Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist

Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Md Troopers Assoc #20 & Westminster Md Fire Dept Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Showing posts with label Diversity Gay Lesbian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Diversity Gay Lesbian. Show all posts

Friday, July 06, 2018

Inaugural gay pride event planned for Westminster on July 7th, 2018

Inaugural gay pride event planned for Westminster on July 7th, 2018 By Kevin Dayhoff

Westminster, Md. June 4, 2018 - - After months of meetings and preparations, a group of Carroll County citizens have formed to develop plans to hold an inaugural gay pride event, The Westminster Pride Festival, in Westminster. The newly formed Westminster Pride Planning Committee is a consortium of civic, business, nonprofit, and church leaders who have joined together with community leaders and members of the LGBTQ+ community and their allies.
 
The planned event, The Westminster Pride Festival is believed to be the first of its kind in our community. It will take place on July 7, 2018 from noon to 5 p.m. in the 200 block of East Main Street, between Church and Court Streets. Permits for the event have been issued from the City of Westminster.

All proceeds from The Westminster Pride Festival will be donated to the Westminster Pride Festival Fund, which is a fund of the Community Foundation of Carroll County. The fund is the very first LGBTQ+ fund at the Community Foundation with a specific focus on the LGBTQ+ community.

According to information from the planning committee, The Westminster Pride Festival seeks to raise the visibility of the LGBTQ+ community in Westminster and Carroll County. “It is time we showed our pride in our community,” said Jason Garber, who along with his husband Lance Garber have been planning this event with a core group of dedicated volunteers.

“We have made Westminster and Carroll County our home,” said Garber, a McDaniel graduate and former president of McDaniel chapter of Allies. “My husband and I enjoy living in this very close knit and accepting community, and we want to celebrate Pride Month with all the friends, family and allies we have.”

‘Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month’ - LGBT Pride Month is currently celebrated annually in the month of June to honor the 1969 Stonewall Inn civil unrest in New York City, otherwise known as the “Stonewall Riots,” that took place following a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar at 43 Christopher Street, in Manhattan. In subsequent years, marches, parades, festivals, and events have been scheduled in the spring to shed additional light on the civil rights of the gay and lesbian community.

According to various media accounts, ever since the initial Christopher Street Liberation Day on June 28, 1970 marked the first anniversary of the Stonewall riots, the participants have encountered very little resistance from onlookers.

This year, in Carroll County, it was decided by the organizing committee that in order to be respectful of other Pride events that are taking place in Baltimore, Washington D.C., Philadelphia and Frederick, MD, The Westminster Pride Festival wanted to kick off its inaugural year with no calendar conflicts. “People do generally celebrate pride with more than one festival, especially on the east coast where it is easy to make it to various pride parades and festivals.” said Garber.

Founding sponsors of The Westminster Pride Festival include Random House Penguin, MerMaids, and Birdie’s Café. The committee is made up of over twenty volunteers, who have dedicated many hours to ensure the success of this event.

The mission of the Westminster Pride Festival, according to the planning committee, is to assure the success of a yearly festival that includes information, support, music, art, food and overall acceptance and solidarity within the LGBTQ+ community, their allies and the Carroll County community.

According to the planning committee, The Westminster Pride Festival looks forward to creating a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community to express and affirm themselves, increase visibility and foster respect for those who want to express their own sexual and gender identity.

“We endeavor to make this a yearly event that will ultimately lead to scholarships for the education of LGBTQ+ students,” said Sherri Hosfeld-Joseph, owner of Birdie’s Café and founding member of the Westminster Pride Festival. “This is something our community is clearly longing for… We look forward to an outpouring of support from our community in support of our LGBTQ+ friends, family members and loved ones.”

Vendors will include local restaurants including Maggie’s, Bud’s at Silver Run, The Food Chick, Starry Night Bakery and many others.

Entertainment will be provided by local bands, Henry and the Big Sleazy, The Flying Faders, Brinjal Band, The Dune Flowers, Faceplant and DJ powerline.

