Equality in the News August 21st – 28th

By ENC intern, Harmony

As many of you know, longtime ally Senator Edward Kennedy died this past Tuesday. Bay Windows has gathered notes from leading community members – local and national – on the former Senator and his work. You can read them here.

Para leer sobre el senador en español, fíjese en SentidoG.

In the State …

Q-notes reports on the merger of two LGBT publications – OnQ Network, based in Myrtle Beach, S.C, and Stereotypd, sourced in Asheville. More specifics here.

Lee Sartain, 28, is running for Raleigh City Council. “His friends call him an ‘ideas machine,’ flexible enough to adapt them to be politically realistic. He speaks his mind, says Trey Davis, a Duke University graduate and fellow wonk who works for the Urban Land Institute in Washington, D.C., ‘but he's Southern enough to know how to put a little sugar on it, too.’” If elected, Sartain will become Raleigh’s first openly gay city council member. Read more online.

Greensboro’s News & Record asks if it’s okay to be gay in Guilford County. Check out the mixed responses here.

Wilmington protesters, inspired by the beating of two men perceived to be gay earlier this summer, call for greater legal protection from hate crimes. Read more from WHQR.

Q-notes also reports on the protest.

Q-notes shares the anti-LGBT history of former Chief Justice of the N.C. Supreme Court Henry E. Frye, Jr. Chief Justice Frye was recently honored by the state Democratic party, which renamed the Sanford-Hunt dinner the “Sanford-Hunt-Frye” dinner.

Q-notes interviews two of the military veterans, both discharged under DADT, who spoke in Charlotte as part of the joint Human Rights Campaign and Servicemembers United speaking tour, Voices of Honor.

Home improvement store Lowe’s is set to pay 1.7 million dollars in a sexual harassment settlement to two men harassed for being perceived as gay, and one woman sexually harassed by her supervisor at the Lowe’s in Mooresville, N.C. The chain has also agreed to review its policies on anti-harassment training, and issuing complaints. Follow this link for details.

This year’s N.C. Literary Festival will be held Sept 10-13 at UNC Chapel Hill, and will include a segment called “Writing Gay” in which authors discuss the complexities of writing gay characters and the issues they face. Read more about what’s coming here.

In the Nation

The Gay and Lesbian Times reports on the recent Lutheran vote to accept Gay and Lesbian clergy in committed homosexual relationships and the various reactions from Lutherans and Christians of other denominations.

A more optimistic, less schism-searching perspective on the Lutheran decision comes from a blogger on Progressive Revival.

Advocate.com shows there is no real timeline on the repeal of DADT, either from the White House or the Pentagon. Read more here.

Congressman Alcee Hastings wrote to the President yesterday, calling for a repeal of DADT and promising to keep pushing until he sees results. Read his bold letter at pinknews.

“According to the Associated Press, U.S. district judge David O. Carter ruled that the first of several challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act was improperly filed in a state court before it was advanced to federal courts.” Thankfully, attorney for the plaintiffs Richard Gilbert says he does plan to resubmit the case. Read more about the rejection of Smelt v. United States from the Advocate.

Philadelphia Gay News also has the story.

For a detailed update on the ENDA bill and its commitment to protecting gender identity as well as sexual orientation, check out the Associated Press.

Out in the World

The Uruguayan Chamber of Representatives voted yesterday to allow gay and lesbian couples to adopt. If this bill passes the senate, Uruguay, which already allows same-sex civil unions and gay and lesbian service-people in the military, will become the first country in Latin America to have such a law.

SentidoG reconoce “un ejemplo de lucha contra la homofobia en una escuela argentina.” Lea más aquí.

That’s all for this week, and the last of my blogs for Equality NC – I’m off to Spain this Tuesday! Thanks for reading – I hope it was helpful!