Bruno: Is the joke on me?

I have no wish to see Bruno. I never saw Borat. They're simply not my style of comedy, but Bruno worries me in ways Borat never did. Writer/star Sacha Baron Cohen claims his new movie is about skewering homophobia, but what happens if the audience in the theater doesn't get the joke?

Long before Cohen decided he would make millions off the discrimination I and other LGBT people face every day, far too many heterosexuals believed that gays were oversexed, irresponsible and stupid. (Dare I mention the fact that the word "gay" is slang for stupid?) Every anti-gay political campaign trades on these nasty stereotypes.

The people who work against marriage, block laws that would end workplace discrimination, and rile up voters to ban us from parenting, sometimes even keeping us from our own children, portray us as if we were all Bruno. When I worked as an activist, I encountered people every day who thought the Bruno stereotype was real.

Rashad Robinson of GLAAD worriesabout the film's impact.

It's not that we don't get it. The makers of the film "Bruno," Sacha Baron Cohen's just-released follow-up to "Borat," have said that they intend to satirize and expose homophobia. But even when filmmakers have the best of intentions, there can be a disconnect between the concept and the execution.

I agree, and I worry: What happens when people don't get the joke? I've seen some bloggers argue that, well, we don't care about those people because they're just bigots.

I wish it were true that only homophobic bigots held stereotypes. I wish it were true that anti-gay campaigns didn't win because too many people still think Bruno is real. I wish it were true that attitudes in this country were so advanced that Bruno could just be a movie and not become somebody's excuse to harass an LGBT teenager or worse.

Harris poll shows that gays are winning the culture war

We're winning the war of attitudes, according to a new national poll released today. Now if we could just turn those attitudes into some votes.

The new poll is the first ever sponsored by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). The poll of 2,008 U.S. adults ages 18 and older was conducted Nov. 13-17, 2008. That's after the election and during the period when protests over the passage of Proposition 8 were gaining steam. The biggest day of protests was Nov. 15 when demonstrations were held around the nation. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percent.

GLAAD president Neil G. Giuliano told me in an interview today that he was surprised and pleased by one number: the 19 percent of respondents who said their attitudes towards gays and lesbians have improved over the last five years.

"I do feel like it's a big movement," Giuliano says. "I was an elected official at one time. If I could get 19 percent of people to move on an issue that would be significant. That bodes very well for our future."

I think this poll is a great step forward. The overwhelming support for gays to adopt, for the removal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell and for some kind of relationship rights will undoubtedly help us work with lawmakers. The demographic information is also mightily helpful. I hate to be a naysayer, but I do feel frustrated. One can't do everything in a single poll, but I would love more hard data on the attitudes behind the opinions.

For example, why is support for non-discrimination legislation only at 51 percent? Do (a) people not understand the prejudice LGBT people face, (b) hate the idea of non-discrimination legislation or (c) none of the above?

I also want more information on attitudes about legal rights for same-sex relationships. Do all the people who support civil unions/domestic partnerships also support marriage? What do these folks think civil unions and domestic partnerships are?

All in all, this is a useful bit of research, but inquiring minds do want to know more.

Giuliano, by the way, served for 10 years as the mayor of Tempe, Ariz.

Here are the full results of the poll.

For the first time in history, a Kansas governor stands up for LGBT people

By Diane Silver

I just returned from a historic signing ceremony at the Kansas Statehouse. For the first time, a Kansas governor has declared that it's wrong to discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people in state hiring and on the job.

With one lesbian employee of the state social service agency and one gay employee from the state's environmental agency standing at her elbow. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius signed an executive order adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the state's anti-discrimination policy. The order effects the approximately 25,000 state employees who work for the governor.

"I'm sorry it took so long," Sebelius said after signing the order as she handed out ceremonial pens to us.

I've known the governor since she was a freshman member of the Kansas House. To me, she sounded quite sincere in her support for LGBT people and a bit apologetic about the time it has taken to get an anti-discrimination order in place.

Sebelius also told reporters that she supports an anti-discrimination bill in the Kansas Senate. The bill would prohibit discrimination against all LGBT people, not just those who work for the state. The bill extends protection to housing and private employment.

After Sebelius signed the order, we all applauded her heartily.

After all the garbage this state sometimes takes, I have to say that today I am so proud to be a Kansan.

Sebelius also posed with a Kansas Equality Coalition T-shirt and posed for pictures with many of the people present, who represented a who's who of the equal rights movement in Kansas.

I'll have photos as soon as they're available. Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera, but several of our folks did take pictures.

Today's executive order was the result of the hard work of many people. Among them are members of the Kansas Equality Coalition, the Kansas City regional Human Rights Campaign, the Democratic LGBT Caucus and many others.

The effort that resulted in today's order received much support and help from moderate Republicans. Republicans like Bruce Ney and Jim Yonnally helped make this order happen.

The Kansas Traditional Republican Majority also stood up for us today. The group's leader, Andy Wollen, issued a statement saying: "It's about time."

Those who attended today's ceremony include Cora Holt, a Social and Rehabilitation Services employee from Manhattan, and Dennis Dobson, a lab supervisor for the Department of Health and the Environment.

Others attending included Steve Brown, from the LGBT Democratic Caucus; Maggie Childs, chair of the Lawrence Chapter of the Kansas Equality Coalition and an advisor to KU's Q & A; Jason Dilts, Wichita, head of the LGBT Democratic Caucus; Carolyn Marie Fugit, chair of the Wichita Chapter of the Equality Coalition; Pedro Irigonegaray, Topeka attorney and longtime equality activist; Kirk Isenhour, Kansas City regional Human Rights Campaign affiliate; Cathy Jambrosic, chair of the Johnson County Chapter of the Equality Coalition; LuAnn Kahl, vice chair of the Southwest Chapter of the Equality Coalition; Bruce McKinney, a longtime Wichita activist; Bruce Ney, the former chair of Kansans For Fairness; Cyd Slayton, a member of the national board of governors of the Human Rights Campaign and of the Kansas City affiliate of HRC; Angela Siedener of the North Central Chapter of the Equality Coalition; Thomas Witt of Wichita, the state chair of the Equality Coalition; and Jim Yonnally, a former Republican state legislator and Equality Coalition lobbyist.

Sarah Kennedy from GLAAD also gave us great support today.

The Equality Coalition issued a news release on the signing. By the way, I'm the fool who put the incorrect number of state employees in the release.

AP already has a story with some comment from social conservatives. The Lawrence Journal-World also has a story posted.