Remebering D-Day

With today being the anniversary of the D-Day landing in Normandy I find myself thinking of my father who died three years ago this coming September. As a 22 year old he was in the Army Corps of Engineers and followed the troops ashore as his division was tasked with building pontoon brides and other structures to allow the troops to continue the push inland. Generally, he did not talk a great deal about the combat he witnessed other than as a kid I do recall watching the old TV show Combat which would get him to occasionally talk about friends lost and things he witnessed. He preferred to think of the better experiences such as being Paris, living off the Champs Elysee, or his time as Fire Marshall for Marseilles after hostilities ceased.

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Many of today's younger generation will never know the experience of hearing first hand accounts of those who were there and the horrors they witnessed and the extreme heroism exhibited by so many. I hope everyone will take a moment today to remember the brave men and women who gave their lives to stop the Nazi regime.

Saturday Male Beauty

Prime Minister Berlusconi 's X-Rated Parties

One of the principal allies of the Vatican in the fight against gay rights in Italy is Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi who claims to be a "family values" type of guy. I previously looked at his wife's announcement that she was divorcing him in part because of his affair with an 18 year old model. Now, the proverbial shit is hitting the fan as photos - like the one at left - from some of Silvio's parties have been printed by the news media. How do we spell HYPOCRISY?? Adding to the stink is the fact that Berlusconi has apparently been using government funds to transport his party crowds to his villa. I suspect the Vatican will pretend to know nothing about Berlusconi's partying habits. As America Blog notes:

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Spanish newspaper El Pais published a few photos of a party that Berlusconi was hosting at one of his houses. The photos include a few naked women as well as a former Czech prime minister who is, ahem, excited at the idea of taking a shower or whatever excuse Berlusconi tried to offer.

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It would seem that Berlusconi's about as much of a family values guy as Senator David Vitter who has a fondness to prostitutes. Hopefully, this scandal will help usher Berlusconi out of the Prime Minister post. Here are a few highlight from an English translation of the El Pais story:

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Zappadu's photo feature shows the atmosphere at Villa Certosa, the people with whom Berlusconi socializes and how he spends his spare time. The property covers 60 hectares and is near Porto Redondo, an area concentrating most of the tourism of Costa Smeralda.

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Those pictures have led to an investigation of Berlusconi?s alleged illegal use of flights financed by the State. The journalist says that "almost every weekend", official planes flown by the 31º Squadrone dell' Aeronautica Italiana delivered at the airport the prime Minister's friends, artists, dancers and velinas (television hostesses).

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On August 2008, Berlusconi passed a new regulation that broadened the official flights to include different categories of companions, based on the needs of the Prime Minister.Zappadu's pictures bear witness to the fact that four months before the new regulation came into effect, Berlusconi travelled to Olbia with his friend the Napolitanian singer Mariano Apicella and an alleged flamenco dancer.

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The pictures from Villa Certosa reveal that there is an obvious lack of inhibitions in the mansion, which is protected by strong security measures. Berlusconi himself said that one of the men in the pictures is the Czech ex-Prime Minister, Mirek Topolanek. This newspaper has not been able to check the identity of the man who appears naked in one of the photos.

Christianist Crazy Fest

I had done a post last month on a confab of Christianist lunacy that was to take place in the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area over the last two days. Since the event titled "Rediscovering God in America" was closed to reporters, details are brief - such as did Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell, the GOP candidate for governor sneak in even though he is pretending to be a moderate - but it definitely sounds like the wingnuts were in full force bleating their theocratic message. Among those speaking at the event which took place at Rock Church in Virginia Beach were the loon from Arkansas, Mike Huckabee, failed senatorial candidate Oliver North, David Barton (WallBuilders), Lou Engle (TheCall visionary), and Ron Luce (Teen Mania founder). The three hours of lunacy was broadcast live on God.TV, an evangelical Web site, and will replay Sunday evening. Here are some highlights from the Virginian Pilot:

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Two leading voices of the Republican Party's evangelical wing visited Rock Church on Friday for a forum aimed at recapturing some of the movement's political momentum. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee urged Christians to get involved in politics to preserve the presence of religion in American life.

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They and other speakers warned about the continuing availability of abortion, the spread of gay rights, and attempts to remove religion from American public life and school history books. Gingrich and Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas, argued the rights of Americans stem from God and to ignore that connection is perilous. The two were among several speakers, including former U.S. Senate candidate Oliver North, at the three-hour "Rediscovering God in America" event. The event was closed to reporters but was broadcast live on God.TV, an evangelical Web site.

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Huckabee told the audience he was disturbed to hear President Barack Obama say during his speech in Cairo, Egypt, on Thursday that one nation shouldn't be exalted over another. "The notion that we are just one of many among equals is nonsense," Huckabee said. The United States is a "blessed" nation, he said, calling American revolutionaries' defeat of the British empire "a miracle from God's hand." The same kind of miracle, he said, led California voters to approve Proposition 8, which overturned a state law legalizing same-sex marriages.

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"I am not a citizen of the world," said Gingrich, who was first elected to the U.S. House from Georgia in 1978 and served as speaker from 1995 to 1999. "I am a citizen of the United States because only in the United States does citizenship start with our creator." Huckabee urged his listeners to get engaged in public life or their views won't matter.

