Tag Archives: LGBT

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Shocking moment at GOP debate — fight back!

10/24/2011 Nativegrl77

When audience members booed an openly gay soldier at last month’s GOP presidential debate, my heart dropped to my feet.

It was offensive enough that the audience would jeer one of our service members. But that none of the presidential hopefuls on stage stood up for this brave young man? Unconscionable.

And they say they want to be Commander-in-Chief.

These candidates lend a megaphone to a shared platform of hateful attacks on equality. We see them every day from leaders of the religious right all the way down to a New Jersey schoolteacher’s ugly Facebook tirade earlier this month. But there’s no slur too small for us to call out – and no lie too large for us to tear down.

And that’s where you come in, Carmen. You and I and all straight allies can stand up to these right-wing attacks and create a safer world for the LGBT community. Help us fight back by becoming a first-time HRC member before MIDNIGHT TOMORROW.

With less than 48 hours left to our deadline, we’re still 142 new members short of our goal – and we need your support now. Don’t wait any longer – please join today.

There’s a groundswell of support for equality lighting up our country, but dangerous, hateful talking points are still far too commonplace. GOP contenders are pledging to reinstate “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and fight for a constitutional ban on marriage equality.

Every statement from the National Organization for Marriage and every speech by the head of the American Family Association drips in anti-LGBT anger – from calling equality supporters “anti-marriage goons” to labeling homosexuality a “threat to public health.”

Hurtful, bigoted words like these get beamed into living rooms across the country and plastered across Facebook.

School administrators, teachers, and students take them as license to discriminate and to bully. Athletes take them as a sign that it’s okay to use anti-gay slurs. And Republican leaders in the House of Representatives use them as reasoning behind their multi-million dollar, taxpayer-funded court case in support of the Defense of Marriage Act. We can put an end to the hate, but not without your help. Will you fight back with us now?

We want you with us. Become an HRC member today to help defend our victories and build a world free of right-wing discrimination.

Time and time again, HRC has relied on a simple belief: equality is a right that should be afforded to all. It’s why you and I are part of this cause – and it’s what propels us through victories and setbacks. Thank you for everything you do to support this simple yet profound purpose.

For our future,

Joe Solmonese
President

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No child should be afraid to go to school …Joe Solmonese, Human Rights Campaign

10/21/2011 Nativegrl77

It’s more evident than ever: discrimination and hate aren’t reserved for far right politicians and pastors.

Last month at The Master’s School outside Hartford, CT, a model student told school administrators she was a lesbian – and was immediately told to withdraw.

And just last week in New Jersey, a special education teacher publicly tore into gays and lesbians in a hideous tirade on Facebook, calling homosexuality “a perverted spirit.”

It’s all happened in the last few weeks around National Coming Out Day, a time to encourage openness – not intimidation, discrimination, or hatred.

If incidents like these make you want to stand up and say “No more!” you’re not alone. Since we launched our new Call it Out campaign, HRC supporters have written hundreds of thousands of letters holding people accountable for discrimination. To ramp up our efforts – from the airwaves to red state communities to the halls of Congress – we need 500 new members to donate in the next 5 days.

Join HRC now and fight back against the hatred polluting our classrooms and our communities. Help us reach the ambitious goal of 500 new members in just 5 days.

WWW.HRC.ORG

, we’ve made remarkable progress together in the last few years. From repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” to boosting awareness of bullying, to winning marriage equality in New York – our movement has only grown in its victories.

But opposition to LGBT rights continues, and it isn’t relegated to the far-right fringe. You and I are up against mainstream, powerful organizations like the Catholic Church, whose top U.S. bishop just sent a letter to President Obama threatening a “national conflict between church and state of enormous proportions” if he continues to stand up against the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act.

I won’t stand for these damaging attacks, and I know you won’t either – certainly not when lives and livelihoods are at stake. I’m counting on you to help us:

WWW.HRC.ORG
* Demand school policies that protect students, just as we did this week when HRC supporters like you sent 49,619 letters to The Master’s School asking that they adopt a non-discrimination policy;
* Continue to push New Jersey school officials to investigate teacher Viki Knox for her anti-LGBT Facebook rant;
* Mobilize red-state communities to fight for equality and help stop bullying through our “On the Road to Equality” national bus tour; and,
* Grow our Welcoming Schools program, which helps school communities embrace family diversity and reject harmful bullying and name-calling.

We need 500 new members to help us create a better world where fear and hate are no longer the dominant discourse – and we need you in the next 5 days. Join us now.

WWW.HRC.ORG

Your gift today sends a powerful message. This is very much a battle worth fighting, and I’m so grateful to count you among our supporters.

Thank you for being part of this movement,

Joe Solmonese
President

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She came out, they told her to leave school

10/19/2011 Nativegrl77

She was a model student and a star athlete – an honest young woman in her final year at a private Christian high school, The Master’s School, in Connecticut.

But when school administrators asked her about her sexual orientation, she answered courageously and honestly that she is a lesbian.

And then those same administrators told her to withdraw or she would be kicked out.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students across the country are back in school, many facing bullying from peers. The last thing these students need is a school administration that refuses to protect them from unfair treatment.

