HOMOPHOBIA CAUSING THE DIVORCE BETWEEN SEXUAL ATTRACTION AND BEHAVIOR WITH ONE'S SEXUAL IDENTITY

This is a fascinating article entitled, Gay, lesbian, bisexual higher suicide risk discussing a study that shows that sexual "identity" is the major factor leading to suicide risk, rather than sexual behavior or sexual attraction.

This study deserves repeating among different teen population groups, because if this finding is borne out, the hateful and discriminatory rhetoric leveled against Gay people will be seen to be far more dangerous regarding risk of suicide than is anything that has to do with same-sex attraction and/or sexual behavior. Indeed, the devastation visited upon Gay youth by religious and other homophobes may inculcate such shame and self-loathing that the very term "Gay" is renounced in favor of "heterosexual," despite same-sex attraction and same-sex sexual activity.

So, suicides among Gay youth, or attempted suicides among Gay youth, may well be seen to be due to self-identification with a concept that has been defamed (often by homophobic clergy and their gullible followers), rather than same-sex attraction and/or same-sex activity that objectively would consign a person to the status of "Gay."

Indeed, self-loathing and other factors borne of homophobia that lead to suicide risk among teens may be seen to come from one's very self-identification with the term "Gay," rather than being Gay, in and of itself. Regardless of sexual attraction and sexual behavior, if a teen self-identifies as "heterosexual," suicide risk is no different than is the risk for the general population of teens.

As the article states: "The majority of teens with same-sex sexual attraction or experience considered themselves to be heterosexual, the researchers said." And why not? Given the taunting, the defamation, the bearing of false witness, the lies and distortions made by homophobic clergy, all too many professing "Christians," and assorted politicians, appropriation of a term viewed as credible ("heterosexual") is an unfortunately understandable defense and coping mechanism that trumps one's actual status as being "Gay" when sexual attraction and sexual behavior are used as indicators of one's true sexual orientation.

This phenomenon further highlights the great need for LGBT rights activists to take the position that rather than be on the defensive, and merely try to show homophobic people why LGBT people deserve equal rights, it's high time that LGBT people and allies take the offensive and expose and confront the many psychological, social, political, and financial factors that create the ignorant and/or hateful rhetoric and actions of those, many of whom profess to be "Christians," who would demean, defame, and seek to prevent and/or rescind the civil and sacramental rights of their fellow Gay citizens, often ironically doing so in the name of God; use patently irrational arguments as justifications for their homophobia.

Should this exposure and confrontation be undertaken and be successful, there will no longer be a felt need for many young people to divorce their sexual orientation from their self-identification as the Gay people God created them to be.

BURIED TRUTHS ABOUT GAYS IN THE MILITARY

Notice how North uses such buzz words as "NAMBLA," "youngsters," and "national security" in his brief argument as to why DADT should not be repealed:



Now, please read the following article entitled, Buried Truths About Gays in the Military its entirety.

Part of the article reads as follows:

A couple of dozen countries already allow gays in uniform -- including allies that have fought alongside our troops, such as Britain, Canada and Australia. Just as there is plenty of opposition in the U.S. ranks, there was plenty of opposition when they changed their policies.

In Canada, 45 percent of service members said they would not work with gay colleagues, and a majority of British soldiers and sailors rejected the idea. There were warnings that hordes of military personnel would quit and promising youngsters would refuse to enlist.

But when the new day arrived, it turned out to be a big, fat non-event. The Canadian government reported "no effect." The British government observed "a marked lack of reaction." An Australian veterans group that opposed admitting gays later admitted that the services "have not had a lot of difficulty in this area."

Israel, being small, surrounded by hostile powers and obsessed with security, can't afford to jeopardize its military strength for the sake of prissy ventures in political correctness. But its military not only accepts gays, it provides benefits to their same-sex partners, as it does with spouses. Has that policy sapped Israel's military might? Its enemies don't seem eager to test the proposition.

I'm sorry to say that I'm not optimistic about DADT being rescinded any time soon; we don't even hear much about rescinding DOMA.

There are, unfortunately, far too many gullible people who are willing to believe assorted lies and distortions concerning Gay people.

Many people are all too willing to foolishly and falsely believe that Gay people are some sort of menacing threat when, in fact, it is strident homophobes who are the real menacing threat to our children, to our national security, to most of the institutional Church, and to the very fabric of our society!

MANY GAY PEOPLE PLAY INTO THE HANDS OF HOMOPHOBES AND HELP DENY OR RETARD EQUAL RIGHTS

My pal, Don Charles [Pictured], who blogs at "Christ The Gay Martyr," posted this superb essay to the comments section of GayAmericablog.com, and he kindly gave me permission to reprint it here.

His comment is essential reading for all people who are truly desirous of obtaining full and equal civil rights for LGBT people:

It's February 2010, and we're upset that the Obama administration has once again kicked us to the curb. The President is still renegeing on his promise to repeal the US military's Don't Ask/Don't Tell policy (DADT). The anger is justified, but there's an elephant in the room that needs to be acknowledged. It's a question: Why isn't the LGBT rights movement taken seriously by mainstream society? Why do Democrats and Republicans find it so easy to play us? What can we do to lessen the stigma that's attached like a barnacle to LGBT status?

Late last year, the Nation's Laura Flanders hosted a roundtable discussion on this very topic on her show "Grit Radio". One of her guests posed the question this way:

"Why aren't queers taken seriously?"

One answer could be found in the very phrasing of the question. Typically, nobody on the panel picked up on it. Can you?

I think it's time for the Gay "community" to decide what it really wants: To be seen as a radical counterculture that defines itself primarily by sexual behavior, or to be seen as fully entitled American citizens who, like the heterosexual population, are not defined primarily by sexual behavior. That decision has not been taken.

When gayAmericablog staff cite people like Dan Savage as leaders, who cheerfully refers to himself as a "faggot" when he appears on TV, I know that decision has not been taken. When San Francisco assemblyman Tom Ammiano publicly refers to himself as a "queen" and the Gay media adores it, I know that decision has not been taken. When activists cheer after a Lesbian biker club wins a copyright for the name "Dykes on Bikes", I know that decision has not been taken. When Pride parades thrive on frivolty, intoxication, exhibitionism and shock value, and fail to communicate the gravity of living as a Gay person in this world, I know that decision has not been taken.

Do we really think that kind of retrograde language and display works to the benefit of a Victor Fehrenbach or a Dan Choi? There has long been a profound lack of dignity and seriousness in our public presentation. And we wonder why it's so easy for our enemies to get anti-Gay amendments passed. I'll tell you one big reason why: We make it easy for them!

Now, I'm not saying this to excuse the behavior of the Obama administration, the HRC or any agency that isn't living up to its promises or stated mission. I'm just saying that when I compare the desegregation movement of the 1950s and '60s with today's equality struggle for LGBT Americans, one of them I can clearly identify as a Civil Rights crusade undertaken by a dignified and noble people, and one of them I can't identify as such. Guess which is which?

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his marchers would not have earned the international respect they had if they'd come across in the media like Butterfly McQueen and Stepin Fetchit. With all due respect to Marc Shaiman and his Prop 8 musical on YouTube, a Civil Rights movement is not a comedy skit. If we want respect, our presentation has got to indicate as much. Even more to the point: if we want respect, it's got to start with our own self-perception.

Too many of us truly believe we are "queers", "faggots", "queens", "dykes", etc. The oppressor tells us who we are, and we fail to challenge his definition. We don't even have the ambition to challenge his terminology. We've got some work to do, and it begins by taking a hard look in the mirror.

In this connection, a couple of years ago, I wrote an article entitled, On The Need To Grow Up, that generated a lot of revulsion by ostensibly Gay people; part of that article reads as follows:

...I say to those who revel in using pejorative and hateful self-identifiers [like Queer, Dyke, Fag, etc.], who are content with being treated as second-class citizens, who are delighted with crumbs of incrementalism, who are self-satisfied as long as their immediate perceived self-interests are being met, who tolerate the indignities attendant upon being treated as "the other," and "the deviant," who allow homophobic clergy and others to demean them with impunity: Grow Up!

When we were children we usually, and for some of us all too frequently, allowed adults to define our realities for us. Now that we're grown, we have an obligation to act our ages and demand to be treated with the same dignity and have the same civil and sacramental rights as anyone else! And not settle for anything less!

Listen to the Apostle Paul: "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." (1Corinthians 13:11)

To the degree we act like children, either by centering our lives on frivolous and self-destructive activities, or by allowing others to define our realities for us, or by not demanding full and equal civil and sacramental rights, or by using negative and hostile self-identifiers that serve to perpetuate "outsider," "deviant," "abnormal," and "inferior" status, it is to that degree that homophobes are further emboldened; what rights that are currently enjoyed are threatened or may even be rescinded; increasing numbers of decent people will find "justification" for considering LGBT people as "not one of us," and the fight for full and equal civil and sacramental rights will be greatly harmed.

Moreover, such harmful behaviors and self-concepts are inimical to the fire in the belly that is needed to acquire the dignity and civil and sacramental rights that are enjoyed by all other citizens in the U.S.

It's time that many LGBT people, including professional "activists," fish or cut bait: either embrace the role of "sexual outlaws" that pride themselves as being countercultural, OR see being Gay as being just as normal as is being heterosexual, present a dignified self-image that demands that one be treated with dignity and respect; demand full equality in every single aspect of life.

The publicly expressed persona of the former virtually guarantees the retardation or denial of the latter!

And we are to make no mistake: those who insist on using pejorative and hateful epithets as self-identifiers, have wittingly or unwittingly internalized the hateful messages of the homophobic oppressor; ironically often do so in the name of "liberation" or "empowerment."

To put it in context, it is inconceivable that any university would have a course or program entitled, "Kike Studies," yet "Queer Studies" courses and programs abound in many of our universities. I have yet to hear any Jewish person refer to him/herself or other Jewish people as "kikes." It's a matter of honor, dignity, and the refusal to appropriate and articulate such a hateful word used by many anti-Semites.

Why should Gay people view themselves any differently? It should be a matter of honor and dignity to never use such hateful words when referring to oneself and/or other Gay people!

As I've written in an article entitled, Confronting Internalized Homophobia, that I hope you will read in its entirety:

I know right out of the starting blocks that this article is going to offend a great many people, but I feel very strongly that many LGBT people are seriously sabotaging the cause for full and equal civil rights by referring to themselves by the use of historically and current hateful epithets, using such terms as "Queer," "Dyke," "Fag," and other such demeaning and hateful words that have been historically used by their oppressors, and are still being used by their oppressors. Also, the many behaviors and images that are viewed by most potential allies as offensive, and that become public presentations of self, help reinforce the fallacious stereotype that Gay people are sex-obsessed deviant and abnormal hedonists, and these public images are doing tremendous harm to the struggle for, and the cause of acquiring, full and equal civil rights....

Jews usually don't have self-loathing; LGBT people all too often do have witting or unwitting self-loathing, and use those historically punishing words on themselves in the name of "liberation," ignorantly (or stupidly) thinking that they are appropriating and neutralizing those words, even when gay bashers use those very words when bashing their victims and, furthermore, they even perpetuate and encourage further use of those words among university students when titling those courses, programs, minors, or majors, and freely use those words within the curricula as they do in other public venues.

Please take Don Charles' insights and all of these words to heart, and understand that as long as hateful words are used as self-identifiers, as long as being Gay is projected and seen to be solely sexual and devoid of the same romantic emotions held by heterosexuals, that presentation of self bespeaks self-loathing (recognized or not) and bespeaks lack of the dignity necessary to fully feel worthy to fight for the same rights and privileges that heterosexuals enjoy; be taken seriously by potential Straight allies, as well as by politicians and jurists when they deal with the unconstitutionality of denying LGBT people the same rights and privileges held by every other citizen in society.

BARRIERS TO AUTHENTIC SEXUALITY, THE EX-GAY MYTH, AND STRIDENT HOMOPHOBIA

Sexually intact and emotionally healthy people really don't care what consenting adults do in the privacy of their own homes! And sexually intact and emotionally healthy people don't in any way demean Gay people or seek to deprive Gay people of civil rights that accrue to heterosexuals in society!

Save for crass material and political gains yielded by homophobia within "religious" and other contexts, much strident homophobia may be attributed to the interplay between heteronormativity and homophobia within society and the psychological dynamics residing in certain people who are intrigued, and who are even unconsciously and/or consciously envious, of out and proud Gay people who express an authenticity that the strident homophobe may lack.

Heterosexism and homophobia, unfortunately, often make sexuality to be falsely perceived as fluid. However, that perception of its seeming fluidity has to do with that heterosexism and homophobia, and does not imply either "fluidity" or "choice" in one's sexuality! It seems that most frequently people realize that they are attracted to members of the same or opposite sex at a relatively early age. (One woman told me that she realized she was attracted to girls when she was about six years old.)

However, we can't ignore the cultural stigma still visited upon Gay people, and that stigma may well condition a person to think he/she has emotional/sexual feelings toward the opposite sex until either his/her true nature can no longer suffer the inconsistency between that nature and his/her perceived need to conform to heterosexist cultural expectations of sexuality, and he/she comes out either to him/herself and/or to others, or one unconsciously and/or consciously chooses to live a life of quiet (and sometimes not so quiet) desperation by conforming to the dominant cultural heterosexist norms of society and labels him/herself "heterosexual" when, in fact, his/her homosexuality is repressed and/or suppressed, thus causing him/her tremendous anxiety.

It is this latter group from which we can expect much of the strident homophobia that we encounter in society! Psychoanalysts refer to this defense mechanism of vociferously condemning in the other what one possesses in him/herself as Reaction Formation.

Moreover, one can have fulfilling same-sex relationships and then abstain from those relationships, or even marry a person of the opposite sex, and falsely think of him/herself as no longer Gay (hence, the "ex-gay" myth) when, in fact, he/she is Gay when same-sex emotional and sexual desire and also homosexual masturbatory fantasies are used as indicators (as they must be) of one's true sexuality.

It is entirely possible, regarding feelings, perceptions, and behavior, that a person can act and even consider him/herself to be Straight for a part of his/her life and subsequently act and consider him/herself to be Gay for another part of his/her life. Or, one can act and even feel Gay for a part of his/her life and subsequently act and consider him/herself Straight for another part of his/her life! For Gay people, homophobic society can account for the former; bankrupt and dangerous "ex-gay therapy" can often account for the latter!

In this context, we can see that much misogyny, like homophobia itself, borne of barriers to the expression of authentic sexuality to be discussed below, underlies strident homophobia as well as all anti-Gay sentiment. For example, the revulsion that some people feel at the very idea of two men making love, at least one of whom is viewed as taking on "the female role," highlights the profound discomfort and anxieties that result in those whose misogyny shows their lack sexual intactness and confidence in their own sexuality, their own perceived "manhood." Indeed, the aggression visited upon Gay people by homophobes may also be mirrored in the unhealthy power dynamic that is likely to occur in many homophobes' own heterosexual relationships.

In addition, this is also why transgender people are an enigma to many, even many in the Gay communities, and are so stigmatized! It is alleged that one is either a man or a woman and must act in a way that is in accord with the cultural expectations of our society. The fact is that blended gender is quite normal, and misogyny, as well as the felt need by many to place people into neat dichotomous boxes (that don't fit the facts of many people's experiences or the diversity of God's creation), is the result of many people's blind adherence to cultural norms of what is considered to be "male expression" and "female expression" that unjustly visits tremendous suffering upon transgender people.

Regarding strident homophobes who are unwittingly (or even wittingly) Gay by nature, their sexual expression is often conditioned by unconscious and/or conscious forces by which they often react to the heterosexism and homophobia that exist in society that creates their internalized homophobia. And that internalized homophobia can be manifested in all sorts of destructive behaviors against Gay people ranging from free-floating anxiety to suicide to hateful rhetoric to free-floating aggression to acts of discrimination to assaults and murder!

I truly believe that this repression, suppression, and the frustration and anxiety that ensue from unconsciously and/or consciously living an emotional/sexual lie, is one of the major causes of strident homophobia!

It is quite likely that those who repress and/or suppress their own homosexuality are among the most strident homophobes, as the very existence and freedom exhibited by out Gay people are a terrible threat and source of great anxiety to those who are unconsciously and/or consciously closeted.

Lilian Faderman wrote, "Observation tells us that the neat categories of sexual identity are often an illusion. People in real life can move in and out of those categories, spending one portion of their lives as straight and another as gay and then perhaps straight again, or vice versa, or all of it at once, or none of it at all.... [Faderman, Lillian. 1997. "Why Is It Shocking When A Lesbian Leader Falls In Love With A Man?" The Advocate, April 29, 1997:80.] Faderman buys into the notion of "sexual fluidity," and refuses to see that our emotional/sexual nature is fixed, despite many behavioral manifestations that may not be consistent with that nature due to societal, cultural, and even "therapeutic" pressures to conform to heterosexist norms, as well as the existence of homophobia, all of which often provide barriers to the expression of one's authentic sexuality!

Hence, the existence of strident homophobia as well as the myth of being "ex-gay!" One can act against his/her true nature as he/she was created and honestly contend he/she is Straight when, in fact, he/she was created to be Gay and will always be Gay.

As mentioned above, our sexuality is comprised of both emotion and behavior, and that emotion and behavior are often influenced, either temporarily or even permanently, by homophobia and heterosexist cultural norms and expectations that can cause repression and/or suppression of one's true sexuality; such repression and/or suppression creates tremendous anxiety and frustration in the person that often results in his/her aggression that is either internalized and/or often displaced (externalized) onto those who exacerbate that anxiety and frustration. And those who exacerbate that aggression are out and proud Gay people who exhibit their sexual authenticity!

Given societal constraints and expectations, sexual behavior can very well be falsely manifested, as that expression can very well be inconsistent with one's very sexual nature that has been fixed as created by God. I think that it's that false sexual expression, largely caused by societal constraints, expectations, and unconscious and/or conscious internalized homophobia, that has a great deal to do with the phenomenon of people who make a habit of condemning Gay people. It is those who are afraid of their own sexuality because of societal constraints who are very likely to verbally and/or physically attack the person whose sexual orientation the attacker has likely repressed and/or suppressed within him/herself.

The excellent author James Baldwin made a telling remark in a 1965 interview when he said, "[T]hose terms, homosexual, bisexual, heterosexual, are 20th century terms which, for me, really have very little meaning. I've never, myself, in watching other people, watching life, been able to discern exactly where the barriers were." [Mossman, James. 1989. "Race, Hate, Sex, and Color: A Conversation with James Baldwin.] It may well be that in 1965 even James Baldwin, certainly not homophobic, was unable to understand his true nature as a gay man.

Much strident homophobia and transphobia may very well be attributed to societal and cultural barriers to the expression of sexual authenticity that reside within those who make a veritable career out of bearing false witness, demeaning, and discriminating against LGBT people.

There may very well be the fear of their own sexuality as a result of those barriers that may be seen to reside in the strident homophobe and that causes him/her to fight against his/her own true sexual desires by displacing his/her aggression, borne of his/her own sexual frustrations and anxieties, onto others who hold up a mirror to his/her face by their being out and proud as fully authentic people who fully accept and embrace themselves as the LGBT people whom God made; who demand full equality in a society that prides itself on having equality under the law for all of its citizens.

It is crucial to be on the offensive when contending with "religious" and secular expressions of homophobia!

And understanding sexual inauthenticity due to heterosexism and homophobia, and the repressions, suppressions, frustrations, anxieties, and aggressions they can cause, can go a long way toward shining a light on the dynamics that likely motivate many strident homophobes and transphobes and their hateful rhetoric and actions that they unjustly and irrationally visit upon LGBT people.

And it must also be understood that these psychological and social barriers, social phenomena and constraints, and prejudices borne of the interplay between cultural norms and psychological dynamics, make any rational discussions with strident homophobes futile and fruitless! Tragically, many of them manifest their hatred based on largely unconscious repressions, drives, and tempestuous psychological forces of which they are unaware.

As I recently wrote in an article entitled, Homophobia Stems From The Unconscious:

When confronting another's prejudices, that person may, when asked, seem to come to a rational explanation for those prejudices, with appeal to assorted "scientific" and "biblical" claims yet, when push comes to shove, those reasons are mere rationalizations used by the person in order to justify in his/her mind and in the minds of the questioner(s) why those prejudices are "rational" when, in fact, they are anything but rational but emanate from the unconscious longings and repressions, the resistances and the untamed and untamable forces that reside within the unconscious of the person with whose prejudices we are dealing.

In the case of homophobia, it is eminently clear that ignorance and/or hate are the root causes of those prejudices, and that hateful animus that propels and compels one to consistently seek to demean the other, and deny equal rights to Gay people, is coming from the unconscious of that person, those tempestuous forces of which he/she is largely, if not solely, unaware.

However, the homophobe's conscious mind must make him/her and his/her homophobia seem "reasonable" to those who ask the question as to why that person is homophobic, so there is an attempt by the homophobe to invoke "credible evidence" in his/her conscious mind, particularly the homophobe's interpretation of certain selected biblical verses, so that credibility can be sought and often, unfortunately, irrationally obtained by gullible people to the hateful utterances made by clergy and by other professing Christians in the name of God and the Prince of Peace.

Therefore, "sitting down and reasoning together" with strident homophobes, particularly religious homophobes, is a waste of time and energy, and is bound to degenerate into profound resistance and hostility on the part of the homophobe because his/her unconscious structure and drives make it virtually impossible for rational discourse to penetrate that structure and change those drives.

And a good deal of the hateful animus that emanates from the unconscious repressions, suppressions, frustrations, displaced aggressions, and societal barriers to sexual authenticity (e.g. misogyny, heteronormativity, societal homophobia) that likely reside within many strident homophobes may be seen to have their origins in unconscious and/or conscious envy of out Gay people who present a mirror of the very relationships and drives that comprise much of the unconscious and/or conscious desires of those who seek to impose their own warped psyches onto both Gay people as well as onto society as a whole.

THE AMERICAN PRAYER HOUR

The American Prayer Hour

We are about to embark on a historic mission to stop persecution of LGBT people in Uganda and we want you to be a key part of our vision.

On February 4th, we are launching The American Prayer Hour. It is a multi-city affirmation of inclusive values and a celebration of diversity. It is also an action to protest the sponsors of The National Prayer Breakfast, which will take place on February 4 in Washington, DC.

While The National Prayer Breakfast is ostensibly a benign event, it is hosted by a secretive fundamentalist organization, The Family, which is directly tied to the draconian “Kill the Gays” bill in Uganda. We strongly urge those invited to the National Prayer Breakfast to reconsider attending the event. Instead, they can join us at our American Prayer Hour.

The American Prayer Hour will be anchored by events in the following cities:

Dallas—Creating Change (Sheraton Dallas – Dallas Ballroom A)
Chicago Theological Seminary (The Chapel)
Berkeley–Pacific School of Religion (The Chapel)
Washington, DC (Calvary Baptist Church, Chapel)
Anchorage, AK (Church Life Alaska)
Boynton Beach, FL (Church of Our Savior, MCC)
Get Involved

There are four ways to get involved:

If you live in a city where an American Prayer Hour event is already occurring, please consider attending.
If you are interested in creating an American Prayer Hour event in your hometown, please contact Wayne Besen, wbesen@truthwinsout.org.
Spread the word about the American Prayer Hour and the truth behind the National Prayer Breakfast
Pray where you are—wherever you are—for a world safe for all families regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

MORE EVIDENCE OF OBAMA'S BETRAYAL OF GAY PEOPLE

A Democratic lawmaker has postponed a Senate hearing on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” until February after the State of the Union address at the request of administration officials who said President Obama may address the issue during his speech.....

Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen had been set to testify at the hearing originally set for January, but Levin said he wants to hear from junior officers and enlisted personnel and not just top military leaders.

[For the full article, see here.]

If this isn't despicable, I don't know what is! Obama has betrayed Gay people and obviously has no intention of initiating Gay people's civil rights.

For example, he could easily issue an Executive Order rescinding DADT; he could have refused to have his Justice Dept. pursue and seek to justify DOMA; even raising the specter of incest and pedophilia in that pursuit in federal court.

It's high time LGBT people, allies, and all progressives realize that he is no friend, and his only interest in us is to seek our votes by throwing us crumbs of meaningless rhetoric.

A clear and comprehensive road map for repealing DADT and implementing an alterna- tive, non-discriminatory policy already exists. This report provides a realistic outline for repealing DADT and opening our armed forces to the many qualified men and women who have been excluded under that law. These steps include:

1. Signing an Executive Order banning further military separations based on DADT and sending a legislative proposal on DADT repeal to Congress

2. Forming a presidential panel on how to implement the repeal

3. Repealing DADT in Congress and changing the Uniform Code of Military Justice, or UCMS

4. Changing other necessary military guidelines to conform to the new policy

5. Following-up to ensure that the armed forces implement the policy changes

This report draws upon lessons from previous attempts at ending discrimination and effecting change within the military in order to place these steps into proper context.

