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(via Instant Tea) The Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund celebrates Women's History Month with this video celebrating trailblazing lesbian elected officials.

OK, I don't normally post promoting these internet popularity contests, but I need you to go read my blog and vote for my friends Jon and Greg right now. Then post this to your facebook, share it with everyone you know, make people go vote. I need this from you. Please! http://www.ultimateweddingcontest.com/entries/22682 Don't let the wing-nut bigots win--vote for Jon & Greg | The Bilerico Project : "So I'm doing two things here you've probably never seen me do on this blog before. Maybe one more than the other... gregnjon2.jpgFirst, I rarely if ever really post exclusively about marriage equality--though I do support it--unless there's like a crucial vote looming. I now consider this a crucial vote. I just think that marriage equality gets covered well on Bilerico by the many great voices who have made it their focus. I don't think I need to add anything, usually, but I am adding something today. Second, I've never endorsed any sort of brand or ...

Have you seen this? Its BRILLIANT! I can think of a thousand ways to apply this to try to get better support for your cause in your state. BillMaps - putting Congressional bills on the map : The site needs a bit more to it, but its a great start. I can't wait to see where this goes. Maybe they can start a whip-count page!

The birth of a movement: LGBTQ rights become civil rights | The Bilerico Project : "Thursday was a crazy day for me. I woke up late. I had a ton of homework to finish. I had a coming out panel. I had a work meeting and my regular work hours. I hadn't scheduled in a revolution. But that's exactly what happened. choiISchained.jpgThursday morning - the day of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act blogswarm, the day of the Human Rights Campaign's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' lobby day with Kathy Griffin - something beautiful began to happen. The 'gay and lesbian and bisexual and transgender and queer' rights movement grew up and became the new civil rights movement. LGBTQ activists got serious..." Visit the site to see the rest, and please leave a comment!

Two Arrested For Chaining Themselves to the White House Gate to Protest Don't Ask Don't Tell Policy - Political Punch : "ABC News' Steven Portnoy and Sunlen Miller report: An Iraq war veteran and vocal opponent of the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy was arrested by police officers after chaining himself to the front gate of the White House, in apparent protest of that policy. Lt. Dan Choi, who was discharged from the military and his role as an Arab linguist for being gay, has long opposed this policy. A second soldier, James Pietrangelo II, a plaintiff in the case turned down in the Supreme Court last year, also chained himself with Choi to the White House gate and was arrested. Some 150 protesters were also in front of the White House, changing “Hey Hey Ho Ho Don’t Ask Don’t Tell has got to go,” and about 30 Washington D.C. police officers are lined up in a show of force there as well." The Mainstream media is now running with the story. On this, the END...

Don't just check out my latest " Reese's Pieces " blog at the217.com --go read it and COMMENT on it. I've posted the shortest abbreviated introductory teaser ever to get you to go check it out and COMMENT. C'mon. You know you want to! Reese’s Pieces » Blog Archive » Its all about the footlights: the six century (if not longer) love affair between gays and Theatre. : "That’s ‘Theatre’ with an “re” not an “er.” Theatre the craft, and not theater, the building. Theatre the classic Aristotelian cathartic experience, of course. The costumes. The sets. The make-up. Oh, the make-up! Since Elizabeth (not Taylor, Tudor) called herself Queen of the British Empire, gay men–and to some extent lesbians and definitely transgender folk–have had a home in the Theatre. They’ve not only been the patrons, but the actors, the directors, the managers, the carpenters, and especially the writers (oh yeah, and composers and choreographers). Theatre has persisted since Shakes...

"Do not follow where the path may lead.  Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail."  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson   I am grateful that the story of Constance McMillen, who is fighting for the right to go to her Senior Prom with her girlfriend, is receiving so much attention by mainstream media outlets outside the queer press and the queer blogophere. However, the plight of the Itawamba County Agricultural High School student reminds us that, as much as things have changed over the past several decades, much progress is left to be made before true equality is enjoyed by all Americans. Today there are thousands of young LGBT young people like Constance at hundreds of schools like Itawamba. As they struggle to make their own mark on LGBT history, what are we as a community doing to help them? Are you playing your part in the battle for equality? Am I? When future generations study our contribution to the struggle for civil rights, what will they think about ho...

