Advocate's Kerry Eleveld: 'Where's the fight, Mr. President?'

Kerry Eleveld, like Frank Rich, is awfully hard to excerpt well and do full justice to her writing. Here's my attempt, but please do read her entire piece - the first page alone was worth quoting in its entirety:

Barack Obama was out on the stump in Madison, Wis., doing an admirable job of trying to recapture a little of that ol’ 2008 campaign magic. And guess what he was talking about: fighting.

“That election was not just about putting me in the White House. It was about building a movement for change that went beyond any one campaign or any one candidate. It was about remembering that in the United States of America, our destiny is not written for us –- it is written by us,” he told a raucous college-age crowd. “The power to shape our future lies in our hands –- but only if we’re willing to keep working for it and fighting for it and keep believing that change is possible.”

[W]hen Barack Obama took office, only one state legally recognized same-sex marriages. Now five do, including one in the Midwest and two that approved it through the legislature rather than the courts. In the past couple months, two very separate polls have found that a majority of the American people now support same-sex marriage.

One federal judge has ruled part of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, while another federal judge said the same of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, and yet a third federal judge ruled the discharge of a service member under the policy unconstitutional.

Poll after poll after poll finds that anywhere from 65% to 75% of the public believe gays and lesbians should be able to serve their country openly, including a solid majority of self-identified conservatives and Republicans.

A tidal wave of change is rolling through America, and yet this president and Democratic Congress accomplished only hate-crimes — a measure that had already passed both chambers of Congress once before but was nixed from its host legislation based on a veto threat from President George W. Bush.

Hate crimes.

Where’s the fight, Mr. President? Our kids are committing suicide because our government continues to tell them their lives are less valuable than those of their peers. That they cannot grow up and participate in our society like every other American. That they cannot share in the institution by which our society measures and values love. That they are too embarrassing to fight for our country in full view of their countrymen. That freedom apparently does not mean freedom for everyone.

Where’s the fight, Mr. President?

Read the rest of this post...

Sec. of Education issues statement on recent gay suicides

It's a good strong statement. At first I was impressed. Then I read Geoff Kors' response, and Geoff is right. You can't be against intolerance "in all its forms" when your own administration supports intolerance.

And it's not just marriage.  The Obama administration is opposing our civil rights in court case after court case.  And before anyone says "they have no choice," remember last year when the Obama administration refused to even sit down with our community's lawyers to talk through DOMA?

STATEMENT BY U.S. SECRETARY OF EDUCATION ARNE DUNCAN On the Recent Deaths of Two Young Men

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today released the following statement:

"This week, we sadly lost two young men who took their own lives for one unacceptable reason: they were being bullied and harassed because they were openly gay or believed to be gay. These unnecessary tragedies come on the heels of at least three other young people taking their own lives because the trauma of being bullied and harassed for their actual or perceived sexual orientation was too much to bear.

"This is a moment where every one of us - parents, teachers, students, elected officials, and all people of conscience - needs to stand up and speak out against intolerance in all its forms. Whether it's students harassing other students because of ethnicity, disability or religion; or an adult, public official harassing the President of the University of Michigan student body because he is gay, it is time we as a country said enough. No more. This must stop."

And here is Geoff Kors' statement:

Equality California Executive Director Geoff Kors writes to this list:

"If the Administration truly wants harassment and bullying to stop our self proclaimed 'fierce advocate' needs to stop saying he opposes true equality as his opposition to marriage equality sends a message that our relationships and LGBT people are not deserving of the same protections as he and the majority enjoy. What kind of message does that send to LGBT youth or to those who might harass them?"

I've said it before. Had the Obama administration been our fierce advocate on our top issues, had they repealed DADT, signed ENDA into law, and repealed DOMA - hell, had they done even one of those things - I think people might look at this statement from the Secretary of Education as historic.

But it's not historic, because it's all we're going to get as our young people keep killing themselves: Words.

Want to show you care? Do something. Read the rest of this post...

STFU, Maggie Gallagher

That Maggie Gallagher felt compelled to issue a statement denying that her anti-gay rhetoric had anything to do with the recent rash of suicides speaks for itself.

Joe.My.God has the homophobe Gallagher's statement. I'm not going to post her vile venom. But, at Truth Wins Out, Evan Hurst translates Maggie's message and offers some advice:

Shorter Maggie Gallagher: “That’s sad and all, but I’m going to keep spending my life trying to hurt those kids and their families, because I’m an entirely pigheaded individual who isn’t capable of ruminating over the consequences of my actions, and because I have very little connection with the real world, instead choosing to battle my own personal demons in the public square.”

