May 17 — International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia



Op-ed: A Call to Consciousness
[The Advocate, May 17, 2012]

Today is the International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia, also known around the world as IDAHO. Today is also a call to consciousness.

In commemoration of the May 17th, 1992 decision by the World Health Organization to de-pathologize homosexuality, IDAHO has worked for the last seven years to help support anyone still entrenched in places that do not allow them to be allof who they are. Even today, 76 countries continue to criminalize homosexuality and hundreds of transgender individuals are murdered every year.

To the average person this may seem like just another protest, but to many of these activists, especially those who live in entrenched places where their very lives are still stigmatized, what they do today represents their life's work. As in years past, many activists could be beaten and thrown into prisons by police. Many face hostilities from agitators such as neo-nazi's or ultra conservative religious groupswho aim to physically or psychologically demean their activities. Or they face political and spiritual leaders who denounce their existence.

But because of the actions of these activists, many more people's lives will be touched by stories of love and hope that raise the consciousness of an entire community.. Many will go to bed thinking differently than they did the day before about a category of people they once marginalized. And many will walk arm in arm with their loved ones knowing if even for just one day, if even for just one moment, that their love is validated as beautiful and that their greatest presentation of self can be touched by the warm rays of the sun.

[Continued here]

• Rob Ford attends anti-homophobia event after all [Globe & Mail, May 17, 2012]

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford made a surprise appearance at a flag-raising event to support the gay community Thursday, a reversal of his earlier rejection of the invitation.

Mr. Ford received an enthusiastic welcome from a cheering crowd on the green roof above city hall for the event marking the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.

"Way to go Mayor Ford!" someone shouted as he took to the podium to read a proclamation.

The event, hosted by Parents, Friends and Families of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), is the first gay-friendly event Mr. Ford has attended since winning the mayoralty in 2010.

PFLAG was told earlier in a written response from the mayor that he was unavailable.

After reading the proclamation, Mr. Ford stayed to listen to speeches, including one from Councillor Janet Davis, whose son is gay. Someone placed a blue flower in the mayor's lapel while a rainbow flag was raised behind him.

John A. Harnick: "To be GLT in Canada. This is what it feels like."



[Note: I well remember the day that one of our neighbours said to my dad, "Either you get rid of him, or I will." Just try living a lifetime with that threat hanging over your head. And the beat still goes on and on and on in dear old Simcoe.]

Gay students endure 'cycle of hate' in [Canada's] schools
[Toronto Star, October 21, 2011]

When Jeremy Dias was walking home from school one day in Grade 11, someone called him a fag.

Dark-haired, skinny and one of the few non-white students at his high school in Sault Ste. Marie, he kept walking. He was used to ignoring such barbs. But his tormentor wasn't finished.

"Before I knew it, I was on the ground and he and his friends were kicking me," said Dias, now 27. "And while I was on the ground, I was thinking I never thought it could happen to me."

Dias, who came out the previous year, woke up in the hospital two hours after the beating. The next day, his principal told him it was good he was beaten up - it would toughen him up and he wouldn't complain as much about being bullied.

He got through it. But the bullying onslaught becomes too much for many gay teens. Jamie Hubley, the 15-year-old Ottawa boy who committed suicide last weekend, was bullied for years on end and expressed frustration on his blog at being singled out by his peers. His father, an Ottawa city councillor, says bullying directly contributed to his son's death.

Jamie's suicide note said he could not endure three more years until his high school graduation.

"I don't want to wait three more years, this hurts too much. How do you even know it will get better? It's not."

Hubley's death is drawing renewed attention to what experts say is the largest failure gripping Canadian schools: their inability to create a safe environment for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered) students. The problems lie in curriculums that ignore gay people, teachers inadequately trained to deal with homophobic bullying, and a lack of support for those who try to address the problem.

Egale Canada, a group fighting for equality for gays and lesbians, released a nationwide study in May exploring homophobia in schools - the first of its kind. It found two-thirds of LGBT youth don't feel safe in school. One-fifth of them experience physical harassment or assault at school because of their sexuality. Half of all students surveyed said they hear homophobic slurs at least once a day.

"It's a daily grind . . . it just eats away at you," Dias said. " 'That's so gay' doesn't make anyone commit suicide. But when you hear it every day and all the time, day in and day out, there's no escape. It's [an] ongoing cycle of hate."

[Continued here]

• Carys Mills: Students and parents want schools to act on cyber-bullying [Globe & Mail, October 21, 2011]

Whether it's taunting Facebook posts, hateful tweets or any other form of cyber-bullying, regardless of when or where it happens, students want schools to take action.

That's the response of more than two-thirds of students, as revealed in an Ontario Student Trustees' Association report released Friday. More than 7,100 pupils from public, French and Catholic schools were surveyed, along with 2,400 parents.

• 2011 Ontario Student & Parent Survey (a *.pdf file) [OSTA-AECO, October 21, 2011]
• Be vigilant about bullying, [Michaëlle] Jean says [Ottawa Citizen, October 21, 2011]

Wearing a button with a unicorn, a rainbow and the name "Jamie," former governor general Michaëlle Jean implored a gym full of elementary students to be kind to one another.

"You are angels," she said, "but it's possible for you, in turn, to become very mean."

The consequences of that meanness were tragically visible on Thursday in Ottawa, with Jamie Hubley's funeral held just a few hours later. Hubley, 15, committed suicide Saturday after blogging about his struggles with the bullying and name-calling that came with being an openly gay teenager at A.Y. Jackson Secondary School.

People around the world were also wearing purple for Spirit Day, an international day in support of young victims of homophobic bullying declared after a widely-publicized slew of suicides in 2010.

At École élémentaire Michaëlle Jean, however, it was all about pink. Students seated on the gym floor were in pink T-shirts, and Jean wore a pink collared shirt under a black suit for the event aimed at promoting diversity and inclusiveness, organized in partnership with the anti-homophobic bullying group Jer's Vision.

• Rob Salerno: Open letter to Stephen Harper [concerning his party's It Gets Better video] [XTRA, October 21, 2011]

I notice that you're not in the video yourself. I'll take that to mean that this is just a rehearsal for the eventual Stephen Harper It Gets Better video. After all, if Barack Obama and David Cameron can both release It Gets Better videos, why can't our prime minister?

I'm writing because I'd like to offer you some tips for when you do create your own It Gets Better video. ...

Let's also talk about Vic Toews. He campaigned vociferously against the bill that added sexual orientation to Canada's hate propaganda law, on the grounds that spreading hate speech about gays is a fundamental Canadian freedom. Yes, that was eight years ago, but he never apologized for that or recanted his position. In fact, in 2005, he led a filibuster in Parliament to hold up the passage of Canada's same-sex marriage laws. His presence in the video is like telling kids "It gets better, but against my wishes."

Deepak Obhrai and Rona Ambrose also voted against same-sex marriage in 2005.

Then there's John Baird. Gee, this is awkward. Because at the end, Baird tells kids who see other kids being bullied that they should "be an ally, be a friend. Don't stay silent. Help them." Baird's actually been one of your most queer-friendly MPs, and we're really grateful for that. But then, you see, there's this whole thing... Yeah? Having Baird in the video is almost like saying, "It gets better as long as you never, ever, tell anyone you're gay."

• Andrew Gadsby: The pink elephant in the classroom [Globe & Mail, October 26, 2011]
• Tory 'it gets better' video called 'disingenuous' [CBC, October 28, 2011]

Liberal Leader Bob Rae told The Canadian Press Thursday he didn't feel the government was dealing with the issue of equality and gay rights in an up-front way. He raised the issue during question period on Thursday.

"I wonder if the spokesman for the government can indicate clearly whether the Prime Minister will be telling his colleagues in Perth at the Commonwealth conference that as far as Canada is concerned, human rights include gay rights and the Prime Minister will be using precisely that language to describe the situation," Rae said. ...

"The issue of human rights is something closely associated with our country and with our government, something we are very proud to put forward both internationally and here at home," Defence Minister Peter MacKay told the Commons.

Helen Kennedy, executive director of gay rights group EGALE Canada, called the Tory video disrespectful. ...

"For them to stand up and say, 'It gets better, just hang in there kids,' is so disrespectful and disingenuous and shows they're out of touch with the community."

• School trustees linked to U.S. anti-gay group [CNews, December 18, 2011]

Two school trustees are under fire for their links to an "extreme" U.S.-based anti-gay organization and a "disturbing pattern of attacks" on the Vancouver School Board's anti-homophobia policy.

On Sunday, Vision Vancouver Coun. Tim Stevenson, backed by board chairwoman Patti Bacchus, called on NPA trustees Ken Denike and Sophia Woo to apologize for comments made in a video posted on an American anti-gay marriage website Dec. 15.

In the video produced for the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), the pair criticizes material used in the district's Out in Schools program, which brings queer films to local high schools to facilitate discussion on bullying, homophobia and stereotypes.

Stevenson and Bacchus accuse the trustees of supporting the anti-homophobia policy in public while campaigning against it in private.

"Even more disturbing is why two recently elected school trustees are cosying up to an extreme anti-gay U.S. organization," Stevenson said.

Bacchus said she's fielded countless calls from concerned individuals.

• B.C. promising tougher action against school bullies [Vancouver Sun, December 18, 2011]

Premier Christy Clark has promised tougher action against bullying in B.C. schools, but exactly what she has in mind is not yet known. ...

Clark also has to decide if new anti-bullying measures will be generic or will address specific concerns about the bullying of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students. That's where the fireworks are likely to happen.

Those pushing for the latter include the NDP, the B.C. Teachers' Federation and Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, the province's representative for children and youth. The other side includes religious groups and traditional families who fear an effort to protect LGBT students could lead to gay-friendly lessons in public and faith-based schools. (Indeed, some of those in the former group say that's exactly what's needed.)

The NDP says Clark, who made a name for herself as an anti-bullying advocate while a CKNW radio host, should follow the lead of Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty. He recently made his own It Gets Better video and has introduced legislation that would require boards of education to develop anti-bullying policies, promote tolerance and support students who want gay-straight clubs in their schools.

The BCTF is pushing for provincial anti-bullying policies that include specific mention of homophobic and racist bullying. It says only 15 of 60 districts have such policies and a court action is underway to force the remaining 45 to do the same. Glen Hansman, a BCTF vice-president, says independent schools that receive provincial funding should be expected to have the same anti-bullying policies as public schools.

The Federation of Independent School Associations B.C. doesn't like the sound of that. President Doug Lauson told me he's in favour of anti-bullying policies, but not if they refer specifically to any group of students because kids need equal protection. And, he said, independent schools would not be happy if Clark followed McGuinty's lead and ordered gay-straight alliances in faith-based schools.

Remember what happened in Burnaby, where a parent group formed in opposition to an anti-bullying policy that made specific mention of LGBT students. While that group was soundly defeated at the ballot box in November, it hasn't gone away. ...

There is an important difference between Ontario and B.C. In Ontario, Catholic schools are part of the public school system. That's not the case in B.C. where faith-based schools are "independent" but they still receive provincial operating grants ranging from 35 to 50 per cent of those given public schools.

• New Ontario curriculum on sexuality and gender: Diversity training to hit teacher college classrooms by 2013 [XTRA, December 19, 2011]

New teachers in Ontario will soon graduate from college with an improved understanding of gender and sexuality to bring to the classroom, says queer activist Davina Hader.

Hader is part of a group, led by Toronto Centre Liberal MPP Glen Murray, that will soon be developing training for new teachers to focus on equity and diversity. "It's incredible. It will be required for every teacher. This is pretty groundbreaking," Hader says.

Schools must be accepting and welcoming for students and staff, Hader says. "And teachers' curriculum is part of that change."

Hader says the issue of inclusive education has been underscored this year as Ontario students have fought for gay-straight alliances (GSAs).

"The problem the Liberals have been up against with regard to GSAs is the separate school board," Hader says. "Boards have been saying ministry policies are not enforceable because Catholic schools have special rights. Well, they can't use that card anymore. This is a push for equality in education right across the board.

"With this we are teaching the people at the top, and they're going to have to listen. It will be mandated as part of their curriculum. They won't have a choice." ...

"The Accepting Schools Act is very clear," Murray says. "Not only can schools not discriminate against gay, lesbian and trans students, schools must create healthy and welcoming spaces for everyone. That will be the policy of Ontario.

"We want all students and teachers to feel welcome in schools, not just tolerated."

• Michael Pihach: "You can't keep certain things inside of you." [St. Catherines Standard, December 20, 2011]

There were nights when Michael Pihach was a teenager when he would sit in his bedroom with the lights off and rage at the world until he exploded.

"I'd be crying and pounding my fists on the floor, screaming to my mother that I wanted to die. I mean, that could have very well happened."

Pihach was 15 years old when he came out to friends and classmates at Denis Morris High School in St. Catharines. Trying to keep the fact that he was gay a secret was eating away at him.

"You just can't keep certain things inside of you. It's a pain that just keeps boiling up."

But it didn't always make things easier. It made him a target for bullies and bigots who would shout gay slurs at him, trip him in the hallway or push him into lockers. Pihach battled depression and said sometimes the feelings of isolation were unbearable.

"It got bad at one point," he said. "I had to leave to go to school at the hospital. I was manically depressed. Being called a faggot and a flamer everyday didn't help."

His four years in high school, from 1999-2002, were not easy.

"Teachers half the time, they don't know how to deal with these things," he said. "A lot of teachers, even though they want to help, don't know how to approach certain issues."

So when Pihach, now a 27-year-old journalist living in Toronto, hears news of gay students committing suicide after being bullied, he understands. It could have been him. When he sees the government intervene to try to prevent bullying and support gay students, he calls it a good first step, at last.

"Students need to know they have the right to organize, the right to mobilize and they have to know they have a support system," he said.

• Gay Straight Alliance takes hold in earlier grades [San Francisco Chronicle, January 15, 2012]

It took just a single word for Marcel Brown to make up his mind to join his school's Gay Straight Alliance.

"I was walking down the hallway with my little brother, and he was messing around with his friends and they called him a 'faggot,' " said Marcel, an eighth-grader at San Francisco's Everett Middle School. "And I thought, 'That's messed up.' My older brother is gay."

Since that day a couple of months ago, he has spent lunchtime each Tuesday in Room 107 with a dozen or so members of the middle school club.

While common in high schools across the country, chapters of the Gay Straight Alliance with the younger school set have been slower to gain a foothold, in some cases because of the controversy the clubs stir up.

• Gay-straight alliances not in the cards at HWCDSB [CHML Hamilton, January 17, 2012]

There will be no "gay-straight" alliances at the Hamilton Wentworth Catholic Schools.

At least, no clubs that go by that name.

Chair Pat Daly says the school board supports efforts to reduce bullying but says it stops short of allowing clubs called "gay-straight alliances."

This comes just weeks after the McGuinty government introduced new legislation that will compel school boads to take a harder line on bullying.

It also requires boards to promote respect for all orientations and gender identities.

Daly says while the board won't have "gay-straight alliances" it will reach out to gay students through chaplains, guidance counsellors and teachers.

[Note: Hamilton, Ontario's self-serving catholic bigots are mouthing off.]

• Elementary School Climate, Anti-Gay Bullying Examined In New Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network Report [Huffington Post, January 18, 2012]

Given that more and more youngsters are self-identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) at younger ages, a new report hopes to shed light on school climate, biased remarks and bullying among elementary school students.

Released by the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN), "Playground and Prejudice: Elementary School Climate in the United States" examined students' and teachers' experiences with biased remarks and bullying, as well as attitudes about gender expression and family diversity. The report itself is based on national surveys of 1,065 elementary school students in third to sixth grades, as well as 1,099 elementary school teachers of kindergarten through sixth grade.

• GLSEN Releases Groundbreaking Study of Bias, Bullying and Homophobia in Grades K-6 [GLSEN, January 18, 2012]

"School climate and victimization can affect students' educational outcomes and personal development at every grade level," said GLSEN Executive Director Eliza Byard. "Playgrounds and Prejudice offers invaluable insights into biased remarks and bullying in America's elementary schools. The report also shows the need for elementary schools to do more to address issues of homophobia, gender expression and family diversity."

• No gay-straight alliances at Catholic schools [Cambridge Times, January 18, 2012]

The Waterloo Catholic District School Board says it will continue to be inclusive despite the absence of student clubs under the name gay-straight alliance.

[Note: Waterloo, Ontario's self-serving catholic bigots are mouthing off.]

• Hayley Gorenberg: Let's Celebrate Gay-Straight Alliances! [Huffington Post, January 25, 2012]

Today, on National Gay-Straight Alliance Day, I am ready to celebrate! But first I must confess: I wish I didn't have to hear about another school district denying students their right to form the clubs that provide so much support and are protected by law. At Lambda Legal we deal with threats to civil rights and addressing unfairness to LGBT people and people with HIV nationwide. It's a big agenda, and there's plenty of work to do -- defending GSAs should not have to be part of it, because school districts should be doing the right thing in the first place.

Here's why: gay-straight alliances are student-powered, school-based noncurricular groups associated with healthier school environments, tolerance, and understanding. GSAs are also associated with decreased harassment, which is associated with better school engagement and achievement.

What's not to like?

• Half of Canadians report being bullied as youth: A third say impacts of bullying are lasting [CBC, February 15, 2012]

The Harris-Decima survey conducted for the organization found 85 per cent of respondents believe that providing youngsters who bully others with a volunteer mentor is an effective way to reduce bullying.

The phone survey of more than 1,000 Canadians also explored the value of mentoring as a means to prevent abusive behaviours and assist those who are bullied to rebuild their confidence and self-esteem.

Among those who were bullied, 62 per cent believe they would have benefited from having a volunteer adult mentor to help them cope. And 87 per cent of adults polled agree that action to reduce bullying strengthens communities over time.

The poll also found 89 per cent of respondents believe bullying poses a serious threat to the long-term well-being of children and teens. Nearly a third of those polled say they think the abuse they suffered had a lasting harmful effect.

• 5 readers share tales of being bullied as kids [CBC, February 24, 2012]
• The role that bystanders have to play in Ontario's anti-bullying push [Globe & Mail, February 28, 2012]

As the issue of bullying continues to make headlines and Ontario schools prepare for tougher anti-bullying rules, the proposed legislation is being criticized for not addressing the role of bystanders - the responsibility of the witnesses to report what they are seeing and discourage it.

On Wednesday, students across the country will wear pink shirts in an annual ritual to show they don't tolerate bullying. But the challenge is figuring out how to bring real change every day of the year. If there's a chance, it will be through a whole-school approach that moves beyond the bullies and motivates the bystanders, experts say. ...

Bullying researcher Debra Pepler, a York University professor and psychologist, said the bystander issue is getting more attention now because of online bullying. To combat the fear of being a "rat" or becoming the next victim, she said students need to know adults will back them up.

• Hubley's dad defends anti-bullying legislation [CNews, April 6, 2012]
• Fear of 'divisive' discussion ends gay-straight alliance group motion [Waterloo Record, April 29, 2012]

Waterloo Catholic District School Board trustee Anthony Piscitelli said he withdrew the motion after he was asked to do so by the board chair Manuel da Silva.

He said it became clear the motion was not going to pass, and "out of respect for the chair" he agreed to withdraw it.

"My preference would still be to have that debate and put it out there, but the chair of the board approached me and asked if I would be willing to withdraw the motion and given that it is going to fail, I agreed," he said.

• The bullies that you are paying for: How the 'Christian' right is making you subsidize their hate [Rabble.ca, May 9, 2012]

We are all likely familiar with the war that our Conservative federal government is waging on organizations with which it does not see eye to eye.

And most of us have heard the borderline hate speech of Ontario Christian fascist Charles McVety, as when he said, in opposition to Ontario's new proposed anti-bullying law, Monday, May 7, appallingly and revoltingly, that:

        Bill 13 "embraces a radical sex education agenda" and children will be taught "about oral and anal sex." ...

You may be less aware of what your tax dollars are subsidizing when it comes to the virulent anti-gay and anti-woman, anti-choice rhetoric that is coming from groups that either are, or claim to be, "charities" under tax law, usually by using religion as the front to circumvent the intent of the law.

When even silence offends: Part 1 [Rabble.ca, April 18, 2012]

Every year, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) sponsors the Day of Silence and encourages students to take a vow of silence for the day, "to bring attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment." It occurs on Friday April 20th, this year. ...

Focus on the Family holds a countering "Day of Dialogue" (seen by some as a day to relentlessly verbally harass and bully LGBT kids) in answer to the Day of Silence. Because when your opponent has declared their intent to be silent, well, hey, that's a good way to win a dialogue. For the occasion, the organization is encouraging people to evangelize others, and present Christianity as a loving solution to rid people of same-sex attraction -- something that I and many others can attest doesn't actually work, and merely condemns a person to a suffocating cycle of self-oppression and hiding.

Concerned Women for America, Mission America and the Illinois Family Institute are beginning a campaign to undermine the Day of Silence, by encouraging teachers to "plan activities that involve student communications so students are not allowed to do this," and for parents to keep their kids at home so that they won't be indoctrinated into thinking that LGBT people are in any way acceptable. American Family Association, Citizens for Community Values, Faith 2 Action, Liberty Counsel and Save California have all signed on to the effort. In a conference call, Linda Harvey claimed that it's "teaching your children to bow before manipulative, exploitative and deceptive accusations."

Linda Harvey is previously known for making several assertions that gay people don't really exist, that parents should keep their children away from gay teachers and doctors for fear of them becoming infected, and that anti-bullying laws and policies are so dangerous that it's better to fight them even if suicides result than to allow the policies to "promote sexual deviance." ...

Earlier this year, two teachers in Altona, Manitoba became the centre of a firestorm for displaying signs asserting that their classroom was a safe space for LGBT kids. The Border Land School Division asked the teachers to either remove the sign or else to remove everything but the rainbow on it. ...

The angry response from parents was that they -- and they alone -- want to be able to teach their children what those words mean. In the process, they also seek to define the environment that exists for all kids, and keep it free of even a declaration of support and safety.

If that characterization sounds overly melodramatic, then it's worth looking at the inspiration and tactical assistants behind the Altona furor.... by folks who have heard the word "homophobia" so often that they've apparently filed a complaint with the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal, in an effort to have the word banned from the public discourse as hate speech.

[Continued here]

• Conservatives' Anti-Gay Day Of Dialogue Encourages Students To Promote Shame, Depression, And Substance Abuse [Think Progress, April 18, 2012]

Indeed, all of Focus on the Family's materials on the Day of Dialogue encourage students to use the Bible to condemn homosexuality as "broken" and promote ex-gay therapy that is known to be traumatic and ineffective. Given the overt antipathy encouraged against any LGBT-inclusive information, the day is perhaps better described as a Day of Monologue. This is a concerted effort to paint blatant in-school evangelism as welcome free speech and the stark silence of LGBT awareness as indoctrination, intolerance, and an unprotected disruption to school activities.

The Day of Dialogue is nothing short of encouragement to bully. Even if DoD participants do not attack or harass their targets, the stigma they encourage through condemning homosexuality helps maintain an unsafe climate for students with consequences that can last a lifetime. Students who have experienced prejudice-motivated bullying and victimization are more likely to attempt suicide, become clinical depression, or contract a sexually transmitted disease by early adulthood. In fact, simple exposure to stigma can increase the chances that LGBT teens experience suicidal thinking throughout the rest of their lives. Even living in a community that generally has socially conservative anti-gay attitudes can increase the suicide risk not just for gay, lesbian, and bi teens, but their straight peers as well. Minority stress also contributes to higher rates of substance abuse in the LGBT community, one of many negative consequences that can be mitigated by having gay-straight alliances in schools.

• When even silence 'indoctrinates': The 'No Pro Homo' education model: Part 2 [Rabble.ca, April 18, 2012]

How Religion Becomes an Acceptable Reason to Bully Kids.

This logic only works if you buy into the idea that sexual orientation is a choice that you can switch on and off like a light, and that giving kids a safe haven encourages them to make a choice that will damn their immortal soul. If you don't completely buy that, the problem becomes apparent.

This is why parents can maintain that their parental right to teach their children their values trumps their kids' right to learn anything different, even if their own child might be gay and need affirmation. To this mindset, affirmation only encourages "bad choices," while in reality, this vilification and rejection (while not present in every case) can often be a leading contributing factor to teen suicide. ...

In Canada, some religious media have been adopting the U.S. far right rhetoric as their own, referring to gay-straight alliances with the heading "The disease is spreading," and the like. The ideological far right has done its best to nearly co-opt Christianity for its own (there are, in fact, exceptions, and I'm guessing they're feeling the attack too), twist "moral" into something draconian, and have that accepted as the New Normal. And again, while the attitude is fringe and not representative of any entire faith, the vocalization and influence have not been challenged very effectively, leading to many of the conflicts that have persisted throughout North America.

• Chelsea Shamy: Stepping Out of the Silence [HuffPo, April 20, 2012]

A lot of students in my high school were outraged and hurtful on this day. One student even approached the principal complaining, "She is using the Bible out of context!" I, however, believe I was using the Bible in the absolutely correct context. God made me in His image. God has a purpose for me.

Being gay is both a challenge and gift from God which empowers me to be strong in my faith and witness the love of God to others. After being shunned from a church in my town, my family and I began attending the Episcopal Church, where they supported me in every single way. Having support from my home church was encouraging throughout my struggle within my school and community.

• When even silence fails: On affirmation: Part 3 [Rabble.ca, April 20, 2012]

It was the devastation of being so completely alone, isolated and incompatible with the rest of the planet that was the worst of it. Alone-ness. It's the isolating effect of being targeted... and that, more than the bullying itself, is devastating. That's what I couldn't bear. If I had felt I wasn't completely alone, the rest probably wouldn't have mattered as much.

As we've already seen, the U.S. and Canadian far-right see being gay or trans as a choice, that kids aren't any of those things to begin with and that affirmation and support simply encourage sinful decision-making. Yet my own experience showed me that being trans was present in my life right from the beginning, was never something I could switch on or off like a light, and knowing that it was some taboo subject that dare not speak its name was an incredibly isolating and suffocating experience....

Meanwhile, the battles go on. In Altona, Manitoba, after parent protest, the teachers who had displayed the Ally cards in their classrooms were ordered to remove the Ally language and leave only the word Ally in a rainbow flag. This was still unacceptable, and with the assistance of Culture Guard / Roadkill Radio's Kari Simpson, parents penned a letter threatening to sue, threatening to post photos and personal information of the teachers who were displaying the signs (and possibly the school board?) to some sort of "report a teacher" website....

• Yoav Sivan: A Promising Report Card [HuffPo, April 30, 2012]

What is surprising in The Declining Significance of Homophobia, sociologist Mark McCormack's new book from Oxford University Press, is not that homophobia among 16- to 18-year-old boys in secondary education in the U.K. has declined, but that it has fallen out of fashion. ...

McCormack, who subtitled his book How Teenage Boys Are Redefining Masculinity and Heterosexuality, found high school boys, straight and gay, less worried about managing a reputation as macho or as a jock. Yes, jocks still rank high in popularity, but the softer, more inclusive standard of masculinity McCormack found makes for a schoolyard closer to an equal-opportunity ideal. Schoolboys show a greater appreciation today for energetic, engaging personalities based in values such as authenticity and self-definition.

So many youths see themselves as gay-friendly that they are less likely to wonder if their friends are gay. If someone hasn't come out, his friends will usually assume that means he's simply not gay.

Homophobic group to help award Diamond Jubilee Medals: REAL Women of Canada website states that bullying may be justified [XTRA, March 7, 2012]

A Canadian group whose homepage currently states that one of the biggest threats to families is the "homosexual lobby" and "the media" has been appointed to help government decide how to award Diamond Jubilee Medals to honour Queen Elizabeth's 60 years of service to Canada.

REAL Women of Canada, a socially conservative, anti-feminist group that often acts as an intervenor in court cases that oppose queer rights, will recommend medals under the social and volunteer category.

An article on the group's homepage also dismisses bullying as a justified reaction on the part of youth frustrated by the "special treatment" granted to queer or non-Christian youth in schools.

The Canadian Queen's Diamond Jubilee program is awarding medals to 60,000 "outstanding" Canadians, according to the Governor General's website. ...

"I don't think they reflect the general views of women in Canada," says Helen Kennedy, executive director of Egale Canada, which was not asked to participate. "I'm not saying they don't have a right to be there, however you need to balance the playing field a little bit, and if you're going to appoint them, then you should appoint women from any number of women's groups who are very progressive, aren't homophobic and transphobic, and deserve to be at the table."

Medals have been awarded to constituents deemed worthy by MPs, Senators, provincial and territorial premiers, lieutenant governors and territorial commissioners.

"I thought it was interesting that you have this group that's on this list as a recognized non-governmental partner to the awards who has homophobic leanings and advocates against rights, and you don't even have one organization whose exclusive purpose is to advocate for LGBT rights," says Casey Oraa, vice-chair of Queer Ontario. "It's kind of disturbing."

[Continued here]

[Note: Canada's Governor General David Johnston is becoming ever more suspect as being a raging homophobe. Ugly, but so Steve Harper.]

Trans woman files complaint against NWT minister: Gabrielle Landrie says she was
asked to leave official event because she is trans [XTRA, December 19, 2011]

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association says a trans woman was blatantly discriminated against when the Northwest Territories' Finance Minister allegedly asked her to leave her Fort Smith college campus Dec 9.

Gabrielle Landrie, who is a math and business student at Aurora College, says minister Michael Miltenberger asked her to leave when she was standing near a computer lab with a friend, the CBC reports.

Noa Mendelsohn Aviv, director of CCLA's equality program, calls Landrie's treatment "clearly unacceptable."

"I can't comment on the facts, but it certainly seems like an egregious and blatant form of discrimination on the basis of gender identity," says Mendelsohn Aviv. "I thought that we were decades beyond this discrimination. But we're not when it comes to sexual orientation and gender."

At the time, Governor General David Johnston was touring the school on an official visit hosted by Miltenberger, who allegedly re-routed Johnston's tour to avoid the sight of Landrie.

Landrie tells CBC that Miltenberger asked her three times to "leave the premises." When she asked why, he told her, "You spooked the governor general so you have to leave."

[Continued here]

• Human rights complaint launched against N.W.T. minister [CBC, December 19, 2011]

"He came into the lab and he goes, looking at me, 'I thought I told you to leave'," said Landrie.

Landrie says she told him her homework comes first, and that Miltenberger left.

"The amount of anger. you could basically almost taste it," said Landrie.

• Miltenberger target of human rights complaint [Northern News Services, December 23, 2011]

"He looks at me straight in the eye and I look at him, and he says, 'You got to leave,'" Landrie claimed. "And I said, 'Oh?' He goes, 'You spooked the Governor General, so you got to leave.'"

Landrie brushed off the comment, and said Miltenberger went away, apparently angry.

The student said Miltenberger returned a couple of minutes later and again told her to leave, claiming the route of the Governor General was going to have to be changed because of her presence.

Landrie said Miltenberger, who again walked away, was getting angrier by the minute.

• N.W.T. minister denies discriminating against transgender woman [CBC, February 27, 2012]

Landrie says that allegation blew her out of the water.

"Oh God, I get such a charge out of that," she said. "Because if there was a security issue, the Governor General's guards would've put me in detention right away, and asked questions later."

[Note: The rite-wing bigots' 'Propaganda Machine' is in high gear. Gabrielle Landrie has a difficult road to travel if she's to find any justice at all. The government of Canada's North West Territories has pre-judged her and found her guilty. Just more 'blaming the vicitm' crap. And it's time to ask whether or not Canada's Governor General David Johnston played a pivotal role in Miltenberger's assholery. After all, he's a Harper Government appointee.]

Low IQ & Conservative Beliefs Linked to Prejudice
[Live Science, January 26, 2012]

There's no gentle way to put it: People who give in to racism and prejudice may simply be dumb, according to a new study that is bound to stir public controversy.

The research finds that children with low intelligence are more likely to hold prejudiced attitudes as adults. These findings point to a vicious cycle, according to lead researcher Gordon Hodson, a psychologist at Brock University in [St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada]. Low-intelligence adults tend to gravitate toward socially conservative ideologies, the study found. Those ideologies, in turn, stress hierarchy and resistance to change, attitudes that can contribute to prejudice, Hodson wrote in an email to LiveScience.

"Prejudice is extremely complex and multifaceted, making it critical that any factors contributing to bias are uncovered and understood," he said.

[Continued here]

[Note: Interesting perhaps but hardly startling. A lot more related research needs to be undertaken.]

• George Monbiot: The right's stupidity spreads, enabled by a too-polite left [The Guardian, February 6, 2012]

Self-deprecating, too liberal for their own good, today's progressives stand back and watch, hands over their mouths, as the social vivisectionists of the right slice up a living society to see if its component parts can survive in isolation. Tied up in knots of reticence and self-doubt, they will not shout stop. Doing so requires an act of interruption, of presumption, for which they no longer possess a vocabulary.

Perhaps it is in the same spirit of liberal constipation that, with the exception of Charlie Brooker, we have been too polite to mention the Canadian study published last month in the journal Psychological Science, which revealed that people with conservative beliefs are likely to be of low intelligence. Paradoxically it was the Daily Mail that brought it to the attention of British readers last week. It feels crude, illiberal to point out that the other side is, on average, more stupid than our own. But this, the study suggests, is not unfounded generalisation but empirical fact.

It is by no means the first such paper. There is plenty of research showing that low general intelligence in childhood predicts greater prejudice towards people of different ethnicity or sexuality in adulthood. Open-mindedness, flexibility, trust in other people: all these require certain cognitive abilities. Understanding and accepting others - particularly "different" others - requires an enhanced capacity for abstract thinking.

But, drawing on a sample size of several thousand, correcting for both education and socioeconomic status, the new study looks embarrassingly robust. Importantly, it shows that prejudice tends not to arise directly from low intelligence but from the conservative ideologies to which people of low intelligence are drawn. Conservative ideology is the "critical pathway" from low intelligence to racism. Those with low cognitive abilities are attracted to "rightwing ideologies that promote coherence and order" and "emphasise the maintenance of the status quo". Even for someone not yet renowned for liberal reticence, this feels hard to write. ...

Yes, conservatism thrives on low intelligence and poor information. But the liberals in politics on both sides of the Atlantic continue to back off, yielding to the supremacy of the stupid. It's turkeys all the way down.

• People Aren't Smart Enough for Democracy to Flourish, Scientists Say [Live Science, February 28, 2012]

The democratic process relies on the assumption that citizens (the majority of them, at least) can recognize the best political candidate, or best policy idea, when they see it. But a growing body of research has revealed an unfortunate aspect of the human psyche that would seem to disprove this notion, and imply instead that democratic elections produce mediocre leadership and policies.

The research, led by David Dunning, a psychologist at Cornell University, shows that incompetent people are inherently unable to judge the competence of other people, or the quality of those people's ideas. For example, if people lack expertise on tax reform, it is very difficult for them to identify the candidates who are actual experts. They simply lack the mental tools needed to make meaningful judgments.

As a result, no amount of information or facts about political candidates can override the inherent inability of many voters to accurately evaluate them. On top of that, "very smart ideas are going to be hard for people to adopt, because most people don't have the sophistication to recognize how good an idea is," Dunning told Life's Little Mysteries.

He and colleague Justin Kruger, formerly of Cornell and now of New York University, have demonstrated again and again that people are self-delusional when it comes to their own intellectual skills. Whether the researchers are testing people's ability to rate the funniness of jokes, the correctness of grammar, or even their own performance in a game of chess, the duo has found that people always assess their own performance as "above average" - even people who, when tested, actually perform at the very bottom of the pile.

New Study: Many Homophobes are Self-Loathing Gays
[Truth Wins Out, April 9, 2012]

An important series of studies recently conducted by researchers in the U.S. and the U.K. lend credence to the long-held belief that homophobic people often harbor secret same-sex desires themselves. The results, which will be published in the April issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, indicate that "homophobia is more pronounced in individuals with an unacknowledged attraction to the same sex and who grew up with authoritarian parents who forbade such desire:"

        "Individuals who identify as straight but in psychological tests show a strong attraction to the same sex may be threatened by gays and lesbians because homosexuals remind them of similar tendencies within themselves," explains Netta Weinstein, a lecturer at the University of Essex and the study's lead author.

        "In many cases these are people who are at war with themselves and they are turning this internal conflict outward," adds co-author Richard Ryan, professor of psychology at the University of Rochester who helped direct the research. ...

The results showed that the greater the discrepancy between a subject's self-reported heterosexuality and their performance on the timed tests, the more likely that person was to display "a variety of homophobic behaviors, including self-reported anti-gay attitudes, implicit hostility towards gays, endorsement of anti-gay policies, and discriminatory bias such as the assignment of harsher punishments for homosexuals..."

[Continued here]

• Study: Homophobes probably harbour same-sex attraction [Pink News, April 9, 2012]
• Richard M. Ryan and William S. Ryan: Homophobic? Maybe You're Gay [New York Times, April 27, 2012]

"Most people realize that AIDS came from the homosexual community — it was one
guy screwing a monkey, if I recall correctly, and then having sex with men."



Michelangelo Signorile: Stacey Campfield, Tennessee Senator Behind 'Don't Say Gay' Bill, On Bullying, AIDS And Homosexual 'Glorification' [Huffington Post, January 26, 2012]

In an often belligerent and sarcastic tone, GOP State Senator Stacey Campfield, the man who spearheaded Tennessee's "Don't Say Gay" bill -- which would ban discussion in schools of "sexual orientation other than heterosexuality"-- lashed out at arguments against his bill by comparing homosexuality to bestiality and making what public health officials would characterize as recklessly false assertions about AIDS, in addition to other controversial claims, while appearing on my radio program on SiriusXM OutQ.

On bullying and suicides by gay teens, including two teens in Tennessee in recent months:

        "That bullying thing is the biggest lark out there."

        "There are sexually confused children who could be pushed into a lifestyle that I don't think is appropriate with them and it's not for the norm for society, and they don't know how they can get back from that. I think a lot of times these young teens and young children, they find it very hard on themselves and unfortunately some of them commit suicide."

[Continued here]

• Stacey Campfield, Tennessee Senator Behind 'Don't Say Gay' Bill, Removed From Knoxville Restaurant After Anti-Gay Remarks [Huffington Post, January 30, 2012]

As Metropulse and Towleroad are reporting, Martha Boggs, the owner of Knoxville's The Bistro at the Bijou, asked Campfield to leave after he tried to dine at her establishment.

Following the incident, Boggs posted a status on her restaurant's Facebook page which read, "I hope that Stacy (sic) Campfield now knows what it feels like to be unfairly discriminated against."

Metropulse reports that Boggs later clarified her actions in an interview. "I didn't want his hate in my restaurant," she said. "I told him he wasn't welcome here. ... I feel like he's gone from being stupid to being dangerous, and I wanted to stand up to him." Boggs is also due to appear on HuffPost Gay Voices Editor-at-Large Michelangelo Signorile's radio program on SiriusXM OutQ today to talk about the experience.

Scott Rose: Does Teaching Your Teen To Be An Anti-Gay Bigot Qualify As Brainwashing?
[The New Civil Rights Movement, February 2, 2012]

The gay bashing testimony delivered to the Maryland State Legislature by 14-year old Sarah Crank is very disturbing, yet hardly surprising; after all, in a majority of schools around the country even today, 14-year-old anti-gay bullies torment fellow students actually and/or perceived to be gay.

Yet the question arises; did Sarah Crank decide to have contempt for gay people's rights all on her own, or is she being raised and home-schooled in an environment that teaches her contempt for gay human beings?

Under a post about her daughter's political gay bashing, Kathleen Crank has been (nearly endlessly) commenting, (see: images throughout) telling all who look that her gay bashing daughter aspires to be a Supreme Court justice and that the daughter has reached vehemently anti-gay conclusions all on her own, a precocious and spontaneous bigot, as it were. In her comments, Kathleen Crank states that her daughter Sarah "wanted" to give the gay-bashing testimony - but very obviously, the child "wants" to because the child has learned that this is how to get her professional gay-bashing mommy's approval.

Internet research on Kathleen Crank, indeed, suggests that she personally has taught her daughter to hate gays.

Kathleen Crank describes herself professionally as a "public interest lobbyist." The lion's share of her "public interest lobbying" appears to be against gay rights. She has been active in the so-called Concerned Women for America; many of CWA's most powerful figures have been caught out telling propagandistic lies against gay human beings.

[Continued here]

• David Badash: For Her Birthday, 14-Year Old Asks Maryland Senate To Vote No On Gay Marriage [The New Civil Rights Movement, February 1, 2012]

Happy Birthday wishes to the 14-year old girl who Tuesday asked Maryland's Senate to give her "the best birthday present ever" by voting "no" on a same-sex marriage bill currently in committee. The girl, Sarah, (she gives her full name in her audio testimony,) says she is home-schooled. Apparently, her parents are stuffing her mind with all sorts of incorrect information, and this is yet another example of why homeschooling is a bad idea.

Perhaps 14-year old Sarah would like to meet 14-year old Taylor, who tried to get America to boycott Girl Scout cookies. That didn't work out very well for hear or for her family. The Girl Scouts, however, sold a lot more cookies!

"People have the choice to be gay, but I don't want to be affected by their choice. People say they were just born that way, but I've met really nice adults who did change," Sarah says. Really? I doubt that. "I really feel bad for the kids who have two parents of the same gender," she adds, and concludes, somehow, "they have no idea what kind of wonderful experiences they miss out on."

• Maryland lawmakers pass marriage equality bill [Edge Boston, February 23, 2012]

The state Senate voted 25-22 for the law. The vote comes less than a week after the House of Delegates barely passed the measure.

Maryland will become the eighth state to allow gay marriage when Gov. Martin O'Malley - who sponsored the bill - signs the legislation.

E. Winter Tashlin: The Soft Bigotry of Passive Rejection
[Bilerico Project, February 25, 2012]

Over on his blog, Lance Brister has a moving, and at its core, heart wrenching account of his inspired attempt to 3-monkeys-evil.jpghelp his mother see his life as a gay man as one of love and joy.

Like many LGBT people, Brister has to edit out his sexuality, and all the attendant life experiences that comes along with it, in order to have a shadow of a relationship with his mother, who has made it clear that she doesn't want to hear anything about the gay side of her gay son's life. This has left their interactions so wooden and empty that the repetitive ritual of talking without communicating has become something of a bitter shared joke between them.

This is what the bigots who tell us to "keep it in the bedroom" will never understand.

[Continued here]

Frank Rich: Whitewashing Gay History [New York magazine, February 26, 2012]

Compared with the other civil-rights battles in America, especially the epic struggle over race that has stained and hobbled the nation since its birth, the fight over gay equality is remarkable for its relative ease, compact chronology, and the happiness of its pending resolution. There's no happier ending to any plot than a wedding. But, as last June's celebration has gradually given way to morning-after sobriety, it's also clear that something is wrong with this cheery picture. Two things, actually.

The first is obvious: Full equality for gay Americans is nowhere near at hand. One of America's two major political parties is still hell-bent on thwarting and even rolling back gay rights much as Goldwater Republicans and Dixie Democrats (on their way to joining the GOP) resisted civil-rights legislation and enforcement in the sixties. In most states, sexual orientation can still be used to deny not only marriage but also jobs and housing, as well as to curtail adoption rights. America's dominant religions remain largely hostile to homosexuality, and America's most cherished secular pastime, professional sports, is essentially a no-gay zone. The bullying of gay and transgendered children remains a national crisis. While Nielsen tells us that gay concerns and characters are "the new mainstream" of television-figuring in 24 percent of broadcast prime-time programming last season-we do not yet live in the United States of Glee.

The second thing that's wrong with the picture is far less obvious because it has been willfully obscured. In the outpouring of provincial self-congratulation that greeted the legalization of same-sex marriage in New York, some of the discomforting history that preceded that joyous day has been rewritten, whitewashed, or tossed into a memory hole. We-and by we, I mean liberal New Yorkers like me, whether straight or gay, and their fellow travelers throughout America-would like to believe that the sole obstacles to gay civil rights have been the usual suspects: hidebound religious leaders both white and black, conservative politicians (mostly Republican), fundamentalist Christian and Muslim zealots, and unreconstructed bigots. What's been lost in this morality play is the role that many liberal politicians and institutions have also played in slowing and at some junctures halting gay civil rights in recent decades. ...

The GOP is on the wrong side of history for sure, with gays no less than Hispanics and every other minority group. Generational and demographic turnover is remaking America even as the right tries to turn back the clock. But over the shorter term, the party's hard line will continue to inflict real injustice on citizens of all stripes-not just on gay adults (whether they are seeking marriage or not), but on gay kids struggling to find a safe place for themselves in the world and straight children who love their gay parents. So uninhibited is the animus of the Republican base that it thought nothing of booing a gay Army captain serving in Iraq when he presumed to ask a polite question via YouTube during a campaign debate on Fox News. Not one of the nine presidential candidates onstage spoke up to defend the soldier.

That's why the celebrations in New York last June, while merited, must be seen as provisional. That's also why Democratic leaders who profess fierce advocacy of gay civil rights must be held to account. Back in a day that was only yesterday, too many of them also fell silent-and when it counted most. While same-sex weddings are indeed a happy ending, they are haunted by the ghosts of many gay men, too many of them forgotten, who died tragically and unnecessarily while too many good people did nothing. Like Andrew Cuomo, those good people could yet make a big difference and, in the bargain, exorcise the multitude of past sins they keep hoping the rest of us will forget.

[Continued here]

[Note: In Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada, there was a sorry example of this type of phony liberal in the person of long-serving federal Liberal MP Bob Speller. He 'played' to every mealy-mouthed, conservative bigot in the community during a period of time when local gays and lesbians were quite literally fighting for their very right to even exist, let alone live here. I'd personally been driven out of the community because I lived openly as a gay man and refused to be silenced.]

Abortion, gay marriage could be next on chopping block, [former Liberal Prime
Minister Jean] Chrétien warns [Canadians] [Globe & Mail, December 13, 2011]

Jean Chrétien is warning Liberals that gun control and the Kyoto accord are dead because of Stephen Harper's Tories, darkly noting that same-sex marriage and abortion rights could be next on the Conservative government's chopping block. He even raises the return of the death penalty as a possibility.

"Unless we are bold. Unless we seize the moment. Everything we built will start being chipped away," the former prime minister writes in a toughly-worded fundraising letter. "The Conservatives have already ended gun control and Kyoto. Next may be a woman's right to choose, or gay marriage. Then might come capital punishment. And one by one, the values we cherish as Canadians will be gone."

This new Liberal fundraising effort hits some hot button issues - it doesn't end there.

Mr. Chrétien notes that he was first elected in 1963 when there was no medicare or Canada Pension Plan, Canadian flag or Charter of Rights. Nor was there a Clarity Act - which his government brought in to define the rules around holding a referendum should Quebec contemplate separation.

[Continued here]

• Top court in Canada OKs gay marriage / Lawmakers sought ruling before introducing bill [San Francisco Chronicle, December 10, 2004]

Canada's Supreme Court said Thursday that the government can legally extend marriage rights to same-sex couples in a landmark decision that paves the way for legislation that would allow same-sex couples to marry in every province.

The nonbinding decision says -- in unwavering and sometimes lofty language -- that proposed legislation legalizing same-sex marriage is constitutional. The court, however, stopped short of saying the Constitution required the legalization of same-sex marriage.

Legislators in the House of Commons had asked the Supreme Court to step in and advise them on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage. Same-sex couples can already legally marry in six of 10 provinces and one of three territories. Members of Parliament drafted legislation that would make same- sex marriage legal nationwide, but chose to send the bill to the Supreme Court before introducing it.

In the wake of the ruling, Prime Minister Paul Martin said his government will introduce a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in Parliament after the Christmas holidays. He has told his Cabinet ministers that they must vote for the bill to retain their posts. The bill is likely to get the 155 votes it needs for passage in the 308-seat House of Commons, advocates on both sides of the issue say. Canada would become the third country -- joining Belgium and the Netherlands -- to legalize same-sex marriage.

In its decision, the court also said that forcing religious authorities to perform same-sex marriage would be contradictory to the right to religious freedom, but that was a question for provinces to resolve. "Another exciting day! It feels like internationally there's been a lot of movement forward on equality and marriage for same-sex couples," said Jon Davidson of Lambda Legal, a legal organization working on behalf of gay couples in several same-sex marriage cases in the United States.

• Tory MP's call to revisit rights-of-unborn law fuels abortion debate [Globe & Mail, December 21, 2011]

An Ontario Conservative MP says it is time for Parliament to take another look at whether basic human rights should be granted to unborn babies — a move that would put the emotionally charged issue of abortion back on the public agenda.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said repeatedly that his government will not reopen the abortion debate.

• John Ibbitson: Same-sex stumble feeds conspiracy theories on Harper agenda [Globe & Mail, January 12, 2012]

At times like this, it's important to remember that most apparent conspiracies are usually the product of somebody messing up. Only that can explain the Conservative government's reaction to a legal opinion questioning the legality of same-sex marriage for overseas couples.

Stephen Harper was asked Thursday morning for his response to a Justice Department opinion, submitted in a same-sex divorce case, that off-shore same-sex couples who married in Canada were not legally married unless that such nuptials were legal in their home jurisdiction. Though he declared his majority Conservatives "have no intention of further re-opening or opening this issue," he appeared caught flat-footed on the specifics. ...

Mr. Harper's advisers must know that a huge political controversy has landed in their lap. Soon after The Globe and Mail published the story, the Twitterverse exploded, with more observant posters asking if this meant that couples of different races couldn't marry in Canada, or women couldn't get a driver's licence, if their native land forbade such things. ...

Mr. Harper, according to this line of reasoning, longs to reverse the liberal consensus on abortion and gay rights. But he knows that such a campaign would alienate voters who support his government's fiscal policies but want nothing to do with social conservatism. ...

If Mr. Harper wanted to launch a culture war through the back door, he has succeeded. If he was as surprised as everyone else by the lawyer's opinion, then he will need to deal with the matter - and deal with it soon.

• Despite legal about-face, Harper has 'no intention' of reopening gay marriage [Globe & Mail, January 12, 2012]

The Harper government has served notice that thousands of same-sex couples who flocked to Canada from abroad since 2004 to get married are not legally wed.

But speaking in Halifax Thursday, the Prime Minister said the issue was not on the agenda for his majority Conservatives. "We have no intention of further re-opening or opening this issue," Stephen Harper told reporters when asked about The Globe and Mail's report.

The reversal of federal policy is revealed in a document filed in a Toronto test case launched recently by a lesbian couple seeking a divorce. Wed in Toronto in 2005, the couple have been told they cannot divorce because they were never really married - a Department of Justice lawyer says their marriage is not legal in Canada since they could not have lawfully wed in Florida or England, where the two partners reside.

• Dan Savage: Canada's Conservative Government Turns My Husband Back Into My Boyfriend [SLOG, January 12, 2012]

After issuing thousands of marriage licenses to same-sex couples from United States and other nations where same-sex marriage is not yet legal-marriage licenses that did not come with a disclaimer or an asterisk-Canada's conservative government has now decided that those marriages-marriages like mine-are not legally valid. ...

Sorry, motherfucker, but this "issue"-the civil equality of gays and lesbians-is wide open now and your fucking government opened it. The debate over same-sex marriage and the civil equality of gays and lesbians has been returned to the frontpages of Canada's newspapers and a renewed debate over same-sex marriage will dominate Canadian television and radio news programs. And Canada's religious conservatives will doubtless complain-loud and long-about their precious children having to hear about homosexuality every time they turn on the news. Stephen Harper's government reopened this issue, not the gays, and Stephen Harper's government deserves the blame. There will be lawsuits, time and money will be wasted, oceans of ink and pixels will be spilled, before this issue-the full civil equality of gays and lesbians-winds up before the Supreme Court of Canada. I'm confident that justice will prevail-God bless the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms-but the decision to reopen this issue is going to be one massive distraction for the Canadian government.

Gays and lesbians inside and outside of Canada are going to make sure of it.

• Same-sex divorce options explored by Harper government [CBC, January 12, 2012]

The Harper government is considering how to make divorce possible for same-sex couples who had to come to Canada to get married.

Thousands of gays and lesbians who could not marry in the country where they live have travelled to Canada seeking a legal marriage. But Canada's divorce laws don't allow people who haven't lived in Canada for at least a year to end their marriage.

In a statement to CBC News, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said he would be "looking at options to clarify the law so that marriages performed in Canada can be undone in Canada." ...

NDP MP Olivia Chow said the government was sending confusing signals about whether it really supports gay marriage.

"I think that Mr. Harper is hiding behind the law and using a back-door way to say to these loving couples 'sorry, we no longer recognize your marriage' and that is hugely embarrassing and makes Canada a laughing stock in the world," Chow told reporters. ...

"This is what we have been worried about with the Conservative majority for a long time, we're going to see the erosion of gains we've seen in this country," said Quebec Liberal MP Justin Trudeau, noting that an Ontario Conservative MP, Stephen Woodworth, has also been trying to bring abortion rights onto the public agenda lately.

Interim Liberal leader Bob Rae said that "it seems passing strange to me now that this would be the new position of the government of Canada."

"We've literally encouraged and allowed people to come to Canada to get married, and to turn around now and say we were only kidding, this wasn't a real marriage... That argument doesn't make sense to me," Rae said.

• Tu Thanh Ha: 'What's going to happen next?' same-sex couples wonder after policy reversal [Globe & Mail, January 12, 2012]

There was the initial shock as they wondered if they were still legally married. And then sadness and disappointment at a country that was dear to their hearts.

Ever since same-sex couples were allowed to marry here, Canada has gained a special status among gays and lesbians.

Then came news this week that the Canadian government is arguing that same-sex marriages of non-residents are legal only if they are also valid in the couple's home country. The Department of Justice also contends that couples who came to Canada to be married must live here for at least a year before they can obtain a divorce.

In Portsmouth, Va., 62-year-old retiree Kathy Heggemeier turned to Elaine, her partner of 28 years, and said, "Well honey, I guess we may not be married after all."

In Seattle, sex columnist Dan Savage quipped that "when I got out of bed, I was a married man and as soon as I got on my Twitter feed I realized I had been divorced overnight." ...

"Sanity will prevail," said Kevin Bourassa, the Toronto resident whose legal battle to wed Joe Varnell opened the door to legalizing same-sex marriages in Canada. At the same time, he recalled American gay couples singing O Canada when they came to Toronto to get married.

"They were so proud of this country. I wonder what they feel now," Mr. Bourassa said. ...

"I'm pretty mad at Canada and at Mr. Harper," Ms. Heggemeier said. "I'm angry but more than anything I'm sad because what I see is another craven politician going after a minority."

• The marriage and divorce question: Foreign same-sex couples wed in Canada discover their marriage may not be legal [XTRA, January 12, 2012]

But Toronto lawyer Brenda Cossman says this shouldn't come as a shock to couples. Canadian divorce law hasn't changed.

"To get a divorce in Canada, under the divorce act, you must live in Canada for a year," she says. "There is a one-year residency requirement, which applies to everybody. There's no residency requirement to get married, but there is a residency requirement to get a divorce.

"I have been yelling about this since 2003 when Americans started to travel to Canada to get married. I remember thinking, 'Don't do it!,'" says Cossman. "Really, those couples should have done their due diligence before they came here to get married. They should have asked if they can take their marriage over the border . . . Canada isn't changing anything. This has always been the legal risk."

Canadian laws states a marriage is considered legally valid depending on the law where the couple lives, not where they got married, she says. "So if they are going back to Massachusetts, it's fine. If it's Texas, for example, it's not fine, which is a big problem right now in the states. It's a mess." ...

"It appears like they are re-opening same-sex marriage when the government promised they were not going to," says Cossman. "I don't think they will. This will not affect the marriage rights of Canadians. This affects anyone who isn't Canadian. This was bound to happen."

Cossman says McCarthy plans to challenge the one-year residency requirement for divorce in Canada, which would affect all couples - straight or gay.

• Same-sex case grabs international attention [CBC, January 12, 2012]

A spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union said the argument put forward by the federal government lawyer "seems over the top crazy," but cautions that it's not a court ruling or a position taken by Harper or Nicholson.

"I see no reason at all for a government lawyer to take the position that these people were never married because a) they don't need to make that argument to win and b) it is so wrong," said James Esseks, director of the ACLU's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and AIDS project.

• Justice minister says all same-sex marriages 'valid' [CTV, January 13, 2012]

Canada's justice minister says all same-sex marriages performed in Canada are legally recognized and the government is working to ensure foreign couples married here can divorce if they chose to.

"Marriages performed in Canada that aren't recognized in couple's home jurisdiction will be recognized in Canada," Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said Friday in Toronto.

"I want to be very clear that our government has no intention of reopening the debate on the definition of marriage," he added.

The statement comes one day after it was learned Justice Department lawyers were arguing a foreign lesbian couple that married in Canada could not apply for divorce here because their marriage wasn't valid.

• Dale Smith: The Harper government's 'commitment' to gay rights [XTRA, January 20, 2012]

And then there's the promotion of gay rights abroad. It's one thing to say to the president of Uganda that he needs to stop the bill that would further criminalize queers in his country, but it's quite another to actually give aid dollars to queer rights groups in those countries. And while Gurney says that this is a "walk before you run" approach to rights, it doesn't acknowledge that "stop killing gays" is a far cry from a more profound message that queer rights are human rights.

It also ignores the "love the sinner, hate the sin" connotations of the message. Don't kill the gays, but don't promote their full equality either. That's certainly a message that resonates with the evangelical base that does still exist within the Conservative party and that can't be dismissed as a "hidden agenda."

Above all, Gurney's dismissal of criticisms of Harper's record on queer rights ignores the fact that there's a lot more to those rights than same-sex marriage. There is also a wide gap between having rights on paper and being able to enjoy them substantively.

• Would Justin Trudeau separate from Stephen Harper's Canada? 'Maybe' [Globe & Mail, February 14, 2012]

"I always say, if at a certain point, I believe that Canada was really the Canada of Stephen Harper - that we were going against abortion, and we were going against gay marriage and we were going backwards in 10,000 different ways - maybe I would think about wanting to make Quebec a country."

• Heather Mallick: Conservative Bill C-30 will let police spy on Canadians online [Toronto Star, February 15, 2012]

One can only congratulate Canada's Public Safety Minister Vic Toews for taking George W. Bush's Churchillian call to freedom in 2001 - "you're either with us or with the terrorists" - and raising him one with Monday's House of Commons classic, "He can either stand with us or with the child pornographers."

Toews was speaking of a conscientious Liberal MP who had dared question the Harper government's new bill allowing free-ranging police online surveillance of Canadians. Francis Scarpaleggia, the Liberal public safety critic, had been doing his job - rather well, in fact - by saying that the bill has police "preparing to read Canadians' emails and track their movements through cellphone signals, in both cases without a warrant."

The lovely and fragrant Toews, a towering intellect and rollerblader - I'm only saying this in preparation for my arrest on child porn charges, when I'll require traction for my abject begging - guards our children with a Tea Party level of threat and thuggery. It's a move that most politicians would not have dared make. But we have a Conservative majority in this country. This bill will pass. How can it not?

So Toews got carried away. Or did he? The Conservatives are punitive and paranoid. What's so private that you wouldn't want the RCMP to see it? Something to hide, buddy?

[Note: What this seemingly foolish legislation really is? A malicious effort by Canada's conservafools, in both government and law enforcement, to shut down legitimate discourse on the internet. It's just the tip of a very ugly iceberg masquerading as yet another weak-minded "save the children" ploy. The "terrorist/terrorism" ploy obviously wasn't working.]

• Use of UN human rights standard to condemn gay marriage disturbing [Globe & Mail, March 18, 2012]

According to Britain's Cardinal Keith O'Brien, countries - such as Canada - that legalize gay marriage are "shaming themselves" by defying natural law. This prince of the Church went so far as to use the word "grotesque" in his recent comments. While his language was harsh and his views regrettable, they are unsurprising.

• Abortion debate rears its head in Ottawa over MP's motion [Toronto Star, April 26, 2012]

A Commons debate Thursday triggered by a Conservative MP has led pro-choice forces to accuse the Harper government of trying to resurrect a divisive national discussion about abortion.

Kitchener MP Stephen Woodworth will ask for a special parliamentary committee to discuss the definition of a human being when he rises in the House. ...

Opposition MPs say Thursday's debate wouldn't be happening if Stephen Harper wasn't considering reopening the abortion issue.

"I've never seen anyone control (his caucus) so absolutely as he does," said NDP Leader Tom Mulcair. "If he didn't want that to be discussed, it wouldn't be there."

Jonah Mowry's cry for help [Same Same, December 4, 2011]

An emotional video showing a teenage student's distress after years of homophobic bullying has prompted hundreds of messages of global concern and support for him.

"You're loved." "We support you." "It gets better." "Stay strong." These are just a few of the encouraging comments flooding in for Jonah Mowry. ...

A recent flurry of interest in the video, which was uploaded back in August, prompted Jonah to update concerned viewers this weekend on how he's doing, and to verify the clip's authenticity.

"I would just like to say thankyou for everyone's love and support - it really means a lot," he says.

[Continued here]

• Jonah Mowry, Bullied Gay Teen, Reveals Fear, Suicide Attempts In Brave Clip [Huffington Post, December 4, 2011]
• James Peron: Open Letter to Jonah: You Have Thousands of Friends You Haven't Met Yet [Huffington Post, December 4, 2011]

Dear Jonah:

I watched your video today and it broke my heart. I remember how hard it was at your age, but clearly you are having a worse time of it.

I know that what you expressed is very real, I could see it in your eyes. You have been hurt, you feel alone, and you are afraid.

It is so hard to know what to say, but there are things I do know. It's not you, Jonah. It's them.

Too often, individuals, even adults, who are victimized by others, conclude that they have to be responsible. You are not responsible. They are. You did not do this. They did.

• John Shore Responds to Jonah Mowry's Video [Truth Wins Out, December 5, 2011]
• Ricky Martin, Lady Gaga Tweet Support For Bullied Eighth Grader Jonah Mowry [On Top, December 5, 2011]

"Sending @JonahMowryReal one big rib breaking hug :0)! Stay strong buddy! You are 1 courageous young man!!" singer Ricky Martin tweeted.

Lady Gaga added: "Thank you Jonah for being brave enough to share your story + showing us strength. You matter to millions."

Must Read: The Denier Debunking Handbook [Think Progress, November 29, 2011]

The Debunking Handbook, written by John Cook of Skeptical Science and Stephan Lewandowsky of The Conversation, is a must-read summary of the scientific literature on how to extract pernicious myths from people's minds and restore fact-based knowledge. The Handbook explores "the surprising fact that debunking myths can sometimes reinforce the myth in peoples' minds." Learn how to avoid the Familiarity Backfire, the Overkill Backfire, and the Worldview Backfire Effects. Although the examples used come primarily from the world of climate science, the tools in the Debunking Handbook are key for debunking other myths about science, economics, and society.

[Continued here]

• The Debunking Handbook (a *.pdf file) [Skeptical Science]

• Dinosaur Denialism [Skeptic blog, December 14, 2011]

I have written frequently in these blogposts about the numerous forms of denial of science and reality that are out there, from global warming denialism, to AIDS denialism, anti-vaxxers, and creationism. They all have a lot in common, from their insular exclusionary attitude that refuses to accept evidence that doesn't fit their world view, to the various strategies they use to reduce cognitive dissonance and fight against reality, all borrowed from the Holocaust deniers. These include: quoting out of context ("quote-mining") to dishonestly suggest that the quoted person agrees with them, cherry-picking data to show the exact opposite of what the data really show, making phony lists of "experts" who agree with them, picking on the small differences within the scientific community as evidence that the "science is not settled", picking on one small factoid (usually misinterpreted and out of context) as evidence that the whole of science is false, and so on. Usually, these obvious strategies to deny an overwhelming body of evidence are so transparently self-delusional that we can laugh at them.

But then I ran into something that staggered even my sense of how low these people can go. We are all familiar with how creationists use ad hoc explanations and special pleading to rescue the absurdities of their world view, from trying to cram all of the animals into Noah's ark and dismissing the huge numbers problem through their non-biological concept of "created kinds", to doing all sorts of violence to the geologic record to justify the Noah's flood story, to even insisting that men have one less rib than do women (the last one is easy to check, but they don't). As I have discussed in several previous posts, the more extreme Biblical literalists also believe in a flat earth and reject the heliocentric solar system. But I was flabbergasted to read of a whole group of extreme creationists who deny that dinosaurs existed! Usually, the creationists not only come to terms with the evidence of dinosaurs, but many have even tried to co-opt their popularity with kids under 10 by making them a prominent part of their propaganda (as does Ken Ham of the "Answers in Genesis" ministry and the "Creation Museum" in Petersburg, Kentucky). With something as widely accepted and exciting and popular as dinosaurs, which anyone can see for themselves in their local museum, how could any person in the 21st century argue they are not real?

• The Debunking Handbook Part 1: The first myth about debunking [Skeptical Science, November 16, 2011]
• The Debunking Handbook Part 2: The Familiarity Backfire Effect [Skeptical Science, November 18, 2011]
• The Debunking Handbook Part 3: The Overkill Backfire Effect [Skeptical Science, November 20, 2011]
• The Debunking Handbook Part 4: The Worldview Backfire Effect [Skeptical Science, November 23, 2011]
• The Debunking Handbook Part 5: Filling the gap with an alternative explanation [Skeptical Science, November 25, 2011]

Joe King's 'I'm Not Gay, I'm Just A Sissy' 2012 Calendar Sparks Online Retail Feud
[Huffington Post, December 29, 2011]

Titled "I'm Not Gay, I'm Just A Sissy," the calendar -- which promises "12 months of sexual confusion" -- has drawn staunch criticism for what many some deemed homophobic humor and imagery, including one illustration which appears to poke fun at the HIV/AIDS crisis. Another cartoon is a parody of Paul Revere, showing the Revolutionary War hero on horseback shouting, "The sodomites are coming! The sodomites are coming!"

But few in the LGBT community are laughing about the calendar. "The 'humor' it purports to offer relies on a belief that there is something inherently funny about being gay or gender non-conforming," Danny Heffernan, Advertising & Campaigns Fellow for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), wrote in a statement. "Furthermore, it espouses inaccuracies about LGBT people that only contribute to the stereotypes used to stifle progress toward equality." ...

Other bloggers have drawn attention to yet another post by King, which reads:

        The "truth" is that AIDS is an "elective" disease. It STOPS the day guys quit sticking it to each other. And for the tragedy of women and children infected... THAT stops the day their gay husbands and fathers stop cheating on them. Anyone need MORE education, science or funding to understand THAT?

[Continued here]

• Barnes and Noble pulls "anti-gay" calendar amid online feud [Pink News, December 29, 2011]

One of King's cartoons depicts Paul Revere riding on horseback and shouting "The sodomites are coming! The sodomites are coming!". It is dedicated to the memory of the US revolutionary hero and to gay rights opponent Anita Bryant.

• Cartoonist Lashes Out After Amazon Pulls Calendar [The Advocate, December 31, 2011]

Amazon.com is no longer selling a controversial calendar by antigay cartoonist Joe King after several bloggers and LGBT organizations lobbied the online retailer to pull the item.

A love vid from The Man himself



It Getteth Better — GOD [YouTube]

GOD, who just recently penned his memoir, The Last Testament, expresses his support of the LGBT community with his "It Getteth Better" message.

[Continued here]

• NOM Deeply Offended By Bookseller's "It Getteth Better" Marketing Video [The New Civil Rights Movement, November 4, 2011]
• Was Jesus gay? Probably [The Guardian, April 20, 2012]

Jesus was a Hebrew rabbi. Unusually, he was unmarried. The idea that he had a romantic relationship with Mary Magdalene is the stuff of fiction, based on no biblical evidence. The evidence, on the other hand, that he may have been what we today call gay is very strong. But even gay rights campaigners in the church have been reluctant to suggest it. A significant exception was Hugh Montefiore, bishop of Birmingham and a convert from a prominent Jewish family. He dared to suggest that possibility and was met with disdain, as though he were simply out to shock.

After much reflection and with certainly no wish to shock, I felt I was left with no option but to suggest, for the first time in half a century of my Anglican priesthood, that Jesus may well have been homosexual. Had he been devoid of sexuality, he would not have been truly human. To believe that would be heretical. ...

Whether Jesus was gay or straight in no way affects who he was and what he means for the world today. Spiritually it is immaterial. What matters in this context is that there are many gay and lesbian followers of Jesus - ordained and lay - who, despite the church, remarkably and humbly remain its faithful members. Would the Christian churches in their many guises more openly accept, embrace and love them, there would be many more disciples.

[Bill] Keller Blames Gay Community For Jamie Hubley's Suicide
[Right Wing Watch, October 18, 2011]

On Saturday, openly gay teenager Jamie Hubley, who chronicled his experiences with depression and anti-gay bullying on his blog, committed suicide at the age of fifteen. Bill Keller of LivePrayer.com knows just who to blame for Hubley's suicide: "the homosexual community and media who promote this lifestyle to society," including "Anderson Cooper, Rachel Maddow, Ellen DeGeneres" and pastors who don't condemn homosexuality. "Homosexuality is a bondage like alcohol, drugs, gambling, or anything else people get addicted to," Keller writes in his chilling statement on Hubley's death. "The fact is, suicide is exponentially higher amongst those who choose the homosexual lifestyle, and while those in the media want to blame people like myself who take a Biblical stand on this issue, the fact is, they are the ones most responsible."

Keller writes that Hubley's sexual orientation was "destructive," calls openly gay people "brainwashed," and claims that it is those who "glorify this deviant, unnatural, and unhealthy choice of sexual activity, who are most responsible for Hubley's death."

[Continued here]

Mitchell Gold: Religious Groups That Bully Gay Youth Engage In "Nothing Less
Than Child Molestation" [Think Progress, October 4, 2011]

Mitchell Gold — a furniture maker and the founder of the nonprofit Faith in America — discussed the anti-gay bullying young people face from parents and religious institutions during an appearance on MSNBC this afternoon. Describing the right-wing's anti-gay advocacy as "bullying" of young people, Gold said that "We, as a country, have to have a serious discussion about religious views that cause enormous harm to other people" and suggested that religious organizations and lawmakers who condemn gay youth are complicit in "child molestation".

[Continued here]

John A. Harnick: "Did we learn NOTHING from the Holocaust?"



Hate speech case reaches [Canada's] Supreme Court
[CBC, October 11, 2011]

Bill Whatcott was charged with promoting hate after he distributed flyers in Regina and Saskatoon in 2001 and 2002 calling homosexuals sodomites and child molesters.

"Our children will pay the price in disease, death, abuse and ultimately eternal judgment if we do not say no to the sodomite desire to socialize your children into accepting something that is clearly wrong," one of the pamphlets said.

Whatcott was found guilty by the Saskatchewan Human Rights Tribunal in 2005 and ordered to pay $17,500 to the complainants, but the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal overturned the ruling in 2010. Whatcott argued he was opposed to gay activity, not gay people.

The Supreme Court of Canada will now hear the case between Whatcott and the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission.

"At home and abroad the 20th century is rife with examples of extreme speech and related violence that was left unchecked and unchallenged to terrible and tragic ends," David Arnot, chief commissioner of the commission, said at a news conference Tuesday.

[Continued here]

• Whatcott flyers Ottawa ahead of Supreme Court hearing: Residents furious at 'disturbing' homophobic pamphlets [XTRA, October 11, 2011 ]

An Edmonton man accused of anti-gay activism was distributing homophobic leaflets in Ottawa a day before the Supreme Court of Canada begins hearing his case.

The court's decision could limit religious groups from similar public activism.

Ottawa police responded to a call from Centretown on Oct 11, where Bill Whatcott, 44, and Darcy Grey, 41, were passing out anti-gay pamphlets.

• Hate laws vital in the digital age, Supreme Court hears in landmark case [Globe & Mail, October 12, 2011]

The instantaneous spread of hateful material through the internet has made it all the more vital that hate-mongers be restrained, the Supreme Court of Canada was told this morning.

Launching oral arguments at a landmark appeal pitting free speech against anti-hate protections, Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission lawyer Grant Scharfstein urged the Court not to leave minorities even more vulnerable than they already are.

"There has been a sea change in technology that allows it to be dessiminated at the push of a button," Mr. Scharfstein said.

• Police investigating Christian activist for hate crimes [CBC, June 8, 2005]

The flyers by Bill Whatcott of Regina refer to gay marriage as "sodomite marriage" and use graphic language to describe the alleged sex practices of homosexuals.

The handouts also used derogatory terms to describe federal Defence Minister Bill Graham.

Whatcott stuffed his pamphlets into mailboxes in the riding of Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan, and some recipients complained to police.

"The material is offensive and it's an affront on the basic tenets of our society, which is about multiculturalism, tolerance and peaceful co-existence," Const. Steve Camp, of the Edmonton police hate crimes unit, said.

The Pride Centre of Edmonton said it would take the case to the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission if no criminal charges arise from the police investigation. ...

He says he was a gay prostitute until age 18 to pay for a drug habit, then became leader of a small group called the Christian Truth Activists.

Last month, the Saskatchewan Human Rights Tribunal fined Whatcott $17,500 for handing out similar material.

But he has refused to pay the fine, calling the tribunal a "kangaroo court."

• Supreme Court could hear anti-gay flyer case: Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission seeks leave to appeal Bill Whatcott decision to top court [XTRA, April 19, 2010 ]
• Democracy means freedom from hate and bullying [Calgary Herald, September 29, 2011]

"I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation.

We must always take sides.

Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.

Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."

Elie Wiesel

Something remarkable is happening in Alberta. Despite determined efforts by some alarmist columnists, the public and our government stubbornly refuse to be afraid of anti-hate legislation. For a few years now, a number of news editors and columnists have railed against human rights commissions, and particularly Section 3, which protects against hate speech. The one-sided argument has typically urged people to protect hateful publications, as if doing so somehow protects our freedoms.

• When is it hate speech?: 7 significant Canadian cases [CBC, Oct 12, 2011]

The point where Canada's freedom-of-speech provisions overlap with hate crime legislation is a legal, political, ethical and emotional minefield. The latest challenge, a provincial case that has reached the Supreme Court of Canada, promises to have repercussions across the country.

• When does free speech trump minority protections? [Globe & Mail, October 12, 2011]
• Supreme Court hears arguments in hate speech case [XTRA, October 13, 2011]

"Egale is very concerned about that because we fought for a long time to have sexual orientation included in human rights legislation, and we are now included in every jurisdiction in Canada, so those statutes have to be interpreted in a way that protects all of the vulnerable groups equally," Petersen says. "We can't have a tiered system where there's more protection when the discrimination is based on race or religion than there is if it's based on sexual orientation." ...

"Fundamentally, freedom of religion does not include the right to use hateful, powerful words, which are transparently hateful," says Chief Commissioner David Arnot. "In other words, freedom of religion plays only a very marginal role in this case. This case is fundamentally about freedom of expression and the reasonable limit, the justifiable limit that we say exists with respect to that type of speech, hate speech, in the Canadian context."

