A poll released Wednesday shows that for the first time a majority of Americans believe that gays and lesbians could not not change their sexuality even if they wanted to.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll found that 56 percent of respondents do not believe sexual orientation can be changed.

That is a marked change in the past six years.

A 2001 CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll found only 45 percent of respondents believed sexuality was unchangeable and in 1998 a CNN/Time poll the number was 36 percent.

When asked whether homosexuality is nature or nurture the 515 people surveyed in the new poll respondents were more closely divided.

Forty-two percent of respondents to the current poll said they believe homosexuality is the result of upbringing or environment, while 39 percent said they believe it is genetic.

Similar polls in the 1970s and 1980 found fewer than 20 percent of Americans believed said a person is born homosexual.

The survey is the latest in a series of recent polls showing public support growing for gays and lesbians.

A poll conducted last month found that 79 percent support gays serving openly in the military. A second poll conducted in May found that a majority believed same-sex couples should be recognized but were almost equally divided on whether that should be marriage or civil unions. Forty-three percent opposed both.

On the topic of adoption, however, 57 percent said same-sex couples should be allowed to adopt children.

Labels: adoption, poll

This comes after calling John Edwards a "faggot". For a refresher on that story. Click here.

Labels: 2008 Presidential Election, ann coulter, anti gay, bitch

The NJ star-Ledger has the scoop on this ridiculous, hypocritical decision by the high school...

A photograph of an East Side High School student kissing his boyfriend was blacked out of every copy of the school's yearbook by Newark school officials who decided it was inappropriate.

Andre Jackson said he never thought he would offend anyone when he bought a page in the yearbook and filled it with several photographs, including one of him kissing his boyfriend.

But Newark Superintendent of Schools Marion Bolden called the photograph "illicit" and ordered it blacked out of the $85 yearbook before it was distributed to students at a banquet for graduating seniors Thursday.

"It looked provocative," she said. "If it was either heterosexual or gay, it should have been blacked out. It's how they posed for the picture."

Russell Garris, the assistant superintendent who oversees the city's high schools, brought the photograph to Bolden's attention Thursday afternoon. He was concerned the picture would be controversial and upsetting to parents, Bolden said.

There are several photos of heterosexual couples kissing in the yearbook, but the superintendent said she didn't review the entire yearbook and was presented only with Jackson's page.

Ripping the page out entirely was considered but, Bolden said, it was decided blacking it out with a marker would lessen the damage to the yearbooks.

Jackson said he showed up at the banquet, excited to collect his yearbook. He'd paid an additional $150 for the special tribute page filled with shots of boyfriend David Escobales, 19, of Allentown, Pa., and others. Jackson learned what happened to his page moments before the books were distributed.

While the students waited, staff members in another room blacked out the 4 1/2-by-5-inch picture from approximately 230 books.

"I don't understand," said Jackson, 18. "There is no rule about no gay pictures, no guys kissing. Guys and girls kissing made it in."

East Side's is like most high school yearbooks. About 80 pages in the roughly 100-page tome is dedicated to class photos, formal shots of seniors, candids and spreads dedicated to a variety of sports teams and academic clubs.

The back of the book is a collection of tributes where students designed pages filled with pictures depicting them with their families, girlfriends and boyfriends, and friends.

Rules for publication of the pages prohibited shots of gang signs, rude gestures and graphic photos, said Benilde Barroqueiro, an East Side senior graduating with Jackson.

"You know, it couldn't be too provocative. No making out, no tongue," she said.

Students were surprised when they opened their books and found Jackson's picture had been covered with marker, Barroqueiro said.

"He purchased the page and fell under the rules," she said. "If they want to kiss, that's their page. If you don't like it, don't look at it."

via the NJ Star-Ledger

Labels: discrimination, gay rights, new jersey, school

The New York State Assembly voted 85 to 61 to pass AB 8590, a bill that would provide same-sex couples with the equal right to marry under state law. The bill now goes to the state NY Senate.

via HRC:
Already this year, legislatures in several states have taken a stand for equality for same-sex couples and their families. Last week, the Massachusetts legislature rejected, by a 151-45 vote, a discriminatory proposed constitutional amendment that would have rolled back marriage equality in the Bay State. Earlier this month, California's Assembly passed a marriage equality bill; that bill is pending in the state Senate. Earlier this year, civil union legislation was signed into law in New Hampshire, while domestic partnership bills were signed into law in Oregon and Washington.

