More Saturday Male Beauty

Baltimore Sun: Prop. 8 Case Shows Weakness of Opposition to Gay Unions

When all else is stripped away - and there isn't even that much to be stripped away - the sole basis for opposing gay marriage comes down to reactionary religious based discrimination. A form of discrimination which, if allowed, makes a travesty of the U.S. Constitution's purported guarantee of freedom of religion for ALL citizens. Not just conservative Christians. Now the Baltimore Sun - Maryland's largest newspaper - has published an editorial that states that not only Proposition 8 needs be be struck down, but ALL legislative and state constitutional bans on same sex marriage. The nutcases at FRC, CWFA and other professional Christians who make a comfortable living disseminating hate (like Maggie Gallagher) must be convulsing on the floor with spittle flying. The fact that a paper like the Sun would stake such a bold position underscores that while they have been winning battles, long term the Christianists are losing the so-called culture wars. Here are editorial highlights:

*
The main argument by lawyers defending the law — that the primary purpose of marriage is reproduction and child-rearing — faced tough questioning by Judge Vaughn R. Walker, who repeatedly asked why there were no similar rules prohibiting marriage between people who cannot or choose not to have children. Defense attorney Charles J. Cooper could only reply that "the marital relation is fundamental to the existence and survival of the race" and that "without the marital relationship, society would come to an end."
*
Judge Walker seemed equally skeptical of Mr. Cooper's second line of argument, that marriage serves a beneficial social purpose and that extending it to same-sex couples would weaken its importance. "Do people get married to benefit the community?" he asked. "When one enters into a marriage, do you say, 'Oh boy, I'm going to benefit society'?" The judge then pressed Mr. Cooper for hard evidence that allowing gays to marry would hurt traditional heterosexual marriages.
*
[T]he strength of the plaintiffs' arguments is plainly in line with the growing acceptance of gay marriage, which is already legal in five states and the District of Columbia. But what was more striking was how empty the case was in support of the prohibition. Robbed of religious arguments, opponents were forced into positions that were ridiculous when taken to their logical conclusion. If marriage is for procreation, why do we let the elderly marry? Why not let lesbians marry, since they can procreate just as easily as heterosexual couples in which the man is infertile?
*
The claims that a ban on same-sex marriage is somehow for the benefit of society are just window dressing on deep-seated — and unconstitutional — prejudice. The time has come to recognize these unions as just as committed as their heterosexual counterparts to the purposes marriage was invented to serve and as equally beneficial to society.

Meet Maj. Rogers, A Fallen Hero Who Happened to be Gay

As a student of history, I cannot help noting how modern day homophobes demonstrate their ignorance and bigotry when they claim that gays should not be in the military because they are "limp wristed" or are described via some other homophobic stereotype. One such jackass that recently made such a comment is Yuma, Arizona Mayor Al Krieger (pictured at left) who might just as well have put a sign around his neck stating "I'm an ignorant ass." Truth be told, some of history's greatest military leaders have been homosexual, most notable Alexander the Great whose great love was Hephaistion. Then there was the Sacred Band of Thebes - the special forces of the ancient Greek world - which was a battalion of lovers. The Roman Emperor Hadrian. Or Richard the Lion Heart of England. Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, a remarkable French military leader. And there's T.E. Lawrence (a/k/a Lawrence of Arabia). And then there are the thousands of honorable and braves gay currently serving in the nation's military, a number of who that I have known have been special forces. My friend Jason Cianciotto who I first got to know back in 2003 when he was with the NGLTF has an editorial in the Arizon Daily Star that takes Krieger to task and talks about Maj. Alan Greg Rogers who was killed by an improvised explosive devise during his second tour of duty in Iraq on Jan. 27, 2008. Here are highlights from Jason's slap down on Krieger:
*
I wish Yuma Mayor Al Krieger could have met Alan - his life and ultimate sacrifice exemplifies why Krieger owes gay and lesbian servicemembers far more than a faux apology for his recent statement about "limp-wristed" soldiers (see the June 11 article "Ariz. mayor sorry for calling gays 'limp-wristed' "). *

*
Alan loved serving his country, loved his Christian faith and was proudly gay. He not only refused to forsake any part of himself because of anti-gay discrimination, he gave his life for his country despite that discrimination.

After his burial in Arlington National Cemetery, The Washington Post published a story about Alan's life, lauding him as a hero, the recipient of two Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart. However, many of us who knew Alan were struck by what wasn't part of the story: the fact that he was openly gay and worked to overturn "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
*
[A]s one of only 25 officers sent to Georgetown University in 2004 to earn a master's degree in public policy, Alan analyzed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" for his thesis. He concluded that repeal "would yield higher readiness rates, save potential millions of dollars in investigations and discharge processing of gays and improve our overall national security posture."
*
It was risky for Alan to write about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" while still enlisted, but he wanted to be a living example of why the military has more to gain than lose by welcoming gay soldiers.
*
He protected his 20 years of service by making personal sacrifices, including the ability to settle down with a partner while he was still enlisted. This was one of Alan's goals when he retired, which he planned to do after returning from Iraq. He never had the chance.
*
It's time to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" - for Alan and for the estimated 65,000 gay and lesbian soldiers who risk their lives for their country. If Krieger took the time to get to know even just a few of these heroes, I know he would agree.
*
Here in Hampton Roads, Virginia, there are thousands of brave gay members in our military. I met and spoke with several on active duty (both males and females), in fact, today at Hampton's Diversity and Pride event. Their focus? Serving their country and making sure that their partners will be taken care of should they die while on deployment. If anyone is "limp wristed," I'd say it's Mayor Krieger who needs to get his head out of his ass.

