Think Progress links to a PDF that might be easier to read.
reposted from Joe
Friday, October 7, 2011
Via AmericaBlogGay: Matthew Shepard was attacked 13 years ago tonight
Thirteen years ago tonight Matthew Shepard was lured to a rural road, tied up, crucifixion style, pistol whipped then left for dead, simply because he was gay. He wasn't found for nearly a day, still barely alive in the 30 degree weather, the only part of his face not covered by blood was where the tears had streamed down. The attack on Matthew, and his subsequent death a few days later, was a galvanizing moment for the gay community. It was one of only a handful of moments I can think of, in the twenty years that I've been out, that something changed in all of us, nationwide, at a much larger, meta level.
Within a day of hearing of the story I set up a Web site (now that I think about it, it was a blog, long before we called them that) to help coordinate news about his attack. It was called Matthew Shepard Online Resources. The site, and its accompanying bulletin board, quickly became the main organizing point for our community and our allies, and for a good year it advocated for amending the US' already existing hate crimes law to include gender, disability and sexual orientation. The Republicans blocked legislation, and it wouldn't become law for another eleven years.
Noah Baron from the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism has a very nice post up about Matthew's attack and his legacy:
It is necessary to speak out - as Jews, as Americans, as human beings - against the ugliness that reared its head that October day 13 years ago. No person deserves to die the way Matthew Shepard did. No person should have to live in fear simply because of who they are. To speak out - to decry this violence, to oppose bigotry, to take a step closer to a better world - is not merely an option; it is a fundamental obligation. As it is written, "Do not stand idly by while your neighbor bleeds" (Leviticus 19:16).
It is not enough, then, to simply refrain from homophobia or refrain from violence. Rather, we must speak out, to stop the violence, to stanch the blood of our neighbors. Matthew Shepard was not simply a victim at the hands of his attackers; he was the victim at the hands a society that sent the message that who he was as a person was wrong. As Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel once said, "Few are guilty, but all are responsible." We are all responsible; every additional week that we do not work for justice, every day that passes in which we do not imbue in our children an ethic of acceptance and uprightness, every moment of our silence is an act of violence against our LGBT brothers and sisters.
As the Mishna tells us, "It is not our responsibility to finish the task, but we may not refrain from starting it." It may be that we will never eradicate homophobia - or Islamophobia, or transphobia, or anti-Semitism - in our lifetimes; the task itself often feels overwhelming. But that is no excuse, for silence is not an option.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Via JMG: Maddow On Marriage
"I feel that gay people not being able to get married for generations, forever, meant that we came up with alternative ways of recognizing relationships. And I worry that if everybody has access to the same institutions that we lose the creativity of subcultures having to make it on their own. And I like gay culture." - Rachel Maddow, speaking to the Hollywood Reporter.Via JMG: POLL: Majority Supports Gays In Military
CBS News reports on their new poll: Just a few weeks after the implementation of the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," a majority of Americans say they support gays and lesbians serving openly in the military, according to a new CBS News poll. According to the poll, 68 percent of Americans said they support gay and lesbians' rights to serve openly. Fifty percent said they "strongly" favored the idea. Moreover, although many national Republicans leaders were against the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," more Republicans surveyed favor the idea of allowing gays and lesbians to serve in the armed forces openly than oppose it.
Via AmericaBlogGay: Haters still trying to ban black, I mean gay, judges
There's no difference. If they say gay judges can't be fair on civil rights cases, then neither can black judges, or white judges for that matter, or Latino judges, or any other judge that has a race or a civil right, or a gender, national origin, religion, disability, or sexual orientation. I hear dogs make nice judges.
The dehumanization never ends. There's always a new minority for the bigots to try to debase and degrade.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Via JMG: HomoQuotable - R. Clark Cooper
"If Herman Cain truly wants to see the science proving that sexual orientation is not a choice, Log Cabin Republicans would be happy to show it to him. The claim that a person chooses to be gay or lesbian has been discredited by every major professional medical organization, starting with the American Psychological Association and the American Medical Association. An individual’s orientation is no more a choice than the color of his skin or whether he is left-handed, and too many people have been hurt because of failed attempts to change the way they were born." - Log Cabin Republicans head R. Clark Cooper.Via JMG: Quote Of The Day - David Cameron
"I once stood before a Conservative conference and said it shouldn’t matter whether commitment was between a man and a woman, a woman and a woman, or a man and another man. You applauded me for that. Five years on, we’re consulting on legalising gay marriage. And to anyone who has reservations, I say: Yes, it’s about equality, but it’s also about something else: commitment. Conservatives believe in the ties that bind us; that society is stronger when we make vows to each other and support each other. So I don’t support gay marriage despite being a Conservative. I support gay marriage because I’m a Conservative." - British Prime Minister David Cameron. (Via - Towleroad)Via JMG: House Dems criticize GOP for tripling money for DOMA lawyer
In a news release Tuesday, Democratic Reps. Robert Brady (Pa.), Charles Gonzalez (Texas) and Zoe Lofgren (Calif.) criticized their GOP colleagues for increasing the contract with the lawyer hired to defend DOMA from $500,000 to $1.5 million.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was quick to defend her fellow Democrats.
“It is absolutely unconscionable that Speaker Boehner is tripling the cost for his legal boondoggle to defend the indefensible Defense of Marriage Act,” Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said Tuesday in a news release.
“At a time when Americans are hurting and job creation should be the top priority, it just shows how out of touch House Republicans have become that they would spend up to $1.5 million dollars to defend discrimination in our country,” he added.
