LGBT in Puerto Rico

So I read through the articles, and the upshot is this:
Because Puerto Rico is a territory of the USA, the anti-sodomy laws and the hate crime laws apply. There are also non-federal laws signed into being last year, including probhibition of discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation (unclear whether this includes gender identity, I'm guessing not), and extension of the definition of domestic violence to include same-sex couples. However, there are no legal same-sex unions or recognitions of same-sex unions performed elsewhere, and no adoption of kids by same-sex partners.
Trans people are having a very hard time of it. At best, they are ridiculed, and at worst, being subjected to horrific hate crimes.
However, the arts scene is pushing back, hard. Two movies related to transgenderism have been produced within the last three years, and there are two film festivals dedicated to queer life.

Lawsuit over same-sex marriage
http://www.lgbtpuertorico.com/blog/
Wikipedia on being LGBT in Puerto Rico
Nice summary; Where does Puerto Rico stand on LGBT issues
Hate crime
Film Mala Mala

Boy Scouts Reconsider

Boy Scouts is considering lifting the ban on gay members! The nationwide ban will be removed, allowing individual units to choose their own policy. I'm so excited for my BSA friends!
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/29/us/boy-scouts-consider-lifting-ban-on-gay-leaders.html?pagewanted=1&tntemail1=y&_r=0&emc=tnt
This is even more exciting because Boy Scouts has to make this decision on their own--the Supreme Court ruled that they had the right to ban gay members. It's the same law that makes it possible for private schools to be all-male or all-female--and considering how many women felt empowered by attending an all-female college, I feel duty-bound to uphold the law allowing private organizations to make discriminative calls. That means the only thing to do is persuade leaders to change their minds in cases like this one, where the discrimination does more harm than good. After all, I've never met a boy (there may be some) who really, really wanted to attend a college that happened to be all-female.

More newspaper.

• An appeals court in New York says calling someone gay is not slander, because it is not defamatory. I always thought slander depended on the information being untrue. There's me told.
• Gaydar is apparently totally real, with about 60% accuracy, and dependent on the relationship between a person's facial features.
• The company Replacements Limited came out for gay marriage, to the loss of several customers. C'mon, queer allies, anti-boycott!
• More notes on Chick Fil'A.

News and Politics

I know I've been absent for a couple months, but I've been racking up the news articles to send you. Warning: NYTimes.com only lets you view ten free articles a month, so think carefully before clicking the links. I can get around that by getting them sent to me in my inbox, but even I can't view my bookmarks.
 So, Biden's big announcement in favor of same-sex marriage. I'm sure you've heard about this. Drove the White House a little crazy, rushing to make sure everyone knew this was Biden's personal opinion and not the official stance, and forcing Obama to say something one way or the other. I feel for the big man--he got voters from both sides by walking the line, and this doesn't help his cause. Quite frankly, I'm worried about what will happen if Mitt Romney gets in office. It really feels like he sets his stance based on what he thinks the public wants to hear, and changes it accordingly. What is the problem with Obama? I hope this is the article that talks about this--I keep getting a message that says I've read my free articles for the month before I can even read enough to see if it's the one I want. Basically, Romney's telling us Obama lost the country jobs--well, in his first few months of taking office, before his policies could take effect. And now he's trying to get us to return to the same policies that got us into this mess. Who really believes two terms are enough to dig the country out of its hole? Who thinks that a man who won't take a stance of his own and says what he thinks you want to hear will make a good president?  (Apparently, a lot of people.) And Romney won't support same-sex marriage--he says so himself, although he also apparently has friends who are gay. Yes, ObamaCare may be in line with socialist ideals. But guess what? So is public education. It doesn't make him evil. We're so close to getting many of our rights, despite some waffling in the White House--Obama Won't Order Ban on Gay Bias by Employers--some of the original top supporters of DOMA are trying to get it revoked, and the public mind is changing all the time. Don't let the country take two steps back for every step forward. Pull out your common sense. Leave the states vs federal debate and the abortion debate for another day. Debate them in your own time, please do. Work to change people's minds for the things you really care about. But the whole country's going to suffer if you elect Mitt Romney. Re-elect Obama. Pass it on.

In other news:
Homophobic? Maybe You're Gay
All you have to do is watch Glee to know some of the most vehement anti-gays out there are in the closet and scared to death. A good reason to turn the other cheek and be kind to those who hate your guts.
Methodists Vote Against Homosexuality Rule Change
Basically, the Methodists have it written down that homosexuality is incompatible with their teachings, and they decided not to rewrite it.
Harming the Troops
Military Chaplains officially can't marry same-sex couples, even in states where it's legal. I think. Legalese confuses the heck out of me. I shall never be a politician.
Malawi President Wants to Repeal Nation's Antigay Laws
Malawi, a country in Africa, currently has laws prohibiting homosexual acts, but its president wants to repeal them if she can.
And:
Rutgers Webcam-Spying Defendant Sentenced to 30 Days
This is the kid who spied on his roommate having gay sex using a webcam, and posted about it on Twitter, leading to the young man's suicide.

