It's Ok to be Gay: An Education

Boy Scouts, admit gay members and move on: Column

Tue, 21 May 2013 21:04:00 -0400

Brad Tilden , USATODAY

I hope we can agree that the current policy is causing material harm to the organization’s ability to carry out our mission. The Boy Scouts of America has helped shape the lives of American youth for the past century, and its positive influence is needed today more than ever. One in three children in our country lives apart from his or her father; in 1960, this statistic was approximately one in 10. Studies show that by the age of 21, the average American will have spent 10,000 hours indoors playing video games — mostly alone. And a daily scan of the newspaper provides countless examples of people not working together to solve our country’s challenges.

Scouting addresses all these problems. It provides positive role models, instills values, gets kids outdoors and fosters an appreciation of the natural beauty that surrounds us. It teaches leadership, teamwork and the power of an optimistic outlook. Scouting prepares kids to be adults. But those of us involved in Scouting need to make an important change to ensure our ability to continue to fulfill our mission. We need the Boy Scouts to serve all youth and include all leaders, irrespective of their sexual orientation. The Boy Scouts must evolve as America has.

For the past 13 years, the Boy Scouts has been entangled in controversy over this issue. I’m hopeful, though, that the conversation has shifted in the past few months. The BSA’s recent decision to vote on welcoming gay Scouts is a great step in the right direction. But I’m disappointed that we’re not also being given the opportunity to vote to allow gay Scout leaders. As we think through the upcoming vote, here are three important points:

First, we shouldn’t attempt to debate the morality of homosexuality. The only question we need to answer is whether we will be fully inclusive and allow gay Scouts and gay Scout leaders to participate in the Scouting program. The answer to this should be straightforward. When we ask Scouts to be friendly, helpful, courteous and kind, principles familiar to any Tenderfoot, aren’t we asking them to do so for all people?

Second, we need to distinguish between sexual orientation and sexual behavior. Sexual orientation should not be a basis for exclusion, and sexual behavior (heterosexual or homosexual) has never been acceptable at Scouting events.

Third, the current policy is harming the Boy Scouts’ ability to carry out our mission. It’s hurting membership growth, corporate support and the Boy Scouts’ reputation. Most important, it’s hurting the youth who are unable to participate, and those who do participate but are being taught that it’s OK to discriminate.

The proposed vote to allow gay Scouts but not gay leaders compounds this injustice and will further undermine our organization as Scouts become adults and are forced to leave. Now is the time for a new path forward. We will vote on whether to change our policy, as it relates to youth, in Dallas on Thursday.

Unlike other significant issues the organization has confronted, this issue will be decided by the 1,400 representatives who make up the national council. The voting members come from local councils in cities like yours. So I’m asking for your help. If you have been involved with the Boy Scouts or care about Scouting and this issue, please call your local council and let them know that you support a “yes” vote to welcome gay Scouts into the program, and that you would like to see the Boy Scouts include gay Scout leaders as well.

Failure to change would be a disservice to our youth. Brad Tilden, president of the Chief Seattle Council of the Boy Scouts of America, is CEO of Alaska Air Group.

Gay Marriage Amendment Withdrawn From Immigration Bill Debate

Tue, 21 May 2013 21:00:00 -0400

By Jim Avila @JimAvilaABC

Serena Marshall @SerenaMarsh

May 21, 2013 7:43pm

The Senate “Gang of Eight” immigration reform bill survived perhaps its toughest challenge late in the day, as the Senate Judiciary Committee refused to approve an amendment that would have allowed gays and lesbians to sponsor their partners for immigration in the same way married heterosexual couples would be able to do under the proposed legislation.

The amendment by Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., was introduced and then withdrawn after he saw that his amendment could potentially kill the bill. Republican members of the bipartisan “Gang of Eight” that co-wrote the immigration bill said they could not countenance the amendment and would walk away from the entire legislation if passed. Democrats on the committee voiced support for what they saw as equal protection under the law, but said they would vote against the amendment to save the bipartisan compromise that held the immigration reform bill together.

“The result [if Leahy’s amendment passes]: no equality [and] no immigration bill. Everyone loses,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “The security and prosperity of our nation is too vital, too rare to let [the bill] fail now,” Schumer said.

”As much as it pains me, I cannot support this amendment if it will bring down the bill.” Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., added, “It’s wrong. Discrimination is wrong, but I can’t kill this bill.”

Gay Boy Scouts Employee: I Can’t Live a Lie Any Longer By An...

Tue, 21 May 2013 20:58:05 -0400

Gay Boy Scouts Employee: I Can’t Live a Lie Any Longer

By An Employee of the Boy Scouts of America

I am a full-time paid professional employee of the Boy Scouts of America. I am also gay.

