This morning, I came across a Web site for U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s gubernatorial campaign.
A provocative twist: The site may have been juiced with the intent of drawing visitors with the help of more than 2,200 hidden phrases—including “rick perry gay.” (See the phrases here.)
On my inquiry, Hutchison’s campaign spokesman, Jeff Sadosky, initially said he’d look into the matter. He later issued a statement that didn’t indicate how the phrases landed on the site, but said they weren’t condoned and would be removed.
Sadosky said: “We did not know these offensive word associations were being searched for by hundreds of thousands of Texans everyday nor do we condone the computer-generated existence on our Web site. They will be removed promptly.” …
My white lesbian butt, they didn’t know. It’s the oldest Google-spamming trick in the book, loading your site with invisible words and phrases that having nothing to do with your content. (It’ll also get you penalized by Google… usually.)
What year is this again? What century? What planet— oh, wait, it’s Texas.
This is what it’s about — which the article (after the jump) doesn’t tell you until midway:
In 1999, pastor Rick Barr converted two homes he owned in the San Patricio County town of Sinton into halfway houses — which are classified as rehabilitational facilities — primarily for drug offenders recently released from prison. Up to 16 men lived unsupervised in the houses, court records show.
In response, Sinton passed a zoning ordinance three months later that banned correctional and rehabilitational facilities from being located within 1,000 feet of a home, school or church in the town of about 6,000 — effectively banning the halfway houses from the city and clearly placing a substantial burden on Barr’s ministry, [Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht] wrote.
Now that you know it’s about halfway houses for ex-cons — and not even a real church, here’s rest of the story about the idiotic, patently un-American decision from the Texas SC:
Six months ago, black lesbian activist Chastity Kirven stood in the plaza of Dallas City Hall and led the crowd in a deafening chant of then-President-elect Obama’s campaign mantra, “Yes We Can. Yes We Can.”
On Tuesday, May 26, Kirven stood on the patio outside Throckmorton Mining Co. and blasted the Obama administration for allegedly failing to keep the promises he made to the LGBT community.
“I’ve got news for you, President Obama — we’re not going away, we’re here to stay,” Kirven told the crowd. “Tell President Obama, it’s not just the GOP that’s on his butt right now. He now has some pissed gays and lesbians who are going to hold him just as accountable. … All I’ve got to say is, I’m tired of you leaving your promises on the nightstand as you walk out the door after you’ve screwed me. Do something. Prove that you can make history to us. Don’t only be the first black president. Give equal rights to every American.”
While her remarks were perhaps the most incendiary, Kirven wasn’t the only speaker who took square aim at Obama during Tuesday’s Day of Decision Rally, which drew hundreds to the Cedar Springs strip to protest the California Supreme Court’s decision earlier in the day upholding Proposition 8.
It was by far the city’s largest gay-rights demonstration since the City Hall rally of Nov. 15 …
Long list, via email (many thanks, you-know-who-you-are!), massaged for organization & clarity, with live links added:
ARIZONA
Phoenix, Arizona: Gather at 6pm at the southwest corner of Camelback at 7th Avenue for a rally and then march. For more information, contact John Allard at arizona@marriageequality.org
CALIFORNIA
Auburn, California: Gather at 5:30pm at the Placer County Courthouse (101 Maple Street). For more information, contact ca-placer@marriageequality.org
The mayor of San Angelo, Texas, has resigned just ten days after a landslide re-election victory to pursue his relationship with his gay partner, an illegal immigrant.
J W Lown was elected in 2003 as the city’s youngest ever mayor at the age of 32. He has been re-elected three times, gaining 89 per cent of the latest vote, held ten days ago. …
Lown said he had chosen not to take the oath of office while “aiding and assisting” a person who was illegally in the country. …
Even if Lown married his partner by proxy in a state that allows gay marriage, the federal government does not recognise same-sex marriages for immigration purposes.
The short explanation is that the results are a combination of unhealthy lifestyle habits, plus the amount of ED drugs (like Viagra and Cialis) consumed by men in each city. One Oklahoma urologist explains it away with, “A lot of it can be linked to the Southern diet” — which doesn’t explain away Bakersfield and Modesto (two of the most right-wing, gay-hatin’-est regions in California), or Anchorage, or Omaha:
A North Texas legislator during House testimony on voter identification legislation said Asian-descent voters should adopt names that are “easier for Americans to deal with.”
The comments caused the Texas Democratic Party on Wednesday to demand an apology from state Rep. Betty Brown, R-Terrell. But a spokesman for Brown said her comments were only an attempt to overcome problems with identifying Asian names for voting purposes.
The exchange occurred late Tuesday as the House Elections Committee heard testimony from Ramey Ko, a representative of the Organization of Chinese Americans.
Ko told the committee that people of Chinese, Japanese and Korean descent often have problems voting and other forms of identification because they may have a legal transliterated name and then a common English name that is used on their driver’s license on school registrations.
Brown suggested that Asian-Americans should find a way to make their names more accessible.
“Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese — I understand it’s a rather difficult language — do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?” Brown said.
Brown later told Ko: “Can’t you see that this is something that would make it a lot easier for you and the people who are poll workers if you could adopt a name just for identification purposes that’s easier for Americans to deal with?” …
You know what the problem is with racists — and homophobes, and every other kind of -ist and -phobe? They really, truly think they’re not racists (or ‘phobes). They’re really that dumb.
Not dumb in the sense of being incapable of learning; just unedumacated, as Fearless Leader used to say.
Do people like Betty Brown actually not know any Asian-Americans — or anybody who isn’t a white Christian heterosexual with a name like Bubba or Billy Bob?
I suppose I’m privileged to live in a place where so many different cultures (and skin tones) blend together, I take it for granted that it’s up to me to know how to say (and spell) Nguyen (it’s “nwin” for those of you who have never met a Vietnamese-American), or Shreeshankar, or Bacigalupi — and it’s no big deal to simply ask, “How do you say your name?”
As much as I detest having to share my Italian-American heritage with the likes of Rudy Giuliani, I hate the fact that Betty Brown has ovaries.
P.S. My family name was “Americanized” when my great-grandfather got offa da boat, because some dope couldn’t say it or spell it. I’ve spent my entire life explaining that while my surname sounds Anglo, I’m not. And, aside from that annoying little inconvenience, I feel as though something was taken away from me: my name.
I’m just going to reproduce this as I’ve written the record for our upcoming Proposition 8 donor database — I don’t think I need to comment further:
Corporate Legal Consultants 6009 W Parker Rd #149, M/S 301 Plano, TX 75093 Phone: (214) 476-0920
What do you get when you cross Mormonism with Dominionism?
PROTECTMARRIAGE.COM (ANTI-GAY) MR. GEORGE BRUNT - ATTORNEY [Owner, per LinkedIn] CORPORATE LEGAL CONSULTANTS PROVO UT 84604-2828 10/14/08 - $250.00 - 1369259-INC104724
Mormon; BYU.
Why does Brunt gives his address for this donation as Provo, Utah, when he works in Texas… and lists himself as an attorney in Utah, when he’s not shown as a member of the Utah State Bar, but is licensed to practice law in Texas (and in California)?
Because his (presumably “real”) business, Prosper, Inc. (”executive-level coaching for individuals”), is located at 5072 N 300 W, Provo, UT 84604 (Phone: (801) 371-0755; Toll-free: 1-800-748-5199; Fax: (801) 374-2358; www.prosperlearning.com).
What’s really scary about George Brunt: His LinkedIn profile lists two URLs under Brunt’s “Websites” — one for Prosper, Inc., and the other for a 501(c)(3) non-profit called “Constitutional Freedom Foundation”; the site, www.constitutionalfreedomfoundation.org, is dead as of April 11, 2009, so we went to the latest archived version (2006). Bold/italic emphasis ours:
“Dear Concerned Citizen,
“America has always counted on the decency and morality of its people to preserve our values, our constitution, and our moral institutions. Sinister forces are now at work from within our own borders. They would restrict our rights of public worship, undermine our family values, alter the institution of marriage and replace virtue with vice at every turn. They are an organized and well-funded minority. They use the courts and the legal system to their advantage. They are effectively making changes in the foundation of our government – our Constitution. The Constitutional Freedom Foundation is calling upon you to help assure the preservation of our American way of life for future generations. You can make the difference.
“It is in the courts where decisions that have long-reaching impact for our people are made. The front line may be in our families, churches and civic organizations, but the final stand is in the courts. When the well-funded ACLU goes to court to stop people from praying in public or to remove the Star of David or the Ten Commandments from a Courthouse display, we want to challenge their efforts in court.
