by Melanie Nathan, November 24, 2011 I am Not Thankful if I am not Me! It is easy to be thankful if I am simply me! But what if I allow myself to be someone else – for just a short while? My head spun this week with images and my thoughts were provoked by … More My Thanksgiving Week From Heritage Foundation to Holocaust Museum
by Melanie Nathan, Dec 10,2011 Calls for Dignity and Justice for all : Reject the Anti-homosexuality bill ( Kill the gays Bill) that is still pending, as this would further heighten the witch-hunt of LGBTI persons and make it impossible for us to live freely and safely in our country. The Ugandan LGBTI leadership … More Uganda’s LGBTI Leaders Speak Passionately for their Human Rights
“When governments legitimate persecution – they provide the license for genocide! ” – Melanie Nathan, International Human Rights Advocate… Nigerian Senate Votes for an Anti-Gay Law by Peter Tatchell Sweeping criminalization contravenes Article 42 of the Nigerian constitution Same-sex marriage and civil unions to be banned 14 years jail for participants, 10 years jail for … More STOP NIGERIA NOW!
Ndumie Funda attended to the brutally beaten Millicent Gaika and I was asked to show the world the face of so called “corrective rape” of lesbians in South Africa. I followed the story from three days after the brutal attack until the time of the court proceedings, only to witness the lack of solicitude, funding, … More 2011 Reflections- The Face of (so called) Corrective Rape in South Africa
By Melanie Nathan Vermont’s ground-breaking civil union and marriage equality laws may be partly attributed to the advocacy of new associate justice Beth Robinson, who was sworn in by Governor Peter Shumlin, to Vermont State’s Supreme Court Monday. The 46-year-old Robinson, an out and open lesbian, was one of the lawyers who represented three couples … More Open Lesbian Sworn into Vermont Supreme Court
By Melanie Nathan, Nov 26, 2011, 2.30 AM PST In Africa: Legislation criminalizing homosexuality permits persecution and cases where people are punished simply for the way they look. Africa is bedrock of anti-homosexual sentiment, and heightened criminalization; with Cameroon emerging as the most punitive of the African countries. Same-sex sexual acts are banned under Cameroonian … More CAMEROON Sentences Three ‘Effeminate Men’ to Maximum Prison Time
by Melanie Nathan, November 24, 2011 I am Not Thankful if I am not Me! It is easy to be thankful if I am simply me! But what if I allow myself to be someone else – for just a short while? My head spun this week with images and my thoughts were provoked by … More My Thanksgiving Week From Heritage Foundation to Holocaust Museum
By Melanie Nathan July 24, 2011 – 12.01.am My friends are getting married today, my community is getting married today and we all rejoice… SPEAKER QUINN, MAYOR BLOOMBERG, AND NEW YORK CITY CLERK MCSWEENEY ANNOUNCE ALL CITY CLERK OFFICES WILL BE OPEN FOR BUSINESS ON SUNDAY JULY 24 – THE FIRST DAY OF MARRIAGE EQUALITY … More Mazeltov New York City
By Melanie Nathan, (Minneapolis, MN, July 21, 2011)—The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and Faegre & Benson, LLP, filed a federal lawsuit today challenging the alarming anti-gay harassment in schools within the Anoka-Hennepin School District as well as the district’s “gag policy” that prevents teachers from discussing issues … More Lawsuit Sheds Light on Anoka-Hennepin School District’s LGBT GAG Policy
July 21, 2011,Melanie Nathan, NCLR and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) filed a federal lawsuit today challenging the “gag policy” at Minnesota’s Anoka-Hennepin School District that prevents school staff from talking about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues, and creates an environment where LGBT students are relentlessly bullied. The lawsuit was filed on behalf … More Lawsuit Challenging Anti-LGBT Environment in Minnesota’s Anoka-Hennepin School District
Posted on July 19, 2011, The mother of the bride is 92 – and proud. “I am so happy,” said Mary Brown, who is thrilled she’ll finally get to watch her daughter Mimi Brown marry longtime love Carol Anastasio. “It’s so unexpected.” Brown, 57, and Anastasio, 49, were the first gay couple to show up … More New York 92 year Old Mom to witness First NY Lesbian Couple to Marry
July 12, 2011, by Melanie Nathan, The Supreme Court of Ohio today upheld lower court rulings that a biological mother who acknowledged her same-sex partner as a “co-parent” of her daughter while the two women were in a relationship did not permanently give up her sole custody of the child to create legal shared custody … More Ohio Supreme Court Rules Against Lesbian Partner of Biological Mother
July 08, 2011, by Melanie Nathan, On June 20, 2010, Robert Segwanyi fled Uganda, seeking asylum in the United Kingdom, weeks after having been tortured for ‘homosexuality.’ Indicative of arbitrary verdicts, broken systems, and the inadequacies of refugee status/ asylum laws in the United Kingdom and across the world, the UK Border Agency has made … More UK to Deport Uganda Gay Man, Robert Segwanyi, despite Torture and Risk to his Life
July 06, 2011, by Melanie Nathan, Inkanyiso brings together three new bodies of photographic work: new portraits in the ongoing series Faces and Phases (2010-11); Beulahs (2007-10) and Transfigures (2010-11), and the documentary Difficult Love (2010). As always, Muholi is upfront about her agenda as an activist, seeking to educate the viewer on ‘the complexities … More South African Lesbian Photographer Activist: Zanele Muholi’s Exhibits New Portraits
July 03, 2011, by Melanie Nathan, Early in 2010, I started covering the stories of women in the South African Townships, who were raped by men seeking to “correct” the fact that they were lesbians, touting that rape would change the sexuality of the victim. I never believed that these brutal crimes ever truly earned the … More South Africa Corrective Rape Task Force Helms Hate Crimes Reform
