Kalamazoo, MI Votes to Protect its LGBT Citizens from Discrimination

Kalamazoo, Michigan, which has gone back and forth on an LGBT anti-discrimination ordinance — approving it in December 2008 and rescinding it in January 2009 following petitions from the American Family Association — voted unanimously to adopt the measure last night. It will go into effect in July and prohibit discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people when it comes to hiring, housing and other accommodations.

WOOD reports: "Changes were made to try and accommodate both sides, mainly making exemptions for religious organizations. Most of the ordinance's opposition comes from the organization's Michigan chapter, which argues mostly on the basis of religious views. The city manager will be in charge of enforcement. Businesses and housing organizations would face stiff fines if found to have discriminated against the gay community. However, opposition groups will have a chance to petition again. With 1,300 signatures, the ordinance would have to go before the commission for a third time. From there, the commission could rescind it, or put it before the Kalamazoo community for a vote in the next election."

Watch WOOD's report, AFTER THE JUMP...

News: Billy Mays, Orgullo, Kevin Jennings, Avenue Q, Prop 8

NCLR, ACLU, and Lambda Legal back federal challenge to Prop 8: "In legal documents filed late Thursday, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Lambda Legal and the ACLU signaled a significant break with past legal tactics that avoided taking the fight to federal court."

NYT revelation: Gay men and straight men can be friends.

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Despite ban, Russian gay activists plan to protest Obama next week on his trip to Moscow: "In a statement, Nikolai Alexeyev said the Moscow authorities had banned a proposed demonstration outside the U.S. embassy next Tuesday, the second day of Obama's July 6-8 trip...'We don't intend to abandon our plans and in the near future we will determine the format of action on July 7 during the visit of Barack Obama in Russia.' A Moscow municipal spokeswoman confirmed city authorities had turned down a request from gay activists to protest in front of the U.S. embassy on July 7. She said the area had already been booked for another event and that Muscovites were against the gay protest."

The last days of Heath Ledger.

Madrid's Orgullo gay pride festival a two-week event. Obama called out on gay rights in Paris.

Avenue Q to close on Broadway in September as 20th longest-running show of all time.

City of Toronto data sheds light on gay neighborhoods, marriages from out-of-state, etc.

Famous TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead in home.

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Michael Jackson: UK's Daily Mail publishes tell-all; LAPD questions cardiologist.

NYDN: It's time to end LGBT discrimination. "That Stonewall has hit its fourth decade is only part of the reason that the media are giving this anniversary attention. The other reason is that there is a sense of excitement that, with the spread of gay marriage to more states, the struggle for gay rights may be about to reach a new high-water mark. But all this excitement glosses over a critical fact: Gay people have the same federal protections against discrimination in terms of the most basic civil rights that we had at the time of Stonewall. And that is exactly: zero."

News: Gay Exorcism, Father Cutie, Rosie O'Donnell, Neda, Nixon

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Senate Judiciary Committee holds hearings on hate crimes bill.

Body of pilot Marc Dubois and flight attendant among those recovered from Air France crash site. Black boxes not found. Will ping for only a few more days.

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Rosie O'Donnell to host Sirius XM radio show.

Iran: Neda's family forced from home. "The Iranian authorities have ordered the family of Neda Agha Soltan out of their Tehran home after shocking images of her death were circulated around the world. Neighbours said that her family no longer lives in the four-floor apartment building on Meshkini Street, in eastern Tehran, having been forced to move since she was killed. The police did not hand the body back to her family, her funeral was cancelled, she was buried without letting her family know and the government banned mourning ceremonies at mosques, the neighbours said."

Is Father Cutie gay?

Amsterdam Deputy Mayor Carolien Gehrels flies to New York City in support of marriage equality: "Mrs. Gehrels brings a personal perspective to the issue: she is married to a woman. She said that while the approval of gay marriage in the Netherlands that took effect in 2001 was 'a milestone in equal rights,' even eight years later 'equality and freedom are never self-evident.' Same-sex partnerships were legalized in 1998."

Douchebag warns that straight men will give up women once they try the gay.

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford was pushed into confessing affair: "As the newspaper disclosed on CNN tonight, it has since December had emails between Sanford and his Argentine mistress, it's just been trying to authenticate them. Then this morning the paper busted Sanford returning on an airplane from South America when he was supposed to be on the Appalachian Trial. The paper then informed Sanford it would finally be publishing the emails, exposing his adultery, according to The State writer John O'Connor."

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Seattle's The Stranger publishes Queer Issue 2009. NY's Village Voice goes Queer too.

