June 30, 2009

Brokeback to the Future

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Yes, Of Course They Voted to Discharge Dan Choi. What Did You Expect?

Must-watch — especially as Olbermann and Savage exchange thoughts about the way Obama is beholden to the Radical Religious Right:

More:

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Gates: Make Discrimination “More Humane”? Why Not Just Euthanize Us?

Talk about your Freudian slips:

Gates: ‘More humane’ enforcement
of gay ban studied

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday that the Pentagon is looking into “more humane” ways to comply with a law that bans openly gay people from serving in the military.

Gates said that the Pentagon’s general counsel is exploring ways of making the law, known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” more flexible until it is eventually changed, according to the Pentagon’s news service. …

Geez! I can’t remember the last time a phrase rankled me this way.

“More humane”? “More humane”?

That’s the kind of talk you use when you’re referring to euthanizing animals, or choosing lethal injection over the electric chair when killing people.

Of course, they don’t see us as human beings to begin with.

Which is my point, exactly:

Gates doesn’t even realize how clearly he just expressed that.

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Condemn Martina Navratilova’s Duplicitous Divorce — But Relish the Potential Benefit to the Rest of Us

Before we get to the issue at hand:

There is no question tennis legend Martina Navratilova, in the midst of yet another ugly and expensive divorce, is (ab)using the legality (never mind the “sanctity”) of her own marriage just to cover her assets (literally).

On the surface, that’s despicable. However, if she succeeds, the result promises to be a very good thing indeed for the rest of us, and for The Cause.

Allow me to explain — without for one second excusing, defending, or even doubting that Martina’s shameful actions are motivated solely by money.

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Federal Government is Best Excuse for Anti-Gay Companies to Continue Discrimination, Even in Iowa

For your consideration: the case of Messrs. Jacob Holman and Michael Walker, Iowa newlyweds who can’t get spousal health insurance, as long as our glorious federal government continues to provide an excuse for gay-un-friendly companies (in this case, Methodist Health System) to blithely and unassailably continue their policies of anti-gay discrimination:

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Overheard

At AmericaBlog, “zoltankemeny” responding to an Obamapologist defending the DOJ brief, and scolding the LGBT community at large for “getting it wrong”:

“Good god, it’s like watching someone blame the miniskirt-clad coed for getting date raped.”

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New Radical Right “Freedom Federation” Lifts Orwellian Doublespeak to New Level of Insanity

So, what this coalition of frayed remnants from the dying Radical Religious Right movement is really saying: In order to ensure the elimination of our rights, 1) they want their freedoms taken away, and 2) they want more government interference in their lives. There’s no other way to read it:

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Ignorance, or Intention? Florida’s WFLA Channel 8 Airs American Family Association Hate Show on St. Pete Pride Day

Are the decision-makers at WFLA just woefully ignorant, or is somebody at the station — say, this Mike Pumo person — a real gay-hater?

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Congratulations, Senator Franken. Now What Will the Dems’ Excuse Be?

Say it with me: “filibuster-proof majority.”

Coleman concedes Senate race to Franken

The long-running political saga known as the Minnesota US Senate election is finally over.

After the state’s Supreme Court today ended the recount and affirmed Democratic challenger Al Franken as the winner, Republican incumbent Norm Coleman conceded. That cleared the way for Franken to be seated, giving Democrats a potentially filibuster-proof 60-vote majority in the Senate — and giving a boost to President Obama’s agenda. …

More at the link.

Oh, I know what the Dems’ excuse will be for anything and everything they just don’t wanna do: “We’re too close to midterms… Just wait until after the next election cycle…”

Nevertheless: Congratulations, Al. You’re good enough, and doggone it, people like you.

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June 29, 2009

Oh, Yeah, And That Whatshisname Made Pretty Talk Today

Here’s the transcript:

“Obama urges lesbian, gay patience overturning ‘unjust laws’.”

My reaction is one big whatever. Talk without action is garbage. Get back to me when you actually do something, Barry. Make me eat my words, every last one of them.

And you can thank me later for not ripping your pretty speech apart, line by line.

Or asking you if Dan Choi is going to be discharged tomorrow.

For starters.

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Arsonist Sets Fire to San Francisco’s Hillside Pink Triangle

Nothing surprises me anymore. Nothing.

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U.S. Dept. of Labor Employs Some Real Scumbags… But One Helluva Great Boss

Now, if only her boss would stand up for us:

Labor Chief Deplores Defacing of Gay Pride Posters

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis issued a warning letter to departmental employees late last week, after posters celebrating Gay Pride Month hanging in 35 department elevators since June 22 have been either defaced or removed altogether.

In an e-mail message sent to the entire department, Ms. Solis, who helped found the House of Representative’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Caucus when she was in Congress, said she was outraged by the behavior.

“It appears, however, that some members of the Labor Department team have a different view, as it has come to my attention that most of the posters have been continually defaced or removed,” Ms. Solis wrote. “On several occasions, even the poster frames have been torn completely off the elevator walls.”

“I do not believe these actions represent the majority of our employees, so I refuse to let this situation define us.”

The posters will stay up throughout the month and will be replaced immediately if they are damaged or removed, according to the letter. …

More at the link.

