Lady Gaga Obama Bullying

Lady Gaga Wants to Meet With Obama Over Bullying

From the Associated Press (via The New York Times) :

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lady Gaga wants to meet with President Barack Obama about her concerns over bullying.

Gaga expressed sadness over Twitter Wednesday about the suicide death of a 14-year-old New York boy who had complained in an online video about being bullied over his sexuality.

The pop singer tweeted to her 13.7 million followers: "I am meeting with our President. I will not stop fighting. This must end."

A Democratic official said Gaga plans to attend an Obama fundraiser next week on the West Coast but no private meeting has been scheduled. The official spoke on condition of anonymity and was not authorized to speak publicly about the fundraiser.

In videos, Jamey Rodemeyer described being taunted in his school hallways and receiving hateful messages online before his suicide death Sunday outside his home in Williamsville, N.Y. The video was part of the "It Gets Better Project," which is meant to give hope to gay teens.

In his blog, Rodemeyer referred to himself as gay and made frequent references to suicide and to his idol, Lady Gaga, who often sings about acceptance of gays and lesbians.

Rodemeyer's parents said the boy had been bullied for years but appeared to be doing better since beginning high school a few weeks ago.

Police are investigating whether criminal charges should be filed in the case. New York state doesn't have an anti-bullying law but authorities have said bullies could be charged with harassment or aggravated harassment.

The White House held a conference on bullying prevention in March to discuss bullying, estimating that it affects 13 million students, or about a third of those attending school. Obama said then he hoped to "dispel the myth that bullying is just a harmless rite of passage or an inevitable part of growing up. It's not."

Kirsten Gillibrand Product Endorsement

Has Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand become a paid political spokesperson for Verizon Wireless ? One of her recent e-mails bore the Verizon Wireless Blackberry footer. Is this an example of regulatory capture ?

Kristen Gillibrand - Verizon Blackberry Advertising

Oakland LGBT Civil Rights Proclamation

Oakland Proclamation for LGBT Civil Rights (American Equality Bill)

Covenant To End DOMA

Invitation to Wedding and Covenant to End DOMA at The Riverside Church (Fundraiser)

On Sunday, October 30, 2011, TJ Williams and Brad Hover are to be married at The Riverside Church in New York City in a ceremony, which will include a prayer -- calling on President Barak Obama to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”) before the end of his second term in office.  TJ and Brad are calling this special prayer a Covenant to End DOMA. 

"My partner and I started planning our wedding before we even knew that marriage equality would be made legal in New York State. But we had faith that the laws would be changed in our endless effort towards achieving equality," said TJ Williams.

To raise money for the wedding and for the Covenant to End Doma, TJ has released the above YouTube fundraiser video. TJ and Brad need your help to gather leaders and speakers and others for a civil rights event, where President Obama will be asked to covenant with our nation's communities and its leaders to end DOMA before the end of his second term. All donations will be used for this service and for purposes of community-building around social justice.

Under the discrimination of DOMA, no state is required to acknowledge the legal same-sex marriages, even if they are legal in other states.  Participants in the Covenant to End DOMA are also hoping that this event will spur a conversation that would encourage unity between the African American community and the LGBT community, as we face the 2012 election year. 

Nadler Introduces Repeal DOMA

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.

Air France refuses to take part in LGBT Deportation of Joseph Kaute from the UK to Cameroon

Air France Refuses to Fly Failed Gay Asylum Seeker to Cameroon : Third attempt to deport Joseph Kaute fails

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. ...

LGBT Activists Protest Against Texas Gov. Rick Perry's Hate Event

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.

LGBT civil rights activist Iana Di Bona was among the activists, who took part in the protest outside the Reliant Stadium. Read the entire press release issued by GetEQUAL about Texas Governor Rick Perry's hate convention.

Transgender Stabbed to Death Harlem

Transgendered person found fatally stabbed

From WABC Eyewitness News :

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.''

Schneiderman Amicus Brief DOMA

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.

10-Cv-8435 Windsor v United States Amicus NY State

Instead of waiting out the court case, when are LGBT allies in the United States Senate going to repeal DOMA ?

First Day Marriage Equality in New York City - Connecting Rainbows Video

Louis Flores and Suzannah B. Troy : YouTube Video Summary of First Day of Marriage Equality : Manhattan Marriage Bureau to Andrew Cuomo's Office to Gracie Mansion

Members of Connecting Rainbows made a video summary of the rainstorm that befell upon the hate group jointly organised by Sen. Ruben Diaz, Sr., and the National Organization for Marriage.