[For the full article, see here.]

FILM: 8: THE MORMON PROPOSITION

The role of the Mormon Church in affirming Prop. 8 by the electorate in California cannot go unchallenged, and this film, written and directed by Reed Cowan, presents one of those needed challenges. No decent person can remain silent when any minority group is denied the same rights and privileges that accrue to every other citizen in the U.S. and elsewhere.

 

Interview with the writer and director, Reed Cowan:

 

PROP. 8 COURTROOM PROCEEDINGS

PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINK TO READ LIVE COVERAGE FROM THE COURTROOM REGARDING PROP. 8.

THIS IS ANOTHER SITE THAT PROVIDES LIVE COVERAGE FROM THE COURTROOM.

CIVIL UNIONS IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR THE INSTITUTION OF MARRIAGE

The Hawaii Senate approved same-sex civil unions Friday, potentially setting up the measure for final passage as soon as next week.

The Senate passed the bill on an 18-7 vote, moving it to the House and signaling that the Senate's Democratic majority has enough votes to override a possible veto from Republican Gov. Linda Lingle.

The House has yet to decide if it will vote on the bill. House leaders say they will take up the bill if they have a veto-proof two-thirds majority but may let it die if they have only a small majority.

"It's very close," said Democratic Speaker of the House Calvin Say. "During an election year, this issue is so divisive that it may hurt many of our members."
The bill would grant gay and straight couples the same rights and benefits the state provides to married couples.

[For the full article, see here.]

Civil Unions are no substitute for Marriage! As long as same-sex couples are denied the label of "marriage," their love is considered to be different and even inferior to the love of heterosexual couples, and that state of affairs must be unacceptable to all those who seek equality for same-sex couples and for all LGBT people.

It is a great mistake to settle for second best, and for crumbs of incrementalism, hoping against hope that civil unions will eventually lead the way toward marriage. The fact is that to the degree that same-sex couples settle for civil unions, it's to that degree that marriage rights will be retarded.

Unless the designation of "marriage" is removed from all hitherto heterosexually married couples, and their relationship status substituted with the designation of "civil unions," same-sex couples should settle for nothing less than the dignity that heterosexually married couples currently enjoy by being recognized as "married," both civilly and sacramentally.

There is absolutely no reason why same-sex couples should be treated any differently than heterosexual couples, and to allow such a difference, to settle for such a difference, is to acknowledge that same-sex love is different from, and even inferior to, heterosexual love, and same-sex love doesn't deserve the dignity that heterosexually married couples enjoy.

And that state of affairs must never be allowed to exist if we are truly intent on equality for same-sex couples and LGBT people!

PROP. 8 COURTROOM PROCEEDINGS

PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINK TO READ LIVE COVERAGE FROM THE COURTROOM REGARDING PROP. 8.

THIS IS ANOTHER SITE THAT PROVIDES LIVE COVERAGE FROM THE COURTROOM.

NEW HAMPSHIRE MAY ONLY BE THE BEGINNING OF THE ATTEMPT TO RESCIND GAY RIGHTS

I think the Republican win in Massachusetts has emboldened the homophobes, not only in New Hampshire, but elsewhere as well; we can foresee a Republican win in 2010 and 2012 that could well rescind many of the rights Gay people now have. Reactionaries are countng on the current composition of SCOTUS to affirm their discriminatory votes and actions. Clearly, I'm not optimistic about the fate of Prop. 8 once it goes before the U.S Supreme Court, given its current composition.

Three weeks after the state legalized gay marriage, opponents on Wednesday asked a House committee to repeal the law.

"I'm here today about Adam and Eve," state Rep. Alfred Baldasaro testified at a House Judiciary Committee hearing.

Baldasaro, a Londonderry Republican and prime sponsor of legislation to repeal the law, and other gay marriage opponents argued the unions defy nature.
"A man and a woman together create a family where individuals of the same gender cannot create a family," said state Rep. Jordan Ulery, a Republican from Hudson.

[For the full article, see here.]

PROP. 8: LIVE COVERAGE FROM THE COURTROOM

PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINK TO READ LIVE COVERAGE FROM THE COURTROOM REGARDING PROP. 8.

NOTE: I just came upon this article:: Gay Marriage Trial Back Up On YouTube Tuesday

After the Supreme Court blocked video broadcast of the federal trial to decide the constitutionality of a gay marriage ban last Wednesday, freelance journalist and filmmaker John Ireland decided he'd produce his own version and post it on YouTube.

“People want to see this drama unfold and there is a tremendous narrative that was propelled by that first day of testimony,” Ireland told On Top Magazine on Sunday. “This is the first time that gay and lesbian people have talked about their lives in federal court. It's historic from that point of view.”

[For the full article, see here]

LIVE UPDATES FROM THE COURTHOUSE

THIS LINK PROVIDES LIVE UPDATES FROM THE COURTHOUSE DEALING WITH THE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF PROP. 8

ONE WONDERS WHY THOSE WHO ARE IN FAVOR OF PROP. 8 DON'T WANT THE COURT PROCEEDINGS BROADCASTED

Televising the Prop. 8 case on Youtube held in abeyance until Wednesday:

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday temporarily blocked a federal judge's plan to broadcast the trial over California's ban on gay marriage by posting video on YouTube.

Lawyers defending the ban filed an emergency request with the Supreme Court arguing that broadcasting the trial would turn the case into a "media circus" and that witnesses would be intimidated.

If the truth were known, the irrational and hateful justifications presented by those who seek to deny same-sex marriage rights to Gay people would show the public the bankruptcy of their arguments, and win over a lot of potential Straight allies, if the court proceedings were broadcast and presented on YouTube.

The homophobes undoubtedly know and are afraid of this fact, and are therefore loathe to have the spotlight shine on their irrational rhetoric and on their discriminatory animus directed at our fellow Gay citizens who deserve all of the Constitutional rights that heterosexuals enjoy.

By seeking to prevent the broadcast of this trial, they are showing that they are afraid of having their bankrupt arguments come to light; by those who seek to overturn Prop. 8 desiring that the proceedings be broadcast show that rationality and constitutional mandates for equality are on their side and that they have nothing to fear.

SELF LOATHING, BEING DUPED, AND BELIEVING A LIE

I wrote the following article a couple of years ago and I feel it especially appropriate to post it here at this time when it is hoped that Prop. 8 will be viewed as unconstitutional when it goes before federal court this coming week. (By the way, Youtube will contain the court proceedings.)

So much antipathy toward same-sex marriage, and Gay people in general, seems to me to stem from the fact that in many people's minds Gay=Sex, and that the emotional component akin to that held by heterosexuals is lacking. That is, many people and religious institutions falsely see Gay people as disordered heterosexuals and, hence, much of the discriminatory rhetoric and actions taken against Gay people, as well as the assertions of so-called "ex-gay" people and "ministries!"

The following is a very slightly edited version of the article I wrote in November 2007:

My friend, Don Charles sent me an article entitled, "EXCLUSIVE: An Interview with Donnie McClurkin's Ex-Lover."

This is a revealing interview, not merely because of the obvious, but because I truly believe that McClurkin, on the basis of this interview, thinks that being Gay by "his definition" is a choice. He seems to solely identify one's choosing to be Gay as one's choosing to have sex!

According to this article, McClurkin said, as reported in "...The New York Times in 2002: 'Love is pulling you one way and lust is pulling you another and your relationship with Jesus is tearing you, tearing you,' said Mr. McClurkin, who now counsels adolescent boys that homosexuality is a choice they can overcome."

To him, and to so many other homophobic people, both Straight and Gay, whether or not to have sex is a choice, and so, since they seem to equate being Gay solely with having sex, McClurkin and those who think like him can with a straight (pardon the pun) face say that being Gay is a choice.

So many are unable to see that having sex is usually a manifestation, or a culmination, of a more or less loving relationship, and emotional sensibility, or affectional desire, and McClurkin seems convinced that same-sex loving relationships (the idea of which may well scare the hell out of him, and of which he might very well be incapable at this point in his life) is also antithetical to being a Christian, so his "relationship with Jesus is tearing you, tearing you."
He sees the choice to be not only between being Gay (as he seems to define the term) and being a Christian, but sees, in his case, that "love is pulling you one way and lust is pulling you another."

He has, according to his reported statement, divested "sex" from "love," and so, since he equates being Gay with sex, and he sees "sex" as distinct from "love," he can believe that being Gay (which he equates with lust and sex) is a choice by his definition of what "Gay" means. And if he's incapable and/or fearful of same-sex "love," which I believe may very well be the case, he doesn't see, and certainly doesn't want to see, being Gay as embracing one's whole being, including feelings as well as actions.

It is not only many, if not most, Straight people who can only see one's being Gay in terms of one's sexual activities; many Gay people themselves define the term "Gay" in this way, so that rather than one's seeing their being Gay as encompassing the whole person, body, mind, and soul, they see the term "Gay" the way that they have been taught in or by churches, and other instutions, largely, if not solely, run by homophobes.

Hence, many Gay people themselves don't realize that they are Gay until they have had one or more satisfying same-sex sexual encounters and retrospectively understand that they were Gay long before they engaged in sexual activity. It's only when a Gay (or Straight) person is able to integrate love and affection with those encounters, that they then are better able to become emotionally and spiritually intact as human beings. But to be given institutional, interpersonal, and psychological permission to integrate the emotional and sexual parts of one's nature is made very difficult in a rabidly homophobic society, largely aided and abeted by those who have yet to healthfully integrate these two facets of their humanity.

So, in this context, a Donny McClurkin and other "ex-gay" spokespeople can actually believe that he/she is not, or is no longer, Gay because he/she no longer has sex (at least on a regular basis) with another person of the same sex or is celibate, despite his/her emotional and affectional desires for intimacy with a member of the same sex.

And when that desire for such intimacy, although frequently consciously suppressed by the homophobic Gay person, builds to such a crecendo that it can no longer be suppressed, and then that person is likely to act out that desire in surreptitious, sometimes illegal, ways that can lead to profound embarrassment and the risk of losing one's very family, reputation, and career.

The tension brought by that crescendo brings a demanding, overwhelming, need for release and that will bring a brief respite from their conflict, their inner turmoil, between "who they really are" and "what they desperately desire to do," yet usually bring a profound guilt upon them that frequently impels them to condemn "homosexuality" both as a denial to themselves and/or to others like whom they really are, and as a way of expiating their guilt and trying to believe that they are no longer or really not like "those people."

So, according to the person interviewed in this article, McClurkin sees conflict between love and lust, and between same-sex love and being a Christian, and between sex and being a Christian. So, he seems to have at least three manifestations of inner turmoil. And people are seeking out his advice?

Being Gay is as much about solely being about "sex" as is being Straight solely about sex! Sexual activity represents relatively few hours a week or month of our lives, be we Gay or Straight! Moreover, even if one never engages in sexual activity, he/she is still Gay or Straight!

The status of being Gay, just as the status of being Straight, has mainly to do with one's affectional and emotional sensibilities and feelings, encompassing the whole human being in all of his/her complexity and humanity. Indeed, these sensibilities and feelings and their romantic/sexual manifestations are largely representative of our very souls!

There is no "on" and "off" switch on our souls! When one seeks to deny a good portion of one's very soul, under any conditions, let alone by the condition of misinformation so as to be duped into believing a lie, he/she is not only committing a grievous offense against him/herself, but is committing a grievous offense against God!

God made our souls and how dare anyone throw that wonderful gift, or any part of that gift, back in God's face! And to do so because he/she chooses to believe the lie that being Gay is solely about sex, that same-sex sexual expression is unGodly, and that homosexuality is anything lesser in value to oneself, another human being, and to God than is heterosexuality, places the judgments of frequently ignorant and tortured human beings over the will of God!

To sell one's soul, or any part of one's soul, on the word of ignorant and tortured people, or on the word of anyone else for that matter, is a grievous sin!

One can only imagine the turmoil infusing the lives of virtually all "ex-gay" gurus and spokespeople, and those whom they have duped into believing that God condemns same-sex love and its expression; that being Gay is a "choice." If they weren't so destructive of others' lives by their often using the defense mechanism of Reaction Formation, and venting their inner turmoil and conflicts through their strident homophobia, I'd have even more pity for them than I, in fact, do.

But, most of all, I have pity for those who are gullible and/or desperate enough, having been duped into believing the lie that being Gay is not moral and Godly, to trust these "counselors" and "therapists" and "spokespeople" who seek to re-define their reality and the very nature of their lives and loves, having the result of further consigning those who take them seriously to the outer darkness of believing and living a lie and, thereby, renouncing a good deal of their souls!

And to give ignorant, confused, and twisted people, be they clergy, entertainers, counselors, therapists, or politicians, a platform and a credibility they do not deserve, through and by which they can spew their frequently ignorant and hateful rhetoric that has the effect of "recruiting" others into their warped views of love and sex, of righteousness and morality, of Christianity, and of God, further aids and abets the self-loathing and the hatred that so many Gay people suffer and confront every day of their lives.

And in the twisted mind set that reflects the "ex-gay" industry and its spokespeople, their advocacy of the suppression of one's God-given affectional/sexual orientation, much of the essence of one's very soul, is equated with "morality," with "Godliness," and with mental health!

Lewis Carol's "Alice in Wonderland" has nothing on this surreal farce, save that this surreal farce is tremendously destructive to Gay people, their psyches, their mental health, their families, and to Straight people who, along with many Gay people, have all too often come to believe the lies that one can be best intact by throwing God's gift of one's affectional/sexual orientation, part of the very essence of his/her soul, back in God's face and call that "morality," "mental health," and "Christianity."

And that's just a damn lie!

THE CONSERVATIVE CASE FOR GAY MARRIAGE

This is an excellent article by Ted Olson who, along with David Boies, is seeking to overturn Prop. 8 in federal court this coming week. The following is an excerpt from this article that I urge you to read in its entirety:

Many of my fellow conservatives have an almost knee-jerk hostility toward gay marriage. This does not make sense, because same-sex unions promote the values conservatives prize. Marriage is one of the basic building blocks of our neighborhoods and our nation. At its best, it is a stable bond between two individuals who work to create a loving household and a social and economic partnership. We encourage couples to marry because the commitments they make to one another provide benefits not only to themselves but also to their families and communities. Marriage requires thinking beyond one's own needs. It transforms two individuals into a union based on shared aspirations, and in doing so establishes a formal investment in the well-being of society. The fact that individuals who happen to be gay want to share in this vital social institution is evidence that conservative ideals enjoy widespread acceptance. Conservatives should celebrate this, rather than lament it.

[For the full article, see here.]

STEPHEN FRY SPEAKS OUT AGAINST THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

The Roman Catholic Church has no monopoly on religiously based homophobia, but it's one of the major players in this disgrace, and out gay man, Stephen Fry, skewers that Church for its many horrors visited upon others in its name and, ironically, in the name of God.

It is essential to view this two-part video that lays bare for all to see the ideologically and physically damaging corruption and imperialism visited upon vulnerable people, not the least of which are LGBT people.

Stephen Fry on the Roman Catholic Church:

Part 1:



Part 2:

SAME-SEX MARRIAGE DEFEATED IN NEW JERSEY LEGISLATURE

I just received this email from Andy Humm of Gay USA:

BULLETIN: NJ Senate defeats marriage equality 14-20; LGBT groups going to court

Brothers and Sisters:

The New Jersey State Senate just voted a marriage equality bill down 14-20. It needed 21 affirmative votes to pass.

Now the NJ LGBT lobby group, Garden State Equality, and Lambda Legal are going back to the NJ Supreme Court to argue that civil unions did not provide equal rights for gay couples the court ordered and that the court must open up marriage to same-sex couples to provide those rights.

Below is the release from Garden State Equality.

Andy
Gay USA


GARDEN STATE EQUALITY AND LAMBDA LEGAL ANNOUNCE: BACK TO COURT TO WIN MARRIAGE EQUALITY IN NEW JERSEY

The New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously ruled in 2006, in a case brought by Lambda Legal, that same-sex couples must be treated equally under the state Constitution.

The courts now have monumental proof that the civil union law has failed to provide equal protection.

Garden State Equality: “We are not waiting out the term of any new Administration to bring equality to same-sex couples in our state.”


Below are the remarks of Garden State Equality Chair Steven Goldstein, cell (917) 449-8918, at today's post-Senate vote news conference:


With today’s vote in the state Senate, the New Jersey legislature defaulted on its constitutional obligation to provide same-sex couples in New Jersey equal protection, as unanimously mandated by the New Jersey Supreme Court in 2006. That’s why we at Garden State Equality are here with our partner Lambda Legal, which has an extraordinary track record of advancing LGBT civil rights in the courts.

Now our organizations will announce major news. Our side is going back to court to win marriage equality.

We’ll hear from Lambda Legal in a moment. Let’s be clear about what this news means. We are not waiting out the term of any new Administration to bring equality to same-sex couples in our state.

In 2006, the New Jersey Supreme Court told the legislature it could enact marriage or another structure that provides the equal protection of marriage. But the civil union law failed to do that. Too often, civil union couples too often cannot visit loved ones in hospitals, make medical decisions for their partners or receive equal health benefits from employers. Hospitals and employers have treated civil union couples differently because they’ve been labeled differently. Children have been treated differently at school because their families are labeled differently.

In recent months, including today and at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in December, New Jersey legislators publicly recognized these failures. They publicly acknowledged that the civil union law has not provided equal protection. That’s important. New Jersey legislators themselves said it. Our opponents in the legislature said it.

In other words, though we didn’t achieve our final victory today, we’re better positioned than we were a few months ago to win marriage equality. So if you’re wondering how we feel, it’s complicated. On the one hand, we resent, more than you can imagine, remaining second-class citizens a bit longer. On the other hand, the ball has moved forward. The public record for the courts is mighty, and we’re closer than ever to winning.

In 2006, New Jersey enacted an experiment called civil union. In 2010, New Jersey has a mountain of proof that the experiment has failed.

Now let’s talk about what happened politically.

Things didn’t go our way in the legislature because of one factor: Governor Corzine lost reelection.

After his win in November, Governor-elect Christie persuaded a number of legislators to reverse their support of the bill. Before the election, nearly every neutral observer in New Jersey thought marriage equality was certain to become law in lame duck. It became the zeitgeist in Trenton, with good reason. In contrast to today’s outcome, before the election we had votes to spare in the Senate, including from a number of Republicans.

But the election changed everything and our national opponents changed nothing. They didn’t do much or spend much in New Jersey. As you saw from our thousands of members at the State House these past few weeks who symbolized the massiveness of our campaign, we overwhelmed our opponents on every front – but one. Our opponents had the Governor-elect on their side, and that’s all they needed to have. It’s ironic given that marriage equality wasn’t even an issue in the election, and that the candidates who favored marriage equality together won a majority.

All this said, we extend to Governor-elect Christie an outstretched hand. He will be the Governor of all of us. We ask him to continue the tradition of his Republican predecessors, Christie Whitman and Tom Kean, who always kept an open door to the LGBT community. And though we differ with the Governor-elect on marriage equality, we also seek to explore with him and his Administration the issues on which we may have agreement and can work together.

No political party should write off any constituency. And no party should take any constituency for granted either. Our fundamental right to equality should never have been left to sudden death overtime by the party to which the LGBT community and our allies have been unstintingly loyal and have given so much.

To be clear, we will continue to support those who support us. Over the past five-and-a-half years, the separate Garden State Equality political committee has provided thousands of campaign volunteers and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for supportive candidates through contributions to the organization, or through contributions from individuals directly to candidates.

Of course, when we exceed politicians’ expectations in ways they like, we never hear, you’re going too far, your fervor is too much. That double standard, which other minority communities have heard in their own fights for equality, hurts deeply. And it hurts everyone who stands for equality, including supporters in the majority.

Now there will be a sustained response not only from the LGBT community, but also from straight progressive voters who have been our equal partners. Marriage equality stopped being just a gay issue long ago.

To those who let us all down, here’s our policy: Don’t ask, don’t expect. You can’t take progressives’ money and volunteers with one hand, slap us in the face with the other, and then act astonished when we declare our independence. The marketplace of democracy runs along a two-way street.

Members and friends, today was not an outcome lost, but rather a juncture in an otherwise glorious road to justice. Since Garden State Equality’s founding in 2004, New Jersey has enacted 210 LGBT civil rights laws at the state, county and local levels, a national record. We have 64,000 members – LGBT and straight alike – who have improved the lives of millions. A watchdog organization, eQualityGiving.com, just ranked New Jersey #1 in America for LGBT rights, tied with three other states, and we haven’t even won marriage equality yet.

But we will soon. Cesar Chavez said it best. You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the people who feel pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore. We have seen the future, and the future is ours.

Before I introduce our colleagues from Lambda Legal, some thanks are in order. Thank you to all our Senate sponsors, including prime sponsors Loretta Weinberg and Raymond Lesniak. We appreciate Loretta and Raymond beyond measure for their indefatigable leadership, and extend to them our love. We thank Senators Bill Baroni and Nia Gill – unwavering voices for justice at our committee hearing. We thank all our Assembly sponsors, including prime sponsors Reed Gusciora, Valerie Vainieri Huttle, John McKeon and Mila Jasey. We thank our Governor Corzine and Speaker Roberts for their support. And let me say this about Governor Dick Codey: He’s been an extraordinary champion of equality who kept his word about a Senate vote. Every progressive in New Jersey should view Governor Codey as a hero.

We thank the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the Human Rights Campaign, Gill Action, the Civil Marriage Collaborative, the Arcus Foundation and Freedom to Marry, which have given us resources and wisdom. We thank our partners at the state level, including the ACLU of New Jersey, BlueWave, Democracy for America, New Jersey Citizen Action, New Jersey Stonewall Democrats and the state’s progressive voice on the web, Blue Jersey, to which we owe so much.

We thank our spectacular field staff who joined us from across the country. We thank our executive committee, board, staff and donors who make Garden State Equality possible. We thank the New Jersey Lesbian and Gay Coalition for its decades of groundwork. We thank all the supportive staff in the legislature and executive branch. We especially thank our thousands of volunteers – the stars of Garden State Equality – who rallied at the State House and worked in our offices and in the field throughout the year. And if I may, I thank my partner Daniel and all the loved ones of our staff and volunteers who have supported us and sacrificed so much.

Most of all, we thank our colleagues at Lambda Legal, without whom our march toward equality would never have gotten this far. We’re thrilled to reunite with our partner Lambda Legal in the next stage of the battle. Please welcome Leslie Gabel-Brett, Lambda Legal’s director of education and public affairs.

PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION

PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION TO ALLOW TV CAMERAS IN THE COURTROOM REGARDING THE CHALLENGE TO PROP. 8.

U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker -- who will be overseeing a federal court challenge to Prop 8 starting this Monday (January 11) -- is considering whether or not to open the court room to TV cameras.

The court just announced that it is seeking public comment on the proposal to televise the trial -- and that all comments must be submitted to the court by a Friday deadline.


Not surprisingly, supporters of Prop 8 -- which took away the right of same-sex couples to marry in California -- do not want the trial to be televised. 



We have just this one chance to make our voices heard -- thousands of Americans calling for equality, transparency and accountability. That's why we're teaming up with the Courage Campaign to collect as many signatures as possible asking Judge Walker to televise the case. We need your signature now: 



SIGNATURE DEADLINE IS FRIDAY 9 a.m. Pacific Time / Noon Eastern Time

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN'S SEXUAL AROUSAL

This article highlights a very interesting phenomenon that deserves to be repeated in other studies to see how valid and reliable the findings of this study are. Here is an excerpt from this article:

When it comes to sexual arousal, a woman's mind and body are less in sync than a man's, a review of research finds.

Men who reported feeling turned on tended to also sport an erection, while a matchup between the mind and body wasn't so consistent for women, according to the review published online Jan. 4 in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior.

If this finding holds true, it might well be that Gay sexual relationships might well be more compatible and satisfying than are many heterosexual relationships! When perception and reality are in synch, we can expect that sexual intimacy will be more satisfying and even more intense than when they are not in synch.

As would be true for Gay men, lesbians might well have more satisfying sexual relationships than do heterosexual women for the reason that lesbians are likely to be more attuned to the intricacies of female sexuality as opposed to the "on-off switch" that typifies male sexuality.

Should this be the case, we might expect happier marriages and fewer divorces among gay men and lesbians than currently exist among the heterosexually married when sexual compatibility is the issue that precipitates marital discord and divorce, and that's one reason why the above study deserves to be repeated among different samples in the population studied.

To extend this point a bit further, it might well be that some, if not much, homophobia might be due to the unconscious recognition of the truth of this finding, and that the fear that Gay sexuality might be more satisfying to those who put themselves in the socially acceptable box of "heterosexual" is one of the motivators for the prejudice and discrimination visited upon Gay people by those who are wedded to the label "heterosexual."

