AMERICAblog Gay | A great people deserve their rights

Oklahoma Senator, Tom Coburn, on "Don't Ask Don't Tell"

2009-12-05T11:46:00.001-05:00

Well, of course we need the Obama Administration to move this issue forward, and so far, nothing. But, check this out. A friend here in Oklahoma just received this response from our Senator, Tom Coburn, regarding his stance on "Don't Ask Don't Tell." I posting the whole letter so you can see what we're dealing with:

Thank you for writing me regarding homosexuals serving in the United States military. I appreciate hearing from you again and I apologize for my delayed response.

I am truly grateful for our military men and women who have courageously been defending the country and preserving freedom. I know that active military service, especially when it separates spouses and children is a great sacrifice for everyone involved.

I understand your opinion and perspective on this issue. As you probably know, the current "don't ask, don't tell" policy was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1993. I was not a member of Congress at that time.

On June 8th of this year, the Supreme Court announced it would not review a 2008 decision by the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston that rejected a challenge of "don't ask, don't tell" by service members discharged under the current policy. In rejecting a challenge of the policy last June on a first amendment basis, the First Circuit Court said the current law "is justified on a content-neutral, non-speech basis; specifically, maintaining the military's effectiveness as a fighting force." I support the decision of the Supreme Court in upholding the law.

In its brief, the Obama Administration supported the court's decision to uphold the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. "Applying the strong deference traditionally afforded to the Legislative and Executive Branches in the area of military affairs, the court of appeals properly upheld the statute," argued Elena Kagan, who as Solicitor General represents the Administration before the Supreme Court. The brief argued that the "don't ask, don't tell" policy "rationally related to the government's legitimate interest in military discipline and cohesion."

Recently, though, according to a New York Times article from October 10, President Obama spoke at a fund raiser dinner for the Human Rights Campaign stating, "I will end 'don't ask, don't tell.' " He did not give a timeline for this decision; however I will continue to monitor the situation.

The primary responsibilities of our military, defending our nation and winning wars, should not be compromised by politics. As I noted, this military policy was created by Congress and the President but is supported by many in our armed forces. While I believe it is imperative that the elected leaders of the people hold all government Departments accountable for their actions and policies, I defer in large part to our military leaders on matters of military readiness and code of conduct. This includes the impact changing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy would have, especially since military leaders note that this issue is fundamentally about military readiness.

The overriding issue that would affect the readiness of the armed forces would be the forced cohabitation of homosexuals with heterosexuals at forward operating bases and deployed ships. This would be similar to forcing female soldiers to cohabit with male soldiers in housing situations that offer little to no privacy. The 1993 law does not ban or exclude homosexuals from serving in the armed forces and some estimate there are currently 65,000 homosexual men and women in the military. Please know that I have the utmost respect for every man and woman who chooses to wear our nation's uniform and accepts the responsibility and sacrifices that come with it.

While we may not agree on every issue, I thank you for writing. I hope to hear from you in the future. May God bless you and your family!

"65,000 homosexual men and women in the military." That is a lot of American troops who are being discriminated against, Senator, based on nonsense. Oh, and he can put that "May God bless you and your family!" line right where it belongs.

I'll let you, Dear AMERICAblog Gay Reader, tear apart the rest of this ridiculous crap.

DC's famed LGBT bookstore, Lambda Rising, is closing

2009-12-05T09:23:00.000-05:00

Sad news via Lambda Rising's Facebook page:

Lambda Rising, known for 35 years as Washington’s “bookstore that celebrates the gay and lesbian experience,” has announced the imminent closing of their two stores in Washington DC and Rehoboth Beach DE.

“The phrase ‘mission accomplished’ has gotten a bad rap in recent years,” said Deacon Maccubbin, Lambda Rising’s founder and co-owner, “but in this case, it certainly applies. When we set out to establish Lambda Rising in 1974, it was intended as a demonstration of the demand for gay and lesbian literature.”

Maccubbin explains that it was virtually impossible to find gay books in general bookstores or even in libraries. “We thought if we could show that there was a demand for our literature, that bookstores could be profitable selling it, we could encourage the writing and publishing of glbt books, and sooner or later other bookstores would put those books on their own shelves and there would no be less need for a specifically gay and lesbian bookstore.”

