Gay Kansas News 3/25/2010
March 25, 2010, 11:31 pm
Filed under: Allies, Business, Courts, Elections, Employment, Legislatures, Marriage, Military, News Summary, Opponents, Organizing, Protests, Religion, Violence | Tags: attack, billboards, blood donation, Bobby Myers, Business, CEI, celebration, Citizens Project, Colorado, Colorado Springs, congress, Corporate Equality Index, Courts, DADT, DC, Defense Department, Des Moines, District of Columbia, Don't Ask Don't Tell, drag, Elections, Employment, Family Research Institute, FBNY, FDA, federal government, Fight Back New York, Focus on the Family, Food and Drug Administration, Fred Phelps, gay, Hardy & Bacon, hate crimes, Hays, health, HRC, HRC Kansas City, Human Rights Campaign, Ike Skelton, Iowa, Iowa judiciary, Joe Solmonese, Kansas, Kansas City, Kansas Equality Coalition, KEC, KEC Northeast Chapter, KEC Northwest Chapter, lesbian, LGBT, Marriage, Matthew Marshal, Matthew Shepard Act, Military, Missouri, Nebraska, Nelson Parnell, New York, New York legislature, obituary, Oklahoma, Oklahoma legislature, Omaha, Organizing, Ottawa Herald, Our Lady of the Lake University, Phillip Nelson, PROMO, Protests, Religion, Robert Gates, Robin Carnahan, same-sex marriage, San Antonio, SB 1965, Shook, Springfield, Steve Russell, Tea Party, Texas, The Laramie Project, Tim Gill, Tivol, Tommy Felts, Tulsa Beacon, vandalism, Violence, Webster University, Westboro Baptist Church
Filed under: Allies, Business, Courts, Elections, Employment, Legislatures, Marriage, Military, News Summary, Opponents, Organizing, Protests, Religion, Violence | Tags: attack, billboards, blood donation, Bobby Myers, Business, CEI, celebration, Citizens Project, Colorado, Colorado Springs, congress, Corporate Equality Index, Courts, DADT, DC, Defense Department, Des Moines, District of Columbia, Don't Ask Don't Tell, drag, Elections, Employment, Family Research Institute, FBNY, FDA, federal government, Fight Back New York, Focus on the Family, Food and Drug Administration, Fred Phelps, gay, Hardy & Bacon, hate crimes, Hays, health, HRC, HRC Kansas City, Human Rights Campaign, Ike Skelton, Iowa, Iowa judiciary, Joe Solmonese, Kansas, Kansas City, Kansas Equality Coalition, KEC, KEC Northeast Chapter, KEC Northwest Chapter, lesbian, LGBT, Marriage, Matthew Marshal, Matthew Shepard Act, Military, Missouri, Nebraska, Nelson Parnell, New York, New York legislature, obituary, Oklahoma, Oklahoma legislature, Omaha, Organizing, Ottawa Herald, Our Lady of the Lake University, Phillip Nelson, PROMO, Protests, Religion, Robert Gates, Robin Carnahan, same-sex marriage, San Antonio, SB 1965, Shook, Springfield, Steve Russell, Tea Party, Texas, The Laramie Project, Tim Gill, Tivol, Tommy Felts, Tulsa Beacon, vandalism, Violence, Webster University, Westboro Baptist Church
Kansas
- STICKY: After the loss of local activist Steve Brown, KEC’s northeast Kansas chapter will reorganize at a meeting on Mar. 27.
- STICKY: KEC meeting to organize a northwest Kansas chapter has been rescheduled for Apr. 10.
- We just got back from HRC Kansas City‘s fourth annual celebration of corporate equality, where HRC president Joe Solmonese spoke. Solmonese highlighted HRC programs besides CEI that address needs of LGBT Americans. Congratulations to the winners and the event’s gold sponsors (Shook, Hardy & Bacon and Tivol). We were saddened not to see any KEC or PROMO members we recognized; is HRC Kansas City stovepiped? We heard talk about post-ceremony discussions on how HRC Kansas City, which is supposed to cover Omaha and Des Moines, might organize more in Omaha. It was also reassuring to see Missouri Democratic Senate candidate Robin Carnahan mingling, even if she left the event early.