“The Constitutional Freedom Foundation has been formed to be a voice of morality, family values and responsibility in the courts. We do everything in our power to uphold the Constitution of the United States and to preserve the principles upon which it is based. …
“Timothy B. Lewis, Southern Utah University, has written a series of articles on the constitution that you will find educational and interesting. …”
“The Constitutional Freedom Foundation (CFF) is a nonprofit organization that is committed to defending religious and civil liberties and to protecting traditional marriage and the natural family from mounting threats. By educating the public and providing legal services to safeguard religious liberties, morality, and family values, the CFF acts as a nonprofit private attorney general, where appropriate, in enforcing neglected just laws.
“As a public-interest law firm, the CFF provides a national network of attorneys from disparate practice areas who are committed to defending the religious rights of Americans from every religious tradition and to upholding traditional familyvalues [sic]. The CFF cooperates and coordinates with other organizations with similar missions. …
“The CFF is also dedicated to defending and advancing the centrality of the family, the institution of marriage between a man and a woman, and the sanctity of human life. …”
So, we’re basically talking Dominionism here — crossbred with Mormonism. And that, friends, is whacko-fringe, out-there, scary.
So where does George Brunt fit into all of this? He’s mentioned on the CFF Web site (”If you would like to add a pending case please e-mail information to: George Brunt at gbbrunt@aol.com”), but what’s not mentioned is that he’s the head of the CFF, which Tax Exempt World shows headquartered at George Brunt’s home address in Plano, TX. (This address matches his Shantara Lane address found in Zabasearch.)
What else scares us: We find no information for the Constitutional Freedom Foundation from any of the usual sources we use to check the truth about right-wing orgs (such as SourceWatch and Right Web); Timothy B. Lewis’s ravings (here’s one prefaced with “Forward by George B. Brunt, Chairman of the Constitutional Freedom Foundation”) have been noticed only by such Mormon strongholds as Meridian Magazine, and a Mormon blog called Orson’s Telescope (which, we assume, is a reference to radical anti-gay Mormon and sci-fi hack Orson Scott Card). Even this blog calls the CFF “rather fringe-y sounding” (again, bold emphasis ours):
“Meridian magazine has posted the first of several articles authored by the rather fringe-y sounding Constitutional Freedom Foundation, (no individual author is named), a group of Mormons who see themselves as fulfilling the prophecies about the Constitution hanging by a thread and being saved by the elders of the Church, etc. … Of course, the sorts of things they want to do to protect the Constitution are the very things that others see putting it in danger–gay marriage amendment, Ten Commandments in courthouses, etc. …”
That we can find so little mention of the CFF outside its own Web site (and none whatsoever from the loyal opposition) tells us this outfit is flying way too low under the radar for comfort.
Dear Defenders of the Rest of Us Against People Who Do Not Have the Best Interests of the United States in Mind:
Please do something about this lunatic — who is calling for an overthrow of the U.S. government, leading a secession movement, demanding that our men and women in uniform commit treason (literally), and provoking a frenzy of violence from the sort of radical right-wingers who aren’t all that stable in the first place:
The call by some right wing leaders for rebellion and for the military to refuse the commander in chief’s orders is joined by Chuck Norris who claims that thousands of right wing cell groups have organized and are ready for a second American Revolution. During an appearance on the Glen Beck radio show he promised that if things get any worse from his point of view he may “run for president of Texas.” The martial artist/actor/activist claims that Texas was never formally a part of the United States in the first place and that if rebellion is to come through secession Texas would lead the way.
Today in his syndicated column on WorldNetDaily Norris reiterates the point: “That need may be a reality sooner than we think. If not me, someone someday may again be running for president of the Lone Star state, if the state of the union continues to turn into the enemy of the state.”
He continues; calling on a second American Revolution; “…we’ve bastardized the First Amendment, reinterpreted America’s religious history and secularized our society until we ooze skepticism and circumvent religion on every level of public and private life. …”
Norris claims that; “Thousands of cell groups will be united around the country in solidarity over the concerns for our nation.” The right wing cells will meet during a live telecast, “We Surround Them,” on Friday March 13 at 5 p.m. …
DHS agents, you’ve got a bona fide budding domestic terrorist on your hands. Will you kindly protect the rest of us from this whackjob before one of his minions really goes off the deep end and starts taking pot shots from a bell tower? Or worse?
Of the 1,512 victims targeted due to a sexual-orientation bias:
* 58.9 percent were victims of an offender’s anti-male homosexual bias.
* 24.8 percent were victims of an anti-homosexual bias.
* 13.0 percent were victims of an anti-female homosexual bias.
* 1.8 percent were victims of an anti-heterosexual bias.
* 1.5 percent were victims of an anti-bisexual bias.
Who were some of those 1,512 known victims in 2007?
On September 9, 2007, a 19-year-old gay man and Georgetown University student was followed and attacked by three men who punched him and yelled anti-gay epithets. The student later identified one of his attackers – Phillip Cooney, another 19-year-old Georgetown student – via a Facebook profile.
…..
Friends later expressed shock and claimed Cooney was “one of the nicest and most gentle people we know at this school”. They’re always the nicest people ever until they pummel a gay person half to death.
Alfred Dibble, a gay man who often dressed as a woman, was found beaten, unconscious, and dressed in women’s clothing in downtown Stockton, AZ, on May 19, 2007. He was taken to a local hospital where he died without regaining consciousness on May 23. The Dibble family, joined by anti-violence organizations, asked that his murder be treated as a hate crime.
…..
Erica Keel (1986 - March 21, 2007) was a 21-year-old African American transgender woman in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On March 21, 2007 she was killed in what police classified as a hit-and-run accident but witnesses claimed was homicide.
…..
Witnesses and friends of Keel refute that Keel’s death was accidental. Keel was engaged in sex work at the time, and witnesses claimed to have seen Keel enter the car at Broad Street and Girard Avenue. The car then headed North one block, where witnesses say the driver ejected Keel from the car, and ran over her four times as she lay in the street. Lt. Hearn said Keel’s multiple injuries were due to landing on a parked car and hitting a fire hydrant before landing o the pavement.
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On September 1, 2007, Josie Smith-Malave, 32, a former contestant on the Bravo Network’s Top Chef series, was beaten along with her sister and a gay friend, outside of Partners, a bar in Sea Cliff, NJ. Smith-Malave said that while the were beaten others laughed and took photographs of their ordeal.
…..
The incident started when Smith-Malave, her sister, and Durwood, 30, were asked to leave the bar. Reports vary on why the women were asked to leave the bar. The New York Daily News reported that the women began dancing together, and were escorted from the bar after patrons started making nasty remarks. A crowd of 10 or more patrons followed the women out of the bar and surrounded them, yelling anti-gay slurs.
…..
Smith-Malave said the crowed punched, kicked and spit on them while yelling epithets including “fucking dyke” and “bush muncher.” A witness who lives across the street from the bar and saw the attack said she also heard someone yell “I hope you die of AIDS,” during the attack.
…..
On September 13, The Village Voice reported that Matthew M. Walli – a homeless man originally from Oregon – was arrested in connection with the beating. Police said that Walli forcibly stole a video camera from one of the women, forcing her to fall and injure her knee.1 Walli, 20, was charged with second degree robbery as a hate crime, which is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
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Kenneth Cummings Jr. (1961 - June 4, 2007) a gay man from Pearland, TX, was last seen alive on June 4, 2007. Terry Mangum, 26, was arrested and later confessed to stabbing Cummings to death after luring him from a gay bar. Mangum said he had gone out intending to target a gay man.
…..
In several jail house interviews, Mangum discussed his motive for killing Cummings. He told The Houston Chronicle that he had studied the bible for “thousands and thousands and thousands” of hours, and that God appeared to him in a dream or “visitation” during a prison stay in 2001 and commanded him to kill. After six months of planning, he went to E.J.’s, where he met Cummings. The two went back to Cummings’ home, where Mangum said he stabbed Cummings in the head with a 6” blade.
“I believe I’m Elijah, called by God to be a prophet,” he told reporters. ”…I believe with all my heard that I was doing the right thing.
Mangum said he went to a gay bar specifically for the purposes of targeting a gay man, and that Cummings “just happened to be the one that I bumped into.”
The Facts reporter John Tompkins did ask Mangum about his sexual orientation, during his jailhouse interview with Mangum, but Mangum went out of his way to tell the reporter that he was not homosexual and that he thought homosexuality was an abomination. “I asked him if killing him was like stomping on a bug,” Tompkins would later testify.”He looked at me kind of confused and I rephrased, “Like swatting a mosquito?’ “He said, ‘Yes.’”
Hence the need for federal hate-crime laws. People who target others in such a manner require stronger penalties because they endanger entire classes of people. They are a severe menace to society and must be treated as such.
On August 4, 2007, Michael Wrenn, 47, and his friend Aaron Hudy were assaulted in Seattle, Washington, after Wrenn answered affirmatively when their attacker asked if they were gay. The policeman on the scene did not report the incident as a hate crime.
