Not a problem for married heterosexuals but a big problem for lesbian and gay couples. Because our relationships are not legally recognized in most of our fifty states, lesbians and gays can find themselves in legal limbo when it comes to protecting the health and well being of our loved ones-and not just our partners but our children as well. Just ask Kenneth Johnson, an attorney who lived with his partner, James Massey and their adopted son, in Virginia. When they lived in California, they had legally registered as domestic partners. In 2006, Massey was rushed unconscious to Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C. Because their relationship was not legal, Johnson had to go back home to retrieve documents-like a medical power of attorney or a health care proxy-before the hospital would allow him to make medical decisions on the part of his life partner. Instead of being able to just be with his partner, unencumbered from the red tape and homophobia, Johnson had to fight for his rights as James slipped away. He died the following day. These are the stories of our lives. In most states, second parent adoptions are not the norm so when two gay men adopt a child only one has the bone fide legal relationship, only one can legally make healthcare decisions despite the fact that both are equally committed to raising the child. The Human Rights Campaign in partnership with the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association have embarked on an ambitious project to help alleviate the pain and frustration we must endure in healthcare settings because our relationships are devalued or because as individuals we are devalued because of who we love. HRC's new project is called the Healthcare Equality Index, HEI for short. Similar to its Corporate Equality Index which over the years has had a substantial impact on the employment practices of Fortune 500 companies, the HEI seeks to determine how well our hospitals treat lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people. All hospitals and hospital systems in the United States were invited to participate in an online survey which focused on five healthcare policy areas-patient non-discrimination, hospital visitation, decision making, cultural competency training for hospital staff and hospital employment practices. Only 88 hospitals or systems participated. 45 responded positively to each of the 10 LGBT specific survey questions. So what were these questions? They were quite simple really. Did the hospital's patient bill of rights or non-discrimination policy include sexual orientation or gender identity? Did the hospital's written visitation policy allow LGBT domestic partners the same access as heterosexual spouses and next of kin? Did same-sex parents have the same access to their children as opposite sex parents? Did the hospital have a policy recognizing the ability of same-sex partners to make healthcare decisions for one another or same-sex parents for their kids? When the hospitals' staff gets trained does that training include cultural competency on LGBT patients and their families? Did the hospitals' own non-discrimination policies include sexual orientation and gender identity? Did the hospital offer domestic partner benefits? These are important questions to ask. But they're questions you don't want to have to think about when you or a loved one is suddenly a patient. You just want to know you're going to get the best healthcare possible regardless of your sexual orientation or gender identity. While only a handful of hospitals responded to the survey, it is an important first step in advancing these policy issues in our nation's hospitals. When the Corporate Equality Index began, only 13 Fortune 500 companies received a perfect score. By 2008 the number had increased to195. I expect that as word of the Healthcare Equality Index gets out, more LGBT hospital employees will talk to their CEOs about it and, in turn, the CEOs will talk to each other and before we know it hundreds of hospitals will be answering all the questions correctly. The Health Equality Index defines ten easy steps to start making the healthcare system inclusive for LGBT families. With all that's wrong with our healthcare system, I would hope that hospitals would jump at the opportunity to adopt a common sense, low-cost alternative that heals wounds of a different kind. Libby Post is President of Communication Services, a full-service marketing firm specializing in not-for-profits, health care agencies, advocacy organizations and libraries. A nationally syndicated columnist on lesbian and gay issues, Post is the founding chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda and is presently on the board of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. She has received numerous honors including being named one of the 100 Women of Excellence by the Albany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce. Post lives in Menands with her partner, Lynn Dunning-Vaughn, and their son, Alex. She can be reached at libby@proudlyout.com. May 8, 2008 - Spinning Wheels I'm not a big game show watcher. But I do know that you get to spin big wheels on The Price is Right and Wheel of Fortune. Sometimes you hit the jackpot, sometimes you land in a good spot and sometimes you get skunked. And, that's exactly what it's like fighting for lesbian and gay marriage equality. With three spins of the wheel this week, we landed in two decent spots and got skunked once. Out in California, while folks are waiting on pins and needles for the state's highest court to decide on the legality of same sex marriage, the state's Court of Appeal ruled on Tuesday that that when it comes to believing you were in a registered domestic partnership you have the same rights and responsibility as straights who thought they were legally married. It seems that Darrin Ellis thought that his ex-partner had sent in the fully completed, signed and notarized paperwork of their domestic partnership to California's Secretary of State. He trusted his ex, David Arriaga--a common mistake. It turns out Arriaga never mailed it in. When Ellis went to legally dissolve the partnership and get the assets from the relationship he thought he was legally entitled to, he found that the domestic partnership he thought he had never legally existed. Arriaga, on the other hand, asked the trial court handling the dissolution case to dismiss it because the couple relationship was never legally recognized. The trial court complied and that's when Ellis reached out to Lambda Legal, the nation's largest LGBT legal rights organization. Tara Borelli, Lambda's staff attorney handling the case, argued that AB 205, California's domestic partner law, gives same-sex couples the same protection under the state's "putative spouse doctrine" as people in heterosexual relationships who believed they were married only to find out later that their marriage was not valid. In what I can best describe as a back-handed complement, the Court of Appeal agreed with Lambda's argument saying jilted same-sex partners who were hoodwinked should be treated the same as jilted common law wives and husbands. I know this is definitely a step forward but I feel like my spinning game show wheel landed on $50 instead of $5 million. When I spoke with Borelli she told me that the separate and unequal system of domestic partnerships "simply isn't going to be enough to help same sex couples. We'll have to go to court over and over again for legal patch jobs to get the system to work." Fly across the country to New York State and another legal spin of the same-sex marriage wheel said that if we're legally married in any other jurisdiction, say Canada or Massachusetts, we have to be treated as married in the Empire State. Living in Rochester, Patricia Martinez and her partner Lisa Ann Golden went to Vermont for a civil union in 2001 and then to Canada to actually tie the knot in 2004. Martinez, who works for Monroe Community College as a word processing supervisor, wanted to add Golden to her health insurance policy. The college refused because health benefits for domestic partners were not included in the contract the Civil Service Employees Association had negotiated for its members. That has since been rectified. Martinez sued. In August 2006, the State Supreme Court agreed with the College because, as Justice Harold Galloway wrote, the state legislature "currently defines marriage as limited to the union of one man and one woman." Martinez appealed and the appellate judges who heard the case overturned Galloway saying that there is no legal impediment in New York to the recognition of same-sex marriage and that those legal marriages, like Martinez and Golden's, must be recognized as such. This week, the Court of Appeals, our highest court, refused to hear the College's appeal. Spin the wheel one more time and land in Michigan and the news isn't good. Because that state's ban on same-sex marriage was written so punitively, the state Supreme Court ruled that local governments and state universities there can not offer health insurance to the partners of gay or lesbian workers. This is the legal merry-go-round lesbians and gays live with day in and day out. Some days we spin the wheel and win. Some days, we don't. We're forced to take a patchwork approach because we're seen as second class citizens. But we'll keep spinning our wheels until we hit the jackpot--liberty and justice for all. Libby Post is President of Communication Services, a full-service marketing firm specializing in not-for-profits, health care agencies, advocacy organizations and libraries. A nationally syndicated columnist on lesbian and gay issues, Post is the founding chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda and is presently on the board of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. She has received numerous honors including being named one of the 100 Women of Excellence by the Albany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce. Post lives in Menands with her partner, Lynn Dunning-Vaughn, and their son, Alex. She can be reached at libby@proudlyout.com. April 24, 2008 - Jersey Scores We'll be in New Jersey next week for a mix of business and pleasure and I couldn't be happier. At the Jersey shore to speak at the state's Library Association's annual convention, Lynn and I will also spend a few days relaxing-long overdue after an incredibly intense first four months of the year. I'm looking forward to just looking at the ocean and possibly sticking my toes in if the water isn't freezing. I'm also looking forward to spending a few days in what could be considered the most LGBT-friendly state in the nation. Yes my friends, Jersey has attained that lavender-tinted gold star. In addition to already having a statewide non-discrimination bill, a hate crimes bill and a civil union bill, this year the New Jersey legislature passed three more pieces of significant legislation. One is an anti-bullying bill which requires schools to be more active in addressing harassment, including the kind of bullying LGBT students might face. This kind of legislation is absolutely necessary if we are to provide our kids with an educational environment that is conducive to learning and intolerant of intolerance. The nation saw in sharp detail how not addressing anti-LGBT sentiment in schools can lead to tragedy when 15-year old Larry King was killed by Brandon McInerney, a 14-year old classmate, because of King's sexual orientation and gender expression. Gay and flamboyant at 15, King told McInerney that he liked him. The next day, McInereney brought a gun to school and shot King in the head. King was the victim of hate and homophobia. But, so is McInerney. If our schools taught openly and affirmingly about LGBT people and culture and had a zero-tolerance policy for bullying, LGBT students throughout the country who are harassed or worse because of their sexual orientation and gender expression would have a very different experience in school. If Brandon McInerney was taught about respecting differences instead of fearing them, he might not be looking at a life in jail. With this new legislation, hopefully LGBT and straight students in New Jersey will have an educational climate that values diversity. Imagine growing up in a school setting where bullying is the exception rather than the rule, where kids actually understand what respecting each other means and where differences are praised instead of pilloried. The second piece of legislation that passed in New Jersey this year was an amendment to the state's hate crimes law to include transgender people. With violence against the trans community on the rise and the recent publicity surrounding Thomas Beattie, a transman who is still biologically a woman and is carrying a baby for him and his legally wed wife, protecting the transgender community against hate crime is an absolute