Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
7-Year-old Marriage Equality Advocate
In an effort to teach a 7-year-old boy named Malcolm the importance of improving the world around him, he was given $140 to donate to the charity of his choice.
After hearing a story on the radio about the mistreatment of gays and lesbians, he selected two charities — the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
In a letter to the center, Malcolm wrote, “I am sending you this money because I don’t think it’s fair that Gay people are not treated equally.”
The donation also included a note from Malcolm’s mother, who challenged the center to raise $27,000 in her son’s name. Center officials have launched a campaign to do just that, and they plan to send confirmation that the goal has been reached along with a “big thank you note.”
Click here for more information on donating.
Via JMG: Iowa House Gets Bill Allowing Broad Discrimination Against Married Gays
Folks, this one takes the cake. It would be legal for an Iowa business owner who cites religious beliefs to refuse to provide jobs, housing, goods or services to people involved in a marriage that violates his or her religious convictions, according to a bill an Iowa House subcommittee will consider on Wednesday. House Study Bill 50, called the Religious Conscience Protection Act, would allow a person, business or organization such as a charity or fraternal group to deny services without fear of facing a civil claim or lawsuit if they think doing so would validate or recognize same-sex relationships. The same-sex exclusion is by itself constitutionally troubling, several legal scholars and civil rights activists said. However, the bill is so broad that it would legalize a wide spectrum of other discriminatory acts, they said. They raised questions about whether services could be denied if, say, a Christian were married to a Jew or if a woman who is 60 married a man who is half her age and the couple could not procreate.Iowa's GOP House Speaker says the bill "has a shot" of passing. Our hero in the state Senate, Mike Gronstal, will likely block the bill from consideration there.
JMG Quote Of The Day - Ted Haggard
"The word marriage is a big deal to people of faith. We’ve made it sacred. That’s why I believe that churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples should have total freedom to have whatever types of unions they believe as godly. But I think that we as a democratic society, as a constitutional republic — if we don’t respect individual civil liberties, then we’re making a horrific mistake. The church is in the early stages of another ‘the earth is flat’ crisis. I say to all religious people that we should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry on the subject. Or we’re going to be embarrassed in another 10 or 20 years." - Ted Haggard, in this week's Advocate cover story.Monday, February 7, 2011
Via JMG: Billie Ray Martin - Sweet Suburban Disco
The fantastic Billie Ray Martin is back with Sweet Suburban Disco, a lovely electro number reminiscent of her stone late 80s club classics with Electribe 101 (Talking With Myself, Tell Me When The Fever Ended) and her 1995 global solo smash, Your Loving Arms. The new track and its remixes drop on iTunes on February 28th. (The remix by Erasure's Vince Clark is especially tasty.) Courtesy of Billie's U.S. promoters, here's a JMG sneak of the radio edit.
Sweet Suburban Disco - radio edit by billie ray martin
Joe says,
RELATED: Back in '95, I somehow saw Billie perform Your Loving Arms three nights in a row at clubs in three different cities: South Beach's Club 1235/Paragon/Level, some forgotten place in West Palm Beach, and at Fort Lauderdale's The Stud, which was the best leather disco that ever used to be a Red Lobster. I wasn't stalking her, I just went out a really, really lot in those days.
reposted from Joe
Via AmericaBlog: On Reagan's 'shameful abdication of leadership in the fight against AIDS'
Today would have been Ronald Reagan's 100th birthday. All of official DC (The Villagers), GOPers and right-wingers in general are rewriting the history of Reagan's presidency. Check out Mike Stark's conversation with Limbaugh.
As America remembers the life of Ronald Reagan, it must never forget his shameful abdication of leadership in the fight against AIDS. History may ultimately judge his presidency by the thousands who have and will die of AIDS.Indifference lead to death. Remember the slogan: Silence = Death. It did.
Following discovery of the first cases in 1981, it soon became clear a national health crisis was developing. But President Reagan's response was "halting and ineffective," according to his biographer Lou Cannon. Those infected initially with this mysterious disease -- all gay men -- found themselves targeted with an unprecedented level of mean-spirited hostility.
