Those wild and wacky Baptists are at it again, deeming Sunday June 4 "Marriage Protection Sunday" to rally the troops for the debate on the Federal Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment. From the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission:
?Supporters of traditional marriage need to bombard their senators? offices with e-mails and phone calls,? ERLC President Richard Land told Baptist Press, ?and preachers across America need to let the pulpit ring forth in clear and no uncertain terms on Marriage Protection Sunday, June 4, and help create a groundswell of support for this amendment. I can assure you the opponents of traditional marriage are doing their best to let their voices be heard in the corridors of the Senate. It is up to us to let our voices be heard loudly as well.?
I bring this up because June 4 begins the week when the Pennsylvania Legislature returns to Harrisburg and could potentially bring the Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment to the House floor for a vote. Which means our homegrown PA right-wing nut jobs may ratchet up the anti-gay rhetoric in their so-called Christian pulpits on two fronts.
Some of those churches might want to focus a little bit of their energy on actual marriages that need some protection. Like State Representative Ken Ruffing and his wife Karen of my former hometown West Mifflin. This elected official has had 17 domestic calls from the police over the past 12 months, several involving him breaking down doors. KDKA caught the latest one on tape.
This is the kind of married man whois going to decide if my relationship is valid??!!!????
The American Family Association of Pennsylvania is displeased with the First Lady for suggesting that gay marriage not be used as a campaign tool. Even Laura Bush is not spared their fury when the AFA smells a whiff of tolerance. From their May 17 press release:
Homosexuals have a right to live their lives as they want, but they do no have a right to force our society to redefine marriage and family.Same-sex marriage is not a civil rights issue.Even the Rev. Jesse Jackson is on record as stating that same-sex marriage has nothing to do with civil rights.Those involved in the homosexual lifestyle have never been forced to sit at the back of the bus nor are there water fountains labeled ?Gay Only.?The thousands of ex-gays in this country show that people are not born ?gay.?
I could be wrong, but I suspect being prevented from medical decision making, having your parental rights restricted or terminated, and losing your job BECAUSE YOU ARE GAY would in fact be on par with being sent to the back of the bus. I have never been sent to the back of the bus, but I can clearly point out an array of civil rights that are now labeled "heterosexual only." Including marriage.
?It is tragic that Mrs. Bush doesn?t see the importance of making the marriage amendment a campaign issue.Americans want marriage between one man and one woman protected through a constitutional amendment.Marriage is the foundation of any society and the voters recognize the need to protect its foundation,? stated Diane Gramley, president of the AFA of PA.
?The federal Marriage Protection Amendment is not discriminatory.Our proposed Pennsylvania Marriage Protection Amendment is not discriminatory.People want to protect traditional marriage and any individual running for public office would be well-advised to make marriage amendments a campaign issue,? Gramley concluded.
In other words folks, ramp up the hate-rhetoric because the homo-bigots are gonna roll. With the power dynamic shifting in the House, I have no idea what the future of the Marriage Amendment will be. Stay tuned.
Democratic Party Chair Dean sat down with the always-delightful Pat Robertson on The 700 Club and promptly lied that the Democrartic Party platform did not include gay marriage. In fact, it does support gay marriage.
"We support full inclusion of gay and lesbian families in the life of our nation and seek equal responsibilities, benefits, and protections for these families. In our country, marriage has been defined at the state level for 200 years, and we believe it should continue to be defined there. We repudiate President Bush's divisive effort to politicize the Constitution by pursuing a 'Federal Marriage Amendment.' Our goal is to bring Americans together, not drive them apart."
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force promptly responded by returning a $5,000 donation to the DNC and issuing a statement condemning Dean.
The Stonewall Democrats sort of chastised Dean. "Therefore, we strongly point out that Governor Dean incorrectly spoke when stating that the 2004 Democratic Party platform defines marriage as between a man and a woman."
Dean is busy mending fences. He's pissed off the homos obviously, but also the homobigots who rightly perceive that he was deceptively trying to win support.
What the hell was he thinking? That moderate Republicans watch The 700 Club? No, you idiot, the loonies watch it. The ones who willingly buy into the demonization of homosexuals. And would happily send us marching off to reeducation camps if given the opportunity.
The DNC seems to be doing its best to closet the homos (Pam's House Blend does a great job on this). First, Dean eliminated the gay liaison position within the DNC vis a vis consolidation. Then, the DNC Annual Grassroots Report eliminated any reference to LGBT grassroots efforts which had previously been successfully documented. Third, the DNC fired gay outreach advisor Donald Hitchcock because his partner was openly critical of Dean.
