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.
Two U.S. Marines were arrested yesterday for beating a gay man near downtown Savannah, Georgia. The victim remains hospitalized after suffering two seizures at the site of the attack.
About 3:45 a.m., a metro police officer was patrolling when he saw two men running on Congress Lane. Moments later, the officer received a call about a man at Congress and Bull streets unconscious on the ground. The officer rushed to the intersection and found 26-year-old Kieran Daly motionless with friends performing first aid, a report stated. The officer caught up with the two men who were running away, identified as Keil Joseph Cronauer, 22, and Christopher Charles Stanzel, 23. Police records show both men are stationed at Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort, S.C. Cronauer and Stanzel told police they were being harassed by a gay man and wanted to get away from him.
But witnesses painted a different picture, according to the report. They told police one of the men grew angry because he thought Daly was winking at him and struck Daly in the back of the head with his fist, knocking him unconscious. Saturday night, from his bed at Memorial University Medical Center, Daly insisted he tried to convince the Marines he was not winking at them. "The guy thought I was winking at him," Daly said. "I told him, 'I was squinting, man. ... I'm tired.'" Daly said one of the men told him he demanded respect because he served in Iraq. And at least one hurled slurs at him as he tried to walk away. "That's the last thing I remember is walking away," Daly said.
The attackers have only been charged with misdemeanor assault.
Media giant Clear Channel has rejected two of the four billboards purchased to promote St. Petersburg, Florida's gay pride event. Only the billboards in which the models appear physically affectionate (the top two above) were rejected.
In an email to Clear Channel Outdoor, St. Pete Pride Executive Director Chris Rudisill wrote, "the images that were not selected do not contain anything that is sexual, immoral, illegal or otherwise offensive in nature." "I'm almost certain that you have had billboards in the market which display men and women in both friendly and romantic ways," he continued. "I can't seem to understand where these images would be any different, except for the fact that they portray two men and two women, respectively." St. Pete Pride is preparing to host its eighth annual festival to promote unity and a positive image of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) people around Tampa Bay. In past years, Clear Channel has edited St. Pete Pride's submitted messages, but this year, the organization says it submitted much-less controversial billboards. "St. Pete Pride is determined to focus its message on the family aspect of the GLBT community," said Rudisill in a press release. "Therefore, (we) would not allow Clear Channel to dictate what message we could convey."
Los Angeles Pride grand marshals Kelly and Sharon Osbourne ripped into some anti-gay protesters as their float passed them by yesterday.
The anti-gay group came right up to Sharon and Kelly midway through the parade, and Sharon stood her ground. "You should be ashamed of yourselves," she said over the loud speaker. "Kelly went to the mic and told the crowd, 'My God loves Gays'," an eyewitness tells RadarOnline.com. She then led the crowd into a chant of "God loves Gays." It was so loud it drowned out the protesters.
The federal trial over California's same-sex marriage ban heads to one full day of closing arguments Wednesday, with gay couples' attorneys expressing confidence that they've made a strong case that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.
“As mayor I must respect the lifestyle choices of others, no matter how disagreeable they are with my personal beliefs or my personal moral standards. I apologize for my comments at the Memorial Day service at Desert Lawn cemetery on Memorial Day.” - Yuma, Arizona Mayor Al Krieger, offer an unapologetic "apology" for saying that "limp-wristed" homos don't belong in the military.
Homosexuality is a product of biological evolution, thus, homosexuals have been an integral part of human society from the beginning, presumably fully participating in parenting, supporting families, providing political strength, and probably a large number of other evolutionary advantages. It will be important to try to find archelogical evidence, ***which no one has probably been thinking about***.
The exclusion of homosexuals creates an unnatural emptiness, and throws off the balance and proper integration of a society.
Today Iceland's parliament voted unanimously to legalize gay marriage!
Iceland, the only country in the world to have an openly gay head of state, passed a law on Friday allowing same-sex partners to get married in a vote which met with no political resistance. The Althingi parliament voted 49 to zero to change the wording of marriage legislation to include matrimony between "man and man, woman and woman," in addition to unions between men and women. Iceland, a socially tolerant island nation of about 320,000 people, became the first country to elect an openly gay head of state in 2009 when Social Democrat Johanna Sigurdardottir became prime minister after being nominated by her party. "The attitude in Iceland is fairly pragmatic," said Gunnar Helgi Kristinsson, a political scientist at the University of Iceland. "It (gay marriage) has not been a big issue in national politics -- it's not been controversial."
As we navigate an extremely challenging time in our nation's history, a passionate national discussion about the role and scope of government action has unfolded. Opinions about what government means run across a wide spectrum, and rightly so. In many cases, as we have witnessed over the past week, government can be used to make enormously positive changes.
This week, HRC released a study of healthcare facilities nationwide, surveying the policies and practices that affect the LGBT community. Although there were notable high achievers like Kaiser Permanente in the mix, the overall picture was less positive, with most hospitals lacking non-discrimination policies that include our entire community.
Equal care in hospitals has long been a pressing concern in our community, and our findings demonstrate why. Fortunately, the federal government is mandating that hospitals nationwide adopt non-discriminatory, inclusive visitation policies and reinforcing those hospitals' obligation to respect advanced healthcare directives and other medical decision-making documents. This development is the result of the President's April 15 memorandum protecting the rights of LGBT people in health care settings. Also, the Joint Commission, the body that certifies and accredits healthcare facilities nationwide, recently announced that fully inclusive non-discrimination standards would be added to their certification process. These two developments are important steps toward healthcare equality.
