Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Via JMG: TEXAS: 13 Year-Old Boy Commits Suicide After Years Of Anti-Gay Bullying


Eighth grader Asher Brown put a bullet in his brain this week after enduring years of anti-gay taunting and bullying at his Texas middle school. His parents say they complained to the school repeatedly. The school, of course, claims no knowledge of such complaints.
Cy Fair ISD officials said Monday that they never received any complaints from Brown's parents before the suicide about the way the boy was being treated at school. School district spokeswoman Kelli Durham said no students, school employees or the boy's parents ever reported that he was being bullied. That statement infuriated the Truongs, who accused the school district of protecting the bullies and their parents.

"That's absolutely inaccurate — it's completely false," Amy Truong said. "I did not hallucinate phone calls to counselors and assistant principals. We have no reason to make this up. … It's like they're calling us liars." David Truong said, "We want justice. The people here need to be held responsible and to be stopped. It did happen. There are witnesses everywhere." Numerous comments from parents and students on the Web site of KRIV-TV Channel 26, which also reported a story about Brown's death, stated that the boy had been bullied by classmates for several years and claimed Cy-Fair ISD does nothing to stop such harassment.
On the morning of his suicide, Asher told his parents that he was gay, but his stepfather says they were accepting of Asher's revelation. "We didn't condemn," he said. The day before, Asher had been tripped and pushed down a flight of stairs at his school. The school claims to have investigated that incident, but says they can find no corroboration.

Texas law does not protect students from anti-gay bullying, no doubt thanks to the work of Christianist groups like Focus On The Family, who lobby nationwide for the right of Christian students to abuse LGBT kids.


reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Atheists Know The Most About Religion


A survey testing Americans' knowledge about the religions of the world showed that atheists and agnostics know more than professed believers. Interestingly, some of the questions most frequently answered incorrectly were about the responders' own religions.
Forty-five percent of Roman Catholics who participated in the study didn't know that, according to church teaching, the bread and wine used in Holy Communion is not just a symbol, but becomes the body and blood of Christ. More than half of Protestants could not identify Martin Luther as the person who inspired the Protestant Reformation. And about four in 10 Jews did not know that Maimonides, one of the greatest rabbis and intellectuals in history, was Jewish. [snip]

Respondents to the survey were asked 32 questions with a range of difficulty, including whether they could name the Islamic holy book and the first book of the Bible, or say what century the Mormon religion was founded. On average, participants in the survey answered correctly overall for half of the survey questions. Atheists and agnostics scored highest, with an average of 21 correct answers, while Jews and Mormons followed with about 20 accurate responses. Protestants overall averaged 16 correct answers, while Catholics followed with a score of about 15.
The best predictor for religious knowledge, unsurprisingly, was level of education.


reposted from Joe

Via SacBee: NONBELIEVERS DO WELL ON TEST THAT MANY FLUB

SURVEY
  Religious question? Better ask an atheist
  NONBELIEVERS DO WELL ON TEST THAT MANY FLUB

  By Laurie Goodstein    New York Times 
   
Americans are by all measures a deeply religious people, but they are also deeply ignorant about religion.    Researchers from the independent Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life phoned more than 3,400 Americans and asked them 32 questions about the Bible, Christianity and other world religions, famous religious figures and the constitutional principles governing religion in public life.     

On average, people who took the survey answered half the questions incorrectly, and many flubbed even questions about their own faith.      
 
Those who scored the highest were atheists and agnostics, as well as two religious minorities: Jews and Mormons. The results were the same even after the researchers controlled for factors like age and racial differences.     

“Even after all these other factors, including education, are taken into account, atheists and agnostics, Jews and Mormons still outperform all the other religious groups in our survey,” said Greg Smith,     a senior researcher at Pew.     

That finding might surprise some, but not Dave Silver-man, president of American Atheists, an advocacy group for nonbelievers that was founded by Madalyn Murray O’Hair.     

