A Visual Representation of U.S. LGBT Population

This is a colorized representation of the results of a new Gallup poll quantifying the LGBT population in the United States I blogged about last week.

Hat/tip to Joe.My.God

Celebrity Friday: Music Mogul Clive Davis Is Bisexual

Clive Davis is a legendary music producer and famous recording industry impresario. He is most well-known for popularizing such musical legends such as Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin and Alicia Keys among many, many others.

In his new autobiography The Soundtrack To My Life, Davis discusses his relationships with men and declares himself to be bisexual:

Davis, 80, tells Couric about how the end of his marriage opened his mind to explore homosexuality and find the relationship he is in today.

He said in an interview airing Tuesday: “When the marriage failed– in the mid ’80s, I opened myself up to the possibility that I could have a relationship with a man as well as the two that I had with a woman. I felt it was private, number one, as far as my not revealing it. But I did immediately (LAUGH) reveal it to the people who count.”

He makes clear that he is bisexual, not gay: “I’m still attracted to women. So that it– you don’t have to be only one thing or another. For me, it’s the person. I’m in a monogamous relationship. I respect monogamy. And I hope that this is understood.”

It's never too late to come out of the closet! Go Clive!

AP To Use Terms "Husband" and "Wife" For All Married Couples

After a brief brou-ha-ha where they were trying to claim that the more appropriate term for legally married same-sex couples was "partner," the Associated Press has explicitly changed its very influential style guide to reflect that husband and wife are terms to be used regardless of sexual orientation:

husband, wife Regardless of sexual orientation, husband or wife is acceptable in all references to individuals in any legally recognized marriage. Spouse or partner may be used if requested.

Although they don't address the controversy head on they also included this quote to explain the context of today's action:

"The AP has never had a Stylebook entry on the question of the usage of husband and wife," said AP Senior Managing Editor for U.S. News Mike Oreskes. "All the previous conversation was in the absence of such a formal entry. This lays down clear and simple usage. After reviewing existing practice, we are formalizing 'husband, wife' as an entry."

And brick by brick that is how the edifice of discrimination crumbles...

Olson/Boies File Brief In Prop 8 Case

The "good guys" from the American Foundation for Equal Rights have now filed their appellants-defendant brief in Hollingsworth v Perry (a.k.a. The Proposition 8 case). It is extremely powerful: well-written, cogently argued and filled with strategically chosen citations.

One key point that David Boies and Ted Olson make is that it is the proponents of Proposition 8 who are devaluing and underestimating marriage. For example, not once in the heterosexual supremacist brief filed by Charles Cooper does it mention the word "love." And they are also called out for the fact that their argument now (that Proposition 8 is about channeling "responsible procreation" by heterosexuals) was completely different from what they said during the actual campaign over Proposition 8 way back in the Fall of 2008.

Scottie over at Equality on Trial has more commentary:

They resurrect the claim that Prop 8 violates the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment. This is the “fundamental right” argument that was advanced in Judge Walker’s opinion but discarded by the Ninth Circuit:

Because Proposition 8 prevents gay men and lesbians from expressing this most basic aspect of their autonomy and personhood, and is not “narrowly drawn” to further a “compelling state interest[ ],” Carey v. Population Servs. Int’l, 431 U.S. 678, 686 (1977), it violates due process. Proponents nonetheless claim that marriage—and thus the fundamental right to marry—excludes same-sex couples as a definitional matter. They contend that “marriage” categorically excludes same-sex couples because society’s alleged interest in “responsible procreation and childrearing” is the defining purpose of marriage. Prop. Br. 34. Proponents’ newly constructed understanding of the contours, implications, and meaning of marriage conflicts with longstanding controlling precedent from this Court and the overwhelming record evidence in this case.

And they take on the “procreation” argument:

This Court has never conditioned the right to marry on the ability to procreate. Rather, the Court has expressly recognized that the right to marry extends to individuals not in a position to procreate with their spouse, see Turner, 482 U.S. at 95, and that married couples have a fundamental right not toprocreate. See Griswold, 381 U.S. at 485-86.

