Tag Archive for "gay rights"

Posts Tagged gay rights

Malawi’s first woman president vows to repeal anti-gay laws

Joyce Banda, who became Malawi’s first female president last month, is hitting the ground running. In her first state of the nation address, she announced that as “a matter of urgency” she’ll seek to repeal the country’s laws criminalizing homosexuality.

Banda seems to have enough support in parliament to get the laws overturned, but Malawi is still a conservative country, so it’s a gutsy move. Banda’s predecessor pardoned two men who were imprisoned for the crime of wanting to get married but maintained that they “committed a crime against our culture, against our religion, and against our laws.”

Gay rights activists in the region hope that a change like this in Malawi, which is hosting the African Union ...

By Katie Halper • 12 years ago

Who Will Speak for the Closeted Christmas-Celebrators? Rick Perry, that’s who!

Who will speak for the persecuted Christians?

“I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a Christian…But you don’t have to be in the pew every Sunday to know that there’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military, but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school. As president, I’ll end Obama’s war on religion, and I’ll fight against liberal attacks on our religious heritage.”

That would be Rick Perry, who, in his latest campaign ad, laments that, thanks to that Muslim-atheist-Nazi-Communist Obama, we live in a world run by the gays and secularists… a world in which our ...

Who will speak for the persecuted Christians?

“I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a Christian…But you don’t have to be in the pew every Sunday to know that there’s something wrong in this ...

By Samhita • 12 years ago

67% of Americans would support a gay or lesbian presidential candidate

According to a new Gallup poll, only 32% of Americans would be against supporting a gay or lesbian presidential candidate and 67% would be in support. As Think Progress mentions this a tremendous shift in mindset from say, 1978, when approximately 74% of the American public wouldn’t have supported a gay or lesbian political candidate.

What this brings up for me however is, why, despite what appears to be majority public support for gay lifestyles, has it been so hard to pass legislation in support of gay marriage? Also, this percentage would be skewed if we were to include gender non-conforming or transgender people, since I’m sure part of what has caused the change in mindset is the increased ...

By Maya Dusenbery • 12 years ago

SF Giants are the first major sports team to make an “It Gets Better” video

Yesterday, the San Francisco Giants became the first major sports team to release an “It Gets Better” video.

The team decided to make the video after a fan, Sean Chapin, used social media to collect over 6,500 signatures on a change.org petition. And now others, including a 12-year-old Red Sox fan, have started similar petitions to their favorite teams.

We’ve written before how disappointing it is to see some high-profile politicians like Hillary Clinton and Mayor Mike Bloomberg jump on the “It Gets Better” bandwagon without acknowledging that they are, in fact, in a position to actually make things better for LBGT folks. Professional athletes obviously don’t have the same kind of power to change ...

Yesterday, the San Francisco Giants became the first major sports team to release an “It Gets Better” video.

The team decided to make the video after a fan, Sean Chapin, used social media to collect over ...

By Samhita • 13 years ago

Gay parenting more common in the South.

There is an interesting article in the New York Times today that in “the South” there have sprung up communities of gay parents of very diverse backgrounds.

In addition, the data show, child rearing among same-sex couples is more common in the South than in any other region of the country, according to Gary Gates, a demographer at the University of California, Los Angeles. Gay couples in Southern states like Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas are more likely to be raising children than their counterparts on the West Coast, in New York and in New England.

The pattern, identified by Mr. Gates, is also notable because the families in this region defy the stereotype ...

There is an interesting article in the New York Times today that in “the South” there have sprung up communities of gay parents of very diverse backgrounds.

In addition, the data show, child rearing among same-sex couples ...

By Jos Truitt • 13 years ago

Ugandans named in anti-gay hit list win damages, injunction

The Guardian reports that a high court in Uganda has awarded just over £400 each in damages to 3 individuals named in a lawsuit against the Rolling Stone newspaper that published a list of 100 people the paper called “Uganda’s top homos” with the headline “Hang them.” Further, the court ruled the paper violated the constitutional rights to privacy and safety of the people named in the article and issued an injunction against the Rolling Stone newspaper telling them not to publish such a list again.

Sadly the injunction can’t protect the 100 people who were on the original list, Some of whom have already experienced attacks as a result. The injunction is important though, as it could prevent ...