The website Open Artist Movement has launched a new campaign titled We Can Do It! The photo campaign aims to build solidarity and personal strength through positive messaging. The goal is to bring to life modern iconic individuals, by depicting them as powerful and not victims in support of the global LGBT movement worldwide.
A little more justice today as the employees of the Atlanta Eagle bar, who were arrested in September for supposedly "lewd dancing without a permit" (what century are we even living in??) have been declared NOT GUILTY.
Reading about Constance McMillen, the young girl in Mississippi who asked to take her lesbian girlfriend to the prom, resulting in the school cancelling the event completely, I was left feeling defeated. Many recent events concerning LGBT civil rights have resulted in organization simply "pulling the plug". It was evident recently when the Catholic Church changed their policies in reaction to same sex marriage becoming legal in Washington DC. They abandoned their foster care program and removed health coverage for employee spouses. Now we have a bill in Oklahoma which hopes to ignore the recently instituted Federal Hate Crimes Legislation. And the Virginia Attorney General told colleges they can't provide protection for LGBT students.
What's it coming to when we now live in a country that for the most part won't vote in our equal rights as citizens, but which is now working to remove protections already on the books and simply abandoning programs if we become involved? Aggression against LGBT Americans is on the rise, and becoming more prevalent each day.
So it was comforting to hear that the ACLU has now filed a lawsuit against the Mississippi school that cancelled the prom in fear of seeing a lesbian couple out in the open, wearing, GASP!, tuxedos. I hope they kick their butts and bring shame where it belong, to the school board of this small, Mississippi community.
David Boies and Ted Olson, attorneys in the CA Prop 8 case, sat down with Adam Liptak, Supreme Court reporter for the New York Times, at the newspaper's Manhattan headquarters last night to discuss the landmark case.
The two were filled with optimism as well as reality, discussing their return either later this month or in early April to give their closing statements. They feel the case went extremely well and have confidence in Judge Walker, who may issue his ruling as early as June. Let me just say that it will be quite a celebration if Walker issues a ruling in our favor in June, national Gay Pride month...
A prom is an event that most high school students look forward to, both for its excitement as well as its sense of passage. All that ended in a Mississippi school recently when a lesbian student asked to bring a girl to the dance, and to, god forbid, wear a tuxedo.
Constance McMillan's request to take her girlfriend to the prom resulted the entire event being cancelled by the school district. They chose that option rather than risk problems when the ACLU got involved. It's a small, conservative town of about 4,000 in Itawamba county in Mississippi, so conservative in fact that nearby, ten years ago, school officials were sued over student led, daily intercom prayer.
Constance has returned to school after the decision and faced some verbal retaliation from other students who are disappointed in the prom's cancellation. Her parents support Constance, even pushing her to get right back to school and stand up for who she is. Chances of a privately sponsored prom don't seem likely.
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