More Saturday Male Beauty

Virginia Gay Groups Wary of GOP's Bob McDonnell

I have known likely GOP candidate for Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell for over 14 years. In fact, he helped on my 1994 campaign for Virginia Beach School Board at which time I was labeled "Christian Right" by the Virginia Beach Education Association (the local NEA affiliate). Talk about getting your facts wrong!!

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I continued to know McDonnell while I served on the Republican Party of the City of Virginia Beach and later warned him - and the rest of the Virginia Beach delegation to the Virginia General Assembly - in January 2004 that the GOP had a real problem in the form of former Congressman Ed Schrock who was enraging the LGBT community with his anti-gay voting record in Congress. My warning went unheeded and the GOP controlled Virginia General Assembly enacted the so-called "Defense of Marriage Act" later that year. Low and behold, in late summer of 2004 some woman - I have never figured out her identity - gave Mike Rogers recordings on Ed Schrock's Mega Phone ads for gay sex and the rest is history as they say with Schrock being outed.

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Over time Bob McDonnell seems to have become more homophobic with every passing year. Since I am now treated like a leper by most of my former GOP acquaintances, Bob McDonnell and I are not exactly chatting regularly. I truly do not know whether McDonnell's anti-gay beliefs are personal or merely a function of cow towing to the increasingly lunatic base of the Republican Party of Virginia which acts like it drinks Kool-Aid by the barrel full. The end result is that gay rights organizations in Virginia are very wary of what McDonnell might do if elected as Governor. Here are highlights from the Washington Blade:

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Gay rights advocates in Virginia are concerned that a Republican with a distinctly anti-gay record could be the state’s next governor.Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell, the only Republican candidate to file for the governor’s race before last month’s deadline, is already the party’s presumptive nominee. Tom Osborne, treasurer of the Virginia Partisans, a gay Democratic group, called McDonnell “one of the most outspoken, homophobic elected officials in the state” and said he’s been the gay community’s “enemy at every opportunity.”

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In 2006, McDonnell issued an opinion that concluded Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine’s (D) executive order prohibiting discrimination against gays in the state and public workforce was unconstitutional.McDonnell, whose campaign declined an interview request for this article, also cast anti-gay votes while representing Virginia Beach, Va., in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1992 to 2005. In 2006, he voted in favor of the Marshall-Newman Amendment when it came to the General Assembly. The measure, approved in 2006, made a prohibition on same-sex marriage and civil unions part of the Virginia Constitution.

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While he opposed Kaine’s non-discrimination order in 2006, McDonnell later that year issued an opinion stating that the Marshall-Newman Amendment would not interfere with contracts, wills, medical directives and other agreements in the state and “will not modify the application and enforcement of Virginia’s domestic violence laws.” McDonnell’s opinion empowered municipalities in Northern Virginia to issue directives requiring officials to treat domestic violence calls for gay couples in the same way that such cases are handled for straight couples.

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McDonnell is not the only Republican candidate with an anti-gay record running for statewide office next year. State Sen. Ken Cuccinelli (R-Fairfax) announced in March that he intends to succeed McDonnell as attorney general.Cuccinelli voted in favor of the Marshall-Newman Amendment in 2005 and 2006. During debate on the measure in 2005, he was quoted as saying that there was nothing wrong with discriminating against gays. In an April interview with the Blade, Cuccinelli called himself “a traditional family guy” and said he doesn’t believe “homosexuality is something that’s right at a fundamental level.”In April, Lampo said Cuccinelli is “no friend of the Log Cabin Republicans,” and Osborne described Cuccinelli as a “shrill enemy of LGBT rights.”

Saturday Male Beauty

Censored Art Display Restored

Earlier in the week I did a post about the censoring of a student art project at Brigham Young University. Apparently the negative coverage became so intense that the university reversed its decision and the art display has been restored. Much of the negative coverage came via the blogosphere and demonstrates that by focusing attention on bigotry change can happen. Here are some high lights from Dan Savage's blog:

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Portraits of gay Brigham Young University students taken by a photography major for a class project are back in an exhibit at the school's fine arts building four days after school officials removed the display.

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Wiltbank said he spoke with college leadership on Monday. Later that day, bloggers around the country began to criticize BYU and its owner, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Some attacked the school and church. The Deseret News requested a statement from the university Tuesday morning. The display went back up Tuesday afternoon.

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The story interestingly enough also received reference in a column in the Mormon Times which seems to argue against some of the extremism that has been the hallmark of the Mormon Church towards gays both before and after the Proposition 8 vote. The writer even seems to get the message that gays are human beings too and should not be simply condemned on a wholesale basis. Here are some highlights:

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In talking to friends about the issue, I find that many of us have virtually no comprehension of the other side's arguments. They're not all ridiculous, you know. And when we automatically dismiss everything our aggressors say without a second thought, we are being just as ignorant and intolerant as we accuse them of being. If we want to claim true Christian discipleship, we should start with a Christlike understanding of what is motivating our "enemies." So here I offer a summary of some of their arguments and encouragement to reconsider some of our own.

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One credible argument they employ is that banning homosexual marriage promotes promiscuity in the gay community. Proposition 8 could discourage gays from settling down and starting families, therefore forcing them to live the single life forever. . . . when I brought it up with one of my roommates, he immediately rejected the notion with a look of disgust. No coherent arguments were formed, but he just could not accept that gay activists might actually have something reasonable to say.

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We should also try to understand why this is such an important issue to the gay community. . . . the fact that we disagree on the fundamental definition of marriage doesn't mean that we can't acknowledge why they would want it.

