Town of Bay Harbor Islands Unanimously Approves Domestic Partnership Ordinance
Congrats to SAVE Dade and the Town of Bay Harbor Islands!
A major victory has occurred in the Town of Bay Harbor Islands. A Domestic Partnership Ordinance was unaimously passed on a second reading that would gurantee Town employees who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) the same rights and benefits as all other city employees.
“Bay Harbor’s Town Council took a bold step today for equality acknowledging that equal benefits for equal work is a core value in their community,” said SAVE Dade Executive Director CJ Ortuño
“With a minimal fiscal impact, this ordinance will make our Town more competitive and fairer in retaining and recruiting the highest quality of employees, regardless of their personal sexual orientation. I am proud to have sponsored such legislation,” said Vice Mayor Jordan W. Leonard. The passage comes after Mayor Leonard approached SAVE Dade upon realizing Bay Harbor didn’t offer these benefits to LGBT employees he knows are working for the city.
SAVE Dade collaborated with the Vice Mayor with the ordinance’s language as well as elaborate on the financial impact of the proposed bill. “Many people don’t realize that these benefits don’t cost the Town much, since gay and lesbian relationships are not recognized by our federal or state government; and that the ordinance simply allows for the ability to put their loved one on their health insurance,” said Ortuño.
You Can’t Sit with Us
by Antwyone Ingram
Gay people, leave it to you when I’m having a gloomy day to bring some
light into my life with your snarky remarks, and shady antics. As we all
know, it is Gay Pride Month and equality reigns supreme, yada yada yada.
While that’s peachy and lovely (nonchalantly waving rainbow flag while
typing), let’s be realistic - you’re pretty damn shady. If equality means
equally shady, then I totally get it. If it doesn’t, someone help me out
please.
Gay people are always the first to “boo-hoo” when someone heterosexual
discriminates against them and are ready to throw lawsuits, call the press,
glitter bomb and whine about inequality. We’re fighting for equality in the
“straight world” and that’s great, I’m all for it. But who is going to take
the lead in fighting for equality in our own community? Hypocritical is the
understatement of the year. How can you have such a strong voice when it
comes to being treated equally about your rights but you won’t even glance
in another gay man’s direction because he is not your type or he isn’t a
carbon copy of yourself. The gay community is so divided, so it always
baffles me when I see some gay people demanding equality. Stereotypes play a
key role. Gay men hate when heterosexuals stereotype them but do it almost
as excessively as straight people do.
The gay social scene has turned into a big game of “you can’t sit with us.”
The bears sit at the bear’s table, hairy and angry. The jocks sit at the
jocks table, not speaking because they are tools and don’t know how. The
black people sit at the black table, eating chicken and planning a robbery.
The circuit queens are licking bath salts off of their table. And the twinks
are chewing bubblegum and applying mascara. As ridiculous as some of these
stereotypes sound, there are gay men who legitimately view other gay men as
stated above. The gay social scene reminds me so much of high school, and
everyone is too content with these “social rules” that have been laid out by
(blink blink) beats me.
Do a little bit of soul searching during Pride month and think about all of
those who paved the way so we could do the things we are able to do now,
because I’m pretty sure Harvey Milk wasn’t fighting for equality for only
certain types of gays.
Iowa Justices Who Legalized Same-Sex Marriage to be Honored with 2012 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award
Also being honored with a 2012 Profile in Courage Award is Robert Ford, U.S. Ambassador to Syria, whose bold and courageous diplomacy has provided crucial support to Syrians struggling under the brutal regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
The prestigious award for political courage, announced today by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, will be presented by Caroline Kennedy at a ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston on Monday, May 7.
“This year’s Profile in Courage Award honorees have shown uncommon valor as public servants,” said Caroline Kennedy, President of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. “When Justices Baker, Streit, and Ternus joined a unanimous decision to overturn a law denying same-sex couples the privileges of marriage, they sacrificed their own futures on the Court to honor Iowa’s constitution and the rights of all its citizens. In Syria, as a member of the United States Foreign Service, Ambassador Ford has boldly carved a new path of diplomacy, risking his own safety in the face of political turmoil and violence to show support for the Syrian people.”
The John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award is presented annually to public servants who have made courageous decisions of conscience without regard for the personal or professional consequences. The award is named for President Kennedy’s 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning book,Profiles in Courage, which recounts the stories of eight U.S. senators who risked their careers, incurring the wrath of constituents or powerful interest groups, by taking principled stands for unpopular positions. The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation created the Profile in Courage Award™ in 1989 to honor President Kennedy’s commitment and contribution to public service. It is presented in May in celebration of President Kennedy’s May 29th birthday. The Profile in Courage Award is represented by a sterling-silver lantern symbolizing a beacon of hope. The lantern was designed by Edwin Schlossberg and crafted by Tiffany & Co.
