Posts tagged ‘LGBT’

Whats wrong with the Boy Scouts?

by , posted on Saturday, October 6th, 2012 at 11:43 pm

We had a very hot summer this year and recently I decided to repair damage to the lawn in front of my house.  I’ve had some success with it recently even though I started with seeding the bare spots.

A week ago I was watering the newly seeded and, essentially, watching the grass grow.  I still had places where I wished I would have put down more seeds but, alas, I was out of seed.   I looked up and coming toward me was a family with a young boy (maybe 13 years old) and his father pulling a wagon with a young child in it followed by mom.   I greeted the family and asked them if they had any grass seed for sale, anticipating the inevitable pitch for some fund raiser.  He said they had no grass seed but did have some pop corn that would be a good alternative.  I said I still had 3 boxes from previous fund drives but could I just give a donation?  He said sure and the youngster in the lead come over wearing his boy scout shirt and said the drive was for funds for his troop.  I gave him five dollars, he thanked me and they went on their way.  Just an all American scene, no problem.

(more…)

Share

Amber Hollibaugh: How Far Has the LGBTQ Movement Come?

by , posted on Sunday, June 24th, 2012 at 11:00 am

from GRITtv with Laura Flanders

Amber Hollibaugh of Queers for Economic Justice argues that though there’s plenty to be proud of this Pride weekend, there’s still a long way to go for the LGBTQ movement.

Share

LGBT Discrimination: Protecting Employee Rights

by , posted on Monday, June 11th, 2012 at 12:00 pm

from the Center for American Progress

Every day, far too many gay and transgender Americans are forced out of their jobs and into the ranks of the unemployed at a time when all families are struggling to stay afloat. Until Congress passes the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) it will remain perfectly legal to fire someone based simply on their sexual orientation or gender identity in a majority of states in this country.

To learn more, go to http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/domestic/justice

Share

Obama’s Announcement and What’s Next for Marriage Equality

by , posted on Wednesday, May 9th, 2012 at 7:00 pm

from the Center for American Progress

Center for American Progress Executive Vice President Winnie Stachelberg discusses President Obama’s historic announcement in support of marriage equality and explains how he is in line with public opinion on the issue.

Share

OSI: Pat Langley, “Occupy’s Queer Ancestor”

by , posted on Thursday, May 3rd, 2012 at 3:44 pm

from Occupy Springfield IL

Pat Langley speaks to Occupy Springfield, IL about the similarities between the Occupy movement and the Aids Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT-UP)

Share

IL-13: Gill Advocates for LGBT Equality

by , posted on Sunday, April 1st, 2012 at 10:17 am

new video from Friends of David Gill

“David Gill is a pro-choice, pro-equality, pro-social security candidate for Congress in IL-13, a Democratic-leaning seat now held by Rep Tim Johnson (R-IL)”

www.gill2012.com

Share

Illinois General Assembly passes civil unions

by , posted on Saturday, December 4th, 2010 at 12:09 pm

While the Illinois General Assembly has yet to create jobs, pass a balanced budget, or find a way to fund the $80B pension liability, they did a very courageous thing during veto session by passing a civil unions bill.  This strikes me as one of the biggest “change” votes taken by the ILGA and perhaps the biggest act of courage in my memory. It was a positive step forward for residents of Illinois as we seek to join other states who view equality as a centerpiece for social and economic justice.

In the 21st century, I find it hard to believe that there are still people in Springfield and Washington who honestly feel that some in our society should be treated like second class citizens in the eyes of the government. But, some still voted “nay.” You can see the entire Senate vote here. You can see the entire House vote here.

If you agree that this is a good step for Illinois, please call or write members in the Fox Valley to let express appreciation or disappointment.  Altough he has delayed signing the bill until 2011, it is expected that Governor Quinn (312-814-2121 / Online Contact Form) will sign the bill.  It probably does not hurt to send the Governor a note to thank him for his support of equality.  See list of Fox Valley Representatives below.

(more…)

Share

On Homosexuality

by , posted on Sunday, April 11th, 2010 at 12:00 pm

by Timothy Beushausen

I recently contacted an ex-classmate from high school on Facebook (who had amazingly wished me a happy 60th birthday), and chatted with him for a few minutes, more than we ever talked to each other in four years of school. He had hit dotage a few months before I did, and wanted to know if I still look as young as my avatar from 15 years ago. Not. Like Alice and the Walrus, we spoke of many things, and at one point he mentioned his musical talent, which in me is merely a passion rather than a talent. He plays the viol, quite beautifully, which caused me to have one of the very few, full-blown aesthetic reactions I have ever had in my life. He brought up that he was persecuted in high school by the perceived association of piano talent with being gay, which brought back painful memories of being called such names since long before I had any idea what they mean. If that was the genesis of my becoming a commie-pinko-fag {in fact, my true sexual identity is that of a young, black lesbian stuck in an old, white man’s body (you don’t believe me? Then prove I am lying!)}, then it was basically the best thing that could have happened to me. I wouldn’t trade my life experiences for those of anyone else in the world.

(more…)

Share

Some of My Best Friends: A Conversation with Pansy Division’s Jon Ginoli

by , posted on Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 at 9:48 am

Before Peoria-native Jon Ginoli was even out of his twenties he had done seemingly everything there was to do in music. Having moved to Champaign-Urbana to attend the University of Illinois, he had written for a series of music magazines and fanzines,

been both a radio and club dj, worked in a campus record store, and brought some of the most legendary indie rock bands of the day to town as a concert promoter.

He also played in a band of his own, The Outnumbered, a mainstay of the local music scene in the mid-1980s that released three albums and toured widely, and was remembered by one writer who knew them well as “perhaps the world’s only all-male feminist band, performing anti-misogynist, anti-capitalist, anti-war rants at the height of the Reagan era.”

He is best known, however, for his next band, the path-breaking gay rock band Pansy Division, which he founded in 1991 after moving to San Francisco. Eighteen years later Pansy Division is still around, still recording new material and performing live when most veterans of the earliest days of the gay rock scene have long since disappeared. In March Jon’s memoir, Deflowered: My Life in Pansy Division – “The Inside Story of the First Openly Gay Pop-Punk Band” – was published by Cleis Press. Also, a documentary about the band, Pansy Division: Life in a Gay Rock Band, has been screened at several gay film festivals this past year and has just been released on DVD by Alternative Tentacles Records. And, to top it all off, Pansy Division has just released a new CD, That’s So Gay, also on Alternative Tentacles.

I recently caught up with Jon on his book tour for Deflowered and we sat down one evening to talk about, what else, life in Pansy Division. (More on whether it’s a “pop-punk” or “rock” band or both, among other things, after the jump.)

(more…)

Share