In the State …
Supporters of marriage equality are planning to protest during the Pitt County Board of Commissioners meeting this coming Monday to show their contempt for a same-sex marriage ban proposed by Commissioner David Hammond.
http://www.reflector.com/news/gay-rights-advocates-to-protest-county-meeting-702924.html
Edge, Boston’s largest LGBT news network, offers a debriefing on the recently released, and somewhat controversial, Dallas Principles, drafted by 24 individuals in a hotel room in Dallas last May. One of these 24 was NC’s own Pam Spaulding!
http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc2=features&sc3=&id=93491
For a first-hand look, check out their website at http://www.thedallasprinciples.org/The_Dallas_Principles/Home.html
Chapel Hill Native and six-year Dean and Director of Religious and Spiritual Life at Duke University Rev. Craig Kocher may become the new Chaplain at the University of Richmond. A committed LGBT ally, Rev. Kocher would make the U of R chaplaincy a place for the community to “engage questions of difference with dignity and grace.”
Pamela Jones, a Charlotte blogger, takes a moment to reflect on all of the LGBT activity in July, especially in the city.
http://pamela1nc.blogspot.com/2009/07/pride-month.html
The School Library Journal says its piece on the Healthy Youth Act, mostly hopeful that it will help to reduce the high rates of teen pregnancy in the state. If only their slightly mis-informed headline – “North Carolina Abandons Teaching Abstinence to Middle Schoolers” – were true.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6668922.html?desc=topstory
The Cherokee Scout weighs in on the effects of the Healthy Youth Act in their county.
http://cherokeescout.com/articles/2009/07/07/news/doc4a53a5fa6f00e231870606.txt
More Historically Black Colleges and Universities around the nation are adopting non-discrimination policies that include sexual orientation. Winston-Salem State University happily amended theirs earlier this year, thanks to a proposal from the school’s Gay Straight Student Alliance!
http://diverseeducation.com/artman/publish/article_12697.shtml
In the nation …
On npr.org editors of the New Republic share their frustration with the inaction of the Obama Administration towards LGBT issues.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106292614
USAToday reports that computer programs which automatically “unmarry” same-sex couples, as well as other complications, will make the 2010 Census inclusion of same-sex marriage a challenge.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/census/2009-07-05-samesexcensus_N.htm
The White House and the OPM came out in “whole-hearted” support of extending health and retirement benefits to the same-sex partners of government employees. Office of Personnel Director John Berry admitted in a statement that, “Historically, the federal government has in many ways been a progressive employer, but we’re behind the private sector and 19 states, including Alaska and Arizona, on this one.”
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/federal-diary/2009/07/domestic_benefits_are_a_sure_t.html
The School Violence Prevention Act goes national as the Safe Schools Improvement Act, which would also include the specific enumeration of sexual orientation and gender expression. Blogger Pam Spaulding has the details.
In the World …
Sarah Brown, wife of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, carried a red, white and pink version of the Union Jack, joining in the annual London gay pride march.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g-o5orW33mdheA-rpmEzFodINkbQD997NJT00
That’s all for this week!
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