Obama Officially Opposes California Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment

Barack Obama has made it official and has released a letter that confirms that he opposes the adoption of the Christianist backed initiative to amend the California constitution. As I previously posted, John McCain (a/k/a , I can't keep track of my properties, John McSenile) has confirmed that he has dropped to his knees in front of the Christianists and supports the amendment initiative. Obama also again states that he seeks the repeal of DOMA and Don't Ask, Don't Tell, both of which McCain wants retained in full force and effect. Here is Obama's letter:

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Dear Friends,

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Thank you for the opportunity to welcome everyone to the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club's Pridc Breakfast and to congratulate you on continuing a legacy of success, stretching back thirty-six years. As one of the oldest and most influential LGBT organizations in the country, you have continually rallied to support Democratic candidates and causes, and have fought tirelessly to secure equal rights and opportunities for LGBT Americans in California and throughout the country.

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As the Democratic nominee for President, I am proud to join with and support the LGBT community in an effort to set our nation on a course that recognizes LGBT Americans with full equality under the law. That is why I support extending fully equal rights and benefits to same sex couples under both state and federal law. That is why I support repealing the Defense of Marriage Act and the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy, and the passage of laws to protect LGBT Americans from hate crimes and employment discrimination. And that is why I oppose the divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution, and similar efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution or those of other states.
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For too long. issues of LGBT rights have been exploited by those seeking to divide us. It's time to move beyond polarization and live up to our founding promise of equality by treating all our citizens with dignity and respect. This is no less than a core issue about who we are as Democrats and as Americans.

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Finally, I want to congratulate all of you who have shown your love for each other by getting married these last few weeks. My thanks again to the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club for allowing me to be a part of today's celebration. I look forward to working with you in the coming months and years, and I wish you all continued success.

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Sincerely,
Barack Obama

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Finding Self-Acceptance

I regularly get questions/comments via e-mail about my own experiences in moving to self-acceptance after so many years of self-hate due to my religious upbringing, the perfection I demand of myself, and the frequent past irritability from being in the closet. In fact, I remarked in recent weeks that I probably could have been a better parent if I had not been so plagued by my own demons and that I hope my children see that being out has made such a difference in my former moodiness. Other times, I receive questions as to what made me decide that I could no longer stay in the closet, etc. In any event, I received such a question recently and wanted to share my thoughts, with the caveat that each one of us is different and we each have our own baggage to overcome. Thus, anything I say may or may not work for someone else. That being said, here’s the question:
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I was wondering if sometime you might write more of your own experience of coming to better self-acceptance especially if/when those times happen when you still lash out (as most of us do, from time to time). Have you found a way to recover and try to work again with someone after a blow up?
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Coming to better self-acceptance has been a gradual process for me and literally has taken years since I first came out to my former wife in late 2001. I do not think there was anyone person, event or thing that magically got me to the much better place I am in now compared to most of my prior life. Rather, it was a combination of things. However, my therapist surely played a major role, so I will start with my relationship with him.

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My therapist's practice focuses principally on men in mid-life transition due to divorce, death of a spouse, loss of a child or like in my case coming out and divorce combined. I would be lying if I said I was always receptive to his advice and counsel. There were times that I lashed out at him and threatened to never go back, but I always ultimately did so since sooner or later I realized that what he was telling me was correct even if I did not want to hear it. He also was very good at trying to get me to live in the now and to have some faith that the future would sort itself out without me unduly obsessing about it in the present. The other thing that he counseled me on was patience (definitely not one of my strong suits), both in terms of reconciling with my two older children during the height of the divorce war and in arriving at a point where I was truly comfortable in just being me and living authentically. Yes, it was humbling to have to go crawling back to him and apologize, but it was worth it in the long run. Also, I think he knew that when I lashed out at him it was often really more a case of lashing out due to anger with myself and not so much him.
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Changing religious denominations combined with doing a great deal of reading on the Bible, its history, and the political and cultural bias in the Bible, etc., also was of great help. Catholic guilt can be so destructive. While I still consider myself as a Christian, I dismiss much of the Bible for being tainted by the limited knowledge of the writers and/or the political and cultural environment in which it was written (this applies to the Old Testament and the writings of Paul- who I see as a Pharisee who could not completely let go of the legalism he was raised with - in particular). Moreover, belonging to a less strident and judgmental church helped complete the process. That is not to say, however, that I have not had a confrontation or two with the pastors at First Lutheran on occasion or that there have not been times that I did not go to church because I was in a huff over something I was not happy with (e.g., the ELCA’s slow pace of arriving at full acceptance of LGBT members). But, the pastors, like my therapist, never closed the door and ultimately reconciliation would come to pass. By nature, I can blow up and not always be very diplomatic in my comments, but then I cool off and need to repair the damage of my own volatility. The lesson is to burn no bridges and, if you damage them, go back and re-establish communications.
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The other factor that I believe has helped me a great deal too is becoming involved in LGBT activism, be it HRBOR, Equality Virginia projects, or the new HROC effort to set up a local LGBT community center. Making more LGBT friends and seeing the diversity and goodness of members of the LGBT community goes a long way to dispel some of the negatives one can feel about being gay at times, especially living in a less than progressive area such as Hampton Roads.