necessity. Beattie's pregnancy brings the transgender community into a spotlight it hasn't been in since Richard Raskin became Renee Richards in 1975. A headline story in People Magazine, a segment on Oprah and media attention across the country has led to a firestorm of trans-bashing by pundits and shock jocks alike. MSNBC's Joe Scarborough and his compatriots Mika Brzezinski and Wilie Geist profiled the story during a "News You Can't Use" segment of Scarborough's "Morning Joe" show. Between the "ewws" and "that's disgusting," they sounded like a bunch of adolescents who could benefit from Jersey's anti-bullying law. What's worse is that Scarborough showed his innate homophobia by saying that one of former New Jersey governor Jim McGreevey's aides probably supplied the sperm needed for Beattie to become pregnant. When supposed reputable journalists like Scarborough who have a national audience make these kind of comments, it gives license to those who are totally ignorant about transgender people to act on their fear. I'm sure we'll see an increase in hate crimes against the trans community-thankfully in New Jersey they'll be prosecuted more vigilantly because of that state's new law. The Garden State is also on the precipice of passing same-sex marriage legislation. But before it does that, Governor Corzine is about to sign a bill that will provide paid family leave for gay employees who have to take care of their partners. The only other state in the nation to provide that kind of protection is California. You'd think Massachusetts would since we can get married there but that's not the case. So when I curl my toes in the sand on the Jersey shore next week, my feet will be firmly planted in the one state that leads the nation in advancing LGBT rights. I won't be shaking that sand out of my shoes anytime soon. Libby Post is President of Communication Services, a full-service marketing firm specializing in not-for-profits, health care agencies, advocacy organizations and libraries. A nationally syndicated columnist on lesbian and gay issues, Post is the founding chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda and is presently on the board of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. She has received numerous honors including being named one of the 100 Women of Excellence by the Albany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce. Post lives in Menands with her partner, Lynn Dunning-Vaughn, and their son, Alex. She can be reached at libby@proudlyout.com. April 10, 2008 - Movie Magic Here's a little known fact about me-I don't go to see scary movies. Life is scary enough why should I pay for it. So that means I mostly watch silly romantic comedies, movie musicals, Star Wars and Indiana Jones type films, historical dramas and documentaries. Of late, I've been glued to HBO's John Adams. It's been great watching Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney play John and Abigail as a couple who though separated a great deal share a passion for life and for each other. Out of town as much as I have been the last few months, I haven't made it to many movie theatres-thank god for Movies on Demand. I will, however, make it my business to get over to Proctor's in Schenectady next Wednesday or Thursday, April 16th or 17th for a screening of For the Bible Tells Me So. A documentary that's won numerous awards, For the Bible Tells Me So opens the doors to five very American, very Christian families-including those of former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt and Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson-to discover how people of faith deal with having a gay or lesbian child. For those of you who may not know, Dick Gephardt's daughter Chrissy is a lesbian born to a Baptist dad and a Catholic mom. Gene Robinson is the openly gay, non-celibate Episcopal Bishop of the New Hampshire Diocese. His consecration has been a lightening rod for homophobia within the Episcopal Church giving those on the right-wing side of that denomination freedom to spew their hatred. To his credit, Robinson, who I had the pleasure of spending some time with in Montreal during Outgames in 2006, has stood his ground. His church community elected him. His family supports him. His blended spirituality and politics inform him to tell the LGBT community to take back their houses of worship and to not let them be defined by Biblical literalists who use hate instead of love to preach their version of the gospel. The film also features a Minnesota family named the Reitans-Randy, Phil and their son Jake. Jake has been part of Soulforce's Equality Rides since 2006. Fashioned on the 1960's Freedom Rides of the civil rights movement, Equality Rides bring LGBT youth activists to colleges and universities across the country that silence or exclude LGBT students in the hopes of educating and breaking down barriers. When the Rides started, Jake's mom Randy contacted me. I eventually interviewed her and Phil. It was fascinating. Here were two loving parents, firm in their Christian faith, sending their son off to educate others about what it really means to be Christian and love your neighbor. But more than that, they stood side by side with their son and got arrested with him, when Soulforce tried to deliver their message of understanding to James Dobson and Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs. For the Bible Tells Me So promises to be an uplifting film giving hope to those who have been caught in the Radical Christian Right's contradiction of 'you can't be gay and be a Christian." The Right is constantly beating on us saying that the Bible tells them that being gay is an abomination and a sin. As the clergy who are interviewed for the documentary point out, the Bible says a lot of things are an abomination-wearing wool and linen together, commingling crops, eating pork or shrimp. The Reverend Dr. Laurence Keene, of the Disciples of Christ points out that those abominations are always used to address a ritual wrong but are never used to refer to something innately immoral. As he explains, eating pork for Jews violates a ritual but it is not immoral. If it were, a lot of my faith would be in trouble-so many of us just can't seem to stay away from pork fried rice when we eat Chinese after our ritual movie-going on Christmas. When you look at it analytically, the Bible doesn't tell us anything. It's how we read the Bible, how we interpret it and how we use that interpretation that tells us something. It tells us we can use the Bible for hate or we can use it for love. We've all seen what happens when the Bible is used for hate. It's time to get down with the love and begin valuing everyone as human beings-regardless of who we wake up with in the morning. Libby Post is President of Communication Services, a full-service marketing firm specializing in not-for-profits, health care agencies, advocacy organizations and libraries. A nationally syndicated columnist on lesbian and gay issues, Post is the founding chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda and is presently on the board of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. She has received numerous honors including being named one of the 100 Women of Excellence by the Albany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce. Post lives in Menands with her partner, Lynn Dunning-Vaughn, and their son, Alex. She can be reached at libby@proudlyout.com. March 27, 2008 - Hitler's Play Book Sally Kern must be studying Hitler's play book. Sally Kern must be studying Hitler's play book. Hitler demonized Jews by saying we controlled the world's commerce and banks. Kern thinks gay money is being used to control the political process. Hitler considered Jews the personification of the Devil. Kern thinks LGBT people are the personification of the sin undermining America's Christian society. Hitler believed that Jews were the springboard for sedition. Kern believes that "good citizenship" is not within the realm of LGBT people because we are not good Christians. Hitler believed Jews have "always been a people with definite racial characteristics and never a religion." Kern believes all religions are not equal. I could go on and on. So, who exactly is Sally Kern, and why is she getting my back up? Well, she's a Republican member of the Oklahoma State House of Representatives where she chairs the Social Services committee. She is a former social studies teacher and the wife of a Baptist minister. She is also the woman whose anti-gay speech to a local Republican group in her home state was posted on YouTube. She thought she was speaking to about 50 people. Well, over 1 million have listened to her and she's heard from thousands around the country how her words inflame hatred against LGBT people. In her speech, Kern said that homosexuality is a "death knell for this country." She went on to say "I honestly think it's the biggest threat even, that our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam." So what is it about us that threatens her so? It seems, like others in the Radical Christian Right, Kern is bothered by our mere existence. Oh, she's not proposing to send us to the type of camps Hitler sent my relatives to. But, she sure does think the fact that we're in her community, teaching in her schools, talking about our issues and expressing our democratic options as threatening to the principles of Christianity to which she ascribes. Because of LGBT people, the United State is no longer a civil society because our existence undermines what she considers decent, respectful, moral behavior. Kern thinks the notion of a civil society is a Christian principle. We're also undermining another Christian principle--good citizenship. According to Kern, good citizens know what is right and what is wrong. I don't take issue with that per say. The issue for Kern is that if someone decides on their own, without using her interpretation of the Bible, what is right and wrong well then we're on the path to damnation. Using her logic, people who support LGBT rights are not good citizens because what they're supporting is wrong. Bottom line, we're all sinners. Don't be fooled by her "love the sinner, hate the sin" lingo, Kern thinks we can practice our lifestyle but that the homosexual agenda-whatever that is-is destroying our nation. So, what exactly is the death knell or the bigger threat than terrorism that is implicit to the homosexual agenda? Plain and simple-money. Kern thinks it's an abomination that "gay people are motivated" and that some of the wealthier folks in the LGBT community or our allies have used their money to impact elections and public policy. She singles out Tim Gill, the inventor of Quark Express, Pat Stryker, the heiress to a surgical products fortune, Jared Polis, the founder of BlueMountain.com who is now running for Congress out of Colorado and Rutt Bridges, a Colorado-based entrepreneur, for using their personal wealth to impact the state of Colorado politics. Calling them the "Gang of Four," Kern credited them with changing the Colorado state house from Republican to Democratic and said that their goal is to intimidate Republicans. Well, I recently spoke with Juan and Ken Ahonen-Jover about Kern's intimidation contention. Juan and Ken run a site called equalitygiving.org which helps LGBT donors make informed decisions about their political contributions "Sally is saying 'poor us, we don't have power, gays are taking over.' It's all part of this whole plan of trying to play the victim. We all know the right has the power. For them to say that they don't is preposterous," said Ken. I wish we were taking over-then I wouldn't have to rail about the indecencies we face every day as LGBT people. But Kern has the drill down. She's taken her rhetoric right out of Hitler's playbook. "Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it." Those are Hitler's words, not mine. Libby Post is President of Communication Services, a full-service marketing firm specializing in not-for-profits, health care agencies, advocacy organizations and libraries. A nationally syndicated columnist on lesbian and gay issues, Post is the founding chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda and is presently on the board of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. She has received numerous honors including being named one of the 100 Women of Excellence by the Albany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce. Post lives in Menands with her partner, Lynn Dunning-Vaughn, and their son, Alex. She can be reached at libby@proudlyout.com. March 13, 2008 - Day 1 Do Over I think we can all stop saying, "What was he thinking?" We know what soon to be former New York State Governor Eliot Spitzer was thinking-and it wasn't about strategy to get his Executive Budget passed or to move any of his other legislative priorities forward. Like many men in his