· New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D) signs landmark legislation that mandates paid family leave for same-sex partners—making the state the second after California to have such a law. "Workers can apply for up to six weeks off to care for a newborn or newly adopted child, or a sick parent, child, spouse or partner, and collect up to two-thirds of their pay. The new law explicitly includes married spouses, as well as civil union partners."
· Nova at Soulbounce with the latest on Jill Scott: " "Whenever You're Around" has been chosen as the third single from The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3. ... As of right now, there are no plans for a video to be shot, but in this day and age visuals are so important for a single's longevity and it would be nice to see Jill get her sexy on in a vid for this song."
· Colorado: The House gives initial "approval to a bill barring discrimination against lesbians and gays in housing and public accommodations." In May 2007, Gov. Bill Ritter signed a measure that bans workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
· No protection for LGBT employees in Wyoming. A federal appeals court overturns a lower court ruling in the case of a school district that discriminated against two former employees because they are lesbians.
· The BBC News profiles gay Latinos in the United States and talks to prominent activist and blogger Andrés Duque, who describes the mainstream gay community's fetishistic view of its Latino counterpart. "The only thing you see about Latinos in many of the gay magazines and guides here in New York is pictures of naked Latino boys or skimpy-clothed Latino boys," Andrés notes, adding he is disappointed by the lack of reporting "which actually talk about the gay Latino community beyond that sexual ideal".
· LGBT travel becomes extremely lucrative, bringing in an estimated $65 billion a year.
· After eight years, Florida finally passes anti-bullying legislation. The LGBT inclusive bill unanimously passed the state senate and the Sunshine State becomes the 36th state to pass anti-bullying law and only the second state to penalize schools that don't comply. Gov. Charlie Crist (R) is expected to sign the bill next week. "It’s a damn shame it has to be made into LAW before people realize that bullying kids who are LGBT is WRONG," says one reader at Queerty.
Luther, you are absolutely right. Many young Latinos are aggressively branding their own identity and reject the fetishization forced upon them by the mainstream gay white culture.
That being said, Andres is a great advocate for Latino gay men in New York City and across the web. Rod, it's great to see you and he regularly link to each other.
Posted by: Xavier G | 04 May 2008 at 12:56
As a Coloradan I'm glad our state is finally making discrimination in the workplace illegal while working toward not being complete morons. *sigh*
Posted by: Tony | 04 May 2008 at 23:05