Michelle Obama Praises Husband's Commitment to Homosexuals Update

UPDATE: CBN News also has a story going after Obama for supporting LGBT equality. Here are some highlights:

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Obama delivered another speech about faith Tuesday. He’s done a few of these concerning his faith and how it shapes his public policy. But Sunday his campaign and the Democratic Party were handing out pro-gay rights flyers at the Pride Festival in St. Louis. How is that going to play in the heartland? The Brody File has four flyers in its possession. You can view them by clicking here and here and here and here.

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Handing out pro-gay rights flyers while at the same time talking about your “Christian faith” is a MAJOR disconnect for not only conservative Evangelicals but for some of those Independent voting, moderate leaning working class folks in the rust belt. It doesn’t play well.

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Look, I understand that Obama is saying ALL people should be treated with respect. That’s not the issue. Evangelicals also believe ALL people should be treated respectfully.

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Of course, the most disingenuous statement is that evangelicals believe people should be treated respectfully. I guess that's why they oppose hate crimes legislation, oppose employment non-discrimination legislation, oppose non-discrimination in housing, and so many other measures that would assure gays of being treated with respect and as equal citizens. The CBN reporter, David Brody, obviously does not understand what being treated with respect ought to entail, or is he just a lying hypocrite?

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As for Michelle Obama, the above is the headline on a story today on the Christianist Cybercast News Service and is illustrative of how the wingnuts will do all they can to demonize anyone who makes public statements supporting full citizenship rights for LGBT Americans. Per the Christianist mindset, only they and those who conform to their intolerant, hate-based religious views get to enjoy all the rights of being a U. S. citizen. Of course, being Caucasian is also an unspoken requirement to full legal rights as well in the eyes of Don Wildmon, Tony Perkins, James Dobson, et al. Blacks are only embraced when they can be duped into doing the bidding of the Christianists worked diligently to first keep blacks as slaves and then later to uphold segregation. While it is impossible to stop the fundies from putting out this type of trash, we all need to be mindful of what Obama and others who support LGBT rights can expect to receive from these wingnuts. Note too how judicial decisions are disparaged. The Christianists' idea of democracy is mob majority rule, something the courts have consistently limited in order to protect minority rights. Here are sample highlights:

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(CNSNews.com) - The wife of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama told a crowd of homosexual activists last week that her husband wants to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and reverse the rule on homosexuals in the military. Michelle Obama also drew parallels with homosexual advocacy groups and the civil rights movement, referring to events "from Selma to Stonewall."

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Michelle Obama said her husband supports "a world where federal laws don't discriminate against same-sex relationships, including equal treatment for any relationship recognized under state law.""That is why he supports robust civil unions," she said. "That is why he has said the federal government should not stand in the way of states that want to decide for themselves how best to pursue equality for gay and lesbian couples -- whether that means a domestic partnership, a civil union or a civil marriage."

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The absence of a federal law [DOMA] could mean that the more than 40 states that have bans -- either constitutional or in statute -- on same-sex marriage would be required to recognize a homosexual marriage license from another state as a legally binding contract. Sen. Obama's position paper was likely referencing the federal definition provision that would extend Social Security and other government benefits to same-sex couples, said Lynn Wardle, a law professor at Brigham Young University. Nonetheless, this could effectively nationalize same-sex marriage, Wardle said. "If a judge in San Francisco says 'for Social Security purposes, that's the law,' then a trial judge in San Francisco could affect the whole country," Wardle told Cybercast News Service.

