Virginia GOP (and The Christofascists) Kill Gay Non-Discrimination Bill

While honest and decent people may find grounds to differ on the issue of same sex marriage, polls indicate that some 90% of Virginians believe that employees should not be subject to being fired from their jobs simply because they are gay or lesbian.  Yet once again the Virginia GOP under relentless pressure from the Christofascists at The Family Foundation (an affiliate of the anti-gay hate group, Family Research Council) and the Virginia Assembly of Independent Baptist has killed a bill that would have protected STATE employees from being fired based on their sexual orientation.  Private employers would not even have been covered.  But protecting only state employees was too much for these Christofascist organizations who knowingly disseminate lies and untruths about LBGT individuals virtually daily as they also seek to destroy the separation of church and state in Virginia.  How do the Christofascists brow beat the GOP to go against the views of 90% of Virginians?  They threaten spineless GOP elected officials with primary challenges and, given how the Christofascists have taken over the grass roots of the Republican Party of Virginia, these whore like elected officials do the evil bidding of the haters at The Family Foundation.  The added irony is that Virginia desperately needs to attract new progressive businesses and employers to reduce dependence on federal spending.  Yet, by the killing of this non-discrimination bill today and by passing new racist voter ID requirements, the Virginia GOP has sent a strong message that Virginia is closed for business for all except religious extremists and white supremacists.  The Virginian Pilot has details on today's travesty.  Here are highlights:

Every year, they come to the Capitol, and every year they go away disappointed.  A dozen speakers pleaded with a House subcommittee Tuesday to approve legislation that would prohibit discrimination against state employees on the basis of sexual orientation.

At the end, as it does every year, the Republican-dominated panel tabled the Senate-passed measure (SB701), killing its chances of passage this session.  

"This is a bill about fairness," the patron, Sen. Donald McEachin, D-Henrico County, told the panel. "No one in the state workforce should have to worry about discrimination."

David Hanson, vice president for finance at VCU, said the lack of protection against discrimination is discouraging top talent from joining the faculty.  "It is not just about fairness - it's about business," he said.

Opponents, including the conservative Family Foundation and the Virginia Assembly of Independent Baptists, said there is no evidence that state employees are being discriminated against.  "There is no problem that this bill solves," said Del. Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah County. "Once again, we've heard from many people about this specter of oppression that really doesn't exist."

That's easy for Gilbert to say as a white man, retorted Del. Delores McQuinn, D-Richmond, who is black.  "Most white males can go wherever they desire," she said. "But discrimination is alive and well."

The dishonesty of The Family Foundation is stunning. My former client, Michael Moore, the former coach of the VCU volleyball team and many others who have been fired for being gay or lesbian prove that Family Foundation president Victoria Cobb and her minions to be nothing but deliberate liars.  As I have said many times before, in my opinion, the most tawdry whore has more integrity and honesty that Ms. Cobb.  She is a viper and a blight on Virginia.

VCU Backs Discriminatory Firing of Gay Coach

In what is beginning to feel like deja vue of the Moore v. Virginia Museum of Natural History case from a few years back where Michael Moore was fired for being gay, Virginia Commonwealth University ("VCU") is backing the firing of women’s volleyball coach James Finley (pictured above), claiming that the firing was not discriminatory. Both the Virginian Pilot and the Richmond Times Dispatch are carrying coverage of VCU's disturbing statement.  Candidly, I have seen first hand in the Moore case how Virginia agencies conduct their internal reviews of anti-gay actions by bigoted personnel and the contortions and gyrations that are engaged in to avoid a finding of discrimination are unbelievable.  Inconvenient and contradictory facts are ignored and, in my opinion, obvious lies are swept under the rug.  Anything and everything will be done to avoid a confirmation of anti-gay bigotry.  The situation is so bad that these internal reviews are akin to the Catholic Church hierarchy denying that a case of sexual abuse by priests exists absent a video tape of a child being raped by a priest on the church altar. Here are highlights from the Times Dispatch piece:

Virginia Commonwealth University has completed an internal investigation into the firing of women’s volleyball coach James Finley and determined that the action was founded.

“The Office of Institutional Equity’s exhaustive investigation confirmed that the employment decision was made in accordance with VCU policies and not as the result of any discriminatory action by our athletic director,” VCU President Michael Rao said in a statement emailed to university employees Thursday and then posted on the school’s web site.

