Topic: Gay Rights

[AJ93]

Honestly, this is the state that's supposed to be a barometer for how the rest of the country will trend? I like Huntsman's approach, staying out of the state all together. Hopefully the other candidates with rational minds will ignore this nonsense and focus on something that matters, like tax cuts for the rich.

[natininja]

Johnson and Romney obviously view gay marriage as a back door for legalizing polygamy. You know, since they're Mormons.
^{(For the humor-detection impaired, this is meant to be satirical.)}

[MyTwoSense]

The pledge as a whole is a joke!

[StrapHanger]

Oh sweet jesus; from that same Yahoo AP story:

When it was first circulated last week, the introduction to the pledge stated that African American children were more likely to be raised in two-parent households when they were born into slavery than they are today. The group struck that language and apologized after black ministers complained, but it said it stands by the rest of the document.

Even if you don't find the 14 points repugnant (and I do), that little intro bit should give a good sense what kind of crazies these people are.  Surprised they didn't mention how rare divorce was before the 19th Amendment.

Update: Pawlenty and Newt have also declined to sign on: http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/07/13/pawlenty-refuses-to-sign-pledge-against-gay-marriage/

[MyTwoSense]

Oh sweet jesus; from that same Yahoo AP story:

When it was first circulated last week, the introduction to the pledge stated that African American children were more likely to be raised in two-parent households when they were born into slavery than they are today. The group struck that language and apologized after black ministers complained, but it said it stands by the rest of the document.

Even if you don't find the 14 points repugnant (and I do), that little intro bit should give a good sense what kind of crazies these people are.  Surprised they didn't mention how rare divorce was before the 19th Amendment.

See what I mean, considering "African American" were not "African Americans" in slave times and there were no African American "households".  Lastly, an "African American" my have been the parent of a child, but that child did not belong to either "parent".

[Clevelander17]

That pledge is stupid and wrong on so many levels.  But it did serve one important purpose.  Two of the biggest clowns in the race (Bachmann and Santorum) signed it, and in doing so they've voluntarily eliminated themselves from having any shot at winning the Presidency.  It's similar to the last Republican nomination cycle when a few of these jokers raised their hands when asked if they did not believe in evolution. 

[andrew0816]

Really?

DOJ Tells Court It "Continues to Defend" DADT, Seeks Reinstatement of Law "By the Close of Business Tomorrow"
Posted by Chris Geidner
July 14, 2011 8:50 PM

The Department of Justice filed a motion in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Ciruit in the Log Cabin Republicans v. United States case today, asking the court for "emergency" reconsideration of its July 6 decision to lift the stay of the worldwide injunction of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law -- a motion that asks for the stay to be put back in place by "close of business" on Friday, July 15.

Additionally, not waiting until its July 21 deadline to respond to a later order from the appellate court, the government submitted a second filing, responding to the Ninth Circuit's claim that "it appears to the merits panel that the United States is not prepared to defend the constitutionality of 10 U.S.C. § 654" -- the DADT law. DOJ countered today that "it has fully defended, and continues to defend, the constitutionality" of DADT "as it exists following enactment of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010." DOJ makes the argument in a letter that states that -- after the repeal act was signed into law -- Section 654 became a "transitional provision."

The government argues that "§ 654 remains in force by operation of § 2(c) of the Repeal Act, which provides that § 654 'shall remain in effect until such time that all of the requirements and certifications required by' the Repeal Act 'are met.'" Because of this provision in the repeal act, the government argues, "§ 654 is now a transitional provision that remains in force only until the Executive Branch completes the repeal process."

Read more...

[TBideon]

Guess there are no other pressing issues for the DOJ aka Department of Jacka$$e$

[Hts121]

Interesting that the DOJ has deemed DOMA unconstitutional and will not defend it in court, but has not gone that far with DADT.  I suppose the DADT repeal was a legislative victory the administration wants to trumpet (and not have its thunder stolen by the 9th Circuit), but I would bet the real rationale has more to do with not setting precedent in military affairs.

[Jeffery]

Today is the day DADT ends for the military. 