They address equal protection:

Proposition 8 also violates equal protection, as it is antithetical to the “principles of equality” on which this “Nation . . . prides itself.” Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202, 219 (1982). It creates a permanent “underclass” of hundreds of thousands of gay and lesbian Californians, id., who are denied the fundamental right to marry available to all other Californians simply because a majority of voters deems gay and lesbian relationships inferior, morally reprehensible, religiously unacceptable, or simply not “okay.” With the full authority of the State behind it, Proposition 8 sends a clear and powerful message to gay men and lesbians: You are not good enough to marry. Your loving relationship is not equal to or respected enough to qualify to be called a marriage.

And one of my favorite parts is the strong conclusion:

Because of their sexual orientation—a character-istic with which they were born and which they can-not change—Plaintiffs and hundreds of thousands of gay men and lesbians in California and across the country are being excluded from one of life’s mostprecious relationships. They may not marry the per-son they love, the person with whom they wish topartner in building a family and with whom they wish to share their future and their most intimateand private dreams. Although opening to them participation in the unique and immensely valuable in-stitution of marriage will not diminish the value or status of marriage for heterosexuals, withholding itcauses infinite and permanent stigma, pain, and isolation. It denies gay men and lesbians their identityand their dignity; it labels their families as second-rate. That outcome cannot be squared with the prin-ciple of equality and the unalienable right to libertyand the pursuit of happiness that is the bedrockpromise of America from the Declaration of Inde-pendence to the Fourteenth Amendment, and thedream of all Americans. This badge of inferiority, separateness, and inequality must be extinguished.When it is, America will be closer to fulfilling the as-pirations of all its citizens. 

The judgment of the court of appeals should be affirmed.

Oral arguments before the United States Supreme Court are in almost exactly 4 weeks, on Tuesday March 26.

FOOD REVIEW: Aki Sushi (Los Angeles, CA)

I used to not like sushi very much but my tastes have matured and now I quite enjoy it, although I still stick to "basic" fish like salmon, tuna, shrimp, crab. One of the places that has convinced me to have sushi pretty regularly is Aki Sushi & Roll in the Hermon section of North East Los Angeles which is very near my house.

The Other Half and I eat there pretty often, probably every few months or so. Last Friday while I was in Los Angeles for the President's Day holiday we ate at our local sushi place. We were starving so we got four rolls (from top to bottom in the picture): "Monterey Roll" (in: california roll. out: salmon, avocado), "Sexy Roll" (in: shrimp tempura. out: ahi tuna),  "Caterpillar Roll" ( in: california roll. out: freshwater eel, avocado) and a special Mystery Roll whose name I can't remember.

We basically have the Sexy Roll every time we come here (it is like a permanent Daily Special). The Mystery Roll was pretty similar to the Monterey Roll except it had a sweet teriyaki sauce on it as well as having shrimp and crab inside instead of a california roll.

The regular rolls are about $8 and the special rolls are about $10-$12. Not exactly a cheap lunch but not overly pricey either. If you live near to Hermon (i.e. El Sereno, South Pasadena, Highland Park, Eagle Rock) this is a good place to check out for some good sushi in a very casual setting.

Name: Aki Sushi & Roll.

Location: 5916 Monterey Rd Los Angeles, CA 90042‎.

Contact: 323-256-0067.

Visit: February 15, 2013 (and many other times).

AMBIANCE: B+.

SERVICE: A-.

VALUE: A.

FOOD: A-. 

OVERALL: A- (3.67/4.0)

Bipartisan Respect For Marriage Coalition Launches

A new bipartisan coalition of prominent political organizations and individuals has launched called the Respect for Marriage Coalition. They are also launching a multi-million dollar media campaign that includes full-page ads in major newspapers as well as a television ad that features the voices of former First Lady Laura Bush, former Secretary of State (and Joint Chief of Staff) Colin Powell, former Vice President Darth Vader Dick Cheney and President Barack Obama.


Chris Geidner at Buzzfeed has the screenshots from the ad as well as the image to be used in the full page newspaper ads:

This is just another sign of how the heterosexual supremacists are losing the kulturkampf over LGBT equality that they started some twenty-plus years ago. Right now, incorrectly, marriage equality is viewed as a partisan issue, where Democrats overwhelmingly support the freedom to marry while Republicans overwhelmingly oppose it. But this partisan divide is falling, as more and more Republicans realize that giving more people the individual freedom to have legal recognition of the person they love is an ultimately conservative position.

Hopefully this campaign and coalition will accelerate the increase in bipartisan support for marriage equality and LGBT rights.

