[OutVoice] Measuring LGBT political power + global LGBT news

[This Way Out]

"THIS WAY OUT: the international lesbian & gay radio magazine"
  Program #1,257 - distributed 04/30/12
  Airs on more than 200 local stations around the world -
  Check the "Affiliate Stations" list on our website... or
  Listen now via our free podcasts at www.thiswayout.org or on iTunes.
  (hosted by Greg Gordon and produced with Lucia Chappelle)
  A prominent think tank measures LGBT political power;
  North Carolinians get an earful on marriage equality;
  U.S. trans workers win rights under sex discrimination rules, DADT-
  discharged vets are drowning in paperwork, civil unions take a step
  down the Colorado Senate aisle, marriage equality foes team up for the
  Maine event, pop star Anthony Wong comes out "tongzhi", more news


- In "NewsWrap": The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission rules that gender identity-based workplace bias constitutes sex discrimination under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act; 3 U.S. Senators ask Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to expedite the process for veterans kicked out of the service under Don't Ask Don't Tell to delete that specific reason, which virtually "outs" them to prospective employers, from their discharge documents, while a military judge advances the court martial of Private First Class Bradley Manning, variously described as gay or "gender confused", for providing Wikileaks with reams of sensitive documents in what's been called the largest leak of government secrets in U.S. history... Colorado's Senate provisionally approves a bipartisan civil unions bill that probably faces stiffer opposition in the GOP-controlled House, while the infamously anti-gay National Organization for Marriage teams up with the Christian Civic League of Maine to fight a marriage equality measure on the November state ballot, but a bill introduced in the California Senate would ban so-called "reparative therapy" for anyone under the age of 18... pop star Anthony Wong comes out as a gay man to thousands of fans during the closing night of a series of concerts at the Hong Kong Coliseum... the first Russian man arrested for violating St. Petersburg's law banning "gay propaganda" is only convicted of refusing to comply with a police order to stop violating the law... and more LGBT news from around the world (written by GREG GORDON, produced by STEVE PRIDE, and reported this week by VASH BODDIE and WENZEL JONES).
  
- Civil marriage for same-gender couples goes before the voters in up to five U.S. states this year.  But the first test of voter sentiment comes on May 8th in NORTH CAROLINA. AMENDMENT ONE would add language to the state constitution specifying that, "Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State." Its opponents say the measure isn't as simple as it sounds, since it appears to also outlaw any form of domestic partnership or civil union. Statewide TV ads by Protect All North Carolina Families have been dramatizing Amendment One's far-reaching impact. Meanwhile, Vote FOR Marriage N.C., the organization supporting Amendment One, is running an ad that portrays so-called "nuclear families" of a man, woman and children -- and ends with a screen-filling shot of "The Holy Bible" against a backdrop of a U.S. flag.
  
- The WILLIAMS INSTITUTE AT THE UCLA SCHOOL OF LAW is the largest LGBT law and policy think tank in the world. As it does each year, the Institute hosted an Annual Update Conference, where top scholars and lawyers in the field got an opportunity to meet and look closely at the issues facing the community. This year's Update was entitled "Fair Play? LGBT People, Civic Participation & Political Process." Legal Affairs Correspondent ABBY DEES covered the April 13th conference, and says the main question was what kind of power the LGBT community has (features comments by BRAD SEARS, Executive Director, Roberta A. Conroy Scholar of Law and Policy, The Williams Institute; GREGORY LEWIS, Professor of Public Management and Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University; REBECCA BROWN, Newton Professor of Constitutional Law, USC Gould School of Law; ROBERT M. GROVES, Director, U.S. Census Bureau; THERESE STEWART, Chief Deputy, San Francisco City Attorney’s Office; PATRICK GUERRIERO, Founding Partner, Civitas Public Affairs Group LLC; and JON W. DAVIDSON, Legal Director, Lambda Legal).
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On the air since April 1988, "This Way Out" is the multi-award-winning internationally distributed weekly gay and lesbian radio news magazine. The program currently airs on more than 200 local community radio stations around the world, globally distributed at www.radio4all.net, www.indymedia.org, to Pacifica Radio station affiliates in North America, and "Down Under" through distribution by the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia.  Listeners can also hear "This Way Out" through our podcasts at thiswayout.org; across Europe, Africa/the Middle East, and Asia/Pacific regions on the World Radio Network (wrn.org); and on audio CD by individual subscription. For lots of other information about "This Way Out" please visit www.thiswayout.org, email TWOradio at aol.com, or write to P.O. Box 38327, Los Angeles, CA 90038-0327.
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