A personal blog by a graying (mostly Anglo with light African-American roots) gay left leaning liberal progressive married college-educated Buddhist Baha'i BBC/NPR-listening Professor Emeritus now following the Dharma in Minas Gerais, Brasil.
"CNN gave homosexual activists the gift of a free hour-long infomercial last night--in the form of a primetime special about homosexual parents called Gary and Tony Have a Baby. Actually, it should have been called Gary and Tony Buy a Baby. As viewers learned, the two homosexual men first purchase human eggs from an egg donor; use the sperm of one of them for in vitro fertilization; and finally rent the womb of a surrogate to bear the baby. The total cost runs a cool $160,000. The closest that host Soledad O'Brien came to raising an ethical question was to ask why the couple didn't adopt instead. Not once did they explain why the process involved 14 eggs and two embryos--but only one baby.
"It was obvious throughout the that these men are political activists for the homosexual cause (even using the newborn as a prop at a same-sex 'marriage' rally). Meanwhile, the only reference to people who oppose same-sex 'marriage' (which, incidentally, is at least 70 percent of the American population), was to express fear that one of them would physically harm the baby. Equally tragic, one of the men said that no one has ever given him a reason why their lifestyle choice is harmful. Here's one--they are deliberately and permanently depriving this child of a mother. CNN seems content to tug at the heartstrings rather than report the news. They imply that the "love" or affection that these men feel for each other and for the baby that they've manufactured is enough. Love is important, but it isn't sufficient. Social science proves that children suffer from not having a married mom and dad, so why is CNN promoting two people who would deliberately put their baby in that situation?" - Family Research Council douchenozzle Tony Perkins.
Talking Points Memohas uncovered an anti-gay newspaper insert published in 1994 by the wingnut party that GOP Senate candidate Sharron Angle belonged to at the time.
The far-right third party that Nevada GOP Senate candidate Sharron Angle called home in the 1990s supported abolishing "the debt money system" and ran a vitriolic anti-gay insert in state newspapers that portrays LGBT people -- or, as Angle's party called them, "sodomites" -- as child-molesting, HIV-carrying, Hell-bound freaks, according to documents obtained by TPM. As we reported earlier this month, Angle was a member of Nevada's Independent American Party, a Christian conservative-cum-libertarian third party, for at least six years while she was getting her feet wet in politics in the 1990s. Independent American Party members told us that Angle switched to be a Republican in 1997 out of political expediency as she was preparing to make a run for state-level office.[snip]
In 1994, the party attracted considerable controversy by placing a 16-page advertising insert in Nevada newspapers promoting an amendment to the state constitution that would explicitly permit discrimination against LGBT people by businesses and government. Janine Hansen, the current executive director of the party and the editor of the '94 insert, told TPM earlier this month that "in general [Angle] agreed with our position on the issues." The ad insert, which approvingly cites an 1814 legal treatise titled "Consequences of Sodomy: Ruin of a Nation," is a digest of articles that refer to LGBT people alternately as "homosexuals," "sodomites," and "brazen perverts." The insert includes virtually every homophobic myth ever conceived. Sample headlines include: "Homosexual Curriculum In The First Grade" ... "Flawed Science Nurtures Genetic Origin For Homosexuality" ... "No Constitutional Right To Be A Sodomite."
The insert cited lies from discredited anti-gay "researcher" Dr. Paul Cameron and made the claim that HIV can survive in water.
Grand Rapids, Michigan (CNN) -- My partner and I recently took our mothers to Las Vegas for a week for Mother's Day. It's not our favorite city, but for a pair of 60-somethings who can sit at the penny slot machines for hours, it was heaven.
When they were not being robbed by one-armed bandits, we saw a couple of shows and had some amazing dinners. We also enjoyed trying to figure out which women were hookers and which were just dressed like one. And of course saying "public drunkenness" is pretty redundant after 11 a.m.
The 2010 Texas Republican Party Platform says gay people shouldn't have custody of children.1
It says issuing a marriage license or performing a marriage ceremony for a same-sex couple should be punishable by jail time.2
It wants to restore 19th-century Texas statutes outlawing sex between men.3
It's one thing for extremist groups to spout this type of bigotry. But one of the nation's two main political parties? That's taking it WAY too far.
