The Gay Fray

[Tiassa]

¿Keystone Closeteering?

Pennsylvania Republican: Fellow GOP state Representative should have stayed in the closet

Alana Horowitz of Huffington Post offers the summary:

An openly gay Pennsylvania lawmaker will likely lose his seat this week, just days after the state became the 19th to allow same-sex marriage.

Mike Fleck (R) was first elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 2006. In 2012, he came out as gay. According to one of his Republican colleagues, the move was a huge political mistake.

Pennsylvania State Senator John H. Eichelberger Jr. told the Altoona Mirror that "if [Fleck] had just gone about his business and people thought he was a homosexual or heterosexual or whatever, there wouldn't be a problem."

Eichelberger said that many people thought Fleck was gay prior to his coming out and weren't bothered by it.

"A lot of people thought that Mike was a homosexual," Eichelberger said. "He didn't announce it and it was OK. The feeling from many people is, he put them in a very uncomfortable position" by coming out.​

It is a telling argument.

As Sen. Eichelberger would have it, it's okay as long as it's just a rumor, you know, something childish like, "I see Bournton, I see Trier; I think Mister Fleck is queer." But as soon as these people know, and actually feel a tug toward general decency and mere respectability, well, that puts those folks "in a very uncomfortable position".

Family values? Virtue, Liberty, and Independence ... but only for some.
____________________

Notes:

Horowitz, Alana. "Lawmaker: Gay State Rep. Mike Fleck Should Have Stayed In The Closet". The Huffington Post. May 26, 2014. HuffingtonPost.com. May 26, 2014. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/26/mike-fleck-gay-election_n_5392039.html

 

[Magical Realist]

As Sen. Eichelberger would have it, it's okay as long as it's just a rumor, you know, something childish like, "I see Bournton, I see Trier; I think Mister Fleck is queer."

He's supposed to be ashamed of it and not mention it. Skulk around in rest area restrooms or airport men's room stalls at night maintaining a "wide stance" like that other senator Larry Craig did. That's the Republican way of being gay.

 

[Bells]

We finish misogyny week and move onto homophobia week..

Welcome to the hell that is Republican Conservative Texas for your main meal and Oklahoma for desert.

Firstly Texas, never a liberal or educated forefront, Republicans in Texas are doing their damn best to make sure it stays that way!

The Texas Republican Party, which says "homosexuality tears at the fabric of society," also approved a policy of "reparative therapy" for gays that seek to change sexual orientation through counseling.
​

Yes, you read that right. The Texas Republican Party is endorsing and approved policy that will cure gays of their homosexuality.

Under the new plank, the Texas GOP recognizes "the legitimacy and efficacy of counseling, which offers reparative therapy and treatment for those patients seeking healing and wholeness from their homosexual lifestyle."

The American Psychological Association and other major health organizations have condemned such counseling, which generally try to change a person's sexual orientation or to lessen their interest in engaging in same-sex sexual activity. The groups say the practice should not be used on minors because of the danger of serious psychological harm.

"The platform reflects what the people in the Republican Party have asked for, and that should be no surprise: family values, protection of marriage between one man and one woman and everything that goes along with that," said Jonathan Saenz, president of the conservative group Texas Values and a convention delegate.​

And Rick Perry?..

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, during a visit that focused primarily on economic issues, drew on a reference to alcoholism to explain his view of homosexuality.

Perry's comments to the Commonwealth Club of California came after Texas' Republican Convention on Saturday sanctioned platform language allowing Texans to seek voluntary counseling to "cure" being gay.

The San Francisco Chronicle http://bit.ly/1oWq0qR reports that in response to a question about it, Perry said he did not know whether the therapy worked.

Perry, a former and potential future GOP presidential candidate, was then asked whether he believed homosexuality was a disorder.

The paper says that the governor responded that "whether or not you feel compelled to follow a particular lifestyle or not, you have the ability to decide not to do that."

He said: "I may have the genetic coding that I'm inclined to be an alcoholic, but I have the desire not to do that, and I look at the homosexual issue the same way."​

It doesn't end there. Let us move onto Oklahoma.

Scott Esk, a Republican Tea Party candidate in Oklahoma, got into a debate on Facebook last summer in which he advocated killing homosexuals.

“I think we would be totally in the right to do it,” Esk wrote in comments uncovered by Oklahoma journalist Rob Morris. “That goes against some parts of libertarianism, I realize, and I’m largely libertarian, but ignoring as a nation things that are worthy of death is very remiss.”

When pressed, Esk added: "I never said I would author legislation to put homosexuals to death, but I didn’t have a problem with it."

