Lavender Wolves

Anti-Straight Bias Huffery Puffery ... Give Me a Break!

2010-02-14T06:49:00.000-08:00

Anti-Straight Bias Huffery Puffery ... Give Me a Break!

The wingnuts are at it again, this time over the news that the judge in the Proposition 8 case is gay. So of course that means he’s automatically biased against straight people, according to them. But despite all the dramatic huffery puffery coming from the usual suspects, including Andy Pugno, pro-Proposition 8 activist and lead attorney defending it, Judge Vaughn's worst anti-straight offenses are wanting to have the case be a part of the Federal District Court project for recording and delayed broadcasting via YouTube of court proceedings and for ordering pro Prop 8 documents be turned over for evidence.

Of course they conveniently overlook the fact that when George H.W. Bush appointed Judge Vaughn Walker to Federal District Court he encountered a major obstacle, that he was anti-gay because of a case he took when he was a private attorney representing the U.S. Olympic Committee in a successful bid to keep San Francisco's Gay Olympics from infringing on its name.

But that’s not the only evidence of their selective amnesia. There are many shocking example of judicial bias on record. Inconviently, however, they certainly don’t show a pattern of anti-straight bias in the judiciary.

On May 15, 1988 Richard Lee Bednarski, son of a police officer, and a group of his high school friends went gay bashing in the Cedar Springs area of Dallas. As a result, 2 gay men, John Griffin and Tommy Trimble, were shot to death. Although the prosecutor asked for the death penalty, Judge Jack Hampton sentenced the killer to 30 years, saying “I don’t care much for queers cruising the streets. I’ve got a teenage boy,” Hampton told the Dallas Times-Herald. Hampton said Griffin and Trimble wouldn’t have been killed “if they hadn’t been cruising the streets picking up teenage boys,” and that he would have handed down a harsher penalty if the victims had been “a couple of housewives out shopping, not hurting anybody. “I put prostitutes and gays at about the same level, and I’d be hard pressed to give someone life for killing a prostitute.”

In September 1995, Pensacola trial judge Joseph Tarbuck made it clear that he thought children are better off living with murderers than with gay couples. He heard a case in which a Mary Ward mother asked for an increase in child support payments for her daughter Cassie Ward. But rather than address that issue, he removed Cassie from the home of her Mother and lesbian partner and awarded custody to the child’s father, a convicted murderer, stating that he wanted the girl to live in a non-lesbian world.

Alabama Supreme Court chief justice Roy Moore in a 2002 case awarding child custody to abusive father wrote that homosexuality is “abhorrent, immoral, detestable, a crime against nature, and a violation of the laws of nature and of nature’s God upon which this Nation and our laws are predicated.” The state, he wrote, “carries the power of the sword, that is, the power to prohibit conduct with physical penalties, such as confinement and even execution. It must use that power to prevent the subversion of children towards this lifestyle, to not encourage a criminal lifestyle.”

In March 2002, Mississippi Justice Court Judge Connie Wilkerson wrote a letter to the editor published in the George County Times, saying: “In my opinion, gays and lesbians should be put in some type of mental institute instead of having a [domestic partnership] law like this passed for them.” Judge Wilkerson was referring to an Associated Press article about the ability of gay and lesbian survivors to sue for the wrongful death of their partners. The judge invoked the Bible and Romans 1:32, which suggests that those who break God’s law “are worthy of death.” A right-wing Christian organization, American Family Association’s Center for Law and Policy, is defending Judge Wilkerson against an ethics complaint for those comments.

Lawrence v. Texas, the seminal 2003 case that struck down sodomy laws and affirmed gay citizens' right to privacy denied to us by the hateful 1986 case Bowers v. Hardwick. In Lawrence, Justice Antonin Scalia compared homosexuality to bigamy, incest, prostitution, and bestiality. He also said homosexuality was contagious and that teachers could induce their students to become gay. He accused the Court of "signing on to the so-called homosexual agenda". Scalia has said publicly that he considers being gay an "immoral lifestyle choice".

That's what bias looks like. So, Andy Pugno and friends, show us the real anti-gay straight bias out there. Otherwise just stop whining.

Explosive Day at Prop 8 Trial - Transcripts Now Online

2010-01-20T19:54:00.000-08:00

Wow! What a day in the courtroom.

The Olsen/Boies team introduced documents showing the collusion between the Catholic Church, the Mormon Church, and various evangelical churches behind the scenes in the campaign to take constitutional rights from California GLBTs and how they wanted to keep a layer of "plausible deniability" over their covert activities. Their anti-gay polical activity included a conference call with 4700 California clergy and much much more.

Two amazing witnesses today as well as videotape of two of the pro-Prop 8 'expert witnesses' agreeing with the anti-Prop 8 side.

SCOTUS made sure to keep the video of the trial hidden from us, but the transcripts are now becoming available HERE. There is a 1-day delay. Transcripts from today will be available late tomorrow.

Oh, and William Tam will finally be called to the witness stand tomorrow to have his hypocrisy revealed to the world.

I think the plaintiff's presentation will wrap up tomorrow.

Keen New Service has been putting up good summaries of each day. Check out this summary of this morning's testimony by a man who was damaged by so-called 'reparative therapy' forced upon him by his fundamentalist Christian parents.

The courtroom let out a collective gasp at the testimony: A 26-year-old gay man from Colorado recounted what his mother said to him—at the age of 13—when she found out he was gay.

Virtual White Hoods for Anti-Gay Activists?

2010-01-16T06:27:00.000-08:00

Linda Greenhouse recently wrote the following observation in her New York Times Opinionator piece, Into the Closet.

Has anyone noticed that now that lesbians and gay men have left the closet to assert their equal rights as citizens, their adversaries seem to be running for a closet of their own?

As the Proposition 8 court case has shown us, there is a long history of prejudice, violence, employment discrimination, economic boycotting, etc. against America's GLBT community. One of the witnesses on Friday, January 15 described what happened to her as she and her spouse were handing out pamphlets opposed to Proposition 8, “Dyke. You fucking dyke. You’re going to die and go to hell.” If that witness, Helen Zia, can take it and then come back for more in full view of the public, why can't the anti-gay activists?

That's the way it goes in our society. You take a stand, make your opinion known, and then accept the consequences of your own actions. Or at least that's the way it used to be.

Now the anti-gay activists want to be protected from the repercussions of their activities. Those who have participated in anti-gay activism claim they are afraid to accept the responsibility for their actions. Due to that fear, they have petitioned the courts to be able to continue their dirty work in secret.

In an idealogically split decision this week, the US Supreme Court blocked the video transmission of the Proposition 8 court case in California. The unsigned majority decision was a rather stretched excuse to cover what the dissenting opinion states so clearly.

The majority “identifies no real harm” from televising the trial, “let alone irreparable harm to justify its issuance of this stay,” wrote Justice Stephen G. Breyer, who was joined by Sotomayor and Justices John Paul Stevens and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. “And the public interest weighs in favor of providing access to the courts.”

And sadly, that's not all.

Not long ago, the US Supreme Court barred the distribution of Washington State public records regarding a petition for an anti-gay ballot measure. Now they're going to take that issue up again.

As Linda Greenhouse writes on January 15, 2001,

At its private conference on Friday, the Supreme Court is due to consider whether to hear an appeal brought by an organization called Protect Marriage Washington. Under the slogan of “Preserve Marriage, Protect Children,” the group ran a successful petition drive to place on the state’s November ballot a referendum giving voters a chance to repudiate a new state law that granted enhanced benefits to couples registering as domestic partners. (The voters ended up reaffirming the new law, which took effect last month.)

UPDATE: SCOTUS did decide to hear the case during its meeting. Final decision expected in June.

Under Washington’s Public Records Act, the signatures on referendum petitions are public records, available for inspection and copying. The Public Records Act, itself the product of the public initiative process, provides as its rationale that “the people insist on remaining informed so that they may maintain control over the instruments that they have created.”

Last summer, Protect Marriage Washington filed suit to bar public disclosure of the names of their 138,000 petition signers. It won an initial victory, but the Ninth Circuit ruled on the eve of the election that the names were subject to disclosure. The members of the three-judge panel observed that “referendum petition signers have not merely taken a general stance on a political issue; they have taken action that has direct legislative effect.” The court held that the public interest in disclosure outweighed the “incidental limitations” that disclosure placed on the signers’ exercise of their First Amendment right to political speech and association.

The case, Doe #1 v. Reed, No. 09-559, obviously got the Supreme Court’s attention. In October, with only Justice Stevens dissenting, the court issued a stay of the Ninth Circuit’s decision in order to permit Protect Marriage Washington to prepare a Supreme Court appeal.

There are other instances of anti-gay activists suing to remain secret such as the National Organization for Marriage's (NOM) lawsuit to keep its money-laundering activities from public scrutiny. NOM has sued the state of Maine, claiming that its election laws are unconstitional.

So what is NOM objecting to? The state law requires anyone raising or spending more than $5,000 on a ballot question in Maine to disclose anyone who contributed more than $100 for that purpose. Every other organization involved in the Maine ballot issue complied with the law without complaint. NOM is a money-laundering scheme attempting to keep the identities of anti-gay activists secret.

I do not find it surprising that the bigots are scurrying to hide under the rocks. But I find it tragic that the idealogues on the US Supreme Court are working hard to provide flimsy excuses to circumvent the laws designed specifically to prevent that sort of covert activity.

Wouldn't it be a lot simpler for SCOTUS to simply distribute some leftover white hoods?

William Tam: Reaped For What He Has Sown?

2010-01-15T04:22:00.001-08:00

_______________________

UPDATE: They did not get to the notorious Hak-Shin William Tam on Friday. Stay tuned. Court resumes next Tuesday after the Martin Luther King holiday.
_______________________

Today (Friday 1/15/10) the notorious organizer of Proposition 8 is scheduled to be called to the witness stand.

Here's a sample of his handiwork.

Via Lisa Leff:
Seeking to strengthen arguments against a ban on same-sex marriage, trial attorneys have introduced statements from a supporter of California's ban warning voters in 2008 that gay rights activists would try to legalize sex with children if same-sex couples had the right to wed.The material was presented Wednesday in the third day of a trial brought by opponents of the state's same-sex marriage prohibition.

San Francisco resident Hak-Shing William Tam, a defendant in the case, discussed a letter to Chinese-Americans church groups during a legal deposition taped last month. Tam wrote in the letter issued during the 2008 campaign that legalizing same-sex marriage was part of a broader gay agenda.

"On their agenda list is: legalize having sex with children," states the letter, which also cautioned that "other states would fall into Satan's hands" if gays weren't stopped from marrying in California.

Lawyers for two same-sex couples introduced the footage to buttress their contention that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional because it was fueled by deep-seated animosity against gays.

Response to Andrew Tobias, DNC Treasurer

2009-11-06T04:07:00.000-08:00

There is an interesting development on Americablog regarding the DNC and what it recently did and did not do in regard to the recention Proposition 1 vote in Maine. Part of the situation involves an e-mail written by DNC treasurer, Andrew Tobias.

Apparently the topic got his attention. He came to the comments with his response and participated in the thread.

I wrote a response to him I would like to share here.

Hello Andy,

I've been a fan of yours for a very long time since back in the days of your Managing Your Money software. It was a sad day for me when that product was retired.

I want to say that I am in full support of witholding blanket contributions to the DNC because it has become obvious over the years that is not the best choice of investment in our future.

I do agree with you that in terms of our issues in general, voting for Democrats is better than voting for Republicans. In my view, that is not what this is all about. This is about investing in our future. It is time for us to invest wisely rather than just throw money in the general direction of people who stink less than Republicans stink. It is time for us to invest in those who smell good. There are plenty of Democrats willing to work at providing a good return for our investment, and we need to invest in them individually. Investing in smelly Democrats simply facilitates perpetuation of the stink.

For decades now we have seen the Democrats in general come to us for money and votes only to be insulted and ignored by them when it comes to our issues. We will no longer accept or support that behavior. You claim that witholding generalized funding of the DNC somehow fails to help strengthen the administration. I disagree. The president is supposedly a "fierce advocate" for us. By supporting only those who support our "fierce advocate" in our issues, we are strengthening him in that area.

I must say, however, that I am not convinced that Obama is a true friend of our community, particularly since he announced during the campaign that he does not support marriage equality because of his religious beliefs. And then came his unwillingness to order a stop to the DADT firings until Congress repeals the unjust law as well as the other things I need not repeat to you or the readers here.

What we want to do is strengthen our true friends, Andy, not the ones who want us to think they are friends in the hopes of accessing the GayTM. Sure, we'll probably vote for the Stinkers with Ds, but it is a foolish waste of our time and resources to do anything to strengthen them.

If you make any further comments regarding this issue, either in this place or elsewhere, please stop trying to characterize this as a "DNC boycott." That is nothing but a red herring. I know you understanding the distinction between investing in something with a good return versus a poor return versus a negative return. That's what we're talking about, investing only where there's a good return. Maybe you can even help create a situation in which the overall DNC can produce a good return on investment as opposed to its rather marginal return recently and in past decades.

Check out the list of co-sponsors of Rep. Nadler's Respect of Marriage bill for a good start on where to find an investments with a good potential returns. And do take note of the glaring absences.

Mike

Thank you, Bishop Spong

2009-10-17T05:53:00.000-07:00

Nothing much has inspired me to do blog posting for awhile ... until this came along.

Bishop Spong feels that it is way past time to treat the haters as if their argument has a moral and intellectual equivalence to the voices of inclusion and equality. I've felt that way for a long time, and I'm happy to see such a strong statement from Bishop Spong.

October 15, 2009

A Manifesto! The Time Has Come!

I have made a decision. I will no longer debate the issue of homosexuality in the church with anyone. I will no longer engage the biblical ignorance that emanates from so many right-wing Christians about how the Bible condemns homosexuality, as if that point of view still has any credibility. I will no longer discuss with them or listen to them tell me how homosexuality is "an abomination to God," about how homosexuality is a "chosen lifestyle," or about how through prayer and "spiritual counseling" homosexual persons can be "cured." Those arguments are no longer worthy of my time or energy. I will no longer dignify by listening to the thoughts of those who advocate "reparative therapy," as if homosexual persons are somehow broken and need to be repaired. I will no longer talk to those who believe that the unity of the church can or should be achieved by rejecting the presence of, or at least at the expense of, gay and lesbian people. I will no longer take the time to refute the unlearned and undocumentable claims of certain world religious leaders who call homosexuality "deviant." I will no longer listen to that pious sentimentality that certain Christian leaders continue to employ, which suggests some version of that strange and overtly dishonest phrase that "we love the sinner but hate the sin." That statement is, I have concluded, nothing more than a self-serving lie designed to cover the fact that these people hate homosexual persons and fear homosexuality itself, but somehow know that hatred is incompatible with the Christ they claim to profess, so they adopt this face-saving and absolutely false statement. I will no longer temper my understanding of truth in order to pretend that I have even a tiny smidgen of respect for the appalling negativity that continues to emanate from religious circles where the church has for centuries conveniently perfumed its ongoing prejudices against blacks, Jews, women and homosexual persons with what it assumes is "high-sounding, pious rhetoric." The day for that mentality has quite simply come to an end for me. I will personally neither tolerate it nor listen to it any longer. The world has moved on, leaving these elements of the Christian Church that cannot adjust to new knowledge or a new consciousness lost in a sea of their own irrelevance. They no longer talk to anyone but themselves. I will no longer seek to slow down the witness to inclusiveness by pretending that there is some middle ground between prejudice and oppression. There isn't. Justice postponed is justice denied. That can be a resting place no longer for anyone. An old civil rights song proclaimed that the only choice awaiting those who cannot adjust to a new understanding was to "Roll on over or we'll roll on over you!" Time waits for no one.

I will particularly ignore those members of my own Episcopal Church who seek to break away from this body to form a "new church," claiming that this new and bigoted instrument alone now represents the Anglican Communion. Such a new ecclesiastical body is designed to allow these pathetic human beings, who are so deeply locked into a world that no longer exists, to form a community in which they can continue to hate gay people, distort gay people with their hopeless rhetoric and to be part of a religious fellowship in which they can continue to feel justified in their homophobic prejudices for the rest of their tortured lives. Church unity can never be a virtue that is preserved by allowing injustice, oppression and psychological tyranny to go unchallenged.

In my personal life, I will no longer listen to televised debates conducted by "fair-minded" channels that seek to give "both sides" of this issue "equal time." I am aware that these stations no longer give equal time to the advocates of treating women as if they are the property of men or to the advocates of reinstating either segregation or slavery, despite the fact that when these evil institutions were coming to an end the Bible was still being quoted frequently on each of these subjects. It is time for the media to announce that there are no longer two sides to the issue of full humanity for gay and lesbian people. There is no way that justice for homosexual people can be compromised any longer.

I will no longer act as if the Papal office is to be respected if the present occupant of that office is either not willing or not able to inform and educate himself on public issues on which he dares to speak with embarrassing ineptitude. I will no longer be respectful of the leadership of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who seems to believe that rude behavior, intolerance and even killing prejudice is somehow acceptable, so long as it comes from third-world religious leaders, who more than anything else reveal in themselves the price that colonial oppression has required of the minds and hearts of so many of our world's population. I see no way that ignorance and truth can be placed side by side, nor do I believe that evil is somehow less evil if the Bible is quoted to justify it. I will dismiss as unworthy of any more of my attention the wild, false and uninformed opinions of such would-be religious leaders as Pat Robertson, James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swaggart, Albert Mohler, and Robert Duncan. My country and my church have both already spent too much time, energy and money trying to accommodate these backward points of view when they are no longer even tolerable.

I make these statements because it is time to move on. The battle is over. The victory has been won. There is no reasonable doubt as to what the final outcome of this struggle will be. Homosexual people will be accepted as equal, full human beings, who have a legitimate claim on every right that both church and society have to offer any of us. Homosexual marriages will become legal, recognized by the state and pronounced holy by the church. "Don't ask, don't tell" will be dismantled as the policy of our armed forces. We will and we must learn that equality of citizenship is not something that should ever be submitted to a referendum. Equality under and before the law is a solemn promise conveyed to all our citizens in the Constitution itself. Can any of us imagine having a public referendum on whether slavery should continue, whether segregation should be dismantled, whether voting privileges should be offered to women? The time has come for politicians to stop hiding behind unjust laws that they themselves helped to enact, and to abandon that convenient shield of demanding a vote on the rights of full citizenship because they do not understand the difference between a constitutional democracy, which this nation has, and a "mobocracy," which this nation rejected when it adopted its constitution. We do not put the civil rights of a minority to the vote of a plebiscite.
I will also no longer act as if I need a majority vote of some ecclesiastical body in order to bless, ordain, recognize and celebrate the lives and gifts of gay and lesbian people in the life of the church. No one should ever again be forced to submit the privilege of citizenship in this nation or membership in the Christian Church to the will of a majority vote.

The battle in both our culture and our church to rid our souls of this dying prejudice is finished. A new consciousness has arisen. A decision has quite clearly been made. Inequality for gay and lesbian people is no longer a debatable issue in either church or state. Therefore, I will from this moment on refuse to dignify the continued public expression of ignorant prejudice by engaging it. I do not tolerate racism or sexism any longer. From this moment on, I will no longer tolerate our culture's various forms of homophobia. I do not care who it is who articulates these attitudes or who tries to make them sound holy with religious jargon.

I have been part of this debate for years, but things do get settled and this issue is now settled for me. I do not debate any longer with members of the "Flat Earth Society" either. I do not debate with people who think we should treat epilepsy by casting demons out of the epileptic person; I do not waste time engaging those medical opinions that suggest that bleeding the patient might release the infection. I do not converse with people who think that Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans as punishment for the sin of being the birthplace of Ellen DeGeneres or that the terrorists hit the United Sates on 9/11 because we tolerated homosexual people, abortions, feminism or the American Civil Liberties Union. I am tired of being embarrassed by so much of my church's participation in causes that are quite unworthy of the Christ I serve or the God whose mystery and wonder I appreciate more each day. Indeed I feel the Christian Church should not only apologize, but do public penance for the way we have treated people of color, women, adherents of other religions and those we designated heretics, as well as gay and lesbian people.

Life moves on. As the poet James Russell Lowell once put it more than a century ago: "New occasions teach new duties, Time makes ancient good uncouth." I am ready now to claim the victory. I will from now on assume it and live into it. I am unwilling to argue about it or to discuss it as if there are two equally valid, competing positions any longer. The day for that mentality has simply gone forever.

This is my manifesto and my creed. I proclaim it today. I invite others to join me in this public declaration. I believe that such a public outpouring will help cleanse both the church and this nation of its own distorting past. It will restore integrity and honor to both church and state. It will signal that a new day has dawned and we are ready not just to embrace it, but also to rejoice in it and to celebrate it.

– John Shelby Spong

Baptist Pastor: "If you're a homosexual, I hope you get brain cancer like Ted Kennedy."

2009-09-01T10:49:00.000-07:00

Steven Anderson of Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona interviewed by Michelangelo Signorile.

John Cornyn: Idiot, Liar, or Both?

2009-08-27T11:02:00.000-07:00

Earlier this Month I wrote to my US Senators asking them to support S 1584, the Senate version of the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA). It was introduced into the Senate on August 5, 2009.

Today (August 27, 2009) I received a response from John Cornyn that included the following statement claiming that no such legislation has been introduced into the Senate.

As you may know, the H.R. 3017 was introduced in the House of Representatives on June 24, 2009. This legislation would create a comprehensive federal prohibition of employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity as well as attempt to provide remedies for employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. In addition, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act would invoke congressional powers to regulate interstate commerce in an effort to prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Although similar legislation has not been introduced in the Senate, you may be certain that I will keep your views in mind should H.R. 3017 or other relevant legislation be considered during the 111th Congress.

So ... is he a true idiot, a liar, or both?

Memories

2009-08-09T06:02:00.000-07:00

After a rather amazing experience last night I'm flooded with memories this morning.

We went to a birthday party for a friend. Their new next-door neighbors came to the party. They have been down here for about 1-1/2 years after retiring and moving from Pennsylvania. I had met them at another party there, but the conversation never took the turn it took last night.

We discovered last night that the husband and I had attended the same parochial grade and high schools at the same time, but 2 years apart, in suburban Pittsburgh. We moved there when I was in 7th grade, so I was only at the grade school, St. Bernard's in Mt. Lebanon, for 2 years, and then went on to what was then a boys high school named South Hills Catholic. It later merged with a girl's high school and is not called Seton-LaSalle High School.

Although we did not recall knowing one another at the time, there are many other people we do know in common.

To the right is a picture of St. Bernard' church with a little bit of the school showing at the bottom right. The church is an interesting building with two completely separate churches inside. It is built on sloping land. From the front you enter the "upper church" at ground level. From the back you enter the "lower church" at ground level. This view is from the back of the church

And here's a picture of Seton-LaSalle. Oddly, the first memory that hit when I saw this picture was of an evening at the school at a rehearsal for the spring musical during the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis. I remember a group of us sitting on the stairs in that entry looking up at the sky and wondering if missles would be coming to strike us at any moment. (At that time there was still a huge steel industry in the Pittsburgh, and for that reason the city was high on the list of nuclear attack targets.)

I love it when life brings us one of these amazing moments.

Our Friend in Newcastle

2009-08-08T06:26:00.000-07:00

Although he won't admit it, I think our friend in Newcastle, the Mad One, is up to something.

New APA Study Repudiates So-Called "Ex-Gay" Therapy

2009-08-05T16:08:00.000-07:00

APA PRESS RELEASE

August 5, 2009
Contact: Kim Mills
(202) 336-6048 until Aug. 5
(416) 585-3800 – Aug. 5-9

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INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE THAT SEXUAL ORIENTATION CHANGE EFFORTS WORK, SAYS APA
Practitioners Should Avoid Telling Clients They Can Change from Gay to Straight

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TORONTO—The American Psychological Association adopted a resolution Wednesday stating that mental health professionals should avoid telling clients that they can change their sexual orientation through therapy or other treatments.

The "Resolution on Appropriate Affirmative Responses to Sexual Orientation Distress and Change Efforts" also advises that parents, guardians, young people and their families avoid sexual orientation treatments that portray homosexuality as a mental illness or developmental disorder and instead seek psychotherapy, social support and educational services "that provide accurate information on sexual orientation and sexuality, increase family and school support and reduce rejection of sexual minority youth."

The approval, by APA's governing Council of Representatives, came at APA's annual convention, during which a task force presented a report that in part examined the efficacy of so-called "reparative therapy," or sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE).

"Contrary to claims of sexual orientation change advocates and practitioners, there is insufficient evidence to support the use of psychological interventions to change sexual orientation," said Judith M. Glassgold, PsyD, chair of the task force. "Scientifically rigorous older studies in this area found that sexual orientation was unlikely to change due to efforts designed for this purpose. Contrary to the claims of SOCE practitioners and advocates, recent research studies do not provide evidence of sexual orientation change as the research methods are inadequate to determine the effectiveness of these interventions." Glassgold added: "At most, certain studies suggested that some individuals learned how to ignore or not act on their homosexual attractions. Yet, these studies did not indicate for whom this was possible, how long it lasted or its long-term mental health effects. Also, this result was much less likely to be true for people who started out only attracted to people of the same sex."

Based on this review, the task force recommended that mental health professionals avoid misrepresenting the efficacy of sexual orientation change efforts when providing assistance to people distressed about their own or others' sexual orientation.

APA appointed the six-member Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation in 2007 to review and update APA's 1997 resolution, "Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation," and to generate a report. APA was concerned about ongoing efforts to promote the notion that sexual orientation can be changed through psychotherapy or approaches that mischaracterize homosexuality as a mental disorder.

The task force examined the peer-reviewed journal articles in English from 1960 to 2007, which included 83 studies. Most of the studies were conducted before 1978, and only a few had been conducted in the last 10 years. The group also reviewed the recent literature on the psychology of sexual orientation.

"Unfortunately, much of the research in the area of sexual orientation change contains serious design flaws," Glassgold said. "Few studies could be considered methodologically sound and none systematically evaluated potential harms."

As to the issue of possible harm, the task force was unable to reach any conclusion regarding the efficacy or safety of any of the recent studies of SOCE: "There are no methodologically sound studies of recent SOCE that would enable the task force to make a definitive statement about whether or not recent SOCE is safe or harmful and for whom," according to the report.

"Without such information, psychologists cannot predict the impact of these treatments and need to be very cautious, given that some qualitative research suggests the potential for harm," Glassgold said. "Practitioners can assist clients through therapies that do not attempt to change sexual orientation, but rather involve acceptance, support and identity exploration and development without imposing a specific identity outcome."

As part of its report, the task force identified that some clients seeking to change their sexual orientation may be in distress because of a conflict between their sexual orientation and religious beliefs. The task force recommended that licensed mental health care providers treating such clients help them "explore possible life paths that address the reality of their sexual orientation, reduce the stigma associated with homosexuality, respect the client's religious beliefs, and consider possibilities for a religiously and spiritually meaningful and rewarding life."

"In other words," Glassgold said, "we recommend that psychologists be completely honest about the likelihood of sexual orientation change, and that they help clients explore their assumptions and goals with respect to both religion and sexuality."

A copy of the task force report may be obtained from APA's Public Affairs Office or at http://www.apa.org/pi/lgbc/publications/therapeutic-response.pdf.

Members of the APA Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation:

Judith M. Glassgold, PsyD, Rutgers University – Chair
Lee Beckstead, PhD
Jack Drescher, MD
Beverly Greene, PhD, St. John's University
Robin Lin Miller, PhD, Michigan State University
Roger L. Worthington, PhD, University of Missouri

The American Psychological Association, in Washington, D.C., is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world's largest association of psychologists. APA's membership includes more than 150,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 54 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means of promoting health, education and human welfare.

HT/Wayne Besen

What they saw at the Rainbow Lounge

2009-07-01T16:57:00.000-07:00

By now you've heard that the Ft. Worth, Texas police and the Texas Alcoholic Beverages Commission decided to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Stonewall by re-creating it with their own incident of harrassment and violence against gay people minding their own business in a club, leaving one patron in the hospital with intracranial bleeding.

You've also heard that the Fort Worth police chief is using a homophobic excuse for the brutality, claiming that the club patrons made advances to officers and even groped one of them, (as if that's the way people respond to police. [koff]) Another claim made by the Fort Worth police chief is that the patrons were drunk. But for some reason [koff] they refused to administer Breathalizer tests when requested to do so by those being arrested.

You can read eyewitness reports of what really happened in the following article in the Dallas Voice.

Eyewitness accounts contradict statements from police on what happened at Rainbow Lounge Sunday morning

A number of eyewitnesses have given their descriptions of what happened at the Rainbow Lounge around 1 a.m. Sunday morning, June 28. Most of these accounts are very consistent, even though they come from different people who do not know each other. Here are a few of the eyewitness reports of the incident, as reported to Dallas Voice. Keep reading here

At least one (out-of-state) policeman has broken the "brotherhood covenant" and spoken out quite strongly against this raid and the homophobic excuses being put out by the Fort Worth police chief.

There is a fairly recent update on the injured patron's condition here

Obama's Ever-Tangling Web

2009-06-23T10:35:00.000-07:00

Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.

The White House weavers are beginning to get lost in their own web of deceit.

Last week we learned that there is nothing the Obama administration can do to suspend the DADT firings until Congress can fix the problem ... because it's a law, and any such action requires a legislative solution.

Today I learned that the Obama administration is suspending a law that deports foreign-born spouses of Americans who pass away within 12 months of their marriage ... until Congress can fix it.

Oops!

Proof That Homophobia Blocks Rationality

2009-06-17T04:50:00.000-07:00

Well, just back in from a short vacation and I find evidence in support of something I've always suspected.

Homophobia causes the brain to block intelligence. That's why homophobes say and do stupid stuff.

First we have Obama's gay-bashing legal brief in support of DOMA, something Jerry Falwell would have been proud to produce. And then we have the quick promise of hate crime legislation passing today ... only to see that plan scrapped and replaced with something really stoopid. Employment benefits for unmarried federal workers ... um ... well except for military ... and ...er ... without health insurance, pension, etc.

This is supposed to appease the GLBT crowd who can't help but notice that Obama is acting more and more homophobic as time goes on and who want to stop sending money to the Democrats.

FAIL!

Fierce Advocate of Exactly What?

2009-06-09T01:23:00.000-07:00

If You're Still Supporting HRC, Watch This

2009-06-04T16:58:00.000-07:00

The longer they can stretch things out, the longer they can stay in business.

Discrimination in California Hospital

2009-06-04T07:39:00.000-07:00

From The Examiner: California lesbian couple allege discrimination at Fresno hospital

"As I was laying there all alone, I wondered how many people from the LGBTQ community die by themselves because they are denied a basic right. The thought frightens me."

That's what Kristin Orbin, 29, said about her ordeal at Fresno Community Hospital and Medical Center on Saturday, May 30th.

Orbin and her partner of 3½ years, Teresa Rowe, 30, who live in Northern California, were in Fresno for Meet in the Middle 4 Equality, an event protesting the California Supreme Court's ruling upholding Proposition 8.

After marching 14 miles in Central Valley heat, Orbin (who is epileptic) collapsed and suffered three grand mal seizures. A doctor at a first aid center had difficulty finding her pulse, so he called 911.

Orbin said the discrimination started as soon as the paramedics arrived.

"By that time, I was going in and out of consciousness. The paramedics wanted nothing to do with Teresa and she had to practically fight them to be allowed to ride in the ambulance. I remember one of them was very nice and agreed to let her ride with me in the back. Once we got to the hospital, they wheeled me into a hallway and left me, refusing to allow Teresa to be with me."

Orbin said the paramedic told the nurse on duty that she had collapsed after marching 14 miles for civil rights, and the nurse gave her a dirty look and said "ooooh." She continued, "I asked if Teresa could come back with me, but the nurse told me I was in a no visitor zone. When I asked her why everyone else had visitors, she said 'those people are different'."

Orbin said she went to sleep at that point, but she was awakened by a nurse giving her the benzodiazapine Ativan, a drug that causes her to have severe migraine headaches. It was then that she discovered just how bad the situation had become.

"Teresa was finally able to make her way up to the front desk and convince them to get a cell phone to me. When I talked to her, she said she had told the nursing staff not to give me Ativan, but they refused to listen to her. They refused to take my medical cards from her. They refused Teresa's offer to have my advance directive and power of attorney faxed over from UCSF."
Orbin said she asked the nurses several times if Rowe could join her, but each time they refused.
"They just kept looking at my Marriage Equality shirt and giving me dirty looks," she said.
Orbin and Rowe were not reunited until a doctor intervened a few hours later.

"When the doctor arrived, I asked him if Teresa could join me," Orbin said. "He asked me why she wasn't already with me, and I told him the nursing staff told me I was in a no visitor zone. The doctor gave me an odd look and said, 'I will take care of that'. He left the room, and a few minutes later Teresa came in, but she said she was told by the front desk that she could only stay for a few minutes."

However, Orbin said the nursing staff suddenly had a change of heart while the doctor was present and allowed Rowe to stay with her until she was discharged. "They finally figured out that we were not happy and one of the nurses came up and told Teresa that she could stay," she said. "Once she was back there people started being more kind to us, but I truly believe they were just trying to cover themselves."

The couple said they have never experienced such blatant discrimination. They are both so upset over the incident that they have contacted the ACLU for legal advice. Orbin said it was particularly upsetting that the hospital staff continually refused to acknowledge Rowe as her spouse, and failed to treat either of them with kindness or respect.

Another reminder of just how much work needs to be done to achieve true equality in the United States.

Note: I usually do not post entire articles. I made an exception here due to the importance of what happened here. It may seem shocking to some, but it takes place daily across the United States.

Bible-Based Marriage Made Simple

2009-06-03T05:27:00.000-07:00

Inspiration

2009-05-31T05:56:00.000-07:00

Among all the wonderful performances so far at the 13th Van Cliburn Internationional Competition taking place in Forth Worth is one I found particularly inspiring.

The 20-year-old blind Japanese pianist, Tsujii Nubuki, stole my heart with his preliminary round performance of the 12 Opus 10 etudes of Chopin, Images Book 1 of Debussy, and the Liszt Paganini Etude, La Campanella, a work requiring copious amounts of pianistic "sharpshooting." He made it to the semi-final round, and his second semi-final performance is later today. He played the Schumann Quintet last Friday as his first semi-final round performance.

In the midst of all the pyrotechics, he exposed his beautiful soul in the first of the Images, Reflets dans l'eau. If you don't have time for the entire performance, do stay with it through that one.

It's a bit of an effort to get there, but it's well worth it.

1. http://www.cliburn.tv/

2. "Click here to launch webcast." At this point you may have to downloaded a video streaming plug-in, Silverlight, from Microsoft. Do take the time to do it.

3. At the botom left of the screen, click "Preliminary Archives"

4. At the bottom right of the screen, click the right arrow until Tsujii Numuki appears, then click on his photograph.

And while you're at it, take some time to find his performer portrait as well as admiring the wonderful technical feat the Cliburn people have accomplished with live streaming of the entire competition.

__________________________________________

Update later in the day: I just finished watching his performance of Beethoven's Opus 106. I am speechless. This was exquisite, a rare moment in music. And he's only 20 years old. And blind. One does not expect artistry at this level from such young performers. And once again he exposed his soul to us in the most exquisite way possible, a blind man playing a work by a deaf composer. This is the triumph of the human spirit.

__________________________________________

Update 2: He was selected as one of the 6 finalists.

The Daily Humiliation of Robert Gibbs

2009-05-21T16:47:00.000-07:00

Ana Marie Cox does it again.

I would suggest that Mr. Gibbs spend a few minutes at the Truman Library Website reading the Chronology of Desegration of the US Armed Forces. Here's just a snip. (HT/Pam's House Blend)

July 26, 1948: President Truman signs Executive Order 9981, which states, "It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin." The order also establishes the President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and opportunity in the Armed Services.

July 26, 1948: Army staff officers state anonymously to the press that Executive Order 9981 does not specifically forbid segregation in the Army.

July 27, 1948: Army Chief of Staff General Omar N. Bradley states that desegregation will come to the Army only when it becomes a fact in the rest of American society.

July 29, 1948: President Truman states in a press conference that the intent of Executive Order 9981 is to end segregation in the armed forces.

You Should Be Ashamed, Mr. President

2009-05-21T15:21:00.000-07:00

I read about this yesterday on Towleroad and just can't get it out of my mind. It angered me yesterday, and the more I think about it the angrier I get.

This is what caught my eye:

"Shepard told The Advocate that she received the Obamas’ invitation on Monday...Upon arriving at the White House on Wednesday, Shepard first met with the president in the Oval Office. The meeting was short -- 'it was supposed to be 10 minutes, but his meeting beforehand ran long and I only had a minute or so with him' -- but it was long enough for Obama to assure Shepard that he was still a supporter of the hate-crimes bill named in honor of her son...."

Apparently Shepard has concerns that Harry Reid is going to attach the hate crimes bill to a DoD appropriations bill which she believes hurts its chances. She is urging people to call their Senators.

The context of all of this is the harsh criticism Obama has been receiving for what is beginning to look like his throwing his GLBT supporters under the bus. It is obvious to me that Obama simply used Judy Shepard to get the photograph above. Obviously he wasn't interested in discussing anything with her. He could easily have started what he was doing next a few minutes late, just as he was late to him appointment with Judy Shepard.

As much as I love and admire Judy Shepard, I can't stop wondering why Obama isn't talking to any GLBT people about what is supposedly going on. Why did he choose a straight person for this "meeting?" To my thinking, at least, he just wanted to use her and her reputation and her connection with a famous hate crime for a photo op.

Shame on you, Mr. President.

Obama MIA on Gay Issues

2009-05-08T04:34:00.000-07:00

Pulitzer Prize winning Eugene Robinson can't help but notice that the self-described "fierce advocate of equality for gay and lesbian Americans" has gone missing in action.

From today's Washington Post ...

Believe it or not, often I can see the other side of an argument. I know that tough gun control laws save lives and make our communities safer, for example, but I also see clarity in the Second Amendment. I support affirmative action, but I realize that providing opportunity to some worthy individuals can mean denying opportunity to others. Thinking about some issues involves discerning among subtly graded shades of gray.

On some issues, though, I really don't see anything but black and white. Among them is the "question" of granting full equal rights to gay and lesbian Americans, which really isn't a question at all. It's a long-overdue imperative, one that the nation is finally beginning to acknowledge.

Before his inauguration, President Obama called himself a "fierce advocate of equality for gay and lesbian Americans." Now, with the same-sex marriage issue percolating in state after state and with the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy ripe for repeal, it's time for Obama to put some of his political capital where his rhetoric is.

Do not miss the rest of this article.

Judy Shepard Responds to Virginia Foxx's Non-Apology

2009-05-01T09:43:00.000-07:00

Judy Shepard refuses to accept the bigot's sorry excuse for an 'apology'.

Is Virginia Foxx A Stupid Bigot, A Gullible Bigot, or Both?

2009-04-30T04:47:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in an earlier post, the right wing hate groups have been busy as fire ants circulating lies in order to get politicians to vote against the Matthew Sheppard Act.

Yesterday the US House of Representatives was treated to a parade of ridiculous statements from stupid, gullible, and/or both bigots. Keith Olberman singled out the most heinous of the bigots, Rep Virginia Foxx R-NC, for his worst person in the world award. (Fast forward to about 2:40)

But it doesn't stop here. Foxx tried to back away from her bigotry by saying she was referring to an episode of 20/20 that "proved" the Matthew Sheppard incident was a hoax. Gotta' wonder what right wing whack job is feeing her this information and why she is falling for it hook, line, and sinker. (Well actually, I don't wonder about bigots who will grap onto any outrageous lie dangled in front of them if it suits their hate).

"The larger context of my remarks is important. I was referring to a 2004 ABC 20/20 report on Mr. Shepard's death. The 20/20 report questioned the motivation of those responsible for Mr. Shepard's death. Referencing this media account may have been a mistake, but if so it was a mistake based on what I believed were reliable accounts."

She could have spent about 30 seconds researching the 20/20 episode before making an even bigger fool of herself.

STATEMENT FROM JUDY AND DENNIS SHEPARD CONCERNING 20/20 UPCOMING REPORT ON THE MURDER OF MATTHEW SHEPARD

On November 26, 2004, 20/20 will air a piece that promised 'new information and facts' about Matt's beating and subsequent death. Dennis and I reviewed an advance copy of the show and were dismayed and saddened by the tabloid nature of the show, its lack of serious reporting of facts in evidence, and the amateurish nature of asking leading questions to the people who were interviewed.

I, too, was asked by 20/20 for an interview and agreed to do so to ensure that all of the facts were correctly stated. My only stipulation was that our legal advisor Sean Maloney, Matthew Shepard Foundation Board member and former senior White House staffer, had to be included in the interview to share his legal knowledge and expertise regarding Matthew's murder. He was quite eloquent in stating the facts pertaining to Matt's case, his knowledge of hate crimes in general, and in debunking 20/20's attempt to rewrite history. As you may or may not know, Sean was deleted from the interview entirely. The editing by 20/20 of my interview seems to leave out all of my relevant comments regarding the potential bias of the show and my deliberate restating of the facts of the case clearly ended up on the cutting room floor. My remarks were reduced to a few very personal maternal comments taken out of context to make it appear as if I agreed with 20/20's theories. That couldn't be farther from the truth.

This same subjective editing occurred with Dave O'Malley's interview. Dave, a Captain with the City of Laramie police force at the time, was Laramie's lead investigator in the case and worked in tandem with Rob DeBree, the lead investigator for the Albany County Sheriff's Department, to bring the case to trial and to provide the evidence necessary to convict both Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney. (Both law enforcement officers are in complete agreement with the facts as stated during the trials.)

Dave gave Ms. Vargas a detailed account of the case. He described the elements of hate and gay bias that were found during the extensive investigation and were substantiated in the large body of evidence collected for this case. Dave's comments were severely edited. Perhaps they were left out because he did not give Ms. Vargas the answer(s) she needed to maintain her 'new' theory concerning the murder. One of the most glaring omissions in the piece was the transcript of Aaron McKinney's in-custody interview which took place a few days after the murder. This occurred before any 'line of defense' had been established by legal counsel for the two defendants. Had that document been included, it would have shown an un-rehearsed and unemotional anti-gay account of the events before, during, and after leaving Matt tied to the fence.

Despite their promotional efforts to the contrary, 20/20 has not presented a 'new' theory. Much of this information was included in a Vanity Fair story in March 1999. What is new is the unfortunate downslide of a reputable news magazine show when its highly respected host retires. 20/20 has sacrificed years of professional journalistic ethics and values for a stab at revisionist history ... and ratings.

Right Wing Hate Groups Campaign With Lies

2009-04-29T15:35:00.000-07:00

The American Family Association and the Traditional Values Coalition have been sharing "data" in their effort to stop the Matthew Shepard Act from being passed by the House of Representatives. (It did pass today, BTW).

The TVC has been named an official hate group by SPLC's Hatewach. I can't help wonder about when the American Family Association will be added to the list.

Here's an excellent debunking of one set of the TVC/AFA lies.

Masters and Johnson Faked Evidence of Gay "Cure"

2009-04-23T10:08:00.000-07:00

The York Times and Scientific American are reporting that a new biography of Masters and Johnson reveals serious questions about the validity of their claim of a high success rate with a "gay cure."

Thomas Maier, author of the new biography, Masters of Sex explains.

Most staffers never met any of the conversion cases during the study period of 1968 through 1977. . . . Clinic staffer Lynn Strenkofsky, who organized patient schedules during this period, says she never dealt with any conversion cases. Marshall and Peggy Shearer, perhaps the clinic’s most experienced therapy team in the early 1970s, says they never treated homosexuals and heard virtually nothing about conversion therapy.

When the clinic’s top associate, Robert Kolodny, asked to see the files and to hear the tape-recordings of these “storybook” cases, Masters refused to show them to him. Kolodny—who had never seen any conversion cases himself—began to suspect some, if not all, of the conversion cases were not entirely true. When he pressed Masters, it became ever clearer to him that these were at best composite case studies made into single ideal narratives, and at worst they were fabricated.

Eventually Kolodny approached Virginia Johnson privately to express his alarm. She, too, held similar suspicions about Masters’ conversion theory, though publicly she supported him. The prospect of public embarrassment, of being exposed as a fraud, greatly upset Johnson, a self-educated therapist who didn’t have a college degree and depended largely on her husband’s medical expertise.

With Johnson’s approval, Kolodny spoke to their publisher about a delay, but it came too late in the process.”That was a bad book,” Johnson recalled decades later. Johnson said she favored a rewriting and revision of the whole book “to fit within the existing [medical] literature,” and feared that Bill simply didn’t know what he was talking about. At worst, she said, “Bill was being creative in those days” in the compiling of the “gay conversion” case studies.

Does “being creative” mean “making it up”? Dr. Masters continued to defend the evidence until his death, but Mr. Maiers says the success of the “gay conversion” therapy has never been proved.

HT/ Joe.My.God

The PB is Coming, and I'm Wondering Why I Don't Care

2009-04-15T16:57:00.000-07:00

Yep .. she's coming to our parish.

And right now I'm thinking I don't really care about what she has to say, and I'm not planning on going to hear her.

Let's just chalk it up to that burden she wants some of us, but not all of us, to carry for the sake of Anglican politics.

And, of course, the Felix Mendelssohn Birthday Concert later in the day.

Maggie, Don't Mess with Our Rachel

2009-04-15T16:43:00.000-07:00

Gaggy Mallagher will never learn ...

Here the video yanked by YouTube. You have to watch the short commercial and then fast forward to about 2:05.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Gay Iowa Senator Received Death Threat

2009-04-14T08:23:00.000-07:00

In the wake of the Iowa marriage decision, right wing anti-gay activists are involved in a highly organized campaign of lobbying the Iowa legislature. Now, the Des Moines Register is reporting that openly gay Iowa Senator Matt McCoy received a telephoned death threat.

Here's a video of Iowa Senator Matt McCoy's reaction to the unanimous Iowa Supreme Court ruling for equal treatment under the law.

YouTube Response to NOM's Homophobic Zombies Advertisement

2009-04-09T15:36:00.000-07:00

Grandma's "Now You're Married, Now You're Not" Ride

2009-04-07T10:56:00.000-07:00

Recent events in New England regarding equal treatment under the law in Connecticut and Vermont got me thinking about my childhood. Although I've lived in Texas for more than 30 years, I'm not a native Texan. I come from the Berkshire Hills of Western Massachusetts. The picture at the left was taken at Pontoosuc Lake in the Pittsfield area where we had many picnics when I was a child.

When I get together with my siblings, it seems that one of our favorite conversation topics is our grandmother's four-state rides. She loved to gather one of two of us into her gigantic Oldsmobile, always the biggest Oldsmobile made, and fly through the mountains to show us how we could go a mile a minute through parts of Massachusetts, New York, New Hampshire, and Vermont. And then she'd load us up with maple sugar candy and Vermont cheese before heading back home.

Now, instead of being Grandma's Four-State Ride, we can call it Grandma's Now You're Married, Now You're Not Ride. (But hopefully not for much longer)

Vermont Marriage Veto Overridden

2009-04-07T08:08:00.000-07:00

Both the Senate and the House have voted to override the Republican governor's veto of the gay marriage bill.

Senate: 23-5

House: 100-49

Revolting Justification

2009-04-05T05:25:00.000-07:00

“It is revolting to have no better reason for a rule of law than that so it was laid down in the time of Henry IV. It is still more revolting if the grounds upon which it was laid down have vanished long since, and the rule simply persists from blind imitation of the past.”
... Oliver Wendell Holmes, Justice, Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, The Path of the Law, address dedicating new hall at Boston University School of Law (January 8, 1897)

I ran across the above quote in the text of the Iowa Supreme Court decision. I've long argued that tradition alone does not provide justification for anything at all, particularly a tradition of harmful discrimination against minority groups, but never as colorfully or succinctly as Homes stated it.

Tradition can be quite wonderful, but as Oliver Wendell Holmes reminds us, it can also be quite disgusting.

Answers from Dog

2009-04-04T05:04:00.000-07:00

What happens when you ask a dog about right wing nutcases?

Schadenfreude Anyone?

2009-04-03T15:11:00.000-07:00

C'mon ... you know you deserve just a little bit ...

H/T Joe.My.God

In Iowa, Equal Means Equal

2009-04-03T07:27:00.000-07:00

Today the Iowa Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of marriage equality.

Read the summary: Iowa Supreme Court's decision on same-sex marriage.

Read the full opinion: Iowa Supreme Court's decision on same-sex marriage.

Goodby To A Longtime Friend

2009-03-04T15:20:00.000-08:00

Dick and Derrick are longtime friends and travelling companions of ours. We will miss Dick a great deal.

Dick, please give Madge the Weimaraner a big hug from me.

Harold Charles "Dick" Domres, Jr., M.D., 71, passed away March 2. He was born Dec. 18, 1937 in Buffalo, NY to Lucille and Harold Domres. He was an accomplished internist and psychiatrist who had a deep compassion for his patients. He served as the Director of the San Antonio State Hospital and was the Deputy Commissioner of Mental Health for the state of Texas. He was also a surveyor for the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Hospitals. He was a highly skilled pianist and organist playing organ for the traditional choir at his long-time parish, St. Pius X Catholic Church. He was preceded in death by his parents Lucille and Harold. He is survived by his life partner of 42 years, Derrick Dodge, his sister Linda Fraker, her husband Stuart and his niece Tamara. Like all of us, he struggled with some personal battles, but for those of us who loved him we believe he has at last found comfort in the arms of God and we will miss him eternally. Dick loved his dogs and cats and always said he saw God in the unconditional loving eyes of his dogs and believed they would join him in heaven. Visitation is 5 to 7 p.m. March 4 at Sunset Memorial Park & Funeral Home, 1701 Austin Highway. A Funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. March 5 at St. Pius X Catholic Church 3909 Harry Wurzbach Highway. Burial immediately follows the Mass at Sunset Memorial Park. Donations are requested in Dick's name to the Humane Society SPCA of Bexar County,
4804 Fredricksburg Rd., San Antonio, 78229,
http://www.humanesocietyspca.org/

Utah: Home of America's Most Voracious Internet Porn Consumers

2009-02-28T18:36:00.000-08:00

New Scientist is reporting a study showing that states high in religious right conservatives consume the greatest amount of internet porn per capita.

The study, Red Light States: Who Buys Online Adult Entertainment? was published in the Winter 2009 Journal of Economic Perspectives.

The state earing the title of America's Internet Porn Champ is Utah.

Other findings show that subscriptions are heavier in states that have enacted conservative legislation on sexuality, states where “defense of marriage” amendments have been adopted (making same-sex marriage, and/or civil unions unconstitutional), in states where more people agree that “Even today miracles are performed by the power of God” and “I never doubt the existence of God,” and in states where more people agree that “I have old-fashioned values about family and marriage” and “AIDS might be God’s punishment for immoral sexual behavior.”

Mike's Diary: Nicolai Ceauşescu Visits Conservatorul Ciprian Porumbescu

2009-02-12T17:37:00.000-08:00

I posted this elsewhere for the Bucharest folks, but then I thought some readers of this blog might find it amusing too.

I dragged out my Bucharest diary today for the first time in decades. From time to time I'll post of bit of in here. That is ... if I can stop laughing long enough to type. This one had me laughing out loud with tears streaming as I remembered this series of events.

Wednesday, September 29, 1971

Yesterday was kind of a bad day. I was wishing to be back in the US all day and not concentrating much on practicing. When I got back to my room, I realized it had been “looked at.” I know there was no cleaning lady that day. I was told to expect this to happen, but this is the first time I know it has happened.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, at 10:30 some official-looking person barged into my room and started yelling at me in Romanian, then switched to German, but it was so fast I couldn’t understand him. He made me sign a paper for something … who knows what!

President Ceauşescu is going to make a visit to the Conservatory on Friday. Today they made all the students get there at 8:00 (not me) to clean the whole school. They also started rehearsing an orchestra. Of course, all the students think it is a big joke, especially since he’s supposed to catch the school by surprise.

Thursday, September 30, 1971

You won’t believe what the students at the Conservatory had to do today. First, all the boys had to have haircuts and shave off any beards or mustaches. Then, for 2 hours they had to stand around the school and practice clapping. The director of the school of the school walked around like Ceauşescu, and they had to clap whenever he came by.

I have a lesson at 9:00 tomorrow, the time that he’s to be at school. Several of the students think that he will come into my lesson … Yuck! Although they didn’t tell me to get a haircut, I went to the barber with a friend so he could tell the barber what to do. He told him I’m American and I got the whole works! That kind of treatment in the US would be about $11.00. [Remember … this was 1971] Here it was 20 lei, about $1.10. I think it is the best haircut I’ve ever gotten.

Friday, October 1, 1971

President Ceauşescu’s visit was most amusing. I got to school very early for my 9:00 lesson, but discovered that all the practice rooms and studios were locked, and the man who gives out the keys had conveniently disappeared. Mr. Halmoş couldn’t even get a key. At 8:55 we went into the auditorium to wait for Ceauşescu who was due at 9:00. Once we were in the hall we couldn’t leave, so we waited until he came at 10:30. The orchestra played for about 2 minutes, and then he left. We still couldn’t get the key after he left, so we just gave up and left. I spent all afternoon wandering around and went into a beautiful old church with gorgeous icons.

A Most Wonderful Thing Has Happened

2009-02-11T16:55:00.000-08:00

Dear blog friends, I know I've been neglecting you. But it is because something wonderful has happened.

It all started during the 1971-1972 school year when I was a Fulbright scholar in Bucharest doing a research project on the piano music of Bela Bartok. I know you probably associate Bartok with Hungary, but after the first World War, the borders were moved around. Bartok's part of Hungary (Transylvania) became part of Romania. And one of Bartok's students was teaching in the conservatory in Bucharest at that point ... so that's how I ended up in Bucharest.

It wasn't long before I met up with a small group of other students, mostly American and French. Since we were all foreign students in a situation behind the Iron Curtain completely foreign to our experiences, we soon developed very strong bonds and had all sorts of wild adventures during the year ... being rebellious college-age types in the 70s (koff).

After that year I was able to correspond for awhile, but it wasn't long before I completely lost track of everyone.

Until the day before yesterday ...

... when one of the gang, David, an American now living in Shanghai, found me on Facebook. He's retired from a foreign service career, but his wife is still working and is now the US Consul General in Shanghai. Through their years of living all over the world he was able to meet up with some of the gang from time to time and is still in contact with some of them.

This morning another of the gang found me thanks to David, she was a Parisian when I met her in Bucharest, but now she's living in the Dominican Republic. (And she's the one most responsible for developing my French-speaking skills back then.)

And we're waiting to hear back from 3 more who haven't yet found any of our e-mails.

As David wrote the other day after we started remembering various misadventures, ....

"Wow, Mike! In terms of memories, this is like opening a barnacle-encrusted chest on the beach that reveals itself to be brimming with a pirate's treasure! "

So, my good friends, please bear with me for awhile as I dig through the treasure.

Bishop Gene Robinson's Testimony In Favor of NH Marriage Bill

2009-02-07T04:33:00.000-08:00

Truly a home run with bases loaded.

Video Here.

Christian Bashing Fumbrage*

2009-01-30T04:54:00.000-08:00

A federal judge has refused to exempt Prop 8 backers from the law mandating disclosure of contributors. As you recall, Proposition 8 was a voter initiative designed to roll back the civil rights of California GLBT resident. The campaign to get it passed was highly dishonest and hateful and was heavily funded by religious groups, particularly Mormons and Roman Catholics.

U.S. District Judge Morrison England Jr. ... said California's campaign disclosure laws are intended to protect the public and are especially important during expensive initiative campaigns.

"If there ever needs to be sunshine on a political issue, it is with a ballot measure," England said.

He said many campaign committees have vague names, obscuring their intent. The public would have no way of knowing who is behind the campaigns unless they can see who's giving money, he said.

I think we can expect the so-called "Christian Anti-Defamation Commission" to make another attempt to push their ridiculous Top 10 Christian Bashing Incidents in America, 2008 again.

Poor things ... they want to act like bigots, but they want to be able to do so in secret so nobody knows who they are. Get set for another round of Fumbrage* from the religious-based hatred crowd now that the court ruling won't let them crawl back under their rocks.

But this time there is a brilliant response available to put their pathetic whining to rest.

H/T Lee Weiser

UPDATE 01/30/08: And so it begins, courtesy of Faux Noise: Anti-Gay Marriage Donors Fear Increased Threats After California Judge's Disclosure Ruling

Amazing Mel White

2009-01-28T15:57:00.001-08:00

OK, it's time to make a confession. I'm hooked on the TV show, Amazing Race. And what a delightful surprise I had finding an e-mail from Soulforce this afternoon announcing that Mel White and his son, Mike, will be participants in the next edition of the show.

Once ghost writer for Jerry Falwell, author of Stranger at the Gate, and founder of Soulforce, Mel White is now going to star in a television reality series!

There's a clip of Mel and Mike in this video.

Vindictive Hateful Cardinal Roger Mahoney and Other Roman Catholic Hierarchy

2009-01-27T16:57:00.000-08:00

This has been quite a week for the Roman Catholics. First the Vatican affirms a Holocaust denier, and now this.

Father Tony has posted news of a disgusting development regarding the Roman Catholic hierarchy's vindictive persecution of Father Geoff Farrow, the priest who came out against rolling back the civil rights of GLBT California residents.

You must read all of Father Tony's post, but here's a bit to get you started.

Today I spoke with a member of CLUE's board of directors, Rev. James Conn, a Methodist minister and Director of New Ministries for the California-Pacific Conference of the United Methodist Church. Reverend Conn had been directly involved in the recruitment and interview process involving Father Geoff.

I asked him if CLUE had denied Father Geoff a second interview specifically because the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles threatened to cut off all its significant funding for CLUE should Father Geoff ever be offered the position in question.

As incredible as it may seem, Reverend Conn confirmed the truth of this and expressed his heartfelt disappointment over the fact that CLUE had to choose between continuing the interview process with an extremely promising and qualified candidate or risk losing the financial support of the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Los Angeles that is critical to CLUE's work.

The entire post is here.

UPDATE 01/30/09: The U.S. attorney in Los Angeles has launched a federal grand jury investigation into Cardinal Roger M. Mahony in connection with his response to the molestation of children by priests in the Los Angeles Archdiocese, according to two law enforcement sources familiar with the case.
H/T TomTallis in the comments.

A Huge Inaugural Sigh of Relief

2009-01-20T10:12:00.000-08:00

Rachel on Exclusion of Gene Robinson

2009-01-20T04:36:00.000-08:00

Obama's Disappearing Gay Bishop

2009-01-19T04:21:00.001-08:00

UPDATE: Contacted Sunday night by AfterElton.com concerning the exclusion of Robinson's prayer, HBO said via email, "The producer of the concert has said that the Presidential Inaugural Committee made the decision to keep the invocation as part of the pre-show."

There's lots of "equality talk" coming from Obama. Will Rick Warren be treated equally?

Note: Bishop Gene Robinson will be a guest on Jon Stewart's Daily Show Tuesday night, January 19.

Right Wing Huffery Puffery and the Fate of Pro-Equality Lawmakers

2009-01-17T05:15:00.000-08:00

I'm sure you all remember the threats of retaliation against lawmakers who vote for equality. The religious right and wingnut anti-gay organizations have all made very loud noises that these votes would signal the end of politicians' careers.

But as we now know, the threats were just more blasts of hot air from angry hateful people.

But ... do your legislators know this?

If not, we now have an important tool to educate them thanks to one of my all-time heroes, Evan Wolfson of Freedom To Marry. As most of you have probably read, earlier this week Evan Wolfson released the results of a study of re-election rates of pro-equality legislators. I have to admit that the results were a surprise even for me. Perhaps I have overestimated the effectiveness of the hot air blasts, and perhaps I have underestimated the basic fairness of voters in today's America. In any event, the study shows that virtually 100% of lawmakers who vote for equality go on to win re-election in all regions of the US (and yes, this includes Texas, see page 4 of the full document).

With this information we can help defuse the fears of well-meaning but timid lawmakers. Perhaps even more importantly, we can help stop lawmakers from using the threats of retaliation as an alibi for their own bigotry. They really don't like it when their cover is blown. They don't even have the excuse that their states "are not like Massachusetts or California," as the figures from Bible Belt states including Texas show us.

I don't think I can overestimate how important this study is as tool for educating lawmakers. Please save a copy of the study and send it to each of your representatives before any vote for equality issues. This will help you make a difference.

Thank you, Evan Wolfson, for giving us this very important information.

The De-Evolution of Barack Obama

2009-01-14T03:51:00.000-08:00

A Windy City Times article gives us a glimpse into Barack Obama's de-evolution regarding equal treatment under the law.

In 1996 Obama was unequivocally in support of equal treatment under the law for GLBT citizens. “I favor legalizing same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages.” (see full-size version of document to left)

In 2004 he opposed gay marriage with the qualifier that his position was a matter of strategy rather than principle.

In 2008 he opposed gay marriage on the basis of religion.

There is a second article in the Windy City Times attempting to put "context" on all of this, but I am not convinced.

Letterman Remembering the Bush Years

2009-01-09T11:58:00.000-08:00

Rick Warren's Africa Problem

2009-01-09T08:38:00.000-08:00

In light of all the pious claims that Rick Warren's work with AIDS in Africa somehow proves that he doesn't hate gays, Max Blumenthal decided to do a little research into what Warren has done over there ... and what he found is not pretty.

... a web of alliances with right-wing clergymen who have sidelined science-based approaches to combating AIDS in favor of abstinence-only education. More disturbingly, Warren’s allies have rolled back key elements of one of the continent’s most successful initiative, the so-called ABC program in Uganda. Stephen Lewis, the United Nations’ special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, told the New York Times their activism is “resulting in great damage and undoubtedly will cause significant numbers of infections which should never have occurred.”

This article is a must read, particularly for Episcopalians horrified by intensely anti-gay African Anglicans.

Here's another snippet.

With safe sex advocates on the run, Warren and Ssempa trained their sights on another social evil. In August 2007, Ssempa led hundreds of his followers through the streets of Kampala to demand that the government mete out harsh punishments against gays. “Arrest all homos,” read placards. And: “A man cannot marry a man.” Ssempa continued his crusade online, publishing the names of Ugandan gay rights activists on a website he created, along with photos and home addresses. “Homosexual promoters,” he called them, suggesting they intended to seduce Uganda’s children into their lifestyle. Soon afterwards, two of President Yoweri Museveni’s top officials demanded the arrest of the gay activists named by Ssempa. Terrified, the activists immediately into hiding.

Warren, in his effort to dispel criticism, has denied harboring homophobic sentiments. “I could give you a hundred gay friends,” he told MSNBC’s Ann Curry on December 18. “I have always treated them with respect. When they come and want to talk to me, I talk to them.”

But when Uganda’s Anglican bishops threatened to bolt from the Church of England because of its tolerant stance towards homosexuals, Warren parachuted into Kampala to confer international legitimacy on their protest. “The Church of England is wrong and I support the Church of Uganda on the boycott,” Warren proclaimed in March 2008. Declaring homosexuality an unnatural way of life, Warren flatly stated, “We shall not tolerate this aspect [homosexuality in the church] at all.”

Prayers for Bobby Airs January 24

2009-01-02T10:14:00.001-08:00

I think it's interesting that this film about a real-life tragedy is being aired soon after Rick Warren's appearance at the inauguration. I hope it reminds people of the severe harm people like Rick Warren inflict on young gay people.

In an earlier post I put up the full text of Mrs. Griffith's original essay, A Child is Listening. It is a moving and powerful piece.

Bush's Torture Czar Can't Find A Job

2009-01-02T05:36:00.000-08:00

Poor Alberto Gonzalez. It seems the poor guy can't find a job these days, and he just can't seem to understand why people think so poorly of him.

Beans (Dubya's nickname for him) just can't seem to let go of the amnesia that overcame him during the congressional investigation into his politically motivated firings of a number of US attorneys.

Now he's forgotten all about how he gutted the Defense Department's civil rights policies and practiced widespread employment discrimination. Oh .. and that torture thing. He's forgotten all about his role in it. And then there was that thing about harrassing a hospitalized John Ashcroft into signing an order to continue legalization of warrantless wire tapping.

Raw Story writes : The one-time Bush Attorney General admitted Tuesday that "skittish" lawfirms won't hire him after his departure under fire from the Justice Department surrounding his role in the political firings of nine US Attorneys.

Sounding dumbfounded, the 53-year-old former judge and corporate lawyer told the Wall Street Journal, "What is it that I did that is so fundamentally wrong, that deserves this kind of response to my service?"

Frank Rich on Obama and Rick Warren.

2008-12-28T09:38:00.000-08:00

Back from an internet-free holiday break. I hope everyone is having a peaceful and joyous holiday season.

Today's New York Times contains an excellent piece by Frank Rich. Here are a few exerpts. Do read the whole thing.

... for the first time a faint tinge of Bush crept into my Obama reveries this month.

As we saw during primary season, our president-elect is not free of his own brand of hubris and arrogance, and sometimes it comes before a fall: “You’re likable enough, Hillary” was the prelude to his defeat in New Hampshire. He has hit this same note again by assigning the invocation at his inauguration to the Rev. Rick Warren, the Orange County, Calif., megachurch preacher who has likened committed gay relationships to incest, polygamy and “an older guy marrying a child.” Bestowing this honor on Warren was a conscious — and glib — decision by Obama to spend political capital. It was made with the certitude that a leader with a mandate can do no wrong.

[...]
But there’s a difference between including Warren among the cacophony of voices weighing in on policy and anointing him as the inaugural’s de facto pope. You can’t blame V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, the first openly gay Episcopal bishop and an early Obama booster, for feeling as if he’d been slapped in the face. “I’m all for Rick Warren being at the table,” he told The Times, but “we’re talking about putting someone up front and center at what will be the most-watched inauguration in history, and asking his blessing on the nation. And the God that he’s praying to is not the God that I know.”

Warren, whose ego is no less than Obama’s, likes to advertise his “commitment to model civility in America.” But as Rachel Maddow of MSNBC reminded her audience, “comparing gay relationships to child abuse” is a “strange model of civility.” Less strange but equally hard to take is Warren’s defensive insistence that some of his best friends are the gays: His boasts of having “eaten dinner in gay homes” and loving Melissa Etheridge records will not protect any gay families’ civil rights.

Equally lame is the argument mounted by an Obama spokeswoman, Linda Douglass, who talks of how Warren has fought for “people who have H.I.V./AIDS.” Shouldn’t that be the default position of any religious leader? Fighting AIDS is not a get-out-of-homophobia-free card. That Bush finally joined Bono in doing the right thing about AIDS in Africa does not mitigate the gay-baiting of his 2004 campaign, let alone his silence and utter inaction when the epidemic was killing Texans by the thousands, many of them gay men, during his term as governor.

[...]
Warren’s defamation of gay people illustrates why, as does our president-elect’s rationalization of it. When Obama defends Warren’s words by calling them an example of the “wide range of viewpoints” in a “diverse and noisy and opinionated” America, he is being too cute by half. He knows full well that a “viewpoint” defaming any minority group by linking it to sexual crimes like pedophilia is unacceptable.
[...]
Since he’s not about to rescind the invitation, what happens next? For perspective, I asked Timothy McCarthy, a historian who teaches at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and an unabashed Obama enthusiast who served on his campaign’s National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Leadership Council. He responded via e-mail on Christmas Eve.

After noting that Warren’s role at the inauguration is, in the end, symbolic, McCarthy concluded that “it’s now time to move from symbol to substance.” This means Warren should “recant his previous statements about gays and lesbians, and start acting like a Christian.”

McCarthy added that it’s also time “for President-elect Obama to start acting on the promises he made to the LGBT community during his campaign so that he doesn’t go down in history as another Bill Clinton, a sweet-talking swindler who would throw us under the bus for the sake of political expediency.” And “for LGBT folks to choose their battles wisely, to judge Obama on the content of his policy-making, not on the character of his ministers.”

A Wonderful Use For Shoes

2008-12-14T15:04:00.000-08:00

In Arab cultures, pointing the sole of the shoe at someone is considered to be an insult.

Right-Wing Christians, Lies, Hypocrisy, and an Opportunity for Schadenfreude

2008-12-13T10:43:00.000-08:00

Well, they've done it again, just when I thought they'd reached the very bottom of their hypocrisy. Now they've managed to go even lower.

About a week ago, an organization named The Becket Fund launched a vile anti-gay website with a full-page ad in the New York Times. Typically, the ad and the website are full of the kind of false information in the form of scare tactics that we have come to expect from the religious nutcases. They whine on and on about Americans who protested the civil rights of GLBT Californians being voted away. They make immensely exaggerated claim about violent mobs of gays people roaming the nation despite the meager news reports of things like bits of vandalism, the case of a notorious anti-gay activist woman's styrofoam cross being broken when she pushed herself into the middle of a peaceful demonstration, and harmless white powder being mailed to a couple of Mormon churches (even though the source could just as easily been Mormons looking to play victim games. The source of the harmless powder has never been identified, to my knowledge). Another religious nutcase, the singer Pat Boone, went crazy enough to liken the demonstrations to the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

They certainly overlooked the news reports about violence coming from their own side. The video in this link shows a woman who received a black eye from Mormons ironically whining about being victims themselves. And they certainly don't mentioned the story about the vicious beating a Prop 8 opponent received after doing nothing but flipping off a house with a Yes on Prop 8 sign or any of the other stories in the news lately. They also "forgot" to mention recent statistics showing that anti-gay hate crime has been increasing over the last 2 years.

Anyway, one of the people who put signatures on the ad is a guy named Richard Cizik. At the time of the ad he was Vice President for Governmental Affairs of the National Association of Evangelists. Remember that for later.

The nutcases were especially outraged over the resignations of a California theater director and a California restaurant manager who resigned after being exposed as having made financial contributions to the campaign of lies about Calfornia GLBTs during the campaign to vote away their civil rights. The exposures led to boycotts, and thus the resignations.

But wait ... aren't these the same people who have boycotted everything from Disney to McDonald's to Ford Motor Company?

And now ... the Schadenfreude Opportunity

Just the other day we learned that Richard Cizik (remember that name? One of the people who put a signature on the anti-gay ad complaining about a couple anti-gay people resigning from jobs?) was booted out of the National Association of Evangelicals because he had the gall to say on a radio show that he was evolving on the subject of gay marriage and no longer has an objection to civil unions, although he's certainly still opposed to gay marriage. Well Dobson and the gang seized the moment to demand he be fired. (They've been after him for awhile anyway because he happens to be concerned about the enviroment, and they certainly cannot put up with anyone who doesn't approve of raping and pillaging the earth.)

I have just one word of advice. The next time you run across someone getting in bed with control-freak Mormons about stripping GLBT citizens of their civil rights, just remind them what Mormon beliefs about marriage consist of.

Candied Ginger, Sticker Shock, and Other Stuff

2008-12-12T08:17:00.000-08:00

I've been appalled speechless by the carryings on during Dub and Republican's last gasp lame duck session. I really don't know what to say about the shamelessness of it all. So I've just been quiet. I just want this nightmare to end.

And then the other day, something happened that gave me a case of sticker shock.. We had to get some more candied ginger for some holiday baking. We don't use it very much. I can't even remember how old the nearly empty container was. The new little bottle of candied ginger cost $9.99. The price sticker remaining on the old one said $3.99.

Other than that I survived a trip to the dentist with nothing more than just a routine cleaning and have been very busy in real life.

Falafel O'Loofah To Quit Radio Show

2008-12-05T10:11:00.000-08:00

Starting early next year there will be less pollution on US airwaves. O'Reilly is calling it quits.

Could it be that the ratings hits he's been taking from Keith Olbermann and Rachel Madow have a part in his decision to spend more time on his Faux News television program?

(If you don't get the falafel/loofah reference, a quick quote is located here. )

"The media business is getting more and more intense," O'Reilly said Thursday. "We've got to keep the TV show at the level we have it now, and that means more and more time to keep it competitive and fresh. "

Vatican Wants Imprisonment and Execution of Gays to Continue

2008-12-02T16:43:00.000-08:00

Apparently Ratzie enjoys the photos of teenage boys in Muslim countries being executed. Leave it to the RC nutcases to equate protecting teenagers from imprisonment and execution to destroying "traditional marriage."

Advocate is reporting:

The Vatican has come out against a United Nations resolution that calls on all governments to decriminalize homosexuality. The resolution, Archbishop Celestino Migliore said, would "add new categories of those protected from discrimination" and could lead to the decline of heterosexual marriage, Reuters reported Tuesday.

"If adopted, they would create new and implacable discriminations," Migliore said. "For example, states which do not recognize same-sex unions as 'matrimony' will be pilloried and made an object of pressure."

France will propose the resolution this month on behalf of the 27-member European Union. The Vatican is not a member, but it uses the Euro.

The article continues here.

Stupid Whiney Straight Guy Tricks

2008-12-02T03:06:00.000-08:00

What is it about anti-gay nutcases that makes them continually attempt to equate the unequateable?

I'm sick of the latest whining about the protests against the organized Mormon effort to fund a vicious campaign of lies and distortion in order to strip civil rights from LGBT Californians. Why do these whiney straight guys seem totally incapable of understanding the fact that that Jews and Muslims did not mount such a campaign?

Today's LA Times published another of these misdirected whines from Jonah Goldberg today. Of course we do recall that his career was launched with a whine about the way media mistreated his infamous mother, Lucianne, during the Clinton years.

Did you catch the political ad in which two Jews ring the doorbell of a nice, working-class family? They barge in and rifle through the wife's purse and then the man's wallet for any cash. Cackling, they smash the daughter's piggy bank and pinch every penny. "We need it for the Wall Street bailout!" they exclaim.

No? Maybe you saw the one with the two swarthy Muslims who knock on the door of a nice Jewish family and then blow themselves up?

No? Well, then surely you saw the TV ad in which two smarmy Mormon missionaries knock on the door of an attractive lesbian couple. "Hi, we're from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!" says the blond one with a toothy smile. "We're here to take away your rights." The Mormon zealots yank the couple's wedding rings from their fingers and then tear up their marriage license.

As the thugs leave, one says to the other, "That was too easy." His smirking comrade replies, "Yeah, what should we ban next?" The voice-over implores viewers: "Say no to a church taking over your government."

Obviously, the first two ads are fictional because no one would dare run such anti-Semitic or anti-Muslim attacks.

The third ad, however, was real. It was broadcast throughout California on election day as part of the effort to rally opposition to Proposition 8, the initiative that successfully repealed the right to same-sex marriage in the state.

What was the reaction to the ad? Widespread condemnation? Scorn? Rebuke? Tepid criticism?

The article continues here.

The Sin of Voting For Obama

2008-12-01T16:38:00.000-08:00

As if it wasn't bad enough to be taught that going into or looking through the windows of a Protestant church was a sin, now there seems to be an outbreak of wacked out Roman Catholic priests who are trying to convince people that exercising their right to vote is a sin if they don't vote for whoever the priest wishes.

The Modesto Bee is reporting:

Parishioners of St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Modesto have been told they should consider going to confession if they voted for Barack Obama, because of the president-elect's position condoning abortion.

"If you are one of the 54 percent of Catholics who voted for [a pro-choice] candidate, you were clear on his position and you knew the gravity of the question, I urge you to go to confession before receiving communion. Don't risk losing your state of grace by receiving sacrilegiously," the Rev. Joseph Illo, pastor of St. Joseph's, wrote in a letter dated Nov. 21.

The letter was sent to more than 15,000 members of the St. Joseph's parish. It is one of 34 parishes in the Stockton Diocese, which has more than 200,000 members in Stanislaus, San Joaquin and four other counties.

Illo also delivered this message in a homily.

The article continues here.

BTW, it is true that Obama condones abortion? How does this priest know that? Or is he making an assumption?

Prop 8 Yes Voters Now Feel Differently

2008-11-25T20:09:00.000-08:00

Keith Olbermann is reporting results of a Survey USA poll showing that 8% of those who voted to take civil rights away from California GLBTs would now vote no. Apparently, the recent demonstrations have made them think. He speaks with Candace Gingrich in this video.

Florida Adoption Ban Unconstitutional

2008-11-25T10:39:00.001-08:00

A Florida court delivered another pie to Anita Bryant today when it ruled the state's ban on gay adoption unconstitutional.

''This is the forum where we try to heal children, find permanent families for them so they can get another chance at what every child should know and feel from birth, and go on to lead productive lives,'' Lederman said in court before releasing the order. ``We pray for them to thrive, but that is a word we rarely hear in dependency court.''

''These children are thriving;

The Miami Herald had the details.

Dianne Feinstein Evolves

2008-11-25T10:19:00.000-08:00

The Advocate is reporting that Dianne Feinstein seems to be evolving in regard to the issue of equal treatment under the law for GLBT citizens.

“I started out not supporting [marriage equality]. The longer I’ve lived, the more I’ve seen the happiness of people, the stability that these commitments bring to a life. Many adopted children who would have ended up in foster care now have good solid homes and are brought up learning the difference between right and wrong. It’s a very positive thing."

Candice Gingrich Writes To Brother Newt

2008-11-22T14:27:00.000-08:00

Candace Gingrich is mad, and I don't blame her one bit. She happens to have an astoundingly hypocritical brother who is a self-appointed defender of traditional marriage. Her brother, thrice-married Newt, dumped his first wife while she was in the hospital recovering from uterine cancer and then married a younger one he'd been having an affair with while his wife was ill. Once the divorce became final, he refused to make his child support payments. Gory details here.

This self-styled defender of marriage is just another slimeball hypocrite trying to drum up support by gaybashing.

Dear Newt,

I recently had the displeasure of watching you bash the protestors of the Prop 8 marriage ban to Bill O'Reilly on FOX News. I must say, after years of watching you build your career by stirring up the fears and prejudices of the far right, I feel compelled to use the words of your idol, Ronald Reagan, "There you go, again."

However, I realize that you may have been a little preoccupied lately with planning your resurrection as the savior of your party, so I thought I would fill you in on a few important developments you might have overlooked.

The truth is that you're living in a world that no longer exists. I, along with millions of Americans, clearly see the world the way it as -- and we embrace what it can be. You, on the other hand, seem incapable of looking for new ideas or moving beyond what worked in the past.

Welcome to the 21st century, big bro. I can understand why you're so afraid of the energy that has been unleashed after gay and lesbian couples had their rights stripped away from them by a hateful campaign. I can see why you're sounding the alarm against the activists who use all the latest tech tools to build these rallies from the ground up in cities across the country.

Read the entire letter at Huffington Post

The Essence of Cluelessness

2008-11-21T10:19:00.000-08:00

This one is just too good to pass up. It's from last night's Countdown.

Be sure to pay attention to the headlines as they change throughout the video clip.

HT: AmericaBlog

Typealyze Your Blog

2008-11-21T09:34:00.000-08:00

This is a gadget that runs an analysis of blogs.

Here's what Typealyzer says about this one. (Race cars? Ha! If they only knew.)

ISTP - The Mechanics

The independent and problem-solving type. They are especially attuned to the demands of the moment are masters of responding to challenges that arise spontaneously. They generally prefer to think things out for themselves and often avoid inter-personal conflicts. The Mechanics enjoy working together with other independent and highly skilled people and often like to seek fun and action both in their work and personal life. They enjoy adventure and risk such as in driving race cars or working as policemen and firefighters.

HT Joe.My.God

Celebrating 38 Years of 2nd-Class Citizenship

2008-11-20T17:13:00.000-08:00

How time flies when you're busy destroying traditional marriage!

Tomorrow is our 38th anniversary.

I guess it's time to sit back and remember lots of good times starting way back, just a few months after Stonewall, when we met in a faculty meeting for graduate teaching assistants.

It has been a long road, but how did it happen so quickly?

The Most Unpopular Kid At G-20

2008-11-19T17:46:00.001-08:00

Armband Religion

2008-11-19T10:46:00.001-08:00

Well, sombody ultimately had to acknowedge the elephant in the room.

Today it finally happened in conservative Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker's editorial, Giving Up on God.

As Republicans sort out the reasons for their defeat, they likely will overlook or dismiss the gorilla in the pulpit.

Three little letters, great big problem: G-O-D.

I'm bathing in holy water as I type.

To be more specific, the evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP is what ails the erstwhile conservative party and will continue to afflict and marginalize its constituents if reckoning doesn't soon cometh.

