More Saturday Male Beauty

Right Wing Extremism

I have maintained for quite some time that the far right extremists be they pro-lifers, white supremacists or extreme fundamentalist Christians pose a clear and present danger to public peace and constitutional government. Back in In April, the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") released a report entitled "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment" that substantiated my point of view. Unfortunately, the report was met with feigned outrage and crocodile tears from right wing groups which, while not even mentioned, found protesting the report to be a useful political/fundraising stunt. In fact, a group of some of America's largest Christianist organizations disingenuously released an ad that claimed the DHS report, "declared law-abiding citizens who express their First Amendment Rights as: 'the most dangerous domestic terrorism threat in the United States.' As a result, DHS pulled the report which was eeriely accurate as demonstrated by the murder of George Tiller anf the attack at the Holocaust Museum. Paul Krugman hasa column in the New York Times that looks at this serious problem of right wing extremism:

*

Back in April, there was a huge fuss over an internal report by the Department of Homeland Security warning that current conditions resemble those in the early 1990s — a time marked by an upsurge of right-wing extremism that culminated in the Oklahoma City bombing.

*

Conservatives were outraged. The chairman of the Republican National Committee denounced the report as an attempt to “segment out conservatives in this country who have a different philosophy or view from this administration” and label them as terrorists. But with the murder of Dr. George Tiller by an anti-abortion fanatic, closely followed by a shooting by a white supremacist at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the analysis looks prescient.

*

There is, however, one important thing that the D.H.S. report didn’t say: Today, as in the early years of the Clinton administration but to an even greater extent, right-wing extremism is being systematically fed by the conservative media and political establishment.

*

Exhibit A for the mainstreaming of right-wing extremism is Fox News’s new star, Glenn Beck. Here we have a network where, like it or not, millions of Americans get their news — and it gives daily airtime to a commentator who, among other things, warned viewers that the Federal Emergency Management Agency might be building concentration camps as part of the Obama administration’s “totalitarian” agenda (although he eventually conceded that nothing of the kind was happening).

*

It’s not surprising, then, that politicians are doing the same thing. The R.N.C. says that “the Democratic Party is dedicated to restructuring American society along socialist ideals.” And when Jon Voight, the actor, told the audience at a Republican fund-raiser this week that the president is a “false prophet” and that “we and we alone are the right frame of mind to free this nation from this Obama oppression,” Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, thanked him, saying that he “really enjoyed” the remarks.

*

What will the consequences be? Nobody knows, of course, although the analysts at Homeland Security fretted that things may turn out even worse than in the 1990s — that thanks, in part, to the election of an African-American president, “the threat posed by lone wolves and small terrorist cells is more pronounced than in past years.” And that’s a threat to take seriously. Yes, the worst terrorist attack in our history was perpetrated by a foreign conspiracy. But the second worst, the Oklahoma City bombing, was perpetrated by an all-American lunatic.

Saturday Male Beauty

LGBT Advocacy Groups React to Obama Betrayal

A coalition of LGBT groups issued a joint statement condemning the Obama administration's motion to dismiss a challenge to the Defense Of Marriage Act. I would hope that behind the scenes they are making it VERY clear to Democrats that they'd better start EARNING our support and NOT take it as a given any longer. I'm certainly glad that I threw out all of my Obama related materials months ago. Here's the joint statement via press release:

*

We are very surprised and deeply disappointed in the manner in which the Obama administration has defended the so-called Defense of Marriage Act against Smelt v. United States, a lawsuit brought in federal court in California by a married same-sex couple asking the federal government to treat them equally with respect to federal protections and benefits. The administration is using many of the same flawed legal arguments that the Bush administration used. These arguments rightly have been rejected by several state supreme courts as legally unsound and obviously discriminatory.

*

We disagree with many of the administration's arguments, for example that DOMA is a valid exercise of Congress's power, is consistent with Equal Protection or Due Process principles, and does not impinge upon rights that are recognized as fundamental. We are also extremely disturbed by a new and nonsensical argument the administration has advanced suggesting that the federal government needs to be "neutral" with regard to its treatment of married same-sex couples in order to ensure that federal tax money collected from across the country not be used to assist same-sex couples duly married by their home states.

*

There is nothing "neutral" about the federal government's discriminatory denial of fair treatment to married same-sex couples: DOMA wrongly bars the federal government from providing any of the over one thousand federal protections to the many thousands of couples who marry in six states. This notion of "neutrality" ignores the fact that while married same-sex couples pay their full share of income and social security taxes, they are prevented by DOMA from receiving the corresponding same benefits that married heterosexual taxpayers receive. It is the married same-sex couples, not heterosexuals in other parts of the country, who are financially and personally damaged in significant ways by DOMA. For the Obama administration to suggest otherwise simply departs from both mathematical and legal reality.

*

When President Obama was courting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender voters, he said that he believed that DOMA should be repealed. We ask him to live up to his emphatic campaign promises, to stop making false and damaging legal arguments, and immediately to introduce a bill to repeal DOMA and ensure that every married couple in America has the same access to federal protections.

