Out Spoken NYC

JLawrence February 17, 2011 | 11:13 AM

Pro-Gay Marriage Support from Former Marine

There’s nothing like brotherly love let alone family support. When scouring through my Twitter feed to keep up with being relevant, I came across a story that really warms my heart. OutSpokenNYC contributor and LGBT activist, Calvin Stowell recently posted how his older brother took a stance on two gay marriage repeals in New Hampshire. A former Marine veteran, Craig Stowell took out an advertisement in their state’s Union Leader newspaper:

“Craig Stowell says his 22-year-old brother Calvin is gay, and after he heard about two hearings to repeal gay marriage in New Hampshire on Thursday, he had to speak out. The ad begins, ‘As a former Marine. I take freedom very seriously…’ Stowell says, ‘When I came back from Iraq, I married the woman of my dreams in my grandparents’ back yard…. Calvin was my best man and I just hope one day I get to be his.’”

Watch the hearing LIVE.

Source: CBS News.

OutSpokenNYC February 08, 2011 | 04:12 PM

DADT Is Still Going On….NOT OK

In the words of my Dear Friend Reichen Lehmkuhl

“The President’s signature clearly did nothing to stop the continuing deplorable treatment of our LGBT servicemembers. Accusations, investigations, trials for sodomy, public embarrassment, and humiliation are all still legal. The signed bill only gave the potential to stop it—a potential that is dimly visible to those of us looking to the semi-invested team of people charged with ending it who, by the way, have no clear guidance from the Obama Administration as to how it will be done. The discharges are one thing, but the future treatment of LGBT servicemembers is also an issue with no leadership to its solution. Our President didn’t even order a stop-loss policy, which would halt discharges, while this is being figured out.”

I personally think this is UNBELIEVABLE and it really angers me. Its time as a community and a country to put an END to this.

Please read this fantastic article by By former Marine Capt. Tom Carpenter and lets get VOCAL and End this!!

TJ Kelly

Stevie NYC February 08, 2011 | 02:35 PM

127 Arrested in Bust on Gay Party in Bahrain

“A party of young gay men from Arabian Gulf countries held February 2 in the conservative village of Hidd on the island of Muharraq in northern Bahrain led to the arrest of 127, according to gulfnews.com. The arrestees were charged for their involvement in a “depraved and decadent” party.

Most of the men were between 18 and 30 and that those arrested included one Lebanese and one Syrian man.

The report said police sent a patrol to the party after neighbors complained of noise at about 2:30 a.m. An undercover cop, who paid a cover charge, reported seeing “dozens of cross-dressers drinking and smoking shishas.”

Homosexuality is outlawed in Bahrain, as it is in the other five Arab Gulf economic union countries. Foreigners arrested on homosexuality charges can be sentenced to prison, after which they are deported.” -via GayCityNews

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We need to start banning together and help those less fortunate than ourselves. We fight for our right to marry here in the US, which don’t get me wrong is an important civil right that we should already have by now, but we forget that in other places in the world it is still ILLEGAL to be gay at all.

Where would I be in life, if I couldn’t make out with a guy, see my favorite drag show, or openly speak my mind? We often take for granted everything that we have. I know that slowly overtime this will change, but it isn’t happening soon enough. People are getting arrested for being themselves and having a good time.

Reading articles like this makes me sick to my stomach. It’s time for a change. A change across the entire globe. It will take all of us, Gay, Lesbian, Transgendered, Bisexual, and our straight allies to make it happen. There are power in numbers. And we have numbers. Mass amounts of numbers. It’s just a matter of us all speaking up with the same voice.

-Stevie

JLawrence February 02, 2011 | 10:00 AM

SNL’s “Estro-maxx” Spoof Blasted for Transphobia

For those of you who watched last week’s Saturday Night Live you may have had the visual treat of seeing Nicki Minaj in top gear but also a bit of misfortune. SNL has recently been blasted for it’s phony bologna “Estro-Maxx” commercial by GLAAD, stating this was a “blatantly anti-transgender segment…the punch line of which was the lives of countless transgender people across the country.”

GLAAD’s statement:

The piece was a mock commercial for estrogen replacement therapy and featured men with facial hair wearing dresses, meant to represent transgender women.This segment cannot be defended as “just a joke” because there was no “joke” to speak of. The attempted comedy of the skit hinges solely on degrading the lives and experiences of transgender women. Holding people up for ridicule simply on the basis of their identity fuels a hurtful climate and puts people in danger, especially given how infrequently the media shines a fair and accurate light on the lives of transgender people. “The violence, discrimination and harassment that transgender Americans experience each and every day is no laughing matter,” said GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios. “Saturday Night Liveis a touchstone of American comedy, but Saturday’s unfunny skit sends a destructive and dehumanizing message.”

