Andy Cohen Auctions His D&G Suit

From the eBay listing: "Direct from my personal closet, I am auctioning off a 2014, black, wool Dolce & Gabbana suit. It's got 2 buttons and a few strands of genuine Wacha hair on it. The size is 40 Regular. The suit can be yours and all the money will go to the Family Equality Council, an organization committed to securing family equality for LGBTQ parents, guardians and allies. Even though I loved this suit, it wouldn't be any fun for me to wear it again, but it will be so much fun for me to have you wear it, knowing that we were able to support an amazing cause while also screwing Dolce & Gabbana out of at least one sale."

LOS ANGELES: Glee Cast To Perform At Family Equality Council Awards Gala

The Family Equality Council will hold its Los Angeles Awards gala on Saturday. Performers include Cheyenne Jackson and Glee cast members Lea Michelle, Darren Criss, and Chord Overstreet. If you'd like to attend, hit the link for a $20 raffle to win air travel for two and two nights at the Beverly Hilton. Entries close tomorrow.

The Call: On Gay Adoption

From the Family Equality Council:

There are 400,000 young people in foster care waiting for a home. Millions of LGBT people are willing to become adoptive parents if they could - yet many states make it harder for them to adopt. Help knock down these barriers and ensure every child has a chance to find a home.

Find out more.

LGBT Groups React To Boy Scouts Change

Scouts For Equality

“The Boy Scouts of America can do better,” said Zach Wahls, an Eagle Scout and Executive Director of Scouts for Equality. “We welcome the news that the ban on gay Scouts is history, but our work isn’t over until we honor the Scout Law by making this American institution open and affirming to all.”

Human Rights Campaign

Today is a historic day for Boy Scouts across the country who want to be a part of this great American institution. But the new policy doesn’t go far enough. Parents and adults of good moral character, regardless of sexual orientation, should be able to volunteer their time to mentor the next generation of Americans.

Family Equality Council

"Every Boy Scout, on their honor, first pledges to do their best,” said Family Equality Council Spokesman Steve Majors. “This is a step in the right direction, but it’s not the best the Boy Scouts can do. The Boy Scouts of America have sent a hurtful message to Scouts with LGBT parents that their moms and dads are not welcome as leaders alongside other parents. As a father of two girl scouts and the proud partner of an Eagle Scout, I know that Scouting has a long tradition of being a family activity and the Boy Scouts should be open to all our families.”

National Gay & Lesbian Task Force

This vote marks a monumental step forward for the Boy Scouts of America. We are thrilled for the gay youth who will no longer be turned away from scouting simply because of who they are. As we celebrate this moment, we know the work isn’t complete. The Boy Scouts of America still discriminates against qualified adults who are denied the opportunity to participate in leadership positions because they are gay. Fairness is a fundamental American principle — it’s not to be sliced, diced, divvied up and dictated by prejudice.

GLAAD

This major victory for gay youth is thanks to you and the millions of other Americans who took action. Now we need you to share the news, and press for a full nondiscrimination policy. Gay youth can now participate in Scouting, which is a huge WIN. But gay Scout leaders - like former den mother Jennifer Tyrrell - are still banned from the Boy Scouts. This is the time to keep up the pressure. We won't stop until the Boy Scouts of America removes the ban on gay and lesbian parents and leaders.

Father's Day E-Cards For Gay Dads

The Family Equality Council has a selection to choose from. Ruh-roh, the campaign is sponsored by Children's Tylenol! Cue the Million Shrews!

Target Launches Pride T-Shirts

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports:

Two years after a brouhaha erupted over its support of a group backing Tom Emmer, the Republican gubernatorial candidate who opposed gay marriage, Target Corp. has launched an online charitable partnership supporting gay pride. The Minneapolis-based discounter says the two aren't related -- it has partnered with the Washington, D.C.-based Family Equality Council, which supports lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families, for more than a decade. "I certainly recognize what an incredible reaction [the Emmer-related donation] generated," said Jennifer Chrisler, the council's executive director. "But here's what I know about Target and their work with us: They're 100 percent committed to the goal of families being respected in all communities including parents who happen to be LGBT. This is just a continuation of that support."

SLIDESHOW: Family Equality Council's 30th Anniversary Gala In New York City

Last night intrepid JMG photographer Dr. Jeff accompanied me to the Family Equality Council's 30th anniversary gala on Manhattan's Pier 60, where over 750 LGBT moms, dads and allies swarmed the grand ballroom and mingled with bold-face names like Zach Wahls (so tall!), Tony winner David Hyde Pierce, comedian Judy Gold, Bishop Gene Robinson, Freedom To Marry head Evan Wolfson, and crooner Clay Aiken (who drew a small but enthusiastic contingent of middle-aged Claymates.)

