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Be sure to check out GLAAD Blog each week for updates about our latest work to build support for LGBT equality through news, entertainment and online media.
GLAAD was on the ground as the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the discriminatory 'Defense of Marriage Act' and California's Prop 8. You can see GLAAD's live blog during the rallies on both days, see photos and videos from rallies, vigils, and prayer services around the country. GLAAD will stay engaged with both cases until decisions are released. Read more.
GLAAD staff rallied for marriage on the west steps of the Los Angeles City Hall along with other state and national organizations. During the candlelight vigil gay and lesbian couples and families told their personal stories of love and commitment as the Supreme Court was getting ready to hear testimonies in the 'Defense of Marriage Act' (DOMA) and Proposition 8 cases. Reverend Neil G. Thomas of California Faith for Equality started the rally with a prayer. Speakers included gay City Councilman-Elect Mike Bonin; Michael Ai, LGBT Liaison for the Office of Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa; LA Mayor Candidate Wendy Greuel; Trystan Reese of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, his partner John Chaplow and their two children; as well as many other couples and allies who are affected by Proposition 8 and DOMA. Read more.
GLAAD's Spanish-Language media team worked with dozens of media outlets on coverage of the DOMA and Proposition 8 cases before the Supreme Court. In the last few years, Latinos have become among the strongest supporters of marriage equality, and that's, in part, thanks to media coverage that educates people about our lives and goals. Our SLM team pitched and placed couples and spokespeople in stories in Noticiero Telemundo, the Spanish syndicate EFE, in English-language magazine The Economist, France 24, on CNN en Español, and more. GLAAD's Director of Spanish-Language Media appeared on Noticiero NTN, spoke on the San Francisco radio show Hecho en California on KIQI and SBS radio in Australia, and in an article for La Opinion and others. Read more.
GLAAD staff attended a launch event in Chicago for the first-ever Trans 100, an inaugural overview of the breadth and diversity of work being done in, by and for the transgender community across the United States. The Trans 100 is a project of We Happy Trans and This is H.O.W. GLAAD served as an Inaugural Sponsor for the event. The full Trans 100 list will be available at www.wehappytrans.com. Read more.
GLAAD's Director of News & Field Media Aaron McQuade spoke with Fast Company about the reactions and potential issues that a male professional athlete might expect after coming out publicly as gay. "Frankly," McQuade said, "People will get over it." Recently, multiple players have spoken out about accepting gay players in the locker room. Read more.
Ross Murray, Director of News and Faith Initiatives, spoke with HuffPost Live about a variety of issues, including the cover of Time Magazine about marriage equality, which features Sarah Kate and Kristen Ellis-Henderson, who GLAAD worked with when marriage equality became legal in New York State. We also talked about a Chick-fil-a restaurant that handed out sandwiches to a advocates who were rallying for marriage equality. Read more.
GLAAD's Spanish-Language Media team worked with a BBC Mundo reporter recently on her story on so-called "conversion therapies," sharing our point of view on the great harms these programs cause. Then we connected the writer with three Latinos who've gone through these attempts to change their orientation and with extensive information from specialists like Dr. Jack Drescher of the American Psychiatric Association, who was quoted throughout the article. Read more.
GLAAD's Director of News and Faith Initiatives Ross Murray spoke with The Washington Blade about the anti-gay comments of a Baltimore neurosurgeon. Dr. Ben Carson, who is part of GLAAD's Commentator Accountability Project (CAP), works in the Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery at John Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Carson made offensive, false claims about gay people and marriage equality. Read more.
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