Happy Pride Month! If you’re gay, the military no longer considers you mentally ill.
“Homosexuality should not have been characterized as a mental disorder in an appendix of a procedural instruction,” the Pentagon said in a statement on Wednesday. “A clarification will be issued over the next few days.” [365Gay.com]
That’s a great step. Kudos to the Pentagon for doing the right thing, something they don’t seem to be able to do much of lately.
Via AmericaBlog. Our tax dollars support the United States military and the Pentagon. It’s not enough that we aren’t allowed to serve our country openly, but we also are forced to pay for a military machine that considers GLBT people mentally ill.
WCCO is reporting that 3 gay men were kicked out of a cab on Friday night because two of them kissed. The driver apparently said that homosexuality violated his religious beliefs. This discrimination is against the law in Minnesota thanks to the Minnesota Human Rights Act.
This case appears to be one associated with Islam, but discrimination aganist GLBT people by taxi cab drivers is not limited to just one faith. Earlier this fall, my friends and I took a cab and the driver actually advocated violence against gay men, and even tried to get us to agree with him. He was from Florida and said that this type of gay stuff didn’t happen there. He also said he was a Christian.
And I’ve also heard from friends who were denied a cab ride during Twin Cities Pride from Muslim cab drivers.
It’s the responisbility of the cab companies to teach their employees about the law. Cab drivers cannot discriminate. Period.
If Minnesota continues down the road of allowing other peoples religious beliefs to be written into our Constitution, you better believe things like this will happen more often. It tells the landlords, cab drivers, and employers in Minnesota that GLBT people are less than straight people, and it’s our own government that will be sending the message.
WCCO reports that anti-gay hate messages inculding swastikas have been reported for the seventh time since January and it’s the third time in several weeks. This comes at a time when more messages promoting hate against certain groups is on the rise at the U of MN. According to the Minnesota Daily:
“The incident is another in a growing number of reported hate or �bias crimes� � those motivated by bias against another group. There were no bias crimes reported in 2003, but there were five in 2004 and the Centennial Hall graffiti marks the sixth report this year.”
And I’m sure it has nothing to do with the anti-gay culture that Michele Bachmann, and her aleged election-law violators at EdWatch are trying to create in Minnesota. Or nothing to do with aleged campaign-finance violators, Focus on the Family, whose main mission on Earth is to destroy the ‘homosexual agenda.’ /sarcasm
The woman behind GLBT rag, LivingOut, and GLBT community business directory, The Source, has filed for bankruptcy. Former employee, David, has the scoop:
“Deftly tearing into the rice-paper-coated-with-glue-like seam, I finally managed to liberate the document, therein: a letter saying that Donna Marie Gimbut -my former boss- was declaring bankruptcy and I, as a creditor, was being informed of a hearing at 10am on December 13th, 2005. This will be a meeting of creditors and I am glad to see that Donna, herself, will be there for the fun and games.
It is interesting to note that Donna has apparently declared bankruptcy on all her companies: 3 Dollar Bill, Inc., LivingOUT Media Group Inc., LivingOUT, Prizma Enterprises Inc., and Eye-Dentity Graphic Design Inc..”
The CityPages Blotter also has more information on Gimbut’s financial problems:
“The bankruptcy filing, dated October 12th, shows the depths of Gimbut’s financial difficulties. According to the court document, she has debts of $342,065 and assets of just $80,367. Among the debts owed are $12,159 to ECM Publishers, of Coon Rapids, $230 to The Minnesota Daily, and $402 to a local Merry Maids franchise. Her largest outstanding bill: $130,000, owed to Moore North American, of San Diego.
Gimbut lists three automobiles as personal property–a 2003 BMW, a 2002 Isuzu Trooper, and a 2002 BMW–but the latter two vehicles have been repossessed. Gimbut’s current income is claimed to be just $3,094.
In addition, Gimbut and her businesses have now been sued five times since June in Hennepin County District Court. Two plaintiffs, both former employees, have received default judgments totaling $5,202.50. The other three cases, involving either aggrieved advertisers or former employees, are still pending.
Given Gimbut’s perilous financial condition it seems unlikely that any of these folks will ever see a dime. “
For more on the LivingOut saga:
The State of the Queer Press in the Twin Cities
More LivingOut News: Nashville and Chicago
Department of Justice Investigating Three Dollar Bill, Inc.
It is seriously frustrating that these “Christian” groups have all this time to sit around and dream up conspiracies, when perhaps they should take some time to tackle the larger problems in society. Maybe they could take some time to help out the homeless who will surely freeze to death in the harsh Minnesota winter, or maybe spend some time helping our new immigrants learn english. Perhaps they could teach young people about birth control, thereby preventing all those awful abortions they keep harping about. Nope. They’d rather sit around and dream up conspiracy and sex orgies in the high schools.
The latest in this incredibly intelligent Christian thinking involves Maple Grove Senior High and the gay-straight group that is suing for equal access. The title of the article is “Homosexual Activists Suspected of Pulling Students’ Strings in GSA Lawsuit.” Here’s what Linda Harvey of Mission America has to say about the lawsuit and it’s effect on students [via Pam’s House Blend]:
“They will be introduced to college-age and adult homosexuals, and they will be fast-tracked right into the active practice of homosexual sex. What school ever wants to be in the situation of saying [that] homosexual sex is no problem for youth?”
Wow. There’s a fast-track on homosexual sex? Sign me up, it’s been a while! Here’s more from Harvey:
Harvey believes Maple Grove High School can avoid trouble by not considering homosexuality to be a viewpoint, as the students claim. She argues that the Osseo School District need not accept Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) like SAGE in order to have “viewpoint equality” on the campus, because homosexuality is not a viewpoint — rather, it is a dangerous, high-risk behavior. And the school, the Mission America spokeswoman would argue, has both the right and the responsibility to protect students from unhealthy or unsafe activities on its campus. “What’s going to happen in these homosexual clubs,” she asserts, “is that they are social venues where kids will meet other kids who are also inclined to homosexuality.”
