Center Blog

Here are some LGBT-related news stories and blog posts I’ve come across in the past week:

-At nearby Montclair State University in NJ, two bias incidents  at the newly opened LGBT Center on campus are being investigated.

-In Seattle, activists have organized against recent anti-LGBT violence.

-Michael Jones, of Harvard Law School, talks about Colorado State legislators, LGBT rights, and HIV over at change.org, while over at gaypolitics.com, there is a piece on new Colorado Representative Jared Polis and his ambitious LGBT agenda for his first term.

-The city of Gainsville, FL will be voting next month to repeal the city’s LGBT rights ordinances.  The ad campaign for the repeal, run by right-wing religious organizations, “depict shadowy men following little girls into ladies’ restrooms, implying that transgender rapists are running wild in Gainesville.”  Yeah…I can’t even begin to address all the things wrong with that one.

-Over at UN Dispatch, Mark Leon Goldberg wrote about Obama’s decision to reverse the U.S. position on LGBT issues at the UN.

-In California, Assemblymember Tom Ammiano introduced a bill which would prevent violence against LGBT prisoners in the state prison system, following the release of a recent study that found 67% of LGBT inmates report being sexually assaulted by another inmate, which is 15 times higher than non-LGBT identified inmates.

-Out in America has a great piece and videos detailing Iraq’s queer underground railroad.

-Hollywood and bloggers, both queer and straight, were buzzing over this year’s Acedemy Awards and Sean Penn’s acceptance speech.

-Matt Coles at Huffington Post takes on why Prop 8 lost, citing research that has shown the “single most effective way to change people’s minds on LGBT issues is through one-to-one conversations, between either gay people or solid allies and their friends and family. Knowing someone gay, it turns out, is not enough. People have to talk with someone they trust about what it is like to be gay—ways in which it poses special challenges, ways in which it is quite ordinary.”

-An arrest was finally made in the horrific muder of  Ecuadorean immigrant Jose Sucuzhanay, who was beaten to death in Brooklyn two months ago.  He and his brother were both attacked after the assailants thought they were lovers because they were walking arm in arm.

From http://www.gaycenter.org/out  Hosted by Emanuel Xavier, the Center’s half-hour TV show opens with a word from Katelynn, Scott and Baya, the MTV Real World Brooklyn housemates who volunteered at the Center. Richard Burns speaks with Bill Goldstein about his 22 years leading the Center; a panel of LGBT activists looks at the year between the Stonewall Riots and the first march for gay liberation; the Reverend Rowland Jide Macaulay speaks about his experience with the House of Rainbow congregation in Nigeria; and a group of LGBT activists from around the world address homophobia and persecution in their countries after a United Nations plenary on the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Out at the Center is a TV show and podcast of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of New York City. The show is made possible thanks to members of the Center and viewers like you. To find out more, join or donate go to: http://www.gaycenter.org/support

rom http://www.gaycenter.org/out On February 21, 2009 there was a protest in Sheridan Square against the false arrests of gay men in video stores by the New York Police Department. The next meeting of the Coalition to Stop the Arrests will be on Wed, Feb 25, 2009 at the Center. E-mail stopthearrests@aol.com for more info.This video excerpt is from Out at the Center, a TV show of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of New York City. The show is made possible thanks to members of the Center and viewers like you. To find out more, join or donate go to: http://www.gaycenter.org/support

From http://www.gaycenter.org/out/   Before leaving the Center after 22 years of service to the community, Richard Burns sat down with Bill Goldstein to talk about the evolution of the Center during his time here and what has changed in the LGBT liberation movement over the last two decades. This video excerpt is from Out at the Center, a TV show of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of New York City. The show is made possible thanks to members of the Center and viewers like you. To find out more, join or donate go to:http://www.gaycenter.org/support

From http://www.gaycenter.org/ On February 3, 2009 there was a reception to honor the 22 years that Richard Burns has been the executive director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of New York City. If you would to make a donation to honor Richard’s service to the community go to:http://www.gaycenter.org/burns.

Here are some current LGBT-related blog posts I found recently:

JOE.MY.GOD
Two more LGBT rights bills failed to get out of committee in the Utah legislature yesterday. Dead are the bills to allow gay and unmarried couples to adopt and the bill that would have protected LGBT folks from housing and employment discrimination. The haters framed their arguments against the bills in the tired “homosexuality is a choice” bullshit.
http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2009/02/utah-kills-two-more-lgbt-rights-bills.html

GAY POLITICS
A week after saying that homosexuals were an abusive and violent threat that had overrun law enforcement in Jamaica, MP Ernest Smith has apologized for his comments under pressure from the Jamaican Labour Party. Despite this, Smith has continued his call for outlawing all LGBT groups in Jamaica including the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-sexuals, and Gays (J-FLAG). Jamaica still operates under Colonial Era Law that criminalizes homosexual acts with punishments of up to ten years in prison.
http://www.gaypolitics.com/2009/02/17/jamaican-mp-apologizes-calls-for-lgbt-groups-to-be-outlawed/