Friday Male Beauty

Insane Marriage Greeting

(click to enlarge image)

Peter LaBarbera is among the perenial professional Christian nutcases who bounce from one bogus "ministry" to the next as they makes a career out of spreading lies and hatred towards gays. LaBarbera's latest gig is at Americans For Truth About Homosexuality which he set up after he was let go by the Illinois Family Association. I've had e-mail exchanges with him where he always claims ignorance to the fact that his cited "research" is bogus and that his facts are utterly wrong, yet after being provided with documentation proving the falsity of his blather can be found shortly thereafter - sometimes within hours - once again repeating the same old tired lies and bogus data. Personally, I think he's a self-loathing closet case as evidenced by his constant "undercover" research missions attending gay leather events. Now "The Peter" has sent a bizarre marriage greeting to Jeremy Hooper over at Good-As-You (one of the LGBT Blogger Summit attendees) which is set out above.

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If anything is perilous to one's mind, body and soul, it's listening to The Peter's knowingly untruthful bleating as he projects his own self-hatred towards the rest of us gays who realize that God made us just as we are and that no conversion is necessary.

Wanted: President with Empathy

A contributor to Pam's House Blend has posted a letter that she has written to President Obama in regard to his failure to deliver on ANY of his campaign promises to date to LGBT Americans. The letter is moving and lays out why movement by Obama on LGBT issues is important and should not be put on the back burner for attention "someday" or "later." We are talking about real lives and real people who are deprived of equality because of religious based discrimination - something that ought to already be forbidden under the U.S. Constitution. The letter is lengthy but I encourage you to read the whole piece. Here are some highlights:

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Dear President Obama,

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I write to you today as a parent, and I am asking you to hear my plea not as President of the United States, but as the parent of two beautiful daughters. My husband and I cried tears of joy that November night back in 2008 when you were declared the victor and 44th president of the United States. But despite our tremendous relief that George W. Bush would soon be gone and you would soon be taking over, it was still a bittersweet night for us. Yes, our hopes and prayers had been answered. Yes, the eight year nightmare finally felt almost over. But our intense joy was overshadowed by the passages of hateful marriage amendments in both Arizona and California.

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My husband and I understood exactly what those horrible marriage amendments were really all about and we knew it had nothing to do with protecting the sanctity of our 27-year marriage, and everything to do with hate, ignorance and bigotry masquerading as a mandate from God. It was also the point at which we painfully realized that enough of our fellow Arizonans, possibly friends and neighbors among them, felt so strongly that our son was not worthy of the same rights they enjoyed that they could pull the lever for enshrining his second-class citizenship into our state constitution. I cannot describe the pain we felt. Saying it was excruciating just doesn't do it justice.

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But thankfully I was able to console myself with the knowledge that these amendments represented the last of the divisive political tactics used by the previous administration to pit American against American simply to win, with no regard to the damage it would do to our country. We just knew that with your election this kind of stuff would soon be an ugly memory and that we would soon have a man of honor and dignity coming into office - a man who promised, over and over, to make things right.

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Mr. President, we were deeply moved by all of the inspirational speeches you gave during your campaign. We hung on to your every word. We were so desperate for change and your words filled us with so much hope and optimism. We believed you when you promised you'd fight for legal equality for gays and lesbians by expanding the Employment Non-Discrimination Act to include sexual orientation and gender identity, we believed you when said you'd urge states to treat same-sex couples with full equality in their family and adoption laws, we believed you when you promised you'd repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, and we believed you when you said you'd support the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

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But maybe I was wrong. Yes, I know, you walked into a horrific mess on January 20th, 2009. Yes, your plate is full. Yes, there are many urgent matters that must be dealt with. And yes, you must make some tremendously difficult prioritizing decisions. But your silence on every single one of these LGBT issues Mr. President, is deafening. And it is a crushing disappointment.

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The fact that I am pleading with you nearly 5 months into your presidency to keep the promises you made while asking for my vote is telling. The fact that I have to beg you to make my son an equal citizen of this great country is something I cannot believe I'm being forced to do. The idea that the constitutionally protected rights of a minority can be put up for a vote by the majority is un-American, unconstitutional, and just plain wrong.

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So I ask you Mr. President, how would you feel if you were forced to beg your friends, your neighbors, your fellow citizens, and even the President of the United States to treat one of your precious daughters the same way they treat their own children? How would you feel? Horrified? Indifferent? Filled with seething rage? I need to know, because your answer to that question will tell me just how much empathy you have.

More Thursday Male Beauty

Click image to enlarge

Christianists: Homosexuality and Interracial Dating Pose Health Risks

Based on years of monitoring Christianist organization websites, I have often maintained that the Christiansts are no only homophobes but also racists. Whenever possible they distort research on gays and depict us as a disease ridden form of vermin. In addition, they regular disseminate an anti-minority and anti-immigrant mantra. Now, interestingly enough a video has popped up on You Tube that parallels the same disingenuous story line used against gays as it proclaims that interracial dating poses significant health risks.

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First, here is a sample of Pete LaBarbera's standard sliming of gays as diseased and a public health risk via Pam's Blend:

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“Barack Obama’s homosexual agenda is beginning to take shape – but he has no election mandate to impose GLSEN’s radical vision of celebrating homosexuality, bisexuality and gender confusion (transsexuality) in U.S. schools,” LaBarbera said. “Anti-religious bigots should not be setting policy for schools — and promoting dangerous sex and gender identities to youth is the antithesis of ‘safety.’ (Men who have sex with other men (MSM) suffer from much higher rates of sexual diseases – including anal cancer, HIV, syphilis, and gonorrhea — than non-MSMs.)

