Sunday, March 27, 2011

[Peckers_Pics] Muscle Wars; PICS + Articles; Mar 28, 2011/Boycott "TARGET"



Muscle Wars; PICS + Articles; Mar 28, 2011
Safe PICS For All Ages / We Support Keith Olbermann

Updates on Keith Olberman @ ObamaBiden2008  (Update: Keith began his FOK NEWS blog.)

Alert: Target + Minnesota Forward + Tom Emmer = Support for a rather dangerous and radical political philosophy that diminishes LGBT people to pests that should be murdered. And "Target" is cool with this?

Consider joining:

Diet & Fitness:

  • Reminder: Did you complete your Diet Journal today?
  • Did you do any physical activity?  If not, make a point of it by tomorrow! 
  • Perhaps our male fitness photos shall inspire you to get Fit!
Health - Wellness - Exercise - Reflections:
White House calls for coordinated anti-bullying efforts

by Dana Rudolph / March 25, 2011 / Keen News Service

Washington, D.C.--The White House held a high-visibility conference on bullying prevention March 10, with the President and First Lady calling on parents, teachers, students, and communities to address the problem together. Members of Congress also this week introduced several LGBT-inclusive bills designed to address bullying and harassment of students.

In his opening remarks, President Obama said the one overarching goal of the conference was "to dispel the myth that bullying is just a harmless rite of passage or an inevitable part of growing up." Instead, he said, "Bullying can have destructive consequences for our young people."

The president also noted that bullying is "more likely to affect kids that are seen as different, whether it's because of the color of their skin, the clothes they wear, the disability they may have, or sexual orientation."

Attending the event were senior administration officials and approximately 150 students, parents, teachers, advocates, and others, including representatives from the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, the Human Rights Campaign, the National Center for Transgender Equality, and the Trevor Project.

"No school can be a great school until it is first a safe school," said Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

And Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius asserted, "Bullying is not an education problem or a health problem—it is a community problem."

Breakout sessions led by other administration officials discussed school policies and programs, campus and community programs, and cyberbullying. Although there were no sessions or speeches specific to anti-LGBT bullying, the need to address it came up numerous times in breakout sessions and speeches.

Kevin Jennings, the openly gay assistant deputy secretary for the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools at the Department of Education, and the founder of GLSEN, said in a call with reporters that bullying has reached a "tipping point" where it "is no longer tolerable." What pushed it to that point, he said, was the media attention surrounding a string of five suicides last fall related to anti-LGBT bullying.

The event also served to launch the Web site StopBullying.gov, which consolidates federal anti-bullying resources for students, parents, educators, and others. On the homepage is a prominent rainbow-colored box titled "LGBT Bullying," which links to LGBT-specific information and resources.

The conference also highlighted several private, national campaigns to address bullying, including ones from the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and the National PTA.

MTV said it will launch a new coalition--of which the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation will be part--to fight bullying and intolerance online. And Facebook said it will soon enhance the anti-bullying resources in its online Safety Center. It will also create a "Social Reporting" system so that, when people report content that violates Facebook policies, harassing content can be removed quickly, and parents or teachers can be notified.

Already, the administration has taken several steps to address bullying: The Departments of Education, Justice, HHS, Agriculture, Defense, and Interior formed a federal task force on bullying in 2009, and convened the first-ever National Summit on Bullying in August 2010.

The Department of Education's Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools awarded $38.8 million in grants to 11 states in October as part of a new Safe and Supportive Schools program. The program requires states to survey students, family, and staff about school safety issues, including bullying, and direct grant money where there is the greatest need.

The Department of Education issued guidance to all school officials in October 2010, reminding them that federal law requires schools to take action against bullying--including gender-based and sexual harassment of LGBT students.

The Department of Education issued a memo to all chief state school officers in December 2010, providing examples of effective state anti-bullying laws as a reference for developing or revising their own.

HHS launched a Stop Bullying Now! campaign for students five to eighteen years old, with tool kits to help youth mentor younger children about bullying prevention.

Members of Congress also announced several pieces of anti-bullying legislation last week.

Senators Bob Casey, D-Pa., and Mark Kirk, R-Ill., reintroduced the Safe Schools Improvement Act on March 8, which would require schools and districts receiving federal funds to implement anti-bullying programs and to report data on incidents of bullying and harassment, including bullying done through electronic communication. The programs must specifically include bullying and harassment based on the actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity of students and those with whom they associate, among other attributes.

A spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Linda Sánchez, D-Calif., said she will soon introduce a House version of the bill, as she did last session.