Hat/tip to Joe.My.God

Godless Wednesday: Religion "Makes Sense"

There is an interesting atheist-related meme that occurred over the weekend where Richard Dawkins and his twitter followers made trenchant observations about religion and added the statement "Makes Sense." Some of the statements are shown above.

An example of (one of my favorites of) these tweets is:

@richarddawkins God reveals himself numerous times to bronze-aged desert people but not since the invention of the video camera. Makes Sense
— Baudi (@PickBaudisBrain) February 16, 2013

These are great, huh?

Hat/tip to Friendly Atheist

LA TIMES Endorses Eric Garcetti For Mayor

The primary election for Los Angeles Mayor is in exactly 14 days, on Tuesday March 7, 2013. MadProfessah has endorsed Eric Garcetti, not just because he used to teach at Occidental College, where I am a mathematics professor, but simply because he was the first person to ask me, way back in October 2012, to endorse his candidacy for Mayor.

There is not much to separate the three major Democratic candidates, Garcetti, Wendy Greuel and Jan Perry regarding LGBT issues and other progressive issues that are important to me. That being said, the Stonewall Democrats, the Los Angeles-area LGBT Democratic club has endorsed Garcetti while the Los Angeles County Democratic Party was unable to come to consensus on an endorsement.

This past Sunday, the Los Angeles Times also endorsed Garcetti:

Los Angeles is an underachieving city led in recent decades by a succession of underachieving mayors — people who came in with big dreams or big talk but soon got bored with the day-to-day task of steering a municipality. Voters don't get to conduct a casting call or sift through hundreds of applicants until they identify the ideal candidate, but must instead choose from a field prescreened by the political and fundraising processes. This year that field fails to include a candidate who stands out as the obviously superior choice. The task for voters then becomes to scrutinize track records, eliminate the worst hazards and seek potential that can be forged, with the proper pressure and continued voter vigilance, into accomplishment.

The candidate with the most potential to rise to the occasion and lead Los Angeles out of its current malaise and into a more sustainable and confident future is Eric Garcetti.

Read the full endorsement yourself. Do you agree?

WATCH: 44 Presidents of the United States

Happy Presidents Day!

Wow! Mississippi Officially Ratifies End Of Slavery

Wow. Mississippi has finally officially ratified the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, thus endorsing the end of involuntary servitude in the United States.

Life really does move slower in the South. One hundred forty-eight years after Congress sent the 13th Amendment outlawing slavery to the states for ratification, Mississippi officially has joined the ranks. 

The state’s Legislature did vote to ratify it in 1995 — but the vote was never made official because lawmakers failed to inform the U.S. archivist, according to a report in the Clarion-Ledger. They’ve finally finished the job, Newser reports, and it’s official: Slavery is unconstitutional in Mississippi.

I guess better late than never!

hat/tip to Joe.My.God

Eye Candy: Ngo Okafor

Ngo Okafor is an American athlete and model of Nigerian descent who claims to be "the most downloaded black male model on the internet." He has a ModelMayhem.com profile which lists his statistics at 6'3" and 197 pounds. That reference also says he is 27 years old but then at Wikipedia it says that he that he began boxing at age 31 and has since won 2 Golden Gloves titles (in 2008 and 2009). He calls himself a renaissance man on his website, getingo.com, where he has a frequently updated blog.

His full name appears to be Ngoli Onyeka Okafor, but whatever you call him, he is clearly a handsome man!

DOHA 2013: Vika Beats Serena To End Losing Streak

AP Photo/Osama Faisal

Well, well, looks like 2013 could become a very interesting year indeed! For the first time in thei last nine meetings, World #1 Victoria Azarenka was able to defeat Serena Williams, beating her 7-6(6) 2-6 6-3 in the final of the Qatar Total Open in Doha. Serena, who will reclaim the World #1 title from Azarenka on Monday despite her loss, still leads their career head-to-head 11-2, but this loss should make her realize that she is going to need her best tennis in order to continue to dominate her rivals at the top of the women's game.

Azarenka's win extends her 2013 winning streak to 14 matches, and is now more than halfway to reaching her 2012 winning streak of consecutive 26 matches.

This year, however, Serena is more engaged on tour and both players have entered the Dubai Duty Free Open which starts on Monday. Azarenka held the #1 ranking for 51 weeks, I seriously doubt Serena will hold it that long.

