President Obama Speaks At Selma, Gives Nod To Battle For LGBT Rights

Via the New York Times:

In an address at the scene of what became known as “Bloody Sunday,” Mr. Obama rejected the notion that race relations have not improved since then, despite the string of police shootings that have provoked demonstrations. “What happened in Ferguson may not be unique,” he said, “but it’s no longer endemic. It’s no longer sanctioned by law or custom, and before the civil rights movement, it most surely was.” But the president also rejected the notion that racism has been defeated. “We don’t need the Ferguson report to know that’s not true,” he said. “We just need to open our eyes and our ears and our hearts to know that this nation’s racial history still casts its long shadow upon us. We know the march is not yet over; we know the race is not yet won. We know reaching that blessed destination where we are judged by the content of our character requires admitting as much.”

And of course he mentioned LGBT rights.

On the 50th anniversary of the march, Obama honored the protesters by saying, “Because of what they did, the doors of opportunity swung open not just for African-Americans, but for every American. Women marched through those doors. Latinos marched through those doors. Asian-Americans, gay Americans, and Americans with disabilities came through those doors. Their endeavors gave the entire South the chance to rise again, not by reasserting the past, but by transcending the past.”

He further noted, “We do a disservice to the cause of justice by intimating that bias and discrimination are immutable, or that racial division is inherent to America. If you think nothing’s changed in the past 50 years, ask somebody who lived through the Selma or Chicago or L.A. of the ’50s. Ask the female CEO who once might have been assigned to the secretarial pool if nothing’s changed. Ask your gay friend if it’s easier to be out and proud in America now than it was 30 years ago. To deny this progress — our progress — would be to rob us of our own agency; our responsibility to do what we can to make America better.”

They Came With Horses And Nightsticks

Happy MLK Day From The GOP

The party that fought the establishment of Martin Luther King Day in multiple states today celebrates. The MLK holiday is still officially shared with Confederate General Robert E. Lee Day in Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi.

Mississippi Goddam!

"They try to say it's a communist plot, all I want is equality for my sister, my brother, my people and me. You don't have to live next to me, just give my equality."

Obama To Nominate NYC Prosecutor Loretta Lynch To Replace Holder As AG

Via Reuters:

President Barack Obama will nominate Brooklyn federal prosecutor Loretta Lynch to replace the retiring Eric Holder as U.S. attorney general and if confirmed, she would become the first black woman to serve in the post, the White House said on Friday. The 55-year-old North Carolina native and Harvard-trained lawyer has deep experience in both civil rights and corporate fraud cases. Lynch is known for a low-key personality and stirred little controversy during two tenures as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. Her nomination requires Senate confirmation. The Senate twice previously has voted to confirm her to federal prosecutor jobs, the last time in 2010. In a statement, White House spokesman Josh Earnest called Lynch "a strong, independent prosecutor" and said Obama would formally announce her nomination to be the nation's top law enforcement official at an event in the White House Roosevelt Room on Saturday.

The Human Rights Campaign applauds:

Upon news that President Obama will nominate Loretta Lynch to replace outgoing LGBT equality champion Eric Holder as Attorney General of the United States, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, praised the decision based on her record on civil rights. “Loretta Lynch will have big shoes to fill thanks to the incredible leadership of outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder and his unprecedented commitment to LGBT equality,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “Based on her strong record on civil and human rights as a U.S. Attorney, we have no doubt she will continue that leadership as Attorney General. We look forward to working with her to ensure equal justice under the law for all LGBT Americans.”

Now comes the screaming from Teabagistan.

Actress Ruby Dee Dies At Age 91

Maya Angelou Dies At Age 86

Legendary poet, author, and civil rights activist Maya Angelou has died in her North Carolina home at the age of 86.

Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines confirmed Angelou was found by her caretaker on Wednesday morning. Angelou had been reportedly battling health problems. She recently canceled a scheduled appearance of a special event to be held in her honor. Angelou was set to be honored with the “Beacon of Life Award” at the 2014 MLB Beacon Award Luncheon on May 30 in Houston. Angelou is famous for saying, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

In 1993 Angelou read her now famous poem On The Pulse Of Morning at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton. I was overcome with goosebumps when the poem name-checked gay people at such a prestigious event. Pulse remains one of the very few poems I can (mostly) recite from memory.

There is a true yearning to respond to
The singing River and the wise Rock.
So say the Asian, the Hispanic, the Jew
The African, the Native American, the Sioux,
The Catholic, the Muslim, the French, the Greek
The Irish, the Rabbi, the Priest, the Sheik,
The Gay, the Straight, the Preacher,
The privileged, the homeless, the Teacher.
They hear. They all hear
The speaking of the Tree.


RELATED: Angelou's reading of Pulse was dramatically sampled in Ispirazione's 1996 dance hit Psalm.

LBJ's Daughters: Our Father Would Likely Have Supported Same-Sex Marriage

Katie Couric interviewed Luci Baines Johnson and Lynda Bird Johnson Robb, the daughters of late President Lyndon B. Johnson, and asked them about their father's civil rights legacy in the light of the current battle for same-sex marriage.

“I think my father felt very strongly that when there was bigotry anywhere, prejudice anywhere, all of us lose out,” Johnson said. “Because it's just one more expression of hate.” For her part, Robb said she didn’t know what her father would say, because same-sex marriage was not an issue when he was in public life. “It's hard to project what Daddy would have thought about that because that wasn't an issue that had come upon the stage at that time,” Robb said. “But I know he really wanted everybody to be able to live up to the best that God gave them.” Both Robb and Johnson said they personally believe gay marriage should be allowed. “I certainly think that, if God made you a homosexual, that you should have love and affection with somebody,” Robb said. “And I would not want to deny anybody that opportunity to be happy.”

This week marks the 50th anniversary of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, which some historians consider to be the crowning achievement of the LBJ administration. Watch the interview below.

(Via Towleroad)

Quote Of The Day - Brian Brown

"The struggle for civil rights in America as envisioned by Dr. King is ongoing, and I am personally very honored and proud to be able to call some of its greatest leaders my close friends and allies: people like Bishop Harry Jackson, Bishop George McKinney, Bishop David Hall, Pastor Eugene Rivers and so many others. And of course, there is Dr. King's own heroically pro-life, pro-marriage niece, Dr. Alveda King.  The true legacy of the Civil Rights movement cannot be praised too highly. I say the true legacy of the Civil Rights movement because these great men and women know, as well as you and I, how that legacy has been hijacked by those who try to claim it for the purpose of redefining marriage and imposing a radical redefinition of the family on our society. They know — as we all know through simple common sense — that this hijacking is a travesty and an insult." - Hate group leader Brian Brown, declaring that Martin Luther King would have opposed same-sex marriage and LGBT rights.

Here's just three of the inconvenient facts missing from Brown's message: 1) "Heroically pro-life, pro-marriage" Alveda King has had three divorces and three abortions. 2) MLK's widow, Coretta Scott King, was an ardent supporter of same-sex marriage and LGBT rights.  From her famous 2004 speech to the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force: "I still hear people say that I should not be talking about the rights of lesbian and gay people. But I hasten to remind them that Martin Luther King Jr. said, 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.' I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream, to make room at the table of brotherhood and sisterhood for lesbian and gay people." 3) The chief organizer of MLK's historic 1964 March On Washington was Bayard Rustin, an openly gay black man who last year was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal Of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.

UPDATED: Sally Ride & Bayard Rustin Get Presidential Medal Of Freedom

Accepting the medals on behalf of their late partners were Tam O'Shaughnessy (Sally Ride) and Walter Naegle (Bayard Rustin). Both presentations were preceded by the off-stage announcer recounting the contributions made by Ride and Rustin to the history of the LGBT movement. The live stream has now concluded.

Macklemore: Join The ACLU

Via press release:

Rap superstar Macklemore today released a video urging people to join the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and get its legendary membership card. In a 50-second spot launched on his Facebook page and promoted via his Twitter feed, the MTV Video Music Award-winning rapper encourages his fans to get the card "that lets my gay friends marry the hell out of each other." The video presents a funny but hard-hitting defense of free speech with lines like: "I’ve got a lot of things to do during the day. So something like being beaten with a club, pepper-sprayed, and tased for expressing my political views would really slow me down. That’s why I carry the ACLU card."

Details (and a contest to meet Macklemore) are here.

LIVE: President Obama Speaks At March On Washington 50th Anniversary Tribute

The president is slated to begin around 3pm.

50 Years Ago Today

RNC Speaker Slams Gays & Immigrants For Pushing Poor Black People Aside

"I really think that the civil rights movement in it’s effort to expand has excluded some of the people that it originally designed to help and that’s low income people of all races. I didn’t hear poor people mentioned at all very much [on Saturday]. It was the environmentalists, women, gays, and immigrants. Everybody except poor people. The next frontier for me in the civil rights movement, is what are we doing for the least of God's children. Everybody has come in front of them on the bus: gays, immigrants, women, environmentalists. We never hear about the conditions confronting poor blacks and poor people in general." - Bob Woodson, speaking yesterday at a Republican National Committee luncheon to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the March On Washington. Woodson's comments earned him a standing ovation from GOP leaders.

RELATED: Noting the criticisms of Woodson's comments, Log Cabin Republicans head Gregory Angelo rushes to his defense via press release.

"I was at yesterday's event, and on my feet with everyone else in the room applauding Mr. Woodson for his bold remarks. His words weren't meant to diminish the importance of the gay rights movement at all. In context, his speech was an indictment of a culture in the United States of zero-sum morality where one cause takes money, media, and attention away from others. 50 years out from the famed March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and black unemployment is at 12.6% today. 44 years out from Stonewall and gay men and women face discrimination and murder because of who they are. There's no reason we should work to achieve one victory at the expense of another."

Civil Rights Pioneer Bayard Rustin And Astronaut Sally Ride To Be Posthumously Awarded Presidential Medal Of Freedom

Civil rights pioneer (and gay man) Bayard Rustin, who organized the 1963 March On Washington, and astronaut Sally Ride, who (at her request) was outed after her death of cancer last year, will be among the recipients of this year's Presidential Medal Of Freedom awards, the highest honor given to any civilian. Via press release from the White House:

This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the Executive Order signed by President John F. Kennedy establishing the Presidential Medal of Freedom, as well as the first ceremony bestowing the honor on an inaugural class of 31 recipients. Since that time, more than 500 exceptional individuals from all corners of society have been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  President Obama said, “The Presidential Medal of Freedom goes to men and women who have dedicated their own lives to enriching ours. This year's honorees have been blessed with extraordinary talent, but what sets them apart is their gift for sharing that talent with the world. It will be my honor to present them with a token of our nation's gratitude."

The Human Rights Campaign reacts:

Bayard Rustin’s contributions to the American civil rights movement remain paramount to its successes to this day,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “His role in the fight for civil rights of African-Americans is all the more admirable because he made it as a gay man, experiencing prejudice not just because of his race, but because of his sexual orientation as well.” Rustin was active in the struggle for civil rights for sixty years, from organizing early freedom rides in the 1940s, to serving as key advisor to Dr. King, to helping found the A. Philip Randolph Institute.

But his advocacy was far from limited to the rights of African Americans. He worked to end apartheid in South Africa, fought for the freedom of Soviet Jews, worked to protect the property of Japanese Americans interned during World War II, and helped highlight the plight of Vietnamese “boat people.” And in the 1980s, he also spoke up for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, testifying in support of anti-discrimination legislation in New York. “Bayard Rustin dedicated his life to advocating for fairness and equality and overcame prejudice to help move our nation forward,” added Griffin.

 The 50th anniversary of the March On Washington is August 28th.

RELATED: Some of this year's other recipients will surely upset the wingnuts. They are: Ernie Banks, Ben Bradlee, Bill Clinton, Daniel Inouye, Daniel Kahneman, Richard Lugar, Loretta Lynn, Mario Molina, Arturo Sandoval, Dean Smith, Gloria Steinem, C.T. Vivian, Patricia Wald, Oprah Winfrey.

The Smithsonian Wants Trayvon's Hoodie

The Smithsonian has expressed an interest in acquiring the hoodie worn by Trayvon Martin on the night he was murdered.

Lonnie Bunch, director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture told The Washington Post Martin's hoodie represents an to further the discussion about race in America. “It became the symbolic way to talk the Trayvon Martin case. It’s rare that you get one artifact that really becomes the symbol,” Bunch told the newspaper. “Because it’s such a symbol, it would allow you to talk about race in the age of Obama.” Bunch, who has acquired a guard tower from Louisiana’s Angola State Penitentiary and the handcuffs used to restrain Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. in 2009, said he'd like to have the hoodie for his collection once the legal case is over.

All of the physical evidence in the case is being held while the Justice Department mulls a possible civil rights case against George Zimmerman.

Tony Perkins Explains Kentucky's Anti-Gay Religious Freedom Act

"It took a House and Senate override to do it, but Kentucky can finally celebrate the enactment of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The bill, whose sponsor was a state Democrat, cruised to the simple majority it needed to overturn Governor Steve Beshear's veto. Under the law, men and women of faith can no longer be threatened for acting out their conscience on issues of moral principle. In the end, Gov. Beshear, who was under intense pressure from the Left, caved to the false argument that Christians would use the law to somehow discriminate against homosexuals.

"In fact, the exact opposite is true! This law was necessary--not because homosexuals were vulnerable to harassment--but because Christians are. As we've seen in small businesses and faith-based groups across the country, the Left's totalitarian tactics continue to trump Americans' First Amendment rights. Everyone from wedding cake bakers to high school teachers should be free to express their beliefs without fear of retribution." - Hate group leader Tony Perkins, via email.  Under the Religious Freedom Act any discrimination is legal if it is done due to "sincerely held religious beliefs."

SCOTUS Vs Public Opinion

Embiggen the graphic and examine public support for each issue at the time of the ruling. (Via Andrew Sullivan)

She Had A Dream

NAACP Head Speaks To HRC