THE UNMET NEEDS AND ANXIETIES OF THE STRIDENT HOMOPHOBE

Sigmund Freud gave this statement regarding religious people whom he felt were suffering from a mass neurosis. He said: "Devout believers are safeguarded in a high degree against the risk of certain neurotic illnesses; their acceptance of the universal neurosis spares them the task of constructing a personal one." That is, true believers can become insulated from the realities of their own lives to the degree that they are spared the necessary introspection and grappling with their own anxieties borne of unmet needs as well as the rigors of life.

I'm not a very religious person, but I am a spiritual one to the degree that I trust God over and above seen circumstances; I have the faith in Jesus' teachings, life, work, ministry, and His very Person to help me navigate through life. Therefore, even as a Christian, I do agree with Freud's assessment of "religion" as usually practiced in the institutional Church, as I do with Karl Marx' assertion that religion is the opiate of the masses.

We have certainly seen religion being used as a justification to deprive Gay people of their civil rights, and we have even seen those civil rights rescinded based on the prejudices of true believers and their gullible followers, both of whom, by definition, are neurotic because they seek to impose their own prejudices based on their own unmet needs and anxieties onto the electoral, rather than the Judicial, marketplace that they hope will justify the discrimination, the oppression, and the civil rights of others.

Regarding the origin of neurosis, Arthur Janov writes:

This separation of oneself from one's needs and feelings is an instinctive maneuver in order to shut off excessive pain. We call it the split. The organism splits in order to protect its continuity. This does not mean that unfulfilled needs disappear, however. On the contrary, they continue throughout life exerting a force, channeling interests, and producing motivation toward the satisfaction of those needs. But because of their pain, the needs have been suppressed in the consciousness, and so the individual must pursue substitute gratifications. He must, in short, pursue the satisfaction of his needs symbolically. Because he was not allowed to express himself, he may be compelled to try to get others to listen and understand later in life....

Neurosis is symbolic behavior in defense against excessive psychobiologic pain. Neurosis is self-perpetuating because symbolic satisfactions cannot fulfill real needs. In order for real needs to be satisfied, they must be felt and experienced. Unfortunately, pain has caused those needs to be buried. When they are buried, the organism goes into a continuous state of emergency alert. That alert state is tension. It propels the infant, and later the adult, toward the satisfaction of need in any way possible...The organism continues to live at any cost, and that cost is usually neurosis — shutting down unmet bodily needs and feelings because the pain is too great to withstand.

[For the full article, see here.]

When clergy and others seek to deprive dignity and civil rights to Gay people, that should be a red flag that these clergy are suffering from the pain and anxiety of unmet needs that occurred in their childhood and/or in their adulthood, that they feel require substitute gratifications for them that, unfortunately, takes the form of homophobia!

This anxiety and pain of their unmet needs are so great that any attempt is used by them to mitigate that suffering, so they resort to deflecting that pain onto others. As Carl Jung once observed: "The healthy man does not torture others - generally it is the tortured who turn into torturers."

So, strident homophobia must be seen as a red flag to all of us who seek to understand why those who claim to represent the Prince of Peace are so intent on bearing false witness against others (a violation of one of the Ten Commandments); are so intent on invoking some arcane verses of the Bible, the likes of which no rational person would seek to impose on contemporary society (e.g., stoning to death those who work on the Sabbath); resort to irrational attempts at justification for their homophobia, such as "preserving marriage" when no one who is rational can believe that same-sex marriage could or would in any way threaten or damage anyone's heterosexual marriage.

So the substitute gratifications needed and used by the homophobe because of his/her unmet or unfulfilled needs can be seen to prompt the irrationality of homophobia! The unmet or unfulfilled needs of the homophobe creates tremendous anxiety within him or her and he/she feels he/she must assuage that anxiety by condemning in others (often in the name of "love," of course) what may well be suppressed in him/herself, be it his/her own sexuality and/or other crucial needs not met at some point in his/her life; perhaps even in infancy.

It must be reiterated that sexually and emotionally healthy people don't seek to deprive Gay people (or anyone else) of their dignity and civil rights! Rather than externalize their likely lack of sexual and emotional health, it would be far better for them and for civil society for them to examine their own psyches and see what core needs of theirs have gone unmet; what gratifications they desired or currently desire can be met without their resorting to causing the suffering of their fellow Gay human beings and their families.

As I commented elsewhere: "People who hate, and who seek to deny dignity and civil rights to their fellow Gay citizens, show themselves to have psychological/sexual issues that make it necessary to relieve their anxiety that the very existence of Gay people provoke in them. It is the strident homophobes who hurt our society, and not Gay people who want and certainly deserve the same rights and privileges that heterosexuals enjoy under our Constitution."

WE MUST PUBLICLY EXAMINE THE PSYCHES OF STRIDENT HOMOPHOBES

Sexuality is such a primal urge, that it manifests its energy in a variety of ways; not only in sexual activity. That energy that is part and parcel of one's sexuality, especially when feared for all sorts of ostensibly "moral" reasons, or the fear that one's currently repressed sexual complexities will come to consciousness, can be, and frequently is, directed to the perceived source(s) of anxiety provoked by that threat, an anxiety that the homophobic individual can find to be almost unendurable.

In order to deal with...anxiety, [Sigmund] Freud believed that defense mechanisms helped shield the ego from the conflicts created by the id [our unconscious, tempestuous, drives], superego [the seat of our conscience], and reality. (See here.)

One of the major defense mechanisms that one can use to minimize his/her anxiety provoked by that threatening stimulus, in this case of his/her sexual issues and/or repression that is provoked by LGBT people, is "displacement."

DISPLACEMENT: If you have ever had a bad day at work, then gone home and taken out your frustration on family and friends, you have experienced the ego defense mechanism of displacement. Displacement involves taking out our frustrations, feelings, and impulses on people or objects that are less threatening. Displaced aggression is a common example of this defense mechanism. Rather than express our anger in ways that could lead to negative consequences (like arguing with our boss), we instead express our anger towards a person or object that poses no threat (such as our spouses, children, or pets). (See here.)

In the case of homophobic people, Gay people are the precise threat because they bring to the homophobe's consciousness his/her sexual issues, largely because of the unfortunate equation that Gay=Sex. So, when vulnerable people are brought face to face with Gay people or the issue of equality for Gay people, that threat can be of enormous proportions triggering an anxiety of enormous proportions.

Rather than seeing Gay people as posing no threat, as the defense mechanism of "displacement" posits, Gay people pose an enormous threat to the sexually vulnerable. Otherwise, why would strident homophobes be so insistent in making a veritable career out of defaming Gay people and doing everything in their power to prevent and/or rescind Gay people's civil rights?

After all, if one is sexually intact, he/she might just not believe that Gay people deserve equal rights and move on with his/her life; might well be amenable to rational discourse regarding the fact that Gay people are romantically/sexually in love with their partners every bit as much as are heterosexual couples.

However, when one is stridently homophobic, not only does rationality play no part in being able to change their minds, but that person often resorts to irrational rhetoric ("traditional family values," "for the good of the children," etc.) to lessen his/her anxiety about his/her own sexuality that is brought to consciousness by the very existence of Gay people.

Hence, it should be no surprise when "evangelical Christians" are loath to condemn Ugandan legislation that would go so far as to imprison and even execute Gay people, and only regrettably do so when embarrassed in the public arena.

Probably, if the truth be known, these "evangelical Christians" are quite sympathetic to the criminalizing of Gay people, and would not be all that offended by their imprisonment and, perhaps, even their execution. That's how much anxiety in their psyches that is provoked by the very existence of Gay people as the latter provoke the sexual issues that the homophobes have likely repressed for so long.

It must be underscored that sexually healthy people do not obsess or condemn others' sexuality! Why would they?

There is nothing abnormal or immoral about being Gay! Being Gay doesn't do anything to hurt heterosexuals or anyone else! Many studies have shown that the specter of pedophilia is far more a heterosexual issue than it is a Gay issue! Children raised with two Gay parents do as well as children raised by two heterosexual parents; likely do better than raised in a single parent household!

So, the fight for LGBT equality must be brought home to the homophobe's psyche from which it emanates!

We must counter strident homophobia by asking such questions as: What are you so fearful of? Why do you evidence lack of sexual intactness by having to bear false witness against Gay people? What sexual issues are you repressing or suppressing so that you seek to deprive fellow human beings of equal rights based solely on their sexuality?

What I am suggesting is that rather than play "defense" in the fight for LGBT equality, we take the "offense" and question and seek to analyze the emotional/sexual repressions and issues that seemingly coerce strident homophobes to make a veritable career out of irrationally maligning their fellow human beings based solely on their sexuality and gender expression.

Ultimately, the issue of LGBT equality rests in the political-legal arenas, but the strident homophobia that seeks to prevent a constitutionally protected outcome for Gay people rests in the warped psyches of the sexually repressed homophobes who, by their bearing false witness and their resorting to irrational arguments to justify their homophobia, show themselves to have frail, if not warped, psyches worthy of public examination and analysis.

THE DESPICABLE THREATS OF WASHINGTON, D.C.'S CATHOLIC CHARITIES

This brief video, which I urge you to watch in its entirety, speaks for itself regarding the trashing of the Gospel by prejudiced, even hateful, people who will throw the most vulnerable in our society out in the cold to get even for same-sex marriage being affirmed for Washington, D.C.

Catholic Charities in Washington, D.C. shows itself to be nothing short of despicable by threatening to engage in practices diametrically opposed to Jesus' teachings. Therefore, children, poor families, and the most vulnerable people in Washington, D.C. will literally be consigned to the harsh elements of the streets, without needed goods and services, because of the rabid homophobia emanating from both Catholic Charities and from the Vatican.

AN EXAMPLE OF "THUG CHRISTIANITY"

Here we have self-proclaimed representatives of Jesus, praying to God to prevent universal health care and to oppress minority groups, in this case Gay and poor people. The teachings of Jesus are lost on them, and I can only conclude that they are more moved by the demonic than they are by God!

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GLBT PEOPLE AND THE BATTLE FOR THE BIBLE

I wrote the following article several years ago, and I think it's appropriate to reprint it here and now, particularly given the set-backs on same-sex marriage, and the horrors going on in Uganda and in Rwanda regarding the punishment and likely executions of Gay people; a lot of the oppression of LGBT people is falsely and hypocritically said to be based on the Bible (as if that should even matter in civil society):

There is nothing in Scripture that prohibits full acceptance of GLBT people, and ordaining their unions as sacraments in the Church. Since the Bible is used to justify homophobia, I want to deal with this issue from a biblical perspective, fully recognizing, as with the civil rights issue for Afro-Americans, that the battle, though partly political, is primarily religious
and will eventually prevail on that ground.

It is inappropriate to translate many ancient customs to contemporary times. For example, we don't discriminate against
women wearing slacks; this practice was quite unusual, and considered as "cross-dressing," as recently as 50 years ago.

Jesus as human was the consequence of fornication and whoredom, and He had in His lineage a murderer. The prophet Hosea was told by God to marry a prostitute. (Hosea 1:2) The prophet Isaiah was told by God to walk around naked for three years. (Isaiah 20:3) Can you imagine what the Church world, the Vatican, and we ourselves would make of all these events today?

The Vatican decreed that homosexual relations were "intrinsically evil." Nowhere in Scripture are monogamous
homosexual relations condemned. Jesus specifically condemned divorce and remarriage, calling it adultery. (Matthew 5:31-32) Yet, there are ministries to divorced Catholics in the Church. However, Jesus never spoke about homosexuality; homosexuality isn't even mentioned in the Ten Commandments, although bearing false witness is, yet the Church has demonized it.

Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people are viewed as easy and safe targets to persecute! What the Catholic Church and much of the church world have done, enmeshing their prejudices on selected parts of the Bible, is help further exacerbate a climate of hate throughout the world against these already persecuted minorities. Scripture must always trump "natural law" and tradition, if Christians are to live up to the commandments Jesus taught: to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves. All people are our neighbors, who must be embraced, not merely tolerated or, worse, demonized.

I am ashamed and angered at what the Vatican and much of the rest of the organized Church have done in oppressing GLBT people, as they seemingly utilize their view of "sin," born of cultural and personal prejudices to, in effect, tell GLBT people that they have no place in the Church. Rather than take the lead in living the law of love, much of the organized Church world has become culpable in the demonization of GLBT people.

In a society living on the edge, where people were to "be fruitful and multiply," homosexual relations, regardless of motive, were condemned. However, if we bring back that condemnation then, to be consistent, we would have to stone to death those caught in adultery, stone to death recalcitrant children, and even offer our virgin daughters to a howling mob to protect strange visitors, if need be.

The Church is obligated to come down on the side of love, mercy, compassion, grace, and inclusiveness, rather than on the side of being judgmental and excluding GLBT people and their relationships from full fellowship in the Church. The misuse of the Bible as a hammer to oppress others is diametrically opposed to Jesus’ life, ministry, and commandments to us to love and embrace each other.

The Gay Scapegoat is a convenient and safe target to persecute from both outside and within the Church! His or her very existence is condemned deep within the psyche of many, given the self-righteous legalists and perfectionists in our midst, many of whom have ascended to leadership positions within much of the organized Church, and whose utterances against GLBT people are diametrically opposed to the biblical mandates to love others and seek to remove yokes of bondage put upon others by the modern-day Pharaohs and Pharisees who seem to monopolize the media and pulpits throughout America and the rest of the world.

The legalists, who have always been in the Church, are still trying to vitiate the grace (unmerited favor) of God by substituting in its place their own idols of self-righteousness, laws, and assorted do's and don'ts that have had the impact of having many GLBT people living lives filled with self-loathing, guilt, and self-condemnation. These legalists have caused untold suffering to people who have been viewed as "safe" targets to persecute. It's the legalists, not members of the GLBT communities who put their trust in God over and above their trust in others and life-circumstances, who are out of the will of God and misuse the Bible to oppress others to our collective shame! They must be withstood to their faces! (Galatians 2:11)

What many GLBT people don't realize is that their being excluded from much of the Church and from mainstream society serves a vital psychological and social function. First of all, hate is a great energizer! It enables one to feel superior to another and thereby feel more affirmed in a world that he or she seeks to twist to be in accordance with his or her own perceived self-interests. Moreover, marginalizing and demonizing certain groups of people amplifies in-group cohesion, and the embracing of established ways of doing things that are, again, perceived to be in the in-group's self-interest.

Emile Durkheim, a famous nineteenth century sociologist, said that when you have a threatening "out-group," the "in-group" unites to protect itself against it. There are people who have a vested interest in creating out-groups, because by so doing they cement in-group solidarity, even based on such banal slogans as "family values," "recapturing the soul of America," and “preserving the sanctity of marriage." The in-group, safely representing between ninety and ninety-eight percent of the population, can share emotions and fellowship being bonded by this one, and perhaps only, common bond: their stated sexual orientation.

Creating out-groups becomes for many within the in-group their god, and many are unwitting worshippers of this god which they created out of their psychological and social self-interests and perceived needs. Most people who marginalize and demonize gay people are xenophobic in that they reject people with whom they feel they cannot relate, as they don't see gay (or Black, or Mexican, or immigrant, etc.) people as their brothers and sisters.

Those who refer to the Bible to worship their god of exclusiveness misread Scripture to fit their own prejudices. These
people listen to "lying prophets," as they did with the issues of slavery, segregation, and the subjugation of women, who
bring themselves and their followers to ruin and perhaps spiritual death. (1Kings 13) Many GLBT people have either
committed suicide, or commit suicide on the installment plan through guilt, self-condemnation, alcohol and drugs, due to
those who do precisely what Jesus told Christians not to do. It should come as no surprise that gay youth suicide is estimated to be significantly higher than non-gay youth suicide!

Once it is recognized that stereotyping, marginalizing, demonizing, and excluding people and groups is non-biblical, but
serves a very useful social function by creating greater solidarity among the in-group, and serves the psychological function of falsely-based self-affirmation, Christians will be likely to finally heed the counsel of God. No person or ideology is to supplant the God of inclusiveness, unconditional love, and salvation to those whom He has, by His unmerited favor, chosen out of the world, before the worlds were formed (Ephesians 1:4), to be His own possession.

One even can't appeal to tradition to justify exclusion of gays and their marital unions.

In a fascinating book entitled, Same-Sex Unions In Premodern Europe, by the historian John Boswell (Vintage Books,
Random House, 1995), he delineates how some same sex unions were even blessed by clergy in the Church. There are many same sex unions that are delineated in this book, but I'll just quote one passage to give you a flavor of the topic.

"…the church of Saint John of the Latin Gate, in which some Portuguese some years before had entered into a strange
'brotherhood'. Two males married each other at Mass, with the same ceremonies we use for our marriages, taking
Communion together, using the same nuptial Scripture, after which they slept and ate together. Roman experts said
that since sex between male and female could be legitimate only within marriage, it had seemed equally fair to them to
authorize these ceremonies and mysteries of the church." (p. 265)

The context of prohibition against homosexual behavior in the Old Testament was that people were to be fruitful and
multiply; the Messiah would come through the fruit of procreation, though be born of a virgin. In the New Testament, the
context of prohibition is against any behavior that supplants God as an object of worship.

The Apostle Paul was most likely addressing male cult prostitution and sexual intercourse as homage to various pagan
deities that existed in the Roman world at that time. There is no evidence to indicate that he was referring to loving,
monogamous relationships between people of the same sex or that he was even referring to, or cognizant of, sexual
orientation. (As is well known, there is no word in any of the biblical manuscripts that can be translated “homosexual” as
the word wasn’t coined until the late nineteenth century.) Moreover, even in the Old Testament, the sin of Sodom was
not homosexuality but idolatry, mistreatment of others, and inhospitality.

In our era, we don't see the importance of hospitality. However, in the harsh environments that existed in the ancient world, hospitality was essential, as it could be a matter of life and death, and if it was denied, it was a grievous matter.

Moreover, when Sodom is discussed in Scripture, homosexuality is never mentioned as its sin. Here is the evidence of that fact, for which I'm indebted to the web site christianlesbians.com:

Old Testament References The Sins of Sodom Mentioned
Deuteronomy 29:17-26 Idolatry and images to false gods.
Deuteronomy 32:32-38 Idolatry.
Isaiah 1:9-23 Murder, greed, theft, rebellion, covetousness.
Isaiah 3:8-15 Mistreating the poor.
Isaiah 3:11-19 Arrogance.
Jeremiah 23:10-14 Adultery, lying by priests and prophets.
Jeremiah 49:16-18 Pride of the heart.
Jeremiah 50:2-40 Idolatry and pride.
Lamentations 4:3-6 Cruelty and failure to care for the young and poor.
Ezekiel 16:49-50 "Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance
of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were
haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good."
Amos 4:1-11 Oppression and mistreating the poor.
Zephaniah 2:8 Pride.

New Testament Reference The Sins of Sodom Mentioned
Luke 17:26-29 No specific sins mentioned.
2 Peter 2:6 Living after ungodliness.
Jude 1:7-8 Fornication after strange ("other") flesh. (Could be related to Genesis 6:1-2)

"Jesus declared that He hadn't come to do away with a portion of the Law but to fulfill all the Law (Matthew 5:17-18). Paul in Romans 10:4 says that 'Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to all who believe' and in Romans 7:6 tells us that we have been released from the Law and are dead to that which had us bound. If a portion of the Law remains in effect then all the Law must remain in effect." (christianlesbians.com)

Paul was writing to the believing Jews of Rome and in Chapter One of the book of Romans he is describing the progressive descent into sin of the unbelieving Gentiles. You can't look at Chapter One without relating it to Chapter Two where Paul admonishes the Jews that if they pass judgment on even these behaviors, they are in fact condemning themselves. Paul's purpose was to show us all from which Christ redeemed Christians!

As Professor Peter J. Gomes wrote in his excellent book, The Good Book: Reading The Bible With Mind And Heart, in reading Scripture we must take account of what it says, what it means, its subtext, its context, what we bring to the text, and what we take out of the text; biblical principle must always trump biblical practice. Our cultural lenses and personal prejudices frequently blind us to what Scripture is saying, much as they blinded those who used Scripture to justify slavery, segregation, and subjugation of women inside and outside of the Church. It is essential to realize that text without context is error!

Although GLBT inclusiveness is in part a political matter, it is primarily a religious one, in that even homophobes who have never even set foot inside of a church frequently claim to speak for God on this matter. One may be a homophobe, but he or she cannot appeal to the Bible to justify his or her prejudices.

It's high time that Christians actively stand up to the legalists, the haters, and hate-mongers both in and out of the Church, as perverters of the Gospel message of love, grace, faith, mercy, compassion, peace, reconciliation, and inclusiveness. There is not to be, nor can there be, “unity” at the expense of social justice! There cannot be a meeting of the minds when those who have a tenacious and vested interest in misusing the Bible, God’s love letter to His children, stridently condemn others, thereby helping to create and foment a climate of hate that results in the suicides and killings of GLBT people, many of whom, due to this hateful rhetoric, lead lives consumed with shame and self-loathing.

Christians must reclaim the Gospel of grace and the Bible of forgiveness, to show forth the God of love. And we must use every venue possible to show others that Christianity is antithetical to ignorant, erroneous, oppressive, and hateful biblical exegeses.

In reclaiming the Bible from those who would seek to hijack it, and who have distorted it, for their own religious, materialistic, and political agendas, we must all battle for full civil and sacramental rights for GLBT people, as by so doing we are battling for the very soul of the Church. And, therefore, we are ultimately engaging in this battle for God’s sake!

MY ANTIPATHY TOWARD MOST CHURCHES AND DENOMINATIONS

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has for the first time [on December 12th], publicly expressed his opposition to the Anti-Homosexuality Bill recently proposed in Uganda. His statement follows weeks of pressure, numerous calls for him to speak out and a petition signed by thousands urging him to condemn the Bill.

His office had previously said that he would not be commenting on the issue in public, but today (12 December), Williams said that the Bill was of “shocking severity” and that he could not see how any Anglican could support it....

The tension around the issue rose dramatically this week, after Williams criticised the election of a lesbian bishop in the USA while remaining silent on Uganda. The LGBT Anglican Coalition described his stance as a “double standard of justice”....

Williams' comments are likely to add to the pressure on other Christian leaders, including the Pope, to oppose the legislation.

[For the full article, see here.]

Although Williams immediately criticized the election of a lesbian Bishop in the Episcopal Church, it took him some weeks to criticize the draconian bill that would punish and even execute Gay people in Uganda. Indeed, Williams is considered a "liberal," as is most of the Methodist Church that only criticized that bill the day before (December 11th). The Pope has yet to condemn it!

When I became a Christian in 1982, I felt it necessary to attend church every time it was open. I attended church services Sunday mornings and evenings, as well as Wednesday evening Bible studies. In each church, and there were five of them, there were problems significant enough for us to leave and seek another church.

Just one example: In one church we attended, the pastor's wife and youth leader called my then 16 year old daughter "a tool of Satan" because she listened to rock music.

As an ordained minister of the Gospel, it might seem odd for me to tell you that I have antipathy toward most churches and denominations in the institutional Church, and that neither my wife nor I attend any church. Indeed, we have not attended church for about four years, and we don't miss it.

Why should we miss it? Most of them are enmeshed with the most reactionary forces within society; bear false witness and (despite their rhetoric to the contrary) hold LGBT people in disdain; remain silent in the face of the oppression of others, unless pushed and embarrassed enough to speak out, as we saw with Rick Warren and now with Rowan Williams; rarely, if ever, do they speak out against war, poverty, and corporate sins and greed.

Several years ago, I wrote an article entitled, A Church For The 21st Century, where I called for a New Reformation, and part of it reads as follows:

The need for a New Reformation can’t be made clearer! We as Christians are to hearken back to the biblical truth that God is a God of grace that we appropriate through our abiding trust, or faith, in Him, and that faith will yield the outworking by the Holy Spirit Who indwells all those who trust Him to show love, mercy, and compassion to others. There is no room for exclusion, patriarchy, authoritarianism, man-made tradition, and the false gospel of legalism and perfectionism here!

No! The New Reformation has been, and will continue to be, enacted by those who heed God’s call to be His agents of mercy and grace, unencumbered by fealty to hierarchical and authoritarian structures and those who seek to exalt themselves by adhering to the status quo that frequently handsomely rewards them positionally, psychologically, materially, socially, politically, and cognitively by artificially reinforcing their one dimensional view of our multidimensional world.

Sooner or later, all of God’s children, those called out by God from the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4), will stop seeking the living among the dead. When any of us make that spiritually necessary leap of faith, we have partaken in the New Reformation designed by God!

I honestly believe that most Christians are better off not going to church if that church in any way rejects anyone; equates Christianity with Americanism, jingoism, militarism, and capitalism; remains silent in the face of the oppression of others both at home and abroad.

Such churches and the denominations to which they belong are toxic to the spiritual life, and are toxic to civil society, as we have seen regarding the role denominations and churches have played in preventing and even rescinding the civil rights of Gay people.

Run from such toxic institutions and either remain home and nurture your spiritual life as you see fit or, perhaps, go to an open and affirming church, a church that nurtures your spirit and enables you to get closer to God, or else involve yourself in a worship community and/or Bible study that nurtures your spiritual life.

