Greece & Italy Move Towards Legal Status For Same-Sex Couples

Two stories out today show positive steps for same-sex couples in Greece and Italy.

Almost 18 months after the European Court of Human Rights told Greece the same-sex couples needed some inclusion to legal protections, the Greek government looks intent on legalizing civil partnerships for all couples.

While encouraging, several months of work still lay ahead for the legislation. The bill is expected to go before the Greek Parliament later this summer.

Also, Italy's Lower House passed a motion to approve civil unions by a vote of 204-83.

The language of the legislation (similar to the civil unions law in Germany) states that the government will commit "to promote the adoption of a law on civil unions, particularly with regard to the condition of the people of same sex". It also says the government will "ensure equal treatment throughout the nation" of civil unions."

Dodger Stadium Kiss-Cam Couple

From MSNBC: At a recent night out at the ballpark, the crowd at the L.A. Dodgers’ stadium erupted in cheers after a gay couple were featured on the "Kiss Cam."

That couple, Steve and Rick Simone-Friedland, join Lawrence O'Donnell to share the story.

The couple shares that they committed to each other in 1999, and later married in 2013.

Apparently the camerawoman at the Los Angeles Dodgers game asked if they would appear on the Kiss Cam; Rick agreed, but Steven expressed some trepidation about the crowd's possible reaction.

And then came the overwhelmingly positive reaction from the crowd.

Folks may recall that in 2000 a lesbian couple was ejected from the stadium for a simple kiss.

Progress, kids. Progress.

Dan Savage talks the portrayal of gays in the media with Larry King

Dan Savage chats on Ora.tv’s PoliticKING with Larry King regarding the progress made in terms of how the LGBT community is portrayed in the media.

KING: It’s hard, you can’t speak for the whole gay community. Do you think they’re portrayed well in the media?

SAVAGE: You know, I used to debate this with my friends in the ‘90s when Will and Grace—a sitcom about a gay man and a straight woman who are friends—was on TV. And my gay friends would complain that it wasn’t a very realistic portrayal of gay people and I would point out that Friends—which was another hit sitcom on television at the same time—was not a really realistic portrayal of straight people.

We shouldn’t look to any one thing, one image on television as definitive or debated as if it’s the only image we’ve ever seen on television. We used to have to have those sorts of debates.

Back in the day, Billy Crystal on Soap was the only gay character on TV, so it was very fraught how he was portrayed. And he was portrayed very badly in the end. He ended up not being gay, as if gay was a choice that he could walk away from.

But now with Michael Sam, with openly gay NBA basketball players, Jim Collins, with Mitch and Cam, with all of the wonderful queens on RuPaul’s Drag Race, and media figures like Rachel Maddow and Anderson Cooper, there’s this multiplicity of portraits of LGBT people in the media and on television in fictional and in reality.

And I think any individual one case is less important. It’s just part of a mosaic now and I think that’s a wonderful example of progress.

Watch the entire interview tonight, June 5, 2014 at 10 p.m. on Ora.tv.

5 years of Obama