Atomic Gay Wonk

Giffords opponent Kelly said "remove" her with M16

2011-01-08T23:45:00.002-07:00

Sarah Palin is not the only politician who targetted Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ-08) with shoot-'em-up imagery. Jesse Kelly, Giffords' Republican Tea Party opponent in last November's general election, did so as well.

Giffords was shot in the head at pointblank range earlier today by an assailant who holds anti-government views similar to those of Palin and Kelly. Seventeen other people were also shot in the brutal assault, and six of those have died.

On his campaign web site's calendar in June 2010, Kelly invited supporters to help "remove Gabrielle Giffords from office Shoot a fully automatic M16 with Jesse Kelly" [sic].

Kelly removed all reference to this shocking exhortation from his campaign web site after today's shootings, and he has largely had the site scrubbed of any content. Palin likewise had her infamous crosshairs hit list, which targetted Giffords and 19 other Democratic members of Congress, removed from her PAC's site after the shootings.

Too little, too late in each case.

| Home | Giffords is member of House LGBT Caucus >>>

Giffords is member of House LGBT Caucus

2011-01-08T23:26:00.001-07:00

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ-08), who was shot in the head this morning after being targetted by Sarah Palin in a hit piece complete with firearm crosshairs, is one of 91 members of the U.S. House of Representatives LGBT Caucus. The caucus was chaired during the 111th Congress by the three openly gay and lesbian members of Congress, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA-04), Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI-02), and Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO-02).

The mission of the caucus is

to promote lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) equality. The bi-partisan LGBT Equality Caucus will be comprised of Members of Congress who are strongly committed to achieving the full enjoyment of human rights for LGBT people in the U.S. and around the world. By serving as a resource for Members of Congress, their staff, and the public on LGBT issues, the Caucus will work toward the extension of equal rights, the repeal of discriminatory laws, the elimination of hate-motivated violence, and the improved health and well being for all regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression.

<<< Giffords opponent Kelly said "remove" her with M16 | Home | Sarah Palin's hit list, with crosshairs targetting Gabrielle Giffords >>>

Sarah Palin's hit list, with crosshairs targetting Gabrielle Giffords

2011-01-08T23:01:00.009-07:00

In the aftermath of the murderous assault on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ-08) and 17 others in Tucson today, Sarah Palin is trying to run from the fact that she issued a hit list targetting Giffords and 19 other Democratic members of Congress with firearm crosshairs. Giffords was shot in the head by an assailant who harbors anti-government views similar to Palin's. Six people were brutally murdered in this attack and eleven were wounded besides Giffords.

Palin immediately had her hit list removed from her web site, but that graphic lives on in the ether -- and in infamy.

<<< Giffords is member of House LGBT Caucus | Home | WhiteHouse.gov blasts the closet door down >>>

WhiteHouse.gov blasts the closet door down

2009-01-20T14:07:00.006-07:00

This is one click from the home page; just go to whitehouse.gov and click on Civil Rights.

THE AGENDA • CIVIL RIGHTS
CIVIL RIGHTS

"The teenagers and college students who left their homes to march in the streets of Birmingham and Montgomery; the mothers who walked instead of taking the bus after a long day of doing somebody else's laundry and cleaning somebody else's kitchen -- they didn't brave fire hoses and Billy clubs so that their grandchildren and their great-grandchildren would still wonder at the beginning of the 21st century whether their vote would be counted; whether their civil rights would be protected by their government; whether justice would be equal and opportunity would be theirs.... We have more work to do."

-- Barack Obama, Speech at Howard University, September 28, 2007

President Barack Obama has spent much of his career fighting to strengthen civil rights as a civil rights attorney, community organizer, Illinois State Senator, U.S. Senator, and now as President. Whether promoting economic opportunity, working to improve our nation's education and health system, or protecting the right to vote, President Obama has been a powerful advocate for our civil rights.

* Combat Employment Discrimination: President Obama and Vice President Biden will work to overturn the Supreme Court's recent ruling that curtails racial minorities' and women's ability to challenge pay discrimination. They will also pass the Fair Pay Act, to ensure that women receive equal pay for equal work, and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.
* Expand Hate Crimes Statutes: President Obama and Vice President Biden will strengthen federal hate crimes legislation, expand hate crimes protection by passing the Matthew Shepard Act, and reinvigorate enforcement at the Department of Justice's Criminal Section.
* End Deceptive Voting Practices: President Obama will sign into law his legislation that establishes harsh penalties for those who have engaged in voter fraud and provides voters who have been misinformed with accurate and full information so they can vote.
* End Racial Profiling: President Obama and Vice President Biden will ban racial profiling by federal law enforcement agencies and provide federal incentives to state and local police departments to prohibit the practice.
* Reduce Crime Recidivism by Providing Ex-Offender Support: President Obama and Vice President Biden will provide job training, substance abuse and mental health counseling to ex-offenders, so that they are successfully re-integrated into society. Obama and Biden will also create a prison-to-work incentive program to improve ex-offender employment and job retention rates.
* Eliminate Sentencing Disparities: President Obama and Vice President Biden believe the disparity between sentencing crack and powder-based cocaine is wrong and should be completely eliminated.
* Expand Use of Drug Courts: President Obama and Vice President Biden will give first-time, non-violent offenders a chance to serve their sentence, where appropriate, in the type of drug rehabilitation programs that have proven to work better than a prison term in changing bad behavior.

Support for the LGBT Community

"While we have come a long way since the Stonewall riots in 1969, we still have a lot of work to do. Too often, the issue of LGBT rights is exploited by those seeking to divide us. But at its core, this issue is about who we are as Americans. It's about whether this nation is going to live up to its founding promise of equality by treating all its citizens with dignity and respect."

-- Barack Obama, June 1, 2007

* Expand Hate Crimes Statutes: In 2004, crimes against LGBT Americans constituted the third-highest category of hate crime reported and made up more than 15 percent of such crimes. President Obama cosponsored legislation that would expand federal jurisdiction to include violent hate crimes perpetrated because of race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, or physical disability. As a state senator, President Obama passed tough legislation that made hate crimes and conspiracy to commit them against the law.
* Fight Workplace Discrimination: President Obama supports the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and believes that our anti-discrimination employment laws should be expanded to include sexual orientation and gender identity. While an increasing number of employers have extended benefits to their employees' domestic partners, discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workplace occurs with no federal legal remedy. The President also sponsored legislation in the Illinois State Senate that would ban employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
* Support Full Civil Unions and Federal Rights for LGBT Couples: President Obama supports full civil unions that give same-sex couples legal rights and privileges equal to those of married couples. Obama also believes we need to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and enact legislation that would ensure that the 1,100+ federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status are extended to same-sex couples in civil unions and other legally-recognized unions. These rights and benefits include the right to assist a loved one in times of emergency, the right to equal health insurance and other employment benefits, and property rights.
* Oppose a Constitutional Ban on Same-Sex Marriage: President Obama voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment in 2006 which would have defined marriage as between a man and a woman and prevented judicial extension of marriage-like rights to same-sex or other unmarried couples.
* Repeal Don't Ask-Don't Tell: President Obama agrees with former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff John Shalikashvili and other military experts that we need to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. The key test for military service should be patriotism, a sense of duty, and a willingness to serve. Discrimination should be prohibited. The U.S. government has spent millions of dollars replacing troops kicked out of the military because of their sexual orientation. Additionally, more than 300 language experts have been fired under this policy, including more than 50 who are fluent in Arabic. The President will work with military leaders to repeal the current policy and ensure it helps accomplish our national defense goals.
* Expand Adoption Rights: President Obama believes that we must ensure adoption rights for all couples and individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation. He thinks that a child will benefit from a healthy and loving home, whether the parents are gay or not.
* Promote AIDS Prevention: In the first year of his presidency, President Obama will develop and begin to implement a comprehensive national HIV/AIDS strategy that includes all federal agencies. The strategy will be designed to reduce HIV infections, increase access to care and reduce HIV-related health disparities. The President will support common sense approaches including age-appropriate sex education that includes information about contraception, combating infection within our prison population through education and contraception, and distributing contraceptives through our public health system. The President also supports lifting the federal ban on needle exchange, which could dramatically reduce rates of infection among drug users. President Obama has also been willing to confront the stigma -- too often tied to homophobia -- that continues to surround HIV/AIDS.
* Empower Women to Prevent HIV/AIDS: In the United States, the percentage of women diagnosed with AIDS has quadrupled over the last 20 years. Today, women account for more than one quarter of all new HIV/AIDS diagnoses. President Obama introduced the Microbicide Development Act, which will accelerate the development of products that empower women in the battle against AIDS. Microbicides are a class of products currently under development that women apply topically to prevent transmission of HIV and other infections.

<<< Sarah Palin's hit list, with crosshairs targetting Gabrielle Giffords Home | "The Times of Harvey Milk" available free online >>>

"The Times of Harvey Milk" available free online

2008-12-30T21:21:00.008-07:00

Hulu has the complete The Times of Harvey Milk documentary, by Robert Epstein and Richard Schmiechen, with narration by Harvey Fierstein. Occasional commercials make free Hulu webcasts possible. (01:27:34)

Home | Taking some time off >>>

Taking some time off

2008-11-15T21:16:00.001-07:00

Going on hiatus until January. The family and I are taking some long-awaited R&R.

<<< "The Times of Harvey Milk" available free online | Home | Marilyn Musgrave, sore loser >>>

Marilyn Musgrave, sore loser

2008-11-13T20:26:00.007-07:00

Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO-04), author of the first anti-gay federal Marriage Amendment, was thoroughly trounced in her re-election bid last week by Democrat Betsy Markey. Musgrave still has not conceded or congratulated the victor. Sore loser.

<<< Taking some time off | Home | Tell Obama your thoughts on LGBT issues >>>

Tell Obama your thoughts on LGBT issues

2008-11-10T20:14:00.013-07:00

From the Change.gov web site for the Office of the President-elect:

An American Moment: Your Story

Start right now. Tell us your story in your own words about what this campaign and this election means to you. Share your hopes for an Obama Administration and a government for the people.

Tell President-elect Barack Obama your thoughts about gay marriage, an inclusive ENDA, DOMA, Don't Ask Don't Tell, gay adoption, gay immigration equality, the need for national leadership in fighting anti-gay ballot initiatives, and more at http://change.gov/page/s/yourstory .

<<< Marilyn Musgrave, sore loser | Home | Feeling down about the California marriage vote? >>>

Feeling down about the California marriage vote?

2008-11-10T19:34:00.005-07:00

Dr. Maya Angelou tells us that we will prevail against the haters. An abbreviated version of her poem, "Still I Rise":

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear....
I rise
I rise
I rise.

<<< Tell Obama your thoughts on LGBT issues | Home | "Godless" smites Dole; Hagan projected to win >>>

"Godless" smites Dole; Hagan projected to win

2008-11-04T19:58:00.010-07:00

CNN is calling it for Democrat Kay Hagan in the North Carolina Senate race.

Incumbent Republican Elizabeth Dole enraged LGBT and HIV/AIDS activists earlier this year by trying to rename the federal AIDS bill for deceased GOP ogre Jesse Helms. Helms spent years demonizing gays and people with HIV/AIDS, and he repeatedly abused his power to gut funding for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, condemning tens of thousands of gay men and others to early deaths. Dole was Scylla to Helm's Charybdis.

Dole's infamous "Godless" attack ad on Sunday school teacher Hagan backfired badly and was the final nail of Dole's coffin, costing her several points in the polls since the ad ran.

The seat returns to Democratic hands after being held by a Democrat throughout the twentieth century until Helms won it in 1972. Helms did not seek re-election in 2002, and Dole was elected in his place.

<<< Feeling down about the California marriage vote? | Home | Matthew Shepard, Gwen Araujo, and Barry Winchell can't vote... >>>

Matthew Shepard, Gwen Araujo, and Barry Winchell can't vote...

2008-11-04T12:04:00.021-07:00

...but Fred Phelps, Larry Craig, and George W. Bush can.

Take back your country and vote today.

<<< "Godless" smites Dole; Hagan projected to win | Home | Hollywood Reporter gives Milk a rave review >>>

Hollywood Reporter gives Milk a rave review

2008-11-02T19:19:00.010-07:00

The Hollywood Reporter is giving Gus Van Sant's Milk biopic of assassinated San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk two thumbs up.

According to reviewer Kirk Honeycutt, the film "is the first great film to look at civil rights from the perspective of the gay movement" and is "superbly crafted, covering huge amounts of time, people and the zeitgeist without a moment of lapsed energy or inattention to detail".

Honeycutt notes that the cast is excellent, but singles out Sean Penn's performance for "extraordinary depth and wisdom".

Read more.

<<< Matthew Shepard, Gwen Araujo, and Barry Winchell can't vote... | Home | THAT'S who they remind me of! >>>

THAT'S who they remind me of!

2008-11-02T18:39:00.012-07:00

<<< Hollywood Reporter gives Milk a rave review | Home | Long Beach city council opposes California's Prop. 8 >>>

Long Beach city council opposes California's Prop. 8

2008-11-02T16:16:00.022-07:00

The city council of Long Beach, CA, unanimously opposed Proposition 8, the anti-gay marriage ballot question, at their 19 Aug 2008 meeting. The vote was 6-0, with three absences. The motion to oppose was made by Councilmember Gerrie Schipske, an out Democrat.

The video of the meeting can be viewed at the link below. There are some interesting comments made during the citizens' input section (lots of right-wing disinformation and lots of bigots insisting they don't really want to discriminate). Bonus points if you can spot the obvious closet case who spoke against same-sex marriage.