“Today 35 years later, nearly every general bookstore carries glbt books, often featuring them in special sections,” Maccubbin noted.

“The other part of our mission was to make good glbt books and information available to anyone anywhere at a time when such items were very hard to find. Today, people almost anywhere can access glbt information on the internet.”

Portia de Ross on The View talks about Prop 8 and the importance of marriage

2009-12-05T07:05:00.000-05:00

Fabulous photo

2009-12-05T00:40:00.001-05:00

Just go and check it out.

Sweden to cut aid to Uganda over gay genocide law

2009-12-04T14:23:00.000-05:00

The "land of the free, and home of the brave," Sweden, is going to cut aid to Uganda to try to pressure them to get rid of their new law calling for gays to be executed. It's good that Hillary has spoken out about this, but what about the White House?

Sweden has joined the growing list of countries heaping pressure on Uganda to discard a proposed law that would severely punish homosexuality.

According to comments attributed to Gunilla Carlsson, Sweden's development assistance minister, the Swedish government says it would cut aid to Uganda over an anti-gay law they find "appalling"....

In Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's conservative government called the proposed law "vile and hateful", while Britain's Gordon Brown raised the issue with President Museveni during the recent Commonwealth summit in Trinidad and Tobago.

White House official refuses to endorse needle exchange after President campaigned on it

2009-12-04T12:18:00.000-05:00

From MPBN:

Around the country, the general concensus is that needle exchange programs work. Several federal studies have concluded that needle exchange programs reduce transmission of HIV and Hepatitis C without increasing illicit drug use. President Barack Obama campaigned on that theme. And while his first budget did not include funding for needle exchange, some observers say all the signals coming from the White House are good.

"We see needle exchange as a valuable tool as long as it's used within the context of a broader public health strategy," says Dr. Keith Humphreys, a senior policy advisor at the White House Office on National Drug Control Policy, more commonly known as the office of the drug czar. "That includes HIV testing, Hepatitis C testing, medical care, dental care and most of all treatment for addiction."

Humphreys declined to say whether his office would support the lifting of the ban.

All the signs are not good if a White House official is declining to say whether his office supports the President's own campaign commitment. That shows that there is a problem somewhere. Now, to put this in context, you'll recall that AIDS activists shut down the Capitol Rotunda this past July to protest what they saw as the Obama administration backing off of its commitment to needle exchange. This new quote is more evidence that the activists appear to have been correct.

A Gay Speaker for the California Assembly?

2009-12-04T10:12:00.000-05:00

Karen Ocamb at LGBT POV has the scoop that openly gay Assemblyman John A. Perez may become the next Speaker of the California Assembly:

John A. Perez reminds me to put the initial “A” in his name when I write stories about him.

I don’t know how many other people with the name “John Perez” there might be in the state of California – but by next Thursday, arguably the most famous John Perez will be the first-term Assemblymember drafted by his colleagues to be America’s first openly gay speaker of any state legislature.

This would make Perez one of the most important openly gay elected officials in the country.

And, because nothing is every easy, Ocamb also reports that Perez may be challenged by a fellow Democrat, State Senator Gil Cedillo (who is term-limited from running for the Senate again) in a primary next June.

In New York, not just getting mad, getting even. Focus is on 2010 elections.

2009-12-04T08:23:00.001-05:00

Joe Jervis (a.k.a. Joe.My.God) and Andy Towle were at a large rally in New York City to protest the ugly vote on marriage equality in the State Senate. New York's LGBT community isn't just angry, it sounds like they've got their eye on the prize: the 2010 elections.

Andy has some great photos and video. And, this from Joe.My.God:

Throughout the crowd and from the stage, threats of retribution rained down on the "Hate 38," the Senators that voted against equality. Particular scorn was heaped upon the eight traitorous Democrats, whose faces adorn many placards and who were named and shamed from the microphone. Hearty cheers went up whenever our new heroes like Sen. Ruth Hassell-Thompson were mentioned. The crowd was instructed about the coming 2010 elections and the NYC seats now in everyone's crosshairs. The evening was definitely not another useless venting of rage, as these things are often characterized.

Maybe that's the one good thing to come from this. We now know who are friends are -- and those who aren't. That's vital information because several of the Senators who voted against us, like State Senator Joseph Addabbo from Queens, got large contributions from gay donors last fall.

