(Gay Politics) Calling anti-gay language in the state Republican Party Platform “extremist” and “foolish,” the Dallas chapter of Log Cabin Republicans has issued a statement asking the party’s candidates and elected officials to publicly repudiate those portions of the document, according to a report in the Advocate . The state party recently unveiled its platform containing language calling for the criminalization of sodomy and referring to homosexuality in draconian terms. ””We believe that the practice of homosexuality tears at the fabric of society, contributes to the breakdown of the family unit, and leads to the spread of dangerous, communicable diseases,” the document states.

(Gay Politics) City Council President Pedro Segarra, who is openly gay, is set to become the next mayor of Hartford, Conn., according to the Hartford Courant . Segarra will succeed Mayor Eddie A. Perez, who has said he’ll resign following a June 18 conviction on bribery and extortion charges.

(Gay Politics) If LGBT leaders had successfully re-framed the discussion about California’s Proposition 8–away from morality and toward discrimination–the black community would have voted against it in higher numbers, according to Cornell Belcher (pictured), a Democratic pollster who spoke this week on a panel of African-American leaders, both gay and straight. The panel discussion, “ Selma and Stonewall: Setting the agenda for Equal Rights in the 21st Century ,” was hosted by the Center for American Progress and the Arcus Foundation . Belcher noted that his polling suggests 46% of African Americans think they are being discriminated against, and 44% think LGBT people are being discriminated against, but messaging directed toward the black community about LGBT issues has not leveraged that synergy.

(Gay Politics) Last night at the White House President Barack Obama told invited guests at a LGBT Pride celebration that he would stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them as they continued their fight for equality for LGBT Americans. “This struggle is as old as America itself. It has never been easy.

(Sun-Sentinel) Activists think gay state legislator or U.S. congressman could be elected in 2010 As a young woman, Betty James never imagined gays and lesbians exercising political clout. Seeing openly gay men and women elected to office seemed even more far-fetched.

(Gay Politics) Gov. Linda Lingle has informed the Hawaii state legislature that she may veto a sweeping civil unions bill that would give same-sex couples the rights and responsibilities of marriage, according to KITV . Lingle, a Republican, faced a Monday deadline to tell state lawmakers which bills they passed that she plans to veto.

(Wash. Times) It’s a mayoral election year in Washington, and special-interest groups are laying out their agendas. The gay community is no exception.

(Gay Politics) Gay and lesbian federal employees will be able to take leave to attend to their sick or deceased partners under a new policy set to go into effect July 14, according to the Washington Post’s Ed O’Keefe . The policy extends family leave to relationships including same-sex partners, opposite-sex partners, stepparents, stepchildren, grandparents and grandchildren. The Obama administration has been adjusting a number of federal policies it controls in order to extend new rights and benefits to LGBT Americans without having to go through Congress.

(Gay Politics) Did you know “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal and ENDA are just the tip of the iceberg? In all, some 25 LGBT-specific bills are pending in Congress, but Lisa Keen of Keen News Service says just a few of those have any hope of passage this year. Among the lesser-known measures are proposed laws that would ban discrimination in credit services, fight bullying of LGBT students in schools, and add LGBT families to the Family and Medical Leave Act.

(Gay Politics) The city of Cambridge, Mass., home to Harvard University, has its third openly gay mayor…in a row. Mayor David Maher, who was elected to the post by his city council colleagues in February, acknowledged publicly this weekend he is gay. Speaking to the city’s annual Pride brunch, Maher paid tribute to the city’s last two mayors, Ken Reeves and Denise E. Simmons, both of whom are openly gay.