Komen's race to the bottom
Bay Area Reporter, February 3, 2012
Women, gay and straight alike, should consider Komen's defunding decision next time they buy something with a pink ribbon on it or are asked to support a participant in Race for the Cure.

The HIV scare
By Rob Hoerburger, New York Times, January 31, 2012
One day last summer I got an e-mail from one of my best friends, updating me on the last few months of his life: work developments; a vacation recap; a reply to a barbecue invitation; and “one other thing” that he would tell me about when we met. We had dinner a few weeks later, and at the end of our second beers, he casually said, “I’m H.I.V.-positive.”

Genetic or not, gay won’t go away
By Fran Bruni, New York Times, January 30, 2012
Born this way. That has long been one of the rallying cries of a movement, and sometimes the gist of its argument. Across decades of widespread ostracism, followed by years of patchwork acceptance and, most recently, moments of heady triumph, gay people invoked that phrase to explain why homophobia was unwarranted and discrimination senseless. But is it the right mantra to cling to? The best tack to take?

The law and economics of employment discrimination
By Ari Ezra Waldman, Towleroad.com, January 26, 2012
Employment non-discrimination laws are not exclusively about ending the trappings of insidious bias in the workplace; they also enshrine a progressive society's commitment that members of minority groups are not second-class citizens. They help change the mind of society as a whole about the value and rights of those that are different.

Prop 8 repeal effort DOA
Editorial, Bay Area Reporter, January 26, 2012
Marriage equality activists in California would do well to study the legislative effort now under way up north in Washington, where the state is on the cusp of achieving equal civil marriage for same-sex couples.

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings has a commitment issue
By Daniel Cates, GetEqual, Huffington Post, January 24, 2012
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings has spent the last few days in an unsuccessful effort to appease his city's LGBT population after refusing to sign a FreedomToMarry.org pledge promising support for full marriage equality. Rawlings instead took up a position opposed to the mayors of more than 80 major U.S. cities.

Houston pastor Joel Osteen and feel-good homophobia
By Abby Dees, Dallas Voice, January 20, 2012
Houston megachurch pastor Joel Osteen has incurred my wrath because his message is so insidious. It’s feel-good homophobia, so couched in God-loves-you talk that Osteen avoids all responsibility for the fact that real people take his words to heart.

Mrs. Santorum, can we talk?
By Kate Kendell, Advocate.com, January 19, 2012
On a recent campaign stop, Karen Santorum accused LGBT activists of “backyard bullying” against her husband in the presidential race. National Center for Lesbian Rights executive director Kate Kendell responds.

What did MLK think about gay people?
By John Blake, CNN.com, January 16, 2012
We know what King thought about race, poverty and war. But what was his attitude toward gay people, and if he was alive today would he see the gay rights movement as another stage of the civil rights movement?

Blacks should stand with gays on marriage equality
By Wade Henderson, Baltimore Sun, January13, 2012
Gay is not 'the new black,' but we shouldn't let inappropriate rhetoric get in the way of civil rights goals.

Agree with the pope? Nope!
By Hardy Haberman, Dallas Voice, January13, 2012
When you hear someone with as powerful a voice as the pope say something is a threat to “the future of humanity itself,” you take notice. Pope Benedict uttered these weighty words this week, and what was he talking about? Nuclear capabilities in Iran? Global warming? Famine? Drought?
Nope. The Holy Father was speaking about marriage equality.

Republican Party embracing the LGBT community
By Shirley Husar, Washington Times, January 12, 2012
It is an alliance that most people would find unlikely. They are called sell-outs, turncoats, and brainwashed, but with all of the perceived strangeness of the union and all of the rhetoric over same-sex marriage, more LGBT persons have been joining the Republican Party.

Future sex – beyond gay and straight
By Peter Thatchell, PinkNews.co.uk, January 10, 2012
As homophobia diminishes and as future societies eventually embrace a post-homophobic culture, how will this transition to equality, dignity, understanding and acceptance affect the expression of sexuality?

I want to hate Santorum . . . but I can't
By LZ Granderson, CNN.com, January 10, 2012
Sometimes, the impulse is to return the fire, matching name-calling with name-calling. I, too, have found myself so ticked off by Rick Santorum's words that I've called him everything but a child of God. That's when I come to my senses and try to remember the one thing he seems to forget. We're all God's children. We're all brothers and sisters.

Forgotten heroes?
By David Wayne Webb, Dallas Voice, January 6, 2012
A look at the history of Lawrence v. Texas shows why the two men who fought the sodomy law, both now deceased, deserve our respect.

Rick Santorum's homophobic frothing
By Dan Savage, The Guardian, January 5, 2012
Rick Santorum and the GOP have a big problem on their hands, the non-stop gay bashing, and that is going to cost them votes – and not just the votes of 9,000,000 (or more) LBGT Americans out there, but, the votes of tens of millions of our straight family members, friends and coworkers.

Rick Santorum channels Saint Augustine
By Linda Hirshman, Salon.com, January 5, 2012
Rick Santorum's repressive sexual politics are a rear-guard rebellion against modernity. That an advocate of legislating strict Roman Catholic sexual doctrine came within eight votes of winning the first contest for the nomination of one of the two major American political parties warrants attention.

