More Saturday Male Beauty

Evidence Shows Census Worker Murdered

We still do not know many details on who killed part time U.S. census worker, Bill Sparkman, who was found hanged in a rural Kentucky cemetery. One thing seems clear, however - this was MURDER and not a case of suicide as some had tried to put out initially. Moreover, the fact that Sparkman was a federal worker does seem to have played a part in his murder. The next question becomes whether or not Sparkman was a victim of the anti-government hysteria being fanned by Glenn Beck and other demagogues who are stirring up the birther and teabagger nutcases. If he was a victim of this type of hate, who will be next? Gays? Jews? Those perceived to be Hispanic immigrants? Something truly needs to be done to shut down the growing hatred being spewed by the far right. Here are highlights from the New York Times that certainly suggest that this was no ordinary murder:

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BIG CREEK, Ky. (AP) -- A part-time census worker found hanging in a rural Kentucky cemetery was naked, gagged and had his hands and feet bound with duct tape, said an Ohio man who discovered the body two weeks ago. The word ''fed'' was written in felt-tip pen on 51-year-old Bill Sparkman's chest, but authorities have released very few other details in the case, such as whether they think it was an accident, suicide or homicide.

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Jerry Weaver of Fairfield, Ohio, told The Associated Press on Friday that he was certain from the gruesome scene that someone killed Sparkman. ''He was murdered,'' Weaver said. ''There's no doubt.'' Weaver said he was in the rural Kentucky county for a family reunion and was visiting some family graves at the cemetery on Sept. 12 along with his wife and daughter when they saw the body. ''The only thing he had on was a pair of socks,'' Weaver said. ''And they had duct-taped his hands, his wrists. He had duct tape over his eyes, and they gagged him with a red rag or something.''

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''And they even had duct tape around his neck,'' Weaver said. ''And they had like his identification tag on his neck. They had it duct-taped to the side of his neck, on the right side, almost on his right shoulder.'' Authorities have refused to say if Sparkman was at work going to door-to-door for census surveys before he died. Both of the people briefed on the investigation confirmed Sparkman's Census Bureau ID was found taped to his head and shoulder area.

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The Census Bureau has suspended door-to-door interviews in the rural county pending the investigation. State Trooper Don Trosper said it was clear this wasn't a natural death but said all other possibilities were being considered.

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This is a truly horrible thing. Those responsible need to be caught and it will be interesting what motivated them. Obviously, Sparkman's job as a census workers does seem to have involvement.

There Are a Few Semi-Sane Republicans Left

I do not always agree with Joe Scarborough on everything, but I respect him for not always mindlessly following the growing idiocy within both the GOP leadership and the increasingly frightening base of the party. One can be conservative without being a hate merchant and being totally detached from objective reality. Thus it is that Scarborough has begun calling out the rampant insanity in the GOP since he seems to realize that the growing lunacy and talk of violence by the birthers and teabaggers is sending moderates and independents running from the GOP. In an apparent effort to encourage responsible leadership to re-emerge in the GOP, Scarborough is starting a 'conservative honor roll' to reward GOP politicans who condemn the politics of hate. I wish Scarborough luck - I think at this point he's fighting an uphill battle. Here are some highlights from RawStory:

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MSNBC morning show host Joe Scarborough went on the attack against right-wing "hatred" Tuesday and declared he would be putting together a "conservative honor roll" to reward GOP politicians who denounce the rhetoric of commentators like Fox News' Glenn Beck.

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"You cannot say that the President of the United States ... hates all white people," Scarborough proclaimed. "You cannot call the President of the United States a racist. You cannot wallow in conspiracy theories -- as [Beck] did for about a month -- suggesting that FEMA might be setting up concentration camps and going on Fox & Friends and saying. 'I can't disprove it.' ... You can't stir up that type of hatred ... and then say, 'Oh, I'm just a rodeo clown.'"

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Scarborough pointed out that Peter Wehner -- a writer for the conservative magazine Commentary who ran the White House's Office of Strategic Intiatives for some time during the Bush administration -- has declared that Beck's inflammatory rhetoric is hurting the conservative cause.

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His interest in conspiracy theories is disquieting, as is his admiration for Ron Paul and his charges of American 'imperialism.'" Wehner concludes: "[T]he role Glenn Beck is playing is harmful in its totality. My hunch is that he is a comet blazing across the media sky right now — and will soon flame out." Added Scarborough: "You cannot stir up things that could have very deadly consequences. I was in congress in 1995, I know where this can end."

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"We're going to have a conservatives' honor roll on this show," Scarborough continued, referring to his show, Morning Joe. "And trust me, you want to be on this honor roll. I'm talking to you Mitt Romney, and I'm talking to anybody who wants to be president in 2012 -- you need to call out this type of hatred. Because it always blows up in your face. "Conservatives who don't call him out are responsible," Scarborough said. "I don't care if right-wing nuts get upset with me, that's just the reality."

Saturday Male Beauty

Washington Post Trashes Taliban Bob's Transportation "Plan"

Thank goodness someone in the MSM is going after Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell's smoke and mirrors fraud of a "plan" to fix Virginia's seriously broken and crumbling transportation system. McDonnell's house of cards "plan" is more of the no new taxes mantra that the Kool-Aid drinkers now in control of the GOP love. That it is precisely this kind of bullshit that has put the state in its current mess is lost on the GOP base that increasingly lives in some bizarre alternate reality. Northern Virginia needs hundreds of millions of road and transportation expenditures as does the greater Hampton Roads area - while will be an evacuation disaster if a major hurricane ever hits - yet Kool-Aid Bob thinks this money can come from cost reductions in already cannibalized programs and from selling the state's ABC stores which to date have had a 100% monopoly on hard liquor sales. Here are highlights from a new Washington Post story:

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ROBERT F. McDONNELL, the Republican nominee for governor of Virginia, takes every opportunity to tout his 20-page, single-spaced transportation plan. But a close reading of the plan yields only disappointment.

