Christian Right Group Seeks to Outlaw Birth Control

I have long said that the far right Christianists and dominionists - like Bob McDonnell who did not support the Supreme Court decision in Griswold v. Connecticut allowing the use of contraception by married couples - have a much larger agenda than simply preventing gay marriage. Far too many people disregard the insanity and intolerance of these Christo-fascists and do so at their own risk. These folks want to undo all of the U. S. Supreme Court rulings that have found a right to privacy and in the process struck down bans on the use of contraception by married couples (Griswold v. Connecticut), abortion (Roe v. Wade), sodomy laws (Lawrence v. Texas) - not to mention all rulings that have upheld the separation of church and state. One group in Florida has now shown yet another goal of these theocrats who hold only contempt for the freedom of others to live their lives according to differing religious beliefs. The goal of this group? Ban all contraception that's right ALL contraception. Here are highlights from the Orlando Sentinel:

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A nationwide anti-abortion group launched an effort in Florida Friday to outlaw all abortions and certain types of birth control, including oral contraceptives and the morning-after pill. The religion-infused movement, called "Personhood Florida," would define conception in Florida's constitution at the "biological beginnings," supporters said -- when the sperm meets the egg. The group filed its amendment today but the exact ballot language is still being worked out, said Secretary of State Spokeswoman Jennifer Krell-Davis.
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The amendment seeks to outlaw all abortions, even in cases of rape and incest. Also criminalized: the morning-after pill and oral contraceptives taken by women, known as the pill. "There are some (birth control) methods that kill a child," said Pat McEwan, who is leading the Personhood Florida group.

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Even if adopted by voters, the amendment runs counter to Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court opinion that held the U.S. Constitution grants women the basic right to an abortion. Supporters say they're pushing the personhood amendment not only in Florida, but in a dozen other states.

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At a press conference in Tallahassee, speakers blamed abortion for the financial insolvency of Social Security and the bankruptcy of American auto manufacturers, citing the millions of terminated pregnancies since Roe. v. Wade as costing the nation citizens and customers. They also said that a fetus is a person and should be given protections of law.

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While most of the world moves forward with knowledge and enhanced personal freedoms, here in the USA the Christian Fundamentalists - much like their Islamic counterparts - seek to drag society and the country back into a Middle Ages backwardness and level of ignorance. I truly do not understand this mentality.

More Saturday Male Beauty

Weekend Reflections, Apology, and Amazing "Martha"

So far the weekend has been a much needed escape to a different place and scene. Last week was NOT a good week and on Tuesday I again contemplated a permanent solution to my current financial and post divorce wars nightmares, upsetting the boyfriend, my youngest daughter, my family and my staff as I careened out of control. In fact, my office manager called the police and had both the Norfolk and Hampton police departments looking for me. Two Hampton police cruisers rolled up moments after I got to the house. I was in total meltdown. At times I wonder whether the anti-depressant meds make things better or worse.

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In any event, so far this weekend has given me some much needed perspective - which hopefully will last past my return to Hampton Roads. Sometimes it is all to easy to get caught up in the sh*t of life and forget that there is a huge world out there and that one's current existence is not the end of all possibilities. Of course, being in New York City on the anniversary of 9-11 and staying in the West Village which is worlds away from the backwardness and provincial mindset of Tidewater Virginia where LGBT citizens have zero legal protections from discrimination and far too many professional Christians make a lucrative livelihood off of marketing homophobia and anti-gay prejudice, does make one think. I don't know if I could live in New York City full time - especially in the winter - but I can safely say that except for the boyfriend's successful business, I would seriously consider leaving Virginia without a second thought.

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On Tuesday before I was reined back under control by the boyfriend and two wonderfully nice and sensitive Hampton police officers, I had posted two very out of control posts on this blog. I took the posts down within a few hours, but should never have posted them perhaps in the first place. Why did I do it? Anger and pain. And frustration at a legal system that allows gays to be brutalized by gay bashing attorneys and crucified by homophobic judges and where the State Bar and Judicial Review Commission do nothing to prevent such actions even though they are prohibited by the Canons of Judicial Conduct and the Code of Professional Responsibility. I guess I just wanted t give back some of the brutality I have received repeatedly. I hurt some people. As they have hurt me. I so much want all of the nastiness to be over.

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On a different note, I wanted to tell our friend Douglas (who is letting us use his apartment) that the boyfriend, a/k/a "Martha Stewart" has now added plumbing to his ever expanding repertoire. The formerly slow draining bath tub (which decided to not drain at all) is now freely flowing again after Martha's assault on it with a snake from a local hardware store - our gift to you - and a jug of Drano.

Creigh Deeds on Gay Rights and McDonnell's Continued Lies

Creigh Deeds is no Brian Moran - who I backed during the Democrat primary in June - on gay rights issues, but his campaign does seem to have finally begun out reach to the Virginia LGBT community in the Hampton Roads area. Better late than never and I hope his campaign takes advantage of members of the community who would like to support him and who certainly have no reason to support Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell (at left). While McDonnell is now running a TV ad that seeks to deflect issues arising from his CBN University thesis, Deeds MUST continue to hit at the fact that the thesis HAS BEEN McDonnell's blue print for his votes and policies while in elected office. To do this, Deeds and others need to continue to enumerate McDonnell's actions incident by incident and demonstrate how in reality Taliban Bob has never truly disavowed his prior views by concrete actions and not mere politically expedient words. In short, McDonnell is trying to play Virginia voters for simpletons and fools. Both Deeds and the MSM need to keep McDonnell's feet to the fire. As for Deeds, the Washington Post has a piece that looks at his position on gay rights issues:

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The issue, of course, is whether Deeds once held a more conservative position on gay rights than he now advertises to the progressive Democrats he is trying to energize. Deeds has already acknowledged shifting positions on the state's constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, which he voted to put on the ballot but then campaigned against. Through the Democratic primary campaign, he would often refer to himself as "a work in progress" on the issue.