• MPs of all stripes criticize free speech bill: Conservative MP wages war on political correctness [XTRA, October 25, 2011]
• Calgary police arrest anti-gay activist: Bill Whatcott distributes 5,000 homophobic flyers [XTRA, March 14, 2012]

Bill Whatcott was briefly arrested on March 6 after Calgary police received complaints about flyers distributed in neighbourhoods near the University of Calgary.

The Calgary Herald reported that one resident called police after receiving a flyer that included anti-gay statements and pictures of genitalia infected with a sexually transmitted infection.

Aaron Anson: Are Gays Too Sensitive to Jokes?
[Huffington Post, December 2, 2011]

I was appalled when I read excerpts from Vibe's interview with rapper T.I.: he said that the gay community is too sensitive to jokes made at their expense. T.I. starts with a disclaimer, saying that he's OK with any sexual "preference," but goes on to say, "If you're against [being gay], you should also have the right to be against it in peace." Most obnoxious was when T.I. condoned Tracy Morgan's venomous diatribe against gays, which took place earlier this year.

His idea is that anti-gay sentiments are acceptable, and that it's ridiculous for the gay community to backlash against this expression of free speech. It's true that the First Amendment protects all kinds of free speech, including anti-gay speech. But the fact that anti-gay speech is legal does not make it any more acceptable. Free speech can allow free ignorance, unfortunately, and the two often go hand-in-hand.

It's clear from his language that T.I. simply does not relate to gays. If we conclude that gays are overly sensitive to these jokes, then clearly the African-American community is overly sensitive about racism. Imagine the backlash if a public figure made a joke about killing a person because they were black. Would this have any comic value at all, or would it simply be tasteless? How would this be any different from Tracy Morgan's remarks that he would stab his son if he were gay?

Hate-based humor, through its message of inferiority, discourages free thought and free expression. It discourages everyone from living their lives openly and honestly. This problem is particularly pronounced in the black community where, more often than not, gays and lesbians won't come out because they feel that their community will outright reject them. I've seen this personally, time and time again, when black gay acquaintances of mine resist friending me on Facebook, for fear that they'll be associated with my openness.

[Continued here]

• T.I. on all Americans having equal rights [Vibe, December, 2011]

Charles Karel Bouley: Shame on CNN For Mainstreaming the Fringe
[Huffington Post, September 13, 2011]

The CNN/Tea Party Express Debate leaves liberals like myself in a precarious position: while many of us are upset with the Democratic Party up to and including President Obama and have not been shy in making that upset known, if that upset or criticism causes any one of the eight people onstage Monday, September 12, 2011 to be elected to the White House then we will have let despots win.

Each of the eight candidates on stage in Tampa, FL in an event sponsored by and filled with Tea Party loyalists, at some point or another in the evening made it clear that Poor America, Middle America, Thinking America was not welcomed at their table and must, in fact, be defeated. The audience had vitriolic members in it, people that would yell "Yes!" when asked if a man that needs six months of intensive care to recover should have his bills covered or die... the answer was clearly heard in the crowd, yes, die. And no one denounced it. No one chastised the audience. Not any of the eight, or moderator Wolf Blitzer; no one.

Some of these people are truly evil or severely misguided and uneducated about America, how it works and what its core and real values actually are.

As I sat listening, I couldn't help but remember my interview with David Holthouse from MediaMatters.org, who went undercover with the skinhead movement. He told me about American Third Position, a3p, a white nationalist movement (read legitimized skinhead lobby) that is operating within the Tea Party and how no one has denounced them or refused to take their money, playing it off as the tea party is comprised of local groups and what those groups on their own do is their own business; plausible deniability at its best. Could some of that money have sponsored this debate? Or any of the groups that were in the audience? Who are these people? And why are Republicans pandering to them and CNN legitimizing them? In all fairness, the syndicator of my radio show takes ads from a3p, and should I ever hear one I use my freedom of speech to remind people who they are, what they stand for and how racism under any catchy title is still racism.

[Continued here]

• Carlos Maza: CNN Condemns Anti-Gay Bullying While Giving Airtime To Anti-Gay Bully [Equality Matters, October 11, 2011]

On October 10, CNN host Carol Costello invited Tony Perkins - president of the Southern Poverty Law Center-designated anti-gay hate group the Family Research Council (FRC) - to discuss the impact of his group's recent Values Voter Summit.

Costello treated Perkins as a legitimate source of conservative commentary about the GOP primary and failed to point out that Perkins is currently one of the country's most prominent and aggressive legitimizer of anti-gay bullying. Perkins has suggested that LGBT youth commit suicide because they know they're "abnormal" and has condemned the "It Gets Better" project (begun to counteract gay bullying) for supposedly trying to "recruit" children into a "lifestyle" of "perversion." ...

In other words, Perkins consistently promotes the kind of anti-gay hate speech that encourages anti-LGBT bullying in the first place. By failing to accurately identify Perkins as the leader of an anti-gay hate group, CNN whitewashes the anti-LGBT bullying it's otherwise trying to stop.

• Richard (RJ) Eskow: Rogue's Gallery: CNN's Ideologically Rigid, Scandal-Tainted, Ethics-Investigation-Haunted GOP Debate 'Panel' [Huffington Post, November 27, 2011]

People are understandably outraged by CNN's ideological extremism and willingness to discard even the veneer of journalistic objectivity. But there's another cloud over this panel: a cloud of scandals, criminal investigations, and ethical lapses.

David Addington. Paul Wolfowitz. Ed Meese. It's a Rogue's Gallery of government officials gone wild, a motley crew of the short-sighted, the benighted, and the nearly-indicted. ...

CNN cosponsored one debate with the Tea Party, but maybe that group wasn't considered extreme enough. This time CNN's cosponsors were the American Enterprise Institute and the Heritage Foundation, radical-right organizations that played an active role in misleading the American people into a bloody and costly war. They accomplished that mission. Now these groups are pushing new disinformation campaigns, like the one that asserts that climate change is a hoax.

• Report - Media helping to promote anti-gay hate group [Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, December 12, 2011]

Last year, the Southern Poverty Law Center designated the Family Research Council as an official anti-gay hate because of the group's deliberate use of lies and junk science to spread false information about the lgbtq community.

However, according to a new report by Equality Matters, the mainstream media is not only ignoring this but seems going out of its way to give FRC and its spokespeople credibility.

• Lambda Legal's blistering video: 'Sh*t Homophobic People Say' (on the air) [Pam's House Blend,, January 13, 2012]

There's no need for editorial embellishment; just watch and see the bigoted, ignoranct idiocy that comes out of the pieholes of people purported to be, according to the mainstream media, "experts" in presenting "the other side" when there are discussions about anything related to LGBT rights.

• Carlos Maza: CNN Invites Anti-Gay Hate Group Leader To Breakfast [Equality Matters, January 19, 2012]

Last Friday, CNN's newest show Starting Point interviewed Tony Perkins - president of the Southern Poverty Law Center-designated anti-gay "hate group" Family Research Council (FRC) - about his participation in a recent summit of conservative religious leaders. ...

As is the norm for cable news hosts, [Soledad] O'Brien failed to acknowledge Perkins' status as an anti-gay hate group leader, instead treating him as a respectable and legitimate source of political commentary.

• CNN's Roland Martin and his 140 character anti-gay Super Bowl F-up [Pam's House Blend, February 6, 2012]

The guy just can't help himself, huh? Twitter chatter can easily reveal the inner bigot because it allows people to be spontaneous, in-the-moment about anything knocking around in the noggin. ...

        On Martin's website he ignores the medical evidence about the ineffective nature and harms associated with so-called ex-gay programs and instead praises his wife who he says "has counseled many men and women to walk away from the gay lifestyle."

• Apology Not Enough: CNN Suspends Roland Martin for Homophobic Tweet [Edge Boston, February 8, 2012]

But the apology wasn't enough for executives at CNN, who have just announced that they have suspended Martin indefinitely. As reported by the Washington Post, CNN issued a statement that called the tweets "regrettable and offensive. Language that demeans is inconsistent with the values and culture of our organization, and is not tolerated," the statement continued. "We have been giving careful consideration to this matter, and Roland will not be appearing on our air for the time being." ...

GLAAD also brought up Martin's history with the LGBT community. When Tracy Morgan said that he would "pull out a knife and stab him" if his son told him he was gay, Martin took to his blog and defended the comedian. When Morgan apologized for his statement, Martin said he would have not done the same. Additionally, GLAAD pointed out that in 2006, Martin supported "ex-gay" programs and that his wife "has counseled many men and women to walk away from the gay lifestyle."

• Herndon Graddick: CNN Has Its Own 'Evolving' to Do on Marriage Coverage [HuffPo, May 10, 2012]

The bulk of the media's coverage of this issue has been focused on what this statement will mean politically for President Obama and the Democratic Party -- and what it means for the future of marriage equality, now that a solid majority of Americans and the president support it. This includes CNN, which had several thoughtful pieces and interviews on these ideas. For example, Anderson Cooper's panel of Alex Castellanos, Paul Begala and Evan Wolfson broke down the issue purposefully, in a way that would help the audience better understand the significance of this announcement.

So with a wealth of political thinkers, analysts and strategists to go to -- why has CNN turned to Tony Perkins three times in the last few days to represent the "other side?" He was on with Piers Morgan Tuesday night to talk about the vote in North Carolina. He appeared with Wolf Blitzer Wednesday evening to talk about the President's support for marriage equality, and then was interviewed by Soledad O'Brien Thursday morning on the same topic.

All of this is fine, as long as Perkins is put into the proper context. Which he sort-of was by Morgan and O'Brien, but Blitzer didn't even come close.

Ross Murray: Where Are the Pro-LGBT Religious Voices in Mainstream Media?
[HuffPo, April 11, 2012]

In recent years, several denominations, such as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, The Episcopal Church, and the Presbyterian Church (USA) have updated policies to be more inclusive of gay and lesbian people. Beyond policy change, a majority of Mainline Protestants support equality for gay and lesbian people when it comes to non-discrimination, marriage, and adoption. Jewish people are the most supportive of any religious group in the United States, now at 81%. And the vast majority of pew-sitting Roman Catholics are highly supportive of marriage equality and adoption for gay and lesbian couples, despite the messages from Roman Catholic hierarchy. In fact, the organization Catholics in Media Associates, an organization of Catholic media professionals, recently gave an award to the ABC comedy Modern Family, which features a gay couple raising an adopted child together.

With all this support among religious people, why don't Americans get to hear LGBT-affirming messages from some of them? They are crowded out by the same extreme voices over and over again. The voices who claim to represent the religious viewpoint on LGBT people, especially Christianity, are the voice and faces that we see have seen for years on news television - local, national and especially cable. ...

The findings confirm that despite growing public support for LGBT people across faith traditions, the media highlight a disproportionate number of anti-LGBT religious voices in the media. Three out of four religious messages about gay or transgender people come from religious groups that have formal policies, decrees, or culture opposing equality. Unsurprisingly, messages from those sources were overwhelmingly negative. Mainstream media uses far fewer voices from the gay-affirming, or even moderate, religious traditions. The vast majority of gay or pro-LGBT sources are presented without any religious affiliation whatsoever. ...

The media needs to stop promoting the false notion that being religious is synonymous with being anti-LGBT. By contrasting anti-LGBT religious voices against pro-LGBT voices with no identified religion, the media has reinforced a misleading and dangerous 'religion versus gay' frame. This frame is misleading because it gives media consumers the false impression that to be religious, particularly Christian, is to be inherently anti-LGBT. Experiences like the one I had in Easter worship are not reflected in the media. The frame ignores religious people who increasingly support equality and discounts the thousands upon thousands of LGBT people like me whose faith play central roles in our lives.

[Continued here]

• Rev. Cody J. Sanders: Renewing a Queer (Religious) Agenda [HuffPo, May 14, 2012]

Whether our lives are deemed "incompatible with Christian teaching" or our loving relationships are deemed sub-par to straight marriages, the message is clear: there are some among us who do not believe queer people should exist.

Religion is often at the forefront of these arguments -- in both affirming and denouncing the legitimacy of queer lives. Faith played a role in President Obama's evolution in understanding and affirming same-sex marriage. And faith certainly played a role in the decisions made by Methodists and North Carolinians.

PayPal urged to stop aiding anti-gay groups [Sydney Star Observer, September 9, 2011]

Activist organisation All Out is urging online payment business PayPal to stop allowing anti-gay hate groups to use their service.

A petition has been set up in response to hate groups such as Noua Dreapta using PayPal to fundraise for homophobic marches in Romania and Moldova.

PayPal terms of service officially state that its users "may not use the PayPal service for activities that. promote hate, violence, racial intolerance", but All Out claims PayPal has become a "favourite payment service for anti-LGBT extremists all over the world".

They're calling on PayPal to act immediately by shutting down the hate group accounts and banning all sites that promote anti-LGBT hate.

"Hate groups also damage PayPal's brand and credibility," the petition states.

"We ask that PayPal join the fight against online hate and immediately shut down the accounts of anti-LGBT extremist groups using the service."

[Continued here]

• PayPal Rejects Four Sites For 'Anti-LGBT Hate Speech' [Think Progress, September 21, 2011]

Responding to AllOut's petition campaign, PayPal has canceled its services for four organizations know for virulent anti-gay rhetoric: Truth in Action Ministries, Brazilian extremist Julio Severo's sites, Noua Dreapta, and Dove World Outreach Center. In its press release, PayPal explained that those sites' "regular anti-LGBT hate speech puts them starkly at odds with PayPal's own ethics policy, which states that account holders 'may not use the PayPal service for activities that [...] promote hate, violence, racial intolerance.'" There are six more groups targeted in AllOut's campaign that PayPal has yet to address.

• Anti-Gay Bigots React To PayPal's Stance On Hate Speech [The Progressive Puppy, September 22, 2011]

Needless to mention, professional homophobes didn't waste any time expressing their outrage on right-wing websites. "Porno" Peter LaBarbera of AFTAH referred to AllOut's petition as "homofascism in action" and then piously proclaimed that "pro-family" organizations like his are about "loving people enough to tell them the truth." (When their incendiary rhetoric results in an outbreak of youth suicides, religious zealots pompously assert: "See? This proves how destructive homosexuality is!") Self-described "conservative Christian activist" Don Hank of Laigle's Forum has declared war ("PayPal is now the official enemy of traditional Christianity!") and desperately accuses PayPal of abetting child pornography.

Hmm. Let's see what the "traditional values" advocates at Free Republic are saying (from FR's comments section):

"Getting close to the point where they can cut off the ability to buy or sell."
"I'd like to suggest something they can cut off."
"Shut down speech and bullets are all that's left."
"Anyone even know how to just send a Western Union wire anymore? It ain't that hard."
"The first time I heard the term DINKs (Double Income, No Kids) it was a fagula that said it."
"Oh, don't kid yourself. They breed. Either by intercourse with the opposite sex, the turkey baster, or adoption."
"Practicing homosexuals breed ~ a good number of them so they can have their own chilluns to molest. How is it you think those people got to be called queers?"
"That 2% can talk a company into hurting the 98% seems retarded to me."
"They are opening a Pandora box, here. There are a lot more pro-family heterosexuals than homos."
"It's like the Nazis branding the Jews as promoters of hate, violence, and intolerance..."

And on and on and on, ad nauseum.

• Liberty Counsel Threatens All-Out Christian Boycott of Pay Pal [Right Wing Watch, September 30, 2011]

Wallace Best, Ph.D.: Gay Americans and American Freedom
[Huffington Post, August 15, 2011]

Left to their own devices, most Americans would turn gay. At least that is the impression one gets from the current anti-gay campaign waged by some social conservatives and the religious right. Anxiety about the spread of homosexuality and the propagation of a "gay agenda" is at the root of claims that gays want to "recruit" children. It also fuels the opposition to education about homosexuality in public schools, as evidenced by the recent passage of the "Don't Say Gay" bill in the Tennessee Senate. This anxiety undergirds the approaches of such Ex-Gay ministries as "Exodus International," and may have even played a role in the recently overturned military policy, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." For a sexual disposition that is supposedly the divinely sanctioned "natural order," heterosexuality appears curiously vulnerable.

At the same time, social conservatives and the religious right characterize the "gay lifestyle" as a sad and terrible "choice." That is essentially the point GOP frontrunner, Michele Bachman made in 2004.

"It is a very sad life. It's a part of Satan, I think, to say that it's 'gay.' It's anything but 'gay.' It leads to the personal enslavement of individuals. Because if you're involved in the gay and lesbian lifestyle, it's bondage. It is personal bondage, personal despair, and personal enslavement, and that is why this is so dangerous."

For Bachmann and many others, to be gay is to live a life of sadness, despair, and enslavement, but we need political activism of the most stalwart kind to keep many Americans, particularly our young, from embracing this path or rising up in support of it.

This faulty logic is intrinsic to the homophobia that persists in American society. Sound logic is never a matter of concern when fear is the primary motivating factor. The reasoning for one's opposition to something they fear does not have to make logical sense.

The faulty logic also reveals a perennial misunderstanding of the nature of sexuality. If homosexuality is a matter of "choice," then so is heterosexuality. But no one who opposes homosexuality on the basis of "choice" ever makes the claim that they themselves are choosing to be heterosexual. No, they just are. But if one can just be heterosexual, it follows that one can just be homosexual.

More troubling, however, is the anti-democratic sentiment at the core of this faulty logic. Characterizing homosexuality as a "choice" minoritizes gay Americans, rendering them outside Constitutional protections. In other words, to be gay is to somehow be "un-American." This concern set the tone for former New Jersey governor, James McGreevy's resignation speech in 2004. "And so my truth is," he proclaimed, "I am a gay American."

The "choice" argument also renders gay people outside the realm of religion and morality. Since our political discourse on (and against) homosexuality always slips into religious discourse, gays are seen in opposition to religion and morality.

Indeed, some politicians and lawmakers have invoked the language of "sin" in their opposition to gay Americans. But the discourse of "sin," has no place in the political culture of a liberal democracy. Such discourse lends support to the historical fiction of America as a "Christian nation," and limits morality as the special province of the religious and Christians in particular.

[Continued here]

Reverend Ed Bacon: Being Gay Is a Gift from God
[Huffington Post, October 11, 2011]

As a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show in January 2009, I said, "Being gay is a gift from God." Those seven words -- spoken to a call-in viewer from Atlanta -- set off a ripple of response that lit up Oprah's switchboard, almost crashed our parish email server and continues to bring people toward us here at All Saints Church in Pasadena. And that moment continues to be for me an iconic example of how important it is for people of faith to confront discrimination against our LGBT brothers and sisters by standing up and by speaking out.

It is why on this National Coming Out Day 2011, I believe it is no longer enough for LGBT people to come out and let the world know who they were created to be, although that continues to be a courageous and transformational act. It is time for Christians to come out and let the world see the Church as it was created to be: a vehicle of love and justice, not a bastion of bigotry and homophobia.

It is time for people of faith to speak out against the religion-based bigotry that has for too long fueled the fires of homophobia that perpetuate violence against LGBT people and plant the seeds of self-loathing in LGBT youth.

And it is time to take to heart the words of Rabbi Abraham Heschel, who famously said, "Few are guilty, but all are responsible." I may not be guilty of the religion-based bigotry that has wounded countless members of God's beloved LGBT children, but I am responsible for offering a counter-narrative to the lies that have been told about the God I serve -- the God of love, justice and compassion.

My faith tradition teaches that the truth will set you free -- and the truth is: God loves.

The truth is: love trumps.

And the truth is: Being gay is a gift from God.

* Reverend Ed Bacon, Rector, All Saints Church, Pasadena, California

[Continued here]

• James Brandon: What Would Jesus Do? [HuffPo, April 8, 2012]

If being gay is considered a choice by some, here's what the choice came down to for me: happiness for myself, or happiness to please others. Innately I knew, even at a young age, that the only way I could ultimately bring happiness to others was if I myself lived a joy-filled and happy life within. So the "choice" was simple to me. Nic Arnzen, the director of the play, and co-director (with me) of the film Corpus Christi: Playing with Redemption, says it so beautifully in the film: "Lying is a sin. Living my life as a straight man would be a lie." The "sin He hates" is the sin of hating oneself and, in turn, spewing hatred at one another. True spirituality, and the essence of Jesus' (and all other avatars') teachings, lives in being able to make peace with internal happiness that only comes from living a pure, genuine life connected to every part of your being -- every part of your being He created. I believe this is the "Kingdom of Heaven within you" that He speaks of.

Peter Montgomery: Historic Pro-Gay Equality Shift Led by Millennials — Evangelicals Included
[Religion Dispatches, August 30, 2011]

The Public Religion Research Institute released on Monday "Generations at Odds: The Millennial Generation and the Future of Gay and Lesbian Rights," a bookend to its June study on Millennials and abortion rights.

The report affirmed the steady upward trend in support among the general public for gay rights generally and marriage equality specifically, which PRRI CEO Robert P. Jones described as accelerating in the past two years. He said 2011, in which a number of reputable polls found majority support among Americans for marriage equality, marked a sea change in public opinion. Karlyn Bowman, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who commented on the new report, used historical data to highlight the dramatic change in public opinion on gay rights issues over the past quarter century, during which she said attitudes on reproductive choice, by contrast, were relatively stagnant. She said, for example, that the first poll in which she could find a question on marriage was in 1988, when only 12 percent agreed that gay couples should be allowed to marry and 73 percent disagreed.

In the new PRRI poll, which finds Americans equally divided on marriage, majority support for marriage equality holds across most religious groups, including Catholics (52 percent in favor, 41 percent opposed) and white mainline Protestants (51-40). The exceptions are black Protestants (34 percent support, 60 percent oppose), and much more strongly, white evangelicals (19 percent support, 76 percent oppose).

[Continued here]

• Survey | Generations at Odds: The Millennial Generation and the Future of Gay and Lesbian Rights [Public Religion Research Institute, August 29, 2011]
• Believe Out Loud — Join the Movement

We are a Million Strong. We believe Jesus' message compels us to welcome all, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. Show the world that you can be Christian AND believe in LGBT equality. Join the movement to unite a million Christians for LGBT equality in the church and beyond.

• Report: Generations at Odds: The Millennial Generation and the Future of Gay and Lesbian Rights [Public Religion Research Institute]

There is at least a 20-point generation gap between Millennials (age 18 to 29) and seniors (age 65 and older) on every public policy measure in the survey concerning rights for gay and lesbian people.

• Christian Piatt: Christians Should Be More Than "Gay Okay" [Huffington Post, September 29, 2011]

To say that something like sexual orientation, race, economic status, gender are not issues to us is to speak from a position of privilege. Those who are marginalized, oppressed or denied equality because of who they are do not have such a luxury.

As people of faith, we who have privilege are bound by our beliefs to actively, vocally and passionately advocate for those who do not enjoy our position of privilege or power. At the risk of sounding like a Marvel comic book, we have to use the power we have for good, rather than just standing on the sidelines, assuming that not doing anything is good enough.

My friend, who is a seminary student and is lesbian, put it this way: "I can talk all day long about justice for people like me, but it carries more weight when someone says the same thing who has nothing to gain from the issue, but who has something they are willing to lose for what they believe is right."

• Rev. Dr. Mark Achtemeier: Coming Out as an Evangelical Supporter of Gay Rights [Huffington Post, October 11, 2011]

This Saturday I was privileged to speak at the ordination of a man I believe will be a wonderful minister. That man, Scott Anderson, happens to be the first openly gay person ordained in my denomination, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), since a historic policy shift last July.

• Methodist Group Comes Together to Announce Support for Marriage Equality [Truth Wins Out, October 17, 2011]

A group of over 900 United Methodists in New York and Connecticut today announced their intention to make weddings available to all people, gay and straight, in spite of their denomination's ban on gay marriage. The announcement marks the kick-off of a project called We do! Methodists Living Marriage Equality.In an unprecedented move in any major religious denomination, We do! is not only bypassing the formal rules of the church, but also reaching out directly to LGBT groups in New York and Connecticut to let them know about the new network.

• Karl Giberson, Ph.D Creationists Drive Young People out of the Church [Huffington Post, November 19, 2011]

Survey results recently reported by Christianity Today clarify once again the sober truth that evangelicals are not making much progress in accepting well-established mainstream scientific ideas about origins. Particularly disturbing is the finding that only 27 percent of evangelical pastors "strongly disagree" with the statement that the earth is 6,000 years old. A higher number "strongly agree" that the earth is just 6,000 years old, a conclusion supported by mountains of evidence. Seven in 10 evangelical pastors "strongly disagree" that "God used evolution to create people."

• Evangelical Christian Mom Becomes an Unlikely Advocate [Edge Boston, November 25, 2011]

If you had asked Kathy Baldock 10 years ago if you could be both gay and Christian, the devout evangelical would've told you 'no'. But one day while hiking near her Reno home, she befriended a fellow hiker who happened to be a lesbian. As the two became good friends, Baldock had a change of heart; she began questioning everything she'd believed about gays and lesbians.

"It slapped me in the face," said Baldock, remembering the first time she went to a worship service with gay Christians in 2007. "I ended up on the floor crying and being so sorry for all the prejudices I had. I realized that something was very wrong with my theology."

Baldock is now a well-known leader of the straight Christian ally movement, working to change views within the faith. She became so compelled to fight church homophobia that she quit her sales job and formed the non-profit Canyonwalker Connections.

• Joseph Ward III: Pro-LGBT Christian Voices Take Center Stage In 2011: The Top 10 [Huffington Post, December 29, 2011]

Just a few years ago, public opinion placed Christianity clearly in the "God vs. Gay" camp. Today, despite what Rick Perry would have us think, nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of Americans agree that gay and lesbian relationships should be accepted by society, including majorities of all major religious groups except white evangelicals (Public Religion Research Institute, Aug. 29, 2011).

• Heather White: Re-Occupy "Tradition": The History Of Faith And LGBT Rights [Huffington Post, January 6, 2012]

Watching the latest Republican tap-dance to court "values voters," it's clear, once again, that "religion" and "tradition" are unsubtle code words for anti-LGBT politics. Faith-based political organizations like Iowa's The Family Leader have so thoroughly occupied the language of faith and values, that even critics of their politics assume that traditional Christianity goes hand in hand with conservative sexual and gender politics. According to the way many people understand the politics of religion and sexuality, the more "traditional" a person's faith, the more directly that faith demands opposition to LGBT rights. ...

I, for one, would like pro-LGBT advocates to reclaim "tradition." It might seem initially like a dangerous site to occupy, because it is so often deployed in the interest of those who want to resurrect an oppressive past. As I've shown here, however, "tradition" is always a partial and selective map of the past. If the Christian right can ground their politics in "tradition," those of us who support LGBT rights have at least as much historical prerogative to say with equal, if not more, conviction: "my tradition supports LGBT justice and equality."

• Why Young People Are Fleeing Conservative Evangelicalism [AlterNet, February 10, 2012]

The results of a five-year study of the Millennial Generation-people born between 1982 and 1993-are in. Thanks to the Barna Group, a 28-year-old, California-based, Christian research firm, we now know that conservative evangelical churches are losing formerly-affiliated "young creatives:" Actors, artists, biologists, designers, mathematicians, medical students, musicians, and writers.

Some leave because they oppose the church's doctrinal stance. Others are turned off by its hostility to science, and still others reject the limitations placed on permissible sexual activity. The report cites the tension felt by young adults who find it difficult-if not impossible-to remain "sexually pure," especially since most heterosexuals don't marry until their mid-to-late twenties. "Young Christians are as sexually active as their non-Christian peers," Barna concludes. What's more, the report admits that Millennials see the evangelical church as an exclusive club, open only to those who adhere to every rule. This runs counter to values that rank high on the Millennial playlist-among them, open-mindedness, tolerance, and support for diversity.

These findings, of course, don't necessarily mean that young evangelicals are becoming progressively engaged, but they do suggest that an opening exists for prochoice, feminist, and pro-LGBTQ activists to touch the hearts and minds of Generation Y. Angela Ferrell-Zabala, director of Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Freedom, a project of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, says that former Evangelicals are hungry for information about alternative faith and lifestyle options. "Technology has given Millennials access to philosophies and people from all over, and they tend to think in ways that are bigger than where they came from or how they were raised," she begins." At the same time, "young folks are not necessarily throwing in the towel on their faith. They're working to reconcile the pieces of their lives, asking, 'Who am I?' and 'What is my place in the world?'"

• How I Left My Evangelical Christian Faith [AlterNet, April 25, 2012]

For years I had been patching my Christian faith together, as I like to say, with duct tape and bailing wire. My beliefs had become more and more idiosyncratic as I tried to hold together the lot of moral and rational contradictions that make up born-again, Bible-believing Christianity. Now, finally, after two decades of warping my feelings, perceptions and intellect to defend the absolute goodness of the Christian God, I got mad. I said to the god in my head, "I'm not making excuses for you anymore. I quit." And just like that, God was gone. All that was left was the frame of tape and wire: empty excuses, rationalizations and songs of worship that sounded oddly flat.

Scott MacDougall: Is Demeaning or Beating a Child Ever Funny?
[HuffPo, May 3, 2012]

Sean Harris, pastor of Berean Baptist Church in Fayetteville, N.C., has now "apologized" for a delivering a sermon in which he told parents to "punch" their "limp-wristed" sons and force their "butch" daughters to "dress up" and "smell nice" from time to time. However, he claims that his words were meant "in jest."

That is outrageous, as even the most open-minded and generous viewing of his sermon will quickly reveal.

Having seen the remarkable documentary "Bully" just last night, I couldn't sit back and swallow his calling this "a joke." I sent him the following email this afternoon. ...

        No, this wasn't a joke. You meant what you said. The only thing you are sorry about is that you got caught saying it. Trying to weasel out of it by saying humor was the intent is the worst form of lying and hypocrisy. As a man of God, you know that lying and hypocrisy are serious matters. I assume that as a Baptist you take personal testimony seriously. As such, you should know that this lying and hypocrisy call the power of your witness to the Lord into serious question. By trying to get us to believe that what you said was "a joke," you, sir, have undermined the truthfulness of your word. Allow me to remind you that the Ten Commandments are silent on the "proper" gender expression of children but they have something unambiguous to say about the crime of lying.

        You said "limp-wristed" boys need to "man up." I know lots of sissy-acting guys. But guess what: they all show more "manliness" in their actions than calling the horrible things you said "a joke" demonstrates about yours. The sissies I know are kind and strong. They don't demonize other people. They defend the weak. They rise up for justice. They tell the truth. And they stand by their words. Man up? I suggest you take the plank out of your own eye and "man up" by admitting what you said was no joke at all. You may be sorry for hurting people. But you should be honest, stand by your words, and admit that what you said, as the video of your "sermon" so clearly demonstrates, was no joke....

        It is no apology at all when the apology is not meant. The lie of calling your disgusting words "a joke" shows you aren't really sorry. If you are, then apologize by your actions. Not by your hollow, hypocritical attempt to justify the unjustifiable.

[Continued here]

• Op-ed: Katharine Royal — Berean Baptist pastor's sermon dangerous to gay youth [Fayetteville Observer, May 4, 2012]

I have counseled at least three GLBT young adults who have attended this church. They all said they heard similarly hateful messages there, which not only drove them away, but also pushed them into depression and self-harm, even suicide attempts.

I know this destructive pattern well. As a bisexual woman with a call to the ministry, I heard many similar sermons declaring this to be wicked and impossible. They drove me to undergo "reparative therapy" in a well-known "ex-gay" ministry.

It didn't work and left me both "un-repaired" and bearing numerous physical and psychological scars. ...

My own recovery and self-affirmation led me in 2011 to launch a service group, Operation Bullyhorn, for those affected by the lethal epidemic of bullying. By themselves, their stories are hard enough to hear. What's even more disturbing right now is how passing Amendment One — which, after all, was what the Berean Baptist sermon was about — will encourage and give "a special dispensation" to ratcheting up such verbal and physical violence against those condemned as living outside "God's plan."

I know all too well where such "pro-family" preaching and legislation ends. Too often, it brings a family together — at the morgue.

• Rev. Susan Russell: The Bully In The Bully Pulpit [HuffPo, May 4, 2012]

In response to the understandable outrage sparked by this indefensible display of homophobia-based bullying, Harris first offered the classic default of the caught-in-the-act perpetrator: "I was only joking." According to an interview in the Fayetteville Observer he then went on to say, "If I had to say it again, I would say it differently, no doubt. Those weren't planned words, but what I do stand by is that the word of God makes it clear that effeminate behavior is ungodly. I'm not going to compromise on that."

Well, here's what we're not going to compromise on. We're not going to compromise on having bullies use the power of their pulpit to advocate child abuse because they've confused their own twisted homophobia with the "Word of God." We're not going to compromise on having the Good News of God's love, justice, and compassion that are the core values of our Judeo-Christian heritage hijacked by those who want to turn our religion into a weapon of mass destruction aimed at LGBT people. And we are not going to compromise on the fact that the "liberty and justice for all" we teach our children to pledge allegiance to really means liberty and justice for all.

John A. Harnick: "One of my life goals is to bring Starbucks to the community I live in."



Christian Pastor Calls For Starbucks Boycott Over Gay Marriage Support
[Huffington Post, February 3, 2012]

"Christians are upset with Starbucks for turning against God...Starbucks can follow Satan if they want to," Steven Andrew, and evangelical pastor and president of the USA Christian Ministries in California, said in a statement. "However, pastors are to help Christians. Are you on the Lord's side? Will you help the USA be blessed by God?"

The call for the boycott was released Tuesday, a day prior to the bill's passage in Washington's State Senate Wednesday night, according to Reuters.

USA Ministries is also asking for Christians to stop serving the brand at their church facilities and events.

The Seattle-based coffee chain joined more than 100 other firms in backing the same-sex marriage bill.

Other companies taking a similar position include Nike, Google and Microsoft, Half Moon Bay Patch notes.

[Continued here]

• NZ group attacks Starbucks for "supporting sodomy" [Gay NZ, February 4, 2012]

The New Zealand group is following in the footsteps of conservative groups in the US, which are calling for an international boycott of the company. It follows Starbucks Executive Vice President Karen Holmes writing to US partners expressing support for gay marriage legislation in Washington State. She writes that the important legislation "is core to who we are and what we value as a company".

In a blatantly homophobic statement, New Zealand's Right to Life says "the support of Starbucks for homosexual marriage is no surprise, as the company has been putting pro-homosexual messages on its take-away cups since 2006. Starbucks claims in its mission statement to embrace diversity. It promotes gay pride events but refuses to support events celebrating heterosexual marriage."

John A. Harnick: "I've always found Tim Hortons to be NOT 'gay friendly'.
Indeed, frequently agressively, nastily homophobic."



Lesbians booted from Tim Hortons for going 'beyond displays of affection'
[Toronto Star, October 24, 2011]

Dozens of people are planning to protest outside a Tim Hortons in Blenheim on Thursday after a same-sex couple says they were told to leave the coffee shop because they were lesbians.

A spokeswoman for Tim Hortons says the couple was asked to leave after they "went beyond public displays of affection" while visiting the outlet three weeks ago.

While the chain is apologizing to Riley Duckworth, 25, of London, and her partner Patricia Pattenden, 23, for what it calls a misunderstanding, Duckworth says she is not satisfied.

Duckworth says she and her partner Patricia Pattenden, 23, were outside drinking coffee with a group of family and friends and saw a man watching them from inside the restaurant.

She says soon after, the man went up to the counter, and a few minutes later the assistant manager came out and asked the couple to stop doing what they were doing and leave.

Duckworth says her partner had her hand around her waist, and had kissed her on the cheek once or twice but she denies they were groping each other.

"The manager said that our behaviour was inappropriate and that it was a family friendly establishment and it wasn't acceptable there," Duckworth said.

[Continued here]

• Kissing lesbians prompt calls to Occupy Timmies [London Free Press, October 25, 2011]

Organizers of the protest, called Occupy Timmies, say the manager talked to the couple after a local minister "stared them down," complained to the manager and held an impromptu prayer service for the couple in the parking lot.

Rev. Eric Revie, an assistant pastor at Glad Tidings Community Church in Blenheim, said he complained to the manager about the sexual activities of a couple that he thought were male and female.

Chatham-Kent area social-justice activists posted an appeal Sunday night on Facebook asking supporters of the two women to gather Thursday at the Blenheim Tim Hortons for a "public demonstration against the discriminatory practices of this Tim Hortons location."

Those who can't make it are being urged to protest outside Tim Hortons in their own city as a show of solidarity.

[Note: This disgusting episode of homophobic violence falls into the 'Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters' category.]

• Couples kiss at Tim Hortons in support of queer rights: About 30 protesters attend 'kiss-in' in Blenheim, Ontario [XTRA, October 29, 2011]

JC Penny Is Standing By Ellen, Ignores Anti-Gay Group
[Think Progress, February 3, 2012]

JC Penny is standing strong against an anti-gay group calling on it to terminate its partnership with Ellen DeGeneres, Andy Towle reports. "In an emailed statement to Yahoo Shine, J.C. Penney confirmed it "stands behind its partnership with Ellen DeGeneres," as do most Americans. More than 10,000 people have "signed a petition drawn up by GLAAD to support Ellen, and 95 percent of the L.A. Times readers supported JC Penney hiring Ellen in a poll." The company's commitment is just another indication of how times - and attitudes - have changed. Back in 1997, JC Penney did respond to pressure from the American Family Association and pulled its sponsorship of The Ellen Show after DeGeneres and her sitcom character Ellen Morgan came out as gay.

[Continued here]

"The Problem We All Live With" (Click on image to enlarge)

Norman Rockwell painting sends rare White House message on race
[Politico, August 24, 2011]

President Barack Obama has taken a decidedly low-key approach to racial issues since he became America's first black president two years ago. But in a hallway outside the Oval Office, he has placed a head-turning painting depicting one of the ugliest racial episodes in U.S. history.

Norman Rockwell's "The Problem We All Live With," installed in the White House last month, shows U.S. marshals escorting Ruby Bridges, a 6-year-old African-American girl, into a New Orleans elementary school in 1960 as court-ordered integration met with an angry and defiant response from the white community.

The thrust of the painting is not subtle. America's vilest racial epithet appears in letters several inches high at the top of the canvas. To the left side, the letters "KKK" are plainly visible. The crowds, mostly women who gathered daily to taunt Bridges as she went to a largely empty school, are not shown in the picture. But the racist graffiti and a splattered tomato convey the hostile atmosphere.

Despite the historic nature of his election, Obama has rarely dwelt on racial issues. His speech Sunday dedicating a memorial to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. near the National Mall will be an exception to the pattern, a rare public embrace of the civil rights movement.

His choice of the Rockwell painting was a more private statement. Obama has never mentioned it in a speech or public event. And while White House aides confirmed that Obama approved bringing it to the West Wing, they declined to discuss how the decision was made or why.

[Continued here]

• Kansas House Speaker apologizes for calling First Lady 'Mrs. YoMama' [Raw Story, January 6, 2012]

The Republican speaker of the Kansas statehouse issued an apology this week after sending emails from his personal account referring to First Lady Michelle Obama as "Mrs. YoMama" and quoting a Bible verse cited by some as a reference to presidential assassination.

Kansas House Speaker Mike O'Neal, from the city of Hutchison, sent an email before Christmas that compared the president's wife to the Dr. Seuss character The Grinch, with a tagline asking: "Twins separated at birth?"

Africa and Middle East in spotlight as group launched to tackle homophobia
[The Guardian, September 12, 2011]

An international pressure group is to be launched in Britain on Tuesday to tackle the rise in homophobic violence around the world, with a focus on Africa and the Middle East.

The UK's three main political parties have declared their support for Kaleidoscope, an independent group campaigning for the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, after a series of high-profile attacks on sexual minorities in developing countries.

In January, the Ugandan gay rights activist David Kato was bludgeoned to death after he was pictured on the front of the Ugandan tabloid Rolling Stone alongside the headline Hang Them. Last week three men were executed in Iran for homosexuality.

According to Kaleidoscope, more than third of all countries still have laws against consensual homosexual acts and 38 of the 54 members of the Commonwealth criminalise homosexuality.

Bisi Alimi, a Nigerian gay rights activist who fell foul of the authorities after being the first person in his country to come out on a national television, is among the founding members of the organisation.

"I was attacked, tied up and beaten in my own home in Lagos. For the first time in my life I not only saw a gun but I felt it right against my head. I was forced to leave my country. My dream is that others like me will be free to stay and be happy, surrounded by the love of their friends and families," he said.

Despite some progress for gay rights in the US and Latin America - such as the abolition of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in the US military and the legalisation of same-sex marriage in New York and Argentina - the global campaign for the rights of sexual minorities has experienced a series of setbacks in recent years.

In May, the UN human rights chief, Navi Pillay, warned that hate crimes against LGBT communities were on the rise around the world.

[Continued here]

• Kaleidoscope International Diversity trust
• PM and political party leaders back new global diversity initiative [Pink Paper, September 12, 2011 ]

The leaders of Britain's three main political parties have backed a major new global campaign for diversity, which will launch this month.

The organisation, named The Kaleidoscope Trust, works around the world to promote diversity and respect for all regardless of sexual orientation.

It is the UK's latest human rights body and will officially launch tomorrow, 13 September. The occasion will be marked by a reception at the House of Commons hosted by the Speaker, John Bercow MP, Kaleidoscope's Honorary President.

In anticipation, Prime Minister David Cameron, Labour leader Ed Miliband and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg have all lent their support.

"I am delighted to send my best wishes to Kaleidoscope and wish them well in their work," said Cameron. "We look forward to the contribution that Kaleidoscope will make to the debate on and progress towards equality worldwide."

Miliband added: "I am proud to offer my support to Kaleidoscope as it seeks to protect LGBT people from prejudice and persecution across the world."

Meanwhile, Clegg said: "We share your belief that global problems have grassroots, local solutions. I have no doubt that Kaleidoscope's innovative and unique approach will prove hugely important."

The director of Kaleidoscope, Lance Price, paid tribute to all those who had helped bring the organisation from an idea to reality. He said: "So many people have given up their time and energy to make Kaleidoscope possible. They know who they are it's now our responsibility to translate their hopes and efforts into something that can really make a difference. I am especially grateful to those women and men born and brought up in countries where just to be gay is to be in danger. Their experiences and their views have helped shape everything we plan to do at Kaleidoscope.

• Elton John tells world leaders: stop anti-gay discrimination [The Independent, September 12, 2011 ]

The leaders of all three main political parties in Britain are to throw their support behind a new international gay-rights group trying to combat homophobic discrimination in the Commonwealth.

Top UK music stars Elton John and George Michael have been invited to attend the official launch in the House of Commons of Kaleidoscope, which aims to get 19th-century British colonial anti-gay laws revoked in the Commonwealth and beyond, using business and political pressure.

It comes after campaigners grew increasingly concerned at how homosexual persecution is being actively encouraged by some Commonwealth states - particularly in Africa.

• Gay rights: a world of inequality [The Guardian, September 13, 2011 ]
• We'll cut your aid if you persecute gays, Britain warns African nations [Daily Mail, October 8, 2011 ]

Poor African countries which persecute homosexuals will have their aid slashed by the Government in a bid by David Cameron to take his gay rights crusade to the Third World.

International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell has already cut aid to Malawi by £19?million after two gay men were sentenced to 14 years hard labour.

And he has warned the country's leaders to scrap plans to introduce draconian new anti-lesbian laws.

• Former British Colonies To Consider Legalizing Homosexuality [Huffington Post, October 17, 2011]

Leaders of 53 countries meet in the Australian city of Perth for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

Australian delegate Michael Kirby told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio Tuesday that the agenda includes a recommendation to legalize homosexuality.

And he has warned the country's leaders to scrap plans to introduce draconian new anti-lesbian laws.

• Hope for MT? : Commonwealth Countries Asked To Decriminalize Gays [From Eternity To Here, October 19, 2011]

Forty-one of the 53 Commonwealth countries - including Uganda, Zimbabwe and Ghana - still criminalise gay sex and HIV campaigners say such laws are seriously hampering safe sex initiatives.

• Some Pacific Island Nations Refuse To Legalize Homosexuality [Think Progress, October 21, 2011]

The United Nations Human Rights Council has called on countries to decriminalize homosexuality, and several Pacific Island nations have pledged to do so, including Palau and Nauru. Samoa, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea have said, though, that they intend to keep their laws, which are vestiges of the colonial era.

• [Canada's] Tories to press gay rights at Commonwealth — but won't commit to funding Pride [Globe & Mail, October 21, 2011]

The Conservative government has vowed to raise the issue of gay rights at a meeting of Commonwealth leaders that takes place next week in Australia.

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird told the House of Commons Friday that Canada will make it clear it disapproves of the rampant criminalization of homosexuality that has occurred in countries around the world. ...

Scott Brison, the openly gay Liberal MP who represents the Nova Scotia riding of Kings-Hants, complained to the Commons that the Conservatives have fought and voted against every advancement of gay rights in Canada, from pension benefits to marriage to transgender rights.

"If the Conservatives are now serious about helping gay youth, will they recognize the support that Pride festivals provide to struggling young gays?" Mr. Brison asked. "Will the Conservatives restore the funding that they themselves cut for these important Pride festivals across Canada?"

• Aid threat rebuked [Sydney Star Observer, October 25, 2011]

The Malawian Government has rejected warnings from the British Government that it will impose aid fines if it does not stop persecuting its LGBTI citizens.

"Malawi cannot be made to dance to their tune," Information Minister Patricia Kaliati said.

"In the future they may say they do not want children in Malawi, and then do you expect us to kill all the children? Maybe another day they will say they do not want journalists in Malawi, should we chase all of you journalists because the British have said so?"

Malawi punishes male homosexuality with up to 14 years in prison and, since January this year, sex between women with up to five years in prison.

• Kirby attacks "sexual apartheid" in Commonwealth [Gay NZ, October 26, 2011]

The openly-gay former judge has given an address in Perth in the official lead-up to the event saying persecuting gay people is to blame for HIV rates twice as high in Commonwealth nations as in the rest of the world.

He said Commonwealth nations faced an "existential threat" from the virus.

"There are some people who think AIDS is over, that AIDS is no longer a challenge, that AIDS is not a big deal," Kirby said.

"That is wrong.

"Approximately 2.6 million people every year become infected with HIV.

• Commonwealth Secretary General backs gay rights [Pink News, October 26, 2011]

Speaking in Perth, Australia, ahead of the Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting, Mr Sharma said Commonwealth countries should "embrace difference" and commit to "tolerance, respect and understanding".

He said: "We recall the 2009 Affirmation of Commonwealth Values and Principles, which includes a clear commitment to tolerance, respect and understanding. This means we embrace difference, and that includes sexual identity.

"Discrimination and criminalisation on grounds of sexual orientation is at odds with our values and I have had occasion to refer to this in the context of our law-related conferences."

• Commonwealth report urges repeal of anti-gay laws [CBC, October 28, 2011]

A report to Commonwealth leaders says there is "overwhelming support" for its core recommendations, including a human rights commissioner and the repeal of laws against homosexuality still found in 41 of the 54 member states.

But that support does not extend to the association's leadership, says one of the report's Canadian authors, and without visible and well-publicized reforms, the future of the Commonwealth is in peril.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard opened the Commonwealth's biennial summit in Perth on Friday morning by noting 2011 marks the 80th anniversary of the original British Commonwealth - supplanted by the modern iteration in 1949.

"The world has changed and a wise institution changes too," Gillard told the assembled dignitaries, including the Queen and Prime Minister Stephen Harper, at an elaborate opening ceremony.

"So as the Commonwealth journeys towards its centenary, it's time for renewal."

• Queen lines up with her people [Sydney Morning Herald, October 29, 2011]

THE Queen has made a rare and pointed public appeal for Commonwealth leaders to think of their people, as a key proposal designed to reinforce human rights and other basic values in member nations appeared headed for defeat.

Opening the three-day Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth yesterday, the Queen singled out the report by the eminent persons group, which recommended the creation of a Commonwealth commissioner for democracy, the rule of law and human rights. It is being considered by the 54 leaders.

''I wish heads of government well in agreeing further reforms that respond boldly to the aspirations of today and that keep the Commonwealth fresh and fit for tomorrow,'' the Queen said. ''We should not forget that this is an association not only of governments but also of peoples.''

Her words were interpreted as an unusually pointed and direct message to the nations that oppose the creation of the commissioner.

• Rudd takes stand as NZ apparently remains silent [Gay NZ, October 29, 2011]

The Star Observer reports Rudd yesterday raised the issue with Commonwealth foreign ministers.

"He strongly declared Australia's position on decriminalisation, and our determination to continue to advocate for lgbt ights within the Commonwealth and more broadly," a spokeswoman for Rudd said.

The Star Observer says it understands Canada's foreign minister was the only other leader to join Australia's calls.

Foreign Minister Murray McCully is representing New Zealand at CHOGM and has not yet responded to a request from GayNZ.com Daily News for comment on New Zealand's stance on the issue.

• Commonwealth leaders under fire for refusing to publish human rights report [The Guardian, October 29, 2011]

Commonwealth leaders have been accused of behaving disgracefullly after they declined to publish an "Eminent Persons Group" (EPG) reportcalling for the 54-nation body to improve its handling of human rights.

The atmosphere at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOGM) soured on Saturday when leaders were warned that this year's summit would be remembered as a failure.

Tempers rose after Commonwealth leaders bowed to pressure from South Africa and Namibia and declined to publish the EPG report, which proposes the creation of a new commissioner on the rule of law, democracy and human rights. ...

British sources indicated that British prime minister David Cameron had joined forces with Julia Gillard, the Australian prime minister, and Stephen Harper, the Canadian prime minister, to press for the publication of the report. But the Commonwealth works by consensus, which means that just one country could block the publication.

One British source said: "We were trying to apply pressure, as were Australia and the Canadians. But it is an organisation that works by consensus."

Harper has voiced his unease about the lack of respect for human rights by saying that he will boycott the next CHOGM summit, which is due to be held in Sri Lanka in 2013. The Sri Lankan government faces allegations of war crimes committed during the country's 26-year civil war.

Senator Hugh Segal of Canada said: "Clearly there are some people at this meeting for whom silence is the best option. Would silence have been a way to bring apartheid to an end?"

• Countries that ban homosexuality risk losing aid, warns David Cameron [The Guardian, October 30, 2011]
• Limited progress made on Commonwealth human rights reforms [Globe & Mail, October 30, 2011]
• Hague accuses Government of "moral cowardice" [Gay NZ, October 30, 2011]

Green Party spokesperson Kevin Hague says he is "deeply disturbed" at the silence from Prime Minister John Key and Foreign Minister Murray McCully on the initiative from Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd - which has been publicly supported by Canada - to use the forthcoming Comonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting to tackle those Commonwealth countries where homosexual behaviour are still criminalised.

"I guess none of us imagined that a John Key-led government would show any actual leadership in world affairs, but the government's deafening silence when called upon just to support another country's initiative suggests a moral cowardice of the worst order"

"There is an overwhelming moral imperative to use our friendly relations with other Commonwealth countries to call them to account on this fundamental human rights issue. Yet successive New Zealand governments have effectively made a passive choice to turn a blind eye to it. That was bad enough. The difference here is that this looks like an active choice to do so."

Hague, one of New Zealand's most visible and vocal gay MPs, says he is calling on John Key to dispel the appearance of not caring by staking out a clear position to support the Australian initiative. ...

New Zealand's silence comes soon after the National-led government said it would not be progressing calls for changes to New Zealand's archaic adoption laws which do not allow same-sex couples to jointly adopt children, even the children of one partner in the relationship. The law is an anomaly under New Zealand's human rights protections which say all people must be treated equally and that discrimination on the basis of sexuality is illegal.

• CHOGM ignores repeal call [Sydney Star Observer, November 2, 2011]

Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd has delivered on a pledge to call on Commonwealth nations to end laws targeting sexual minorities at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth.

However calls by the host nation look to have fallen on deaf ears, with decriminalisation of LGBTIs receiving no mention in the CHOGM 2011 Comminique that lists Commonwealth leaders' priorities for the next two years.

Rudd raised the need to repeal sodomy laws during a Foreign Ministers Meeting with Civil Society on Thursday.

The meeting coincided with the release of the former prime minister's It Gets Better video on YouTube.

"Kevin strongly declared Australia's position on decriminalisation, and our determination to continue to advocate for LGBT rights within the Commonwealth and more broadly," Rudd's office told the Star Observer.

"Canada was the only other nation to raise the issue with the Foreign Ministers."

Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma reiterated previous comments that sodomy laws were incompatible with Commonwealth values but said it was up to individual countries to resolve that issue.

• Ghana refuses to grant gays' rights despite aid threat [BBC, November 2, 2011]

Mr Atta Mills said the UK could not impose its values on Ghana and he would never legalise homosexuality.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron said at the weekend that aid would be cut to countries which failed to respect gay rights.

Uganda also rejected the threat, with an official accusing the UK of showing a "bullying mentality".

Most Africans argue that homosexuality violates their religious and cultural beliefs.

• [Jamaican] Government to Report on the state of "Buggery" Laws in 2012 [JFLAG, November 4, 2011]

Jamaica has been requested by the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee to take specific actions to protect and promote the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Jamaicans and to report on the steps taken in 2012.

In expressing its concern about the continued discrimination and of acts of violence being perpetrated against members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, the Committee has requested that the government take steps to amend the buggery law and provide protection for LGBT persons and human rights defenders. Specifically, they recommended that the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms be reviewed to prohibit discrimination on the grounds of sex, sexual orientation and gender identity and provide an update in one year.

In its statement, the Committee has strongly recommended that Jamaica '. send a clear message that it does not tolerate any form of harassment, discrimination or violence against persons for their sexual orientation, and should ensure that individuals, who incite violence against homosexuals, are investigated, prosecuted and properly sanctioned.'

• Canada and the Commonwealth: Senator Hugh Segal on his role in transforming the organization [XTRA, December 27, 2011]

The report that recommended the decriminalization of homosexuality in the Commonwealth was in many ways a roadmap to transformational change for the organization, says Conservative Senator Hugh Segal, one of its authors.

Segal says the Eminent Persons' Report, delivered at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth Australia in November 2011, took 1000 hours of work, including travel time, over the space of 14 months, beginning in July of 2010.

Segal says those who compiled the report recommended substantial and transformative changes to the Commonwealth, a body representing approximately 2.1 billion people in 54 countries.

It touched on human rights, the rule of law, democracy, trade, defence and public health issues such as HIV/AIDS, he says. "The real core questions which really are at the root of many of the economic and social difficulties and challenges."

• Activist criticizes anti-gay rhetoric in Jamaican campaign [USA Today, December 27, 2011]

The leader of Jamaica's sole gay rights group said Tuesday that some ruling-party candidates have aggressively played to anti-gay constituents by resorting to homophobic rhetoric in the final days of the campaign for this week's national elections.

• Decriminalizing homosexuality: Commonwealth countries with anti-gay laws turn deaf ears [XTRA, December 28, 2011]

A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs says the Harper government remains committed to convincing heads of state that homosexuality ought not to be criminal in Commonwealth countries.

"Canada will work aggressively to push this issue," says a spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs. "We will continue to work with Commonwealth and other countries to promote and protect the human rights of all citizens, including on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity."

• Editorial: Protecting homosexuals beyond our borders [Globe & Mail, December 29, 2011]

The human-rights abuse that dare not speak its name is finally being taken seriously. The Obama administration is directing that foreign-aid efforts be tied to fighting discrimination against homosexuals. British Prime Minister David Cameron also recently threatened to cut aid to countries that don't recognize gay rights. Canada has laudably spoken out against such anti-gay laws, but could do more.

In October, Canada was part of a group of Commonwealth countries that tried, and failed, to convince other member states to rescind anti-gay laws. Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird's recent criticism of a new Nigerian anti-gay law that would make same-sex unions punishable by 14 years in jail similarly had no impact. While it is good that Canada is on the record as opposing such human-rights abuses, it should consider using other tools at its disposal, such as tying some aid to reforms.

• Jamaica: pro-equality candidate to become first female prime minister [Pam's House Blend, January 4, 2012]
• Ban Ki-Moon: Africa Leaders Should Respect Gay Rights [Huffington Post, January 29, 2012]

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon says African nations should stop treating gays as "second-class citizens, or even criminals".

Ban told African leaders that gathered in Ethiopia's capital on Sunday for an African Union summit that discrimination based on sexual orientation "had been ignored or even sanctioned by many states for far too long".

Ban said it would be challenging for Africa to "confront this discrimination". There was no immediate response from African heads of states to Ban's speech. Many African countries outlaw homosexuality and many African churches preach against it.

• UN secretary general: African governments must respect gay rights [Pink News, January 29, 2012]

"Confronting these discriminations is a challenge, but we must not give up on the ideas of the universal declaration" of human rights, Mr Ban told the summit. ...

African Union chairman Tedoro Obiang Nguema, speaking before Mr Ban said: "Africa should not be questioned with regards to democracy, human rights, governance and transparency in public administration."

• Akim Adé Larcher: Canada's gay rights defence is all hot air [XTRA, February 3, 2012]

In recent years the Conservative government has positioned itself as one of the most vocal governments in Canadian history in defending gay rights abroad. Whether for ideological reasons or those of personal conviction, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has come out as one of the fervent voices for Canada's new foreign policy to speak out against the persecution of people based on their sexual orientation.

What appears to be embedded in a new foreign policy is the concept that "gay rights are human rights." Without delving deeper into how that very phrase in and of itself can be problematic - where do bisexual, lesbian or transgendered people fit within such a narrow concept? - I question why Canada keeps showing up to the table with an empty wallet - full of promises, but only blowing hot air.

With a growing stance of pounding its chest on the international stage, Canada is demanding that other countries protect people who face persecution because of their sexual orientation. As a global fellow in 2008 at the Walter & Gordon Foundation - a private charitable organization meant to better Canadian public policy - I explored the role Canada could play in defending the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people through its development aid.

• NZ support for glbt rights in Commonwealth clarified [Gay NZ, February 7, 2012]

Murray McCully has now responded to Rainbow Wellington's questions over why New Zealand apparently did not speak up when the EPG recommendation was raised. His Australian counterpart Kevin Rudd brought it up, and was reportedly backed up only by Canada, while Britain had made an earlier stand on the issue.

McCully says New Zealand fully supports the recommendation. He explains it was one of 106 recommendations from the EPG, and given the limited time available, detailed discussion of the report was not possible.

He says the motion has been referred to the Task Force of Foreign Ministers and "remains very much on the table," and will be discussed at the annual meeting of all Commonwealth Foreign Ministers, which will be held in New York in September.

McCully says New Zealand will closely follow the consultation of this recommendation.

• Globe Editorial: Canada's Charter of Rights: a global model [Globe & Mail, February 10, 2012]

Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, once thought to be tilting this country in the direction of the United States, is viewed as distinctive and a model for other nations, especially in the English-speaking Commonwealth.

That finding, in a U.S. study to be published this June, is a tribute to the intricate balancing act that is the 1982 Charter of Rights and Freedoms. As Canada was founded on compromise and dialogue, so are those qualities woven into its rights charter. And so it offers a structure for working through the competing interests found in any sophisticated, multicultural nation - as in the case of a Muslim woman who wished to wear her face veil while testifying in a sexual-assault case. (The case is before the Supreme Court of Canada.) That kind of discussion has proved to be illuminating for courts in other lands.

The structure for balancing opposed interests is found in three key sections. Section 1 sets out that rights are not absolute; governments may limit them, as long as they have evidence to justify those limits. (The Canadian Charter was the world's first rights-protecting agreement with a broad limitations clause.)

Section 15, the equality-rights section, is open-ended, and new groups, such as gays and lesbians, have been brought under its umbrella by the Supreme Court. (Hence, gay marriage.)

• Michael Petrelis: State Dept's Human Rights Report was Due on Feb 25: Why the Delay? [Michael Petrelis's blog, April 29, 2012]

For some reason, under President Obama and Secretary Clinton, the release date for the reports is not at all consistent and for the past two-years the State Department has missed the February 25 deadline. The 2010 survey came out in April, the 2009 edition was available in March, whereas the 2008 survey was published on February 25.

• Human Rights and Democracy: The 2011 Foreign & Commonwealth Report [Foreign & Commonwealth Office, April 30, 2012]

"The report comprehensively assesses developments in human rights in 2011 and provides information about some important developments in early 2012. It sets out what the Government is doing through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to promote human rights and democratic values around the world, in three principal areas: it documents the serious concerns we have about a range of countries where we are seeking to influence the human rights situation; it assesses progress on thematic issues that cut across geographic boundaries; and it reports on areas where we believe we have seen positive developments over the last year. We have made some significant changes to the format of the Report itself this year, including the introduction of case studies.

Peter Montgomery: LGBT and Muslim? A New Report Busts Stereotypes: Community leaders
say, "Let's talk, but maybe not at the mosque" [Religion Dispatches, November 2, 2011]

Just as the Arab spring has upended conventional understanding of Arab and Muslim societies, so a new report on the issues faced by LGBT Muslims challenges the stereotype of Muslim communities in the U.S. and abroad as monolithically closed to conversations about sexuality.

The report, the "Muslim LGBT Inclusion Project," was just published by Intersections International-a New York-based nonprofit whose mandate, says founding director Rev. Robert Chase, is to bring together people who differ, honor those differences, and find ways to work together for reconciliation, justice, and peace.

The report builds on interviews with Muslim community leaders, several scholarly articles, as well as facilitated discussions among more than 50 people in six cities. Chase, who co-facilitated five of the six group discussions, says those conversations revealed a remarkable openness. "It was just fascinating," he says:

        I went in looking to do an assessment, and came out being inspired with real hope for our whole world. One part of our world that is so often demonized as being insensitive and rigid and uncompromising and out of touch with nuances of human history proved to be just the opposite: engaged, sensitive, curious, imaginative.

[Continued here]

Homophobia Endemic in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan
[Institute for War & Peace Reporting, February 2, 2012]

When Alisher's father discovered his son was gay, he beat him with an army belt, kept him at home for a month, then sent him from Tajikistan to a religious college in Iran to "knock the nonsense out of him".

It did not end there. While in Iran, Alisher learned that his father had hired men to beat up his boyfriend, so he fled the college for Russia, where he now works on a market stall.

"My family doesn't know my whereabouts, but after everything that's happened to me, I don't want to go back," the 23-year-old told IWPR. "I know that my parents and the rest of the family won't understand me. If I were to return, I would only face hatred and revulsion."

Alisher's story may seem extreme, but the homophobic attitudes he faced are not unusual in the Central Asian state of Tajikistan and, to a lesser extent, neighbouring Kyrgyzstan.

Gay rights groups and individuals have told IWPR that police harassment and the threat of public beatings in Tajikistan - and rejection and the fear of being fired in Kyrgyzstan - force many gays to remain in the closet or leave their families and migrate to more tolerant countries.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, there have been some improvements to gay rights in both countries. Homosexuality, which could lead to several years in prison during the Soviet era, has been decriminalised. And in Kyrgyzstan, which is generally more liberal, there are fewer cases of public intimidation and abuse than a decade ago, according to Maxim Bratukhin, head of local gay NGO Pathfinder.

[Continued here]

Was Trayvon Martin murdered because he was perceived to be gay?



Skyy Fisher, Compton School Board Member, Called Trayvon Martin A 'F*ggot Black Dude'
[HuffPo, May 3, 2012]

A Compton Unified school board member called deceased Florida teen Trayvon Martin a "faggot black dude" and school Superintendent Karen Frison a "bitch" during a recent podcast interview, and the statements are drawing outrage and disbelief from parents and the school community in Compton, Calif.

Board member Skyy Fisher's comments are captured in the YouTube video above. It starts with the hosts of Pigzradio replaying a KTLA interview with Fisher, in which he comments in an official capacity about an alleged sexual relationship between a Davis Middle School teacher and a student. ...

Fisher's comments, which start at minute 7:22, include:

        • "that white dude that killed that faggot black dude in Florida. I'm going to go out and try to search for this [inaudible]."

        • "If you all see that George Zimmerman bitch, tell him I'm looking for him."

        • "That bitch superintendent wouldn't give me a fucking district car, and I told that bitch that I was going to get her."

        • "The daughter is like, doing bad in the class, and she's trying to get back at the teacher... The father comes to the board meeting, crying and shit to the board, talking about his daughter's been raped and all kind of bullshit. All of a sudden, this motherfucker has six attorneys."

        • "Wow, so instead of you guys stealing the money, someone else is stealing the money from the district," says one host. Fisher's response: "Yeah! Yeah!"

        • "We're meeting this Tuesday at 7 o'clock. Oh! You've got to definitely come. There's solidarity with this Trayvon Martin bitch, and I'm trying to get on news so I'm wearing the hoodies at the whole board meeting... It's the perfect publicity stunt. I'm going to wear a hoodie, the news is going to come out, and I'm going to announce my candidacy for City Council, goddammit."

        • "If I saw myself walking down the street with a hoodie on, I'd shoot myself too!"

Fisher's inflammatory comments were first reported by LA weekly. They had received a tip from a concerned Compton school parent named Sergio, who sent them the interview.

[Continued here]

• Skyy Fisher Will Not Be Fired From Compton School Board for Offensive Comments; He'll Have to Be Recalled by Voters [LAWeekly, May 4, 2012]

In the worst public rant we've ever heard from an elected official in L.A. County, Compton Unified School District board member Skyy Fisher called the superintendent a "bitch" and Trayvon Martin a "faggot" on his friends' podcast last month. (Other lowlights: He describes a local father "crying and shit to the board, talking about how his daughter been raped and all kind of bullshit," and admits wearing a Trayvon hoodie to the board meeting was a publicity stunt.)

Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) [USA]

The Southern Poverty Law Center is a nonprofit civil rights organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of society.

Founded by civil rights lawyers Morris Dees and Joseph Levin Jr. in 1971, the SPLC is internationally known for tracking and exposing the activities of hate groups. Our innovative Teaching Tolerance program produces and distributes - free of charge - documentary films, books, lesson plans and other materials that promote tolerance and respect in our nation's schools.

[Continued here]

• Intelligence Report [SPLC]

The Intelligence Report is the Southern Poverty Law Center's award-winning magazine. The quarterly publication provides comprehensive updates to law enforcement agencies, the media and the general public. It is the nation's preeminent periodical monitoring the radical right in the U.S.

• Teaching Tolerance [SPLC]

Our Teaching Tolerance program is working to foster school environments that are inclusive and nurturing - classrooms where equality and justice are not just taught, but lived. The program points to the future, helping teachers prepare a new generation to live in a diverse world.

• 18 Anti-Gay Groups and Their Propaganda [SPLC]

Even as some well-known anti-gay groups like Focus on the Family moderate their views, a hard core of smaller groups, most of them religiously motivated, have continued to pump out demonizing propaganda aimed at homosexuals and other sexual minorities. These groups' influence reaches far beyond what their size would suggest, because the "facts" they disseminate about homosexuality are often amplified by certain politicians, other groups and even news organizations.

The named Hate Groups are:

    • Abiding Truth Ministries; Springfield, Massachusetts
    • American Family Association
    • Americans for Truth About Homosexuality
    • American Vision
    • Chalcedon Foundation; Vallecito, California
    • Christian Anti-Defamation Commission; Vista, California
    • Concerned Women for America; Washington, DC
    • Coral Ridge Ministries; Fort Lauderdale, Florida
    • Dove World Outreach Center; Gainesville, Florida
    • Faithful Word Baptist Church; Tempe, Arizona
    • Family Research Council; Washington, DC
    • Family Research Institute; Colorado Springs, Colorado
    • Heterosexuals Organized for a Moral Environment; Downers Grove, Illinois
    • Illinois Family Institute; Carol Stream, Illinois
    • Liberty Counsel; Orlando, Florida
    • MassResistance
    • National Organization for Marriage; Princeton, New Jersey
    • Traditional Values Coalition' Anaheim, California

• 16 reasons why the Family Research Council [and their 'talking head' Tony Perkins] is a hate group [Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, August 20, 2011]
• Is Anti-Gay Group "Focus on the Family" Dying as Donations Drop? A Look Back at 7 of Their Strangest and Most Appalling Moves [AlterNet, September 19, 2011]
• The Story Behind the American Family Association's Bryan Fischer [SPLC Intelligence Report, Winter 2011, Issue Number: 144]
• Anti-Gay Groups Protest SPLC with Claims of Hate and Intolerance [SPLC Hatewatch Staff, January 17, 2012]

About a dozen African American pastors joined anti-gay extremists today in condemning the Southern Poverty Law Center for using its "hate group" label to describe faith-based organizations that demonize the LGBT community, characterizing it as part of an orchestrated liberal plot. ...

The pastors spoke at a press conference staged outside the SPLC offices in Montgomery, Ala,. by Americans for the Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH), which the SPLC lists as an anti-gay hate group. ...

In a written statement read at the news conference, Abiding Truth Ministries founder Scott Lively called on God to destroy the SPLC: "My prayer, as one who really does hate irrational prejudice, is that the Lord by His sovereign power will remove this dangerous, hate-spreading organization from our nation and cause its leaders and members to repent for their wickedness. ... I want to make clear that I am asking God himself to destroy their organization."

• [List of] Active Anti-Gay Groups [SPLC, 2012]

Four Terrible Old Books About Homosexuality, Including 1962's Faggots to Burn
[SFWeekly, September 16, 2011]

Gayness remains a thing that America freaks out over every couple of years when it can't find any real problems. This is not one of those times. Maybe it's because younger generations just don't find homosexuality offensive. Or perhaps it's that no forward-thinking state is currently doing something radical like trying to afford basic civil liberties to all citizens.

For whatever reason, even Republican presidential candidates are keeping mum about the occasional wedge issue that dare not speak its name. To remind us how far this country has come, your Crap Archivist presents this survey of terrible, wrongheaded books about homosexuality scored at California thrift stores. For brevity's sake, I have not included the books whose portrayals of gayness are the most shocking: Leviticus and DSMs I through III.

    • Faggots to Burn
    • Growing Up Straight: What Every Family Should Know About Homosexuality
    • The Gay Nineties: What the Empirical Evidence Reveals About Homosexuality
    • Someone I Love is Gay

[Continued here]

Anita got 'pied' outside of Toronto's People's Church. How delicious was that?



Anita Bryant's Anti-Gay Legacy (from 1977) [AlterNet, February 3, 2004]

Remember Anita Bryant, the Miss America runner-up turned orange juice tout turned anti-gay campaigner? Though she long ago faded from public view, her legacy survives in Florida.

Bryant, who condemned homosexuality as immoral and "against God's wishes," is best known for her 1977 campaign to repeal a Miami ordinance banning anti-gay discrimination. Her organization, Save Our Children, claimed that gays -- or "known practicing homosexuals," in her lingo -- were converting children to homosexuality. It was thus no surprise that after Bryant succeeded in her self-described crusade against the bias ordinance, she turned her sights on Florida's adoption laws.

"Since homosexuals cannot reproduce," Bryant reasoned, "they must recruit and freshen their ranks." Fanning the flames of anti-gay hysteria, Bryant helped convince the Florida legislature to pass a law that entirely barred gays from adopting children.

Fast forward more than two and a half decades. In the intervening years, Miami finally passed an anti-gay bias ordinance, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Texas' ban on gay sodomy, and Anita Bryant slipped into obscurity.

[Continued here]

• Days Without Sunshine: Anita Bryant's Anti-Gay Crusade [Stonewall Library]
• Chad Hodge Brings the "Amazing, Shocking Truth" About Anita Bryant to HBO [After Elton, November 15, 2011]
• Obituary of a Bitter Man [Box Turtle Bulletin, February 26, 2012]

        Bob Green, a onetime radio DJ who married pop singer and Miss Oklahoma Anita Bryant, was found dead Jan. 26 at his home in Miami Beach. He was 80.

        Mr. Green managed his wife's rise to stardom as an entertainer and Florida citrus spokeswoman, then followed her into anti-gay activism, which ultimately destroyed their careers - and marriage in 1980. For more than 30 years, Mr. Green lived quietly, alone and resentful.

        .In 2007, Mr. Green told the Miami Herald that he blamed gay people for the turmoil in his life because "their stated goal was to put [Bryant] out of business and destroy her career. And that's what they did. It's unfair."

John A. Harnick: "Speaking of big, old HOMOphobes."



Toronto mayor's snub of Pride Week gives bigots cover to spew their bile
[Globe & Mail, June 29, 2011]

Mayor Rob Ford's unofficial boycott of Pride Week is having a disturbing and predictable effect. It is emboldening the city's haters. Since he announced he would be skipping the Pride parade to go to the cottage, they have been scurrying into the open like insects from an upturned rock, cheering the mayor for staying away from the "disgusting" spectacle on Yonge Street and jeering leaders of the gay community for urging him to attend.

"I'm so glad that Toronto has a mayor who can ignore that vulgar and obscene event," said one comment on The Globe and Mail's online edition. "I think being gay or lesbian is a disease," a Globe reader said in an e-mail. "The queers have to be flamboyant and in your face, just to prove they are 'normal,'" wrote a contributor to another newspaper's comment page. Editors were kept busy deleting many far worse remarks from their web sites.

No one is saying the mayor deliberately whipped up these ugly sentiments, much less that he shares them. But he should have foreseen the damage his snub of Pride could do. Homophobia is an ancient prejudice, still virulent despite the remarkable advances in gay rights of the past few decades. The events of the past week show how swiftly it can resurface.

Glen Brown, the interim executive director of Pride, calls the homophobic remarks "alarming and disturbing," a reminder that gays and lesbians are still a long way from achieving full comfort and acceptance. Only months ago, he says, someone he knows was the victim of a gay bashing near Church and Wellesley streets.

[Continued here]

• Mayor Ford a no-show at Pride Week flag-raising [Globe & Mail, June 27, 2011]
• Globe Editorial Board: What Rob Ford's attendance at Gay Pride would bring [Globe & Mail, June 23, 2011]

Rob Ford, the Mayor of Toronto, is wrong to say no to the Gay Pride Parade. As the chief magistrate of an open-minded city in an open-minded country, he should take part in an open expression of homosexual life. He ought to say yes.

Mr. Ford's duty is to represent the city - a city of ethnic pride, of religious pride, and of gay pride. The Gay Pride Parade is a celebration of the city's diversity, and it is an important part of Mr. Ford's job to lead in expressing that diversity and that pride.

• Mayor Rob Ford skips Pride Parade, touching off more controversy [Globe & Mail, July 3, 2011]

An estimated one million people - from union reps to drag queens - marched Sunday under sun-drenched skies in a riot of colours and sounds in the annual Pride Parade in Toronto.

But it was the absence of one man - Mayor Rob Ford - that captured the attention of many and created the most controversy.

"I marched in Pride this year with a little bit more pride than I might have in the past because I felt we had to send a message to Team Rob Ford and his supporters that we're still here and we're not going away," said one man who marched with the AIDS Committee of Toronto.

