Austrailia Authorized Pensions for Gay & Lesbian Partners

In Australia, Edward Young finally proved that he had the right to claim Larry Cains’ pension. They had been together for thirty years. Young and Cains met while they were in London in the 1960’s. Young was a model, and Cains a photographer. Cains had also served in the Australian Army on the Borneo front during WWII. “He was desperately handsome. We spent two weeks together and I told him I wanted to spend my life with him,” said Mr Young.

Mr. Cains passed away a decade ago.

Read the rest at Lez Get Real!

New Mexico Moves Closer to Equality

When the New Mexico state legislature re-convenes on January 20, 2009, one of the first bills to be considered is House bill, HB 21, a domestic partnership bill which is sponsored by Rep. Mimi Stewart, D-Albuqurque.

The Bill would establish that two unmarried people who live together as a committed couple are entitled to receive the same “rights and responsibilities” under state law as a married couple. Both straight and gay couples could become domestic partners by filing the proper paperwork and paying the processing fee to the county clerk.

Linda Siegle, a lobbyist for Equality New Mexico stated;

“Passage of the legislation would be hugely significant for a couple who wants their relationship to have legal protections.  People will be able to inherit without having a will. They’ll be able to visit in the hospital and make decisions on their partner’s behalf, just like spouses may do now. They’ll also be eligible for state retirement benefits. And these are just a few of the benefits that married couples now have that unmarried couples do not.”

Eat, Drink and be Healthy and Gay

But what if people, especially people fighting for gay and transgender equality, followed through on taking better physical and emotional care of themselves? Would that not only help the individual but the entire gay civil rights movement?

Read the entire post at Southern Voice!

United States of Amensia & Cruelty of Religion

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I was recently in Washington D.C. at the LGBT Blogger Initiative.  On my last day in our nation’s capital, I decided to take advantage of a few hours of free time to visit some of the more popular sites such as the Capital building, the Washington Monument, and the White House.  I became very moved as I stood in front of The White House Gates peering through as I knew history was in the making.  Workers were busy constructing a platform on which President Obama would soon be standing as part of his inauguration ceremony.  A sense of pride came over me as I began to process the election was real and not just a dream.  “This country has made a great deal of progress” was the exact thought that went through my mind.

However, after leaving The White House, I ventured over towards the Lincoln Memorial.  After walking up the steps, I stood in awe, as if it was the first time I had seen it.  A gentleman next to me kindly tapped my shoulder and quietly asked if I would take his picture, it was then I realized why I had been standing silent in awe for quite sometime.  Here before me was a statute of a man who truly stood for liberty and justice for ALL!  What happened to this great man for standing up for equality…he was shot and killed.  It started to occur to me that most great men who dared to challenge injustice towards humans had suffered the same fate, MLK, JFK included.  I then walked past the Vietnam War Memorial, where I found myself overcome with tears. So many had died for no just cause, yet our nation had not learned from our past, instead we eagerly had repeated it.

My sadness grew as I continued on, but now it came from the thought of how so many hate, yet so few truly accept other’s differences in a county where our foundation was built on religious freedoms. This is suppose to be the land of the free.  What happened along the way?  Have we all forgotten that NONE of us actually stake a higher claim in America than anyone else?  Have we forgotten that we are ALL suppose to be equal? Americans are all from somewhere else.  That is what America is…a true to the sense melting pot.  This country is made up of rejects from many other countries who have built one of the greatest nations of all times.  Yet, with this in mind, there are still so many who are unwilling to accept or share this country with people who are different from themselves.  How ironic!

Over the decades, we have had to have inclusion forced upon us.  Yes this can be visited by remembering the facts that we enslaved people in this country.  We can also think about how those very people, once freed, were hated…and why?  Because they were different.  Because they didn’t come from America!  Again, none of us came from America, so again, irony.

But let’s not forget some other powerful contributors to inclusion.  There is a sect of people in this country who are fighting vehemently against the rights of equality for LGBT people…and why?  Fear.  Some of these people will tell you they don’t believe the majority should have to accommodate “special interest” groups. One thing they don’t consider is that we (the LGBT community) are NOT a special interest group, we are Americans.

There is also a great deal of irony in the above thought as well. For decades, there were no rules or laws that provided equality for another “special interest group”, America’s physically challenged. So many people fought against the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) because here again, the majority was being forced to accommodate the minority. What most people don’t stop to think about however, is how the most physically able benefit from the very things people fought against. When was the last time you crossed a street pulling a travel bag behind you? Isn’t it great that the curbs are required to have ramps designed for wheelchairs? Or when was the last time you were in a eatery or bar, and wanted to know what was being said on the TV mounted up in the corner of the noisy establishment? Thanks to those who can’t hear, we now have close captioning, which affords a benefit to the entire viewership!

I could go on for days with how we benefit by accommodations that were directly aimed at helping minorities. But hey, it’s much easier to forget. We don’t remember our past, where we came from and how things used to be. We don’t use these lessons to help make the future better for all. Americans live in a state of amnesia.

This brings me to religion in this country. We seem to have forgotten how religion is what killed women who were thought to be witches. We forget how religion was used to keep women from being equal to men. We forget how religion was used to maintain oppression and segregation against people of color. We forget how religion has been used to control by fear. How do I know we forget what religion has done…because it is still happening. Religion is being used to prevent the LGBT community from being equal American citizens. Again, we so easily forget. I’m not saying that religion is completely bad, but I am saying that, as history shows, religion has been deadly and dangerous many times over. This is why this country was founded on the belief in separation of church and state. Unfortunately, many Americans have amnesia when it comes to that as well.

Let America Be America again! Let’s not forget the atrocities of our past. Let’s not forget those who died because of religion. Let’s not forget how helping minorities has benefited the majority. Let’s not forget we all share the earth. Let’s not forget that rights should be equal for all, not just the majority. We get so caught up in believing we are right, that we forget we are not the world.

Law Suit Challenges AR’s Ban on Gay Adoption

According to a post at the Times Record, opponents of a new state law in Arkansas which bans unmarried couples living together from adopting or serving as foster parents filed a lawsuit Tuesday asking a judge to overturn the measure.  The law was aimed at gays and lesbians but was worded to include unmarried couples living together in order to appear not as bigoted as it is.

The lawsuit argues the measure violates federal and state constitutional rights to equal treatment and due process.

29 adults and children are plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Act 1, which Arkansas voters overwhelmingly approved in the November general election.

According to the post, Meredith Scroggin of Little Rock said;

“We are good parents and more than capable of deciding who we should trust to care for our children, without the state’s assistance.”

Scroggin and her husband had designated in their will the custody and adoption rights of their two children to her cousin, who is gay and has a live-in partner.

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