Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan Discusses Implementation After The Repeal Of DADT With Gen. James Amos

Breaking News: Delaware Senate Passes Civil Unions Bill

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 7, 2011

Delaware Senate Passes Civil Unions Bill

Proposed law would provide same-sex couples with vital protections

WASHINGTON – Today, The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, and Equality Delaware, Delaware’s statewide coalition of LGBT advocates, applauds the Delaware Senate for passing a civil unions bill by a 13 to 6 vote. The bill now goes to the Delaware House of Representatives for consideration.

“Today, we applaud the Delaware Senate for valuing all Delaware families," said HRC President Joe Solmonese. "We call on the Delaware House to swiftly send the bill to Governor Markell for his signature."

“We are delighted by today's Senate vote and look forward to strong support from our sponsors in the House,” said Equality Delaware President Lisa Goodman.

SB 30, was introduced by Senator David Sokola and Representative Melanie George. The bill would allow same-sex couples to enter into civil unions giving them all of the rights, benefits, and obligations of marriage under state law, but would not allow same-sex couples to obtain marriage licenses. Religious institutions may choose not to solemnize civil unions.

Currently, five states have laws providing an expansive form of state-level relationship recognition for gay and lesbian couples, without offering marriage. California, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, and Washington provide same-sex couples with access to almost of all the state level benefits and responsibilities of marriage, through either civil unions or domestic partnerships. Earlier this year, the governors of Hawaii and Illinois signed into law civil unions bills. Couples in Illinois can begin applying for civil union licenses on June 1, 2011 and in Hawaii couples can begin applying on Jan. 1, 2012.

Same-sex couples do not receive federal rights and benefits in any state. For an electronic map showing where marriage equality stands in the states, please visit: www.HRC.org/State_Laws.

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.

Equality Delaware is a coalition of Delaware advocates working to ensure and promote dignity, safety, and equality for all lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Delawareans.

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HRC: UCLA’s Williams Institute Estimates 9 Million LGBT Individuals Living in America

Today the Williams Institute released new research that estimates the size of the LGBT community in the United States. The study suggests that there are more than 8 million adults in the US who are lesbian, gay, or bisexual, making up about 3.5% of the adult population. There are also nearly 700,000 transgender individuals in the US. In total, the study estimates that approximately 9 million Americans identify as LGBT. The report is below.

The Institute used information from four recent national, and two state-level population-based surveys of adults.

From The Williams Institute:

Increasing numbers of population-based surveys in the United States and across the world include questions designed to measure sexual orientation and gender identity. Understanding the size of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) population is a critical first step to informing a host of public policy and research topics. Examples include assessing health and economic disparities in the LGBT community, understanding the prevalence of anti-LGBT discrimination, and considering the economic impact of marriage equality or the provision of domestic partnership benefits to same-sex couples. This research brief discusses challenges associated with collecting better information about the LGBT community and reviews findings from eleven recent US and international surveys that ask sexual orientation or gender identity questions. The brief concludes with estimates of the size of the LGBT population in the United States.

How-many-people-are- LGBT- Final

Crime Watch Alert for the Short North Areas

Consider joining the Short North Block Watch Google Group Here

Information about the Italian Village Block Watch is Here

You can also see alerts from the Buckeye Regional Anti Violence Organization (BRAVO) Here

(Send me others and I will post them)

The following came from a friend of mine. They received it from the Italian Village Block Watch:

Sunday (4.3.11) around 9PM, two of my friends, a man and woman, were walking to the Goodale Park area from the CBJ game & dinner. They were walking north on Park Street when a hard-topped Mustang convertible (dark silver or grayish) pulled up to them on W. Millay (an alley) & Park St.

A caucasian man, (mid 20's, 5'8 or 6' tall, with brown hair and noticeable facial tattoos, wearing a white wife-beater and jeans) asked for directions.

The caucasian female, (mid 20's, 5'4, brown hair in a high ponytail) used this opportunity to get out of the Mustang and started jumping the woman, grabbing her by the neck and demanding her purse. Then the man got out of the car and held a "knife/gun object" inside his pant pocket. They demanded money and physically tried to obtain the woman's purse. They victims fought them off and threw all the money they had on the ground then called then ran and called the cops. The muggers drove off quickly.

The cops said the man sounded like a description of someone they have been looking for, but they couldn't track them down yesterday.

Just wanted everyone to be aware and on the lookout as they need to be caught! Plus, Park Street on a Sunday seems like a safe place to walk, especially as a couple.

Columbus Dispatch: Persistent buyer goes distance for short-sale property

The story is here

On the House | Jim Weiker commentary: Persistent buyer goes distance for short-sale property

Sunday, April 3, 2011 03:11 AM

Two days ago, Charles Roginski and his girlfriend, Nina Calabria, were to drive 612 miles from their Delaware County home to Myrtle Beach, S.C.

They were eager to see what 30 months of short-sale limbo had bought them.

In January, Roginski paid $165,500 - sight unseen - for a two-bedroom, two-bath fully furnished condominium in Grande Dunes resort on the north side of Myrtle Beach.

Roginski is the second owner of the condo.

The first owners bought it new in 2007.

They paid $569,900.

"I'm happy with the way it turned out," Roginski said recently.

He's also happy it's over.

The Grande Dunes property was his 11th short-sale offer since August 2008 and the first to be accepted.

With each rejected deal, his determination edged closer to obsession.

"By the time I thought he'd actually buy one, I figured I'd be ready for retirement myself," joked Calabria, 46.

Roginski's exercise in persistence illustrates both the trials and rewards of short sales, in which a property sells for less than is owed on the mortgage.

Roginski, a 60-year-old director of organizing for the Ohio Association of Public School Employees, made his first short-sale offer on a Westerville condominium. At the time, he was looking to replace his three-bedroom 2,800-square-foot ranch on an acre for something more maintenance-free.

He soon learned that short sales are often an exercise in patience. In February 2009, six months after making his first offer, the bank rejected it.

"At that time, banks were just sitting on these things," Roginski said.

In 2009, he made offers on three other central Ohio properties in short sales.

All were turned down, and Roginski turned his attention to Myrtle Beach, where he and Calabria had vacationed for several years.

He enlisted the help of Sheri Hager, a Century 21 buyer's agent in North Myrtle Beach.

Myrtle Beach, like most secondary-home markets, has been bludgeoned by the housing collapse.

But one happy result for buyers is that agents and banks are accustomed to dealing with short sales and foreclosures. (Hager estimates that 25 percent of her business is in short sales.)

Roginski said banks responded to his offers in Myrtle Beach far more quickly than they did in Ohio.

That doesn't mean they accepted his offers, even though Roginski learned to offer close to the asking price.

Roginski made his first Myrtle Beach offer in March 2010 and made five more by the end of June. All were turned down. Calabria had grown tired of the process and Roginski was heading there himself.

"She'd say, 'Don't you have something better to do?'" Roginski said. "I'll admit, by the end, I was getting tired of it and thinking of giving up."

In November, Hager alerted him to the Grande Dunes condo.

Roginski and Calabria were familiar with the resort but hadn't considered buying there.

With its Ruth's Chris Steak House, golf courses, tennis club, marina and private oceanfront clubhouse, they considered it out of their reach. Roginski had toured one of its condos, but, otherwise, their biggest exposure to the resort was enjoying the half-price happy hour at its outdoor bar.

But Roginski decided to make an offer anyway on a sixth-floor unit listed at $169,900. He planned to offer $164,500, but, at the last minute, he and Hager decided to bump it up $1,000, which, they later learned, put him $500 ahead of a competing bid.

Hager submitted the offer Dec. 2. He learned two days later that it was accepted and, on Jan. 26, he closed on his first short-sale property.

"He definitely was persistent and he was patient, which was the key to the whole process," Hager said. "A short sale is anything but a short process."

This weekend, Roginski is planning to enjoy the fruits of his long labor.

"I'm looking forward to seeing it," he said before heading south. "I've never bought anything like this before."

The Advocate: Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus and Columbus Children’s Choir: "It Gets "Beautiful"

The story is here

Ohio Gay, Children's Choruses: It Gets "Beautiful"

One of the recent additions to the It Gets Better Project’s video campaign is a collaboration that once might have been controversial — between the Columbus, Ohio, Gay Men’s Chorus and the Columbus Children’s Choir.

Watch the two groups sing Christina Aguilera’s hit “Beautiful.”

Stand Up! - Don't Stand for Homophobic Bullying

Irish anti homophobic bullying advertisement, created as part of BeLonG To Youth Services annual Stand Up! LGBT Awareness Weeks. The campaign promotes friendship amongst young people as a way to combat homophobic bullying.

For more information on the campaign please see: http://www.belongto.org/campaign.aspx

Written & Directed by Anna Rodgers & Aoife Kelleher
Produced by Zlata Filipovic

Crossing the Line Films for BeLonG To Youth Services