04.11.08
Posted in Advocate Articles, Gay Rights at 1:10 pm by pikapp44
For gay couples, the April 15 tax filing deadline can be a reminder of the disparities they face, even in a nation that is becoming more accepting of same-sex couples.
Gay couples often pay higher taxes because they don’t get the federal tax benefits that go with marriage. And for couples in state-sanctioned domestic partnerships, civil unions or same-sex marriages, filing federal income taxes can involve doing three sets of paperwork instead of one.
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04.10.08
Posted in E's Thoughts, Gay Portal at 4:23 pm by pikapp44
Pride South Florida’s Pride in the Sun festival, which will be held in Fort Lauderdale’s Holiday Park on Saturday and Sunday, April 12 and 13, promises to be one of the largest Pride celebrations on the East Coast, attracting thousands with dance tents, more than 250 vendors, Florida’s largest display of the AIDS Memorial Quilt and nationally recognized entertainers.
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04.09.08
Posted in Advocate Articles, Gay Rights at 12:49 pm by pikapp44
In accepting his New York Leadership Award from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force on Monday night, newly installed governor David Paterson announced that he would continue to push for full marriage equality for LGBT New Yorkers, according to a Task Force press release.
He told the crowd he was “proud to have run on a ticket that advocated for marriage equality and to win on that premise.”
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04.08.08
Posted in Advocate Articles, Gay Rights at 12:42 pm by pikapp44
Legislation that would prohibit discrimination against gays and lesbians in employment, housing and public accommodations throughout Florida passed a key Senate committee on Tuesday.
With the support of both Democrats and Republicans the Senate Commerce Committee approved the bill by a vote of 7 to 1.
“Today’s vote is truly historic,” said Rand Hoch, president of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council.
“This demonstrates that Florida lawmakers are finally beginning to understand the need for a statewide law prohibiting discrimination faced by the LGBT community.”
“That is the legislation that ultimately must be signed into law,” said Hoch.
Gov. Charlie Crist (R) has not yet indicated whether he would sign the legislation if it reaches his desk.
Currently, the Florida Civil Rights Act protects against discrimination in employment based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, handicap, or marital status
Florida’s Fair Housing Act currently protects against discrimination in housing and public accommodations based on race, color, national origin, sex, handicap, familial status, or religion.
Legislation that would ban discrimination against gays and lesbians is currently before Congress.
The House in November approved the bill, written by openly gay Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), after transgender protections were stripped out.
Last week Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) announced he would introduce a similar bill, also without transgender protections, in the Senate.
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04.07.08
Posted in Advocate Articles, Gay Rights at 1:24 pm by pikapp44
Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton told Ellen DeGeneres that she will work to ensure that same-sex couples such as the talk show host and her partner, Portia de Rossi, are treated fairly.
”I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that people like you and Portia and others have a chance to have, you know, rights to be able to go to the hospital, to inherit property, to make sure that you can list somebody as a beneficiary on an insurance policy,” Clinton said in an interview to air Monday on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
”That’s all we want is to be fair,” DeGeneres responded. ”I like it. I like it.”
Clinton has said she would defend gay rights as president and eliminate disparities for same-sex couples in federal law, including immigration and tax policy.
When asked how the New York senator deals with criticism and calls for her to stop her presidential campaign, Clinton told DeGeneres it was nothing new. ”You know, boys used to say that to me all the time,” the former first lady said.
Clinton said she continues because there are still states left to vote and the contest between rival Barack Obama and her is close.
”Why would I quit?” Clinton said. ”This country is worth fighting for. I’m having a good time. I’m enjoying going out there and talking to people.”
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04.04.08
Posted in Advocate Articles, Gay Rights at 2:07 pm by pikapp44
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said she would defend gay rights as president and eliminate disparities for same-sex couples in federal law, including immigration and tax policy.
She said that when they ask her why they can’t get married, she tells them marriage is a state law. She said that fact helped defeat a federal constitutional amendment to prohibit same-sex weddings that she said would have ”enshrined discrimination in the Constitution.”
”States are really beginning seriously to deal with the whole range of options, including marriage, both under their own state constitutions and under the legislative approach,” she said. ”I anticipate that there will be a very concerted amount of effort in the next couple of years that will move this important issue forward, and different states will take different approaches as they did with marriage over many years, and you will see an evolution over time.”
Clinton’s Democratic rival Barack Obama and Republican John McCain declined the newspaper’s invitation for an interview. The paper criticized Obama and highlighted his refusal to talk by leaving a blank space on the front page where his interview would have appeared.
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04.03.08
Posted in Advocate Articles, Gay Rights at 12:03 pm by pikapp44
Tonight Show host Jay Leno apologized Tuesday after being roundly criticized for remarks he made to guest Ryan Phillippe that aired March 19.
“In talking about Ryan’s first role, I realize that what I said came out wrong,” Leno said in a statement. “I certainly didn’t mean any malice. I agree it was a dumb thing to say, and I apologize.”
Phillippe had appeared on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno to promote his latest film, Stop-Loss. In the course of the interview Leno referenced the actor’s portrayal on One Life to Live as the first gay teen on a daytime drama.
“Say that camera was your gay lover,” Leno said to Phillippe. “Give that camera your gayest look. Say that camera is Billy Bob who’s just ridden in shirtless from Wyoming.”
“Wow,” said a clearly uncomfortable Phillippe. “That is so something I don’t want to do.”
While the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation commended Phillippe for not playing along, it condemned Leno for his comments.
“We are proud of Ryan for refusing to participate in Leno’s thoughtless attempt at humor,” GLAAD president Neil G. Giuliano said in a press release. “Under the guise of comedy, the talk show host is demonstrating a lack of respect for the gay community and insensitivity to both his coworkers and the audience, to whom he owes an apology.”
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04.01.08
Posted in Advocate Articles, Gay Rights at 6:42 pm by pikapp44
In Nazi Germany, some gay men were castrated and prosecuted under draconian laws prohibiting homosexuality. Others were subjected to crude medical experiments designed to ”correct” their sexual orientation. Gay men in concentration camps were singled out with distinctive pink triangle badges and assigned backbreaking labor that often killed them.
A traveling exhibit from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum uses photographs, documents, and artwork to chronicle the Nazis’ arrests and persecution of tens of thousands of gay men from 1933 to 1945.
The exhibit, on display through the end of the month at the University of Rhode Island, gives voice to what its curator describes as ”one of the lesser-known stories of the Nazi era.”
Sexual relationships between women, already regarded as second-class citizens, were not criminalized, and lesbians were generally seen as less of a cultural threat, Phillips said.
The exhibit begins just before the Nazis rose to power, when an estimated 1.2 million gay men lived in Germany and a gay culture flourished in nightclubs and cafes.
But after Hitler took power, the Nazis began shuttering gay clubs, and in 1934 the Gestapo asked local police departments to compile lists of men believed to be gay.
The gay victims of the Nazis were overlooked for years and did not receive formal acknowledgment in Germany until a 1985 speech by the then-president of West Germany, the exhibit says. However, memorials to the gay victims have been developed in parts of Europe and one is being created in Berlin. Paragraph 175 has been abolished, and the German parliament in 2002 pardoned the men convicted under it.
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