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Deeds aides today insisted that Deeds has been consistent in opposing discrimination against gays, noting the 1994 vote, as well as votes for bills in 2006, 2007, 2008 to allow localities to extend health benefits to partners of gay employees. "Creigh has voted consistently throughout his career against discrimination," said senior adviser Mo Elleithee.

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Elleithee says Deeds believe state employees should be allowed to put gay partners on their state health insurance plans, though he said Deeds is not certain it would currently be allowed given the language of the state's constitutional amendment on gay marriage.

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My past invitations to Taliban Bob to attend a HRBOR meeting and show his views have changed still stands, but somehow I doubt that we need to worry that Taliban Bob might actually attend - I'm sure Pat Robertson and Victoria Cobb at The Family Foundation would never grant him permission to do so.

Saturday Male Beauty

Jamaica Continues to Prove Itself an Anti-Gay Cesspool

What with Buju Banton on a US tour singing about killing gays, it seems those at home in Jamaica decided they needed to do more to damage the country's image as a haven for homophobia and hatred. I have been to the Half Moon Hotel referenced in the article below, which is indeed beautiful, but as I have said before that I support an anti-Jamaica boycott and hope more and more straights will likewise avoid the island entirely until such time as the rampant, government tolerated homophobia is ended. Now a British consul has been murdered in an apparent anti-gay hate crime. Timesonline has some of the details:

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The honorary consul to the British High Commission in Jamaica has been found murdered at his home in Montego Bay.

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[I]t is believed that the killer stole his wallet and mobile telephone in an attempt to make it appear as though a robbery had gone wrong. Police would not say whether Mr Terry’s murder was thought to be linked to his work as a Justice of the Peace but they were investigating the possibility that the attack might have been homophobic after a handwritten note on his body described him as a “batty man”, local slang for a homosexual. The note also said: “This is what will happen to ALL gays.” It was signed: “Gay-Man”.
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The former hotel manager had worked in the island’s tourism trade for more than 30 years. At the time of his death he was working at the Half Moon Hotel in Montego Bay, a resort popular with British and American tourists.
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His murder has shocked diplomats, the business community and the tourism industry on the island. According to sources there, Mr Terry was well known for being highly effective and considerate when dealing with British nationals requiring consular assistance. Mr Terry, a native of New Zealand, was appointed a Member of the British Empire by the Queen in 1993.

More Catholic Church Attacks on Gay Rights

The Roman Catholic Church continues to show itself as an enemy f equal civil rights for all Americans and would seem to be pushing the limits of tax-exempt status as the Diocese of Portland announces that there will be a mandatory second collection to help fund the effort to repeal Maine's same sex marriage laws. Sure sounds like an effort to effect legislation in disregard to Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Meanwhile, of course, the bitter old men in dresses at the Vatican continue to refuse to clean their own house of those who enabled and covered up for predator priests who preyed typically on boys, but also on women and young girls as well. As I have commented many times, how people can remain Catholic in light of the continuing corrupt core of the Church hierarchy baffles me. Until the bishops, cardinals and the Pope who permitted this horrific situation are punished and removed, the Church is nothing more that a massive scale of hypocrisy. Here are some highlights from the Portland Press Herald:

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Maine's Roman Catholic churches plan a second collection at Masses this weekend to help the referendum campaign to overturn the law recognizing gay marriages. Voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to repeal that law.

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The Portland Diocese is asking parishioners who want to contribute by checks to make them out to Stand for Marriage Maine. State law requires Stand for Marriage to report individual donations of more than $50 more because it's a political action committee; the church must report donations of more than $100.

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The Sun Journal quotes church officials as saying the Diocese of Portland intends to meet all state reporting requirements.

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The Church has promoted so much hate and discrimination over the centuries - some things never change.

Hair - And Broadway Impact

The musical Hair last night was wonderful and played to a sold out house. Having been in my mid to late teens in the late 1960's I identified with the issues raised, particularly opposition to the Vietnam War and my own days of having shoulder length hair that I often wore in a ponytail. I also recall sweating bullets over maintaining a student deferment and then where one fell on the draft lottery - I was lucky and my birth date that year landed as 269 and safety from being drafted. The cast of the show was great and there was a great deal of cast interaction out amongst the audience and at the end of the show the stage was crowded with the cast and audience members.

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One cast member, Gavin Creel (pictured above), who played the role of Claude, stood out for a other reasons besides his terrific voice and looks: he is openly gay and has helped co-found Broadway Impact, which supports marriage equality for all citizens, gay or straight. The organization describes itself as follows:

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We are a community of actors, directors, stage managers, fans, producers — pretty much anyone who has ever seen, been in or worked on a Broadway show — united by the simple belief that anyone who wants to should be able to get married. Excited by the election of President Obama and angered by the passage of Prop 8, a group of friends came together with a hope to educate and inspire our community into action towards equality.

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We hope Broadway Impact can be a place for anyone and everyone out there who loves theatre, is passionate about equality, and wants to know how to sing out and make their voice heard. It's time for us to join together and use that voice in a way to make a huge difference. Join us on this journey to equality. It's time for action. We are ready. Are you?

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One of the activities that Broadway Impact is working on currently is organizing transportation from New York City to the National Equality March on October 10-11, 2009. Tickets are $20.00 round trip and are available through September 25, 2009. I hope people will take advantage of this option to join us all in Washington, D.C.