Finley was fired in November after completing a 25-6 season. He claimed he was fired because he is openly gay, but VCU Athletic Director Ed McLaughlin denied that.

The internal investigation ends VCU’s look into the matter, and the school has already begun a search for a new coach.

I suspect that the only thing "exhaustive" about the investigation is the effort that went into concocting a story to back up VCU's athletic director's action.   Where does this leave Finley?  Under Virginia law, there are few options.  He can file a complaint under the state employee grievance procedure but truth be told, the Department of Human Resource Management from what I saw in the Moore case, DHRM will go to even greater lengths to avoid finding against a state agency even though it claims "does not advocate for employees or management, but, rather, provides impartial services to assist in the resolution of workplace disputes."  In my opinion, that statement is about as true as much of what came out of the old Soviet Politburo. 

Should Finley consider a state court lawsuit, there is nothing in Virginia statutory law that grants him a shred of meaningful protection.  As for mealy mouthed Executive Directive 1 (2010) signed by Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell after Ken "Kookinelli" Cuccinelli created an uproar when he advised Virginia's colleges and universities that the inclusion of sexual their non-discrimination policies was improper, an Executive Directive holds less weight that an Executive order such as the one involved in the Moore matter.  Thus, Executive Directive 1 (2010) is little more than window dressing signed by McDonnell to quell a political firestorm. 

This leaves Finley with a possible lawsuit in federal court under an equal protection or due process claim since ENDA continues to go nowhere in Congress.  Should that course be pursued, Finley will find himself in the 4th Circuit, perhaps the most conservative in the nation, and likely facing an uphill battle.  In sum, it is not a pretty picture, but such is life for LGBT Virginians who face constant religious based discrimination notwithstanding the laughable promise of freedom from religious discrimination under both the Virginia and U. S. Constitutions.  Hence why I recommend that gays considering a move to Virginia rethink the situation.

Virginia Commonwealth University Coach Fired for Being Gay

Many readers may be shocked by the title of this post, but hear in Virginia, LGBT citizens have absolutely zero state law employment protections and since Congress has never passed ENDA, there are no federal law protections either.  This was made abundantly clear by (1) Governor Bob McDonnell's refusal to sign an Executive Order adding sexual orientation to the Commonwealth of Virginia's employment non-discrimination policy, and (2) the refusal of the Virginia Supreme Court to consider an appeal by Michael Moore a state employee fired for being gay in Moore v. Virginia Museum of Natural History.  With virulently anti-gay Ken Cuccinelli the apparent GOP nominee for governor in the 2013 elections, a GOP win would likely guarantee that more anti-gay witch hunts would ensue throughout state agencies and universities.  GayRVA looks at the latest travesty at Virginia Commonwealth University ("VCU").  Here are highlights:

For eight years James Finley went to work for VCU’s women’s volleyball team. For eight years he poured his heart and soul into his team of women. And on Monday November 19th, James Finley was fired. Finley says the reasons for his contract termination are simple. It wasn’t his winning record. It wasn’t his personal commitment to the team. It wasn’t the move to a tougher competing conference his team earned under his guidance. According to Finley, it was because he was openly gay.

People picked the Rams to take 6th place. Instead they took 3rd, with a final record of 25-6 overall in the regular season- they got as far as the semi finals – a solid standing for a team in their first A10 championship.

On Nov. 19th, the Monday after they returned from the championships, Coach Finley had a message waiting for him from AD McLaughlin’s secretary. “They wanted a confidential meeting,” said Finley. He figured it was to discuss his contract renewal – most VCU coaches are on year-to-year contracts, and at the end of seasons, coaches and administration get together to discuss their future together.

But when Finley met with McLaughlin this time, the conversation was different. “He said they wanted to go in a different direction,” said Finley. The new direction did not include Finley as the head coach of his team. It did not include Finley on staff at all.

[T]here were several red flags that popped up throughout the season leading up to this moment.

“From the beginning he interacted with other coaches, staffs, other teams. He participated [with them], and  with ours he didn’t…  At booster events, he avoided me whenever I was there. [I'd be] having a conversation with him and he’d walk away when I was trying to talk to him. I’d say ‘Hi’ and he’d look up at me, and put his head back down and not acknowledge me.”

