Happening right now in our nation's capital: [YT: Thinkprogress] Wow, what a complete and utter non-shocker that Congressman Gohmert (very Far R-TX) was also the leading voice against inclusive hate crimes legislation, who routinely lied about what does and does not constitute a sexual orientation and/or a hate crime. Many of this nation's most ardent sayers of ridiculous things that keep Americans more vulnerable seem to have chosen their own willingness to embrace untruth as the one area where they are non-discriminating. **More from today: [YT: NewsHourLive] ...

This is Pastor Kim Daniels, a Pentecostal Apostle: And here she is partnering with Harry Jackson, talking about the "enemy" pushing hate crimes legislation: Quite vocal, huh? In fact, she was so vocal in October 2009 that a Halloween piece she penned was yanked from the Christian Broadcasting Network site. Apparently even Pat Roberston and company realize that lines like this... "I do not buy candy during the Halloween season. Curses are sent through the tricks and treats of the innocent whether they get it by going door to door or by purchasing it from the local grocery store. The demons ...

[Cross-posted at A World of Progress]President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Act into law on October 28, 2009. This law expanded federal hate crimes legislation to include gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability.Before Obama signed this law, those opposed to LGBT rights warned us of many Great Harms that would result from this expansion. Today, we are going to examine whether any of these predictions have come true yet.1) The American Family Association warned that the expansion of this law was set to give "special protection status to pedophiles" and "30 different ...

In the past, we've caught professional "ex-gay" advocate Regina Griggs lying about a number of things. The most egregious has to be this one... *Source: Wallbuilders Live, 10/16/09 ...in which Regina took a '07 CDC report, that in actuality says this... In the United States, HIV infection and AIDS have had a tremendous effect on men who have sex with men (MSM). MSM accounted for 71% of all HIV infections among male adults and adolescents in 2005 (based on data from 33 states with long-term, confidential name-based HIV reporting),even though only about 5% to 7% of male adults and ...

Feb 12th marks two years since the tragic murder of 15 year old Lawrence King due to his sexual orientation and gender expression. Lawrence King was an innocent victim of queerphobia, murdered simply because he asked a fellow classmate to be his valentine. We must never forget Lawrence King and the countless others murdered due to hate, and we must continue to fight for a comprehensive hate crimes legislation in every locale and an end to state-sanctioned homophobia/transphobia.MinnesotaEnd the ViolenceBlaine, MinnesotaFriday, February 12, 201011:00 a.m - 1:00 p.mLocation: Blaine High SchoolCo-Sponsored By: Blaine High School Gay Straight AllianceVirginiaVirginia"I Love ...

The Democrats performance on queer issues in 2009 wasn't that great. The one really good thing they did was to finally pass hate crimes legislation that included sexual orientation, gender, and disability. The rest was not so good. No other LGBT civil rights issue has even reached Obama's desk. President Obama's record, aside from signing the hate crimes statute, was not too great either. His involvement of Rick Warren in the inauguration was viciously homphobic and misogynist and showed a lack of interest in dealing with the threat of Christian religious extremism to this country. Aside from minor things here ...

In the days since it was unveiled, the folks behind the so-called Manhattan Declaration have added a handful of signatories to their list of supportive religious leaders. This one, in particular, struck us as interesting: Rev. Louis P. Sheldon Founder and Chairman, Traditional Values Coalition (Anaheim, CA) List of Religious Leaders Signatories [Manhattan Declaration] Why? Well, because as you may or may not know, Mr. Sheldon's group is one of only eleven organizations in America whose rhetoric is overheated has been enough to earn the Southern Poverty Law Center's anti-gay hate group designation. In recent months, ...

Kasim Reed will head to the heart of the gayborhood Wednesday to respond to charges from LGBT supporters of Mary Norwood that his lack of support for marriage equality is an insult to gay families. Reed’s campaign announced a press conference Wednesday in a Piedmont Avenue parking lot that sits between two popular gay spots—Outwrite Bookstore & Coffeehouse and Blake’s on the Park. Reed is expected to be joined by several LGBT supporters, City Council President Lisa Borders and state Sen. Nan Orrock at the 1:30 p.m. event. Form the Reed campaign: At the press conference, Norwood’s non-existent voting record on LGBT ...