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Finally, it's important to remember that those who are spray painting our places of worship do not make up the majority of homosexuals in the country; and many of the protesters aren't even gay. Making inaccurate generalizations regarding large groups of people probably isn't something we want to get involved in, considering our current situation.

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On the fourth floor of the Harris Fine Arts Center at BYU, there is an exhibit displaying eight photographs, each depicting a Mormon male. The plaque next to the photos explains that some of the men pictured identify themselves as homosexual BYU students; the others are people who lend support to their friends struggling with same-sex attraction. There are no labels to distinguish between the two groups.As I finish this column, I am sitting on a bench next to the display. . .

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I think the late archaeologist Howard Winters' quote accompanying the display sums up their conversation -- and the way we all ought to act -- pretty well: "Civilization is the process in which one gradually increases the number of people included in the term 'we' or 'us' and at the same time decreases those labeled 'you' or 'them' until that category has no one left in it."

Proposition 8 Really a Loss for Mormons?

Author Frank Schaeffer at the Huffington Post has a piece that raises the argument that by undertaking a high profile role in the Proposition 8 battle, the Mormon Church has in reality suffered what will be a long term loss. Why, because with all the increased scrutiny the Mormon faith is receiving the plentiful "weirdness" of the Mormon religion will come out - as is already happening - and overall negative views of the denomination will increase. As I have said before, I am originally from a part of New York State close to where Joseph Smith allegedly had his revelation and to this day, Smith is regarded by most locals as a serious whack job - hence why he left the area. Familiarity often breeds contempt and hopefully the Mormon Church reaps some scrutiny that will convince the broader public that Mormons are NOT mainstream whatsoever. Such a result would in my view be Divine justice indeed. Here are some column highlights:

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The recent confrontation between the Mormon Church and the gay community bodes ill for Mormonism. It seems that the Mormons have begun to believe their own propaganda when it comes to seeing themselves adds "just another" evangelical group. They aren't. The evangelicals may be plenty crazy, as they have manifested themselves to be through the late great Religious Right (that is now crashing in flames following the Obama victory), but the Mormons are exponentially crazier when it comes to marriage, and gender roles.

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[T]o paraphrase the famous line from Animal Farm; some religions are weirder than others, especially when it comes to beliefs about marriage, sex and gender. One of the strangest is the Mormons.

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Here is just two of many quaint bits of Mormon "teaching" ( this first on race is no longer the official position of the church, but still...): "And if any man mingles his seed with the seed of Cane [i.e black people] the only way he could get rid of it or have salvation would be to come forward & have his head cut off & spill his blood upon the ground. It would also take the life of his Children."(Wilford Woodruff's Journal, 1852, Brigham Young's address before the legislative assembly of the Territory of Utah upon slavery)

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"Nearly all the great discoveries of man in the last half century have, in one way or another, either directly or indirectly, contributed to prove Joseph Smith to be a Prophet... I know that he said the moon was inhabited by men and women the same as this earth, and that they lived to be a greater age than we do, that they lived generally to near the age of 1000 years. He described the men as averaging near six feet in height, and dressing quite uniformly in something near the Quaker style. In my Patriarchal blessing, given by the father of Joseph the Prophet, in Kirtland, 1837, I was told that I should preach the gospel to the inhabitants of the sea -- to the inhabitants of the moon, even the planet you can now behold with your eyes."(Oliver B. Huntington, Young Woman's Journal, Vol. 3, p. 263-264)

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So, okay, enough already of the "seed of Cain," moon men, on to marriage, California's Proposition 8 and the Mormons... Why pick on gay people? Here's my theory: The Mormons have assiduously pursued a policy of trying to be accepted as just one more of the thousands of Protestant splinter groups that, taken together, are often generically called "Christians" as a catchall for the born-again amongst us. That is why the Mormons jumped into this debate: make friends with the evangelical Religious Right and the more right wing Roman Catholics by joining the neighborhood Church Lady gang to beat up the gay guy.

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What is the sexual/marriage/gender teaching of the Mormons who are raising money to stop two men or women from marrying. Here's a taste: A Mormon belief is that men resurrect their wives. The Mormon man becomes a god on some uninhabited planet. As the god of his own world he will resurrect those wives who were obedient to him. They then become the goddesses of his planet.

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With their support for Proposition 8 the Mormons have more or less done what someone might do who -- in an incredibly dumb moment -- decides to call up the local IRS office and start asking the kind of questions that inevitably leads to getting audited. There is an old phrase that the Mormon leaders who launched their anti-gay crusade might have paid attention to: "people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones."

More Friday Male Beauty

Why Do Christianist Hate Straight Spouses?

Back in September I did a post about Gospel singer Ray Boltz's public announcement that he was gay. Like myself, Boltz married and had children, all the while falling victim to the ex-gay propaganda and trying to "cure" himself of his true sexual orientation. Younger gays may not understand fully why many of us in the older generation followed the path that we did. In my case, why did I stay in the closet and make myself and in varying ways everyone else miserable? The answer is simple: I honestly did not know what else to do other than to try to be what church and society told me I had to be, growing up as I did at a time when being gay was classified as a form of mental illness (I was in my last year of college that the APA changed that diagnosis). On top of that I had the ever loving Roman Catholic Church making pronouncements that gays are "inherently disordered" and perhaps even "evil." Why would I ever want to admit - even to myself - that I was gay?

