Blogs

Great news coming from an Associated Press story courtesy of 365gay.com -- the United Nations has a non-binding resolution on the table, already signed by more than 60 nations, calling for the decriminalization of homosexuality worldwide. After the Bush administration refused to sign on to the resolution in December, the Obama administration has decided to support it, bringing the U.S.

Many of us are waiting for the California Supreme Court to rule on the validity of Proposition 8, but in the meantime, this blog post from columnist Andrew Sullivan reveals some interesting new data on attitudes around gay marriage in California.

Here's some video from last week -- this is former Soulforce Media Director Paige Schilt with Atticus Circle member Stephanie Molnar, talking about their experience talking to Texas state legislators during last week's Lobby Day event. The Equality Texas event, which involved a number of Atticus Circle members, involved nearly 500 Texans who talked face-to-face with legislators about their support for a series of bills seeking to give LGBT individuals, couples, and families in Texas equal rights. Here are Paige and Stephanie talking about their experience:

As you probably know, the California Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday on Proposition 8. This report from the San Francisco Chronicle is grim; the justices' comments indicate that they may be ready to uphold the ban on gay marriages in California.

Yesterday's Lobby Day at the Texas State Capitol was amazing -- 500 Texans came together to talk to legislators about five bills they're currently considering, which would give LGBT individuals, couples, and families in Texas some of the rights and protections they deserve. Over the next few days, we'll talk about the experiences of various Atticus Circle members.

If you missed it, here was the greatest moment from Sunday's Oscars: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mv35SN3ctU] While Sean Penn's call for gay rights after winning his Best Actor award for his performance in Milkwas heartening, Dustin Lance Black's victory for best original screenplay -- and his moving speech about LGBT rights, his hopes for marriage, and his hopes for today's LGBT youth -- was a powerful reminder of the personal stories behind our fight for equal rights for all. Take a couple of minutes to watch and to be moved.

This past weekend, we were invited to participate in a conference at the University of Texas working toward competitive insurance benefits for employees of all university systems in Texas.

Congratulations are in order for Nick Shalosky, a 21-year-old openly gay College of Charleston student who has become South Carolina's first gay public official. Shalosky won a seat on the Charleston County District 20 Constituent School Board after noticing that no one had filed for the seat. As he notes in a guest post on the Bilerico Project, he was able to engineer a write-in campaign using Facebook.

This is Jodie and Jenny checking in from Bloomington, Indiana, where we're participating in the Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Ally College Conference. We're going to be talking about how to help eliminate bullying through legislation, including giving tips on how to support bills and lobby legislators.

We're excited to be a partner with Equality Texas for Lobby Day on Monday, March 2 -- the best possible way we can think of to celebrate Texas Independence Day! Lobbying is easier than and not as scary as you may believe it to be - it's simply a one-on-one conversation, in which you communicate the issues that are important to you with the individuals elected to represent you.