Thousands of equality supporters like you have already sent letters to officials at The Master’s School calling on them to make it right and protect all of their students. Will you send a letter now, too?

Tell The Master’s School: Your LGBT students deserve protection – not expulsion. Now’s the time to enact a non-discrimination policy so that all students feel safe to be who they are.

National Coming Out Day was just last week and Spirit Day is Thursday – it’s a time each year when we celebrate openness and speak out against bullying. Together, we’re striving to create a world where no student, no soldier, no employee – no one – has to fear coming out.

In too many places around this country, LGBT students risk expulsion, bullying, and harassment that jeopardizes their academic futures and their emotional well-being.

The Master’s School in Connecticut has a chance to make it right with the student they asked to leave. They have an opportunity to lead by example – to institute modern-day policies, and to bring their model student back into their community.

Will you take one minute to send a letter to The Master’s School right now? Tell them to update their policies and treat all their students fairly.

The path to equality has taken us together on a lot of twists and turns. The Master’s School, with HRC‘s help, can become a model environment for diversity and tolerance in education, but they need to take the first step now and make things right.

Thanks for standing with us now and always.

Warmly,

Joe Solmonese
President, HRC

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Video: “It’s a pretty simple proposition” …Jamie Citron, BarackObama.com

10/07/2011 Nativegrl77

I wanted to make sure you heard about this: At the most recent Republican debate, the audience booed a gay service member who asked the candidates if they would try to undo the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” And during the debate not a single one of the Republican candidates stepped up to support him, or even so much as thanked him for his service — even though he is fighting for our country every single day.

No member of our armed forces should face that kind of disrespect. So when President Obama spoke at the Human Rights Campaign‘s annual dinner this past weekend, he called out the Republican candidates for failing to stand up for all of our men and women in uniform. Check it out:

We should be proud of the work we all did to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” pass hate crimes legislation, extend benefits to the same-sex partners of federal employees, and more. And the organizing work we’re doing now for 2012 will help us protect what we’ve won and keep moving our nation forward towards equality. As the President put it, “every single American deserves to be treated equally in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of our society. It’s a pretty simple proposition.”

During his speech, he spoke of his commitment to repealing the Defense of Marriage Act, passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and making our schools safe for every student — just a few examples of the progress he’s been working for since before the 2008 campaign. He also said we have to keep working to ensure our families and our country as a whole prosper — creating jobs, bringing economic security to the middle class, and ensuring everyone has access to an affordable education affect LGBT Americans just as much as everyone else and are our fights, too.

This movement we’re building can break through the gridlock and inaction. We’ve already proved that.

Watch some highlights from the speech here, then ask your friends who care about equality to watch, too, and join up:

http://my.barackobama.com/President-Obama-Dinner-Speech

There’s a lot more to do. It matters that you’re in for the fights ahead.

Thanks,

Jamie

Jamie Citron
Director, LGBT Vote
Obama for America

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President Obama’s powerful message to everyone at the HRC’s 15th Annual National Dinner

10/03/2011 Nativegrl77

President Obama just finished his keynote address at HRC‘s 15th Annual National Dinner.It’s time to thank him for his support and remind him that we’re counting on him.Watch his speech here:

President Obama just delivered a stirring speech at HRC’s 15th Annual National Dinner that has left me ready for action.

In my introduction, I thanked the President for his leadership on repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” signing breakthrough hate crimes prevention legislation, ensuring hospital visitation rights for our loved ones, and declaring the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional and indefensible.

When we got backstage, I turned to him and told him I could only imagine what his appearance at an event like this says to a teenager in Salt Lake City who’s too nervous to come out, or to a young soldier in Afghanistan who just wants to serve her country openly.

And then I shared a message that comes from people in every corner of the country: “Mr. President, there’s a lot more work to be done, but we’ll keeping standing with you if you keep standing with us.”

WWW.HRC.ORG

On the heels of his inspiring address, will you join me in thanking President Obama and asking him to redouble his efforts for equality? “We’ve got your back since you’ve got ours.”

WWW.HRC.ORG

President Obama is one of our most visible straight allies, and every pro-LGBT move he makes in the next few months is going to come with a heavy dose of political scrutiny.

You and I have watched as each of our victories turns radical, right-wing activists more livid and their attacks more vicious. Anti-equality legislators are going to continue to fight marriage equality in the states while trying to turn being pro-equality into a liability for the President. And far-right candidates will continue promoting their vision of a world where “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is law again and hate crimes against our community don’t receive the attention they deserve.

It’s moments like these that I’m glad the President is standing so publicly in our corner – but I can’t thank him enough by myself.

Will you help me thank the President and remind him of the work that’s still to be done? Send your message to President Obama now. WWW.HRC.ORG

Every National Dinner, I reflect on the amazing community of supporters HRC is blessed with. Every victory we’ve ever accomplished is thanks to your calls, your letters, and your dedication. Thank you for your activism and your enthusiasm in the fight for equal rights.

Proudly,
WWW.HRC.ORG
Joe Solmonese
President, HRC