The only sign of Mr. Ford was when a yellow Hummer drove by with two brightly dressed drag queens sitting on the roof. The driver wore a Rob Ford mask and waved to crowds as he rolled by. ...

Leanne Iskander is a member of a group of students fighting to have gay-straight alliance groups allowed in the Catholic school system. She and a group of students at her school got almost 50 students to show up and march in the parade in support of their efforts. They marched close to the front near the TDSB float, which was draped in a rainbow flag and had representatives from the school board bouncing to pounding dance music and waving flags. A school bus of kids followed close behind the TDSB float spraying the crowds with water guns through the window slits.

"Being here is like a celebration for everything we've accomplished over the years, starting from the bathhouse raids [30 years ago] until now" when gay marriage is legal in six American states, including New York's recent decision to permit it, said Steven Ly, a 15-year-old marching with the Catholic students group.

"I think if people want to express they're gay there's nothing wrong with it. It's a human right," said Max Butler, another teen marching with the Catholic students.

Ms. Wong-Tam is less optimistic.

"I can't help but feel in my gut that we are going backwards in terms of social equality," she said.

• Jewish leader says Mammoliti went too far in quest to cut Pride funding [XTRA, July 12, 2011]

While Toronto Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti steamrolls ahead in his mission to axe Pride Toronto (PT) funding in the name of protecting the Jewish community from hate speech, Jewish leaders are taking a big step back.

"He just doesn't get it," says Bernie Farber, who has taken a leave of absence from the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) to run in the upcoming provincial election.

Farber says the CJC's position is clear: the case against Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA) and Pride Toronto is closed.

• Rob Ford promises to attend Caribbean Carnival [Toronto Star, July 12, 2011]

Mayor Rob Ford, a prominent no-show at Pride festivities, made a different promise to revellers at the launch Tuesday of Scotiabank Caribbean Carnival Toronto.

"I'll see you all there," he yelled to cheers before dancing with masqueraders and posing for a few photos outside City Hall.

In a brief appearance, Ford praised the festival's contribution to the province's economy - about $483 million in 2009 - and arts scene.

• Ford votes alone against funding for HIV/AIDS programs [XTRA, July 16, 2011]

Once again, Mayor Rob Ford was the lone member on City Council to vote against grant money earmarked to HIV/AIDS related programs.

The grant was even supported by right-wing councillors Doug Ford, Doug Holyday and Michael Thompson.

But not Ford. In a stunning 37 to 1 vote at the very end of the day July 13, Ford was the only one to say no to budgeted funding earmarked to The AIDS Prevention Community Investment Program (APCIP), a program that reaches more than 250,000 people through outreach and workshops.

Councillors that were absent from the vote include Paul Ainslie, Maria Augimeri, Josh Colle, Gary Crawford, Glenn De Baeremaeker, Giorgio Mammoliti and Karen Stintz. ...

The vote capped two days at council that saw Ford vote against six other community development grants programs that improve the lives of the city's seniors, immigrants, the poor and the disabled. The community development and recreation committee recommended that the city give 259 groups a total of $7.2 million. Some of the groups include Etobicoke Services for Seniors, Cabbagetown Youth Centre, the New Canadian Community Centre and Variety Village.

• Mammoliti fails in attempt to defund Pride Toronto [XTRA, July 13, 2011]

Toronto Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti [Rob Ford's bum-boy] moved to defund Pride Toronto (PT) July 12, but his motion was soundly defeated.

After a day-long roaring debate about the Jarvis St bike lanes, Mammoliti moved that the city update its "Hate Activity Procedure" to bring it in line with its anti-discrimination policy. The vote, which needed a two-thirds majority to pass, was 19 to 20.

The Hate Activity Procedure essentially states that the City of Toronto is to assist officials in identifying hate-motivated crimes, Councillor Gord Perks explains. It's unclear how Mammoliti's change would have affected PT, since the festival is already in compliance with city policy.

Councillor Paula Fletcher tells Xtra that Mammoliti did not even write the motion. "The motion came from the mayor's office. Mammoliti didn't write it. Mark Towhey took it back after the vote."

• Rob Ford boycotts the Star, but we'll fight it and here's why [Toronto Star, December 1, 2011]

It is, quite simply, our bread and butter - and a journalistic responsibility we take most seriously.

If our local democracy is to flourish, it is essential Torontonians be well informed and conversant on all local issues.

Which brings us to the "Ford freeze" - the specific order by Mayor Rob Ford that all official notices and pronouncements from his office not be provided to this newspaper.

The ban has been in place ever since Ford won the mayoral race more than a year ago. It stems from Ford's rage over a piece the Star ran during the campaign about his conduct as a football coach.

There is no purpose served in rehashing the details. However, the Star has always stood by the story, noting it was carefully checked by our lawyer before publication.

Candidate Ford was furious and filed an immediate notice of libel, which is entirely and appropriately his prerogative. But he never followed up, as required, and his suit has now lapsed.

Mayor Ford has repeatedly said his freeze will stay in place until the Star runs an apology above the fold on page 1. As he recently told reporter Daniel Dale, "I don't talk to the Star till you guys apologize. You guys (are) liars."

Thus we have the chief magistrate of the city, his legal remedy expired, using the tool of blackout to prevent the city's largest newspaper from receiving notification of public events, briefings or announcements from his office.

In my view, this tactic is not only high-handed and inappropriate, but also raises a serious issue of abuse of power. ...

Thus the Star will file a formal complaint with the city's integrity commissioner and ask for a ruling.

------------8<------------

The newspaper article in question

• Rob Ford told he was unwelcome as a football coach at Toronto high school [Toronto Star, July 13, 2010]

Mayoral candidate Rob Ford was quietly asked to stop coaching football at a Toronto high school following an incident with a student player, say officials with the Toronto District School Board.

Ford was coaching at Newtonbrook Secondary School in North York in 2001 when he had a confrontation with a young player over poor performance on the field, say two witnesses who spoke with the Star on condition of anonymity.

Chris Spence, director of education for the Toronto District School Board, confirmed a dispute between a student and Ford was dealt with internally, although he was not aware of the details.

"Something did happen and they decided that he was no longer welcome to coach at Newtonbrook," said Spence, himself a former pro football player who was not director of the board at the time.

Witnesses interviewed by the Star disagree on whether there was a physical confrontation between Ford and the student player.

Ford, one of his players and an assistant coach at the time deny any physical contact took place. But a parent and another player say Ford aggressively manhandled the student in anger.

Ford vigorously denied the allegations saying he's never assaulted a player and called the claims a "political" attack on his candidacy.

[Note: Perhaps the youth involved in this unfortunate incident was perceived of as being gay? Just wondering.]

------------8<------------

• Mayor Rob Ford to Toronto: Don't read the Star [Toronto Star, December 2, 2011]

Mayor Rob Ford is urging the people of Toronto to join him in his boycott of the Toronto Star.

"I have no respect for the Toronto Star whatsoever. If people want to read a paper, pick up the Globe, Post or Sun. That's what I encourage people to do," Ford said on Friday morning.

[Note: Not the behaviour of a mature adult; but then neither was snubbing the 2011 Toronto Gay Pride Parade. Sad, really sad, when a leader is deliberately and maliciously on the wrong side of history.]

• 911 call made from Rob Ford's home on Christmas [CBC, December 30, 2011]

A newspaper report published Friday says a 911 call was made from the home of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford on Christmas Day.

The Toronto Star says police were called to Ford's Etobicoke home on Christmas morning between 4 and 5 a.m.

The report says the mayor's mother-in-law placed the call and that Toronto police are investigating the event.

Back in October, Rob Ford called 911 to complain that a TV crew for This Hour Has 22 Minutes was on his property.

CBC News reported that Ford was verbally abusive during his calls with 911 dispatchers. Ford later apologized for using the F-word.

• Mayor quiet on domestic disputes [Toronto Star, December 30, 2011]

On Friday, the Star reported that 22 Division's Youth and Family Violence Unit was probing two recent incidents at the mayor's Etobicoke home.

The first occurred on the same day Ford made the infamous early morning call to 911 after This Hour Has 22 Minutes showed up in his driveway. By 10:17 p.m., police were called back to the Edenbridge Dr. residence for a "verbal altercation" between Ford and his wife, Renata.

The second domestic call came to police early Christmas morning.

Sources say Renata's mother made the call after Ford, who she said had been drinking, took the children to the airport to go to Florida against Renata's wishes.

No charges have been laid and there is no evidence that the Star knows of to suggest physical violence occurred.

According to numerous police and emergency service sources, 911 calls to the mayor's home are a reality for 22 Division. The Star has heard about a handful of incidents, but attempts to confirm the reports through freedom of information requests have been unsuccessful.

• Ford's treatment of TTC chief sends a terrible message [Globe & Mail, February 17, 2012]

It sends a terrible message to the senior civil servants who keep the city running. "We hire them to be competent, to give us the best advice," councillor Joe Mihevc said in a broadcast interview on Friday, "and today the mayor, through this action, is saying 'No, we don't hire you to give the best advice. We hire you to follow what I think.'" ...

It is hard to find a milder word. The threat shows the mayor at his worst, as a closed-minded bully who views anyone who expresses a contrary view as some kind of traitor.

• Pride Toronto issues invitation [for 2012 parade] to Rob Ford [Toronto Star, April 16, 2012]
• Mayor Rob Ford refuses to attend Pride parade [Again] [Toronto Star, April 18, 2012]
• Mayor Rob Ford says he'll try to defeat Liberals in Kitchener-Waterloo [Toronto Star, April 30, 2012]
• Rob Ford: Toronto's victim-in-chief? [Globe & Mail, May 3, 2012]
• Ford snubs gay outreach event in front of City Hall [Globe & Mail, May 8, 2012]

Mayor Rob Ford is passing up another opportunity to support the gay and lesbian community, this time opting to skip a flag-raising outside his office that will be attended by Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke.

The Toronto chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays has confirmed that Mr. Ford turned down its invitation to a flag-raising to mark the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia in Nathan Phillips Square on May 17.

• Globe Editorial: Why won't Mayor Rob Ford raise a flag against homophobia? [Globe & Mail, May 8, 2012]

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is creating an annual spectacle in which he parades less than desirable characteristics in front of the people of Toronto. Who knows precisely what those characteristics are - pigheadedness, fears, angst about homosexuality?

Mr. Ford has said he would have no problem attending the annual Gay Pride parade on July 1 that brings thousands of people and millions of dollars in economic activity to his city - except that he and his family have a tradition of being at their cottage on Canada Day. Fine, let the Mayor enjoy his summer reverie. But apart from signing a Pride Week proclamation, he still refuses, in his second year in office, to raise a flag against international homophobia, in the public square in front of City Hall. He went to no events during Pride Week last year. The flag will be raised - he just won't be the one to do it.

A mayor should represent all the people.

• Rob Ford attends anti-homophobia event after all [Globe & Mail, May 17, 2012]

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford made a surprise appearance at a flag-raising event to support the gay community Thursday, a reversal of his earlier rejection of the invitation.

Mr. Ford received an enthusiastic welcome from a cheering crowd on the green roof above city hall for the event marking the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.

"Way to go Mayor Ford!" someone shouted as he took to the podium to read a proclamation.

The event, hosted by Parents, Friends and Families of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), is the first gay-friendly event Mr. Ford has attended since winning the mayoralty in 2010.

PFLAG was told earlier in a written response from the mayor that he was unavailable.

After reading the proclamation, Mr. Ford stayed to listen to speeches, including one from Councillor Janet Davis, whose son is gay. Someone placed a blue flower in the mayor's lapel while a rainbow flag was raised behind him.

John A. Harnick: "And here's yet one more big, old HOMOphobe."



Billy Graham Endorses North Carolina Marriage Discrimination Amendment
[Truth Wins Out, May 3, 2012]

Billy Graham - I can't bring myself to call him "Reverend" - issued a statement yesterday through the Charlotte-based Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) in support of Amendment 1, the constitutional marriage discrimination amendment being put before North Carolina voters next Tuesday.

According to Martha Waggoner of the Associated Press, Graham's statement will appear in its entirety in a full-page pro-marriage discrimination ad running in 14 North Carolina newspapers this weekend. The statement reads, in part:

        "At 93, I never thought we would have to debate the definition of marriage. The Bible is clear - God's definition of marriage is between a man and a woman. I want to urge my fellow North Carolinians to vote for the marriage amendment. . . Watching the moral decline of our country causes me great concern. I believe the home and marriage is the foundation of our society and must be protected."

The fact that the 93-year-old Graham - who was born during the final days of the First World War - supports marriage discrimination is not, in and of itself, surprising, when one considers both his age and his evangelicalism. What is rather surprising, however, is the fact that he's made such a public anti-gay pronouncement at all. After all, the man has been essentially in retirement since 2007. Since that time, he's left most of the right-wing craziness to his son, Franklin "President Obama may or may not be a 'son of Islam'" Graham, and his daughter, Anne "9/11 was God's way of getting back into the government and our schools" Graham Lotz. Waggoner notes that William Martin, an authorized biographer of Graham, cannot recall any effort by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association similar in size and scope to its current pro-discrimination push in the organization's entire 62-year history. And according to Martin, professor emeritus of religion and public policy at Rice University, this can only mean one thing: that the source of this bigotry is not Franklin Graham, who heads the BGEA, but Billy Graham himself.

        "I am somewhat surprised that he would take that strong a stand. In the past, I have heard him say with respect to homosexuality, there are greater sins. Franklin has been more outspoken about it, but it sounds as if this is Mr. Graham expressing his own will."

[Continued here]

• John Becker: Billy Graham and Amendment 1: A Tarnished Legacy [HuffPo, May 4, 2012]

While Graham's evangelical "crusades," pro-war views in Vietnam and the Persian Gulf, and closeness to 12 American presidents (most notably Richard Nixon, known for his racist, homophobic, and anti-Semitic remarks) give me the heebie-jeebies, the fact is that he was one of the most widely admired figures of the 20th century. (Heck, he's made Gallup's list of the Top 10 Most Admired Men 55 times since 1955.) Billy Graham forged himself a place in history decades ago; he had absolutely nothing to gain by weighing in on the battle over North Carolina's Amendment 1. It's a shame that when confronted with the choice between preserving his popular image as a venerable, unifying figure and mounting one last crusade against the LGBT community, Billy Graham chose the latter. It says a lot about the man's true character that he selected for what may be his final public gesture an act of malice, divisiveness, and discrimination.

Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign Under Fire For LGBT Community Stance
[Huffington Post, November 25, 2011]

The Salvation Army's Red Kettle bell ringers have become a truly iconic part of the holiday shopping season. However, many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights advocates are now calling for shoppers to skip the donation buckets due to the organization's conservative view of homosexuality.

"The Salvation Army has a history of active discrimination against gays and lesbians. While you might think you're helping the hungry and homeless by dropping a few dollars in the bright red buckets, not everyone can share in the donations," Bil Browning notes on The Bilerico Project. "The organization also has a record of actively lobbying governments worldwide for anti-gay policies -- including an attempt to make consensual gay sex illegal."

Indeed, as Browning points out, the group's position statements reveal its somewhat rigid outlook on LGBT lifestyles. "Scripture forbids sexual intimacy between members of the same sex," it reads. "The Salvation Army believes, therefore, that Christians whose sexual orientation is primarily or exclusively same-sex are called upon to embrace celibacy as a way of life. There is no scriptural support for same-sex unions as equal to, or as an alternative to, heterosexual marriage.

[Continued here]

[Note: It seems that Toronto's homophobic mayor Rob Ford counts himself a member of this outfit.]

• Do Not Give to The Salvation Army [Never Thought To Question Why, December 5, 2011]

It's hard to believe that with all their good work feeding the hungry and clothing the poor that they would hold onto hate-filled and anti-human beliefs that turns any decent human being's respect for them into contempt instead. The Christian fundamentalism that runs rampant in the Salvation Army has manifested itself in openly fighting the rights of women, homosexuals, and the terminally ill. A great deal of shame lies on the Salvation for not just for having a backwards, anti-human opinion on these matters but for fighting against these things using charity dollars.

• I'm the Red Kettle Menace? [Bilerico Project, December 14, 2011]

Every year I do a post around the holidays to remind readers that the Salvation Army is a rightwing organization that discriminates against LGBT people. It's an old boycott stretching back about a decade, Perez-Salvation-Army.jpgbut this year my annual post really took off.

News outlets worldwide have reported on my post both pro and con, but my favorite so far is the Christian outlet, World Magazine, who called me "The Red Kettle Menace." Somehow I have become the "leading voice in the Grinch-like campaign" according to another outlet.

So far the post has been shared on Facebook over 64,000 times. It's been picked up by MSNBC, USA Today, Perez Hilton, The Miami Herald, Huffington Post, Australia's Christianity Today, the Charleston Daily Mail, Dan Savage, and so many LGBT and Christian outlets it's become impossible to count.

• Sounding Quiet Dissent About a Holiday Perennial [New York Times, December 24, 2011]

Bil Browning and his boyfriend were homeless. To protect the identity of the boyfriend (now ex-boyfriend), Mr. Browning will not say specifically where, just that it was in "southern Indiana," about 20 years ago. But he is very explicit about who refused to give them shelter.

"The Salvation Army refused to help us," Mr. Browning recalls, "unless we broke up and then left the 'sinful homosexual lifestyle' behind. We slept on the street, and they didn't help when we declined to break up at their insistence."

Mr. Browning's boyfriend was wearing a "Silence = Death" AIDS pin on his jacket, which must have tipped off the Salvation Army worker. "He told us we needed to be saved," Mr. Browning says. "If we were willing to attend church services, he could help. We would have to break up, only one of us could stay in the shelter, and if there was room for the other, he would have to be on the opposite side of the room, and we wouldn't even look at each other."

Now Mr. Browning, a writer and gay rights advocate, is using his blog to publicize a decade-old boycott of the Salvation Army. The boycott's proponents say those who drop money into the Salvation Army's ubiquitous red kettles at Christmastime, or shop in its thrift stores, often know little about the organization's evangelical Christianity, its opposition to homosexuality, and its occasional attempts to influence public policy on gay rights.

• My NY Times Profile: The Red Kettle Menace [Bilerico Project, December 24, 2011]

I knew the profile in the New York Times was coming, but I didn't expect to be the top story! And I sure as hell didn't expect to read that the Salvation Army was changing some policies. Notice they'll now allow gay couples to share a private room now! From one blog post to the New York Times, USA Today, and MSNBC. Holy crap!

• Having a Meeting: A Salvation Army Update [Nilerico Project, January 9, 2012]

I'm excited about this opportunity. Every year that I've done my annual "Why You Shouldn't Donate to the Salvation Army Bell Ringers" post, I've tried to get a statement or start a conversation with the national office without avail. This time - after word of my information campaign hit the New York Times, MSNBC, FOX, USA Today, and countless other outlets, the organization is willing to talk.

John A. Harnick: "Of course, Rupert Murdoch is another big, old HOMOphobe."



Scandal Sheets: In Britain, the Guardian takes on Rupert Murdoch's cynical
view of what newspaper readers want to read [Slate, July 11, 2011]

On a beautiful Sunday morning at Brideshead Castle, Sebastian Flyte breaks off a desultory conversation about religion and morality because he wants to immerse himself in the scandal sheets: "He turned back to the pages of the News of the World and said, 'Another naughty scout-master . oh, don't be a bore, Charles, I want to read about a woman in Hull who's been using an instrument . thirty-eight other cases were taken into consideration in sentencing her to six months - golly!" ...

Hand it to Rupert Murdoch and his minions: They got hold of the solid old "News of the Screws" or "Nudes of the World" and made it into a paper where the question was not how low can poor human nature sink, but rather is there anything, however depraved, that a reporter cannot be induced to do? Admittedly, this question is not a new one in the folklore of Fleet Street. Describing the press pack on assignment in his masterpiece Scoop, it was Evelyn Waugh who noticed one of their tightest mutual bonds: "Together they had loitered on many a doorstep and forced an entry into many a stricken home." As a lowly cub, I remember being told always to take along a partner if it was planned to visit the recently violated and bereaved. "They'll always offer a cup of tea, so you go in the kitchen with them, and then your mate'll have nice time to grab the family photographs off the mantelpiece."

[Continued here]

• "News of the World" scandal index [The Guardian]
• Murdoch's Watergate? [Newsweek, July 11, 2011]

The hacking scandal currently shaking Rupert Murdoch's empire will surprise only those who have willfully blinded themselves to that empire's pernicious influence on journalism in the English-speaking world. Too many of us have winked in amusement at the salaciousness without considering the larger corruption of journalism and politics promulgated by Murdoch Culture on both sides of the Atlantic.

The facts of the case are astonishing in their scope. Thousands of private phone messages hacked, presumably by people affiliated with the Murdoch-owned News of the World newspaper, with the violated parties ranging from Prince William and actor Hugh Grant to murder victims and families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The arrest of Andy Coulson, former press chief to Prime Minister David Cameron, for his role in the scandal during his tenure as the paper's editor. The arrest (for the second time) of Clive Goodman, the paper's former royals editor. The shocking July 7 announcement that the paper would cease publication three days later, putting hundreds of employees out of work. Murdoch's bid to acquire full control of cable-news company BSkyB placed in jeopardy. Allegations of bribery, wiretapping, and other forms of lawbreaking-not to mention the charge that emails were deleted by the millions in order to thwart Scotland Yard's investigation.

• Why Rupert Murdoch Love$ God: World's Biggest Sleaze Mogul Also Getting Rich from Christian Moralizers [AlterNet, July 10, 2011]

Maybe one day soon Murdoch will go to jail as might his son, as will several of their UK editors if many alleged and disgusting and illegal acts of pirate "journalism" are proved true, ranging from bribing the police to hacking the phones of bereaved family members of killed service men and women and child murder victims. Make no mistake: when it comes to the Murdoch media "empire" we're talking about the lowest form of "journalism" as detailed by the Guardian newspaper.

So are religious moralizers and others writing about religious and/or "moral" themes prepared to enrich the Murdoch " media juggernaut" forever while Rupert Murdoch further corrupts UK, American and Australian politics while his companies trade in human misery for profit by hacking murder victim's phones, paying off the police, elevating smut to a national sport and even hacking the phones of killed soldiers' families?

You bet!

• Gay Celebrities & Politicians Cheer at Crisis in Murdoch's Press Empire [Edge Boston, July 16, 2011]

"Shut up, you homophobic cow."

That's how the New York Times, in one of a series of articles that redefines schadenfreude, describes how the way then-husband of Rebekah Brooks, until Friday, July 15, one of the most powerful people in British media, told her off after she made a snide remark to a gay member of parliament.

Brooks was the head of New International, the British media powerhouse that published several newspapers under Rupert Murdoch, who owns the New York Post and Fox News in this country. The Times isn't alone in its barely hidden glee at the travails of a man who has long instilled fear in politicians in the U.K.

• Stain From Tabloids Rubs Off on a Cozy Scotland Yard [New York Times, July 16, 2011]

For nearly four years they lay piled in a Scotland Yard evidence room, six overstuffed plastic bags gathering dust and little else.

Inside was a treasure-trove of evidence: 11,000 pages of handwritten notes listing nearly 4,000 celebrities, politicians, sports stars, police officials and crime victims whose phones may have been hacked by The News of the World, a now defunct British tabloid newspaper.

Yet from August 2006, when the items were seized, until the autumn of 2010, no one at the Metropolitan Police Service, commonly referred to as Scotland Yard, bothered to sort through all the material and catalog every page, said former and current senior police officials.

During that same time, senior Scotland Yard officials assured Parliament, judges, lawyers, potential hacking victims, the news media and the public that there was no evidence of widespread hacking by the tabloid. They steadfastly maintained that their original inquiry, which led to the conviction of one reporter and one private investigator, had put an end to what they called an isolated incident.

After the past week, that assertion has been reduced to tatters, torn apart by a spectacular avalanche of contradictory evidence, admissions by News International executives that hacking was more widespread, and a reversal by police officials who now admit to mishandling the case.

• Chris Bryant: Scourge of Murdoch [The Independent, July 16, 2011]

If you wanted to invent a hate figure for the beastly right-wing press, and in particular its vicious News International sub-genus, you'd be hard pressed to better Chris Bryant MP.

He's gay, and openly so; he is a former vicar, a "trendy" type of one, to borrow red-top vernacular; he was a famously ultra-loyal Blairite, criticised for "toadying" to the Labour leadership; he was a fiercely pro-integrationist and pro-euro minister for Europe; most impertinently of all, of course, he had the temerity to challenge Rupert Murdoch.

• Special Report: Inside Rebekah Brooks' News of the World [Reuters, July 16, 2011]

"It was the kind of place you get out of and you never want to go back again." That's how one former reporter describes the News of the World newsroom under editor Rebekah Brooks, the ferociously ambitious titian-haired executive who ran Britain's top-selling Sunday tabloid from 2000 to 2003.

Journalists who worked there in that period describe an industrialized operation of dubious information-gathering, reporters under intense pressure attempting to land exclusive stories by whatever means necessary, and a culture of fear, cynicism, gallows humor and fierce internal competition.

"We used to talk to career criminals all the time. They were our sources," says another former reporter from the paper who also worked for Murdoch's daily tabloid, the Sun. "It was a macho thing: 'My contact is scummier than your contact.' It was a case of: 'Mine's a murderer!' On the plus side, we always had a resident pet nutter around in case anything went wrong."

• Connecting the Dots from News Corp Scandal to the Dangerous Lies of Fox News and the Wall Street Journal [Think Progress, July 18, 2011]

There is a cancer on the U.S. media. That cancer is the disinformation machine aimed at spreading and endlessly repeating the most absurd falsehoods on a host of vital issues to the health and well being of Americans.

As Former NY Times Executive Editor Howell Raines put it last year: "Why has our profession . helped Fox legitimize a style of journalism that is dishonest in its intellectual process, untrustworthy in its conclusions and biased in its gestalt?" That was a WashPost op-ed, "Why don't honest journalists take on Roger Ailes and Fox News?"

The cancer's most dangerous symptom - the one that will ultimately prove fatal to human civilization and the American way of life as we know it today - is the relentless lies on climate science (see "Foxgate: Leaked email reveals Fox News boss ordered staff to cast doubt on climate science" and "93% of WSJ's Climate Op-Eds Misrepresent Science").

• Chez Pazienza: The Politics of Murdoch [Huffington Post, July 18, 2011]

The bottom line: The entire British government and Metropolitan Police Service are now in play, all thanks to a media company that became so massive, so powerful, so unapologetically in love with its own ruthlessness, and so inextricably integrated with the political authority structure that any crisis for it would almost surely be a seismic event with the ability to crack a country in two. Rupert Murdoch's News Corp is, quite frankly, the media equivalent of a Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, or Bank of America: an entity that's too big to fail.

• Our great institutions are becoming tainted by venality and incompetence. Where are leaders of integrity when we need them? [Daily Mail, July 18, 2011]

The resignation of Rebekah Brooks as chief executive of Rupert Murdoch's News International represents a new eruption in the phone-hacking scandal that has damaged the media, police and the Cameron government.

Yet this is only the latest in a long series of blows that have struck almost every major national institution in Britain in recent years: the bank bosses were exposed in 2008 as greedy incompetents, and both Houses of Parliament were rocked last year by revelations of systemic expenses fraud.

The British have always liked to see people at the head of their society to whom they could look upwards with a little respect, and I do not mean footballers or TV celebrities.

Yet today we find ourselves searching almost despairingly for leaders in politics, in the Church, in the professions, in corporate business and in public service who seem deserving of trust.

• Murdochs were given secret defence briefings [The Independent, July 27, 2011]

The extraordinary access that Cabinet ministers granted Rupert Murdoch and his children was revealed for the first time yesterday, with more than two dozen private meetings between the family and senior members of the Government in the 15 months since David Cameron entered Downing Street.

In total, Cabinet ministers have had private meetings with Murdoch executives more than 60 times and, if social events such as receptions at party conferences are included, the figure is at least 107.

On two occasions, James Murdoch and former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks were given confidential defence briefings on Afghanistan and Britain's strategic defence review by the Defence Secretary, Liam Fox. A further briefing was held with Ms Brooks, Rupert Murdoch and the Sunday Times editor John Witherow.

• Hacking: Met use Official Secrets Act to demand Guardian reveals sources [The Guardian, September 16, 2011]

The Metropolitan police are seeking a court order under the Official Secrets Act to make Guardian reporters disclose their confidential sources about the phone-hacking scandal.

In an unprecedented legal attack on journalists' sources, Scotland Yard officers claim the act, which has special powers usually aimed at espionage, could have been breached in July when reporters Amelia Hill and Nick Davies revealed the hacking of Milly Dowler's phone. They are demanding source information be handed over.

The Guardian's editor, Alan Rusbridger, said on Friday: "We shall resist this extraordinary demand to the utmost".

• Metropolitan police drop action against the Guardian [The Guardian, September 20, 2011]

The Guardian's editor-in-chief, Alan Rusbridger, said: "We greatly welcome the Met's decision to withdraw this ill-judged order. Threatening reporters with the Official Secrets Act was a sinister new device to get round the protection of journalists' confidential sources. We would have fought this assault on public interest journalism all the way. We're happy that good sense has prevailed."

Many lawyers had expressed astonishment at the police resorting to the Official Secret Act. Their surprise was reinforced on Monday when the director of public prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, revealed that the Crown Prosecution Service had not been contacted by officers before the application was made.

• Murdoch press a threat to democracy: Cameron [ABC News, November 3, 2011]

Left faction convenor Doug Cameron's extraordinary outburst was sparked by a story in News Limited's Daily Telegraph reporting that former PM Kevin Rudd is being urged by his backers to challenge Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Senator Cameron said he would take a motion to Labor caucus seeking to widen the existing inquiry into the media to look specifically at News Limited's "absolute hatred" of Labor.

"The inquiry we are having into the media - we should widen it to make sure we get a decent press in this country," he told reporters at Parliament House.

News Limited and the Daily Telegraph are not the only publications to report on a Rudd challenge, but Senator Cameron singled out the newspaper as "reprehensible".

• James Murdoch resigns from Sun and Times boards [The Guardian, November 23, 2011]

James Murdoch has stepped down from the boards of the immediate parent companies of the Sun and the Times, one of which is the business named as a defendant in all the phone-hacking civil lawsuits brought against the News of the World.

It emerged on Wednesday that the 38-year-old resigned in September as director of News Group Newspapers - owners of the Sun and the now defunct News of the World, and Times Newspapers Ltd, home to the Times and Sunday Times - as he relocates from London to New York.

• Leveson: Simon Hughes's leadership plans derailed by Sun after using gay chatline [Telegraph, February 28, 2012]

Mr Hughes was odds on favourite to win the leadership election in 2006 following the resignation of Charles Kennedy.

But he said his poll ratings suddenly plummeted after he was approached by a journalist from The Sun who told him the newspaper had phone records showing he had used a gay chatline.

Mr Hughes, who is now the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, subsequently gave an interview to the newspaper's then political editor, Trevor Kavanagh, in which he admitted having had relationships with both men and women and apologising for having denied it in the past.

• Rupert Murdoch deemed 'not a fit person' to run international company [The Guardian, May 1, 2012]

A chaotic press conference laid bare the divisions between Labour and Conservative MPs when it came to Rupert Murdoch. Tom Watson, the Labour MP who drafted the passage of the report criticising the media mogul, said Rupert and his son James must now answer for News International's "rampant cover-up".

He added: "Everybody in the world knows who is responsible for the wrongdoing of News Corp: Rupert Murdoch. More than any individual alive, he is to blame. Morally, the deeds are his. He paid the piper and he called the tune."

• Rebekah Brooks charged with perverting course of justice [Telegraph, May 15, 2012]

The charges include conspiring to conceal material from Scotland Yard detectives, conspiring to remove seven boxes of material from the archive of News International and conspiring to conceal documents, computers and other electronic equipment from detectives.

John A. Harnick: "And it's safe to bet that this murdering creep is yet
another big, old (possibly self-loathing) HOMOphobe."



Memorial for victims (Click on image to enlarge)

Anders Behring Breivik: profile of a mass murderer (1979—2011) [The Guardian, July 23, 2011]

A friend told the Norwegian newspaper VG that Breivik had been from the far right politically since at least his late twenties, when he began posting a series of controversial opinions on Facebook and the Norwegian site Document.no, which is critical of Islam.

What has emerged so far paints a disturbing picture: a Christian fundamentalist with a deep hatred of multiculturalism, of the left and of Muslims, who had written disparagingly of prominent Norwegian politicians. ...

Another significant event was being baptised into the Protestant church of "his own free will" at the age of 15. More recently, however, he had expressed his disgust at his own church. "Today's Protestant church is a joke," he wrote in an online post in 2009. "Priests in jeans who march for Palestine and churches that look like minimalist shopping centres. I am a supporter of an indirect collective conversion of the Protestant church back to the Catholic." ...

As journalists and police trawled through what Breivik had written, the first glimpses began to emerge that he had corresponded with far-right groups in several countries, including the UK, both to discuss ideological issues and also political strategies, including the creation of a Norwegian far-right nationalist party.

[Continued here]

• Norway attacker was a political Terminator [Daily Kos, July 23, 2011]

See, the "camp" event is really more akin to a political retreat and training, it seems. It's an annual event of Norway's "Worker's Youth League," (in Norwegian, the Arbeidaranes Ungdomsfylking, or AUF), which is itself essentially the youth arm of the country's ruling Labour Party. And by "youth arm," I really mean something like a "farm team," to use a sports analogy. ...

Taking out 80+ of the people committed enough to go to the AUF's Utoya summer retreat? That's like sending a Terminator back in time to take out a future Parliamentary leadership.

The crime was unspeakably heinous to begin with. And telling Americans that the killer targeted a "summer camp," it was no doubt imagined, would only make it sound worse.

It did. But it didn't really describe the magnitude of the loss for Norway. Nor did it convey the calculated sickness -- and the very, very intensely political nature -- of what the gunman undertook to do.

• Christian Jihad? Why We Should Worry About Right-Wing Terror Attacks Like Norway's in the US [AlterNet, July 23, 2011]

There is a growing movement in America that equates godliness with hatred of our government in fact hatred of our country as fallen and evil because we allow women choice, gays to marry, have a social safety net, and allow immigration from other cultures and non-white races.

• Kate Southwood: Norway's Massacre of the Innocents [Huffington Post, July 24, 2011]

Friday's combined attacks were aimed at the ruling Labor party, but they were horrifyingly and more specifically aimed at killing the young people who would have been the future of Norway's Labor party: a massacre of the innocents. ...

Nearly 100 young people were murdered on Utøya on Friday. Some of the hundreds of young people who survived will go on to a career in politics like Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, who attended the Utøya summer camp himself when he was a teenager.

Many of these young people know Prime Minster Stoltenberg personally, and all of them heard him when he said, "The answer to violence is even more democracy, even more humanity." They will grow up to ensure that the legacy of these attacks runs counter to their purpose.

• Todd Green, Ph.D.: The Face of Christian Terrorism? [Huffington Post, July 25, 2011]

What exactly does a Christian terrorist look like? I know, the question doesn't sound quite right. After all, there's no such thing as a Christian terrorist. The two words don't go together, unlike "Islamic" and "terrorist." This is certainly true in much of the public and political discourse in Europe and North America when it comes to terrorism. The overriding assumption is that Islam has cornered that market. ...

But for all of the Christians who have expressed outrage in recent days over Breivik's identification with the Christian faith, you need not worry. You're safe. You will not be implicated in Breivik's crimes. You will be acquitted in the eyes of the media and the broader public. Better yet, you won't even go on trial as suspected accomplices in Friday's killing rampage. No, the guilt-by-association principle does not apply to you when unspeakable violence is carried out in the name of Christianity, even if historically there is a track record of such violence from the Crusades to the Atlantic slave trade and European colonial enterprises to the lynching of African Americans. Rest assured that you can go about your day-to-day business, attend worship services and live out your religious convictions without any fear of reprisals from politicians or the larger public. You're off the hook. ...

Had Muslims carried out Friday's attacks (and the earliest media reports assumed as much), once again, we would be debating the face of Islamic terrorism. And once again, the religion of Islam and anyone connected with it would be on trial as suspected accomplices. As it happens, what we have is a Christian, not a Muslim, who is responsible for the attacks. What we don't have is a corresponding vocabulary and a set of unquestionable assumptions about some inherent relationship between Christianity and terrorism. That's as it should be. It was a self-proclaimed Christian, not Christianity, that committed these violent acts in Norway, and the majority of Christians and indeed Westerners certainly recognize the difference. If only this same courtesy could be extended to Islam.

• Glenn Beck compares Norway's dead teenagers to Hitler youth [Telegraph, July 25, 2011]

Beck said that the Labour party youth camp on the island, where 68 people were murdered, bore "disturbing" similarities to the Nazi party's notorious juvenile wing.

Beck, a multimillionaire darling of the Tea Party movement, said on his nationally-syndicated radio show: "There was a shooting at a political camp, which sounds a little like, you know, the Hitler youth. I mean, who does a camp for kids that's all about politics? Disturbing."

Torbjørn Eriksen, a former press secretary to Jens Stoltenberg, Norway's prime minister, described the comment as "a new low" for the broadcaster, who has frequently been forced to apologise for offensive remarks.

"Young political activists have gathered at Utoya for over 60 years to learn about and be part of democracy, the very opposite of what the Hitler Youth was about," he told The Daily Telegraph. "Glenn Beck's comments are ignorant, incorrect and extremely hurtful."

• American Anti-Muslim Activists Throw Devoted Follower Breivik Under Bus [SPLC, July 26, 2011]

The irony is, had Anders Behring Breivik merely posted his manifesto without killing at least 76 innocent children and adults in Norway, he probably would have emerged as a rising star among the anti-Muslim activists he so admired.

As it happened, America's most fanatical anti-Muslim activists quickly retreated behind walls of denial upon discovering that the perpetrator of Friday's stunning act of terror was committed not in the name of Islam, but in response to their own mission: Whipping up paranoia about Islam.

• Sarah Posner: How Breivik's "Cultural Analysis" is Drawn from the "Christian Worldview" [Religion Dispatches, July 27, 2011]
• Norwegian Shooting Suspect's 'Manifesto' Inspired By American Right-Wing Thinkers [AlterNet, July 29, 2011]

Before the deadly attack in Norway that killed 76 people, suspect Anders Behring Breivik left a long trail of material meticulously outlining his political beliefs. His 1,500-page political manifesto, titled "A European Declaration of Independence," seeks common cause with xenophobic right-wing groups around the world, particularly in the United States. It draws heavily on the writing of prominent anti-Islam American bloggers, as well as Unabomber Ted Kaczynski. His writing reveals he is a right-wing nationalist fueled by a combined hatred of Muslims, Marxists, multiculturalists and feminist women. Even after the massacre in Norway, some right-wing pundits in the United States have come out in defense of Breivik's analysis. We speak with Jeff Sharlet, an author who has written extensively about right-wing movements in the United States, who has read much of Breivik's 1,500-page manifesto. "What struck me most about this document is just how American it is in every way. I mean, a huge amount of it is from American sources," Sharlet says. "He's a great admirer of America, because he says United States, unlike Europe, has maintained its 'Christian identity.

• Pam Geller And Robert Spencer Using Links To Norway Terrorist For Fundraising Campaign [Think Progress, August 1, 2011]
• Norway Lesbian Couple's Utoya Island Rescue Of 40 Children Goes Unnoticed By Media [Huffington Post, August 2, 2011]

A Norwegian lesbian couple's rescue of 40 children during the Utoya Island youth camp attacks has been hailed as a heroic act -- but some are calling the muted response from the international media an act of discrimination.

The Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat was the first to carry the story of Hege Dalen and her partner, Toril Hansen, who braved gunfire while making trips to lift frightened youngsters from the water surrounding the island.

The blog Talk About Equality translates the report as follows:

        "We were eating. Then shooting and then the awful screaming. We saw how the young people ran in panic into the lake," says Dalen to HS in an interview. The couple immediately took action and pushed the boat into Lake Tyrifjorden.

        Dalen and Hansen drove the boat to the island, picked up from the water victims in shock in, the young and wounded, and transported them to the opposite shore to the mainland. Between runs they saw that the bullets had hit the right side of the boat. Since there were so many and not all fit at once aboard, they returned to the island four times.

        "We did not sleep last night at all. Today, we have been together and talked about the events," Dalen said.

Some authorities were quick to suggest the week-plus delay in coverage of the rescue was an indirect act of homophobia.

"Have the media ignored a gold-plated tale of bravery and heroism just because they don't like the sexual orientation of the protagonists? I don't know, obviously," writes Tom Chivers, Strategic Events Editor for the Telegraph. "But it's not as though it's just traditionally minded, conservative news organisations, who might be expected to have misgivings about homosexual marriage, which have not reported on Mrs. Hansen and Mrs. Dalen's heroism."

Still, others like Bår Stenvik, an Oslo-based author and journalist, have begged to differ -- and say the most likely explanation for the lack of coverage is that the lesbian couple simply had not spoken publicly about their ordeal. "One of the remarkable aspects of this incident has been that there are so many stories to be told, with so many victims and witnesses," Stenvik told the International Business Times.

• Relatives of Norway massacre victims make pilgrimage to 'terror island' [Telegraph, August 19, 2011]

Hundreds of relatives of those killed in the Norway massacre made their first pilgrimage to the island where Anders Behring Breivik committed the worst peace time atrocity the country had seen.

Soon they had dotted it with shrines, each marking the exact final resting place of a victim of this most appalling of crimes.

To help them, police officers marked each spot. Psychiatrists were on hand to help those for whom the experience became too much.

For many it was a chance to make some sense of what happened - and to dispel any fantasies they may have had about the last moments of their sons, daughters and siblings.

• 'We have met bullets with flowers': Survivors of Norway massacre return to the island where 69 were gunned down [Daily Mail, August 21, 2011]
• Return to Utoya: Norwegian island where 69 people were massacred is re-opened to the world [Daily Mail, Octobeer 3, 2011]
• Anders Breivik's spider web of hate [The Guardian, September 7, 2011]
• Anders Behring Breivik index [The Guardian]
• Anders Behring Breivik may avoid jail after psychiatrists declare him insane [The Guardian, November 29, 2011]
• Anders Breivik's hatred does not come from a delusional mind [The Guardian, November 30, 2011]

His political madness, a political paranoia he shares with extremist bloggers, organisations and politicians all over Europe, has been reduced to clinical madness, now with the medical title "schizophrenic paranoia". It has been claimed that this diagnosis could be used to brand all his fellow extremists insane as well, but I think that this is unlikely. On the contrary, many internet extremists will continue to claim that the madness is exactly what distinguishes them from Breivik. He might share some of their views, but they don't share his diagnosis. As one of the 157 lawyers representing the victims said: "Perhaps it is easier to live knowing that this was just the deed of a sick person."

After the second world war, Norwegian society showed a similar response to the Nazi sympathies of Nobel laureate Knut Hamsun. He was declared insane to avoid confronting how deep into society the xenophobic ideology went. I fear that Breivik's diagnosis will serve the same purpose, moving the focus away from the ideas he has spearheaded. These are ideas of which some are echoed in many parts of Norwegian society, and not just on the margins. ...

The long-term political consequences of the psychiatric report might be more severe. This diagnosis may be the one thing that puts the terror of Oslo in the category of school massacres and Charles Manson, instead of placing it where it belongs - as the last in a long series of violent acts perpetrated by the extreme political right.

• The Breivik diagnosis: ideology wrapped in a straitjacket [ABC, December 2, 2011]

Many in Norway are already questioning the psychiatrists' opinion. As Erling Johannes Husabø, Professor in Criminal Law at the University of Bergen, commented, "It must have been a special type of psychosis they concluded upon considering Breivik was able to act as methodically as he did. An insanity decision is usually used for people who have more of a disturbed perception of reality." ...

Others are preparing legal challenges, and the report still has to be reviewed by the country's forensic commission.

• Anders Behring Breivik psychiatric report reveals 'kindergarten' prison life [Telegraph, January 15, 2012]

Dr Randi Rosenqvist linked Breivik's "deviant statements" to his total absorption in a cult-like anti-Islamic movement based largely in the UK.

"I interpret his deviant statements as an expression of an extreme ideology, not as a psychotic view of reality," she writes.

"He has built a lot of his ideology on the British, or rather English, movement, and has not sought contact with Norwegians of the same ideology."

• 'I deserve a medal of honor': Smirking Norwegian mass killer gives 'right wing salute' in court [Daily Mail, February 6, 2012]

Breivik, a 32-year-old Norwegian, told the court that Norway's most deadly peacetime attack was a strike against 'traitors' he said are embracing immigration to promote 'an Islamic colonisation of Norway'.

He said: 'I am a militant nationalist. I represent the Norwegian indigenous peoples. We in the Norwegian resistance movement are not going to sit still and see that we are turned into a minority in our own country.'

• Neo-Nazi clothes brand opens 'Brevik' shop [The Local, March 6, 2012]

German daily Die Welt reported that complaints are flooding in from residents and politicians about the shop in the town Chemnitz, outraged at what appears to be a deliberate act of provocation by a brand commonly associated with the far-right scene.

"This scandalous choice of name has shown a new level of aggression, and violent right-wing tendencies from Thor Steinar," said local politician Hanka Kliese of the centre-left Social Democratic Party.

• A second psychiatric evaluation of mass killer Anders Behring Breivik has found him sane enough to face trial and a jail term [BBC, April 10, 2012]
• Anders Behring Breivik reflects changing face of modern far right [The Guardian, April 18, 2012]

Police with body bags (Click on images to enlarge)

Far-Right groups in Europe 'on the rise' [Telegraph, November 6, 2011]

Researchers used advertisements on Facebook pages to persuade over 10,000 followers of 14 far-Right parties in 11 European countries to fill in detailed questionnaires about their beliefs.

The study found the mainly, young men were angry about their governments and the EU combined with deep hostility to Muslim immigrants. ...

"As anti-Semitism was a unifying factor for far-right parties in the 1910s, 20s and 30s, Islamophobia has become the unifying factor in the early decades of the 21st century," said Thomas Klau from the European Council on Foreign Relations, who will speak at a conference launching the report today.

[Continued here]

• Far right on rise in Europe, says report [The Guardian, November 6, 2011]

"We're at a crossroads in European history," said Emine Bozkurt, a Dutch MEP who heads the anti-racism lobby at the European parliament. "In five years' time we will either see an increase in the forces of hatred and division in society, including ultra-nationalism, xenophobia, Islamophobia and antisemitism, or we will be able to fight this horrific tendency."

• How do we tackle the prejudice of the far right? [The Guardian, November 10, 2011]
• 'It is the worst symbol of hate': Swastikas scrawled on street and cars torched in attack on Jewish neighbourhood on anniversary of Kristallnacht [Daily Mail, November 12, 2011]

The vile attack, which also saw 'KKK' sprayed on a van, took place in the early hours of Friday morning in the Midwood area of Brooklyn.

The Orthodox Jewish neighbourhood is home to Holocaust survivors and has a number of synagogues and yeshivas lining the street.

The horrifying attack, which is being classed as a hate crime by the New York Police Department, coincides with the anniversary of mob attacks in Europe in November 1938.

Kristallnacht, or 'The Night of the Broken Glass', saw thousands of Jewish businesses and homes ransacked and burnt throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria.

• Neo-Nazi death gang who murdered ten are 'greatest far-right threat Germany has faced since downfall of Hitler' [Daily Mail, November 13, 2011]

Four neo-Nazi murderers hell-bent on building a 'Fourth Reich' in Germany were the biggest extremist threat seen in the country since the demise of Hitler, according to police.

Interior minister Hans-Peter Friedrich spoke of a 'dimension of right-wing terrorism that we have not experienced before'.

The latest racist gang member arrested - identified only as Holger G, 37 - was detained today in Hanover.

He was seized as the government spoke of the danger of the gang that lurched from flag-waving and immigrant-baiting to bombing, bank robbing and serial murder.

• Angela Merkel seeks ban of far-right German party [San Francisco Chronicle, November 15, 2011]

"That is a disgrace. That shames Germany. We will do everything possible to investigate it," said Merkel in Leipzig, addressing a conference of her party, the Christian Democratic Union.

With Merkel's blessing, senior officials drafted a resolution that would make it CDU policy to resume legal efforts to outlaw the National Democratic Party, or NPD, an anti-immigrant group that has won seats in state assemblies but never in the federal parliament.

• Analysis: Populists exploit euro zone crisis to gain influence [Reuters, November 17, 2011]

Such strong smaller economies at the heart of the euro zone, which have benefited significantly from membership, are unlikely to leave the euro unilaterally, as some far-right parties want.

However, right-wing groups are playing on public resentment at the cost of bailing out weak euro zone countries such as Greece to gain popularity.

• Fareed Zakaria: The young face of Europe's far right [CNN, November 21, 2011]

An important new survey sheds some light. The think tank Demos conducted the first-ever quantitative investigation of far-right groups in Europe online. This is especially important because the Internet following of these parties dwarfs its formal membership. Remember, the likes of Breivik are created and radicalized online.

So Demos reached out to more than 400,000 Facebook followers of 14 far-right groups across Europe. More than a quarter of the respondents said that violence is acceptable if it leads to the right ends. And if you thought the far-right's members are aging and disconnected, think again. A third of those surveyed were under 21; two thirds were under 30. Compare that with the average age of Facebook users - only half are under 30.

So it turns out that supporters of Europe's far-right groups are increasingly young and connected. They're also mostly male, deeply cynical about the European Union, and deeply worried about immigration and a perceived spread of Islamic influence in Europe.

• How White Supremacists Are Trying to Make an American Town a Model for Right-Wing Extremism [AlterNet, November 22, 2011]

But then there's this: A scan of a full-page advertisement in a recent edition of the Flathead Beacon, the local paper, with photographs of 47 babies newly delivered in the Kalispell Regional Medical Center. All but one are fair-skinned with light-colored hair. "Wonderful white babies being born in Kalispell," the website reads. "What do the babies look like being born in your town?" Another item on the Pioneer Little Europe site depicts white families relaxing on the shore of a lake. A caption reads,"This is how white our beaches are, and I'm not talking about sand."

And that little girl in the meadow? Her name is Dresden Hale. That's Dresden for the German city firebombed by the Allied forces in World War II, and Hale for the 1990s leader of the neo-Nazi group World Church of the Creator, Matt Hale, who's doing 40 years in prison for soliciting the murder of a federal judge.

Dresden Hale is the youngest daughter of Kalispell resident and neo-Nazi activist April Gaede, the public face of the Pioneer Little Europe (PLE) movement. Launched in 2008, PLE invites "racially conscious" white Americans to relocate to the Flathead Valley to help create a heavily-armed Aryan homeland.

• Neo-Nazi ties to far-right party probed [The Local, November 23, 2011]

The report by public broadcaster ARD's show Report Mainz on Tuesday night revealed that there was clear evidence of ties between the extremist party and groups like the Sturm 34 neo-Nazi organisation, which was banned in 2007. More than a quarter of its so-called "hard core" members were also part of the NPD, the television network reported, citing court records and other research.

Other extremist organisations like the Skinheads Sächsische Schweiz were created directly by NPD members. And at least seven of 12 NPD board members had also part of an extremist group called the Thüringer Heimatschutz in 2000, ARD said.

It's still not clear what if any ties the NPD had to the so-called National Socialist Underground (NSU) group, which has been called responsible for the murder of at least 10 people, including one policewoman and nine people of immigrant background between 2000 and 2006. The neo-Nazi terror gang is thought to have had ties to Thüringer Heimatschutz.

But already, strong calls have emerged across the country for a new try at formally banning the NPD. The government tried to ban the organisation in 2001 but Germany's Constitutional Court ruled that paid government informants had been too enmeshed in the party's affairs.

• Are the left's multicultural policies to blame for the rise of the right? [The Independent, November 27, 2011]

However, while not denying the role played by the economic crisis in allowing far right groups to gain some support - although as some rightly point out, this is in many ways far less than anticipated - such sloppy historical parallels ignore some of the issues specific to the past two decades or so. A significant factor in the rise of British 'far right' politics has been the collapse of traditional working class politics, and the large-scale abandonment of the white working classes from the Labour party. In 1959, Labour's support among the manual working classes was 62 per cent. By 1983 it had dropped to just 38 per cent. From that period to now, both the core staff and support base has been wholly middle class. And, rather than working to rectify this, ensuring that the views of the group that once formed their base were better represented, certainly New Labour seemed more interested in micromanaging, nudging and remoulding them into 'ideal citizens' instead - with initiatives ranging from intrusive public health policies to ASBOs.

This abandonment of what was once Labour's core voters, coupled with the contemptuous treatment of them by an increasingly elitist clique of career politicians resentment at elitist politicians, has allowed for a space to be filled by groups claiming to be truly represent people, or simply to provide a 'two fingers up' vote to despised mainstream politicians. The fact that most British National Party supporters come from the Labour party's traditional constituency, and the third largest reason for people claiming to join the English Defence cited in Demos' study Inside the EDL was 'disillusionment with the major political institutions, the political elite or the direction of their country', is testament to this trend.

• American white supremacist David Duke to be thrown out of Germany after arrest hours before speech to neo-Nazi gathering [Daily Mail, November 30, 2011]

Former Ku-Klux-Klan leader and white supremacist David Duke has been arrested in Germany hours before he was due to speak at a far-right gathering.

Duke, who is a rabid anti-Semite who has been speech-making as a VIP guest to right-wing groups across Europe for the past two years from a home he owns in Austria, is now fighting deportation to the U.S.

At a time of heightened tensions in Germany following a spate of killings by neo-Nazis, it is no surprise the country wants shot of the 61-year-old after he was seized by police last Friday near Cologne.

He has been released and is now out on bail while deportation formalities are completed.

• New Right and IONA - a growing threat [Search Light, November, 2011]

The New Right group is run by Troy Southgate. As a young man Southgate was a violent supporter of the National Front. After the NF declined, he followed several of its activists into the NF Political Soldiers, the group that included Nick Griffin, now leader of the BNP The Political Soldiers, who did most to wreck the old NF, drew much of their inspiration from the dead Italian fascist and mystic Julius Evola.

• Robert Reich: The Rebirth of Social Darwinism [Huffington Post, December 1, 2011]

They call themselves conservatives but that's not it, either. They don't want to conserve what we now have. They'd rather take the country backwards -- before the 1960s and 1970s, and the Environmental Protection Act, Medicare, and Medicaid; before the New Deal, and its provision for Social Security, unemployment insurance, the forty-hour workweek, laws against child labor, and official recognition of trade unions; even before the Progressive Era, and the first national income tax, antitrust laws, and Federal Reserve.

They're not conservatives. They're regressives. And the America they seek is the one we had in the Gilded Age of the late nineteenth century.

• Ban Germany's right-wing NPD? Neo-Nazi revelations spark debate. [Christian Science Monitor, December 4, 2011]

amel is what neo-Nazis in Germany call a "nationally liberated zone," a no-go area for foreigners, ethnic minorities, and overt left-wingers. It is one of the places where the National Democratic Party (NPD), Germany's legal far-right party, has won the battle for hearts and minds - and probably did not have to fight very hard. In some villages and towns of this region, the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the NPD easily reached 20 percent in regional elections earlier this year.

"The authorities have given up on Jamel," says Horst Krumpen, chairman of the Network for Democracy, Tolerance, and Humanity, a campaign group in the nearby town of Wismar. "We don't have problems with right-wing violence here - there hardly is any. Our problem is the widespread support for the NPD in the region and the impotence of the state."

• Germany's neo-Nazi underground [BBC, December 7, 2011]

Ten murders blamed on a neo-Nazi underground cell have raised fresh fears about far-right extremism in Germany. BBC Radio One Newsbeat's Sima Kotecha went to investigate.

It is difficult to digest that places like this still exist in modern-day Germany.

Jamel - a tiny village encircled by fields - sits in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on the coast of the Baltic sea, and is believed to be home to a group of right-wing extremists.

"I think you should not be here because you don't look like the people from this area".

• Three alleged white supremacists facing charges in B.C. [Globe & Mail, December 9, 2011]

Mounties held a news conference Friday to announce Robertson de Chazal has been charged with aggravated assault for allegedly setting a man of Filipino descent on fire. Mr. De Chazal has also been charged with assault causing bodily harm in connection with an incident in which he attacked a man who was black. ...

The men are accused of being members of an organized hate group called Blood and Honour. RCMP say the international white supremacist organization has been linked to violent racial incidents worldwide.

• Tory MP pays bill as Oxford-educated louts toasted Third Reich and chanted 'Hitler, Hitler, Hitler' [Daily Mail, December 10, 2011]

A high-flying Tory MP was forced to apologise for 'clearly inappropriate behaviour' last night after he attended a party where guests, one dressed in an SS uniform, chanted offensive Nazi slogans in a crowded restaurant at a French ski resort.

Aidan Burley, MP for Cannock Chase in Staffordshire, was with 12 friends, some of whom chanted 'Hitler, Hitler, Hitler'. One toasted the 'Third Reich' and one taunted a waiter for being French.

Mr Burley, 32, a senior aide to Transport Secretary Justine Greening, was filmed in a mountain restaurant during a stag do, sitting next to another party goer dressed in a black SS uniform and cap. The MP, who was elected in 2010, sipped wine as one of the party goaded a French waiter, asking: 'You are from Germany? No, you must be from Austria, then?' and 'Are you insulting his Reich?' ...

Another said: 'We are trying to intimidate as many people as possible. A lot have been quite offended, especially one guy who was both Jewish and gay.'

• French far-right group has message in menu [San Francisco Chronicle, December 10, 2011]

They feasted in the verdant back country of picture-postcard Provence, the delight of tourists and the pride of France.

But it was no ordinary country idyll. The extreme right Bloc Identitaire, or Identity Bloc, was lashing out at Islam while dining on pork roast and local wine - off limits to practicing Muslims.

The group, an emerging force on France's far-right scene, likens Muslim immigrants to invaders threatening the identity of the French heartland and menacing European civilization. The movement - with a wild pig as its logo - is gaining traction through its blend of Islam-bashing and romanticizing of French rural culture.

Increasingly, it is being used as an "idea box" for the National Front, a well-established far-right party and force in European politics that could play a crucial role in French presidential elections five months away.

• The Far Right Link Between Norwegian Killer Breivik and Florence Gunman Casseri [International Business Times, December 14, 2011]

Florence far-right gunman Gianluca Casseri, who shot dead two Africans Tuesday and Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik may have more in common than expected, experts on far-right movements point out.

Described as an expert on right-wing European culture, the 50-year-old alleged member of far-right Casas Pound movement was also passionate about fantasy and conspiracy books. Its literary magazine La Soglia or The Threshold included monographic issues about Dracula, the author of The Lord of the Rings J.R. Tolkien, and H.P. Lovecraft.

This long-time engagement with fantasy genre is shared by Breivik, who killed 77 people in a twin attack in Oslo. "Breivik's manifesto shows a fascination and an obsession with the fantasy genre, especially with Tolkien and Lovecraft," Matthew Goodwin, experts on far-right extremism, told the International Business Times UK.

• Far-right scents opportunity in euro crisis [BBC, December 15, 2011]
• 'Hitler wasn't all bad': One in ten Austrian teens think Nazi leader did 'good things', shock survey reveals [Daily Mail, December 16, 2011]

'Young, open, tolerant? The ideal of an open, socially minded younger generation remains, as a current study shows, an illusion,' said Austria's Standard newspaper.

'Youth are openly hostile to foreigners and are anti-Semitic to an amazingly large degree.' ...

Perhaps more sinisterly, in a statement that harks directly back to the Nazis, 18.2 per cent of them declared that 'Jews have now, like before, too much influence over the world economy'.

It was feeding on prejudice like this in the socially depressed atmosphere of the 1920s and 30s that allowed the Nazis to demonise Jews, isolate them and finally exterminate them on a massive scale.

• JDL and far-right parties find common ground [Al Jazeera, December 29, 2011]

Right-wing movements previously associated with anti-Semitic and neo-Nazi ideologies are increasingly opting for a surprising tactic to garner legitimacy within mainstream politics: Forging alliances with extremist Jewish organisations under the banner of fighting "Islamisation".

"Far-right parties are professing a new found love of Israel as a way of escaping their past anti-Semitism and racism, and to justify their prejudice towards European Muslims as not being racist," Toby Archer, a researcher who studies far-right parties and the "counter-jihad blogosphere", explained to Al Jazeera. "Parties like the British National Party (BNP) in the UK, Vlaams Belang in Belgium, and the National Front in France are all coming out from a neo-fascist past."

These parties have stopped using anti-Semitic rhetoric, Archer said, which had prevented them from attracting support. It is important to distinguish between the traditional far-right, who are historically anti-Semitic, and the populist new-right, who have emerged in the last two decades and partake in an anti-Muslim discourse, he said.

The English Defence League (EDL) closely linked to the BNP, a right-wing anti-Islamic extremist group based in the UK. The EDL has gained notoriety for its aggression against British Muslims and its links with neo-Nazi groups. Last year, it moved to garner support within the Jewish community by officially opening a Jewish Division open to "represent the Jews who are fighting against Islamisation," according to a statement.

• Frank Schaeffer: Newt and the Loony Religious Fringe That Now Runs the Republican Party [Huffington Post, December 29, 2011]

Every single one of the sops Newt Gingrich is throwing the far right has been scripted for him by generations of far right so-called Reconstructionist "thinkers" and far right Roman Catholic ideologues that have been pushing the religious community -- and America -- steadily in the direction of overthrowing democracy and replacing it with some version of an Americanized theocracy.

Newt Gingrich has been making a series of outrageous statements in ascending rhetorical volume as a means to throw the religious right scraps of validation that he is "one of us." What Gingrich has done is to sign on to the extremist Dominionist/Roman Catholic agenda. Since I used to be a leader and the son of a leader on the Religious Right (in the 1970s and 80s) what Gingrich is saying invokes a bad case of déjà vu for me.

What he's really doing is sending signals to 3 overlapping constituencies that now control the Republican Party: The "Pro-Israel" Lobby; The Reconstructionist/Dominionist Lobby and The Conservative Roman Catholic Lobby. We'll look at these groups and their influence one at a time.

• 'Anonymous' declares 'Blitzkrieg' on neo-Nazis [The Local, January 2, 2012]

A "Nazi-Leaks" portal has appeared on the internet listing hundreds of names of people subscribed to various shops selling far-right clothing, as well as writers for the Junge Freiheit newspaper which carries contributions from far-right commentators.

The hackers say they have managed to close down 15 websites associated with the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party (NPD), the Frankfurter Rundschau reported on Monday. They have reportedly called their campaign "Operation Blitzkrieg".

The paper said that the German version of the neo-Nazi internet platform "Altermedia" was at times offline. A Twitter message addressed to those trying to get into the site wished "all Nazis and in particular Altermedia a good start to the New Year."

• 'Anonymous' targets German far-right with Nazi-leaks.net [BBC, January 5, 2012]

Hackers have targeted Germany's far-right with a Wikileaks-style website.

The launch of nazi-leaks.net follows the start of Operation Blitzkrieg, a campaign against neo-nazi and other far-right sites attributed to Anonymous.

The site includes a list of individuals the hacker group alleges are donors to the National Democratic Party (NPD).

The NPD are reported to be considering legal action against the site.

Anonymous is a loose-knit gathering of hackers best known for attacks launched in 2010 against companies such as Mastercard, Visa and Paypal in response to their withdrawal of services from Wikileaks.

• Fifteen arrested after EDL supporters clash with locals in east London [The Guardian, January 14, 2012]

Witnesses said the clash near the East London Mosque in Whitechapel erupted after supporters of the English Defence League chanted anti-Muslim slogans. Scotland Yard said one man was injured and taken to hospital with "non life-threatening injuries".

"The incident involved several hundred people," a police spokesman said. "Bottles and other items were thrown."

He said all those arrested were later released. "The bulk of them were local kids," he added.

Police believe the far-right activists may have travelled to Whitechapel after attending an earlier demonstration staged by the English Defence League in Barking.

• Anti-Islamic groups across Europe to attend far-Right rally [Telegraph, January 18, 2012]

More than 10 anti-Islamic groups, led by the English Defence League, are expected to send representatives.

"There will be speeches from every defence league in Europe," said Isak Nygren, the spokesman for the Swedish Defence League. "I hope we can show that there's resistance against Islamisation of Europe, that we can inspire each other."

The EDL has held one European rally before, sending members to Amsterdam in 2010 in support of Dutch anti-Islamic politician Geert Wilders, who was in court accused of insulting religious and ethnic groups.

Mr Wilders, who has moved to distance himself from the EDL, is not expected to attend the event.

• Germany approves registry of far-right extremists [Expatica, January 18, 2012]

Germany approved Wednesday a draft law for the creation of a national registry of right-wing extremists, two months after revelations of a neo-Nazi murder spree.

The new database will hold information collected by police and intelligence officials at the federal and state levels on extremists who support, plan or call for violence, Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said.

"Today's cabinet decision is the first step in creating quickly the legal basis for the establishment of the federal and state right-wing extremism file," Friedrich said in a statement.

It follows the discovery in November of a neo-Nazi gang believed to have been behind the unsolved murders of 10 people, mainly shopkeepers of Turkish origin, between 2000 and 2007.

• Open, liberal theatre under fire in Hungary [The Guardian, January 26, 2012]

We are alarmed by the imposition of a far-right director on one of Budapest's leading theatres, and call on our foreign secretary and the international community to put pressure on the Hungarian government to reverse the decision before 1 February, the day the theatre is scheduled to change hands. Following the election of the rightwing Fidesz party, the mayor of Budapest sacked the director of Új Színház (the New Theatre), and appointed actor György Dörner in his place. Dörner supports the anti-Roma, anti-gay and antisemitic party Jobbik. Jobbik has been forced to disband its militia, the Hungarian Guard, but its presidential candidate recently stated that Jews were "lice-infested dirty murderers". The party has 47 members of the Hungarian parliament.

Currently, the New Theatre presents both Hungarian plays and the international canon, from Schiller to Shakespeare. Dörner plans to reverse what he describes as a "degenerate, sick, liberal hegemony" in Hungary by stopping the production of "foreign garbage" and concentrating on Hungarian plays. These include the work of his friend and adviser István Csurka, an open antisemite, advocate of the Jewish conspiracy theory, and president of the Hungarian Justice and Life party. Several Hungarian writers have withdrawn their plays from the theatre in protest.

The change imposed on the New Theatre may not be the last. Jobbik and other extreme-right groups are campaigning and demonstrating against the Hungarian National Theatre, calling its work "obscene, pornographic, gay, anti-national and anti-Hungarian". The campaign against a liberal Hungarian theatre, open to the world, is part of a move in Hungary towards intolerance and against democracy. The historical parallels are obvious and chilling. We support Hungarian theatre-makers in opposing this appointment, and urge our government to demand that the Hungarian government overturn this decision.

• Hungary Passes Anti-Gay Law [Edge Boston, January 27, 2012]

Hungary officials recently passed a new pro-family law, despite receiving harsh criticism that the legislation would infringe on gay rights and abortion.

The new law, which protects the "traditional family," states that married heterosexual couples that wish to raise children is an "Autonomous community...established before the emergence of law and the State" and that the "Embryonic and fetal life shall be entitled to protection and respect from the moment of conception, and the state should encourage 'homely circumstances' for child care," reported the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute in a Jan. 26 article. ...

Human Rights Watch said that the non-discrimination clause for "race, color, sex, disability, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, wealth, birth or any other circumstance whatsoever" does not include sexual orientation or gender identity, which the Human Rights Watch says was guaranteed in the ICCPR.

Although Hungary does not recognize gay marriage it has allowed same-sex couples enter into unions since 2009. Before it was legalized in 2009, the Hungarian Parliament tried to pass a similar law but the country's Constitutional Court vetoed it because it provided partnership registration for heterosexuals, which challenged the Hungarian constitution's definition of marriage, EDGE reported in a Feb. 2009 article.

Hungary does not allow gays to adopt children but does permit them to serve openly in the military.

• Extreme close-up: German film brings the spread of neo-Nazi gangs into focus [The Independent, January 30, 2012]

For a film that has touched a raw nerve in Germany with its portrayal of neo-Nazi violence, the opening of Kriegerin, or Combat Girl, is deceptively benign: the camera pans to a 10-year-old girl on a lonely Baltic beach weighed down by a heavy load on her back.

"Can I stop now grandpa?" the girl asks the kindly looking pensioner who greets her with open arms. "Of course you can, my darling," he replies with a smile as he removes her rucksack. It proves to be full of wet sand. "You've done well, my little Kreigerin," he tells her. It turns out that Marisa, the young east German girl, has just undergone some Hitler Youth-style military training enforced by the beloved grandfather she idolises. He is an unreconstructed Nazi who is convinced that the Jews have gained the upper hand with "their lies" since Germany's defeat in World War II.

• Hacked neo-Nazi websites reveal Canadian connections [CBC, February 1, 2012]

The names of dozens of alleged white supremacists in Canada are contained in files leaked by computer hackers in Europe intent on exposing hate movements, CBC News has learned.

The alleged white supremacists' names were revealed earlier this month by members of a loose-knit group of hackers called Anonymous on a website called nazi-leaks.net, which is now offline.

In addition to emails and secret websites and blogs, the hackers uncovered photographs of children giving Nazi salutes at a gathering in Missouri, confidential legal documents and displays of Hitler tattoos.

The exposure is a huge blow to hate groups that organize online across Canada, said Helmut-Harry Loewen, a University of Winnipeg sociology professor and a member of the Canadian Anti-racism Education and Research Society.

"We can now begin to piece together a more accurate picture in terms of the distribution of these types of racist groups across Canada," Loewen said.

• Hungary's far-right: Jews not welcome here [Jewish Chronicle, February 2, 2012]

Terrifyingly for Hungary's 150,000-strong Jewish community, Jobbik, which currently holds 47 parliamentary seats, is set to capitalise on the country's current economic and political woes. Hungary is facing economic meltdown, with unemployment at 10.6 per cent and an IMF bailout increasingly likely.

A senior civil servant in the Hungarian Foreign Ministry warned about the party, also notorious for its homophobia and anti-gypsy stance: "We are very, very worried. The prime minister could easily fail in the coming months, taking the ruling party down with him, and Jobbik is well-placed to become the largest party in Parliament in an election."

In 2007, Jobbik's president, Gabor Vona, founded the Magyar Garda, a now-banned civil defence force which uses the same insignia as the Arrow Cross, the Hungarian fascist movement that helped the Nazis murder many of the country's Jews.

Far from seeking to whitewash his party's reputation ahead of a possible role in government, Mr Gyongyosi, a fluent English speaker, questioned whether 400,000 Jews really were killed or deported from Hungary during the Second World War. "It has become a fantastic business to jiggle around with the numbers," he said.

• Mehdi Hasan: The threat from far-right terrorism [New Statesman, February 6, 2012]

For some in the west, and in particular here in the UK, the murder of 77 people in Norway by Anders Breivik seemed unbelievable and inexplicable. It didn't compute. The moment the news broke, for instance, Labour MP Tom Harris took to Twitter to blame - yep, you guessed it - Muslim extremists for the killings. To be fair to Harris, he was just articulating out loud what others - liberals and conservatives alike - were thinking and assuming in their heads. Even after it became clear that it wasn't a Muslim who had perpetrated this atrocity, some refused to call it an act of terrorism, preferring to refer to the perpetrator of the crime as "mad" and "insane".

As Guy Walters noted at the time:

        For some commentators, such as Simon Jenkins in the Guardian, Sam Leith in the Evening Standard, and Boris Johnson in the Daily Telegraph, Breivik's actions are explained by insanity, and there is not much need to study Breivik's 'manifesto'. This, the argument runs, was the work of a lunatic who had built a puerile ideology to accommodate his psychopathy. In essence - the madness comes first, then the political justification, then the slaughter.

But Anders Breivik isn't a madman and his crime wasn't prompted by voices in his head. Just read his detailed, 1500-page manifesto, 2083 A European Declaration of Independence, to see how disturbingly rational, thought-through and politicized his hate-filled views and opinions are.

As Walters argued last year:

        The roots of Breivik's actions clearly lie in his politics, and when you read his 'manifesto', it is clear why he decided to act as he did. His argument runs thus: Multiculturalism, 'cultural Marxism' and immigration of Muslims is destroying our way of life. The people responsible for this are the ruling Labour Party. These people are traitors. I have tried to act politically, but that has yielded no reward, and little hope of doing so. Violence is the only solution. Therefore, kill the next generation of political Labour Party leaders. This is a necessary evil, but will save us from the greater murderousness of Islam in the long run. And, in a brutally logical way, that is just what Breivik did.

• Matthew Goodwin: The threat of far-right extremism warrants more than lip service [The Guardian, February 7, 2012]

Have we got the balance right in our current approach to countering extremism? For much of the past decade, western states have focused the bulk of attention on tackling al-Qaida-inspired terrorism, and the underlying processes of radicalisation that lead some citizens toward this specific form of violent extremism. The result is a large body of evidence on both the terrorist groups, and the factors that "push and pull" some individuals into engaging in violence on their behalf.

Given the new priorities of national security that emerged in the shadow of 9/11, this focus was both justified and understandable. But more than 10 years on, the challenge from extremism looks rather different. This point is reflected in a home affairs committee report on the roots of violent radicalisation, that is published today, and to which I gave evidence. As the report points out, while al-Qaida-inspired terrorism remains the dominant threat, the challenge from extremism is becoming more varied, and hence requires a more holistic approach.

In particular, the report notes that one form of extremism that has remained neglected for too long is the far right. Though often derided as a lunatic fringe or a movement of "ignoramuses and bigots", the far right continues to escape our serious attention. As the report points out, one view held by many is that government strategy on counter-extremism "only pays lip service to the threat from extreme far-right terrorism". In contrast, and after collecting evidence from a range of different experts and opinions, the committee concluded there was "persuasive evidence about the potential threat from the growth of far-right organisations", and that "[t]he Prevent Strategy should outline more clearly the actions to be taken to tackle far-right radicalisation".

• Arthur Goldwag: McCarthy, Beck, and the New Hate [The Atlantic, February 7, 2012]

Though Beck's visibility on television has decreased since his contract with Fox News expired at the end of 2011, his paranoia-fueled flag waving has already earned him a fortune; the passion he puts behind his message--of "self-empowerment, entrepreneurial spirit and true Americanism--the way we were when we changed the world, when Edison was alone, failing his 2,000th time on the lightbulb," as he puts it--is clearly heartfelt. But why does it resonate so powerfully with so many ordinary Americans who, lacking his extraordinary vocal endowments and his vast talent for self-promotion, can ill afford to give up such government entitlements as Social Security and Medicare?

• Female Neo-Nazis Not Just Hangers-On [New York Times, February 8, 2012]

"Typically women in the far-right scene are viewed by the general public either as devotees of their neo-Nazi boyfriends, or as being equally violent as the men," said Michaela Glaser, a researcher on far-right extremism with the German Youth Institute in the eastern city of Halle.

