GLBT High School Plans Postponed Again

Proponents of a proposed “gay friendly” high school in Chicago have yet again postponed presenting their proposal for a vote, stating they wanted to take another year to finalize plans.

The proposed school has been the subject of a great deal of pressure from both ministers and gay activists.  The “Social Justice Solidarity High School” planners have already changed the name of the school and they have widened the focus to create a school that would be one of the nation’s largest, with the goal of serving any student who has been a victim of bullying and harassment.

The proposal was pulled Tuesday night, only hours before a scheduled vote that was to be held today on the school’s creation, however, according to the planners, the school’s projected opening date remains fall 2010.

“The proposal has changed since the Oct. 8 public hearing, and the design team is taking an additional year to finalize the proposal.”

Utah Sentate Introduces Common Ground Initiative

Today, the first of a series of six bills proposed by Democratic lawmakers and endorsed by gay-rights groups goes before the Utah Senate Judiciary Interim Committee. The lead-off bill, if passed, would permit someone to name an unmarried partner as a designee in wrongful death cases.

Combined, the bills make up the what’s being called the Common Ground Initiative. The initiative also includes proposals that would create a statewide domestic-partner registry, provide health benefits for gay couples and partial repeal of a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

The initiative is a bold move in a state where the Republican-dominated Legislature has fought to ban gay student clubs, prevented gay couples from adopting and barred any domestic unions that would give same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual married couples.

The movement takes its cue from remarks by the LDS Church in the wake of the passage of Proposition 8, California’s measure to ban same-sex-marriage. The church, which pushed the ballot measure but did not oppose California’s domestic-partner registry, stated it “does not object” to rights for gay couples regarding health care, probate, fair housing and employment.

“The planets are aligned,” said Rep. Christine Johnson, D-Salt Lake City, who will sponsor laws to protect LGBT people from being fired or evicted because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Anti-Gay Marriage Takes Toll on GLBT’s & Beyond

From the American Psychological Association:

Amendments that restrict civil marriage rights of same-sex couples – such as Proposition 8 that recently passed in California – have led to higher levels of stress and anxiety among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adults, as well as among their families of origin, according to several new studies to be published by the American Psychological Association.

One quantitative and two qualitative studies on the impact of anti-GLBT legislation appear in a special issue of the Journal of Counseling Psychology, published by APA. That issue of the journal, to be published in January, will be titled: “Advances in Research with Sexual Minority People.”

The quantitative study was based on an online survey of 1,552 lesbian, gay and bisexual adults from all 50 states and the District of Columbia examining “minority stress,” or the chronic social stress that minorities experience as a result of social stigmatization. Participants were grouped into those living in the seven states with an amendment on the ballot in November 2006 that did pass; those living in the 18 states with an amendment that passed before 2006; and those in the 23 states (plus D.C.) with no amendment. (Those living in Alabama, where an amendment passed in June 2006, were excluded because of the timing, as were those living in Arizona, where an amendment was defeated.)

The survey results documented increased minority stress, as well as more general psychological distress, among LGB individuals following the passage of a marriage amendment in 2006, compared to LGB people in states without an amendment on the 2006 ballot. The researchers, led by Sharon Scales Rostosky, Ph.D., at the University of Kentucky, found that those participants living in states that passed a measure in 2006 reported increased exposure to negative media messages and negative conversations.

“The results of this study demonstrate that living in a state that has just passed a marriage amendment is associated with higher levels of psychological stress for lesbian, gay and bisexual citizens,” Rostosky said. “And this stress is not due to other pre-existing conditions or factors; it is a direct result of the negative images and messages associated with the ballot campaign and the passage of the amendment.”

The qualitative studies, while much smaller in scope, give voice to some of the people directly affected by anti-gay marriage amendments. The first study, “Balancing Dangers: GLBT Experience in a Time of Anti-GLBT Legislation,” focused on 13 GLBT people living in Memphis, Tenn., who were interviewed at length about their experiences during the 2006 ballot campaign. The researchers, led by Heidi M. Levitt, Ph.D., at the University of Memphis, grouped the respondents’ reactions into eight major themes, or “clusters.” These included, for example: “Initiatives lead to constant painful reminders that I’m seen as less than human by our government and public laws,” and “The irrationality of anti-GLBT initiatives and movements is baffling, painful and scary: We are not who they say we are.”

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Obama Still Stands on Equality for All

President-Elected Barack Obama has stated he does not support gay marriage, but he believes gay couples should have the same rights as straight married couples, only under a separate institution of civil unions.

Obama supports the complete repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages.  Obama says federal law should not discriminate against gay and lesbian couples.

The Fight for Gay Rights and Immigrant Rights

Gay Rights and Immigrant Rights. There are probably many progressive people out there who see the importance of both, and would fight for both. I’m sure there are also more than a few people who might fight for just one of these causes, but not the other.

There are probably a few conservative immigrants, for example, as well as immigrant advocates, possibly affiliated with churches or religious organizations, who are fighting for a stop to workplace ICE raids, deportations, inhumane detention conditions, and are also for some sort of Comprehensive Immigration Reform, but, if asked, also feel that Homosexuality is a sin, and that gays and lesbians shouldn’t be allowed to legally marry, or be given the same rights as straight people.

Read more at The Fake Mexican!

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