ANTI-GAY ADOPTION BILL DIED IN THE KENTUCKY SENATE

According to courier-journal.com, a publication that covers news from the Louisville, KY and Southern IN areas, a controversial bill intended to ban unmarried couples (i.e., gay couples) from becoming foster or adoptive parents died in the Kentucky senate.

Even though Senate Bill 68 was voted out of committee last week, it was never called to the floor for a vote. The bill's sponsor, Senator Gary Tapp, R-Shelbyville, acknowledged yesterday that the bill was dead.

Sen. Tapp said, "It's too late. It didn't go anywhere this session." He said he didn't know why the Senate's Republican leadership didn't schedule a vote.

Majority party leaders could not be reached for comment and seemed to be trying to distance themselves from the bill. Probably for a number of very good reasons. Aside from the fact that the latest nationwide poles show the republican party with the lowest approval rating (only 26) in recent memory, lezgetreal.com reported that:

Insiders at Kentucky’s State House are saying that Senator’s were flooded with calls and e-mail from angry citizens, most saying that they would think that a bill that takes away potential homes and adds costs to states taxpayers for the care of children in state custody “was just plain dumb”. Our sources are saying the states Republican leadership is now viewing SB 68 as divisive and pure political poison. They want nothing to do with it.

But even if the bill were to win Senate approval, it would still need to be passed by the overwhelmingly Democratic House. And there is little chance of that happening with only three scheduled days for passing bills remaining in this year’s session.

Chris Hartman, Director of Kentucky’s Fairness Campaign, one of the groups that opposed the bill, said…

We are encouraged the thousands of statements, letters, and phone calls from fair-minded Kentuckians opposing Senate Bill 68 (SB 68) has driven home the message that hate legislation should never be passed in the commonwealth. It is in the best interest of our children and our state’s economy that this bill not reappear in the future, though if it does, we will gather and build upon the countless allies that have come forward with Fairness to oppose this legislation, and we will mobilize them against it with even greater fervor.

I really do feel very, very hopeful that we are moving into one of the most exciting and most productive periods in the history of the GLBT rights movement.

That being said, and for ironically that very same reason, now IS NOT the time to relax and just wait for it to happen. The door is being opened wider than it's ever been opened before BUT WE HAVE TO STAND UP AND WALK THROUGH IT. None of these emerging possibilities will ever happen if we just sit and wait!

Keep fighting -- we CAN and we WILL WIN!

IN MASSACHUSETTS THE SKY HASN'T FALLEN AND STRAIGHT MARRIAGES HAVEN'T BEEN HARMED

5 years ago, when the Massachusetts Supreme Court handed down its landmark decision allowing same-sex couples to wed, opponents warned that traditional, heterosexual marriage would be severely harmed, churches would be forced to perform gay weddings, homosexuality would be taught in schools forever damaging the fragile psyches of vulnerable young children and former governor Mitt Romney predicted that the state would become the "Las Vegas of same-sex marriage."

Well, no church has been forced to perform gay weddings unless they chose to do so and children were not forced to learn about homosexuality in school unless their parents agreed, in writing, to allow them to attend any class that examined or even just discussed the subject.

Also, to Mitt Romney's embarrassment, Massachusetts has not become the "Las Vegas of same-sex marriage." In fact, according to the Boston Globe, the gay marriage rates have leveled off at about 1,500 a year or about 4 percent of all state marriages in 2006 and 2007. And, the state's divorce rate, including both gay and straight marriages, has remained the same and is still the lowest in the country.

Clearly, the opponents of gay marriage outright lied about everything they said. None of their dire warnings or predictions happened and gay marriage has become very matter-of-fact. Virtually no one scowls at hand-holding couples anymore and children from both gay and straight families play together, go to school together and attend events and functions together. In truth, gay families have become just another part of the communities they live in.

Unfortunately, the hate-mongers who, in fact, are basically the same people who were the driving forces behind the recent anti-gay measures in California, Arizona, Florida and Arkansas, learned important lessons from Massachusetts. The only way to win was for them to spend tens of millions of dollars and simply overwhelm the general electorate by flooding the airwaves with false and misleading advertising, putting thousands of church-instructed volunteers on the streets marching from door to door and encouraging minority community clergy to preach their brand of homophobia from their pulpits as well.

Although Massachusetts wasn't deluged with quite that kind of a massive undertaking, the biggest difference between the people of that state and the other four is that the majority didn't believe the homophobic, apocalyptic rantings. Most of them simply knew better.

That's why a concerted effort of not only exposing the lies of these frauds but also reaching out and educating the uninformed is so important. I'll have more on this in my posting tomorrow.

Breaking News...

The Massachusetts Senate has just voted to repeal the 1913 law used to bar out-of-state gay couples from marrying in Massachusetts.

The repeal has the support of Gov. Deval Patrick, whose 18-year-old daughter announced publicly last month she is a lesbian.

The House is also expected to pass the repeal and a vote there is anticipated for later this week.

An analysis found repealing the law could draw thousands of couples to Massachusetts, boosting the economy by $111 million over three years.

Heterosexual Mormon Professor Opposes Church Leaders

My partner just sent me this media release he discovered at Affirmation.org which is a support group for gay and lesbian Mormons.

The release is a letter from Professor Jeffrey Nielsen who is currently at Westminster College after losing his job at Brigham Young University for opposing the church's leadership.

In his "Open Letter to California Mormons" he said, in part:

“We should never allow our constitutions, whether state or federal, to become weapons in a crusade to impose a particular religious value system upon a pluralistic democracy”

I am a member of the Mormon Church, a married heterosexual, and a supporter of marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples. I am asking you to pause and give sincere thought to the letter from our religious leaders you have heard read, or will soon hear read, over our church pulpits asking you to get involved and oppose marriage equality in California. Please think deeply about this, not only as a member of a particular church, but also as a citizen of a democracy.

To press for an amendment to a civil constitution that would legalize discrimination against an entire class of people is no small matter, but of the greatest significance. When the argument, no matter how well intentioned, is based solely upon a religious proclamation; then, I believe, it is a serious contradiction of the wisdom of our founding fathers. It also does tremendous damage to the great progress in civil rights we've made in our country respecting the equal dignity of each person and towards a more certain legal equality for all citizens.

As you can see, not all Mormons think alike. As usual, it's the hierarchy that needs to be educated. Unfortunately, under the current leadership of this church, you can be severely punished for speaking out against policies or teachings you disagree with. Fortunately, there are more and more Mormons with the same courage as Professor Nielsen. Let's hope their numbers grow fast enough to unseat the bigoted leaders that this church still has. It's people like Professor Nielsen who have made this country great. Now, it's your turn. Speak out!

The letter, in its entirety, can be seen at: affirmation.org

Obama Strongly Opposes Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment

In stark contrast to John McCain who just switched his position from neutral to outright support for California's Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment, Barack Obama has come out in strong opposition to it.

In a letter to the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club that was read at Sunday's annual Pride Breakfast, he wrote...

"I am proud to join with and support the LGBT community in an effort to set our nation on a course that recognizes LGBT Americans with full equality under the law . . . that is why I oppose the divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution, and similar efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution or those of other states."

He went on to say that...

"For too long, issues of LGBT rights have been exploited by those seeking to divide us. It's time to move beyond polarization and live up to our founding promise of equality by treating all our citizens with dignity and respect."

How can we not support someone who supports us in such a strong way.

If you'd like to read the whole story, it's at: Yahoo News

Mormons Use Pulpit To Campaign For California's Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment

Last week, my partner (who was Mormon but has since resigned his membership) made me aware of a directive issued by the leadership of the Church Of Latter Day Saints that was sent to every Mormon Church throughout California. It said that it was "To be read in the sacrament meetings on June 29th, 2008."

