison and later wrote about the British penal system in The Verdict of You All (1955).

From 1953 to 1968 he lived in Morocco before moving on to live in a number of other countries, Tunisia, Cyprus, West Germany and Ireland.

[Continued here]

"While demanding rights for Muslims, the MCB wants to deny rights to lesbian and
gay people — both Muslim and non-Muslim. It sees no double standard or
inconsistency in its selective approach to human rights."



Peter Tatchell on a lifetime of campaigning (1952— )
[Pink News, April 21, 2011]

Peter Ta[t]chell is a name synonymous with the struggle for gay rights. He's got 40 years of campaigning behind him and even his critics admire his tireless zeal for equality.

I caught up with him to discuss some of the highs and lows of a life that has been lived fighting for the rights many gay British men and women now take for granted.

Born in Australia, he came to London as a young man in 1971 to avoid the draft for Vietnam.

The plan was to return to Australia two or three years later but by then he had a nice flat, a good job and had fallen in love. He had also become heavily involved in the Gay Liberation Front.

[Continued here]

• How constant beatings have caught up with campaigner Peter Tatchell [The Guardian, December 20, 2009]

After surviving more than 300 physical attacks, two stabbing attempts, a live bullet posted through his door and a succession of vicious beatings that have left him mildly brain-damaged, Peter Tatchell must be one of the only people in the world who could still consider himself fortunate. "I'm lucky," he insists with the quiet nonchalance of someone discussing the weather. "What helps me cope is to put things in perspective. My injuries pale in comparison to the pro-democracy campaigners in Iran or the environmentalists in Russia or the political activists in Zimbabwe. If I was doing what they are doing, I'd be dead."

• Peter Tatchell [PeterTatchell.net]
• Peter Tatchell [Wikipedia]
• Peter Tatchell round-up [The Guardian]
• Peter Tatchell: Holding LGBT conference in Israel will inflame homophobia [Pink News, June 27,2011]

[Note: Peter Tatchell's anti-Semitism is becoming dangerously obvious. Once again, the oppressed becomes the oppressor. As far as the Palestinians are concerned, Peter Tatchell is inhabiting a fool's paradise.]

• I may disagree with marriage, but I will fight for your right to do it [The Guardian, July 1, 2011]

Far from weakening or undermining marriage, as homophobes claim, many same-sex couples seem hell-bent on shoring up an institution that is, for many heterosexuals, failing, discredited and irrelevant.

While the push for same-sex marriage is an issue of equality, which I support, it also signifies the rising conservatism of the LGBT community and a loss of radical vision. It reeks of assimilationism and conformism with the straight status quo.

• Gay and human rights champion Peter Tatchell awarded honorary doctorate [Pink News, November 17, 2011]

The honorary doctorate was awarded at the university's graduation ceremony. It described Mr Tatchell as follows: "Campaigner, author, journalist and broadcaster, Peter Tatchell has devoted his life to speaking out against discrimination and injustice. Australian-born, he began campaigning for Aboriginal rights while still at school. He moved to London in 1971 and soon became a leading member of the Gay Liberation Front. In 1990 he co-founded gay rights group OutRage! and he has also spearheaded other long-running campaigns against apartheid, nuclear weapons, environmental degradation and the death penalty. His work to promote the enforcement of international human rights law has included efforts to secure the prosecution of Robert Mugabe and Henry Kissinger. He is currently leading the Equal Love campaign, aimed at ending the bans on same-sex civil marriages and opposite-sex civil partnerships."

• Priests should take a stand against Anglican civil partnership ruling [The Guardian, December 8, 2011]

It is deeply objectionable that the Church of England leadership, having insisted on being given the option of not hosting civil partnerships, is now denying its own local priests and congregations the option to solemnise the civil partnerships of their lesbian and gay congregants.

• Peter Tatchell offers to testify for demoted Christian housing manager [Pink News, December 16, 2011]

Writing in the Huffington Post, Mr Tatchell said: "I am backing his bid for reinstatement and I'm prepared to testify in his defence. Strange but true."

He went on: "Adrian Smith made his comments in his own time on his own Facebook page, which is not viewed by the general public. He expressed an opinion. He did not personally discriminate against anyone. There is no evidence that he has treated any of his gay housing clients adversely.

"Smith voiced his opinion in a calm, non-abusive manner. He was not threatening or intimidating.

"His only possible misdemeanour is that he made his comments on a Facebook page where it mentions that he works for Trafford Housing Trust, which is allegedly contrary to THT regulations. This is hardly a major crime. It certainly does not warrant the disproportionate punishment inflicted upon him."

• PinkNews to celebrate 25th January as Peter Tatchell Day — legendary campaigner turns 60 [PinkNews, January 8, 2012]

To celebrate the day, we will look back at the enormous contribution Peter Tatchell has made to the fight for equal gay rights and human rights in general across the UK and abroad with contributions from all around the globe.

Late January will also mark 45 years of human rights campaigning by the naturalised Briton, and 10 years since the Peter Tatchell Foundation was originally launched. ...

In 45 years of non-violent human rights campaigning, Mr Tatchell has been arrested hundreds of times, but only one conviction has been upheld. Convicted under the Ecclesiastical Courts Jurisdiction Act 1860, he received a fine of £18.60 for interrupting the 1998 Easter Sermon of the then Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, in protest at his support for homophobic discrimination. ...

"My message to everyone is very simple: Don't accept the world as it is. Dream of what the world could be - and then help make it happen."

• Comment: How and why PinkNews will be celebrating Peter Tatchell Day [PinkNews, January 8, 2012]

Way back in 1973, aged just 21, Peter staged the first ever gay rights protest in a communist country - in East Germany - which resulted in him being detained and interrogated by the secret police, the Stasi. Many years later, in 1998, he helped expose the Nazi war criminal, SS Dr Carl Vaernet, who conducted gruesome medical experiments on gay prisoners in Buchenwald concentration camp.

More than any other person or organisation, Peter has, often single handed, campaigned for the rights we now enjoy in the UK. He's also been a huge campaigner all around the world for LGBTQI rights. I believe that the 25th January should be celebrated not just throughout the LGBTQI communities around the world but actually beyond because he's not just fought for our rights, he's campaigned on a variety of human rights issues and put his own life on the line when he did, such as his two attempted citizens arrests of the Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe. After the second, he was severely injured by Mr Mugabe's body guards. ...

Peter has been an amazing ally of mine since we started PinkNews.co.uk. He's always supportive, eager to help and constantly writing columns for us. Even in my other life at Channel 4 News, Peter's been a help. I remember phoning him as he sat, badly beaten in a Moscow police station, after being attacked by neo-Nazis at the banned Moscow Pride in 2007. Immediately after he was released, with a huge bloodied black eye, he recorded an interview via satellite telling a large audience in the UK how badly the Russian authorities were treating gay people in the city. Through his highlighting of the Moscow Pride ban, and the legal case brought by LGBTIQ campaigners in Russia, the country was subsequently found in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights by the European Court of Human Rights.

• Nikolay Alekseev: The visionary Peter Tatchell [Pink News, January 25, 2012]

Writing these lines, I was trying to remember on which occasion I first heard about Peter Tatchell. I cannot remember simply because in the last 45 years Peter has been on all the fronts. His early campaigns with the Gay Liberation Front, with Outrage!, but also his citizen's arrest of despotic Robert Mugabe put him on all the fronts. He took part in every fight. Even in Eastern Berlin when he organized the first Rainbow March behind the Iron Curtain in 1973 Berlin.

Peter is a visionary. He has this capacity to understand how to take a problem and drive the maximum public attention to it in order to make the society think and force the politicians to address it. A recent example is the campaign "Equal Love" he launched for the opening of same sex marriage in the UK. Finally, the government agreed to review the definition of marriage and open it to same-sex couples. ...

Peter is a simple and true hero.

• In Photos: Peter Tatchell 60th Birthday party fundraiser [Pink News, January 29, 2012]

Sir Ian McKellen says "no doubt" Shakespeare was gay
[Pink News, January 6, 2012]

The Daily Mail reports a comment made by McKellen that the relationship between two characters in The Merchant of Venice made it "obvious" the writer had sexual relationships with men.

Sir Ian, who has been an active actor for over 50 years, said: "I'd say Shakespeare slept with men.

"The Merchant of Venice, centering on how the world treats gays as well as Jews, has a love triangle between an older man, younger man and a woman.

"And the complexity in his comedies with cross-dressing and disguises is immense. Shakespeare obviously enjoyed sex with men as well as women."

[Continued here]

• Don Paterson: Shakespeare's sonnets [The Guardian, October 16, 2010]

Even more distressingly, more than one perfectly well-read individual remarked: "Many of them are addressed to a man, I believe," as if the information had only recently come to light through ingenious advances in 21st-century cryptography. ...

However, the question: "was Shakespeare gay?" strikes me as so daft as to be barely worth answering. Of course he was. Arguably he was bisexual, of sorts, but his heart was never on his straight side. Now is not the time to rehearse them all, but the arguments against his homosexuality are complex and sophistical, and often take convenient and homophobic advantage of the sonnets' built-in interpretative slippage - which Shakespeare himself would have needed for what we would now call "plausible deniability", should anyone have felt inclined to cry sodomy.

The argument in favour is simple. First, falling in love with other men is often a good indication of homosexuality; and second, as much as I love some of my male friends, I'm never going to write 126 poems for them, even the dead ones. Third, read the poems, then tell me these are "pure expressions of love for a male friend" and keep a straight face. This is a crazy, all-consuming, feverish and sweaty love; love, in all its uncut, full-strength intensity; an adolescent love. The reader's thrill lies in hearing this adolescent love articulated by a hyper-literate thirty-something. Usually these kids can't speak. The effect is extraordinary: they are not poems that are much use when we're actually in love, I'd suggest; but when we read them, they are so visceral in their invocation of that mad, obsessive, sleepless place that we can again feel, as CK Williams said, "the old heart stamping in its stall".

Gay helpline pioneer Rose Robertson dies aged 94 (1917—2011)
[Pink Paper, October 29, 2011]

Through the helpline and her work as a speaker on television and radio over the course of 30 years, Rose Robertson "highlighted a social need" and helped do something about it, human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said.

Tatchell described how Robertson's work as a wartime SOE agent led her to her first encounter with gay relationships.

"Robertson told me that during her wartime work in France an incident occurred which contributed to her later embrace of the gay rights cause," he said.

"She was billeted with two young male French Resistance agents. One night she entered their room and found them in an embrace. There was mutual embarrassment all round. Not a word was said for three days. Rose knew nothing about homosexuality and was curious. She eventually plucked up the courage to ask them. Both men told stories of family prejudice and rejection. Their story affected her deeply. She was shocked that parents could be so heartless towards their gay children."

It was that encounter, and the later discovery of similar prejudice towards her two gay lodgers from their parents, that made Robertson act. In 1965 she set up the Parent Enquiry helpline from her South London home.

[Continued here]

• Rose Robertson obituary: A former spy, she set up one of the first gay and lesbian helplines [The Guardian, October 26, 2011]

Rose was soon flooded with phone calls and letters, at a rate of around 100 a week. These came from distressed gay teens and from parents who were variously bewildered, distraught, angry, guilty, ashamed and hostile towards their children's homosexuality. Often she mediated between parents and their offspring, nearly always successfully. Occasionally, she was verbally abused or physically attacked by irate parents. She was also targeted by homophobes, with arson attacks on her home, excrement dumped on her doorstep and abusive phone calls and hate mail.

From the mid-70s onwards, a growing number of referrals came from the police and social services. Authorities which had been wary of supporting criminalised gay teenagers (the age of gay consent was equalised at 16 only in 2001), were impressed by Rose's family-oriented approach. She won public support from the agony aunts Marjorie Proops and Claire Rayner. She was a frequent speaker at universities, churches and medical seminars, and was a regular on TV and radio throughout the 1970s and 80s.

Peter Burton (1945—2011) [The Guardian, November 8, 2011]

Peter Burton, who has died of a heart attack aged 66, was one of the pioneers of gay journalism in the UK. In the late 1960s he began to write for Spartacus, now known as an international gay guide but then a magazine run from a guesthouse in Brighton. "When John D Stamford founded Spartacus there was no gay press and although there were plenty of gay journalists, there was no gay journalism," said Peter in a recent interview with his friend Torsten Højer. "Those of us who were involved from the very beginning had to find our material and learn to write about it in a style our readers would not have previously encountered."

In 1973, Peter began writing for the broadsheet title Gay News and by 1976 he was acting as PA to the editor Denis Lemon and serving as the paper's literary editor. That year, Mary Whitehouse of the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association brought a private prosecution of blasphemous libel against Lemon and Gay News after it published James Kirkup's poem The Love That Dares to Speak its Name, about a Roman centurion who sodomises the body of Christ after its removal from the cross. The jury found in Whitehouse's favour; Lemon was fined and received a suspended prison sentence. Lemon later dubbed Peter the "Godfather of Gay Journalism", a term its recipient ultimately found flattering.

[Continued here]

• Pioneering gay journalist Peter Burton dies, aged 66 [Pink News, November 9, 2011]

John Maynard Keynes (1883—1946) [Wikipedia]

John Maynard Keynes, Baron Keynes of Tilton, CB FBA... was a British economist whose ideas have profoundly affected the theory and practice of modern macroeconomics, as well as the economic policies of governments. He greatly refined earlier work on the causes of business cycles, and advocated the use of fiscal and monetary measures to mitigate the adverse effects of economic recessions and depressions. His ideas are the basis for the school of thought known as Keynesian economics, as well as its various offshoots.

In the 1930s, Keynes spearheaded a revolution in economic thinking, overturning the older ideas of neoclassical economics that held that free markets would in the short to medium term automatically provide full employment, as long as workers were flexible in their wage demands. Keynes instead argued that aggregate demand determined the overall level of economic activity, and that inadequate aggregate demand could lead to prolonged periods of high unemployment. Following the outbreak of World War II, Keynes's ideas concerning economic policy were adopted by leading Western economies. During the 1950s and 1960s, the success of Keynesian economics resulted in almost all capitalist governments adopting its policy recommendations, promoting the cause of social liberalism. ...

Keynes's early romantic and sexual relationships were almost exclusively with men. At Eton and at Cambridge, Keynes had been prolific in his homosexual activity; significant among these early partners were Dillwyn Knox and Daniel Macmillan. Keynes was open about his homosexual affairs, and between 1901 to 1915, kept separate diaries in which he tabulated his many homosexual encounters. Keynes's relationship and later close friendship with Macmillan was to be fortuitous; through Dan, Macmillan & Co first published his Economic Consequences of the Peace. Attitudes in the Bloomsbury Group, in which Keynes was avidly involved, were relaxed about homosexuality. Keynes, together with writer Lytton Strachey, had reshaped the Victorian attitudes of the influential Cambridge Apostles; "since [their] time, homosexual relations among the members were for a time common", wrote Bertrand Russell. One of Keynes's greatest loves was the artist Duncan Grant, whom he met in 1908. Like Grant, Keynes was also involved with the writer Lytton Strachey, though they were for the most part love rivals, and not lovers. Keynes had won the affections of Arthur Hobhouse, as well as Grant, both times falling out with a jealous Strachey for it. Strachey had previously found himself put off by Keynes, not least because of his manner of "treat[ing] his love affairs statistically". ...

Like several other notable British authors of his time, Keynes was a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Virginia Woolf's biographer tells an anecdote on how Virginia Woolf, Keynes and T. S. Eliot would discuss religion at a dinner party, in the context of their struggle against Victorian era morality. ...

Keynes was a proponent of eugenics. He served as Director of the British Eugenics Society from 1937 to 1944. As late as 1946, shortly before his death, Keynes declared eugenics to be "the most important, significant and, I would add, genuine branch of sociology which exists.

[Continued here]

• John Maynard Keynes [BBC]
• Economist John Maynard Keynes [Time, March 29, 1999]

2012 is Alan Turing Year



Alan Turing (1912—1954) [Turing.org]

There was a boy in another house... whose name was Morcom. As yet he was nothing but 'Morcom' to Alan although later he became 'Christopher'. Alan had first noticed Christopher Morcom early in 1927, and had been very struck by him, partly because he was surprisingly small for his form. (He was a year older than Alan and a year ahead in the schoool, but fair-haired and slight.) It was also, however, because he 'wanted to look again at his face, as he felt so attracted.' Later in 1927, Christopher had been away from school and then had returned looking, Alan noticed, very thin in the face. He shared with Alan a passion for science, but he was a very different person. The institutions that were for Alan such stumbling-blocks had been for Christopher Morcom the instruments of almost effortless advance, the source of scholarships, prizes and praise. He again returned late to school this term, but when he arrived Alan was waiting for him.

His utter loneliness was pierced at last. It was difficult to make friends with an older boy from another house. Nor was Alan good at conversation. But he found an entrée in mathematics. 'During the term Chris and I began setting one another our pet problems and discussing our pet methods." It would be impossible to separate the different aspects of thought and feeling. This was first love, which Alan would himself come to regard as the first of many for others of his own sex. It had that sense of surrender ('worshipped the ground he trod on') , and a heightened awareness, as of brilliant colour bursting upon a black and white world. ('He made everyone else seem so ordinary.') At the same time, it was most important that Christopher Morcom was someone who took scientific ideas seriously. And gradually, though with considerable reserve, he took Alan seriously. ('My most vivid recollections of Chris are almost entirely of the kind things he said to me sometimes.') So these elements were all present, and had the effect of giving Alan reason to communicate.

[Continued here]

• The Alan Turing Home Page [Maintained by Andrew Hodges]
• Alan Turing [Wikipedia]
• Gordon Brown apologises to gay Enigma codebreaker Alan Turing for 'appalling' persecution [Daily Mail, September 11, 2009]

Mr Turing worked at top secret Bletchley Park during the war and helped create the device that deciphered messages encoded by Nazi Enigma machines. Cracking the codes helped save Britain from German conquest.

After the war, he did ground-breaking work on early computer technology and is often referred to as the father of modern computer science.

But in 1952 he was prosecuted for gross indecency after admitting a sexual relationship with a man.

He was chemically castrated as an experimental 'treatment' and stripped of his security clearance, meaning he could not continue work for the Government Communications Headquarters. Two years later he killed himself, aged 41, by eating an apple laced with cyanide.

• Remembering Alan Turing on his 99th birthday [Thing, June 23, 2011]

It was at Sherborne that Turing would lose his religion following the death of his friend Christopher Morcom, thought to be Turing's first love interest. Sadly, Turing's sexual orientation would prove to be a fatal issue in later life.

• Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges [Paperback Amazon.ca]
• Queen unveils monument at Bletchley Park, home of gay genius codebreaker Alan Turing [Pink News, July 16, 2011]

"This was the place of geniuses such as Alan Turing. But these wonderfully clever mathematicians, language graduates and engineers were complemented by people with different sets of skills, harnessing that brilliance through methodical, unglamorous, hard slog. Thus the secret of Bletchley's success was that it became a home to all the talents."

Turing killed himself in 1954 aged 41 after being convicted of having a sexual relationship with another man.

A British court gave him the choice of going either to prison or undergoing chemical castration. He opted for the latter which involved high dosage injections of female hormones. He committed suicide two years later.

In 2009, after a campaign led by Richard Dawkins, Stephen Fry, Peter Tatchell and supported by PinkNews.co.uk, 30,805 people demanded that the then prime minister Gordon Brown issued an apology for Turing's treatment on behalf of the British government. Mr Brown agreed to do so.

In his apology, Mr Brown wrote: "Thousands of people have come together to demand justice for Alan Turing and recognition of the appalling way he was treated. While Turing was dealt with under the law of the time and we can't put the clock back, his treatment was of course utterly unfair and I am pleased to have the chance to say how deeply sorry I and we all are for what happened to him. Alan and the many thousands of other gay men who were convicted as he was convicted under homophobic laws were treated terribly. Over the years millions more lived in fear of conviction.

"I am proud that those days are gone and that in the last 12 years this government has done so much to make life fairer and more equal for our LGBT community. This recognition of Alan's status as one of Britain's most famous victims of homophobia is another step towards equality and long overdue.

• British Gays to See Pre-Legalization Criminal Records Erased [Edge Boston, October 5, 2011]

British gays with past arrests for alleged acts that are no longer crimes are about to see the stain on their criminal records lifted under new legislation, British newspaper The Daily Mail reported on Oct. 5.

Being gay in Britain was illegal until 1967. Even then, age of consent was not equalized until 2000, following a reduction in the age of consent between same-sex partners to 18 in 1994. Now, the age of consent for both heterosexual and homosexual intimacy is 16.

But for individuals with criminal records based on earlier laws--such as "loitering with intent," a crime with which gay men were often charged for cruising--the country's legal progress was glaringly deficient. While younger men could engage in the same conduct without running afoul of the law, older men who came of age under the more restrictive legal codes found that their arrest records were a blight, even though the "crimes" they'd been charged with were no longer crimes at all.

The new law corrects that. ...

Three years ago, then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown extended an official, albeit posthumous, apology to famed British mathematician and computer pioneer Alan Turing, who proposed not only the creation of a "thinking machine," or early version of the computer, but also contemplated the differences between human and machine thought, coining the famous "Turing test." Turing also helped in British efforts to crack Nazi codes in World War II, and succeeded in breaking the Enigma code--a crucial step in waging an eventually successful campaign.

But the pioneering scientist was not spared persecution based on his sexual identity. When it became known to the British authorities that he was gay in 1952, Turing was charged and convicted of "gross indecency," a commonplace charge against gay men at the time. He was forced to take hormone treatments and confined to his home until he killed himself two years later, at age 41.

Computer scientist John Graham-Cumming launched a petition in 2009 to pressure the government and clear Turing's name. Thirty thousand people signed the petition, and on Sept. 10, 2009, Brown made the apology, stating that he was "deeply sorry" for the manner in which Turing had been treated because of his sexuality.

"At the height of the Cold War gay people were perceived as a threat by authorities because of the defection to the Soviet Union by diplomats Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean who were both homosexual," the Daily Mail noted in a Sept. 11, 2009 report on Brown's apology.

"While Turing was dealt with under the law of the time, and we can't put the clock back, his treatment was of course utterly unfair, and I am pleased to have the chance to say how deeply sorry I and we all are for what happened to him," Brown said.

"Alan and the many thousands of other gay men who were convicted, as he was convicted, under homophobic laws, were treated terribly," Brown added. "I am proud those days are gone."

• Warner Bros Buys Spec Script About Math Genius Alan Turing For Leonardo DiCaprio [Deadline Hollywood, October 11, 2011]
• Petition launched to pardon gay codebreaker Alan Turing [Pink News, December 6, 2011]
• A Centenary Celebration of the Life and Work of Alan Turing [2012]
• Codebreaker Alan Turing gets stamp of approval [The Guardian, January 2, 2012]

The mathematician and second world war codebreaker Alan Turing is to be celebrated on a special stamp as an online petition calls for a posthumous pardon to quash his conviction for gross indecency.

• Alan Turing and the Programmable Universe [Slide Share, January 6, 2012]

A tribute to Alan Turing on his 100th birthday. The 21st century is largely the century of Alan Turing, because all the major scientific and technological projects of this century rely on his invention.

• Government rejects pardon request for Alan Turing [BBC, February 6, 2012]

Justice Minister Lord McNally dismissed the motion in the House of Lords.

"A posthumous pardon was not considered appropriate as Alan Turing was properly convicted of what at the time was a criminal offence," he said.

• Secrets of our greatest codebreaker unlocked: Personal belongings of war hero to go on display to mark centenary [Daily Mail, March 4, 2012]

He was the master codebreaker Churchill credited with making the biggest single contribution to the Allied victory over Hitler.

And now the personal belongings of Alan Turing are to go on display for the first time, to mark the centenary of his birth.

Clink on image to view another photograph of Alan Turing

Revealed: How RAF tried to 'cure' lesbian recruits... and ordered officers to be on lookout for women who enjoyed cricket [Daily Mail, April 16, 2011]

Secret files have revealed how the RAF forced suspected lesbians to have medical treatment to 'cure' their 'perversion'.

Newly-declassified documents show commanders were told to be alert to airwomen who played cricket or hockey, or spent a lot of time writing letters or telephoning to female comrades - seen as possible signs of attraction to other women.

Officers in the Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) were also discouraged from recruiting females with 'masculine characteristics'.

[Continued here]

• Gays in the military: The UK and US compared [BBC, February 2, 2010]
• Gay Britons Serve in Military With Little Fuss, as Predicted Discord Does Not Occur [New York Times, May 21, 2007]

The officer, a squadron leader in the Royal Air Force, felt he had no choice. So he stood up in front of his squad of 30 to 40 people.

