NEW YORK, NEW YORK - Crowds packed 5th Avenue in Manhattan for New York City's 2009 Gay Pride Parade. This year also marks the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, a violent clash that ushered in the gay liberation movement.
By Video Journalist Olu Gittens (Producer / Reporter/ Cameraperson / Editor / Writer / Narrator)
Program on Manhattan Neighborhood Network
Production Facilities courtesy of MNN
Copyright 2009 by Olu GittensNEW YORK, NEW YORK - Crowds packed 5th Avenue in Manhattan for New York City's 2009... more
I met my first boyfriend while this song was on the charts. The Supremes without Ross, Wow, harmonies again! History is on our side, if time isn't.
The fence is where Matthew Shepard was tied, beaten and left for dead. Alongside the picture, Mrs. Shepard.I met my first boyfriend while this song was on the charts. The Supremes without... more
TEXAS - A crowd of more than 100 protesters chanted "No more!" from the steps of the Tarrant County Courthouse Sunday evening as they demanded an investigation into a police raid earlier in the day at a gay night club.
One patron was seriously injured in the raid, several protesters said, as police used excessive force in making seven arrests. Police defended their actions.
Speaker after speaker demanded an inquiry into the late-night raid at the Rainbow Lounge on South Jennings Street.
"I was scared," patron Todd Camp said at the protest Sunday afternoon. "I have never seen anything like this in my life."...
Witnesses say that police arrived at the nightclub about 1 a.m. Sunday and arrested seven people and that one of those arrested suffered a fractured skull during the take down and is at a Fort Worth hospital.
Personally I believe this was done purposely, for them to do a "random bar check" with multiple cruisers and officers is hard to believe. They used excessive force, cracking one guys skull. To do this on the Stonewall anniversary is pretty unacceptable, I hope they get to the bottom of this.TEXAS - A crowd of more than 100 protesters chanted "No more!" from the steps of the... more
Sunday, June 28, marks the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, considered by many the beginning of the modern gay rights movement in the U.S. NBC News Editor Sandra Lilley spoke to two men, one who was at the Stonewall Inn on the night of the riots and the other a historian who wrote a book about the events. They discuss how the movement for gay rights has, and hasn’t, changed over the last 40 years.Sunday, June 28, marks the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, considered by many... more
For 15 minutes in the Oval Office the other day, one of President Obama’s top campaign lieutenants, Steve Hildebrand, told the president about the “hurt, anxiety and anger” that he and other gay supporters felt over the slow pace of the White House’s engagement with gay issues.
But on Monday, 250 gay leaders are to join Mr. Obama in the East Room to commemorate publicly the 40th anniversary of the birth of the modern gay rights movement: a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York. By contrast, the first time gay leaders were invited to the White House, in March 1977, they met a midlevel aide on a Saturday when the press and President Jimmy Carter were nowhere in sight.
The conflicting signals from the White House about its commitment to gay issues reflect a broader paradox: even as cultural acceptance of homosexuality increases across the country, the politics of gay rights remains full of crosscurrents.
It is reflected in the surge of gay men and lesbians on television and in public office, and in polls measuring a steady rise in support for gay rights measures. Despite approval in California of a ballot measure banning same-sex marriage, it has been authorized in six states.
Yet if the culture is moving on, national politics is not, or at least not as rapidly. Mr. Obama has yet to fulfill a campaign promise to repeal the policy barring openly gay people from serving in the military. The prospects that Congress will ever send him a bill overturning the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman, appear dim. An effort to extend hate-crime legislation to include gay victims has produced a bitter backlash in some quarters: Senator Jim DeMint, Republican of South Carolina, sent a letter to clerics in his state arguing that it would be destructive to “faith, families and freedom.”
“America is changing more quickly than the government,” said Linda Ketner, a gay Democrat from South Carolina who came within four percentage points of winning a Congressional seat in November. “They are lagging behind the crowd. But if I remember my poli sci from college, isn’t that the way it always works?”
Some elected Democrats in Washington remain wary because they remember how conservatives used same-sex marriage and gay service in the military against them as political issues. The Obama White House in particular is reluctant to embrace gay rights issues now, officials there say, because they do not want to provide social conservatives a rallying cry while the president is trying to assemble legislative coalitions on health care and other initiatives.For 15 minutes in the Oval Office the other day, one of President Obama’s top... more
Forty years. It's hard to believe that four full decades have passed since members of "New York's Finest" staged a raid on a gay bar in the city's Greenwich Village -- and in the process, sparked a social revolution that continues to reverberate to this day. . .Forty years. It's hard to believe that four full decades have passed since members of... more
The political climate before the explosion at Stonewall in New York's Greenwich Village in 1969 has been artfully documented by John Scagliotti, whose films Before Stonewall and After Stonewall tell the story of gay activism and the struggle for social justice throughout the twentieth century. You can find out more about Scagliotti's work here.The political climate before the explosion at Stonewall in New York's Greenwich... more
40 years after Stonewall, a defining moment in the struggle for gay rights and social justice, discrimination against LGBT people is still common throughout the world. The Obama administration’s Justice Department has upheld the Defense of Marriage Act passed in 1996 that defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman. Sangeeta Budhiraja, Program Officer of Building Movements at the Ms. Foundation for Women, Writer and activist Kenyon Farrow, and Mab Segrest, Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies at Connecticut College on the historical roots of discrimination against the LGBT community and the struggle for equal rights.40 years after Stonewall, a defining moment in the struggle for gay rights and social... more
New York | 28 giugno 1969 | Una foto che documenta la rivolta degli omosessuali ritrovata nell’archivio di Joseph Ambrosini (Daily News) e pubblicata da OutHistory insieme ad altri documenti inediti tra cui il verbale della polizia di quella notteNew York | 28 giugno 1969 | Una foto che documenta la rivolta degli omosessuali... more
OutCast Films present a film about Stonewall, from the Riots to the Awards. Filmed on location at the Stonewall Awards Protest in London, November 2008. Preview of a collection of short films.OutCast Films present a film about Stonewall, from the Riots to the Awards. Filmed on... more
Stonewall's decision to nominate transphobic Julie Bindel of The Guardian for the Journalist of the Year award sparked an angry response from the trans and queer community in the form of a demonstration outside London's Victoria and Albert Museum in November 2008.
