The NAACP endorses same-sex marriage and other reactions to President Obama’s May 9 announcement of support for marriage equality; Boy Scouts oust a lesbian den mother; and other recent LGBTQ news selected by Sara Boesser in Juneau, Alaska (with supplemental info from Bent Alaska).

Black Americans and same-sex marriage

NAACP endorses same-sex marriage
Washington Post, May 19, 2012

The NAACP’s board of directors voted Saturday to endorse same-sex marriage rights – adding the influential voice of the country’s leading black civil rights organization to a debate that has divided the African-American community.

The NAACP press release on the decision provides the resolution’s text:

The NAACP Constitution affirmatively states our objective to ensure the “political, educational, social and economic equality” of all people. Therefore, the NAACP has opposed and will continue to oppose any national, state, local policy or legislative initiative that seeks to codify discrimination or hatred into the law or to remove the Constitutional rights of LGBT citizens. We support marriage equality consistent with equal protection under the law provided under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.  Further, we strongly affirm the religious freedoms of all people as protected by the First Amendment.

Al Sharpton, Julian Bond, and Other Black Leaders’ Open Letter to Obama
Advocate, May 12, 2012

Four of the country’s most influential African-American leaders issued a joint statement yesterday [May 11] in support of President Obama’s new stance championing marriage equality.

Poll: Black Voters Are Changing Their Minds on Marriage
Advocate, May 17, 2012

President Obama might be changing minds with his support for marriage equality, at least among African-American voters, a new poll shows.

Same-sex marriage: The national debate

Gallup: There’s a ‘New Normal’ for Americans on Gay Issues
Advocate, May 14, 2012

Gallup is calling acceptance of same-sex couples “the new normal” for Americans, based on its latest polling.

In a poll released today, Gallup found that 54% of Americans say gay or lesbian relationships are “morally acceptable.” And this is the third year that a majority have shared that view. The poll also marks a new high, 63%, in the proportion of people who say gay and lesbian relations between consenting adults should be legal.

The GOP’s Inner Debate on Gay Marriage
National Journal, May 14, 2012

A GOP pollster sent out a memo arguing that the Republican Party should change its stance on gay marriage at the same time that two of the party’s more high-profile members made sure to position themselves against it after the president’s big week.

RI governor signs order to recognize same-sex marriages performed out of state
Providence, Rhode Island, Washington Post, May 14, 2012

Rhode Island’s governor on Monday declared that the state will recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere, giving gay couples the same rights as heterosexual ones when it comes to health insurance and a slew of other benefits.

Boy Scouts force resignation of lesbian den mother

Boy Scouts feel a mother’s wrath
Bridgeport, Ohio, CNN, April 24, 2012

Earlier this month [Jennifer] Tyrrell was forced to resign as den leader of the Tiger Cubs for Pack 109 in Bridgeport, Ohio, because the national office learned she is a lesbian. So even though everyone in the local chapter loved her, she was forced out by the discrimination that is woven into the organization’s bylaws.

Lesbian Scout leader ousted in Ohio; parents upset
North Carolina, Associated Press, April 25, 2012

The first-graders in Ohio Pack 109’s Tiger Scouts didn’t know or care their den mother was a lesbian — at least not until the Boy Scouts of America threw her out over the organization’s ban on gays.

Stories from our lives

Colorado Transgender [Intersex] photographer focuses on family, identity
Denver, CO, Denver Post, May 14, 2012

Five years ago, when Steve and Debbie Crecelius awaited results of his kidney stone ultrasound, they weren’t expecting earth-shattering news…. The medical discovery that [Steve] is intersex — born with a mix of anatomical sex traits, so biological gender cannot be classified as either male or female — led to a flood of revelations that would refine and redefine their 25-year marriage.

Famous people

Queen Latifah Comes Out of the Closet (Finally)
SandraRose.com, May 4, 2012

Hollywood’s most well-known lesbian, Queen Latifah, has finally come out of the closet. The rapper-turned-actress made the transition quietly, in a press release announcing her commitment to headline this year’s annual Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Festival.

[Editor’s note: Bent Alaska is not convinced that headlining a Pride festival in and of itself equates to “coming out of the closet.” But we’re always glad to see Pride-ful news about Queen Latifah anyway.]

Jake Shears: Donna Summer Provided Soundtrack To Gay Liberation
Advocate, May, 19 2012

Jake Shears, the out frontman for the dance quintet Scissor Sisters, says his band is indebted to the music of Donna Summer, which he says was the soundtrack of the gay liberation movement….