In Brief

Staff Reports

University of Michigan Faculty Plan To Fight Domestic Partner Benefits Ban Legislation

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN -- The outlook for domestic partner benefits for Michigan's state employees —including staff at Michigan’s 15 public universities— are in jeopardy due to a pair of bills that the sponsors claim will save approximately $8 million a year by eliminating the benefits.

House Bills 4770 and 4771, approved by the House of Representatives in a 64-44 vote in September and then by the Senate Committee on Reforms, Restructuring and Reinventing last week would prohibit any government entity in the state from providing such benefits.

Several public entities, representing tens of thousands of workers, currently provide such benefits for domestic partners of employees, including the State of Michigan, at least 10 public universities, at least 5 city and county governments, and at least 3 public school districts.

In an article published Monday by Ann-Arbor.com, higher education reporter Kellie Woodhouse writes:

U-M Latin professor Sara Ahbel-Rappe said that if bill 4770 passes there will likely be a large exodus of professors who leave the university.

“It’s a total slap in the face. It tells me that I don’t deserve the same consideration” as heterosexual couples, she said. “People will leave.”

Ahbel-Rappe and six other professors authored a letter to Gov. Rick Synder asking him not to sign bill 4770 if passed by the senate. The letter calls the bill discriminatory and says it will negatively affect staff recruitment at the university.

U-M officials are also concerned about the bill’s effects. Nearly all of U-M’s competitors offer benefits to same-sex partners. So do most Fortune 500 companies.

“These benefits are important for the successful recruitment and retention of our top-flight faculty and staff,” said Cynthia Wilbanks, U-M’s vice president of government relations. “We’re in competition on a lot of levels, this would be an added competitive disadvantage.”

Wilbanks said the university is actively lobbying politicians in Lansing.

Will it be enough? “If the bill gets to the senate floor there will be a vigorous debate ..." she said, "but over a long career, I have learned not to speculate.”

Sonya Alvarado, president of the Eastern Michigan University Federation of Teachers union, said the bill sends the wrong message to college students.

"The message we would be sending to our students if this goes through is a negative one," she said. "The university is about inclusion. The university is about open discussion. This bill just goes against everything that the university is about."

Washington Voters Would Support Same-Sex marriage Law New Poll Finds

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON -- The Seattle Times reports that a new state-wide poll by the University of Washington Center for Survey Research found most voters would support a state gay marriage law if it's approved by the Legislature. 

"That of voters surveyed, 55-percent indicated they would uphold a Legislature-approved same sex marriage law if it were challenged by referendum. The poll found 38-percent would oppose the law and 7-percent were undecided. However, additional questions in the poll found that 44-percent of voters surveyed said gays and lesbians should have the same legal right as straight couples to marry; and 22-percent said they should have the same legal rights as married couples, but it should not be called marriage. 17-percent said there should be no legal recognition of gay and lesbian couples. The wide-ranging poll touched on several other issues, including the state budget shortfall. The Washington Poll surveyed 938 registered voters state-wide from October 10-30. It has a plus or minus 3.2 percentage points margin of error."  ~ The Seattle Times 

State Senator Ed Murray (D-Seattle) and Representative Jamie Pedersen (D-Seattle) both have indicated they're considering a push for a same sex marriage measure in the next regular session in January 2012. Both men have worked on LGBTQ Equality Rights issues for a number of years and have been building political support incrementally for same sex marriage in Washington State.

Brody's Scribbles...Stepping Up The Assault On DOMA

By Matt Baume | WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA -- We're counting down to the next ruling in the Prop 8 case. A Republican-backed bill in New Hampshire would replace marriage with civil unions for everyone -- including siblings. Get ready for a showdown on the Defense of Marriage Act, and things are heating up in Ohio.

Des DownUnder On Sundays

By Desmond Rutherford | ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA -- State of the Union of Human Beings

I think it is true to say that, as children, we hear certain stories and then fantasise our own persona as being one of the characters in the narrative. Is there ever an indication of our once or future roles in life, if not those we adopt in childhood? Most often, Prince Charmings and beautiful Princesses don't live up to expectations, but really, beauty and charm are in the eye and mind of the beholder.

I remember saying that I wanted to be a girl, when I was about seven years old. My mother looked at me with some concern, but was sufficiently astute to ask me why. I explained to her that it would mean I wouldn't have to go to war. Was that the only reason I wanted to be a girl? I may never know the answer to that question, but it is only fair to reveal that I remember thinking that, if I was a girl, I wouldn't have to kill someone. I was also fascinated with my mother's high heel shoes, lipstick and jewelry.

Then when I was nine, I saw Disney's Peter Pan. I was obsessed with Peter. I loved his upturned nose, and the way all the 'lost boys' followed him. I concluded that I wanted to stay young forever, like Peter. My mother told me that I would probably change my mind when I got older, and she was right, but I think I would have liked to have stayed 22 years old for a lot longer than that single year. So many men, so little time.

I fell madly in love with Doris Day at the ripe old age of nine, the same year the movie Calamity Jane was released with her in the starring role. I had immediately noticed that she has a boyish face resembling Peter Pan with his upturned nose. (It may be well worth seeing Calamity Jane as an adult, and you could be shocked at the number of sexual innuendos in the plot. Indeed, the movie is a first class example of how to get around censorship codes.)

Peter Pan By David Kawena

I told my mother, that if I couldn't remain forever young, like Peter Pan, I wanted to grow up to be like Doris Day. My mother just chuckled and told me that I should probably wait until I had grown up before I decided who I wanted to be like. As wise as she was, I don't think she had any idea how much freedom her statement had just given me.

Despite all the clues of my movie inspired fantasies, including adoring singing movie stars who wooed fair maidens, instead of me, along with seeing half-dressed natives surrounding cowboys when they weren’t dancing half-naked around camp fires, or dark skinned cannibals prancing around missionaries in big cooking pots. Even with the fascination of white guys pirouetting in very tight costumes with bulges in ballet movies, not to mention the bulging 'appetites' of fellow students during lunch breaks in my last year of primary school, I never guessed I was gay; until it just seemed to be so right to share my 'lunch' with one of those boys. Later, I discovered that high school lunch breaks were a regular 'smorgasbord' of education.