Finley didn’t think much of the issue as the season passed, but on Oct. 5th, when Pat Stauffer, a 30-year-veteran of VCU athletics and an open lesbian, was demoted from Senior Women’s Administrator to  Sr. Associate AD for Sports Administration. It was too much for Finley, it was another red flag.

Since his meeting with McLaughlin, Finley has taken action within the university system to solve his problem. He met with VCU’s VP of Diversity this week. He was told diversity was one of VCU’s core values, and that an investigation was started to examine his dismissal and his charge of discrimination. When asked what he wanted, Finley said “I’d like to have my job back.”

Virginia lacks sexual orientation in its list of protected classes for employment. However, VCU does include it in their anti-discrimination policy. Finley believes this policy was violated.

John Sternlicht, Finley’s husband and a lawyer, admits it’s very hard to prove discrimination in most cases – you have to look at the entire circumstance to understand what has happened. He believes his husband’s situation, with the lack of normal treatment and the demotion of the other LGBT employee, is evidence enough. “You have to have enough evidence to get your case to a jury or your case is thrown out,” said Sternlicht, “and this would be enough to get to a jury.”

The language McLaughlin used also caused Boyd and her teammates some concern.

“He said ‘We want someone to better represent the school,’ and coach had never done anything to misrepresent the school – he’s always very appropriate and nice to people, even when people are rude to him. I’ve never seen him in my 5 years misrepresent the school in any way.”

Boyd agrees with Finley and does not think this issue comes from the college’s higher-ups. “Our school is very diverse, I wouldn’t really expect this… I don’t think it’s VCU, I think it’s on the administrative side. I don’t want to throw the AD under the bus, but we never had an issue until he got here.”

And if a law suit ensues, who will represent VCU?  You guessed it, Ken Cuccinelli.  Anyone in their right mind should not want to move to Virginia.  And as I have noted many times before, were circumstances different, I'd move from Virginia in a heart beat.  Under Bob McDonnell and the Christofascists at The Family Foundation, an FOTF and FRC affiliate, Virginia is best suited for knuckle dragging Neanderthals.

Obama Kicks Off Virginia Campaign at Richmond's VCU

Even as the Virginia GOP tries to move Virginia backwards to a pre-Civil War society, Virginia's cities are slowly growing in population to a point where they are on the cusp of being able to out vote the backward rural bastions of the GOP.  Yes, there are still many Kool-Aid drinking knuckle draggers in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake (the latter in particular), but over all the urban vote seems to want to move forward into the 21st century rather than return to the 19th century.  Moreover, the urban populations reflect the racial diversity that is the new America - much to the horror of the white supremacist friendly Virginia GOP.  Thus, it's no surprise that Barack Obama kicked off his campaign in Virginia in Richmond, the former capital of the Confederacy, which in many ways is evolving into a progressive city (at least by Virginia standards).  The photo above shows some of the large crowd that turned out at Virginia Commonwealth University.  Blue Virginia notes the sharp contrast in the crowd against the GOP base:

Notice a few things about the crowd that Willard will never match? 1) Enthusiasm (why would anyone in their right mind be enthused about a corporate robot?); 2) numbers (Remember when Willard had a rally in a football stadium, and it was 99% empty? Guarantee - that will NOT happen to Barack Obama today, or any day in this campaign!); 3) a crowd that looks like America, in all its diversity (Willard's crowd - older and white, pretty much. Not that there's anything at all wrong with older white people - there are good and bad people in every race, religion, ethnicity, etc. - but crowds that are consistently made up of 95% older white people, as are invariably seen at Republican rallies, is NOT representative of the demographics of today's America. Sorry Willard.) 

