Interesting Quote: Bil Browning

The current bickering over the fate of gay and lesbian couples who have one foreign-born partner compared to the basic human needs of thousands of LGBT people is distasteful and unseemly. By pitting the two groups against each other, we look petty and overwhelmingly biased against the poor and most vulnerable if we insist on the explicit inclusion of a very small subset of our community instead. 

Binational gay and lesbian couples have very real problems that need an immediate solution. Threatening to jeopardize relief for thousands of less fortunate queers isn't it.

Bil has a solid piece about Binational couples, LGBT undocumented people and the immigration bill

Bil Browning hopes to Expose Anti-Gay Indiana Lawmakers

Fed up with the foolishness of anti-gay Indiana lawmakers, gay blogger Bil Browning from The Bilerico Project is coming at them with full force. He's looking for some dirty laundry to expose these lawmakers and to hold them accountable for their bigotry.

Here's more (from Bil himself)
 

Now that a marriage discrimination amendment has passed the Indiana House of Representatives, apparently it's time to put out the same call I made in 2007 that helped to kill attempts to amend the constitution until now. Last time we found out that Senator Brandt Hershman, one of the sponsors of the amendment and right-to-life darling, had forced his wife to have an abortion in 1997 before he filed for divorce one week later. I also found an anti-gay legislator who was shtupping a male hairdresser while his wife died of a long-term illness.

Consider this a call to gossip. I want to know the scoop. Tell me the stories that will embarrass those conservative bigots - Democrats and Republican - that are backing a constitutional ban on our formalized relationships. Send me gossip about who's a philanderer, a kink fiend, a drug addict, a porn addict, or had a divorce, an abortion or even a stay in rehab. Ask your friends and family for the dirt. Look it up on the internet. Sniff out a lead and send it my way.

A Transphobic Post sparks Drama

On The Bilerico Project, a well respected LGBT blog, a post about Transgender people started up something fierce.

The post is called, "No" to the notion of Transgender, written by Ronald Gold. In this post, he writes:

So where does that put the concept of transgender? In my view, down the tubes! And that leaves the further questions of how transsexuals got to think the way they do, and what to do to resolve their dilemmas. I hope I'll be forgiven for rejecting as just plain silly the idea that some cosmic accident just turned these people into changelings. What happened, more than likely, is that, from an early age, when they discovered that their personalities didn't jibe with what little boys and girls are supposed to want and do and feel, they just assumed they mustn't be real little boys and girls.

After this was published, many readers expressed their anger and frustration over the post and TBP's choice to upload it.

Bil Browing added this at the beginning of the post:

All posts published on Bilerico Project do not reflect the opinions of nor any endorsement by the Editorial Team. Many Bilerico readers and contributors have found Ronald Gold's op-ed offensive or needlessly coarse. The idea behind Bilerico Project is to encourage dialogue among different facets of the LGBT community that might normally never interact this intimately. We encourage all readers to continue responding to Mr. Gold in the same spirit his post was written - with positive intent while bluntly stating your own opinion and experiences.

After I read it, I thought it was a joke. It felt like Ronald was thinking out loud and putting it on the screen. I wish Bil would have challenged Ronald to rethink this post. I know he want diverse views on the blog, but he has to remember what his site represents. Many LGBT folks go there to feel supported, gain knowledge and strengthen their spirits; a post like Ronald's could've easily changed.

This was not a good moment for TBP, but I hope there were some lessons learned.

Jared Polis gives us Real Talk about LGBT legislation

Congressman Jared Polis talks about the of LGBT state of affairs with Bilerico Project Editor-In-Chief, Bil Browning.

Something that got me was Jared's point about DOMA. He said in order to erase DOMA we need to win marriage equality in more states.

This was real talk. A great discussion.