LGBT Issues

Bill Nelson Finally Comes Out in Favor of Gay Marriage

Forgive Bill Nelson for taking his time. After all, the issue of gay marriage had nothing to do with his preferred issues of space and snakes.Ever a moderate, Nelson had stuck to a low-key position supporting civil unions. Apparently the 70-year-old senator finally realized he was just one of seven ... More >>

If Your Facebook Pic Is Red Today, Maybe Take Five Seconds to Let Your State Legislators Know You Support Domestic Partnerships

If you've been on Facebook in the past 24 hours, you've surely noticed the explosion of people using a red version of the Human Rights Campaign's logo to express their support for gay marriage as the U.S. Supreme Court hears two potentially landmark cases. That's very nice and all, but the Supreme C ... More >>

Chick-fil-A and LGBT Leaders Need to End Their War

I Want to End the Conflict Between Chick-fil-A and the LGBT Community

Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness made the U.S. Supreme Court stand up for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times. This week, Luke wants to help Chick-fil-A embrace the Rainbow Coalition.I'd like to offer my pro bono services as a mediator to Chick-fil-A presi ... More >>

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen One of Only Two Current Republicans in Congress to Sign Brief in Favor of Gay Marriage

Seventy-five prominent Republicans have signed a legal brief backing the idea that gay people have a constitutional right to get married according to the New York Times, but to give you an idea of how contentious (and possibly electorally damaging) the issue still is within the party, only two of th ... More >>

Gay Athletes Go Public

North Miami Pastor Jack Hakimian Thinks a "Gay Mafia" Is Out to Get Him

Thirty’s Company

Fix-a-Flat Doc's Victim Speaks Out

Former CBS Reporter Aleen Sirgany Publicly Comes Out While Confronting Anti-Gay Pastor Jack Hakimian

Jack Hakimian, a controversial North Miami pastor who preaches that homosexuality is akin to witchcraft and drug abuse, faced a group of LGBT activists last night at Temple Beth Moshe after his statement'scaused a string of public controversies this summer. During the town hall Aleen Sirgany, a form ... More >>

Lady Gaga's Office Depot Partnership Slammed by Florida Family Association for Promoting Homosexuality

The culture trolls at the Florida Family Association are at it again.Office Depot announced a back-to-school partnership with Lady Gaga's Born This Way Foundation, but the FFA is worried that this "will influence many teens to embrace homosexuality for their lifetime who may have otherwise worked th ... More >>

Latino Republicans More Approving of Gay Marriage Than Rest of GOP

This past March, a secret memo from the anti-gay marriage group the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) leaked. It underlined plans to make "support for [traditional] marriage [editor: in their language, that means opposition to gay marriage] a key badge of Latino identity." Of course, it's od ... More >>

LGBT Activists to Protest Obama's Event in Miami Beach Tonight

Barack Obama may have been the first sitting American president to announce his personal support of gay marriage. He may have repealed the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, and allowed gay citizens to serve openly in the armed forces. He may have been the first president to appoint a Transgendered per ... More >>

Things More Popular Than Rick Scott: LeBron James, Gay Marriage

Floridians continue to hate Gov. Rick Scott. In fact, 56 presently disapprove of his job handling, while only 31 percent approve. Things as polarizing as the Miami Heat and gay marriage are actually more popular in the state right now. Public Policy Polling decided to just ask Floridians how they fe ... More >>

Schools Ignore Gay Bullying at Their Own Peril

Mayor Carlos Gimenez and Other Top Elected Officials Speak at Anti-Gay Group's Breakfast

Many believe that Carlos Gimenez's endorsement from several gay rights groups in the Miami-Dade County mayoral election helped propel him to a narrow victory over Julio Robaina. So why the hell was he speaking at a breakfast sponsored by the Christian Family Coalition, a fringe organization most not ... More >>

Boring Moderate Bill Nelson's Stance on Gay Marriage is Vaguely Boring and Moderate

There are worse things for politicians to be than boring moderates, sure, but Bill Nelson is a boring moderate through and through. So, it's really no surprise that his stance on gay marriage is predictably off in some vague, boring, moderate middle land.