Qatar Open 2013: Serena v Vika in Final

At the Qatar Total Open semifinals in Doha, Serena Williams followed up her epic 3-set win over Petra Kvitova to reclaim the world #1 ranking for the 6th time in her career by demolishing World #3 Maria Sharapova 6-3 6-2 for the 10th consecutive time.

In the other semifinal, current World #1 Victoria Azarenka continued her domination over her frenemy Agnieska Radwanska with a 6-3 6-3 win for the 8th consecutive victory in their 12 career matches.

So the final will be between soon-to-be former World #1 Azarenka versus soon-to-be current World #1 Williams. The bad news for Azarenka is that she has only beaten Serena once in 12 meetings; however she did possess match points in their very tight match in the 2012 US Open final (won by Serena). Azarenka should take confidence from that fact, and the fact that she won the very last Grand Slam played and should use the opportunity to try out some new tactics against Serena, who may be vulnerable after having achieved her short-term goal of reach World #1 again.

That being said, I would be very surprised if Serena did not continue her unbeaten streak playing in Doha and win the title tomorrow, although I think it will be a pretty close match.

REPORT: LGBT Population Measured in Every State

The William Institute's Gary Gates is the author of a new report that analyzes Gallup data to produce a geographical distribution of the LGBT population throughout the United States. Previously, he had co-authored a report that estimated that the LGBT population of the United States is 3.4% of adult Americans (above 18 years old).

This new report illustrates that the distribution of the LGBT population is not uniform (as one would expect), with a minimum of 1.7% in  North Dakota and maximum of 10% in District of Columbia.

The Top 10 states with the highest percentages of respondents to the question "Do you, personally, identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender?" are depicted below.

The report attempts to posit a reason for the relatively small variation in the LGBT percentage among the states:

In general, states where residents express more liberal views are more accepting of LGBT individuals, while socially conservative areas are less accepting. Of the 10 states and D.C. where at least 4% of respondents identified as LGBT, seven are among the most liberal states in the country. Conversely, six of 10 states with the lowest percentage of LGBT-identified adults are among the top 10 conservative states in the country.

The states with proportionally larger LGBT populations generally have supportive LGBT legal climates. With the exception of South Dakota, all of the states that have LGBT populations of at least 4% have laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and allow same-sex couples to marry, enter into a civil union, or register as domestic partners. Of the 10 states with the lowest percentage of LGBT adults, only Iowa has such laws.

Higher proportions of LGBT individuals in a state could also suggest that LGBT individuals move there in higher proportions than the general population does. While highly concentrated (and mostly male) LGBT neighborhoods exist in many cities and are certainly in part a result of this type of migration, little is known about the broader migration patterns of the LGBT community. Given prior Gallup findings showing that the LGBT population is disproportionately young, female, and nonwhite -- all of which are groups with economic disadvantages that could limit their abilities to move -- it seems unlikely that migration is the primary reason for variation in LGBT identification across states.

[...]

From a broad perspective, the variation in the percentage of adults across U.S. states who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender is relatively small. At the same time, the variation does provide interesting information about LGBT identification and its possible relationship to the ideological and legal climate in different states. All states are within a couple of percentage points of the overall LGBT national average of 3.5%. The LGBT adult population estimate is above 5% only in the District of Columbia and Hawaii, and below 2% only in North Dakota. 

States with high LGBT percentages tend to be more liberal and have more supportive LGBT legal climates, while those at the lower end of the LGBT spectrum are generally the most conservative. This suggests that one explanation for the variation across states is the relationship between the willingness to disclose LGBT identity and the environment of one's state of residence. It is also possible that LGBT adults make conscious choices to reside in certain states rather than others, but this possibility is difficult to assess and seems less likely.

I think it is very important to get good information about size and diversity of the LGBT population. As people who believe in LGBT equality, we can fight discrimination and rank homophobia with factual data and appeals to fairness and reason.

Serena Becomes Oldest Woman To Reach #1

Serena Williams beat Petra Kvitova in a tough 3-set match at the Qatar Tennis Open quarterfinals to reclaim the World #1 ranking on the WTA Tour. By doing so, Williams will become the oldest woman to be ranked #1 at age 31, 4 months and 24 days. Previously Chris Evert was #1 at 30 years, 11 months and 3 days way back on November 24, 1985. Victoria Azarenka relinquished the #1 ranking because she was defending championship points from winning this tournament in 2012 during her amazing winning streak last year.

