Great News For the LGBT Community in Oregon

This just came out today and I thought I would pass it on...

First step for November 2014 election

This morning, Oregon United for Marriage established a petition committee with the Secretary of State's office with the goal of qualifying the "Freedom to Marry and Religious Protection Initiative" for the November 2014 election. The measure asks voters to make it legal for gay and lesbian couples to marry in Oregon.

"We have worked tirelessly to build support for marriage equality in Oregon, to engage our community and our allies–and now it's time to take the next step in winning the freedom to marry for all Oregonians," says Basic Rights Oregon Executive Director Jeana Frazzini. "Today, we are inviting our partners and supporters to take this next step with us: To sign the sponsorship petition, and commit to uniting Oregon in support of the freedom to marry for all Oregonians."

In 2012, for the first time in history, voters affirmed the freedom to marry at the ballot box in Washington, Maine and Maryland. Voters in Minnesota successfully blocked a constitutional ban on marriage equality. And our country re-elected the first sitting President to endorse the freedom to marry, who then went on to highlight the issue in his inaugural speech.

In Oregon, the only way to amend the state constitution to include the freedom to marry is through a vote of the people. The paperwork filed today creates a sponsorship petition that triggers the ballot title process, the first of several steps to place a measure on the November 2014 ballot.

"Across the country, and right here in Oregon, we are on a journey of understanding. Our awareness has expanded dramatically in the last few years. As more and more people come to understand that committed couples, whether they are gay or straight, hope to marry for similar reasons, they're coming to realize that this is much more than a political issue," says former Governor Barbara Roberts. "This is about love, commitment and family."

"In Oregon, there are certain truths we hold dear. We believe in freedom. In tolerance. In treating others as we would want to be treated ourselves. None of us would want to be told we can't marry the person we love," says Ramon Ramirez, president of PCUN Oregon's Farmworker Union.

Ramirez is one of hundreds of Oregonians who will be signing the sponsorship petition on Valentine's Day,February 14. Volunteers in cities from Portland and Pendleton to Medford and Grants Pass will collect the required first sponsorship signatures to start the ballot title process.

There are fourteen community events statewide, in churches, community spaces, cafes, and student centers. Oregonians can RSVP to attend one of these events at www.OregonUnitedforMarriage.org.

Please see below for specific information about events open to press.

The day begins with Faith Leaders for the Freedom to Marry breakfast in Washington County, where participants will sign the sponsorship petitions.

"Marriage matters because it's how we define family," says Rev. Tara Wilkins, executive director of Community of Welcoming Congregations and pastor of Bridgeport United Church of Christ. "Many clergy and religious traditions affirm the freedom to marry for gay and lesbian couples. It's as basic as the Golden Rule: Treating others as one would want to be treated includes allowing civil marriage for gay couples who are truly committed to each other."

Oregon United for Marriage's ballot measure includes clear religious protections. Civil marriage for gay couples does not affect religious marriages, religious institutions or clergy in any way. No religion would be forced to marry same-sex couples, or recognize same-sex marriages within the context of their religious beliefs.

Together with partners, Basic Rights Oregon has built a movement in Oregon that lifts up the courage and diversity of the community. Basic Rights Oregon and Oregon United for Marriage will continue this work to ensure that every loving couple can marry, regardless of gender, as well as strengthen relationships with communities of color, people of faith, and partners all across Oregon. "Now is the time to expand this conversation to unite Oregon in support of the freedom to marry. I'm excited about the opportunity for our stories to be told, our neighbors to be engaged, and new leaders to emerge," Frazzini added.

Ellen DeGeneres Celebrates Portia De Rossi's 40th Birthday

On Friday, Ellen DeGeneres' wife, Portia De Rossi, turned 40 and Ellen used her opening monologue on her talk show to celebrate her wife with a funny, yet  touching, tribute.

The tribute includes guest appearances from out actor Sean Hayes,  who portrayed Ellen,  while Ellen put on a long blonde wig and portraying De Rossi . Ellen recreated De Rossi's life from birth to career, and even the couple's 2008 wedding, complete with musical accompaniment from Josh Radin. When DeGeneres invited her wife on stage, De Rossi was in joyous tears. 

Check it out...

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Over 95% of Fortune 500 Companies Provide Sexual Orientation Protection

Today I got this information in an email from Equality Forum, I thought it was important enough to pass on...

RECORD 477 (95.4%) of FORTUNE 500 

PROVIDE SEXUAL ORIENTATION PROTECTION

President Obama, Vice President Biden and Congressman Ryan Support ENDA

---

Equality Forum reported that a record 477 (95.4%) of the 2012 FORTUNE 500 Companies voluntarily include sexual orientation in their employment non-discrimination policies.  Starting in 2004, Equality Forum in collaboration with Professor Louis Thomas, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Ian Ayres, William K. Townsend Professor, Yale Law School has made the business case to FORTUNE 500 CEOs, HR Directors and members of their Board of Directors as well as made the shareholder case to their largest institutional shareholders.  In 2004, there were 323 (64.6%) of the FORTUNE 500 Companies that provided sexual orientation workplace protection.