I have disdain for most of the institutional Church, save for such denominations as the Metropolitan Community Churches, most Episcopal churches, many churches affiliated with the United Church of Christ, and many churches affiliated with the Disciples of Christ, because Christians are to seek to live up to the admonition voiced by Joshua:

And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve ; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell : but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. (Joshua 24:15)

STAND AGAINST UGANDAN PUNISHMENT AND GENOCIDE OF GAY PEOPLE

This brief video speaks for itself, and again we must ask where are the clergy in most of the institutional Church and why aren't they vociferously condemning these draconian measures that may well result in the genocide of Gay people in Uganda?



Under current Ugandan law, homosexuality is a crime punishable by life in prison. The proposed law would not just condemn HIV positive gay men and "repeat offenders" to death, it would also jail for three years anyone who knows a gay man but refuses to report them to authorities. Further, anyone who defends in public the rights of gays and lesbians would be subjected to a seven year prison term.

[For the full article, see here.]


PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION TO STAND AGAINST UGANDA'S HOMOPHOBIC ATTITUDES

AN EXCELLENT ARTICLE: AN OPEN LETTER FROM JESUS TO 'CHRISTIAN' AMERICA, BY FRANK SCHAEFFER

Most of the institutional Church has defamed Christianity, Christ's Church, Christians worthy of the name, Jesus, and God by having a very long record of bearing false witness, degrading, and discriminating against minority groups, such as Gay people, that they feel are "safe" to persecute.

And, most of the leadership of the institutional Church and their gullible followers have the temerity to invoke God, Jesus, and the Bible, along with simplistic, erroneous, and irrational sound bites and buzz words such as "traditional family values," "for the good of our children," etc., to seek to justify the unjustifiable, and to seek to lend rationality to the irrational xenophobia that they display that is diametrically opposed to Jesus' teachings and very life!

One can not assume that just because someone calls him/herself a "Christian" that he/she is not a mere thug! And, what's worse, he/she is a thug who thinks that God is on his/her side when he/she actively contributes to the suffering, suicides, assaults, and murders of God's LGBT children!

I've said it many times before, and I'll say it again: Every single drop of blood shed by LGBT people through suicide, assault, and murder is on the hands of every professing Christian who either advocates discrimination against LGBT people or who remains silent amidst the oppression of LGBT people!

As I wrote in an article entitled, Gay Bashing: The Politics of Religion:

"Make no mistake, every drop of blood shed by GLBT people either through suicide, bashing, or murder, are on the hands of all those religious leaders, their followers, and their allies who spew forth their ignorance, prejudice, and hate against GLBT people and their relationships! These wolves in sheep's clothing take the Bible, God's love letter to His children, and selectively and perversely use it as a club to condemn others, and deny GLBT people full inclusion in the Church and in society.

The tradition-bound parts of the Church have so indoctrinated people, many of whom have never even set foot in a house of worship, that many people even disown their own children when they "come out" and divulge their sexual orientation to those whom they thought unconditionally loved and cherished them. There are many children living on the streets because their own parents trusted ignorant clergy and their followers over their God-given duty and privilege to nurture and embrace their own children! (See here.)

In his excellent article, An Open Letter From Jesus to "Christian" America, Frank Schaeffer hits the nail on the head regarding the hypocrisy of all too many professing Christians' hateful animus toward one or more minority groups that they feel are "safe" and even "godly" to persecute.

Of course, the minority group de jour that so many professing Christians view as acceptable to oppress is comprised of LGBT people, and it's a crying shame that many people believe their lies borne out of ignorance and/or downright hate!


Here is an excerpt from the article by Frank Schaeffer [Pictured], an article that I strongly urge you to read in its entirety:

You American Christians utterly defaced the name of Christianity with your racism, your slavery and your bigotry against women. And now you're doing it again in your war against gay men and women and in your war against the poor who have no health care. Some of you even have had it as part of your wicked program to reestablish the Biblical law demanding death to gay people that I clearly showed must be broken by the greater law of love. Well, as you judge so you will be judged. Good luck with that!

Do you think the Kingdom of God is more likely to belong to, a wealthy "Christian" leader who preaches hate and exclusion (even when saying "I love everyone and only hate the sin") or to the least of these, the disenfranchised who want nothing more than to enjoy the same rights of other citizens? Do you think God does not see that the poor have no care and die because your greedy (lying) insurance lobby has your so called Congress in their pockets?

You hypocrites and liars! You say you're preaching my gospel when my gospel never was about correct belief or correct behavior. My gospel was about not judging others, making room for everyone at the table, loving your neighbor as you love yourself. If gay men and women are your enemy then, as you know, I commanded you to love them! And if they are asking to be allowed to marry I commanded you to give to him who asks of you! Besides, you don't own America. This is a democracy and yours is just one opinion.

[For the full article by Frank Schaeffer, see here.]

RACHEL MADDOW HAS IT OUT WITH RICHARD COHEN; RICK WARREN'S ANTIPATHY TOWARD GAY PEOPLE

This 17 minute video with Rachel Maddow skewering Richard Cohen [Pictured], alleged "ex-gay" author, shows the bankrupt nature of both the notion of one becoming "ex-gay" in any meaningful sense, and the bankrupt nature of the "science" that lies behind the ideologically (and often materialistically motivated) saturated rhetoric and actions that can, and might well, lead to the imprisonment and murders of countless Gay people in Uganda and, perhaps, elsewhere:


Although, in my opinion, Cohen is a pathetic buffoon, there are a lot of other buffoons who give him credibility! Yet he makes no pretenses about being a Christian and falsely telling people what the Bible allegedly says about being Gay.

However, the Rick Warrens of the world do just that so, frankly, I have even more antipathy toward the Rick Warrens of the world who sanctimoniously degrade Gay people than I do the pathetic Richard Cohens of the world who should lack any credibility with anyone with even a modicum of intelligence and decency!


Rick Warren [Pictured], after undoubtedly being the recipient of a lot of pressure, finally urged Ugandan pastors to not support the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. However, his too little too late speech, unfortunately lauded by some like Wayne Besen who seem to be satisfied with incremental crumbs of niceties, despite their still being defamed and demeaned, contained the following:

While we can never deny or water down what God’s Word clearly teaches about sexuality, at the same time the church must stand to protect the dignity of all individuals — as Jesus did and commanded all of us to do. Let me be clear that God’s Word states that all sex outside of marriage is not what God intends. Jesus reaffirmed what Moses wrote that marriage is intended to be between one man and one woman committed to each other for life. (See here.)

How do you think statements like that make a Gay kid (or adult, for that matter) feel about him/herself? How is biblical literalism apart from cultural context helping anyone? How is self-righteous and self-serving rhetoric that seeks to impose one's religious ideology onto others doing any kind of service to civil society, or to anyone who seeks spiritual solace from the Prince of Peace? How can the legalists and perfectionists of the institutional Church world distort the Gospel of grace, faith, love, peace, reconciliation, and inclusiveness and yet be of any use in spreading the "Good News" that Jesus came to set the captives free from the yokes of bondage placed upon them by the likes of those homophobic legalists?

Here is the video of Warren's address to Ugandan pastors:



And in case there is any doubt about Warren's antipathy toward LGBT people even if it were found that being Gay is something with which one was born, please see this brief video:



Please know that there is absolutely nothing in the Bible that condemns Gay people or same-sex love! God does not hate what God creates!

[Thanks to LGBT POV for the last two videos.]

SOME TALKING POINTS ON CHRISTIANITY AND HOMOSEXUALITY

Some years ago, I wrote the following article that I think is appropriate to post at this time. When we have a seemingly progressive state like New York preventing same-sex marriage in spite of the fact that the Governor said he would sign that bill if it ever reached his desk; when we have a seemingly progressive state like California that affirmed Prop. 8 in spite of the fact that the California State Supreme Court voted same-sex marriages as being constitutional; when we have the debacle in Maine that rescinded same-sex marriage rights; when New Jersey is waffling on this issue; when the egregiousness of having Gay civil rights be put on any ballot to be voted upon by the electorate, it is my distinct feeling that homophobic clergy have inordinate and uncalled for influence on politicians, the electorate, and on professing Christians who take to heart their ignorant and/or mendacious rhetoric, and actually believe that being LGBT and LGBT civil rights including that of same-sex marriage are diametrically opposed to being "a good Christian." Nothing could be further from the truth, and I hope that the following article helps lay that big lie to rest:

About a year ago, after my giving a talk on how the Bible doesn't condemn, but actually affirms, same-sex love, a woman with a gay brother, raised in a Christian family, asked me to write out "talking points" on the subject of the consistency between Christianity and homosexuality, so that she could share that information with her brother. This article is the result of my answering her request.

Hitler's propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbles, stated what is, unfortunately, a profound truth. He said that no matter how big the lie, if it's repeated often enough, people will come to believe it. Just as that axiom proved true in Nazi Germany, it certainly proves itself to be true regarding the relationship between Christianity and homosexuality. For centuries, we have been repeatedly told from assorted pulpits throughout the world that homosexuality is a "sin," so that so many professing Christians and others come to think that it's a no-brainer, that it is, in fact, a "sin."

The fact is, as the Reverend Troy Perry has said, "Jesus came to take away our sins, not our sexuality." In addition, as I have said for many decades, "Never let other people define your reality or put you into bondage to their ways of thinking!"

Simply put, if we remove the patriarchal and legalistic trappings of "Christianity," that presents the false gospel of legalism perfectionism, and exclusion, we see that the only Gospel to be found in Christianity, the Gospel of grace, faith, love, peace, reconciliation, and inclusiveness demands that we embrace all of God's children, we be authentic as God created us to be, and we recognize that we commit a grievous sin when we reject the wonderful gift bestowed upon us by God, the gift of being able to love another person. As Rev. Troy Perry has said, "God didn't create someone whom He could sit around and hate!"

You also commit a grievous sin if you reject the sexual orientation given you by God! We are to never chafe under the sovereign choices of God, and so many LGBT Christians fail to recognize that they are God's gift to the Church and to society! Always remember, God has gifted you with the capacity to love and that you are God's gift to the Church and to this world!

As I read a while back, "We are not here to prove ourselves to the world, but to be ourselves in the world!" This is a good point and truth worth meditating on each and every day of our lives. Read Isaiah 2:22 and Galatians 1:10 for further confirmation of this truth!

I hope these talking points are of help, not merely to address the prejudice of others, prejudice that, unfortunately, rationality and facts are frequently unlikely to penetrate, but that they affirm all of us as God's children, and once and for all erase any possible reason for anyone to have shame or self-loathing because of sexual orientation, or for any other reason. God is not stupid and God doesn't make any mistakes!

Here are the talking points that I hope you find useful:

1. All of the Commandments are fulfilled by loving God and loving others. We are never to judge others. (Matthew 7:1; Romans 2:1) Read Romans 1 in detail and then Romans 2:1.

2. The "clobber passages" in Leviticus and Deuteronomy concern the "Holiness Codes" that have been fulfilled in Jesus. "Toevah" means "abomination" or "detestable" as related to idolatry and cult prostitution that were engaged in by the Canaanites.

3. The Bible also contains prohibitions against eating shell fish; there are also the cultural practices of stoning to death those who commit adultery, stoning to death those who work on the Sabbath, stoning to death recalcitrant children, women not being allowed to talk in the Church, women not being allowed to teach men, women always keeping their heads covered in church, not wearing mixed fibers in one's clothes, etc. Why not picket Safeway for selling shell fish and picket K Mart for selling shirts made of cotton and polyester?

4. The "sin of Sodom" (Genesis 19) has nothing to do with homosexuality. It deals with gang rape. Whenever Sodom and Gomorrah are mentioned in the Bible, homosexuality is never mentioned as its sin. Its sins are primarily inhospitality and not taking care of the poor.

5. In a tribal society, living on the edge, surrounded by enemies, homosexual activity is condemned because in this way people can't "be fruitful and multiply." However, we are no longer a tribal society living on the edge; it's inappropriate to blindly translate the cultural practices of ancient societies to contemporary society as witness as a widow having to marry her husband's brother. If she loved that man, that's wonderful. But if she didn't love that man, she still had to marry him and one can't legitimately argue that God is in favor of serial rape!

6. If homosexuality was so important, why is it not mentioned in the Ten Commandments; why did the prophets never write about it; why didn't Jesus ever condemn it? If it were that important, don't you think that it would have been mentioned in at least one of these contexts?

7. Why was the centurion so concerned about this particular slave as recorded in Matthew 8? After all, slaves were a dime a dozen. As it says in Luke, this is a slave who was "dear to him." (Luke 7:2) Why is the Greek word "pais" translated as "servant" in English, when this Greek word is best translated "slave boy?" (See "Our Story Too…Reading the Bible with New Eyes," by Rev. Nancy Wilson, located at http://www.mccchurch.org/.) "Doulos" is the Greek word for slave! A "pais" was frequently one who had a romantic-sexual relationship with an older man; that may well be why the centurion was so concerned about this particular young man and asked Jesus to heal him. If such a relationship was a sin or in any way inappropriate, wouldn't Jesus have taken this opportunity to condemn or censure the centurion for having such a relationship? Instead, Jesus merely commended the centurion on his faith and promptly proceeded to heal the man's slave boy. [It must be noted that pedophilia or ephebophilia are independent of this biblical account; slaves misused by their masters is similarly independent of this account.]

8. Same-sex love is certainly affirmed in reading of the relationship between King David (called "a man after God's own heart") and Jonathan. See 1 Samuel 16:12;20:1-23;35-42;20:41;28:32-34;20:12-17;42; 2 Samuel 1:26. If one reads the account of Deborah, a Judge and esteemed warrior in Israel, one comes away with a feeling that she may well have been transgendered, as she certainly didn't live up to the cultural expectations of how a "woman" is to behave. (See Judges 4:1-24)

9. Particularly in the New Testament, same-sex love is never condemned! What is undoubtedly condemned is male cult prostitution, as seen in the fact that in Corinth, where the Book of Romans was undoubtedly written, there were many religions, one of them being the fertility cult of Aphrodite. Here, sex was frequently a worshipful act in homage to various pagan deities for purposes of fertility, having the crops grow, etc.

10. The word "homosexual" never appears in any biblical manuscript, as it was a word coined in the late 19th Century and first appeared in an English Bible translation, the Revised Standard Version, in 1946. The Greek word used for "homosexual," arsenokoitai, is an obscure word that doesn't seem to appear in any other ancient writings, and may very well have been only used by the Apostle Paul. Its literal meaning is "male bed." No one knows what Paul was referring to but, if he wanted to denote same-sex love, there were other words available to him that he could have easily used.

11. The word translated "effeminate" in 1 Corinthians 6:9 is malakoi. It means "soft." It's used elsewhere in Scripture to denote soft clothing. (Matthew 11:8) In this context it probably refers to people of soft morals, or people who lack courage. In any case, to translate it as "effeminate" in a pejorative way would contradict Paul's assertion of the equality of men and women in Christ. (Galatians 3:28)

12. Regarding the word "para physin" that is usually translated "against nature," this phrase is also used in regard to God's welcoming the gentiles into the fold. (Romans 11:21-24) The phrase is probably best translated, "unexpected," or something not done in the usual way.

13. Biblical principle must always trump biblical practice! The biblical principle is the Gospel, the Good News, of God's grace (unmerited favor) to us that we appropriate through our faith in Him. (Romans 5:1-2; Ephesians 2:8-9) As Peter J. Gomes writes in his excellent book that I strongly urge you to read, The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart, when we read any passage of the Bible we must try to discern what it says, what it means, the subtext, the context, what we bring to the text, and what we take out of the text. Much of the mind-set and many of the words that appear in Scripture don't mean what we think they mean from our perspective.

14. As Christians we are to show forth the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), and live out the Gospel of grace, faith, love, peace, reconciliation, and inclusiveness. We are in no way to align ourselves with wolves in sheep's clothing who stigmatize and oppress gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people for their own psychological, political, social, and financial gains, particularly when they have absolutely no Scriptural authority to do so.

[So, next time you hear the utterances of homophobic clergy who appeal to the Bible to justify their prejudices, remember that they speak out of ignorance and/or hatefulness, and pay them no mind! They are wolves in sheep's clothing, and even many of them are too clueless to know that fact and, unfortunately, many of their followers are too gullible to see through their lies.]

STRIDENT HOMOPHOBIA STEMS FROM THE UNCONSCIOUS

It might seem strange that my major intellectual influence has been Sigmund Freud. Although I don't place much faith in his therapeutic modality, psychoanalysis, as being any more or less effective than any other therapeutic modality, particularly since it resists empirical study and possible verification or lack of verification, what makes Freud so important, in my opinion, are the insights he drew from his analyses of the human condition and the human psyche.

One of his many insights is stated quite succinctly by him: The ego is not master in its own house. ("A Difficulty in the Path of Psycho-Analysis," 1917.)

That is, our conscious desires and motivations, our rational processes, are trumped by our unconscious drives and longings of which we are unaware! That is, our unconscious drives and needs are the major determinants of our thoughts, prejudices, rhetoric, and actions. In other words, we do not have the control of our beliefs and actions that we think we do!

When confronting another's prejudices, that person may, when asked, seem to come to a rational explanation for those prejudices, with appeal to assorted "scientific" and "biblical" claims yet, when push comes to shove, those reasons are mere rationalizations used by the person in order to justify in his/her mind and in the minds of the questioner(s) why those prejudices are "rational" when, in fact, they are anything but rational but emanate from the unconscious longings and repressions, the resistances and the untamed and untamable forces that reside within the unconscious of the person with whose prejudices we are dealing.

In the case of homophobia, it is eminently clear that ignorance and/or hate are the root causes of those prejudices, and that hateful animus that propels and compels one to consistently seek to demean the other, and deny equal rights to Gay people, is coming from the unconscious of that person, those tempestuous forces of which he/she is largely, if not solely, unaware.

However, the homophobe's conscious mind must make him/her and his/her homophobia seem "reasonable" to those who ask the question as to why that person is homophobic, so there is an attempt by the homophobe to invoke "credible evidence" in his/her conscious mind, particularly the homophobe's interpretation of certain selected biblical verses, so that credibility can be sought and often, unfortunately, irrationally obtained by gullible people to the hateful utterances made by clergy and by other professing Christians in the name of God and the Prince of Peace.

Therefore, "sitting down and reasoning together" with strident homophobes, particularly religious homophobes, is a waste of time and energy, and is bound to degenerate into profound resistance and hostility on the part of the homophobe because his/her unconscious structure and drives make it virtually impossible for rational discourse to penetrate that structure and change those drives.

So, what is the answer in dealing with homophobia? Social Psychology has provided that answer in regard to many types of xenophobia!

Attitudes can only be changed by there first being a change (even a forced change, if necessary) in one's behavior and then, over time, one's xenophobic attitudes will change. For example, regarding the African-American civil rights struggle, it wasn't until certain key court decisions and mandated integration in the military, public accommodations, and in schools occurred, and when Whites and Blacks were forced to work together as equals, that White attitudes toward Blacks became much more accepting and benign.

I'm not suggesting that Black-White relations are a bowl of cherries now, and that racism still doesn't exist! What I am suggesting is that institutional racism is far less acute than before that forced behavior change; Black-White relations are much more convivial than existed prior to that forced behavior change.

So, we don't change attitudes to evoke a certain desired behavior, but changes in behavior eventually create a change in attitudes! Therefore, we don't work to change the attitudes of people, such as we see with the onerous attempt to appeal to "the milk of human kindness" by many Gay activists when Gay civil rights are despicably put up for a vote of the electorate, but we force the dominant group to deal with full and equal civil rights that come from the Judiciary and then, over time, Gay people will be far more integrated into the society than now exists; full and equal civil and sacramental rights will become a reality.

I understand that there are many Gay people who do not want to be integrated into dominant society, and they should be free to ghettoize themselves if they so choose. However, I have to believe that most Gay people do want equal rights and do want to embrace all of the rights of citizenship that heterosexuals enjoy, and if that is the goal, time, activism, monies, and energy must be spent and directed at the political-judicial arenas to force behavior change on the part of the dominant group so that their homophobic attitudes will eventually change.

And, over time, the unconscious drives and fears that prompt and propel homophobia will change to become more accepting of Gay people, and then, unfortunately, another minority group will be sought after for discrimination by those whose unconscious drives force them to discriminate.

But that fact is the subject of another civil rights struggle at some future time!

CLERGY DISGRACE OF PREFERRING "UNITY" TO "JUSTICE"

THE Archbishop of Canterbury today called on American Anglicans to block the appointment of a lesbian bishop.
Dr Rowan Williams warned that the selection of a new homosexual bishop could push the divided Anglicans over the edge into full-blown schism.

The Archbishop spoke out after leaders of the Church of England's sister church in Los Angeles chose 55-year-old Reverend Mary Glasspool as an assistant bishop.

He said the choice raised 'serious questions' and warned it was a threat to the 'bonds' that tie 77million Anglicans together.

[For the full article, see here.]

And Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, is supposed to be a "liberal." However, it seems that "unity" at the expense of "justice" is his idea of the manifestation of "Christianity."

He's shown himself to be a traitor to equal rights, and to Jesus' teachings that we are to love God (by trusting God over and above seen circumstances) and to love and not judge other people.

For the likes of Williams, the Pope, and many other professing Christian homophobes to be in a leadership (or any) position in any denomination professing to represent the teachings, life, ministry, and work of Christ on earth is a disgrace to all who long for justice and equal rights for all of God's children.

MY GRATITUDE FOR THIS BLOG BEING NOMINATED AS BEST GAY BLOG OF 2009

I can't tell you how grateful and honored I am that my blog was nominated under the Political Blogs Section as The Best Gay Blog of 2009. It means more to me than I can express. Those who nominated this site, and those who read this site, also mean a great deal to me, and I just hope that we can all work and struggle together for full and equal rights for LGBT people, and agree that we will never quit until they shove six feet of dirt in our faces. God bless you all!

JAMES HIPPS' INTERVIEW WITH FRANK SCHAEFFER.

Below is a very interesting interview with Frank Schaeffer by James Hipps on Blog Talk Radio, about, in part, the need for the separation of Church and State. Please also listen to James Hipps' commentary at the end of his interview with Frank Schaeffer.

For a flavor of where Frank Schaeffer is coming from, here is an excerpt from his latest post on his blog, Frank Schaeffer, dated December 3, 2009, entitled, Will Rick Warren Go to The Hanging (Killing Gays) Or Just Duck (Again)? I urge you to read his post in its entirety:

Nothing illustrates the danger we face from our own Taliban better than the way American "Christians" are now tangled up with the homophobic—now potentially gay murdering – Ugandan Christian/political leadership.

The Ugandan Parliament is considering a bill that would impose the death penalty on gays. One American must be cheering from the grave. Here’s what the late R.J. Rushdoony, Reconstructionist theologian and founder of the modern movement of that name, wrote in a letter to gay rights activist Mel White: “God in His law requires the death penalty for homosexuals.”

Disclosure: Both Mel White and Rushdoony were friends of mine, back in the day I was a Religious Right leader and sidekick to my father – the late Francis Schaeffer – who is “credited” by many, including by Karen Armstrong and Max Blumenthal – with being a key father of the Religious Right… along with RJ Rushdoony. I quit the movement over its hate for the “other” and got out by the late 80s and started writing novels like Portofino, aimed at the heart of the movement through humor at fundamentalist’s expense.

Back in the day before Mel came out he was working with me on one of my father’s movie/book projects. We both left our far right “faith.” Mel acknowledged that he was gay and I said I’d had it with hate. These days I propose an anti-right progressive Christianity in my book PATIENCE WITH GOD: Faith for People Who Don’t Like Religion (or Atheism)

That said… The problem of American exceptionalism combined with a theocracy in which the “we” of evangelical faith finally destroy the “they” (everyone else) is growing. Who do you think Fox News rabid followers are? Who do you think calls Obama "Hitler" while using the tactics of fascism themeselves?...

More "respectable" leaders like Warren, Huckabee and Palin won’t admit it but they would like to do here what the Ugandans are doing there, and not just to gays, to all the "other" who are in the way of their taking America into the darkness of theocracy.

Pastor Rick is the epitome of the two-faced friendly evangelical leader today: say one thing for the public, believe another thing and work for it.

Reconstructionists persist and the movement is growing while key figures in Congress to big time pastors routinely deny they are part of this political/religious movement. Meanwhile they’re fixin’ to go to a hangnin’ in Uganda, with the blessing of the smiling nice guys like Rick Warren and and a wink and a nod from the Reconstructionist handmaid Sarah-Tea-Bagger-Palin.

Here is James Hipps' interview with Frank Schaeffer that I think you'll enjoy:

SAMES-SEX MARRIAGE DEFEAT IN NEW YORK AND ELSEWHERE: IT'S ALL ABOUT HATE

The New York state senate on Wednesday voted down a marriage equality bill by a wide margin following months of delay and protracted political drama.