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Andrew Pugno Sends Fundraising Spam to the Wrong Guy: Justin McLachlan

Reminds me of the lady in Hawaii who was spammed by Prop 8 supporters; she was certain the only way the sender could have gotten her email was through access to a Mormon “stake clerk’s access to church stake records, which are not supposed to be used for political or commercial purposes”:

Did Protectmarriage.com and Andrew Pugno violate California’s laws?

… A little while back, Ron Prentice, the committee’s chairman, announced that their legal counsel and author of the the text of proposition 8 was set to run for a General Assembly seat in the 5th district of California.

Today, though, I got a mass email from Mr. Pugno updating me on fund raising efforts for his campaign “war chest.” I’d never signed up on Mr. Pugno’s site and based on his calling me “hostile” in an email last fall, I [didn’t] assume that he plucked my email address and added it to his list.

What actually happened is that Protectmarriage.com created a new list for Mr. Pugno — it’s called “Andy Pugno — Protecmarriage.com List 6″ in their system that has, at least, some, if not all of Protectmarriage.com’s email addresses. That appears to violate Protectmarriage.com’s stated privacy policy, which says that they only collect personal information and use it to “send … updates and the latest news from ProtectMarriage.com.”

Ultimately, it could all lead to a violation of California’s Online Privacy Protection Act…

More at the link.

Not surprising. If they’ll lie about everything else, why wouldn’t they lie about what they’re going to do with email addresses?

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Los Angeles Dodgers Breeding Bigots? First Jeff Kent, Now James Loney?

I can’t nail down this Proposition H8 donor — but there’s only one James Loney I know of in Southern California who would have a very good reason indeed for trying to hide his H8 donation from the general public:

PROTECTMARRIAGE.COM (ANTI-GAY)
MR. JAMES LONEY
Occupation: “DECLINED”
Employer: “DECLINED”
TUSTIN CA 92780-6731
10/20/08 - $500.00 - 1396394-INC120373 - Filed: 01/30/09

Anyone know for sure if this is the James Loney? Anyone know for sure it isn’t?

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June 28, 2009

Ruben Diaz Unhinged, Unglued, Unintelligible

“Juan Manuel Benitez, doesn’t shy away from challenging Diaz on his views simply because he calls himself a preacher and, as Benitez keeps pressing, you see Diaz begin to lose it. At one point, as his own arguments are used to refute his positions, Diaz stops answering, and simply keeps repeating ‘I am a Pastor. I am a preacher. I am a believer in Jesus Christ, our redeemer and savior’…”

I’d say “Un-freaking-believable,” except that nothing this frothing homophobe says or does surprises me.

Blabbeando (if you don’t read Blabbeando already, you should start; it’s the only blog out there tracking LGBT developments in the Spanish-speaking world, and provides tons of news, and translations, for those of us forced to take French [”the international language” — ha!] for eight years instead of something useful, i.e., Spanish) has the video, painstakingly translated and captioned, the full story, and the must-read-to-believe transcript:

Related:

New York Senate Democrats: Backstabbing Cowards, November 30, 2008

What’s Ruben Diaz’ Real Problem? His Gay Brothers?, June 26, 2009

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So, What Are We Doing for Stonewall Today?

Well, my lovely wife and I stayed home. Nope, we didn’t go to Pride. Perhaps we should have lent two more warm bodies (and I do mean warm — it’s hot as hell here on the Peninsula), but we’re tired, man, tired. I wouldn’t say “burnt out,” but really, really tired. I won’t speak for Buffy here, but I’m also not in the right frame of mind at all. Last year was such a joyous event, this year going seemed like… like it would just hurt. So, call me selfish — I get to be once in a while. As every one of us has, I’ve done more than my share of hurting over the past year, and… I’m tired.

I also figure I’d be doing something a lot more productive for the cause by staying home today and continuing to work on Base8. I’m trying to ferret out the last of the education-related entries out of some 27,000 “unknown” records so I can get the next section (right, “Education”) up and running. It is a slow, frustrating, lonely process. But I am committed to it.

I probably should have written something to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Stonewall today. I didn’t. But jurassicpark at Brilliant at Breakfast did, and it’s really worth your time to click and read the whole thing. There’s also a couple of great pictures of the riots:

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Headline Says All: “Irony alert: Obama to ignore law he doesn’t agree with”

“The Obama administration announced in the statement it would disregard provisions of the legislation…”

What’s this about?

DADT?

DOMA?

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June 27, 2009

Where’s Our Harvey? Or Do We Need One?

Jeremy W. Peters makes some good points re: Why the Gay Rights Movement Has No National Leader:

Gay people have no national standard-bearer, no go-to sound-byte machine for the media. …

One explanation is that gay and lesbian activists learned early on that they could get along just fine without one.

Well, yes, that’s been true, but only as long as “gay activists pursued a different approach, focusing on issues pertinent to their local communities”:

City councils and state legislatures are where domestic partnership laws and legislation extending anti-discrimination protections to gays and lesbians originated.

That’s the way it’s always been — until now. Now, we’re on the national stage.