Last year, New York's high court ruled against marriage equality in a 4-2 decision. The majority opinion in Hernandez v. Robles concluded that whether same-sex marriages deserve equal recognition "is a question to be addressed by the Legislature." The court's Chief Judge predicted in dissent that "future generations will look back on today's decision as an unfortunate misstep."

If the New York marriage equality bill is signed into law, New York would join Massachusetts as the second state to provide marriage equality for same-sex couples under state law. Ten states, plus Washington, D.C., now have laws providing at least some form of state-level relationship recognition for same-sex couples.

Labels: marriage, new york

Labels: video

Absolutely amazing. I was watching the live Tv feed online as the vote happened. 45 vote to send it to the voters, 151 voted to not send it to the voters. The "yes" side needed at least 50 votes.

Go Massachusetts! You are a role model for every other state in the nation. As BlueMassGroup.com said, "A glorious victory for the forces of equality."

-Gavin

Labels: constitutional amendment, legislature, Massachusetts

Right this moment, Massachusetts state legislators are meeting for a constitutional convention. Today is the day that the future of gay marriage will be decided for the state. Will it be referred to the voters?

From HRC:
As you may know, today the state legislators will vote on whether to add an anti-marriage constitutional amendment to the 2008 state ballot. Our opponents need to secure at least 50 votes today to get the amendment on the ballot.

After 3 years and more than 9,000 same-sex marriages, the vote will likely be very close. We picked up one vote last night, but it's really coming down to the wire.

Live Blogging from the constitutional convention is here.

There is also a live TV feed here.

UPDATE FROM HRC Field Director:
Just got out of a closed-door meeting of 30 or so of the legislative leaders who support marriage equality and are whipping for final vote. Scarfing down sandwiches held together with toothpicks adorned with American flags. The meeting is in the basement of St. Paul's Episcopal Church across the Boston Commons. The mood is serious as every possible move is being plotted. It is almost reverent as legislators are keenly aware of what is about to happen is less than one hour. The leaders, Senator Stan Rosenberg and House Member Byron Rushing, gave the directions. The vote is expected to happen at 1:00 sharp and to be over quickly, if all goes well.

The legislators in the church are silent and seem to struggle to swallow their lunches. They stream out in silence and now head to the Statehouse. One by one, legislators say to me, "Welcome home." The crowd outside the Statehouse, now in the thousands, is rather quiet, sensing the seriousness of the moment as the legislators file by them. I am now walking into the Statehouse to, hopefully, see history made in our country.

Labels: constitutional amendment, legislature, marriage, Massachusetts

This story just makes my stomach go into knots. A brutal hate crime of Aaron Hall in Jackson County, Indiana where the barbaric murder of this young man took place. Police found Hall's body 10 days after his death wrapped in a tarp in the garage of Jackson County Deputy Coroner Terry Gray, whose son is one of the accused. The accused are only 18,19 and 21 years old.

From DailyKos

Two young men in Jackson County Indiana said they were so 'freaked out' when 'propositioned' by Aaron Hall on April 12th, that they proceeded to beat the 100 pound, 5'4 man for hours, using their fists, boots, dragging him down a staircase while his head slammed into each step, and then throwing him in a ditch and leaving. Aaron managed to crawl out of the ditch and out into a nearby field, where he died, alone and naked.

You see, the story is even stranger than it appears. Some contend that the young men made up the story about having been propositioned so as to use the 'gay panic defense,' in hopes of getting a more lenient sentence. Apparently the thinking was that exposure to homosexuality is so frightening that well... heck, anyone would go crazy and beat the hell out of a guy for hours, then toss him in a ditch to die.

A number of Hoosier bloggers have wondered at the lack of local coverage. In the interest of promoting this case, I thought I'd bring it out here for your perusal. This is a horrific crime, and while I don't promote the kind of overdone sensationalism (carried on for weeks at a time) evidenced on CNN and Fox News, this man's death should draw some notice. It should serve as a warning, at the very least. Whether Hall was or wasn't gay isn't the point. The fact that the teenagers used this as their defense... speaks volumes.

The so-called "gay panic" defense has been used by Matthew Shepard's killers, as well as by Gwen Araujo's murderers. The "gay panic" defense has been ruled moot in California.