Rick Perry's Pollster Tony Fabrizio Outed By Gay Conservatives After Homophobic Ad

​Rick Perry's ridiculous anti-gay ad has started a political whirlwind that has resulted in the outing of Tony Fabrizio, a top Republican pollster who's currently working for Perry, and in the past has worked for Gov. Rick Scott and, interestingly, gay rights groups.The revelation, or at least acc ... More >>

Florida Family Association Boycotts Target For Not Hating Homosexuals Enough

David Canton gets crazy ideas when he sees gay teens on Degrassi kiss.Florida Family Association, one of these "morality" groups that's pretty much a soap box for some guy named David Canton, has decided to call for a boycott of Target because *gasp* they don't think gay teens should kill themselves ... More >>

Crazy Anti-Gay Group Targets Ileana Ros-Lehtinen

​The National Organization for Marriage, the sometimes fumbling and controversial anti-gay marriage group, is targeting Miami-area Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in its latest publicity stunt. Last week, Ros-Lehtinen became the first and so far only Republican to sponsor a bill that ... More >>

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Becomes First and Only Republican to Back the Repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act

​Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is boldly breaking away from the rest of the Republican party to become the first and likely only Republican to co-sponsor a bill that would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. Ros-Lehtinen, currently the most senior female Republican member of the house and chairwoman of ... More >>

Florida Doesn't Want Gay Marriage, But It Still Wants Gay Honeymoon Money

​Florida has constitutionally banned its gay wedding cake and is trying to eat it, too.Gay couples in New York began exercising their right to marry this weekend. New York is the largest state so far to legalize gay marriage (permanently, at least), and Florida tourism boards are trying to make su ... More >>

Jackson Memorial Apparently Only Hospital in the South That Cares About Gay People

​We wouldn't wish a trip to Jackson Memorial Hospital on our worst enemies. Yet according to a new report from the Human Rights Campaign, the public Jackson Health System is the only hospital in the entire southern United States cited this year for providing equal care to LGBT patients. That's a b ... More >>

Miami-Dade Public Schools Add Protections for GLBT Students

​The Miami-Dade County Public School System, the fourth biggest school system in the nation, has adopted new rules meant to specifically protect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered students from harassment. The School Board amended a state law passed three years ago, the Jeffrey Johnston Stan ... More >>

Miami Shores Adopts Domestic Partnerships: Sixth Government in Miami-Dade to Do So

​Just months after Miami Shores residents elected their first openly gay councilman, village council has unanimously voted to offer domestic partnership benefits to its gay employees. Miami Shores is now the sixth municipal government in Miami-Dade to offer such benefits, following Miami, Miami Be ... More >>

53 Percent of Floridians Still Think Gay Marriage Should Be Illegal

In its seemingly random sports poll released today, Public Policy Polling did sneak in a few poll questions about actual public policy. Though a majority of Americans now support gay marriage, Floridians aren't quite ready for it. Though, they do, by a large majority, support civil unions for s ... More >>

Havana Hosts Its First Independent Gay Pride Parade, Sort Of

A flyer for the event featured Prado Avenue's lion sculptures dressed in drag.​It's quite a human rights paradox. Next month, the Cuban parliament will discuss a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage on the Communist isle, yet GLBT citizens are, like all Cubans, discouraged from gathering and ... More >>

Julio Robaina's Continually Conflicting Statements on Gay Rights is a Sick Sign of Desperation

​Up in New York State they've finally passed a bill legalizing same sex marriage. Meanwhile, down in Miami-Dade we've got a mayoral candidate who can't even decided if he's for or against domestic partnership laws and seems to have wildly flip-flopped between stances. Julio Robaina says he bel ... More >>

Julio Robaina Picks Up Endorsement for Anti-Gay Marriage, Anti-Choice, and Anti-Art Views

​Social issues have not been a driving force in local Miami-Dade politics for some time, with most voters more concerned with pressing issues like property taxes and budget problems. Today, however, the Christian Family Coalition of South Florida injected a big dose of social conservatism into the ... More >>

Children of God at O Cinema June 2 through 5

Tim Hardaway Approves of How Joakim Noah Handled Anti-Gay Outburst

​The Chicago Bulls' Joakim Noah's "fuck you, faggot" outburst during the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat was one thing (certainly an inexcusable thing, but not something that necessarily makes him a raging homophobe). Tim Hardaway's 2007 outburst in which he stated, "I h ... More >>

Joakim Noah, Odd Future, and the Politics of the Word "Faggot"

​It's a weird week for the word "faggot," ain't it? The Chicago Bull's Joakim Noah just got fined a discounted $50,000 for addressing an unruly Heat fan as such during game three of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals in Miami on Sunday. Meanwhile, Goblin, the proper debut album of Tyler, the Creato ... More >>

Closets are for Clothes

Will Gay Voters Save the Republican Party?