Now, Howard is hanging out with Pat Robertson and his merry band of bigots.
The Correspondents have been vocal pragmatic Democrats. We support Bob Casey with the full awareness of his limitations (and that, frankly, we are gambling by putting our future in his hands). But we lament the erosion of Democratic commitment to our community and find the DNC's recent series of actions truly frightening.
That sounds so pretentious.
I meant to say that we are pissed off by Dean's overt diss of the LGBT community. He's coming to town folks for a gay event so now is the time for local Democrats to call him to task. We cannot just continue to swallow the DNC excuses. We have to hold them accountable now so the LGBT community is not sacrificed for Hillary's Presidential bid.
NOTE: Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents have applied for press credentials to cover the Stonewall Convention. We are optimistic that the Stonewall Democrats recognize the importance of blogs in the media. Since Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents is the the largest regional LGBT blog, we anticipate a positive response from Stonewall. A co-chair of the local chapter has promised to get us a response soon. We look forward to covering this critical event for our local readers and for the national LGBT community through our contributions to Big Gay Picture.
Oh, those whacky Episcopalians --- doing their best to drag Pennsylvania back into the Dark Ages. Up to bat this time is the Very Reverend Paul F. M. Zahl, dean of Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry in Ambridge, Pennsylvania.
Let me catch you up. This coming weekend, we'll see the election of a bishop for the Episcopal Diocese of California. Three of the seven candidates are gay! (emphasis mine). So a pro-homo vote could further alienate the church from the Anglican Communion. An anti-homo vote could preserve the union ... for now.
Enter Reverend Zahl with a comparing " the election of a gay bishop in California to "a terrorist bomb, which is timed to destroy a peace process."
Nice, huh? This is the kind of hate-speak you expect from Jimmy Dobson and Jerry Falwell and the other right wing lunies skulking around looking for homo-trouble. I'm guessing Zahl has a man-crush on Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola, that bastion of Christian compassion and feels the need to bring the hatred back home to the good old USA.
The Human Rights Campaign and Integrity, the LGBT Episcopal caucus, are calling for an apology.
"Paul Zahl's comments comparing the election of a gay bishop to a 'terrorist bomb' is hate speech that has no place in any faith based discourse," said Reverend Susan Russell, director of Integrity, the national gay and lesbian Episcopal caucus.
"Such language does nothing to advance our public discourse, does everything to further polarize and alienate and is antithetical to the love God calls us all to offer each other."
Damn right, Reverend Susan. Zahl is yet another big Christian hypocrite who is using ugly divisive tactics to further his own agenda. He's on a witch hunt and, apparently, has no qualms about it.
If this is what passes for spiritual leadership in our lovely state, then we desperately need all the prayer we can get.
From last week's Tribune-Review, I found this little item about a young Catholic middle school child who was the victim on-line bullying. According to his mother, classmates put up a faux My Space profile identifying the young man as gay. This happened hand in hand with unspecific physical bullying.
So what happened to this kid? His grades plummet and his mother gets involved. She contacts the school (Word of God in Swissvale) which does nothing b/c it wasn't a school issue. She then contacts the Diocese of Pgh. She contacts the police. She contacts My Space and gets the profile taken down. Then she contacts other parents to let them know what is happening.
As proof the school doesn't take it seriously, I need only point out that the Word of God secretary spoke with the press. God bless secretaries. If the principal of the school cannot take the time to address this issue, God help the kids. Perhaps she's too busy covering up a scandal to pay attention?
Good for Mom. But her next call should be to the GLSEN (Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network). Because unlike the school and diocese, these folks take bullying seriously. And since this directly involves harassment based on sexual orientation, who better than the homos to help Mom figure it all out?
Because while she's done a great job trying to protect her son and other children in the school, her next step isn't going to be productive.
[Mom] said even though the incident did not occur at school, she would like to see those responsible disciplined.
"I know the school cannot handle every problem," she said. "But in the Catholic environment, (the school) expects more socially and morally from students."
What the Catholic environment should be doing is teaching (and modeling) anti-bullying behavior in and out of school. Punishing the perps won't begin to address the underlying problems. Parents in this school need to come together and insist that the school take a proactive stance on bullying so the kids get the tools they need to protect themselves.