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Now watch this video that no doubt warms the hearts of white supremacists and many of the lily white Christianist organizations:
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Would that more people would connect the dots and realize that these people hate everyone who doesn't look just like them and hold their divisive beliefs.

Boycott the Knights of Columbus

Father Jeff Farrow has a new post on his blog that takes the Knights of Columbus to task for the organization's opposition to gay marriage. The Knights likewise need to be boycotted for their mindless ass kissing of the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy notwithstanding the moral bankruptcy of the hierarchy as evidenced by the sex abuse scandal and deliberate cover up of the molestation of minors. The Knights were founded to protect families and children, yet the organization in its slavish brown nosing of corrupt bishops and cardinals - and yes Popes - has closed its eyes to threats and intimidation of families and abuse victims by members of the hierarchy. As a former 4th Degree Knight, I am ashamed now to ever have been affiliated with the organization in light of its more recent conduct. They have betrayed the vision of their founder and have thrown the children of LGBT couples on the trash heap. Here are some highlights from Father Jeff's post:

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Many priests have E-mailed me and expressed their rage and anger over the hypocrisy of the Catholic hierarchy in supporting anti-marriage equality legislation. They have often referred to the bishops as “old queens” who blithely support anti-gay efforts, because of their own self-loathing. One of the organizations, which the bishops have effectively employed to do their dirty work, has been the Knights of Columbus.

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So, what can priests do to fight the anti-gay agenda of the bishops and the K of C? Here is a short list:

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1) Borrow the full amount against your Knights of Columbus life insurance policy immediately. Take the check and invest the funds with an LGBT friendly fund. Do not pay back the loan. If every priest and K of C insurance policy holder were to do this, it would create a considerable capital drain on K of C and cripple their ability to write large checks to thwart LGBT legislation and ballot initiatives.

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2) If you are a layperson, write them at tell them why you have done this. If you are a priest, simply inform them that you have decided to use the funds to promote social justice.

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3) Pastors have the power to decide what is published in the Sunday bulletin and what is announced at Mass on Sundays. Do not let the K of C publish or announce.

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4) Pastors may grant or withhold permission for organizations to use church facilities for their meetings. Most parishes have very tight facility scheduling. Create a program and tell the K of C they need to meet elsewhere. Eventually, they will get the message.

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Economic boycotts helped bring down an unjust regime in South Africa and brought an end to apartheid there, it can work here too.

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To this list I would add avoiding contributing monies to the Knights' various charities and give the money to other charities that serve the same beneficiaries - and let the Knights know why you are doing so. Similarly, boycott the Knights' Lenten fish fries and other functions. And if you are a member of the Knights, resign and tell them why you are doing so.

Thursday Male Beauty

More Young Women Educated in Religious Schools Have More Abortions

While at first blush this headline seems counter intuitive, but on reflection it makes since: abstinence only sex education doesn't work and leaves young women in schools that advocate only this approach are left ignorant of contraception methods. A new study published in the June issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior confirms this fact. Overall, it is in keeping with the religious extremists' refusal to accept objective fact and studies that show that comprehensive sex education leads to reduced levels of abortion. And while many such schools are strenuously anti-abortion, they in fact help increase the number of abortions. Here are some story highlights:

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A new study published in the June issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior shows that young women in their teens or early twenties who have attended religious schools are more likely than their peers to get an abortion, despite their beliefs. In fact, the research points out, these girls are more likely than those in the public school system to get pregnant without being too mature or married. The findings are very weird, because private religious schools, regardless of the god they promote, pride themselves in enforcing a very strict policy as far as contacts between their students go.

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For her research, the expert kept an eye on 1,504 unmarried and never-divorced young women in 125 different schools around the United States, aged 26 or younger. The goal of the investigation was to determine exactly how religious behavior influenced the young girls' decisions to have an abortion. Other studies have shown a strong link between religion and abortion attitudes, but this correlation has thus far remained largely unstudied.

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When analyzing the variables in the research, the expert learned that neither religious involvement, nor frequency of prayer or the perception of religion's importance has any bearing on the women's decision.
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“Religious school attendance is not necessarily indicative of conservative religious beliefs because students attend these schools for a variety of reasons. These schools tend to generate high levels of commitment and strong social ties among their students and families, so abortion rates could be higher due to the potential for increased feelings of shame related to an extramarital birth,” the expert concluded.

JASMYNE CANNICK: What Blacks Can Learn From Gays

Jasmyne Cannick - with whom I do not always agree - has an interesting column up that raises an issue that seems relevant in the Hampton Roads area as well as California: undue focus by members of the black community on issues that do not improve the lives of black citizens. Locally, a number of black churches are utterly obsessed with opposing gay marriage and gay rights and expend energy and money better spent on issues that would improve employment and other matters that have a true everyday impact on the black community. Worse yet, these same churches are unwittingly cynically manipulated by the modern day descendants of the same groups that opposed segregation, voting rights, etc. 8Here are some highlights from Jasmyne's column:

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Before you open that bottle of champagne, can of beer, or bottle of Hennessy in celebration of last week’s decision by the California Supreme Court upholding Proposition 8 and the ban on gay marriage, did you ever stop to think maybe the jokes on us?

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I mean think about it. Last November, Blacks voted overwhelmingly in support of Proposition 8, ensuring that lesbian and gay couples, including Black couples, continue to be treated as second-class citizens. Everyone had an opinion from the tennis courts to the pulpit. And no matter whether Black support of Proposition 8 had more to do with religious beliefs or just plain old-fashioned homophobia, the fact still remains that two people getting married, same-sex or not, has no financial impact whatsoever on the rest of us. None. We may not like it, but at the end of the day, gay marriage doesn’t take food from anyone’s mouth, clothes off of anyone’s back, or a roof from over someone’s head. But judging from the way we acted, you would have thought that it did.

