PENNSYLVANIA: GOP Rep. Mike Fleck Comes Out

The Huffington Post reports:

Pennsylvania state Rep. Mike Fleck (R-Huntingdon) came out Saturday.
“I’m still the exact same person and I’m still a Republican and, most importantly, I’m still a person of faith trying to live life as a servant of God and the public. The only difference now is that I will also be doing so as honestly as I know how,” Fleck said,according to Politics PA. The Huntingdon Daily News, a subscription-based news service, first reported the story.
Fleck, who was married to a woman for almost a decade, said his Christian faith kept him from coming out for years.
“I wanted to live a ‘normal’ life and raise a family,” Fleck said. “I also believed that by marrying, I was fulfilling God’s will and I thought my same-sex attraction would simply go away.”
Fleck was also actively involved with the Boy Scouts of America — an anti-gay organization — as an Eagle Scout and then as a district executive for the group.
Despite the GOP’s resistance to same-sex marriage, Fleck said he would remain with the party because he’s not “a one-issue person.”
“The Republican party is all about the government needing to stay out of people’s lives,” Fleck said. “I’m not a one-issue person and it’s not a one-issue party.”

WISCONSIN: Sen. Tammy Baldwin Gives Victory Speech

Italy: Sicily Elects Gay Governor Rosario Crocetta

Gay Star News reports:

Rosario Crocetta, an openly gay politician from the Italian Partito Democratico party, has become the first openly gay governor of Sicily.
He won last Sunday’s election on the Italian island with more than 30% of the votes, winning over the right-wing PDL (Popolo delle Libertà), which has governed in Sicily for last decade.
Crocetta is Italy’s second openly gay governor, after Puglia’s Nichi Vendola, who now is running for the leadership of the entire left parties.
Once in power, Crocetta may not be able to do much for LGBT rights however. He won the election leading a coalition with the Union of Christian Democrats, a centrist party very close to the Catholic Church.
And during the electoral campaign, Crocetta reassured his allies, saying: ‘In case of victory, I will say goodbye to sex and sexuality, I’ll be married only to Sicily and to Sicilians’.
According to the new governor, ‘chastity is the best way of life for a politician. When you are dealing with such a responsibility, you have to be quiet and considerate’.
In 2003, when Crocetta was running for the role of mayor in Gela, Sicily, he was ‘victim’ of an outing by his right-wing competitor. But, he went on to win the election and became the first openly gay mayor in Italy.
During the Seventies, Crocetta was a member of the Italian Communist Party (PCI). He said of that time ‘the Communists were homophobic’ and added that his current party Partito Democratico didn’t want him to represent them in 2003 because he is gay. 

According to The Guardian, Crocetta has shrugged off three mafia plots to have him killed:

A gay man who shrugged off three mafia plots to kill him is poised to become Sicily’s first homosexual governor in elections that show the centre left advancing at the expense of Silvio Berlusconi’s right-wing party.
Representing a coalition of Italy’s centre-left Democratic Party and the Catholic UDC party, Rosario Crocetta is leading against the Berlusconi candidate and a contender representing the maverick movement of comedian Beppe Grillo, who trails in third place.
Crocetta, a devoted Catholic, has long claimed that southern Italy is surprisingly relaxed about gay politicians, once stating, “There is a great respect for the individual, making it less homophobic than the north.”
In August he told an interviewer, “After leaving prison in England, Oscar Wilde took refuge in Palermo. Seen like this, there is lot people have to learn about the south.”
As mayor of Gela, Crocetta persuaded local businesses not to pay protection money to the mafia and claimed that coming out gave him a sense of liberation that allowed him to understand how suffocated Sicily had become under the mafia’s yoke.
One mob boss who hired a Lithuanian assassin for a failed bid to kill Crocetta was less than tolerant of his sexuality than voters, describing him in a wiretapped call as “this queer communist”.
A local magistrate said at the time: “The clans may ridicule Crocetta’s sexuality, but it’s the backing he gave businesses that refuse to pay thepizzo [protection payment] that really drove them mad.”
Crocetta has suggested that a surprising number of members of Cosa Nostra are themselves gay, claiming, “The idea that the mafia is all church, home and shotguns makes me laugh.”
Palermo magistrate Antonio Ingroia has said he believes there are a number of gay bosses, adding “It remains a taboo since they are scared of being ejected from the mob.”