Information on healthcare, counseling services, and resources for the LGBTQ+ community and their allies will be available as well.

Families are encouraged to attend with children to enjoy food, games, activities and a day full of information and affirmation. Merchandise commemorating the inaugural event will be for sale on the planning committee’s website as well as the day of the festival.

For more information on how to become a vendor or sponsor, email the planning committee at westminsterpridefest@gmail.com, or visit the website at www.westminsterpride.org or go to the Westminster Pride Festival Facebook page at @westminsterpridefest. Visit the site to obtain information about the festival schedule and events, vendor booth applications, sponsorship or donation opportunities, or to learn how to volunteer.


Related: “Organizer Jason Garber on the first Westminster Pride Festival” By Jon Kelvey Carroll County Times: On Saturday, July 7, downtown Westminster will host its first LGBTQ+ pride event, as the Westminster Pride Festival fills the 200 block of East Main Street between Church and Court Streets… Read much more here: http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/news/local/cc-westminster-pride-qanda-20180608-story.html

Related: Westminster Pride Festival announces a fund at the Community Foundation of Carroll County, May 11, 2018 – updated June 27, 2018 https://wordpress.com/post/kevindayhoff.wordpress.com/771

A fund for the Westminster Pride Festival has been established at the Community Foundation here: http://www.carrollcommunityfoundation.org/funds.asp?fund_id=360

Art Artists Culture Carroll Co, Community Foundation of Carroll County, Diversity, Diversity Gay Lesbian, Diversity LGBQT+, Diversity LGBQT+ Pride Month, Westminster Pride Festival, 
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Carroll County Times: www.tinyurl.com/KED-CCT
Baltimore Sun Carroll Eagle: http://tinyurl.com/KED-Sun
Westminster Fire Dept. and MTA Lodge #20 Chaplain and PIO
Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoff.com/
Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
Kevin Dayhoff Time Flies: https://kevindayhoff.wordpress.com/

Tuesday, July 03, 2018

Westminster Pride Festival announces a fund at the Community Foundation of Carroll County

Westminster Pride Festival announces a fund at the Community Foundation of Carroll County

May 11, 2018 – updated June 27, 2018
It was announced on May 11, 2018 that the Westminster Pride Festival is an official fund of the Community
Foundation of Carroll County.

It is “the very first fund at the Community Foundation in support of the LGBQT+ community,” according to a release by the Westminster Pride Festival.

According to a page for the fund on the Community Foundation website, “The Westminster Pride Festival Fund exists to assure the success of a yearly festival that includes information, support, music, art, food and overall acceptance and solidarity within the LGBTQ+ community, their allies, and the Carroll County community.

“The Westminster Pride Festival will create a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community to express themselves, increase visibility and foster respect for those who want to express their own sexual and gender identity. We endeavor to make this a yearly event that will ultimately lead to scholarships for the education of LGBTQ+ students.”

For more information or to make a donation, go here: http://www.carrollcommunityfoundation.org/funds.asp?fund_id=360
For more information find a website for the Westminster Pride festival here: www.westminsterpride.org

Follow the Westminster Pride Festival on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/westminsterpridefest/

Follow the Westminster Pride Festival on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/westminsterpride/

A fund for the Westminster Pride Festival has been established at the Community Foundation here: http://www.carrollcommunityfoundation.org/funds.asp?fund_id=360

For additional questions contact the Westminster Pride Festival here: westminsterpridefest@gmail.com



Westminster Pride Festival announces a fund at the Community Foundation of Carroll County https://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/2018/06/westminster-pride-festival-announces.html 27Je2018

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Kevin Earl Dayhoff Art www.kevindayhoff.com: Travel, art, artists, authors, books, newspapers, media, writers and writing, journalists and journalism, reporters and reporting, music, culture, opera...

