The GOOD NEWS Thread

[LeftWriteFemme]

A new bill to protect gay teens in California


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chana-...an%20Francisco

[MsTinkerbelly]

Democrats approve marriage equality in party platform
By Jacob Combs

This Saturday, the Democratic Party’s full platform committee, a body of around 120 Democrats, approved draft platform language that includes a full-fledged endorsement of marriage equality. The marriage language was accepted without dissent and with little debate, a sign of just how established the position has become in the party since President Obama announced his personal support of marriage equality in May.

Last Thursday, BuzzFeed’s Chris Geidner exclusively reported on the draft platform language established by the Democratic Platform Drafting Committee, which read:

We support the right of all families to have equal respect, responsibilities, and protections under the law. We support marriage equality and support the movement to secure equal treatment under law for same-sex couples. We also support the freedom of churches and religious entities to decide how to administer marriage as a religious sacrament without government interference.

We oppose discriminatory federal and state constitutional amendments and other attempts to deny equal protection of the laws to committed same-sex couples who seek the same respect and responsibilities as other married couples. We support the full repeal of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act.

Also included in the draft language (and also reported by Geidner) is an endorsement of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would prohibit hiring and firing based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and language regarding bullying and support for LGBT youth. The platform’s immigration reform section was amended as well to include new language which reads: “the administration has said that the word ‘family’ in immigration includes LGBT relationships in order to protect binational families threatened with deportation.”

The approved platform will be sent to delegates for a final vote at the Democratic National Convention, which will take place in Charlotte, North Carolina from September 3-6

[LeftWriteFemme]

A father dressing for his son's success!



http://mrsexsmith.tumblr.com/post/30...andonlygabriel

[LeftWriteFemme]

Chris Kluwe and the Greatest Political Statement by Any Athlete Ever
Dave Zirin on September 8, 2012 - 11:51 AM ET
Speaking out always holds the risk of a backlash: especially for pro athletes and especially when standing up for LGBT equality. The Baltimore Ravens’ Brendan Ayanbadejo experienced that reality this week. For years, the 36-year-old Ayanbadejo has been outspoken in support of Marriage Equality and LGBT rights. Now, Ayanbadejo is publicly supporting a November ballot initiative for Maryland to join the states that recognize same-sex marriage. This was too much for Baltimore County state delegate Emmett Burns. Burns, a Democrat, sent a formal letter to Ravens team owner Steve Biscotti writing, among other things, “I find it inconceivable that one of your players, Mr. Brendon Ayanbadejo would publicly endorse same-sex marriage, specifically as a Raven Football player…. I believe Mr. Ayanbadejo should concentrate on football and steer clear of dividing the fan base.” Then Burns went even farther and requested that Biscotti, “take the necessary action, as a National Football League Owner, to inhibit such expressions from your employees and that he be ordered to cease and desist such injurious actions. I know of no other NFL player who has done what Mr. Ayanbadejo is doing.” Yes, you read that correctly. Burns is calling on Ayanbadejo’s boss to coerce him to shut up.

It’s worth noting that this last statement just isn’t true. Players such as Scott Fujita, NFL Hall of Famer Michael Irvin, the San Francisco 49ers team and even Sports Illustrated NFL preview coverboy Rob Gronkowski have all spoken out for LGBT rights. Ayanbadejo responded to Burns forcefully, defending his own freedom of expression and then saying to USA Today, “It’s an equality issue. I see the big picture. There was a time when women didn’t have rights. Black people didn’t have rights. Right now, gay rights is a big issue and it’s been for a long time. We’re slowly chopping down the barriers to equality.”

But the greatest response to Burns and perhaps to anything in the history of everything was made by Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe. Kluwe also happens to believe in LGBT rights as well as the rights of athletes to be able to speak their minds. The punter sat down at his computer and produced the greatest political statement by any athlete ever… or at least since Muhammad Ali told the US government that “the real enemy of my people is here.” Perhaps that’s hyperbole. Certainly it’s arguable. But what’s undeniable is the greatness of Kluwe’s rant. I quote my favorite parts below, but I strongly encourage people to read it in its entirety here at deadspin. Warning that it’s brilliantly profane, or profanely brilliant, so you might not want to print it out at work and leave it lying around. Then again, if you work in a place with NFL fans prone to homophobic slurs, you might want to leave it everywhere.