"I said, 'Right, I've got something to tell you,' " he said. " 'I believe that for us to be able to work closely together and have faith in each other, we have to be honest and open and frank. And it has to be a two-way process, and it starts with me baring my soul. You may have heard some rumors, and yes, I have a long-term partner who is a he, not a she.' "

Far from causing problems, he said, he found that coming out to his troops actually increased the unit's strength and cohesion. He had felt uneasy keeping the secret "that their boss was a poof," as he put it, from people he worked with so closely.

Since the British military began allowing homosexuals to serve in the armed forces in 2000, none of its fears - about harassment, discord, blackmail, bullying or an erosion of unit cohesion or military effectiveness - have come to pass, according to the Ministry of Defense, current and former members of the services and academics specializing in the military. The biggest news about the policy, they say, is that there is no news. It has for the most part become a nonissue.

• RAF a leader in lesbian recruits [The Independent, January 11, 2012]

The Royal Air Force has been nominated as one of the country's top recruiters for lesbians. The service has been voted for by readers of g3 - a magazine aimed primarily at gay and bisexual women.

Yesterday the RAF said it had worked closely with g3 - a free magazine with a readership of 140,000 - to convince the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender population that it celebrates the diversity of its personnel.

The American Gay Rights Movement: A Timeline [infoplease]

1924 The Society for Human Rights in Chicago becomes the country's earliest known gay rights organization.

...

1993 The "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy is instituted for the U.S. military, permitting gays to serve in the military but banning homosexual activity. President Clinton's original intention to revoke the prohibition against gays in the military was met with stiff opposition; this compromise, which has led to the discharge of thousands of men and women in the armed forces, was the result.

...

2010 December 18: the U.S. Senate voted 65 to 31 in favor of repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the Clinton-era military policy that forbids openly gay men and women from serving in the military. Eight Republicans sided with the Democrats to strike down the ban. The ban will not be lifted officially until President Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, agree that the military is ready to enact the change and that it won't affect military readiness. On Dec. 18, President Obama officially repealed the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" military policy.

[Continued here]

• Gay Rights Timeline [Time]
• Gay marriage chronology [Los Angeles Times]
• Mormons Tipped Scale in Ban on Gay Marriage [New York Times, November 14, 2008]

Less than two weeks before Election Day, the chief strategist behind a ballot measure outlawing same-sex marriage in California called an emergency meeting here.

"We're going to lose this campaign if we don't get more money," the strategist, Frank Schubert, recalled telling leaders of Protect Marriage, the main group behind the ban.

The campaign issued an urgent appeal, and in a matter of days, it raised more than $5 million, including a $1 million donation from Alan C. Ashton, the grandson of a former president of the Mormon Church. The money allowed the drive to intensify a sharp-elbowed advertising campaign, and support for the measure was catapulted ahead; it ultimately won with 52 percent of the vote.

As proponents of same-sex marriage across the country planned protests on Saturday against the ban, interviews with the main forces behind the ballot measure showed how close its backers believe it came to defeat - and the extraordinary role Mormons played in helping to pass it with money, institutional support and dedicated volunteers.

"We've spoken out on other issues, we've spoken out on abortion, we've spoken out on those other kinds of things," said Michael R. Otterson, the managing director of public affairs for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as the Mormons are formally called, in Salt Lake City. "But we don't get involved to the degree we did on this."

The California measure, Proposition 8, was to many Mormons a kind of firewall to be held at all costs.

• Don't ask, don't tell (DADT) [Wikipedia]

Don't ask, don't tell (DADT) is the term commonly used for the policy restricting United States military personnel from efforts to discriminate or harass closeted homosexual or bisexual service members or applicants, while barring those who are openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual from military service. The restrictions are mandated by federal law Pub.L. 103-160 (10 U.S.C. § 654). The policy prohibits people who "demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts" from serving in the armed forces of the United States, because their presence "would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability."

• 'Don't ask, don't tell' is repealed by Senate; bill awaits Obama's signing [Washington Post, December 19, 2010]
• Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) [Wikipedia]

The Defense of Marriage Act (Pub.L. 104-199, 110 Stat. 2419, enacted September 21, 1996, 1 U.S.C. § 7 and 28 U.S.C. § 1738C) is a United States federal law signed into law by President Bill Clinton on September 21, 1996 whereby the federal government defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman. Under the law, also known as DOMA, no state (or other political subdivision within the United States) may be required to recognize as a marriage a same-sex relationship considered a marriage in another state. The law passed both houses of Congress by large majorities.

• Policy Forum: The Case for Marriage Equality: Perry v. Schwarzenegger (Video and Podcast) [Cato Institute, May 18, 2011]
• Army Unveils New Don't Ask, Don't Tell Website [Think Progress, Jun 4, 2011]

The Army has launched a new website in anticipation of the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. The site "features current news articles, key facts, frequently asked questions and additional resources" and updates on the progress made toward lifting the ban.

• In Shift, U.S. Says [Defense of] Marriage Act Blocks Gay Rights [New York Times, July 2, 2011]

President Obama, in a striking legal and political shift, has determined that the Defense of Marriage Act - the 1996 law that bars federal recognition of same-sex marriages - is unconstitutional, and has directed the Justice Department to stop defending the law in court, the administration said Wednesday.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced the decision in a letter to members of Congress. In it, he said the administration was taking the extraordinary step of refusing to defend the law, despite having done so during Mr. Obama's first two years in the White House.

"The president and I have concluded that classifications based on sexual orientation" should be subjected to a strict legal test intended to block unfair discrimination, Mr. Holder wrote. As a result, he said, a crucial provision of the Defense of Marriage Act "is unconstitutional." ...

"This is a great step by the Obama administration and a tipping point for the gay rights movement that will have ripple effects in contexts beyond the Defense of Marriage Act," said Anthony D. Romero, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union. "It will reach into issues of employment discrimination, family recognition and full equality rights for lesbian and gay people."

• Unfinished Business: 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' [New York Times, July 2, 2011]

The services will come to accept the new policy, just as they have absorbed many social changes over the decades, including racial and sexual integration. But there are clearly some people who will continue to resist the new orders, and they and their commanders will have to decide whether they should remain in the military. ...

Time has run out on the use of "don't ask, don't tell" for these kinds of discharges. One of the points of repeal is to begin to build a military culture in which no one feels the need to request a discharge because of intolerance. That may take time, but the best way to start is for Mr. Panetta and other military leaders to wipe official discrimination from the books in the next few weeks. Then they can lead the painstaking effort that will be needed to repair the emotional damage it has caused.

• Unfinished Business: The Defense of Marriage Act [New York Times, July 2, 2011]

The Defense of Marriage Act was enacted in 1996 as an election-year wedge issue, signed by President Bill Clinton in one of his worst policy moments. Any Congress with a real respect for personal freedom would repeal it. That, of course, does not describe the current Congress, where many members talk a great deal about freedom but apply it mainly to businesses and gun owners. With legislative repeal not on the horizon, the best hope for ending this legalized bigotry is with the courts.

Last year, a federal judge in Massachusetts said the law's definition of marriage as only between a man and a woman violated the equal-protection provisions of the Constitution. In June, a federal bankruptcy court in California said the law was unconstitutional. Other cases have been filed in New York and Connecticut, and the Justice Department, having agreed that the marriage definition is unconstitutional, has refused to defend it in those court cases. (The House hired its own lawyer to defend the law.)

The issue will eventually reach the Supreme Court, possibly in the next term. In the meantime, many married couples will have to hope for the kindness of strangers.

• After 15 Years of DOMA, Hearing Reveals a Nation Transformed [The Atlantic, July 20, 2011]

To the cynical, the staged political theater of Senate committee hearings can seem tedious and predictable. Consider this morning's Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the proposed "Respect for Marriage Act," presided over by Committee Chair Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and attended by the usual list of suspects who said the things that they usually say.

The portentously named "Respect for Marriage Act" is a short, sweet bill that would repeal the equally portentously named "Defense of Marriage Act," or DOMA, passed in 1996 by an overwhelming bipartisan majority and signed into law by then-President Bill Clinton. Sponsored and championed at the time by a Georgia Republican congressman named Bob Barr, DOMA wrote into federal law two key concepts: first, for federal purposes, the word "marriage" would mean only a legal union between one man and one woman; and second, no state had to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex that had been performed in any other state or jurisdiction. The "Respect for Marriage Act", or the DOMA repeal bill, would let the feds return to their traditional practice of recognizing any state's valid marriages -- which would include same-sex marriages made in the six states (and district of Columbia) that currently perform them.

Witnesses at today's hearing included men and women whose same-sex marriages -- valid in their home states of California, Connecticut, or Vermont -- are not recognized for federal purposes, because of DOMA. As a result, they face the insults and injuries of nearly losing a house because they can't receive a dead husband's pension, or having their financial security eroded by being taxed thousands of dollars if they are listed on a wife's health insurance policy. Witnesses also included advocates who gave their stump speeches: the "preserve marriage" advocates, who predicted that this bill would lead to polygamy, incest, the deterioration of marriage as an institution, and disastrous consequences for children; and the "end marriage discrimination" advocates, who talked about equality and justice under the law and about equal protections for children who grow up in families headed by either different-sex or same-sex pairs. Except for the fact that some of the witnesses were talking about lawfully recognized same-sex spouses, no one said anything very different from what was being said 15 years ago, when DOMA was passed.

And yet the hearing was completely different from anything imaginable in 1996. It's hard, now, to remember that foreign country, which was almost unrecognizably hostile to lesbians and gay men. No U.S. state or world nation had yet begun marrying same-sex couples. The threat against which DOMA was supposed to defend was a Hawaii lawsuit that, for a couple of years, looked as if it might open the door to same-sex marriages in that state -- which might then infect other states, as mainland same-sex pairs got married in Maui and then asked to be recognized at home. The Hawaii lawsuit had hit the LGBT advocacy community, and the nation at large, by complete surprise: no gay organization supported it, and most of the leading LGBT advocates wished it didn't exist at all. (For more, see Chris Geidner's important series on DOMA's history.) In the late 1980s, in Bowers v. Hardwick, the Supreme Court had said states were free to "express moral disapproval" of homosexuality by arresting a man in his own bedroom for having sex with another man; as a result, in 1996, lesbians and gay men were legally treated as presumed felons in about a dozen states and in the military. Antigay forces were running virulent initiatives in states like Maine and Oregon, rolling back cities' anti-discrimination statutes while spreading horrifying propaganda about lesbians and gay men. The first anti-retroviral drugs that managed AIDS had only just been released, saving gay men from dropping dead in droves -- but gay men were still widely treated as plague carriers and pariahs.

• Domestic Disturbance: Before DOMA, there was another debate over marriage — within the gay and lesbian community [Metro Weekly, May 4, 2011]

Talking with Andrew Sullivan about marriage is a bit like asking a blue whale what he ate for dinner. Once he starts, there's really no end.

''At any particular point, we weren't clear what would happen next,'' he says, sitting at a coffee shop on a warm, early spring afternoon. ''It was way more contingent. You tend to look back on these things with a sense of inevitability, and I hate it when people say, 'Well, they're just on the wrong side of history.'

''Bullshit. History is what people make of it. There's nothing inevitable.''

• The Ultimate Argument Against DOMA [Gay Philly, July 21, 2011]

My name is Ron Wallen. I am 77 years old and I live in Indio, California.

Four months ago, my husband and partner of 58 years, Tom Carrollo, died of leukemia. Tom and I first met way back in 1953 when Tom was 23 and I was 19. We were properly introduced, and had an old-fashioned courtship. And even though it sounds corny in this day and age, Tom was the one and only man in my life. And, from the first day, we enjoyed a sense of togetherness, which never weakened in both good times and bad.

When we first got together in the 1950s, we faced some difficult challenges; in those days we could easily lose our jobs if people at work knew we were gay. This was certainly the case when we held jobs with security clearances.

Tom served in the U.S. Navy during the very first combat engagement of the Korean War and I later served in the Army for two years. That service represented the only time in our 58 years that Tom and I were really apart for any significant period of time. We were proud to serve our country when called.

In 1978, on our 25th anniversary, Tom suffered a massive heart attack, and his doctor told us that he had to retire from work in order to survive beyond that year. He was only 47 years old. We were just entering the good earning years of our lives, but when faced with that kind of verdict, you do what you have to do.

• How Things Have Changed: A Video Review Of The Vile Attacks Against LGBT Americans During The 1996 DOMA Debate [Think Progress, July 21, 2011]
• Pentagon to Certify It is Ready to End 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' [Wall Street Journal, July 21, 2011]

Top defense officials plan to certify Friday that the Pentagon is ready to end the ban on gays serving openly in the military, officials said, a landmark moment after almost two decades of controversy.

While the military will be free to provide some services to same-sex spouses, such as family support for spouses of deployed service members, federal law blocks it from providing them the full range of health, housing and education available to heterosexual couples.

• DADT Repeal Certified! [LGBT|POV, July 22, 2011]

(Photo taken in Oval Office on July 22, 2011)

Statement by the President on Certification of Repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell on July 22, 2011

Today, we have taken the final major step toward ending the discriminatory 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' law that undermines our military readiness and violates American principles of fairness and equality. In accordance with the legislation that I signed into law last December, I have certified and notified Congress that the requirements for repeal have been met. 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' will end, once and for all, in 60 days-on September 20, 2011.

As Commander in Chief, I have always been confident that our dedicated men and women in uniform would transition to a new policy in an orderly manner that preserves unit cohesion, recruitment, retention and military effectiveness. Today's action follows extensive training of our military personnel and certification by Secretary Panetta and Admiral Mullen that our military is ready for repeal. As of September 20th, service members will no longer be forced to hide who they are in order to serve our country. Our military will no longer be deprived of the talents and skills of patriotic Americans just because they happen to be gay or lesbian.

I want to commend our civilian and military leadership for moving forward in the careful and deliberate manner that this change requires, especially with our nation at war. I want to thank all our men and women in uniform, including those who are gay or lesbian, for their professionalism and patriotism during this transition. Every American can be proud that our extraordinary troops and their families, like earlier generations that have adapted to other changes, will only grow stronger and remain the best fighting force in the world and a reflection of the values of justice and equality that the define us as Americans.

• Editorial: One Step Forward, More to Take [New York Times, July 23, 2011]

The 1993 statute enshrined the Pentagon's discriminatory treatment of gay soldiers in federal law, after President Bill Clinton bungled an attempt to change the policy and faced an unseemly rebellion from the top brass, including Colin Powell, who was then chairman of the Joint Chiefs. (That bitter memory made Admiral Mullen's enthusiastic support for repeal even sweeter.) Over the next two decades, more than 13,000 patriotic Americans were drummed out of the military under this misbegotten law.

The certification on Friday came after a protracted - and unnecessary - Pentagon study of the consequences of repealing 'don't ask, don't tell." It concluded that - like the racial integration of the military in the late 1940s and the 1950s, and the gender integration of the 1970s - allowing gay Americans to serve openly in their country's uniform would have little or no practical impact on the armed forces.

The ban does not actually get lifted for 60 days. The wait, once again, is frustrating, but at least the military is already restrained by court order from enforcing the unconstitutional rule. Even after the 60 days, there will likely be lingering discrimination.

The military cannot, for example, require chaplains to perform same-sex marriages. That is because of the - Orwellian-named - Defense of Marriage Act, the 1996 law that prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex unions. It also allows the states to ignore legal marriages from other states - if the couple is of the same sex.

This law, too, is blatantly unconstitutional, which the Obama administration recognized by announcing that it would no longer defend it in court. It is well past time for Congress to repeal it. Conservatives should be the most eager to see repeal. It is one of the worst examples of big- government interference on the books today.

• New guide covers living as an out gay man in a post-DADT world [365Gay, July 29, 2011]

In preparation for the official repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the gay military organization Servicemembers Legal Defense Network released a legal guide on July 28 to help gay military members, veterans and their families tackle living in a post-DADT world.

Downloadable as a PDF, the 53-page guide documents what the repeal of DADT means, what it changes policy-wise, and many other questions or concerns anyone affected by the policy may have.

Other topics covered range from coming out (the guide reminds readers that they are not required to come out with the passing of DADT) to pornography, to medical attention and pastoral care.

• Lanae Erickson: Then & Now: How the State of Relationship Recognition Has Changed Since DOMA [Huffington Post, August 4, 2011]

As gay couples begin to marry in New York, Third Way's newest report details the seismic shift in our country since the passage of DOMA 15 years ago. There are many striking contrasts that illustrate this evolution, but one incredible change is this: in 1996 only 5% of the country lived in a state or locality that recognized gay couples' relationships -- now 46% do.

• My 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Life [Daily Beast, August 21, 2011]

I was still in uniform when I stopped to pick up a bottle of wine for dinner on my way home from the base a few weeks ago. In the checkout line, a middle-aged woman insisted that she pay for my wine. We walked out of the store together while she asked me various questions: Where was I from? How old was I? What was my job in the Air Force?

Then she asked if I had a girlfriend.

I replied no, but that I had a boyfriend of a few months. Her initial reaction was shock, but then she began to ask more questions about how it was to be gay in the military and how I dealt with an environment built on "don't ask, don't tell." As we said goodbye she gave me a tight embrace and thanked me for my service. Then she looked me straight in the eyes and said, "I'm sorry. I supported this policy for our military, and I never realized what pain it caused people like you." She wiped the tear from her eye and walked to her car. She, like millions of other Americans, and even fellow soldiers, would soon be meeting openly gay military-service members for the first time.

• Professor Claims Boehner's Lawyer Misrepresented Her Writings To Bolster Anti-Gay Case [Think Progress, August 22, 2011]

Joe Sudbay reports more startling developments in the case of Edie Windsor, who is challenging the constitutionality of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. Recall that last week, Paul Clement - the lawyer House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and the House Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG) hired to defend the law - filed a brief dismissing Windsor's motion for summary judgment and identified the work of professional anti-gay activists without making them available for deposition. Windsor's lawyers had filed a motion asking the Court to strike the hearsay documents and today they went a step further, submitting the affidavit of Professor Lisa Diamond, one of the authors cited by Boehner's lawyers. Remarkably, Diamond claims that "Boehner's crack legal team misconstrued and distorted her writings."

• Top Eight Pro-LGBT Arguments In The Obama Administration's Anti-DOMA Brief [Think Progress, August 22, 2011]

In its brief, the government argues that Section 3 of DOMA - which defines "marriage" as a legal union between a man and woman for federal purposes - is inconsistent with the equal protections clause, "as it denies legally married same-sex couples federal benefits that are available to similarly situated opposite-sex couples." The document reviews the the long history of "discrimination based on prejudice and stereotypes" against LGBT people from the federal and state governments and private parties.

• Poor study used to defend DOMA gets worse [Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, August 23, 2011]
• Tell: An Intimate History of Gay Men in the Military [GQ, September, 2011]

On a day to come very soon - September 20, 2011 - a serviceman's sexuality will no longer be grounds for dismissal from the U.S. Armed forces. These are the voices explaining what it has been like to be a gay man1 in the American military over the previous seventy or so years, from World War II veterans in their late eighties to young servicemen on active duty.

• Editorial: Going to the Videotape [New York Times, August 26, 2011]

Last year, the United States Supreme Court blocked the broadcasting of the nonjury civil trial on the constitutionality of Proposition 8, California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage. That August, the measure was struck down by Judge Vaughn Walker of Federal District Court, who presided at the trial. The case is pending appeal.

On Monday, a lawyer representing the victorious plaintiffs will be urging a federal district judge in San Francisco, James Ware, to grant a motion to make public the videotape of the 12-day trial. In the interest of fostering confidence in the judicial system, the motion should be granted. Proposition 8's supporters insisted that the broadcast ban was needed to protect their two witnesses - experts who testified in open court and whose identities were well known. Their arguments are even less persuasive now.

The trial was over more than a year ago, and the 13-volume trial transcript is public and available on the Internet. Legally, there is a presumption of access to judicial records, a point made in a brief filed by a media coalition, including The New York Times Company.

The demand to keep the videotapes secret is as flimsy as the arguments for denying gay people the fundamental right to marry. The proposition's backers will not be hurt in any way if the footage is released. The American public, on the other hand, stands to lose something very valuable if it is denied the chance to see and hear what happened in a critically important case on marriage equality.

• Editorial: Broadcast the Prop. 8 trial video [Los Angeles Times, August 28, 2011]

The two men who testified in support of Proposition 8 during the 2010 federal trial were hardly fragile flowers or intensely private people. Kenneth P. Miller is an academic who has published extensively and is used to public speaking. David Blankenhorn is the founder and president of the Institute for American Values, a nonprofit organization that promotes traditional family life, and has written books on the subject. Both have appeared on television.

Obviously, neither man shrinks from the public light, yet on Monday, supporters of Proposition 8 will bring back the specious argument that videotapes of the 2010 trial should not be broadcast because these witnesses would otherwise face harassment from opponents of the proposition.

The U.S. Supreme Court accepted that argument just as the trial was getting under way, ruling that recordings of the trial could not be broadcast or distributed over the Internet during the proceedings because witnesses might feel so intimidated that they would refuse to appear before courts in the future. The court majority also faulted U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker for last-minute changes to his broadcast plans and for his shifting explanations of the reasons. So in the end, the trial video was shown to people in an overflow viewing room in the courthouse; the recordings were also provided to the judge and attorneys for their use in the case. Left unclear, though, was what would happen to the recordings once the trial was over.

• Army And Air Force Bases Will Distribute Gay Rights Magazine [Think Progress, August 29, 2011]

With the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell only three weeks away, OutServe Magazine is expanding its outreach to LGBT servicemembers. In addition to a new interactive website, the magazine now has distribution rights on Air Force and Army bases, which means it will be on the shelves of military exchanges for the first time.

• Why Opponents Of Marriage Equality Are Trying To Block The Release Of The Prop 8 Trial Tapes [Think Progress, August 30, 2011]

As David Boies - one half of the legal team challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 8 - explained during a now-infamous appearance on Face the Nation, the problem for anti-gay activists is that they simply don't have any evidence to make their case. "In a court of law you've got to come in and you've got to support those opinions, you've got to stand up under oath and cross-examination," Boies explained. "There simply wasn't any evidence, there weren't any of those studies. There weren't any empirical studies. That's just made up. That's junk science. It's easy to say that on television. But a witness stand is a lonely place to lie. And when you come into court you can't do that."

• Will Prop. 8 End California's Democracy? [AlterNet, September 4, 2011]

Foes of marriage equality will make a ludicrous argument before the California Supreme Court on Tuesday. They will assert that anyone who has the money to put an initiative on the ballot in California and then sufficient funds to advertise its way to passage, whether relying on facts or fear, has special "standing" before the law.

This hearing is not about Prop 8, but about the role of special interests and the wealthy in our democracy. California Governor Hiram Johnson paved the way for a people's initiative process in 1911 - exactly 100 years ago. The idea then was that the people could petition to vote, thus going over the heads of big business interests that virtually owned Sacramento. Then, it was the railroads. Today, it's Kaiser, Blue Cross, Chevron, PG&E, Amazon or anyone else with unlimited funds.

But the initiative process was corrupted over the decades. What began as a fine tool for the people to have their say became the "initiative industrial complex" funded and fueled by the very special interests whose control over government the initiative process should check.

• Discharged for Being Gay, Veterans Seek to Re-enlist [New York Times, September 4, 2011]

Though the Pentagon says it will welcome their applications, former service members discharged for homosexuality will not be granted special treatment. They will have to pass physical fitness tests and prove that they have skills the armed services need right now. Some will have aged to the point that they will need waivers to get back in.

Even if they pass those hurdles, there is no guarantee that they will go back to their former jobs or ranks. And because the armed services are beginning to shrink, some will be rejected because there are no available slots.

People discharged under "don't ask, don't tell" who wish to return to service "will be evaluated according to the same criteria and requirements applicable to all others seeking re-entry into the military," said Eileen Lainez, a Pentagon spokeswoman. "The services will continue to base accessions of prior-service members on the needs of the service and the skills and qualifications of the applicants."

To be eligible for re-enlistment, former service members cannot have been discharged under "other than honorable conditions," Ms. Lainez said. The majority of people released under the policy since 1993 - a significant number of them highly trained intelligence analysts and linguists - received honorable discharges.

• Retiring Gay Service Members Honored as DADT Repeal Looms [The Advocate, September 5, 2011]

Two high-profile "don't ask, don't tell" repeal advocates celebrated their retirement from the military during a Sunday ceremony under the spires of the U.S. Air Force Memorial in Arlington, Va.

One fought her discharge under DADT in court and won a key legal precedent that other gay service members have relied on in their own lawsuits. The other successfully blocked his impending separation under the policy and has never shied from a press opportunity to tell his story. Both have become close friends - and Rachel Maddow Show regulars - through their battles.