*

Signed:

*
American Civil Liberties Union
*
Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders
*
Human Rights Campaign
*
Lambda Legal
*
National Center for Lesbian Rights
*
National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce

Obama's Gratuitous Insult To Gay Couples

Due to a social engagement down the street I did not post last night, but that's not to say that I - like many other LGBT Americans - wasn't seething at the nastiness of the Obama Justice Department's brief in support of DOMA. For a nation where allegedly there is a separation of church and state to see what in the final analysis is discrimination based solely on religious belief is disgusting and demonstrates that the USA's self-proclaimed religious freedoms are a false facade. Because LGBT Americans do not live in straight relationships dictated by the Christianist version of the Bible, we are condemned to less than equality. That a [half] black president who ought to understand bigotry and discrimination based on unchosen characteristics allows this to continue makes me sick. John Aravosis at America Blog was among the first to reveal just how badly the Obama Justice Department has betrayed LGBT Americans - we were not only thrown under the bus, but they backed up over us numerous times as well - and even equated gay marriage with incest. One would have thought Peter LaBarbera or Robert Knight had written the brief. Here's some of John's analysis:

*
It reads as if it were written by one of George Bush's top political appointees. I cannot state strongly enough how damaging this brief is to us. Obama didn't just argue a technicality about the case, he argued that DOMA is reasonable. That DOMA is constitutional. That DOMA wasn't motivated by any anti-gay animus. He argued why our Supreme Court victories in Roemer and Lawrence shouldn't be interpreted to give us rights in any other area (which hurts us in countless other cases and battles). He argued that DOMA doesn't discriminate against us because it also discriminates about straight unmarried couples (ignoring the fact that they can get married and we can't).

*
He actually argued that the courts shouldn't consider Loving v. Virginia, the miscegenation case in which the Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional to ban interracial marriages, when looking at gay civil rights cases. He told the court, in essence, that blacks deserve more civil rights than gays, that our civil rights are not on the same level.

*
And before Obama claims he didn't have a choice, he had a choice. Bush, Reagan and Clinton all filed briefs in court opposing current federal law as being unconstitutional (we'll be posting more about that later). Obama could have done the same. But instead he chose to defend DOMA, denigrate our civil rights, go back on his promises, and contradict his own statements that DOMA was "abhorrent." Folks, Obama's lawyers are even trying to diminish the impact of Roemer and Lawrence, our only two big Supreme Court victories. Obama is quite literally destroying our civil rights gains with this brief. He's taking us down for his own benefit.

*

Here in Virginia we are looking a potentially close election in the contest between Bob McDonnell and Creigh Deeds where the LGBT vote literally could have the potential of deciding the election. And the Obama Justice Department just told us all to go f*ck ourselves. McDonnell as governor would not be a positive but now that Obama has taken a position akin to McDonnell's view of gays, maybe staying home on election day would make no difference.

Friday Male Beauty

New York Times Calls for End to DADT

In a recent main page editorial the New York Times called for the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell ("DADT") which is a continuing blight on the lives of LGBT members of the military. Knowing many gays in the military who are serving honorably and often with high distinction, DADT does nothing to serve unite cohesion and everything to gratify the anti-gay hysteria of the Christianists and loons like Elaine Donnelly (who like Robert Knight is a wee bit too hysterical on the issue of gays in general). With opinion polls showing major public support for the repeal of DADT it is disgusting that the Obama administration lacks the guts to tackle the issue head on. Here are highlights from the Times editorial:

*
Unfortunately, neither President Obama nor Congress shows much appetite for moving to end a ban that is not only unfair to gay men and lesbians but damaging to the military as well.
*

The ostensible rationale was that the known presence of gay men and lesbians would undermine morale and unit cohesion, but as it turned out, the policy caused its own kind of damage to military readiness. Thousands of service members have been discharged from duty at a time when the military is stretched by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The loss of highly skilled interpreters and intelligence analysts has been especially damaging.

*

Members of the military and of the general public are much more receptive to the notion of accepting gays than they were in 1993.

*
Advocates for gay soldiers believe that the administration, on its own, has the authority to prevent the discharge of gay people, perhaps by issuing “stop-loss” orders such as those used to keep troops serving past their original commitments in Iraq — many unwillingly. How much better to use the power to prevent the loss of gay service members eager to keep serving.

*
President Obama should see if there is indeed any action he could take on his own while awaiting the military’s assessment. In the end, it will be up to Congress to root out “don’t ask, don’t tell” by overturning the law that brought it about.

Haters Opposing Immigration Bill

In their never ending quest to deny the legal legitimacy of same sex relationships under the CIVIL laws, many of the Christianists are gearing up to flood Congressional in-boxes with messages to vote against the Reuniting Families Act using the same old tired whine that it undermines marriage and would lead to immigration fraud. Never mind that couples and families are being torn apart or that some Americans are being forced to move overseas to be with the one they love. Once again,, alleged Christian values are used to perpetuate an evil. I really am so tired of the never ending message of intolerance any false piety that streams from these nasty folk. I truly do not understand a mind set where one's everyday preoccupation is denigrating others and working to deny civil legal rights to other citizens. Here's some of the spin they are generating via CNSNews:

*

An immigration bill introduced in the House of Representatives last week would allow homosexuals to sponsor their “permanent partners” for residency in the United States in the same way that heterosexual married couples are allowed to do. Critics say the legislation opens the door to widespread fraud.

