Obama White House LGBT Stonewall Fete: Transcript, Guest List, Video

President Obama hosted 250-300 LGBT leaders in the East Room of the White House today, billed as a celebration marking the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall rebellion and Pride month. Obama acknowledged gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny, to whom the government recently apologized for firing in 1957, because he was gay. Obama was also interrupted, at one point (above), by a cell phone ringtone which quacked like a duck.

On the issue of action toward his campaign promises, Obama said: "I know that many in this room don't believe that progress has come fast enough, and I understand that.  It's not for me to tell you to be patient, any more than it was for others to counsel patience to African Americans who were petitioning for equal rights a half century ago. But I say this:  We have made progress and we will make more.  And I want you to know that I expect and hope to be judged not by words, not by promises I've made, but by the promises that my administration keeps."

Transcript and list of guests, AFTER THE JUMP...

I'll add full video if and when it's available.

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."

News: Frank Kameny, Saturday Night Fever, Frog God, Wales

Re-hearing petition filed in Prop 8 challenge? UPDATE: See, AFTER THE JUMP...

AP: Pioneering activist Frank Kameny talks gays and government.

Simon Cowell to remake Saturday Night Fever with Zac Efron as Tony Manero?

Point Foundation announces 2009 scholars.

Jon Voight slams Obama: False prophet.

Hell's Kitchen host Gordon Ramsey calls Australian TV host Tracy Grimshaw a lesbian pig: "Later he said he was only joking.Grimshaw, though, failed to see the humor and retaliated on her program Monday night, calling Ramsay an 'arrogant narcissist' and a 'bully.'"

Malawian court has Mercy on Madonna: she'll be allowed to adopt.

Tom Brady rescued from overturned kayak in the Charles River in Boston: “He had to be rescued. The launch guy went out and got him and got him back in the kayak. He’s been bragging about it ever since. He’s telling everyone he rescued Tom Brady.”

Joan Garry: Obama lacking 'empathy' on gay rights.

Inside a NYC fundraiser for Gavin Newsom.

Multi-colored frog worshiped as a god in India?

KXRQ-FM Radio hosts who mocked transgender children to do special segment featuring transgender advocates: "Rashad Robinson of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation said Monday that the general manager of station KXRQ-FM told him that talk show hosts Rob Williams and Arnie States also plan to apologize during Thursday's show. During their May 28 program, one of the men said he would hit his son with his shoe if he wanted to wear high heels. The other quipped that a boy who asked to wear a dress was 'a little idiot.'  Several companies threatened to pull advertising from the station after GLAAD launched a letter-writing campaign against the comments."

Welsh gay men targeted by rangers with cameras in park raids?

No biting: Adam Lambert licks Twilight director.

Mika debuts new songs in London.

Graffiti art's new respect: "Like a slow-burning fuse, graffiti has smoldered in the contemporary art world for decades: omnipresent in the streets yet not quite hot enough to catch fire in the market. But this year it exploded, with graffiti and “street art” shows in major museums and gallery spaces both sides of the Atlantic — and people have been lining up round the block to get in."

One Life to Live to out two existing male characters played by openly gay  Scott Evans (Chris Evans' brother) and Brett Claywell, and put them in a love affair.

Is Dominic Monaghan joining Grey's Anatomy?

Brooklyn Assemblyman wants all non-Jews out of Holocaust memorial: "Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind doesn't want gays, political prisoners, gypsies, the handicapped — or any other group of people persecuted and killed by the hundreds of thousands during the Holocaust — to be recognized at the city-owned Holocaust Memorial Park in Sheepshead Bay. Even though 5 million non-Jews were killed by the Nazis alongside the 6 million Jews, Hikind says that 'to include these other groups diminishes their memory.'"

UPDATE to first item, AFTER THE JUMP...

News: Frank Kameny, North Dakota, Tom Brady, Playboy, Tony Dungy

In 1971 pioneering gay rights activist received a letter condemning homosexuality as "sexual perversion" from the White House Office of Personnel Management after protesting the firing of a gay employee there. Last week, Kameny was invited to the swearing in of John Berry, the openly gay man recently confirmed to head that office. How times have changed.