Saturday Male Beauty

Texas GOP on Homosexuality’s Threat to the Family

Apparently, the Texas GOP is striving to make the Republican Party of Virginia and Taliban Bob McDonnell and Ken "Cooch" Cuccinelli appear to be middle of the road moderates. In fact, the 2010 GOP party platform is so extreme that one has to wonder how much Kool-Aid the folks that adopted it were drinking - it must have been vast quantities. The rabidly anti-gay and anti-immigrant platform can be found here. It looks like something the Klu Klux Klan could happily endorse. As the Dallas Morning News notes in a main editorial:
*
[Y]ou didn't have to look far to see that the GOP base continues to value purity of belief. Gov. Rick Perry repeatedly pounded his fist about his party facing a battle for the soul of Texas. Other speakers wasted no time emphasizing their own conservative bona fides on such issues as protecting the Second Amendment.
*
The party platform took a hard line, too. For example, it calls on the feds to stop sponsoring pre-kindergarten classes. It proposes strengthening the powers of the hard-right-dominated State Board of Education. And it calls for overturning the U.S. law that makes children born on U.S. soil automatically U.S. citizens. (You can guess who that one's aimed at.)
*
How the GOP thinks it can continue to win in a state with an exploding Hispanic population by demonizing Hispanics is dumbfounding. Meanwhile, the platform takes aim at gays who are viewed as a menace to society. Cities like Austin and Houston that are flourishing precisely because they are more open to diversity and tolerance ought to be unnerved by the lunacy of the state GOP. Here's some of the platform language on gays:
*
We support the definition of marriage as a God–ordained, legal and moral commitment only between a natural man and a natural woman, which is the foundational unit of a healthy society, and we oppose the assault on marriage by judicial activists. We call on the President and Congress to take immediate action to defend the sanctity of marriage.
*
Marriage Licenses – We support legislation that would make it a felony to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple and for any civil official to perform a marriage ceremony for such.
*
Homosexuality – We believe that the practice of homosexuality tears at the fabric of society, contributes to the breakdown of the family unit, and leads to the spread of dangerous, communicable diseases. Homosexual behavior is contrary to the fundamental, unchanging truths that have been ordained by God, recognized by our country’s founders, and shared by the majority of Texans. Homosexuality must not be presented as an acceptable “alternative” lifestyle in our public education and policy, nor should “family” be redefined to include homosexual “couples.” We are opposed to any granting of special legal entitlements, refuse to recognize, or grant special privileges including, but not limited to: marriage between persons of the same sex (regardless of state of origin), custody of children by homosexuals, homosexual partner insurance or retirement benefits. We oppose any criminal or civil penalties against those who oppose homosexuality out of faith, conviction, or belief in traditional values.
*
Texas Sodomy Statutes – We oppose the legalization of sodomy. We demand that Congress exercise its authority granted by the U.S. Constitution to withhold jurisdiction from the federal courts from cases involving sodomy.
*
Not surprisingly, creationism would be taught in schools as science under the platform. Read the whole thing if you want to understand true lunacy. All in all, the platform is a call to oppose modernity and would impose one particular religious - and racist - view on all citizens. The Texas Tribune has live blogging of the coven of would be Klan members, religious extremists and general nutcases.

Southern Baptists Denounce Gays

The other major U.S. denomination that seems to have an undue obsession with all things sexual besides the Roman Catholic church is the Southern Baptist Convention. You know, the denomination that first came into being back at the time of the U.S. Civil War when it broke away from the larger Baptist convention because its members sought to uphold slavery. Besides subtle racism, gay sex seems to preoccupy far to many in the SBC leadership. Indeed, I cannot help but wonder about SBC big shot Richard Land (pictured at right) who seems almost as obsessed with gay sex as Peter "Porno Pete" LaBarbera and the always prissy and hysterically anti-gay Robert Knight. These guys are more obsessed with gay sex than - well, even the horniest gay men. Meanwhile, the SBC has major problems with sexual abuse by pastors, but given the denomination's decentralized structure, its far easier to turn a blind eye to the problem and try to pretend the issues doesn't exist. At their ongoing denomination convention the SBC has once again condemned gays. The Associated Baptist Press has more details:

*
[R]esolutions approved on the closing day of the June 15-16 SBC annual meeting in Orlando, Fla., denounced a proposal to repeal the Pentagon’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy banning open service by gays and opposed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act pending in Congress. The law would expand federal employment-discrimination law to prevent people from being fired because of their sexual orientation.
*
Another resolution gave attention to the “scandal of Southern Baptist divorce,” noting that despite the convention’s defense of the sanctity of marriage, studies indicate that conservative Protestants divorce at rates equal to or higher than the general population.
*
“We have been prophetic in confronting assaults in the outside culture on God’s design for marriage while rarely speaking with the same alarm and force to a scandal that has become all too commonplace in our own churches,” the statement said.
*
It called on churches to limit marriage to “only those who are biblically qualified to be married to one another and who demonstrate an understanding of the meaning of lifelong love and fidelity.”

City of Hampton Pride Event

Just a reminder that tomorrow is the City of Hampton's first ever Diversity and Pride event. I hope local readers will make a point of attending. Remember - all proceeds raised will benefit local charities. Kudos to St. Marks Episcopal Church and the Williamsburg Unitarian Church for spearheading this event.

More Friday Male Beauty

NGLCC Severs Ties With McDonalds Over Anti-Gay Remarks

I commented on Wednesday on McDonald's Chief of Operations, Don Thompson's, homophobic eruption and expressed my own intention of avoiding McDonalds since the corporation obviously doesn't want my money. As I interpreted Thompson's comments, Thompson believes that gays are not living in keeping with his bigoted Christian beliefs and that, as a result, we are somehow too dirty and immoral to be mentioned - indeed, even recognized as existing - in his corporation's advertisements. The photo at left is from a French McDonald's ad that Thompson says will never air in the USA. Seems that I'm not the only one who is not amused by Thompson's anti-gay bigotry and statements that by inference denigrate gay lives and relationships. The National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce NGLCC (of which HRBOR is an affiliate) has severed all ties to McDonald's in light of the homophobia that haunts the corporation's senior management. Here are some highlights from Huffington Post on the NGLCC's action:

*

A couple weeks ago, McDonald's, France, released a gay-friendly commercial that encouraged patrons to "come as you are." The ad, which created a lot of buzz (mostly in America, where it wasn't -- and as we learn below, won't be -- aired), got a reception from McDonald's execs in America that was colder than day-old fries.

*

In response to Thompson's comments, the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce -- the largest GLBT business group in the country with 1.4 million businesses -- has severed their relationship with McDonald's, writing in a letter:

We strongly believe that McDonald's plan to distance itself from LGBT and other diverse business segments, coupled with the release of the French TV ad, is ill advised and counter to the spirit of good business and sound ethics. We sincerely hope that McDonald's will reconsider its position and that the company will again show its support for LGBT people, our families and our businesses -- not just where it is politically expedient, but around the globe.

Barring a significant change in policy on the part of McDonald's, please consider this letter as official notice that the NGLCC will not accept future support or membership by McDonald's or any of its subsidiaries.

*

A poll on the Huffington Post story reflects that some 70+% of readers believe that Thompson's statements were homophobic. I hope that Thompson's bigotry ends up carrying a noteworthy price.