Senator Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., and Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., on March 10 reintroduced the Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act, which establishes similar anti-bullying requirements for colleges and universities receiving federal student aid. The bill is named after a gay Rutgers University student who committed suicide in September 2010 after two other students videotaped him in an intimate encounter with another man and broadcast the video online.

Senator Al Franken, D-Minn., and openly gay Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., introduced the Student Nondiscrimination Act March 10, which states that elementary and secondary schools must not discriminate against students on the basis of real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity in any program or activity receiving federal funds, or risk losing those funds. "Discrimination," under SNDA, includes harassment, bullying, intimidation, and violence based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Take Action:
  • Boycott advertisers of Glenn Beck - Fox News.  Glenn Beck is anti-gay rights.
  • Update: DADT has been repealed. President Obama has kept his promise!
  • Boycott Bill O'Reilly and FOX News and their advertisers.  Bill discussed a French commercial by McDonalds that was meant to show that McDonalds is Gay Friendly. Bill said what is next? Is McDonalds going to be Al-Qaida friendly as well?  Imagine - Bill O'Reilly compares Gays to Al-Qaida!
  • Boycott Arizona the home of  "hater" - U.S. Senator John McCain. Arizona's Hateful anti-Immigration Law - encourages racial profiling and increases hatred towards minorities.  A remedy: Demand Republicans to  support Immigration Reform (The Dream Act). Further, Senator McCain voted against ending DADT and Blocked Immigration reform! 
  • Boycott Target, Best Buy, Gold's Gym - for donating money towards anti-gay political candidates/organizations. Update: (12/26/2010): Target is continuing to donate to anti-gay groups/causes/politicians.  Update 03/08/11 - Lady Gaga Ends Target Partnership, Reportedly Over Target's Poor LGBT Stance. Update 3/25/2010 - Target displays their hypocrisy and Sues California Gay Rights Group for Lobbying Outside Stores.  Target is attempting to block the LGBT right of free speech!  STOP SHOPPING AT TARGET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • End DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act).  Prevents Federal employees and Gays in the Military from gaining equal benefits. Prevents Gay Partners from gaining equal benefits.    
  • Pass ENDA (Employee Non-Discrimination Act).  ENDA would prevent employment discrimination of  LGBT workforce.
  • Boycott Salvation Army as they will not hire Gays! "DO NOT DONATE TO THEM."
  • BOYCOTT "Chick-fil-a" for donating to anti-gay marriage groups.
  • BOYCOTT KOCH INDUSTRIES PRODUCTS- to include their products: Angel Soft toilet paper / Brawny paper towels / Dixie plates, bowls, napkins & cups / Mardi Gras napkins and towels / Quilted Northern toilet paper / Soft 'n Gentle toilet paper / Sparkle napkins / Vanity fair napkins / Zee napkins / Georgia-Pacific paper products & envelopes / All Georgia-Pacific lumber & building products (INVISTA Products) / Lycra / Stainmaster Carpet.   The billionaire - Koch brothers are ultra republican - tea bag founders/supporters that do not support causes of the LGBT community. 
  • Boycott WALMART - The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, force criticized Wal-Mart for denying employee benefits to same-s-x partners and for failing to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity. By comparison, the group said two other chain stores with a strong presence in New York, Costco and Walgreens, did much better.
  • Remember David Kato, Gay activist - Uganda, who was slain because he is gay!
  • NEW: Boycott Donald Trump, The Apprentice and NBC Network! At CPAC, Trump said he is considering a run for president as a Republican. In a interview with the Des Moines Register, Trump added that he opposes all forms of legal recognition for gay couples, not just marriage. "They should not be able to marry," he said. So why does NBC keep the Apprentice when Donald Trump has stated he may run for president? Boycott NBC! Boycott advertisers of The Apprentice and his other business's. Don't shop at any bulklding with Donald Trump's name!  The Donald has expressed extreme Hatred.  Remember how poorly he treated Rosie O'Donnel?  Now we know why he did that!  It was hate against a lesbian as we now know he is hater.  Unforgiveable!  Ready to dump NBC because they air Donald Trump's "The Apprentice"?  Start Watching CBS Evening News with Katie Couric.
  • NEW: Boycott "APPLE." For the current owners and the aspiring owners of the I-phone,  Apple allows an application, "The Gay App", which is supposed to help gay individuals turn straight.  This is a step in the wrong direction.
    Apple needs to know that the decision to allow this App on their products is a fallacious idea! Update: March 23, 2011:  Apple removed this app from USA stores; but, rumored to have them remain in some foreign stores.  This is offensive not just towards the LGBT community in the USA; but, offensive to  the entire LGBT community around the world.  How does anyone approve such a hateful, despicable app towards the LGBT community? Especially when Gay Teens are killing themselves after being harrassed by their church, parents, as well as  by bully's and teachers at school. The idea that this app was used, solicited is disgusting.

