This week I'll start off with a story from yesterday. Yesterday, Barney Frank introduced the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). The bill would ban workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The struggle to pass ENDA has gone on for a long time. Back in 2007, in a last ditch effort to pass it, it was stuck in Department of Defense appropriations bill in order to avoid a veto from George W. Bush. The bill was amended and the ENDA part of the bill was taken out. This new bill is also more inclusive than the last one. During the last time around, in an effort to get votes, discrimination based on gender identity was taken out of the bill, to the outrage of many in the LGBT community. I was particularly pissed at HRC as they seemed very willing to thrown the trans community under the bus to get this bill passed. I hope they've learned their lesson.

Here's a special story. A church pastor and former NFL player Kenneth Hutcherson wrote a piece in the Washington Post saying that openly gay players would (a) hurt team cohesion, (b) would be a distraction, and (c) would make other men in the showers "uncomfortable." He goes on to state, "Men are going to be more comfortable with other heterosexuals. It's like having a woman on the team or having a woman in the shower. How can you keep your mind on the game when you're thinking about running back to the showers?."

I don't think anyone is surprised by these kind of statements being made by someone who comes from the sports world. It's also not surprising that not very many pro athletes have come out. Sheryl Swoops of the WNBA, was the first pro athlete to come out in a major sport (in the U.S. anyway) while she was still an active player. You can read an interview she gave to The Advocate here. Other players have come out after their playing careers are over. Esera Tuaolo was one such player, he played in the NFL (mostly for the Vikings) and wrote a book after coming out called, Alone in the Trenches: My Life as a Gay Man in the NFL. John Amaechi played in the NBA, and he came out after retiring and wrote "Man in the Middle." He played for one of my favorite teams, the Utah Jazz. He was also our Grand Marshall for Pride last year. Here's an amusing quote from his book on the subject of locker rooms.



What's amusing to me is that the reasons Hutcherson gave were similar to the reasons the military gave to initially exclude LGBT people & women from the military: LGBT people & women hurt unit cohesion, they are distractions (women are too emotional), they make other unit members "uncomfortable", and it's like having a woman in your unit (again too impulsive, emotional, illogical). These same reasons are used even now under Don't Ask Don't Tell when discharging soldiers. Now, being paid a multimillion dollar contract for playing a game and being a U.S. solider fighting on behalf of the U.S. are two very different professions, but the message to LGBT people is the same. You don't belong, you must accept second class status and hide, and if you aren't willing to hide, you risk your career/job (regardless of reputation).

For those of you reading this, what has your experience been like as a member of a sports team or a member of a unit in the military? What would you say about Hutcherson's claims? Where do you think his locker room claim comes from? I can say I don't feel real comfortable dressing in locker rooms, and I definitely don't feel comfortable showing in them either. I would purposely schedule my gym class in middle school and high school to avoid showering at school. I think that's partly why the locker room argument amuses me. It assumes that we feel totally comfortable in an often homophobic atmosphere, and that it would be dangerous for us to be in the same locker room/showers with heterosexuals. If we dress in the same locker room with heterosexuals we suddenly become sexual predators. Our focus is not on toweling off or dressing, it's on your cock, and if we're in the shower stall next to you, we may not be able to control our sexual deviant self.

Enough of that stupid bullshit, moving on.

Here's an interesting article from Forbes that claims that if same-sex marriage were legalized, the wedding industry/economy would see about a $9.5 billion dollar boost. It was estimated that the most money would come from gifts, the reception/catering, and the honeymoon. It was also noted that on average, same-sex couples tend to spend about 34% less on their weddings compared to their hetero counterparts.

Last story, June 28th of this month is the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York City. In the 50s and 60s there were few places where gay people were welcome. However, one of the few places they were welcome were at bars (oh how things change). Police raids on gay bars were a common practice at the time. Usually when raided, the police would line people up, check their driver's license & other IDs, round up & arrest any patrons whose presented gender identity didn't match their driver's license or anyone they pretty much felt deserve a trip down to the station. They were also known to sexually harass patrons and physically assault them. However, on this night the queers of Greenwich village decided to fight back. They refused to produce IDs, and those who weren't arrested began to form a LARGE crowd outside the Stonewall Inn. As the police began escorting the arrested out to the patty wagons, the crowd began mocking them and began throwing bricks, bottles, and rocks. The Police turned on the crowd, who then outnumbered them and were quite tired of their bullshit. After retreating back into the Stonewall Inn because of the crowd, they pulled out their pistols and threatened to shoot people in the crowd. The police department's Tactical Police Force arrived and freed the cops from the Stonewall Inn, then focused their attention on crowd control. By about 4 in the morning the streets were clear, the Stonewall Inn was mostly destroyed, and more protests ensued- eventually leading to the formation of gay rights groups. Stonewall is important because it was the first time queer people had fought back, and the anger that the community felt spawned the creation of organizations that combated the oppression of LGBTQ people. That's why it's considered the birth of the LGBTQ civil rights movement.

On the Brian Lehrer show, they did a segment (on June 23rd) devoted to the Stonewall Riots and interviewed some of the people who were there and a historian. You can go here to listen to the segment in it's entirety.

If you have a story you'd like to see on the blog, feel free to email it to me at rickweber@student.com. Also, I'm looking looking for people to share their Pride pictures and perspectives on what Pride means to them.

Click here to e-mail this post to friends