More Friday Male Beauty

9-11 Reflections

With today being the 8th anniversary of 9-11 and us being in New York City, it is hard not to reflect back to what happened eight years ago. Flying in last night we flew along Manhattan and the fallen towers were represented by beams of light straight up into the sky. So many lives needlessly lost and so little accomplished by the Chimperator and his minions who, had they been on the ball and worried about national security rather than kissing the ass of the Christian Right, might have prevented the tragedy. Bob Felton at Civil Commotion has an assessment that I believe to be pretty much right on point:

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Eight years later Osama bin Laden remains at large and al Qaeda continues its plotting; Afghanistan and Iraq are in ruins and without a realistic prospect of civil stability; the Taliban controls Pakistan’s Swat Valley and enjoys a de facto veto of that country’s government; and the United States are bankrupt, its citizens hemmed by a steadily-growing lattice-work of security regulations, the ability to make public decisions frozen in polar acrimony. Needlessly, we have given Bin Laden a success that must vastly exceed his fevered imaginings.

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It is mind numbing that given the Chimperator's failings - perhaps some of the worst of any U.S. president - that the GOP and its lunatic base have the nerve to attack Obama and claim he is ruining the country. THEY ruined the country during their eight years of misrule that I suspect Obama ever will or could.

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My fellow LGBT Blogger Summit friend Waymon Hudson has an interesting reflection here - he was working as a flight attendant on 9-11-2001 and had left on a flight out of New York City that fateful morning.

British Government Apologizes to and Exonerates Breaker of German Enigma Code

The horrible things done to gays over the years and centuries are beyond numeration, but once in a while an apology occurs, although in this case it comes decades too late for Alan Turing who was chemically castrated for being gay and driven to suicide 55 years ago. The crimes committed in the name of religion and ignorant religious belief are disgusting and what was done to Turing is a case in point. The Guardian has a story that recognizes Turing's genius and Prime Minister Gordon Brown's unequivocal apology for the government's misdeeds. Meanwhile, the religious based hate and discrimination that motivated those responsible for what was done to Turing is still alive and well in many countries, particularly among the "godly Christian" set in America who seem to practice more hatred and intolerance than Christian love. Here are some story highlights:
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Gordon Brown issued an unequivocal apology last night on behalf of the government to Alan Turing, the second world war codebreaker who took his own life 55 years ago after being sentenced to chemical castration for being gay.

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Describing Turing's treatment as "horrifying" and "utterly unfair", Brown said the country owed the brilliant mathematician a huge debt. He was proud, he said, to offer an official apology. "We're sorry, you deserved so much better," Brown writes in a statement posted on the No 10 website.
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Turing is most famous for his work in helping create the "bombe" that cracked messages enciphered with the German Enigma machines. He was convicted of gross indecency in 1952 after admitting a sexual relationship with a man. He was given experimental chemical castration as a "treatment". His criminal record meant he was unable to continue his work for the UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) because his security privileges were withdrawn. Two years later he killed himself, aged 41.
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Paying tribute to Turing's contribution to "Britain's fight against the darkness of dictatorship", Brown described him as "a quite brilliant mathematician". "Without his outstanding contribution, the history of world war two could well have been very different," he writes. "The debt of gratitude he is owed makes it all the more horrifying, therefore, that he was treated so inhumanely. In 1952, he was convicted of gross indecency – in effect, tried for being gay.

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Brown wrote: "Thousands of people have come together to demand justice for Alan Turing and recognition of the appalling way he was treated. While Turing was dealt with under the law of the time and we can't put the clock back, his treatment was of course utterly unfair and I am pleased to have the chance to say how deeply sorry I and we all are for what happened to him. "Alan and the many thousands of other gay men who were convicted as he was convicted under homophobic laws were treated terribly. Over the years millions more lived in fear of conviction. "This recognition of Alan's status as one of Britain's most famous victims of homophobia is another step towards equality and long overdue." "But even more than that, Alan deserves recognition for his contribution to humankind

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Turing also made significant contributions to the emerging field of artificial intelligence and computing, and is often considered to be the father of modern computer science. In 1999 Time Magazine named him as one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century.

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The amount of blood on the hands of self-anointed men of God is immense. Yet today people like Pat Robertson, Bob McDonnell, GOP candidate for Virginia governor, James Dobson , and other professional Christians, and Pope Benedict XVI, LGBT individuals are still viewed as less than human and worthy of hate and mistreatment no matter their accomplishments and good deeds. Again, it makes me wonder if the world might not be a better place without religion - or at least the perverted forms that emanate from Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

Rainy Day in New York City

Well, the trip to the Guggenheim was a bust - a long, long line combined with wind and rain. We soon bagged that idea and ended up going to an amazing Titanic exhibition on 44th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues. I am a Titanic buff and this was the best exhibit I've ever seen with lots of artifacts and even recreated rooms such as the Grand Staircase shown above. It was interesting because among the items on display was one of the ship's whistles which I had seen unloaded in Norfolk when the very first artifacts were retrieved. A friend had been counsel for RMS Titanic, Inc., and invited me down to the dock when the expedition vessel came in. I highly recommend the exhibition to those in town or coming to town.

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Breakfast with the boyfriend's young client and one of her friends was pleasant and it was interesting hearing them talk as the begin careers with mega firms. I do not envy the hours they will be putting in, but given what has been happening in the legal industry, they are lucky that the have jobs as some New York firms have slashed associate attorneys and staff personnel. Tonight we are headed to Hair and hopefully the rain will abate somewhat. Vendors selling umbrellas on street corners have done a brisk business since the wind has destroyed countless umbrellas, including one of ours.

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Any bloggers in New York can drop me a line and perhaps meet us for a drink or something. We will be in town through Monday.

