PRIDE CHARLOTTE

Don’t forget to be part of the crowd at Pride Charlotte.  Most of you know what to expect at a Pride event. No doubt Charlotte will offer all of the expected things with a touch of Charlotte starch.

No matter what your interest, orientation or experience leads you to believe, this will be a great time to hang out with others and celebrate life—-our life as LBGT folks living in North Carolina.

See you there.

Heinz Pulls an Ad in Which Two Men Kiss–Because of Anti-Gay Pressure

Heinz pulls mayo ad after complaints
The Associated Press
LONDON –Heinz Co. said viewer complaints prompted it to pull a British television advertisement for mayonnaise that showed two men kissing.
The ad for Heinz Deli Mayo depicted a kitchen scene involving two children, a father and a male deli cook with a New York accent, whom the children addressed as “Mum.” At the end of the ad, the cook kisses the father as he leaves for work.

The Advertising Standards Authority said it received 202 complaints, some that said the advertisement was offensive, inappropriate and unsuitable for children.

Heinz said the ad was withdrawn because of “consumer feedback.” Spokesman Nigel Dickie said Tuesday that the company apologized if it had offended anyone.

Fox News host Bill O’Reilly complained about the advertisement on Friday during his show, “The O’Reilly Factor.”

“I just want mayonnaise. I don’t want guys kissing,” he said.

British gay rights group Stonewall said it was shocked that Heinz had yanked what it called an “innocuous” ad and urged gay consumers to boycott the company.

The ad, which was launched on British television just over a week ago and was meant to run for five weeks, was taken off the air Friday, Heinz said in a statement released Monday.

The ad did not run in the U.S.

Heinz—don’t cave into pressure!

South Carolina School Allows Gay “Club” to Exist

Here is an article, carried in the Charlotte Observer regarding another school/school district that is “afraid” of allowing students a safe place to discuss LGBT issues.

SC district OKs clubs instead of banning gay group
By MEG KINNARD
Associated Press Writer
http://www.gsanetwork.org/
http://www.lex5.k12.sc.us/
IRMO, S.C. –A South Carolina school district voted Monday night to allow students to form a gay-friendly club, fearing banning such groups could prompt a lawsuit.
The Lexington-Richland School District 5 school board had considered a ban on clubs that don’t relate to academics or sports, which would have shut down a proposed Gay Straight Alliance group. But under the policy approved Monday - which allows all student clubs - parents will have the option of not letting their minor children participate in any school club. Another provision prohibits student clubs from discussing sexually explicit topics, in keeping with the district’s abstinence-based curriculum.

The ban was considered after Irmo High School principal Eddie Walker announced he would step down at the end of the next school year because the Gay Straight Alliance conflicts with his beliefs and religious convictions. In his resignation letter, Walker said a Gay Straight Alliance conflicts with his professional beliefs because no other school club is based on sexual orientation.

At Monday’s meeting, Walker supported allowing all clubs, encouraging the community to move past the issue and look forward to the next school year.

“We’ve got to heal and move on from this,” Walker said. “I think that’s a win-win provision.”

The board had been tasked with picking among three options: eliminate all noncurricular clubs; allow both curricular and noncurricular clubs; or deny school sponsorship or funding to non-curricular clubs.

Proponents told board members the club would provide a support network for gay students and their straight friends, as well as a forum for all students to discuss issues faced by the gay community.

“I was left humiliated and frightened with no one to talk to,” John Dawkins told board members Monday night before the vote. Dawkins dropped out of a Lexington County school after other students repeatedly bullied him because he was gay.

“The role of a GSA is not only to offer a safe space … but also a forum where points of view and differences of opinion may be discussed.”

Several parents of district students spoke out against the formation of the club, some also expressing support for a policy requiring students to obtain parental permission to be a member of any school club.

“I’m concerned that parents are not involved enough,” said David Taylor, whose sons attend schools in the district and who presented a petition signed by district parents in support of Walker. “I feel that this club’s existence, if allowed, will just compound the negatives further.”

