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A First For Burmese GLBT

May 172012
 

Yangon – Following the success of low key events for Burmese GLBT living in Thailand, organisers have received government permission for two GLBT events to be held today in Yangon and Mandalay.

It will mark a turning point for rights in Burma (Myanmar) as the country is to hold its first-ever public LGBT Pride. The celebrations are scheduled as part of the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.

The upcoming Pride has attracted UN officials, artists, writers and LGBT people from the entertainment industry, who will discuss LGBT rights around the world.

The guest speakers will also share their own experiences facing the violence that stems from homophobia and transphobia.

Aung Myo Min, one of the Myanmar Pride organizers, told Gay Star News that LGBT people in Burma regularly encounter “silent homophobia” even as anti-gay policies have been relaxed in recent years.

“We’re not going out on the street for a parade,” Min said. “It will be an indoor event because of the situation in Burma. But we hope that we will have a gay parade in the future.”

Min’s group, the Human Rights Education Institute Burma (HREIB), had organized three previous IDAHOT events for Burmese living in Thailand. This year, HREIB is hosting dual celebrations in Rangoon and Mandalay, the country’s two largest cities.

“This year there have been some changes in Burma,” Min said. For the celebration in Mandalay, HREIB received permission from local authorities.

Asked if he is concerned about conservative backlash, Min insists that the Pride events will not be political. “This is just a celebration of a historic event, when homosexuality was removed from the list of mental diseases,” he told Gay Star News. “It’s just about the dignity of the LGBT people.”

“Our message is just to end homophobia,” he added.

A poster designed by HREIB to commemorate IDAHOT 2012 reads, “Homosexuality is not a sickness, but homophobia is.”

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Gay Lawmakers Urged To Come Out

May 172012
 


Manila – Philippine lawmaker Rep. Teddy Casino of party list group Bayan Muna (People First), a staunch supporter of LGBT concerns in this predominantly Catholic nation of over 100 million people yesterday urged his closet gay and lesbian colleagues in the House of Representatives to come in the open and fight all forms of discrimination against lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender.

In his privilege speech supported by LGBT communities in the country, the progressive member of the PH parliament said his colleagues whether they are straight, gays, lesbians, transgenders or bisexuals should lead the elimination of all forms of discrimination in aid of legislation.

“I rise on a matter of personal and collective privilege to take up the cause of one of our marginalized and discriminated sectors who are not officially represented in this Congress – our gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender persons,” said Casino, one of the advocates of LGBT rights in and out of the House of Representatives.

The Bayan Muna leader added: “Let me start with a question: is there any congressman in this august chamber who will openly declare that he is gay? Is there a congresswoman in this room who will admit she is lesbian?”

Casino, a father of two sons and a straight guy, admitted it difficult it is to deal with the issue of homosexuality in the Philippines.

The activist noted that on May 17, 1990, the global community declared the day as International Day Against Homophobia or IDAHO. Rep. Casino said, due to protest, the World Health Organization (WHO) erased homosexuality in the list of mental disorders. Before this, gays and lesbian communities were treated as crazy people.

“I wish to make clear that exposing a lawmaker’s sexuality is not the point of this privilege speech. That is not what our group wishes to expose to the public,” said Casino.

“That is why I am asking to let you feel that everyone of us here the common reaction of any Filipino whether he or she is a congress person or ordinary citizen on the issue of sexual orientation and gender identity,” he said.
Whether we admit it or not, the LGBT phenomenon has put many a Filipino in a quandary. It has even placed some Filipinos in a state of agitation.

According to Rep. Casino, many Filipinos do not really want to talk seriously about this issue. He said in many occasions, his office had asked a number of people their views on LGBT and their replies varied from silence, giggles, while some crack jokes.

Rep. Casino said he did not find this surprising, saying it has been the observation of some sociologists, that Filipinos, by nature, tend to avoid confrontations.

The Bayan Muna lawmaker has filed House Bill 4653 – An Act Declaring May 17 of Every Year as the National Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia to promote respect for gay rights.

