Hampton Pride and Diversity Event - Update

Some time ago I put up a post about a Pride and Diversity Event to take place in Millpoint Park on June 19, 2010. There have been some organizational changes, but the event is still on for that date and place. Taking the helm of organizing the event are St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Hampton and Unitarian Universalist congregation in Williamsburg. These non-profit, gay supportive organizations will be giving all net proceeds derived from the event to local charities. In addition to food, wine, beer and vendors, organizations and businesses that want to promote themselves can secure a booth for $50.00. For more information contact St. Marks at (757) 826-3515 0r go to the church's website: http:stmarkshampton.org. As I said previously, this event will be the kick off for a week long Pride theme that will culminate with HP Pride's "Out in the Park" on June 27, 2010 at Chesapeake City Park off of Greenbrier Parkway in Chesapeake.

Saturday Male Beauty

Virginia Department of Corrections Ignores Cuccinelli's Anti-Gay Directive

Colleges and universities were the first, then local municipalities joined in, and now the Virginia Department of Corrections has joined in and made it clear that it will not delete sexual orientation from its departmental non-discrimination policies. Cuccinelli may have sent Victoria Cobb and the gay-haters at The Family Foundation into orgasms with his action, but more and more Virginians seem prepared to ignore the Cooch's effort to institutionalize anti-gay job discrimination. Obviously, it is an encouraging development although given Cuccinelli's insanity, there is always the chance he will try to force institutions to follow his religious extremist motivated directive. Ultimately, these actions will likely force Taliban Bob McDonnell to revisit the issue again and, should his future appointees reverse the policies, Virginia will again receive a round of negative media coverage around the world. Here are some highlights from the Washington Post on the Department of Corrections action:
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The Democratic-appointed Virginia Board of Corrections has adopted a resolution reaffirming a nondiscrimination policy that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, overruling concerns expressed by a representative from Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's office.

The wording of the resolution was modeled on an an existing Department of Corrections policy, specifically adopted last year to bring the department into line with Gov. Tim Kaine's Executive Order Number 1, which prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
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That would be the same executive order that Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) has essentially repealed, arguing it went beyond the authority granted to the executive office by the General Assembly.
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The board agreed the Corrections department shall "make all employment decisions based on one's merits and qualifications and specifically prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, sex, color, national origin, religion, retaliation, age, political affiliation, sexual orientation, veteran status, and person with disabilities, except when age or sex is a bona fide occupational qualification."
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State agencies and colleges and universities around the state are now going to be sorting out that very issue. Does McDonnell's executive directive empower them to keep policies they adopted in response to the executive order the governor rejected?
Complicating the issue is that boards deciding the point will be holdovers, appointed by Democratic governors. Already, the boards of visitors at George Mason University and Mary Washington University have decided to hold firm to their past policies.
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"The view of the board was that there was political schism, which we really did not want to get into," Socas said in an interview. "There appear to be within the executive branch different views on the question of sexual orientation and whether that is a protected class. The attorney general has a view on that. The governor has a view on that. And there seems to be some ambiguity between the two. The view of the board was that we should provide clarification."
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Moore v. Museum of Natural History gives the Supreme Court of Virginia an opportunity to end the issue once and for all if it has the courage to do so.

Friday Male Beauty

Anti-Gay Letter May End General's Career

I have written a number of times about the Christianist mentality among some in leadership positions in the U.S. Military. These individuals put their religious dogma ahead of all else and as a result subvert the U.S. Constitution - including the right to religious freedom for ALL citizens - that they are sworn to support and defend. It now seems that the Army may do something to address this in terms of Lt. General Benjamin Mixon who has been actively advocating against the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Mixon's letter in Stars and Stripes stated in part:
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“It is often stated that most service members are in favor of repealing the policy. I do not believe that is accurate. I suspect many service members, their families, veterans and citizens are wondering what to do to stop this ill-advised repeal of a policy that has achieved a balance between a citizen’s desire to serve and acceptable conduct...Now is the time to write your elected officials and chain of command and express your views. If those of us who are in favor of retaining the current policy do not speak up, there is no chance to retain the current policy."
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The problem for Mixon is that this action directly violated DOD directives on discussing DADT. Stated bluntly, the general violated orders and the higher ups in the military are not happy. As MSNBC is reporting, both Defense Secretary Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen, Chair of the Joint Chiefs have made less than positive comments on Nixon's behavior. Here are highlights from MSNBC:
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Despite Secretary Gates' announcement this morning that the changes to Don't Ask," Don't Tell" are "unanimously supported" by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, one three-star general has expressed his disagreement publicly -- and now it may cost him his uniform.
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Lt. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, the commander of U.S. Army Pacific, wrote a letter to the Army newspaper Stars and Stripes recently that outlined his opposition to repealing the law.
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When asked about Mixon's letter this morning, both Secretary Gates and Admiral Mullen called Mixon's actions "inappropriate" because in his leadership position, Mixon has great influence on other men and women in uniform.
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The chairman went on to say that Mixon is "obliged to certainly follow the direction of leadership right up to the president," and to abide by the president's "strategic intent." He said if Mixon or anyone else feels "so strongly about it," then "the answer is not advocacy; it is in fact to vote with your feet."
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Mullen said that the Army issued specific guidance about dealing with the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" issue during the review period and that Mixon's case is now "being addressed" in the Army chain of command.
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The official said that the Army is not likely to fire Mixon, but that the chairman's comments will force him to resign. He has been a three-star general since Feb. 1, 2008, so Congress will have to approve his retirement and determine whether he will retire as a two-star or three-star general.
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No doubt Mixon will soon be depicted as a Christian martyr by the usual suspects in short order. Never mind that he violated direct orders.

Pope's Damage Control Efforts Unraveling?