Still, I was haunted by the spoken horrors of being homosexual. It was wrong; the Bible said so. Society said it was criminal, and could imprison me for it. I might lose my friends and my parents could possibly disown me. My life would be ruined. The thought occurred to me, at the age of fifteen, that I should run away to Denmark to have the operation that could make me a girl. I wondered if Hamlet had pondered on whether his gender should be or not be, the one he wanted. Shakespeare probably decided that Elizabethan England wasn't ready for Hamlet, The Princess of Denmark.

Since the only thing I ever did, in geography class, was to survey the contours of my fellow students' bodies, I didn't know where Denmark was, let alone how I could afford to get there. Anyway by the time I was sixteen I was very happy with my male anatomy and several local Prince Charmings seemed to regard me as a rising young star on the firmament of Adelaide's playing fields.

I finally came to the conclusion that I didn't care what anyone else thought or said, I liked male, I liked being male, and I liked being me, just as I was. I grew to like email.

Maybe it was easier back then, because 'everything' was against the law. If we were aware of our feelings, though not all of us were, we could accept or deny what we felt. Either way, we had to hide ourselves from nearly everyone. We cruised in stealth mode, and hoped our camouflaged starry eyes were enough to reveal us to each other. I enjoyed being a young man, and even If I wasn't born a star, I was at least able to share my asteroidal rock with other young men looking for a friendly place to be themselves.

I know that not everyone going through the trauma of self discovery will be as content, or lucky as I have been, in accepting that my physical attributes are that part of me which I use to express myself sexually with others. I urge everyone to just let children be whom they are. Do not try to make them into replicas of yourself, or into what you never were but wanted to be, and never, never, never try to make them what someone else tells you they should be; let them be themselves. Grant them the freedom to become who they are; grant this as parents and guardians; grant it with all the love you can give them.

If I have any regret at all, it is that my society, during my formative teenage years, convinced me to believe that I had to label myself as homosexual. They weren't wrong, but neither were they correct, in as much that they caused me to believe that being gay meant I could never love a woman enough to sire a child myself. I know now that I could have. I have learned that women and men do make love, regardless of their orientation, and do have children. The desire to reproduce is deep in all of us. Cultural expectations, whether religious or societal, can freeze us from all we could become, from procreation; even stopping us from adopting and fostering our young. Ignorance is bred instead, and our human communities are the lesser for that. Intellect is humanity's seed; ignorance its contraceptive.

This concern with marriage between partners, regardless of gender, can lock us into relationships which are not always appropriate for who we are, just the same as labelling oneself as only gay, or straight. We need to know that we have the freedom to be who we are, and we should accept the diversity in ourselves to love whom we will, to marry if we so desire, all without concern for gender.

If joining with someone we love, and who loves us, is the union that makes us happy, and if without them we would be less, miserable, incomplete and torn asunder, then all humanity should rejoice with the gods in the discovery of lovers being devoted to each other. For what is love, if not happiness in the presence of the beloved? Indeed, what is happiness, if not lovers in love?

Those who see this as an agenda will seek to deny love, divide love, and denigrate love.

The real goal, as adults, should be to remain young at heart, and adaptable, so that our lives can evolve into wholesome love of each other, by each other, and for each other. The state of any union must be based on such love, or it will be divorced with greed, jealousy, mistrust, lies, and hatred of the reality of our natural affection for one another.

DC Pride 2011-  Young Gender Queer Lovers Together, Photo By Brody Levesque 

In Brief

Staff Reports

Georgia Christian College Staff Told To Reject Homosexuality Or Be Fired

ROME, GEORGIA -- Shorter University has announced a policy which will require its more than 200 employees to sign a “Personal Lifestyle Statement” rejecting homosexuality. The university's president, Don Dowless, made it clear any staffer not signing faces immediate termination. The statement also requires staffers to reject premarital sex and adultery as well as not using alcoholic beverages in front of students or attending university events within six hours of drinking them.

In an interview with a local television station Dowless said:

“I think that anybody who adheres to a lifestyle that is outside of what the biblical mandate is and of what the board has passed, including the president, would not be allowed to continue here."

New employees will have to sign the statement and existing employees will have to sign it to renew their contracts. “Failure to adhere to this statement may result in disciplinary action up to and including immediate termination,” the statement says.

According to one gay employee who works at Shorter who told The GA Voice:

"We now will live in fear that someone who doesn't like us personally or someone who has had a bad day will report that we've been drinking or that we are suspected of being gay," said the employee, who declined to reveal his name due to the policy.

The Personal Lifestyle Statement was adopted by the Board of Trustees last Friday, October 21 and presented to employees on Monday, October 24. The Personal Lifestyle Statement was one of several approved by the Board of Trustees. The others include a “Policy for Christian Education,” “Biblical Principles on the Integration of Faith and Learning” and a “Statement of Faith.”

A Shorter student who didn’t want to be identified said "that the university is judging others, contrary to what the Bible teaches." Students, however, are not required to sign the policy.

”Anything outside that is not biblical, we do not accept," Dowless told the television station. “We have a right to hire only Christians."

Brody's Notes... Rick Perry Tells New Hampshire Conservatives: Repeal Gay Marriage

Texas Governor Rick Perry (R)

By Brody Levesque | CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE -- Texas Governor and Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry, campaigning in New Hampshire Friday told a conservative advocacy group he applauds the GOP legislators in the state for their efforts to to repeal the state's same-sex marriage law.

Speaking before an enthusiastic crowd at the Cornerstone Action's annual banquet, Perry said:

"As conservatives we believe in the sanctity of life. We believe in the sanctity of traditional marriage and I applaud those legislators in New Hampshire who are working to defend marriage as an institution between one man and one woman, realizing that children need to be raised in a loving home by a mother and a father."

In June 2009, New Hampshire became the sixth state to legalize gay marriage. Earlier this week LGBTQNation reported that the state's GOP lawmakers on Tuesday moved another step closer to repealing the state’s 15-month-old same-sex marriage law.