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Violence not expected at this year's Jerusalam Gay Pride: "Amit Lev, a spokesman for the gay rights group behind the parade, said organisers had been negotiating with ultra-Orthodox leaders in Jerusalem after "long years of silence" between the two communities. 'We've agreed that violence doesn't serve any of us or any of our goals,' he said."

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New batch of Nixon tapes reveal more homophobia: "Discussing Nixon's political opposition, Colson says it included 'the blacks and the poor.' Nixon adds: 'And the intellectuals.' Colson goes on to say that it also included 'the lavender shirt mob . . . the homos and the queers.'" Previously: Nixon understood homosexuality but didn't want it on TV.

Gay Turkish Football Referee Fights Back After Firing

Turkey's football federation is "backpedaling" after firing referee Halil Ibrahim Dincdag because he is gay and outing him to the press following a surge of public support in his favor. The surge was in response to the fact that instead of running and hiding,  Dincdag went on a popular sports program to discuss his sexuality.

The Independent reports: "Mr Dincdag's television appearance was an act of considerable courage. Homosexuality is not illegal in Turkey, unlike in some other Muslim countries. But homophobia is widespread, no-where more so than in the world of football. 'The crowds shout 'faggot' at referees whose decisions they don't like,' Mr Dincdag said. 'Well, here I am.' His principled stance brought him a wave of support. Three-quarters of Trabzon's 80 referees rang him up to congratulate him. Thirty thousand people signed a petition launched by Turkey's most influential newspaper backing his campaign. One columnist even compared him to Harvey Milk, America's first openly gay politician. Turkey's deputies brought his case to parliament. Most importantly for Mr Dincdag, his pious family, from whom he had kept his homosexuality secret, stood behind him.

Said Dincdag: "They thought I was an ant that they could crush, they thought I would run away and hide in a corner. But they have destroyed my life and I will fight them to the end. The day the press started writing about me, I went into a coma, and the day I appeared on TV I died. Thirty-three years of my life had disappeared. Since then, I have been trying to resurrect myself.""

The football federation now claims that Dincdag was fired for his performance and activists are saying his case has the potential to become a landmark anti-discrimination case because of Turkey's European Union accession bid.

Said Ali Erol, a spokesman for KAOS-GL, an Ankara-based gay and lesbian rights group: "For years, the European Union has been talking about the importance of legislation on sexual discrimination in the workplace. So far Turkey has not taken one step forward."

Gay Rights Activist Frank Kameny Gets Apology from U.S. Govt

Yesterday, gay rights activist Frank Kameny received an official apology from White House Office of Personnel Management head, openly gay John Berry, for firing Kameny in 1957 because he was gay, the Washington Blade reports.

Said the letter, in part: “In what we know today was a shameful action, the United States Civil Service Commission in 1957 upheld your dismissal from your job solely on the basis of your sexual orientation,” the letter states. “… And by virtue of the authority vested in me as Director of the Office Of Personnel Management, it is my duty and great pleasure to inform you that I am adding my support … for the repudiation of the reasoning of the 1957 finding by the United States Civil Service Commission to dismiss you from your job solely on the basis of your sexual orientation. Please accept our apology for the consequences of the previous policy of the United States government.”

Read the full letter at the Blade.

Said Kameny: "Apology accepted."

In February, Kameny's home in Washington D.C. was declared an historic landmark:

"...not because of its gabled roof or side-hall plan, but because, for 13 fiery years, it was the epicenter of the gay rights movement in the nation's capital."

In 2007, Kameny donated more than 70,000 papers related to gay rights to the Library of Congress, inspiring a hate campaign by wingnuts. A few of his artifacts are now in the Smithsonian as well:

"[Protest signs], plus three campaign buttons, are now in the same case as Joe Louis's boxing gloves, near the glass closet that holds Jackie Kennedy's inaugural gown and in the same shrinelike exhibit...that also has Thomas Jefferson's writing desk and the ruby-red slippers that Dorothy wore on her way to meet the Wizard."

Barney Frank Reintroduces Fully-Inclusive ENDA

Barney Frank today introduced a fully-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). Pam Spaulding has posted a round-up of the reactions from LGBT groups.

The Washington Blade reports: "According to his office, more than 100 members of Congress have signed on to co-sponsor the measure. Among the sponsors are gay House members Frank, Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.). The lead Republican sponsor is Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.). In a recent interview with the Blade, Frank said he believes prospects for passing a trans-inclusive ENDA have improved significantly since 2007, when he and other House Democratic leaders said the measure would be defeated if a gender identity clause were kept in the bill. Over the strong objections of transgender activists and many gay advocacy groups, House Democratic leaders dropped the transgender provision from the bill in September 2007. The House went on to pass it the following month, but the measure died when the Senate took no action on it."