Aretha Franklin thought she had the biggest bow hat of the year.

Gay man appointed interim ambassador to India: "Peter Burleigh, a seasoned foreign service officer with deep expertise in South Asian affairs, will serve as America’s top diplomat in India until a permanent ambassador is named."

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom makes swing through South Florida, addresses LGBT community at Miami Beach's Halo Lounge.

In an unusual defeat, Madonna returns to London.

North Dakota House rejects legislation (54-34) banning discrimination in housing, employment and credit based on a person's sexual orientation: "Rep. Corey Mock, D-Grand Forks, one of the six sponsors of the bill, noted that 20 other states already have laws barring discrimination against gays and lesbians. In those places, he said, the laws do not grant special rights, privileges or legal immunity for sexual deviants, as some bill opponents have claimed would happen here. 'There is not a person in this chamber that is not related to or friends with someone that would be affected by Senate Bill 2278,' he said. 'That means people we know and love may be evicted, denied services or terminated because they are gay, straight, bisexual or transgendered with no regard or consideration of merit.'"

Ashton Kutcher spends more time running around shirtless for his new movie.

Here comes the gayborhood: Pizza parlor emerges as gay bar in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.

Help: Censorship in focus in Lebanon as a film is banned just days before scheduled release. "In Lebanon, a censoring body of security officers influenced by the Muslim and Christian clergies continues to review all plays and films before they are shown, cutting all scenes that might 'offend public morals.' Although the contentious sex scenes in 'Help' are far from explicit, the film features a threesome of a woman and two men. That may explain the controversy: Homosexual acts are illegal in Lebanon."

NPR on Tony Dungy's invitation to join Obama's advisory council for the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

Former Playboy fashion director Joseph DeAcetis sues magazine: "In a $4 million Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit, Joseph DeAcetis (pictured), 45, says his boss often 'made fun' of him because he was gay and his hair was gray. The suit says editorial director Christopher Napolitano called him and other gay men 'girls.' A Playboy Enterprises spokeswoman, Elizabeth Austin, said the company 'takes these allegations very seriously' and was conducting its 'own investigation.'"

Shotgun wedding: Paparazzi fired upon at Tom Brady-Gisele Bundchen nuptials in Costa Rica.

Integral ice bridge holding Antarctic shelf in place collapses...

Jimmy Carter's former Secretary of the Army, Clifford Alexander slams "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy and Elaine Donnelly's crusade against its repeal: "Alexander called the officers' statement 'nonsense' and said the officers were 'like lemmings to the sea' and "those who would sign a petition like this without evidence are acting without facts."

100 attend same-sex marriage rally at Drew University in New Jersey.

San Francisco activists to protest executions of gay men in Iraq at 5 pm today, Harvey Milk Plaza.

Gay Activist Frank Kameny's Home Declared Historic Landmark

Gay rights activist Franklin Kameny's Washington D.C. home was declared a historic landmark yesterday:

"...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. It is the home of Franklin E. Kameny, 83, considered by academics and historians to be 'the father of gay activism,' according to the staff report by the Historic Preservation Review Board that recommended the designation. 'Today is D.C.'s recognition of his role, locally and nationally, in turning around discrimination against homosexuals,' said Mark Meinke, chairman of the Rainbow History Project and the driving force behind this architectural designation that has a far weightier social significance. Inside the house, Kameny led an unrelenting pursuit of equal rights for homosexuals long before Harvey Milk had even moved to San Francisco. A collection of Kameny's papers was admitted into the Library of Congress in October 2006, and some of his placards and buttons were put on display in the Smithsonian Museum of American History in 2007...The preservation board unanimously approved the designation yesterday. 'I think it will resonate well, not only with the whole gay community but with everybody,' said board Chairman Tersh Boasberg. 'Everybody will be able to appreciate how incredibly significant Dr. Kameny is.' It is unusual to designate a site as historic while its occupant still lives there."

