Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Quote of the Day
- I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Today's Double Post
ABOUT VELVET REVOLUTION
Velvet Revolution is a term coined to describe the peaceful road to change in countries where governments ignored the inalienable rights of the people. A few inspiring Velvet Revolutions occurred in the former Soviet Union, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, South Africa, and of course, most recently in Ukraine. The citizens of those countries, tired of corruption and arrogant power, joined together by the millions in a sustained campaign of opposition – they demonstrated, boycotted, petitioned, and engaged in strikes until the pillars of power were replaced by the halls of the people.
Prop. 8 Supporters Subpoena Activist Who Revealed Contributors
By Matthew Pordum Daily Journal Staff Writer
SACRAMENTO In its continuing efforts to protect the identity of those who bankrolled the campaign to pass Proposition 8, lawyers for The National Organization for Marriage have issued a subpoena for one of the leaders behind the opposition, Californians Against Hate founder Fred Karger, who led boycotts and created websites outing top contributors.
The subpoena compels Karger to produce the group's financial records and all communications and documentation regarding affiliated websites and the dissemination of donor information. It also directs him to appear for a deposition on October 13th.
"This is harassment and they are trying to silence me," said Karger, who points out that he's not a party to the case. "I'm a citizen activist, and my organization is just me, funded entirely by myself versus the power of a group who has millions and millions of dollars behind it."
The subpoena, served over the Labor Day weekend, stems from a lawsuit filed in federal court in Sacramento in January by The National Organization for Marriage against California Secretary of State Debra Bowen, Attorney General Jerry Brown and FPPC Chairman Ross Johnson. ProtectMarriage.com v. Debra Bowen, 09-0058.
The group referred a reporter to its lawyer, Illinois-based James Bopp Jr. of Bopp, Coleson & Bostrom. Bopp did not return several calls seeking comment.
According to court records, the group is challenging the constitutionality of campaign finance disclosure requirements, claiming donors to Proposition 8 have been ravaged by e-mails, phone calls, postcards and even death threats.
In the suit, Bopp claims that the requirements of California's Political Reform Act of 1974 are unconstitutional by virtue of the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
Karger's website, www.californiansagainsthate.com, currently lists the names, addresses and donation amounts for the top 12 contributors to the Yes on Proposition 8 campaign, under the heading "Dishonor Roll."
The Yes on 8 campaign raised nearly $30 million and won the ballot battle over gay marriage last November by a vote of 52 percent.
Karger contends the subpoena is simply an act of revenge for the complaints he filed with the Fair Political Practices Commission against the Mormon Church for its alleged failure to report non-monetary contributions to the Yes on 8 campaign.
"This is all part of the PR [public relations] offensive being carried out by the Mormon Church," Karger said.
The Utah-based church did not directly donate to the campaign, but its members provided millions of dollars to it.
The Mormon Church is not a party to the January lawsuit.
California Attorney General Jerry Brown is defending the political reform act, arguing in court that disclosure requirements assist the state in detecting efforts to hide the identities of large donors and illegal spending of political funds for personal use.
"Political democracy demands open debate, including prompt disclosure of the identities of campaign donors," Brown said in a prepared statement.
The most recent action in the case came on Jan. 28, when U.S. Eastern District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. turned down the Yes on 8 group's request for a preliminary injunction exempting the group from campaign disclosure laws, saying that he was not persuaded that the threats were serious enough.
The group's subsequent report, made public Feb. 2, included its first disclosure of "major donors" who had given more than $10,000 to the campaign since June 30, 2008.
The Sacramento case is not the only effort by anti-gay rights groups to roll back campaign finance disclosure laws.
Bopp filed suit against the Washington Secretary of State July 28 to prevent the state from releasing the names and addresses of more than 138,500 Washington citizens who signed a petition in favor of Referendum 71.
The ballot referendum asks voters in Washington this November whether they want to expand domestic partnership rights and obligations in the state's originally limited domestic partnership legislation.
Washington Governor Christine Gregoire signed off on an expansion of rights for domestic partners in May, but opponents of that move rounded up 137,689 signatures to have the issue brought to voters this year.