"Typically women in the far-right scene are viewed by the general public either as devotees of their neo-Nazi boyfriends, or as being equally violent as the men," said Michaela Glaser, a researcher on far-right extremism with the German Youth Institute in the eastern city of Halle.

While the German authorities keep detailed statistics on politically motivated extremists and the crimes they commit, little data is kept on the women active in the scene, which includes followers of extreme nationalist, racist or anti-Semitic ideologies, who reject the nation's democratic principles.

• Kim Murphy: White supremacists revive dream of a homeland in Northwest [Los Angeles Times, February 9, 2012]

A decade after the dissolution of the Aryan Nations compound in northern Idaho and the arrest of the Montana Freemen, white supremacists, far-right militias and radical patriots have revived their dream of a homeland in the Northwest.

In 2010, residents in several parts of Idaho woke to find Easter eggs tossed on their lawns - courtesy of the not-dead-yet Aryan Nations. The eggs contained jelly beans and solicitations to "take back our country and make it great, clean, decent and beautiful once again."

In October, a federal jury convicted Spokane-area resident Wayde Kurt of firearms violations in a case prosecutors said stemmed from Kurt's membership in the white supremacist group Vanguard Kindred.

In a sentencing memorandum, federal prosecutors said Kurt discussed with an FBI informant a plan for what he called an act of terrorism "of the worst kind," comparable to the Oklahoma City federal building bombing, that "would mean a death sentence if he is caught."

• Anna Mulrine: Threats to US: Pentagon officials drop three surprises [Mother Jones, February 16, 2012]

Senior US military and intelligence officials are warning of their growing concern that rogue "radical" elements are operating - or preparing to operate - "within the ranks" of the intelligence community and armed forces.

"The potential for trusted US government and contractor insiders using their authorized access to personnel, facilities, information, equipment, networks or information systems in order to cause great harm is becoming an increasingly serious threat to our national security," said Lt. Gen. Ronald Burgess, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"Trusted insiders now have unprecedented access to US government information and resources in secure work environments," he added.

He warned of those who have become "self-radicalized," as well as "lone wolves," particularly "within our ranks."

• Germany's far right marches out of the shadows: Neo-Nazis in the country are if anything more brazen after the apparent discovery of a cell of racist killers [The Guardian, February 23, 2012]

The police in Germany are "blind in the right eye", say critics. "A 17-year-old in Nuremberg, where I live, was almost beaten to death by a neo-Nazi and the police didn't take it at all seriously," said Idil, a 19-year-old student attending an anti-Nazi counter-march in Dresden earlier this month. The boy, a Kurdish friend of hers, was left for dead in April 2010 after remarking on a Thor Steinar accessory carried by his attacker's girlfriend.

Extreme rightwingers are not only operating in the shadows - some of them sit in state parliaments as representatives of the National Democratic party (NPD). Interior ministers at local and national levels are looking at the logistics and possible consequences of banning the party after two former members were arrested on suspicion of helping the NSU during their 11 years on the run.

The NPD's top brass deny all links with terrorism. But they do not try hard to hide their Nazi sympathies: a recent report in Der Spiegel noted that the Germanic Elhaz rune, the symbol of the Third Reich's "Lebensborn" programme, which supported the production of racially pure Aryan children, hangs above the entrance of their office.

• Far right unites in European initiative [The Independent, February 27, 2012]

They achieve notoriety through a mix of combustible characters and often ugly protests, yet are kept on the political margins due to infighting and ill thought-out policies. But, next month, at a meeting in Denmark, some of Europe's most notorious right-wing groups will meet for the European Counter-Jihad Meeting.

Those attending could witness the birth of a right-wing movement, the European Defence League - and the beginning of a dangerous new phase in extremist politics.

Representatives from defence leagues in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the USA, Italy, Poland and Finland are due to attend, along with the anti-Muslim groups Stop Islamisation of Europe, Stop Islamisation of the World and the far-right European Freedom Initiative. It is feared the new umbrella organisation could co-ordinate right-wing activities across Europe while politicising and unifying disparate groups. The idea, which is being championed by the English Defence League (EDL), could be modelled on the European Union - with delegates from participating countries meeting regularly.

• Far-right supporters agree with armed attacks [The Guardian, March 3, 2012]

The first audit into the attitudes and beliefs of Britain's rightwing extremists, collated in a report by the thinktank Chatham House, will reveal that there is a "significant level of support" for planned violent attacks.

Next month the trial will begin of Anders Behring Breivik, the far-right extremist who has confessed to the murder of 77 people in Norway last July. Breivik, an Islamophobe, said he carried out the attacks on Utoya Island and Oslo to help protect Europe from a "Muslim takeover".

• The European Parliament's hand-out to the far-right [New Statesman, March 5, 2012]

The fight against anti-semitism has just got a whole lot more difficult. The Conservatives, Socialists and Liberals in the European Parliament have just decided to extend a massive subsidy to promote political anti-semitism. ?289,266 of taxpayers' money will now be given to openly anti-Jewish parties like Hungary's Jobbik, whose MEPs tried to take their seats in Strasbourg wearing the uniform of the anti-Jewish Hungarian Guard. Krisztina Moravi headed the Jobbik list in the last European Parliament elections and declared she "would be glad if the so-called Hungarian Jews went back to playing with their tiny circumcised dicks instead of vilifying me."

Another beneficiary is the British National Party, whose leader and senior MEP, Nick Griffin, has denied the holocaust and whose only lengthy publication, Who are the Mindbenders?, accused Jewish journalists of forming a secret lobby to control the media. Griffin has moved on to plough the more politically profitable furrows of Islamophobia and anti-immigrant xenophobia but across the European far-right the threnody of a disappeared national identity lost of Jewish influence remains strong.

Predictably, le grandpère of anti-semitic parliamentary politics, Jean Marie Le Pen, who is still an MEP at the age of 83 after decades of anti-Jewish sneers, will also benefit from the handout. The European Parliament grant has been given to the European Alliance of National Movements, (EANM) a grouping of 13 far-right parties. Only three of them have MEPs - eight in total from Britain's BNP, France's Front National, and Hungary's Jobbik.

• MEPs address homophobia in Hungary [Gay Star News, April 14, 2012]

Members of the European Parliament's Intergroup on LGBT Rights have expressed their concern over rising homophobic sentiments in Hungary. Their statement follows reports that police have banned the 2012 Pride march in Budapest and that the Hungarian far-right political party Jobbik has submitted anti-gay laws to the country's parliament.

Ulrike Lunacek, MEP and co-president of the Intergroup on LGBT Rights declared: 'These repeated attempts to ban the march impede on freedom of assembly! The police can argue all they want, the Metropolitan Court already ruled the pride march legal by Hungarian standards.

'It's shameful for conservative powers to wage such a war against an even which most Hungarians really have no problem with - especially at a time when real issues like increasing poverty should the centre of public attention.'

• Court overturns police ban on Budapest gay pride march [All Hungary Media, April 16, 2012]

• Frank Bruni: Round Up the Usual Scapegoats [New York Times, April 23, 2012]

Hungary could also be a window into just how potently economic anxiety fans the flames of bigotry. E.U. membership hasn't brought Hungarians the broad prosperity they had hoped for; the country has had severe budgetary woes of late. And the far-right party I mentioned, Jobbik, has converted these disappointments into questions about the country's orientation to the West and, for good measure, about its supposed coddling of Jews, gays and Roma: Hungary's trusty trinity of scapegoats.

This month Jobbik introduced a bill that refers to homosexuality as a perversion and bans its promotion in language so vague, opponents say, that two men or two women holding hands in public could theoretically be imprisoned.

That bill is almost certainly going nowhere. Jobbik has only 46 of the 386 seats in Parliament and most Hungarians don't support the party, which is better at noise than change. It has, for instance, been agitating for the ouster of Robert Alfoldi, the director of the National Theater, whom Jobbik supporters publicly deride for his presumed homosexuality.

• Peter Popham: Rise of far right threatens to pollute politics across Europe [The Independent, May 7, 2012]

They may not have claimed ultimate victory, but the biggest winners of the elections in France and Greece were the parties of the extreme right. Fringe parties, some of them routinely labelled "neo-Fascist" until recently, have made stunning inroads into mainstream European politics, to the point that in France, Norway, Finland, Hungary and Austria they either hold or threaten to hold the balance of power. Governments are increasingly faced with the choice of either giving ground on hot-button issues such as immigration and Islam, or ceding power. ...

The leader of Chrysi Avgi ("Golden Dawn"), Nikos Michaloliakos, would not have been given the time of day in most EU countries only a short while ago. An open admirer of Hitler (he has called him "a great personality of history"), Mr Michaloliakos has adopted the Nazi salute and a version of the swastika as his party's emblem. One of his candidates in this election remarked laconically: "Most of the money is in the hands of the Jews." At the last election Golden Dawn polled a derisory 0.29 per cent; this time they are expected to crash through the 3 per cent threshold to end up with a dozen MPs in parliament.

• Editorial: Rise of the far right: simpler and uglier [The Guardian, May 8, 2012]

Just as worrying, though, is the steady tramp of mainstream politicians marching towards them. Antonis Samaras, the leader of New Democracy, promising to repeal a law giving citizenship to the children of legal immigrants, and Nicolas Sarkozy adopting the language of the Front National in the last two weeks of his doomed campaign are the two most recent examples. The contamination of the political debate affects everyone. François Hollande felt he had to harden his position on immigration by saying that in a crisis a cap on economic migration was not only necessary but indispensable. This leaves indelible marks. If Mr Sarkozy pick-pocketed Marine Le Pen's programme, he did so at the risk of alienating the centrist vote. Mr Sarkozy is now history, but Ms Le Pen is still very much present, trying to convert the 17.9% she won in the first round into parliamentary seats in June. She will do so in the knowledge that Mr Sarkozy's cameo appearance as president has weakened the centre right.

John A. Harnick: " 'It was all an innocent misunderstanding.' I think not."



Adam Weinstein: Marines Sport Nazi SS Flag in Afghanistan
[Mother Jones, February 9, 2012]

The Marine Corps' scout snipers in Afghanistan could probably use a safety stand-down. Just weeks after news broke that one elite unit of the forward-deployed Marines urinated on the corpses of dead Afghans, a photo has surfaced of another unit posing proudly beside a flag of the Nazi's killer SS troops. The Marine Corps Times reports:

        The stylized "SS" logo appeared in a photograph of the platoon taken in September 2010 in Sangin district, Afghanistan, a hotly contested area in Helmand province. The Marines were with 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif.

        The I Marine Expeditionary Force inspector general based at Pendleton was made aware of the "SS" flag photo in November of last year, said Capt. Gregory Wolf, a spokesman at Marine Corps headquarters. The issue has been addressed with the Marines involved, Wolf said. He did not say what specific action was taken beyond ordering Marines to stop using the logo.

The photo in question is not the only one documenting usage of the logo: A second image (embedded below) shows the SS logo emblazoned on a Marine's rifle.

The Marines' story is that the unit used the flag "to identify the Marines as scout snipers, not Nazis." The symbolic appropriation may indeed be unwitting, but witlessness is no more desirable a trait in downrange warriors than malice is. ...

Why is this making news now? Several Marines who were concerned about the photos contacted Mikey Weinstein (no relation), president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit that watchdogs religious intolerance in the armed services. Their behavior, Weinstein told me, "eviscerates good order, morale, and discipline," in addition to angering non-Americans and alienating survivors of the Nazis' atrocities....

[Continued here]

• Dan Lamothe: Marine scout snipers used Nazi SS logo [Marine Times, February 8, 2012]

The logo appeared on a flag in a photograph of the platoon taken in September 2010 in Sangin district, a hotly contested area in Helmand province. The Marines were with Charlie Company, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., and are shown sitting in combat gear with the U.S. flag and a blue flag with the stylized "SS" logo hanging behind them.

The logo also appears on a 7.62mm M40 sniper rifle carried by a Marine in another photograph distributed Thursday by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. Information embedded electronically with the image shows that it was released by the Marine Corps in 2004 and taken at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms, Calif. The two Marines in it were with the scout sniper platoon with 1st Battalion, 7th Marines. ...

"We don't have all the information, but we know enough to know the Marine Corps needs to open a full investigation," said Mikey Weinstein, the foundation's president. "If these guys just get a non-judicial punishment, it's absolutely absurd."

The SS, or Schutzstaffel, was a paramilitary organization under the Nazi Party. It committed a variety of war crimes, and was outlawed by Germany after World War II. ...

"The implication of these photographs, if true, should be readily apparent," the letter said. "If the use of the Nazi insignia has been, in any way, condoned or tolerated by the Marine Corp.[sic], the implications are abhorrent to everything for which our country is fighting and the constitutional principles for which it stands."

• Anna Mulrine: Nazi flag incident puts culture of Marine snipers in spotlight [Mother Jones, February 10, 2012]

The now widely circulated photograph comes on the heels of a video which captured Marine squad leader and others urinating on dead Taliban fighters. The Marine Corps says it is still investigating that incident.

The service also has drawn recent criticism for a trial of Marines who killed two dozen Iraqi civilians at Haditha, Iraq, in 2005. The head of the unit responsible for the killing was charged with dereliction of duty and sentence to serve 90 days in the brig - jail time which the Marine commander waived.

Critics said the light sentence for the unit leader - and the decision to drop charges against others associated with the Haditha shooting - failed to convey the seriousness of the Marines' actions. ...

Pentagon press secretary George Little weighed in on the photograph on Friday, as well.

"Racist and anti-Semitic symbols have absolutely no place alongside the men and women of America's armed forces. [Defense] Secretary [Leon] Panetta has asked the Marine Corps to look into this matter and to take appropriate action," he said in a statement.

• Yes, There is a Base in Afghanistan Named "Aryan," and it is Spelled "Aryan" [AlterNet, February 15, 2012]

Wait a minute! The same military that just last week was excusing the use of the Nazi SS flag by our Marines by saying they were too historically ignorant to know it was a Nazi flag are now saying that our military members are such a bunch of history whizzes that it would be general knowledge among them that Ariana was the ancient Greek name for Afghanistan?

Well, despite the DoD's insistence that the base is named "Arian" with an "i," it's not. It is absolutely named "Aryan" with a "y," a name that had already raised concerns among some, but those concerns were just joked about and ultimately ignored.

John A. Harnick: "If you don't want to be called a HOMOphobe, then stop acting like one."



"Dr." Phil McGraw [Wikipedia]

Phillip Calvin McGraw (born September 1, 1950) best known as Dr. Phil, is an American television personality, author, former psychologist, and the host of the television show Dr. Phil, which debuted in 2002. McGraw first gained celebrity status with appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show in the late 1990s. ...

McGraw graduated in 1975 from Midwestern State University with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology. He went on to earn a Master of Arts in experimental psychology in 1976, and a Doctor of Philosophy in clinical psychology in 1979 at the University of North Texas, where his dissertation was titled "Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Psychological Intervention". ...

After starting CSI, McGraw ceased the practice of psychology. He maintained his license current and in good standing until he elected to retire it 15 years later in 2006.... Magraw's license is currently listed by the Texas State Board of Psychology as "retired" and he holds no other active licenses to practice in any other state. According to Texas State Law, McGraw could still be open to a charge of practicing without a license in Texas, since his show is broadcast in that state. ...

McGraw's advice and methods have drawn criticism from some fellow psychotherapists as well as from some laymen. McGraw's critics regard advice given by him to be at best simplistic, and at worst, ineffective.

[Continued here]

• Dr. Phil McGraw: Six Lawsuits and Scandals [Daily Beast, March 17, 2011]

He could probably use some time on his own couch. Dr. Phil McGraw, TV's most famous shrink, is currently in the middle of not one, not two, but three lawsuits that range from embarrassing to weird to serious.

John A. Harnick: "The whole bloody Food Network is a veritable nest of HOMOphobes."



Guy Fieri Loathes Gays and Jews, Says Former Food Network Producer
[SFist, October 17,2011]

Guy Fieri (née Guy Ferry) hosts Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on the Food Network. It is (in)famous as one of the most unpleasant shows in Food Network history. (The Two and a Half Men of FN, if you will.) So it should come as no great shock that, according to David Page, a former producer of DDD, Ferry isn't too keen on the gays and the Jews. Allegedly.

According to Minneapolis City Pages (via DListed), Fieri allegedly thinks about having to work with gay people:

        [He] needed protection from homosexuals, or at least advance warning. Early in the show's run, Page got a phone call from Fieri, who'd just walked out of a restaurant in a huff. "

        Guy had decided that the two men running the restaurant were life partners," Page remembers. "He said, 'You can't send me to talk to gay people without warning! Those people weird me out!'" From then on, show researchers were required to note any indications of homosexuality detected during pre-interviews.

[Continued here]

• Guy Fieri Lawsuit Gets Racist, Homophobic, Scatological [October 13, 2011]

Bobby Flay, Guy Fieri, Unknown, Emeril Lagasse

John A. Harnick: "And yet another big, old DEAD HOMOphobe."



Muammar Gaddafi, Who Jailed Homosexuals And Said HIV/AIDS Only Affects Gays, Is Dead
[The New Civil Rights Movement. October 20, 2011]

Gaddafi (also, "Moammar Gadhafi," or, "Qaddafi," or, "Mu'ammar Al-?Qadhafi", among others,) in 2003 had claimed that only homosexuals can contract HIV/?AIDS, no doubt contributing to the spread of the disease. As the autocratic ruler of Libya, Gaddafi jailed homosexuals, and made sexual relations between members of the same sex a crime.

[Continued here]

• Libya's Moammar Gadhafi has been killed [CBC, October 20, 2011]

John A. Harnick: "One more frightful old HOMOphobe goes to his just deserts."



Andy Rooney, a Cranky Voice of CBS, Dies at 92 (1919—2011)
[New York Times, November 5, 2011]

Andy Rooney, whose prickly wit was long a mainstay of CBS News and whose homespun commentary on "60 Minutes," delivered every week from 1978 until 2011, made him a household name, died on Friday in New York City. ...

Mr. Rooney's opinions sometimes landed him in trouble. In 1990, CBS News suspended him without pay in response to complaints that he had made remarks offensive to black and gay people.

The trigger was a December 1989 special, "A Year With Andy Rooney," in which he said: "There was some recognition in 1989 of the fact that many of the ills which kill us are self-induced. Too much alcohol, too much food, drugs, homosexual unions, cigarettes. They're all known to lead quite often to premature death." He later apologized for the statement.

But the gay newspaper The Advocate subsequently quoted him as saying in an interview: "I've believed all along that most people are born with equal intelligence, but blacks have watered down their genes because the less intelligent ones are the ones that have the most children. They drop out of school early, do drugs and get pregnant."

[Continued here]

Adir Steiner: "The message is clear: Someone, somewhere is lurking,
waiting for all of us with a loaded gun, wishing us dead."

    

A year on from Tel Aviv shootings, young survivors visit Berlin memorial
[Pink News, August 27, 2010]

[Note: As of June 1, 2011, these murders remain unsolved.]

A year after the shootings at a Tel Aviv LGBT youth centre in which two young people died, over a dozen teenagers who were present at the attack have undertaken an organised trip to Germany.

The trip, which took place this week, was organised by the German organisation Maneo, as part of a campaign to support Tel Aviv's gay community after last year's fatal attack.

During the trip, the young delegates met with Berlin police officials and members of the local LGBT community.

On Wednesday, Maneo held a memorial service for the two young people killed in the attack - Nir Katz and Liz Trubishi - near Berlin's monument commemorating the gay and lesbian victims of the Nazi regime.

[Continued here]

• Two killed in shooting at Tel Aviv gay center [Haaretz, August 1, 2009]

A gunman shot dead two people and wounded at least 15 others in an attack at a central Tel Aviv gay and lesbian center Saturday night before fleeing the scene.

Israel Police said that the incident at the club on Nahmani Street did not have a terror motive. The two victims were initially identified as a 24-year-old man and a 17-year-old woman.

Witnesses told Israeli television that the black-clad, masked gunman stormed into the Tel Aviv Gay and Lesbian Association building and opened fire in a basement room where gay teenagers were holding a weekly support group.

Most of the casualties were minors, a police spokesman said, adding that the assailant was believed to have used an automatic weapon such as an M-16 rifle.

Channel 10 television reported that a police manhunt for the gunman was underway in the city. The channel also said that police had closed all the gay clubs in the area following the attack.

Witnesses said the gunman entered the center at around 11 P.M. and opened fire in all directions.

• World shocked by gay center attack [Ynetnews, August 2, 2009]

The Israeli gay and lesbian community received wide-spread support on Sunday from several international organizations following the shooting attack at the gay and lesbian youth center in Tel Aviv Saturday night. The incident cost the lives of Nir Katz and Liz Trubeshi and injured many others. Prominent foreign media outlets covered the incident extensively.

• Jerusalem Hosts Subdued Gay Pride March: Thousands of Israeli Police Guard Participants [MSNBC, 2010]

Carrying rainbow banners, several thousand demonstrators walked along the 1.5 mile (2.5 kilometer) route. A few dozen black-suited ultra-Orthodox Jewish protesters at the beginning and end of the route held signs denouncing homosexuals, with slogans like "Gay Play in Hell, Not Jerusalem." Many ultra-Orthodox Jews consider homosexuality an abomination.

Marchers said such opposition has forced the gay community of Jerusalem underground in most parts of the city.

"In a religious society, a lot of people still don't realize we actually exist," said Sarah Weil, 26, who helps run an organization for lesbians who are also Orthodox Jews.

The march marked the one-year anniversary of a shooting attack at a Tel Aviv gay youth center that killed two.

"This is first of all a march of mourning," said organizer Yonatan Gher, "and at the end we will try to put the mourning behind us and look forward to the coming year, and declare tonight the beginning of gay rights year."

[Note: Far too many Jews failed to learn the lessons of the Holocaust, or continue to ignore them.]

• Hardship of Israeli [gay] teens takes starring role in special conference [Haaretz, July 14, 2011]

From an early age Dotan Brom had an image of the ideal man: the macho guy who drives ATVs on the beach, serves in the commandos and sleeps with as many women as possible. That's how it is, he explains, when you grow up in the sticks. Brom, 25, was raised in the Jezreel Valley where, he says, the model for masculinity is very clear. "If you're gay, you're not a real man," he says.

He was in middle school when he realized he was attracted to boys. "At first I wanted to fix myself," he says. Before entering high school he shared his secret with his closest friends. "My best friend told me [being gay] didn't make sense according to evolution," Brom says. Such reactions kept him in the closet. Brom's parents eventually learned of his sexual orientation from other people. He enlisted in a Nahal unit, and pretended to be straight.

He came out publicly after the army. He now lives in the Jezreel Valley town of Migdak Ha'emek, trying to help teens facing similar issues. As a volunteer at Hoshen, the education center of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community in Israel, Brom goes to schools and talks about his experiences. He also formed a group focusing on sexual orientation in the Mahaneh Olim scouting movement.

• Israel LGBT youth conference cancelled [Pink Paper, August 5, 2011]

An international LGBT youth conference will no longer be held in Israel after Palestinian gay groups complained.

The International LGBTQ Youth and Student Organisation (IGLYO) general assembly was to be held in Tel Aviv in December.

However, Palestinian gay groups said that holding the event in Israel would inflame tensions and prevent delegates from some Middle East countries from attending. ...

British rabbi David Mitchell told the Jewish Chronicle that young gays and lesbians in Israel could be left isolated, while Gary Sakol of the Zionist Federation said: "The lesbian and gay community should be celebrating the freedom of choice people have in Israel, rather than moving the conference away due to pressure from small groups."

However, the Palestinian Queers Group accused IGLYO of failing to address the "underlying issues" of the problem with regard to Israel-Palestine relations.

• Two years after still-unsolved murder,Tel Aviv's GLBT club in dire financial straits [Haartz, August 8, 2011]

On the second anniversary of the murder that took place at the Bar Noar club in Tel Aviv, the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Association finds itself facing economic difficulties that threaten the future of its activities. At the same time, the police do not have a lead with which to solve the murder of Nir Katz and Liz Trubeshi that took place at the club on Saturday night, August 1, 2009.

Shaul Gannon, the club's director, says that the club needs just a few thousand shekels a month to continue operating. "Some NIS 2,000 - that's the whole story," he says. "But we don't have anywhere to get it. For other places, this sum may be peanuts; but for us, it is a huge amount."

Mike Hamel, the chairman of the GLBT Association in Israel, says: "The problems stem from the fact that the association's budgets are so poor. We live in a state of total budgetary uncertainty. We have already passed the half-year mark and we don't know where we stand."

Hamel says the association has yet to receive its budgetary support for 2011 from the Tel Aviv Municipality and government ministries.

The GLBT club, located in Ahad Ha'am Street in Tel Aviv, is open every Saturday evening. It serves as a meeting spot for youth from Tel Aviv and outside the city. The number of participants has grown greatly in the past two years, and some 60 or 70 adolescents participate every week in the activities there. Since the murder, an armed guard has been stationed outside the club during such activities. Many of the youth and the counselors say they will not participate unless there is a security guard present.

"Paying for the guard makes things very difficult for us," says Gannon. "There is no one who is prepared to pay for the guard. Regrettably, the club does not get support from the Tel Aviv Municipality and I don't understand why. We also have difficulty raising donations. ...

Since August 1, 2009, when an armed man entered the Tel Aviv club and shot and killed Nir Katz, 24, and Liz Trubeshi, 16, the police have been trying to solve the murder. The commander of the Tel Aviv Central Unit, Shlomi Michael, who has headed the team looking into the case, is due to leave his post in the next few days. Michael was given an unlimited budget and the investigation has been one of the most expensive ever carried out by the police in Israel. More than 1,000 people have been interrogated and there has been extensive intelligence work in an attempt to find the murderer. Anyone who was mentioned in connection with the affair was called in for questioning. A court order was issued forbidding publication of anything to do with the affair and nothing more has been published about the investigation.

When the former commander of the Tel Aviv District of the police, Shahar Ayalon, retired from the force earlier this year, he told Haaretz: "I believe the case will be solved but it will be during the term of the next district commander. We know that the murder was not perpetrated by a ghost. The concern was that we were talking about a psychopath who would act again and we were waiting for him to strike once more, but there was no other attempt. In the months after the murder, we were in close contact with members of the GLBT community and we knew all about their activities in Tel Aviv."

Members of the central unit said that they were convinced the case would eventually be solved. They said the investigation was going on at pace and that suspects were still be questioned.

• David Harris: "Israel and 'Pinkwashing'": What Was the New York Times Thinking? [Huffington Post, November 27, 2011]

Again, let me be clear. Schulman is not the main issue here, whatever her insidious outlook.

Rather, it's the decision of a leading newspaper to allocate coveted space to "Israel and Pinkwashing," whose author, described only as a professor, doesn't even believe in Israel's right to exist, irrespective of how it deals with gay issues. "Whitewashing the Truth" might have been a more fitting title.

• Ultra-Orthodox 'Torah Declaration' Calls For Ex-Gay Therapy For All Who 'Struggle' With Homosexuality [Think Progress, November 28, 2011]

A group of ultra-Orthodox Jewish leaders have secretly passed around a "Torah Declaration" on "The Torah Stance on Homosexuality." It rebukes homosexuality as being "not an acceptable lifestyle or a genuine identity" and assumes that gays are by definition "unable to find happiness in a loving relationship." To abide by the Torah, the Declaration stridently demands ex-gay therapy, including of teenagers, to repair "childhood emotional wounds." ...

This declaration is incredibly more dismissive of the lives of gays and lesbians than the more affirming Statement of Principles many Modern Orthodox rabbis signed in July 2010. These theology-based therapies, along with the notion that gays are incapable of love and doomed to loneliness, present an incredible potential for harm to young people. Jayson Littman, who published the declaration publicly for the first time today, shared a quote from ultra-Orthodox Rabbi Chaim Rapoport: "I am not obligated to believe in a failed therapy because it fits my theology better." Point in fact, these rabbis are using their theology to deny decades worth of scientific knowledge, oblivious to the incredible threat they pose to young people's mental health in doing so.

• Jayson Littman: Wanted: Orthodox Rabbis to Sign Anti-Gay Declaration (posted here) [Huffington Post, November 28, 2011]

The full text of this secret Declaration, which has not been released to the public -- until now -- is posted below. I am releasing it here because I am certain that despite the signatures already included, plenty of other ultra-Orthodox rabbis will disagree. More importantly, this Declaration -- and these rabbis endorsing it -- will certainly cause anguish to the gay and lesbian Orthodox Jewish community, which has fought so hard for acceptance. Finally, I am certain that if reparative therapy is presented as the sole option, many individuals seeking guidance from rabbis or mental health professionals will be harmed -- indirectly by others, and perhaps even directly by harming themselves.

• RCA Reaffirms Policies regarding Same Sex Attraction and Marriage, while Clarifying its Position on Reparative Therapy [Rabbinical Council of America, December 12, 2011]
• Secret freedom at Tel Aviv's 'Palestinian Queer Party' [Times Of Israel, April 20, 2012]

Chiseled, scantily clad men danced onstage. Strobe lights flashed as the bass echoed. The smell of cologne wafted through the air. There were kisses - one on the right cheek, one on the left - and friendly embraces everywhere.

It could have been any Tel Aviv club, really, except it wasn't. It was a Friday night and I was at my first Palestinian gay dance party in south Tel Aviv.

People greeted each other in Arabic: Kif inta? Shu 'jdid? The stereo wailed, inti 'omri! - you are my life! - as the DJ played hit after hit by Egyptian and Lebanese pop stars Amr Diab, Nancy Ajram and Sherine. No Eyal Golan or Justin Timberlake here.

And there were drag queens, dressed to the nines in high heels and short skirts, with bows in their very long, very straightened hair.

(Click on image to enlarge)

Don't boycott World Pride Jerusalem [The Guardian, June 12, 2006]

The campaign to boycott World Pride Jerusalem is gearing up again. World Pride Jerusalem, initially scheduled for August 2005, was cancelled because of the disengagement plans, and rescheduled for this year.

This week's Jewish Chronicle (subscription) reports that a Palestine Solidarity Campaign spokesman expressed strong support for the boycott of World Pride Jerusalem, saying: "We invite people to take a solidarity trip to occupied Palestine instead and see for themselves the oppression endured by the Palestinian people."

I don't know if the guy was being ironic or what, but this piece of advice is totally off the wall. I hope gay people will think twice before taking it, and remember that while it is unclear at the moment whether sodomy is illegal or not in the PA, the Palestinian authorities routinely arrest, jail and torture gay men. There are also several reports of gay "escapees", who fled abuse in Palestine and now live illegally in Tel Aviv or other Israeli cities.

Those who call for a boycott of World Pride Jerusalem choose to ignore the violent persecution of LGBT people in Palestine. The struggle for Palestinian statehood is a progressive cause, but those on the left who support it should worry when the people in charge in Palestine tolerate terrorism, but don't tolerate gay people: a senior Hamas leader has called gays "perverts" and "mentally and morally sick".

[Continued here]

• Gay groups condemn World Pride boycott calls [Pink News, June 9, 2006]

The boycott is supported by Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism (QUIT) and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Diane Langford, Women's Officer for the Palestine Solidarity Campaign said: "Jerusalem is such an appalling choice of venue, exactly the kind of endorsement the colonial power seeks, end the occupation, justice for Palestine, peace and justice and civil rights for LGBT Palestinians!"

But gay group Outrage's Peter Tatchell called the idea a "a tragic betrayal," he told the Jewish Chronicle, "For all its faults, the Israeli state does not jail and torture [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people] because of their sexuality.

"The Palestinian state does. We find it shocking that much of the left is silent about this violent victimisation of Palestinian queers."

Jack Gilbert, former president of the World Congress of Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual and Transgender Jews, told the paper: "The boycotters aren't interested in the violent and degrading homophobia in the Palestinian Authority, or in creating understanding between cultures. They're interested in bashing Israel. Their campaign is anti-Semitic in content and homophobic in effect."

• World Pride Jerusalem 2006 pictures

• Jerusalem Gay Bar Closes [JNation, November 16, 2007]

n a case of winning the battle but losing the war, Jerusalem's beleaguered homosexual community won a series of high profile court victories in recent years permitting its controversial gay pride celebrations - but this week the capital's only alternative gender-orientation bar closed, apparently due to financial problems.

Shushan Pub, located on a gritty street of the same name tucked away behind Kikar Safra and the Jaffa Road post office, was as much a political statement as it was a business. But co-owner Saar Netanel notes, "Ideology does not pay the rent."

Operating the bar six nights a week was physically exhausting, he adds.

"It was a kind of home for many people," he says, a unique locale where where haredim, Palestinians, and religious and secular Jews mixed. "When they left Shushan, each returned to his own ghetto," he laments. "Even straight people came. I could see the fear on their faces the first time they entered."

Netanel, 36, opened the nightclub in 2003, the same year he was elected to the Jerusalem City Council as the No. 2 candidate on the Meretz list. He became the first openly gay man to serve as a city councillor in Israel. (In 1998 Michal Eden became the first lesbian elected to the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality.)

In an indication of the animosity the tiny gay and lesbian community faces in tradition-bound Jerusalem, arsonists attempted to torch Shushan two years ago. Every year, with the approach of the capital's gay pride parade, extra police patrols were assigned to guard the bar's patrons.

Gay and lesbian IDF soldiers complain of widespread sexual harassment
[Haaretz, August 16, 2011]

More than 40 percent of gay and lesbian soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces were sexually harassed during their time in the military, according to a recent study by the Israel Gay Youth organization. The report is based on a sampling of 364 gay and lesbian soldiers currently serving in the IDF or who were discharged over the past year.

Of the sample, 40 percent reported verbal abuse and 4 percent reported physical abuse as well.

According to 45 percent of respondents, homophobic remarks are very frequent or frequent in the units in which they serve or served. Soldiers serving in combat units reported such remarks more frequently - 59 percent said they had heard them.

The study showed that although 63 percent of the sample had come out to their friends in civilian life, only 32 percent had revealed their sexual orientation to their fellow soldiers or to their direct commander.

According to the study, in recent years the IDF has acted extensively to improve service conditions for gay soldiers and increase the awareness of commanders to the issues involved.

[Continued here]

• ADF members call for end to gay hate [Sydney Star Observer, December 15, 2011]

The Australian Defence Force's (ADF) gay and lesbian social network says anti-homophobia education for defence personnel must improve following revelations 40 ADF members who joined a gay-hate Facebook page in 2010 have escaped punishment.

During a Defence Department investigation, conducted over the last 12 months, no charges were laid against any ADF members found to have joined or contributed directly to the gay-hate page which labelled gay service personnel "pillow biters" and "bum bandits" and outed some ADF members.

Defence LGBTI Information Service (DEFGLIS) chair Stuart O'Brien said issues of homophobia in the force should not be swept under the carpet.

"DEFGLIS will seek further improvements to LGBTI education and awareness training, potentially on an annual basis," O'Brien said.

Peter Tatchell: "This is just the latest barbarity by the Islamo-fascists in Iran."

    

Iran 'must stop youth executions' [BBC, July 28, 2005]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Iran was in breach of international agreements it had signed up to.

The call follows last week's public hanging of two youths convicted of still unclear sexual offences.

Iran insists the youths were convicted of raping a younger boy. However gay rights organisations say the youths were executed for being homosexual. ...

In a statement issued on Thursday, HRW said Iran was one of only five countries to continue executing juveniles and called for an end to what it called an inhumane punishment.

The Iranian judiciary has reacted angrily to the international outrage surrounding the public hanging of Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni, whom rights activists claim were aged 16 and 18.

Officials said they had been sentenced to whipping and hanging for rape, drinking alcohol and disturbing public order, and deserved the punishment they got.

Rare, close-up pictures of the execution were rapidly published on the internet. In them, officials can be seen placing nooses around the necks of the two obviously distressed, young men.

[Continued here]

• Pictures From An Execution Come Into Focus [Washington Post, July 20, 2006]

Not since they confronted snapshots of a slightly built young man named Matthew Shepard and the fence where he was left for dead in 1998 by two drug-addled no-hopers in Laramie, Wyo., have gay people been so agitated by a set of photographic images. Protesters brought black-and-white reproductions of the pictures -- which show the public execution last year of two teenage boys in Iran -- to a rally in Dupont Circle yesterday afternoon. The images were also used in other protests, at least 26 in countries around the world, according to bloggers involved in organizing them, and the images are displayed in the windows of Lambda Rising bookstore, near Dupont Circle.

The pictures show a dismally sad drama: Two young men, identified by the Associated Press as aged 16 and 18, are seen shackled in a prison van, sobbing; one of them is then seen being led to a scaffold; other shots show the boys together with dark-hooded men placing nooses around the boys' necks; and two final images show their bodies hanging from ropes, in a large public square, as a crowd watches from a distance.

------------8<------------

• [Al] Qaeda Selection of Its Chief Is Said to Reflect Its Flaws [New York Times, June 16, 2011]

One dark tale from Mr. Zawahri's past is recounted in "Growing Up Bin Laden," a 2008 memoir by Bin Laden's son Omar bin Laden. He describes an episode in Afghanistan in the 1990s when a friend - a teenage boy - was raped by several men in the camp where they lived. The men snapped photos of the abuse and circulated them as a joke.

Mr. Zawahri was incensed by the photo, believing that the young man was guilty of homosexual activity, Omar bin Laden wrote. Mr. Zawahri had the teenager put on trial and condemned to death.

"My friend was dragged into a room with Zawahri, who shot him in the head," he wrote. The episode was a factor, he said, in his decision to break with his father and leave Afghanistan.

------------8<------------

• Iran giving out condoms for criminals to rape us, say jailed activists [The Guardian, June 24, 2011]

Prison guards in Iran are giving condoms to criminals and encouraging them to systematically rape young opposition activists locked up with them, according to accounts from inside the country's jail system.

A series of dramatic letters written by prisoners and families of imprisoned activists allege that authorities are intentionally facilitating mass rape and using it as a form of punishment. ...

"The situation is such that those exposed to rape even have an owner and that owner makes money by renting him out to others and after a while selling him to someone else."

• Iran refuses to let in UN's human rights monitor [The Guardian, July 18, 2011]

Ahmad Shaheed, the former Maldivian foreign affairs minister, was appointed by the UN in June to look into human rights violations in Iran, leading to much criticism from the regime in Tehran.

According to the Tehran Times, the state English-language newspaper, Mohammad Javad Larijani, Iran's secretary general of the high council for human rights, said: "The western-engineered appointment of a special rapporteur for Iran is an illegal measure."

Larijani - whose brothers Ali and Sadegh Larijani are Iran's speaker of the parliament and head of the judiciary - added: "This unilateral action makes no sense and if they want to send a special rapporteur to Iran, they should take the same measure in the case of other countries."

Shaheed's appointment was the result of concerted warnings by various human rights organisations against Iran's current record of human rights.

In recent years, rights groups have expressed concerns over the arbitrary arrests of political activists, the sharp rise in the country's rate of execution and claims of torture and rape inside Iran's prisons.

According to the organisations that have been monitoring Iran, in the first six months of this year an average of almost two people a day were executed.

• Iraq: Stop Killings for Homosexual Conduct [Human Rights Watch, August 17, 2009]

Iraqi militias are carrying out a spreading campaign of torture and murder against men suspected of homosexual conduct, or of not being "manly" enough, and Iraq authorities have done nothing to stop the killing, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Human Rights Watch called on Iraq's government to act urgently to rein in militia abuses, punish the perpetrators, and stop a new resurgence of violence that threatens all Iraqis' safety.

The 67-page report, "'They Want Us Exterminated': Murder, Torture, Sexual Orientation and Gender in Iraq," documents a wide-reaching campaign of extrajudicial executions, kidnappings, and torture of gay men that began in early 2009. The killings began in the vast Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City, a stronghold of Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, and spread to many cities across Iraq. Mahdi Army spokesmen have promoted fears about the "third sex" and the "feminization" of Iraq men, and suggested that militia action was the remedy. Some people told Human Rights Watch that Iraqi security forces have colluded and joined in the killing.

"Iraq's leaders are supposed to defend all Iraqis, not abandon them to armed agents of hate," said Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. "Turning a blind eye to torture and murder threatens the rights and life of every Iraqi."

• Iran public execution outrages human rights groups [The Guardian, July 22, 2011]

A disturbing video of the public execution of three men in Iran has sparked anger among human rights activists.

The graphic video, released by Amnesty International on Thursday, showed guards standing on top of buses draping ropes around necks of three convicts sentenced to death by hanging after being convicted of rape. The men were later hanged from an overhead bridge after the vehicles drove away.

The executions, which took place on 19 July in the western city of Kermanshah, home to Iran's Kurd minority, attracted significant crowds, including children. Some of the crowds appear to be filming hangings by mobile phones.

The video, which was supplied to Amnesty by an Iranian human rights activist, Fazel Hawramy from kurdishblogger.com, highlights the use of public executions, in which officials publicly hang convicts from a large crane or a high place in front of crowds.

"What is so alarming about this video is the apparent normality of the event. Thousands of people are watching as if it were a football match. People are shouting and cheering. But what is most shocking is the participation of children in this barbaric 'spectacle'," Hawramy said.

• Escaping Iran: How two men fled their homes and families for an openly gay life [XTRA, August 16, 2011]

Some degree of safety is something most gay people in Canada take for granted every day. For Amir and Ahmad, however, it's a recently acquired gift. After facing death threats from family members because of their sexuality, in a country where homosexuality can be a capital crime, the couple fled Iran to find safety in Toronto's gay village earlier this spring.

Their journey was anything but easy. It started when the two bloggers met while Ahmad was completing his military service in Amir's hometown. The two realized they were both part of Iran's queer blogging scene and quickly became friends, then fell in love.

"I was in a relationship with [Ahmad], and my mother noticed that our relationship was not like a normal friendship," says Amir. "It meant something, but she did not know exactly what. In the last year that I was in Iran, my family tried to force me to get married to a girl. One day, my mom went to a girl's place and talked to her parents and arranged everything. She gave me two options: either this girl or that girl, just choose and we will finish everything."

Amir and Ahmad decided to move to Karaj, a larger city a few hours outside of the capital, Tehran, but Amir says Ahmad's family "started calling us. and they used all sorts of bad words and told me, 'You are the responsible person and we want him back.'"

• Susan Henking: Coming Out Twice: Sexuality and Gender in Islam: A Conversation with Scott Kugle [Religion Dispatches, August 24, 2011]

Susan Henking: As you know, when Gary David Comstock and I published Que(e)rying Religion: A Critical Anthology in 1997 it was not easy to find material on Islam and homosexuality, so I was thrilled to learn of your work. What do you think explains the shift?

Scott Kugle: The field of Islamic Studies has changed drastically over the past two decades, and new conditions within this field of study have made it easier to do research and write about homosexuality and transgender behavior in Islam. I'm speaking of the United States academy here, but similar things were happening in the global network of university inquiry.

• Yashar Ali: Losing My Identity: Only Gay When I'm Not Iranian [Huffington Post, August 25, 2011]

The morning after my father sent his letter, my mother called and told me that under no circumstances could I ever reveal my sexual orientation to any Iranian friends living in the U.S. or any of our relatives in Iran. Her tone wasn't one of concern, she was angry -- as if revealing my sexuality to our Iranian family and community would lead to some catastrophic event.

Initially, her demand didn't bother me very much. I was just happy to have my immediate family and friends know about my sexuality. But soon, I began to feel as if the walls were closing in around me. Because of the restrictions imposed by my parents, I slowly began to lose my identity.

A year and a half later, at my sister's wedding, my relatives and Iranian friends bombarded me with questions about my dating life. Did I have girlfriend? Would I be getting married soon? "No," I said, "I'm too busy, I haven't met anyone I like."

My scripted response became progressively more defensive throughout the night as I felt myself slipping away. ...

My mother always behaved as if this imposed denial of my sexuality from our circle of family and friends was for my own protection. She claimed that she didn't want me to be hurt and didn't want my disclosure to prevent me from visiting my relatives in Iran. I realize now that she wasn't protecting me, she and my father were only protecting themselves from the shame they felt. ...

What has been most painful about my coming out experience is that my parents' behavior towards my sexuality has reminded me of the pain I felt in elementary school: the shame, the isolation, the knot in my stomach as I walked to school, and me wanting nothing more than to run out and free myself.

My parents have always made it clear that they love me unconditionally. But unconditional respect for who I am as a person was something they couldn't grant me. ...

I decided that it was no longer up to my mother and father to control whether I live authentically. At age 31, I need to take responsibility for my own life, despite their attempts to place me in a box -- one created to fit their needs of what they see as acceptable for their son.

I told them that I would be writing about my sexuality and other topics that they would probably deem as private. Their response, to say the least, was not pleasant. They said, "We just don't want to be hurt."

It was so frustrating for me to see those words across my computer screen. They didn't want to be hurt? Even though it was unintentional, the pain caused by their demand was overwhelming. And they were concerned about being hurt? I had enough.

I made it clear to them that the option of denying my identity to protect their shame can no longer be the case -- I will gladly not have them in my life if they refuse to support me. The idea that I should suffer because I share genetic material with someone was absurd to me.

• How Lesbians Live in Iran [Daily Beast, August 27, 2011]

Four years after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared there are no gays in Iran during a speech at Columbia University, an Iranian-American filmmaker courageously portrays an unusual story of two Iranian lesbians who struggle under religious and cultural repression to explore their sexuality.

Iranians are, in general, culturally hesitant to publicly talk about their private lives and sexuality, so the sex scenes between two schoolgirls Atefeh (Nikohl Boosheri) and Shireen (Sarah Kazemi) in Circumstance, take the viewer to the most extreme parts of Iranian underground lifestyle.

While Maryam Keshavarz's portrayal is bold, and addresses a major taboo in Iran, many lesbians who actively live and love in the shadows there say the movie is not necessarily a true portrayal.

• Six people were hanged in Iran yesterday: Three men were executed convicted of sodomy [Iran Human Rights, September 5, 2011]

According to the reports from Iran, six people were hanged in the Karoun prison of Ahvaz (southwest of Iran) early Sunday morning September 4th.

The state run Iranian news agency ISNA reported that three of those executed were sentenced to death by the Ahvaz revolution court, convicted of "unlawful" acts and acts against Sharia, based on the articles 108 and 110 of the Iranian Islamic penal code. Articles 108 and 110 of the Iranian Islamic Penal code are part of the chapter covering the punishment of "Hadd" for "sodomy". Article 108 says: "Sodomy (or Lavat) is sexual intercourse between men", and article 110 says:"Punishment for sodomy is killing; the Sharia judge decides on how to carry out the killing".

• UN reports on violent attacks on LGBT in Iraq [LGBT Asylum News, September 7, 2011]

A report [PDF], released by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) says that attacks on LGBT in Iraq continued in 2010.

The report claims the 2,953 civilian deaths it attributed to violence in 2010 were mostly carried out by insurgent and terrorist groups. It stressed that minorities, women and children suffered disproportionately from these abuses. ...

The report says that during the Universal Periodic Review at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva in February 2010, Iraq expressly and officially rejected calls by UN member States to act to protect persons on account of their sexual orientation or gender identity, and to investigate homophobic hate crimes and bring perpetrators to justice.

• 2010 Report on Human Rights in Iraq (*.pdf file) [Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights/Assistance Mission for Iraq, January, 2011]

• Iran executes three gay men for sodomy [Independent, September 7, 2011]

Iran's judiciary have executed three men for sodomy in a case that sheds new light on the official persecution of gay men and women in the authoritarian Islamic Republic.

According to a news report carried by the Iranian Student News Agency, the men were put to death by hanging on Sunday morning at Karoun prison in the south western city of Ahvaz. The agency quoted Abdolhamid Amanat, an official at the prosecutor office in Khuzestan Province, as the source of the announcement.

In total six people were executed. According to the published charges, two men were put to death for robbery and rape and one was executed for drug trafficking.

But in an unusual announcement the prosecutor office also admitted that three other men were sentenced for "lavat", the phrase used in Islamic law for sodomy. The names of the three men have not been given - only their initials M.T, T.T and M.Ch.

Human rights groups have said the case is significant because gay men that come before the courts are usually charged with acts such as sexual assault and rape - crimes that convey an element of coercion rather than consensual sex between two willing participants. ...

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, a researcher at Iran Human Rights who is investigating the executions, told The Independent: "Iranian authorities have previously presented such cases as rape, in order to make the execution more acceptable and to avoid too much international attention, but this time the news is not presented as rape."

He added: "This case is the only one in recent years where the only basis for the death sentence has been a sexual relationship between two men, with reference to the articles 108 and 110 of the Islamic Penal Code. These articles are very clear."

• Iran gays: "We Are Everywhere" [Same Same, September 12, 2011 ]

Members of the Iranian gay and lesbian community have uploaded videos and audio messages of themselves on "We are everywhere," a campaign utilising Facebook in a bid to highlight the discrimination that faces members of the gay and lesbian community in Iran.

The brave individuals of the We Are Everywhere Facebook campaign have posted videos and audio messages which encourage individuals to share their stories online, attempting to shed light on the issues facing gay and lesbian residents both in and outside Iran. ...

As you watch the heartfelt videos and listen to the struggles of the Iranian individuals, take a moment to think of the grave injustice facing Iranian people. Just like you and I they search for no more than the right to exist freely and openly in the world in which we all share.

• UN Report Spotlights LGBT Rights Abuses in Iran [The Advocate, November 4, 2011]

The United Nations Human Rights Committee issued a groundbreaking report Thursday that puts LGBT human rights abuses in Iran in the spotlight for the first time and recommends that the government make changes. The document, which carries legal weight in the international system, could become a powerful tool for advocates working to improve conditions in the country and other parts of the world.

The report follows a long-awaited review of Iran's compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the major treaty governing international human rights. The treaty currently has 166 state signatories, and countries typically undergo review at least every five years. The Islamic Republic of Iran, which ratified the treaty without reservations in 1975, had not submitted to review in 18 years.

• Op-ed: Melanie Nathan: The Legacy of the Bush War on Iraqi Gays [The Advocate, December 19, 2011]

With the lowering of the American flag, finally off Iraqi soil as it returns home to the United States, and the ecstatic familial greetings of soldiers returned, the Bush Iraq War is over. It may always be regretted by LGBT Iraqis. They have suffered alongside all Iraqis, not only as a result of the vanquished Saddam Hussein regime, nor only collaterally from American bombing that comes with the brutal nuances of that particular war, but also because of adversity imposed by being "outed" by militias, and because of brutality by religious fanaticism that has taken hold of post-Saddam Iraq.

While none will debate the imperative demise of Hussein, many Iraqi gays may well have preferred that brutal reign to what they have since faced. With the war, quiet non-disclosure and occasional homophobic targeting gave way to a voracious endeavor by lawless militias, and they unleashed violence against gays in unprecedented fashion. Trillions of dollars, blood, limbs and lives are all part of the mayhem that provides the context for this added persecution.

Gay Iraqis had to run, and they are still running. One estimate cited by Gay Middle East says that more than 700 LGBT people have been killed since the U.S. led invasion, with thousands more suffering violence, discrimination and abuse on a daily basis.

• Letter from Islamic states reveals stark opposition to gay human rights: Fifty-six Islamic states refuse to acknowledge gay rights are human rights in a letter to the UN [Gay Star News, March 2, 2012]

The letter concludes that all 56 member states of the OIC are opposed to the panel 'Discrimination and Violence based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity' being held at all and 'will not accept its considerations and recommendations'.

The statements have huge repercussions for LGBT people living the Islamic world, suggesting the 56 countries in the IOC do not recognise that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights includes the rights of LGBT people not be discriminated against or have violence directed towards them.

• UN discusses LGBT discrimination: From the US to Japan, LGBT rights advocates urge the world to tune into the UN Human Rights Council's panel discussion on LGBT discrimination on Wednesday [Gay Star News, March 5, 2012]

Spokesperson for Gays Without Borders San Francisco, Michael Petrelis said they wanted to use 'the UN debate to bring expanded visibility to the maiming and killing of LGBT persons, and calling for further UN action'.

LGBT representatives in the US, UK, Australia, Poland, Turkey, Chile, Italy, Greece, Kenya and Japan signed the letter, which concludes:

        "As the UN Human Rights Council prepares for the historic March 7 discussion, we will do all within our power to observe the proceeding and use it wisely to spur more action by the UN to exert influence to increase aware of the acts of violence perpetrated against persons based on their sexual orientation or gender identity."

• Report: 40 People Kidnapped, Tortured, Murdered in Surge of Anti-Gay Violence in Iraq [Towelroad, March 5, 2012]

Via press release from the IGLHRC:

        The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission has today received reports from Iraq of a wave of targeted killings of individuals who are perceived to be gay or lesbian. According to Iraqi human rights activists, in early February 2012, an unidentified group posted death threats against "the adulterous individuals" in the pre-dominantly Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad and Basra. The threats gave the individuals, whose names and ages were listed, four days to stop their behavior or else face the wrath of God, and were to be carried out by the Mujahedin. According to sources inside Iraq, as the result of this new surge of anti-gay violence close to 40 people have been kidnapped, brutally tortured and murdered. The Iraqi authorities have neither responded to this targeted violence nor have they publically denounced it. It is widely believed that these atrocities are being committed by a group of the Shiite militia.

• Syrian paper claims gays are 'infesting society' through uprising [Pink News, March 9, 2012]
• Is the Iraqi Government Killing LGBT People? [Vice, March 9, 2012]

A couple of days ago, The International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission put out a report claiming that LGBT Iraqis are being targeted by death squads.

According to the report, early last month notices were posted on the houses of suspected LGBT citizens in Baghdad and Basra, warning that they had four days to reformat their sexuality, or face the wrath of God. According to sources inside Iraq, these 40 people were then abducted, tortured and eventually murdered.

• Iraq militia stone youths to death for "emo" style [Reuters, March 10, 2012]

At least 14 youths have been stoned to death in Baghdad in the past three weeks in what appears to be a campaign by Shi'ite militants against youths wearing Western-style "emo" clothes and haircuts, security and hospital sources say. ...

The killings have taken place since Iraq's interior ministry drew attention to the "emo" subculture last month, labeling it "Satanism" and ordering a community police force to stamp it out. ...

At least 14 bodies of youths have been brought to three hospitals in eastern Baghdad bearing signs of having been beaten to death with rocks or bricks, security and hospital sources told Reuters under condition they not be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

• Iraqi government complicit with emo and LGBT massacres [Pink Star News, March 10, 2012]

The Iraqi Interior Ministry knew about the plan to massacre 'emo' youths and LGBT people and are complicit in up to 100 killings, new evidence suggests.

Gay Star News can exclusively reveal that Iraqi officials had a list of people who were scheduled for slaughter but did nothing to protect them.

And a new list has been posted, naming future targets from Iraq's student population with the killings due to start tomorrow (11 March) or Monday (12 March).

As Gay Star News reported yesterday, the kidnappings, torture and murders started on 6 February and have targeted those with alternative dress codes or have differing sexualities. ...

Bissam, of Gay Middle East, told us: 'It is commonly assumed that most emos are "fags", feminine (in the case of boys) or masculine (in the case of girls), and Satan worshipers. Girls wearing short skirts, tight trousers (called 'stretch') are also singled out as morally corrupt and therefore legitimate targets.'

• Iraqi 'emo' youths reportedly killed by conservative militias [BBC, March 11, 2012]
• Iraq religious militias target 'emo' youths : Religious militias in Iraq have singled out a new target, killing scores of young men dressed in "emo" fashions, according to human rights groups [Daily Mail, March 11, 2012]

Shia militias like the "Mahdi Army" loyal to a radical Shia cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr, fought the Americans until being defeated in 2008. They have now joined the political process, but still enforce a rigid view of society in poor Shia areas where they are dominant, like the giant Sadr City neighbourhood in Baghdad.

Their attacks on homosexuals began in 2009. The fact that the Mahdi Army's political wing, the Sadrists, is now part of a coalition government has served to encourage them "It is a great shame that this attack on personal freedoms is taking place," said Saad al-Mutallibi, a politician close to the prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, who estimated the number of deaths on "moral" grounds as in the 50s. ...

One man who was attacked but managed to escape told an Arabic-language newspaper: "First they throw concrete blocks at the boy's arms, then at his legs, then the final blow is to his head, and if he is not dead then, they start all over again."

Another man, defending his right to wear long hair, said: "My hair is long but it doesn't mean that I'm emo. My clothes are my personal style - this is my freedom, this is me."

• Fear as death squads hunt Iraq's gays and "emos" [Reuters, March 12, 2012]

One photograph, which the man keeps on his mobile phone, is a portrait of a handsome youth with a stylish haircut. The other, a printed snapshot taken last month, shows the body of the same young man lying sprawled in the back of a white pickup truck, his head disfigured by blunt trauma.

According to a police report, Saif Asmar was found bludgeoned to death in the afternoon on February 17.

"They laid him down on the pavement and smashed his head with a cement block," said his 25-year-old friend, who works as a doctor's assistant and also as a gay activist under the pseudonym Roby Hurriya. He did not disclose his real name.

Homosexuals have lived in fear in Iraq for years, notably since religious militia claimed control of the streets in the sectarian warfare that followed the U.S.-led invasion of 2003, which toppled Saddam Hussein. But Hurriya - whose adopted surname means "Freedom" in Arabic - says a surge in killings in the past two months is by far the worst he has seen.

• Ahmed, Gay Iraqi Man, Describes Escaping Death Sentence, Prison Rape In Emotional Video [HuffPo, April 11, 2012]

The alleged slaying of at many as 58 "emo" Iraqi citizens who are either gay or believed to be gay has sparked concerns from international human rights organizations, with many fearing Iraq may be returning to the rampant level of hate crimes against homosexuals as seen in 2009.

As Out magazine is reporting, the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) recently released a video which aims to bring the issues facing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Iraqis into focus.

In the video, a gay man identified simply as Ahmed recalls the story of an ex-boyfriend's betrayal and its aftermath. Ahmed's boyfriend disclosed private photos of the couple to family members, after Ahmed had refused to continue financially supporting him. "One day my sister called me. She said that six of my uncles...received a small envelope under the main gates of their houses. A letter was written with the CD, 'Your son is one of Baghdad's biggest gay b*tches." Ahmed claims his uncles were then planning to organize an "honor killing," which have long been utilized by Islamic militas to preserve the idea that families should be led by opposite-sex partners, after receiving the package.

After Ahmed had an encounter with religious police, who took him to their high court, he is thrown into jail, where he claims he was subjected to rape and other abuses. "The judge said, 'You are accused of being a homosexual. I want to tell you something. You don't deserve to live, and you're a shame for your family and the Iraqi nation.'"

• 'My family wanted to shoot me for being gay': Iraqi medic tells how he fled his homeland as 90 Emo-style youngsters are victims of honour killing [Daily Mail, April 13, 2012]
• Homosexuals are inferior to dogs and pigs, says Iranian cleric [The Guardian, April 18, 2012]

Citing the Qur'an, Javadi-Amoli said politicians who pass laws in favour of homosexuals are lower than animals. "Even animals ... dogs and pigs don't engage in this disgusting act [homosexuality] but yet they [western politicians] pass laws in favour of them in their parliaments."

Homosexuality is punishable by death according to fatwas issued by almost all Iranian clerics. Until recently, Lavat (sodomy for men) was punishable by death for all individuals involved in consensual sexual intercourse.

But under new amendments approved recently in the Iranian parliament the person who played an active role will be flogged 100 times if the sex was consensual and he was not married, but the one who played a passive role will still be put to death regardless of his marriage status.

• Iran executes 'gangster' for allegedly engaging in 'unlawful' same-sex activity [LGBTQ Nation, April 29, 2012]

The Iranian Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRAN) stated that the reference to "despicable heinous act" indicates that the death penalty was carried due to same-sex acts. However the judiciary regulatory office in Fars Province was unwilling to give more precise information about the case and the type of sexual activities of the executed man.

• Gay Iranians to be executed [Sydney Star Observer, May 17, 2012]

Four gay Iranian men are due to be executed for sodomy under Shari'a law, Pink News reports.

The four men - identified by the Human Rights Activist News Agency in Iran as Saadat Arefi, Vahid Akbari, Javid Akbari and Houshmand Akbari - are to be hanged after their guilty verdict was approved by high court judges.

"I am horrified and saddened to have heard the news about these four men," London-based Iranian human rights lawyer Mehri Jafari told Pink News.

"Not only with regards to the execution which is about to take place, but the fact that is beyond our control."

The news comes just two days ahead of the release of a new report on the problems faced by LGBT people in Iran.

In April, The Guardian reported that Ayatollah Abdollah Javadi-Amoli, an influential cleric and an Islamic scholar from the Iranian city of Qom, referred to homosexuals as inferior to dogs and pigs in a speech.

"If a society commits a new sin, it will face a new punishment," Javadi-Amoli said, according to The Guardian's translation of a report by the Iranian news website Khabaronline.

"People call it bachabaze which literally means 'playing with boys'."



The dancing boys of Afghanistan [The Guardian, September 12, 2009]

The night's rituals unfolded slowly. In a small house in a village near the town of Taluqan in northern Afghanistan, a dozen men huddled in a cold, dark room, wrapped in thick blankets and squatting on red cushions. The wind sliced through a plastic sheet nailed to a wooden frame in the mud wall, and a strong aroma of hashish lingered in the air.

A young boy brought a small metal pot, poured warm water on the men's hands and dried them with a small, stinking towel. Dinner was served: plates of meat stew, thick loaves of bread and bowls of yogurt. Then, when the meal was over, one of the guests opened his sash and pulled out four small bottles of Tajik vodka. Solemnly and with half-embarrassed smiles, the men raised their glasses, whispered, "Salamte" and drained them.

As more vodka was drunk, the party grew louder. Its host - a former Taliban commander now in alliance with the Afghan government and Americans - chatted jovially to his guests, mainly local farmers and shopkeepers. Then one of the men produced a sitar and a dancer entered the room.

Dressed in a flowing shirt and long, red skirt, with sherwal pants beneath and small silver bells fastened to hands and feet, the dancer stepped across the floor, face hidden behind a red scarf. The bells chimed with the movement, the skirt brushing past the watching men who stretched out their hands to touch it. The sitar player sang loudly, a love song about betrayal. The dancer twisted and sang hoarsely with him, arms thrown high above a lean, muscular body, moving faster and faster until finally the scarf dropped, revealing a handsome young man's face with traces of a moustache and beard. One of the men quickly grabbed the scarf and started sniffing it.

[Continued here]

• The sexually abused dancing boys of Afghanistan [BBC, September 7, 2010]

It's after midnight. I'm at a wedding party in a remote village in northern Afghanistan.

There is no sign of the bride or groom, or any women, only men. Some of them are armed, some of them are taking drugs.

Almost everyone's attention is focused on a 15-year-old boy. He's dancing for the crowd in a long and shiny woman's dress, his face covered by a red scarf.

He is wearing fake breasts and bells around his ankles. Someone offers him some US dollars and he grabs them with his teeth.

This is an ancient tradition. People call it bachabaze which literally means "playing with boys".

The most disturbing thing is what happens after the parties. Often the boys are taken to hotels and sexually abused.

• The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan [PBS]
• Ignored by society, Afghan dancing boys suffer centuries-old tradition [CNN, October 26, 2009]
• Foreign contractors hired Afghan 'dancing boys', WikiLeaks cable reveals [The Guardian, December 2, 2010]

A scandal involving foreign contractors employed to train Afghan policemen who took drugs and paid for young "dancing boys" to entertain them in northern Afghanistan caused such panic that the interior minister begged the US embassy to try and "quash" the story, according to one of the US embassy cables released by WikiLeaks.

In a meeting with the assistant US ambassador, a panicked Hanif Atmar, the interior minister at the time of the episode last June, warned that the story would "endanger lives" and was particularly concerned that a video of the incident might be made public.

The episode helped to fuel Afghan demands that contractors and private security companies be brought under much tighter government control. However, the US embassy was legally incapable of honouring a request by Atmar that the US military should assume authority over training centres managed by DynCorp, the US company whose employees were involved in the incident in the northern province of Kunduz.

• Radhika Coomaraswamy: Afghanistan: Child Soldiers and Dancing Boys [The Huffington Post, February 8, 2011]

As we landed in Kabul, we were informed that Hamida Barmaki, her four children and husband had been killed in a suicide bomb attack on a supermarket in the centre of town. According to intelligence, the bomber was aiming at private contractors attached to Xe, formerly Blackwater. Instead, they killed Afghanistan's leading child rights activist, a member of the independent Human Rights Commission, a beloved professor and someone respected by all sides to the conflict. Such is the tragedy of Afghanistan.

• Michael Luongo: Visiting The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan [The Advocate, April 21, 2010] • Wikileaks reveals Texas contractor pimped little boys to Afghan cops [San Francisco Examiner, December 19, 2010]

Many on the left and right, even in the State Department, are clamoring to have Wikileaks declared a terrorist organization, with little regard to the actual definition of terrorism. They claim that the released information endanger the lives of some of the people named in the cables. Of course the real reason, as we'll see, is that cockroaches can't stand the light of day. To the extent that revealing secret corruption endangers the lives of the corrupt the onus of responsibility falls on the secret keeper not the whistle blower. Wikileaks is a "threat" because it challenges the secrecy on which authoritarian hegemony depends.

Here's an example.

A revealing cable from Kabul describes a meeting between US Assistant Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli and Afghan Minister Hanif Atmar on June 23. During the meeting Atmar expresses concern that publicity over what he calls the "Kunduz DynCorp Problem" could "endanger lives." Sound familiar? He asks Mussomeli to "quash any news articles on the incident or circulation of a video connected with it."

So what is the Kunduz DynCorp Problem? What super secret that must be kept to protect lives?

DynCorp is the US corporation contracted by the US government to train the Afghan Police force. Reportedly 95% of its $2 billion annual revenue comes from taxpayers. Well, some of that money was flowing into a child prostitution ring. On April 11 DynCorp apparently threw a party at the Kunduz Regional Training Center where prepubescent boys were dressed in women's clothing and made to dance seductively as they were sold as sex slaves to the highest bidder.

• Amitai Etzioni: Stop Enabling Pedophilia [Huffington Post, January 4, 2012]

While leaders of the West repeatedly declare that they are out to make Afghanistan into a society free of corruption, with a stable democratic government and one that respects human rights, they turn a blind eye to such moral basics as protecting children from systemic sexual abuse.

At the time the West helped liberate Afghanistan in 2001, pedophilia had been largely curbed by the Taliban. However, since then, numerous Pashtuns have abused the new freedoms to revert to a long tradition of molesting young boys. ...

A U.S. Defense Department report entitled "Pashtun Sexuality" quotes a favorite Afghan saying: "Women are for children, boys are for pleasure." It notes that Pashtun culture fetishizes young men and that "'beautiful' beardless boys are coveted, almost as possessions, by men of status and position for sexual relationships." The report reveals that boys are forcibly removed from their homes, to travel with and be used by Afghan security guards. The Frontline investigation found that Afghan police officers attended parties with the so-called "dancing boys." President Karzai signed a UN agreement banning bacha bazi in early 2011. However, a July 2011 report by Musa Khan Jalalzai, the Executive Editor of the newspaper Daily Outlook Afghanistan, notes that the "Interior Ministry has failed to arrest powerful rapist warlords in Northern Afghanistan."

• Ernesto Londoño: Afghanistan sees rise in 'dancing boys' exploitation [Washington Post, April 5, 2012]

A growing number of Afghan children are being coerced into a life of sexual abuse. The practice of wealthy or prominent Afghans exploiting underage boys as sexual partners who are often dressed up as women to dance at gatherings is on the rise in post-Taliban Afghanistan, according to Afghan human rights researchers, Western officials and men who participate in the abuse.

"Like it or not, there was better rule of law under the Taliban," said Dee Brillenburg Wurth, a child-protection expert at the U.N. mission in Afghanistan, who has sought to persuade the government to address the problem. "They saw it as a sin, and they stopped a lot of it."

'Playing with boys' Act 2, Scene 1



Exclusive: The Catholic Church's Secret Gay Cabal [Gawker, July 28, 2011]

John C. Favalora is a sallow old man who looks like the corpse of Dom DeLuise. He likes attractive young men to sit on his lap and allegedly treats them to trips in the Florida Keys. He was, until recently, part owner of a company that makes "all natural" boner-inducing beverages. He's also the Archbishop Emeritus of Miami.

Favalora, who was the most powerful Catholic official in Southern Florida from 1994 until last year, stands accused of cultivating what one group of pissed-off Catholics describes as a corrupt "homosexual superculture" in the 195 churches, schools, missions, seminaries, and universities that constitute the Miami Archdiocese. If their allegations are to be believed, for sixteen years Favalora ran his organization like the don of a lavender mob, rewarding his favorite homosexual sons and forgiving their many indiscretions-rampant sex, hedonism, embezzlement, alcoholism, and the railroading of chaste priests among them-while punishing those with the temerity to complain. Wanton hedonistic gay sex is of course unobjectionable-even encouraged!-among those not in thrall to the idea that God hates your penis. But for the 500-or-so priests and deacons charged by The Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI with ensuring the spiritual integrity of 1.3 million of God's children in Southern Florida, it's.unorthodox.

Favalora's accusers are loosely organized under the name "Christifidelis," and in 2005 they undertook an extensive investigation of priestly misbehavior in the Archdiocese. They now believe their findings resulted in Archbishop Favalora's sacking last year, and his replacement by a manly, conservative workaholic named Thomas Wenski. The leader of Christifidelis, an attorney named Sharon Bourassa, declined to comment for this story. But it hardly matters. Christifidelis's exertions on behalf of Mother Church are recorded in an enormous, binder-bound document entitled "Miami Vice: A Preliminary Report on the Financial, Spiritual, and Sexual Improprieties of the Clergy of the Miami Archdiocese." Today, for the first time, Gawker is releasing portions of it to the public.

[Continued here]

• A Priest, a Reporter and His Boyfriend Walk Into a Gay Bar. [Gawker, July 28, 2011]

Reporter Brandon K. Thorp explains how his investigation into the "lavender mob" running the Catholic Archdiocese of Miami - published here earlier today - came to be, and why the existence of a lively and hidden gay subculture within an institution devoted in part to demonizing homosexuals is an untenable and corrosive hypocrisy.

I first heard about the sodomy endemic in the Catholic Archdiocese of Miami last November, when I was drinking at a gay bar with my boyfriend, the journalist Penn Bullock. The bar was Sidelines; a sporty little place on the gayest street in Wilton Manors, Fla., which is maybe the gayest little town in America. It's not the kind of place into which heterosexuals wander by mistake.

There was a Catholic priest at the bar.

LAPD Ends Relationship with Boy Scouts, Cites Anti-Gay Policy
[Edge Boston, December 28, 2009]

A youth program associated with the Los Angeles Police Department will no longer be affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America, due to the BSA's policy of excluding gays, atheists, and agnostics.

The Explorer's Program, which the Boy Scouts created in 1949, has served since 1962 as a means of giving youth interested in law enforcement practical experience by allowing them to assist the LAPD with crowd monitoring, clerical work, and other tasks. But now the program is set to be re-vamped, dropping both its old name and its last ties to the BSA, which has provided insurance to participants through its Learning for Life program....

But the Boy Scouts' policy of excluding gays, atheists, and agnostics clashes with the city's non-discrimination policies, and the Police Commission has determined that the LAPD will no longer associate with Learning for Life. The new program will commence on Jan. 1, 2010, and will rely in part on donations.

"It's bittersweet in the sense that the Boy Scouts or Learning for Life have been part of this for a long time--in name only--but the LAPD is committed to a better program and we can do that without having discrimination," Police Commissioner Alan Skobin said.

Openly gay Police Commissioner Robert Salzman said that the new program, which he has helped devise, would be "as good or--I'm confident--better than the program it replaces."

Continued Salzman, "The Boy Scouts are clear that they discriminate based on sexual orientation, gender identity and religion, and the result of that is I could not be active on the Boy Scouts."

The Boy Scouts have defended their exclusion policy, taking the battle to the U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld the group's right, as a private organization, to determine who may belong. But the group has continued to generate controversy, since it is in some cases entwined with city programs.

[Continued here]

• Boy Scouts Of America Embraces GLSEN's 'No Name-Calling Week,' Anti-Bullying Event Established By LGBT Organization [Huffington Post, January 24, 2012]

Le Papa ... but not in a good way ... "The Morally Blind Leading the Morally Bankrupt"



In Extravagant Visit, Morally Compromised Pope [Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger] Lectures
Europe On Morality [Truth Wins Out, August 22, 2011]

It was bad enough that Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Madrid cost $72 million dollars during a worldwide economic downturn. (I don't understand why it costs so much. The Rolling Stones are just as famous and tour all of Europe for considerably less).

However, it is galling that the pontiff, who is presiding over a worldwide pedophile-scandal, claimed moral superiority over the majority of fiercely secular Europeans. At Sunday Mass, the Pope warned Catholics that they "will be swimming against the tide in a society with a relativistic culture, which wishes neither to seek nor hold on to the truth."

That's rich coming from a man who held a key leadership position in a church where a shocking number of clergy raped children, then were systematically shuffled around from church to church to protect the institution's reputation. Can anything possibly be more relativistic and less truthful than the way the Vatican handled (and continues to handle) this sickening crisis?

Please, Mr. Pope - given your record, you are about the last person on earth that should be preaching morals and values. Furthermore, can anyone really argue that Europe is worse off since it has become less religious? As much as the Pope whines, he can't escape the fact that a non-believing Europe has been remarkably peaceful, civilized, and prosperous. Sometimes, it seems like he yearns for the good ole' days of religious wars, persecution, and sectarian intolerance.

It is ironic that the less influence Rome has had, the more Christ-like Europe has become.

[Continued here]

• Spanish police foil gay kiss-in protest against Pope Benedict XVI [Times of India, August 19, 2011]

Spanish police on Thursday foiled plans by 100 gays and lesbians to stage a kiss-in on the route the visiting Pope Benedict XVI took through Madrid, blocking the protesters before they could meet up.

The activists had planned to join up on the major artery Calle Serrano along which the pope later travelled in his white, bullet-proof popemobile for a welcoming cermony in Plaza Cibeles square.

But a few hundred metres from their planned meeting point and an hour before the pope passed by, a cordon of police block the demonstrators' way and forced them to disperse.

About 50 of the protesters kissed each other in front of the police, who outnumbered them, in the central Plaza Colon square less than a kilometre (half-mile) from the papal ceremony.

Nearby, a group of young Roman Catholics chanting "Here are the youth of the pope" were kept apart from the protesters by police.

The protest had been organised on Facebook by a group defending homosexual and transexual rights said their spokesman, Jaime del Val.

• Charlotte Taft: The USCCB and the US Congress: The Morally Blind Leading the Morally Bankrupt [RH Reality Check, October 18, 2011]

In their righteous search to control women's lives thank GOD Congressmen have the guidance of a church that excommunicated the doctor who provided an abortion for a nine year old Brazilian rape victim, but had no sanctions against the rapist. Thank GOD they are led by a church in which the ordination of a woman is a grave sin-on a par with the molestation of a child. Thank GOD they are the puppets of a church that claims the right of supposedly celibate men to control the most intimate aspects of a woman's life including whether or not she uses birth control and how many children she has. And a church that, thank GOD, doesn't seem particularly concerned with the role of men in any of this.