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Which leaves me to question if Blacks are more concerned about whether two men or women commit to loving and caring for each other than they are about cuts to vital programs that affect all of us? Because let me tell you, me getting married tomorrow isn’t nearly going have the same impact on Black California as hundreds of thousands of out of work, hungry, and homeless Black people are. You think crime is bad now, you just wait and see. Message!

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Lest I forget to mention that our support of Proposition 8 only ensured that gay organizations fighting for marriage continue to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep the fight going, while many Black organizations are operating on the brink of bankruptcy. Message!

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I wonder if Blacks would ever think of protesting their first Black President to make sure that he addressed issues relevant not only to middle class Americans but to those Americans living at or below the poverty line. I’m just saying, while I don’t always agree with the gay community’s tactics, they sure do know how to make their voice heard. Message! With all of the issues facing Black Californian’s today—home foreclosures, unemployment, homelessness—gay marriage remains at the forefront of the Democratic agenda for Black elected officials and that’s not by accident.

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And while many of our Black churches were so instrumental in making sure that their congregations supported Proposition 8, I can’t say that the same energy has been put into making sure that we’re aware of the impact by the Governor’s proposed budget cuts on Blacks in California. So I’ll say it again, maybe the joke is on us.

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[O]ur support of non-relevant issues like Proposition 8 while ignoring the real issues that affect us all will ensure that Blacks continue to be at the bottom of the food chain in California—even with a Black President in Office. Black people need to stop focusing on issues that we have no control over and that do not affect our pocketbook and quality of life in the least bit and shift that energy into addressing the issues that do affect all of us and that we can control. . . .

More Wednesday Male Beauty

New Hampshire Joins List of Gay Marriage States

And then there were six: New Hampshire has joined the five other states - principally in the Northeast - that have given same sex couples full civil marriage rights. Obviously, I believe that the New Hampshire legislature did the right thing in enacting the bill and at last granting full equality under the civil laws. True, there will wailing and the gnashing of teeth from the religious fascists of the Christian Right, but again their real agenda has nothing to do with "protecting marriage." Instead, it is all about keeping LGBT citizens stigmatized as less than equal citizens. As modified, the New Hampshire legislation protects religious denominations from having to perform or recognize same sex couples/marriage. Anyone who claims otherwise - and the Christianists surely will do so - is a liar. Here are some highlights from the New York Times:

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New Hampshire became the sixth state to legalize gay marriage after the Senate and House passed key language on religious rights and Gov. John Lynch -- who personally opposes gay marriage -- signed the legislation Wednesday afternoon. After rallies outside the Statehouse by both sides in the morning, the last of three bills in the package went to the Senate, which approved it 14-10 Wednesday afternoon.

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The New Hampshire law will take effect Jan. 1, exactly two years after the state began recognizing civil unions. The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, elected in New Hampshire in 2003 as the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church, was among those celebrating the new law. ''It's about being recognized as whole people and whole citizens,'' Robinson said. ''There are a lot of people standing here who when we grew up could not have imagined this,'' he said. ''You can't imagine something that is simply impossible. It's happened, in our lifetimes.''

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The revised bill added a sentence specifying that all religious organizations, associations or societies have exclusive control over their religious doctrines, policies, teachings and beliefs on marriage. It also clarified that church-related organizations that serve charitable or educational purposes are exempt from having to provide insurance and other benefits to same-sex spouses of employees.

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The law will establish civil and religious marriage licenses and allow each party to the marriage to be identified as bride, groom or spouse. Same-sex couples already in civil unions will automatically be assumed to have a ''civil marriage.'' Churches will be able to decide whether to conduct religious marriages for same-sex couples. Civil marriages would be available to both heterosexual and same-sex couples. New Hampshire's decision leaves Rhode Island as the only New England state not to allow same-sex marriages.

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With Virginia being among the least progressive of states, I guess at some point the boyfriend and I will need to make a trip to New England to get married.

Civil Marriage Versus Religious Marriage

In their efforts to deny LGBT couples civil marriage rights, one of the standard ploys of the Christianists and Mormons is to conflate civil marriage with religious/church marriage. The two are entirely different and civil marriage for same sex couples in no way imposes any obligation on religious denominations to recognize civil marriages. Unfortunately, as is typically the case with the Christianists and Mormons in respect to this issue, the truth means nothing and they knowingly disseminate lies and untruths. All to often the supporters of marriage equality fail to make a proper argument as to why civil marriage for gays poses no threat to religious/church marriage. In his testimony before the New Hampshire legislature, Episcopal Bishop Eugene Robinson did a masterful job of distinguishing between civil and religious marriage and in the process underscored the dishonesty of anti-gay marriage opponents whose real goal is not to "protect marriage' but rather to keep LGBT citizens unequal under the civil laws. Here are the details of Bishop Robinson's statement via Pam's House Blend:

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(My name is Gene Robinson) ... and I serve as Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire. Last June my partner of 28 years and I, Mark Andrew and I, were joined in a civil union, for which we are very grateful.

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I'm here to ask your support in making the promise of equality under the law a reality in New Hampshire by allowing us to translate that second class status into the civil right of marriage. Since January 1, 2008, some 600 civil unions have been enacted. Think about what you were told eighteen months ago by those who wanted you to be fearful of this action.

