Articles tagged with: video
National News: Hate Crimes, Uniting Families, and the ‘trans panic’ Defense
Uniting Families and Stopping Hate Crimes
The Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) has been re-introduced to Congress. An estimated 36,000 same sex bi-national couples in America are in danger of having one partner deported because their relationships are not recognized. UAFA will protect them from deportation the way heterosexual couples are protected. Visit Immigration Equality to read the personal stories and send letters to Congress.
The federal hate crimes bill, known as the Matthew Shepard Act, has been re-introduced as well. Watch the appeal from Judy Shepard (video below), and visit HRC’s action center to send letters to members of Congress.
Defeat of the ‘trans panic’ defense
Allen Ray Andrade was found guilty of 1st degree murder, of a bias motivated crime, of vehicle theft and identity theft, for the killing of Angie Zapata, an 18 year old transgender Latina woman. Andrade’s so-called ‘trans panic’ defense – that he panicked and killed her when he realized she was transgender – did not sway the jury, and he was sentenced to life without parole.
Progress in WA and CT
Washington’s Gov. Gregoire signed a transgender hate crimes bill on Wednesday, which added “gender expression or identity” to the state’s hate-crime law and had bipartisan support in the legislature.
The Washington state House and Senate also passed an expanded domestic partnership bill that grants approximately 250 additional rights and responsibilities to registered domestic partners.
The Connecticut General Assembly voted to update the state’s marriage laws to conform to the recent landmark court ruling allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry. The bill defines marriage in Connecticut as the legal union of two people, and transforms ‘civil unions’ into ‘marriages’. The bill also strips language from a 1991 law that said the state does not condone “homosexuality or bisexuality or any equivalent lifestyle.” Gov. Rell is expected to sign the bill.
MILK at the Oscars
“Milk” won two Oscars on Sunday: Best Actor for Sean Penn, and Best Screenplay for Dustin Lance Black!
Check out Black’s acceptance speech. He thanked the people who made the film, told how Harvey gave him hope as a gay teenager, and passed that hope to gay teens today. He mentioned marriage and equal rights in that context.
Was that too political, or was it appropriate for a film about a gay rights leader?
Congratulations to Obama, from a Fairbanks Vlogger
Today is Barack Obama’s inauguration as President of the United States.
“We are truly in for an era of change,” wrote Brian the day after Obama was elected, “an era that could not have come at a better time.”
Brian, 25, vlogs on gay rights and other issues from Fairbanks, Alaska as thenewBMW. This Nov. 5 video congratulates Obama on his election victory, thanks the voters, and supports Obama’s appeal for unity.
Joseph the Gay Alaskan Hairdresser
Update: I posted about Joseph on Thursday night, and Monday’s Anchorage Daily News online has a long story on him and his webisodes. You go, girl!
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Want to know the truth about hairdressing? Have questions about sex – or about Alaska – that you were afraid to ask? Looking for beauty tips from an expert?
Here’s your chance to get advice from “the real Queen of Alaska!”
“Who the hell is Joseph? What the hell is this?” reads the description on the video’s YouTube page. “Watch, dear viewers, and all mysteries will be answered.”
Watch his queenly two minute introduction below. Then go to JtheH.com and watch his ten minute video tour of outdoor day trips near Anchorage.
Ask Joseph more questions at http://www.JosephTheHairdresser.com or http://www.JtheH.com
PFLAG Showing "Further Off the Straight and Narrow"
Anchorage PFLAG will be showing “Further Off the Straight and Narrow: New Gay Visibility on T.V. from 1998 thru 2006” on January 15 at 7 p.m., during the monthly meeting at Immanuel Presbyterian Church.
“Further Off the Straight & Narrow” looks at sitcoms, reality shows, and premium cable programming and explores how GLBT characters on television are becoming more complex and varied. View the preview.
MLK Weekend Honors Bayard Rustin
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Organizing Weekend in Honor of Bayard Rustin, on January 16-19, is a national student-led action focusing on the coalition-building strategies that Bayard Rustin used to help activists, including Martin Luther King Jr., to create social change.
A master strategist and tireless activist, Bayard Rustin is best remembered as the organizer of the famous 1963 March on Washington, one of the largest nonviolent protests ever held in the United States.
The Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) hopes that students, Gay-Straight Alliances and other student clubs, and community groups involved in the safe schools movement will use this Day of Action to build bridges and work together with other social justice movements.
They also encourage GSA’s to host a screening of “Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin,” to support another student club’s MLK event, or to write a letter to President-elect Obama telling him what you would like to see in the next 4 years in regards to safer schools and social justice.
Learn more about Rustin’s legacy as a gay man active in the civil rights movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s by viewing this video, excerpted from the film Out of the Past:
Lesbian Singer Performs Coming Out Song at UAF
What does a lesbian Jewish Russian-emigre songwriter do when she comes out to her mother? She writes a song about it.
Irina Rivkin, a singer/songwriter from California, and her sister Dr. Inna Rivkin, of Fairbanks, performed Irina’s coming out song “Ya Eyo Lublu” at her Nov. 8 concert in UAF’s Schaible Auditorium.
The concert was sponsored by the UAF Women’s Center and the Office of Multicultural Affairs & Diversity.
A week later, Irina sang her bilingual love song for the anti-Prop 8 rally outside Fairbanks City Hall on Nov. 15, part of the nation-wide protest after California’s Prop 8 narrowly passed and same-sex marriage was rescinded.
“In a time of hope for change to come,” wrote Irina two days after the election, “I’m taking a plane from CA to Fairbanks tonight” to perform and join the protest.
Irina returns to Alaska every summer, to visit her family and perform her music. She plans to visit again in 2009.
Today is Day Without A Gay
Today is December 10, International Human Rights Day. Today is also “Day Without a Gay.” We are asked to call in ‘gay’ to work, not contribute to the economy for one day, and spend the day helping others.
Day Without a Gay includes:
1. An economic Boycott. For one day, do not go to work (if possible) and do not buy anything. The LGBTQ community contributes $700 billion per year to the U.S. economy, but we don’t get the same rights as other citizens. Stop contributing to the economy for one day.
2. A day of Volunteering. Get out there and help a local gay rights group.
3. A day of Visibility. There are many ways to increase visibility for LGBT rights on Dec. 10. For example, wear a white knot for marriage equality (“because everyone should be able to tie the knot”) and pack your lunch instead of buying it.
What are you doing for Day Without A Gay?
Milk, Dream Boy and Queer Duck: Gay movies come to Anchorage
UPDATE: Take the Milk Challenge!
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The movie Milk is opening in Anchorage on Friday, December 12 at the Century! Watch the trailer here: MILK
Unfortunately, Century/Cinemark is owned by Mormons who donated to Yes on 8. Some in the LGBT community are boycotting the Century and giving their movie dollars to supportive cinemas. Locally, we hope Milk will play at The Bear Tooth in a few months.
Others are calling for a big national turnout on the opening weekends, because record-setting attendance for Milk will make it easier to get funding for future gay-themed movies. The message of Milk is timely, and the reviews sound great.
What will you do?
1. See it this month at the Century (and not buy food or drinks, since they make most of their profit from the concession stand), or
2. Wait until The Bear Tooth shows it in the spring.
Two other gay-themed movies are showing this month at The Bear Tooth for the Anchorage International Film Festival, which runs December 5-14, 2008.
Queer Duck is an animated feature, and Dream Boy is a gay coming of age romance. For a special treat, go to The Gay-La, an after-screening party at Mad Myrna’s with James Bolton, the Portland-based director of Dream Boy.
The trailer for Dream Boy (2008):
The commercial for Queer Duck, the Movie, which came out on Logo in 2006:
Snow Dancing in Alaska
Check out this video of Lee in Fairbanks dancing to Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies” in the snow!
Queerty commented that Lee dancing in tights in the snow is “all kinds of crazy considering a.) it’s Alaska b.) it’s 2 degrees and c.) Sarah Palin is out there somewhere.”
Lee, based in Fairbanks, is a 24 year old professional ice skater who tours with Disney on Ice, according to his MySpace page. In October, he skated to Celine Dion’s “Fly” between periods at the UAF vs. Mercyhurst game.
You go, girl!