In a special legislative session, the senate voted 38-to-24 against the bill, eight votes short of a majority, with no support from Republican senators. A state assembly marriage bill had passed for a third time late last night.

Governor David Paterson, who made marriage equality a centerpiece of his agenda, issued a statement a few hours after the vote that acknowledged the widespread sense of disappointment among advocates for the bill.

[For the full article, see here.]

New York City is my old stomping grounds! It was progressive forty years ago when I left, and I assume that it's progressive now!

I remember thinking after I left NYC that I didn't leave another state, but I left another country! I didn't appreciate the cosmopolitan nature of NYC when I lived there for 28 years until I left it!

However, other parts of New York State are not that progressive and, although I don't know what political motivations and machinations ensued to make possible this defeat for equal rights, I do know that "hate" was and is the major motivator when religious leaders and politicians seek to deny equal rights to any minority group!

The distortions and down right lies perpetrated about Gay people, not the least of which is that Gay merely equals Sex, has a lot to do with such defeats that occurred in New York.

People are not told that same-sex couples love each other every bit as much as heterosexual couples love each other, and that to deny the same dignity and rights that accrue to heterosexuals to same-sex couples is to deny their love the dignity it deserves, and deny Gay people equality that the Constitution assures us belongs to every citizen in the U.S.

I can't but believe that politicians who want to get re-elected are as much influenced by homophobic clergy who have undeserved but great influence in the larger, secular, society, taking upon themselves the undeserved mantel of being the arbiters of "morality," and thereby sadly convince most of the electorate that being Gay is "immoral," and that same-sex marriage is similarly "immoral."

Hence, the ignorant and/or hatefully based hyperbole that same-sex marriage will destroy the family, hurt children, force schools to teach homosexuality, hurt clergy and churches, etc.

Let's make no mistake! This defeat in New York and other defeats for same-sex marriage that have been suffered is not about the well being of the family, children, or the larger society.

Whenever any politicians or clergy seek to deny equal rights to Gay people, it is about "hate," and about nothing else! And they can couch their hateful animus in unctuous, sanitized, sanctimonious rhetoric all they want to, but the bottom line is that they are ignorant haters, and they must be exposed and confronted for that fact!

And the gullible lemmings who follow their lead are no better; only more pathetic, for they don't get any of the rewards of the hateful clergy and politicians, save for satiating their hateful animus that is primarily fueled and fostered by ignorant and/or mendacious clergy.

In this connection, I want to reiterate what James Hipps of Gay Agenda wrote:

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it now…again, the anti-gay movement in this country is NOT about marriage. It’s NOT about the sanctity of a religious institution. It’s not about protecting anyone or anything, it’s about hate, intolerance and bigotry.

[For the full article, see here.]

HUMAN NATURE, REACTIONARY POLITICS, AND HOMOPHOBIA

I have found little that is "good" about human beings on the whole. In my experience most of them are trash, no matter whether they publicly subscribe to this or that ethical doctrine or to none at all. That is something that you cannot say aloud, or perhaps even think. (Sigmund Freud)

There are two races of people in the world: the decent and the indecent. (Paraphrase from Viktor Frankl)

These two quotes by two different people represent the essence of the dilemma of what destructive forces can reside in the human heart, and nowhere is this dilemma better seen than in the current reaction to Gay people, and the affinity with reactionary politics, by many of those who profess themselves to be "Christian."

When we see professing Christian leaders enmeshing themselves and their tax exempt funds with reactionary politicians and politics; when we hear the hate-mongering of a Rev. Gregory Daniels who said, "If the KKK opposes gay marriage, I would ride with them"(See here.), we can see that there is a very sinister force that resides in much, if not most, of the institutional Church.

Franklin Graham -- Billy's son and nepotistic "heir" to the Graham empire -- says he wants to help the poor. So what is he doing standing next to Sarah - "death panels" - Palin at a press conference as she denounces health care reform as a "Government takeover of the US economy"?

What is Franklin Graham doing promoting Palin's plan to destroy the Republican Party in order to push for a pure far right agenda that would leave old style Republicans (like the late William F. Buckley or Barry Goldwater) screaming bloody murder about incipient fascism?

Franklin is part of today's evangelical "leadership" that has remained mute on the blasphemous misuse of the Bible in the infamous Psalm 109: 8 T-shirt scandal wherein the verse calls for the death of the President (dressed up as a "prayer request.") But Franklin has lent the Graham family name to Palin's book tour. And he stood next to her as she urged the defeat ("some changes") of all incumbent congressmen who vote to give health care to all Americans.

Franklin Graham-- the Islamophobe and gay-basher -- is now backing the symbol of the "America" that wants legal torture but not universal health care. He is impressed by the "spirituality" of a bare faced liar who equated health care reform with "death panels."

For the full article, see here.]

And this brief video shows the tacit, if not overt, involvement of many professing Christians in what may well come to be the genocide of LGBT people in Uganda And you will recall that it was Pastor Rick Warren whom President Obama chose to give the prayer at his inaugural:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

(Thanks to Gay Agenda.)

I must tell you that, although I subscribe to Frankl's belief that prefaces this post, my experiences with most clergy and with most parishoners in assorted churches and denominations has shown me that, regarding most professing "Christians" with whom I've dealt over the past 25 years, that Freud was absolutely correct!

AN INTERVIEW AND SOME INFORMATION ABOUT "THE FAMILY"

This interview with Jeff Sharlet is an eye-opener about The Family and their often gross distortion of the Gospel!

By the way, regarding the National Prayer Breakfast, that was founded by The Family, it would be wise to hear Jesus on this subject:

And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you , They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. (Matthew 6:5-6)

It would be naive to think that The Family and its allies don't have a great deal of direct and indirect political sway both in the U.S. and most likely in other parts of the world as well.

Implications of groups like The Family for LGBT rights should become obvious and that's why, whether or not homophobic professing Christians are associated with this group or not, they are certainly on the same page as is this group and what it seems to represent, certainly regarding Gay civil rights, and many people in positions of political power are certainly influenced by the values of this group, as explicated in this interview!

All too often we have seen Christianity represented by mere thugs, often with smug, self-righteous, and sanitized rhetoric, who link what they call "Christianity" with Americanism, jingoism, capitalism, and militarism! And the gullible among us (and there are a lot of them) buy into this perversion hook, line, and sinker!

(In this connection, you might be interested in an article that I wrote concerning the enmeshment of most of the institutional Church with the Power Elite that is comprised of those who have positions in the highest places of the corporate, political, and military worlds, entitled, It's Not About Issues.)

When professing Christians seek to deny civil rights to others; when they seek to deny universal health care to others; when they transform the Gospel of grace (God's unmerited favor) into the worship of power; when they affirm or don't speak out against unjust wars; when they transform faith (trusting God over and above seen circumstances) into their own political machinations; when they demonize and bear false witness against Gay people; when their values are given credibility by others, whether or not they know of this group and those with whom they are directly or indirectly allied, the precipitous deterioration of our country and of the global community is certainly seen and is certain to even further deteriorate as time goes on.

That's one of the reasons I've always felt that the separation of Church and State is a myth in America, the very essence of "Christianity" has been perverted by ignorant and/or mendacious thugs, and I have long stated that LGBT people are the current canaries in the mine-shaft of society!

The way LGBT people are horribly treated; the way they and their love and sexuality and gender expression are denied dignity and equality that accrue to heterosexual citizens and citizens who can easily be compartmentalized into constructed binary boxes, shows those with eyes to see the poison gas emanating from those who would pervert Christianity, and all decency, to be in accord with their own prejudices.

Just one example: No other minority group would be allowed to suffer the indignity of having their civil rights be put up to a vote of the electorate! What do you think would be the result if a group sought to put on the ballot that African-Americans could no longer enter through the front doors of any public buildings? There would be justifiable outrage expressed, and it would come from virtually all quarters. However, when it comes to Gay people, the rules, rationalizations, and "justifications" become different, for some reason!

As I wrote above, no other minority group would allow itself to suffer the indignity of having its civil rights be put up to popular vote! This fact shows how the poison gas of others' ignorance and/or hatefulness and/or quest for political and "moral" hegemony in the name of "Christianity" has even influenced so many LGBT people!

This is a brief excerpt of the interview, an interview that I strongly urge you to read in its entirety:

And some of the, really the core rhetoric of The Family is this idea that most of us misread the New Testament, that Christ's message - the bottom line of Christ's message wasn't really about love or mercy or justice or forgiveness. It was about power. So Doug Coe, the leader of the group, tries to illustrate this, for instance, by saying, sort of posing a puzzle: name three men in the 20th century who best understood that message of The New Testament. And most people are going to say someone like Martin Luther King, or Bonhoeffer; or maybe they're more conservative, they're going to say Billy Graham. And Coe likes to give in answer: Hitler, Stalin and Mao, which just makes your jaw drop. And he will say - he's quick to say these are evil men, but they understood power. And that message recurs again, and again, and again in The Family.


When I was at the C Street house, I sat in on a session between Doug Coe and Congressman Tiahrt of Kansas. And Coe was encouraging Tiahrt to understand the message of Jesus by thinking about the model of power exemplified by Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot. There are so many examples of this, and I give several because I don't want people to think that I'm cherrypicking one bad choice of words. This is a core idea of The Family. There is actually video that �NBC News� found of Coe talking about the fellowship that he wants to model the things on is like that of the great friendship enjoyed by Hitler, Goebbels, and Himmler.

Now, he is not a neo-Nazi. What he is doing there is he's fetishizing strength. He is not looking to democracy, but this model of absolute strength, and that leads The Family into relationships with men like Museveni in Uganda. Before him, their key man for Africa was a guy named Siad Barre of Somalia, for whom Chuck Grassley became a kind of defacto lobbyist as the United States pumped up his military, which he then used to absolutely destroy his country to such an effect that Somalia has never recovered and today is a haven for al-Qaida, for terrorism, for piracy. It's a lawless nation. The Family says that's part of God's plan.

[For the full interview, see here.]

[Now, also please read The Secret Political Reach of "The Family".]

For a ten minute interview by Thom Hartmann with Jeff Sharlet about The Family, please seen the following video:

PLEASE WATCH THIS BEAUTIFUL VIDEO ON THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

PLEASE WATCH THIS BRIEF AND BEAUTIFUL VIDEO TO UNDERSTAND THE ESSENCE OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.

THE IGNORANT ATTEMPT TO "TRANSFORM" GAY PEOPLE

His [Phillip Lee] Way Out ministry contends in its brochures that its position comes from the authority of Scripture rather than social sciences and medicine.

The ''sexually broken'' can be transformed through close reading of Scripture and openly discussing temptations, the ministry contends.

"Since it is acquired it can be unacquired." Lee said. "And like I said, a lot of people have bought into the born-that-way theory. There's no Scripture to support that theory."

[For the full article, see here.]

How often we have heard from professing Christian homophobes that being Gay is "an inclination," "a life style," "a temptation," "a sin" by their referring to what they call "the authority of Scripture!" The fact is that that reference to, and interpretation of, Scripture is a lie perpetrated by the ignorant and/or the mendacious and/or the haters in the world!

I defy anyone to show me chapter and verse where same-sex love is condemned, or where same-sex marriage is condemned!

To resort to some Old Testament passages to support the specious argument that being Gay is destructive is terribly misleading, not only because Christians are not bound by the laws of the Old Testament, and that the context of these "clobber passages" are in the framework of a tribal society living on the edge that needs to propagate in order to survive, but that other cultural practices in ancient Israel are affirmed in the Bible that no sane person would currently adopt, such as stoning to death recalcitrant children, stoning to death those caught in adultery, and stoning to death those who work on the Sabbath. I'm not even going into such prohibitions listed in the Bible as the eating shell fish and the wearing of mixed fibers in one's clothes!

More to the point, the attempt to "transform," or in any way suppress, that which God has made is a sin in and of itself!

Being Gay is "acquired" the same way that being Straight is "acquired!" God made us in these ways, and it is a sin to thwart God's plan for any of God's children, for to do so not only does inexplicable harm to that person, but also thwarts the will of God and shows a definite lack of trust in God and in God's plan for each person's life!

Even secular psychologists affirm the possible danger that accrues to those who are the victims of attempts to change their sexual orientation, and Christians should know enough to agree with that affirmation as well, even on purely biblical grounds. Our sexuality is a wonderful gift from God, and that is true whether we were created to be Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, or Transgender!

The love story of David and Jonathan (1Samuel 18-20), and the story of Deborah (Judges 4-5), a Judge and fierce and well-respected warrior in Israel whom I have always considered to be Transgendered, shows that God mightily uses God's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered children for God's own purposes; God creates us the way God wants, and God doesn't make any mistakes!

For those who believe in "transforming" Gay people into something other than the way they were created to be by God is to show a decided lack of faith in God, and the Bible makes very clear that without faith it is impossible to please God! (See, for example, Hebrews 11:6.)

So, it is those who don't trust God and God's creative abilities, and who think that God makes mistakes, and who refuse to understand that God specializes in diversity, who are the real sinners!

And LGBT people who are comfortable in and with their own bodies, knowing that they are not some mistake, know that God created them just as God ordained from the foundation of the world (for example, see Ephesians 1:4), who are the ones who express their faith in God, and are thereby enabled to live the abundant life that Jesus promises all of us who abide in Him!

Please don't listen to ignorant wolves in sheep's clothing, be they clergy or not, who are seeking to thwart God's will for your life!

Put your full trust in God, and don't trust the rhetoric of others who may well have prejudices based on unresolved sexual conflicts in their own lives, thereby trying with all their might to suppress in you what they are often trying to suppress in themselves!

THE BLIGHT OF MORAL COWARDICE

“The Vice Chancellor of City University London, Julius Weinberg, should resign. He is refusing to take any action after the Islamic Society hosted a fundamentalist preacher, Abu Usamah, who advocates the murder of gay people and of Muslims who give up their faith,” said human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.

Abu Usamah was recorded on Channel Four’s television documentary, Undercover Mosque, as saying: “Do you practice homosexuality with men? Take that homosexual man and throw him off the mountain....”

Another speaker given a platform at the same City University event on 4 November, Murthadah Khan, was also caught on the Undercover Mosque documentary calling Jews and Christians “enemies” and “filthy”.

[For the full article, see here

I strongly urge you to read the full article, as it not only shows the vile hatred that is spewed in the public arena but, more to the point of this post, shows the moral cowardice of people like the Vice Chancellor of City University London.

Having been a professor, and serving in assorted administrative capacities, for forty years, I've never ceased to be amazed at the moral cowardice of most faculty and administrators who inhabit universities!

As we see in the above cited article, even the most egregious, hateful, rhetoric is spewed without the Vice Chancellor condemning that rhetoric that affirms both hatred and hateful acts perpetrated against others in the name of "free speech."

As Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes succinctly stated, free speech does not entitle one to shout "fire" in a crowded theater!

"Fire" is being shouted by assorted homophobic (and other xenophobic) clergy who are given a platform that enhances their undeserved credibility to help cause untold harm, suffering, and even deaths to others, and they do so in the name of God, no less!

If we don't confront this hatred, be be that hatred expressed in rhetorical form or in actions, the bullies win!

As every schoolchild knows, when a bully confronts you, if you tolerate that confrontation, he/she will escalate his/her bullying. If you fight back, he/she is likely to climb back under the rock from which he/she emerged.

Bullies are basically cowards! So, in this case, we have one coward allowing other cowards to have their way, and the bullies win because of this lack of confrontation!

It is unfortunate that Christians are expected to be milquetoasts! We are, indeed, called upon to suffer all types of indignities for the sake of God!

The tragedy is that if we stand for the bullying of others, we are behaving diametrically opposite to what God expects of each of God's disciples, because we are allowing evil to prosper at the expense of others' well-being.

Turning the other cheek is relevant to one's own cheek! It is not up to us to turn the cheek of those who are being victimized, and that is what we precisely do when we keep silent amidst hate-speech and discrimination directed against others!

It is moral cowards like Weinberg seems to be who have allowed hate to prosper; discrimination to endure; suffering to escalate; suicides, assaults, and murders to occur!

I imagine Weinberg is not a Christian, but his silence amidst this atrocity mimics so much of what I have seen within universities and by clergy and their followers within churches that comprise most of the institutional Church!

Those who remain silent amidst the oppression of others leave a hateful legacy that further erodes the civility of society; escalates the hatred evinced by the bullies among us; terribly hurts our fellow human beings; despite rhetoric to the contrary, defames God!

THE SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEING A CHRISTIAN AND JUST GOING TO CHURCH

[Thanks to Jason Turner and Pete Zayonce.]

INTERNATIONAL TRANSGENDER DAY

INTERNATIONAL TRANSGENDER DAY. ALSO SEE HERE.

THE IRONY AND IRRATIONALITY OF MINORITY GROUP HOMOPHOBIA

This is how Bishop Harry Jackson [Pictured] spent his summer vacation: He hustled back and forth across the District rallying his faithful flock who oppose gay marriage. He leaned into microphones over at the Board of Elections and Ethics, quoting biblical verse, decrying those who would trumpet marriage between man and man, woman and woman.

He continued his protests when the leaves began to fall and the early darkness crawled across the sky. He heard amen this and amen that from the pulpit of his Beltsville church. They sent him out to spread their version of the Gospel, and off he went, hopscotching across the country. Sometimes crowds would gather around him like geese, in Denver, in Los Angeles, sometimes 10,000 at a time. He spoke to swelling groups of people who felt the same way he did about same-sex marriage: No, no, no.

He popped up on national talk shows. The conservative radio commentators ushered him into their studios.

[For the full article, see here.](Thanks to AmericaBlogGay.)

Bishop Harry Jackson is a man who, as an African American, has a legacy of grinding oppression and unimagined suffering relieved only by intensive civil rights agitation by those who endured what Martin Luther King called "a season of suffering." It was this "season of suffering" that enabled the Harry Jacksons of the world to have what credibility they enjoy, but by no means deserve to the degree that they seek to deny the same civil rights of which they were once deprived but that they now enjoy precisely because of that civil rights struggle.

Now, Harry Jackson, and those minority group members who agree with him regarding the minority group of LGBT people, is exhibiting what may be seen to be a version of what Vilfredo Pareto, a famous early twentieth century Sociologist called, "the circulation of elites," whereby a deprived group, once it gets some measure of power, then turns around and oppresses another minority group.

Jackson invokes the Bible and God to seek to justify his homophobia, his intense desire to prevent same-sex loving couples from benefitting from the institution of marriage, with all of the civil and sacramental rights that accrue to that institution. (In this connection, please read my October 21, 2009 post, The Danger of the Religious Right.)

The irony of a member of one minority group seeking to prevent full equality of another minority group, beyond invoking the Bible and God to justify that oppression, is seen when we read of many of the "justifications" used by professing "Christian" White Supremacists to maintain the institutions of Slavery, Segregation and Jim Crow laws that once were institutionalized in the U.S. Indeed, "...religious endorsement of Jim Crow went a long way to sanctifying segregation as a widespread social reality." (See here.)

It would be instructive for the Harry Jacksons of the religious world to learn from the following:

For centuries, Christian artwork had depicted Satan and his demons as black. In Christian literature, Satan was described as black, even specifically as an African, such as in Athanasius' Life of Saint Anthony and the medieval best-seller Voyage of Brendan. Not surprisingly, Christians decided that Africans and Indians were a lot closer to Satan than white-skinned Europeans and acted accordingly to protect themselves from the "pollution" of contact with dark-skinned peoples. Read historian Forrest G. Wood's The Arrogance of Faith for an in-depth exploration of the Christian origin of racism, slavery and segregation.

That's why defenders of slavery in the antebellum South repeatedly use the Bible and refer to Christian concepts in their arguments. Read The Ideology of Slavery, which reprints slavery defenses, edited by Drew Gilpin Faust, to see how devoutly Christian the defenders were. Defenders correctly note that the Bible repeatedly condones slavery, even commands it at times, and never condemns it. Even the Tenth Commandment condones slavery; so much for the Commandments as a source of moral virtue. Also read Proslavery, by Larry E. Tise, pages 116-120, for surveys showing the overwhelmingly Christian character of slavery defenses. In one survey of pro-slavery tracts, clergymen wrote more than half.

In the aftermath of the Civil War, it's no surprise that Sunday morning became the most segregated time of the week. Nor is it surprising that it was agnostics and atheists in various liberal movements who spoke out first against segregation and racism. That's one reason that white segregationists--clergy included--labeled the civil-rights workers "communists," a word they considered synonymous with atheism.

[For the full article, see here.]

Part of an Abstract of an article entitled, God, Preachers, And Segregation, reads as follows:

In 1965, transcripts were collected of 72 sermons on the issue of racial integration preached between 1955 and 1965. The sermons, all given by Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, or Episcopal ministers in the southern United States, were examined to determine the position advocated by the minister. The sermons deemed segregationist were then analyzed for recurring strategies used to defend the segregation viewpoint. The major arguments of the segregationists may be summarized as follows: (1) segregation is the divine will of God as expressed in the Bible; (2) desegregation leads to mixed marriages, which are undesirable; (3) segregation is a universal law of nature...(5) the motives of those who support integration are improper; (6) segregation does not necessarily entail discrimination....

So, the irony of the homophobic pronouncements of the religious Harry Jacksons of the world is that those pronouncements virtually mimic much of the rhetoric of the White Supremacist clergy that was used against their ancestors, and that helped to provide "justification" for the institutions of slavery and segregation in society.

As I wrote in an article, It's Not About Issues:

...we have the irrational and surreal phenomenon where we have people aligning themselves with the Power Elite by directly working against their own interests, so that we see the spectacle of some African American clergy willing to align themselves with the KKK to oppose same-sex marriage, as seen by Rev. Gregory Daniels who is quoted as having said, "If the KKK opposes gay marriage, I would ride with them."

The reactionary mind-set of the Power Elite has even infiltrated many other African American clergy and their gullible followers who should certainly know better, so that they perversely use the very same rhetoric, justifications for, and advocacy of, discrimination against LGBT people and their acquisition of full and equal civil rights that were once used against African Americans by the allies and members of the Power Elite, and they are now willfully blind to the fact that it was those "activist judges," "liberals," and courageous people, Black and White, which and whom they now roundly condemn, that made possible the end of slavery and segregation.

Unfortunately, appeals to rationality and to the essence of the Gospel message seems to have little, if any, influence on deeply prejudiced people, particularly if those people can get their fifteen minutes of fame, and acquire a great deal of power, prestige, and wealth by bearing false witness against Gay people, and preaching exclusionary rhetoric that appeals to people's prejudices and xenophobic feelings and unfounded fears.

It comes down to the fact that the rhetoric of the Harry Jacksons of the religious world are not merely bankrupt, but that there are all too many gullible people who take their rhetoric seriously, and thereby suppress and subvert the "season of suffering" that their ancestors endured; they also renounce the entire Gospel that they falsely say they preach, as well as they renounce the Prince of Peace, the very God, Whom they say they represent!

PLEASE LISTEN TO THIS FIVE MINUTE SERMON

Bishop Yvette Flunder, Senior Pastor of City of Refuge, UCC published this brief video on Facebook yesterday, and I very much want you to see it and circulate it to all LGBT people and their families.

SANITIZED HOMOPHOBIA THAT APPEALS TO "ITCHING EARS"

The Apostle Paul told his son in the faith, Timothy, the following: "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." (2Timothy 4:3-4)

"Sound doctrine" in Christianity is the Gospel of grace, or God's unmerited favor bestowed on all those who trust God over and above seen circumstances! It's this Gospel that is at the heart of Christianity, as it reflects Jesus' life, ministry, and teachings! There is no other Gospel than the Gospel of grace that one appropriates through faith in Christ!

Rhetoric of legalism and perfectionism, the do's and don'ts that all too many clergy ram down people's throats in the name of the Bible, Christianity, and God is a perversion of the faith, does an injustice to Christians, to non-Christians who might wish to know more about Christianity, and to God!

Unfortunately, the sound doctrine of grace is rarely to be heard within most of the institutional Church, and those with "itching ears" who long for gurus to tell them what to think and how to live are in abundance to the degree that even megachurches exist where, as in the case of Joel Osteen, pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, has memberships as high as 40,000 or even higher.

And why not? Most people who attend most churches within the institutional Church are told what they want to hear by someone who presumes to know what God wants from others; what they say God wants usually reflects their own prejudices, so that someone like Osteen has the temerity to say that being Gay is "not God's best."

He doesn't say that being Gay is a sin, because he doesn't have to! The confident smile on his face and his sanitized rhetoric regarding this subject is sufficient to get this message across without his having to resort to virulent homophobic remarks, and thereby not risk offending even many of those who consider themselves to be "liberals."

No one asks him how he knows this seeming fact that being Gay is "not God's best," and how his oracular pronouncement on this subject jibe with the Gospel of grace; how his pronouncements jibe with the fact that Jesus never condemned same-sex love; same-sex love is never mentioned in the Ten Commandments; same-sex love is not condemned by any of the prophets.