Carroll County Times: www.tinyurl.com/KED-CCT
Baltimore Sun Carroll Eagle: http://tinyurl.com/KED-Sun
Westminster Fire Dept. and MTA Lodge #20 Chaplain and PIO
Ad maiorem Dei gloriam inque hominum salutem.
The assemblage of this website is from multiple sources - http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/2004/01/the-assemblage-of-this-website-is-from.html

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Recent resolutions adopted at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in New Orleans stir controversy


Recent resolutions adopted at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in New Orleans stir controversy http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2016/08/recent-resolutions-adopted-at-elca.html #ELCA #ELCACWA


Thursday, August 18, 2016 / KED

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America recently held its Churchwide Assembly in New Orleans August 8-13, 2016 - https://www.elca.org/ChurchwideAssembly

I have come to believe that the mainline traditional denominational churches hold periodic churchwide assemblies in order to pass resolutions to alienate any demographic it has not annoyed in the last several years.

The recent Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Churchwide Assembly in New Orleans - https://www.elca.org/ChurchwideAssembly - does not appear to be an exception. It seems that several anti-Israel resolutions were adopted at the assembly that are getting quite a bit of attention.

I am SMH – and I repeat myself here. Perhaps the ELCA missed the memo: In the world of leadership, you accumulate enemies, don’t go out of your way to make any. In a world that yearns for leadership, never miss an opportunity to sit down and shut-up when it comes to politics.

Meanwhile, when I ask many folks that have left mainstream denominational churches, why they left; I hear several themes consistently.

One they got tired of hearing that they ought to contribute more money to the church. And two, they did not want to hear from pastors about politics when they went to church. Three: going to church and listening to a thought-provoking sermon is one thing but going to church week after week and being lectured to with a wagging finger quickly gets old.

Then again, maybe too much attention has been given to the anti-Israel resolutions. From my experience, a lot is accomplished at these assemblies and perhaps it is unfair to perseverate upon the resolutions aspect of the conference. On the other hand, the social-political resolutions really appear to be unnecessary exposures and unforced errors on the part of the church. Especially at time when membership is declining and budgets are getting tighter. Read “The Shrinking Church,” by Nicole Radziszewski, in the January 2013 edition of Lutheran Magazine - http://www.thelutheran.org/article/article.cfm?article_id=11186 Why go out of our way to annoy potential church members?

Anyway, find the recent ELCA resolutions here on the Isaiah 58 – Working for Justice and Peace in all the Earth, website: http://isaiah58.info/resolutions/ [Language added by Memorials Committee to C2 on 8/9/16] The full report of the Memorials Committee can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/z6eq2f2


Look, I get it that the Middle East is a mess. I read with great interest many of the newspapers from the Middle East and for a thought-provoking Israeli point of view I read Caroline Glick - http://carolineglick.com/

I guess my perspective is that there is plenty of blame to go around. But we have the U.S. State Department for stuff like this. What I need is a church...

My family and I attended and volunteered at the Churchwide Assembly in Pittsburg three-years ago. It was a fascinating experience. Go here for quite a number of articles and pictures from that assembly: http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/search/label/Religion%20ELCA%20CWA%20Aug%2011-17

At the recent Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Churchwide Assembly (CWA) in New Orleans the (ELCA) has approved two resolutions, according to multiple media reports, including this one “Lutherans Back Anti-Israel Resolutions,” by Chelsen Vicari, @ChelsenVicari, written August 15, 2016 on the website, “The Institute on Religion & Democracy’s Blog, Juicy Ecumenism.”. Find it here: https://juicyecumenism.com/2016/08/15/lutherans-israel-resolutions/. Please read more of the blog here: https://juicyecumenism.com/ There appears to be many thoughtful, well-written and thought-provoking articles.

Articles such as “John Wesley: Enduring Persecution” by Joseph Rossell: “Contemporary Christians committed to saving souls and promoting justice can take much courage from John Wesley’s story, as chronicled by Jake Hanson in Crossing the Divide…” and “America’s Lost Girls?” by Chelsen Vicari: “America’s girls are growing up fast. It’s the cost that’s the problem.”