- Westboro Baptist Church is planning a picket of Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, Tex., for showing The Laramie Project.
- The Ottawa Herald’s Tommy Felts defends Tea Partiers and discusses a gay libertarian friend.
Nearby
- The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that FDA may lift its ban on blood donations from gay men by this summer.
- The Springfield News-Leader notes the death of Rev. Nelson Parnell, an LGBT ally.
- The St. Louis Post-Dispatch profiles St. Louis’s gay film festival QFest.
- Webster University’s student newspaper profiles gay student Bobby Myers and reports on the school’s recent drag ball.
- Secretary of Defense Robert Gates issued new policies to make dismissals under DADT more difficult. Missouri Democratic congressman Ike Skelton, who chairs the House Armed Services Committee, has been a leading opponent of repealing DADT.
- Iowans will celebrate the first anniversary of marriage equality.
- Oklahoman Matthew Marshal writes a letter to the Muskogee Phoenix criticizing state senator Steve Russell‘s attempt to exempt Oklahoma from federal LGBT hate crimes law. Oklahoma state hate crimes law does not cover LGBT people.
- The Tulsa World reports Oklahoman Phillip Nelson, while taking out his trash, was beaten and had his home vandalized because he was gay. KOKI 23 Tulsa has video of the bruised victim. As just mentioned, Oklahoma authorities will not treat the event as a hate crime.
- Conservative newspaper The Tulsa Beacon editorializes against same-sex marriage in D.C.
- Conservative One News Now reports on gay Colorado political donor Tim Gill’s involvement in New York’s same-sex marriage campaign.
- The Washington Times reports that the recession has hit church budgets hard, including Colorado-based Focus on the Family.
- The Colorado Springs Gazette reports pro-gay Citizens Project is paying for billboard ads that promote diversity.
- Colorado Springs’ Focus on the Family continues its rebranding with a new, softer daytime talk show.
- The Family Research Institute, also in Colorado Springs, opposed the new DADT policies by claiming statistics that gays and lesbians account disproportionately for sex offenses in the military.
Gay Kansas News 3/23/2010
March 23, 2010, 7:16 pm
Filed under: Allies, Business, Courts, Education, Elections, Employment, Legislatures, Marriage, News Summary, Nondiscrimination, Opponents, Organizing, Protests, Religion, Youth | Tags: Andrew Rice, Benjamin Goss, bias, California, campaign finance reform, Carl Burkhead, Carol Beier, CEI, Charleston, cities, civil rights, Colorado, Colorado Civil Rights Commission, Colorado governor, Columbia, Corporate Equality Index, Courts, Diablo Cody, discrimination, Education, Elections, Employment, family, Fire Beier, first amendment, Fred Phelps, free speech, funeral pickets, gay, hate crimes, HB 2079, hearings, Hillsdale High School, HRC, HRC Kansas City, Human Rights Campaign, Interfaith Alliance, Joseph Pulitzer, June Carbone, Kansas, Kansas City, Kansas Equality Coalition, Kansas judiciary, Kansas legislature, Kansas Supreme Court, KEC, KEC Northeast Chapter, KEC Northwest Chapter, Lawrence, Lawrence Journal-World, Leonard Pitts, lesbian, LGBT, Manhattan, Marriage, Matthew Shepard Act, Missouri, Missouri Attorney General, Missouri legislature, Nondiscrimination, Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma legislature, Organizing, Overland Park, People’s Settlement, Protests, Red Families v. Blue Families, Rinku Sen, Riverfront Times, same-sex marriage, San Mateo, SB 1965, SB 563, Showtime, Snyder v. Phelps, South Carolina, St. Louis, Stephen Webber, Steve Russell, Supreme Court, television, The Laramie Project, The United States of Tara, UMKC, universities, University of Missouri, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Westboro Baptist Church, Youth
