Deb Price from Creators Syndicate

A Gay Day at the White House for 07/01/2009

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

President Barack Obama's unprecedented White House celebration of the four-decades-long struggle of gay Americans for full equality hit all the right notes, including the host's acknowledgement that politicians' pretty words are no substitute for getting rid of discriminatory laws.

Standing beside a beaming first lady in the ornate East Room on Monday, Obama warmly welcomed more than 250 ...

Updated: Wed Jul 01, 2009

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Bi-National Gay Couples Cry Out for Security for 07/08/2009

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Shortly before dawn on Jan. 28, a knock at the door turned the idyllic life of Shirley Tan and her family upside-down.

Agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement handed a deportation letter to Tan, the stay-at-home lesbian mom of 12-year-old twin boys. Stunned, Tan, who describes herself as a "housewife," told the agents she had never before seen the letter, dated ...

Updated: Wed Jul 08, 2009

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Gay Soldiers Get Powerful New Champion for 07/15/2009

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

When Rep. Patrick Murphy, a former Iraq-era Army captain and West Point professor, recently took over as the lead sponsor of House legislation to overturn the military's ban on openly gay soldiers, he called arguments that doing so would hurt unit cohesion and morale an "insult" to everyone serving our country in uniform.

"In Iraq, my men did not care what race, color, cre ...

Updated: Wed Jul 15, 2009

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Gay 'Brothers and Sisters' Need NAACP for 07/22/2009

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

At the recent centennial celebration of the NAACP's founding and courageous achievements, President Barack Obama challenged the nation's oldest civil rights group to throw itself in the coming 100 years into eradicating the "prejudice, bigotry and discrimination" that still mar America.

Obama declared, "The pain of discrimination is still felt in America: By African-Americ ...

Updated: Wed Jul 22, 2009

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Tennis Improves Couples' Home Game for 07/29/2009

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

One hundred percent focused, knowing just what she needed to do, Joyce served a low-flying ball down the center line. That forced one of our much younger opponents to lunge awkwardly and hit a weak return right to me. I slammed the bright yellow ball hard, scoring another winner.

It was a tennis doubles game plan that Joyce and I had practiced over and over at the beach the weekend befor ...

Updated: Wed Jul 29, 2009

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Massachusetts Challenges Uncle Sam To Be Fair for 08/05/2009

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

As it has done countless times before, Massachusetts has promised a former military man and his lawfully wedded spouse that — when the time comes — they can both be buried in a veterans' cemetery. But this time, Uncle Sam is threatening to take back up to $19 million in grant money if the state keeps its pledge about the spouse's final resting place.

Why? The federal governme ...

Updated: Wed Aug 05, 2009

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Gay Lawyers Hopeful About Justice Sotomayor for 08/12/2009

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

To gay Americans, Sonia Sotomayor isn't just any new justice: She will likely hold the balance on a Supreme Court believed to be evenly divided over gay Americans' basic constitutional rights.

The justice she replaces, David Souter, had tilted the advantage to the court's gay-friendly wing.

How might Sotomayor rule on gay marriage? Gays in the military? In custody disputes between ...

Updated: Wed Aug 12, 2009

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Harvey Milk's Campaign Lives on for 08/19/2009

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Harvey Milk loved the spotlight, but his campaign for public office was never merely about personal ambition. Rather, it was about empowering gay men and lesbians to come out of the closet and push for full equality. And it was about inspiring and prodding our heterosexual friends and neighbors and elected officials to join us in that righteous struggle.

Because Milk's campaign was about ...

Updated: Wed Aug 19, 2009

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'President Goldilocks' Heads for the Middle for 08/26/2009

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Imagine if Goldilocks were president and had to chime in on something more controversial than porridge temperature? What if Goldilocks had to weigh in on the federal law that forces Uncle Sam to be mean to married gay couples by refusing to honor our marriage licenses?

Well, first Goldilocks' ringlets would curl tighter in horror as she read the Justice Department's June response to a ch ...

Updated: Wed Aug 26, 2009

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Kennedy Led Gay March for Progress for 09/02/2009

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Teddy Kennedy was the star attraction at a gay Hollywood fundraiser I covered in the early 1990s at a posh home that wealthy guests called a "bungalow." A cameo appearance — with the legendary senator quickly ushered in and out by a whirlwind of aides — would have been enough to dazzle the crowd.

But instead of dashing for the door, Kennedy proceeded in a very down- ...

