Sign the Petition to Televise Prop. 8 Trial

On Thursday the state Supreme Court will hear arguments on three lawsuits challenging Proposition 8, the controversial constitutional amendment that bans gay marriage. California's high court will hear both sides of the gay marriage argument.

Those against Prop 8 believe that people were lied to by all the hate groups lobbying so hard to get the bill passed and they fell prey to the idiocy. The voters are definitely complicit when it comes to the passage of Prop 8 but they were not alone in pushing it through. Church groups and other anti-gay groups spent millions on getting this thing passed. The grassroots efforts of the opposition never stood a chance.
Charles Cooper, a lawyer for the sponsors of the measure said that his clients oppose televising the trial. He said the Proposition 8 sponsors are concerned about possible intimidation or harassment of witnesses. Some witnesses have said "they will not be willing to testify at all if the trial is televised or webcast,". Theodore Boutrous, a lawyer for the same-sex couples, told the judge that his clients "strongly support televising the trial in order to afford the public meaningful access in this exceptionally important case."

If the Proposition 8 trial is televised, it would be the first federal trial to be broadcast in the West, and one of the first in the nation. Cameras have previously been allowed in some federal appeals court hearings as well as in California's state court system. Charles

If you want the trial to be televised please sign this petition.

B'MORE PROUD

The B'MORE PROUD Queer College Coalition is the primary intercollegiate network and clearinghouse serving college & university students/faculty/staff in the Baltimore-Metro LGBTQIA community. They seek to promote personal and professional growth of this community through leadership development, academic scholarship, educational programming and social networking opportunities.

On February 20th, they will be hosting an LGBT Leadership Summit where there will be keynote speakers, break out sessions, a Local/Regional LGBT Organization Fair, as well as a drag ball. The program will start at 9:00AM and end between 8:00PM and 12:00PM. This is a great opportunity to learn more about raising awareness and providing education about marginalized groups, get more involved in the larger Baltimore LGBT community, strengthen your leadership skills, and let you meet other students who share similar interests.

To sign up go to this website: www.bmoreproud.org

We hope to see you all there!

Amanda Simpson, One of the First Transgender Presidential Appointees

Amanda Simpson will be starting her new job as Senior Technical Advisor to the Department of Commerce on Tuesday. Her background has been dedicated to understanding military technology. She was a former test pilot and has been active in aerospace and defense industry for the past 30 years. Simpson has also been active in LGBT issues. In 2005 she successfully worked to have the Raytheon adopt gender identity into its Equal Employment Opportunity Policy. Although she is transgender, she does not want people to assume that she was hired because of her sexual identity but rather on her merits.

Congratulations Amanda Simpson, we hope you succeed!

Dockers' Chauvinistic Advertising

Do they seriously think that this sort of advertisement is okay?

If Hermey Were Gay

Hermey from the 1964 television show Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I don't know about you guys, but I remember watching this show a lot when i was a kid (during the holidays only, of course).

Marriage Equality in Mexico City

On December 21st Mexico City became the second city in Latin America to allow same-sex couples to marry and to have the same rights as heterosexual unions, the first being Buenos Aires. The final vote was 39 in favor to 20 against. The revision will change the definition of marriage to a union between two people, instead of the current version, which specifies a union between a man and a woman. In a separate motion Mexico City also confirmed that same-sex couples would be able to adopt children.

Gay Couple Married in Argentina

Jose Maria Di Bello and Alex Freyre, two gay rights activists, were the first same-sex couple to ever be married in Latin America. They were married on the 28th of December in Ushauaia, the capital of Argentina's Tierra de Fuego state. Argentina's Constitution is silent on whether marriage must be between a man and a woman, effectively leaving the matter to state and city officials. Argentina was the first Latin American country to allow and recognize civil unions and now legislation to legalize same-sex marriage is under debate.

2010 Marriage Protection Act

The 2010 Marriage Protection Act in California is hoping to "safeguard marriage from the evils of divorce" by banning divorce. This video was made to expose the ridiculous arguments of those who want to protect "traditional marriage". The satire is hilarious and mimics the arguments in support of Prop 8.



At first, I honestly didn't think there was a organization seriously trying to make divorce illegal. But, here's the website. Visit it if you dare.