Cardinal Roger Mahony Ignored Abuse of "Illegal Aliens"

Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles (pictured at left) ranks right up there in terms of high level Catholic Church clerics who have enabled and run covered up for sexual predator priests. Like most of the Church hierarchy, Mahony is also a total phony and hypocrite. A case in point: he pretends to care about Hispanic members of the Church - likely so that he can shake them down for money and claim their numbers of Church rosters to make membership appear stable, yet callously dismisses sexual abuse of Hispanic youths because they are "illegal aliens." Now there's Christ like action - not. Once again I remain dumb founded as to why people continue to brown nose and pander to such morally challenged Church leaders like Mahony - who some speculate may move to Rome to avoid potential legal problems in the USA in the same manner as Cardinal Law who was "punished" by being given a plum position at the Vatican so as to avoid possible prosecution. Here are some highlights from the Orange County Weekly:

*
For years, the greatest shield Archdiocese of Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony has used to protect his pedo-priest-protecting ass from the full wrath of the public is Mexicans, specifically of the illegal kind. His Eminence blesses marches for LA's many amnesty rallies, has spoken out against Proposition 187, SB 1070, and many other Know Nothing resolutions--and that's a good thing.
*
Critics have long claimed Mahony does this only out of convenience given the demographic future of the Catholic Church, and I actually now finally believe that after reading a whopper of a disclosure in a deposition just released that's gaining national attention.
*
The deposition--taken Jan. 25 of this year for a civil lawsuit filed on behalf of a sex-abuse victim by Newport Beach attorney John Manly, who has proven as much as an annoyance to Mahony as he has to Diocese of Orange Bishop Tod D. Brown--proves again and again what a pedo-apologist and protector the leader of Southern California's Catholics are, but that's not a new story. To me, the biggest shock came early in the deposition, when Manly asked Mahony what did he do when a priest confessed that he had molested boys. "He told me that they were two families of illegal aliens and they had left the Los Angeles area," Mahony responded.
*
That's right. He did NOTHING. The story continues in part as follows:
*
Oh, and for the record: Mahony also told Manly he didn't bother to try and find those two families and the sex-abuse survivors--you know, because who cares about Mexicans unless they can deliver the tithes and nalgas in the pews?

Friday Male Beauty

Can Republicans Take Back the House?

I continue to have a sense of deja vu as we limp through the summer economically watching the destruction of the Gulf of Mexico as the result of corporate greed and regulators ready to turn a blind eye in exchange for future industry employment or outright bribes. It feels like the summer of 2009 with the lead up to Virginia's statewide races that witnessed a debacle for the Democrat candidates and the election of the most extremist GOP slate in likely decades. How did this happen? Democrats simply failed to give the party base any reason to be excited and motivated. And it's happening again. The GOP minority continues to out maneuver the spineless Democrats who continue to wimp out and fail to deliver properly on campaign promises. Meanwhile, the increasingly insane base of the GOP is enthused and motivated. Political pundit Larry Sabato - who graduated from UVA with me as an undergraduate - has some prognostications at his "Crystal Ball" website that ought to galvanize Democrats to action, but I fear it won't. Since the Democrats have delivered so pathetically on their promises, Sabato may well be right. Here are some highlights:
*
With less than five months left until Election Day, many political commentators are asking whether this year’s midterm elections could be a reprise of 1994 when Republicans picked up 8 seats in the Senate and 54 seats in the House of Representatives to take control of both chambers for the first time in 40 years. There is almost universal agreement that Republicans are poised to make major gains in both the House and the Senate. And while the GOP’s chances of gaining the 10 seats needed to take control of the upper chamber appear to be remote, the 39 seats required to take back the House of Representatives may be within reach.
*
There are some striking similarities between the mood of the American people today and the mood of the country 16 years ago. The most important similarity is that President Obama, like President Clinton in 1994, has seen his approval ratings fall below 50 percent which is generally considered the danger zone for an incumbent president and his party. The Democratic-controlled 111th Congress, like the Democratic-controlled 103rd Congress, is very unpopular with an approval rating of 21 percent in a May Gallup Poll. And only 24 percent of Americans according to the same poll are satisfied with the way things are going in the country. Given these results, it is not surprising that Republicans have been running either even with or ahead of Democrats when voters are asked which party they want to control the next Congress. That was true in the summer of 1994 as well.
*
If we project the 1994 loss probabilities onto the 2010 distribution of Democratic seats in terms of party strength and incumbency status, we would expect Democrats to lose 42 of their current seats in November. Since Democrats are given a good chance of picking up at least three current Republican seats (one each in Hawaii and Louisiana and the at-large seat in Delaware), we would expect a net loss of 39 House seats, leaving Republicans with the narrowest possible majority: 218 seats to 217 for the Democrats.
*
As I continue to state, the Democrats need to do things to motivate their base - and that means delivering on the campaign promises of 2008.

Equality Virginia's Hampton Roads Legends Event

Once again I am serving on the steering committee for Equality Virginia's Legends Event which will be held on November 6th, 2010, at the Renaissance Hotel in Portsmouth, Virginia. Since the events inception, it has honored local individuals who have stood up for the equality of all Virginians, but especially the rights of the LGBT community. This year two good friends are the individual honorees and, for the first time, a community organization will also be honored. The organization selected to be honored is St. Mark's Episcopal Church here in Hampton, which has long been ahead of the curve in terms of supporting gay rights and the dignity of all in the community. Indeed, St. Marks is co-hosting tomorrow's Diversity and Pride event in downtown Hampton - the city's first ever Pride event. I encourage local readers to consider attending. Better yet, be a sponsor or get involved with the committee. Here are more details on the event:

*
The EV Legends Event is Hampton Roads Premiere Black-Tie gathering for the LGBT community and their supporters. Each year, this event attracts several hundred guests and is promoted throughout the entire community. Your 2010 sponsorship will ensure that your business is promoted to LGBT and LGBT supporters throughout Hampton Roads. Being a dinner sponsor is a great way to contribute to today’s important and historical movement towards equality, while opening the doors of your business to the large and loyal audience of LGBT and LGBT-friendly patrons.

*
Click here to learn more about sponsoring EV Legends and supporting equality to all Virginians.
*
P. S. Another way to become involved is to host a house party. Throughout the summer and fall, EV will be sponsoring a series of house and community parties in Hampton Roads. Our house parties are fun and educational and are a great way to find out what EV is doing and bring awareness to your friends and family at the parties.

