I was horrified to the point of weeping when I sat in my office and caught a PG tweet about the brutal violation of the life of Jennifer Daugherty. I've worked with adults with mental and developmental disabilities for several years so I got right away the depravity of how she was victimized and murdered. It was a gut wrenching, hearthbreaking story and so incredibly awful to think about her suffering, that I was amazed at her sister's willingness to come forward and relive it over and over again. Awed, even.
Yesterday, the Post-Gazette ran a piece about the potential to apply the newly expanded hate crimes protections to Ms. Daugherty. This would allow for federal resources to be used investigating and prosecuting the crime, which could be a big help in bringing her sex alleged murderers to justice. A fitting justice.
Many of you might not realize that persons with disabilites were not protected on a federal level with regard to hate crimes. You might not even know that people with disabilities are targets of hate crimes.
Prosecutors must show the violence was directly related to the victim's disability in order for the act to qualify as a hate crime, Mr. Decker said. For example, he said, an attacker's animus might be revealed in epithets uttered during the crime.
In October, the U.S. Justice Department released what it called the "First National Study on Crime Against Persons with Disabilities."
The study showed that people with disabilities who were between the ages of 12 and 19 and 35 and 49 were more than twice as likely to be victims of violence than non-disabled people in the same age groups, and people with mental disabilities were more often victimized than people with other kinds of disabilities. Nearly 20 percent of victims interviewed said they "believed that they became a victim because of their disability," the Justice Department said
If you have friends or family members with disabilities, you probably are familiar with the fact that people are often targets. Predators look for perceived weakness. Ms. Daugherty trusted that these people were her friends. They didn't just trick her into doing something stupid. They brutally assaulted, tortured and murdered her because they were well aware (I believe) that her disability made her suceptable to them ... the media softens it with "used her trusting nature against here" language, but I read this as them using her disability to their advantage to carry out whatever sick pleasures they derived from the brutal attack.
The expansion of the hate crimes legislation owes a lot of debt to the LGBTQ community which lobbied tirelessly to ensure that sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression where included in the protected classes.
Our efforts got that bill passed and that bill might serve to help bring justice to a victim of a brutal crime because of another protected class included in the bill. Your advocacy might help Ms. Daugherty's family find some small measure of consolation in what is possibly the worst thing that could ever happen to a family. I truly cannot think of anything more heinous to have to live with than wondering about the suffering she endured. It makes me weep now to even write that sentence.
Thank you for being a part, in whatever way, of passing this important legislation. Equal rights under the law should include everyone. Protecting people who are targeted because they belong to a particular group fights evil and injustice.
This is evidence of how those who are oppressed under the law have a moral imperative to unite in the call for justice. There's no way to parse out which advocates made the impact -- the important point is finding intersections for equality and using them to promote a most just society.
HuffPo has a good piece about Immigration Equality. Have you considered the impact second-class citizenship has on families where one parent faces the possibility of deportation? Not because they are here illegally or have done anything wrong, but because heterosexual families can use a legal marriage to sponsor their loved one. A documentary debuts today. Check out the link for more information.
A piece from the New York Times runs in today's Post-Gazette about Obama's plan to use executive power to "to soften enforcement of the ban on openly gay men and lesbians serving in the military" along with other issues where Congress refuses to show leadership.
Soften enforcement is some pretty tough lingo, ain't it. Sheesh. Enforcing an unjust policy that hurts American defense is not the problem, Mr. President. We don't want an American military where participants must lie about their identity to serve their country. It isn't healthy, it is predicated on irrational fear and it is just plain wrong.
It continues to amaze me how our allied elected officials just don't see that there are issues where they can show leadership -- do the right thing one might say -- without getting into big scary political fallout over marriage equality. As long as we see it in the White House, we'll continue to see it locally where providing health insurance to gay people is considered "risky."
A minister from Tulsa is certainly not in that camp. He's made a dangerous trip to Uganda to speak out publicly against the legislation which would sentence people to death for being gay.
