Yesterday, US President Obama signed a $680bn military policy bill, which cuts military spending, including $2bn in funding for new F-22 fighter jets. However, the bill also contained the first major piece of federal gay rights legislation, and fulfilled an Obama campaign promise: acts of violence against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people have now been added to the list of federal hate crimes.
posted by zarq on Oct 29, 2009 - 219 comments

"This is for the guy who needed a card to come out to his parents." (Youtube) David Ellis Dickerson draws on his previous job as a Hallmark greeting card writer to create funny, poignant cards for people with unconventional greeting card emergencies (but he won't do cards aimed at making people feel bad). [more inside]
posted by cybercoitus interruptus on Oct 12, 2009 - 46 comments

Robert Yang on the homophobic response to his Half-Life 2 mod Handle With Care.
posted by Artw on Oct 6, 2009 - 145 comments

Mazen had had his pectoral muscles cut off. There were two drill holes in Namir’s left leg, below the knee. Both had been shot in the head, apparently from close range. “Two young men were killed on Thursday,” an unnamed Sadr City official told the Reuters news agency in a story published that same day. “They were sexual deviants. Their tribes killed them to restore their family honor.” How a few New Yorkers are trying to save the hunted gay men of Iraq.
posted by hermitosis on Oct 5, 2009 - 62 comments

1969: The Year of Gay Liberation is an online exhibit of the New York Public Library focusing on the radical gay rights movements of the late sixties and early seventies, focusing on the organizations The Mattachine Society of New York, Daughters of Bilitis, Gay News, Gay Liberation Front, Radicalesbians, Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries and the Gay Activists Alliance, and the events of the Stonewall Riot and Christopher Street Liberation Day. This is but one part of the NYPL's fine LGBT collection, which includes, among other things, resources for teens, AIDS/HIV collections, and digital collections on ACT UP, Barbara Gittings and Kay Tobin Lahusen, Bessie Bonehill, Gertrude Stein, Gran Fury, Julian Eltinge, Richard Wandel and Walt Whitman.
posted by Kattullus on Oct 1, 2009 - 14 comments

Beefcake boys... fully clothed. Bob Mizer of Athletic Model Guild fame – you may have seen the film Beefcake that dramatized his life – didn’t just shoot nudes. Sometimes his lads kept their clothes on. In the great tradition of hyperspecialized Internet “porn,” Butt magazine (previously) collects some examples of what you could call Mizer’s “chaste” portfolio. (Saucy language, but photos quite safe for work.) [more inside]
posted by joeclark on Sep 30, 2009 - 18 comments

Senator Jake Knotts claims that embattled South Carolina governor Mark Sanford is the one spreading rumors that Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer is a closeted homosexual. Now blogactive journalist Mike Rogers (of Outrage fame) adds credibility to the rumors.
posted by hermitosis on Sep 4, 2009 - 81 comments

First, there was the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck. Now, everyone's favorite super-premium conglomerate-owned sticking-to-its-righteous-roots ice cream company has transformed "Chubby Hubby" into Hubby Hubby (only in VT, only for September), in support of same sex marriage, which is legal in Vermont as of this month. No word yet whether Iowa-based Winnebago will follow suit with a specially-named RV.
posted by ericbop on Sep 3, 2009 - 46 comments

I was shot in the head two years ago. I was in prison for six years. I live in a Taliban hub. I need to be an amputee. I'm four. I'm six. I'm eight. I have a micropenis. I've had sex both with and without a foreskin. My sister and I are in love. I'm in love with my mother. I married and had a daughter with my first cousin. I love my dog. I have killed someone while driving drunk. I have superpowers from chemotherapy. I was in a cult for seven years. I own a woman. I used to be asexual (I am still asexual). I was in porn (and I'm still in porn). I took a boy's virginity. I am killing myself in a few months. [more inside]
posted by WCityMike on Aug 30, 2009 - 125 comments

Maine Ways (SLYT)
posted by lalex on Aug 27, 2009 - 40 comments

Do you know what the Lutherans are doing this week? The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is talking about sex at their bi-annual assembly and they decided that blessings on gay marriage and the rosterering of leaders in same-gender relationships are A OK. [more inside]
posted by Stynxno on Aug 21, 2009 - 111 comments

Are the ties that bind gay men to straight women beginning to fray?
posted by Blazecock Pileon on Aug 18, 2009 - 99 comments