position, Spitzer let his power go to his head. Enough said about body parts. My real concern, of course, is for his wife, Silda, and their daughters. They didn't bargain for this and shouldn't have to be in the spotlight because Daddy was a bad boy. I also feel bad for the folks who believed in Spitzer's vision and joined his administration. There are a lot of talented people working for progressive change. This is one of those times when I'm glad I'm in business for myself and didn't stay working in government. To say the least, the media circus surrounding this has been intense. I was disgusted by Dr. Laura Schlesinger's pronouncement on The Today Show that Silda Spitzer was somehow to blame because she wasn't a caring enough wife who made her husband feel like a man. Give me a break. Women are not responsible for the philandering of their husbands. The boys make their own decisions to step out on their wives. It's really interesting that Dina Matos McGreevey, the estranged wife of former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey, has become the media's darling as the expert Governor's wife whose husband cheated on her. He, too, resigned because of extramarital activities. But, McGreevey wasn't paying for sex-the taxpayers were because he did put his male lover on the state payroll. While I think she's milking her divorce proceedings for all the press exposure she can get, I have to give her credit for taking Dr. Laura to task. Matos-McGreevey likened Dr. Laura's hyperbole to blaming a rape victim for being raped. She's absolutely on target. This coming Monday will be "Day 1 Do Over" in New York State. That's when Lt. Governor David Paterson will fill the vacuum that currently exists in the Governor's office. This is welcome news for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. David Paterson has been a long time ally of the community. Paterson was one of those brave African-American legislators who stood by us saying the Hate Crimes bill had to include the LGBT community otherwise it would be a hallow piece of legislation that wouldn't protect one of the most vulnerable and victimized groups in the state. The first day in his position as Senate Minority Leader, Paterson led his colleagues in passing the Statewide Omnibus Non-Discrimination Act-a bill that we had been trying to pass for thirty years. Paterson has also been a long time advocate of marriage equality. In a January 2007 interview with the New York Blade he said, "One of the reasons we need same sex marriage is because the statistics for heterosexual marriage are so bad; that might be a way to upgrade some of the success rates." Just as important as his support for LGBT issues is his understanding of politics, the legislative process and the need for finesse. Clearly, steamroller politics do not work-even if you win 70% of the vote, as Spitzer had in 2006. Paterson's ability to negotiate and make his adversaries feel as though they've also won will be a welcome relief to Spitzer's penchant for making political enemies. Don't for a minute think that Spitzer's downfall doesn't have some political intrigue to it. Granted what he did was really stupid but it is the Southern District's U.S. Attorney appointed by the Bush administration that is singling Spitzer out. You don't hear anything about clients one through eight, only client #9. Let's not forget one of Karl Rove's legacies is politicizing the U.S. Attorney's office in order to take out the administration's political adversaries. Eliot Spitzer, a progressive Democrat, who could have been on the fast track to the White House was a perfect target. I'm sure going after Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno didn't help either. Unlike Spitzer, Paterson has a history of productively dealing with Bruno. While I wouldn't say there's a love fest between the two, I would say there is a good deal of respect and a willingness to work together in order to get the state's business done. It's time for all of us to get back to work. Libby Post is President of Communication Services, a full-service marketing firm specializing in not-for-profits, health care agencies, advocacy organizations and libraries. A nationally syndicated columnist on lesbian and gay issues, Post is the founding chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda and is presently on the board of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. She has received numerous honors including being named one of the 100 Women of Excellence by the Albany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce. Post lives in Menands with her partner, Lynn Dunning-Vaughn, and their son, Alex. She can be reached at libby@proudlyout.com. February 28, 2008 - Hate Knows No Age It's been a decade since Matthew Shepard was found tethered to a fence in rural Wyoming. His death at the hands of two men who pretended to be gay only so that they could rob, beat and kill him sparked national outrage among the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and our straight allies who found their acts despicable. When it comes to hate related crimes against the LGBT community not much has changed in the past ten years. We're still the bull's eye for the hate mongers perverted game of darts. A few weeks back in Oxnard, California, Lawrence King was gunned down for being openly gay. What makes this story so heartbreaking is that King was 15. His assailant, Brandon McInerney, was only 14. Yes, that's right. A 14 year old boy who lives in a rather accepting community walked into his junior high's computer lab, pulled out a gun and shot King in the head. McInerney's intent couldn't be any clearer-he wanted to kill the 15 year old who was openly gay and challenged the gender stereotype that adolescents hold so dear. King was not only out but he had started wearing mascara, lipstick and jewelry to school. Not your typical garb for a 15 year old boy. Despite the bullying he received from a group of guys, including the shooter, who couldn't wrap their heads around King's presentation, he was proud of who he was and wouldn't change his persona so that others around him would be more comfortable. The taunts and jeers of his schoolmates were pretty much par for the course in California. According to a 2005 California Healthy Kids Survey, seventh-graders in the state are 50 percent more likely to be harassed in school because of sexual orientation or gender identity than those in 11th grade. Despite his age, the shooter is being charged as an adult with murder as a premeditated hate crime and gun possession. If convicted, he'll be in jail for at least 52 years, if not for life. King was the victim of hate and homophobia. So is McInerney. If our society wasn't so homophobic and didn't treat us like second class citizens, kids like the 14-year old McInerney wouldn't be so scared of someone who was different. And, his fear wouldn't automatically turn to hate, as it did, on that fateful day in their school's computer lab. Just last week, another gay youth was gunned down in Ft. Lauderdale which is known on the one hand as a mecca for gay tourism and on the other hand as the community that elected Jim Naugle, an extreme homophobe, as mayor. 17 year old Simmie Williams Jr. was gunned down on the morning of February 22nd just moments after witnesses heard an argument between him and two men. Like the California teen, Williams challenged gender stereotypes. He was wearing a dress at the time of the shooting. However, less than 24 hours later, Ft. Lauderdale resident Melbourne Brunner was just sitting in a diner, in regular clothes, eating a 3:30 a.m. breakfast with his partner. According to a police report, an unidentified man walked up to the pair and started spewing anti-gay epithets at them. At one point, the man made a violent motion with his hands, saying, "This is how I break faggots' necks." Brunner and his partner left the dinner but the man followed and blocked them from getting into their car. He then punched Brunner in the face who fell to the ground. The man took off his shirt, covered his license plate and fled after threatening Brunner's partner. Brunner is recovering from the physical trauma quickly. While he's scared, Brunner is not about to let this incident define his life. "I will not let it change me. I will do what I need to do and will conduct my business," he told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "I refuse to let it change me. If I do, people like him win." The homophobes have been winning in our country for way too long. Two terms of Bush in the White House have given those who hate us carte blanche. The FBI's 2006 hate crime statistics show an 18 percent increase in crimes based on actual or perceived sexual orientation. It took just a few weeks for two young lives to be cut short. We'll never know who they could have become. In their absence, we know what we must become-their voices telling the nation to stop the hate. Libby Post is President of Communication Services, a full-service marketing firm specializing in not-for-profits, health care agencies, advocacy organizations and libraries. A nationally syndicated columnist on lesbian and gay issues, Post is the founding chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda and is presently on the board of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. She has received numerous honors including being named one of the 100 Women of Excellence by the Albany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce. Post lives in Menands with her partner, Lynn Dunning-Vaughn, and their son, Alex. She can be reached at libby@proudlyout.com. February 14, 2008 - Feel the Love Today is Valentine's Day. My partner Lynn and I can tell each all day long how much we mean to each other, that we love each other, that we're committed to each other for the long haul. But, the two words we can't say in any legally binding way are "I do." I turn fifty next week and I'd really like to be able to get married to the person I love before we're both too old to enjoy all the rights and responsibilities that come with legal marriage. With the Presidential race dominating our collective consciousness, we need to watch out for stealth campaigns to make marriage equality a wedge issue in various states. Now, these may be states that will go to the Republican candidate anyway-like Arizona which is quite likely to vote for its favorite son, John McCain. Lawmakers there want to put a constitutional ban on marriage equality on the ballot even after a similar measure was defeated by the voters in November of 2006. The new bill, however, isn't an exact copy of the old. Arizona's marriage equality opponents learned a thing or two from their earlier defeat. The proposal they're floating for approval won't ban the recognition of civil unions or domestic partnerships. Arizona voters in 2006 felt banning all three-marriage equality, civil unions and domestic partnerships-was just a bit to punitive. We'll see if those same voters want to codify marriage as being purely in the heterosexual realm. The same can't be said about the straight only marriage advocates in Florida. After four years of collecting signatures, Florida4Marriage managed to get 649,346 signatures to put their Marriage Protection Amendment on November's ballot. This is a bill that would not only ban lesbians and gay men from marrying but would also deny us domestic partnerships and civil unions. Basically-we're worthless in the eyes of Florida's Radical Christian Right. However, if there was ever a state where marriage equality could become a wedge issue for the Presidential race it's Florida. And as we all know, winning Florida is key to winning the White House. But this being Valentine's Day and all-why don't we focus on the love. In Maryland, marriage equality activists have been lobbying their state legislature furiously and now think they're close to have the necessary votes to pass a bill. The first hearing on the legislation legalizing same-sex marriage is being held today, Valentine's Day. I think that's fitting. Then there's Marla Spivak a student at Choate Rosemary Hall, a private prep school in Connecticut. Karl Rove was there. Spivak and Rove had an animated dialogue which ended with the student invoking the Constitution saying its reference to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" supported marriage equality. Rove just blathered on about polygamy. Go Marla. To make sure we really feel the love, my favorite non-presidential candidate, Al Gore, recently posted a video blog on his Current TV website. In just a few seconds, Gore made it clear he wasn't going to get into the race-he came out in favor of marriage equality. He said "I think that gay men and women ought to have the same rights as heterosexual men and women, to make contracts, to have hospital visiting rights, to join together in marriage, and I don't understand why it is considered