It seems that people never learn that it's the lying and cover up attempts that often prove more damning than the original actions. Ask the ghost of Richard Nixon. Now the same phenomenon may be pulling Benedict XVI down in to the quagmire as stories continue to unfold that show his initial denials were bald faced lies. Papa Ratzi has tried consistently to claim he was ignorant of the transfer of predator priests and/or policies of deliberate cover up and the intimidation of victims. Not so it seems. First, the New York Times has disclosed that Benedict XVI DID know about the return of the infamous "Fr. H" to ministry in Germany. Then there is the new attention being given to a 2006 BBC1 show that went into Benedict's role of re- enforcing the Church's policy of cover up and keeping molestation reports from the police. As I have asked before, when is Benedict going to do the right thing and resign? The media smell blood in the water and it will probably only get worse as more lies are exposed. First, highlights from the New York Times:
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MUNICH — The future Pope Benedict XVI was kept more closely apprised of a sexual abuse case in Germany than previous church statements have suggested, raising fresh questions about his handling of a scandal unfolding under his direct supervision before he rose to the top of the church’s hierarchy.
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An initial statement on the matter issued earlier this month by the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising placed full responsibility for the decision to allow the priest to resume his duties on Cardinal Ratzinger’s deputy, the Rev. Gerhard Gruber. But the memo, whose existence was confirmed by two church officials, shows that the future pope not only led a meeting on Jan. 15, 1980, approving the transfer of the priest, but was also kept informed about the priest’s reassignment.
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The case of the German priest, the Rev. Peter Hullermann, has acquired fresh relevance because it unfolded at a time when Cardinal Ratzinger, who was later put in charge of handling thousands of abuse cases on behalf of the Vatican, was in a position to refer the priest for prosecution, or at least to stop him from coming into contact with children.
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In terms of the BBC1 broadcast, the London Evening Standard had some of the details on the program's content - none of it good for Benedict - which seems to have new relevance to events that are now unfolding. Here are highlights:
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The Pope played a leading role in a systematic cover-up of child sex abuse by Roman Catholic priests, according to a shocking documentary to be screened by the BBC tonight.
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In 2001, while he was a cardinal, he issued a secret Vatican edict to Catholic bishops all over the world, instructing them to put the Church's interests ahead of child safety.
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The document recommended that rather than reporting sexual abuse to the relevant legal authorities, bishops should encourage the victim, witnesses and perpetrator not to talk about it. And, to keep victims quiet, it threatened that if they repeat the allegations they would be excommunicated.
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And Father Tom Doyle, a Vatican lawyer until he was sacked for criticising the church's handling of child abuse claims, says: "What you have here is an explicit written policy to cover up cases of child sexual abuse by the clergy and to punish those who would call attention to these crimes by the churchmen.
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The Panorama programme is presented by Colm O'Gorman, who was raped by a priest when he was 14. He said: "What gets me is that it's the same story every time and every place. Bishops appoint priests who they know have abused children in the past to new parishes and new communities and more abuse happens."
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Benedict XVI has called gays "inherently disordered." It would seem that he was looking in the mirror when he made that conclusion. The man is abhorrent.

More Thursday Male Beauty

Taliban Bob McDonnell Shows Anti-Gay Bias Again

One can only hope that the folks at Northrop Grumman were listening to Bob McDonnell lie during his radio address today - Taliban Bob says no employment non-discrimination protections for gays are needed in Virginia "based on the numbers he's seen." I guess McDonnell pulled the "numbers" out of his ass or else he parroted whatever was handed to him by Victoria Cobb at The Family Foundation.

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Call me Bob. I can tell you about the regular calls I receive from LGBT Virginians who have lost their jobs because of who they are and the fact that they did not conform to the bigoted religious beliefs of their employers or supervisors. Or McDonnell can ask my client Michael Moore. Or McDonnell can call me about the law firm that forced me out after I came out of the closet. Bob McDonnell needs to get his head out of his ass (or out of Victoria Cobb's and/or Pat Robertson's ass). Or maybe McDonnell is going to instruct Virginia's resident village idiot, Ken "Cooch" Cuccinelli to start enforcing state and federal constitutional equal protections that he says exist for gays and not just for Christianists and teabaggers? I doubt it. Here are highlights from the Richmond Times Dispatch in respect to McDonnell's disingenuous (and false) blather:

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Based on numbers he’s seen, Gov. Bob McDonnell said today he’s not sure the state needs a law protecting people against bias based on sexual orientation. Asked on his monthly radio appearance on WRVA if he would sign such a bill, the governor said, “I don’t know that we need it based on the numbers that I’ve seen.“
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“There really isn’t any rampant discrimination on any basis in Virginia,“ he said. “If you’re going to have a law, it needs to actually address a real problem.“

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Excuse me while I go vomit.

New Pentagon Rules for Discharging Gays

As predicted in a post early this morning, Secretary of Defense Gates did announce new Pentagon rules today for discharging gays under DADT. While DADT continues to be an abomination - as are its Uber -Christian supporters like Elaine Donnelly - I hope these new rules will reduce the witch hunts and anonymous "outings" that have been a reality in areas with large military personnel populations. Currently, our military has recruited (and continues to recruit) convicted felons, those without high school diplomas, and others with questionable records. But honorable, intelligent, and decorated gays are persona non grata. Truly a f*cked reality. Here are highlights from the New York Times on the new rules:
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates Thursday approved new rules that will make it harder to discharge gays from the military, calling the changes a matter of ''common sense and common decency." . . . rules which essentially put higher-ranking officers in charge of discharge proceedings and impose tougher requirements for evidence used against gays.
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The new guidelines go into effect immediately and will apply to cases already open. . . . To discourage the use of overheard statements or hearsay, from now on any evidence given in third-party outings must be given under oath, Gates said. Cases of third-party outings also have included instances in which male troops have turned in women who rejected their romantic advances or jilted partners in relationship have turned in a former lover.
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Some kinds of confidential information also will no longer be allowed, including statements gays make to their lawyers, clergy, psychotherapists or medical professionals in the pursuit of health care.
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Nathaniel Frank, a senior research fellow with the Palm Center, which supports a repeal of the ban, said it is unclear how much of an impact the new guidelines would have because regulations already restrict third-party allegations. ''Anything that continues to allow the discharge of service members for something that research shows has no bearing on military effectiveness will not go far enough,'' Frank said.