David Baker, Michael Streit and Marsha Ternus, Former Iowa Supreme Court Justices
In 2009, Iowa Supreme Court Justices Marsha Ternus, David Baker and Michael Streit joined a unanimous opinion which struck down Iowa’s ban on same-sex marriage. The decision was the first unanimous high court opinion on marriage for same-sex couples, and it made Iowa the third state to legalize same-sex marriage. The justices were aware that their opinion might not enjoy support from a majority of the public, but the Court stressed in its opinion that its responsibility was “to protect constitutional rights of individuals from legislative enactments that have denied those rights, even when the rights have not yet been broadly accepted, were at one time unimagined, or challenge a deeply ingrained practice or law viewed to be impervious to the passage of time.” Although the Court’s decision was unanimous, it provoked a political backlash. In November 2010, voters removed Ternus, Baker and Streit from office following an unprecedented campaign financed in part by national interest groups opposed to same-sex marriage. The justices’ ouster marked the first time since Iowa adopted its current judicial system that any sitting Supreme Court judge had lost an uncontested retention election. Ternus, Baker and Streit were the only three Supreme Court justices subject to a retention vote that year. They will be honored for the courage they and their colleagues demonstrated in upholding and defending the constitutional role of an independent judiciary, which has been vital to American democracy and historically responsible for the greatest advances in civil rights for all Americans.
Robert Ford, United States Ambassador to Syria
As U.S. Ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford has taken extraordinary personal risks to bear witness to the violence and repression perpetrated by the regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, and to advocate for the human rights of the Syrian people. Ford has used social media to establish channels of communication directly with the Syrian people, providing moral support and encouraging them to embrace non-violent protest in the face of government-backed brutality. A former Peace Corps volunteer and then career member of the U.S. Foreign Service, Ford has risked his own safety to show solidarity with ordinary Syrians and to defend the rights of protesters opposing Assad’s regime. He has continued to engage directly with opposition leaders, traveling around Syria despite repeated threats on his life. Ford will be honored for the courageous example he has set and the light he has shone on the power of creative and robust diplomacy to serve as a vital tool for advancing human rights.
This year’s recipients of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation’s prestigious award for political courage were selected by a distinguished bipartisan committee of national, political, and community leaders. Albert R. Hunt, executive Washington editor of Bloomberg News, chairs the 13-member Profile in Courage Award Committee. Committee members are U.S. Congresswoman Donna F. Edwards (D-Maryland); Kenneth R. Feinberg, Chairman of the board of directors of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation; U.S. Senator Lindsey O. Graham (R-South Carolina); Antonia Hernandez, president and chief executive officer of the California Community Foundation; Elaine Jones, former director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund; Caroline Kennedy, president of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation; Paul G. Kirk, Jr., former U.S. Senator (D-Massachusetts) and Chairman Emeritus of the board of directors of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation; Martha Minow, Dean and Jeremiah Smith, Jr. Professor of Law at Harvard Law School; Shari Redstone, President, National Amusements, Inc; John Seigenthaler, founder of the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University; David M. Shribman, executive editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette;and U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine). Tom McNaught, executive director of the Kennedy Library Foundation, staffs the Committee.
The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization founded in 1984 to provide financial support, staffing, and creative resources for the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, a presidential library administered by the National Archives and Records Administration.
In this week’s Wire Magazine video pick, a montage documentary by Ryan James Yezak we witness the history of the Gay Rights Movement in America.
From the cultural climate of the fifties to the ongoing struggle America undergoes today, this video shows us how far America has come, but highlights how far we still have to go. Words really can’t describe it, it must be experienced, see for yourself and pass it along.
The Gay Rights Movement (by RyanJamesYezak)
Wire Magazine Issue 52
Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation Earns her Wire Magazine’s Person of the Year 2011!
Thank You Hilary
Sincerely - Wire Magazine
Report: Chick-fil-A donated nearly $2 million to anti-gay causes in 2009 | LGBTQnation.com
New IRS 990 forms reveal that fast-food restaurant chain Chick-fil-A donated nearly $2 million to anti-gay groups in 2009, reports Equality Matters.
Earlier this year, Chick-fil-A became embroiled in a controversy surrounding its donations to anti-gay groups, and although Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy denied having an “agenda against anyone,” an investigation by Equality Matters found that Chick-fil-A donated more than $1 million to anti-gay causes between 2003 and 2008, and double that amount in 2009.