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At the scene, medics treated Wrenn for a bloody nose, cuts to his chin, and bruises to his body. He would later develop two black eyes.
…..
After the attack, Wrenn and Hudy spoke to the policeman on the scene, and explained to him that they believed the attack was a hate crime, motivated by Wrenn’s sexual orientation. The police office did not get out of his car during the interview. When Wrenn emphasized that the only reason he was attacked was his sexual orientation, the officer responded that to him that being gay “is your issue.”
…..
Roberto Duncanson (1987 - May 12, 2007) was an African American gay man from Brooklyn, New York. On May 12, 2007, he was stabbed to death by Omar Willock, who claimed Duncanson had flirted with him.
…..
On May 12, 2007, Duncanson and Omar Willock, 17, passed each other on St. Mark’s Avenue in Crown Heights. Willock reportedly became enraged, yelled “What are you looking at, f—-r?” and started shouting anti-gay slurs at Duncanson. Willock accused Williams of looking at him, in a way he interpreted as flirting. It’s unclear how Willock knew Duncanson was gay.
Duncanson walked away, and continued on his way to visit a cousin on Brooklyn Avenue. Willock allegedly followed Duncanson to his cousin’s house, and waited for him to come out. When Duncanson emerged from the house, Willock continued following him.
The Murder
As Duncanson kept walking, Willock followed and continued to yell anti-gay epithets at Duncanson. Willock then started a fist fight with Duncanson.The fight ended when Willock took out a knife and stabbed Duncanson as he tried to walk away. Paramedics found Duncanson on the sidewalk.He had been stabbed in the back four times.
…..
There you have the classic “gay panic defense”. If a straight person can claim a gay person flirted with them, or that they perceived the gay person was flirting with them, they supposedly had every right to react with utter horror up to and including vicious murder of that gay person. Funny how women can’t use a similar defense against men they aren’t interested in, or how we can’t do so when straights come on to us. (Guess what–straight sex is as icky to most gay people as gay sex is to straights.)
Satender Singh (July 21, 1980 - July 1, 2007), a gay man of Fijian descent, was attacked on July 1, 2007, while socializing with friends in Natoma Lake state park, near Sacramento, CA. Singh was punched by a man from another group in the park that had made racist and homophobic comments to Singh’s group. Singh fell backwards, hit his head, and lapsed into a coma. Singh died of his injuries four days later when his family removed him from life support.
…..
Singh was the only single member of his group, and was seen hugging and dancing with other men in his group. Another group in the park, made up of Russian immigrants was offended by Singh’s dancing with men and women in his group, and made homophobic and racist comments to Singh and his friends.4)
Bystander Wolfgang Chargin witnessed the exchanges between Singh’s group and the Russian group, and called 911 to warn that a fight was likely to occur. Chagrin witnessed the escalating conflict between the two groups as they used the picnic area, and said that the Russian group seemed especially offended by Singh’s activity. At one point, when Singh’s group went into the water, some of the men in the Russian group walked over and spat on their blankets.
Chagrin emphasized that Singh’s group was never aggressive, though they were confronted several times.5)
…..
Around 8:00 p.m., Singh’s group was leaving the area when some of th men from the Russian group confronted them. in the parking lot.6) A friend of Singh’s, speaking on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation, said the confrontation began when two members of their group returned from a nearby bathroom when two men from the Russian group “saying something” to them.
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At that point, Singh responded to the insults, and the two men turned on him. According to witnesses, the two men said to Singh that they belonged to a Russian evangelical church and that he should go to a “good church” like theirs. According to several witnesses, the men sent their wives and children home and called for several more Slavic men on their cell phones.
When members of Singh’s group – which included a pregnant woman – tried to leave the men blocked them with their bodies. The woman said to the men that she didn’t want to fight them, and one of them said to her “We don’t want to fight you either, we just want your faggot friend.”
One of the Russian men then threw a beer into the face of a member of Singh’s group, and then “sucker punched” Singh. As Singh fell to the pavement, the two men ran away. Singh struck his head on a concrete sidewalk when he fell.
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Gay activists have claimed that Singh’s attackers have ties to a Sacramento-centered evangelical movement among Russian and Latvian immigrants calling themselves The Watchmen on the Walls. According to witnesses, one of Singh’s attackers bragged about their membership in a Russian evangelical church.
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“Good church”, eh? Apparently they don’t teach that “thou shalt not kill” stuff at their “good church”.
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Domer was last seen on October 25 [2007], in a gay neighborhood, at NW 39th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in Oklahoma City. A witness said he and Domer approached two men in an area with several gay bars. The witness was uncomfortable with the situation and had Domer drive him home, but he believed Domer returned to meet the men later.
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Video surveillance footage placed two men resembling Madden and Qualls talking to Domer on October 26, near a car wash on NW 39th and Barnes in Oklahoma City. On November 3, Qualls mother, Tina Melton told police that her son had mentioned “we killed someone.” Melton said that she received an email from Qualls later asking her to forget what he had said.
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Madden’s MySpace page was deleted after Domer’s body was found. It had contained numerous photos of him with several other young men with bald heads swastika tattoos, whom he referred to as his Aryan brothers. The page listed Adolph Hitler as a personal hero, and interests included “securing the white race.”Two days after Domer’s disappearance, Madden wrote in a blog, “Well if you only (k)new the things we have done these past few days it would blow your … mind!!!.” in the previous few days and “it might well be the juice in the needle that kills me. Know what I said?”
…..
On October 9, 2008, Madden pleaded guilty to Domer’s abuction and murder, and was sentenced to four consecutive life terms in prison. He will not be eligible parol in the Domer murder case.
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Thalia Mosqueda, a transgender woman, was shot in the head in the parking lot of a Daytona, FL, nightclub on July 29, 2007, and died soon after. Her killer, Cesar Villazano, said he became enraged when Mosqeuda made sexual advances toward him.
…..
On July 29, Mosqueda went to Garibaldi, a restaurant which operated as a club in the evenings, and catered to a clientele of Latino crossdressers, transgender Latinos, and gay men.
Mosqueda encountered Cesar Villazano at Garibadli when, according to Wesley Rosser, a friend Mosqueda’s, Viillazano was trying to persuade a drag queen at the club to go with him in his car. When she refused, he pulled her hair and tried to force her into the car.
The shooting occurred when Mosqueda intervened, saying to Villazano, “Leave her alone. Can’t you see she doesn’t want to be with you? Villazano argued with Mosqueda before pulling a gun, firing two shots in the air, and then fired a shot at Mosqueda, striking her in the head.
…..
On June 20, 2008, Villazano was found guilty of second-degree murder in Mosqueda’s death. On July 8, 2008, he was sentenced to life in prison. Villazano rejected a prosecutors’ plea offer that would have gotten him a 25 year sentence in exchange for a guilty plea. Villazano is in the U.S. illegally and faces deportation if he is ever released from prison.
Unfortunately in the wake of Proposition 8, Proposition 102 and Amendment 2 it’s anticipated that the trend will be for anti-gay hate crimes to continue to increase. Such legislation is typically followed by spikes in crimes against LGBT people as it empowers bigots. They feel entitled to take out their hatred against us because the law has, once again, defined us as inferior and second-class citizens.
We must reverse the trend of anti-gay legislation and put in place laws protecting our rights–the same sorts of laws that protect everybody else. Otherwise we’ll soon be no better off than nations we typically denounce as human rights violators, if we can even do so at this point.
Role Of Religion In Presidential Campaign Heads 2008 ‘Top Ten’ List Of Church-State Stories
The role of religion in the presidential campaign tops the 2008 “Top Ten” list of top church-state stories, according to the editors of Church & State.
The monthly magazine, published by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, is the nation’s only news periodical devoted exclusively to the intersection of religion and government.
Said Church & State publisher Barry W. Lynn, “It was a wild and crazy year. To tell you the truth, I’m glad it’s coming to a close. I’m hopeful 2009 will be a lot better.”
After studying the past 12 months of news, the editors selected the following 10 stories as the most important and most interesting church-state developments for the year.
1. The Role of Religion in the Presidential Campaign: Not since 1960 when John F. Kennedy the first Roman Catholic president was elected, has religion played such a large role in a presidential campaign. News media representatives grilled candidates on what sins they had committed and what their favorite Bible verses were. Barack Obama fought false rumors that he is secretly a Muslim, and Mitt Romney’s Mormonism became a controversial topic. Candidates were held accountable for the incendiary comments of their pastors and their clergy supporters, such as the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and TV preacher John Hagee. Many observers thought the whole thing was an unholy mess, especially in a nation that separates religion and government.