Again, I am not familiar with the site. I will also look forward to see what Lutheran Magazine says about the resolutions. I will also look on the ELCA website: https://www.elca.org/ChurchwideAssembly

I am not familiar with this writer, Ms. Vicari. This website was one of several that I found when I was trying to find more information on the resolutions adopted at the recent CWA. Much of the reaction I have read - and much of the reaction I have heard locally has not been favorable – bordering upon hysterical.

I was really looking for some information on the some of the traditional mainstream legacy media or newspaper sites and I was unsuccessful. I first heard about it on a segment on NPR. Yea – well. Big surprise there. I guess if the Lutherans had adopted pro-Israel resolutions, NPR would have missed it.

Ms. Vicari explains: The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has approved two resolutions advanced by anti-Israel activists including a push to end all U.S. aid to the Jewish state until the “military occupation of Palestinian land” ceases, according to CBN News. The resolution was adopted in an overwhelming 751 to 162 vote during the Mainline Protestant denomination’s triennial Churchwide Assembly held in New Orleans August 8-13.

“The two resolutions were recommended by Isaiah 58, a group of Lutheran anti-Israel boycott activists. ‘In our Affirmation of Baptism, one of the five promises we make as Lutherans is to ‘work for justice and peace throughout the earth,’’ commented Jan Miller, a Rocky Mountain Synod member and Isaiah 58 leader in a press release. “By adopting this investment screen, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is taking an important step to ensure that we are not profiting from, or complicit in, injustice in the Holy Land and elsewhere.”


One site, among many, that took exception to the resolutions, is a site called “Exposing the ELCA,” by Dan Skogen, a “former ELCA seminary student and former ELCA member who is fed up with the ELCA's consistent mockery of God's Word.”

This appears to be a rather angry site. Much of the anger that caught my eye were anti-LGBT matters, of which I simply do not care with the exception that I sure wish the church would simply stay out of these matters….

Skogen wrote “ANTI-SEMITISM REIGNS IN THE ELCA: TWO ELCA VOTES URGE AN END TO U.S. AID TO ISRAEL AND FOR A DIVESTMENT PLAN AIMED AT ISRAEL” on August 14, 2016, “The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has long been an enemy of the Jewish State. (see here) Earlier this week, at the ELCA’s Churchwide Assembly, the ELCA voted in favor of a resolution that calls on the United States government to end all aid to Israel until a list of ELCA demands are met. (Note that they did NOT call for the stoppage of U.S. aid to “Palestine” which takes foreign aid money {see here}, intended for humanitarian causes, and uses them for weapons, military terror tunnels, etc., in their quest to kill Jewish men, women and children.)” Read more here: http://www.exposingtheelca.com/exposed-blog/anti-semitism-reigns-in-the-elca-two-elca-votes-urge-an-end-to-us-aid-to-israel-and-for-a-divestment-plan-aimed-at-israel#comments It is not light reading.

Oh, one comment caught my eye: by Didaskalos on August 17, 2016: “Dan has 12 categories (links) of ELCA heresies/apostasies on his home page, the last of which is "Other Critical Issues." If he were to link and list each of the ever-expanding list of ELCA heresies/apostasies separately, he'd have one of the longest home pages on the Internet.

“Cost-cutting suggestion for the ELCA corporate heads at its Higgins Road HQ: Copy all the Democrat Party platform planks and Planned Parenthood talking points, and paste them onto your home page as your adopted tenets of belief. As you keep having to lay off personnel because of continuing member and dollar losses, simply copying and pasting the world's latest godless fads onto your website will require fewer staff members.”