*

Rep. Michael Honda (D-Calif.), who chairs the Asian Pacific American Caucus, introduced the Reuniting Families Act on June 4, saying it will help clear the current immigration backlog of 5.8 million people and induce more people to use legal channels to join their families in the United States. “Our family-based immigration system has not been updated in 20 years, separating spouses, children and their parents, who have played by the rules for years, often decades,” Honda says on his Web site. He described his bill as “family values” legislation that will “save taxpayer money” by streamlining the visa application process.

*

In a June 2 letter to Rep. Honda, the Rev. John C. Wester – writing on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops – said “family reunification” should be the cornerstone of the U.S. immigration system. “In our view, our country should enhance opportunities for families to remain together and should resist proposals which would erode the family-based immigration system,” Wester wrote. He said including “permanent partners” in the bill “would erode the institution of marriage and family by according marriage-like immigration benefits to same sex relationships, a position that is contrary to the very nature of marriage which pre-dates the Church and the state.”

*

Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that same-sex partner provisions would further stress a flawed immigration system. . . . Without a marriage certificate, verifying the legitimacy of same-sex partnerships would be difficult -- and would “introduce the opportunity for more fraud,” Vaughan said. “It is not clear the partnerships could be substantiated in places where there is no official recognition of the union,” she told the committee.

*

It is no surprise that the Roman Catholic Church - which ignores the doctrine of separation of church and state except when it's expedient to do so - opposes the bill since the Church inreasingly opposes anything that would improve the quality of life or enhance the legal status of same sex couples. The Center for Immigration Studies it should be noted works to limit the number of immigrants entering the USA.

More Thursday Male Beauty

Forty Years Later

The lower photo is of the Stonewall Inn taken this past January when the boyfriend and I were in New York City. Much has changed while much has stayed the same - especially in some parts of backwards states like Virginia.

Continued Denial of Rights Due to Moderates?

With the current angst many of us are feeling with having backed Obama in the 2008 election only to see him do nothing in terms of delivering on his campaign promises, a post by Andrew Sullivan that in turn linked to another post looking at Martin Luther King's "Letter From a Birmingham Jail" seemed to sum up where the movement for LGBT equality is at the moment. Our enemies will always hate us and seek to keep us inferior and/or subject to discrimination. The real rub comes with moderates who in all candor hear our story but would prefer that no one rock the boat since their rights are not in jeopardy. Here are some highlights:

*

“You may well ask: “Why direct action? Why sit-ins, marches and so forth? Isn’t negotiation a better path?” You are quite right in calling, for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent-resister may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word “tension.” I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth.

*

I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action”; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a “more convenient season.” Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.”

*

The LGBT movement needs to find more ways to get the moderates to understand that the discrimination we live with is real be it being fired from a job, not having our relationships legally recognized - the list goes on and on. It is the vast middle where future support for LGBT equality must arise so that it moves from indifference to open support. One way to make this happen is to come out and talk about your life. We are living, breathing people even if our enemies seek to depict us otherwise.

Robert Knight Has Vapors Over Obama Pride Proclamation

Over the years since coming out I have had some unique experiences corresponding with some of those who in my opinion represent the most insanely anti-gay among the Christianists. My role with Wayne Besen in exposing high profile "ex-gay" Michael Johnston as a fraud put me in the firing line and led to a number of personal attacks - sometimes by name such as on Townhall.com - but among the most unhinged I communicated with (and the one who struck me most as a self-hating closet case) was Robert Knight who at that time was with Concerned Women for America. I one e-mail exchange I even suggested that Knight get in contact with Johnston or John Paulk so that they could recommend some cruising spots to him. He was not amused. :) Now, all too predictably, Knight is hyperventilating over President Obama's signing of a proclamation recognizing June as LGBT Pride month. Here is some of Knight's spittle flying blather from OneNewsNow (Note how he uses the "men in dresses" red herring yet again):

*

For the first time in history, a U.S. president has issued a White House proclamation celebrating transgenderism -- along with homosexuality, lesbianism, and bisexuality.
*
In his June 1 "Pride Month" proclamation, Barack Obama boasted of appointing Senate-confirmed openly homosexual nominees to high executive offices, described reluctance to accept homosexuality as "discrimination and prejudice," and called for passage of the entire homosexual political agenda, including programs for "LGBT youth."

*

The president's proclamation calls for: . . . Recognition of transsexuals and transvestites as a civil rights category on a par with race, ethnicity, place of birth, or sex. This means that men who dress as women would obtain more rights under the law than other Americans and could force employers to accommodate them, regardless of the impact on the workplace. A male school bus driver in Pennsylvania, for instance, showed up for work dressed as a woman and claimed that he had the right under a state law to do so, regardless of the impact on the children.
*

When traditional sexual morality is redefined as "discrimination and prejudice," the law will be used to criminalize biblical Christianity. Children will be taught in schools that God's plan for marriage and sexuality is merely a form of bigotry and that "trying out" homosexuality will be a rite of passage. The volunteer military will be shaken to its roots, putting recruitment and retention at risk. The stakes are enormous for our churches, our nation, our children and grandchildren.

