5 LGBT things you need to know today, Aug. 13
1. A Colorado appeals court ruled today that a baker who wouldn't make a cake for a same-sex couple cannot cite his religious beliefs in refusing them service because it would lead to discrimination....
Atlanta gay Republicans defend Mary Norwood — for being accused of being Republican
The Log Cabin Republicans came out in full force defense of City Council Post 2 At-Large candidate Mary Norwood after the Democratic Party of Georgia took out ads accusing the former council member and mayoral candidate of, well, perhaps being a Republican — a similar tactic, and ad, used against her mayoral run in 2009.
In a tough battle for the City Council against incumbent, and Democrat, Aaron Watson, the state Democratic Party felt there was enough of a threat to put out an ad and remind people that Norwood just might be a Republican. Of course, it should be pointed out that the City Council races are non-partisan. The election is Nov. 5.
Another GOP senator endorses same-sex marriage
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) today endorsed marriage equality in a letter posted to her official senate website. Murkowski became the third Republican senator to endorse same-sex marriages with her announcement.
Murkowski joined fellow GOP Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) with her endorsement for marriage equality.
“I am a life-long Republican because I believe in promoting freedom and limiting the reach of government. When government does act, I believe it should encourage family values,” Murkowski wrote. “I support the right of all Americans to marry the person they love and choose because I believe doing so promotes both values: it keeps politicians out of the most private and personal aspects of peoples’ lives – while also encouraging more families to form and more adults to make a lifetime commitment to one another.”
AJC looks back at those on front lines of Ga. same-sex marriage fight
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has a good story that was posted late Tuesday night titled "As Supreme Court weighs same-sex marriage, Georgians in 2004 battle look forward."
What we learned from the story:
• Jeff Graham, now executive director of Georgia Equality, said in 2004 Georgia LGBT activists didn't take the right approach when taking their message to voters.
"We didn’t begin to change people’s minds (with) the big politics; it’s about the simple message of wanting to take care of the person you love,” he said. “Once we stopped being afraid to talk about that fact … that’s when the public attitudes about this started to change.”
[Interview] Log Cabin Republicans look to the future with new executive director
The Log Cabin Republicans, a political organization that advocates LGBT inclusion in the Republican Party, announced late last week that interim Executive Director Gregory Angelo will continue in the role permanently.
“I started going to Log Cabin meetings in 2008,” Angelo tells GA Voice. “At the time, the local chapter was in the midst of rebirth of sorts and I saw an organization that was doing great work that I believed in, but I thought could benefit from having someone with media expertise that was able to amplify the work the organization was doing on the state level.”
Angelo eventually became the chairman of the New York chapter of the organization and helped work toward New York's marriage law, the only marriage equality bill that had ever passed under a Republican-controlled state legislature.