So does this mean that if a straight person were to come onto me I could kill them and use the "straight panic defense"? Come on now people. Turn it around. It's ridiculous.

There is a full account of the investigation so far over at The Bloomington Alternative.

Labels: anti gay, crimes, hate crimes, violent

Nick Swardson ("Terry the gay rollerskating prostitute" on Reno 911) is pitching a show called GAY ROBOT, the story of a robot that was built by a professor, had a wine cooler spilled on him while being built, and came out gay. It's a bit ridiculous, but I am a huge fan of Nick Swardson. Enjoy.

Labels: entertainment

A Berkeley watchdog organization that tracks military spending said it uncovered a strange U.S. military proposal to create a hormone bomb that could purportedly turn enemy soldiers into homosexuals and make them more interested in sex than fighting.

Pentagon officials on Friday confirmed that military leaders had considered, and then subsquently rejected, building the so-called "Gay Bomb."

Via CBS 5:
Edward Hammond, of Berkeley's Sunshine Project, had used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain a copy of the proposal from the Air Force's Wright Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio.

As part of a military effort to develop non-lethal weapons, the proposal suggested, "One distasteful but completely non-lethal example would be strong aphrodisiacs, especially if the chemical also caused homosexual behavior."

The documents show the Air Force lab asked for $7.5 million to develop such a chemical weapon.

"The Ohio Air Force lab proposed that a bomb be developed that contained a chemical that would cause enemy soliders to become gay, and to have their units break down because all their soldiers became irresistably attractive to one another," Hammond said after reviwing the documents.

"The notion was that a chemical that would probably be pleasant in the human body in low quantities could be identified, and by virtue of either breathing or having their skin exposed to this chemical, the notion was that soliders would become gay," explained Hammond.

The Pentagon told CBS 5 that the proposal was made by the Air Force in 1994.

"The Department of Defense is committed to identifying, researching and developing non-lethal weapons that will support our men and women in uniform," said a DOD spokesperson, who indicated that the "gay bomb" idea was quickly dismissed.

However, Hammond said the government records he obtained suggest the military gave the plan much stronger consideration than it has acknowledged.

"The truth of the matter is it would have never come to my attention if it was dismissed at the time it was proposed," he said. "In fact, the Pentagon has used it repeatedly and subsequently in an effort to promote non-lethal weapons, and in fact they submitted it to the highest scientific review body in the country for them to consider."

Military officials insisted Friday to CBS 5 that they are not currently working on any such idea and that the past plan was abandoned.

Gay community leaders in California said Friday that they found the notion of a "gay bomb" both offensive and almost laughable at the same time.

"Throughout history we have had so many brave men and women who are gay and lesbian serving the military with distinction," said Geoff Kors of Equality California. "So, it's just offensive that they think by turning people gay that the other military would be incapable of doing their job. And its absurd because there's so much medical data that shows that sexual orientation is immutable and cannot be changed."

Labels: DADT, federal

Labels: saturday fun

In a new report released by the Human Rights Campaign, all the Dem's show strong support of basic fairness for the GLBT community, values very much in line with the majority of US citizens.

WHERE THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES STAND:
Federal Recognition of State-Level Same-Sex Unions:Supports recognition by the federal government of a state's legal recognition of same-sex couples for purposes of federal benefits and tax treatment

Support: Biden, Clinton, Dodd, Edwards, Kucinich, Obama, Richardson
Oppose: None

ENDA: Supports passage of a federal bill prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity
Support: Biden, Clinton, Dodd, Edwards, Kucinich, Obama, Richardson
Oppose: None

Hate Crimes:Supports passage of a federal bill that gives authority to the federal government to investigate and prosecute violent crimes motivated by bias against the victim because of their sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or disability
Support: Biden, Clinton, Dodd, Edwards, Kucinich, Obama, Richardson
Oppose: None

Civil Unions: Supports civil unions for same-sex couples
Support: Biden, Clinton, Dodd, Edwards, Kucinich, Obama, Richardson
Oppose: None

Read the entire report card here (lots, lots more). It is very interesting and quite promising. I believe that it truly does reflect the changing fairer values of the United States.

Now the questions remains... who will be your candidate?

Labels: 2008 elections, 2008 Presidential Election