Marlene Lott of Butler County picked up her pen to share her thoughts on gay marriage with the readers of the Post-Gazette.

I want my grandchildren to know that their grandmother did what she could to leave a wholesome America for them to live in.

Ms. Lott trots out the same tired old connections between same-sex marriage and polygamy and/or close-kin marriage.  However, her next line of reasoning is the most interesting.

Some say that those of us who believe this are not tolerant. Please know that God is not tolerant! God will not say that if you are doing something wrong that it's all right with Him. He does say He loves you and He forgives you and tells you to "Go and sin no more".

God is not tolerant. 

What Ms. Lott doesn't spell out is that in her mind, God is not tolerant of anyone who is not a white, heterosexual,  Christian-American.  That's her definition of "wholesome" - a throwback to the good old days when homos were in the closet, minorities knew their place and everyone believed in Mom and Applie Pie.  In other words, she wants to live in a land governed by 1950's television standards and The 700 Club. 

She even uses the code phrase "traditional family" which doesn't gel with most of the families I know -- single parents, blended families, grandparents raising grandchildren, transracial adoptions, mixed religion partnerships, etc.  Many of whom are practicing Christians. 

Ms. Lott is a bigot and she put that out there for the entire region to read.  What's worse, she believes that God is a bigot and instills that value in her grandchildren.  Grandchildren who are probably growing up in a school district that is predominantly white and filled with children whose parents fled racially diverse neighbhorhoods for the so-called safety of suburbs.   

How very wholesome.

I think a few PG readers must have slept in on the Sundays when their pastors talked about visiting the imprisoned and other Jesus references to compassion for the less fortunate. 

Last week, the paper ran a feature on mothers who are in jail.  It was harsh and difficult to read, especially when a woman admitted that she loves heroin as much as she loves her child.  That's a difficult line to read.  No matter that its true. 

But these two particular readers took affront at the notion that these women deserve compassion and respect as mothers to their children. 

T. Pawlos of Crafton asks "What about the children and other family members? They are the ones hurting and embarrassed by these women's actions."   T. continues, "I don't feel a bit sorry for them."  And "They think of only themselves, now and forever, trust me."

Well, that's a nice example of Christian compassion.  If a woman embarrasses her family, she deserves no compassion.  I'm surprised T. didn't use the phrase "loose morals." 

Patricia Wilkeson of Robinson (are you surprised?) writes "I don't have any sympathy for any woman who says, "I love heroin as much as my child." I'll never understand all the "do-gooders" who support these creatures of habit."

Creatures of habit.  That's nice.  Patricia goes on "Why don't you honor those who work along with their husbands, sometimes at two jobs, to support their children and grandchildren?"

Shouldn't those working mothers stop being so selfish about their careers and stay home with their kids?  I wonder what human mistakes Patricia's own children made that result in her caring for her grandchildren? 

Then there's the line that is so very sad and reveals the bitterness in Patricia's heart.  "Alcoholics and drug addicts who have to do anything to support their habits belong where they'll end up -- on the obituary page."

I'm tempted to churn out a few sentences lambasting her as an example of how perverted American Christianity has become.  Or how successful the Republicans have been at turning the middle class against other vulnerable groups. 

But all I can think about if whether Patricia is having a nice Mother's Day.  Somehow I doubt it.

In yet another ridiculous attempt to court younger readers, the PG's Cat Specter has gotten herself a makeover. At least her photo has.  The Betty Crocker 'do is gone.  Instead, Cat has for a very predictable Pittsburgh look - Yinzerette skeeve.  You know what I mean -- pseudo skanky hair and the undernourished look of someone who gets most of their nutrition from Marlboro.  But its a hair style she paid Iszazu $150 to achieve.  And she more than likely bought her jaunty beret at Macys or one of these look alike Oakmont boutiques. 

Hey, I'm a Mon Valley girl and have five generations of steelworking ancestors to prove it.  I grew up in a river of Yinzerettes replete with big hair, loud makeup and all the accoutrements of a Saturday night hanging at Century III Mall.  It doesn't matter how many times Lamont Jones hits her with the whore stick, she ain't gonna pass.