Serena tweeted her reaction:

Thanks everyone for all the support. Back to number one. #1 and it feels so good. Serena #1
— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) February 15, 2013

Serena will start her 124th week at #1 on Monday February 18. Congrats, Serena!

Queer Quote: Illinois Homophobe Thinks He's The Victim

Kyle McCarter is a member of the Illinois State Senate who voted against SB0010, a bill to legalize marriage equality, which passed by a 34-21 margin on Thursday. He is now getting a reputation as a virulent homophobe for tweets like:

To redefine marriage is discriminatory towards those who hold the sincerely held religious belief that it is a sacred institution between a man & a woman.

The statement is so ridiculous that it is today's Queer Quote. The use of the word "discriminatory" to describe an action which allows a group of people to do something which they were previously prohibited from doing is simply bizarre. I also take issue with the notion that "a sincerely held religious belief" is a reason to support any public policy action.

He also posted the remark on Facebook, where it is generating some very thoughtful responses such as:

The fact that a bride-to-be is no longer considered her father's property transferable to her husband by the barter system means that marriage has already been redefined, and rightly so. Why not just own up to your bigotry? Pretending that gay people being married affects your right or ability to worship God is insane.

and

Not being allowed to force your beliefs on those who don't follow them does not constitute discrimination. 

and

So if someone holds a "sincerely held" religious belief that marriage should be only between Christians and other Christians, does that give them the right to deny civil licenses to Christian and non-Christian couples? What if they have a "sincerelyheld" religious belief that marriage is only between white men and white women or black men and black women? Should they have the right to deny civil marriage to interracial couples? According to your logic, they do...

I don't think I can really say it much better than that!

Celebrity Friday: Esther Vergeer Retires With 470-0 Winning Streak

Esther Vergeer, the most successful athlete in the history of disabled sports, has retired. Vergeer is a wheelchair tennis player and has an incredible list of records, the most impressive may be that she retires with a 470-0 winning streak, having last lost a tennis match on January 30, 2003, going an entire decade of competition unbeaten.

Tennis Now summarizes some of her achievement:

She has been named ITF Wheelchair World Champion for the last 13 years, winning 169 titles and ends her career on a winning streak of 470 matches, with her last defeat coming against Australian Daniela di Toro in Sydney on January 30, 2003.

In the last 10 years Vergeer has won a total of 120 successive tournaments, beating 73 different opponents, winning 95 matches 6-0, 6-0 and dropping just 18 sets of tennis. In that time she faced only one match point – against fellow countrywoman Korie Homan in the women’s gold medal match at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics.

In Grand Slam play, Vergeer won every singles event she entered, racking up 21 singles titles and 23 doubles titles at the majors. She won eight Paralympic medals during her career, seven of which were gold to cement her place in the history books as a true sporting legend.

Congratulations to Esther!

hat/tip to Tennis Now

Illinois State Senate Passes Marriage Bill 34-21

As expected, the State Senate of Illinois passed a bill to enact marriage equality in the state, by a vote of 34-21.

The Chicago Tribune reported on the debate:

During a nearly two-hour, emotional debate, sponsoring Sen. Heather Steans urged colleagues to join her in a vote for the "history books" that would remove gay and lesbian couples from "second-class status."

Same-sex partners want to marry for the same reasons as heterosexual couples, including for love, commitment and "shared responsibility with that one, unique, irreplaceable person," said Steans, D-Chicago.

[...]

Under the measure, marriage would be changed in state law from an act between a man and a woman to one between two people. Civil unions could be converted to marriages within a year of a same-sex marriage law going onto the books. The legislation would not require ministers to perform a marriage of gay couples, and church officials would not be forced to allow church facilities to be used by gay couples, Steans said.

Even so, Sen. Kyle McCarter and several other Republican colleagues feared the legislation would have far-reaching impact, predicting even the school curriculum in Illinois will be changed to recognize gay marriage.

"People have the right to live as they choose," said McCarter, of Lebanon in southern Illinois. "They don't have the right to redefine marriage for all of us. ... We are jeopardizing freedom, not expanding it."

