People For the American Way

Senator delays 5 judicial nominations, including that of lesbian

SDGLN Staff
November 29th, 2012

WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today ignored the calls of national and home-state groups and delayed Judiciary Committee votes on five federal judicial nominees, including that of a lesbian.

Grassley, the committee’s ranking member, has routinely held back committee votes on judicial nominations for one, two, three or even six weeks, usually without providing a reason. Ninety-seven percent of President Barack Obama’s judicial nominees who have had committee votes scheduled have met with these delays, before confronting even greater obstruction on the Senate floor.

President nominates first openly gay Hispanic federal judge

SDGLN Staff
November 27th, 2012

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama has nominated lesbian Latina judge for a federal post, along with two others.

Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro, who earned her law degree from the University of Puerto Rico, was one of three Pennsylvanians nominated to seats on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The two other nominees, including another Latino, are Luis Felipe Restrepo and Jeffrey L. Schmehl, continuing the President’s trend for bringomg gender and ethnic diversity to the federal courts to better reflect the changing populace.

Schools urged to stand up to bullying by American Family Association

SDGLN Staff
October 16th, 2012

WASHINGTON -- People For the American Way today urged schools to withstand pressure from the anti-gay American Family Association to drop out of an anti-bullying day organized by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The AFA has been pressuring schools to drop out of the Oct. 30 Mix It Up Day, in which children will be encouraged to sit with someone they don’t normally talk to at lunch, according to The New York Times. The AFA, which regularly pushes harmful anti-gay myths, claims that the anti-bullying day is meant to “promote the homosexual lifestyle in public schools.”

Featured Listing

Meet the Who's Who of hate at Values Voter Summit 2012

Brian Tashman - Right Wing Watch
September 14th, 2012

(Editor's note: This was submitted by Brian Tashman, a blogger for Right Wing Watch, part of the People For The American Way.)

Featured Listing

Siempre En La Lucha: Latinos and marriage equality

Dolores Huerta - Co-Founder of United Farm Workers, President of the Dolores Huerta Foundation, Board Member of People For the American Way
May 24th, 2012

As soon as President Obama announced his support for marriage equality earlier this month, pundits and Republican strategists started speculating that the president's pro-equality stance would cost him among Latino voters. They figured that most Latino voters are Catholic, therefore they must be willing to vote against the President because of his support of marriage equality.

New report reveals anti-gay lobby’s pro-bullying agenda

SDGLN Staff
April 23rd, 2012

As students around the country participated Friday’s Day of Silence to show solidarity with bullied LGBT children and teens, anti-gay activists continued to step up their efforts to prevent schools from protecting bullied students.

A new report from People For the American Way details the efforts of right-wing activists and organizations to prevent school districts from implementing strong anti-bullying policies that protect LGBT and LGBT-perceived students.