Oakland Park Passes Repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" City Resolution »
By Anthony Niedwiecki
At the July 1st commission meeting, the Oakland Park City Commission, working with the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER), Fight OUT Loud, and many other organizations, brought forward a city resolution calling for the President and the United States Congress to adopt the Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2009 (House Resolution 1283), which eliminates the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ (DADT) policy, which bans brave and dedicated Gay and Lesbian Servicemembers from serving openly in the Military.
The resolution passed unanimously.
SLDN has been working on a nation-wide effort to get local governments to pass resolutions requesting adoption of this Federal legislation to show the overwhelming support for lifting the discriminatory ban. Brian Fricke and Matt Sampson, with SLDN and AVER, have been working with various local officials, including me and Vice Mayor Flippen of Wilton Manors, to pass these resolutions.
Oakland Park becomes only the second city in Florida and the eleventh in the Country to pass such a resolution.
Continue reading “Oakland Park Passes Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” City Resolution” »
Book Review: The Progressive Revolution »
When I was asked to review The Progressive Revolution: How the Best in America Came to Be by Michael Lux of Openleft.com fame, I expected another partisan rehash of “Yay Liberals! Boo Conservatives!” with little depth. 
Instead, what I got was one of the most insightful and exciting historical looks at America’s ongoing battle with itself and its ideals I have ever read.
The book takes an illuminating walk through American history, from our founding to modern day, highlighting “Big Change Moments” that have altered the course our country, for good or bad. Filled with quotes, facts, and long-lost historical tidbits, the book could come off as dry, but Lux’s voice and humor bring the reader along and make it nearly impossible to put down.
To be completely honest- this is the first book since college that I have found myself taking notes on and highlighting passages in, just because it was filled with so much amazing information.
This book is much more, however, than just an interesting read. It is a timely cautionary tale on what has become the troubling buzzwords of the current administration: “compromise” and “bipartisan.”
Continue reading “Book Review: The Progressive Revolution” »
Pride Events Marred by Violence »
This last month, Pride Events were celebrated across the country. 
Over time, these events have morphed from protests and acts of visibility to celebrations of different parts of our community and culture.
The commercialization of Pride has eased us into a sense of security and safety that unfortunately isn’t always the case. Every year our celebrations are marred with acts of violence, even in the most “friendly” of cities.
Unfortunately, this year was no exception. In fact, it seems the violence has been worse.
Here are just a few events that occurred during the weekend’s Pride celebrations:
The White House Parties Like it's 1999... »
Yesterday, President Obama hosted a “celebration of Stonewall” at the White House, the first of its kind. While it may have been the first time a President spoke on LGBT rights in the White house for 20 minutes, I couldn’t help but be surprised by the reaction of the cheering crowd and by people online.
The speech wasn’t anything really different from his campaign promises: repeal DADT and DOMA (legislatively), we need respect for each other, we’re all equal, etc. It was more words with very little action to back it up.
Yet part of me was moved by the President speaking these words from the White House, acknowledging us and our struggles. That’s when I realized this reaction was part of what has given cover to our political leaders for years now, allowing them to lag behind the general public in regards to our rights and equality.
There was time when that speech might have been enough, but that time was years ago- before out elected officials, marriage equality in some states, employment protections from top companies, and a general trend towards inclusion.
It was a speech for 1999, not 2009.
Continue reading “The White House Parties Like it’s 1999…” »
Fort Worth Gay Bar Raid: Stonewall Redux »
Over the weekend, Fort Worth police raided a new gay bar in a move reminiscent of the Stonewall Raid that sparked the modern gay rights movement in 1969.
The newly opened Rainbow Lounge was hosting a birthday celebration for Todd Camp, the founder of Q Cinema, and screening documentaries about the Stonewall Riots to commemorate the 40th anniversary of one of the defining moments in LGBT history. Witnesses say the police showed up with a paddy wagon and began to roughly arrest men, focusing mainly on “effeminate men.”
One bar patron, Chad Gibson, is in a local hospital with a fractured skull and brain hemorrhage after being “choked, pulled back, then slammed into a wall” by police during the raid. Police say he was resisting arrest and made “sexual advances to officers”, a claim witnesses dismiss as outright lies. They say Gibson, who weighed “maybe 160 pounds soaking wet”, did not resist and merely stumbled when police grabbed him by the arm.
In total, seven people were arrested for public intoxication and at least a dozen more were restrained.
Video and more after the jump…
Continue reading “Fort Worth Gay Bar Raid: Stonewall Redux” »
Our One Year Wedding Anniversary: A Journey of Recognition »
One year ago, we made a trek from Florida to California to celebrate our 6 year anniversary (this year makes it 7). While visiting San Francisco on June 27, Anthony and I were lucky enough to become one of the 18,000 couples legally wed before Prop 8 stripped the right away.
While we may be “limited edition married gays” now, nothing can take away the amazing day when we not only celebrated our love, but also had an entire city celebrate it with us.
The recognition of our relationship seemed to follow America’s own learning curve- from a “commitment ceremony” with family to our civil union in Vermont, to finally being legally married.
Much more (including pictures) after the jump… There’s More… :
YouTube has recently put up the amazing documentary “The Times of Harvey Milk” in its entirety.
Everyone should watch this great piece of LGBT history, with interviews and footage from Milk’s life and death.
Change We Can Believe In- Moving Towards Equality, at Least on the Local Level »
By Anthony Niedwiecki
While things may be moving slowly, or sometimes not at all, on a national level in regards to equality for the LGBT community, we must not forget that we can create change on a local level. Many don’t realize the impact local leaders can have on their daily lives and on the advancement of our community.
