Today in Gay History

First Mattachine Society meeting

Members of the Mattachine Society in a rare group photograph.

Pictured are Harry Hay (upper left),
then (l-r) Konrad Stevens, Dale Jennings, Rudi Gernreich,
Stan Witt, Bob Hull, Chuck Rowland (in glasses),
Paul Bernard. Photo by Jim Gruber.

On November 11, 1950, at Harry Hay's home in the Silver Lake district of Los Angeles, a group of gay men met as a group to assert their common societal interests as gay men. Harry hay had been promoting the idea of such a society for several years prior, as he envisioned, to be "a service and welfare organization devoted to the protection and improvement of Society's Androgynous Minority."

Subsequent meetings of the group resulted in the formation of the Mattachine Society. Of the original Mattachine founders, Chuck Rowland, Bob Hull, Dale Jennings pre-deceased Hay; Konrad Stevens and John Gruber are the last surviving members of the founding group.

"Mattachine" took its name from a group of medieval dancers who appeared publicly only in mask, a device well understood by homosexuals of the 1950s. Hay devised its secret cell structure (based on the Masonic order) to protect individual gays and the nascent gay network. Officially co-gender, the group was largely male; the Daughters of Bilitis, the pioneering lesbian organization, formed independently in San Francisco in 1956. Though some criticized the Mattachine movement as insular, it grew to include thousands of members in dozens of chapters, which formed from Berkeley to Buffalo, and created a lasting national framework for gay organizing. Mattachine laid the ground for rapid civil rights gains following 1969's Stonewall riots in New York City.

||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

VETERANS' DAY 2009

~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~

Let Us Remember Willie McBride and The

~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~

Ex-fundie Frank Schaeffer in stunningly frank 12 minute Video

Via Crooks & Liars

From our friends at GritTV, the former Christian Fundamentalist Insider-turned Author expounds on the dangers of religious extremism and its takeover of the former Republican party~

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

GOP Shows Its Ass in the House

Up to the minute from HuffPo

Male GOP congressmen try to shout down female lawmakers. During early debate over the health care bill, a group of House Republicans -- led by Rep. Tom Price (R-Georgia) -- attempted to stop the Democratic Women's Caucus from making their arguments about how the health bill would benefit women by screaming over them.

Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif) only had time to say "Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to--," before Price shouted "I object." The presiding chair, Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) made gestures to maintain control, declaring "the request is not yet before the House," and Price was "out of order," to little effect. Capps attempted to go on, but Price continued shouting "I object, I object, I object, I object."

The same shouting tactics were used on Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Ohio) who asked angrily: "do I not have the right to be able to continue my sentence without objections that are trying to censor my remarks here on the floor that I have a right to make as a member of this House?"

Watch the compilation reel that Think Progress put together below. Truly astounding.

-- Lila Shapiro @ Huffington Post

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/07/house-health-care-vote-br_n_349468.html&cp

Cody Daigle: playwright, pundit, penseur ~

recently shared a prescription for the pursuit of happiness

An Excerpt:

. . . Change something.

It begins in us. Change doesn’t come by simply criticizing our leaders. Change comes when we hold them accountable and go out into the world and show them the change we seek. Change comes when we confront homophobia, not just complain about it. Change comes when we acknowledge that our happiness is something we create, something we are responsible for. . . .

Read the whole thing here.
Daigle: Change Something

Posted using ShareThis

Jim Hightower's Take on Congress' Own Socialized Medicine

Jim Hightower via Common Dreams

. . . Right under the Capitol dome, conveniently situated between the Senate and House chamber, is the Office of the Attending Physician. Inside are more than a dozen navy doctors, nurses, medical technicians, pharmacists and other health professionals, all employed by the government solely to attend to a select clientele: the 535 members of Congress.

Let's say that, after giving a fiery speech on the floor assailing the evils of government-run health care, a lawmaker gets gaseous or has a tongue cramp. He or she can pop right into the OAP for — yes! — some government-run health care. No appointment needed, no pesky insurance forms to fill out, no co-pay — just care.

For this, members pay a flat fee of $503 a year. A year! You and I are taxed to cover the real costs of this elite service. And that's not the end of public health benefits for lawmakers — if they need a specialist, an operation, therapy, rehab or other pricey procedure, it's all free at the government's Walter Reed and Bethesda Naval hospitals.

If it's good enough for them, why not us? The public deserves what the Congress has, and any member who opposes extending it to us should automatically be stripped of their privileges.