Friday Male Beauty

Former NGLTF Board Member Endorses National Equality March

One wonderful friend that I have come to know from my activism is Don Davis, a former board member for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force ("NGLTF"), who I first met at the 2003 Creating Change Conference in Miami. I had been invited to attend as a workshop presenter due to my work with Wayne Besen to expose prominent ex-gay for pay, Michael Johnston, as a fraud. I still remember a fun evening in the lobby of the hotel as Don entertained a group of us from Virginia with his war stories. On a local Hampton Roads blog Don recently added his endorsement to the National Equality March scheduled for October 10-11, 2009, in Washington, D.C. With his permission I am setting out some highlights from his post in which he explains why the NEM is important and why he will be attending:

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Next month’s Equality March promises to be one of the largest, most dynamic, and most controversial events in the contemporary movement for LGBT equal rights and liberation. I will be there. I haven’t come to the decision to be there lightly. While I missed the 1979 LGBT March on Washington (I was a teenager in 1979 and no where near being out), I was there in 1987, 1992, and 2000 for each of those national marches. Indeed, I served on national planning committees for the 1992 and 2000 marches.

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This march is different than any before it. Cleve Jones and David Mixner have been credited with delivering a kind of “ready, fire, aim” approach to make the march happen. Drawing from the new energy many (especially younger) members of our community brought forth in reaction to our loss of marriage equality at the ballot box in California, many will argue this march lacks the kind of organization, message, and outreach of our past national gatherings in DC. I think they are correct.

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This march has been mobilized almost exclusively on the Internet. Only in the past few weeks have our national LGBT organizations made statements generally supportive of the march. Our federation of state-wide LGBT organizations publicly opposes the march. My journey with the march has been transitional. I made hotel reservations in DC three times and canceled them twice. To go or not to go…

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The final decision was made easier for me a couple of months back when I attended the first meeting of a local group forming to make sure our community gets bus loads of people to the march at an affordable price. I sat among about 40 folks most of whom were half my age and younger. The group sort of knew what it was doing, but mostly didn’t. It wasn’t a group of us seasoned salty dawgs. Instead it was a room full of idealistic people who were simply trying to make a difference in the struggle for LGBT equal rights and liberation. How could I not support their idealism, activism, and goal?

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I will be at the Equality March on October 11, 2009. I will be there for many reasons. I’ll be there because of that wide-eyed group of inexperienced local youth activists who are determined to get buses filled with people to the march. I’ll be there because I have dedicated my life to the movement for LGBT equality and liberation and I view this march as a “rite of passage” for the next generation of LGBT leaders. I will be there because so many members of my chosen LGBT family can’t be there—for financial reasons or because they were murdered by AIDS or neglect or homophobia or because their life is too busy or their priorities are too skewed. I’ll be there because NOW is the time to advocate most strongly on behalf of legal equality for all lesbian, gay, bi, and transgender people. I’ll be there because this community is my community and we demand equality in the eyes of the law!

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The Equality March promises to be a spectacular event and I promise you, if you miss it, you’ll regret it for years to come.

New York, New York

After Tuesday's serious melt down, the boyfriend has taken me to New York City for a long weekend (it's cheaper than a stay at Riverside Behavioral Center). We flew up last night and are staying at our friend Douglas' apartment in the West Village just down the block from the Stonewall Inn. Douglas and his partner live in Bucks County and he is never in town on the weekends. The price is right - free - and the location is wonderful. Airtran has direct flights out of Newport News which are a great deal as well. An added reason for coming is that due to Hampton Bay Days in downtown Hampton, the boyfriend's salon is closed down due to the festival.

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Since the weather is less than wonderful today (rain and gusting winds), we are headed to the Guggenheim Museum after meeting the daughter of one of the boyfriend's long time clients for a late breakfast. Coincidentally, she lives about half a block from the apartment and works at a New York law firm. Tonight the boyfriend is taking me to see Hair - believe it or not, I have never been to a Broadway show, although back in my in house counsel days I did go to a show in London's theater district.

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Meanwhile, my staff will hold down the office and I am sure I will talk to them throughout the day and correspond via e-mail. As a sole practioner, one never truly escapes the office. Fortunately, my office manager is amazing and loyal beyond belief. At times I think she'd take a bullet for me and is very protective of me. She's a gem and the conspires with the boyfriend to look out for me. My youngest daughter is the newest addition to the office and replaces my young paralegal, Matt, who moved back to Kentucky (Louisville) with his partner.

Virginia's Judicial Lynching of Gays

No, this is not another post about Bob McDonnell's "lynching" of Judge Verbena Askew during the reappointment hearings back in 2003. Instead it's another look at the judicial lynching of gay spouses that happens likely nearly daily somewhere in Virginia where homophobic judges are allowed to ingnore the Canons of Judicial Conduct at will even thought Canon 3 provides in relevant part as follows:

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CANON 3. A JUDGE SHALL PERFORM THE DUTIES OF JUDICIAL OFFICE IMPARTIALLY AND DILIGENTLY.

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Judicial Duties in General. The judicial duties of a judge take precedence over all the judge's other activities. The judge's judicial duties include all the duties of the judge's office prescribed by law. In the performance of these duties, the following standards apply.

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Adjudicative Responsibilities.
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5. A judge shall perform judicial duties without bias or prejudice. A judge shall not, in the performance of judicial duties, by words or conduct manifest bias or prejudice, including but not limited to bias or prejudice based upon race, sex, religion, national origin, disability, age, sexual orientation or socioeconomic status, and shall not permit staff, court officials and others subject to the judge's direction and control to do so. This Section 3B(5) does not preclude proper judicial consideration when race, sex, religion, national origin, disability, age, sexual orientation or socioeconomic status, or similar factors, are issues in the proceeding.

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6. A judge shall require all persons appearing in proceedings before the judge to refrain from manifesting, by words or conduct, bias or prejudice based upon race, sex, religion, national origin, disability, age, sexual orientation or socioeconomic status, against parties, witnesses, counsel or others.
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E. Disqualification.
1. A judge shall disqualify himself or herself in a proceeding in which the judge's impartiality might reasonably be questioned, including but not limited to instances where: a. The judge has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party or a party's lawyer, or personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceeding;

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These dictates have certainly been ignored in my own divorce case and in those of many others gay spouses I have heard from who came out later in life after being married. Here's one individual's comment on his experience:

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There is a lot of hoopla about gay men coming out early, and good for them, I say. Yet there are many many men who married because it was the expected thing, because it was the only thing. And they face hard hard choices.