Virginia History Texts Filled with Errors

Having served on the Standards of Learning committee that helped map out some of the requirements for Virginia history and social studies classes back in the mid-1990's, I am shocked but at the same time not surprised by recent articles such as the one in today's Washington Post that many of the history textbooks in use in Virginia are filled with errors. Personally, the problem stems from three main sources - (1) publishers such as the apparently incompetent Five Ponds Press which fail to have legitimate historians on staff or as review experts, (2) state review panels principally comprised of teachers who lack adequate subject matter expertise to even recognize error, and (3) college and universities education programs that put more emphasis on "education courses" at the expense of any subject matter knowledge. In Virginia, someone like myself with a high GPA history degree from the state's flagship university and a law degree from the same university cannot teach history in any Virginia public school because I did not take a batch of Micky Mouse education courses. With all of the talk of reforming public education in this country, one crucial requirement should be making sure that teachers have actual subject expertise. Here are highlights from the Post story:
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In the version of history being taught in some Virginia classrooms, New Orleans began the 1800s as a bustling U.S. harbor (instead of as a Spanish colonial one). The Confederacy included 12 states (instead of 11). And the United States entered World War I in 1916 (instead of in 1917).
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These are among the dozens of errors historians have found since Virginia officials ordered a review of textbooks by Five Ponds Press, the publisher responsible for a controversial claim that African American soldiers fought for the South in large numbers during the Civil War.
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"I absolutely could not believe the number of mistakes - wrong dates and wrong facts everywhere. How in the world did these books get approved?" said Ronald Heinemann, a former history professor at Hampden-Sydney College. He reviewed "Our Virginia: Past and Present." In his recommendation to the state, Heinemann wrote, "This book should be withdrawn from the classroom immediately, or at least by the end of the year."
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State officials plan to meet Jan. 10 to review the historians' concerns. "The findings of these historians have certainly underscored and added urgency to the need to address the weaknesses in our system so we don't have glaring historical errors in our books," said Charles Pyle, a spokesman for Virginia's Department of Education.
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The department approves textbooks after panels of reviewers, often elementary school teachers, verify that the books cover each of the Standards of Learning themes. Experts in particular subject matters also sometimes review books. . . . Teachers are not reading textbooks front to back, and they're not in a position to identify the kinds of errors that historians could identify," Pyle said.
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The fifth reviewer, DePaul University sociology professor Christopher Einolf . .. said many of the other books neglect key elements, such as the role of African Americans in 19th-century Virginia. "Making a mistake is one thing. Ignoring the role that African Americans played in the state is almost as bad," Einolf said.
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Historian Mary Miley Theobald, a former Virginia Commonwealth University professor, reviewed "Our America" and concluded that it was "just too shocking for words." "Any literate person could have opened that book and immediately found a mistake," she said.
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Theobald's list of errors spanned 10 pages, including inaccurate claims that men in Colonial Virginia commonly wore full suits of armor and that no Americans survived the Battle of the Alamo. Most historians say that some survived.

VCU Students Plan Events To Counter Wave of Suicides

I am pleased to see that students at Virginia Commonwealth University ("VCU") which two of my children attended are going to implement measures to try to make the campus more welcoming to LGBT students. I applaud their efforts and perhaps they and others can launch a vigil at the offices of Virginia's leading hate merchants, Governor Bob McDonnell and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. Perhaps protesting at the offices of The Family Foundation to draw attention to that organizations constant gay-bashing and foul agenda to make the Commonwealth of Virginia a theocracy might be in order as well. And if such actions were taken, calling the television stations might not be amiss. With the Metropolitan Richmond Visitors and Convention Association seeking to attract gay tourism dollars to the city, I suspect this type of attention would put some much needed heat on Taliban Bob and Kookinelli. The Richmond Times Dispatch has details and here are some highlights:

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Virginia Commonwealth University students plan to make a video with a message of hope for anyone facing the kind of despair that caused a Rutgers University freshman to jump to his death last week. Life can be crushing when viewed "from a very small lens," said Cameron Hunt, a senior who is a member of the executive board of Queer Action, a student organization at VCU.

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The VCU students want to give teens who have been bullied because of their sexual orientation a broader view. To those "who feel lost and feel alone," the message is that life improves, Hunt said. The students plan to make a VCU edition of "It Gets Better," a YouTube video by Seattle columnist and gay activist Dan Savage.

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VCU students also are planning LGBT History Month, with activities beginning Monday that include panel discussions and film presentations to celebrate National Coming Out Day on Oct. 11. LGBT History Month events long had been planned, but the video is a response to suicides such as the one at Rutgers, which the university in New Jersey confirmed Wednesday.

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"Anti-gay bullying is a major problem in our community and across the country," said Elizabeth Panilaitis, executive director of ROSMY, a local group that supports sexual-minority youths. Panilaitis said studies show these youths are four times more likely than their peers to attempt suicide. The Rutgers case should serve as a call to action for school administrators to intervene to stop bullying, she said. Whether it was a hate crime or cruel prank is in dispute, but the case resonates with gay students.

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Life can be especially difficult for freshmen facing "forced socialization" in residence halls, said VCU's Hunt. "I think that is one of the hardest places to be yourself," he said. When he came out as a freshman at James Madison University, Hunt said, he was "the target of immediate ostracism" and harassment.

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Liz Canfield, assistant professor of women's studies and the faculty adviser for Queer Action, agrees. "The homophobic voyeurism with which Tyler's personal life was violated is deeply disturbing," she said by e-mail. She hopes campaigns such as the "It Gets Better" project will not only educate and empower but also help "combat heterosexism and homophobia on our campus and in our larger culture."

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Except for pockets of gay harassment in freshman dorms, Hunt doesn't think VCU has a big problem with bullying.

Anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church Plans Virginia Protests

As the Richmond Times Dispatch is reporting, the professional haters at Westboro Baptish Church are bringing their foul stench to Virginia and plan on protests in both Richmond and the Norfolk/Virginia Beach/Portsmouth area. Counter protests are being organized by several groups with Facebook pages here and here. I hope locals will get out and demonstrate that haters such as these folks are not welcome in Virginia notwithstanding the Christianist that currently hold the offices of Governor and Attorney General. A list of locations where the hate group plans to protest and the proposed counter demonstrations is as follows:
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3/1/10- Norfolk
2:00-2:30pm Granby High School
2:45-3:15pm Bina High School (requests no counter-presence)
3:20-3:50pm Ohef Shalom Temple (requests no counter-presence)
4:10-4:40pm Norfolk Naval Station
5:00-5:30pm Temple Israel (requests no engagement with or acknowledgement of WBC)
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3/2/10- Virginia Beach
6:55-7:25am Landstown High School (administration requests no counter-presence)
8:00-8:30am Simon Family Jewish Community Center (the JCC has requested that there be no counter-presence)
9:00-9:30am Virginia Beach Convention Center
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3/2/10- Richmond
11:00-12:15pm Virginia Holocaust Museum (silent interfaith counter-presence organized by VA Holocaust Museum and members of the local faith community)
12:40-1:10pm The Jerusalem Connection
1:30-2:00pm UofR Hillel at the Jewish Community Center (the JCC does not want counter-protesters)
3:40-4:10pm Hermitage High School
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3/3/10- Portsmouth
6:50-7:20am Churchland High School
8:45-9:15am Torah Day School (requests no counter-presence)
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3/3/10- Virginia Beach
11:30-12:30pm Virginia Beach Convention Center
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3/3/10- Norfolk
2:00-2:30pm Norview High School

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Besides the anti-gay agenda of this despicable group, it is noteworthy that these bigots are also targeting Jewish institutions. These people are truly sick and demonstrate the nastiness of Christianism taken to extremes. Westboro puts out in the open what all too many of the Christianist believe but try to hide from the public. Here are highlights from the Times Dispatch:

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An anti-gay church says it will demonstrate in Richmond on Tuesday, and local community groups say they plan counterdemonstrations. Westboro Baptist Church, based in Topeka, Kan., has announced on its Web site a number of sites throughout Virginia that it plans to picket, including four in the Richmond region. Among other things, the church makes anti-Semitic comments about Jewish students and pickets funerals of American soldiers, claiming God has killed them for defending a nation of "sodomite hypocrites."
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Westboro "has a national reputation for promoting hate under the guise of being a functioning Christian church," said Simon Sibelman, assistant executive director of the Virginia Holocaust Museum. He said that representatives of the museum and the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, and others, will stand outside the museum at 2000 E. Cary St. on Tuesday at 11:45 a.m., when the Westboro Baptist Church says it will picket. About 300 people are expected so far, he said; a Westboro spokeswoman said fewer than 10 of their members will be in Richmond.
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Sibelman said, "There are people of conscience, of faith, saying, 'We will not tolerate this,' even to a handful of them." Jonathan C. Zur, president and CEO of the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities, said several student groups at Virginia Commonwealth University are coordinating a 1:30 p.m. rally at the VCU University Student Commons outdoor plaza. "We want to give Richmonders a forum where they can affirm values of respect rather than focus on negativity," said Zur, one of the administrators of the Facebook page created for the rally.
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Mychael Dickerson, spokesman for Henrico County Public Schools, said county police will have extra presence Tuesday at Hermitage High.

