Top

Just One Line: An Outside Point of View

January 28, 2010 by Jason Shaw · 3 Comments 

Wednesday night US President Barack Obama gave the 221st State Of The Union speech live to America on prime time TV, but to us Europeans, being at least 5 hours ahead, was the middle of the night!.   However, as Jason Shaw explains,  it was well worth staying up for!.

To me,  President Obama,  whilst having a funny name, and by his own admission – sticky out ears, he has always been a great orator, a great speaker, a true man of words, and last night was no exception. He sure knows how to write a speech, his address to the nation  was exciting –  and I don’t use that word lightly either,   it was also  information, reassuring, moving and appeared beyond much doubt, heartfelt.

I’m not an American,  I don’t live in the States,  I am an outsider, and this really is an outsiders view,  having a little peek over the wall an looking in on the world of American politics!     Obama came to power in a very difficult time,  already two wars going on,  the world in economic free fall, oil shortages, climate in crisis, and a America’s global reputation in tatters!    Therefore,  I feel nothing but admiration for Obama and his team,  for he’s already gone further in one year than most politicians do in four!  Without doubt, he’s raised, if not the world’s, then certainly Europe’s opinion of America. Which, can honestly only be a good thing. He’s made quite a few changes, OK, spent money like a drunken sailor at times, but that gamble to bailout the banks and the economy, as paid off,  the green shoots of recovery are well and truly established.
His address,  his speech, touched on many subjects, however, it’s just one line that springs to mind, that could, would, and hopefully will change the lives of many people, desperate to show the country they love what they can do. That line was “This year I will work with congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are”

It’s just one line, but it’s been a long time coming, 17 years in fact, yep, if my memory is right it’s been 17 years since Bill Clinton, another democrat, first promised to lift the ban on gays serving in the military. Of course, that didn’t happen, congress saw to that and the rather silly compromise of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was introduced. Which as an outsider, seem pretty odd, discriminative and absurd. To me it basically said, it’s OK to be gay and in the military as long as you don’t tell anyone, don’t have feelings for anyone, don’t fall in love with anyone, don’t have a personal life, don’t even breathe in a pink way, but do lie, do be dishonest, do live with the constant danger of being outed, of saying or doing the wrong thing.

In the UK, openly gay men and women have been allowed to serve in the armed forces since the start of the decade and since 2008 have been allowed to attend gay pride events and marches in uniform. Indeed, there are even army, navy and air force recruiters at some pride events up and down the country! There are at least 30 other countries that don’t have any bans on gays serving in the forces, including Spain, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Whilst the list for those countries that don’t allow gays in the military is much smaller, at last count, 17 I think, including the USA!

In 2008, 100 retired generals and admirals urged the US congress to over turn Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, it’s estimated there are some 65,000 gays already serving in the forces and also 600 people each year are discharged for coming out and revealing their sexuality. So, yes, it may only be one line in his first State Of The Union speech, but it’s going to have far reaching implications for a great many people, a change for the better is coming! It’s been a long time coming!

Jason Shaw, GayAgenda.com’s UK correspondent

Elliott, he’s a fan! “Jason Shaw – writes my socks off!”

Sign the Petition to President Obama for Equality NOW!

January 11, 2010 by Gay Agenda News Team · Leave a Comment 

The time has come for President Obama to stop talking and start acting. The President needs to stand with us and honor his pledge to oppose state constitutional amendments banning marriage equality.

Sign our petition to President Obama urging him to file a brief stating that the constitution prohibits the majority from taking away the rights of any minority. It’s basic constitutional law.

President Jimmy Carter, Governor Jerry Brown and former Governor Ronald Reagan spoke up and stood with us when we fought the Briggs initiative in 1978. Now, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown are speaking out and standing with us by telling the Court that Prop. 8 cannot be defended under the United States Constitution.

No voice would have more of an impact on the case than President Obama’s. It is time for him to stand up and act.

Sign our petition: eqca.org/StandUpObama.

David Letterman Steps In it Again, Offends LGBT’s

January 7, 2010 by Gay Agenda News Team · Leave a Comment 

Contributed by Lyndon Evans

Tuesday evening David Letterman and staff chose to make fun of new Obama appointee Amanda Simpson who is transgender.

One would expect the likes of Fox News’ crew of anti-gay talking heads like Bill O’Reilly and others to make fun of, as they have, this Obama appointment, but for Letterman and his staff to come up with this sophomoric attempt at humor which only continues along the line of “I was tricked into thinking he was a she” which has been used as an excuse for assaulting, and in worse case scenario, murder of transgenders, just defies logic.