And, I will post Jeremy Hooper's response:

But here's the thing: It doesn't matter what Maggie personally thinks about what will or will not resolve tragedies like the ones we've seen this week. It doesn't matter how heartfelt her personal condolences may be. What matters is the body of her professional work with NOM and elsewhere, and the fallout that we gay folk all-too-well know can stem from these "culture war" activities! Because it is this bias cultivation that changes the molecules in the air. It's this anti-civil rights work that puts heterosexism into everyone's psyches. It's this fear-fostering that foments a world where LGBT people are viewed as different, wrong, or in some extreme cases -- unworthy of life.

The thing about loose lips: They can sink ships. So too, loose interpretations of who was and was not born into the right sexuality!

The reality is that none of us have ever grown up in a world where the full population is free to live as they were formed. A very big and undeniable reason for this is the far-right's "culture war" against gay people's lives and loves. A "culture war" that Maggie Gallagher has been a part of for decades now.

Read the rest of this post...

Top gay bills likely won't advance under GOP House

That would be the same bills that haven't advanced under a Democratic Congress.

I don't mean to belittle how anti-gay the Republicans are, but let's face it - the gay rights agenda hasn't exactly been parading through a Democratic Congress and Democratic White House either. Read the rest of this post...

Another suicide

From GaySouthFlorida blog:

In the wake of two college suicides Tyler Clementi of Rutgers University & Raymond Chase of Johnson & Wales, Campus Pride reissues findings and recommendations from the "2010 State of Higher Education for LGBT People" released last week at a U.S. congressional briefing on Capitol Hill

(Providence, RI) Campus Pride, the nation’s leading non-profit organization working with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and ally college and university students, offers its condolences and support to the family of Raymond Chase who reportedly hung himself in his residence hall room this past Wednesday, September 29, 2010 on the campus of Johnson & Wales in Providence, RI.

Read the rest of this post...

British Army: Openly Gay Soldiers Increase Productivity

But, of course, Republican and conservative Democratic Senators know better than everyone else, right?

Following the defeat of a vote in the US Senate to debate ending the US army's Don't ask, Don't tell' policy, the British army claims that allowing gay and lesbians to openly served has improved the armed forces.

Last week, primarily Republican US senators voted to block a debate into gay and lesbian people being able to serve openly in the military. A minimum of 60 senators were required to be in favour of overturning a filibuster of the 'defence authorisation bill' which includes the repeal of the US military 'Don't ask, Don't tell' policy by senator John McCain but only 56 senators voted in favour. Although some of the senators who voted against did so because of an immigration amendment 'tacked' onto the bill.

I still would have loved to see the blood curdling screams and reactions from conservatives if progressives had held our troops hostage during Bush's tensure if they hadn't liked some of the parts of the Defense Authorization bill.

Colonel Abraham argues that the lifting of the ban actually made the armed forces more productive: "A lot of gay and lesbian soldiers who were in the army before the ban was lifted, reported that a percentage of their efforts was spent looking over their shoulder and ensuring they weren’t going to be caught. That percentage of time can now be devoted to work and their home life, so actually they are more effective than they were before."

"Soldier," Great Britain's magazine about their army featured a gay soldier, James Wharton, of the Household Cavalry Regiment, on the cover honoring TEN YEARS of allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly and honestly. We are supposed to "stop whining" when our allies have ten years of experience showing that ending unfair bigotry in the service increases productivity? Read the rest of this post...

Mormon elder apologizes for Prop 8

It's an odd story. At first blush, it sounds like one of those "I'm sorry that you were offended" apologizes, but when you read the entire story, it definitely seems to go way beyond that. The church is not changing its position on marriage, and they're not renouncing their horrendous role in ripping the right to marry away from millions of Californians, the way racist segregationists in the south passed laws stopping blacks from marrying whites. But, apparently. getting an apology from a church elder is a big, rare, deal in Mormon circles. At the very least, this does suggest that Prop 8's legacy, from the Mormon church's perspective, is no longer one solely of "victory." And that's a welcome change, even if it's not nearly enough.

The basic dilemma for the Mormon church, the church leadership, is that if they continue to operate as a wholly-owned armed of the religious right, dropping millions into bigoted campaigns to bash gays - bash their own church members - then al the apologies in the world won't amount to a hill of beans.

