Dr. Franklin Edward Kameny
Once upon a time there was a person much like you or me. This person didn’t have any super powers or special gifts from another world. But this person knew something vital and very, very important. This person knew that…
The end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
What an exciting experience to be on a White House Briefing call today with activists from around the country! Ted Bernhardt, Jeffrey Montgomery and I joined Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, Deputy Director Brian…
Lesbian Judges and Elephants in the Room
An event of note for the LGBT community took place yesterday in Florida. An event of note for those of us who advocate for equality and for freedom of sexual speech and expression took place at the same time. Friday…
There is no “except” in “equality”
Yesterday the Washington Blade posted an article about Hilary Clinton's speech at a Pride rally. Also during her 14-minute speech, Clinton referenced the work the State Department has done in the past year to address LGBT issues overseas, including facilitating…
Insulted and Confused
Let's pretend. Let's imagine that Mary hears that John is gay, and is having same-sex relationships while dating Susie. Mary tells Jane in hopes of getting the message to Susie. (Jane is a close friend of Susie's mom.) Mary believes…
It’s all about sex, and that’s the shame
What would happen to your career if your erotic desires were made public? Depending on where you work and what you do for a living, you may well risk losing your job. This reality has nothing to do with your…
To “Out” or Not to “Out”
I recently posted in response to a recent thread on Bilerico that addressed one person's thoughts on why it's important to expose hypocritical "Family Values" individuals. My first thought, before I addressed this particular post, was that I have family…
The Next Leaders of the Movement?
The notion of "queer" presents a challenge to the indentity politics logic of the contemporary gay rights movement and these young people get why that's a problem now. Listen to them.Reteaching Gender and Sexuality from PUT THIS ON THE MAP…
Reflections on Outness
By my count, I've been out for 17 years, since late winter of 1993, when I began telling my family that I had a girlfriend, and that they would be meeting her at my college graduation. I suppose I'd been…
Everybody Poops
No - this isn't a blog post about "pooping" - although it is true that everyone does. This is actually about the Burglington County NJ Public Library ordering the removal of Amy Sonnie’s Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology,…