June 24, 2011, Melanie Nathan, The venue and current battle ground for marriage equality is New York State and as it happens, President Barack Obama is in New York fundraising for the Democratic National Committee (DNC). The Mammoth in the room is marriage equality, in New York, specifically, because the President is present and has … More Calling on President Obama to Stand up for Full Marriage Equality Now
June 24,2011, by Melanie Nathan Legislation sponsored by Equality California and Gay-Straight Alliance Network aims to stop discriminatory education and promote school safety Sacramento – Yesterday a bill that would require schools to fairly and accurately portray the historic contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in social science instruction passed the Assembly Education … More California Assembly Education Committee Passes Landmark LGBT Education Bill
06/11/2011, by Melanie Nathan, Crossroads Informal Settlement, Cape Town; Nxolo Nkosana (23) is spending an angry yet terrifying night in her home as she deals with wounds, pain and trauma of a vicious attack on her life. She was walking home on the evening of May 10th with her partner and a few friends when … More Lesbian Survives Brutal Stabbing to Become Hero vs Hate
06/02/2011, by Melanie Nathan, Three members of the UCSF community will be awarded the 2011 Chancellor’s Award for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and/or Transgender (GLBT) Leadership on Monday, June 13. Included is my friend and fellow activist on immigration equality issues, Chris Waddling of the grassroots organization OUT4Immigration. Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann, MD, MPH, will present awards … More UCSF to Honor Three With Chancellor’s Award for GLBT Leadership
06/01/2011, by Melanie Nathan Falling madly in love, even when you know that by loving you risk all you have…it could happen to anyone! So is the premise of this extraordinary journey, by an author into a realm of truth; one which may have, like many, remained unexplored, even when wrenched by voracious desire. The … More Au Pair – New Lesbian Book Bound to be a Classic
05/31/2011, by Melanie Nathan The Guardian UK is reporting a case similar to many others, which we have reported upon in the past. The Asylum claim of a Ugandan lesbian, attacked by three men in her home country, has been refused by UK immigration authority. In fear of fraud, the UK authorities have been known … More Ugandan Woman Branded by Iron for being a Lesbian faces deportation from United Kingdom
05/26/2011, by Melanie Nathan, San Francisco -Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) is a student-run club in a high school or middle school that brings together LGBTQI and straight students to support each other, provide a safe place to socialize, and create a platform for activism to fight homophobia and transphobia. On June 09, 2011, Geoffrey De … More GSA Network’s San Francisco Event BIG Ticket – Secret Auction Item
By Melanie Nathan, April 05, 2010 ‘The Victim Millicent Gaika contacted me via a caregiver; I was shocked to receive this and more photos. They may not be reproduced without my permission The Face Of Corrective Lesbian Rape In South Africa 4/5/10-by Melanie Nathan This is the face of South African lesbian who was beaten … More South Africa; Shocking Photos of Corrective Rape Victim
I found this fascinating quote today: In June 2009, when I heard about Britta, she was being held in detention in a Florida Detention Facility; she had been caught in an ICE sweep and was unable to provide documentation of legal status in the USA and I was on my way to D.C. for the … More reBlog LGR: Binational Marches Alone at NYC Immigration Rally – Where were the GAYS?
4-17-10 – By Melanie Nathan; David Mixner has produced a great article, where he asserts his choice of 20 most powerful lesbian leaders in American Politics.But who may I ask has with with vigor and resolve led us to “Amend the Civil Rights Act- to include Sexual orientation.” Indeed a worthy list – and truly … More Mixner’s Twenty Top Lesbians in US Politics – But Where is the Messiah?
I wrote this article forlezgetreal take a peek its a jaw breaker…. lezgetreal.com, Are Christian Anti-Gay Group/s Aiding & Abetting Lisa Miller’s Defiance of Court Order?, Dec 2009 ” Surely there are similar precedents to draw upon involving hetro couples. Namely, situations where the mother’s male partner/husband is not the biological father, and has not … More reBlog from lezgetreal.com: Are Christian Anti-Gay Group/s Aiding & Abetting Lisa Miller’s Defiance of Court Order?
Melanie on Lez Get real:- The very same culprits who passed Proposition 8, with all their Mormon funding, individual hate and corporate dollars threatening yet again, are now flooding the Governor with calls to block the Marriage Recognition and Family Protection Act. Co-sponsored by our colleagues at Equality California and Sen. Mark Leno, SB 54, … More reBlog ALERT- California Cry – Time is of the Essence – Help needed- Call Now
California‘s Assembly has sent a message today – that it will accept no less than full immigration equality for its same-sex partners. AJR 15 is a Resolution that expresses its support for the Federal bill, UAFA, that places the words “permanent partner” next to “souse” in the Immigration and Nationality Act, thereby giving gay and lesbianpartners … More Resolution in Support of UAFA moves through California Assembly –
By Melanie Nathan, July 31, 2009 Perhaps more of our congressional representatives would be willing to do what Congresswoman Jackie Speier did for the LGBT community today. The Congresswoman, a Democrat from California’s 12th district called a meeting today of the LGBT leadership in San Francisco. With not much notice a core group of leaders, … More Congresswoman Jackie Speier Provides Valuable Opinion on UAFA
Please help – – Four arrested and charges – Trial September 2009. Do you remember the horrific Jane Doe Rape story in Richmond last winter? “Google will give you more info than you want to know. The story was so upsetting that it traveled quickly around the globe.” – I found this on a group … More She helped get these punks off the street by comming forward after brutal gang rape now she needs our help
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