The House Judiciary Committee voted 11-6 to recommend eliminating gay marriage rights for same-sex couples, and to instead establish civil unions for any unmarried adults competent to enter into a contract, including relatives.

In his speech the Texas governor also praised Republican led efforts to defund Planned Parenthood.

"Unfortunately this current administration has since provided one million dollars in federal grant money to Planned Parenthood in direct conflict with this state's policies. And the bottom-line is this: If you want to stop Washington's many violations of the 10th Amendment ... then we must make President Obama a one-term president," Perry said.

This past June, New Hampshire's Executive Council voted 3-2 to end the the state's $1.8 million contract with Planned Parenthood. The Obama administration restored the funding in September.

In Brief

Staff Reports

U.S. Defence Department Identifies 14 Benefits For Legally Married Same-Sex Couples

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon today identified a total of 14 benefits where members may designate beneficiaries of their choosing, regardless of sexual orientation.

"We’ve now validated an additional six,” said Pentagon spokeswoman Eileen Lainez. “While these are not ‘new,’ now that we’ve confirmed these additional benefits, we’re updating the Quick Reference Guide to ensure all are aware of their beneficiary options. The Defence Department is engaged in a careful and deliberate review of the possibility of revising the eligibility for additional benefits, if legally permitted," she added.

The 14 benefits identified for members to designate whomever they wish as beneficiaries are:

-- Service Members Group Life Insurance beneficiary;

-- Post Vietnam-era Veterans Assistance Program beneficiary;

-- All-volunteer Force Educational Assistance Program – Active Duty Death Benefit beneficiary;

-- Death Gratuity beneficiary;

-- Final Settlement of Accounts;

-- Wounded Warrior Designated Caregiver;

-- Thrift Savings Plan beneficiary;

-- Survivor Benefit for retirees;

-- Casualty Notification;

-- Escorts for Dependents of Deceased or Missing;

-- Designation of Persons Having Interest in Status of a Missing Member;

-- Veterans’ Group Life Insurance beneficiary;

-- Person Eligible to Receive Effects of Deceased Persons; and

-- Travel and Transportation Allowance: attendance at Yellow Ribbon Reintegration events.

Eligibility for a number of other benefits is restricted by federal law including the Defence of Marriage Act.

Servicemembers Legal Defense Network Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis reacted to the Pentagon's announcement Friday afternoon saying:

“Unfortunately, today’s announcement does nothing to move the ball forward on the issue of providing equal benefits, recognition, and family support for legally married gay and lesbian families. The benefits outlined today were, in fact, available even before the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ Again, SLDN calls upon Secretary Panetta to confer now all the benefits and recognition he is authorised to extend to gay and lesbian service members and their families under current law.”

SLDN filed a federal lawsuit in U. S. District Court in Boston Thursday on behalf of current and former service members seeking equal recognition, benefits and family support for equal sacrifice and service in the U.S. Armed Forces.

“We are not advocating any special treatment for the families of gay and lesbian service members or veterans, but we want to underscore that all military families should be treated the same when it comes to recognition, benefits and family support,” said Sarvis.

New Hampshire Grass-Roots Coalition Forms To Fight Repeal of State's Same-Sex Marriage Law

CONCORD, New Hampshire -- A grass-roots campaign to stop lawmakers from repealing New Hampshire's same-sex marriage law was launched Thursday by a bipartisan coalition of business, civic, and community leaders, and the state residents who support equality rights.

A spokesman for the new group-Standing Up for New Hampshire Families- told reporters that the GOP lawmakers need to have their focus solely on creating jobs, assisting businesses, and reinvigorating the economic climate in the state and not on repealing the law that has been in effect almost two years which legalises same-sex marriages.

Former New Hampshire Supreme Court Chief Justice John Broderick, who is now currently dean of the University of New Hampshire Law School, is a supporter of the new group. Justice Broderick issued a statement Thursday coinciding with the announcement saying "it would be tragic to turn back the clock to the dark days of discrimination, intolerance and false stereotypes."

Standing Up for New Hampshire Families plans to operate a phone bank to call lawmakers urging them to vote against the bill.

New Hampshire lawmakers on Tuesday moved another step closer to repealing the state’s 15-month-old same-sex marriage law.

The House Judiciary Committee voted 11-6 to recommend eliminating gay marriage rights for same-sex couples, and to instead establish civil unions for any unmarried adults competent to enter into a contract, including relatives. The committee also recommended killing a second bill that would have simply repealed the gay marriage law.

The bill would not enact the same civil unions law that was in effect before gays were allowed to marry. That law granted gays all the rights and responsibilities of marriage except in name. The proposed civil unions law would be open to any two adults and would let anyone refuse to recognise the unions. It also would allow anyone to discriminate against such couples in employment, housing and public accommodations based on religious or moral beliefs.

The full House will now vote on the bill in early January. If passed, it would than go before the State Senate, and a public hearing would be held on the proposed legislation.

Supporters said the two proposed repeal bills would not apply to gay marriages that have already occurred, but would stop new ones. More than 1,500 New Hampshire gay couples have married so far under the current law.

But opponents said the law has conflicting provisions that appear to bar the courts from recognizing same-sex relationships as valid, while declaring gay marriages in effect before the repeal took effect to remain valid.

Irena Goddard, chairwoman of the Hopkinton Republican committee, said she was born in the former communist Czechoslovakia. She called the repeal bill "misguided legislation" brought by people using scare tactics to push a social agenda instead of on ways to improve the economy.

Republican businessman Craig Stowell said the replacement measure is not a compromise and would enshrine in the law the views of a few.

Stowell, co-chairman of the group's business and civic leadership council, said he got involved because he wants his gay brother to have the right to marry the person he loves in New Hampshire when he is ready.

It is also a personal fight for Dan Innis, dean of The Whittemore School of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire. Innis, 48, entered into a civil union with his partner, Doug Palardy, 37, two years ago and converted it into a marriage last year when New Hampshire's gay marriage law took effect.

"It's wonderful to be accepted," he said, adding that it would sadden him if lawmakers repealed the law and sent a message to people that only some are welcome in the state.