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Much of the plan relies on wildly optimistic assumptions, brazen exaggerations, gauzy projections and far-off scenarios: budget surpluses and revenue growth that may not materialize; interstate tolls that the federal government may not approve; royalties from offshore oil and gas wells that may not be drilled; borrowing that the state may not be able to afford anytime soon. Lump all that in a file called "Don't Hold Your Breath." Insert some of his other proposals -- such as diverting some sales tax revenue from schools, public safety and human services statewide to pay for Northern Virginia road improvements -- into a file called "Politically Dead on Arrival." Quite simply, much of what Mr. McDonnell has in mind would almost certainly not come to pass during his four-year term as governor, if ever.

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[T]here is one idea in the McDonnell transportation program -- by far the biggest one in dollar terms -- that has attracted more favorable notices: his contention that Virginia could raise the alluring sum of $500 million simply by privatizing the state's hard-liquor sales. The problem is, Mr. McDonnell's revenue estimates are invented or, worse, an intentional distortion.

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[T]the idea that privatization would generate significant money for transportation is a pipe dream. And the notion that liquor sales could provide a steady source of revenue for new road projects is even less plausible.

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Bearing in mind that all but a few of those [ABC] outlets are leased, not owned, and that many are in rural areas where customers are sparse, it is wildly unrealistic to think the state could squeeze out $500 million by peddling 334 licenses or franchises to sell booze. The last states to sell off their liquor monopolies -- Iowa, West Virginia and Ohio -- didn't get anything close to that.

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Mr. McDonnell's proposal to address the state's most critical long-term problem, transportation, appears to have heft; in fact, it crumbles under close scrutiny. Far from fixing the state's roads, Mr. McDonnell would leave them in the lurch -- and Virginia commuters along with them.

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Bob and his fellow Kool-Aid drinkers just cannot accept the reality that the huge road and rail expansions that are needed can only be funded through new revenue sources - that are generally referred to as new taxes. Bob, get your hear out of Pat Robertson's butt and wake up to the real world.

Children of Gays - When Your Children Reject You

One of the most painful things that I believe gays and lesbians who come out in mid-life face is the potential for rejection by their children - not always because they have come out as gay, but rather due to the particularly nasty divorces its seems most gay spouses find themselves subjected to. Particularly in states like Virginia where the vast majority of judges are homophobes only to happy to believe whatever trash the straight spouse alleges, regardless of whether it is true or not. Of the formerly married gays that I know, only one has had a judge for whom sexual was not an issue - even if unspoken. The other factor that gay spouses also have to contend with is that perhaps they were not as good of parent as they might have been due to never truly opening up to anyone and/or their sometimes bad psychological state living for years burdened by self-loathing and varying stages of religious based guilt (religion yet again the root of so much evil and unhappiness).

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In my case, I have been blessed by the fact that my youngest daughter - unlike her older siblings who seem only too ready to hang on to ever old hurt and/or only believe their mother's side of everything - has remained true to me throughout. I do not think I'd have made it this long without her love and support. I admit that I'm hurting today. It's my son's 24th birthday. I've sent him a card and left a phone message with birthday greetings, but I'm not overly hopeful that I will hear back. All I can do is hope that someday he and his older sister will realize that there's more than one side to every divorce and that those who like to play the victim are not always in fact a victim. Sometimes they are actually the victimizer.

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Perhaps the best trip of my life was back in the summer of 2004 when my son and I flew into Seattle and then rented a car and did a tour of southern British Columbia. The photo above is of my son near the summit of Whistler Mountain where the 210 winter Olympic Games will be held. No one can take those wonderful memories from me.

Roanoke Church Considers Leaving ELCA

Some have said that I have been less than charitable to those within the Evangelical Lutheran Church ("ELCA") who are upset with the denomination's vote last month to allow partnered gay clergy and to also recognize committed same sex relationships, although reserving the term "marriage" for heterosexuals. I plead guilty as charged because I believe that leaving the ELCA is rank hypocrisy unless congregations apply the same literal reading of the Bible to EVERYTHING. You do not get to pick and choose. If a literally reading is applied to gays, then biblical pronouncements on divorce, the holiness code in Leviticus - it ALL gets a literal read and application.

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In the case of St. John Lutheran Church in Roanoke, I have to wonder how many parishioners would be left - if any - were a literal across the board application of the Bible to be applied as the church's pastors seek to do to gays. I suspect probably none. Thus, I call senior pastor Mark Graham (pictured above) - and his former Baptist associate pastor, Elijah Mwitanti, homophobic hypocrites until they expel all divorced couples from the parish, as well as all those who eat shellfish, wear polyblend clothing, etc. We all know that such will never happen. Instead it will be only the gays and those within the ELCA who accept modern knowledge and recognize the denomination's past hypocrisy that will be bad mouthed by these Pharisee like pastors. I truly believe that if suddenly these false Christians had to abide by the same literal application of the Bible they seek to impose on gays, they would quickly be singing a very, very different tune. Here are some story highlights (Note Graham's meal mouthed language that he's not against gays - except of course when it comes to treating them like full members of the church):

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Mark Graham is the Senior Pastor at St. John Lutheran Church in Roanoke County and says his church is in crisis mode. “We believe that the recent decisions by the ELCA’s leadership contradicts the word of God,” said Graham. The ELCA stands for Evangelical Lutheran Church of America and is the specific denomination for St. John.

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“We’re not against homosexual people, but we are for the truth and love of the word of God,” said Graham. St. John Associate Pastor Elijah Mwitanti says the new amendments go against scripture. “What the bible teaches about marriage is that marriage is between one man and one woman with no other relationships of the sexual nature,” said Mwitanti.