The designation automatically nominates the site to be a nationally registered historic place.

Previously
Frank Kameny Gay Rights Items Join 'Treasures of American History' [tr]
Frank Rich and Frank Kameny: Pardon Larry Craig [tr]
Wingnuts Gear Up for Hate Campaign Against Library of Congress for Accepting Papers of Pioneering Gay Activist Frank Kameny [tr]

News: Whales, Frank Kameny, Emile Hirsch, True Blood, David Dreier

San Diego firefighters testify in suit against San Diego over being forced to take part in Gay Pride parade: "I felt like I was close to being in an X-rated event. I was ashamed to wear my uniform that day."

Emile Hirsch talks to Nylon about Milk: "I just had such a wonderful time. it’s such a great ensemble. Speed Racer was such a highly controlled performance environment that I found, honestly, a little frustrating at times just because it’s so hard when you’re on the green screen and it’s all about, ‘Bat this eyelash a little bit here.’ On Milk, it was just a free-for-all and we were all going nuts."

The odd lies of Sarah Palin.

New York Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith sidesteps question about how he'll approach same-sex marriage if he becomes Majority Leader: "It's a good question. But I'd rather wait to see what seats I have, you know, who are my members, and at that time, then we can talk."

True Blood: HBO picks up Alan Ball vampire drama for another year.

Closeted California Rep. David Dreier runs from Michelangelo Signorile at the Republican Convention - VIDEO.

Field Poll: Same-sex marriage ban trailing in California. "The Field Poll of 830 likely voters found that the share of the electorate backing Proposition 8 fell during the last two months, with 38 percent of those surveyed saying they intend to vote for the measure compared to 42 percent in early July. Opposition to Proposition 8 increased during the same period, the poll found. A solid majority of the likely voters—55 percent—said they would vote against the same-sex marriage ban, compared to the 51 percent who opposed the initiative in the July poll."

Frank Kameny Papers archive opens at Library of Congress: "Kameny is credited with playing a lead role in launching the modern U.S. gay civil rights movement in the early 1960s after government officials discovered he was gay and fired him from his job as an astronomer with the Army Map Service. According to a Library of Congress index of the Kameny archives, highlights include papers related to the American Psychiatric Association’s 1973 removal of homosexuality from its list of mental disorders and the landmark 1974 federal decision to grant an openly gay man a Pentagon security clearance. Also among the archives are materials Kameny used in marches and protests from 1965–1969."

Tyson Beckford unzips for charity.

Brazil in the Hamptons...

Simon Cowell recruits Ms. Spears for X-Factor.

NYC: Will Chelsea's Food Bar live again?

Like father, like son: Ryan and Redmond O'Neil arrested on meth charge.

Song: Whales heard in great numbers in New York Harbor and off Fire Island. "Not just a few, either. Right whales were migrating past the microphones during all three months. Not just right whales, either. Humpbacks were also passing by, and fin whales appear to be residing in the area. 'We basically have fin whale singers basically 24/7 off New York Harbor,' Dr. Clark said. 'That was a surprise.'"

Researchers say poor mental and sexual health of gays a result of internalized "homonegativity".

Fresno State Hate: Foes of marriage equality are taking their battle to college football games, apparently.

Kentucky appeals court issues shameful ruling barring lesbians from adopting as stepparents: "In a 62-page ruling issued Friday about the case, the court said that with a 'wink-wink' and a 'nod-nod,' Family Court Judge Eleanore Garber and lawyers for a lesbian couple ignored those laws. And as many as three or four family court judges in Jefferson County may have allowed such adoptions, the opinion said."

Broadway's Xanadu to close.

Albany-area school principal resigns under mysterious circumstances: "The school board accepted Michael Paolino's resignation at a meeting Tuesday night. The resignation goes into effect on December 31st. Paolino has been on paid administrative leave since July but the district has never given the official reason. The Times Union has reported that teachers accused Paolino of making racist and homophobic comments about staff members and even some students."