Councilmember Schipske is eloquent, as always. Vice Mayor Val Lerch spoke heatedly against bigotry, which is interesting because of his gay marriage record. At the council's 01 Jun 2004 meeting at which out Democratic councilmember Dan Baker introduced a resolution to oppose Bush's Federal Marriage Amendment, Mr. Lerch repeatedly spoke just as heatedly about how the resolution was a waste of his time. The Baker resolution died on a 4-4 tie vote; Mr. Lerch was the deciding vote against it. He was also the only vote against a watered-down substitute motion to support "equal protection under the law and to oppose any amendments that deny equal protection"; that motion passed 7-1.

In the archive search box below, either type or copy and paste "40. (08-0842)" ; include the quotation marks. That will get you to the relevant agenda item number for the 19 Aug 2008 meeting. The relevant section of the video is 39 minutes long (from 02:00:12 to 02:39:34). Click here for the archive search box.

<<< THAT'S who they remind me of! | Home | North Carolina GOP smears Senate candidate Kay Hagan over gay marriage >>>

North Carolina GOP smears Senate candidate Kay Hagan over gay marriage

2008-11-01T13:19:00.012-07:00

The North Carolina Republican Party has sent out a scurrilous mailer attacking Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Kay Hagan for her opposition to a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Hagan is in a competitive race against incumbent GOP Senator Elizabeth Dole and is ahead in most polls.

From the mailer, via PageOneQ:

Across America, liberal judges are overturning state laws banning gay marriage. In North Carolina a state constitutional amendment is needed to protect traditional marriage and prevent liberal judges from imposing their gay marriage agenda on the state.

Kay Hagan is actively opposed to this needed amendment to ban gay marriage in North Carolina. Hagan opposes defining a marriage as a union between one man and one woman in our state constitution.

Dole is desperate, out of ideas, and out of time.

<<< Long Beach city council opposes California's Prop. 8 | Home | Rachel Maddow ridicules Kit Bond for his latest rant >>>

Rachel Maddow ridicules Kit Bond for his latest rant

2008-11-01T12:05:00.018-07:00

Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) made a buffoon of himself Friday at a GOP campaign rally with vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. He dodderingly railed against Obama's desire to appoint judges who have "a heart, have an empathy for the teenage mom, the minority, the gay, the disabled." That's all apparently bad in Kitland.

The gay comment might have played well with the hand-picked GOP crowd, but the "teenage mom" bit might not have gone over very well with Bristol Palin's mother, who was sitting nearby.

Bond's most recent HRC scores have been 20, 11, and 0. He will be up for re-election in 2010, when he will be 71.

MSNBC talking head Rachel Maddow takes Bond to task for his assininity:

<<< North Carolina GOP smears Senate candidate Kay Hagan over gay marriage | Home | Indiana Democratic Party funds anti-gay mailer >>>

Indiana Democratic Party funds anti-gay mailer

2008-10-28T14:03:00.007-07:00

The Indiana Democratic Party has funded an anti-gay, anti-choice campaign mailer for state House candidate Andy Schemenaur, according to the Bilerico Project.

Messages demanding an explanation and accountability may be sent to Indiana Democratic Party Chair Dan Parker and Executive Director Jenny Hill Weiser at dparker@indems.org and jhill@indems.org.

<<< Rachel Maddow ridicules Kit Bond for his latest rant | Home | Lake Pleasant, WA >>>

Lake Pleasant, WA

2008-10-22T19:30:00.009-07:00

Map Lake Pleasant, WA. Zoom out once or twice. What are the two closest towns?

Just sayin'.

View Larger Map

<<< Indiana Democratic Party funds anti-gay mailer | Home | Ellen urges Californians to vote no on Prop. 8 >>>

Ellen urges Californians to vote no on Prop. 8

2008-10-14T20:39:00.001-07:00

<<< Lake Pleasant, WA | Home | Look familiar? >>>

Look familiar?

2008-10-06T22:39:00.009-07:00

In searching Tammy Baldwin's and Barney Frank's congressional web sites for news to share here, I noticed something of minor historical interest. The graphic on the left is a map of Frank's congressional district, Massachusetts' Fourth. The graphic on the right needs no introduction.

<<< Ellen urges Californians to vote no on Prop. 8 | Home | Bill O’Reilly goes nuts when Barney Frank corrects him >>>

Bill O’Reilly goes nuts when Barney Frank corrects him

2008-10-06T14:54:00.005-07:00

<<< Look familiar? | Home | Don't eliminate marriage for anyone >>>

Don't eliminate marriage for anyone

2008-09-30T20:10:00.007-07:00

Both sides on California's Proposition 8, which would ban gay marriage, are unleashing the millions of dollars that they have raised. Below is a pro-gay marriage ad put out by the folks at NoOnProp8.com.

The worst mistake that supporters of gay marriage could make is to be complacent and to assume that, surely, liberal California will defeat the measure. There are many conservatives inland as well as in pockets on the coast, such as Orange County. Moreover, jurisdictions elsewhere, such as the District of Columbia, will be watching the result before they decide whether to move forward with their own gay marriage effort. A setback in California will be a national setback for years.

<<< Bill O’Reilly goes nuts when Barney Frank corrects him | Home | Cute safer sex cartoon >>>

Cute safer sex cartoon

2008-09-20T16:47:00.003-07:00

<<< Don't eliminate marriage for anyone | Home | Obama comes out swinging >>>

Obama comes out swinging

2008-09-16T12:32:00.004-07:00

<<< Cute safer sex cartoon | Home | Matt Damon rips Sarah Palin >>>

Matt Damon rips Sarah Palin

2008-09-10T21:42:00.006-07:00

Money quote: "I need to know if she really thinks dinosaurs were here four thousand years ago....I want to know that -- I really do; because she's going to have the nuclear codes."

Obama comes out swinging | Home | Andy Tobias wants you to give money until your fingernails bleed >>>

Andy Tobias wants you to give money until your fingernails bleed

2008-09-08T20:32:00.003-07:00

<<< Matt Damon rips Sarah Palin | Home | Frangela at the Stonewall Young Democrats >>>

Frangela at the Stonewall Young Democrats

2008-09-08T20:09:00.002-07:00

Click To Play

<<< Andy Tobias wants you to give money until your fingernails bleed | Home | Emotional Newsom praises Del Martin, rips anti-marriage Democrats >>>

Emotional Newsom praises Del Martin, rips anti-marriage Democrats

2008-08-27T19:57:00.004-07:00

From Towleroad:

Click To Play

Home | Del Martin passes away >>>

Del Martin passes away

2008-08-27T14:20:00.020-07:00

Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon

Del Martin, who married her sweetheart of 55 years, Phyllis Lyon, in June of this year after the California Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, passed away this morning in San Francisco. She had been ailing in recent weeks.

The San Francisco Chronicle has coverage.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

                    [She] did look far
                    Into the service of the time and was
                    Discipled of the bravest: [s]he lasted long;
                    But on us both did... age steal on
                    And wore us out of act.

                         -- William Shakespeare; All's Well That Ends Well; I, 2

<<< Newsom praises Del Martin, rips anti-marriage Democrats | Home | Obama's LGBT Vote program >>>

Back in a few

2008-08-06T14:19:00.004-07:00

Taking a while off for some beach time with the family. No right-wing nuts will do anything newsworthy while we're gone, right?

Obama's LGBT Vote program

2008-08-05T18:51:00.005-07:00

Jamie Citron, Deputy Director of Barack Obama's LGBT Vote program, tells how to get involved:

<<< Del Martin passes away | Home | Proposition 8 money tracking resources >>>

Proposition 8 money tracking resources

2008-08-05T15:18:00.012-07:00

The Los Angeles Times has online resources for following the money race to pass or defeat Proposition 8, California's anti-gay marriage amendment.

There is an interactive map that allows the reader to click on a county to see how much money came from that county and by what margin that county voted against 2000's Proposition 22, the Knight Initiative. Proposition 22 barred same-sex marriage by statute and was approved statewide by 61.4-38.6.

Click on the green bar to find figures for marriage ban opponents, and on the blue bar for marriage ban supporters.

As of yesterday, gay marriage supporters have raised $5,702,253 versus $3,500,090 for opponents.

There is also a donor database that can search by city, ZIP code, or state (use two-letter postal abbreviations). Find out what the neighbors are up to.

<<< Obama's LGBT Vote program | Home | Jesse Helms' desk >>>

Jesse Helms' desk

2008-08-04T19:48:00.014-07:00

Jesse Helms, the former Republican senator from North Carolina who built his career on blatant racism and demonizing gay people and people with AIDS, is preaching tolerance from the grave -- but only within his own family.

In his will, filed in Wake County courts twelve days after his 04 Jul 2008 death, Helms asks

that my children try to be as understanding and tolerant of each other as possible and to make every effort to avoid disharmony among themselves.

Helms infamously said that gays caused the AIDS epidemic, victimized hemophiliac AIDS patient Ryan White, threaten the survival of the American family, are in a battle against American values, and have the ultimate aim of having the American people accept "their perverted lifestyle". There was apparently no mention in his last testament that he regretted any of his atrocious behavior, but he did fret about the final disposition of his old Senate desk. He specified that if no family member wanted it, it should go to the Jesse Helms Center Foundation.

By the time an HIV vaccine is discovered, tens of millions of people will have died of AIDS, many of whom could have been saved if Helms had not blocked funding for prevention and treatment. Once a vaccine -- or even an outright cure -- is discovered, it is reasonable to suppose that there will come into being an AIDS Holocaust Museum, located perhaps in San Francisco, New York, or even southern Africa. Just as the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum displays artifacts from the Nazi regime, an AIDS Holocaust Museum would be a suitable setting for Helms' desk, along with a display of his monstrous statements with which he profaned the floor of the United States Senate.

<<< Proposition 8 money tracking resources | Home | John Kerry supports gay marriage, sort of >>>

John Kerry supports gay marriage, sort of

2008-08-04T19:07:00.010-07:00

Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) came out in favor of Massachusetts' recent decision to allow out-of-state gay couples to get married there, but he quickly asserted the right of other states not to permit gay marriage. From Ryan Burgess at Boston's Capitol News 9:

Presidential politics isn't the only issue on the senator's mind, especially after the Bay State recently passed legislation that allows out-of-state gay couples to marry in Massachusetts.

"I think it's the right thing for Massachusetts to have done to make its law apply to anybody who wants to be here, but in terms of right of recognition, every state has its own choice, and that's the way it works," said Kerry.

The senator also fended off questions about the possibility of joining an Obama cabinet -- perhaps as Secretary of State.

Could a Kerry Senate vacancy result in a Senator Barney Frank?

<<< Jesse Helms preaches understanding and tolerance | Home | Roundup >>>

Roundup

2008-08-04T18:35:00.016-07:00

♦ Barack Obama has quietly called for full convention delegate status for Florida and Michigan. Oddly, I had to get this from Hillary Clinton's web site.

♦ "Nonprofit status is what created the Bible Belt. The tax code brought religion back to this country." -- Gore Vidal (right), oracle laureate of the United States.

♦ At the end of June, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (say "D-triple-C") had $56.6 million in the bank, and the National Republican Congressional Committee had only $8.4 million.

♦ Although the Jesse Helms-sponsored HIV travel ban has been lifted as a matter of law in the PEPFAR bill that was signed last week, it can still remain as a matter of administrative fiat. Whether it stays or not depends on the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and ultimately on the President of the United States.

<<< John Kerry supports gay marriage, sort of | Home | Only 83% of Virginia county identify as heterosexual >>>

Only 83% of Virginia county identify as heterosexual

2008-08-01T13:08:00.008-07:00

What's the deal with the 9.7%? From today's Washington Blade:

A survey published by Arlington, Va., officials last week asked responders to identify their sexual orientation and found that 5.7 percent of county residents said they are gay.

While 5.7 percent of county residents identified as "homosexual," 83.4 percent said they were "heterosexual," 1.2 percent identified as "other" and 9.7 percent did not respond to the question.

<<< Roundup | Home | What is it? >>>

What is it?

2008-07-31T20:27:00.015-07:00

Andrew Sullivan knows >>>

<<< Only 83% of Virginia county identify as heterosexual | Home | Comics used against another anti-gay politician >>>

Comics used against another anti-gay politician

2008-07-31T18:07:00.050-07:00

Although Oklahoma county commissioner Brent Rinehart's bizarre anti-gay comic blew up in his face last night, a properly done comic has created viral interest in one legislative campaign in Kansas and is bringing in massive contributions. Democrat Sean Tevis (right), running for Kansas's 15th legislative district House seat against an entrenched incumbent Republican, has raised $96,512.76 in less than two weeks -- $95,312.76 of it online -- using a clever online cartoon. His comic is based on xkcd, a stick figure strip that is popular with programmers and other geeks and wonks. Tevis is a programmer and former journalist.

In contrast, Tevis' opponent, Republican incumbent Arlen Siegfreid, has raised only $5,492.00 since 01 Jan 2008, bringing his cash available this period to $16,910.27. Much of it is from PACs, corporations, and other special interests. Siegfreid caused a bit of a fuss last year when Democratic Governor Kathleen Sebelius signed an executive order protecting state employees from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

The numbers behind Tevis' success are staggering. According to his 28 Jul 2008 campaign finance report, $69,391.93 of his contributions were of $50 or less, and there were 5,449 of those. Almost all of his itemized contributions were received in a single three-day period. A blurb about his web site was posted on geek favorite BoingBoing and another on Daily Kos on 16 Jul, and the contributions started pouring in.

The comic strip itself is quirky and amusing, with a stick-figure Tevis listening to a crackpot politician rail against gay marriage and other right-wing shibboleths. Tevis' masterstroke, though, was to embed a special message in the strip's source code asking any geeks who bothered studying the code (there are people who do that for fun *ahem*) to send in an amount ending in 88¢ to tag themselves as fellow geeks. According to the Wall Street Journal, nearly 20% of his 5,698 online donors have done that.