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The two pastors along with other church leaders want St. John to leave the ELCA denomination and join the Lutheran Congregation in Mission for Christ ... or LCMC denomination. This Sunday they will hold a church-wide vote for St. John’s future. Pastor Graham said he’s been praying about this issue a lot because he says it could cause some people to leave the church. “It has caused a real crisis in our congregation, a lot of pain, sadness, and concern,” said Graham.

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He said a lot of church members have expressed support of leaving the denomination, but he’ll have to wait to find out how many. “Whatever happens after Sunday, we will be a different congregation,” said Graham. They hope their congregation will stand behind them on Sunday.

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Funny how King Solomon's many wives - and the multiple wives of others in the Old Testament - are conveniently ignored. Wouldn't it be nice if the good parishioners at St. John worried about their own lives and failings instead of sanctimoniously condemning gays and the national Church? But then, that's not the way of most bigots.

A Father Remembered - Three Years Later

Today is the third anniversary of my father's death (pictured above with my mom on their wedding day entering my grandparents' home where they held their reception). It was mid-morning three years ago when I received the call at my office that I needed to get to Charlottesville as quickly as possible because he was going fast. By the time arrived, he had already died - at home and in his own bed, which had been his wish after a lingering and painful battle with multiple myloma, a form a blood cancer. I missed a last goodbye by about an hour. As I have written before, he was not the easiest of fathers by any means even though in his way he did care so much about his children. My sister's death five years earlier had devastated both he and my mother beyond description. Complicating our relationship immensely, of course, was my at the time growing up, unacknowledged - even to myself -fact that I was gay. With my dad, like everyone else in my life, no one was ever allowed past the secret glass wall I maintained around myself.

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Sadly, he never got to meet the boyfriend, who I believe he would have loved. He did fully accept my former partner and the two of them used to chat on the phone from time to time. Even though my dad had his share of demons, growing up as an orphan as he had, when it came time, he deliverd what I needed most. My advice to parents: there is no greater gift that you can give to your gay son or daughter than to accept them for who they are and embrace the partner in their life as your child as well. My dad had stated once that he viewed it as having gained another son - which is as it should be. My dad taught me many things - some good and some not so good - but on the most important issue, he got it right.

Friday Male Beauty

America's Fastest Growing Religious Segment: Those with No Religion

A new Trinity College report looks at what ought to be freightening to all religious denominations (perhaps the Catholic Church the most): the fact that the fastest growing segment of the American population in terms of religion is those people who profess no religion. In some ways, the results should not be surprising: the conservative Christian denominations can now be better defined by who they hate - i.e., generally everyone who isn't just like them - and the more liberal denominations are allowing the hate merchants of the far right to monopolize religious discussion at the national level. The result is that religion - particularly Christianity - does not have a very attractive image. Then of course there is the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal that shows the rot and corruption within that Church's hierarchy. That's not to say, however, that these "Nones" as the report calls them are all atheists or agnostics. Many are very spiritual and may hold Christ's gospel message as worthwhile. They just want no affiliation with institutional churches that do not practice what they preach if you will. The full report can be found here. The following are a few highlights:

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One of the most widely noted findings from the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS 2008), which was released in March 2009, was the substantial increase in the No Religion segment of the U.S. population, whom we designate as “Nones.” The Nones increased from 8.1% of the U.S. adult population in 1990 to 15% in 2008 and from 14 to 34 million adults. Their numbers far exceed the combined total of all the non-Christian religious groups in the U.S.

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“None” is not a movement, but a label for a diverse group of people who do not identify with any of the myriad of religious options in the American religious marketplace – the irreligious, the unreligious, the anti-religious, and the anti-clerical. Some believe in God; some do not. Some may participate occasionally in religious rituals; others never will. Nones are easily misunderstood. On the one hand, only a small minority are atheists. On the other hand, it is also not correct to describe them as “unchurched” or “unaffiliated” on the assumption that they are mainly theists and religious searchers who are temporarily between congregations. Yet another incorrect assumption is that large proportions of Nones are anti-rationalist proponents of New Age and supernatural ideas. As we will show, they are more likely to be rational skeptics.

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There are some characteristics that distinguish the Nones from the general U.S. population, but two stand out, gender and age. Nones are disproportionately male, 60%, while women actually make up a slight majority of the general U.S. population, 51% (see Figure 1.1). Additionally, Nones are significantly younger than the general population: 30% are under age 30 and only 5% are 70 years or older. . . The median age of adult Nones is 41 years, compared to 46 years in the general U.S. population. These two demographic differences help explain some of the other ways in which Nones differ from the general U.S. population.

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Regarding belief in the divine, most Nones are neither atheists nor theists but rather agnostics and deists (59%) and perhaps best described as skeptics.

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Politically, 21% of the nation's independents are Nones, as are 16% of Democrats and 8% of Republicans. In 1990, 12% of independents were Nones, as were 6% of Democrats and 6% of Republicans.

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24% of current Nones (and 35% of 1st generation or "new" Nones) are former Catholics. The ethnic/racial profile of Nones shows Asians, Irish and Jews are the most secularized ethnic origin groups. One-third of the Nones claim Irish ancestry.

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The most striking change among the racial and ethnic groups is among Hispanics. In 1990 they comprised 6% of U.S. adults and 4% of adult Nones. In 2008 Hispanics doubled their percentage of the U.S. adult population to 13% and tripled their proportion among adult Nones to 12%. This means that Hispanics are not only the fastest growing racial group in America in general, but are the fastest-growing minority group among Nones. This, too, is a noteworthy finding considering the stereotype of Latinos as a deeply religious population.

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Obviously, this trend ought to be setting off alarm bells in the GOP. The Party is courting to the exclusion of others, the declining far right religious elements in the country. Moreover, since to win elections, the votes of independents most be secured and independents are far more likely to be Nones and probably not attracted to the growing religious extremism of the GOP base.