USA: Openly Gay California Assembly Speaker John Pérez Addresses The DNC

At The Democratic National Convention: Rep. Jared Polis - I’m Jewish, Gay, And A Father

Record 470 Openly LGBT Delegates To Attend Democratic Convention

Joe.My.God. reports:

At least 470 delegates at the Democratic Convention will beopenly LGBT. Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade:

The upcoming Democratic National Convention is set to have a record number of openly LGBT delegates, although goals for some states aren’t being met, according to new data from the National Stonewall Democrats. The organization as of Wednesday evening identified at least 470 openly LGBT delegates that are set to attend the convention, but more data is expected to become public at a later time. A total of 5,963 delegates are set to come to Charlotte, N.C.., for the event during the week of Sept. 3. Having 470 delegates exceeds the goal of 418 delegates at the convention and is already higher than numbers from 2008, when 277 delegates participated.

California leads the pack with 74 LGBT delegates. States sending only one: Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming. Several states are sending LGBT delegates for the first time ever.

Dan Savage And It Gets Better Team To Produce Film On Openly LGBT Politicians

Denis Dison, for Victory Fund’s Gay Politics, reports:

Dan Savage and the producing team behind the “It Gets Better” documentary specials for MTV and Logo haveannounced a new project that will examine openly LGBT political candidates and how they prepare to run for office.  Filmmakers have been granted unprecedented access to the LGBT Candidate and Campaign Training offered by theGay & Lesbian Victory Institute.
“This is uncharted territory,” said Savage.  ”We’re seeing progress on LGBT issues, but in order to effect real change, representation in government is essential.  Aspiring LGBT candidates face a unique set of hurdles on the way to political office.  The goal of this project is to follow a number of LGBT political candidates, and highlight Victory’s groundbreaking approach to helping them win.”
Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of the Victory Fund and Institute, said the project will highlight the stories that lead to careers in public service.  ”Out officeholders are crucial leaders in our fight for equality.  We look forward to partnering with this talented team of producers and filmmakers to lift the veil on how these men and women learn to run and win.”
The project’s executive producers are Dan Savage, Brian Pines, Ted Skillman and Belisa Balaban.
Victory’s next Candidate and Campaign Training will be held in Long Beach, Calif., from November 28 to December 2.  Go here to learn more and apply to attend.

As expected, GOProud is having a meltdown over Victory Fund’s partnership with Dan:

No conservative or GOP group should be willing to work with the Victory Fund if they choose to partner with Dan Savage.

— Chris Barron (@ChrisRBarron) July 18, 2012

Bully @fakedansavage finds new home at @VictoryFund. GOProud’s statement here - goproud.org/pages/news—pr…

— GOPROUD (@GOPROUD) July 18, 2012

Here’s their full statement:

GOProud Criticizes Victory Fund Decision to Partner with Dan Savage
Jimmy LaSalvia, Executive Director – “How can the Victory Fund claim to work to elect openly gay Republicans while at the same time partnering with a man who called gay Republicans ‘house faggots”?
(Washington, D.C.) – The Victory Fund - an ostensibly ‘bipartisan’ organization - that works to elect openly LGBT candidates announced a partnership with the controversial founder of the It Gets Better Project, Dan Savage. Savage previously called gay Republicans “house faggots” and wrote a column where he compared gay Republicans to meth addicts. In response, Jimmy LaSalvia, Executive Director of GOProud – a national organization of gay and straight Americans seeking to promote freedom by supporting free markets, limited government, and a respect for individual rights and the only gay organization to endorse Governor Mitt Romney’s Presidential bid – issued the following statement.
“How can the Victory Fund claim to work to elect openly gay Republicans while at the same time partnering with a man who called gay Republicans ‘house faggots’ and compared us to meth addicts? What kind of message does this partnership send to the openly LGBT Republican candidates across the country? What kind of message does it send to Republicans in general about the type of organization that the Victory Fund actually is?
“If the Victory Fund truly is committed to a bipartisan mission, then they should immediate end any relationship with Dan Savage.”

RELATED: “Moron Of The Week” Inductee Jimmy LaSalvia still thinks that saying faggot is not cool unless he uses it:

Of course the tweet has been deleted already.

Spain: The Secretary of Justice, Rights & Liberties Comes Out As Gay

Via Boy4Me:

The newspaper El Mundo has revealed the homosexuality of the Secretary of Justice, Rights and Freedoms Party (PP), Iñaki Oyarzábal in the list of most influential personalities LGTB Spanish scene.

Oyarzábal, Secretary of Justice, Rights and Freedoms and PP national general secretary of the Partido Popular in the Basque Country, his homosexuality has made visible ranking third in the list published a year by the newspaper El Mundo.

The Basque politician said in the past that “the Popular Party has done what he had to do to put the lead in recognizing” the rights of the LGBT community.