It also would create a separate class of gays whose marriages are recognized and those barred from being able to get married, he said.

The couple owns the Ale House Inn in Portsmouth and sees a mix of clients -- gay and heterosexual -- who stay there, he said. If New Hampshire repeals the gay marriage law, some might not feel welcome, he believes.

"People will be watching us," he said. ~ The Associated Press via The Boston Globe

New Hampshire, New York, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, Vermont and the District of Columbia issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. New York is the latest state to legalize the unions

Brody's Notes... Allegations Of Sexual Assault On A Minor By Murdered Gay Man Untrue

By Brody Levesque | CUMNOCK, AYRSHIRE, SCOTLAND -- Allegations of child sexual abuse against a murdered gay Cumnock man were fabrications according to a source in the local prosecutor's office. Earlier this week, UK media outlets had reported that 28 year old Stuart Walker had been questioned in an alleged incident this past August involving claims of sexual assault on a 12 year old boy. A spokesman for the Crown's prosecutors had told the UK press:

"We can confirm that the procurator fiscal at Ayr received a report concerning a 28-year-old male in connection with an alleged incident on August 20, 2011. The case is now closed."

Friday the Scottish newspaper, The Daily Record, had reported:

A lying convicted rapist was behind a "malicious" child abuse accusation against murder victim Stuart Walker.

Barman Stuart's grieving family were devastated yesterday by reports that he had been accused of indecency against a 12-year-old boy.

But the Record can reveal the man who made the allegation was a 44-year-old with a long criminal record including rape, assault, car theft and housebreaking.

And prosecutors planned to throw out the case.

The man who lodged the complaint cannot be named because it would identify his son, the subject of the allegation.

But as police continued their investigation into Stuart's brutal murder in Cumnock, Ayrshire, last Saturday, a Crown Office source said the abuse allegation had been considered "malicious".

The source said: "It was being considered by the fiscal when Stuart died but there was absolutely no corroboration for the allegation.

"The claim was that Stuart placed his hand down the boy's trousers. It appeared to be utter nonsense and was going nowhere.

The paper also notes that Stuart's accuser has a conviction for raping a woman after pinning her down and threatening to kill her and had been accused of breaching the rules of the sex offenders' register.

A Cumnock resident with direct knowledge of what happened told the paper:

"The guy who reported Stuart is trouble and everyone knows it. He's scum. I think this guy saw Stuart as an easy target as he's openly gay. Stuart was horrified about the report."

Strathclyde Police announced Friday that an 18-year-old man was being detained and was being questioned about Mr Walker's death. The teenager is thought to have been taken into custody on Thursday evening.

The spokeswoman for Strathclyde Police said:

"We can't confirm anything until we have had an arrest, and we don't know when that will be. At this stage a man has been detained and he will either be released or arrested after this."

Walker's murder is not currently being treated as motivated by homophobia, although the spokeswoman confirmed that investigators are keeping an open mind.

Brody's Notes... Australian Member of Parliament Suggests: If You're Gay? 'Grow out Of It.'

Staff Reports

BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA -- A Liberal National Party member of the Parliament of Queensland is being criticised again for a speech she had delivered in 2002, where she said that "people can grow out of the homosexual lifestyle thanks to efforts by “compassionate” support groups" such as Exodus Ministries International.

Fiona Simpson, who is actively seeking a ministerial position in a Liberal National Party government that would entail responsibilities greater than her current shadow cabinet responsibilities which now include community services and women's services agencies. Community Services Minister Karen Struthers branded Simpson’s previous comments as “way out of touch and patronising”, saying the promotion of Exodus was disturbing.

“She seeks to be the minister of an agency who will have responsibility for funding organisations, and it’s very clear her views are very supportive of groups like Exodus,” Struthers said.

Simpson's 2002 speech was revisited as the renewed debate in state politics this week over same-sex relationships and marriage equality was raised with Queensland's Deputy Premier Andrew Fraser championing a bill to allow same-sex civil unions to be registered in Queensland.

Simpson has dismissed previous and current criticism of her views as “another distraction” and insisted she had been “verballed”. She last night did not respond to questions about whether she still thought homosexuality was something people could outgrow.

Struthers also lashed out at Simpson and her party for opposing the Deputy Premier's civil partnerships legislation, which would allow same-sex as well as straight couples to register their relationships in the state.
LNP leader Campbell Newman yesterday said opposition MPs would vote as a bloc against the bill rather than be granted a conscience vote, labelling it a stunt to distract from more immediate priorities and lure the Greens' support.

“Fiona Simpson and the LNP in denying this opportunity [to register civil unions] are clearly saying gay people are not normal and we do not want to encourage this lifestyle and Fiona Simpson herself is actually encouraging people to ring a number to change their lifestyle,” Struthers said.

According to The Brisbane Times, during debate on anti-discrimination law changes in November 2002, Ms Simpson said some MPs had told tragic stories about people who had suffered due to their sexual identity or sexual orientation.

Ms Simpson said such people should be shown “compassion and understanding” and then she discussed the work of Exodus and read out a phone number for the local contact.

“I noted some comments in the debate and some very genuinely held beliefs that people are born homosexual people and cannot change and that is life,” she said at the time. [...] “I wanted to make members aware that, based on my information from some of the former homosexuals I know, there is a compassionate ministry called Exodus.

I have a number of acquaintances who have worked with Exodus. Today I was talking with a particular gentleman who is a former homosexual. They have a compassionate understanding and a desire to get alongside people who choose and who want to leave the homosexual lifestyle. This is about offering them options and not imposing only one set of values on other people.

Their mission is to support people who want to not live a homosexual lifestyle, but they also give them the freedom to grow into heterosexuality over time.

“There are a number of support groups throughout Queensland and, as I said, some very compassionate and genuine people who have come from a homosexual background who are in those groups.”

Struthers said Simpson appeared to be implying that homosexual people had a problem and should get counselling to grow out of it. Struthers said she had set up a roundtable on LGBTQ issues, and her agency also funded projects to help young people feel comfortable with their sexuality.

