The segment titled “The Politics of Progress” spotlights Barack Obama’s involvement in LGBT equality and whether or not he will fulfill his promises to advance the political movement towards full equality. While Obama has signed memorandums to expand the benefits of same-sex partners as well as broadening federal protections to the victims of hate crimes, he has not yet fulfilled many of the promises that won him the LGBT community’s vote in 2008. As a result of the frustration of many in the LGBT community, new equal rights groups are developing new tactics to push forward towards equal rights.

This month's IN THE LIFE addresses "The State of Equality"

In the final segment, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D) interviews David Hall, a former cadet in the US Air Force, and Julianne Sohn, a former Marine officer. Both David and Julianne were discharged under the discriminatory policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” which continues to discharge qualified and invested LGBT service members.

This month’s IN THE LIFE began airing on September 1st. To find out where it is on in your area or to download the episode, go to the IN THE LIFE website.

Hampton said that when the Vikings meet the Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints for a rematch of last year’s NFC Championship game (which the Vikings lost in overtime) they need to “go down there and hit that town like Katrina.”

This statement was horribly offensive, and Hampton has apologized for it.

But that wasn’t the only offensive statement Hampton made in the broadcast. When talking about the Dallas Cowboys, Hampton said “The Cowboys think they are Clint Eastwood; they’re more of the Brokeback variety if you know what I’m talking about.”

I think we have a pretty good idea of what he’s talking about. Hampton was trying to insult the Cowboys by comparing them to gay people – simple as that.

Hampton wasn’t actually saying the Cowboys players are gay, but by making this comment, Hampton telegraphed to his audience that gay men are not good enough, just as he doesn’t believe the Dallas Cowboys are good enough. Hampton was a tremendous player for the Chicago Bears throughout the 1980s, he’s a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he’s a television personality, and whether he likes it or not, he’s a role model.  Every day, millions of kids across this country are harassed, bullied and beaten because of attitudes like this. Hampton should not be using his platform to encourage homophobia.

Dan Hampton needs to apologize for this offensive and defamatory statement, just as he needed to apologize for his Katrina comment. We will be calling Pro Football Weekly to voice our concerns.

HRC was excited to learn that Molly Simmons, an outstanding volunteer that sits on our Board of Governors, was among those chosen to sit on the 9-member board. Molly’s experience as a former police officer and as an established leader in our community will be a great asset to the board and we know that she will continue to be a positive force for the LGBT community in Atlanta.

You can read more about the LGBT liaison or the advisory board here and here.

We recently met with Sonia Barnes, the district representative for U.S. Representative Bob Etheridge.  This was our second meeting in North Carolina. The meeting was a success, and could not have been so without the amount of people who graciously lent us their time as well as their stories.

Included in this group was HRC Governor and Steering Committee member Madeline Goss, who shared her powerful story regarding her gender transition in the workplace. Once Madeline had decided to transition, she went and spoke with her HR director to explain her decision.  She was concerned that her position as an engineer at the company would not be secure. Initially, the company could not guarantee that Madeline’s transition would not affect her employment. After doing some research, Madeline found that her company did have a non-discrimination policy in effect that prevented her from being fired on the basis of her gender identity.  Policies like these exist to protect people like Madeline, who are brave enough to be true to themselves day after day while heading into work, unsure whether or not they will be fired at any moment. Sadly, for millions of Americas these protections don’t exist. They are forced to choose between their jobs and being themselves.

Ian Palmquist, the executive director of the statewide LGBT civil rights organization Equality North Carolina, also joined us for the meeting. Ian shared about his partner who was fired for filing a complaint of workplace discrimination. Ian’s partner is just one of the hundreds of victims of workplace discrimination that have contacted Equality North Carolina.

Also attending was Sarah Preston, Policy Director of the ACLU, and Gary Palmer, a representative from the Replacements Limited company. Palmer spoke powerfully about of the effects that discrimination has on LGBT youth and about ending discrimination for the next generation.

Jake Wheeler, an Intern with HRC, also spoke on the effects of discrimination on LGBT youth.  Wheeler has witnessed firsthand the hardship that goes along with being a young gay man looking for a job in today’s economy.

I think our stories truly touched Sonia Barnes. We asked her to thank Rep. Etheridge for voting for the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. I also took a moment to ask Sonia which way she thought Rep. Etheridge was going to vote on ENDA.  The fact that she could not give our group a definite answer made one thing clear to us; we have more work to do.