I'm a sixth-generation Iowan, an Eagle Scout, and I was raised by my two moms, Jackie and Terry.
People want to know what it's like having lesbian parents. I'll let you in on a secret: I'm awesome at putting the seat down. Otherwise, we're like any other family. We eat dinner, we go to church, we have chores. But some people don't see it that way. When I was 12, watching the 2004 Republican convention, I remember politicians talking about protecting marriage from families like mine.
Now, supporting a view of marriage as between a man and woman isn't radical. For many people, it's a matter of faith. We respect that. Watching that convention on TV, though I felt confused, frustrated. Why didn't they think my family was a real family?
Governor Romney says he's against same-sex marriage because every child deserves a mother and a father. I think every child deserves a family as loving and committed as mine. Because the sense of family comes from the commitment we make to each other to work through the hard times so we can enjoy the good ones. It comes from the love that binds us; that's what makes a family. Mr. Romney, my family is just as real as yours.
President Obama understands that. He supports my moms' marriage. President Obama put his political future on the line to do what was right. Without his leadership, we wouldn't be here. President Obama is fighting for our families... all of our families. He has our backs. We have his.
Log Cabin Republicans lash out after Democrat Barney Frank says their role model is 'Uncle Tom'
Video from reporter Chris Geidner of BuzzFeed:
At today's meeting of the LGBT Caucus at the Democratic National Convention, Rep. Barney Frank — the out gay, retiring Massachusetts representative — said that he believe the Log Cabin Republicans' "role model is Uncle Tom."
Geidner also posted an article today headlined, LGBT Groups Distance Themselves From Barney Frank's “Uncle Tom” Charge.
R. Clarke Cooper, executive director of Log Cabin Republicans, issued the following:
Barney Frank Divides, Distracts & Deceives at DNC
(Washington, DC) – Log Cabin Republicans respond to soon-to-be former Congressman Barney Frank’s false and degrading attacks on Log Cabin made in an interview with gay journalist Michelangelo Signorile at the Democratic National Convention today.
“As far as Log Cabin Republicans are concerned, it’s a badge of honor to be attacked by a partisan hack like Barney Frank,” said Log Cabin Republicans Executive Director R. Clarke Cooper. “We understand that Barney has earned his protected place within the Democrat Party by being their attack dog on gay rights issues, demonizing Republicans and undermining efforts at bipartisanship that would actually improve LGBT Americans lives. We expect this kind of bile from Barney, especially when it plays into the Obama campaign’s efforts to divide, distract and deceive the American people.”
Cooper continues, “Frank calls us ‘Uncle Toms’ and pretends that Log Cabin hasn’t been on the front lines of the fight for equality. The truth is, by speaking conservative to conservative about gay rights, Log Cabin Republicans are doing some of the hardest work in the movement, work that liberals like Barney are unwilling to do and couldn’t do if they tried.
We never accepted the ban on open service – it was a federal court case brought by Log Cabin Republicans that declared the law unconstitutional, and our direct lobbying efforts in Capitol Hill that secured the necessary Republican votes for repeal. Barney Frank and President Obama didn’t ask for Senator Susan Collins’s leadership, and they never asked for Republican votes. Log Cabin did.
Log Cabin fights every day for equal opportunity and nondiscrimination in the workplace – a victory that Democrats delayed by refusing to bring ENDA to a vote when they had the chance and by dismissing the support of conservatives like Congressman Paul Ryan. We had the needed Republican votes to pass ENDA. Barney Frank and his liberal allies chose not to, out of political calculation and cowardice.
Finally, it is simply ridiculous to pretend that Log Cabin Republicans haven’t spoken out about the freedom to marry. Between the full page pro-marriage equality ad we ran in the Tampa Tribune, the Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry brunch we hosted for Republican National Convention attendees, and our visible and vocal presence at the platform deliberations, our work at the Republican National Convention highlighted marriage as a priority, and our record on this issue is undeniable. Barney conveniently forgets that it was at a Log Cabin Republicans event where Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen became the first Republican to cosponsor the repeal of DOMA, and that it was a promise made to the Log Cabin Republicans of New York that made possible the vote in a GOP-led state senate for marriage in the Empire State.It has not been the Republican National Committee trying to silence Log Cabin – our voice is indeed welcome within our party, and while we may not win every debate, we are secure in our place at the table. Gay liberals like Barney, however, are trying to silence us, calling us names and ganging up like schoolyard bullies. It doesn’t matter. While Barney bashes his fellow LGBT Americans, we’ll continue our work building a stronger, more inclusive GOP – and someday soon, we’ll win, because inclusion always wins.”