Esk is running for the state's House of Representatives. The primary is scheduled for June 24.

When contacted by Morris, who runs the news outlet Moore Daily, Esk didn't deny making the comments or back down from the rhetoric.

"That was done in the Old Testament under a law that came directly from God and in that time there it was totally just. It came directly from God," Esk said, adding: "I have no plans to reinstitute that in Oklahoma law. I do have some very huge moral misgivings about those kinds of sins."

The Raw Story notes that in other Facebook posts, Esk has said that laws punishing gays should be instituted locally so people "can decide for themselves whether they want to live in a particular community based in part on how things like this are dealt with.”​

Mr Esk also ranted about divorce and other inane stupid points..

But laws about killing gays..

And we thought Putin was bad..

Let us all raise our middle finger in a big "fuck you" salute to the conservatives who agree with and wish to adopt such measures!

 

[Magical Realist]

So homosexuality is a disease that needs a cure, but it is also just a lifestyle choice that one can easily opt out of. It's an addiction you need therapy for, but you can also just decide not be it anymore and "go straight". Seems to me the Texas homophobes are backing themselves into a corner on this.

 

[Bells]

So homosexuality is a disease that needs a cure, but it is also just a lifestyle choice that one can easily opt out of. It's an addiction you need therapy for, but you can also just decide not be it anymore and "go straight". Seems to me the Texas homophobes are backing themselves into a corner on this.

With their bums stuck to the wall with cheeks clenched..

Science they may ask? What science?

Every single scientific and medical association has clearly proven they are wrong about it being a disease or a disorder. And what do they do? Approve for counseling for the apparent disorder of homosexuality.. Even though it has been shown, time and again that such measures do so much damage and cause so much harm.

 

[Bells]

Texas continues to represent..

Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz Cruz spoke at an anti-gay marriage rally on Thursday hosted by Steven Hotze, a controversial doctor who has told women that birth control would make them unappealing to men and has warned that equality for gays would be a stepping stone to child molestation. Hotze, who runs an alternative medicine practice in suburban Houston and is suing the Obama administration over the Affordable Care Act, organized the event through his political action committee, Conservative Republicans of Texas. Cruz was joined on stage fellow Sen. John Cornyn, and state Sen. Dan Patrick, the party's nominee for lieutenant governor.

As I reported in April, Hotze's opposition to gay rights stretches back to at least the early 1980s, when he told Third Coast magazine that gay people "proliferate by one means, and one means only, and that's recruiting. And they recruit the weak. They recruit children or young people in their formative years." With that, he was off:

Three years later, after overturning an anti-discrimination ordinance in Houston, Hotze organized a group of eight candidates he considered allies in the fight against homosexuality. He called them "the Straight Slate." His preferred mayoral candidate said that the best way to fight AIDS was to "shoot the queers." Hotze told a local newspaper reporter that he cased out restaurants before making reservations to make sure they didn't have any gay employees and became such a divisive figure in local politics that for a brief period the Harris County Republican Party cleaved in two.​

More recently, his PAC spent big bucks to oppose Annise Parker, a Democratic candidate who would become Houston's first openly gay mayor in 2009. On Thursday, Cruz also signed onto an amicus brief in support of Hotze's lawsuit against Obamacare, which he contends is unconstitutional because it did not originate in the House. But Hotze is an unusual mascot for politicians who fear Obamacare has ruined the health care system, because he operates largely outside of it. An investigation by the Houston Press raised questions about his medical practice, noting that he had inflated his credentials and touted the healing powers of treatments such as colloidal silver—which can turn patients' skin permanently blue—which are not covered by health insurance and not backed up by studies.​

Sadly, this wasn't the only case of 'they're coming fer ye children' to be heard from Conservatives..

Meet Jody Hice, Congress, Rep. Paul Broun successor.. Time for Georgia to represent...

In his seven years in Congress, Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) distinguished himself by calling biology "lies straight from the pit of hell" and accusing President Barack Obama of establishing a secret national police force to push a Marxist dictatorship. But the man who may replace Broun in Washington could outdo him.

In a 2012 book, that candidate—pastor and talk radio host Jody Hice—alleges the gay community has a secret plot to recruit and sodomize children. In It's Now or Never: A Call to Reclaim America, Hice also asserts that supporters of abortion rights are worse than Hitler and compares gay relationships to bestiality and incest. He proposes that Muslims be stripped of their First Amendment rights.