This week, we also learned that the administration has taken action on two recommendations from HRC's Blueprint for Positive Change. The Justice Department clarified that criminal provisions of the Violence Against Women Act, a key federal domestic violence statute, should be equally applied to LGBT people. In addition, the State Department instituted a new policy, effective immediately, which establishes a less burdensome standard for transgender applicants to change their gender marker on a passport. The federal government's move to improve health care for our community, include LGBT people in our nation's domestic violence laws and establish more respectful passport policies for transgender Americans are examples of our government working for the people.
It is clear that our government can do great good. The way that this will continue to be the case – and the only way that we will avoid government's often negative instincts – is to be actively involved. Whether it be by our active participation in the November elections, our public opposition to discrimination at all levels, or the relationships that we develop with policy makers and elected officials, we must be involved. It's a responsibility that we owe to our democracy and future generations.
Extra, Extra, Read All About It - Extensive Coverage of Mormon Church 13 Count Guilty Finding and Fine!
Below are just some of the many news reports on the unprecedented 13 guilty counts against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) by the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) which was approved yesterday in Sacramento.
I filed the original complaint against the Mormon Church on November 13, 2008 which led to this investigation. Special thanks go out to everyone at the FPPC for all the hard work that this investigation entailed.
The worldwide coverage is still pouring in, so keep checking our web site Californians Against Hate: click here
Here’s the New York Times story by Malia Wollan in its entirety, and links to just some of the other coverage of this happy ending to the FPPC’s 19 month investigation into the Mormon Church’s financial support for California's Proposition 8.
Thank you to Joe Solmonese and the Human Rights Campaign for breaking the story and all their support (release below)!
June 9, 2010, 5:47 pm
Mormon Church Agrees to Pay Campaign Finance Fine By MALIA WOLLAN
SAN FRANCISCO — The Mormon Church has agreed to pay a fine of slightly more than $5,000 for failing to report some campaign staff contributions it made in support of Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that outlawed same-sex marriage.
According to the Fair Political Practices Commission’s Web site, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints “failed to timely report making late non-monetary contributions totaling $36,928.” The commission had requested the church pay $5,539 in fines, which it has done, and the commission will meet to vote on finalizing the penalty on Thursday in Sacramento.
In a statement, the church claimed that all the contributions it made in support of Proposition 8, “were reported to the appropriate authorities in California.” But it admitted that in the last two weeks of the highly contested campaign, it “mistakenly overlooked the daily reporting requirement for non-monetary contributions,” which would include things like staff time. The church’s statement called the reporting failure an “oversight” and thanked the commission for its “fairness and consideration” in dealing with the matter.
The commission began their investigation into the Mormon Church’s contributions after a complaint was filed by Fred Karger, founder of the group Californians Against Hate, asserting that the church failed to fully disclose the time and money it spent on Proposition 8, which passed with 52 percent of the vote.
On Wednesday, Mr. Karger — who is openly gay and has expressed interest in running for the 2012 Republican nomination for president — sounded satisfied with the commission’s expected decision.
“The Mormon church has been leading the charge to create constitutional amendments to take away marriage equality from gay and lesbian people all over this country and they’ve been doing it dishonestly and in the dark of night,” said Mr. Karger, who referred to the situation as “Mormon-gate” when reached by phone. “I blew the whistle and they got caught for violating the law,” he said.
Extra, Extra, Read All About It - Extensive Coverage of Mormon Church 13 Count Guilty Finding and Fine!
Below are just some of the many news reports on the unprecedented 13 guilty counts against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) by the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) which was approved yesterday in Sacramento.
I filed the original complaint against the Mormon Church on November 13, 2008 which led to this investigation. Special thanks go out to everyone at the FPPC for all the hard work that this investigation entailed.
The worldwide coverage is still pouring in, so keep checking our web site Californians Against Hate: click here
Here’s the New York Times story by Malia Wollan in its entirety, and links to just some of the other coverage of this happy ending to the FPPC’s 19 month investigation into the Mormon Church’s financial support for California's Proposition 8.
Thank you to Joe Solmonese and the Human Rights Campaign for breaking the story and all their support (release below)!
June 9, 2010, 5:47 pm
Mormon Church Agrees to Pay Campaign Finance Fine By MALIA WOLLAN
SAN FRANCISCO — The Mormon Church has agreed to pay a fine of slightly more than $5,000 for failing to report some campaign staff contributions it made in support of Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that outlawed same-sex marriage.
According to the Fair Political Practices Commission’s Web site, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints “failed to timely report making late non-monetary contributions totaling $36,928.” The commission had requested the church pay $5,539 in fines, which it has done, and the commission will meet to vote on finalizing the penalty on Thursday in Sacramento.
In a statement, the church claimed that all the contributions it made in support of Proposition 8, “were reported to the appropriate authorities in California.” But it admitted that in the last two weeks of the highly contested campaign, it “mistakenly overlooked the daily reporting requirement for non-monetary contributions,” which would include things like staff time. The church’s statement called the reporting failure an “oversight” and thanked the commission for its “fairness and consideration” in dealing with the matter.
The commission began their investigation into the Mormon Church’s contributions after a complaint was filed by Fred Karger, founder of the group Californians Against Hate, asserting that the church failed to fully disclose the time and money it spent on Proposition 8, which passed with 52 percent of the vote.
On Wednesday, Mr. Karger — who is openly gay and has expressed interest in running for the 2012 Republican nomination for president — sounded satisfied with the commission’s expected decision.
“The Mormon church has been leading the charge to create constitutional amendments to take away marriage equality from gay and lesbian people all over this country and they’ve been doing it dishonestly and in the dark of night,” said Mr. Karger, who referred to the situation as “Mormon-gate” when reached by phone. “I blew the whistle and they got caught for violating the law,” he said.
Two U.S. Marines were arrested yesterday for beating a gay man near downtown Savannah, Georgia. The victim remains hospitalized after suffering two seizures at the site of the attack. 