A New Political Generation

My youngest daughter has grown up around politics, but nonetheless it was inspiring to have her call me last night as she and many other Virginia Commonwealth Students joined in an impromptu celebration in the area around the VCU campus in Richmond, the one time capital of the Confederate States of America. The excitement and enthusiasm from the crowd could be heard in the background as she talked to me excitedly. Here's how a Richmond TV station described it:

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RICHMOND, VA (NBC12) - Thousands of students and supporters filled downtown Richmond, celebrating the win of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States. Broad Street was shut down from Belvidere to Lombardy streets. Richmond police estimate around two thousand people particpated in a peaceful and excited walk up the streets of Richmond. VCU students made up most of the crowd.

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The crowd cheered for Obama, and cheered change for the nation.They waved flags and Obama signs and marched down Broad Street from the Siegel Center down to the State Capitol. It was at the site of the State Capitol where they sang the Star- Spangled Banner.

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Those that spoke to NBC12 said they felt their vote counted, that this was a time of change, some being first time, young voters, and that they were happy at the outcome of this election. The crowd was peaceful, of a mix of ages and race, and those that spoke to NBC12 just expressed their excitement in this election.

Easter Weekend Wrap Up

Overall, the day was pretty nice. I did at the last minute opt for attending the Lutheran service after dropping my mother off at the Catholic Church. I had almost relented, but as I walked her into the church to await my sister and her husband, the Knights of Columbus were handing out literature. The Knights, who sat with their thumbs up their ass when it came to demanding the Church hierarchy clean house of bishops and cardinals who sheltered sexual predators preying on children and youths – and given the Knights’ vast wealth, believe me, the Pope would listen – have been very supportive of anti-gay initiatives around the country, including here in Virginia. That was all I had to see and I bit my tongue and walked out and down the street to St. Mark’s Lutheran. There, I enjoyed a lovely service in a parish that is gay accepting/affirming. Moreover, the parish members were very friendly and strongly encouraged me to attend again the next time I visit Charlottesville. As an added bonus, a VERY cute 1st year UVA student walked back towards the grounds with me, chatting along the way!!

Easter dinner at my sister’s was nice – as it always is – and my nephew who is a 1st year student at UVA provided merriment and crazy narratives of student life (he lives in a dorm on the university grounds, so what my sister doesn’t know cannot upset her). My nephew is quite a cutie and quite a character. My sister has a very nice home is in a newer neighborhood on the outskirts of town. Her only complaint is that she has a running battle with deer that come into the neighborhood along the green belts that run through and love to eat all of her flowers. They had eaten all of her tulips previously and then ate all the crocuses last night – you could actually see the hoof prints in her flower beds..

After dinner I took my mother back to her place and then drove to Richmond to see my youngest daughter who attends VCU. She showed me the house she and two friends are going to rent for next year and then we strolled over to Panda Veg on Grace Street for a light supper. The restaurant, while a bit of a hole in the wall, has terrific vegetarian Chinese food. I have eaten there many times since it was also a favorite restaurant stop of my son when he was a VCU student. The two of us had a nice visit and I enjoyed the candor that we can have with each other. She has been remarkable in her love and support of me through the whole coming out/divorce nightmare. The photo above shows two VCU – the university has an urban campus - dorms that front on Monroe Park in Richmond.

Sunday Night Rambles

I am back from my weekend trip to see my mom. It was a nice visit and I also got to see my sister and her husband who moved to Charlottesville a few months ago. I did intend to make the sacrifice and attend Catholic Church with my mother - we met my sister at the Catholic church in the downtown area instead of going to the University parish. When we got there, set up in the lobby was a big display, etc. for the Knights of Columbus - the supposedly pro-family and protector of widows and children fraternal organization that I once belonged to. Well, I was disgusted and ended up walking out and strolling on the Downtown Mall while my mom and sister stayed for mass.

An over reaction? Perhaps, but I think not. When the huge Catholic Church sex abuse scandal first exploded in Boston, the facts showed that one of the auxiliary bishops who Cardinal Law and his predecessors sent out to brow beat families and victims into remaining silent was Bishop Thomas V. Daily, by then Bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn and Supreme Chaplin of the worldwide Knights of Columbus. As more details of Daily's ghastly involvement came out, what did the Knights of Columbus do?? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Worse yet, the Knights continued to faun over Daily, kiss his as, and allow him to write disingenuous columns in the Order's magazine for members (which they continued to send me even after I quit the Knights and the Catholic Church). It was enough to make you vomit. Some protectors of families and children. The Knights are an utter fraud. In any event, I could not sit through anything that was going to pander to the K of C.