Indeed, no one even thinks to asks such questions of him or of many other clergy because the constant inundation visited upon us by homophobic clergy has transformed a big lie into what is considered "the truth" in the eyes of gullible people who have "itching ears."

With a perpetual smile on his face, bespeaking to me a self-satisfied confidence in himself and his "knowledge" of "God's best," Osteen's smarmy rhetoric is difficult for me to bear or even hear, and it is, therefore, difficult for me to even watch him in action in the following video.

However, I did have enough stomach to listen to the following five minute video so that I could share with you what I consider to be the bankruptcy of so much of what purports to be "Christianity."

All too often there are clergy who equate and even enmesh "Christianity" with Americanism, jingoism, capitalism, and militarism, and do so in the name of God, and craft their messages so that people can leave church "feeling good," even amidst the injustices of life, and amidst the oppression of others for which these very clergy provide the principle "justifications." This is not the "Christianity" that I know and that I see in the Bible!

Here is the video with Joel Osteen: [Thanks to Gay Agenda.]

TOWARD OUR FINAL AND BLESSED DESTINATION

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven....Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3,10)

WHEN SEXUAL SUPPRESSION TRUMPS THE GOSPEL MESSAGE

The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington said Wednesday that it will be unable to continue the social service programs it runs for the District if the city doesn't change a proposed same-sex marriage law, a threat that could affect tens of thousands of people the church helps with adoption, homelessness and health care.

[For the full article, see here.]

The following is a slightly edited version of what I wrote to some friends of mine regarding this article:

This is my take on it: When people are forced to suppress sexual activity, a most primal urge, the frustration borne of such an unnatural yoke of bondage often manifests itself in self-destructive ways and also in ways that are often destructive to others. When that phenomenon is coupled with what I call "Genital Theology," where morality, Christianity, and religion are largely and falsely seen to be based on sexual matters; when such "theology" (be it in the RC Church or in reactionary protestant churches) is a money-maker that attracts true believers who are usually one-dimensional in their thinking, that mind-set takes on a life of its own.

And, therefore, these true believers can see no contradiction between professing to be "Christians" on the one hand and also hold deeply seated prejudices on the other hand. And they'll even hold the poor and children hostage to their one-dimensional thinking and prejudices, all largely based on their own sexual suppression, and see no contradiction between RC dogma regarding sexuality and caring for the poor that Jesus taught His disciples to do.

Moreover, having the temerity to seem to take the "moral high ground" deflects concentration from the RC Church's egregious sexual scandals and projects them, and blames them, on Gay people, further providing false justification for their prejudice against Gay people, which is often a projection of the self-loathing and frustration of many RC clergy as Gay and/or sexually confused and immature bureaucrats.

And, when obedience to that bureaucracy is inculcated into its clergy to the degree that it is through formation in seminaries and beyond, most (though by no means all) hold to the Vatican's party line.

[For an excellent letter to the D.C. archdiocese of the RC Church, see here.]

EVIDENCE OF OBAMA'S CONTEMPT FOR LGBT PEOPLE

This link provides all the evidence we need to show the disdain, the contempt, that Obama has for LGBT people!

One more thing: Donnie McClurkin is the person Obama courted and used in his campaign.

In this connection, regarding Donnie McClurkin, you might be interested in my article, Self-Loathing, Being Duped, and Believing a Lie.

Also, The Miseducation of Donnie McClurkin, by Don Charles.

THE COARSENING OF OUR SOCIETY AND HOMOPHOBIC CLERGY

The reason I'm linking to this article is that it highlights and reinforces the increasing coarsening of our culture that makes homophobic rhetoric, even the most vile and bizarre of such rhetoric, viewed as acceptable and even seem legitimate to many people within our society.

There are certain things that decent people don't do! Discussing one's sex life with one's spouse (or any other person, for that matter) in the public arena, divulging intimate details about the other person regarding the most intimate dimension of that relationship, is truly indecent and disgusting!

And if such betrayal and indecency is able to be leeched out into the public sphere, shame knows no bounds! We see such coarsening in all too many relationships, "religious" and political rhetoric, and much of what passes for "humor" and "commentary" in the media.

One only has to listen to most radio talk shows to see that coarsening of the culture and how it resonates with all too many gullible people who are unable or unwilling to allow their dark sides, dark sides we all possess to one degree or another, to become subordinate to the values that Jesus and other religious leaders have historically articulated. What makes this coarsening so egregious, beyond the obvious, is that hateful rhetoric, hatred and hate-mongering, are no longer on the fringes of many societal institutions but have taken center stage in much thought, words, and actions.

So, even the most reprehensible and irrational demagogic pronouncements from the pulpit regarding LGBT people is often seen by many as being consistent with biblical teaching, and with "conservative Christianity," when, in fact, such pronouncements are diametrically opposed to anything with which, Jesus, the Gospel, and Christianity have to do.

And, far from being "conservative Christianity," or "Bible-based," these pronouncements and often discriminatory actions by many clergy and their gullible followers represent another "religion" or world-view altogether! They have absolutely nothing to do with Christianity, and that fact must be hammered home every chance we get in any and every venue possible!

Since when can the life, ministry, teachings, and works of the Prince of Peace, the Embodiment of Love, the One Who tells His disciples to care for each other and for all of God's children be seen as being consistent with homophobic rhetoric and actions by those who have the temerity to call themselves "Christians"; be seen as being within the domain of "conservative Christianity?" Such a view is bizarre on its face!

Yet, that view is not often seen as being bizarre to the degree that our society has become increasingly coarsened!

And that coarsening is no better served than by homophobic clergy who falsely presume upon themselves, and pronounce themselves, to be arbiters of morality and yet bear false witness and defame God's LGBT children, and frequently do so to loud applause!

The indecency of such clergy mimics the indecency of any spouse who would divulge the sex life he/she had or has with his/her spouse! The only difference (and it's a big difference) is that the latter makes no assertion that he/she is taking the moral high ground, and is a representative of God on earth!

So, the tell-all spouse, as reprehensible as he/she is, is even more decent (and honest) than are homophobic clergy who presume to represent Jesus and yet who are ravenous wolves who lead gullible sheep astray and who have caused untold suffering to God's Gay children!

A COMMENTARY BY DON CHARLES ON BISHOP JOHN SPONG'S MANIFESTO

Please read the excellent two-part post, You Can't Go Halfway, by my good friend Don Charles.

It deals with Bishop John Spong's essay, A Manifesto! The Time Has Come!

All Christians and all decent people should read both Spong's essay and Don Charles' two-part post.

It's important to remember that one can be a decent person and not be a Christian! However EVERY SINGLE Christian is a decent person, and if one is not a decent person, he/she is not a Christian!

THE CHURCH OF UGANDA AND THE "ANTI-HOMOSEXUALITY BILL"

In April 2009, Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi said, "I am appalled to learn that the rumours we have heard for a long time about homosexual recruiting in our schools and amongst our youth are true. I am even more concerned that the practice is more widespread than we originally thought. It is the duty of the church and the government to be watchmen on the wall and to warn and protect our people from harmful and deceitful agendas."

[For the full paper, see here.]

In the above cited November 6, 2009 letter, the Rev. Canon Aaron Mwesigye of the Anglican Province of Uganda says this issue of increasing terms of imprisonment for Gay people is still being considered by the Church of Uganda so that The Church of Uganda is studying the proposed "Anti-homosexuality bill" and, therefore, does not yet have an official position on the bill.

This statement is profoundly offensive on its face! The Church of Uganda doesn't have an official position on imprisoning and depriving others of their liberties and freedom? What kind of "Christianity" does this obscenity represent? It's certainly not the Christianity of Jesus, of the Gospel of grace, of the Bible!

Some of the details of the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill are as follows:

Over recent months, there has been increased campaigning against homosexuality in Uganda, led by churches and anti-gay groups. The media have joined this campaign, and have publicly pointed to individuals they accuse of being gay or lesbian.

People suspected of being gay have faced death threats and been physically assaulted. Many have been ostracized by their families or faced discrimination, including dismissal from their place of employment.

This new draft bill includes a provision that could lead to the imprisonment for up to three years of anyone, including heterosexual people, who fails to report within 24 hours the identities of everyone they know who is lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, or who supports human rights for people who are.

[For the full article, see here.]

Also:

The bill criminalizes "promotion of homosexuality" in the form of funding and sponsoring LGBT organizations and broadcasting, publishing, or marketing materials on homosexuality and punishes these acts with a steep fine, 5-7 years of imprisonment, or both. Any person in authority who fails to report known violations of the law within 24 hours will also be subject to a significant fine and up to 3 years in prison – even when this means turning in their colleagues, family, or friends. More shocking, the bill claims jurisdiction over Ugandans who violate its provisions while outside of the country.

The bill effectively bans any kind of community or political organizing around non-heteronormative sexuality.

[For the full article, see here.]

And so the Anglican Church of Uganda is "considering" such a bill, and those who do so portray themselves as "Christians!"

And, where is the outrage by most of the institutional Church? Where are those who are Christians indeed who are called to speak out against such an obscenity? How is it possible to sing "Amazing Grace" and other such hymns and feel no cognitive dissonance in either their advocacy or silence when such a Bill is "considered" by professing Christian clergy?

Where are those professing Christians who say, "Enough is enough! Not in the name of Jesus, not in the name of God, will you slander God, the Gospel, Christianity, and us by your ignorant and hateful prejudices that spit in the very face of God?

Those in the world-wide institutional Church who remain silent in the face of such an obscenity, of the oppression of LGBT people in the name of God, are just as guilty of the sufferings, suicides, assaults, murders, tortures, and imprisonment of LGBT people (and those perceived to be LGBT) than are the thugs who call themselves "Christians," yet whose hearts are filled with the values and prejudices of the demonic!

The level of homophobia within the institutional Church, and clergy rhetoric and discriminatory actions in both the religious and civic arenas, should leave us no doubt that the demonic has strongly infiltrated the institutional Church!

IT WASN'T GOD WHO TOLD HIM TO HATE GAY PEOPLE

No, it was ignorant, homophobic clergy who told him to hate Gay people!.

LEAVE THE PLAINS OF HOMOPHOBIC CHURCHES AND PICK UP YOUR TENT AND MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND

A foundation that supports gay rights has delivered a petition to Mormon church leaders asking them to reconsider their policies and political activism against gay marriage.

[For the full article, see here.]

Part of the Petition reads as follows:

We believe that the time is right for healing over this issue to begin, for those on both sides to manifest forgiveness, magnanimity, and especially, love. We believe reconciliation requires us to strive for open hearts and minds so that we might live together in peace and mutual respect. It is long past time for those on both sides to begin treating one another with greater dignity, respect and understanding.

[To see the full Petition, see here.]

In conjunction with this Petition, there is a very compelling, heart-felt, video entitled, "Bring Them In From The Plains":



Over many years, ample evidence has been presented that homophobia that is linked with many clergy's interpretation of selected Bible verses that has been enmeshed, if not fused, with their views of Christianity and "morality," is not going to be swayed or altered by appeals to emotion or to reason. Indeed, their homophobia is not even going to be swayed by biblical exegeses refuting the interpretation of those same passages that homophobic clergy use to bear false witness and discriminate against LGBT people!

It's high time that LGBT Christians make a cold turkey choice, if they haven't done so already! Stay in denominations and churches that view you as objects of disdain and ridicule OR flee those toxic denominations and churches and not subject yourselves to such gross indignities visited upon you "in the name of God."

This choice hinges on at least two criteria:

1. The degree of self-loathing/masochism that you possess.

2. The degree of loyalty you have to an institution that disparages you and seeks to deny you full and equal civil and sacramental rights.

Bishop John Spong of the Episcopal Church, in his article entitled, "A Manifesto! The Time Has Come!," in part wrote the following:

I will no longer seek to slow down the witness to inclusiveness by pretending that there is some middle ground between prejudice and oppression. There isn't. Justice postponed is justice denied. That can be a resting place no longer for anyone. An old civil rights song proclaimed that the only choice awaiting those who cannot adjust to a new understanding was to "Roll on over or we'll roll on over you!" Time waits for no one.

I will particularly ignore those members of my own Episcopal Church who seek to break away from this body to form a "new church," claiming that this new and bigoted instrument alone now represents the Anglican Communion. Such a new ecclesiastical body is designed to allow these pathetic human beings, who are so deeply locked into a world that no longer exists, to form a community in which they can continue to hate gay people, distort gay people with their hopeless rhetoric and to be part of a religious fellowship in which they can continue to feel justified in their homophobic prejudices for the rest of their tortured lives. Church unity can never be a virtue that is preserved by allowing injustice, oppression and psychological tyranny to go unchallenged.

[For the full article, see here.]

LGBT people who choose to remain in homophobic denominations and churches must dig deep into their psyches and seek to discern why they choose to remain in those toxic institutions!

The spurious canard that "It's my church too," as I heard one Roman Catholic say on TV, is embarrassing on its face! You don't make the doctrines, you don't make the dogmas, you can't preach from the pulpit, you have no voice in the formal dimensions of that denomination or church to get your own theological and/or personal views across, you have no right to excommunicate anybody. It is clearly not your church too!

So, I consider the above mentioned Petition to the Mormon Church to be well-meaning but pathetic on its face!

People, particularly clergy, who misuse Scripture and distort the lives of LGBT people as part of their theology and rhetoric; who raise countless millions of dollars to deny one or more civil rights to Gay people; who discriminate against Gay people, have no right to be treated with any degree of deference, let alone given credibility by being given petitions appealing to their reason and/or emotions; they have no right to be given credibility by your presence and your money, or the presence and money of any decent person who professes to be a Christian.

Enough is enough! If the role of the LDS Church, the RC Church, and most churches within the institutional Church regarding Prop. 8 in California and the recent vote removing the right of same-sex marriage in Maine doesn't make you angry enough to remove yourselves from these toxic institutions, I don't know what will.

All decent people and LGBT people who attend homophobic churches must examine their hearts and try and discern whether inertia should overcome anger; whether loyalty to one's tradition should overcome exposing oneself to lies and hateful rhetoric; whether any degree or even vestige of self-loathing should overcome giving credibility to institutions that misuse the Bible; whether any taint of masochistic needs should overcome discrimination and oppression visited upon LGBT people "in the name of God."

To all LGBT people, and all decent people who call themselves "Christians," I ask that you examine your psyches and ask yourselves why you choose to attend toxic institutions that demean and hurt others, and that cause untold suffering by their rhetoric and oppression of others in both the religious and civic arenas.

HOW CAN IT BE CONSTITUTIONAL TO PUT ANY GROUP'S CIVIL RIGHTS UP TO A VOTE OF THE ELECTORATE? A COMMENT BY DON CHARLES.

My friend, Don Charles, who blogs at Christ, The Gay Martyr. posted the following comment on gay.americablog.com that is well worth reading. As you know, I've always been against putting any minority group's civil rights up to a vote by the electorate, having any group's civil rights be beholden to the will and whim of the dominant group in society, and his comment beautifully hammers that point home.

What is both stunning and depressing is how many millions and millions of dollars are wasted on these hate campaigns. If you add up all the 31 pro-gay campaigns we have lost, both sides have flushed hundreds of millions of dollars." What's really stunning and depressing is the cluelessness of the so-called Gay community and its spokesmen, including otherwise intelligent folk like Joe Sudbay and John Aravosis. When and how did we become convinced that voting on citizenship rights was a sane thing to do? Who decided that knocking on doors and trying to promote compassion in the same way you'd promote a political candidate would work? You can't root out deeply entrenched prejudice that way, especially not when there's a preacher in a pulpit every Sunday morning undermining your efforts with hateful doctrine! We've once more allowed ourselves to be punked by the religious Right Wing. We've willingly let them trick us into playing a game they know we can't win. Like it or not, people, marriage equality is a fight for the courts, not for the ballot box! We do immeasurable damage to the US Constitution when we participate in and validate anti-Gay ballot measure battles! We help set dangerous precedents! This issue is bigger than marriage equality. It's about our very democracy, and how we unwittingly help our enemies to destabilize it. Our energy and resources should be going toward legal challenges, not futile campaigns like Proposition 8 and Question 1! When will we learn?"

WHY ARE THE CHURCHES SILENT AMIDST LGBT OPPRESSION IN UGANDA AND ELSEWHERE?

The Ugandan embassies of France and the United States publicly condemned Uganda's proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill on Monday, but officials in the African nation plan to move forward with the discriminatory legislation....

The bill would amplify the country's antigay laws, including criminalizing any public discussion of homosexuality and penalizing individuals who knowingly rented property to a homosexual.

[For the full article, see here.]

I'm afraid that to ask the question posed by the title of this post is to answer it!

Most all of the institutional Church is patriarchal, heterosexist, bureaucratic, cowardly, and supports the status quo from which it profits by receiving its members' contributions in the collection plates that keep ministerial careers afloat!

There is nothing in Christian theology that supports discrimination of any kind, and to keep silent in the face of such discrimination, of such oppression, whether in Uganda, Jamaica, or anywhere else, is to support that discrimination and oppression, and makes those who remain silent just as culpable in the oppression, assaults, imprisonment, and murders of LGBT people than those who actively support these egregious acts!

And no disciple of Christ can either advocate discrimination, actually discriminate, or remain silent in the face of discrimination against LGBT people or against any other minority group!

So much of what passes for "Christianity" has been mere thuggery often couched in sanitized terms designed by many professing Christian clergy and their followers to seduce gullible people into buying into their homophobic prejudices by falsely appealing to such terms as "tradition," "traditional family values," "for the good of the children," "morality and decency," and "it's in the Bible."

And, sometimes the terms are not at all sanitized! For example, hear Bishop Isaac Orama’s getting caught saying that LGBT people are “inhuman, insane, satanic and not fit to live.” [See here.]

And hear Archbishop Peter Akinola:

Homosexuality and lesbianism, like divorce, breed a society of single parents which gives rise to a generation of bastards. And in the context of much poverty and lack of education, this further produces an ill-bred generation of hooligans, portending much terror to the peace and stability of the society. [See here.]

And hear our homegrown "religious" demogagues, the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, with Pat Robertson concurring, opining on why 9/11 happened:

Rev. Jerry Falwell: I really believe that the pagans and the abortionists and the feminists and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way, all of them who try to secularize America...I point the finger in their face and say you helped this happen." [See here.]

And most all churches within the institutionalized Church remain silent amidst this oppression because their congregants are quite comfortable with their incestuous socialization, spending their time discussing building beautification programs, attending church regularly, and singing their pious hymns.

Indeed, most clergy within the institutional Church, by their homophobic rhetoric and frequently warped doctrines and dogmas that make that rhetoric sound "godly" to their gullible followers, have encouraged rank discrimination against LGBT people both in the U.S. and in places like Jamaica and Uganda.

Is it any wonder that the moral high ground in the struggle for LGBT rights is not taken by most within the institutional Church, but is taken by most who are outside that structure, many of whom are not even Christians? And this fact is a profound embarrassment to all Christians worthy of the name!

It is a tragedy when secular forces lead the way in condemning the oppression of LGBT people, and when professing Christians encourage discrimination and oppression of others by their rhetoric, by their actions, and by their silence!

In this most significant and crucial civil rights movement of our time, full civil and sacramental equality for LGBT people, Jesus tells all who claim to be His disciples, and who persist in remaining silent amidst the oppression of LGBT people, what Mordecai told his cousin (whom he raised when her parents died) Esther, when the Jewish people in Shushan, which was in Persia, were slated to be murdered:

For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? (Esther 4:14)

All Christians should meditate on Mordecai's admonition to Esther!

ONLY A WARPED THEOLOGY COULD SEE SOME TYPES OF DISCRIMINATION AS BEING "JUST"

In an article entitled, "Churches Welcome Gay Bans" the following mind-blowing statement by Roman Catholic Cardinal George Pell appears:

"It is important to protect people from unjust discrimination but it is ridiculous to claim discrimination every time we show a preference for some people over others.

[For the full article, see here.]

If showing a preference for some people over others, and seeking to allocate dignity and rights based upon those preferences, isn't prejudicial and discriminatory, then I fail to see the very definition of "unjust discrimination" from any Christian (or any other rational) world-view!

Moreover, the very adjective Pell uses, "unjust," shows that he seems to see that certain types of discrimination can be "just."

And this is part of the heart of the problem of homophobia by many professing Christians when RC and other clergy advocate discrimination against one or more minority groups: they seem to feel that such discrimination and deprivation of civil and sacramental rights are "just!"

So we have self-professed representatives of the Prince of Peace, Who, told all who would be His disciples to love God and love and not judge others, advocating prejudice and discrimination, and further viewing such prejudice and discrimination as being "just" according to their warped theology.

And, of course, their view of "unjust" discrimination would entail anything that would offend a denomination's self-interest; the interests of such vulnerable people as foster children and recipients of charity, as seen in the above cited article, are being held hostage to anything that thwarts that warped view:

Charities and religious groups could discriminate against gay people or anyone else who might offend their values after a landmark decision quashed a finding in favour of a gay couple who wanted to become foster parents.

Both the Catholic and Anglican churches have praised the ruling and Cardinal George Pell said anti-discrimination cases threatened churches' ability to do charity work.

What an indictment against professing Christians who would sacrifice the vulnerable in society to their discriminatory dogmas; bear false witness and see nothing wrong with discriminating against God's LGBT children!

Let this sink in:

...and Cardinal George Pell said anti-discrimination cases threatened churches' ability to do charity work.

SAME-SEX MARRIAGE RIGHTS IN WASHINGTON, D.C.

Scores of people cheered and waved signs as ministers and religious activists delivered speeches Sunday during a Freedom Plaza rally against same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia.

Chanting “let the people vote,” Bishop Harry Jackson, pastor of a church in Beltsville, Md., and Rev. Walter Fauntroy, Washington’s former congressional delegate, were among a series of speakers to call on the D.C. City Council to allow a voter initiative that seeks to ban same-sex marriage in the city.

[For the full article, see here.]

Same-sex marriage, despite much "religious" rhetoric to the contrary, is a civil rights issue! Indeed, LGBT rights is the major civil rights issue of our time!

To deny same-sex couples the civil and sacramental rights that accrue to heterosexuals who wish to make a lifetime commitment to each other is downright discrimination!

And for African-Americans who have a legacy of suffering unspeakable oppression in the U.S. to not understand this fundamental principle is amazing to me, and should be amazing to any rational person!

In the above cited article, Rev. Anthony Evans said, "...We were astonished to hear the chairman of the City Council not only willing to ignore God’s word but was determined to defy the teachings of Christ concerning marriage and defy God by declaring same-sex marriage as not a religious issue but a human rights one.”

Rev. Evans invokes "God's word" but fails to mention (or perhaps even see) Jesus' statement in the context of heterosexual marriage: "For there are some eunuchs , which were so born from their mother's womb...." (Matthew 19:12)

Rather than exegete the above passage here, which Faris Malik has superbly done, it must be emphasized that "God's word" by no means discounts same-sex marriage; same-sex marriage in no way "[defies] the teachings of Christ concerning marriage," and, contrary to Evans' assertion, the conferring of same-sex marriage rights is not a religious issue but is, in fact, a human and civil rights issue!

Same-sex marriage is a civil right, and our civil rights are not to be given or withheld by appealing to the Bible (or, more particularly, certain people's interpretation of selected verses of the Bible), but we are under the Constitution, the Judicial interpretation of which defines our civil rights; those civil rights are not to be up for grabs by the vote of the majority or by the assertions of any religious or secular leaders!

Shame on people like Rev. Harry Jackson and Rev. Anthony Evans who seek to deny the dignity and sanctity of marriage to others, bearing false witness against and discriminating against Gay people, while at the same time profiting from the legacy of civil rights activists that have enabled them to enjoy the liberation that they seek to deny to another minority group!

A MUST READ: THE INVISIBLE MONSTER

On his excellent blog, Christ, The Gay Martyr, my good friend Don Charles has just written a two-part post entitled, The Invisible Monster that deals with discrimination against LGBT people in the work place; he uses some of his own experiences in his discussion

Two excerpts from his two-part post read as follows, and I strongly urge you to read both parts of his excellent post in their entirety:

If you're a perceptibly homosexual or transsexual person working in a heterosexist environment, it's best that you police your sense of humor. If you don’t, someone else will! Office humor is notoriously raunchy, but you must be extremely careful of what you say in jest. Any joke or humorous comment with even a hint of sexual connotation can and surely will be used against you. Remember what the heterosexist mentality dictates: LGBT folk should be viewed as purely sexual beings who can't help but act out inappropriately. Their uncontrollably prurient impulses must be kept in check!....

The worst thing about heterosexism on the job is that it's so damn hard to prove! Bigoted managers and administrators are smart enough not to call you a "tranny" or a "faggot" or a "dyke" to your face. Although you strongly suspect the motive behind what’s going on, you're hard-pressed to affix a label to the kind of harassment you're enduring. There's nothing concrete you can point to that screams "I hate Gay people" or “I hate transfolk” in such a way that an EEOC investigator could understand it....