The evening's honorees were FEC board member Scott Davenport, who is the co-founder of P-Town's annual Family Week, and famed Broadway producer Daryl Roth, who brought along the very young cast of her latest show, the multiple Tony-nominated Newsies. Both Aiken and the Newsies cast performed, as well as Tony nominee Montego Glover (Memphis).

All evening long there was a noticeable flurry of smartphone action across the room as attendees anxiously checked for returns on Amendment One. During his set, Aiken addressed that issue and spoke passionately about his love for (and disappointment with) his home state. His words underscored the fact that sitting in the room were the very people who have the most at stake when it comes to legal protections for their families. Dr. Jeff's slideshow is below, full-screen photos are here.

VIDEO: The Family Equality Council rang the closing bell at the Stock Exchange today.

Colbert Report On Dr. George Rekers

With a screenshot of JMG, but no mention. Oh, well!

Happy Holidays, President Obama

A coalition of LGBT rights groups including PFLAG, COLAGE, the Equality Federation, and the Family Equality Council has joined forces on a campaign to send pro-LGBT holiday cards to the White House. The group will collect the cards and send them in a giant package for maximum impact.

Today national and regional lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) family rights groups from around the country launched the “From Our Family to Yours Campaign,” designed to introduce President Obama to thousands of LGBT families. In addition to spreading holiday cheer, the campaign will increase visibility and awareness for the need for federal protections for the LGBT community. In this season of peace and generosity, let’s introduce the First Family to ours. Because to succeed in getting federal protections for our families, we must put real names and faces to the people in our community.To participate in the campaign, we encourage families to send holiday cards to the First Family, and share their photos and this message:

“Season’s Greetings, from our family to yours. May the next year bring peace and equality for all.”

Please send your holiday cards and photos to:

Family Equality Council
Attn: First Family
P.O. Box 206
Boston, MA 02133

Or send a digital version to tina.walker-morin@familyequality.org by January 1, 2010. We encourage you to send your holiday cards as soon as possible so that we can compile all of the images into a holiday package to be delivered to the First Family.

Leffew Dads And Wanda Sykes Receive Awards From Family Equality Council

Family Equality Council Honors Leffews

The Leffew family, whose popular YouTube videos about two men raising two kids have been posted here and in much of the gay blogosphere, will be honored with an award from the Family Equality Council. The event takes place this Sunday in Los Angeles and will be hosted by Wanda Sykes. Get tickets here.

HomoQuotable - Jennifer Chrisler

"Malpractice is defined as engaging in professional wrongdoing that will result in harm. As one of those many leaders across the country fighting for equality for LGBT families, failure to accept the President's invitation to meet with him at the White House this coming Monday would be committing "Movement malpractice."

"For more years than I care to remember we have bemoaned the lack of access and the lack of progress at the federal level for LGBT equal rights. It is no surprise then that after years of toiling to elect fair-minded leaders, and with the assumption that we now have that in the White House and the Congress, we want action and we want it swiftly. When we¹ve struggled as a community for more years than we care to count to achieve equality and we believe for the first time that it is now achievable, our hopes are incredibly high. The knife of disappointment cuts that much deeper and the wounds take much longer to heal. [snip]

"Yes, I will be at the White House this Monday. I will have one of the most important conversations we can have with one of the most important leaders in our nation's history. I will honor the bravery and vision of the LGBT families I work daily to support. I will share their stories with people in power and mince no words about what we want, when we want it and how. This is the oath of my office. Hold me to mine, as I work to hold the President to his." - Family Equality Council executive director Jennifer Chrisler, guest posting on Pam's House Blend.

Read her complete essay.

Obama On Gay Families

Last month Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of the Family Equality Council, wrote identical letters to both presidential candidates to ask about their positions on gay families. Barack Obama has responded with a letter (PDF) that mostly talks about his own family and offers some general platitudes about family life, but closes with this paragraph:

[W]e also have to do more to support and strengthen LGBT families. Because equality in relationship, family, and adoption rights is not some abstract principle; it’s about whether millions of LGBT Americans can finally live lives marked by dignity and freedom. That’s why we have to repeal laws like the Defense of Marriage Act. That’s why we have to eliminate discrimination against LGBT families. And that’s why we have to extend equal treatment in our family and adoption laws.
I’ll be a president that stands up for American families – all of them.

McCain apparently has not responded.