For those who want to know, yes, I did meet my youngest daughter briefly on the way back. She was working on some big project so dinner was quick. It was nice talking and she wants to be involved with Thanksgiving dinner with my family (probably at my sister's house in Virginia Beach). Whether either of my other two will attend will have to be seen. My nephew from Florida (the son of my sister who died in 2001) will be in town, although his sister will be in London where she is doing an internship. I look forward to seeing him - they lost both parents in less than 2 years and have been through a lot. He will be in London for Christmas and word has it his sister is taking him to Sweden for his Christmas present.

My sister's death was part of what made me snap and finally come out. Readers of my earlier posts know that she and I were the most alike of the five of us kids and always played by the rules and in many ways lived our lives to please others. Sadly, she had gotten through a nasty divorce and was really beginning to come into her own when she was diagnosed with lung cancer (even though she never smoked). She lived through 20 months of Hell before she died, a true heroine. Seeing her ordeal and how she was never true to herself - at least in my view - for so many years made me have to focus on what I was doing in my own life. It pleases me so much to see her children doing well and living their lives fully.

On a totally different note, as posted under the prior Male Beauty post, I am going to be doing my first interview on this blog. Adam Bouska, whose photos I am highlighting will be doing an interview. Let me know what things I should ask him.

Out of town

I am in Charlottesville for a conference tomorrow and my computer access will be limited. I am visiting my mom ( who has turned in fir the night)as I type this, then a conference on foreclosure issues hosted by a State Housing Authority to address the ballooning number of foreclosures and certain unethical "foreclosure rescue" schemes that take advantage of homeowners in financial distress. Several real estate investors from Tidewater will be there tomorrow too. Our goal is to craft legislation to be introduced in the legislative session that will provide safe harbor guide lines for investors and protect homeowners too. I still know many members of the Virginia General Assembly, so we hope to recruit bi-partisan sponsors for the bill. It should be interesting.

Tomorrow afternoon after the conference, I will bid my mom goodbye and head home, stopping in Richmond to have dinner with my youngest daughter who is a student at VCU. She alone of my kids is standing by me currently. She's a sweetheart and smart young lady. For those who have seen the crazy teen movie "Super Bad," she looks a lot like a shorter haired version of Emma Stone [pictured above] who plays Jules.

Depending upon when I get back to Norfolk, I may post some tomorrow night.

Charlottesville

Well, I did decide to make the drive to Charlottesville- I left the house at 7:45AM and missed all the potential traffic jams and was in Charlottesville by 10:15AM. My mom lives just down the road from Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello, pictured above.

I even made the supreme sacrifice this morning of going to Catholic mass with my mom, my sister and brother-in-law at the University parish. To say that I despise the Catholic Church is a pretty fair statement, but I went because it makes my mom happy. I find the institutional Catholic Church to be corrupt, dishonest and hypocritical among other things. The sermon today was on humility - something the Prada Pope and most of the Church hierarchy need to practice themselves rather than acting like feudal lords. In any event, there was plenty of eye candy at mass, as well as a number of easily identified probable closet cases (like I was while a student myself), no doubt wasting time, energy and emotional peace trying hard to pray away the gay.

After church we stopped by my nephew's dorm (he just started first year) and I met his roommate and the two guys from the next room next to his. Wow, they don't call UVA a cute boy school without reason!! Then it was on to the pool at the complex where my mom lives - no eye candy there except for one hottie - before going to my sister's new house that she and her husband just bought. It's a gorgeous house and let's just say the neighborhood is rather different than my own neighborhood which is "in transition" and beginning the gentrification process (translation: gays like me and Raymond are buying houses and redoing them so that all the more affluent straights will want to move into the neighborhood).

All in all, a very pleasant day (I studiously have tried not to think of all the work sitting on my desk at my office). Tomorrow on the way home I will stop by and see my daughter who just started college at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. Surprisingly, even though VCU is located in the former capital of the Confederacy, it is among the more liberal universities in Virginia, with outstanding arts programs. We'll do lunch (probably in Carytown just west of VCU, which is Richmond's gayest neighborhood) and maybe check out any shops that are open.