On Tuesday, Hice clinched a spot in the runoff to replace Broun, who declined to run for re-election in order to run for Senate. Hice will face businessman Michael Collins in the July 22 runoff. In a district that gave 62 percent of the vote to Mitt Romney two years ago, Hice, the leading vote-getter in the first round of balloting, stands a good chance of being elected to Congress.

With his book, Hice checks virtually every box of the social conservative job application. Referring to the arrest of anti-gay demonstrators in Elmira, New York, Hice likens local law enforcement to "the Gestapo." And this is part of a nationwide assault: "Evidently there are many who believe a 'Gestapo-like' presence is needed by the government in order to corral and keep under control, all these 'dangerous' Christians."

Hice claims homosexuality causes shorter life spans and depression, and he insists same-sex couples cannot raise healthy children. He writes, "Some ask the question, 'How does same-sex 'marriage' threaten your marriage?'," he writes. "The answer is similar to asking, 'How does a trashy neighborhood affect you?' It might not affect you at all on a personal level. But, we are not talking about 'a' same-sex marriage. We are talking about an effort to redefine marriage, and that would have drastic results and irreversible consequences!"

Hice emphasizes that "love" is a shallow and insufficient basis for marriage. "The concept of 'love' is not the issue when it comes to marriage!" he writes. "People love all kinds of other people and things, but that does not grant permission for marriage. It is illegal to marry a child or a sibling. It is illegal to marry a pet, which many people love dearly." He claims that Christians who speak out against the evils of homosexuality are persecuted—and as a result of gay manipulation, "the nation's entire system of justice is being destroyed."

Fact-checking isn't Hice's strong suit. At one point in his book, he quotes at length from a 1987 column by Michael Swift, a gay writer, to suggest that gay people prey on children:

We shall sodomize your sons, emblems of your feeble masculinity, of your shallow dreams and vulgar lies. We shall seduce them in your schools, in your dormitories, in your gymnasiums, in your locker rooms, in your sports arenas, in your seminaries, in your youth groups, in your movie theater bathrooms, in your army bunkhouses, in your truck stops, in your all male clubs, in your houses of Congress, wherever men are with men together. Your sons shall become our minions and do our bidding. They will be recast in our image. They will come to crave and adore us.​

Hice cites this passage to show what is at stake in the battle for America's soul. "These shocking words by Michael Swift have been considered part of the 'gay manifesto' by many, and reveal the radical agenda that is currently threatening our nation," he writes.

There is one hiccup. Hice omitted first sentence of Swift's column, which noted that the entire essay was satirical.
​

Be thankful that I left out the parts about his views on Muslims and reproductive care advocates, whom he likened to Nazis..

 

[Tiassa]

Storms in August

Rumble Royale!
Sixth Circuit to host high-profile card

Aaaaaaarrrrre you ready ... for the Battle of the Batty in Cincinnati!

Okay, okay, that one sucked, but yeah ... you write a better rhyme.

Or not.

Amanda Lee Myers of Associated Press:

A federal appeals court will hear arguments in gay marriage fights in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee in a single session, setting the stage for historic rulings in each state.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Cincinnati, scheduled arguments in five cases from the four states for Aug. 6. Though the cases are unique, each deals with whether statewide gay marriage bans violate the Constitution ....

.... The 6th Circuit is the third federal appeals court to weigh recent challenges to state gay marriage bans, though the first to consider cases in so many states at the same time. Arguments were held in the 4th Circuit in Virginia concerning one case in May and the 10th Circuit in Denver concerning two cases in April. Rulings are expected soon.

In Cincinnati, a three-judge panel will hear arguments in each case one at a time. It's unclear whether it will issue a large ruling encompassing all the cases or separate ones. Any losing side could appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.​

While such consolidations are uncommon, they are not unprecedented; one of the most famous consolidated cases is the famous Brown v. Board of Education decision that proved Justice Harlan correct and destroyed the "separate but equal" standard established in Plessy v. Ferguson.

The five cases being considered by the Cincinnati appeals court are:

- An order for Ohio to recognize all out-of-state gay marriages, currently on hold, and a narrower case that forced Ohio to recognize same-sex marriages on death certificates.

- A ruling that Kentucky recognize out-of-state gay marriages, saying a statewide ban violated the Constitution's equal-protection clause by treating "gay and lesbian persons differently in a way that demeans them."

- An order overturning Michigan's statewide gay marriage ban, which followed a rare trial that focused mostly on the impact of same-sex parenting on children. More than 300 couples were married on a Saturday in March before the ruling was suspended pending appeal.

