Watch: MTV presents Pedro

The HBCU Program got this alert from the HRC Communications Department:


In 1994, Pedro Zamora captured the hearts of millions on MTV’s The Real World: San Francisco as the first-ever openly gay, HIV-positive main character on a national television show. Pedro is an intimate bio pic tracing his humble Cuban immigrant roots to his courageous rise to national prominence as the most recognizable HIV-AIDS activist in the United States. The world premiere of Pedro provides us with a unique opportunity to begin an honest discussion about the realities of sexually transmitted infections.

To carry on Pedro’s fight, we want to encourage all sexually active people to get tested. To make this as easy and fun as possible, we set up an SMS code so all anyone has to do is text their zip code to 49809 and they will get a text back with the location of the nearest testing center. In addition, everyone who texts that SMS code will automatically be registered to win a trip for 2 people to the 2009 MTV Movie Awards in Los Angeles! Not a bad deal for doing something we should all be doing anyway right?

Watch the trailor here!

Why the African American community should embrace gay rights.

The Bay Area's Contra Costa Times just published an opinion piece by Pastor and syndicated columnist, Byron Williams. Williams makes some pretty good points, check it out:

WHENEVER THERE is a discussion about gay rights and the African-American community, someone can be depended upon to offer the juvenile critique that the cause of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community is not the same as the historical Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and '60s.

It's not uncommon to hear African-American pastors suggest "my skin cannot be compared with their sin" as a way to poetically justify their homophobia.

This argument assumes a collective understanding of what the Civil Rights Movement is and what the LGBT movement is not.

If one views the civil rights movement and the current LGBT struggle through the linear paradigm of race and sex, I would agree there is little that connects the two.

If, however, one understands the civil rights movement as something that helped America get closer to the democratic values to which it committed itself in 1776, along with the preamble of the Constitution that reads: "We the people of the United States in order form a more perfect union," then I would suggest the LGBT struggle is very much an extension in the ongoing civil rights struggle.

Find the rest of the article after the jump...

NAACP National Chairman Julian Bond Gives Amazing Speech at HRC LA Dinner

National NAACP Chairman Julian Bond gave an amazing speech in support of LGBT rights at HRC’s Los Angeles Gala Dinner on Saturday, March 14. Check the video out below!!!

South Africa: 'Corrective Rape' Spreads To 'Fix' Lesbians

The Huffington Post is featuring a story by The Guardian on the rise of sexual violence against lesbians in South Africa:

The partially clothed body of Eudy Simelane, former star of South Africa's acclaimed Banyana Banyana national female football squad, was found in a creek in a park in Kwa Thema, on the outskirts of Johannesburg. Simelane had been gang-raped and brutally beaten before being stabbed 25 times in the face, chest and legs.As well as being one of South Africa's best-known female footballers, Simelane was a voracious equality rights campaigners and one of the first women to live openly as a lesbian in Kwa Thema.

You can find the rest of the article after the jump...

Morehouse Men Respond to Homophobia

The brave men at Morehouse are again confronting homophobia face on, and they're doing it in an impressive way. This article comes from the Southern Voice:

Morehouse College under fire again for alleged homophobia
Student newspaper column questions masculinity of gay men at all-male institution
By DYANA BAGBY, Southern Voice | Feb 17, 4:51 PM

A Morehouse College student newspaper column titled “Is Gay the Way?” has caused a stir in Atlanta as well as the national blogosphere, with many gay and transgender activists accusing the writer of being homophobic. The opinion article, published Feb. 16 in The Maroon Tiger, questioned masculine norms at the all-male historically black college.

Gerren Gaynor, who wrote the column and serves as the paper’s associate opinions editor, told Southern Voice he believes his message has been misunderstood.

“In no way was my article an anti-gay piece,” said Gaynor, a sophomore English major.

“This article was exclusive about the way in which it affects the campus of Morehouse College and no other institution, not even the United States government … While I do agree that I went about my topic the wrong way — and please be advised that this was an article done over night for a weekly college publication — it is completely wrong to disregard the feelings of other students on campus, gay and straight, because every homosexual is not comfortable with seeing a man with feminine qualities,” he said. “Nowhere in my article do I attack gays. The article is strictly a critique on gender norms.”

In his column, Gaynor states, “It’s not so much that ‘straight’ men of Morehouse are uncomfortable with the gay lifestyle, but more so because that the lifestyle is constantly and robustly thrown in their faces. Does being a gay man include adopting the traits of a woman? Because if that’s the case, there’s a more fitting school, and it’s not an all-male institution.

You can find the rest of the article after the jump...

Prop. 8 Exit Polling of African-Americans Way Off, Experts Say

The initial reports of African American support for Prop. 8 are continuing to be discredited by researchers. Take a look at this article from the Advocate:

A new study on California’s Proposition 8 voting trends released Tuesday found that far fewer African-Americans voted to pass the gay marriage ban than the 70% suggested by exit polling and concluded that race was not the most significant factor affecting people’s vote for or against marriage equality.