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I opted to come out. I lost nearly everything and everyone, including wife, kids, family, friends, job, court cases. Faced with similar choices, a friend and former co-worker (who worked for the same religious-based organization I had) drowned himself. The pain is real. folks. Awfully, terribly real.

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Losing everything and suicides - does any of this mean anything to many Virginia judges? Sadly, it means nothing to I suspect a majority of Virginia's judges. Indeed, in my view, judges who punish LGBT litigants for failure to adhere to the judge's personal anti-gay religious views are the norm as opposed to the exception. Something needs to be done and judges who cannot put their anti-gay religious bias aside need to simply be removed from the bench. It's really that simple. And someone needs to see that the Canons of Judicial Conduct are actually enforced for a change.

Thursday Male Beauty

The Choice Myth: A Century of Ex-Gay Treatments Have Ranged from Horrifying to Horribly Unscientific

Despite the latest report by the American Psychological Association Condemning ex-gay and reparative therapy, various quacks and Christianist "ministries" continue to claim that they can turn gays straight. The claims are simply put and actually motivated by two things: (1) the money to be made off of individuals, or more typically, their families who due to religious brainwashing cannot except being gay and (2) the political need to continue to claim that since gays can change if they but want to, no legal protections should be granted. Discover Magazine has an article that looks at the bogus "cure" programs and some of the horrific things done to gays to make them "change." If you believe these therapies work, you might just as well go hire yourself and African witch doctor or voodoo practitioner. Here are some highlights:

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All the major psychiatric organizations, including the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association, have warned against therapies that try to change sexual orientation. Both APAs have ruled that these therapies are unscientific and possibly harmful—not to mention unnecessary, since homosexuality was officially de-classified as an illness in 1973, and therefore can't be "cured." As such, sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE) are rarely practiced by mainstream mental health practitioners, while many therapists are concerned that anyone who does try to change through therapy may do themselves more harm than good.
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Still, practices like Nicolosi's [and NARTH] have persisted, as has the debate over whether sexual orientation can—or should—be changed. So on August 5, the APA's Council of Representatives took the strongest stand yet, passing a near-unanimous resolution urging mental health professionals not to tell clients that they can change their sexual orientation through therapy or any other methods.
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Homosexuality was officially labeled a mental illness in the U.S. in the 1950s. The debate over same-sex attraction was not new: Sigmund Freud reported on one deliberate attempt to change the sexual orientation of a young woman who'd been brought in for involuntary treatment by her parents. He was unsuccessful, and concluded that attempts to change homosexual orientation were likely to fail.

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Experimental treatments were performed throughout the mid-century, sometimes in high profile cases. In 1952, renowned mathematician Alan Turing was convicted of gross indecency in the U.K. after admitting to a sexual relationship with a man . . . Two years later, he committed suicide.

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One of the most popular aversion techniques was "orgasmic reconditioning"—men would be shown erotic pictures of other men, and if they became aroused, th ey would receive an electric shock on their genitals. Therapists also gave patients drugs that induced vomiting or paralysis, or exposed them to noxious chemicals like ammonia, whenever they were aroused by same-sex photos.

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These "therapies" were generally ineffective—the person remained attracted to the same sex—or over-effective—the person was traumatized and lost all sexual arousal entirely. They "were used without people thinking about whether they were humane."

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Befitting the times, the mainstream mental health community no longer advocates change treatments, but instead supports approaches that help patients cope with the stress and stigma of being a sexual minority. Still, SOCE is still being practiced within a small group of mental-health practitioners, most of whom cater to a population whose religious beliefs strictly bar homosexuality.

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Then there's the larger question of whether science should study treatments for a condition that is not, in mental health terms, a problem. "All the major mental health organizations have concluded that homosexuality is not an illness, and there's no reason to try to change it or treat it," Miller says. "So whether it's appropriate, or ethical, to do such an experiment is a serious consideration."

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I hope the day comes when these bogus "cure"programs are a thing of the past. Unfortunately, those driven by a lust for money and the cynical use of gay lives for political power are unlikely to care about whether or not what they do is ethical. The APA and state licensing authorities need to go on the offensive and close down these horrible practices once and for all.

More on Bob McDonnell's 2003 Anti-Gay Crusade

I have written several times about Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell's rampant homophobia - the same homophobia he now is trying to dismiss as "misquotes" by local news media even though McDonnell (pictured above with his puppeteer, Pat Robertson) voiced no complaints at the time - and now Blue Virginia has a great review that contrasts McDonnell's past words and actions with the current fairy tale he is seeking to spin to the public. I truly hope that the MSM continues to talk about what was done to former Circuit Court Judge Verbena Askew. Besides the homophobia that was involved, I suspect Askew being black was a second major strike against her. Racism and homophobia - not a pretty picture and not what we need in a governor. Here are some column highlights (I recommend that people read the whole piece):
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The quotes by Bob McDonnell in this article make several things clear. First, Bob McDonnell will say anything to get elected. Second, Bob McDonnell has been a long-time, right-wing extremist and anti-gay bigot (but we knew that already). Third, Bob McDonnell is completely disingenous, aka "a liar." Fourth, Bob McDonnell is as slippery a politician as you'll ever find, claiming that something only matters if he says it matters; otherwise, if it's potentially harmful to him, it's irrelevant and you're a bad person for even mentioning it. Let me elaborate.