*

Knight like so many of the professional Christian set has not had a real job in many, many years and has made a career out of disseminating hate and bigotry against other citizens. All because - at least in my opinion - he has severe issues with his own sexuality. No one gets this hysterical unless there are other issues behind the scenes. As I have said before, Robert, go hire yourself a hot escort and get over your self-loathing. Oh, P.S. - Robert, I still have all the old e-mail exchanges.

Thursday Male Beauty

Politics and Religion of Hate

Michelle Kraus has a column in Huffington Post that looks at yesterday's shooting at the Holocaust Museum and correctly attributes much of the atmosphere of hate on the far right to the Bush years and the politics of hate and division perfected by the Chimperator and Karl Rove. She fails, however, to give full credit due to the professional Christian set which played a key role in whipping the ignorant and bigoted into a frenzy against gays, abortion, immigrants and others in order to implement the Bush/Rove message. Sadly, the media continues to help give a platform to these folks and never challenges their false claims and/or hypocrisy, leaving that task to blogs and other evolving forms of journalism. Here are some column highlights:

*

Hate is out of control in the post Bush years. . . . The point is these atrocious actions are the result of the politics of hate. Words spoken in the world of 24/7 news do have an impact. They result in deliberate actions as is evidenced by the recent atrocities. Wonder of wonders, the suspected murderer of Dr. Tiller has reached his personal Nirvana. He has climbed from relative obscurity in Kansas to an international pulpit viewed daily on the news. The absurdity is profound.

*
The Bush years are the gift that keeps on giving. They were masters of the message deeply infiltrating the culture with seeds of fear and hate. Thank you very much Karl Rove and your minions. These guys and gals were taught how to harness the airwaves of television and the Internet. They became the titans of manipulation showering divisive messages, and the work was extraordinary. They were more skillful then Madison Avenue. Maybe Microsoft should hire you to merchandise their new search engine, Bing!

*
Every major issue facing this country has been tarnished by their polarizing messaging -- whether it is climate crisis legislation, nuclear proliferation, Mid East peace, stem cell research and treatment, women's reproductive rights, health care reform, or gay marriage. These issues have been infused with emotion, partisan affiliations and religiosity. Yet here we are late for the train with a well oiled message machine, a weary populace, and a greedy media willing to sell their mothers for a story.

*

We are living in a world of hurt, domestic unrest and a country bled dry financially and morally. When will it stop?

Trump Finally Fires Prejean

Anti-gay bimbo Carrie Prejean has belatedly been fired by Donald Trump and lost her Miss California crown. From the media coverage, Trump finally had enough of Prejean's attitude that she could do whatever she wants including ignoring her contractual duties as Miss California. It would be wonderful if she'd simply fade away from the scene but based on her past behavior we may not be that lucky. I will not be surprised if she doesn't try to depict herself as a Christian martyr somehow. She and the anti-gay Christianist forces truly deserve each other. Here are some highlights from the Los Angeles Times:

*

Donald Trump has told TMZ that he has finally relented and has given the go-ahead to fire Carrie Prejean. Here's the official word. K2 Productions, the independent producers of the Miss California USA pageant, under license from Miss Universe, mention continued breach-of-contract issues as the reason for Prejean's firing.

*

"This was a business decision, based solely on contract violations," Keith Lewis, executive director of K2 Productions, said in the docs. "After our press conference in New York, we had hoped we would be able to forge a better working relationship. However, since that time it has become abundantly clear that Carrie has no desire to fulfill her obligations under our contract and work together.” Even Trump says that Carrie just wouldn't do the job she agreed to do and she behaved like a B-word to everyone but him. No, not "bigot," the other B-word.

*

TMZ quotes one of her e-mails: "You do not cooperate with me ... you pick and chose [sic] the the [sic] things YOU want me to do. That is not happening anymore. Stop speaking for me. I have MY own voice." And BTW, the Donald doesn't think her bad attitude has anything to do with her stand on homosexuality.

More Wednesday Male Beauty

Virginia Prison Segregated Women Perceived to be Gay

Ignorance and bigotry are alive and well in Virginia. As the Virginian Pilot is reporting, the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women has for some time been rounding up and segregating women inmates perceived to be "gay looking" based on their loose-fitting clothes, short hair or otherwise masculine looks. Virginia has some wonderful attributes, but it would be any even better state but for some of the ignorant, backwards Virginia residents. Truth be told, in many ways getting fair treatment in this state as a LGBT citizen is a challenge and anti-gay discrimination is found in law enforcement, the courts and many other aspects of daily life. Here are some story highlights:

*

For more than a year, Virginia's largest women's prison rounded up inmates who had loose-fitting clothes, short hair or otherwise masculine looks, sending them to a unit officers derisively dubbed the "butch wing," prisoners and guards say.

*
Dozens were moved in an attempt to split up relationships and curb illegal sexual activity at the 1,200-inmate Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women, though some straight women were sent to the wing strictly because of their appearance, the inmates and corrections officers said.

*
Civil rights advocates called the moves unconstitutional punishment for "looking gay." The warden denied that any housing decisions were made based on looks or sexual orientation, and said doing so would be discriminatory. The practice was stopped recently after the Associated Press began questioning it, according to several inmates and one current employee.

*

The two current guards and former guard William Drumheller said Building 5 manager Timothy Back, who is in charge of security and operations for that area, came up with the idea to break up couples by sending inmates to the wing. Gradually, they said, the 60-inmate wing was filled with women targeted because of their appearance. The current employees asked to remain anonymous for fear of losing their jobs.