“Let me be frank and honest about this. Some of my well-meaning friends have advised me to steer clear of the LGBT issue. They said the LGBT tag was “Kiss of Death” or “Election Suicide” for those running for elective posts in the country. Maybe it would make our lives easier as lawmakers, if we don’t tangle with issues with deep religious and moral underpinnings, especially in view of the fact that next year is an election year.”

Casino cited an online study on gay killings conducted by the Philippine LGBT Hate Crime Watch showed 97 cases of gays violently killed from 1997 to June 2011.

The Department of Health has sounded the alarm over the sudden rise in the number of HIV and AIDS cases in the country. Some 274 new cases were recorded last February and the DOH said this represented a 72 percent rise, compared to the 159 cases reported in February 2011.

This DOH announcement, released last March 22, also said that majority of the cases reported sexual contact as the mode of transmission and that males having sex with other males was the predominant type of sexual transmission, corresponding to 87 percent of the reported cases.

“And to my mind, even the most conservative among us would agree to a discussion on ways to address LGBT concerns, rather than create a great divide where one side is directly opposed to the other. As lawmakers, it behooves us to be the vanguard of consensus-building among our people. As lawmakers, we should also be peacemakers, the harbingers of unity and understanding, never of discord,” said Casino.
He noted that in the United States, President Barack Obama has openly supported same sex marriages, while billionaire entrepreneur Donald Trump, owner of the Miss Universe franchise, has allowed transgenders to participate in all franchise contests of the Ms. Universe pageant.

“And this may come as a surprise to many, but really, transgenders have been allowed to compete in the Olympics since 2004. I do not necessarily agree with Pres. Obama or Mr. Trump. I think the issue of same sex unions is a very complex issue that requires further dialogue and understanding. Yet the sad reality is that here in our country, LGBTs are still being discriminated in our workplaces, schools and communities. Gays are being assaulted and killed for being gay. Persons with HIV, especially gays are being isolated and ostracized. Transgenders are being denied entry in some places because they don’t dress the part.”

Casino said in the Philippines, gay marriage is not a major concern among members of the LGBT communities. He said many LGBTs are having a hard time getting jobs, others were not sent by their parents to school, many are also victims of all time bullying based on anti-gay sentiments and LGBTs are often described as abnormal persons.

In his speech, Rep. Casino reiterated that the Filipino nation needs a common ground, a working consensus on LGBT concerns. But this cannot be achieved if one or the other resorts to namecalling or falls back on our traditional biases and fears. Martin Luther King said that “a genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder for consensus.” he added

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GLBT Rights A Joke In Thailand

May 172012
 


Bangkok (The Nation) – While LGBT Americans last week celebrated President Obama’s statement of support for same-sex marriage, Thai lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders could only look on with envy, as Thailand is perhaps decades away from having a leader with such moral courage.

In fact, the opposite is true here. Homophobia and transphobia is the rule in Thai politics. When his interior minister, Purachai Piamsomboon, mulled about legalising gay marriage some years ago, then PM Thaksin Shinawatra quickly dismissed it as a “Western idea”. Just two weeks ago, a Pheu Thai MP mocked a Democrat MP for being “taew taek” (“over-the-top queen”). The latter denied that he’s not one and said the Pheu Thai Party harboured many more “people of that kind”.

The use of alleged homosexuality for political attacks clearly shows how Thai society views gays and transgenders: deranged, immoral and, therefore, undeserving of respect.

This is to be expected in a country where the medical profession still categorises transgenderism as a form of mental disorder, where the predominantly “Buddhist” population believes that LGBTs are immoral and guilty of past-life sins, where all junior high-school students are instructed by government-approved textbooks that homosexuality is a kind of sexual deviancy, and where the media like the popular TV programme “Tee Sib” regularly reinforces negative images by portraying LGBTs as morally defective, promiscuous, and spreaders of HIV/Aids.

It’s no surprise then that Thailand has no openly LGBT public figures, despite the known secret that some of our past and present leaders are homosexuals. Even straight officials unafraid of gay rumours are reluctant to support LGBT rights, not wanting to be seen as having “low moral standards”.

