Delaware Becomes 15th State to Ban Conversion Therapy

As The Advocate is reporting, Delaware has become the 15th state (plus the District of Columbia), to ban use of the discredited practice of "conversion therapy" or "ex-gay therapy" on those under 18 in an effort to "change" them into heterosexuals.  The practice is universally condemned by legitimate mental health and medical associations even as it is lauded by Christofascists who view the "ex-gay myth" as a political tool and a cash cow for fraudulent "ministries" that fleece desperate parents seeking to turn their gay children straight.  This past legislative session here in Virginia, similar bills  - SB 245 and HB 363 - were killed by Republicans as once again Virginia Republicans in the General Assembly put self-prostitution to The Family Foundation (Virginia's largest hate group) ahead of science and the welfare of LGBT youth.  Here are highlights from The Advocate:

Delaware Gov. John Carney today signed into law a bill prohibiting licensed mental health professionals in the state from subjecting minors to so-called conversion therapy, aimed at turning LGBT people straight. . . . .

The signature by Carney, a Democrat, makes Delaware the 15th state, plus the District of Columbia, to ban use of the discredited practice on young people. The law classifies performing conversion therapy as unprofessional conduct and grounds for discipline, reports Delaware Public Media.

Rep. Debra Heffernan, one of the bill’s sponsors, told Delaware Public Media the practice “is pseudoscience and child endangerment, plain and simple.” Indeed, it has been repudiated as ineffective and harmful by every major medical and mental health group.

LGBT rights groups lauded the legislation. “So-called conversion therapy is dangerous, cruel and uniformly rejected by every major mental health and child welfare organization,” said Human Rights Campaign national press secretary Sarah McBride, a Delawarean, in a press release. “Today’s signing is a critical step forward in the fight to ensure that Delaware is a safe and affirming state for all LGBTQ youth, and we hope that the values and progress reflected in this law guide the ongoing conversation in Delaware about protecting LGBTQ students from discrimination.

“This bill sends an important message that a child’s sexual orientation or gender identity is neither capable of being changed nor does it need to be changed, and efforts to try to do so in the name of therapy have no place in our state,” added Mark Purpura, an Equality Delaware board member, in the same release. “Instead, we should strive to understand and support each child’s unique personal identity to better empower them to thrive in school, at home, and in our community.

Bans on the use of conversion therapy on minors have been signed into law in the past few months by Republican governors in Maryland and New Hampshire and a Democratic governor in Hawaii. However, Republican Gov. Paul LePage recently vetoed a similar bill in Maine.

While much needed, the passage of such a bill in Virginia will likely be impossible until Democrats win a majority in both the Virginia Senate and the House of Delegates.

Delaware Passes Gay Marriage, Governor Signs Bill Into Law

Last week it was Rhode Island that embraced modernity and rejected religious based bigotry against same sex couples and enacted full gay marriage.  Today, Delaware joined the other 10 states that grant marriage equality to all of its citizens.  The final vote took place in the Delaware Senate where it passed by a 12 to 9 vote.   Not surprisingly, every Republican in the state Senate voted against gay marriage - as did two Democrats.  Also not surprisingly, representatives of the Roman Catholic Church spoke against equality under the civil marriage laws.  Governor Jack Markell signed the bill into law shortly after the Senate approved it.   Soon Minnesota will be voting on marriage equality and hopefully another Mid-west state will join the states that have ceased writing religious bigotry into their civil marriage laws.  The Washington Blade reports on today's good news from Delaware.  Here are highlights:

The Delaware Senate on Tuesday narrowly approved a bill that will allow same-sex marriage in the First State.

The 12-9 vote came more than three hours after lawmakers began to hear testimony from House Bill 75 supporters and opponents.

Senate President Pro Tempore Patricia Blevins (D-Elsmere,) Senate Majority Whip Margaret Rose Henry (D-Wilmington) and Senate Majority Leader David McBride (D-Hawk’s Nest) voted for HB 75 alongside state Sens. Brian Bushweller (D-Dover,) Catherine Cloutier (R-Heatherbrooke,) Bethany A. Hall-Long (D-Middletown,) Robert Marshall (D-Wilmington,) Harris McDowell (D-Wilmington,) Karen Peterson (D-Stanton,) Nicole Poore (D-New Castle,) David Sokola (D-Newark) and Bryan Townsend. Senate Minority Whip Gregory Lavelle (R-Sharpley) and Senate Minority Leader Gary Simpson (R-Milford) voted against the proposal along with state Sens. Colin Bonini (R-Dover,) Bruce Ennis (D-Smyrna,) Gerald Hocker (R-Ocean View,) David Lawson (R-Marydel,) Ernesto Lopez (R-Lewes,) Brian Pettyjohn (R-Georgetown) and Robert Venables (D-Laurel.)