It went on to deride the California Supreme Court's reversal of a 2000 proposition passed by voters that defined marriage as being valid only between a man and a woman. Then it informed it's followers of the proposed California Constitutional Amendment to restore that narrow definition of marriage that will appear on the November 4, 2008 ballot and told them that the Church will work for its passage.

It closed by saying:

"Local Church leaders will provide information about how you may become involved in this important cause.

We ask that you do all you can to support the proposed constitutional amendment by donating of your means and time to assure that marriage in California is legally defined as being between a man an a woman. Our best efforts are required to preserve the sacred institution of marriage."

At first Peter and I were, of course, incensed at the arrogant disregard for the, until recently, time-honored concept of the separation of church and state and saw this as a clear violation of that conviction. I decided that if they want to disregard the clearly stated intentions of our forefathers then I wasn't going to sit back and let that happen without a fight. After all, it's only a matter of time before they come here to Arizona to do the same thing.

I sent the following message to my Congressman:

Dear Congressman Mitchell,

As far as I understand the restrictions of intermingling religion with politics, isn't preaching a specific political endorsement, whether for a politician or a targeted piece of legislation, from the pulpit supposed to be prohibited.

Clearly, the wisdom of our forefathers, as expressed both in the constitution they wrote and in their private letters to each other, left no doubt that they passionately believed in keeping religious beliefs and the governance of our country separate from each other. Otherwise, as they themselves pointed out, the entire nation could ultimately end up being ruled by the single most politically and monetarily powerful religious sect to the exclusion of all others.

If my understanding of this matter is accurate, then why is the Church Of Latter Day Saints (Mormon) allowed to preach, via a directive sent from the office of the First Presidency, a specific political endorsement from the pulpit of every church they own in California (and no doubt soon to be sent to every mormon church throughout Arizona). And, in so doing, outright direct (or in this church's case, "demand"), again from the pulpit, every one of their followers to "...donate their means (money) and time..." to assure passage of the church's endorsed legislation.

Wouldn't this be grounds for a full congressional investigation of this particular church's questionable practices with the possible end result of revoking their tax exempt status?

I also sent him a copy of that directive as it was sent to their followers. If you would like to see it yourself go to: sunshinepress.org. By the way, feel free to copy and paste the body of my above email into an email to your representative if you don't have time to write one out for yourself. Of course, it's always better to put something in your own words.

I'm not sure how far this will get but since Congressman Harry Mitchell has long been a supporter of GLBT rights here in Arizona it may, at least, spark an investigation by the IRS and make things a little more difficult for the Mormon Church.

If enough people did the same thing and also expressed these concerns to their congressional representatives then maybe, just maybe we could make the religious extremist think twice before getting so directly involved in politics.

A Shameful, Corrupted Vote To Send Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment To November Ballot!

Last night I watched (on live streaming video) the Arizona Senate approve a measure to send the Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment to the November ballot. It was one of the most disturbing displays of blatant homophobia and arrogant manipulation of the Senate's own rules I've ever seen.

This morning I received an email from Equality Arizona. They were there, in person, for the entire session. I checked their website and found the content of that email posted. They described, in detail, what happened when Senate Rebublicans showed their true colors of hypocrisy and mind-numbing arrogance. Their report said, in part:

"Tonight's debate was intense for everyone on the Senate floor and those of us watching in the gallery. But what happened to our openly-gay Senators by their colleagues was absolutely disgusting. Senate extremists strategically broke the rules of the Senate, which govern the processes for discussion and voting on bills. During a filibuster-like discussion on another bill during Committee of the Whole, Majority Leader Thayer Verschoor (R-22) and Majority Whip John Huppenthal (R-20), among others, devised a scheme with committee chairman Jack Harper (R-4) to outright violate the rules of the Senate and the rights of Senators Aboud and Cheuvront.