Tuesday Male Beauty

Wonderful Blogger Friends and Readers

It has amazed me how through this blog I have encountered so many great people and even more so it has been wonderful how I have developed a bond with people I have never yet met in person. The reality is that except for Java Jones, I have not met any of my blogger friends in person. Nonetheless, some of us have come to communicate regularly - daily in one case - and as a result through e-mails, text messages, and phone calls we have learned about each others' lives and dreams.

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I want to give particular mention to a very dear blogger friend who just underwent surgery and thankfully came through it fine. He's a wonderful guy and I am so happy for him that all went well. He knows who he is and I want him to consider this post as a great big get well hug. His friendship has been very special to me and he has a knack for giving me the smack down I sometimes need when I begin to get myself emotionally overwrought. Needless to say, I try to be equally supportive of him. He is a dear, dear friend.

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As for other readers, feel free to drop me a note sometime and tell me about yourself. I promise that I always reply to e-mails. Although I have not done so in a while, I'd also be happy to profile you and/or your blog if you have one. Just drop me an e-mail with some information about yourself along with a photo if you want one posted.

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Global Anglican Future Conference a/k/a Let's Go Back to the Dark Ages

With all the work that needs to be done to feed the hungry, give comfort to the poor, and fight disease, the anti-gay wing nuts in the Anglican Communion prefer to hold meetings and plan a possible break from the larger Anglican Communion. All because the thought of gay clergy and the larger denomination's desire to not work over time to stigmatize gays apparently gets them so secretly sexually aroused that they become down right hysterical. Bigots like Peter Akinola who may have been involved in orchestrating the slaughter of hundreds of Muslims are behind this effort. Truly, what would Jesus say? Nothing good about these folks, I suspect. Here are some highlights from 365gay.com:

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(New York City) Conservatives from the world's largest Anglican provinces who are angered by liberal thinking in churches in North America and elsewhere are creating a global fellowship that challenges worldwide Anglican unity but stops short of a formal split. The plan was adopted at the Global Anglican Future Conference in Jerusalem. The summit was called by Anglican leaders in Africa and parts of North America and Australia outraged by what they consider a ``false gospel'' in liberal churches.

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Anglicans in developing countries _ where the fastest-growing and largest churches in the communion are located _ mostly hold to a strict interpretatio- of the Bible. The archbishops, or primates, of the provinces of Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and the Southern Cone based in Argentina were among those at the Jerusalem event. The Jerusalem meeting was held just ahead of a once-a-decade gathering of all Anglican bishops, called the Lambeth Conference. The upcoming assembly is viewed by many as a test of the leadership of Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury and the Anglican spiritual head.

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Some of the more than 200 bishops in Jerusalem plan to boycott Lambeth, which begins July 16 in England. Williams has invited U.S. bishops who consecrated Robinson but has barred Robinson and a few other bishops from attending. Still, conservatives at the Jerusalem event repeatedly criticized Williams for failing to fully discipline the Episcopal Church.

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In their official statement, conservatives said they ``do not accept that Anglican identity is determined necessarily through recognition by the archbishop of Canterbury'' - a direct challenge to his leadership. And they called the current setup for the communion, with the archbishop of Canterbury at its center, ``a colonial structure.''

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``We reject the authority of those churches and leaders who have denied the orthodox faith in word or deed,'' they wrote.

Male Couple Married in Norfolk Will Not Be Charged

I posted a while back about a male couple that got a marriage license in Newport News and later got married in Norfolk - all before someone noticed that both of their drivers' licenses showed a "M" for male. While many details remain unclear, what is clear is that the pair will not be charged or prosecuted. According to the Christianists, this marriage should have caused plague and pestilence, but other than the smoldering peat fires in the Great Dismal Swamp that have brought 3 weeks of intermittent smoke to the area, nothing dire has occurred. Here are some highlights from the Virginian Pilot:

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Two men who tried to get married in Norfolk with one posing as a woman should not be charged with a crime, according to the Newport News Commonwealth Attorney's Office. Justin McCain, 18, and Antonio E. Blount, 31, got a marriage license in Newport News on March 24, then took it to a marriage commissioner in Norfolk, who performed the ceremony.

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In May McCain, who pronounced his first name "Justine," returned to the Newport News court to legally change his name to Penelopsky Aaryonna Goldberry. That was when deputies suspected that McCain, who dressed and acted like a woman, was indeed a man. On Monday Newport News Commonwealth Attorney Howard E. Gwynn released a statement that in his opinion no criminal charge could be filed in the case that could be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

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Since the incident the Newport News court has changed the marriage application to ask for the names of "male applicant and female applicant" instead of simply "bride" and "groom."

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