Saturday Male Beauty

The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

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We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. --Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

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He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
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He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
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He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
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He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
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He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
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He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

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He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.

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He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

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He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
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He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.
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He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature.
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He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power.
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He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:
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For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
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For protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states:
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For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:
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For imposing taxes on us without our consent:
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For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury:
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For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses:

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For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule in these colonies:
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For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments:
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For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
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He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.
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He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
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He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.
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He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.
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He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
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In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.

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We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.

Friday Male Beauty

Bob McDonnell and "No Tax" GOP Behind Traffic Woes

Yesterday this area experienced a major clusterf*ck traffic wise because a simple pump failure in the west bound tube of the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel - one of the two main connectors between south side Hampton Roads and the Peninsula and Richmond to the west. Virginia increasingly needs major injections of transportation spending to improve its overburdened interstate highways and other main routes. Unfortunately, the GOP and its standard bearer Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell chant only one mantra: no tax increases. Highways do not build themselves without funding and a poor transportation system will ultimately strangle economic growth. But then, the Virginia GOP still has a 19th century mindset both in terms of social values - i.e., blacks and women new their place and gays were closeted or prosecuted for "crimes against nature" - and taxation. Here are some highlights from the Virginian Pilot:

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A broken water pump inside the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel set off a chain reaction of congestion. On the surface, the broken pump seemed like a tiny cog in the area’s complex interstate bridge and tunnel system, but what happened next was more than anyone had bargained for.

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While Virginia Department of Transportation crews pumped water out of the tunnel, detouring vehicles spilled onto alternate routes. Traffic at the Monitor Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel backed up more than 20 miles into Chesapeake. The Midtown and Downtown tunnel traffic was stacked up three to four miles into Norfolk, clogging city thoroughfares. The closures of some downtown streets for Harborfest compounded the fiasco.

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Local leaders and others expressed outrage over the way VDOT handled the crisis and called the gridlock a harbinger of what could happen during a major evacuation. They cited Thursday’s events as an example of a limited highway system and inadequate harbor crossings. “The entire region shut down for most of the day because of one pump,” Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim said .

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Transportation, city and business leaders have pushed since the 1990s for transportation improvements to provide additional access to the region and better hurricane evacuation routes. Those projects include another crossing of the Hampton Roads harbor, expanding the Midtown Tunnel and upgrading U.S. 460 to interstate quality.

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But they will cost billions of dollars that current funding sources cannot cover. The General Assembly repeatedly has rejected proposals to raise taxes and fees for transportation funding. “We have listened to the members of the General Assembly long enough,” Fraim said. “The consequences of what has occurred is a direct result of their inaction to provide adequate funding for transportation.

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Fraim said the incident was reminiscent of Hurricane Isabel in September 2003, when the Midtown Tunnel flooded because of malfunctioning floodgates. “Had this occurred during an evacuation caused by an impending hurricane or major storm, I shudder to think of the consequences,” Fraim said.

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Virginia does not need the antiquated thinking of Bob McDonnell and the Virginia Republican Party. He and the other GOP candidates must be defeated in the November elections.

Separate But Unequal Means Gay Apartheid

Many of us continue to be angry at the Obama administration and many Congressional Democrats who seek out our money and our votes at election time yet seem to utterly forget about us - or suddenly develop amnesia - once they are elected. True, Obama had a soiree for A-List gays on Monday and made a pretty speech, but other than serving as a damage control stunt for the LGBT community, the event seems likely to make no difference in the ongoing avoidance of taking meaningful action on LGBT related legislation. David Mixner has a great column on his blog that looks at the reality this behavior means for LGBT Americans who are still treated as less than full citizens. Here are some column highlights:

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Yesterday [Monday, June 29, 2009], I listened with hope to the President Barack Obama's words at the historic White House celebration of Gay Pride. Instead, when he was done, I found myself very depressed.

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As our elected officials search for new words, new institutions and new arrangements to avoid giving us full equality, it is important for people to remember that right now all we have amounts to basically a system of separate but unequal. We have a set of laws at the national, state and local levels that separates LGBT folks from the rest of America. Let's call it what it is - Gay Apartheid.

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I have chosen the word very carefully and deliberately. Apartheid is when a group of citizens of a nation is by law separated from all other citizens and the rights, benefits and protections all others are granted. Having DOMA and "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" as laws of the land are apartheid laws. They set us apart from all other American citizens. State after state has singled us out in their Constitutions to create a separate body of law for LGBT citizens.

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So lets be honest about this as we see an enormous number of laws on the books specially denying LGBT Americans the rights, benefits, privileges and protections granted to all other Americans: we have created and are continuing to expand on a system of Gay Apartheid. There is no other way to look at it.