A significant source of Reagan's support came from the newly identified religious right and the Moral Majority, a political-action group founded by the Rev. Jerry Falwell. AIDS became the tool, and gay men the target, for the politics of fear, hate and discrimination. Falwell said "AIDS is the wrath of God upon homosexuals." Reagan's communications director Pat Buchanan argued that AIDS is "nature's revenge on gay men."
With each passing month, death and suffering increased at a frightening rate. Scientists, researchers and health care professionals at every level expressed the need for funding. The response of the Reagan administration was indifference.
Michael Bedwell also reminds us of that major stain on Reagan's legacy. He pointed me to an article from the Washington Post on June 2, 1987 (also available at the Post's archives):
D.C. police wearing long yellow rubber gloves arrested 64 demonstrators after the group blocked traffic on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House to protest the Reagan administration's AIDS policies. The administration's policies were also the focus of protests at the Washington Hilton hotel, where more than 6,000 researchers have gathered for the Third International Conference on AIDS.Indifference and silence. Death. Quite a legacy.
Among those arrested was Leonard P. Matlovich, a former Air Force sergeant who was expelled from the service in 1975 after admitting his homosexuality. Matlovich, who recently learned he has AIDS, wore his old Air Force jacket decorated with a Purple Heart and Bronze Star and clutched a small American flag as police handcuffed him.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Via JMG: HomoQuotable - Larry Kramer
"It is remarkable that two of the so-called 'greatest presidents' have also allowed the greatest perpetrations and perpetuations of mass murder. Franklin D. Roosevelt was shamefully inept in dealing with 'the Jewish question,' (see my play The Normal Heart), most ironically since so many Jews were his most loyal supporters, the Jerry Zipkins of their day. No one really writes about this. Roosevelt is one of history’s great gods. Just as no one really writes about Reagan and 'the gay question.' These two major murderers so far have gotten away with helping to cause the two major holocausts of modern history. Just as Jews are asked to never forget their Holocaust, I implore all gay people never to forget our holocaust and who caused it and why."Ronald Reagan did not even say the word 'AIDS' out loud for the first seven years of his reign. Because of this, some 70 million people, so far, have become infected with HIV/AIDS. I wonder what it feels like to be the son and the wife of a man responsible for over 70 million people so far becoming infected with a virus that has killed over half of us so far. I wonder what it felt like while he was alive to ponder this. For surely he must have thought about it. How could he not? He has been called the consummate actor who came to believe all his lines. Does this not make his legacy even more grotesque? It should. Hitler knew what he was doing. How could Ronald Reagan not have known what he was doing? But of course, no one is writing about this. Reagan too is one of history's gods. So far he has gotten away with murder." - Larry Kramer in a 2004 article reposted today by the Advocate.
Via JMG: White House Press Conference, 1982
Laughter about dead queers. At the White House. It was five long horrifying and desperate years later before Reagan finally personally addressed the AIDS epidemic, when he came out against a public prevention campaign, saying, "Let's be honest with ourselves, AIDS information can not be what some call 'value neutral.' After all, when it comes to preventing AIDS, don't medicine and morality teach the same lessons?" By then, tens of thousands had died.(Press conference text via Daily Kos user Clark67)
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Via JMG: Tears And Rage
The post below this one reminds me of one of the very first I wrote for JMG. Originally posted here on June 8th, 2004.
Yesterday I watched Ronald Reagan's body being ceremoniously placed for viewing in the Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. The honor guard, comprised of all military services, moved with stiff dignity while placing Reagan's flag-draped coffin on its pedestal. The Marine Corps band played Hail To The Chief then My Country 'Tis Of Thee.
Tiny Nancy Reagan was lead in, followed by her children. Other military and governmental dignitaries filed in and were seated behind the Reagan family. And as the service began, as the religious figure began his familiar droning, as the mourners held each other and dabbed their eyes...I found myself....weeping. But I wasn't weeping for Ronald Reagan. I wasn't weeping for Nancy or her kids.
I was weeping for my friends. Friends that died of AIDS during Reagan's presidency. Friends that never had the slightest chance of surviving their illness because Reagan refused to even speak the word AIDS until many years into the epidemic.
