Big Gay News
Big Gay News from New York City:
Storm-Wrecked NY Gay Youth Center Gets Quick Help
Edge Boston reports that while it took only hours for Superstorm Sandy’s surging waters to destroy an emergency drop-in center for homeless gay youths, almost as quickly, a social media outpouring helped raise money for a new, bigger Ali Forney Center to keep helping dozens of young people a day with medical care, counseling and a safe place to sleep.
Carl Siciliano founded the drop-in center in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood 10 years ago, naming it after Ali Forney, a gay 22-year-old who was shot to death on a Harlem street in 1997.
A blogger picked up Siciliano’s Facebook posting about damage to the center, and it quickly went viral, tweeted to hundreds of thousands of followers by actors Pam Grier and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. In the first three days, the center received almost 1,000 donations totaling more than $100,000. That total has grown to more than $250,000 – and counting – with contributions coming from around the world, including England, France, Sweden, Canada and Mexico.
BigGayNews from New Hampshire:
Stacie Laughton, New Hampshire’s First Transgender Legislator, Hopes To Inspire Others
The Huffington Post reports that New Hampshire joins neighboring Maine in making history this Election Night, welcoming its very first transgender lawmaker as Stacie Laughton, a Democrat, beat out two Republican candidates for one of three seats in the state’s House of Representatives in Ward 4.
In an interview, Laughton told the Telegraph‘s Joseph G. Cote that she hopes her victory will inspire other lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) candidates in both local and national politics.
“I don’t want being transgender to be a focal point,” Laughton said at the time. “I want to stand on the issues…because of who I am, I believe I can work between party lines and not let political partisanship hold us up when it comes to the important matters before us at the Statehouse.”
BigGayNews from the United States:
Gay Star Matt Bomer Among Those Honored In People’s “Sexiest Man Alive” Issue
Gay Star News reports that while his Magic Mike co-star Channing Tatum may be People magazine’s newly-crowned ‘Sexiest Man Alive’, Matt Bomer fans are no doubt happy to see the popular actor also featured in the issue.
The magazine usually features several runners-up in no particular order and this year Bomer is the only openly gay actor in the bunch.
The 35-year-old came out publicly earlier this year while accepting am award. He and partner Simon Halls, a powerful entertainment industry agent, are raising three children together.
BigGayNews from Chicago:
Gay Marriage Emanuel’s Number 3 Priority For Legislature
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Mayor Rahm Emanuel Tuesday ranked legalizing gay marriage as his No. 3 legislative priority in Springfield — behind pension reform and a Chicago casino — and said he plans to get “very involved” in passing a gay marriage bill.
Emanuel offered the surprise ranking when asked whether he intends to go around Gov. Pat Quinn — by cutting deals with Democratic legislative leaders — now that both houses have veto-proof Democratic majorities.
The mayor responded that it was time for Springfield to focus on “a number of subjects — and the governor has to be a part of that.”
BigGayNews from Nebraska:
Rainbow GSA Spreads Its Message On A Snowplow
JournalStar.com reports that one of Lincoln (Nebraska)’s snowplows will be pushing a message of tolerance and acceptance, thanks to those who turned the blade into a rainbow.
Trent Kersten, an 11-grader and member of the Lincoln Northeast High School Rainbow Gay Straight Alliance, whose members spent Thursday afternoon in the back parking lot of the school painting the blade, said: “I thought it would be a good idea because everyone sees this, because it’s Nebraska and it never doesn’t snow.”
Kersten hopes it will create more awareness – and better acceptance of all people as it pushes snow from the streets.
BigGayNews from Uruguay:
Socially Liberal Uruguay Already Has Civil Unions, Now Considering Same-Sex Marriage Law
KSPR 33 reports that Uruguay’s congress is considering a gay marriage law that would give same-sex couples all the same rights and responsibilities of heterosexual married couples.
The proposed “marriage equality” law would change Uruguay’s nearly-century-old civil code and give married gays and lesbians all the rights and responsibilities of heterosexual married couples, including the possibility of adopting children.
Federico Grana, a member of the collective, told The Associated Press on Wednesday: “Today’s society is much broader than the heterosexual, and the civil code should reflect this: a marriage institution that applies equally to all. This goes well beyond homosexuality — it’s a law that gives all the same rights and responsibilities.”
BigGayNews from Vatican City:
Vatican Digs In After Gay Marriage Advances
WIBW.com reports that the Vatican is digging in after gay marriage initiatives scored big wins this week in the U.S. and Europe, vowing to never stop insisting that marriage can only be between a man and a woman.
In a front-page article in Saturday’s Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, the Holy See sought to frame itself as the lone voice of courage in opposing initiatives to give same-sex couples legal recognition.
Catholic teaching holds that homosexuals should be respected and treated with dignity but that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered.” The Vatican also opposes same-sex marriage, insisting on the sanctity of marriage between a man and woman as the foundation for society.
BigGayNews from Spain:
Gay Marriage In Spain Affirmed By Top Court
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Spain’s Constitutional Court upheld the legality of the country’s gay marriage law on Tuesday, rejecting an appeal contending that marriage in the Spanish constitution means only the union of a man and woman.
The county’s top court voted 8-3 to dismiss the appeal of the conservative Popular Party filed shortly after Spain became the world’s third country to approve gay marriage.
The gay marriage law angered the predominant Roman Catholic Church but opinion surveys showed most Spaniards backed it.
