I spent last weekend in Washington, D.C. lobbying and learning with the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), America’s largest LGBT civil rights organization. I returned with a few stories to share. The last time I visited room 2410 in the Rayburn House office building with an HRC folder I got a forced smile from a staffer…
We attended the Latino Film Festival media kickoff party Feb. 21 at Gang Kitchen in Downtown San Diego. We saw many familiar faces from the community and one that we recognized but couldn’t pinpoint from where. He started charging his phone behind us and then it hit us that it was Douglas Spain. He’s one…
The San Diego Latino Film Festival begins this weekend. As it has for the past seven years it will be continuing its mission to help correct the often distorted images seen on television and in the movies by revealing LGBT lives through international film in the 8th outing of their Cine Gay Showcase. Challenging the…
I would never refer to African Americans by the terms “colored” or “negro” even though Martin Luther King Jr. used those terms frequently. Times have changed, and the terms we use for the African American community and its members have changed. Many, if not most, African Americans now consider those terms to be offensive, although…
I invite you to join me for my birthday celebration and fundraiser at The Center, Tuesday, April 2, 6:30 p.m. The food will be catered by Babbo’s at a reasonable price and your money goes to a good cause. I hope you’ll join us! … end commercial! Te amo! Je t’aime! Ich liebe dich! I…
Today, the President Barack Obama signed into law S. 47, the “Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013,” which reauthorizes several Violence Against Women Act grant programs through FY 2018; and the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 through FY 2017. An extract from the president’s remarks at the signing ceremony: ” … And today,…
A North Carolina middle-school girl who wrote to all nine Supreme Court Justices for a ruling in favor of marriage equality on behalf of her same-sex parents has received a response. According to a report in the Washington Blade, Cameron a 6th grader received the response from Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor in a letter dated…
In a historic 3-2 ruling the First Chamber of the Mexican Supreme Court of Justice has determined that homophobic expressions such as “maricones” or “puñal” are not only offensive and discriminatory but are also not protected under the freedom of expression laws. A statement released by the Court (translation) read: In session on March 6…
Freedom to Marry has released a new analysis of national polling data and trends on the freedom to marry by Joel Benenson, a leading Democratic pollster, and Dr. Jan van Lohuizen, a top Republican pollster. The acclaimed pollsters analyzed exit polls from the 2012 election and recent surveys to compile a document demonstrating that the well-documented…
In a move that has become all too familiar to producers of gay content and gay-themed apps, Apple has rejected outright the inclusion of Lust Unearthed, a collection of over 200 erotic images from the library of Hollywood costume and set designer Ambrose Dubek. The book, which was assembled by Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema’s Thomas Waugh…