“Ninety percent (90%) of Americans mistakenly believe that sexual orientation workplace protection is provided under the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).  Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia mandate workplace sexual orientation protection,” stated Malcolm Lazin, Executive Director, Equality Forum.  “In most of America, gays and lesbians can be fired solely because of their sexual orientation and without any misconduct or violation of corporate policy.”

This is the first time that the Republican vice presidential candidate and the Democratic presidential and vice presidential candidates support passage of ENDA.  President Obama and Vice President Biden support the inclusion of sexual orientation in federal ENDA.  In 2007, Congressman Paul Ryan voted in favor of the unsuccessful attempt to amend ENDA to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

While Gov. Romney opposes workplace discrimination, he is not on record as supporting ENDA to include sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

“Equality Forum calls on Senators Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid and Speaker John Boehner and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi to include sexual orientation and gender identity in ENDA and pass that amendment to ENDA in the lame duck session of Congress,” stated Lazin. “The Republican vice presidential nominee and Democratic presidential and vice presidential nominees, the FORTUNE 500 companies and public opinion support including sexual orientation in the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act. There is overwhelming bipartisan and business support for protecting LGBT Americans in the workplace and no rational basis for delay.”

According to recent polls,  over 75% of Americans support the inclusion of sexual orientation in federal ENDA including a majority of Democrats, Republicans, Independents, seniors, Catholics and small business owners, among others.

To find the 23 (4.6%) of the 2012 FORTUNE 500 companies that do not provide sexual orientation protection and the 477 (95.4%) that do provide sexual orientation protection, visit www.equalityforum.com/fortune500.

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Twisted-Queer comedy at the 2012 New York City Fringe International Theatre Festival

If you happen to live in New York, or plan on visiting this summer, you just may want to check out the
New York International Fringe Festival.

In Heat Creative Team Presents

IN HEAT: Is She Hot Under Her Collar or Under Her Skirt?

The New York International Fringe Festival – FringeNYC

A production of The Present Company

August 10^th – 26^th

Tickets: $15-$18. For tickets visit www.FringeNYC.org

 

New York, NY (July 16, 2012) – Are lesbians passé? That’s what Doris Anderson will disprove during her occupation of the 16^th annual New York International Fringe Festival – FringeNYC. IN HEAT, a twisted-queer comedy for people of all persuasions, genders and sexualities, is a humorous excavation of the artifacts and personalities in the LBGTQ community circa 2012.

Alarmed that lesbianism is being overshadowed by a new Gender-Queer culture, life-long Sapphic sister Doris Anderson has pioneered the Self-Identified Lesbian Community Center (SILC), a cultural hospice for the last of the lesbians (who will be dying off in the next 30 years).

Ms. Anderson, who has refined her message through infiltrations of BAX and EAT, will use the FringeNYC festival to launch SILC’s inaugural live broadcast of her public access show. The lesbian community and their gay and straight supporters will discover survival skills to brave the Gender-Queer Revolution, learn about community cat neutering and get **hot** tips on dating.

Starring Sally Sockwell (the original New York production of Vanities), directed by Jocelyn Sawyer and written by Lisa Haas (with contributing material by Sawyer and Sockwell), this world premiere of IN HEAT lampoons sexual desire, sexual orientation and gender self-identification.

LOCATION:
 IN HEAT will be in the Gene Frankel Theatre – Venue #9, located at 24 Bond Street (between Lafayette and Bowery). 

TRANSPORTATION:
 The closest trains are the F, B, M or D to Broadway and Lafayette, or, the #6 train to Bleeker Street. 

DATES/TIMES: 

Friday, August 10 @ 5PM

Sunday, August 12 @ 7:30PM

Thursday, August 16 @ 3:45PM

Wednesday, August 22 @ 7:45PM

Saturday, August 25 @ 2:00PM. 

RUNNING TIME: 1 hour and 15 minutes.

TICKETS: $15-$18. Tickets can be purchase at the door, at Fringe Central (1 East 8^th Street) or online www.FringeNYC.org

For more information visit: www.in-heat.com

Follow Doris Anderson on Twitter: @DorisAnderson

PRESS PHOTOS: www.flickr.com/photos/inheat/

Over 500 Gather for Vigil Honoring Lesbian Hate Crime Victim

This article came from LGBTQ Nation.

More than 500 gather for vigil for lesbian brutalized in home invasion

By Chris Dyer

 

Update: 7/23/12: Lincoln police have now classified the attack as a hate crime due to the victim’s sexual orientation.