Queensland Association for Healthy Communities executive director Paul Martin said he hoped Ms Simpson had acquainted herself with expert research since her 2002 comments, as leading medical and psychological groups recognised homosexuality could not be “cured” or changed.

“People can, through a range of psychological interventions, be taught to suppress their homosexuality or taught to hate their homosexuality,” he said.

“The person is still homosexual; they’re just being taught to hate their homosexuality, to pretend to be heterosexual.”

Martin, whose organisation promotes healthy living within the Queensland LGBTQ communities, said attempts to “cure” homosexuality generally led to further harm and family problems down the track.

According to its website, Exodus International is a Christian evangelical ministry that aims to help men and women “find a way out of the sexual brokenness of homosexuality” but warns the journey may take years.
RELATED: Former "Ex-Gay" Leader For Exodus Denounces Anti-Gay Movement

WATCH:

In Brief

Staff Reports

Ohio High School Anti-Gay Beating Caught On Cell Phone Video

CHILLICOTHE, OHIO -- The mother of a gay 15 year-old boy- the victim of a brutal case of antigay bullying caught on cell phone video and later posted to Facebook- is seeking to have hate crime charges brought against her son's assailant.

The video clearly shows the attacker waiting for the boy and then immediately throws a series of punches and then violently takes the victim to the ground after a desperate attempt by the youth to get away from his assailant. Both boys are students at Union-Scioto High School in Chillicothe, Ohio.

ABC News affiliate WSYX in Columbus, Ohio reported that the attacker posted anti-gay remarks on the victim's Facebook page two days before the attack.

The station interviewed the victim's mother, who describes what she saw of the vicious beating on tape.

"The boy stood there and waited on him, and waited on him, and waited on him," she told WSYX. "And then as soon as he walks in the door, the boy hits him. The victim walks away saying, 'What did I do? Why are you doing this?' And he keeps walking away."

But then the boy grabs the victim, stands over him on the ground and delivers at least seven punches in quick succession, the smacks audible on the tape.

The mother told the station that her son might have a concussion and chipped teeth, and that she wants that attack pursued as a "hate crime." The mother is certain it was motivated by her son being gay.

"It's my son," she said, "and they did it just because he's a homosexual."

"I was waiting for somebody," says the boy, whose identity is hidden in the news report. "I covered myself, I shielded my body, and he just kept hitting me and nobody did anything."

Equality Ohio Executive Director, Ed Mullen, stated that this incident is emblematic of violence experienced or feared by LGBT students every day. Mullen adds: 

"Union-Scioto has no policy in place that specifically protects students from being bullied or attacked based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The Union-Scioto Local School District does have a policy that prohibits harassment based on sex, race, color, national origin, religion, disability, among others, but it does not specifically protect against harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity."

Mullen explained that the incident serves as a reminder that Ohio’s anti-bullying law must be strengthened and specific protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth must be included. 

Mullen says: 

 “All students, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, have the right to a safe school and education. Students should not fear verbal harassment, cyber-bullying, or physical assault in our public schools.”

An anti-bullying bill is pending in Ohio's legislature. Ohio House Bill 208 would add sexual orientation, gender identity, and other enumerated protections to Ohio’s anti-bullying law without changing the general prohibition against any bullying or harassment. Proponents of the bill are seeking testimony in the House Education Committee, according to Equality Ohio, but the bill has not been a priority of the committee.

SLDN Files Federal Suit on Behalf of Married Gay and Lesbian Service Members, Veterans

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS -- A team of lawyers from the Service Members Legal Defense Network launched a federal lawsuit here today in U. S. District Court on behalf of current and former service members seeking equal recognition, benefits and family support for equal sacrifice and service in the U.S. Armed Forces. The plaintiffs, each legally married, want the armed services to recognize their families and seek the same family support and benefits for their same-sex spouses that the services and Department of Veterans Affairs provide to opposite-sex spouses.

This is the same court that ruled the federal Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional because it interferes with a state’s right to define marriage last year. That decision is being appealed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit. The 1996 law bars federal recognition of same-sex marriages performed in states that allow them. The suit also challenges provisions of federal code regarding spouses that lawyers said bar gay couples from accessing benefits provided by the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Those benefits include military identification cards, access to bases, recreational programs, spousal support groups and burial rights at national cemeteries.

“This case is about one thing, plain and simple. It’s about justice for gay and lesbian service members and their families in our armed forces rendering the same military service, making the same sacrifices, and taking the same risks to keep our nation secure at home and abroad,” said Army Veteran and SLDN Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis. “These couples are in long term, committed, and legally recognized marriages, and the military should not be forced to turn its back on them because the federal government refuses to recognize their families.”

“We’ve been serving our country too long, working too hard, and sacrificing too much to see our families denied the same recognition, support and benefits as our straight, married counterparts,” said lead plaintiff, Major Shannon McLaughlin of the Massachusetts National Guard. McLaughlin and her spouse, Casey, are the parents of ten month old twins, Grace and Grant.

Currently, federal law requires the military to ignore these marriages and, therefore, prevents it from providing vitally needed benefits to these legally married spouses, including housing; health care; surviving spouse benefits; the issuance of military identification cards; and morale, welfare, and recreational programs. These inequities were recently spotlighted when Chief Warrant Officer 2 Charlie Morgan of the New Hampshire National Guard, announced today as a plaintiff in this case, was forced to seek intervention from elected officials and the Pentagon in order for her spouse, a part-time special education teacher, to be permitted to attend a yellow-ribbon reintegration ceremony following CW2 Morgan’s return from a deployment to Kuwait.

“As plaintiffs, we are fighting to receive the same benefits and opportunities as our married heterosexual counterparts. This discrimination causes undue financial and emotional hardship for our families. As a cancer survivor, who has been recently diagnosed with a recurrence, I worry every day that my health may take a turn for the worse, and Karen would be unable to receive the survivor’s benefits to help take care of our daughter. We are only asking for fair and equitable treatment as a recognized family,” Morgan said today.

Sarvis pointed out this is not about special rights, as some critics have argued.