More Anti-Gay Marriage Lies in Maine

The one thing that is always a constant with the professional Christian set and their "pro-family" allies is that if their lips are moving, they are 9 times out of 10 lying. Of all the organizations I monitor without a doubt the most dishonest are the "Christian" organizations. The opponents of same sex marriage are cut out of the same cloth and proving themselves dishonest and willing to resort to any and all types of lies to convince the ignorant and uninformed to vote the way the Christianists want. It is enough to make one want to walk away from organized religion completely - as more and more Americans are doing - if these folks are evidence of what Christians are like. Fortunately some media outlets in Maine are running stories exposing the anti-gay organizations' dishonest, albeit not as forcefully as I'd like to see. Exposing deliberate lies and untruths disseminated by alleged Christians is NOT anti-religion. Indeed, I would argue allowing liars and modern day Pharisees to pollute religion is more damaging to religion in general. Here are some highlights from the Portland Press Herald:

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What may or may not be taught in Maine schools if the state's gay-marriage law is upheld by voters is once again becoming a central issue in the fight over Question 1. Opponents of same-sex marriage released a television ad Wednesday that features a Massachusetts couple who say their 7-year-old son was taught about gay marriage at school. The ad says that the same thing could happen in Maine if a state law legalizing gay marriage is not overturned by voters on Nov. 3.
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But the state Department of Education says that Maine standards are different from those in Massachusetts and that there are no mentions of marriage – heterosexual or homosexual – in Maine Learning Results. "A change in the definition of marriage in Maine changes nothing in terms of what schools can and must teach," said the department's spokesman, David Connerty-Marin. "There is nothing in there whatsoever that deals with marriage."
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The 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in Massachusetts agreed with the school system and disagreed with the parents that the school was attempting to "indoctrinate" their child. "Public schools are not obligated to shield individual students from ideas which potentially are religiously offensive, particularly when the school imposes no requirement that the student agree with or affirm those ideas or even participate in discussions about them," the justices wrote.

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Gay-marriage supporters say the ad is a retread of a similar commercial that aired in California when voters there rejected same-sex marriage. "The fact that the Yes campaign would literally repackage the same ad their California consultants used in California is a testament to the national outsiders pushing their agenda on the voters of Maine," said a prepared statement from Jesse Connolly, campaign manager for the No on 1 campaign.

More Thursday Male Beauty

National Equality March Blogger Briefing

This afternoon I had an opportunity to participate in a blogger briefing conference call with Kip Williams and Robin McGehee, national co-directors of the National Equality March scheduled for October 10-11, 2009 in Washington, D.C., as well as other bloggers and Dan Choi, the West Point graduate and Iraq War veteran who was discharged from the Army under the idiotic Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy favored by Christianist loons like Elaine Donnelly (who has NO military experience herself) and backward thinking Neanderthals in the top military brass. After the conference call, latter in the evening Dan Choi called me and we had the first of what I believe will be a number of conversations about the need to repeal DADT and how past and present LGBT members of the military can become involved in the push for full LGBT equality under the civil laws. I will be doing subsequent posts on this issue and my conversations with Lieutenant Choi. As for the March itself, one of the goals is to allow it to be a mechanism to create a more unified national movement while at the same time bolstering state by state efforts for change.

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One of the things discussed was how the March will hopefully be the first step toward a larger goal of bridging the gap between the national LGBT organizations and grassroots community organizers and creating a national movement in all 435 congressional districts to demand of our elected representatives full equality under the law. In keeping with this goal, NEM has a potion of its website dedicated to organizing activists in every Congressional district and making LGBT equality something members of Congress cannot simply ignore. Check the website to see if a group has been established in your home district. If not, consider starting one yourself. Activism is a great way to work on a worthy cause and at the same time make friends and contacts.

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The NEM will also hopefully a mechanism to engage more gay affirming religious leaders and denominations in the issue of LGBT equality so that lawmakers come to realize that not all religious leaders are gay-hating bigots that predominate in the professional Christian set and "family values" organizations. In fact, here is a list of additional religious leaders who have endorsed the National Equality March:

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Rev. David Bahr, Park Hill Congregational Church UCC

Pamela Baldwin, Interfaith Alliance of Idaho

Nelson Bock, Interfaith Alliance of Colorado

Rabbi Stephen Booth-Nadav, Aytz Chayim/Tree of Life

Dr. Richard C. Bozian, TIA-Cincinnati-First Unitarian Church

Rev. Elizabeth Braddon, Stony Brook Community Church

Dr. Phil Campbell, Iliff School of Theology

Rev. Tom Capo, Peoples Church Unitarian Universalist

Carol Carlson, Social Justice Committee of First Unitarian Church of Cincinnati

Rev. Cynthia Cearley, Montview Blvd. Presbyterian Church

Hospice Pastor Angela Cesa, Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock

Rabbi Carl Choper, The Interfaith Alliance of Pennsylvania

Rev. Hal Chorpenning, Plymouth Congregational UCC

Rev. Samuel Chu, Interim Executive Director of California Faith for Equality

Dick Clark, St. Timothy’s United Methodist Church

Rev. Paul Collier, First Presbyterian Church

Rev. Greg Cummins, Montview Blvd. Presbyterian Church

Douglas Cunningham, New Day United Methodist Church

Rabbi Mark Diamond, Exec. Vice President of the Southern California Board of Rabbis

Maureen Doherty, Episcopal Church

Anne Dunlap, Comunidad Liberacion/Liberation Community

Rabbi Denise Eger, President of Pacific Association of Reform Rabbis

Rabbi Dr. David Ellenson, President of Hebrew Union College

Rev. Eric Fjeldal, United Methodist Church

Rev. Vicki Flippin, Diamond Hill United Methodist Church, Cos Cob, Connecticut

Rabbi Steven A. Fox, Exec. Vice President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis

Paul Fraser, Central Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Rev. Dr. C. Weldon Gaddy, Interfaith Alliance

Gregory Garland, United Church of Christ

Dan Geslin, Sixth Avenue United Church of Christ

Mitchell Gold, Faith in America

Rev. Galen Guengerich, All Souls Unitarian Church

Elizabeth Gull, Universal Life Church

Susan Guy, Walnut Hills United Methodist Church

Rev. Debra W. Haffner, The Religious Institute

Edward Hawley, United Church of Christ

Rabbi Steven B. Jacobs, Chair of the Progressive Jewish Foundation

Ellen Johnson-Fay, Unitarian Universalist Association

Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, Senior Rabbi of Congregation Beth Simchat Torah, NYC

Noel Koestline, United Methodist Church

Rev. Eric Lee, President of the Los Angeles Southern Christian Leadership

Rev. Eun-sang Lee, First United Methodist Church, Salt Lake City

Rev. Mark J. Lukens, Bethany Congregational UCC/ LI Chapter of TIA

Whit Malone, Collegiate Presbyterian Church

Rev. Matthew J. Mardis-LeCroy, Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ

Sister Maureen McCormack, Interfaith Alliance of Colorado

Rev. Nancy Nelson, Metropolitan Community Churches

Richard S. Parker, United Methodist Church

Rev. Emily Peck-McClain, United Methodist Church

Rev. Troy Perry, Metropolitan Community Churches

Douglas Peters, United Methodist Church

Richard Pleva, Iowa Conference, United Church of Christ

Julia Rendon, Crossroads United Church of Christ

Bishop Eugene Robinson, Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire

Paul Rolig, Humanists of Idaho

Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center, Washington DC

Rev. Susan Russell, President of Integrity

Connie Ryan Terrell, Interfaith Alliance of Iowa

Walter Schenck, United Methodist Church, NY Annual Conference

Rev. Catherine Schuyler, Duluth Congregational Church

Rev. Jeremy Shaver, Interfaith Alliance of Colorado/Park Hill Congregational Church

Rev. Charles H. Straut, Jr., New York Annual Conference, United Methodist Church

Rev. Mark Stringer, First Unitarian Church of Des Moines

Nadine Swahnberg, UUA

Rev. Neil G. Thomas, Chair of California Faith for Equality

Kenneth Thurow, ELCA

Joel Warner, United Methodist Church

Rabbi Ellen Weinberg Dreyfus, President of the Central Conference of American

RabbisDana Wimmer, United Methodist

Rabbi Eric Yoffie, President of the Union for Reform of Judaism

Ani Zonneveld, Co-founder and President of Muslims for Progressive Values

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As this list shows, the Christianists DO NOT speak for all people of faith - something that greatly needs to be brought to the attention of elected officials.

Creigh Deeds Offers a Real Transportation Plan for Virginia

The reality is that Virginia's transportation infrastructure is crumbling and not keeping up with the needs of both residents and businesses that are currently located in or which would otherwise consider relocating to Virginia. Why? Because of the never ending no new tax mantra of Bob McDonnell and his cohorts in the Virginia GOP who somehow think roads and other infrastructure needs magically fund themselves out of thin air. The grid lock in Northern Virginia is horrific - last December it took us an hour to go five miles on I-95 into Washington, D.C.and that was without any accidents. The situation in Tidewater while not as severe is worsening steadily even with the down turn in new home construction. In an op-ed piece yesterday in the Washington Post Creigh Deeds leveled with Virginians as to the magnitude of the problem which is largely the result of 20 years of GOP obstruction of any new transportation plan and associated funding. The Washington Post today ran an editorial lauding Deeds' candor and comparing it to Bob McDonnell's smoke and mirrors faux plan for addressing the states terrible transportation needs. Obviously, the last 20 years of GOP obstruction have created the problem, so why would anyone with a shred of sanity expect more of the same under McDonnell to yield a different result. Here are some editorial highlights:

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R.CREIGH DEEDS, the Democrat running for governor in Virginia, has now unequivocally committed himself to support higher taxes to rescue the state's sclerotic road system. His stance is nothing more or less than common sense: Virginia needs tens of billions of dollars in new revenue for roads, and it will not materialize without asking taxpayers -- the same taxpayers who rightly groan about traffic -- to foot a good part of the bill. Still, by articulating that position in plain English on the opposite page Wednesday, Mr. Deeds showed political guts, which is more than one can say for the smoke-and-mirrors, wing-and-a-prayer approach to transportation endorsed by his opponent, Republican nominee Robert F. McDonnell.

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True to form, Virginia Republicans are betting that an easily misled electorate will be too shortsighted to notice that the state has completely run out of road-building funds. In this fiscal year, Richmond will spend scarcely $1 million to build and improve roads in all of Northern Virginia -- a laughable sum when measured against the billions needed. Two years from now, state spending on new roads in Northern Virginia is projected to be precisely zero. Mr. Deeds doesn't want to hit Virginians in the middle of a recession; he doesn't want to act without bipartisan consensus; but he wants to act.

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Over the next 20 years, Virginia will need to raise an extra $100 billion -- minimum -- if it is to maintain and expand a transportation network that will meet the state's growth. The commonwealth is business-friendly; it already runs a relatively tight ship, as repeated ratings and studies have shown. Further rounds of streamlining, consolidation and efficiencies will not yield major new savings, and hoping that a new economic boom will unclog the state's roads is wishful thinking.

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Suffice it to say that anyone who thinks that Virginia can get traffic moving or even slow the deterioration of its road system without fresh revenue -- and yes, a tax increase -- is living in an alternate reality. By his honesty, Mr. Deeds has now prepared the way for a mandate, should he be elected, to address the state's most critical problem.