Lavanhar left Tulsa on Thursday for Kampala, the capital of Uganda. For security reasons, news of his trip was withheld until he made it into the country, and the location of the "Standing On The Side of Love" conference will not be announced until Sunday.
He said he plans to offer encouragement and support to those who oppose the bill.
"There are times when the church colludes with injustice and evil, like in its support of slavery and racial segregation," he said.
"In those times, people must rise up to save the church as much as society. This is one of those times.
"There are moments in life when we have to take risks to support what we believe to be God's will for humanity, and it is my strong belief that God's will is for people to be free."
This is precisely why the United States has a moral obligation to give the LGBTQ community full equality across the board. We should not allow ourselves to be an example to justify "separate but equal" as a slippery slope to "death penalty for gays."
Be Steel My Beating Heart - Variety Show and Dance Party
A Celebration of Non-Traditional Romance
Call for Variety!! Sing! Dance! Music! Poet! Drag! Skit! Read! Demonstrate! Puppet! Pontificate! Ice Sculpture! You tell me! 5 minutes or Less! Saturday February 13th Belvedere's in Lawrenceville 4016 Butler Street
8 -11 Variety Show 11-2 am Operation Sappho Queer Dance Party! DJ's Drop That, Equestrian, Mary Mack!!!
$5 - 10 sliding scale -BENEFITS HAITI Relief efforts! Organizations being researched. $3 for performers $4 if your dressed for the occasion (what ever that means ;)
A RECTL Production in Cooperation with Operation Sappho! Revolting Enthusiastic Creators 4 Total Liberation Pronounced Rectal not Recital. just sayin'
***Operation Sappho resumes at our new home, the Brillobox, on Friday March 12th. Mark yer gay calendars!***
I just peeked at my stats. Wow, Facebook is driving 84% of your visits. Wow. Since I push links through to Facebook through Twitter, I'd say social media is really an important tool to bloggers.
Another interesting result. While combinations of "lesbian" and "Pittsburgh" in various forms are the most oft used keywords for search engines, a significant number of folks find me with the search for "priory bakery." I don't think I've even written about them that often. Very interesting.
It can be fascinating to see the unique search phrases that lead people to my site, especially the "Google Alerts" set to local LGBTQ folks names. :-) I guess we all search ourselves, huh?
Recently, I was invited to attend a meeting with Onorato. I asked if someone from the queer-identified community could attend and I was told no, it was invitation only. Then I was told it was a meeting for people who supported Onorato. I explored that a bit with others attending and decided that I didn't want to risk 1) supporting the ongoing exclusion of queer-identified persons from the table and 2) being perceived as supportive of someone who doesn't get domestic partner benefits.
I was debriefed. No one queer was invited. They were "represented" by the upper echelons. Some people changed their minds and threw their support to Onorato. The best is that I was apparently publicly derided for "refusing to attend unless I could bring my own guests."
That's not true. I refused to attend because they didn't want queer people at the table, not because I couldn't bring queer guests. I refused to attend because the campaign was intentionally vague and I'm not interested in being a token.
When I called the Mayor's LGBT Advisory Council and asked if they would invite a dyke identified and a queer identified group to their meeting, they immediately said yes and sent out invitations. I can't say if the groups will attend, but at least they were invited and included. At least, they have an opportunity to bring up their issues and concerns for themselves.
I tried to be civil with the Onorato folks. I asked around to see what the meeting was about. The campaign ignored my inquiries and the other LGBT (not Q) folks invited had widely ranging theories on what the meeting was about -- from a public announcment on civil unions to a brainstorming session on gay issues.
But I'm the problem. Not the elected officials whose lack of action I write about. Nope, it is me. A lesbian with a little blog here in Pittsburgh.
If they had responded in a civil manner instead of bashing me in a meeting with LGBT (no Q) leaders, perhaps there would be room for conversation. That's too bad.
Lez Get Real has a story on a planned direct action at the Cathedral in Chicago led by long-time activist Andy Thayer.
To back his point Thayer told LGR, ?This is not just about the equal right to marry. In Illinois, Cardinal George and his predecessors over the years have worked behind the scenes to vehemently oppose every piece of equal rights legislation for Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgender (LGBT) people that has been proposed, including opposing equal employment rights, equal access to housing, equal access to public accommodations and equal access to adoption.?
