LGBT Issues

Five Straight Rappers Who Support LGBT Rights

As we're sure you're aware, the U.S. Supreme Court is again hearing arguments today about what to do with the issue of same-sex marriage. If the inundation of red profile pics on Twitter and Facebook is any indication, the growing social tide is on the side of the gay folk. Yet another sign that the ... More >>

Nate Silver's Forecast Is Very Optimistic About Same-Sex Marriage

Nate Silver is less than a god but more than a man. After November's presidential election, the bossman at the New York Times' FiveThirtyEight blog became best known for correctly predicting the electoral outcomes of all 50 states. His forecast models became legendary. Of course, he had previousl ... More >>

Proposition 8 Hearing Underway in Supreme Court

Update 8:30 a.m.: The Supreme Court blog is reporting that oral arguments are finished and that the Supreme Court will not make a ruling on same-sex marriage. If this is the case, the lower court's ruling stands and Prop 8 is invalidated. Update 8:24 a.m.: The Supreme Court blog is reporting that J ... More >>

Gay Marriage Advocates Ask Justice Antonin Scalia to Recuse Himself From Prop. 8 Deliberations

Earlier today, Justice Antonin Scalia made himself (in)famous among gays when he bluntly asked: "When did it became unconstitutional to exclude homosexual couples from marriage?" After a few back-and-forths with Ted Olson, the attorney representing the plaintiff's in the Proposition 8 case heard by ... More >>

Supreme Court to Hear Prop 8 Arguments Tomorrow

Tomorrow, the United States Supreme Court will begin hearing two cases that will decide the fate of same-sex marriage -- Prop 8 and DOMA. According to Buzzfeed, people have been lining up outside the Supreme Court since last Thursday, hoping to score a front-row seat for the landmark proceedings. ... More >>

East Bay Cities to Fly Gay Pride Flag During Prop. 8 Hearings Next Week

Next week, the U.S. Supreme Court will begin hearing two same-sex marriage cases, DOMA and Proposition 8, the state's ban on gay marriage. Although the court's ruling is not expected until June, it will be a turning point for the gay rights movement if the court reinstates same-sex marriage in Calif ... More >>

Nearly Two-Thirds of American Catholics Support Gay Marriage, Poll Shows

The Catholic Church has long had a reputation for its socially conservative doctrines. This tradition, though, has apparently not kept pace with the beliefs of its American followers, particularly when it comes to gay marriage. According to a recent New York Times/CBS News poll, 62 percent of Americ ... More >>

Pro-Gay Marriage Republicans Continue to Emerge

Based on your position on gay marriage, yesterday was either like watching the end of Spartacus or a clip of lemmings jumping off a cliff. More than two dozen Republicans added their names to a brief imploring the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that laws banning same-sex marriage are unconstitutional, ... More >>

S.F. Filmmaker Uses Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI to Highlight Italy's Stonewall

In 1998, a gay writer named Alfredo Ormando knelt in St. Peter's Square and lit himself on fire. His self-immolation was a protest against the Church's strict stance against gay marriage and homosexuality in general. Now, over a decade after Ormando's death, the Pope is resigning in the midst of t ... More >>

Meg Whitman, Republicans Sign Supreme Court Brief Supporting Gay Marriage -- Finally

At a time when stark partisanship has defined political debate, here's another sign that support for gay marriage is creeping into mainstream paradigm: A bunch of Republicans, including former California Gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, have signed a brief declaring to the U.S. Supreme Court tha ... More >>

Dennis Herrera Presents City's Argument Against Prop. 8 in U.S. Supreme Court Brief

"Asserting the inferiority of same-sex couples was the purpose and effect of Proposition 8," City Attorney Dennis Herrera states in a brief filed today in the U.S. Supreme Court. "But relegating gay couples to a lesser status simply to brand them as different and less worthy than opposite-sex couple ... More >>

Supervisor David Campos Wants to Name SFO After Harvey Milk

Harvey Milk is to San Franciscans what George Bush is to Texans -- a friggin' hero. That's probably why Supervisor David Campos has decided our international airport should be named after the gay civil rights guru, an honor that's typically reserved for former presidents. According to KTVU, Campos ... More >>

Prop. 8: Supreme Court Sets Date to Hear Case on Gay Marriage

Consider this your very own "save the date." The U.S. Supreme Court this morning said that oral arguments will begin on March 26 for the much-anticipated Proposition 8 case, which will finally bring some closure to the gay marriage debate that started right here in California over four years ago. ... More >>

Gay and Lesbian Couples Must Wait Longer for Prop. 8 Decision on Gay Marriage

Gay and Lesbian couples in San Francisco and across the state have put their lives on hold -- again -- as they await the Supreme Court's final decision on Proposition 8, California's ban on same-sex marriage. The court announced today that it would review the legality of the law, which means the deb ... More >>