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Sadly, Bob McDonnell like most of the Christianists and deranged GOP base ARE living in an alternate reality. One where science and objective facts do not matter and where religious extremism and government by slogans are the norm. Virginia does NOT need Bob McDonnell's reality free world view.

Thursday Male Beauty

Coming Out in Middle School

An upcoming story in the New York Times Magazine will likely send the Christo-fascists into apoplexy because it focuses on the growing trend of young teens coming out as gay as early as in middle school. Looking back, as early as 7th grade I know I was having feelings towards guys that caused me great distress - not that I shared them with anyone. After all, in that day and age, being gay was classified as a form of mental illness and as a fully indoctrinated Catholic I also knew that being attracted to other guys meant that I was destined for Hell. Thus, the feelings were repressed as much as possible and I convinced myself that the truth - which was too horrible to contemplate - simply wasn't the truth. I envy these kids today who have the courage/strength in a still hostile society to be true to who they are. Had I done so, obviously, my life would have been different, but I would have avoided so much pain and heartache. The only thing that would make me retrace my steps is my children. Even though two seem to have reverted back to rejecting me, I'd do it all over to have them. Here are some story highlights:

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Austin didn’t know what to wear to his first gay dance last spring. It was bad enough that the gangly 13-year-old from Sand Springs, Okla., had to go without his boyfriend at the time, a 14-year-old star athlete at another middle school, but there were also laundry issues. “I don’t have any clean clothes!” he complained to me by text message, his favored method of communication.

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“I’m kind of scared,” he confessed. “Who am I going to talk to? I wish my boyfriend could come.” But his boyfriend couldn’t find anyone to give him a ride nor, Austin explained, could his boyfriend ask his father for one. “His dad would give him up for adoption if he knew he was gay,” Austin told me. “I’m serious. He has the strictest, scariest dad ever. He has to date girls and act all tough so that people won’t suspect.”

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Austin doesn’t have to play “the pretend game,” as he calls it, anymore. At his middle school, he has come out to his close friends, who have been supportive. A few of his female friends responded that they were bisexual. “Half the girls I know are bisexual,” he said. He hadn’t planned on coming out to his mom yet, but she found out a week before the dance.

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“When I first realized I was gay,” Austin interjected, “I just assumed I would hide it and be miserable for the rest of my life. But then I said, ‘O.K., wait, I don’t want to hide this and be miserable my whole life.’ ”

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When I asked Gillean if he ever expected kids as young as Nick and Austin to show up at Openarms, he chuckled and shook his head. Like many adult gay men who came out in college or later, Gillean couldn’t imagine openly gay middle-school students. “But here they are,” he said, looking out over the crowd. “More and more of them every week.” I heard similar accounts from those who work with gay youth all across the country.

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What is clear is that for many gay youth, middle school is more survival than learning — one parent of a gay teenager I spent time with likened her child’s middle school to a “war zone.” In a 2007 survey of 626 gay, bisexual and transgender middle-schoolers from across the country by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (Glsen), 81 percent reported being regularly harassed on campus because of their sexual orientation. Another 39 percent reported physical assaults. Of the students who told teachers or administrators about the bullying, only 29 percent said it resulted in effective intervention.

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Both G.S.A.’s and the Day of Silence have been controversial in places, as some parents and faculty members object to what they see as the promotion of homosexuality in public schools and the “premature sexualization of the students,” as a lawyer for a school in central Florida that was fighting the creation of a G.S.A. put it. But there is a growing consensus among parents and middle-school educators that something needs to be done to curb anti-gay bullying, which a 2008 study at an all-male school by researchers at the University of Nebraska and Harvard Medical School found to be the most psychologically harmful type of bullying.

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That’s not to say that gay teenagers didn’t still suffer harassment at school or rejection at home, but many seemed less burdened with shame and self-loathing than their older gay peers. What had changed? Not only were there increasingly accurate and positive portrayals of gays and lesbians in popular culture, but most teenagers were by then regular Internet users. Going online broke through the isolation that had been a hallmark of being young and gay, and it allowed gay teenagers to find information to refute what their families or churches sometimes still told them — namely, that they would never find happiness and love.

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I encourage readers to read the whole story which is rather long. What struck me is Austin's decision that he did not want to hide who he was and be miserable his whole life. I made a very different choice and was indeed in many ways miserable much of my life. Sadly, there are still those who want me and others like me to remain miserable. Fortunately, the APA and denominations like the ELCA and Episcopal Church are accepting modern knowledge on sexual orientation and today's gay teens at least have some safe harbors on the religious front. Such was not the case when I was in my early teens. Change is coming, but nowhere fast enough to save many from years of misery. One of the reasons I am passionate about activism is because in my view, no one should be punished for their God given sexual orientation. No one.

ENDA and Freeper and Wingnut Lies

As I have noted on many occasions, what gets me the most outraged by the professional Christian set and "family values" groups is their shocking dishonesty and their willingness to knowingly lie over and over again. They claim to be devoutly religious but are in fact among the worst liars and hate merchants of out time. The Commandment against lying and bearing false witness means absolutely nothing to them. With consideration of ENDA - the Employment Non-discrimination Act - moving in Congress, the lies that are being disseminated by the "godly Christian" set is setting new levels of viciousness. Of course, to prove these lies to be just that lies, one need only read the actual language of the proposed Act. But then, the ignorant and uninformed who are the principal targets of these lies are such simpletons apparently that such a simple exercise is too much to expect. These folks would rather be spoon fed lies that play to the latent bigotry. Joe.My.God. has a post that looks at the lies flying fast and furiously amongst the dishonest Christianist set. The level of hated and level of down right stupidity is frightening. Here are a few highlights - Joe's map of the USA in the minds of these folks is set out above (click the image for a larger version).

