From JMG: Christian Leader: Don't Worry About Gay Marriage, Worry About Your Own Lives

Well, this is one of the more interesting items to pop up on Christian Newswire. Pastor Ken Eastburn, who leads a network of at-home worshippers in California and Colorado, says that regardless of the outcome of the Prop 8 trial, Christians should worry less about imposing their own morality on others and worry more about their own lives.

"It is a common mistake for Christians to spend time, energy and resources in advocating for a morality that is consistent with their faith," says Eastburn, "But at the end of the day our goal, the command given to us by Jesus Christ, is to make disciples. When our time and energy is spent on moralizing a secular nation, we are sacrificing our ability to obey Christ's command." Eastburn is a leader with The Well, a network of home-based churches in California and Colorado. After selling their building in 2005, members began meeting in each other's homes where there is a strong focus on discipleship. He continues, "Many Christians have their faith intertwined with their nationality and, as a result, believe that their efforts to legislate a specifically Christian morality are glorifying to God. But just the opposite is true. No matter how good America becomes, people are still separated from God by sin. The only agenda we should be spending ourselves on is the redemption offered through Jesus Christ."

Eastburn's group advocates forgoing building ostentatious churches and focusing on small group worship services in private homes. That his position on Prop 8 is being publicized by the extremely conservative Christian Newswire is rather shocking, but certainly welcome. Read more about Eastburn's philosophy at his blog, Leaving The Building.

Reposted from JMG

From AmericaBlog: Children are victims of DADT as well

Posted by Timothy Beauchamp at 2/08/2010 07:29:00 PM

I'm a children's advocate. I can't stand to see a child suffer. From Bilerico:

[Author, Dana Rudolph's note: I first published this piece two years ago, when I had the honor of interviewing a lesbian-mom couple, one of whom is an active-duty military officer. Given the recent news about possible progress on a repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, it seemed timely to repost it, to remind us all of DADT's impact on the youngest members of our society. Names and identifying details have been changed to protect the family.]

Five-year-old William and three-year-old Ryan are the children of decorated U.S. Army officer Cheryl Parker. Like other children of service members, they have dealt with cross-country moves and months without their mother while she was deployed in Iraq. Unlike the others, however, they must forgo many benefits, conveniences and support services offered to military families, or risk revealing that they have another mother, Donna Lewis. This could lead to Parker's dismissal under the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, even in LGBT-friendly Massachusetts.

In the close-knit community of an army base, there is a strong chance the young children will inadvertently out their mothers. "When I tried to put William in on-base daycare," explains Parker, "he would talk about having two moms. A lot of the daycare workers are spouses of military personnel. I don't need somebody's wife saying 'What's the deal with William Parker?'" The same applies to the other activities provided by the Army family centers, such as kiddie gym classes. "The questions start and then the lying begins, and it's just too complicated."

Reposted from AmericaBlog

sally hawkins on little britain

Desde JMG isso: Newly Elected Costa Rica President Laura Chinchilla Discusses Same-Sex Marriage

Just elected Costa Rica president Laura Chinchilla says its time for her country to move forward on same-sex partnership rights, but adds that marriage itself must be left to heterosexuals. Clip and captioning by Andres Duque at Blabbeando.

reposted con mucho alegria de JMG

Corvino: Why conservatives should want gay parents to marry

By John Corvino, columnist, 365gay.com
02.05.2010 9:22am EST

Brian Brown throws around the term “irrational” quite a bit.

Brown is the Executive Director of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), an anti-gay-marriage organization (Maggie Gallagher is its president). I first came across his name last summer when the Washington Post profiled him, describing him as “pleasantly, ruthlessly sane” and “rational.”

Jump here to read the full article

Quote of the Day

February 6

If someone is not feeling comfortable with the gay community, they are not feeling comfortable with themselves. – Michel Roux

It is important to challenge those who attack our community. They lie about us, deal in false generalizations and try to trivialize the integrity of our struggle. Those who attack or condemn gay people usually are trying to compensate for their own lack of self-esteem. They need a scapegoat in order to feel better about themselves.

The noted therapist John Bradshaw states that people attracted to extreme fundamentalism have a need to control everyone and everything. He characterizes adherence to that type of religion as a form of addiction. The men and women who are most virulently homophobic are those who are uncomfortable with sexuality and insecure about their sexual identity. They project their unhealthy attitude onto gays and anyone else who does not conform to their standard.

Sometimes gay men also make generalizations about the community that reveal residual self-hate. Our community needs healthy self-criticism, but unless we temper this criticism with love and tolerance, we fall into the same trap of our enemies. Today, as sober people, let us think of ways we can be a positive force in the gay community.

Today I choose to be loving.

Found in: Milton, A. (1995). Lavender Light: Daily Meditations for Gay Men in Recovery. NY: Perigree.

From JMG: Prop 8 Judge Outed

Today the San Francisco Chronicle outed Perry vs Schwarzenegger Judge Vaughn Walker. While Walker's gayness has long been known by insiders, this is the first acknowledgment by the press.

The biggest open secret in the landmark trial over same-sex marriage being heard in San Francisco is that the federal judge who will decide the case, Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, is himself gay. Many gay politicians in San Francisco and lawyers who have had dealings with Walker say the 65-year-old jurist, appointed to the bench by President George H.W. Bush in 1989, has never taken pains to disguise - or advertise - his orientation.