- An order for Tennessee to recognize three same-sex marriages while a lawsuit against the state works through the courts. Tennessee officials are appealing the preliminary injunction to the 6th Circuit.​

Notice that these are all cases of states appealing to uphold stricken laws. While constitutional law professor Carl Tobias reminds that, "Appellate judges are a little more distant and different than individual district judges and they're more willing to go against the tide", it is presently somewhat difficult to imagine what manner of rhetorical acrobatics the states will have to perform in order to convince judges at the Sixth to turn the outcome.
____________________

Notes:

Myers, Amanda Lee. "Court to consider 5 gay marriage cases at once". Associated Press. June 17, 2014. Hosted.AP.org. June 18, 2014. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GAY_MARRIAGE_ARGUMENTS

 

[Magical Realist]

Obama Extends Marriage Benefits to Gay Couples


By MICHAEL D. SHEAR..JUNE 20, 2014

WASHINGTON — "The federal government on Friday announced regulatory changes to extend a wide range of marriage benefits to same-sex couples, making good on a promise by President Obama after the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act last year.

The Department of Labor said it would clarify that federal employees will be able to take leave from their jobs to care for a same-sex spouse, something that has long been limited to heterosexual married couples. The Social Security Administration and the Veterans Affairs Department said they would also expand benefits for same-sex couples, subject to some legal restrictions.

After decades of blocking gay married couples from receiving the same benefits as their heterosexual counterparts, most federal agencies are now treating married couples alike, regardless of gender.

The actions are important, officials said, because of differences in how states treat same-sex marriage. Without the regulatory changes, same-sex couples could be blocked from receiving federal benefits in states that do not recognize their marriages. Same-sex marriage is legal in 19 states and the District of Columbia.

The actions announced Friday extend the changes that have been made at other agencies in the year since the marriage act was declared unconstitutional.

Under the changes, same-sex spouses of Defense Department employees now receive all the benefits of heterosexual husbands and wives. Federal immigration laws apply equally to gay and straight married couples. The Internal Revenue Service recognizes the marriages of all gay couples. The spouses of gay federal employees get health insurance, life insurance and flexible spending accounts.

But officials said that a small number of provisions in federal law explicitly prohibit the government from providing benefits to same-sex couples. Those laws apply to the Social Security agency and the Veterans Affairs Department, where officials said that Mr. Obama is unable to provide benefits by simply changing regulations.

The officials said the president would call on Congress to pass legislation to change those provisions.

The actions announced Friday were the latest examples of Mr. Obama’s embrace of equality for gay couples after what he called his evolution on the issue. Mr. Obama once opposed same-sex marriage, but he said two years ago that his position had changed.

“At a certain point, I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married,” Mr. Obama told Robin Roberts of ABC News in May 2012.

Since then, Mr. Obama has aggressively sided with advocates of same-sex marriage and other gay rights. His administration argued in the Supreme Court for the Defense of Marriage Act to be overturned, and his administration argued that the court should strike down Proposition 8, the California ban on same-sex marriage. He also eliminated the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for gay service members.

At a New York gala for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people on Tuesday, Mr. Obama hailed the rights that were extended to gays in the last year, saying, “If we’re truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.”

Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry, a group advocating marriage equality, praised Mr. Obama’s efforts and called on state and federal lawmakers to go even further.

“Gay couples who are married, like non-gay married couples, now share in the crucial federal safety-net of protections and responsibilities, even in states that continue to discriminate,” Mr. Wolfson said. “But because of ongoing marriage discrimination in 31 states, hundreds of thousands of couples continue to face the cruel denial of important Social Security and veterans’ benefits. Congress should move swiftly to pass curative legislation for our veterans and seniors.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/21/u...of-marriage-benefits-to-gay-couples.html?_r=0

 

[Magical Realist]

it is presently somewhat difficult to imagine what manner of rhetorical acrobatics the states will have to perform in order to convince judges at the Sixth to turn the outcome.

Why the sanctity of heterosexual marriage ofcourse! Just like the sanctity of "whites only" restrooms, or the sanctity of the front seats on buses, or the sanctity of non-jew country clubs. Same argument over and over. And that's why they always lose...over and over.

 

[Tiassa]

Slung Song Sung

Why the sanctity of heterosexual marriage ofcourse! Just like the sanctity of "whites only" restrooms, or the sanctity of the front seats on buses, or the sanctity of non-jew country clubs. Same argument over and over. And that's why they always lose...over and over.

Well, yes, but I presume you remember the occasion when the state's attorneys in one or another of these cases argued that heterosexual irresponsibility was the state's prurient interest in outlawing same-sex unions?

