North Carolina native, and Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes has written a letter against the constitutional amendment that would ban marriage, civil unions and domestic partnerships between same-sex couples.
Hughes is openly gay and argues that this restriction would hurt businesses in North Carolina and his letter has been distributed to the media and the 170 members of the North Carolina General Assembly. The proposed anti-LGBT constititutional amendment is one of many that will come up for debate in the special fall session.
“As the co-founder of Facebook, I have some experience with the challenges of attracting the kind of driven, dynamic and diverse employees it takes to build a fledgling start-up into a fullfledged economic success story,” Hughes wrote. “Companies like Facebook, Google and Apple are the future of our global economy. But the proposed anti-gay constitutional amendment signals to these and other major employers, as well as their mobile, educated employees, that North Carolina does not welcome the diverse workforce that any state needs to compete in the international marketplace.”
He also wrote about his own experience growing up gay in Tar Heel, North Carolina, saying, “Growing up in a conservative atmosphere in Hickory, North Carolina, I felt first-hand the stigma of being different in a Southern state—a feeling that made it clear to me that I was not welcome in North Carolina,” he said. The next Facebook or Apple or Google could be created by another North Carolinian. Be mindful of how you treat them and their families.”
We really hope that this amendment does not get passed. It would completely restrict the freedoms of many North Carolina natives who are already likely experiencing the same difficulties that ChrisHughes had and they shouldn’t have to be driven outside of their home state to live happily with the partner of their choosing.
<3 HG&Co.
Gay military magazine, OutServe, will be distributing thousands of copies to military bases around the country. The magazine seeks to give servicemen a means to talk about the issues that they’ve previously been unable to share.
“Our first objective with the magazine is to let all the gay, lesbian, bi, and trans members currently serving know that they are not alone,” said OutServe’s co-director, an active-duty officer who goes by the pseudonym JD Smith. “We also want to communicate to all troops that there are capable gay military members serving honorably, and that accepting that and moving on will make our military stronger.”
The September issue will also include a photospread of about 100 men and women who will be coming out to their colleagues for the first time. We wish everyone the best of luck with this transition, and know that it will come as welcome relief for many honourable servicemen who deserve the same freedoms of speech that they are fighting for.
<3 HG&Co.
Ouyang Wen Feng co-founded the first gay friendly church in Kuala Lumpur, in 2007. Malaysia is a muslim majority country and homosexuality is punishable by caning and up to 20 years in prison, although there is a thriving gay community in the capital.
His partner, Phineas Newborn III is a broadway producer and the pair will tie the knot in New York on August 31, Malaysia National Day, which Ouyang ays holds a lot of significance to him.
“I am not promoting homosexuality or gay culture but honesty, love, justice,” said Ouyang, “A lot of people make the wrong assumptions and stereotype homosexuals, which is why I came out publicly and why I think other gay people should come out as well.”
He says that many Christians seem to be “ok” with homosexuality but he still faces backlash from church leaders. “They will say you can’t do this, but my question to them is, do what? I don’t have to do anything to be gay.”
We hope he has a wonderful wedding! Such a brave thing for him to do to have come out in the face of such potential religious persecution. He’s done a very admirable thing for the gay community in Malaysia and abroad and deserves to have nothing but happiness on his wedding day!
<3 HG&Co.
(Source: reuters.com)
"I cannot prevent anyone from getting angry, or mad, or frustrated. I can only hope that they’ll turn that anger and frustration and madness into something positive, so that two, three, four, five hundred will step forward, so the gay doctors will come out, the gay lawyers, the gay judges, gay bankers, gay architects … I hope that every professional gay will say ‘enough’, come forward and tell everybody, wear a sign, let the world know. Maybe that will help."
— Harvey Milk (1978)