• God Cuts Off Pope Benedict's Anti-Gay Marriage Screed [Think Progress, August 22, 2011]

Pope Benedict XVI was forced to cut short his anti-gay marriage speech in Madrid this weekend after "powerful winds and sheets of rain struck at a vast air base, whipping off his skullcap, shaking the stage and knocking over at least one tent."

• Thousands protest Pope's anti-sex policies [2B Online, September 26, 2011]

During his official visit to his home country on Thursday, Joseph Ratzinger (aka Pope Benedict XVI) was greeted by thousands of people protesting the Catholic Church's stance on sex and sexuality. The group of 9,000 (organizers say 15,000) gathered during the pontiff's speech in from of Berlin's Reichstag to decry the Vatican's anti-condom, anti-gay policies.

Gays, lesbians, bisexuals, trans people, sexual assault survivors, atheists and secularists gathered in an upbeat mood that belied the seriousness of their demands.

The slogans chanted by the demonstrators were evocative: "Pope GO HOME!" and "Condom instead of Petersdom!", which is what the Germans call St Peter's Basilica. LGBT organizations dominated the crowd, but there was an undeniable presence of sex abuse victim organizations, some of which demanded "apologies and damages" for the assaults they suffered while in the care of Church as children.

• Bishops Are Behind the 'Let Women Die' Act and the Push Against Birth Control — Even As They're Under Fire for Sex Abuse Scandals [AlterNet, October 17, 2011]

Last week, the House's passage of the now-notorious H.R. 358 -- also known as the "Let Women Die" bill -- caused deserved outrage. But the bill's connection to the high-ranking Catholic group that fought for its passage, even while the American church is fighting a horrific new sex abuse scandal, hasn't been given the attention it deserves.

The new bill (which the president has vowed to veto) would essentially obliterate abortion coverage by both public and private insurers, and most egregiously get hospitals off the hook for refusing to perform abortions for women whose lives are in immediate danger. It would literally allow hospitals to let women die with impunity.

• The USCCB and the US Congress: The Morally Blind Leading the Morally Bankrupt [RH Reality Check, October 18, 2011]

In their righteous search to control women's lives thank GOD Congressmen have the guidance of a church that excommunicated the doctor who provided an abortion for a nine year old Brazilian rape victim, but had no sanctions against the rapist. Thank GOD they are led by a church in which the ordination of a woman is a grave sin -- on a par with the molestation of a child. Thank GOD they are the puppets of a church that claims the right of supposedly celibate men to control the most intimate aspects of a woman's life including whether or not she uses birth control and how many children she has. And a church that, thank GOD, doesn't seem particularly concerned with the role of men in any of this.

If the United States Congress didn't have this leadership they would be forced to fall back on their own hatred of women.

• Erica Keppler: The Desperate Catholic Clerical War On Gays [Huffington Post, October 31, 2011]

The Catholic Church is fading. To save it, the church leadership either has to give up the lives they've built for themselves, or they have to hold down and demonize gay people. They are not fighting to stop sin or protect marriage. They are fighting to save their church, and they are desperate.

• TWO Condemns Advisor to U.S. Catholic Bishops for Saying Homosexuality Comes From Satan [Truth Wins Out, November 1, 2011]

Truth Wins Out condemned Massachusetts attorney Daniel Avila today for calling homosexuality a "natural disaster" caused by Satan invading the wombs of mothers of LGBT children. Avila, who serves as Policy Advisor for Marriage and Family to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, made the inflammatory remarks in an article for the Boston Pilot, the official newspaper of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. In the article, he discussed a theory that homosexuality is caused by "random imbalances in maternal hormone levels," which he falsely labeled as "the most widely accepted scientific hypothesis." ...

"Avila's bizarre theories are unscientific and defamatory," said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of Truth Wins Out. "Telling Catholic mothers with LGBT children that Satan entered their womb and caused their child's homosexuality is spiritual abuse of the highest order."

"It is outrageous for an official advisor to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to make such an appalling statement at all, much less in the approved newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston," added John Becker, Truth Wins Out's Director of Communications and Development. "The USCCB and the Boston Archdiocese must unequivocally condemn Avila's bigoted remarks, or explain to LGBT Catholics and their parents why they refuse to do so."

• Satan Makes Gay Babies Says US Catholic Bishops Spokesman [Bilerico Project, November 1, 2011]

For a sampling of Avila's bullshit and batshitery, here are some highlights from his piece in The Pilot:

        More than once I have heard from or about Catholics upset with the Church for its insistence that sexual relations be limited to marriage between husband and wife. Does not this moral rule force people with same-sex attraction into lives of loneliness? If they are born that way, then why should they be punished by a restriction that does not account for their pre-existing condition?

        God does not cause same-sex attraction. . . . So what causes the inclination to same-sex attraction if it appears early and involuntarily and "who," if anyone, is responsible? In determining the answer to the "what" question, the most widely accepted scientific hypothesis points to random imbalances in maternal hormone levels and identifies their disruptive prenatal effects on fetal development as the likely and major cause.

        In other words, the scientific evidence of how same-sex attraction most likely may be created provides a credible basis for a spiritual explanation that indicts the devil. . . . Therefore, whenever natural causes disturb otherwise typical biological development, leading to the personally unchosen beginnings of same-sex attraction, the ultimate responsibility, on a theological level, is and should be imputed to the evil one, not God. Applying this aspect of Catholic belief to interpret the scientific data makes more sense because it does not place God in the awkward position of blessing two mutually incompatible realities -- sexual difference and same-sex attraction.

        Being born with an inclination which originates in a manner outside of one's control is not sufficient proof that the condition is caused by God or that its satisfaction meets God's purpose.

I assume Avila blames Satan for making people stupid too. Amazingly, some still ask me why I left the Roman Catholic church. "Batshitery" and "the deliberate embrace of ignorance" ought to more than enough answer to this question. Increasingly, in my view, to remain a Catholic one must first have had a lobotomy or be an unvarnished, ignorant bigot.

• Bishops' "Marriage Guy" Retracts Statement That Homosexuality Comes From Satan [Truth Wins Out, November 2, 2011]

Today, both the Boston Pilot and Daniel Avila issued statements apologizing for the publication of the piece, which was also removed from the newspaper's website. Judging by the tenor of Mr. Avila's remarks, it looks like the paper and/or the American bishops gave him quite the dressing-down.

• Catholic Charities withdraws from civil unions litigation and state social service contracts [Chicago Tribune, November 14, 2011]
• Ned Flaherty: Bell, Book & Candelabra [Bilerico Project, November 14, 2011]

The increasingly arch bishop of New York recently left his house wearing a hot-pants-pink frock worthy of New Year's Eve, and clearly ready for the inevitable retirement of his reigning superior, and his own succession to the coveted throne. This tableau is not unlike those overly long, self-centered ceremonies in which a regional drag queen explains the process of passing her crown to the next Temptress Empress, who then shall reign until dethroned by some newer, younger hussy-in-waiting. ...

Puffed up by what a nutritionist might call Morbidly Excessive Over-pious Wonder (MEOW), Dolan has issued an announcement justified by how close to supernatural he himself already is (compared to everyone else).

In it, Dolan decreed that no church employee may celebrate or participate at any same-sex wedding, or provide any facilities, accommodations, goods, privileges, or advantages for such a devil-dance.

• Benetton's 'Unhate' ad campaign spotlights Photoshopped images of world leaders kissing, sparks outrage from Vatican [New York Daily News, November 16, 2011
• Vatican takes legal action over pope-imam kissing ad [BBC, November 17, 2011]

• Disgraced Ex-Boston Archbishop Leaves Roman Job [Edge Boston, November 21, 2011]

Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned in disgrace as Boston's archbishop in 2002 after the priest sex abuse scandal exploded in the United States, has retired from his subsequent job as head of a major Roman basilica.

The Vatican said Monday that Pope Benedict XVI had accepted the 80-year-old Law's resignation as archpriest of St. Mary Major basilica and had named as Law's replacement Spanish Monsignor Santos Abril y Castello.

Law's 2004 appointment as the archpriest of one of Rome's most important basilicas had been harshly criticized by victims of priestly sex abuse, who charged that bishops who covered up for pedophile priests should be punished, not rewarded.

• Catholic Bishops Oppose LGBT Protections In The Philippines [Think Progress, December 8, 2011]

Members of the Catholic Bishop's Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) are protesting that the protections would violate their alleged religious right to discriminate against LGBT people, and one of their lawyers even claimed that under the law, a priest could be jailed for 25 years for refusing to perform a same-sex marriage.

• Australian lesbians turn down bishop's offer after school refuses their child [Pink News, December 14, 2011]

The unnamed couple had wanted their daughter to attend Sacred Heart Primary School in Broken Hill, New South Wales. They were told their application had been rejected because of their sexuality.

But Bishop Kevin Manning intervened when he heard about the decision, saying: "There's no way in the world one can penalise a child for what his or her parents do. ...

As Acting Head of the diocese, Bishop Manning ensured an offer of enrolment was extended to the family, but it was not taken up.

Greens MP John Kaye told the Australian Gay News Network: "85 per cent of the school's funding comes from the public purse. It has a moral obligation to adhere to community standards and ensure that a child is not victimised or discriminated against simply because of the sexuality of their parents.

"The school has been forced into a back down. The hierarchy was so embarrassed by the media exposure that a senior Catholic bishop has stepped in but the question remains whether each and every Catholic school in this state will be send a clear directive saying that this kind of treatment is not on,"

• Former Catholic bishop not a pedophile, court hears [CBC, December 19, 2011]

Lahey, 71, former head of the diocese of Antigonish, N.S., pleaded guilty earlier this year to possession of child pornography for the purposes of importation to Canada.

The psychiatrist who assessed Lahey, Dr. John Bradford, said Lahey presents virtually no risk to commit a hands-on sexual offence.

Bradford said Lahey has a homosexual interest in adolescent males - aged 14 to 17 - and young men, as well as sadomasochistic interests. But, he said, a pedophile is someone who is attracted to children under age 13 for more than six months.

"I evaluated him for pedophilia and I don't think he has it," said Bradford about the psychiatric disorder.

• Thomas More Law Center — a rare glimpse at evil [Box Turtle Bulletin, December 19, 2011]

The Thomas More Law Center is the Catholic version of the Alliance Defense Fund. Created by Domino's Pizza founder Tom Monaghan as part of his billion dollar campaign to promote Catholicism (of the more fanatical Mel Gibson variety), it exists to defend the "religious freedom" of Catholics, a notion which seems to be based on the presumption that Catholics have the God-given freedom to dictate all matters of social or civil policy. Among the sparks of brilliance that have graced its board have been presidential candidates Alan Keyes and Rick Santorum.

Thomas More Law Center is perhaps best known for losing a lawsuit seeking to force Planned Parenthood to warn about (unproven) links to breast cancer, losing the defense of a website which encouraged the murder of abortion doctors, losing a case against Ann Arbor Public School District to stop it from providing insurance benefits to same-sex partners, seeking to interfere in Judge Roy Moore's failed attempt to thwart the courts and erect a huge "Ten Commandments monument" at the Alabama Supreme Court, shopping school districts until it found one willing to go to court to defend "intelligent design" and then losing the case, unsuccessfully suing Los Angeles County when it removed a small cross from the county seal, and authoring an amendment to repeal non-discrimination protection in Gainsville, FL, which the voters soundly rejected. ...

Let me pause for a moment here to remind you that the Thomas More Law Center is a law firm, and thus is supposed to base its argument in fact and law. It is also a Catholic advocacy group and is supposed to base its ideology in the teachings of Christ and the traditions of the Church.

It is not the KKK.

I remind you of this because as we delve into the lawsuit presented in federal court, you may find yourself wondering about the degree of depravity and viciousness necessary to file this piece of filth. You may find yourself breathless and confused at the contrast between the Catholic Church declaring this to be a time of peace on Earth in which we reflect on a God who loves us, and the unvarnished hatred spewed in this document.

• Cardinal Francis George Warns That Chicago Gay Pride Parade Might 'Morph Into Ku Klux Klan' [Fox News Chicago, December 22, 2011]

Within hours after Cardinal Francis George raised strong objections, local officials and organizers agreed Wednesday evening to a later starting time for the 2012 Gay Pride Parade.

Instead of beginning at 10 a.m. on the final Sunday in June, the annual event will now kick off at noon.

In an interview for FOX Chicago Sunday, the Cardinal said he shared the concerns of the pastor at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel parish, Rev. Thomas Strenn.

While discussing the dispute over the parade route and its timing, the Cardinal told FOX Chicago News:

"Well, I go with the pastor. I mean, he's telling us that they won't be able to have Church services on Sunday, if that's the case. You know, you don't want the Gay Liberation Movement to morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan [the KKK], demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism. So, I think if that's what's happening, and I don't know that it is, but I would respect the local pastor's, you know, position on that. Then I think that's a matter of concern for all of us."

• Sarah Posner: Catholic Group Blasts Cardinal's Comment Comparing Gay Rights Parade to KKK [Religion Dispatches, December 22, 2011]

Equally Blessed, an umbrella group of four pro-LGBT rights Catholic organizations, today condemned comments made by Chicago's Cardinal Francis George, past president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, objecting to Chicago's gay rights parade. On Fox News Chicago, George said, "You don't want the gay liberation movement to morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism."

Equally Blessed charges in a statement that George "has demeaned and demonized LGBT people in a manner unworthy of his office. In suggesting that the Catholic hierarchy has reason to fear LGBT people in the same way that blacks, Jews, Catholics and other minorities had reason to fear the murderous nightriders of the Ku Klux Klan, he has insulted the memory of the victims of the Klan's violence and brutality."

The statement goes on to emphasize that they have "no fight with the Catholic Church," noting that public opinion surveys show Catholics are more supportive of LGBT rights than other Christian denominations. Equality Blessed objects to "the positions of the Catholic hierarchy and the way it uses its influence to force its narrow theological understanding on the wider society. Cardinal George's offensive comments are further evidence of just how insensitive and out of touch the hierarchy is, and why opposition to its views is necessary."

Posted comment on website:

How ironic. The Roman church denigrates a whole population — gays and lesbians — by decreeing that they are "intrinsicially disordered". How is that different that racists' saying other races are inferior? And it is only because modern secular governments prevent them that the Roman church no longer engages in its traditional responses to difference — torture and mass murder — no less vicious that the Klan's, exccept, of course, that the church butchered people on a much larger scale. Like the Klan, they demand that their beliefs — little more than vanity, malice, and wilful ignorance — be imposed by the law on everyone.

• Gay-friendly clergy disinvited from Castro church [San Francisco Chronicle, December 23, 2011]

In the latest incident, Archbishop George Niederauer had the church's pastor, the Rev. Steve Meriwether, rescind invitations to a trio of gay-friendly clergy scheduled to speak at a series of pre-Christmas evening services.

"The archbishop felt the speakers were inappropriate for the season of Advent, which should be a time to reflect on the coming of Christ," said George Wesolek, a spokesman for the archdiocese. ...

"It's ironic and hypocritical that the Catholic Church has a 'Come home' ad campaign going on right now," he said. "Clearly, not everyone is welcome within the Catholic Church."

• Cardinal Francis George's Parade of Lies [Truth Wins Out, December 27, 2011]

The Roman Catholic Church's toxic obsession with homosexuality manifests itself in countless ways. The most recent anti-gay outburst came from the Chicago Archbishop, Cardinal Francis George, who foolishly compared the LGBT community to the Ku Klux Klan.

• Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite: Cardinal George, you're wrong about Chicago Gay Pride [Washington Post, December 27, 2011]

I have learned so much from what a spirituality of truthfulness teaches, and how it can illumine a great deal about the Christian Gospel, as well as about theology, ethics, pastoral care, and worship. Over the years of teaching and learning with gay students, faculty, and staff colleagues, both at the seminary, around the nation and indeed around the world, I have gained from their courage in facing up to a world that is hostile to their very humanity, and challenging churches that claim they are not included in God's love and care. Despite all the hurtful and harmful religious messages, many LGBT people nevertheless come to know God's love and affirmation for exactly who they are.

• New York Times reports on Catholic Charities pull-out in Illinois [Daily Kos, December 28, 2011]

I'll stop Bishop Paprocki right there.

This not about "tolerating" views.

This is all about the money. ...

The heart of the matter is the Roman Catholic Church collects lots and lots of taxpayer dollars, in Illinois and across the country, to perform social services on the government's behalf, like placing kids in foster care and adoption. These are services paid for by all Americans, including LGBT citizens' dollars.

The Catholic Church wishes to retain its rights to dole out their taxpayer-funded services only to some of the people who are funding these services. Sorry, that's not fair. ...

Society is evolving, but the Catholic Church is refusing to evolve with it. These states have chosen to recognize some of the basic civil rights of their LGBT citizens. They have also decided it is not legal or appropriate for a state to be funding discrimination against them.

• The cardinal's bizarre analogy [Chicago Tribune, December 30, 2011]

Over the course of four decades, the Chicago Pride Parade has marched past hundreds of churches without stifling anyone's religious beliefs. Come June, it will do so again.

• Sarah Posner: In 2012 Bishops Join Fight to Repackage Discrimination as 'Religious Freedom' [Religion Dispatches, January 2, 2012]

• Will a LGBT Protest Resurrect Cardinal Francis George? [Truth Wins Out, January 3, 2012]
• Wayne Besen: Will a Misguided LGBT Protest Restore Cardinal Francis George's Standing? [Huffington Post, January 4, 2012]

George can still escape from his self-inflicted bind if the LGBT community overplays its hand. This issue exploded after George went on Fox News Chicago and said that the gay-rights movement was at risk of morphing "into something like the Ku Klux Klan, protesting in the streets against Catholicism."

On the cusp of victory, Chicago LGBT activist Lair Scott called for -- you guessed it -- a protest in the streets of Chicago against the Catholic Church. The demonstration will occur during Sunday mass at the seat of the Chicago Archdiocese. Lair is best known for his controversial Change.org petition demanding that PBS "Let Bert and Ernie Get Married on Sesame Street."

The Gay Liberation Network and the Rainbow Sash Movement, an organization of LGBT Catholics, have backed this protest, which has all the makings of a potential PR disaster. If the controversy switches from a debate over George's KKK remarks to a FOX-fueled media frenzy about Bert and Ernie, our message has been lost. If the protest becomes unruly, disrespectful, or blatantly anti-religious, or if mass is disrupted, the support of the sympathetic middle that believes George went too far will evaporate.

• Should People and Governments Shun the Totalitarian Catholic Church? [AlterNet, January 5, 2012]

When a totalitarian regime aids and abets the rape of tens of thousands of children one would expect it to be shunned by governments and citizens alike. And any statements it might issue on matters of morality accorded no respect.

Why should we make an exception when the regime is the Catholic Church?

That the Roman Catholic Church is totalitarian is undeniable. Church law itself makes this clear. Canon 331 declares the Pope "the head of the college of bishops, the Vicar of Christ, and the pastor of the universal Church on earth. By virtue of his office he possesses supreme, full, immediate, and universal ordinary power in the Church, which he is always able to exercise freely." ...

That the Catholic Church is guilty of widespread rape is also undeniable. A few years ago there was a spate of news items when sexual abuse cases first surfaced in Boston and a few other cities. Media coverage since then has withered but the issue has not. Just the opposite. In 2011 allegations of sexual abuse of minors have spread to 26 countries. In just one case in the United States the Churchagreed to pay $250 million in compensation to about 700 abused males and females. The Netherlands has documented almost 2000 cases.

That the Catholic Church is guilty of widespread rape is also undeniable. A few years ago there was a spate of news items when sexual abuse cases first surfaced in Boston and a few other cities. Media coverage since then has withered but the issue has not. Just the opposite. In 2011 allegations of sexual abuse of minors have spread to 26 countries. In just one case in the United States the Churchagreed to pay $250 million in compensation to about 700 abused males and females. The Netherlands has documented almost 2000 cases.

• TWO Calls Cardinal Francis George's Apology to the LGBT Community a Positive Development [Truth Wins Out, January 6, 2012]

Truth Wins Out commended Chicago Archbishop Cardinal Francis George today for apologizing to the LGBT community after he made intemperate remarks comparing the LGBT movement to the Ku Klux Klan.

        "I am truly sorry for the hurt my remarks have caused," George said in an interview with the Chicago Tribune. "Particularly because we all have friends or family members who are gay and lesbian. This has evidently wounded a good number of people. I have family members myself who are gay and lesbian, so it's part of our lives. So I'm sorry for the hurt. When I was talking I was speaking out of fear that I have for the church's liberty and I was reaching for an analogy which was very inappropriate for which I'm sorry. I didn't realize the impact of what I was saying. . Sometimes fear is a bad motivation."

• John Becker: Twin Cities Bishop to Priests: Toe the Line on Marriage or Keep Your Mouth Shut [Huffington Post, January 9, 2012]

Saint Paul and Minneapolis Archbishop John Nienstedt, the same bishop who turned the Catholic Mass and that church's holiest sacrament into a weapon with which to bludgeon LGBT people, does not want dissent within the clerical ranks when it comes to same-sex marriage. ...

Writing for the American Independent, reporter Andy Birkey revealed that Nienstedt's authoritarian remarks were delivered in a private speech to priests last October. Just to make sure his message reached every priest under his jurisdiction, the archbishop later sent the text of that speech to all priests who were unable to attend. (According to Birkey, Nienstedt's remarks are only coming to light now because someone within the church leaked the speech to a group called the Progressive Catholic Voice, who released it to the media.) Birkey reports that in the same address, Nienstedt also spoke about sending teams consisting of "a priest and a married couple" into Catholic schools to discuss marriage discrimination with schoolchildren.

Minnesota Catholics: if you put money into the collection plate on Sundays, this is what you're supporting. Yes, Nienstedt's bigotry is out of step with the vast majority of American Catholics. Yes, the Catholic church provides important services to poor and disadvantaged people. But there are dozens, if not hundreds, of charitable organizations providing the same services as the Catholic church without the spiritual bullying. When you donate to your local parish instead of these other charities, though, you give tacit approval to Nienstedt's reprehensible persecution of your LGBT family members, friends, neighbors, and congregants.

• Anti-Gay Pope's Bigoted and Bizarre Speech [Truth Wins Out, January 10, 2012]

It is time for people to be honest and admit that this pope is becoming a joke and his reign is an abject failure. He arrogantly swept into office and preposterously lambasted the secularization of Europe, as if the continent was more humane when ruled by the Church and its countless bloody religious wars. ...

Why are we even listening to the pronouncements of a "moral leader" who presides over a church that has spent billions of dollars to settle child molestation cases? If a church and its leadership do not protect the interests of children and cover-up the misdeeds of monsters, they forfeit the right to point the finger and preach. The last thing hardworking, taxpaying, law abiding LGBT families need is to be scolded by the enablers of the child sexual abuse scandals.

The pathological homophobia of Pope Benedict XVI has filtered down the food chain. Last month, Chicago Archbishop Cardinal Francis George compared the LGBT community to the Ku Klux Klan. After a huge public backlash, he finally apologized. ...

Sadly, gay bashing is a way to ascend the career ladder in Rome. For instance, the Pope will promote New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan to cardinal next month. Dolan worked mightily, yet unsuccessfully, to keep gay couples from marrying in New York. Like the Pope, Dolan should either admit he was blowing holy smoke where the sun don't shine or produce solid evidence that he was correct in asserting that gay couples marrying would harm society. ...

The pontiff's rule can best be described as insensitive, indecent, and intolerant, and his latest anti-gay comments should be put into context of his overall reprehensible record. While LGBT marriage equality does not threaten the future of humanity, the out of touch pronouncements and actions of Pope Benedict XVI may very well threaten the future of the Roman Catholic Church.

• Washington Catholic Bishops demean gay parents [Box Turtle Bulletin, January 16, 2012]

Arrogance can be blinding. And the arrogance that the Roman Catholic Bishops hold in their perception of their role in society often leads them to make statements that only make sense to those who share their presumptions, prejudices and undying belief that the Catholic Church dictates what is real simply by declaring it so.

And in their blinding arrogance, Bishops in the State of Washington have released a letter that is so disdainful of gay parents, adoptive parents, and those who require help with fertility that I believe it will only serve to further illustrate how ignorant and out-of-touch the Catholic Church has become. Perhaps staying within the realm of religious doctrine their words could be given some respect, but posed as declarations about objective reality and public policy, their advice on the proposed marriage bill is laughable and disgusting.

• Lee Moran: Irish minister admits for first time that neutrality policy during WW2 was 'morally bankrupt' [Daily Mail, January 26, 2012]

Ireland has admitted for the first time that its 'morally bankrupt' regime of the 1930s denied visas to desperate Jews trying to escape from Nazi persecution.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter said that, following Adolf Hitler's rise to power, Ireland's anti-semitic Berlin ambassador Charles Bewley ensured 'the doors to this state were kept firmly closed to German Jewish families trying to flee'.

The admission came as he apologised for the way brave soldiers who 'deserted' the Irish Army to fight with the Allies during the Second World War were treated. ...

He suggested the 4,983 servicemen, who were barred from jobs and State pensions on their return and condemned to poverty and stigma for the rest of their lives, were now likely to receive an official pardon.

And he linked the two issues to the administration of the time, led by Eamon de Valera, which he said had 'utterly lost its moral compass' in moves that still affected perceptions of the Irish now.

[Note: Just one more bit of proof, as if any more were needed, another piece of the puzzle as it were, that the catholic church was up to its eyeballs in Germany's Jewish holocaust. They didn't just stand on the sidelines but were willing and active participants.]

• Marriage Is Not The Issue [Truth Wins Out, January 28, 2012]

I don't think her argument is about same-sex marriage. I don't think any of them really give a good goddamn about marriage. What they're adamant about is that homosexuals aren't really human.that Homosexuals don't love, they just have sex. It isn't about marriage at all. What marriage represents to the homophobes is the final barrier to admitting that homosexuals are fully human and capable of experiencing all the higher emotions of love and devotion and commitment that heterosexuals do.that we are not, as Dr. Laura once famously put it, biological errors, or as you can hear thumped from pulpits all over the bible belt, demon possessed hell bound abominations in the eyes of god. ...

"However emotionally bonded a pair of homosexual lovers may feel themselves to be..." There's the problem. Look at it if you have the nerve. This isn't about sex. That empty barren, perverted lust is not what makes them angry. What makes them angry is any suggestion that homosexuals do, in fact, experience love the same way heterosexuals do. And it makes them absolutely livid. ...

We must be animals. Not sinners in need of salvation, but animals. Why? So we can be their scapegoats. The right wing politician who goes hiking the Appalachian trail with his mistress while his wife and children wonder where the hell he went. The religious right preacher who gets caught visiting prostitutes. The conservative moralizer who gets caught gambling. The problem isn't that we are moral cheats, the problem is acceptance of homosexuality. Homosexuality is destroying the family and society, not our own failures of moral character. Probably it is also responsible for earthquakes and hurricanes.

• Catholic trustees snub Dalton McGuinty on gay-straight alliances [Toronto Star, January 31, 2012]

In today's Ontario, generic anti-bullying clubs are political motherhood. The real flashpoint is anti-homophobia clubs, where high school students can show solidarity with gay classmates. ...

Now, the other shoe has dropped. And the Premier is being wrong-footed by Catholic educators who are kicking sand in his face.

Their written response blends bullying with bombast. In 12 tortuous pages, the Ontario Catholic School Trustees' Association mouths all the right platitudes about our common humanity and spirituality, without dignifying gays by ever actually calling them "gay."

If Catholic trustees can't bring themselves to use the word "gay" - ever - it's no surprise that they won't agree to gay-straight alliances. I just expected a little more charity and clarity amidst the verbosity and obstinacy of their latest diktat.

No use of the word "gay." No use of the apparently loaded word "rainbow" - banned by some schools last year - lest trustees open their minds to the full spectrum of light. ...

And the trustees are blatantly ignoring the letter and spirit of the legislation. It hasn't escaped notice at Queen's Park that their document is a declaration of defiance against the single-issue clubs mandated by McGuinty. You can't skirt an anti-homophobia club by creating an anti-bullying club as a catch-all. ...

Now, using the language of a witch hunt, the trustees warn that "activism" or "advocacy" of "anything that is not in accord with the Catholic faith foundation of the school" is banned. What a way to intimidate school kids for daring to show solidarity against bullies: No activism that strays from catechism.

Oh, and no discussion of personal "gender identity." So if you've already come out of the closet, you'll have to go back in during lunch hour club meetings. Or perhaps put that lunch bag over your head?

Fearing Sodom and Gomorrah in the blessed province of Ontario, Catholic trustees are making a spectacle of themselves. By turning the spotlight onto these small, localized solidarity clubs for well-meaning school kids, they are resurrecting a latter-day version of the Inquisition, where those who challenged the doctrine of the faith were, um, bullied into submission.

• Josh D. Scheinert: Catholic School Boards Shy Away from the "G-Word" [Huffington Post, February 1, 2012]

The Ontario Catholic School Trustees' Association has definitively rejected Premier McGuinty's requirement. In 12 pages, without once mentioning the forbidden word (gay, shhh!), they introduce their own, Catholic version: Respecting Differences groups.

However, when reading the report it becomes abundantly clear that when the Catholic trustees talk about respecting differences they aren't referring to straight and gay (crap, I said it again). No. The differences they refer to are between right and wrong.

After all, the trustees write, "Being 'tolerant' of another person does not mean accepting that what he or she says is correct or immune from moral evaluation and criticism." This means that schools will respect differences and prove their tolerance by reminding students afflicted with the plague of "same sex attraction or issues of gender identity" that they are incorrect and immoral.

The life of a child is too meaningful and fragile to subject it to such hypocrisy. They are too impressionable, too vulnerable for these games. This is not a matter of faith; it is one of morality. And the former does not hold a monopoly over the latter.

• Cardinal Edward Egan Just Withdrew His Apology For The Catholic Sex-Abuse Scandal [Business Insider, February 8, 2012]

St. John Chrysostom, once said "The road to hell is paved with the skulls of bishops."

Here's proof that he was right.

In an interview this week with Connecticut Magazine, Cardinal Edward Egan, withdrew his 2002 apology for the Church's handling of the sex-abuse scandal, which was once read in all New York parishes.

A decade after that letter, the former archbishop of New York, and former bishop of Bridgeport, now describes the handling of the priest-abuse crisis under his watch as "incredibly good." He said of the letter, "I never should have said that," and added, "I don't think we did anything wrong."

• Maureen Fiedler: Catholic bishops should read the writing on the wall for same-sex marriage [National Catholic Reporter, February 24, 2012]

Yesterday, our State Senate here in Maryland passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage. This follows similar action by the House of Delegates last week, and it makes Maryland the eighth state in the country to legalize same-sex marriage. Our governor, Martin O'Malley -- who is a Catholic -- pushed for the bill and will sign the bill into law.

In this, O'Malley joins other Catholic governors who also recently approved same-sex marriage: Andrew Cuomo of New York and Christine Gregoire of Washington state.

O'Malley's signature might not be the end of the story in Maryland, however, because opponents of the measure are hoping to put the question on a ballot referendum this fall. So the ultimate decision could be made by Maryland voters. Currently, the polls show a solid majority of Marylanders favoring the measure, but who knows what a large dose of negative campaigning might do?

• Father Marcel Guarnizo, Maryland Priest, Denies Communion To Lesbian Parishioner [Barbara Johnson] At Her Mother's Funeral [Huffington Post, February 27, 2012]

"I cannot give you communion because you live with a woman and that is a sin according to the church," he is quoted as saying.

Badash quotes from an Addicting Info blog written by Ann Werner, who also notes, "To add insult to injury, Fr. Guarnizo left the altar when she delivered her eulogy to her mother. When the funeral was finished he informed the funeral director that he could not go to the gravesite to deliver the final blessing because he was sick."

Werner also notes, "I will tell you a little about the woman who drove that priest from the altar. She is kind, she is smart, she is funny and she works hard promoting the arts. She pays her bills, she cares deeply for her family and she loved her mother and her mother loved her right back. And now she will never set foot in a Catholic church again and who can blame her?"

• John Shore: Father 'No Communion for You!' Not the Whole Story [Huffington Post, February 29, 2012]

Yes, Fr. Guarnizo denied Barbara communion. But almost immediately thereafter a layperson acting as the service's Eucharistic Minister did lovingly serve Barbara communion.

Yes, Fr. Guarnizo essentially shunned Barbara. But directly following the service (and to a necessarily lesser degree during the service), Barbara was also surrounded and hugged by fellow Catholics who made a point of telling her that Fr. Marcel in no way represented the love of the Church.

Yes, Fr. Guarnizo shamelessly refused to go to the cemetery. But immediately thereupon the funeral director ("an angel," says Barbara) comforted Barbara with assurances that he would quickly secure a priest to perform the burial. He then turned to Fr. Peter Sweeney, who wasted no time at all stepping right out of his retirement, and right into the Johnson funeral service.

"Father Sweeney was perfect," says Barbara. "We couldn't have asked for a kinder, more loving priest. Both Father Sweeney and the funeral director acted as soothing balms on our very scarred hearts."

• 'Freedom of Conscience' Backfires on A Conservative Church [Truth Wins Out, March 1, 2012]

Dear conservative readers: If you want more of your own churches to be disrupted by such vile acts, then by all means: Go right ahead and keep encouraging smug ideologues in your midst to disrupt their employers' operations by denying equal service to religious- and sexual-minority customers and taxpayers. If, on the other hand, you want government to stay out of matters of church and marriage - and if you want clergy to fulfill their duties without interruption - then perhaps you should consider a less arbitrary and more consistent approach to religious freedom.

• Anonymous Shut Down The Vatican's Website In Retaliation Against Its Corruption And Decadence [Business Insider, March 7, 2012]

"Anonymous decided today to besiege your site in response to the doctrine, to the liturgies, to the absurd and anachronistic concepts that your for-profit organization spreads around the world," the statement read.

"This attack is not against the Christian religion or the faithful around the world, but against the corrupt Roman Apostolic Church."

• Pope condemns same sex marriage in speech to U.S. bishops [Raw Story, March 9, 2012]
• Rev. Marcel Guarnizo Suspended: Priest Who Denied Communion To Lesbian Barbara Johnson, Withdrawn For 'Intimidating Behavior' [HuffPo, March 11, 2012]
• Bill Donohue Gets Tough on Rape Victims, Wants to Fight Them 'One by One' [Right Wing Watch, March 13, 2012]

Donohue went further, telling the New York Times' Laurie Goodstein that the Catholic Church "has been too quick to write a check" and could save money "in the long run if we fought them one by one" - them being rape victims. He also claimed that the bishops are reaching the conclusion that "they had better toughen up and go out and buy some good lawyers to get tough." "We don't need altar boys," he continued, as only Bill Donohue could.

• : NCR endorses call for a new sexual ethic [National Catholic Reporter, March 27, 2012]

We wholeheartedly second the invitation by Australian Bishop Geoffrey Robinson for a thorough and honest reexamination of the church's teaching on sexuality. (See story.) Robinson's invitation, coming in a paper delivered in Baltimore at a conference sponsored by New Ways Ministry, is a gentle but elegant plea that offers hope for Catholics who want to stop the church's headlong plunge into irrelevancy as a moral voice in our culture.

Robinson says that a careful study of the long arc of church teaching on sexuality comes to this foundational statement: "The church is saying that love is the very deepest longing of the human heart, and sex is a most important expression of love, so people should do all in their power to ensure that sex retains its ability to express love as deeply as possible."

From this foundation, Robinson suggests three areas to reexamine Catholic teaching.

• Kathleen Kennedy Townsend: The Case for Gay Acceptance in the Catholic Church [The Atlantic, March 28, 2012]

On St. Patrick's Day I had the pleasure of speaking to about 350 Catholics who gathered together to attend a conference put on by New Ways Ministry, which is an effort to support the LGBT community in the Catholic Church. The women and men I spoke to included nuns and priests, children who had come out and parents who wanted to be supportive. Two female priests gave me special blessing and I left the meeting inspired by the devotion of those who attended.

New Ways Ministry has a critical mission, since changing the Church will help those who suffer from ill treatment not only here in the United States but around the world, where the Church has so much clout. The Church has millions of members in Africa and South America, where being gay or lesbian can lead to a death sentence.

Worse, the Church's own teaching encourages bigotry and harm. Just last year, my father's memorial, the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, gave its human rights award to Frank Mugisha, a gay activist in Uganda whose good friend had just been brutally killed in his own home. American missionaries have encouraged the discrimination Mugisha suffers. Refuting their religious arguments is critical, and so is making a moral and religious case for gays. What we need is a transformation of hearts and minds, not merely a change of laws.

• Bishop Geoffrey Robinson: Total Re-examination Of Catholic Faith, Culture Needed [National Catholic Reporter, April 1, 2012]
• Father Ryan Refuses Anti-Gay Petitions, Calling Them "Hurtful and Seriously Divisive" [SLOG, April 11, 2012]

Anyhow, if priests can refuse-and they can call the archbishop's campaign "hurtful and seriously divisive"-that's great. But the Catholics I talked to didn't seem to think that was an option. "If priests spoke out, I think they would be silenced. They would lose their pulpits. That's a safe bet," Barbara Guzzo, who attends St. Mary's in the Central District, told me.

• Nuns Group 'Stunned' By Anti-Gay Vatican Condemnation [Think Progress, April 20, 2012]

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which represents 80 percent of the 57,000 Catholic nuns in the U.S., said that it was "stunned" that the Vatican was targeting it for not taking strong enough stances against same-sex marriage, abortion, and women's ordination.

• Leader of 'radical' US nuns rejects Vatican criticism [BBC, April 20, 2012]

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, formerly known as the Office of the Inquisition, issued a highly critical report that accused US nuns of engaging in "corporate dissent" and of ignoring, or worse, challenging the church's teachings on abortion, homosexuality and an all-male priesthood.

• Mary C. Johnson: American Nuns Will Not Be Bullied [HuffPo, April 24, 2012]

Sisters work on the margins of society, with people whose complicated situations sometimes place them in the cross-hairs of the bishops' hot-button issues of abortion, euthanasia, health care and gay rights. In such situations, the Vatican demands sharp ideological purity; sisters often find that real-world solutions involve a great deal of risky, messy grey. ...

American sisters tell me they're not sure how they will respond to an archbishop breathing over their shoulders, approving or disapproving their decisions. Will the LCWR remove itself from Church control by severing official ties with the Church? Will sisters choose civil disobedience and refuse to cooperate? I don't know, but I'm sure about this: American nuns will continue to examine issues deeply, pray about their response, then act on their convictions. These are women of conscience, women accustomed to taking risks to do what is right. The men of the church would be wise to value these women's contributions, instead of attempting to control and intimidate them. American nuns will not be bullied.

• Catholic school 'urged pupils as young as 11 to sign anti-gay marriage petition' [Pink News, April 25, 2012]

Experts in the handling of gay and transgender issues in schools have today questioned whether the presentation may have breached equality laws.

A sixth form student told PinkNews.co.uk of her experience: "In our assembly for the whole Sixth Form you could feel people bristling as she explained parts of the letter and encouraged us to sign the petition.

"She said things about gay marriage and civil partnerships being unnatural. It was just a really out-dated, misjudged and heavily biased presentation."

She added that students had begun to respond: "A few of us in my year are buying Gay Pride badges to pin on our uniform and thought about staging a Stonewall coup by posting the 'Some people are gay - get over it' posters around school."

"Most importantly though, there are several people in my year who aren't heterosexual - myself included - and I for one was appalled and actually disgusted by what they were encouraging.

• Government to investigate PinkNews expose of Catholic schools urging children to sign anti-gay marriage petition [Pink News, April 26, 2012]

This evening, a spokeperson for the Welsh Government, which is responsible for matters such as education in the principality said that the Welsh Education minister Leighton Andrews has asked his officials to investigate. They told the BBC: "The education minister has seen the press stories and has asked officials to investigate.

"All schools must ensure issues are taught in a way that does not subject pupils to discrimination."

• British Humanist Association threatens legal action against Catholic homophobes [Gay Star News, April 29, 2012]
• Martin McVeigh, Northern Irish Priest In Gay Porn Investigation, Requests Sabbatical Leave From Church [HuffPo, April 29, 2012]

"After the images were inadvertently shown, I immediately removed the memory stick from the laptop. In my shock and upset and in my concern to ensure that the images would never be shown again, I destroyed it later that evening," McVeigh is quoted by CNN as saying in a statement.

He continued, "In the hope of bringing resolution and healing to the division and pain within the parish, I have taken the decision to ask Cardinal Brady to allow me to leave the parish of Pomeroy and to take sabbatical leave. The memory of this awful episode will remain with me for the rest of my life."

(Click on images to enlarge)

Jeremy Hopper: Just how plugged-in to the Catholic hierarchy is NOM?
[Human Rights Campaign: NOM Exposed, January 4, 2012]

On several occasions, I've told you about OPUSFidelis. This is the Catholic firm to whom NOM has outsourced all of its social media, web design, and assorted online work. For the past year or so, OPUS head David Lejeune -- working with subordinates like Joe Giganti, Casey Fimian and Colton Brugger -- have essentially been speaking for NOM in the social media world....

So what does this tell us? Well, nothing that we didn't already know, really. It's just more confirmation that NOM, a group that presents itself as a generalized special interest group that "protects" faith generally, is, in truth, a Catholic organization that exalts Vatican values primarily. They of course have every right to take this approach to their advocacy. But they really should call themselves something like The Catholic Alliance for Canonical Rites rather than the National Organization For Marriage.

[Continued here]

Catholic Bishops Engage In Witch-Hunt Against Girl Scouts
[Think Progress, May 11, 2012]

The Girl Scouts of USA have withstood an arrant assualt from conservative legislators this year, having been both characterized as a "radicalized organization" that supports abortions and the homosexual agenda, and accused of partnering with the recently oft-beleaguered Planned Parenthood by GOP lawmakers. Now, the Scouts are being attacked by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for their "offensive" program materials and alleged association with groups that conflict with Catholic teaching.

Coinciding with the Scouts' 100th anniversary celebrations, U.S. Catholic bishops have launched an official inquiry....

The smears against the Girl Scouts, like the Planned Parenthood claim, are a manufactured controversy from right-wing publications. "It's been hard to get the message out there as to what is true when distortions get repeated over and over,'' said Gladys Padro-Soler, the Girl Scouts' director of inclusive membership strategies. The Scouts have addressed most if not all of their critics' concerns on their official website.

[Continued here]

• Girl Scouts under scrutiny from Catholic bishops [Boston Globe, May 10, 2012]

Some of the concerns raised by Catholic critics are recycled complaints that have been denied by the Girl Scouts' head office repeatedly and categorically. It says it has no partnership with Planned Parenthood, and does not take positions on sexuality, birth control and abortion.

"It's been hard to get the message out there as to what is true when distortions get repeated over and over,'' said Gladys Padro-Soler, the Girl Scouts' director of inclusive membership strategies.

NY Times: Republican candidates 'should be racing' from National Organization for Marriage
[New York Times, April 3, 2012]

Strong words and tough questions from the New York Times editorial page on the topic of National Organization for Marriage's shameful race-baiting political strategy, which the Times calls "poisonous," and was leaked last week. In the editorial titled "Divide and Discriminate" they reference the disinfecting effect of sunlight:

        When a light is shined into the dark corners of American politics, it's never pleasant to see what scurries away.

National Organization for Marriage's confidential internal memos made explicit their goal to "drive a wedge between gays and blacks-two key Democratic constituencies" and fan "the hostility raised in the wake of Prop 8." They also sought to make opposition to marriage equality "a key badge of Latino identity - a symbol of resistance to inappropriate assimilation."

The "family values" group even budgeted $120,000 to find children of same-sex couples and convince them to denounce their own parents on camera. (Fortunately they apparently haven't been able to convince anyone in the four years since.)

[Continued here]

Speaking truth to authority



The catholic church's war on GLT kids and Canada's
Charter of Rights and Freedoms

"Homosexuality is a natural orientation for a minority of people in our world. Sexual activity flowing from that orientation is naturally good. Experiences that express mutual affirmation and support are good. Sexual relationships that develop on the basis of the same-sex partners' mutual attraction are good to the extent that they are honest, equal, responsible and enjoyable, rather than deceptive, oppressive, or irresponsible. Marriage and caring for children is as appropriate for same-sex couples as for heterosexual couples." — Noel Cooper

[Continued here]

Justin Trudeau fumes at Tory MP's 'bad Catholic' taunt [Globe & Mail, November 3, 2011]

Liberal MP Justin Trudeau says he is upset and offended by a Tory MP who publicly questioned his adherence to the Catholic faith and his suitability to speak to students at a Catholic school.

Dean Del Mastro, the parliamentary secretary to the Prime Minister, said on Facebook last month that it was "outrageous" the Catholic school board in Peterborough, Ont. had invited Trudeau to speak for a second time in three years.

"If they are looking for a truly great speaker, who also happens to be Catholic, perhaps they might invite [Immigration] Minister Jason Kenney," Mr. Del Mastro wrote on Oct. 12. "Are there any tenets of the Catholic faith that Justin supports?" ...

"For someone to start questioning my own faith and accusing me of being a bad Catholic, is something that I really take issue with. My own personal faith is an extremely important part of who I am and the values that I try to lead with."

Mr. Trudeau added that neither he nor his father saw any incongruity between enshrining the rights of gays and lesbians, for example, and the tenets of Catholicism. He notes that he is personally very opposed to abortion, but still believes nobody can tell a woman what she should do with her body.

"My own credo is completely consistent with that, and I'll defend my own faith and my own values to the utmost extent," Mr. Trudeau said. "To have someone like Dean Del Mastro question me on that is, I think, we're sinking to definite new lows in politics and it doesn't surprise me, it just manages to continue to dismay me."

[Continued here]

• [Salty-mouthed] Justin Trudeau's S-bomb: Is it wrong to swear on the job? [Globe & Mail, December 14, 2011]

The Montreal Liberal MP apologized Wednesday after Question Period, saying he "lost his temper."

But he didn't miss the opportunity to explain why he'd lost his cool. Environment Minister Peter Kent had "dared" to chastise NDP environment critic Megan Leslie for not attending a climate-change conference in Durban, South Africa, even though the government prevented members of the opposition from doing so, Mr. Trudeau said.

Michael Giltz: Theater: Harvard's Secret Gay Shame in Unnatural Acts
[Huffington Post, June 24, 2011]

In 1920, when a one-time student of Harvard committed suicide, it sparked a secret investigation and witch hunt to weed out all "inverts" and "homosexualists" from campus, ultimately damaging or destroying dozens of lives. A series of articles in the Harvard Crimson about the files of "Secret Court, 1920," sparked national attention in 2002 and ultimately this play by Plastic Theatre. Inspired by the articles, original documents such as the transcripts of the trial, letters written at the time, diaries and other information, Unnatural Acts is well-acted, well-directed and often thrilling for the first act, only faltering in the second when it stops presenting to us what happened and starts telling us how wrong it was. If you make a play about slavery or the subjugation of women in this day and age, you don't really need a speech telling us how wrong it is. And if you do make that speech, you best deliver it in a very original manner.

[Continued here]

• The Secret Court of 1920, Part 1 [Harvard Crimson, November 21, 2002]
• The Secret Court of 1920, Part 2 [Harvard Crimson, November 21, 2002]
• In Harvard Papers, a Dark Corner of the College's Past [New York Times, November 30, 2002]
• Behind the Closed Doors of Harvard, 91 Years Ago [New York Times, June 23, 2011]
• Harvard University's expelled gay students will not be granted posthumous degrees [New York Daily News, February 28, 2012]

A spokesman for Harvard says the university does not award posthumous degrees except in the rare case of a student who completes academic requirements but dies before the degree has been conferred.

The spokesman said Harvard expressed its "deep regret" in 2002 for the anguish experienced by the students and their families almost a century ago.

Scott Rose: Hold Princeton Accountable For Enabling A Major Political Gay Basher
[The New Civil Rights Movement, October 14, 2011]

It is way past time for all truly decent Americans to hold Princeton University accountable for its enabling of the monster anti-?LGBT bigot Professor Robert P. George.

George's vile anti-?gay hate speech has been widely reported elsewhere and should not be dignified by repeating it in order to rebut it. George has used against gay human beings "natural law" arguments, which historically also have been used to justify slavery. The so-?called "natural law" arguments used to demonize gay human beings run counter to everything that major medical associations, including the American Medical Association say about human sexuality generally and homosexuality in particular. It should not be ignored that the AMA states that the kind of hate-?mongering against gay human beings that George does is harmful to gay people's health.

If Professor George were defending his anti-?gay hate speech in a Ph.D. oral exam, the only way he would pass the exam would be if all of the examiners too were malicious anti-?gay bigots. It is for that reason that all truly decent human beings must pressure Princeton University to take a stand against Professor George's nasty and mean-?spirited anti-?gay bigotry.

In its enabling of George's anti-?gay hate speech and political gay-?bashing, Princeton University is doing to LGBT Americans the equivalent of having a professor give an imprimatur of academic respectability to The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and concurrently networking around the country and the world to keep Jews as second-?class citizens and even to see them persecuted in worse ways than that.

Professor George founded the so-?called National Organization for Marriage (NOM), which incessantly promulgates documentable untruths about gay human beings intended to demonize them in a political context. He was one of the authors of the notoriously anti-?gay "Manhattan Declaration." From the tweedy confines of his Princeton University office, Professor George is a main instigator of a huge quantity of malicious anti-?gay-?rights propagandizing and political gay-?bashing. He is the founder of the American Principles Project. That site's "Innocence" tab includes links to articles that contain statements like this:

        The "Health Literacy" section raises still more questions. It introduces concepts and skills on "violence," "bullying," and "safety." Such approaches are often subterfuges to encourage affirmation (and even promotion) of LGBT lifestyles.

[Continued here]

Academia 'has ignored LGBT issues' [Pink News, August 12, 2011]

A new National Union of Students report says that LGBT issues have been "actively cut out" of education and academia.

The report, Liberation, Equality and Diversity in the Curriculum, says lessons in all subjects should try to be more "inclusive", with focus on LGBT issues, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities.

NUS LGBT officers Vicki Baars and Alan Bailey said: "As an LGBT campaign we believe that LGBT issues have been actively cut out of education and academia due to LGBTphobia.

"The impact the LGBT movement has had on society, the contributions of LGBT people throughout history, and the very existence of LGBT people here and now are very rarely seen.

"By making the curriculum LGBT-inclusive, we help to challenge the normative attitudes regarding sexual orientation and gender. This will help the fight against discrimination in and around our institutions and help familiarise people with what it is to be LGBT."

[Continued here]

• Liberation, Equality, and Diversity in the Curriculum Briefing Launched [NUS Connect, August 12, 2011]
• Report calls for diversity audits across all subjects [Times Higher Education, August 11, 2011]
• Oxford college flies university's "first-ever rainbow flag" [Pink News, November 23, 2011]

Wadham College hosts the annual Queerfest, a party which celebrates gay history and culture, and raises awareness for LGBT rights.

In recent years this has been preceded by Queerweek, a collection of talks, discussions and social events.

While the 2011 Queerweek celebrations, which began on the 14 November, saw the lights in the college's front quad turned pink, organisers sought a more visible display to people outside the college.

Queerweek organiser Michael Brooks, 19, a Philosophy and German undergraduate, told PinkNews.co.uk the reaction from the university and the city has been positive.

• Exeter welcomes homophobes [The Oxford Student, February 15, 2012]

The Oxford Student can reveal that controversial pressure group Christian Concern, which advocates "corrective therapy" for homosexuals, will converge at the college during the coming vacation.

Exeter has resisted calls to cancel the conference, in spite of opposition from University academics, the LGBT community and international gay rights charity Stonewall.

The complaint that sparked the debate came from LMH finalist Owen Alun John who condemned the homophobic principles of the conference called "The Wilberforce Academy".

The "Academy" is an annual event organised and run by Christian Concern. The Academy's website, which boasts a large picture of the Radcliffe Camera on its home page, is described by a video on their website as "God's tool to raise up similar people".

John A. Harnick: "Question? Does this include clergy ... catholic, protestant and muslim?"



Obama bars U.S. entry for violators of LGBT human rights abroad
[Washington Blade, August 5, 2011]

President Obama issued a proclamation on Thursday that could prohibit those engaging in LGBT persecution overseas from entering the United States.

The proclamation bars entry of immigrant and non-immigrant aliens who organize or participate in war crimes or serious violations of human rights - which could include those seeking to pass legislation in Uganda that would institute the death penalty for homosexual acts.

"The United States' enduring commitment to respect for human rights and humanitarian law requires that its Government be able to ensure that the United States does not become a safe haven for serious violators of human rights and humanitarian law and those who engage in other related abuses," Obama states.

Specific language in the proclamation explicitly states that those who persecute people based on their "sexual orientation and gender identity" are among the categories of those who won't be able to enter the United States.

Additionally, the proclamation prevents not only those who perpetuated human rights abuses overseas from entering the United States, but also those who have "attempted or conspired to do so."

[Continued here]

• Obama Bars Human Rights Violators From Entering US [care2.com, August 5, 2011]

From the text of the proclamation:

The United States['] enduring commitment to respect for human rights and humanitarian law requires that its Government be able to ensure that the United States does not become a safe haven for serious violators of human rights and humanitarian law and those who engage in other related abuses. Universal respect for human rights and humanitarian law and the prevention of atrocities internationally promotes U.S. values and fundamental U.S. interests in helping secure peace, deter aggression, promote the rule of law, combat crime and corruption, strengthen democracies, and prevent humanitarian crises around the globe. I therefore have determined that it is in the interests of the United States to take action to restrict the international travel and to suspend the entry into the United States, as immigrants or nonimmigrants, of certain persons who have engaged in the acts outlined in section 1 of this proclamation.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, by the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, as amended (8 U.S.C. 1182(f)), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, hereby find that the unrestricted immigrant and nonimmigrant entry into the United States of persons described in section 1 of this proclamation would be detrimental to the interests of the United States.

Section 1. The entry into the United States, as immigrants or nonimmigrants, of the following persons is hereby suspended:

        (a) Any alien who planned, ordered, assisted, aided and abetted, committed or otherwise participated in, including through command responsibility, widespread or systematic violence against any civilian population based in whole or in part on race; color; descent; sex; disability; membership in an indigenous group; language; religion; political opinion; national origin; ethnicity; membership in a particular social group; birth; or sexual orientation or gender identity, or who attempted or conspired to do so.

        (b) Any alien who planned, ordered, assisted, aided and abetted, committed or otherwise participated in, including through command responsibility, war crimes, crimes against humanity or other serious violations of human rights, or who attempted or conspired to do so.

. . .

• Presidential Proclamation — Suspension of Entry as Immigrants and Nonimmigrants of Persons Who Participate in Serious Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Violations and Other Abuses [whitehouse.gov, August 4, 2011]
• Obama Addresses American Legion, With No Mention of DADT Repeal — or Group's Opposition [Metro Weekly, August 29, 2011]

Three weeks from today, the U.S. Armed Forces will begin living in a post-"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" world. The 60-day congressional review period will have passed since President Obama, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen certified on July 22 that the military was ready, under the terms of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act, to end the 1993 law banning out gay, lesbian and bisexual servicemembers.

Today, however, President Obama addressed the American Legion, the nation's largest veterans organization and an organization that has steadfastly opposed ending DADT. He did not, however, mention the policy or its coming end — or the group's opposition to its end. ...

Stokes pushed for more, telling Metro Weekly, "At SLDN, we urge the American Legion and its leadership to revisit positions and past statements on LGBT military service and work to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for gay and lesbian patriots who may want to be a part of the nation's largest veterans' service organization."

• Anthony Gregory: Gay Rights on the Move? Obama's Incoherent Record [Huffington Post, September 1, 2011]

No president has talked up gay rights more than Barack Obama. He gave a brief shout-out to gay voters in his November 5, 2008, presidential victory speech. In proclaiming this June to be Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender month, Obama championed "the task of making our country a more perfect Union" and boasted "the great American promise that all people can live with dignity and fairness under the law."

But the administration's approach continues to be incoherent. Dan Choi, the former Army lieutenant who, protesting Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) last November, handcuffed himself to a fence at the White House, now faces federal charges and up to six months in jail. His attorney claims his client is being singled out, noting that most such protesters are brought before local court, charged with disobeying a police order, and fined up to $1,000. DADT has since been overturned, yet presumably the feds seek to make an example of Choi, rather than simply move forward now that the controversy is moot. If true, this would be an audacious maneuver, considering that it comes from the same administration that refuses to investigate alleged torture cases from the Bush years.

The Obama administration dragged its feet on DADT. Obama signed a repeal in December, but not until after more than six hundred dismissals on his watch, including Choi -- an Arabic linguist whose special skill typifies the practical tension many have identified between DADT and U.S. aims abroad. A 2005 Government Accountability Office report found that 322 discharged service members had been trained in "an important foreign language," including 54 who knew Arabic.

Even after Obama repeatedly made it clear that he found DADT to be unjust, his Justice Department defended it and successfully obtained a stay in October 2010 of a District Court injunction on the policy, that court having found it unconstitutional. Obama signed the repeal seven months ago, but in April an airman was dismissed because DADT remained in effect until 60 days after the administration's certification report issued in late July.

• Obama Hails DADT Repeal: End Of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Means Gay Servicemembers 'No Longer Have To Lie' [Huffington Post, September 20, 2011]

        "Today, the discriminatory law known as 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' is finally and formally repealed. As of today, patriotic Americans in uniform will no longer have to lie about who they are in order to serve the country they love. As of today, our armed forces will no longer lose the extraordinary skills and combat experience of so many gay and lesbian service members. And today, as Commander in Chief, I want those who were discharged under this law to know that your country deeply values your service.

        I was proud to sign the Repeal Act into law last December because I knew that it would enhance our national security, increase our military readiness, and bring us closer to the principles of equality and fairness that define us as Americans. Today's achievement is a tribute to all the patriots who fought and marched for change; to Members of Congress, from both parties, who voted for repeal; to our civilian and military leaders who ensured a smooth transition; and to the professionalism of our men and women in uniform who showed that they were ready to move forward together, as one team, to meet the missions we ask of them.

        For more than two centuries, we have worked to extend America's promise to all our citizens. Our armed forces have been both a mirror and a catalyst of that progress, and our troops, including gays and lesbians, have given their lives to defend the freedoms and liberties that we cherish as Americans. Today, every American can be proud that we have taken another great step toward keeping our military the finest in the world and toward fulfilling our nation's founding ideals."

• Obama Calls On All Countries To Support Gay Rights At United Nations [Think Progress, September 21, 2011]

During his speech at the United Nations today, President Obama called for all countries to support gay and lesbian equality, saying, "No country should deny people their rights - the freedom of speech and freedom of religion - but also no country should deny people their rights because of who they love, which is why we must stand up for the rights of gays and lesbians everywhere."

• President Barack Obama to Deliver Keynote Address at the 15th Annual Human Rights Campaign National Dinner [HRC, September 21, 2011]
• Will the Catholic Church declare war on Obama over gay equality? [AlterNet, September 22, 2011]

The laws of this country are governed by the Constitution, not papal authority. No one elected Dolan to public office and he has no standing - other than that of an ordinary American citizen - to demand that the President reverse his standing on DOMA or any other law or decision.

Dolan forgets that he does not live a theocracy, but a secular country which is home to many different people with many different religious beliefs.

And also different families.

• Obama to address 3,000 gay activists [CBB, October 1, 2011]

President Barack Obama will deliver the keynote address Saturday to a gathering of gay and lesbian activists, a key constituency that hasn't always been receptive to the president's policies and style of leadership.

Supporters say Obama's accomplishments on gay rights issues have been substantial since he last headlined the annual National Dinner of the Human Rights Campaign, in 2009, including the repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. However, his lack of support for gay marriage still stands out as a snub for many. ...

"We applaud the administration's progress, while we also encourage him to 'evolve faster' on supporting full marriage equality," Stuart Gaffney, media director for Marriage Equality USA, said Saturday. He said he wasn't aware of any opposition within his organization to the HRC's selection of Obama as their keynote speaker.

• Sarah Posner: Dems' New Faith Outreach Director "Pro-Life" and Against Marriage Equality [Religion Dispatches, October 21, 2011]
• White House mum on Kameny's death [Washington Blade, October 21, 2011]

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Friday he didn't have an immediate reaction to the passing of gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny - although he said he was aware of the activist's death.

Asked by the Washington Blade for a response to the pioneering activist's death last week, Carney replied, "I'll have to take that. ... I know that he passed away, but I don't have a comment on that."

The Blade has been seeking comment from the White House on Kameny's passing since his death last week. However, the White House hasn't responded to the inquiries.

Asked why a White House statement on Kameny wasn't issued upon his death, Carney replied, "I don't know, so I'll have to take the question."

• Gillibrand: lift restrictions on homosexual couples who want to adopt [Capitol Confidential, October 28, 2011]
• Presidential Proclamation — National Adoption Month, 2011 [WhiteHouse.gov, November 1, 2011]

The decision to adopt a child has brought profound joy and meaning into the lives of Americans across our country. Parents are moved to adopt for reasons as unique and varied as the children they embrace, but they are unified by the remarkable grace of their acts. Adoptive families come in all forms. With so many children waiting for loving homes, it is important to ensure that all qualified caregivers are given the opportunity to serve as adoptive parents, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, or marital status.

• New DHS guidance on immigration omits same-sex couples [, November 18, 2011]

Steve Ralls, spokesperson for Immigration Equality, said the lack of explicit mention of bi-national same-sex couples "isn't just deeply disappointing; it is also detrimental to LGBT immigrants and their American spouses and partners."

"By declining to address, in writing, the unique circumstances surrounding those couples, DHS has left too much room for interpretation and left too many couples vulnerable to separation," Ralls said. "There is no justifiable reason for exclusionary guidelines, and every reason to be explicit in clarifying that the administration believes LGBT Americans should not be forced apart from their husbands and wives."

• 20 Ways the Obama Administration Has Intruded on Your Rights [AlterNet, December 4, 2011]

The Obama administration has affirmed, continued and expanded almost all of the draconian domestic civil liberties intrusions pioneered under the Bush administration. Here are twenty examples of serious assaults on the domestic rights to freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, the right to privacy, the right to a fair trial, freedom of religion, and freedom of conscience that have occurred since the Obama administration has assumed power. Consider these and then decide if there is any fundamental difference between the Bush presidency and the Obama presidency in the area of domestic civil liberties. ...

Anyone who has gone to a peace or justice protest in recent years has seen it - local police have been turned into SWAT teams, and SWAT teams into heavily armored military. Officer Friendly or even Officer Unfriendly has given way to police uniformed like soldiers with SWAT shields, shin guards, heavy vests, military helmets, visors, and vastly increased firepower. Protest police sport ninja turtle-like outfits and are accompanied by helicopters, special tanks, and even sound blasting vehicles first used in Iraq. Wireless fingerprint scanners first used by troops in Iraq are now being utilized by local police departments to check motorists. Facial recognition software introduced in war zones is now being used in Arizona and other jurisdictions. Drones just like the ones used in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan are being used along the Mexican and Canadian borders. These activities continue to expand under the Obama administration.

• Steve Rothaus: President Obama directs all federal agencies to 'protect the human rights of LGBT persons' [Miami Herald, December 6, 2011]

"The struggle to end discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons is a global challenge, and one that is central to the United States commitment to promoting human rights," Obama said in a memorandum released Tuesday morning.

The president directed all federal agencies "engaged abroad to ensure that U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect the human rights of LGBT persons."

"I am deeply concerned by the violence and discrimination targeting LGBT persons around the world -- whether it is passing laws that criminalize LGBT status, beating citizens simply for joining peaceful LGBT pride celebrations, or killing men, women, and children for their perceived sexual orientation," Obama said.

• Transcript | Read Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's remarks in Geneva about LGBT rights [Miami Herald, December 6, 2011]

"... Now, there is still, as you all know, much more to be done to secure that commitment, that reality, and progress for all people. Today, I want to talk about the work we have left to do to protect one group of people whose human rights are still denied in too many parts of the world today. In many ways, they are an invisible minority. They are arrested, beaten, terrorized, even executed. Many are treated with contempt and violence by their fellow citizens while authorities empowered to protect them look the other way or, too often, even join in the abuse. They are denied opportunities to work and learn, driven from their homes and countries, and forced to suppress or deny who they are to protect themselves from harm.

I am talking about gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people, human beings born free and given bestowed equality and dignity, who have a right to claim that, which is now one of the remaining human rights challenges of our time. I speak about this subject knowing that my own country's record on human rights for gay people is far from perfect. Until 2003, it was still a crime in parts of our country. Many LGBT Americans have endured violence and harassment in their own lives, and for some, including many young people, bullying and exclusion are daily experiences. So we, like all nations, have more work to do to protect human rights at home. ..."

• Transcript of speech [GayNorfolk-net]
• Hillary Clinton: Being gay is not 'a western invention, but a human reality' [Pink News, December 7, 2011]

"Being gay is not a western invention, it is a human reality." ...

The Kaleidoscope Trust, which supports efforts to protect the human rights of LGBT communities around the world, called on David Cameron to back the initiatives announced by the US.

Lance Price, Director of the Kaleidoscope Trust who is in Geneva, said: "The Obama administration has set a new benchmark for governments in supporting human rights for all. David Cameron must now demonstrate his commitment to defending LGBT rights around the world by throwing Britain's weight and influence behind this campaign.

"For the first time America now has a government strategy dedicated to combating human rights abuses against LGBT people abroad backed by a new Global Equality Fund. David Cameron has spoken up in defence of equality for gay and lesbian people at home and abroad, but Britain lags behind when it comes to action and practical support.

• UN issues first report on human rights of gay and lesbian people [UN News Centre, December 15, 2011]

The first ever United Nations report on the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people details how around the world people are killed or endure hate-motivated violence, torture, detention, criminalization and discrimination in jobs, health care and education because of their real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.

The report, released today by the UN Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva, outlines "a pattern of human rights violations. that demands a response," and says governments have too often overlooked violencViolence against LGBT persons tends to be especially vicious compared to other bias-motivated crimes.e and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Homophobic and transphobic violence has been recorded in every region of the world, the report finds, and ranges from murder, kidnappings, assaults and rapes to psychological threats and arbitrary deprivations of liberty.

• Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Discriminatory laws and practices and acts of violence against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity (a *.pdf file) [OHCHR, November 17, 2011]
• Zambian Leaders Slam Clinton For Promoting The 'Ungodly Practices' Of Gay Equality [Think Progress, December 22, 2011]

Christian and political leaders in the African nation of Zambia are speaking out against Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's global call to end discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. The Zambia Episcopal Conference, the Pentecostal Church's Bishops' Council of Zambia and the Zambia United Christian Action "said that it was unwise for the U.S. government to use its money to force other nations to permit 'ungodly practices' in their land" and insisted that "Donor aid should not be tied to promoting immorality."

• On Gay Rights, Obama Lets Aides Take the Lead [New York Times, December 30, 2011]

Mr. Obama's strategy, administration officials and gay rights advocates said, reflects two conflicting forces. He recognizes that support for gay rights and same-sex marriage is growing, particularly among young voters.

But he is reluctant in an election year to be drawn into a culture-war issue - one that reliably helps Republicans turn out evangelical voters in their favor and also strikes a particular nerve with religious black voters, a bedrock Obama constituency in battleground states like North Carolina and Florida.

There is little indication that Mr. Obama plans to endorse same-sex marriage before the presidential election in November, despite recent statements that tiptoe right up to that position. Speaking to a gay rights group in October, he said, "Every single American - gay, straight, lesbian, bisexual, transgender - every single American deserves to be treated equally before the law."

• White House announces second LGBT summit [Gay Star News, February 19, 2012]

The 9 March event will be held in Detroit and focus on housing and homelessness. Shaun Donovan, the Secretary for Housing & Urban Development, will be a featured speaker.

The Obama team had its first get together with the gay and lesbian community this week. Held in Philadelphia, the conference focused on health care issues.

• Larry Womack: Obama's LGBT Discrimination Flip-Flop Takes Us Back To 1994 [HuffPo, April 12, 2012]

President Obama has always been rather timid in expressing the ferocity of his alliance with LGBT people. And, as could be said of his leadership in general, his boldest displays tend to be handled by delegates, overseas. This is more progress than we would get from any Republican who could survive the nomination process, of course, which is exactly the standard Democrats have held themselves to since 1994.

• Editorial: Sin of Omission [New York Times, April 12, 2012]

President Obama has signed many executive orders when Republicans in Congress persisted in blocking sound legislation. Yet he has inexcusably refused to issue an executive order banning discrimination by federal contractors based on sexual orientation or gender identity. ...

It is unclear why Mr. Obama declined to do the right thing here. He has taken actions against discrimination, like repealing the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy against openly gay service members. And he has voiced opposition to proposed state constitutional amendments in North Carolina and Minnesota to bar same-sex marriage. His hesitation to ban gay bias by government contractors, like his continued failure to actually endorse the freedom to marry, feels like a cynical hedge. It's hard to see the political sense in it, and it is certainly unhelpful to the cause of full gay equality under the law.

• 'Lucy' Obama and His 'Charlie Brown' Progressives [The Atlantic, May 8, 2012]

Check out Chuck Todd, NBC's chief White House correspondent, openly speculating that President Obama is going to embrace same-sex marriage because he needs money from gay people. "Gay money in this election has replaced Wall Street money," he reported. NBC's David Gregory agreed. For some reason, neither man seemed to think this theory reflects poorly on the president.

Then the conventional wisdom shifted. Observers were basing their guesses on the fact that HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and Vice President Joe Biden had both made statements in support of same-sex marriage. The same-sex-marriage supporters who praised these developments were as quickly dismayed when the White House walked back Biden's statements, insisting that like Obama, Biden's views on the subject were still "evolving," a euphemism that seems to mean they'll favor either marriage equality for gays or discrimination against them depending on their moment-to-moment judgments about what's best for them politically.

Sounds like Mitt Romney's position!

• Barack Obama's Bullshit Gay Marriage Announcement [Gawker, May 9, 2012]

On this afternoon's special broadcast, Jake Tapper echoed that point: "The president said he thought this was a state-by-state issue."

Well, before Roe v. Wade, abortion was a state-by-state issue, too. So was slavery. There are 44 states in which gay men and women are currently barred from marrying one another. Obama's position is that, while he would have voted the other way, those 42 states are perfectly within their rights to arbitrarily restrict the access of certain individuals to marriage rights based solely on their sexual orientation.

That is a half-assed, cowardly cop-out. There are currently at least three cases winding their way toward federal courts that address the issue of whether (among other things) the equal protection clause of the constitution guarantees gay men and women the same access to marriage rights as heterosexual men and women-the Proposition 8 case, in which David Boies and Ted Olson challenged California's ban on gay marriage, and several challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act, which bars gay men and woman from receiving federal marriage benefits and allows states to refuse to recognize valid gay marriages. Obama's Justice Department has admirably declined to defend the constitutionality of DOMA. But the position he enunciated today is in opposition to Boies and Olson: Obama is saying that if he were a judge, he would have rejected Boies and Olson's constitutional arguments and affirmed the right of Californians to enshrine bigotry in their state constitution.

Equality is not a state-by-state issue. There is no reason other than ignorance and hatred that two men can get married in New York and not North Carolina. At a time when vindictive hucksters are rolling out anti-gay marriage amendments across the nation, and when conflicting state and federal laws portend an insoluble morass of divorce, custody, and estate issues, and when gay Americans are turning to the U.S. Constitution and the courts to seek an affirmation of their humanity, "it's a state-by-state issue" is a shameful dodge.

• David Plotz: Do You Believe Obama Actually Changed His Mind About Gay Marriage? I don't. [Slate, May 9, 2012]

There is no elegant way to own up to past hypocrisy. But perhaps we shouldn't spend too much time congratulating the president on his "evolution." When he decided to pursue higher office, he made the wrong decision on gay marriage for political convenience. Now, he is making the right decision on gay marriage, and also for political convenience. He has known that gay marriage was right for at least 16 years-a lot longer than most Americans, including me. Let's not praise him too much for finally speaking out about it today.

• Mia McKenzie: Obama Loves Queers! (Except Not) [Indypendent, May 12, 2012]

This is the problem with this whole same-sex marriage thing (okay, there are a lot of problems with it, but this is one). It's not really about equality. Not for everyone (which is what equality means). It's just about extending a few more "rights" to a select few people. It's just a way of saying, "As long as you are otherwise as much like us normal people as you can possibly be, we will overlook the fact that you do icky things in bed and let you have some more rights. You're welcome."

It reminds me of white folks, liberal-types, who think they're not racist because they have black friends, only their black friends have their same level of education, talk just like they do, live in houses and neighborhoods that look just like theirs, and are basically indistinguishable from them except for their skin color, which happens to be browner. They need their colored folks to be just like them, or as near as possible. Otherwise, it's just awkward. ...

Until we stop giving value to certain kinds of relationships over others, until we stop projecting our personal values onto the lives of other consenting adults and making laws about it, until we stop being distracted by the crumbs that the few people in power throw at us so that we are too busy fighting over them to see that the actual pie is still forever off-limits to us, we'll never break down these oppressive systems that let a few people through the door just so they can help hold it closed to the masses of people still being kept on the other side.

• Andrew Sullivan on Barack Obama: The First Gay President [Newsweek, May 13, 2012]

It was the spring of 2007, back when Barack Obama's bid for the presidency seemed quixotic at best. I'd seen Obama speak to a crowd and was impressed but wanted to see if what I'd seen from afar held up under closer scrutiny. So I asked to attend a private fundraiser in a tony apartment in Georgetown. I promised not to write anything. I just wanted to see the man up close and get a better sense of him and his character. At one point in the question-and-answer session, a woman looked him square in the eyes with what can only be called maternal grit. "My son is gay," she said, and the room went suddenly quiet. "I don't understand why you don't support his right to marry the person he loves. It's so disappointing to me." Obama, without losing eye contact for a second, told her: "I want full equality for your son-all the rights and benefits that marriage brings. I really do. But the word 'marriage' stirs up so much religious feeling. I think civil unions are the way to go. As long as they are equal."

• After Obama's Decision on Marriage, a Call to Pastors [New York Times, May 13, 2012]
• Glenn Greenwald: Andrew Sullivan's father figure [Salon, May 14, 2012]

Andrew Sullivan - who has become the most reliable media hagiographer of an American President since . . . . the 2002 version of Andrew Sullivan under President Bush - spent the past three years continuously insisting that President Obama's opposition to same-sex marriages was largely irrelevant ("We will win not by begging presidents to back us (they have no role in a matter involving state legislatures, governors and courts")). Based on that view, he constantly berated gay groups and gay activists for complaining about Obama's opposition to marriage equality: "this desperate desire among some gays for some kind of affirmation from one man is a little sad," he wrote just last week. But that was when President Obama opposed same-sex marriage, so defending the President required one to voice that position.