The retirement ceremony of Maj. Margaret Witt and Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach was officiated by gay rights activist legend Col. Margarethe "Grethe" Cammermeyer, who was discharged from the military, sued, and later won her reinstatement in the National Guard (she retired in 1997 with full benefits and privileges). The ceremonial retirement orders for Witt and Fehrenbach came less than three weeks from the official end of "don't ask, don't tell" on Sept. 20.

"There are so many ways that she has sacrificed for that greater good that we all in 18 days will come to treasure that much more, because we will know that those 65,000 gays and lesbians serving in the military will no longer have to live with that burden of, 'I'm wondering if someone is going to out or discharge me,'" Cammermeyer said of Witt, a flight nurse who was also officially awarded the Air Medal at the ceremony (she had been simply mailed the prestigious honor following her discharge). "I commend you for all the work that you did, Margie, and appreciate so much that you were willing to take a stand."

Cammermeyer then turned to Witt's retiring colleague and quipped to audience laughter, "Lt. Col. Fehrenbach is of a different ilk."

• When 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Ends, Our Military Will Be Stronger [The Atlantic, September 6, 2011]
• House squelches recording of DOMA court arguments [Washington Blade, September 12, 2011]

The U.S. House lawyer directed to defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court has terminated the possibility of allowing a video recording of the arguments in one of the cases against the anti-gay law.

In a non-consent filing to the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California, the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group says it's unwilling to participate in recorded oral arguments in the case of Golinski v. United States.

"Intervenor-Defendant the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the U.S. House of Representatives respectfully advises that it prefers not to participate in this district's pilot project permitting video recording of courtroom proceedings," the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group states. "Accordingly Intervenor-Defendant declines to consent."

The filing, dated Sept. 9, is signed by House General Counsel Kerry Kircher, whom Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) directed to defend DOMA in court on behalf of the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group.

• Behind the cover: We're gay. Get over it. [Military Times, September 13, 2011]

On Sept. 20, the "don't ask, don't tell" policy banning gays from serving openly will be stripped from the military's rulebook. For gay Marines, official repeal will be a historic day, comparable to the moment 63 years ago when President Truman ordered the services to end racial segregation.

For straight Marines, this will bring changes, too. "That's gay" - a pervasive phrase used throughout the Corps to express dislike for almost anything - will no longer be tolerated. Equal treatment will be a must. And yes, some gay Marines will bring dates to the Marine Corps Birthday Ball in November.

With the end of "don't ask" just days away, this week's cover story includes the stories of several gay Marines who wanted to share their views on repeal and the future of the Marine Corps.

• North Carolina Lawmaker: We Are 'Putting A Pink Triangle Into Our State Constitution' [Think Progress, September 13, 2011]
• Don't Ask Don't Tell - The Unfinished Story [Edge Boston, September 14, 2011]

Many believe the battle is over, and LGBT people won the fight for the right to serve equally alongside all service members in the U.S. military. But the story is unfinished.

After years of lobbying by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) and a host of allied organizations, congressional leaders last year secured passage of a stand-alone bill repealing the 1993 law called "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) and President Obama signed the repeal law in December 2010. In July this year, he, along with the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, certified that all of the services were ready to implement the new policies and regulations "consistent with the standards of military readiness, military effectiveness, unit cohesion and recruiting and retention of the Armed Forces." Their signatures started a 60-day clock ticking until "full implementation" goes into effect on Tuesday, September 20 of this year.

So what's left? According to retired Colonel Stewart Bornhoft, "plenty!" A highly-decorated West Pointer, he served for more than 26 years on active duty, commanded soldiers in combat during two tours in Vietnam, taught at the U.S. Military Academy, is former Chair of the Military Advisory Council of SLDN and a member of Knights Out, the gay/straight alliance of West Pointers.

• World War II vet, ousted for being gay, finally receives 'honorable' discharge [Washington Post, September 16, 2011]

Nearly 70 years after expelling Melvin Dwork for being gay, the Navy is changing his discharge from "undesirable" to "honorable" - marking what is believed to be the first time the Pentagon has taken such a step on behalf of a World War II veteran since the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell."

The Navy notified the 89-year-old former corpsman last month that he will now be eligible for the benefits he had long been denied, including medical care and a military burial.

Dwork spent decades fighting to remove the blot on his record.

"I resented that word 'undesirable,'" said Dwork, who was expelled in 1944, at the height of the war, and is now a successful interior designer in New York. "That word really stuck in my craw. To me it was a terrible insult. It had to be righted. It's really worse than 'dishonorable.' I think it was the worst word they could have used."

For Dwork, victory came with a heartbreaking truth: Last year, when the Navy finally released his records, he learned that his name had been given up by his own boyfriend at the time.

• Repeal of gay ban welcomed by civilian partners [CBS News, September 18, 2011]

After 19 years hiding her relationship with an active-duty Army captain, Cathy Cooper is getting ready to exhale.

On Tuesday, the policy known as "don't ask, don't tell" will expire. And Cooper will dare speak her love's name in public.

"This is life-changing," said Cooper, choking up. "I just want to be able to breathe - knowing I can call my partner at work and have a conversation without it having to be in code."

Much has been reported about the burdens that "don't ask" placed on gay and lesbian service members who risked discharge under the 1993 policy if their sexual orientation became known in the ranks. There's been less attention focused on their civilian partners, who faced distinctive, often relentless stresses of their own.

• Crystal Bell: 'The Strange History Of Don't Ask, Don't Tell': Documentary Is A Gripping Look Into The Creation and Repeal Of DADT [Huffington Post, September 19, 2011]
• On eve of DADT repeal, it's business as usual for military [Stars & Stripes, September 19, 2011]

Pentagon leaders and the White House on Tuesday will acknowledge the end of the 18-year-old law - the basis for the dismissal of roughly 14,000 gay servicemembers - and last year's contentious debate repealing it.

But, other than a few news conferences, no formal military events or instructions are planned. Troops have been attending training briefings on the rule changes since last spring, and no new sessions or advisories are expected after repeal.

• Pentagon: Military ready for gay ban repeal Tuesday [USA, September 19, 2011]

The military has begun accepting applications from openly gay recruits but will not act on them until the legal ban on openly gay service is lifted Tuesday, said a Pentagon official. ...

Servicemembers Legal Defense Network said repeal supporters would hold "Repeal Day" celebrations across the country Tuesday.

• Celebration and concern mark the end of 'don't ask, don't tell' [Washington Post, September 19, 2011]

Air Force Lt. Col. Sean Hackbarth expects Tuesday to be mostly a normal day. He plans to report for work at the Federal Aviation Administration, where he's a military liaison, and commute home to Northern Virginia when the day is done.

Except that if someone asks or he decides to tell, Hackbarth can finally talk freely about his significant other. They've been together for nine years - and his name is Mike. ...

The change comes as thousands of troops still are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, and gay troops repeatedly expressed concern about partners left behind with little support from the military.

Stephen Peters, a former Marine who was kicked out for violating the policy, is now one of those partners being left behind. He lives outside California's Camp Pendleton with a Marine grade officer who is preparing to deploy to Afghanistan.

Once his partner goes, Peters, 31, is essentially on his own: He can't visit the base without a visitor's badge, or enjoy discounts at military grocery stores, because the federal Defense of Marriage Act bars the military's official recognition of same-sex partnerships. Most troubling for Peters, he's officially barred from the military's network of spousal support groups.

• Federal Judge Rules for Release of Prop. 8 Trial Tapes [Edge Boston, September 19, 2011]

"This is a critical victory: allowing the public to view this testimony will show that Prop 8 was based on prejudice, that ProtectMarriage.com had no credible defense and that Judge Walker was not at all biased," a email sent by marriage equality advocacy group Courage Campaign read.

"Foremost among the aspects of the federal judicial system that foster public confidence in the fairness and integrity of the process are public access to trials and public access to the record of judicial proceedings," Ware's ruling noted. "Consequently, once an item is placed in the record of judicial proceedings, there must be compelling reasons for keeping that item secret.

• Anti-Gay Group Vows To Appeal Ruling To Release Prop 8 Trial Tapes [San Francisco Appeal, September 19, 2011]
• Navy officer, partner get married moments after midnight in Vt. as 'don't ask' policy ends [Washington Post, September 20, 2011]

When Navy Lt. Gary Ross and his partner were searching for a place to get married, they settled on a site in Vermont, in part because the state is in the Eastern time zone.

That way, the two men were able to recite their vows before family and friends at the first possible moment after the formal repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Just after midnight Tuesday, the partners of 11 years were married. ...

Ross, 33, and Dan Swezy, a 49-year-old civilian, traveled from their home in Tucson, Ariz., so they could get married in Vermont, the first state to allow gays to enter into civil unions and one of six that have legalized same-sex marriage.

Ross wore his dress uniform for the ceremony beginning at 11:45 p.m. Monday at Duxbury's Moose Meadow Lodge, a log cabin bed-and-breakfast perched on a hillside about 15 miles northwest of Montpelier.

The lodge says it hosted the state's first gay wedding in 2009.

Justice of the Peace Greg Trulson proclaimed the marriage at exactly midnight.

"This is Gary's official coming out," Trulson said.

• There's Something I Need To Tell You, Sarge ... A gallery of service members who came out the day "don't ask, don't tell" was repealed [Slate, September 20, 2011]
• Nathaniel Frank: After Don't Ask, Don't Tell: The Meaning of Repeal to America [Huffington Post, September 20, 2011]

Today marks the official end of the eighteen-year-old "don't ask, don't tell" policy and, in a sense, the end of a 233-year-old American shame, as formal anti-gay discrimination in our armed forces is older than the nation itself. As someone who worked to end this policy for more than a decade, I will join with countless other advocates of equality in celebrating this day as a watershed in our nation's long march toward justice.

Yet it's critical that we not rest on our laurels. Some of the most troubling instincts that lay behind this odious law remain a threat to the freedoms not only of gay people but of every American. My fear as I celebrate the passing of the military's anti-gay exclusion, along with other gains in gay rights, is that these victories may sap the energy that still has the best shot at fighting not only discrimination, but other base instincts in American life that continue to hold us back from reaching our greatest potential.

• What If Your Partner Deployed to Afghanistan and You Couldn't Even Say "I Love You?" [The Good Men Project, September 20, 2011]
• Marines Hit the Ground Running in Seeking Recruits at Gay Center [New York Times, September 20, 2011]
• At ease, Lieutenant: A gay-rights advocate drops the disguise [Globe & Mail, September 20, 2011]

No one knows how many gay members of the military will come out on Tuesday, although neither gay rights advocates nor Pentagon officials are expecting big numbers, at least not initially. General Carter F. Ham, who was a co-director of a Pentagon study on repealing "don't ask, don't tell," said last week that he expected the effect to be "pretty inconsequential."

That is not the case for Lt. Seefried, an Air Force Academy graduate and a budget analyst at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey, who had to work in the shadows with the Pentagon in an 18-month effort to change the policy.

As Lt. Seefried told it in a recent telephone interview, in late 2009 a civilian instructor at a technical training course found out through social networking sites that the lieutenant is gay and began harassing him. Lt. Seefried reported the instructor in early 2010, and the instructor responded by outing him. Under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, Lt. Seefried was temporarily removed from his job. But around the same time, Robert Gates, who was then defence secretary, changed the rules so service members could not be discharged by third-party outings. "That saved my career," Lt. Seefried said.

Back in his job, he began building what eventually became OutServe, a group of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender active-duty service members connected by secret Facebook groups and e-mail lists. In April, 2010, he spoke for the first time publicly against "don't ask, don't tell" at the State University of New York at Oswego, but under a pseudonym he had hastily created for the occasion - J.D., for his initials, Josh David, and Smith because it is his mother's maiden name.

• Today We Are Not Celebrating: Don't Ask to Fight Their Wars [Bilerico, September 21, 2011]
• With 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Gone, Gay Sailor's Mother Can Rest [Chicago Heights Patch, September 22, 2011]

A small American flag with the words "God Bless America" is taped to the front window Dorothy Hajdys-Clausen's home. In November of 1992 that American flag was presented to Dorothy at the gravesite of her son Allen Schindler Jr.

Schindler was murdered Oct. 27, 1992 in Japan. His murder was classified as a hate crime many years later. The reason, because he was gay and could no longer conceal that while serving in the U.S. Navy.

Sept. 20, was the day Dorothy fought for and called politicians over. She's been praying to God for a change, to let gays and lesbians not be afraid because of who they are.

"I'm so happy 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' got repealed." Dorothy said. "I just hope now there will be no more deaths like Allen Schindler's."

• The night Republicans booed a soldier [Salon, September 22, 2011]

Once again, Republicans held a presidential debate on Thursday night. And once again, the live audience helped give the party a black eye.

The debate, which took place in Orlando, Fla., and aired on Fox News, included questions from a panel of Fox personalities and from voters, who were invited to submit theirs through YouTube. The crowd's big moment came in the second hour, when the topic turned to social issues.

"This question stirred up a whole lot of controversy online," Fox's Megyn Kelly said as she introduced a video submission. "It comes from Stephen Hill, who is a soldier stationed in Iraq."

Hill, wearing a gray "ARMY" T-shirt, then appeared on-screen and told the candidates that he is gay and that he had been forced to lie about his identity when he was deployed to Iraq in 2010 because he didn't want to lose his job. He then asked if the candidates would "do anything to circumvent the progress that's been made for gay and lesbian soldiers" now that the "don't ask, don't tell, policy has been officially repealed.

His video then ended and ... a handful of very loud boos erupted in the debate hall. Otherwise there was silence -- not one cheer for an active-duty soldier asking the candidates if they'd let him continue serving his country without lying. No other voter-submitted question all night elicited such a harsh response.

• The Battle Over Don't Ask Don't Tell Was Won, But Are LGBT Activists in Danger of Losing the War? [AlterNet, September 22, 2011]

The fight for open military service and its fellow traditionalist cause, freedom to marry, have transformed gay politics, and they've transformed gay Americans as well. They've changed our ambitions, and perhaps not for the best.

The Aids epidemic, which has not gone away and is in fact getting worse in big cities like New York, has fallen into obscurity. So have struggles to reform employment laws to protect gays from discrimination. And most glaringly of all, the freedom that the Stonewall generation fought for, freedom of sexual desire, no longer has many defenders.

• Effort to Repeal DOMA Picks Up Republican Support [Box Turtle Bulletin, September 23, 2011]

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) has signed on as cosponsor of the Respect for Marriage Act, a proposed bill that would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. Ros-Lehtinen's consponsorship now give the RMA bipartisan support:

        "I voted against the constitutional amendment defining marriage [in 2006] so I'm pleased to cosponsor the repeal of DOMA and work with my colleagues on marriage equality," said Ros-Lehtinen, who represents Florida's 18th district, which includes South Beach, most sections of Miami, and the Florida Keys.

        Though the south Florida representative has a long history of voting in favor of LGBT rights, her decision to join 124 House Democrats in cosponsoring the Respect for Marriage Act nevertheless is a bold move, given the Republican House leadership's defense of DOMA in multiple legal challenges after the Obama administration announced in February it would no longer defend the law.

• Johnson "Embarrased" By Booing of American Soldier, Other Candidates Refuse To Comment [Box Turtle Bulletin, September 24, 2011]
• Discharged gay sailor re-enlists in Navy Reserves [CNN, September 24, 2011]
• After DADT, Military Recruiters Target Gays & Lesbians [Bilerico, September 24, 2011]
• Part 4: Becoming Law: On Sept. 21, 1996, President Clinton signed DOMA into law — a turning point for the marriage debate that left a mark of discrimination still on the books [Metro Weekly, September 29, 2011]
• Federal appeals court tosses gay ban lawsuit [Army Times, September 29, 2011]

A federal appeals court refused Thursday to decide the constitutionality of the now-repealed "don't ask, don't tell," saying the issue has been resolved since Americans can enlist and serve in the armed forces without regard to sexual orientation.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco tossed out a lawsuit that had challenged the military policy as a violation of gay service members' civil rights. In doing so, the appeals court also dismissed a southern California trial judge's year-old ruling that the policy was unconstitutional.

The gay rights group Log Cabin Republicans filed the lawsuit in 2004 challenging the policy. The group's lawyer, Dan Woods, said he would ask the full 9th Circuit to review the panel's decision.

The group recently argued the lower court ruling, which also barred enforcement of "don't ask, don't tell," should remain in effect despite this month's repeal because future administrations and lawmakers could reintroduce a ban on gay service.

The three judges strongly disagreed in their Thursday opinion, saying the case is moot because there is nothing left to challenge regarding the policy enacted as section 654.

"This suit became moot when the repeal of section 654 took effect on Sept. 20," the ruling said. "If Log Cabin filed suit today seeking a declaration that section 654 is unconstitutional or an injunction against its application (or both), there would be no Article III controversy because there is no section 654."

The panel specifically rejected Log Cabins' assertion that the appeals court should decide the underlying constitutional issues to prevent future limitations or outright bans on military service by gay and lesbian Americans.

"We cannot say with virtual certainty that the Congress that passed the Repeal Act - or a future Congress whose composition, agenda, and circumstances we cannot know - will reenact don't ask, don't tell," the judges said. "We can only speculate, and our speculation cannot breathe life into this case."

• Mullen Says 'There Haven't Been Any Incidents' Since Repeal Of DADT, Dodges Marriage Equality Question [Think Progress, September 30, 2011]

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen: The question I get is about benefits. And there are some benefits, clearly, that are -- that accrue to the change which has already taken place, and there are other benefits which are brought up which are directly tied to DOMA, which is the Defense of Marriage Act, which is a law in the country -- and we follow the law. And until -- if and when that changes -- I mean, we'll follow whatever law is out there. Right now -- so there are benefits that DOMA has tied up by virtue of what -- the details that it specifically lays out and so until that changes, there's not going to be any change to the benefits.

• Pentagon To Allow Military Chaplains To Perform Same-Sex Marriages In Some States [Think Progress, September 30, 2011]

The Pentagon will allow military chaplains to perform same-sex wedding ceremonies in states where gay marriage is legal, the Advocate Magazine's Andrew Harmon is now reporting. The Pentagon also says "Defense Department property may be used for private functions, including religious and other ceremonies such as same-sex unions, as long as it's not prohibited by state or local laws."

• Amanda Terkel: DADT Repealed: Gay Active-Duty Servicemembers Wear Uniforms At Human Rights Campaign Dinner [Huffington Post, October 1, 2011]

The 15th annual fundraising dinner for the Human Rights Campaign on Saturday was different from past events for one big reason: Openly gay active-duty servicemembers were able to wear their military uniforms without any fear of retribution.

Ret. Staff Sgt. Eric Alva, a gay veteran who has been an outspoken supporter of LGBT rights, was the first Marine seriously wounded in the Iraq War. He was also right by President Obama's side when he signed into law the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," which barred gay and lesbian individuals from serving openly in the U.S. military.

• Thank You Admiral Mullen for Your Service to LGBs [LGBT|POV, October 1, 2011]
• USS Spruance ceremony leaves little doubt about end of DADT, gay controversy [Miami Herald, October 2, 2011]

The U.S. Navy's newest destroyer, USS Spruance, was officially commissioned last night at a Key West ceremony in Key West that left no doubt about how many top military commanders feel about gay soldiers or sailors.

They don't really care. And they're happy they don't have to deal with Don't Ask Don't Tell anymore. ...

Key West maritime artist David Harrison Wright, who painted an official watercolor of the Spruance, which will hang in the ship, alerted us to the comments.

Uss-spraunce "What the commander said was meaningful. After all these years, I couldn't believe I heard that at an official military ceremony," said Wright, a former charter sailboat captain who is also gay and attended the ceremony. "The fact he said it in Key West, of course, was even more meaningful."

• Boehner set to waste $1 million of taxpayer money on bad DOMA defense [Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, October 4, 2011]
• Most [Republicans] support gays serving openly in military, says CBS News poll [CBS News, October 4, 2011]

Moreover, although many national Republicans leaders were against the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," more Republicans surveyed favor the idea of allowing gays and lesbians to serve in the armed forces openly than oppose it.

• OutServe Releases Code Of Conduct For Leadership Summit Attendees In Hopes Of Avoiding Negative Publicity [Huffington Post, October 12, 2011]

According to OutServe's website, the conference will enhance "military readiness through encouraging an environment of respect with regard to sexual orientation and gender identity" by offering the LGBT military community "a means of building professional networks, sharing best practices and formulating strategies that help build a stronger military community."

• Denied Veterans Benefits Over Same-Sex Marriage, Ex-Sailor Challenges Law [New York Times, October 12, 2011]

In what experts say is the first case of its kind, a disabled Navy veteran from Connecticut is challenging the constitutionality of two federal laws that define marriage as being between opposite-sex partners, saying the government denied her veterans benefits because she is married to a woman.

The former sailor, Carmen Cardona of Norwich, married her partner in Connecticut last year. But when she applied for an increase in her monthly disability compensation because she was newly married, the Department of Veterans Affairs regional office in Hartford rejected her application, citing a federal statute that defines a spouse as "a person of the opposite sex."

In a case to be filed before the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, a special federal court in Washington that handles disputes over veterans benefits, Ms. Cardona's legal team from the Veterans Legal Services Clinic at Yale Law School will argue that the government's definition violates her Fifth Amendment right to due process. The lawyers intend to file their notice to appeal on Thursday.

• Air Force Academy Cadets Decide They Must Pretend To Be Fundamentalist Christians [AlterNet, October 13, 2011]

A little over a year ago, a cadet at the Air Force Academy emailed the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) to tell us about an "underground" group of about a hundred Academy cadets who, in order to maintain good standing among their peers and superiors at the Academy, were actually pretending to be fundamentalist Christians. Their charade included leaving Bibles, Christian literature, and Christian music CDs laying around their rooms; attending fundamentalist Christian Bible studies; and feigning devoutness at the Academy's weekly "Special Programs in Religious Education" (SPIRE) programs. This group of cadets had decided to resort to doing whatever they had to do to play the role of the "right kind" of Christian cadets, all the while living in constant fear of being "outed."

In the words of the cadet who wrote to MRFF last year, who described himself as "kind of the leader" of this underground group: "If any of us gave even the slightest indication that we weren't one of their number, our lives would be even more miserable than they already are due to the fact that we are all living lies here. Despite the Cadet Honor Code we all lie about our lives. We have to."

Who makes up this group of over a hundred cadets who feel that they must pretend to be such devoted fundamentalist Christians? Well, surprisingly, they are mostly Christians - both mainline Protestants and Catholics - who aren't "Christian enough" or the "right kind" of Christians for the Air Force Academy. The rest of the group is made up of other assorted heathens, which include members of non-Christian religions, agnostics, and atheists.

• Amanda Terkel: DOMA Repeal Moves Forward In Senate Judiciary Committee [Huffington Post, October 14, 2011]
• Look Who's at OutServe — the CIA [LGBT|POV, October 15, 2011]
• Andrea Stone: Gays In Military: 'Inclusion Without Equality Is Incomplete' [Huffington Post, October 15, 2011]
• Karen Golinski Lawsuit: House Argues Gays And Lesbians Not Entitled To Same Protections As Minorities [Huffington Post, October 15, 2011]
• Andrea Stone: SLDN To Sue Over Military Benefits For Spouses Of Gay Troops [Huffington Post, October 17, 2011]
• Lesbian Marine, 2 Others Discharged for Faking Marriages [Edge Boston, October 18, 2011]
• Lawmaker Requests Hearing On GOP's Defense Of DOMA [Think Progress, October 18, 2011]

Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA), the ranking member on the House Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee, is requesting a hearing on House Speaker's John Beohner's (R-OH) "irresponsible, backdoor use of taxpayer money to pay the private law firm Bancroft PLLC to represent the House in support of the constitutionally-questionable Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)," he announced in a press release. The legal team that Boehner and the Republicans hired has come under harsh criticism for arguing that homosexuality is a choice, misrepresenting research, and relying on such experts as ex-gay advocate George Rekers and the National Organization for Marriage's Maggie Gallagher. House Democrats are also calling on Boehner to hold a a briefing on his efforts, which are have cost taxpayers more than a million dollars.

• Gay Veterans Will Have Their Day in Court [ACLU, October 18, 2011]

One of those legacies is the Defense Department's separation pay policy for discharged service members. If you serve six years in the military and are then discharged involuntarily, Congress says you're entitled to separation pay to help ease your transition to civilian life. But the DOD has an internal policy - not required by any statute - of cutting that separation pay in half if you're discharged, even honorably, for "homosexuality."

Let's be clear: Many of those who were discharged under DADT were distinguished soldiers, airmen or cadets and had an unblemished record. They were service members in good standing, and there was nothing dishonorable about their discharge. Yet they are denied the same separation pay as other honorably discharged service members merely because they're gay or lesbian.

• Gay Service Member to Attend Military Event with Partner [The Advocate, October 19, 2011]

Chief Warrant Officer Charlie Morgan, who returned recently from a deployment in Kuwait and made headlines when she came out in the national media following repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," said earlier this week that she was not authorized to bring her partner of 11 years to a required-attendance Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program event.

