HRC Blog

Since news of Clint McCance's anti-gay Facebook rant became public, the outcry has been intense. Nearly 50,000 people on Facebook have join HRC’s call for his resignation on the "Fire Clint McCance" page. We're not going to let this issue rest until Mr. McCance resigns. Click through for the latest...

As part of the incredible support from all over the community during the crisis of teen suicides, the Reverend Gene Robinson and the Reverend Susan Russell loaned their voices to the It Gets Better Project, a resource of videos reaching out to teens across the nation to let them know first hand that they are cared for and that there can be love and happiness in their future.

Last week, Garden State Equality held two town meetings to honor the life of Tyler Clementi and to engage the community to end anti-LGBT bullying. Clementi was a 18 year old Rutgers University student who took his life after having an intimate moment in his dorm room live-streamed to the internet by his roommate and the roommate’s friend. The past few weeks have been filled with stories of LGBT youth who have been bullied to death. Last week, Garden State Equality held two town meetings to honor the life of Tyler Clementi and to engage the community to end anti-LGBT bullying. Clementi was a 18 year old Rutgers University student who took his life after having an intimate moment in his dorm room live-streamed to the internet by his roommate and the roommate’s friend. Both town meetings began with a somber violin solo to honor Clementi, a gifted violinist.

Today, George Sheldon, Director of Florida's Department of Children & Families (DCF) announced that the agencies will not appeal an intermediate court ruling that a 1977 prohibition on allowing gays and lesbians to adopt violates the state constitution. DCF has determined that the ruling is applicable statewide, therefore sexual orientation will no longer be a factor in uniting children with parents.

In the past several weeks the media has reported on a number of tragic suicides precipitated by bullying and harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation. Among them are: 13-year-old Seth Walsh who after months of relentless bullying hanged himself from a tree outside his California home this week; Billy Lucas of Indiana, 15, who hanged himself after being called a "fag" over and over again; Asher Brown, 13, whose classmates teased him without mercy and acted out mock gay sex acts in class, shot himself in the head last Thursday; and Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi who killed himself by jumping off a bridge after his roommate secretly recorded him with another male student, then broadcast the video online. Additionally, a single school district in Minnesota has seen seven suicides in the last year by young victims of intolerance. Sadly, these are not isolated incidents; deaths like these continue to occur around the country, but they are preventable.