Hampton Roads Pride - June 28th

Among my various community activities that also double as marketing for my law firm to the local LGBT community is my membership on the Board of Directors of Hampton Roads Pride, the area's longest running LGBT non-profit entities which I hope will increasingly be able to serve as a liason between the various LGBT organizations. This year Hampton Roads Pride will host the 21st annual "Out in the Park" LGBT Pride festival Sunday, June 28, 2009 at Chesapeake City Park.

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Making this years event unique is the significance of the date - the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots that sparked the modern Gay Rights Movement. In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969 New York City police raided a bar on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village known as the Stonewall Inn. Refusing to have their civil rights violated the bar erupted in protest initiating nightly demonstrations for the next few days.

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Additionally, preparation has begun on the Hampton Roads Pride GLBT History Project, a durable visual and audio display of the history of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community in Hampton Roads, which will be on display at the Out in the Park event.

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I invite all local readers to come to this fun event - the boyfriend and I will be working the event as HR Pride volunteers.

More Tuesday Male Beauty

What Has Obama Done as 'Fierce Advocate in Chief' for Gays?

I posted yesterday about the Obama administration's arguments to the U.S. Supreme Court asking the Court to turn down a challenge to Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Well, last night, Rachel Madow did a wonderful job of highlighting Obama's total failure to deliver to date on any of his campaign promises to LGBT Americans. Here are some highlights via You Tube:

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I love Rachel's show and in particular her willingness to call it like it is without the ass kissing that is so prevalent through out most of the main stream media. As for Obama, I am still waiting to be proven wrong and that he's not a cynical liar when it comes to LGBT issues.

Pat Robertson Shows He's a Bigoted Ass Yet Again

One of the perennial embarrassments for those of us who live in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia is Pat Robertson and his poisonous 700 Club which broadcasts from Virginia Beach. It seems that Pat never knows when to keep his mouth shut so as not to prove to the world that he's a bigoted ass and false Christian. His latest act of bigotry is stating that gay Americans are same sex attracted because they were molested by their gym coach, priest or some other male authority figure. Here he is on the 700 Club via Media Matters:

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TERRY MEEUWSEN (co-host): This is Theresa. This is difficult. She says, "How should we, as parents of a homosexual son, handle the ongoing challenges facing us, such as staying true to our faith and following the commandment to 'love your neighbor as yourself'? This is very difficult for us."

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ROBERTSON: Well, first of all, he's not your neighbor. He's your son; that's a different thing. You owe him, you know, advice and counsel and guidance. You're his parent. First of all, you didn't say how old he is. Secondly, I am not at all persuaded that so-called homosexuals are homosexuals because of biological problems. There may be a very few, but there are so many that have been made homosexuals because of a coach or a guidance counselor or some other male figure who has abused them and they think there's something wrong with their sexuality. So you need to get deep into why he is what he is, instead of just saying, "Well, he's a homosexual so how do I handle him, and how do I be Christian?" Well, I think you ought to tell him, "Listen, son, you know, here's what the Bible says about this, and it's called an abomination before God, so I've got to tell you the truth because I love you." That's what I think. All right, what else?

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MEEUWSEN: And then you do that -- you love him.

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ROBERTSON: You love him. Of course you love him. And you accept him. You love him, but at the same time, you can't let him just go, you know, he'll wind up --

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MEEUWSEN: Without knowing truth, yeah.

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ROBERTSON: Well, I mean, if somebody's on their way to hell, they'll -- I mean, you've got to love them to rescue them.

Frankly, if any one is an abomination, I'd say it is Robertson who shakes down old women and the ignorant so that he can live like a multimillionaire. Why on earth the Norfolk Airport Authority accepts Robertson/Regent University's money to display huge signs in the airport concourse bewilders me.

Tuesday Male Beauty

Get Out and Vote!

UPDATED: Creigh Deeds puled out a significant win today in the Democrat primary setting up a rematch between himself and Bob "taliban Bob" McDonnell come November. He did surprisingly well in urban areas as well as rural areas that he was expected to carry. While he is nowher near as gay friendly as Brian Moran, he's light years better than McDonnell who would reintoduce the sodomy statutes if he could to appease the Christianists who are his strongest supporters. Hopefully, Deeds will be able to expose the real McDonnell and thereby convice moderate Republicans to vote for him rather than the Christian Taliban candidate.