“We are not advocating any special treatment for the families of gay and lesbian service members or veterans, but we want to underscore that all military families should be treated the same when it comes to recognition, benefits and family support,” said Sarvis.

Brody's Notes... CNN Calls Out Linda Harvey For Anti-Gay Comments About LGBTQ Healthcare Providers

WATCH:

Brody's Notes... British Housing Official Demoted For Perceived Anti-Gay Bias

By Brody Levesque | MANCHESTER, ENGLAND -- A British Housing Official at the Trafford Housing Trust in Bolton has been demoted for questioning same-sex marriage ceremonies in UK churches on his private Facebook page. Adrian Smith, 54, commenting on a news story about allowing same-sex religious marriage ceremonies to be held in churches, and who is a member of a local evangelical church, had written: “An equality too far.”

The next day, asked by a work colleague if he disapproved of the move, Smith elaborated further telling him:

“No, not really. I don’t understand why people who don’t believe in Christ would want to get hitched in church. The Bible is quite specific that marriage is for men and women. If the state wants to offer civil marriages to the same sex then that is up to the state; but the state shouldn’t impose its rules on places of faith and conscience.”

The colleague then reported him to the housing trust’s equality and diversity head Helen Malone.

After a disciplinary hearing found Smith guilty of gross misconduct, he was demoted to the role of money support advisor and his salary dropped from £35,000 to £21,000.

The Pink news UK reported:

His solicitor, Tom Ellis of Manchester-based law firm Aughton Ainsworth, told the Manchester Evening News: 

“Most people recognise this was totally disproportionate and an excessive reaction by the trust. He made what were fairly mild comments after he was asked his opinion.

“It just seems undemocratic and incredible he can lose his job for comments like that. Even people who disagree with him would probably feel that way as well.”

Trafford Housing Trust says it stands by its decision.

David Barrow, commercial director of the trust, said it “has an equal opportunities policy and Mr Smith’s comments on Facebook, where he identified himself as a Trust employee, went against this policy."

He added: “We expect employees at all levels to act respectfully. This applies in person and on social media.”

The London based Peter Tatchell Foundation- A LGBTQ Human Rights organisation- issued a statement saying Smith's comments were "not a particularly homophobic viewpoint."

"Adrian Smith's opposition to churches being compelled to hold gay marriages is shared by much of the population, including many equality and human rights organisations," Peter Ttachell said. "In a democratic society, he has a right to express his point of view, even if it is misguided and wrong. Freedom of speech should only be limited or penalised in extreme circumstances, such as when a person incites violence against others. Mr Smith's words did not cross this threshold," Tatchell cautioned.

Instead of taking disciplinary action, the Trust should have simply warned Mr Smith about making remarks in forums where he is identified as their employee, added Tatchell. "I urge Trafford Housing Trust to revoke his demotion and salary cut," he said.

In Brief

Staff Reports

7 Year Old Boy Who Identifies As A Girl Is Told He Can't Join Girl Scouts

Bobby Montoya  via KUSA 9 News Denver

DENVER, COLORADO - Seven year old Bobby Montoya wanted to join the Girl Scouts just like his older sister had, and although Bobby is a boy, he sees himself as a girl.

"Bobby identifies as a girl, and he's a boy," Felisha Archuleta, Bobby's mom, told Denver's KUSA 9 News. "He's been doing this since he was about 2 years old. He's loved girl stuff, so we just let him dress how he wants, as long as he's happy."

Bobby agreed saying; "I like girl stuff."

KUSA 9 News reporter Anastasiya Bolton told LGBTQNation that the trouble started when Bobby's mother tried to sign him up for the Girl Scouts and she was told on the phone to bring him in. When she arrived, one particular troop leader took one look at Bobby and told his mother, "no- that's not for me," and refused to let her fill out the application.

Archuleta told KUSA 9 News that if she and her son do not have to deal with that person, then she'll gladly sign him up after the Girl Scouts of Colorado notified her that GSA Colorado was an inclusive organisation. In a statement to 9 News, GSA of Colorado said in part: "If a child identifies as a girl and the child's family presents her as a girl, Girl Scouts of Colorado welcomes her as a Girl Scout."

Bolton was asked by LGBTQNation if there had been other instances of bullying directed against Bobby and in response she said: "The child told 9 News he had been bullied, and used that word to describe what had happened." Bolton also said that the child's mother had told the station that there had been some other incidents of inappropriate responses and unkind words directed at her son while attending school. 

Read the complete story at KUSA 9 News.

Brody's Journal... The Rick Mercer Report: Rick's Rant - Teen Suicide

Brody's Notes... European Parliament Repeats Call For EU-Wide Anti-Discrimination For LGBT People

Staff Reports

STRASBOURG, FRANCE -- The European Parliament has formally called on EU countries to find an agreement on the draft legislation- proposed over three years- to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation across the EU. On Tuesday, the Parliament voted twice to adopt a resolution which notes that "the Member States should, as a priority, agree and adopt as soon as possible the proposal for a Council directive on implementing the principle of equal treatment."

The draft horizontal anti-discrimination Directive would forbid discrimination based on religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation in access to goods and services, education, and access to social benefits. It still requires approval from all 27 EU Member States. Germany and others have refused any dialogue on the draft law, despite examining the proposals since July 2008.

The resolution also calls on the [European] Commission to continue to support the overcoming of technical difficulties [between Member States] in order to ensure that a swift agreement is reached," point out it would help Europe achieve employment and stability targets for 2020.

Raul Romeva i Rueda MEP, Vice-president of the LGBT Intergroup, welcomed the vote:

"These two votes show the European Parliament remains firmly committed to non-discrimination. We fought long and hard for this proposal, and we will outlast retrograde governments that use fallacious arguments to delay equality. It’s in Europe’s DNA to protect minorities, and we will eventually get there.”

Sophie in ‘t Veld MEP, another Vice-president of the LGBT Intergroup and responsible for the text on behalf of the ALDE group, remarked:

“Like the eurozone crisis, fundamental rights in the EU are weakened by huge national deficits and little enforcement of European rules. Just as we need stronger governance and sanctions for our economy, we need stronger governance and sanctions for fundamental rights. Member States must defend equality as urgently as the stability of the euro: both are absolutely vital.”