LINCOLN, Neb. — Over 500 people gathered on the steps of the Nebraska State Capitol Sunday night to hold a vigil for a lesbian woman brutalized early Sunday morning in what local LGBT activists are calling a hate crime.

According to Lincoln, Neb., Police Captain Joe Wright, patrol officers responded to an address two blocks south of Lincoln High School in the downtown area, for a reported assault and house fire.

More than 500 people gather on the steps of the State Capitol in Lincoln, Neb. Sunday.

The victim, whose name has not been released, told officers that she had been attacked earlier that morning by three masked men who barged into her house, bound her wrists and ankles with zip ties, cut her all over her body and carved homophobic slurs into her skin before dumping gasoline on her floor and lighting it with a match.

A friend described the cuts as “things carved on her body that can only be described as hate, that somebody can only be taught and we need to stop teaching it.”

A source to LGBTQ Nation said “the words ‘cunt,’ ‘fag’ and ‘dyke’ were carved onto her face and body, and that the assailants tried to set her house on fire.”

Lincoln fire department arson investigator Damon Robbins, told the local media that there was evidence that a match flame ignited vapors from a pool of gasoline on the woman’s floor, but the flash fire did not continue to burn and caused no noticeable damage to the house.

Friends said the men who assaulted her also spray painted anti-gay words in her basement, including “We found u dyke.” Friends called the attack a hate crime because the woman assaulted is a lesbian.

“When someone takes the time to handcuff someone with a zip tie and carve derogatory comments or words into somebody else’s body, that’s sheer hate and at this point, this is a hate crime,” the friend said.

Anti-gay epithets were scrawled on the basement walls.

“Our hearts go out to the victim, her family and close friends,” said Tyler Richard, president of Outlinc, a group that supports LGBT people in Lincoln. “Many in our community are understandably experiencing a great deal of sadness, anger and confusion. We look to our entire community to pull together in this difficult time, ” he said.

The assault has sparked outrage in Lincoln’s LGBT community, which is already galvanized by the ongoing debate over the city’s fairness amendment — a proposal to ban discrimination in housing and employment based on a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The measure is now on a ballot referendum for this November.

Karen Bratton-Cranford, president of the LGBT advocacy group Star City Pride, took the microphone at Sunday night’s vigil to urge those gathered to act with respect and to refrain from seeking revenge, reported the Lincoln Star-Journal.

“Don’t go out and act on your own,” she said. “Don’t give them the power to control your actions.”
Police have not yet ruled the attack a hate crime, and Lincoln’s Police Chief Jim Peschong, refused to comment, citing an ongoing criminal investigation.

Officials told LGBTQ Nation late Sunday evening that no arrests had been made. The victim has been treated for her wounds and is staying with friends.

Nebraska has a hate crimes statute that covers crimes motivated by a victim’s sexual orientation. Federal authorities also may have jurisdiction over the crime as a result of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

Update, 7/23/12: 

Lincoln police have now classified the attack as a hate crime due to the victim’s sexual orientation.
“I don’t want to minimize this and make it a political issue, because it was a horrible thing that happened in our community, and it saddens me that this happened,” City Councilmen Carl Eskridge told LGBTQ Nation on Monday. “It is because of events like this we need to pass the fairness ordinance, and that is why I introduced it.”

“It’s critically important that we find a common voice, for all of us to come together to improve the community,” he said.

Fred Sainz, Vice President of Communications for the Human Rights Campaign, called the attack “a jarring reminder that we have much work to do in creating environments where all members of our community feel safe living honestly and openly, and where crimes motivated by one’s sexual orientation or gender identity are never tolerated.”

Ladygasm Colibri Sex Toy Review

This month's sex toy review is for the Ladygasm Colibri , an amazing little rechargeable clit vibrator that came from an online "women centered" sex toy shop called Ladygasm.

This smooth purple silicone vibrator arrived in a sturdy black lidded box. The top portion of the box holds the vibrator in a fitted compartment, while the bottom portion holds the charger. Inside the box there is also a small storage bag, which is nice option if you don't plan on storing it in the original box.

Although the Colibri didn't come with instructions, it was easy to figure out how to charge it. You just lift the small purple flap on the end and plug in the charger...after a few hours, it is ready to go.

The ergonomic shape of this vibrator makes it really easy to use, and if you look at the design in the photo above, you can see how it can cradle your clit perfectly. The four control buttons are located on the top of the vibrator.  The up and down arrows control the vibration modes and the + and - buttons change the speed. All together there are 7 different modes with 4 different intensities per mode, making this a good fit for those who prefer a medium intensity all the way up to those who like something stronger.

The Colibri is made out of smooth medical grade silicone, which makes it flexible, easy to clean and latex free. And as an added bonus, the Colibri is waterproof, so you can take it with you in the tub or shower.

