It’s queer news roundup!
Have you heard about the North Carolina parents who want to transfer their daughter to a different school because her school library carried a child’s book called King & King featuring a gay prince looking for his mister right? The MetaFilter Thread on the subject links to the CNN article, which seems to be carrying the same text as all the other ones i’ve seen so far. It’s one thing to ask that your daughter not be exposed to the book, but the family has now taken it upon themselves to withhold the book from the library so that other people cannot check it out. Lovely.
But, wait, there’s more… new Bush appointee Scott Bloch slashes rights for government employed homosexuals. Apparently, sexual preference isn’t a “protected class” under the law. To be fair, the current act covers conduct “which does not adversely affect” performance; that doesn’t specifically nod to sexual preference, but its quite a stretch to suggest that it has a negative effect on a work environment (though the stretch will be made if it’s isn’t prohibited by law). Someone in the Metafilter thread amusingly points out that this means bosses are free to fire hetero workers who constantly talk about their sex lives or who have annoying pictures of them kissing their spouses displayed prominently. Heh.
Decisions on these and other queer-rights issues effect friends and family members that i love very dearly, and rulings on these and other civil rights effect everyone — not just the people who feel their immediate ramifications. Please support civil rights for all with your vote in the remaining primaries and the November election. And, remember, you can get all of your queer news fresh off the griddle from QueerDay, founded by one of my favorite people ever, JillMatrix (who is apparently blogging again!).
Addendum: Many, many congratulations are in order for JillMatrix, who is in possession of one of relatively few same-sex civil unions in the country! See her re-inaugural post on her trip to San Francisco, and some pictures of the proceedings.