“It is about treating couples the same under the law as all other couples,” Equality Delaware President Lisa Goodman said. “It is about similarly situated people the same.”  Peterson came out as a lesbian while she spoke in support of House Bill 75.

“We are not seeking to redefine marriage,” she said, noting she and her partner of more than 20 years entered into civil union once the state’s civil unions law took effect in Jan. 2012.. “We are seeking to expand the definition of marriage just as the Supreme Court did in the Loving v. Virginia case.”

Father Leonard Klein of the Diocese of Wilmington also testified against the proposal.

Gov. Jack Markell signed HB 75 into law shortly after the Senate approved it.  “Today, we wrote a new chapter in our history and proved, once again, justice and equality continue to move forward in Delaware,” he said. “By signing House Bill 75 into law, we are another step closer towards achieving that goal.”

“In Delaware, we do what is right for our citizens,” state Rep. Melanie George Smith (D-Bear,) who introduced HB 75 in the Delaware House of Representatives last month, added. “This bill is about equality and treating all couples in a loving, committed relationship with equal respect and dignity.”

Although its leading figures at the time of this nation's birth valued equality, Virginia nowadays does not provide equal respect and dignity to all of its citizens.  Instead, thanks to the strangle hold that the Christofascist have on the Republican Party of Virginia, religious based hate and bigotry remain an integral part of Virginia's laws.

Rhode Island Approves Gay Marriage

Yesterday the Rhode Island Legislature took its final vote and enacted gay marriage in the state bring the number of states providing for gay marriage to 10 - nowhere near the percentage of states with gay marriage in Brazil, a former bastion of Catholicism.  Needless to say, the Christofascists are far less than happy and the state's Roman Catholic bishop ranted that Catholics should not attend same sex marriage ceremonies.   The powers of anti-modernity simply cannot cope with the steady erosion of their power to inflict their hate and fear based religious views on the rest of society.  The tantrums and conniptions will surely continue even as the rest of society moves forward.  Here are highlights from a Washington Post piece on the historic vote yesterday:

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Rhode Island on Thursday became the nation’s 10th state to allow gay and lesbian couples to wed, as a 16-year effort to extend marriage rights in this heavily Roman Catholic state ended with the triumphant cheers of hundreds of gays, lesbians, their families and friends.

Gov. Lincoln Chafee signed the bill into law on the Statehouse steps Thursday evening following a final 56-15 vote in the House. The first weddings will take place Aug. 1, when the law takes effect.

“I’ve been waiting 32 years for this day, and I never thought it would come in my lifetime,” said Raymond Beausejour, a 66-year-old gay North Providence man who has been with his partner for 32 years. “For the first time in my life, I feel welcome in my own state.”  

After Chafee signed the bill, the hundreds of people who gathered on the Statehouse grounds erupted into cheers as a chorus sang “Chapel of Love.”

Once consigned to the political fringe, gay marriage advocates succeeded this year thanks to a sprawling lobbying effort that included support from organized labor leaders, religious clergy, leaders including Chafee and Providence Mayor Angel Taveras and hundreds of volunteers. Their efforts overcame the opposition of the Catholic church and lawmakers including Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed, who voted no but allowed the issue to come to a vote anyway.

Supporters framed the issue as one of civil rights, arguing in daylong legislative hearings that gay and lesbian couples deserve the same rights and protections given to opposite-sex married couples. The Catholic church was the most significant opponent, with Bishop Thomas Tobin urging lawmakers to defeat what he called an “immoral and unnecessary” change to traditional marriage law.

On Thursday, Tobin repeated his opposition, writing in a letter to the state’s Catholics that “homosexual acts are ... always sinful.”

Delaware could be the next state to approve gay marriage. Legislation legalizing same-sex marriage has narrowly passed the Delaware House and now awaits a vote in the state Senate.