I mean, in the world of politics, some pretty desperate shit gets slung. Flung. Bung dung? Er ... right. Sorry.

Um ... yeah. That one, though, was a pretty hilarious snapshot of bigoted desperation.

The heterosupremacists have lost, they're making a whole bunch of desperate stands all over the place, and now a court will gather a gaggle for a grand guignol in Cincinatti. Legal analysts and reasonably qualified pundits are all reminding that this is the Sixth, and we cannot presume 6CCA will necessarily follow the lead of other Circuit Courts of Appeals. And that's always good advice, but it does leave me wondering just what kind of mind-blowing steps and contortions Team Bigot intends to bust out.

They keep getting served in these pathetic contests of ego; it's over, has been since Utah in December, and yet they keep trying. We got Article IV in April, in Ohio, and their biggest hope now is that 6CCA will pull a Scalia and try to customize history and the Constitution in order to fit a preconceived outcome.

Yet the most common argumentative exoskeletons for heterosupremacism have been squashed under Justice's heel. They're going to need something spectacularly convincing and new if they hope to win out. I'm looking forward to this one. What a show, what a show.

 

[Tiassa]

With Love and Respect

It's Okay To Be Inspired ...
... just like we're all just fine with being inspiring, too

Family snapshot: Laura and her parents attend a pride event together.​

Just another family snapshot from another Pride event.

Photographer Alex Garland reminds that there is work left to do, "with love and respect".

It is good that Laura has her family with her as she faces the challenges of all the work remaining.
_____________________

Notes:

Image credit: Detail of photo ©2014 Alex Garland Photography.

 

[Magical Realist]

It's Okay To Be Inspired ...
... just like we're all just fine with being inspiring, too

Family snapshot: Laura and her parents attend a pride event together.​

Just another family snapshot from another Pride event.

Photographer Alex Garland reminds that there is work left to do, "with love and respect".

It is good that Laura has her family with her as she faces the challenges of all the work remaining.
_____________________

Notes:

Image credit: Detail of photo ©2014 Alex Garland Photography.

Would that ALL gay people could have such enlightened relatives. I've actually had to argue with my staunch Catholic sister that gay parents that adopt children are NOT more likely to molest them, and with my big brother that my gayness does NOT mean I'm going to hell. That's a farcry from actually expecting them to support gay rights to other people just because they grew up with a gay sibling. SIGH.. Such are the drawbacks of being born gay in Texas.

 

[Magical Realist]

U.S. Supreme Court Upholds California’s Ban On Conversion Therapy For Minors

"The U.S. Supreme Court today announced it would let stand California’s ban on gay reparative or “conversion” therapy for minors, Bloomberg News reports. The ban, passed by the California State Assembly in 2012, was challenged by professionals who practice sexual orientation change therapy, two families who say their teenage sons benefited from it and a national association of Christian mental health counselors.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard the case and in August of 2013 upheld the ban, as a press release issued from The National Center for Lesbian Rights, who sponsored and helped defend the law, points out:

On August 29, 2013, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld the law, ruling that the plaintiffs in two legal challenges could not succeed on their claim that the law infringes the free speech rights of therapists who wish to engage in these dangerous and long-discredited practices.

The full Ninth Circuit court declined to further review that decision, and the plaintiffs in the two lawsuits then asked the Supreme Court to review the cases. The Supreme Court denied those requests today, meaning that the Ninth Circuit panel’s decision upholding the law will be the final decision on the plaintiffs’ free-speech claims and the California law may be enforced.

The California ban was the first of its kind to be passed in the U.S. and can now be put into effect having cleared its final legal hurdle before implementation could begin.

New York recently failed to pass a similar ban on reparative therapy for minors. In Texas, the GOP Party platform endorses gay conversion therapy, though the Texas GOP party chairman has come out against the policy."


Read more: http://www.towleroad.com/#ixzz368Pm5xGo

 

[Tiassa]

Australia: Kids of Same-Sex Parents "Healthier and Happier"?

Australia: Kids of Same-Sex Parents "Healthier and Happier"?

The outcome isn't a surprise for people who have been paying attention:

The largest-ever study of same-sex parents found their children turn out healthier and happier than the general population ....

.... Study author Simon Crouch told ABC News in Australia that previous research suggests same-sex parents don't feel pressured into gendered roles, which lets them more freely adapt to the needs of the family.

"So what this means is that people take on roles that are suited to their skill sets rather than falling into those gender stereotypes, which is mum staying home and looking after the kids and dad going out to earn money," Crouch said. "What this leads to is a more harmonious family unit and therefore feeding on to better health and well-being."