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This church and societal enforced phenomenon has multiple victims besides the LGBT individual who is in the closet trying to convince himself/herself that they aren't really gay. First among those is the straight spouse - the other party to the closeted gay's marriage. These other victims appear NOWHERE on the radar screen of the ex-gay "ministries" or corrupt institutions such as the Catholic Church. It's all about spreading the myth that gays can change and leading them to marry believing the false message. When it all eventual falls apart, the Christianists, Catholic clergy, and other snake oil merchants of the myth are nowhere to be seen when it comes to supporting the straight spouse.

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I recently discovered that Ray Bolz's former wife has a blog that addresses some of her experiences. It is called My Heart Goes Out. . . and on the issue of gay marriage, here's what she has to say:

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Speaking up for gay marriage, it is my belief that besides all the reasons mentioned in this article, it would make more sense for gay people to marry gay people, than for them to marry straight ones.

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Carol Boltz also has some interesting reflections on the situations a straight spouse encounters in trying to deal with the fact that her marriage has collapsed and that her world will be changing forever. Here's a few highlights that I found telling:

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My perceptions were that it was impossible to be Christian AND gay. As I read and learned, I had a hard time, but I found many sources that say our sexual orientation is a given (and some people, I understand, have a more fluid sexual orientation). And I began to realize that there are people who believe that there ARE gay Christians.

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In the months following Ray's big reveal, I sought information. I did not go to the counseling office at our church. I knew what those "answers" would tell me - the same conclusions that had resulted in Ray's self-hating and condemning results. It was hard to be alone, anonymously calling mental health offices, asking, "Do you have experience dealing with marriages where one person is gay and another is straight?" I'd call from my cell phone, I didn't identify myself except by my first name.

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I began to understand something new: there is a difference in what I'd been told in church (gay and Christian cannot co-exist) and the fact that there are good Christians who believe in Jesus, hold to his teachings, and they live their lives with integrity, even though they are gay. What a shift in my thinking! I could not even wrap my mind around my fundamentalist mindset - it was a turning I had never considered. I'd go through stages where nothing I thought made sense, because to accept these new ideas meant that there was no hope that Ray and I could stay married. What an awful conclusion.

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Carol Boltz sounds like a wonderful woman and I intend to read more of her blog which I have linked to mine. The tragedy is that she, Ray, myself, my former wife and so many, many others all end going through such traumas all because the Christianists and prissy old queens at the Vatican cannot accept the fact that God deliberately made some of us LGBT. As for the "ex-gay" ministires, I can think of nothing more dishonest that peddling lies in order to demonize others and shake down money from the ignorant and vulnerable.

LGBT Bloggers Learn the Ropes at Summit

The Bay Area Reporter has a story on the Blogger Summit that I attended last weekend (the photo at left shows a group of us walking to the Gay and Lesbian Leadership Institute luncheon where Barney Frank was the main speaker - I'm behind the guy in the blue jacket at right). As previous posts indicated, it was a wonderful experience and I hope it will allow all of the attendees to work more in concert and also take our respective blogs to a higher level so that we can be an stronger voice for progressive issues. As Eric Leven is quoted as saying, it was an empowering experience. Here are some highlights:

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In a sterile conference room on the 10th floor of a non-descript office building in Washington, D.C., more than two dozen LGBT bloggers listened intently last weekend as their more veteran peers instructed them in the art of "blog swarms," "astro-turfing," and "cross-posting."

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Bloggers, said one, can enable a minor event to "take on a whole new life" in the mainstream media by spreading news about it across 10 or 15 different blogs (a.k.a. the blog swarm). Lone bloggers can acquire the clout of large groups by assuming a moniker that makes them appear to be a "national" entity when, in fact, they are "a fake grassroots organization" (a.k.a. astro-turfing). And bloggers can increase readership for their views by posting them not just on their own sites but on other, more widely read, sites (a.k.a. cross-posting).

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This first National LGBT Citizen Journalist Bloggers Summit attracted about 60 LGBT bloggers. The conference was separate from, but simultaneous to, the Gay and Lesbian Leadership Institute, and bloggers and the more conventional leaders met in a few joint sessions.

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The conference included such topics as how bloggers can contribute to political campaigns, how to enhance their work with investigative reporting skills and practices, and what federal laws might have an impact on their blogging. Conference sponsors included political activist Jonathan Lewis and the Microsoft Corporation. Rogers said Lewis contributed $50,000 toward the meeting and Microsoft contributed a free copy of Microsoft Office Professional to eager attendees.

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There were well-known political bloggers, such as Pam Spaulding of http://www.PamsHouseBlend.com, Bil Browning of http://www.Bilerico.com, Nan Hunter of http://www.HunterforJustice.com, and Ramon Johnson of About.com's "Gay Life."

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One attendee, Eric Leven of New York (at http://www.Knucklecrack.blogspot.com), described the conference as empowering. "For me there was something in those rooms, something in those workshops," he blogged after the meeting, "maybe it was the sense of community or the downright simple feeling of being empowered by teachers, writers, techies and activists but something in that room made me feel as though we were all on our digital surfboards, in this new world of ours, riding the crest of the wave of this new movement."