And Now, Our War of the Fittest!

This group is called "Peckers Pics."  The English -  slang definition of "pecker" is to pluck at the truth. Therefore, we peck at items such as Gay Men's Health, Male Fitness, Gay (LGBT) Politics & Issues.  In this section you may peck at each photo in order to decide the winner of the "war of the fittest!"  Whereas, you should select the guy that may inspire you to exercise and "get fit!"   Warning: This may stoke you!
 
Your participation in discussion of health / news articles - appearing in this message is greatly appreciated.
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Dragon Con;Sep 6, 2009
Masquerade costume contest, pirate party, Faith and the Muse concert,
Arc Attack, and more!
 
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Dragon Con;Sep 6, 2009
Masquerade costume contest, pirate party, Faith and the Muse concert,
Arc Attack, and more!
 
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Dragon Con;Sep 6, 2009
Masquerade costume contest, pirate party, Faith and the Muse concert,
Arc Attack, and more!
 
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Mark Millich
 
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Davey
 
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Sebastian
 
You Decide!
Black Party Expo at Roseland / NYC LGBT EXPO /
March 18, 2011
Stoked?
Black Party Expo at Roseland / NYC LGBT EXPO / March 18, 2011
Volusia drafting gay rights law
By WILL HOBSON, Staff writer / Daytona Beach News Journal

Florida --- Gay guy walks into a bar. Bartender says, "I don't serve gays."

Gay guy goes to a job interview. Prospective employer says, "I don't hire gays."

Gay guy walks into the office of an apartment complex. Lady at the front desk says, "I don't rent to gays."

Gay guy walks into a law office. He tells the lawyer, "These people won't hire me, rent to me, or serve me because I'm gay. I want to sue."

Lawyer says, "You don't have a case."

The above hypothetical scenario is not a joke, nor is it supposed to be an indication of what happens on a daily basis in Volusia County.

It does, however, illustrate situations that are entirely legal here. For now.

A local group of gay rights advocates has been pushing for months for the Volusia County Council to pass a human rights ordinance. The law would be modeled on ordinances passed in Orange and Leon counties last year that extended anti-discrimination protections to gay or transgender people. Unlike previous human rights ordinaces, these laws gave alleged victims of discrimination the ability to sue in civil court.

County legal staff is working on a draft ordinance for the council to vote on, possibly in May. Only two of the seven council members have expressed misgivings about the law -- Councilwoman Joie Alexander has questioned whether it's needed, while County Chair Frank Bruno has said he's unsure if this is an issue for county government.

"I have a lot of questions," Bruno said in a recent interview. "I'm sure it will be heavily discussed."

Whenever the proposed law comes to the council for discussion and vote, it will bring Volusia into the long and often emotional gay rights debate which has been waged for years in Florida, and includes noteworthy victories for proponents and opponents of legal protections for homosexuals.

Which side will claim Volusia as a victory, and whether there will even be a fight over the issue here, remains to be seen.

MIX OF LAWS SKEWS CASES

Larry Glinzman moved to the Daytona Beach area in 2004 with his longtime partner. While waiting to buy a home, Glinzman visited an Ormond Beach apartment complex. Glinzman was alone when he walked into the rental office, he said, but didn't hide the fact he'd be renting the apartment with his boyfriend.

"I'm from New York. I haven't been playing this make-believe game for a long time," Glinzman, 54, public relations director for Community Legal Services, said recently as he remembered the incident.

The woman said she wouldn't be able to rent to Glinzman. He said it was clear his homosexuality was the reason.

"My blood was boiling," he recalled.

Glinzman is the man behind the local push for Volusia to join other Florida cities and counties that have barred discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in employment, housing, or places of public accommodation, like restaurants or bars. Glinzman does not think Volusia is a homophobe haven, but he said incidents like the one he experienced highlight a gap in federal and state law that should be closed by the county.

There is no federal law barring discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Gay rights advocates have unsuccessfully pushed since the 1990s for Congress to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA, which would expand federal protections to gay and transgender people. In the absence of a federal law, many states have passed ENDA-like laws.