2. The Resurgence of the Religious Right: While pundits and progressives have proclaimed the demise of the Religious Right, the fundamentalist political movement remained extraordinarily powerful. Republican John McCain found it necessary to name evangelical Sarah Palin as his running mate to mollify the GOP’s restive religious base, and Religious Right forces rammed through bans on same-sex marriage in California, Florida and Arizona. Moderate evangelical Richard Cizik was forced out as government affairs representative at the National Association of Evangelicals after coming under fire from Religious Right forces.
3. The Battle Over Gay Marriage: Bans on same-sex marriage were approved in California, Florida and Arizona with conservative religious forces leading the drive. California’s approval of Proposition 8, with massive funding from members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was particularly contentious. The Mormons, joined by the Roman Catholic hierarchy and evangelical Protestant congregations, were successful in passing a constitutional amendment that takes away the right of same-sex couples to marry and reflects church doctrine in civil law. The issue now moves back to the state Supreme Court.
4. The Ascendancy of Rick Warren: Once known primarily as a mega-church pastor and best-selling author (The Purpose Driven Life), the Rev. Rick Warren has rapidly moved into position as the nation’s most prominent preacher, despite right-wing views on reproductive freedom, gay rights and church-state separation. Warren, a Southern Baptist who heads Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., is viewed by progressives as Jerry Falwell in a Hawaiian shirt with an ace PR team. After hosting a presidential debate stacked toward John McCain and being asked to give the invocation at Barack Obama’s inauguration, many think Warren seems destined to be the new Billy Graham.
5. Religious Right Influence at Justice Department: Religious Right influence at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) was exposed this year. According to an internal DOJ investigation reported in the media in July, senior aides in the department used religious and political criteria to hire staff members for non-political positions. Monica Goodling, a top adviser to the attorney general, checked to see if job applicants were “pro-God in public life” and held right-wing views on abortion, homosexuality and other issues. (Goodling is a graduate of TV preacher Pat Robertson’s Regent University.) DOJ also posted a legally dubious memorandum this year insisting that the federal government may give grants to “faith-based” social service agencies that discriminate in hiring, even if Congress has explicitly banned such bias.
6. Battles Over Creationism in Public Schools: New battles have erupted over the teaching of evolution in public schools. Blocked by the courts from teaching fundamentalist religious concepts directly in biology classes, Religious Right forces are trying a backdoor strategy. They are demanding that schools teach the “strengths and weaknesses” of evolution, a euphemism for creationist ideas. Over the heated objections of educators, scientists and civil liberties activists, the Louisiana legislature approved an “academic freedom” law encouraging such instruction in the state’s schools. Now the Texas State Board of Education is debating a similar proposal as part of its 10-year review of science standards.
7. Church Politicking Plot: The Religious Right’s dream of building a fundamentalist church-based political machine took a big step forward in 2008 when more than 30 pastors used their pulpits to endorse Republican political candidates. They acted at the behest of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a wealthy Religious Right legal outfit that wants to challenge the federal tax law ban on partisan politicking by tax-exempt groups. The ADF, which was founded by TV preachers and other religious broadcasters, hopes the Internal Revenue Service will revoke participating churches’ tax exemptions leading to a court showdown.
8. Defeat of Jeb Bush Referenda: Florida Gov. Jeb Bush saw his school voucher subsidies for religious and other private schools overturned by the state Supreme Court in 2006. Undeterred, the now former governor’s allies on an obscure tax commission engineered two measures onto the November 2008 ballot that would have repealed the state constitution’s ban on public funding of religion as well as diluted its provision for a strong system of public schools. To Bush’s dismay, the state Supreme Court on Sept. 3 struck the referenda from the ballot, derailing the scheme.
9. Blocking of ‘Christian’ License Plate: The South Carolina legislature unanimously approved a special “Christian” license plate featuring a bright yellow cross, a stained-glass church window and the words “I Believe.” Backed by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, four local clergy and two minority faith groups challenged the government favoritism toward one faith. On Dec. 11, a federal district court blocked issuance of the plates. The judge’s action may forestall similar sectarian plates under consideration in other states.
10. The Christmas Wars: It has become an annual holiday tradition Religious Right groups and their allies in the right-wing media launch a yearly crusade to stop the alleged secularization of Christmas and to pressure government to include Christian symbols in the holiday mix. They rail against stores’ use of the term “Happy Holidays” and insist that advertisements say “Merry Christmas” instead. This year, much of the attention focused on a Washington State battle where an atheist Winter Solstice sign was positioned near a Christian Nativity scene in the state capital. Fox News pundit Bill O’Reilly and an array of Religious Right scolds lambasted Gov. Christine Gregoire for allowing the anti-religious sentiment. Ironically, credit for the atheist display actually should go to the Alliance Defense Fund, a Religious Right legal group that sued Gregoire last year, insisting that the Capitol is an open forum where a Nativity scene (and all other forms of speech) must be allowed.
Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom. Americans Unitied for Separation of Church and State Links: Homepage; Americans United (Press Center); Americans United (Action Center)
Good question. The Aggie Insurgency (”Aggie,” FYI, is the nickname for any sports team, or team member, or, I’d guess, sports fan, at Texas A&M University) illustrates something I’ve been thinking about for some time: that the best exposés of anti-equality bigots are done by the bigots’ own homies. (I know that after our Prop 8 database is launched, in alpha, and I go to work on filling in details, I’ll naturally be drawn first to the bigots in my own backyard — such as my hometown’s ex-mayor, whom I took on directly at a city council meeting, who could not be swayed to acknowledge a Gay Pride Day requested by my old high school… despite being reminded that institutionalized homophobia led to the well-known and bloody suicide of Stuart Matis right on the steps of the ex-mayor’s own Mormon temple. But I digress, as usual.)
Jeffery Puryear and Clair Nixon form the Aggie archetype. Both earned degrees from Texas A&M and both returned to their alma mater to contribute to its academic mission. Each is devoted to his family, work, and church, owns his own house and pays taxes—conforming in every way to the image that Texas A&M markets regarding the solid citizenship and family devotion practiced by Aggies worldwide. …
Although breaking up another Aggie’s marriage is definitely not an activity encouraged by the Aggie Code of Honor, it’s precisely what Puryear and Nixon—and arguably many conservative Aggies—would like to do with regard to these two one-time classmates and dedicated Texas A&M employees.
Is Homewrecking a New Aggie Tradition?
Jeffery Puryear (B.S. ’78) will earn slightly more than twenty thousand dollars this year as a part-time laboratory associate for the University’s Department of Ecosystem Science and Management. … Despite [financial hardships], Puryear recently scraped together a one thousand dollar donation to Yes on 8, a political action committee opposed to gay marriage in California.
Clair Nixon (M.S. ’77, Ph.D. ’80), a professor of accounting in the Mays Business School, stands on the other side of Texas A&M’s salary structure. However, he also faces his share of financial challenges. As a temple recommend-holding member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Nixon tithes ten percent of both his annual $157,137 salary and any ancillary income he earns through private consulting. A devout Mormon who has served as bishop of a local “ward” (congregation), Nixon takes seriously the Old Testament admonition to multiply and replenish the earth. He and his wife Laura have ten children.
Yet, when Mormon “prophet, seer, and revelator,” Thomas S. Monson, issued a mobilization order against the California Supreme Court’s legalization of gay marriage last spring, Dr. Nixon managed to find three thousand dollars to fund the same PAC that successfully urged 52% of Californians to deny gay marriage rights in the Nov. 4 election. …
The New Texas Philanthropy: Keep Gay Californians from Marrying
Altogether, conservative Texans donated $1.35 million to keep marriage in California between “one man and one woman,” included Mormon Alan Stock, owner of some 350 Cinemark theaters.* The Plano-based movie magnate gave $10,000 to Yes on 8, despite the fact that his cinemas are currently profiting from showing Milk, in which Sean Penn plays gay rights hero Harvey Milk, San Francisco’s legendary city supervisor and “Mayor of Castro Street,” who became America’s first openly gay elected official in the 1970s. …
More at the link, and worth the read — with Part 2 to come: “Two gay Aggies recount the joy of their California wedding and their disappointment at the passage of Proposition 8.”
Even though it’s the AG’s duty to defend state laws, he believes the prop must go because the right to marry is “an aspect of liberty that the Court has concluded is guaranteed by the state Constitution.”
As the state’s top elected lawyer, Brown is certainly qualified to challenge any measure that discriminates against a group of perfectly legal citizens. He’s on solid ground, and when it comes to laws aimed squarely at the GLBT community, he can take comfort in modern Texas political history, odd as that may seem.
In 1979, a Dallas teacher sued the state over its sodomy law. Known as “2106″ in the criminal code, it banned certain acts between same-sex couples in the privacy of their home, but not between straight couples. A federal judge ruled the Texas law unconstitutional in 1982 because it violated the constitutional rights of privacy and equal protection.