NBC has declined to comment on the matter, through Entertainment Weekly. “The argument that it’s simply satirizing the tropes of drug commercials doesn’t hold water,” Margaret Lyons of Entertainment Weekly writes. She’s absolutely right, it’s transphobic and another lame, lazy attempt at comedy for which SNL has been faltering in both reviews and ratings for the past few years. Time to step up the game and get back on the band-wagon with the sharper humor - leave the homophobic comments for Ron Howard’s lame excuses and Vince Vaughn’s tar-ridden lips.

JLawrence February 01, 2011 | 09:32 PM

SNL’s “Estro-maxx” Spoof Blasted for Transphobia

GLAAD’s statement:

JLawrence February 01, 2011 | 09:12 PM

You know how when you’re a kid you absolutely refuse to repeat your parents’ mistakes? Well, here we have it folks: Barbara Bush, not the former first lady but the 29 year old daughter, is endorsing marriage equality.

Where there is definitely gossip-fodder, it’s not far from shocking news. Our generation is far more open to catering to equality than, let’s say, her father’s. If anything it would be a bit more shocking to me if she was just another White House offspring following papa bear’s league of not so extraordinary gentlemen. If both Meghan McCain & Mary Cheney, the open lesbian daughter of Dick Cheney, are in favor, why can’t Barbara Jr. be too?

Barbara Bush joins the ranks of Julianne Moore, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, Robert Kennedy, Jr., and Mayor Bloomberg in New Yorkers for Marriage Equality. “I am Barbara Bush, and I am a New Yorker for marriage equality,” she states in her video. “New York is about fairness and equality. And everyone should have the right to marry the person that they love.” Fingers crossed that we can muster up enough votes this time in our Republican controlled Senate; I know I have my pinkys, toes, arms and legs crossed. State Senator Thomas Duane is attempting to get a vote pushed by this June and has faith Gov. Cuomo will live up to his promise.

Source: The New York Times

Bleep Bloop January 31, 2011 | 02:21 PM

GOP Tries to Redefine Rape

While there are federal laws restricting the use of government funds to pay for abortions, there are exemptions for pregnancies that have resulted from incest or rape. However, the “No Taxpayer Funding For Abortion Act” (called a “top priority” from House speaker John Boehner) is trying to redefine the exemption to “forcible rape”. This means rape cases in the instance of statutory rape would be ruled out (a 13 year old consenting to sex with a 24 year old would not be exempt), or women who were roofied/drunk or unable to consent. In the case of incest, the bill would only allow the exemption if the woman is under 18.

Basically, women who were “rape-raped” (a term coined by Whoopi Goldberg, citing “traditional rape” scenarios) would be getting the exemption. It doesn’t matter how traumatic the rape was to a person, it only matters to the GOP. It is their way of saying no to abortions, because they can’t eliminate abortions completely by saying they are illegal. It is a bill insisted by men, most of whom probably never have been raped, to spite free-thinking Americans who believe they have a say to their own bodies.

It’s disgusting.

JLawrence January 26, 2011 | 11:34 PM

Calvin brought this to my attention via his Twitter. He’s absolutely right, the best part of this internet age is that NOTHING is hidden.

Ignorance can never be hidden on the web.

JLawrence January 24, 2011 | 05:04 PM

Greeted with a smile by her teacher, Kayla K. was asked to sing at Maria Carrillo High School’s 6th Annual Martin Luther King assembly in Santa Rose, California. The overachiever did even better - she opened herself up, mustered the courage to use that day to come out of the closet and set herself free. ”I wasn’t going to sing,” she responded, “I wanted to speak.” Filmed by a friend for her YouTube.com channel, this brave little toaster opened up her personal self-discovery to an entire student body to raise awareness on civil rights. In her speech, she touched base on how she was “terrified to say my message. I’m afraid of losing friends and loved ones. I’m afraid I’ll lose my reputation at this school and the way people look at me. This speech will change my life forever but I hope that my words could change more.” We think she has definitely made an impact and we’re sure you would agree too.

Check out the video, let us know your thoughts and spread the word. This chick deserves to be praised for having some metaphorical balls and sharing her journey.

JLawrence January 18, 2011 | 05:13 PM

Huff & Puff, You Won’t Knock the Supreme Court Down

“The Supreme Court has rejected(!) an appeal from opponents of same-sex marriage who want to overturn the District of Columbia’s gay marriage law,” according to the Huffington Post.

My favorite comedienne, Bishop Harry Jackson (whom I have posted about before) was the leader in a lawsuit against the oard of Elections and Ethics after it refused to put that initiative on the ballot. The board ruled that the ballot question would in turn authorize discrimination.

The District has been authorizing marriage licenses for same-sex couples for the past year and comedy master Jackson filed a lawsuit only to get turned down. Boo-hoo, baby. It’s a relief to know that we are in a time where people who are blatantly challenging the civil rights of the LGBT are being put in their place. Nothing is holding us back from moving history forward. God doesn’t discriminate and he sure doesn’t have room upstairs for the fella’s who aren’t willing to check themselves and their actions.

I’d say better luck next time, but let’s be serious here…

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