The study, however, comes with some caveats. The findings are based on reports from the parents who agreed to the survey, which could skew the results. The survey also focused on Australian same-sex parents, so there may be social and cultural factors at play that wouldn't apply perfectly to America's gay and lesbian parents. And the study doesn't compare same-sex parents directly with opposite-sex parents; it instead compares same-sex parents and their children to the general population.

(Lopez)​

All in all, it's just another brick from the wall.
____________________

Notes:

Lopez, German. "Largest-ever study of same-sex couples' kids finds they're better off than other children". Vox. July 7, 2014. Vox.com. July 7, 2014. http://www.vox.com/2014/7/7/5873781...same-sex-couples-kids-finds-theyre-better-off

 

[Bells]

Dumbass is as dumbass does..

Dr. Keith Ablow, the resident psychiatrist at Fox News and a member of the network’s Medical A-Team, asserted on Wednesday that legalized same-sex marriage would lead to bestiality.

During a Fox & Friends “Normal or Nuts” segment, host Anna Kooiman asked Ablow if it was “normal” for California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) to sign a law replacing the words “husband” and “wife” with the word “spouse” in the state’s marriage definition.

“Get ready for the cards and letters,” Ablow quipped. “Nuts!”

“Here’s the thing, the state needs to get out of the marriage business because here’s what we can expect,” he continued. “There’s no way that the state of California can deny a marriage license to four spouses now, eight spouses.”

“Or, I would say, three human spouses and the canine they absolutely love because if love is the foundation of marriage, they can love their dog, too.”
​

Yes, I know it's 'Fox', but really, at some point that needs to stop being an excuse.

 

[Tiassa]

¡Pobre Uganda!

Because the Real Victim Here is Uganda

Actually, that's a multivalent title, when you stop to think about it.

I mean, sure, it's sarcastic, but if we want to dive a little deeper into the history of how these circumstances come about, it's also kind of true.

Still, though, in the post-colonial hell known as central Africa, as Uganda struggles against ghosts of war and corruption, the international community is aghast at the ongoing chapter called "Kill the Gays".

Then again, the "Kill the Gays" part is a slight misnomer; now it's just the standard criminalization of consensual sex on the basis of ill-informed superstition. The news from Reuters Africa:

International donors who withheld aid over Uganda's anti-gay bill "misinterpreted" the law whose main focus was to stop promotion of homosexuality to children and others, the government said on Tuesday.

Widely condemned by donor countries, the law imposes jail terms of up to life for "aggravated homosexuality", which includes homosexual sex with a minor or while HIV-positive.

It also criminalises lesbianism for the first time and makes it a crime to help individuals engage in homosexual acts ....

.... Uganda said the new law, signed by President Yoweri Museveni in February, had been designed to curb "open promotion of homosexuality", especially among children.

"However, its enactment has been misinterpreted as a piece of legislation intended to punish and discriminate against people of a 'homosexual orientation', especially by our development partners," the government said in a statement.

The United States last month reduced aid to Uganda, imposed visa restrictions and cancelled a regional military exercise in response. The World Bank, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands also suspended or redirected aid to the government.

"Uganda reaffirms that no activities of individuals, groups companies or organisations will be affected by the act," the statement said, without explaining how gay Ugandans who faced tougher jail terms under the new law could avoid being affected.​

¡Pobre Uganda! I mean, of all the troubles facing that miserable patch of land less than a quarter million square kilometers, of all the troubles plaguing thirty-six million Ugandans, the problem is that the government is somehow misunderstood for its enactment of this extraneous, vicious, law intended to glorify pious cruelty.

Meanwhile, the trial of Kim Mukisa and Jackson Mukasa began in may, where a gay man and his transsexual partner are facing life imprisonment, but not being affected by the law.

(Actually, that's kind of true; they're being prosecuted under the 1950 penal code, except as Adrian Jjuuko of the Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum explained, "For the first time in Uganda and indeed for the first time in the entire East African region, the state has literally invaded the bedroom of two adults and dragged them into the courtroom for trial on charges of consensual sex.")
____________________

Notes:

Thompson Reuters. "Uganda says anti-gay bill misunderstood by donors who halted aid". Reuters Africa. July 7, 2014. Af.Reuters.com. July 10, 2014. http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFKBN0FC1QX20140707

Ambrosino, Brandon. "Anti-gay trials have started in Uganda — here's what we know so far". Vox. May 10, 2014. Vox.com. July 10, 2014. http://www.vox.com/2014/5/10/5703394/uganda-anti-gay-trials-jackson-mukasa-kim-mukisa

 

[Tiassa]

Just a Little Late ....

