Life-on-Q

It’s Oscar time, and I’ve started my annual Run of the Movies , trying to fit it viewings of as many Academy Award-nominated films as I can before the big show.  Last night, I went to see Milk, and got a healthy dose of vitamin D (for “depressed”). Milk is a docu-drama about the political life of Harvey Milk, a San Francisco City Supervisor who was assassinated in 1978, a year after becoming the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the United States. Sean Penn (R) as... Read Full Story

Gov. Palin "signs autographs" in Savannah. Isn't that too much makeup? Photo (cc) by Dizzy Girl. It was a dark, cloudy, chilly day here in Georgia.  But it wasn’t just the weather.  That Alaskan beauty pageant runner-up Sarah Palin was in our state today.  Palin was here to campaign for Republican Incumbent Senator Saxby Chambliss, who faces Democrat Jim Martin in a run-off tomorrow.  How nice of Gov. Palin to come down here to the “Real America” in the deep south, where we sure do love our... Read Full Story

Today is World AIDS Day, observed every year on December 1st. The World Health Organization established World AIDS Day in 1988, making today the 20th anniversary of the observance. World AIDS Day provides governments, national AIDS programs, faith organizations, community organizations, and individuals with an opportunity to raise awareness and focus attention on the global AIDS epidemic.  Here are some facts about AIDS from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) here in Atlanta: Around the... Read Full Story

With the exception of Proposition 8 and other anti-gay amendments passed earlier this month, you have to believe there is a God and a Santa Claus, and that Christmas has come early this year. Several media outlets are reporting that Ann Coulter’s jaw has been wired shut. If only they would leave it that way permananently. Apparently, Coulter fell down some stairs and broke her jaw. Or maybe she was pushed by Karma? Check any of these reports for more details: The Dish Rag Blog at the LA... Read Full Story

In the right-wing war on LGBT America, we continue to win a few and lose a few.  Today, we won one.  The Miami Herald reports that Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman has ruled that Florida’s 30-year ban on adoption by gays and lesbians is unconstitutional.  Another court came to a similar conclusion back in August, when Monroe Circuit Judge David John Audlin Jr. wrote that Florida’s 1977 gay adoption ban arose out of ”unveiled expressions of bigotry,” according to the Herald . The... Read Full Story

File this under:  “as bad as things are for the LGBT community in America, it could be worse.”  This just in from the InternationalGay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC): In an unexpected move, the National Assembly of Burundi passed a law on Friday November 21, 2008, making same-sex acts punishable by between 3 months and two years in prison, alo ng with a substantial fine. The following day, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) and the Association... Read Full Story

Last Monday, admirals and generals representing every branch of the military released a statement calling for the repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy.  The officers were led by retired Admiral Charles Larson, who had originally supported the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy when it was first proposed in 1993, in the wake of the backlash over then President Clinton’s effort to overturn the ban on gays in the military early in his presidency.  Admiral Larson reportedly changed his mind after... Read Full Story

Several ministers spoke in both religious and secular terms about the issues of gay rights and gay marriage at the Join the Impact! protest in Atlanta last Saturday. Take a look at Life on Q’s video of the speech by Dr. Margaret Aymer at Atlanta’s Join the Impact protest for gay marriage on Nov. 15, 2008.  Dr. Aymer talks about her mixed race marriage, the commonalities between the civil rights movement and the gay rights movement, and her point of view as a Presbyterian minister and... Read Full Story

Groups are springing up everywhere to add to the momentum of community activism in the aftermath of the passage of Proposition 8 in California.  One interesting one is called White Knot .  The idea is to create a new symbol for marriage equality.  In the spirit of red AIDS ribbons and pink breast cancer ribbons, the white knot combines two traditional symbols of marriage—white and tying the knot—to show support for the right of gays and lesbians to marry. The goal is simply visibility, and... Read Full Story

Take a look at Jeff Graham’s speech at the Join the Impact protest on Saturday, November 15. Jeff is executive director of Georgia Equality , a statewide political advocacy group for Georgia’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. In his remarks, Jeff talks about the many challenges, and a few victories, in the fight for LGBT rights in Georgia. He also stresses the importance of the upcoming December 2 Senate runoff in Georgia between incumbent Saxby Chambliss and Democratic... Read Full Story