It is still legal to discriminate against someone based on sexual orientation in 29 states, and based on gender identity in 37 states, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. Florida falls into both categories.

"Most people don't realize that that's not covered in federal or state law," said Marcia Cohen, a St. Petersburg lawyer who helped draft a gay rights ordinance there. Cohen has represented gay and transgender people who felt they were the victims of discrimination and has tried, as other lawyers across the country have, to make their cases citing existing protections. Some of these cases have been successful.

In 2008, a federal judge ruled the Library of Congress broke the law when it retracted a job offer to David Schroer, a retired Army colonel and Special Forces veteran who was going through the gender reassignment process to become Diane Schroer.

Schroer won nearly $500,000 in that case, but not because the judge felt she was discriminated against for being transgender. The judge ruled it was sex discrimination, since the Library of Congress had decided a woman (Diane Schroer) with identical qualifications as a man (David Schroer) was unfit for the job.

In 1989, Orange County Sheriff Walt Gallagher forced Deputy Tom Woodard to quit after discovering Woodard was bisexual. A judge ruled in 1992 that Gallagher had violated Woodard's right to privacy, protected under the Florida Constitution, and ordered Gallagher to rehire Woodard.

As Cohen explained, victims of discrimination by private companies must "shoehorn" their case into one of a few possible arguments. If they can argue they were discriminated against because they don't fit stereotypes of masculinity or femininity, they can sue for sex discrimination. Those cases can cite a 1990 U.S. Supreme Court decision against Price Waterhouse that found the company discriminated against a woman when male supervisors declined to make her a partner after calling her "macho," and recommending she "take a course at charm school."

Transgender people can try to make the argument they are discriminated against because of a disability, Cohen said, but her clients often balk at that approach.

"They do not feel that they have a disability," she explained.

Andrea Lafferty disagrees. Lafferty is the executive director of the Traditional Values Coalition, which lobbies against ENDA and similar laws. Lafferty said her greatest fear of these proposed laws is they would force schools to hire transgender people.

"Being a transgender person is the ultimate act of self-hatred," said Lafferty. "Transgendered individuals are terribly troubled, and they don't need to play out their personal issues and mental health issues in our nation's classrooms."

Orange County's ordinance exempts religious schools and institutions, thus preventing a Christian organization from being compelled to hire a gay or transgender person, but Lafferty fears that protection isn't enough. To Lafferty, laws like ENDA are just the first volleys by gay rights advocates, who she says will come back after an initial victory and try to expand the laws.

"They do want to force religious institutions to comply," she said. "Give it time, they will come back for you."

ANITA BRYANT TO TODAY

Lafferty is not the first gay rights opponent to say she fears the impact on schoolchildren, and she's far from the most famous. That title probably belongs to Anita Bryant, the former beauty queen, singer, and Florida orange juice pitchwoman who led a 1977 campaign to overturn a law passed in Miami-Dade County that protected gays from discrimination.

Bryant's work with the "Save Our Children Coalition" was successful; voters repealed the law just months after the County Commission passed it. Her outspokenness on the issue probably cost Bryant her career, though; by 1980 she had lost her gig representing Florida orange juice, declared bankruptcy and divorced her husband.

Miami-Dade County restored its gay rights laws in 1998, though, and a number of counties and cities across the state have passed similar laws. Most of these laws create boards or commissions that examine potential violations.

These boards have a cost, though. Pinellas County's Office of Human Rights, which deals with discrimination complaints among several other functions, has 10 full-time employees and a $990,000 annual budget. And though these offices can eventually send a case to circuit court, it can take awhile. A discrimination complaint to Miami-Dade's Commission on Human Rights needs to go through at least 10 different steps, including investigation, mediation, potential appeals, and public hearings, before it is sent to circuit court; a process that can take months.

When Leon County considered a law last year, though, county management wanted to avoid creating a board which would require county funding. So Leon County Attorney Herb Thiele researched whether a county can create a "cause of action," giving alleged victims of discrimination the right to sue in civil court. Writing laws that create causes of action is a job traditionally left to the Legislature.

"My initial reaction was we could not, but we actually came to the conclusion that we could," Thiele said.

Leon County commissioners passed the ordinance last May, then Orange County passed a similar law in November. According to attorneys in both counties, there has been only one known case citing the law, a black man who sued a Tallahassee law firm he used to work for, for race discrimination. Title VII, the federal law that outlines anti-discrimination protections, does not apply to companies with less than 15 employees, but Leon County's anti-discrimination ordinance covers all companies with five or more employees.

A gay or transgender person has yet to sue using either law.