Attorney General, Civil Liberties and People’s Party carried out such statements even though the political party he belongs to proceed with an appeal to the Constitutional Tribunal (TC) against equal marriage.
As reported by The Courier, Oyarzábal asked a month ago the leader of the Basque PP, Antonio Basagoiti, whether it was appropriate that announced his homosexuality in the newspaper El Mundo, finally giving way to come out after the popular leader would support the political decision to disclose his homosexuality.

The justice minister, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon Oyarzábal congratulated for his coming out, thanking him because they know “the value of policy coherence, authenticity. You, today, are an example of that authenticity and transparency . We are deeply grateful.

We do the same in private than in public life because we teach our right to be proud of it. “
Elena Valenciano, deputy secretary general of the PSOE, has also joined the support it has received Oyarzábal after coming out, saying that the political “can now become ambassador to the PP to ask to withdraw the appeal against equal marriage.”

USA: Fred Karger On Bryan Fischer’s Show

USA: Tammy Baldwin Releases First Ad For Senate Campaign

If she should win the Senate seat for Wisconsin, she would be the first openly gay senator in American history.

her GOP opponent, former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, is ahead by 8 points: 49% to 41%.

NEW YORK: State Senator Tom Duane To Retire

Joe.My.God. reports:

New York Sen. Tom Duane, the nation’s only openly gay and openly HIV-positive state legislator has announced his retirement.

On Monday, Mr. Duane, a Democrat, will announce his decision to call it quits, opening up the seat in a district that stretches from the Upper West Side to Greenwich Village, and across to the East Village. No, it is not his health. No, he does not have another job lined up. And no, Mr. Duane said cheerfully in an interview, he has not done anything illegal or embarrassing that is about to make news. Instead, Mr. Duane, 57, said that he had simply tired of ricocheting between the city and Albany, as he has for nearly 14 years — a number he repeated at least a dozen times — and that he was eager to try something new. “It’s not that Albany isn’t a lovely place, but it’s not home,” he said. “I always knew that I was going to have another chapter in my life, and it’s time for me to start that new chapter.”

The New York Times speculates about Duane’s replacement.

With Republicans now holding a slim majority in the Senate, Mr. Duane’s departure is unlikely to alter Albany’s balance of power, since whoever wins the Democratic primary on Sept. 13 will be an overwhelming favorite in November. The shortlist could include State Assembly members Deborah J. Glick and Brian Kavanaugh. Other possibilities are Brad Hoylman and Corey Johnson, the chairmen of Community Boards 2 and 4.

You may recall Duane’s amazing 2009 speech to the state Senate during that year’s failed bid for same-sex marriage. Give it a minute, it builds and builds.

Happy Harvey Milk Day!

United Kingdom: “Marriage Equality” Could Make Scotland A Progressive Beacon, Ahead Of England, Wales & Northern Ireland 

Pink News UK reports: 

With equal marriage laws absent from the Westminster government’s legislative agenda for the coming year, Scottish campaigners say Holyrood is in a position to become a ‘beacon’ of equality by introducing the laws first.

A public consultation took place in Scotland towards the end of 2011, with the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) government having said it was minded towards introducing equality. The results of the consultation have been pushed back until June.

In February, the leaders of all of Scotland’s opposition parties: Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrats and Greens signed a pledge to vote for gay couples being allowed to marry when the issue comes before the Scottish Parliament.

Ruth Davidson, the leader of the Scottish Conservative Party is openly lesbian while Patrick Harvie, the leader of the Scottish Green Party is openly bisexual.

In line with the government’s previous statements but disappointing to marriage advocates hoping for legislation to come sooner, the Queen’s Speech at Westminster today did not include marriage equality on the agenda for England and Wales this year.

The government has pledged to introduce the legislation before 2015 and a public consultation is ongoing.

Tom French, Policy Coordinator for the Equality Network, said the confirmation of the legislative agenda put Scotland in an ideal position to move ahead of the rest of the UK on equality between gay and straight couples in marriage.

He said: “The Scottish Government now has the perfect opportunity to prove that Scotland is capable of being the progressive beacon that our political leaders want it to be by leading the way on equal marriage rights.

“We know that a majority of the public back full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Scotland has the powers it needs to make this happen. It’s now time for the Scottish Government to bring forward legislation and make equal marriage a reality.”

The Equality Network added that delaying legislation until after Scotland holds a referendum on independence from the rest of the UK, as had been suggested in some quarters, would be a “mistake”.

It said: “Delaying a decision on same-sex marriage would put the issue centre-stage during the referendum campaign, and would undermine any good will that the Scottish Government secured when they brought forward equal marriage proposals.”