Posts Tagged ‘Gay marriage’
Gay Marriage in Maine: Will Prop 8 Repeat Itself?
11:31 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Controversia| GLBT| Justice| Maine| society · 1 Comment
17 Sep 2009Back in April, we told you about how Maine had just become yet another U.S. state to legalize marriage between two people of the same sex, and that was something to celebrate — back then, that is. As has been the case in many states passing such legislation, the backlash is strong and often catches us, who are busy celebrating, off guard.
Such was the case in California and that intricately mobilized hate campaign had serious consequences. And the same is beginning to play out in Maine, where the fate of gay marriage is now in the hands of voters, who will be asked to cast their ballot for or against Question 1, an initiative that if passed would overturn the law. Playing dirty apparently pays, and it appears that gay marriage opponents in Maine have figured that out, as this is what the citizens of that state are currently getting on their TV screens:
Funny, that “gay marriage will be taught in schools” rhetoric lie was precisely the “gota que colmó el vaso” in the California Prop 8 debate. Many believe that inserting that little piece of bigoted dishonesty is what put on the fence voters on the side of voting against civil rights for Californians:
Very original Maine homophobes! Luckily, gay marriage supporters have put together some great ads of their own, taking the high road and showing what “family values” are really all about. Check them out after the jump.
Yucatan Will Penalize Gay Marriage, Abortion
6:17 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Controversia| GLBT| Latin America| Politics| mexico| society · 1 Comment
22 Jul 2009
Planning a vacation to the beautiful Yucatan Peninsula this summer? You might want to know a couple of things before you go: 1) it’s hotter than all hell in the summer and 2) Yucatan’s Congress just overwhelmingly approved a ban on gay marriage in the Mexican state. And while they were at it, they managed to ban gay adoption and ensure that abortion be illegal in almost all cases:
With the vote of 24 of the 25 local deputies, the Yucatan Congress raised heterosexual marriage and families to the constitutional level via the approval of amendments to the state’s Civil Code. With this, marriage between people of the is same sex will be penalized as will abortion “unless it is totally justified”.14 legislators from the PRI, 9 from the PAN and the representative for the Todos Somos Yucatán coalition (comprised of the Convergencia party and local political groups) voted in favor of the grassroots initiative promoted by the Pro Yucatán Network, made up of conservative groups, to reject all efforts by people of the same sex to form a family and adopt children.
In other words, if you aren’t looking a whole lot like the couple in the photo above and you want to get married or just adopt a kid, you’d better not “estar en Yucatán”.
And about that abortion issue: what exactly is a “totally justified” abortion? According to Mexico’s Anodis.com, the only circumstances under which abortion will be “justifiable” in Yucatán are “poverty, having more than 4 children, a terminal illness or risk of death for the mother”. If you have an abortion and don’t fall into any of these categories, you are facing a year in prison.
Meanwhile, PAN politicians attempted to disguise the ban as something other than hateful and discriminatory by alleging that “there still aren’t adequate conditions within Yucatán society to allow for unions between people of the same sex.”
Canada a Sanctuary for Mexican Lesbian Couple
4:19 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Canada| GLBT| Immigration| World| mexico · 1 Comment
20 Jul 2009
When we look with nostalgia and cultural pride at Mexico and other Latin American countries, it’s often easy to forget that the Latino motherlands are also home to discrimination in various forms, with a particular emphasis on race and sexual orientation. It was because of such persecution that a lesbian couple from Mexico traveled to Canada and have decided to stay and seek sanctuary from abuse. The Toronto Sun reports:
Norma Angelica Gomez, 33, and Alina Gallegos Lee, 34, say their dream is to get married in Toronto and be happy. The couple fled to Canada a year ago but claimed asylum last March after going public with their love in Mexico. They claimed they were harassed, followed and beaten by Mexican police officers for expressing that love.“Canada is a good country and we feel free,” Lee said yesterday. “At home we were constantly persecuted for being lesbians.” The couple claim the attacks against them escalated after they were detained and beaten by police last year in Mexico.
According to Amnesty International, gays and lesbians in Mexico are routinely beaten, sexually assaulted, raped or tortured by police and soldiers.