The entire strip is here. And he's married.

<<< What is it? | Home | Rinehart loses big in Oklahoma >>>

Rinehart loses big in Oklahoma

2008-07-31T15:50:00.005-07:00

Indicted Oklahoma county commissioner Brent Rinehart, who made national news for sending out a crazy anti-gay comic book as a campaign mailer, came in third out of three candidates for the Republican nomination in yesterday's primary. He received 21% versus 47% and 32% for the other two candidates, who must go into a runoff next month to determine the Republican nominee.

The bad news is that in this heavily Republican district, Rinehart is likely to be replaced by a smoother, less stupid bigot who is thus more durable.

Rinehart must face trial in September on several felony charges relating to the financing of his last campaign four years ago. And he must face the IRS as well for alleged tax improprieties as well.

The sixteen-page comic book can still be seen here. Especially check out the beefy guys in togas on pages 5 and 8.

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Still Black film clip (01:15)

2008-07-31T15:05:00.007-07:00

Kylar Broadus, Esq., chair of the National Black Justice Coalition, makes us think and laugh at the same time. The NBJC is a civil rights organization dedicated to empowering black same-gender-loving, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.

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GOP Rep. John Kline questions need for transgender protections

2008-07-29T17:18:00.011-07:00

Rep. John Kline (R-MN-02), the ranking minority member of the Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committee, had a chance to address the issue of legislating transgender employment protections during the 26 Jun 2008 hearing. His head didn't spin 360°, he didn't projectile vomit pea soup, and he didn't sound like Elaine Donnelly of the Center for Military Preparedness when she made herself sound like a loon tesifying on Don't Ask Don't Tell last week.

Kline is more incisive and surgical than that, crisply calling into question whether there is any evidence that anti-transgender discrimination even exists and whether proposals to pass an inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act constitute legislating for its own sake. In doing so, he has set up the Republican rationale for voting against any version of ENDA at all, let alone one that encompasses gender identity.

Committee Statement
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 26, 2008
CONTACT: Alexa Marrero
(202) 225-4527

Kline Statement: Subcommittee Hearing on "An Examination of Discrimination Against Transgender Americans in the Workplace"

Good morning. I'd like to begin by thanking the witnesses for taking time out of their schedules to be here. I would also like to express my appreciation to Chairman Andrews for his flexibility in scheduling this hearing.

The issue we are here to examine – gender identity and workplace discrimination – follows on the Majority's efforts last fall to include protections for transgender individuals in the employment non-discrimination legislation. The purpose of this general hearing is to allow for thorough and thoughtful consideration of this issue, and any future proposals that might affect the American people.

That said, I am somewhat puzzled as to why the Committee did not hold this hearing last year, before the Majority rushed to consider legislation on this issue.

Last September, this Subcommittee held the only hearing on this topic. It was a hearing on a prior bill, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which broadly aimed to prohibit organizations from discriminating in their employment practices against individuals on the basis of their actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity. During that hearing, we heard testimony from experts who cautioned that some of the provisions in that bill could be confusing, difficult to comply with, and potentially fraught with litigation. Complex questions were raised about how that bill would impact employers; whether it would preserve religious freedom and encroach on employee privacy; and how it would comply with existing anti-discrimination statutes.

The bill's sponsors scrambled to address these questions and concerns. Ultimately, they decided to split the original ENDA bill, separating the protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity and attempting to address some of the technical concerns. But only the new bill involving sexual orientation discrimination was rushed to the House Floor for a vote. The flawed bill still raised many of the same serious concerns that were previously identified. After the bill passed the House in November 2007, it stalled in the Senate, where it still awaits action.

I can only speculate as to why no legislative action was taken on the other bill that sought protections based on gender identity. Despite the good intentions of those who supported these proposals, there still appeared to be too much uncertainty and too many unanswered questions. This explains why we are here today, examining an issue that perhaps should have been reviewed in greater detail before rushing to legislate.

We are all committed to the principle that no employee should be subject to discrimination. Before we consider and enact any new federal mandates, however, we must first determine whether a new law is necessary. Is there evidence that this type of discrimination is occurring? Are current laws and employer policies unable to protect employees? We have numerous federal and state laws and employer policies already on the books that help prevent discriminatory practices. Do we need yet another federal law? It is my view that the role of this Committee, and Congress, is to build upon this framework only when needed, and to avoid legislating for its own sake.

I look forward to hearing the testimony to be offered by our witnesses about the practical impact, benefits, and problems associated with this issue. I'm pleased that we will hear multiple perspectives on this topic, and hope this testimony will help ensure that any future well-intentioned efforts do not result in harmful, unintended consequences.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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Text of Shannon Minter's testimony at transgender protections hearing

2008-07-29T16:34:00.009-07:00

On 26 Jun 2008, Shannon Minter, Esq., legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, testified before the Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committee on transgender employment protections. The text of his testimony is below. A PDF of his testimony can be found here.

Other witnesses included Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI-02); Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA-04); U.S. Army Col. Diane Schroer (ret.); William H. Hendrix III, Ph.D.; Sabrina Marcus Taraboletti; and Sabrina Marcus Taraboletti. Rep. Robert Andrews (D-NJ-01) is the subcommittee chair.

Written Statement of Shannon Price Minter, Esq.
Legal Director, National Center for Lesbian Rights
To the
Subcommittee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Committee on Education and Labor
United States House of Representatives
Room 2175
Rayburn House Office Building
An Examination of Discrimination Against Transgender Americans in the Workplace
June 26, 2008

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee:

This is truly a historic day, and one that is deeply meaningful not just to transgender people, but to all of our family members and loved ones as well. This is the first time that most transgender people have had the reality of our lives addressed by Congress. I am grateful to have this chance to speak to you today both as an attorney who specializes in transgender legal issues and as a transgender man.

I was born female and transitioned from female to male at the age of thirty-five, about twelve years ago. Growing up as a transgender young person in rural East Texas, I never would have dreamed of having this opportunity to address our nation’s legislators. I am keenly aware, as I am sure my fellow witnesses are as well, that we speak to you on behalf of your transgender constituents across the country, whether it be others living in rural Texas, suburban New Jersey, or metropolitan Minneapolis.

I am going to touch on three issues: who transgender people are; the pervasiveness of workplace discrimination against transgender people; and the inadequacy of current federal law to address that discrimination.

Transgender people are individuals whose internal identification as male or female does not match their assigned sex at birth, including many who undertake the medical process of changing their physical gender. Transgender people have existed throughout history and have been part of almost every culture and community. In the United States, transgender people come from every racial and ethnic group and live in every part of our country. Transgender people also work in virtually every occupation.(1)

Like other Americans, transgender people fervently wish to be able support ourselves and our families and to have the dignity of being treated as equal members of society. As employees, we want to be judged based on our skills and our qualifications—on what we have to offer, not on whether we happen to be transgender.

Many transgender people are fortunate to have support in their workplace and are able
to continue working in their chosen careers both during and after their transition from one gender to another; unfortunately, however, many others face some of the most blatant and severe workplace discrimination imaginable, to a degree that is often truly shocking. All too often, the mere disclosure that a person is transgender and intends to undergo, or has undergone, sex-reassignment results immediately in severe harassment or job loss. That is true even for highly skilled employees who may have served in their position for years.

For example, in a case that attracted national attention last year, Steve Stanton had served as the City Manager of Largo, Florida for 14 years, longer than any other City Manager in Largo’s history. Throughout his tenure, Mr. Stanton always received excellent job evaluations and was widely respected as one of the most effective city managers in the country. During his last evaluation, in September, 2006, he was given a large raise in recognition of his long tenure and accomplishments. But just seven months later, the Largo City Commission abruptly fired Mr. Stanton after a local news article disclosed that he was transgender and intended to transition from a man to a woman. The Commission refused to reconsider its decision. As a result, the City of Largo lost a valuable employee, and Stanton, who has subsequently changed her first name to Susan and is now living as a woman, has been unable to find another job.(2)

Unfortunately, there are many similar stories, most of which receive little or no public attention. One such story concerns Kathleen Culhane, a veteran who also served in the Iowa National Guard. Prior to her transition from male to female, Ms. Culhane had worked for several years as a research assistant at a state university in Iowa. She informed her supervisor that she was transgender and would be transitioning from male to female. Within weeks of that disclosure, Ms. Culhane was told she would be fired. She applied for positions in other departments, but no one was willing to hire a transgender person. Ms. Culhane lost her job and was forced to move to another state to find work, leaving behind her home of sixteen years.(3)

In another case, Anthony Barreto-Neto, an experienced and skilled police officer, was hired by a local police department in Hardwick, Vermont. Shortly thereafter, town officials found a website that described Mr. Barreto-Neto as "transsexual" and disclosed the fact that he had been born female and had undergone sex-reassignment several years earlier. The town officials communicated that information to senior police department personnel, who then subjected Mr. Barreto-Neto to severe harassment and dangerous workplace conditions, including issuing him faulty security equipment. In a subsequent investigation by the Vermont Attorney General, a former police chief testified that he was directed to make Mr. Barreto-Neto so uncomfortable that he would leave the force. Mr. Barreto-Neto was able to settle his case; however, the police department took the position that discrimination against a transgender person was not prohibited by law.(4) A few years later, the Vermont Legislature enacted a statewide law specifically prohibiting such discrimination.

As lawyers who specialize in this area are well aware, such stories of discrimination are painfully common. Employees who disclose their transgender status or who attempt to transition on the job risk being summarily dismissed, regardless of their qualifications or prior history.

State and local lawmakers throughout the country increasingly are addressing this type of discrimination. Currently 12 states and the District of Columbia have laws that specifically ban workplace discrimination based on gender identity: California, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia.(5) The first such statewide law was passed by Minnesota in 1993; however, most have been enacted in the past three to five years. Several other states are considering similar laws, and earlier this month, on June 3, 2008, the New York State Assembly passed the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act by a vote of 108 to 34.(6) More than 100 cities and counties have enacted local non-discrimination laws protecting transgender workers.(7) And many of the country’s employers, both large and small, have adopted non-discrimination policies that prohibit gender identity discrimination.(8)

Despite these advances, the current patchwork of local and state laws is inadequate to remedy the pervasive gender identity discrimination taking place across the country. Most transgender employees do not live in a jurisdiction that provides them with legal protection. In most states, a transgender worker who is fired or harassed for being transgender has no legal recourse.

Existing federal law, including Title VII, does not adequately protect transgender employees. As a logical matter, discrimination against a person for changing his or her sex should be recognized as discrimination based on sex, just as discrimination against a person for changing his or her religion or nationality is recognized as discrimination based on religion or nationality. Many legal scholars, as well as women’s rights and civil rights advocates, strongly support the view that the prohibition of sex discrimination in Title VII logically, and as a matter of principle, should prohibit transgender discrimination. In practice, however, most courts have rejected that view, creating a significant loophole in sex discrimination law. For decades, starting in the 1970s, courts summarily held that Title VII does not protect transgender people from discrimination.(9) Too often, those decisions not only denied protection, but spoke about transgender people in disparaging and demeaning terms. In recent years, some federal courts have begun to hold that, at least under some circumstances, Title VII may protect transgender
people who are discriminated against because they do not conform to gender sereotypes.(10)

The most notable example is the Sixth Circuit, which thus far is the only federal appellate court to issue such a decision.(11) This is a welcome development, and has provided a remedy for some transgender employees against some forms of gender identity discrimination. For the most part, however, courts have continued to apply Title VII narrowly to exclude transgender people.(12) Moreover, even the few courts, including the Sixth Circuit, that have held that Title VII may protect transgender people against discrimination based on gender stereotypes have stopped short of holding that Title VII prohibits discrimination simply because a person is transgender.

Thus, it is essential that Congress make clear that discrimination against transgender people because of their gender identity is against the law.

Thank you for your leadership in convening this historic forum and for the opportunity to testify. Growing up in my small Texas town, I could not have imagined a day like this. So many transgender people and their families around the country are waiting and watching, hoping that Congress will take action to address this harmful discrimination and to help ensure that transgender people have an equal opportunity to work.

(1) The representation of transgender people in virtually all professions is evidenced by the broad range of occupations that have been the subject of transgender employment discrimination actions. See, e.g., Enriquez v. West Jersey Health Systems, 777 A.2d 365 (N.J. Ct. App. Div. 2001) (medicine); Ulane v. Eastern Airlines, Inc., 742 F.2d 1081 (7th Cir. 1984), cert. denied, 471 U.S. 1017 (1985) (airline industry); Broadus v. State Farm Ins. Co., 2000 WL 1585257 (W.D. Mo. Oct. 11, 2000) (insurance industry); Mitchell v. Axcan Scandipharm, Inc., 2006 WL 456173 (W.D. Pa. Feb. 17, 2006) (sales); Smith v. City of Salem, 378 F.3d 566 (6th Cir. 2004) (firefighting); Barnes v. City of Cincinnati, 401 F.3d 729 (6th Cir. 2005), cert. denied, 546 U.S. 1003 (2005) (law enforcement); Schroer v. Billington, 525 F.Supp.2d 58 (D.D.C. 2007) (terrorism research analysis).

(2) Deborah J. Vagins, "Working in the Shadows: Ending Employment Discrimination for LGBT Americans," at 17 (American Civil Liberties Union, Sept. 7, 2007).

(3) Id. at 19.

(4) Mr. Baretto-Neto was represented by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders. For a description of his case, see http://www.glad.org/News_Room/press73-4-23-04.html.