After conducting in-depth analysis of election returns from five key California counties and using census data to estimate the racial makeup of the voters in those counties, researchers found that between 57% and 59% of African-Americans voted in favor of Proposition 8, which amended the state's constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage.

"This is a far cry from the [National Exit Poll] estimate,” said Kenneth Sherrill of Hunter College, one of the lead authors of the study.

You can read the rest of this eye opening article after the jump...

Is gay the new black?

The New York Blade is taking its cue from the Advocate and ponder whether gay is the new black. I find a few things problematic with this article, for example, "Racism was defanged by Obama's triumph, leaving gays as perhaps the last group of Americans claiming that their basic rights are being systematically denied." Racism still has it bite though, trying being me and catching a cab...

Gay is the new black, say the protest signs and magazine covers, casting the gay marriage battle as the last frontier of equal rights for all.

Gay marriage is not a civil right, opponents counter, insisting that minority status comes from who you are rather than what you do.

The gay rights movement entered a new era when Barack Obama was elected the first black president the same day that voters in California and Florida passed referendums to prevent gays and lesbians from marrying, while Arizonans turned down civil unions and Arkansans said no to adoptions by same-sex couples.

Racism was defanged by Obama's triumph, leaving gays as perhaps the last group of Americans claiming that their basic rights are being systematically denied.

"Black people are equal now, and gay people aren't," said Emil Wilbekin, a black gay man and the editor of Giant magazine. "I always have this discussion with my friends: What's worse, being a black man or a black gay man?"

"Civil rights have come much further than gay rights," he said. "A lot of people in the gay community have been condemned for their lifestyle and promiscuity and drugs and sex, so it's odd that when they want to conform and model themselves after straight people and have the same rights for marriage and domestic partnership and adoption, they're being blocked."

You can read more after the jump...

Gay is the New Black

Check out this interesting article in the Advocate! Provocative title but great writing:

By Michael Joseph Gross
Excerpted from The Advocate November 12, 2008

The night before Election Day, a black woman walked into the San Francisco headquarters of the No on Proposition 8 campaign. Someone had ripped down the No on 8 sign she’d posted in her yard and she wanted a replacement. She was old, limping, and carrying a cane. Walking up and down the stairs to this office was hard for her.

I asked why coming to get the sign was worth the trouble, and she answered, “All of us are equal, and all of us have to fight to make sure the law says that.” She said that she was straight, and she told me about one of the first times she ever hung out with gay people, in New Orleans in the 1970s. “I thought I was so cool for being there, and I said, ‘You faggots are a lot of fun!’ Well, that day I learned my lesson. A gay man turned on me and said, ‘A faggot is not a person. A faggot is a bunch of sticks you use to light a fire.’ ”

The combination of Obama’s win and gay people’s losses inflicted mass whiplash. We were elated, then furious. I’d spent the week in the No on Prop. 8 office in the Castro, a neighborhood where our defeat was existential. For the next few days, wherever I went -- barbershop, grocery store, gym, bars -- I heard people talk of almost nothing else.

The next day, Barack Obama was elected president, and gay marriage rights in California were taken away. At the same time, Arizona voters amended their state constitution to preemptively outlaw gay marriage. Florida went further, outlawing any legal union that’s treated as marriage, such as domestic partnerships or civil unions. Arkansas passed a vicious law denying us adoption rights.

You can find the rest after the jump...

Black gays celebrate Obama’s win

The Washington Blade steps into the black LGBT community to get their take on the Obama victory:

Black lesbian activist Sheila Alexander-Reid, founder of D.C. based Women in the Life, is struggling to put her thoughts into words on the morning of Nov. 5.

“I am so incredibly exhausted,” she says.

Reid is speechless for other reasons, too. She cannot believe that the U.S. has elected a black man to its highest office.

Carlene Cheatam, a lesbian activist and one of the original organizers of D.C. Black Pride, said that on election night, she was “totally filled.”

Though she had never really thought about whether she’d see a black president in her lifetime, she said she “knew he would win.”

“The impact that he has on people here and around the world, I think, is amazing, and I’m grateful to be here today,” she says.

Alexander Robinson, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, a black gay group, said he had faith the American people would eventually support a black president, but didn’t believe it would happen this soon.

Earline Budd, longtime transgender rights activist and former executive director of Transgender Health Empowerment Inc., said that as an HIV-positive transgender woman, Obama’s presidency means health services that are important and vital to her life will not be eliminated and will be given more consideration.

Budd worked to get transgender people in D.C. registered to vote in time for the election. A lot of her clients, she said, were voting for the first time.

And she admits that she never thought she’d see this day.

These longtime gay and black activists professed their belief that the administration of president-elect Barack Obama will be the best in history on gay rights.

Find more after the jump...

