We may not have won in New York yet but we will

Editor's note - Training at my job is whipping my behind. Thank goodness it lasts only two more days.

By now, you all know the news that marriage equality was defeated in New York via a 38-24 vote of the legislature.

I'm sure everyone on our side of the spectrum has voiced their anger and will continue to do such while Maggie Gallagher, NOM, and company will talk about it being a great victory for their side.

Now the last time I spoke out over a marriage equality loss (i.e. the vote in Maine), some folks didn't appreciate my "stop whining and don't get discouraged" tone.

While I'm not going to be as mean this time, I'm still in the camp of "this is a momentary setback in the cause of lgbt equality."

Let me explain my point.

One of the main reasons why I despise when we lose marriage equality votes, referendums, etc is because it demoralizes the community. We allow it to suck the very life out of us.

No matter what happened that was positive for us at the time of whatever defeat, no matter how many victories we have lodged, everything is judged in the prism of "we lost this marriage equality vote so life sucks for us."

And I don't think marriage equality losses should have that much power over us.

So we lost the vote in New York this time. It doesn't mean that we can't continue to try.

And it doesn't take away from the fact that Georgia elected the nation's first (but not the last) African-American lesbian state legislator

Nor does the loss in New York take away the fact that Ebony magazine put an out lesbian of color on the cover of its magazine for the first time ever.

Or a young gay Asian was elected to be mayor of Campbell, CA

Or the Washington, D.C. Council voted to legalize same sex marriage in spite of threats by the Catholic church.

Or our victory regarding the Washington statewide vote for domestic partnership became official today.

Or (and yes I'm going to say it) actress Meredith Baxter came out today. Forget that fact that she is a celebrity for a second. This is a woman who for the first time ever was proud to publicly announce her love for someone she has had a relationship for seven years.

To hell with anyone who says "what took her so long." I say "you better go, girl!"

We are getting there. We ain't there yet but it would make no sense to stop pushing forward because I believe that we are closer to our goals than we like to give ourselves credit for.

So while I'm not happy with the vote in New York, I refuse to get discouraged.

And I hope that the rest of my lgbt brothers and sisters and those who support us don't, either.

Georgia elects nation's first black lesbian state legislator, Meredith Baxter Birney comes out and other Wednesday midday news briefs

Georgia elects nation’s first black lesbian state legislator - Hot damn!

Young, gay Asian becomes mayor of Campbell - How is this for two for two!

Audio: #ILoveNYEquality - Goodasyou.org provides coverage of the ongoing debate for marriage equality in the New York legislature

D.C. Council votes to legalize same-sex marriage - Apparently the goal for today is to see how fast the religious right's collective head can spin.

And it's the coming out that everyone is talking about. My "turn gay" ray keeps missing Phillip Seymour Hoffman and instead seems to hit everyone else instead:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Rick Warren continues to lose integrity over proposed Ugandan anti-gay bill

Rick Warren continues to compound the error of his ignorance.

According to ThinkProgress:

In recent days, Pastor Rick Warren has come under fire for refusing to condemn an Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda that would make some homosexual acts punishable by death. “[I]t is not my personal calling as a pastor in America to comment or interfere in the political process of other nations,” said Warren. On his Twitter feed, Warren is now trying to change the subject, claiming that “no one” cared when 146,000 Christians died last year (so why should he now care about gay men and women in Africa?):



Whether or not Warren is padding numbers here is irrelevant.

Regardlesss of whether it is 146 people or 146, 000 people, no should be persecuted because of their faith and by that same point, no one should be persecuted because of their orientation. A true man of God would find that commonality.

Family Research Council's anti-lgbt stance built on distortions

 Editor's note - bear with me this week, folks. I've got training at my job in addition to my usual duties. My postings will continue but a little off schedule.

In a post on ThinkProgress, the anti-lgbt history of the Family Research Council was recently examined due to an email sent out by the organization claiming that President Obama is trying to "impose homosexuality" via ENDA:

In a four-page solicitation letter mailed to supporters this month, which was obtained by ThinkProgress, the conservative organization went even further in its rhetoric, claiming that President Obama wants to “impose homosexuality and silence Christianity in workplaces”

It's the usual balderdash from Tony Perkins and company but it's good that ThinkProgress is devoting attention to FRC.

The ThinkProgress piece links to a Media Matters Action post which also looks at the Family Research Council's history of being anti-lgbt by including the many extreme and totally anti-Christian comments and stances taken by the group.

But I want to add a little more.

The Media Matters Action post did an excellent job breaking down just how anti-lgbt the Family Research Council is, but I think some specific attention should be paid to just how deceptive they have been in pushing their anti-lgbt stance. The following posts by me and others demonstrate few instances in which the group have distorted facts to make the case against lgbt equality:

November 23, 2009 - Family Research Council caught falsely accusing Congresswoman of religious bigotry - While not lgbt-oriented per se, this post demonstrates just how the Family Research Council will truncate a quote to push a false image of religious persecution.