(Click on image to enlarge)

Henry McRandall: "The balance has generally tilted in favour of extreme right-wing so-called
"justice," to the point where today's United States Supreme Court is not only the most
extremist but also the most corrupt in North American history."



Supreme Court [in USofA]: Churches Don't Need To Follow The Law
[Bilerico Project, January 12, 2012]

In a unanimous decision in the case of Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, handed down yesterday, the Supreme Court laid a wrecking ball to the First Amendment, placing a large shield around religious employers that violate workplace laws. ...

When the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission came calling, after Ms. Petich had filed a claim for discrimination based on disability, the school said that Ms. Petich had not been fired because of her disability. No, they were fine with her disability. Rather, she had been fired because of religious law. Ms. Petich had violated the beliefs of their Church. What beliefs of the Hosassa-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church had Ms. Petich violated so flagrantly? Why, the belief of the Church that its members should never resort to the law to protect their rights against Church members.

No, I'm serious. The Church said that anyone who threatens litigation is violating God's law. Since Ms. Petich mentioned that she "planned to assert her legal rights," she had to be fired because she violated God's law. I mean, seriously?

Rather than dismissing this whopper with a chuckle, as they should have, the Supreme Court bowed reverentially and ruled that any religious employer can avoid a lawsuit for workplace laws so long as they take care to ensure that their religious beliefs include a line about never suing the Church. Firing for disability? Right as rain. You seem gay, so you're fired? No problem. Fire those sniveling whiners who complain about sexual harassment or sex-for-keeping-your-job? A- Okay. You say we violated the child labor laws or the minimum wage laws? No, sorry, those are ministers, so the laws don't apply. You got injured on the job and want to sue? Forget it, bub, we told you that your job includes thinking about God and being holy, so the "ministerial exception" puts the halo of silence around you. Get on your knees and tell your ambulance-chaser to take a walk.

I can just imagine the conversations taking place today at the General Counsel's Offices at the Church of Scientology, the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and every other major religion.

But more than the specific principle announced here, the Supreme Court is signaling something about the application of law in the face of a defense based on "religious freedom."

[Continued here]

• The Supreme Court's Religious Double Standard [The Atlantic, January 11, 2012]

It's good to be a religious institution in America, where the right to enjoy public funds may be unaccompanied by the responsibility to comply with generally applicable public laws. In a closely watched religious liberty case, Hosannah Tabor v EEOC, the Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that churches enjoy broad, barely defined exemptions from civil rights laws in hiring and firing employees they classify as ministerial.

The basic concept of a "ministerial exception" to secular civil law is not new, or remarkable: federal appeals courts have recognized that religious organizations have obvious, essential First Amendment rights to choose their own religious leaders. But Hosannah Tabor raised hard questions about the scope of this exception, its application in retaliation cases, and the deference courts must afford to a church's claim that an employee is in fact, ministerial. To the benefit of religious employers, the Court didn't answer these questions so much as avoid them.

• Supreme Court: Church-state separation extends to religious schools [Los Angeles Times, January 11, 2012]
• Henry McRandall: The most corrupt U.S. supreme court ever? [Wriseup, April 15, 2011]

Many Americans are fond of their misguided belief that — in Amerikkka, at least — "justice is blind." Unfortunately, those "blinders" have now been removed.

There has always been a double standard of justice — both in the U.S. and in Canada — depending on the economic, social, racial, ethnic and religious circumstances of the parties involved. In fact, it would be fair to say that across North America "justice" is just another commodity that can be peddled to the highest bidder.

It has been traditional in both countries for judicial appointments — especially the appointment of supreme court justices — to be tainted by political considerations.

And at various times throughout modern history, those highest courts have tended to be biased in favour of either the liberal or the conservative philosophy that happened to be in the ascendancy at the time.

Speaking truth to authority



Bradley Manning deserves a medal, not a jail cell

"If the private did leak documents, his only 'crime' is pushing the U.S. back to our tradition of transparency."
— Chase Madar

[Continued here]

UC Davis: Official 'spin' crumbles in the face of "too many videos"
[ZDNet, November 20, 2011]

1970: Kent State shootings: One iconic Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph taken by chance of a student killed by the unfathomable brutality of National Guard troops; some no older than the students they killed. One person, one camera.

1991: Rodney King arrest: An African-American man who was beaten relentlessly by police with batons, showing the cruel brutality of Los Angeles' law enforcement and utter disregard of then societally-developing race relations. One person, one camera.

2011: UC Davis pepper-spray assault: Around fifty students at the California university sprayed at point-blank range by police, emphasising the disproportionate violence to what was a peaceful, orchestrated protest. One police officer, dozens of cameras.

In the run-up to last weekend, students at the University of California, Davis told the world through a deafening silence how to hold a peaceful, arguably beautiful protest. In so many cases, its underlying message can be drowned out by the rage of violence, disruption and civil disorder.

Students have long been portrayed in a particular way, as lay-about good-for-nothings, with little interest in anything beyond their own politics, causing disruption for anti-fur movements and sleeping in until late afternoon. Not to mention, these 'leeches' continue to put strain on the financial system they seem to complain about.

But the university students at UC Davis, disaffected by decisions made by the state, the university and those who they thought they could trust, taught the world one important, crucial lesson in post-modern principles of today's reporting.

The truth will out.

On Friday afternoon, UC Davis students sat down along a pathway and linked arms, peacefully defiant in the face of law enforcement, in that they would not be intimidated and had a right to protest without causing disorder or committing violence.

The police were then called in to clear the student protesters, after the chancellor Linda Katehi claimed they were trespassing on university property. It was Katehi who ordered the UC David police to evict the protesters.

[Continued here]

• UC Davis pepper spray incident goes viral [Christian Science Monitor, November 20, 2011]
• UC Davis police chief put on leave in pepper-spraying controversy [Los Angeles Times, November 21, 2011]
• James Fallows: UC Davis Update, Featuring 'Catopticon' and Tanks in Small Towns [The Atlantic, November 21, 2011]

• Pepper spray cop was involved in anti-gay slur lawsuit which ended in $240,000 settlement [Daily Mail, November 23, 2011]

Officer Calvin Chang's 2003 discrimination complaint against the university's police chief and the UC Board of Regents alleged he was systematically marginalized as the result of anti-gay and racist attitudes on the force, and he specifically claimed Pike described him using a profane anti-gay epithet.

Katehi identified Pike as one of the officers involved in the pepper-spray incident in an interview with the campus television station Sunday, and university communications staff confirmed his role Tuesday.

As the controversy over the spraying incident has grown, images of the lieutenant have become the subject of a popular blog, which features his image superimposed on famous paintings and spraying famous figures, from Gandhi to John F. Kennedy.

• Ex-UC Davis officer: Warned campus about excessive force [News10, November 23, 2011]

A former UC Davis police officer, who sued the university after he was fired, said he warned the department and the administration repeatedly about the use of excessive force.

"We're talking about an agency that has a majority of very good officers and a few officers who engage in misconduct," former officer Calvin Chang said.

Chang said he tried to tell higher-ups about issues within the department on numerous occasions.

"Specifically, allegations of excessive force, which I reported to the university and to it's attorneys and it appears nothing was done about that," Chang said.

• Celebrity Photographer Takes On Pepper-Spraying Cop [Huffington Post, December 14, 2011]

Tyler Shields is a photographer who has been allowed a fair amount of space to experiment with the medium. He slapped meat across Mischa Barton's face for one shoot and had Lindsay Lohan gorging herself on blood for another. Now, young Hollywood's "it" photographer is getting political.

• John W. Whitehead: Tanks on Main Street: The Militarization of Local Police [Huffington Post, January 4, 2012]

"If we're training cops as soldiers, giving them equipment like soldiers, dressing them up as soldiers, when are they going to pick up the mentality of soldiers? If you look at the police department, their creed is to protect and to serve. A soldier's mission is to engage his enemy in close combat and kill him. Do we want police officers to have that mentality? Of course not." -- Arthur Rizer, former civilian police officer and member of the military

Take a close look at your local police officers, the ones who patrol your neighborhoods and ensure the safety of your roadways. Chances are they look less and less like the benevolent keepers of the peace who patrolled Andy Griffith's Mayberry and more like inflexible extensions of the military. As journalist Benjamin Carlson points out, "In today's Mayberry, Andy Griffith and Barney Fife could be using grenade launchers and a tank to keep the peace." This is largely owing to the increasing arsenal of weapons available to police units, the changing image of the police within communities, and the growing idea that the police can and should use any means necessary to maintain order.

Moreover, as an investigative report by Andrew Becker and G.W. Schulz reveals, in communities large and small across America, local law enforcement are arming themselves to the teeth with weapons previously only seen on the battlefield. "Many police, including beat cops, now routinely carry assault rifles. Combined with body armor and other apparel, many officers look more and more like combat troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan."

• James Fallows: Remember the Pepper-Spraying Cop? UC Davis Releases a Powerful Report [The Atlantic, April 15, 2012]

The report is relatively short, and is also direct, non-mealy-mouthed, and very much worth reading in its entirety.

If anything, the lengthy accompanying "Kroll Report," from private investigators retained by the U.C. system president Mark Yudof to look into the event, is more startling and dramatic. According to its cover page, it was originally considered "Confidential - Do Not Distribute," and you can see why. It includes a lot of raw testimony from people involved in the decisions about when and how to disperse the demonstrators.

Campus police and others come in for their share of criticism, including specifically the police lieutenant who has become notorious from the picture above. Both he and the UC Davis police chief remain on paid administrative leave. But at face value its findings are also very damaging to the still-serving Chancellor of UC Davis, Linda Katehi. ...

    

John A. Harnick: "The silence of President Barak Obama is deafening."

White supremacist principal running Bronx [catholic] school with majority
black and Latino students [New York Daily News, July 31, 2011]

A firebrand educator with ties to a white supremacist group is running a Bronx Catholic school where most of the students are black and Latino, the Daily News has learned.

Frank Borzellieri, 48, was quietly promoted to principal of Our Lady of Mount Carmel School two years ago - despite a history of controversial writings and campaigns, including a push to ban a biography on the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

In 2004, Borzellieri wrote the book "Don't Take It Personally: Race, Immigration, Crime and Other Heresies," in which he declares "diversity is a weakness" and says the rising black and Hispanic populations in America will lead to the "New Dark Age."

He has also written frequently for the white supremacist publication American Renaissance, with which he is still "intimately involved," the non-profit Southern Poverty Law Center says.

Borzellieri declined comment.

Mount Carmel pastor, the Rev. Eric Rapaglia, said he knew of Borzellieri's views, but didn't "see any cause for concern" when he hired him to run the 200-student elementary school.

"I knew of him from my last parish," he said. "Do I agree with all of it? No. But I think much of it is valuable and logical and reasonable.

"A lot of his ideas would actually benefit minorities," he added. ...

During his board tenure, from 1993 to 2002, he tried to:

    • Ban literature he labeled "anti-American" from school libraries. His targets included books on different races and culture, and a biography of King.

    • Remove an openly gay teacher and gay-rights activist from the classroom at Public School 199 in Sunnyside, and ban school employees from making any references to homosexuality.

    • Introduce a resolution calling for students to be taught that U.S. culture is superior.

[Continued here]

• Bronx Catholic School Principal Has Ties To White Supremacy Movement [Gothamist, July 31, 2011]

The Southern Poverty Law Center claims that Borzellieri is still "intimately" involved with AmRen, and has spoken at their yearly conferences. Last year's conference in D.C. was cancelled because hotels refused to book them after finding out who they were. Even a few death threats to the hotels couldn't keep the dream alive.

Borzellieri's former principal at St. Barnabas feels that,"You can't have someone with those beliefs or who writes that kind of stuff working at a Catholic school." Aw c'mon. In Borzellieri's own words: don't take it personally!

• Bronx man interrupts church Mass to rip 'racist' principal, gets kicked out and arrested [New York Daily News, August 1, 2011]

Shock over an outspoken Catholic school principal's ties to a white supremacist group turned ugly during Sunday Mass at a Bronx church.

Cops were called to Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Fordham after a church-goer interrupted the service to call for the removal of Frank Borzellieri as principal of the parish school.

"I wanted them to feel my sense of outrage that he was brought into the community to teach," said Juan Varela, 54, who was arrested yesterday on disorderly conduct and weapons possession charges and spent seven hours in police custody.

Varela, who is Catholic but lives in Queens, said he sat in a pew during the 10 a.m. Mass. At one point he stood up, walked to the altar, faced parishioners and began railing against Borzellieri.

"This church hired a racist. This church does not like Hispanics and blacks," one police source quoted Varela as saying.

Cops said he initially refused to leave, but finally complied. He said he was kicked from behind by ushers at the back of the church as he tried to exit.

He was picked up by police about two blocks away. Varela was charged with criminal possession of a weapon - a knife - and disorderly conduct, cops said.

• Catholic School Principal Fired For Racial Views [Huffington Post, August 2, 2011]

The principal of a Catholic grade school in the Bronx that serves mainly black and Latino students has been fired after his racially charged views about minorities made headlines, and the priest who hired him apologized for a "mistake in judgment."

The Archdiocese of New York announced Tuesday that the pastor, the Rev. Eric Rapaglia, had dismissed the principal, Frank Borzellieri, 48, two days after The Daily News published a story about Borzellieri's ties to a white supremacist group and his voluminous writings on racial issues.

Those writings included efforts to ban a biography on the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and a 2004 book in which he says growing black and Hispanic populations in America will lead to a "New Dark Age." Borzellieri is shown on the cover with a baseball bat in his hands.

"Many of the opinions expressed by Mr. Borzellieri in his writings were found to be incompatible with the philosophy and practices of Our Lady of Mount Carmel School, and with Catholic schools throughout the Archdiocese," Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan, said in a statement explaining Borzellieri's firing.

Catholic Charities USA's gay lobbyist [Washington Blade, July 14, 2011]

Catholic Charities USA, the nation's largest network of faith-based agencies providing services to the poor, has hired a Washington lobbying firm owned by a gay man to promote a recently launched anti-poverty initiative before Congress and the Obama administration.

In a little noticed development, Catholic Charities USA retained the Sheridan Group, founded in 1991 by social worker and gay rights advocate Tom Sheridan, to coordinate the development of legislation and related advocacy programs aimed at "starting a new national conversation on poverty and opportunity."

Lobbying disclosure reports filed with the House and Senate show that Catholic Charities USA paid the Sheridan Group $476,750 between April 2010 and April 2011 for lobbying services and advocacy work related to the Catholic organization's anti-poverty projects.

News of the Sheridan Group's lobbying work for Catholic Charities USA comes at a time when local Catholic Charities agencies - including those in D.C., Massachusetts, and Illinois - have withdrawn from providing adoption services for state or local governments rather than be forced to provide such services to same-sex couples.

Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington spoke out against a same-sex marriage law at the time the D.C. City Council deliberated over the measure.

[Continued here]

John A. Harnick: "The depth of ignorance underlying this so-called study is truly breath-taking.
Black people would still be picking cotton for free. 'Blame the victim' is alive and well."



The rise of equal rights organisations has 'led to bigotry' [Daily Mail, July 9, 2011]

Equal rights organisations can actually encourage bigotry, a study claims.

Groups which campaign on issues such as gender equality and gay rights have been found to worsen prejudice if they try to tell people how to think.

Presenting a more subtle argument was revealed as a more potent way of combating prejudice. ...

Study author Dr Lisa Legault, from the University of Toronto Scarborough, suggested that equal rights campaigners may even encourage hostility towards the minorities they are seeking to protect.

[Note: This 'study' reeks of homophobic junk science arrogantly masqerading as legitimate scholarly research. At the expense of Canadian taxpayers too.]

[Continued here]

The 'Christian' Dogma Pushed by Religious Schools That Are Supported by Your Tax Dollars [AlterNet, May 23, 2011]

Are your state's tax dollars funding the teaching of religious supremacism and bigotry? What about creationism? The answer is undoubtedly yes, if you live in a state with a voucher or corporate tax credit program funding "school choice."

Religious schools across the nation are receiving public funds through voucher and corporate tax credit programs. Many hundreds, if not thousands, of these schools use Protestant fundamentalist textbooks that teach not only creationism, but also a religious supremacist worldview. They offer a shocking spin on politics, history and human rights. ...

This tax credit program money could have been used to improve Florida's urban public schools, but that would not serve the purpose of indoctrinating the largely minority recipients of the tuition grants with the right-wing religious worldview found in these textbooks. As Frances Paterson states in her research, Americans absolutely have the right to send their children to schools that use these fundamentalist curricula. But she adds, "The public policy makers can and should ask whether the alternative system of Christian education for which they seek public approval and support is ideologically driven in ways that run contrary to the best interests of a diverse, democratic society."

[Continued here]

• Editorial: Fighting gay bullying: The only 'agenda' is respect [Los Angeles Times, October 18, 2010]

A spate of suicides by gay teenagers has produced what looks like a united front against anti-gay bullying. But at least one conservative leader sees a sinister homosexual agenda in efforts to combat such bullying by acknowledging and affirming gay students.

As The Times recently observed, harassment of gay and lesbian students is part of a larger problem, and therefore, schools should pursue comprehensive anti-bullying efforts. That doesn't mean teachers and administrators shouldn't recognize anti-gay bullying as a distinct issue rooted not only in adolescent cruelty but in cultural condemnations of homosexuality. When they do so, however, they are accused by some conservatives of taking sides in a culture war.

An extreme example was a recent article by Tony Perkins president of the Family Research Council. Perkins accused the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network and similar organizations of exploiting the suicides of gay teenagers "to push their agenda of demanding not only tolerance of homosexual individuals but active affirmation of homosexual conduct and their efforts to redefine the family." For good measure, he said, "the homosexual movement, and their allies in the media and the educational establishment," may be creating despair that can lead to suicide by telling homosexuals that they are "'born gay' and can never change."

• REPORT: Meet The Billionaires Who Are Trying To Privatize Our Schools And Kill Public Education [Think Progress, May 21, 2011]

Two weeks ago, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) marked "a new era for education in Indiana" when he signed into law one of the most expansive school voucher laws in the country, opening up a huge fund of tax dollars for private schools. A few days later, the Wisconsin state Assembly vastly expanded school vouchers, freeing up tax dollars even for private religious schools. GOP legislators in the Pennsylvania Senate say they have the votes to pass a sweeping voucher bill of their own. And on Capitol Hill, House Republicans successfully revived Washington, D.C.'s voucher system after it was killed off two years ago.

This rapid expansion of voucher programs - which undermine and undercut public education by funnelling taxpayer money to private schools - is remarkable. After all, vouchers have been unpopular with the American public. Between 1966 and 2000, vouchers were put up for a vote in states 25 times, and voters rejected the program 24 of those times.

Yet if one looks behind the curtain - at the foundations, non-profits, Political Action Committees (PAC) - into the workings of the voucher movement, it's apparent why it has gained strength in recent years. A tight-knit group of right-wing millionaires and billionaires, bankers, industrialists, lobby shops, and hardcore ideologues has been plotting this war on public education, quietly setting up front group after front group to promote the idea that the only way to save public education is to destroy it - disguising their movement with the innocent-sounding moniker of "school choice."

• Pro-Voucher Tea Party Group Admits It Wants To 'Shut Down Public Schools And Have Private Schools Only' [Think Progress, July 11, 2011]

In a series of e-mails and interviews, Teri Adams, the president of the Idependence Hall Tea Party Association, explains that her organization is involved in its voucher advocacy because it believes "public schools should go away." Adams said that their ultimate goal is to "shut down public schools and have private schools only":

        "We think public schools should go away,'' says Teri Adams, the head of the Independence Hall Tea Party and a leading advocate - both in New Jersey and Pennsylvania - of passage of school voucher bills. The tea party operates in those two states and Delaware. They should "go away," she says, because "they are hurting our children.'' [...] Adams says the current voucher program "discriminates" against wealthier students by providing public subsidies only to inner-city children in allegedly failing schools. Her group's e-mails pushing vouchers caught the attention of James Kovalcin of South Brunswick, a retired public school teacher who asked Adams for clarification. She responded via email: "Our ultimate goal is to shut down public schools and have private schools only, eventually returning responsibility for payment to parents and private charities. It's going to happen piecemeal and not overnight. It took us years to get into this mess and it's going to take years to get out of it."

"It's refreshing to see a vouchers promoter who is honest about her real intent - to destroy public education," responded Julia Rubin, a spokeswoman for Save Our Schools, a New Jersey organization that is opposing the voucher push in the state. "Fortunately, most New Jersey residents understand how devastating vouchers would be for our excellent public schools."

• The bluer the Oregon county, the lower the gay-teen suicide rate [Los Angeles Times, April 18, 2011]

In a newly released study primarily focused on gay-teen suicide rates in Oregon, some interesting details were discovered. The numbers of suicide attempts by gay teens went down by 20% in counties whose schools had anti-bullying, anti-discrimination policies and/or a Gay-Straight Alliance. The suicide rate was also lower when the proportion of Democrats was higher in the county.

A community that was supportive of gay teens not only curbed suicide among gays, the study found, but also lowered the rate of suicide attempts by heterosexual students by 9%.

Researchers led by Mark Hatzenbuehler looked at five aspects of the social environment surrounding gay, lesbian and bisexual youth on a countywide level: the proportion of schools with anti-bullying policies specifically protecting these students; the proportion of schools with a Gay-Straight Alliance; the proportion of schools with anti-discrimination policies that included sexual orientation; the proportion of same-sex couples; and the proportion of Democrats in the county. Then they rated each of Oregon's 34 counties based on the results of those findings.

The study found that a more supportive social environment was associated with 20% fewer suicide attempts than an unsupportive environment. A supportive environment was also associated with a 9% lower rate of attempted suicide among heterosexual students.

"That suggest that when you create environments supportive for lesbian, gay and bisexual youths, it creates a healthier environment for all youths," Hatzenbuehler told Oregon Live.

• Right-Wing Activists Explain How Daycare, Public Schools And Gay Rights Are Destroying Society [Right Wing Watch, July 27, 2011]
• Robert Greenwald: Want to See How the Kochs Are Ending Public Education? [Huffington Post, August 15, 2011]

The Koch brothers have more than $42 billion to make public policy out of their anti-government ideology, and their assault against public education epitomizes their tactics to remake our nation.

The Koch brothers founded Americans for Prosperity and have contributed more than $5 million to its political coffers. Americans for Prosperity, in turn, contributed to organizations that financially influenced a community school board election.

That's right: the Koch brothers are involving themselves, through their wealth-backed political apparatus, in local schools.

Americans for Prosperity allied with groups in North Carolina with the sole purpose of building a new majority on the school board in and around Raleigh. The Koch apparatus was trying to rewrite the social contract that made the Wake County school system a magnet for teachers and families and the surrounding communities prosper.

Each campus was its own melting pot where students could build meaningful relationships and find their niche. Advanced courses and after school activities gave tens of thousands of children a path to higher education and a shot at success.

Many families in the community attributed local prosperity and harmony to the way the school district assigned students to schools.

That policy came under siege from the Koch brothers who, through Americans for Prosperity, indirectly supported school board candidates who campaigned on reversing the busing for diversity program. The outside involvement made a school board election into the most divisive race since the 1970s.

• The GOP'S New War on Schools: The rise of Michele Bachmann reflects a shift in the party's education agenda [Slate, August 17, 2011]

Michele Bachmann's victory in the Iowa straw poll Saturday represents many obvious things: the mainstreaming of the Tea Party, the overnight ordinariness of female presidential candidates, the increasing irrelevance of also-ran moderates like Jon Huntsman. But her growing popularity among the Republican base also signals something that's been less widely acknowledged: a sea change in the party's education agenda. It's safe to say that the political era of George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind is now officially over, even as the law's testing mandates continue to reverberate in classrooms across the country.

• US judges rule for teacher who called creationism 'superstitious nonsense' [Christian Science Monitor, August 19, 2011]

"In broaching controversial issues like religion, teachers must be sensitive to students' personal beliefs and take care not to abuse their positions of authority," Judge Fisher wrote.

"But teachers must also be given leeway to challenge students to foster critical thinking skills and develop their analytical abilities," he said. "This balance is hard to achieve, and we must be careful not to curb intellectual freedom by imposing dogmatic restrictions." ...

Corbett told his students that "real" scientists try to disprove the theory of evolution. "Contrast that with creationists," he told his students. "They never try to disprove creationism. They're all running around trying to prove it. That's deduction. It's not science. Scientifically, it's nonsense."

• Robert Greenwald and Max Stanley: The Koch Brothers Are At It Again in Public Schools [Huffington Post, September 28, 2011]

The student resegregation plan favored by industrialists Charles and David Koch has been a divisive flashpoint between school board members in Wake County, NC. The billionaire brothers continue trying to resegregate a widely celebrated school system, which sets the agenda for hundreds of communities across nationwide.

The Koch brothers are extending their political battles to local school boards. An anonymous campaign flier, which may have ties to the Kochs, accuses the NAACP of brainwashing local anti-resegregation candidates. The flier is called "indoctrination" and is being investigated by state officials. The Kochs have been linked to similar smear efforts in Michigan and Wisconsin.

• Stephen Lacey: Bloomberg's Bombshell Report on "The Koch Method": How to Steal, Cheat and Lie Your Way to the Top [Think Progress, October 3, 2011]

Price fixing; bribery; safety failures; investigation cover-ups: These are just a normal part of business at Koch Industries, according to a detailed investigative report released yesterday by Bloomberg News.

Koch Industries - the biggest funder of climate science denial and anti-clean energy causes - has a long history of illegal or borderline-illegal behavior that has allowed it become a major global energy player:

        For six decades around the world, Koch Industries has blazed a path to riches - in part, by making illicit payments to win contracts, trading with a terrorist state, fixing prices, neglecting safety and ignoring environmental regulations. At the same time, Charles and David Koch have promoted a form of government that interferes less with company actions.

• Robert Niles: Why I Send My Children to Public Schools [Huffington Post, October 9, 2011]
• Michael Kirby warns public schools not to rely on religious donations [The Australian, October 13, 2011]

"Any facilities that are necessary for teaching requirements of the school should be provided from public funds, they should not be provided from outsiders."

Religious incursions into public education "must be resisted" because public education "is very important for our democracy", he added.

• Why Does Michigan's Anti-Bullying Bill Protect Religious Tormenters? [Time, November 4, 2011]

But the Michigan legislature is doing its best to make me hang my head in shame. On Wednesday, the Republican-controlled state senate passed an anti-bullying bill that manages to protect school bullies instead of those they victimize. It accomplishes this impressive feat by allowing students, teachers, and other school employees to claim that "a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction" justifies their harassment. ...

In other words, social conservatives believe that efforts to protect gays from assault, discrimination or bullying impinge on their religious freedom to express and act on their belief that homosexuality is an abomination. That's stating it harshly, but it is the underlying belief.

This belief, however, relies on a warped understanding of religious liberty. Freedom of religious expression doesn't give someone the right to kick the crap out of a gay kid or to verbally torment her. It doesn't give someone the right to fire a gay employee instead of dealing with the potential discomfort of working with him.

It's also a highly selective conception of religious liberty. The same religious conservatives who applaud the religious exemption in Michigan's anti-bullying bill would be appalled if it protected a Muslim student in Dearborn who defended bullying a Christian classmate by saying he considered her an infidel.

• Richard Dawkins celebrates a victory over creationists [The Guardian, January 15, 2012]

Leading scientists and naturalists, including Professor Richard Dawkins and Sir David Attenborough, are claiming a victory over the creationist movement after the government ratified measures that will bar anti-evolution groups from teaching creationism in science classes.

The Department for Education has revised its model funding agreement, allowing the education secretary to withdraw cash from schools that fail to meet strict criteria relating to what they teach. Under the new agreement, funding will be withdrawn for any free school that teaches what it claims are "evidence-based views or theories" that run "contrary to established scientific and/or historical evidence and explanations".

The British Humanist Association (BHA), which has led a campaign against creationism - the movement that denies Darwinian evolution and claims that the Earth and all its life was created by God - described the move as "highly significant" and predicted that it would have implications for other faith groups looking to run schools. ...

A BHA campaign, called "Teach evolution, not creationism", saw 30 leading scientists and educators call on the government to introduce statutory guidance against the teaching of creationism. The group said if the government would not support the call, an explicit amendment to the wording of the funding agreement could have the same effect. Last week the Department for Education confirmed it had amended the agreement, although a spokesman denied it was the result of pressure from scientists. He said the revision made good on a pledge regarding the teaching of creationism given when the education secretary, Michael Gove, was in opposition. "We will not accept any academy or free school proposal which plans to teach creationism in the science curriculum or as an alternative to accepted scientific theories," the spokesman said, adding that "all free school proposals will be subject to due diligence checks by the department's specialist team".

• Henry A. Giroux: Why Teaching People to Think for Themselves Is Repugnant to Religious Zealots and Rick Santorum [AlterNet, February 27, 2012]

Actually, Santorum and many of his allies dislike any public institution that enables people to think critically and act with a degree of responsibility toward the public. This is one reason why they hate any notion of public education, which harbors the promise, if not the threat, of actually educating students to be thoughtful, self-reflective and capable of questioning so-called common sense and holding power accountable. Of course, some progressives see this as simply another example of how the right wing of the Republican Party seems to think that being stupid is in. But there is more going on here than the issue of whether right-wing fundamentalists are intellectually and politically challenged. What makes critical education, especially, so dangerous to radical Christian evangelicals, neoconservatives and right-wing nationalists in the United States today is that, central to its very definition, is the task of educating students to become critical agents who can actively question and negotiate the relationships between individual troubles and public issues. In other words, students who can lead rather than follow, embrace reasoned arguments over opinions and reject common sense as the engine of truth.

• Rachel Tabachnik: The Religious Right's Plot To Take Control Of Our Public Schools [AlterNet, March 6, 2012]

How did it come to this? If you haven't personally observed today's aggressive "spiritual warfare," it may be difficult to imagine that young children are being taught that their school is a battlefield and they are the warriors who must save their classmates from themselves. With a remarkable amount of grace and restraint, Stewart describes the havoc in communities around the nation as initiatives to evangelize public school students have increased. The effect is always the same: the polarization that results when the Good News Club shows up inevitably disrupts the ability of parents and teachers to work cooperatively as a school community. And the resulting dissension and loss of trust in the schools, says Stewart, is exactly the result the right wing has in mind.

• Paul Krugman: Ignorance Is Strength [New York Times, March 8, 2012]

It's not hard to see what's driving Mr. Santorum's wing of the party. His specific claim that college attendance undermines faith is, it turns out, false. But he's right to feel that our higher education system isn't friendly ground for current conservative ideology. And it's not just liberal-arts professors: among scientists, self-identified Democrats outnumber self-identified Republicans nine to one.

I guess Mr. Santorum would see this as evidence of a liberal conspiracy. Others might suggest that scientists find it hard to support a party in which denial of climate change has become a political litmus test, and denial of the theory of evolution is well on its way to similar status.

• Sara Robinson: How the Conservative Worldview Quashes Critical Thinking — and What That Means For Our Kids' Future [AlterNet, May 18, 2012]

The Conservative War On Education continues apace, with charters blooming everywhere, high-stakes testing cementing its grip on classrooms, and legislators and pundits wondering what we need those stupid liberal arts colleges for anyway. (Isn't college about job prep? Who needs to know anything about art history, anthropology or ancient Greek?)

Amid the din, there's a worrisome trend: liberals keep affirming right-wing talking points, usually without realizing that they're even right wing. Or saying things like, "The education of our children is a non-partisan issue that should exist outside of any ideological debate."

The hell it is. People who say stuff like this have no idea what they're talking about. The education of our children is a core cultural and political choice that reflects the deepest differences between liberals and conservatives -- because every educational conversation must start with the fundamental philosophical question: What is an education for?

Alheli Picazo: Who's influencing policy decisions in Stephen Harper's government?
[Rabble.ca, May 17, 2010]

In the wake Marci McDonald's newly released book The Armageddon Factor: The Rise Of Christian Nationalism In Canada, a political firestorm has erupted on Parliament Hill, igniting debate about just who's influencing the policy decisions made by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

The release of McDonald's book comes amid the brewing tension of apparent ideological moves made by the Harper government, including the 'Mexico City Policy' for the upcoming G8 maternal and child health initiative, the rescinding of funds of women's organizations who promote a full range of family planning options, and the denial of federal tourism funds for Pride Toronto.

[Continued here]

• The Armageddon Factor: The Rise Of Christian Nationalism In Canada (2010) by Marci Mcdonald [Chapters Indigo]
• Conservative Party Links to Right Wing American Groups [dawn.thot.net, January 13, 2006]
• Stephen Harper and the Theo-cons: The rising clout of Canada's religious right [The Walrus, October, 2006]
• Evangelical activists promoted to top jobs by Stephen Harper [Vancouver Sun, March 25, 2009]
• CBC waging 'faith war,' Conservatives say [CBC, May 12, 2010]

The CBC is fuelling a "faith war" and using its taxpayer-funded position to "foment religious division," the Prime Minister's strategists in their latest attack on the public broadcaster.

In a memo to supporters, the backroom operatives note that this is just the next step in the CBC's "ongoing campaign against the Conservative Party." At issue is a story about the rise of the right-wing religious groups and their connections to the Stephen Harper's government that ran on The National last night.

• Murray Dobbin: Harper's Christian Right Wing [the Tyee.ca, May 17, 2010]
• Fundamentalist Religion Will Destroy the World [AlterNet, July 3, 2011]

The countries in the world that are the most fundamentalist and religious, and/or those whose identity is most religion-based, are the world's greatest troublemakers. Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the USA, Vatican City and the state of Israel come to mind.

• The Religious Right's Shadow Nation [Truth Wins Out, July 5, 2011]

Lately, it seems Christian fundamentalists have campaigned to pervert the notion of "religious freedom" to mean they have the absolute right to control lives and dictate how other people live. If they are unable to coerce or browbeat non-believers into following their church's rules in the public square, they falsely play the victim card and cry "discrimination."

For normal Americans, religious freedom means the right to worship according to conscience. This most basic tenet of liberty is not enough for America's predatory fundamentalists. They believe they are superior and have the God-given right to force society to play by their rules. This inability to co-exist is a divisive and destabilizing force that must be adequately addressed.

How far will these extremists go to get their way and claim special rights? Consider a new bill proposed by two Michigan state senators, Tupac Hunter (D-Detroit) and Mark Jansen (R-Grand Rapids) that would permit students in counseling programs to refuse helping clients with issues that conflicted with their "sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions." ...

There is no end to the madness if we begin accommodating the supremacist and separatist impulses of fundamentalists. The Michigan bill is morally wrong, harmful to this country and could potentially create a chaotic and divisive situation where members of favored religious sects are exempt from laws that govern the general public.

• The Relentless Christian Crusade to Prevent Kids from Learning Science [AlterNet, July 11, 2011]

The incident, however, was telling. It's yet another example of how Religious Right strategies to introduce fundamentalist Christianity into public school science classes have (ironically) evolved over the years. Measures like the Tennessee bill have popped up in other states during this legislative season, showing an increasing sophistication on the part of activists who are determined to revise biology instruction to conform to religious dogma.

In decades past, state legislators passed laws flatly barring the teaching of evolution or requiring "balanced treatment" between creationism and evolution. Those efforts were struck down by the courts.

Undaunted, Religious Right activists returned with a host of new ideas and presented them to friendly lawmakers. They advocated teaching the "weaknesses" of evolution, asserted that public school teachers had a free-speech right to attack evolution in class and even advocating pasting anti-evolution disclaimers in science books.

• Rachel Maddow, There Is Much, Much More To The Story of Rick Perry's Apostles [AlterNet, July 13, 2011]

Peter Wagner is the Convening Apostle of a international network of apostles and prophets who believe they are unifying the church to take control over government and society, and bring about the return of Jesus. The apostles have a 50-state communications and mobilization network of "prayer warriors," which is becoming increasingly enticing to right-wing politicians. Remember Sarah Palin's repeated thanks to her prayer warrriors? This was not a generic use of the term, as described in a previous Alternet article by Bill Berkowitz in 2010.

Wagner coined the term New Apostolic Reformation, and describes his movement as "the most radical change in the way of doing church since the Protestant Reformation." The movement primarily draws from the Independent Charismatic sector of Christianity, which encompasses almost 400 million people worldwide and is sometimes referred to as neo-Pentecostal or neo-Charismatic. The latter description is used in the World Christian Trends, the gold standard for statistics for the evangelical missions movement.

Wagner is the brains behind the demon and witch-hunting that is part of Strategic Level Spiritual Warfare, or SLSW, that has drawn interest throughout much of the charismatic evangelical world. With the aid of some of his top apostles including Cindy Jacobs and Ed Silvoso, Wagner developed and promoted the SLSW techniques of spiritual mapping, warfare prayer, and "Reconciliation" events. The latter are are claimed to remove the "generational curses" from certain population groups such as Native Americans, African Americans, Roman Catholics, and those of non-Christian faiths. ...

While you may be tempted to chuckle and brush off this sudden onslaught of information about the apostles - their burning of other people's religious objects and claims that the Statue of Liberty, monuments, and Indian mounds are demonic - don't. Chances are the apostles have a prayer warrior group or "Transformations" entity in your city or region.

The Global Day of Prayer initiated by South African Graham Power is a product of this movement and much Religious Right activism in this country has been commandeered by the movement. Religious Right leaders like James Dobson, former head of Focus on Family, and Tony Perkins of Family Research Council, have participated in events led by the apostles, as have numerous other traditional Religious Right leaders. American Family Association is sponsoring Rick Perry's event, whose organizers include leadership of Lou Engle's The Call and Mike Bickle's International House of Prayer.

• Why the Anti-Science Creationist Movement Is So Dangerous [AlterNet, September 8, 2011]

It's a pathetic commentary on the anti-intellectualism rampant in American politics that this is newsworthy. A major-party candidate announces that he doesn't deny a foundational theory of modern science! In fact, given the political atmosphere in the Republican party, it's not just newsworthy but a daring act: polls have shown that almost 70 percent of Republicans deny evolution. ...

But while creationists keep bumbling on the legal front, they've had more success in the cultural arena, by infiltrating the public schools with creationist teachers who flout the law and preach their religious beliefs in class. There are some notable and egregious examples, such as David Paskiewicz, the New Jersey high school teacher who advocated creationism in class, in addition to telling a Muslim student she belonged in hell. There's also John Freshwater, a creationist science teacher who was fired for breaking school rules about proselytizing in the classroom. Among other things, he allegedly used a Tesla coil to burn a cross onto a student's arm!

And it's not just the teachers, either. Creationist churches are training students at all educational levels to refuse to learn about any science their religion rejects....

• Gerald Caplan: Be very afraid: Stephen Harper is inventing a new Canada [Globe & Mail, December 16, 2011]

Stephen Harper first became Prime Minister in 2006 and has already dramatically transformed the old Canada. But with no election due for four more years, we ain't seen nothing yet.

It's in the nature of true believers and ideologues to believe that any means to their sacred ends are justified. This makes them extremely dangerous people. It's also typical of such people that they're often motivated by unfathomable resentment and anger, a compulsion not just to better but to destroy their adversaries. These are good descriptions of Stephen Harper and those closest to him.

There was never a Trudeauland or Mulroneyland or Chrétienland, but as The Globe's Lawrence Martin has made us understand, there is already a Harperland whose nature is quite apparent. Like the American conservatives whom the Harperites so envy, our government has concocted a new reality of its own that it is systematically imposing on the Canadian people. The values and moral code of Mr. Harper's new Canada are clear.

• Baird defends Office of Religious Freedom from skeptics [Globe & Mail, January 2, 2012]

Mr. Neve said religious freedom can have a "contentious relationship" with other crucial human-rights concerns such as women's equality, the equality rights of gays and lesbians, and freedom of expression.

• Katherine Stewart: The new anti-science assault on US schools [The Guardian, February 12, 2012]

If you can't shut down the science, the new science-deniers appear to be saying, you should shut down the schools. It would be a shame if they succeeded in replacing the teaching of science with indoctrination. It would be worse if they were to close the public school house doors altogether.

• Armando: The encroachment of religion on our secular government: Part One [Daily Kos, February 26, 2012]

I do not understand why a profound respect for the good works done by people of faith, including the Catholic Church, leads to a desire, indeed, a demand, that good public policy be compromised to accommodate religions when they choose to engage in the secular. Indeed, it was, and is, profoundly disturbing that Catholic progressives were so willing to overturn fundamental progressive values in order to placate unreasonable demands of the Catholic Church.

NDP resolves to deny charitable status to ex-gay organizations [XTRA, July 6, 2011]

At its mid-June policy convention in Vancouver, the NDP voted unanimously to call on the Canada Revenue Agency to revoke the charitable status of Exodus Global Alliance and to investigate other so-called ex-gay organizations.

"These organizations prey on vulnerable members of our community, often young people in difficult family situations at grips with self-hatred and depression," says Randall Garrison, the party's queer issues critic. "They bully them into believing that gay, lesbian and bisexual people are sick and lead sad and lonely lives, and that the only hope is to become straight. The federal government must not support this kind of unscientific falsehood."

[Continued here]

• Canadian Political Party Votes to Oppose Ex-Gay Charity Status [Ex-Gay Watch, June 24, 2011]

(Click on image to enlarge)

Hudak's hate: Ontario PCs court the bigot vote [Rabble.ca, October 3, 2011]

Last Wednesday an ad ran in the National Post. It was full page, black and white, and featured a picture of a somewhat unhappy looking young girl. Oh, and it was the most appalling and extreme piece of hate speech I have ever seen published in this country.

The ad really needs to be seen to be believed, so I won't get into describing it. It was paid for by the Institute for Canadian Values, a front for Charles McVety, an evangelical leader and frequent champion of bigotry and prejudice.

No surprise that McVety would want to inject this type of homophobia and transphobia into the ongoing election campaign, but what on earth was the National Post thinking when they agreed to publish it?

Turns out they weren't thinking. By Friday, the Post had printed an unconditional apology, claiming, essentially, that they had been duped:

        "The fact that we will not be publishing this ad again represents a recognition on our part that publishing it in the first place was a mistake. The National Post would like to apologize unreservedly to anyone who was offended by it. We will be taking steps to ensure that in future our procedures for vetting the content of advertising will be strictly adhered to.

The Post will also be donating the proceeds from the advertisement to an organization that promotes the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people."

Two days later a slightly different version of the ad showed up in the pages of the Toronto Sun. The same day pictures of a flyer being widely distributed by Tim Hudak's Conservative campaign began to appear on Twitter. In miniscule type on the bottom of the flyer? "Authorized by the C.F.O. for the Ontario PC Party."

[Continued here]

[Note: This is the same anti-gay 'dirty trick' used by the federal neo-CONS in the closing days of the last federal election.]

• Hudak defends Ontario campaign flyer described as homophobic [Globe & Mail, October 3, 2011]

• Mercedes Allen: Something brewing beneath transphobic ads in Ontario [Rabble.ca, October 5, 2011]

Waymon Hudson: Disturbing New Report concerning Anti-LGBT Violence in 2009
[Huffington Post, July 14, 2010]

The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) has issued their annual report on the number of reported violent crimes against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender people in 2009. While the findings are disturbing enough, keep in mind that such statistics are notoriously under-reported, with many law enforcement agencies not collecting, reporting, or recognizing anti-LGBT animus in violent crimes or including crimes in which perceived (not actual) sexual orientation or gender identity are factors.

NCAVP's conclusions are still extremely worrying:

        . Murders at second-highest rate in a decade

        . Spike in anti-LGBTQ violence at time of federal hate crimes law passage

        . Economic crisis depletes resources for LGBTQ survivors of violence

Even more telling are how the crimes disproportionally effect communities of color and transgender women or feminine-presenting people in the LGBT community.

[Continued here]

• Report: Anti-LGBT Murder Rate Increased 23 Percent in 2010 [Edge Boston, July 12, 2011]

The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs said on Tuesday, July 12, that the rate of reported anti-LGBT murders increased 23 percent in 2010.

NCAVP affiliates told reporters that the coalition documented 27 anti-LGBT murders last year-versus the 22 that were reported in 2009. NCAVP said the 2010 statistic is the second highest yearly total the coalition has ever documented.

Furthermore, the NCAVP found that 70 percent of known victims of anti-LGBT violence in 2010 were people of color. And 44 percent of them were transgender women.

"Transgender individuals and people of color face multiple forms of discrimination on the basis of race, gender identity and other factors, which can make them more vulnerable to severe violence," said María Carolina Morales from the San Francisco-based Community United Against Violence. "Additionally, the general public, law enforcement and the media may be less inclined to address, prevent and respond to violence against these communities, making this violence seem invisible and ignored."

Recent headlines certainly suggest violence against LGBT people and those with HIV/AIDS remains a serious problem.

------------8<------------

The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs recommends:

        . Fund critically needed research and data collection on hate violence against LGBT and HIV-affected communities, their access to services, and violence prevention initiatives.

        . Gather data about sexual orientation and gender identity in all federal, state, and local government forms.

        . Create new public and private funding streams and target the use of existing funds to increase access to antiviolence services for LGBT and HIV-affected individuals, particularly for those disproportionately affected by hate violence - i.e. transgender people and people of color.

        . Create programs and campaigns to reduce anti-LGBT hate violence. Prioritize the leadership of those most impacted by severe hate violence within these programs.

        . Stop the culture of hate through policymakers and public figures denouncing anti-LGBT violence.

— Hate Violence Against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and HIV-Affected Communities in the United States in 2010 [a *.pdf file]

------------8<------------

• Violent crimes against LGBT individuals up 13%, report says [Los Angeles Times, July 12, 2011]

An 18-year-old gay man from Texas allegedly slain by a high-school classmate who believed his friend was making advances toward him; a 31-year-old transgender woman from Pennsylvania found dead with a pillowcase around her head; and a 24-year-old lesbian from Florida purportedly killed by her girlfriend's father, who disapproved of the relationship.

The homicides are a sampling of 2010 hate crimes against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people compiled by a national coalition of anti-hate organizations.

The report, released Tuesday, showed a 13% increase over 2009 in violent crimes committed against people because of their perceived or actual sexual orientation, gender identity or status as HIV positive, according to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Projects.

Last year's homicide count reached 27 -- up from 22 in 2009 and the second-highest number since the coalition began tracking such crimes in 1996. Of those killed, the data show, 70% were minorities and 44% were transgender women. The attacks also show a higher level of brutality, the report concludes.

The trends, said Jake Finney, project manager with the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center, one of 43 groups that participate in the coalition, "will not change without raising awareness of this brutality and taking affirmative steps to address transphobia."

• Report: Anti-LGBT Violence Up 24% [in 2008] [Tucson Observer, May 21, 2008]

A report released Tuesday (May 20) shows that violent attacks on members of the LGBT community nationwide grew by 24 percent in 2007 over the previous year.

The 78-page report was prepared by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs with input from more than 30 of its members across the U.S.

The number of incidents of anti-LGBT violence rose from 1,486 in 2006 to 1,833 in 2007, based on reporting from the exact same reporting regions as the year prior.

Additionally, 2007 had the third highest murder rate in the past 10 years that NCAVP has been compiling the report with murders more than doubling from 10 in 2006 to 21 in 2007.

LGBT people also reported a 61% increase in sexual assaults perpetrated as hate crimes.

• Task Force: Anti-LGBT Violence in Puerto Rico 'Must Stop Now' [Common Dreams, June 9, 2011]

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is calling upon authorities to act immediately to address the ongoing anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) violence in Puerto Rico. In the past week, three LGBT individuals have been killed. On Tuesday, Ramón Salgado was found dead along the side of a highway in Humacao; Karlota Gómez Sánchez, a transgender woman, was shot to death in Santurce on Monday; and Alejandro Torres Torres was stabbed to death in Ponce on Saturday. Task Force staff is currently on the ground in Puerto Rico working with local authorities, the press and the community to respond to this crisis.

In the past year and a half, 18 LGBT individuals have been killed in Puerto Rico. The local hate crimes law requires authorities in Puerto Rico to investigate whether the murders were motivated by the victims' sexual orientation or gender identity and the Task Force urges them to respond adequately to this wave of violence.

The Task Force has been in Puerto Rico on numerous occasions to respond to the scourge of anti-LGBT violence. This includes responding to the killing of Jorge Steven López Mercado, a 19-year-old student murdered in Cayey in November 2009. Last year, the Task Force's National Religious Leadership Roundtable convened one of its semi-annual meetings in Puerto Rico to stand in solidarity with the Puerto Rican LGBT community. This year, the Task Force participated in the International Day Against Homophobia march in San Juan and has been very active in denouncing the attacks against LGBT individuals in Puerto Rico. The Task Force has also assisted in the response to the brutal bashing of Francheska González, a transgender woman who was beaten and luckily survived last April. The Task Force will continue to help local activists with efforts to curb the anti-LGBT violence in Puerto Rico.

• Springfield police arrest 9 suspects, ranging in age from 12 to 19, following beating of openly gay man on Walnut Street [MassLive, June 28, 2011]

Police charged nine people aged 12 to 19 with a hate crime after a man was beaten on Walnut Street while some of his attackers yelled, "That's what we do to faggots."

The 30-year-old victim was attacked shortly after 3 a.m. as he walked along Walnut Street, heading home, Delaney said. He suffered head trauma and other injuries, was treated at Baystate Medical Center and released.

"This is unusual and we are treating it seriously," Sgt. John M. Delaney said.

Five males and four females were charged.

The victim and the people accused of attacking him all live in the same neighborhood. While none of the suspects knew the victim by name, they were familiar with him from the neighborhood, police said.

• Gay couple attacked on Newburgh street [Times Herald-Record, July 12, 2011]

The evening began as a celebration.

David Ludwig and John Delk had finally closed on their house, and they looked forward to spending Friday night together in their new city.

"We were happy," Ludwig said. "I said, 'Let's go have a drink and listen to that cool band at the Terrace.'"

They spent much of the night at the Terrace Tavern, a Liberty Street bar. The music was terrific, and Ludwig and Delk danced and relaxed. It was after 1 a.m. when another patron noticed Ludwig's hand on Delk's wrist.

Ludwig said the man told them it wasn't a gay bar and they should leave. They refused, but finished their drinks and decided to go. Newburgh had seemed so much friendlier than their old neighborhood in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

Ludwig thinks he probably touched Delk's wrist as they walked from the Terrace, and maybe that's what drew the attention of a group of young women.

"You're gay," the women called, according to Ludwig.

The women closed in. The first punch slammed into Ludwig's cheekbone. He remembers a whirlwind of fists. He swung wildly. Delk covered his head, and the women pinned him against a car until Ludwig could fight them off.

• Hate Crimes Charges Dropped in NYC Bashing Incident [Edge Boston, July 15, 2011]

The dismissal of hate crimes charges against a suspect in a 2008 bashing is only the latest twist in Risto Prendzov's long journey.

Prendzov won a green card lottery in 2006, which enabled him to leave Macedonia and start a new life in this country. But in 2008, Prendzov, then 29 years old, was attacked and so brutally beaten that he was left "with a bashed-in skull, a punctured lung, a broken jaw and eye socket and a crushed hand," the New York Times reported on Nov. 15, 2009.

The injuries that Prendzov sustained were so severe that he needed physical therapy to regain basic motor abilities such as walking and even swallowing. He also needed psychotherapy to remember what had happened, and who had beaten him so mercilessly on a street in Queens, New York.

The authorities had estimated, based on the extent and severity of the injuries he suffered, that Prendzov had been attacked by at least three men. When his memories of the assault started to return, Prendzov confirmed this, telling the police that Lamell Jones and two others had beaten him while hurling anti-gay slurs such as ""white trash faggot."

Prendzov recognized Jones, 24, as one of his attackers upon seeing him at a supermarket, where Jones was employed as a clerk. Jones was arrested and jailed. He faced the prospect of 25 years in prison on hate crimes charges.

Then the charges against Jones were dismissed, the New York Post reported on July 14.

• Members of Bronx gang say they were victims themselves: Torture them, or we'll torture you! [New York Daily News, October 10, 2010]

The members of a sadistic Bronx crew accused of torturing a man and two teens because they were gay claimed the gang's leaders forced them to participate - or become victims themselves.

Police sources said several members of the Latin King Goonies told detectives they would have been slashed and beaten if they did not help torment the defenseless victims.

The threats were allegedly made by ringleader Ildefonso (Cheto) Mendez, who orchestrated the homophobic assaults after learning that a 17-year-old gang recruit was gay. That recruit was made to watch as they sodomized his older boyfriend with a miniature baseball bat - and the teen was then forced to burn his lover with cigarettes.

The gangbangers sodomized the third victim, also 17, with the wooden handle of a toilet plunger.

• Bullying Law Puts New Jersey Schools on Spot [New York Times, August 30, 2011]

Under a new state law in New Jersey, lunch-line bullies in the East Hanover schools can be reported to the police by their classmates this fall through anonymous tips to the Crimestoppers hot line.

In Elizabeth, children, including kindergartners, will spend six class periods learning, among other things, the difference between telling and tattling.

And at North Hunterdon High School, students will be told that there is no such thing as an innocent bystander when it comes to bullying: if they see it, they have a responsibility to try to stop it.

But while many parents and educators welcome the efforts to curb bullying both on campus and online, some superintendents and school board members across New Jersey say the new law, which takes effect Sept. 1, reaches much too far, and complain that they have been given no additional resources to meet its mandates.

The law, known as the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights, is considered the toughest legislation against bullying in the nation. Propelled by public outcry over the suicide of a Rutgers University freshman, Tyler Clementi, nearly a year ago, it demands that all public schools adopt comprehensive antibullying policies (there are 18 pages of "required components"), increase staff training and adhere to tight deadlines for reporting episodes.

Each school must designate an antibullying specialist to investigate complaints; each district must, in turn, have an antibullying coordinator; and the State Education Department will evaluate every effort, posting grades on its Web site. Superintendents said that educators who failed to comply could lose their licenses.

• New Study Finds Gay Men Report Higher Rates of Hate-Motivated Violence [TWO, May 8, 2012]

A new study released today by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, the primary resource for independent research and scholarship on sexual orientation and gender identity issues in the United States, analyzed FBI hate crimes data and found that gay men report higher rates of hate-motivated physical violence than other at-risk minority groups. The study is the first to consider lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals separately.

These results come on the heels of previous research by the Southern Poverty Law Center showing that LGBT people are far more likely to be victims of hate crimes than any other minority group in the United States; the Williams Center's news release also notes that crimes motivated by the victim's real or perceived sexual orientation tend to be more violent. It also calls the study's findings "troubling" and calls for further research into the reasons "why gay men are more likely to experience and/or report physical victimization and crimes against their property."

Pak[istani] rightwingers slam US for gay event at mission [Times of India, July 5, 2011]

A leading Pakistani right-wing party on Monday condemned a recent function held in support of gay rights at Islamabad's US embassy and described it as "cultural terrorism" . Deputy ambassador Richard Hoagland had hosted the event on June 26, but a statement on it was posted on the embassy website on Sunday. The statement said the event was its first gay and lesbian pride celebration . Over 75 people including Pakistani gay community leaders attended the meeting.

"Such people are a curse for the society and social garbage,'' said Jamaat-e-Islami in a statement . It described the event as the second most dangerous US attack after drone and missile strikes. "The participants don't deserve to be Muslims or Pakistani and the support and protection announced by the US administration for them is the worst social and cultural terrorism against Pakistan.''

Several religious leaders demanded the Pakistani government to arrest the participants under the country's laws and said the meeting was an attack on the entire Muslim world.

"What was the need for such an idiotic move by the US embassy at this time? Don't they know the sensitivities of our people over such an issue? This was an attack on the entire Muslim world and its Islamic culture," said Maulana Gohar Shah, a leader of Jamiat Ulema Islam (JUI), a Deobandi organization.

US deputy ambassador said that the US would support gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights in Pakistan.

"I want to be clear: the US embassy is here to support you and stand by your side every step of the way," Richard Hoagland.

The LGBT community in Pakistan has not yet started any formal campaign for their rights. But, according to reports, the members of LGTP community who exist in urban towns like Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi organize their private gatherings.

[Continued here]

• Protesters come hard on US for hosting gay rights party [Pakistan Daily Times, July 9, 2011]

After Juma Prayer, over 200 members of IJT gathered at Aabpara Chowk and started enchanting slogans against the US Embassy and particularly Government of Pakistan, who have not taken any action against the administration of that gathering.

"Pakistan is an Islamic country and they will not tolerate anything against the Islamic Laws and Sharia," they reiterated. They said although in Christianity there was no room for such kind of practices but unlike, US embassy had been doing that to destroy the character of the new generation. "But new generation of Pakistan knew, how to manage it". They said if government of Pakistan would not summon the US ambassador and protest against the party, IJT and other religious groups would use their iron hands. USA has been trying to interfere in 'Hudood Allah' and Sharia but the consequences will not be good for USA, they said.

• State Department Says Pakistan Did Not Complain About Gay Pride Event [OnTop, July 8, 2011]
• A Pakistan You Never Knew! Being Gay in the Islamic Republic [Sherryx's Weblog: De-realization of Pak Tea House, November 7, 2009]

"Invisibility" and "Silence" are the hallmark of fascist societies. A national stereotype is built and than implemented through ideological and coercive apparatuses of the state. Gender is an important battle ground in these "nation-building" projects. A section of Pakistan's founding fathers was already obsessed with "Super-man", it was recycled as "Merd-e-Momin" of Iqbal during times of General Zia-ul-Haq when Pakistan and United States were creating stunned merd-e-momins to fight the infidel Russia. Destroying a staunchly modern republic of Afghanistan, and purging all liberal-secular thought from Pakistan [where it existed as "Reds"], were only side effects of this policy. The creation of a hyper-masculine gender stereotype of "Merd" Momin" and "Mujahid" as being the stranded criteria for being a "Pakistani" was the main ideological catastrophe of his time. ...

• Outcry forces Pakistan to hold back on 'obscene' text message blocks [Pink News, November 22, 2011]

The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority is reconsidering plans to block "obscene" words from text messages, including many gay-related words.

Following widespread offence and confusion caused by a leaked list of 1600 words the Authority wanted blocked, a spokesman told AFP that it would be carrying out more consultations with various groups.

They hope to produce a trimmed-down list of words to block.

Words on the list included "gay," "lesbian," "homosexual," "fairy", "condom" and "back door".

• President of transgender association to contest elections [International Herald Tribune, December 26, 2011]

Talking to The Express Tribune on Monday, Shani said that she has made this decision because she wants to discuss problems faced by her community in the assembly.

"There is no other way for us to be heard and now when the Supreme Court of Pakistan has allowed us to have an identity card, we will fight for our rights," Shani said.

Shani added that her community's problems have been ignored by society.

The association's president further said that the assembly should pass legislation for their rights and that there should be reserved seats for them in the National Assembly.

India's first married lesbian couple given 24-hour protection [Telegraph, July 26, 2011]

Savita, a 25 year old student at Choudhary Charan Singh University and her 20 year old wife Veena, 20, were married by a court in Haryana, close to New Delhi, earlier this month.

The couple approached the district court in Gurgaon, a satellite city of the Indian capital, and complained that Savita had been forced to marry against her will earlier this year. She had left her husband five months after the forced marriage after telling him she was in a lesbian relationship with Veena.

The court effectively granted her a divorce and gave its approval for her to marry Veena. In the court ceremony on July 22, Savita was designated 'husband' and Veena 'wife' in India's first lesbian marriage.

The couple later returned to court after receiving threats from friends and relatives in their village.

Their lawyer said the court had served notice on 14 of Veena's relatives and villagers who had threatened them with "dire consequences".

Haryana has been the centre of widespread protests by villagers who believe their village councils, or khaps should be allowed to impose their own punishments on those who disobey their rulings or break local traditions - mainly honour killings of those who marry within their own gotra or sub-caste, regarded in the state as akin to incest.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Dr. Abhe Singh told The Daily Telegraph: "The couple has been shifted to a safe house and we have provided adequate security to them on the court orders. The security is provided on the basis of threat perception and in this case the couple feared that their families might be against the relationship."

[Continued here]

• Manesar: Lesbian couple threatened [NDTV, July 25, 2011]

A lesbian couple from Manesar, a small town near New Delhi, dared to marry against the wishes of their families. They were threatened for their actions and are now seeking protection from court.

"Our family members can take harsh steps against us. They even threatened to kill us. We were married on the 22nd and are now in court seeking protection," they said.

The 20 and 25-year-old ran away from home after having known each other for 15 years. Their families have been livid since.

"The problem is from her family's side," one of them said.

Homosexuality may have been decriminalised in India but the law does not recognise same sex marriages.

• Indian Lesbian Couple Granted Protection [The Advocate, July 28, 2011]

After receiving death threats from family members, India's first married lesbian couple has been granted 24-hour police protection.

Indonesian Sharia police separate Aceh lesbian couple [BBC, August 25, 2011]

Islamic police in the Indonesian province of Aceh have forced two women to have their marriage annulled and sign an agreement to separate.

The women had been legally married for a few months after one of them passed as a man in front of an Islamic cleric who presided over their wedding.

But suspicious neighbours confronted the couple and reported them to police.

The two women are now back with their families, forcibly separated and under surveillance by the Islamic police.

The local Sharia police chief told them Islam said they must be beheaded and burned for what they had done.

But Aceh, the only province in Indonesia that is allowed to implement Sharia law, has yet to adopt any provisions dealing with gay and lesbian people.

The provincial parliament passed Islamic laws authorising the stoning to death of adulterers and the caning of homosexuals in 2009, but the governor has refused to sign it.

Homosexuality is frowned upon but legal in Indonesia.

Activists have blamed Aceh's Sharia laws for encouraging vigilantism and intolerance, and say they violate the Indonesian constitution.

[Continued here]

• Indonesian religious police forces lesbian couple to live apart [Straits Times, August 25, 2011]

Indonesian religious police said on Thursday they had forced a lesbian couple to separate and placed them under surveillance, even though homosexuality is legal in the mainly Muslim country.

The Islamic police force unique to Aceh province, on the northern tip of Sumatra, warned the couple before they were forcibly separated that under Islamic law they could be beheaded.

'We told them that they must be beheaded and burned and their ashes must be thrown away to the sea. We are actually allowed by our religion to kill them,' South-west Aceh district religious police chief Muddatsir said.

Ms Ranto, 26, and Ms Nuraini, 18, now live in separate villages 36km apart, he said.

• Rise of strict Islam exposes tensions in Malaysia [BBC, August 26, 2011]

Muslim women without headscarves are a common sight on the streets of the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.

But engaging them in a discussion about the hijab is difficult.

Norhayati Kaprawi is a Malaysian activist whose recent documentary Aku Siapa (Who Am I) deals with the issue of how women in Malaysia should dress. She found some women unwilling to show their faces in her film - not on religious grounds, but because they feared reprisals.

This is a damning reflection on Malaysia's Muslim society, says Ms Norhayati.

"It's full of fear. If you don't follow the mainstream you will be lynched."

• Gay Pastor in New York Urges Change in Malaysia [New York Times, October 18, 2011]

The Rev. Boon Lin Ngeo, a Malaysian Protestant pastor whose message of tolerance for homosexuals has drawn fire in his country, sat with his male partner on a lime-green sofa inside the Office of the City Clerk in New York on a late summer day, where they waited their turn to be married.

The banality of the scene - the plastic-sealed bouquets, the bureaucratic march of couples through the office - masked the roiling effect that Mr. Ngeo's nuptials have had in Malaysia, where Muslims are a majority and sodomy, even among consenting adults, remains a crime punishable by as many as 20 years in prison.

"I'm nobody here," he said in New York, where same-sex marriage became legal in June, "but this marriage could have a global impact." ...

One group, Sexuality Merdeka, created an annual festival in 2008 celebrating sexuality in all its forms. Last year, it encouraged Malaysians to post videos online proclaiming their sexuality, in a campaign modeled on the American "It Gets Better" video project combating the bullying of gays. The organization received 15 submissions, but posted only 5 before stopping because of a backlash that included death threats.

• Malaysian Authorities Block a Festival Celebrating Gays [New York Times, November 3, 2011]

Malaysian authorities on Thursday ordered gay rights activists to scrap an annual festival that had drawn fire from conservative politicians and religious leaders, with officials saying the event "threatens national security."

The festival, which began in 2008 and tries to promote greater tolerance for gay Malaysians, was set to begin in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, in a few days. The national news agency, Bernama, reported that the festival had drawn a stream of complaints, including one from Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who said it ran counter to traditions in Malaysia, a nation with a Muslim majority. ...

He said that the organizers, a group known as Sexuality Merdeka, would face punishment if the festival were to go forward. "If they are adamant, we will not hesitate to detain them," he said. He said the police were not against the rights of Malaysians to express themselves. "But when this crops up and threatens national security," he said, "we have to take action."

• It's not a pride parade, say organisers [New Straits Times, November 4, 2011]

The organisers of Seksualiti Merdeka yesterday claimed that the event was not aimed at promoting homosexuality but to champion rights of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBT).

The event's co-founder, Pang Khee Teik, said it "is not a pride parade" but a series of talks, forums, workshops, art, theatre and music performances, interactive installations, and film screenings organised by a coalition of Malaysian non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

Pang said the event was aimed at stopping discrimination, harassment and violence towards one's sexual orientation and gender preference.

It is organised by a coalition of Malaysian NGOs including the Malaysian Bar Council, Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram), Empower, PT Foundation, United Nations and Amnesty International.

• Malaysia states eye harsher laws for Muslim gays [Reuters, November 11, 2011]

If the proposed changes came into force, a Muslim homosexual could be punished under both federal and state religious charges, meaning that jail terms could run consecutively and result in longer time.

Analysts said the proposed amendments hinted at an increasing intolerance toward homosexuality and could erode support for the government among the majority ethnic Malays, who are Muslims by birth.

"The irony of the situation is that the overwhelming majority of gay people in this country are Malays," said James Chin, a political analyst at Monash University in Malaysia. "When they have these laws to target non-mainstream sexual minorities, they are actually targeting their own people."

Malacca's chief minister, Mohd Ali Rustam, said the state would review its Islamic law provisions to allow Muslim gays and lesbians to be tried in court and punished by a jail term or a fine to deter homosexuality.

• Malaysia court finds Anwar Ibrahim not guilty of sodomy [BBC, January 9, 2012]

Judge Zabidin Mohamad Diah said DNA evidence submitted by the prosecution was unreliable and discharged the case.

Mr Anwar, 64, has consistently denied the charges and called them a government bid to cripple his political ambitions and influence.

The government said the verdict showed Malaysia's judiciary was free from government influence.

Sodomy is illegal in Muslim-majority Malaysia but, says the BBC's Jennifer Pak in Kuala Lumpur, very few people are ever prosecuted.

• Gay human rights website blocked in Indonesia [Gay Star News, February 10, 2012]

International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) has responded in anger to the blocking of their website in Indonesia. 'Oppressive governments cannot stop the tide of LGBT voices - whether they be on the internet, in the media or on the streets,' said Cary Alan Johnson, executive director of the IGLHRC in a statement this week.

• Malaysia: 'Sexual Diversity' Festival Ban Needs Court Review [Human Rights Watch, February 28, 2012]

The Malaysian government should not seek to block judicial review of the 2011 ban on the Seksualiti Merdeka ("Sexual Diversity") festival, Human Rights Watch said today. The Kuala Lumpur High Court will hear the case filed by festival organizers on March 1, 2012.

The government is opposing judicial review of the ban on the grounds that because the festival's scheduled dates are past the case is rendered moot. But without a court review of the legality of the ban, the status and future of the annual festival will be uncertain, Human Rights Watch said.

• Malaysia Court Rejects Appeal of Gay Festival Ban [Edge Boston, March 1, 2012]
• Shows with gay characters banned from state-owned TV, radio [The Star, April 6, 2012]

"If it means cancelling some of the shows, so be it," [Culture Minister Datuk Maglin Dennis D'Cruz] told The Star Friday, adding that the decision was to curb the "influence" of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community.

He also said the decision will be expanded to cover privately-owned stations as well as satellite TV providers.

As for foreign productions, he said the Censorship Board will remove episodes from running TV shows and bar movies with gay characters from being screened locally.

John A. Harnick: "Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA) taints the
entire LGT community with the stench of anti-semitism."



Lillian Faderman: If You Take Down Israel, What Else Goes With It?
[LGBT|POV, August 5, 2011]

Americans have every reason to envy Israel's enlightened policies toward its LGBT citizens. So it puzzles me deeply when I hear of LGBT groups lending their sympathy to opponents of Israel.

The rights we have been fighting for and still have not fully achieved in the United States, LGBT Israelis already enjoy. I came out in the middle of the last century and witnessed firsthand the persecution and oppression of LGBT people. It was because of those early experiences that I devoted the last 40 years of my life to writing books and articles about our community's history and progress. ...

So there can be no explanation for LGBT groups participating in wrong-headed actions such as the BDS movement that seeks boycott, divestment, and sanctions against Israel. Outside of Israel, everywhere in the Middle East, LGBT people are utterly despised under the law. Indeed, official treatment of LGBT people in other Middle East countries makes the bar raids and job losses and police entrapments that we experienced in the 1950s and '60s seem like coddling. If a family wishes to rid itself of the embarrassment of a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender member by "honor killing" there would be no legal consequences in the area governed by the Palestinian Authority or Hamas, or in Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, or Syria.

Needless to say, and as even the Amnesty International LGBT website shows, there's no Middle Eastern country other than Israel in which lesbian or gay couples can receive spousal benefits, none other than Israel in which lesbians and gays can serve openly in the military, none other than Israel that protects lesbians and gays from discrimination or hate crimes. In Iran and Saudi Arabia we're put to death. In Syria we're thrown in prison for three years. In Egypt we're prosecuted under lewd conduct laws, and we're illegal in Lebanon and Libya too.

After long years of struggle, American LGBT people have finally won a modicum of freedom and justice. Only insane logic or misinformation could justify withholding our sympathies from a country that grants our LGBT brothers and sisters not only the benefits that we enjoy but even more. Why would we work against such a country?

[Continued here]

• Councillor demands Pride promise to ban Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA) [Toronto Star, April 15, 2011]

The political debate over the participation of the activist group Queers Against Israeli Apartheid in the Pride festival will continue even though the group unexpectedly announced Friday morning that it will not march in this year's parade.

The chief executive of the Canadian Jewish Congress, a prominent opponent of QuAIA, said after the QuAIA announcement that he considers the matter "closed." But Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti said he will put forth a motion at council's executive committee on Wednesday making Pride funding contingent on receiving a letter from the organization guaranteeing to the city that QuAIA will not participate.

The letter, Mammoliti said, must say that Pride will "enforce" QuAIA's exclusion, not simply confirm that Pride has received notice of QuAIA's intention to exclude itself.

"If they're prepared to write that letter, then they'll get their cheque, the way they get it every year. . . if not, then we can't do it, because we're not going to sit around and do this debate every year, wonder whether or not this group is going to participate," Mammoliti said.

Pride's co-chair, Francisco Alvarez, said the organization could not write such a letter. The decision about QuAIA's participation, he said, will be made through Pride's new dispute-resolution process, not by the board of directors.

Under the process, complaints about parade participants will be ruled upon by a panel of adjudicators selected from a roster mostly composed of distinguished lawyers.

"We would submit a letter informing them of the result of that process," Alvarez said. "We're not just going to exclude them without a process being followed."

[Note: These cynical, self-destructive types have always clung to the fringe of the GLT rights movement attempting to acquire a spurious legitimacy just by being there.]

• Kelly Grant: Pride funding in peril as Queers Against Israeli Apartheid plans to march [Globe & Mail, May 17, 2012]

David Cameron apologises to gay people for section 28 [The Guardian, July 2, 2009]

David Cameron has embarked on another major step in the modernisation of the Conservative party by offering a public apology for [Margaret Thatcher's] section 28, the notorious legislation which banned the "promotion" of homosexuality in schools.

In a gesture hailed by gay rights campaigners as "historic", Cameron condemned section 28 as "offensive to gay people" and predicted that a Conservative would become Britain's first openly gay prime minister.

The Tory leader, who voted against the repeal of section 28 as recently as 2003, reached out to the gay community on Tuesday night at a Tory fundraising event linked to Gay Pride this weekend.

"Yes, we may have sometimes been slow and, yes, we may have made mistakes, including Section 28, but the change has happened," Cameron said of the repeal of the legislation originally passed in 1988 when Margaret Thatcher was prime minister.

In remarks reported by the Pink Paper, he admitted that he did not have a "perfect record" on gay rights, a reference to his decision in 2003 to vote for the retention of section 28. But he added: "It does give me great pride to be standing here to celebrate Gay Pride and all you have achieved.

"If five years ago we had a Conservative and Gay Pride party, I don't think many gay people would have come or many Conservatives would have come. In wanting to make the party representative of the country, I think we have made some real progress.

"If we do win the next election, instead of being a white middle class middle-aged party, we will be far more diverse. The Conservatives had the first woman prime minister and we are bound to have the first black prime minister and the first gay prime minister."

Ben Summerskill, the chief executive of Stonewall, described Cameron's speech as "historic". He said: "We have heard the leader of the Conservative party say the words 'section 28' and 'sorry'."

[Continued here]

• Section 28 timeline [The Guardian]

Clause 28, which bans the "promotion" of homosexuality in schools as a "normal family relationship", has caused controversy ever since its introduction in 1987. Although no one has ever been prosecuted under the legislation, it has continually been targeted by anti-discrimination campaigners and still divides traditionalists and liberals within the Conservative party.

• Section 28 to be repealed [BBC, September 18, 2003]

The Section 28 repeal clause will come into effect on 18 November, after the Local Government Bill received Royal Assent on Thursday.

The measure has never been used in a prosecution, but has been a focal point for equal rights campaigners since it became law in the late 1980s, under Margaret Thatcher. ...

Local Government Minister Nick Raynsford said: "For over a decade, Section 28 has cast a cloud of confusion and ambiguity over local authorities' ability to support and provide services to the whole of their community.

"Repeal means that this cloud has lifted."

• Section 28 [Wikipedia]

"Hatred may begin with small acts of prejudice or bigotry — but it rarely ends with them."



Stalag 69: Gay, Lesbian and Trans victims of the Holocaust

"The murder of six million Jews and countless Roma, Poles and other Eastern Europeans, gay men and lesbians, trade unionists, disabled people and political and religious opponents of the Nazis was not a sudden and frenzied explosion of hate, but a horror that had been methodically and carefully planned." — Gordon Brown

[Continued here]

Buju Banton sentenced to 10 years in prison in drug case [Washington Post, June 23, 2011]

Reggae singer Buju Banton was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison Thursday for cocaine trafficking.

In February, Banton was found guilty of "conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense and using a telephone to facilitate a drug trafficking offense," according to the Associated Press. A federal judge in Florida threw out the gun conviction, lowering the sentence by five years.