I wept for Barney. Barney the party-thrower, the generous host, the bon vivant. Barney, who could make a stranger feel comfortable in a room full of a hundred new people. Barney, who actually got me to climb up and dance on a nightclub's speakers with him. I wept for Barney who died choking from pneumocystis, in the middle of the night, alone.
I wept for Peyman. Peyman, the Iranian student left stranded in Florida when the Shah fell from power. Peyman, the fashion plate with his beautiful black hair and flashing brown eyes, who wore Parachute and WilliWear and always looked fabulous. Peyman, who taught me that Iranians were not Arabs and how to curse in Farsi. I wept for Peyman who died blind, paralyzed, shrieking and demented.
I wept for Nathan. Nathan, the shy Southern boy with the Star Trek obsession. Nathan, who finally afforded me an understanding of the infield fly rule. Nathan who had an adorable habit of taking a short jump in the air when something pleased him. I wept for Nathan, whose family refused receipt of his remains.
I thought about my little black address book with 'D' for 'deceased' next to so many names. I've had friends tell me it's macabre to keep using it. I don't care. This is all so fucking unfair. I should be sending those guys silly birthday cards about being middle-aged instead of wondering who has their ashes.
As Reagan's funeral proceeded, my tears to turned to anger and back to tears. This was so not fucking right! I wanted this man to suffer more! I wanted his mind fully engaged and aware of every diaper change. I wanted him to endure endless indignities and know the same fear and ostracism and neglect that my friends had. Knowing that his mind had escaped its physical prison, I felt cheated. My revenge was incomplete.
And then I felt shame for thinking that, even about Ronald Reagan.
For the first time that I can recall, yesterday I felt my absence of faith. It's hard to invoke the satisfying image of somebody burning in hell for eternity when you don't actually believe that hell exists.
I finally turned off the television. I thought viewing Reagan's funeral would bring to me a sense of finality. Instead, I was surprised to learn that I can still cry. I didn't think I could anymore. Not like that.
The True Legacy Of Ronald Reagan
Today Alex Pareene notes at Salon that Ronald Reagan was far more concerned about the potential of aliens attacking from outer space than he was about the AIDS pandemic, which he completely ignored. Reagan frequently spoke on the threat from little green men, an issue he brought up at the United Nations and one that he even discussed with Russian premier Mikhail Gorbachev.
If Ronald Reagan was a genuine UFO nutter or simply in thrall to a simplistic sci-fi plot makes no difference to me. But the fact remains that he spent a lot of time talking about spacemen. Spacemen killed, according to my estimates, no Americans, at all, during Reagan's presidency. Reagan never mentioned AIDS until he was directly questioned about it in his second term, and he never gave a public statement on the epidemic until 1987, when 20,000-30,000 people had already died from it. When it came up in press briefings, it was, at first, a subject of humorous cajoling. Later, the president was advised not to say that children couldn't catch AIDS from casual contact. Members of the Reagan inner circle attacked Surgeon General C. Everett Koop for encouraging sex education and condom use. The Centers for Disease Control was underfunded and there was never a comprehensive plan for dealing with the epidemic.How many of the people in the below clip might be alive today, had Ronald Reagan and his administration acted decisively in the early years of AIDS?
reposted from Joe
Rachel Maddow - The Murder Of David Kato
"Will the donor countries that Uganda relies on so heavily say publicly, 'We are paying attention to this murder. Do not disappear David Kato's murder or we will make you a pariah for it'. Given American citizens' vile involvement in this, maybe the United States can take the lead."
reposted from Joe
reposted from Joe
Friday, February 4, 2011
Via JMG: White House Works With NYC's Ali Forney Center On Homeless LGBT Youth Report
Yesterday the White House Media Office issued a special report on homeless LGBT youth. The report was created by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness and spotlights the work being done by NYC's Ali Forney Center as well as the Ruth Ellis Center in Detroit.