Thailand is usually perceived by foreigners as tolerant towards LGBTs because transgenders are more visible than in the West. But this myth is based on the wrong assumption that visibility comes with equality. Few foreigners would notice that the transgenders are visible only in lower-rung careers. The sight of many local men enjoying a thriving gay scene also hides the fact that few are “out” to their families. Even fewer are “out” at work, especially if they are in the formal sectors.

It’s true that in general Thai LGBTs don’t get their heads kicked in. But that’s only because the culture has already done an excellent job of kicking our heads in, convincing most LGBTs that we are somehow lesser human beings. We are normally left alone as long as we mind our place and stay within the cultural fence.

But if we try to cross into more formal space, society is ready to rein us in – sometimes violently. The shutdown of the Chiang Mai Gay Pride parade three years ago and the overwhelming public support for Chiang Mai’s banning of transgenders from decorative floats during public festivities are examples of cultural resistance against equal treatment for LGBTs.

The public sphere is not the only place where Thai LGBTs must tread carefully. Some people find it too close for comfort when LGBTs are perceived to be entering their personal space. Many people object to a proposed law to recognise gender change because they claim that men would be duped into marrying a transgender. (On the contrary, same-sex marriage seems less threatening, as it only involves “those people”.)

Things can get violent, when the “intrusion” is no longer hypothetical. Last June, a tomboy was killed and her body dumped in a reservoir in Trat. The main suspect, the mother of the victim’s girlfriend, readily divulged that the reason for the murder was her preference to see her daughter date a man than a “tom”. This is clearly a case where a person is killed because of her sexual orientation and gender identity. It would be categorised as “hate crime” in countries with a law – such as the Matthew Shepard Act in the US – to curb crimes motivated in whole or in part by the offender’s bias against the victim’s identity.

One would hope that this is just an isolated case. But a disturbing pattern is emerging. In 2009, two 17-year-old girls in a same-sex relationship were found dead with more than sixty stab wounds in Chiang Mai. Police suggested they were killed by a man who was attracted to one of them and disdainful of their relationship. This case was an exception in that there were no other obvious causes for the crime, so the police quickly zeroed in on jealously and bias as the motive.

But the idea of “hate crime” doesn’t exist in Thailand’s law enforcement, and the police usually account for similar cases as crimes of passion or love affairs turned sour. In at least five other murder cases over the past six years, the police hypothesised that the tom or lesbian victims were killed solely because they had become involved with married women or someone’s girlfriends.

This assumption legitimises the murders as the victims’ own fault, as though a murder is an appropriate reaction if the alleged affairs are true. It also blinds society to the fact that a man in a similar love triangle would unlikely meet the same fate. As the Trat case clearly shows, the victim would not have been killed if she were a man.

And yet, murders are not the only kind of violence against toms and lesbians. In February, a 14-year-old girl in Loei reported to police that her father had been raping her continuously for four years. The father excused his behaviour by saying that he did it because she “liked to hang out with toms” and wouldn’t listen to his instructions to stay away from them. Corrective rapes “to cure lesbians” are known to be far from rare, although until now overlooked by the state.

This can only be the tip of an iceberg. The question is how many unreported cases of violence are infused with homophobia? These cases of gruesome violence against toms and lesbians prompted local LGBT groups in collaboration with the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission to send a letter to Thai officials, demanding investigation and action, along with other measures to combat homophobia and transphobia and discrimination against LGBTs. The government has yet to respond.

Read the Full Story HERE

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Shock UN Report On TGs WITH HIV

May 172012
 


Bangkok – (AFP) – Nearly half of transgender people in the Asia-Pacific region could have HIV as poor healthcare and high-risk lifestyles push infection rates to “critical levels”, a UN report said on Thursday.

The region’s estimated 9-9.5 million transgender population is “bearing the brunt of the HIV epidemic”, the UN Development Programme study said, adding that figures suggest 49 percent of the community could be infected.

The figure is drawn from anecdotal evidence of infection rates among trans-women — men who become women — taken from the “scattered and often small-scale research” available across the region, the UNDP said.