Advocates in Rhode Island say that while they’re proud the state is the 10th to legalize gay marriage, they expect other states to follow quickly as support for same-sex marriage grows around the country. According to a November Gallup poll, 53 percent of Americans support giving gay and lesbian
couples the right to marry, up from 27 percent in 1996.

 Bishop Tobin, what's really sinful is denigrating and stigmatizing others.  Oh, and did I mention protecting and abetting child rapists?

Rhode Island Becomes 10th State To Approve Marriage Equality

The gay haters and Christofascists at the National Organization for marriage have not had a good last week and a half.  Uruguay and France approved gay marriage despite the efforts of NOM allies and now Rhode Island has joined the ranks of American states granting full marriage rights to gay couples.  And the Rhode Island Senate vote occurred despite extreme efforts by NOM and the Roman Catholic Church to intimidate senators into voting against the bill.  Worse yet in the eyes of the NOM hate merchants, Delaware seems possibly poised to follow Rhode Island's example - e.g., the Delaware House passed a gay marriage bill today.   Think Progress looks at the developments in Rhode Island today.  Here are excerpts:

The Rhode Island Senate just voted 26-12 to approve marriage equality, guaranteeing that The Ocean State will be the 10th state to allow same-sex couples to legally marry. Because the Senate made some revisions to the bill, it still requires a final passage in the Rhode Island House, which will likely happen next Thursday. Back in January, it passed easily there by an overwhelming 51-19 vote. Gov. Lincoln Chafee (I) has promised to sign the bill.

During today’s discussion, only one amendment was advanced, which would have allowed a referendum on the question, and it was defeated by a 10-28 vote. A similar proposal failed in committee on Wednesday. Though numerous religious exemptions allowing discrimination watered down the civil unions bill passed in 2011, no such amendments were offered for this bill. Rhode Island Sen. Harold Metts (D) was one of the few Senators who spoke extensively in opposition to the bill, launching into a 12-minute religious condemnation of same-sex marriage. Sen. James Doyle (D), who just came out for marriage equality a month ago, countered that if he gets to Heaven and the Lord’s first concern is how he voted on same-sex marriage, then he’s “doing pretty good.” Sen. Maryellen Goodwin (D) notably changed her position to support the bill just before the vote, adding that she was voting on the side of love.

Not only will Rhode Island be the 10th state (plus the District of Columbia) to allow marriage equality, but with it, all of New England will now recognize same-sex couples’s marriages.

 The trend line of history is clear.  The question is whether or not the justices of the U. S. Supreme Court will have the courage to embrace equality under the civil laws for ALL citizens.

France Approves Gay Marriage - Christofascists and Far Right Riot and Battle Police

I am proud of the French Legislature which did not cave in to the threats and violence of the "godly Christian" crowd and elements of the far right.  Indeed, the measure was approved 331-225 in the National Assembly.  France brings the number of nations with full gay marriage to 14 and the United Kingdom is still poised to move forward on marriage equality later in the year.  Here in the USA, both Rhode Island and Delaware advanced marriage equality bills today.  It goes without saying that anti-gay hate groups in America are seriously unhappy with the vote in France and are trying to put on last ditch efforts to keep anti-gay discrimination alive in Rhode Island and Delaware.

Back in France, the response of the French allies of the National Organization for Marriage and far right Catholics were prompt to take to the streets and riot.  These people just cannot stand the reality is that the world is moving on and that their special right to oppress others are starting to fall.  Joe My Good looks at what the pious set and their far right extremist allies have been up to following the vote:

More violence broke out in Paris tonight following the final passage of same-sex marriage. Via the Associated Press:

Within hours, fiery clashes broke out between protesters and riot police. Legions of officers stayed late into the night, and a protest against the measure turned violent near the Invalides complex of museums and monuments. Protesters threw glass bottles, cans and metal bars at police, who responded with tear gas. Earlier in the day, there appeared to be more police than protesters outside the Parliament building on Paris' Left Bank, but that calculation soon shifted as night fell and thousands gathered to protest the bill. The protest dwindled to a few stalwarts shortly before midnight, when the violence began among a few hundred demonstrators including some who carried signs saying "Socialist dictatorship."

Some early reports claimed that protesters had hurled Molotov cocktails at the police, but the AP appears to have removed that word from their articles. This must be the youth movement that Brian Brown is so proud of.

