Waymon Hudson

Principal Denny Starnes from Mount Pleasant, Michigan's Sacred Heart Academy, spoke today in front of the student body about the controversial decision to disinvite Dominic Sheahan-Stahl as graduation speaker because he is gay. Sheahan-Stahl, a Sacred Heart alumnus and older brother of a current graduate, was asked in...

High school graduation should be a time of optimism, family, and hope for the future. But one Michigan school has turned it into a time for controversy and backwards thinking. The Sacred Heart Academy's high school in Mount Pleasant, Mich. has decided to rescind its invitation to their...

By now, most people have heard about the National Organization for Marriage's explosive documents that lay out a disturbing strategy of divisive race baiting and using children as political pawns. NOM's internal memos, made public through an investigation in Maine into the anti-gay organization's attempts to circumvent campaign...

I've really struggled as a writer to talk about the tragic shooting of unarmed Florida teen Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman, who has still not been arrested or even charged. While media discussions swirl about so many other issues, for me it boils down to a central point that, according...

There is no doubt that the Republican presidential primary has been a slow implosion of the political right. Beltway common wisdom is that social conservatives hate Mitt Romney because of his seemingly inauthentic core values and repeated flip-flopping on virtually every issue, especially the all-important "culture wars." This weakness has...

A group of Illinois legislators and civil rights organizations has started holding meetings to strategize on moving from civil unions to full marriage equality for LGBT couples. Illinois state representatives Greg Harris, Deb Mell, Ann Williams, Kelly Cassidy, and Sara Feigenholtz, and state senator Heather Steans, as well as groups...

Lakeview sister establishments Taverna 750 and Scarlet Bar Chicago are gearing up to celebrate their four year anniversary on Sunday Dec. 4 with a star-studded, day-long fundraiser sponsored by Belvedere (RED). Using their anniversary as a way to raise funds and awareness for charities...

In a big reversal from the Illinois Department of Revenue, couples who have entered into civil unions will be able to jointly file their 2011 state tax returns.

Illinois recently moved to offer statewide protections supposedly equal to (but separate from) marriage with the passage of the...

The Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus has released a powerful "It Gets Better" video featuring co-chairs Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), and Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.). All are openly gay members of congress, a strong message in itself. Each of the lawmakers uses details...

Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 10 to 8 to pass the "Respect for Marriage Act" (RFA). This legislation, introduced by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), would repeal the so-called "Defense of Marriage Act" (DOMA), which bans federal recognition of same-sex marriages. The vote was down strict party lines, with...

The legal battle between Catholic Charities and the state of Illinois over the organization's state-funded adoption and foster care contracts, and their refusal to grant those services to same-sex couples in civil unions, is finally over. The dioceses of Joliet, Springfield, and Belleville released a statement saying

Michigan Senate Republicans have taken what could have been a useful, and much-needed, anti-bullying bill and turned it into what amounts to a license to bully. Senate Bill 137, which passed 26 to 11 with zero Democratic votes, was meant to protect all students from bullying and harassment. Yet the bill,...

In a major and somewhat unusual move, over 70 major businesses and organizations filed a legal brief stating their opposition to the anti-gay "Defense of Marriage Act" (DOMA), which bans federal recognition of same-sex marriages. Some of the major corporations signed on to the brief include Microsoft, Starbucks,...

October is LGBT History Month. It's also the month that we remember the life and tragic death of a young man that brought hate crimes into sharp focus for a nation that, at the time, didn't want to talk about the subject. Thirteen years ago, on Oct. 12, 21-year-old Matthew...

There is a lot to say about Sept. 20, 2011, the historic day when the 17-year-old law called "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was finally repealed. But rather than just write about the discriminatory policy that kept the estimated 70,000 gay, lesbian and bisexual personnel who are currently serving...

In a big move forward for transgender Americans, the Social Security Administration has said it will end the policy of allowing employers to match the gender markers of employees with the Social Security Number Verification System:

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has confirmed that it has ended the practice of allowing gender to...

Ding dong, DADT is almost dead! The discriminatory "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that keeps gay, lesbian, and bisexual soldiers from serving their country openly in the military is finally in its last days. The 17-year-old law is set to end on Sept 20th, 2011. This is following the

The recent decision from an Illinois judge ruling that the state does not have to renew its foster and adoption contracts with Catholic Charities over their refusal to follow the newly passed civil unions law and offer its tax-payer funded services to same-sex couples for "religious reasons" brings...

Illinois has decided to end its involvement and financial contracts for Catholic Charities' adoption and foster services in the wake of the religious organization's refusal to follow the state's new civil unions law and existing anti-discrimination policies. A judge has, however, temporarily reinstated contracts between the Illinois Department...

Opponents of full marriage equality for same-sex couples often ask why the LGBT community can't simply be happy with separate institutions and groupings of rights like civil unions and domestic partnerships. Illinois recently became one such state to move to offer statewide protections supposedly equal, but separate, to marriage with...