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Has western civilization as we know it come to an end? Has your marriage to your opposite sex partner been undermined, in any way, by my professed love for and commitment to my partner? Has the family been eroded as a cornerstone of our society, or has it been strengthened by the solemn and genuine committments taken on by gay and lesbian couples in this state?

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Does any reasonable person believe that these 600 committed couples threaten the state or the society or your marriages in any way? The fears were unfounded.
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It turns out that you were right to do what you did. And now it is time to finish what you started, by making our relationships equal in the eyes of the law, and in the minds of the public, by granting marriage equality under the law to all citizens of New Hampshire.

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Let me briefly speak to two concerns you might have, especially as it relates to people of faith. First, those who would continue to discriminate against some of our citizens, would tell you that we are changing the definition and meaning of marriage. They are absolutely right. But what they are WRONG about is in claiming that "marriage has always had ONE meaning", up until now.

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Marriage for men in the Old Testament included multiple wives, not to mention concubines, if you were wealthy enough. Marriage until the Middle Ages was all about property, legitimacy of heirs, and inheritance rights. So decidely so that common people and serfs on an estate were not even encouraged to marry, since there was nothing to inherit, anyways.

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While marriage has served many purposes historically, including procreation, we have never prohibited from marrying, those unable to procreate, either because of infertility or advanced age. And just 40 years ago, we changed the definition of marriage to include people of different races, a change in definition that allowed Barack Obama's parents to be married. The definition of marriage has always been evolving and the inclusion of same gender partners is simply the next logical revision of that evolution.

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The second, the thing I most want you to remember most from my testimony is this: Religions and people of faith have nothing to fear from this bill. Indeed, many congregations, including those here in the Diocese of New Hampshire, already celebrate and bless the uniting of two people of the same gender in love, responsibility and mutual committment. Permitting two people of the same sex to declare their love for one other and to assume the responsibilities of civil marriage will affect religion in NO way.

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House Bill #436 makes very explicit the continuing right that NO religious organization or clergyperson is obligated or otherwise required by law to officiate at ANY particular civil marriage, in violation of their first amentment freedom of religion. No denomination or faith tradition will be required to approve of the marriage of two same gender citizens.

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Let's be clear: Civil marriage is a civil action, which has gotten confused in our society, only because clergy have been permitted to act as agents of the state, in signing marriage licenses and thereby enacting civil marriages. The STATE affects a civil marriage. Churches, synagogues and mosques may pronounce God's blessings on these marriages, if they choose, but civil marriages are still bona fide marriages, even if they are not presided over by a member of the clergy.

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All the rights, priviledges, and responsibilities of civil marriage pertain, even if there was nothing religious involved or intended. This is clearer in countries like France, where everyone is married at the mayor's office - then those couples who are religious and desire a blessing, go to their place of worship for such a service.

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Civil marriage is a civil act, proven by the reality that when a marriage comes unravelled, the couple doesn't go back to the church or synagogue where the service was performed to dissolve that marriage, but to the state and its courts.

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'Holy Matrimony', that is affirming the vows made in marriage in the presence of God and in God's church, will remain undisturbed or unchanged in any way. And no denomination or faith tradition will be required to approve of the marriage of two same gender citizens.

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As a religious person and a Bishop of the Church, permit me to ask my religious collegues who might object to marriage equality: is it right to force our religious beliefs on the rest of the citizens of this state? Just because my particular faith does not bless such marriages, does that mean that the civil right to marriage should be denied to the citizens of New Hampshire?

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Just as we cherish our rights as religious people, not to be infringed upon by the state, so the state should be be infringed upon by the particular beliefs of the church. One purpose of the state is to protect equally all of its citizens, no matter their religious beliefs. Later today, you will consider making sure that our transgender citizens are protected from violence and discrimination, a bill I support wholeheartedly.

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And in this bill, you are merely giving all of our citizens the same and equal right, to live productive lives in stable and recognized marriages. Equal protection under the law is the dream and the promise of America. There is hardly a more-oft repeated phrase in the Old and New Testaments that this: "Be Not Afraid."

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Ladies and gentleman of the Judiciary Committee, don't let the religious opponents to marriage equality you will hear from today and in the days to come, make you afraid to do what is right. As Americans we are promised equal protection under the law, and the inalieneable right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

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"Be Not Afraid" to make this equal protection a reality for ALL of the citizens of New Hampshire. Thank you.

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I could not state the plain simple truth any more clearly than Gene Robinson did. We need to recall his words and repeat them over and over to all legislators who will listen.

The Increasingly Vile GOP Messengers

Conservative columnist Kathleen Parker has a column in the Washington Post that looks at the growing problem for the GOP that those who most loudly shout its message are nutcases who increasingly cause moderates and the non-insane to run for the Democrat Party. Some years back the powers that be in the GOP decided to sell the party's soul to the Christianists in order to win elections. Now, the Christianists more or less control the party and rational thought and moderation are a thing of the past. Oh yes, candidates like Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell try to masquerade as moderates but they are anything but that. Listen to the fanatics in the party and there you will see the true agenda of its candidates. Unless and until the GOP totally disavows these nutcases and ejects them from places where they can influence party platforms, the GOP needs to rejected by voters. Here are highlights from Parker's column:

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Before recent events, I intended to write about the GOP's message problem with the headline: "Shoot the Messenger." Sunday's fatal shooting of abortion doctor George Tiller makes my title inappropriate, but the idea remains relevant. . . . By grotesque coincidence, Tiller's murderer furthers the point.