Ice cream makes most people 'happy!' Some would say 'gay!' This summer many in New York are enjoying [audio | 02:59] the 'Big Gay Ice Cream Truck.' [more inside]
posted by ericb on Aug 10, 2009 - 63 comments

Saturday, Aug 1, a gunman walked into a gay youth club in Tel Aviv at app. 22:40 pm and started firing a gun indiscriminately at the teenagers who were there. Twelve were injured, four of them in critical condition, and two were instantly killed. [more inside]
posted by alona on Aug 3, 2009 - 49 comments

The Mormon church's plaza walkway runs through the heart of downtown Salt Lake. It was originally a public sidewalk, and is still used as such by the city's downtown residents. It is common to see couples holding hands and walking arm in arm as they stroll. This hasn't been a problem, until recently. The church claims the couple was necking and groping. Video obtained by the Salt Lake Tribune doesn't show this., but it does show Mormon security in action. Charges were dropped, and the city's gay community is weighing in with a series of "kiss-ins."
posted by Crotalus on Jul 31, 2009 - 46 comments

The latest tool to challenge homophobia: same-sex hand-holding. This past weekend, a same-sex hand-holding relay was held in London, to coincide with Olympic-related events. It's not just for gay and lesbian couples; sympathetic heterosexuals are encouraged to join in and take a stand, or rather a stroll, for tolerance.
posted by acb on Jul 31, 2009 - 71 comments

On August 12, President Obama will award the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- the nation's highest civilian honor -- to the late gay-rights pioneer Harvey Milk. Lesbian tennis star Billy Jean King and Teddy Kennedy will also be honored that day. Previous recipients include Martin Luther King, Aung San Suu Kyi, Colin Powell (twice), Muhammad Ali, Mother Theresa, Elie Wiesel, Vint Cerf, George Tenet (Bush fail), Irving Kristol (WTF?) Dick Cheney, Walter Cronkite, Julia Child, and Lucille Ball. Now about that DOMA thing...
posted by digaman on Jul 30, 2009 - 89 comments

'Silent partner' examines what happens when people 'don't tell' "We can really see the destructive effects of 'don't ask, don't tell' . . . when you see the pain that these spouses and partners go through". Lt. Dan Choi introduces a new documentary film about three gay partners of military personnel. [more inside]
posted by VikingSword on Jul 19, 2009 - 19 comments

Sassy lesbian couple in Florida celebrates 70 years together after having to keep their relationship secret for decades. You go, girls!
posted by digaman on Jul 18, 2009 - 76 comments

“But it was clear to me that any time you deny one group of people the same right that other groups have that is a clear violation of civil rights and I have to speak up on that.” The Southern Christian Leadership Conference — the 50-year-old civil rights organization founded by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and others — is seeking to remove the president of its Los Angeles chapter in response to his support of same-sex marriage in California. [more inside]
posted by VikingSword on Jul 10, 2009 - 193 comments

They've been rumoured to be an item for some time, but in X-Factor #45 Rictor and Shatterstar, formerly of X-Force (the most 90s comic of all time), finally kissed - giving the comics world two more confirmed gay superheroes and making the X-Men Universe Relationship Map out of date (Shatterstar creator Rob Liefeld has however vowed to undo it). Meanwhile over at DC flagship title Detective Comics is now fronted by the new lesbian Batwoman - ironically a character who was introduced to make Batman seem more hetro.
posted by Artw on Jul 4, 2009 - 107 comments

A family tries to cope after their son is killed for being gay Remarkable family. Interesting, layered documentary but bad translation.
posted by hooptycritter on Jul 4, 2009 - 53 comments

In the heart of Greenwich Village, New York City at 1:20 a.m. on Saturday, June 28, 1969 eight New York City police raided a gay bar, the Stonewall Inn (later deemed a National Historic Landmark). "As the police raided the bar, a crowd of four hundred patrons gathered on the street outside and watched the officers arrest the bartender, the doorman, and a few drag queens [see: police arrest reports]. The crowd, which eventually grew to an estimated 2,000 strong, was fed up."* Thus began three days of rioting and the advent of the modern gay rights movement. In honor of the Stonewall Riots, many gay pride celebrations around the world are held during the month of June, including this week(end)'s NYC Pride, celebrating 40 years of Stonewall's impact on seeking to bring civil rights to all, including the LGBT community. Happy Pride! [more inside]
posted by ericb on Jun 27, 2009 - 65 comments