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Despite the President's warm words and the lovely trappings at the White House, he continues to buy into this system and allows it to continue. In fact, it was a carefully worded warm, fuzzy speech that failed to answer many questions. . . . . We did not hear the answer to the most important question: When?

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The only thing important to me now is when! That is the question. When will these oppressive and horrendous apartheid laws be overturned? When will the President show the powerful leadership shown by President Kennedy and President Johnson in the 1960's? When will he insist Congress take up and immediately repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell?" When will the President address the nation in a powerful speech saying that the time of inequality, injustice and yes, apartheid against the American LGBT community must come to an end. Mr. President, the only question we have for you is when?

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First Lady Michelle Obama wouldn't tolerate living under the laws of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" for two days and he expects us to live under them until maybe into his second term? Hell, no. Not acceptable, Mr. President.

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Mixner sums up my feelings and thoughts eloquently. President Obama, when will you make good on your campaign promises and prove that you were not merely a cynical liar.

More Thursday Male Beauty

Iran election: Faces of the Dead and Detained

I continue to hope that with time the Islamic fundamentalist dictatorship in Iran will be overthrow. Not only is the current regime the enemy of democracy, but it is also the enemy of LGBT individuals worldwide and is responsible for the execution of countless gays in Iran. Meanwhile, the stories of brutality and inhumanity on the part of the ruling dictatorship and its thugs continue to trickle out to the world. The UK's Guardian is endeavoring to bring forth the stories of those killed and detained through an interactive page. As the Guardian notes:

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We want to put a face to each of those hundreds - possibly thousands - killed or arrested since the Iranian election.

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On its website, the Guardian is working to identify the victims of the regime's brutality and is posting photos where available of the dead and detained and biographical information if known. it is very moving and it sickens me to see the faces of young, vibrant Iranians who gave their lives and appear to be the exact opposite of what the Bush/Cheney regime and their Christianist allies would have the public believe.

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All of us need to keep alive the stories of these brave individuals who risked their lives - and lost them in many cases - so that change could occur.

India Decriminalises Gay Sex

I have never been to India but have a number of clients of Indian descent a few of who are gay. While the ruling of the Delhi High Court will not alone end homophobia in India or among the Indian diaspora, the fact that same sex relations no longer carry a potential prison term cannot help but subconsciously begin to undermine some of the historic and societal bigotry against gays and lesbians. The Court's full 105 page opinion can be found here. Another aspect of the Court's ruling is that it brings India more in line with other modern secular nations and should help the forces of modernity. (NOTE: This step towards modernity happened only in 2003 in Virginia with the Lawrence v. Texas Supreme Court decision). Here are some highlights from the Times of India:
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NEW DELHI: India took a giant, albeit belated, step towards globalisation on Thursday when the Delhi high court delivered a historic judgement to amend 149-year-old colonial-era law — Section 377 of the IPC — and decriminalise private consensual sex between adults of the same sex. It is the biggest victory yet for gays rights and a major milestone in the country's social evolution. India becomes the 127th country to take the guilt out of homosexuality.

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In a judgment that has aroused strong reactions from religious and political groups, the court declared that Section 377 IPC, where it ``criminalized consensual sexual acts of adults in private'', violated fundamental rights to personal liberty (Article 21 of the Constitution) and equality (Article 14) and prohibition of discrimination (Article 15).

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In a courtroom tense with anticipation, the bench invoked Jawaharlal Nehru's stirring words to the Constituent Assembly, while linking the issue of homosexuality with the politically resonant theme of inclusiveness. ``If there is one constitutional tenet that can be said to be (the) underlying theme of the Indian Constitution, it is that of inclusiveness.'' As a corollary, it added that ``those perceived by the majority as `deviants' or `different' are not on that score excluded or ostracized.''

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"There is almost unanimous medical and psychiatric opinion that homosexuality is not a disease or a disorder and is just another expression of human sexuality,'' the court observed.

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The verdict triggered protests from religious leaders across the spectrum who invoked the ``will of God'' to claim that the ruling would lead to the ``ruination'' of society and family values. Social workers and psychologists, however, welcomed the order, describing it as ``scientific and humane.''

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I cannot help but note that as in America, it is the forces of ignorance and bigotry that hide behind religion who condemned the Court's ruling. It's interesting that the Court's references to the Indian Constitution could be instructive to the U.S. Supreme Court insofar as it notes that the majority does not have the right to exclude or ostracize disliked minorities.