I checked the 2008 campaign finance reports for Addabbo. For example, Tim Gill gave him $9,500 last year. HRC's New York PAC gave him $9,500. Gay donor Jon Stryker gave him $4,000. Now, I'm not saying money buys votes, but most candidates are so blatant about taking money from people they intend to screw over. And, all that money can now be directed towards his primary opponent. Addabbo told the New York Times that his constituents were opposed to marriage equality:

Mr. Addabbo said that he and his staff kept a log of all the calls, e-mail messages and letters that came into his office on same-sex marriage — 400 in all, he said.

“Seventy-four percent were against it,” he said. “I was trying to represent the consensus of my district.”

So, Addabbo thinks he voted with his constituents. We'll see about that.

We're seeing that politicians in DC and in New York don't fear the gays. They think we've got no where else to go, that we'll just keep giving them money, even if they don't fulfill their promises. That has to end, which is why we started "Don't Ask, Don't Give." There must be consequences. And, we know most Republicans are hopeless so we have to beat bad Democrats in primaries. Fear of losing an election is a very motivating factor for elected officials. Sometimes it's the only motivating factor.

Angry reaction to the vote against marriage in New York today: "A contagious lack of backbone"

2009-12-02T17:01:00.005-05:00

Not a good day in New York. First, fully one-fourth of the Senate Democratic Caucus voted against marriage equality. The offenders are: Joseph Addabbo (D-Queens), Darrel Aubertine (D- Cape Vincent), Ruben Diaz (D-Bronx), Shirley Huntley (D-Queens), Carl Kruger (D-Brooklyn), Hiram Monserrate (D-Queens), George Onorato (D-Queens) and William Stachowski (D-Buffalo). A quarter might sound okay, but as you'll see below, the Democrats in New York owe control of the State Senate to gay support last fall.

I listened to the debate today. Ruben Diaz was the worst. He gave an outrageous floor speech. Then, as he was casting his vote, Diaz noted that he was on the same side as President Obama and Hillary and Bill Clinton. Senator Tom Duane pointed out that at least Diaz was wrong about Bill Clinton.

Every single Republican voted No. There was a strong belief that at least a few GOPers would vote yes. But, that didn't happen. I suspect those GOPers bailed once it became clear the bill was going down. They didn't want to be the next Dede Scozzafava for a losing cause. (You recall that she was that GOP candidate for Congress who faced the wrath of all the hard-core right-wingers, including Palin and Beck, because she was too liberal on issues like same-sex marriage.)

So, the backlash begins. And, in New York, an LGBT backlash can be powerful.

TowleRoad has a quote from the Senate sponsor, Tom Duane, who spoke of the betrayal from his fellow Democrats:

"I wasn't expected to be betrayed, and so I have some justified anger. But it's just going to propel me to - I don't want to say redouble my efforts, because my efforts have been pretty strong - but I'm not going to let up. I'm angry. I'm disappointed. I am let down. I'm betrayed. But I am not going away...Unfortunately, I think there was a contagious lack of backbone that occurred here today. And I’m angry about that and sad about that, but it was contagious. Similarly, the opposite would have meant far more votes than anyone had expected but unfortunately that wasn’t the way it went today."

Sounds like there was plenty of betrayal and not nearly enough backbone in Albany today.

Via Joe.My.God, there's a protest in New York City tonight:

A protest about today's vote will take place in Times Square at 6PM on the steps of TKTS booth.

Joe also reported that one of the Senators who ditched us was the Democrat accused of domestic violence:

Among the surprises was a "no" vote from Queens Democrat Sen. Hiram Monserrate, who had previously been a vocal supporter. In October, Monserrate narrowly escaped a felony assault conviction for slashing the face of his girlfriend with a broken glass. Monserrate's NYC office: (718) 205-3881. His Albany office: (518) 455-2529.

Monserrate could marry the woman whose face he allegedly slashed. But, he doesn't think same-sex marriages are worth legal recognition. Bastard.

This is the beginning of the statement from New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn about the vote, which I got by email:

“Today the New York State Senate rejected an opportunity to declare that all citizens in New York are equal. The depth of sadness that I and many New Yorkers feel today is difficult to express. This is a loss for every family in New York. This is a loss for every Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender New Yorker.

It was a loss for every all of us -- again. I'm getting sick of losing. And, I'm getting sick of politicians who take our money and don't deliver.