 

[Robert Pence]

Maybe I should reenlist!

[Jeffery]

I put some pix of my partner and me up on my cube partition near my computer, three pix on legal size paper (one of which I had posted here years ago).   If anyone asks who that is I'll tell them.   

So I am FINALLY sloooowly coming out at work.

[natininja]

I put some pix of my partner and me up on my cube partition near my computer, three pix on legal size paper (one of which I had posted here years ago).   If anyone asks who that is I'll tell them.   

So I am FINALLY sloooowly coming out at work.

[Robert Pence]

It's time to resurrect The Gay Deceivers. I thought this movie was cleverly hilarious when I saw it in 1969, and I want to see it again and share it with friends who are too young to remember the era.

[TBideon]

Somewhere Michelle Bachman's husband is crying himself to sleep in his separate bedroom.

[Jeffery]

The Gay Decievers is probably a good period piece.  It would have pre-dated Boys in the Band, I think?

@@@

In a wierd way I feel like I'm coming out all over again, and am coming out into a "new" gay world, different from the one I first came out in.

This comment is  more so  about going out and getting back into gay life.  Not really a "gay rights" issue, but more an observation on changing styles and lifeworlds in the gay subculture. .....how things are different now than from 1985-1990...the time I came out, met my partner, and settled down.   

The the old "hunt and chase", the 'cruise the bars and pick up tricks' approach,  seems to have dissappeared, at least here in Dayton (Either that or I am having issues picking up on this).
And there are no more true gay discos or dance clubs.   

[natininja]

The gay subculture is dying, and I don't think it's a bad thing.

I don't think it will totally die out, but it's already easy to ignore. Even ten years ago, it was a vital resource for gays coming into adulthood. Now it's optional for most. Maybe not in the Deep South.

[Jeffery]

The gay subculture is dying, and I don't think it's a bad thing

Maybe that's what I'm sensing (though there is that gay widower thing going on with me too, which makes things somewhat melancholy anyway). 

But....why do you think this is a positive development?


 

[natininja]

Because it means gays are becoming mainstream. The distinction, caused by discrimination, is blurring, and the need for separate gay institutions is disappearing.

I understand that the older generations have a strong emotional tie to the gay community, as they experienced it, but younger GLBT folks are growing up in a world where they need not seek out a subculture born of oppression and segregation. Their straight friends are just as supportive as the gay community.

[Jeffery]

It seems that there is a "getting lost in the crowd" aspect to integration.

This study (links to a .pdf) estimates about 1.7% of the adult population is, or identifies, as gay or lesbian (not counting bi-sexual, which ups the %s).   

At this number, you are talking about maybe 1 to 2 out of a 100 being gay/les, so even in an accepting integrated environment ones chances of actual meeting or hooking up with other gay folks (in whatever fashion..long term relationship or or one-night-stand or just conviviality or freindship) is low.   

Which reminds me of what one used to hear...that gay people felt like they were the "only ones", until they found the "community" (which usually meant gay bars or private social circles).  In their immediate social and work environment they probably were the "only ones", and that is probably the case today, too (certain industries and neighborhoods might have more of a concentration, true...but I am talking on average)

Though I have to say I think I and my partner where pioneers in this integration here in Dayton since we used to go to mainstream places and events a lot ....as a couple.   

 Back in the day, which was our first few years here, gay men would go to things with a woman as a threesome or as a "beard", to throw off the "two-guys-as-a-couple" image.   Or they would go with a lady friend as a M-F couple.  We never did this  (it just seemed silly), and we went to certain places enough, as "regulars", to be known as a couple.   But there was also the gay bars if we wanted to hang out with other gay people for awhile, too. 

[Jeffery]

Back to Gay Rights.

I guess a emerging issue is GLBT youth. 

I usually don't do street activism here in Dayton, but here is an event I went to last night.  Fairly well attended for Dayton.  I was told most of the attendees where parents from PLFAG and their gay kids, plus some slightly older gay youth, the "Mu Crew" , and GLSEN people (don't know much about this aspect of gay activism), and a few odds and ends like myself.