On Tuesday, New Hampshire senator Jean Shaheen sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta regarding the matter and urged the department to "allow same-sex couples to participate in all future DOD family events."

Pentagon spokeswoman Eileen Lainez told The Advocate late Wednesday that same-sex partners or spouses are allowed to attend such events:

        "According to applicable law and DOD policy, a member of the uniformed services who is eligible to attend a Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program event may designate one or more people of his/her choosing to attend," Lainez said in an email response.

Shaheen, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a Wednesday statement, "This is terrific news for Charlie Morgan and her family. But this is just one small part of a much larger problem. We have a fundamental inequity in our policy, which has created two classes of soldiers. It isn't fair and it has to end."

• Senate Judiciary Committee to Take Up DOMA Repeal [Edge Boston, October 25, 2011]

The Senate Judiciary Committee is poised to take up a bill that would extend "Respect" to all American families--and repeal the anti-gay law form 1996 that forbids any federal level recognition of same-sex couples.

The bill has little chance of gaining senate approval given that Republicans have enough support in the chamber to muster a filibuster against it, noted the Washington Times in an Oct. 25 article.

The chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Patrick J. Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont, said on Oct. 25 that the committee would take up the bill, titled the Respect for Marriage Act.

Part of the provisions of the bill call for the repeal of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which singles out gay and lesbian families for exclusion from any type of federal recognition and allows states to ignore one form of legal contract in spite of the Constitution's "full faith and credit" clause, which guarantees that legal contracts entered into in any one state will be honored on all states.

• Gay troops to file suit challenging Defense of Marriage Act [Washington Post, October 27, 2011]

Gay and lesbian service members and veterans plan to file suit Thursday challenging the constitutionality of the federal ban on gay marriage and federal policy that define a spouse as a person of the opposite sex.

• Frank Bruni: Race, Religion and Same-Sex Marriage [New York Times, October 31 , 2011]

Without drawing much attention to it yet, one of the leading groups promoting same-sex marriage has taken an interesting tack, one that implicitly acknowledges the complicated relationship between gay Americans and another minority group not firmly on their side.

• Rep John L Lewis Joins 100+ House Members to Define Dissent from Boehner's DOMA Effort [Fire Dog Lake, November 1, 2011]
• Tony adams: An Ideal Soldier for Our First Post-DADT Veterans Day [10,000 Couples, November 1, 2011]

The unrelenting ordinariness of gay vet Bronson Lemer makes him the perfect face and voice of the first post-DADT Veterans Day. It also makes him as sexy as two of his better-known fellow gay vets whom I have had the honor of interviewing repeatedly, the fiery preacher Dan Choi and the magnetic heartthrob Reichen Lehmkuhl. Bronson Lemer is a regular, standard-issue American guy. I heard this in his unrehearsed voice during our conversation about the upcoming holiday, and about his recently published book describing his deployment in Iraq.

• Michael Cole-Schwartz: New Report Shows Children Are the Real Victims of Anti-LGBT Laws and Stigma [Huffington Post, November 1, 2011]

One of the oft-repeated arguments for excluding gay and lesbian couples from marriage is that it will somehow "protect children." People like Maggie Gallagher of the National Organization for Marriage want Americans to believe that if only we lock the doors to marriage and don't let anyone but straight couples in, children will be healthy, happy and safe from harm. But a new report from our movement colleagues at the Center for American Progress, the Family Equality Council and the Movement Advancement Project makes clear that children are actually the victims of the laws and stigma that disadvantage lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adults.

• NH anti-marriage amendment dropped [Box Turtle Bulletin, November 2, 2011]

And as for that bill winding its way through the legislature, it appears to me to have been crafted with pleasing special interest groups in mind, not for actually becoming law. ...

And should the bill pass the legislature, to override Gov. Lynch's veto would require two-thirds of those present and voting. I'm fairly sure that a number of legislators, having voted to "protect marriage" once, will be 'sadly unavailable due to an unexpected family emergency' when it comes time for a veto override vote. They too have seen the polls.

• Poll: Support for gay marriage continues to rise [Los Angeles Times, November 3, 2011]
• Atheist Army Sergeant Unleashes on the Bully Known as JD the Christian Fighter Pilot [Free Thought Blog, November 3, 2011]

For the past three years, an atheist Army sergeant has had to remain silent as lie after lie was told about him by an Air Force Major named Jonathan Dowty. Major Dowty, a.k.a. JD the Christian Fighter Pilot, is a Christian officer who belongs to the Officers' Christian Fellowship (OCF), an organization that thinks the real duty of a military officer is to raise up "a spiritually transformed military, with ambassadors for Christ in uniform, empowered by the Holy Spirit."

As a devout Christian officer, Major Dowty has made it a practice to publicly attack and defame atheist and other non-Christian enlisted service members by name, knowing that they can't respond to defend themselves because he's an active duty officer, so it would be insubordinate for them to respond to him.

Major Dowty has relentlessly targeted five particular service members on his christianfighterpilot.com blog - three atheists and one Muslim in the Army, and one Air Force tech sergeant who practices an earth-centered religion. All of these service members are or have been clients of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), and include my fellow blogger here on Freethought Blogs, foxhole atheist SGT Justin Griffith.

• Bipartisan group reframes case for legalizing gay marriage [USA Today, November 6, 2011]

The "Commitment Campaign," which is spearheaded by the centrist Democrat group Third Way and will be publicly launched today, has won support from Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat; Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee, an independent and former Republican; former New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman, a Republican; and Ken Mehlman, former chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Advocates have long made the case that legalizing marriage for gays and lesbians is a matter of equality, but those who frame the issue that way might be reinforcing a belief among many Americans in the middle on the issue that gays and lesbians want to marry for different reasons than straight couples, according to polling by Third Way and Grove Insight.

When asked why "couples like you" might want to marry, 58% said to "publicly acknowledge their love and commitment to each other." When asked why gays and lesbians may want to marry, the respondents split between "love and commitment" and "rights and benefits."

• Deportation Working Group Review Includes an LGBT Liaison [The Advocate, November 7, 2011]
• Senate panel approves DOMA repeal legislation [Washington Blade, November 10, 2011]

The Senate Judiciary Committee reported the legislation to the floor by a vote of 10-8 along a party-line basis. The committee vote marks the first-time ever that any component of Congress has voted to repeal DOMA, which prohibits federal recognition of same-sex marriage, since it was first enacted in 1996.

Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) in his opening statement said legislation to repeal DOMA, which is known as the Respect for Marriage Act, is necessary because "thousands of American families are now being treated unfairly by their federal government."

"They are shunted aside - singled out from all other marriages recognized by their states," Leahy said. "This unfairness must end. The Respect for Marriage Act would provide for the equal treatment of all lawful treatment of all lawful marriages in this country by repealing DOMA."

• Local activists reflect on meaning of today's San Diego Veteran's Parade [San Diego Gay Lesbian News, November , 2011]

In 1954 President Eisenhower called upon all of our citizens to observe November 11th as Veterans Day and that the entire citizenry will join hands to insure proper and widespread observance of this day.

Since 1954 every US President, every year, has renewed this call to our citizens."

That doesn't mean to honor some veterans; it was meant to refer to all veterans, even LGBT veterans, but that hasn't always been the case.

Here in San Diego, the Veterans United have put on a Veteran's Day parade for decades to help honor and celebrate our local and national veterans in a way the community can take part in.

Thanks to the local chapter of American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER), LGBT veterans have been marching in the annual San Diego Veteran's parade for over ten years.

But today -- just one and a half months after the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" -- for the first time, openly gay and lesbian service members will be able to march proudly -- in uniform if they wish -- down Harbor Drive along with the other contingents.

• Editorial: A Long, Winding Road to Marriage Equality [New York Times, November 12, 2011]
• San Diego mayor urges Congress to overturn Defense of Marriage Act [Los Angeles Times, November 14, 2011]
• Ruling: Gay marriage foes can fight for Prop. 8 in federal court [Christian Science Monitor, November 17, 2011]

In a unanimous ruling, the state high court said the proponents of Proposition 8 - the ballot initiative that amended the California constitution to restrict marriage to heterosexual couples - are authorized under California law to defend the measure because state officials are refusing to do so.

The issue arises in an ongoing challenge to Proposition 8 designed to overturn the measure and establish a federal constitutional right to same-sex marriage.

• Rev. Susan Russell: Equal Protection Isn't Equal Protection Unless It Equally Protects [Huffington Post, November 18, 2011]

The California Supreme Court ruling giving legal standing to an unelected, unappointed mob committed to taking away fundamental rights from LGBT Californians was a disappointment. But more important than the decision giving supporters of marriage discrimination the right to appeal is the decision they're appealing. And that decision is Judge Walker's ruling that taking fundamental rights away from equally protected American citizens is fundamentally unconstitutional.

Because what is at stake in the Proposition 8 challenge is not just the future of marriage for some Californians but the history of fundamental values for all Americans.

• Federal domestic partnership benefits bill introduced [Box Turtle Bulletin, November 18, 2011]

At that time she told the assembled crowd that she would be co-sponsoring a bill with Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) to recognize the domestic partners of federal employees and offer benefits equivalent to those offered to spouses. Today that bill was introduced.

"I am pleased to co-sponsor this legislation because we are a nation that prides itself on treating everyone as equals and this bill assures that we bring those same ideals to the regulations that guide federal benefits for domestic partners of federal employees," said Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen. "We have taken steps to gain equal rights for all but much remains to be done. Passage of this legislation will be one step in the right direction. I am pleased that the Senate has also introduced a similar bill," she said.

• Lisa McElroy and Amanda Frost: Can a Judge Be Biased Because He Is Gay? [Hufington Post, November 22, 2011]

The truth is that every judge comes with a race, gender, sexuality, family, friends, and a host of other biological characteristics and personal experiences that color their view of the world. That's a good thing. We want black (and white) judges to decide cases about affirmative action. We want female (and male) judges to decide cases about gender discrimination. And we want gay (and straight) judges to decide questions about same sex marriage. Even if we could find race-less, gender-less, asexual hermits to serve as our judges, why would we want such isolated individuals to address the vital issues facing our society? Rather than try to strip judges of their humanity, we should instead seek to fill judgeships with thoughtful people who strive to understand perspectives that differ from their own and remain neutral when deciding cases questioning viewpoints they personally hold.

And there's a bigger issue here: the public's confidence in our system of justice. Under federal law, litigants may have the right to seek to disqualify a judge who they believe to be biased -- an important safety valve to protect litigants in those rare cases in which a judge has a real conflict of interest and yet refuses to step aside. But such challenges to a judge's partiality should be used sparingly. Lawyers who seek to remove a judge because of a judge's gender, race, sexuality, or some other immutable characteristic undermine the principle (lofty as it may be) that our courts are forums where we decide cases based on the merits, not on political ideology.

• National Defense Authorization Act: Provision Repeals Military Ban On Sodomy [Edge Boston, December 8, 2011]
• Aaron Hicklin: 2011: A good year to be gay [The Guardian, December 11, 2011]
• Prop 8 Trial: City Of San Francisco Asks Court For Advance Notice Of Decision [Huffington Post, December 15, 2011]
• Prop 8 Repeal Initiative OKed for Signature-Gathering [LGBT|POV, December 16, 2011]

Love Honor Cherish's ballot initiative proposed by gay attorney Thomas B. Watson to repeal Prop 8 was cleared on Thursday by the California Sec. of State to start gathering signatures. The Los Angeles-based grassroots group has until May 14, 2012 to collect 807,615 valid signatures in order to qualify for the Nov. 2012 ballot.

• New Jersey Senator Announces Support for DOMA Repeal Bill [The Advocate, December 18, 2011]

In a Sunday op-ed, New Jersey senator Robert Menendez announced his support for a bill that would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.

"Since my vote in favor of the Defense of Marriage Act 15 years ago, like tens of millions of Americans, I have reflected deeply and frequently about this issue," Sen. Menendez wrote in the New Jersey Star-Ledger.

"During this time, I have engaged in discussions about the issue of marriage equality with friends, family members, colleagues and of course, the people I serve in New Jersey," he continued. "I have heard and listened to many different views. . But for me, this comes down to an issue of fundamental fairness. For me, this comes down to the principles I learned as the child of immigrants and that I cherish as an American: that we believe in equality for all people under the law."

• Women share 'first kiss' on pier after U.S. Navy ship docks [Globe & Mail, December 21, 2011]

A Navy tradition caught up with the repeal of the U.S. military's "don't ask, don't tell" rule on Wednesday when two women sailors became the first to share the coveted "first kiss" on the pier after one of them returned from 80 days at sea.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Gaeta, 22, of Placerville, Calif., descended from the USS Oak Hill amphibious landing ship and shared a quick kiss in the rain with her partner, Petty Officer 3rd Class Citlalic Snell, 22, of Los Angeles.

"It's something new, that's for sure," PO2 Gaeta, 23, told reporters after the kiss. "It's nice to be able to be myself. It's been a long time coming."

• One Year After DADT Repeal, Openly Gay Soldiers In Afghanistan Say They're Better Able To Focus On Mission [Think Progress, December 25, 2011]

One year ago this week, President Obama signed the repeal of the military's discriminatory Don't Ask Don't Tell policy. The repeal has been quite successful; "there has been no widespread resistance" in the military and even previous critics are comfortable with it.

The Navy supported two women sailors who became the first to share a coveted "first kiss" upon the ship's return from sea. Also, a gay sailor who was discharged twice under DADT was readmitted to active duty earlier this month.

ABC's Jake Tapper interviewed a group of five gay soldiers serving in Afghanistan who have come out in the past year. One soldier said, "The most important thing that has changed since the repeal is now we can focus on the mission."

• Washington Governor Gregoire to Introduce Marriage Equality Bill [LGBT|POV, January 4, 2012]

During an extraordinary news conference on Wednesday, Jan. 4, Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire announced that she will introduce a bill to legalize marriage rights for same sex couples at the legislative session that starts on Monday. She told reporters that she does not yet have all the votes - but will get them.

"It's time, it's the right thing to do, and I will introduce a bill to do it," Gregoire said, during a speech webcast live. "I say that as a wife, a mother, a student of the law, and above all as a Washingtonian with a lifelong commitment to equality and freedom. Some say domestic partnerships are the same as marriage. That's a version of the discriminatory 'separate but equal' argument."

• Gay marriage within reach in Washington Legislature [Seattle Times, January 11, 2012]

The AP has reached out to all 49 state senators over the past week and found that more lawmakers are firmly supporting gay marriage than opposing it, by a margin of 21-18. The measure needs 25 votes to pass the Senate.

Five Democrats say they are considering whether to support it, including two who are leaning in favor. A pair of Republicans is among those supporting the proposal, and two first-term GOP members said they were discussing the issue with constituents.

The House is widely expected to have enough support, and Gov. Chris Gregoire publicly endorsed gay marriage for the first time last week.

• Oklahoma Lawmaker Claims DADT Would Stop Promotion Of 'Gay' In The Military [Think Progress, January 13, 2012]

Oklahoma state lawmaker Rep. Mike Reynolds (R) is defending his controversial proposal to force gay and lesbian servicemembers in the state's National Guard back in the closet and reinstate Don't Ask, Don't Tell. In an interview with KXII, Reynolds argued that the measure would stop the promotion of homosexuality and restore the morale of the troops. "It doesn't say if you are gay you cant join the military, if you are gay you can't be in the military, what it says is don't go out there and promote it," Reynolds said. "It was a policy that was in place for 16 years and nobody except a couple of radical activists found any harm in the policy and as a pay off for those radical activists for helping him become elected, President Barack Obama chose to reverse the policy."

• Washington's Catholic Hierarchy Attempts Secular Arguments Against Marriage Equality [Pam's House Blend, January 14, 2012]
• Katie Miller: Reclaiming the Rhetoric of 'Family': 3 Reasons Why Same-Sex Marriage Recognition in the Military Matters [Huffington Post, January 26, 2012]

OutServe, the association of actively serving LGBT military personnel, issued a press release Thursday announcing the Our Families Matter campaign and a Capital Summit in May to address support for military partners and families.

As of Sept. 20, 2011, the military may not be able to discharge gay servicemembers, but they're still allowed to pretend like their families don't exist. The Defense of Marriage Act prohibits federal recognition of same-sex military spouses and subsequently denies the robust partner and family benefits program offered to these servicemembers' straight counterparts.

According to the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, same-sex military couples do not have access to over 100 distinct benefits, including medical and dental insurance, increased housing allowance, relocation accommodation, and surviving spouse benefits.

• Anti-Gay Legislators Try To Prevent Same-Sex Military Marriages - Again [Think Progress, January 27, 2012]
• The New DADT: The Military's Ban on Transgender Service [Out Serve, January, 2012]

Though OutServe boasts an impressive 51 regional chapters, a handful of chapters remain hidden from the public eye. One of most underground of these chapters contains a modest 44 members. Like most chapters, they post videos, share website links, and engage in friendly banter. But they are different. Comprising just less than one percent of the network, they are OutServe's transgender membership.

The repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) means that gays and lesbians can serve openly in the military without fear of discharge.

However, the ban on transgender service remains intact. Gender Identity Disorder (GID) is considered a mental disorder by the American Psychological Association, and the military considers it a medically disqualifying condition. Not only are transgender individuals who wish to join the military prohibited from doing so, but those already serving honorably in the Armed Forces can be ousted if suspected to be transgender or found cross-dressing.

• SPLC Lawsuit Challenges Defense of Marriage Act, VA for Refusing to Recognize Legally Married Same-Sex Couples [SPLC, February 1, 2012]

Tracey Cooper-Harris served for 12 years in the U.S. Army and received multiple commendations. But because she's in a marriage with a person of the same sex, the government refuses to grant her the same disability benefits as heterosexual veterans.

In a federal lawsuit filed today, the SPLC challenged the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as well as the law that governs the Department of Veterans Affairs policy.

• Adam Bink: Why the 9th Circuit Decision on the Prop 8 Tapes Undermines Our Democracy [Huffington Post, February 3, 2012]

Yesterday, Feb. 2, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a district court's previous ruling to release the video recordings of the Perry v. Brown trial. The 2010 trial, about the constitutionality of Proposition 8, a voter-approved constitutional amendment restricting marriage to heterosexual couples, was widely followed, and resulted in a landmark ruling supporting marriage equality under both the Equal Protection and Due Process provisions of the U.S. Constitution. Yesterday's appellate ruling means that the public will not get to watch footage from the historic trial, in a loss for transparency and the free dissemination of information. The plaintiffs working to release the tapes did not yet immediately indicate whether they would appeal the decision.

The Perry trial should have included a public broadcast from the beginning. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker entered the trial into a pilot program begun by the 9th Circuit to allow cameras into the courtroom. That pilot program was specifically created for high-profile, high-interest cases like Perry v. Brown -- cases in which the public would have something to learn from watching the proceedings that occurred in court. Judge Walker sought to gauge public opinion on the broadcast through a public comment period. The results: 138,574 comments in favor (many of them through Courage Campaign's petition, which was ultimately cited in the Supreme Court dissent on the matter), and 32 comments opposed.

• Prop 8 Is Unconstitutional (Again) [Bilerico Project, February 7, 2012]

The three judges who heard the appeal, Judge Stephen Reinhardt, Judge Michael Daly Hawkins, and Judge N. Randy Smith issued their ruling this morning at 1:00m Eastern time. Writing for the court, Judge Reinhardt said:

        We consider whether that amendment violates the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. We conclude that it does.

• Prop 8, California's Same-Sex Marriage Ban, Declared Unconstitutional [Huffington Post, February 7, 2012]

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that a lower court judge correctly interpreted the U.S. Constitution and Supreme Court precedents when he declared in 2010 that Proposition 8 was a violation of the civil rights of gays and lesbians.

The court said gay marriages cannot resume in the state until the deadline passes for Proposition 8 sponsors to appeal to a larger panel of the 9th Circuit. If such an appeal is filed, gay marriages will remain on hold until it's resolved.

Lawyers for Proposition 8 sponsors have repeatedly said they would consider appealing to a larger panel of the court and then the U.S. Supreme Court if they did not receive a favorable ruling from the 9th Circuit.

"Although the Constitution permits communities to enact most laws they believe to be desirable, it requires that there be at least a legitimate reason for the passage of a law that treats different classes of people differently. There was no such reason that Proposition 8 could have been enacted," the ruling states.

The court crafted a narrow decision that applies only to California, even though the court has jurisdiction in nine western states. California is the only one of those states where the ability for gays to marry was granted then rescinded.

• AFER's Griffin, Olson Discuss What's Next For Prop. 8 [The Advocate, February 7, 2012]

The judges decided to "stay the effectiveness of this decision until the mandate is final." The Prop. 8 proponents have two weeks to ask for another hearing by the entire Ninth Circuit court; they also have three months to appeal to the Supreme Court. Olson said AFER is fighting to end the stay so marriages can resume in California. Griffin also expressed hope that California would become the latest state with marriage equality, but said he hopes the Supreme Court brings final word on marriage equality throughout the nation.

"There was some criticism when we announced this case," Griffin told The Advocate. "People thought perhaps it was going too fast, too soon. I believe we have to be on a path as quickly as possible to get full federal permanent equality, not equality through political campaigns. That's why that was decided in a court of law and that's why historically in this country, fundamental constitutional rights have been advanced by our courts. That's where they should be determined, one's fundamental constitutional rights should never be determined by the will of the people or by who has the best ads or the most money. Today, I'm so proud to be an American on a day when our courts stood up for our full equality. And very soon in the state of California, marriages will resume."

Olson also pointed out that while the judges split 2-1 on the question of Prop. 8's constitutionality, all three dismissed claims by Prop. 8 proponents that federal judge Vaughn Walker, who struck down Prop. 8 in 2010, should have recused himself from the case because he's in a same-sex relationship.

AFER attorney Ted Boutrous appeared dubious as to the Supreme Court taking the Prop. 8 case, seeing the appellate decision as pertaining specifically to California, which already grants gay couples the same rights as marriage through domestic partnerships. The appellate decision said that California sees no benefit from creating a separate class of marriage.

"We anticipate the proponents of Proposition 8 will seek Supreme Court review," Boutrous said. "The way the Ninth Circuit crafted their decision, they were very careful. The logic of the Romer v. Evans case and the Lawrence v. Texas cases [which appellate panel referenced] are unassailable. It followed what the Supreme Court said. The way the court wrote the decision will make it much harder for the proponents to get Supreme Court review. That said, when we brought this case three years ago, we thought this was a case that should be decided by the Supreme Court."

• David Groshoff: Judge N. Randy Smith's Dissent in Today's Prop 8 Ruling: A Preview of Vacuous Arguments to Come? [Huffington Post, February 7, 2012]

No surprise should exist that despite the well-written and narrowly approached opinion by the majority in today's Prop 8 decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Circuit Judge N. Randy Smith wrote a weak and ridiculous dissent that provides some preview of what may happen should this case reach the United States Supreme Court.

Smith is an appointee of George W. Bush and a 1977 graduate of Brigham Young University's (BYU's) J. Reuben Clark Law School. And Smith seemed to be following the lead of a current BYU law professor, Lynn Wardle, who not only teaches at Smith's alma mater but whose name also appears in the "Counsel Listing" on the Prop 8 case in his capacity with the anti-gay Marriage Law Project at BYU's law school. Professor Wardle is notorious for anti-gay rhetoric that includes comparing gay people with rapists, child molesters, and drunk drivers. Meanwhile, earlier this week, the CEO of the largest affiliated controlling shareholder of my law school made a video supporting equal marriage rights.

Following Professor Wardle's lead at his alma mater, Judge Smith gratuitously quoted Antonin Scalia's dissent in Lawrence v. Texas (in other words, Scalia's losing position in that case), the case that struck down all sodomy laws among consenting adults in the U.S., in Smith's Prop 8 dissent. Why? So Smith could copy Wardle's and Scalia's invective by comparing same-sex couples seeking to be married in California with people who engage in "adult incest ... [and] bestiality" as apparently similar "moral choices." But Smith's dissent transparently represents the same tired argument trotted out by social conservatives time and again for little more than the effect of sadly getting those canards into the dissenting opinion. ...

Judge Smith's dissent showed us the degree of vacuous reasoning employed by those people and groups opposed to restoring the equal application of marriage rights to same-sex couples in California, should this case continue, either in an en banc hearing or at the U.S. Supreme Court.

• Carlos A. Ball: Why the Proposition 8 Ruling Has a Good Chance of Being Affirmed by the Supreme Court [Huffington Post, February 8, 2012]

It is easy to forget, at a time when the question of same-sex marriage dominates the current debates over gay rights, that one of the most important gay rights issues twenty short years ago was whether voters could enact state constitutional amendments prohibiting the enactment of laws protecting lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals from discrimination. In a 1996 opinion called Romer v. Evans, the Supreme Court held that such state constitutional amendments violated the federal constitution.

