08.29.08
Posted in Gay Portal at 5:32 pm by pikapp44
NBC has apologized for what looked like a refusal to report fully on openly gay Australian diver Matthew Mitcham’s astonishing upset victory over the heavily favored Chinese team, taking the gold medal and garnering the highest score in Olympics history for his event.
NBC, which had offered extensive coverage on the personal lives of a number of other athletes, did not acknowledge the presence of Mitcham’s partner, Lachlan, whom Mitcham had brought to Beijing with the help of a program underwritten Johnson & Johnson to allow athletes to bring family members along.
More dramatic still was the back-story of a young athlete who had suffered depression over his sexual status to the point of nearly quitting, before making a comeback that took him all the way to the gold medal–and who came out of the closet publicly along the way, making him the first Australian athlete to do so and conferring upon Mitcham the distinction of being one of only ten, out of over 10,000 athletes competing in the 2008 Summer Olympics, to go to Beijing as an openly gay athlete; moreover, of those ten courageous people, Mitcham is the only man.
For gay and lesbian viewers, who were solidly invested in Mitcham’s performance and thrilled with his triumph, the result of four perfect dives, the lack of coverage regarding Mitcham was an insult. It also smacked of censorship.
When the GLBT media erupted in protest over the network’s silence regarding Mitcham’s personal life and the role it played in his victory, NBC made its apologies.
In a Gaywired article from Aug. 28 it was reported that NBC Olympics president Gary Zenkel had stated to GLBT publication AfterElton, “We regret that we missed the opportunity to tell Matthew Mitcham’s story. We apologize for this unintentional omission.”
That same article reported that when AfterElton editor Michael Jensen asked Greg Hughes, spokesperson for NBC Sports, about the issue of censorship which some GLBT viewers had begun talking about, Jensen was told by Hughes, “[W]e don’t discuss an athlete’s sexual orientation.”
Except, pointed out The Advocate.com in an Aug. 28 article, the sexual orientations of the athletes upon whom the network lavished coverage were implicit to the stories of married athletes, tortured love affairs, and the like.
And while the partners and spouses of straight athletes were discussed, Lachlan was never mentioned.
Moreover, once NBC reported the basic facts of Mitcham’s victory, Mitcham himself barely got a mention again.
Coming out of the closet was part and parcel of Mitcham’s overall story, from embracing his true identity as both an athlete and a gay man, to arranging for the funds for Lachlan to accompany him to the Games.
“However, the higher ups at NBC Sports decided that all these bits of information were not ready for prime time,” wrote Moylan, who went on to note that, “the omission shows a sore lack of sound news judgment.”
Moylan added that, “you could argue that his sexual orientation has nothing to do with the competition, but, then again, neither does what Michael Phelps eats for breakfast, that divers David Boudia and Thomas Finchum are roommates, or that the decathlon prepared Bryan Clay for being a father, all of which were mentioned more than once.”
The view from the heterosexual sports writers’ world is a bit different, at least at the blog The Big Lead which took a Mitcham quote from the Australian newspaper the Herald Sun (”I just want to be known as the Australian diver who did really well at the Olympics. It’s everybody else who thinks it’s special when homosexuality and elite sport go together”) as evidence that Mitcham would rather not have had his sexuality discussed on air.
An article declared that to the athlete for whom being gay and coming out had involved a personal and professional crisis that other media indicated was so profound that Mitcham contemplated quitting, being gay was “no big deal.”
For many GLBT viewers and journalists, however, the incident rankles, and NBC’s apology is, as The Advocate.com had it, a case of “too little, too late.”
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08.28.08
Posted in Advocate Articles, D's Thoughts, Gay Rights at 2:10 pm by pikapp44
Del Martin, who just this past June wed her partner of nearly 55 years when gay marriage was legalized in California, died Wednesday morning with her wife, Phyllis Lyon, by her side, according to the National Center for Lesbian Rights. She was 87.
In 1995, Martin and Lyon were named delegates to the White House Conference on Aging: Martin by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, and Lyon by Rep. Nancy Pelosi.