In an enormous win for the group, a federal district judge ruled on Thursday that Washington officials were not allowed to reveal the names of those who signed the petition.
matthew_pordum@dailyjournal.com
Same-Sex Marriage Activists Seek Repeal of California’s Proposition 8
http://www.truthout.org/092709T?n
Daniel B. Wood, The Christian Science Monitor: "The battle is on to repeal California’s Prop. 8 — which activists hope starts a national domino effect in the nearly 30 states that have banned same-sex marriage. A coalition of 40 groups has taken the first legal step for voters to be able to overturn the measure in November 2010. Thursday, the groups submitted ballot language that will place the measure on the ballot in the state’s next general election. Within weeks they intend to be canvassing the state to gather 700,000 valid signatures needed by April to qualify the measure for the ballot."
The new battle in California
Being a Christian is a choice, yet no one would dream (so far) of placing the rights of people to freely choose their religion up for a public vote. Regardless of one’s religious views, we all live in a pluralistic civil society. The only way that such a society can function peacefully is for all citizens to respect each other’s civil rights. Stripping any minority of its civil rights, which is precisely what Prop 8 accomplished, threatens the civil rights of every minority group in our society.
Several religions, many theologians, the APA and almost all international Psychological Associations agree that homosexuality is not a choice, but like heterosexuality, an orientation. Laws, such as Prop 8, which target a minority group and strip away their civil rights, are born of ignorance, prejudice and they promote discrimination and bigotry. I am honored to be one of the proponents of a ballot initiative, which will restore the right to a civil marriage to all Californians regardless of their sexual orientation. This new proposition will also write into our State Constitution the right of religious groups to deny religious marriage to same sex couples. This new proposition restores and protects civil marriage for all Californians while simultaneously protecting the rights of religious groups to deny religious marriage to same sex couples.
courtesy of Father Geoff Farrow
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Quote of the day
Elvis Costello lyrics come to mind immediately:
"So when they finally
put you in the ground
I'll stand on your grave
and Tramp the Dirt Down."
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
HomoQuotable - Larry Kramer via JMG
"We get what we fight for. And we are not fighting. Every single one of us is not fighting. They fight better than we do. There is a concerted and never ending vein of hate in this country and in this world dedicated to keeping us in our place. It is evil to force people to be what we are not -- free. We are not free."I love being gay. I love gay people. How can I say this without offending everyone else, I think we're better than other people. I think we are smarter. I think we are more talented. I think we are more aware. I think we make better friends. I think we make better lovers. I think we're more tuned in to what's happening, tuned into the moment, tuned into our emotions, and other people's emotions.
"Yes, I think that gay people are better than other people. I think the only thing we are not so good at is fighting back. I hear talk of the new generation of gays and the old generation of gays, and how different we are. That is not true. We are all one generation. We are all related. We are all each other's brothers and sisters. We are all one family, the gay family. And I passionately and desperately want all my brothers and sisters to stay alive and well and on this earth, with total equality with every straight person. Being gay is the most important thing in my life. I love being gay. I hope you do, too." - Legendary gay/AIDS activist and author Larry Kramer, telling the audience at Dallas Pride to fight harder.
(Via - Rex Wockner)
Deb Price | Uncle Sam Should Respect All Marriages
http://www.truthout.org/092309U?n
Deb Price: "Listen to the voices crying out for Congress to end the federal government's mistreatment of legally married gay couples. Listen to McKinley BarbouRoske of Iowa. She displayed a confidence well beyond her 11 years when she spoke up for her moms at a recent news conference in front of the US Capitol. McKinley's parents were finally able to wed in their home state two months ago - after nearly two decades as a couple. Now they quite rightly want Uncle Sam to recognize their marriage."