Activists from the Queer Youth Network along with LGBT allies and friends from all over the country have produced this short film (the first in a new series) about their journey and role in the protest.
The full feature length film along with related showings will be screened at at special Film Night in Manchester on 23rd November 2008 to celebrate Transgender Day of Remembrance. Details here
Find out the story behind this film at the Facebook Group Transphobic Julie Bindel Nominated for a Stonewall Award
Transphobic journalist nominated for this year's for this year's Stonewall Awards.
QueerNews.org.uk has learned a number transgender rights groups intend to hold a public demonstration outside the event.The UK based gay rights lobby group "Stonewall" holds annual awards recognising the best of "Lesbian and Gay Talent". The awards are due to take place in London on 6th November 2008.
Guardian Writer and Feminist Julie Bindel who now has become somewhat of a synonym for transphobia in the media. Some argue that Bindel is merely a radical before her time who has simply argued that society can embrace trans people without the need for undergoing surgery but her claims that "Sex change surgery is unnecessary mutilation" have without a doubt offended and degraded a great deal of people within the trans community.
A group of prominent celebrities have joined forces with Stonewall to support its campaign against homophobic bullying in Britain’s schools.
In September’s issue of UK's Attitude magazine, Hollyoaks actor James Sutton, screen icon Sir Ian McKellen, singer Danni Minogue, comedian Alan Carr, Westlife’s Mark Feehily, and The Feeling’s frontman Dan Gillespie Sells have been photographed wearing t-shirts which depict the campaign slogan: ‘Some people are gay. Get over it!’
Chris Gibbons, Stonewall’s senior education officer, said: "As pupils return to school, it’s fitting that Stonewall’s campaign to tackle homophobic bullying has been given such a boost. Celebrity support is a way of getting the message out – especially to younger people – that homophobic bullying is unacceptable."
Matthew Todd, editor of Attitude, told PinkNews.co.uk: "I don’t consider this a 'gay issue.' Most gay people will not have kids. These are the children of straight people. We are the children of straight people, mostly. I think that’s something that’s always fallen out of the debate about homosexuality in the past. It’s not a them and us issue, were all in this together."
The ‘Some people are gay. Get over it!’ design started life as posters, postcards and stickers which are sent out to schools who want to support the campaign.
Earlier this year, the slogan also ran as a billboard campaign in 600 locations across the country. Most recently, it featured on panels in London’s tube trains as part of Stonewall’s ‘back to school’ campaign.
During the campaign for Mayor of London all the main candidates also gave their backing to the fight against homophobic bullying in schools. Mayor Boris Johnson announced last month that a £10,000 grant to Soho Pride will instead be re-invested to help facilitate a London campaign against homophobic bullying in schools.A group of prominent celebrities have joined forces with Stonewall to support its... more
The UK security service, MI5, is looking to recruit more gay staff and has hired Stonewall, the gay lobby group, to advise them on how to attract more gay applicants for posts., Furthermore, spies that are already working with MI5 will be encouraged to be more open about their sexuality.
The shift in attitude marks a significant change in stance by MI5. Gay men and women were barred from working in sensitive posts in the diplomatic or security services until the early 1990s. The ostensible rationale was concern that gay spies could be vulnerable to blackmail, while gay ambassadors could create tensions between the UK and countries that still criminalise homosexuality.
The decision is part of a broader cultural shift by the service to a more open recruitment of people from across society. The change is driven partly by necessity - MI5 has been rapidly recruiting hundreds more staff since the July 7 2005 bombings.
Ben Summerskill, Stonewall's current chief executive, said yesterday that MI5 faced the same dilemma as other employers who have traditionally recruited from a relatively narrow base. Stonewall has been working with investment banks in the past to try to help them reach employees who do not conform to certain stereotypes.The UK security service, MI5, is looking to recruit more gay staff and has hired... more
Two gay groups are calling for a boycott of Heinz products after the food company pulled an ad for Heinz Deli Mayonnaise that featured DUN DUN DUUUUN! Two men having a quick kiss.Two gay groups are calling for a boycott of Heinz products after the food company... more
Stonewall: When the Closet Door Finally Opened. This composition presents wonderful photographs, an original documentary film about The Stonewall Riots and a video of the very first Gay Pride March (New York City, 1970).
It also includes music audio, as well as a memorable photo-gallery with both vintage and contemporary photographs.Stonewall: When the Closet Door Finally Opened. This composition presents wonderful... more