Report author Sam Winter, of Hong Kong University, urged governments to take note of the “burning need to address a very human crisis”, pointing out many transgender people end up working as prostitutes and having unsafe sex.

“Social exclusion, poverty and HIV infection contribute to what we call a ‘stigma sickness slope’ — a downward spiral that is difficult to reverse,” he said in the “Lost in Transition” study.

Transgender people also routinely suffer violence and prejudice while being offered narrow economic opportunities and scant psychological support, the report found.

Billed as the region’s most comprehensive study, the report collates information from the last 12 years, painting a picture of hardship for many transgender people, who lack basic healthcare and emotional help.

It recorded cases of “backyard” sex change surgery including castration and the widespread use of unsafe industrial silicone for breast implants among those who cannot afford quality healthcare.

Often transgender people leave home at a young age in response to family disapproval, drop out off school because of bullying and struggle to find work, which pushes them into prostitution, it said.

But the study also highlighted positive developments, noting an increasingly confident transgender identity has taken root. It also detected greater will from the community to engage with mainstream services and policy discussions.

“The creation of advocacy networks, community-based organisations and non-government organisations devoted to empowering our communities is a source of joy,” according to Thai transgender activist Prempreeda Pramoj Na Ayutthaya.

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Mickey Mouse In Japan Gay Weddings

May 162012
 


Tokyo (AFP) – Just days after US President Barack Obama came out in favour of gay marriage, another supporter of homosexual unions emerged in Japan: Mickey Mouse.

Despite their having no legal status, same sex couples are able to hold fairytale wedding ceremonies at hotels inside the popular Tokyo Disney Resort, including at the Cinderella Castle, a company spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

News of the unions came to light when Koyuki Higashi, 27, enquired about marrying her female partner at the resort.
A member of staff who answered the call said there would be no problem with their marrying, provided they dressed “like a man and a woman”, Higashi wrote on her blog.

The staff member explained a same-sex wedding would create “repercussions” among visitors to the park if both brides were wearing wedding dresses or both grooms wore tuxedoes, the blog added.

However, a few days later, the resort operator got back in touch to say their initial response had been wrong and gay couples were free to mix and match their attire.

“We have never refused an application for a same-sex wedding at hotels here,” a spokeswoman at Milial Resort Hotels, a subsidiary of Tokyo Disney Resort, told AFP on Tuesday.

“One of our staff members was mistaken when explaining about outfits for a same-sex wedding,” she said. But she added gay and lesbian couples were not allowed to exchange marriage vows at the onsite chapel “because of Christian teaching”.

Higashi and her bride-to-be, identified on the blog only as Hiroko, have now visited Tokyo Disneyland, where they met Mickey Mouse to give him the good news.

“Mickey first looked surprised to hear that we are a ‘couple of girls’,” Higashi wrote. “But we said we were there to thank him because same-sex weddings can be held at the Disney Resort, and he celebrated with us.”

It is not known if Higashi and her partner will go ahead with a wedding at the Cinderella Castle, which costs 7.5 million yen ($95,000).

Homosexuality in Japan is widely accepted but not openly discussed. While gays and lesbians are unlikely to encounter outright hostility, there are few rights built into law for same sex couples and there is little public debate on gay marriage.

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Its Official – Ellen Is Funny

May 162012
 


Washinton – Ellen DeGeneres, who broke ground in 1997 as the first lead character on American prime-time TV to reveal she was gay, is winning the US’s top humour prize.

The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced on Tuesday that DeGeneres will receive the 15th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humour. She will be honoured on 22 October with a lineup of star performers in a tribute show that will be recorded for broadcast at a later date.

In a written statement, DeGeneres said receiving the same award as past honorees Bill Cosby, Tina Fey and Will Ferrell makes her wonder, “why didn’t I get this sooner?”