Mayoral candidate Kasim Reed, locked in a battle for LGBT votes with Mary Norwood as they sprint to a Dec. 1 runoff, met with gay supporters during an event in Midtown Friday. Reed mingled with the crowd of about 50 people before delivering a campaign stump speech that touted his support of LGBT issues—including hate crimes legislation and fighting against a measure banning gay marriage—during his years in the state legislature. Guests at the event included the General Assembly’s only openly gay member, Rep. Karla Drenner, and longtime LGBT advocate state Sen. Vincent Fort. Drenner and Fort endorsed Reed in September. Also ...

Page Edited by eQualityGiving: Updated the test to reflect the impact of Federal Hate Crimes Legislation ...

On Oct. 28, President Barack Obama signed the much-awaited federal hate crimes legislation expanding protection to victims on the basis of sexual orientation and gender-identity. While the legal advancement is good news, LGBT citizens might not be as protected as they think. Columbia’s Free Times reported Nov. 4 that state-level hate crimes legislation are still [...] ...

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Messengers to the 189th annual meeting of the South Carolina Baptist Convention Nov. 10-11 passed two anti-gay resolutions against a repeal of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy and the recent passage of LGBT-inclusive hate crimes legislation. The first resolution said federal hate crimes legislation “could effectively kill the First Amendment freedom [...] ...

In October 2009, President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act that expands federal hate crime law to include crimes motivated by a person's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. The previous law permitted prosecution of hate crimes committed on the basis of a person's race, color, religion, or national origin. Effectively, this meant that Fred Phelps, his church of God Hates Fags, and every other anti-gay Persecuted Christian in the US was protected under federal hate crimes laws whilst the targets of their animus, LGBT people, ...

A joint statement was released last week on the occasion of President Barack Obama signing hate crimes legislation into law:History in the MakingIt took much too long, more than a decade. And it came at too great a price: the brutal killings of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. are just two among the thousands of crimes motivated by hate and bigotry.But this week, the president put pen to paper and fulfilled a campaign promise, the signing of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, extending the federal hate crimes statute to include sexual ...

Ever since Osama bin Warren was allowed to unconstitutionally participate in the inauguration, there has been a growing disquiet with the Obama administration and congressional Democrats in the queer community. We constantly have been told to "give him a chance" whenever we speak up. Younger queers found it bizarre that basic rights are treated as trivialities which must be set aside indefinitely. Those of us who have been around longer remember being told "give him a chance" during a previous Administration only to have Bill Clinton turn out to be viciously homophobic.Cleve Jones and the other organizers of the ...

Randomly I caught this segment when it aired. I don’t know why I’m still shocked at this kind of thing, but I really am. Pat Robertson spread deliberate lies about the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Act, saying, “You know, there’s a law – what about a law that says it’s a federal crime to attack somebody because of his religious beliefs? Not a chance! . . . The noose has tightened the noose around the necks of Christians . . . and it was all embodied in something called the Hate Crimes Bill.” Thing is, ...

COREY JOHNSON Yesterday was an historic day for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans. The hate crimes measure named in honor of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. which was signed by President Obama in an early afternoon ceremony yesterday in the East Room at the White House modifies the 1969 federal hate-crime law covering crimes motivated by actual or perceived race, color, religion or national origin, expanding it to cover gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability. This is the first piece of federal legislation signed into law that explicitly covers LGBT citizens. Advocates ...

Page Edited by eQualityGiving: Updated the information on passage of Hate Crimes Legislation ...

Page Edited by eQualityGiving: Updated the information on passage of Hate Crimes Legislation ...

President Obama with Judy Shepard, mother of Mathew Shepard, in the Oval Office in June 2009Here are the President's Remarks on the signing of the Defense Reauthorization Act (which included the Mathew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr Hate Crimes Prevention Act) today white the White House emailed to its Press List:Now, speaking of that, there is one more long-awaited change contained within this legislation that I'll be talking about a little more later today. After more than a decade of opposition and delay, we've passed inclusive hate crimes legislation to help protect our citizens from violence based on ...