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It has long been a problem for the GOP that some of the party's cherished positions are embraced most enthusiastically by people whose grip on reality is sometimes . . . tenuous. This is especially true with regard to abortion.

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Rather than persuading people to think differently about abortion, the Terry-Keyes act makes one want to write checks to Planned Parenthood. And smart Catholics, who were perfectly capable of articulating their objections to the president's invitation to America's premier Catholic university, were suddenly stuck in the frame with rabble-rousers who demean the message. Such is the continuing dilemma of the GOP: How do you get out the message when the messengers keep getting in the way?

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[F]ire-breathers on the right don't help, whatever the cause. They may warm the base, but the Republican base is becoming a remote island in mainstream America. Everyone else is paddling away.

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Accurately or not, the right-wing wacko contingent increasingly dominates the public perception of the GOP. And, fairly or not, that perception makes it easier for characters such as Scott Roeder, the suspected shooter, to become associated with the party.

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Some Internet commentary even refers to Roeder as a "Christian terrorist." Let's see: Christian, pro-gun, anti-government, pro-life. Sounds like a Republican, right? Oh, and he's suspected of being an assassin. Connect them dots.

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One can convincingly argue that the media have a hand in perpetuating the conservative caricature, but the Republican Party has contributed to the distortion by pandering to its less rational elements. Still fresh in our minds is the last presidential election -- a strange season that might be attributed to GOP desperation if not for a prior history in times of political prosperity.

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Two words: Terri Schiavo. During that 2005 Operation Rescue debacle -- complete with death vigils and lamentations -- Bill Frist, then the Senate majority leader and a practicing physician, lent credibility to the circus performers by diagnosing Schiavo's condition via video and challenging other medical opinion that she was in a persistent vegetative state.

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[U]ntil the Republicans marginalize those who belong in the margins, they won't be attracting many new recruits. And the messengers will continue to obscure the message.

Wednesday Male Beauty

Why Coming Out Matters

I realize that I am guilty of having stayed in the closet for many, many years - indeed, I could not even intellectually accept the fact that I was gay. Thus, I am sympathetic to those who choose to stay in the closet until they rally the strength to decide to come out or like me reach a point where I either had to come out or kill myself. However, as Andrew Sullivan rightly notes by coming out of the closet we kill stereotypes and give a human face to who LGBT Americans are and undercut the lies disseminated daily by Christianist and Mormon zealots. The simple truth is that of those who know someone who is gay, the majority support gay marriage (and other rights for LGBT Americans). We need to expose those who do not yet know someone gay to who we really are. It's easy to hate some theoretical person, but suddenly when that person is your friend, neighbor, or fellow church member, it is far more difficult to hang on to old prejudices. Here are some of Andrew's thoughts on the topic:

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If gays are really serious about marriage rights, they need to accelerate the process of coming out. It's not often that a minority group has this option - African-Americans don't. But gays, like Jews, can "pass", and by passing, we don't even give many people the option of changing their minds and hearts by better understanding who we are, and why our relationships and families strengthen society rather than weakening it.

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Yes, donate and campaign and blog. But for all of those of you out there who are gay and do none of this, one simple political act can do much more: let your family, friends and co-workers know who you are. If you don't, please quit complaining about your lack of civil rights.

Kill Gays Facebook Page: More Caribbean Based Anti-Gay Hate

UPDATED: Facebook took the page down sometime between 5:20 and 5:45 PST.

I have talked about the need for LGBT individuals to use their travel dollars and purchasing power in general to support gay affirming countries and companies. By the same token, we need to avoid giving our hard earned money to countries and companies who deny us rights or benefits. One area of focus in the gay tourism approach is the continued anti-gay atmosphere in parts of the Caribbean, and Jamaica in particular. Embodying this anti-gay mindset is a Facebook group -which hopefully Facebook takes down soon if it has not already done so - that is Caribbean based and which promotes killing gays. Here are some highlights from Box Turtle Bulletin on this latest hate confab:

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Facebook has become a ubiquitous communications and organizing tool encompassing a whole range topics. Many of the groups are based on entertainment, hobbies, religion and spirituality, history, politics — you name it. Even hate groups advocating the murder of gays and lesbians. One such hate group with a Facebook presence is the “Kill Out Dem Batty Man” group. “Batty Man” is Caribbean slang for gay men. Most of the group members appear to be from Trinidad and Tobago, although the Jamaican person who tipped me to it identifies the patois dialect as Jamaican. The Facebook group is listed under “Beliefs & Causes.”

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The Jamaican Forum for Lesbians, Allsexuals and Gays (JFLAG) also reported on the Facebook page.

More Tuesday Male Beauty

Portraits of Zealots

As more information on Scott Roeder (pictured at left) - the shooter who shot Dr. George Tiller to death Sunday morning - comes comes out, the picture is increasingly one of a religious fanatic of the worse kind. Unfortunately, Roeder is more representative of the Christianist far right than most Americans want to admit. These people are obsessed with unborn fetuses but frankly do not give a damn about living humans as typically evidence by tax cuts that would de-fund children's health care and other programs they deem socialist/communist. I am not a supporter of abortion - but believe it should be legal and combined with nationwide comprehensive sex education and other measures that would significantly reduce abortion as a contraceptive measure - but I oppose the terrorist tactics of the extreme "pro-life" crowd. Belief Net has some information on Roeder that is most telling:

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Anti-abortion and anti-government, Scott Roeder appears to be a bomb with a short fuse. The Wichita Eagle has the best profile up so far:

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The suspect in custody in connection with the slaying of abortion doctor George Tiller was a member of an anti-government group in the 1990s and a staunch opponent of abortion. Johnson County sheriff's officials said Scott P. Roeder, 51, of Merriam, was arrested on I-35 near Gardner about three hours after the shooting. In the rear window of the 1993 blue Ford Taurus that he was driving was a red rose, a symbol often used by abortion opponents.

