Graffiti In Mississippi: “No 2 Gay Marrage”

A series of graffiti incidents has occurred in Jackson, Mississippi, one of which reads, “NO 2 GAY MARRAGE (sic) KILL THEM.”

The graffiti appears on the side of a vacant building on West Capitol Street according to My Fox AL. The Human Rights Campaign has condemned the graffiti in a blog post, saying that “this hateful message does not represent Mississippi values.”

The Human Rights Campaign also called for Mississippians to “stand up and make it clearly known that these kinds of messages of hatred have no place in our society.”

More on Equaldex: LGBT Rights in Mississippi

(via Reddit)

OkCupid Asks Firefox Users To Switch Browsers Over Mozilla CEO’s Opposition For Gay Rights

As of today, when you visit dating site OkCupid in a Mozilla Firefox browser, your experience will be interrupted with a notice about how Mozilla’s new CEO is an opponent for gay rights.

“Mozilla’s new CEO, Brendan Eich, is an opponent of equal rights for gay couples. We would therefore prefer that our users not use Mozilla software to access OkCupid.

Politics is normally not the business of a website, and we all know there’s a lot more wrong with the world than misguided CEOs. So you might wonder why we’re asserting ourselves today. This is why: we’ve devoted the last ten years to bringing people—all people—together. If individuals like Mr. Eich had their way, then roughly 8% of the relationships we’ve worked so hard to bring about would be illegal. Equality for gay relationships is personally important to many of us here at OkCupid. But it’s professionally important to the entire company. OkCupid is for creating love. Those who seek to deny love and instead enforce misery, shame, and frustration are our enemies, and we wish them nothing but failure. ”

The issue they reference was when Eich supported California’s Proposition 8 back in 2008. The donation became public a few years ago and caused an initial uproar, which was then reignited when Mozilla appointed Eich their new CEO

What are your thoughts? Happy to see OkCupid take a stand? Or is OkCupid going too far?

Equaldex is a collaborative LGBT knowledge base visualizing LGBT rights by country.

The Spread of Marriage Equality: 2000-2014 [GIF]

A GIF made by Mother Jones showing the progress of marriage equality over the past 14 years.

More:

• Map of LGBT Rights by Country
• LGBT Rights in the United States

(via LGBTQ Nation)

Eight States Have Laws Banning Promotion of LGBTQ Topics, Similar to Russia’s Ban on Gay Propaganda

GLSEN published three interactive maps showing discrimination laws in the United States, which the Washington Post compares to Russia’s anti homosexual propaganda policies in some regard.

Eight states limit speech about homosexuality in ways similar to, though not as far-reaching as, the Russian ban that has received international criticism ahead of the Winter Olympics in Sochi.

The Trevor Project explains that these laws “ban educators from talking about LGBTQ people, issues or history” and points out that they may prevent LGBTQ people from being in a safe environment.

Learn more about LGBT laws around the world. Sign up for early access to Equaldex.

In 29 States You Can Be Fired For Being Gay [Infographic]

Barack Obama tweeted his support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act on Monday morning. “It’s time to put aside politics and extend basic workplace protections for LGBT Americans” the site’s campaign said.

Obama tweeted the infographic:

In 29 states, no state law protects you from being fired for being gay. Let’s fix that: http://OFA.BO/SfVv1Z #ENDA

View the campaign’s site

View more LGBT infographics

Gay Couples Kiss in Front of Westboro Baptist Church Protesters

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 27: Two same sex couples kiss in front of Westboro Baptist Church protesters, at the U.S. Supreme Court, on March 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. Today the high court is scheduled to hear arguments on whether Congress can withhold federal benefits from legally wed gay couples by defining marriage as only between a man and a woman.

(Mark Wilson / Getty via Huffington Post)

Nonprofit Buys House Across From Westboro Baptist Church, Paints It Rainbow Colored

Aaron Jackson, one of the founders of charity Planting Peace, decided to purchase a house across from the homophobic Westboro Baptist Church and then paint it the colors of the gay pride flag.

According to The Huffington Post, the organization purchased the Topeka, Kansas house for roughly $83,000. Planting Peace calls it “Equality House” and is the beginning of a campaign against the hate group.

“I didn’t know anything about the church or where they were located, but that story kept popping up. And one night I wondered, Where is this church? I got on Google Earth, and I was ‘walking down the road,’ and I did a 360 view. And I saw a 'For Sale’ sign sitting in the front yard of a house. Right away it hit me, Oh my gosh, I could buy a house in front of the WBC! And immediately I thought: And I’m going to paint that thing the color of the pride flag.”

Read the full article at The Huffington Post.

(Photos: Carol Hartsell / Huffington Post)

More: LGBT Rights in Kansas, United States