Stop the Cuccinsanity

Liberal bloggers over at Blue Virginia are following the insanity of Virginia GOP Attorney Ken Cuccinelli who has launched an anti-gay jihad, is challenging the new health care reform, and wants in general to turn Virginia into a Medieval style theocracy. One of today's posts looks at what can be done to stop this maniac and his insane agenda. Obviously, there are a number of things, and some have already been commenced by the Democrats - using freedom of information act requests to track Cooch's schedule since taking office and also what out side interests he's been meeting with. One of the other things that is, in my view, keeping the media coverage focused on Cuccinelli's radical agenda that shows that there is no such thing as a GOP moderate either in Virginia or nationwide since the purge of moderates by the Christianists and far right loons now controlling the GOP. Here are some highlights:
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All of Virginia - and much of the country - now knows that we have elected, not a conservative, but a radical to be our Attorney General. It is already clear that Ken Cuccinelli does not have a mainstream, sensible, moderate bone in his body. No, this man is determined to twist our government into a tool to realize the most extreme right-wing fantasies that only the looniest Tea Partier could ever dream up. There's no question that this guy is nuts and will do all he can to make Virginia the laughing stock of the world. The only question left for me is: HOW DO WE FIGHT HIM.
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We must do all we can to fight this tinfoil hat tyrant in order to:
- Limit the damage he causes - and the waste of our tax dollars at a time of budget crisis;
- Show the world that Virginia is full of good, sane people - and that we are not some clueless, backwards, Tea Party haven that no cutting-edge business or hip individual would ever want to move to;
- Get our leaders energized to stand up for their consituents; and
- Constructively channel our anger and frustration into peaceful, effective action.
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As citizens of this state, we have a full right to know how much of our hard-earned money General Cooch is wasting on frivilous lawsuits. Therefore, please contact your state Delegates and Senators to demand that they keep the pressure on the Attorney General to account for every penny he is spending on this nonsense -- until we can put an end to it.
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Also please sign the Democratic party petition here that reads:

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Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has filed yet another frivolous lawsuit against the federal government, this time challenging federal health care reform legislation.

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We, the people of Virginia, call on Attorney General Cuccinelli to stop wasting our tax dollars on his personal political agenda.
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Every year, we pay Attorney General Cuccinelli's salary -- and the salaries of all of his employees. We demand that the Cuccinelli recognize that the Office of the Attorney General is our law firm, not the piggy bank for his political agenda.
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We call on the Attorney General to focus on the issues that face Virginians every day -- such as rising utility costs, home foreclosures, and predatory loans -- rather than filing frivolous lawsuits against the federal government.

Thursday Male Beauty

Vatican Declined to Defrock U.S. Priest Who Abused 200 Boys

OMG!! It's getting impossible to not write about the Roman Catholic Church sex abuse scandal - and the involvement of the current Pope in it - only once a day or less frequently. The bombshell's just keep on coming and the rot, moral bankruptcy and callousness of these narcissistic "men of God" is truly beyond belief. And amazingly, these same foul individuals have the nerve to condemn normal gays and condemn committed, loving same sex relationships? Now the New York Times has yet another story that traces abuse and cover up right to Pope Benedict XVI's feet and demonstrates where the Church's reputation was more important than the lives of 200 boys molested by a predator priest. While it is true other religious denominations have their own abuse problems, it is difficult to believe that any but the Roman Catholic Church made the policy of cover up such a highly sanctioned policy. For me, as a former Catholic, the hypocrisy of the hierarchy is mind numbing. These nasty old men scared young children into thinking that they would go to Hell for eating meat on Friday and tiny infractions, while this bullshit of molestations and cover ups was going on for decades. Documents related to the story can be found here. It utterly disgusts me. Here are some highlights:
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Top Vatican officials — including the future Pope Benedict XVI — did not defrock a priest who molested as many as 200 deaf boys, even though several American bishops repeatedly warned them that failure to act on the matter could embarrass the church, according to church files newly unearthed as part of a lawsuit.
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The internal correspondence from bishops in Wisconsin directly to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future pope, shows that while church officials tussled over whether the priest should be dismissed, their highest priority was protecting the church from scandal.
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The documents emerge as Pope Benedict is facing other accusations that he and direct subordinates often did not alert civilian authorities or discipline priests involved in sexual abuse when he served as an archbishop in Germany and as the Vatican’s chief doctrinal enforcer.
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The Wisconsin case involved an American priest, the Rev. Lawrence C. Murphy, who worked at a renowned school for deaf children from 1950 to 1974. But it is only one of thousands of cases forwarded over decades by bishops to the Vatican office called the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, led from 1981 to 2005 by Cardinal Ratzinger.
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The New York Times obtained the documents, which the church fought to keep secret, from Jeff Anderson and Mike Finnegan, the lawyers for five men who have brought four lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. The documents include letters between bishops and the Vatican, victims’ affidavits, the handwritten notes of an expert on sexual disorders who interviewed Father Murphy and minutes of a final meeting on the case at the Vatican.
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Father Lombardi emphasized that neither the Code of Canon Law nor the Vatican norms issued in 1962, which instruct bishops to conduct canonical investigations and trials in secret, prohibited church officials from reporting child abuse to civil authorities. He did not address why that had never happened in this case.
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He [Fr. Murphy] was promoted to run the school in 1963 even though students had disclosed to church officials in the 1950s that he was a predator. Victims give similar accounts of Father Murphy’s pulling down their pants and touching them in his office, his car, his mother’s country house, on class excursions and fund-raising trips and in their dormitory beds at night. Arthur Budzinski said he was first molested when he went to Father Murphy for confession when he was about 12, in 1960.
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Obviously, with this new disclosure - and more may well be coming - Benedict XVI needs to resign. As for rank and file Catholics, they need to admit to themselves that for most of their lives they have been duped into following the directives of very sick and evil men. Trying to assure themselves that other institutions have similar problems or that "the media is out to get the Church" is only more self-delusion. It does not and cannot change the reality of the institutional Church's utter moral degeneracy.

"Administrative Changes" Coming to DADT Policy?