by some people to be a threat to heterosexual marriage to allow it by gays and lesbians." Gore went on to talk about the importance of promoting faithfulness and loyalty regardless of sexual orientation otherwise one is simply promoting promiscuity. He ended by saying "All the loyalty and love that two people feel for one another when they fall in love ought to be celebrated and encouraged, and shouldn't be prevented by any form of discrimination in the law." Finally, a straight national political leader who is respected in the international arena has the courage to stop dancing around this issue. Unlike his plans for Social Security during the 2000 race, he doesn't want to put us and our relationships in a lock box. Instead, he wants all of us to show our love and affection for our partners just the way he and Tipper showed all of us what they mean to each other on national TV when he accepted the Democratic nomination for President eight years ago. With any luck, Al Gore might be able to do for marriage equality what he's done for global warming. Libby Post is President of Communication Services, a full-service marketing firm specializing in not-for-profits, health care agencies, advocacy organizations and libraries. A nationally syndicated columnist on lesbian and gay issues, Post is the founding chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda and is presently on the board of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. She has received numerous honors including being named one of the 100 Women of Excellence by the Albany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce. Post lives in Menands with her partner, Lynn Dunning-Vaughn, and their son, Alex. She can be reached at libby@proudlyout.com. January 31, 2008 - Primary Choices So the day every political junkie has been waiting for is just around the corner-Super Tuesday is this coming Tuesday, February 5th. For those of us who have doggedly tracked this protracted presidential race, Super Tuesday is the mother lode of primaries. Democrats in 22 states and Republicans in 21 will choose their candidates. This year-long roller coaster ride of democracy has treated us to a panoply of candidates that span the political spectrum. But as Super Tuesday approaches our choices have been slashed and for some hopes dashed. New York's Republicans are denied their favorite son because Rudy Guiliani denied good political advice. His Florida-only strategy backfired. Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee may or may not stick around after Tuesday but for all intents and purposes the Republican race is now between John McCain and Mitt Romney. When the race started, my favorite Dem was John Edwards-I really don't care how much he spends on a haircut. I liked what he had to say. I liked his dedication to his wife and family. I liked that as a southern Democrat he gave the Republicans agita. But as the race heated up, his candidacy didn't. So the burning question now is who am I going to vote for on Tuesday? Well, I have never been more conflicted in my life. My internal flip flopping between Clinton and Obama makes Mitt Romney look like steady Eddie. As far as lesbian and gay issues are concerned, I know we can count on either Clinton or Obama to do the right thing. With either of them in the White House, the eight years of homophobia that has become a trademark of the Bush presidency will end. Assuming that the Democrats maintain and expand their majorities in both the House and Senate, we'll see either President Clinton or President Obama signing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, the Matthew Shepard Act and the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Those events will be the beginning of what could be a golden age for LGBT issues in America. But, what about Super Tuesday? I like Hillary Clinton. She's done a good job as one of our U.S. Senators. She's intelligent, understands the intricacies of U.S. policy both abroad and at home and has a personal fortitude that has withstood political and personal firestorm after firestorm. She welcomes challenges. She's not afraid of anything. Letting down her guard just a bit in New Hampshire showed the country that there's an emotional core to this woman. Opening up that window let us all know that she's just like the rest of us-human. It may surprise some of you that behind this hard, political exterior of mine there's a political idealist defining my views. After eight years of cynicism and lies, I really want to believe in our country again. You have no idea how deep this desire is. I'm one of those kids Caroline Kennedy spoke about in her recent op-ed in the New York Times. I really never knew her dad. My first real memory of the Kennedy presidency is the grainy black and white image on our family TV of the plane in Dallas that flew his body back to DC. I was five. My mother stood at the ironing board crying. But it is the hope he instilled in my parents who handed it down to me that has informed my politics and my activism. JFK embodied an America of promise. He reached out his hand to us so that we could take the hands of others and make our nation a better place to live. I want that back. I want to believe in America again. The only candidate that has spoken to the idealist in me is Barack Obama. His belief in change, his ability to bring people into the presidential process who usually stay home, his understanding of the real challenges that face our country inspires. But the pragmatic part of me is concerned about his experience factor. Are his years as an Illinois State Senator and a U.S. Senator enough? Well let's not forget that political office was W's fall back position because he couldn't make it in business. Obama on the other hand has spent his entire career organizing people for political change. Perhaps the experience issue is just a political ruse. In just a few days I'll have to make a decision. But, it won't happen until the voting booth's curtain is closed and I'm ready to pull the lever. Libby Post is President of Communication Services, a full-service marketing firm specializing in not-for-profits, health care agencies, advocacy organizations and libraries. A nationally syndicated columnist on lesbian and gay issues, Post is the founding chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda and is presently on the board of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. She has received numerous honors including being named one of the 100 Women of Excellence by the Albany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce. Post lives in Menands with her partner, Lynn Dunning-Vaughn, and their son, Alex. She can be reached at libby@proudlyout.com. January 24, 2008 - Standing Up My family's dinner was disrupted this past Friday night, January 18th by sirens and flashing lights. There in the midst of our bucolic neighborhood, on a private road to what was once an estate in Menands, was a number of Troy police officers, with a number of Troy police cars-marked and unmarked--to match. The five of us sitting at the table-Alex, my son, Dale, his father, Gerri, his step-mom, Courtney, his girlfriend and I-went out the front door to see what was up. We stopped dead in our tracks about 25 to 30 feet away from the action. It was from there that we witnessed a police brutality reality show. The cops had chased two guys in a car through the streets of Troy, across the Hudson River, and into our road. By the time I was out there, the two suspects-Marquese Hill and Jamel DeWitt-were face down on the ground and were individually being beaten by two officers. It was very film noir. It was dark and the scene was lit from behind by the lights from all the cars. The silhouette of one of the officers standing over one of the suspects repeatedly raising his baton high over his head and then crashing it down on the suspect's body will stay with me for quite some time. So will the sound the baton made every time it hit the face-down body. It happened over and over again lasting for about 25-30 seconds. We all started screaming for the cops to stop. When they finally did, two of the cops came running over to us and told us to "Shut Up," "Get in the house," "They had a gun and could have come into your house," and "This is none of your business." It certainly was our business, We stood our ground. They walked away saying we were "probably on the jury that let that killer go free in Troy" referring to a jury verdict last week that found a member of the 69ers motorcycle club not guilty of stabbing another person to death outside a bar. By now Hill and DeWitt were cuffed and being put into police cars. That's when one of the officers at the scene told them loudly enough for us to hear, "They'll probably invite you over for Sunday brunch." I dug into my pocket, got out my cell phone and immediately called Rex Smith, the editor of the Times-Union at home. Needless to say, what followed next was a hailstorm of media coverage with my face plastered all over the TV, my voice on local radio and my name in our local papers. What we witnessed was an injustice that is much graver than Hill's parole violation or the police wanting to question DeWitt regarding a shooting. The Troy police and the city's mayor are calling the actions by the two officers a reasonable use of force. I call it a travesty. Once the two suspects were face down on the ground all the officers needed to do was put their knees in their backs and cuff them. Instead, the adrenaline rush of a chase in hot pursuit lead to excessive use of force. There will be an internal affairs investigation but how effectively can the police police themselves? This isn't about me being soft on crime. This is about our police acting professionally and responsibly. If Hill and DeWitt committed crimes they should go through the legal process and do their time, if that's what needs to happen. They don't, however, deserve to be beaten. Do the police who patrol the tri-cities' inner-city neighborhoods have a challenge on their hands? Absolutely. But using violence to combat violence only works on the battlefield-and as we see in Iraq, that approach doesn't work too well either. Instead of approaching their jobs with suspicion and violence, why can't the police take the opportunity to make real change in those neighborhoods by setting a positive example-acting professionally and responsibly would be a good first step. There's a reason why folks in the inner city don't trust the police-Friday night was just the tip of the iceberg of distrust. I'm not saying the police shouldn't do their job in tracking down criminals but not everyone who lives in inner-city neighborhoods commit crimes. All this incident has done is heightened the tension between Troy's police and those who they are sworn to serve and protect. I've received a lot of support from folks I know and some I don't. A few have even called my actions a public service. I call it being a responsible citizen and taxpayer. Libby Post is President of Communication Services, a full-service marketing firm specializing in not-for-profits, health care agencies, advocacy organizations and libraries. A nationally syndicated columnist on lesbian and gay issues, Post is the founding chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda and is presently on the board of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. She has received numerous honors including being named one of the 100 Women of Excellence by the Albany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce. Post lives in Menands with her partner, Lynn Dunning-Vaughn, and their son, Alex. She can be reached at libby@proudlyout.com. January 10, 2008 - Democracy in Action Next month I'll be 50. I started paying attention to politics in the latter half of my first decade. I actually did my first literature drop when I was eight for Eugene Nickerson, the only Democrat to ever elected county executive in Nassau County until the beginning of this century. For a little kid, it was pretty exciting. Fast forward four decades or so and I'm feeling really excited again. Not because Obama won or Clinton won but because democracy is winning. For the first time in as long as I can remember, as a country, we actually have a choice. We finally don't have to just pick between two evils. Each side of the aisle has at least three viable candidates for president. That means we can get involved, ask questions, deliberate and exercise our ability to make our nation a better place to live. We can work for change. We can get fired up and ready to go. We can find our own voice. We can get actually get excited about presidential politics. Since this campaign began a good year ago, I thought we'd all be brain dead by now-fatigued by the constant droning of candidates saying they're the best choice. Well, happily, I was wrong. Starting earlier-while making the campaigns more