Brody's Notes... HPV Vaccination For Boys Is A Tough Sell

CDC Headquarters, Atlanta, Georgia

By Brody Levesque | ATLANTA, GEORGIA -- The Center's for Disease Control Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has issued a finding this week that young boys as well as girls should be given the controversial HPV vaccination against human papillomavirus, or HPV. The panel's recommendation is designed to to protect young people from HPV infection before they become sexually active. Federal health officials usually adopt what the panel says and asks doctors and patients to follow the recommendations.

Dr. Anne Schuchat, a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention administrator who oversees the agency's immunization programs notes:

"HPV infection is the most common sexually transmitted disease — between 75 percent and 80 percent of females and males in the United States will be infected at some point in their lives. Most will overcome the infection with no ill effects. But in some people, infections lead to cellular changes that cause warts or cancer, including cervical, vaginal and vulvar cancers in women and anal cancers in men and women. A growing body of evidence suggests that HPV also causes throat cancers in men and women as a result of oral sex. HPV infections cause about 15,000 cancers in women and 7,000 cancers in men each year."

The vaccination program is controversial as evidenced by disagreement between GOP candidates for president, Texas Governor Rick Perry-who issued an executive order in 2007 mandating girls get the HPV vaccine as part of a school immunization program which was later overturned by a court- was disparaged for his advocacy for HPV vaccinations for girls by rival candidate, Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann,(R-MN), who during a recent GOP debate, had accused Perry of putting kids at risk for complications like mental retardation. (CDC experts had advised the panel there is no evidence the HPV vaccine can cause mental retardation.)

Dr. Schuchat acknowledged that due to misinformation, the campaign for routine vaccination is a tough sell. According to the CDC's own findings,49 percent of adolescent girls had gotten at least the first of the recommended three HPV shots, however, only one third had received the required three doses. Schuchat said that the statistics were "pretty terrible," attributing the low percentage for girls to confusion or misunderstanding by parents that they can wait until their daughters became sexually active. Dr. Schuchat cautions that the HPV vaccine will only work if the shots are given prior to a girl being exposed to the virus, which occurs during sexual activity.

The committee also recommended the vaccination for males 13 through 21 years who have not been vaccinated previously or who have not completed the three-dose series. But that could be a challenge, stigmatism may stop boys from receiving the HPV vaccine.

Recent studies have indicated that the vaccine prevents anal cancer in males with one study that focused on gay males finding it to be 75 percent effective. But while anal cancer has been increasing, it's still a fairly rare cancer in males, with only about 7,000 cases in the U.S. each year that are tied to the strains of viruses targeted in the HPV vaccine. In contrast, about vaccine-preventable 15,000 cervical cancers occur annually.

Dr. Ranit Mishori, a family practice doctor in Washington, D.C., and an assistant professor at the Georgetown University School of Medicine notes that the vaccination's use against anal cancer may not be much of a selling point, there will be parents who may say; "'Why are you vaccinating my son against anal cancer? He's not gay! He's not ever going to be gay!' I can see that will come up," said Mishori, who supports the committee's recommendation.

“It’s a conundrum,” said Dr. James Turner, immediate past president of the American College Health Association and a liaison to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). “The conundrum is many times boys or teenagers don’t really fully understand or clarify their sexual orientation for years.” In addition, there’s the danger that the stigma of a vaccine aimed only at young gay and bisexual boys and men would hinder use. “I’m advocating it for all boys,” Dr. Turner said.

That means a vaccine targeted to young men who know they’re gay or bisexual likely wouldn’t reach many of the males who may need it, or reach them early enough. With boys, as with girls, the HPV vaccine is most effective when it’s given before sexual activity exposes people to the virus, federal health experts say.

Cost is another factor with some health care providers as well as parents balking at covering the expensive vaccine which costs $130 a dose. The vaccinations for boys 11-14 is expected to cost about $140 million annually.

An estimated 50 percent to 80 percent of men and women are infected with HPV in their lifestimes, although most clear the infection without developing symptoms or illness, according to the CDC.

Brody's Notes... Santorum Talks Sodomy Laws & Tells Anti-Gay Host Bradlee Dean: " I don’t believe in hate crimes, period.”

 Then Senator Rick Santorum conceding in 2006 Election Loss 

By Brody Levesque | ANNANDALE, MINNESOTA -- Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum, who is struggling to keep his campaign afloat as his polling numbers continue to slide further down away from GOP front runners Mitt Romney, Texas Governor Rick Perry, and former pizza magnate Herman Cain, appeared on the notoriously anti-gay preacher Bradlee Dean's Sons of Liberty radio programme Saturday, denouncing same-sex marriage rights, advocating for sodomy laws, and telling Dean that he doesn't believe in hate crimes.

Speaking about same-sex marriage, Santorum said:

"This is not about gay marriage, it is about changing what is right and wrong and fundamentally changing what people of faith can say and do in society,” Santorum said on Dean’s radio show. “The ultimate objective here is to drive faith out of the public square, to drive morality out of the laws of this country, to secularize our society with a different set of values.” 

Adding that he felt that the characterisation of those opposed to same-sex marriage as bigots was uncalled for telling Dean:

“The reason that people don’t talk about it like I do is that you are vilified by the mainstream media, by Hollywood, by the educational establishment, all of the levers of power,” Santorum said. “Even the conservative media when it comes to these issues are hesitant to talk about them, it’s not polite conversation.”

He then turned to the landmark case, Lawrence v. Texas, where the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Texas sodomy laws- making it defacto effective elsewhere in the United States as a result of the ruling- that were used to imprison gays and lesbians.

[...]

“And I stood up from the very beginning back in 2003 when the Supreme Court was going create a constitutional right to sodomy and said this is wrong we can’t do this,” Santorum said. ”And so I stood up when no one else did and got hammered for it. I stood up and I continue to stand up.”

He then added: “I do not believe that sexual orientation should be added to hate crimes, but let me be honest, I don’t believe in hate crimes, period.