(5) California (Cal. Gov't Code §§ 12926(p), 12940, 12955, Cal. Penal Code § 422.76); Colorado (Colo. Rev. Stat. § 24-34-401(7.5)); Illinois (775 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/1-102, 5/1-103(O-1)); Iowa (Iowa Code § 216.6); Maine (Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 5, § 4552, 4553(9-C)); Minnesota (Minn. Stat. § 363A.03(44)); New Jersey (N.J. Stat. Ann. §10:5-3 et seq.); New Mexico (N.M. Stat. Ann. § 28-1-2(Q)); Oregon (Or. Rev. Stat. §§ 175.100, 659A.030); Rhode Island (R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-5-6, R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-24-2.1(a)(8)); Vermont (Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 1, § 144); Washington (Wash. Rev. Code § 49.60.040); and the District of Columbia (D.C. Code Ann. § 2-1402.11).

(6) A06584A, 231th Leg. (N.Y. 2008).

(7) National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, "Jurisdictions with Explicitly Transgender-Inclusive Non-Discrimination Laws"(April 2008), available at http://www.thetaskforce.org/downloads/reports/fact_sheets/all_jurisdictions_w_pop_4_08.pdf.

(8) Transgender Law & Policy Institute, "Employer and Union Policies Prohibiting Discrimination Against Transgender People,"available at
http://www.transgenderlaw.org/employer/index.htm.

(9) See, e.g., Ulane v. Eastern Airlines, Inc., 742 F.2d 1081 (7th Cir. 1984), cert. denied, 471 U.S. 1017 (1985) (pilot did not have a cause of action under Title VII because, based on the plain meaning of the word "sex" and the legislative history of Title VII, sex does not include a person's transsexual status); Sommers v. Budget Marketing, Inc., 667 F.2d 748 (8th Cir. 1982) (Title VII does not encompass discrimination against transgender persons); Holloway v. Arthur Andersen & Co., 566 F.2d 659 (9th Cir. 1977) (Congress did not intend for Title VII to protect transgender employees); James v. Ranch Mart Hardware, Inc., 881 F. Supp. 478 (D. Kan. 1995) (same); Powell v. Read's, Inc., 436 F. Supp. 369 (D. Md. 1977) (same); Voyles v. Ralph K. Davies Medical Center, 403 F. Supp. 456 (N.D. Cal. 1975) (same), aff'd, 570 F.2d 354 (9th Cir. 1978); Oiler v. Winn-Dixie Louisiana, 89 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1832, 2002 WL 31098541 (E.D. La. Sept. 16, 2002) (male grocery store clerk denied Title VII protection when fired for wearing female clothing off the job).

(10) Smith v. City of Salem, 378 F.3d 566 (6th Cir. 2004) (holding that transgender firefighter who was transitioning from male to female was discriminated under Title VII against based on failure to conform to masculine gender stereotypes); Barnes v. City of Cincinnati, 401 F.3d 729 (6th Cir. 2005) (holding that transgender police officer who was transitioning from male to female was discriminated against under Title VII based on failure to conform to masculine gender stereotypes), cert. denied, 546 U.S. 1003 (U.S. 2005); Lopez v. River Oaks Imaging & Diagnostic Group, Inc., 542 F.Supp.2d 653 (S.D. Tex. 2008) (denying employer’s motion for summary judgment and holding that transgender plaintiff was entitled to prove her gender stereotyping claim).

(11) See Smith v. City of Salem, 378 F.3d 566 (6th Cir. 2004); and Barnes v. City of Cincinnati, 401 F.3d 729 (6th Cir. 2005), cert. denied, 546 U.S. 1003 (U.S. 2005).

(12) See, e.g., Sweet v. Mulberry Lutheran Home, 2003 WL 21525058 (S.D. Ind. June 17, 2003) (holding that termination because of employee’s intent to change sex was not actionable as sex discrimination under Title VII); James v. Ranch Mart Hardware, Inc., 881 F. Supp. 478 (D. Kan. 1995) (holding that Title VII does not prohibit discrimination against transgender people).

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Shannon Minter testifies at transgender protections hearing

2008-07-29T16:29:00.005-07:00

On 26 Jun 2008, Shannon Minter, Esq., legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, testified before the Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committee on transgender employment protections. The text of his testimony is here.

Other witnesses included Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI-02); Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA-04); U.S. Army Col. Diane Schroer (ret.); Diego Sanchez; William H. Hendrix III, Ph.D.; and Sabrina Marcus Taraboletti. Rep. Robert Andrews (D-NJ-01) is the subcommittee chair.

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Sabrina Marcus Taraboletti testifies at transgender protections hearing

2008-07-29T16:21:00.006-07:00

On 26 Jun 2008, Sabrina Marcus Taraboletti testified before the Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committee on transgender employment protections. A PDF of her testimony can be found here.

Other witnesses included Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI-02); Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA-04); U.S. Army Col. Diane Schroer (ret.); Diego Sanchez; William H. Hendrix III, Ph.D.; and Shannon Minter, Esq. Rep. Robert Andrews (D-NJ-01) is the subcommittee chair.

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Bill Hendrix testifies at transgender protections hearing

2008-07-29T16:13:00.005-07:00

On 26 Jun 2008, William H. Hendrix III Ph.D., chair of Dow Chemical's Gay, Lesbian, and Allies at Dow employee affinity group, testified before the Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committee on transgender employment protections. A PDF of his testimony can be found here.

Other witnesses included Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI-02); Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA-04); U.S. Army Col. Diane Schroer (ret.); Diego Sanchez; Sabrina Marcus Taraboletti; and Shannon Minter, Esq. Rep. Robert Andrews (D-NJ-01) is the subcommittee chair.

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Text of Diego Sanchez's testimony at transgender protections hearing

2008-07-29T15:51:00.009-07:00

On 26 Jun 2008, Diego Sanchez testified before the Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committee on transgender employment protections. The text of his testimony is below. A PDF of his testimony can be found here.

Other witnesses included Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI-02); Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA-04); U.S. Army Col. Diane Schroer (ret.); William H. Hendrix III, Ph.D.; Sabrina Marcus Taraboletti; and Shannon Minter, Esq. Rep. Robert Andrews (D-NJ-01) is the subcommittee chair.

Written Statement of
Diego Miguel Sanchez

To the

Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions
Committee on Education and Labor
United States House of Representatives
Room 2175
Rayburn House Office Building
June 26, 2008

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee:

Thank you for adding my voice to those you hear today. My name is Diego Miguel Sanchez, and I am a 51-year old transsexual Latino man. I was born female and
transitioned to male. I grew up as an Army brat around the world, ending up in Augusta, Georgia, where my 80-year-old mother lives today.

When I was five, I told my parents that I was born wrong, that I felt like a boy inside. My mother showed me a magazine with Christine Jorgensen on the cover. She told me that she didn't know if there were other people like me – girls who felt like boys -- but that this woman was born a boy, felt like a girl and was able to become a woman later in life. Mom told me that by the time I grew up, it would be okay. From that time, my parents gently, privately, dually socialized me, but it was our secret, of sorts. My mom prepared me for life as girls are expected to be, and my dad taught me the lessons that boys needed to become men. It was rough – I had as many tutus as Tonka Trucks. But I could survive the former because of the latter. My parents always gave me hope, and my positive outlook on life, despite painful hardships, is the fruit of that loving labor. Mom was mostly right; it's almost okay for me these days.

I am grateful to be gainfully employed as the Director of Public Relations & External Affairs at AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts and AIDS Action Council in Washington, D.C. My college degree is in Journalism with a major in Public Relations from the University of Georgia. I am the only male Georgia letterman I know of who earned it on the women's tennis team. I was one of those Straight A, perfect attendance students. Dad always told me, "The harder you work, the luckier you get." I worked hard. I am lucky.

Because sex reassignment procedures weren't as developed in 1980 as today, I focused on work, hoping to make changes in the future. I spent nearly 20 award-winning years climbing the corporate ladder at several global companies including Coca-Cola, Burson-Marsteller, Holiday Inn, ITT Sheraton and Starwood Hotels.

I'm a loyal worker, a passionate leader and a man who had to wait, for fear of being fired, to be who I was always destined to be: Diego Miguel Sanchez, an honorable man. My career entailed navigating the newly named Glass Ceiling, probing limited opportunities for female professionals of color and trying to find a way to be a man while I looked like a woman in the workplace. It was heart-breaking and painful. But it was necessary. I did it because it was the only way I knew to save money to pay for sex reassignment, which I did later from my own savings.

I struggled with finding self-respect in a world that I never imagined would allow -- let alone accept or embrace -- someone like me, someone born seemingly wrong. I was an honest person who could be honest about everything except about me. I negotiated with my corporate colleagues for things that would moderately affirm me. It's the little things that seem like 'nothing' to others, that meant so much. It warmed my heart to receive a tie rather than a scarf as a company talisman. I asked people to use my first initial as my first name until I could change things medically and legally.

I have lived long enough to achieve those gains because I was able to do the ONE thing that military families are ordered to do when there’s a challenge: I sucked it up.

But when my head hits my pillow every night, I close my eyes and think about my friends who are transgender whose lives aren't easy. I miss my friend Alexander John Goodrum who took his own life. I feel guilty about my friend Ethan St. Pierre who lost his job just because he began his transition from female to male. I was the first transman he met, and he lost his job because he is brave and honest. It wasn't right. I still lose sleep over that injustice.

Because I work in public health, I know countless transgender people who are homeless, and I know these people by their names and character. These are good people who can't get work and whose lives are cast to the streets in large cities and small towns. It's a disgraceful injustice.

I flash my ID every day without concern. It's not questioned because I have had the luxury of personally paying to transition to male and aligning my IDs and myself. But I have friends whose licenses' and passports' gender don't match their identity, so they are disclosed as transgender the minute they show an ID, including when they try to get a job. I face these burdens when recruiting firms ask for my former names as part of their due diligence. It closes doors for me, and it limits the lives of my friends.

It's an injustice that we are ever evaluated for employment based on other people's comfort with our existence. I grew up in the South, where I wasn't allowed to swim in public pools because I'm not white. This experience today feels like a flashback.

I am before you today to affirm that transgender and transsexual people, including me, are equally human and deserve to be treated like other people. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Diego Miguel Sanchez, APR

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Diego Sanchez testifies at transgender protections hearing

2008-07-29T15:46:00.007-07:00

On 26 Jun 2008, Diego Sanchez of the Massachusetts AIDS Action Committee testified before the Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committee on transgender employment protections. The text of his testimony is here.

Other witnesses included Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI-02); Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA-04); U.S. Army Col. Diane Schroer (ret.); William H. Hendrix III, Ph.D.; Sabrina Marcus Taraboletti; and Shannon Minter, Esq. Rep. Robert Andrews (D-NJ-01) is the subcommittee chair.

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Col. Diane Schroer testifies at transgender protections hearing

2008-07-29T15:16:00.008-07:00

On 26 Jun 2008, U.S. Army Col. Diane Schroer (ret.) testified before the Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committee on transgender employment protections. A PDF of her testimony can be found here.

Other witnesses included Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI-02); Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA-04); Diego Sanchez; William H. Hendrix III, Ph.D.; Sabrina Marcus Taraboletti; and Shannon Minter, Esq. Rep. Robert Andrews (D-NJ-01) is the subcommittee chair.

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Rep. Barney Frank testifies at transgender protections hearing

2008-07-29T14:20:00.006-07:00

On 26 Jun 2008, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA-04) testified before the Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committee on transgender employment protections.

Other witnesses included Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI-02); U.S. Army Col. Diane Schroer (ret.); Diego Sanchez; William H. Hendrix III, Ph.D.; Sabrina Marcus Taraboletti; and Shannon Minter, Esq. Rep. Robert Andrews (D-NJ-01) is the subcommittee chair.

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Text of Rep. Tammy Baldwin's testimony at transgender protections hearing

2008-07-29T14:05:00.010-07:00

On 26 Jun 2008, Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI-02) testified before the Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committee on transgender employment protections. The text of her testimony is below. A PDF of her testimony can be found here.

Other witnesses included Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA-04); U.S. Army Col. Diane Schroer (ret.); Diego Sanchez; William H. Hendrix III, Ph.D.; Sabrina Marcus Taraboletti; and Shannon Minter, Esq. Rep. Robert Andrews (D-NJ-01) is the subcommittee chair.

Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin
Statement for Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee
Hearing on Gender Identity
Tuesday, June 26, 2008

Thank you Chairman Andrews, Ranking Member Kline, and members of the Committee for allowing me the opportunity to testify today at this historic hearing.

Many of my colleagues have asked about the phrase "gender identity" and why employment protections based on gender identity and expression ought to be included in any employment discrimination legislation Congress takes up. I'll do my best to
answer any lingering questions and clarify what drives many in the LGBT community to demand an inclusive approach to eliminating discrimination in the workplace – one that does not leave the smallest and most vulnerable part of our community behind.

As you may know, gender identity is a person's internal sense of his or her gender. In the vast majority of the population, an individual's gender identity and his or her birth sex "match." But for a small minority of people, gender identity and anatomical sex conflict. A common way for many transgender people to describe this feeling is to say something to the effect of being "trapped in the wrong body." Gender identity and sexual orientation are not the same and transgender people may be heterosexual, lesbian, gay or bisexual.

There are thousands of transgender Americans who lead incredibly successful, stable lives, are dedicated parents, contribute immeasurably to their communities, their country. I personally know transgender people who work in fields as diverse as defense contracting, broadcasting, community organizing, the legal profession – I could go on. They have transitioned successfully, many with the full support of their employers.

Despite these successes, because an individual was born one sex and presents themselves to the world as another—or in a way that other people may think is inconsistent with how a man or a woman should present themselves—he or she can face many forms of discrimination.

Hate crimes against transgender Americans are tragically common. Transgender people also face discrimination in the mundane tasks of the everyday – trying to find housing, apply for credit, or even see a doctor...and, of course, in the focus of today’s hearing: trying to provide for themselves and their families.