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On point #1, Bob McDonnell "became known for telling the Daily Press of Newport News [in 2003 while persecuting a judge he suspected of being a lesbian] that certain homosexual activities could disqualify a person from the bench," saying among other things that "[t]here is certain homosexual conduct that is in violation of the law." Other Republicans concur that McDonnell was on an anti-gay crusade, with Sen. Kenneth Stolle (R-Virginia Beach) cautioning McDonnell at the time that "nothing good is going to come from this." Instead of listening to the advice of Stolle and other Republican colleagues, McDonnell charged ahead, . . .

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Today, in contrast, McDonnell minimizes and denies the entire incident, saying "through a spokesman last week that the quotes are not accurate" and "repeat[ing] that assertion Friday." Whatever you think of the merits of the case, the point here is that McDonnell is denying what he said and did in 2003

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Finally, note how McDonnell completely ignores the fact that Virginia's budget problems are 99% the result of two factors: 1) the national recession, arguably the worst since the Great Depression, thanks largely to the Bush economic policies he so admires; and 2) the failure, year after year, of the Republican-controlled House of Delegates to allocate sufficient revenues to support education, transportation, and Virginia's other pressing needs. Again, this is completely disingenuous, bordering on outright "liar" status. The only question is, are we going to let Bob McDonnell get away with this?

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Finally, we have Bob McDonnell's slippery, slimy, arrogant, insufferable assertion that something is only an "issue" if he says it is. . . . The fact that millions of Virginians do care about equal rights for all Virginians doesn't matter, because Bob McDonnell says it doesn't matter. It's not "relevant" that Bob McDonnell is a vicious anti-gay bigot. It's not "relevant" that he believes women in the work force are "detrimental" to the family. It's not "relevant" that he believes in Bush economics as the greatest thing since sliced bread. It's not "relevant" that he is Pat Robertson's Manchurian Candidate. It's not relevant that he's been lying this entire campaign, pretending to be a "moderate" when he is anything but that.

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The media truly needs to keep hammering McDonnell for answers and stop allowing itself to be led by the nose and mere regurgitating McDonnell's untruths and attempts to change the subject. Virginians do not need a homophobe - and likely a racist too - in the governor's mansion.

More Wednesday Male Beauty

GOP "Family Values" Assembly Member Caught on Live Microphone Talking About Extra-marital Affairs

In another case of "you couldn't make this stuff up if you tried" category is this video from KCAL TV9, this video of Assemblyman Mike Duvall - a "family values" Republican unknowingly speaking about sex with two women into a live mic. He apparently did not realize the microphone was on during a legislative hearing. He talks about adulterous sex and spanking! Reportedly he has resigned from office. Here are some highlights from the San Francisco Chronicle:

An Orange County Republican resigned from the California Assembly Wednesday after a videotape surfaced of the lawmaker bragging about his sexual exploits with two women, one of whom reportedly is a lobbyist.

Assemblyman Mike Duvall, R-Yorba Linda, resigned soon after Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Baldwin Hills (Los Angele County) stripped him of his committee assignments and ordered an Ethics Committee investigation of the two-term lawmaker. Duvall was recorded making lurid comments during an appropriations committee hearing in July when he apparently thought his microphone was turned off. The meetings are regularly recorded and archived by the Assembly.

In the recording, Duvall bragged about having several sexual encounters with the women. At one point he makes explicit comments about their sexual activity, adding: "So, I am getting into spanking her. Yeah, I like it. I like spanking her. She goes, 'I know you like spanking me.' I said, 'Yeah, because you're such a bad girl!'"

Yep, those family values Republicans like spanking women and lying to their constituents. Why is it 9 times out of 10 the cheaters who are into kinky sex are members of the GOP and not Democrats.

McDonnell's 2003 Anti-Gay Comments Resurface

I commend the Washington Post for refocusing attention on Bob McDonnell's legislative record and his actions while a member of the Virginia General Assembly. His statements and actions are totally the opposite of those of the centrist moderate that McDonnell is now pretending to be - because he knows his real record would send moderates and independents fleeing to the Deeds camp. As the saying goes, actions speak louder than words and McDonnell's past actions literally shout out that he is an extremist who puts far right Christianist dogma ahead of the Virginia and United States Constitutions. The "lynching" of Circuit Court Judge Verbena Askew by McDonnell and his partner in crime, state Senator Ken "Police Brutality" Stolle, is most illustrative of the real Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell. The true irony of McDonnell's explanation for his homophobia based attacks on Judge Askew ring particularly hollow, however, when one knows that Senator Stolle was likewise involved in a lawsuit settlement back when he was a Virginia Beach police officer accused of police brutality. Sometimes cities will settle suits simply settle claims to avoid costly litigation. Applying McDonnell's standaed, Stolle was then automatically guilty of the alleged police brutality. Here are highlights from the Washington Post:

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In January 2003, then-Del. Robert F. McDonnell helped gavel in one of the most extraordinary judicial reappointment hearings in Virginia history: a seven-hour, trial-like affair that led to questions about whether the future Republican gubernatorial candidate thought gays were fit to serve on the bench.

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As chairman of the House Courts of Justice Committee, McDonnell sat at the head of the proceedings, with his Senate counterpart next to him and committee members on both sides. Facing them was Verbena M. Askew of Newport News, the state's first black female Circuit Court judge, whose reappointment was in jeopardy because of allegations that she had sexually harassed a female colleague.

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Amid accusations of racism and homophobia, state lawmakers grilled Askew and several witnesses for hours, focusing in large part on her failure to disclose the harassment case. Some members also raised questions about her actions from the bench. A majority, including McDonnell, voted against her reappointment.