GLSEN Greater Dayton Candle Light Vigil

Music and guest speakers to honor the LGBT Youth that have lost their lives or taken their own lives in the years past. Everyone will be given a candle to hold during the event (while they last). The date marks the one year anniversary of Tyler Clementi's death

One of the speakers was a young country-gospel singer from Nashville, who was originally from Paducah, KY.  He was also in town to do an event with the local MCC.   He is a survivor, and from his tale one can see there is still work to be done...

[Jeffery]

An update on DADT repeal

Active duty gays say coming out has been non-event

Chief Warrant Officer Charlie Morgan kept it simple and sweet. She was eight months into a nine-month assignment in Kuwait, and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta had just informed Congress that the U.S. armed forces were ready to integrate openly gay troops.

 Morgan decided the time was right to come out to her commander. The photograph of her wife and 4-year-old daughter she kept hidden on her desk helped her do it.

"I said, 'Sir, I would like to introduce you to someone. This is my family,'" Morgan recalled of her July conversation with her boss, an Army colonel leading a 2,400-soldier brigade. "He said, 'Charlie, you have a beautiful family. You know, "don't ask, don't tell" prevented me from getting to know you.'"


(there are over 100 comments, pretty good ones...)

[MyTwoSense]

This is has sickened me.

The bully pulled a punk bitch move by obviously jumping on someone he knew he could take.  Whats worse is that not one person in this class did a thing to stop this from taking place, but had enough wherewithall to make and post a video!  The ENTIRE class participated in this attack.  PERIOD!

http://www.chillicothegazette.com/article/20111028/NEWS01/110280302
http://www.chillicothegazette.com/article/20111028/NEWS01/111028009/Unioto-reviews-discipline-fight-criminal-charge-still-pending?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFrontpage
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/ohio-bully-beating-gay-student-caught-cell-phone/story?id=14834057

Unioto Superintendent Dwight Garrett said Thursday that the district's legal counsel advised him not to speak about the specifics of the fight. He did say he had not heard from Collins about any bullying concerns until after Oct. 17, but she had spoken to Osborne before.
"We have one goal and that's to educate every student. A lot of these things that are going on happen before or after school and on social media, then they bring it to school," Garrett said, adding school officials do not have jurisdiction over what happens on social media sites.

BS!!

As a gay man I a so furious right now.

[TBideon]

Kind of a loose definition of 'fight'. More like an assault and battery

[Robert Pence]

In my many years of experience, a very large number of the most outspokenly homophobic men I've known have been guarding their own closets. Either they've been fooling around out of sight and trying to "smokescreen" it, or they've been trying to suppress urges that make them hate themselves.

I've lost count of the number of fundamentalist preachers and other religious activists in my area who railed against gay-affirming books in public libraries, and then got arrested in public parks or highway rest areas while getting their knees dirty. Guys I knew in the Air Force who told hateful fag jokes or talked about busting up gay bars or beating up queers made up a sizeable number of the ones I saw getting discharged because they got caught messing around with other guys. The elder who was most virulently opposed to ordination of gays and lesbians in the Presbyterian church that I attend was arrested in a nearby cruising park when he groped a vice cop. His wife wasn't happy about it, and his gay son was embarrassed.

Several of my friends have told of encountering their former bullying homophobic high-school nemeses a few years later in gay bars.

[MyTwoSense]

In my many years of experience, a very large number of the most outspokenly homophobic men I've known have been guarding their own closets. Either they've been fooling around out of sight and trying to "smokescreen" it, or they've been trying to suppress urges that make them hate themselves.

I've lost count of the number of fundamentalist preachers and other religious activists in my area who railed against gay-affirming books in public libraries, and then got arrested in public parks or highway rest areas while getting their knees dirty. Guys I knew in the Air Force who told hateful fag jokes or talked about busting up gay bars or beating up queers made up a sizeable number of the ones I saw getting discharged because they got caught messing around with other guys. The elder who was most virulently opposed to ordination of gays and lesbians in the Presbyterian church that I attend was arrested in a nearby cruising park when he groped a vice cop. His wife wasn't happy about it, and his gay son was embarrassed.