I have written in the past about friends and/or clients who have been discharged from the U.S. Military based on third party "outings" - sometimes with out the "outed" service member even knowing for certain the identity of the person who outed them. The policy set up a perfect mechanism for retribution based on personal grudges or personal religious beliefs even when the closeted service member had done absolutely nothing inappropriate and had kept his/her personal life discretely private. The DADT policy in short has set the stage for false accusations and witch hunts by homophobes despite the "Don't Ask" portion of the policy. Now, Reuters is reporting that allegedly Defense Secretary Gates is going to announce policy modifications that may reduce the worse travesties under DADT. While DADT needs to be dumped on the trash heap of history, any interim moves to stop hate driven discharges will be welcome. Here are some story highlights:
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Defense Secretary Robert Gates is expected to address ways to allow more "humane enforcement and application" of a policy that has seen thousands of homosexuals forced out of the military, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. "I think he is prepared to offer a way ahead on that subject this week. So stay tuned," said Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell. "Hopefully you'll be seeing him later this week and (he) can address the changes that he is going to be making."
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One of the ways the Pentagon might relax enforcement of the law could be to halt disciplinary proceedings against gay members of the military who are "outed" by others. But the Pentagon has been tight-lipped about what steps Gates might announce. President Barack Obama has called for a repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," which allows homosexuals to serve in secret but discharges them if their sexual orientation becomes known. Gates has supported Obama's push but called for a separate review, due to be completed by December 1, on how to implement the new policy down the road.
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Americans favor allowing gays to serve openly in the military by 57 percent to 36 percent, according to a recent poll by Quinnipiac University.

Pope Benedict, Catholic Church Need to Repent

The Catholic Church's sex abuse scandal continues to grow and adding to Pope Benedict XVI's problems is the fact that now a molestation charges has come forth for abuse that occurred while Benedict's brother, Georg Ratzinger, was head of the Regensburg Domspatzen choir in Bavaria during Georg Ratzinger's watch. Up until now, Ratzinger has claimed ignorance of sexual abuse issues, although he has admitted to physically abusing boys. Adding to the media free for all is a new Newsweek article that looks at the inadequacy of the Church's faux apology and its failure to take meaningful disciplinary action. Based on the Boston abuse explosion, I suspect that the expose in Europe is just beginning and may in the laity are about over looking the other way at a system wide cover up of child molestation. First, here are highlights from Newsweek that look at the Pope and the Church's failure to act, as well as the laughable punishment visited on Cardinal Law, former archbishop of Boston:

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I'm not sure I can take it anymore, my Catholic friend K. wrote to me in an e-mail. Maybe I should become an Episcopalian. Fury does not begin to describe her mood. More than 10,000 children in Europe smacked, tortured, and raped by priests who were supposed to protect them. Bishops and spokesmen denying or minimizing their role—appearing, for all the world, like old men who seem not to understand the seriousness of what they've done.
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In Germany the pope's older brother, Georg Ratzinger, confessed that he'd occasionally slapped boys in the choir at Regensburg, but that it always made him feel bad; he had no knowledge of sexual abuse at the school. In Rome, Vatican spokesmen denied that Pope Benedict XVI knew about the predatory activities of a pedophile priest under his jurisdiction when he was Archbishop of Munich and Freising from 1977 to 1982. His deputy from that period confessed it was he and not his boss, then Joseph Ratzinger, who reinstated the offending priest (post–remedial therapy) into a parish—where he proceeded to abuse more children.
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Reporters will continue to investigate the question, what did Benedict know and when did he know it? This is appropriate. But his continued complicity in the matter of Cardinal Bernard Law taints him already, no matter what is revealed in Munich.
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Law presided over the Boston Archdiocese for nearly 20 years. During that time he ignored repeated pleas from the mothers and aunts of abused children, coddled offending priests, and demanded silence from victims until—after the number of cases exceeded 500—he was forced in 2002 to resign his post. Today he is the archpriest of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, a position that, according to a 2004 New York Times article, earns him $12,000 a month. He reports "to no one but the pope," according to that story, and lives in "a palatial apartment." As an active member of the College of Cardinals, he can help elect the next pope and works on at least seven Vatican committees.
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But how can I continue to send my kid to church? insists K. To that, the most heart-wrenching of questions, there is no answer. Stay . . . Or walk away, and teach your child an independent justice. For an institution that protects itself above its children may not, after all, offer the best Sunday lesson.
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In terms of Benedict XVI's new problems with his brother's increasingly questionable denials, Timesonline has the following highlights:
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Georg Ratzinger, the Pope's brother, was drawn further into the paedophile scandal embroiling the Catholic Church yesterday after a former member of the school choir that he ran claimed to have been sexually abused.
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[S]ex abuse allegations against four priests and two nuns were being investigated and that one inquiry related to claims made by a former Domspatzen choirboy that a teacher abused him for months in 1971.
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The teacher, identified by German media as Father Sturmius W, had been a theology student and an assistant at the Cathedral boarding school attached to the Regensburg choir, and subsequently became a priest. . . . Father W, 61, was stripped of his duties last week after the former chorister came forward last week. The accuser, who was 11 at the time of the alleged abuse, was named by Stern magazine as Alexander Probst, now 50.

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Obviously, as more facts continue to come to light, it will be interesting to see what lies Georg Ratzinger and Benedict XVI may have told in their effort to save their own butts and effect damage control. The hubris of the Church hierarchy and the total lack of concern for children and minors is unbelievable.

Write Nancy Pelosi on ENDA

Cleve Jones, a pioneering equal rights activist featured in the film "MILK," creator of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, and Senior Advisor to the Courage Campaign, has drafted an open letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urging her to bring ENDA forward for action in the House of Representatives. In a majority of states it remains perfectly legal for LGBT employees to be fired because of their sexual orientation/religious beliefs. I had the honor of attending a private screening of the movie "Milk" in December of 2008 where Cleve was a panelist and the man is indeed inspiring and I support his efforts on this issue. Now, Get Equal has a web page that allows you to add your signature to Cleve's letter. Here are highlights from his letter:
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This profound statement [passage of health care reform] about the power of politics to change the lives of everyday people touched me deeply. And it reminded me of the opportunity we have right now to transform the lives of Americans again -- the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
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As shocking as it may be to believe in the year 2010, in 29 states a lesbian, gay or bisexual person can be fired simply because of their sexual orientation and in 38 states a transgender person can be fired because of their gender identity. That's why the Employment Non-Discrimination Act is so vitally important.
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Once passed, ENDA would provide to all Americans basic protections against workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. As my friends at Pride at Work describe it, ENDA is "based on the labor principle that every worker should be judged solely on his or her merits as a worker" and is similar in nature to other federal civil rights laws like Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
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We've seen the passion you've brought to the challenge of passing health care reform. Now more than ever, we need your passion and skill to achieve the passage of ENDA.
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As you know, many Americans in the LGBT community -- especially young people -- are increasingly frustrated and cynical about the pace of progress in Washington. We want you to show them that cynicism is not the response at this time. They need to believe in the process, Madame Speaker, and you can restore their faith in this process by moving expeditiously to bring ENDA to a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives.
I know your values, Madame Speaker, and I know that you strongly support ENDA. Now I want these young people to know what is in your heart.