-Phil Reese. Sent from my Google Android phone!

-Phil Reese. Sent from my Google Android phone!

Holy Shit. This guy, OK State Senator, Steve Russell, must be possessed by really mean, really evil demons. He's basically saying "We want to be able to kill and maim our gays without the Feds getting involved. We love physically harming gay people so much--and harming them JUST BECAUSE they are gay--that we want to override Federal law." Rod 2.0:Beta: Oklahoma Senate Votes for Exemption from Fed Hate Crime Laws : "MetroStar News, the Oklahoma-based LGBT newspaper, explains the practical ramifications: 'This would prohibit providing as evidence to Federal authorities a bloody baseball bat or gun used in that type of crime to assist in their prosecution of that hate crime. Since crimes committed due to a victim’s sexual orientation/gender identity are not Hate Crimes under Oklahoma state law, and this restriction would make Federal prosecution of this type of crime in Oklahoma very difficult if not impossible, this would greatly impede Hate Crimes protection fo...

Dont' forget its tonight! Visit the blog for more details! Reese’s Pieces » Blog Archive » Don’t forget: DRAG AT HIGH VELOCITY IS TONIGHT! : "Yesterday I wrote a little about the history of drag, and the hows and whys, in my blog “What’s a ‘drag?’” Don’t forget you can experience the real thing tonight at Drag At High Velocity TONIGHT, March 11 at 7:30pm in the Illini Union I-Rooms, put on by the IUB and the LGBT Resource Center Many drag contests operate within the Imperial Court System, a charity organization that does amazing amounts of good in Canada, Mexico and the United States, raising money for AIDS/HIV support and research, hate crimes victims assistance, anti-bullying education, elder-care and homeless youth support and services. Like most good drag shows, tonight’s Drag At High Velocity in the Illini Union I-Rooms, is a charity drag show for the Illini Union Board and the LGBT Resource Center..."

Last week I made a huge fuss on Bilerico.com as well as on Twitter and Facebook all about the discriminatory SB3447 that would ruin the Illinois employment non-discrimination law. This week its quieted down, but now the question is, will we have to deal with this again? Illinois discriminatory anti-gay, anti-jobs bill gone but not forgotten on the The Bilerico Project : "Last week I told you about the urgent action needed to stop a bill seeking to water down Illinois' potent gender identity and sexual orientation inclusive employment non-discrimination law. Republican gubernatorial front-runner, Bill Brady, had quietly introduced a bill to expand 'religious exemptions' so much that the law would be nearly nullified. Bill Brady had been vehemently against the law when it was initially introduced, back when he was in the lower house. Now a Senator and GOP Governor hopeful, Brady was seeking to use transgender, gay, lesbian and bisexual folks in Illinois to court favor i...

Drag is oft misunderstood in our community. With this week's IUB/LGBT Resource Center drag show coming up on Thursday, I thought I'd do a little bit of educating. Check out my SECOND post at the217.com! GO TO THE PAGE--there are great pictures, video and links! Also, you can COMMENT! Reese’s Pieces » Blog Archive » What’s a ‘drag?’–the reason why men-dressing-up-like-women-&-lip-syncing is important : "Did you know that the word “travesty” is gay? I’m outing the word “travesty.” Dear “travesty,” you can’t hide in your closet anymore. Come out, come out wherever you are. Travesty comes from a French word “travesti,” which in turn comes from Latin roots: “trans,” to ‘cross over,’ and “vestire” which means ‘to dress.’ It means, approximately, to disguise oneself, but specifically, to disguise oneself as the opposite of what one would expect: to disguise oneself as the opposite gender. “Cross-Dressing” shows, were popular in big cities in Europe for centuries, especiall...

The first few paragraphs of my latest Out & About Illinois magazine blog post is below. The blog goes along with my column which an be found by downloading the latest issue of Out & About Illinois magazine as a PDF from outandaboutillinois.com! Please go to the site to read (and comment) on the rest of the blog! What's wrong with BIll Brady? : "PHIL REESE, MARCH 8, 2010: Have you heard of Senate Bill 3447? Well, if you haven't, you should have. The Bill seems to have gone quiet now after being referred back to the Committee on Assignments, but had it passed out of the Judiciary committee, you might have lost your job. The bill, which was initially submitted by Senator Bill Brady--who hates us--would have expanded the 'Religious Exemption' to the Human Rights Law that protects people from getting fired based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The 'Religious Exemption' would suddenly apply to almost every employer imaginable, rendering th...