Filed under: Allies, Business, Courts, Education, Elections, Employment, Legislatures, Marriage, News Summary, Nondiscrimination, Opponents, Organizing, Protests, Religion, Youth | Tags: Andrew Rice, Benjamin Goss, bias, California, campaign finance reform, Carl Burkhead, Carol Beier, CEI, Charleston, cities, civil rights, Colorado, Colorado Civil Rights Commission, Colorado governor, Columbia, Corporate Equality Index, Courts, Diablo Cody, discrimination, Education, Elections, Employment, family, Fire Beier, first amendment, Fred Phelps, free speech, funeral pickets, gay, hate crimes, HB 2079, hearings, Hillsdale High School, HRC, HRC Kansas City, Human Rights Campaign, Interfaith Alliance, Joseph Pulitzer, June Carbone, Kansas, Kansas City, Kansas Equality Coalition, Kansas judiciary, Kansas legislature, Kansas Supreme Court, KEC, KEC Northeast Chapter, KEC Northwest Chapter, Lawrence, Lawrence Journal-World, Leonard Pitts, lesbian, LGBT, Manhattan, Marriage, Matthew Shepard Act, Missouri, Missouri Attorney General, Missouri legislature, Nondiscrimination, Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma legislature, Organizing, Overland Park, People’s Settlement, Protests, Red Families v. Blue Families, Rinku Sen, Riverfront Times, same-sex marriage, San Mateo, SB 1965, SB 563, Showtime, Snyder v. Phelps, South Carolina, St. Louis, Stephen Webber, Steve Russell, Supreme Court, television, The Laramie Project, The United States of Tara, UMKC, universities, University of Missouri, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Westboro Baptist Church, Youth
Kansas
- We haven’t seen any coverage on Senate substitute for HB 2079, which the Senate was supposed to take up yesterday. If you know its status, leave a comment.
- STICKY: KEC meeting to organize a northwest Kansas chapter has been rescheduled for Apr. 10.
- STICKY: After the loss of local activist Steve Brown, KEC’s northeast Kansas chapter will reorganize at a meeting on Mar. 27.
- The Lawrence Journal-World editorializes about last week’s anti-LGBT attack ad against Kansas Supreme Court justice Carol Beier.
- Manhattan residents are organizing to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance.
- HRC Kansas City is recognizing local employers that scored well on HRC’s Corporate Equality Index.
- The Wichita Eagle and Congressional Quarterly are writing about Snyder v. Phelps.
- Lawrence resident Carl Burkhead writes a letter to the Lawrence Journal-World against LGBT people in response to a syndicated, pro-gay column by Leonard Pitts.
- UPI covers preparations at Hillsdale High School in San Mateo, Cal., for a Westboro Baptist Church protest.
- WBC protested in Charleston, S.C.
- Showtime will begin the second season of The United States of Tara, the sitcom by Diablo Cody of Juno fame. The show’s characters include a gay teen growing up in Overland Park.
Nearby
- After nine years, the Missouri legislature held a hearing on a bill to add sexual orientation to the state’s nondiscrimination law. Most shocking was testimony by the attorney general’s office that they receive and ignore complaints of LGBT discrimination. The bill is sponsored by Columbia representative Stephen Webber.
- Newsweek and The Pitch report on UMKC professor June Carbone‘s new book, Red Families v. Blue Families, which examines family attitudes on homosexuality, among other cultural flashpoints.
- The Riverfront Times wonders if St. Louis legend Joseph Pulitzer was gay, based on a new biography.
- Oklahoma’s Interfaith Alliance chapter is sponsoring a panel on same-sex marriage.
- Gays and lesbians will protest St. Louis employment discrimination as part of larger protests by the liberal umbrella group People’s Settlement.
- Rinku Sen writes an op-ed in the Columbia Daily-Tribune that LGBT advocates could better reach out to African Americans by not characterizing LGBT issues as a civil rights issue.
- The University of Missouri community is discussing waste and mismanagement of a student fee for campus diversity groups.
- Oklahoma Senate minority leader Andrew Rice, D-Oklahoma City, said senator Steve Russell‘s bill to exempt Oklahoma from federal LGBT hate crimes legislation contains a mistake that would instead exempt racial and religious hate crimes.
- Colorado gubernatorial candidate Benjamin Goss opposes same-sex marriage, or any legal recognition of gays and lesbians for that matter.
- Colorado’s Civil Rights Commission reports on increasing discrimination in Colorado, including against the LGBT community.
Gay Kansas 