Since the couple entered the country, Canada has since (as a matter of fact, just last week) imposed a visa requirement on Mexican and Czech nationals due to the number of refugee applicants coming from the two countries. The couple is represented by an attorney and is fighting for their right to marry and remain in Canada permanently.
Via / CNews
Ex-Miss California: I Lost my Crown Because of the Gays
6:28 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · California| Controversia| GLBT| States| society · Comments Off
12 Jun 2009
Wow, I basically saw this one coming yesterday, word for pathetic word:
Former Miss California USA Carrie Prejean says she lost her crown because of a comment she made about gay marriage and not because she had been skipping appearances.Prejean told Matt Lauer on NBC’S “Today” show Friday that she “absolutely” had been dethroned because of the comment, when she said marriage should be between a man and a woman.
Nice try, Carrie. But in another captivating display of my psychic prediction powers, pageant officials are saying exactly what I predicted yesterday: you couldn’t keep your commitments because you were too busy making anti-gay marriage appearances for the Evangelicals. And having hangovers.
So, bye-bye, La Jolla, Viva Miss Malibu!
Via / AP – Yahoo News
Miss California Loses Her Crown After All
4:53 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · California| Celebrities| Chismes| Controversia| GLBT| Justice| society · 2 Comments
10 Jun 2009
We called it the story that wouldn’t die, and apparently it still hasn’t. Miss California, Carrie Prejean – that bastion of morality and American values — has been stripped of her crown, after originally keeping it after a photo scandal. This time it’s not because of her liberal ways with her blouses but for something a lot less sexy – for slacking off. CNN reports:
Carrie Prejean has been dethroned as Miss California USA for “contract violations,” including missing scheduled pageant events, according to a state pageant official.Prejean, 22, retained her title last month despite a controversy over topless photos, missed appearances and her statements against same-sex marriage.
Miss USA pageant owner Donald Trump decided to fire Prejean a month after he gave her a second chance.
“Carrie is a beautiful young woman, and I wish her well as she pursues her other interests,” Trump said.
Tami Farrell, Miss Malibu, will assume Prejean’s title and assume the responsibilities she apparently wasn’t able to be bothered with. Pageant officials say she violated her contract because she was unwilling to make appearance on behalf of the pageant.
My guess is that Prejean slacked off because she was out there trying to pursue her career as a spokesperson for the Christian Right’s anti-gay marriage movement. ¡Le salió el tiro por la culata!
Via / CNN
Gay Marriage is Legal in New Hampshire
5:06 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · GLBT| New Hampshire| States| society · 2 Comments
3 Jun 2009Much to the disappointment of me and my fellow Californians, we are light years behind New England in terms of civil rights in comparison to our friends on the East Coast. Nonetheless, I am overwhelmingly pleased about New Hampshire’s landmark move of signing gay marriage into law just minutes ago. From HRC’s BackStory blog:
New Hampshire Governor John Lynch signed marriage equality legislation moments ago, calling it a great day for all New Hampshire families. Below are photos and video from the Human Rights Campaign’s work in the state.
Congratulations to New Hampshire, to HRC and to all the activists that helped make this a reality.
Background here and latest news here.
Viva New England!
Via / HRC Backstory
California, Get Some Courage
4:19 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · California| Controversia| GLBT| society · 2 Comments
26 May 2009Guess who’s not proud to be a Californian again?
Even in the worst of times, it is important to remember: the fight is not over.
Please sign the pledge to keep the campaign for marriage equality in California going. This can’t end this way.
Via / Courage Campaign
Prop 8 in Cali to be decided today
12:20 pm By la Macha · GLBT · 3 Comments
26 May 2009
And as I was writing this post, the decision came out: Prop 8 is upheld (which makes same sex marriages are illegal), but the 18,000 couples that got married when same sex marriage was legal are still considered “real.”
More as news breaks.
Edited: Here is the Supreme Court decision in PDF format
EDITED: Here is live CBS coverage the protests going on in San Fran right now.