[Continued here]

• Buju Banton gets 10 years on drugs charge [CBC, June 23, 2011]
• Jamaican reggae star Buju Banton faces life in prison; fans blame U.S. government, gay activists [Miami Herald, February 13, 2011]

In Jamaica, some fans have theorized Banton was framed by the U.S. government or gay activists who have protested violent, homophobic lyrics from early in Banton's career as a brash dancehall singer. Shows in several U.S. cities were canceled on his 2009 tour because of the protests.

• Threat of Gay Protest Forces Buju Banton Cancellation [SFWeekly, September 7, 2009]

For the second time in three years, a scheduled San Francisco concert by reggae star Buju Banton has been canceled, under threat of protest by gay and lesbian activist groups. As reported by the Chronicle on Sept. 4, not only is the SF show originally scheduled for the Regency Ballroom a no-go, but concerts in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, Las Vegas, Dallas and Houston (all at venues operated by AEG/GoldenVoice) have also been nixed.

• Victory for gay rights campaign as reggae star agrees to ditch homophobic lyrics [The Guardian, July 23, 2007]

One of the most notoriously homophobic figures in reggae and dancehall music has agreed to stop singing violently anti-gay lyrics. Buju Banton - whose 1990s hit Boom Bye Bye advocates the shooting of gay men - has signed the "reggae compassionate act" set up by the gay rights campaign group Stop Murder Music, after a three-year campaign to bring him into line, the group will announce today.

Banton is the latest in a series of high-profile artists, including Beenie Man and Sizzla, to sign the declaration after worldwide protests from gay rights groups resulted in the cancellation of hundreds of concerts and sponsorship deals, costing the artists in excess of £2.5m.

In signing up, Banton has agreed to not make homophobic statements in public, release new homophobic songs or authorise the re-release of previous homophobic songs. The act states: "There's no space in the music community for hatred and prejudice, including no place for racism, violence, sexism or homophobia."

• Jamaican singer's concert moved out of Toronto after outcry from gay community [Globe & Mail, June 30, 2011]

With Toronto in the middle of Pride Week, Jamaican dancehall singer Capleton, known for violently anti-gay lyrics, has had to move his Canada Day concert from downtown Toronto to Brampton, after criticism from the gay community.

With songs alluding to fierce violence against homosexuals, the singer was originally booked to perform at the Sound Academy, the waterfront concert venue. According to Catherine Fowler, a spokeswoman for the venue, "we were unaware of the nature of the lyrics of this artist" when Capleton was originally booked by an outside promoter.

Sound Academy was contacted by the gay-rights advocacy group Egale Canada, which also alerted Toronto's police hate-crimes unit. Capleton, whose music regularly extols Rastafarian tenants of purity and individual rights, nevertheless includes references to such violent acts as "bun out ah chi chi/blood out ah chi chi," referring to burning and bleeding a homosexual.

For years, Capleton and a number of other dancehall artists, such as Buju Banton, Sizzla and Beenie Man, have faced protests by gay-rights organizations. In 2007, Capleton signed the Reggae Compassionate Act, condemning homophobia. Yet reports and video clips indicate he has continued to trade off of anti-gay sentiment as a way to hype performances. ...

Ms. Fowler from Sound Academy said that the venue was already considering cancelling the show before meeting with hate-crimes officers Thursday morning and confirming the cancellation.

No one was available at Rozz Entertainment late Thursday for comment. Helen Kennedy, Egale Canada's executive director, said her organization will continue to condemn the planned performance and will remain in contact with the hate-crimes unit.

• Break it Down: Homophobia in Hip-Hop [XXL, July/August, 2011]

When it comes to homophobia, hip-hop doesn't have the best track record. "Faggot" and other anti-gay slurs have been used as generic insults on wax throughout the genre's history. In the mid-1990s, Wendy Williams sent a shiver through the industry by threatening, daily, to out the then-unimaginable "gay rapper" on her radio show on New York's Hot 97. Strong female rappers have been automatically branded lesbians out of a need to marginalize their voices. Girl-on-girl action began showing up in videos at a certain point, but only as an objectifying peep show. (What exactly about M.O.P.'s "Ante Up" would inspire two women to make out?)

However, recent events suggest a more complicated picture. In fact, while violence, misogyny and materialism may be with hip-hop for a long time, there are signs that the culture's attitude toward gays may be changing.

• Reggae singer backs gay rights [The Voice, August 16, 2011]

A US based singer has decided to taken on broken one of reggae's biggest taboos by making an album that supports gay rights.

Jamaican-born Mista Mahaj P, who lives in Oakland, California, released the album called Tolerance last month, telling The Voice he did so in a bid to tackle homophobia and hypocritical attitudes about the issue among people in his native Jamaica and elsewhere in the world.

He said having lived away from Jamaica for years, he decided to "set the record straight" after being barraged by stereotypical comments that wrongly painted all Jamaicans as people who hate gays.

• Hip-hop group barred from New Zealand festival for 'homophobic' lyrics [Pink News, November 7, 2011]

Organisers of New Zealand's Big Day Out festival have been forced to remove Odd Future from the festival's Auckland bill after complaints were made about homophobia in their lyrics.

Calum Bennachie complained to Auckland City Council, who own the venue where the festival takes place, about the US act's inclusion at Big Day Out, and the rap collective was removed from the bill.

In 2009 the festival had to revoke its invitation to homophobic reggae artist Beenie Man.

They said then: "Notwithstanding claims of a commitment to the Reggae Compassionate Act which he signed in 2007 and a promise of adherence to peaceful and humanistic values for the dates here by Beenie Man, the depth of feeling and hurt amongst these groups has convinced us that for us to proceed with his Big Day Out appearances was, and would continue to be, divisive amongst our audience members and would mar the enjoyment of the event for many.

"For this reason we have decided not to proceed."

• Sizzla hits back at gay rights critics [Examiner, March 26, 2012]

Prominent Dancehall/Reggae singjay, Sizzla Kalonji has responded sternly to gay rights activists who've long criticized the lyrical content of his songs.

Last week, promoters in Sweden cancelled a stage show that Sizzla was booked to appear on this Wednesday at the Hornstull Strand in Stockholm. The show was axed after several gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual activists protested Sizzla's appearance on the bill; condemning his lyrical damnation of homosexuality.

• Reggae star Beenie Man could face charges for 'homophobic' lyrics [The Guardian, August 17, 2004]

Police, the Crown Prosecution Service and a leading barrister were meeting yesterday to discuss whether charges could be brought against the Jamaican reggae star Beenie Man over lyrics which allegedly incite the murder of gay men and lesbians.

The move coincides with attempts by leading companies to dissociate themselves from the homophobic lyrics of the singer and fellow dancehall artists including Buju Banton.

J-Flag, the Jamaican gay rights group, believes that violent lyrics have contributed to attacks upon and even the murders of gay men and lesbians in the country.

Campaigners across Europe and the United States say their protests against the controversial stars are now bearing fruit.

• Beenie Man, Jamaican Reggae Star, Apologies To The Gay Community For 'Homophobic' Lyrics [HuffPo, May 18, 2012]

Beenie Man has been criticized for using homophobic lyrics throughout much of his work, but now the Jamaican reggae star is offering the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community a poignant apology.

In this newly-released video, Beenie says, "Let me make this clear and straight. I have nothing against no one. I respect each and every human being, regardless of which race or creed, regardless of which religious belief you believe in, and regardless of which sexual preference you are, including gay and lesbian people."

Jim Burroway: Lively's Lies: A Profile of Scott Lively [Political Research Associates, 2011]

The peripatetic antigay activist has traveled the world, and everywhere he goes, wholesale lies about gay people fall about him like acorns in autumn. In 2007, Lively was particularly active, traveling to Riga, Latvia, in the spring; then to Novosibirsk, Russia; then back to Riga. "There is a war going on the world," he told his Novosibirsk audience. "It's a war between Christians and homosexuals." The war, he said, is "the design of the devil to destroy civilization, because civilization is based on the natural family."

This kind of rhetoric landed Lively on the Hate Map developed by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The SPLC tracks more than 1,000 hate groups across the United States, but only seventeen of them are highlighted as specifically antigay. Lively's Abiding Truth Ministries is one of them, and Lively has connections with several others. In 2007, he helped to found the international Watchmen On The Walls, which quickly landed on the SPLC's antigay list (The Watchmen are no longer active in the United States). He has spoken at fundraising banquets for MassResistance, written several articles for the Chalcedon Foundation, a Christian Reconstructionist organization which endorses the revival of the Old Testament punishments of death for gay people. He has contributed money to anti-gay activist and former Washington Times reporter Peter LaBarbera's Americans for Truth about Homosexuality. He continued to contribute to discredited "researcher" Paul Cameron's Family Research Institute long after Cameron called for the quarantining of HIV-positive gay men and expressed admiration for how the Nazis "dealt with homosexuality." All of these groups are on that same, short SPLC antigay list.

[Continued here]

• Scott Lively's bizarre response to the murder of David Kato [Boston Globe, January 28, 2011]

After the brutal murder of a Ugandan gay rights activist Wednesday, a Massachusetts preacher accused of helping incite anti-gay sentiment during a trip to the African nation responded to the killing with a feeble, callous statement. The pastor, Scott Lively, also offered his own bizarre theory about who may have killed activist David Kato by bludgeoning him to death with a hammer.

The killing is still being investigated, but gay rights activists in Uganda have connected Kato's murder to the anti-gay climate fostered by a trip there by Lively and other American preachers in 2009. "David's death is a result of the hatred planted in Uganda by U.S. evangelicals in 2009," said Val Kalende, the chairwoman of one of Uganda's gay rights groups. "The Ugandan government and the so-called U.S. evangelicals must take responsibility for David's blood."

• Toward a Greater Understanding of Scott Lively [Truth Wins Out, May 23, 2011]

• Lively: Gay Marriage Is A Sign Of The End Times [Right Wing Watch, August 2, 2011]

• Scott Lively Admits "Love The Sinner/Hate The Sin" Was Just A Ruse [Box Turtle Bulletin, September 24, 2011]

Holocaust revisionist and two-time winner of the Southern Poverty Law Center's hate group designation Scott Lively wrote in World Net Daily yesterday that the Culture War against gay people is "nearly lost" - and it's all because "Christians" were sleeping. ...

Scott Lively's Abiding Truth Ministries has been on the Southern Poverty Law Center's very short list of anti-gay hate groups for a few years now. Not only that but Lively is co-founder of Watchmen On the Walls, another identified hate group, and he has worked with Massachusetts-based MassResistance, yet another identified hate groups. In October, he will speak at a banquet for Peter LaBarbera's Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, which is also listed in the SPLC's very short list. In 2009, he unleashed what he called his "Nuclear Bomb" at an anti-gay conference in Kampala, Uganda, which sparked yet another round of anti-gay vigilantism and violence, culminating in the introduction of the draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill in that nation's Parliament.

• John Shore: Group of Methodist Ministers Succumb to Gay Agenda! [Huffington Post, October 20, 2011]

The reverend then explained about how "The Book of Discipline," which constitutes the law and doctrine of the United Methodist Church, is a living document, and not, as she put it, "a baseball bat for hurting others," and how every four years (starting in 1784!) representatives of all the Methodists get together, talk about what's in "The Book of Discipline," make whatever changes or adjustments to its text are voted necessary, and then publish a new edition.

• Scott Lively, The Rainbow Flag, and the End of Days [Right Wing Watch, February 1, 2012]

Earlier this month, Scott Lively delivered an hour long speech entitled "The Global Threat of Homosexuality" at Resurrection Life of Jesus church in Sacramento and it was, as you can imagine, chock full of all sorts of anti-gay lunacy as Lively sought to make clear that homosexuality is not a sin just like any other sin, but rather a warning sign that our society is on the verge of collapse.

• Kristin Rawls: How Deep Is the Republican Christian Right's Connection to the Anti-Gay Bills Sweeping Sub-Saharan Africa? [AlterNet, February 7, 2012]

Uganda's notorious "kill-the-gays" bill, supported by some far-right Christian advocates in United States, was placed back on the Ugandan Parliament's schedule for a vote yesterday. The proposed legislation punishes repeated instances of "homosexual behavior" - or sex - with the death penalty.

Unless a member of Parliament releases the date and time to the public, it could be brought before the legislature's Lower House for a vote at any moment. After that, it would need to pass the Upper House, and could become law very quickly. ...

Santorum has been nothing if not consistent on this issue. In 2003, he was even less circumspect, saying, "We have...sodomy laws [in some states,] and they were there for a purpose. Because, again, I would argue, they undermine the basic tenets of our society and the family. And if the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything. Does that undermine the fabric of our society? Yes, I believe it does."

It's unsettling to see a major candidate casually promote LGBT criminalization. That's because his rhetoric is so close to that of these same leaders who are active proponents of harsher LGBT criminalization laws throughout sub-Saharan Africa. But it isn't easy to uncover the connections, which are often shrouded in secrecy.

We really just know one thing with certainty: Members of the Christian right in the United States are promoting human rights abuses against LGBT people throughout the continent. But it is not always possible to find specific information about what they do. Very few American evangelicals are willing to admit the extent of their involvement in the wave of anti-gay legislation sweeping Africa. Certainly, they might express open support of the bill. But you won't see them admit to providing financial support to these pastors, and you certainly won't hear that they've been involved in country-specific criminalization campaigns. Conversations about these topics often involve a lot of hearsay and rumor.

It is downright impossible to trace the money trail. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, tells me that "religious groups that intervene in political issues receive very little oversight in the United States." It is even more difficult, he adds, to track "what religious groups spend overseas."

• Laurie Goodstein: Ugandan Gay Rights Group Sues American Evangelist [New York Times, March 14, 2012]

The lawsuit alleges that beginning in 2002, Mr. Lively conspired with religious and political leaders in Uganda to whip up anti-gay hysteria with warnings that homosexuals would sodomize African children and corrupt their culture.

The Ugandan legislature considered a bill in 2009, proposed by one of Mr. Lively's Ugandan contacts, that would have imposed the death sentence for homosexual behavior. That bill was at first withdrawn after an outcry from the United States and European nations that are among major aid donors to Uganda, but a revised bill was reintroduced last month.

Mr. Lively is being sued by the organization Sexual Minorities Uganda under the alien tort statute, which allows foreigners to sue in American courts in situations alleging the violation of international law. The suit claims that Mr. Lively's actions resulted in the persecution, arrest, torture and murder of homosexuals in Uganda.

• TONIGHT in Oklahoma City: Taking On The Lies of Holocaust Revisionist Scott Lively [TWO, April 27, 2012]
• Scott Lively Defending His Work in Uganda, Still Advocating for Prison or Forced Therapy For Gays [TWO, May 8, 2012]

Scott Lively is one disturbed man. He's apparently stung by the fact that Sexual Minorities Uganda and the Center for Constitutional Rights are suing him for human rights offenses tied to his role in inciting hatred against gay people, hatred which gave birth to the now infamous "Kill the Gays" bill being pushed in Uganda. However, though he may be stung, that's not stopping him from grabbing a shovel and digging his hole deeper....

Out of Africa

"All efforts are being made to get rid of these people in the society." [Paul Evans Aidoo]

[Continued here]

Chris Floyd: "As we all know, one of the most dangerous creatures on earth is
the bullshitter who believes his own bullshit."



Jesus plus nothing: Undercover among America's secret theocrats [Harper's, March, 2003]

This is how they pray: a dozen clear-eyed, smooth-skinned "brothers" gathered together in a huddle, arms crossing arms over shoulders like the weave of a cable, leaning in on one another and swaying like the long grass up the hill from the house they share. The house is a handsome, gray, two-story colonial that smells of new carpet and Pine-Sol and aftershave; the men who live there call it Ivanwald. At the end of a tree-lined cul-de-sac, quiet but for the buzz of lawn mowers and kids playing foxes-and-hounds in the park across the road, Ivanwald sits as one house among many, clustered together like mushrooms, all devoted, like these men, to the service of Jesus Christ. The men tend every tulip in the cul-de-sac, trim every magnolia, seal every driveway smooth and black as boot leather. And they pray, assembled at the dining table or on their lawn or in the hallway or in the bunk room or on the basketball court, each man's head bowed in humility and swollen with pride (secretly, he thinks) at being counted among such a fine corps for Christ, among men to whom he will open his heart and whom he will remember when he returns to the world not born-again but remade, no longer an individual but part of the Lord's revolution, his will transformed into a weapon for what the young men call "spiritual war." ...

Ivanwald, which sits at the end of Twenty-fourth Street North in Arlington, Virginia, is known only to its residents and to the members and friends of the organization that sponsors it, a group of believers who refer to themselves as "the Family." The Family is, in its own words, an "invisible" association, though its membership has always consisted mostly of public men. ...

The organization has operated under many guises, some active, some defunct: National Committee for Christian Leadership, International Christian Leadership, the National Leadership Council, Fellowship House, the Fellowship Foundation, the National Fellowship Council, the International Foundation. These groups are intended to draw attention away from the Family, and to prevent it from becoming, in the words of one of the Family's leaders, "a target for misunderstanding." The Family's only publicized gathering is the National Prayer Breakfast, which it established in 1953 and which, with congressional sponsorship, it continues to organize every February in Washington, D.C. Each year 3,000 dignitaries, representing scores of nations, pay $425 each to attend. Steadfastly ecumenical, too bland most years to merit much press, the breakfast is regarded by the Family as merely a tool in a larger purpose: to recruit the powerful attendees into smaller, more frequent prayer meetings, where they can "meet Jesus man to man."

[Continued here]

• The "Family" — Who Really Is Behind This Secret Organization? [Banderas News, December 31, 2010]

What if someone were to tell you that your Congressman routinely bandies around phrases such as "Jesus plus nothing," used to mean the complete rule of Jesus, and compares the desired reach to that of Hitler or Ho Chi Minh? If this makes you at all apprehensive, then Jeff Sharlet's "C Street: The Fundamentalist Threat to American Democracy" is a must-read.

"Jesus plus nothing" is the mantra of the Fellowship, also known as the Family, a secret, fundamentalist Christian organization peopled primarily by devout policy makers and high-ranking individuals. Though the nonbeliever's view of religion can often be dismissive when faced with such catchphrases, in "C Street," a nonfiction account of the extended reach of the Family, these phrases fuel moral crusades with real, and terrifying, impact. ...

The extent of the connections between the Family and chastised senators, the Sri Lankan government's decision to drop bombs on civilians, a virulently homophobic bill in Uganda or extreme religious pressure applied to soldiers in combat zones are at times somewhat murky, but this is itself a symptom of how the Fellowship functions - "the more invisible you can make your organization," Doug Coe, associate director of the Fellowship, says in "C Street," "the more influence it will have." ...

Mikey Weinstein, a former Air Force commander and founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, who deals with calls daily from soldiers with testimony of religious harassment, says the only way to combat the influence of the "multi-dimensional, theocratic, dominating, democracy-destroying monster" that is the Family is to court-martial them all.

• The Secret Political Reach Of 'The Family' [NPR, November 24, 2009]
• Sarah Posner and Anthea Butler: Beyond Alarmism and Denial in the Dominionism Debate [Religion Dispatches, August 29, 2011]

Sarah Posner: The New Apostolic Reformation has been in the news a great deal since Rick Perry first announced his prayer rally, The Response. I have an investigative journalist's view of this movement, its place in religious movements of the 20th and 21st centuries, and in politics.

You have a unique view, though, not only as a scholar of American religious history, but as a student at Fuller Theological Seminary, where the NAR's founder, C. Peter Wagner, taught in the 1990s. We'll probably come back to Wagner several times during this conversation, but to get us going, what is the NAR, and how did Wagner come to found this movement? What is Wagner's background? Is he a theologian? A missionary? An entrepreneur?

• What Would Dominionists Do With Gays? [Warren Throckmorton, August 29, 2011]

What these groups have in common in their belief that civil government should reflect Christian moral teachings. Those who deviate from Christian moral teaching should be subject to the laws of the land in addition to laws of the church. While this post is not exhaustive, there seems to be a difference between those in the New Apostolic Reformation and the Christian Reconstructionist movements when it comes to what kind of civil punishments should be delivered to those who violate Christian teachings regarding sexuality. ...

Based on these statements, dominionists in the NAR tradition view want to discourage homosexuality from a national platform but are squeamish about "severe sanctions" like death.

Moving to the theonomic Christian Reconstructionists, squeamishness goes right out the window.

American Vision is a Christian Reconstructionist group who has partnered with Liberty University's Law School among other mainstream social conservative organizations.

• Bruce Wilson: Invisible Children Nonprofit Extensively Tied To "The Family" [Talk To Action, April 4, 2012]

It is unlikely that many Americans who watched Invisible Children's record-smashing viral video hit KONY 2012 were aware of IC's evangelical nature (1, 2) or of the nonprofit's early financing from foundations that back the hard Christian right, including one of the biggest funders of the 2008 push for California's anti-same sex marriage Proposition 8.

But Invisible Children, which has branded itself as welcoming cultural, religious, and sexual diversity, also enjoys extensive institutional and social ties to the global evangelical network known as The Fellowship (also known as "The Family") - which has been credited with inspiring and providing "technical support" [see footnote 1] for Uganda's internationally-denounced Anti Homosexuality Bill, also dubbed the "kill the gays" bill.

Brazilian Evangelical Leader [Silas Malafaia]: I'm LGBT Rights' Worst Enemy
[Edge Boston, November 28, 2011]

Silas Malafaia, 53, is a household name for millions of people in Brazil. The Evangelist has sold millions of books and even has a television show that airs in several countries, including the United States. Now he's claiming to be the gay community's public enemy #1.

Malafaia has been able to conjure up a large following through his churches and enterprises that echo his Pentecostal preaching. In addition, the Evangelical leader has publically spoken against a number of Brazil's social issues, such as gay rights, abortion and the decriminalization of marijuana.

"I'm the public enemy No. 1 of the gay movement in Brazil," Malafaia said in a New York Times article.

Malafaia is known for his outrageous language. In November, Epoca magazine claims that during an intense argument between Toni Reis, a gay-rights leader in Brazil, Malafaia said he would take legal action against Reis and "fornicate" him. Malafia, however, says that he said "funicate," claiming that it is slang roughly translated as "trounce."

Despite Malafai's wishes, Brazil has progressed steadily when it comes to LGBT rights. In 2004, Rio Grande do Sul allowed same-sex couples to register civil unions after a court decision in March of the same year. In 2010, the Superior Court of Justice of Brazil ruled to allow gay couples to have the right to adopt children.

[Continued here]

• Evangelical Leader Rises in Brazil's Culture Wars [New York Times, November 25, 2011]

As a television evangelist, Mr. Malafaia reaches viewers in dozens of countries, including the United States, where Daystar and Trinity Broadcasting Network broadcast his overdubbed sermons. Over 30 years, Mr. Malafaia, 53, has assembled thriving churches and enterprises around his Pentecostal preaching.

Church shooting: 2nd victim dies; authorities search accused man's house [Knoxville News Sentinel, July 27, 2008]

A second victim has died from this morning's shooting at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church.

Linda Kraeger, 61, died this evening at the University of Tennessee Medical Center, according to City of Knoxville spokesman Randy Kenner.

She attended Westside Unitarian Universalist Church in Farragut and was visiting the Kingston Pike church to watch the children's play.

A church member, Greg McKendry, 60, was killed when he confronted the gunman as he entered the church.

Jim D. Adkisson, 58, of Powell has been charged with first-degree in the death of McKendry.

Knoxville police, the Knoxville Police Department bomb squad and FBI agents are executing a search warrant at Adkisson's house, 1919 Levy Road.

The presence of the bomb squad is precautionary, according to authorities, and the FBI is providing investigative support.

Adkisson is being held on a $1 million bond at the Knox County Detention Facility in the death of McKendry.

Adkisson is accused of opening fire during a children's play, shooting eight people with a 12-gauge shotgun, according to Knoxville Police Chief Sterling P. Owen IV.

Seven of the wounded were taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, according to spokeswoman Becky Thompson.

All were adults: four women and three men.

Earlier today, some of those patients were listed in critical and serious condition.

Another victim was trampled and was treated and released at a hospital, Owen said during a press conference this afternoon.

McKendry confronted the gunman during a children's presentation of the musical, "Annie Jr!"

"He was the first person he encountered," according to Owen.

"Greg McKendry stood in the front of the gunman and took the blast to protect the rest of us," witness Barbara Kemper said.

"Make sure everyone knows that Greg McKendry was a hero, a total hero," Taylor Bessette said of the man who has been his foster father just a few months.

[Continued here]

• Complete index [Knoxville News Sentinel]

The roots of homo-hatred editorial cartoon



As with birds of a feather ... the world's bigots flock together

The straight goods on Maggie Gallagher and NOM

"The community of evangelical biblical scholars, almost exclusively white heterosexual men, has a history of producing interpretations of the Bible that reflects its own interests and disadvantages those without power." [Jonathan Dudley]

[Continued here]

National Organization for Marriage crusading against gay nuptials in NY
[New York Post, June 12, 2011]

Secretive and flush with cash, the National Organization for Marriage is igniting a culture war as it battles Gov. Cuomo and Mayor Bloomberg in their campaign to legalize gay wedlock. ...

Where the cash comes from isn't clear. One backer is the Knights of Columbus, whose lobbying in the 1950s put the phrase "under God" into the Pledge of Allegiance. The Knights raised $1.9 million for the group in 2008-09. ...

"They came into the state with a big splash," said civil rights lawyer Evan Wolfson, president of Chelsea-based Freedom to Marry. "They're basically just a shell group that exists to funnel money into anti-gay causes from a small set of secret donors." ...

"They publicly project rationality and tolerance - but keep company with hard-core anti-gay extremists," says Kevin Nix, of the Human Rights Campaign.

[Continued here]

• James Rotondi: Same-Sex Marriage: "A Basic Civil Right" [Huffington Post, December 8, 2009]

Last Wednesday, as the New York State Senate voted down a bill that would have legalized same-sex marriage in New York, they were, in essence, voting to require discrimination in the State of New York. That they did it, in part, with the guiding hand of the Catholic Church--who called the defeat, incredibly, "a victory for the basic building block of our society"--only serves to outline both the violation of principle that constitutes religious meddling in U.S. law, and the wider question the measure raises: Why on earth is something as basic to our democracy as full civil rights coming up for a vote at all? ...

The real and terrible irony to these latest rulings is that they have ever come up for a vote at all. Since when do Americans vote on stripping certain citizens of their basic civil rights, rights protected under the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and every single state Constitution, and reinforced by the Supreme Court as recently as 1967? The right to marry who we choose is clearly a basic freedom in our democracy, so much so that opposite sex couples are allowed to marry each other within five minutes of meeting one another, if the fancy strikes them. There is, in fact, no controversy here at all; we all agree on the fundamental premise behind these freedoms. As Staten Island senator Diane Savino noted after Wednesday's vote, "We in government don't determine the quality or worthiness of people's relationships. If we did, we would not issue three-quarters of the marriage licenses we do."

Is it is really acceptable to start putting human rights up for a vote, either on the Senate floor or the public voting booth? Civil rights simply are, guaranteed not only under law, but under the entire political philosophy that underpins our democracy. We don't vote on whether certain citizens should be denied the right to cast a ballot--the fact that we once had to vote on giving women and African-Americans the vote only illustrates the ways we should strive to make our founding documents--and the principles they espouse--stand up to the test of a living democracy. If anything, the purpose of amendments and clarifications to our laws and constitutions dealing with civil rights should always--as with women's suffrage, racial desegregation and inter-racial marriage rights--lead to a more emancipated citizenry and a more equitable bestowal of the freedoms the majority enjoy, not a clampdown on a vulnerable minority. ...

Until same-sex marriage is a reality in this country, we will remain in the dark ages of civil rights, as repressed and provincial a nation as any of those we rightly condemn for their destructive integration of politics and archaic religious law, which is a far more "abominable" marriage than anything the gay community can possibly dish out.

• New York state Senate again delays gay marriage vote [Reuters, June 23, 2011]

The New York state Senate again put off a vote on legalizing same-sex marriage on Thursday, and the Republican Senate leader said lawmakers would meet again on Friday to decide what to do.

The bill is one vote short of enough support for passage in the state Senate. It was approved in the state Assembly by a comfortable margin. ...

A trio of Republican senators met several times this week with Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat who has made same-sex marriage a top priority this year.

• New York Allows Same-Sex Marriage, Becoming Largest State to Pass Law [New York Times, June 24, 2011]

The marriage bill, whose fate was uncertain until moments before the vote, was approved 33 to 29 in a packed but hushed Senate chamber. Four members of the Republican majority joined all but one Democrat in the Senate in supporting the measure after an intense and emotional campaign aimed at the handful of lawmakers wrestling with a decision that divided their friends, their constituents and sometimes their own homes.

• New York state votes to legalise gay marriage [Telegraph, June 25, 2011]

The state senate voted 33-29 in favour of the measure, breaking a previous 31-31 logjam, after two Republican senators said they would back the bill at the last minute.

For several days, the state capitol building in Albany had been packed by gay couples enthusiastically supporting the bill and religious critics who were just as fervently opposing it.

The vote will be the cause of huge celebrations in America at this weekend's annual gay pride festivities in New York.

Senator Stephen Saland, an upstate Republican, declared himself as the critical 32nd vote in favour on Friday night. Another Republican then joined two other members of his party who had already said they would back the bill, and 29 minority Democrats, to deliver the 33 votes.

In an emotional address, Mr Saland told fellow senators that he believed the issue was a question of equality.

• Settled in Albany, Gay Marriage Draws Opposition [New York Times, July 12, 2011]

As gay couples around the state make final preparations for a wave of nuptials that begins in less than two weeks, opponents are organizing a round of protests and bracing for what they fear will be discrimination against those who think same-sex marriage is wrong.

Roman Catholic schools in Brooklyn and Queens have stopped inviting all lawmakers, and have stopped accepting personal donations from lawmakers who voted for same-sex marriage.

And on July 24, the first day that gay couples will be permitted to wed, opposition groups are planning rallies in Albany, Buffalo, New York City and Rochester to begin what they say will be a multimillion-dollar campaign to push for an amendment to the State Constitution that would outlaw same-sex marriage.

• For Judges, a Sunday Unlike Any Other [New York Times, July 14, 2011]

On a summer Sunday, Justice Thomas D. Raffaele of State Supreme Court in Queens would usually be in a bathing suit at the Jersey Shore. Instead, on July 24, the Sunday that New York's same-sex marriage law goes into effect, he plans to be in his judicial robes at the city clerk's office on Queens Boulevard, ready to marry people, possibly in large numbers.

"I've heard there are a lot of people who are very excited," he said.

As one of several dozen judges across the state who have volunteered to play an official role in the new law's first day, Justice Raffaele is part of one of the most unusual judicial mobilizations in years. From Buffalo to the Bronx and pretty much everywhere else in New York, judges are signing up for rare Sunday duty.

If same-sex couples want to marry that Sunday, only judges would have the authority to dispense with the 24-hour waiting period required by law. And those judges could then officiate on the spot.

• Churches debate whether to marry gays [San Francisco Chronicle, July 16, 2011]

After same-sex marriage becomes legal here on July 24, gay priests with partners in the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island will head to the altar. They have to. Their bishop set a nine-month deadline for them to marry or stop living together.

Next door, meanwhile, the Episcopal bishop of New York says he also expects gay clergy in committed relationships to wed "in due course." Still, this longtime supporter of gay rights says churches in his diocese are off limits for gay weddings until he receives clearer liturgical guidance from the national denomination.

As more states legalize same-sex marriage, religious groups with ambiguous policies on homosexuality are divided over whether they should allow the ceremonies in local congregations. The decision is especially complex in the mainline Protestant denominations that have yet to fully resolve their disagreements over the Bible and homosexuality. Many have taken steps toward acceptance of gay ordination and same-gender couples without changing the official definition of marriage in church constitutions and canons. With the exception of the United Church of Christ, which approved gay marriage six years ago, none of the larger mainline churches has a national liturgy for same-sex weddings or even blessing ceremonies.

The result is a patchwork of church policies in states where gays can civilly wed - not only for lay people, but also for gay clergy who want to marry their partners.

• First In New York Gay Wedding to Take Place at Niagara Falls at Stroke of Midnight on Sunday [Politicker New York, July 18, 2011]

Advocates for same-sex marriage are planning to ring in the new law's passage with a celebratory ceremony in the shadow of Niagara Falls the minute it becomes legal for same-sex couples to wed.

The inaugural couple will be Kitty Lambert and Cheryle Rudd, Buffalo residents who have been trying to wed for over a decade and who have five children and 12 grandchildren between them. According to a release from New Yorkers United for Marriage, the couple will marry at Luna Island while the Falls behind them will be lit with the colors of the rainbow flag.

• New York to hold gay-marriage lottery [Globe & Mail, July 19, 2011]

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that more than 760 couples will be selected to get married on Sunday in the city clerk's five borough offices.

Couples can register for the lottery online or by phone in the 48 hours beginning noon Tuesday. Winners will be notified by Friday at noon.

• Anti-Gay Group to NY Clerks: On-the-Job Discrimination Against Gays is Legal [Edge Boston, July 20, 2011]

An anti-gay legal group is telling clerks in New York state that if they feel like denying service to gay and lesbian families while on the job, state law says they are perfectly free to do so -- as long as their discrimination is based on religious beliefs, reported LGBTQ Nation on July 18. ...

"If the law says I issue them, then I issue them," New Haven clerk said Debra Allen told the media. "The law does not allow us to pick and choose who we're going to issue licenses to."

Though New York's marriage equality law guarantees that churches and religiously affiliated groups will not be punished if they decline to allow the celebration of same-sex weddings, the same exemptions do not extend to public employees.

"The religious exemptions in the Marriage Equality Act are inapplicable to town and city clerks serving in their license-granting roles, and a public official's intentional refusal to issue marriage licenses to qualified same-sex couples may constitute Official Misconduct, a Class A misdemeanor defined in section 195.00 of the New York State Penal Law," Rice's letter warned. ...

Gavin Newsom, at the time the mayor of San Francisco and now the state's lieutenant governor, told the media, "This is a civil marriage that civil servants have a responsibility to provide. So for civil servants on religious grounds to start passing judgments, they are breaking the core tenet of what civil service is all about."

• Interview: Grandmothers [Kitty Lambert and Cheryle Rudd] Poised to Become N.Y.'s First Legally Married Couple [Edge Boston, July 23, 2011]

EDGE: As long-time marriage equality activists, how do you and Cheryle feel on the eve of your wedding?

LAMBERT: After eight years of fighting for this, it feels amazing to actually get to the day when all the hard work comes to fruition. We often think of all the trips to lobby, the rallies, the events and the dramas... but most of all the people. We are being given a lot of credit for this and while that is a tremendous honor and very humbling, it discounts the thousands of others in OUTspoken for Equality who worked as hard as they could to get this done.

• New York same-sex couples marry for first time [Globe & Mail, July 24, 2011]

Gay-rights activists Kitty Lambert and Cheryle Rudd were legally married the very first moment they could be during a midnight ceremony at Niagara Falls that ushered in same-sex marriage in the state and marked a pivotal moment in the national drive for recognition.

With a rainbow-lit Niagara Falls as a backdrop early Sunday, Ms. Lambert, 54, and Ms. Rudd, 53, were among the first gay couples to tie the knot with the blessing of the state, which last month became the sixth and largest to sanction gay marriage. Couples in Albany, Hudson and Long Island also exchanged vows just after midnight Saturday, kicking off what was expected to be a Sunday packed with weddings.

The Buffalo women, grandmothers with 12 grandchildren between them, have been together for more than a decade and had long been fighting for the right to marry.

Mayor Paul Dyster performed the ceremony, which was attended by some of the state lawmakers whose vote last month made it possible. ...

In Niagara Falls, Ms. Lambert and Ms. Rudd chose Luna Island at the foot of the Falls for the site of their ceremony, following in the tradition of countless other couples who've been marrying there for more than a century. The waterfalls were lit, for the first time, in the hues of the rainbow, the symbol of gay equality and pride.

• Gay Marriage Opponents Sue to Overturn NY Law [Edge Boston, July 25, 2011]

Opponents to New York's gay marriage law filed the first lawsuit challenging the measure, an anticipated salvo that came one day after weddings were celebrated around the state.

A representative of New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms and a rabbi said in a lawsuit filed Monday in state court that New York's Senate violated its own procedures and the state's open meetings law when it approved the bill on June 24.

The lawsuit claims that the Senate prevented lawmakers who opposed the bill from speaking and that the Senate didn't follow procedures that require a bill to go through appropriate committees before a full Senate vote.

• Does The Marriage Suit Hold Any Merit? [Capital Tonight, July 26, 2011]

The lawsuit filed by a conservative group seeking to repeal the same-sex marriage law that took effect Sunday relies on a lot of assumptions, incendiary charges and the hope the judiciary will become involve with the rules of order in the state Senate.

So Gov. Andrew Cuomo's spokesman Josh Vlasto is probably right when he says the suit holds little merit.

• Defense Of Marriage Act Challenged By Eric Schneiderman, New York Attorney General [Huffington Post, July 26, 2011]

Two days after same-sex marriage became legal in New York, the state's attorney general has taken legal action challenging the constitutionality of the U.S. law which defines marriage as between a man and woman.

In court papers filed on Tuesday in U.S. federal court in Manhattan, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, violates same-sex couples' right to equal protection under the U.S. Constitution.

The 1996 law prohibits same-sex couples from receiving marriage-based benefits such as Social Security survivor benefits, health benefits and the right to file taxes jointly.

Schneiderman argued the law intrudes on the state's right to regulate marriage. On Sunday, gay couples began to marry in New York after it was made legal. ...

"By discriminating among married couples based on sexual orientation and sex, DOMA deprives New York of the ability to extend true equality to all marriages valid in the State," Schneiderman wrote.

• Conservative Columnist Dismantles NOM's New York Campaign: A "Futile Venture" [Equality Matters, July 27, 2011]

Apparently, even conservatives are starting to realize that the National Organization for Marriage's (NOM) 4-year plan to repeal New York's marriage equality law is a pipe dream. In his July 26 Wall Street Journal column, James Taranto argues that NOM's promise to work to "let the people vote" through a constitutional amendment is a "futile venture" that amounts to "deceptive advertising".

• LGBT Organizations Anticipate Challenges In Aftermath Of New York's Marriage Equality Victory [Think Progress, July 29, 2011]

New York's marriage equality law will present challenges for LGBT organizations, many of which anticipate a slow down in membership and fundraising in the aftermath of the historic victory. "Marriage, for one reason or another, is an issue that sucks all the oxygen out of the room," said Ron Levi, the executive director of Empire State Pride Agenda. "It's something that everyone has experience with in life and as a result it's an issue that people have strong feelings about and a sense of familiarity with. That's not necessarily the case with other issues."

[Note: This is precisely what happened in Canada after same-sex marrriage became legal.].

• Ledyard clerk won't sign gay marriage licenses [auburnpub.com, August 12, 2011]

A town clerk in Cayuga County has informed her town board that because of her religious beliefs, she does not believe she can sign marriage licenses for same-sex couples, according to a member of the board.

Ledyard Town Clerk Rose Marie Belforti submitted a letter to the Ledyard Town Board saying that her religious beliefs prevented her from signing marriage licenses for same-sex couples and the board discussed Belforti's letter at Monday's meeting, according to John Binns, a member of the town board. ...

Cathy Marino-Thomas, board president of Marriage Equality New York, said Belforti isn't practicing "good leadership" by trying to pass the responsibilities off to a deputy clerk.

"The law says that everyone has a right to marry in New York state," she said by phone. "If [Belforti] doesn't want to obey the law, she needs to get another job.

• How Deep Is Andrew Cuomo's Commitment to Gay Issues? [Edge Boston, August 17, 2011]
• Tyler Kingkade: New York Town Clerk Refuses To Let Same-Sex Couple Get Married [Huffington Post, September 15, 2011]

A town clerk in Ledyard, N.Y., is standing in the way of letting a same-sex couple tie the knot, even though the state legalized marriage equality in June.

Rose Marie Belforti, the town clerk for the small town of Ledyard, has publicly stated that she will not sign marriage licenses for same-sex couples and refused to do so for Katie Carmichael and Deirdre DiBiaggio on Aug. 30. ...

Shortly after New York legalized marriage equality, Carmichael and DiBiaggio began making plans to wed.

But Belforti, the publicly elected official responsible for issuing marriage licenses, refused to issue one herself and told the couple to make an appointment with a deputy town clerk. There's just one problem: There is no deputy town clerk.

Belforti has cited religious reasons that prevent her from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. She is now reportedly not offering marriage licenses to opposite-sex couples either, except by appointment.

The town's government is behind Belforti, saying it cannot force her to issue licenses. Carmichael warned that support could potentially make the town complicit in breaking the law.

• Queer Rising's 'Vindictive Prosecution' For Marriage Equality [Bilerico Project, September 15, 2011]

This brings to mind the "vindictive prosecution" defense permitted in the similar case of Lt. Dan Choi before the D.C. courts. While lesser known than Lt. Choi, the Queer Rising defendants are no less entitled to fair treatment in the courts.

• NY AG Asks Court To Toss Anti-Gay Marriage Lawsuit [Huffington Post, September 16, 2011]

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman argues in papers filed Friday that the opponents haven't been harmed by the law, don't have standing to challenge the actions of the Senate and any procedural actions of the Senate and governor aren't subject to judicial review.

• Catholics warn of 'national conflict' over gay marriage [USA Today, September 23, 2011]>
• Rights Collide as Town Clerk Sidesteps Role in Gay Marriages [New York Times, September 27, 2011]

Deborah Liu, the general counsel for the People for the American Way Foundation, which is working with a New York law firm, Proskauer Rose, on the case, said, "We totally respect everyone's right to have their own personal beliefs." But Ms. Belforti, Ms. Liu said, "doesn't have the right to use them to relieve herself from doing a major part of her duties."

• Full-page ad calls out anti-gay 'religious liberty' claim [Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, December 10, 2011]

        TWO's ad is in response to the unethical actions of Ledyard, NY town clerk Rose Marie Belforti, who refused to issue a marriage license to a lesbian couple. Belforti disobeyed the law and then justified refusing to do her job by claiming she was a victim of religious discrimination.

                "The private religious beliefs of public workers should be respected," said Truth Wins Out Executive Director Wayne Besen. "However, agents of the state are not entitled to pick and choose which members of the public they serve or which laws they obey. Refusing to serve entire classes of people based on religious objections will lead to chaos. It creates a slippery slope where self-appointed moral scolds serve as the gatekeepers to our freedom."

(View ad here)

Are Republicans Ready to Overturn Marriage in New Hampshire?
[The Advocate, September 15, 2011]

Republican lawmakers in New Hampshire advanced an effort Wednesday to repeal marriage equality in their state, perhaps signaling they're prepping for a veto fight with the state's Democratic governor.

A House Judiciary subcommittee voted 3-1 to amend a bill that had originally banned both same-sex marriage and civil unions, House spokeswoman Shannon Shutts told Reuters. Now the bill is more narrowly focused on defining marriage. Options such as civil unions and domestic partnerships usually have even broader public support, which could have complicated Republicans' efforts.

Gov. John Lynch signed marriage equality legislation in 2009 after it narrowly passed through the legislature, and he has promised to veto any effort to repeal the law. But Lynch has recently seen one of his vetoes overridden, on abortion limits for minors, and Republicans could try again with same-sex marriage. Their numbers grew after the 2010 wave election.

Upping the ante on the politics of turning same-sex marriage into an issue is the announcement today from Lynch that he will not run for reelection in 2012 (after holding the office for four consecutive terms). And that state is an early decider in the Republican primary season, which helps raise the national profile of state issues.

A previous effort in early 2010 to send voters a measure on a same-sex marriage ban failed in the legislature. And Republican Party leaders eventually began to eye 2012 as the right time to make a try legislatively.

[Continued here]

• House Committee Votes To Repeal Same-Sex Marriage [WMUR, October 25, 2011]

The Judiciary Committee voted 11-6 to repeal the law and replace it with civil unions, but Gov. John Lynch has said he will veto the effort, so the repeal effort faces long odds.

"The freedom to marry has proven to be extremely popular here in New Hampshire, to the point that, today, the committee couldn't even vote with the majority that would override the governor's veto on this issue," said Tyler Deaton, a gay marriage supporter from Standing Up For New Hampshire Families.

The bill also would not require any group, employer or individual to recognize a civil union if it's against their beliefs.

"This is a more mean-spirited bill, because the amendment goes way beyond repealing marriage equality. It also repeals the anti-discrimination statute in employment housing and public accommodations, and I suspect that's why we picked up some Republican votes," said Moe Baxley, a same-sex marriage supporter.

• New Hampshire Lawmakers Mount Attack on Gay Married Families [Edge Boston, October 25, 2011]

Supporters of a push by state Republican lawmakers to rescind marriage rights and reduce the status of same-sex married couples in the state to civil unions say that marriage should not have been "redefined" in the first place, but critics allege that the anti-gay legislative push is a diversionary tactic meant to deflect attention from the far more difficult and truly troubling economic situation.

Marriage equality has been legal in New Hampshire since 2009. But the state's Republican lawmakers have targeted same-sex married couples with a bill to repeal marriage rights for gay and lesbian families. In its place, same-sex couples--as well as straight couples and even related individuals--could enter into a form of civil union that essentially would be a legal contract providing some economic protections, but none of the social status of marriage.

• 200 Leaders Embrace New Hampshire's Marriage Equality Law [Think Progress, December 12, 2011]

The House Judiciary Committee advanced the repeal measure in October and the full House is expected to take it up in January. Significantly, the repeal bill - which most residents oppose - would allow anyone to refuse to recognize the civil unions and discriminate against such couples in employment, housing, and public accommodations.

• Standing Up for New Hampshire Families Targets Legislators In Mailer Noting Strong Opposition to Marriage Repeal [Standing Up for New Hampshire Families, December 15, 2011]

Standing Up for New Hampshire Families today released a mailer sent to state legislators in anticipation of the January House vote to repeal the popular 2009 law which has allowed gay and lesbian couples to marry in New Hampshire. The mailer marks the first of a series of fact-sheets and communications the group plans to send to legislators prior to the vote.

Standing Up for New Hampshire Families is a bipartisan group formed to defend the marriage equality law. Its leadership council has more than 200 civic, business, political, academic, religious and grassroots leaders from across the state who believe that repealing the law would defy popular support, disregard New Hampshire values, undermine families and damage the state's business climate.

Calling on legislators to oppose House Bill 437, the flyer asks legislators to "Stand with the vast majority of New Hampshire voters and support freedom. More than 2-to-1 say, 'Don't ban marriage for gay citizens. Don't take away freedom. Don't strip people of their rights."

• Gay marriage repeal a top issue in New Hampshire [Boston Globe, December 25, 2011]

Repealing New Hampshire's gay marriage law, legalizing casinos and changing the constitution to bar an income tax are among the hottest topics facing the Legislature heading into 2012, but lawmakers might not vote on these issues until after the Jan. 10 presidential primary.

• New Hampshire Legislature Considers 'License To Discriminate' Bill [Think Progress, January 24, 2012]

Today the New Hampshire House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on HB 1264, which is essentially a "License To Discriminate" bill. The measure would allow businesses that oppose marriage equality to deny services to same-sex couples based on their "conscience" or religious beliefs. It also protects them from any civil claim of action for doing so. ...

The language in this measure mirrors similar "license to bully" exemptions that have been proposed in Michigan and Tennessee that would protect students from discipline if they expressed anti-gay views in school....

• Former RNC Chair Urges N.H. Lawmakers to Vote Against Marriage Equality Repeal Bill [Edge Boston, January 26, 2012]
• New Hampshire Republicans Propose Bills That Prevent Police From Protecting Domestic Abuse Victims [Think Progress, January 26, 2012]

Since the 1970s, New Hampshire police have operated under a progressive policy for handling domestic violence cases that has saved countless lives. Under current law the presumption is that an arrest will be made when police observe evidence of abuse. They have a large degree of discretion and don't need to witness the assault firsthand or obtain a legal warrant before they can separate the alleged attacker from his victim.

All that will change if Republicans get their way. The state's GOP legislators are pushing two bills that will reverse a half century of progress, the Concord Monitor reports.

• Gay marriage repeal bill no sure bet [Concord Monitor, January 29, 2012]

While the fate of a bill repealing same-sex marriage in New Hampshire remains uncertain, two facts are not in dispute:

Republicans hold veto-proof majorities in the House and Senate. The state Republican Party platform defines marriage as "the legal union between one man and one woman" and opposes "all other forms of civil unions, regardless of where such unions were formed."

So what's so hard about getting it done?

"It is certainly disappointing to me," Sen. Fenton Groen, a Rochester Republican who has been vocal in his support of the repeal, said last week. "I think that, in the House particularly, we have a significant libertarian caucus within the Republican Party. . . . And there are some Republicans who differ on that within that caucus."

• Editorial: The Challenge to Marriage Equality [New York Times, February 28, 2012]

State legislators in New Hampshire, who are on the verge of writing government-sanctioned discrimination back into state law, might want to take a look at a powerful ruling on marriage equality by the federal appeals court in San Francisco.

The judges said the United States Constitution "simply does not allow for" laws that are intended only to "lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples." ...

This is just what the New Hampshire Legislature seems poised to do. The state extended the right to marry to all its citizens in 2009, but right-wingers vowed to overturn the law and now stand a good chance of doing so. ...

New Hampshire's bill would not affect the 1,900 same-sex couples who have married since 2009, but it would replace marriage with the separate-and-unequal system of "civil unions." There is no "legitimate reason" for this. The argument that same-sex marriages somehow harm marriages between men and women does not hold water. The marriage rate in New Hampshire has not suffered at all since 2009. If anything, it's gone up a tick because of new families formed by same-sex couples.

That leaves intolerance, fear and an attempt to impose religious beliefs through the law as motivations, and they have been evident in abundance. Representative David Bates, the Republican who filed the repeal bill, argues that homosexuality is a lifestyle choice, and he even included a sentence that says: "Children can only be conceived naturally through copulation by heterosexual couples." This is breathtakingly dangerous foolishness.

• New Hampshire Legislator: Roll Back Marriage Equality To Civil Unions, But Then Let Voters Decide [Think Progress, March 13, 2012]
• Gay marriage repeal seeks referendum [Concord Monitor, March 14, 2012]

The sponsor of a bill erasing gay marriage in New Hampshire announced yesterday he would allow voters to weigh in on the issue before the repeal takes effect, a move supporters of the current law described as desperate and shallow.

• New Hampshire Marriage Equality Repeal Bill Fails [PHB, March 21, 2012]
• Support For Marriage Equality Up 13 Percent In New Hampshire [Think Progress, April 24, 2012]

The Rockefeller Center's fifth annual New Hampshire State of the State Poll, released last week, finds that support for marriage equality has increased 13 percent from a year ago, with 55 percent of respondents endorsing the 2009 law....

NYT Lauds Chris Christie's 'Considerable Political Skills' In Calling For Marriage
Equality To Be Put To A Vote [Think Progress, January 26, 2012]

The New York Times' Kate Zernike lauds New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) for asking voters to decide if gay and lesbian people should be allowed to marry and praises the GOP's "rising" star for his "considerable political skills" in out-maneuvering Democrats on the issue. Zernike characterizes Christie's push for a vote on gay people's civil rights as a win-win "to a public suspicious of government" and the national Republican party, without ever mentioning the consequences of the decision for gay and lesbian families who are seeking legal recognition and protection from the state or the injustice of calling on the majority to vote on the rights of a minority.

[Continued here]

• Maryland State Bar Comes Out For Same-Sex Marriage [Think Progress, January 26, 2012]
• Catholic Conference chides same-sex marriage supporters [Washington Post, January 24, 2012]
• Newark Mayor Cory Booker blasts proposed N.J. gay marriage referendum [New Jersey Online, January 24, 2012]

"I shudder to think what would have happened if the civil rights gains, heroically established by courageous lawmakers in the 1960s, were instead conveniently left up to popular votes in our 50 states," Booker said in a statement. ...

"Equal protection under the law - for race, religion, gender or sexual orientation - should not be subject to the most popular sentiments of the day," Booker said. "Marriage equality is not a choice. It is a legal right. I hope our leaders in Trenton will affirm and defend it."

• New Jersey governor under fire for civil rights remarks: Chris Christie says people would have been happy to vote on civil rights [Gay Star News, January 26, 2012]

Now black leaders and others in the state are also at odds with Christie for saying this week that voters would have preferred to have a vote on civil rights decades ago. ...

'People were fighting and dying in the streets of the South for a reason,' she said to the Newark Star-Ledger:. 'They were fighting and dying in the streets of the South because the majority refused to grant minorities equal rights by any method. It took legislative action to bring justice to all Americans, just as legislative action is the right way to bring marriage equality to all New Jerseyans.'

• Editorial: Another Victory for Marriage Equality [New York Times, February 9, 2012]

In the meantime, the advances for the freedom to marry in both Washington and California provide supporters of marriage equality critical momentum to build upon as the New Jersey State Legislature prepares to vote on the issue next week.

A strong vote in favor of same-sex marriage in the state's House and Senate would be a legislative achievement, and it would help set the stage to overriding a veto, as promised by Gov. Chris Christie. In light of the week's good news from California and Washington, Mr. Christie's vow to block the bill in New Jersey seems not only disgraceful, but against the tide of history.

• New Jersey Senate OKs gay marriage bill [ABC, February 13, 2012]

New Jersey lawmakers gave their blessing to legalizing gay marriage for the first time Monday as the state Senate passed a bill that would allow nuptials for same-sex couples, despite Gov. Chris Christie's insistence that he will veto such legislation.

The Senate's 24-16 vote sends the bill to the Assembly, which is expected to pass it on Thursday.

• Christie Vetoes N.J. Marriage Equality Bill [Edge Boston, February 17, 2012]

The veto came a day after the state Assembly passed the bill. The state Senate had passed it on Monday. Christie, a Republican who opposes same-sex marriage, had vowed "very swift action" once the bill reached his desk.

"It's unfortunate that the governor would let his own personal ideology infringe on the rights of thousands of New Jerseyans," said Reed Gusciora, one of two openly gay New Jersey lawmakers and a sponsor of the bill. "For all those who oppose marriage equality, their lives would have been completely unchanged by this bill, but for same-sex couples, their lives would have been radically transformed. Unfortunately, the governor couldn't see past his own personal ambitions to honor this truth."

• Rev. Susan Russell: Chris Christie Stands On the Lester Maddox Side of History [Huffington Post, February 17, 2012]

...For Californians this is déjà vu all over again as we recall that our elected representatives twice legislated marriage equality which was twice vetoed by then Governor Schwarzenegger. And as we continue on the journey toward equality here in California, we count not just the cost of the damage done to gay and lesbian families and those who love them, but the cost of years of litigation to defend what shouldn't need defending: the equal protection guaranteed all Americans.

Maryland first lady blames 'cowards' for defeat of same-sex marriage
[Washington Post, January 27, 2012]

Maryland First Lady Catherine Curran O'Malley said Thursday night that legislation to legalize same-sex marriage fell short last year because of "some cowards."

The first lady's assessment, in remarks at a national conference of gay-rights advocates in Baltimore, comes as her husband is championing a similar bill in this year's 90-day legislative session.

Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) unveiled legislation this week that seeks to make Maryland the seventh state in the nation, in addition to the District, where same-sex marriages are legal.

In welcoming remarks at the 24th National Conference on LGBT Equality, Katie O'Malley noted her husband's efforts and said of last year's bill: "We didn't expect things that happened to the House of Delegates to occur, but sadly they did, and there were some cowards that prevented it from passing."

[Continued here]

• Maryland lawmakers under national pressure on marriage bill: New York's mayor, cardinal-elect make phone calls [Baltimore Sun, February 17, 2012]

Prominent figures dialing Maryland area codes include New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman and Cardinal-elect Edwin F. O'Brien - who called from Rome - according to delegates who've received messages from them and sources familiar with the calls.

The push from both sides demonstrates the extent to which Gov. Martin O'Malley's bill to legalize same-sex marriage has thrust Maryland's legislature onto the national stage. Should the General Assembly pass the bill, Maryland would likely become the eighth state to legalize gay marriages.

• Maryland House passes same-sex marriage [Baltimore Sun, February 17, 2012]

The Civil Marriage Protection Act passed the House with support from a Prince George's County lawmaker who helped kill the bill last year by walking out of a voting session.

The House passage puts Maryland on the verge of being the eighth state to allow gay nuptials. The legislation still must be taken up in the Senate, which last year passed a similar bill and is expected do so again. The chamber will likely debate it next week.

Same-Sex Marriage Question To Appear On Maine Ballot
[Think Progress, January 26, 2012]

Marriage equality activists in Maine have announced that they will proceed with a ballot initiative to strike down the 2009 referendum that overturned same-sex marriage in the state. The coalition, led by EqualityMaine and Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, has gathered more than 105,000 signatures from Mainers who want to bring marriage to the ballot in 2012, far more than the roughly 57,000 signatures needed to qualify for the ballot. The signatures will be submitted to the Secretary of State on January 26, 2012. ...

"Marriage is going to be decided at the ballot box," Betsy Smith, Executive Director of Equality Maine, said on a call with bloggers. "We feel very comfortable about winning, it's the reason we made a decision to go."...

[Continued here]

• Maine Gay Marriage Law Repealed [ABC News, November 4, 2009]

The tide of extending marriage rights to same-sex couples -- which has swept across New England in recent months -- has stopped at Maine.

Voters rejected a state law Tuesday that would have allowed same-sex couples to wed. The repeal comes just six months after the measure was passed by the Maine legislature and signed by the Democratic Gov. John Baldacci.

Maine would have been the sixth state in the country to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry, but instead becomes the 31st state to oppose the unions in a popular vote.

• Gay Rights Rebuke May Change Approach [New York Times, November 4, 2009]

At a time when gay rights activists believe that President Obama is not treating their agenda as a high priority, the Maine loss has left them asking who their friends are. At stake, they say, is not only same-sex marriage, but the military's ban on openly gay service members and the federal law prohibiting the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage.

State legislatures had been viewed as new allies in the fight for same-sex marriage after lawmakers in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire approved such bills this year. But now, with Maine voters dealing a rebuke to their Legislature, it is far from clear whether elected officials - including the president - will risk political capital on gay rights.

• Maine Gay Marriage Legalized [Huffington Post, June 6, 2009]

Maine Governor John Baldacci signed Wednesday into law a bill legalizing gay marriage in the state. The move makes Maine the fifth state to allow gay marriage.

The press release:

        Governor John E. Baldacci today signed into law LD 1020, An Act to End Discrimination in Civil Marriage and Affirm Religious Freedom.

        "I have followed closely the debate on this issue. I have listened to both sides, as they have presented their arguments during the public hearing and on the floor of the Maine Senate and the House of Representatives. I have read many of the notes and letters sent to my office, and I have weighed my decision carefully," Governor Baldacci said. "I did not come to this decision lightly or in haste."

        "I appreciate the tone brought to this debate by both sides of the issue," Governor Baldacci said. "This is an emotional issue that touches deeply many of our most important ideals and traditions. There are good, earnest and honest people on both sides of the question."

• Marriage Makes the Ballot for November 2012: Secretary of State Verifies 85,216 Signatures, Sending Initiative to Voters [Why Marriage Matters Maine, February 23, 2012]

Puerto Rico's Hate Crime Law May Soon Exclude LGBT Protections: Report
[Huffington Post, December 6, 2011]

In a controversial move, Puerto Rico may eliminate lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) protections from the hate crimes statutes this week, according to reports.

Although LGBT citizens have been protected under the island's hate crimes legislation since 2002, the Puerto Rico Senate approved a provision that would eliminate sexual orientation, gender identity and expression from the penal code last month. Also potentially at risk via the provision are ethnicity and religious beliefs, although political affiliation, age and disability would remain if legislators choose to approve the revised code.

The House is expected to vote on the revised penal code later this week during a special legislative session called by the island's Republican Governor Luis Fortuno, reports Boy In Bushwick.

The potential revisions have since been slammed by a number of lawmakers. "To say this is appalling is an understatement," Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-Ill.) said in a statement, according to the Washington Blade. "Excluding more people from protections under the law is exactly the wrong thing to do, especially right now. This year, violence has been on the upswing in Puerto Rico, particularly crimes - including scores of murders - against women, against members of the LGBT community and against immigrants, especially those from the Dominican Republic. The ruling party is aggressively rebuking these victims."

[Continued here]

• Puerto Rico Lawmakers Seek to Exclude LGBTs from Hate Crimes Law [Edge Boston, December 5, 2011]

"To eliminate these groups as protected categories is to invite the commission of hate crimes in Puerto Rico," said Ferrer, as Vocero reported on Dec. 4 "It is a setback in the country's public policy." ...

Nearly two dozen LGBT Puerto Ricans have been murdered on the island since late 2009 in what Serrano and other activists have repeatedly described as an epidemic of anti-LGBT violence. These include gay teenager Jorge Steven López Mercado, who was stabbed to death before his decapitated, dismembered and partially burned body was dumped alongside a remote roadside near Cayey in Nov. 2009. Three LGBT Puerto Ricans-Alejandro Torres Torres, Karlota Gómez Sánchez and Ramón "Moncho" Salgado-were found dead within a 72-hour period in June.

The Justice Department cited in inadequate response to hate crimes as among the Puerto Rico Police Department's numerous deficiencies in a damning report it released in September. The Puerto Rico Department of Justice's own reports indicate that prosecutors have yet to convict anyone of a bias-motive crime on the island.

• Michael K. Lavers: Will Puerto Rico Move Forward with Plans to Strip LGBT Residents of Their Hate Crimes Protections? [Huffington Post, December 13, 2011]

Nearly two dozen LGBT Puerto Ricans have been murdered since Jorge Steven López Mercado's decapitated, dismembered, and partially burned body was found dumped along a remote roadside in November 2009. Ashley Santiago, Alejandro Torres Torres, and Karlota Gómez Sánchez are also among those whose names have been added to this grim list since the gay teenager's gruesome death sent shockwaves around the world. It would appear obvious that Puerto Rican authorities have a responsibility to protect the island's LGBT residents who continue to live in fear. The reality on the ground, however, is far different.

Instead of strengthening existing laws designed to protect LGBT Puerto Ricans and other vulnerable populations, the Puerto Rico Senate last month passed a proposed provision to the island's penal code that would eliminate sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, religion, and ethnicity from the hate crimes law. Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz backs the measure, while Pastor Milton Picón, president of Morality in Media de Puerto Rico, suggested to a local newspaper on Dec. 8 that LGBT-inclusive hate crimes laws normalize homosexuality.

Spain gay rights and abortion activists fear backlash [BBC, November 26, 2011]

Gay-rights groups are concerned about the fate of the same-sex marriage law. Feminists worry a new conservative government will reverse the new abortion law.

Both were Socialist Party initiatives, and the PP lodged immediate appeals against both in the Constitutional Court.

So the mayor of one small town in Andalusia says there has been a surge of interest in his "express-marriage" service for same-sex couples anxious to tie the knot as soon as possible.

"They're afraid of what the PP will do," Jose Antonio Rodriguez told the BBC from Jun.

"Before the election debate on TV, about 60 couples had contacted me. Now I reply to about 100 enquires a day."

In that TV debate, the Socialist Party candidate called on his opponent to remove "the sword of Damocles hanging over couples' heads" by withdrawing the Pop's appeal against the gay marriage law.

Mariano Rajoy responded that it is "just a question of name" - he prefers the term "civil union" - and concluded that he would "wait for the decision of the court".

But for those affected, the name is everything.

[Continued here]

• Abortion a bigger problem than joblessness, says Catholic Church [EL PAÍS, January 10, 2012]

Cardinal Archbishop Antonio Rouco Varela used an open-air gathering in Madrid's Plaza Colón on Friday to attack the policies of the previous Socialist Party government, calling for a repeal of legislation that provides for abortion on demand, as well as same-sex marriage. ...

The Spanish Catholic Church is also concerned about homosexuality. During his Boxing Day sermon, the Bishop of Córdoba, Demetrio Fernández, said there was a conspiracy by the United Nations. "The Minister for Family of the Papal Government, Cardinal Antonelli, told me a few days ago in Zaragoza that UNESCO has a program for the next 20 years to make half the world population homosexual. To do this they have distinct programs, and will continue to implant the ideology that is already present in our schools."

• Spain's new conservative leaders make rapid push to overturn liberal laws [Christian Science Monitor, February 2, 2012]

The previous Socialist government passed a substantial amount of liberal legislation in the last eight years, including limiting the role of the Catholic Church in the state, legalizing gay marriage, relaxing abortion restrictions, and reforming the educational curriculum. While the Catholic Church and the ruling Popular Party accused Socialists of imposing an ideologically-motivated agenda too quickly, Socialists said they were only harmonizing Spanish laws with European standards - with the support of the majority of Spanish citizens. Dozens of polls over the past three years have consistently showed an even split on social issues.

Kerry Eleveld: Right-Wing Group Fuels Homophobia At The UN [Equality Matters, May 24, 2011]

The leader of a right-wing organization, who made a name for herself by pushing abstinence-only based programs in Africa and has ties to the virulently antigay Ugandan pastor Martin Ssempa [and Rick Warren], is stepping up efforts to promote homophobic messages among delegates at the United Nations.

The Arizona-based Family Watch International (FWI) hosted "26 UN delegates from 23 different countries" at a policy forum in January that provided "expert presentations" and policy briefings about "how to better protect and promote the family and family values at the UN," according to an FWI newsletter written by the organization's president, Sharon Slater.

"The list of governments represented read like a geography lesson, as diplomats from countries around the globe-including from Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the Caribbean Islands-met in Gilbert in January," trumpeted an article that has since been removed from the website of the Arizona Beehive, a publication that serves Arizona's Mormon population.

Slater's newsletter characterizes the presentations at the meeting as providing information on "how the UN system is being manipulated by sexual rights activists to promote the sexual agenda" and adds that "the institution of the family is being undermined by these efforts."

[Continued here]

• UN backs gay rights for first time ever [Los Angeles Times, June 18, 2011]

The United Nations endorsed the rights of gay, lesbian and transgender people for the first time ever Friday, passing a resolution hailed as historic by the U.S. and other backers and decried by some African and Muslim countries.

The declaration was cautiously worded, expressing "grave concern" about abuses because of sexual orientation and commissioning a global report on discrimination against gays.

But activists called it an important shift on an issue that has divided the global body for decades, and they credited the Obama administration's push for gay rights at home and abroad.

"This represents a historic moment to highlight the human rights abuses and violations that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people face around the world based solely on who they are and whom they love," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in a statement.

Following tense negotiations, members of the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council narrowly voted in favor of the declaration put forward by South Africa, with 23 votes in favor and 19 against.

Backers included the U.S., the European Union, Brazil and other Latin American countries. Those against included Russia, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Pakistan. China, Burkina Faso and Zambia abstained, Kyrgyzstan didn't vote and Libya was suspended from the rights body earlier. ...

"Today's resolution breaks the silence that has been maintained for far too long," said [Canada's] John Fisher of the gay rights advocacy group ARC International. ...

Asked what good the U.N. resolution would do for gays and lesbians in countries that opposed the resolution, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary Daniel Baer said it was a signal "that there are many people in the international community who stand with them and who support them, and that change will come."

"It's a historic method of tyranny to make you feel that you are alone," he said. "One of the things that this resolution does for people everywhere, particularly LGBT people everywhere, is remind them that they are not alone."

• UN council votes to recognise global gay grouping [Reuters, July 26, 2011]

The main global grouping of gays and lesbians, ILGA, has been formally recognised by the United Nations against strong opposition from African and Islamic countries, according to a U.N. report issued on Tuesday.

Human rights activists said the move, by the world body's Economic and Social Council or ECOSOC, marks a major breakthrough for sexual minorities at the U.N. at a time when they are under increasing pressure in some developing countries.

In a vote overturning the stand of a New York-based U.N. committee, ECOSOC approved the granting of consultative status to ILGA -- which has been seeking admission as a recognised non- governmental organisation (NGO) for over a decade.

Consultative status means ILGA -- the International Gay and Lesbian Association which says it has 670 member groups in over 110 countries -- can attend U.N. meetings, speak, and provide information to U.N. bodies on treatment of gays.

It will also be able to take part in meetings of the Geneva- based Human Rights Council, where anti-gay sentiment is strong but which last month narrowly passed the first-ever U.N. resolution on violence against homosexuals.

The overwhelming Monday vote, at a summer session of the 54 -member ECOSOC, was hailed by the United States and Belgium as rejecting what they called prejudice and discrimination against gays shown by the smaller NGO committee in New York.

• Warren Throckmorton: American Anti-Gay Campaign in Africa Opposes "Fictitious Sexual Rights" [Religion Dispatches, August 21, 2011]

Sharon Slater, American anti-gay activist and president of Family Watch International, recently encouraged delegates attending a law conference in Lagos, Nigeria to resist the United Nations' calls to decriminalize homosexuality. Keynoting the Nigerian Bar Association Conference, Slater told delegates that they would lose their religious and parental rights if they supported "fictitious sexual rights." One such "fictitious right" is the right to engage in same-sex sexual relationships without going to jail.

John A. Harnick: "It's all about deceiving and ripping off gullible parents. The
children are merely pawns in this demented game of chess."



Therapy to change 'feminine' boy created a troubled man, family says [CNN, June 7, 2011]

Kirk Andrew Murphy seemed to have everything to live for.

He put himself through school. He had a successful 12-year career in the Air Force. After the service, he landed a high profile position with an American finance company in India.

But in 2003 at age 38, Kirk Murphy took his own life.

A co-worker found him hanging from the fan of his apartment in New Delhi. His family has struggled for years to understand what happened.

After Kirk's death, Maris started a search that would uncover a dark family secret. That secret revealed itself during a phone conversation with her older brother Mark, who mentioned his distrust of any kind of therapy.

"Don't you remember all that crap we went through at UCLA?" he asked her. Maris was too young to remember the details, but Mark remembered it vividly as a low point in their lives.

[Continued here]

• Reporters find tragic story amid embarrassing scandal [CNN, June 8, 2011]
• 'Sissy Boy Experiment' triggers 'disturbing' memory for iReporter [CNN, June 8, 2011]
• Jim Burroway: What Are Little Boys Made Of? [Box Turtle Bulletin, June 7, 2011]
• Jim Burroway: What You Didn't See On CNN's "The Sissy Boy Experiment" [Box Turtle Bulletin, June 8, 2011]
• Jim Burroway: No that is NOT Kirk in a dress [Box Turtle Bulletin, June 8, 2011]
• Jim Burroway: The Truth Behind George Rekers's "Independent Evaluations" [Box Turtle Bulletin, June 9, 2011]
• Timothy Kincaid: Kathleen Gilbert, writer for anti-gay Catholic LifeSite, twists Kirk Murphy story [Box Turtle Bulletin, June 9, 2011]

Kathleen Gilbert, writing for LifeSite, an anti-gay advocacy "news" site, has her own spin on the life of Kirk Murphy. Gilbert, already a Certified Cameronite for her distortion and dishonesty, borrows freely from Box Turtle Bulletin to reassemble various snippets into a tale that would not be recognized by anyone in the Murphy family, or anyone who is familiar with what happened at UCLA in 1970. ...

Like George Rekers, Kathleen Gilbert isn't interested in the truth. She despises the truth, prefering lies that advance her church's doctrine, especially that which demeans gay people and enforces civil inequalities. And, sadly, she is more than willing to abuse a family already the victim of those who share her view of the world. ...

Those who read here will know that there are a few words we use very sparingly. But it is hard for me to think of Kathleen Gilbert and her deliberate abuse of this story in terms other than "evil".

• Did 'Cure' for 'Feminine Boy' Lead to Suicide of 38-Year-Old Man? [Edge Boston, June 7, 2011]
• Family blame UCLA 'sissy boy' therapy by anti-gay professor for death of their effeminate son [Daily Mail, June 7, 2011]
• Boys Will Be Boys? Not in These Families [New York Times, June 10, 2011]
• Jim Burroway: A George Rekers Case History: Where Is "Carl"? [Box Turtle Bulletin, June 19, 2011]

In one of the epilogues to our original investigation of Kirk Murphy's treatment by George Rekers, I explored the weakest link in the mental health profession, the point where doctors are entrusted to accurately and truthfully present their case histories in the published literature. The discrepancies between Rekers's descriptions of "Kraig" and what Kirk was really like as his family remembered him turned out to be pretty wide. Those discrepancies were continuing theme in the conversations that I had with Kirk's mother, brother and sister. ...

"Carl's" case was presented in a paper by Rekers, his mentor Dr. O. Ivar Lovaas, and fellow UCLA researcher Benson Low, titled "The Behavioral Treatment of a 'Transsexual' Preadolescent Boy," published in the June 1974 issue of the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology. Carl was the title's "transsexual" - the authors put the term in quotes in recognition of the fact that they had no idea whether "Carl" would actually grow up to the transgender, gay or straight. But that wouldn't stop them from treating him.

Christian right leader George Rekers takes vacation with "rent boy" [Miami New Times,
May 6, 2010]

The pictures on the Rentboy.com profile show a shirtless young man with delicate features, guileless eyes, and sun-kissed, hairless skin. The profile touts his "smooth, sweet, tight ass" and "perfectly built 8 inch cock (uncut)" and explains he is "sensual," "wild," and "up for anything" - as long you ask first. And as long as you pay.

On April 13, the "rent boy" (whom we'll call Lucien) arrived at Miami International Airport on Iberian Airlines Flight 6123, after a ten-day, fully subsidized trip to Europe. He was soon followed out of customs by an old man with an atavistic mustache and a desperate blond comb-over, pushing an overburdened baggage cart.

That man was George Alan Rekers, of North Miami - the callboy's client and, as it happens, one of America's most prominent anti-gay activists. Rekers, a Baptist minister who is a leading scholar for the Christian right, left the terminal with his gay escort, looking a bit discomfited when a picture of the two was snapped with a hot-pink digital camera.

[Continued here]

• Frank Rich: A Heaven-Sent Rent Boy [New York Times, May 15, 2010]

OF all wars, only culture wars offer the hope of sheer, unadulterated hilarity. Sex and hypocrisy were staples of farce long before America became a nation, and they never go out of style. Just listen to the roaring audience at the new hit Broadway revival of the perennial "La Cage aux Folles," where a family-values politician gets his comeuppance in drag. Or check out the real-life closet case of George Rekers, who has been fodder for late-night television comics all month.

Rekers is in a class by himself even in the era of Larry Craig and Ted Haggard. A Baptist minister and clinical psychologist with a bent for "curing" homosexuality, the married, 61-year-old Rekers was caught by Miami New Times last month in the company of a 20-year-old male escort at Miami International Airport. The couple was returning from a 10-day trip to London and Madrid. New Times, which published its exposé in early May, got an explanation from Rekers: "I had surgery, and I can't lift luggage. That's why I hired him."

