Not content with having the homophobic Defense of Marriage Act enacted at the level of federal legislation, a Religious Right group called the Alliance for Marriage has proposed a strategy to enshrine a ban on gay marriage in the United States Constitution. Not only would the proposed amendment trample on states’ rights to enable gay marriage where they see fit, but it would also destroy all laws which give gay couples the equivalent privileges of marriage, such as Vermont’s Civil Unions law. Although I have deep reservations about the idea of gay marriage and want marriage-privilege abolished rather than extended to lesbian and gay male couples, we cannot stand for this kind of overt homophobia and discrimination being put into the highest law of the land. As long as State-recognized marriages exist, the government should not discriminate on the basis of gender or sexuality as to who can have them.

Take action! Sign a petition urging elected representatives to Oppose the Federal Marriage Amendment Petition

A report in Roll Call reveals that CNN chief Walter Isaacson has been powwowing with GOP leaders to work on ways to attract more Right-wing viewers, whose news-viewing has been increasingly taken by Right-wing propaganda outlet FOX News Channel. Corporate News Network decides that its niche market in the moderate Right-of-center that passes for mainstream American politics is falling apart, and they now must do outreach to the far Right zealots as well. And so it goes.

For the in a stunning development file: a report from Human Rights Watch has found that harassment, violence, and bullying of gay adolescents in U.S. schools prevents millions of LGBT teenagers from receiving an adequate education. Many of the teens interviewed spend a significant amount of time just trying to figure out how to get to and from school without being harassed or assaulted; many others cut gym class to avoid being beaten up. When trying to get help from teachers or administrators they often were met with indifference or hostility; some even reported that faculty or administrators participated in the abuse.

This is not at all surprising, but it is atrocious. Not only are the direct effects of the abuse horrible, but it also leads to self-loathing and depression, which (among other things) impairs LGBT teens’ ability to learn, and leads to horrendous suicide rates amongst gay youth. Of the LGBT adolescents interviewed, about 36.1% had attempted suicide, versus 9.4% of str8 teens. Yet we know that we can easily reverse this: schools with gay-sensitive HIV training saw the rate of suicide attempts by LGBT students drop to 27.7% – still atrociously high, but a lot better. Schools where students organize Gay/Straight Alliances, where sex ed acknowledges queer sexualities and combats myths about them, and generally where queer youth and supporters of queer youth are visible and welcomed, can drastically change the horrendous environment that gay students go through today. Tragically, this kind of basic support is rarely seen, because school administrators and faculty are likely to be apathetic or hostile, and if they are supportive then they are likely to be bombarded by the Religious Right, which instantly sails in with its bullshit about the Gay Agenda and its neferious recruiting.

For further reading: GT 4/09/2001 anti-queer violence in Pennsylvania, GT 5/5/2001 the Religious Right’s attacks on gay students’ safety

Take Action! You can take action in support of LGBT youth right now at Human Rights Watch’s What You Can Do page and the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network Action Center. For more on-the-ground organizing, Youth Resource and GLSEN provide information, resources, and support for organizing gay-supportive youth groups.

It just had to happen: weblogs have become trendy enough that they have gotten their own critical review, deftly titled The Weblog Review. I’ve been monkeying around with my site lately and I think I’ll get some more new stuff done before I work up the courage to submit Geekery Today for review. But we’ll see.

Next time you are in a public restroom, be sure to take some of these fine stickers from the Guerilla Girls.