sexual orientation

Water Polo Coach Claims He Was Fired for Being Gay

Submitted by ONE Community on June 20, 2012 - 3:57pm

Mitch Stein, a gay television producer living with his partner and two daughters in Pomona, Calif., had forgotten about some "fun" photos that he had posted online years ago.

One was a photo of the 36-year-old eating a corn dog at a fair and the other was a Halloween shot jokingly surrounded by drag queens.

But he believes those photos cost him his job last August as an assistant boys' water polo and swim coach at the Charter Oak Unified School District, where his 15-year-old biological daughter goes to school and is on the girls' team.

"I feel like they are fun photos taken with friends on my personal time, years before I even worked at Charter Oak," he told ABCNews.com. Read more »

ONE Community

Preventing bias on the job

Submitted by ONE Community on June 18, 2012 - 1:43pm

Even before President Obama endorsed same-sex marriage, that cause had become synonymous in many minds with gay rights. But an equally important item on the equality agenda is protection of gays, lesbians and transgender people from job discrimination.

Last week the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions held a hearing on the proposed Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA, which would outlaw workplace discrimination on the basis of "actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity." Sixteen states, including California, and 140 localities protect gays and lesbians from discrimination, but 56% of the U.S. population lives in areas without such protection. That would be remedied with the enactment of ENDA. Read more »

ONE Community

No More Alphabet Soup

Submitted by ONE Community on May 18, 2012 - 5:05pm

About a year ago Boston Pride decided to do some organizational soul-searching. Who are we as a movement? Whom do we represent? Where is the movement going? And what is our role as an organization in providing leadership and guidance to our community, colleagues, and supporters? The process was both challenging and productive, and we ultimately came to a surprising but empowering conclusion, namely that it was time to remove the alphabet soup of letters -- L, G, B, T, Q, I, and so forth -- from our mission statement. Our mission statement would no longer be defined by categorizing and labeling members of the community with a particular letter they may or may not identify with. Read more »

ONE Community

Lesbian removed as Scout leader in Ohio, re-ignites debate over organization’s policy on gays

Submitted by ONE Community on April 26, 2012 - 7:49pm

The first-graders in Ohio Pack 109’s Tiger Scouts didn’t know or care their den mother was a lesbian — at least not until the Boy Scouts of America threw her out over the organization’s ban on gays.

Now, parents who were aware of Jennifer Tyrrell’s sexual orientation well before she took the boys on campouts and helped them carve race cars for the annual Pinewood Derby have rallied to her defense in a case that has re-ignited the debate over the Scouts’ policy.

“I teach my children to judge people on their actions,” said Rob Dunn, a father in Bridgeport, a village of about 2,000 across the Ohio River from Wheeling, W.Va. “Whether you agree with their lifestyle or not.”

ONE Community

Robert Spitzer, Psychiatrist Behind Retracted 'Ex-Gay' Study, Apologizes To Gay Community, Patients

Submitted by ONE Community on April 25, 2012 - 9:35pm

Earlier this month, psychiatrist Bob Spitzer made headlines after he retracted his controversial 2001 study proclaiming that "highly motivated" gay and lesbian people could change their sexual orientation. But Spitzer is now going even further by making what has been described as "an unprecedented apology" to both former patients of reparative therapy as well as members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community at large.

Truth Wins Out has obtained a copy of the letter, addressed to Dr. Ken Zucker: Read more »

ONE Community

Jennifer Tyrrell, Boy Scout Den Mother, Forced To Resign Because She Is A Lesbian

Submitted by ONE Community on April 19, 2012 - 8:35am

A Boy Scouts den mother is speaking out after being ousted from her role because she is a lesbian.

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is speaking out in support of Ohio resident Jennifer Tyrrell, who was forced to resign last week as den leader of her son's Tiger Scout chapter due to her sexual orientation. Read more »

ONE Community

More College Students May Be Asked to Declare Sexual Orientation

Submitted by ONE Community on March 16, 2012 - 6:00pm

From The New York Times:

3:08 p.m. | Updated Officials of the University of California system have proposed asking incoming freshmen to identify their sexual orientation, a move that might cement such declarations as an emerging topic in the college admissions process.

ABC News reports that the Academic Senate of the University of California system initiated the proposal to ensure that services are provided for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students. Read more »

ONE Community

Notre Dame students, faculty renew push for legal protections for gays, lesbians on campus

Submitted by ONE Community on March 11, 2012 - 1:03pm

From The Associated Press:

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Some University of Notre Dame students and faculty are renewing a push for legal protections for gays and lesbians on campus.

A campus group released a video last week called "It Needs to Get Better" that asks the school to add sexual orientation to its non-discrimination policy and recognize a gay-straight alliance, The South Bend Tribune reported (http://bit.ly/ySW96n ). Read more »

ONE Community

HUD rule assists gays

Submitted by ONE Community on March 11, 2012 - 11:03am

The Detroit News March 10, 2012

Detroit — Taxpayer-subsidized housing providers cannot inquire about an applicant's sexual orientation or gender identity under a new U.S. Housing and Urban Development rule that went into effect this week.

The new regulations were the main focus of HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan's speech Friday at a White House-sponsored conference on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender housing and homelessness issues at Wayne State University. Read more »

ONE Community

Legally Gay: The Symposium

Submitted by cjminott on March 6, 2012 - 2:20pm

Legally Gay: The Symposium will host panel discussions and address issues relating to the LGBT community including; workplace rights, marriage and adoption issues, and the evolving concept of family. Among those who will be speaking are David Lopez, the General Counsel for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and keynote speaker, Dr. Robert N. Minor - professor emeritus in religious studies, founder of the Fairness Project, and author of works such as Scared Straight: Why It's Accept Gay People and Why It's So Hard to Be Human. Read more »

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