‘These kids are invisible’: An LGBT youth shelter in words and pictures

It’s a gorgeous mid-September Tuesday evening in New York City and the setting sun warmly glows over the streets of Midtown. Chelsea, New York’s gayest enclave, shifts into party mode just a few blocks south. To the northeast, the world is starting to queue up for Broadway hits. Meanwhile, commuters rush to the comforts of home.

But for thousands of gay youth in Gotham, there will be no partying, no theater, no playing tonight.

And once again, no home.

Estimates say that a staggering 20,000 young people are homeless every night in the city, - anywhere from a quarter to a third of those are LGBTQ kids. A lucky fraction of that number has found its way to Sylvia’s Place, tucked here on the city’s far west side, so near and so far from so much wealth.

Sylvia’s Place is the subject of Queer Streets, a new Logo documentary shot in 2006 which followed seven LGBT teens who frequented the shelter. To see what Sylvia’s place is like now, I step into this surreal and humbling world to meet with Kate Barnhart, director of Sylvia’s Place since 2004.

Tonight, like every Tuesday evening, dinner is being served by a small team of volunteers from the adjacent Metropolitan Community Church of New York. I take a seat on a metal folding chair next to Kate’s desk, not quite sure where to put my manpurse amidst the overflowing boxes, plastic bags, and just plain stuff that’s everywhere. She motions for me to throw it into the area behind her, with a dozen other backpacks and handbags.

“Behind my body is the safest place, so everyone stashes their stuff back here,” she says.

Find more after the jump...

Indictments in N.J. killings

Six defendants were indicted Monday on murder and other charges in the brutal killings of three teenagers last summer in Newark, N.J. A fourth victim survived and two of the suspects are charged with sexually assaulting her.

Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow said yesterday that robbery and gang activity were factors in the case, but she declined to reveal what police think is the motive for the attack.

The Blade has been reporting all along that the real motive for the killings was anti-gay bias. At least two of the victims were gay and sources have told us that jewelry, cell phones and other items of value were found at the crime scene, eliminating the robbery motive. The teens were said to be en route to a Black Gay Pride event in New York.

It’s been more than a year since the grisly murders, the full details of which the Blade and other media outlets have declined to report. And yet in all that time, mainstream media still won’t touch the gay angle. The New York Times mentioned the gay rumors in passing, but local media in New Jersey are colluding with police to cover up the true motive for the attack. If the Blade can uncover sources in Newark — activists, friends, politicians — who knew the victims to be gay and are urging a full investigation of the hate crime angle — then surely the New York Times, the Newark Star-Ledger and other nearby outlets can do the same. I’d be happy to share our sources with them.

Find more after the jump...

Palin supporters, black Obama voters will help pass Florida's gay marriage ban

Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald


TALLAHASSEE -- The ballot measure to ban same-sex marriage in Florida continues to be in trouble, a new poll released Monday by Quinnipiac University found, so promoters are now pinning their hopes on presidential politics to push them over the top.

The poll found Florida voters support the same-sex marriage ban by 55-41 percent, but that falls short of the 60 percent needed to become law.

Supporters say that both Sarah Palin, the right-leaning Alaskan governor credited for firing up the Republican's conservative base, and the historic candidacy of Democrat Barack Obama will bring out more proponents of Amendment 2.

''Palin may turn out more conservative voters who might have stayed home,'' said Steve Strang, founder of Orlando-based Charisma Magazine for evangelicals. ``If they support Sarah Palin, they most likely will vote on this amendment.''

OBAMA SUPPORTERS

Meanwhile, Obama will draw black voters ''who know and understand this issue,'' said John Stemberger, president and general counsel of the Florida Family Policy Council, which is promoting the Yeson2 campaign.

The poll of 1,427 Florida voters was conducted Sept. 2-4 and has a margin of error of 2.6 percentage points. Amendment 2 would define marriage as a legal union between a man and a woman.

Although same-sex marriage is already illegal in Florida, the amendment enshrines it in the constitution and prevents the establishment of civil unions by adding that ``no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized.''

Find more after the jump...

Clay Cane: "Homophobia Effects Me More Than Racism"

Prolific black, gay blogger Clay Cane tackles one of the issues we often struggle with at the intersection of race and sexuality. For those of us in the world of activism, we are sometimes challenged by statements like, "Racism is more of a problem than homophobia," or we are often asked, "What is more important, your blackness or your gayness"? Cane writes:

No one prepared me for homophobia. No one told me how to combat it, why it's there, or showed me documentaries. There wasn't a Martin Luther King, Jr. or Malcolm X for me to admire when the road got heavy…when I had been damned to hell too many times…when I heard gay men are destined to die of AIDS…when I was told it was unnatural…when I was told I could change if I really wanted to…when my family rejected me…when my family finally stopped rejecting me but I still can't mention "it" in their presence. On the daily, I am more affected by homophobia.

Find more after the jump...