Gay rights activist Milk honoured

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed into law a bill that establishes a day recognising US gay rights leader Harvey Milk.

Harvey Milk Day will be marked in California on 22 May, Milk's birthday. The activist was assassinated in 1978.

Mr Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar bill last year.

In the interim, Milk was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and was the subject of a film for which actor Sean Penn won an Oscar.

Milk was a leader in the gay rights movement and was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977.

According to the new law, he was the first openly gay man elected to public office in a major public city. He was assassinated in November 1978, after 11 months in the role.

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We tend to think of California as being liberal, but don't forget Shwarzenegger is a Republican. It's nice to see Harvey being honoured with this day.

California Supreme Court Got It Right

There is no doubt in my mind that most other gays will disagree with me, however, I think the California supreme court got it right when they upheld the ban on gay marriage.

I'm not against gay marriage, but too many times, the public and politicians rely on the courts to make the difficult decisions. This happens because people are generally lazy and most politicians have no guts. This gay marriage ban is a perfect example.

In true democratic fashion the California populace went to the polls last fall and voted on the now famous proposition 8. The result of that vote was to ban gay marriage. After the vote all the gays cried foul and said that isn't what California realy wants, its just that enough people didn't get out and vote!

Well, I say boo hoo to you. This brings us right back to the generally lazy public. If they really felt so strongly about this issue and really wanted gay marriage, then proposition 8 would not have passed. The public has spoken and the supreme court has done the right thing by upholding the democratic process.

If the majority of Californians really want to allow gay marriage, then a new proposition will be put forward and a majority will vote to allow it.

Its really that simple.

Activists Draw Attention to Violations Abroad

This from KCBS in San Francisco, CA:
"Gay rights activists in San Francisco are voicing their concerns about human rights violations of gays in other countries. They plan to show their solidarity next month when the United Nations General Assembly meets." Read the full article here.