*
"I heard him say, 'We're going to break up some of these relationships, start a boys wing, and we're going to take all these studs and put them together and see how they like looking at nothing but each other all day instead of their girlfriends,'" Drumheller said. Drumheller said Back told him the plan one day in a prison office. The other two guards, who are both female, said Back's reasons for moving the prisoners were commonly known among guards, though officials would deny the reasons for the moves if inmates asked or complained

*

Separating women based on appearance, though, violates the Constitution's guarantees of equal protection and freedom of expression, said Helen Trainor, director of the Virginia Institutionalized Persons Project. Trainor said civil rights and gay rights groups have been hesitant to sue because of the expense and the "certainty of failure" in the 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, the nation's most conservative. "Point blank, this institution is ran by homophobes, and the rules instated here are based on your sexual preference not what is right or wrong," wrote Casey Lynn Toney..

Another Far Right Terrorist Killing

George Tiller had barely been buried for more than a few days and now another deranged far right shooter has killed another person motivated by their hate-based beliefs that discriminate against others who are different. This time the scene of the shooting was the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., and the victim was an innocent security guard, Stephen T. Johns (pictured at left). The shooter? A white supremacist who has a trail of tirades against Jews and African Americans - I can only assume that he was not likely to have been a fan of LGBT Americans either. As the Washington Post is reporting, the killer, James W. von Brunn, stepped through the doors of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, took two paces, lowered his rifle at a security guard and, before anyone could react, opened fire. I hate to say it, but Von Brunn sounds like he would have eagerly participated in a Sarah Palin campaign rally last year. Increasingly, Von Brunn, Tiller's killer, and others like them are the face of the GOP and they are rallied to act by the talking heads of Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and many of the professional Christian organizations who denigrate not only gays but Jews, Hispanics and blacks as well. As I have said before, these far right organizations are a clear and present danger to society and need to be exposed for the hatred that they foster. Here are highlights from the Washington Post:

*

The guard, who did not have time to draw his gun, fell bleeding and fatally wounded to the polished floor. Other guards fired back, cutting down the assailant. Terrified patrons, many of them children, dived for safety. And what moments before had been a bright weekday in June became a tableau of violence.

*
The attack inside the famed Holocaust museum, as described by bystanders and authorities, turned the crowded building and Washington's nearby tourist-thronged Mall into a scene of fear and chaos, with black-clad SWAT teams, hovering helicopters and racing emergency vehicles. Stunned witnesses described a fusillade of gunfire -- five shots or more -- the blood-streaked floor and the screams of frightened visitors inside the museum and on the street.

*

The suspect, identified by law enforcement sources as James W. von Brunn, 88, of Annapolis, was said to be a longtime, "hard-core" supremacist whose Internet writings contain extensive, poisonous ravings against Jews and African Americans.

*

Police recovered a notebook in the suspect's possession that apparently contained a list different District locations, including Washington National Cathedral. Police bomb squads were sent to at least 10 sites.

*

Von Brunn is said to have been a leading writer in the white supremacist fringe for many years. He also appears to be the author of a recent Internet posting suggesting that President Obama's background is being hidden from the public.

*
His online book, "Kill The Best Gentiles," contains hundreds of pages of conspiracy theories that include Holocaust denial, the ancient hoax of the "Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion" and wild webs of fantasy about Jewish plotting against white people.

*
"This is a longtime white supremacist and anti-Semite approaching the end of his life who may have decided to go out shooting," said Mark Potok, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit group in Alabama that tracks right-wing extremists.

Steven Colbert Mocks DADT

It is rather sad that other than Rachel Madow and a few others the only "news anchors" if you will who have the balls to take on the issue of Don't Ask, Don't Tell and other LGBT issues in order to show the idiocy of the anti-gay loons are on the Comedy Channel. Namely, Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart. Colbert is currently in Iraq entertaining troops and did a skit which, while leaving room for a more forceful denunciation of DADT, mocked the idiocy of the policy. Here is a clip:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Formidable Opponent - Don't Ask, Don't Tell
http://www.colbertnation.com/
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Stephen Colbert in Iraq

What is distressing is that now with even a majority of conservatives supporting a repeal of DADT, the Obama administration continues to lack the fortitude and integrity to push for repeal or at least a stop loss directive that could halt expulsions of LGBT service members. While the debate around DADT is a philosophical debate for many, living here in the presence of a huge number of military personnel, this horrible policy impacts on the lives of real living, breathing individuals literally on an everyday basis.

*

I urge readers to please contact their representatives in Congress and the White House to demand that DADT be repealed.

Wednesday Male Beauty

Is Chemical Castration an Option for LDS Gays?

Some Mormons seem way too preoccupied with gays and just cannot grasp the fact that God - yes, God - made some of us gay for some reason other than simply make our lives Hell at the hands of his sanctimonious and unloving alleged followers. Pam Spaulding has found yet another example of this lunacy where it is proposed to use chemicals/drugs to turn gays essentially into eunuchs. Here's some of what these sex obsessed busy bodies are saying:

*

[I]s chemical castration an option for LDS gays? I mean, if you're faithful LDS & accept that for whatever reason the Lord has put you on Earth as a "eunuch" (best case, if you can stay strong), why should you have to struggle with incessant thoughts that are not just inappropriate now, but will be inappropriate in the next life, too, only serve to pervert any desires to have children in a celestial relationship in the next life. There is zero point to having homosexual thoughts, it's not as though they're a normal part of the procreation process - they're just an annoying, perverted form of biology, entirely worthless.