The 2009 contributions reflect the most recent year for which public records are available.
According to the Equality Matters report, the WinShape Foundation — Chick-fil-A’s charitable arm, created by Chick-fil-A founder and chairman S. Truett Cathy in 1984 — received substantial funding from Chick-fil-A: in 2009 alone, WinShape received $7,814,788 from Chick-fil-A Inc.
In 2009 alone, WinShape distributed $1,733,699 among seven anti-gay groups, including the Marriage And Family Legacy Fund, Exodus International, and two groups identified as “hate groups” by the Southern Poverty Law Center — Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council.
Exodus International is one of the world’s largest promoters of “ex-gay” therapy. Focus on the Family and the FRC have earned their “hate groups” designation for promoting known falsehoods about the LGBT community, including FRC’s claim that pedophilia is a “homosexual problem.”
Earlier this year, a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Pennsylvania co-sponsored a marriage conference along with the Pennsylvania Family Institute — the PFI had previously worked to kill a state bill that would have prohibited discrimination against LGBT people in housing, employment, and public accommodations, and had filed an amicus brief against the trial ruling striking down California’s Proposition 8.
Following news reports of the sponsorship, Chick-fil-A scrubbed its name from the event’s advertisements.
In response to the controversy, Cathy released a statement denying that Chick-fil-A’s donation was an endorsement of traditional marriage, and argued that Chick-fil-A has “no agenda against anyone,” and that the company would not “champion any political agendas” relating to marriages or families.
The full Equality Matters report is here.
Celebrate Gay Marriage In New York! Make It Official At The Crowne Plaza Times Square!
SOFIA VERGARA COMES OUT
In support of the LGBT community! In a recent Advocate article the voluptuous diva speaks about her love of the gay community and equality rights. Click Here!
Celebrate Gay Marriage in New York! Consider making it official at the legendary Crowne Plaza Times Square. Now offering same-sex marriage packages
Telling my dad that I am gay-LIVE
To mark the end of DADT, this service member nervously makes the call to come out to his father.
Today We Celebrate A New Beginning As DADT Leaves The Military
Over 14,000 previously prosecuted soldiers who have been kicked out of the military now have the chance to rejoin. Today marks the first official day that Clinton’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy has no effect. Previously hiding soldiers and advocates using fake names come together and celebrate as the United States Military finally opens its doors to equality.
Teacher Who Called Gay Marriages A Cesspool- The Difficult Battle of The First Amendment & YOUR Opinion
Teacher Who Called Gay Marriages A Cesspool- The Difficult Battle of The First Amendment & YOUR Opinion
Read the full story here by The Advocate.
By Jesse Spencer
After reading this story and reviewing many comments on the issue, it is clear that the controversy lies not solely with this teacher’s opinion, but his position and the way he went about expressing his view.
Social media can be a great way for venting excitement, anger, or even stirring up drama. We always hear about public debates and headline news that sparked from a single tweet, or Facebook status posting. But when is it going too far? Has the ease of access to publish our every waking thought on the Internet caused more problems than the openly “free speech” it was intended to be?
The integrity of Internet journalism and social media are often questioned by traditional journalists. Of course, we must express our opinions; this can be done in numerous ways. As individuals it may be seen as more acceptable to be a little irrational, but when do we start holding “journalists” accountable as well? So often, opinionated bloggers and bias “journalists” take only a few facts from a story and spin it to their advantage. For example, one blogger took this story and completely shifted it to his anti-gay view to talk about HIV and said “Male sex with males is harmful to the individual, their family, friends, community and society.” Read his one-sided unrelated story here. I’m not here to bash his view (completely), after all that would be by definition hypocritical. As his story progresses many of the points made appear to be so obviously unrelated to the real topic of the story. I appreciate a strong viewpoint, however it only seems fair to report all aspects and subject matter of the topic.
Regardless of the view on the subject matter we must uphold integrity and address the real issue here. This man is a public teacher, Social Studies at that. Do you think his role, as a public figure to students should make him more accountable for his actions? Or is his hate speech just a freedom that should remain protected under the First Amendment? The case is currently being investigated. There are clear arguments for both sides, how do you view the situation and what are your thoughts on other people’s views?
Review the story and some of the comments on the various pages. We want to hear back from you. Visit www.wiremagazine.tumblr.com or our Facebook at www.facebook.com/wiremagazine and find the story to post your opinion. Please keep your comments and opinions respectful and professional.
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