Speaking of the jaunty beret.  Take a look at these side by side shots and tell me I'm wrong about Cat's Carrie Bradshaw aspirations ....

Advice this week is pretty much the usual fare.  She responds to a question about casual sex with the typical gender-based dismissve "boys will be boys" lines.  She rallies on a question about mother's day gifts (more is better).  I was almost disappointed until she reverted back to form on the final letter from a man who is not savvy on text messaging, but nonetheless seems to juggle a bevy of beauties he describes as "my women."  Nice.  Without questioning why he is dating high school students, she gives him this bit of wisdom:

Cat's Call: The typed word is savable, the spoken word can always be denied later.

Straight from the Yinzerette's mouth.  Sort of. 

Earlier this week, the Correspondents learned that our website was allegedly being classified as "pornography" by the Carnegie Library computer system.  I contacted the librarians to ask for clarification.

Richard Kaplan, Manager of Reference Services, wrote back to me with an explanation.  It would seem that my site is not categorized as pornography, but that some of the internal and external links are blocked.

Because this library receives the bulk of its funding through RAD (Regional Asset District) appropriations and some federal money, we are required to adhere to CIPA (Child Internet Pornography Act) which requires filtering of our Internet PCs.  We actually don?t determine the content to be filtered unless a specific site is brought to our attention.  The product we use is called Netsweeper.  Here is the URL that has a FAQ explaining our compliance with the law, and what options are available to adult users of the Internet in our libraries.  [He forgot to insert the URL]

He did submit the entire URL as a site to be free of blocking, but apparently that determination is not in the hands of the library itself.

Now I readily acknowledge that there are portions of this site not appropriate for children, but I do think I write some kid-friendly pieces. Well, adolescent friendly. 

Still, I had no idea that the library had to filter websites to receive funding.  So much for community access.  I am always telling my clients (day job = social worker) to utilize the library for computer access.  It never dawned on me that this would automatically put limits on their access to information. 

I guess it should have. 

But as our anonymous lesbian librarian pointed out in the comments to the first post, this is not the library's fault.  I still say the Carnegie Library rocks! 

I'll have to check out my own site next time I am there.  I'll try to get to the photo of Mary Cheney in leather! 

Ah, Howard.  You were a good homo friend. 

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 will be the keynote speaker at the upcoming Stonewall National Convention right here in Pittsburgh. 

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. 

Tune into KDKA Thursday evening when I'll join evening host John McIntire for an in depth look at Mary Cheney's book tour.  Yes, Mary has a new book out "It's My Turn Now" which gives us an inside peek at the life of a traitorous Republican whore who happens to be a lesbian.  John enjoys lesbian peeking, but prefers his traitorous whores to be apolitical so this might get interesting. 

I'll be on during the 9 PM hour. 

Here's something interesting from Americablog.com

For someone who has been "out" for a decade, Mary still shows major signs of just-coming-out syndrome. It's what Jeff Gannon is going through, and what many if not most gays go through (especially conservative ones) when they first come to terms with being gay. They start being publicly gay, sometimes say good things, but more often than not their internalized homophobia comes slipping out.

A newbie's coming out experience is usually indicated by one or more of the following utterances:

A federal judge has ruled that the constitutionally protected freedom of speech of the Worldwide Street Preachers' Fellowship were violated when the Harrisburg Police refused them access to the 2003 PrideFest celebration. (365gay)

The Fellowship attempted to enter an unused portion of Riverfront Park which was not roped off for the event.  They were prevented from doing so and sought relief in federal court. 

I agree with the court.  The Fellowship's rights to assemble and speak against homosexuality should be protected as long as they do so within the confines of the law.  Just like the rights of the Klan and Fred Phelps and other hate mongerers. 

Tonight some disturbing news from our good friend Dave over at 2 Political Junkies.  It seems that the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh has categorized the Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents' website as pornography and blocked access from their computers. 

OH MY!

Seriously, pornography? 

I took a quick look at the online library policies which indicates that material that is harmful to minors is filtered. 