The Republican National Committee is trying to avoid the issue, but a huge public outcry can force them to take sides. Is this really what they want voters to think the GOP stands for as the 2010 elections approach?
At a time when Americans are looking for real solutions to the challenges we face, the Texas GOP decided to focus on propaganda, not policy:
"Homosexuality tears at the fabric of society, contributes to the breakdown of the family unit, and leads to the spread of dangerous, communicable diseases."
"Homosexuality must not be presented as an acceptable 'alternative' lifestyle in our public education and policy, nor should 'family' be redefined to include homosexual 'couples.'"
"We oppose the recognition of and granting of benefits to people who represent themselves as domestic partners without being legally married."
They're not just against marriage equality; they're against basic equal rights. They think it should be 100% legal to fire someone for being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT). Even their word choice shows a possible anti-transgender bias, using the phrases "natural man" and "natural woman." The list goes on – far beyond the usual Republican talking points on "traditional family values" and even the GOP platforms in other conservative states.
And they don't stop with attacking LGBT citizens. They also call for evicting the United Nations from the U.S., requiring drivers' licenses to indicate citizenship, opposing legislation to allow stem cell research, rescinding no-fault divorce laws, reversing Roe v. Wade, and shutting down the U.S. Department of Education.
I want to be clear: HRC is a bipartisan organization. We've endorsed Republican candidates for election. So this isn't about party politics – it's about deep intolerance that deserves to be rejected.
1. "We are opposed to any granting of special legal entitlements, refuse to recognize, or grant special privileges including, but not limited to...custody of children by homosexuals..." [sic]
2. "We support legislation that would make it a felony to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple and for any civil official to perform a marriage ceremony for such."
3. "We oppose the legalization of sodomy. We demand that Congress exercise its authority granted by the U.S. Constitution to withhold jurisdiction from the federal courts from cases involving sodomy. "
This link is specific to you, so please take action on this campaign before you forward to your friends. Having trouble clicking on the links above? Simply copy and paste this URL into your browser's address bar to fill out and share the survey: http://www.hrcactioncenter.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&id=885
GOP Senate nominee Sharron Angle won't talk to the mainstream press about her calls to withdraw from the UN, abolish Social Security, and shut down the EPA. She's also warned of "Second Amendment remedies" if the teabaggers don't come to power in 2010.
The U.S. Supreme Court has just ruled that anti-gay activists in Washington state MUST make public the names on Referendum 71. Protect Marriage wanted to keep the names secret, claiming they feared retribution from "violent homofascists." The ruling (PDF) was 8-1, with Justice Clarence Thomas dissenting.
Justices ruled in a case called Doe V. Reed. They heard oral arguments in Washington, D.C., April 28. The conservative group that tried to block release of the signatures wanted the nation's high court to uphold a lower court ruling that said signing petitions and referendum is constitutionally protected political speech - which by law is OK to engage in anonymously. The group, Protect Marriage Washington, asked justices to shield the names of the 138,000 people who signed Referendum 71 petitions in hopes of overturning the "everything but marriage" same-sex domestic partner law. In November Washington voters upheld the new statute. Gay rights groups have said they'll post the petition signers' names online, and some fear harassment or threats if their names are revealed.
The Court's decision, of course, has far-reaching implications for the transparency of the referendum process and campaign finance laws nationwide. SO SUCK IT, NOM! This is a GREAT day for LGBT Americans and the democratic process.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told an audience of LGBT State Department workers that she is working to end discrimination against gays and lesbians at home and abroad.
Clinton said, “We reaffirm our commitment to protect and advance the rights of all human beings, of members of the LGBT community around the world.”
“Men and women are harassed, beaten, subjected to sexual violence, even killed, because of who they are and whom they love,” she added. “Some are driven from their homes or countries, and many who become refugees confront new threats in their countries of asylum. In some places, violence against the LGBT community is permitted by law and inflamed by public calls to violence; in others, it persists insidiously behind closed doors.
“These dangers are not “gay” issues. This is a human rights issue.”