Updated: Wed Sep 02, 2009

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National Ripples May Be Felt From New Jersey, Virginia Contests for 09/09/2009

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Kicking off his re-election bid last June, Gov. Jon Corzine passionately described a vision for New Jersey that includes giving "people the freedom to marry whomever they love."

Corzine's high-profile embrace of same-sex marriage demonstrates how politicians' calculations are changing. A growing number see supporting gay rights — slowly also marriage — as a campaign ...

Updated: Wed Sep 09, 2009

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Obama Invites Gay Americans in for 09/16/2009

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Hurrying to dress for a concert featuring one of her favorite blues singers, Easter Spencer felt something frightening.

"Honey, I found a lump," she told her partner, Phyllis.

Her partner calmed her, saying, "Let's just get a mammogram and get it taken care of."

Spencer, who had a job but no health insurance, turned to the Mautner Project, a Washington, ...

Updated: Wed Sep 16, 2009

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Uncle Sam Should Respect All Marriages for 09/23/2009

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Listen to the voices crying out for Congress to end the federal government's mistreatment of legally married gay couples.

Listen to McKinley BarbouRoske of Iowa. She displayed a confidence well beyond her 11 years when she spoke up for her moms at a recent news conference in front of the U.S. Capitol. McKinley's parents were finally able to wed in their home state two months ago — ...

Updated: Wed Sep 23, 2009

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Remembering a "Very Human Life" Cut Short by Hatred for 09/30/2009

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

On a cold night 11 years ago, a 21-year-old University of Wyoming student was lured into a pickup truck and driven to the outskirts of Laramie, where as he begged for mercy, he was tied to a fence, kicked and pistol whipped so brutally that he lapsed into a coma. He later died.

He was a victim of hatred. He was also his mother's treasure.

And Matthew Shepard's horrible death force ...

Updated: Wed Sep 30, 2009

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Big Breakthroughs May Be Ahead for Out Candidates for 10/07/2009

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Within days of taking her historic place as the first open lesbian in the Missouri state Senate, Democrat Jolie Justus was welcomed warmly by a Republican senator who acknowledged being called a "redneck homophobe" in some circles because he successfully pushed a ban on same-sex marriage into the state's constitution in 2004.

"I hope you won't find me to be that way," ...

Updated: Wed Oct 07, 2009

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Lending a hand in Maine for 10/14/2009

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Long before I met the sleepyhead who's now my wife, her college pal Stacy McDaniel would arrive unannounced on her doorstep every Sunday morning. Armed with a loaf of bread and an irresistible laugh, he would jolly Joyce into driving with him to a nearby lake.

Together, they would feed the ducks of Athens, Ga.

Despite her many fine qualities, Joyce would have never laid eyes on th ...

Updated: Wed Oct 14, 2009

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Working while transgender or gay for 10/28/2009

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Life journeys often begin with secrets, ones that children sense they mustn't share for fear of ridicule — or worse.

For Vandy Beth Glenn, the secret was an "overwhelming awareness" growing up in Atlanta of being a girl inside a boy's body.

That certainty didn't change in early adulthood, when she served as a lieutenant in the Navy, nor when she landed her dream jo ...

Updated: Wed Oct 28, 2009

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Savor the Moment for 11/04/2009

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Expectations about how far and how fast President Obama can escort gay Americans down the road to full equality are so high that it's easy to underappreciate reaching major milestones along the way.

But savor this: The president of the United States — for the first time ever — has signed protections for gay and transgender Americans into law.

The measure expanding the ...

Updated: Wed Nov 04, 2009

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A Warming Trend Despite Maine's Icy Outcome for 11/11/2009

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Maine will go down in the history books as the gay heartbreaker of Election Day 2009: Voters vetoed gay marriage even though it had won the approval of their state legislature and governor.

But elsewhere there were positive reminders of just how quickly the gay movement is progressing, even at the ballot box. This election also underscores how critical it is for those of us who are gay o ...

Updated: Wed Nov 11, 2009

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Census Bureau Begins to Set a Good Example for 11/18/2009

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The 2010 Census will have a new message for same-sex married couples like Joyce and me: "You count."

Reflecting a refreshingly new era at the Census Bureau, the nation's pre-eminent collector of data is upgrading how it deals with those of us who are gay.

But given that most gay couples in marriage-level committed relationships can't yet legally marry in their home sta ...

Updated: Wed Nov 18, 2009

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