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In comments before the hearing, McDonnell indicated that Askew's sexual conduct was relevant, telling one newspaper that "certain homosexual conduct" could disqualify a person from being a judge because it violates the state's crimes against nature law. The words were widely published at the time, and his remarks contributed to a lasting view that sexual orientation was at least one reason for Askew's ouster. McDonnell said in an interview last week that the episode has nothing to do with his campaign for governor.
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McDonnell was credited by Republicans and Democrats in the Virginia General Assembly at the time for making sure witnesses supporting Askew were present at the hearing. He also became known for telling the Daily Press of Newport News that certain homosexual activities could disqualify a person from the bench. "It certainly raises some questions about the qualifications to serve as a judge," he said.

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At the time, McDonnell did not deny the comments, which were reprinted by several other papers, but he told the Virginian-Pilot that they were "inartful." . . . Terry Scanlon, the Daily Press reporter who interviewed McDonnell, and Ernie Gates, the newspaper's editor, both said last week that McDonnell never complained about the quotation's accuracy.

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"Bob was the only one that I remember who at the time described his position on the case in relation to her sexual orientation," said Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D), who was then the state's lieutenant governor and president of the Senate.

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The sad reality is that Taliban Bob meant everything he said back in 2003. Now, however, those statements detract from his false claims that he is a moderate and some six years latwe he is belatedly trying to disavow them. Bob, I hate to say it, but simply put, you are a liar. You know it and I know it.

Wednesday Male Beauty

Photo Publisher Errors

Blogger apparently is having problems with its upload feature for photos. As soon as the problem is remedied, I will resume posting Male Beauty and other photos.

God and Being Gay and Self-Delusion

Joel McDonald at Virginia Beach Progressives - somewhat of an oxymoron given Virginia Beach's status as typically a Republican stronghold - has a post with which I very much identify. It describes his journey coming out and the lengths that he went to trying to convince himself that he wasn't gay. A road I took myself with disastrous consequences in many ways. I sincerely hope that this sad story will become less common as time goes on and as at least some religious denominations embrace modern knowledge and cast aside the homophobia and condemnation of LGBT people that has persisted for so many centuries. Speaking last evening to a retired Lutheran seminary professor he expressed the hope that the ELCA's recent vote to fully accept gay members, including as rostered clergy will be a force for change in other denominations as well. So much pain and hurt and ruined lives flows from a few Bible passages that are used viciously to denigrate gay lives. Here are a few highlights:

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The first time I realized that I might be gay was during my freshman year of high school, in 2000. Because of my faith, I did not allow myself to even consider accepting the possibility that I wasn’t straight. It wasn’t acceptable. It seemed to me at that time that God did not accept homosexuals. I was able to take a conservative path that allowed for safe dating and relationships. After all, sex didn’t matter much when sex was forbidden; right? I’ll admit that I, probably like most who attempt this sort of path, did push the limits a bit; however, it never felt totally natural. It was always forced. I thought it was because my faith was holding me back, like God was pulling me away from going too far. Now I know that wasn’t the case. The problem was that I just wasn’t interested in girls.

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I did alright for the first half of my two year mission. I really did go out focused on the task at hand: teaching and helping to convert people to what the Mormon Church calls the “Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ”. I tried to be a good missionary. I tried to help people. Among other missionaries, I tried to fit in. Fitting in was somewhat a problem.

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You see, even though Mormon missionaries are supposed to follow strict rules that included prescribed hours of study, eating, working, number of lessons they teach, and how they are to associate with missionaries, members of the church, and non-members; they are still mostly young men who are interested in all the things that all young men between the ages of 19 and 22 are interested in. This included girls and sex.

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Things started unraveling for me when I approached the halfway mark of my two year mission. My inner conflicts boiled to the surface and started causing issues with how I approached my work as a missionary and how I treated others. A breaking point occurred one afternoon where a flareup between myself and another missionary led me to request that I be sent home dishonorably. As that time, I told my Mission President that I would not be able to live up to the expectations of missionary life and the expectations the Mormon church had for me after I finished my missionary serviced. I stopped short of telling myself, and telling him that the reason I would not be able to live up to these expectations was that I was gay. I still wasn’t ready to accept it fully.

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Late one night, I knelt down next to the couch in the apartment, and prayed as hard as I had ever prayed. I asked God to change me, to accept the sacrifices I was able to give, and to make me who He wanted me to be. I listened intensely for any inkling of a spiritual whispering or change, and it was during that time that something became clear to me: I was gay. Not only that, but I felt that God did not condemn me for being gay. I felt that I was who God wanted me to be. It was as if a great weight was lifted off of my shoulders when I accepted these things.

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I believe that whether you are gay, straight, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgendered, or however you identify, God loves you. You are who you were created to be, and God accepts you as you are. I almost gave up on God, until I realized that God didn’t condemn me for who I am. Our culture gets so bogged down with the doctrine and dogma of organized religion, where the ideas of the “moral” majority are allowed to define what is acceptable and what is not. Personally, I don’t believe they speak for God, and I refuse to believe that God would make outcasts of people who just happen to be attracted to and love people of the same sex.

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Would that more religious leaders, judges, politicians and others who market anti-gay hatred could get this simple message.

More Tuesday Male Beauty

Campaign Adviser Losing Patience with Obama

As always, blogging offers me a wonderful escape from the reality of my life and provides a form of therapy that is most helpful. It also keeps me up to date on news and politics and - in the case of today - demonstrates that I'm not the only one about over Barack Obama's weak kneed spinelessness. Politico has a story on the growing frustration of Steve Hildebrand, the deputy campaign manager who oversaw the Obama campaign's field organization, over Obama's unwillingness to stand up and fight for what voters put him in office to do. As I have noted before, Obama and the Congressional Democrats began Obama's term from a commanding position of strength and a mandate to effect real change, yet instead they have allowed themselves to rolled by the liars and nutcase in what should be the increasing irrelevant GOP. Here are some highlights from Politico:

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One of President Barack Obama’s former top campaign advisers is “losing patience” with the White House, he told POLITICO Tuesday morning, as frustrations among the president’s liberal allies crest over issues from health care legislation to gay rights. “I am one of the millions of frustrated Americans who want to see Washington do more than it's doing right now,” said Steve Hildebrand, the deputy campaign manager who oversaw the Obama campaign’s field organization and was an architect of his early, crucial victories over Sen. Hillary Clinton in Iowa and South Carolina.