For a model of integrity, they might look to Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Rep. Steve Kagen, D-Wis. — both of whom have rejected taking congressional coverage until everyone in America has coverage of equal quality. I don't think the noisy naysayers are looking for integrity, however — not as long as they can get away with their abominable hypocrisy.

Copyright 2009 Creators.com

President Obama Signs the Matthew Shepard-James Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act

From Lambda Legal:

This law will send a message that violence motivated by hate will not be tolerated in this country and is a welcome first step towards other critical protections for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
...
This law comes too late to provide justice for the victims of violence we have already lost, but it holds the promise of greater safety and respect for LGBT people today and in the future.

Our work is not done. Now that the Hate Crimes Act has become law, Congress and the President must also enact an inclusive ENDA to protect us against discrimination on the job. The majority of Americans support workplace protections for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people and there is no reason for further delay. There is also no reason to delay the repeal of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and Don't Ask, Don't Tell -- there should be no place for discrimination in our laws.

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

Joe Lieberschmuck (? Ct)

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

On why he'll vote against any public option: "We're trying to do too much at once. To put this government-created insurance company on top of everything else is just asking for trouble for the taxpayers, for the premium payers and for the national debt. I don’t think we need it now."

And, its almost as though you could hear him saying, "Oy, where'll we get the money to plant trees in the holy land of Israel? "



Image © WMxdesign / Hebiclens

||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

Dave Vitter, R-LA Votes Against the Troops

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

The Senate passed on Thursday October 22, The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2010. The Senate vote was on final passage of the Defense Appropriation bill for 2010 to which the Hate Crimes bill had been attached. Clever Democrats, finally finding a way to vote FOR THE TROOPS and for GLBT civil rights protections at the same time. The vote was 68-29. All 29 NAY votes were by Republicans hell-bent on self destruction.

I am surprised at how far the Party of No will go! Voting AGAINST THE TROOPS. Watch out for low-flying pigs!


For the record:

YEAs ---68
Akaka (D-HI) Baucus (D-MT) Bayh (D-IN) Begich (D-AK) Bennet (D-CO) Bingaman (D-NM) Bond (R-MO) Boxer (D-CA) Brown (D-OH) Burris (D-IL) Cantwell (D-WA) Cardin (D-MD) Carper (D-DE) Casey (D-PA) Collins (R-ME) Conrad (D-ND) Cornyn (R-TX) Dodd (D-CT) Dorgan (D-ND) Durbin (D-IL) Ensign (R-NV) Feinstein (D-CA) Franken (D-MN)	Gillibrand (D-NY) Gregg (R-NH) Hagan (D-NC) Harkin (D-IA) Hutchison (R-TX) Inouye (D-HI) Johnson (D-SD) Kaufman (D-DE) Kerry (D-MA) Kirk (D-MA) Klobuchar (D-MN) Kohl (D-WI) Landrieu (D-LA) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI) Lieberman (ID-CT) Lincoln (D-AR) Lugar (R-IN) McCain (R-AZ) McCaskill (D-MO) Menendez (D-NJ) Merkley (D-OR)	Mikulski (D-MD) Murray (D-WA) Nelson (D-FL) Nelson (D-NE) Pryor (D-AR) Reed (D-RI) Reid (D-NV) Rockefeller (D-WV) Sanders (I-VT) Schumer (D-NY) Shaheen (D-NH) Snowe (R-ME) Specter (D-PA) Stabenow (D-MI) Tester (D-MT) Udall (D-CO) Udall (D-NM) Voinovich (R-OH) Warner (D-VA) Webb (D-VA) Whitehouse (D-RI) Wyden (D-OR)

NAYs ---29
Alexander (R-TN) Barrasso (R-WY) Bennett (R-UT) Brownback (R-KS) Bunning (R-KY) Burr (R-NC) Chambliss (R-GA) Coburn (R-OK) Cochran (R-MS) Corker (R-TN)	Crapo (R-ID) DeMint (R-SC) Enzi (R-WY) Feingold (D-WI) Graham (R-SC) Grassley (R-IA) Inhofe (R-OK) Isakson (R-GA) Johanns (R-NE) Kyl (R-AZ)	LeMieux (R-FL) McConnell (R-KY) Risch (R-ID) Roberts (R-KS) Sessions (R-AL) Shelby (R-AL) Thune (R-SD) Vitter (R-LA) Wicker (R-MS)

Not Voting - 3
Byrd (D-WV)	Hatch (R-UT)	Murkowski (R-AK)

Mid Week Bestirring for Equality

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

86 year old veteran Phillip Spooner of Maine testifies in April, 2009 before the Maine legislature. Tip o the Hat to Tétard and Huffington Po: