GLAD Challenges DOMA Section 3

We can quote the Bible too...

Courtesy of Dan Savage via JMG

Quote of the Day

“Holding to the letter of the law is many times an indication of a desire for leadership. One who assumes to be the enforcer of the law shows an intellectual understanding of the Cause, but that spiritual guidance in them is not yet established.”

Abdu'l-Baha

Important Message from PFAW

The signs speak for themselves: See more signs here.

Dear Daniel,

Over the weekend, tens of thousands of right-wing activists rallied in Washington, DC with signs that challenged President Obama's citizenship, accused him and Democratic congressional leaders of everything from Nazism to communism, promoted paranoia about "death panels" and euthanasia, and declared support for figures like Sarah Palin and Rep. Joe Wilson.

Of course, right-wing commentators like Michelle Malkin tried to report that the number of protesters was as high as two million, but officials estimated the crowd to be about 60,000. Significant, yes, but not indicative that these people are anything more than a vocal minority representing the views of only a small portion of Americans.

A PFAW staffer who showed up to check out the scene talked to many participants, and when she asked why they showed up, an overwhelming number gave the same answer: "Glenn Beck sent me."

Fast forward to yesterday afternoon, when the House of Representatives voted on a resolution of disapproval rebuking Rep. Joe Wilson for shouting "You lie!" at President Obama in the middle of his address to Congress. The vote put members of the House on record as to where they stand. The resolution passed, but nearly every Republican (all but seven) voted against it -- and with Joe Wilson and Glenn Beck's brand of extremism.

It is shameful that the GOP would give someone like Glenn Beck that sort of power. The Rush Limbaughs and Glenn Becks of the world have been pulling the strings of the Republican Party for too long. But it's getting even worse than that.

At the end of this month, some of the most fringe players on the Radical Right are hosting a conference called How to Take Back America and currently scheduled to speak are five Republican members of Congress and, according to polls among Republicans, one of the most popular expected GOP presidential candidates, Mike Huckabee.

When I say that the people hosting this conference are on the outer fringe, that's actually something of an understatement. Some of the scheduled workshops at the conference are titled, "How to recognize living under Nazis and Communists," and, "How to counter the homosexual extremist movement."

Here's a little about just two members of the Host Committee:

Joseph Farah has been the most ardent and vigilant leader of the "Birthers," yet has also made the astonishing claim that President Obama's maternal grandmother might really be his mother. He recently eulogized Sen. Ted Kennedy by calling him "a rotten man -- a wicked man, an 'enemy within'" and wrote that President Obama was secretly advocating the destruction of the Jews. His web site WorldNetDaily is the epicenter of countless right-wing lies and conspiracy theories and routinely serves as a forum for zealots to espouse anti-gay hysteria.

Janet Porter has helped to promote some of the most paranoid conspiracies out there, like claims that the Obama administration is setting up internment camps for conservatives and plotting to commit genocide against Americans through the use of the swine flu vaccine. Before the election, she said that supporting Obama was akin to supporting Nazis and declared that anyone who voted for him would go to hell. She's also an active participant in spreading Birther lies.

Americans need to be aware of the resurgent Radical Right as well as its growing influence on government officials and the Republican Party. People For the American Way is working hard to expose the Right and its influence, and to hold accountable those in our government who choose to ally themselves with extremists instead of the vast majority of Americans and the country's greater interest.

We can do it with, and because of, your continued support. And I thank you for it.

Sincerely,

Michael B. Keegan, President

P.S. The need for our vigilance against extremism has been disturbingly evidenced by gun-toting protesters outside of town hall meetings and Obama speeches. One such protester was part of an Arizona church congregation whose pastor, Rev. Steven Anderson, screams about "faggots running this country" and advocates the death penalty for gays, who he says "recruit through rape" and "molestation." Rev. Anderson is an extreme example, but extreme examples like him are becoming more and more commonplace. We need to fight back.

365 GAY ASK THE EXPERT: MONEY & REAL ESTATE

The Game Show Network’s Newlywed Game will make history this year--by adding same-sex celebrity pairs to their format.

---

WENN

The network is in the midst of producing special Celebrity Newlywed Game episodes, one of which will feature the first gay contestants ever: George Takei (Sulu from the original Star Trek series) and longtime partner Brad Altman.

The duo married in September 2008 in Los Angeles, Ca., just before the state's Proposition 8 approval banned same-sex marriage.

Read the rest of the article at: http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2009/09/exclusive-newlywed-game-adding-same-sex-celeb-couples

A Message from Cleve Jones

Dear Friends:

It has been over 30 years since my friend and teacher, gay rights activist Harvey Milk, was assassinated. Today, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people have won limited rights in a handful of states, but we are still second class citizens throughout the United States.

Harvey once said, "It takes no compromising to give people their rights."

This morning, Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) introduced a bill in Congress to repeal the so-called "Defense of Marriage Act." If passed by the Congress, Rep. Nadler's legislation would be a real step forward in the march for full equality and we applaud his efforts, but LGBT people must stop settling for compromises and half measures.

Send a message to your Representative demanding full equality now!

Equal rights are not a "gay" issue. They are about our shared human rights: safety in our schools and jobs, equitable healthcare and housing, and protection for our families, to name a few.

Like all other Americans, LGBT people are guaranteed equal protection under the law by the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Free and equal people do not compromise, and that's why we're marching on Washington next month with one simple demand: Equal protection for LGBT people in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states. Now.

Please ask your Representative to co-sponsor this legislation as an important first step, and remind them that there are no fractions of equality.

When Harvey spoke at Gay Freedom Day at San Francisco City Hall in 1978, he invoked the words of the Declaration of Independence: "All [people] are created equal. No matter how hard you try, you can never erase those words."

No more compromises. We are equal.

- Cleve Jones

The Grim Truth

Our American churches may condemn us, but they don't murder us outright.

Let's not, however, take much pride in this one higher rung on the ladder of civilized behavior. If the extreme homophobes in our churches thought they could get away with murdering us, as do the Islamic extremists who, according to the report, in the course of just this year, have murdered at least 130 gay men in Iraq, they would do the exact same thing. Here, we have police protection and legal recourse against homophobic religious extremists. Without it, we would probably have been tortured and murdered as were these men. It's a chilling thought.

courtesy of Father Tony of the Farmboyz

The 50 Best Gay Movies (2009)

via After Elton

Gay-friendly church launches anti-discrimination campaign.

A liberal church movement based in Texas has launched a campaign that is “designed to ask people whether Jesus would discriminate against others,” according to PinkNews.

The Would Jesus Discriminate? movement launched its campaign on the web by quoting a series of Biblical passages suggesting Jesus never discriminated against gays.

The DFW Metropolitan Community Churches, which have five chapters in the Texas area, say they provide an alternative to the perceived discrimination and intolerance from “religious institutions [which] have used their interpretation of the Bible to justify discrimination against women, ethnic minorities, and people with a different sexual orientation and/or identity issues.”

courtesy of 365

Why I like KCRW... its not even on ITunes yet...

A great gem from Ms.Spaulding's Most excellent Blogg

Julian Bond's message to LGBTs: 'keep pushing on - victory is just ahead'

by: Pam Spaulding

Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 08:30:00 AM EDT

Reading Alvin's earlier diary ("From 'outside agitators' to 'wealthy gay activists' - Some of us black folks haven't learned a thing" bumped back up below this post), it's good to remind people that there are black folks who DO get it. Rev. Walter Fauntroy may have been director of the DC bureau of Dr. King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference, but that clearly didn't enlighten him to the fact that civil rights are human rights. He has hopped into bed with charlatan Bishop Harry Jackson.

However many others who were part of the black civil rights struggle, like Congressman John Lewis, who will keynote at Equality Alabama's conference later this month, have our backs.

read the rest at: PHB

Gay Bands... hmmm...

The lovely people over at God Hates Fags! Love Gods Way! have taken all the worry out of your music concerns. They have a very useful lsit of bands that they have decided that you ( avoid... I loved the reasons fro some of them. My comments and observations are in red:

Bands to watch out for

• Ween (Rainbow) What? as in weenie, Oscar Meyer is gay too?
  
• Lil'Wayne (I think these folks got size issues)
  
• P!nK (gay family) good gawd! a gay family!?
  
• The Black Keys (racist and homophobic? what is this a two for one?)
  
• Coldplay (well they are kind a hot.. .but I think they be straight dudes)
  
• SlipKnot (make-up) (what? style is not Christan too?)
  
• RadioHead(h'bout Christan radio head?)
  
• Michael Jackson (but he said he wasn't gay... just ask his daddy!)
  
• Boredoms (ok, so I can't have fun with these folks, and yet I can't be bored either... no wonder i ended up in therapy)
  
• School of Seven Bells (gay twins) (what all twins are gay too?)
  
• Jason Mraz
• Jonas Brothers (Gay people don't kiss their brothers. Normally..)
• Rilo Kiley
• Death Cab for Cutie (they are kinda cute... I watched them last night, that would make PBS gay too?)
  
• Sarah McLachlan (totally!)
  
• George Strait (what Staight is gay now too?)
  
• Cold War Kids (that just about rules out most folks my age)
  
• Toby Keith (cowboy) (true, after Brokeback Mountain, we all know 'bout 'dem cowboys!... yee haw!)
  
• P-Diddy
  
• Black People (what all Black Peoole are gay too?)
  
• Vampire Weekend (Not sure here, most vampires I know are hetero...)
  
• King Crimson (just the name is suggestive)
  
• Kate Bush (kissed a girl) (stop that!)
  
• Bob Dylan (aw c'mon... Dylan is gay?)
  
• Fleet Foxes
• Sigur Ros (nudists) (most nudists arn ot gay, and most of my gay friends won't get neked in public)
  
• Twisted Sister (well... maybe her sister is twisted)
  
• The Spores (endorse suicide)suicide is not a gay thing... tho because you assholes have made head-trips out of a lot of kids there ARE a lot of kids who off themselves when they are tryign to come to grips with their sexual orientation)
  
• Scissor Sisters (obvious reference to our penchant to sewing and decorating, that would make my mother gay... trust me she's not!)
  
• Turbonegro(there you go again... another antiblack refrence again)
  
• Rufus Wainwright (an proudly so)
  
• Merzbau(really? I kinds thought most glbt folks were better spellers)
  
• Ravi Shankar(aw c'mon... he can't be gay... tho his music rocks!)
  
• The Butchies (lizbians) (bitch... that's spelled L E S B I A N S)
  
• Wilco (Walmart but not Wilco)
  
• Bjork (mb)(well SHE IS from Iceland and all..)
  
• Tech N9ne
• Ghostface Killah
• Bobby Conn
• Morton Subotnik
• Cole Porter (WTF?)
• The String Cheese Incident
• Eagles of Death Metal
• Polyphonic Spree
• The Faint
• Interpol (Iwoud assume that they supported law and order)
  
• Twisted Sister (jj) (What the hell is a jj?)
  
• Tegan and Sara
• Erasure(well I thought for sure the Christians would allow for mistakes)
  
• The Grateful Dead (drugs too) (wtf pt 2)
  
• Le Tigre(they neverhave liked bilingualism)
  
• Marilyn Manson (dark gay) (well that girl is definitely problematic)
  
• The Gossip(Yeajh like (Christians don't gossip! My people call it dishing... )
  
• The Magnetic Fields
• The Doors (wtf pt 3)
  
• Phish (where's the beef?)
  
• Queen (well duh!... but what cha gunna do next tiem they paly We will Rock you @ the ball park, bud?)
  
• The Strokes (no comment)
  
• Morrissey(?questionable?) (What as in morals?)
  
• Metallica (duh!)
  
• Judas Priest (duh!)
• The Village People (double duh!)
• The Secret Handshake on't tell its a secret!)
• The Rolling Stones (duh!)
• David Bowie((triple duh!)
• Frankie Goes to Hollywood(duh!)
• Man or Astroman my students ask that about me all the time, "is he a man or is he an astroman?")
• Richard Cheese what as in head cheese?!)
• Jay-Z
• Depeche Mode
• Kansas (oh now you are getting crazy, the whole barking state of Kansas is gay?)
  
• Ani DiFranco
• Fischerspooner
• John Mayer
• George Michael (texan) (All Texans are gay? Well they do have a size issue and all... No wonder DubYah is so messed up,,, he was havign a sexual crisi, and took it our on Iraq! Freud explains everything)
  
• Angel Eyes
• The Indigo Girls
• Velvet Underground
• Madonna ( Her holiness Madoona please...)
  
• Elton John (His holiness Sir Elton Jon, please)
  
• Barry Manilow (duh!)
• Indigo Girls (repeat!)
• Melissa Etheridge (duh!)
• Eminmen which ones the blue or the red ones?!)
• Nirvana(so I guess Budhists and Hindus are no good either?)
  
• Boy George (duh!)
• Jon Brion
  
• The Killers(I can understand this one...)
  
• Lou Reed (hmm!)
• Lil' Wayne (repeat... your issues are showing again!)
  
• Motorhead
• Jill Sobule
• Wilson Phillips
• DMX
• Wesley Willis
• Lisa Loeb
• Ted Nugent (loincloth) loin cloths are NOT gay!)
• Dogstar
• Thirty Seconds to Mars NASA is gay too!)
• Lil' Kim(so they don't like short women either?)
  
• kd lang (duh!)
• Frank Sinatra (wtf!)
• HinderI thought they were in business to hinder...)
  
• Nickleback
• Justus Kohncke
• Bob Mould
• Clay Aiken (duh!)
• Arcade Fire
• Bright Eyes
• Corinne Bailey Rae
• Audioslave
• Red Hot Chili Peppers (duh!)(duh!)(duh!)(duh!)
• Panic at the Disco (listen Mary, thats Panic at the GAY Disco!)
• The Cure (makeup)
• Spin Doctors
• The Deers (Os Viados!)
• Lindsey Lohan
• The Smiths
• Beck(I thought they unquestioningly follow Fox TV)
  
• Tom Waits
• The Cramps (what Christians women don't menstruate?)
  
• Cannibal Corpse(yeah this one creeps me out too)
  
• Britney Spears (kissed Madonna) (OH Dear... she kissed THE Madonna! But really, her music is too bad to be gay... I mean really!)
  
• Perfect Sin(ok... well...)
  
• The Queers (ok, just the name is a give away)
  
• NoFx(gay punk) (you... talk'n to me?)
  
• Soup Dragons(wtf is a frick'n Soup Dragon anyway?)
  
• Elton John(really gay) (honey that's really really really gay... and damn proud of it!)
  

Gay Rights on the Double: Bill to Repeal DOMA to Hit Capitol Just as Same-Sex Marriage to Be OK'd in Capital -- BuzzFlash News Analysis

Gay Rights on the Double: Bill to Repeal DOMA to Hit Capitol Just as Same-Sex Marriage to Be OK'd in Capital -- BuzzFlash News Analysis

Gordon Brown Apologizes To Alan Turing

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has issued a posthumous apology to Alan Turing, the brilliant World War II code-breaker and computer scientist who killed himself after being convicted of the "crime" of homosexuality. Turing elected to Turing's decoding of the Nazi's "enigma machine" is credited as one of single-most crucial factors in ending the war.

I am both pleased and proud that, thanks to a coalition of computer scientists, historians and LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) activists, we have this year a chance to mark and celebrate another contribution to Britain's fight against the darkness of dictatorship: that of code-breaker Alan Turing. Turing was a quite brilliant mathematician, most famous for his work on breaking the German Enigma codes. It is no exaggeration to say that, without his outstanding contribution, the history of the Second World War could have been very different. He truly was one of those individuals we can point to whose unique contribution helped to turn the tide of war. The debt of gratitude he is owed makes it all the more horrifying, therefore, that he was treated so inhumanely.

In 1952, he was convicted of "gross indecency" – in effect, tried for being gay. His sentence – and he was faced with the miserable choice of this or prison – was chemical castration by a series of injections of female hormones. He took his own life just two years later. [snip] It is thanks to men and women who were totally committed to fighting fascism, people like Alan Turing, that the horrors of the Holocaust and of total war are part of Europe's history and not Europe's present. So on behalf of the British government, and all those who live freely thanks to Alan's work, I am very proud to say: we're sorry. You deserved so much better.

Turing is considered by some to be the "father of computer science." More about him here.

Labels: Alan Turing, computers, Gordon Brown, LGBT History, UK, WW II


Another awesome post lifted from JMG

Remembering Mark Bingham on 911

New website launched for religious gay community

New website for religious gay community launched last week. Founders struggle to juggle both identities, seek to garner legitimacy within the greater religious communit.

See: http://www.ynetnews.com

Uruguay’s Senate Votes to Allow Gay Adoption

Courtesy if Gay Agenda

Adulterous GOP Defender Of Marriage Michael Duvall Resigns In Shame

The man who vowed to preserve the sanctity of opposite marriage, GOP California Assemblyman Michael Duvall has resigned in disgrace less than 24 hours after he was recorded bragging about two adulterous relationships with young female lobbyists, one of whom works for an electric company under contract to the state public utilities committee which Duvall co-chaired.

Assemblyman Mike Duvall of Yorba Linda said in a statement that the furor over his comments had begun to divert attention from the work his fellow lawmakers were trying to finish during the final week of their session. Duvall, whose is married and has two adult children, said it would not be fair to his family, constituents or friends to remain in office. "I am deeply saddened that my inappropriate comments have become a major distraction for my colleagues in the Assembly, who are working hard on the very serious problems facing our state," he said. "Therefore, I have decided to resign my office, effective immediately, so that the Assembly can get back to work."

Duvall was also recorded bragging about his manly load:

"She wears little eye-patch underwear,” said Duvall, who is married with two 
children. “So, the other day she came here with her underwear, Thursday. And
 so, we had made love Wednesday–a lot! And so she’ll, she’s all, ‘I am going 
up and down the stairs, and you’re dripping out of me!’ So messy!”

Hello, Mrs. Duvall, we have some papers for you to sign.

Courtesy of JMG