JOIN THE MOVEMENT
NOH8 Campaign is a photographic silent protest created by celebrity photographer Adam Bouska and partner Jeff Parshley in direct response to the passage of Proposition 8.
LET'S CELEBRATE
The state of NY recently passed the marriage bill, giving the lgbt community the right to marry in yet another state
HIV/AIDS CAMPAIGN
The goal behind these ads goes beyond promoting safe sex and getting tested, it touches on our compassionate side to not discriminate and realize this is not an individual's fight, but a social battle.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Cher Cries As Chaz Earns Highest Score Yet!!
Chaz Bono performed a rousing paso doble with dance partner Lacey Schwimmer to the theme from Rocky, earning his highest score yet of 21 as his mother Cher stood applauding wildly with tears in her eyes.
.“In the true spirit of Rocky, no matter how many knocks you take, you keep coming back, you keep fighting, you keep getting stronger,” judge Bruno Tonioli said, while Len Goodman said Bono turned in his best performance of the competition. Carrie Ann Inaba also had tears in her eyes, saying she found Bono's desire to succeedBono said it was "amazing" and "special" to have his mother and other family members in the audience and he feels really good about his score.To learn how to vote for Bono and Schwimmer, click here.
Showtime Developing Drama Series About Little-Known LGBT Subculture With Merritt Johnson & Lee Daniels
EXCLUSIVE:Temple Grandinwriter W. Merritt Johnson has teamed withPrecious director Lee Daniels for a drama project in development at Showtime that sheds light on a little-known LGBT subculture. The contemporary drama, which Johnson is writing and Daniels is attached to direct, is set in New York City and centers on the disenfranchised multicultural transgender youth of the Ball subculture, previously portrayed in Jennie Livingston’s 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning. Some say the roots of the New York ball house culture can be traced to the 1930s,when the first underground drag balls were held in and around New York City by white men in gay bars, while others argue that it evolved out of the Harlem ballroom scene in the 1960s. Today’s underground ball house society consists of New York City’s disadvantaged black, Latino, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transexual communities who come together to compete for trophies and prizes. They all belong to different fraternity-like “houses,” or “drag families,” that serve as surrogate families for their members banded together under one leader. Their “voguing” dance style, in which competitors freeze to pose in glamorous positions, was re-created in Madonna’s Vogue video. Johnson and Daniels are executive producing.Johnson, repped by CAA and Leverage Management, was nominated for an Emmy for Temple Grandin and won a Peabody and Humanitas Prize. He also worked on the HBO series In Treatment. CAA-repped Daniels, who received an Oscar nomination for Precious, recently signed on to write and direct an adaptation ofValley Of The Dolls for NBC, 20th TV and Chernin Entertainment. On the feature side, his follow-up to Precious, The Paper Boy — starring Nicole Kidman and Matthew McConaughey — will be released next year.Bank of America Equalizes Health Costs for Gay Employees
THE COST OF BEING GAY
A look at the financial realities of same-sex partnerships.
Bank of America’s new monthly debit card feehas been roundly criticized in recent weeks. But a new change in corporate policy change is likely to receive a much warmer reception.
Starting next year, the nation’s largest bank will begin reimbursing its employees with same-sex partners for the extra taxes they pay for health insurance — something that their married heterosexual co-workers don’t have to worry about because the federal government recognizes them as an economic unit.
A growing number of companies have begun to adopt the policy. Google was one of the earlier adopters, and several other technology companies, law firms, consultancies and others followed suit. But there are still only a handful of big financial services firms that have begun reimbursing their employees with same-sex partners. Last we checked, that group includedBarclays, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and BNP Paribas.
Why is there even a need for such a policy?
Under federal law, employer-provided health benefits for domestic partners are counted as taxable income, if the partner is not considered a dependent. On top of that, the employees cannot use pretax dollars to pay for their premiums — unlike their opposite-sex married counterparts.
So while many big companies offer health insurance coverage for domestic partners, it costs employees more money to use it. To level the playing field among gay and heterosexual employees, many companies are covering the extra costs.
Like several other firms, Bank of America is only covering the costs for same-sex partners and their dependents. Many companies choose only to cover same-sex couples since heterosexual domestic partners have the option to marry and avoid the extra taxes.
The banking giant will provide the reimbursement once a year, and it will be calculated for each employee on an individual basis. “We regularly review our benefits plans to ensure they meet the diverse needs of our employees,” said Ferris Morrison, a spokeswoman for the bank.
Do you think Bank of America’s move will pressure other big financial firms to follow suit? If you know of any other companies that recently adopted the policy, please drop their names in the comment section below, so we can track them down and add them to our chart tracking companies’ progress.
Traffic court lawyer who used slurs agrees to suspension
If approved, deal would require anger management counseling
A Chicago attorney who repeatedly used homophobic and offensive language to describe other lawyers while competing for traffic court clients has agreed to at least a monthlong suspension of his license.
He also allegedly told one client not to hire an attorney because the man had a "sexual torture chamber in his basement."
Guadagno said the client shouldn't have hired the "gay" attorney and later yelled "scumbag" and "homosexual" at the attorney, continuing even after a sheriff's deputy told him to stop, records state.
He was sentenced to six months of court supervision and ordered to take an anger management class.As part of the agreement approved last week by an Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, Guadagno's license would be suspended for a month and he would have to complete two years of probation.While on probation, Guadagno must continue seeing a therapist for anger management counseling and complete a seminar on attorney professionalism, according to the agreement. If he violates probation, the panel would suspend his license for an additional four months.
The agreement must still be approved by the Illinois Supreme Court.Guadagno, who has focused on traffic cases since about 1990, could not be reached for comment.The disciplinary body noted in a filing that he has "acknowledged that his conduct was inappropriate and has expressed regret for it."
SMH: Children Banned From Attending Ricky Martin Concert In Honduras
A concert in Honduras by musician Ricky Martin will proceed but the government has banned children under the age of 15 from attending due to "erotic content," according to Fox News Latino.
Marines Recruit at SoCal Pride Event
Marine recruiters looking to add to the ranks of the few and the proud attended the San Gabriel Valley Pride festival in Pasadena over the weekend, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Via LAT:
With the official repeal last month of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, the Marine Corps, the service that was most opposed to ending the policy, appears to be leading the charge into new recruitment territory.
The end of the hush-hush era opens up another qualified pool of applicants, said Sgt. Monique Wallace, marketing and public affairs representative for the Marine Corps' Recruiting Station Los Angeles.
Carlos Ramirez, a board member of San Gabriel Valley Pride, said he believed that his group's Community Unity Day was the first Southern California pride event to host military recruitment.
Via LAT:
With the official repeal last month of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, the Marine Corps, the service that was most opposed to ending the policy, appears to be leading the charge into new recruitment territory.
The end of the hush-hush era opens up another qualified pool of applicants, said Sgt. Monique Wallace, marketing and public affairs representative for the Marine Corps' Recruiting Station Los Angeles.
Carlos Ramirez, a board member of San Gabriel Valley Pride, said he believed that his group's Community Unity Day was the first Southern California pride event to host military recruitment.
Read the LA Times report here.