More Thursday Male Beauty

Repeal Advocates Pressure Jim Webb and Democrat Wimps

I have been up front in my total dissatisfaction with one of my U.S. Senators - i.e., Jim Webb - and his betrayal of LGBT Virginians and the countless closeted service members stationed in Virginia through his vote against the DADT "compromise" in the Senate Armed Forces Committee. That and his willingness to kiss the wide asses of homophobes in the senior ranks of the U.S. military. Indeed, I suspect his staff have winced reading this blog or when they encounter me at political event. Fortunately, more and more LGBT advocates are waking up to Webb's betrayal and the damage he is likely doing to incumbent Democrats up for re-election this November. As E.J. Dionne notes in a Washington Post column, malaise within the Democrat base is the number one problem facing the Democrats as November approaches:
*
There is something preposterous about how the administration and congressional Democrats have lost every major public argument that they should be winning.
*
They lost it on a stimulus bill that clearly lifted the economy, as Alan Blinder, a former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, argued persuasively in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal. They are losing it on the health-care bill, a big improvement on the current system enacted through a process that made it look like a tar ball on an Alabama beach. They are losing it on the deficit even though it was Republicans who cut taxes twice while the Bush administration was starting two wars.
*
Professor Obama and his allies ought to be ashamed of this. The cure for malaise is to have a self-confident sense of purpose, and to act boldly in its pursuit.
*
The result is that more and more activists are willing to speak out against Jim Webb and similar cowards who are afraid to act and deliver on the campaign promises from the 2008 campaign are who are playing directly into the hands of the GOP. Webb and those like him are making a strong case that electing Democrats makes absolutely no difference - so why bother to vote for them. Here are highlights from an article in The Advocate that looks at the growing pressure and similar Judas Iscariots within the GOP:
*
Repeal advocates are mounting an effort to push back on Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia for voting against “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal in committee in order to keep other Democrats from doing the same on the Senate floor.
*
“We hope that Virginians will not give Senator Jim Webb a pass on his vote in the Senate Armed Services Committee to keep ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ on the books,” said Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. “His vote was against equality, and fair-minded Virginians should take exception.”
*
Sarvis said holding Webb accountable for his committee vote is an important part of sending a message to Webb’s counterpart, Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, that voting against repeal on the Senate floor will have consequences among his constituents.
*
“It is our hope that Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia will do the right thing when the defense bill is debated and voted on the Senate floor,” he said.
*
Sarvis said it was “critical” for those who favor repeal to contact their senators and urge them to “follow the lead” of the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Carl Levin of Michigan, who will oppose attempts to strike repeal or weaken the measure’s language.
*
What can readers do on this issue? Contact Jim Webb's office and let him know that his anti-gay vote will have negative consequences in your home district. While you are at it, tell your local member of the House of Representatives that Webb and those like him may cause you to sit out the November elections. Somehow, I suspect that if Webb and his homophobe embracing cohorts in the Senate get enough calls from livid House members, just maybe Webb, et. al, will decide to change their anti-gay attitude.

Marriage Opponents Denigrate Gay Lives

There has been much chatter across the blogosphere in terms of the closing arguments in Perry v. Schwarzenegger. Like many in the LGBT community, I find the statements of the Proposition 8 proponents down right hateful and in the final analysis their argument is that the lives and loves of LGBT citizens don't matter. Worse yet, they describe our lives and loves as something nasty and hurtful to society. The boyfriend and I have yet to take advantage of the new same sex marriage laws in the District of Columbia, but certainly may do so in the near future. To hear Prop. 8 counsel Charles Cooper describe same sex relationships as a threat to society itself enrages me. Who are these self-righteous, false Christians to condemn the lives of other humans? I am not the only one who takes these hate filled slights personally. Two amazing blogger friends who have legally married their partners - one in California and the other in Connecticut - each have touching posts wherein they express their personal outrage at the denigration and marginalization of their lives by Proposition 8 proponents like Maggie Gallagher who have enriched themselves financially while disseminating anti-gay hate and bigotry. I felt portions of their posts need to be re-quoted and promoted because they underscore the inherent evil of the efforts of the anti-marriage equality forces.

*

The first is Jeremy Hooper of Good As You (pictured with his partner Andrew above left) who married his partner last summer and in fact had photos of their wedding featured in Martha Stewart's wedding magazine issue earlier this year. Here's a portion of what Jeremy has to say about the Bible beating bigots who try to fraudulently depict themselves as the victims of gays oppression:
*
[W]hen . . . Christian-allied firms like the Alliance Defense Fund use arguments involving procreation, morality, Judeo-Christian marriage roots, or the supposed ability of gays to "change" (all of which were used), our side ABSOLUTELY has the right (responsibility?) to shoot these lines downs! Because the truth is that NO GAY ACTIVIST -- NO. GAY. ACTIVIST! -- is trying to force Christians to accept same-sex marriage, working to force faith leaders to marry same-sex couples, or in any way demand that churches honor gay unions. Those decisions are up to individual faith denominations, and that kind of advocacy, if it's to happen at all, must happen from within the individual churches. The only matter we care about in this Prop 8 case is *CIVIL* law and gay citizens' right to love under it. THAT is what the Prop 8 crowd put on trial back in November of 2008. We're now demanding that they answer for it!! Unapologetically so.

*

The other individual to speak out from a personal perspective is Waymon Hudson, a fellow Bilerico contributor pictured with his husband Anthony at below right). Their marriage is one of the 18,000 marriages that occurred before the passage of Proposition 8 which the professional Christian crowd have now asked be voided by Judge Walker. Here are highlights from Waymon's thoughts:

*
My husband and I married in California before Prop 8 passed and are among the Limited Edition Married Gays that exist in a separate and not equal space when it comes to relationship recognition. Now the same people that have claimed time and again that we are somehow weakening their marriages by simply being together are actively seeking to strip us of any rights or recognition our marriage provides us. Follow the twisted logic? Me either.

*
To have these groups literally seek to break up marriages because of their own personal bias is disgusting. They will not be satisfied until they can come into our home, take our marriage certificate of the wall, and rip it in half. Yet somehow they continue to wear (with the help of a increasingly lazy media) the mantle of "family value" voters and proponents.
*
How can taking away my family's rights and recognition be a "family value"? How can telling children of same-sex couples that their parents are less-than and abhorrent in their anti-equality campaigns be protecting families? Why do they still get to claim any sort of family values at all?