It was 15 years ago — just before the humour prize was created — when DeGeneres came out on Time magazine’s cover and as her character on the sitcom “Ellen” to a record 46 million viewers. The popular show began losing viewers, though, and was cancelled a year later. DeGeneres said at the time that ABC caved in to fear and abandoned the show. She faced tough questions over whether the sitcom was “too gay” and if she had torpedoed her career by pushing a “gay agenda.”

“When I’m accused of becoming political, I’m showing love,” DeGeneres told ABC’s Diane Sawyer in a 1998 interview. “How is that political to teach love and acceptance?”

The rejection was enough to send DeGeneres into a deep depression.

“Ellen” paved the way, though, for future shows to also break the taboo of showing gay characters. “Will and Grace” would follow, along with “Glee,” “Modern Family” and others.

DeGeneres bounced back with movie roles, including as the voice of a lead character in the animated film “Finding Nemo.” She also has a hit talk show now in its ninth season, bestselling books and had a stint as the fourth judge on “American Idol.”

Cappy McGarr, an executive producer for the Mark Twain Prize show and a Kennedy Center board member, said DeGeneres has a special style of observational humour in the tradition of Twain. She also makes people laugh across political lines.

“She’s not just a comedian,” he said. “She’s really a miracle worker. She got the president to dance, the first lady to do pushups and (Republican) Tom Delay to laugh.”

The New Orleans native got her start as an emcee at a local comedy club in her hometown. In 1982, a videotape of her club performance won DeGeneres Showtime’s “Funniest Person in America.” By 1986, she appeared on “The Tonight Show” and became the first female comedian summoned to Johnny Carson’s desk to chat about her performance.

The Mark Twain prize honours people who have an impact on society in the tradition of Samuel Clemens, better known as Twain, as a social commentator and satirist.

McGarr said the Kennedy Center, which awards the prize, is not making a political statement by selecting the trailblazing DeGeneres.

“This has nothing to do with any political issue,” he said. “But she’s brilliantly shined a light on society, and that’s what Mark Twain did.”

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Winnepeg Losing Out On GLBT Market

May 162012
 


Winnipeg – Local hoteliers in this Canadian city are missing out on a potential financial windfall by not aggressively pursuing “pink dollars,” according to a consultant for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender market.

After conducting a recent survey of 50 hotels in Winnipeg, Rob Zelles, Edmonton-based owner of Blue Flames Ventures, said properties here are less gay-friendly than counterparts in Toronto and Vancouver.
Considering Pride Winnipeg, the biggest event on the LGBT calendar, takes place in less than three weeks and will bring millions of dollars to the city, there isn’t much time for hotels, restaurants and other businesses to reorient themselves.

“They go after the (LGBT) market in cities like Toronto and Vancouver. They know the impact the market has. Gay is here to stay, it’s not going anywhere. By not acknowledging it, they’re missing out on huge opportunities (in Winnipeg),” he said, noting the LGBT market is worth more than C$7 billion annually in Canada and C$600 billion per year worldwide.

Zelles declined to name Winnipeg hotels in his study but said in general, there appears to be no universal policy in terms of LGBT events. For example, he could talk to one staff member at a hotel who knows the answers to all of his questions and then call back five minutes later and get a different employee who knows virtually nothing.

“The hotel is the first line of defence for somebody coming to visit. If (a staff member) says, ‘Why are you calling me?’ or ‘Call tourism,’ or ‘I’m not gay,’ that could turn potential visitors off,” he said.

“They need to get rid of that mentality. It should be, ‘We want your business; what do we need to do to get you to stay here?’ That will set them apart from all the other hotels.”

Jim Baker, president and CEO of the Manitoba Hotel Association, doesn’t give much credence to Zelles’ survey and believes Winnipeg is as gay-friendly as any other big city in Canada. “The industry recognizes that the gay community is an ideal niche market to market to,” he said. “It’s not surprising some hotel staff members don’t know when Pride takes place, as it doesn’t have as much history as other events, such as the Winnipeg Folk Festival and the Fringe Festival, and hasn’t had nearly the media exposure.”

But that doesn’t mean hoteliers shouldn’t ensure their front-line staff have sufficient training to be able to answer basic questions for the LGBT community, Baker said.

