There ought to be a law

What happened to Janice Langbehn (pictured left) and her partner of 17 years was tragic.

And it is just what Colorado State Rep. Mark Ferrandino (pictured left) is trying to avoid with HB 1260, which he is introducing into the state legislature.

Among other things, the bill would cement a same-sex couple's right to visit each other in the hospital.

It would also allow unmarried couples, both gay and straight, to designate certain rights and protections to each other.

Read more at Janice's website www.thelpkids.com.

Iceland makes history ... when will USA follow suit?

History was made twice in Iceland.

It now has its first female Prime Minister, Johanna Sigurdardottir, and also the first openly gay/lesbian leader in the world.

Who will be the first openly gay president of the United States?

My money's on Colorado's Jared Polis--maybe in 2024.

Jared Polis' plan for gender equality

Rep. Jared Polis (Dem-CO-gay) lays out his recommendations for gender equality in the Obama stimulus package.

Victory Fund endorses 10 out candidates for 2009

2009 is shaping up to be a good year politically.

Read all about the out and proud politicians being endorsed by the Victory Fund in 2009.

Aren't they cute?

Who will take Salazar's Senate seat? You can bet it'll be someone gay friendly

The Denver Post says that Ken Salazar has accepted Obama's offer to become interior secretary . Although Salazar has been considered too conservative by some, he has been generally friendly to GLBT positions (which has little to do with Secretary of the Interior, but we take allies where we can get them--and we love the idea that a guy from Colorado, who knows national parks and natural wonders and the importance of preserving them, will be overseeing the mess that the house of Bush made).



And his appointment looks to stir up the Senate seat that he is vacating, with Mayor John Hickenlooper and Rep. Diana DeGette (pictured), among others, listed as potential replacements to serve out his term, which runs until 2010.

No GLBT-friendlier people could you find than these two. Other possibilities, including Ed Perlmutter and Andrew Romanoff, are also GLBT-friendly. It seems like, no matter who Gov. Ritter chooses for the vacant seat, our community will have two Colorado senators who support our causes.

GLBT-friendly politicians make Ritter's list for Colorado Secretary of State

Super-GLBT-friendly House Speaker Andrew Romanoff (pictured) is on the shortlist for Colorado Secretary of State. Romanoff has been an incredible fighter for GLBT rights in Colorado, and he's not afraid to speak up and speak out, both in the legislature and at GLBT events. And who can argue with his boyish good looks?

Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon also has a GLBT-friendly track record and has been very supportive of the community. I don't know that much about Rep. Bernie Buescher from Grand Junction. Maybe somebody can fill me in on his GLBT stance. Gov. Ritter himself has been a friend to our community, and it's likely that anyone he chooses would not have an anti-gay track record.

Although the Secretary of State does not deal directly with GLBT political issues, he (or she) oversees elections, petitions for ballot initiatives and so on, and a fair-minded individual who supports all Colorado communities is always the safest bet for everyone.

A message from Colorado Queer Straight Alliance on surviving anti-gay politics

It's a few days old but Glenda Russel's message on surviving anti-gay politics is one we as a community can use any time. - via Colorado Queer Straight Alliance

Help Barack Obama lead the nation

The Presidential Appointments Project is a community-wide effort to make sure President-Elect Barack Obama has a qualified, vetted poll of openly LGBT applicants from which to choose his staff. Thousands of presidential appointments will be made between now and the spring of 2009. If you've ever wanted to give back to your country and help the president make real change in Washington, begin your journey at www.GLLI.org.

Don't it make my red state blue?

There's no statistics here, but I'm willing to wager that, as the state with the 7th largest GLBT population and growing, Colorado's gays had some say in turning our red state blue.

Gays and gay friendlies won big on Nov. 4 - except for where we didn't

The GLBT community won some and lost some this past election day.

Here's the good news.

Jared Polis (pictured) became the first openly gay man elected to Congress as a non-incumbent. Cograts Jared! And that horrible, horrible Marilyn Musgrave finally went down.

About time.

Read more at The Washington Blade.

Guide to watching the election results

Huffington Post has an excellent guide to watching the election results tonight.

And locally, Charlie's is hosting the Colorado Stonewall Democrats starting at 6 p.m. and Hamburger Mary's is also having a big to-do hosted by Connexion.org. I'll probably be bouncing between the two for most of the evening. Exciting stuff.

I Voted!

Jogged on down to my friendly neighborhood polling place right around 8 a.m. and was delightified to find that there was hardly any wait at all to vote. I filled in some marks, popped my ballot into the box and secured my place as a useful member of society in about 10 minutes altogether.

And now, in the silence of MHGG HQ, I'm going to give up a little round of applause for all those poll workers who put in so much time and energy so that the rest of us can have as easy a time of it as possible.

Top 60 political ads of 2008

The Huffington Post has a very interesting list of the 60 most memorable campaign ads of the past year.

Colorado's Mark Udall made the list with his response to a dopey attack ad.

See the rest here.

Presidential Dance Off

Funny stuff. Thanks to Brothas4Ever for the tip.

Don't be a victim of Voter Fraud

If you think you are registered to vote and are told at your polling place that you can't vote for ANY reason you need to 1) ask for a provisional ballot, which is a temporary ballot that allows you to vote and have the vote counted after verification and 2) call the Election Protection hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE, from the polling place if possible and if not, then as soon as you get home.

And if you experience any voting problems tomorrow at all be sure to call the Election Protection hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE, they are a national service and they have legal advisors who can help straighten out any issues and make sure your vote is counted.

It's sad but true that there are people out there who want to keep your vote from being counted. Don't be a victim!

Don't let this swing state swing the wrong way

Just a reminder - if you haven't read The Advocate's online report about Colorado as a swing state, published earlier in October and reported on by MHGG, here are the links again to the articles:

The Big Four Report

Pat Steadman Fights to Turn Colorado Blue

The Swing State Factor

Four things keep Mitchell Bard up at night

Polls show Obama with a better than 96% chance of winning the election but the Huffington Post's Mitchell Bard won't believe it until he sees it .

Denver Post endorses Obama

The Denver Post has endorsed Barack Obama for president saying he "is better equipped to lead America ..." - via Denver Post

Makking Sense of the Election: Bell Center ballot recommendations

Thanks to Brian Brant, Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of the GLBT Center of Colorado for passing along this information.

Bell Fiscal Policy Center is a non-partisan organization that analyzes the impact of policy to Coloradans. Below are their recommendations on the various amendments and referendum on the ballot. You can find information on each of these on their website at TheBell.org.

AMENDMENT 46
Discrimination and Preferential Treatment by Governments
Bell position: Oppose

AMENDMENT 47
Prohibition on Mandatory Labor Membership and Dues
(Right to Work)
Bell position: Oppose

AMENDMENT 48
Definition of a Person
Bell position: Oppose

AMENDMENT 49
Allowable Government Paycheck Deductions
Bell position: Oppose

AMENDMENT 50
Limited Gaming in Central City, Black Hawk and Cripple Creek
Bell position: Neutral

AMENDMENT 51
State Sales Tax Increas for People with Developmental Disabilities
Bell position: Neutral

AMENDMENT 52
Use of Severance Tax Revenue for Highways
Bell position: Oppose

AMENDMENT 53 *WITHDRAWN FROM BALLOT*
Criminal Liability of Business Executives
Bell position: Oppose

AMENDMENT 54
Campaign Contributions from Certain Government Contractors
Bell position: Oppose

AMENDMENT 55 *WITHDRAWN FROM BALLOT*
Allowable Reasons for Employee Discharge or Suspension
(Just Cause)
Bell position: Oppose

AMENDMENT 56 *WITHDRAWN FROM BALLOT*
Employer Responsibility for Health Insurance
Bell position: Oppose

AMENDMENT 57 *WITHDRAWN FROM BALLOT*
Additional Remedies for Injured Employees
Bell position: Oppose

AMENDMENT 58
Severance Taxes on the Oil and Gas Industry
Bell position: Support

AMENDMENT 59
Education Funding and TABOR Rebates
Bell position: Support

REFERENDUM L
Qualifications for Serving in the State Legislature
Bell position: Support

REFERENDA M and N
Obsolete Constitutional Provision Relating to Land Value Increases
Obsolete Constitutional Provisions Relating to Alcohol Beverages
Bell position: Neutral

REFERENDUM O
Citizen-Initiated State Laws
Bell position: Support

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