Friday Male Beauty

Patricia Cornwell Speaks Out for Gay Marriage

Former Virginia resident - she used to live in Richmond - and best selling author, Patricia Cornwall (I've read a number of here earlier books) has spoken out in support of gay marriage in a recent interview. I believe that it is important that well known and prominent LGBT Americans speak out as she has done and make it increasingly difficult for our Christianist/Mormon enemies to depict us with negative stereotypes. The more of us who are out and open about who we are, the sooner the Christianist will be ultimately defeated in the public arena. Here are some highlights from Reuters:

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Crime writer Patricia Cornwell is a master storyteller but had shied away from telling her own tale, until this year when uproar about same-sex marriages in the United States prompted her to go public. Cornwell, 52, has been married for two years to Staci Ann Gruber, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School whom she met while researching neuroscience for one of her thrillers about forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta.

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Cornwell, who has just released her 16th Scarpetta book called "Scarpetta," said the heated debate on same-sex marriages in the United States made it time for her to talk about her own. "At my age, I have been around a while now and I am less uncomfortable with those sorts of revelations than I used to be," Cornwell told Reuters in a telephone interview. "Maybe it is a function of getting older but I think it is important to stand up and be counted. When you're not in a relationship your sexual orientation is more theoretical but it becomes more real when you are with somebody and you are not going to hide that."

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"If people like me don't take a stand then it will only get worse. We just want to live and let live and be treated in the same way straight people are treated," said Cornwell, who was previously married to an English professor, Charles Cornwell. "It is no longer theoretical when you have people voting against what you believe is your right, making it illegal, when one of the best things about me is the person I am with. This applies to me and it is frightening.

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Cornwell said she is not the active campaigner type but her own experience has fed into her writing and she believes speaking out can help clear up some misunderstandings.

Colin Powell Slams GOP

As a former Republican I have been dismayed to watch as the GOP has become a party of intolerant bigots which excludes basically anyone who is not white, an extreme evangelical Christian, back woods redneck, and a hater of all minority groups and immigrants. The party name needs to be changed to the "Christian Taliban Party" since it's becoming virtually impossible for anyone who is a rational thinking person to remain a member. And as for the party's alleged principals of small government, personal freedoms, and fiscal conservatism, those have all been thrown on the dung heap. Now, Colin Powell has joined the many already decrying what has become of the GOP and its divisional tactics. Here are some highlights from CNN:

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(CNN) — The Republican party must stop "shouting at the world" and start listening to minority groups if it is to win elections in the 21st century, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday. In an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria for Sunday's "GPS" program, President Bush's former secretary of state said his party's attempt "to use polarization for political advantage" backfired last month.

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"I think the party has to take a hard look at itself," Powell said in the interview, which was taped Wednesday. . . . if the party wants to have a future in this country, it has to face some realities. In another 20 years, the majority in this country will be the minority."

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"Can we continue to listen to Rush Limbaugh?" Powell asked. "Is this really the kind of party that we want to be when these kinds of spokespersons seem to appeal to our lesser instincts rather than our better instincts?" Zakaria's full interview with Powell will air Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on CNN.

Evangelical Trash Talk

UPDATED: In the wake of the firestorm over his admission that his views on gay unions are shifting, Richard Cizik has resigned as president for governmental affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals. The lesson is that the homo-haters will not tolerate anyone who is willing to listen to science and reasoned discussion or who might view LGBT Americans as fully human. Here are some highlights from the Washington Post:

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A prominent evangelical lobbyist resigned yesterday over his remarks in a National Public Radio interview, in which he said he supports permitting same-sex civil unions. The Rev. Richard Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), later apologized for the remark, said the Rev. Leith Anderson, president of the 30 million-member organization. But, Anderson said, "he lost the leadership's confidence as spokesman, and that's hard to regain."

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Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said Cizik's beliefs had diverged too far from those of the NAE membership. "There's been some concern from the constituents that he was at least some distance from where the constituency was, but this is a whole different order of magnitude for his constituency on the gay-marriage issues -- it's a mega-issue," he said.

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Richard Cizik (at left) of the National Association of Evangelicals is prompting more consternation and trash talk among the professional homo-hater set in the Christian Right. These folks are obsessed with gay sex and seem to spend nearly every waking hour thinking of ways to denigrate LGBT citizens and in the process scare as many sheeple as possible into stroking them checks or sending in their online contributions. Rather than thinking of ways to feed the hungry, cloth the poor or provide housing for the homeless, these rabid Christianists worry almost exclusively about "The Gays." Enter Richard Cizik who believes that there just might be other issues that should command the attention of evangelical Christians. Here's Right Wing Watch's take on the latest tempest among the homo-haters:

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It is no secret that Religious Right leaders have had it out for Richard Cizik of the National Association of Evangelicals for some time now, starting back in 2007 when they tried to get him fired for branching out into the global warming debate because they feared it was undermining the focus on their traditional anti-choice, anti-gay agenda.

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[N]ow he has even fewer friends among the old-guard right-wing leaders thanks to this recent interview with Terry Gross on NPR’s “Fresh Air” where he all but admitted that he voted for Barack Obama, said that Dick Armey had good reasons for calling people like James Dobson bullies and thugs, predicted that climate change is going to become an issue on which evangelicals become increasingly active, pledged to work with the Obama administration to find ways to reduce unwanted pregnancies in this country, and admitted that his opposition to marriage equality is “shifting.”

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Well, this last sin has sent the most rabid of the homo-haters into absolute conniptions and the sputtering, spittle flying and gnashing of teeth is nearly off the charts. Of course the unspoken reason for the violent reactions is that fighting the make believe "gay agenda" is a huge cash cow for the Christianist organizations and if gays ever become accepted as main stream, many of the professional gay haters will be unemployed. Jeremy Hooper at Good As You has a great run down of the hyperventilating:

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Wendy Wright, President of Concerned Women for America: “Mr. Cizik claimed that his views are five years ahead of his constituency, but these views are not anywhere close to Biblical orthodoxy, traditional Christian theology nor the bulk of Evangelicals who ground their faith in the Bible. Perhaps this is why he espouses them in forums to which most of his supposed 'constituency' do not listen.”