What is particularly sinister about the kind of job discrimination to which Don Charles refers is what Sociologists call "Moral Alchemy." That is, "in-group virtues" are made by xenophobes to be "out-group vices" when discounted members of a minority group engage in the very same behavior that is strongly approved when a member of the dominant group engages in that behavior .

So, for example, if a Straight person seeks to better him/herself on the job, he/she is viewed as "a valuable employee." If a Gay person seeks to better him/herself on the job, he/she might well be viewed as a mere sycophant who is trying to be a rate buster who is trying to make other people look bad.

In other words, what is viewed as being a positive when a member of the dominant group does something, is frequently viewed as a negative when a discounted member of a minority group does the very same thing.

Moreover, there is discrimination visited upon discounted minority group members that are not easy to classify as "discrimination," save when it is members of that minority group that are uniquely treated in a discriminatory manner! And, particularly in a large organization, that proof is very hard to ascertain.

Don Charles concludes his post by asking: "Do you have a personal story of heterosexism and/or transphobia on the job? Please share it with me in my comments section."

I strongly urge you to take him up on his offer in the comments section of his two-part post, The Invisible Monster.

Your comments would help so many other people struggling with discrimination in the work place!

OBAMA TO SIGN BILL WIDENING HATE CRIMES LAWS

At a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden Wednesday afternoon, President Obama plans to sign a bill into law that was more than a decade in the making. It is an update to the federal hate crimes statute that Congress initially passed in 1968.

For the first time, the law that had previously protected people from attacks motivated by race, religion or ethnicity will include gay, lesbian, transgender and disabled people.

[For the full article, see here.]

You can also hear the audio on the above site.

PETITION FOR FULL EQUALITY

Please sign this Petition for Full Equality.

ROMAN CATHOLIC HERESY AND SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

Bishop Richard Malone made this brief Youtube video affirming that only heterosexual marriage is to be recognized, to which I want to call your attention (Thanks to Pam's House Blend.):



Now, notice two major points:

1. He begins by saying, "We believe...." People believe a lot of things, and a lot of those beliefs are not necessarily true!

2. However, and even more egregiously, he states, ""Living a Christian sacramental marriage is a fundamental way of attaining salvation." Where did that idea come from? It's certainly bears no relationship to any Christian theology with which I am familiar! His statement is not only preposterous, but it is heretical!

The Bible teaches, particularly through the Apostle Paul, that God imputes salvation to us, and that imputation occurred before the worlds were even formed. (See, for example, Ephesians 1:4; Romans 8:29); the free gift of God's grace (unmerited favor) is appropriated by our faith (trusting God over and above seen circumstances). (See, for example, Romans 5:1-2)

Moreover, read Galatians 2:16: "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."

Gay Christians can and do trust Jesus! If one lives under the Law, the strictures of mere human beings, the yokes of bondage placed by such institutions as the Roman Catholic Church, he/she has nullified faith and thrown God's gift of God's grace back in God's face.

The Bible makes it clear that it is only by faith that we can please God (Hebrews 11:6), and not some man-made belief system that serves to justify organizational and individual prejudices for which there are usually financial, psychological, social, and political rewards to be garnered.

To even suggest that heterosexual marriage within the Christian tradition "is a fundamental way of attaining salvation," Bishop Malone is not only being heretical, contravening the Bible, but is grasping at false straws to make an argument in a way that merely shows his and others' desperation due to the bankruptcy of their prejudices against same-sex marriage.

And for him to pontificate that Gay people should not be discriminated against, also shows the Bishop Malones of the institutional Church world to be terribly naive or cynical in the extreme.

Gay people are discriminated against, and the RC Church is one of the major religious vehicles that provokes and seeks to justify that discrimination.

And, as we see in this brief video, that discrimination is based on false biblical exegeses, heretical theology, and just plain downright blind prejudice!

ROMAN CATHOLIC CLERGY SEXUAL SUPPRESSION IS OFTEN TOXIC TO OTHERS

I'm 5'6" tall and have never played professional basketball! What kind of credibility would I have in your eyes if I lectured you on the proper way to play professional basketball? Clearly, the answer is likely, "none."

Now, Roman Catholic clergy presumably do not engage in romantic/sexual relations, so why do people give credibility to those RC clergy who would dare teach us on the subjects of romance and sexuality?

Compounding this bizarre scenario where gullible people do take seriously the toxic pontifications of assorted RC clergy and the Vatican regarding sexual matters, is the fact that there is so much condemnation emanating from all too many RC sources regarding sexuality that they view as "normal" and also sexual expression that is, in their eyes, "disordered" or even "intrinsically evil."

So, we have the hateful rhetoric of the Archbishop of Guam regarding same-sex love and its protections:

Islamic fundamentalists clearly understand the damage that homosexual behavior inflicts on a culture. This is why they repress such behavior by death...It may be brutal at times, but any culture that is able to produce wave after wave of suicide bombers...is a culture that at least knows how to value self sacrifice.

[For the full text, see here.]

So, Gay people must suppress their God-given sexuality because of the "damage that homosexual behavior inflicts on a culture," damage that is elusive to any rational person. And this Archbishop's statement goes so far as to applaud Islamic fundamentalists who "repress such behavior by death."

And this egregious pronouncement is done in the name of "Christianity?" This is not any type of Christianity to which any Christian can relate!

Fundamentalists of any stripe, be it from the RC Church, the LDS Church, or from any denomination, church, or secular authority are birds of a feather who flock together. Hence, the Vatican holds its arms open to reactionary Anglicans, even going so far as to allow them to have their own liturgy and married clergy within the context of Roman Catholicism, some doctrines of which are antithetical to those of Anglicans and protestants in general.

Just as I wouldn't trust someone like me to lecture you on the finer points of professional basketball, I wouldn't trust presumably celibate clergy who (unless called by God to do so) suppress their God-given sexuality and seek to impose the warped values and questionable psychological dynamics they possess onto others who have no reason to see any contradiction between sexuality and spirituality.

The Apostle Paul said, "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." (Romans 8:6) I wholeheartedly agree with his statement!

That's why when those who succumb to enforced celibacy seek to impose their own sexual views and values onto others, they are projecting their preoccupation with sex borne of its daily suppression; their condemnation of others' sexuality and sexual expression is likely a projection of their own sexual frustrations borne of sexual suppression that is not healthy unless one is gifted by God to be celibate.

Moreover, by suppressing such a primal urge as sex, sex is what is largely thought about in that person's daily life, even more than when one is free to express him/herself sexually. We all think of sex quite frequently (Yes, even at my age!), but can you imagine the preoccupation with sex when one suppresses this very God-given primal urge?

Therefore, one is carnally minded particularly when one is forced to be celibate; the healthy integration of sexuality with one's spirituality allows one to live a full, abundant life that partakes of all of the gifts that God has bestowed on God's children! So, one can truly be spiritually minded when his/her sexuality is integrated into his/her life that, for the Christian or for any religious person, has been dedicated to God.

Moreover, to enforce celibacy, as occurs among RC clergy, contradicts the Apostle Paul's admonition:

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. (1Timothy 4:1-5)

Paul well knew, as do most of the rest of us, that carnality is borne out of repression and suppression, and that whatever God has created is good! And God created sexuality for our pleasure, as well as for procreation for those for whom that is possible. And no person or institution should be in the business of "forbidding to marry!"

Why would God make sexual activity so pleasurable if God wanted us to abstain from it, or restrict it to only one type of relationship that is not natural for a given person? For a heterosexual it is unnatural for him/her to want to marry someone of the same sex; for a homosexual it is unnatural for him/her to want to marry someone of the opposite sex. This is not rocket science!

Since God created Gay and Straight (and bisexual and transgender) people, God wants us to live abundant lives that only comes from living lives of authenticity that comes from partaking of the unique gifts, among them our sexuality, that God has conferred upon us.

And like being Straight, being Gay is a gift from God, and to deny that gift is to not only stunt the spirituality of that person but is tantamount to throwing that gift back in God's face.

The Archbishop of Guam, the Vatican, and all religious homophobes are advocating that others throw God's gift of sexuality back in God's face, and by so doing are helping to create lives of self-loathing manifested in untold suffering, suicides, assaults, and murders of LGBT people.

And this suppression of sexuality, the projection of one's warped views of sexuality onto others, and the condemnation of the sexual lives of Gay people bears no relationship to Christianity!

FILM: THE MORMON PROPOSITION

The Mormon Proposition will explain once and for all just how the Mormon Church operates, and how they have led the fight against marriage equality all across the United States since Utah became the first state to ban same-sex marriage in 1995. 29 states have followed Utah's lead, and the Mormon Church has made sure of that.

The film also goes into great depth about how the Mormon Church has destroyed so many lives and families in its desire to impose its will on others.

Please tell the world about this incredible documentary. It is a film for all to see.

[For the full article, see here.]

[Also check out its website.]

What is the Mormon proposition? The film is expected to showcase the major gay marriage battles the Mormon Church has backed since Utah became the first state to ban gay marriage in 1995. And how church officials attempted to conceal their deep involvement in the issue. Is the Mormon Church the mastermind puppeteer of the anti-gay marriage movement?

In a blog post, [Director Reed] Cowan said the film had divided his family.

“My determination [to finish the film] has been tested. At this writing, I have lost communication with my sisters and my mother and my father. They are wonderful people and they are Mormons. The fear they have over what this film will say has worn thin to the point that our relationships are stressed and I fear broken forever,” he said.

The film is being considered for a Sundance Film Festival premiere in January.

This is the trailer from The Mormon Proposition:

THE DANGER OF THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT

It’s sad, in this day and age, that people don’t study history, and people have never stopped giving to those who seek power and control. Of course, there are many who don’t want to take responsibility for their own lives, so this works for them. They financially support others (religious right leaders) who in turn excuse their lives from their actions by placing what happens in the hands of their “God”.

[For the full commentary, see here.]

Many people want to be told what to do and even what to think!

Indeed, many people go so far as to ideologically and financially support clergy who impose their prejudices onto their followers, frequently enabling those clergy to live lavish lifestyles, and who give their gullible followers permission to justify prejudice against a targeted minority group, and do so in the name of God.

By equating their own prejudicial and often self-serving interpretations of certain selected verses of Scripture, whether against women, African-Americans, or LGBT people, with what they say is "God's will," they are contravening two of the Ten Commandments: committing the sin of idolatry (equating the Bible with God) and bearing false witness.

Indeed, by elevating their own preconceived prejudices and xenophobia as Divine law, they are committing the worst kind of idolatry: idolizing of one's own prejudicial self-interests by equating those prejudices and interests with God's will, thereby worshiping themselves as god; they further compound their idolatry by condemning people whom God has made in God's image.

Adding insult to injury, they often ignorantly and/or willfully misrepresent what verses of Scripture they select to support their xenophobic claims, and they often lie about those whose civil and sacramental rights they seek to deny. In addition, they neglect far more weightier aspects and verses of Scripture that provide the very foundations of Christianity, the Christian life, and the Gospel of grace!

For example, when was the last time you heard a homophobic clergy person quote from "The Sermon on the Mount," Matthew 5-7? These verses come closest to revealing the heart of Jesus and His will for our lives than anything else in the Bible!

I also doubt anyone has ever heard a homophobic pastor quote from Matthew 19:12 where Jesus, when asked about heterosexual marriage, says: "For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb...." These eunuchs are undoubtedly God's LGBT children! (See here.)

We often hear from homophobic clergy that same-sex marriage presents a threat to the institution of marriage, a claim that is foolish on its face. It's divorce of heterosexuals that provides that threat and same-sex couples who seek to marry (or who are married in the handful of states where same-sex marriage is legal) can in no rational way be seen as being any kind of threat to the institution of marriage.

However, rationality plays no part in separating one from his/her prejudices, particularly when those prejudices are spoon fed by clergy as being "in the will of God."

And when clergy and other professing Christians remain silent amidst the oppression of LGBT people (or any other minority group), they are just as culpable in that oppression as are those who spew hateful rhetoric against God's LGBT children!

Moreover, financial, psychological, social, and political capital can be gained by creating "outsiders" to denigrate and even demonize! (I strongly suspect and suggest that if there were more money to be made by supporting LGBT rights many, if not most, reactionary clergy and politicians would be proudly marching in Gay Pride Parades!)

In this connection, I want to conclude this post by quoting a few excerpts from an article I wrote some time ago entitled It's Not About Issues, that I hope you will read in its entirety:

The same hatred shown toward African Americans in the justification of White Supremacy is the exact same hatred shown toward LGBT people and the justification of heterosexism! Some of the manifestations of that hatred are, of course, different, but the hatred and the justifications for that hatred are exactly the same!....

By portraying Christianity as being under attack, they are using the same rationale and tactics as was used by White Supremacists in creating an "enemy" so that they could portray themselves as victims of a grave threat that only by electing someone who had a mind-set like theirs, regardless of religious or spiritual commitment, could help remedy. Such a portrayal not only garners increased revenue for religious reactionaries, the handmaidens of the Power Elite, but helps enable them to ensure the status quo that they perceive will keep them in control and help keep the minority group(s) they despise under their thumb, so as to maintain their influence and control of most of the institutional Church, maintain what they tout as the moral high ground, and maintain their definition of "Christianity" in the public's mind....

What is important to them is to maintain their mind-set of exclusion of "the other," their constructed enemy, be that "other" African Americans, women, LGBT people, or whatever enemy they seek to construct so as to maintain both their hegemony in society, and to help assure that the existing social structure continues to favor them and their ideology, an ideology that has relatively little to do with their "Christian" profession, and certainly nothing to do with Christianity itself!

LOVE AND BOLDNESS IN THE FIGHT FOR LGBT CIVIL RIGHTS

Sigmund Freud once remarked: How bold one gets when one is sure of being loved.

For close to 50 years, I've been blessed with unconditional love by the Light of my life, and it's been her love that has enabled me to live my life and to achieve any success I might have achieved.

As an invaluable co-worker with God, she has made possible every good thing that has ever happened in my life!

Only a profoundly good and intuitive person like my wife, Eileen, a saint if there ever was one, could have put up with a madman like me for close to half a century, and the following song by Jr. Walker and the All Stars states that feeling far better than I can.

I very much want same-sex couples to have the same dignity, legitimacy, rights, and joy that my wife and I have had, and for them to know that they are unconditionally loved by God and, hopefully, by other people in their lives.

I am absolutely convinced that LGBT people hold a special place in God's heart, and are among God's most wonderful gifts to society and to Christ's Church.

And that knowledge by LGBT people of God's (and, hopefully, others') unconditional love will yield the boldness necessary for us to fight like hell for full and equal civil rights for LGBT people and for same-sex couples, and empower us to never give up that fight until they shove six feet of dirt in our faces.

This song is dedicated to the Light of my life, Eileen:

INTERVIEW WITH REV. PETER J. GOMES

Whether you are a Christian or not, this video of the interview with Rev. Peter J. Gomes, minister at Harvard University, is a wonderful explication of both the Bible as well as its relationship to God, Christianity, the spiritual life, and the stuff of life amidst which we all live.

Rev. Gomes is the author of several books, two of which I think are absolutely superb: "The Good Book: Reading the Bible With Mind and Heart"; "The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus: What's So Good About the Good News?" I strongly urge you to read both of these books!

Rev. Gomes is a gay Christian who is about the most thoughtful and erudite contemporary exponent of the Christian faith and the Gospel who will give you a perspective about the subjects with which he deals that you may well not have been exposed to before!

This interview occurred before Obama was elected President, and Gomes deals with the role of race and class in U.S. society, and predicted that "race" would be a significant issue that would have to be dealt with in every aspect of U.S. society should there be a Black President. One doesn't have to listen to too many reactionary radio talk shows to hear some of the hosts and callers talk about, "taking our country back" which, in my opinion, is often code for them wanting a white person back in the office of President.

I must say that I disagree with Rev. Gomes when he attributes equal authority to the Old and the New Testaments; advocates the relevance of the Law within the Old Testament.

I firmly believe that Jesus fulfilled the whole Law within Himself; His life, death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven replaced the Law with the Gospel of grace (God's unmerited favor to those who trust God over and above seen circumstances.) that the Apostle Paul beautifully explicated, particularly in the Books of Romans and Galatians.

This is the video of the interview with Rev. Gomes that I urge you to see in its entirety:

THERE IS NO ROOM FOR COMPROMISE WHEN IT COMES TO CIVIL RIGHTS!

In an article entitled, Solmonese Responds to Calls He Resign that appears in The Advocate, one commentator, Lonnie Lopez stated the case for aggressive grassroots activism very clearly:

As Howard Zinn put it: We are citizens. We must not put ourselves in the position of looking at the world from their eyes [meaning the politicians] and say, "Well, we have to compromise, we have to do this for political reasons." We have to speak our minds. This is the position that the abolitionists were in before the Civil War, and people said, "Well, you have to look at it from Lincoln's point of view." Lincoln didn't believe that his first priority was abolishing slavery. But the anti-slavery movement did, and the abolitionists said, "We're not going to put ourselves in Lincoln's position. We are going to express our own position, and we are going to express it so powerfully that Lincoln will have to listen to us." And the anti-slavery movement grew large enough and powerful enough that Lincoln had to listen. That's how we got the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th and 14th and 15th Amendments.

Some people want to believe that there is inherent justice in the world; some people believe that politicians have their constituents' best interests at heart; some people believe that administrators of Gay rights organizations are being as aggressive as they can in this civil rights struggle; some people believe that "the milk of human kindness" will eventually win out without aggressive grassroots and organizational activism to achieve equal rights; some people leave the fight to achieve equal rights for LGBT people to others; some people believe that Obama has too much on his plate to issue an Executive Order removing DADT and aggressively deal with Congress to remove DOMA.

There is to be no room for the allowance of second-class citizenship in any society, let alone the U.S. that boasts itself to be "the land of the free," and where "separate is not equal."

There is no "freedom" in any civil society when a minority group is deprived of civil rights that accrue to the dominant group!

If heterosexuals are allowed to marry, same-sex couples must be allowed to marry!

Heterosexual love is in no way superior to same-sex love, and that reality must be codified into law and, eventually, it will thereby be codified in the hearts of most people in society!

And without aggressive grassroots and organizational activism, there will never be federal recognition of same-sex marriage (and all of the other civil rights that are likely to ride on its coattails).

Had it not been for the organizational and activist skills of Bayard Rustin, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, A Philip Randolph, Fannie Lou Hamer, Thurgood Marshall, and others, we would still have segregation and Jim Crow laws!

And the fight for LGBT civil rights is no different, and no less important, than the struggle for African-American civil rights that occurred not all that long ago in the U.S.!

WHEN IT COMES TO EQUALITY FOR LGBT PEOPLE, THE LDS CHURCH KNOWS NO SHAME

Just in case you aren’t familiar, the Mormon Church used to preach segregation. It was their firm belief that being a person of color was a punishment from God and people of color were lesser than white people…and that was up until 1978! It was in that year former President Jimmy Carter threatened the LDS church with taxation if they did not stop preaching segregation, and amazingly enough, God spoke to the elders, and within weeks of the taxation threat, told them being a person of color was no longer a punishment from God, therefore they should be accepted into the church.

Secondly, how is anyone, who enjoys full benefits of marriage, employment, housing, etc….you know, all the rights, liberties and freedoms offered to everyone in America except for those of us in the LBGT community, going to claim they are being oppressed…and compare their oppression to that of what people of color experienced during and prior to the Civil Rights Movement?

This statement [By Elder Dallin Oaks that he did not consider it provocative to compare the treatment of Mormons after the passage of Prop. 8 to that of blacks in the civil rights era.] is not only stupid and delusional, but it’s extremely disrespectful towards anyone of color, and it demonstrates the lengths people will go to in their attempt to prevent American citizens who are a member of the LGBT community from ever enjoying full equality and maintain our second class citizenship.

[For the full article, see here.]

At least one Mormon leader has the ignorance and/or temerity to equate anti-LDS backlash regarding their hateful animus against same-sex marriage and their strident advocacy for Prop. 8 with the way Southern blacks were intimidated during the civil rights movement.

If this isn't an outright disgrace, and if this isn't symptomatic of toxic religion and the attempt to brainwash gullible people into believing that the LDS Church is the "victim" in this backlash by decent people who demand equal rights for LGBT people and same-sex couples, I don't know what is!

The LDS Church and the Roman Catholic Church, along with most churches within the institutional Church, by their rhetoric and/or actions and/or silence amidst the oppression of our LGBT sisters and brothers, are a disgrace to God, to Christianity, and to biblical scholarship!

They must be called to account and confronted for the lies they perpetrate, and the untold suffering and damage they do to LGBT people and their families, and they must also be taxed!

They are spewing their hatred that often results in spiritual, emotional, and physical violence, and they do so with the benefit of tax-exemption.

MORE EVIDENCE OF THE CYNICAL BETRAYAL OF OBAMA AND THE WHITE HOUSE

What is surprising to me is that LGBT people and progressives are surprised that Obama and the White House hold us in disdain. After they drank the Kool Aid of Obama's empty rhetoric, they may now be seeing the truth of his cynical betrayal of many of the values we hold dear, such as equal rights for LGBT people.

So which Barack Obama is it -- the one who said to challenge him, or a fragile flower that panders to LGBTs then has a coward source backstab? To me the WH has just declared war on us after a wine and dine with the right kind of LGBTs that don't make trouble for them. Someone has to answer to this....

So the gay community, and its concerns about President Obama's inaction, and backtracking, on DADT and DOMA, are now, according to President Obama's White House, part of a larger "fringe" that acts like small children who play in their pajamas and need to grow up. (And a note to our readers: The White House just included all of you in that loony "left fringe.")

[For the full article, see here.]

Here's the video alleging the White House's position :

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

ANDREW SULLIVAN CALLS FOR THE RESIGNATION OF JOE SOLOMNESE OF THE HRC

In this brief video, Andrew Sullivan tells it like it is, and highlights the pathetic and seemingly self-satisfied acquiescence of the head of the Human Rights Campaign (which, as Sullivan accurately states, should be called the LGBT Rights Campaign) to the status quo by giving Obama a pass until 2017.

Sullivan calls for Joe Solomnese's resignation! As you probably know, Joe Solomnese is the head of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest asserted LGBT Rights organization.

Solomnese, of course, is quite unlikely to resign, particularly given the fact that he "received a total compensation package of $338,400 in 2008." [See here.]

With that kind of compensation package, why wouldn't Solmonese be quite satisfied?

Plus, he and a number of other professional "activists" seem to enjoy the empty rhetoric of Obama, particularly if they can be in his presence, rub elbows with him and other politicians, and even be invited to share finger food and even dine with him!

It cannot be said of Solomnese, and some other seeming political "activists" who court and hope to be rewarded by the status quo and/or with Obama's favor, of what Shakespeare said in his play Henry lV, "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown."

This is the video with Andrew Sullivan that is well worth watching:

REV. TROY PERRY'S SPEECH AT THE NATIONAL EQUALITY MARCH

Please listen to this heart-felt talk by Rev. Troy Perry at the National Equality March. [Thanks to Kittredge Cherry on Facebook for highlighting this speech.]

Rev. Perry is one of God's greatest LGBT civil rights activists that the world has ever known!

WE WANT ACTION

When thousands of gay rights activists march to the Capitol at noon today for the National Equality March, they will be looking for more than speeches from the White House.

"Last night, President Obama made that speech [at the Human Rights Campaign’s annual dinner in Washington]. He had no intention of addressing our community and he took the bully pulpit, and he got up there, and he expressed very beautiful intentions," march organizer Sherry Wolf said. "It was a very beautiful speech. [But] what is he going to do? And when is he going to do it? That’s the question."

[For the full article, see here.]

The Equality March, if nothing else, will present a concerted voice from the grassroots that rhetoric (especially empty rhetoric) is no substitute for action!

Hopefully, this march will not only put pressure on Obama and other "liberal" politicians to back up their rhetoric with actions that give LGBT people full and equal civil rights, but will motivate the grassroots within local jurisdictions to lobby their legislators and agitate for equal rights under the law as currently accrue to all heterosexual citizens.

As you know, at the local levels, I feel that one of the best tactics is to choose one homophobic church and continuously peacefully picket that church each and every Sunday when they have services, carrying signs and forthrightly stating how their rhetoric of hate and discrimination is antithetical to the Gospel of Christ!

We cannot underestimate the impact that homophobic religion has had in denying full and equal civil rights to LGBT people, including, of course, the right to same-sex marriage.

MORE OF OBAMA'S EMPTY RHETORIC TO THE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN

"I will end 'don't ask-don't tell,'" Obama said at the annual dinner of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay civil rights advocacy group. Obama reaffirmed his commitment to end the ban, but did not give a timetable or the specifics that some activists have called for.

The law was passed by Congress in 1993 and signed by President Bill Clinton, who also promised to repeal the ban on homosexuals in the military but was blunted by opposition in the military and Congress.