Pros:

• Small
• Quiet
• Different intensities
• Rechargeable (love this!!!)
• Feels Amazing
• Easy to clean
• Waterproof
• Can be used internally as well as externally

Cons

• I wish it came with instructions

Conclusion
This is not your average clit vibrator...and with it's unique shape and different intensity levels,I think it gives you a lot of freedom to get creative with how you  use it...use your imagination and have some fun!

If you would like to check out the Colibri, or any of the other unique female sex toys available at Ladygasm, visit their website at www.ladygasm.com and be sure to use our special discount code Lesbian20 and you will receive 20% off any purchase.

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NY Judge Take DOMA Into Her Own Hands

From WND
by Michael F. Haverluck

A judge in New York has taken advocacy for normalization of same-sex “marriage” to the next level, ruling this week that a major component of the federal Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional because it doesn’t provide the same financial benefits for homosexuals and lesbians.

District Judge Barbara Jones ruled that a federal law defining marriage as a legal union between a man and a woman conflicts with the U.S. Constitution.

DOMA “intrude[s] upon the states’ business of regulating domestic relations,” Jones stated in her decision this week. “That incursion skirts important principles of federalism and therefore cannot be legitimate, in this court’s view.”

A number of judges have ruled in favor of same-sex marriage since the Obama administration said it would refuse to defend DOMA. After explaining his views on the issue were “evolving,” President Obama recently announced be personally supports same-sex marriage.

“President Obama has been actively promoting an agenda to undermine the nation’s marriage laws,” said Liberty Counsel founder and Chairman Mat Staver. “When you weaken the family, as President Obama is doing by his policies, you weaken society.”

The White House’s increased support of same-sex marriage apparently has emboldened more people to challenge laws under the federal DOMA in court.

In 2010, Edith Windsor filed the New York suit against the government to get back $363,053 that she was required to pay in federal tax on her deceased partner’s estate. The two were “married” as a same-sex couple in Canada two years before Windsor’s partner died in 2009. Windsor sued because she was ineligible to claim the unlimited marital deduction.

Striking down federal law, Jones included in her ruling that the government must reimburse Windsor the entire amount she was legally obligated to pay in estate tax.
Supporters of the homosexual agenda are hoping that the Empire State’s ruling against DOMA is more than a fad.

“[The decision is] another example of the trend of the judiciary continuing to see that treating same-sex couples differently than their heterosexual counterparts is not only wrong but goes against the laws of equality and justice here in the United States,” said Marriage Equality USA Executive Director Brian Silva.
The American Civil Liberties Union has endorsed the normalization of homosexual behavior.

“[This] adds to what has become an avalanche of decisions that DOMA can’t survive even the lowest level of scrutiny by the courts,” commented the ACLU director of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project, James Esseks.

New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman applauded Wednesday’s ruling, calling it “a major step forward in the fight of equality.”

The decision came less than a week after a similar First Circuit ruling was issued in Boston that declared as unconstitutional a section of DOMA that reserved federal benefits only for couples in marriages that are between one man and one woman. On May 31, the federal court of appeals judge in Massachusetts – which in 2004 became the first state to allow same-sex marriage – affirmed a 2010 decision made by a federal judge.

But Staver says that this battle over DOMA is far from over, as the U.S. Court of Appeals indicates that the U.S. Supreme Court will have the final say in the Bay State’s matter.

“We have done our best to discern the direction of these precedents, but only the Supreme Court can finally decide this unique case,” Staver explained regarding the final outcome of the Massachusetts case, which he believes has been poorly judged.

“This ruling makes no sense. A state cannot dictate the kind of benefits the federal government must provide,” contested Staver. “If a state recognizes polygamy, does that mean that the federal government must also recognize multiple spouses? Absolutely not! This decision is the proverbial tail wagging the dog.”
Yet these types of decisions aren’t only seen on the East Coast. The tide of judicial activism to abolish marriage protections began earlier this year when a couple of federal judges in California ruled that DOMA works to violate “married” same-sex couples’ due-process rights. With the push over the years to legalize same-sex marriage much legislation has taken place across the United States.

Since 1996, more than 30 states have approved and instituted amendments to protect marriage as between one man and one woman, while eight states allow – or are in the final stages of allowing – same-sex marriage, including Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York, Iowa, Maryland and Washington state, as well as Washington, D.C. Legislation allowing same-sex marriage is not yet in effect in the latter two states, where referendums could determine their final fate.

Despite all of the political and judicial maneuverings over same-sex marriage that are taking place just months from this year’s presidential election, pro-family advocates want America to remember the most important thing at stake.

“Children fare best when raised with a mom and a dad,” Staver said. “Redefining marriage to something it was not intended to be weakens the family and is not in the best interest of children or society.”