Thayer also noted the Church hasn?t been above playing hardball to get their way, ?the church leadership recently threatened to torpedo support for Congressman Luis Guiterrez?s immigration law bill if it included any consideration for LGBT people and in Washington, DC, the church leadership threatened remove support for the homeless there if the District upheld its equal marriage rights bill. This is why we will call the Church leadership?s bigotry out into the open for all the see with our protest,? said Thayer.
As a personal note, I have been following Andy?s career as a rabble-rouser for a very long time now and he never makes idle promises. So you can be sure the folks attending Mass at Holy Name this Sunday are going to hear what he has to say.
I can't help but wonder what would happen if Pittsburgh's LGBTQ community were ready to shed the "be patient and let the politically connected gay men take care of things" approach to equal rights and take action for ourselves.
I wonder if Andy Thayer would think the "be patient and work behind the scenes" approach to County domestic partner benefits is working out. What do you think? We've waited six years ... how much longer will you support this approach? (They even try to persuade me to be "less divisive" but I say putting your money where your mouth is has only bought us photo ops and a general brush off.)
Maybe we should take a lesson from the animal advocates (and Andy Thayer) and pay Mr. Onorato a visit at his church? Ha. Wouldn't that bring the issue to the forefront! Better yet, pay him a visit when he attends mass in Philadelphia to show them he's about as progressive as Corbett, just less honest.
After all, six years of waiting for his gay friends and allies to convince him to do the moral thing hasn't really worked out too well. Maybe a little media attention to the issue would help?
But parishioner Alice Murtha of Brighton Heights believes the only reason the protesters chose the church location was to get attention from the news media.
"They have every right to protest," she said, "but why aren't they in front of the City-County Building where the decision was made?"
I mean the geese were already dead. I'm not aware of any County employee family members who have died for lack of health insurance, but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened. My sources inside the County unionized and non-unionized employees is that they don't want to rock the boat by "coming out" politically. Hmmm.
I suspect the good Catholic gays of Western PA would feel the same way. Too bad. Maybe we could take a page from Bash Back Pittsburgh which actually did something to make a point about the gay-bashing owner of Peace, Love and Little Donuts.
At 11:00 AM on January 16th, around twenty queers and allies occupied the tiny donut shop and the space in front of it. Our pink and black flag waved while our boombox blasted ?You Made Me Gay? and other catchy tunes guaranteed to queer even the straightest of passersby.
We danced, sang, chanted, and had a wondrous time creating space for ourselves, all while handing out informative and celebratory flyers, signed with love by ?the crazies, kooks, and freaks.?
Razete protested, denied the quotes we had taken from his own blog, and claimed he ?hated the sin but not the sinner.?
With all of the love Ron had for the partiers, he still asked us all to leave, at which point a major queer make-out fest ensued inside his hateful donut shop. Ron?s discomfort angered him so that he physically pushed four occupants out into the street and slammed the door.
With a donut shop in distress, it was no surprise when its blue-clad protectors came swiftly to the scene. With queers endangering their donut-dipping freedom, we knew they were gonna come down on us hard. Unfortunately for them, the queers knew more about the law than they did and the po were unable to break up the party.
The group pressed on shouting, ?Hate tastes like shit! No queer bashers in the Strip!? as onlookers joined in to dance down the Soul Train or take our amazing flyers. Several potential customers of PLLD turned around to find breakfast elsewhere and others went inside to confront Razete about the quotes. Angry about this, Ron threatened to press charges. The cops? demands to know ?Who was inside?? were left unanswered. Nobody talked, everybody walked. After our music CD ended and our flyers were all gone, the group dispersed for the safety of all involved just before Ron could come out and identify anyone.
Note there was no actual bashing. They handout flyers, kissed each other and engaged in lawful First Amendment protected speech. They are not done with this hater. I think a little Bash Back at an Onorato fundraiser would be just the shot in the arm the LGBTQ community needs. Domestic partner benefits is about fundamental socio-economic inequities like health care and life insurance, not marriage equality. It is practical and concrete. The lack of domestic partner benefits disproportionately impacts lower income families who are less likely to be able to purchase health insurance coverage through the so-called free market.