Michael Mitchell, the Executive Director of National Stonewall Democrats blasted the Republicans, but also stated (and rightly so) that Democrats have to be held accountable:

"Today's vote also demonstrates that we must be critical in examining those in our own ranks. We cannot allow the Democratic Party to harbor intolerance or hatred of any kind. On a day marked by disappointment, at least now we know which Democrats need to be held accountable on primary day next year."

That's a key point. In New York, a lot of gay money was spent to help Democrats retake control of the State Senate in New York last fall. That was documented in a piece in the New York Times on October 26, 2008, which included this excerpt:

Far from trumpeting their involvement, gay rights groups have been largely silent about their role in Senate campaigns for fear of raising the ire of social conservatives. But a review of campaign finance disclosure forms shows that gay and lesbian advocates have become a quiet but potent force this election season.

All told, gay rights groups and donors affiliated with them have given a total of at least $480,000 this year to Democratic Senate candidates and campaign funds controlled by Democrats, according to the most recent disclosure documents available. Much of that money was donated in the past month and pointed at a handful of competitive races, campaign finance filings show.

So, gays helped put the Democrats in control of the State Senate -- and that is widely known. And, what did we get for that? A crushing defeat.

This is so not over. New York gays started the movement for equality with Stonewall back in 1969. Let's see what happens in 2009.

NJ Senate to consider gay marriage vote next week

2009-12-03T18:50:00.003-05:00

Good news, since NJ seemed to be stalling.

What will gay Obama admin official do with case of lesbian seeking benefits?

2009-12-03T13:44:00.000-05:00

As Mike Signorile reports, senior gay in the Obama administration, John Berry, who heads the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), wasn't in office yet when OPM intervened to kill the health benefits of a lesbian partner of a gay federal employee. But Berry is in office now. And he has fewer than three weeks to make a decision reversing yet another discriminatory action taken by the Obama administration. Berry can claim he wasn't responsible for the first time (though the Obama administration overall was), but in 20 days, if OPM continues to support discrimination against gays and lesbians, this will rest on Berry's, and Obama's, head.

Notice that Gibbs is still talking about "changing" rather than "repealing" DADT

2009-12-03T12:15:00.000-05:00

Joe and I have been writing for a while about how ever since the White House Web site changed the description of the President's commitment on Don't Ask Don't Tell from "repealing" the discriminatory law to simply "changing" it, the White House began using that new terminology. Interestingly, White House officials often talk about "repealing" DADT when they're speaking to a gay audience. But when they're speaking to the nation as a whole, it's "change" DADT. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs did it again yesterday. You can find his quote in the post Joe did earlier about troops being stretched thin.

I've talked to a lot of people about this. Smart people. And every single one laughs when I tell them that the White House expects us to believe that "changing" DADT and "repealing" DADT mean the same thing. Joe and I both think the administration is planning some half-measure, like they do on every issue, to not quite repeal DADT, but to make it more "humane," as they said earlier this year. The big question is whether our national organizations will let the administration recodify discrimination.

Abuse settlement from Maine Catholic Diocese

2009-12-03T10:54:00.001-05:00

The Catholic Diocese of Maine has been doling out a lot of money lately. There was that $550,000 spent on the anti-gay campaign. And, there was another $200,000 paid to the victim of a sexually-abusing priest:

A lawyer has confirmed that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland made a $200,000 settlement on Nov. 5 with his client, who said she was molested by a priest in 1976 in the rectory of St. Michael's Church in South Berwick.

The priest was the Rev. James Vallely, said attorney Mitchell Garabedian, of Boston. The victim, who lives outside of New England, was 11 years old at the time and one of the first female altar servers in the state.

The settlement money came from insurance, said Sue Bernard, spokesperson for the diocese. The diocese received its first complaint about Vallely in 1978 and took action. It did not involve the victim in the settlement.

Took action? The Church leaders enabled abusers for decades. Yet, these same abuse-enabling church leaders are setting social policy for America. That's sick.

Chase Bank is supporting NOM Education Fund

2009-12-03T09:38:00.001-05:00

WTF?

Reader "sonofloud" writes about Chase Bank's effort to support the anti-gay group, National Organization for Marriage (NOM), found via Queerty:

A little off topic but....