The state’s new Attorney General, the liberal and crusading Jim Mattox, agreed with the judge and withdrew an appeal of the decision that had been filed by his predecessor. Even though the Texas AG, like his west coast counterpart, is charged with defending state laws, the job also allows for doing the right thing. Mattox did, and caught holy hell from conservatives…not that he exactly minded.
Dave Richards, the head of litigation at the time, explained the reasoning in his book Once Upon A Time In Texas: “…we came to the view that we would exercise our best legal judgments; if in that judgment the statute was not defensible on constitutional grounds or on the factual record, then the office was justified in dropping the defense of the statute.”
Even the local district attorney, Henry Wade (of Roe v Wade fame), testified that the law had no compelling state interest that he could discern.
Ultimately, the full Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to hear the case, and the sodomy law remained on the books by a razor thin 8 to 7 margin. Mattox, however, was presciently ahead of the curve. …
Finally, in 2003, came the dramatic dénouement: the United States Supreme Court overturned the Texas law in Lawrence v Texas. The tally was 6 to 3. Ronald Reagan’s own Anthony Kennedy wrote the majority opinion. He was joined in concurrence by fellow Reagan appointee Sandra Day O’Connor. Four of the six justices who overturned the discriminatory provision were appointed by Republican presidents. …
In case you can’t guess, we agree with 99% of the comments.
Nice try, Bob, but you leave us with nothing but disgust and an even stronger reserve never to patronize the Cinemark chain again — nor to be associated with a Vichy Faggot like you.
You’re an embarrassment, Bob, to LGBTs and to yourself. May you someday cultivate a sense of self-respect, which you’ve obviously traded for that big paycheck you’re getting to be Cinemark’s token House Negro.
As thrilled as we are to hear that X-thousand people came out in San Francisco and New York and Chicago for Saturday’s nationwide Proposition 8 protests, we’re even more impressed by the smaller cities and towns where a hundred people, or just a dozen, gay and straight, braved brutal climates, of both the environmental and the anti-gay varieties. It’s not easy to stand on a street corner and absorb the hate even when you’ve got 2,000 people on your side; we can’t begin to imagine what it’s like to do the same thing when your group numbers a few dozen — or just a few.
So, let’s look at a quick rundown of the best numbers I could find for the “big” protests, and then take a moment to appreciate some brave souls who took up the mantle of equality for all in places you might least expect anyone to do it.
The Big Protests: 2,000 People or More
New York - ? (I’ve heard everything from 4,000 on up.)
Several dozen protested in downtown Anchorage Saturday afternoon. …
Alaska was the first state in the nation to constitutionally ban gay marriage, back in 1998, when voters approved the change by a more than a two-to-one margin.
About 25 gay rights advocates held up signs in front of Fairbanks City Hall…
Voters in Alaska approved a ban on gay marriage 10 years ago.
An Army wife organized the gathering in Fairbanks, which started at 9:30 a.m. and involved waving signs in front of passing motorists on Cushman Street.
One sign read, “Love is love.” Another: “Equal rights for all.” A man held a sign saying, “I am Sarah Palin’s gay friend.”
Kristen Magann, the organizer, described herself as heterosexual, happily married and a believer that sexual preference should not determine civil rights.
“I want to make this message heard,” she stated in an e-mail, “that all people no matter their sexual orientation should be allowed the same rights under the law.”
More than 100 people rallied on the corners of East Magnolia Street and Cornwall Avenue in Bellingham the morning of Saturday, Nov. 15, to protest California’s recent ban on gay marriage.
Chants of “It’s about love not hate,” and “Hey mister president, what do you say, don’t hate families because they’re gay” filled blocks of downtown Bellingham during the two-hour protest. …
The protesters in Bellingham were outside the Federal Building from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. A smaller group continued the protest outside the Bellingham Farmer’s Market after noon.
The ironic marquee of the Empress Theatre on Virginia Street served as an appropriate backdrop to a Proposition 8 protest Saturday night.
On one level of the marquee, the Empress Theatre advertised an upcoming gay and lesbian night, while one line below it advertised the Latter-day Saints Concert series.
The Saturday concert was what prompted about 75 people to gather in front of the theater chanting and demanding a return of same-sex marriage rights that the passage of Prop. 8 eliminated.
Solano County is the only Bay Area county where voters approved Prop. 8.
About 75 people showed up to a Fairfield rally organized by Fairfield High School student Crystal Nievera, 16.
“Not everyone voted yes on 8 (in Solano County),” said Nievera, who feared a small showing based on what her Facebook group told her.
The protesters met at Fairfield City Hall and marched to Solano County Municipal Court, where they would be more visible on busy Texas Street.
The young organizer invoked the spirit of slain Fairfield councilman Matt Garcia, a strong supporter of youth before he was gunned down in September at age 22.
“This is why today, I’m trying to make a difference,” Nievera said.
Toni Pinck stood quietly next to Chauvin, holding a “No on Prop. 8” sign. Her son was married in San Francisco Aug. 15.
“I’m here to show support for people that are still fighting for their civil rights,” she said. “I wouldn’t have been able to vote for Proposition 8 if it weren’t for people who fought for the woman’s right to vote many years ago.”
Marina Martinez and Evelyn Iraheta, also Tracy residents, were married Oct. 24 in Stockton. They said they thought their neighbors were supportive of their marriage before Proposition 8 was introduced in June, until the “Yes on 8” signs began to appear. …
Demonstrators also took to the streets of Salinas against Prop 8. The Salinas march happened to take place on the same day an event at Hartnell College called for the strengthening of families.
. . .
The latest returns in Monterey County show the Proposition 8 race was much closer, than Santa Cruz County. No on 8 collected 52% of the total vote.
Young gay students, middle-aged white and Latino couples and community activists came together Saturday on the city’s streets to protest passage of Proposition 8. …
“We are here because we need to remind people we live in a nation under civil law and Prop. 8 forces some to live according to the religious views of others,” said Randall Lopez, an organizer with the Inland Empire Human Rights Coalition, which held the local protest. …
On Saturday morning, about 30 people gathered in front of Colton City Hall to kick off the rally. …
Nicolas Daily, 19, of Redlands, who described himself as a gay black man, stood high on the steps urging the group to join him in singing “Let it Be” and “Somewhere over the Rainbow.”
“I honestly just want people to know this is not going to go away,” he said. “We are going to be out here until we get our rights.”
Cherie Stevens, Mother of gay son: “We want our son to have the very same rights as his straight brothers.”
Cherie and her husband were among a group of 60 individuals at the Bonneville County Courthouse who all wanted to make their voices and opinions heard. They say our country was founded on the idea of equality and will now just take some time before this rings true for everyone.
Jamee Greer took charge of a sizable crowd that united and protested Saturday in favor of gay marriage rights, a group pulled together in Missoula by the Internet and text messages.
He gave the group its marching orders, announcing the rules of the road, as the protesters carried signs and prepared to march from North Higgins Avenue to the Missoula County Courthouse.
“This is about basic human rights and civil rights not being met here at home in Montana,” said Greer…
In Missoula, Brian Cook wore a picture of his 21-year-old gay son, Andrew Sullivan-Cook, who was in Dallas marching with Join the Impact protesters. “I’m here, not only in support of my son’s rights, but it’s simply the right thing to do,” said Cook. “Even if my son wasn’t gay, I’d be here.”
Cook said his daughter, and 15-month-old grandson, would be marching in Dallas alongside his son.
About 65 people are gathered in front of Grand Forks’s Town Square this afternoon to protest the passage of Proposition 8 in California…
The group first came together at about 12:30 p.m. in front of Grand Forks City Hall. The protest is part of a nationwide event in 300 cities, according to jointheimpact.com. The Grand Forks event is scheduled to run until 3:30 p.m.
At about 1:30 p.m., the group left their spot in front to move to Town Square at the corner of DeMers Avenue and Third Street.
Horns were honking for several hours early Saturday afternoon, supporting about 120 gay rights activists with signs and flags who were protesting the recent approval of California’s Proposition 8. …
There were many supportive honks throughout the afternoon, said John McClelland, president of the Stonewall Democrats of Denton County, a gay and lesbian political organization.
Jack Harnstrom and Jon Hill have been partners for 14 years, but when California was set to vote on banning same-sex marriages, the Duluth residents raced to Palm Spring, Calif., to be wed.
Their wedding ceremony was Nov. 3, a day before California voted to take away that right. On Saturday afternoon, the couple joined about 75 others at a gay rights rally against California’s Proposition 8 at Lake Avenue and Superior Street in downtown Duluth.
More than 120 people lined the street in front of the Federal Building Saturday afternoon to protest the recent passage of a California ballot proposal banning same-sex marriage.
Signs reading “Stop the Hate” and “Equal Rights for All” attracted honks as passing motorists showed support. The crowd stretched nearly a full block along West Michigan Avenue.