Several of my friends have told of encountering their former bullying homophobic high-school nemeses a few years later in gay bars.

I was only called a "fag" once in high school (I threatened to kill this football player), and as you said....many years later at a Number or Keys they were sucking face with another man on the dance floor.

[natininja]

First open gay elected to Cincinnati city council tonight. (At least I am pretty sure that's the case...we've had a number of "open secret" gays.)

Gay and die-hard pro-transit? I think I'm in love.

Congratulations, Chris Seelbach!

[Hts121]

^Fabulous!

Check this out.  There was a ballot measure in Maine seeking to prohibit same day voter registration.  It ultimately failed by a decently wide margin.  But in the final days of the campaign and desperate to "get out the vote", this ad was published -

[MyTwoSense]

Senate panel passes repeal of Defense of Marriage Act

Washington (CNN) -- Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted Thursday to repeal the federal law that defines marriage as between one man and one woman.

The vote that sends the proposal to the full Senate floor was considered symbolic because the measure has no chance of getting passed by the Republican-led House.

All eight Republicans on the Judiciary Committee voted "no" Thursday, while all the 10 majority Democrats supported the measure that would provide equal federal benefits to legally married same-sex couples.

http://www.hrc.org/blog/entry/senate-judiciary-committee-approves-bill-repealing-doma

[Hts121]

I hope none of those Republicans who voted no identify themselves as Libertarians.

[Keith]

I hope none of those Republicans who voted no identify themselves as Libertarians.

You're funny.

[Jeffrey]

Regarding that Maine issue. 

When I was up in Portland their free newspaper (one of them) posted a front page article sayting that Equality Maine is thinking of putting Gay Marriage back on the ballot.   They have been doing polling on the issue and it seems there is a change of opinion among Maine voters on the issues, with a subset of voters who voted AGAINST gay marriage changing their minds and would vote FOR gay marriage. 

Wow.

Now Maine is a pretty backwoods state, from what I could see, once you leave Portland.  So that's an impressive change if the gay rights advocates polling has any accuracy.

@@@@

Which brings up the question as to what in the heck is going on out there.   Are people really changing their minds about gays and lesbians and becoming more tolerant and accepting?   

Sometimes I wonder if people are just tired of the issue and dont see it as such a big deal anymore? 

Or maybe there are other reasons for this shift in attitude " (that we've seen in other national polls and even state polls on the issue).

[Jeffrey]

Anyone ever heard of Sarah Schulman?   I found out she wrote a book=length critique of Rent, or used Rent as the basis for a critique on trends in pop culture that commodified gays and gayness....and she was part of something called Lesbian Avengers (or she wrote about it), and was part of that "downtown scene" that Gary Indiana and perhaps Keith Haring belonged to.

Well, she has a pertinent book out, that sounds a bit like "Flag Wars", or plows a nearby field, at least

The Gentrification of the Mind

....Sarah Schulman recalls how much of the rebellious queer culture, cheap rents, and a vibrant downtown arts movement vanished almost overnight to be replaced by gay conservative spokespeople and mainstream consumerism. Schulman takes us back to her Lower East Side and brings it to life, filling these pages with vivid memories of her avant-garde queer friends and dramatically recreating the early years of the AIDS crisis as experienced by a political insider. Interweaving personal reminiscence with cogent analysis, Schulman details her experience as a witness to the loss of a generation’s imagination and the consequences of that loss...

Could she be writing about some of us gay folk here at Urban Ohio, too?

[MyTwoSense]

Mitt Romney Sits Down For a Chat With a Gay Veteran

Now see this

http://bcove.me/y0qlh3vi

[surfohio]

Much like most Republicans, I don't think those two guys came away with a good impression of Mitsy.

But at least he spoke to the vets for a bit.

There was another embarrassing moment incident caught on camera. Some poor guy was talking to him and said he absolutely relied on marijuana for his muscular dystrophy. Romney, instead of conversing further, just says "I don't support medical marijuana" and coldly walks away.