In the middle of their discussion, Senator Harper turned off the microphones of Senators Paula Aboud (D-28) and Ken Cheuvront (D-15) and called on the Majority Leader to make a motion. Then, when Senators Aboud and Cheuvront loudly called for a Point of Order several times, even walking to the front desk where Senator Harper sat, he deliberately ignored their calls. To add insult to injury, these people attempted to justify their actions, even after the Senate President and other Senators admonished them for deliberately breaking the rules. Tonight's actions of these and other Senators have forever tainted that body, and it's important that we all let the people of Arizona know how these individuals acted so unethically."

To give you an example of how breathtakingly two-faced and idiotic the extremist became - earlier they voted against a proposal by Meg Burton-Cahill (D) to make the capitol more accessible to the handicapped even after assuring her, prior to the session, that voting for the measure was "no problem." This clearly smacked of political pay-back for her strong and vocal opposition to the marriage amendment. Following this debacle, Senator Ken Cheuvront (D), who is openly gay, proposed a ban on the sale and use of plastic coverings that slip over license plates and obscure the numbers when a picture is taken of someone speeding. Breaking the law and getting away with it is the sole purpose for these coverings but the Senate Republicans (who are the majority) chose to ignore the logic of the proposal and voted it down. They obviously wanted to "put these people in their place" and couldn't have cared less about the handicapped or the lawbreakers (who, by the way, have been clocked at speeds as high as 120 mph). This is extremism run amok.

It's clearly time for every gay person in Arizona, or anywhere else for that matter, to become involved in whatever way they can. Whether it's writing letters, making phone calls, participating in on-line "Take Action" campaigns or donating as much as you can - your voice NEEDS to heard. If you don't live in Arizona, your support and encouragement, in whatever form, would be GREATLY appreciated also.

To read the rest of Equality Arizona's report, go to: equalityarizona.org

Once at their site, you can also sign up for their emails, take part in their online action programs or make donations if you can afford it.

Do whatever you can - but please DO SOMETHING.

This Is Just Fun To Read

I was born in Chicago and my brother and his family still live there so I periodically check Chicago's local news media to keep up with what's happening there. I found this article in the Chicago Tribune. It's a parody, of sorts, of the right wing evangelical's doomsday warnings about the horrible consequences of same-sex marriages.

The article is both poignant and hilarious. I particularly like Mr. Huppke's suggestion at the end.

Have fun...

Gays wed; God yawns

By Rex W. Huppke
June 22, 2008

On the West Coast, men embraced men as husband and husband, and bouquet-clutching women swapped bands of gold and vows of marriage. In the Midwest, floodwaters rose to epic levels, the dreaded, tree-gobbling ash borer crept into Chicago and the fish in Lake Michigan began dying by the thousands, hemorrhaging from an Ebola-like virus.



The contrast was striking—joy vs. pain. It raised one simple, inescapable question: What happened to God hating gay people?



If there's one thing the country's higher-profile evangelical Christian preachers have preached to us, it's that the Almighty doesn't much care for those of the non-heterosexual persuasion. He has punished America for its acceptance of gay people by, among other things, walloping sin-ravaged New Orleans with Hurricane Katrina, allowing the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, and letting Idaho Sen. Larry Craig and his wide stance inject anxiety into the whole bathroom stall experience.



But last week was enough to make us question the infallibility of unbiased holy men such as Pat Robertson, John Hagee and the one-time-meth-using, male-prostitute-visiting-but-now-TOTALLY-non-gay pastor Ted Haggard.


So after California committed the abomination of allowing people who love each other to get married, why would God lash out at the honest, hardworking, morally upright, down-home, God-fearing folks in middle America? Why wouldn't he just shove California into the ocean and let it rot, like a big, gay Alcatraz?



Perhaps, fellow Midwesterners, there's something we've been keeping from ourselves. Perhaps the rains and floods and tornadoes, the tree-eating bugs and the diseased fish and Mayor Daley's decision to relocate the Children's Museum to Grant Park are all punishment.