Proposition 8: Supreme Court Takes No Action on Gay Marriage

The LGBT community remained unresolved this morning when the Supreme Court didn't take any action on Proposition 8, California's ban on gay marriage. Since last week, San Francisco has been anxiously awaiting the court's decision on whether it will hear the Prop 8. appeal. But today, the court took ... More >>

Prop.8: U.S. Supreme Court Considers Whether to Hear Gay Marriage Case

Update 12:40 p.m.: No action on gay marriage from the court today. The justices did not pick up any of those cases at their meeting this morning, SCOTUSblog reported. So, for all those who are hosting a Supreme Court Gay Marriage Case Announcement party, you'll need more ice and maybe some sleeping ... More >>

"Question One": Maine's Gay-Marriage Battle

San Francisco Has Some of the Gayest Buildings in America

Recently, California Home Design decided to honor gay and lesbian history by creating a gallery of the "Gayest Buildings in America." No, the buildings themselves aren't gay, but they do hold special meaning for our LGBT community.  Inspired by the panel "If These "Walls Could Talk," the gal ... More >>

A More Perfect Union: Prop. 8 May Lead to Gay-Marriage Rights

Chick-fil-A Doesn't Care If You Marry the Same Sex After All

Chick-fil-A has decided to stick to what it knows, and that's making chicken sandwiches. The anti-gay-marriage food chain is reportedly taking back all the unkind things it has said about gay marriage. The chicken-slinging CEOs now say Chick-fil-A is "re-evaluating the multimillion-dollar donations ... More >>

SF Weekly Letters

Nancy Pelosi, Fellow Dems Say Immigration Policy Should Recognize LGBT Couples

Undocumented immigrants in same-sex marriages are perhaps the most polarizing slice of the American populace right now (slightly ahead of NBC's gymnastics commentators).This week, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi and scores of other Democrats signed a letter seeking to protect LGBT couples, urging the Oba ... More >>

Supervisor Wiener Wants Healthy SF to Cover Gender Reassignment Surgery

Healthy San Francisco, the city's attempt at universal healthcare, has helped many local residents who don't have health insurance receive affordable medical treatment. But who is hasn't helped entirely are San Francisco's transgender residents seeking certain medical procedures, such as gender reas ... More >>

Attempt to Kill California's LGBT History Law Fails

Today marks another small victory for the LGBT commuity. A petition to repeal the law that requires California public schools to teach about the LGBT community's historical contributions has failed again. The second petition to repeal the gay history law did not attain the half-million signatures t ... More >>

Texas-Based Evangelical Apocalyptic Paper Claims Mitt Romney and Obama Are Evil Twins

It's hard to find evangelical Christians in the media who come off as more questionable than our very own Harold Camping. But there's one place you can be sure to dig one up ... and that's in Texas. The Power of Prophecy, an arguably unreliable Austin-based publication, was kind enough to ship us it ... More >>

Lesbians Take on a New Role in Campaign Fundraising With Super PAC

Being a part of the LGBT community used to be an automatic disqualifier for public officials. It's still a big deal when they do come out as homosexual, and many find their political careers go down the tubes when they're outed in places where it's still not accepted.But now we have further evidence ... More >>

Proposal or Proposition

The Pro-Gay Marriage Ruling Conservatives Should Love

Men with Confederate Flag decals reading "Never Forget" on their gun rack-equipped pickups and a fondness for "state's rights" don't seem like the likely demographic to support same-sex marriage. Following today's unanimous ruling by the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston that the Defense of Mar ... More >>

The Gay Selma: Schools Ignore Gay Bullying at Their Own Peril

Tragedy Made Us Stronger

Against Me!'s Tom Gabel Comes Out as Transgender; Internet Explodes with Support and Shock

It should have been obvious to us all for years. In 2007's "The Ocean", Against Me! vocalist, Tom Gabel sang "If I could've chosen, I would've been born a woman..." Most listeners at that time took it as a statement of solidarity with women from a vocalist who made a career out of being vocally poli ... More >>

Obama Comes Out for Gay Marriage -- Finally

It seems those many trips to San Francisco this year have convinced President Barack Obama that gays should be allowed to tie the knot. News reports of the president's reversal on same-sex marriage is making rounds in the blogosphere this afternoon, and for good reason: It's about damn time!Acc ... More >>

Robert Spitzer, Author of Study Endorsing Ex-Gay Therapy, Now Says It Doesn't Work

On Monday, gay-bashers everywhere were told by the science community that they are homophobes probably because they are gay. And now we're here to deliver more bad news to all you gay-hating homophobes out there: Science definitively agrees that there's no evidence homosexuality can be "cured."Now m ... More >>

Homophobia Is Probably Caused by Supressed Homosexuality, Study Says

You know how people know you're gay? Because of your raging homophobia.At least that's what a new study by researchers at the University of Rochester, the University of Essex, England, and UC Santa Barbara suggests.Their paper, titled "Parental autonomy support and discrepancies between implicit and ... More >>

Why Are Faggots So Afraid of Faggots? Asks Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore

It's hard to overstate how much the politics of sexuality have changed in the past 20 years. In the 1980s and '90s, coming out of the closet was a radical act. In 2011, gay men and lesbians are so cute and cuddly and downright marketable in popular culture that even Archie and Jughead hang out with ... More >>

Prop. 8 Backers to Ask Appeals Court to Rehear Same-Sex Marriage Case

​As some predicted, Proposition 8 backers are saying they will ask a larger group of judges from the liberal-leaning Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review a three-judge panel's decision to strike down California's ban on same-sex marriage, rather than appealing the ruling directly to the U ... More >>

Prop. 8 Might Not Go Before the Supreme Court

​Earlier this month, the debate over same-sex marriage in California continued what some have speculated is an inexorable march to the U.S. Supreme Court, when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld a decision striking down Proposition 8, the state's gay-marriage ban.Yet a story pu ... More >>

Prop. 8 Appeals Court Ruling: Inside the Dissenting Opinion

​Same-sex marriage advocates rejoiced today as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker's 2010 decision that Proposition 8, the 2008 California ballot initiative banning gay marriage, is unconstitutional.The decision is almost certainly destine ... More >>

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" HBO Documentary: Free Premiere Tonight

​Next Tuesday is a big day for gay and lesbian members of the armed forces. But HBO documentary filmmakers Randy Barbato and Fenton Baily want to celebrate a little early -- with the world premiere of their documentary, The Strange History of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, tonight at the Castro Theatre a ... More >>

Evangelicals Speak Out in Favor of LGBT History Bill

Todd FerrellLast week, SF Weekly reported that antigay group Stop SB48 had started collecting signatures for a referendum to overturn the FAIR Education Act, the nation's first law requiring public schools to include LGBT history in the curriculum. We were contacted by The Evangelical Network, an ... More >>

Medical Cannabis Movement Becoming Less Gay

Chris RobertsHot. But gay unfriendly?​Like Sarah Palin recounting the tale of Paul Revere's ride to warn the British (of their own impending arrival), we Americans often have a fuzzy grasp of our history. This extends to the medical cannabis movement, which was birthed in San Francisco in the 1980 ... More >>

Michael Glatze, Former Reporter for Gay Magazine XY Decides He's Not Really Gay

Michael Glatze, left, in the gay days. ​Back in the 1990's, Michael Glatze was a writer for the now-defunct Castro-headquartered gay magazine XY. Glatze had started what would become a 10-year relationship with a man he met in a Castro coffee shop; he attended gay-rights rallies; and he was obsess ... More >>

BART to Get Its Gay on for Pride

Does it get any gayer than this?​Remember when The Daily Show made fun of San Francisco for getting, ahem, topped by Minneapolis as the gayest city in the nation? Well, perhaps BART is helping us try to make a comeback, just in time for Gay Pride. It seems that BART is now hopping aboard the gay t ... More >>

A Movement Defaced: Queer Street Art Fights for Legitimacy

It Doesn't Matter That Judge Vaughn Walker Is Gay

You can be gay and impartial​At least that's what a federal judge decided today. Chief U.S. District Judge James Ware ruled on Tuesday that there is no proof that Judge Vaughn Walker, who last year struck down the state's ban on gay marriage, would benefit from his own ruling. Walker only recently ... More >>

Federal Backruptcy Court Declares DOMA Unconstitutional

Gay couples go broke, too. ​The latest assault on the federal law that only recognizes straight spouses comes from an institution that's not exactly known for making rousing statements about civil rights: the federal bankruptcy court.According to news reports., the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Ce ... More >>

Obama Fundraiser To Draw Protesters Advocating Green Cards For Gay Couples

Rallying at Obama's door. ​Protesters from all walks of life -- potheads, gays, and antiwar folks -- will be greeting President Obama upon his arrival to San Francisco tomorrow afternoon. While antiwar demonstrators recruit people for their cause, multiple organizations for gay rights are gatherin ... More >>

Judge Vaughn Walker Admits He Is Gay

Gay!​As if he hadn't riled up opponents of same-sex marriage enough, Judge Vaughn Walker on Wednesday publicly announced that he is indeed gay. Already an icon in the gay community, the retired judge, who ruled in favor of same-sex marriage, reportedly told a group of reporters that he has been i ... More >>

Gay Couples Can't Get Married ... Still

Nope​There will be no white weddings for gay couples -- at least not yet. A San Francisco federal court ruled today that same-sex marriages would not be allowed while courts decide whether Proposition 8 -- the state's ban on gay marriage -- is constitutional or not. It's another blow for same-sex ... More >>

Apple Blasted by Gay Groups Opposing New 'Gay-Cure' App, Petition Circulated

even ex-gays are gay ​Oh, they are pissed. Gay advocacy groups have circulated an online petition, demanding that Apple get rid of the "offensive and mean-spirited" iPhone app created to strip away "unwanted" homosexual desires among its users. Truth Wins Out, a gay rights group, has already colle ... More >>