“I have heard many times that atheists know more about religion than religious people,” Silverman said. “Atheism is an effect of that knowledge, not a lack of knowledge. I gave a Bible to my daughter. That’s how you make atheists.”     

Among the topics covered in the survey were: Where was Jesus born? What is Ramadan? Whose writings inspired the Protestant Reformation? Which Biblical figure led the exodus from Egypt? What religion is the Dalai Lama? Joseph Smith? Mother Teresa? In most cases, the format was multiple choice.       

The researchers said that the questionnaire was designed to represent a breadth of knowledge about religion but was not intended to be regarded as a list of the most essential facts about the subject. Most of the questions were easy, but a few were difficult enough to discern which respondents were highly knowledgeable.     

On questions about the Bible and Christianity, the groups that answered the most right were Mormons and white evangelical Protestants.     

On questions about world religions, like Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Judaism, the groups that did the best were atheists, agnostics and Jews.       

One finding that may grab the attention of policymakers is that most Americans wrongly believe that anything having to do with religion is prohibited in public schools.     

An overwhelming 89 percent of respondents, asked whether public school teachers are permitted to lead a class in prayer, correctly answered no.     

But fewer than one in four knew that a public school teacher is permitted “to read from the Bible as an example of literature.” And only about one-third knew that a public school teacher is permitted to offer a class comparing the world’s religions.       

The survey’s authors concluded that there was “widespread confusion” about “the line between teaching and preaching.”     

Smith said the survey appeared to be the first comprehensive effort at assessing the basic religious knowledge of Americans, so it is impossible to tell whether they are more or less informed than in the past.    The phone interviews were conducted in English and Spanish in May and June. 

There were not enough Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu respondents to say how those   groups ranked.    Clergy members who are concerned that their congregants know little about the essentials of their own faith will no doubt be appalled by some of these findings:     

Fifty-three percent of Protestants could not identify Martin Luther as the man who started the Protestant Reformation.    

Forty-five percent of Catholics did not know that their church teaches that the consecrated bread and wine in Holy Communion are not merely symbols but actually become the body and blood of Christ.      
 
Forty-three percent of Jews did not know that Maimonides, one of the foremost rabbinical authorities and philosophers, was Jewish.     

The question about Maimonides was the one that the fewest people answered correctly. But 51 percent knew that Joseph Smith was Mormon, and 82 percent knew that Mother Teresa was Roman Catholic.   

Via Adam & Andy:

Monday, September 27, 2010

Via JMG: HomoQuotable - Andrew Sullivan


"Many of us fought for years to construct a conservatism that treated gay people as individuals and as equal citizens. We fought, as GOProud does, to rebut the notion that being gay means being a socialist or a leftist. But we also fought to have core civil equality recognized - in military service and marriage, and we fought against an agenda that placed gay victimology at its center. What GOProud has done, in inviting this woman, is much more than that: it is to invite someone who actively opposes our civil equality - equal rights, not special rights - and whose record of anti-gay bigotry is as plain as the collar bones on her shoulders." - Andrew Sullivan on Ann Coulter's Homocon appearance.


reposted from Joe

Friday, September 24, 2010

Via HRC:

