We are, quite possibly, screwed. Not necessarily, since generally reliable poll analysis gives Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley a 1-in-3 chance of beating GOP candidate Scot Brown for Ted Kennedy’s old Senate seat, and not certainly, since there are ways to sneak LGBT-rights provisions into larger, must-pass legislation like defense spending bills. But if Martha “I Think Curt Schilling is a Yankees Fan” Coakley looses, the Democrats will be down to 59 votes in the Senate, not enough to stop a GOP filibuster on any issue they dislike. As Kerry Eleved points out, the lack of a high-placed full-time LGBT advocate in either the Obama administration or Congress will probably show as Democrats “focus in like a laser beam on jobs” to save their collective bacon in the face of voters who care more about having a job or food on the table than about a health care reform bill they – at best – don’t fully understand. At the end of the day, the HRC and the rest of Gay, Inc. are expendable in this administration.
For those of you into men, though, there is a bright side. The senatorial hopeful who may be verbing the community’s noun is a former Cosmo centerfold.
Elsewhere…
California – The only LGBT-focused international humanitarian relief fund is offering an alternative to aid groups channeling money to Haiti that may exclude or otherwise discriminate against the community. Two LGBT-orriented cruise companies that organize frequent trips to the island are avoiding bad press by coordinating a fund-raising drive to benefit the Red Cross. Been there? Done that? You can still get the t-shirt. (The Dallas Voice, The DC Agenda, Towleroad)
California – A preview of today’s proceedings in the Prop 8 trial. (Pam’s House Blend)
D. C. – “The Family” is fighting amongst itself on whether or not to allow murderer-in-waiting David Bahati, the Ugandan MP behind the “Kill Gays” bill, into the National Prayer Breakfast. Bahati is part of a clique in Uganda with strong ties to the evangelical Christian group. Meanwhile, Bahati’s ally, Pastor Martin Sempa, wants his countrymen to boycott US, UK, and Canadian products in retaliation for the pressure the three have been exerting on President Yoweri Museveni to kill the “Kill Gays” bill, and in a similar move, Malawi’s government says “F*ck you!” to foreign governments pressuring the country to halt the prosecution of a gay couple who held a high-profile wedding late last year. (Box Turtle Bulletin, The Washington Post)
The UK – The Anglican church is considering whether or not to give same-sex spouses of ministers the same benefits given to opposite-sex spouses. Social conservatives, of course, are raising hell, but so are fiscal conservatives. (Queerty)