*

Not all Mormons are amused with this concept, however. Many at PostMormon couldn't believe how deranged this is and said so:

*

I wonder if there is a chemical treatment for stupidity that would render such idiots as that Mr. Haggerty mute and at least temporarily paralyzed so that he could not do any more damage to the young hearts and souls of those sent to him. Trust that there's a special place in Hell (if there's a hell) for such men. -------------I wonder how many gay football players wonder if they'd not been surrounded by so many studly young buffed up men if they'd been less tempted. The assumptions that playing the piano or football or any other activity adds to ones gender preference is ludicrous.------I always liked camping and hiking instead of the innane useless stitchery the girls were required to do and there's no doubt that I have a strong preference for men, especially my own man.----- The people who promote such idiotic ideas as that Mr. Haggerty should be placed on a special ice floe and set adrift in the North Atlantic.

*

Personally, I could care less what Mormons do in their own bedrooms - I just wished they'd give us LGBT Americans the same courtesy.

Sex and a Happy Relationship

In an article in the New York Times that seems to make just plain common sense, a study has confirmed that couples who have more frequent sex are happier and happier with their relationship. It's interesting to me in that during my straight phase of life, in many married couples that I knew, sex was something many wives found to be a burden as opposed to a pleasure. Maybe that helps account for the overly high evangelical Christian divorce rate since sex is considered something dirty or limited to the purpose of procreation. I suspect that a similar study would find similar statistic in gay relationships as well - intimacy is important and when it stops, the relationship often begins to wither. Here are a few highlights:

*

Q. Why does a marriage become sexless? Does it start that way? Or does sex fade?

*

A. The answer to that one is both. Some of the people in our sample never had much sex from the beginning, while others identified a particular time or event (childbirth, affair) after which sex slowed or stopped. Some people become accustomed to their spouse, bored even, and sex slows. For others, it is the demands of raising a family, establishing a career, and mid-adulthood. And there are people who have very low sex drives, and may even be asexual. They may have some sex with their partners to begin with, but it becomes unimportant to them (and usually not so unimportant to their spouses). These folks may also be dealing with guilt, issues with the human body, or feel that sex is “dirty” or only for procreation. A small number of couples showed a mixed pattern, where they would have periods of “feast” and of “famine.”

*

Q. Are couples in sexless marriages less happy than couples having sex?

*

A. Generally, yes. There is a feedback relationship in most couples between happiness and having sex. Happy couples have more sex, and the more sex a couple has, the happier they report being.

*

Q. Are people in sexless marriages more likely to get divorced?

*
A. In my studies, as well as others, people in sexless marriages report that they are more likely to have considered divorce, and that they are less happy in their marriages. Some of our former respondents have kept in touch with me, and the happiest ones are actually those that have moved on to other partners. It may be that lack of sex is a signal that all intimacy in a marriage is over, and that both would be happier in other situations. I know that this may not be a popular idea with the religious and political right, but it may be a better solution than staying in a marriage that is hurtful and unfulfilling.

Hampton Roads Pride - June 28th

Among my various community activities that also double as marketing for my law firm to the local LGBT community is my membership on the Board of Directors of Hampton Roads Pride, the area's longest running LGBT non-profit entities which I hope will increasingly be able to serve as a liason between the various LGBT organizations. This year Hampton Roads Pride will host the 21st annual "Out in the Park" LGBT Pride festival Sunday, June 28, 2009 at Chesapeake City Park.

*

Making this years event unique is the significance of the date - the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots that sparked the modern Gay Rights Movement. In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969 New York City police raided a bar on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village known as the Stonewall Inn. Refusing to have their civil rights violated the bar erupted in protest initiating nightly demonstrations for the next few days.

*

Additionally, preparation has begun on the Hampton Roads Pride GLBT History Project, a durable visual and audio display of the history of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community in Hampton Roads, which will be on display at the Out in the Park event.

*

I invite all local readers to come to this fun event - the boyfriend and I will be working the event as HR Pride volunteers.

More Tuesday Male Beauty

What Has Obama Done as 'Fierce Advocate in Chief' for Gays?

I posted yesterday about the Obama administration's arguments to the U.S. Supreme Court asking the Court to turn down a challenge to Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Well, last night, Rachel Madow did a wonderful job of highlighting Obama's total failure to deliver to date on any of his campaign promises to LGBT Americans. Here are some highlights via You Tube:

*

I love Rachel's show and in particular her willingness to call it like it is without the ass kissing that is so prevalent through out most of the main stream media. As for Obama, I am still waiting to be proven wrong and that he's not a cynical liar when it comes to LGBT issues.