Consorting with the homosexuals seems contrary to Catholic teachings, but who better to help parents respond to bullying than the current number one target in America? We get it from every direction -- government, church, workplace, random bystanders, etc.
Mom - contact GLSEN. Your son deserves more support and help than the Catholic Church is going to provide in this incident.
Words I thought might never cross my lips ... Hurrah for Ohio!
The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that public employees can be disciplined for discrimination even if they are following religious beliefs. This is a big victory for gay rights advocates because it gives teeth to workplace non-discrimination policies.
The case involves a Baptist prison chaplain, William Akridge, who refused to allow homosexual prisoners serve as leaders at his non-denominational events.
Akridge, however, interpreted scriptures to say he would be punished if he complied. "The leaders that the chaplain selects implicitly implies an endorsement and approval of the lifestyle of the selected leaders," Akridge explained. He added that a gay choir director "would violate my conscience and make me guilty in the sight of God."
Akridge was disciplined for discriminating and sued, claiming his right to discriminate was constitutionally protected because it was Christian-based.
The court thought otherwise, noting:
Although it may be that Akridge could have disbanded the choir and/or praise band entirely, the facts appear to be that he did not do so; rather he openly and intentionally excluded an inmate from such groups," the appeals court said.
"Even if the ODRC [Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction] had no interest in the existence of the band, this would not vitiate its interest in preventing discrimination and its consequences."
Hurrah for Ohio!
Speaking as an openly gay woman, I can testify that it is very troubling at work when I encounter the attitude that gay-hate must be tolerated as an outgrowth of Christian beliefs. And I encounter that attitude much more frequently than I ever imagined.
Thus, I am heartened to learn that the courts are upholding non-discrimination protections in the workplace. Especially in lands of anti-gay marriage constitutional amendments.
Here's a sad fact: Russian Orthdox Catholics are working in unity with
skinheads to oppose gay rights.
On Sunday
police had to hold back a crowd of bottle-tossing skinheads and Bible-
clutching church folks who were protesting a gay event at a local club.
Not to be outdone by the Christian-Skinhead connection, Russian Muslims are
threatening to kill gays if they proceed with plans to celebrate Pride.
PrideFest is scheduled for May 26 and 27 in Moscow. If the city bans the
event, organizers plan to take the matter to the European Court of Human
Rights.
Sounds like a crowd where Fred Phelps would feel right at home.
As a member of the female species and a feminist I have been paying attention to the furor in Mt. Lebanon. I have some friends who live in Mt. Lebanon and my grandfather lived there for many years. It's a nice place. Lately it has also provided a lesson in good ole fashion hypocrisy, one of my favorite subjects.
It's a favorite topic because I always have to laugh at how people can condemn and bash gay people for supposedly being morally bankrupt. And then turn around and do the same thing (or worse) they condemn others for doing.
Mt. Lebanon--white, rich, Christian and right-wing republican has a group of boys (sorry, they don't qualify as young men) rating the girls of their school on such wonderful areas as their breasts, buttocks and whether they perform oral sex and do drugs. A lovely, lovely way to think about their female peers. I'm sure the "women" at Concerned Women for America are very proud. Anyway, to illustrate my point, I can't think of a better way to do it then the following quote--published in today's Post Gazette from Attorney William H. Difenderfer, who represents one of the boys involved in making the list:
He added, "I'm very fearful with this publicity that the administration will go over the top with these boys. They're very good kids. I know them well. They all are college-bound. They all have very constructive lives ahead of them. ... These kids are all decent kids. My client is extremely remorseful."
Here is what these "decent kids" were talking about in their list of "Top 25" females:
The list includes grades for girls' faces, breasts and buttocks and talks about drug use, oral sex, sexually transmitted disease and weight.
So, these are what the right-wing republicans of Mt. Lebon consider to be "decent kids?" Well, it makes me feel better that they are college-bound and have constructive lives ahead of them--doing what? Writing for Hustler Magazine? Playing lacrosse for Duke? Ohhh, low blow!!
These are the same, smug people who, with their Bibles in hand, will vote to ban gay marriage so those deviants don't harm our society!
See, ain't hypocrisy grand? And I will say this. I will pit all of my gay friends (and most of gay society--LOL) against these "decent boys" any day of the week.
Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents is pleased to welcome our newest
correspondent Shelly. We've known Shelly for several years -- she is very
active in the local LGBT community. Her writing, you will find, is
articulate, insightful and from a slightly different perspective than Ledcat
and me.
