Tag: LGBT Politics

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/09/daniel-hernandez-gabrielle-giffords-school-board-election_n_1084672.html

Daniel Hernandez Jr., the 21-year-old intern in Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ (D-Ariz.) office who ran towards gunshots during the Tucson shooting, won a seat on an Arizona school board on Tuesday.

This month’s election saw big victories for gay and lesbian candidates across the country.  Fifty three LGBT politicos were elected to city and state races, according to The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, a group which helps gay candidates win.

Notable among the winners was America’s youngest openly gay mayor, 22-year-old Alex Morse of Holyoke, Massachusetts.

His victory was significant enough for the CBS Evening News to do a story on him Sunday night – an important newscast which airs right before the ratings-winner “60 Minutes.”

http://www.southfloridagaynews.com/news/local-news/4982-openly-gay-businessman-elected-to-lake-worth-city-council.html

Polling is over, the votes have been tallied and for the first time ever an openly gay man has been elected to the Lake Worth City Council.

A 32 year Lake Worth resident and business owner Andy Amoroso, 47, was sworn in Nov. 14 after defeating incumbent Jo-Ann Golden in a Nov. 8 election which saw Amoroso receive more than 59 percent of the vote.

Amoroso is one of the founding members of the Lake Worth Downtown Cultural Alliance and a member of the Community Redevelopment Association – a post he had to relinquish due to conflict of interest with his running for office. In order to get elected he harnessed his support as a local businessman to flex his political muscle.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07161/793042-51.stm

Rebecca Meiksin, 22, is white, middle-class, college-educated, with plans to earn a graduate degree in public health.

Terrance McGeorge, 20, is black, grew up in the Hill District, has a high school degree and works in an AmeriCorps service program at Beginning With Books.

Despite their differences, both of these young people have something in common with the new grandson of the vice president of the United States, who was born to Mary Cheney and her partner, Heather Poe, on May 23: They grew up in a family with a gay parent.

And both of them believe they have turned out just fine– in no small way because of how they were raised.

The latest Internet hero is Zach Wahls, a 19-year-old University of Iowa engineering student and Eagle Scout whose parents are lesbians.

Wahls gave a three-minute speech Tuesday before Iowa legislators urging them not to pass a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage and civil unions.

His words went viral across the Internet and had nearly a half million hits on YouTube today.

“In my 19 years, not once have I ever been confronted by an individual who realized independently that I was raised by a gay couple,” said Wahls. “And you know why? Because the sexual orientation of my parents has had zero affect on the content of my character.”

Introducing himself as a “sixth-generation Iowan,” Wahls said he had achieved the Boy Scouts’ highest rank and attained a 99th percentile on his college aptitude test.

“If I was your son, Mr. Chairman, I believe I would make you very proud,” he testified.

http://newsok.com/oklahoma-city-council-passes-sexual-orientation-discrimination-protection-measure/article/3623463

A measure proposed by Ward 2 Oklahoma City Councilman Ed Shadidthat extends employment discrimination protection in city offices to gay people passed Tuesday by a 7-2 vote.

http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/us-catholic-bishops-declare-war-on-gay-marriage-despite-us-catholic-views/politics/2011/11/14/30166?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheNewCivilRightsMovement+%28The+New+Civil+Rights+Movement%29

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)  — the official group that represents the Catholic Church in America — is in the middle of a two-​day annual meeting and has decided to declare war on gay marriage, at the expense of all else. Despite a recent poll titled, “Catholics in America,” that found American Catholics see opposition to same-​sex marriage equality as low on their list of what the Church should be focusing on, the USCCB has spent a good portion of the day on its anti-​gay agenda, which included the introduction of a new anti-​gay website, “Marriage: Unique For A Reason.”

The new site says, “it is hoped that Marriage: Unique for a Reason can be of assistance to all people of good will who seek to understand the truth and beauty of marriage.” We agree. Marriage is unique, and beautiful, and should therefore not be declined to same-​sex couples.