The Ali Forney Center comments via press release:
This follows upon recent events over the past eight months which demonstrate unprecedented federal attentiveness and responsiveness to the needs of homeless LGBTQ youth. In June of 2010 the Obama Administration released its Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness, which included homeless LGBTQ youth as a priority population. In October of 2010 the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center was awarded a $13.3 Million five year grant to support foster care programs for LGBTQ youth and the Ali Forney Center was awarded a combined $2.4 Million by three federal agencies over five years to support it's programs for homeless LGBTQ youth.Read the White House report. An excerpt:
"I am deeply grateful to have a presidential administration that recognizes the terrible suffering of thousands of LGBTQ youth who have been cast out by their families to the streets of our nation." says Carl Siciliano, Executive Director of the Ali Forney Center. "Prior to this year it was almost impossible for organizations dedicated to homeless LGBT youth to receive federal support, and we are thrilled to see that the Obama Administration is willing to support the work of protecting our most hurt and vulnerable youth".
Like many homeless youth, LGBTQ youth either runaway or are forced out of the home due to severe family conflict, abuse, neglect, mental health or physical disabilities. They are more at risk once they are homeless for sexual abuse and exploitation. There is a high incidence of depression, suicide initiations, and other mental health disorders among all youth experiencing homelessness, and chronic physical health conditions are common as are high rates of substance abuse disorders. Yet, in spite of all this, if you’ve ever had the opportunity to hang out with LGBTQ youth in a drop in center or elsewhere, you know they are energetic, funny, thoughtful teenagers who have the same hopes and dreams as their peers.
Labels: Ali Forney Center, Carl Siciliano, feds, homelessness, LGBT youth, NYC, Obama administration, White House
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Via 365Gay: Bigotry Watch: Punxsutawney GOPers see shadow, repeal everything in sight
By David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement 02.02.2011
The GOP hasn't experienced the same optimism as Punxsutawney Phil. They saw their shadow, got scared, and are working to repeal every good law in sight. Read more...
Via JMG: Christian Serial Adulterer Defends Marriage
"Look, I'm quite happy to say I come out of a tradition, which is several thousand years old, that says marriage is between a man and a woman. And I'm prepared to defend that tradition. And I happen to believe it. And I think I have as much right to my belief as you have to yours." - Newt Gingrich, responding to a student question yesterday at George Washington University.Gingrich would like to remind everybody that that marriage is between one man and one woman whom you abandon riddled with cancer on her hospital bed while you fuck the shit out of your mistress whom you later marry and cheat on with a third woman while screaming with Godly moral outrage about the infidelities of the president.
Via JMG: CALIFORNIA: State Supreme Court May Weigh In On Prop 8 Request Next Week
Today the San Francisco Chronicle reports:
Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakayue says the California Supreme Court will decide soon, maybe next week, on whether to enter the Proposition 8 gay marriage fray. The 9th U.S. Court of Appeals said last month that it cannot decide if the gay marriage ban is constitutional until the state high court weighs in on whether proposition sponsors have authority to defend the measure. A three-judge panel asked the California Supreme Court to decide if ballot proposition backers can step in to defend voter-approved initiatives in court when state officials refuse to do so. The panel suggested it would have to dismiss the case if there's no state high court input.If I'm reading this right, the Court is going to decide if it wants to decide.
Labels: CA Supreme Court, California, LGBT rights, marriage equality, Ninth Circuit Court., Proposition 8
Via JMG: HomoQuotable - Elton John
"I could not believe when I was asked to play. I thought it was a joke. I had dialogue with him before and he said, 'I'm not anti-gay, I want you to come, bring David'. My goal is for Rush to say, 'I support civil partnerships'. If I rang him right now, I think he might agree. He was one of the first people to congratulate us on the baby." -Elton John, saying he wants Rush Limbaugh to endorse gay marriage.Via JMG: Utah GOP Rep Proposes Bills To Exclude Gay Families From All Public Programs
Using language that echoes words found in Mormon documents, Utah state Rep. LaVar Christensen has filed two bills may exclude gay families from all publicly funded programs and laws. Rep. LaVar Christensen, R-Draper, filed a bill Wednesday, HB270, that would reiterate the state’s policy that marriage is between a man and a woman and require that publicly funded programs, laws and regulations that are designed to support families be “carefully scrutinized to ensure that they promote the family.” Brandie Balken, executive director of Equality Utah, said the group is "deeply concerned" about the proposed law. "It could be used to create a filter for public agencies and a way to target laws, services and funding that currently help single Utahns or Utahns with families that differ from Representative Christensen's," she said.Christensen's second bill in a one-sentence item that declares, "An arrangement, agreement or transaction that is unlawful or violates public policy is void and unenforceable." LGBT activists say that could be interpreted to make void any wills or medical directives between gay couples. Christensen is a lay bishop with the LDS Church.
