Florida to Get First Openly Gay Lawmaker

Florida is set to get its first out gay legislator, Buzzfeed reports:

The candidate, David Richardson, is an accountant and small-business owner advising companies on accounting and finance issues relating to government contracts. His primary victory in a heavily-Democratic district in Miami effectively guarantees his victory in November, given that no Republican sought a spot on the ballot.

Seventeen states currently have no out lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender lawmakers, according to the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, which has backed Richardson’s bid and works to help elect out LGBT candidates...

...In addition to Florida, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia, the other 12 states without out lawmakers currently are Alaska, Delaware, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, Tennessee and South Carolina.

Steve Rothaus at the Miami Herald adds:

When the legislature convene in 2013 David may not be alone in making history. Orange County voters just delivered a huge primary election victory for out, gay candidate Joe Saunders in the House District 49 race. He carried his district with a 30 point margin over his Democratic challenger. Joe now faces his Republican opponent in November in an I-4 corridor battle - the most hotly contested region of the state.

Wisconsin State Rep. Mark Pocan Poised to Become Next Out Gay Congressman Following Primary Win

Some good news from Wisconsin, the Victory Fund reports:

The next openly gay member of Congress will almost certainly be Wisconsin State Rep. Mark Pocan, a progressive small business owner who won the Democratic primary tonight in the Congressional District that has been represented by Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin for the past 14 years.  (The primary winner is normally the heavy favorite to win the general election in the Democratic-leaning 2nd Congressional District.)

Pocan has been active in local and state politics since 1991, and he’s owned a small business in Madison since graduating from the University of Wisconsin in 1986.  He married his longtime partner, Philip Frank, in Toronto in 2006.  Pocan currently represents the state legislative district once represented by Baldwin, who is now running for the U.S. Senate after serving seven terms in the House.

(image: victory fund)

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #1187

THE MARRYING KIND: A trailer for Ken O'Neill's debut novel.

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Humanists marry first same-sex couple in Iceland: "The bride and bride were Jana Björg Ingadóttir and Jóhanna Kristín Gísladóttir, who chose an intimate ceremony with only their closest relatives and friends present, ruv.is reports."

Michael Jackson appears in dollop of bird poop.

"Ex-gay" group accuses California senator of 'ex-gay bashing': "Sponsoring legislation endorsed by the gay lobby to ensure that children only receive gay-affirming therapy is an act of childhood endangerment and an unconstitutional attempt to deny parental rights everywhere, but especially for parents in California and those in your Torrance district."

Elton John flashes his pale behind.

Celine Dion releasing two albums in November.

El Paso County Commissioners Court votes 3-1 to extend health benefits to unmarried partners of county employees: "County Judge Veronica Escobar and Commissioners Tania Chozet and Anna Perez voted for the move. Commissioner Dan Haggerty voted against it. Commissioner Sergio Lewis was absent. Domestic partners were defined by Escobar as two people of the same or opposite sex who have lived together in the same home for at least one year and intend to stay together."

Taylor Swift releases diabolically catchy new single.

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Conservationists document largest Burmese python ever recorded in Florida: "The python weighed in at 164½ pounds and measured 17 feet, 7 inches long. It was pregnant with 87 eggs. The snakes are native to Southeast Asia but have established a population of tens of thousands in the Everglades, where the latest find was recorded Friday."

Physicists create Big Bang casserole: "Physicists at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider near Geneva, Switzerland, have achieved the hottest manmade temperatures ever, by colliding lead ions to momentarily create a quark–gluon plasma, a subatomic soup and unique state of matter that is thought to have existed just moments after the Big Bang."

Researchers create "healthy" chocolate in lab using fruit juice: "Our study is just the starting point to healthier chocolate – we've established the chemistry behind this new technique but now we're hoping the food industry will take our method to make tasty, lower-fat chocolate bars."

Steve Jobs' Palo Alto home burglarized: "More than $60,000 worth of "computers and personal items" were allegedly stolen, but Flattery declined to say whether they belonged to Jobs, who died last year at the age of 56, or another family member."

Actor Jonny Weston goes shirtless for Vman.

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Zoo elephant conceived with frozen sperm: "The Schoenbrunn Zoo in Vienna says it is the first successful use of frozen sperm from a wild African bull elephant to impregnate a female in captivity. An ultrasound image from Operation Frozen Dumbo shows the foetus with developing trunk and legs. The mother is nine months into her pregnancy, expected to last 22 months."

Lifetime series Drop Dead Diva to tackle FDA ban on biological donations by gay men.