Is the image below a sample of what we can expect from American Christofascists if the U. S. Supreme Court finds a constitutional right to gay marriage?

Two More U. S. Senators Embrace Gay Marriage, Including GOP Senator Mark Kirk

The spittle will be flying in sheets in conservative circles in  backward areas of the states of Illinois and Delaware now that Delaware U.S. Senator Tom Carper and GOP Illinois Senator Mark Kirk have both endorsed full gay marriage.  Here is what Carper said on his Facebook page:

As our society has changed and evolved, so too has the public's opinion on gay marriage – and so has mine. I pray every day for God to grant me the wisdom to do what is right. Through my prayers and conversations with my family and countless friends and Delawareans, I've been reminded of the power of one of my core values: the Golden Rule. It calls on us to treat others as we want to be treated. That means, to me, that all Americans ultimately should be free to marry the people they love and intend to share their lives with, regardless of their sexual orientation, and that's why today, after a great deal of soul searching, I'm endorsing marriage equality.

More significant was Senator Mark Kirk's announcement which will cause the Bible beaters in the GOP base to go berserk.  BuzzFeed has deatils.  Here are excerpts:

Illinois Republican Senator Mark Kirk came out in support of marriage equality Tuesday shortly after the Supreme Court heard two potentially historic cases on gay rights.  "When I climbed the Capitol steps in January, I promised myself that I would return to the Senate with an open mind and greater respect for others," Kirk wrote on his blog.

"Same-sex couples should have the right to civil marriage. Our time on this earth is limited, I know that better than most. Life comes down to who you love and who loves you back-- government has no place in the middle."

Kirk is the second sitting Republican Senator to endorse marriage equality, following Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman last month.

The state senate in Illinois recently voted in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage in the state in a vote on Valentine's Day. Lawmakers in Illinois did not call the matter for a vote before they adjourned for their spring break.

Kirk supported Illinois Republican party chairman Pat Brady when attempts were made to oust him after he announced his public support for the bill to allow gay marriage in Illinois.

 It will be interesting to await the reactions of the hate merchants of the "family values" crowd and the rabid elements of the Tea Party.

Delaware “Family Values” GOP Candidate Busted on Child Molestation Charges

For the third time in as many days we are seeing the true nature of the "family values" conservatives who oppose same sex marriage, claim to worship the "sanctity of marriage" - all of whom coincidentally are REPUBLICANS.   First it was the prostitute soliciting "Christian family company" business owner in Maine, and then there was the GOP Attorney General of Arizona who had his affair exposed following a hit and run accident.Now it is Republican candidate for the Delaware State Senate, Eric Bodenweiser (pictured at left) who has been arrested on child molestation charges.  And, if you haven't already guessed it, the victim was a young boy.  And as is par for the course, Bodenweiser was a member of the anti-gay Delaware Family Policy Council.  The Washington Blade has details.  Here are highlights:

A Republican candidate for the Delaware State Senate who boasted of being a member of the anti-gay Delaware Family Policy Council was indicted this week on multiple charges of engaging in unlawful sex acts with a 13-year-old boy.

The indictment came less than a week after Eric Bodenweiser, 53, abruptly dropped out of his race for a State Senate seat in a conservative-leaning district near Rehoboth Beach that includes the City of Georgetown.

The indictment includes 113 felony sex charges, including 39 counts of unlawful sexual intercourse — first-degree and 74 counts of unlawful sexual contact — second-degree. Although the indictment doesn’t identify the gender of the victim, the Gape Gazette identified the victim as a boy who allegedly was sexually abused by Bodenweiser between Oct. 1, 1987 and Aug. 31, 1990 when he was between the ages of 10 and 13.

Jason Miller, a spokesperson for the Delaware Attorney General’s office, which is prosecuting the case, said the victim, who is now in his 30s, has spoken to the media and revealed details not disclosed in the indictment but which are expected to surface at a trial.

Among those who had endorsed Bodenweiser in his State Senate race was Christine O’Donnell, the 2010 Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Delaware.

Democratic candidate Jane Hovington, who was expected to lose to Bodenweiser by a wide margin, is now the only candidate on the ballot in the race for the 19th Senate district. She is being challenged by Republican former Georgetown Mayor Brian Pettyjohn, who is running as a write-in candidate.

Why is it that 99% of the time it is always the Republicans and "family values" crowd that are the child molesters and adulterers?