They were among about 100 people who attended the rally in front of MSU Auditorium.
Organized by MSU Alliance of Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, Transgendered and Straight Ally Students, the protest was one of hundreds that took place Saturday nationwide.
Among the nationwide turnouts Saturday was a gathering of about 40 people at the corner of Main and University streets in Peoria. The group protested the decision that affected an estimated 18,000 California couples seeking the legal distinction. …
“This is a more conservative area, and we know that. Everybody knows someone who is gay. A lot of times it’s just not talked about. But we still participate in the homeowners’ associations, or neighborhood watch groups. … We buy Girl Scout cookies from neighbors’ kids.
“I do what I can to support my neighbors and their families. Why not support me and my family, my relationship?”
University students and Champaign-Urbana families took to the streets Saturday to protest the recent passing of Proposition 8 in California which bans gay marriage. …
The event in Campustown was sponsored by the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Resources and was organized by Brooke Elliot, senior in Education, and Virginia McCreary, graduate student.
Elliot said they planned a protest on campus because many people were not able to get to Chicago for its protest. …
About 80 protestors stood on the corners with colorful signs. Some cars driving down Green Street honked in support of the cause.
At 1 p.m. the protestors had a moment of silence which was broken by a car honking in support of the protest. The protestors then marched down Green Street to Fourth Street and back again shouting their message and waving their signs.
The protestors were met with little resistance.
On two occasions, groups of students walking past the protestors made remarks in opposition of the protest.
One worker at Potbelly Sandwich Works opened the door as the protestors were walking past and said, “Good job guys!”
Every time a car honked, they cheered. A group of about 20 people stood at the corner of Main Street and Jefferson Boulevard in downtown South Bend on Saturday, waving signs in support of same-sex marriage. …
“It sets a precedent,” said Mandy Studdard, who helped organize the South Bend rally. “People say ‘If the rest of the country doesn’t want this, why should we have it here?’ We’ve got to set a different precedent. That’s not how it’s supposed to be.”
About 50 people protested in Jackson outside the state capitol…
“[W]hen people see protests happening around the country, they’ll understand that this isn’t just an issue that’s happening somewhere else, this is an American issue happening everywhere, because it affects all of us,” organizer Brent Cox said.
A mixed group of students and local activists marched in protest today as part of a national day of action against the passage of California’s constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
Nearly 100 students and residents joined for a march from the drill field around campus and back chanting slogans, bearing signs and waving and cheering at passing cars.
“We’re in southwest Virginia, we want to improve the LGBT community’s visibility and we want people here to know we exist,” said organizer Tami Grossman.
About 35 people gathered in front of Greenville City Hall on Saturday afternoon to protest voter passage of California’s Proposition 8, a referendum that reversed a state supreme court ruling allowing gay marriage. …
The group protested peacefully and without incident, displaying signs and flags representing gay pride. They sang songs of protest, led by Georgia Winfree, of the group Someone’s Sister, then marched together along Fifth Street where an occasional passing car honked in response.
In Macon on Saturday, more than 50 advocates for Join the Impact, an international organization supporting equal rights for people who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, protested the California Proposition 8 vote outside City Hall.
Protesters waved signs reading “What Would Martin Do?” “Fight the H8” and “Would You Rather I Marry Your Daughter?” …
“Today’s protest is a small piece of the puzzle,” said Alex Webb, organizer of the Macon rally. “This started off as an online movement and has become a national and international phenomenon. There are people in London standing with us right now … standing with us against our treatment as second-class citizens, standing for equal rights for all.”
150 people came out on a cold and rainy Saturday afternoon to show support for same-sex marriage and solidarity with gay and lesbian people in California. …
Protesters gathered at the corner of Elmwood Avenue and Bidwell Parkway with signs that advocated equality under state marriage laws for all people. The event began at 1:30pm and also featured remarks by local activist Kitty Lambert and New York State Assembly member Sam Hoyt.
Standing on the steps of City Hall, more than 70 gay men, lesbians and their supporters yesterday protested a California vote banning same-sex marriage and called for all states to provide civil marriage “equality.” …
A steady stream of drivers crawling across usually crowded Main Street honked their horns in support of the crowd. Many drivers yelled out “Yes” and “Way to go” or waved their fists in solidarity. For at least the first hour of the demonstration, no passers-by said or did anything in opposition to the gay-marriage cause.
“Westchester is a very, very affirming place to live,” said Scott Havelka of Rye Brook, interim executive director of The Loft, a gay community services center in White Plains, which supported the rally.
About 100 supporters of marriage equality for same-sex couples stood in a steady drizzle outside Burlington City Hall on Saturday to register their disappointment with the outcome of the Proposition 8 vote in California Nov. 4.
Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force field director Robyn Maguire rallied the crowd, insisting that Vermont could do better than California.
“We want Vermont to reclaim its role in this important civil rights issue,” Maguire said. “It’s been eight years and it’s time for us to move forward. Now more than ever does Vermont matter.”
Gay marriage proponents united Saturday in grass-roots protests around the country — including one in Market Square. …
“It’s a matter of equality,” said Forest Stone, a Portsmouth resident, as she stood in the rain Saturday among nearly 100 other sign-touting, umbrella-gripping demonstrators.
Like dozens of others, Stone and her 6-year-old daughter Annalie both held bright signs facing traffic in front of the North Church, while some people in passing cars encouraged the efforts with honks and shouts.
“We’re small but mighty,” said protest organizer Jennifer Rowe today.
Rowe, along with Amanda Zuke, Kyle Cardoza, Liz Laplante and two other concerned citizens, gathered outside Sault Ste. Marie’s Civic Centre to protest the recent adoption of California’s Proposition 8, outlawing same-sex marriage.
“We’re here to show our support for those in the United States who are fighting to get same-sex marriage recognized and for human rights across the board,” Rowe told SooToday.com. …
“The battle may have been fought and won in Canada to allow people to marry whoever they want, but being respected just as another human being is still a problem,” said Rowe. “There’s still a long way to go in some cases.” …
Rowe says she’s already started planning something to happen locally in support of Join the Impact’s fight.
At first I thought I was seeing a rehash of the gruesome murder of James Byrd, Jr. I was sick to realize I wasn’t.
From the lynching capital of the nation, where a “monument to the Confederacy dominates the front lawn of the recently remodeled Lamar County Courthouse,” Paris, Texas:
With a black man dead and two white men in jail on murder charges, race relations are again under strain in this northeast Texas county seat, still haunted by high-profile lynchings from its distant past and protests over the jailing of a black teenager two years ago.
Motorists found Brandon Demon “Big Boy” McClelland’s mangled body early Sept. 16 in northeast Lamar County, near a curve in a two-lane county road. Authorities first suspected the 24-year-old was the victim of a hit and run, killed by a speeding lumber truck.
But suspicions soon turned to the victim’s white drinking buddies: Shannon Keith Finley and Charles Ryan Crostley. Witnesses told police that the men admitted running down Mr. McClelland after an argument. Both suspects maintain their innocence.
District Attorney Gary Young, who is white, said there’s no evidence that the killing was a hate crime. But his office welcomes any information on the case, he said.
That doesn’t satisfy friends and family of the victim and other members of the black community, including a contingent of the New Black Panthers, who suspect a cover-up and see shades of the dragging death of James Byrd Jr. a decade ago in Jasper, Texas.
“Gary Young decided from the start it was not a hate crime,” said Brenda Cherry, who is black and a co-founder of Concerned Citizens for Racial Equality. “They’re not going to do anything to make Paris look bad. That’s the main thing around here.”
The victim’s mother, Jackie McClelland, also believes race played a part in her son’s death, noting the extent of his injuries.
“I think it was a hate crime,” she said. “We couldn’t have an open casket.” …
Much more at the link.
Can’t we just wall off these “Confederate” towns into one large, inescapable compound, and be done with it?
Needville Independent School District Violates State Law With Suspension of Five-Year-Old
HOUSTON — October 2 — The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Texas today filed a lawsuit against the Needville Independent School District (NISD) for punishing a five-year-old American Indian kindergarten student for practicing and expressing his family’s religious beliefs and heritage by wearing his hair long in violation of school rules.
School officials have forced Adriel Arocha into isolated in-school suspension because he and his family refuse to abide by a district mandate that he stuff his long hair, part of his American Indian religious and cultural heritage, down the back of his shirt while at school — a requirement that would cause Adriel shame, embarrassment and physical discomfort.
“Adriel Arocha’s parents have raised him to practice and be proud of his religion and culture as an American Indian, which includes wearing his uncut hair in two long braids,” said Lisa Graybill, Legal Director for the ACLU of Texas. “NISD recognized that Adriel’s religious beliefs exempt him from its dress code requirement that boys have short hair, but the alternate policy they adopted for him is still unlawful.”