With the knowledge that health care reform has been achieved and that enough votes now exist in the House today to pass ENDA, will you work with Rep. George Miller, Chair of the House Committee on Education and Labor, to ensure that ENDA is passed out of committee and brought to the floor of the house immediately?
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To add your signature to the letter, please go to Get Equal's web page here and take action. I already have done so.

More Wednesday Male Beauty

Need an architect? My friend Martin is a cute, sweetheart and amazing architect.

Health Care Bill Lawsuits - Including Virginia's - Are Going Nowhere

I posted earlier about the dubious basis for the law suits filed by mostly Republican Attorney Generals - including Cooch, Virginia's top Kool-Aid drinker - challenging the passage of federal legislation providing for health care reform (BTW, faux moderate Bob McDonnell has endorsed Cuccinelli's lunacy). CNN has a new column that looks further at this waste of time and money. On the local front, the Cooch's crazy jihad may yet bit him in his homophobic ass. It seems that the Democratic Party of Virginia has filed Freedom of Information Act requests that will hopefully expose to the light of day the fact that Cuccinelli is acting on behalf of the far right GOP fringe and that state funds and resources are being needlessly wasted. First some highlights from CNN on the bogus nature of the lawsuits:
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A state attorney general is almost by definition a candidate for higher office. The filing of lawsuits challenging the health reform law by 14 attorneys general -- all but one of them Republican -- may look good for their next campaigns, but these cases are going nowhere legally.
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The case filed by Florida and 12 other states challenges obligations allegedly imposed on the states by the statute as well as the individual insurance purchase mandate imposed by the law. The Virginia case challenges only the individual mandate, setting up against it a new Virginia law purporting to nullify it. One of the states' claims is based on a simple misreading of the health reform law.
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The lawsuit claims that it compels the states to enforce the federal law or to operate exchanges that would make health insurance available to consumers. Section 1321 gives states the choice of doing so or not, and if states elect not to do so, the federal government will enforce the law and operate the exchange in the state.
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The Supreme Court has long upheld spending clause programs that require states that accept federal program funds to comply with federal program requirements, and this law simply follows those precedents.
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The challenge to the individual insurance mandate is simply not legally credible. First, it is not clear whether the federal courts even have jurisdiction to hear the claim. Under Article III of the Constitution, courts may not decide hypothetical questions but rather only actual cases and controversies. The states are in no way injured by the mandate that individuals purchase health insurance, and thus should not be able to challenge it.
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But the mandate is clearly constitutional. The mandate requires people who have household incomes above the tax filing limit ($18,700 for joint filers) and who are not covered by their employer or a public program to buy health insurance. Those who earn less than 400 percent of the poverty level will get tax credits to help pay for it. People who are subject to the mandate but choose to remain uninsured will have to pay a tax, which will increase with their income up to the cost of a high-deductible insurance policy.
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I am from Virginia. Like most states, we are in terrible shape financially, lacking money for schools, roads or health care. We cannot afford bankrolling frivolous lawsuits.
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As for what Cuccinelli's teabagger jihad may bring back to bite him in the ass, the Richmond Times Dispatch has a story. These are highlights:
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State Democrats today blasted Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s lawsuit against the federal government over health-care reform as a “right-wing” pursuit “doomed to fail,“ and said they filed a Freedom of Information Act request to find out how much money is being spent on the action.
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And when the issue of state’s rights arose, so did this state’s scarred racial past.
Asked by a reporter about any parallels between Virginia’s opposition to desegregation decades ago and its current fight against health care reform, Del. Jennifer L. McClellan, D-Richmond, said “absolutely.“
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McEachin predicted that the state will lose the lawsuit. The state Democratic Party, in their FOIA request, asked for the following: —records of Cuccinelli and the attorney general’s office staff in preparing the suit;
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—records of costs to taxpayers of staff work on the lawsuit;
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—a list of conference calls or written correspondence that the attorney general’s office had with other states’ attorneys general or any national conservative groups in planning the lawsuit;
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—the names of any outside firms contracted to assist on the lawsuit;
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—and the attorney general’s full schedule since taking office.
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Obviously, it will be interesting to see (1) how much money is being wasted and (2) who Cuccinelli has been meeting with. Somehow, I suspect his meeting has involved ultra far right teabaggers and purported conservative Christian organizations.

Georgia Prom - Good News and Bad News

First, the good news. A number of news outlets and blogs, including Towelroad, have reported on the enlighten approach adopted by the Bleckley County, Georgia, School District that has agreed to allow Derrick Martin (pictured at left), a gay senior, to bring his same sex date to the school district's senior prom. The school district's response is 180 degrees from that involving the Mississippi school district that cancelled its prom rather than allow a lesbian to bring her same sex date. Here are highlights:
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"After asking Bleckley County school officials permission in January to take another boy to the prom, [Derrick] Martin got word last week that his high school will allow it. Bleckley’s prom is April 17 in the high school cafeteria. “I didn’t expect them to say yes. It’s who I am. I have the same rights,” he said. “It’s my senior prom and I wanted to be able to prove not everyone would cancel prom.” Martin is an honor student who tutors at-risk elementary and middle school students after school. He also has a full scholarship to college. He said he knew the move would be controversial for the town of about 5,200 residents. At his high school, prom dates from outside counties must be approved in advance, so Martin went to his principal and asked. “At first she said no, Cochran wasn’t ready for it,” he said. But then last week, school officials said they have no policy in place against it."
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Now for the bad news. Martin's have thrown him out of his home because he is gay and because of the media coverage. What kind of f*cked up parent would do such a thing? I have three children and I simply cannot grasp how a parent could treat a child this way. No doubt, I suspect that these unloving douce bags parents see themselves as Godly Christians. The Macon, Georgia newspaper has these highlights on this utterly messed up situation:

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But because of the media attention, Martin’s parents have kicked him out and the teen is staying with a friend, he said. Martin said he pushed to take his boyfriend to the dance after hearing about a girl in Mississippi who asked to take her girlfriend to the prom. Her school eventually canceled the dance rather than allow them to attend together. “Maybe (other gay students) will think if Bleckley County will let them, maybe my school will,” Martin said.
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School Superintendent Charlotte Pipkin said the move is a first for Bleckley County. “I’m not aware of it having happened in the past,” she said. School officials have said they have no plans to cancel or change plans for the prom.
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On the positive side, various LGBT donors have stepped up and offered to make Derrick's prom memorable despite the sick parental behavior that has to have hurt him. Here are highlights on some of the offers:
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[A]n Atlanta filmmaker said he hopes to document the story. “I sent flowers to his high school,” said Randi Reitan, a resident of Eden Prairie, Minn., who sent a bouquet of yellow flowers with a rainbow-colored balloon to Bleckley County High on Tuesday to show her support. “We have a gay son. I wish he could’ve danced with a young man at his prom,” Reitan said. She also has offered to buy Martin and his date, who is from Tift County, boutonnieres to wear on prom night.
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Drew Dowdell from Pittsburgh is setting up a link on his Web site for people to leave donations for Martin to help buy the 18-year-old a limo ride to the prom.
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My heart goes out to Derrick and I will pray that his parents wake up to the evil that they are doing by treating their son in this manner. Obviously, if it is purported Christian belief that motivates them, they are a strong argument for why one would perhaps rather be an atheist rather than a Christian.

Wednesday Male Beauty

New Harris Poll Suggests GOP Is Becoming Party of Ignorant Idiots

I come from a family that was principally Republican going back for decades, certainly back into the late 1960's. Nixon caused a break in that trend, but then things gravitated back to the old pattern. Indeed, I recall my dad at political events back when Nelson Rockefeller was Governor of New York. Later I served on the Virginia Beach City Committee for the GOP before the Christianists hijacked the Party. At the time, it seemed that it was a respectable political party and that it for the most part catered to educated and rational people. It also was a party that understood the concept of separation of church and state and that the state and federal constitutions among other things protected minorities from mob majority rule. Not any more. Watching Rachel Maddow last night, she cited some scary data from a new Harris poll that confirms that nowadays to be a Republican one needs to be a self-centered, irrational Kool-Aid drinker. Here is some of the findings:
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67 percent of Republicans (and 40 percent of Americans overall) believe that Obama is a socialist.
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57 percent of Republicans (32 percent overall) believe that Obama is a Muslim
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45 percent of Republicans (25 percent overall) agree with the Birthers in their belief that Obama was "not born in the United States and so is not eligible to be president"
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38 percent of Republicans (20 percent overall) say that Obama is "doing many of the things that Hitler did"
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24 percent of Republicans (14 percent overall) say that Obama "may be the Antichrist."

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I can only wonder in what alternate universe these folks live in. Objective facts mean nothing to them. But then again, the GOP has been taken over by far right Christians who believe the earth is only about 6000 years old and that mankind shared the earth with dinosaurs for a period of time. One can only wonder what educated people in foreign countries must think of the lunacy of this large of a portion of the USA's population. Obviously, China and other nations that long to be the next principal powers must see these results as good news. The USA is slowly self-destructing from within and it's not the liberals causing the nation's decline.

An Unrestrained Tea Partier in Power

It seems I'm not the only one fearful of what Virginia's new Kool-Aid drinking attorney general will do to the state over the next four years inasmuch as he's already reaffirmed that gays in Virginia are second class citizens - indeed a class not even welcome to exist in Cuccinelli's world - and has now filed what is likely to prove to be a frivolous lawsuit that will deprive countless Virginians of health insurance coverage and/or the means to seek assistance with crushing insurance premium costs. Bob McDonnell, is not much better, although he is allowing Cuccinelli to be the out in the open lightning rod. All this in just two months from alleged "moderates." I pray to God that the media and voters will not fall for the obviously false moderate spiel from other GOP candidates. The Washington Post looks at Cuccinelli's teabagger jihad against progress and rationality. It is an unsettling situation and one has to wonder how McDonnell expects to be a "jobs governor" when the Cooch is doing all that he can to frighten people away from the state - including current residents. Here are highlights:
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Not five minutes after President Obama signed health-care legislation into law Tuesday, top staff members for Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II made their way out of his office, court papers in hand and TV cameras in pursuit, and headed to Richmond's federal courthouse to sue to stop the measure.
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Cuccinelli (R) went his own way, arguing that a Virginia law enacted this month that prohibits the government from requiring people to buy health insurance creates an "immediate, actual controversy" between state and federal law that gives the state unique standing on which to sue.
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The move was classic Cuccinelli -- bold, defiant and in-your-face, an effort to use any means at his disposal to stop what he sees as a federal government gone wild. That approach has transformed him in just a few months from being a fairly obscure state senator into a national conservative folk hero -- a tea partier with conviction and, more importantly, power.
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But as the fervency and number of Cuccinelli's supporters have grown, so has the vigor of his detractors, who are convinced that he is an ideologue using his office to further a political agenda and that he is interested only in representing those who share his views.
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"He thinks he's the attorney general for Fox News," said Paul Goldman, a Richmond lawyer and former head of the Virginia Democratic Party. "He wants to be Glenn Beck's favorite attorney general, and he's moving right on up there."
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Cuccinelli's newfound stature in his party could create tension in Richmond, where just a few short weeks ago it was Gov. Robert F. McDonnell who was being held up as the new face of the Republican Party, chosen by national leaders to deliver the response to Obama's State of the Union address.
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Although ideologically in line with McDonnell, who was also elected in November and supports Cuccinelli's lawsuit to stop the health-care law, Cuccinelli and his confrontational style could complicate the governor's efforts to rebrand the GOP as inclusive and pragmatic.
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"This back-of-the-hand, gratuitous, finger-in-your-eye, hand-on-the-chest stuff -- people don't feel good about it," said a senior Republican strategist in Richmond, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid creating a rift in the party. "It's not how you build a broad-based coalition."
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It is hopefully becoming clear to all rational citizens that Cuccinelli is a nutcase and that Virginia's interests would be best served with him out of office and safely in a mental institution somewhere under heavy meds. Some of us called out alarm back during the campaign yet sadly, voters fell for the McDonnell/Cuccinelli campaign based on lies.