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Janice Shaw Crouse, Director and Senior Fellow of Concerned Women for America’s Beverly LaHaye Institute: “The NAE consists of 45,000 churches, 50 denominations and 30 million constituents. I cannot believe that they are happy to have a spokesperson, who supposedly represents them, expressing views that are contrary to Biblical authority and contradict theological orthodoxy. I think, perhaps, my dear friend Rich has been inside the Beltway for too long and has swallowed too much of the NPR and Vogue Magazine Kool-Aid.”

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AFA: "Many have tried for years to get the NAE to drop Rev. Cizik, but the NAE has refused to do so. Churches have a right to know how the money they give to NAE is used."

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Ingrid Schlueter, co-host of the nationally syndicated Crosstalk Radio Talk Show: "Richard Cizik seems more concerned about impressing NPR's liberal audience with his broad-mindedness than being faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ,” ... “As an adoptive parent of two children given life by their birth mothers, I find it abhorrent that Mr. Cizik would sanction Christian support for the most radically pro-abortion President in the history of the nation.”

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Family Research Council: "This revelation should not come as a surprise. This is the risk of walking through the green door of environmentalism and global warming - you risk being blinded by the green light and losing your sense of direction. How else can you explain enthusiastic support for what will probably be the nation's most pro-abortion, anti-family president in our nation's 232 year history?

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Cizik's real sin? That he has stopped drinking the Kool-Aid and is actually focusing on a truer version of the Christian message. The hater set is having none of it since hate and intolerance are their only Gods.

La. Gov. Jindal Endorses Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell

In a sign that likely GOP candidate for governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell (at right in the photo), is not going to moderate his extreme Christianist stances on issues notwithstanding the GOP's loss of Virginia on November 4, 2008, McDonnell has accepted the endorsement of religious right whack job Louisiana Governor Piyush "Bobby" Jindal. As is the case with the national GOP, many in the Republican Party of Virginia continue to believe that their recent election losses are because they were not crazy and far right extremist enough. Hopefully, they continue to drink the Kool-Aid and the Democrats will be able to continue to hold the governorship and make further inroads against the GOP in the Virginia General Assembly. McDonnell is an extremist on gay issues and borders on acting like a self-hating closet case at times. Here are some highlights from the Virginian Pilot:

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Jindal was in town to endorse Attorney General Bob McDonnell's 2009 gubernatorial campaign. . . . Like Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the 37-year-old Jindal is seen by some observers as a fresh face in a Republican Party that suffered significant election losses on the federal level this year.

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Republicans and Democrats around the country are expected to be watching Virginia's 2009 election closely, particularly after Barack Obama carried the state and ended a 44-year streak of Virginia voting for GOP presidential candidates. The only other state with a gubernatorial election in 2009 is New Jersey, which is a Democratic stronghold.

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McDonnell is the lone Republican running for governor next year. Three Democrats are interested in the race: state Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath; Del. Brian Moran, D-Alexandria; and former Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe.*

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In endorsing McDonnell, Jindal cited the attorney general's work to toughen punishment of sex offenders and his stance on controlling state spending. The two men share many socially and fiscally conservative beliefs, a point Virginia Democrats highlighted in an e-mail critical of McDonnell and Jindal. "An extreme Republican endorsing an extreme Republican doesn't come as a surprise," said state Democratic Party spokesman Jared Leopold.

More Thursday Male Beauty

Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are

Richard Rosendall has a column in Metro Weekly that looks at the movie Milk and ideas that modern day activists need to perhaps again re-focus upon in order to change the debate on gay rights. We need to keep in mind that our Christianist and Mormon enemies will never willing give us any rights and that the key to winning is to win over the undecided middle, many of whom may not even know that they have gays that touch their lives. In this area, with DADT and far too many LGBT individuals who prefer to go to their discrete dinner parties and less than visible fund raisers, it is particularly difficult to find people who by their own lives will work to dispel the negative stereotypes that James Dobson, Peter LaBarbera and other professional haters work to generate. Here are some highlights from the Metro Weekly column:

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If you freeze-frame the Milk movie trailer on YouTube, you can see the ''1051'' atop the streetcar used in a scene portraying an angry demonstration. The car from San Francisco's Municipal Railway (''Muni'') is now a ''moving museum'' dedicated to Harvey Milk, with informational panels on Milk's career. In a larger sense, we have much to learn from Milk and other gay rights pioneers -- not just how to fight for ourselves, but how to change the terms of the debate.

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The film shows Milk (in an extraordinary portrayal by Sean Penn) quoting Glinda the Good Witch: ''Come out, come out, wherever you are!'' Milk refused to accept the more closeted approach favored by David Goodstein of The Advocate. He understood that gaining power required public engagement. In contrast to this year's unsuccessful ''No on 8'' campaign, Milk debated John Briggs, sponsor of 1978's Proposition 6, which would have banned gay people and their supporters from working in public schools. Briggs lost.