Simply put: Armband religion is killing the Republican Party. And, the truth -- as long as we're setting ourselves free -- is that if one were to eavesdrop on private conversations among the party intelligentsia, one would hear precisely that.

The choir has become absurdly off-key, and many Republicans know it.

But they need those votes!

So it has been for the Grand Old Party since the 1980s or so, as it has become increasingly beholden to an element that used to be relegated to wooden crates on street corners.

Short break as writer ties blindfold and smokes her last cigarette.

Which is to say, the GOP has surrendered its high ground to its lowest brows. In the process, the party has alienated its non-base constituents, including other people of faith (those who prefer a more private approach to worship), as well as secularists and conservative-leaning Democrats who otherwise might be tempted to cross the aisle.

Do be sure to read this excellent article in its entirety.

Obama and Civil Rights

2008-11-18T10:59:00.000-08:00

President-Elect Obama is still not ready to actively promote true equal treatment under the law for GLBT citizens. At this point in our history, I really do not understand how such a reasonable and intelligent man can hold so tightly to the concept of "separate and said-to-be-equal" that has been shown to be in error so many times in the past.

But at least he's indicating the he does not plan to stand in the way of true equality, and in fact he intends to remove existing obstacles at the federal level.

His website has posted the Obama administration's Plan to Strengthen Civil Rights. A bit of it is shown below.

Expand Hate Crimes Statutes: In 2004, crimes against LGBT Americans constituted the third-highest category of hate crime reported and made up more than 15 percent of such crimes. Barack Obama cosponsored legislation that would expand federal jurisdiction to include violent hate crimes perpetrated because of race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, or physical disability. As a state senator, Obama passed tough legislation that made hate crimes and conspiracy to commit them against the law.

Fight Workplace Discrimination: Barack Obama supports the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and believes that our anti-discrimination employment laws should be expanded to include sexual orientation and gender identity. While an increasing number of employers have extended benefits to their employees' domestic partners, discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workplace occurs with no federal legal remedy. Obama also sponsored legislation in the Illinois State Senate that would ban employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. '

Support Full Civil Unions and Federal Rights for LGBT Couples: Barack Obama supports full civil unions that give same-sex couples legal rights and privileges equal to those of married couples. Obama also believes we need to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and enact legislation that would ensure that the 1,100+ federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status are extended to same-sex couples in civil unions and other legally-recognized unions. These rights and benefits include the right to assist a loved one in times of emergency, the right to equal health insurance and other employment benefits, and property rights.

Oppose a Constitutional Ban on Same-Sex Marriage: Barack Obama voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment in 2006 which would have defined marriage as between a man and a woman and prevented judicial extension of marriage-like rights to same-sex or other unmarried couples.

Repeal Don't Ask-Don't Tell: Barack Obama agrees with former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff John Shalikashvili and other military experts that we need to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. The key test for military service should be patriotism, a sense of duty, and a willingness to serve. Discrimination should be prohibited. The U.S. government has spent millions of dollars replacing troops kicked out of the military because of their sexual orientation. Additionally, more than 300 language experts have been fired under this policy, including more than 50 who are fluent in Arabic. Obama will work with military leaders to repeal the current policy and ensure it helps accomplish our national defense goals.

Expand Adoption Rights: Barack Obama believes that we must ensure adoption rights for all couples and individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation. He thinks that a child will benefit from a healthy and loving home, whether the parents are gay or not.

Seven Weeks To Equality

2008-11-15T08:52:00.000-08:00

From Cleve Jones, creator of the AIDS Memorial Quilt and Dustin Lance Black screenwriter of the film "Milk," a powerful call to action.

Here is an excerpt.

It has been thirty years since Harvey Milk gave his life in our struggle for equality. We will not wait thirty years more. We demand that the Federal Government act immediately, decisively and unequivocally to ensure equal protection under law throughout the United States of America.

We can accept no compromise.

We call on President-Elect Barack Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to draft and submit to the Congress comprehensive legislation protecting the civil rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender citizens in all areas including civil marriage, military service, adoption, social security, taxation, immigration, employment, housing and access to health care, social services and education.

We can wait no longer.

We call on President-Elect Obama, Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid to speak out against the escalating campaign of harassment, violence and murder directed against our communities and pass legislation extending hate-crime protections to GLBT citizens.

Now is the time.

We call on President-Elect Obama, Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid to take personal responsibility for involving our nation’s religious leaders and the GLBT community in a national dialogue to encourage understanding and reconciliation.

We also call on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people to heed the call of Harvey Milk, when he spoke thirty years ago on the steps of San Francisco City Hall: “You must come out, my brothers and sisters, you must come out!”

We call on gay people everywhere to seize this moment, to understand that freedom will not come until we are willing to commit the full strength of our own voices, minds and bodies to the struggle. We must personally introduce ourselves to those who would discriminate against us. We must make ourselves visible.

We call on all supporters of equality to sustain and intensify the nationwide campaign of mass protests and non-violent civil disobedience, for seven weeks, starting on November 27, 2008, the thirtieth anniversary of the assassination of Harvey Milk, and to then gather together in mass, from all corners of our country, in Washington, DC on the morning of Tuesday, January 20, 2009, to honor the inauguration of our President, Barack Obama.

We call on all our people and all our allies to carry this message of hope and equality to every corner of our nation, to every place of worship, to every school and factory and shopping center, every city, suburb and farming town. We call on you to march together, demonstrate together, pray together and dream together of a future America where, finally, all are free.

Be sure to read all of it and sign the petition.

Cinemark CEO Donated $9,999.00 To Strip California GLBTs Of Civil Rights

2008-11-14T10:14:00.000-08:00

Alan Stock, CEO of Cinemark Theaters, gave $9,999.00 to the campaign of deception and defamation leading to the revocation of civil rights of California GLBTs.

Here is list of US Cinemark Theaters.

You know what to do.

Rachel Maddow, The New American Classic

2008-11-14T06:15:00.000-08:00

For all Rachel Maddow fans, Suzan Colon of The Advocate has written a terrific article.

The New American Classic
Rachel Maddow’s not only bringing thinking back to TV news, she’s assuring herself a spot on the Mount Rushmore of broadcasting, right next to Murrow, Cronkite, and Brokaw.

Sworn Complaint Filed Against Mormon Church with California FPPC and 2 State Attorneys General

2008-11-13T18:43:00.000-08:00

From Californians Against Hate

Fred Karger, Founder of Californians Against Hate, today filed a Sworn Complaint with the Enforcement Division of the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC). In the complaint he accused The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) of not reporting numerous non monetary contributions to ProtectMarriage.com – Yes on 8, A Project of California Renewal I.D. # 1302592.

Karger contends that The Mormon Church organized phone banks from Utah and Idaho, sent direct mail to voters, transported people to California over several weekends, used the LDS NewsRoom to send out News Releases to promote their activities, walked precincts, ran a speakers bureau, distributed thousands of lawn signs and other campaign material, organized a “surge to election day,” had Church leaders travel to California, set up very elaborate web sites, produced at least 9 commercials and 4 other video broadcasts and conducted at least 2 satellite simulcasts over 5 Western states. All of these actions were geared toward nonmembers.

In addition to the formal FPPC complaint, a letter was also sent today to FPPC Chairman Ross Johnson, California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown, Jr. and Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff expanding on the complaint.

In the letter, a copy of which is below, Karger stated that 2 other organizations that were also involved in the Yes on Prop 8 campaign, reported substantial non monetary contributions to ProtectMarriage.com. The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) of Princeton, New Jersey reported $210,634,75 and James Dobson’s Focus on the Family of Colorado Springs, Colorado reported $83,790.00. No non monetary contributions could be found from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Here is the full text of the letter:

Gotta Love Whoopi

2008-11-13T18:28:00.000-08:00

And about that Elizabeth person .... she makes my flesh crawl.

For Those Horrified By The El Coyote Boycott

2008-11-13T18:05:00.001-08:00

Check out the video at Box Turtle Bulletin.

.... UPDATE ....

Here's an excellent piece written by one of those in attendance. El Coyote Boycott? Mormon Manager’s Faith Overrides “Love” For Customers

Bible Prophecy on Mormons and Proposition 8

2008-11-13T17:38:00.000-08:00

From one of the Lavender Wolves ...

It is not often that the Bible reaches forward into the future to admonish a group of people who claim to revere that document, but it does exactly that when condemning the Mormons (Latter Day Saints) for their support of Proposition 8 and other DOMAs.

1 Timothy 4:1-5 (King James Version)
King James Version (KJV)
1 Timothy 4
1Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
3Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
4For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:
5For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

The Mormons (Latter Day Saints) pride themselves on being the ones spoken of as being in the latter times. It is even incorporated in ther name -- Latter Day Saints. So clearly this passage speaks to them.

It also directly addresses their support of Proposition 8 and other DOMAs. When speaking of those people in latter days (and latter days are NOW) who wish to forbid others to marry, the Bible says they: "shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry

The names of those Latter Day Saints who worked so hard to destroy the lives and marriages of others are written large in the Book of Shame.

We can only hope and pray that they will come to their senses, throw out those leaders who have misled them so badly, and make restitution to those they have harmed.

Copyright November 13, 2008, by John Richards. All rights reserved,
except that free distribution via any medium is permitted as long as
author's credit is given and no profit is involved.

Cognitive Dissonance with *Fumbrage

2008-11-13T16:29:00.000-08:00

Now here's a guy who donated $20,000 to the campaign of lies and defamation of California GLBT people who just can't seem to figure out why people are reacting negatively.
From the Sacramento Bee via AmericaBlog.

"I'm frustrated by what's going on," said Dave Leatherby, owner of the Leatherby Family Creamery in Sacramento, commenting on the protests and court battles."

Let's move on. I always told my children that once a rule was made, you have to abide by it. I think it should be the same in this circumstance."

Leatherby and his family donated about $20,000 for the passage of Proposition 8. A devout Catholic and father of 10, Leatherby supported the measure for religious reasons. He said his business has been targeted by bloggers as a result, and that he is particularly confused because his business has participated in the annual gay pride Rainbow Festival.

Um ... I suppose it didn't occur to him that the rule WAS made and that he paid $20,000 to have it changed. I supposed I should feel sorry for thoses children with such a homophobic father who sends such bizarre mixed messages.

*Fumbrage

Summing It All Up

2008-11-13T14:03:00.000-08:00

I've been looking at a lot of photos from the recent demonstrations. I think this one just about sums it all up.

It is from one of the Lavender Wolves who shares her experience at last night's NYC protest here in the LW forum.

Jesus Had Two Dads

2008-11-12T20:03:00.000-08:00

Early reports of the protest at New York's Mormon Temple this evening are coming in.

Whoopi was there, and although the text on her sign is cut off in the image, it says "For my friends, equal rights."

The estimates are that 10,000-15,000 attended tonight's rally.

One commenter wrote that his favorite sign said "Jesus Had Two Dads" (can't remember which blog has that comment)

The reports are popping up at Joe.My.God, Blabbeando, The Gist, Boy in Bushwick, Wockner, and probably more by the time I've written this.

Petition to Protect Marriage by Prohibiting Divorce

2008-11-12T17:32:00.000-08:00

Check out this video

And then you can sign the petition here.

Mormons Resigning

2008-11-12T17:02:00.000-08:00

Sign for Something is a site with a great number of letters written by Mormons who are resigning because they are so very much offended by the Mormon Church role in revoking the civil rights of GLBT Californians.

Outing the Mormons

2008-11-12T16:53:00.000-08:00

No wonder the Mormons are so upset that their behavior is being protested.

Michelangelo Signorile brings our attention to a 10-year-old memo in which the Mormon strategy to align with Roman Catholics to wage war on gays is discussed ... along with the part where they want to try to avoid being "out front" in the war.

Right Wing Nutcase Peter Labarbera Has Hissy Fit Over Obama's Meetings with Bishop Gene Robinson

2008-11-12T16:42:00.000-08:00

From the good folks at Right Wing Watch:

Militant anti-gay activist Peter LaBarbera is not happy that Barack Obama has been talking to Rev. Gene Robinson … in fact, this simple act along is enough to convince LaBarbera that Obama is “anti-Christian” and out to undermine the Christian faith:

A conservative Christian activist says it's a sad omen for the Obama administration and the United States that Barack Obama has been seeking guidance from the Episcopal Church's first openly homosexual bishop.

The Times of London reports that the president-elect sought out New Hampshire homosexual bishop Vicki Gene Robinson for advice three times during his presidential campaign. Robinson, whose ordination in the Episcopal Church has caused a deep rift within the Anglican Communion, was reportedly sought out by Obama to discuss what it feels like to be "first."

Robinson notes in their three private conversations, Obama voiced his support for "equal civil rights" for homosexuals and described the election as a "religious experience." Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, believes Obama's consultations with Robinson show the true tenor of his upcoming administration.

"It looks like Billy Graham has been replaced by a gay bishop. We're moving to, perhaps, our first anti-Christian president; it's beyond post-Christian. Gene Robinson advocates homosexuality as part of the Christian experience," he explains. "Now Bible-believing Christians cannot accept that. Homosexual practice is sinful, as taught by the scriptures. This man [Obama] pretends to be faithful to Christianity, even as he works very hard to undermine it."

Equality in Connecticut

2008-11-12T16:36:00.000-08:00

Congratulations Connecticut!

Religion and the Election

2008-11-11T16:26:00.000-08:00

Beliefnet has released the results of a survey among its readership.

Among the findings is that 52% of the religious people who voted for McCain think Obama is or was Muslim.