Clergy Says Same-Sex Marriage Isn’t About Civil Rights
4:58 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Activism| Controversia| GLBT| Politics| Religion| race| society · 1 Comment
19 May 2009
…apparently because being gay “is a choice”:
“We know what we have gone through as an ethnic group. We feel the terminology, the definition itself, has really been hijacked,” he said. “Unfortunately, it’s just another ploy to garner more support from people who may not understand what the civil rights struggle was all about.”Bishop Michael A. Badger, pastor of Bethesda World Harvest International Church on Main Street, said that he doesn’t doubt there is discrimination against gay people but that it is hardly on the order of what African-Americans have encountered and still face.
“As an African-American, I don’t have a choice in the color of my skin. I have a choice in whether I’m abstinent or not,” Badger said. “I don’t think you can compare the two.”
Actually he said because “abstinence” is “a choice”. Well, that makes even less sense.
Just because the two issues aren’t exactly the same doesn’t mean they aren’t both about civil rights. And sorry, I think we can draw more parallels between the civil rights movement and the fight for gay rights than with the fight against gay marriage. To quote journalist Earl Ofari Hutchison: “Homophobia and racism are frequently two sides of the same coin.”
Let’s be honest. I’d rather get schooled on said parallels and what the civil rights movement was about by Coretta Scott King than from this guy.
Oh, and for those of you who wonder why this issue is even important, read this story from today’s NYT.
What do you think?
Via / Buffalo News
Image via LogoOnline(Noah’s Arc)
A Tale of Two Rallies : Latinos Speak for and Against Marriage Equity in NYC
7:49 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Activism| GLBT| Linking Latinos| New York City · Comments Off
19 May 2009Andrés Duque from Blabbeando has some great video and pictures from two very different rallies that took place this past Sunday here in NYC. Both rallies dealt with the lives of GLBT people and both had Latinos speaking on the issues.
First here’s Ugly Betty’s Ana Ortiz (no relation), speaking at a rally organized by Broadway Impact and co-sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign, the Empire State Pride Agenda, Marriage Equality New York, the Civil Rights Front and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS
Hola!
VivirLatino is a daily publication published by 2 Mujeres Media, dedicated to featuring all the latest politics, culture, entertainment of interest to the diverse and influential Latino and Latina community in the U.S.
About | Advertise with us | Contact | Twitter
- adriana: I have been following this too, as my alma mater is one of the colleges that banned the Russell gear [...]
- Nelson G.: Did Ruben show up? [...]
- Transgender Day of Remembrance and Latin@s | VivirLatino: [...] America still painted as more transphobic than the good old U.S. of A, all we need to do is lo [...]
- Maegan La Mala: intellectual jism....ja ja. I love you [...]
- Maegan La Mala: Chip, Thanks for the info I will add this above. I don't have any other info about the Sunday vi [...]
- Pedro Julio Serrano on the Murder of Lopez Mercado
- Bay Area Community Members to Hold Vigil and Release Statement about Murders in Maryland and Puerto Rico
- Transgender Day of Remembrance and Latin@s
- Dear Troll(s):
- Puerto Rican, Latino Clergy, Theology Professors, Community Members To Condemn Brutal Hate Killing of Gay Puerto Rican Man
- Vigils for Justice y en Memoria de Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado
- Russell Athletic rehires fired union organizers
- When Things Go Wrong…Terribly Wrong.
- Official VivirLatino Statement on Lou Dobbs Leaving CNN
- Sexual Violence Against Women in Immigrant Detention
VivirLatino RSS Feed
- Bay Area Community Members to Hold Vigil and Release Statement about Murders in Maryland and Puerto Rico
- Transgender Day of Remembrance and Latin@s
- Dear Troll(s):
- Puerto Rican, Latino Clergy, Theology Professors, Community Members To Condemn Brutal Hate Killing of Gay Puerto Rican Man
- Vigils for Justice y en Memoria de Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado
- Russell Athletic rehires fired union organizers
- When Things Go Wrong…Terribly Wrong.
- Official VivirLatino Statement on Lou Dobbs Leaving CNN
- Sexual Violence Against Women in Immigrant Detention
- Nadya Suleman Speaks Again
