Group Presses Goverment to Address Gay Rights

A former US Ambassador, who is openly gay, has been appointed as an adviser to a new coalition of gay and straight human rights groups.

The Council for Global Equality is requesting government support in defending the rights of LGBT people worldwide.

As it is stated on the council’s website;

“The Project demands that those who represent our country - in Congress, in the White House, in US embassies and in US corporations around the world - use the diplomatic, political and economic leverage available to them to oppose human rights abuses that are regularly directed against individuals because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.”

Ambassador Michael E Guest who is a retired ambassador to Romania, will take the lead after spending  over 26 years as a an activist, protesting against regulations that he considered as unfair to same-sex partners.

The openly gay 51-year-old, served as US Ambassador to Romania when President Bush took office, and was the first openly gay person to be confirmed by the Senate to an ambassadorial post.

He is now working as a paid consultant to the group, which is set to hold its first meeting in Washington DC on September 23rd.

Gallagher: Gay Rights = Pedophiles can Adopt

On his radio show today, right-wing talker Mike Gallagher responded to the California Supreme Court’s decision yesterday to bar “doctors from invoking their religious beliefs as a reason to deny treatment to gays and lesbians.” Gallagher agreed with a caller who wondered if the ruling meant “pedophiles could adopt”:

DAVID: The question I had told your screener, I said, if I’m understanding, California said because of sexual orientation, they can’t deny you service, so, does that mean pedophiles could adopt?

GALLAGHER: Well that’s just, that’s a great question. I mean, if you work in an adoption agency and a guy comes in saying, “I like little girls and I want to adopt a nine-year old girl and I’m going to probably sleep with her while I’m at it,” could the adoption agency person say, “well, excuse me, my religious beliefs find that, lead me to find that repugnant, I’m not going to do it.” Can he then turn around and sue the adoption agency and win like the lesbian did?

Another reason to go out an VOTE!

Listen to it here.

Minnesota’s GLBT Groups Not Pushing for Marriage

Minnesota gay and lesbian couples seeking to overturn Minnesota’s unequal marriage laws won’t get any help from the state’s largest LGBT groups. Three of Minnesota’s most influential LGBT equality groups released a statement Wednesday opposing any legal action to secure marriage rights for same-sex couples. OutFront Minnesota, Rainbow Families and Project 515 said in a joint statement that current organizing for a legal challenge to Minnesota’s marriage laws “is not the best approach at this time and in fact poses a significant risk to achieving marriage equality.”

Read more at the minnesotaindependent.com.

A Letter from Obama to LGBT Families

Recently, in light of McCain’s mixed comments on LGBT adoption, the Executive Director of the Family Equality Council, wrote a letter to Senator Obama asking for an answer to this question; How will you lead all families to a brighter future?

In part, here is Obama’s response.

 

We know that the cost of the American dream must never come at the expense of the American family. For decades we’ve had politicians in Washington who talk about family values, but we haven’t had policies that value families.  Instead, it’s harder for working parents to make a living while raising their kids.  It’s even harder to get a break.

That’s why I’ll double spending on quality after-school programs - so that you can know your kids are safe and secure. And that’s why I’ll expand the Family Medical Leave Act to include more businesses and millions more workers; to let parents participate in school activities with their kids; and to cover elderly care. And we’ll finally put federal support behind state efforts to provide paid family and medical leave.  We’ll require employers to provide seven paid sick days each year. We’ll enforce laws that prohibit caregiver discrimination. And we’ll encourage flexible work schedules to better balance work and parenting for mothers and fathers. That’s the change that working families need.

We have to do more to support and strengthen LGBT families.  Because equality in relationship, family, and adoption rights is not some abstract principle; it’s about whether millions of LGBT Americans can finally live lives marked by dignity and freedom. That’s why we have to repeal laws like the Defense of Marriage Act.  That’s why we have to eliminate discrimination against LGBT families. And that’s why we have to extend equal treatment in our family and adoption laws.

I’ll be a president that stands up for American families – all of them.

 

Do you still want to vote for McCain?