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When They Call You A “One-Issue Voter”

It’s annoying enough to hear the “You’re just a one-issue voter!” line (what do they do, issue a list of talking points at Bigot Central?) from an openly hostile Anti-Gay, but when you’re on the receiving end of the same thing from someone who’s supposed to be LGBT, or an ally… it’s downright maddening.

That said, here’s an excellent response (particularly the first paragraph), by gayjaybird, overheard at Pam’s:

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June 26, 2009

Biden Tries to Run Damage Control at DNC’s Gay ATM Fundraiser

Joe Biden reaches out to gay community

Vice President Joe Biden told gay and lesbian Democrats that he doesn’t blame them for their impatience and promised that the Obama administration will begin to push more strongly on the issues they care about, including the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

Speaking at a LGBT fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee, Biden acknowledged the anger many gays and lesbians have toward the White House, and he pledged to “put some pace on the ball.”

“I don’t blame you for your impatience,” Biden said. “I hope you don’t doubt the president’s commitment.”

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Gotta Love Those Family Values: Kate Gosselin “Christian” Book Still on Track

We still haven’t watched the damned show — but we are tickled by the blatant hypocrisy of it all:

Christian publisher still plans Kate Gosselin book

Should a Christian publisher still release a $30 book from one of the namesake stars of Jon & Kate Plus 8 promising “an inside look at one of America’s most close-knit families” after the couple has filed for divorce amid allegations of adultery and neglectful parenting?

Publishing giant Zondervan is still advertising Love is in the Mix: Making Meals into Memories, by Kate Gosselin, for release in November. …

Maybe they could just change the title, and everything would be OK. Any suggestions?

Related:

The “Traditional Values” of “Jon and Kate Plus 8″… Plus the Hypocrisy of Evangelical Fandom
June 1, 2009

Rah! Rah! Rah! for Traditional Values! Jon and Kate Divorce! But the Show Must Go On!
June 23, 2009

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What’s Ruben Diaz’ Real Problem? His Gay Brothers?

What’s the matter, Mr. Diaz? Afraid you were going to turn out gay yourself?

Hey, it’s just a question, not an accusation — and a valid question, we think, since we don’t buy the baloney that recognizing full equality for the least of your brothers would “imperil your soul.”

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AAA South Proves, Again, Why “Marriage” Matters

Shades of UPS in New Jersey…

Leave it to the private sector to prove, once again, that marriage — not civil unions, not domestic partnerships, but marriage — does matter:

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ACLU, Lambda Legal, and NCLR Break With Pack, File Amici Curiae Supporting Olson/Boies

In a sudden reversal of strong opposition to the Olson/Boies filing, three heavy hitters — the American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights — filed an amici curiae brief in support of the challenge, late Thursday night:

…courtesy of Law Dork, who calls the brief “a big boost,” and writes:

This is very big news. The initial response, across the board, was that the Olson/Boies suit was a poorly planned, hastily arranged lawsuit by people outside of the “gay establishment” — including from those behind the smart and successful lawsuits brought repeatedly by the Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD)…

GLAD is notably absent [from the amici curiae brief], as is Freedom to Marry.

Is this a sign of a break in Gay, Inc., on the Olson/Boies suit?

Related:

Ted Olson on Our Side? We’re Suspicious.
May 28, 2009

ProtectMarriage.com: New Begging Letter Targets Prop 8 Challenge (Or: Why We Need to Starve This Beast)
May 29, 2009

Olson & Boies’ Filing to Overturn Prop 8
May 30, 2009

S.F. City Attorney Herrera Files Amicus Brief in Support of Federal Challenge to Proposition 8
June 19, 2009

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June 25, 2009

House Dorothys Dutifully Fork Over Cash, Presence at DNC Fundraiser

What shall we do about House Dororthys (and Dorothyettes) Barney Frank, Tammy Baldwin, Joan Garry (who first struck me as utterly spineless when she was head of GLAAD in the early days of the “Stop Dr. Laura” campaign), and Jared Polis (who’s becoming quite the cojone-free party apologist; read the article, not merely the headline) — all of whom were slated to attend tonight’s Gay ATM Fundraiser for the backstabbing DNC?

(Andy Tobias has a plausible excuse; he’s the treasurer of the DNC. But — even though I’ve had casual contact with Andy over the years, and know him to be a good, earnest sort — he really needs to grow a set.)

Meanwhile, Queerty wants to know why the SLDN (Servicemembers Legal Defense Network) is attending, yet plans to march on the White House two days later. We’d like to know why, too.

There was indeed a protest, small but vocal, with a memorable warning-chant for the Democrats:

“We’ll remember in November…”

The Boston Herald has the story, and a very good photo gallery.

Related:

Obama’s Meaningless Memorandum = Desperate Attempt to Stop Johnstown Flood of Gay Dollars Flowing Away from DNC
June 16, 2009

More A-List Gays Boycott DNC Fundraiser, While Barney Frank Plays House Dorothy
June 18, 2009

Stampp Corbin: “I am boycotting the Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council Democratic National Committee event honoring Vice President Biden to drive home my discontent.”
June 19, 2009

Howard Dean, All Is Forgiven (For Now)
June 24, 2009

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