Chase Bank is running a contest called 'Community Giving' for users to select charities worthy of receiving a chunk of a 5 million dollar donation by the bank. Among the non-profits listed are the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage.

NOM being on the list is a direct violation of Chase's own non-discrimination policy:

"Chase Community Giving's own "clear and simple" rules state in Section 4 that any organization that "by itself or through an affiliated entity, discriminates on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disability, age, veteran status, medical condition, citizenship, ancestry or marital status is not eligible" (Queerty).

The Chase list likely came from a standard non-profits list and was not edited to take out organizations that violate the non-discrimination policy.

Please tell Chase to review and remove the National Organization for Marriage at chasecommunitygiving.inquiry@chase.com

Thanks for drawing our attention to this outrage, "sonofloud" and "JamesR."

Checked this morning to confirm and NOM is, in fact, a beneficiary:

Gibbs admits troops are stretched thin, but no info. on whether DADT discharges will be slowed

2009-12-03T08:13:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, while many of us were glued to the New York Senate debate on marriage, Kerry Eleveld was at the White House briefing asking questions that made some news.

In the aftermath of the President's speech on Afghanistan with its commitment of 30,000 additional troops, Kerry asked Robert Gibbs if he had any information on whether Don't Ask, Don't Tell discharges would be slowed -- given that our military is still using "stop-loss." Gibbs, as usual, didn't have an answer on a gay-related question. But, Kerry's follow-up got him to admit that "No doubt" our troops are "stretched thin." (The full transcript of the Q & A is after the break.)

So, our troops are stretched thin, but DADT discharges continue unabated. That's smart policy, huh?

From the White House Transcript:

Q Some people have analyzed the number of troops available to deploy and said that sending 30,000 troops is tantamount to deploying nearly every U.S. Army brigade possible. Given that about 10,000 soldiers are already in stop-loss, do you know where Defense Secretary Gates is with his review of softening the discharges on "don't ask, don't tell"?

MR. GIBBS: Well, I have not heard an update from the Secretary on that. I know that obviously the President wants that policy changed. In terms of -- I mean, obviously it's not just Army. This is Army and Marines, as well as -- well, Army and Marines. They are -- this was very specifically asked in terms of whether force flow options would interrupt either Marine or Army policies that have been instituted to give longer breaks for tours of duty and then return home. The Joint Chiefs, to a commander, all told the Commander-in-Chief that they could meet the force requirement without interrupting what they had instituted in order to provide that time at home and away from the tour of duty.

Q But the troops are stretched thin. I mean, it's not --

MR. GIBBS: No doubt. And I think that the President was very clear in wanting to see the Joint Chiefs to, quite frankly, ask them very directly whether that was the case. There's no doubt that there has been for many, many years a strain on our forces; that that strain has caused repeated tours. And only recently has Secretary Gates and others instituted policies that ensure that we had time outside of a theater of war and that they believe was necessary to maintain an all-volunteer force, which they think obviously is tremendously important, as well as just dealing with the stress physically and mentally on them.

Twitter on NY

2009-12-02T22:30:00.000-05:00

@daveweigel RT @mattyglesias: RT @attackerman: New tourism slogan: I HEART NEW YORK (NO HOMO)

Dan Savage on Obama's gay record in his first year

2009-12-02T19:07:00.003-05:00

Brutal, brilliant, and accurate. The video is, we think, about two months old. The thing is, nothing much has changed. Yes, Obama lifted the HIV travel ban. It didn't take any work to do, but it's good that he did it. He also signed the hate crimes bill - again, with no effort on his part whatsoever, since it passed in the last congress and even broke a GOP filibuster attempt.

I'm not knocking Obama for doing these two things, it's great that he did, but he didn't have to expend any political capital whatsoever to do either of them. In politics, using political capital is like spending money. So basically, what President Obama is doing is giving us Christmas gifts he got for free. It doesn't mean they're not valuable gifts, nor does it mean we don't appreciate the gifts. But we also don't expect the free-gifter to get any major kudos for how hard it was to basically re-gift us something he got for free.

Georgia elects openly gay and lesbian candidates

2009-12-02T20:46:00.000-05:00

Georgia just made news regarding the election of an African American lesbian and gay Asian man yesterday:

Voters there have elected the first openly lesbian African-American state legislator in the United States, and Atlanta voters elected the first gay man and first Asian-American to the city council.