*
The Prop 8 backers and those like them have never been able to provide any proof of harm to their marriages or the institution of marriage by allowing same-sex couple to join in. Their arguments boil down to personal distaste or outright bigotry- hardly sound legal reasons.
*
The dishonesty of their stance needs to be challenged by everyone around them. They need to be forced to answer how they claim the are for "saving" marriage while trying to destroy legal, existing marriages like mine. They need to answer how they are "pro-family" while demonizing our families and children. They need to be pushed and pushed until the world sees them for what they are: small-minded people with deep prejudice, not some crusading do-gooders who "just have political differences" with equality for all.
*
I'm gay. I'm married. I'm pro-family. I have family values. They don't get to own these terms. They belong to all of us. And I won't cede them to the likes of these people any more.
*
I agree with Jeremy and Waymon completely and, candidly, I find it difficult not to view that anti-gay lobby as a bunch of evil bigots worthy of my hatred. I know that that's not a Christian reaction. But then their conduct is anything but Christian. They - or at least their self-dealing leaders like Maggie Gallagher - ARE evil people.

Thursday Male Beauty

Perry v. Schwarzenegger Closing Arguments

The closing arguments were presented yesterday in Perry v. Schwarzenegger in San Francisco. The full transcript can be found here. Stunningly, the proponents of Proposition 8 made two basic claims: (1) the majority gets to decide what rights, if any, minority groups will have and (2) they don't need any evidence to back up their claims that legalizing same sex marriage would be detrimental to heterosexual marriage. I guess the state of Massachusetts - which has the lowest divorce rate in the USA - is disintegrating and the folks up there just don't realize it. The proponent's arguments in translation means that they believe that their religious views trump all else. End of discussion. Indeed, the arguments of Charles Cooper, lead counsel for the Proposition 8 supporters, sound like something you'd expect to hear out of the mouth of Tony Perkins or Pat Robertson. Here are a few highlights from a synopsis of Cooper's brazen statements via the Washington Post:
*
Charles J. Cooper, arguing on behalf of Proposition 8 backers, told Walker that it is "crucial to the public interest" to limit marriage to opposite-sex couples. It is "fundamental to the very existence and survival of the human race" that society promote marriage to ensure that procreative relations are in "enduring, stable unions," with a goal that children be raised by both parents.
*
Cooper said his side had to show only that including same-sex marriages would not further the "procreation goal that is at the heart of marriage."
*
The fallacy in Cooper's argument, of course, is that if marriage is solely for the purpose of procreating children, then the logical extension is that women past child bearing age or who are infertile need to be banned from marriage as well. And couples who decide to never have children I guess need to have their marriages annulled as well. Cooper jumps through disingenuous contortions rather than utter the word "religion" - which is what Proposition 8 is all about. In response, Ted Olson shot back as follows:
*
Olson invoked groundbreaking Supreme Court civil rights decisions, such as Brown v. Board of Education, which forbade racial segregation in public schools, and Loving v. Virginia, which threw out that state's law against interracial marriage. "Proposition 8 discriminates on the basis of sex the same as Virginia law discriminated on the basis of race," Olson said.
*
Interpreting the Constitution is not a job that allows a judge to wait until the public opinion polls improve, Olson said. "Some judge is going to have to decide what we've asked you to decide," he said.
*
Personally, in my view, if Proposition 8 is upheld, then true freedom of religion is dead in the USA. Upholding Proposition 8 will have the effect of a de facto establishment of a particularly nasty version of Christianity as the law of the land. It's a form of Christianity based on hate, discrimination and which has caused all kinds of horrors over past centuries.

U. S. Housing Market Bringing More Doom to Economy

The Gulf oil spill and other issues - e.g., what's going to happen to Gary Coleman's body - have seized the main stream media's attention and there continues to be too little attention being paid to the continue free fall in the U. S. housing market. Foreclosures continue at record levels, prices continue to fall as comparables are driven lower by foreclosed properties and programs to assist homeowners who are underwater on their mortgages continue to be largely a farce. Don't believe me on the latter? Try working with Bank of America, Wells Fargo or another big lender and see where you get - typically nowhere. Loss mitigation and loan modification personnel are generally both incompetent and unresponsive. Ditto for management companies managing/marketing bank owned properties where personnel appear to know little or nothing about how to get a real estate closing done. Equally distressing is the fact that no relief seems to be in sight as many sit and wait rather than buy because they fear prices may fall further. Add to that the difficulty investors and rehabbers are experiencing in securing financing and it's a recipe for more disaster. For going on three years I have said that until housing recovers, there will be no true economic recovery. Lenders created the problem and now they are about to make it even worse. Washington doesn't seem to get this simple fact. Here are some highlights from Money Morning that look at this bleak picture:
*
Here's the problem. While the "headline" numbers - the summary statistics we cited above - appeared to portray an improving market, a look beneath the surface reveals those worrisome undercurrents.
*
Consider, for example, the statistics for actual bank repossessions. Those hit a record of 93,777 properties in May - a 1% increase over April's record and a whopping 44% up from the same month a year ago.
*
In spite of the record number of repossessions we've seen by banks and mortgage-service firms recently, millions of delinquent loans are still on banks' books and in mortgage pools. Banks, unwilling to take more write-downs or to incur the high cost of maintaining repossessed homes, have hidden behind federal and state government-foreclosure moratoriums and a host of modification programs designed to keep borrowers in their homes.
*
But this desperate tactic - known by industry insiders as "delay and pray" (or sometimes as "extend and pretend") - may have finally run its course in the U.S. housing market.
*
Instead of having a market in which U.S. housing prices are firming and heading higher, the expiration of the homebuyer-tax credit, stubbornly high unemployment, restrictive mortgage underwriting standards and a growing overhang of unsold properties is putting more downward pressure on home prices. Banks are realizing that the hoped-for "bounce" isn't coming and are beginning to take back more properties so they can unload them for as much as they can get before prices decline even more.
*
Here's the truly frightening question: What will happen to U.S. housing market prices when foreclosures catch up with delinquent borrowers and the greater-than-50% of modified loans that are now re-defaulting? Once foreclosures are completed and titles to repossessed homes are in the hands of banks and mortgage servicers, they have no other option but to unload their unwanted inventory as fast a possible.
*
[W]hile a situation can always change, it's unlikely that the growing wave of repossessions will have anything other than a negative impact on the value of the nation's housing stock, its banks, its economy and the U.S. stock market.