The Romer case arose because gay rights opponents in Colorado were able to persuade a majority of state voters that when municipalities like Denver and Boulder enacted laws prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination, they were conferring "special rights" on gay people. But the Supreme Court, in an opinion written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, concluded that the Colorado constitutional amendment impermissibly targeted gay people and deprived them of significant legal rights enjoyed by all other citizens.

The federal appellate court opinion striking down Proposition 8 relies extensively on Justice Kennedy's ruling in Romer. Proposition 8, like the Colorado constitutional amendment in Romer, singles out a group of individuals for disfavored status and deprives them of rights they previously enjoyed. The California Supreme Court, prior to Proposition 8, had held that same-sex couples had a constitutional right to marry. Proposition 8, the federal appellate court has now concluded, is unconstitutional because it denies gay people of that pre-existing right without a valid justification.

• Michelangelo Signorile: Rosie O'Donnell, Harvey Fierstein And Other LGBT Media Figures Sound Off On Prop 8 Ruling [Huffington Post, February 8, 2012]
• Washington Legislature is First in the Nation to Reverse its DOMA Mistake and Pass a Marriage Equality Bill [Pam's House Blend, February 8, 2012]

Fifteen years ago the Washington state Legislature overrode Gov. Gary Locke's veto and passed the discriminatory "defense of marriage act" (DOMA) to prevent gay and lesbian couples from obtaining civil marriage licenses. Today the Washington state Legislature became the first in the nation to correct its DOMA mistake and pass a marriage equality bill.

The bill (SB 6239) passed on bipartisan votes in the House today (55 to 43) and last week in the Senate (28 to 21). It now heads to Governor Gregoire's desk for her signature.

The reasons for the legislature's historic shift on marriage equality are no mystery. It is the result of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people being out to our family, friends, co-workers and fellow church members. By now, members of our communities know that lots of folks they interact with every day, care about and respect - from doctors to daughters to carpenters to constituents - are LGBT.

• Prop. 8 ruling: why it might not go the the Supreme Court [Christian Science Monitor, February 8, 2012]
• Robert P. Jones, Ph.D.: Retiring Old Assumptions About Religious People and Same-Sex Marriage [Huffington Post, February 8, 2012]

Recently, Democratic Washington State Senator Mary Margaret Haugen offered evidence that the same-sex marriage debate has moved past the old battle lines between secular proponents and religious foes. Sen. Haugen tipped the scales for supporters of a same-sex marriage bill in the Washington legislature when she announced that she would support the measure. Her decision, she explained, was grounded in her "strong Christian beliefs" and her desire to "live by the Golden Rule." Sen. Haugen's distinctly religious logic echoed Washington Governor Chris Gregoire, who is a practicing Catholic. Gregoire strongly endorsed her state's same-sex marriage bill after opposing marriage equality for most of her time as governor.

• Ruth Bader Ginsburg Questions Timing Of Roe v. Wade, Gives Hint On Same-Sex Marriage Issue [Huffington Post, February 10, 2012]

"It's not that the judgment was wrong, but it moved too far too fast," Ginsburg told a symposium at Columbia Law School marking the 40th anniversary of her joining the faculty as its first tenure-track female professor. ...

A similar dynamic is now unfolding in regard to same-sex marriage, which is legal in six states, could soon be legal in a few more, but remains outlawed in most states. Legal advocates on both sides of the issue wonder if the Supreme Court will want to have a say on the matter relatively soon, or let the state-by-state process evolve further. Ginsburg did not comment on that issue.

• Charlotte Robinson: Exclusive: Ted Olson and David Boies React to Last Week's Prop 8 Ruling [Huffington Post, February 13, 2012]

This historic audio recording is with members of the press, AFER Board President Chad Griffin, and lead co-counsel Ted Olson and David Boies. In his opening remarks about this enormous victory for our LGBT community, Ted Olson stated:

        The very first words that we spoke when the trial began in San Francisco was that this case is about marriage and equality. It's about the right to marry, and this decision today affirms the importance in American society of the right to marry. The very proponents who opposed us in this case talked about how important marriage was. The difference is that they wanted to keep it for themselves. They wanted to deny this relationship, this institution, this building block of our society, the most fundamental right according to the Supreme Court that we have in America. They wanted to deny that right to a large segment of our society because they felt that those persons were unequal or undeserving and should be treated differently under the California Constitution. This case was about marriage, and it's also about freedom and decency: How we are going to treat our fellow citizens, our brothers and sisters, our cousins and our neighbors? Are we going to treat them with the same dignity that we ourselves enjoy in this country? The District Court earlier and the Ninth Circuit today ringingly reaffirmed the right to equality, the fundamental right to marriage, and the fact that it cannot be denied to citizens on the basis of their sexual orientation or the basis of sex. This is a very significant milepost on the way to equality in this country. We're not there yet. One of these days soon, I suspect, I feel strongly that we will be. So this is a very important decision, and it was 80 pages of tightly reasoned, very thoughtfully articulated Supreme Court analysis, so we are one major step forward, and we're very grateful to the Ninth Court for upholding the right of the citizens in California.

• Jelena Hasbrouck: Sacrosanct: Justice Anthony Kennedy, the Constitution and Marriage Equality [Huffington Post, February 14, 2012]

Some experts argue that Kennedy is not willing to offer an opinion that effectively states gay marriage is a constitutional right because of such a ruling's highly political nature. However, this way of thinking ignores not only Kennedy's history in rulings, but also his astute dedication to both the rule of law and his position on the court.

Far from being a leftist ideologue or right-wing strict constructionist, Kennedy has affirmed the Boy Scouts' right to discriminate and a woman's right to choose. He has struck down both affirmative action and anti-sodomy laws. Kennedy is often seen as a flip flopper, but his decisions speak more to a foundational concept of individual liberty than to confusion in his jurisprudence. To him, the Constitution is clear on the government role in honoring our rights as individuals, from freedom of speech to the equal protection clause.

• First gay group forms on U.S. military base [Windy City Times, February 14, 2012]

A group of about 75 people made history Feb. 13 at the Great Lakes Naval Station, north of Chicago.

It was the first public meeting of Gay, Lesbian and Supporting Sailors ( GLASS ) , believed to be the first non-academy, general base-sanctioned gay support group on any U.S. base in the world.

The Coast Guard can boast of having the first gay-straight alliance at a service academy, and such academies are located on a base.

The GLASS organizational charter was signed Feb. 10, and already other U.S. bases, including in Japan, have asked to see the bylaws to replicate the group in their areas. GLASS is thus an official Chartered organization of Great Lakes Naval Station.

This means that it is given the same weight and attention as the First Class Association, Chief's Mess, or any other Command-sanctioned organization.

GLASS, the brainchild of 25-year-old Petty Officer Ann Foster, got off to an emotional start at the meeting, held on base. Base Commander Robert Sullivan and other officers, sailors, friends, and representatives of LGBT groups celebrated the historic evening.

• DOJ Says It Will Not Defend Law Denying Spousal Benefits to Veterans in Same-Sex Marriages [SPLC, February 17, 2012]
• Federal judge finds DOMA denial of benefits unconstitutional [Daily Kos, February 22, 2012]
• DOMA Ruling: House Of Representatives Appealing Judge's Decision On Gay Spousal Benefits [Huffington Post, February 24, 2012]

• WATCH: Star-Studded Performance Of Proposition 8 Play Now On YouTube [Think Progress, March 4, 2012]
• : The New Way Forward [OutServe, April, 2012]

The armed services have traditionally reflected the society they are sworn to defend. However, with the elimination of the draft, the military has moved to the political and cultural right, and so has the military chaplaincy. Today, partially as a result of a determined effort by some evangelical groups, chaplains endorsed by socially conservative denominations are in the majority within the military. Consequently, they exerted a significant and negative influence in the long and laborious journey to repeal DADT. ...

In their Covenant and Code of Ethics, the National Conference on Ministry to the Armed Forces (NCMAF), the largest agency charged with endorsing chaplain candidates for military service, affirms a pluralistic ministry for all endorsed chaplains. The Code states, "I understand as a chaplain in the United States Armed Forces that I will function in a pluralistic environment with chaplains of other religious bodies to provide for ministry to all military personnel and their families entrusted to my care." It is a code, which most service members can support, and NCMAF should hold their member organizations accountable for honoring it as they care for America's troops.

Army chaplains perform their ministries under the motto, "Pro Deo et Patria," for God and country. They, like all military chaplains, have a dual allegiance. They are endorsed as clergy by their respective faith groups, and commissioned as officers in the U.S. military. They must honor their oaths of office while remaining faithful to their distinctive religious faith - no easy task! Now that DADT has been repealed and gay and lesbian troops can serve openly, a higher level of professionalism and trust will be required of all military chaplains.

Will chaplains help bring an end to bigotry and bullying, or will they object on religious grounds and foster discrimination? Will there be a collision between chaplains most concerned about their own religious freedom, and service members who demand respect and equality from their chaplains and other military leaders? Will service members, like Airman Phillips, receive support from their chaplain when difficult family issues arise, such as a mother's concern for her son's "spiritual well-being?"

• A.J. Walkley: Command Sergeant Major Allegedly Assaults Lesbian Captain at Military Ball [HuffPo, April 20, 2012]

Last Saturday, April 14, 2012, I came across a troubling post in one of the groups I belong to on Facebook. A soldier in the United States military wrote, "I was just shoved across the dance floor by my command sergeant major for being gay...lovely end to my active duty career."

The comments started flowing, and the soldier -- we'll call her Lucy (not her real name) -- who currently holds the rank of Captain, continued to explain the situation. While dancing with her girlfriend, another officer in her unit, at the Cavalry Squaldron Ball, Lucy's Squadron Commander took her girlfriend aside and told her, "You [both] need to stop dancing; the unit does not need this kind of publicity." When she asked what he meant, he said again, "You [both] need to get off the dance floor." ...

This may be the first instance of discrimination against LGBT service members since the prejudiced DADT military policy regarding sexual orientation was officially repealed on Sept. 20, 2011, or at least the first instance that I and many others have heard about.

• Wayne Anderson: Gay Soldiers in the Danger Zone [HuffPo, May 3, 2012]

As a gay veteran of the Armed Forces, I continue to have mixed emotions about the repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) policy. While repealing the discriminatory policy was of course a step in the right direction, our military and political leaders failed to complete the journey, leaving gay and lesbian soldiers unprotected from anti-gay discrimination and abuse. The American military has a long history of nondiscrimination guidelines mandating that discrimination against certain protected classes not be tolerated. The military nondiscrimination guidelines help ensure fair and equal treatment for all soldiers and make clear that it is unlawful to discriminate against a fellow soldier on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. ...

In September 2011, right around the time DADT repeal was implemented, I attended a screening of the HBO documentary The Strange History of Don't Ask Don't Tell. During a question-and-answer session I asked Aubrey Sarvis, Executive Director of the Service Members Legal Defense Network (SLDN), about the need for nondiscrimination protections for gay and lesbian soldiers and referenced the fact that many activists want the president to issue an executive order mandating the inclusion of sexual orientation protections. Sarvis replied that SLDN had in fact called on President Obama to support the nondiscrimination protections for gay and lesbian soldiers, but that sadly the president "hasn't answered our call." And though Sarvis was generally pleased that there seemed to be little if any backlash against the repeal of DADT, he also predicted that there may be a few ugly bumps along the way to integration.

• Gay rights: five activists reflect on the history of the movement in the US [The Guardian, May 8, 2012]

After decades of fighting national institutions to be heard, gay rights are now a major political issue in the US. As the country's attitudes towards gay rights has evolved, so have the aspirations of the community. We asked five long-time activists to share their reflections about how the movement has transformed over the years.

They found out he was gay editorial cartoon

Robert Wright: Gay Marriage, Barack Obama, and Andrew Sullivan
[The Atlantic, May 10,2012]

I was at the New Republic in 1989 when Andrew Sullivan published his pathbreaking cover story "The Case for Gay Marriage." There are two things about the experience that may be hard to convey to people younger than 25, maybe even 30:

1) What a radical idea this seemed like at the time. I'm not sure I'd ever heard anyone mention gay marriage, and I'd certainly never seen a written defense of it.

2) How important a single magazine could be in pre-internet days. Mike Kinsley, who for my money is the most amazing editor of his generation, had during the 1980s made the New Republic the magazine in Washington.

[Continued here]

"When I was in the military, they gave me a medal for killing two men and
a discharge for loving one."



Leonard P. [Philip] Matlovich (1943—1988) [Wikipedia]

Technical Sergeant Leonard P. Matlovich... was a Vietnam War veteran, race relations instructor, and recipient of the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star.

Matlovich was the first gay service member to fight the ban on gays in the military, and perhaps the best-known gay man in America in the 1970s next to Harvey Milk. His fight to stay in the United States Air Force after coming out of the closet became a cause célèbre around which the gay community rallied. His case resulted in articles in newspapers and magazines throughout the country, numerous television interviews, and a television movie on NBC. His photograph appeared on the cover of the September 8, 1975, issue of Time magazine, making him a symbol for thousands of gay and lesbian servicemembers and gay people generally. Matlovich was the first openly gay person to appear on the cover of a U.S. newsmagazine. According to author Randy Shilts, "It marked the first time the young gay movement had made the cover of a major newsweekly. To a movement still struggling for legitimacy, the event was a major turning point." In October 2006, Matlovich was honored by LGBT History Month as a leader in the history of the LGBT community. ...

In 1973, previously unaware of the organized gay movement, he read an interview in the Air Force Times with gay activist Frank Kameny who had counseled several gays in the military over the years. He called Kameny in Washington DC and learned that Kameny had long been looking for a gay service member with a perfect record to create a test case to challenge the military's ban on gays. About a year later, he called Kameny again, telling him that he might be the person. After several months of discussion with Kameny and ACLU attorney David Addlestone during which they formulated a plan, he hand-delivered a letter to his Langley AFB commanding officer on March 6, 1975. When his commander asked, "What does this mean?" Matlovich replied, "It means Brown versus the Board of Education" - a reference to the 1954 landmark Supreme Court case outlawing racial segregation in public schools. ...

A converted Mormon and church elder when he lived in Hampton, Virginia, Matlovich found himself at odds with the Latter Day Saints and their opposition to homosexual behavior: he was twice excommunicated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for homosexual acts. He was first excommunicated on October 7, 1975, in Norfolk, Virginia, and then again January 17, 1979, after his appearance on the Phil Donahue television show in 1978, without being rebaptized. But, by this time, Matlovich had stopped being a believer at all. ...

On June 22, 1988, less than a month before his 45th birthday, Matlovich died of complications from HIV/AIDS beneath a large photo of Martin Luther King, Jr. His tombstone, meant to be a memorial to all gay veterans, does not bear his name. It reads, "When I was in the military, they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one."

[Continued here]

• Leonard Matlovich [findarticles.com]

Margarethe "Grethe" Cammermeyer (1942— ) [Wikipedia]

Margarethe "Grethe" Cammermeyer (born March 24, 1942) is a former colonel in the Washington National Guard and a gay rights activist. Born in Oslo, Norway, she became a United States citizen in 1960. In 1961 she joined the Army Student Nurse Program. She received a B.S. in Nursing in 1963 from the University of Maryland. She furthered her education at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, earning a master's (1976) and Ph.D. (1991) from the School of Nursing.

She met her partner, Diane Divelbess, in 1988, when she was 46 - after she had ended a 15-year marriage to a man and had four sons.

In 1989, in response to a question during a routine security clearance interview, she disclosed that she is a lesbian. The "don't ask, don't tell" policy was not yet in effect at the time, and the National Guard began military discharge proceedings against her. On June 11, 1992, she was honorably discharged from the military. Cammermeyer filed a lawsuit against the decision in civil court. In June 1994, Judge Thomas Zilly of the federal district court in Seattle ruled her discharge, and the ban on gays and lesbians serving in the military, unconstitutional. She returned to the National Guard and served as one of the few officially accepted openly gay or lesbian people in the military until her retirement in 1997.

A television movie about Cammermeyer's story, Serving in Silence, was made in 1995, with Glenn Close starring as Cammermeyer. Its content was largely taken from Cammermeyer's autobiography of the same name.

[Continued here]

• Col[onel] Grethe Cammermeyer On DADT Repeal: 'The Vindication Didn't Occur Until Today' [Think Progress, September 21, 2011]

Cammermeyer continued to advocate for the repeal of DADT and was recently appointed to the Defense Advisory Council of Women in the Services. ThinkProgress caught up with the trail-blazing colonel at last night's celebration, and she told us that even though her retirement feels like it was "a generation ago," her fight for equality wasn't achieved until this week:

        FORD: What does it feel like to arrive at this day, so far after your own vindication?

        CAMMERMEYER: Well, you know, the vindication didn't occur until today, because the reason I started my challenge in 1989 was to get the policy overturned. And in its place, Don't Ask, Don't Tell was created, and there was no vindication just because I won and was reinstated.

Lawrence v. Texas [Lambda Legal, September 17, 1998]

Summary

In 1998, John Lawrence and Tyron Garner were arrested in Lawrence's Houston home and jailed overnight after officers responding to a false report found the men having sex. The two men were convicted of violating Texas's "Homosexual Conduct" law, which made it a crime for two people of the same sex to have oral or anal sex, even though those sex acts were legal in Texas for people to engage in with persons of a different sex. Lambda Legal quickly responded to represent Lawrence and Garner. Battling for years in the Texas courts, we sought to overturn the criminal convictions (which made the two men registerable "sex offenders" in several states) and to have Texas's law declared unconstitutional. When the highest court in Texas eventually refused to even hear our arguments, we convinced the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case. In a stunning victory, the highest court in the land found the "Homosexual Conduct" law unconstitutional and established, for the first time, that lesbians and gay men share the same fundamental liberty right to private sexual intimacy with another adult that heterosexuals have.

[Continued here]

• Kevin Cathcart: Victory After Victory: Lawrence v. Texas at 8 [Huffington Post, July 1, 2011]

Many hailed the ruling as the Brown v. Board of Education for lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. History has not proven them wrong. Some of the effects of Lawrence were immediate: Lesbian, gay, and bisexual people could no longer be presumptively branded criminals and treated as such in public and private spheres. But many of its effects are still unfolding.

Lawrence was a watershed moment that continues to generate other watershed moments. One can draw a line connecting Lawrence to the landmark decisions in its aftermath that have recognized marriage equality, found the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional in various settings, and struck down laws burdening the right of same-sex couples to form intimate relationships. When a federal trial court declared "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" unconstitutional last year, it relied on Lawrence. When Prop 8 was declared unconstitutional last year by Judge Walker, he too relied on Lawrence. Just as the government may not make criminals of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people based on their relationships, neither can it fire them from their jobs, ignore their cries for help when harassed at school, deny them the same rights that heterosexuals enjoy, nor exclude them from institutions like marriage.

• Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 [American Psychological Association, 2003]

APA's Position: APA submitted a brief (and the American Psychiatric Association, National Association of Social Workers, and the Texas Chapter of NASW joined in) arguing that the proscribed sexual conduct is a normal part of the intimate relations of Americans and that same-sex sexual conduct is an important part of long-term intimate relationships for many gay men and lesbians. APA's participation in this case is an extension of its involvement as amici in earlier cases that challenge anti-sodomy statutes (including Bowers v. Hardwick, addressed by the US Supreme Court in 1986). The brief explains the nature of sexual orientation, noting that homosexuality is common, generally not chosen and is resistant to change, is not a disorder, and does not affect one's ability to contribute to society. The brief also argues that suppressing sexual intimacy among same-sex partners would deprive gay men and lesbians of the opportunity to participate in fundamental aspects of human experience. The brief further argues that anti-sodomy statutes like the Texas statute reinforce prejudice, discrimination, and violence against gay men and lesbians.

• Paul Smith Looks To The Future of LGBT Equality [Edge Boston, July 8, 2011]

On March 26, 2003, Paul Smith argued to the United States Supreme Court that the justices should declare sodomy laws unconstitutional under the U.S. Constitution - despite the court's opinion of less than 20 years earlier to the contrary.

He - and the team he was helping at Lambda Legal - succeeded, and the court agreed on June 26, 2003, with Justice Anthony Kennedy famously writing of ''[p]ersons in a homosexual relationship'' that ''[t]he State cannot demean their existence or control their destiny by making their private sexual conduct a crime.''

Eight years later, with other prominent lawyers like Ted Olson and David Boies leading the challenge to California's Proposition 8 - and with the first same-sex marriage victory fading into history - it's easy to lose track of the changes that have happened since Smith and his firm, Jenner & Block, agreed to help Lambda Legal on the Lawrence v. Texas case.

• Carlos Maza: State Sodomy Laws Continue To Target LGBT Americans [Equality Matters, August 8, 2011]

Eight years later, however, eighteen states still refuse to rewrite their laws and take these anti-gay relics off their books, with countless LGBT Americans continuing to feel their devastating effects as a result. Several state legislatures and courts have exploited loopholes in the Lawrence decision, while others have simply refused to acknowledge the decision altogether. ...

It is clear that the promise of the Supreme Court's decision in Lawrence v. Texas remains unfulfilled. Despite significant progress made by the LGBT community in recent years, many LGBT Americans continue to live in the shadow of their state's outdated sodomy laws. These laws are consistently misused and manipulated in order to single out and punish sexual minorities, often in ways that fly in the face of the Lawrence decision.

Even in states where these statutes are never enforced, anti-LGBT animosity is fanned by government recognition that LGBT people are to be viewed as criminals in the eyes of the law. This animosity helps create the conditions for anti-LGBT hate crimes as well as disproportionate rates of suicide among non-heterosexual youth.

As the American public moves towards greater respect for and tolerance towards LGBT people, the issue of still-standing state sodomy laws should not be forgotten. These statutes continue to represent a major obstacle on the path to full LGBT equality. Their repeal should be just as much of a priority for the LGBT community as is the struggle for marriage equality.

• Carlos Maza: NOM Joins Anti-Lawrence v. Texas Crowd [Equality Matters, August 10, 2011]

This anti-Lawrence sentiment is cause for major concern, and raises serious questions about what groups like NOM and FRC ultimately hope to accomplish in the fight against marriage equality. Since the Lawrence decision has -- as the LA Times article put it -- "plant[ed] the seeds" for the legalization of same-sex marriage, the final goal of groups like NOM and FRC seems to be to pull the decision out by its roots: reversing Lawrence and allowing for the re-criminalization of homosexuality.

• Lawrence V. Texas' Defendant, John Lawrence, Dies at 68 [Edge Boston, December 23, 2011]

The defendant in the 2003 landmark case of Lawrence v. Texas passed away on Nov. 20, according to an obituary from the R.S. Farmer Funeral Home in Texas, reported the Metro Weekly in a Dec. 23 article.

The infamous case proved that the country's sodomy laws were unconstitutional as they limited the rights of the LGBT community.

John Geddes Lawrence, 68, was born in Beaumont, Texas, on August 2, 1943 and served in the U.S. Navy and later as a medical technologist until he retired in 2009.

On Sept. 7, 1998, Lawrence and Tyron Garner were arrested under Texas' Homosexual Conduct Law. Police entered Lawrence's house and saw them having sex. The men claimed that the legislation was unconstitutional and with the help of Lambda Legal, a LGBT civil rights organization, fought their case all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, which was held in 2003.

• Lawrence v. Texas and the Purpose of Biopics [Think Progress, December 26, 2011]

I was unexpectedly sad two days before Christmas to learn that John Lawrence, the plaintiff Lawrence v. Texas, which overturned sodomy laws in the United States, had died in late November virtually unnoticed by the country he helped change, and to learn from that obituary that Tyron Garner, with whom he was arrested for having sex (though both men said they were never intimate) had died in 2006. The news touched me not just because I was volunteering for Freedom to Marry Massachusetts the summer the Lawrence decision came down, and so felt it as a victory in a battle I was engaged in, but because it made me think about what happens to people after they do their part to make history and memory and its failures.

• Extreme Makeover: The story behind the story of Lawrence v. Texas [New Yorker, March 12, 2012]

The story told in Lawrence v. Texas was a story of sexual privacy, personal dignity, intimate relationships, and shifting notions of family in America. By the time the tale poured from Justice Anthony Kennedy's pen, in his decisive majority opinion, it was even about the physical dimension of love: "When sexuality finds overt expression in intimate conduct with another person, the conduct can be but one element in a personal bond that is more enduring." The opinion used the word "relationship" eleven times.

That is the story that Dale Carpenter, a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School, seeks to untell in his important new book, "Flagrant Conduct" (Norton), a chronicle that peels the Lawrence case back through layers of carefully choreographed litigation and tactical appeals, back to the human protagonists we never really got to know, and back again through centuries of laws criminalizing "unnatural" sexual activity. What if, Carpenter asks, this weren't a story about love, or even sex? What if, in the end, Lawrence v. Texas was less a whodunnit than a who didn't? And, if there was no sex, let alone an intimate relationship, in John Lawrence's apartment that night, how did the case come to be about both?