expensive-gave us more of an opportunity to engage. We could actually do our part of retail politics-pick over the candidates like we pick over all the clothes at Macy's in the after Christmas sales. The earlier start gave us time to explore their platforms, talk about it with our friends and family, create a national dialogue about the future of our country. With the first two events of the political season behind us, we've gotten just a glimpse of how dynamic this race will be. Iowa gave us Obama and Huckabee as the victors. Going into New Hampshire, it was pretty clear that John McCain was the resurgent Republican. He's the only one who spent any real time there. Huckabee may win a few more primaries down south but watch out for Guiliani in Florida and New York on Super Tuesday, February 5th. Fred Thompson is sleep walking through his campaign hoping his good ol' boy actor-persona will win him a few delegates. It's great to see the Republicans in such disarray. From where I sit, their divergent primary field speaks to the lack of leadership in the White House. In typical fashion, the party in control has not developed a road map to keep their grip on power. We saw it in New York after 12 years of Mario Cuomo as Governor. We're seeing again after eight years of the worst president in American history. Not that I'm complaining. This administration's political arrogance and lack of foresight have given the Democrats an open door to the White House-but then again, the Dems have a knack for losing elections that were their's to win. It was great fun, however, to watch the pundits and pollsters squirm Tuesday night. After predictions of another Obama win, perhaps at double digits, Hillary Clinton's show of humility and humanity turned the tide for a unexpected upset. Chris Matthews looked stunned on MSNBC-it was great. But this whole thing is very far from over. Next week, the Nevada caucuses and the S. Carolina primary will add another chapter to this roller coaster ride of a campaign. Despite the drubbing they took this week, the pundits and pollsters promoted by the media will continue to predict who the winners will be. What Iowa and New Hampshire showed us, however, is that all the predictions in the world won't deter a independent minded voter, affiliated with a party or not, from voting the way she or he wants to. New Hampshire women saw themselves in Hillary. How many of us have been vilified for being too strong and smart and then sneered at for showing a bit of emotion. Independent and young voters saw themselves in Obama. His message of change, his ability to rise above the petty politics of campaigning, his way with words-Obama is speaking to voters who would usually stay home. He's energizing a new base-a new generation of activists that just may write the next chapter in our presidential politics. In the months ahead, we'll all be on this roller coaster-some candidates will climb to the top and stay there and some will come crashing down with a speed that defies expectations. After five decades of watching and working, it's great to know that democracy can still be so exciting. Libby Post is President of Communication Services, a full-service marketing firm specializing in not-for-profits, health care agencies, advocacy organizations and libraries. A nationally syndicated columnist on lesbian and gay issues, Post is the founding chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda and is presently on the board of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. She has received numerous honors including being named one of the 100 Women of Excellence by the Albany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce. Post lives in Menands with her partner, Lynn Dunning-Vaughn, and their son, Alex. She can be reached at libby@proudlyout.com. December 26, 2007 - Starting Over So Christmas is over and we've got a few more days before we can party again to ring in 2008. Even though it started with such promise, we're certainly in a rush to get 2007 over with. In New York, Day One pledged a new beginning. In DC, Democratic majorities in the House and Senate gave us hope. Despite the best intentions, entrenched power had its way-it was not to be interfered with. In New York, Day One turned into Day Two, Day Three, Day Four . . . this Monday will be Day 365. Luckily, we get to start counting again on January 1--Day One, 2008. Down in D.C., our hopes for real change were dashed. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the Matthew Shepard Act were taken off the Democrats' legislative docket. Although, they insist positive legislative change for the LGBT community is still on their agenda. What has happened in both the Empire State and the nation's Capitol are clear indications that getting elected doesn't mean you get the power everyone says comes with the office. You still need to do the heavy lifting of continuing to build your base, forging bipartisan working relationships and refining the art of the political. With any luck and some real strategy, 2008 could be the year that changes business as usual to taking care of business. Starting January 1, we'll have 11 months and a few days to make sure the Republican stranglehold on the White House and all things DC is broken. Change in the White House isn't a gay issue. It's a survival issue. If we want our country, our constitution, our conscience as a nation of people who believe in democracy to survive, then we must make sure democracy is restored. For the past eight years, we've watched as the marionette president has had his strings pulled by Dick Cheney and Karl Rove. Like stealing candy from a baby, their cynical pronouncement of "Mission Accomplished" on the deck of an aircraft carrier later proved to steal the hope of millions of Americans who want to see their sons, daughters, nieces, nephews and neighbors come home from the "War on Terror" alive and in one piece, physically and emotionally. The lies this administration told in order to go to war are much worse than those of Richard Nixon. No one was killed because of Watergate yet Tricky Dick had to resign-otherwise impeachment was his future. Yet, the cynicism that invaded Washington, DC politics since 1972 has changed the national tolerance for deceit. Now, the president can get away with lying and the subsequent dying without having to be held accountable for his actions. It is up to us, the electorate, to just say no to that deceit. We can no longer ignore it, make excuses for it or have a "that's just the way things are" attitude about it. It is up to us to bring our government, our nation back to practical politics. It is time to change the realpolitik of our government from one that favors the few to one that cares for many. After all, it's much more practical to govern with the economic interests of taxpayers in mind rather than Halliburton's stock price. It's much more practical to govern a nation where healthcare is a right rather than having the health care insurance industry profiteer at the deathbeds of our loved ones. And yes, it is even much more practical to protect everyone-regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity-from discrimination than to let the talents of millions of Americans wither on the vine. When the century turned eight years ago, we rushed over the bridge to the 21st century with enthusiasm and hope. But seven years of Republican domination robbed us of the promise of a better life. Instead, we have a war without end, an economic downturn built on the backs of middle class Americans, and a health care system that rewards cost-cutting rather than compassionate care. 2008 gives us the opportunity to redefine the promise and reclaim the hope. This New Year gives us the opportunity to change the direction of our country. Our democracy is not dead. It is just crying for fresh air, for clean water, for an educated electorate who puts practicality over platitudes. January 1, 2008 really is Day One. We're starting over! After all, do overs are so 20th century. Libby Post is President of Communication Services, a full-service marketing firm specializing in not-for-profits, health care agencies, advocacy organizations and libraries. A nationally syndicated columnist on lesbian and gay issues, Post is the founding chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda and is presently on the board of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. She has received numerous honors including being named one of the 100 Women of Excellence by the Albany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce. Post lives in Menands with her partner, Lynn Dunning-Vaughn, and their son, Alex. She can be reached at libby@proudlyout.com. December 13, 2007 - Homos for the Holidays Well, it's that time of year again. Libby Post is President of Communication Services, a full-service marketing firm specializing in not-for-profits, health care agencies, advocacy organizations and libraries. A nationally syndicated columnist on lesbian and gay issues, Post is the founding chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda and is presently on the board of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. She has received numerous honors including being named one of the 100 Women of Excellence by the Albany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce. Post lives in Menands with her partner, Lynn Dunning-Vaughn, and their son, Alex. She can be reached at libby@proudlyout.com. December 6, 2007 - Childhood Dreams When I was in high school, one of my dreams was to live on the banks of the Hudson River right where the Tappan Zee Bridge begins its span from Rockland to Westchester County and zip my way into Manhattan to work at the United Nations. Libby Post is President of Communication Services,a full-service marketing firm specializing in not-for-profits, health care agencies, advocacy organizations and libraries. A nationally syndicated columnist on lesbian and gay issues, Post is the founding chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda and is presently on the board of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. She has received numerous honors including being named one of the 100 Women of Excellence by the Albany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce. Post lives in Menands with her partner, Lynn Dunning-Vaughn, and their son, Alex. She can be reached at libby@proudlyout.com. Novbember 29, 2007 - Finding a LegacyIt seems that George Bush is finally waking up. What he thought was going to be a legacy built on "mission accomplished" is instead a waking nightmare born of a country demolished. He's bucking for a Nobel Peace Prize by trying to revive a U.S.-led Middle East peace process that has been all but abandoned since the U.S. Supreme Court gave W. the Oval Office. Now he's trying to get the Israelis and Palestinians to forge a peace treaty in time to make the Republicans look better on Election Day 2008. With Rove gone, I'm not sure who is giving George advice. But, placing his Peace Prize hopes on a political quagmire as impossible to navigate as the one he created in Iraq is a little like rearranging furniture on the Titanic. I'd love for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to be resolved. But, if George wants a meaningful legacy by actually accomplishing something all he needs to do is turn his attention to the millions of people living in his own country who are without rights, who are victims of hate crimes, who have families that are considered second class. All George needs to do is pro-actively turn his attention to his country's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. By doing so, he would create a legacy that all commanders in chief desire-a legacy built on actions that may at first be seen as controversial but in the end were considered by the majority of the country as the absolute right thing to do. Right off the bat, George could make history by telling both houses of Congress to pull The Matthew Shepard Act, also known as the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, out of a defense reauthorization package and to send the bill to his desk as a stand alone piece because he was going to sign it into law. The bill is needed more than ever. Earlier this month, the Federal Bureau of Investigation released its 2006 Hate Crime Statistics. The findings are frightening-hate crimes of all kinds increased eight percent last year. Those committed based on sexual orientation are the third most common-right behind race and religion-comprising 16 percent of all hate crimes. That's an increase of two percent from 2005. The Matthew Shepard Act only needs George's signature in order to expand the current law to include hate crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity. This weekend, George could walk out on the National Mall and take in the enormity of the 12,000 U.S. flags that will be placed there