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.
Businessman's will orders gay son to marry woman, or else son will lose $180,000 inheritance. How's that for de factor LGBT discrimination ?
The late Frank Mandelbaum's dying wish was that his son marry the mother of his grandchild. Only Robert Mandelbaum, 47, a Manhattan Criminal Court Judge, is already married - to a man. Robert Mandelbaum is now fighting to overturn his father's will, arguing that the only 'mother' his two-year-old son knows is his longtime partner Johnathan O'Donnell, 39.
PARIS — Gay couples in France will be allowed to get married and to adopt children from next year, Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault announced last week.
“In the first half of 2013, the right to marriage and adoption will be open to all couples, without discrimination,” he told parliament, confirming an election promise by Socialist President Francois Hollande.
“Our society is evolving, lifestyles and mentalities are changing,” he said in a speech outlining the new Socialist government’s agenda. “The government will respond to that.”
The confirmation came just days after Paris held its annual Gay Pride parade, which this year was buoyed by the promise of the new government to legalise gay marriage and adoption rights. And the announcement follows just a few short months after LGBT activists in France staged a national LGBT equality summit in the setting of a French presidential debate.
Read more : Same-sex marriage, gay adoption allowed in France from 2013
Facebook LGBT Reaction To President Barack Obama's Marriage Equality ''Evolution''
Following is the Facebook ''status update'' posted by LGBT civil rights activist Tiffani Equality Bishop, which deftly addresses the commonly-shared disappointment in President Obama's recently announced support for marriage equality :
Am I appreciative of Obama's partial evolution on marriage equality? YES
Am I also incredibly disgusted that he went to NC on April 24 and took millions of LGBT dollars without even mentioning Amendment 1 once? YES
Am I also incredibly disgusted that the DNC and OFA did not send one email, one volunteer, or even one penny to help defeat Amendment 1 in NC all while taking millions of dollars from our community? YES
Am I frustrated that he still thinks it is a states rights issue and not a human rights issue? YES
Am I frustrated that he still believes only section 3 of DOMA and not all of DOMA should be repealed? YES
So has he really evolved like people say? I see this as a partial "evolution"...he still has some "evolving" to do.
So please excuse me for feeling a little slapped in the face when our POTUS chooses to evolve on marriage (partially anyway) the day after the harshest anti-LGBT marriage amendment passed in NC while he and his administration did absolutely NOTHING to help defeat it...not even a pretty speech. Am I glad he came out, yes. But his timing was disrespectful and severely lacked any tact.
What I have a hard time understanding though, is the reaction from our community. He still hasn't completely evolved, and his partial evolution does not make us any more equal. I have a hard time understanding why people were crying and celebrating and throwing money at him over this. Words may make us feel good for a minute, but at the end of the day we're still unequal and his actions aren't backing up his words.
If he means it, he'll put his money where his mouth is. He'll sign the ENDA Executive Order on his desk, and he'll stop the deportations of same-sex binational partners...and he'll do it BEFORE the election.
If his actions don't back it up, then it really doesn't mean anything. It just means he is pandering to our community, throwing us crumbs, and using us as election tokens.
The integrity of Ms. Bishop's response to President Obama's ''partial evolution'' on marriage equality can be affirmed by reading published editorials, like this one, printed by The Philadelphia Inquirer : ''A huge step but no real action : While Obama's support for same-sex marriage is a landmark, he left the question up to each state.'' Ms. Bishop is a leading LGBT civil rights activist in the United States. She is lives in Texas. This post was reprinted in its entirety from a post made on Facebook.
Obama Affirms Support for Same-Sex Marriage.
President says his position on marriage has evolved.
Pam Spaulding, from Pam's House Blend, made this comment to The Village Voice about the timing of President Obama's announcement : "[North Carolina's Amendment 1] wasn't about marriage equality at all. It was about stopping civil unions and domestic partnerships. This wasn't about extending rights, it was about taking them away. I was very sad that the Obama campaign couldn't even be bothered to email their massive email list and tell them to vote no. Something that would have cost them zero. Today, he's taking something which will have a national impact. But yesterday, the campaign couldn't even take that one, small local step."
The New York Times weighs in about the timing of President Obama's announcement, and how its timing came too late to have an impact on North Carolina's anti-LGBT vote : Too Late for North Carolina ?
