A recent poll shows a huge shift in American attitudes toward gay marriage, from a 32 percent approval in 2004 to 53 percent today. I am one of those people who changed their minds.

I've always avoided the subject of the Westboro Baptist Church, for a few reasons. For one, I didn't want to write something in anger, which has proven difficult to manage at times.

here's Boehner's absurd criticism of Obama: "A spokesman for Boehner's office criticized the administration change of position.

Radio Report and News Article: Obama Declares Defense of Marriage Act Unconstitutional - NPR All Things Considered:

The Equality and Human Rights Commission is examining whether "gay-only" guesthouses breach new laws designed to prevent people being treated unfairly in the provision of goods or services.

After getting a daylong earful of hateful speech against gays and lesbians during a hearing on the bill, one Maryland lawmaker—Democratic Sen.

...if Republican elected officials* in Iowa get their way:

In a statement today, Political Research Associates condemned the murder and demanded an end to "the export of homophobia to Uganda by American conservatives."

David Kato knew he was a marked man.

Devout Christian hotel owners who refused to allow a gay couple to share a double room acted unlawfully, a judge at Bristol county court ruled today.

The photograph is not easy to look at, and it's not clear at first glance if Millicent Gaika, the woman in the photo, is dead or alive. Huge purple bruises surround both of her swollen eyes, and her neck is crisscrossed by a number of open gashes and scars.

"a music video for lgbtq kids everywhere - now available on itunes"

If David Bahati succeeds in passing the death penalty for homosexuals in Uganda, we need to pray for our own deliverance in the United States. [...]

In an interview with the ultra conservative American Family News Network's OneNewsNow, [Dr.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said in a recent interview with Big Think that he believes the country is at a point where it will soon be acceptable to elect a gay president.

Co-host Whoopi Goldberg also joined the debate, quoting Scripture to try to prove that God doesn't judge, so neither should humans judge homosexuals. "I really believe that God said very clearly 'Noone else can judge you, but Me'," Goldberg expressed.

"Today, one position has emerged as the clear preference of the majority of Americans," FiveThirtyEight reports. "Seventy-five percent of Americans support open service, 17 oppose any service, and only 8 percent support the compromise position of 'don't ask, don't tell.'"

When a majority of troops told Pentagon interviewers this summer they didn't care if gays were allowed to serve openly in the military, it represented a sharp break from the past when America's fighting forces voiced bitter opposition to accepting racial minorities and women in t …

"A vote last week by the United Nations General Assembly Human Rights Committee has LGBT and human rights activists outraged over the decision to remove "sexual orientation" from a resolution that protects people from arbitrary executions.

In response to a gay-straight alliance week designed to fight bullying, some high school students in Chicago wore t-shirts for "straight pride" that included a Bibical passage advocating death for gay people.

...that's just what happened recently in Raleigh at the Cameron Village shopping center to a couple of women who were being affectionate with each other when a guard happened by.

Looking forward to changes to the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell policy?” Don’t hold your breath. The Wall Street Journal’s Laura Meckler reports today that the drive in Congress to repeal the policy appears all but lost for the fores …

Two articles / videos: President Obama Films 'It Gets Better' Video To Combat Gay Bullying

A FEDERAL appeals court on Wednesday granted the Obama administration's emergency request for a stay against a lower court order lifting the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy barring openly gay service members.

I love purple and will happily join in: It's been decided! On October 20th, 2010, we will wear purple in honor of the LGBT youth who have committed suicide in recent weeks/months due to homophobic abuse in their homes and schools.

An increasingly popular bumper sticker reads, "Guns Don't Kill People -- RELIGION Kills People!" In light of recent events I would add religion kills young people: gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender young people.

O'DONNELL: A federal judge recently ruled that we have to overturn Don't Ask Don't Tell. There are a couple of things we need to say about that. First of all, judges should not be legislating from the bench.

Jeff Hannon, the 23-year-old gay nephew of Carl Paladino (he also works for the campaign), spoke out Tuesday about his uncle's antigay remarks, saying that he was "very offended" by the comments.

New York City police arrested seven gang members accused of beating a new recruit who they discovered is gay, Commissioner Ray Kelly announced.

If someone was getting beat for wearing a rainbow necklace, would you walk on by feeling they deserved it because they must be gay? If a student was getting their books knocked out of their hands because they were carrying a Qur'an, would you laugh?

...[Tyler] Clementi's death last month, following suicides by several other homosexual teens in recent weeks, has also prompted a sharp debate in religious communities, a discussion that includes an unusual degree of soul-searching in addition to the more typical defensiveness.