Another thought-provoking comment came from “Dave from Minnesota,” “I clicked on your link to their Twitter feed, then scrolled down and read a large number of them. Not a lot of traditional Biblical based pronouncements. But a lot of liberal political ones:

“Anti coal and oil statements (I'm sure those ELCA churches with declining enrollment in the upper Midwest would love to see their heating bills doubled or tripled) For open borders Anti-Israel Pro-Black Lives Matter Mandated anti-racism training for church leaders and staff…”

A more balanced approach appears in the publication, “The New York Jewish Week.” In an article “Lutherans’ Moves Against Israel Seen As ‘Balanced’” on August 16, 2016, by Steve Lipman - http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/national/lutherans-moves-against-israel-seen-balanced

“The largest Lutheran denomination in the United States last week approved a pair of resolutions that, like those adopted in recent years by other prominent Protestant groups, is critical of Israel.

But, said observers of interfaith relations, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, at its triennial assembly in New Orleans, did not adopt more strident resolutions proposed by several local church councils around the country. One of the adopted resolutions favored an “investment screen” that would guide church members’ investments in U.S. corporations that do business in Israel, rather than a direct call for divestment from these firms.

And the language of the adopted resolutions, which urge the U.S. president to “recognize the State of Palestine” and encourage church members to “increase positive investment in Palestine,” offers a more balanced approach to Middle East issues than some other churches’ resolutions, the observers said.

The Lutheran resolutions, coming two months after the Presbyterian Church (USA) adopted a report that representatives of the Jewish community characterized as more balanced than that denomination’s past resolutions, and three months after a committee of the United Methodists rejected four divestment resolutions, may represent a small move in some Protestant circles away from automatic support for the anti-Israel BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement and towards positions that hold both Israelis and Palestinians responsible for progress in the Middle East peace process.



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Saturday, June 18, 2016

A prayer for Orlando - I think that the world has gone mad. June 18, 2016 Kevin E. Dayhoff



I think that the world has gone mad. June 18, 2016 Kevin E. Dayhoff


I have struggled for the past week to arrive at the words that may adequately express a sense of horror and loss as a result of the horrific mass killings at the LGBT nightclub, Pulse, in Orlando, Florida in the early morning hours of Sunday, June 12, 2016.

I immediately sat at the computer to try and gather my thoughts. That is how writers sort things out, I guess.

After a considerable length of time in which I successfully stared-down the computer screen and listened to Amy Lee and Evanescence, and Plumb at a level where the computer warned it was damaging my ears, the computer abruptly crashed. I gave-up and went to bed.

This comes just after the news on June 7, 2016, that a Stanford star-athlete, Brock Turner, had been given a slap on the wrist for a ruthless attack on a woman on Jan. 17, 2015. His Dad rubbed salt in the wound by writing a callous and offensive appeal for leniency for his son. It was all too surreal.

Then, after the terrible news that MP Jo Cox had been killed in the streets of her constituency by a deranged attacker and reading the statement of her husband, I decided to sit at the keyboard again.

As I search for more pertinent details, as only an OCD newspaper reporter would do at a time like this; I came across a wonderful set of words on the website, “Think Christian” - https://thinkchristian.reframemedia.com/a-prayer-for-orlando I really-really hope that at time like this, “Think Christian” does not mind me reprinting it. I think this prayer says it better than anything I might come up for the moment.

I might carry it around with me – if I edit it for length, I might have opportunity to use it…

“Think Christian” said in an editor’s note: This prayer was originally published by the Christian Reformed Church’s Office of Social Justice, a sister ministry of Think Christian, in response to the June 12 shooting in Orlando, Fla. Our hope is that it encourages both prayerful lament and prayerful action.


God of comfort, we lift our prayers to you.

We lift prayers for the families, friends, and partners of the victims, for all of those who are grieving.
For the questions which have no answers, we pray.
For those who wring their hands, bring dishes of food, struggle to express their condolences, we pray.
For pastors who plan funerals and stand at hospital beds, we pray.
For those who are estranged from a loved one because of sexual orientation, and who today feel grief and loneliness, we pray.
For those who feel fresh grief because someone they love was also a victim of gun violence, we pray.