Window Dressing in the Castro
Via JMG: SPLC Alert: Anti-Gay Christian Group Lies In Fund-Raising Letter About Hate Crimes
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center's HateWatch column, the Traditional Values Coalition is raising money by claiming that the 2009 passage of the Matthew Shepard Act outlawed the Bible as "hate literature."
The Christian Seniors Association (CSA), a front group of the TVC, recently sent out a fundraising letter claiming that the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA) of 2009, which added sexual orientation to the classes protected by federal hate crime legislation, “makes the Bible illegal ‘Hate Literature.’” The letter further claims that “under this law, criticism of homosexuality is deemed discrimination – just like racism,” and ultimately, the intent of the law is to “outlaw Christianity.” Scary stuff. Except that none of it is true.The SPLC points out that the good Christians at the TVC have a long track record of shady fundraising, including one mailed campaign that pretended to be from the federal government.
The CSA – which bills itself as “America’s Christian alternative to the far-Left AARP” – has a history of fundraising letters that prey on unfounded fears and, in some cases, even mimic government documents. In 2006, the CSA mailed out bogus “U.S. Taxpayer Census” forms. The packet included a survey about Social Security and dark warnings about politicians raiding the program for personal gain. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the mailing did not explicitly point out that money donated to the CSA would go directly to the TVC.The head of the CSA is married to Andrea Lafferty, the daughter of Lou Sheldon, who is the founder of the certified hate group, the Traditional Values Coalition. Just keeping that ill-gotten money in the family.
Labels: Andrea Lafferty, bigotry, hate groups, liars, Lou Sheldon, religion, Traditional Values Coalition
Via JMG: Just So We're Clear....
Gay boycott = radical homosexual intimidation.
Christian boycott = taking their business elsewhere.
Everybody got that?
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Via JMG: Ugandan Police: David Kato Forced The Killer To Commit Sodomy
Aaaand here we have it. As predicted, the Ugandan police, who have a track record of beating and killing gay people, are now claiming that David Kato's killer was forced to murder him. Because Kato was a dirty homosexual who wanted sex. Or so an "anonymous police source" is claiming to the press. From the Uganda Monitor:
A man whom police arrested yesterday on allegations of killing David Kato, a human rights activist, has reportedly told police that the deceased coerced him into sodomy. David Kato, 46, an advocacy officer for the gay rights group, Sexual Minorities Uganda, was found with head wounds at his home in Bukusa, Mukono District but died on his way to hospital last Wednesday.Surely you can understand the predicament the Ugandan government finds themselves in. They couldn't ignore or even sanction the murder of a gay man, as they normally would, due to the international publicly surrounding the case. But they also couldn't allow the murder to be construed as politically motivated, lest the resultant outrage dry up those annual millions in foreign aid.
Police spokesperson Judith Nabakooba said the suspect had been hiding in Nakabago village, Mukono District. “It is true the suspect has been arrested but we need to record his statement first before giving a formal statement,” Ms Nabakooba said yesterday. But a police source, who preferred anonymity because he is not authorised to talk to the press, said the suspect confessed to killing Kato because he was reportedly tired of engaging in homosexual practices.
“We have taken him to Mukono Magistrate’s Court to record an extrajudicial statement,” the source said. “He told us that he killed Kato after he failed to give him a car, a house and money he promised as rewards for having sex with him,” the source said.
And don't overlook that this so-called "motive" precisely fits the long-running Christianist claim that evil local gays are using using Western-supplied money to recruit Uganda's helpless youth into homosexuality, a charge repeated in the very issue of the newspaper that called for Kato's murder.