"Harmful to Minors" involves materials or performances that involve explicit sexual materials that depict nudity, sexual conduct or sadomasochistic abuse and appeal predominantly to prurient, shameful or morbid interest of minors, is offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community and taken as a whole lacks serious literary, artistic, political, educational or scientific value for minors. Pennsylvania Obscenity Statute - 18 Pa.C.S. 5903

Interesting.  I contacted the library for an explanation so we'll see what transpires. 

I'm also interested in what sites are NOT blocked ...   your feedback is welcome.

From Monday's Valley Independent, I learned that most of the high schools in the mid-Mon Valley believe they are being proactive on cyber-bullying.  According to Charleroi Superintendent Dr. Brad Ferko.

"I think technology is a great thing, but like everything, it has to be controlled," he said. "We've (addressed) bullying and cyber safety at the PTA meetings. We've also had groups where they talk about the bullying. I think we're very proactive."

The rest of the superintendents and principals shrug off the problem as not overly prevalent in their wonderful little school districts (Monessen and Ringgold) and emphasize how they interact with the parents to address specific circumstances. Monessen Superintendent Dr. Cynthia Chelen prefaces all of her sentences with "if" which implies that of course the wonderful Monessen school district is probably not sullied by bullying.

Ferko has the utmost faith in parents:" Ninety-five to 98 percent of the time, it's handled by the parents and they're very supportive."

Let's take a quick trip to Bridgeport, Connecticut where more than 14 high school students took part in a brutal assault on a gay high schooler.  (He's recovering but terrified to go back to school, of course).  But note this little tidbit ..

In a police report obtained by The Post, officer Dwayne Harrison wrote that rumors about students' sexuality have provoked ongoing tension at Central. 

So this wasn't just a random mob event.  The tension .. ahem, bullying ... had been there.  In the school.  Among the students.  What we don't know yet is how the school was handling the situation.

I want to know who sold the sand in which the Mon Valley birds have buried their heads.  I mean do they actually spend time in school?  Have they met the parents?  98 percent of the time the parents handle bullyiing?  That's a ridiculous assertion. If 98 percent of the parents in any disciplinary situation handled the situation and were "very supportive" school life would look very different.  Especially for those of us who were on the bottom of the food chain.

I remember high school very well (West Mifflin Area).  I survived some what unscathed because I was brainy and funny, but I have some wounds from ugly confrontations and abuse.  It was awful for some of my friends, including those who were gay.  I remember lists like the one in Mt. Lebanon, painful scenes in the locker room, the constant teasing and ridicule, being physically chased and assaulted, and the very subtle underlying sexual threat.  It was not an experience I would willingly repeat.  And I got off easy. 

My partner went to a rural school and her stories are just as awful, if not worse because of the greater isolation the rural kids experienced. 

Reading this piece of drivel from the Valley Independent makes me choke of my coffee.  I have a cousin planning to move her kids out to a "country school" because she buys into this myth that somehow its safer than the suburbs (or, god forbid, the city).  I know she's acting in good faith, but these principals are actively contributing to her delusion when they make these statements. 

Too bad the reporter didn't challenge the 98% fact and ask for some evidence.  Or even ask if they have documentation on bullying incidents.  Or, more importantly, ask what type of anti-bullying curriculum materials they are using.  Passing around some handouts at the PTA meeting isn't very effective. I'm guessing that the parents of most bullies don't join the the PTA.  I could be wrong. 

Take it from the homos, Mon Valley.  You should really rethink this whole blissful ignorance issue.  It is great that you work with the police and the parents to address specific incidents of bullying.  And its great that you try to educate the parents about the dangers of cyber-bullying.  But what you need to do is get beyond the mentality that bullying is part of the routine high school experience, roll up your sleeves and get in there with some tools to educate your kids.  You might want to contact my all time favorite resource GLSEN Pittsburgh. 

From the AP today, I picked up an interesting little tidbit.  Swedish research indicates that lesbians' brains react differently to sex hormones than the brains of straight women.

In fact, lesbian reactions are similar to the reaction of heterosexual men; previous research indicates that the opposite is true for gay men - their reaction are smilier to heterosexual women. 

The research gives credence to the argument that sexual orientation has a biological basis.