Thursday Male Beauty

Navy Man Killed in Possible Hate Crime

The San Diego Union-Tribune is reporting that a 29 year old U.S. Navy man (pictured at left) has been found apparently murdered at Camp Pendleton. Some gay activist believe the death was a hate crime that occurred after an argument over the victim's sexual orientation. A "person of interest" is being held for questioning. Sadly, because of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, LGBT servicemembers have nowhere to go when threatened because of their sexual orientation and likewise cannot seek counseling without likely ending their military careers. As a result, they are often sitting ducks for simple harassment and/or worse. Here are some story highlights:

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CAMP PENDLETON — The body of a 29-year-old sailor was found in a Camp Pendleton guard shack Tuesday, and a “person of interest” was taken into custody in connection with the suspected homicide, Navy officials said yesterday. The body of Seaman August Provost of Houston, Texas, was discovered about 3:30 a.m. on the western edge of the base, said Doug Sayers, a spokesman for Navy Region Southwest.

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An autopsy was completed yesterday, but authorities were waiting for results of toxicology tests to determine a cause of death. A “person of interest” was being held in the Navy brig at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. No charges have been filed.

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The death has local gay activists calling for a formal investigation into whether Provost was slain because of his sexual orientation. “We're definitely monitoring this and trust and hope the military will investigate this in the professional way it should,” said Nicole Murray-Ramirez, chairman of San Diego's Human Rights Commission. Murray-Rameriz also has contacted Reps. Susan Davis and Bob Filner, asking that they make official inquiries to the military concerning an investigation. The Navy would not comment on whether Provost's orientation had anything to do with the death.

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Provost's boyfriend, Kaether Cordero, said yesterday that Provost was openly gay but kept his private life quiet for the most part. “People who he was friends with, I knew that they knew,” Cordero said from Houston. “He didn't care that they knew. He trusted them.” Provost had recently complained to his family that someone was harassing and bothering him, and they advised him to tell his supervisor, said his sister, Akalia. “He's the type that if someone comes at him, he walks away. He never stands and argues,” she said. “He didn't deserve anything but a good life.”

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As I have stated over and over again, the blight of DADT needs to be repealed NOW.

"American Patriot Bible"

For years the wingnuts have been selectively parsing the Bible to justify their general hatred and contempt for those who are not just like themselves. Thus, I guess it should be no surprise that an enterprising Christianist, Richard G. Lee, a Southern Baptist pastor from Georgia who served as the Bible's general editor, has decided to take it one step further and come up with a nativist re-written version of the Bible that is slanted with Christianist beliefs and propaganda. And these folks are the same ones who claim the Bible is inerrant? I think not. One can only speculate as to how many people will be brainwashed on the "Christian nation myth" with this book. Here are some highlights from USA Today:

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Americans looking to combine love of God with love of country this July 4th can quote the new American Patriot's Bible, which says God has influenced America though godly Founding Fathers, presidents and soldiers. "This Bible is designed for the decent, hardworking core of America, the ordinary man or woman who loves this nation and believes it springs from godly roots," says Richard G. Lee, a Southern Baptist pastor from Georgia who served as the Bible's general editor.

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"Christians have believed all along that this nation sprung from Judeo-Christian ethics. Now they can say, "Oh, now I know where this uniqueness comes from in our nation's history."' . . . Lee is the founding pastor of the 4,000-member First Redeemer Church in Cumming, Ga. A registered Republican who's organizing an Independence Day-themed "Restoring America" conference featuring conservatives David Limbaugh and Oliver North, Lee said he's "disappointed" when politicians "use the word of God for the purpose of vote getting."

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Evangelical author and pastor Greg Boyd's lengthy critique, posted on Christianity Today's website, calls Lee's Bible "idolatrous," saying, "There's not a single commentary in this Bible that even attempts to shed light on what the biblical text actually means."

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A sampling of the propaganda can be found here. The egocentric nature of "Christian American Patriots" is amazing - they continue to think God prefers them over all other people on earth.

Christianists: "Homosexual Christians" an Oxymoron

Recently, Christian researcher George Barna did a survey of of LGBT adults as a basis for his report entitled "Spiritual Profile of Homosexual Adults"which found that many gays did NOT fit the Christianist stereotype disseminated by the professional Christian set. Among the Barna Group findings that professional homophobes found heretical are the following:

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“People who portray gay adults as godless, hedonistic, Christian bashers are not working with the facts,” declared the best-selling author of numerous books about faith and culture. “A substantial majority of gays cite their faith as a central facet of their life, consider themselves to be Christian, and claim to have some type of meaningful personal commitment to Jesus Christ active in their life today.