Perhaps we're all gay, a closeted bunch of flaming farmers and factory workers, lesbian lawyers and landscapers and man-loving butchers and bondsmen. Maybe we're gay, and the people that were already gay are even gayer!



Maybe this weekend's Crosstown Classic is just an elaborate ruse, a supposed baseball game that will turn into a stadium-size gay wedding extravaganza at Wrigley Field.



This madness must be stopped.



Quick, does anyone have the number for Robertson's 700 Club hot line? If so, let yourself be heard.



Just shout out: "I do."



Rex W. Huppke is a Tribune reporter 

rhuppke@tribune.com

If you would like to see the piece as it appeared in the paper go to: Chicago Tribune

Excellent Opinion Piece In Local GLBT Magazine

I ran across the following piece by Liz Massey who writes for our premier local GLBT publication, Echo Magazine. I just wanted to share this with those of you who may not be aware of this exemplarily Phoenix magazine and may not have seen this piece. Rather than make any comments myself, I'll just let Ms Massey speak for herself - and, in a way, a lot of us. It's well worth taking a couple of minutes to read.

One of the family

When I first came out, almost 20 years ago, gay political choices were simple. You voted Democratic and pro-choice. If you were a woman, you identified as a lesbian-feminist (as if there could be any other sort of lesbian …). Liberals were good; conservatives were bad. The religious right could be counted on to tell us how nasty and unclean we were, and how we deserved all the bad things that happened to us. Gay marriage was a pipe dream.

The world has changed in the last two decades, to the point that it’s getting harder and harder to rely on the old guidelines. California has become the second state to legalize gay marriage; New York appears poised to recognize same-sex marriages performed out-of-state (which is the real headliner, since the “leave it to the states” argument has always presupposed that no red-blooded manly man state wanted to sanction another state’s gay marriages).

Even our old nemesis, the radical right, no longer has the stranglehold it used to on the Republican Party. I mean, they put “God’s man” in the White House, and he has brought forth an endless war, post-Katrina chaos and two economic blights. Plenty of people still think gay marriage is wrong, but it’s far harder these days to get moderate voters, worried about defaulting on their mortgages and how they’ll pay for the gas they need to drive to work, excited about banning it.

Do I think this means that our struggle for equality is almost over? No. Do I think it means the contour of the battleground is changing? Yes.

Now is a good time for us to get to know our straight neighbors better and participate openly in mainstream community life. The goal isn’t to engage in the “culture war” that we’re so often accused of waging. No, we need to do something far more subversive than that: embed our values so deeply in the national civic fabric that no one will ever think of discriminating against us again.

How can we bring our family’s values to the table?

Advocate, seriously, for “strengthening marriage” initiatives that include us, and which might actually do some good, such as programs that teach couples how to communicate better, parent effectively, and manage their money.

Support medically accurate, age-appropriate sex education. Lying or refusing to talk to one’s children about how life begins and how people relate intimately to each other — and the consequences of such — is never moral.

Go out of our way to honor GLBT citizens in the “forbidden” professions for gays: education, the military, and the ministry. Many people still risk professional sanction to teach our kids, defend our country and answer the call of Spirit. Let’s let them know we appreciate the effort.

Most importantly, let’s start talking to each other and to mainstream America about our spiritual lives. Not just the struggle to come out in the midst of a hostile church or family, but the joy and peace that our spiritual practices bring to us. Not only do many of us have faith, that’s what has sustained us when we have been abandoned by those who would call themselves God’s “chosen ones.”

The point of all this isn’t to show how we fit into the paradigm envisioned by the religious right. It’s to assert, and demonstrate, that we fit perfectly into the human paradigm.

Anthropologists tell us that numerous indigenous cultures, including some Native American tribes, found a role for every member of their community — including same-sex-oriented folks. With our help, America can do the same.

This piece can be found at: Echo Magazine

Have a great weekend everyone. I'll be back on monday.