I support Hillary Clinton as the Democratic Party nominee and as the next President of the United States for reasons which I've expressed over the last 6 months. So, most of you here on MyDD know that I'm an ardent supporter of Hillary Clinton. But, you don't know that I'm like 1 in 10 Americans who many still refer to as a sinner, a sexual deviant, or as an abomination. So, today, in honor of Gay Pride month, I'm coming out of the closet on MyDD to share my very personal story why I will continue to support and stand by Hillary Clinton.

I grew up in a small town in central Virginia in the 1980's. Luckily, I passed. Passed? Passed as a heterosexual. It helped that I was popular and my quirkiness wasn't questioned. I wasn't subjected to the harassment, bullying, and teasing of which other tomboys or sissies became targets. But what happened to me was just as harmful. I hid. I hid from my family, my friends, and my community. In my last two years of high school, I was confused, alone, and becoming increasingly more depressed to the point of suicidal. By sheer will (and maybe a touch of grace), I made it to college. I started meeting people who were different, men and women who weren't afraid to express themselves outside of the norm, outside of social expectation, outside of heterosexuality. They didn't conform.

[continue over the fold]

crossposted at the kos

Recent reports about Disneyworld refusing to hold gay weddings should serve as a wake up call to all queer Americans that just because a company has a history of supporting our community, it does not mean that they will be there when the topic shifts to controversial issues that our community is fighting for today.

According to the Human Rights Campaign's corporate equality index, Walt Disney scores a 95 out of 100 for the protections they offer their queer workers. The item that holds them back from getting a perfect score is the fact that they do not offer diversity training including gender identity or that they do not have supportive gender transition guidelines in place, but I would argue that this recent marriage controversy may have opened up a pandora's box that ultimately should bring down Disney's rating in the Corporate Equality Index.

crossposted from the Kos

Times Square has been the scene of much protest in the past few days. Over the last week, a collection of anti-war groups such as Gold Star Families for Peace and United for Peace and Justice NYC have gathered in Times Square to read the names of American soldiers, Iraqi civilians and coalition forces who have lost their lives in the Iraq War. Today, these groups were joined by other groups protesting General Pace's recent comments- in his "Tim Hardaway" moment- denigrating our country's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) servicemen and women by calling all LGBT folk "immoral".

So CNN reports that the most "representative" state in the country is now Wisconsin:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/07/27/m g.thu/index.html

This is important, because Wisconsin is also where a key Republican strategy -- antigay constitutional amendments -- has run out of steam.  A recent poll found supporters and opponents of the ban in Wisconsin in a statistical dead heat:

http://wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article =66198

Fair Wisconsin, the group leading the campaign against the ban, is already running TV ads and has volunteer coordinators at work in all 72 Wisconsin counties.

This has the potential to give the Republicans their first-ever black eye on this issue.

Fair Wisconsin is showing that it's possible to take this tactic and give the Republicans the exact opposite of what they wanted: a strong campaign that draws people out to vote from the progressive side instead of the conservative side -- and all this in the most "representative" state in the country.

It's a sign of things to come...

In 2004, the cons used anti-gay amendments to turn out their base, and no one could stop them.  This year it's going to backfire.

Extremist religous groups are once again attacking American values of fairness and equality!  A group called the Center for Reclaiming America for Christ is joining the Amerifcan "Family" Association's boycott of Ford until they drop all advertising in GLBT publications and cease offering any and all same-sex partner benefits!  

You can read the full article here.

Don't let them claim the banner of Family and American values.  What they are doing is undeniably UnAmerican!  Here's what you can do.  Click below the fold and help the progressive fight for GLBT Americans!