COUNCIL LEANS TOWARD SUPPORT

Glinzman and a few other advocates of the law met with all but one of the County Council members over the last few months. Councilwoman Joie Alexander declined to meet with them, which Glinzman interpreted as her lack of interest in the law.

Alexander said recently her calendar was booked solid when Glinzman was trying to meet with her, but acknowledged she doesn't see the need for the law.

"I don't see that we have a problem," she said. "Is this an issue for local government? Are we going to create a different class of people, and can we even legislate a cause of action?"

Alexander is not alone in questioning whether the council has the power to create a cause of action; Bruno also said he had some concerns.

Council members Josh Wagner, Pat Northey, Joyce Cusack, and Carl Persis have said they solidly support the proposed law, though, and Andy Kelly indicated support pending more information.

There are other questions that even some of the lawyers who wrote the laws are unsure of, though. Would it force Hooters to hire male cocktail waitresses? Could Savoy, a Daytona Beach gay bar currently advertising bartender openings on its website for "the right guys" with "the look and the personality," be accused of discrimination?

Bob Guthrie, senior assistant county attorney in Orange County, said he doubted either of those hypothetical scenarios would spawn successful discrimination lawsuits. Hooters has actually been sued in other states for hiring discrimination, and has cited the "Bona Fide Occupational Qualification," an exemption to Title VII that protects certain types of discrimination, like the Federal Aviation Administration's "Age 60 Rule" forcing commercial airline pilots out of the cockpit when they turn 60.

Michael Blake has lived in the Daytona Beach area off and on for about 35 years. For the last 10 he has served as night manager and entertainment director at the Streamline Hotel, the historic beachfront spot where Bill France and friends founded NASCAR in December 1947.

The hotel where the decidedly macho sport was created is now home to two gay bars. Blake runs a Friday night drag impersonator show (old staples like Madonna and Cher battle for stage time with new sensation Lady Gaga) and a Saturday amateur strip show that he calls "quite popular."

Blake, 60, organized local protests against Anita Bryant's crusade in 1977, and said he's experienced some discrimination firsthand (he has an apartment-shopping story similar to Glinzman's). Blake questions how you could prove discrimination in court, though.

"These days, I would think folks are savvy enough to not say, I won't hire you because you're a big old fag," he said. "I still think there are large pockets of discrimination, bigotry . . . I just think because of the time we're in, people are more guarded."

In the end, though, Blake thinks passage of a law would be a good thing, even if its impact is minimal.

"If it helps just one person, or gives people thought before discriminating," he said, "then I'm all for it."
"Every gay and lesbian person who has been lucky enough to survive the turmoil of growing up is a survivor. Survivors always have an obligation to those who will face the same challenges."
....Jake
 
   
Important Notice: Our ObamaBiden2008 Group works hand - in - hand with Peckers PICS (Both groups were co-created to work with each-other).  To prevent duplication of articles and questions, all members of this group are expected  to join ObamaBiden2008. It is unfair for members that belong to both groups to hear members of just Peckers PICS (only) to make statements when the ObamaBiden2008 has covered such topics in detail.  Therefore, members need to join ObamaBiden2008  immediately.  This shall clear up communications and confusion.  The LGBT cause is too important and beyond 1 person's need to just look at pictures.   Therefore, please join ObamaBiden2008 now.  No you don't have to read every article! But, it covers the LGBT community and includes updates on Health insurance; LGBT boycott list; Westboro Church; and the end of DADT, etc...Also, updates with the multi - state gov't's war against unions and people with disabilities. The group is created for you!  There are gay teen suicides going on. There are Hate crimes against gay people. There are gays who are fired over their sexual identity.  There are gay people who died for our cause! You always reserve the right to remove yourself from all my groups if you do not appreciate this request.  I have done everything I can and now it is time for you to step up!  My Groups are for Yahoo members who sincerely care about LGBT rights and Gay Mens Health!   Please Join Now!
 
 
 
 

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All members of "Peckers PICS" are requested to join our "Obama Biden 2008" group as it runs in conjunction to this group.  Both groups shall not repeat articles from one group to another.  However, to gain full knowledge of Gay rights, members must belong to the Obama group as well as this group.  Therefore, please accept your invitation to join. 

To join the Obama group please click (or copy and paste the link into your browser) @  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ObamaBiden2008/join

Thank you!
 

"Every gay and lesbian person who has been lucky enough to survive the turmoil of growing up is a survivor. Survivors always have an obligation to those who will face the same challenges."

...Jake (Moderator)



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