“We are greatly saddened by the passing of such an extraordinary and courageous woman,” Kathryn Kolbert, president of People for the American Way, said in a statement. ”Del Martin and her partner of 55 years, Phyllis Lyon, fought for decades to secure equal rights for all Americans regardless of sex or sexual orientation. In recognition of their legendary struggle, Del and Phyllis became the first same-sex couple to wed in California after the state supreme court mandated equal marriage rights for gay men and lesbians.
“We can see in retrospect that the ruling came just in time for Del and Phyllis to gain what they so dearly deserved — equal state legal recognition and rights for their 55 years together. It’s wonderful that the recent legal advances in California enabled such a fitting tribute.”
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08.27.08
Posted in Advocate Articles, Gay Rights at 5:47 pm by pikapp44
A woman wearing a T-shirt promoting the website Lesbian.com says she was booted from the Federal Building in Van Nuys, Calif., Monday by a security guard who was apparently offended by her shirt.
According to the Los Angeles Daily News, 31-year-old Lapriss Gilbert said she was getting a Social Security card for her son when a guard threatened her with arrest if she did not leave the building.
Gilbert was eventually allowed back in the building after her mother called the police, according to the Daily News.
The guard, whose name was not made available to the press, works for Paragon Security, contracted by the Department of Homeland Security. A spokesperson for the department immediately classified the guard’s actions as inappropriate, saying they had notified Paragon of their position on the matter.
According to Gilbert, the guard waved a document in her face — the Rules and Regulations Governing Conduct on Federal Property — claiming it was proof he had the right to escort her from the building.
According to the AP, the document says nothing about clothing.
“As an African-American and a lesbian, I haven’t been through one day without facing some sort of discrimination,” Gilbert told the AP.
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08.26.08
Posted in Advocate Articles, Gay Rights at 12:50 pm by pikapp44
As the crowd at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver begins cheering for itself and its candidates, LGBT delegates’ applause will be heard louder than ever.
A solid 8% of the total delegate population has self-identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, with that number expected to increase once all of the delegates arrive.
Of the more than 4,400 delegates at the convention, more than 370 of them are openly LGBT (up from 275 in 2004), according to the National Stonewall Democrats.
Those delegates represent 48 states, up from 42 in 2004. The states sending gay delegates to the convention for the first time: Hawaii, Mississippi, Montana, South Dakota and Tennessee.
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08.25.08
Posted in Advocate Articles, Gay Rights at 1:03 pm by pikapp44
A conservative Christian group is urging its members to write to Hallmark Greeting Cards to complain about the company’s new same-sex wedding cards.
Send / ShareAdd CommentHallmark unveiled the cards last week after California joined Massachusetts as the only U.S. states with legal gay marriage. A handful of other states have recognized same-sex civil unions.
The cards featured two tuxedos, overlapping hearts or intertwined flowers, with best wishes inside. “Two hearts. One promise,” one says.
The language inside the cards is neutral, with no mention of wedding or marriage, making them also suitable for a commitment ceremony. Hallmark said the move is a response to consumer demand, not any political pressure.
But the American Family Association is urging its thousands of members to “take action.”
“We’ve all given or received Hallmark Cards – remember their slogan – ‘when you care enough to send the very best.’ But promoting same-sex marriage for profit is not the very best for families or our nation,” the AFA said in a mass mailing to its members.
“Hallmark is a private company obviously driven by greed. Let them know you do not appreciate Hallmark promoting a lifestyle which is illegal in 48 states.”
AFA also reminds its members that American Greeting Cards, Hallmark’s competitor, does not offer same-sex marriage cards.
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08.22.08
Posted in Advocate Articles, Gay Rights at 11:49 am by pikapp44
A Native American tribe in Oregon will counter the surrounding state’s laws by recognizing same-sex marriages, The [Portland] Oregonian reported Wednesday.
The Coquille Indian Tribe, located on the southern Oregon coast, is a federally sovereign nation, placing it outside Oregon’s constitutional jurisdiction. For a same-sex marriage to be recognized, at least one of the partners must be a Coquille.
The tribe’s recognition of gay marriages would violate the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits federal government recognition of same-sex marriages, according to Brian Gilley, an author and anthropology professor at the University of Vermont. The federal government could challenge the Coquille law, testing the limits of tribal independence and sovereignty.
Many Native American tribes have allowed same-sex relationships historically, Gilley said. However, he told The Oregonian, the Coquilles are probably the first tribe in the nation to legalize same-sex marriage.
