The Christian Civic League of Maine has gotten approval from the Secretary of State to begin circulating a petition to put a referrendum on the November 2009 ballot. The petition calls for:

• rescinding state laws prohibiting anti-gay discrimination
• banning gay marriage and civil unions
• banning adoption by gays and lesbians
• and banning funding for gay-straight alliances in public schools.

And what is the title of this petition? “An Act to Protect Marriage and Promote Equality” The League needs to collect 55,000 signatures by January. ...

If you are an anti-gay activist, sometimes you have to be careful not to sound like a loon. Sadly, Sally Kern isn’t very skilled at that task. Never one to pass an opportunity to spout a homophobic rant, Sally just had to respond when she heard that Lambda Legal has assigned May 15 as “Clock in for Equality Day” and is encouraging folks to take a pledge to oppose discrimination. Well, if it’s gay folks doing it, Sally objects. Even if that makes her seem a bit confused. The Oklahoman reports “Over and over again, the homosexuals say we don’t have ...

The 2008 Prime Access / Planet Out Gay and Lesbian Consumer Study shows that the GLBT community buys products and services from gay-friendly companies early and often.The study, based on the results of a questionnaire answered by 1,502 respondents from "the general population," as well as 575 respondents from the "gay and lesbian population" for a total of 2,259 respondents, is touted as "one of the largest and most comprehensive studies of gay and lesbian consumer habits and brand perceptions" yet assembled, according to the overview of the study’s highlights.The study showed, among other things, that gays and ...

Source: Christian Post , Soulforce press release Houston -- Jay Bakker, a New York City pastor and supporter of gay rights, met privately with Joel Osteen of Lakewood Church to talk about faith and sexuality issues. Son of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, Jay and a group of gays and lesbians attended one of Lakewood Church's worship services in an effort to change the influential pastor's view on gays and lesbians. Osteen welcomed the group, according to Christian Post , but "did not affirm homosexuality." The visit was the first of six megachurch stops in a campaign for tolerance called...( ...

Sixty gays and lesbians aboard a bus headed to march at a Gay Pride rally (which late on Friday the mayor of Moldova's capital Chisinau announced the city would not allow) were surround by hundreds of nationalists and neo-Nazis who threatened to kill them while the police stood by and watched it happen, according to UK Gay News: "The law on freedom of assembly of Moldova guarantees peaceful assembly to everyone, and puts an obligation on the police to guarantee the exercise of the right and the safety of participants. 'The police did not ...

I received news today of the death of Daniel Webster, 31, of Madison. Daniel had just begun work on his doctorate this year. Daniel died Wednesday at University Hospital and he will be laid to rest tomorrow in his home town of Gilman. Daniel and I served on the executive committee of the LGBT Caucus of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin during the last year. Daniel was an energetic young man, full of ideas, who worked hard for the Democratic Party and in the struggle for equal treatment of gays and lesbians in Wisconsin.Daniel, like many young men and ...

More positive updates from Jamaica on the fight against so-called "murder music" , the subgenre of dancehall and reggae that advocates violence and death for gays and lesbians. A popular op-ed contributor to the Jamaica Gleaner, the island's largest newspaper,... ...

Should a person who has fought her entire adult life against full equality for not only gays and lesbians but also women be honored with an honorary degree? No, says PFLAG. Which is exactly why the group is asking St. Louis, Missouri's Washington University to reconsider their decision to honor to Phyllis Schlafly, the doyenne of social conservatism who, despite herself having a gay son, has been making life tougher for gay people longer than most of us have been alive: PFLAG Decries Honorary Doctorate for Schlafly [Advocate] Now, the university defends itself by saying that they are ...

KINGSTON - First pitched on the Internet as a planned nudist colony for gays and lesbians, the Web site for the proposed Rosebud Lodge near here had changed drastically by this morning. Earlier, the lodge was touting itself as a private resort for the "GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender) Community." A collage of smiling same-sex couples was prominently featured. Now, the Rosebud Lodge Web site - www.rosebudlodge.com - merely describes itself as a private resort for adults over 18 that's "a dream in the making." Numerous Roane County residents are up in arms over the original description even ...