Wednesday Male Beauty

McDonald's Operations Chief Basically Tells U.S. Gays to Go to Hell

I never cease to be amazed at the willingness of self-righteous "Christian" to attempt to inflict their religious beliefs on all - even in the business world where one ought to be courting every segment of consumers. Not so McDonald's operations chief, Don Thompson (pictured at left), who finds gays offense to his religious beliefs and has flatly rejected any U.S. advertising that might suggest that LGBT Americans are as welcome in McDonald's locations as say - blacks. Nope, that would offend Thompson as a Christian, so even though the gay accepting McDonald's ad running in France has done well - indeed, it probably made a positive impression on many LGBT consumers - Thompson has made it clear in an interview with the Chicago Tribune that no such ad will be seen in the USA. My response? I'm not big on fast food, but to the extent I will be buying any on car trips, etc., there are plenty of options besides McDonald's which will not be seeing a penny of my money. Here are highlights from the Tribune interview:
*
Tribune: A French TV ad featuring a gay teen and his father has stirred some controversy — not there, but here. Can you talk about that?
*
Thompson: It is an example that markets, cultures are very different around the world. (For instance), I've never shied away from the fact that I'm a Christian. I have my own personal beliefs and I don't impose those on anybody else. I've been in countries where the majority of the people in the country don't believe in a deity or they may be atheist. Or the majority of the country is Muslim. Or it may be the majority is much younger skewed. So when you look at all these differences, it's not that I'm to be the judge or the jury relative to right or wrong. Having said that, at McDonald's, there are core values we stand for and the world is getting much closer. So we have a lot of conversations. We're going to make some mistakes at times. (We talk) about things that may have an implication in one part of the world and may be the cultural norm in another part of the world. And those are things that, yes, we're going to learn from. But, you're right, that commercial won't show in the United States.
*
Mr. Thompson, short of a public apology from you, you won't see me darken the door of any McDonald's location - EVER again. Sir, you are a bigot.

Obama's Gulf Oil Speech Bombs

From the reviews that I have read, it seems that I am not alone in viewing President Obama's speech last night on the Gulf oil catastrophe as a dud. First, the speech was about a month or more too late in coming. Moreover, Obama tried to make the case that the federal government had been aggressively in charge from the get go when anyone who has watched the news daily knows that BP has been the one incompetently calling the shots and doing its best to keep the news media from being able to fully report on the disaster. In short, Obama seems to have only underscored that he's not the leader that Americans had yearned for. He's a follower and only starts to get engaged when things have passed the stage of being fully f*cked up: health care, DADT repeal, energy policy - the list goes on and on. Typically, once engaged he can give a mollifying speech, but last night fell flat. Especially since the media was simultaneously running coverage showing that NONE of the oil companies involved in offshore drilling had a competent emergency response to a major oil spill. Indeed, they all had more or less the same useless plan with the only variance being in the cover on the "plan" and how much detail was aimed at media and PR response. Obama has been in office two years now and this status is totally unacceptable. For the reality in the Gulf, first these highlights from the Mobile Press Register:
*
Oil will likely continue to wash onto Alabama's coast through Monday, according to a forecast by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Persistent winds have pushed the oil slick closer to the Alabama-Mississippi chain of barrier islands and the Florida Panhandle.
*
Saturday, the Alabama Department of Public Health expanded its warning against swimming in coastal waters. People should avoid swimming in the Mississippi Sound west of the Dauphin Island Bridge and in Bayou St. John, Cotton Bayou and Old River in Baldwin County.
*
Health officials had previously warned against swimming in Alabama's Gulf of Mexico waters off Baldwin and Mobile counties and in Mobile Bay waters at Fort Morgan. In the bay, numerous areas of oil sheen ranging from the size of a baseball field to the size of a tennis court dotted the surface Saturday afternoon. The sheens appeared on both sides of the ship channel to the north of Middle Bay Lighthouse. There were reports earlier in the day of a large amount of emulsified oil floating in that area of the bay, though none was seen during a late afternoon cruise.
*

The economy of the Gulf Coast is dying - along with marine and wildlife - as Nero, I mean Obama fiddles in Washington. The government response has been incompetent, and I suspect this disaster will be Obama's Katrina: too little, too late. Here's highlights from the Huffington Post on the President's speech:
*
Obama really, really wants to stop the oil spill. And he really, really wants to hold BP accountable for the damage they've done. And he really, really wants the Gulf Coast to come through this hardship and he really, really wants to wean us from our dependency on foreign oil, and oil in general. But "really, really wants" is not a plan, and only the bitterest and most brain-dead of political opponents would have presumed, going into tonight, that Obama had not yet properly sentimentalized his opinions on any of those matters.
*
And yet, basically what we got, in spades, was sentiment. To be sure, it was no doubt deeply felt. And for all anyone knows, there may be, already codified, a whole series of plans in the works related to stopping the oil gusher, cleaning the gulf coast, and implementing a new series of energy policies. And they may be great plans! But if you were hoping that some of that stuff would be revealed on actual teevee cameras, in prime time, well, you were S.O.L.
*
Some good news, I guess, is that Ray Mabus has been given oversight of a Gulf Coast Restoration Plan and that Michael Bromwich will be the new head of the heretofore terrible regulatory agency known as the Minerals Management Service. It may also cheer you to learn that if all goes according to plan and all the lobbyists in the world drop dead tomorrow and legislators stop behaving like a bunch of politically-compromised ass-clowns, BP will be forced to pay for the damages and the Gulf Coast will be restored.
*
I think you can swap out the references to energy and add back references to health care, and we can all take a trip down memory lane, to the time we all wondered why Obama wasn't out there, actively pushing for something specific in the arena of health care reform. Right down to the "I am happy to look at other ideas and approaches from either party" part, which basically commits Obama to a lengthy period of Chuck Grassley jacking himself off as the Republican Party returns with the idea of doing nothing that even remotely looks like it might be helpful to his Presidency.
*
One very specific action Obama could have taken tonight was to make it clear that BP's ongoing clampdown on the media attempting to cover the oil spill was not to be tolerated and must end immediately. Didn't even merit a mention!
*
How do you spell failed presidency? That's what it seems we are getting. But for Sarah Palin on the ticket, I suspect that even with his insanity, McCain now looks to have been a better choice to a number of folks.