Simone Bell, a Victory Fund-endorsed candidate, won a runoff election to represent Georgia State House District 58. She becomes the second openly LGBT member of the Georgia State House, joining Rep. Karla Drenner. Both are from the Atlanta area.

BREAKING: New York Senate defeated marriage equality legislation

2009-12-02T14:56:00.003-05:00

The New York State Senate just defeated marriage equality by a vote of 24 - 38.

More details to follow.

UPDATE: Every single Republican voted No. Thanks for the help with that one, Mayor Bloomberg. Eight of the 32 Democrats voted no.

New York State Senate is debating marriage right now

2009-12-02T12:43:00.006-05:00

UPDATE @ 2:41 PM: The Senate is now voting.
______________________
UPDATE @ 2:36 PM: Senator Tom Duane is giving the closing for the Democrats. He's a classic. Delving into history, asking if people would want a "do-over" for some of the wrongs of the past. He doesn't want a "do-over" on this one -- and doesn't want to wait. His partner, Louis, isn't at the debate because no one knew for sure that the bill would come to the floor today. He's talking about some of his heroes, including Harvey Milk. Duane thinks he was out before Harvey Milk, "I've been gay a long time."

Joe.My.God reports via Twitter:

Tom Duane is stalling while the GOP Senators (who arent in the chamber) are being strong armed.

___________________________
UPDATE @ 2:13 PM: NY1.com has compiled a whip list, breaking down known Senate votes. There are 62 Senators and assuming they all vote, we need 32 votes to win. According to NY1's count, there are 23 supporters, 24 opponents and 15 who are "Undecided / Unavailable / Won't Say." Clearly, a lot of those people know.

One other key thing: The supportive Senators are giving a lot of credit to Senator Tom Duane, the sponsor of the marriage bill, who is openly gay. The debate is getting very personal, which hopefully will help.
_____________________________
UPDATE @ 1:52 PM: This debate has been amazing. Democrats are speaking first so we're heard mostly from supporters so far. There have been some very moving speeches in support of equality. And, there's something about the way New Yorkers can be so brassy and ballsy and eloquent and forceful.
_____________________________
As John noted earlier, there will be a vote in New York on marriage soon. In fact, it will come this afternoon. The New York State Senate is debating the marriage equality legislation right now. I've embedded the live feed, which can be seen here, too:

Watch live streaming video from nysenate at livestream.com

Meredith Baxter, "Family Ties" mom, is gay

2009-12-02T12:15:00.000-05:00

Okay, didn't see that one coming. From the Advocate:

Since her TV career heyday in the 1970s and ’80s as a darling of the popular prime-time series Family and Family Ties, Meredith Baxter has mainly flown under the radar, with the exception of a few acclaimed turns in made-for-TV movies such as My Breast and A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story. That is until she boarded the Sweet Caribbean Cruise with thousands of other lesbians last month. If the woman who famously played Elyse Keaton, liberal mother to Michael J. Fox’s conservative Alex on the long-running sitcom Family Ties, thought she would go unnoticed amid generations of gay women who idolized her for her blond-haired, blue-eyed, all-American good looks, she was wrong.

The Salvation Army is a nasty anti-gay evangelical church, don't give them a dime

2009-12-02T10:12:00.003-05:00

To wit. From the Washington Post a few years back:

The Bush administration is working with the nation's largest charity, the Salvation Army, to make it easier for government-funded religious groups to discriminate against gay people in hiring, according to an internal Salvation Army document.

The White House has made a "firm commitment" to the Salvation Army to issue a regulation protecting such charities from state and city laws that prevent discrimination against gays in hiring and domestic-partner benefits, according to the Salvation Army report....

George Hood, a senior official with the Salvation Army, said the group never discriminates in delivering its services, but on the question of hiring gay employees, 'it really begins to chew away at he theological fabric of who we are"

And here are a few beauts from the Salvation Army's various Web sites around the world that I pulled up a while back:

"Christians whose sexual orientation is primarily or exclusively same-sex are called upon to embrace celibacy as a way of life. There is no scriptural support for same-sex unions as equal to, or as an alternative to, heterosexual marriage." - Salvation Army USA Web site, Dec. 2003

"[Homosexual activity is] as rebellion against God's plan for the created order.... Homosexual practice, however, is, in the light of Scripture, clearly unacceptable. Such activity is chosen behaviour and is thus a matter of the will. It is therefore able to be directed or restrained in the same way heterosexual urges are controlled. Homosexual practice would render any person ineligible for full membership (soldiership) in the [Salvation] Army." - Salvation Army Australia Web site (emphasis added)

Then in Scotland, the Salvation Army actively lobbied against the repeal of anti-gay laws banning the "promotion" of homosexuality as a "pretended family relationship," arguing that it would harm children:

As the Salvation Army's Scotland Secretary I am writing to you on his behalf to share with you the views of The Salvation Army on this important matter.