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“It is interesting to see that most homosexuals, who have some history within the Christian Church, have rejected orthodox biblical teachings and principles – but, in many cases, to nearly the same degree that the heterosexual Christian population has rejected those same teachings and principles. Although there are clearly some substantial differences in the religious beliefs and practices of the straight and gay populations, there may be less of a spiritual gap between straights and gays than many Americans would assume.”

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Not surprisingly, these conclusions were enough to make the holier than thou set at OneNewsNow have convulsions and verge on foaming at the mouth. Mr.Barna received less than loving treatment for his report that undercuts many of the rantings so common at OnNewsNow and among the self-righteous, self-satisfied Christianist set. Here are some highlights from the OneNewsNow reaction to the Barna report (Note how Peter LaBarbera who has made a career out of maligning gays is quoted as an authority):

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Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, believes Barna speaks "too cavalierly" about "homosexual Christians." "My test is [to] substitute another sexual sin and see if it makes sense. Would we be talking about a survey of porn-using Christians or incestuous Christians? That sounds stark, but that's, I believe, the appropriate biblical analogy," he contends. Barna, LaBarbera says, is naive if he thinks the homosexual activist movement is not made up of "hedonistic Christian bashers."

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"I think there are Christians who struggle with the sin of homosexuality -- but proud homosexual Christians? That's an oxymoron to me in the same way as I would say proud adulterous Christians," he adds. "And so, I think we have to be very careful because I see the tactic of the Emergent Church and the Christian left is to start talking more and more about 'gay Christians,' and what they end up doing is demonizing the so-called 'Religious Right' and saying that the Religious Right is all wrong in the way it has talked about homosexuality."

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A book by Barna Group president Dave Kinnaman titled UnChristian contends that "hostility toward gays has become virtually synonymous with the Christian faith;" however, LaBarbera says he does not know any born-again Christians who hate homosexuals.

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Hmm, funny ting is that while LaBarbera says he knows no born-again Christians who hate gays, yet he daily disseminates lies and untruths about LGBT Americans and regularly equates our relationships to incest, adultery, child molestation, and other heinous conduct. That's not hate? Sure sounds and looks like it to me. Of course, LaBarbera is terrified of gays achieving equality since it would largely put him out of a job and force him to find gainful employment.

More Wednesday Male Beauty

Click image to enlarge

Recognizing Iranian Martyrs

Regardless of the outcome of the ongoing unrest in Iran, I sincerely hope that the news and blog coverage of events will have opened the eyes of thinking Americans - yes, that excludes Sarah Palin and most of the GOP base - to the fact that the image of Iran disseminated by the Bush/Cheney regime was NOT the full story. Young Iranians have risked their lives and died (like 18 year old Ashkan Sohrabi pictured at left) in the hope of finding more freedoms and true democracy. It is true that the current government is as horrible in many ways as depicted by the Chimperator and Emperor Palpative Cheney as evidenced by the fact that the current dictatorship seeks to prosecute the doctor who tried to assist the mortally wounded Neda Aqa-Soltan and then spoke to the press about her murder all as reported by Nico Pitney at Huffington Post:

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Fars News Agency in Persian on 1 July 2009 reports that the commander of the Law Enforcement Force said: Arash Hejazi who as the witness of the murder of Neda Aqa-Soltan has created uproar is being prosecuted by the International Police (Interpol). Speaking to a gathering of reporters, General Esma'il Ahmadi-Moqaddam added: Arash Hejazi is being prosecuted by the Ministry of Intelligence and Interpol forces.

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He stressed: The murder of Neda Aqa-Soltan is a scenario which has no links to Tehran's riots. Arash Hejazi, the doctor who was present at Neda Aqa-Soltan's murder scene, has held certain sensational interviews with foreign media on this murder case after departing the country. Hejazi fled to London shortly after Neda's murder. He conducted a lengthy interview with the BBC last week, acknowledging he would probably never be able to return to Iran.

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In contrast, there is this interview with the sister of Ashkan Sohrabi who was killed by thre bullets to the chest. Here are some highlights via Andrew Sullivan's blog:

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Rooz: Tell us about Ashkan

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Elham Sohrabi (Sohrabi): He was my younger brother, born in 1989, very smart and full of potential for education and sports. He was extremely kind and compassionate. Despite his young age, he made very wise decisions.

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Rooz: Where were you on the day of the event?
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Sohrabi: My mother and I were at our house. Ashkan had just returned from the gym. He told us people were protesting on the streets and that fires were burning everywhere. He said he had trouble getting home as anti-riot guards had closed off all surrounding streets and were dispersing people. My mother asked me not to let Ashkan return to the streets. I tried my best to distract Ashkan with things other than the street, but the crowds on our streets (Azadi) continued to get bigger. People sought refuge in alleys and homes. We heard different chants and the sound of bullets and smell of tear gas were everywhere. I asked Ashkan not to go to the street. But he said his last words to me and left the house: "Don't worry, I'll come back."