Adriel’s parents, Kenny Arocha and Micelle Betenbaugh, have raised their son according to his father’s American Indian religious beliefs. Kenny and Adriel Arocha believe that one’s hair should only be cut for life-changing occasions, such as the death of a loved one. They believe their long hair is a sacred symbol of their own lives. The five-year-old’s hair has never been cut.
Nearly eight months after Adriel’s parents first requested an exemption from the district’s dress code, and only after the family appealed the Needville School Board’s initial denial, the district finally conceded less than a week before school started that Adriel’s long hair is part of his religious heritage and that he cannot be forced to cut it.
But instead of simply exempting him from that part of the dress code, NISD officials are requiring that Adriel keep his thick, foot-long hair “tightly woven” into a single braid and stuffed down the back of his shirt at all times, and to re-prove his religious sincerity to NISD officials every school year.
Adriel’s parents have refused to subject their son to this degrading and impracticable policy. His mother, Michelle Betenbaugh, said, “Asking a five-year-old to keep a foot of hair shoved down his shirt is not just humiliating, it is impractical and unhygienic in Houston’s sweltering climate.”
As punishment for non-compliance with its dress code policy, NISD has segregated Adriel from his kindergarten class and assigned him to in-school suspension every school day since Sept. 3. In-school suspension is the harshest discipline the law permits for a child his age.
“NISD is trying to force Adriel and his parents to choose between practicing and expressing his religion and identity, and obtaining a public education,” said Fleming Terrell, staff attorney for the ACLU of Texas. “But Texas law and the First Amendment both prohibit the district from forcing parents and students to make this choice.”
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, charges that NISD’s actions violate Betenbaugh’s and Arocha’s rights to raise Adriel according to their family’s religion, heritage and identity, as well as Adriel’s constitutional and statutory rights to free exercise of religion and free expression. Courts have held that the First and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution protect students’ rights to dress in conformation with their religious beliefs. Texas’ Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) provides additional protections.
“The Constitution protects the right of all people in this country to express their religious beliefs as they see fit,” said Daniel Mach, Director of Litigation for the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. “The same law protects Catholic students who wear a rosary, Christian students who wear a cross or Jewish students who wear a Star of David. Yet the school board has ignored this basic principle by punishing this young child’s expression of his faith and heritage.”
Section 28.002(a) of the Education Code defines the required foundation and enrichment curriculum for school districts and charter schools but does not identify courses that school districts must offer. Education Code subsection 28.002(a)(2)(H) provides that the enrichment curriculum will include “religious literature, including the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and New Testament, and its impact on history and literature,” but the Legislature did not mandate that this curriculum instruction be provided in independent courses. The State Board of Education, however, may provide for enrichment curriculum offerings in school districts by rule.
In furtherance of the enrichment curriculum requirement concerning “religious literature, including the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and New Testament, and its impact on history and literature,” section 28.011 of the Education Code authorizes but does not require school districts and charter schools to offer elective courses on the Hebrew Scriptures and its impact or on the New Testament and its impact. Such discretion does not, however, mean that school districts or charter schools are not required to comply with the curriculum requirements in subsection 28.002(a)(2).
If a school district or charter school chooses to offer a course authorized by section 28.011 and fewer than fifteen students at a campus register to enroll in the course, the district or charter school is not required to provide the course at that campus for that semester, but that does not mean that the school is not required to comply with the curriculum requirements in subsection 28.002(a)(2).
Nursery staff must be alert for racist remarks among toddlers, a [U.K.] government-sponsored agency report has said.
The National Children’s Bureau guide, Young Children and Racial Justice, is meant to help identify potentially racist attitudes in youngsters.
OK, so far, so good. After all, prejudice is learned, and learned early, right? And there are certain red flags in childhood that indicate a possible tendency toward, say, serial murder. So it’s not unreasonable to watch for signs of “potentially racist attitudes,” and try to steer a child in the right direction.
The 336-page guide said staff should investigate the reasons behind apparent racial prejudice.
It said: “A child may react negatively to a culinary tradition other than their own by saying, ‘Yuck!”‘.
That may indicate a lack of familiarity with that particular food, or “more seriously a reaction to a food associated with people from a particular ethnic or cultural community”.
What? Are they serious? Did it ever occur to these people that kids say “Yuck!” because, oh, I dunno, maybe the food in question just tastes lousy?
Let’s see… When I was a kid, I hated tomatoes and mushrooms. And since tomatoes and mushrooms are key ingredients in pasta sauce… OMG! That must mean I hated Italians! (Never mind that I’m an Italian-American.) And now that I’m grown up, and I love tomatoes and mushrooms, that must mean I’ve stopped hating Italians.
One more thing: I happen to have a very special fondness for Filipinos (I don’t know why; I just do), and have always wanted to visit the Philippines — but you couldn’t pay me to put a balut in my mouth, no matter who I offended. Do I associate baluts with Filipinos? Sure. Does refusing to eat a two-week-old, half-formed duck embryo in the shell mean I’m having a racist reaction to Filipinos? No, it means I refuse to eat a two-week-old, half-formed duck embryo in the shell, that’s what it means.
Next, an illustration of the frightening ignorance of one Dallas city commissioner, and one Dallas judge:
A special meeting about Dallas County traffic tickets turned tense and bizarre this afternoon.
County commissioners were discussing problems with the central collections office that is used to process traffic ticket payments and handle other paperwork normally done by the JP Courts.
Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield, who is white, said it seemed that central collections “has become a black hole” because paperwork reportedly has become lost in the office.
Commissioner John Wiley Price, who is black, interrupted him with a loud “Excuse me!” He then corrected his colleague, saying the office has become a “white hole.”
That prompted Judge Thomas Jones, who is black, to demand an apology from Mayfield for his racially insensitive analogy.
Mayfield shot back that it was a figure of speech and a science term. …
Good god, every ten-year-old knows what a black hole is!
I bet Price and Jones think the word “niggardly” (adj, “scant, meager, very little”) is a racist slur, too.
Adds the Dallas Morning News:
A black hole, according to Webster’s, is perhaps “the invisible remains of a collapsed star, with an intense gravitational field from which neither light nor matter can escape.”
What do they call collapsed matter so dense that neither light nor matter can penetrate it? Is there such a term? If not, there should be — in honor of John Wiley Price.
(Houston, Texas) A Houston city worker accused of shooting a co-worker in what her father claims was retaliation for homophobic bullying has been released on bail.
Natasha Latrice Akins, 24, is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. She was ordered not to have any contact with her alleged victim, Dave Whitfield Jr.
Police say the shooting occurred as the two were clocking in at the Houston Department of Public Works and Engineering. Whitfield was shot six times, suffering wounds to his chest and leg. The injuries are not life-threatening and Whitfield is expected to make a full recovery. …
In an interview with Houston television station KHOU Akins’ father, Monroe Hoggart, said his daughter told him Whitfield was harassing her because she is gay.
Hoggart said that Whitfield told Akins that he “didn’t like gay women working for the city.”
Whitfield admitted to the station that he once got into a physical fight with Akins, but denied it had anything to do with her sexuality. …
At first, we thought the Great State of Texas was intending to levy a fee on Polish people, and that would indeed be unconstitutional. And then we thought, well, maybe this is an animal story, and it had something to do with polecats.
But, no: The fee in question was a proposed pole tax — essentially an extra five-dollar cover charge for strip-club patrons to be handed over to the state to fund healthcare and sexual-assault prevention programs.
Which all makes for noble intentions, but doesn’t make a whole lot of sense: When men go to strip clubs (face it, folks, there just aren’t a lot of strip clubs catering to female customers), they’re sating some arcane compulsion to buy overpriced, watered-down liquor while throwing even more money at naked women in a relatively safe, secure environment. In other words, strip clubs keep drunken horny guys off the streets.
Judging by my one experience with a straight strip club (on a lark at age 18, I decided I wanted to see Carol Doda, before she was too old and too disabled by those gigantic, silicone-filled gazongas to descend into the Condor Club on her famous flying piano), guys who patronize strip clubs are too drunk (read: impotent) and too broke (there was a two-drink minimum, at $13.50 a pop, back in 1980) to be able to assault, sexually or otherwise, anybody.
Don’t laugh: There are brazillions of studies showing that porn consumption cuts down on sex crimes (you can read about some of them here, and here), so it would make sense that strip clubs serve the same function.
(Granted, there’s always the danger that these drunken horndogs will then get behind the wheel of a car and kill somebody on the way home, but drunk driving is a whole ‘nother issue; if somebody’s going to drive drunk, they’re going to drive drunk at some point, regardless of the circumstances.)
I’ll leave it to you, dear reader, to worry about whether strip clubs (or porn) contribute to the dehumanization of women as sex objects.
