Juliet Jeske shares an interesting post on HuffPo Gay Voices that is a good and meaningful read. Dig into the comments too, because there is some great stuff there as well. Unfortunately, Jeske has her own agenda which she dismisses while asking if we should care if John Travolta is gay. Her agenda is as follows: I have a particular disdain for the “closet” and for anyone perpetuating secrets and lies about their sexual orientation.[Read More…]
A date has now been set for the PA court challenge to th PA VoterID Bill. Opponents of the law claim it is designs to suppress voters who are most generally democrat voters while proponents believe the law will protect against illegal alien voters. The bill was crafted by ALEC, and is part of a multi-state voter suppression effort. The linked story is one of the best ive read, and articulates well some of the[Read More…]
Details about a fundraiser and recognition for Bill Peduto, a Pittsburgh councilperso every LGBTQ Pittsburgher ought to care about. And the top three things I love about Bill Peduto.
Allowing inter-racial marriage didn’t do anything negative to anyone else’s marriage, nor will accepting same-sex marriage. Straight people will continue to get married, and families will be multi-faceted as they are today.
This hurts everyone however given how crucial his messages are for anyone who looks for progress on Civil Justice issues. Additionally, this action also imesearuably harms the Black community further by making more invisible another great leader and Civil Rights advocate, Bayard Rustin. These are two offenses done by Alveda King and I will write about each to be as clear as I can be. I believe anyone who cares about Social Justice should be speaking out with outrage against Alveda King comments and here is why.
One point I want to make really clear- the importance of this coming from the EEOC and being accepted by the DOJ. So often activists and advocates get caught up in how politicians will make change and legislation makes change, and both of those things may be true. But that said, sometimes real and meaningful change occurs because hard working people use existing laws and existing standards and policies and make things as they ought to be.It isn’t the glam world of activism or marches or rallies or protests. It is mundane gritty, day to day slogging, using existing systems, policies, etc.
Closet-ness, and the desire to make our sexual experimentations and lives private is not a new event. Tyler Clemente is far from the first person who has had his privacy violated, and many lives have been ruined over time. This doesn’t diminish the horror of his situation, but it also places it into a longer context that the simple generic notion of gay bullying. The problem doesn’t go away simply by the way we treat one character, Ravi. The real solution is far bigger than that.
As I have tried to see LGBTQ from a larger perspective than what my life in the relatively big city of Pittsburgh is all about, I have come to have an even more profound appreciation for PFLAG groups. Their work is immeasurable and essential to supporting LGBTQ persons everywhere. Butler is not what one might call a bastion of liberal thinking, and s for this group, like a number across Western PA to keep doing such important work is all important.
A “summit” may sound a bit intimidating, but it isn’t meant to be. Rather, this isn’t just getting together for coffee and chitchat. Our goal is to start a process where individuals who often work in isolation, now feel they have a network or more support, ad as a group, we own the role we can play in communication and activism.