Tourism Winnipeg has a page on its website for the LGBT traveller and a representative on LAMBDA, the LGBT business chamber. Cody Chomiak, Tourism Winnipeg’s director of marketing, said it works with businesses on sensitivity training and promoting the city to the LGBT community.

“Being a gay person who grew up here, Winnipeg is a very gay-friendly city. Businesses in Winnipeg have been extremely well-prepared for the LGBT community and are aware to cater to that market,” he said.

Tourism Winnipeg also has a manager who visits hotels and talks to front-line staff to ensure they’re up to speed on a wide variety of events, both gay and straight, going on in the city.

“There are some hotels that are really great (with LGBT events) and there are some that could use some improvement,” he said.

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Obama Lambasts Romney Over Rights

May 152012
 


Los Angeles – US President Barack Obama wasted little time casting Republican Party rival Mitt Romney as “backwards on equality” on Thursday, eager to transform his historic embrace of same-sex marriage into donor enthusiasm and grassroots vigor.

Just one day after announcing his support of the top gay rights issue, Obama was attending a lavish West Coast fundraiser hosted by actor George Clooney in Los Angeles’ Studio City area, the heart of celebrity gay marriage activism. At the same time, his campaign rolled out a Web video claiming Romney would roll back some rights for same-sex couples.

White House spokesman Jay Carney brushed aside questions about the timing of the attack on Romney, saying that Obama and Romney had differed on issues of gay rights even before the president declared his support for same-sex marriage.

“Govonour Romney is for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would enshrine discrimination into our founding legal document,” Carney said. “The president thinks that’s wrong. So their positions were starkly different before yesterday.”

In Seattle, where he was attending two fundraisers, Obama witnessed the support first hand as his motorcade passed a woman holding an infant and a sign that said: “Thank you! Mr. President for standing up for my mommys!”

He drew big cheers from supporters at Seattle’s historic Paramount Theater when he said his vision for a better America applies to everyone, “no matter what you look like, no matter what your last name, no matter who you love.”

Without referring directly to marriage, Obama expanded on the theme of same-sex equality.

“We are moving forward to a country where every American is treated with dignity and with respect and here in Washington you’ll have the chance to make your voice heard on the issue of making sure that everybody, regardless of sexual orientation, is treated fairly,” Obama said. “You’ll have a chance to weigh in on this. We are a nation that treats people fairly.”

Washington state has passed a law approving same-sex marriage, but opponents in Washington are gathering signatures for a ballot initiative to overturn the law and declare marriage as union of man and woman.

Outside the Paramount, 44-year-old Teri McClain was holding a double-sided sign expressing gratitude to the president for “evolving on same-sex marriage.”

“He’s looking out for the good of the people, and this is what the people want,” McClain said.

Though the timing of his announcement was not of his choosing, the campaign was not shying away from the issue even though aides conceded it held some political risk for the president. Just hours after Obama voiced his support for gay marriage in an ABC interview, the campaign emailed a clip of the interview and a personal statement from the president to its vast list of supporters, drawing attention to his stance

Still, Obama said Vice President Joe Biden got “a little bit over his skis” in publicly embracing gay marriage, forcing Obama to speed up his own plans to announce support for the right of same-sex couples to marry.

“Would I have preferred to have done this in my own way, in my own terms, without I think, there being a lot of notice to everybody? Sure,” Obama said. “But all’s well that ends well.”

Biden apologized to Obama on Wednesday for getting ahead of him, a person familiar with the exchange said. The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the private discussion, said Obama accepted the apology and told Biden he knew Biden’s own words of support for gay marriage were heartfelt.

Hollywood has been outspoken in its support of gay rights. Although Obama will be in a liberal bastion, California itself illustrates the crosscurrents of gay marriage. Californians have twice voted to ban gay marriage, most recently in 2008. The most recent ban, known as Proposition 8, is being fought in the courts.

Clooney’s dinner was organized by Jeffrey Katzenberg, the CEO of DreamWorks Animation, and will include such celebrity guests as Robert Downey Jr. and Barbra Streisand. The event was initially to be a spring gala hosted by Katzenberg at his house. But Katzenberg’s home is under renovation, so Clooney offered to host instead.