And by the way... Mormon leaders are still embracing Evergreen? Oh how I wish I could tell you the stories I've heard about that place. I was writing a huge exposé on the "cure the gays" crowd, right before September 11, and Evergreen was front and center (the story got pretty much killed by the intervening news of the attacks). I interviewed a kid who says he spent time at Evergreen, and then elsewhere. The story was going to require a good bit of legal review as the allegations he made were quite serious. It's difficult for me to believe that there wasn't more than a kernel of truth in what this young man told me about Evergreen (he was in hiding when I interviewed him).

If the Mormons are serious about apologizing for their anti-gay excesses, they should start with a thorough examination of Evergreen. I'm happy to share what I uncovered with someone from the church privately. Read the rest of this post...

Pam Spaulding on CNN.com: 'Why did Tyler Clementi die?'

Excellent post from Pam at CNN.com on the recent rash of gay teen suicides, bullying and that homophobe in the Michigan AG's office. Pam really pulls this together in a cogent, clear way. Read the whole thing. Seriously. Here's an excerpt:

Tyler Clementi's story may be high-profile because of the circumstances of the alleged bullying, but the fate of this young man is not a solitary incident. This parents' nightmare is repeated around the country as our society grapples with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) youth coming out at earlier ages -- and being visible from grade school to college.

While they may find acceptance by loving parents and be encouraged by a culture increasingly embracing their identity, these young people find that "being themselves" is not always well-received by an important slice of their world -- school administrators, children who bully, and even teachers who subscribe to the "toughen up" philosophy. This world has not caught up, even as anti-bullying policies are being passed across the country.

In the coverage of this incident, I have seen discussion about the legal angles of prosecution, the psychological impact of the alleged heinous violation of privacy, but not enough about the festering social ill that brought us here. Who creates the bully? Who is accountable?

Read the rest of this post...

Bishop Long Scandal Awakens Justice

As much as I abhor what Bishop Eddie Long is accused of doing, I welcome the fact the scandal seems to have struck a wellspring and unleashed articles from some great African American writers about what Martin Luther King's legacy is truly about. Another one has been featured in Huffington Post penned by David A. Love, Executive Editor, BlackCommentator.com. He didn't pull his punches:

Long believes that homosexuality is spiritual abortion, "a manifestation of a fallen man." He believes that if black gays and lesbians feel alienated and abandoned by the black church, the problem is not intolerance against them but their own sins. But before these people go to Hell as he contends they are, Long is trying to cure gays and lesbians (except himself, we can assume). And his church bookstore sells the works of authors such as the homophobic James Dobson of Focus on the Family -- no friend of the black community.

And Long's misappropriation of the King legacy is shameful. Coretta Scott King's funeral was held at New Birth in 2006 rather than at Ebenezer Baptist Church, the King family's church. Civil rights giants Harry Belafonte and then-NAACP-chair Julian Bond were so mortified by this fact that they boycotted the funeral. After all, Mrs. King was a supporter of gay marriage, and she called it a civil rights issue. The late Yolanda King, the oldest child, took after her mother in that regard, but Bernice King, the youngest child in the King family, called Long her "new father" and symbolically passed a torch to him.

To add to the insult, Bernice King and Long participated in a march to Dr. King's gravesite to support a national constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. In 2004, Long and others successfully pushed for a similar amendment to the Georgia state constitution. And it should be noted that Alveda King, Dr. King's niece, is herself a homophobic minister who exploited her uncle's name at Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally, an event replete with aggrieved white supremacists, Obama-haters and gun-enthusiasts. "Homosexuality cannot be elevated to the civil rights issue," Alveda King said in a 1998 speech. "The civil rights movement was born from the Bible. God hates homosexuality."

If it takes a depraved scandal, like Bishop Eddie Long's, to bring critical mass and awaken the African American community to separate the wheat from the chaff then so be it. Let the words flow out of it and be written by African American men and women of clear vision, and pour out until "justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream." With the help of African American journalists like Eugene Robinson, John McWhorter and David Love this is becoming a seminal moment where those who attempted to divert and limit King's legacy into separate branches have been thwarted, and the civil rights movement has come roaring back into one mighty stream. The brutal exposure of Bishop Long, and chastisement of his blind followers, might just have single handedly saved Martin Luther King's legacy once and for all. Read the rest of this post...

Body confirmed as that of Rutgers student who jumped to his death after being filmed by roommate having sex

CNN does a very good job up updating the story here. Read the rest of this post...