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Yes, the current government needs to be overthrown, but we in the USA must recognize that the government does not represent the people of Iran who have shown amazing courage and a fearlessness in fighting for democracy and the rule of law.

South Carolina First Lady Blames Husband's Affairs on Gay Marriage

UPDATED: A blogger friend/reader has advised me that DiSCust is a satire site much like the Onion, hence the story about Jenny Sanford blaming the gays for her husband's adultery is a spoof. I - and apparently many others - fell for it since it is EXACTLY the type of BS that the likes of Tony Perkins, James Dobson , Maggie Gallagher and other "professional Christians" whine about daily.

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Sometimes the batshit craziness of "conservatives" and self-anointed Christians drives me crazy. First we have South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford confessing that he had "crossed the line" with other women besides his Argentinian firecracker. Next we have his "woman scorned" wife blaming gay marriage for her husband's infidelities rather than admit (a) her husband is a lying scum bag or (b) her own conduct might have led to his wondering eye. Seriously, do these people think the rest of us are blithering idiots or are they just plain crazy? Oh, and never mind that Ms. Sanford was an outspoken opponent of gay marriage even before the public learned that her husband liked to "dip his rod" into other wells. First some highlights from The State:

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After days of assuring the public he was firmly in control after admitting a scandalous affair, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford detailed other encounters with his Argentine "soul mate," dalliances with women before her, and his struggle to salvage his 20-year marriage.

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But as more details of his private life spill out, what Sanford has done in the name of love is too much even for some of his friends in state government. "He's lost the moral authority to lead our state, so he needs to step down for the good of our state," said state Sen. Larry Grooms, who said he called the governor and asked him to resign. Others in Sanford's party predict his departure from public life is just a matter of time, and several state newspapers urged him to go.

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Sanford also said he's "crossed the lines" with a handful of other women during 20 years of marriage, but not as far as he did with Chapur and not since the two met.
"Without wandering into that field we'll just say that I let my guard down in all senses of the word without ever crossing the line that I crossed with this situation," he said, referring to his affair with Chapur.

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Faced with the mounting evidence that her husband is an incredible cad who finds it difficult to honor his marriage vows, what does Jenny Sanford do? She blames her husband's dishonest, sinful trysts on Teh Gays. Here are highlights from The diSCust (Note how prescription drug addict and thrice divorced Rush Limbaugh joins the chorus):

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South Carolina first lady Jenny Sanford released another statement today, this time blaming her husband’s affair on the declining moral values in America. “Of course I’m not saying that Mark is gay,” Sanford said, “but he may as well be. The moral decay in this country has claimed another victim and this time it was my family. Our marriage was perfect until these laws started passing around the country. Clearly the slow dissolution of the sanctity of marriage in America seeped into Mark’s psyche until he no longer felt compelled to abide by our vows.”

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It’s finally happened,” said Rush Limbaugh, conservative radio personality. “America, I’ve been warning you for years that gay marriage would destroy the American family and look… there they are, a husband, wife, and four children — destroyed. When is this going to stop America? When will the liberals be satisfied? When all the marriages break up? This wasn’t Mark Sanford’s fault, this was Ted Kennedy’s fault. Sanford didn’t cheapen the value of marriage, he was victimized by the cheapening of marriage.”

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Asked if this newly determined source of their marital problems would impact their chances of reconciliation, Mrs. Sanford was somewhat evasive. “In the end, he is the one who is going to hell and we’re going to have to work through that, but make no mistake, this whole affair can be traced back to the liberals in Washington. We may not be able to save our marriage, but it’s not too late for the rest of America. Say no to gay marriage — the marriage you save might be your own.”

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I'm sorry Ms. Sanford, but I suspect if anyone is going to Hell, it's most likely haters and false Christians such as yourself. Any compassion I might have felt for you as the wronged wife is utterly gone. You are a nasty bigot plain and simple.

The Dallas Principles Revisited

I wrote about the Dallas Principles a while back and in light of the continued double speak and little action coming from the Obama administration and Congressional Democrats, not to mention the quote set out below from the Washington Post, it is important to restate these principles (set out above) and send a clear message that nothing less will be acceptable:

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Maintaining a sense of common interest across the [Democrat] party is a paramount goal. Early on, administration officials and Democratic leaders agreed they would steer clear of controversial social issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage. And to the discontent of many liberal Democrats, Congress intends to remain generally silent on those fronts.

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"They know the consequences of '94. It looms," White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said of the legislative debacles in President Bill Clinton's early tenure that produced the 1994 Republican landslide. "That division led to failure. . . . Our chances for success only come about by unity. That, as a culture up there, has been enforced by enough people that enough members believe."