I was honored to have support in my run for City Commission in Oakland Park from all around the country, especially from within the LGBT community. People gave time, money, and support because they hoped for change. We ran an open and honest campaign that celebrated my marriage to my husband and our family, spoke openly about the need to use the office as a platform for equal rights, and changed hearts and mind in our city and region.
I wanted to pass on some amazing news about the things happening in our city. We have to keep pushing on every level of government, from our municipal levels all the way to the White House. From adding additional protections for our transgender brothers and sisters to celebrating Pride Month in the city for the first time to supporting national leaders in repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, the three months I’ve been in office have really moved our cause forward!
Continue reading “Change We Can Believe In- Moving Towards Equality, at Least on the Local Level” »
White House Looks to Include Same-Sex Unions in Census Count »
Big news out of the White House today. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Obama Administration is turning its back on a Bush interpretation of the Defense of Marriage Act that they said prohibited the release of the data on same sex unions.
The administration has directed the Census Bureau to determine changes needed in tabulation software to allow for same-sex marriage data to be released early in 2011 with other detailed demographic information from the decennial count. The bureau historically hasn’t released same-sex marriage data.
As the WSJ points out, this is the second time in a week that Obama has “signaled a policy change of interest to the gay community” after the memorandum earlier that gave some benefits to some federal employees.
It seems the growing anger from the LGBT community is starting to push the Administration to action.
Continue reading “White House Looks to Include Same-Sex Unions in Census Count” »
Speaking Washington's Language: Money and Media »
It seems the silence from the Obama Administration might be coming to end. Maybe. Well, at least they’re being forced to respond.
After the increasing outrage from all sides in the LGBT community over not leading on ENDA, DADT, Hate Crimes Legislation, and the horrific hate brief defending DOMA, it seems the message might be sinking in with the administration. They have announced they will offer some benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees and there are rumblings of new movement on hate crimes legislation and a fully-inclusive ENDA.
It’s a whisper response from a scream of discontent.
What brought about this sudden “enlightenment”? Is it just the start of a plan that has been in place all along? I don’t think so.
The administration saw we were starting to talk in the Washington language they understand: Money and Media.
Continue reading “Speaking Washington’s Language: Money and Media” »
Let's Homosexualize! Humor as a Tool for Change »
There are few things I enjoy more in life than making fun of the Far Right. And trust, me they sometimes make it way too easy.
From the fun of talking about “Homosexualizing” and “Transgenderizing” to the word play of teasing about “quires” (a misspelled version of “queers”), it’s clear that many of us have the same reaction to made-up hate speech and the sheer ignorance of fundamentalist bigots: crack some jokes.
While some may see this as just a fun pastime or even a complete waste of time, I actually think it is a very effective way of marginalizing equality opponents and chipping away at the small amount of credibility they have left.
And it’s a really fun pastime.
Continue reading “Let’s Homosexualize! Humor as a Tool for Change” »
U.S. State Department Condemns Anti-Gay Violence in Iraq »
Yesterday, the United States officially condemned the increasing violence towards the gay community in Iraq, which has spiked since the beginning of the Iraq War. The US Embassy in Baghdad has also raised the issue with Iraqi government officials.
The State Department spokesman Ian Kelly had this to say when questioned on the issue by reporters:
In general, we absolutely condemn acts of violence and human rights violations committed against individuals in Iraq because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
This is an issue that we’ve been following very closely since we have been made aware of these allegations, and we are aware of the allegations. Our training for Iraqi security forces includes instruction on the proper observance of human rights.
Human rights training is also a very important part of our and other international donors’ civilian capacity-building efforts in Iraq. And the US embassy in Baghdad has raised, and will continue to raise, the issue with senior officials from the government of Iraq, and has urged them to respond appropriately to all credible reports of violence against gay and lesbian Iraqis.
Continue reading “U.S. State Department Condemns Anti-Gay Violence in Iraq” »
Bigotry 2.0: Hate Tweets »
I’ve gotten used to hate mail, both by traditional snail mail and email. It comes with the territory. Most of the time it’s pretty amusing, like in my last post about getting bigotry delivered right to my inbox. 
I did, until recently, overlook a new platform for people to send out small-minded (and poorly-spelled) hate messages:
Twitter.
I’ll admit to being an avid tweeter. I use my twitter to talk about my day, my family, or issues that I care about, including LGBT rights. It’s a fun and effective way to talk to people all over the world in real time. Now, you would think that if someone doesn’t want to hear about LGBT issues, they wouldn’t follow someone like me and listen to my comments. You would think that if you were a logical person…
Which is why when I started getting some pretty nasty (and hard to decipher) twitter replies, I was a little surprised… Okay, maybe not too surprised.
Much more after the jump…
Betty Bowers Takes on "Traditional" Marriage »
Betty Bowers, America’s Best Christian, takes time to explain to less informed Christians the curious details of the Lord’s concept of marriage. Funny, smart, and completely on point.
Maybe we can get her to take on “homosexualizing” next…
Really, Right-wing? "Homosexualizing"? »
It’s not the first time I’ve seen it, 
but for some reason it jumped out at me in a recent press release I was reading from some nutty, fundie, right-wing group (insert some combination of “America” “Traditional” and “Family” and you’ll get the name of the group- they’re all the same to me at this point):
We must stop their efforts to homosexualize the troops.
Really? “Homosexualize”? When did a sexual orientation become a verb? I guess I shouldn’t expect too much from groups that can’t spell “marriage” in their TV commercials, but come on…