Imagine if a Bash Back generated the kind of buzz necessary to force Onorato's hand? I'm sure the six year approach folks would take credit for laying the groundwork, blah, blah, blah. But it would definitely shine a light that this approach hasn't worked.
I know someone will bring up the anti-discrimination ordinance in the comments section. It took him ten months to publicly support the bill and I frankly don't believe people who claim that he was working behind the scenes. I don't believe you because ten months after THAT he refuses to provide domestic partner benefits. I think you are being disengenuous to pacify us and avoid revealing that you don't have as much influence as you would have us believe.
The New York Times interviewed Emily Ford, wife of candidate for the open Senate Seat from New York. In this interview, she takes some credit for Ford's recent much lauded turnabout on LGBTQ issues.
Already, some members of the Democratic establishment have accused him of reversing his opposition to same-sex marriage and to flipping from being against abortion to supporting abortion rights in a calculated appeal to New York voters. (Mr. Ford has denied this.)
On the marriage issue, Ms. Ford seems to have played a role in changing her husband's mind. In an interview on "The Colbert Report," Mr. Ford credited his wife with influencing his views, an acknowledgment that pleased her.
Ms. Ford said in her interview the other day that she had several conversations with her husband about gay marriage. She told him about a gay step-uncle who had died of AIDS and a gay aunt, both of whom were in loving, committed relationships. "Harold never met my uncle or my aunt, but he knows how important this is to me," Ms. Ford said.
So we must entertain the plausibility (not just the possibility) of a candidate doing what we want -- growing as a person to better understand LGBTQ views. For ten years, Ford's voting record on our issues has been deplorable.
He voted twice for a federal amendment banning marriage equality. Twice. He voted to oppose same sex adoptions in DC. The LGBTQ community has pretty much written him off as a "which way does the wind blow" opportunist who is also suddenly a "pro-life, pro-choice" candidate in spite of anti-choice votes when he served in Congress. Why is it his sudden mission to reclaim the term "pro-life"? From who? Murderous anti-abortion zealots who assassinate doctors and pimp out their children to hold pictures of fetuses at public events? No thanks. They can keep it.
The problem is that elected officials seem to suddenly have a change of heart when they run for office, not when they face a critical vote and face reelection.
That brings us to Dan Onorato who is running for Governor. I could believe the snake oil being sold to me that he changed his mind on the anti-discrimination ordinance IF he had publicly supported it prior to his April 2009 letter. That was too far into the game IMHO. However, I am being told that he had to work behind the scenes to persuade reluctant Democrats to get on board. I'm not a behind the scenes Democrat donor so I have no idea if that's true.
I know from in front of the scenes (where the voters are) that a strong anti-discrimination stance from a Democrat leader would be powerful.
But the biggest difference between Harold Ford and Dan Onorato is that Onorato has failed to do something in his CURRENT term that would make a difference - provide domestic partner benefits to County employees. Harold Ford has been out of office for three years so maybe he has changed and been unable to act on that change.
Onorato could do something today when he gets to the office. But he doesn't because he and his campaign team haven't figure out how that would "look" for the campaign. It is the worst kind of evidence that he's not sincere because is failing every single day that goes by to do the right thing for his employees and his LGBTQ constituents. Or that he is sincere but won't take action when he has the opportunity because of fear. What kind of pro-LGBTQ candidate is that?
Either way, he fails the litmus test. Over domestic partner benefits which is like the lightest, most non-controversial gay issue in town. If he can't make health care available to people that work for him, do you REALLY think he's going to go the mat on statewide issues? He'll always have another election to face so he'll always have a reason to proceed with caution.
Let's not even get into Onorato's attempt to redefine pro-choice.
Harold Ford and Dan Onorato are too little, too late Democrats. Their timing is fraught with reasons to be skeptical at best. Onorato's lack of action is screaming with reasons to look elsewhere for a candidate.