A Prison Nightmare. On June 23, 2009, the National Prison Rape Commission released its final Report and proposed Standards to prevent, detect, respond to and monitor sexual abuse of incarcerated or detained individuals throughout the United States. More prisoners reported abuse by staff than abuse by other prisoners.
posted by Non Prosequitur on Jun 25, 2009 - 132 comments

What happens when Elton John reads your book? As Joel Derfner, author of Swish: My Quest to Become the Gayest Person Ever recounts, you go from crying at lunch with your agent over a slow-selling hardcover edition to a brand-spanking-new paperback edition, complete with a blurb from Elton John. [more inside]
posted by joeclark on Jun 22, 2009 - 20 comments

Tomorrow, Obama will extend federal employee benefits to same-sex partners. But is it too little, too late to mend the growing rift between Obama and gay rights advocates, especially after last week's controversial DOMA brief (discussed previously)?
posted by gerryblog on Jun 16, 2009 - 173 comments

Dear Mr. President: ... I realized that although I and other LGBT leaders have introduced ourselves to you as policy makers, we clearly have not been heard, and seen, as what we also are: human beings whose lives, loves, and families are equal to yours. I know this because this brief would not have seen the light of day if someone in your administration who truly recognized our humanity and equality had weighed in with you. [more inside]
posted by Joe Beese on Jun 15, 2009 - 157 comments

After rejecting then passing a bill on same-sex marriage, New Hampshire's governor today signed the bill into law. [more inside]
posted by kaibutsu on Jun 3, 2009 - 100 comments

In September of 2004, a Superior Court in Washington state ruled the state's 1998 "Defense of Marriage" act unconstitutional, a ruling which would have allowed the state to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. In 2006, the state Supreme Court issued in an opinion in Andersen v. King County overturning the lower court's ruling, noting "that our decision [pdf] is not based on an independent determination of what we believe the law should be." The legislature, in response, created the state-registered domestic partnership in 2007, expanding many (but not all) marriage-related rights to same-sex couples. Last month, a new law expanded the partnership to cover the remaining rights, creating an "all-but-marriage" partnership.

This year, the Washington Values Alliance has filed Referendum 71, which would put this expansion to a ballot vote. The referendum will need 120,000 signatures to make it to the ballot. WhoSigned.org intends to make these signatures searchable. Predictably, this is creating some controversy. [more inside]
posted by 0xFCAF on Jun 2, 2009 - 114 comments

Heroes and Gay Nazis is a german documentary by Rosa von Praunheim that looks at gay men with hard-core right wing views. Part One. [more inside]
posted by PeterMcDermott on May 31, 2009 - 42 comments

What with all the changes lately, sometimes I'm not sure where my right to marry whomever I want to has been ensured. Can I Marry Gay? is a handy reference with state by state information, and keeps me up to date. Worried about recent state Supreme Court decisions forcing you to join teh gay? Must I Marry Gay? is for you. [via mefi projects]
posted by ocherdraco on May 20, 2009 - 48 comments

Teh gay can be cured. So declared the most influential sexologists of the late 20th century, William Masters and Virginia Johnson, in 1979, providing much-publicized scientific backing for the "conversion" theory, and dozens of right-wing efforts to prove that homosexuality is a psychological aberration that can be fixed. Or were those case studies fabricated? In his new biography of the couple who helped spark the sexual revolution, Thomas Maier uncovers the truth and the cover-up.
posted by digaman on May 6, 2009 - 108 comments

Maine House votes in favor of marriage equality, 89-57. In the process, Rep. Sheryl Briggs reveals that she cannot vote for the bill, despite the fact that her daughter is a lesbian. No word yet as to whether Governor John Baldacci will sign the legislation, but a campaign for a People's Veto is already underway.
posted by hermitosis on May 5, 2009 - 175 comments

Long before becoming a national treasure and celebrity Twitter addict the 16 year old Stephen Fry sent a letter to his future self, to which he has now responded, in a letter first published in the 25th birthday edition of Gay Times.
posted by Artw on Apr 30, 2009 - 36 comments