• Kevin Cathcart: Lawrence v. Texas: Extreme Truth [HuffPo, March 7, 2012]

The issue in Lawrence v. Texas was not about what was going on in John Lawrence's bedroom, but rather about the conduct of the government and the unconstitutionality of the law that authorized its actions. Houston police officers arrested, handcuffed, and dragged John Lawrence and Tyron Garner out of Lawrence's apartment because they felt empowered to do so by Texas' "Homosexual Conduct Law," which made private, consensual sex between adults of the same sex a crime. More than a decade earlier, well-known lesbian attorney Mary Dunlap said about Bowers v. Hardwick, the earlier case in which sodomy laws were upheld, "The question is not what Hardwick was doing in his bedroom, it is what the State of Georgia was doing there." The very same question applied in Texas.

• Heroes don't need whitewashing [Box Turtle Bulletin, March 9, 2012]

If Mr. Cathcart has any evidence - any statement by any person at any time - which contradicts Carpenter's narrative, he should say so. And surely, as the executive director at the time of the case, Cathcart would be privy to all such information. Even if bound by confidentiality and unable to disclose details, he could say that Carpenter is incorrect, not just imply so.

Cathcart's indignant response - which neither contradicts nor clarifies - seems to be in reaction to inferred criticism about Lambda's methods. Personally, to me they seem to be but good representation: control the story, keep your client from torpedoing his own boat, and fight for the real issue at hand rather than the specifics of the unique situation. But perhaps Cathcart sees Lambda as above the riffraff ambulance chaser.

• Irene Monroe: How Anti-Sodomy Laws Were Sunk [HuffPo, April 26, 2012]

Told from the perspectives of the plaintiffs, arresting officers, attorneys, judges, and prosecutors, Flagrant Conduct is a detailed account of the 2003 landmark case of Lawrence v. Texas, in which the U.S. Supreme Court overturned its 1986 decision in the Bowers v. Hardwick sodomy case, making same-gender sexual activity legal throughout the country.

I remember this case vividly. A bogus call to the Houston, Tex. police from a prying neighbor about an alleged burglary resulted in the police entering the home of John Lawrence and Tyron Garner. The men were allegedly engaging in consensual sex. Reports on what the officers saw vary widely, with one officer reporting that the men were not even in the same room. The men were arrested and held overnight in jail. They were charged with violating the state's anti-sodomy law. Both men pleaded "no contest" to the charge.

The man who called the police to report a domestic disturbance, Robert Eubanks, was later charged with filing a false police report and spent 15 days in jail.

"Gay people want the freedom to marry for the same reasons non-gay people do."



Evan Wolfson (1957— ) [Wikipedia]

Evan Wolfson... is an American civil rights attorney and advocate. He is founder and executive director of Freedom to Marry, a group favoring Same-sex marriage in the United States. Wolfson, who many consider to be the father and leader of the marriage movement, authored the book Why Marriage Matters; America, Equality, and Gay People's Right to Marry, which Time Out New York magazine called, "Perhaps the most important gay-marriage primer ever written..." He was listed as one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World. He has taught as an adjunct professor at Columbia Law School, Rutgers Law School, and Whittier Law School and argued before the Supreme Court in Boy Scouts of America v. Dale. He lives in New York City.

[Continued here]

• Evan Wolfson index [Huffington Post]
• Evan Wolfson and Cheng He [New York Times, October 21, 2011]

Evan Wolfson can recall being 10 or 11 when, while watching television with his mother, he turned to her and told her he didn't think he'd ever get married.

At the time, his mother, Joan Colter Wolfson of Pittsburgh, thought nothing of it. "I didn't know why he said that," noted Mrs. Wolfson, now 77. "At that age we didn't know that he was gay. We also couldn't have known the wonderful way everything would turn out." ...

Dr. He said he realized he'd fallen for Mr. Wolfson by the way he felt lonely when Mr. Wolfson, who by 2003 had become the president of Freedom to Marry, now an independent organization, left for business trips. "I felt I did not want to be away from him," Dr. He said. Once Mr. Wolfson had to have an operation and Dr. He visited his hospital bedside and ached for his partner to heal.

"I began to realize this was the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with," Dr. He said. "For me, getting married is not about making a political statement; it's about wanting to build a life together, wanting to have protections for one another, wanting to make a commitment in front of your family and friends, just like everyone else."

• Evan Wolfson: After the Prop 8 Victory, What's Next? [Huffington Post, February 9, 2012]

In explaining why marriage matters, and why separate or lesser legal recognition is no substitute for the freedom to marry, the Ninth Circuit wrote, "We do not celebrate when two people merge their bank accounts; we celebrate when a couple marries." Together we are winning the freedom to marry nationwide, and, if we redouble and refuel our movement on all three tracks of the Roadmap to Victory, together we will have a lot of celebrating to do.

Mike Spradley: Cesar Chavez: LGBT Rights Activist?
[HuffPo, May 3, 2012]

My education about Chavez came in small waves over the period of many years. As a child, I knew he had something to do with migrant workers, and that he was Mexican American. My elementary school was close to the flowers, fields, and green houses of the north-county coastal area of San Diego. Many of my classmates were the sons and daughters of migrant workers, and I played with them the same as I would have played with any other child.

When I was in college, I met a woman who was working on creating a national Cesar Chavez holiday. This is when my education truly began. I had been completely unaware that Chavez believed in equality for all people, including the LGBT community.

In the 1980s Chavez was holding a rally with farm workers in San Francisco. At the end of his protest, Chavez told the protestors that he was going to join a rally that was being organized by advocates of gay and lesbian rights. He invited the farm workers to join him, and many of them did. Chavez was often found at gay and lesbian pride parades, and according to his wife Helen, "[H]e understood that you can't demand equality for your own people while tolerating discrimination against anyone else."

Chavez believed that if any minority is oppressed, we all are oppressed. I found it amazing that Chavez ever included the LGBT community; I had previously envisioned him as a well-intentioned organizer of migrant farm workers, not the man he truly was.

This is when I began to learn the spirit of his teachings and the power of his political voice. It was December 2011 when I was honored to spend Christmas dinner with members of his immediate family. As a former Navy reservist, I felt compelled to interview the family in honor of the naming of the USNS Cesar Chavez, slated to be launched May 5, 2012.

[Continued here]

Aristide "A.J." Laurent, a founder of The Advocate, dies at age 70 (1941—2011)
[San Diego Gay & Lesbian News, October 31, 2011]

Laurent helped start The Los Angeles Advocate in 1967, working alongside Richard Mitch (Dick Michaels), Bill Rau and Sam Allen, who had taken over the Pride newsletter and renamed it. Laurent, then working at ABC Television with Rau and Allen, helped produce early issues of The Advocate in the studio's basement print shop and wrote a nightlife column ("Mariposas de la Noche") under the pseudonym "P. Nutz."

Everyone on the paper used pseudonyms, he noted. "It was dangerous to be a 'pervert' prior to the liberation movement. You didn't use your real name for fear of reprisals, not only harassment by the LAPD, but the ever-present possibility of losing your day job, family and friends," he wrote in a 2007 blog marking the publication's 40th anniversary. ...

In 1975 Laurent was one of 40 arrested during a charity "slave auction" benefiting the Gay Community Services Center held at the Mark IV Bathhouse in Hollywood. The raid, which deployed more than 100 officers and cost a reputed $150,000, became a public relations disaster for the police and a rallying point for the gay community. Felony slavery charges against those arrested were later dismissed. ...

...In 1996 he was diagnosed with advanced prostrate cancer and given two years to live. "Thanks to the prayers and support of friends and family--and some highly qualified medical professionals - I have lived many years past the doctors' predictions," he wrote in a letter released after his death.

[Continued here]

California passes landmark LGBT education bill [San Diego Gay and Lesbian News, July 5, 2011]

(Click here to view relevant editorial cartoon)

The California State Assembly voted 49-25 today, passing a bill that would require schools to fairly and accurately portray the LGBT civil rights movement and the historic contributions of the diverse LGBT community in social science instruction.

The Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act (SB 48), authored by Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), would also add sexual orientation and gender identity to the state's existing anti-discrimination protections that prohibit bias in school activities, instruction and instructional materials.

The bill now heads to Gov. Jerry Brown's desk.

"We are selectively censoring history when we exclude LGBT Americans, or any other group of people, from our textbooks and instructional materials," Leno said. "We can't tell our youth that it's OK to be yourself and expect them to treat their peers with dignity and respect when we deliberately deny them accurate information about the historical contributions of Americans who happened to be LGBT."

Studies have shown that inclusion of LGBT people in instructional materials is linked to greater student safety and lower rates of bullying. The bill is co-sponsored by Equality California and Gay-Straight Alliance Network.

[Continued here]

• Landmark LGBT Education Victory in CA: FAIR Education Act Passes [Daily Kos, July 5. 2011]
• What is the FAIR Education Act (SB 48)? [gsanetwork.org]
• Bishops oppose bill on gays in textbooks [National Catholic Reporter, July 11, 2011]
• Bruce Garrett: Yes, We Exist. And So Does Our Past. [Truth Wins Out, July 12, 2011]
• Gov. Jerry Brown signs California LGBT teaching bill [Rex Wockner, July 14, 2011]

In a U.S. first, Gov. Jerry Brown on July 14 signed into law a bill that requires California public schools to teach about LGBT people's contributions to the economic, political and social development of California and the U.S.

The new law also prohibits classroom instruction and school-sponsored activities that promote a discriminatory bias on the basis of sexual orientation, and requires that newly acquired social-sciences textbooks and other social-sciences instructional material used in California adhere to the bill's requirements. ...

"This is a watershed moment for the movement, as it will help to break the spell that they have over us: that we are bad for children and youth," said Roland Palencia, executive director of Equality California. "Instead, this will point to the real culprit: harassment, discrimination, prejudice and invisibility. ... (T)he contributions of diverse LGBT community will no longer be erased from history."

"Today, we've written the latest chapter in the LGBT civil rights movement -- one that will now be presented fairly and accurately in California schools," said Carolyn Laub, executive director of Gay-Straight Alliance Network. "Gov. Brown has realized the hopes of youth who have been fighting for safe and inclusive schools, where all students learn about our history and gain respect for each other's differences as a result."

"Today we are making history in California by ensuring that our textbooks and instructional materials no longer exclude the contributions of LGBT Americans," said Leno.

• California Gay History Bill: Conservatives Begin Push To Overturn Teaching Law [Huffington Post, July 15, 2011]

A family advocacy group is already challenging a new California law that adds lessons about gays to social studies classes.

Paulo Sibaja of the Sacramento-based Capitol Resource Institute said he started the process Friday for a statewide vote to overturn the bill signed by Gov. Jerry Brown a day earlier.

Brown, a Democrat, signed SB 48, making California the first state in the nation to teach about gays and lesbians in a public school curriculum.

• Referendum to Overturn CA FAIR Education Act OKed to Gather Signatures [LGBT|POV, July 26, 2011]
• Equality groups launch coalition to protect FAIR Education Act [San Diego Gay & Lesbian News, August 26, 2011]

A broad coalition of advocates for equality have launched a coordinated effort to protect the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act and to educate the public about its impact.

The coalition includes people of faith; labor organizations; LGBT rights groups; disability rights advocates; racial justice organizations and many other groups who care about equality.

ACLU San Diego, Equality California, Gay-Straight Alliance Network and the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers are among the leaders of the coalition.

"The movement for LGBT rights is among the most diverse social justice movements in the nation and we are proud to have that diversity represented in our coalition," said Roland Palencia, executive director of Equality California. "Working together to Protect the FAIR Education Act will ensure that students not only learn accurate information about our equality movement, but also about the roles LGBT people have played in movements and historic moments that have fundamentally shaped our nation."

"The FAIR Education Act enables all California students to learn an honest account of history, which includes the contributions of women, people of color, LGBT people, people with disabilities, and other historically underrepresented groups," said Carolyn Laub, Gay-Straight Alliance Network executive director. "This coalition is determined to protect the FAIR Education Act and stop the extremist effort to censor LGBT people and people with disabilities from history."

"Learning the contributions made by activists of the disability rights movement is essential to a full understanding of our history, just as an understanding of the civil rights movement and the pioneers of women's suffrage and the LGBT rights movement are an essential part of our history lessons," said Teresa Favuzzi, executive director of the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers. "The FAIR Education Act truly is a step in the right direction and it's important for us to make sure that this landmark victory that promotes understanding in our schools is upheld because it's time for our history classes and textbooks to accurately reflect the rich and diverse history of California."

• Editorial: Reality check [Bay Area Reporter, September, 2011]

It may not be what the LGBT community wants to hear, but Equality California Executive Director Roland Palencia was quite blunt on a conference call with reporters last week when he acknowledged that should the referendum to overturn Senate Bill 48, the FAIR Education Act, make it to the ballot, we will lose.

"The prospects are not good if this gets to the ballot," Palencia said. "I am not under any illusion."

Right now the anti-gay groups that spearheaded Proposition 8 are gathering signatures to get the SB 48 referendum on the ballot next year. They have until October 12 to collect 504,760 valid signatures. According to EQCA and its coalition partners, much of that work is currently taking place in churches - no surprise there - but the prospect of hired signature gatherers sprouting up outside big box stores in the final push is very real.

• California Gay History: 'Stop SB48' Referendum Faces Uphill Battle [Huffington Post, September 3, 2011]
• L.A. school board moves to include LGBT people in curriculum [Los Angeles Times, September 13, 2011]

The Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday approved a plan to include more positive images of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in lesson plans.

The move, sponsored by board member Steve Zimmer, comes after the state passed a law mandating that textbooks and history lessons include the contributions of gay, bisexual and transgender citizens.

The vote was 6-0, with board member Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte absent.

The resolution calls for including "age-appropriate" materials for elementary and secondary students in the nation's second-largest school district and giving staff safety and anti-bullying training.

• California Christian Coalition Explains Repeal Effort Against Gay Education Law: Bullying Is Normal [Think Progress, September 19, 2011]

ThinkProgress spoke to Robert Newman, the head of the California Christian Coalition, who said his group would be mobilizing its members to repeal the gay education law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown (D-CA) earlier this year. Newman said the law, which "adds sexual orientation to the state's existing anti-discrimination protections that prohibit bias in school activities, instruction, and instructional materials," is unnecessary and encourages sexually transmitted diseases. The law also compels school districts to teach LGBT history alongside history of other California ethnic and minority groups.

Asked about the epidemic of gay suicides, Newman dismissed the issue, saying, "I hardly think bullying is a real issue in schools." He reasoned that some level of bullying is "part of the maturational process" and that the law should be repealed because "there's no reason to have a special bill for say three percent of the population, period."

• Will Unheard Voices Be Heard in Schools? [Bilerico Project, September 30, 2011]

There's a great new resource for teaching LGBT history in middle and high schools - and it might even teach us adults something. The Anti-Defamation League, Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), and StoryCorps have just released Unheard Voices, "an oral Thumbnail image for gay-history-1977.jpghistory and curriculum project that will help educators to integrate LGBT history, people and issues into their instructional programs."

• Carlos Maza: NOM Peddles Distortion About California FAIR Education Act [Equality Matters, October 4, 2011]

The Stop 48 campaign, which Brown directs his supporters to several times throughout his post, is already under scrutiny for peddling distortions about the law. The Courage Campaign recently filed a formal complaint with the California attorney general after it was discovered that members of the Stop SB 48 campaign were misleading voters about the law in order to collect signatures.

• Cindy Abel: Teaching LGBT History [Huffington Post, October 8, 2011]
• Gov. Jerry Brown Signs the California Dream Act and an LGBT Education Bill [LGBT|POV, October 9, 2011]
• BALLOT FAIL: SB48 Opponents Miss Petition Deadline [The Advocate, October 11, 2011]

The opponents of the FAIR Education Act admitted today that they do not have enough petition signatures to bring a vote against the law, which mandates age-appropriate LGBT history lessons in California's schools.

• California schools scrambling to add lessons on LGBT Americans [Los Angeles Times, October 16, 2011]

• Anti-Gay Coalition Files For Ballot Initiative To Overturn FAIR Education Act [Think Progress, November 17, 2011]

The Stop SB48 coalition failed to secure the signatures it required to overturn the FAIR Education Act by referendum, but now it has filed for a ballot initiative to undo the law. The ballot initiative process is completely separate from the referendum process, so the anti-gay coalition will have to start from scratch and collect 504,760 signatures to qualify for next year's ballot.

• Fresno State to share collection of gay literature [Fresno Bee, November 30, 2011]

As Valley school districts cautiously prepare to incorporate lessons about gay and lesbian people's contributions into social studies classes, Fresno State is offering a resource to help - the nation's largest collection of gay and lesbian literature.

California State University, Fresno, received donations of about 500 gay- and lesbian-themed books months before a state law passed in July that requires schools to include the role and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans in social studies courses. ...

Fresno State is eager to share the collection with Valley high schools, and preparations are under way to create a traveling book exhibition that would be accompanied by experts to speak about gay and lesbian rights and homophobia, said Angelica Carpenter, founding curator at the Arne Nixon Center. She said the center still needs to raise about $10,000 for the project, slated to start in the spring.

• Stop SB 48 Conference Call: Initiative Title and Summary Expected in Days [LGBT|POV, December 20, 2011]
• Gay history lessons required by new California law will be slow to arrive [Sacramento Bee, January 10, 2012]

The law officially took effect Jan. 1. But the California Department of Education hasn't laid out a companion curriculum, and state officials say they are leaving it up to school districts to determine how to comply.

While some local districts are working to design new curriculum, many others are simply waiting for the state's next adoption of new history and social science textbooks, scheduled for 2015. School officials say they have received little direction and have few resources - financial and otherwise - to do much else.

"Right now we don't have any funding to do the curriculum we need," said Christopher Hoffman, superintendent of the El Dorado Union High School District. "We aren't going to add anything."

Hoffman said the district will wait for the next round of textbooks or direction from the state.

Johann Hari: the hidden history of homosexuality in the US
[Independent, June 22, 2011]

The American right presents homosexuality as something alien to the American experience - an intruder that inexplicably gate-crashed America in 1969 in the form of a rioting drag queen clutching a high heel in her fist as a weapon. The statements of Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, or Mitt Romney insistently hint that the fag does not belong under the flag. But there's something odd here. For people who talk incessantly about honouring American history, they have built a historical picture of their country that can only be sustained by scrubbing it clean of a significant part of the population and everything they brought to the party (if not the Tea Party).

In his new book, A Queer History of the United States, the cultural critic Michael Bronski runs the film backward, through 500 years of American life, showing there were gays and bisexuals in every scene, making and remaking America. They were among some of the country's great icons, from Emily Dickinson to Calamity Jane to perhaps even Abraham Lincoln and Eleanor Roosevelt.

The rioting drag queens of the Stonewall Inn arrive only on page 210 of a 250-page book that argues gay people weren't merely present at every stage - they had a historical mission in America. It was to expose Puritanism, scolding and sexual intolerance. Yet in a strange and disagreeable turn, Bronski concludes that in the final act of this story, gays have en masse abandoned their mission by demanding the most domestic and Puritan goal of all: monogamous marriage.

The gay alternative to Puritan America began before the first white settler ever arrived. The day before Christopher Columbus set foot in North America, it was a safer place for gay people than it was ever going to be again for several centuries.

The limited-but-sturdy evidence provided by historians that Bronski draws on suggests homosexuality was treated matter-of-factly among most Native American tribes. In the records of the Lewis and Clark expeditions, Nicholas Biddle observes: "Among the Mamitarees, if a boy shows any symptoms of effeminacy or girlish inclinations he is put among the girls, dressed in their way, brought up with them, and sometimes married to men."

[Continued here]

"The new "niggers" are gays. . . . It is in this sense that gay people
are the new barometer for social change."



Bayard Rustin (1912—1987) [Wikipedia]

Bayard Rustin... was an American civil rights activist, important largely behind the scenes in the civil rights movement of the 1960s and earlier. He is credited as the chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

He counseled Martin Luther King, Jr. on the techniques of nonviolent resistance. He became an advocate on behalf of gay and lesbian causes in the latter part of his career. Homosexuality was criminalized at the time, which made him a target of suspicion and compromised some of his effectiveness.

[Continued here]

• 70 Years Ago: Bayard Rustin Built Foundation for ENDA [Bilerico, June 25, 2011]

Exactly 70 years ago today, on June 25, 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed an executive order barring military contractors from discriminating against African-American workers. The president did not originally want to create these workplace protections. His signature was conditioned upon a promise from civil rights leaders that they would cancel the massive march that Rustin and others had planned for July 1, 1941.

• Nonviolence: The Ongoing Struggle for Justice [dot429, January 16, 2011]

In a compelling MLK Day editorial, Walter Naegle, surviving partner of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ally Bayard Rustin, highlights his late lover's contributions to civil rights and the LGBT community.

• Happy 100th Birthday Bayard Rustin! [LGBT|POV, March 17, 2012]
• Irene Monroe: Bayard Rustin: One of the Tallest Trees in Our Forest [HuffPo, March 22, 2012]

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884—1962) [Wikipedia]

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt... was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international author, speaker, politician, and activist for the New Deal coalition. She worked to enhance the status of working women, although she opposed the Equal Rights Amendment because she believed it would adversely affect women.

In the 1940s, Roosevelt was one of the co-founders of Freedom House and supported the formation of the United Nations. Roosevelt founded the UN Association of the United States in 1943 to advance support for the formation of the UN. She was a delegate to the UN General Assembly from 1945 and 1952, a job for which she was appointed by President Harry S. Truman and confirmed by the United States Senate. During her time at the United Nations she chaired the committee that drafted and approved the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. President Truman called her the "First Lady of the World" in tribute to her human rights achievements. ...

In 1933, Roosevelt had a very close relationship with Lorena Hickok (who she referred to as "Hick darling", a reporter who had covered her during the campaign and early days of the Roosevelt administration and sensed her discontent, which spanned her early years in the White House. On the day of Eleanor's husband's inauguration, she was wearing a sapphire ring that Hickok had given her.

Later, when their correspondence was made public, it became clear that Roosevelt would write such endearments as, "I want to put my arms around you and kiss you at the corner of your mouth," and "I can't kiss you, so I kiss your picture good night and good morning!" It is unknown if her husband was aware of the relationship, which scholars (including Lillian Faderman, Hazel Rowley and Maurine Beasley) have asserted to be lesbian. Some authors consider "That the Hickok relationship was indeed erotic now seems beyond dispute", while others disagree.

[Continued here]

• The Rediscovery Of Lorena Hickok ; Eleanor Roosevelt's Friend Finally Getting Recognition [Seattle Times, December 23, 1999]

When Roosevelt died in 1962, a distraught and ailing Hickok was absent from the funeral. Instead, a minister drove her close to the cemetery near midnight so she could say goodbye in private and leave wildflowers at the grave.

Hickok, in her latter years the author of such books as "The Story of Helen Keller" and "The Story of Eleanor Roosevelt," died on May 1, 1968. No friends claimed her ashes and they eventually were buried alongside other unclaimed remains at Rhinebeck Cemetery.

That might have been the end of Hickok's story if not for Patsy Costello, who worked at the Hyde Park drugstore where Hickok used to buy her newspaper. In early 1998, she was inspired to find Hickok's grave after seeing a play produced by Kavars called "Lorena Hickok and Eleanor Roosevelt: A Love Story."

"I thought it was a shame that she would be buried in an unmarked grave . . . ," said Costello, who contacted Kavars.

The marker, bench and dogwood will be dedicated May 1, the anniversary of Hickok's death. The marker will remember her as "author, AP reporter, activist, change agent and friend of Eleanor Roosevelt.

Billy Sipple Day: San Francisco Honors Gay Ex-Marine Who Once Saved Gerald Ford's
Life (1941—1989) [Huffington Post, September 22, 2011]

Today is Oliver W. Sipple Day in San Francisco, which honors the man who in 1975 grabbed the arm of Sarah Jane Moore when he saw her aiming a .38-caliber pistol at Gerald Ford outside the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco.

No, S.F. is not gaga over the half-term president. Instead, Sipple has for more than one-third of a century been used as a symbol of homosexual awesomeness for the gay rights movement -- even though he wasn't officially out at the time.

Sipple was a decorated U.S. Marine who was wounded by shrapnel during combat in Vietnam. That he risked his life to save his commander in chief, even though he was not on duty, has added to his heft.

But the special day marks an odd way to honor a man who during his life resisted efforts by others to exploit his sexual orientation in support of the gay rights cause.