Bring it on, Santorum
Editorial, Bay Area Reporter, January 5, 2012
We'd love to see former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum go all the way to capturing the Republican presidential nomination. Just think, Santorum, a single-issue candidate fixated on his anti-gay message, would turn off so many voters that President Barack Obama would easily win re-election. But we can dream, can't we?

To Gov. Perry: Surrender
Paul Burka, Texas Monthly, January 4, 2012
Perry could undo some of the consequences of his policies, but the best thing he can do for Texas in the time left to him is to resign.

Catholics, come home . . . unless you are GLBT
The Daily Kos, December 28, 2011
Like it or not, religion still plays a large part in the social lives of Americans. So when someone like Cardinal Francis Eugene George of Chicago defames GLBT people as being no better than the KKK, it means something.

Why we shouldn't use the word 'tranny'
By Lance Bass, Huffington Post, December 27, 2011
Let me start this off with two very important words that I truly mean from the bottom of my heart: I'm sorry. I'm sorry to anyone who was offended or hurt by my use of the word "trannies" while appearing earlier this week on Access Hollywood Live. Let me share what I have learned in the last 24 hours.

The bigoted presidential campaign
Editorial, Los Angeles Times, December 27, 2011
Funny that Fred Karger, gay rights advocate, founded the group Californians Against Hate, since his most recent campaign seems to be about spreading bigotry. Karger is an openly gay Republican presidential candidate who was angered and dismayed by the role that the Mormon Church and its followers took in getting the ban on same-sex marriage passed.

Manning’s defense dishonors gay GIs
By Capt. R. Clarke Cooper, Stars and Stripes, December 22, 2011
If he did what he’s accused of doing, Pfc. Bradley Manning is a traitor to the United States of America, and his choice to use “don’t ask, don’t tell” as a defense for treason is a betrayal of all gay and lesbian servicemembers past and present. Whatever his reasons or excuses, Manning does not deserve sympathy from anyone.

Republican candidates face mythical gays
By Candace Chellew-Hodge, ReligionDispatches.org, December 21, 2011
There was a time, once upon a time, when politicians could get away with bashing gay people because they were like unicorns: abstract beings that everyone whispered about, but had never seen (or knew they had anyway). My, how times have changed. Each Republican contender for President has been, in turn, confronted by actual gay and lesbian people—much to the candidates’ consternation.

How gay media helped sink the AT&T/T-Mobile merger
By Michelangelo Signorile, Huffington Post, December 21, 2011
There are many stories to be told about the collapse of the proposed AT&T/T-Mobile merger. One of them underscores, once again, the vitality of an advocacy press and bloggers who ask questions and hammer away at the truth in a way that much of the media simply does not. And while there were many involved in that effort, LGBT bloggers and gay media in particular were critical.

GOP: Gay-Obsessed Party
Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post, December 20, 2011
We’ve long known that nothing throws conservatives into a tizzy more than the Gays. They’re either signing marriage pledges or bemoaning the demise of “don’t ask don’t tell,” the ban on gay men and lesbians serving openly in the military, which was tossed in the ash can of history by Congress a year ago yesterday.

State of Virginia shouldn't condone adoption bias
By Michael Paul Williams, Richmond Times-Dispatch, December 20, 2011
In Virginia, under adoption regulations recently approved by the state Board of Social Services, Ozzie and Harriet Nelson or Ward and June Cleaver might be denied adoption services because of their religious or political beliefs. And if Harriet and June were a same-sex couple, private adoption agencies would be free to deny them a child on that basis alone.

What the hell was ABC thinking when it greenly "Work It"?
By Heather Hogan, AfterElton.com, December 20, 2011
Fifty percent of ABC's original programming includes positive representations of LGBT characters. Then why, oh why, are they planning to give a home to the wildly offensive sitcom "Work It" this January?

Will VA hospitals care for gay and lesbian veterans?
By Jessica Gerson, Huffington Post, December 16, 2011
By the end of 2011, more than 40,000 U.S. troops will return home from Iraq. Many of those troops, some of whom are gay or lesbian, will seek medical support from their local VA hospital -- support they've earned and deserve. But is our VA system prepared to care for our nation's gay and lesbian soldiers?

An open letter to homophobic Christian parents this Christmas
By Rev. Marilyn Bowens, Shewired.com, December 15, 2011
I am not your daughter or your son. But if you are a Christian with a lesbian daughter or a gay son, and if you've allowed yourself to be spoon-fed the traditional condemning rhetoric about homosexuality, I can probably speak for her or him. As the holidays approach, he or she is probably in the same pain that I’ve experienced.

Gays not silent in the face of GOP candidates’ opposition
By Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post, December 15, 2011
Move over, glitter bombs.The gays have found a new — and I would say more effective — way to make their point. They’re just being themselves. And the sooner politicians catch up with the rest of the United States to realize that gay men, lesbians and their families deserve respect rather than demonization, the better off we’ll all be.