More Tuesday Male Beauty

Dan Choi and Pam Spaulding Vent on Our Faux LGBT Leaders

EDITORS NOTE: Prior to the National Equality March, I had the honor of a one on one phone conversation with Dan Choi and I found him both inspiring and truly wanting to make a difference in the lives of future LGBT generations. In my view, I wish we had more such motivated activists.

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It is no secret to readers of this blog that I have little patience and even less respect for some of the self-anointed "leaders" of the LGBT civil rights movement. Leading that list is HRC, followed by a number of organizations that constantly seek monetary contributions, but are missing in action when hard hitting activism is involved. Recently, Dan Choi, a West Point graduate discharged under Don't Ask, Don't Tell, stepped up the rhetoric and moved from an HRC event and took the protest demanding the repeal of DADT to the gates of the White House. This bold action of civil disobedience landed Lt. Choi and Capt. Jim Pietrangelo in jail overnight. Now, Choi has done an exclusive interview with Newsweek and his commentary on the national LGBT advocacy groups is less than flattering. Here are some highlights:
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Lt. Dan Choi, a West Point graduate and fluent Arabist being discharged from the Army for being openly gay, was arrested last week along with former Army captain Jim Pietrangelo II, after handcuffing themselves to the White House gate in protest of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. They were handcuffed with the help of Robin McGehee, a former PTA president turned activist who last week cofounded GetEQUAL, an LGBT activism group inspired by civil-rights organizations and gains made through civil disobedience. "We've held marches, lobbied, manned the phone banks," says McGehee. "The last resort is to rumble."
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In his first interview after the arrest, Choi spoke with NEWSWEEK's Eve Conant about what drove him to act, the schism within the gay movement, and why those in support of gay rights need to be prepared to make personal sacrifices in the quest for full federal equality. Excerpts:
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Q. Critics of last week's civil disobedience at the White House and Nancy Pelosi’s office say this is not the time for actions like this. They argue that the gay-equality movement is so close to progress, why risk it all now?

A. Why not now? Within the gay community so many leaders want acceptance from polite society. I think there's been a betrayal of what is down inside of us in order to achieve what looks popular, what looks enviable. The movement seems to be centered around how to become an elite. There is a deep schism [in the gay-rights movement], everyone knows this. . . . We are tired of being stereotyped as privileged, bourgeois elites. Is someone willing to give up their career, their relationships with powerful people, their Rolodex, or their parents' love to stand up for who they are? I'm giving up my military rank, my unit—which to me is a family—my veterans' benefits, my health care, so what are you willing to sacrifice? They say freedom is not free, but it doesn't have to cost anything either.
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Q. When did you decide to take this step, to go beyond talking and do something like chain yourself to the White House gate?
A. Why now? Because you get tired of talking. [Over the past two years] I've done 50 live interviews, a hundred other interviews, how much more talk am I expected to produce? When I heard Kathy Griffin was going to be a spokeswoman for Don't Ask, Don't Tell, I wondered about that. I have great respect for her as an advocate. But if [the Human Rights Campaign] thinks that having a rally at Freedom Plaza with a comedienne is the right approach, I have to wonder. Don't Ask, Don't Tell is not a joking matter to me. To be at Freedom Plaza and not at the White House or Congress? Who are they trying to influence? I felt like they were just trying to speak to themselves. If that's the best the lobbying groups and HRC can do, then I don't know how these powerful groups are supposed to represent our community.
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Obama told us at the HRC dinner last year, you need to put pressure on me. I was there at that dinner, in uniform. So this is my mission; the president said to pressure him and I heard that as a warning order.
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Meanwhile, blogger friend Pam Spaulding was prodded to vent when she heard that HRC's Joe Solmonese has made Washington Life Magazine's 2010 Fashion Awards. I guess it's should not be a surprise given Somlonese's tidy six figure salary at HRC. A salary that to me is a ridiculous waste of funds. A true activist would do far more constructive work for half or less the money. But I digress. Here are some of Pam's thoughts that I completely endorse:
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I really don't know how to react to this. To me it's a sign of what "activism" has come down to in the land of TEH GAY. Isn't it an interesting juxtaposition to see that HRC's Joe Solmonese has made Washington Life Magazine's 2010 Fashion Awards ("We salute 35 men and women who bring that je ne sais quoi to the ballrooms and boardrooms of Washington"). ELEGANT ACTIVIST: Joe Solmonese. The president of the Human Rights Campaign favors designers Ann Demeulemeester, Billy Reid, and Dolce and Gabbana.
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It's pretty clear the HRC brand doesn't scream "grassroots" activism in the least; does it need to? I mean take a look at this invitation received by the Blend. This is how money is raised - we're not talking targeting small-dollar donations from someone at risk for being fired from the Dairy Queen in a Red State for being gay.
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Maybe I'm thinking too hard about this. I'm just thinking out loud here, not really editing my thoughts, because this really isn't about waging class warfare so much as trying to figure out what the identity of our movement should be embodied by in terms of branding and representation. A movement that exudes confidence -- can it be represented in a less material way? Does more ostentatious branding hurt because it projects that the group in question, LGBTs, aren't really suffering in terms of civil rights and therefore don't require urgent action by the President or Congress.
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I guess my question is are we all fighting the same fight from very different points of view that make it difficult to understand what a logical, sane strategy for success is when it comes to our movement's branding?

Unfortunately, I suspect that those like Solmonese have no clue as to what life is like in an anti-gay state like Virginia or the sense of urgency felt by closeted members of the military who live in daily fear of outing and an end to their careers, loss of retirement, and other dire effects and consequences. This is our lives we are talking about - even as Solmonese and those "leaders" of his ilk move on to the next cocktail party or black tie dinner event. The lack of urgency truly drives me crazy.

