Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand says that she supports extending civil rights to all LGBT Americans, and we have to make sure that Sen. Gillibrand makes good on her support by filing legislation, which would add "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Call : 1 (212) 688-6262.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler Introduces a Bill to Repeal DOMA
On March 16, 2011, Rep. Jerry Nadler held a press conference to announce the re-introduction of the Respect for Marriage Act. The legislation, introduced with Reps. Barney Frank, Tammy Baldwin, Jared Polis, David Cicilline, and John Conyers, would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a 1996 law that discriminates against lawfully married gay and lesbian couples.
From UK Gay News : LONDON -- August 6, 2011 – Joseph Kaute, the 43-years-old gay Cameroonian who was due to be deported from the UK this morning, is back at Harmondsworth detention centre this evening, thanks to Air France, the airline that was due to fly him from Heathrow back to Yaoundé via Paris. It was the third attempt to deport him. “Air France refused to allow me to board,” Mr. Kaute told UK Gay News by telephone, this evening. He added that he was aware of the eleventh-hour campaign mounted yesterday evening to prevent the deportation, with representations made directly to Air France in both Paris and London. “I would like to thank all those who helped me,” he said. Mr. Kaute arrived in the UK in November last year and claimed asylum, saying that he was gay and that he faced up to five years imprisonment. However, a tribunal in Newport, Wales, refused to accept that he was gay. ...
Protesters Travel From Across Texas to Picket Hate-Based Event
HOUSTON, TX — On August 6th, Governor Perry spoke at an event inside Reliant Stadium in Houston that he organized with the American Family Association, an organization recognized as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Outside, GetEQUAL protesters from across the Lone Star State joined together and raised their voices against the hatred and bigotry being voiced inside the stadium.
The lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community has recently seen a rise in hate crimes against them, both in Texas and across the country. This event is one more example of religion-based bigotry that helps spur such hate crimes and helps send the message that discriminating against one particular group is okay.
“Our Governor invited, and therefore endorsed, groups to preach hate in our state,” said GetEQUAL Texas State Lead Organizer Michael Diviesti. “The American Family Association and the Family Research Council empower the bullies that are driving our youth to suicide and the murderers who kill out of hatred and ignorance.”
For the LGBT community, this was a day to stand up and fight back — not against prayer, but against those using their religion as a justification for the harm they cause to others.
HARLEM (WABC) -- A transgendered person was found fatally stabbed, with part of a knife still in the back, in East Harlem Monday afternoon.
Police say the 40-year-old victim was discovered lying face down on a bed inside the East 110th Street apartment just before 4:45 p.m.
The victim sustained multiple stab wounds to the back and had a sheet around the neck.
No arrests were immediately made and the stabbing is under investigation.
Updated ! The Windy City Times posted a news release, which reported that Camila Guzman was the name of the person, who was murdered in her apartment in East Harlem. The news release, issued on behalf of several LGBT organisations, called on ''the media to report this story accurately and responsibly.'' Meanwhile, The New York Post identified the murder victim as Rodrigo Guzman, aged 38, but the newspaper did not report the transgendered name. Also, the newspaper, notorious for how it can be callous towards LGBT issues, described the murder victim as a ''hooker.''
New York state’s attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, filed an amicus brief in federal court challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (''DOMA''), the discriminatory law that institutionalises de jure federal discrimination against same-sex marriages.