We lift prayers for the LGBTQ+ community.
Protect them from harm.
Heal them from trauma.
Lead them to places of hospitality and safety.

We lift prayers for the Muslim community.
Shield them from fallout.
Call Christians to reach out in mutuality and solidarity.
May the stories of the many Muslims who have responded in love, help, and hospitality be told often, and publicly.

We lift prayers for lawmakers.
Give them wisdom as they craft their public statements, which have an impact on real people’s lives.
Give them wisdom as they consider policy implications, which will always make some furious and others gratified.
Give them wisdom as they accept donations to their campaigns, as they align with interests, as they reach across the aisle and compromise.

Work through politics to build your kingdom, Lord.

We lift prayers for your church, which includes each one of us. May your church speak the words of Christ — of healing, hope, repentance, and good news.


We are a people who believe in resurrection. As we walk through the valley of the shadow of death in times such as these, may we see and be signs of kingdom hope. We long for the day when death will be no more.
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Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Contracts Don’t Make a Family Any Less Natural by Martha Ertman

Contracts Don’t Make a Family Any Less Natural by Martha Ertman
Oscar Wilde famously quipped that the only thing worse than being talked about isnot being talked about. Paradoxically, much of the testimony in his 1895 trial for “gross indecency”—which was reported in papers throughout the world—concerned his relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas, the very person who coined the phrase“the love that dare not speak its name.”
A little more than a century later, that love is on everybody’s lips.
In the United States we’re waiting to see how the Supreme Court decides the marriage cases it’s reviewing, and Wilde’s home country just became the first in the world to extend marriage equality to same-sex couples by popular vote. Freakishly smart and always happy to grab the spotlight, Wilde would likely have been one of the many Irish expats who traveled home to vote “yes” on the marriage referendum and probably would have taken delight in eviscerating the arguments put forth by nay-sayers, like Michael Brendan Dougherty, who claim that same-sex marriage is “unnatural.” Wilde would be right. It’s clear that when defenders of what they call “traditional marriage” have to justify their position, none of their arguments stand up to scrutiny.
Marriage opponents’ first error is historic. Dougherty imagines a past where genetic parenthood determined legal and social parenthood. But that past does not exist. To the contrary, both law and society have long recognized that love comes in different packages. Some are more common—heterosexuality, marriage, parents raising kids conceived with the fun, free stuff lying around the house—but that hardly makes them “natural.”
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Sunday, March 09, 2014

Cardinal Dolan on Michael Sam: “Bravo ... I would have no sense of judgment on him..." - FishbowlDC

Cardinal Dolan on Michael Sam: “Bravo” - FishbowlDC

"In a pre-recorded interview on “Meet the Press” to air this Sunday, Cardinal Dolan of New York told David Gregory that he had no judgement for gay NFL player Michael Sam."

By Patrick Tutwiler on March 7, 2014

http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/cardinal-dolan-on-michael-sam-bravo_b123793
From the interview:
DAVID GREGORY: Michael Sam, from your home state, the football player, revealed that he was gay, first in the NFL.  And you saw the celebration from the President, the First Lady, and they were saying what a courageous step that was.  How did you view it?
CARDINAL DOLAN: Good for him.  I would have no sense of judgment on him.  God bless ya.  I don’t think, look, the same bible that tells us that teaches us well about the virtues of chastity and the virtue of fidelity and marriage also tells us not to judge people.  So I would say, “Bravo.”
Cardinal Dolan also said that Pope Francis would probably meet with victims of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, and that he “would be surprised if he did not.”
For the full interview, watch “Meet the Press” this Sunday.
'via Blog this'


Cardinal Dolan on Michael Sam: “Bravo ... I would have no sense of judgment on him..." - FishbowlDC
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Saturday, February 08, 2014

New York Times breaking news: More Federal Privileges to Extend to Same-Sex Couples