Joe's Weekly Message
Dear Daniel,
Tuesday's temporary set-back on the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) reaffirmed two fundamental concepts of American politics: elections have consequences and just one vote can make the difference.
Scott Brown's election earlier this year meant that Senate Democrats lost the all-important 60 vote majority needed to break gridlock-motivated Republican filibusters and force votes. The consequence of only having 59 votes is that the Democrats' agenda is virtually always in peril because of the political aims of Republicans; a matter made exponentially worse 45 days from an election.
That's where we got caught Tuesday when the Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid moved to break a Republican filibuster and force the consideration of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that includes the repeal of DADT.
We learned this morning via the Washington Blade that Republicans' real opposition to the bill was not that Senator Reid had limited amendments as they publicly screeched. Republicans called it an affront to the rights of the party in the minority in spite of the fact that they had done the exact same thing plenty of times when they were in the majority. It turns out that wasn’t the real reason at all.
According to Obama campaign manager David Plouffe, the reason for their opposition to the repeal of DADT is because it would hurt the turnout of conservative voters in November. Knowing full well that the votes were there to repeal DADT if it got to the floor, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell did what all good cowards do: he figured out a way for the bill not to be voted on by convincing his caucus that it would have election-year ramifications. Absolutely shameless.
If there's a silver lining at all in this story, it's that even Senator McConnell believes DADT will be repealed. According to Plouffe, McConnell told senators, "We'll do it in December," when Congress comes back into session following the mid-term elections.

So in spite of the fact that we're at war and the bill authorizes important weapons systems and the construction of military installations, and in spite of the fact that the bill contains a pay raise for our troops and that nearly 80% of Americans support repeal of DADT, election year politics won out.

Make no mistake about it: this was a setback, not a defeat. As long as DADT is on the books, giving up is not an option. Senator Reid has committed to bring the bill back up in the lame duck session of Congress. We are quite bullish that it can and will get done then.
In the meantime, remember what happened to us this past Tuesday when you consider your involvement in this November’s elections. Elections, my friends, do in fact have consequences.
Joe Solmonese
Joe Solmonese
President, Human Rights Campaign

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Via JMG: DADT WIN: Federal Judge Orders Reinstatement Of Major Margaret Witt


In another win in the battle to overturn DADT, late this afternoon a federal court ordered the reinstatement of Air Force Major Margaret Witt, who was suspended just before her retirement date in 2004 after her superiors learned she is a lesbian. Today's decision only applies to Major Witt's case.
A federal judge ruled Friday that a decorated flight nurse discharged from the Air Force for being gay should be given her job back as soon as possible in the latest legal setback to the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. The decision by U.S. District Judge Ronald Leighton came in a closely watched case as a tense debate has been playing out over the policy. Senate Republicans blocked an effort to lift the ban this week, but two federal judges have ruled against the policy in recent weeks. Maj. Margaret Witt was discharged under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy and sued to get her job back. A judge in 2006 rejected Witt's claims that the Air Force violated her rights when it fired her. An appeals court panel overruled him two years later, leaving it to Leighton to determine whether her firing met that standard.
Witt was represented by the ACLU. Read the decision here (PDF.) Reactions to the decision are below.

Human Rights Campaign

“By reinstating Major Witt, a decorated Air Force nurse discharged under ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ another federal court has demonstrated once again that this discriminatory law does not contribute to our nation’s security or defense,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese. “Had Major Witt been discharged in any other circuit in the country, she would not had her day in court. It is time for Congress and the Administration to recognize that his failed law should be removed from the books once and for all.”
Servicemembers United
"Yet another judge has taken yet another righteous, historic, and courageous stand against a discriminatory and unconstitutional law," said Alexander Nicholson, founder and Executive Director of Servicemembers United. "Major Witt's case is a clear-cut one in which her discharge itself actually harmed unit cohesion, morale, and combat readiness." This legal victory against the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law is the second this month, with a judge in Riverside, California previously declaring the entire "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law unconstitutional in a facial challenge to the law brought by the Log Cabin Republicans. Major Witt's victory will apply only to her own discharge, but the precedent set with this decision and the previous appellate court ruling in this case on the standard to be used in deciding on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" discharges all contribute to a significant shift in how courts appear to be viewing and treating the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law.
More reactions will be added to this post as they arrive.


reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Libertarian Party To Gays: Leave Your Abusive Democratic "Spouse" And Join Us


The Libertarian Party has launched a campaign to lure gay voters, saying, "Like abused spouses who keep returning to their aggressors, gay voters keep handing their votes to the Democrats who abuse them." The statement continues:
The Libertarian Party (LP) wants to break this self-destructive behavior and offers LGBT voters a better alternative. LP Chairman Mark Hinkle said, "Exit polls indicate that Democrats get over 70% of LGBT votes in federal elections. Those voters must really love the Democrats' rhetoric, because they certainly aren't seeing any action. "President Obama and the Democrats had almost a year of complete control of the federal government: the Presidency, the House, and a filibuster-proof 60 votes in the Senate.