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Those who know Roeder said he believed that killing abortion doctors was an act of justifiable homicide. "I know that he believed in justifiable homicide," said Regina Dinwiddie, a Kansas City abortion opponent who made headlines in 1995 when she was ordered by a federal judge to stop using a bullhorn within 500 feet of any abortion clinic. "I know he very strongly believed that abortion was murder and that you ought to defend the little ones, both born and unborn."

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Among the publications Roeder subscribed to is Prayer and Action News, which seems to be linked to the radical anti-abortion Army of God. The magazine once printed the AOG Manual, which makes the case for killing abortion providers. Here are highlights from Spiritual Politics which look at the publication's reaction to Tiller's murder:

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At the top of its website is this reaction to the killing of George Tiller: A great day for unborn children scheduled to be murdered by Babykilling Abortionist George Tiller. Now those children lives are spared from the Kansas BabyButcher, George Tiller.George Tiller reaped what he sowed and is now in eternal hell. Psalm 55:15 Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them. Further down, the website lionizes Paul Hill as "American Hero." Hill was executed in Florida in 2003 for the murder of two abortion providers in Pensacola in 1994.

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Then there's Lou Engle who organized "The Call," the anti-gay, anti-gay marriage rally in San Diego last year who has been ecouraging "Christian martyrs" in opposition of abortion:

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Rick Warren and Randall Terry are not the only high-profile leaders on the religious right who employ inflammatory antiabortion rhetoric. Footage from TheCall San Diego, taken November 1, 2008 by video documentarist Michael W. Wilson [author of Silhouette City] shows Engle and his disciples exhorting a Qualcomm stadium crowd to acts of Christian martyrdom against legalized abortion: rhetoric that serve as thinly veiled exhortation towards violent acts of terrorism against abortion clinics and abortion providers.

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The simple truth is that these Christian extremists are a clear and presnt danger to medical providers and abortion counseling services and, on a larger front, to the religious freedom of other Americans.

Fundies Bloviate Over Obama Proclamation

As one might expect, even though the Obama administrations has so far failed to deliver on ANY of the President's campaign promises to LGBT Americans, his issuance of a proclamation yesterday in recognition of Gay Pride month has sent some of the usual professional homo-hater set off into new levels of bat shitery. One who never disappoints is Peter LaBarbera who has made a career out of denigrating gays and doing all in his power to disseminate the failed "choice myth" lie - even though his former ex-gay buddy, Michael Johnston, showed everyone just how false and disingenuous that story line of "leaving the lifestyle" is in fact. Here's a sampling of "The Peter's" latest verbal diarrhea via OneNewsNow:

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Pro-family activist says Peter LaBarbera it is sad, but not surprising, that President Obama has chosen to issue a proclamation celebrating homosexuality. The president of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality says Obama is pandering to homosexual political activists. "Homosexuality is nothing to be proud of -- bottom line," says LaBarbera. "The fact is people have left the lifestyle, people have overcome homosexuality [with God's help] -- I think that's something to be proud of...."

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LaBarbera warns of the repercussions of the president's pursuit of expanded rights for those who are confused about their sexual orientation. "This proclamation talks about the entire radical homosexual agenda that Obama supports -- including homosexualizing the U.S. military [and] federal so-called 'rights' based on homosexuality, which will impinge on the religious freedoms and freedom of conscience of other Americans." Christians, he believes, must reach out to homosexuals with the message of the gospel.

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I'm sorry Peter, but what really needs to happen is that you get yourself into so legitimate therapy - as opposed to the "ex-gay witch dotor stuff - and face the fact that you are a self-hating closet case who projects his self-hatred on normal LGBT Americans. Oh, and try getting a real job while you are at it.

Tuesday Male Beauty

Obama's Proclaimation on LGBT Pride Month

Speaking of Obama, in recognition of June as LGBT Pride Month, the White House has issued a proclamation that can be found here. Oh yes, the proclamation has some wonderful words in it, but sadly words are all that LGBT Americans have yet to receive from the Obama administration. Rather than leading the charge for the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell - an issue close to my heart and which could double or triple the number of out LGBT citizens in this area - or pushing for the passage of ENDA, Obama continues to merely mouth pretty words while taking no positive action. Here are some highlights from the presidential proclamation - read them and see how they describe actions Obama refuses to take while he cuddles up to the likes of Christianists like Rick Warren:

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THE WHITE HOUSE

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Office of the Press Secretary

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For Immediate Release

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June 1, 2009

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LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER PRIDE MONTH, 2009 BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA "

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A PROCLAMATION

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Forty years ago, patrons and supporters of the Stonewall Inn in New York City resisted police harassment that had become all too common for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Out of this resistance, the LGBT rights movement in America was born. During LGBT Pride Month, we commemorate the events of June 1969 and commit to achieving equal justice under law for LGBT Americans.

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Due in no small part to the determination and dedication of the LGBT rights movement, more LGBT Americans are living their lives openly today than ever before. I am proud to be the first President to appoint openly LGBT candidates to Senate-confirmed positions in the first 100 days of an Administration. These individuals embody the best qualities we seek in public servants, and across my Administration -- in both the White House and the Federal agencies -- openly LGBT employees are doing their jobs with distinction and professionalism.