• Scandal Stirs Legal Questions in Anti-Gay Cases [New York Times, May 18, 2010]

For years, George A. Rekers has held himself out as an expert witness in court on homosexuality, arguing in cases concerning same-sex marriage and gay adoption that gay men and lesbians lead parlous lives and raise troubled children.

Now Dr. Rekers himself is under fire, raising new legal questions about his courtroom role. ...

News coverage has focused largely on his seeming hypocrisy, given that Dr. Rekers, a clinical psychologist and ordained Baptist minister, has written that "leaders of the homosexual revolt" use "manipulative techniques of classic revolutionary strategies" to keep homosexuals from trying to change their orientation.

But legal experts say the scandal may affect more than Dr. Rekers's reputation. They say it places obligations on those who have relied on Dr. Rekers to inform the court in at least one continuing case to modify or withdraw their arguments.

"Each lawyer must tell the court if he comes to know that one of his witnesses has given 'false' testimony," said Stephen Gillers, an expert in legal ethics at New York University. That could come into play if the expert is discredited, he added.

• Florida Editorials Gang Up on Attorney General's Support of 'Rentboy Rekers' [Edge Boston, May 15, 2010]

Three years ago, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum recommended the hiring of George Rekers as an expert witness in a court case that challenged Florida's ban on gay adoption. Now McCollum--who has become a gubernatorial candidate--faces blowback in the wake of Rekers' "rent boy" scandal, stemming from Rekers having hired a male escort from RentBoy.com as a travel companion on a European trip.

Among calls for a refund of the $120,000 in taxpayer money that went to Rekers for his "expert testimony" in 2007 and 2008, newspaper editorials are openly questioning McCollum's judgment for the hiring of Rekers--and accusing the candidate of knowing full well that Rekers' testimony relied on debunked and discredited junk science. Moreover, Rekers' testimony contained more than a grain of pure bias--and not just against gays; Rekers' testimony included a statement that Native Americans would not make suitable adoptive parents, either.

• Records show attorney general hired George Rekers despite warnings [Miami Herald, June 5, 2010]

Disgraced psychologist George Rekers was labeled a ``right-wing, religious-based'' expert witness and rejected for months by state attorneys defending Florida's gay adoption ban.

But when they couldn't find anyone else to replace him on the witness stand, Attorney General Bill McCollum overruled his trial attorneys, quickly hired Rekers, and paid him twice his agreed upon contract with no questions asked, according to documents released this week by McCollum's office.

• George Rekers Background Info [Truth Wins Out, May 4, 2010]

George Alan Rekers has a distinguished history in the LGBT community. A colorful record as lively and prudent as felon Scott Lively himself.

While it is colorful, it is anything from bright and cheery. Rekers, a very outspoken and proud Baptist minister, who is a discredited psychologist, has published many papers and two books on what he feels homosexuality and gender identity is and what it isn't. I quote again "what he feels" because his data is anything but science.

• Howard v. Arkansas - George Rekers Fact Sheet [ACLU]
• Reporters find tragic story amid embarrassing scandal [CNN, June 8, 2011]

Dangerous 'Ex-Gay' Organization NARTH Accredited by California Board of
Behavioral Sciences for License Renewals [Towleroad, July 12, 2011]

The California Board of Behavioral Sciences lists "ex-gay" organization National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) (you may recall that dangerous "ex-gay" quack Dr. George Alan Rekers sat on its board) as an accredited organization from which Licensed Educational Psychologists, Marriage and Family Therapists, and Licensed Clinical Social Workers can receive credits toward license renewal.

[Continued here]

• Lesbian School Psychologist Discovers NARTH OKed to Give Continuing Education Credits [LGBT|POV, July 12, 2011]
• Ex-gay group 'delinquent' with Calif[ornia] Board of Behavioral Sciences [365Gay, July 13, 2011]

After news broke that an ex-gay group had been working with the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, and 365gay called in inquired, California's Department of Consumer Affairs investigated.

The National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (www.narth.com) was, until November of last year, a continuing education option for social workers and therapists in California, a spokesperson from the Department of Consumer Affairs confirmed.

Their account has since gone delinquent, for unspecified reasons.

The application, originally filed in 1998, shows up as valid on the Board of Behavioral Sciences website, but when searched for on the Consumer Affairs website, it is shown as delinquent.

• Calif[ornia] unsure how ex-gay group got approved [365Gay, July 13, 2011]

Heimerich cited a similar incident with the California Board of Registered Nurses in 2009.

"A bogus organization got accredited as a continuing education provider with some bogus courses," Heimerich said. "Even though we were able to revoke them because they had lied on their application, it's difficult for us to know unless we could do course evaluations, which we can't typically do."

Heimerich noted that the program, in any case, may soon change. Continuing Education might be replaced in California with Continuing Competency, Heimerich said.

"We're going to make sure you make minimal levels of competency, and if you don't you'll be required to take specific courses to improve your competency in specific areas," Heimerich said. "It might be fun to have a nurse learn about therapeutic touch, but actually testing her for competency on cultural awareness or rural disease prevention, that might actually be more valuable."

• NARTH No Longer Providing Continuing Education to California Therapists [San Francisco Chronicle, July 26, 2011]

NARTH, which claims that homosexuals can be "converted" to heterosexuality through various forms of therapy, had been an approved continuing education provider since 1998. But as of mid-July, the group has been taken off the California Board for Behavioral Science's list of such providers.

• TWO Special Report: The Exodus Smokescreen [Truth Wins Out, February 6, 2012]

Now that Chambers has admitted that his program is essentially worthless, will he bravely impart this message to the conservative parents who will attend this upcoming conference and desperately want Exodus to provide a "cure" for their child's homosexuality? Will he risk letting the unvarnished truth upset his political right wing base that pays his salary? Will Chambers purge his program of virulently anti-gay books that portray homosexuality as the work of Satan?

Damning evidence uncovered by Truth Wins Out incontrovertibly proves that Exodus has not altered its message and may be involved in a strategic campaign of subterfuge to trick news reporters and gullible LGBT activists into believing it has moderated its message.

• Exodus Slide Continues With Poorly-Attended Love Won Out Conference in Atlanta [Truth Wins Out, February 20, 2012]

It is time that the LGBT community stops placing even a shard of hope in Exodus President Alan Chambers. He appears to be incapable of telling the truth and lies for sport. He often tries to distance himself from such lies by claiming he is sometimes unaware when local Exodus member ministries use the language of "change." However, Chambers can't wiggle his way out of the fact that his picture is on the back of the nine-part "Hope for Wholeness" DVD set and he is described as one of its "teachers."

• NARTH Becomes Main Source for Anti-Gay 'Junk Science' [SPLC Intelligence Report, Spring 2012]

Billing itself as the counterweight to the two most prominent mental health authorities - the American Psychiatric Association and the American Psychological Association - NARTH pushes the idea, with the zeal of a religious movement, that no one is born gay and that a person's sexual orientation can be changed through what is known as "reparative" or "conversion" therapy, also commonly called "ex-gay" therapy. At the heart of this argument is the belief that homosexuality is an unnatural deviation from normal sexual development, a form of mental disorder.

With these views, NARTH has emerged as the preeminent source of what many regard as "junk science" for the religious right - psychology that underpins the anti-gay movement's fervent opposition to equal rights and stigmatizes LGBT people as mentally sick.

Without the research NARTH provides, there are few avenues remaining for the religious right to condemn homosexuality, at a time when the American public is growing more accepting of LGBT people and more open to extending equal rights to same-sex couples. "There's no other play in the playbook except going back to the fire and brimstone," argues Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out, one of several watchdog groups monitoring the reparative therapy industry.

• Exodus Cancels Next 'Love Won Out' Conference Due to Lack of Interest [Ex-Gay Watch, May 4, 2012]

Fred Karger: Shame on Al Cardenas and the ACU for snubbing GOProud
[The Guardian, August 3, 2011]

[Note: Fred Karger has put himself forward as a possible Republican candidate for PTOS.]

Alberto "Al" Cardenas, the new head of the American Conservative Union (ACU), has taken bigotry and hypocrisy to new heights. I believe I was a victim of his organisation's prejudice earlier this year when I wanted to purchase a booth at their annual CPAC gathering in Washington, DC. My credit card information was taken last December, and I was told that I was in. Then, mysteriously, three weeks later, I was told by phone that they had "sold out". Funny, others were purchasing booths right up until the conference began in mid February.

As the first openly gay candidate to run for president of either party, I have hit some bumps in the road, but I have to say that my treatment by the American Conservative Union was the most hurtful and hateful to date.

Now they have taken it up a notch: they have just announced that the gay conservative Republican group GOProud is not allowed a booth at next winter's CPAC conference (pdf). Cardenas is not saying to GOProud that CPAC has "sold out"; he is saying, simply, STAY OUT!

Can you imagine if a Hispanic organisation (Cardenas is of Cuban descent), or African American group, or Jewish group was refused a booth at CPAC? Would any candidate for president dare show up? Of course not.

Well, CPAC is having another conference next month in Florida, on 23 September. Nearly all of my fellow presidential candidates are listed as speaking there: Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Gary Johnson, Thaddeus McCotter and, of course, Rick Santorum. I was not invited.

I will be writing each candidate and urging him and her not to attend unless CPAC allows GOProud a seat at the table.

How can anyone running for president attend, let alone speak at CPAC's September Florida event or the February conference next year? It is tantamount to endorsing discrimination against an entire class of Americans.

There is no place in any corner of this country for such blatant prejudice and discrimination as Al Cardenas and the American Conservative Union are exhibiting right now.

[Continued here]

• David Mixner: GOProud Casts A Dark Shadow [Live from Hell's Kitchen, August 3, 2011]

My feelings on this group have ranged from anger to compassion. For them to basically disown the essence of their very being by participating and supporting groups and individuals whose purpose is to damage them and their community is bafflingly and dark. The brilliant organizer Torie Osborn talks about "oppression sickness" in the LGBT community. Basically, it is when a person has become so scarred and battered by the discrimination they have experienced all their lives that they act out in wild ways often against their very own welfare.

• Torie Osborn: The Optimistic Activist [Oasis magazine, December 1, 1996]

As is the case with any journey, where you've been is just as important as where you're going. Whether your specific journey is life, a well-earned vacation or gay liberation, you need to be able to look at a map and be able to point at where you are at present to better understand the future direction.

Most books looking at the gay community within the current political landscape further define the obvious: the religious right hates us, the government betrays us and we face adversity due to ignorance and fear. What many such books lack is the history, focus and vision to put all of the factors in context to show us where we fit in the grand scheme of things.

In her new book "Coming Home to America: A Roadmap to Gay & Lesbian Empowerment," Torie Osborn offers her take on the movement's future, but never forgetting the foundation on which our current community was built.

Long considered our community's cheerleader, Osborn is the former executive director of both the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. A political activist for over 30 years, she brings with this book a refreshing and startling optimism to the current culture war.

• Wingnut Slapfight Between GOProud and CPAC Continues Apace [Truth Wins Out, August 5, 2011]

So you heard that the gay wingnut group GOProud, which really doesn't do jack in terms of advocating for things which will help the LGBT community, has been disinvited from the next CPAC. Last year's slapfight involved hate groups like the American Family Association throwing temper tantrums, gathering up their pitchforks and going home, due to the presence of the gays.

Now pretend journalist Andrew Breitbart, who is on the GOProud board, has melodramatically decided to take his hidden cameras and video doctoring equipment and stay home from the next CPAC. So has another wingnut called Roger Simon.

• GOProud Names Ann Coulter 'Gay Icon.' What the Hell? [Bilerico Project, August 9, 2011]

From the department of embarrassing hypocrisy comes a new announcement from GOProud, the beleaguered "gay Republican" organization that's desperately struggling to remain relevant. In a press release today, they named Ann Coulter, the author and TV pundit who just wants the gays to shut up already about equality, as their officially-titled "Honorary Chair and Gay Icon" of GOProud's Advisory Council. ...

The idea of Ann Coulter representing the gay community in any capacity really is simply offensive. The woman is anti-marriage equality, anti-employment non-discrimination policies, anti-DADT repeal, anti-LGBT-inclusive hate crimes legislation, and a believer in "ex-gay" reparative therapy. And yet despite all this, I'm still not sure if GOProud truly believes that Coulter is on their side or if they're knowingly making the announcement as a cry for publicity and attention. With their track record, I'd believe either scenario.

• If you hate your community, you'll love Ann Coulter [Box Turtle Bulletin, August 19, 2011]

Once the community shrugs and feels more pity than anger towards GOProud, they will no longer be interesting to Coulter. Their far-right friends have no use for a homosexual who is just ignored by the 'homosexual activist elite', and Fox News isn't going to have them on when the novelty wares off.

But, hey, at least unlike every other gay person of any political persuasion that doesn't harbor internal shame over being gay, they can hold up their head and say that they are not the Gay Left. And that's something.

• PayPal Co-Founder Peter Thiel to Host GOProud's 'Homocon' Event [LGBT|POV, August 27, 2010]

The Daily Caller reports that PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, who is gay, will co-host GOProud's "Homocon" event with controversial author Ann Coulter at Thiel's home in New York City on Sept. 25. "We are thrilled to have Peter's support for our organization and excited that he will host this great event," GOProud executive director Jimmy LaSalvia told the conservative site.

• Michael Zimmerman, Ph.D.: Ann Coulter's Big Idea: Let's Return to the Good Old Days [Huffington Post, September 5, 2011]

In Ann Coulter's universe, our understanding of the world does not grow and change. Instead, she, like Rick Perry, forms an opinion and sticks to it regardless of what the experts might learn. And, like Perry, she panders to the fundamentalist set by calling those who understand and accept evolution "godphobics."

Through my work with the religious leaders and scientists who comprise The Clergy Letter Project, it has become absolutely clear to me that religion and science are not in competition with each other and that thousands of deeply devout clergy are not "godphobic" and are fully supportive of teaching modern evolutionary theory. It also has become clear to me that these individuals are interested in having a richer, more civil and more enlightening conversation about the topic than is evidenced by Coulter's name-calling.

• GOProud Leader 'Likes' Obama Assassination Idea [Bilerico Project, November 27, 2011]

GOProud's leadership has been whining all over the media about the poor persecuted gay conservatives. They have started sounding like the religious right hucksters who continuously carp about being "under attack" while they actively lie, spew hateful insinuations, and take cheap shots at their organizations' perceived enemies.

Over on Executive Director Jimmy LaSalvia's Facebook page, he posted about being in the DC bookstore President Obama visited on Saturday. One of LaSalvia's cronies, Drew Sweatte, responds "Too bad you didn't have your .38 special on you!" and gets chastised lightly by the conservative leader.

• Asher Huey: An Open Letter to Gay Republicans [Huffington Post, January 10, 2012]

Dear gay Republicans, ...

Let's put economic and other issues aside for a moment; we can have a spirited debate about the backward GOP approach to taxes, the environment, and foreign policy another time. I don't understand how you can look beyond the fact that a major portion of your party's fundamental beliefs are that you are not equal.

This isn't a minor issue within your party. The Republican Party platform calls for amending the United States Constitution to discriminate against you. Party officials actually want to use our country's foundational document, which grants and extends rights and freedoms to people, to limit yours. But that's only the tip of the iceberg. ...

Your party has, as one of its major leading presidential candidates, a person who doesn't think you should be able to serve openly in the military, who doesn't believe that you can create a loving family, who thinks that your committed relationships are destroying the moral fabric of America. Your party has thrown you in the deviant pile. Your party has labeled you a sexual predator. Your party is afraid of you and does not incorporate your voice or believe in your dignity.

This fact isn't a small debate within your party. It is not some misguided homophobes who are simply unaware of the LGBT community and all its accomplishments, struggles, and contributions, speaking out of turn and out of step with the platform. This is your party's platform. They don't like you, they don't want you, and they want to strip you of your rights and make you and your core personhood illegal, and Santorum exemplifies it. Even though he will almost certainly never be president, your party elevates him to the highest levels. I'm sorry that this has to be pointed out so bluntly. ...

Sincerely,

Asher Huey

(Click on image to enlarge Rip & Roll poster)

Billboard complaints now on film [Star Observer, June 3, 2011]

A handful of the complaints that prompted advertising company Adshel to remove a safe sex billboard from areas around Brisbane have been turned into a short film on Your Tube (below).

The film, written by Paul Ayre, uses actual comments under a story on the advertisement scandal that appeared in the Brisbane Times this week.

"On the 1st of June, a small group of people from the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) decided to focus a 'grass roots' campaign to remove an ad promoting safe sex from bus shelters in Queensland. AdShel, the campaign creator bowed to the pressure of 80 complaints, many copied and pasted from a template sent out by figureheads in the ACL," the prose under the video states.

"Under the guise of 'please think about the children', a series of homophobic rants were found in the complaints - some of which are included here verbatim (about 80-90%). 10% we added because we thought they were funny - the fun part is guessing what's real and what isn't.

"It's unfortunate these people use the banner of "Christianity" to promote hate. Most modern Christians have accepted the homophobic aspects of the bible as misguided relics from a society gone by - Like stoning, slavery and the whole 'world being flat' thing. Unfortunately, there are a minority in Australia that wield these like weapons and give Christians a bad name.

[Continued here]

• Christian Lobby Slams AdShel Safe Sex Promotion With Homophobia [YouTube, June 2, 2011]
• Rip & Roll poster tagged with "Kill 'em all" [Same Same, June 3, 2011]
• More 'Rip and Roll' good will [Star Observer, June 10, 2011]

Adshel rival JCDecaux is running the controversial Rip and Roll campaign at a heavily discounted rate.

The Queensland Association of Healthy Communities safe-sex poster campaign will run around Brisbane on JCDecaux's premium bus shelter panels for an extra two weeks at the reduced cost of a regular campaign.

"It's a very important issue, and we're happy to support it," CEO of JC Decaux Steve O'Connor said.

John A. Harnick: "Obviously homo-hatred has some Australians by the throat."



Rudd's sister on anti-gay crusade [Same Same, July 14, 2011]

Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's sister is so against gay people that she says she'll quit the party if Labor supports marriage equality.

Loree Rudd (pictured) tells The Australian that she believes the global push for gay marriage is just a propaganda ploy.

"I call them the global gay Gestapo," she foolishly explains. "It is the lobbying movement that is brainwashing people, particularly the young in the community that this (homosexuality) is an optional extra in life."

Ms Rudd, who once trained as a nun, has written to every MP in federal parliament, as well as newspapers and fellow Labor members in Queensland, voicing her opposition to the push.

Australia's marriage equality advocates have asked for an apology from Loree Rudd, sister for former Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, following her statement that marriage equality is being pushed by "a global gay gestapo."

[Continued here]

• Rudd's sister 'must apologise' [Sydney Star Observer, July 14, 2011]
• Rudd's sister offends gay marriage lobby [Sydney Morning Herald, July 14, 2011]

The gay marriage lobby group, Australian Marriage Equality (AME), had demanded an apology saying Ms Rudd's comments will incite hatred.

"Ms Rudd has set back her cause by comparing supporters of civil rights to an organisation that was responsible for mass murder, including the mass murder of homosexuals," AME convener Alex Greenwich said in a statement.

The comments have also offended Holocaust survivors, including Sydney man Frederick Weisinger, who wrote a submission supporting same-sex marriage to a 2009 Senate inquiry.

"I spent three years in a concentration camp as a child and I am horrified by this comparison between the Gestapo and ordinary citizens like me who just want to be treated equally," he said in the statement.

Jackie Striker-Phelps, the partner of former Australian Medical Association president Kerryn Striker-Phelps, said members of her family were murdered at the hands of the Gestapo.

"To compare the work of today's human rights advocates to the atrocities of those monsters is a shocking indictment on anyone making these claims," she said in the statement.

• Gay hate marches on Canberra [Sydney Star Observer, July 14, 2011]

A collection of gay hate groups will join forces to rally against marriage equality in Canberra next month.

An initiative of the Australian Family Association, the National Marriage Coalition, the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) and Dads4Kids: Fatherhood Foundation, the coalition is aiming for a repeat of its 2004 rally which coincided with the Howard Government's changes to the Marriage Act. ...

The rally falls the day before MPs will be asked to report to Parliament on the views of their electorates regarding same-sex marriage.

• ACL backs gay Nazi claim [Sydney Star Observer, July 15, 2011]

The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) has joined Loree Rudd, the sister of former PM Kevin Rudd, in accusing supporters of marriage equality of using Nazi tactics in campaigning for equal rights.

The ACL came to the defence of Rudd after she accused same-sex marriage advocates of being a "Gestapo" - the Nazis' secret police - in an interview with The Australian newspaper last week.

• Australian politician's gay brother: comments are "dangerous" and "inappropriate" [Pink News, August 23, 2011]

Bob Katter's anti-gay remarks have been provoking censure around the world, but today it comes from an unexpected source much closer to home: his brother.

Last week, he called gay marriage "a joke", a proposition "to be laughed at".

Now, Carl Katter, the politician's gay brother has come forward with strong criticism of his sibling, calling his viewpoint "dangerous".

In an interview with Australia's Network Ten, he said: "I don't understand his motives.

"I don't know how he can target a minority and persecute them in the way he has. His gross generalisations are inappropriate in today's society.

"Honestly, whenever I see him in the news I turn him off."

• New Australian Party drops candidate for gay marriage question [Pink News, August 22, 2011]

Australia's newest political party has dropped one of its candidates, a former police officer, for asking whether he could hold personal views on issues including marriage equality.

Jason Somerville was formerly a member of the Queensland Party, which recently merged with the newly-formed Australian Party, and had asked about marriage, abortion and surrogacy when he was told he was no longer wanted.

The Australian Party is the creation of Bob Katter, who last week called for marriage equality to be "laughed at and ridiculed".

• 'Homosexuality sickest sin' — school [Pink News, August 22, 2011]

A Western Australian Christian high school is being investigated by the WA Department of Education after it gave 14 and 15 year old students a homework assignment which asked them if homosexuality was "the sickest sin".

The assignment, given to students at Armadale Christian College, which describes itself as a "non-denominational [college] that offers a Christ-centred academic, arts and sporting curriculum," also described "coming out of the closet" as "open sinning" and pointed students to old testament Biblical quotations that describe homosexuality as an "abomination" to find the answer.

The school defended the assignment, by saying that it identified a spectrum of views on homosexuality - including that it was an illness, a life style choice, genetic, or otherwise inborn.

The Swan Christian Education Association (SCEA) that administers the school said it was not teaching these views as fact, but was "facilitating discussion on common views in society."

• Loree Rudd quits ALP over marriage [Sydney Star Observer, December 13, 2011]

In July, Rudd accused ALP members of being brainwashed after four state Labor conferences endorsed changes to the Marriage Act to allow same-sex marriage under federal law, and said there was a "global gay gestapo" that fed propaganda to lobby for marriage equality.

Rudd's comments were condemned by same-sex marriage campaigners, the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, the national Jewish Anti-Defamation Commission, and Holocaust survivor Frederick Weisinger.

She stood by religious-based discrimination this week, claiming Jesus was "misrepresented".

• Rudd's daughter backs gay marriage [Sydney Star Observer, January 9, 2012]

"I believe in marriage equality and I just don't understand why we're still having this debate," Jessica Rudd told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Australian Marriage Equality national convenor Alex Greenwich welcomed her comments.

"Ms Rudd is reflecting the views of not only a majority of Australians, but a clear majority of her generation," he said.

• Catholic priest wins 'gay panic defence' fight [Pink News, January 25, 2012]

Recommendations to amend the Criminal Code have been made after a petition by a Catholic priest garnered more than 25,000 signatures and international support.

So-called "gay panic" has been invoked by defendants in murder cases trying to downgrade their charge to manslaughter on the basis that the victim had made a gay proposition to them and they lost control of their actions.

Introducing the petition after a man was killed in the grounds of his church, Father Kelly says: "It is simply intolerable that anyone can rely on a defence or an excuse that an alleged homosexual advance could somehow mitigate against violence that leads to death."

• Dark times for Queensland [SameSame, May 20, 2012]

A dark shadow of oppression is now hanging over our communities, something that is beginning to be reminiscent of the darkest days under former Queensland Premier Sir Joh.

In just the last few weeks Campbell Newman and the LNP are moving closer in their quest to repeal civil unions. Certificates approving new Civil Celebrants are now being delayed with no explanation or a straight answer regarding the fates of over the 400 couples who have registered their civil union. Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie is expected to make an announcement on the fate of civil unions in coming days.

Jessica Payne from Equal Love recently said on a proposed event to protest the LNP: "This is an attack on us all! A government with basically no accountability removing a legal right, with only homophobia as a justification is really a shape of things to come. Who will be next? Will it be the LGBTI health services? Will it be our rights to protest?"

Unfortunately, some of Jessica's worst fears are coming true, as we wake this morning to the news that the Queensland Association for Healthy Communitie (QAHC) will be stripped of its funding by the new Queensland Government, with the Minister for Health Lawrence Springborg delivering the bad news in a blunt press release: "When it comes to health, unlike Labor, I refuse to throw good money after bad and I refuse to turn a blind eye to what are obviously ineffective campaigns at reducing HIV diagnosis rates.

Tennis legend slams gay marriage
[Sydney Star Observer, December 7, 2011]

Women's tennis champion Margaret Court has condemned the push for marriage equality, saying she wants to "protect families".

The West Australian reports that Court, who is the founder and senior pastor at Victory Life Church in Perth, has urged Australians to make a stand against same-sex marriage, saying no human law could ever change God's divine laws.

[Continued here]

• Navratilova backhands Court comments [Sydney Star Observer, December 14, 2011]

Court has had a history of anti-gay comments, accusing lesbians of ruining women's tennis and calling Martina Navratilova a bad example to young players.

Navratilova, along with openly gay tennis great Billie Jean King, condemned Court's latest comments.

"Seems to me a lot of people have evolved as has the Bible. Unfortunately, Margaret Court has not," Navratilova told TennisChannel.com

"Her myopic view is truly frightening as well as damaging to the thousands of children already living in same-gender families.

"I have tried to talk to Margaret but to say she's completely close-minded on the issue is an understatement."

• Margaret Court Defends Her Views on Gay Marriage [New York Times, January 4, 2012]

• Gays won't drive me from the Open, says Margaret Court [The Australian, January 12, 2012]

Court, Australia's greatest women's tennis player and a senior pastor at Perth's Victory Life Centre church, said she had never "run from anything" and expected Australian Open organisers to prevent next week's tournament from being hijacked by the gay rights agenda.

"Are they not wanting me to come to the Australian Open? Is that what they are trying to do? I don't run from anything," Court told The Australian yesterday.

• Tennis Australia: Court comments her own [Sydney Star Observer, January 12, 2012]

Releasing a statement on the Australian Open website, the organisation said that it respected Court's record but wanted to disassociate itself from her anti-gay comments.

"Her personal views are her own, and are definitely not shared by Tennis Australia," the statement read.

• Call for rainbow flags as Australian Open starts [Pink News, January 16, 2012]

As the Australian Open began today, a group is calling for fans to raise rainbow flags to protest in a "peaceful, non-disruptive" way against anti-gay comments made by former tennis champion Margaret Court.

• Laura Robson makes equal rights statement at Australian Open [Telegraph, January 16, 2012]

Robson, 17, was playing on the court named after Margaret Court, an avid opponent of same-sex marriages and Australian tennis legend, who was the subject of a campaign by gay rights activists.

Her defeat to Jelena Jankovic would have passed with little attention but for her multicoloured hairband, which seemed to be a defiant statement in support of the rally, organised on the social networking website Facebook.

Robson, who turns 18 on Saturday, denied she had seen the campaign but said she had heard about Court's comments and was in favour of equal rights.

• Ace Girl shows her colours [Sydney Star Observer, January 18, 2012]

A member of Melbourne lesbian tennis club Ace Girls has put her pride on display at today's Australian Open.

Ace Girls team captain TJ attended day three of play and wore a rainbow flag around her shoulders while spectating in Margaret Court Arena.

TJ said she wanted to wear the flag as a show of solidarity with the LGBTI community in the wake of anti-gay comments made by former world number one tennis champion Margaret Court.

"I think it's almost a perfect statement because it's not disrupting play, its a wonderful message and you can do it silently," TJ told the Star Observer.

• Navratilova wears a rainbow [Same Same, January 25, 2012]

Out lesbian tennis great Martina Navratilova has shown her rainbow colours this week as criticism of fellow sports star Margaret Court's outspoken opinion on homosexuality intensifies.

The picture below shows Navratilova's colourful sleeves at this week's Legends matches. Doug Pollard, spokesperson for the increasingly Facebook page Rainbow Flags over Margaret Court Arena believes she's showing her support for the campaign.

• Navratilova wonders if Margaret Court has 'feelings for women' [Gay Star News, January 27, 2012]

Martina Navratilova, the first female tennis player to come out while still playing on the women's tour, asks Court in a newspaper column on Friday: 'You say it is a choice to be gay; do you mean to say you had feelings for women as well as men and chose men? That might explain your certainty on the issue.'

'You frame the whole gay issue in religious terms and quote the Bible,' Navratilova added. 'While I am not a theologian, I do know these same Bibles have been used in the past to justify slavery, to deny men of color the right to vote and to try to deny inter-racial couples the right to marry.'

• Court: being gay a result of child abuse [Sydney Star Observer, January 29, 2012]

She told the newspaper "many, many" gays and lesbians she knew of had been abused which caused them to be attracted to the same sex.

When asked whether she believed sexual abuse led people to homosexuality, Court told the newspaper: "Yes. You look at a lot of them, that's happened."

The comments follow intense backlash from the LGBTI community after Court, a senior pastor at Perth's Victory Life Church, recently indicated she believes homosexuality is a choice and supports so-called conversion therapy for same-sex attracted people.

• Margaret Court, please listen carefully [Sydney Star Observer, February 2, 2012]

Both personally and as an active community member, I have huge concerns about Margaret Court's remarks about practising conversion "therapy". I have been on the receiving end of it and don't want anyone else to experience this - let's call a spade a spade - brainwashing and torture.

• Ostrich behaviour won't make Margaret disappear [Sydney Star Observer, February 2, 2012]

There's a small camp in rainbow land who'd prefer not to know the latest vomit Margaret Court is spreading through the heterosexual community.

Stop reporting on her, they call. You're just giving her more oxygen. ...

But if we didn't report, who would launch the counterattack? Nobody, that's who.

The mainstream media are delivering Court's diatribe into the family heartland. The people reading her opinions are the very people we need onside if we are to win the current push for equality.

They are also the people we want to have a greater understanding of sexuality to help smooth the coming-out path for their sons and daughters, should they realise one day they are gay. ...

But sticking our heads ostrich-like in the sand in the hope she will just disappear won't benefit anybody but the woman preaching about how others should live.

And if left unchallenged, her pulpit will one day be stained by the blood of our brothers and sisters who didn't realise it's OK to be gay ­- because we remained silent.

• Court ruling attacks free speech: Christian Lobby [Sydney Star Observer, April 18, 2012]

The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) has attacked an Australian Press Council adjudication that found a Herald Sun column by former tennis champion-turned-pastor Margaret Court was "very probably inaccurate and potentially dangerous".

Bishop Long is an outspoken critic of homosexuality and has been called by the
Southern Poverty Law Center "one of the most virulently homophobic black
leaders in the religiously based anti-gay movement."



Destiny Church (New Zealand) [Wikipedia]

Destiny Church is a Pentecostal fundamentalist Christian movement, headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand. The church advocates strict adherence to biblical morality, and is notable for its position against homosexuality, its patriarchal views and for its calls for a return to biblical conservative family values and morals. It also teaches prosperity theology. The Destiny Movement considers itself under the spiritual authority of Bishop Eddie Long of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church [in Atlanta, Georgia].

[Continued here]

• [New Zealand Government] urged to stop "state-funded homophobia" [gaynz.com, June 9, 2011]

Young Labour President Ella Hardy and Rainbow Representative Sam Thompson say their organisation is appalled by revelations from Social Development Minister Paula Bennett that the social services arm of homophobic Destiny Church has received $860,000 in taxpayer money.

"Destiny is an organisation which preaches prejudice against women, homosexuals and children and has been proven to divide communities in order to marginalise these groups. Comments by leader Brian Tamaki and Destiny have both offended and caused anger amongst New Zealanders and his organisation should not be the beneficiary of tax-payer funds," Hardy says.

• Bishop Eddie Long settles sexual misconduct suit out of court [Washington Post, May 27, 2011]

Back in September, the Associated Press reported on allegations that the pastor "abused his spiritual authority to seduce [teenage boys] with cars, money, clothes, jewelry, international trips and access to celebrities." Later details reported in the Christian Post said that the married father of four "admitted to mentoring the men and sharing rooms with them while on trips, but denied any sexual activity took place."

• Alleged Victim Calls Pastor Eddie Long a "Monster" [ABC News]

One of the four men who've accused a Georgia mega-church pastor of coercing them into sex called the man at the center of the controversy a "predator" and a "monster."

Jamal Parris, 23, told WAGA-TV in Atlanta that Bishop Eddie Long, leader of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, swept into his life and used him for sex and moved on to younger prey.

"I cannot get the sound of his voice out of my head, and I cannot forget the smell of his cologne, and I cannot forget the way he made me cry when I drove in his car on the way home, not able to take enough showers to get the smell of that man off my body," Parris said in the Tuesday broadcast.

When Parris was 17, he said, Long would take him "alone to the guesthouse" and "encourage him to call him daddy," according to his lawsuit.

One of the four men who've accused a Georgia mega-church pastor of coercing them into sex called the man at the center of the controversy a "predator" and a "monster."

• Bishop Eddie Long settled so he didn't have to go on record, says lawyer [CBS News, May 27, 2011]

"You can interpret that any way you want, but usually people do not settle cases unless there is some reason to do so," said former DeKalb County Prosecutor J. Tom Morgan.

Morgan told WGCL he is familiar with cases like Long's.

"They had to reach a settlement if they did not want any statement by the Bishop on record," said Morgan.

• Eddie Long and the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Pall Over the Black Church [Color Lines, June 24, 2011]

If schadenfreude could be compared to a gourmet meal, the sexual coercion lawsuits filed last year by four young men against Atlanta-based mega-church "Bishop" Eddie Long surely qualified as a five-star feast at Le Cirque.

When the scandal broke, it couldn't have hit closer to the center of the Black Church's fault lines on sexuality. Long's New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in suburban Atlanta boasts some 25,000 members. It is one of the largest black churches in the nation. In addition to being one of the nation's most prominent pastors, Long is also among the most vocal critics of gay rights and same-sex marriage in the Black Church. In December 2004, one month after voters approved an amendment to the Georgia state constitution that banned gay marriage, Long led a 25,000-person march against gay rights and marriage equality.

• Long accusers team up for tell-all [St. Louis American, September 1, 2011]

Bishop Eddie Long settled civil lawsuits several months ago, which alleged that he used his influence to coerce young men into sexual relationships. But new interviews by two of the five men that were party to the settlement have put the pastor and Atlanta's New Birth Missionary Baptist Church back in the media spotlight.

When the settlement was announced in May, plaintiff's attorney B.J. Bernstein said neither she nor her clients would give interviews on the case, then or in the future. But two of the men, Jamal Parris and Spencer LeGrande, have risked their still-undisclosed settlements to share their story.

"I'm going to tell the world-money does not buy happiness," LeGrande told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "When you sleep at night, the problems are still there. The money stuff, who cares about the number. I feel like burning [the money]."

The extensive interviews, conducted in conjunction with Atlanta ABC affiliate WSB, detail the relationship between the boys and Long, and how they feel they were manipulated. During the interview, Parris and LeGrande announced that they were writing a book together which would share the details of what happened to them in hopes of helping others.

• Eddie Long, New Birth seek to recoup settlement money [Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 4, 2011]

Attorneys representing Eddie Long's church have informed three of the five young men who accused the pastor of sexual coercion that they intend to recover nearly $1 million from their financial settlement, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has learned.

The letter, sent this week by the Atlanta law firm Drew Eckl & Farnham, alleges that Jamal Parris, Spencer LeGrande and Centino Kemp violated terms of a confidentiality agreement outlined in the settlement with Long and New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. The firm is seeking at least $900,000 already paid the three accusers, according to people involved in the settlement but not authorized to speak publicly. That figure is a portion of the total settlement with the three men.

• Bishop Eddie Long's Wife Is Divorcing Him [Truth Wins Out, December 2, 2011]
• Eddie Long taking time off from Georgia megachurch [Standard-Examiner, December 4, 2011]

Franklin declined to say how long the pastor's sabbatical from the church would be. He said Long and his family "are asking for privacy and sensitivity to their family."

Long's wife, Vanessa Long, filed a petition for divorce Thursday in DeKalb County Superior Court to end her 21-year marriage to the embattled minister. The church sent out a press release Friday morning saying Vanessa Long planned to withdraw her petition, but her attorney said later in the day that she had changed her mind.

In her petition, Vanessa Long indicated that the marriage is "irretrievably broken" and that there was "no hope of reconciliation of the parties." She asked the court for temporary and permanent alimony, as well as attorneys' fees and an equitable division of marital and non-marital property.

• Bishop Eddie Long's School Shuts Its Doors [Edge Boston, December 29, 2011]

Students who attended Bishop Eddie Long's New Birth Christian Academy were in for a surprise when their parents received a letter explaining that the school would be shutting down after Christmas break, reported the Christian Post in a Dec. 28 article.

More than 200 students are forced to find a new school as Long's academy closes its doors after 18 years. The school was located in DeKalb County, Ga., in suburban Atlanta.

• Alvin McEwen: Black Pastors, Marriage Equality and NOM's Money [Huffington Post, January 30, 2012]

A 2005 article on now-disgraced Atlanta pastor Eddie Long highlights a disturbing perspective to this issue of the National Organization for Marriage utilizing the black church and leaders against marriage equality that very few people are openly talking about.

The article quotes the Rev. Timothy McDonald, who theorizes that there was a tie between Long's 2005 anti-marriage equality march held in Atlanta and a $1 million grant he received from the faith-based initiatives of the Bush administration. McDonald also asserts that other black pastors who received faith-based initiatives money organized public campaigns against marriage equality.

When I read the recent, disgusting comments of Pastor Patrick Wooden and several other black ministers and leaders assembled by NOM to combat marriage equality, I can't help wondering if we are seeing a retread of this theory.

While I'm certainly not making pointed accusations, I have been amazed at how quickly and conveniently these coalitions between NOM and several black pastors and leaders have come together; I have also been alarmed by the rhetoric. There seems to be a degree of unrestrained glee and vindictive pleasure in not only attacking marriage equality and dehumanizing the gay community, but also -- particularly in Wooden's case -- going on a tangent about alleged gay sex acts.

• Bishop Eddie Long, Megachurch Pastor Accused Of Sex Abuse, Declared A 'King' At Recent Church Service [Huffington Post, February 2, 2012]

In a service last weekend at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, Long was proclaimed as royalty by Ralph Messer, a visting speaker. "He's a king. God's blessed him. He's a humble man. But in him is kingship. In him is royalty," Messer said over Long, to applause from New Life congregants.

• Peter Manseau: Fake Rabbi Showdown: Eddie Long's crowning, Reverend Moon's shofar, and other goyish Jewish mishugas [Religion Dispatches, February 4, 2012]

Those were more or less my thoughts while watching the spectacle of Atlanta megachurch pastor Bishop Eddie Long proclaimed king "on behalf of the Jewish people" by a fellow calling himself "Rabbi Ralph Messer." As seen in a video now going viral (and as noted by my RD colleague Anthea Butler), the crowning ceremony occurred last weekend. It includes such cringe-inducing moments as Messer unrolling a Torah scroll and wrapping Bishop Long in joined sheets of inscribed sheepskin he claims were rescued from Auschwitz. As he removes the cover from the scroll, Rabbi Messer says (really), "I'm gonna pull off the foreskin of this."

This guy's a rabbi like I'm the pope, I thought. And the only people he was fooling were the 25,000 members of Bishop Long's New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. When Messer broke into Hebrew song as Long was paraded aloft in a chair, carrying the Torah and draped with a prayer shawl, it was like watching a summer stock revival of Yentl performed by a cast that had never met any actual Jews.

"The bravest choice you can make is to be yourself."



Two Spirits [2009]

Making the film Two Spirits began when I sat with Fred's mother at his grave and she poured out her heart to me.

The experience transformed me from someone who had very little awareness, to someone who fully embraces gender diversity, because I see how much it adds to all of our lives.The tragic story of a mother's loss of her child to a brutal murder has challenged us to answer the question she raised, "Why are people killed for being who they are?" And learning that there was a time when the world wasn't simply divided into male and female, and that there is a place of honor in many Native American cultures for people across a spectrum of sexuality and gender expression, has been a gift.

[Continued here]

• 'Two Spirits' — The Fred Martinez Story [Out Front Colorado]

According to Wesley Thomas, considered the foremost expert on the subject of the Navajo nadleehi tradition, the Navajo recognize four genders: the feminine woman, the masculine man, the male-bodied person who has a feminine essence (nadleehi) and the female-bodied person who has a masculine essence (dilbaa). In the traditional Navajo culture, nadleehi or dilbaa children often grow up to take on important cultural or spiritual roles within the community.

Fred was, according to his mother and others in the film, generally unconcerned about his gender identity or sexual orientation and simply lived as himself, frequently reflecting his female essence.

• 'Two Spirits' (2009) [IMDb]

Equality, prejudice, power and the Church of England [Ekklesia, May 26, 2011]

Recent news items have raised serious doubts about the Church of England's commitment to equality and justice.

In 2003, Church of England priest Jeffrey John was chosen as Bishop of Reading, then forced to back down because he was gay. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, though a friend of his, was afraid that appointing him would harm church unity. Many lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people felt hurt and betrayed.

In 2010 John - an outstanding pastor and preacher - was one of the candidates for the vacancy of Southwark. John is in a longstanding but celibate relationship with his civil partner. But there was a huge row over an alleged breach of confidentiality when the press found out, and he was not selected.

[Continued here]

• Church of England tied in knots over allowing gay men to become bishops [The Guardian, May 25, 2011]

A meeting of Church of England bishops in York this week has broken up without agreement on whether gay clergy should ever be allowed to be chosen for promotion to bishoprics.

The leadership of the established church remains tied in knots over how far it can comply with the Equality Act in its treatment of gay people. Church lawyers have told the bishops that while they cannot take into account that someone is homosexual in considering them for preferment, they also cannot put forward clergy in active same-sex relationships and, even if they are celibate, must consider whether they can "act as a focus for unity" to their flocks if appointed to a diocese.

Conservative evangelicals remain bitterly opposed to the ordination of gay people, even though many clergy are more or less openly gay, and some are in same-sex partnerships.

• Heaven knows why Jeffrey John provokes such animosity [The Guardian, July 10, 2010]

With the wedding season at its height, with the confetti lying thick in the churchyard and the canapes crusting in the sun, I find myself wondering if the poor dean of St Albans, Jeffrey John, feels like the bridesmaid who never quite catches the bouquet.

One of the most prominent and highly regarded churchmen of his generation, Dr John has been proposed as bishop for not one but two dioceses, first Reading (Division Two) and now Southwark (Premier League). Having been appointed to the former, he was obliged to step down after one of the Church of England's characteristically unedifying adventures in HR; we hear now that opposition to his proposed appointment to the latter is so intense that Dale Winton has a better chance of being consecrated than the long-suffering dean.

If you have ever met Jeffrey John, you will be surprised that this singularly unturbulent priest should provoke such strong reactions in those who oppose him, but as everyone now knows Dr John is gay and for some in the church an openly gay bishop is unthinkable. In the old days, gay bishops went about their bachelor business discreetly and we are all now so bored with the issue that it is tempting sometimes to feel nostalgia for the era of handsome chaplains and gorgeous morses and taking the ordinands to Le Touquet.

• My guess is that Jeffrey John will become the C of E's first openly gay bishop - with David Cameron's support [Telegraph, July 4, 2010]
• Church of England set to allow celibate gay bishops [The Guardian, June 19, 2011]

The document reads: "A person's sexual orientation is in itself irrelevant to their suitability for episcopal office or indeed ordained ministry" but the Equality Act "allows churches and religious organisations to impose a requirement that someone should not be in a civil partnership or impose a requirement related to sexual orientation ... to avoid conflicting with the strongly held religious convictions of a significant number of the religion's followers".

"It is clearly the case that a significant number of Anglicans... believe that a Christian leader should not enter into a civil partnership, even if celibate, because it involves forming an exclusive, lifelong bond with someone of the same sex, creates family ties and is generally viewed in wider society as akin to same-sex marriage.

"It is equally clear that many other Anglicans believe that it is appropriate that clergy who are gay by orientation enter into civil partnerships, even though the discipline of the church requires them to remain sexually abstinent."

The guidance, to be presented to the General Synod in York in July, comes after damaging revelations about the Church of England hierarchy refusing to accept the reality of gay clergy.

Documents obtained by the Guardian showed the House of Bishops unable to agree on whether gay clergy should ever be appointed to the episcopate and that meetings about candidates descended into shouting matches, leaving some of those present in tears.

• Church of England to allow civil partnerships -- if synod agrees [The Guardian, June 23, 2011]

The Church of England has said it would allow civil partnerships in its buildings but only if the General Synod agreed to the move, an unlikely prospect given the staunch opposition of traditionalists to homosexuality.

In response to the government's Equality Office consultation on the subject, the church said the "present objective" was to ensure that amendments to existing legislation continued to provide "unfettered freedom for each religious tradition to resolve these matters in accordance with its own convictions and its own internal procedures of governance".

Some religious groups welcomed last year's House of Lords decision to lift the ban on religious premises holding civil partnership ceremonies. The amendment to the equality bill, tabled as a free vote by Lord Alli, received overwhelming backing, including from several bishops.

• When is Gafcon going to start listening? [The Guardian, June 28, 2011]

In 2003, a quarter of a century after the worldwide study process supposedly began, some churches moved forward on equality, and divisions deepened.

Archbishop Nicholas Okoh of Nigeria, Gafcon's vice-chairman, dramatically declared this year that "the fight against homosexual had been on for quite some time . when we allow a sizeable member of the society to be homosexuals or Lesbians we cannot expect procreation to take place so naturally it is against nature . we have a heavenly agenda".

In June, Sydney's archbishop Peter Jensen, a Gafcon council member, claimed that accepting same-sex couples "could open the way for other forms, such as polygamous marriages or perhaps even marriage between immediate family members".

Church of England leaders have repeatedly tried to appease such extremists. This has failed. It is time to take a stronger stand against blatant prejudice and takeover tactics.

• Auckland church erects "gay-dar" billboard [GayNZ, July 1, 2011]

Auckland's St Matthews-in-the-city has taken to its infamously bold billboard once more in the hope of stirring up debate on the issue of discrimination against gay and lesbian people in the Anglican Church.

The central Auckland church is now displaying a "gay-dar" meter that shows "Straight" on one side and "Gay" on the other, suggesting the Church uses this to determine who its potential priests might be.

Vicar Glynn Cardy says St Matthew's has had enough of New Zealand's Anglican bishops refusing to consider any candidate for ordination who is gay or lesbian and in a committed relationship.

It comes after congregation voted unanimously to send a letter to their bishop respectfully asking him to end this discrimination in their diocese.

• Church of England to reconsider stance on gay bishops [The Guardian, July 1, 2011]

There will be a moratoria on nominating gay clergy for the episcopate to avoid "pre-empting the outcome of the review" said the statement. The review will glean information from an initiative launched in 1998 designed to listen to the experiences of gay and lesbian Anglicans around the world.

• "Huge day" for struggle of GLBT Anglicans [GayNZ, September 7, 2011]

A liberal Auckland Anglican congregation is rejoicing after a Diocesan bishop made the ground-breaking statement that he would be willing to discern and ordain GLBT candidates for ordained ministry, including those in committed same-sex relationships.

In an address over the weekend, Bishop of Auckland The Right Reverend Ross Bay pointed out that the ordination of people in same-sex relationships remains a matter of debate and concern within the Communion as a whole and the member provinces.

"As the bishop, I am very conscious that this diocese has not done its work effectively in engaging around this issue," he says, adding: "We have failed to find opportunities to debate the issues around same sex ordinations with openness and honesty."

Bishop Bay says he will not take a personal stand on the issue, but is willing to facilitate the church's deliberations and offer leadership.

"I will therefore be clear that should the appropriate basis for change be found within the church, I would be willing to proceed with such ordinations within this diocese," he says.

• CoI primate Alan Harper civil partnership warning [BBC, September 7, 2011]

Church of Ireland primate Archbishop Alan Harper has said that the issue of clergy entering civil partnerships with same-sex partners could be a source of major division in the church.

In June, the Very Reverend Tom Gordon, originally from Portadown and now Dean of Leighlin Cathedral in Carlow, became the first CoI clergy man to enter a civil partnership.

Archbishop Harper said the reaction in Northern Ireland had been "relatively strong" particularly from those who opposed civil partnerships.

"In the Republic, the reaction has been much more relaxed - it's not been a major issue," he added.

Earlier this week, Dean Gordon told the BBC that he and his partner of 20 years held the ceremony in a registry office in July.

He described it as a legal instrument and not equivalent to marriage.

Speaking to the BBC on Wednesday, Archbishop Harper said that civil partnerships were a "civil right enshrined in law" which the church had no power to prevent.

But he added that no-one should pretend that there was not a range of views in the church on issues to do with sexuality.

• Welsh clerics to consider pensions for gay partners [Pink News, September 16, 2011]

Heterosexual widows or widowers can claim pensions based on their late spouse's working life.

Next week, a two-day meeting of the church's governing body will consider whether the benefit should be based on the whole of a gay clergy member's working life.

A church spokeswoman told the Western Mail: "We believe the number of clergy who have entered into civil partnerships is very low. We don't know exactly how many as clergy are not obliged to tell their Bishop or to notify the Church in Wales pension scheme when they enter a civil partnership."

• Gay Church of Scotland minister backs same-sex marriage [Pink News, September 26, 2011]

The Rev Scott Rennie, whose 2009 appointment threatened to split the church, said the change should be "celebrated".

The Scottish government is holding a consultation on opening up marriage to gay couples.

Rev Rennie told the Herald: "Marriage like most institutions has been changing.

"In my own religious tradition the theme is one of covenant and love and support.

"The sharing of these things should be greeted and celebrated."

The minister also spoke about his own experiences as a gay clergy member.

• South Carolina Episcopal diocese sees crisis over gay rights [Reuters, October 24, 2011]

"The question is not whether we can stay. It is whether they will let us stay and follow what we believe," the Rev. Jeffrey Miller of the South Carolina diocese said in the statement.

The statement followed the national church formally charging South Carolina Bishop Right Reverend Mark J. Lawrence recently with "abandonment" of the church's doctrine, discipline and worship.

Lawrence and many in the South Carolina diocese disagree with the tolerance of the national denomination for gays in the church.

• A chauffeur-driven bishop, and a Church that refuses sanctuary [The Independent, October 27, 2011]

Our capital city, with its historic buildings and rich cultural life, draws millions of tourists each year. But, despite the colossal wealth enjoyed by a tiny fraction of its population, London contains some of the worst pockets of poverty in the UK. This state of affairs has been put in the national spotlight by the actions of around 300 people, camping peacefully outside St Paul's Cathedral.

Having initially allowed protesters to stay, St Paul's decided that for health and safety reasons the cathedral would close until the protesters leave. (It may re-open tomorrow.) Protest leaders and their lawyers have pleaded with St Paul's to explain the health and safety risks, but to no avail. Could there be ulterior motives?

To all intents and purposes St Paul's owner, the Church of England, operates as an international corporation, with an investment fund of around £5.7bn secured through private equity income, stock exchange investments and a vast property portfolio.

• Church shaken to its foundations as row over anti-capitalism protest escalates [The Independent, October 28, 2011]

The Church of England's reputation could be "damaged for a generation" if a legal bid to evict protesters from the steps of St Paul's Cathedral ends violently, a former close adviser to the Archbishop of Canterbury has warned.

The advice came as a senior figure within St Paul's quit over its handling of the anti-capitalist protests, turning what was a PR disaster into a crisis for the institution. Giles Fraser, the charismatic Canon Chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral, said he resigned because of fears an eviction would lead to "violence in the name of the Church".

Dr Fraser, a media-savvy commentator who regularly writes for newspapers and appears on Radio 4's Thought For The Day, told The Independent last night: "The red line for me is that I am not able to sanction the use of force in the name of the Church to move the protesters on. There are other people who have different priorities and I respect those."

• Chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral resigns in protest at legal action to evict protesters [Telegraph, October 28, 2011]

The Rev Dr Giles Fraser warned that to evict the anti-capitalist activists would constitute "violence in the name of the Church" and he defended the protest as he resigned from his post.

His position became untenable after cathedral leaders said they would take legal action to clear the camp following pressure from the local authority, the police and the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.

Writing in The Daily Telegraph today, Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, criticises the "mismanagement" at the cathedral and asks "how could the dean and chapter at St Paul's have let themselves get into such a position?"

He condemns the "cynical and opportunistic" protesters, saying many are "spoilt middle-class children" who return home at night for a "shower and warm bed".

• Bishop of London tells St Paul's protesters: 'We ARE going to court to remove you' [Daily Mail, October 30, 2011]
• St Paul's Cathedral dean resigns over Occupy London protest row [The Guardian, October 31, 2011]

• Anglican newspaper defends 'Gaystapo' article [The Guardian, November 8, 2011]

The column, by the former east London councillor Alan Craig, appeared in the 28 October edition of the Church of England Newspaper, one of the oldest newspapers in the world. Although it is independent of the institution bearing the same name, it carries adverts for Church of England jobs and is read by its clergy.

In his column, Craig referred to a number of high-profile legal cases where Christians claim to have been penalised for their views on homosexuality.

He wrote: "Having forcibly - and understandably - rectified the Versailles-type injustices and humiliations foisted on the homosexual community, the UK's victorious Gaystapo are now on a roll. Their gay-rights stormtroopers take no prisoners as they annex our wider culture, hotel owners, registrars, magistrates, doctors, counsellors, foster parents and find themselves crushed under the pink jack-boot.

• Lords debate threatens decision to allow gay weddings in churches [The Guardian, November 24, 2011]

Peers opposed to the registration of civil partnerships in religious premises have secured a debate in the House of Lords that could see the provision scrapped altogether, after warnings that churches could face litigation for turning away gay couples.

This month the equalities minister, Lynne Featherstone, said the government was committed to removing the legal barrier to civil partnerships' registration on the religious premises "of those faith groups who choose to allow this to happen", adding it would be a "permissive measure" with "no obligation on faith groups to host civil partnerships". The change to the equality bill, known as the Alli amendment, was passed in March 2010.

• South Carolina Episcopal Bishop Cleared By National Panel [Edge Boston, November 30, 2011]

A committee of the national Episcopal Church says its investigation of the conservative bishop of one of the oldest Episcopal dioceses in the United States concluded he has not abandoned the church amid the ongoing schism over the ordination of gays and other issues.

The Episcopal Church consecrated its first openly gay bishop in 2003, upsetting conservative Episcopalians who believe Scripture forbids same-sex relationships. Three years later, Bishop Mark Lawrence's Diocese of South Carolina diocese and two others voted to reject the authority of the national church's presiding bishop, but stopped short of a full break.

• This Anglican Bishop Wants You To Rot In Jail [Box Turtle Bulletin, December 10, 2011]

Archbishop Peter Akinola, retired Anglican Primate of the Church of Nigeria, has enthusiastically endorsed Nigeria's anti-gay bill which would impose criminal penalties on same-sex unions and LGBT gatherings. Akinola told Nigeria's Guardian that the Nigerian government should reject warnings from Britain and the United States that efforts to deny basic human rights to LGBT people would have international implications.

• Gay marriage opponents in Scotland criticised for doctored petition [Pink News, December 16, 2011]

Scotland For Marriage, the campaign against same-sex marriage, have come under strong criticism for wrongly including the names of equal marriage supporters on an online petition that opposes equality.

Lothians MSP Kezia Dugdale has written to Nicola Sturgeon asking that the petition be discounted after having been contacted by "furious" constituents raising their concerns that their names had been wrongly added.

Both the police and the Information Commissioner have been informed of the incident.

• Scottish Government considering compromise over gay marriage [Pink News, December 18, 2011]

A deal to allow gay marriage in Scotland, but only if the ceremonies do not take place on religious premises, is being considered by the Scottish National Party in an effort to appease religious groups following a consultation on the issue.

Under the reported proposal, gay couples would be able to marry in Scotland, but only in civil settings, Scotland on Sunday reports. The Scottish Government hopes the compromise would help to placate some religious groups, who fear legal action for refusing to carry out the ceremonies if a law allowing gay marriage is passed.

The Humanist Association, the Quakers, the Scottish Unitarian Association and the Liberal Jewish community have all given their support to gay marriage and would welcome the ceremonies in their buildings, but they agree religious groups should not be forced to carry out the ceremonies in their places of worship; while other groups such as the Church of Scotland, the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Catholic Church in Scotland oppose gay marriage as a recognised union.

• 'I'll sue Church of England if it bars me from being bishop,' says gay dean [Daily Mail, January 14, 2012]

The Very Rev Jeffrey John, Dean of St Albans, has instructed an eminent employment lawyer to complain to Church officials after being rejected for the role of Bishop of Southwark.

Sources say the dean, one of the most contentious figures in the Church, believes he could sue officials under the Equality Act 2010, which bans discrimination on the grounds of sexuality. Such a case could create a damaging new rift within the CoE.

Dr John was at the centre of a storm in 2003 when forced to step down as Bishop of Reading by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams after it became known that he was in a gay, though celibate, relationship. The furore fuelled a bitter civil war within the Anglican Church that has dominated Dr Williams's decade in office.

The dean was again a cause of infighting in 2010 when he was a candidate for Bishop of Southwark. A respected theologian and former canon at Southwark Cathedral, he had strong backing from senior Church liberals and it was said even David Cameron was supportive. ...

Church lawyers published new guidelines last summer which said that under the Equality Act, candidates cannot be barred from senior Church posts because they are gay as long as they do not have sex. The guidance added that candidates could be blocked if they were regarded as divisive because their views or behaviour had angered a significant number of their flock.

• Gay dean to sue Church of England after twice being rejected as bishop due to his sexuality [Pink News, January , 2012]

A leaked memo by Colin Slee, the late Dean of Southwark Cathedral could prove critical in the case. It claims that Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, originally supported Dr John's nomination for Bishop of Reading in 2003 but then personally blocked it. It is claimed that Dr Williams also supported Dr John's promotion to bishop last year but then again blocked his appointment.

"We had two very horrible days in which I would say both archbishops behaved very badly," wrote Mr Slee after the vote to appoint the Bishop of Southwark.

"The meeting was not a fair consideration at all; they were intent on wrecking both Jeffrey John and Nick Holtam [the Bishop of Salisbury] equally, despite the fact that their CVs were startlingly in an entirely different and better league than the other two candidates.

"The Archbishop of Canterbury was bad-tempered throughout. When it came to voting, certainly two - possibly three - members were in tears and [Dr Williams] made no acknowledgment but carried on regardless." ...

The leaked memo also makes the startling claim there are currently several gay bishops "who have been less than candid about their domestic arrangements and who, in a conspiracy of silence, have been appointed to senior positions". ...

Another friend of Dr John said: "This is not a case of demanding something he is not entitled to but a way of resolving the flawed voting process that prevented him being made the Bishop of Southwark."

• Breakaway Episcopal churches lose court case in Virginia [Washington Blade, January 19, 2012]

A Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge issued a ruling on Jan. 10 against seven conservative Episcopal congregations in Northern Virginia that broke away from the church in 2006 in protest of the church's earlier decision to accept same-sex relationships.

The ruling could force the breakaway congregations to turn over to the Episcopal Church buildings and property in Virginia worth more than $40 million that the conservative faction seized after congregations voted to separate from the church over the gay relationship dispute.

However, a final decision on the matter may not come for another year or more if the losing side chooses to file an appeal.

• Don't legalise gay marriage, Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu warns David Cameron [Telegraph, January 27, 2012]
• Peter Tatchell: Archbishop Sentamu Has No Right to Block Gay Civil Marriages [Huffington Post, January 31, 2012]

Dr Sentamu, who born in Uganda and fled Idi Amin's dictatorship, has condemned the government over its plans to legalise same-sex civil marriage; insinuating that the prime minister is behaving in a dictatorial manner.

It is, however, Dr Sentamu who seeks to dictate. He wants to impose his personal opposition to gay marriage on a society that overwhelmingly rejects his demand for homophobic discrimination.

The archbishop is unelected and owes his post to patronage, whereas the government has been elected democratically by millions of voters. Moreover, a clear majority of the British people, including many Christians, support same-sex civil marriages. A Populus poll, published in The Times newspaper in June 2009, found that 61% of the public believe that: "Gay couples should have an equal right to get married, not just to have civil partnerships." Only 33% disagreed.

Dr Sentamu rejects the enlightened, progressive public will, in favour of his preferred imposition of homophobic discrimination in law. He is, in essence, a religious authoritarian who opposes equality.

• Bishop of London dismisses calls for civil partnerships in churches [The Guardian, February 3, 2012]

The Rt Rev Richard Chartres, who is the third most senior Anglican cleric in the country, said it was right for the issue to be discussed openly, but it should not distract from the important ministry being carried out in communities.

His intervention came after more than 100 London-based clergy signed a letter demanding the right to hold civil partnership ceremonies on their premises.

The government lifted the ban on civil partnerships in places of worship last year, but the Church of England has repeatedly told its clergy they cannot register their churches for the ceremonies unless its governing body, the General Synod, approves the change. ...

One signatory, the Rev Dr Brian Leathard, told the Times: "Our motivation in sending this letter is pastoral. For those of us at the frontline, there is no sense of hiding behind a blanket ban on holding civil partnership ceremonies in Church of England churches. More and more people are coming to us, and feel that we are turning them away without actually being able to hear their story."

• Prominent Tory disowns 'religious right' and supports gay marriage [The Independent, February 6, 2012]

A prominent Conservative has broken ranks with his allies on the "religious right" by declaring his support for the Government's controversial plans to legalise gay marriage.

In an interview with The Independent, Tim Montgomerie dismissed criticism that extending equal rights to gays and lesbians would weaken marriage. He said Tories and church leaders should support gay marriage because it would save the institution, not destroy it. "Marriage is probably the most important Conservative institution and excluding people from it is therefore excluding people from Conservativism to a significant extent," he said.

• Equalities chief tells Christians: You're no different to Muslims who want sharia law [Daily Mail, February 17, 2012]

Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, said religious rules should end 'at the door of the temple' and give way to the 'public law' laid down by Parliament.

He said Catholic adoption agencies should drop their opposition to accepting gay couples - even if it conflicts with their religious beliefs - because they were providing a public service. ...

Mr Phillips said all faith groups providing public services must choose between their religion and obeying the law when their beliefs conflicted with the will of the state.

• 'Anti-gay' book puts Gove at centre of faith school teaching row [The Guardian, February 18, 2012]

The TUC has accused Gove of failing in his legal duties by insisting that equality laws, which prohibit discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, do not extend to the school curriculum.

The TUC complains that the current situation sends mixed signals to the playground, because schools are legally obliged to condemn discrimination on sexual-orientation grounds but free to use religious materials that equality campaigners claim is homophobic.

Brendan Barber, the TUC's general secretary, wrote to Gove in December expressing alarm that a booklet containing "homophobic material" had been distributed by a US preacher after talks to pupils at Roman Catholic schools across the Lancashire region in 2010. ...

A DfE spokesman insisted: "Any school engaging in the promotion of homophobic material would be acting unlawfully." But the row highlights a grey area over the teaching of sex education. A review intended to provide new guidelines on what was appropriate for schools to teach was kicked into the long grass when the last election was called.

"It would certainly be helpful if there was clarity as to what is appropriate for young people of all ages," said Ben Summerskill, chief executive of the gay rights group Stonewall. "The water could no longer be muddied by people pushing age-inappropriate sex material on the one hand and fundamentalist anti-gay religious materials on the other."

• Letting gays marry would be wrong, Carey tells Cameron as former archbishop says proposal is 'one of the greatest political grabs in history' [Daily Mail, February 20, 2012]
• Pressure on MP after David Lammy cuts ties with far-right Christian group [Enfield Independent, February 22, 2012]

Tottenham MP David Lammy said he would not continue to work with Christian organisation CARE - who paid an intern £5,500 to work in his office for a year from January last year - after an Enfield Independent investigation.

His decision to abandon CARE piles pressure on Enfield Southgate MP David Burrowes, who helped launched the Coalition for Marriage group on Monday, and said he would continue to accept an intern from the charity.

• Lynne Featherstone: this is not gay rights versus religious beliefs [Telegraph, February 24, 2012]

Who owns marriage? It's an interesting question and a pressing one in the debate around equal civil marriage. It is owned by neither the state nor the church, as the former Archbishop Lord Carey rightly said. So it is owned by the people.

The fierce debate over the past few weeks has shown people feel very strongly about marriage. Some believe the Government has no right to change it at all; they want to leave tradition alone. I want to challenge that view - it is the Government's fundamental job to reflect society and to shape the future, not stay silent where it has the power to act and change things for the better.

I believe that if a couple love each other and want to commit to a life together, they should have the option of a civil marriage, irrespective of whether they are gay or straight.

We are not prioritising gay rights, or trampling over tradition; we are allowing a space for the two to exist side by side.

• Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement's Rev Sharon Ferguson says MPs and Peers should be doing Christ's work, not hating [Gay Star News, February 29, 2012]

The parliamentary group of Christians launched a report this week saying their religious freedoms are being eroded and demanding the law was changed to allow abusive and insulting speech when it takes the form of preaching. ...

She believes that the people involved are misrepresenting or misunderstanding equality laws.

Ferguson said: 'Everybody is entitled to hold the belief that they wish but what you don't have the right to do is carry out that belief in a way that is discriminatory to other people. ...

'This is a small group with a loud voice who have a lot of money because they get a lot of funding from America because of their fundamentalism.

• Catholic leader Cardinal Keith O'Brien clashes with David Cameron on same-sex marriage plans [Telegraph, March 3, 2012]

The cardinal has added his voice to those of leading figures in the Coalition for Marriage, a group of bishops, politicians and lawyers opposed to the changes. The group's supporters include Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury.

• Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams faces defeat on gay deal [Telegraph, March 3, 2012]

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has given his backing to a deal intended to prevent a split between the Church's traditionalist and liberal wings, by effectively preventing openly gay clergy from becoming bishops.

However, last night the proposed Anglican Covenant stood on the brink of failure, after worshippers and clergy rejected it in votes up and down England. Two bishops voted against it.

Supporters of Dr Williams said that a defeat would be a "devastating" blow to him after he staked so much of his authority on the Covenant.

• Breakaway Anglican Churches Ordered To Return Property To Episcopal Church By April 30 [Huffington Post, March 3, 2012]

The conservative congregations must return an estimated $40 million worth of property, according to The Washington Post, including several large, historic churches. They must also return chalices, prayer books, crosses and some of the money they had on hand before they left the Episcopal Church.

Bellows also ordered the breakaway congregations not to use the name "Episcopal" or "Episcopalian" in their names.

• James Peron: Anti-Gay Catholic Group Manipulates Poll in Bid to Stop Equality [HuffPo, March 9, 2012]

Catholic Voices is an über organization in the United Kingdom that says their agenda is "putting the Church's case in the public square." This means that Catholic theology ought to be the foundation of public policy. It is a desire to impose Catholic moral views on a nation through the use of government force. When the religious right speaks of the "public square," they are usually talking about state power. Catholic Voices is the Rick Santorum of the United Kingdom. The only real difference is that they wear ugly pullovers instead of sweaters.

Similar to religious-right groups in the United States, Catholic Voices has a dubious opinion poll that allegedly proves that "70% [are] against redefining marriage." Their spokesman, Austen Ivereigh, claimed that their poll shows "that most people support the idea of civil partinerships for gay people while being firm that marriage should remain between a man and a woman."

The problem is that the poll is manipulated. I previously dissected two similar polls in the United States. The Mormon-owned Deseret News promoted one that found that two thirds of Americans opposed marriage equality -- though most others polls show a majority favoring the idea. This poll didn't survey a cross section of the population but concentrated on conservatives, older people, and the less educated. Evangelicals were overly represented, while Catholics, who tend to be more supportive of gay marriage -- those outside the church hierarchy, that is -- were under-sampled.

The National Organization for Marriage pulled a similar stunt in New York, reporting results almost the total inverse of more reputable polls. They selectively polled audiences, as well. For instance, the young are more supportive of marriage equality, but only 7 percent of those NOM surveyed were under age 40. In New York, however, 34 percent of the population is younger than 40. If you bias the survey audience, you can manipulate results to be consistent with any political agenda.

• UK Equality Minister: Church's opposition to same sex marriage is 'Dark Age' homophobia [Pink News, March 11, 2012]

Mrs Featherstone told the Sunday Times: "This is about love and commitment and things that are good for society and families; it is a matter of celebrating love and commitment." She added :"I have heard homophobic language used in connection with this very loving and progressive step." She said the language use "belongs in the Dark Ages".

"This is a live-and-let-live policy," Mrs Featherstone told the newspaper . "We have no wish to cross over into territory that is not ours, no desire to stop those who believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman.

• Church approval needed for gay marriage, says Archbishop of York [The Independent, March 11, 2012]
• Peter Tatchell: Catholic Archbishops Have Mislead People on Gay Marriage [HuffPo, March 12, 2012]

The Pastoral Letter On Marriage, signed by the archbishops, opposed government plans to legalise same-sex marriage; suggesting that it was the moral "duty" of all Catholics to fight plans for marriage equality.

Mischievously, their letter did not make it clear that the government was proposing to allow gay couples to marry only in a civil ceremony in a register office - not in places of worship. Whether by intention or default, the fact that churches would not be forced to conduct same-sex marriages was not made clear.

As a consequence, many Catholics left church last Sunday believing that the government was going to compel priests to marry lesbian and gay couples.

• Catholic Cardinal: Church will relax its approach to civil marriages for gay couples [Pink News, March 31, 2012]

He will also say: "Having thought long and hard and having read the British Government's consultation document I understand that all the Government is really proposing to do is to change the word partnership to marriage and not much else. And the document is clear that these civil marriages will not be conducted in religious institutions. Given the difference between civil marriages and religious marriages, and the government's proposals clearly favouring the first, I have to admit that what we say will not ultimately matter. What right do we have to intervene in a civil law especially as Britain isn't even a Catholic country?

• Archbishop panel member believes gay people can 'change' sexual desire [The Guardian, April 9, 2012]

A leading member of the Church of England who believes some gay people can be counselled to suppress or possibly change their sexual orientation is helping to select the next Archbishop of Canterbury.

Glynn Harrison, emeritus professor of psychiatry at Bristol University, is on the powerful Crown Nominations Commission (CNC), which will chose a successor to Rowan Williams to be approved by the prime minister and the Queen.

Harrison's role on the 16-strong panel has triggered alarm among liberal Anglicans who fear it could deepen existing divisions over homosexuality in a church already riven by the issues of holding gay civil ceremonies in churches and the ordination of gay bishops.

• Traditionalist Anglican leaders to meet over homosexual bishops 'crisis' [Telegraph, April 15, 2012]

They want to restore "orthodox" values to the worldwide Anglican Communion and outlaw liberal church leaders who have rejected traditional teaching.

They will meet for the first time since more than 200 bishops boycotted an official summit for Anglican leaders in 2008 in protest at the presence of bishops from the US Episcopal Church, which consecrated the first openly homosexual Anglican bishop.

The decision by the leaders to hold talks in Britain is likely to increase tensions between the traditionalists and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, who will this year step down amid criticism he has failed to heal divisions over sexuality.

Its timing means that it will provide traditionalists with an opportunity to call for Dr Williams's successor to be sympathetic to traditionalists.

• Stop Church of England leaks before choosing archbishop, says gay cleric [The Guardian, April 15, 2012]

In the latest skirmish between rival factions in the church, Jeffrey John, the most senior openly gay cleric, said leaks from the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) stopped him from becoming the Bishop of Southwark in 2010.

In a letter published in the Guardian, he insisted the church must clear up the matter before the CNC meets to nominate a replacement for Rowan Williams.

He wrote: "It would be good to know that steps are being taken to identify the real culprit and ensure that he will not be involved in nominating the new archbishop or in any further appointments."

• Archbishop of Wales: Church should acknowledge and support gay civil marriages [Pink News, April 18, 2012]

The Archbishop of Wales has said his Church should acknowledge civil marriage equality for gay couples and work against an impression that it is 'uncaring and unsympathetic' and leading gay people to feel 'unwanted, unloved, and sinful'.

According to Wales Online, Dr Morgan told the Church in Wales' governing body: "All life-long committed relationships deserve the welcome, pastoral care and support of the Church."

The faithful, he continued, "need to show how the Gospel of Jesus is good news for gay people".

• Church opposition to gay marriage a 'disaster', says senior bishop [Telegraph, April 21, 2012]

The Rt Rev Nicholas Holtam, the Bishop of Salisbury, compared bishops opposing marriage reforms to 18th century Christians who believed slavery was "God-given".

His intervention will be seen as an attack on traditionalists, including the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, who forcefully oppose the Government's move to change the legal definition of marriage.

It comes as the Church prepares its formal response to David Cameron's proposals to permit marriage between same-sex couples, before the close of the Government's consultation in June. ...

"Most people now see the Church's avoidance of equality legislation as immoral and it undermines us," he told the conference, organised by the Cutting Edge Consortium, a coalition of national bodies campaigning for sexual equality in religious organisations.

The bishop added: "It is a disaster that we have allowed the Church to be seen as the opposition to equal marriage."

• U-turn Tory MPs tell constituents: 'We were wrong on gay marriage' in bid to win back voters [Daily Mail, April 28, 2012]
• Iain Duncan Smith defies Catholic Church to back marriage for gay couples [Pink News, April 28, 2012]

In an interview with The Times today, Mr Duncan Smith confirmed that he would vote for the legislation in the House of Commons explaining: "I'm for things that are about stability. I think our biggest problem is actually with cohabiting parents breaking up at the rate they do - heterosexual cohabitees, not gay couples - because they're the ones leaving the trail of devastation afterwards."

Mr Duncan Smith told The Times, a newspaper that has been cheer-leading support of equal marriage in the press, that he hoped that the Government will introduce a bill to end the ban on gay marriage as soon as possible.

• Priest suspended for preaching against gay marriage [Gay Star News, May 5, 2012]

While the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York have opposed government plans to legalise gay marriage, senior religious leaders in the Church of England have shown their support.

Last month several bishops, vicars and priests wrote a letter to The Times saying the Church of England has 'nothing to fear' from gay marriage, and should 'be a cause for rejoicing'.

• Gay marriage law is not top priority, says Philip Hammond [The Guardian, May 13, 2012]