"They could have repealed 'don't ask don't tell.' They could have gotten rid of the Defense of Marriage Act. But they didn't do either of those things. That's a complete and total betrayal of all the promises they made to gay and lesbian voters for years. "After a carefully orchestrated failure in the Senate, the Democrats are now blaming Republicans for blocking the repeal of 'don't ask don't tell.' Of course, three Democrats just voted against it too, including Majority Leader Harry Reid. Reid claims he voted for procedural reasons, but the whole situation seems calculated to look like they're trying to help, while making sure they don't actually help." Unlike the Democratic and Republican Parties, the Libertarian Party believes that gays and lesbians deserve equal treatment under the law.
The statement concludes that the Libertarian Party "neither supports nor opposes gay relationships."

Obviously the Libertarian Party seeks to capitalize on LGBT disenchantment with the Obama administration and further splinter the gay vote to the benefit of the GOP. Nothing more, nothing less. Most self-described libertarian candidates, of course, actually run on the GOP ticket. (Witness today's post about Colorado's Stephen Bailey.) Virtually no officially Libertarian candidate ever becomes viable in a general election. Talk about throwing your vote away!

But just for the sake of argument, let's tick off the official Libertarian agenda as posted on their website:

1. Abolish welfare.
2. Abolish Social Security.
3. Abolish the IRS.
4. Abolish the FDA.
5. Allow insurance companies to exclude any disease.
6. Dismantle the public school system.
7. Allow machine gun ownership and open-carry anywhere.
8. End foreign aid to starving nations.
9. Sell all national parks to private groups.

To be fair, the Libertarian Party does have reasonable positions on immigration reform, privacy, and the war on drugs. But the essential takeaway from reading their platform is this: "If you are impoverished, starving, desperately ill, unemployed, or uneducated...tough shit. Don't come to the government with your lazy unpatriotic hand out. Every American for himself. Get the fuck out of here."


reposted from Joe

LAVENDER ANGELS RETURN TO THE HEIGHTS

LAVENDER ANGELS RETURN TO THE HEIGHTS


 Lavender Angels

"Volunteering for a Safer Community"

Lavender Angels, found in many gay communities, were last seen here in the 1990's.  Following concerns about the safety and comfort of our public, the group has been revived here in Lavender Heights.  Spearheaded by the Center, an alliance is being formed with midtown community agencies including the Center, the Midtown Business Association, and the Sacramento Police Department.  Volunteers are being recruited and were first seen at the Rainbow Festival.   Their official debut is planned for Second Saturday in October. 

They plan to be on area streets on Friday and Saturday nights between 9:00 and bar closing times, and during special events in the area.  They will be visible, and will be extra eyes for law enforcement and security personnel.  They will be in close touch with Sacramento Police officers in the area and will coordinate with bar security personnel.  The Sacramento Police Department will provide training for the volunteers, the first Safety Seminar to be held in October.   Their official debut is planned for Second Saturday in October.

If you have been in midtown at night recently, you will know that the area is bustling on weekend nights with heavy pedestrian traffic in areas such as 20th Street between I and L Streets.  The vision is to promote a safe experience in the area for patrons enjoying the conviviality offered through the area businesses.  Active recruitment of volunteers is underway. 

For more information, contact: Lavender.Angels@SacCenter.org.  
 