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Obama, he said, “needs to be more bold in his leadership.” “I’m not going to just sit by the curb and let these folks get away with a lack of performance for the American people,” he said, speaking of Washington’s Democratic leadership as a whole. “I want change just as much as a majority of Americans do, and I’m one of the many Americans who are losing patience.”

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Still, he remains close to some top Obama aides, and his blast from the left is a mark of the depth of dissent even within elements of the organization that elected the first black president. His public comments are “nothing I haven't directly said to folks in the White House,” Hildebrand told POLITICO in an interview from his native South Dakota. . .

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“The problem is, Obama isn’t listening enough,” Hildebrand said, according to the report. “I love him, I love Michelle, I want him to succeed, but all of us need to put pressure on him and Congress to do the right things. The American people put confidence in the Democrats because they thought we could get things done, and if we fail, they’re not going to give it back.” “I gave up a lot to elect Democrats, and I expect them to give it up for me. I’m going to speak loudly. The Republicans don’t have power unless the moderates and the Blue Dogs give it to them — which is what they’re doing now,” he said in the speech.

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“There's basically three different parties, and one of those parties tends to be the barrier to getting anything done — and that's the Blue Dogs in the House and the moderates in the Senate,” he said in the interview. “Change is not going to come by people in the Beltway deciding we should have change. It’s going to come because they’re feeling pressure from all over the country.” “I know where Barack Obama is on these issues and I don't question his sincerity or his honesty towards trying to solve them,” he said. “I do question whether or not the Congress as it is constituted right now is going to have the capacity to ever deliver on some of the most critical issues facing our country right now.”

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He said in the San Diego speech that gay rights was among the issues that had spurred his disappointment, mourning that after his 22 years of working for Democratic candidates, “we haven’t come very far,” according to the report. “The government still doesn’t treat Gay people equally. Should I continue doing what I’m doing, or should I be a strong voice from the outside?” he said.

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I fear that unless Obama gets on track and assumes a forceful leadership roll, he may well be looking at a primary challenge in 2012. And to be honest, I think I'll probably back the challenger based on the pathetic performance Obama has delivered to date.

Another Emotional Melt Down

Today has not been a good day on the divorce war front. My family on my mother's side - out of great concern that I might truly harm myself after the melt down on August 21st after the last court hearing, something that I admit is a real possibility - offered to pay a discounted lump sum to get the ex-wife out of my life forever. In typical form, she rejected it, convincing me more than ever that her number one goal is to ruin my life as much as possible having already left me with basically nothing financially after working for 32 years. Not that she wasn't added by a homophobic judge or two who in my view see gays as subhuman and worthy of punishment. I am not sure where it all will end, but one does discover in situations like this who your true friends are and which immediate family members love you and which ones do not. Some show their true colors as having always seen you as a living ATM machine.

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Through the nighmare of the last nine months of this never ending trial the boyfriend has been wonderful as always, although for the life of me I do not understand what he sees in me. He is one of the sweetest people I have ever known. My youngest daughter has likewise been wonderful. The two of them are treasures and I hope they know how much I love them.

Tuesday Male Beauty

The Economy's Hidden Unemployed

The New York Times has a timely article that looks at a phenomenon that I suspect is all too prevalent and which causes unemployment figures to understate the extent of the number of workers who are unemployed through no desire of their own. For older workers and laid off professionals the job search becomes most depressing as they are told they are over qualified and many other code words for the fact that in their late 40's or in their 50's they are considered too old. I have had the experience myself with the added down side that I am gay and not closeted professionally. The consequence is that no local larger firm will have an openly gay partner and firms out side the area seek generally attorneys with 3-5 years experience or attorneys with huge amounts of portable business - something not realistic for attorneys in this area where there are few large regional or national clients. Discouragement becomes depression and finally one stops looking. In my case, I opted to stick it out in my own firm and market to niche markets ignored by most of the competition to tide things over until the economy recovers. But I digress. Here are highlights from the New York Times:

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They were left out of the latest unemployment rate, as they are every month: millions of hidden casualties of the Great Recession who are not counted in the rate because they have stopped looking for work. But that does not mean these discouraged Americans do not want to be employed. As interviews with several of them demonstrate, many desperately long for a job, but their inability to find one has made them perhaps the ultimate embodiment of pessimism as this recession wears on.

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The official jobless rate, which garners the bulk of attention from politicians and the public, was reported on Friday to have risen to 9.7 percent in August. But to be included in that measure, which is calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics from a monthly nationwide survey, a worker must have actively looked for a job at some point in the preceding four weeks. For an increasing number of people in this country who would prefer to be working, that is not the case.

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In the most direct measure of job market hopelessness, the bureau has a narrow definition of a group it classifies as “discouraged workers.” These are people who have looked for work at some point in the past year but have not looked in the last four weeks because they believe that no jobs are available or that they would not qualify, among other reasons. In August, there were roughly 758,000 discouraged workers nationally. . .

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If the unemployment rate were expanded to include all marginally attached workers, it would have been 11 percent in August. But even this figure is probably an undercount of the extent of the jobless problem in this country. There are about 1.4 million more people who are not in the labor force than when the recession began.

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“There are thousands of people applying for every job I’m looking at, and potential employers won’t even give me the courtesy of acknowledging I applied,” he said. “The entirety of that causes me not to bother. It’s a waste of my time and theirs.”

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Needless to say, many of these unemployed have also joined the ranks of those lacking health insurance and therefore have been hit with a double whammy. I suspect many voted for Obama hoping for change - something he has failed to deliver to date.