Trans man Luke Anderson wins Big Brother UK: "After leaving the house last night (Aug. 13), Anderson told host Brian Dowling: ‘I don't think it's sunk in yet. A big part of it was about acceptance. All my life I've been an outsider. Thank you so much.’ After beginning gender reassignment four years ago, the South African revealed to fellow housemates on day two of the contest that, in his own words, he had been born a woman, named Laura."

Julia Child Remixed, Autotuned: VIDEO

PBS gives Julia Child the same treatment it did for Mister Rogers in June, and more recently, landscape painter Bob Ross.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Outdoor Retailer REI Offers Strong Endorsement of Marriage Equality

Outdoor retailer REI's CEO and President Sally Jewell strongly endorsed marriage equality in a letter to employees, Washington United for Marriage reports.

Said Jewell in the blog post:

REI is taking a position in support of marriage equality—an issue that is important to the co-op as an inclusive organization and a welcoming place to work and do business.  A referendum on this issue will come before Washington State voters in November after passage through the Washington State Legislature earlier this year; marriage equality is also gaining momentum nationally.

Jewell continued by telling employees about her own marriage and the importance of not taking for granted the rights and benefits that marriage affords.

She adds:

Marriage equality is important to the co-op because the benefits, legal clarity and societal understanding that Warren and I have enjoyed these past 34 years should be available to any two people who want to express their love and make a permanent commitment to each other that is so clearly provided for in the legal definition of marriage.

When I joined REI in 2000, I realized what it was like to work in a place that was inclusive of people without regard to their sexual orientation. This was not the case early in my career as an engineer, nor in the 19 years I spent in banking.  In those years, I witnessed the challenge that my colleagues experienced—where seemingly simple questions about relationships, children, or even weekend activities could become delicate and difficult to answer, because being “out” was dangerous to one’s career.

I am proud of the inclusive environment that REI creates for our LGBT teammates and customers, and recognize that this is a continuing journey for all of us as we strive to be increasingly inclusive across all of the dimensions of diversity.

Read Jewell's full post, AFTER THE JUMP...

Sally Jewell’s blog post to REI employees

REI is taking a position in support of marriage equality—an issue that is important to the co-op as an inclusive organization and a welcoming place to work and do business.  A referendum on this issue will come before Washington State voters in November after passage through the Washington State Legislature earlier this year; marriage equality is also gaining momentum nationally.

Why is this important to the co-op?  Let me begin my answer with a personal perspective. A few weeks ago, my husband Warren and I celebrated our 34th wedding anniversary.  We’ve been on a journey through life together since our first date on my 18th birthday, raising our two children, changing jobs, moving to various places, and witnessing the challenges and joys of our relationship and those of our parents, three of them through end-of-life.

For heterosexual couples, it is very easy to take for granted the legal and societal benefits of marriage—health care benefits, retirement benefits, insurance, death benefits, healthcare decisions, child-rearing and custody, and many more, not to mention the meaning of the commitment of marriage that was so vivid to us as we introduced each other as husband or wife for the first time.  As executrix of my mother’s estate, the legal benefits of marriage in estate and health issues became even clearer to me over the past year.

Marriage equality is important to the co-op because the benefits, legal clarity and societal understanding that Warren and I have enjoyed these past 34 years should be available to any two people who want to express their love and make a permanent commitment to each other that is so clearly provided for in the legal definition of marriage.

When I joined REI in 2000, I realized what it was like to work in a place that was inclusive of people without regard to their sexual orientation. This was not the case early in my career as an engineer, nor in the 19 years I spent in banking.  In those years, I witnessed the challenge that my colleagues experienced—where seemingly simple questions about relationships, children, or even weekend activities could become delicate and difficult to answer, because being “out” was dangerous to one’s career.

I am proud of the inclusive environment that REI creates for our LGBT teammates and customers, and recognize that this is a continuing journey for all of us as we strive to be increasingly inclusive across all of the dimensions of diversity. The investment we have made in inclusion training across the organization is an important step in this journey.

The Board, Leadership Forum and I are committed to ensuring that we continue to create an environment where people can be themselves and feel welcome at REI, including respecting religious and political diversity. I want to ensure that our colleagues and customers who have beliefs that run counter to the position the co-op is taking on this issue feel respected in their right to disagree. My own journey in understanding and coming to this position on marriage equality has been shaped by thoughtful, heartfelt discussions with people who have held a variety of differing perspectives.  I encourage you to engage each other in a discussion, practicing our core value of respect—“we listen to and learn from each other.”

Sixteen years from now, when I expect to be celebrating my 50th wedding anniversary, I sincerely hope that there will be millions more of a new generation for whom 50 years of marriage will become a possibility through these changes in our legal system.

I invite your reflections and thoughts on this blog post.

Warmly,
Sally