Happy Friday! Happy last day of September. Are you ready to pay rent tomorrow?
September was a super busy month with Visalia Family Fest, Health Awareness Day, Modesto Pride, and the Reel Pride Film Festival. (All hugely successful!)
But now it is October… time to start planning your Halloween costume! (I’m either going as a sexy Rainbow Bright or a Dr. Who character, what about you?)
Anyway, here are a few notes on this week’s news to help you pass the tine while standing in line at the costume shop!
First off, did you know that October is National LGBT History Month? And to help you get all edified and provide the answers to Trivial Pursuit questions for years to come…. Check out these new Oral History Resources!
The backlash against gay slurs in sports has been established. The NBA has been quick to fine players for anti-gay language… but what about Hockey? Sean Avery, a vocal supporter of same-sex marriage, has accused Wayne Simmonds of using a gay slur during a recent game. So far the NHL hasn’t issued any fines due to the lack of proof of the incident. Simmonds is on record as both denying using the slur and also that whatever he said was in “the heat of battle” and didn’t cross a line. Several LGBT groups are calling for the NHL to step in and issue a ban against homophobic language. And yes, there is video…..
Marriage Equality Rhode Island has launched a new campaign to get Senator Reed to support the repeal of DOMA. (We wish them the best of luck!)
Walmart has passed provisions in its employee non-discrimination policy to protect transgender employees
A stall in the release of the Prop 8 trial tapes : A federal appeals court has put the brakes on unsealing video recordings of last year’s trial on the constitutionality of California’s same-sex marriage ban.
Guess who’s coming to dinner? At the huge Human Rights Campaign dinner next week that is… President Obama will be one of the key note speakers!
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by a married binational gay couple in California who were denied a marriage-based green card by immigration officials. The decision was based on precedent from a 1982 case involving a Colorado gay male couple denied immigration sponsorship rights (in the rejection of the couple’s petition decades ago, officials wrote that their attorney had “failed to establish that a bona fide marital relationship can exist between two faggots”).
A panel advising New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on ways to revamp Medicaid has proposed that the program that pays for low-income residents’ health care cover surgery and therapy for transgender New Yorkers.
Hopeful news from across the pond… Britain Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone has recently announced that she, with the support of British Prime Minister David Cameron, will begin presenting the idea of incorporating same-sex marriage into British law by the end of the Parliament session in 2015.
And in the “Who Came Out This Week” Category we have…. Sean Maher. (Who you might remember from Firefly and Serenity (He was Simon, the doctor)
And lastly, not related but still fun…. Now that fall, and our favorite fall TV shows are back, I thought it might be fun to share this with you: SNL’s take on The Office… Japanese style
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That’s it for me, have a fun, and safe, weekend!