"We should not be punishing patriotic Americans who have stepped forward to serve the country," Obama said. "We should be celebrating their willingness to step forward and show such courage ... especially when we are fighting two wars.

"I appreciate that many of you don't believe progress has come fast enough," Obama said. "Do not doubt the direction we are heading and the destination we will reach."

[For the full article, see here.]

This is the same old tired cynical rhetoric we've heard from Obama for the last several months, and I have no doubt that many in the HRC, and many others, continue to buy into it!

Only a very naive, often self-loathing, gullible masochist can take his empty rhetoric seriously!

It must be remembered that Obama can merely issue an Executive Order eliminating DADT! That decision rests solely with him and, to this date, he has yet to eliminate it.

His mere rhetoric shows his disdain for LGBT people, and his likely belief that many, if not most, will buy into his empty rhetoric and "charm" that has gotten him so far on so little in his political career.

His empty rhetoric is pathetic, and anyone who takes that empty rhetoric seriously is even more pathetic!

THE PATHETIC HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN

If there was any doubt the Human Rights Campaign was colluding with Democrats and the White House to give Barack Obama a pass on your civil rights, confirmation arrived yesterday, when the organization told its "millions" of members not to judge the president today, but wait until January 19, 2017....

It's preposterous that an organization charged with defending and demanding the rights of LGBT Americans — and already facing allegations of telling Obama to give preference to some gay rights legislation while ignoring others — just told the entire world that the gay community can wait until Obama is moving out of the White House to expect our rights. The ramifications of HRC's message are dire; the media and other gay organizations around the world take cues from this organization, and if this is the agenda they are pushing, we worry it'll reverberate into a message the "gay community" is behind....

[For the full article, see here.]

With friends like these, who needs enemies?

Professional "activists" who make money and build careers around their pseudo-activism, often in the name of political expediency, that may even go so far as to caution the powers that be to retard the struggle for full and equal civil rights are, at the very least, pathetic and, at the very worst, traitors to the cause that they say they espouse and for which they are handsomely paid.

Here's Jason Bellini's commentary on this matter, and we can only hope that the rhetoric and passion of Dan Choi as seen in this brief video is reflected in the speeches to be held at the Equality March tomorrow.

I can assure you that Rev. Troy Perry's speech will reflect that passion, a passion he has exhibited for over 40 years.

BROTHER OUTSIDER: THE LIFE OF BAYARD RUSTIN

Any time, and particularly as we approach the National Equality March this weekend, it is enlightening and emboldening to see the video of the life story of the consummate hero, organizer, and activist for the African American civil rights movement, Bayard Rustin.

It was Bayard Rustin who taught Martin Luther King the essence and techniques of non-violence, and it was he who organized the 1963 March on Washington which was a protest against the horrific oppression and discrimination visited upon African Americans in the U.S.

Unfortunately, as a gay man, he was relegated to the background, and even Martin Luther King accepted his resignation when Adam Clayton Powell threatened to out Rustin and falsely state that he and King were having an affair and, thereby, threaten the credibility of the civil rights movement.

To Rustin's shock, MLK accepted his resignation, and it was A. Philip Randolph, a prominent and well respected civil rights leader, who brought Rustin back into the fold.

The heroism of Rustin can't be over-estimated! If any one person can be credited with the organizational, tactical, and strategic success of many of the key aspects of the African American civil rights movement, it is Bayard Rustin, and I strongly urge you to watch the following videos detailing his life and work, entitled Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin.

At a time when LGBT people are routinely defamed, and are still viewed and treated as second-class citizens, and are deprived of most of the fundamental rights that accrue to heterosexuals, the story and legacy of Bayard Rustin is a breath of fresh air amidst the bearing of false witness against LGBT people by most of the institutional Church (just as occurred against African Americans prior to the success of the African American civil rights movement), and by many gullible people in secular society who falsely believe the lies and distortions emanating from the mouths of ignorant and/or mendacious clergy and their followers!

The National Equality March promises to be a major step in galvanizing both anger and meaningful activism at both the grassroots and organizational levels and, of course, I hope that promise bears fruit.

Please click on this link to see Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin.

MORE OF OBAMA'S UPCOMING CYNICAL RHETORIC REGARDING LGBT RIGHTS

President Obama will speak to a gathering of gay rights activists this weekend, a day before thousands of people are expected to march on Washington in a demonstration calling for greater legal protections for gays, lesbians and transgendered Americans....

While the president has professed support for overturning the ban on gays in the military and called the law that precludes federal recognition of same-sex marriages discriminatory, he has not engaged on gay rights issues as actively as some had hoped.

[See here.]

Ya think?

In a post I wrote on September 19th entitled, Obama Has Shown Himself To Be A Traitor, A Liar, And A Coward In Regard To LGBT Rights I said, in part:

Obama is, in my opinion, a traitor, a liar, and a coward in regard to LGBT rights, who is also out of his league as President for other assorted reasons that are beyond the purview of this blog to deal with; he is likely to be a one-term President, if the Republicans can get someone with "charm" and name recognition to run against him in 2012.

And, particularly given his cynical betrayal of LGBT people, I will not be at all unhappy should that scenario occur!

For any LGBT person, ally or Progressive to take his words regarding equality for LGBT people seriously is living in denial; anyone who believes his stated "support" for Gay rights when he could merely issue an Executive Order (which would take him about 5 minutes to write) rescinding DADT; when his Justice Department affirmed DOMA in federal court, invoking pedophilia and incest as two of its points, is living in a dream world.

He's a two-bit loser, and it's time that more progressives got their heads out of the sand, woke up, and smelled the coffee of his cynical betrayal of LGBT people, and progressives.

And his likely upcoming typically cynical rhetoric, whether at this coming Saturday's annual dinner for the Human Rights Campaign (a day before the Equality March), or to any other LGBT Rights group, makes his past, current, and likely future betrayal of LGBT people even that much more egregious and offensive!

He might well throw much of his constituency a bone by signing the bill on ENDA which Congress, given its current composition, is likely to pass, but that doesn't take much courage as it both acquiesces to the Congress' initiative and also courts the votes he needs to win the 2012 presidential election.

It's high time that we swallowed the bitter pill that Obama doesn't give a damn about equality for LGBT people, and that he probably never has! [For example, see here.]

COUNCIL MEMBER DAVID CATANIA INTRODUCES A BILL TO MAKE SAME-SEX MARRIAGE LEGAL IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Great News for Washington, D.C!

Also notice Rev. Harry Jackson's familiar rhetoric that he wants this civil right for Gay people put up to a majority vote of the electorate. He's so clueless that if his stance had been taken regarding African-Americans, we'd still have segregation and Jim Crow laws.

HOMOPHOBIC AND TRANSPHOBIC VIOLENCE AS KILLING THE SELF

Dr. Nancy J. Chodorow, in a report given to a group of psychoanalysts, in part said the following in seeking to explain the roots of homophobia:

In particular men and in particular situations, both gender and sexual orientation are rigidly dichotomized, fragmented identifications, and any internal challenge to the separateness of maleness and femaleness or of heteroerotic and homoerotic fantasies and attachments threatens real disintegration. Characteristically, the badness, femininity and submissiveness to men has to be split off and projected outward where these in turn become extremely persecutory potential identifications. Those who represent the split off and bad projections threaten not only persecutory return, but also disintegrative flooding to meld and fuse with the self. They need to be attacked and destroyed. [See here.]

It might be stated that the often erroneous dichotomizing of sexual and gender categories, once experienced as not really being part of one's self, frequently results in the need, the intense desire, to persecute that now recognized part of one's self that often becomes projected upon the person (or group of people) that has called attention to the unconscious, unwanted, homosexual and/or transphobic feelings aroused by the very existence of that other person; it is felt that that person and what he/she represents has to be destroyed, for in destroying that other person, the self-identified "heterosexual" victimizer is seeking to destroy that unwanted homosexual part of himself.

This brief video highlights the frequent relationship between homophobia and homosexual desire:



As my good friend, Don Charles wrote on his blog, "Christ, The Gay Martyr," regarding "Machismo" as being a taken for granted fact of life that underlies much of homophobia and transphobia:

In a culture dominated by Machismo, there is no room for persons of blended gender! We undermine the gender fascism that Machismo preaches. We contradict the world view that demands dominant men and subservient women. We will always be perceived as a threat to the concept of "pure" masculinity; our sexual orientation alone guarantees that. As I've stated before, all it takes to qualify as a gender outlaw is to be a man-loving-man or a woman-loving-woman. [See here.]

Gay people and people of blended gender threaten the man-made construction, the fiction, of sexual and gender polarities as being "normal," as being "the way things are meant to be." Hence, the homophobic and transphobic rhetoric emanating from the pulpits in most of the institutional Church, justifying such unchristian rhetoric and discrimination in the names of "the Bible," "morality," "tradition," "family values," "for the good of the children," etc.

And, often to help "sanitize" the rhetorical victimizing of Gay and transgender people by many professing "Christians" is to appeal to the Bible and to God, as irrational as are those "justifications" to those who have even a scintilla of spiritual sense!

For the homophobic and transphobic, any person, group, or event that brings to consciousness the realization of a threat to his avowed sexuality (particularly male heterosexuality) results in a profound threat to those whose very unconscious lives put the lie to "the normality" of sexual and gender polarity; the fiction of the homophobe's "avowed heterosexuality" which, as a defense, he has selected as the core part of his avowed identity.

Hence, his felt need to suppress his sexual feelings by projecting his anger onto any person or group that exhibits any attributes that bring to his consciousness, or even highlight, his repressed sexual feelings.

And when that core part of his identity is in any way threatened by bringing to his consciousness the reality of his actual sexuality and/or gender status, he feels the need to engage in Reaction Formation by victimizing "the other" whom he has spent a lifetime trying to hide and avoid within himself.

Hence, homophobia and transphobia often results in the murder of that "other" that, in reality, is unconsciously (and sometimes consciously) experienced as the desperately unwanted and resented part of the perpetrator's self.

So, the victimizer or murderer is in a very real sense futilely seeking to murder that very part of himself that he terribly despises, and that he has projected upon that very person or group that has brought to his consciousness the reality that he can't bring himself to acknowledge, even to himself.

So the terrible irony of much of the dynamics of homophobia and transphobia is that many of those who are most phobic regarding sexuality and gender performance are very likely to be those who are most threatened by those very features that they, themselves, resentfully (and often unconsciously) possess!

AN EMAIL FROM MICHAEL MOORE

The following is an email sent out by Michael Moore that is very appropriate for those who label themselves "Christians," yet in one way or another oppress any of God's children:

For Those of You on Your Way to Church This Morning ...a note from Michael Moore

Sunday, October 4th, 2009

Friends,

I'd like to have a word with those of you who call yourselves Christians (Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Bill Maherists, etc. can read along, too, as much of what I have to say, I'm sure, can be applied to your own spiritual/ethical values).

In my new film I speak for the first time in one of my movies about my own spiritual beliefs. I have always believed that one's religious leanings are deeply personal and should be kept private. After all, we've heard enough yammerin' in the past three decades about how one should "behave," and I have to say I'm pretty burned out on pieties and platitudes considering we are a violent nation who invades other countries and punishes our own for having the audacity to fall on hard times.

I'm also against any proselytizing; I certainly don't want you to join anything I belong to. Also, as a Catholic, I have much to say about the Church as an institution, but I'll leave that for another day (or movie).

Amidst all the Wall Street bad guys and corrupt members of Congress exposed in "Capitalism: A Love Story," I pose a simple question in the movie: "Is capitalism a sin?" I go on to ask, "Would Jesus be a capitalist?" Would he belong to a hedge fund? Would he sell short? Would he approve of a system that has allowed the richest 1% to have more financial wealth than the 95% under them combined?

I have come to believe that there is no getting around the fact that capitalism is opposite everything that Jesus (and Moses and Mohammed and Buddha) taught. All the great religions are clear about one thing: It is evil to take the majority of the pie and leave what's left for everyone to fight over. Jesus said that the rich man would have a very hard time getting into heaven. He told us that we had to be our brother's and sister's keepers and that the riches that did exist were to be divided fairly. He said that if you failed to house the homeless and feed the hungry, you'd have a hard time finding the pin code to the pearly gates.

I guess that's bad news for us Americans. Here's how we define "Blessed Are the Poor": We now have the highest unemployment rate since 1983. There's a foreclosure filing once every 7.5 seconds. 14,000 people every day lose their health insurance.

At the same time, Wall Street bankers ("Blessed Are the Wealthy"?) are amassing more and more loot -- and they do their best to pay little or no income tax (last year Goldman Sachs' tax rate was a mere 1%!). Would Jesus approve of this? If not, why do we let such an evil system continue? It doesn't seem you can call yourself a Capitalist AND a Christian -- because you cannot love your money AND love your neighbor when you are denying your neighbor the ability to see a doctor just so you can have a better bottom line. That's called "immoral" -- and you are committing a sin when you benefit at the expense of others.

When you are in church this morning, please think about this. I am asking you to allow your "better angels" to come forward. And if you are among the millions of Americans who are struggling to make it from week to week, please know that I promise to do what I can to stop this evil -- and I hope you'll join me in not giving up until everyone has a seat at the table.

Thanks for listening. I'm off to Mass in a few hours. I'll be sure to ask the priest if he thinks J.C. deals in derivatives or credit default swaps. I mean, after all, he must've been good at math. How else did he divide up two loaves of bread and five pieces of fish equally amongst 5,000 people? Either he was the first socialist or his disciples were really bad at packing lunch. Or both.

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com


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MARRIAGE EQUALITY PROPOSED IN ILLINOIS; VATICAN, LDS, AND RELIGIOUS ANTIPATHY TO GAY RIGHTS

Illinois state senator Heather Steans introduced the legislature's first marriage equality bill on Thursday. Called the Equal Marriage Act, the bill was assigned the cheer-friendly number of 2-4-6-8. [See here]

This is the video of Sen. Steans' announcement:



In contrast, even while foaming at the mouth in its antipathy toward same-sex marriage and defamation of LGBT people, the Vatican is dancing as fast as it can in relation to its many sexual scandals. [See here]

"Sex" provides much of the root of homophobia: Such as the fear of sex; the fear of one's sexuality; the fear of one's being perceived as not clearly being in a (falsely) culturally approved and constructed dualistic box of gender performance and/or identification that is viewed by others as being appropriate to his/her anatomy.

It is no accident that the Roman Catholic Church is notoriously homophobic while at the same time having sexual scandals involving young victims that seems to know no bounds; offenses committed and facilitated by men who claim to be celibate heterosexuals who wear dresses and gowns.

Moreover, despite the admonition of the Apostle Paul that no one could or should forbid anyone to marry, all priests (who must, according to Roman Catholic doctrine, be men) must remain celibate.

Despite often stated "spiritual" reasons for mandated celibacy among the RC priesthood, the bottom line is that sexual expression is viewed by the Vatican as something that is largely antithetical to living a truly spiritual life that, to its way of thinking, can only accrue to those who remain celibate.

So, it's no wonder that with this warped view of sex and sexuality, the RC Church and most of its clergy would feel, and express, revulsion against same-sex love, since many of their clergy are likely to be sexually fearful and/or sexually frustrated and repressed, unless they have been called by God to be celibate for God's sake.

The Apostle Paul wrote, "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.(1Timothy 4:1-5)

Despite the biblical admonition to not ever forbid anyone to marry, the RC Church contravenes that admonition, often attracting sexually and/or emotionally stunted people to its ranks, and rejects healthy Gay people from its seminaries in favor of those who are often self-loathing closet cases who live lives of almost unendurable suffering by having to repress this most primal urge; they sometimes externalize their repressed sexuality onto vulnerable young people.

And, to add insult to injury, the Vatican blames Gay people for their sexual scandals [Also see here.], rather than blame itself for flouting Scripture regarding enforced celibacy; for rejecting healthy Gay people; for tacitly encouraging repressed, self-loathing closet cases; for consigning sexuality to an inferior position regarding the spiritual life.

The healthy integration of sexuality and spirituality is seemingly foreign to their views of sex and sexuality!

Similarly, it is no accident that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is notoriously homophobic while at the same time having a history of polygamy that was integrated into its theology until they were threatened by the federal government.

In 1890, "The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the government could deny the right to vote or hold office to all Mormons who practiced the Law of Abraham, or who merely believed in plural marriage. Later in the year, they ruled that the Edmunds-Tucker Act was constitutional, and that the federal government could repeal the LDS church charter and dissolve the church." [See here.] So, given this court ruline, pragmatism overrode theology for the LDS Church!

Given its checkered history of sexual/marital practices, it is remarkable that the LDS Church argues against same-sex marriage based on its belief in "traditional family values."

So, we have the tragic situation where major denominations within the institutional Church are notoriously homophobic, and most denominations within that institutional Church are homophobic to varying degrees, and a courageous politician, Heather Steans of Illinois, seeks to move the ball of equality forward by doing the right thing!

The Church should be in the vanguard of fighting for equal rights and justice for all of God's children!

Yet, regarding most of the institutional Church, we see the very opposite, where so many intelligent, decent, and sensitive people accurately see much of what is proclaimed to be "Christian" to be nothing more than Reactionary sham religion that seeks to deprive people of equal rights and medical care; most of its gullible followers bearing false witness against God's very own LGBT children.

Whether she knows it or not, Senator Steans is doing God's work!

And those who seek to deprive LGBT people of equal rights, and who defame them as much as they can, and who give money to keep them as second-class citizens who are often viewed as pariahs precisely due to the lies promulgated by homophobic clergy and their blind followers, are doing nothing short of serving the demonic!

SPEAKERS AT THE EQUALITY MARCH, OCTOBER 11TH

The following is a complete listing of speakers to date for October 10 and 11:

Stuart Applebaum, Richard Aviles, Jarret Barrios, Dustin Lance Black, Julian Bond, Marsha Botzer, Staceyann Chin, Lt. Dan Choi, Tanner Efinger, Hawaii Board of Education member Kim Coco Iwamoto, Cleve Jones
, Michelle Lopez
, Robin McGehee
, David Mixner
, Nicole-Murray Ramirez
, Chloe Noble
, Tobias Packer
, the Reverend Troy Perry
, New York City Council speaker Christine C. Quinn, Los Angeles City Council member Bill Rosendahl, Babs Siperstein, Judy Shepard
, Maxim Thorn
, Urvashi Vaid
, Derek Washington
, Falls Church City Council member Lawrence Webb
, Kip Williams
, Sherry Wolfe, and Kit Yan
.

[See here.]

I can't tell you how happy I am that my friend, Rev. Troy Perry, will be one of the speakers. He's not only the most charismatic, articulate and courageous LGBT rights activists in modern history, but he's got a heart for God and has been called by God to show all LGBT people that God created them just as they are, and loves them as God's very own children.

If you want a treat, ">buy the DVD, "Call Me Troy," which details his life!

He was the Founder of the Metropolitan Community Churches in 1968, and was its Moderator for thirty-seven years! Now, he travels all over the world speaking about God's unconditional love for LGBT people!

To learn more about Rev. Troy Perry, I strongly urge you to read his books: "The Lord is my Shepherd and He Knows I'm Gay"; "Don't Be Afraid Anymore"; "10 Spiritual Truths For Successful Living For Gays And Lesbians (and Everyone Else)."

Troy Perry: Pastor and Prophet," edited by Chris Glaser details significant of his life, struggles, and work by those who know him best, and who have worked with him over these many years. That, too, is a treat to read!

He's a genuine inspiration and hero! And I'm delighted that he will be speaking at the Equality March!

THE BLOOM BETTER BE OFF THE ROSE REGARDING OBAMA

The Advocate asked, “Over the weekend, former president Clinton came out in full support of same-sex marriage and he called his previous position against it 'untenable.' What does the president think about that?”

Gibbs responded, “I have not talked to him. I did not see President Clinton’s comments and I haven’t talked directly to [President Obama] about it.”

[For the full article, see here.]

Despite superficial rhetoric, it's clear that Obama doesn't give a damn about LGBT people, their second-class citizenship, and their lack of equal rights.

He shows he has no desire to remove DADT which he could do by merely issuing an Executive Order; he is in favor of DOMA (contrary to his cynical electioneering rhetoric), and Obama and Gibbs must think we're chumps who would buy into their deceit.

One has to live in a cave not to know of Bill Clinton's turnabout regarding same-sex marriage, now being in favor of it.

Gibbs, as Press Secretary, and Obama had to know about Clinton's current position, and for them to deny it shows a crass indifference to LGBT people.

LET'S GET RID OF INCREMENTALISM, RELIGION'S RIGHT TO DISCRIMINATE, AND ALLOWING A TYRANNY OF THE MAJORITY

Nearly a year after California voters overturned same-sex marriage, voters in three other states will weigh in this fall on whether to reverse gay rights initiatives ranging from anti-discrimination measures to marriage benefits.

In Maine, voters will decide whether or not to uphold the state's legalization of same-sex marriage. In Washington state, a so-called "everything but marriage" law that expands the state's current domestic partnership law will be on the ballot. And in Kalamazoo, Mich., voters will decide on an ordinance that prohibits discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender individuals....

Lawmakers in Washington state have taken an incremental approach to increasing gay rights without actually taking on the state's marriage ban, which was upheld by the state Supreme Court in 2006. The following year, lawmakers passed the state's first domestic partnership law granting a handful of rights, like hospital visitation, to gay and lesbian couples.

In 2008, that law was expanded to add more rights, and this year the latest law added such partnerships to all remaining areas of state law where currently only married couples are mentioned. The statutes range from labor and employment rights to pensions and other public employee benefits.

Nearly 12,000 people in Washington state are registered as domestic partners, and while the underlying law that was passed in 2007 allows some older heterosexual couples to register as domestic partners, most of the couples are gay.

Conservative Christians rallied to get Referendum 71 on the November ballot, arguing that Washington state's latest move is the last step before full civil marriage for gay and lesbian couples in the state.

[For the full article, see here.]

Incrementalism has no place when civil rights are at stake! "Equality" is all or nothing! You either have equality or you don't!

There is no such thing as having "some equality," and LGBT people, leaders, and allies must come to recognize this basic fact of life!

Although such incremental gains as Domestic Partnerships and Civil Unions seem attractive in the short-run, particularly when hope is held out by the states that the same rights that accrue to Marriage will also accrue to these other institutions, by using any other label than "Marriage," same-sex love is still consigned to an inferior category to that of heterosexual love; deprives same-sex couples of the federal benefits (over a thousand of them) that heterosexual married couples enjoy.

Moreover, incrementalism, by throwing some crumbs of promised "equality" to Gay people, blinds LGBT people and allies to the fact that civil rights for any minority group must never be allowed to be put to a vote by the electorate!

Also, since when is it acceptable to allow tax exempt religious institutions to practice discrimination, denying same-sex marriage within most of those institutions, and also having the gall to seek to impose their own prejudiced and erroneous interpretations of the Bible onto our civil society; seek to remove and/or prevent equal rights for Gay people?

What kind of "Christianity" (or any other religion for that matter) seeks to deny dignity and civil rights to members of any minority group? Disciples of Christ love and don't judge others; seek to embrace all of God's children; are agents of God's grace in this world!

Also, what kind of LGBT rights "leadership" affirms the warped views of exclusivist and discriminatory religion as seen in the following article?

Los Angeles-based Love Honor Cherish proposed ballot language to strike the ban approved by state voters in November as Proposition 8.

The new ballot proposal says religious institutions would not be required to perform same-sex unions if it conflicts with their beliefs.

"The refusal to perform a marriage under this provision shall not be the basis for lawsuit or liability, and shall not affect the tax-exempt status of any religious denomination, church or other religious institution," reads the exemption, an attempt by Love Honor Cherish to defuse one of the arguments Proposition 8 sponsors used to garner support last fall.

Submitting wording to the California attorney general is the first step in qualifying a measure for an election. Once the language is approved, backers would have until mid-April to gather the 695,000 signatures needed to put the initiative on the November 2010 ballot.

[For the full article, see here.]

By affirming the right of religions to discriminate against Gay couples who seek to make a lifetime commitment to each other, the authors of this new ballot proposal (a bad idea to begin with) tacitly agree with the right of religious institutions to discriminate against Gay people! By futilely attempting to do an end run around expected ads that would argue that ministers would be subject to arrest if same-sex marriage were instituted in California, the authors of this new ballot proposal are playing right into the oppressor's hands by giving discriminatory, tax exempt religion a pass!

As my good friend, Don Charles, wrote to me: "Some marriage equality activists make Stepin Fetchit look like Huey Newton."

Since when is it acceptable or even Constitutional for one's civil rights to be determined by the will, whims, and desires of the electorate, made up primarily of the dominant group that usually has little or no interest in granting such rights; can be easily swayed by simplistic sound bites that are bought and paid for by monies and lies from tax exempt religious and other allied institutions?

As I previously wrote:

We can't spend our time and tremendous amounts of monies trying to get the majority of t