We welcome your recognition that marriage is still the ideal context for raising children and your assurances regarding guidelines for teachers in recent discussion on the repeal of "Section 28". However, we believe that by repealing this clause, the Scottish Executive will potentially be harming both children and the family unit.

We are concerned that we cannot predict the result of a repeal, and feel the floodgates could be opened, ultimately causing great hurt to both parents, teachers and our children. We are also very aware of the increasing pressures on young people to experiment with heterosexual sex at a younger age, without the additional pressure of self-questioning regarding homosexual sex.

As an international church and charity which supports and helps any person regardless of sex, race or religion, The Salvation Army believes that, contrary to the Executive's view, the proposed repeal would increase discrimination and result in more bullying in our schools. We can easily envisage a situation where, due to active promotion of homosexuality in schools, children will grow up feeling alienated if they fail to conform.

Then there was the time that the Salvation Army caved to the religious right and took rescinded domestic partner benefits for its gay employees. These are not nice people.

NY marriage vote coming soon

2009-12-02T07:05:00.000-05:00

Andy Towle has the latest. We almost had a vote yesterday, but now it looks like it might happen today. Joe Sudbay has good friends in NY who are quite connected, so hopefully he'll get the scoop, now that he's back in the country.

DC passes marriage

2009-12-01T13:07:00.002-05:00

Needs a second vote later this month, then on to the mayor for signature.

Another reader tells the DSCC that the gAyTM is closed

2009-12-01T15:03:00.001-05:00

What's interesting is that Joe and I didn't really include the DSCC and the DCCC in our DADG campaign. Only because it helps to limit your targets, so you can stay focused, and the DNC, Organizing for America, and President Obama have all three either gone back on promises to our community, snubbed our community, or harmed our community. Still, I'm hearing from a number of readers who have sent similar messages to the DSCC. These messages help.

Greg gave me permission to republish his name and email:

From: Greg Fickas
Date: December 1, 2009 11:06:47 AM CST
To: info@dscc.org
Cc: John Aravosis
Subject: Re: quick note

Dear J.B.,

As a gay American I have taken the Don't Ask Don't Give Pledge. This administration made promises to the LGBT community that it has not only failed to keep, but has worsened through actions such as its insulting and homophobic legal defense of DOMA which compares same-sex marriage to pedophilia and incest.

The LGBT community was proud to support candidate Obama, but President Obama's record on LGBT issues so far has been very poor. In fact, it started out poorly from his inauguration when homophobic bigot Rev. Rich Warren was invited to give the invocation. It should also be noted that the very same Rick Warren has as yet failed to condemn pending legislation in Uganda that would criminalize homosexuality with penalties of life imprisonment and death and even penalties of prison for individuals who fail to report on their friends and family members whom they suspect being homosexual. What is the President's position on this barbarism that will terrorize a segment of the Ugandan population and which is condoned by the man who gave the invocation at his inauguration?

I'm sorry it has to be this way, but this is a civil rights issue that the administration simply must address. Until there is progress on these LGBT issues and more, I will no longer be making any more contributions to the DSCC.

Sincerely,

Greg Fickas
Centennial, Colorado

--- On Mon, 11/30/09, J.B. Poersch wrote:

From: J.B. Poersch
Subject: quick note
To: greg
Date: Monday, November 30, 2009, 6:56 PM

Friends,

I need your help right now. The DSCC's November fundraising deadline is midnight, and Republicans stand ready to defeat health reform and destroy us. If we don't match their intensity, we'll lose this argument - and our majority.

Click here to donate, and a group of senators will chip in the same amount. Even $5 will make a difference.

Thanks for your help.

J.B.

BTW, donate today, and you'll get 20% off in the DSCC Store.

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