[Continued here]

• Sorrow Trailed a Veteran Who Saved a President and Then Was Cast in an Unwanted Spotlight [Los Angeles Times, February 13, 1989]

John Lauritsen (1939— ) [Wikipedia]

John Lauritsen... (Harvard College: AB 1963) is a retired market research analyst. He is an author and activist. Lauritsen wrote for the New York Native and was an early skeptic of the theory that HIV causes AIDS. He covered the debate over the safety of AZT. He is the founder of Pagan Press.

Simon LeVay and Elisabeth Nonas call Lauritsen's The AIDS War one of "a slew of books" that lump together the medical profession and the pharmaceutical industry together for purposes of blame and whose "titles are sufficiently explicit to make further perusal unnecessary." ...

Works

    • Death Rush: Poppers And AIDS (with Hank Wilson). Pagan Press, 1986

    • Poison by Prescription: The AZT Story (foreword by Peter Duesberg). Asklepios, 1990

    • The AIDS War: Propaganda, Profiteering, and Genocide from the Medical-Industrial Complex. Asklepios, 1993

    • The AIDS Cult: Essays on the Gay Health Crisis (as editor, with Ian Young). Asklepios, 1997

[Continued here]

• John Lauritsen: Drugs and AIDS [New York City News, April 4, 1984]
• John Lauritsen: AIDS: A Death Cult (2003) [Gay & Lesbian Humanist Magazine, Volume 26, Number 3, December 2008]
• John Lauritsen's Shelley [The Bilerico Project, September 26, 2011]

J. Edgar Hoover's mom: "I'd rather have a dead son than a daffodil for a son."



J. Edgar Hoover (1895—1972) [Wikipedia]

John Edgar Hoover... was the first director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation-predecessor to the FBI-in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972. Hoover is credited with building the FBI into a large and efficient crime-fighting agency, and with instituting a number of modern innovations to police technology, such as a centralized fingerprint file and forensic laboratories.

Late in life, and after his death, Hoover became an increasingly controversial figure. His critics have accused him of exceeding the jurisdiction of the FBI. He used the FBI to harass political dissenters and activists, to amass secret files on political leaders, and to collect evidence using illegal methods. It is because of Hoover's long and controversial tenure that FBI directors are now limited to 10-year terms. ...

Since the 1940s, rumors have circulated that Hoover was gay. It has been suggested that Clyde Tolson, an associate director of the FBI who was Hoover's heir, may have been his lover.

Hoover hunted down and threatened anyone who made insinuations about his sexuality. He also spread unsubstantiated rumors that Adlai Stevenson was gay to damage the liberal governor's 1952 presidential campaign. His extensive secret files contained surveillance material on Eleanor Roosevelt's alleged lesbian lovers, speculated to be acquired for the purpose of blackmail. ...

Tolson inherited Hoover's estate and moved into his home, having accepted the American flag that draped Hoover's casket. Tolson is buried a few yards away from Hoover in the Congressional Cemetery. Attorney Roy Cohn, an associate of Hoover during the 1950s investigations of Communists and himself a closeted homosexual, opined that Hoover was too frightened of his own sexuality to have anything approaching a normal sexual or romantic relationship.

In his 1993 biography Official and Confidential: The Secret Life of J Edgar Hoover, journalist Anthony Summers quoted "society divorcee" Susan Rosenstiel (who later served time at Rikers Island for perjuring herself in a 1971 case) as claiming to have seen Hoover engaging in cross-dressing in the 1950s. She stated that on two occasions she witnessed Hoover wearing a fluffy black dress with flounces and lace, stockings, high heels and a black curly wig, at homosexual orgies.

[Continued here]

• 'J. Edgar Hoover was NOT gay!': FBI warned Clint Eastwood and Leonardo DiCaprio not to camp up portrayal of bureau chief in new film [Daily Mail, October 7, 2011]

Historians have for years speculated about the sexuality of the first FBI chief, J. Edgar Hoover, with some suggesting he was gay and enjoyed cross-dressing.

And with an upcoming movie about his life in the pipeline, it seems current bosses at the bureau were more than a little concerned about the whispers spreading.

When Clint Eastwood, who is directing the biopic, and Lionardo Dicaprio, who plays Hoover, met with bureau representatives to research the part, they were reportedly warned not to camp up the role.

• Leonardo DiCaprio Talks J. Edgar Hoover's Homosexuality; Slashed Fee 90 Percent for Clint Eastwood [Hollywood Reporter, November 2, 2011]
• An FBI director with a grudge [Los Angeles Times, November 6, 2011]

In February 1970, a top aide to President Nixon warned J. Edgar Hoover that a new reporter in town, Jack Nelson, was said to be gunning for the FBI.

Hoover took the advice to heart.

"Keep an eye on these characters," the FBI director wrote his subordinates, referring to Nelson and two of his editors at the Los Angeles Times. "They are up to no good."

• J Edgar: Did Years of Repressed Homosexuality Transform the FBI Head into a Monster? [AlterNet, November 8, 2011]
• Dustin Lance Black: Hoover Is the Dark Side of Milk [The Advocate, November 11, 2011]

• Did J. Edgar Hoover have a gay lover? New film suggests the ruthless FBI bosses' own secret was the most explosive of all [Daily Mail, November 19, 2011]

A few days before whisking her to a party at the famous Plaza Hotel in New York, Susan Rosenstiel's drinks-baron husband asked her if she had ever been to an orgy.

Given that ominous question, the socialite should perhaps have been prepared for a shock. But when she stepped into a suite at the hotel, she was greeted by a sight that would stay imprinted on her mind for the rest of her life.

Inside, sitting cross-legged, was a 63-year-old man in full drag - fluffy black dress with flounces, lace stockings and high heels rounded off with a black curly wig, false eyelashes and copious make-up.

According to Mrs Rosenstiel, the cross-dresser introduced to her as 'Mary' would later join in an orgy involving two blond 'boys' in their late teens, her husband and a male lawyer friend.

But the elaborate get-up didn't fool Mrs Rosenstiel, who had met 'Mary' before. Under the make-up, she recognised instantly, was the chubby face of John Edgar Hoover, head of the FBI and perhaps the most powerful and feared man in America.

• Warren Adler: J. Edgar, the Bad and the Good [Huffington Post, November 26, 2011]

After seeing Clint Eastwood's excellent biopic, J.Edgar, I was reminded of Mark Anthony's funeral oration in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: "I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones."

Hank Greenspun: "It is common talk among homosexuals in Milwaukee who rendezvous in the White Horse Inn that Senator Joe McCarthy has often engaged in homosexual activities."



Hollywood blacklist [Wikipedia]

The Hollywood blacklist-as the broader entertainment industry blacklist is generally known-was the mid-twentieth-century list of screenwriters, actors, directors, musicians, and other U.S. entertainment professionals who were denied employment in the field because of their political beliefs or associations, real or suspected. Artists were barred from work on the basis of their alleged membership in or sympathy toward the American Communist Party, involvement in liberal or humanitarian political causes that enforcers of the blacklist associated with communism, and/or refusal to assist investigations into Communist Party activities; some were blacklisted merely because their names came up at the wrong place and time. Even during the period of its strictest enforcement, the late 1940s through the late 1950s, the blacklist was rarely made explicit and verifiable, but it caused direct damage to the careers of scores of American artists, often made betrayal of friendship (not to mention principle) the price for a livelihood, and promoted ideological censorship across the entire industry.

The first systematic Hollywood blacklist was instituted on November 25, 1947, the day after ten writers and directors were cited for contempt of Congress for refusing to give testimony to the House Committee on Un-American Activities. A group of studio executives, acting under the aegis of the Motion Picture Association of America, announced the firing of the artists - the so-called Hollywood Ten - in what has become known as the Waldorf Statement. On June 22, 1950, a pamphlet called Red Channels appeared, focusing on the field of broadcasting. It named 151 entertainment industry professionals in the context of "Red Fascists and their sympathizers"; soon most of those named, along with a host of other artists, were barred from employment in much of the entertainment field. The blacklist was effectively broken in 1960 when Dalton Trumbo, an unrepentant member of the Hollywood Ten, was publicly acknowledged as the screenwriter of the films Spartacus and Exodus. A number of those blacklisted, however, were still barred from work in their professions for years afterward.

[Continued here]

• The Hollywood Ten [Wikipedia]

The Hollywood Ten (1950) is an American 16mm short documentary film. In the film, each member of the Hollywood Ten made a short speech denouncing McCarthyism and the Hollywood Blacklisting.

The film was directed by John Berry. Berry was blacklisted upon the film's release, and, unable to find work, left for France.

John A. Harnick: "IMNSHO J. Edgar Hoover, Senator Joseph McCarthy and Ernst Rohm were
soul brothers at a very deep level. One of history's little jokes, as it were."



Johann Hari: The Strange, Strange Story of the Gay Fascists
[Huffington Post, October 21, 2008]

The news that Jorg Haider - the Austrian fascist leader - spent his final few hours in a gay bar with a hot blond has shocked some people. It hasn't shocked me. This is a taboo topic for a gay left-wing man like me to touch, but there has always been a weird, disproportionate overlap between homosexuality and fascism. Take a deep breath; here goes.

Some 10,000 gay people were slaughtered in the Nazi death-camps. Many more were humiliated, jailed, deported, ethnically cleansed, or castrated. One gay survivor of the camps, LD Classen von Neudegg, has written about his experiences. A snapshot: "Three men had tried to escape one night. They were captured, and when they returned they had the word 'homo' scrawled across their clothing. They were placed on a block and whipped. Then they were forced to beat a drum and cheer, 'Hurrah! We're back! Hurrah!' Then they were hanged." This is one of the milder events documented in his book.

So the idea of a gay fascist seems ridiculous. Yet when the British National Party - our own home-grown Holocaust-denying bigots - announced it was fielding an openly gay candidate in the European elections this June, dedicated followers of fascism didn't blink. The twisted truth is that gay men have been at the heart of every major fascist movement that ever was - including the gay-gassing, homo-cidal Third Reich. With the exception of Jean-Marie Le Pen, all the most high-profile fascists in Europe in the past thirty years have been gay. It's time to admit something. Fascism isn't something that happens out there, a nasty habit acquired by the straight boys. It is - in part, at least - a gay thing, and it's time for non-fascist gay people to wake up and face the marching music.

Just look at our own continent over the past decade. Dutch fascist Pim Fortuyn ran on blatantly racist anti-immigrant platform, describing Islam as "a cancer" and "the biggest threat to Western civilisation today." Yet with two little fluffy dogs and a Mamma complex, he was openly, flamboyantly gay. When accused by a political opponent of hating Arabs, he replied, "How can I hate Arabs? I sucked one off last night." ...

And it wouldn't be long before your whistlestop tour arrived in Britain. At first glance, our Nazis seem militantly straight. They have tried to disrupt gay parades, describe gay people as "evil", and BNP leader Nick Griffin reacted charmingly to the bombing of the Admiral Duncan pub in 1999 with a column saying, "The TV footage of gay demonstrators [outside the scene of carnage] flaunting their perversion in front of the world's journalists showed just why so many ordinary people find these creatures repulsive."

But scratch to homophobic surface and there's a spandex swastika underneath. In 1999, Martin Webster, a former National Front organiser and head honcho in the British fascist movement, wrote a four-page pamphlet detailing his 'affair' with Nick Griffin. "Griffin sought out intimate relations with me," openly-gay Webster explained, "in the late 1970s. He was twenty years younger than me." Ray Hill, who infiltrated the British fascist movement for twelve years to gather information for anti-fascist groups, says it's all too plausible. Homosexuality is "extremely prevalent" in the upper echelons of the British far right, and at one stage in the 1980s nearly half of the movement's organisers were gay, he claims.

Gerry Gable, editor of the anti-fascist magazine 'Searchlight', explains, "I have looked at Britain's Nazi groups for decades and this homophobic hypocrisy has been there all the time. I cannot think of any organisation on the extreme right that hasn't attacked people on the grounds of their sexual preference and at the same time contained many gay officers and activists." ...

This belief in the superiority of homosexuality had a strong German tradition that grew up at the turn of the twentieth century around Adolf Brand, publisher of the country's first gay magazine. You could call it 'Queer as Volk': they preached that gay men were the foundation of all nation-states and represented an elite, warrior caste that should rule. They venerated the ancient warrior cults of Sparta, Thebes and Athens.

Rohm often referred to the ancient Greek tradition of sending gay solider couples into battle, because they were believed to be the most ferocious fighters. The famous pass of Thermopylae, for example was held by 300 soldiers - who consisted of 150 gay couples. In its early years, the SA - Hitler and Rohm's underground army - was seen as predominantly gay. Rohm assigned prominent posts to his lovers, making Edmund Heines his deputy and Karl Ernst the SA commander in Berlin. The organisation would sometimes meet in gay bars. The gay art historian Christian Isermayer said in an interview, "I got to know people in the SA. They used to throw riotous parties even in 1933... I once attended one. It was quite well-behaved but thoroughly gay. But then, in those days, the SA was ultra-gay."

[Continued here]

• Paragraph 175, Homosexuality and the Nazi's Pt I [YouTube]
• Paragraph 175, Homosexuality and the Nazi's Pt II [YouTube]

Frank Lloyd Wright (1867—1959) [Wikipedia]

Frank Lloyd Wright... was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 projects, which resulted in more than 500 completed works. Wright promoted organic architecture (exemplified by Fallingwater), was a leader of the Prairie School movement of architecture (exemplified by the Robie House, the Westcott House, and the Darwin D. Martin House), and developed the concept of the Usonian home (exemplified by the Rosenbaum House). His work includes original and innovative examples of many different building types, including offices, churches, schools, skyscrapers, hotels, and museums. Wright also often designed many of the interior elements of his buildings, such as the furniture and stained glass.

Wright authored 20 books and many articles, and was a popular lecturer in the United States and in Europe. His colorful personal life often made headlines, most notably for the 1914 fire and murders at his Taliesin studio.

Already well-known during his lifetime, Wright was recognized in 1991 by the American Institute of Architects as "the greatest American architect of all time".

[Continued here]

• The Apprentices [New York Times, November 26, 2006]

Frank Lloyd Wright was one of architecture's most outlandish figures, a man who famously pranced around in a cape and ran off with a client's wife. So a book like "The Fellowship" was probably inevitable. Written by Roger Friedland and Harold Zellman, it is a tawdry, often malicious and occasionally entertaining romp through Wright's long life, focusing with particular glee on the cunning manipulations of his wife Olgivanna, their sex-starved daughter, Iovanna, and his many apprentices, who, according to the authors, ranged from sexual predators to doe-eyed innocents yearning to be exploited for the cause of Architecture. ...

Friedland, a professor of sociology and religious studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Zellman, an architect based in Los Angeles, devote a few pages to this early work, but they are more interested in sex. Although they acknowledge that Wright was not gay, they dwell endlessly on his supposed effeminacy and close relationships with gay men. "Manhood did not come easily to Frank Lloyd Wright," they write. "He loved beauty - both his own and the world's - a little too much." His relationship with his mentor, Louis Sullivan, embraced "all the arts and perhaps more," and was "energized by passionate identification." And then there is Wright's approach to nature: "He was the one who could penetrate her secrets, who could fructify the earth and create habitations amidst her folded skin." ...

Buried in all the gossip are some disturbing reminders about Wright's worldview. A self-proclaimed pacifist, Wright continued to speak out against American involvement in World War II even as bombs fell on London. He was prone to making anti-Semitic and racist statements, and despite his close relationships with gay men in private he could be virulently anti-gay in public.

Axel Axgil, Gay Rights Pioneer, Dies At 96 (1915—2011)
[Huffington Post, October 30, 2011]

Axel Axgil, whose struggle for gay rights helped make Denmark the first country to legalize same-sex partnerships, has died. He was 96.

Axgil died in a hospital in Copenhagen on Saturday following complications from a fall, Danish gay rights group LGBT Danmark said.

Axgil, born Axel Lundahl-Madsen, was among the founding members of the organization — one of the oldest gay rights groups in Europe — in 1948.

On Oct. 1, 1989, he and his partner Eigil (1922—1995) were among 11 couples to exchange vows as Denmark became the first country to allow gays to enter civil unions, with nearly the same rights as heterosexual couples. Eigil Axgil died in 1995.

[Continued here]

• Axel Axgil [Wikipedia]

Axel Axgil... and Eigil Axgil... were Danish gay activists and a longtime couple. They were the first gay couple to enter into a registered partnership anywhere in the world following Denmark's legalisation of same-sex partnership registration in 1989, a landmark legislation which they were instrumental in bringing about. They adopted the shared surname, Axgil, a combination of their given names, as an expression of their commitment.

Axel, born Axel Lundahl-Madsen, and Eigil, born Eigil Eskildsen, inspired by the 1948 UN Declaration of Human Rights, together with several friends, founded F-48 or Forbundet af 1948 (The Association of 1948), Denmark's first gay rights organization. By 1951, F-48's membership had grown to 1,339 and there were branches in Sweden and Norway. In 1985, F-48 became the Danish National Association of Gays and Lesbians (Landsforeningen for Bøsser og Lesbiske, Forbundet af 1948 or LBL). The couple launched a magazine, Vennen (The Friend).

"Contrary to today's bio-belief, the heterosexual/homosexual binary is not in
nature, but is socially constructed, therefore deconstructable."



Jonathan Ned Katz (1938— ) [Wikipedia]

Jonathan Ned Katz... is an American historian of human sexuality who has focused on same-sex attraction and changes in the social organization of sexuality over time. His works focus on the idea, rooted in social constructionism, that the categories with which we describe and define human sexuality are historically and culturally specific, along with the social organization of sexual activity, desire, relationships, and sexual identities. ...

The Invention of Heterosexuality was first published as an essay in 1990 and then expanded into a larger book. In it, Katz traces the development of heterosexual and homosexual and all the ideology, social and economic relations, gender expectations that were packed into it. He notes the radical change, in the late nineteenth century, from a sexual ethic of procreation to one based on erotic pleasure and sexual object choice. Noting the distinction that a procreation-based ethic condemns all non-procreative sex, categorizing sexual relations based primarily on this point. A gender-based sexual ethic is concerned with procreative sex on a secondary level, if at all.

[Continued here]

• Who's Gay? What's Straight? — The Invention Of Heterosexuality [PBS]
• Love Stories: Sex between Men before Homosexuality [University of Chicago Press, 2001]

In Love Stories, Jonathan Ned Katz presents stories of men's intimacies with men during the nineteenth century - including those of Abraham Lincoln - drawing flesh-and-blood portraits of intimate friendships and the ways in which men struggled to name, define, and defend their sexual feelings for one another. In a world before "gay" and "straight" referred to sexuality, men like Walt Whitman and John Addington Symonds created new ways to name and conceive of their erotic relationships with other men.

On Carrie Bradshaw's Block, Romance Over 6 Decades
[New York Times, September 12, 2011 ]

The house where Carrie Bradshaw lived, supposedly on the Upper East Side but actually at 66 Perry Street in the West Village, still draws a steady stream of "Sex and the City" fans. They snap photos of the row house, which was built in 1866, as if to partake in the fictional life of a New York writer and the foibles of her quest for lasting romance.

But a real New York romance played out at the house next door, No. 64, whose plainer facade served as Carrie's building for the first three seasons of the show, said Tim Gunn, the fashion executive who lived in an apartment there for 16 years. It lasted almost six decades, linking two men from their first meeting at the Rockefeller Center skating rink during World War II until one of them, Harold Eliot Leeds (1913—2002), an architect and professor of interior design at Pratt, died in 2002. ...

"If New York was the symbol of freedom to the United States, then the Village was the symbol of freedom to New York," said Robby Browne, the Corcoran agent who is marketing the property along with Chris Kann and Gregory Sullivan. "The Village was a symbol of freedom to gay people and people who were different."

That was at least part of the draw of moving downtown for Mr. Leeds and Wheaton Galentine (1914—2011), a documentary filmmaker who died this year. They met in 1944 and became a couple almost immediately, said Barry Skovgaard, who was a friend and is the executor of the estate.

They moved in together at 8 East 48th Street and then headed to 69 Perry Street a few years later to be part of "what was then a nascent gay scene," Mr. Skovgaard said. They fell in love with the Village, and when No. 64 across the street came up for sale, the two men leapt upon it, despite their lawyer's admonition that they could not afford it, said Mr. Gunn, the Liz Claiborne executive and "Project Runway" star, who rented an apartment on the top floor.

[Continued here]

Homosexual law reform in New Zealand (July 9, 1986) [New Zealand History Online]

'Go back into the sewers where you come from' was the advice of one New Zealand politician to homosexuals. The comment summed up one side of the bitter public and political debate that swept New Zealand in the mid 1980s during the homosexual law reform campaign. On the other side of the issue, gays and lesbians were urged to 'come out now ... be visible ... be blatant.

The Homosexual Law Reform Act, which was signed by the governor-general on 11 July 1986 and came into effect on 8 August that year, decriminalised sexual relations between men aged 16 and over. No longer would men having consensual sex with each other be liable to prosecution and a term of imprisonment. Sex between women was not illegal, but many lesbians suffered the same social discrimination as gay men and were staunch supporters of the reform movement.

The campaign to reform the law moved beyond the gay community to wider issues of human rights and discrimination. Extreme viewpoints ensured a lengthy and passionate debate. The outcome would mean that gays and lesbians could be out and about, or the New Zealand family would crumble and AIDS would spread through the community.

[Continued here]

• Champagne chilled for 25 year celebrations [gaynz.com]

Events are being planned across the country to mark 25 years since a pinnacle moment in New Zealand's gay history: Homosexual Law Reform.

• Pacific Voices video resource goes online [gaynz.com]

The 25 minute production is based on a recent fono of Pacific peoples and addresses many issues such as identity, sexual health, bullying and family estrangement. Directed by Ramon Te Wake, it offers hope through mutual support and self-determination.

• Labour's junior wing calls for marriage debate [Gay NZ, December 5, 2011]

"We have been particularly excited to see the marriage equality debate and see it become part of the ALP policy platform," she says.

"We believe that it's also time to end marriage discrimination in New Zealand - if two people love each other they should be able to get married. It is an issue of fundamental human rights."

Young Labour Rainbow representative Sam Thompson said that "we will mirror this discussion at our own Party Conference where I believe we will have more success at the end of this year.

"It is simply unacceptable for progressive parties to not stand up for equality.

Air NZ's Pink Flight grounded for 2012 [Gay NZ, November 23, 2011]

Marketing communications executive Neil Patton says it's due to resource and budget constraints.

"This is not to say that it'll never happen again..never say never as the saying goes!" Patton says.

"Given the amount of fun that was had at this year's fifth anniversary I'm sure it's not the last we've seen of the Pink Flight."

[Continued here]

The drag queen-hosted trans-Tasman flight has run every year since the inaugural "Flight of the Fairies" in 2007, jetting New Zealanders to Sydney in an abundance of style, with Air New Zealand providing entertainment and endless cocktails at the airport beforehand, and throughout the trip.

• Kathy Griffin rolls out the pink carpet on Air New Zealand for the D-List [Air New Zealand, January 16, 2008]

The first gay magazine [Sydney Star Observer, September 7, 2011]

Inspired by the Stonewall riots in New York - and a bottle of whisky he shared with his neighbour Christabel Poll - John Ware took up the fight in 1970 for gay rights in Australia.

The paired formed Campaign Against Moral Persecution (CAMP) and in November that year published Australia's first gay magazine Camp Ink. They attracted mainstream attention and Ware became the first gay man to publicly declare his homosexuality in the media.

Earlier, 32-year-old Ware had returned to university to study psychology, putting him on a collision course with his lecturers. In an exam paper he attacked the notion of homosexual deviance and took this battle into the first issue of Camp Ink, railing against psychology's use of aversion therapy to "mentally castrate" homosexuals.

On the cover a black-and-white illustration depicted aversion therapy as akin to sawing off a man's penis.

Just 500 copies were printed of that 16-page first issue and it sold for 20 cents.

Camp Ink was the start of a new discussion presenting homosexuality in a positive light.

Articles were written debating topics from promiscuity, male prostitution and religion to discussion about law reform, transvestites and the role of beats. It was mailed to CAMP members and key opinion-makers in the media, government and public domain in an effort to draw their attention to gay issues.

Initially, Ware and Poll were the faces and driving force behind both CAMP and Camp Ink. In 1971 Ware gave up study to be a full-time, although unpaid, worker for the organisation.

His management style opposed organisational structure for CAMP, eschewing formalities and refusing to go by titles such as president, a view shared by Poll.

Other members in the organisation argued that Ware had become a "de facto leader surrounded by an informal clique of activist friends" and agitated for a structured organisation with defined roles for office bearers. They had their way in April 1972 and Ware retreated from direct involvement in the organisation, although he continued to edit Camp Ink until the end of 1973.

By then, no doubt he had had enough after nearly four years with no pay. The magazine changed to quarterly and continued until March 1977.

