07.10.08
Posted in Advocate Articles, Gay Rights at 5:11 pm by pikapp44
‘Amazing Race’ contestants Pat Hendrickson and Kate Lewis tied the knot Wednesday in California, the Ventura County Star reported.
The women, who have been together for 11 years, took a political stance on their marriage. “I’m OK with you not accepting who I am,” Hendrickson told the Star. “But don’t tell me that I have to be something else to have my rights in this country.”
Both Hendrickson and Lewis are members of the Episcopalian clergy. Hendrickson is an ordained deacon and Lewis is a priest.
Although the women lasted only two episodes on the CBS reality show they had plenty of opportunities for adventure, including riding a high-wire bicycle over a ravine.
“Who would have ever thought we would do that?” Hendrickson asked the Star, remembering the show’s transcontinental competitions. “And a year ago, who would ever have thought we would do this?”
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07.09.08
Posted in Advocate Articles, Gay Rights at 4:23 pm by pikapp44
SAS Scandinavian Airlines has become the first European airline to launch a website directed at the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender/transsexual community, according to the company’s press release Monday.
The website offers tips from the airline’s own gay crew members on the best offerings in Stockholm and in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The site also features gay maps, gay guides, and an events calendar for both cities.
The website’s commencement corresponds with the EuroPride celebrations that are taking place between July 25 and August 3. Copenhagen is hosting the World Outgames in 2009.
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07.07.08
Posted in Advocate Articles, Gay Rights at 11:59 am by pikapp44
The American Family Association is taking on the nation’s largest fast food chain calling on its members to boycott McDonald’s over the company’s support for the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.
It is the latest in a series of company boycotts initiated by the conservative Christian group that has, according to financial analysts, had little effect. Previous boycotts have involved Disney, Ford, Proctor and Gamble and Kraft Foods and a threatened boycott of Wal-Mart.
The AFA on its Web Site said that the boycott “is not about hiring homosexuals … It is not about homosexuals eating at McDonald’s …It is not about how homosexual employees are treated.”
Instead, the AFA said: “It is about McDonald’s, as a corporation, refusing to remain neutral in the culture wars. McDonald’s has chosen not to remain neutral but to give the full weight of their corporation to promoting the homosexual agenda, including homosexual marriage:
McDonald’s recently gave a donation to the Chamber and was invited to have a company representative sit on the organization’s board.
In a letter to the fast food chain AFA chair Donald Wildmon asked the company to rescind its support for the Chamber and “remain neutral” on LGBT issues.
McDonald’s is remaining firm.
“McDonald’s is associated with countless local and national affinity groups here in the United States,” said McDonald’s Global Chief Diversity Officer Pat Harris in a reply to Wildmon.
“We have a well-established and proud heritage of associating with individuals and organizations that share our belief that every person has the right to live and work in their community free of discrimination,” Harris said.
The AFA previously boycotted Disney for several year’s over its support for Gay Days at Disney World, although the company was not an official sponsor of the event.
It boycotted Cincinnati-based Proctor and Gamble over the company’s support for the repeal of a city charter amendment that prevented Cincinnati city council from enacting any laws that would recognize gays and lesbians.
The group boycotted Kraft for its support of the Chicago Gay Games and threatened to boycott Wal-Mart over its involvement with the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.
The boycotts resulted in little impact on the companies.
The conservative Christian group launched a nationwide boycott of Ford in 2005 over the automaker’s support for LGBT issues, briefly put it on hold and then reinstated it.
The AFA claimed victory when Ford began pulling its ads from LGBT publications, but industry observers and the company said the ad pullout was part of a downsizing of expenses.
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07.03.08
Posted in Advocate Articles, Gay Rights at 12:58 pm by pikapp44
Same-sex couples from Wisconsin who go to California to marry could face criminal charges when they return home.
A Wisconsin law makes it a criminal offense to enter into a marriage outside the state if that marriage were illegal in Wisconsin.
The law was passed decades ago to prevent underage couples from crossing state lines to marry, but it could be used against same-sex couples, The Capital Times of Madison reported Wednesday.
The penalty is a fine of up to $10,000, nine months in prison, or both.
Wisconsin law limits marriage to opposite-sex couples.
Same-sex marriage became legal in California following a state supreme court ruling that went into effect June 17.
While Massachusetts, the only other state to offer marriage to gay couples, will marry out-of-state couples only if their unions would be legal at home, the California ruling allows for marriage licenses to be issued to all same-sex couples
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07.01.08
Posted in Advocate Articles, Gay Rights at 7:47 pm by pikapp44
The Log Cabin Republicans have confirmed that Sen. John McCain has switched from holding a neutral position on California’s anti-gay marriage measure to supporting it.
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