Information on how you can support the NC House Bill 548 and Senate Bill 526, the School Violence Prevention Act, which will require local schools adopt strong anti-bullying policies that protect ALL children.

Our political columnist Chardon Moore writes in her latest Wake UP!:

Larry Craig’s request to withdraw his guilty plea was denied last week by a Minnesota appeals court. As I’m sure you all know, he’s the Senator who has been in staunch opposition of several gay rights issues, from supporting the “Federal Marriage Amendment,” (of which he was a co-sponsor in 2008), to voting against a motion to extend the federal definition of hate crimes to cover sexual orientation. His rating on gay and lesbian issues from the Human Rights Campaign is an impressive goose egg (0).

I’m not going to get into a rant about his personal life, because I think that’s unnecessary. However, have fun reading this article from the Idaho Statesman: http://www.idahostatesman.com/eyepiece/story/143801.html.

Now, about the Screwing of Larry Craig…and no, it’s not what you think.

Read More: How Larry Craig Got Screwed

The Double Standard of Homosexuality

Pop recording duo, Jason & deMarco with their new album Safe, featuring new music and recordings that appear in the controversial SHOWTIME documentary We’re All Angels. Their music is uplifting with empowering messages with beautiful harmonies.

Since appearing on the cover of The Advocate four years ago, they have faced opposition from right-wing organizations for their activism in the GLBT community of faith and their work lobbying for social justice. On November 7th, in Charlotte, NC, they will be teaming up with singer-songwriter Randi Driscoll to hold a benefit concert called “Stop The Hate” at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte to honor the memory of Matthew Shepard and will benefit The Matthew Shepard Foundation and Campus Pride. Both organizations value LGBT youth and their allies and serve to educate on issues of bias and hate crimes for communities across the country.

It’s been ten years since Matthew Shepard was brutally attacked for being gay, and still our federal law fails to protect against hate crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Last year both houses of Congress passed a hate crimes bill known as the Matthew Shepard Act, but the law never made it to President Bush’s desk because of his veto threat.

I hope you’ll join me in sending a message to John McCain and Barack Obama: we can’t wait any longer for federal hate crimes legislation to protect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans.

The life and death of Matthew Shepard changed the way we talk about and deal with hate in the United States. It has been 10 years since Matthew’s needless death from hate violence. This tragedy helped the nation wake up to the fact that hate and discrimination still live in our communities, our schools and our families.

To read how you can help: http://www.hrc.org/fighthatecrimes/