Windy City Times: LGBT band to march in Obama’s inaugural parade

FROM THE WINDY CITY TIMES:

The Lesbian and Gay Band Association (LGBA) has announced that it will be included as a marching contingent in President-elect Barack Obama’s Jan. 20, 2009, inaugural parade. This is the first time that an LGBT group will be represented in a presidential inaugural parade.

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Dallas Voice: Tragedy of the closet; cop’s secret gay love affair and tragic death

FROM THE DALLAS VOICE:

As murder retrial gets under way, story of a clandestine gay love affair and a young man’s tragic death should serve as a cautionary tale

By Hardy Haberman

For some people, being “in the closet” is a personal hell. But it often affects others, too.

Take the case of Steven Rios, a married police officer from Columbia, Mo.

According to prosecutors, Officer Rios, when faced with the possibility of having his gay relationship revealed to his wife and family, decided to reach into his closet and pull out a knife — a knife he used to slash the throat of Jesse Valencia, a 23-year-old student attending college at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Officer Rios began the relationship with Valencia in 2004 when he arrested the student for interfering with a police call about a loud party. Rios told the court that their sexual relationship began that very night.

Rios was convicted of the murder three years ago, but an appeals court ordered a retrial, saying the trial court allowed inadmissible hearsay testimony the first time around.

The new trial began Monday, Dec. 1, and Rios faces a mandatory sentence of life without parole if he is convicted. Court officials said they expect the trial to end by Friday, Dec. 5.

The story is a graphic example of how the closet can kill. It should be a wake-up call for every LGBT person that is trying to hide their sexual orientation.

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Wisconsin state Supreme Court a player in gay rights issue

FROM THE DAILY CARDINAL (MADISON, WI):

Although Proposition 8 passed and Wisconsin passed a gay marriage ban in 2006, Wisconsin Supreme Court Justices could alter the law to change gay marriage rights

By Molly Rivera

In the wake of Democratic victories on Election Day, liberals find it easy to believe in the progressive America that elected Barack Obama, the first black president. We should be proud of the historical civil rights success Obama’s election represents.

Yet, on that same day, our image of hope and unity was clouded by the passing of discriminatory measures in several states. Although thousands of students marched to Wisconsin’s capitol building Nov. 4 cheering for the future of America, the occasion was muted by California and America’s sad affirmation of the second-class status of LGBT citizens.

Along with Proposition 8 in California, the passage of gay marriage bans in Florida and Arizona—as well as Arkansas’ measure to bar gay couples from adopting children—reveal the long battle ahead for members and supporters of the LGBT community. Today, more than 40 states have constitutional bans or laws against same-sex marriages, including Wisconsin, which passed a law in 2006.

However, in the next few years Wisconsin courts will determine the full authority of the statute, and the court could overturn the ban completely someday. The Wisconsin Supreme Court is critical to protecting civil rights in our state and will ultimately decide how broadly to interpret the amendment. For example, judges elected to the Supreme Court will have the power to interpret the second sentence of the amendment that bans anything “substantially similar” to marriage.

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Camp Kansas City: “I’m Tired of Being Expected to Be Patient,” says editorialist

FROM CAMP KANSAS CITY:

By Jim MacDonald

When I saw that Californians approved Proposition 8 by slightly more than 50 percent of the vote, it got me to thinking:

Surely, more than 50 percent of the people — in any state, let alone California — know a gay person. That means that there are millions of people who voted in favor of stripping constitutionally guaranteed rights from people who they know.

Even here in Missouri, a similar ban was passed in 2004 by, like, 70 percent of voters. That means that each of us probably knows quite a few people who don’t support full equality for gay couples. Even accounting for those who hold extreme religious views, that means that there are many of our own friends and family who don’t support full equality for us — for reasons that aren’t particularly clear.

What could their reasoning possibly be? I have a few theories:

Theory # 1: The religion excuse. Many people — and I’ve heard Hillary Clinton express this view—say, because their particular religious tradition doesn’t sanction same–sex marriage, that they personally have qualms with it.

Perhaps we should point out to those people that we don’t need their particular churches to give their blessing on whether or not we are deserving of the same legal rights granted by our government to straight people. We’ve found plenty of churches who will welcome us — that’s not the issue. When we say marriage, we’re not talking about the ceremony in a church. We’re talking about the hundreds and hundreds of rights that government-sanctioned marriage extends to any opposite–sex couple who asks for them — regardless of how long they’ve known each other, whether they really love each other, even whether or not they happen to be sober at the time.

Theory #2: The sex excuse. While they would never admit it to our faces, many of our straight friends and family, as supportive and loving as they are, I suspect are still a little queasy over the prospect of two men or two women in bed together. And the notion of gay marriage kind of reminds them of the fact that we are sexual beings like them. Frankly, I kind of get this — the idea of a man and a woman having sex still makes me a little queasy.

There’s one other theory I have. I call this the secret excuse — that is, the idea that straight people secretly know that marriage isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. They don’t see it as that big a deal that we don’t get to experience it. To that, I say: Let us decide for ourselves!

I have an assignment for all of you: Help to dispel the mystery surrounding why a majority of people continue to oppose full equality for gay couples. Find out where all the straight people in your life stand on the issue. Make them talk about it. Force them to go on the record. If they are opposed, or if they equivocate, help them to understand all the practical challenges faced by gay couples as long as we are denied full equality under the law. Talk to them about how complicated and expensive it is to protect your assets in the event of your partner’s death. If you’re a gay parent, describe the anxiety that comes from the fear that if you die, your child may be taken away from their other parent. Let them know what a burden it is to watch your co-workers enjoy benefits that you don’t have access to yourself. If you’re lucky enough to work in one of those places that will give you domestic-partner benefits, tell them how offensive it is that you must pay taxes on those benefits while your straight co-workers get them tax–free.

I don’t know about you, but aside from being a little pissed off, I’m a little bit tired.

I’m tired of seeing our community take two steps forward only to take one step back.

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NOTICE: This posting is meant as a courtesy to the LGBT community at large to direct individuals to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender items of interest. We do not post full articles, so if you wish to read an entire story you should follow the link to its original author/publisher. We in no way, stated or unstated, claim to be the authors of any content posted here unless we say so explicitly. All content should be considered intellectual property of the original publisher, and should not be redistributed without full back-links and proper citations.

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