They also don't believe it will influence how he rules on the case he's now hearing - whether Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure approved by state voters to ban same-sex marriage, unconstitutionally discriminates against gays and lesbians. "There is nothing about Walker as a judge to indicate that his sexual orientation, other than being an interesting factor, will in any way bias his view," said Kate Kendell, head of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, which is supporting the lawsuit to overturn Prop. 8. As evidence, she cites the judge's conservative - albeit libertarian - reputation, and says, "There wasn't anyone who thought (overturning Prop. 8) was a cakewalk given his sexual orientation."

The lead counsel for Protect Marriage says that his side does not intend to make an issue of Walker's sexuality should he rule against them. Riiiight. Walker hasn't necessarily been considered a friend of the gays. In 1987 he defended the U.S. Olympic Committee in its copyright lawsuit against Tom Waddell, the creator of the Gay Olympics who was dying of AIDS. Even after winning the case, Walker had a lien placed against Waddell's home in order to recoup the USOC's legal costs. Only after Waddell died was the lien lifted. The Gay Olympics case delayed Ronald Reagan's nomination of Walker to the federal bench.

Reposted from JMG

Frank Rich: Smoke the Bigot Out of the Closet on Don't Ask, Don't Tell

A funny thing happened after Adm. Mike Mullen called for gay men and lesbians to serve openly in the military: A curious silence befell much of the right. If this were a Sherlock Holmes story, it would be the case of the attack dogs that did not bark.

jump here to read the rest of the NYT article

This is good...

FRom JMG: Joseph Farah At Teabagger Convention

World Net Daily founder Joseph Farah and his Just For Men Olympics gold medal winning mustache spoke at the Tea Party Convention last night. Farah's speech was devoted almost entirely to the birther movement. And Jeebus. Who did have a birth certificate, apparently. Or something. Incidentally, this is the first I've heard Farah's voice, which for somebody who runs the most widely-read anti-gay site in the country is pretty damn gay sounding. He tries mightily to suppress his lisp, but it roars out in phrases like "thuthpiciouth thircumthantheth." I'm just saying.

reposted from JMG

White Racial Resentment Bubbles Under Surface of Tea Party Movement

Rich Benjamin, AlterNet: "The Tea Party movement, holding its first convention this weekend, is angling to be the most revolutionary force in American politics in name and in deed, since at least the 1960s counterculture. Only this time, the political insurgents command a party of Flour Power, not flower power. The simmering movement is the whitest phenomenon on the national scene, evident not just in the millions of Caucasians committed to its cause, but in the bedrock beliefs stirring its anti-government contempt."

Read the Article

Surge in Women's Employment Brings Unemployment Rate Down to 9.7 Percent

Dean Baker, The Center for Economic and Policy Research: "The unemployment rate fell to 9.7 percent in January, driven by a 0.4 percentage-point drop in the unemployment rate for women to 8.4 percent. The unemployment rate for men fell 0.2 percentage points to 10.8 percent. This drop came in spite of a reported loss of 20,000 jobs in the establishment survey."

Read the Article

Quote of the Day

We may disagree about gay marriage, but surely we can agree that it is unconscionable to target gays and lesbians for who they are – whether it’s here in the United States, or, as Hillary mentioned, more extremely in odious laws that are being proposed most recently in Uganda.

- President Obama

American Prayer Hour Announcement: Moses

From JMG: Obama Criticizes Uganda's "Kill Gays" Bill At National Prayer Breakfast

According to a tweet by CBS reporter Mark Knoller, this morning President Obama criticised Uganda's "kill gays" bill at the National Prayer Breakfast before the very GOP group responsible for backing the proposed law. The New York Times has the complete advance text of the president's planned speech, where no mention of Uganda or gay marriage is found, so it appears that Obama went off-script.

UPDATE: Here's the video, which includes Hillary Clinton calling out the Uganda bill. Interestingly, the presidents exact words are "we may disagree on gay marriage." What's this "we" jazz?

another great find lifted from the daily JMG

American Prayer Hour Announcement: Bishop Gene Robinson

Saints Linebacker Fujita Tackles Gay Marriage

As New Orleans Saints linebacker Scott Fujita gears up for Super Bowl XLIV, Fujita talks to The Advocate about standing up for gay rights and against inequality, and about Tim Tebow's draft prospects thanks to Focus on the Family.

By Michelle Garcia

Scott Fujita is known for many things — being a "big white guy with the Japanese last name." as he says; his dedication to charities and community service; and, more recently, his unapologetic views on gay rights.

Fujita was adopted as a child by his Japanese father and white mother, and he grew up in Southern California. Even though he is not ethnically Japanese, Fujita says he is Japanese in his heart. After a standout student-athlete career in high school, Fujita was recruited by the Ivies but decided to play for the University of California, Berkeley, as a walk-on player.

jump here to read the full article

From JMG: REVERSAL: Colin Powell Joins Call For Repeal Of DADT

In a major reversal, Gen. Colin Powell, who opposed Bill Clinton's attempt to allow gay soldiers to serve openly, has joined the call to repeal DADT.

“In the almost 17 years since the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ legislation was passed, attitudes and circumstances have changed,” General Powell said in a statement issued by his office. He added: “I fully support the new approach presented to the Senate Armed Services Committee this week by Secretary of Defense Gates and Admiral Mullen.” Robert M. Gates, the defense secretary, and Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told lawmakers on Tuesday that they supported President Obama’s proposal to repeal the 1993 law forbidding gay men and women to be open about their sexuality while serving in uniform.

Welcome, Gen. Powell.Courtesy of JMG

From JMG: Orrin Hatch: I Might Vote For DADT Repeal

He gave himself a bit of wiggle room, but Sen. Orrin Hatch, of all people, today said that he might be willing to support a repeal of DADT.

Another great find from JMG