I spend 14-hour days and 80-hour workweeks promoting the Scouting program and providing the best possible services to build and retain membership. I do this with honor because I am a product of the program. I am an Eagle Scout and a member of Scouting’s Honor Society. I’ve dedicated more than two decades of my life to the Boy Scouts of America – first as a Scout and now for over five years as an employee.

When I was a Scout, the program offered me many important life experiences and skills in areas including leadership, communication and conflict resolution. My many experiences and memories still impact my life now. These opportunities need to be made available to all youth, regardless of their sexual orientation.

There are dozens of other gay professionals like me in the Scouts. I have met them through Scouting training courses and programs for adult leaders and employees. We dedicate ourselves to Scouting and fully support the organization. Yet we live with apprehension, hiding our personal lives and not knowing if we could be outed and fired at any moment. We continually face awkward questions about our personal lives. While the Scouts claim to be a family organization, for us there are two options for having a family: hide the people we love or leave Scouting. Because of this ban, not only can my co-workers not know who I am, but many of my friends and neighbors also do not know. I live my life in silence as a result of the Scouts’ anti-gay policy. I constantly fear being fired.

As an employee, I have a unique commitment to the organization, but I also face losing my job every single day because of who I am. My hope is to make Scouting stronger so it may flourish in local communities. But in order for Scouting to continue as the premier youth-serving agency in this country, it must be inclusive of gay boys and adults. And I’ll tell you why.

The Boy Scouts of America is not, I believe, on a sustainable path as long as any portion of the ban on gay members continues. Strategic partnerships will be drastically reduced. I have personal experience working with many organizations that refused to be partners with my local Scouting council because of the ban on gay members. One instance stands out because the organization was a statewide conservation group, and the Boy Scouts have taught me to be respectful and responsible with our natural world. The conservation group refused to work with the Boy Scouts because the staff feared that their gay volunteers would be exposed to potential embarrassment by working with an organization that discriminates against gay people.

Scouting employees know it is now more difficult to accomplish our recruiting and partnership goals because of the discriminatory ban. Twenty-eight of 30 national youth-serving organizations, many of which are our strategic partners, are strongly opposed to the anti-gay policy, and corporations nationwide are questioning their financial commitment to the Boy Scouts or cutting ties altogether.

On Thursday, 1,400 Scouting volunteers from all across the country will meet in Dallas to vote on a proposal that could end the ban on gay youth. However, gay adult leaders and employees, like me, would remain banned from Scouting.

I have hoped for years that the time would come when the ban would be lifted. The Boy Scouts need to catch up with the American people’s view on equality. Boy Scout members span political parties and socioeconomic classes and live in locations as dense as New York City and as rural as Wyoming.

AWashington Post–ABC News poll released just this month shows a majority of Americans believe that both gay youth and adults should be allowed to join the Boy Scouts of America.

The proposed resolution to allow openly gay youth is a good first step, but it cannot stop there. If the resolution to repeal the ban on gay Scouts is approved, dedicated gay adult volunteers and employees, like me, will still be kept in the closet, and I will have no choice but to resign. For too many years, I eschewed relationships, felt uncomfortable around co-workers and was forced to remain cloaked in secrecy. I cannot continue to live in the shadows. It is not healthy, nor is it ethical.

This week, the nation will know if the Boy Scouts of America is listening to equality opponents, who would ultimately destroy the organization, or if acceptance and understanding will prevail. I dream of the day the Boy Scouts of America becomes a fully inclusive youth organization. All boys should be able to benefit, as I have, from Scouting, regardless of their sexual orientation.

TIME has verified that the author, who prefers to remain anonymous, is an employee of the BSA.

Gay Marriage Bill Clears UK House of Commons

Tue, 21 May 2013 20:50:38 -0400

Britain’s House of Commons has passed a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in England and Wales.

The legislation, backed by Prime Minister David Cameron, passed by a vote of 366 to 161 on Tuesday.

The bill will now move to the House of Lords, whose approval is also required. Members there are expected to hold their first debate in July.

If approved, the law is expected to take effect in 2015, and enable same-sex couples to get married in both civil and religious ceremonies, provided the religious institution they choose consents.

Such a law also would allow couples who had previously entered into a civil partnership to convert their relationship to a marriage.

Minneapolis’ I-35W Bridge Lit With Rainbow Lights To...

Fri, 17 May 2013 19:32:48 -0400

Minneapolis’ I-35W Bridge Lit With Rainbow Lights To Celebrate Minnesota’s Gay Marriage Legalization

By Glennisha Morgan

Minnesota became the 12th state to legalize gay marriage yesterday.