Kluwe begins by calling out Burns for his “vitriolic hatred and bigotry.” He then schools Burns on the constitution, the First Amendment and the history of racism and segregation in the NFL, But the coup de grâce was his defense of LGBT equality.

Kluwe writes,

I can assure you that gay people getting married will have zero effect on your life. They won’t come into your house and steal your children. They won’t magically turn you into a lustful c—kmonster. They won’t even overthrow the government in an orgy of hedonistic debauchery because all of a sudden they have the same legal rights as the other 90 percent of our population—rights like Social Security benefits, child care tax credits, Family and Medical Leave to take care of loved ones, and COBRA healthcare for spouses and children. You know what having these rights will make gays? Full-fledged American citizens just like everyone else, with the freedom to pursue happiness and all that entails. Do the civil-rights struggles of the past 200 years mean absolutely nothing to you? In closing, I would like to say that I hope this letter, in some small way, causes you to reflect upon the magnitude of the colossal foot in mouth clusterf-ck you so brazenly unleashed on a man whose only crime was speaking out for something he believed in. Best of luck in the next election; I’m fairly certain you might need it.

Sincerely,
Chris Kluwe

Kluwe then ends by writing, “P.S. I’ve also been vocal as hell about the issue of gay marriage so you can take your ‘I know of no other NFL player who has done what Mr. Ayanbadejo is doing’ and shove it in your close-minded, totally lacking in empathy piehole and choke on it. A—hole.”

For the first time in football history, a punter is truly leading the way. Thank you Chis Kluwe, for the greatest political statement made by any athlete in decades. The fact that it happens to be about LGBT rights only shows how far we’ve traveled, in the streets and in the locker rooms.

[LeftWriteFemme]

Group seeks to clean up paperwork for outed troops


http://www.stripes.com/group-seeks-t...roops-1.193841

[LeftWriteFemme]

CNN ANCHOR CAROL COSTELLO IS HAPPY TO SUPPORT THE 'GAY GESTAPO'


http://www.gay.net/news/2012/10/23/c...rt-gay-gestapo

[LeftWriteFemme]

A Factory on Bicycle Wheels, Carrying Hope of a Better Life


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/31/wo...bal-home&_r=1&

[LeftWriteFemme]

Sewers, Curfews and a Ban on Gay Bias

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/29/us...bias.html?_r=0

[BugsAndKisses]

REALLY good news thou probably old new because I am always the last to know.....the rights to Twinkies has been purchased and will not be lost and gone forever!

[LeftWriteFemme]

Boston Fraternity Raises Money for Trans Brother
2.25.2013

BY BENJAMIN LINDSAY

Brothers of Phi Alpha Tau at Emerson College campaign to pay for FTM top surgery
Traditionally, college Greeks are an archetypally masculine institution—about as butch as the Boy Scouts. Pledging a fraternity and being inducted as a brother is often an arduous process, one that is meant to separate the men from the boys. But where does the LGBTQ community fit into this macho niche?

Much like the world of professional sports, the world of campus Greek life is not often heralded as the epitome of acceptance. Locker room antics are an insidious fact of the frat house. No doubt about it.

Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule, which is what makes this story out of Emerson College particularly heartwarming: brothers in Emerson’s Alpha Chapter of Phi Alpha Tau have come together to raise funds for a new brother’s FTM top surgery (full disclosure: I'm a member of the PAT fraternity and currently a junior at Emerson).

Earlier this year, Visual & Media Arts sophomore Donnie Collins pledged as a prospective brother to Phi Alpha Tau, the nation’s oldest professional communicative arts fraternity. An Alexandria, Virginia native, Collins didn’t come out as transgender until age 17 while attending a boarding school in Windsor, Conn. Of his time in an all-girls dorm, he says in a recent interview, “They were really nice, but it was all horrible."

Thus far, Collins has been taking his gender transition one step at a time. Barred from using his mother’s insurance to cover any physical transitions, he has singlehandedly covered the bulk of his hormone therapy since December 2011.

“I’d go to the endocrinologist and pay hundreds of dollars out of pocket, because, of course, I didn’t have insurance of my own,” he explains.