Jeff Knowles, parent of a recent Irmo graduate, said he also was against the club but could support it with a permission slip.

“I believe this club promotes an alternative lifestyle that is high-risk and that parents are in the best position to provide the support needed if a child is struggling with his sexuality,” he told the board.

David Collier, a Columbia attorney who has been following the issue, urged board members to consider the legal challenges faced by other boards that have tried to squelch the clubs.

Groups like Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union “are literally waiting in the wings for the district to violate the law,” Collier said. “I would urge the board to maintain the status quo.”

Several school districts have been sued over potential violations of the federal Equal Access Act, which requires that schools treat all nonacademic clubs the same.

In 1998, a federal judge ruled that a Salt Lake City school board violated the Equal Access Act after it voted to ban all noncurricular clubs to stop a gay group from forming but then allowed some noncurricular clubs to meet anyway.

Two years later, a federal judge ordered an Orange County, Calif., school district to allow a Gay Straight Alliance to meet while a similar lawsuit was pending. And in 2006, a federal judge ruled that a White County, Ga., school district was wrong to try to eliminate noncurricular clubs but still allow the student council and a prom planning committee to meet. The court ordered the district to change the policy.

Nonprofit Research Regarding LGBTQ Kids

issue lab

This is an interesting website. Issue Lab is an organization that concentrates on nonprofit research in various areas of social science. Their June spotlight was focused on the issues facing younger people who identify as LGBTQ. This looks like a fairly even tempered view of the issues gay kids face.

ACLU and the Fight for Gay Rights

ACLU

No matter what you think about the ACLU on other issues, they do some good work on LGBT rights.

Quotes Regarding Same Sex Marriage

Quote UnQuote
COMPILED BY REX WOCKNER
Published Thursday, 19-Jun-2008 in issue 1069
“I’m 66. If they had let me get married 10 years ago, I would have been 20 pounds lighter and I wouldn’t have needed airbrushing.”
Veteran lesbian activist Robin Tyler as she married Diane Olson, granddaughter of former California Gov. Culbert Levy Olson, June 16 in Beverly Hills, to the Los Angeles Times. Tyler and Olson, 54, have been together 15 years.

“Congratulations to all of us: May equality live long and prosper.”
George Takei, who played Sulu on the original Star Trek, as he and partner Brad Altman picked up a marriage license June 17 in West Hollywood.

“(We’re) going to wait until it’s legal everywhere, because otherwise, I said to Kelli, we’ll be going around touring the country on the marriage tour every state by state. Once it gets to be at the federal level, once every state recognizes the marriages of every other state, I think that’ll be the time we would do it.”
Rosie O’Donnell on getting married, to the Associated Press, June 5.

“That won’t happen. … The proposed amendment itself is blatantly unfair. I think people will not vote for it because it is so blatantly unfair. I do not think Californians will support using our constitution to treat people differently.”
Shannon Minter, lead lawyer for the gay side in the California same-sex marriage case, on the Nov. 4 ballot initiative to amend the state constitution to overturn the state Supreme Court’s ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, to Palm Springs’ Desert Sun newspaper, June 6. The weddings began June 16.

“I think once we have lesbian and gay couples being married in California, (people are) going to realize that lesbian and gay couples want what they want. They want to fall in love and marry the person of their choosing. The whole effort on this is based on scaring people. Once they see, you can’t use fear anymore.”
Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California, on the Nov. 4 ballot initiative to amend the state constitution to overturn the state Supreme Court’s ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, to Palm Springs’ Desert Sun newspaper, June 6. The weddings began June 16.