A Hunter College poll says that only 2.9% (with a 3.5% margin of error) of Americans are Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual. This story was released as an Advocate exclusive on May 1st, 2008. However this poll was conducted in November of 2007 and is not new as PinkNews.uk reports in an article today.While the poll may not be new news itself I do find the accompanying story interesting. Professor Patrick Egan suggests why this particular poll is so groundbreaking. Most polls that estimate the percentage of the populous that are LGB are done with exit polls ...

Although I seen this on several gay blogs already, I don’t think it can be repeated enough. Mildred Loving, a woman of color that married a white man, died on May 2nd. They were arrested and sentenced for the “crime” of loving each other and getting married. Her and her husband’s 1967 Supreme Court case against the state of Virginia resulted in the overturning one of the last segregation laws still on the books. Almost seems unbelievable today, but not too long ago it was considered morally and legally wrong for people of color and white people to marry ...

A couple of weeks ago, we sought nominations for the Best College for Lesbians in the Entire Universe. Here are the winners. 1. Best in Show - Wellesley We tried to give other schools a shot, but the following comment cemented the top prize for Wellesley. A Columbia grad admitted to taking a bus to the Wellesley Dyke Ball all the way from NYC. New York City is arguably the most dyke-friendly city on the east coast, so if there exists a reason to pull a lesbian away from the Five Boroughs, it has to be epic. Color us impressed. 2. ...

"On a rainy afternoon on January 27, 2008, my beloved husband died in our home in rural northern California. All our legal documents, all the laws of the State of California suddenly counted for nothing, nada, zilch to the Deputy Sheriff / Coroner standing in my living room. According to him, in our county only blood relatives and married spouses counted as next of kin. He intended to pack up all of my husband's possessions and ship them immediately to my brother-in-law in New York state."~Dagon, relating the death of his husband and the subsequent nonsense carried out by the ...

More than 200 Methodists attended a lesbian couple's commitment ceremony Friday in defiance of a vote to uphold a church law that says gay relationships are "incompatible with Christian teaching." The ceremony was at a park across from the Fort Worth Convention Center, where some 3,000 people are meeting for the United Methodist Church's general conference. It is held every four years to set church policy. Methodists this week rejected replacing a sentence in its Book of Discipline — which says the church "does not condone the practice of homosexuality" — with other phrases, including one saying Christians differ ...

Unfortunate news on a Ugandan lesbian who was raped and tortured and fled to England. The request for asylum is refused. As reported many times on Rod 2.0, Uganda has outlawed homosexuality and the government aggressively condemns gays and lesbians.... ...

Australian footballer Nathan Burke’s taking a stand against homophobia. The athlete has reportedly joined up with activist Rob Mitchell to ban anti-gay abuse on the pitch: “The rules should be along the same lines as its successful racial vilification policy,” Burke told the Herald Sun yesterday. … Mr Mitchell said young gays and lesbians were often discouraged because of abuse. “They’re petrified of playing sport. They get teased and ostracised. They withdraw and become depressed,” he said. Both men have met with government officials to discuss the matter, while the Australian Football League insists it “abhors” anti-gay attitudes just the same as ...

(Tel Aviv, Israel) A monument will be erected in Tel Aviv honoring gays and lesbians persecuted during the Holocaust. The Israeli news site Ynet reported Wednesday that an agreement to build the monument has been signed by city council and LGBT civil rights leader Itai Pinkas.  See Monument To Be Erected In Israel To Gay Holocaust Victims 365Gay.com  ...

I have heard of the writer David Lodge, but I have not read and of his books. Yet! I do have a second hand copy of A David Lodge Trilogy: Changing Places - Small World - Nice Work, but it remains unread. G.O.D. is always waxing lyrical about David Lodge, but for some reason I remain unmoved. But that’s more to do with the amount of reading that I would like to do, and with the limited time that us human beings have, some authors are going to fall by ...