Collins now has a college health insurance policy through Emerson, a policy, like so many others, that is trans-exclusionary. It is common practice for insurance companies to deem female-to-male breast augmentation—or top surgery—as a cosmetic plastic surgery rather than a necessity. So Collins has been raising money for the procedure for months, but it seemed that one door after another would close in his face. His petition for a trans-inclusive policy was recently denied by the college's insurance plan, and his personal Chipin fund will cease when the crowd-funding site shuts down next month.

In a time when his options were running out, Collins’s brothers in Phi Alpha Tau have rallied together to cover some of the surgery’s cost. Find their indiegogo fund here: Brothers of A Boston Fraternity - FTM: Top Surgery. The brothers' fund has already surpassed the $2,000 they initially hoped to donate, but now they’re looking to cover even more of the procedure’s $8,100 cost.

Collins has been completely overwhelmed by the wave of support, admitting to have cried out of gratitude when he heard what his brothers were doing. But the thought that this is a fraternity raising money for him never even crossed his mind.

“I was just like, ‘Oh that’s such a Tau thing to do,’ and I didn’t even think it was that weird,” he says. “But then I started sending [the indiegogo link] out to people, and they were like, ‘Oh my god, that’s amazing! See, Greek Life isn’t bad; it’s amazing.’”

The brothers’ site says that they hope less to raise money with their efforts and more to spread acceptance, brotherhood, and love. “We are here... to tell a story. The story of transformation, the story of self-discovery, and the story of brotherhood.”

It seems that Donnie Collins and his brothers' story is certainly one worth telling. Please consider donating to their cause.


http://www.out.com/entertainment/pop...-trans-brother

[LeftWriteFemme]

Hong Kong gay couple shares "wedding video" with the world - See more at:


http://www.fridae.asia/newsfeatures/....IyD3mdpw.dpuf

[LeftWriteFemme]

Amazon Kindle Backs Gay Marriage With New Commercial


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...n_2732827.html

[LeftWriteFemme]

From Shamans to gay bars: Booming Mongolia’s LGBT people

http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/s...t-people050413

[LeftWriteFemme]

Tokyo Rainbow Week and Pride: Apr 27 - May 6


http://www.fridae.asia/newsfeatures/...e-apr-27-may-6

[Cin]

I'm not sure you would call it good news exactly, but it's definitely falls on the positive side.

Burglars return stolen goods to group that helps sexual assault survivors
The returned loot came with a note saying, "We hope you can continue to make a difference in people's lives"
http://www.salon.com/2013/08/08/burg...ult_survivors/

[Cin]

This bodes well for the future.
One can hope.
Regardless it's pretty cute and fun to watch.

[cinnamongrrl]

Originally Posted by Miss Tick

This bodes well for the future.
One can hope.
Regardless it's pretty cute and fun to watch.

I admit. I cried...a bunch...that bus top proposal was beyond romantical...I may have swooned...just a little...

[Kätzchen]

Okay, what a day, what a day I've had today!!! *LOL*

In a world where I've been dealing with nothing but troubles,
today was my day of days of the best news ever!!!

I did the unspeakable thing, earlier this afternoon, after getting home from my amazing interview for a job that is very close to home. After the interview, I spilled part of my drink onto my well-loved Paisley Print jacket (it's a long dress coat) and not realising it, I left my new phone in the pocket of my dress coat. It was in the washeteria, the washer was locked, I was in tears, thinking:

"What in the world is wrong with you, -XXXX-!?!?"

So I go down to get my clothes out of the washer after it unlocks itself, pull out the long dress coat, it's not in the pocket, but after unloading the whole washer, there it was. I layed it down on top of the machine, put the clothes on to dry, picked up the phone and *Wha-laaaaa*, it worked!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG, I can hardly believe it! It works!!!!

In other news: I will hear back about my latest interview results on Thursday of this week, about whether I can be hired. During my interview, the woman said that I gave her all the right reasons to hire me and would be calling me back on Thursday.

If I am hired, I will be so deliriously happy!!!!
It's close to home, I can walk to work.

That's my Good News, today!

[Okiebug61]

Red and I decided we are not watching American Idol this season. We are rather upset that we have supported a show and network that enjoys making fun of people.

Story of the Week, Miracle of a Lifetime

This was featured again on NBC last night. The story of Xena, the miracle dog from here in Atlanta, who helps to reach an autistic boy, and a boy who helps to heal a severely abused dog. What a little lovin' 'll do.



Jonny Hickey has a great mom!