Some of you know that I practiced law for a few years in a small general practice firm before I was elected to the Wisconsin Assembly. On occasion, I represented clients who were fired in violation of Wisconsin's 1982 non-discrimination law that added sexual orientation to our state’s anti-discrimination statutes.

During that time, I met a transgender woman who left a lasting impression, though she was never a client. This woman had been fired from a management position at a large local employer when she announced to her boss that she intended to transition. And because Wisconsin law gave her no legal recourse, she faced an impossible situation – and ended up moving to a different state. I remember a time in my own life, when I thought I had to choose between living my life with truth and integrity about who I am, as a lesbian, or pursuing the career of my dreams in public service.

Among the things that made me change my mind was Wisconsin's Non-Discrimination law that passed four years before I first ran for local office… as an out lesbian.

The importance of nondiscrimination laws cannot be overstated. Substantively, they provide real remedies and a chance to seek justice. Symbolically, they say to America, judge your fellow citizens by their integrity, character, and talents, not their sexual orientation, or gender identity, or their race or religion, for that
matter. Symbolically, these laws also say that irrational hate or fear have no place in our work place.

Today, 39% of Americans live in areas explicitly banning discrimination based on gender identity and expression and at least 300 major U.S. businesses now ban discrimination based on gender identity and expression. Corporate America and the American people are way ahead of the Congress in acknowledging the basic truth we hold to be self-evident... that all of us are created equal... and the laws of the land should reflect that equality. It is high time that America declare discrimination based on gender identity and expression unlawful.

Mr. Chairman, I wholeheartedly support your Committee's efforts to do just this. For the record, I support an inclusive bill which ensures that hard-working Americans cannot be denied job opportunities, fired or otherwise be discriminated against just because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.

All of us who have had the honor of working in this institution know that one of the greatest things about America is that it is both a nation and an idea. Our American Dream promises that no matter where we start, no matter who we are, if we work hard, we will have the opportunity to advance. This Committee can help fulfill that promise.

Thank you.

<<< Rep. Barney Frank testifies at transgender protections hearing | Home | Rep. Tammy Baldwin testifies at transgender protections hearing >>>

Rep. Tammy Baldwin testifies at transgender protections hearing

2008-07-29T12:45:00.011-07:00

On 26 Jun 2008, Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI-02) testified before the Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committee on transgender employment protections. The text of her testimony is here.

Other witnesses included Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA-04); U.S. Army Col. Diane Schroer (ret.); Diego Sanchez; William H. Hendrix III, Ph.D.; Sabrina Marcus Taraboletti; and Shannon Minter, Esq. Rep. Robert Andrews (D-NJ-01) is the subcommittee chair.

<<< Text of Rep. Tammy Baldwin's testimony at transgender protections hearing | Home | Rep. Robert Andrews opens transgender protections hearing >>>

Rep. Robert Andrews opens transgender protections hearing

2008-07-29T12:31:00.005-07:00

On 26 Jun 2008, the Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committee held a hearing on transgender employment protections. Rep. Robert Andrews (D-NJ-01) is the subcommittee chair. The subcommittee heard testimony from transgender citizens, Members of Congress, and business leaders on the necessity of including gender identity protections in civil rights laws.

Other witnesses included Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI-02); Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA-04); U.S. Army Col. Diane Schroer (ret.); Diego Sanchez; William H. Hendrix III, Ph.D.; Sabrina Marcus Taraboletti; and Shannon Minter, Esq.

<<< Rep. Tammy Baldwin testifies at transgender protections hearing | Home | Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) indicted >>>

Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) indicted

2008-07-29T10:48:00.006-07:00

Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) has been indicted on seven counts of making false statements on his financial disclosure forms. Stevens' most recent HRC scores have been 0, 13, and 0.

<<< Rep. Tammy Baldwin testifies at transgender protections hearing | Home | House transgender hearing videos and transcripts available >>>

House transgender hearing videos and transcripts available

2008-07-28T19:55:00.010-07:00

On 26 Jun 2008, the Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committee held a hearing on transgender employment protections. The subcommittee heard testimony from transgender citizens, Members of Congress, and business leaders on the necessity of including gender identity protections in civil rights laws. The video archive and testimony transcripts will be made available in subsequent postings.

Witnesses included Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI-02); Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA-04); U.S. Army Col. Diane Schroer (ret.), whose job offer from the Library of Congress was rescinded after she revealed that she was transitioning; Diego Sanchez of the Massachusetts AIDS Action Committee; William H. Hendrix III, Ph.D., chair of Dow Chemical's Gay, Lesbian, and Allies at Dow employee affinity group; Sabrina Marcus Taraboletti, who was fired from United Space Alliance, the prime contractor for the space shuttle program, after revealing that she was tranitioning; and Shannon Minter, Esq., legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. Rep. Robert Andrews (D-NJ-01) is the subcommittee chair.

The entire hearing can be viewed here. The video lasts 01:54:05.

<<< Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) indicted | Home | Delaware candidate blogs about Stonewall Dems event >>>

Delaware Lieutenant Governor candidate blogs about Stonewall Democrats event

2008-07-28T08:08:00.001-07:00

Matt Denn, Delaware's elected insurance commissioner, is running for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor. As he notes on his blog this morning, he got some politicking and some family time in this past weekend:

On the Boardwalk

We are having one of our usual, hectic Monday mornings at the Denn household, so the weekend update today will be somewhat abbreviated.

Unquestioned highlight of the weekend: after visiting the State Fair in Harrington and the Stonewall Democrats annual fundraiser in Rehoboth, the boys and I headed to the boardwalk where they enjoyed a nutritious post-dinner feast of Thrashers fries and soft ice cream and several games of Whac-a-Mole. (Mrs. Denn stayed home to engage in similar recreational activities such as weeding the garden.) Because I knew that I was going to change the boys into their pajamas before we got into the car to head home, I didn’t spend too much time trying to clean the food off their clothes. So if you saw a guy last weekend in a Matt Denn polo shirt walking down Rehoboth Avenue with two three-year-olds whose faces and clothing were smeared with chocolate ice cream and french fry debris, that was me, and thank you for not calling social services.

He doesn't take the kids along to hypnotize undecided voters with their cuteness; but that's the result anyway.

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Roundup

2008-07-24T18:51:00.008-07:00

♦ Labor unions are inexplicably ganging up on out congressional candidate Jared Polis, who is running for the Democratic nomination for Colorado's CD-02.

♦ Rep. Niki Tsongas (D-MA-05), a member of the Military Personnel Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee that is reviewing Don't Ask Don't Tell, delivered a strong statement against DADT in yesterday's hearings.

♦ Numerous social issues will be on state ballots this year. Same-sex marriage is just one of them.

<<< Delaware candidate blogs about Stonewall Dems event | Home | Barney Frank slaps down Republicans over housing crisis >>>

Barney Frank slaps down Republicans over housing crisis

2008-07-23T19:43:00.010-07:00

Today the House passed H.R. 3221, the Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008, with overwhelming Democratic support and substantial Republican opposition. The bill, which goes to the Senate and could be sent to the White House by next week, will provide relief for homeowners crushed under ballooning mortgage payments and gives the government more authority to shore up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

During floor debate today, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA-04) read the riot act to recalcitrant Republicans who were trying to stall the bill. Among other points that he made, he noted that he and other representatives had tried for years to reform housing laws but had been obstructed by the Republican majority. In this video, Frank is fiery, irritated, lucid, and unstoppable. As always.

<<< Roundup | Home | Poll of military personnel on gays in the military >>>

Poll of military personnel on gays in the military

2008-07-23T18:43:00.012-07:00

Following are details of a survey of U.S. military personnel who are serving or who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan regarding their attitudes toward gays and lesbians serving openly in the military. The survey was submitted in December 2006 to the Michael D. Palm Center at the University of California at Santa Barbara by Zogby International. The Center specializes in studying Don't Ask Don't Tell.

26 ♦ percent of personnel who think gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly in the military
37 ♦ percent of personnel who think gays and lesbians should not be allowed to serve openly in the military
37 ♦ percent who are neutral or not sure

47 ♦ percent of officers who think gays and lesbians should not be allowed to serve openly in the military

28 ♦ percent of personnel who say the presence of gays or lesbians in their unit has a negative impact on their personal morale
66 ♦ percent of personnel who say the presence of gays or lesbians in their unit has no impact on their personal morale
6 ♦ percent of personnel who say the presence of gays or lesbians in their unit has a positive impact on their personal morale

73 ♦ percent of personnel who say they are comfortable in the presence of gays and lesbians
19 ♦ percent of personnel who say they are uncomfortable in the presence of gays and lesbians

52 ♦ percent of personnel who consider themselves more tolerant than their peers on the issue of homosexuals in the military
11 ♦ percent of personnel who do not consider themselves more tolerant than their peers on the issue of homosexuals in the military

<<< Barney Frank slaps down Republicans over housing crisis | Home | Capt. Joan Darrah testifies at Don't Ask Don't Tell hearings >>>

Capt. Joan Darrah testifies at Don't Ask Don't Tell hearings

2008-07-23T17:08:00.008-07:00

Captain Joan Darrah (ret.) testified today in the House Military Personnel Subcommittee hearings on Don't Ask Don't Tell. Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA-53) is the subcommittee chair.

Darrah has substantial credentials in Naval Intelligence. She came out as lesbian after retiring in 2002. See her profile at Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.

<<< Poll of military personnel on gays in the military | Home | Rep. Patrick Murphy in DADT hearings, Part 2 >>>

Rep. Patrick Murphy in DADT hearings, Part 2

2008-07-23T16:45:00.006-07:00

Watch as Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA-08) again refuses to take Elaine Donnelly's snarky evasiveness during today's Don't Ask Don't Tell hearings before the House Military Personnel Subcommittee. Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA-53) is the subcommittee chair. According to Donnelly's own official bio, she has no military credentials whatsoever; she has plenty of right-wing ideologue credentials, however.

<<< Capt. Joan Darrah testifies at Don't Ask Don't Tell hearings | Home | Rep. Patrick Murphy is our own Perseus >>>

Rep. Patrick Murphy is our own Perseus

2008-07-23T16:22:00.010-07:00

Watch as Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA-08) tries heroically to get a straight answer out of Elaine Donnelly, gorgon-in-chief of the anti-gay Center for Military Readiness. This exchange occurred during today's hearings before the House Military Personnel Subcommittee on Don't Ask Don't Tell. Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA-53) is the subcommittee chair.

<<< Rep. Patrick Murphy in DADT hearings, Part 2 | Home | S.Sgt. Eric Alva testifies at Don't Ask Don't Tell hearings >>>

S.Sgt. Eric Alva testifies at Don't Ask Don't Tell hearings

2008-07-23T16:00:00.004-07:00

Marine Staff Sergeant Eric Alva testified today in the House Military Personnel Subcommittee hearings on Don't Ask Don't Tell. Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA-53) is the subcommittee chair.

Alva was the first American servicemember wounded in the Iraq war. Hours after the initial invasion, he stepped on a land mine and lost his right leg. Alva came out as gay after leaving the service.

I dare you not to find a lump in your throat when he explains the etymology of his middle name, Fidelis: "Loyalty is literally my middle name."

His most damning indictment of DADT: "I had proudly served a country that was not proud of me."

<<< Rep. Patrick Murphy is our own Perseus | Home | Rep. Susan Davis opens Don't Ask Don't Tell hearings >>>

Rep. Susan Davis opens Don't Ask Don't Tell hearings

2008-07-23T15:47:00.005-07:00

Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA-53) is chair of the Military Personnel Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee.

<<< S.Sgt. Eric Alva testifies at Don't Ask Don't Tell hearings Home | Disturbing profile of DNC chief of staff Leah Daughtry >>>

Disturbing profile of DNC chief of staff Leah Daughtry

2008-07-22T12:03:00.024-07:00

The New York Times ran a very troubling profile on Sunday of Democratic National Committee Chief of Staff Leah Daughtry.

The ostensible purpose of the profile was to highlight Daughtry's attempt to bring people of faith into the Democratic fold. Numerous American progressives have been open about their religious beliefs -- Martin and Coretta King, Jimmy Carter, Jesse Jackson -- and there is much concordance between the teachings of the major faiths and progressive ideology.

The article's big tent theme quickly got derailed, however, by a number of unsettling revelations about how exactly Daughtry has gone about wooing faith communities and the cost in Democratic principles of her doing so.

The most disturbing disclosure is that the DNC has funded blatantly anti-gay voter outreach in at least one state. The Alabama Democratic Party accepted DNC money and published a Faith and Values Voter Guide in local newspapers during the 2006 campaign. The twelve-page insert included a Covenant for the Future which promised to "defeat any efforts to redefine marriage or to provide the benefits of marriage to a same-sex union."

Alabama Democratic Party Chair Joe Turnham continued gay bashing after the 2006 election. In May 2007, as DNC Chair Howard Dean was preparing to visit the state, Alabama Republican Party Chair Mike Hubbard criticized Dean's "left-wing agenda". Turnham responded by saying in the local press that Hubbard

has gun control in New York with Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney with gay marriage in Massachusetts....He shouldn't be taking shots at Howard Dean.

In his Chairman's blog just days earlier, Turnham also declared that

the Repub Party has welcomed 'pro-abortion, pro-gay, anti-gun' Rudy and Mitt to Alabama"

Turnham's statements were so outrageous that State Rep. Patricia Todd, Alabama's only out elected public official, took Turnham to task in a letter that she made available to us here.