Pat Robertson Shows He's a Bigoted Ass Yet Again

One of the perennial embarrassments for those of us who live in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia is Pat Robertson and his poisonous 700 Club which broadcasts from Virginia Beach. It seems that Pat never knows when to keep his mouth shut so as not to prove to the world that he's a bigoted ass and false Christian. His latest act of bigotry is stating that gay Americans are same sex attracted because they were molested by their gym coach, priest or some other male authority figure. Here he is on the 700 Club via Media Matters:

*

TERRY MEEUWSEN (co-host): This is Theresa. This is difficult. She says, "How should we, as parents of a homosexual son, handle the ongoing challenges facing us, such as staying true to our faith and following the commandment to 'love your neighbor as yourself'? This is very difficult for us."

*
ROBERTSON: Well, first of all, he's not your neighbor. He's your son; that's a different thing. You owe him, you know, advice and counsel and guidance. You're his parent. First of all, you didn't say how old he is. Secondly, I am not at all persuaded that so-called homosexuals are homosexuals because of biological problems. There may be a very few, but there are so many that have been made homosexuals because of a coach or a guidance counselor or some other male figure who has abused them and they think there's something wrong with their sexuality. So you need to get deep into why he is what he is, instead of just saying, "Well, he's a homosexual so how do I handle him, and how do I be Christian?" Well, I think you ought to tell him, "Listen, son, you know, here's what the Bible says about this, and it's called an abomination before God, so I've got to tell you the truth because I love you." That's what I think. All right, what else?

*
MEEUWSEN: And then you do that -- you love him.

*
ROBERTSON: You love him. Of course you love him. And you accept him. You love him, but at the same time, you can't let him just go, you know, he'll wind up --

*
MEEUWSEN: Without knowing truth, yeah.

*
ROBERTSON: Well, I mean, if somebody's on their way to hell, they'll -- I mean, you've got to love them to rescue them.

Frankly, if any one is an abomination, I'd say it is Robertson who shakes down old women and the ignorant so that he can live like a multimillionaire. Why on earth the Norfolk Airport Authority accepts Robertson/Regent University's money to display huge signs in the airport concourse bewilders me.

Tuesday Male Beauty

Get Out and Vote!

UPDATED: Creigh Deeds puled out a significant win today in the Democrat primary setting up a rematch between himself and Bob "taliban Bob" McDonnell come November. He did surprisingly well in urban areas as well as rural areas that he was expected to carry. While he is nowher near as gay friendly as Brian Moran, he's light years better than McDonnell who would reintoduce the sodomy statutes if he could to appease the Christianists who are his strongest supporters. Hopefully, Deeds will be able to expose the real McDonnell and thereby convice moderate Republicans to vote for him rather than the Christian Taliban candidate.

*

In the race for Lieutenant Governor, Jody Wagner crushed Mike Signer with roughly 70% of the vote.

*

Today is the day of the Democrat Primary here in Virginia and it's important that people get out and support their candidate. In my case, I am supporting Brian Moran for Governor (lower left in the photo) and Jody Wagner for Lieutenant Governor. It is absolutely essential that the Democrats field a candidate that can defeat Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell in November. The thought of McDonnell as Governor is most frightening.

*

In short, if Virginians do not want policy decision to be dictated by Pat Robertson, The Family Foundation, and the folks at Liberty University, McDonnell MUST be defeated. Hopefully, whichever Democrat prevails today they will quickly begin exposing the falsity of McDonnell's claim that he is a moderate.

Major Law Firms Are Shrinking

One of the interesting aspects of the current recession is the blood bath occurring at many major law firms - enterprises once viewed as largely recession proof. Of course, as large numbers of lawyers find themselves suddenly unemployed, they either find positions at smaller firms or exit the legal industry. That's not to say the malaise of the economic times aren't likewise trickling down towards smaller firms as well. One local divorce attorney said that even in that realm of practice business has slowed as couples are staying together - not necessarily happily - so as to not have to sell homes in a stagnant market. Foreclosure and bankruptcy firms are the only ones that seem to be prospering. The New York Times has a piece today that looks at the turmoil at a firm that has long been a bastion of power and influence in New York:

*

In his two years as chairman of White & Case, the venerable Wall Street law firm, Mr. Verrier had already laid off 70 young lawyers and shuttered offices in Bangkok, Dresden and Milan. He had watched top partners flee to competitors and suffered a depressive 2008 holiday party. . .

*

Now Mr. Verrier, who had worked exclusively at the century-old firm since leaving Harvard Law School in 1982, sat in his office high above 44th Street and Avenue of the Americas, considering the e-mail message he was about to send. It announced that 200 more lawyers would lose their jobs, nearly 1 in 10 at the firm over all — and not just young associates with everything in front of them, but some million-dollar-a-year ones like himself, the ones with twin mortgages, kids in private school and no Plan B.

*

“People are shellshocked,” said one top partner at the firm who, like many of its current and former lawyers, spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. “If they survived the first two rounds, they’re happy to have a job, but are still very nervous. And if their phones don’t ring, if their work doesn’t come back with a vengeance, they fear they aren’t long for this world.”

*

A few top firms, like Thatcher, Proffitt & Wood, established before the Civil War broke out, have already gone under in the flood; the carnage of layoffs has touched even sterling names like Proskauer Rose, Dewey & LeBoeuf and Clifford Chance.

*
In the first quarter of 2009, demand for legal services in New York decreased by nearly 10 percent over 2008, according to the Hildebrandt International Peer Monitor Index. At least 10,000 employees at major firms across the country have lost their jobs so far this year, according to the macabre but wildly popular “Layoff Tracker” run by another blog, lawshucks.com.

