A bill to prohibit state tax dollars from going to private schools that discriminate against students, including LGBT students, has been introduced in the Georgia House by lesbian state Reps. Simone Bell (D-Atlanta) and Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur).
House Bill 456 was introduced Feb. 22. State Rep. Spencer Frye (D-Athens) was an original co-sponsor of the bill with Rep. Bell. He said while he is no longer a co-sponsor he still supports the bill "100 percent."
"I was assigned another bill by House leadership but that doesn't mean in any way I don't fully support the bill," Frye said.
An article published Sunday in the New York Times highlights a recent report issued by the Southern Education Foundation which showed how some Georgia tax dollars are being filtered into private school scholarships, some of which goes to religious schools that ban gay and lesbian students, according to the article.
The tax credit program, created in 2008 and managed by the Georgia Student Scholarship Organization, allows Georgia tax payers to “donate” a portion of their annual state income tax for use at private schools to provide scholarships to students in kindergarten through high school. Those "donations" are matched dollar-for-dollar with a tax credit on state income tax. $50,000,000 can be donated each year.
Some of that money, according to the Southern Education Foundation, ends up at religiously based private schools which expressly prohibit gay and lesbian students from attending and in some cases could see students suspended or even expelled if they vocalize support for LGBT causes.
The man who accused Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash of an illicit sexual relationship is now recanting the allegations, according to The New York Times.
From The New York Times:
Andreozzi & Associates, a law firm that said it represented the accuser, who has never been named, said in a statement that “he wants it to be known that his sexual relationship with Mr. Clash was an adult consensual relationship.” The statement added, “He will have no further comment on the matter.”
Remember when Brian Brown, president of the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage, challenged gay activist and author Dan Savage to debate marriage equality and other LGBT issues and Christianity?
And remember when Savage accepted Brown's invitation and invited Brown to his home for a discussion to take place after dinner?
Well, now you can watch the debate and find out what happened.
In an interview with the New York Times, Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) answers questions on a wide range of topics, including gay marriage and President Barack Obama's "evolving" views on it.
"Look, he is moving in the right direction on this issue. He’s been crucial in equality efforts like the repeal of 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell' and signing the Matthew Shepard hate crimes prevention act," she said.
The news best-selling author Jodi Picoult received while writing her latest novel, “Sing You Home,” wasn’t exactly a surprise.
The novel, Picoult’s eighteenth, was released earlier this month and debuted at #1 on both the USA Today and New York Times book lists. It introduces Zoe, a music therapist who is divorced by her husband, Max, after their long-awaited baby is stillborn. After years of infertility, Max retreats into alcoholism and later a fundamentalist church, while Zoe stumbles through her days in a blur until Vanessa — a school counselor who just happens to be a lesbian — helps her find joy again.
In Picoult’s gently crafted romance, Zoe falls in love with Vanessa. After a Massachusetts wedding, the two women set out to have a baby using the embryos Zoe froze during her marriage to Max.