Thirty years ago yesterday (November 27, 1978) San Francisco Board of Supervisor
Harvey Milk and Mayor
George Moscone were assassinated by
Dan White, another city supervisor. Milk was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the U.S. Prior to his death he championed a movement against a California proposition (Proposition 6, dubbed the
Briggs Initiative) which sought to ban gays and lesbians, and anyone who supported gay rights, from working in California's public schools. In the midst of a national right-wing, conservative, religious movement heralded by folks like
Anita Bryant the proposition was soundly defeated. Fast forward to today. A new film "
Milk" [
trailer] (starring Sean Penn in the title role) is
garnering critical acclaim and is relevant to current events. "
Harvey came up against a lot of obstacles, which I think is the case for any gay man now," says Brolin, who plays Dan White [in the film]. "The irony is that Prop 8 is now what Prop 6 was then."
posted by ericb
on Nov 28, 2008 -
60 comments
Redefining Rights in America: The Civil Rights Record of the George W. Bush Administration, 2001–2004 --
This very thorough report (PDF)
finds that President Bush has neither exhibited leadership on pressing civil rights issues, nor taken actions that matched his words. The US Commission on Civil Rights presents something for everyone, from Gay and Lesbian Rights on page 129 to Voting Rights and the 2000 Election on page 40, to Faith-Based Funding on page 157...
from page 9: In fact, the faith-based initiative’s only civil rights significance may be that it actually allows employment discrimination. ... this initiative reflects the President’s desire to recast civil rights in a manner that suits his narrow agenda and, as such, has been highly controversial.
posted by amberglow
on Oct 10, 2004 -
20 comments
Sticking to the gay stuff: The ACLU is threatening legal action against a middle school in Arkansas whose administrators have gone to extraordinary lengths to punish a student for being gay, including outing him to his parents, forcing him to read passages of the Bible, calling him "abnormal" and "unnatural," and disciplining him for mentioning between classes to a female friend that he thought another boy was cute.
(via CalPundit) [more inside]
posted by grrarrgh00
on Mar 16, 2003 -
29 comments
The same-sex domestic partnerships bill in Vermont has
been approved by the state's lawmakers. "
The continued denial of these legal protections, benefits and responsibilities to a small but vulnerable class of Vermont's citizens diminishes their humanity, dignity, freedom and independence." It's about damn time, hopefully other states will soon follow suit. Oh, and if you have a problem with this,
listen to this and let me know why you continue to have problems with it.
posted by mathowie
on Apr 25, 2000 -
12 comments