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It sounds to me that despite Obama's pretty words on Monday, the LGBT community is being thrown under the bus. That will only change if and when the LGBT ATM machine is turned off and our votes are not taken for granted.

Wednesday Male Beauty

Sally Kern Blames Gays for Economic Turn Down

Oklahoma's increasingly insane and demented Rep. Sally Kern needs to be, in my opinion, subjected to an involuntary stay in a mental health institution since she clearly is losing what little grasp of reality that once had. Now the homophobe extraordinaire is saying that the crash of the U. S. economy is because of homosexuality. Never mind the eight years of the Chimperator's disastrous rule or the seven years of GOP control of Congress that set the stage for the financial system melt down. How people continue to vote for nutcases like Kern is truly mind boggling. Here are some highlights from the Business Insider on Kern's latest lunacy:

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Sally Kern is an Oklahoma state representative with her own, unique take on the economic crisis: gays are to blame. She's introduced a proclamation stating:

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WHEREAS, we believe our economic woes are consequences of our greater national moral crisis; and

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WHEREAS, this nation has become a world leader in promoting abortion,pornography, same sex marriage, sex trafficking, divorce, illegitimate births, child abuse, and many other forms of debauchery; and

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WHEREAS, alarmed that the Government of the United States of America is forsaking the rich Christian heritage upon which this nation was built; and

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WHEREAS, grieved that the Office of the president of these United States has refused to uphold the long held tradition of past presidents in giving recognition to our National Day of Prayer; and

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WHEREAS, deeply disturbed that the Office of the president of these United States disregards the biblical admonitions to live clean and pure lives by proclaiming an entire month to an immoral behavior;

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NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that we the undersigned elected officials of the people of Oklahoma, religious leaders and citizens of the State of Oklahoma, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world, solemnly declare that the HOPE of the great State of Oklahoma and of these United States, rests upon the Principles of Religion and Morality as put forth in the HOLY BIBLE; and

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BE IT RESOLVED that we, the undersigned, believers in the One True God and His only Son, call upon all to join with us in recognizing that “Blessed is the Nation whose God is the Lord,” and humbly implore all who love Truth and Virtue to live above reproach in the sight of God and man with a firm reliance on the leadership and protection of Almighty God; and

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BE IT RESOLVED that we, the undersigned, humbly call upon Holy God, our Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer, to have mercy on this nation, to stay His hand of judgment, and grant a national awakening of righteousness and Christian renewal as we repent of our great sin.

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You could not make this stuff up if you tried. Of course, Kern's own great sin is her hatred towards and judgment of others, contempt for the freedom of religion of others, and general Pharisee like behavior. If I lived in Oklahoma, I would be seriously embarrassed to have Kern in public office.

Confirmed: God is Slightly Gay

Mark Morford of the San Francisco Chronicle does some great columns that mock the idiocy of mindless bigots and political reactionaries. He now has a column that looks at the prevalence of same sex behavior across the animal kingdom and in the process takes homophobes to task. And, as is his usual approach, Morford demonstrates why Christianists' claims against homosexuality fall apart based on realities in nature. It's a fun column, but it exposes the closed minded shrillness of the foes of LGBT equality. No doubt James Dobson, Tony Perkins, Peter LaBarbera and similar gay-haters will find it less than amusing. Sometimes the real truth hurts. Here are some highlights:

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Confirmed: God is slightly gay Just ask the animals. As soon as they stop having all that homosexual sex. I am sitting here right now smiling just a little, fondly recalling that famously controversial children's book, the one about the gay penguins. Remember? That positively adorable pair of them, at the Central Park Zoo, who had adopted an abandoned egg and then hatched it themselves and were raising the chick together as a couple, even though the chick was clearly not theirs, . . .

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[T]he penguins in question, named Roy and Silo, were both males. This meant they were clearly in some sort of ungodly, aberrant homosexual relationship, mocking natural laws and defying God's will that all creatures only cohabitate with the opposite sex and buy microfiber sofas from Pottery Barn and eat their meals in silent resentment and never have sex.

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I am right now amused at this because it turns out Roy and Silo were not really so much of an anomaly at all. Nor were they some sort of unholy freakshow, an immoral mistake in the eyes of a wrathful hetero God. Far from it. Turns out they were, in fact, far more the norm than many humans, even to this day, want to let on.

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Behold, the ongoing, increasingly startling research: homosexual and bisexual behavior, it turns out, is rampant in the animal kingdom. And by rampant, I mean proving to be damn near universal, commonplace across all species everywhere, existing for myriad reasons ranging from pure survival and procreative influence, right on over to pure pleasure, . . . Imagine.