More Tuesday Male Beauty

The Perry v. Schwarzenegger Prop 8 Trial Closing Arguments

Tomorrow morning U. S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker will hear the final arguments in Perry Vs. Schwarzenegger, the federal court trial to overturn Proposition 8. Last week Judge Walker issued a list of 39 questions he wanted answered by both sides in advance of closing arguments. The responses of the Plaintiffs' team lead by Ted Olson and David Boies can be found here. The responses of the Proposition 8 supporters can be found here via Good as You. I have not yet read all 100 pages of answers, but from my initial perusal so far, the Olson/Boies team seems to have far better answers. In contrast, the answers of the Proposition 8 supporters parrot conclusions/talking points of the Christian Right as to the detrimental effect of same sex marriage yet show ZERO linkage between same sex marriage and erosion of heterosexual marriage world wide. Yes, there are more divorces, more single parent households, blah, blah, blah - but these phenomenon started long before same sex marriage came on the scene in Massachusetts. Judge Walker's questions looked for fact based answers and the Proposition 8 supporters seem to have failed to deliver - likely because no statistical data exists to support their religious based diatribe. Karen Ocamb at LGBT Pov has further analysis. Here are some highlights:
*
[T]he federal Prop 8 case seems to boil down to the constitutional rights of gays as a group of historically disadvantaged people versus the political will of “the people” based on their religious beliefs. After the majority of the case concluded last Januray, philosopher/columnist Linda Hirshman wrote in the Daily Beast that the “gay-marriage case now unfolding in a San Francisco courtroom may be the most important battle between tradition and modernity since the Scopes trial.”
*
Indeed, one of the questions plaintiff’s counsel has been instructed by Walker to answer in closing arguments is whether sexual orientation is a “choice” or not – a key to whether gays can be legally considered a minority deserving of equal protection under the US Constitution.
*
See Trial Summary at: http://www.equalrightsfoundation.org/press-releases/perry-v-schwarzenegger-trial-summary/
*
See complete court filing of answers at: http://www.equalrightsfoundation.org/legal-filings/plaintiffs-response-to-courts-questions-for-closing-arguments/
*
In advance of delivering closing arguments on Wednesday, June 16 in the Perry v. Schwarzenegger trial, the plaintiffs’ legal team led by Theodore Olson and David Boies submitted answers today to the 39 questions posed by the court last week.
*
The American Foundation for Equal Rights brought together Olson and Boies, who notably faced-off in Bush v. Gore, to demonstrate that Proposition 8 violates Americans’ Constitutional rights by creating separate classes of people with different laws for each, in conflict with the nation’s founding principles, including equal protection under the law. Proposition 8 unconstitutionally stripped the right of same-sex couples to marry in California.
*
“Neither tradition nor moral disapproval is a sufficient basis for a State to impair a person’s constitutionally protected right to marry,” their answers state. “Tradition alone is not enough because the constitutional imperatives of the Equal Protection clause must have priority over the comfortable convenience of the status quo.”
*
“If a state constitutional provision is inconsistent with the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, it can no longer be given effect—regardless of its level of public support,” their answers continue. “Whether or not Prop. 8 was motivated by discriminatory animus, it is unconstitutional because it facially discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation and sex.”
*
“While Proponents speculate that permitting same-sex couples to marry could result in a parade of horribles, when asked point blank, their lead counsel admitted that Proponents ‘don’t know’ whether allowing same-sex couples to marry would harm heterosexual relationships.”
*
“The campaign employed some of the most enduring anti-gay stereotypes—many of which reflect messages from prior anti-gay campaigns—to heighten public apprehension, including messages that gay men and lesbians recruit and molest children, that gay and lesbian relationships are immoral or bad and should be kept ‘private’ and that there is a powerful gay ‘lobby’ or ‘agenda’ intent on destroying heterosexual families and denying religious freedom.”
*
Some additional excerpts:
*
• “The issues that the Supreme Court confronted in a number of its most significant equal protection cases were the subject of widespread public debate at the time of the Court’s decision (see, e.g., Brown v. Bd. of Educ., 347 U.S. 483, 494 (1954); Loving, 388 U.S. 1)—but such debate did not cause the Court to hesitate when invalidating discriminatory legislation. This holds true whether the Court applies strict scrutiny, intermediate scrutiny, or rational basis review.”
*
• “Thus, just as the plaintiffs in Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967), were not asking the Supreme Court to recognize a new right to interracial marriage, Plaintiffs here are not asking this Court to recognize a new fundamental right to same-sex marriage. They are instead seeking access to an existing constitutional right that has long been denied to gay men and lesbians. The mere longevity of those discriminatory and irrational restrictions on the right to marry is a constitutionally inadequate ground for continuing to exclude gay men and lesbians from this ‘vital personal right.’”
*
Frankly, if religion and religious based animus is stripped from the equation, I do not see how the Proposition 8 supporters can rebut the factual data and testimony entered by the plaintiffs.

World Cup Mania

I will be the first to admit that outside of sports in which I participate myself - snow skiing, surfing, figure skating, water skiing - I truly did NOT get the sports gene. Add to that the fact that big, lumbering, overly muscle bound (or fat guys in the case of some American football players) just don't do it for me, and it's easy to see why you won't find me glued to the sofa during football season. Indeed, I much prefer leaner, yet toned types of guys. Like swimmers and soccer players. As a result I view soccer as a far more titillating sport than American football which I view as a modified form of thuggish Roman gladiator games absent the penalty of death for the losing contestants. Of course to make a justification for my preference I can also rely on The Advocate's new piece entitled "15 Gay Reasons to Watch the World Cup." My favorite reason (other than Cristiano Ronaldo pictured above, of course):
*
15. Because of the um, athleticism. Sure, there's tons of eye candy, but soccer is a tough sport, more so than American football with all the padding and the amount of time it takes to set up plays. Watch the World Cup for the pure sport of it! And surely a couple of entertaining fights will break out along the way. .