In many cases I have been able to find humor in “taking pot shots” at the LGBT community when others in the LGBT press and blogs become absolutely livid. But not this time. I can find no humor, a) making fun of an Obama appointee in such a manor and b) the way the skit is carried out which, whether intentional or not, sends out another stereotypical message against the transgender community.

You would think that with the bad press Letterman has gotten in the past year, he would be gun shy and steer clear of more bad press. Letterman has not just shot himself in the foot, this time he has shot himself squarely in the ass.

Woe be it to Letterman’s production company and CBS when the fallout starts with trans activists and others, who will no doubt start an aggressive campaign in making complaints to network advertisers of The David Letterman Show, and also local o/o’s and affiliate advertisers.

As the current economic times are, broadcasting outlets, both network and local can ill afford to lose ad revenue. And that could very well be the fallout for this dimwitted attempt at humor.

Dave, this time you may have bitten off quite a bit more than you can chew my friend.

January 6, 2010

David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman
1697 Broadway
New York, NY 10001

CC: Nina Tassler
President, CBS Entertainment
51 West 52nd Street
New York, NY 10019

Dear Mr. Letterman,

I am writing on behalf of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, to express my disappointment over the inappropriate and incendiary remarks made on The Late Show with David Letterman last night on the appointment of Amanda Simpson to a senior position in the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The decision to ignore the fact that Ms. Simpson is incredibly well-qualified for this vital national security position and focus instead on her gender identity reflects transphobia. Ms. Simpson’s appointment represents meaningful progress for the LGBT community and in particular transgender Americans who have faced significant and well-documented discrimination in the workplace and their communities.

You may not be aware that the punch line in your skit has been used as a defense in nearly every hate crime perpetrated against transgender people that has come to trial. For example, the “trans panic” defense was infamously used by Allen Ray Andrade, who was convicted in 2009 of beating 19-year-old Angie Zapata to death with a fire extinguisher after learning of her gender history. According to media reports, it has also been the main defense employed by Juan A. Martinez for the killing of Jorge Steven López Mercado, 19, in Puerto Rico last November.

Your skit affirmed and encouraged a prejudice against transgender Americans that keeps many from finding jobs, housing, and enjoying freedoms you and your writers take for granted every day. We ask that you apologize publicly to Ms. Simpson and the transgender community for this unfortunate episode.

Sincerely,

Allyson Robinson,
Associate Director of Diversity for Transgender Issues
Human Rights Campaign

More from Lyndon Evans at: Focus On The Rainbow!

Houston, We Still Have a Problem

December 15, 2009 by James Hipps · Leave a Comment 

The election of lesbian Annise Parker as mayor of Houston, similar to the election last year of African-American Barack Obama as president, was another mature moment of Americans judging individual people of color and homosexuals by the content of their politics. Not yet answered is whether America is ready to let such figures use their office to remediate the economic and education disparities and the civil rights gaps that still bedevil people of color and gay and lesbian people in general.

America is getting better at the individual level. The question is when will that translate into critical progress for the groups Parker and Obama come from.

Start with Parker. Houston became the largest yet in the United States to elect an openly gay mayor. Her sexual orientation meant less than her six prior citywide election victories for either city council or controller. The Houston Chronicle called her a grassroots “policy wonk’’ who “happened to be gay.’’

More at: Boston.com!

No, Thank You, Mr. President

June 24, 2009 by Gay Agenda News Team · Leave a Comment 

I had hopes, in the very back of my mind, that Obama would be the one to lead us out of the wilderness. And the reason that I was so furious at the brief wasn’t because it contained wildly ridiculous and insulting arguments, but because it is a sign that Obama is not the politician he promised to be. And really, we need a leader. We need a latter-day Harvey Milk who can strategize on a national level and bring together the various groups – political and grassroots and fundraising and education – to really gain traction so that granting our civil rights is a no-brainer to our neighbors and our politicians.

It is this realization that brought me to acceptance. For now, I accept the fact that my rights are second-tier on the list of the President’s priorities. Not because he has a plethora of other things to do (the man has shown that he can multitask, after all), but because this is as far as our rights have ever gotten in the White House. President Clinton, as far as I can tell, dealt with gay issues by acknowledging them and then asking them to go far, far away; there hasn’t been another president who would have them on his radar (including Jimmy “lust in my heart” Carter).

Read the entire post at The New Gay!

Next Page »

Bottom