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From the Free Republic post on the ENDA hearings. The post quotes a blog called The Last Crusade:
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The Employment Non-Discrimination Act is designed to make homosexuals, bisexuals, drag queens, cross-dressers and transsexuals into federally-protected minority groups. Once enacted, the latest legislation from the Obama Administration will produce the following results:

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The Act will forbid any employer from refusing to hire or promote a person because of his “sexual orientation” or his “gender identity” (cross-dressers, transsexuals, drag queens). A deviant from traditional morality who is turned down for a job or promotion can claim discrimination as a member of a federally-protected minority – and the employer can be prosecuted by the federal government. Every business owner will be liable for criminal prosecution if he or she fails to hire or promote a transgender person.

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ENDA will provide no exemption for Christian businesses or Christian camps, religious broadcasters and other religious entities! An independent Christian camp with 15 or more employees will be obliged to operate in accordance with the standards of the new legislation. Such a camp will be in violation of federal law for not hiring homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals or cross-dressers.

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The TRUTH IS that ENDA does not even apply to businesses with less than 15 employees - hence small "mom and pop" businesses are exempt. Second, there is an exemption for churches and the various operations. In short, the statements by the Christianists are 100% untrue - yet again. So much for really giving a damn about the Ten Commandments.

More Wednesday Male Beauty

Majority of Workers Still Hide Sexual Orientation at Work

A new report confirms what I suspect most of us already had figured out: most LGBT employees hide their sexual orientation at work. It is an obvious result when the majority of states still provide no employment non-discrimination protections to their LGBT citizens. The irony to me is that all states have employment protections against workplace discrimination based on religion - which is EXACTLY the basis for anti-gay discrimination. But for religious discrimination kept alive by the professional Christian set and other religious extremists who demand that all live by their imposed religious beliefs, we gays would likely have few employment discrimination issues. Why the courts cannot see what's plain as day is beyond maddening. One can only hope that as religious belief fades - a topic by itself for another post - this circumstance will change. Here are highlights from the report which can be found here:

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[S]ignificant numbers of LGBT employees continue to experience a negative workplace climate that appears to be unaffected by organizational policies and which varies by location, manager and work team. The majority of LGBT workers (51 percent) hide their LGBT identity to most at work, the simplest indication that more work needs to be done to translate inclusive policies into an inclusive climate. Hiding one’s LGBT identity is even more pronounced among younger workers. Only 5 percent of LGBT employees ages 18 to 24 say they are totally open at work, compared to more than 20 percent in older age cohorts.

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Employees who are not open at work experience more negative outcomes from their workplace environment that affect productivity, retention and professional relationships. For example, 54 percent of LGBT employees who are not open to anyone at work report lying about their personal lives, compared to 21 percent of employees open about their LGBT identity. LGBT workers’ inability to participate honestly in everyday conversations hinders trust and cohesion with their co-workers and superiors.

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Derogatory comments and jokes still happen at work and are a major indicator that it is unsafe to be open about their sexual orientation or gender identity at work. A total of 58 percent of LGBT workers say someone at work makes a joke or derogatory comment about LGBT people at least once in a while.

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[D]omestic partner benefits have little effect on the number of employees who remain closeted. A total of 23 percent of employees at companies without equal benefits are not open to anyone, compared to 22 percent of employees at companies with the benefits. And whether a company has an EEO policy inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity does not change the number of employees who are not open to anyone (26 percent in both cases).
relationship.

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Overall, the report is pretty depressing in that it confirms that on the work front, most LGBT employees live in fear and feel the need play act a role that they perceive will be acceptable to their supervisors and company leaders. I played that game myself for over 30 years and it is very exhausting - even when one has not come out to themselves yet as gay. It definitely detracts from productivity and makes for a very unhappy work environment. And again, it ALL traces ultimately to religious based discrimination.

Equality Virginia 2009 Legend’s Honoree Announced

This is my fourth year of involvement with the Equality Virginia's Legends Gala fundraiser - last year I was co-chair of the event. This year's honoree is a wonderful friend, Cynthia Cutler, who is a one woman dynamo of civic involvement for both LGBT and other area non-profit organizations in the Hampton Roads area. Her involvement with the LGBT community is long standing and with eight intrepid other individuals and myself, she joined in founding Hampton Roads Business OutReach, a/k/a HRBOR, one of the fastest growing affiliates of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce ("NGLCC"). Cindy is very, very deserving of this honor. The following is the press release about the event which will take place on Saturday, November 7, 2009:

On November 7, 2009, Equality Virginia (EV) will pay tribute to local activist Cynthia Cutler as the honoree at its 4th annual “Legends Gala” to be held at Norfolk’s Waterside Marriot. Cutler joins past honorees Ann Dearsley-Vernon, Yvonne Miller and Claus Ihleman as exemplars in the continued fight for equality for all Virginians.

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Ms. Cutler is widely known in the Hampton Roads LGBT community as a relentless organizer and an outspoken advocate for LGBT equality. Shannon Bowman, EV Legends Committee Co-Chair, states, “Cindy has continued to inspire both the gay and straight community to demand change. She tirelessly takes on leadership roles to facilitate this change without regard to any negative implications her affiliation with LGBT organizations may bring personally.” Cutler, a mortgage specialist with Tidewater Home Funding, has an extensive résumé of community involvement. Among the organizations benefiting from her involvement are Equality Virginia, YWCA, ACCESS Aids Care and Hampton Roads Business OutReach to name but a few.

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The Legend’s Gala, now in its 4th year, is a fund raising event for EV in their continued efforts to bring equality for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Virginians. Equality Virginia, founded in 1989 as Virginians for Justice, is a statewide, non-partisan, education, outreach and advocacy organization. Its work includes research, voter education and advocacy on a broad range of issues of concern to LGBT Virginians including workplace discrimination, marriage and relationship recognition and anti-violence programs.