Obama Makes Good On Promise

"I know I'm a little late." ―President Barack H. Obama​

Consider in the first place that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) has passed the senate, and with over two hundred sponsors from both parties in the House, Speaker Boehner refuses to bring the bill to a vote. "People," he lied, "are already protected in the workplace".

Now, certainly we can try to make bones of a Speaker of the House so blatantly lying to people, but since it's John Boehner, it's not like there's anything new, here.

Six years into his presidency, Barack Obama is tired of waiting for John Boehner to get honest.

A month ago, President Obama got tired of waiting for GOP leaders to allow a vote and directed his staff to craft an executive order to advance ENDA’s goals with federal contractors. Today, he made policy by signing it ....

.... By any measure, this is no small change. It does, however, lead to the Hobby-Lobby-related question: if a private corporation’s executives support discrimination for religious reasons, are they exempt from the new Obama administration policy?

No, they’re not.

The Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision may have opened the door to a number of potential horrors, but tarnishing President Obama’s legacy on LGBT equality won’t be one of them.

Bucking calls from more than a dozen high-profile faith leaders – some his own allies – Obama has decided to leave out a religious exemption in two upcoming executive orders regarding LGBT discrimination, the Associated Press reported Friday. One will extend workplace protections to transgender employees of the U.S. government. And the other will bar LGBT discrimination among all companies that do business with the U.S. government, a move anticipated to cover about a fifth of the national workforce.​

This has been a lingering question about the president’s executive order since we learned it was on the way, and a variety of conservative groups pressured the White House to include an exemption.

Obama did no such thing. If an employer wants to discriminate against LGBT employees, it will have to decide whether that is a higher priority than doing business with the federal government.

(Benen)​

While the msnbc pundit and producer does spend a few words on the expected political fallout, we might note that consideration only arises of necessity. After all, when the Speaker of the House is lying to the nation in order to avoid a vote he expects to lose, thereby perpetuating and directly advocating bigotry in the workplace, it's hard to take that political fallout seriously. After all, how many blue dots in red states are going to peel away from Democrats over this? They'll happily trade out the loss of a half-dozen votes in states they aren't going to win, anyway. The reality of the political fallout amounts to, "Fuck it."

Meanwhile, let us consider the House of Representatives for a moment. In 2012, we saw a weird resurrection of the Demon of Three-Fifths. The infamous American constitutional clause rendering black people as merely sixty percent human under the law has long been stricken, but the House vote in 2012 worked out to a three-fifths balance.

That is to say that while the Republicans hold a majority of seats in the House of Representatives, it is hard to say they represent the American will when they hold that majority by a losing margin of votes. That Gov. Bob McDonnell in Virginia, or RNC chairman Reince Priebus have endorsed three-fifths compromises is actually a separate issue, but also arises in the sense of irony insofar as we saw quick series of three-fifths punches.

So what we have is a House elected on a three-fifths result; in order for the popular vote to match the actual House partisan balance, Republicans needed only three votes to every five for Democrats. And, sure, that becomes a three-eighths argument, but the irony really was too ridiculous to ignore.

Thus, we now have a House majority that represents a minority of the country, and the leader of that House is lying to the American people in a desperate attempt to cultivate and perpetuate bigotry. Given the numbers, President Obama's decision to implement the executive order makes perfect senese; Justice does not wait for liars like Speaker John Boehner.

Still, though, before anyone either panics or runs stupid with glee, we should keep this order in scale. While the order applies to twenty-four thousand companies and twenty-eight million workers, ninety-two percent had gay civil rights protections under state and other laws, and fifty-eight percent are covered by gender identity nondiscrimination laws. Basically, what the Speaker of the House wants is to exempt a body of people from the Constitution, and he is willing to lie to you to do it.

To the one, what more do we expect of Republicans and conservatives?

To the other, that's no excuse.
____________________

Notes:

Benen, Steve. "Obama advances anti-discrimination policy with executive order". msnbc. July 21, 2014. msnbc.com. July 21, 2014. http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/obama-advances-anti-discrimination-policy-executive-order

 

[Tiassa]

Flamers: Dancing in the Fires to Honor God

Christianity and "The Gay"

Yasmine Hafiz brings us the lede:

Kendall Capers found no hope at New Hope Missionary Baptist Church after the death of his husband, Julion Evans, who died at age 42 from amyloidosis. Evans' family are members of the New Hope congregation in Tampa, Florida, and Capers arranged to have the service there.