That prompted the Obama campaign to conceive an online raffle for the general public. Tens of thousands of people participated, drawn by the campaign’s pitch: “For a chance to hang out with President Obama at George Clooney’s house, donate $3 or whatever you can to be automatically entered to win.”

As a result, nearly two-thirds of the money raised for the event will be from people who won’t attend. The two winners were Beth Topinka of Manalapan, N.J., and Karen Blutcher of St. Augustine, Fla.

The timing of the event is creating a blockbuster confluence of high celebrity, big money and committed activism. Hollywood is home to some of the most high-profile backers of gay marriage. The 150 donors who are paying $40,000 to attend Clooney’s dinner will no doubt feel newly invigorated by Obama’s watershed announcement the day before.

The dinner, heavily promoted online by the Obama campaign, is expected to net close to $15 million. That’s an unprecedented amount for a single event. And it means that in one single evening the Obama camp and the Democratic Party will collect more than Mitt Romney, the presumed Republican challenger, has amassed in his best single month of fundraising.

In Seattle, Obama expected to collect at least $3 million toward his re-election effort. On Friday, he will fly to Nevada, a highly contested state, where he will call for housing relief in a speech in Reno.

Despite the attempt to turn the campaign page, Obama’s support of gay marriage is likely to set the tone for several days. Obama holds a fundraiser Monday in New York sponsored by gay and Latino supporters.

Obama doesn’t have the power to make same-sex marriage legal. But his announcement had long been sought by gay rights advocates, who cheered his public affirmation of gay marriage.

Gay marriage remains enough of a divisive issue that there could be political risks. If opposition to gay marriage drives even a sliver of the voting population, it could make a difference in close swing states. Moreover, it could boost fundraising for social conservative groups that are mounting their own campaigns against Obama and galvanize conservatives still uncertain about Romney’s commitment to their causes.

“It would be hard to argue that somehow this is something that I’d be doing for political advantage,” Obama said in an interview aired Thursday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

“Frankly, the politics, it’s not clear how they’re going to cut,” Obama said.

Romney quickly reiterated his opposition to same-sex marriage. “I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman,” he said Wednesday in Oklahoma.

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Gay Comedian To Front GLBT Campaign

May 152012
 

Sydney – Camp comedian Bob Downe has been signed by Pink Media Group to front campaigns targeting gays and lesbians.
Downe, real name Mark Trevorrow, has been touring since 1984, and recently appeared on The Circle, The Project and hosted the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardis Gras.

Trevorrow commented: “I look forward to working with organisations that are prepared to have some fun while promoting relevant products or services to the gay and lesbian community.”

Downe joins Pink Media Group’s newly launched Talent Division, which includes drag queens, drag kings, DJ’s and product sampling teams.

Ben Mulcahy, MD of Pink Media Group, added: “Bob is perfect for brands that wish to appeal to the gay & lesbian community with humour and endorsement from a high profile community icon.”

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GLBT To Be Consulted On City Plan

May 152012
 


Vancouver – Vancouver city planners say they will visit pubs in the gay village to gain community input for the new West End plan they’re drafting.

“The nightlife in the Davie Village is important to the whole LGBTQ community across the city and we want to talk to people that hang out at the Fountainhead on a Friday night,” says Kevin McNaney, assistant director of city planning.

“The LGBTQ community is a huge part of the West End, and the Davie Village is part of the character of the West End,” he says.

McNaney says Vancouver’s planning department is “very concerned” about issues of importance to the gay community. Gathering the community’s input will be crucial to developing a working community plan, he says.

“We’re trying to create as much avenues as possible so that people are more comfortable talking with us. Community feedback is hugely important,” he says. “We want to hear from as many people in diverse groups across the West End as possible throughout the spring and summer.”

City staff will also host more open houses, community walking tours and coffee shop dialogues, as well as conduct a survey to find out how people who live, work and play in the West End want the neighbourhood to change, if at all.

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