Ken Cuccinelli: A 'Death Panel' of One

As the Washington Post, Richmond Times Dispatch and other newspapers are reporting, Virginia's resident nutcase and village idiot, Ken Cuccinelli, has already filed suit challenging the new federal health care reform legislation signed into law b President Obama today. Cuccinelli falsely campaigned as a supposed moderate - moderate compared to Attila the Hun or the Mideval Inquisition? - and now is confirming that he is a Kool-Aid drinking teabagger and false Christian in the uber-Christian mold of The Family Foundation and other "family values" organizations which hate everyone that doesn't just look just like its lemming like members. Here are highlights from the Washington Post:
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Virginia's lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the federal health-care reform law has formally been filed. Within five minutes of President Obama signing the bill at a White House ceremony this morning, state solicitor general E. Duncan Getchell Jr. and Deputy Attorney General for Civil Litigation Wesley G. "Wes" Russell Jr. headed to the elevators of their sixth-floor office in Richmond and strolled outside, where they were greeted by television cameras, for the short walk to Richmond's federal courthouse.
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The suit argues that the legislation's mandate that individuals purchase health insurance exceeds the federal government's power to regulate interstate commerce under the U.S. Constitution. And it asserts that Virginia has standing to sue over the issue because of a new state law that prohibits the mandate in the state. "The collision between the state and federal schemes also creates an immediate, actual controversy involving antagonistic assertions of right," Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli writes in the suit.
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As an attorney with thirty three (33) years of legal practice (some of it in major law firms and a Fortune 50 corporation), I find Cuccinelli's arguments disingenuous at best. As Senator Max Baucus explained in a Washington Post article, Cuccinelli's law suit is likely frivolous, and one can only hope the Court awards sanctions against Cuccinelli personally. Here are highlights:
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Those of us who voted to proceed to the health reform bill and who voted for cloture on the substitute amendment take seriously our oath to support and defend the Constitution. And we have looked at this question seriously and concluded that the penalty is constitutional.
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And those who study constitutional law as a line of work have drawn that same conclusion. Most legal scholars who have considered the question of a requirement for individuals to purchase health coverage argue forcefully that the requirement is within Congress’ power to regulate interstate commerce.
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Take Professor Erwin Chemerinsky, a renowned constitutional law scholar, author of four popular treatises and casebooks on constitutional law, and Dean of the University of California Irvine School of Law. Professor Chemerinsky has gone so far to say that those arguing on the other side of the issue do not have “the slightest merit from a constitutional perspective.”
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As a second example, I refer my colleagues to an article by Mark Hall, law professor at Wake Forest University. Professor Hall’s article is a comprehensive, peer-reviewed analysis of the constitutionality of a Federal individual responsibility requirement.
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In it, Professor Hall concludes that there are no plausible Tenth Amendment or States’ rights issues arising from the imposition by Congress of an individual responsibility to maintain health coverage.
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Professor Hall notes further that health care and health insurance both affect and are distributed through interstate commerce. And that gives Congress the power to legislate a coverage requirement using its Commerce Clause powers.
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Turning now to how Cuccinelli's lawsuit is betraying the needs and interests of Virginians, the Huffington Post has an informative column. Besides demonstrating that Cuccinelli is uncaring to the reality of many Virginians, it also shows Cuccinelli's obscene hypocrisy when he claims that he is a believing Christians. Christ must want to vomit - as must Thomas Jefferson. Here are highlights from the Huffington Post:

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In Virginia, where I live, Cuccinelli could ultimately deprive some two million people of care they would otherwise receive under the new legislation. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates:
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1.2 million [Virginia] residents who do not currently have insurance and 344,000 residents who have nongroup insurance could get affordable coverage through the health insurance exchange.
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684,000 residents could qualify for premium tax credits to help them purchase health coverage.
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1.1 million seniors would receive free preventive services.
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190,000 seniors would have their brand-name drug costs in the Medicare Part D "doughnut hole" halved.
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93,400 small businesses could be helped by a small business tax credit to make premiums more affordable.
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The people who will be most harmed if Cuccinelli succeeds will be Virginians who have jobs but make too much to qualify for Medicaid and too little to afford health insurance. That would include most of the people who live in Wise County, located in Virginia's Appalachian Southwest.
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While I have not investigated the issue yet, I wonder how long it will be before rational Virginians will be looking for the mechanism to have Cuccinelli removed from office or whatever means is available under Virginia law.

Tuesday Male Beauty

Dutch Army + Gays = Genocide, Says Former American General

So far I have not commented on the mentally disturbed statements of retired General John J. Sheehan during his testimony on last Thursday to the Senate Armed Services Committee concern gay Dutch soldiers and blaming them for genocide. The General had no facts to support his bigoted statements, but then homophobes normally don't. It's all about them and the warped religious beliefs and personal hang ups on issues of sexuality. A Dallas Morning News story looks at the general's insanity and the Dutch governments strong rebuke, which included a statement that the general's comments were from the realm of fiction. One has to wonder how individuals so obviously out of touch with reality end up in positions of authority such as Sheehan. Here's a You Tube clip of his verbal diarrhea:
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The Dutch officials were quick to condemn Sheehan and rightfully label him a loon:
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European press has had a field day with the story, as Spiegel Online reports, the Dutch government was not too happy about the general's remarks:
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The Netherlands on Friday was quick to react to Sheehan's testimony. Dutch Defense Minister Eimert van Middelkoop issued a statement calling the remarks "outrageous and unworthy of a soldier." He went on to say, "I do not want to waste any more words on the matter."
Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said the remarks were "disgraceful" and "should never have been made. ... It is way off the mark to talk like that about people and the work they do under very difficult circumstances." He added that he would not take up the matter with Obama because Sheehan is retired.
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Wim van den Burg, head of the Dutch military union AFMP, called Sheehan's comments "ridiculous" and "out of the realm of fiction."
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A comment left on the story is indicative of the damage being done to the USA's tourism industry and how legalized homophobia and religious based discrimination makes the USA an unattractive travel destination for many:
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The comments made by the general reflect, I am afraid, the generally homophobic attitudes of Americans in general. It's sickening that a country that has had slavery and racism in its history is still racist, and nowadays adds homophobia to its toxic brew of conservative politics and intolerance. We have our problems in Canada with homophobia and racism, yes, but it's nothing of the magnitude one sees from Americans. I for one, am glad I do not live in your country, and I don't want to ever go there, especially the South.