Some weeks back, the venerable Singaporean women's organization AWARE got caught with their bloomers down - over a hundred new members signed up just weeks prior to the 2009 officer's elections, and these new members promptly voted themselves into office. The whole thing was apparently orchestrated by members of Church of Our Savior, which is home to Singapore's largest ex-gay ministry, and whose members have been particularly outspoken against gay issues in the past. The leader of the insurgents, now president, Thio Su Mien, had complained in the past that AWARE was "promoting a homosexual agenda" in schools, which the Singaporean Ministry of Education denies. Thio's emails orchestrating the takeover have recently come to light.
posted by micketymoc on Apr 28, 2009 - 22 comments

Homophobia is still a bully's deadliest weapon.
posted by hermitosis on Apr 25, 2009 - 205 comments

Within the last few hours, a trend on Twitter has emerged in response to Amazon's removing the sales ranking of books they consider to have "adult content," which also keeps those books from appearing in search results. However, while seeming to unilaterally de-list any books with gay themes and characters, many books with adult heterosexual content were left untouched. [more inside]
posted by TochterAusElysium on Apr 12, 2009 - 311 comments

Oh noes, those gay newlyweds are causing Biblical rainstorms!! An ominous new TV ad by the National Organization for Marriage -- who helped pass Prop. 8 in California -- features a "rainbow coalition" of folks to warn America that marriage equality advocates want to "take away" your "freedom" by pushing the issue "far beyond same-sex couples." Unfortunately for NOM, the profound seriousness of this threat has been undermined by a leak of audition reels for the ad.
posted by digaman on Apr 8, 2009 - 204 comments

Today, the Vermont Legislature voted to override Gov. Jim Douglas' veto of a bill allowing same sex marriage, making Vermont the 4th state in the nation (and the second state this week) to legalize same sex marriage. Vermont is the first state to do it legislatively; it happened in the other three states via court ruling.
posted by booksherpa on Apr 7, 2009 - 252 comments

Trailer for Brüno, the upcoming film by Sacha Baron Cohen, formerly known for his characters Ali G and Borat.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Apr 2, 2009 - 140 comments

Part short story forum, part attempt to reach out to isolated teens struggling with their sexuality. I'm from Driftwood; true stories by gay people all over.
posted by piratebowling on Apr 1, 2009 - 19 comments

A new California proposition attempts to neutralize Prop 8 by substituting "domestic partnership" for "marriage" in state laws, thus leaving marriage to the Mormons and other interested parties. Getting the government out of marriage entirely has been proposed countless times before. (Previously: 1, 2, 3, 4)
posted by benzenedream on Mar 14, 2009 - 142 comments

Tilt-shift video fun! Timelapse video of the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras by Keith Loutit. [previously]
posted by UbuRoivas on Mar 11, 2009 - 30 comments

The Gay Alphabet. "This is an art project that explores what a recruitment campaign might look like..." [more inside]
posted by terranova on Feb 5, 2009 - 52 comments

Some gals like gay (male) porn [mildly NSFW]. But there's not much agreement on how or why. [more inside]
posted by LMGM on Feb 3, 2009 - 83 comments

Robert Pinter, a 52-year-old gay man who was arrested for prostitution at the Blue Door in the East Village on Oct. 10, spoke at the town hall meeting. He said a young man ... cruised him in the store. He was "charming and persistent, and we agreed to go home for consensual sex, but as we were leaving he said, 'I want to pay you $50 [to have sex].' I didn't respond, but I thought it was strange," Pinter recounted. As the men left the store, Pinter said, a group of men who did not show police identification pushed him against the wall. "I thought I'd been set up by a gang," he said. "I asked them why they were doing this to me. I was totally clueless. They handcuffed me and said, 'Why the f--- do you think we're arresting you — loitering for the purpose of prostitution.'"

Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir became today Iceland's, and the world's, first openly lesbian prime minister.
posted by Morrigan on Feb 1, 2009 - 49 comments

Two guys in a hotel room. Then in another hotel room. Photographer Richard Renaldi (blog) documents the global travels he and his partner Seth have made over the years. His organizing device? Hotel rooms (and motel rooms and wicker shanties). (Some nudity and sexuality; some photos NSFW.) [more inside]
posted by joeclark on Jan 28, 2009 - 63 comments

Happy Birthday Tintin, whatever your sexuality! (maybe you're just confused)
posted by Artw on Jan 11, 2009 - 79 comments

Seattle area gay bars received a very strange and threatening letter yesterday. Dan Savage believes it might have been sent by a gay person. Here is Savage's first post about the letter.
posted by josher71 on Jan 7, 2009 - 124 comments