"Words have consequences, particularly when they come from a faith leader," Joe Solmonese, president of HRC, said in a statement.

He went on to say "Freedom of the press clearly includes the right to question the actions and motives of religious figures and institutions. But freedom doesn't excuse prejudice or poor handling of serious material, especially people's religious convictions.

"We are heartbroken over the tragic loss of a young man who, by all accounts, was brilliant, talented and kind," Goldstein said.

As a gay diplomat seeks US asylum, Saudi Arabia seems torn between wanting a civilised image and appeasing traditionalists

A recent case in Texas points out one of the problems that arise when one state won't recognize the marriage laws of another:

In the late 1700s, something disturbing happened to marriage in Western societies: It began to change. Young people had revolutionary new ideas about the institution and what it meant to them.

Wow! Conservative lawyer Ted Olson - who won the case finding California anti gay marriage Prop 8 unconstitutional - responds honestly, intelligently and rightly to every stupid question FOX News Sunday host Chris Wallace asks him.

Governor Schwarzenegger wants same-sex marriages to resume immediately!

The National Organization For Marriage (NOM) has embarked on a disastrous 23-city "Summer for Marriage Tour 2010," spreading the gospel of one-man-one-woman marriage to tens of supporters and encountering well organized counter protests in almost every city.

By the time Mohammad Abdollahi figured out he had been living in the United States illegally for more than a decade, he also knew that his personal safety would depend on being able to stay in the country he calls home.

The lack of support for legalizing gay marriage amongst conservatives is surprising because the push to legalize gay marriage serves conservative aims.

A new survey shows that 63% of LGBT Americans, a clear majority of those polled, oppose the strict new immigration law set to take effect in Arizona next month. In contrast, the poll found that about 60% of straight adults support the law

Alice Dreger and Ellen K. Feder from Bioethics Forum have unearthed a 2007 study in which a doctor from Cornell University defends the practice of surgically cutting girls' clitorises. Disturbing, but his follow-up treatment is even worse..

excerpt: ''The Texas Republican party has doubled down on their state's same-sex marriage ban in their continued war against LGBT rights.

Uganda's anti-gay bill, which espouses the death penalty for homosexual acts, still lives -- with the help of the U.S. religious right.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued an official letter opposing the passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would add sexual orientation to the nation's anti-discrimination laws that have existed for two generations.

Science has found several provocative indications that homosexuality is a matter of physiology rather than choice--but some religious factions have another theory: evil spirits make people gay. The cure: "deliverance," known also by an older and more terrifying name: exorcism.

FRC is in the news once more for having reportedly hired lobbyists to sway Congressional leaders to kill a resolution condemning legislation in Uganda that would, if passed, put gays to death.

CA GOP Legislator Roy Ashburn has come a very long way in a very short time, and should be praised.

On her radio show recently, Dr. Laura Schlesinger said that, as an observant Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22, and cannot be condoned under any circumstance.

You don't know me. I'm in my early forties, a career army officer, born and raised in the South. For the last ten years, I've been in a committed relationship. And I'm gay. You don't know me. I can't let you know me.

This is a question that would be quite difficult to answer for many right wing bigots. As Rob Tisanai correctly points out, the seriously anti-gay crowd really does seem to believe that one's sexuality only exists when you're actually having sex.

The Massachusetts senator who succeeded Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) in the Bay State says he'll vote against repealing the Pentagon's longstanding ban on allowing gay men and women to serve openly in the military.

"We have no law that criminalizes sexual orientation, just certain sexual acts. --Malawi's Solicitor General

LONG BEACH, Calif. – Seven years after the Episcopal Church caused an uproar by consecrating its first openly gay bishop, it has done the same thing again — only this time with a woman.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty isn't seeking reelection. He is seeking the Republican Party's 2012 presidential nomination.

Laura Bush, the wife of former US president George Bush, has announced she supports same-sex marriage and believes abortion should remain legal.

"The militant homosexual agenda is a symptom of sexual politics… Sexual politics always trumps religious liberty. Hate crime laws are turning Christians into second class citizens."

A student given $80,000 worth of military scholarship money may have to pay it all back because she came out as a lesbian.

Today, another brave soldier comes forward to share with the President, yet another story of what life is like under the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Former Sgt. Tracey L.

A "Conservative Action Alert" by Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt has gone out stirring up a rumor claiming Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan is a lesbian. The White House is trying to snuff the issue, denying that Kagan is gay.

On Tuesday April 27 the The Bishops and Elders Council, convened by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, will hold a noontime vigil at Washington DC's National City Christian Church, in protest of legislation before Uganda's Parliament, the Anti Homosexuality Bill, that would …