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Saturday, Nov 21, 2009
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National News |
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| National News | |
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by Rex Wockner -
SGN Contributing Writer Foreman leaves Task Force National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Executive Director Matt Foreman quit his job April 15 and moved to San Francisco to head up the Gay & Lesbian Rights Program at the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund. The fund provides more grant support to GLBT organizations than any other non-Gay foundation in the U.S. Foreman was at the Task Force for five years and is credited with growing the staff to 54 full-timers and doubling the organization's budget to $10 million. "I'm incredibly privileged to have had this job for the last five years, and to have been paid to be Gay for the last 18," Foreman said in an interview. "There are so many people who give their hearts and souls to our movement without any compensation or for ridiculously low salaries, and that certainly includes LGBT journalists. "I'm also overwhelmed with pride in our people," he said. "One thing I hear a lot in my travels is: 'There's no such thing as a Gay community. No one's on the same page. In a few years we'll all be assimilated, etc., etc.' I couldn't disagree more. "Name me one community - or family, for that matter - where everyone agrees and everyone gets along. That's not community, but banality. & No, there's no monolithic Gay community, but there are dozens and dozens of communities within our larger movement and they're accomplishing amazing things every day. There's community everywhere I go - some purely social, others religious, others political, others professional. "While we do have a very, very long way to go, the fact we've made so much progress while being such a tiny minority and against such mighty opponents is, to me, proof positive that we do indeed have a vibrant people and community." PlanetOut to sell Advocate, Out, Alyson, porn mags PlanetOut Inc. is selling The Advocate and Out magazines - as well as The Out Traveler, HIVPlus, three porn magazines and book publisher Alyson Publications - to an affiliate of the Gay TV network here! for $6 million. The sale price is far less than the $31.1 million PlanetOut Inc. paid for the magazines and book company when it bought LPI Media Inc. and SpecPub Inc. in 2005. PlanetOut Inc. reported a loss of $51.2 million last year. The company will continue to own and operate Gay.com and PlanetOut.com. In January, PlanetOut Inc. "retained Allen & Company, LLC to assist the company in evaluating strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the company," a press release said. The corporation also announced in January "that it will no longer be providing quarterly or annual earnings guidance and will not hold quarterly earnings calls." The porn magazines included in the sale to Regent Releasing L.L.C. are Men, Freshmen and Unzipped. A fourth SpecPub Inc. porn magazine, known as [2], has ceased publication, but the sale will include the trademark "[2]," PlanetOut Inc. CEO Karen Magee said via e-mail. Obama grants interview to Advocate Under fire for not speaking with local and regional Gay publications, presidential candidate Barack Obama sat down for an interview with Advocate.com on April 10. "The Gay press may feel like I'm not giving them enough love. But basically, all press feels that way at all times," Obama said. "Obviously, when you've got limited amount of time, you've got so many outlets. We tend not to do a whole bunch of specialized press. & But I haven't been silent on Gay issues. What's happened is, I speak oftentimes to Gay issues to a public general audience." Obama said he supports passage of a federal law protecting transgender people from discrimination but he's not sure there's support in Congress for the move. A bill outlawing job discrimination against Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals has passed the House of Representatives and is pending in the Senate. "I have been clear about my interest in including gender identity in legislation, but I've also been honest with the groups that I've met with that it is a heavy lift through Congress," he said. "We've got some Democrats who are willing to vote for a non-inclusive bill but we lose them on an inclusive bill, and we just may not be able to generate the votes." Obama said he understands Gay people's frustration with candidates such as himself (and Hillary Clinton) who support civil-union laws but not marriage for same-sex couples. "I strongly respect the right of same-sex couples to insist that even if we got complete equality in benefits, it still wouldn't be equal because there's a stigma associated with not having the same word, marriage, assigned to it," he said. "I understand that, but my perspective is also shaped by the broader political and historical context in which I'm operating." N.Y. governor supports same-sex marriage New York Gov. David Patterson said April 7 that he supports legalization of same-sex marriage. Speaking by video link to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's awards dinner in Manhattan, Patterson said: "We will push on and bring full marriage equality to New York state. And when we have done that, we're going to do more. We're going to protect young people from bullies. We're going to protect against the discrimination of people in the Transgender community, and we're going to fight for decent and affordable health care for all citizens in this state." "If you will join with me, and if we work hard enough, we can change the face of New York, which will be the catalyst to changing national policy," he said. Patterson had planned to attend the dinner but was stuck in Albany dealing with budget problems. With assistance from Bill Kelley |
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| pictures: top - Matt Foreman bottom: David Patterson |
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