Via JMG: DOJ To Judge: Keep Enforcing DADT


In response to the federal court ruling that DADT is unconstitutional, late this afternoon the Department of Justice filed a brief in support of keep the ban on openly gay servicemembers. Via Advocate:
In a 14-page brief, Justice Department attorneys argued that a permanent injunction against enforcing the 17-year-old law — one supported by Log Cabin Republicans, which successfully challenged DADT in federal court and has argued for an immediate halt of DADT enforcement throughout the armed forces — would be "untenable." "[A]ny injunction in this case must be limited to plaintiff LCR and the claims it asserts on behalf of its members – and cannot extend to non-parties – plaintiff’s requested world-wide injunction of the statute fails as a threshold matter," assistant U.S. attorney Paul Freeborne wrote.

Among the government’s arguments, Freeborne wrote that an injunction would preclude the government both from litigating other legal challenges to DADT and considering the terms of a stay barring discharges of gay and lesbian service members. An immediate halt of discharges would jeopardize successful implementation of repeal, by interfering with the “ability of the Department of Defense to develop necessary policies, regulations, and training and guidance to accommodate a change in the DADT law and policy,” the government argues.
The White House has issued the following statement.
Today, the Department of Justice made a filing in a legal challenge to the Don't Ask, Don't tell (DADT) policy, as it traditionally does when acts of Congress are challenged. This filing in no way diminishes the President's firm commitment to achieve a legislative repeal of DADT -- indeed, it clearly shows why Congress must act to end this misguided policy. The President was disappointed earlier this week when a majority of the Senate was willing to proceed with National Defense Authorization Act, but political posturing created a 60 vote threshold. The President spoke out against DADT in his first State of the Union Address, and the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs have both testified in support of repeal. And the Department of Defense continues to work on a plan on how to implement repeal. The President, along with his Administration, will continue to work with the Senate Leadership to achieve a legislative repeal of DADT as outlined in the NDAA this fall.
Here's the DOJ's full brief.
DOJ DADT Injunction 
reposted from Joe

Via Pey: The Week Club Presents AcquaPlay * Made in Brazil

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Via JMG: Samoan Clerics: Homosexuals Are Causing Global Climate Change


Clerics of an unnamed Christian denomination informed attendees at a University of the South Pacific conference on climate change in Samoa that homosexuals are responsible for global warming.
Academics were apparently thrown off their consideration of "Arts in the Age of Global Warming" and "Ecology in Poetry / Poetry in Ecology" by reports of Church Ministers who maintained that climate change in Samoa are clearly attributable to to homosexuals. The revelation prompted one attendee USP student, Shaiza Janif, to opine: "We need to educate our ministers and not turn this into an agenda." Details of exactly how the ministers think homosexuals are pumping more CO2 into the atmosphere, thereby trapping heat around the planet, driving up the average temperature and causing massive economic and environmental dislocation are scant.
Tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and now the melting of the polar ice caps. We are truly a fearsomely fabulous force. Points to the UK's Register for their headline: Samoan Clerics Finger Homosexuals Over Global Warming.
reposted from Joe

via jmg: Bill Clinton: I Regret DADT


Saying that he only reluctantly signed DADT into law when it became clear that Congress would impose an outright ban on gays in the military if he didn't, former President Bill Clinton told CBS News last night that he regretted his role in the creation of the bill. He also said that former Joint Chiefs Chairman Colin Powell was deceptive about how DADT would work. Transcript via the Advocate:
“Don't Ask, Don't Tell was only adopted when both Houses of Congress had voted by a huge veto-proof margin to legislate the absolute ban on gays in the military if I didn't do something else. So there's been a lot of rewriting history saying Bill Clinton just gave into that. That's just factually false. I didn't do anything until the votes were counted. Now, when Colin Powell sold me on Don't Ask, Don't Tell, here's what he said it would be: Gay service members would never get in trouble for going to gay bars, marching in gay rights parades as long as they weren't in uniform. That was what they were promised. That's a very different Don't Ask, Don't Tell than we got."

reposted from Joe