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New research is revealing so many creatures and species that exhibit homosexual/bisexual behavior of some kind, scientists are now saying there are actually very few, if any, species in existence that don't exhibit it in some way. It's everywhere: Bison. Giraffes. Ducks. Hyenas. Lions and lambs, lizards and dragonflies, polecats and elephants. Hetero sex. Anal sex. Partner swapping. The works.

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Here's the shocking new truism: In the wilds of nature, to not have some level of homosexual/bisexual behavior in a given species is turning out to be the exception, not the rule. Would you like to read that statement again? Aloud? Through a megaphone? To the Mormon and Catholic churches? And the rest of them, as well? Repeatedly?

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And so we extend the idea just a little bit. Because if homosexual/bisexual behavior is universal and by design, if gender mutability is actually deeply woven into the very fabric of nature itself, and if you understand that nature is merely another word for God, well, you can only surmise that God is, to put it mildly, much more than just a little bit gay.

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This, then, is what science appears to be trying to tell us, has been telling us, over and over again: Nature abides no narrow, simplistic interpretation of its ways. Nature will defy your childish fears and laughable behavioral laws at nearly every turn. God does not do shrill homophobia.

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And either humankind is part of nature and the wanton animal kingdom, a full participant in the messy inexplicable glories of the flesh and spirit and gender play, or we are the aberrant mistake, the ones who are lagging far behind the rest of the kingdom, sad and lost in the eyes of a very, very fluid and increasingly disappointed God.
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Ultimately, science will show the untruths of Christian fundamentalist and extreme Catholic dogma. These denominations can either accept modern knowledge or else help guaranty their own eventual extinction.

Tuesday Male Beauty

In the Begining - Origins of Christian Beliefs

Fellow blogger Bob Felton at Civil Commotion likes to look at the intersection of religious and public policies/laws. Bob is a libertarian and possibly an atheist - whereas I am more a Jeffersonian deist - and he often does an amazing job at exposing the malignancy and growing influence of religious fundamentalism on American public life. He also likes to poke holes in the fragile belief of system of Christian fundamentalists who fearfully hang on to superstition and throw common sense and any ability to grasp reality to the wind- particularly when they claim the Bible is the inerrant word of God. The reality is that certain "myths" seem to go through religious revivals over the centuries and thus question the originality of what the Christian fundamentalist profess to believe. Here are highlights fro one of Bob's recent posts:

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In the beginning, says a Mesopotamian tale that pre-dates Genesis by almost 1200-years, there were two ranks of gods. There were old important gods who made all the decisions, and lesser gods who did all the work. In time, as happens still amongst we humans, the worker gods decided the system was rigged against them and went out on strike.

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Every single one of us gods declared war! We have put a stop to the digging. The load is excessive, it is killing us!Our work is too hard, the trouble too much! A compromise was reached. The worker gods would be permitted to have helpers: Men.

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Then one god should be slaughtered. And the gods can be purified by immersion. Nintu shall mix clay. With his flesh and his blood. Then a god and a man Will be mixed together in clay.Let us hear the drumbeat forever after, Let a ghost come into existence from the god’s flesh. Let her proclaim it as his living sign,And let the ghost exist so as not to forget the slain god. Later, the gods grew tired of mens’ noise and attitude, and drowned them all in a great flood, excepting the man Atrahasis and his family. The likeness to Genesis cannot be denied or overlooked.

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Is the Book of Genesis merely a rewrite of the far older Mesopotamian beliefs with Jewish outspreads for added good measure? We may never know, but it is an interesting question worth pursuing. Should it prove true, then the fragile Christian fundamentalist construct falls apart.

Fort Worth Police Better Clarify Gay Bar "Check"

The fall out from the brutal police raid on the Rainbow Lounge on the 40th anniversary of similarly brutish behavior at the Stonewall Inn in 1969. The Dallas Morning News is not buying the bullshit being spun by the Forth Worth Police Department and now the Fort Worth City Council seems to be voicing reservations as well. By all accounts - other than those offered by the police involved - the police action was NOT a routine bar check and instead a totally unprovoked and unjustified use of grossly excessive force which has left one bar patron hospitalized with possible brain injuries. Unfortunately, too often those who go into law enforcement seem to be macho bullies who lack the temperament and character to be empowered by a badge. In my opinion, it sounds like some homophobe bullies wearing badges thought that they had some fun busting up the fairie boys. Here are highlights from the Dallas Morning News:

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The Fort Worth Police Department still has some explaining to do about what happened early Sunday at a southside gay bar called the Rainbow Lounge. Or some clarifying or some illuminating or some supplementary detailing – anything to mitigate the apparently self-administered public-relations shot-to-the-foot it suffered after what it keeps calling a routine "bar check."