Does she actually think that the groups meetings will turn into an orgy or something? Because that’s what she’s alluding to. I think Ms. Harvey needs to put down the hardcore gay porn, and come back to reality.
Remember last week when we all called and emailed the Rochester Post-Bulletin to ask why they were so crabby when two dykes tried to have their fully-legal-in-Canada marriage printed? Well, they responded on their blog. ViaLloydletta:
“19 October 2005
Same-sex wedding notices
The P-B doesn’t publish free same-sex wedding notices in our lifestyle news columns.
This is in keeping with most U.S. newspapers that still publish free wedding notices. Many metro-sized newspapers don’t carry free wedding notices at all.
We do publish paid wedding notices for same-sex couples. Those run as “Celebrations” ads.
Our policy recently made news in a Twin Cities gay-lesbian magazine, and the story was picked up by KSTP-TV. Several readers have followed up with questions and comments.
Here’s our rationale: We publish notices for marriages legally recognized in Minnesota. This allows for clarity and consistency in our wedding notices at a time when there’s great disagreement and political controversy over same-sex marriage, and while marriage laws are evolving.
What do you think?”
Here’s what I think. It’s not even separate but equal. They’re making same-sex couples pay more for something that is less. In Minnesota, it’s been illegal (since 1993, I think) to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, and that’s exactly what this is.
And here’s the link to the Post-Bulletin blog. Be sure to tell them what you think.
This afternoon I received a comment from an “Investigator Olson” who says: “If anybody knows where Ms. Gimbut or Ms. Barry might be please call (866)886-8153 ext 103. There is a $500 finders fee available please call for details.”
Ms. Gimbut and Ms. Barry are the former owners of Three Dollar Bill which published LivingOut Newspaper and The Source directory in several cities, and was based in Minneapolis. After June 1st, the company and the publications have disappeared leaving employees unpaid and advertisers without the ads they purchased.
I called the number, and it goes to the Western Regional Office of Special Investigations a unit of the US Department of Justice. So, it seems legit and it seems that Three Dollar Bill is in serious trouble. There are a lot of people who worked hard to bring alternative GLBT media to the Twin Cities, and they deserve to be paid for their hard work. If you know of the whereabouts of these two, you not only get $500 for finding them, you will also help former employees get their paychecks.
Here’s the history of the LivingOut saga:
The State of the Queer Press in the Twin Cities
More LivingOut News: Nashville and Chicago
Two female Maple Grove, Minnesota students are suing the school district over discriminatory practices by school administrators. [Link]
“Members of Straights and Gays for Equality (SAGE) were consistently denied such requests, the lawsuit said. It contends a violation of the federal Equal Access Act, which holds that public schools must extend the same privileges to all student-organized, non-curricular clubs. The lawsuit, filed late last week in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, said other groups including the Spirit Council, the Asian Culture Group and the Chess Club were allowed to publicize meetings and events on the school’s PA and video announcement systems, and with hallway posters and leaflets.”
And good for them. When I was in high school, ages ago, we didn’t have a school group. In fact, the ‘gay-straight alliance’ was pretty much me, a couple of my straight friends, and some weird bisexual girl named Allie. The idea that any of us could actually organize seemed rediculous at the time. This was 1994 in Central Illinois after all.
It’s so encouraging to see high school students standing up to discrimination, especially in the suburbs. Whether people like it or not, it is these students right to organize on campus, and they should fight for that right every chance they get.
The tales continue nationwide as Minneapolis-based, Three Dollar Bill’s publications The Source and LivingOut are nowhere to found, and advertisers and former employees are pissed. Apparently, local GLBT fashion/personal ad magazine, Lavender, has been calling around the country trying to check out what happened to the competition.
“A few weeks ago, CSFP publisher Tim Toonen received an e-mail from someone with Lavender Magazine & PowerPages Directory, LGBT publications that, like Three Dollar Bill headquarters, are located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This individual asked about the activities of The Source in Nashville, indicating that their efforts to contact Three Dollar Bill were unsuccessful, including the fact that when calling the Minneapolis office, the message received was that the mail box was full.”
Also in Nashville, Three Dollar Bill continued to sell advertising right up until the publication disappeared:
“Several of last year�s Nashville The Source advertisers were contacted in June and July about advertising in the next edition of The Source . Well-respected advertisers in the GLBT community, such as OutLoud! and Bart Durham, are not planning to risk any money on The Source this year. �We weren�t interested, of course,� says Joe Brant, with OutLoud! Department Store. (The phone number for the sales representative who contacted Brant now forwards to the same voicemail box which has been full for several weeks.)” [Link]
The last issue of LivingOut in Minneapolis was June 1, 2005, and according to their publisher that was the last time anyone has heard from Donna Gimbut.
In Chicago, it seems that advertising was sold, but nothing was ever distributed:
“After being approached by sales people from The Source , she bought a $500 ad in July of 2004. �They asked for the money upfront,� Hundt recalls. There were several errors on the proof The Source sent her, but when she tried to fax them the corrections, the fax number was not working. Their Chicago phone number had been disconnected. Hundt has since contacted the Better Business Bureau, the Chicago Attorney General, and the Minneapolis Attorney General, but she still has not heard from The Source or seen one copy of the directory distributed in Chicago.”
I think that Three Dollar Bill is screwed.
Here’s the history of the LivingOut saga:
The State of the Queer Press in the Twin Cities