There are other disturbing aspects about the DNC's faith outreach relative to its LGBT outreach:

♦ Dean allowed Daughtry to create a six-member religious outreach team called Faith in Action at the same time that they eliminated the DNC's LGBT outreach desk;

♦ at least one FIA member has trained state party communications directors on how to deal with religious media, and Dean appeared on televangelist and Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson's 700 Club, but Dean refuses to speak with the Washington Blade, the widest-circulation LGBT publication in Washington, DC; and one of Dean's and Daughtry's subordinates, Julie Tagen, derided the Blade and other gay publications by writing in an e-mail, "I tend to use the Blade and other gay papers in the bottom of the birdcage". The Blade has published articles critical of the DNC's handling of LGBT concerns, including its elimination of the LGBT desk and its termination of gay employee Donald Hitchcock after Hitchcock's partner Paul Yandura criticized the DNC's failure to counter anti-gay marriage ballot initiatives;

♦ Daughtry oversaw the purchase of radio ads on Christian stations during the 2006 campaign, but almost no LGBT local publications received DNC funding.

Outreach to people of faith is certainly something that the Democratic National Committee should be engaging in, but it should be done as part of an effort to find common ground, not at the cost of sacrificing Democratic principles. That Daughtry and Turnham would sacrifice the LGBT community with such casualness will no doubt make some LGBT donors hesitate as they consider where to send their contributions.

When asked about the gay-bashing Alabama publication, paid for with funds much of which had been contributed by LGBT Democrats, Daughtry did not say, "This is an outrage. I will make sure that it never happens again". She did not accept responsibility for her failure to monitor those funds. She did not apologize for allowing money under her stewardship to be used to appeal to the basest elements in our society. Her response when asked about the Alabama publication: "The wonderful thing about the Democratic Party is that we have room for all kinds of opinions."

If a Democratic Party official had allowed party funds to be used to oppose interracial marriage rather than gay marriage and had then dismissed concerns with such flippancy, that person would have been out of a job immediately. But the LGBT community is the last group against whom it is still considered acceptable to be prejudiced. One just wouldn't think that the highest-ranking employee of the Democratic National Committee would be one of the people who find that acceptable.

Democratic committees that can use support include the Obama campaign, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

<<< Rep. Susan Davis opens Don't Ask Don't Tell hearings | Home | Rinehart evades CNN questions >>>

Rinehart evades CNN questions

2008-07-22T10:18:00.009-07:00

Oklahoma County Commissioner Brent Rinehart was interviewed for yesterday's CNN American Morning regarding the blatantly homophobic comic book that he produced to shore up far-right support for his flailing re-election campaign. Among other hateful declarations, Rinehart opined therein that getting "the kids to believe that homosexuality is normal" is satanic.

On his official county biography, Rinehart trumpets the fact that he was the "[l]one vote against Gay Pride banners on Oklahoma City streets". It is not clear if Rinehart is a deeply closeted, self-loathing gay man.

Listen as CNN's John Roberts tries to get Rinehart to give a straight answer about any of it:

<<< Disturbing profile of DNC chief of staff Leah Daughtry | Home | Comedy Central gets in on the Dole/Helms act >>>

Comedy Central gets in on the Dole/Helms act

2008-07-17T17:04:00.011-07:00

Sen. Elizabeth Dole's (R-NC) decision to try to rename the Lantos/Hyde PEPFAR HIV/AIDS bill after homophobe Jesse Helms, first report here, is so crazy that even Comedy Central is giving it play.

<<< Rinehart evades CNN questions | Home | Progressive jobs and internships available >>>

Progressive jobs and internships available

2008-07-17T15:20:00.004-07:00

Lots of campaign jobs available at Open Left.

<<< Comedy Central gets in on the Dole/Helms act | Home | What's Tammy Baldwin up to? >>>

What's Tammy Baldwin up to?

2008-07-17T12:39:00.017-07:00

Out Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI-02) has been busy in the last couple of weeks. Besides fulfilling her regular duties in the U.S. House of Representatives, she also has:

♦ expressed concern about the "very bellicose tone this administration has sounded on Iran";
♦ voted to override Bush's veto of the Medicare bill to delay cuts in physician payments;
♦ stood in solidarity with the Dalai Lama;
♦ held a conference call with other prominent Wisconsin women to laud Sen. Barack Obama's plans for women and for the working class and to criticize Sen. John McCain's lack of leadership; and
♦ helped move forward improvements for Madison's Dane County Regional airport.

Sources: Kathleen Masterson, The Capital Times; Ellyn Ferguson, Green Bay Press-Gazette; John Nichols, The Capital Times; Steven Elbow, The Capital Times; Craig gilbert, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; and Channel 3000.

<<< Progressive jobs and internships available | Home | Olbermann cites Dole in "Worst Person" category >>>

Olbermann cites Dole in "Worst Person" category

2008-07-17T12:02:00.008-07:00

Elizabeth Dole's attempt to include the name of Jesse Helms in the title of the Lantos/Hyde HIV/AIDS bill, first reported here, has earned her MSNBC commentator Keith Olbermann's scorn. Olbermann gave her a bottom-three mention in his regular Worst Person in the World hall of shame:

<<< What's Tammy Baldwin up to? | Home | Senate passes HIV/AIDS bill >>>

Senate passes HIV/AIDS bill

2008-07-16T19:21:00.005-07:00

Details at Reuters. Every one of the "no" votes was a Republican. See the roll call.

<<< Olbermann cites Dole in "Worst Person" category | Home | The villainous Joker and the villainess Dole >>>

The villainous Joker and the villainess Dole

2008-07-16T17:22:00.072-07:00

Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT) has a cameo in The Dark Knight, the new Batman movie that opens at midnight tomorrow. Leahy's recent HRC scores have been 100, 100, and 100. He's the distinguished gentleman on the left being manhandled by the Joker's henchmen. The flick also stars Brokeback Mountain star Heath Ledger as the villainous Joker.

And that's Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) on the right. The villainess Dole on Monday tried to name the AIDS bill after the villainous Jesse Helms, who built a career on gay bashing and gutting HIV/AIDS funding. Dole's HRC scores since she entered the Senate in 2003 have been 0 and 0.

And yes, it does indeed seem as if Leahy's co-stars get their hair and makeup done at the same salon.

<<< Senate passes AIDS bill | Home | Kent Snyder, the libertarian Terry Dolan >>>

Kent Snyder, the libertarian Terry Dolan

2008-07-16T10:39:00.036-07:00

Kent Snyder, the gay presidential campaign manager for conservative-libertarian Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX-14), died last month of pneumonia, leaving $400,000 in medical bills because the Paul campaign provided him with no health insurance. Besides being a congressman, Paul is also a physician.

Jesse Benton, the campaign's communications director, said it was Snyder himself who decided not to provide staffers with insurance, claiming that campaigns simply do not do so. The Obama, Clinton, and McCain campaigns, however, have all provided full health coverage for their paid staff. According to the Federal Elections Commission, Paul's presidential campaign had raised $35,053,492 by 31 May 2008 and had $4,526,323 cash remaining on that date.

Paul and his handlers have cultivated the image of a grandfatherly muppet who has the cranky-cute idea that government should just get off of everyone's backs. According to Lou Chibbaro in today's Washington Blade,

Gay libertarian activists have praised Paul for his longstanding views calling for all Americans to be free from government intrusion into their private lives through laws and regulations. Paul voted against a proposed U.S. constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

And yet last year Paul launched a frightening broadside on the floor of the House of Representatives against the right of gay people to be protected by the laws and the Constitution of the United States. Paul argued that states have the right to intrude into gay people's lives with legislation such as gay marriage bans and punitive sodomy laws, and that any federal court that rejected state intrusion into people's privacy was abusing the equal protection clause of the Constitution. In his floor speech, Paul threatened any federal judge who upheld the universality of the Constitution with impeachment and removal.

Paul's manifesto could easily have been delivered by arch-bigot senators Strom Thurmond in the 1950s or Jesse Helms in the 1980s. Paul's We the People Act legislation, the introduction of which was the occasion of his floor speech, would have prevented the U.S. Supreme Court from ruling in such crucial privacy rights cases as Griswold v. Connecticut, Eisenstadt v. Baird, Roe v. Wade, and Lawrence v. Texas. States consequently would still be able to ban the use of contraceptives, women's reproductive health rights, and gay people's right to intimate relations. And many states would if they could.

This is the man whom Kent Snyder served.

Snyder's fealty to such a vicious ideologue and the circumstance of his death are reminiscent of those of Terry Dolan. Dolan was a closeted gay man who served as the chairman of the National Conservative Political Action Committee (NCPAC), a far-right committee that was identified in 1979 by Time as one of the three most important organizations of the New Right that would sweep Ronald Reagan and a Republican Senate majority into power the next year. Dolan worked tirelessly on behalf of a right-wing power structure that would later coldly turn its back on hundreds of thousands of gay men throughout the AIDS epidemic. Dolan himself would become an early AIDS casualty, dying in 1986 at the age of 36, abandoned to his fate by the very people he had helped into power.

The willingness of gay right-wingers like Snyder and Dolan to labor on behalf of politicians who oppose basic protection of the law to all citizens and who will even stand by as people die is nothing short of appalling. It is difficult to believe that Snyder did not know what Paul's true colors are, and yet he willingly served a man who is at his core a bigot and who is deeply opposed to basic equality for gay people like Snyder himself.

Some consider it not condign to speak ill of the dead, and yet Snyder and Dolan serve as necessary cautionary examples. They were Uncle Toms, and they show us the way of those who would sell themselves out by selling the rest of us out. That way lies infamy and oblivion.

Paul's floor speech on 05 Jan 2007, from the Congressional Record:

Madam Speaker, I rise to introduce the We the People Act. The We the People Act forbids federal courts, including the Supreme Court, from adjudicating cases concerning state laws and polices relating to religious liberties or "privacy," including cases involving sexual practices, sexual orientation or reproduction. The We the People Act also protects the traditional definition of marriage from judicial activism by ensuring the Supreme Court cannot abuse the equal protection clause to redefine marriage. In order to hold federal judges accountable for abusing their powers, the act also provides that a judge who violates the act's limitations on judicial power shall either be impeached by Congress or removed by the president, according to rules established by the Congress.

The United States Constitution gives Congress the authority to establish and limit the jurisdiction of the lower federal courts and limit the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. The Founders intended Congress to use this authority to correct abuses of power by the federal judiciary.

Some may claim that an activist judiciary that strikes down state laws at will expands individual liberty. Proponents of this claim overlook the fact that the best guarantor of true liberty is decentralized political institutions, while the greatest threat to liberty is concentrated power. This is why the Constitution carefully limits the power of the federal government over the states.

In recent years, we have seen numerous abuses of power by Federal courts. Federal judges regularly strike down state and local laws on subjects such as religious liberty, sexual orientation, family relations, education, and abortion. This government by Federal judiciary causes a virtual nullification of the Tenth Amendment's limitations on federal power. Furthermore, when federal judges impose their preferred polices on state and local governments, instead of respecting the polices adopted by those elected by, and thus accountable to, the people, republican government is threatened. Article IV, section 4 of the Untied States Constitution guarantees each state a republican form of government. Thus, Congress must act when the executive or judicial branch threatens the republican governments of the individual states. Therefore, Congress has a responsibility to stop Federal judges from running roughshod over state and local laws. The Founders would certainly have supported congressional action to reign in Federal judges who tell citizens where they can and can’t place manger scenes at Christmas.

Madam Speaker, even some supporters of liberalized abortion laws have admitted that the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision, which overturned the abortion laws of all fifty states, is flawed. The Supreme Court's Establishment Clause jurisdiction has also drawn criticism from across the political spectrum. Perhaps more importantly, attempts to resolve, by judicial fiat, important issues like abortion and the expression of religious belief in the public square increase social strife and conflict. The only way to resolve controversial social issues like abortion and school prayer is to restore respect for the right of state and local governments to adopt policies that reflect the beliefs of the citizens of those jurisdictions. I would remind my colleagues and the federal judiciary that, under our Constitutional system, there is no reason why the people of New York and the people of Texas should have the same policies regarding issues such as marriage and school prayer.

Unless Congress acts, a state's authority to define and regulate marriage may be the next victim of activist judges. After all, such a decision would simply take the Supreme Court’s decision in the Lawrence case, which overturned all state sodomy laws, to its logical conclusion. Congress must launch a preemptive strike against any further federal usurpation of the states' authority to regulate marriage by removing issues concerning the definition of marriage from the jurisdiction of federal courts.

Although marriage is licensed and otherwise regulated by the states, government did not create the institution of marriage. Government regulation of marriage is based on state recognition of the practices and customs formulated by private individuals interacting in civil institutions, such as churches and synagogues. Having federal officials, whether judges, bureaucrats, or congressmen, impose a new definition of marriage on the people is an act of social engineering profoundly hostile
to liberty.

It is long past time that Congress exercises its authority to protect the republican government of the states from out-of-control federal judges. Therefore, I urge my colleagues to cosponsor the We the People Act.

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New JibJab: Time for Some Campaignin'

2008-07-16T09:17:00.004-07:00

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

<<< Kent Snyder, the libertarian Terry Dolan | Home | Democrats kill GOP attempt to cut AIDS bill >>>

Democrats kill GOP attempt to cut AIDS bill

2008-07-15T13:06:00.011-07:00

Now that Democrats have stopped the Republican filibuster of the HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis bill, Republicans are trying Plan B, which is to scuttle the bill with all manner of Christmas tree amendments.

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) proposed substantially limiting the bill's geographic reach. His amendment was slapped down, 70-24.

Of the 48 Democrats who voted, 48 (100%) voted "yes" on the motion to table this pernicious amendment. Of the 46 Republicans who voted, 22 (48%) voted "yes".

<<< New JibJab: Time for Some Campaignin' | Home | Obscene: Dole tries to name AIDS bill after Helms >>>

Obscene: Dole tries to name AIDS bill after Helms

2008-07-15T12:15:00.024-07:00

Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) yesterday introduced an amendment that would have added the name of Jesse Helms to the title of the HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria bill that is before the Senate. Helms, who died eleven days ago, was the nation's most vociferous foe of federal funding for HIV/AIDS programs from the epidemic's beginning until he left the Senate.