by a coalition of national LGBT organizations. The flags are a tribute to the 12,000 LGBT service personnel who have been thrown out of the armed forces since the failed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy has gone into effect-the 14th anniversary of which is tomorrow, Friday, November 30th. George could then call on Congress to repeal the bill and do all he can to make it happen. Next, a simple phone call to openly gay Congressman Barney Frank. "Barney," George would say, "Let's put gender identity back into the Employment Non-Discrimination Act-otherwise I won't sign it." Then George would act like a real commander in chief and send his army of White House lobbyists to the hill to make sure the bill makes its way through the House and Senate and lands on his desk. There are also simple things that George could do all by himself. He could issue his own executive order banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in the federal workforce and tell Scott Bloch, the right wing henchman and White House Special Counsel, to stop his war against equal protection for LGBT federal workers. George could take a cue from a great many Fortune 500 companies and with a stroke of his pen extend full domestic partner benefits, including health care and all the other rights and responsibilities granted to straight, married federal employees, to their LGBT counterparts. George only has a little over 13 months left to retool his reputation as the absolute worst President in our history. Only doing something cutting edge, acting outside his constrained box, taking a risk that will actually be good for the country can redefine his presidency. In 50 years, being known as the most gay-friendly president would actually help his biographers reinterpret his tenure-look what making trips to China and the former Soviet Union did for Nixon! Libby Post is President of Communication Services, a full-service marketing firm specializing in not-for-profits, health care agencies, advocacy organizations and libraries. A nationally syndicated columnist on lesbian and gay issues, Post is the founding chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda and is presently on the board of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. She has received numerous honors including being named one of the 100 Women of Excellence by the Albany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce. Post lives in Menands with her partner, Lynn Dunning-Vaughn, and their son, Alex. She can be reached at libby@proudlyout.com. November 22, 2007 - Thanks for the DayI don't know about you but Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. It just evokes great memories. It was one of the only meals my mother cooked really well. She'd start early in the morning and by noon the house was filled with great smells. We didn't do the 3 p.m. Thanksgiving Day dinner. We ate around 6 just like we always did. Of course, the meal was gone in about 45 minutes-turkey, dressing, her special green beans (right out of a can), sweet potatoes and dessert which was always either coconut custard or pumpkin pie with Cool Whip. OK, so I was a child of depression era parents whose idea of a middle class life was a house on Long Island with plastic slip covers on the furniture and a dishwasher. I didn't fare too badly though. They sent both my brother and I to college-something neither of them did-and were quite proud when we both achieved our respective graduate degrees. Thanksgiving was always the one holiday that the whole family got together-all four of us. There were various visitors in different years but the constant, until my dad died, was all four of us around our grand dining room table that was only used for special occasions. Now that I'm a parent, all grown up approaching 50, in a committed relationship Thanksgiving Day Dinner is on me. Well, actually, it's on Lynn. I don't cook-but I can clean a kitchen faster than most. What's important is that the day is still all about family-but the one we define for ourselves. Alex, our son, is home from college. His dad and step-mom would usually be with us but a bit of surgery is keeping them close to home. My best friend from first grade, her partner and their son will be driving up from Jersey to join us. I know how lucky I am to have this family of mine. The ability to define one's family is a relatively recent phenomenon although the legal protections that come with the standard heterosexual family unit largely escape the collective grasp of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. I've written ad nauseum about the myriad of rights and privileges lesbian and gay couples are denied on both the state and national levels. Domestic partnerships and civil unions just don't cut the mustard. The civil union experiment in New Jersey bares this out. The new law was passed with the idea of providing the same rights to lesbian and gay couples as to straight ones. Over and over, we're hearing the horror stories of folks being denied what the law says they should get. Governor Jon Corzine had to intervene to get UPS to do the right thing. The federal courts are involved in the case of two lesbian couples who wanted to use a pavilion on the beach at Ocean Grove but were denied access because the Methodist Church that owns it doesn't believe in same-sex marriage. The New Jersey Civil Union Review Commission held a hearing recently and heard from close to 100 couples about how the civil unions law is not working-even to the point where partners were having difficulty visiting one another in a hospital. If a ballot measure passes in Arkansas, only married heterosexual couples will be able to foster or adopt children. Here we are wanting to be parents, hoping to provide loving, stable homes to kids who need them and the state wants to deny us because our love isn't the right type. Unfortunately, Arkansas isn't alone. Florida, Utah and Mississippi actually do practice equal opportunity discrimination-only married couples are allowed to adopt or become foster parents. Wouldn't it be better for kids in the foster care system to be in a loving home on Thanksgiving, rather than in a setting that may be cold and institutional? Wouldn't it be wonderful if when we sit at our Thanksgiving Day table with our family that, as lesbian and gay couples, we knew we had legal protections? Wouldn't it be great if the LGBT community could really give thanks for living in a country that respects us and values us as citizens? But, I'm not about to let the powers that be in DC define who I am-a professional, a parent, a partner and a pundit who wishes you a Happy Thanksgiving! Libby Post is President of Communication Services, a full-service marketing firm catering to the not-for-profit and small business sectors and has started a new firm, OutMarketing.biz, which provides marketing services to companies that want to reach the gay and lesbian market. She is also President Emeritus of the Capital District Gay and Lesbian Community Council and Founding Chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda. She has received numerous honors including being named one of the 100 Women of Excellence by the Albany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce. Post lives in Menands with her partner, Lynn Dunning-Vaughn, and their son, Alex. She can be reached at lpost@commservices.net. November 8, 2007 - What a Difference a Day MakesI wouldn't want to be a Republican right now. Not that I ever would be but the results of Tuesday's elections does not leave the GOP with a lot to celebrate. Right here in Albany, one of its Red Rock Republican suburbs, Colonie, has broken 80 years of one party rule by electing a majority of Democrats to its town council. As of press time, the results of the town supervisor's race are still up in the air. The Democratic challenger has a slim lead over the long-time Republican incumbent but the count won't be final until all the absentee ballots tallied. In Virginia, after a decade of total dominance, the Republicans lost control of the State Senate giving Democratic Governor Tim Kaine at least one house with which he can work. This also sets the stage for next year's U.S. Senate race where analysts are now considering Virginia a battleground state. Gay-baiting auto-calls from the baby boomer crooner Pat Boone did not win the day for Ernie Fletcher, Kentucky's first Republican Governor in over thirty years. Fletcher's one-term tenure was marked with scandal and homophobia-much like his campaign. Not even the smooth voice of Boone who told voters that the Democratic candidate, former Lt. Governor Martin Bashear, would turn the Blue Grass State into "another San Francisco" scared the voters into keeping Fletcher in office. And then there were those 31 gay candidates, endorsed by the Victory Fund, who got elected across the country. We now have an openly gay mayor, Democrat Craig Covey, in Ferndale, just outside of Detroit, MI, where Affirmations, the area's LGBT services center recently moved into a new multi-million facility. The Victory Fund is the LGBT community's national political action organization that trains candidates and puts its money where its mouth is by raising funds for their endorsed candidates. Of the 71 endorsements this year, the 31 who were successful on Tuesday join 10 who were elected throughout the country earlier in the year. Among the stand-outs of those LGBT candidates are Democrats Michelle Bruce, an openly transgender incumbent on the Riverdale, GA City Council who was the top vote getter and will now advance to a runoff election and Lydia Lavelle who became the seventh openly LGBT candidate in North Carolina to win office by taking a seat on the Carrboro Board of Alderman. But Michelle and Lydia aren't the only ones to take their rightful place in the South. There's Republican Brian Bates from Georgia. He won a seat on the Doraville City Council and is the first openly gay Republican to win a seat in that state. Now, I know that all these LGBT elected officials give the top of the GOP a big headache but having one of their own who is also one of our own get elected must make for a splitting migraine. While the Republican talk about a "big tent" it's hard to feel welcome when the rhetoric is always so homophobic. Perhaps Brian will be able to bring a little humanity to his party because the compassionate conservatism of George Bush certainly hasn't. It seems as if we may be heading into a perfect storm of change in this country. People are fed up with Bush and the war. Gas is now over $3 a gallon and the housing market is in a free fall. Health care is still a privilege, not a right. Gay bashing politics just ain't what it used to be as evidenced by yesterday's Congressional vote of 235-184 to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. What's a Republican to do? Well, it might be time to read the handwriting on the wall and recognize that it's no longer business as usual. It's time to pay attention to the trends. When it comes to the mountain, Midwest and southern states-what pundits consider the red Republican ones-folks running for office from either party need to recognize that the number of LGBT couples moving into their neighborhood is increasing at what some may consider "an alarming rate." According to a new study from the Williams Institute out of the UCLA Law School, the number of couples who identify as same-sex has quadrupled to nearly 780,000 since 1990. Now, conventional wisdom would lead one to think that New York and California would see the biggest increase. That couldn't be farther from the truth. We're moving to the states that have passed amendments to ban same-sex marriage. And what state has the largest increase? Utah. Perhaps as Gary Gates, the study's author put it, we need to get ready for some "purple states." And what a lovely color it is. Libby Post is President of Communication Services, a full-service marketing firm catering to the not-for-profit and small business sectors and has started a new firm, OutMarketing.biz, which provides marketing services to companies that want to reach the gay and lesbian market. She is also President Emeritus of the Capital District Gay and Lesbian Community Council and Founding Chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda. She has received numerous honors including being named one of the 100 Women of Excellence by the Albany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce. Post lives in Menands with her partner, Lynn Dunning-Vaughn, and their son, Alex. She can be reached at lpost@commservices.net. November 1, 2007 - Teaching Lessons Local elections are just around the corner. Next Tuesday, many of us will vote for town board members, mayors, supervisors-the folks that make our local municipalities function on a day to day basis. Whenever candidates come to my door I always ask them two questions-are you pro-choice? And