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My Administration has partnered with the LGBT community to advance a wide range of initiatives. At the international level, I have joined efforts at the United Nations to decriminalize homosexuality around the world. Here at home, I continue to support measures to bring the full spectrum of equal rights to LGBT Americans. These measures include enhancing hate crimes laws, supporting civil unions and Federal rights for LGBT couples, outlawing discrimination in the workplace, ensuring adoption rights, and ending the existing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in a way that strengthens our Armed Forces and our national security. We must also commit ourselves to fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic by both reducing the number of HIV infections and providing care and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS across the United States.

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NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to turn back discrimination and prejudice everywhere it exists.

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Obama can begin by discarding his own religious based prejudice against same sex marriage. He can then start to deliver on the programs he claims to support. Talk is cheap and I and many others want to see action.

Dick Cheney Supports Gay Marriage

While I view Dick Cheney as somewhere between the spawn of Satan and the Anti-Christ and seriously want him put on trial for war crimes, Emperor Palpatine Cheney in a recent interview basically voiced support for same sex marriage. Cheney's statements are not enough to cause me to re-evaluate my opinion of the man, but they do indeed make me wonder how it is that Cheney is more progressive on gay equality in this realm than Barack Obama who claimed to champion gay equality during his presidential campaign. Here are highlights from the Huffington Post in respect to Cheney's comments:

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Dick Cheney rarely takes a position that places him at a more progressive tilt than President Obama. But on Monday, the former vice president did just that, saying that he supports gay marriage as long as it is deemed legal by state and not federal government.

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Speaking at the National Press Club for the Gerald R. Ford Foundation journalism awards, Cheney was asked about recent rulings and legislative action in Iowa and elsewhere that allowed for gay couples to legally wed.

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"I think that freedom means freedom for everyone," replied the former V.P. "As many of you know, one of my daughters is gay and it is something we have lived with for a long time in our family. I think people ought to be free to enter into any kind of union they wish. Any kind of arrangement they wish. The question of whether or not there ought to be a federal statute to protect this, I don't support. I do believe that the historically the way marriage has been regulated is at the state level. It has always been a state issue and I think that is the way it ought to be handled, on a state-by-state basis. ... But I don't have any problem with that. People ought to get a shot at that."

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As I have said before, it is past time for Obama to begin to deliver on his campaign promises.

Church-Based Hate: Apology Required

David P. Gushee, professor of Christian ethics at Mercer University, has written a review of Mitchell Gold's book, Crisis: 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social, and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing Up Gay in America, in The Christian Century. As some may recall, I discussed back in December 2008 after I meet Mitchell Gold at the LGBT Blogger Summit in Washington, D.C. In his review, Gushee looks at some of the stories recounted in the book and concludes his review with these words:

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Crisis recounts the sad stories of dozens of young people who, like the biblical Esau, cried for a blessing from their parents, friends and churches. All too often they have not received it. All too often they have been left broken, rejected as human beings—at the hands of Christians and in the name of the Bible. Obviously we must extend basic acceptance to gay youths such as these, as well as Christian love.Moreover, after reading these stories, I feel that Christians have something they need to request from God and from gays and lesbians, and that is forgiveness.

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Personally, I view what self-proclaimed "godly Christians" do to LGBT youth and adults alike as the equivalent of spiritual murder. It's hard to take even as an adult, but as an uncertain pre-teen or teen it is truly devastating. Instead of extending Christ's message of love as should be the case, the Gospel message with these false Christians becomes a message of hatred towards LGBT individuals. Here are some additional highlights from his review of Crisis which involve Matt Comer who I also met at the Blogger Summit and whose religious upbringing bears parallels with my own, albeit in a different denomination:

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Matt Comer, who came from a conservative Baptist family in North Carolina, began experiencing same-sex attraction in his preteen years. Matt's preacher said from the pulpit things like: "Put all the queers on a ship, cut a hole in the side and send it out to sea." The contrast between his sexuality and the beliefs of his church and family drove Matt to thoughts of suicide. But that same religious faith told him that suicide "would have sent me straight to the depths of hell, landing me in the same spot as being gay. So, I turned to begging and pleading."

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Lying on his bed at night, "crying and praying," Matt would ask God to spare him eternal damnation if he tried his very best not to feel attraction to males. But it didn't work. Finally Matt told the truth to his parents. "My mother said I was crazy and sick and told me I was going to hell." Eventually, however, his mother changed her views. "Today," Matt writes, "she is my strength and my most avid supporter, and I know that she loves me no matter what."

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Gushee also looks at some of the other fruits of church based anti-gay hate:

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What exactly do such young people go through? Gold and co-editor Mindy Drucker offer not just stories but summaries of some key data. They include the following:

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• Suicide is the third-leading cause of death among 15-to-24-year-olds; for every young person who takes his or her own life, 20 more try.

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• Gay teens are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers.

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• Forty-five percent of gay men and 20 percent of lesbians surveyed had been victims of verbal and physical assaults in secondary school specifically because of their sexual orientation.

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• Gay youth are at higher risk of being kicked out of their homes and turning to life on the streets for survival. They are more likely than their heterosexual peers to start using tobacco, alcohol and illegal drugs at an earlier age.

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• Twenty-eight percent of gay students drop out of school—more than three times the national average.

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Indeed, there is much for which the Christianists and other homophobes need to pray for forgiveness.