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Last year’s event, held at the Norfolk Yacht and Country Club was attended by over 250 and raised more than $45,000 for the organization. Cutler’s wide ranging network of friends, associates and admirers sets the stage for the 2009 event to far exceed this lofty goal.

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Sponsorship levels for the event range from $5000 to $500. For more information contact Mardi Krantz at 804.643.4816 or go to www.EqualityVirginia.org.

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Equality Virginia’s Board of Directors and the Legend’s Gala Committee are proud to honor Ms. Cutler as this year’s Legend’s Honoree. It is her selfless commitment to our ideals that gives hope to one day reaching the goal of a truly inclusive Commonwealth for all Virginians.
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This year’s event will be at the Marriott Waterside. Tickets are available now for $100 and will go up to $135 after Oct 1. Tickets can be purchased online at www.EqualityVirginia.org.

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The boyfriend and I will be "pit bosses" high end Monte Carlo night theme of the event and we hope local readers will make a point to attend the event and say hello to us.

Wednesday Male Beauty

Bob McDonnell Cited Michael ‘Porn Makes You Gay’ Schwartz in His 1989 Thesis

Poor Taliban Bob McDonnell - he just cannot seem to escape issues surrounding his Christianist blueprint for governing. Now it turns out that - h/t to The Washington Independent for noting this - Taliban Bob cited Values Voter speaker and certifiable nutcase, Michael Schwartz, as a credible authority. Indeed, Taliban Bob cited Schwartz twice, once on an article Schwartz wrote about daycare, once for a piece of political thinking about the “division between those whose conservatism is defined by dollar signs and those whose conservatism is rooted in the family.”

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For those who do not know who Schwartz is a longtime conservative activist-turned-Congressional Hill staffer who talked about the gay-making powers of pornography at the Values Voter Summit (coven) last weekend. Here's what Schwartz said on that issue via Talking Points Memo:

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In an infamous moment at the Values Voter Summit over the weekend, captured on video by Dave Weigel, Sen. Tom Coburn's (R-OK) chief of staff Michael Schwartz made the case against pornography. "All pornography is homosexual pornography," said Schwartz, quoting an ex-gay friend of his, "because all pornography turns your sexual drive inwards."

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Schwartz then explained the side benefit of this finding -- that if boys know pornography will make them gay, they'll never touch it, taking advantage of what Schwartz sees as a natural homophobia. "And if you tell an 11-year-old boy about that, do you think he's going to want to get a copy of Playboy?" he said. "I'm pretty sure he'll lose interest. That's the last thing he wants!"

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Is this the kind of craziness we want in the Governor's mansion in Richmond? I think not!!! Watch the video:

Navy To Revisit Inquiry into Hazing in Canine Unit

We heard recently about the outrageous abuse and hazing that occurred at a canine unit in Bahrain and the fact that - in all too typical Navy fashion - the man alleged to have orchestrated the abuse on sexual perversion received a raise while one of the victims, Petty Officer 3rd Class Joseph Rocha (pictured at left), broke down, confessed to being gay, and lost a commission to the U. S. Naval Academy (no doubt to the immense pleasure of wingnut, Elaine Donnelly). I for one was afraid that the mess would be swept under the rug by the Navy, but now such appears to not be the case. The Virginian Pilot reports that the investigation will be reopened and one can only hope that the individual(s) behind the deplorable conduct are disciplined, or better yet discharged from the military. Here are some highlights:

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Top Navy officials are re-examining an inquiry into hazing in a dog handling unit in Bahrain in which an investigator verified more than 90 instances of abuse, including sailors being force-fed dog treats, locked into a kennel and ordered to simulate oral sex. Despite those findings more than two years ago, Navy officials have not been able to say whether anyone was held accountable in the case, which came to light earlier this month.

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All the official attention was triggered by reports earlier this month that Chief Petty Officer Michael Toussaint, who headed the kennel at the time of the alleged abuses, has since been promoted to senior chief. Toussaint is now assigned to Oceana Naval Air Station's Dam Neck annex. A spokesman for Naval Special Warfare told The Associated Press that Toussaint is deployed and unavailable to comment.

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The documented hazing and abuse, much of it directed at Petty Officer 3rd Class Joseph Rocha, eventually drove Rocha out of the Navy. Rocha said he became the target after he refused the services of a prostitute, causing some sailors at the kennel to question his sexuality. Rocha, now 23, gave up an appointment to the Naval Academy after telling a commanding officer in 2007 that he was gay and suffering from post-traumatic stress brought on by the abuse.

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U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak of Pennsylvania, a retired three-star admiral, sent Navy Secretary Ray Mabus a letter on Sept. 11 asking about Rocha's treatment and Toussaint's promotion. Although the case doesn't involve any of his constituents, Sestak said he felt compelled to act after reading descriptions of hazing and apparent abuses in the kennel, which included having men and women simulate oral sex as part of dog-training exercises. He fully expected to find that someone had been held accountable, but the investigator's recommendations for action were redacted by the Navy. "There didn't seem to be any accountability in what occurred," said Sestak, a member of the House Armed Services Committee. He said he hopes the case is an aberration that somehow got lost in the chain of command.

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In particular, Rocha said, he hopes the renewed inquiry will provide some answers for the family of Jennifer Valdivia, Toussaint's second in command and a mentor to Rocha. In another videotaped "training scenario" in which Toussaint was implicated, Valdivia was handcuffed to a bed wearing only a bedsheet and told to simulate lesbian sex with another woman. Valdivia committed suicide Jan. 16, 2007, . . . "As a 26-year-old female, she could never have stopped Toussaint," he said. "He bullied her. He would humiliate her in front of us.

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Gays are alleged to be bad for unit morale - well what the hell did this crap do for morale? Just more of the "boys will be boys" mindset of the senior Navy command? People need to be thrown out of the military for this conduct. The question is, will anything happen.