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Professionalizing the movement and hiring experts is fine and necessary to compete with well-funded adversaries, but we must keep in mind what pioneers like Milk and Kameny understood decades ago: that we are the authorities on ourselves. If we win establishment access but forget why we sought it, the greater movement is reduced to personal ambition.It's not enough to find the right messaging to reach particular demographics. We must make personal connections to ensure that voters know individual GLBT people. After losing an expert-guided initiative battle that cost us $40 million, perhaps it's time to take fresh inspiration from our forebears in claiming our fundamental American right to ''the pursuit of happiness'' and rebuking fundamentalists who invoke sectarian dogma to deny us this right that they take for granted.

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For my own part, I will continue to live my life openly and try to set an image at odds with those fostered by our enemies. I hope more and more LGBT residents of Hampton Roads and Virginia as a whole will do the same. It is far more difficult to vote against people that one knows.

Panel Says New Jersey Should Allow Gay Marriage

The New Jersey Civil Union Review Commission has released a 79 page report which concludes that New Jersey should follow two other U.S. states and allow same-sex couples to marry rather than just enter into civil unions, as the law currently permits. As Reuters is reporting, the Civil Union Review Commission said same-sex couples cannot achieve equality with heterosexual couples if their legal status is restricted to civil unions. Full marriage is the only way to meet a state constitutional requirement for equality, said the 13-member panel of public officials, clergy, lawyers and same-sex marriage advocates. Here are some highlights from Reuters:

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The panel was picked by the governor, other state officials and state agencies and charged with evaluating New Jersey's civil union law and making a recommendation. Its recommendation was unanimous. "The Commission finds that the separate categorization established by the Civil Union Act invites and encourages unequal treatment of same-sex couples and their children," the panel said in a 79-page report based on an 18-month investigation. Citing "overwhelming evidence," it said "civil unions will not be recognized by the general public as the equivalent of marriage in New Jersey."

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Gov. Jon Corzine said the issue should be resolved "sooner rather than later" because civil unions appear to have fostered inequality by creating a separate class of relationships. "I encourage the legislature to seriously review the commission's report and ... I will sign marriage equality legislation when it reaches my desk," he said in a statement.

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Not surprisingly, the folks at Focus on the Family and similar Christianist hate organizations are hyperventilating and on the verge of wetting themselves. No doubt they will be releasing additional blustering statements and it is important to remember that despite the language they use, their goal is to stigmatize LGBT citizens and keep us unequal. "Protecting marriage" is merely the rhetoric and language they use to dupe the ignorant and/or bigoted into supporting their cause and of course sending in their all important money contributions. As for the report, here are a few key findings:

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We, the thirteen members of the New Jersey Civil Union Review Commission, unanimously issue this final report, containing a set of recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature of the State of New Jersey. After eighteen public meetings, 26 hours of oral testimony and hundreds of pages of written submission from more than 150 witnesses, this Commission finds that the separate categorization established by the Civil Union Act invites and encourages unequal treatment of same-sex couples and their children. In a number of cases, the negative effect of the Civil Union Act on the physical and mental health of same-sex couples and their children is striking, largely because a number of employers and hospitals do not recognize the rights and benefits of marriage for civil union couples.

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As a result of the overwhelming evidence presented to the Commission, we unanimously recommend that:

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The Legislature and Governor amend the law to allow same-sex couples to marry;

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The law be enacted expeditiously because any delay in marriage equality will harm all the people of New Jersey; and

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The Domestic Partnership Act should not be repealed, because it provides important protections to committed partners age 62 and older.

Lies in the Name of God

Truth Wins Out, an organization run by my friend Wayne Besen - which has in the past featured a video of yours truly discussing fallen ex-gay, Michael Johnston - is taking out a full-page ad (above - click to enlarge) in the Salt Lake Tribune today in order to counter the Becket Fund's 'No Mob Veto' ad that ran last week in the New York Times. The Becket Fund ad, signed by a group of religious leaders known for their anti-gay views, falsely pretends that the Christianist leaders are friendly towards Mormons and seeks to characterized peaceful protests against Proposition 8 as a form of mob violence against religion. Wayne's comment on the backers of the Becket Fund ad are as follows:

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“These anti-gay activists are crying wolf on the Proposition 8 protests, but they actually are a wolf in sheep’s clothing that preaches religious tolerance while practicing the most defamatory form of religious bigotry. We refuse to permit this orchestrated campaign to rewrite history, nor will we allow some of the most notorious Mormon bashers in America to pose as friends of the Latter-day Saints."

Thursday Male Beauty

Proposition 8 -- Boycott Cry Babies

The Los Angeles Times has yet another semi-whining op-ed piece that in places almost asks readers to feel sorry for Mormon extremists who consciously gave money in support of Proposition 8 and who now do not want to take the heat that their contributions have now brought home to roost upon them. Actions have consequences and I hold little sympathy for those who donated money to deprive other citizens of legal civil rights and who are cry babies when they and/or businesses in which they hold management positions end up as targets of boycotts. First, their donations make it clear that they hold the concept of freedom of religion for others in contempt. Second, they are apparently not very bright if they thought that their deeds would never be discovered. That they believe that their excuse of "religious belief" should buy them a free pass is utterly unacceptable. Here are some highlights:

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For all the complaints (mainly coming from the Yes-on-8 campaign), boycotts against corporations or organizations are a time-honored method of expressing opinions and pushing for social or political change. But in the superheated Proposition 8 debate, this venerable tactic has occasionally been used in ugly ways.

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[P]ost election boycott efforts by the other side -- defenders of same-sex marriage -- have expanded into a vengeful campaign against individuals who donated to the gay-marriage ban, usually in the form of pressure on their employers. At least two people have resigned from their jobs and a third is considering it, including the artistic director of a stage company in Sacramento and a manager at an L.A. eatery. . . . there's nothing to cheer about when private individuals are afraid to donate to the political campaigns of their choice because it may cost them their livelihood.