​After their success in the midterm elections, many Republicans probably think their party is in pretty good shape and doesn't need to be saved. But one local GOP group is thinking long term. It argues that the party needs to moderate itself on social issues and attract gay voters in order to rema ... More >>

Walk This Gay

Florida Now Ranks in Top Five States for Protecting GLBT Citizens from Discrimination

​While Florida may have an amendment enshrined in its constitution that forbids gays and lesbians from even seeking civil unions, a new report from Equality Florida claims that Florida now ranks among the top five states in the nation in protecting its gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered cit ... More >>

Gay Adoption Ban Dead: Bill McCollum Will Not Appeal Ruling

Martin Gill and his sons are now legally a familyAn appellate court's decision that Florida's ban on gay adoption will stand, meaning potential gay parents through out the state will be able to adopt. Attorney General Bill McCollum's office had until 5 pm today to decide whether or not to ... More >>

Rev. O'Neal Dozier Protests Lifting Gay Adoption Ban: Fears Kids Will Be Forced to Be Gay

Rev. O'Neal Dozier​Attorney General Bill McCollum has until October 22 to file an appeal in a case that overturned Florida's decades-old gay adoption ban. If he doesn't, all Floridians fit to parent will be able to adopt regardless of their sexual orientation.Unsurprisingly, some homophobes aren't ... More >>

What in Hell Is Charlie Crist Trying to Say About Gay Marriage?

​We're of two theories about Charlie Crist's latest string of "clarifications" (or flip-flops) on some positions: (1) The guy doesn't know what he actually believes and is being as vague as possible to attract as many voters as possible. (2) He has always personally held these positions, altered t ... More >>

Argentina Becomes First Latin American Country to Approve Gay Marriage

​After a heated debate that lasted until 4 a.m. in the morning, Argentina is set to become the first country in Latin America to recognize same-sex marriage. The Senate approved the measure following the foot steps of the lower house, and President Cristina Fernandez is certain to sign the measure ... More >>

Donna Milo: Sex-changed and bound for Congress

A Man Who Became a Woman Who Can't Marry a Man is Running for Congress

Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness once made the U.S. Supreme Court stand up for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times. This week, Luke tries to understand how a transsexual running for Congress can be against gay marriage.​A few weeks ago, I came across som ... More >>

Bill McCollum Hired George Rekers Despite Strong Warnings From Staff

McCollum (L) paid Rekers (R) $120,000 to testify against gay adoption.​Attorney General Bill McCollum, who is running for Governor as a Republican, has tried to distance himself from anti-gay activist George Rekers, but recently released emails show that McCollum hired Rekers as an expert witness ... More >>

Christian right leader George Rekers takes vacation with "rent boy"

George Rekers Has Company: The Top Ten Outed Right-Wing Homophobes

George Alan Rekers, latest in a long line of closeted homophobes.Unless you've spent the last 48 hours holed up in a French B&B humping the homosexuality right out of your rent-a-boy, you've probably heard about Miami New Times' exposé of gay-bashing evangelist George Alan Rekers' European trys ... More >>

Christian Group Uglies Up Lesbian Moms

via The Orlando Sentinel​Melanie Leon and Vanessa Alenier, the South Florida lesbian couple who last month won a court case to adopt a child despite Florida's gay adoption ban, apparently weren't sufficiently ugly for the Florida Family Policy Council's propaganda purposes. So in an email bla ... More >>

Gays leave unfriendly South Beach for Fort Lauderdale

Latin America Now Officially More Progressive on Gay Marriage than Florida

Latin America celebrated it's first official gay marriage yesterday, as two gay rights activists tied the knot in Argentina thanks to a legal loophole. Argentina's constitution doesn't specifically define marriage between a man and a woman, effectively leaving the interpretation up to local official ... More >>

Wait, Now Tim Hardaway Doesn't Hate Gay People?

In February 2007, Tim Hardaway gave a textbook demonstration in career suicide live on Dan LeBatard's radio show with one of the most cringe-inducing bouts of homophobia an ex-athlete has ever managed. Let's recap:"You know, I hate gay people, so I let it be known," Hardaway said. "I don't like gay ... More >>

GLAAD Gets Involved in Perez Hilton-Will.i.am. Slap Fight

Sometimes when you make a post about something, you feel indebted to blog about any major updates in the story. Other times, you find a picture so marvelous you need to find any excuse to use it. So here we are continuing our coverage of Perez Hilton v. Will.i.am: Boom Boom Pow-gate '09. Of course, ... More >>