BREAKING NEWSSaturday, February 8, 2014 2:01 PM EST
More Federal Privileges to Extend to Same-Sex Couples
The federal government will soon treat married same-sex couples the same as heterosexual couples when they file for bankruptcy, testify in court or visit family in prison.
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. was preparing to issue policies aimed at eliminating the distinction between same-sex and opposite-sex married couples in the federal criminal justice system, according to excerpts from a speech prepared for a Saturday event organized by a prominent gay-rights group.
“In every courthouse, in every proceeding and in every place where a member of the Department of Justice stands on behalf of the United States, they will strive to ensure that same-sex marriages receive the same privileges, protections and rights as opposite-sex marriages,” Mr. Holder’s prepared remarks said, according to the excerpts circulated by the Justice Department.
The changes were set in motion last year when the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional to refuse federal benefits to married same-sex couples, a ruling that Mr. Holder supported.
Since the ruling in June, the Obama administration has rewritten federal rules to allow same-sex couples to file taxes together and receive Medicare and other benefits reserved for married couples. Mr. Holder has been the public face of those efforts and has made championing gay rights one of the central messages of his tenure.

READ MORE »

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/us/more-federal-privileges-to-extend-to-same-sex-couples.html?emc=edit_na_20140208
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Wednesday, September 25, 2013

San Antonio Passes Far-Reaching Antidiscrimination Measure

San Antonio Passes Far-Reaching Antidiscrimination Measure

By MANNY FERNANDEZ Published: September 5, 2013


HOUSTON — Nearly 200 cities across the country have enacted ordinances in recent years that prohibit bias by municipal employees or in city contracts over someone’s race, sex, age, religion or sexual orientation. Houston, Austin, Dallas and Fort Worth are a few of the Texas cities that adopted such measures.

But in San Antonio, a nondiscrimination ordinance that includes protections for sexual orientation and gender identity turned into a divisive political battle this summer, the likes of which this liberal-leaning city of 1.4 million has rarely seen in recent decades.

The City Council passed the measure, 8 to 3, on Thursday, capping weeks of heated debate that exposed racial, religious and gay-and-straight divisions and drew the scorn of Republican leaders and candidates around the state who are just starting to position themselves for next spring’s primary elections.

The Texas attorney general, Greg Abbott, who has been running for governor since Gov. Rick Perry announced he was not seeking re-election, weighed in on the issue, expressing his opposition. The state agriculture commissioner, Todd Staples, who is running for lieutenant governor — and who as a state senator sponsored the constitutional amendment that passed in 2005 that defined marriage in Texas as between one man and one woman — also spoke out against it.


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Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Supreme Court strikes down Defense of Marriage Act - Washington Post National News Alert

Supreme Court strikes down Defense of Marriage Act - 
Washington Post National News Alert

The Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act that denies federal benefits to same-sex couples who are legally married in the states where they reside. The court said it violated equal protection to provide benefits to heterosexual couples while denying them to gay couples in the 12 states plus the District of Columbia where same-sex couples may marry. The law passed by bipartisan majorities in Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton recognized marriage as only between one man and one woman. 

Read more at: 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/supreme-court/2013/06/26/f0039814-d9ab-11e2-a016-92547bf094cc_story.html 
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Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Hawaii governor signs civil unions bill

MEDIA CONTACT:

Inga Sarda-Sorensen
Director of Communications
 Hawaii governor signs civil unions bill

WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 — Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie today signed legislation granting same-sex couples in civil unions the rights and responsibilities afforded to Hawaii’s married couples under state law.


Statement by Rea Carey, Executive Director 
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

"This marks an important victory for loving, committed couples who want nothing more than the rights and security afforded other families. While not a substitute for full legal marriage, this law provides fundamental protections and responsibilities to better ensure same-sex couples are able to take care of each other and their families. We congratulate Equality Hawaii on this victory, as well as all those who advocated for and supported this measure. This new law will have a meaningful impact on the lives of thousands of Hawaiians."



To learn more about the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, visit www.theTaskForce.org
and follow us on Twitter: @TheTaskForce.
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