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Owners and officers of companies aren't just private individuals; they must accept that their political actions will reflect on the organizations they head and act accordingly. But a heated debate about a basic right -- in this case, the right to marry whom one chooses -- must also consider the rights of citizens to vote and donate without intimidation.

Marriage Christianist Style

The anti-gay Christianist forces constantly cite the Bible as authority for the rule that marriage is of one man and one woman. However, as the recent Newsweek story made clear, the Bible in actuality provides for very different marriage combinations and rules. The Daily Kos has a great example of what various marriage rules might indeed look like if the Bible was faithfully and literally applied. It's not a pretty picture. It does, however, show the dishonesty of Christianists who argue against gay marriage based on literal applications of the Bible. Here are highlights from Daily Kos:

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A. Marriage in the United States shall consist of a union between one man and one or more women. (Gen 29:17-28; II Sam 3:2-5)

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B. Marriage shall not impede a man's right to take concubines in addition to his wife or wives. (II Sam 5:13; I Kings 11:3; II Chron 11:21)

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C. A marriage shall be considered valid only if the wife is a virgin. If the wife is not a virgin, she shall be executed. (Deut 22:13-21)

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D. Marriage of a believer and a non-believer shall be forbidden. (Gen 24:3; Num 25:1-9; Ezra 9:12; Neh 10:30)

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E. Since marriage is for life, neither this Constitution nor the constitution of any State, nor any state or federal law, shall be construed to permit divorce. (Deut 22:19; Mark 10:9)

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F. If a married man dies without children, his brother shall marry the widow. If he refuses to marry his brother's widow or deliberately does not give her children, he shall pay a fine of one shoe and be otherwise punished in a manner to be determined by law. (Gen 38:6-10; Deut 25:5-10)

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G. In lieu of marriage, if there are no acceptable men in your town, it is required that you get your dad drunk and have sex with him (even if he had previously offered you up as a sex toy to men young and old), tag-teaming with any sisters you may have. Of course, this rule applies only if you are female. (Gen 19:31-36)

More Wednesday Male Beauty

Obama Plans to Reach Out to Muslim World

In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Barack Obama discussed his intentions to use his full name when he is sworn into office and also that he plans to reach out to improve the USA's relations with the Muslim world. I applaud these plans, but no doubt this will only serve to outrage the mindless, hate filled Christo-fascist elements that comprise the base of the Republican Party who cannot quite figure out that we are not back in the days of the Crusades. Like it or not, we live in a multicultural world with diverse religions and only the Kool-Aid drinkers seem unwilling to accept this reality. Sadly, thanks to the huge mess the Chimperator's idiotic policies have created, Obama will definitely have his work cut out for him. Here are some highlights from the Tribune story:
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Barack Obama says his presidency is an opportunity for the U.S. to renovate its relations with the Muslim world, starting the day of his inauguration and continuing with a speech he plans to deliver in an Islamic capital. And when he takes the oath of office Jan. 20, he plans to be sworn in like every other president, using his full name: Barack Hussein Obama.

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"I think we've got a unique opportunity to reboot America's image around the world and also in the Muslim world in particular,'' Obama said Tuesday, promising an "unrelenting" desire to "create a relationship of mutual respect and partnership in countries and with peoples of good will who want their citizens and ours to prosper together."The world, he said, "is ready for that message."

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Obama said the country must take advantage of a unique chance to recalibrate relations around the globe, through a new diplomacy that emphasizes inclusiveness and tolerance as well as an unflinching stand against terrorism."The message I want to send is that we will be unyielding in stamping out the terrorist extremism we saw in Mumbai," Obama said, adding that he plans to give a major address in an Islamic capital as part of his global outreach.

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During the campaign, Obama's detractors would often invoke his middle name, Hussein, in an attempt to falsely paint him as a Muslim. Obama, a Christian, doesn't care."I think the tradition is that they use all three names, and I will follow the tradition," he said. "I'm not trying to make a statement one way or another. I'll do what everybody else does.''

Are We Seeing Stonewall 2.0?

One of the things that struck me this past weekend in Washington, D.C., was the level of energy amongst the bloggers and activists at the LGBT Blogger Summit. Everyone seemed very enthused and motivated to move forward with the battle to achieve full legal equality for LGBT Americans. Admittedly, all of us were already activists of sorts, but the whole post-Proposition 8 reaction around the country seems as if it may be a new awakening of activism in the LGBT community. The same energy/anger seems present in the Hampton Roads area based on the demonstrations that took place on November 15th and the activity I see in the e-mail stream coming from HROC members. The phenomenon is not just local to this area as evidenced by a New York Times article that examines a new generation of activists. Personally, I am all in favor of renewed militancy and a putting aside of playing nice and begging for rights to be doled out to us. Here are some story highlights:

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SAN FRANCISCO — They’re calling it Stonewall 2.0. Outraged by California voters’ ban on same-sex marriage, a new wave of advocates, shaken out of a generational apathy, have pushed to the forefront of the gay rights movement, using freshly minted grass-roots groups and embracing not only new technologies but also old-school methods like sit-ins and sickouts.

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Matt Palazzolo, 23, a self-described “video artist-actor turned gay activist,” founded one group, Equal Roots Coalition, with a group of friends about 10 days ago. “I’d been focused on other things in my life,” Mr. Palazzolo said. “Then Nov. 4 happened, and it woke me up.”