From Frank’s interview with Signorile, appearing today at the Huffington Post:
“Frankly I’ve been appalled to see the Log Cabin club, in the face of this worse and worse record on public policy by Republicans on our issues," Frank said. “They’re accepted on [the GOP's] terms,” he continued. “They’re willing to be accepted with no rights -- no right to marry, no right to serve in the military, no right to be protected against hate crimes, no right to be protected in employment. I’ll be honest: For 20 years now I’ve heard how the Log Cabins are going to make Republicans better, but they’ve only gotten worse. I now understand why they call themselves Log Cabin: their role model is Uncle Tom.”
Political pick-up: Grindr, the mobile gay dating app, launches 'Grindr for Equality: Election 2012'
Here's the news release:
LOS ANGELES, September 6, 2012. Today Grindr officially announces its plan to mobilize gay men as a political bloc in the 2012 elections by delivering geo-targeted messages about equality issues to its 1.5 million U.S. users -- and to call those users to action. Grindr for Equality, a social effort developed by Grindr, is this call to action, informing gay men in the United States about the issues, urging them to vote for candidates based on those issues, and getting out their vote in order to have a decisive impact on this upcoming election.
Grindr for Equality will work to enhance GLBT rights this election season by doing the following:
- Creating awareness regarding GLBT equality issues being voted on in November;
- Encouraging Grindr users to register to vote, providing them with sources that’ll show them nearby poll locations, and prompting them to vote when the time comes; and
- Promoting knowledge of those presidential candidates and state and local candidates who support GLBT initiatives.
Grindr for Equality is about rallying Grindr’s mobile user base of gay men into a nationwide force of informed citizens who vote with equality as their unified goal. Grindr for Equality will utilize Grindr’s geo-location capabilities to deliver targeted in-app messages that spur users into action and produce noticeable change in November’s elections.“We must elect not only a president but representatives and senators who are supportive of our community and our equality,” said Joel Simkhai, founder and CEO of Grindr. “Local elections have national impact, so we want to use Grindr as a tool for mobilizing and connecting gay men around the country to help make a combined national impact.”
The outcome of this November’s national elections will be decided in several swing states, and Grindr for Equality will use geo-targeted messaging to reach gay men in those states. Dozens of elections will impact the direction of Congress, so Grindr for Equality’s will work to ensure the gay voice is represented in those elections. Gay men won’t be heard unless they vote – and driving them to vote this fall starts with raising awareness about GLBT issues on the ballots.
For example, Grindr for Equality will alert Grindr users in Minnesota to a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage that has been proposed and encourage them to contact their local representatives. Additionally, Grindr for Equality plans to assist Ohio and North Carolina advocates who are working to lift their states’ bans on same-sex marriage.
“All elections are won or lost on the local level,” Simkhai said. “There is no election or town too small to have a gay voice. We’ll use Grindr to unite gay men across the country, make that voice grow louder and have a nationwide impact.”
Grindr is looking to continue its involvement in the political process by tapping into its engaged community of more than 4 million users to receive from them regular updates on GLBT issues on a local, national and international scale. Individuals and like-minded groups are encouraged to send an email with basic contact information and a brief description of how the issue relates to the GLBT community and how Grindr for Equality could provide assistance. Submissions can be sent via email to equality@grindr.com, or visit Grindr.com/Equality for additional information. To download a sample image of the broadcast message Grindr for Equality plans to send this election season, visit www.Grindr.com/election2012.
The Grindr app is available for free on iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Android and BlackBerry devices. For more information on the app, please visit www.Grindr.com or Grindr.com/Press
About Grindr for Equality
Grindr for Equality was established by Grindr to raise awareness for GLBT issues and spur action across the globe. Launched in 2009, Grindr is the premier all-male geo-social network that uses location-based technologies to bring together a global community of more than 4 million users in 192 countries. Leveraging its geo-targeting software and massive global user base, Grindr has the capacity to provide assistance within the GLBT community and harness the power of its location-based network to contact people in specific geographic areas en masse. This has included participation in recent significant GLBT campaigns, such as the overturning of Proposition 8 and the recent passage of marriage equality in New York State. For more information about Grindr for Equality, please visit Grindr4Equality.com.
Eagle Scout Zach Wahls, who wrote 'My Two Moms' memoir, to speak at Democratic convention
Zach Wahls, the straight Eagle Scout with two lesbian mothers, is scheduled to speak sometime after 7 p.m. Thursday at the Democratic National Convention, according to his Facebook page.
"Huge, huge honor," Wahls said on Facebook.
In April, Wahls published a memoir, My Two Moms: Lessons of Love, Strength and What Makes a Family. It recounts his life being raised by Terry Wahls and Jackie Reger, a lesbian couple who married three years ago in Iowa.
Video | Tom Cruise fires back at Vanity Fair over report that Scientologists auditioned wives for him
From E! Online:
Tom Cruise denies bizarre claims that top-ranking Scientologists recruited his prospective brides. But which Oscar winner says the outrageous story is true?