No wonder mainstream Christians cringe when they feel they're being compared to the stone-dumb right wing religious crazies.

Lots more interesting analysis at the site.

Gay Man's Home Torched in Hate Crime

2008-11-11T15:49:00.000-08:00

The Newton, North Carolina Observer News Enterprise is reporting that a gay man's home was covered with anti-gay graffiti and then torched.

Melvin Whistlehunt was at work when he got a call from his mother at 2:30 a.m. Friday that his home was engulfed in flames.

As firefighters began hosing down the house at 1275 Buffalo Shoals Road, it became clear the home was set on fire intentionally. What they found launched an immediate hate crime investigation.

The fire was intense, but it didn’t keep Jason Drum, chief of the Bandys Crossroads Volunteer Fire Department, from noticing graffiti written across the back of the brick home within five minutes of arrival. Someone used white spray paint to write a derogatory message referring to sexual orientation and race.

Drum asked Whistlehunt’s mother, who lives next door, if the graffiti had been there. She told him it was new.

Whistlehunt said everyone who knows him is aware he’s gay, but few people have outwardly criticized him for it.

“I don’t know of anybody who would go this far,” he said.

As soon as Drum found the writing, he called the Catawba County Fire Marshal’s Office. He said he felt that it was important to get them started on their investigation right away. The State Bureau of Investigation arson unit and the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office are also involved in the investigation.

“It is considered a hate crime,” said Karyn Yaussy, Catawba County emergency management coordinator.

SBI Investigator Mark Bivens used an arson dog to search for evidence of accelerants, however Yaussy would not comment on whether any was found. However, she said there were multiple indicators aside from the writing on the wall that the fire was set intentionally.

“I’ve been in the fire service 10 years and I’ve never seen anything like this,” Drum said.

The articles continues here.

Mormons Repeatedly Violate Agreement To Stop Posthumous Baptism of Holocaust Victims

2008-11-11T04:48:00.000-08:00

AP is reporting that Mormons have repeatedly been ignoring a 13-year-old agreement to stop posthumous baptism of Holocaust victims. The Mormons claim they are making it more difficult to do this, but they haven't stopped. A representative of the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors, Ernest Michel, said the group is finished with attempts to negotiate with Mormons. Making it more difficult is not enough. They want the Mormons to reverse what they have done.

The Mormon practice of posthumous baptism extends to all people, not just Holocaust Survivors. Last May the Vatican ordered Catholic dioceses worldwide to refuse giving member lists to the Mormons in an attempt to prevent posthumous baptisms of Catholics.

"Baptism of a Jewish Holocaust victim and then merely removing that name from the database is just not acceptable," said Michel, whose parents died at Auschwitz. He spoke on the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the Nazi-incited riots against Jews.

"We ask you to respect us and our Judaism just as we respect your religion," Michel said in a statement released ahead of the news conference. "We ask you to leave our six million Jews, all victims of the Holocaust, alone, they suffered enough."

There is additional information in a Salt Lake Tribune article.

Bush Cuts Health Care For The Poor

2008-11-08T20:27:00.000-08:00

Now that the election is behind us, the Republican Culture of Greed has kicked back in for it's last hurrah.

New York Times

New U.S. Rule Pares Outpatient Medicaid Services

WASHINGTON — In the first of an expected avalanche of post-election regulations, the Bush administration on Friday narrowed the scope of services that can be provided to poor people under Medicaid’s outpatient hospital benefit.

Public hospitals and state officials immediately protested the action, saying it would reduce Medicaid payments to many hospitals at a time of growing need.

The new rule conflicts with efforts by Congressional leaders and governors to increase federal aid to the states for Medicaid as part of a new economic action plan.

President-elect Barack Obama has endorsed those efforts. At a news conference on Friday, he said that legislation to stimulate the economy should include “assistance to state and local governments” so they would not have to lay off workers or increase taxes.

In a notice published Friday in the Federal Register, the Bush administration said it had to clarify the definition of outpatient hospital services because the current ambiguity had allowed states to claim excessive payments.

“This rule represents a new initiative to preserve the fiscal integrity of the Medicaid program,” the notice said.

But John W. Bluford III, the president of Truman Medical Centers in Kansas City, Mo., said: “This is a disaster for safety-net institutions like ours. The change in the outpatient rule will mean a $5 million hit to us. Medicaid accounts for about 55 percent of our business.”

Alan D. Aviles, the president of the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, the largest municipal health care system in the country, said: “The new rule forces us to consider reducing some outpatient services like dental and vision care. State and local government cannot pick up these costs. If anything, we expect to see additional cuts at the state level.”

Carol H. Steckel, the commissioner of the Alabama Medicaid Agency, said the rule would reduce federal payments for outpatient services at two large children’s hospitals, in Birmingham and Mobile.

Richard J. Pollack, the executive vice president of the American Hospital Association, said these concerns were valid.

“The new regulation,” Mr. Pollack said, “will jeopardize important community-based services, including screening, diagnostic and dental services for children, as well as lab and ambulance services.”
[...]

Ann Clemency Kohler, the executive director of the National Association of State Medicaid Directors, said: “The new rule is a pretty sweeping change from longtime Medicaid policy. Since the beginning of the program, states have been allowed to define hospital outpatient services. We have to question why the rule is being issued now, three days after the election, with a new administration coming in.”

The rule was proposed in September 2007. It takes effect on Dec. 8, six weeks before Mr. Bush leaves office.

Ms. Kohler said the rule would cut “money going to the states, to safety net providers, at a time when states are really being stressed.”

“More and more people are coming onto Medicaid,” she said. “People are losing their jobs and running out of unemployment benefits. Some employers can no longer afford to provide health insurance to their workers.”

In the last 18 months, Congress has imposed moratoriums on six other rules that would have cut Medicaid payments. But the administration says Congress did not block the rule issued on Friday.

Larry S. Gage, the president of the National Association of Public Hospitals, said, “We will urge Congress to extend the moratorium to this rule, and we will ask the Obama administration to withdraw it.”

Melissa Etheridge's Tax Revolt

2008-11-07T14:34:00.000-08:00

From The Daily Beast:

Okay. So Prop 8 passed. Alright, I get it. 51% of you think that I am a second class citizen. Alright then. So my wife, uh I mean, roommate? Girlfriend? Special lady friend? You are gonna have to help me here because I am not sure what to call her now. Anyways, she and I are not allowed the same right under the state constitution as any other citizen. Okay, so I am taking that to mean I do not have to pay my state taxes because I am not a full citizen. I mean that would just be wrong, to make someone pay taxes and not give them the same rights, sounds sort of like that taxation without representation thing from the history books.

Okay, cool I don't mean to get too personal here but there is a lot I can do with the extra half a million dollars that I will be keeping instead of handing it over to the state of California. Oh, and I am sure Ellen will be a little excited to keep her bazillion bucks that she pays in taxes too. Wow, come to think of it, there are quite a few of us fortunate gay folks that will be having some extra cash this year. What recession? We're gay! I am sure there will be a little box on the tax forms now single, married, divorced, gay, check here if you are gay, yeah, that's not so bad. Of course all of the waiters and hairdressers and UPS workers and gym teachers and such, they won't have to pay their taxes either.

Gay people are born everyday. You will never legislate that away.

Oh and too bad California, I know you were looking forward to the revenue from all of those extra marriages. I guess you will have to find some other way to get out of the budget trouble you are in.

…Really?

When did it become okay to legislate morality? I try to envision someone reading that legislation "eliminates the right" and then clicking yes. What goes through their mind? Was it the frightening commercial where the little girl comes home and says, "Hi mom, we learned about gays in class today" and then the mother gets that awful worried look and the scary music plays? Do they not know anyone who is gay? If they do, can they look them in the face and say "I believe you do not deserve the same rights as me"? Do they think that their children will never encounter a gay person? Do they think they will never have to explain the 20% of us who are gay and living and working side by side with all the citizens of California?

I got news for them, someday your child is going to come home and ask you what a gay person is. Gay people are born everyday. You will never legislate that away.

I know when I grew up gay was a bad word. Homo, lezzie, faggot, dyke. Ignorance and fear ruled the day. There were so many "thems" back then. The blacks, the poor ... you know, "them". Then there was the immigrants. "Them.” Now the them is me.

I tell myself to take a breath, okay take another one, one of the thems made it to the top. Obama has been elected president. This crazy fearful insanity will end soon. This great state and this great country of ours will finally come to the understanding that there is no "them". We are one. We are united. What you do to someone else you do to yourself. That "judge not, lest ye yourself be judged" are truthful words and not Christian rhetoric.

Today the gay citizenry of this state will pick themselves up and dust themselves off and do what we have been doing for years. We will get back into it. We love this state, we love this country and we are not going to leave it. Even though we could be married in Mass. or Conn, Canada, Holland, Spain and a handful of other countries, this is our home. This is where we work and play and raise our families. We will not rest until we have the full rights of any other citizen. It is that simple, no fearful vote will ever stop us, that is not the American way.

Come to think of it, I should get a federal tax break too...

Images From Los Angeles

2008-11-07T10:07:00.000-08:00

I just had to borrow these excellent images from Towleroad.

Haloscan is Down

2008-11-07T07:43:00.001-08:00

I have not turned comments off. Haloscan is down.

Mormon Fumbrage*

2008-11-07T06:03:00.000-08:00

Watch Mormon thugs get violent and then say they feel "hurt" because people consider them bigots.

*Fumbrage

Protest at Los Angeles Mormon Temple

2008-11-06T21:23:00.000-08:00

How I wish I could have been there.

Petition for Revocation of Mormon Tax Exemption

2008-11-06T17:30:00.000-08:00

It's time to start hitting the Mormons where it will hurt, their bank accounts. I am hoping to gather some information on Mormon-owned and operated businesses to boycott, like the Marriot Hotel chain. That will come in a later post.

In the meantime, here's something quick and easy to do. This site has a petition to revoke the Mormon tax exemption. It also has copies of pre-filled IRS forms to print out and send directly to the IRS. (I noticed that the form is missing one bit of information, the Mormon EIN, but I was able to find it on another site that also has pre-filled forms. ) The EIN is 23-7300405.

BTW, if you're curious about the image in this post, click here.

Here's a bit extracted from the petition site, Mormons Stole Our Rights.

The Mormon church began in 1830 in New York. The first Mormons were persecuted by the American majority, and were compelled to emigrate to Utah where they could live unmolested, much like gays and lesbians who lived in the urban ghettos last century. Mormons had alternative views of what family meant, and were excluded and marginalized from the political process. In their arguments against the majority, Mormon Prophet Brigham Young wrote:

Marriage is a civil contract. You might as well make a law to say how many children a man shall have, as to make a law to say how many wives he shall have. (Journal of Discourses, 11:268-9)

Much has improved for the Mormon people since then. Today, Mormons have powerful representation in the Senate, and ran a nationally viable candidate for the United States Presidency in 2008.

The Mormon story is possible because our country is a tolerant and forgiving place. America believes in the rights of its citizens to determine their own fates, and grants rights to individual communities to determine their own norms and values. The Mormon people have been able to flourish because of this country's generous spirit.

But now, history has reversed, and it is the Mormons who have become the oppressor.

The Mormons began with the Boy Scouts of America, originally a children's club meant to introduce boys and girls to the natural beauty of America. Mormons took financial control of the Boy Scouts by donating more than 28% of their global operating budget per year. Gays and lesbians are barred from participating in this group not just in Mormon troops, but nationwide, thereby turning our children into a political football.

Some Mormons send their own gay teenage children to "conversion camps," where these children are forced to endure shock therapy and given psychotropic drugs. The emotional stress of such experience drives many to contemplate suicide. The Mormon Church has yet to repudiate these activities.

Now the Mormon Church has set its target on gay and lesbian adults of California. They have started by amending our constitution to deny equal protection to gays and lesbians. [Note from Mike in Texas: Actually they have been targeting gays for many years, starting with marriage in Hawaii back in 1988. See here and also here.]

Ask the Jews about how freedoms are lost. The concentration camps were not built in a national referendum. They were the product of a systemic reduction of freedoms, year after year, one at a time.

We as citizens of California, Americans, and persons of various beliefs and faiths will not allow this to happen.

LA Police Beat Protester At Pro-Gay Rally

2008-11-06T11:32:00.000-08:00

From BBC: Aerial footage appears to show Los Angeles police beating a protester in their custody at a rally against the banning of same-sex marriage last night.

UPDATE WITH MORE VIDEO FROM WOW REPORT

No You Cannot

2008-11-06T11:24:00.001-08:00

Drop Dead, GOP (Greed Over People)

2008-11-04T17:00:00.000-08:00

Something Momentous

2008-11-04T06:25:00.000-08:00

This morning I experienced a familiar feeling while watching the news on TV.

In 1991 we took a cruise of the Baltic just days after the fall of the Soviet Union. The highlight of the trip, of course, was the stop in Leningrad. We'd planned the trip a year earlier. When the Soviet Union fell, we were told that we might not be able to stop in Leningrad and that if things were highly unsettled, we would not even be able to go into the Baltic. As it turned out, 2 days before we left here we were told everything was okay, and we would be visiting Leningrad.

We were not prepared for what we saw when we got there, the flag of old Russia flying in place of the Soviet Union flag. We'd seen a number of ships flying the Soviet flag in Stockholm, the stop before Leningrad, and because of that, we didn't expect to see anything different in Leningrad.

And by the time we left, the name of the city had been changed back to St. Petersburg. It was a very exciting and emotional time for us.

And that brings me to this morning. That feeling came back to me as I watched Barack Obama and his family in the voting booth this morning. I was surprised to feel so moved.

Something momentous is happening today.