(Washington) President Barack Obama is chipping away at his long list of promises to gay voters but has yet to earn the enthusiastic backing of the reliably Democratic voting bloc.
The Obama White House has accomplished more than any other on gay rights, yet has drawn sharp criticism from an unexpected constituency: the same gay activists who backed the president’s election campaign. Instead of the sweeping change gays and lesbians had sought, a piece-by-piece approach has been the administration’s favored strategy, drawing neither serious fire from conservatives nor lavish praise from activists.
U.S. Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, Eric Schwartz, spoke today about the State Department's attempts to improve the handling of asylum requests by LGBT refugees. Schwartz was speaking at the State Department's LGBT Pride Month reception and this video was posted to their official YouTube channel.
RELATED: Good As You has Secretary Clinton's Pride Month message. An excerpt:
Think about what’s happening to people as we speak today. Men and women are harassed, beaten, subjected to sexual violence, even killed, because of who they are and whom they love. Some are driven from their homes or countries, and many who become refugees confront new threats in their countries of asylum. In some places, violence against the LGBT community is permitted by law and inflamed by public calls to violence; in others, it persists insidiously behind closed doors. These dangers are not “gay” issues. This is a human rights issue. (Applause.) Just as I was very proud to say the obvious more than 15 years ago in Beijing that human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights, well, let me say today that human rights are gay rights and gay rights are human rights, once and for all. (Applause.)
In a discussion about the FDA ban on gay blood donations on today's episode of The View, guest moderator D.L. Hughley brought up the issue of black men on the down-low, prompting openly gay NBC anchor Thomas Roberts to reveal that he didn't come out until the age of 27, but never dated men and women at the same time. In 2005 Roberts testified against the priest who had molested him a boy, helping send the man to prison.
Ten year-old Will Phillips, who made national news last year when he refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance until LGBT people have full equality, will be the Grand Marshal of Northwest Arkansas Pride.
"It's wrong for anyone to be treated differently just because of the way they are born," said Phillips, who declares himself as an ambassador for equal rights. Will's name may sound familiar because he was the West Fork student who decided not to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance this past fall. Will said he didn't stand because not everyone is being treated equal. He will be the parade's youngest grand marshal ever, but he said age shouldn't make a difference. "Because I'm a person, I may be 10, but I'm a person," said Will. The parade is put on by NMA Pride. They said they are aware Will's age could be an issue, but he's no ordinary 10-year-old. "He's literally the last half of the year been all over the country and spoken to thousands of people," said Jay Phillips, Will's father. NWA Pride also said they market their parade a little differently than some of the other pride parades around the country. "We're not San Francisco, New York, we're pretty much a family affair, so it's pretty safe to be there," said Joney Harper, creator of NWA Pride.
Will's parents are taking a bit of a beating in the comments of the linked newspaper story. Give them a little support if you have a minute.
Federal employees will soon be allowed to take medical leave to care for the kids of their same-sex partners.
The policy will be set forth in a ruling to be issued Wednesday by the Labor Department’s wage and hour division, the officials said. Under a 1993 law, people who work for a company with 50 or more employees are generally entitled to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a newborn or for a spouse, son or daughter with “a serious health condition.” The new ruling indicates that an employee in a same-sex relationship can qualify for leave to care for the child of his or her partner, even if the worker has not legally adopted the child. The ruling, in a formal opinion letter, tackles a question not explicitly addressed in the 1993 law. It is one of many actions taken by the Obama administration to respond to the concerns of gay men and lesbians within the constraints of the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman as husband and wife
The new policy was developed with the help of the Human Rights Campaign.
"CNN gave homosexual activists the gift of a free hour-long infomercial last night--in the form of a primetime special about homosexual parents called Gary and Tony Have a Baby. Actually, it should have been called Gary and Tony Buy a Baby. As viewers learned, the two homosexual men first purchase human eggs from an egg donor; use the sperm of one of them for in vitro fertilization; and finally rent the womb of a surrogate to bear the baby. The total cost runs a cool $160,000. The closest that host Soledad O'Brien came to raising an ethical question was to ask why the couple didn't adopt instead. Not once did they explain why the process involved 14 eggs and two embryos--but only one baby.