After a lesbian couple married under an ambiguous Cherokee law in 2005, the tribe banned same-sex marriages, followed by the Navajos, the nation’s largest tribe.
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08.21.08
Posted in Advocate Articles, Gay Rights at 12:20 pm by pikapp44
The nation’s largest greeting card company is rolling out same-sex wedding cards — featuring two tuxedos, overlapping hearts or intertwined flowers, with best wishes inside. ”Two hearts. One promise,” one says.
Hallmark added the cards after California joined Massachusetts as the only U.S. states with legal gay marriage. A handful of other states have recognized same-sex civil unions.
The language inside the cards is neutral, with no mention of wedding or marriage, making them also suitable for a commitment ceremony. Hallmark says the move is a response to consumer demand, not any political pressure.
Hallmark’s largest competitor, American Greetings Corp., has no plans to enter the market, saying its current offerings are general enough to speak to a lot of different relationships.
Hallmark started offering ”coming out” cards last year, and the four designs of same-sex marriage cards are being gradually released this summer and will be widely available by next year.
Hallmark says all of its stores can choose whether they want to add the latest offerings.
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08.20.08
Posted in Gay Rights at 12:57 pm by pikapp44
DEMOCRATIC SEN. BARACK OBAMA, CAMPAIGN STATEMENT
“Barack Obama has always believed that same-sex couples should enjoy equal rights under the law, and he will continue to fight for civil unions as president. He respects the decision of the California Supreme Court, and continues to believe that states should make their own decisions when it comes to the issue of marriage.”
REPUBLICAN SEN. JOHN MCCAIN
Has said he is committed to “the unique status and sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman.” Voted against a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution which defines marriage only as the union of a man and a woman. Supports individual states’ rights to regulate and determine the status of marriage within those states.
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08.19.08
Posted in Advocate Articles, Gay Rights at 2:15 pm by pikapp44
Argentina has announced its first nationwide gay-rights measure: granting same-sex couples the right to claim their deceased partners’ pensions.
Couples must prove they have been living together for at least five years to receive the benefit.
The government’s national decree will “put the rights of all cohabitants on a level playing field.
Gay activists welcomed Monday’s announcement as the fruition of years of campaigning the government to grant them the same rights as heterosexual married couples.
Gay civil unions already are legal in five cities, including Buenos Aires.
The measure is “historic” and marks a “step forward” for human rights because it is the first nationwide gay-rights measure approved by the government.
The organization will now focus efforts on nationalizing civil unions, which would confer additional rights to gay couples, such as adoption and inheritance.
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08.18.08
Posted in D's Thoughts at 7:01 pm by pikapp44
A San Marcos, Texas, police officer has been accused of inappropriate behavior during a traffic stop which may have lead to a dog’s death.
Pet owners were stopped for speeding while rushing dying pet to vet.Officer Paul Stephens spotted driver Michael Gonzalez speeding down Interstate 35 and pulled him over for clocking 100 miles per hour.
After a brief pursuit, Gonzalez pulled alongside the highway and emerged from his car, saying, “He’s dying.”
“Who’s dying? Relax,” Stephens said as his cruiser’s dashboard camera captured the interaction.
“My dog,” Gonzalez said during the Aug. 5 traffic stop.
Gonzalez and his girlfriend said they were speeding because they were rushing their choking teacup poodle Missy to an emergency veterinary clinic for treatment.
But on the video, Stephens sounded less than empathetic as he berated the driver for putting others’ lives at risk as he sped down the highway.
“You’re driving down the highway at 100 per hour,” he said sternly. “It’s a dog, it’s OK. You can get another one. Relax.”
For 15 minutes, Stephens kept Gonzalez on the roadside.
“He said, ‘You need to chill out. It’s just a dog.’ And I said, ‘It’s not just a dog; it’s my family,’” Gonzalez said.
Missy died as Gonzalez waited for the Stephens to issue a citation.
Though Stephens’ supervisors found him not guilty of misconduct, they did agree he handled the situation poorly.
“His world was collapsing. And what the officer says to him, basically, is, ‘I don’t care,’” said San Marcos police department chief Howard Williams.
We feel this officer should lose his job, pay a large fine and if possible spend some much deserved time behind bars for the dog’s death.
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