The straight people finally gave me my own blog. Ha! Little did they know what I'd hit 'em with! Check out my first ever blog at Daily Illini-run website the217.com--Did I do alright writing for a straight audience? Reese’s Pieces » Blog Archive » Where is Champaign’s “gayborhood?” : "We gays are pretty darn clever when it comes to language. After all, we had to spend most of high school playing with pronouns (”My ‘girlfriend’ and I had a fight over AOL instant messenger last night. ‘She’ said that if I take anyone else but ‘her’ to Wicked, we’re internet breaking-up.”), and all of those lonely years of being stuffed into lockers gave us lots of time to read what was in there. So its no wonder some of the best wordsmiths in history were part of ‘the family.’ Oscar Wilde, William Shakespeare’s main contemporary, Christopher Marlowe–hell, even Shakespeare himself was a little bi–right down to Michael Stipe, to Lance Bass; the most talented lyricists always end up coming ou...

"I've grown up with a lot of people and I'm good friends with a lot of people who are gay and I think they should have the rights all people should, and I'm not going to swear that they do," ~10 year old Arkansas 5th grader Will Phillips, who refused to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in solidarity with the LGBT community's fight for equality. "I believe that whatever history I'm a part of, I'm responsible for. If I feel something is unjust or unequal, I feel a responsibility to do something about i t." ~ 23 year old Hudson Taylor, a straight college wrestler who, confidently calls himself a feminist and allies himself with the cause of LGBT equality. When a 23 year old straight college student and a 5th grader from Arkansas can stand up and take responsibility for advancing the cause of equality, it is time for all of us to look in the mirror and think hard about what we are individually doing to, in the words of Hudson Taylor, take respon...

Shortly after the Senate DADT hearings in early February, I contacted my Senator, Kay Bailey Hutchison to urge her support for repeal. My letter to the editor in today's Longview News-Journal has Hutchison's response to me and my comments on her position: Sunday, March 7: Supports repeal of Don't Ask policy LONGVIEW NEWS JOURNAL I recently wrote a letter to U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison urging her to help repeal the military's ban on gay men and lesbians openly serving in the military — the so-called Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. I hoped that as a member of the Senate's Armed Services Committee, and someone with a reputation as a fair-minded legislator, Hutchison would be open to studying a repeal of the policy. To my surprise, Hutchison responded that she flatly opposes a repeal because "the Department of Defense has testified before Congress that the current policy has served the military well...

When I hear LGBT leaders like Barney Frank talk about the importance of personally lobbying members of congress , I am filled with despair at the thought of trying to get my Congressman to vote for my rights. This past Monday, however, I renewed my commitment to my democratic obligations, and I began to answer the call of Barney Frank and others to be an active citizen lobbyist for equality. I' ve always sort of envied those of you who live in Democratic or swing Congressional Districts. You have the luxury of having your views represented, or at least heard, by your representative in Congress. As I have have previously written, I have the misfortune of being "represented" in Congress by Louie Gohmert , a man who proudly places himself in the same ideological category as Steve King and Michelle Bachmann . I live with the sad reality that I will likely never convince Gohmert to vote for my interests on any given issue, nor will I likely have the opportunity to help el...

Sorry it took me a few days to get this up on here, but my latest post (Monday) over at Bilerico is a MUST read. It looks like for now the hearing has been postponed, but the law isn't killed. Let's keep the pressure on. "Take Action: Illinois rightwingers want to gut LGBT protections" on The Bilerico Project : "In 2005, a broad coalition of labor, LGBT, and progressive activists from across the state of Illinois joined together to form 'The 85% Coalition' to pressure the legislature to pass an inclusive amendment to the Illinois Human Rights Act [IHRA] to outlaw employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Illinois' law has been a model for the nation--a sweeping and successfully implemented gender and sexuality-inclusive employment non-discrimination law. This fall, in fact, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan testified at the federal hearings on ENDA on Capitol Hill, explaining before our law-makers that the law h...