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
HomoQuotable - Ellen DeGeneres
"Apparently, there's a lot of debate going on right now, whether I'm qualified or not to be the new judge on American Idol... I'll tell you right now, how I know I'm going to be a great judge -- because I've spent my whole life being judged. So, I know what it's like. So, I will be kind. I will be compassionate. I will be empathetic, and I will be truthful. I will be an honest judge without being mean." - Ellen DeGeneres, defending her selection as Paula Abdul's replacement.
lifted once again from JMG
Monday, September 21, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
I Support The Dallas Principles
1.Full civil rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals must be enacted now. Delay and excuses are no longer acceptable.
2.We will not leave any part of our community behind.
3.Separate is never equal.
4.Religious beliefs are not a basis upon which to affirm or deny civil rights.
5.The establishment and guardianship of full civil rights is a non-partisan issue.
6.Individual involvement and grassroots action are paramount to success and must be encouraged.
7.Success is measured by the civil rights we all achieve, not by words, access or money raised.
8.Those who seek our support are expected to commit to these principles.
for more info see: Dallas Principles
Religious intolerance cuts deep in gay community, Gold says
From the Pendulum at Elon University
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Mitchell Gold speaks to the Elon community on injustice of religious persecution toward the gay community.
On Tuesday, civil rights activist, Mitchell Gold spoke to the Elon community at the Elon School sharing what he described as "such an incredibly painful memory."
Gold is the current CEO of the Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams furniture business, founder of Faith in America (a non-profit organization aimed at educating people about how religious-based bigotry is used to justify discrimination against homosexuals) and is now the author of his book, "Crisis."
"Crisis" was published in September 2008 and is a compilation of stories from those who have experienced religious intolerance and persecution as a result of growing up gay in America, something Gold felt quite a bit himself.
"People use the Bible to marginalize and dehumanize people," Gold said.
Growing up Jewish, Gold knew what it meant to be an oppressed minority. He also saw the discrimination towards black Americans that took place in the 1950s and 1960s.
He did not know how much he would one day experience that same intolerance for being gay.
"It's a problem because it's not acceptable," Gold said on realizing he was gay as a young teenager.
Gold described how he lived in fear every day of how his family would react if they knew he was gay. He feared getting beaten up at school, being seen as an outcast and not getting a decent job.
"I don't want one more kid to go through what I had to go through during my teenage years," Gold said.
He even contemplated suicide and saw a psychiatrist for help, who helped him learn to live being gay.
"I was lucky," Gold said of being able to get help and gain happiness.
Gold later moved to New York City, where being gay was commonplace and openly accepted. He got a job at Bloomingdale's, where several of the employees were gay. He even met someone he could settle down with, his current business partner, Bob Williams.
He even got to meet actor Richard Chamberlain, whom he discovered was gay as well.
"I got really comfortable," Gold said.
But all of this changed in 1988 when he moved down South to North Carolina.
"It's interesting to see how being naïve can be a good thing," he said of not realizing the difference of homosexual social acceptance in the South.
Gold began hearing conversations from co-workers and employees who described marriage as only being between a man and a woman.
"I started realizing there was a real movement afoot," Gold said of seeing how large of an intolerant sentiment there was toward gays.
He then realized this persecution was no different than what he had seen as a child.
"The same kind of discrimination that was used so horribly against black people was being used against gay people," he said.
Gold began his personal movement to create awareness of religious intolerance towards the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community.
"This country has a sad history of segregation," Gold said. "I wanted to go out and teach people and remind them of that. Most decent people in America don't want to be a part of that history. Most decent people don't want to continue that hatred."
"Crisis" was compiled with contributors such Chamberlain, U.S. Congressman Barney Frank, Major League baseball player Billy Bean, TV actor Alec Mapa and former tennis champion Martina Navatilova. All are gay and openly talk about the struggle and pain of being a gay teenager in the book.
Gold is happy to be living in North Carolina, where there is currently no federal ban on gay marriage.
"In the state of North Carolina, we have the chance to be the shining light of this country," Gold said.
Gold said he hopes Americans will see the harm that intolerance toward the LGBT causes.
"Anybody who is oppressed has the right to confront their oppressor," he said.
Proceeds from "Crisis" go toward seven national gay advocacy programs for teens.