We will never get the truth, you can bet on that.
RELATED: Peter LaBarbera and Matt Barber are triumphantly tweeting messages like "Uganda 'anti-gay' fairy tale implodes. Killer did it because Kato wouldn't pay him for sodomy as promised."
Via JMG: Thursday In Manhattan: Memorial Vigil For Slain Ugandan LGBT Activist David Kato
The International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission is organizing a memorial vigil for murdered Ugandan activist David Kato. The starting point of the procession is not yet determined, but attendees will finish at the Ugandan embassy. I'll post more details as they are known.Via JMG: MINNESOTA: Lesbian Couple Enters School Party To Cheers From Fellow Students
A lesbian couple who successfully fought to attend their Minnesota high school's Snow Days party as members of the royalty court were greeted with cheers from their classmates as they entered the room last night. Sarah Lindstrom and Desiree Shelton wore matching black suits with pink ties and held hands as they entered the Snow Days Pep Fest at Champlin Park High School in Minneapolis' northwest suburbs. The reaction came as a relief to the couple and school administrators. The district has been stung by criticism of its policies toward homosexuality and the alleged bullying of a gay student who killed himself. "It felt amazing," said Shelton, adding that she was too nervous to notice dozens rise to give her a standing ovation as she walked in with Lindstrom. "I think we were too focused on getting to the stage."After the pair was elected to the court, school officials changed the rules that previously had couples enter the party in boy-girl pairs. The new rules required each student to enter accompanied by a parent or teacher. The school relented after lawsuits from the SPLC and the National Center for Lesbian Rights. Christiantist activists have worked to prevent anti-bullying legislation in the district.
Via JMG: CALIFORNIA: Vandals Rip Out "Equality" From Gay-Friendly Church Banner
Vandals have literally ripped out equality from the banner of a gay-friendly church in California. Rev. Kathy Cooper-Ledesma, a senior pastor at the church, said church leaders are asking the congregation to pray for those who defaced their banner. "Our belief that hate is not a Christian value remains firm," she said. "And while they can take the 'equality' out of the banner, they can't take it out of our understanding of the Gospel." The iconic church, located on the corner of Franklin and Highland avenues, is over 100 years old, and has been fighting for marriage equality for years, said Chad Darnell, a marketing coordinator for the church. He said this was the second time that a banner was vandalized this month. The first banner was stabbed multiple times and this was the replacement banner.The church has hosted video shoots for the NOH8 campaign. Police are investigating.
(Via - Towleroad)
Via JMG ; Scandal Rumors Fly Around John Boehner
Rumors are flying that the ill-reputed National Enquirer, who actually did get it right about John Edwards, is about to publish a similar adultery scandal about GOP House Speaker John Boehner. Via Stark Reports:
Wonder how well Boehner’s zero-tolerance pledge regarding corruption will hold up when it comes out that several hundred paper-making jobs were lost in his district and he refused to do anything about it at the same time he was sleeping with a lobbyist for the printing industry that was very happy to get their cheap paper from China.Boehner and his wife Debbie have been married for 37 years. If lightning strikes a second time for the National Enquirer, this could be the shortest speakership in history. On the other hand, that rag completely makes shit up all the time. Stand by.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Via JMG: Dubya's Daughter For New York Marriage
The younger Barbara Bush has joined her mother in endorsing same-sex marriage. The New York Times comments on the kids of prominent Republicans:
Ms. Bush is the latest child of a prominent Republican leader to embrace same-sex marriage, long considered anathema to the conservative movement. Gay rights advocates have been quick to seize on the generational split as evidence that the acceptance of same-sex marriage is blind to party affiliation and family values. Meghan McCain, the daughter of John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, has become an outspoken supporter of same-sex marriage, despite her father’s opposition to it. And Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, has forcefully backed it as well — and is widely credited with helping to persuade her father to do the same. In the case of Mr. McCain, Mr. Cheney and Mr. Bush, it is not just their children who have supported it. So, to varying degrees, have their wives. Laura Bush, in a television interview in May, said, “When couples are committed to each other and love each other” they should have “the same sort of rights that everyone has.”
reposted from Joe
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