are you pro-gay rights? According to conservative columnist George Will, it's ridiculous to ask local candidates where they stand on reproductive choice. In a recent op ed, he contended that since the right to an abortion is so much a part of our culture, even a U.S. Supreme Court that is more conservative than the one we have now would not overturn Roe v. Wade. He justified his perspective by citing the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist who (according to Will) thought that the Constitution did not require police officers to read what are now known as "Miranda rights" to presumed perpetrators. But, when the Supremes had an actual opportunity to overturn the 1966 Miranda ruling, Rehnquist wrote the majority opinion keeping Miranda in place because it had become part of routine police work. The right to abortion (according to Will) is just as ingrained in society as Miranda and the likelihood of it being overturned isn't great. And, if Roe was overturned, he said, "So what?... All it would actually do is restore abortion as a practice subject to state regulation." Well, George, that would bring us back to our local electeds. As it is, anti-choice local officials often make life difficult for Planned Parenthoods. For example, they tend to turn a blind eye on anti-choice zealots who picket in front of clinics. And that's why I always ask. Most of the time, the candidates are thrown off by the questions. "What do those issues have to do with the office I'm running for?" they ask. To me it's quite simple. These local candidates may be running for town board today but tomorrow, they could be running for the state legislature. And, whether they realize it or not, local elected officials do have an impact on human rights issues. A case in point is the Albany County Legislature's inaction on extending human rights protections to the transgender community. When New York's State Omnibus Non-Discrimination Act passed in 2002 it did not include protection for transgender people. Now, just as we worked incrementally in community after community to get gay rights laws passed until state lawmakers saw the light and enacted a statewide bill, we have to do the same for protecting folks whose gender identity or expression is different. To get that ball rolling here in Albany, trans activist Hawk Stone worked to get a bill through the Albany City Council. It happened quickly and without a lot of fanfare. Then he turned his sights to the Albany County Legislature-not so easy. Suffice it to say that, today, unless a trans person lives in the city of Albany, he or she is not protected in the county. When, Phil Steck, my own county legislator came knocking on my door this fall asking for my vote, I remembered his flip-flop support of the bill. I asked him why, as one of the original sponsors, he took his name off the bill. Phil's response was pure politics. He told me he knew the bill wasn't going to pass and since he and the bill's prime sponsor, fellow democrat John Frederick, had had some disagreements in the past, he pulled his support to teach John a lesson. Well…as far as I'm concerned you don't play politics with human rights-whether or not a bill looks like it's going to pass. And as far as teaching Frederick a lesson about how to "get along" in the county legislature-John left to take a job with the State Education Department where, perhaps, he can have an impact on lessons of another kind. And my county legislator? He lost my vote at my front door. He and George Will don't understand that Tip O'Neill's old adage is tried and true-all politics is local. Libby Post is President of Communication Services,a full-service marketing firm specializing in not-for-profits, health care agencies, advocacy organizations and libraries. A nationally syndicated columnist on lesbian and gay issues, Post is the founding chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda and is presently on the board of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. She has received numerous honors including being named one of the 100 Women of Excellence by the Albany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce. Post lives in Menands with her partner, Lynn Dunning-Vaughn, and their son, Alex. She can be reached at libby@proudlyout.com. October 25, 2007 - Iceberg Politics Nero fiddled while Rome burned. George W. Bush was clearing brush in Crawford while New Orleans was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. And what were a majority of LGBT activists and bloggers doing while the U.S. Senate stealthfully confirmed anti-gay judge Leslie Southwick to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit? They were throwing rhetorical bombs at Barack Obama for including an ex-gay African-American minister/Grammy award-winning gospel singer who thinks we can be cured in the candidate's "Embrace the Change" gospel tour in South Carolina this weekend. Now, I know it is important for us to draw a line in the sand and hold candidates responsible when their words don't support their actions. Although I'm not sure where he stands in the latest go round about trans inclusion in the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act, Obama supports all of the legislative initiatives important to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community except same-sex marriage. Inviting Pastor Donnie McClurkin, who has struggled with his own sexuality and now considers himself cured of being gay, wasn't the brightest move when it comes to my community. It was, however, a smart move for Obama whose goal is to build a base among the more conservative African-American church going community down south. Political pragmatism outweighed political correctness-a reality of political life that many in the LGBT community can't reckon themselves with. Unfortunately, our myopic perspective may just leave us with a federal judiciary that will have a much more negative impact on our future than whether or not Donnie McClurkin sings Obama's praises in the south. The confirmation of Leslie Southwick is just one more notch in the belt of the neo-conservative mission of making a strict constructionist interpretation of the U.S. Constitution the rule rather than the exception. This effort didn't start with Southwick's nomination. It's been going on for decades. Former U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Bill Bradley detailed how well the conservative right has laid a foundation for its political sea change in a March 30, 2005 New York Times op ed piece entitled, A Party Inverted. Bradley explained that in the 1970's and 80's, the Republican Party and their neo-conservative brethren built a strong base of foundations and think tanks to support their candidates and their socially conservative initiatives. The goal was to change the face of our elected officials from those who represent the people to those who represent their interests-all done with a folksy populism that fooled the electorate into thinking they were voting for the guy or girl next door. The down home, aw shucks, I'm just a regular guy persona of George Bush during the 2000 election was the cynical electoral culmination of this political tom foolery. An un-winnable war is not the only legacy of W's eight years in the White House. In fact, the Iraq War has served the neo-cons quite well as a cover for their real agenda-turning the nation's judiciary to the right. This is much more of a threat to LGBT rights than all the ENDA hand wringing and Obama bashing combined. When I first got involved in LGBT activism, we knew legislative victories would be few and far between. But, our saving grace was that we could always turn to the courts. Based on the Warren Court's interpretation of the Constitution, by and large, they usually did the right thing. Earl Warren's Supreme Court saw the Constitution as a living document-one that needed to be interpreted for the times. Without that Court's foresight, Jim Crow laws would still be in place, schools would still be segregated (unfortunately, some still are) and women would be scouring back alleys for abortionists who would leave them dying on a table. With conservative jurists like Southwick being confirmed to the federal bench, much of the freedoms we have taken for granted are under threat. These judges, whose role models are Antonin Scalia, Samuel Alito and John Roberts, have reached their judicial heights because we've been out organized. And soon, we may be out our civil rights. These are the folks who don't think the constitution guarantees a right to privacy-the basic tenet of so many of the decisions that speak directly to the lives of LGBT people. We've been out organized because we're always looking at the short term, always getting angry at our latest savior for not being exactly on cue, always focusing on political purity rather than pragmatism. Leslie Southwick is just the tip of the iceberg and global warming isn't about to melt the neo-conservative ice cap. And, if we're not careful, we all may be taking a cruise on the Titanic. Libby Post is President of Communication Services, a full-service marketing firm catering to the not-for-profit and small business sectors and has started a new firm, OutMarketing.biz, which provides marketing services to companies that want to reach the gay and lesbian market. She is also President Emeritus of the Capital District Gay and Lesbian Community Council and Founding Chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda. She has received numerous honors including being named one of the 100 Women of Excellence by the Albany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce. Post lives in Menands with her partner, Lynn Dunning-Vaughn, and their son, Alex. She can be reached at lpost@commservices.net. October 18, 2007 - GOP=Gay Old Party Larry Craig's interview this past Tuesday evening with NBC's Matt Lauer gave the espionage-born term, plausible deniability, a whole new life. Libby Post is President of Communication Services, a full-service marketing firm catering to the not-for-profit and small business sectors and has started a new firm, OutMarketing.biz, which provides marketing services to companies that want to reach the gay and lesbian market. She is also President Emeritus of the Capital District Gay and Lesbian Community Council and Founding Chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda. She has received numerous honors including being named one of the 100 Women of Excellence by the Albany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce. Post lives in Menands with her partner, Lynn Dunning-Vaughn, and their son, Alex. She can be reached at lpost@commservices.net. October 4, 2007 - The Party Never Really Started It's been quite a whirlwind for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in the last few weeks. The excitement leading up to the U.S. Senate vote on the Matthew Shepherd Act, also known as the hate crimes bill, was palpable. Across the country, LGBT activists worked with groups like the Human Rights Campaign and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and spoke with one voice to their individual Senators telling them to pass the bill. With bi-partisan support, the Senate voted 60 to 39 for a bill that the House of Representatives approved in May with a vote of 237 to 180. In a savvy political move, Senate leadership attached the bill to a defense reauthorization measure to continue funding the fiasco in Iraq. Once again abandoning his "compassionate conservatism" campaign call, Bush has said he would veto the hate crimes bill bowing to pressure from the Radical Christian Right who consider it a "thought crimes bill." Of course, nothing could be further from the truth, but that never let Bush or the Right stop them. The strategy behind attaching the hate crimes bill to defense legislation is that it would make it much more difficult for Bush to veto. We'll see. The hate crimes celebration didn't last long, however. Once the community breathed a collective sigh of relief that the bill passed, that sigh turned into a shout as the activist leadership of the LGBT community railed against a move to delete the transgender community from the Federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act-or ENDA as it is more commonly known. It seems that someone did a head count in the House and came up short if ENDA included protection for transgender Americans. The bill's main sponsor, Massachusetts' Congressman Barney Frank, decided it was best to take the "T" out of this LGBT non-discrimination bill so it could pass. It was a political decision-calculated to get the bill passed so that, as Frank put it, we could protect as many people as possible-a political decision that was derailed by the quick organizing of over 100 LGBT organizations and allies like People for the American Way. The lightening speed at which we were able to bring a collective, incredibly