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In the race for Lieutenant Governor, Jody Wagner crushed Mike Signer with roughly 70% of the vote.

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Today is the day of the Democrat Primary here in Virginia and it's important that people get out and support their candidate. In my case, I am supporting Brian Moran for Governor (lower left in the photo) and Jody Wagner for Lieutenant Governor. It is absolutely essential that the Democrats field a candidate that can defeat Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell in November. The thought of McDonnell as Governor is most frightening.

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In short, if Virginians do not want policy decision to be dictated by Pat Robertson, The Family Foundation, and the folks at Liberty University, McDonnell MUST be defeated. Hopefully, whichever Democrat prevails today they will quickly begin exposing the falsity of McDonnell's claim that he is a moderate.

Major Law Firms Are Shrinking

One of the interesting aspects of the current recession is the blood bath occurring at many major law firms - enterprises once viewed as largely recession proof. Of course, as large numbers of lawyers find themselves suddenly unemployed, they either find positions at smaller firms or exit the legal industry. That's not to say the malaise of the economic times aren't likewise trickling down towards smaller firms as well. One local divorce attorney said that even in that realm of practice business has slowed as couples are staying together - not necessarily happily - so as to not have to sell homes in a stagnant market. Foreclosure and bankruptcy firms are the only ones that seem to be prospering. The New York Times has a piece today that looks at the turmoil at a firm that has long been a bastion of power and influence in New York:

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In his two years as chairman of White & Case, the venerable Wall Street law firm, Mr. Verrier had already laid off 70 young lawyers and shuttered offices in Bangkok, Dresden and Milan. He had watched top partners flee to competitors and suffered a depressive 2008 holiday party. . .

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Now Mr. Verrier, who had worked exclusively at the century-old firm since leaving Harvard Law School in 1982, sat in his office high above 44th Street and Avenue of the Americas, considering the e-mail message he was about to send. It announced that 200 more lawyers would lose their jobs, nearly 1 in 10 at the firm over all — and not just young associates with everything in front of them, but some million-dollar-a-year ones like himself, the ones with twin mortgages, kids in private school and no Plan B.

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“People are shellshocked,” said one top partner at the firm who, like many of its current and former lawyers, spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. “If they survived the first two rounds, they’re happy to have a job, but are still very nervous. And if their phones don’t ring, if their work doesn’t come back with a vengeance, they fear they aren’t long for this world.”

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A few top firms, like Thatcher, Proffitt & Wood, established before the Civil War broke out, have already gone under in the flood; the carnage of layoffs has touched even sterling names like Proskauer Rose, Dewey & LeBoeuf and Clifford Chance.

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In the first quarter of 2009, demand for legal services in New York decreased by nearly 10 percent over 2008, according to the Hildebrandt International Peer Monitor Index. At least 10,000 employees at major firms across the country have lost their jobs so far this year, according to the macabre but wildly popular “Layoff Tracker” run by another blog, lawshucks.com.

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While the legal industry is hardly battling the existential threat that is facing, say, the newspaper trade, Big Law — especially in competitive New York — is facing a potential paradigm shift as fundamental as the one that has hit investment banks and the auto industry. Big, as a business model (let alone as an expression of the national mood), seems bound for obsolescence.

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Jerry Kowalski, a legal consultant who tracks the New York market, said that “the mood at White & Case — and at probably 15 or 20 more firms in New York — is kind of like sitting at a deathbed and watching a close relative wither away. It’s like you’re right there in the I.C.U. with the patient and you know that the condition is terminal.”

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“For the first time in their lives, people feel sort of useless. All of a sudden, you can go to lunch for two and a half hours and really not be missed. It’s a blow to the ego. You’re talking about people who have never really failed.” At White & Case, the tensions have become so fierce that some people now fear staying home even if they are sick. Market forces have replaced “the social contract,” a top partner there said: camaraderie is “not terribly strong,” because “people are very scared.”

