Posting will be pretty light over the next few days — it is Pride weekend here in San Francisco (and in New York) after all… but will have plenty of photos of the parade and other goings on early next week.
Until then everyone have a safe and happy Pride!
I covered the San Francisco Pride 2009 Media Party this evening honoring the grand marshals for this year’s Pride parade. I was really happy to meet Lt. Dan Choi, who is serving as one the Celebrity Grand Marshals along with Cloris Leachman and Milk producer Bruce Cohen. Lt. Choi has been in the news lately for outing himself on the Rachel Maddow Show and getting ejected from the military for violating Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. He’s a real nice, standup guy, who shouldn’t be punished for who he is or who he loves. Some snapshots from the event below:
President Obama has just signed the Presidential Memorandum on Federal Benefits and Non-Discrimination which extends “some” benefits to the partners of federal gay and lesbian employees. Those benefits are restricted to:
Civil Service Employees
- Domestic partners of federal employees can be added to the long-term care insurance program
- Supervisors are required to allow employees to use their sick leave to take care of domestic partners and non-biological, non-adopted children
Foreign Service Employees
- Use of medical facilities at posts abroad
- Medical evacuation from posts abroad
- Inclusion in family size for housing allocations
The Memorandum unfortunately does not extend healthcare benefits to partners of gay and lesbian. In fact, many of the benefits already exist, as reported by John Aravosis at Americablog:
I just asked OPM Director John Berry, on a White House media conference call, whether in fact federal agencies already have the right to give these benefits to gay employees. The answer, “yes.” So what’s new about tonight? Obama is going to “tell” the agencies to give the benefits – as if any agency in the Obama administration would dare tell a gay employee no to a request for time off to attend their partner’s funeral?
Obama also announced his support for the Domestic Partners Benefits and Obligations Act which extends equal treatment in benefits for federal employees.
Video of Obama signing the Memorandum below:
The full text of the President Obama’s statement available here.
More from TMZ:
Trump told us Carrie refused to appear at around 30 events on behalf of Miss California USA. He says Prejean was contractually bound to appear and she just wouldn’t do it. He doesn’t think her attitude has anything to do with her politics.
Mr. Trump, do you think instead you were just blinded by her… Oh, I don’t know…
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