loud "no way" to the exclusion of the transgender community was amazing. Blogs were ablaze. You could almost hear the web humming with automated e-mails and action alerts. New sites like www.nosubstitutes.org and www.unitedenda.org have popped up, virtually, overnight. Both sites are great organizing tools. I just wish the LGBT community could respond as quickly to passing good legislation as it has to stopping bad legislation. Caught in the middle of this maelstrom is the Human Rights Campaign, the LGBT community's largest and most powerful political organization. Formed in 1980, HRC has built an impressive "inside the beltway" reputation-and it is that insider politic that has so many upset. It seems that HRC took too long to voice its opposition to the Frank compromise bill and when it did, it wasn't strong enough. This is all about the politics of politics. Instead of flatly coming out against the bill, the Human Rights Campaign reaffirmed its support for a trans-inclusive ENDA but was clear that it would not lobby against Frank's revised bill. Some consider this to be playing both sides off the middle. I consider it to be shrewd politics by an organization who knows how to play the game. And, that is what gets many of the grassroots LGBT activists mad. Maybe it's because they're not in a position to play the game, maybe it's because they don't want to. Whatever the reason, the hyperbole from many corners of the LGBT community regarding HRC's decision is over the top and, quite frankly, naïve. As a political entity, the LGBT community needs insiders as well as outsiders. Our movement has grown at lightening speed. We've accomplished so much in a relatively short period of time because we learned from other social change movements. Intentionally or not, we've taken a more sophisticated view of politics and recognize activism is needed at all levels-both inside and out. To marginalize HRC because it's not taking the "politically correct" stand-as defined by those who believe their position is the only effective approach-is not only doing a disservice to our community, but it is hurting our community. Libby Post is President of Communication Services, a full-service marketing firm catering to the not-for-profit and small business sectors and has started a new firm, OutMarketing.biz, which provides marketing services to companies that want to reach the gay and lesbian market. She is also President Emeritus of the Capital District Gay and Lesbian Community Council and Founding Chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda. She has received numerous honors including being named one of the 100 Women of Excellence by the Albany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce. Post lives in Menands with her partner, Lynn Dunning-Vaughn, and their son, Alex. She can be reached at lpost@commservices.net. September 27, 2007 - 21st Century Hitler I've watched both 60 Minute interviews with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Each time I came away thinking, this guy is the 21st century's Hitler-only a little more charming. Hate was written all over Hitler's face-you can see it every time you watch an old newsreel. Ahmadinejad hides his hatred behind a seemingly friendly face, almost always smiling. His eyes dark and congenial-hardly ever expressing what's going on in the brain their fronting. Like Hitler, Ahmadinejad thinks God is on his side and that his lies are the truth. But Iran's president has also learned from the past. He's mastered the American political art of never answering a question. On this past Sunday evening's 60 Minutes broadcast, Scott Pelley pressed him for a yes or no answer about pledging not to test nuclear weapons. In response, Ahmadinejad wondered if Pelley was a CIA investigator simply because the reporter was doing his job-trying to get to the truth. Clearly, Ahmadinejad doesn't value a free press-there really isn't one in Iran-so the notion of being aggressively questioned by a reporter was obviously shocking. "This is not Guantanamo Bay," he said. "This is not a Baghdad prison. Please, this is not a secret prison in Europe. This is not Abu Ghraib. This is Iran. I'm the president of this country!" In other words, I'm the President of Iran. In my country the press doesn't get to ask me these types of questions and I'm certainly under no obligation to answer yours. And, if reframing the argument to make you seem like the tyrant-an interrogator from some of the United States' worst prisoner embarrassments-then that's what I'll do to not answer your question. Like I said, he's mastered the art of not answering the question. But even in our country, that only goes so far. After a while, the press and the people see through the act and demand answers. We're seeing that today with the country turning its back on our failed Iraq war. We're no longer willing to listen to "mission accomplished," "need more time," or "troop surge." We know its not working and we'll make our voices heard loud and strong in 2008. Ahmadinejad thought he could use that political trick at Columbia University this week when he answered some questions after his address at the school's World Leaders Forum. When asked about the treatment of gays in Iran, he said "We don't have homosexuals like in your country . . . We don't have this phenomenon. I don't know who's told you we have it." Well he must have thought the sexual cleansing that has been going on under his regime was complete. Thankfully, it's not. There are still plenty of gays and lesbians that his death squads haven't rounded up yet for torture, jailing and killing. But, they live a persecuted life. They live underground. They live in constant fear that the next knock on the door will be a policeman dragging them from their homes to probably never be seen again until they're hung in the public square. Yes, that's the truth about Iran's gay community. A truth he doesn't want to speak. The transcript from the Columbia event was printed in its entirety on Ahmadinejad's English website, www.president.ir. However, according to the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, when you go to the Persian-language site-the place where his country's media goes for authoritative transcripts of his speeches, any and all references to gays in Iran have been purged. If Iran's president doesn't officially talk about gays in his country, then they must not exist. And, if they don't exist, then the reality of his sexual purge of gays and lesbians won't come to light. Not a single Persian-language media outlet in Iran has reported on his comments. But, it is getting a lot of play elsewhere. The September 25th New York Times' article about the event at Columbia lead off with "He said that there were no homosexuals in Iran-not one-and that the Nazi slaughter of six million Jews should not be treated as fact, but theory, and therefore open to debate and more research." Opening the event, Columbia President Lee C. Bollinger said to Ahmadinejad, "Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator. You are either brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated." Like I said--the 21st Century's Hitler.
Libby Post is President of Communication Services, a full-service marketing firm catering to the not-for-profit and small business sectors and has started a new firm, OutMarketing.biz, which provides marketing services to companies that want to reach the gay and lesbian market. She is also President Emeritus of the Capital District Gay and Lesbian Community Council and Founding Chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda. She has received numerous honors including being named one of the 100 Women of Excellence by the Albany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce. Post lives in Menands with her partner, Lynn Dunning-Vaughn, and their son, Alex. She can be reached at lpost@commservices.net. September 20, 2007 - The Lying Game The Radical Christian Right says they're strict biblical constructionists. If it's in the Bible, it must be true. OK, then, what about the ninth commandment-do not bear false witness. Or, as we say in the 21st Century, no lying! With the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act-or ENDA for short--soon to be voted on by Congress, lying is all these folks can do. The bill would prohibit discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the workplace. To be clear, religious organizations, businesses that exist solely to serve religious organizations and businesses with under 15 employees would be exempt. ENDA is an absolute necessity because in 31 states you can still be fired if you're queer. Yet, a recent poll by Harris Interactive found that nearly two-thirds of all American adults believe it is unfair that federal law does not protect LGBT people from job discrimination. In addition to the majority of Americans believing in fairness, it seems that corporate America is getting in the act as well. The Human Rights Campaign just released its 2008 Corporate Equality Index. In the six years HRC has been doing this research, the number of corporate employers who received a 100% rating-they're doing everything right to create a welcoming, protected workplace for LGBT people-went from 13 in 2002 to 195 in 2008. Clearly, the tide of fairness and inclusion is on our side. So, what are Radical Christian Right groups like Concerned Women for America or their shills in Congress like Republican Roy Blunt from Missouri saying about the bill that would just let us work without fear of reprisal? They're telling lies. They're misleading the public. They're using the tried and true scare tactics that have characterized their vitriol against LGBT from day one. Blunt contends that passing ENDA would create a crisis for Christians. He said "Not being able to hire people based on their agreement with your sense of principles and values . . . would be devastating." Getting through his double speak, he's basically saying that Christian employers should be able to have a morality litmus test for prospective employees. Sorry but if that were the case, we'd be rolling back the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The arguments made against the law that made it illegal to discriminate based on the race and national origin were also steeped in the supposed Christian values of some employers who did not have to work with someone who wasn't white. The folks at Concerned Women for America contend that being gay is a "changeable sexual behavior." If we'd only change back to straight then we wouldn't have to worry about being fired from our jobs. Well, here's the truth for you-I was never straight, I just tried it on for size before I knew I could be true to myself. The lie that "gays can change" is one of the Radical Christian Right's pillars of deceit and deception. It is their clarion call for denying us our civil rights. Another of the Right's absurd pillars is the notion that granting us employment protections steps on their freedom of religion. Matt Barber, CWA's Policy Director for Cultural Issues said "ENDA would essentially force employers to check their First Amendment protected rights to freedom of religion, speech and association at the workplace door." Well if that doesn't echo the arguments against the 1964 Civil Rights Act I don't know what does. However, the idea that our mere presence in a workplace abridges someone else's freedom of religion is absolutely absurd. If I, as a lesbian, go to work at a telemarketing firm that employs more than 15 people, how exactly does my sitting in my cubicle making phone calls hinder the supposed devout Christian in the next cubicle from going to church on Sunday, raising his kids the way he wants or participating in bible study? It doesn't. What these folks really believe but don't say is that our mere existence gets them upset. We just shouldn't be because in their strict biblical constructionist minds we're sinners and don't deserve to walk on the same hallowed ground as they do. As the Radical Christian Right continues to tell lies about us-if you listen to them you'd think we want the whole world to be gay-we'll continue to tell the truth. Our lives, our love, our economic well-being, our families are worth protecting. Libby Post is President of Communication Services, a full-service marketing firm catering to the not-for-profit and small business sectors and has started a new firm, OutMarketing.biz, which provides marketing services to companies that want to reach the gay and lesbian market. She is also President Emeritus of the Capital District Gay and Lesbian Community Council and Founding Chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda. She has received numerous honors including being named one of the 100 Women of Excellence by the Albany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce. Post lives in Menands with her partner, Lynn Dunning-Vaug |
by Libby Post: