Yowzers! Major hats off to Brazilian President Luiz Lula, the first president to personally take on homophobia, which he calls “perverse.” Lula had the First National Conference of Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, Transvestites and Transsexuals (GLBT), inaugurated by presidential decree, and called for “a time of reparation” in Brazil.

Accompanied by six ministers, Lula exhorted all those opposed to the gay-rights movement to “open and purify their minds.” Lula then announced his complete support for the homosexual movement, saying that he is “going to do all that is possible so that the criminalization of homophobia and the civil union may be approved.”

After calling for a universal embrace of the homosexual movement, the president affirmed that … Continued…

Presidential candidate John McCain tried his hand at humor on this weekend’ Saturday Night Live. In addition to poking fun at his unbelievable old age, the Republican jabbed at gay rights legislation, via pork barrel appropriations: …$160 million to the Department of Defense for developing a device that can jam gaydar. Now I don’t know if this is anti-gay, or pro-gay, or if such a device would even work. but I do know this. Jamming gaydar is not a federal responsibility. That’s something that’s best left to state and local governments. Such a position, however satirical, speaks to McCain’s backward belief that American voters, many of whom are … Continued…

In the wake of Cuban president Fidel Castro’s resignation earlier this year, the balance of power has shifted not only to his brother, Raul, but to another Castro, Mariela, Raul’s daughter.

An outspoken gay advocate and head of the National Center for Sex Education, Mariela Castro uses her position to affect positive social change. Now, with her uncle out of power and her father in, Castro’s gearing up for a lavender invasion, proposing legislation that will bring bent boys and girls closer to their heterosexual peers.

And she may be making all the right moves.
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Outgoing Task Force director Matt Foreman spoke at the Creating Change conference this weekend. While we’d love to highlight all of his wise words - for example, the gay rights movement is laden with racism - we’re going to highlight Foreman’s thoughts on incrementalism: “…Over the last 34 years we’ve gone from a comprehensive bill, to an employment only bill, to a broken bill that doesn’t include gender identity and does allow blatant discrimination by religious organizations. In what world can you call going from this to this incremental progress?” Worlds where public image matters more than policy results? [Bilerico]

Scores of Bollywood stars spoke out against a recent anti-gay raid in India. While most of them expressed love of their gay friends and the such, others were a bit more restrained. Celina Jaitley, however, got to the heart of the matter: “In Britain, they’ve gay marriages. So why are we stuck with their obsolete laws? They left the country long back!” Word. [SIFY]

The contemporary gay rights movement got off the ground way back in 1969. Despite nearly forty years of struggle, activists still can’t overcome one fundamental hurdle: should the gay movement subscribe to separatist isolationism or dedicate itself to more universal human rights?
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Mitt Romney’s flip-flopping popped up on Hardball last night.
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Three cheers for the European Union! Well, most of it.

Sure, its employment policies hinder some homo movement, but the international governing group just extended a bit of a queer olive branch: The European Union has become the first international body to have a treaty containing explicit language prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
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The Charter brings together into a single document all of the separate EU laws and regulations on human-rights but despite the fanfare it has no legal force. That will only happen when the parliaments of all 27 member states ratify a concord called the Lisbon Treaty that reforms the way the EU operates.

The International Lesbian … Continued…

Virginia resident John Stec takes issue with The Roanoke Time’s consistent support of gay rights and “equality”. The engineer apparently doesn’t believe gays should have, deserve or need any such things. Nor does he seem to understand the full extent of homosexual inclinations: A man or boy can love another man or boy without the exchange of bodily fluids. I love my father deeply. Affection is physically given and proven by an appropriate and occasional embrace and a kiss. I love some of my friends deeply. They know it. They know it by my conversation, my commitment to their well-being and by the things we enjoy together. And they know it without having to disrobe to perform sex.
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If your … Continued…

Joe Solmonese won’t be shopping at Wal-Mart this season. He and his Human Rights Campaign gave the budget retail giant an abysmal rating on their corporate equality index: [HRC] is giving Wal-Mart a red “do not buy” rating in its new consumer guide, bestowing a lump of coal on the retail giant just in time for the holiday shopping season.

Citing Wal-Mart’s refusal to offer domestic partner benefits to its gay and lesbian workers, the HRC said Tuesday that the USA’s biggest private employer has “more work to do in furthering equality.” It advised gays and their supporters to shop elsewhere.

Wal-Mart rated a red 40 on a scale of 100, down from a yellow 65 in 2006. It was among 54 companies that scored 45 or lower in HRC’s 2008 Corporate Equality index, which assigns ratings to 519 large companies. Also in the red: Toys R Us, RadioShack and AutoZone. No, not AutoZone! Where are we going to get our lube jobs!?
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No doubt Democrat Hillary Clinton’s a happy camper today. The Senator just got another homo-politico vote from Barney Frank, who proudly threw his political weight behind her candidacy yesterday.
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A new day may be dawning in Salina, New York. City supervisor Chuck Iavarone hopes to pass an overarching human rights law that would, among other things, recognize same-sex partnerships. Based on Ithaca’s human rights ordinance, the proposed legislation, which will be debated this evening, would include a myriad non-discrimination clauses: [The proposed law] covers more than gay rights. It would prevent discrimination for all minorities in the areas of public accommodations, employment, real estate transactions, credit and education.

If the law is passed, for instance, harassment or graffiti against a particular minority group would become a misdemeanor… One thing the proposed law can’t do is legalize same-sex marriage. While lefties may celebrate tonight’s vote, more … Continued…

• Paris Hilton made a press appearance in Korea this weekend. And so did her lipstick smeared teeth.

• Chris Crocker wants us to leave him alone. We will, just as soon as he stops assaulting our culture with his attention-seeking absurdity.

• John McCain’s 95-year old mother takes jab at Mitt Romney.
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The gay gods were smiling upon Queerty when we were granted access to Annie Lennox and Out 100 guest Gina Gershon’s inner sanctum Friday night. Watch as the girls talk about knowing gay people, why we shouldn’t label folk, ENDA, Lennox’s Humanitarian of The Year award and South Africa’s Treatment Action Campaign founder Zackie Achmat.

[Oh, and be sure to check out Annie Lennox’s main and Sing oriented websites!]

There’s some trend bucking in Baltimore, where a group of black activists have come out for gay marriage. Under the leadership of Elbridge James (pictured), the Maryland Black Family Alliance will push their peers to join the call for gay civil rights. Says James: There’s a scarcity of information on this issue in the black community. The black press doesn’t cover it; talk radio doesn’t cover it. … We have this sort of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell policy’ in our community. As James talks gay rights, others question the parallels between gay and black social movements. Politico pastor Emmett C. Burns Jr objects to the correlation: I get really bent out of shape when you … Continued…