Or you can trust the behind the scenes donors who have no accountability to you, the voter.
Does anyone else have a dedicated pair of snow shoveling jeans? Mine hang in kitchen to dry. I put them on for a grocery trip to work. That was a good idea as I was engulfed in a snow bank at Giant Eagle AND at the drop-off site.
So now I've got thigh high wet jeans and a 30 minute wait for an appt. Bronchitis is looking more and more likely, eh?
Northside is just so-so in the flat neighborhoods. I don't hear good things about the hilly neighborhoods but here's hoping for a "blitz" our way soon. Oakland I better today.
I gotta wonder - where is everyone going to park when we do get back to work? Craig St - already difficult to find parking - is one giant plow trail. I just plowed into embankment and made my own spot. Are they going to move this snow? Marty Griffin on KDKA was suggesting they put the trash removal guys to work shoveling snow to be removed. I bet there's a union rule against it, but at least there's outside the box thinking.
I am so glad to be out of house that I don't care about what I encounter. I just need to interact with people and make sure my program folks are okay.
It would be nice to have dry pants, though.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Well, I woke up at 6 AM completely confused about which day of the week I was facing. I'm still technically off work, but I have to do some shopping for the sites and residents so I'm off to Giant Eagle. I also have to drive Ledcat to work as her vehicle is a giant lump of snow, in spite of several shovelings. I have appointment in Oakland at 11:30 so here's hoping Oakland Catholic is plowed out so I can find parking. Then I have to shovel. Again.
I don't mind shoveling the front walk enough to trudge between the sidewalk piles to get to the street. It is keeping the back deck clean enough for the dogs that is futile with the wind. Deus is "reluctant" to descend the steps to the yard so I have to keep chipping away the ice and spreading dog friendly salt. It is never ending task as dogs need to visit yard several times during the day. I am sure it will be compounded with the looming melt-freeze cycle we'll hit soon, followed by another 2 inches of snow Sunday night.
Every time we go out, I am whisked back to 1977 when a blizzard engulfed the region. I remember the "fun" part of life -- snow tunnels, sledding, snowman building. I also remember being afraid of the really high walls of snow along the walk and the incessant whine of tires trying to get off the street and get working men like my Dad... to work. Driving on North Avenue yesterday, I was transported back in spite of my 4wd, GPS, Blackberry and accoutrements of modern life. I've compared every winter since with that experience (I was in Baton Rouge for the 1993 blizzard). Grown up blizzard is very different than 6 year old blizzard experience.
Is anyone else ready to scream by the sound of a shovel scraping the sidewalk? Then you immediately feel guilty because you have power, heat, food, 4wd and nice neighbors to help you out.
Not much news from the local LGBT front.
The GLCC has been closed due to the weather. OUTrageous Bingo is on for Saturday night.
The Steel-City Stonewall Endorsement meeting is coming up on March 28, 2010. To vote in the endorsement, you'll need to be a SCSD member. You can become a member for as little as $15 which gives you a say in the overall power of the LGBTQ community in the region. Your voice can say that we matter when it comes to politics. I know the location is very awkward for a LGBTQ meeting (steakhouse on the Northshore ???) but I urge you to consider joining. Whether your cause is the former Art for AIDS or Pridefest, all of those services and progams are impacted by the people in office. Those events are meaningless if we continue to elect socially conservative Democrats who do not value and appreciate us enough to afford us equal citizenship in Pennsylvania.
I promise to post the SCSD questionnaires in plenty of time for you to read up on the candidates, along with a little commentary of course. :-)
Nationally, Twitter has been buzzing that Lt. Dan Choi has been reactivated for duty in spite of his impending discharge under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." That's not quite accurate. Lt. Choi is doing his regular rotation of National Guard Duty. That's a good thing in that he hasn't been stripped of these duties, but it doesn't mean he's being deployed anytime soon or that his legal standing regarding discharge.
Well, kudos to our intrepid PG delivery person who struggled through the snow to get us a fresh paper. I'm off to refill the coffee mug, take a look at the paper and head out to deliver Ledcat to work.