*

Enjoy the games! :)

NPR Poll Spells Bad News for Democrats

Over the weekend I triggered a bit of a firestorm of debate with a post I did on The Bilerico Project that addressed the continual betrayals of LGBT Americans by President Obama and Congressional Democrats. Regardless of one's views on the merits of LGBT voters sitting out the November, 2010, elections, the issue I raised in terms of the disillusionment of Democrat voters is real - very real in fact. Yet the Democrats refuse to realize that disillusionment is what happens when campaign promises are broken or when the promised legislation ends up as some piss poor reflection of what voters wanted. A new NPR Congressional Battleground Poll ought to be spreading terror among many incumbent Democrats facing serious challengers - yes, Glenn Nye, I mean you in this group - yet elected officials like Virginia's Senator Jim Webb continue to feel that the Democrat base can be lied to and thrown under the bus - often not even graciously. As I have stated before, from my perspective we are now seeing at the national level the same thing that occurred in Virginia in 2009: enthusiastic and motivated Republican base opposed to a disillusioned and apathetic Democrat base. If Democrats refuse to vote and act like Democrats, rightly or wrongly, people only remember the broken campaign promises, not what the GOP opponents MIGHT do. Here are some highlights on the poll findings:
*
The results are a wake-up call for Democrats whose loses in the House could well exceed 30 seats. In the named-congressional ballot in the 60 Democratic districts, Democrats trail their Republican opponent, 42 to 47 percent, with only a third saying they want to vote to-relect their member. In the top tier of 30 most competitive seats, the Democratic candidate trails by 9 points (39 to 48 percent) and by 2 points in the next tier of 30 seats (45 to 47 percent). On the other hand, the Republican candidates are running well ahead in their most competitive seats ( 53 to 37 percent). As we saw in the special election in PA-12, Democrats will have to battle on a seat-by-seat basis — that has shifted these kinds of numbers this year.
*
The effort by individual campaigns will have to push against walls that seem very hard to move at this point. We tested Democratic and Republican arguments on the economy, health care, financial reform and the big picture for the 2010 election. The results consistently favored the Republicans and closely resembled the vote breakdown. Democrats are hurt by a combined lack of enthusiasm and an anti-incumbent tone.
*
Bottom line? The Democrats need to convince their base that having Democrats in office leads to a different result. In the case of LGBT voters, Democrats have delivered almost nothing. Add to that the ineffective health care "reform" passed this year, and there is little reason to be enthusiastic. The Democrat incumbents have no one to blame but themselves.

City of Hampton Solicts LGBT Investors and Entrepreneurs for Revitalization

Mellen Street, the next Rehobeth Avenue or DuVal Street?

I frequently describe Virginia as a particularly non-gay friendly place to live and work. However, there are elements within the state (which obviously exclude our current Governor and lunatic Attorney General) that want to change that situation. Indeed, there is growing recognition of the importance of the LGBT community in developing communities and cities that are magnets for what Richard Florida has termed the "creative class." One example is the May 3, 2010, conference of the Virginia Chapter of the American Planning Association held Norfolk which specifically looked at the importance of LGBT businesses and the LGBT community in the revival of areas such as Norfolk's Ghent, Richmond's Carytown, and the Del Rey area of Alexandria. The conference even included a session on "Being Out . . . and In Business" which included two members of Hampton Roads Business Outreach ("HRBOR"), Virginia's only affiliate of the NGLCC, as panelists.

*

Now, for the first time to my knowledge a Hampton Roads city has specifically and enthusiastically sought the engagement of the LGBT community and LGBT investors/entrepreneurs in a revitalization effort. One June 9, 2010 the City of Hampton Department of Economic Development invited HRBOR board members - I was an attendee - to a meeting to review the investment and development opportunities in the Phoebus area of the city. Phoebus, which was a small independent city until 1952, has the potential for pedestrian friendly development like Ghent, Carytown, the historic section of Rehobeth Beach, Old Town Key West and other areas that have become thriving LGBT and artistic centered neighborhoods and/or destinations. With the U. S. Army's upcoming closure of historic Fort Monroe in 2011, Phoebus will have increased water front and beach access, increased marina space, plus the continued draw of the Casemate Museum at the 19th century fort and the newly expanded American Theater (pictured below).

*

As for economic incentives, through various programs investors can pursue loan programs, grant programs, and both state and federal historic tax credits (combined a 45% credit), plus favorable zoning that allows the construction of new, green vintage look properties for first floor commercial use and second and third floor residential use. Information on these programs can be found here and here. As for marketing the area from a tourism perspective, Phoebus is centrally located and less than an hour from Williamsburg, Yorktown and Jamestown, as well as less than an hour from Virginia Beach. Situated at the first west bound exit from Insterstate 64, Phoebus offers easy access for Norfolk shoppers/restaurant goers as well as the entire Virginia Peninsula population. Additional gay friendly accommodations will obviously be needed to make Phoebus a potential gay destination, but the city is looking into exactly that type investment already. Hampton is celebrating its 400 year anniversary this summer - and also the city's first ever Pride event this coming Saturday, June 19, 2010, at Millpoint Park in downtown on the waterfront.

*

Will Hampton pull this revitalization off? Time will tell, but a good starting point already exists with a diverse population and existing restaurants and art venues. For more information on these exciting opportunities that offer ground floor entry prices, contact: Don Davis, Redevelopment Manager, Department of Economic Development, City of Hampton, VA, (Tel: 757-728-5144). e-mail: dedavis@hampton.gov

Church's Jesus Monument Destroyed by Lightning

Talk about irony! I often speculate on this blog as to what Christ would think of some of his unloving, self-style followers who seem to model their behavior more on the conduct of the Biblical Pharisees than the message of Christ as related in the Gospels. As the Dayton Daily News is reporting, the huge (62 feet high) Jesus statute at Solid Rock Church in Monroe, Ohio, near Dayton was hit by lighting and totally destroyed yesterday. A video of the fire can be seen here. The image below shows the pre-fire statute. Here are some story highlights:
*
In the late evening and early morning hours, social media sites such as Facebook fueled interest and onlookers: the curious, the incredulous and still others who just wanted to poke a little fun at the situation.
*
“God struck God, I like the irony. Jesus struck Jesus,” said Dawn Smith, 25, of Hamilton, who was among those standing outside the vehicles along Union Road. “I had to see it. What else are you going to do on a Monday night?”
*
Since its completion in 2004, the statue, which appeared to come out of a pond in front of the nondenominational megachurch, was known by multiple nicknames, including “Touchdown Jesus” because the arms and hands were raised upward. It also was known as “Big Butter Jesus” after comedian Heywood Banks referred to it as such and created a song about the statue, which he performed on radio’s popular “The Bob and Tom Show.”
*
The statue was constructed of wood and styrofoam over a steel framework that was anchored in concrete and covered with a fiberglass mat and resin exterior, according to the church. It was slated to undergo renovations this summer.
*
“I can’t believe Jesus was struck,” said his brother, who noted the giant Hustler Holl*ywood sign for the adult store across the street was untouched. “It’s the last thing I expected to happen.”
*

From my earlier perusal of Solid Rock Church's website, which is currently down, the church appears to be of the inerrant Bible mindset and, while I could not find any express any direct endorsement of "ex-gay" ministries, I suspect would not be classified as exactly "gay friendly."