Marriage legality

I was reading the New York Times today, and came across this article. It's about the fight for gay marriage and the new donor pool it has. The really interesting thing, though, was that I recognized the name of the Republican lawyer, Theodore B. Olsen. I came across him while writing my research paper. He stood out for writing about why conservatives ought to support gay marriage, something I think needs to be a central point in changing minds. You can't change many minds just by saying 'this is right' and 'your way is unconstitutional', you need to add a 'this is why you should want this' to the mix. People are selfish, and often won't do anything unless it benefits them or their values in some way. Anti-gay people know that refusing to pass ENDA and similar laws (not marriage--by legal definition, we have exactly the same right as straight people: to marry the opposite sex*) is pretty unconstitutional. They probably know they haven't got any decent arguments. But the whole idea of gay marriage and gayness at all hits their gag reflex. Plain and simple, they don't like it. So they throw everything they've got, like money and religion, against it. We need to make them like it. We need to tell them why they should want equality for all.
Here's Olsen's article.

*This confuses a lot of people. If you're one of them, I'll put it in black and white.
Susan is straight. She has the legal right to marry a man, whether or not she loves him. She couldn't marry a woman for whatever crazy reason. She doesn't have the right.
Annie is gay. She also has the legal right to marry a man, even if she doesn't love him. She couldn't marry a woman even if she does love her. She doesn't have the right.
There's no actual legal difference. Gay and straight (and bi) women alike have the right to marry a man, not a woman. Gay and straight (and bi) men alike have the right to marry a woman, not a man.
Straights don't actually get any special privileges--they're just lucky enough to have the people they're attracted to/people they're capable of loving in the same category as people they're legally allowed to marry, while gay people aren't.
This is not to say I support this. Yes, I think the federal legal definition of marriage should be changed. Point is, this is how things stand. We can't really shout 'equal rights' on this because we have them. What we're asking for is more rights--the right to marry any legal adult human being we please. It'll extend to straight people as well, who don't have that right either, although they generally don't want to marry someone of the same sex, so no one sees them as missing out.

End marriage discrimination

Watch original here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_TBd-UCwVAY

Russia's turn

The following taken from allout.org:

Dear friend,

I just added my voice to this urgent appeal, standing for human rights in Russia and all over the world. Medvedev and Putin's party is pushing a law to vote this week that would make any mention of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender issues illegal.

The bill, being introduced as early as this Wednesday, would criminalize any book, article or speech about sexual identity and gender orientation, labeling it "homosexual propaganda". This is outrageous, and now is the time for key world leaders to speak up, we need every voice.

Will you take a minute to add yours?

allout.org/russia_silenced

DADT dust

I don't pretend to understand politics. Why is it, for example, that I get the distinct impression that people I know are Republican because they are against abortion instead of because they care whether the federal government or the states put down the laws?
Or how can it be that the repeal of DADT passed the House and Senate and was signed by the President months ago and is only now going into effect?
*sigh* Oh, well. I'll probably never be a lawyer. At any rate, we can celebrate because DADT is now completely and totally in the dustbin as of today. Hooray!
Here's an article about those people who think the repeal is a bad thing. It's not exactly objective, but it puts voice to those feelings of "What? But that's obviously ridiculous!" that are so bad at making points.
Now I could join the military if I wanted, because I would have no intentions of going into a field where I had to hide. Please. Did enough of that in high school, right? I probably never will. Military isn't my style. But to all those whose calling is overseas--the world is your oyster.

Cut it out, Apple

From allout.org:

Right now, Apple is participating in a controversial online platform called Christian Values Network (CVN), which allows users to donate part of their purchases to “charity” - including anti-gay hate groups like Family Research Council, who recently asked members to pray for homosexuality to stay a criminal offense in Malawi, and even Abiding Truth Ministries, a group that has been tied to the "Kill the Gays" bill in Uganda.

Apple may not mean to be funding hate groups. In fact they've publicly supported LGBT rights in the past. But now that they know what’s really going on at CVN, it’s time to pull out.

BBC America, Microsoft, Delta, and most recently Macy’s have cut ties with CVN under public pressure, but computer giant Apple is still participating. So we need to turn up the heat and demand action. Join me and tell Apple to stop using CVN and stop funding anti-gay hate groups:

www.allout.org/stop_funding_hate

I signed up. Come with me.

Know Your Rights

My mother was shocked today to hear that workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and/or gender identity is not illegal.
In fact, there are a lot of states that don't have laws against it. We looked up a couple of states and their laws. HCR.org allows you to select your state and see whether it recognizes same-sex marriage, has anti-discrimination laws and/or anti-hate laws, whether it has protection in schools, etc. Try it.
So we moved to the worldview. The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex Organization posts one of these every year. Explore the worldview on subjects such as whether one can change one's gender on one's birth certificate, whether hate crime based on sexual orientation is considered an aggravating circumstance, and whether adoption by couples is legal.
This is ridiculous. There is no good argument for not having legal rights.

Marriage

A recent poll says that just over half the population now supports gay marriage.
Make one more today. Support a person's right to the pursuit of happiness, living in a recognized life partnership with the person they love. Support our legal rights as committed partners, such as hospital visitation and federal benefits. And support our right to NOT be treated 'special', to dream of a wedding just like yours.
My church tells me that I can be gay, but not act on it. Why? Because it's the same as sex before marriage.
So give us marriage and a choice other than life celibacy or going against our church.

Ed and Derence

Watch here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=H8nTy0e8mj4