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Many grass-roots leaders say the emergence of new faces, and acceptance of tactics that are more confrontational, amount to an implicit rejection of the measured approach of established gay rights groups, a course that, some gay men and lesbians maintain, allowed passage of the ban, Proposition 8. “I think we are demanding as a community that we democratize our processes and ensure we all have a voice,” said Molly McKay, media director of the volunteer group Marriage Equality USA. “Because we are not a campaign. We are a movement.”

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The executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Kate Kendell, a member of the No on 8 campaign’s executive committee, said the criticism was understood. . . . . the ballot initiative’s passage has forced many in the gay community “out of our stupor” and opened the door for new leaders, she said. “It’s totally legitimate to say that the normal way of doing things did not get us to the finish line,” Ms. Kendell said. “And now some of those groups need to move over a couple of lanes to make room.”

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The new activists have impressed some gay rights veterans. “They’ve shown a clear ability to turn out large numbers of people,” said Cleve Jones, a longtime gay rights advocate and labor organizer. “It’s also clear that they are skeptical of the established L.G.B.T. organizations. And I would say they have reason to be.”

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many activists seem unwilling to wait for a legal solution and have planned a series of events to keep the issue in the public eye, including a nationwide candlelight vigil later this month, a Million Gay March in Washington next spring and continued protests at county clerks’ offices throughout California.

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Quite a few activists said they had also been inspired by the acclaimed film “Milk,” which chronicles the fight by a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Harvey Milk (played by Sean Penn), to beat back a 1978 ballot measure that would have barred gay teachers from California’s public schools.

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Mr. Palazzolo, the activist-actor-video artist, said it had taken Proposition 8 to reawaken political consciousness that he and many peers abandoned during college. “We’ve been spoiled,” he said. “Because while we knew we’d been discriminated against in the past, we’d never felt it until now.”

L.A. Episcopal Diocese Condones Blessing Gay Unions

I write often about anti-gay denominations and endeavor to point out their lies, hypocrisy and hateful conduct towards LGBT citizens. It is important to remember that not all denominations are homophobic. A case in point is the Episcopal Church and certain dioceses in particular such as the Episcopal Church Diocese of Los Angeles. I truly believe that time is on the side of LGBT equality and acceptance by all but the most reactionary and ignorant denominations. Like it or not, advances in medical and mental health knowledge not to mention the acceptance of gays by the younger generations will force denominations to either join the modern world or eventually wither and perish. Here are highlights from the Los Angeles Times concerning the LA Diocese's position on gay unions:

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The bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles has announced that church leaders can bless the unions of same-sex couples as a matter of policy. The Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, whose diocese encompasses Los Angeles County and five other Southern California counties, made the announcement Friday during a diocesan convention in Riverside.

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Bruno's declaration is not expected to have a major effect on Episcopal churches in Southern California. Many have been blessing gay unions for years. But he has now made it official. "The practice has not changed. The policy has. . . . It's sort of like 'coming out,' " said the Rev. Susan Russell, a lesbian priest at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena. Russell also is president of Integrity USA, a group representing the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community in the Episcopal Church.

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The rite endorsed by Bruno also allows the blessing of other relationships, such as those between two senior citizens who do not wish to legally marry because they might lose health insurance or Social Security benefits.

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Diocese representatives also passed a resolution at their convention calling on the Episcopal Church to let gays and lesbians become bishops. The L.A. diocese is expected to elect two suffragan, or assisting, bishops in 2010, and some say it is possible a gay or lesbian bishop could be nominated from among qualified candidates around the world.

Wednesday Male Beauty

Jon Stewart Slams Mike Huckabee On Gay Marriage

As Pam Spaulding - who is a sweetheart in person by the way - and other sites are reporting, extreme Christianist and nutcase, Mike Huckabee went on the Daily Show and got slammed by Jon Stewart. I view Huckabee as nothing short of a menace and hope more and more of his extremism will be exposed. Sadly, far too many in the media are afraid to take him on and ask biting questions that will force Huckabee to reveal that he is NOT the easy going as shucks figure he pretends to be. He wants to subvert the U.S. Constitution and borders on being a Christian Dominionist who believes that society should be governed exclusively by the law of God as codified in the Bible, to the exclusion of secular law. Here are some highlights from Stewart's interview of Huckabee:

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"You write that marriage is the bedrock of society...Why would you not want more couples to buy into the stability of marriage. Why would you want to precluded for an entire [group] of people."

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Huckabee responded with a series of standard points, including "Marriage still means one man, one woman, life relationship. I think people have a right to live any way they want to, but even anatomically -- let's face it -- the only way that we can create the next generation is through a male/female relationship."

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In a point that Stewart would press him on later by suggesting that his history is a bit skewed, Huckabee asserted, "For 5000 years of recorded human history that's what marriage has meant."

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..."30 states have had it on the ballot, and in all 30 states, it's passed -- even in states like California, that nobody would suggest are social conservatives..." Stewart: "30 states had Mike Huckabee on the ballot and they voted for John McCain. You can't trust those voters. The voters don't know."

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"I think it's a travesty that people have forced someone who is gay to have to 'make their case' that they deserve the same basic rights." ..."I'll tell you this: Religion is far more of a choice than homosexuality. And the protections that we have for religion? We protect religion -- and talk about a lifestyle choice -- that is absolutely a choice. Gay people don't choose to be gay. At what age did you choose not to be gay?"

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Mike Huckabee Pt. 2

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video