“The idea that they don’t have the resources is absurd. It’s ridiculous raise your fees to cover your costs and get volunteers. (They should) be more honest and say we can’t stand the idea of gay people getting married so we’re going to break the law.”
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom offering to go to California’s Kern and Butte counties to help conduct same-sex marriages, to the San Francisco Business Times, June 12. The clerks of the two counties stopped performing all marriages – gay and straight – just before the California Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage took effect June 16. By law, county clerks have to issue marriage licenses, but they do not have to offer marriage ceremonies. At least 45 of California’s other 56 counties will continue offering ceremonies. Kern County’s largest city is Bakersfield and Butte’s is Chico.

“I had a gay kid say to me the other day: ‘Men and women on death row can marry people on the outside. They’re allowed to get married. And gays want the same rights as people on death row.’ I thought that was pretty good thinking. … It’s just an interesting thing that gays don’t have the same rights as people on death row.”
Newspaper columnist Liz Smith in an article published by The Women on the Web, wowowow.com, May 28.

Too Much Gay Marriage in the News?

GAY NEWS

Last week was a big week in the continual forward movement of gay rights. The beginning of gay marriages in California was another big step in LGBT people being accepted into the mainstream of life.

Nearly every major media had extensive coverage of the first marriages. Even the Charlotte observer had some mention of gay rights/issues every day for a week. But was it too much coverage. As a gay man, I certainly celebrate with all others who see the changes in California as a victory. But have we shouted too much. Have we rubbed our success in the conservatives faces a little to long.

I enjoy the “queerness” of being gay as much as anyone. Pride parades, drag queens and other gay camp is a major component in many gay lives. Still, we need to have a little restraint as we move forward. Celebrate the win, but move on to the next battle.

Could Science Lead to Eradication of Gays in the Womb?

Could science eventually eradicate gays? It is possible that testing during pregnancy could lead to the termination of a gay fetus. If the reason for homosexuality is determined to be related to exposure to certain hormones during pregnancy, testing should be possible. If testing is possible, will parents chose to abort their gay children? Could we be among the last generation of LGBT people? Wouldn’t that give the conservatives fits—abort and kill a gay or no abortions and add to the gay population

If the idea of chemically suppressing homosexuality in the womb horrifies you, I have bad news: You won’t be in the room when it happens. Parents control medical decisions, and surveys indicate that the vast majority of them would be upset to learn that their child was gay. Already, millions are screening embryos and fetuses to eliminate those of the “wrong” sex. Do you think they won’t screen for the “wrong” sexual orientation, too?

Gay Science

Wall Street Journal Runs OP-ED piece of the Benefits of Gay Marriage

Because parents want happy children, communities want responsible neighbors, employers want productive workers, and governments want smaller welfare caseloads, society has a powerful interest in recognizing and supporting same-sex couples. It will either fold them into marriage or create alternatives to marriage, such as publicly recognized and subsidized cohabitation. Conservatives often say same-sex marriage should be prohibited because it does not exemplify the ideal form of family. They should consider how much less ideal an example gay couples will set by building families and raising children out of wedlock.

Wall Street

To me this looks like progress. Even though the author of this piece is well know for his other work regarding gay marriage, it is great that the Journal would pick up a piece like this.

I know the anti-gay groups won’t buy the argument, regardless of the support. But still, when the mainstream media finally starts looking at this issue as a plus for all of society and not just a gay issue, we all will gain.

Gay Men’s Brains and Straight Women’s Brains are Similar

There is some evidence that gay men’s brains and straight women’s brains have a similar physical makeup. The left and right hemisphere of straight guys are not equal in size. Some researchers are finding that straight women and gay guys have a similar trait–each brain hemisphere is of equal size.

Continuing research may well prove that there are well-defined physical differences between gay and straight men. Perhaps then the “It’s a choice” crowd will quiet down.

Scientist at the Karolinska Institute have spent time studying the scans of 90 straight and gay men and women. What they found was that the size of the two symmetrical halves of the brains of gay men resembled the brain of straight women.
In heterosexual women and gay men, the two halves of the brain are pretty much the same size. But in straight men, the right hemisphere is slightly larger.
And oddly enough, the brains of homosexual women were asymmetrical, just like those of straight men.