Santorum’s appearance on the Sons of Liberty marks the first time a current presidential candidate has shared the airwaves with Dean. Dean has hosted Rep. Michele Bachmann in recent years, both on the radio program and at ministry fundraisers – Ron Paul and Tim Pawlenty have also been interviewed on the program.

Dean courted controversy earlier this year when he gave the invocation before a session of the Minnesota House, a flap that cause House Speaker Kurt Zellers to apologize and reconvene the House with a prayer by the House chaplain.Long an opponent of homosexuality, Dean has accused some gays and lesbians of targeting children and asserted that “[o]n average, [homosexuals] molest 117 people before they’re found out,” though Dean later blogged that he meant paedophiles. He has also frequently called for the enforcement of sodomy laws, which were once used to imprison gays and lesbians in the United States. ~ The Minnesota  Independent

Brody's Notes... Danish Minister: Same-Sex Weddings By 2012

By Brody Levesque | COPENHAGEN, DENMARK -- In an interview published this past Friday in the Jyllands-Posten- a leading Danish newspaper- the government's appointed Church minister, Manu Sareen, a Social Liberal, said that the government plans to introduce a bill just after the New Year which will allow same-sex couples to hold weddings in the Church of Denmark and be ‘married’ legally as recognised by Danish law.

Currently under the law, same-sex couples are allowed to have ‘registered partnerships’, a civil status, but are barred from marriage and church weddings.

“The first same-sex weddings will hopefully become reality in Spring 2012. I look forward to the moment the first homosexual couple steps out of the church. I’ll be standing out there throwing rice,” Sareen said.

His appointment to the post of minister was one of the more more controversial of the new coalition government. 

He is a professed religious “doubter”, who, before becoming church minister, came awfully close to writing himself off the national church registry, in direct protest against its long-standing ban on same-sex marriage.

“I’m not sure that there’s a god, unfortunately,” Sareen told Jyllands-Posten. “I wish I could believe it. Then I could say: there’s God and because of him I know what happens after we die.”

But if the minister was uncertain about the existence of God, one thing he was absolutely certain of is that homosexuals deserve the same rights as heterosexuals.

“I have many friends who are homosexuals and can’t get married. They love their partners the same way heterosexuals do, but they don’t have the right to live it out in the same way. That’s really problematic,” Sareen said.“Today it would be unthinkable not to have female priests,” he continued. “That’s how it will also be for same-sex weddings.”

While Sareen doubts the existence of God, he said he still enjoys going to church – albeit on rare occasions – to experience the atmosphere of “spirituality, reverence, respect, and humility: things that are missing in our everyday lives." ~  Jyllands-Posten

Denmark was the first country in the world to allow gay civil partnerships with legislation in 1989. But the country stopped short of calling it “marriage” and same-sex couples still are not allowed to have marriage ceremonies in the Church of Denmark. Public polls taken over the years, and right up until last week suggest around 69-percent of the population supports same-sex marriage.

Some clergy however are opposed including Henrik Højlund, a parish priest who was quaoted as saying:

“Lots of people are mistaken in thinking that homosexual weddings are just the next step after female priests. But it is much more consequential and beyond the boundaries for normal Christianity. The Church of Denmark is being secularised right up to the alter in a desperate and mistaken attempt to meet modern people halfway,” he said, adding that same-sex marriage would be “fatal for the church."

Less than five percent of Danes today attend church services on a weekly basis, yet 80 percent are – like Sareen – registered members who pay taxes to support it, but who only rarely attend services. This year alone, the Church of Denmark will receive an estimated 5.9 billion kroner in taxes from its registered members, plus additional tax-supported state subsidies equalling 130 kroner for every single citizen, regardless of religious affiliation, sexual preference, or other beliefs.

Helene Devantié, the chair of Kirketjenerforening, the association for church employees, was willing to allow for same-sex marriages in the Church of Denmark, but only as long as church employees could choose, on an individual basis, whether or not to serve same-sex couples.
Devantié’s demand raised questions about whether church employees – public employees, whose salaries are paid by taxes – should have the right to refuse service to certain citizens, just because they disapprove of their lifestyles or personal attributes.
Sareen said church employees who are set against marrying homosexuals would not be forced to conduct same-sex ceremonies.
Vivi Jelstrup, the co-chair of LGBT Danmark, the association for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transvestites in Denmark, expressed approval that Sareen and the new government are serious about allowing same-sex marriages in the Church of Denmark. But she wanted assurances that the law would also change to provide real equality across the board.

“The churches should have the option of creating local agreements, so that the employees who have ethical or moral problems with homosexuals marrying can exempt themselves,” she said adding: “We also want to see the Justice Minister laying out the groundwork for gender-neutral marriages,” ~  Jyllands-Posten

Brody's Notes... White House Remains Silent On Death Of Gay Civil Rights Icon

Photo By Brody Levesque

By Brody Levesque | WASHINGTON D. C. -- During the daily press briefing Friday, when asked to comment on the recent death of Gay civil rights icon, Dr. Frank Kamney, by the Washington Blade's senior political reporter Chris Johnson, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told him that he didn’t have an immediate reaction.

The Blade noted that upon learning of Kamney's death, John Berry, director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, issued a statement, and subsequently wrote an op-ed for the Blade in tribute to Kameny. But no statement has come directly from the White House.

Berry in his op-ed said:

“Dr. Frank Kameny was an American hero who transformed our nation’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community,” Berry said. “His courage, his brilliance, his force of will led to victory in a decades-long fight for equality. He helped make it possible for countless of patriotic Americans to hold security clearances and high government positions, including me. And in so doing, he showed everyone what was possible for every employer in our country.”

When pressed by Johnson for an answer,Carney told him:

"I’ll have to take that. I’m not aware of — I mean, I know that he passed away, but I don’t have a comment on that."

The Blade also asked if President Barack Obama- who has honoured Kamney for his activist and national outreach work to help his fellow LGBTQ citizens- would be attending Kamney's public viewing on November 3rd in Washington, Carny fired back: "I’m not his scheduler."