The name of the Act proposed in S. 2731 is "Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008". The Act would be named after former Reps. Tom Lantos (D-CA-12) and Henry Hyde (R-IL-06), who worked together in their last years in Congress to achieve bipartisan support for federal funding for the fight against these diseases. Sen. Dole apparently thought the title was missing something. From the Congressional Record:

SA 5074. Mrs. DOLE submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by her to the bill S. 2731, to authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2009 through 2013 to provide assistance to foreign countries to combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

On page 1, line 5, strike "and Henry J. Hyde" and insert ", Henry J. Hyde, and Jesse Helms".

Recall that Helms said that gays caused the AIDS epidemic and victimized Ryan White, threaten the survival of the American family, are in a battle against American values, and have the ultimate aim of having the American people accept "their perverted lifestyle". Find more Helms-isms here and here.

Dole can be given feedback about her amendment here. She is in a tough race for re-election against Democrat Kay Hagan.

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McCain on gay issues in the New York Times

2008-07-14T19:01:00.009-07:00

Republican soon-to-be presidential nominee John McCain sat down with the New York Times for yesterday's edition and revealed yet again that he can double-talk with the best of them. Among other revelations: a child would be better off a) being adopted by a drunk, divorced adulterer and his drug-addicted second wife or b) in an orphanage than c) being adopted by a loving gay couple.

He's not too old to be president, but his ideas certainly are.

...Q: President Bush believes that gay couples should not be permitted to adopt children. Do you agree with that?

Mr. McCain: I think that we've proven that both parents are important in the success of a family so, no I don’t believe in gay adoption.

Q: Even if the alternative is the kid staying in an orphanage, or not having parents.

Mr. McCain: I encourage adoption and I encourage the opportunities for people to adopt children I encourage the process being less complicated so they can adopt as quickly as possible. And Cindy and I are proud of being adoptive parents.

Q: But your concern would be that the couple should [be] a traditional couple

Mr. McCain: Yes....

Q: I think the one difference is whether or not as a condition of getting these [federal faith based] monies, that these organization say they will not take into account religion or other factors in hiring decisions.

Mr. McCain: Obviously it’s very complicated because if this is an organization that says we want people in our organization that are Baptists or vegetarians or whatever it is, they should not be required to hire someone that they don't want to hire in my view. Listen, this is the kind of the issue that goes on with the Boy Scouts, it goes on with a number of other issues. I think the president's faith-based organization has been successful and I support what he has done

Q: I guess the way opponents describe it means that these groups are allowed to discriminate in hiring.

Mr. McCain: I can only answer it to say that I think faith-based organizations have been one of the more successful parts of the Bush Administration and I would continue it....

Q: If California wants to legalize gay marriage, should it be permitted to do so?

Mr. McCain: I respect the rights of the states to make those decisions. I obviously am personally in favor of preserving the unique status of marriage between man and woman. And I also would point out that we passed a thing called the Defense of Marriage Act, which I know you’re familiar with, where we said that states were not required to recognize in their states the decision that other states made. In other words, if the state of Massachusetts recognized marriage between man and --- had allowed same-sex marriage, that does not mean that that decision can be imposed on the state of Arizona. The state of Arizona will make that decision.

Q: But if the state wanted to do it on the own, you would not support taking action to stop it?

Mr. McCain: If the people wanted to amend the constitution in order to support the unique status, affirm the unique status, I certainly would support that. But if they decide not to, that's a state decision that's made by the state.

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Musgrave goes crazy over non-existent China-Cuba oil plan

2008-07-14T11:06:00.008-07:00

Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO-04) has gone over the edge during multiple congressional sessions by introducing federal marriage amendments that would enshrine anti-gay bigotry in the United States Constitution. Now that she is running scared in her current re-election campaign, Musgrave is resorting to a whole new level of irresponsibility regarding Americans' energy worries, repeating a rumor first uttered and later recanted by Dick Cheney. According to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Musgrave

repeated Cheney's bogus claim that China is drilling for oil off the coast of Florida. Musgrave repeated the myth more than two weeks after Cheney himself acknowledged it was false and Republican Senator Mel Martinez, a former Chairman of the Republican National Committee, said "Any talk of using some fabricated Cuba-China connection as an argument to change U.S. policy has no merit" and that "Reports to the contrary are simply false. They are akin to urban legends."

Musgrave has engaged in fear-mongering regarding gay families many times in the past, and now she is preying on Americans' worries about spiraling energy costs as well.

Musgrave is being challenged by Democrat Betsy Markey, a successful businesswoman who is also a former staffer on Capitol Hill and in the U.S. Departments of State and Treasury.

<<< McCain on gay issues | Home | Democrats break GOP AIDS bill filibuster >>>

Democrats break GOP AIDS bill filibuster

2008-07-14T08:56:00.004-07:00

Republican senators had been holding up S. 2731, the Lantos/Hyde Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008. Sixty "yes" votes had been needed to pass a motion to close debate in order to break the Republican filibuster. On Friday, of 51 Democrats, 41 (80%) voted "yes", 10 (20%) were absent; of 49 Republicans, 24 (49%) voted "yes", 3 (6%) voted "no", and 22 (45%) were absent.

If the entire Senate had voted in the proportion that the Democrats did, the filibuster would never have begun; if the entire Senate had voted in the proportion that the Republicans did, the AIDS bill would still be stalled.

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Sen. Paula Aboud rips the Arizona Senate

2008-07-13T12:34:00.006-07:00

Right-wingers in the Arizona legislature tried to pass SCR 1042, which would place an anti-gay marriage amendment on this November's ballot. Out Arizona state Senator Paula Aboud (D-28) tried to filibuster on the last day of the legislative session so that the legislature would adjourn without the bill being heard. Republican senators blatantly violated the Senate's rules and cut off the filibuster by turning off the chamber's microphones while pro-LGBT legislators were speaking and then turning the floor over to anti-gay senators. SCR 1042 then went to a vote and received the bare minimum of 16 votes to pass.

This is a video of Sen. Aboud's reaction and subsequent explanation of her vote on SCR 1042:

<<< Democrats break GOP AIDS bill filibuster | Home | AIDS activists condomize Jesse Helms' house >>>

AIDS activists condomize Jesse Helms' house

2008-07-11T12:31:00.014-07:00

On 05 Sep 1990, seven HIV/AIDS activists enveloped Sen. Jesse Helms' (R-NC) house in a giant condom to protest his vicious gay-baiting and his abuse of his position to block funding for prevention and treatment. The action strike was covered by numerous media outlets and called national attention to Helms' genocidal conduct.

Read a reminiscence by Peter Staley, who devised this effective bit of guerrilla theater, and watch the video of the plan's execution.

Besides Staley, other participants included Mark Allen, Jason Childers, Garance Franke-Ruta, Derek Link, James Serafini, and Sean Strub, along with videographer Robert Hilferty. David Geffen provided funding.

<<< Sen. Paula Aboud rips the Arizona Senate | Home | Roundup >>>

Roundup

2008-07-10T20:44:00.015-07:00

♦ Assassin Margaret Cho has been deputized by the City and County of San Francisco to perform marriages. Read her blog for details of her San Francisco Pride weekend in which she married couples; did, um, shots; and went to Bearracuda.

♦ Soul Force Equality Rider Jacob Reitan (right) has been hired for the Obama campaign in Oregon. Reitan and his loving mom and pop were featured in the documentary For the Bible Tells Me So attempting to confront über-bigot James Dobson and his anti-family Focus on the Family.

♦ Out Arizona state Senator Paula Aboud (D-28) is furious at the treachery and perfidy that Republican legislators used to get that state's marriage amendment on the November ballot. The GOPers blatantly violated the Senate's rules in overriding the floor rights of pro-gay-marriage senators who tried to run the clock out on the legislative session in an effort to block the amendment bill.

<<< AIDS activists condomize Jesse Helms' house | Home | TR Knight PSA >>>

TR Knight PSA for GLAAD

2008-07-10T19:12:00.012-07:00

Cute as a bug, dresses well, soft-spoken -- and taken. Sorry, boys.

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Should McCain be considered AWOL from the Senate?

2008-07-09T17:16:00.007-07:00

Republican presidential nominee-to-be John McCain (R-AZ) has missed more votes than any other senator since the current Congress. According to the Washington Post, McCain has missed 374 out of 605 possible votes.

McCain has missed more votes than Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD), who had a brain hemorrhage and collapsed; or Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), who was diagnosed with a brain tumor and began chemotherapy. McCain has missed more votes than the 57 best-attending senators combined (they missed 371 among them).

<<< TR Knight PSA for GLAAD | Home | Soundbite >>>

Soundbite

2008-07-09T09:37:00.004-07:00

"...if flip-flopping were an Olympic sport, John McCain would be the first 72-year-old to win a gold medal."

-- Paul Begala on CNN's Situation Room

Totally gay Heinz ad

2008-07-08T17:51:00.006-07:00

You might have heard about the Heinz mayo ad with a gay kiss that got banned in the U.K. because right-wingers complained. The ad below is a hundred times gayer, with a showtune-singing biker bear chorus line:

Not LGBT-specific: Paul McCartney tells a dirty joke

2008-07-08T17:24:00.005-07:00

More Helms-isms

2008-07-07T16:36:00.009-07:00

More statements by Jesse Helms from the floor of the U.S. Senate:

♦ "We spend a great deal of time focusing on the needs of drug addicts and homosexual men. The AZT Program has money which could be better spent on others. Even the most innocent of AIDS patients, children infected by their parents, reap no benefit from this program. If the American people have to fund an AIDS treatment program, at least let the money go to those who have contracted this disease through no fault of their own." (04 Apr 1989)

♦ The gay rights movement is "a radical and repugnant political movement". (07 May 1990)

♦ "I despise the abuse of the once beautiful word 'gay.' They are not gay; they are repulsive." (20 Feb 1992)

♦ "...I should point out that the homosexual groups are going beyond the public schools in their efforts to get at the Nation's school children. In San Francisco, again, they are trying to force the United Way — which is a private agency — to stop funding the local Boy Scout Council — another private organization — because the Scouts refuse to allow homosexuals to become Scoutmasters. And hooray for the Boy Scouts. I am even prouder of them than I have ever been before." (20 Feb 1992)

♦ "...it should be clear by now that the homosexual lobby in this country is no longer content with forcing the schools and other institutions to teach children that homosexuality is a normal and an acceptable lifestyle. They are now demanding the right to go into schools and private institutions — preferrably at Federal expense — to proselytize for homosexuality and to recruit sexual partners." (20 Feb 1992)

♦ "Mr. President, New York City alone has diverted almost a half million dollars in Federal money intended for drug-abuse prevention to a homosexual group which, among its many disgusting activities, sponsors after-school parties for high school students at the local homosexual community center. A staff member of the group says the parties are meant to — I quote — 'enable older gay activists [to meet] teenagers recruited from the New York City public schools.'" (17 Sep 1992)

♦ "The leadership of the Boy Scouts of America have taken the legitimate and understandable position that the homosexual lifestyle is inconsistent with the standards of the Boy Scouts of America and with the purposes of the Boy Scouts of America. And good for them because they are absolutely correct." (22 Sep 1992)

♦ "Mr. President, the so-called homosexual lifestyle is so focused on instant sexual gratification that the average homosexual male has between 20 and 106 different sex partners in a given year." (22 Sep 1992)

♦ "A study by two homosexuals titled 'The Gay Report,' found that 73 percent of homosexuals had at some time in their lives had sex with boys 16 to 19 years old or younger." (22 Sep 1992)

♦ "Mr. President, our efforts to treat AIDS as a public health concern have been thwarted by a vocal, militant minority which has used the AIDS issue to promote a political agenda it has failed to achieve in its own right. Of course, I am referring to the homosexual lobby. Members of this militant movement have masterfully manipulated the American public. By feeding on America's compassion, they have turned the AIDS epidemic to their political advantage by using it to promote something they have never achieved before — homosexual rights." (21 Jan 1993)

♦ "Who would have thought, even 5 years ago, that the President of the United States would nominate a homosexual person for a high-ranking Federal job, a person who helped orchestrate an action against the Boy Scouts because the Scouts refused to lower their moral and spiritual standards." (20 May 1993)

♦ "Mr. President, two articles about the Achtenberg nomination in the Washington Times this morning discuss the pornographic and blasphemous activities during last year's San Francisco Gay Pride parade led by Roberta Achtenberg and her partner — and their son." (24 May 1993)

Jesse Helms expresses "nausea" over gay "perversion"

2008-07-07T16:13:00.007-07:00

From the Congressional Record:

BOSH AND NAUSEA: POSTAL SERVICE 'HONORS' HOMOSEXUALS (Senate - June 23, 1989)

Mr. HELMS . Mr. President, some days I decide that things cannot get any worse, but then they do. The U.S. Postal Service took a big step this week to accommodate the perversion. Tomorrow and Sunday, June 24 and 25, several post offices in New York City will issue a special postmark to 'honor' Gay and Lesbian Pride Week.

Obviously, I am appalled at this astounding lack of judgment on the part of the U.S. Postal Service. Mr. President, the post office produces more than 1,500 special postmarks each year celebrating such things as county fairs, local celebrities, anniversaries of special events, and so on. That is all well and good. But, the Postal Service has explicit regulations against the issuing of postmarks which contain political propaganda.

Obviously, the U.S. Postal Service has deliberately ignored its own regulations in order to pander to the whims of the militant homosexual minority, and I resent it.

The Postal Service is 'celebrating' what homosexual groups candidly regard and proclaim as the beginning of their political 'movement.' Twenty years ago police raided a 'gay' bar in New York City known as the Stonewall Inn. The homosexuals in the neighborhood responded by rioting. This is the event the Postal Service is helping to 'celebrate.'