To celebrate, the city of Minneapolis lit the I-35W bridge with rainbow colored lights last night, according to the city’s Facebook page. The bridge, which made news headlines when it collapsed in 2007, crosses the Mississippi River.

Landon Donovan On Gay Athletes: Soccer Is Ready For Out...

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:23:30 -0400

Landon Donovan On Gay Athletes: Soccer Is Ready For Out Teammates

L.A. Galaxy forward Landon Donovan believes Major League Soccer (MLS) is ready to welcome openly gay players.

In his HuffPost Live appearance, the U.S. soccer star pointed to Robbie Rogers, whocame out of the closet in February just before stepping away from professional sports, noting, “We recently had a player come play with us who has declared publicly that he’s gay, and it’s been a very, very good thing for our team.”

Calling Rogers “a friend,” Donovan went on to note, “As soccer players, we are exposed to people of all colors, cultures, ethnicities, backgrounds, everything — and this is sort of the next step in that line.”

Rogers, 25, is reportedly the subject of trade talks between MLS’s L.A. Galaxy and Chicago Fire, and has reportedly been practicing with Donovan and his teammates in recent weeks, according to NESN.

ARP Supports ‘Homosexual Agenda,’ American Family...

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:14:20 -0400

ARP Supports ‘Homosexual Agenda,’ American Family Association Pundit Warns

A conservative, notoriously anti-group has its sights set on the AARP.

According to ThinkProgress blogger Zack Ford, the American Family Association (AFA) may have been referencing “AARP Pride,” the organization’s site dedicated to resources on marriage equality, HIV/AIDS, nondiscrimination policies and other issues relevant to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community as part of its opposing declaration.

“When you reach the age of a person like myself and you begin to get information from the AARP saying that they will represent you and your values and standards, you’d better be careful,” AFA’s Executive Vice President Buddy Smith is quoted by OneNewsNow as saying.

“Be very careful that you know what your fees are going for because the AARP is not on your side,” Smith added. “If you are a Christian and believe in Biblical values, you can pretty much count on the fact that everything that you are in favor of, the AARP is opposing.”

In 2008, the AFA announced a boycott of McDonald’s for the fast food chain’s “refusal to remain neutral” in the culture wars, according to ThinkProgress.

“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,” AFA’s Donald Wildmon wrote at the time.

The conservative non-profit organization, which is dedicated to promoting “the Biblical ethic of decency in American society,” targeted Google last year in the wake of the tech giant’s “Legalize Love” campaign in support of same-sex marriage.

Portugal expands adoption rights for gay couples

Fri, 17 May 2013 16:05:15 -0400

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portugal’s Parliament has passed a law allowing same-sex married couples to adopt their partners’ children, but lawmakers rejected legislation granting gay couples the same adoption rights as heterosexuals.

The 230-seat Parliament passed by five votes Friday the center-left Socialist Party’s proposal permitting a person in a same-sex marriage to adopt a partner’s biological or adopted child.

However, another proposal by the Left Bloc and Green Party that would have let gay partners adopt children together as a married couple was defeated, with 104 votes against, 77 in favor and 21 abstentions.

The Socialist Party used its parliamentary majority in 2010 to pass legislation allowing same-sex couples to wed in civil ceremonies. It lost a general election the following year, and center-right parties now have a majority

Downing Street stresses gay marriage is ‘free vote’...

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:56:05 -0400

David Cameron’s plans for same-sex marriage have unnecessarily upset “vast numbers of people”, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has said.

Mr Hammond said there was a “real sense of anger” among voters over the Government’s legislation to allow gay weddings.

Today Downing Street stressed that gay marriage was a free vote issue. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “Individual Members of Parliament will have their views. They have the ability through the free vote to express that.”

Mr Hammond said there was no great demand in the country for change and criticised the amount of parliamentary time which had been devoted to the issue.

” I have just never felt that this is what we should be focusing on,” he told BBC1’s Question Time.

“This change does redefine marriage. For millions and millions of people who are married, the meaning of marriage changes.

“There is a real sense of anger among many people who are married that any government thinks it has the ability to change the definition of an institution like marriage.”

He said the introduction of civil partnerships in 2005 had dealt with the “very real disadvantage” that gay couples faced in the past.

“There was no huge demand for this and we didn’t need to spend a lot of parliamentary time and upset vast numbers of people in order to do this,” he said.

Mr Hammond’s comments echo the concerns of many traditionalist Tory MPs who say the issue is driving supporters away from the party.

But they are likely to irritate the Prime Minister, who has made the change a key symbol of his efforts to modernise the Conservatives.