After leaving Camp Ink, Ware ceased all involvement in gay politics, instead pursuing business interests. He died in May 2011, aged 73.

The great legacy of John Ware and Camp Ink was in opening up for gay men and lesbians the idea that it was possible to have a more accepting society.

They had sown the seed of rebellion and pride that would grow wildly beyond all expectation, if not quite to the left-wing revolutionary script some at the time had imagined.

[Continued here]

• The Origins of Gay Media in Australia 1969-78 [Gay Media History]

Australia's ruling party endorses same-sex marriage
[CBC, December 3, 2011]

Australia moved toward legally recognizing same-sex marriage after the country's ruling party voted Saturday to endorse the issue at its national conference.

"Equality does not diminish the worth of your relationships, it simply recognizes the worth of ours," said openly gay Finance Minister Penny Wong.

The impact of the vote at the centre-left Labor Party's annual conference in Sydney was diluted, however, by a motion by Prime Minister Julia Gillard to allow legislators a "conscience vote" on bills attempting to legalize gay marriage.

That means legislators do not have to toe the party line and can vote according to their personal beliefs.

Gillard's government also holds a wafer-thin majority in Parliament over the conservative Liberal Party - which opposes same-sex marriage - and several Labor members personally oppose gay marriage.

[Continued here]

• Thousands march calling for gay marriage to be recognised in law [The Australian, December 3, 2011]
• PM Julia Gillard and Senator Penny Wong — a reluctant embrace of an emotive issue; gay marriage [Telegraph, December 4, 2011]

At one end of the spectrum, Senator Wong, an openly gay senator, has campaigned for a change of attitude for more than a decade. At the other, Ms Gillard has steadfastly maintained that marriage should only ever be between a man and a woman. ...

Appealing to MPs to follow in the footsteps of other momentous policy decisions, such as the abolishment of the White Australia policy, Senator Wong described the issue of gay marriage as a "deeply personal" debate.

"But there is nothing to fear from equality," Senator Wong said in an emotionally-charged speech which reflected the general mood of the conference.

• Turnbull calls for conscience vote [Sydney Star Observer, December 6, 2011]

Liberal frontbencher Malcolm Turnbull has called on Opposition Leader Tony Abbott to allow Coalition MPs a conscience vote on the issue of marriage equality and hinted he would support a bill that came before parliament.

Speaking on the ABC's Radio National this morning, the Wentworth MP said he had raised the matter of allowing a free vote with Abbott.

• Marriage no fix-all for gay community: Entsch [Brisbane Times, December 5, 2011]

A senior Liberal MP and long-time gay rights advocate says he will not support same-sex marriage legislation due to come before Federal Parliament next year.

Warren Entsch, the opposition whip and Member for Leichhardt in north Queensland, successfully campaigned for equal rights for same-sex couples throughout the Howard government era, especially in the areas of superannuation and taxation.

However, Mr Entsch does not support gay marriage legislation, nor does he see any need for a conscience vote, saying it does not go far enough to address serious issues of discrimination across the entire lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.

High on his current agenda, as founder of the Parliamentary Friends of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Australians, is aged care for homosexual men and women.

"I'm not going to look at [gay marriage legislation] until will look at aged care," Mr Entsch said.

• Jewish support for Labor's marriage move [Sydney Star Observer, December 8, 2011]

Progressive Jewish groups have welcomed the Australia Labor Party's decision to change its party platform to support same-sex marriage.

The Union for Progressive Judaism and members of the Rabbinic Council of Progressive Rabbis of Australia, Asia and New Zealand (Moetzah) released a statement of support last week.

UPJ executive director Steve Denenberg said the groups support marriage equality under Australian law.

"Judaism teaches that all human beings are created betzelem Elohim ('in the image of God') and are therefore entitled to full dignity and equality," Denenberg said.

• Marriage 'could face court test' [Sydney Star Observer, January , 2012]

Marriage equality advocates are hopeful they can win the issue in the courts after two prominent lawyers from opposite sides of the debate agreed that an amendment to the Marriage Act could be tested in the High Court.

"There will undoubtedly be a constitutional challenge in the High Court given that the Parliament does not have the power to expand its legislative competence beyond the wording of the Constitution," Catholic lawyer Father Frank Brennan wrote.

"Under the Constitution, the Parliament has power 'to make laws with respect to marriage'."

Brennan wrote that in 1991 High Court Justice Daryl Dawson had observed that the Government's power to pass laws in relation to marriage relied on its existence as a "recognisable, though not immutable, institution".

Constitutional law expert and same-sex marriage supporter Professor George Williams agreed that the legalisation of same-sex marriage could be tested in the courts.

"The debate has proceeded on the basis that the cause will be won or lost in the Federal Parliament - in fact the High Court will have the final say," Williams wrote in The National Times.

• PM: marriage 'a reform whose time has come' [Sydney Star Observer, February 22, 2012]

Prime Minister Julia Gillard reportedly believes same-sex marriage is a 'reform whose time has come".

Three couples - one each from Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria - last night joined the PM and partner Tim Mathieson for dinner at The Lodge.

Australia Marriage Equality national convenor Alex Greenwich said the dinner was positive.

"The Prime Minister listened carefully to the case for equality and gave us all hope when she said the reform would happen one day," Greenwich said after the meal.

Last year grassroots campaign group GetUp! successfully bid $31,000 for the intimate dinner with Gillard as part of the Canberra Press Gallery's Midwinter Charity Ball.

"We used to worry about being beaten up in the street if seen walking hand in hand
with someone of the same sex. Young queers now worry about the cost
of wedding receptions."



[Dennis] Altman calls for historical perspective (1943— )
[Sydney Star Observer, October 31, 2011]

Speaking at the Victorian AIDS Council/Gay Men's Health Centre's annual general meeting, Altman said he believes a sense of history is lacking from current debates on LGBTI issues.

"A historical perspective can be understood to mean a number of things, ultimately . it's about understanding the stories that make us stand where we are now," Altman said.

"Looking back on those early days, what is most striking to me is that the Victorian AIDS Council became basically the centre of gay community activism in Melbourne.

"I think there is something we have lost."

Altman said he has observed the community change since the mid-'80s and early '90s, leaning more towards organisations like Melbourne LGBTI radio station JOY94.9 in larger numbers, or simply attending one-off annual festivals Midsumma and the Melbourne Queer Film Festival.

"I think a very big question we have to ask about the current world is what happens when our sense of community becomes one of consuming, rather than one of participating?" he said.

"That's one of the big challenges now."

[Continued here]

• Debating the international divide [Sydney Star Observer, August 10, 2011]

The seminar - Acceptance or Execution: the global divide around homosexuality - will be part of a series of speaking events run by the Australian Research Centre for Sex, Health and Society to look at issues of sexuality and health.

Altman will discuss the inclusion of sexuality in an international human rights context and why sexuality, and particularly homosexuality, has become crucial in debates about human rights.

Known for his groundbreaking 1972 book Homosexual: Oppression & Liberation, Altman was also president of the AIDS Society of Asia and the Pacific from 2001-5 and is currently LaTrobe University's professor of politics and director of the Institute for Human Security. He is the only Australian member on the Governing Council of the International AIDS Society.

• Same-sex marriage just a sop to convention [Australian Marriage Equality, February 2, 2011]

At the end of last year my partner and I were invited to include our photos in a "Potential Wedding Album" to be presented to the Prime Minister to underline the denial of same-sex marriage within Australia. I refused, saying that while I agree that the legal restrictions should be removed, I was uncomfortable with an approach that seemed to buy into the most conventional morality. I understand why this issue has become so important for many homosexuals, but I mourn the loss of radical critique that was central to the early gay and lesbian movement.

• Rights book republished 40 years on [Sydney Star Observer, February 1, 2012]

Events are being held in Melbourne and Sydney to celebrate the reprinting of the seminal gay rights book Homosexual: Oppression and Liberation by academic and author Dennis Altman.

First published in 1971, the book has often been said to have done for gay rights what Germaine Greer's The Female Eunuch did for feminism.

A conference, running February 3 to February 4 at Victoria University's Flinders St campus, will examine the book's legacy.

Altman told the Star Observer that 40 years on, there was much in the book that would still resonate with younger readers.

• The end of gay? [Sydney Star Observer, February 9, 2012]

Reviewing Altman's hypotheses, Weeks said he believes Altman's notion of 'the end of gay' or a time when sexuality is no longer needed as an identity is still radical today.

"Each of us [has the] potential [to be] sexual in many different ways and therefore the categories we use are very narrow attempts to limit that potentiality," Weeks said.

"Over the last 40 years, instead of living through the potentiality of all of us being polymorphic. instead of no one having an identity, everyone has an identity.

"The paradox of all that is, it shows how fragile any identity is, because in the process of creating our own identity we actually confirm that identities are fictions in a sense, like stories we tell about ourselves and each other."

"They're necessary fictions because without the sense of coherence that our own stories give us, and the sense of belonging to a collective narrative, we're unable to do anything about the practical problems we face as LGBT people."

[Portugal's] Big Gay Leap [New York Times, October 8, 2011]

With minimal international attention, Portugal - tiny, overwhelmingly Roman Catholic Portugal - legalized same-sex marriage last year. Although the country is hardly seen as a Scandinavian-style bastion of social progressivism, it's one of just 10 countries where such marriages can be performed nationwide, and in this regard it finds itself ahead of a majority of wealthier, more populous European countries, like France, Germany, Italy and Britain. In the United States, only six states and the District of Columbia allow gay marriage. How did that happen? And what wisdom do the answers offer frustrated supporters of same-sex marriage here and elsewhere around the globe? ...

"They're countries where the commitment to democracy and equal protection under the law was denied, flouted and oppressed, and the societies have struggled to restore that," said Evan Wolfson, the president of Freedom to Marry, a New York-based advocacy group, in a recent interview. ...

I was left with the strong impression that for many highly educated and young people in Portugal - which belongs to both the European Union and the euro zone but doesn't have nearly as much economic or political clout as its peers, and has plunged into fiscal crisis - same-sex marriage became a badge of sophistication, affirming their country as an enlightened place.

[Continued here]

Delhi High Court strikes down Section 377 of IPC [The Hindu, July 3, 2009]

In a landmark judgment, the Delhi High Court on Thursday struck down the provision of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which criminalised consensual sexual acts of adults in private, holding that it violated the fundamental right of life and liberty and the right to equality as guaranteed in the Constitution.

Gays present in the court room hailed the judgment and greeted one another with hugs.

A Division Bench of Justice A.P. Shah and Justice S. Muralidhar in its 105-page order said: "We declare that Section 377 of the IPC, insofar as it criminalises consensual sexual acts of adults in private, is violative of Articles 21 [Right to Protection of Life and Personal Liberty], 14 [Right to Equality before Law] and 15 [Prohibition of Discrimination on Grounds of Religion, Race, Caste, Sex or Place of Birth] of the Constitution.

"We hold that sexual orientation is a ground analogous to sex, and that discrimination on sexual orientation is not permitted under Article 15," the judgment said.

However, the court clarified that "the provisions of Section 377 will continue to govern non-consensual penile non-vaginal sex and penile non-vaginal sex involving minors."

The judges also said that by adult they meant "everyone who is 18 years of age and above."

"A person below 18 would be presumed not to be able to consent to a sexual act," the judgment said.

The Bench further said that "this clarification will hold till, of course, Parliament chooses to amend the law to effectuate the recommendation of the Law Commission of India in its 172nd Report which, we believe, removes a great deal of confusion."

The judgment also made it clear that it would not result in re-opening of criminal cases involving Section 377 that had already attained finality.

[Continued here]

• Delhi's gay community campaigns for rights [Hindustan Times, July 2, 2011]

Today is the second anniversary of the Delhi High Court's historic judgment regarding section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, decriminalizing gay sex. Delhi's LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community gathered to celebrate the second anniversary of the historic judgment.

Outside Jantar Mantar, at five o' clock, over three hundred people turned up to show their support and celebrate the growing awareness about the issue and acceptance of the Indian LGBT community into mainstream.

Coming in the wake of the legalization of same sex marriage in New York, the mood was optimistic as the city's queers celebrated the progress India has seen. ...

Queer Campus, a Delhi based independent queer student and youth collective also showed up in full strength to lend their support. Active since 2010, Queer Campus uses the term queer to refer to any identity or outlook which questions stereotypes.

Rohit [not his real name] a member of Queer Campus, said "I now have the courage to be myself. I will be coming out to my family soon, and later this year I hope to come out to the whole world." He added that Queer Campus had really helped him, and provides a space to discuss anything and everything, not just LGTB issues.

• Delhi's Queer Pride march takes to the streets; demands government legislation to end discrimination [NDTV, November 27, 2011]

Hundreds of people in colourful attire took to the streets here today lending their support to lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders (LGBT) and seeking an end to discrimination against their community.

The candle-lit march from Barakhamba Road to Jantar Mantar saw LGBTs and supporters donning colourful masks and scarves, and carrying flags in support of the community. The parade has been organised as part of fourth edition of the Delhi Queer Pride 2011.

Cross-dressers in heavy sarees and salvar kameez with jewelry were also spotted at the venue, as supporters danced to the beat of drums and dholaks.

"This is not a protest march, but a celebratory march," Rahul Sharma, 25, a member of the Delhi Queer Pride Committee said.

"This march is to take ownership of the streets of Delhi and to walk on the street like a normal person, without fear of being harassed or made fun of," Sharma added.

• India home ministry calls gay sex 'immoral' [BBC, February 23, 2012]

Last week, the Supreme Court begun a debate on the legality of decriminalising gay sex in private between consenting adults.

"So who is the expert to say what is 'unnatural sex'? The meaning of the word has never been constant," Justices GS Singhvi and SJ Mukhopadhyaya asked a petitioner who challenged the judgement.

• Steve Rothaus: Indian government clarifies it accepts gay sex as legal [Miami Herald, February 29, 2012]

The Indian government Tuesday clarified to the Supreme Court that it accepts a recent ruling legalizing gay sex in the country.

A lawyer told the Supreme Court that the government would not challenge a 2009 order by the Delhi High Court striking down a colonial-era law that made gay sex a crime.

The order was appealed by conservative groups and the Supreme Court is now hearing opinions from those groups as well as gay rights activists.

The latest statement comes days after another government lawyer told the court that gay sex was "highly immoral" and should be banned. The government quickly denied that lawyer's statement, prompting confusion about its stance on the law. ...

Over the last decade, homosexuals have slowly gained a degree of acceptance in some parts of India, especially its big cities. The last two years have also seen large gay pride parades in New Delhi and other big cities, including Mumbai and Kolkata.

Still, being gay remains deeply taboo in most of the country, and many gays and lesbians hide their sexual orientation from friends and relatives.

• Their court marriage termed illegal, gay couple flee home [Indian Express, April 10, 2012]

A gay couple who got married and had their marriage registered in Ballia last month have fled from their home, scared of landing in a jail as their marriage has been found to have been registered under the Hindu Marriage Act, in which there is not place for such unions.

While Chunmun Kumar and Simran say that they had told the registry officials about their gender, officials say that they had submitted two affidavits, describing one as man and the other as woman.

Chunmun, a resident of Sinhachwar village in Garhwar area of Ballia, has been working with Simran, a male dancer, for more than eight years in various marriage parties in eastern Uttar Pradesh. They have also been living together. Simran, earlier called Simaan Singh, was born in Bareilly and has been living in Ballia for eight years. They decided to get married last month.

Tushar Gandhi: "How does it matter if the Mahatma was straight, gay or bisexual?
Every time he would still be the man who led India to freedom."



Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869—1948) [Wikipedia]

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi... was a pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement. He pioneered satyagraha. This is defined as resistance to tyranny through mass civil resistance - a term which Gandhi used in many of his statements and writings. His philosophy was firmly founded upon ahimsa (nonviolence). His philosophy and leadership helped India gain independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. Gandhi is often referred to as Mahatma.... In India he is also called Bapu (... or "Father") and officially honored in India as the Father of the Nation. His birthday, 2 October, is commemorated as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and worldwide as the International Day of Non-Violence. Gandhi was assassinated on 30 January 1948 by Nathuram Godse.

[Continued here]

• Indian state bans Gandhi book after reviews hint at gay relationship [The Guardian, March 30, 2011]

A state in western India has banned Pulitzer-prize-winning Joseph Lelyveld's new book about Mahatma Gandhi after reviews said it hints that the father of India's independence had a homosexual relationship.

More bans have been proposed in India, where homosexuality was illegal until 2009 and still carries social stigma.

Gujarat's state assembly voted unanimously on Wednesday to ban Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle With India.

The furore was sparked by local media reports, based on early reviews in the US and UK, some of which emphasised passages in the book that suggested Gandhi had an intimate relationship with a German man named Hermann Kallenbach.

• Nepal's gay MP: 'Gandhi's sexuality doesn't matter' [Pink News, April 8, 2011]

John A. Harnick: "In retrospect, it would appear that T.E. Lawrence was just a figment of his
own fevered imagination. Was he a homosexual? In this case, who the hell cares?"



T.E. Lawrence — Lawrence of Arabia (1888—1935) [PBS]

He called himself an 'ordinary man' but Thomas Edward Lawrence lived an extraordinary life.

Born in Tremadoc, Wales, in 1888, Thomas Edward - known as Ned - was the second of five illegitimate boys. ...

After much travelling, the Lawrence family eventually settled in Oxford where young Ned went to school and university. He loved history and travel, spending his youth exploring castles and old churches. After a study trip in Syria where he walked over a thousand miles to study remote Crusader castles, Lawrence graduated with first-class honors and decided to become an archaeologist.

Lawrence returned to the Middle East, working from 1910-1914 at an excavation in Carchemish, northern Syria, where he continued his love affair with all things Arabic. It was here he formed a close friendship with a young Arab worker, Dahoum, who became his traveling companion and assistant.

Lawrence was back in England when war was declared and was keen to contribute. He was assigned to the British Army in Cairo. Using his knowledge of Arabic he interviewed Turkish prisoners and soon became familiar with Turkish Army locations and strengths.

[Continued here]

• Who's Who — T.E. Lawrence [firstworldwar.com]
• TE Lawrence paid money to mystery woman [Mail & Guardian, January 1, 2002]

The information, contained in confidential Royal Air Force records made public this week, already is generating a new round of speculation about Lawrence's little-known private life, which has been the subject of fierce debate among historians and biographers.

• British Plans against France, and against the Jews in 1915 [eretzyisroel.org]

Toward the end of the First World War, and increasingly after the war, it became common knowledge and part of the popular literature of the age that in the defeat of the Turks a specific and notable part was played by the Arab revolt and that its leaders had enjoyed the indispensable co-operation and advice of a brilliant young British officer named Thomas Edward Lawrence. This revolt, according to the account, began in Arabia, displacing the Turks, spread over into Syria, and reached a climax in the capture of Damascus. In the end, so the story ran, the promises to the Arabs were broken. The Arabs based their later vociferous propaganda -- and their claim to vast additions of territory, including Palestine -- on this account.

The major part of this story of the revolt was a fabrication, largely created in Lawrence's imagination. It grew and grew and was not exposed for many years. It suited the makers of British policy at the time so well that Lawrence, who was a yam-spinner of quite extraordinary proportions2 was able to impose himself, and to be imposed, on the British public and on the world, as one of the great heroes and as one of the most brilliant brains of the First World War. Lawrence's monumental book on the subject, The Seven Pillars of Wisdom (of which Revolt in the Desert was an abridged popular edition), was published and publicised and widely accepted as authentic history. In fact, it was largely a work of fiction. On the basis of this fiction, however, the British government was able to initiate and pursue its predominant policy in the Middle East and fight for it in the international arena. Directed at first primarily against France, much of its momentum and later fury was concentrated against the Jewish restoration in Palestine. It was the Lawrence fiction that for many years provided the main propaganda ammunition for the Arabs.

The Lawrence legend was finally demolished in 1955 in a remarkable "biographical enquiry" by the British writer Richard Aldington. His findings on the political and military facts were based on an exhaustive study of all the available sources, especially Lawrence's own copious writings and those he inspired and encouraged. They have been amplified and deepened by the research since made possible by the release of secret British documents of the period. It has consequently become fashionable in Britain today to write with contempt and denigration of Lawrence and to speculate in psychoanalytical overtones on the reasons for his aberrations.

Though the myth has been exploded, the exposure has not yet brought any recognition of the implications, historical and political, of the myth as a central pillar of British policy. The admission in Britain of the Lawrence myth is a confession of the tricking of the French after the First World War and of the falsehoods and fabrications employed to promote the betrayal of the British trust in Palestine and of Britain's undertakings to the Jewish people. That betrayal had far-reaching consequences in fostering and reinforcing the pan-Arab attack on the Jewish restoration, with all the resultant suffering and bloodshed that continue to this day.

Rene Ohana: The Golden Orchid Society [Rainbow Rumpus, January, 2012]

Hundreds of years ago, in southern China, villages celebrated the marriages of two women. These same couples often welcomed young orphaned girls into their homes and raised them as their children.

History shows us that in Guangdong, China, same-sex families were once a thriving part of the community. The Golden Orchid Society was a group of women who promised not to have sexual relations with men. Women chose to join the society for lots of different reasons, one of which was a desire to marry a woman. Though the society gained a large following during the late Qing dynasty, which lasted from 1644 until 1911, it may have started much earlier.

The courtship and marriage of two women in the Golden Orchid Society was similar to other couples in China at the time. If a woman wanted to marry another woman, she would offer the woman and her family gifts, such as tea and wedding cakes. If the woman accepted the presents, then the couple was engaged. For the wedding ceremony, the women probably wore traditional red Chinese wedding veils and changed their hairstyle from long braids, which were worn by single women, to buns, which were worn by married women. During the actual ceremony, the couple not only promised to be faithful to each other, but also honored their ancestors and parents.

Once married, the women lived together and cared for each other and their families. In a journal written in 1937, a traveler describes "two women [who] dwell together, always existing as if they were one woman. They are as close as a stalk of grain coming through a stone."

Custom also allowed the couple to adopt and raise orphaned and abandoned girls. These girls were loved by their mothers, as well as by their grandparents, aunts, and uncles.

In most cases, everyone lived happily. But sometimes, things did not work out for the couple. Perhaps they would fall out of love. Or the parents of one woman would try to get her to marry the man they had chosen to be her husband when she was a little girl, according to the tradition of arranged marriage.

If a woman in the Golden Orchid Society were to leave her wife or be unfaithful, then the society members would publicly shame her. The public humiliation not only hurt the woman, but also her family. The fear of this humiliation was so strong, that even extended families, which may not have originally supported same-sex marriage, would often encourage the women to live happily together.

In ancient China, same-sex marriage was also understood by one of the major religions. The Buddhist religion believes in reincarnation, which is the idea that when someone dies, his or her spirit returns to the world in a new body, as another person or animal. Buddhists also believe that once a couple is married, they are destined to love and marry each other again in each of their lives. Therefore, if a man and woman are married in one life, and then come back in their next life as two women, they are destined to marry again as two women. Since Buddhism, offered a reasonable explanation for same-sex marriages, many people accepted them.

Clearly, in parts of ancient China, love between women and their ability to affectionately raise children was understood and acknowledged. Same-sex families thrived then, as they do today.

[Continued here]

Today is the gay Saints' Day (d. c. 303 CE) [Same Same, October 7, 2011]

Roman soldiers Sergius and Bacchus died in 303AD and were later beautified by the Catholic Church - they're now considered to be the only pair of 'gay Saints'. Today, October 7, is the day to honour them.

The pair (pictured) lived in ancient Syria and were inseparable. In a strange reversal of today's culture, they were open as a gay couple but secretly Christian, modern historians suggest.

"For refusing to enter the Temple of Jupiter with fellow officers to make offerings there, they were stripped of their military garb and then humiliated by being paraded in heavy chains through the streets dressed in women's clothing," says the website honouring the Sainted duo.

"In prison, while singing and praying, they were visited by angels who comforted them. Calling each other 'brother', they claimed that in their 'union' they became as one, as well as at one with Christ."

Before Sergius was beheaded, Bacchus, who had been killed first, appeared to him as an angel wearing military garb, their legend tells. "He urged Sergius not to give up because they would be reunited in heaven as lovers."

Later, the tomb of Saint Sergius became a famous shrine "and was honoured by great gatherings of Christians because of the frequent miracles there."

[Continued here]

Ancient Roman coins with sex scenes — sprintia [Neocobra blog]

This is a spintria. They were used in ancient Rome to request and pay for different "services" in brothels and from prostitutes on the street. Since there were a lot of foreigners coming to the city that did not speak the language and most of the prostitutes were slaves captured from other places the coins made the transactions easy and efficient. One side of these coins showed what the buyer wanted and the other showed the amount of money to be paid for the act.

[Continued here]