The homosexuals are in a battle against American values. Their ultimate aim is to have the American people accept the proposition that their perverted 'lifestyle' is as worthy of protection as race, creed, and religion.

I do not buy that. I say to them, bosh and nausea, and a pox upon whomever in the Postal Service made this completely misguided decision.

Mr. President, instead of denouncing the homosexual 'lifestyle,' countless politicians, some in this Chamber, fall in line with a repugnant organized political movement--and that is what it is--attempting to persuade the American people that this is a desirable way to conduct their lives.

Recently, San Francisco took the final step toward recognizing homosexual marriages. Homosexuals in San Francisco may now register their relationships publicly. They may obtain hospital visitation rights and health insurance and bereavement leave. In the meantime, thousands more in this country will continue to die from AIDS while the homosexuals proclaim the virtues of their perverse practices.

So, Mr. President, the Postal Service, in the judgment of this Senator, has done a great disservice to its long tradition of public service to the American people.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a letter I wrote on June 19 to Postmaster General Anthony Frank and an article from yesterday's Washington Times be printed in the Record.

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:

June 19, 1989.

Hon. Anthony M. Frank,
Postmaster General, U.S. Postal Service, Washington, DC.

Dear Mr. Postmaster General: I assume that there is no substance to strong protests I have received to the effect that the Postal Service has approved a Stamp Cancellation for June 24-25 promoting 'Gay and Lesbian Pride Week' in connection with the 20th anniversary of the Stonewall Station incident.

But if the reports are indeed accurate, I must myself register a protest. Surely the United States Government is not in the business of dignifying perversion.

Please assure me that this is not going to happen.

Sincerely,
Jesse Helms .

Elizabeth Dole's sterile statement on Jesse Helms' death

2008-07-07T15:51:00.009-07:00

Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) was elected to the U.S. Senate seat that Jesse Helms gave up in 2002, and she is now running for re-election in a year in which Republican incumbents are vulnerable. She issued this statement on Friday:

DOLE STATEMENT ON THE PASSING OF SENATOR JESSE HELMS

July 4th, 2008 - Salisbury, N.C. - U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole today made the following statement regarding the passing of U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms:

“Bob and I are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of our longtime friend Senator Jesse Helms. We extend our heartfelt sympathies to his precious wife Dot and their family.

“In succeeding Jesse to represent North Carolina in the United States Senate, I knew I could never replace him, but I continue to strive each day to provide the dedicated constituent service he provided the people of our state for 30 years. As my father would say, Jesse was indeed a ‘watchdog’ for North Carolina and for the nation.”

Democratic nominee Kay Hagan is within striking distance of Dole in several recent polls. Hagan's web site is KayHagan.com.

Helms said gays threaten the survival of the American family

2008-07-07T13:20:00.012-07:00

Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC) attempted to amend S. 419, the Hate Crimes Statistics Act. His amendment was defeated 19-77, with a majority of both Democrats and Republicans voting against it. (Shamefully, Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), who is now the Senate Majority Leader, was one of eight Democrats who voted "yea".) From the Congressional Record:

HELMS AMENDMENT NO. 1251 (Senate - February 08, 1990)

Mr. HELMS proposed an amendment to the bill S. 419, supra, as follows:

At the appropriate place, insert the following new section:

Sec. . It is the sense of the Senate that--

(1) the homosexual movement threatens the strength and the survival of the American family as the basic unit of society;

(2) State sodomy laws should be enforced because they are in the best interest of public health;

(3) the Federal government should not provide discrimination protections on the basis of sexual orientation; and

(4) school curriculums should not condone homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle in American society.

As it happens, the Senate approved an alternate amendment sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT). The Hatch Amendment verbiage was devoid of Helms' rabies, but the effect was actually worse: whereas the Helms Amendment did nothing more than express a non-binding Sense of the Senate, the Hatch Amendment explicitly forbade the appropriation of any funds "to promote or encourage homosexuality". The Hatch Amendment passed 96-0. From the Congressional Record:

HATCH (AND OTHERS) AMENDMENT NO. 1250 (Senate - February 08, 1990)

At the end of the bill insert the following:

(a) Congress finds that:

1. The American family life is the foundation of American society,

2. Federal policy should encourage the well-being, financial security, and health of the American family,

3. Schools should not deemphasize the critical value of American family life.

(b) Nothing in this Act shall be construed, nor shall any funds appropriated to carry out the purpose of the Act be used, to promote or encourage homosexuality.

Jesse Helms speech: The AIDS Coverup

2008-07-07T13:09:00.004-07:00

From the Congressional Record:

THE AIDS COVERUP (Senate - January 24, 1990)

Mr. HELMS . Mr. President, the January 22 edition of Time magazine included a most enlightening report, 'The AIDS Political Machine,' in which Time describes the activities of a well-oiled special interest lobby which has distorted the statistics of the public health apparatus of the U.S. Government.

It is important that an objective assessment be made of the question raised by the magazine: Have AIDS activists distorted the national medical response to the disease? It is essential that all of us review the following facts and decide for ourselves whether the militant AIDS lobby has not in fact skewed the national health care agenda to the detriment of millions of other critically ill Americans who do not have, nor will ever, have AIDS.

Mr. President, the Centers for Disease Control will shortly announce that the number of Americans infected with the AIDS virus is far below the alarming numbers projected in the middle 1980's. In fact the predicted--circa 1986--1.5 million infections may turn out to as low as 650,000. Despite the dire warnings, there has been no AIDS outbreak in the heterosexual community.

Federal AIDS funding is now at $1.6 billion per year. Compare that with the $600 million allocated for heart disease--which kills millions. There are 4 million Americans with Alzheimer's disease. Each one will die a distressing death, yet Alzheimers funding is a mere drop in the bucket compared to AIDS. Cancer kills half a million people each year, but cancer research is shortchanged in the headlong flight to appease the AIDS lobby.

The dollar figures used for AIDS research represent more than excessive Federal attention to the disease. Slowly but surely money and talent are being diverted from other projects to AIDS research. Because AIDS research is so singularly focused, chances for spinoff medical discoveries are remote. As Doctor David Korn, dean of the Stanford Medical School, told Time, '...target money too narrowly, you exclude other areas that may prove very fruitful.'

Mr. President, the AIDS lobby has forced Government to do away with proven public health measures which have successfully controlled deadly diseases in the past. Activists demand quick Federal funding, and approval of untried miracle cures, thereby leaving the door open for quacks and snake oil salesmen. Approval of AZT was rammed through the FDA system in less than 4 months. James Todd of the American Medical Association noted that 'penicillin couldn't get through that fast.' (The average drug approval time is more than 2 years.)

Mr. President, I have yet to mention the political agenda which keeps the AIDS machine rolling along consuming dollars and traditional values as it goes.

AIDS is on the way to becoming a legal handicap for discrimination purposes. The Americans With Disabilities Act, which passed the Senate in September, extends civil rights protections to HIV carriers even though upwards of 90 percent of them caught the disease through unlawful conduct and warped 'life styles.'

Homosexual activists hailed the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act. We may shortly see the Hate Crimes Statistics Act, which leaders of the radical homosexual left proclaim as the most important step toward including 'sexual orientation' in the Civil Rights Act.

Mr. President, compassionate Americans have seen their Government make concession after concession to the AIDS lobby, and to the homosexual movement which supports it. What originally began as a response to a public health emergency has become a battle for the transformation of the American value system. I doubt that many look with favor upon that.

Jesse Helms said gays "caused" AIDS epidemic, victimized Ryan White

2008-07-07T12:58:00.005-07:00

From the Congressional Record during debate of the Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act of 1990 (Senate - May 14, 1990):

Mr. HELMS . ...Let me say that I do agree with the Senator about the horror of this disease. But there is one thing about it. I have never heard once in this Chamber anybody say to the homosexuals and IV drug users, who make up over 90 percent of the AIDS population, 'Stop what you are doing.' Does the Senator realize that if they would stop what they are doing, there would not be one additional new case of AIDS in the United States of America other than those already in progress....

Ryan White was an innocent victim of these people. And I think it is about time that this Senate addressed the moral issue. I have not heard one Senator, except listening to myself, who has said, look, this talk about who is causing this, who caused it from the very beginning?...

More on Helms

2008-07-07T12:20:00.002-07:00

It was just announced that Jesse Helms is going to be buried in a right-wing plot.

Jesse Helms is dead

2008-07-07T11:05:00.005-07:00

Former U.S. Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC) was a vicious race baiter, a crypto-Klansman, and a hater of gay people who used his Senate position to stifle HIV prevention funding so that the killer plague could rampage through the gay male community. Hell just got fuller.

Southern Poverty Law Center identifies anti-gay groups as hate groups

2008-07-02T18:06:00.006-07:00

The Southern Poverty Law Center is a non-profit civil rights law firm that is internationally renowned for its legal victories against white supremacist neo-Nazis, skinheads, and the KKK and for its tracking of hate group activities. It was founded in 1971 by Morris Dees and Joe Levin, and its first president was Julian Bond.

The Center has classified several organizations as anti-gay hate organizations whose activities go "beyond mere disagreement with homosexuality by subjecting gays and lesbians to campaigns of personal vilification". The names of many of these groups will be familiar to readers:

♦ Abiding Truth Ministries
♦ American Vision
♦ Chalcedon Foundation
♦ Family Research Institute
♦ Mass Resistance
♦ Traditional Values Coalition
♦ Watchmen on the Walls
♦ Westboro Baptist Church

Sam Cooke sings "A Change Is Gonna Come"

2008-07-02T17:49:00.004-07:00

Happy Fourth of July.

Cheyenne Jackson sings Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come"

2008-07-01T18:39:00.009-07:00

One of the most moving civil rights songs ever. Find the lyrics here. Then get more Cheyenne at CheyenneJackson.com

Musgrave re-enters gay marriage debate

2008-07-01T14:55:00.006-07:00

Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO-04), the doyenne of the Capitol Hill homophobe lobby, has been trying to cultivate a moderate image during this congressional term after barely getting re-elected two years ago. After receiving much press for repeatedly introducing the anti-gay Federal Marriage Amendment during earlier sessions of Congress, she has largely laid low this term in an effort to seem like a focused, competent representative.

It couldn't last. In just the last month she has signed on to two of the House's three anti-gay marriage amendments. Political scientist Bob Duffy of Colorado State University wonders if she needs to shore up her base four months before the election:

"...you would only do it if you believe the benefits exceed the cost, if you concluded that the effort to rebrand her isn't working and you need to secure her base either for fundraising or for votes."

Musgrave is being challenged by Democrat Betsy Markey, a successful businesswoman who is also a former staffer on Capitol Hill and in the U.S. Departments of State and Treasury.

Marriage amendment sponsor in hot water over morals

2008-07-01T13:11:00.008-07:00

Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA-10) introduced H.J. Res. 89, the Marriage Protection Amendment, in May. It now seems that he needed to do so to shore up his right flank. Rep. Broun is something less than an ethical paragon (unless serving as a negative example counts). From yesterday's Athens Banner-Herald:

The Athens Republican declared bankruptcy, didn't pay his taxes and fought with an ex-wife over alimony payments while living in Americus in the late 1970s and early 1980s, according to records unearthed by GOP opponent Barry Fleming's campaign.

In his four previous runs for federal office, rumors circulated but politicians and journalists considered him a fringe candidate and didn't delve too deeply into his past. Sumter County and federal court documents offer detailed information about his transgressions....

Broun falsified financial documents in an effort to obtain a loan and misrepresented his assets and debts during bankruptcy proceedings, a federal judge ruled in 1983....

Broun also went to court with an ex-wife over whether he was paying all of the alimony and child support required by his divorce settlement. In 1984, a Sumter County judge ordered him to pay $467 plus interest.

Broun's financial troubles stemmed from a bad economy and some business failures, he said. He has been married to his fourth wife, Niki, for 23 years and has a good relationship with his ex-wives and children by a previous marriage, he said.

According to Friday's CQ Politics, it's clear that Broun still hasn't earned the support of party regulars:

...Broun won his seat in northeastern Georgia with a stunning upset in a July 2007 special election runoff. He defeated a much better-known Republican candidate, former state Sen. Jim Whitehead, who had the support of the state party establishment — including the family of the late 10th District Republican Rep. Charlie Norwood, whose death in February of that year created the vacancy filled by Broun.

Broun barely had time to settle into Congress before drawing a challenge for this July’s primary from Republican state Rep. Barry Fleming, who quickly rallied support from colleagues in the state legislature and local party officials.

Broun's Republican detractors contend that he won the Republican-vs.-Republican runoff with support of Democratic voters who had no candidate of their own, and that he is not a genuine conservative. Broun, who has amassed a nearly solid party-line voting record during his short time in Congress, denies these assertions.

At least each of his four wives liked him -- at some point, anyway.

Roundup

2008-07-01T09:49:00.012-07:00

♦ Kermit Love, Big Bird's gay creator, has passed away at 91.

♦ Focus on the Family has an hysterical (hysterical-crazy, not hysterical-funny) video on the danger that is Tim Gill. Gill is the gay software brazillionaire who is guilty of the seditious and sodomistic act of supporting or opposing candidates for public office.

♦ Not to be outdone by Focus' webfoolery, the American Family Association posted an Associated Press article on their web site about track star Tyson Gay. But the article got shredded by the AFA's find/replace text program. The AFA doesn't like the word "gay", since it suggests that those of an Athenian inclination might be happy, so all such references were removed and replaced with the more dour "homosexual". The entire article then told of how track star Homosexual had qualified for the Olympics.

♦ Millions of dollars have already been raised to fight both sides of the California gay marriage issue. The Los Angeles Times has an interactive money map here.