Equality Minister Maria Miller last night put forward plans for a review on extending civil partnerships to heterosexual couples, in a bid to quell opposition to the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill in the House of Commons.

But under the amendment tabled by Mrs Miller, the review would not take place until five years after gay marriage has been introduced, to allow time for the impact of the new arrangements to be assessed.

The review could pave the way for civil partnerships to be extended, or, if demand has plummeted, scrapped altogether.

The proposal was dismissed today by Conservative former children’s minister Tim Loughton as “a spoiling measure from the Government”.

Mr Loughton, who has tabled his own amendment for the immediate introduction of straight civil partnerships, told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “They should have done this with the Bill.”

In a Government consultation on gay marriage, 61% of people said they would like to see civil partnerships extended to heterosexuals, he said.

“They’ve had the consultation, there’s a clear mandate for it, there’s a clear majority - as will be shown in an opinion poll this weekend - amongst MPs. Let’s get on with it, rather than let it drag on and on.”

Mrs Miller has warned that the addition of straight civil partnerships to the current Marriage Bill would significantly delay the introduction of gay marriage and add to the cost of the changes. But Mr Loughton, an opponent of gay marriage, insisted his amendment was “absolutely not” designed to wreck the Bill.

Current proposals will create an inequality between gay couples, who will be able to choose between civil partnership and marriage, and heterosexuals who will only have the option of marriage, he said.

“There are 2.8 million cohabiting couples who don’t want to get involved with the whole paraphenalia of marriage but are in a committed relationship and a third of them have children as well,” said Mr Loughton.

“I just think we need to give them the option, as gay people now have with the civil partnership - quite rightly - to be able to be in that relationship, to have the rights and responsibilities that go with it as a formal legal recognition and to be able to do that publicly. That’s got to be good for stability of families and particularly good for the way we bring up our children. There’s a real social need.”

The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill returns to MPs on Monday and its passage through parliament is expected to remain bumpy.

It is unlikely that couples will be able to take advantage of any law change until well into next year, with the review of civil partnerships then likely in 2019.

“Two Men Who Do-Si-Do” A country song supporting marriage...

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:10:00 -0400

“Two Men Who Do-Si-Do”

A country song supporting marriage equality! Who would have though.

If you love the song, you can download it by donating to help marriage equality. Break out those cowboy boots and help marriage equality by doing a little do si do yourself!

Fight homophobia! Media and social networking sites are the ways...

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:56:57 -0400

Fight homophobia! Media and social networking sites are the ways in which most people get their information. Show the world that it isn’t ok to be homophobic nor transphobic. If you have a computer you have the power to be a social activist. Fight on!

International Day Against Homophobia And Transphobia (IDAHO)...

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:54:00 -0400

International Day Against Homophobia And Transphobia (IDAHO) Commemorated Around The World

May 17 is the 9th annual International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia (IDAHO). The day will be commemorated in over 100 countries around the world and will highlight the horrific consequences of homophobia and transphobia on gender and sexual minorities.

IDAHO has grown in leaps and bounds over the last nine years and is now celebrated by a wide range of stakeholders from local organizations, to celebrities, to city councils, to private organizations and corporations, to national governments and international agencies such as the United Nations.

The organizers of IDAHO believe that the most powerful component of the Day is recognizing the voices of all people from all walks of life. It opens the channels of communication so that the Day can be used in multiple ways, in whatever context suits the local and cultural needs of those who are doing the work on the ground and within communities.

In that spirit, a handful of activists commemorating IDAHO all over the world submitted a brief post about what homophobia and transphobia look like in their countries, what they are doing for IDAHO and how IDAHO will ultimately impact their efforts at the local level to end homophobia, lesbophobia, biphobia and transphobia.

These are just a few of the many voices who will be speaking out during IDAHO. To add your own experiences and thoughts to the conversation, visit the International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia’s official facebook page and tweet your using the hashtag #may17idaho.

French gay marriage law ruled constitutional

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:46:42 -0400

PARIS (AP) — France’s constitutional council has rejected a challenge by conservative lawmakers to the country’s new gay marriage law, saying the law was constitutional.

That means France could see its first gay marriages by the end of May.

France’s parliament passed the law legalizing gay marriage last month after a wrenching national debate. Opponents led by the conservative UMP party immediately challenged the law in France’s Constitutional Council, which rejected their motion Friday.

The gay marriage law must now be published in the official journal. President Francois Hollande, who made legalizing gay marriage one of his campaign pledges last year, has promised to see the law published as soon as possible.

Homophobia: the most illogical thing ever.

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:42:42 -0400

Homophobia: the most illogical thing ever.

George Takei’s response to traditional marriage supporters at...

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:40:37 -0400