*

While the legal industry is hardly battling the existential threat that is facing, say, the newspaper trade, Big Law — especially in competitive New York — is facing a potential paradigm shift as fundamental as the one that has hit investment banks and the auto industry. Big, as a business model (let alone as an expression of the national mood), seems bound for obsolescence.

*

Jerry Kowalski, a legal consultant who tracks the New York market, said that “the mood at White & Case — and at probably 15 or 20 more firms in New York — is kind of like sitting at a deathbed and watching a close relative wither away. It’s like you’re right there in the I.C.U. with the patient and you know that the condition is terminal.”

*

“For the first time in their lives, people feel sort of useless. All of a sudden, you can go to lunch for two and a half hours and really not be missed. It’s a blow to the ego. You’re talking about people who have never really failed.” At White & Case, the tensions have become so fierce that some people now fear staying home even if they are sick. Market forces have replaced “the social contract,” a top partner there said: camaraderie is “not terribly strong,” because “people are very scared.”

*

As a profession, the law is harsh and brutal - one therapist I spoke with recently affiliated with the Virginia Bar noted that attorneys have among the highest suicide rate of any profession. After 32 years in the profession, I understand why. My advise to would be lawyers? Think twice about the law as a career. And for those who are already in the industry - find a way to get out, if possible.

More Monday Male Beauty

Coming Out Travails

I have often advocated for LGBT Americans to come out and help force typical Americans to face the fact that they know gay Americans who may in fact be their neighbors, their children, their parents, their relatives or their friends and come to the realization that we are people just like they are. That said, it is not an easy journey to come out and, yes, I stayed in the closet for many, many years - far longer than I probably should have in retrospect. My journey coming out in mid-life has been anything but easy and as regular readers know, I certainly have my moments of sadness and despair as aspects of the divorce continue to play out. On the other hand, the rewards of living out and proud are beyond measure. Andrew Sullivan has a post that reminds us that timing can be critical in deciding when to come out. Here are some highlights from one of Andrew's readers:

*
I wanted to respond to your post regarding the necessity of coming out. I came out to my mom during my first year of law school after falling in love with a wonderful man. Being from a Catholic and Latin American background, she did not take it very well. She wanted to put me in reparative therapy and was extremely verbally abusive until I was finally forced to move out of my home during my final week of exams.

*

As you can imagine, I did terribly that semester. I had to sleep in my car and on friends’ couches until I was able to figure out whether to stay in law school or quit. I decided to finish school, and I recently graduated.

*

I urge young people that are in still reliant on their parents to hold off coming out until they become financially independent. Unless you have family support, the consequences of coming out can be devastating. I was fortunate to have friends and a great boyfriend that gave me the support I needed to finish school and figure out who I was. I can only imagine where I would be without them.

*
I am glad that I am out and I am proud to be gay. I do not regret one bit my decision, but I wish I had not been in such a vulnerable situation. I just speak from my own personal experience that often the price of being honest at a young age may be too high a price for some of us to pay.

Supreme Court and Obama Uphold Don't Ask Don't Tell

In yet another example of Barack Obama flipping the finger to LGBT Americans, the Obama administration successfully defended and convinced the the U.S Supreme Court to refuse to review Don't Ask Don't Tell ("DADT") by arguing in court paper that the appeals court had ruled correctly in this case when it found that “don’t ask, don’t tell” is “rationally related to the government’s legitimate interest in military discipline and cohesion.” I hate to say it, but after this Obama looks like a cynical bigot who used LGBT Americans to win election and who has now thrown us all under the bus. I am beyond disgusted and increasingly view Obama with contempt. I have no use for liars and Obama looks increasingly like a liar when it comes to meaning anything he said during last fall's campaign in respect to the struggle for LGBT equality under the civil laws. The fact that felons, those without high school diplomas and other undesirables are welcome in the military while gays are not just adds insult to injury. Here are some highlights from 365gay.com:

*

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed with the Obama administration and refused to review Pentagon policy barring gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military. The court said it will not hear an appeal from former Army Capt. James Pietrangelo II, who was dismissed under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

*
The federal appeals court in Boston earlier threw out a lawsuit filed by Pietrangelo and 11 other veterans. He was the only member of that group who asked the high court to rule that the Clinton-era policy is unconstitutional.

*
“I think this decision is an absolute travesty of justice and I think every judge on this court should be ashamed of themselves,” said Pietrangelo, who served six years in the Army, seven years in the Vermont National Guard and fought in Iraq in 1991. “It’s nothing short of rubber stamping legalized discrimination, the same way Nazi Germany legalized discrimination against Jews. “The Supreme Court is not infallible, they get things wrong, and they got it wrong this time,” he said.

*

In court papers, the administration said the appeals court ruled correctly in this case when it found that “don’t ask, don’t tell” is “rationally related to the government’s legitimate interest in military discipline and cohesion.” Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman referred requests for comment to the Justice Department, but said the military policy “implements the law.”

*

“What it’s going to take is 30 million gay Americans getting off their butts and standing in front of the White House demanding gay quality,” said Pietrangelo, who has since moved back to his native Ohio.