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Posts tagged as “gay rights”

50 Years Later: Remembering Female Civil Rights Activist Pauli Murray

By goodblacknews on January 30, 2013

Attorney Pauli Murray

Harvard Law School professor Kenneth W. Mack writes at the Huffington Post that it’s an African-American woman, attorney Pauli Murray, who deserves credit for expanding the language of civil rights in 1963 to include women’s rights — and even LGBT rights.

“President Obama’s unprecedented endorsement of gay rights in his inauguration address last week — delivered on the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday — marks the beginning of a year when Americans will celebrate the 50th anniversary of so many groundbreaking events of 1963: children defying dogs and firehoses in Birmingham, President Kennedy’s endorsement of civil rights as a moral cause, the church bombing that claimed the lives of four little girls in Alabama, and the March on Washington. As the nation remembers these important milestones, it is important not to forget the work of a long-forgotten activist who emerged publicly that year to link civil rights to women’s rights, and ultimately to her own closeted sexual identity. In doing so, an African American woman lawyer named Pauli Murray strongly criticized the leadership of the civil rights movement for excluding women as it was planning for the march that would bring 250,000 protesters to Washington that fall. More than any other individual, it is Murray who deserves credit for expanding the language of civil rights beyond the African American struggle for equality to women’s rights, and ultimately to what she later called “human rights” — and for paving the way for a President of the United States to claim that it included gays and lesbians as well. 
In 1963, Pauli Murray was working hard to make Americans aware of an idea she had come up with two decades earlier — one that influenced people as different from one another as Eleanor Roosevelt and Marian Wright Edelman — and which would help change the meaning of equality. She called it Jane Crow. Alongside the system of Jim Crow race segregation, Murray argued, there was an equally wrong system of sex segregation. Sex discrimination should be against the law for the same reasons as race discrimination. This was a radical idea at the time …”

Read Kenneth W. Mack’s entire piece at the Huffington Post.
article via theroot.com

Boy Scouts of America Considering Retreat From No-Gays Policy

By goodblacknews on January 28, 2013

boy-scoutsNEW YORK (AP) — The Boys Scouts of America is considering a dramatic change in its controversial policy of excluding gays as leaders and youth members.
Under the change being considered, the different religious and civic groups that sponsor Scout units would be able to decide for themselves how to address the issue — either maintaining an exclusion of gays or opening up their membership.
The announcement of the possible change came Monday after years of protests over the policy — including petition campaigns that have prompted some corporations to suspend donations to the Boy Scouts.
Under the proposed change, said BSA spokesman Deron Smith, “the Boy Scouts would not, under any circumstances, dictate a position to units, members, or parents.”
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press via thegrio.com

Ravens’ Brendon Ayanbadejo to Promote Gay Rights at the Super Bowl

By goodblacknews on January 26, 2013
Brendon Ayanbadejo #51 of the Baltimore Ravens celebrates after defeating the New England Patriots during the 2013 AFC Championship game at Gillette Stadium on January 20, 2013 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

Brendon Ayanbadejo #51 of the Baltimore Ravens celebrates after defeating the New England Patriots during the 2013 AFC Championship game at Gillette Stadium on January 20, 2013 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

Ayanbadejo, who will appearing in his first ever Super Bowl on February 3rd, hopes to use the media spotlight from the big game to promote his position against bullying and for marriage equality.
The New York Times reports that Ayanbadejo recently emailed gay marriage advocate Brian Ellner and Michael Skolnik, the political director for Russell Simmons, and asked: “Is there anything I can do for marriage equality or anti- bullying over the next couple of weeks to harness this Super Bowl media?”

Obama's Second Term: Twelve Issues and What He'll Try Do About Them

By goodblacknews on January 25, 2013
second-term-twelve-issues.jpg
In his second Inaugural Address, Barack Obama outlined several issues that he plans to focus on during his final term. Some other policy areas went largely unmentioned, but were first-term priorities that might receive more attention over the next four years. Here’s a look at the President’s record on twelve key issues: what he’s said, what he’s accomplished so far, and what he might be planning. For further details, read Ryan Lizza’s 2012 inside account of the debates over the President’s second-term agenda.

arms-control.jpg
What he’s said:
“I believe the United States has a unique responsibility to act—indeed, we have a moral obligation. I say this as President of the only nation ever to use nuclear weapons.”
March 26, 2012; Seoul, South Korea.
What he’s accomplished:
The Administration oversaw the ratification of a new Strategic Arms-Reduction Treaty with Russia in April, 2010, which will significantly reduce the number of deployed strategic weapons. It coöperated with Israel in the development of Stuxnet, a computer virus aimed at sabotaging Iran’s nuclear program. The U.S. also led a coalition to initiate harsh sanctions against Iran in order to pressure the country to abandon its program. The President hosted the Nuclear Security Summit in April, 2010.
Possible second-term goal:
Ratify the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty. Contain Iran’s nuclear program. Pressure China and Russia to more aggressively oppose Iran and North Korea’s nuclear programs.

Oprah, Frank Ocean Among GLAAD Award Nominees

By goodblacknews on January 17, 2013
Frank Ocean 'comes out': The breakout R&B star made headlines with a small blog post in which he admitted is first love was a man. Amazingly, his admission mattered little to his fans, who helped turn his album 'Channel Orange' into one of the year's biggest hits.

Frank Ocean ‘comes out’: The breakout R&B star made headlines with a small blog post in which he admitted is first love was a man. Amazingly, his admission mattered little to his fans, who helped turn his album ‘Channel Orange’ into one of the year’s biggest hits.

NEW YORK (AP) — The film “Cloud Atlas,” AMC’s reality show “Small Town Security” and the New Yorker magazine are among the nominees for the 24th Annual GLAAD Media Awards. The awards are meant to recognize and honor media for outstanding images of the gay and lesbian community.
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation announced on Wednesday 120 nominees in English-language categories and 33 nominees in Spanish-language categories.
Other nominees include the NBC shows “Smash” and “The New Normal,” Frank Ocean for his “Channel Orange” album, the magazine People en Espanol and Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Neil Patrick Harris and partner David Burtka.
The winners will be announced March 16 in New York and at ceremonies in April and May in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press via thegrio.com

Survey Shows Surge In Support of Gay Marriage from the Black Community

By goodblacknews on November 14, 2012

A national exit poll conducted by Edison Research shows that black voters favored their state legalizing gay marriage by 51 to 41 percent

It appears that ever since prominent African American figures have publicly voiced their support of gay marriage, the African American community’s support of gay marriage has surged. A national exit poll by Edison Research shows that black voters favored their state legalizing gay marriage, 51 to 41 percent. Pew polls have also showed an increase from 36 percent in 2011 to 44 percent last month supporting gay marriage.

According to the exit poll conducted by Edison Research on behalf of the NEP, 51 percent of black voters said their states should legally recognize same-s*x marriage, compared with 47 percent of whites who favored this idea.

article via yourblackworld.net

Hip-hop Shifts Anti-Gay Tone As Rights Issues Rise

By goodblacknews on August 23, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) — For years, anti-gay epithets and sentiments in rap have largely been accepted, along with its frequent misogyny and violence, as part of the hip-hop culture — a culture that has been slow to change, even as gays enjoy more mainstream acceptance.  But a shift appears to be on the horizon.

“People are learning how to live and get along more, and accept people for who they are and not bash them or hurt them because they’re different,” Snoop Dogg said in a recent interview.