What Perry gets wrong about religion in America
By Bishop Gene Robinson December 13, 2011
Rick Perry would be pathetic, if he weren’t so infuriating. In an effort to revive a sinking political campaign, Gov. Perry has reached a new low in promoting himself in a recent commercial. The governor begins this 30 second spot with “I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a Christian.” He goes on to say things that Christians should be ashamed of him for.

Gay immigrants in U.S. deserve protection
By Philip Hwang & Noemi Calonje, San Francisco Chronicle, December 9, 2011
The U.S. government's expressed commitment to human rights abroad stands in stark contrast with the plight of LGBT immigrants in this country. Under U.S. immigration laws, LGBT individuals are denied basic rights because of whom they love.

The GOP cozies up to gay haters
By James Kirchick, NY Daily News, December 8, 2011
Texas Gov. Rick Perry said that “Promoting special rights for gays in foreign countries is not in America’s interests and not worth a dime of taxpayers’ money.” Perry was joined in his denunciation by former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who said that “the administration is promoting their particular agenda in this country, and now they feel it’s their obligation to promote those values not just in the military, not just in our society, but now around the world with taxpayer dollars.”

Kudos to Obama on his new gay rights initiative, but …
Editorial, The New Republic, December 8, 2011
Kkudos to the administration for a bold and needed move. But, while it may seem churlish to use a commendable gay-rights initiative as an excuse to find fault elsewhere, we cannot let this moment pass without remarking once again on the president’s ongoing refusal to speak up for gay marriage.

U.S. backs global gay rights
Editorial, Bay Area Reporter, December 8, 2011
A significant shift in U.S. foreign policy occurred Tuesday, when President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that the administration would use all the resources of American diplomacy to combat discrimination against LGBTs around the world.

Could Hillary Clinton be Obama's ace in the hole?
LZ Granderson, CNN.com, December 6, 2011
Here is what the election next year is about: the fence-sitters, the independent voters. At this point, there is not much President Barack Obama can say that will win over conservatives, and given the current GOP field, he doesn't have to worry too much about losing liberals. But what can he say to convince the middle to give him four more years? Well, he could start by, to paraphrase Bonnie Raitt, giving them something to talk about. Vice President Hillary Clinton?

A decade of progress on AIDS
By Bono, New York Times, December 1, 2011
I’LL tell you the worst part about it, for me. It was the look in their eyes when the nurses gave them the diagnosis — H.I.V.-positive — then said there was no treatment. I saw no anger in their expression. No protest. If anything, just a sort of acquiescence.

Barney Frank retires
Editorial, Bay Area Reporter, December 1, 2011
Frank's leadership at the national level will be missed. His seniority and knowledge of how Washington works will not be easily or immediately replaced.

Barney Frank: A passionate liberal who mattered
By John Nichols, CBS News, November 29, 2011
Barney Frank came to Congress as a liberal and will leave as such--not a perfect progressive on every issue but a steady liberal who served a term as president of the Americans for Democratic Action and whose latest rating from the defenders of New Deal/Fair Deal/Great Society programs was a pure 100 percent.

Conn. lawmakers’ support of DOMA repeal admirable
DailyCampus.com, November 29, 2011
Recently Gov. Dannel Malloy and the mayors of Bridgeport, New Haven and Hartford led 15 other mayors and governors from marriage-equality states in support of a potential repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act. The Senate Judiciary Committee has now passed the Respect of Marriage Act on to the Senate.

Still fighting against AIDS
Editorial, New York Times
The latest report from the United Nations agency in charge of the global fight against AIDS reveals substantial success by some measures and stagnation by others. The challenge, in tough times, that must be met is to find enough resources to capitalize on scientific breakthroughs and keep the campaign moving forward.

Churches should be sanctuary from bullying
By Lu Behr, San Antonio Express-News, November 21, 2011
Bullying and harassment of youth today is unfortunately on the rise. And more tragic is how it often leads victims to the tragic response of suicide. As a Christian, I've asked what my church and the Christian community should do about it.

Penn State abuse scandal distorted by anti-gay bias
By David W. Shelton, BusinessClarksville.com, November 21, 2011
The Penn State abuse scandal has driven several anti-gay commentators to blame the molestation and cover-up on gays instead of the people who actually committed the crimes. Not that this is anything new…

Republican candidates: Obama’s biggest plus
By David Webb, Dallas Voice, November 17, 2011
One after another, Republican presidential candidates seem determined to self-destruct, which puts the Democratic incumbent ahead of the pack. Anyone wanting to see President Barack Obama serve a second term in the White House for the sake of LGBT equality has got to be feeling pretty good about now as his Republican challengers struggle to survive what must be one of the most peculiar national campaign seasons ever.

Texas is not the only state
By Lemon Wilder, Austostraddle.com, November 17, 2011
I am a twenty-something queer kid who grew up in a conservative, south-Texas town, now lives in a sheltered but liberal college environment in New York, and is about to graduate into a reality of rampant unemployment that – if I’m not so lucky – could possibly send me hurtling back into the conservative Texas world I’ve so vehemently renounced. Simply put, I exist in two different planes; my past in Texas, and my dreams of a future in New York. And I’m terrified that the one that I currently exist in will suddenly disappear.

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