Really? By allowing more people to do something which only some people are allowed to do, opponents are trying to argue that freedom is being reduced. WTF? Happily, fewer and fewer people are willing to consider such ridiculous arguments and rejecting them for the sophistry that they are.

That being said, it's not clear if SB0010 will pass the State House, despite the fact that Democrats enjoy a supermajority in the body as well as enthusiastic support from the (very unpopular) Governor Pat Quinn.

FOOD REVIEW: Burger Lounge (San Diego, CA)

While I was visiting San Diego for a conference recently I stumbled across a burger joint called Burger Lounge in the Gaslamp quarter. I had not heard of the chain before and was surprised to see that it was primarily a Southern California-based institution, with two locations in two gayborhoods (Hillcrest in San Diego and West Hollywood in Los Angeles).

As longtime readers of this blog know, I have been on a quest to find the best burgers in America for quite awhile. Some of the excellent ones I have previously found are brgr:shack (Arlington, sadly now closed!), Ray's Hell Burger (Arlington), Lazy Ox Canteen (Los Angeles) and Burger Joint (New York City). These are all in the burgeoning category of "better burger" joints with often higher quality ingredients and very modern and sleek dining environments. These are not your average $5 burger. For that, #1 on my list is still In-N-Out burger (Five Guys is close behind, but no one can beat In-N-Out for it's quality:price ratio.

But let's talk about Burger Lounge.  I generally try to order the same thing at burger places that I am trying out for the first time, usually some kind of cheeseburger. At Burger Lounge I had The Lounge Burger™ ($7.95) which consists of "100% American Grass-Fed Beef, Lounge Bun, Crisp Lettuce, Fresh Tomato, House-Made 1000 Island, Organic American Cheese and Grilled Onion." I added the small French Fries ("Fresh-Cut, Twice-Cooked in the Belgian Tradition") for $2.99 and the delightful Organic Cane Sweetened Maine Root Soda ($2.25).

The burger was excellent with the bun impressively light, but slightly toasted. It was too much bread for me, so I actually ate the burger as an open-faced sandwich, which worked quite well. It was grilled exactly to my specifications (amazingly some places do not know what medium-rare means: light pink in the center and moist throughout the patty). No single ingredient overwhelmed any other and they all blended well together; the only thing that could have improved it would have been the option of adding bacon (but then again, doesn't bacon make everything taste better!?)

Many of the better burger joints often lose points with me for neglecting to maintain the quality of their sides in their single-minded focus on the burger. But, to me, it is about the combination of burger plus fries plus beverage. Here, Burger Lounge really outdoes itself. The twice-cooked fries are simply excellent. Piping hot, very crunch and in a cute very solid paper box (like a chinese take-out container for rice). My one quibble is that they cut them into pieces which are slightly too small. The fries, combined with the drink (high-quality soda over shaved ice) make Burger Lounge one of the best of the better burger joints I have sampled. I would definitely rank it among one of the best burger experiences I have had on the West Coast, and in the upper echelons of burgers in the country.

Name: Burger Lounge (Gaslamp Quarter).

Location: 528 5th Avenue, San Diego CA 92101.

Contact: 619-955-5727.

Visit: January 11, 2013.

AMBIANCE: A-.

SERVICE: A.

VALUE: A.

FOOD: A+. 

OVERALL: A (4.0/4.0)

No State Law In Virginia Banning LGBT Discrimination

The Republican-controlled House of Delegates voted on Tuesday to kill a pending LGBT rights bill that had been passed 24-16 by the Virginia State Senate just last week. The Virginia Senate is equally split between Republicans and Democrats, with 20 seats each. The House of Delegates has 67 Republicans and 32 Democrats (and 1 Independent). Senate Bill 701 would have prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity:

Nondiscrimination in state employment. Prohibits discrimination in state employment based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, or status as a special disabled veteran or other veteran covered by the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974, as amended. The bill defines "sexual orientation" as a person's actual or perceived heterosexuality, bisexuality, homosexuality, or gender identity or expression. The bill expressly provides that "sexual orientation" shall not include any person's attraction toward persons with whom sexual conduct would be illegal due to the age of the parties. The bill contains technical amendments.

The Republicans assigned the bill to the General Laws Subcommittee on Professions/Occupations and Administrative Process where it was "tabled" by a voice vote.

Shame on you!