TOWERLOAD
Towleroad has obtained a letter sent to Brigette Browning, President of Local Union 30 UNITE HERE, regarding Clinton’s speech over the weekend at the San Diego Manchester Grand Hyatt which was picketed by hundreds of activists angry that the former President was disrespecting a boycott over Hyatt owner Doug Manchester’s contributions to Proposition 8.
http://www.towleroad.com/2009/02/clinton-regrets.html

FEMINISTING
Good and bad news regarding LGBT rights and religion came out of Charlotte, North Carolina this weekend. A milestone was achieved in the Presbyterian church as leaders ratified a proposal to reverse their denomination’s ban on gay pastors and elders in the area. While the ban stood for several decades, the civil debate ended this weekend with a 133-124 vote. Amen.
http://www.feministing.com/cgi-bin/movabletype/mt-search.fcgi?IncludeBlogs=2&search=LGBT

TECHPRB
GayCities announced today the release of an iPhone application (GayCities iPhone App splash page (http://www.gaycities.com/iphone/)) that maps nearby gay-friendly restaurants, bars, hotels, and beaches in over 70 cities worldwide on their iPhone or iPod touch. Available for free at the iPhone App Store, the GayCities iPhone application is the first application from a gay media or internet company and it fully leverages the advanced location, mapping and live connection capabilities of the Phone and iPod touch.
http://techprb.wordpress.com/2009/02/12/gaycitiescom-announces-first-full-featured-lgbt-travel-iphone-application/

TRANSGRIOT
But it speaks to a larger problem in the GLBT community. For the longest time the historical record on what happened in the GLBT community was written by white people, with the predictable results of GLBT people of color and transgender people being erased from it.
http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2009/02/this-is-how-whitewashing-us-out-of-glbt.html

QUEER TODAY

A day before Valentine’s Day, Congressman Jerold Nadler will reintroduce, in the House, the Uniting American Families Act, a bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to eliminate discrimination in the immigration laws by permitting same-sex permanent partners of US citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents (green card holders) to obtain Permanent Resident Status in the same manner as spouses of citizens and lawful permanent residents. Last year. US Senator of Vermont, Patrick Leahy, introduced the same bill in the Senate.
http://queertoday.ning.com/profiles/blogs/uniting-american-families

Also, check out the folks over at Queercents for tons of useful information on finances, health, career, and relationships focused on our community.

Out at the Center covered the Freedom to Marry action at the Manhattan Marriage License Bureau on February 12, 2009. Several same-sex couples requested and were denied a license to marry.

From http://gaycenter.org/ There was a party on February 11th to celebrate the Center appearing on the Real World. Housemates Katelynn, Scott and Baya showed up to watch it with us. They all became members of the Center and Scott spoke to us about his intention to ride in Braking the Cycle this year. If you would like to ride with him, volunteer or donate to the ride go to gaycenter.org/brakingthecycle. To see more video from the party and behind the scenes footage of the Real World at the Center, go to gaycenter.org/realworld. This video excerpt is from Out at the Center, a TV show of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of New York City. The show is made possible thanks to members of the Center and viewers like you. To find out more, join or donate go to:http://www.gaycenter.org/support

From http://www.gaycenter.org/ On Wednesday, February 11, 2009 the Center made an appearance on an MTV Real World Brooklyn episode. Housemate JD Ordonez arrived at the Center with Katelynn and Sarah to start their internships. The first event that they and their housemates work on is the Center’s Braking the Cycle Aids Ride benefiting the HIV/AIDS services of the Center. At a viewing party at XES Lounge fellow housemates Scott and Baya arrive with Katelynn to view the episode with other Center supporters. They become members of the Center and Scott explains how he will do the ride this year and Baya will support him. The rest of the video looks at the closing ceremony from last year. Look for more video from the MTV Real World housemates at the Center as the season continues. If you want to ride with Scott this year go to: gaycenter.org/brakingthecycle. This video excerpt is from Out at the Center, a TV show of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of New York City. The show is made possible thanks to members of the Center and viewers like you. To find out more, join or donate go to:http://www.gaycenter.org/support

From http://www.gaycenter.org/ Becki Newton and Michael Urie spoke with Patrick O’Neill and Aaron Kaburick at the after party for Broadway Backwards 4, a concert of gender-reversed Broadway show tunes benefiting the Center. Fellow cast member Alan Cumming shows up in the background as they are talking. There will be more Broadway Backwards 4 footage on Out at the Center soon, keep checking back. This video excerpt is from Out at the Center, a TV show of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of New York City. The show is made possible thanks to members of the Center and viewers like you. To find out more, join or donate go to:http://www.gaycenter.org/support