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Duncan Grant
Duncan Grant's Journal
Duncan Grant's Journal
February 9, 2012
The measure easily passed the State Senate last week, 28 to 21, despite concerns that the vote would be close.
The developments in Washington parallel an appeals court decision in California on Tuesday in which a panel of judges ruled 2 to 1 to strike down that state’s ban on same-sex marriage, known as Proposition 8. The two deciding judges wrote that the ban violated the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.
Washington is among more than 30 states that have passed laws defining marriage as between a man and a woman, but it has steadily expanded rights for gay couples since 2007. That year, the Democratically controlled Legislature approved domestic partnerships. In 2009, it passed an “everything but marriage” bill. Full marriage rights began speeding toward approval last month, when Ms. Gregoire, a Democrat, announced that she would support the bill to make same-sex marriage legal.
The governor had previously said that she did not believe the state was ready for same-sex marriage and that churches should play a decisive role on the issue. Ms. Gregoire’s marriage bill, modeled after one approved by New York last June, allows churches and religious groups to choose not to perform same-sex marriages and to deny same-sex couples access to their facilities for marriage services.
New York Times
Washington State Passes Same-Sex Marriage Bill
The measure easily passed the State Senate last week, 28 to 21, despite concerns that the vote would be close.
The developments in Washington parallel an appeals court decision in California on Tuesday in which a panel of judges ruled 2 to 1 to strike down that state’s ban on same-sex marriage, known as Proposition 8. The two deciding judges wrote that the ban violated the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.
Washington is among more than 30 states that have passed laws defining marriage as between a man and a woman, but it has steadily expanded rights for gay couples since 2007. That year, the Democratically controlled Legislature approved domestic partnerships. In 2009, it passed an “everything but marriage” bill. Full marriage rights began speeding toward approval last month, when Ms. Gregoire, a Democrat, announced that she would support the bill to make same-sex marriage legal.
The governor had previously said that she did not believe the state was ready for same-sex marriage and that churches should play a decisive role on the issue. Ms. Gregoire’s marriage bill, modeled after one approved by New York last June, allows churches and religious groups to choose not to perform same-sex marriages and to deny same-sex couples access to their facilities for marriage services.
New York Times
February 4, 2012
Mabel Hampton, lesbian activist and archivist
Bill T. Jones, choreographer/dancer
Full article here.
Seven LGBT African-Americans Who Changed The Face Of The Gay Community
Mabel Hampton, lesbian activist and archivist
For gays of color, though, there can be more obstacles: When he came out, CNN news anchor Don Lemon jested that he was “a double minority,” but tensions between the two communities have strained in recent years. (Whether true or not, the perception that black churches were heavily involved in the campaign to pass Proposition 8 opened old wounds on both sides.)
African-Americans, though, have always been a party of the gay community—both as members and as allies. NAACP president Benjamin Jealous told the audience at the recent Conference on LGBT Equality, “if you pick a fight with my brother—whether it is because you say we ain’t like you or he ain’t like us—you have picked a fight with me.”
Many gays of color have made their mark on America, including writers James Baldwin (above), Langston Hughes, Audre Lorde and E. Lynn Harris; directors Patrik Ian-Polk (Noah’s Arc), Paris Barclay (Glee, Sons of Anarchy) and Lee Daniels (Precious); pro basketball players Sheryl Swoopes and John Amaeche (right); singers Meshell Ndegeocello and Kele Okereke (Bloc Party)—and even a Republican mayor, Bruce Harris of Chatham, NJ.
Today is the start of Black History Month, and Queerty is taking a look at seven gay African-Americans who weren’t just pioneers in their chosen fields, but who paved the way for all of us.
African-Americans, though, have always been a party of the gay community—both as members and as allies. NAACP president Benjamin Jealous told the audience at the recent Conference on LGBT Equality, “if you pick a fight with my brother—whether it is because you say we ain’t like you or he ain’t like us—you have picked a fight with me.”
Many gays of color have made their mark on America, including writers James Baldwin (above), Langston Hughes, Audre Lorde and E. Lynn Harris; directors Patrik Ian-Polk (Noah’s Arc), Paris Barclay (Glee, Sons of Anarchy) and Lee Daniels (Precious); pro basketball players Sheryl Swoopes and John Amaeche (right); singers Meshell Ndegeocello and Kele Okereke (Bloc Party)—and even a Republican mayor, Bruce Harris of Chatham, NJ.
Today is the start of Black History Month, and Queerty is taking a look at seven gay African-Americans who weren’t just pioneers in their chosen fields, but who paved the way for all of us.
Bill T. Jones, choreographer/dancer
Full article here.
February 3, 2012
The Incredible Case of the Infamous Lower Haight Abortion Mill (Hospital)
A compelling read (written by Andrew Dudley): politics, corruption, and hidden history in San Francisco -- covering the period 1922 - 1946. As a pro-choice advocate, I found this to be an amazing glimpse into the past.
Read the full post at haighteration.
Our story begins in Philadelphia in 1889, with the birth of a girl named Inez Brown.
Inez was born into a poor family, and by all accounts her childhood was difficult. At a young age, she was forced to quit school to work in a pickle factory. Her father abandoned the family when Inez was just a few years old, leaving her mother to raise her and her three siblings.
When Inez was a teenager, her mother remarried, and the family moved to San Francisco. There, Inez got a job working as a manicurist at the Palace Hotel.
Described as striking and shapely, Inez quickly garnered many regular male customers eager to take advantage of her manicuring services. One of these men was an elderly physician by the name of Dr. West. He was a full-time abortionist, and he would change the course of Inez’s life.
Inez was born into a poor family, and by all accounts her childhood was difficult. At a young age, she was forced to quit school to work in a pickle factory. Her father abandoned the family when Inez was just a few years old, leaving her mother to raise her and her three siblings.
When Inez was a teenager, her mother remarried, and the family moved to San Francisco. There, Inez got a job working as a manicurist at the Palace Hotel.
Described as striking and shapely, Inez quickly garnered many regular male customers eager to take advantage of her manicuring services. One of these men was an elderly physician by the name of Dr. West. He was a full-time abortionist, and he would change the course of Inez’s life.
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Member since: 2003 before July 6th
Number of posts: 8,262