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As a profession, the law is harsh and brutal - one therapist I spoke with recently affiliated with the Virginia Bar noted that attorneys have among the highest suicide rate of any profession. After 32 years in the profession, I understand why. My advise to would be lawyers? Think twice about the law as a career. And for those who are already in the industry - find a way to get out, if possible.

More Monday Male Beauty

Coming Out Travails

I have often advocated for LGBT Americans to come out and help force typical Americans to face the fact that they know gay Americans who may in fact be their neighbors, their children, their parents, their relatives or their friends and come to the realization that we are people just like they are. That said, it is not an easy journey to come out and, yes, I stayed in the closet for many, many years - far longer than I probably should have in retrospect. My journey coming out in mid-life has been anything but easy and as regular readers know, I certainly have my moments of sadness and despair as aspects of the divorce continue to play out. On the other hand, the rewards of living out and proud are beyond measure. Andrew Sullivan has a post that reminds us that timing can be critical in deciding when to come out. Here are some highlights from one of Andrew's readers:

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I wanted to respond to your post regarding the necessity of coming out. I came out to my mom during my first year of law school after falling in love with a wonderful man. Being from a Catholic and Latin American background, she did not take it very well. She wanted to put me in reparative therapy and was extremely verbally abusive until I was finally forced to move out of my home during my final week of exams.

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As you can imagine, I did terribly that semester. I had to sleep in my car and on friends’ couches until I was able to figure out whether to stay in law school or quit. I decided to finish school, and I recently graduated.

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I urge young people that are in still reliant on their parents to hold off coming out until they become financially independent. Unless you have family support, the consequences of coming out can be devastating. I was fortunate to have friends and a great boyfriend that gave me the support I needed to finish school and figure out who I was. I can only imagine where I would be without them.

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I am glad that I am out and I am proud to be gay. I do not regret one bit my decision, but I wish I had not been in such a vulnerable situation. I just speak from my own personal experience that often the price of being honest at a young age may be too high a price for some of us to pay.

Supreme Court and Obama Uphold Don't Ask Don't Tell

In yet another example of Barack Obama flipping the finger to LGBT Americans, the Obama administration successfully defended and convinced the the U.S Supreme Court to refuse to review Don't Ask Don't Tell ("DADT") by arguing in court paper that the appeals court had ruled correctly in this case when it found that “don’t ask, don’t tell” is “rationally related to the government’s legitimate interest in military discipline and cohesion.” I hate to say it, but after this Obama looks like a cynical bigot who used LGBT Americans to win election and who has now thrown us all under the bus. I am beyond disgusted and increasingly view Obama with contempt. I have no use for liars and Obama looks increasingly like a liar when it comes to meaning anything he said during last fall's campaign in respect to the struggle for LGBT equality under the civil laws. The fact that felons, those without high school diplomas and other undesirables are welcome in the military while gays are not just adds insult to injury. Here are some highlights from 365gay.com:

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The Supreme Court on Monday agreed with the Obama administration and refused to review Pentagon policy barring gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military. The court said it will not hear an appeal from former Army Capt. James Pietrangelo II, who was dismissed under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

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The federal appeals court in Boston earlier threw out a lawsuit filed by Pietrangelo and 11 other veterans. He was the only member of that group who asked the high court to rule that the Clinton-era policy is unconstitutional.

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“I think this decision is an absolute travesty of justice and I think every judge on this court should be ashamed of themselves,” said Pietrangelo, who served six years in the Army, seven years in the Vermont National Guard and fought in Iraq in 1991. “It’s nothing short of rubber stamping legalized discrimination, the same way Nazi Germany legalized discrimination against Jews. “The Supreme Court is not infallible, they get things wrong, and they got it wrong this time,” he said.

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In court papers, the administration said the appeals court ruled correctly in this case when it found that “don’t ask, don’t tell” is “rationally related to the government’s legitimate interest in military discipline and cohesion.” Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman referred requests for comment to the Justice Department, but said the military policy “implements the law.”

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“What it’s going to take is 30 million gay Americans getting off their butts and standing in front of the White House demanding gay quality,” said Pietrangelo, who has since moved back to his native Ohio.