Anyway, the “pole tax,” which the state started collecting this past January, is kaput for now. Sez MSNBC:
A state district judge ruled Friday that clubs can’t collect the fee. …
Judge Scott Jenkins wrote that the fee, “while furthering laudable goals, violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and is therefore invalid.”
The Texas Entertainment Association Inc., which is a group of topless clubs, and Karpod Inc., the owner of an Amarillo club, sued Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and Comptroller Susan Combs over the fee.
Witnesses for the strip clubs testified at a hearing last year that the clubs would go out of business if they had to collect an additional $5-per-patron fee. …
Attorneys for the state have argued that the fee does not prohibit nude dancing, does not regulate what entertainers wear and does not regulate the businesses in other ways. The state can appeal the decision.
There is a great deal of activity right now across America in the ongoing battle for LGBT Equality. I’d like to say that most of the news is positive but unfortunately that’s rarely the case. Nonetheless there have been some strides forward, and that is something for which to be grateful.
The Washington Senate just passed a Domestic Partnership Expansion Bill that will substantially increase the number of benefits and protections same-sex partners are eligible for.
After already passing the Washington State House 62-32 back in February, the Senate today voted to 29-20 to pass a bill that would add roughly 160 rights, responsibilities and protection to same-sex couples and their families.
Washington’s existing Domestic Partnership bill currently consists of about a dozen rights and responsibilities.
The attempt to provide same-sex couples in Maryland any type of unions is proving difficult. Legislators have been forced to water things down repeatedly, and now are reduced to providing very limited benefits that they don’t even know what to call. Why? Because many bigots can’t handle the notion of same-sex couples having Domestic Partnerships or Civil Unions as they “would weaken the institution of marriage”. I myself would like to suggest an institution for those people…
Concerned that they won’t be able to muster the votes for a comprehensive bill on same-sex unions this year, state lawmakers are considering a tactical shift toward legislation that would grant a number of rights to gay and lesbian couples but stop short of full-fledged marriage or civil unions.
…..
The same-sex marriage debate has divided the State House, hampering efforts to build a coalition behind one legislative approach. Many lawmakers say they are uncomfortable with equating same-sex relationships with marriage but that they could back a piecemeal approach to grant some protections to those couples.
…..
Some lawmakers contend that civil unions are tantamount to marriage and would tarnish the institution. Sen. Bryan W. Simonaire, an Anne Arundel County Republican, said he would not support legislation that grants rights based on sexual orientation, though he would consider some rights for unmarried couples regardless of gender. He noted that two elderly people might be in a committed relationship but decide not to marry.
“If we’re going to start down this path, we need to make sure we’re making a comprehensive policy that affects everyone,” he said. “Why would we carve out rights for one single group if we’re concerned about equal rights.”
What do you mean “carve out rights for one single group”? If same-sex couples could get married (and do all of the other things you take for granted) there would be no need to “carve out rights” for them in the first place. Did you ever think of that?
The Maryland Court of Appeals, in its opinion, identified nearly 340 Maryland laws that provide for benefits and rights conditioned on marital status.
Equality Maryland, in a separate report, has identified 425 Maryland statutes that rely on the definition of marriage or a legally recognized family relationship, including the right to make burial decisions, mutual responsibility for debts, the right to file joint income taxes and protections for children.
It is unclear which rights and benefits would be included in the alternative bill and what the same-sex relationships would be called, if anything. Raskin said some suggestions that have been floated are domestic or household partners and mutual or reciprocal beneficiaries.
Strides have been made in Texas politics as four openly gay candidates are now advancing past the primaries to their runoff and general elections.
Lupe Valdez, known for being the first female, Latina and lesbian sheriff to ever hold the office of Dallas County Sheriff, took a big step toward re-election by defeating three opponents in her Democratic primary. More impressively, she won more than 50 percent of the vote, avoiding a potential runoff election.
Rosemary Lehmberg earned the most votes in the Democratic Primary in her bid to become Travis County District Attorney. Lehmberg got 35 percent of the vote, while her nearest opponent received 31 percent. Outgoing District Attorney Ronnie Earle, known for his prosecution of Tom Delay, has endorsed her. Lehmberg faces a runoff election for the Democratic nomination.
Additionally, two of Victory’s judicial candidates–Steve Kirkland (215th Civil District Court) and Andres Pereira (190th Civil District Court)–won their Democratic primaries and will advance to the Nov. 4 general election.
In Iowa an attempt to force a vote on a same-sex marriage ban failed. Although the measure had failed to gain approval in a House committee this year, Chris Rants (R) thought requiring a vote on it would achieve his desired results. He was wrong.
Rants tried a procedural vote that would have moved the measure, House Joint Resolution 8, out of committee and before the full House for a possible debate.
Rants’ maneuver failed on a 46-49 vote, with majority Democrats defeating it.
Rants said he was disappointed some Democrats, seven by his count, who have supported a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in the past did not vote along with him this time.
“If those seven had voted with us, it would have passed, but I guess they will have to explain to their constituents why they flip-flopped on this issue,” Rants said.
Because the vote was a procedural vote, no debate was allowed, although the rhetoric surrounding the gay marriage issue has grown more heated in recent weeks at the Statehouse.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, D-Des Moines, said Democrats felt the issue should be settled in the courts before the Iowa Legislature might take action.
“It was primarily done to generate press, which I think it certainly served that purpose,” McCarthy said after the vote.
The issue currently is before the Iowa Supreme Court.
My, my, my. Some people are so anxious to enshrine bigotry into their state constitution that they have to grandstand in order to do it. Would it really kill Rants to wait for the Iowa Supreme Court to make the decision, or is he afraid the court might decide against bigotry?
So that’s the state of affairs across the nation for the present. It’s no surprise in my opinion that the debate over same-sex unions seems to be coming to a crescendo all at once. After all, we have a presidential election in a few months. Should the Democrats lose this one again, it can be conveniently be blamed on the LGBTs, as usual. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Hillary Clinton won state primaries in Ohio, Rhode Island and Texas tonight. One of Obama’s supporters, who has never been known for tact or graciousness, took it as expected. In response PurityOfEssence crafted this amazing little ditty, which she has allowed us to share here. (To the tune of “Home on the Range”)
Oh give her her due with her victimized spew,
when that karma comes back into play…
Where never is heard an encouraging word,
and the skies are all cloudy and grey.
Home, home in a rage,
with a keyboard to slash at the prey
Oh, she’s got all that juice for bombastic abuse
and inferiors plague her all day…
Home, home in a rage,
snorting page after page after page
How can we not see her pristine gloating spree
and not ralph at the saccharine glee?
That’s going to have me laughing for a good, long while.
Another friend of ours, maddiejoan, has this brand new video that I just stumbled across:
Congratulations Senator Clinton! You did an amazing job tonight. Here’s to continued success in Wyoming, Mississippi and beyond!
In addition to this magnificently worded missive, Obama also announced plans to run the aforementioned open letter in an ad campaign specifically targeted to the gay community.
But my question is: Where was all this love, respect and concern for the gay community back in October, 2007, when the junior Senator from Illinois was actively courting the conservative African-American vote in South Carolina with his pal and supporter, ex-gay minister Donnie McClurkin? …
Where were the ads in the local gay press in South Carolina talking about what a friend the Senator was to the LGBT community? …
And in what forum back in South Carolina, when his campaign was struggling, did Obama espouse lofty goals like using “the bully pulpit to urge states to treat same-sex couples with full equality in their family and adoption laws,” as he does in this new and timely appeal to the LGBT community?
Senator Obama had none of these messages in South Carolina, more than likely because it was not politically expedient for him to write such a letter back then. However now, with the race tight and the stakes high, Obama is now finally extending an olive branch to the very gay community that he quite unashamedly distanced himself from in South Carolina.
The fact of the matter is that when the Human Rights Campaign’s Joe Solmonese and other gay rights leaders urged Obama to cancel Donnie McClurkin’s appearance at one of his Faith and Family Values tour stops, their arguments fell on deaf ears. …
Boldly ignoring the obvious implications of such a slight, Obama and his staff brushed off the criticism simply citing the Senator’s belief that the country needed to broaden its reach of equal rights.
. . .
It’s clear that if McClurkin had been a Nazi sympathizer, Senator Obama would not have expected the Jewish community to accept the singer’s appearance on a program designed to attract votes from a constituency known to have neo-Nazi tendencies. Nor would the Obama campaign now be reaching out to the Jewish community in Texas and Ohio touting their candidate’s long-standing friendship and support for them.
So in what way does Obama’s latest outreach to the LGBT community at this critical juncture in Texas and Ohio not appear disingenuous? …
How on earth is “equality for all” achieved when one constituency’s value is weighted differently from others possessed of more mainstream appeal, until such a time as that constituency’s support becomes critical?
Sorry Mr. Obama, this is where the rubber hits the road. …
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