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'Cause – Problem No. 1 – bar patrons who were there say it wasn't a "check," it was a "raid." Problem No. 2, this particular "check" ended with a kid in the intensive-care unit with a head injury.

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Problem No. 3, in what I can only hope is a spectacularly infelicitous coincidence, all this took place on the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Raid.

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[W]itnesses say the offiers showed up ready to make arrests, their fists full of plastic zip-cuffs. "They were hyped up. They were loaded for bear," said Todd Camp, a veteran journalist who was there celebrating his birthday with friends. "They were just randomly grabbing people, telling them they were drunk." Camp told me he has been in bars during TABC/police "checks" before, "and it was never anything like this." Usually, he said, officers discreetly walk through, looking for anybody who has had too much. This was different. "I hate to say I was afraid of my own police department, but I was," Camp said. His description of frightened, distraught patrons just does not seem to square with

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And the flames of indiscriminate opinion about Texas being a stagnant backwater of vicious, insular, hate-crazed xenophobes dance higher. So, Fort Worth, we need some answers, please, and quickly. This is no time to stonewall.
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Fort Worth City Council seems to understand that this raid is a PR disaster for the City and as WFAA-TV is reporting, Council wants answers as to how this occurred. Here are some highlights:

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The nation's largest gay and lesbian civil rights organization has called for an investigation, and they're not alone. Council member Kathleen Hicks said she wants the community to know that there is a recourse for complaints such as the ones that arose after officers were accused of violence without just cause. Seven were arrested and one hospitalized after violence broke out during a raid at the Rainbow Lounge in Fort Worth. Hicks called witness reports and Chad Gibson's brain injury disturbing.

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News 8 talked with council member Joel Burns shortly after he visited Gibson in the hospital Monday afternoon. "It's my hope that the fact that this is a gay bar and the violence that happened there are not in any way tied - obviously as someone who loves Fort Worth [and] as someone who is gay - I don't want those two things to be connected," he said.

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Neither the TABC nor Fort Worth police revealed why the bar was selected for what police called a bar check. But, Halstead said the checks always result from either citizen or law enforcement concerns. The bar's owner questioned that and pointed out the Rainbow Lounge has been open for less than two weeks.

More Monday Male Beauty

Wingnuts Go After Openly Gay Obama Appointee

The professional homo haters at Family Research Council have pulled out all the stops in their frenzied hysteria over the appointment of Kevin Jennings, the former Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network ("GLSEN") president who was appointed by Obama to head the Office of Safe & Drug-Free Schools. One would think that Jennings was proposing the sacrificial slaying of young virgins on an altar to Satan the way Tony Perkins is bleating. More likely, FRC's funds are running low and Perkins is desperate for a new foil to use to separate sheeple from their money in these hard economic times. I guess the claim that Obama is not a native born citizen is not bringing in enough cash. FRC is even resorting to running ads such as the one above as well as launch an anti-Jennings website - which links back to FRC so that donations can be made.

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Not surprisingly, the talking points that FRC presents to demonstrate Jennings' unfitness were drafted by perennial gay basher and homophobe, Peter Sprigg. Like most FRC "experts" Sprigg has no real credentials that qualify him as an authority and his views are based solely on extreme anti-gay religious belief. Would that media anchors would ever challenge Sprigg on his lack of credentials as an "expert." Here are highlights on his "credentials" via FRC:

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Mr. Sprigg is an ordained Baptist minister. Before coming to FRC, he served as pastor of Clifton Park Center Baptist Church in Clifton Park, N.Y. Mr. Sprigg previously served for ten years as a professional actor and unit leader in Covenant Players, an international Christian drama ministry. . . . Mr. Sprigg received the Master of Divinity degree cum laude from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (Mass.). He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree summa cum laude from Drew University (N.J.).

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Sprigg's and FRC's real issue with Jennings is that he might push for strong anti-bullying regulations that would protect LGBT students from Christianist bullying and - Heaven forbid - meaningful and comprehensive education standards that teach that LGBT Americans are equal citizens. Here are a few of the "talking point" headlines:

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1) Jennings' and GLSEN's concept of "safe schools" means special protections for privileged groups (especially homosexuals), rather than safety for all.

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2) The Jennings/GLSEN concept of “safe schools” actually extends far beyond the prevention of “harassment” and “bullying” to active “affirmation” and “promotion” of homosexuality.

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3) Jennings is violently anti-religion.

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As I have noted before, FRC believes that only fundamentalist Christians should have rights in this country.