Boehner’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Yeah I bet he didn't.
Via JMG: Boehner Triples DOMA Legal Budget
House Speaker John Boenher has tripled the allocation to defend DOMA to a possible $1.5M. A modified contract between the General Counsel to the House of Representatives and former Solicitor General Paul Clement of Bancroft PLLC sets a cap of $750,000 which can be raised up to $1.5 million. "It is absolutely unconscionable that Speaker Boehner is tripling the cost for his legal boondoggle to defend the indefensible Defense of Marriage Act," Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, said in a statement. "At a time when Americans are hurting and job creation should be the top priority, it just shows how out of touch House Republicans have become that they would spend up to $1.5 million dollars to defend discrimination in our country," Hammill continued.Rep. Jerrold Nadler reacts via press release:
“In the current climate of Republican-sponsored deficit hysteria, draconian spending cuts, and an ongoing recession in which Americans are still awaiting congressional leadership on jobs and mortgage relief, it is shocking and supremely hypocritical for Republican Leadership to spend additional taxpayer dollars on the unwarranted, unconstitutional and unnecessary defense of DOMA. It seems that the only jobs program the House is creating is one for high-priced lawyers to defend an unconscionable law.Freedom To Marry's Evan Wolfson:
“At a time when Americans are struggling through one of the worst economies in our nation's history, it is shameful that House Republicans are now tripling the spending of tax dollars - including those of gay and lesbian Americans - to defend a discriminatory anti-gay law that makes it even harder for committed gay and lesbian couples to take care of and protect their loved ones. The so-called Defense of Marriage Act is indefensible, and wasting tax dollars on perpetuating discrimination is unconscionable.”
Monday, October 3, 2011
Via JMG: ILLINOIS: Tea Party Marriage Defender Busted For Soliciting Prostitute
Last year when the news broke that Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) had cheated on his wife, Chicago Tea Party president Steve Stevlic went on a Twitter-fueled crusade to denounce the congressman for destroying the sanctity of his marriage. You all KNOW what comes next, right? TeaCon was supposed to be the culmination of all the work that Chicago Tea Party Director Stevan Stevlic put into building the party. But Stevlic, of Cicero, ended up skipping the event Saturday after news broke about his arrest for soliciting a prostitute more than a year ago. Stevan Stevlic, then 36, was arrested June 25, 2010, in the 1600 block of South Kilbourn for misdemeanor solicitation of prostitution, a police source confirmed to the Sun-Times Saturday. The arrest was first reported on the website Gawker, which said the charges were dropped after Stevlic agreed to participate in a rehab program.Stevlic has now locked his Twitter feed so nobody can screencap all that moral outrage directed at Rep. Jackson. (Tipped by JMG reader Rich)
Via JMG: Rachel Maddow Vs. Bryan Fischer
As I've noted here many times, most of the major GOP presidential candidates will appear at this year's Values Voter Summit, an event put on by the Family Research Council, an SPLC-certified hate group. Last week it was learned that American Family Association spokesbigot Bryan Fischer will immediately follow Mitt Romney on the convention's stage. In the clip below, Rachel Maddow picks up the story.
Start the clip at 3:00.
Labels: AFA, Bryan Fischer, Family Reseach Council, GOP, hate groups, Mitt Romney, Values Voters Summit
reposted from Joe
Via JMG: SCOTUS: Humanitarian Faith Groups Can Discriminate In Hiring Practices
The Supreme Court today refused to hear the appeal of a lower court's ruling that faith-based humanitarian organizations may legally refuse to hire those outside of their religion. The suit had been brought on behalf of several former employees of the massive Virgina-based evangelical group World Vision.
In August, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that World Vision could legally discriminate in hiring based on religious affiliation. The court, upholding a lower court ruling on a discrimination suit, said World Vision qualifies as a faith-based humanitarian organization and is exempt from the Civil Rights Act. The U.S. Supreme Court Monday affirmed that appeals court decision by refusing to hear the case. “Our Christian faith has been the foundation of our work since the organization was established in 1950, and our hiring policy is vital to the integrity of our mission to serve the poor as followers of Jesus Christ,” said Richard Stearns, World Vision U.S. president, in a statement.World Vision is an international relief agency with annual donations of over $2 billion. They have been accused of deceptive practices regarding their aid to poor children in foreign countries.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Via Pedantic Political Ponderings:
Praise: President Obama at the Human Rights Commission last night
Last night, President Obama spoke at the Human Rights Commission. The video begins with a speech by outgoing head of the HRC Joe Solmonese. Mr. Obama begins to speak at about 9:55 into the video.
Here are a few lines that caught my ear:
Every single American: gay, straight, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, every single American deserves to be treated equally in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of our society. It's a pretty simple proposition.
The President is, of course, correct. Equality is called for in the Founding Documents of the United States of America. It is a simple concept, but will not be a simple achievement.
The President went on to enumerate his important achievements on that path to full equality
- The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Law
- Executive Order that hospitals that accept Medicare must allow same gender partners as visitors
- Lifting of the HIV travel ban
- Comprehensive National Strategy to fight HIV/AIDS
- Repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT)
Via AmericaBlogGay: Obama castigates GOP prez candidates: Commander in Chief must support gay troops
The highlight of the President's speech at the Human Rights Campaign's annual dinner was his sharp rebuke of the GOP presidential candidates for refusing to say a word while several members of the audience at the last debate booed a gay soldier. Here's that snippet, from Igor Volsky of ThinkProgress:
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