November 18, 2009 - Video: FRC invited Chai to speak; now slicing both her footage and her back - Goodasyou.org shows how FRC used spliced footage to make the case against EEOC nominee Chai Feldblum. 

October 27, 2009 - Family Research Council's coldhearted attack on lgbt senior citizens -In an ugly attack on lgbt seniors, the Family Research Council uses the work of the discredited researcher Paul Cameron (Editor's note - the Media Matters Action post inaccurately says that Cameron started the Family Research Council. While this is not true, the organization has a history of using his work, irregardless of his dubious history.)

Family Research Council: Obama program to help gay elderly is wasted since gays die young anyway. Is FRC again using "science" of known hate group? - Americablog Gay added another view of the FRC/lgbt senior controversy.

October 26, 2009 - It's just good for FRC that crimes against truth aren't tracked - From Goodasyou.org comes  another FRC distortion. This time, it's about hate crimes statistics.

October 21, 2009 - Family Research Council brags about ability to fool 80,000 people - FRC pushes the lie that hate crimes legislation will "silence" Christians.

October 1, 2009 - Family Research Council head misrepresents credible information to hurt ENDA  -  In testimony against ENDA, FRC head Tony Perkins uses anecdotes and distorts a study on lgbt health.

June 9, 2009 - More attacks on GLSEN'S Kevin Jennings - Now the Family Research Council gets in the act - During the attacks on Obama appointee Kevin Jennings, FRC distorted incidents about his life.
  
May 20, 2009 - Another flawed piece of work courtesy of the Family Research Council - Making an awful comparison between unmarried lgbt couples and married heterosexual couples, FRC pushes the study Comparing the Lifestyles of Homosexual Couples to Married Couples.

January 13, 2009 - The Family Research Council continues to use 'outdated' work - via communication with an employee of the Family Research Council, I discovered that the organization eliminated several anti-lgbt studies from its webpage due to "outdated sources." However, I also learned from the same employee that while the studies were eliminated, the information contained in the studies (and a lot of it can be considered "outdated" i.e. studies from the early 1970s) were included in future studies.

World AIDS Day, Hilary Clinton shows gumption, and other Tuesday midday news briefs

What you need to do and what you can do for World AIDS Day - self explanatory

U.S. Warns against International Efforts to Criminalize Homosexuality - Hilary Clinton shows the courage that Rick Warren SHOULD HAVE shown.

Southern Baptists oppose health insurance for gays - And we should be surprised because?

DC City Council votes to approve marriage equality - BAM!

'Declaration' of militi-pendence - More immoral signers of that Manhattan Declaration.

The AFA Turns on Huckabee - I would have preferred attention to be focused on Huckabee's love of anti-gay hate groups rather than because of this tragic incident.

Hate group leader joins Manhattan Declaration

Don't be fooled by the Manhattan Declaration. It's creators would like for you to think that it's a document that is the last line of defense in the so-called spread of anti-Christian bigotry.

But like so many public things, what is said should be judged by those those making the statements.

In this case, the motivations behind the Manhattan Declaration is best served by observing who signed it.

A while back, it came out that one of the signers, Rev. Peter J. Akinola of the Anglican Church of Nigeria supported laws that would imprison lgbts or anyone who would support lgbt rights.

According to the blog Goodasyou.org, there is another person signing the document whom attention should be paid - Lou Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition.

I've talked about Sheldon and his phony group many times, most recently about how the group distorted marketing statistics to make a case against ENDA.

Ebony magazine puts out lesbian on the cover

For the first time that I can remember, Ebony magazine has placed an out-of-the-closet lesbian on the cover.

Comedian Wanda Sykes has graced the cover of the magazine as a part of its Power 150 list.

Sykes, an immensely talented Emmy-award winning comedian,  came out last year during a Las Vegas rally in response to the Proposition 8 vote. Earlier last year, she married her partner, Alex and this year, the two became the parents of twins.

Granted, her cover is just one in a collection of eight covers, including that of Chris Rock, President Barack Obama, and Al Sharpton.

And also, unfortunately, the short blurb on her in the magazine makes a highly guarded, tiptoeing mention of her orientation.

But still, it's not a bad thing.  And I should also note that the same issue of Ebony contains a very good interview with the openly gay director of the hit movie Precious, Lee Daniels in which he acknowledges his orientation.

These developments in Ebony magazine aren't necessarily the same as a door opening for lgbts of color, but they are a start.
And yes they are somewhat of a big deal.

Every lgbt issue in the media need not surround Adam Lambert or Perez Hilton.