Day of Morning for LGBT youth.

Today we mourn victims of gay bullying. Wear purple. Stand together. remember the dead. Fight for the living. FCKH8.

 

 

 

 Get your fundraising T-shirt! Fun video F-bombs H8 @ http://FCKH8.com/

Americans Split on Same-Sex Marriage, Angus-Reid Poll shows

A new poll by Angus-Reid shows Americans split on same-sex marriage. The split 43%-47% in favor of traditional marriage shows a correlation between those that have family or friends that are LGBT, in that those that do seem to favor more equality in granting some legal protections to same-sex unions. Those polled that are single, divorced or split also tend to favor equality higher than married participants. The poll also suggest a correlation between the percentage of folks that believe being gay is a choice(47% answered yes) and those opposed to same-sex marriage(47% answered yes).

So for those of you that are LGBT and want equal rights, it looks as those you may want to speak out and tell your stories!

*Online interviews with 1,001 American adults, conducted on Dec. 8 and Dec. 9, 2009. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.

New Liberal / Progressive Direction of the American Medical Association (AMA)

The American Medical Association (AMA) has lately been showing a progressive direction. We first started noticing it when the group openly expressed support for the House's efforts for Health Insurance Reform that passed last Saturday.

Then on Tuesday the group made two new bold stands. One calling for the end of Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT) in the military, also stating "A law which makes people lie to their physicians is a bad law," , and that "Same-sex families lack other benefits afforded married couples, including tax breaks, spouse benefits under retirement plans and Social Security survivor benefits – all of which can put their health at risk", in reference to the harmful Defence Of Marriage Act (DOMA)

In another statement that was presented by AMA was a reversal on their position on Medical Marijuana stating "Our American Medical Association (AMA) urges that marijuana's status as a federal Schedule I controlled substance be reviewed with the goal of facilitating the conduct of clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines,"

For some reason this reminds us of a statement we caught while eating out, and that was "Marijuana use will be legal and taxed before gays and lesbians are allowed to marry". As much as we thought this sounded reasonable, this new stance by the AMA makes us wonder if parts of our nation are becoming ready to live a little more progressively and maybe both are not too far off.

Amsterdam sends a gay-marriage message to America

Amsterdam sends a gay-marriage message to America

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The dual nature of marriage — the reality that it can be both a civil act and also a religious one for those who choose it to be — is so ingrained into our consciousness that most of us fail to notice the distinction of those two elements. Yet the law and many religions have always differed when it comes to how they treat marriage. For example, the law allows divorce but Catholicism has its own ways of annulment. Legally, the law prevails. Likewise some couples elect to have only a church wedding but not a civil one in order to keep their legal and property affairs separate. Again the law prevails over the particulars of the religion. And of course virtually all jurisdictions require the civil licensing of a marriage in order for it to be legally honored.

Qualified Domestic Partners, letter from a nurse

A nurse friend of mine sent me this email, its an email about qualified domestic partnerships. This of course is that little crumb that Obama passed off to LGBT folk so we would continue supporting him. Hardly being a fierce advocate for gay rights. This email shows what very little was advanced via Obama's "memo" and notes only a few more "rights" some couples have over a minority.

-----Original Message-----
From: Announcements to all U.S. DHHS Employees on behalf of OS News, HHS (HHS/OS)
Sent: Mon 7/6/09 11:04
To: HHS-STAFF@LIST.NIH.GOV
Subject: A Message from the Office of Human Resources: Same Sex Domestic Partners' Benefits

On June 17, 2009, President Obama issued a memorandum requesting the
Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to extend benefits
to qualified same-sex domestic partners of Federal employees as
consistent with law. The purpose of this notice is to share available
information about same-sex domestic partners' eligibility for benefits
and leave.



FEDERAL LONG TERM CARE INSURANCE PROGRAM (FLTCIP)

OPM is currently updating regulations to add same-sex domestic partners
of Federal and U.S. Postal Service employees and annuitants as qualified
relatives eligible to apply for coverage under the Federal Long Term
Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP). Until the regulations are effective,
same-sex domestic partners cannot apply for coverage under the FLTCIP.

Proposed regulations will be published in the Federal Register this
summer, allowing a 30 day public comment period. OPM will review those
comments and issue final regulations as soon as possible thereafter.



LEAVE

OPM also plans to issue proposed regulations in the near future to
modify its definitions of "family member" and "immediate relative" for
purposes related to the use of sick leave, funeral leave, voluntary
leave transfer, voluntary leave bank, and emergency leave transfer.

Specifically, they are adding new definitions of "son and daughter",
"parent", and "domestic partner". This proposal will help ensure that
agencies are administering leave consistently for a diverse workforce
and providing the broadest support possible to help employees balance
their increasing work, personal, and family obligations.

The proposed regulations on leave will be published in the Federal
Register, allowing a 60 day public comment period. OPM will review
those comments and issue final regulations as soon as possible
thereafter.



FEHB, FEGLI, FEDVIP, FSAFEDS

Same-sex domestic partner coverage cannot be extended under the FEHB
(health insurance), FEGLI (life insurance), FEDVIP (dental and vision
insurance) or FSAFEDS (flexible spending account) programs without
legislation, therefore, the Presidential memorandum does not affect
those programs.

If you have any questions about the proposed regulations, please contact
your servicing Human Resources Center
http://intranet.hhs.gov/ohr/contacts.html for assistance.

How To Get 63% of Americans to Support Gay Marriage. (Maybe.)

How To Get 63% of Americans to Support Gay Marriage. (Maybe.)

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