However, the funeral was abruptly canceled the night before it was scheduled to happen. The family was informed with a phone call from New Hope that said that it would be "blasphemous" to hold the service at the church, reported KCCI.​

And the Lord Jesus Christ offers up some clarification:

Then the King will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?'

"And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.' Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?' Then he will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.' And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

(Matthew 25.34-ff, RSV)​

Just out of curiosity, what, exactly, does one expect their neighbor to say or think when it emerges that one's personal hatred runs deeply and acutely enough that they would risk the Fires they believe exist and fear as an homage to God?

It would be one thing to say, "Okay, you're officially betraying yourselves, so you're now disqualified from the discussion." But we already know how dishonest Christians are, generally speaking, when it comes to the question of the corpus Christi. That is, they want the power of solidarity, but many do not wish to be held accountable for what they say and do in the name of that solidarity.

And this is the power of Christian faith. This is, indeed, all it's worth. The pattern is consistent, whether it be "The Gay", "women", "abortion", a black man in the White House, taxes, war, science, health care, and, in the end, even the basic realities of what the historical record contains. The problem with Christians in this situation is that in order to honor their rights to free speech, the rest of us must not only sit and endure their lies, but treat their betrayal of their own religious faith as if it is praiseworthy and meritorious. In other words, they need a tacit ADA dispensation beause they are apparently incapable of conducting themselves honestly.

And those of the corpus Christi who resent such general denunciation, get off your holy-rolling asses and do something about your neighbors. It is, after all, absolutely dishonest to sit by and let people misrepresent your faith by their actions, and then complain when other people perceive your faith in a way you don't appreciate based on the misrepresentations from fellows within the faith community. That is to say, if you want the solidarity, you are stuck with the solidarity. If you are unwilling to address your Christian brother in order to correct his Sin, you are also guilty.

And that isn't my formulation; this is in your chosen Scripture.
____________________

Notes:

Hafiz, Yasmine. "Julion Evans Has Funeral Canceled After New Hope Missionary Baptist Church Learned He Was Gay". The Huffington Post. August 8, 2014. HuffingtonPost.com August 8, 2014. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/08/gay-funeral-cancelled_n_5662133.html

Weigle, Luther A., et al. The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version. Second edition. New York: Thomas Nelson, 1971. University of Michigan. August 8, 2014. http://quod.lib.umich.edu/r/rsv/

 

[Magical Realist]

Virginia set to begin gay marriages

"NORFOLK, Va. — A federal appeals court Thursday has clarified when same-sex marriages could begin in Virginia.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided Wednesday not to delay its ruling that struck down Virginia's gay marriage ban.

The office of Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring said it received clarification Thursday that the ruling will go into effect at 8 a.m. Aug. 21, barring a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court..."----http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/08/14/va-gay-marriage-ban/14068365/

 

[wellwisher]

The position taken by many religions is connected to maintaining natural choices and avoiding unnatural and artificial choices. The Koser standards for food, for example, do not allow artificial additives even if science can create these in the lab. Many people prefer Koser and natural foods which don't contain manmade adjustments not found in natural, such as growth hormones. In religions, this is extrapolated to behavior, with the behavior acceptable to many religions being kosher in the sense they do not use or need artificial additives to cheat nature.

An abortion, for example, would not be able to happen without science, medicine and technology as supplements. Without these artificial additives, not found in nature, analogous to synthetic growth hormones, it will not happen naturally to any degree. Atheists and liberals appear inconsistent whining about artificial additives in food while accepting behavior made possible only with artificial additives. Religion is more consistent this way.

If we go back to gay sexual behavior, this behavior would lead to higher attrition, if it did not have artificial additives to supplement it. It is not considered Koser behavior since its only works safely in culture, with artificial additives, such as condoms that don't grow anywhere in nature. This is insanitary which is why science recommends using plastic sleeves not found in nature.

I believe in freedom of choice in all matters, but it is useful for culture have an understanding of kosher versus non kosher behavior. When athletes uses steroids to enhance performance, this is not kosher, since it uses artificial additives.

On the other hand, if one changes their sex from male to female or vice versa, that only works with artificial additives, yet it is treated as different. Neither athletic performance enhancement or sex change just happen naturally, but these are not treated the same. The mind of both people see a different image of themselves which takes fake stuff to make happen. The athlete has to accept this and work harder. This is the kosher standard. Liberals tend to use the dual standard, with the same things treated differently if made political.

What would happen if homosexuality decided to only use Kosher behavior standards without any artificial additives. Nature would reduce their numbers with various diseases. Religions have seen this happen over the centuries. The writings reflect this.